Exercises you can do at home FREE

IronBoomer.com

A TriRenaissance Triathlon Lifestyle Webzine December 2008

10-Minute Strength Training Workout

Warm up with a minute or so of light walking
Keep the rest very short between exercises
End with a light cool down and stretch
Beginners: Perform one set of each exercise for 15-30 seconds
Intermediate/Advanced: Do each exercise for 1 (or more) minutes

1. One-Legged Squats
Stand in front of wall with ball behind lower back, weights in hand. Lift the left foot off the floor and keep it up as you bend right knee into a half-squat, keeping knee behind toe. Push through the heel back to start and repeat then switch legs. If you don't have a ball, simply do the exercise without it and without the weights (you may want to hold onto a chair for balance).

2. Pushups/Side Planks
Get on hands and toes (or knees), abs in and back straight. Do one pushup and as you come up, put the weight on the left side of the body, twist to the side while bringing the right arm up towards the ceiling in a side plank. Lower the arm back to the floor for another pushup and then twist to the other side. Repeat the series, alternating each side, for the desired length of time.

3. Walking Lunges/Front Kick
Take a step forward and lower into a lunge (knee behind toe and abs in, body straight). Pushup with the back leg and immediately bring the knee up into a front kick. At the end of the kick, immediately step that foot into a lunge and again bring the back leg forward into a kick. Repeat the series, alternating sides, for the desired length of time.

4. Squats/Chest Squeeze
Holding a medicine ball (or other type of ball), place hands on either side of the ball, feet shoulder-width apart. Squeeze the ball and, keeping the pressure on, lower into a squat (knees behind toes) while pushing the ball straight out in front of you. Still squeezing the ball, stand back up and pull the ball back in to your chest. Try to keep pressure on the ball for the entire time.

5. One-Legged Deadlifts
Holding a med ball, stand on one leg, knee slightly bent, the other knee bent with toes off the floor. Keeping abs in and back flat, tip from the hips and take the ball towards the floor until you feel a gentle stretch in your hamstrings. Contract the glutes back to start. Do all reps on one leg and then switch to the other halfway through.

6. Rear Delt Raises
While standing, tip forward until body is parallel to the floor, back flat and abs in. Take arms out to the sides to shoulder level, thumbs rotated up to face the ceiling. Keep the thumbs up throughout the movement and squeeze your shoulder blades together at the top of the movement. Repeat for the desired length of time.

7. Dips/Leg Extension
Sit on a chair or bench, hands next to thighs. Come off the step and a bit in front of it so that the lower back grazes the step. Bend the elbows and keep the shoulders relaxed and down while you lower the body into a dip, elbows at 90 degree angles. At the bottom of the movement, straighten the right leg in a leg extension. Lower the leg and push back up. Repeat the series, alternating right leg and left leg for the desired length of time.

8. Plie Squats on Toes
Stand with feet wider than shoulders, toes out at a comfortable angle, hands on hips. Raise up onto the toes, bend the knees and lower into a plie squat, keeping the knees in line with the toes. Lower as far as you can while still on the toes and press back up. Try to stay on your toes the entire time.

9. Row/Squat/Front Raise
Holding a medicine ball (or dumbbells), tip forward with abs in, back straight, knees slightly bent. Pull the ball towards the belly button, contracting the back muscles. Take the ball back down and stand up, immediately going into a squat while raising the ball up to shoulder level.

10. Crunch/Ball Toss
Lie on your back with knees bent, lower back pressed against the mat, medicine ball in front of chest. Contract the abs and lift the shoulder blades off the floor in a crunch. Come back down and then toss the ball straight up over chest a few inches. Be very careful with this exercise and make sure you catch the ball! Skip the toss if you're a beginner or don't feel comfortable with this part of the move. Repeat the series (crunch and toss) for the desired length of time.
Source: stomachresource.com

This 10 minute workout plan will be posted here thru 2010, refer to it as often as you like.

