- Introduction
- Goal
- Training Plan
- Progress
- Conclusion & Results
Due to being made redundant by my previous job on 30th August and not starting my new job until 16th October, over the past 6 weeks I have had some time in between jobs and I thought, what a perfect opportunity to get myself super fit again. I re-joined the gym again in January this year after having almost 2 years away from a gym. It's something I have been wanted to do after losing my fitness the back end of 2016.
Much to my surprise, it has taken me longer than I thought it would to gain the fitness progress I found so easy and quick to come back in my late 20s. Maybe that's just the fact I'm in my early 30s now and the fact that I've never had such a long period of inactivity in competitive sports and even regular training.
With having these 6 weeks off work, I wanted to see how fit I can get within that time and also give me a head start so I can get into a really good shape and maintain it until I start my marathon training early next year. I would like to have got the half marathon distance under my belt before the year is out if I can.
After the London Marathon 2016, where I once again earned a 'Good For Age' qualification place for 2017 and 2018, I decided, after running the marathon five years in a row, 7 marathon's in 5 years, I wanted a break from it. I still intended to stay active and run other regular races and distances, keep up with my football etc but I ended up been very inactive and didn't run a race for a whole year, until the Leeds Half Marathon 2017.
With starting a new job in August 2016 and other life changes, my sports and fitness took a conscious back seat for me, while I did still train sporadically and try to keep myself fit, I was the least active I had been since I had a 2 year break from competitive sports between ages 18 and 20. I missed out on a race last year due to a virus, after struggling for fitness in football and struggling for form, not enjoying it as much, I actually announced after the season of 5 a side last autumn, that I would retire from all forms of competitive football, however I u-turned my decision and changed my mind a month later. As if I could ever quit competitive football at 31 years old and still usually the fastest player on the pitch with plenty to offer?
I think of years of pushing my body to its limits, I kind of started to stop enjoying it as I once did. I think I just needed a good break from it all and recharge my batteries, both physically and mentally. I had already quit the gym in autumn of 2015 so my conditioning and strength definitely wasn't where it was and I was not 100% happy with how my body looked but at the start of 2016, I was in really good running form and although I didn't get the race time result I wanted from the London Marathon, I achieved a PB for 20 miles in that season and was officially the top 513th fastest runner in the U.K. over the 20 miles distance and my second PB after the age of 30, so I was very fit in terms of my endurance and core strength.
MY GOAL:
My goal was to get as fit as I can during an intense training plan over 6 weeks, training 5 days a week - Monday to Friday with weekends off.
I was specifically working on strength and conditioning and working on getting 'running fit'. I was planning on alternating days between training in the gym and training outdoors running.
Along the way, although I was not specifically planning on focusing on how toned, ripped or big my body got - I was planning on taking some progress photos of how my body changed and improved over the 6 week camp.
My 6 weeks training camp regime I have been doing during most of my sessions has been a pretty mixed up bag to be honest.
It's a strength, conditioning and running training camp:
So Monday to Friday I was training every day, with the weekends off.
One day in the gym, the next day outdoor running. I have been alternating every day to mix it up.
When I'm out running on the roads I have been mixing the sessions up between 5k runs, 10k runs and intense hill training. The first 2 weeks, I was alternating between 5k and 10k so I knew I was ready for the Kirkstall Abbey 7 (miles) trail & road race which I ran on Sunday 17th September. I have only recently started running again after my Achilles injury and I wanted to ensure I got the 6-7 miles distance under my belt.
In the gym I have been working on general core strength work and a complete mix bag just for general strength and conditioning.
With each session in the gym, I begin with with a bit of upper body weight training to keep toned and build a bit of strength up top.
