Sparrows Experiment

I have questions about other strokes. For example- in the backstroke my head keeps dipping under and I breath water- sucks.

in the butterfly I find it very hard to do.

when I try breathing in the side stroke with my left side up i get water in my sinuses.

shall I go on?

when I do that forward popping my head up an ddown, fly leg thingy my lower back hurts?

not that I've been trying to swim or anything--LOL!
 
flyinfree said:
I have questions about other strokes. For example- in the backstroke my head keeps dipping under and I breath water- sucks.

in the butterfly I find it very hard to do.

when I try breathing in the side stroke with my left side up i get water in my sinuses.

shall I go on?

when I do that forward popping my head up an ddown, fly leg thingy my lower back hurts?

not that I've been trying to swim or anything--LOL!
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Hi, I just now got this. So sorry! I've been swamped with the move.
To answer some of these questions

Backstroke: Make sure your back is arched and your chest is high pushed up. To help with that put your head back looking at the sky. Its helpful but not necessary to have your head all the way back like that, but at the beginning it helps get your chest/tummy up.

Butterfly: You should start will progressive drills before you attempt the whole thing:
Try just kick for a while with a board (two feet together kick down at the same time. Initiate that kick from your hips).

Then ditch the board and streamline kick the fly.

Then add one arm and the fly unjulation motion-breathe every other stroke and side breathe for that drill.

Then the other arm.

When you feel you've gotten that far with some success do the "porpoise drill" dive to the bottom of the pool and push off with your arms in streamline. As you break the surface of the water the momentum of the push off will be great enough that you can do a perfect "fly" stroke before diving back down to the bottom.

Side stroke I'm not familiar with as it isn't one of the competitive strokes. Do you do breaststroke?
 
Thursday I did tri class and ran 3.5 miles alternating 10K and 5K pace. It was kind of a challenge! I walked a tad and my shin was taped which made ALL the difference. I'm going to for sure get one of those compression sleeves.
After the run I did a short 2000yd swim

Friday I took off. I had some massive moving to do so that was my workout and it was better than any weights I could have added in.

today-no workout again. Just cleaning like a mad woman.

Doubt I'll get to it tomorrow either but I'm feeling active enough!
 
sparrow said:
Hi, I just now got this. So sorry! I've been swamped with the move.

Backstroke: Make sure your back is arched and your chest is high pushed up. To help with that put your head back looking at the sky. Its helpful but not necessary to have your head all the way back like that, but at the beginning it helps get your chest/tummy up.

Butterfly: You should start will progressive drills before you attempt the whole thing:
Try just kick for a while with a board (two feet together kick down at the same time. Initiate that kick from your hips).

Then ditch the board and streamline kick the fly.

Then add one arm and the fly unjulation motion-breathe every other stroke and side breathe for that drill.

Then the other arm.

When you feel you've gotten that far with some success do the "porpoise drill" dive to the bottom of the pool and push off with your arms in streamline. As you break the surface of the water the momentum of the push off will be great enough that you can do a perfect "fly" stroke before diving back down to the bottom.

Side stroke I'm not familiar with as it isn't one of the competitive strokes. Do you do breaststroke?
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the breast stroke- that what i meant when i said the pop your head up with the fly thingy. I think.

wow!! That's all i can say about this post. I am going to print it and work on it. Swimming is pretty cool once you start gettign better at it. IT IS TOUGH, and that makes me like it. So few people in the pool.
 
breastroke is all under water and you pop your head up each stroke. Your arms start in the middle and pull outward and your legs look like a frog "up...out...together". Butterly is the one where you look like a dolphin both arms flying over the water, then pulling at the same time under the water and your feet stay together for the kick.

Anyway, I'm getting into a bad habit with these late nights. I'm really not sure what I'm running on! Bad food and little sleep. its a recipe for disaster.

I have not worked out for 3 whole days and I actually feel okay about it! I've been doing a LOT of active stuff so maybe my body just doesn't know the difference :)

I have read NROL on Stingos recommendation and I'm starting it Tuesday. I'm going to lift Tues/Thurs/Sat. Then I can still spin and run on Mon/Wed, swim on Friday and Saturday I'll do HIIT after I lift.

Right now I have a vanity goal. Its been a while since I did that. Tri season is wrapping up and I have nothing really to train for. SO instead of backing off and getting fat and out of shape like a lot of my fellow tri friends are going to do, I'm going to get back into lifting and interval training to work on a body fat goal and a pain-free running base so I have something to work with come January.

I have no idea where I'm starting from when it comes to body fat. Last time I was heavily into lifting and interval training I got down to 14.9 but that took a LOT of dedication, especially with diet. I eat like crud right now and I need to quit it. My body has been forgiving to this point but it won't be forever.

If I had to guess I'd say my body fat is somewhere around 18% and I already know my weight is currently 132. I'd love to see the numbers go something like 16% and 125. Most people think I'm much less weight than I really am. I've always been heavier on the scale than I look so its hard to play with the numbers since i know 125 and 16% might not look healthy. Anyway, its something to shoot for and I'm glad for the new goal. Obviously this means my diet is going to get a major overhaul and I can say goodbye to the ice cream I'm eating right now :D he he.

I feel very blessed and "full" right now. Our new house is beyond words amazing. I've never been a materialistic kind of gal and I almost feel guilt for having such an awesome place. I am so blessed. God has done some totally amazing things in my life in me, through me and to me and its so cool to look back and reflect on that road past. My gratitude is beyond description.

Anyway, its obviously late as my vulnerable, sentimental side is showing full force :) Happy day everyone. Work hard!
 
They also say God helps those who help themselves too...

