Fun with the Heart Rate Monitor

Based on the results I have seen fellow bloggers and AKC coaches obtaining with a simple, 5-6x per week program, I began an experiment this week. The basic template many of them follow is a warm/mobility routine, jerks, snatches, and then swings for assistance. It’s a bit different for long cycle.

I had my knee scoped four weeks ago, so I obviously won’t be doing jerks. However, at a slow cadence, I found I could duplicate the fun one can have with the rack position by a standing double press. I decided to try some short sets of snatches and swings with the condition that I stop if my right knee was at all uncomfortable. And, since my training was the same for each of the five days, I strapped on a heart rate monitor. I began Monday after two days of rest.

Here was the routine for each day, Monday through Friday:

Joint mobility
2APress16kg – 3m (5rpm). 15.
Rest 3m.
1ASn16kg – 4m(12 rpm). 24/24.
Rest 4m.
1ASw16kg – 2m(1m per side). @34/34.
Rest 2m.
1ASw16kg – 2m(1m per side). @34/34.

I followed each session with a variety of things – chinups, pullups, terminal knee extensions, band assisted pistols for leg strengthening, and the like. Each day was a little different.

Each day I practiced this routine was easier than the day before. The maximum heart rate achieved, which was at the 10m mark (end of the snatch set), was progressively lower each day. The drop from 10m to 12m increased each day – from about @40bpm on Monday to @50bpm on Friday. More revealing was that each successive day’s curve was a little lower on the y-axis than the day before. Maybe it was the nutritional tweak I made, or maybe it was something else. Hard to tell. Whatever it is, I am no worse for the wear and feel pretty good this morning after training 5 days in a row.

After two days of yoga and mobility work this week, I am going to repeat the basic routine next week and make it more challenging. I think it will go something like this:

Joint mobility
2APress16kg – 5m (5rpm). 25.
Rest 5m.
1ASn16kg – 6m(14rpm). 42/42.
Rest 6m.
1ASw20kg – 2m30s(1m15s per side). @50/50.

A few random thoughts about nutrition

Nutrition is like jihad sometimes. For some reason, it is as personal as religion or politics, and people sometimes treat a discussion of nutrition like this year’s Democrat Primary – it can get ugly. I am not trying to sell anything, and I don’t have an axe to grind. I do know, however, that my nutrition and eating needs an overhaul.

I do have a personal stake in all of this. My father had a major heart attack at 53. His father died at 59 after having the Big One. Dad was one of the first patients put on Mevacor, one of the first statins.  He developed vasculitus a few years later, and the thinking was that the Mevacor caused it. He recovered, but was never the same.

I am on a (different) statin as well due to high cholesterol and family history. However, I have very low triglycerides. My primary goal with my nutritional tune up is to see if I can get off the statin. Say what you will about statins (I believe they are the one of the most prescribed medications in this country), but I have a family history of a bad reaction to a statin and I have a fundamental issue with having blood drawn every six months to make sure the statin isn’t eating my liver. Bad news is that my GP is very pro-statin. Good news is that I have found a cardiologist willing to do a more complete blood profile and discuss alternatives to statins.

I ate horribly the first 37 years of my life. About 2 years ago, I weighed 210 on a 5′10″ frame. I gradually lost about 30 pounds since then through sensible eating and exercise. Naturally, I am thin, and I think I have about 20 lbs left to give which will get me to about 160. I am good at maintaining my weight within a narrow band, so once I meet my secondary goal of weighing about 160 before year end, I’ll be able to stay within that 160-165 range. Although I do exercise regularly, I give sensible eating 80% of the credit for my past weight loss.

Eating is an intentional activity, or at least it should be.  It is quite easy to eat badly in this country. Something in our society has changed since I was a child. Mealtimes are rushed, and there is a plethora of supersized fast food available at almost every corner. What happened to a slow, leisurely meal with meat and veggies?

Nutritionally, I think the biggest change is the pervasive use of corn – high fructose corn syrup, corn fed beef, corn fed chickens, even corn fed fish.  See any problems here? I don’t have any problems with corn – it’s probably a nutritious vegetable that for some reason doesn’t taste good to me. I do wonder if it’s a good idea to be feeding our livestock, poultry, and fish corn based meal, and I do wonder if it’s a good idea to use corn as sweetener.

Americans in general eat much less fat than 40 years ago. We eat more carbohydrates, but we’re fat as a society.  I am not a doctor or scientist, but the Office of Common Sense does wonder if it could be crabohydrates in the refined sense that are making us fat? I need to do some studying and research.

