Gerrit's work in progress » fitness

The Art of Expressing the Human Body

gerrit — Thu, 28 May 2009 00:53:16 +0000

Currently reading: The Art of Expressing the Human Body by Bruce Lee and John Little. Not so much about martial arts, Kung Fu, the legend of Bruce Lee and his movie career, this book is about how he trained to achieve his physique and strength. So far, a very interesting read that motivates and inspires to work and improve my own fitness routine [that is still not nearly as disciplined and all-encompassing as I would like it do be..haha].

Beyond his martial arts and acting abilities, Bruce Lee’s physical appearance and strength were truly astounding. He achieved this through an intensive and ever-evolving conditioning regime that is being revealed for the first time in this book. Drawing on Lee’s own notes, letters, diaries and training logs, bodybuilding expert John Little presents the full extent of Lee’s unique training methods including nutrition, aerobics, isometrics, stretching and weight training.

BikeLog 080707: No Slackers Allowed

gerrit — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 09:48:40 +0000

Woke up well enough being excited and a bit nervous about starting the new job today. The workout felt a bit exhausting and unfocused, probably because I had all the other things on my mind. It definitely was a nice warm-up for the ride to work (not logged). The morning felt very hectic although I managed to do everything well in time. Perhaps I should make myself get up at 5am, but that seems quite extreme. :)

Date/Time:

07/07/2008 05:48 AM

Route:

No outside route. Decided to do an interval workout in the basement instead: Spinervals 1.0 “No Slackers Allowed” with a mix of ladders, superspins, tempo sets and sprints..

Length:

approx. 43 minutes

Traffic:

None.

Weather:

warm and humid

Bike:

Windsor Wellington 3.0 road-bike with 700x23c Maxxis Xephyr

Heartrate:

BikeLog 080627: Aerobase Builder I

gerrit — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 10:13:59 +0000

This week has been a little intense because in addition to the bike rides I had other workouts on my evening schedule, but to my surprise I could take it well so far. I intended to do this interval workout next Monday, but I did it today to recover a little and give myself some more time to think about a new route to try next. This workout is longer than others, but relatively easy progressing from 4×5, 4×4, 4×3 to 4×2 minute intervals with decreasing resistance and increasing cadence. The only thing that bothered me was the humidity. It didn’t take long and my t-shirt was wet as if I had taken a shower, not to mention the bike and the puddle of sweat underneath it. I think it may be time to turn on some fans and the dehumidifier.

Date/Time:

06/27/2008 06:13 AM

Route:

After a high-intensity ride through rush-hour traffic last afternoon (not logged) I decided to take it easy this morning. So no outside route today, but a recovery interval workout in the basement: Spinervals 16.0 “Aerobase Builder I”, normally for autumn and winter days, focusing on technique and aerobic or ‘blue zone’ intensity training.

Length:

approx. 1 hour 22 minutes

Traffic:

None.

Weather:

warm, felt very humid

Bike:

Windsor Wellington 3.0 road-bike with 700x23c Maxxis Xephyr

Heartrate:

BikeLog 080623: Suffer-O-Rama

gerrit — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 10:06:06 +0000

As usual it was hard to wake myself up after a weekend, and I didn’t feel like doing it at all this morning. But the ride on the trainer was much better after I readjusted the derailleurs and shoes last week. I think a few more times and this bike will feel as comfortable as the mountain bikes. Spinerval 3.0 is another interval workout I always enjoyed. It feels similar to Spinerval 1.0: it’s relatively short, but still challenging. Compared to a few weeks ago, when I still used the old mountain bike on the trainer, this workout felt much tougher to me. I either lost all my strength, or it’s the morning and the new gear ratio that made it harder in general. I would like to believe it’s the latter. :)

Date/Time:

06/23/2008 06:06 AM

Route:

No outside route. Decided to do an interval workout in the basement instead: Spinervals 3.0 “Suffer-O-Rama” with sprints, tempo and anaerobic sets.

Length:

approx. 52 minutes

Traffic:

None.

Weather:

mediocre, a little humid

Bike:

Windsor Wellington 3.0 road-bike with 700x23c Maxxis Xephyr

Heartrate:

BikeLog 080616: No Slackers Allowed

gerrit — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 10:20:03 +0000

This ride didn’t go well at all. Spinerval 1.0 has always been one of my favorite workouts, but the new bike felt just wrong. No doubt I still have to break it in and get used to a road-bike after exclusively riding mountain bikes for the last few years. Also, I need to readjust the derailleurs that didn’t snap properly. After an unhealthy weekend I felt worn out and not energized at all. I didn’t like the sound of the trainer and the way it leaned a bit toward the left side, especially during out-of-the-saddle segments. Overall I wasn’t very focused today, too. Not a great start into the week. I hope tonight’s strength-workout will be better.

Date/Time:

06/16/2008 06:20AM

Route:

No route — decided to do a bike-trainer workout in the basement today. Did Spinerval 1.0 workout, a quick 45 minute interval workout with a mix of ladders, superspins, tempo sets and sprints.

Length:

45 minutes

Traffic:

None.

Weather:

warm

Bike:

Windsor Wellington 3.0 road-bike with 700x23c Maxxis Xephyr

Heartrate:

Get your mind into the GUTR

gerrit — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 14:53:35 +0000

Soon we will have to suffer through a few months of hot and humid Baltimore weather again, and this year I wanted to be prepared. One of my biggest problems walking or biking was how this continuous stream of sweat would flow into my eyes and onto my sunglasses. Not only my eyes began to burn, I also couldn’t see through my glasses anymore. I found THE solution which I tried with great success today: Sweat GUTR – The Ultimate Sweatband by Tunnelvision.

I can highly recommend it. Unlike other sweatbands which are designed to soak up your sweat, this very thin band literally works like a gutter. It catches the sweat and lets it flow off to the side. It just did what it was supposed to do: No sweat in my eyes, no trouble with my sunglasses. But I thought that deserves a few words :)

BikeLog 080611: Mt Vernon

gerrit — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 20:17:49 +0000

Walked my own feet :) Felt well, thought it was a good walk with hardly any stops and constant 4mph.

Date/Time:

06/11/2008 04:17 PM

Route:

Walk through Charles Village, left to St. Paul Street, right into 29th, left and along North Charles Street to Mt. Vernon.

Length:

approx. 2.8 miles

Traffic:

easy going all the way

Weather:

clear, sunny, warm and good air-quality

Bike:

None, with Garmont Flash XCR Hiking Shoes