The Break-In workout looks simple and easy on paper but it isn't :) It's not clear from the text, but when they say superset with full rest, it means you rest after each exercise, not after the set. I'll be very interested in following your progress and of course if I can answer any questions, please feel free. Taking "Before" pics and measurements might be a good idea. Good luck. :)
 
Today was the first day of NROL and I had fun with a friend. We are similar in ability both in cardio and weights so its going to be a great situation.

We both got our body fat tested before we even started. I was 17.0 which was a little better than what I thought

Did the break in A workout and I realize how far I've been from weights! It was challenging, but very short and manageable. Got my heart rate up and I was actually surprised by that!

Afterwards we did 30 min of HIIT type cardio-that the book actually advocates. I chose the moving stairs because I ran yesterday and those always kick my butt anyway. 5 min level 8, then alternated 1 min level 15 and 2 min level 12. The entire thing was very intense but I figured it was only 30 min. I can do anything for that long. My body felt like I'd been doing cardio for a few hours after that thing.

It was a nice change for sure.

I'm on day 2 of a clean diet and I can already tell the difference in energy and motivation. love it.
 
Dang ya jumped in with both feet didn't ya? Good on ya :) I know I mentioned it before but... superset with full rest means you rest after every set, not the pair.

What's your numbers?
 
Yeah we still not sure. Because we were sharing a machine on the squat thats what we did anyway but other than that I think we just went from one to another and then switched with no rest.

My numbers aren't so great! I only squatted 95 pounds, static lunge was 65 and... I can't remember the name of the one-armed thingy. Anyway, that was 20 pounds. I was surprised at how easy push ups were. I haven't done those in quite a while. I was able to bust out the 20 no problem. we may find a different ab exercise for the swiss ball crunch. We're used to quite a bit of core work because of tri class so that didn't really feel like it did anything for us.
 
sparrow said:
Yeah we still not sure. Because we were sharing a machine on the squat thats what we did anyway but other than that I think we just went from one to another and then switched with no rest.

My numbers aren't so great! I only squatted 95 pounds, static lunge was 65 and... I can't remember the name of the one-armed thingy. Anyway, that was 20 pounds. I was surprised at how easy push ups were. I haven't done those in quite a while. I was able to bust out the 20 no problem. we may find a different ab exercise for the swiss ball crunch. We're used to quite a bit of core work because of tri class so that didn't really feel like it did anything for us.
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Some swiss-ball crunch variations - hold a weight above your chest, or if that's too easy too, hold it over your head. If you have access to a bosu ball, put your feet on the bosu ball to create more instability. Plus I understand the core gets a workout when you do squats and lunges and deadlifts... Which brings me to my next question...

Were you using a smith machine for the squats? Just curious since I'd've thought you'd've opted for a power cage or squat rack with a barbell or just dumbbells.
 
Yes we did use a smith machine for the squats. Both of us are rather out of season in the weight room and felt we needed that assistance for now. As the weeks go on we'll move away from it. I'm already feeling sore :D
 
sparrow said:
Yes we did use a smith machine for the squats. Both of us are rather out of season in the weight room and felt we needed that assistance for now. As the weeks go on we'll move away from it. I'm already feeling sore :D
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Welcome to the Mad Scotsman's (Alywn's) Lair lol. This is gonna be interesting... Have you thought any about what you'll do after the Break-In?

Ah ok - I think your core will get a better workout once you move off the smith machine. Having done the swiss-ball crunch with my feet on the bosu I can say it definitely increases the challenge - I'm very glad to have completed a set. lol
 
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I got an email from my friend saying she was reading the book tonight again and she thinks we need to move off it so our next squat will be free. That'll feel more *real* anyway.

After break-in we're going to do fat loss 1.
 
I think Fat Loss I is a natural choice after the Break-In. The programs are pretty similar so it's kind of a progression.
 
Only got through half spin class before my daughter peed her pants :( so I had to make a trek home to get her changed before I came back to coach. Then I just hopped on the eliptical for 30 min. My muscles are in rebellion after yesterdays lift session. Its crazy. I couldn't get them to go the distance today, at all.

After one day of clean eating I'm back at 130. I must've been holding onto a ton of water weight.
 
stingo said:
Umm, is this a good thing or a bad thing?
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Depends on the goal! If I were training for a triathlon I would have come home disappointed! I didn't mind. I'm just so used to hours of cardio its really hard to make such a dramatic shift and be okay with REST. I'm not so much SORE as I am majorly fatigued in my muscles. I was getting out of breath pretty quick on cardio today because they were draining my oxygen.
 
sparrow said:
Depends on the goal! If I were training for a triathlon I would have come home disappointed! I didn't mind. I'm just so used to hours of cardio its really hard to make such a dramatic shift and be okay with REST. I'm not so much SORE as I am majorly fatigued in my muscles. I was getting out of breath pretty quick on cardio today because they were draining my oxygen.
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Ok - just checking... and hoping the gains in strength will offset the initial muscular fatigue.
 
Just all a matter of getting used to it again. I'm grateful for something "new" and my body will probably respond favorably to the switch up. My mind is already grateful for the break of intensity.
 
NROL B workout

Deadlift 2x15 @90
Step ups 2x15 each leg @15lb dumbells
superset with
one arm push press @20 lb dumbells
close grip lat pulldown 2x15@80 lb
superset with
reverse crunches 2x20

30 min HIIT

The workout was fine. The step ups were more challenging right after the deadlifts. I did the deadlifts pretty slow and got a good burn. Some things I felt I could've done more weight with, but I can do it next week.
I still feel like 30 min of cardio is so little, until I do HIIT for 30 min and am DONE by the end.
 
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