I have begun an experiment of one. I gave up refined carbohydrates a couple of days ago and am instead getting my carbohydrates from vegetables and fruits. I am on what I think is an extended sugar crash/craving, but I have prevailed so far and stayed away from foods with rapidly metabolizing sugars or starches. When I have had a craving outside of mealtime, I have put a teaspoon of heavy cream in a cup of decaf coffee which seems to quell the sugar demons.

Besides being irritable and having a headache, the only thing I’ve noticed two days in is that my training session tonight was, well, much easier. For completeness, this is the fourth day in a row I have trained. I look forward to continuing this experiment to see what other differences I notice without refined carbohydrates.

Step back in over the next few months to see what I discover in my reading and continuing nutritional experiment on me.

Falling into a pattern

4-3-2008. Day 7.

Intu-flow joint mobility basic course
A – 2ASeatedPress16kg – 3m. 12.
B1 – Pullups – 3,2,1,1
B2 – Pushups – 10,10,10
B3 – Plank – 30s,30s,30s
B4 – Bicycles – 30s,30s,30s

I might as well try and improve my pull-up numbers until I resume snatching and swinging. I am using Pavel’s fighter pullup program – google it and check it out for yourself.

Besides the obvious reason of healing from knee surgery, I think this period of restoration will confer other benefits.

Yoga for Regular Guys should be in my hands tomorrow.

Seated press baseline

Wednesday, 4-2-2008. Day 6.

Intu-flow joint mobility basic course.

1ASeatedPress12kg – 5m. 15/15.

2ASeatedPress16kg – 2m. 8.

Renegade row – 10/10.

A little short on time this morning, but I accomplished my goal of determining a baseline time for seated press. The seated press will be the backbone of what I am doing for awhile. All that is between where I am now and some higher numbers with heavier weight is consistent and smart practice.

I hadn’t done renegade rows in a long time and reminded myself this morning why I haven’t. Personal preference I guess, but I don’t like the exercise. Need to find another non-ballistic pulling movement. Chinups or pullups seem nice.

The knee is also beginning to feel normal. I almost have full, pain free range of motion.

Training on the patio

Tuesday, 4-1-2008. Day 5.

Intu-flow joint mobility basic course.

Then, I pulled one from the annals of junior high gym class and modified it a bit, all in the comfort of my own patio.

Pushups – 100, sets of  5 – 20 as desired, alternating with

Chinups – 15, sets of 1 – 2 as desired.

Situps – 30.

I am interested in exploring knee friendly ways to break a sweat. I sure did here.

What Now?

3-29-2008. Day 2.
Intu-Flow basic mobility course.
Circuit – 3 times through.
1(a) 1A Chair Press 12kg. 5m. 15/15.
1(b) 1A Chair Press 16kg. 4m. 10/10.
1(c) 2A Chair Press 16kg. 2m. 10.
2 Situps – 20,20,20
3 Pushups (right leg elevated) – 15,15,15
4 BW chins – 2,2,2

3-30-2008. Day 3.
Intu-flow basic mobility course.

3-31-2008. Day 4.
Intu-flow joint mobility basic course.

I went to the doctor yesterday. The good news is that my knee definitively has the ability to heal from a meniscus tear, as evidenced by his examination of the August injury and repair. He was quite pleased actually. The bad news is that for whatever reason, my meniscus has a tendency to tear in the femoral region. As a result, I need to be very, very, very cautious about movements that shear across the femur. These would be things like very deep squats, etc.

I will be very conservative. The first part of my recovery and rehab will be some rest. I won’t perform any movements that require flexion of the knee with weight for at least six weeks. I’ll start swinging and snatching again in earnest in May. In the meantime, I will be practicing joint mobility, various types of pushups, chins, body rows, ring pushups, seated presses, renegade rows, various active and static abdominal exercises, and anything else I can come up with that seems safe and pain free. I will also walk.

Once I am convinced there is no more swelling and once I am progressing with the Intu-flow regimen, I introduce some sort of yoga and reintroduce the swing, snatch, and clean into my routine. When I am convinced many months from now that my joints are lubricated and mobile and my knee is truly healed, then and only then will I begin practicing the jerk.

I am not in a hurry to come back, and I have no desire to do this again. My primary emphasis is longetivity and joint health. A season of softer work won’t hurt me at all. But I hope to be able to play with these guys some time before the end of the year.