Need Help? TriRenaissance Coaching, LLC www.TriRenaissance.com

Burn Calories - Get Slim - Lose weight plan

By WLR Dietitian
Juliette Kellow BSc RD
Give your slimming plan a boost with Juliette's 30 fun ways to burn 300 calories a day

Show some leg power and walk fast for 52 minutes

Rearrange your bedroom and lug heavy furniture around for just 35 minutes

Go back to the 70s and rollerskate for half an hour

Hog the ski machine at your gym for 22 minutes

Do a 40-minute low-impact aerobics class

Dust off your bike and go for a 26-minute cycle

Book a badminton court for 45 minutes and persuade a friend to have a game with you

Do 26 minutes of circuit training exercise

Spring clean your house for an hour

Have a laugh with your partner and learn to ballroom dance – a one hour and 10 minute lesson is all you’ll need

Take a 35-minute hike in the countryside – and then order a diet drink when you get to the pub

Go for a 30-minute jog

Get rid of your aggression and have a go at kick boxing – 20 minutes is enough

Tidy up your garden for 42 minutes

Spruce up your front room and paint the walls for 45 minutes

Do a 55-minute class of aqua aerobics

Row vigorously on the machine at your gym for 25 minutes

Have a go at horse riding – you’ll need to book a lesson for 1 hour and 30 minutes

Get together with friends and go ice skating for 40 minutes

Cycle vigorously on the exercise bike at your gym for 20 minutes

Have a fast and furious game of squash for just 17 minutes

Scrub your kitchen floor for 40 minutes

Go for a 21-minute swim, doing front crawl at a fast pace

Scrape off that wallpaper you’ve always hated for 45 minutes

Go clubbing with your friends and dance for at least 35 minutes

Hog the running machine at your gym for 21 minutes and run at a pace of 10 minutes per mile

Walk your neighbour’s dog for an hour

Learn to snorkel at your local pool – you’ll need to practice for 45 minutes

Get into martial arts and have a go at tae kwan do – you’ll only need to do it for 21 minutes

Join an aerobic dance class for 30 minutes
Source: weight loss recourses.com

Workout Specifics - Triathlon Key Workouts
From Mat Luebbers, About us.
Your Guide to Swimming.
How Often and How Fast

Brain Work:
Speed= race pace or slower, but always the same speed through the entire swim.
Frequency= every 2-3 weeks - remember to start with less distance and build-up.

Race Simulation:
Speed= race pace.
Frequency= every 3-6 weeks - remember to start with less distance and build-up.

Technique Golf:
Speed= varied speed from slower to faster than race pace to experiment with stroke rate, stroke distances, etc. As experience is gained moves to a narrower range, and moves towards race pace or slightly slower early in the set to race pace or faster later within the set.
Frequency= every week.

Sustainable Pace:
Speed= overall race pace, with variation between segments narrowing with experience.
Frequency= every 1-2 weeks.

Hold a Pace:
Speed= Fastest speed that can be sustained for all repeats.
Frequency= every 1-2 weeks.
Count-down:
Speed= average race pace, starting below race pace and ending faster than race pace, with the variance narrowing with experience.
Frequency= every 3-6 weeks - remember to start with less distance and build-up

Hard-Easy Hard:
Speed= As fast as can be done for four swims in a row. It might be so fast you cannot hold that speed for every repeat; speed could decrease 5s-10s from first to fourth swim and from 5th to 8th swim, but if the slow-down is greater, then the inital speed was too great!
Frequency= every 1-2 weeks.
I also have a few random thoughts to add...

Swim is not the place to try and win unless it is a drafting race, then still better not to win but draft off the leader in the swim!

Balance of effort and speed - much more to come in the race after the swim is over.

Swimmers will often say that the swim leg of a triathlon is too short, and non-swimmers will say the opposite - this probably relates to the level of technical proficiency of the swimmer, not necessarily their fitness.

Not taking into account the benefits of a wetsuit, you will not swim faster in a race than you swim in practice (and still be able to bike and run well afterwards).

You must do some swimming in practice at efforts below, at, and above race pace. Short races require a bit more emphasis on swimming at or faster than race pace, and longer races slide down to an emphasis on race pace and below. Works the same way as training for a run of 1 mile or 26.2 miles - training for the longer race tends to have less running at race pace!
This workout will be posted here thru 2010 so that you may refer back to it.

