Well I gots a question or two... how come most days I can do 45 push-ups in a row then turn around a few minutes later and do another 45... but some days just out of the clear blue I'll hit the floor and the strength is just zapped out of me, and I feel like there's a rubber band holding me to the floor, and I'm lucky to squeeze out 20?
Also, two weeks ago I did alot of leg curls, was trying to do 25 reps. On the last rep or two, I strained too hard, and a muscle at my lower right back temporarily locked up. Well, stupid me just shrugged it off, hit the jump rope for another 200 reps or so, then hit the squat cage with 185 pounds. I was trying to do 25 reps then too. On about the 20th rep, my thighs and butt was rather tired but I wasn't exactly struggling, but yet at the same time I just have had bad form due to my back muscles getting overworked from the leg curls, therefore possibly having my butt stuck out too much, but on that 20th rep or so, I could feel that area around my back muscle giving out FAST, I got real sore real quick. It hurt pretty bad for a few days and then got better, but it's still not right, and that was 2 weeks ago. Is this a typical injury? How do I prevent myself from flexing the wrong muscles like this when I do leg curls?
Also, you're probably wondering why in the hell I'm stuck on 25 reps. Quite honestly, I only want to lift for endurance to make me faster while mountain biking. Bulking up and concentrating on building up as much fast twitch muscle isn't going to help me much. So, I could care less how big I am. Actually I don't want to be big at all, I like the size I'm at right now. I want to lose another 5 pounds, and that's about it. I'm 5'9" and 155 pounds. But, as I mentioned in another post, I have a hard time trying to figure out what a perfect workout would be for mountain biking. Typically I do something like this:
30 minutes on my road bike while sitting on the trainer, just warming up at first, but then gradually moving up to my second highest gear at the highest resistance at 85 rpms, which is some pretty serious stuff. I don't always hit the bike, but I try to. If I don't bike, I try to run a mile at the local high school track. After that I'll do something like:
150 reps, weighted jump rope
45 pushups
150 reps, weighted jump rope
15 reps pull-ups or curling 68 pounds
150 reps, weighted jump rope
50 reps crunches
150 reps, weighted jump rope
45 pushups
150 reps, weighted jump rope
15 reps pull-ups or curling 68 pounds
150 reps, weighted jump rope
25 reps squats, 185 pounds
150 reps, weighted jump rope
25 reps leg curls
150 reps, weighted jump rope
25 reps squats, 185 pounds
So, if you feel like analyzing that, with mountain bike endurance racing for 1.5 to 2 hours per race being the #1 priority, and ripped abs as #2, that would be cool. Although I do have a full size 8' (although homemade) squat cage, all of this is in a home gym so I don't have access to nice equipment and can't afford a gym membership right now. I do have a bike with a trainer, olympic weights, a bench, an olympic curl bar, and a smith machine with crossover cables.
I did do four sets of 25 squats for a total of 100 reps with 135 pounds last night and although I can easily throw that weight around like it's nothing, I feel stiffer today than with 185 but fewer sets. I'm really unsure as to which approach would be better for biking. I squat by myself so I don't want to go crazy with the amount of weight that I'm throwing up.
First off, I'd say your on the right lines with your workouts. You understand about fast twitch muscel fibres, high intensity training etc
The first issue about the amount of push ups you can do - there are many factors that can affect performance. What you eat before working out makes a big difference obviously, so if you can, try to have a similar meal before working out each time, this way your results and progress should be alot smoother, rather than up and down. The best things to eat before working out are complex carb about an hour or 2 before (oats, sweet potato, etc) and about a half hour or even just before if you can manage it, some simple carbs (from fruits and dextrose)
It could also be due to the fact that you have worked the muscles (chest, tris, front delts) in a workout really well and the next time you workout, they're not quite recovered enough - sometimes you wont feel aching, but they may still be repairing themselves from the previous workout. The best way to combat this is to do regular workouts that are evenly spaced - e.g workout 1 or 2 days in a row, then miss a day and repeat.
Your workout plan seems quite intense, certainly good for your bike riding. It seems similar to HIT (high intensity training) so also look at sites that have good info on different HIT methods - rememeber that your body gets used to working out and ongoing patterns, so adjusting your workouts will benefit you greatly IMO.
As for your back prob. I also have a back problem, when lifting about 6 months ago my back gave way in pretty much the same place as you. it got better where i can start to lift heavy again, but the problem still feels like it there - and thats after 6 months! so ive recntly been the docs who have sent me to a physio. if it persits, then see a doc. But, if you know its still bothering you, you should avoid all exercises that involve the back being worked, whether for lifting or for stablising.
I tend to feel my back working when doing legs extentions, its part of your bodys natural response to get the weight up. Some equipment has leg locks which mean you can concentrate on actually working the legs muscles rather than holding on with your hands and trying to shift the weight up with help of your back.
Make sure your muscles are warms too, cold muscles are more likely to receive injuries. I dont thin kthat is a problem for you tho, as you ride your bike for half an hour before anything which is a good warming up tool.
Last thing is about what type of training you do. Although you train to better influence your bike riding, you need to cover all areas of what it take to be a good alround bike rider. Most of your exercises and techniques are fast and intense. This is good as a fair bit of cycling is all about bursts of speed and sometimes for long periods. However, there are times when more power slower cycling is needed such as for up hill riding. The best way to prepare yourself for this is to do some strength training. More in the region of 8 - 12 reps with a heavier weight. This wont make you look like a bodybuilder, so dont worry about building your muscle too big (it actually take a lot of effert to grow in size - especially when it comes to eating) With you weighing 155lb, your diet is obviously not very big - not enough to pile on lbs of muscle, but more of an amount to maintian what you have, and with your goals, sounds just right.
So maybe incorporate 3 sets of squats in the 8 - 12 rep region. same goes for deadlifts and leg extentions. All this should be done in one workout if poss, although a general rule is not to do deads and squats on the same day. but you may only want to do this type of workout once a week in addition to your regular stuff.
Hope that helps, if you want more detail just say which part and I'll try to help.