CYCLING

Now, if you are looking to increase leg strength and your ability to accelerate fast and sprint, then low-cadence, high-resistance intervals are important for your training. By demanding more power against a big resistance, these intervals are similar to weight lifting on the bike and lead to neuromuscular adaptations that lead to increased recruitment of fast-twitch muscle fibers. In the end, you'll develop the ability to accelerate and sprint faster.

Sample Workout: Muscle Tension
Find a gradual climb (5 to 8 percent), shift into a big gear that you can only push at a cadence of 50 to 55 rpm. Stay seated and relax your upper body, and focus on pulling your feet back through the bottom of the pedal stroke and pushing forward over the top of the stroke. Continue grinding your way uphill for five to eight minutes, rest ten minutes, and repeat for a total of two or three intervals.

High-cadence cycling received a lot of attention during Lance Armstrong's first Tour de France victory in 1999 because his pedal speed in the mountains and time trials was notably faster than his rivals'. During his comeback from cancer we discovered that he could produce more power, go faster, and maintain that speed longer by pedaling faster instead of harder. Cancer peeled 17 pounds of muscle from his frame, and mashing big gears with that remaining muscle led to fatigue very quickly. As a result, it made sense for him to purposely shift as much work as possible from his leg muscles to his aerobic engine.

Pedaling faster puts more stress on your aerobic system, but with training, your aerobic system will adapt and you'll be able to sustain a high pace on flat ground and hills for longer periods of time.

Sample Workout: Fast Pedal
On a relatively flat road, shift into an easy gear and bring your cadence up to 15 to 16 pedal revolutions per ten-second count. This equates to a cadence of 90 to 96 rpm. Stay seated with your upper body relaxed, and try to pedal even faster while keeping your hips from bouncing. If your hips start to bounce on the saddle, you're pedaling faster than you can control, and you should back off until you can pedal smoothly again. Intervals should be five minutes of continuous pedaling, separated by five to ten minutes of normal cruising cadence riding.
Source: Chris Carmichael

This workout plan will be posted here thru 2008 so that you may refer back to it as often as you like.

AT HOME WORKOUT!
Quick Cardio Blast: Burn up to 150 calories
Minutes one to two: High-intensity cardio, jump rope or run up and down stairs.
Minutes three to four: Do as many push-ups as you can.
Minutes five and six: Jump rope or run stairs again.
Minutes seven and eight: Do squats by standing with your back against a wall and squatting as low as you can. Focus on form rather than speed.
Minutes nine and ten: Back to the high-intensity cardio, but this time give it your all. Try to get in ten more jumps or stairs in the same amount of time.
Source: Apartmentliving.com
Tone and Strengthen
Do each of these exercises for about one minute. The goal is to move continuously for the entire series.
Squats against a wall: Stand with your back against wall and squat down as far as you can.
Push-ups: Focus on form, not quantity. Knee push-ups are perfectly fine until you have the strength for military style.
Walking lunges with a front kick: Step forward with one leg and lunge until your knee is above your front foot. Stand and kick up, lower your leg and repeat with the other side.
Squats/Chest squeeze: Hold a weighted object and pull it in towards your chest as you lift up.
Dead lifts: Stand with a weighted object in your hands and bend forward until your back is parallel to the floor. Keep your back lifted the entire time. For an extra challenge, stand on one leg and alternate.
Shoulder raises: Keeping your arms straight, lift the weight to the front of your body and hold. Lower slowly and repeat.
Side raises: Stand with your upper torso parallel to the floor. Raise your arms to your sides with your thumbs pointing up. Squeeze your shoulder blades together and hold.
Triceps Dip: Support yourself on a couch or sturdy chair with both hands behind you, facing away from the chair. Bend your knees and lower yourself using only your arms. Lift and repeat.
Wide-leg squat: Stand with your legs spread open past your shoulders and squat as low as you can.
Crunch: Lie on the floor and do a set of traditional crunches, with your arms behind your head and your knees bent. Lift up your upper torso, squeeze in your abs, lower slowly and repeat.
Source: Apartmentliving.com

The above workout will be posted here for you to refer to thru 2010.
Always check with you doctor before starting any new exercise proram.