Weight Training:
3 sets of bicep curls
3 sets of hammers
3 sets of lat pull down
3 sets of back pulls on bench
3 sets of chest press
3 sets of shoulder press machine finishing 3 sets of shrugs
Core Strength Training:
Standing Russian Twists - 30 twists
Mountain climbs - 3 sets of 50
Russian Twists (using Gym Ball) - 2 sets of 50
Sit ups - 3 sets of 30
Abs crunches (using Gym Ball) - 2 sets of 20
Abs Roller - 2 sets of 50
Leg / Cardio work:
Jumping squats - 20
Bench jumps - 2 sets of 20 jumps
Bulgarian Bag: 12kg
Jumping lunges - 16 jumps
Stepper - 2 sets of 100 steps
The Cardio work and extra Conditioning work:
3 or 4 rounds of boxing on punchbag
Bike work - light cycling with resistance intervals
3 sets of explosive interval work on water Rowing Machine
Some sessions I may miss boxing and bike and do an Insanity or P90X virtual On-Demand fitness session on the gym big screen to keep mixing it up and to keep my body guessing
Muscle Recovery work on my calfs and Achilles using Foam Roller to finish off
I have felt my fitness improve dramatically and I'm really happy with how fit I feel now. I already had a bit of a head start due to training atleast once a week in the gym since January, so I was pretty fit already but no where near where I wanted to be.
I have massively improved my cardio and recovery fitness and in particular from certain workouts in the gym. I always finished my gym sessions off with a boxing session on punchbag. Some days I would go for cardio endurance, with one long round, for example a 10 minute round and some days I would finish off my session with 4 rounds of 3 minutes with 60 seconds break. Boxing has really improved my cardio fitness and my general conditioning. At the start of the camp, I was absolutely knackered after one round of hitting the bag but now I often add an extra round on or do some more core work after, and doing a 10 minute round was unthinkable at the start of the camp. I know my technique on the punchbag is not great, but I throw a lot of combinations and I put loads of explosive energy into my workout and it's benefited my fitness so much. Having just 60 seconds recovery between rounds is great too.
My body weight exercises have improved, in fact I get more from my intense press-up regime than the resistance bench press. My muscles ache so much more after a home chest workout, body weight exercises when done intensely are so beneficial. My core strength is really good after the 6 week camp, I can do well over 100 abs rolls for fun, planking is always tough but finding it much easier now, Russian twists I smash and all my other core exercises have improved.
I also played my first game of football for 6 months (after my Achilles injury) during the 6 week camp. I played indoor football and I wasn't sure how match fit I was until I played. It wasn't a competitive match but the guys I play with take it serious and all play really competitive. I felt like I hadn't been away to be honest, my fitness was great so I know it won't be long until I'm fully match fit and playing competitive again. I felt a bit rusty though, took a bit of time to get the timing and accuracy back, but I did.
Running:
My running has felt like it has been improving progressively but without having the races and the fact I don't use a stopwatch to time my training runs I'm not sure exactly how my progress is really going?
I did run my 2nd race in a year and a half, at the end of my 2nd week of the 6 week camp. I ran the Kirkstall Abbey 7 Mile Trail Race dressed as the 'Mad Monk' for my running club Kirkstall Harriers. I wrote a blog about the race - you can view that here - KA7 MAD MONK RACE BLOG
I think the hardest thing for me is that over the last year and a half since I ran the London Marathon, I am finding it harder to push myself to my limits. Having a year or so off running races, where I was always competitive and pushing myself I think I have got used to not having to push myself and push my body. At the moment when I was trying to push myself to my running limits it's hurting and I'm finding it hard to push through the pain barrier. I was that used to it before I had forgotten how painful it was and I just need to get back used to that again, which may take some time. I have been there done it, worn the t-shirt and having done that for years, pushing myself to my body's limits, I have nothing to prove to anyone or myself, no one can ever take those race times, PB's and medals away from me. I think a big part of this is desire, do I still have that desire to push myself to that same level anymore or do I now want to run races at a more comfortable speed rather than to my limits? This is something I will find out about myself over the next year. I'm running the London Marathon in 2018, on a 'Good For Age' place with the fast amateur club runners, I need to find in myself if I still have that desire to run and dedicate myself to the level I did a few years ago, I guess only time will tell.
In terms of body image, I am definitely not happy with the results over the last 6 weeks, particularly since I have also been regularly training most weeks over the past 6 months. I felt I had a bit of a head start as I was already fit generally. From these 6 weeks I do feel really strong in my legs and upper body and physically really fit, I'm starting to run faster again in training and the muscle is there but I have struggled to get anywhere near that ripped body I achieved and maintained comfortably between ages 25-30. It's not from lack of trying though, I've really been pushing myself in the gym and on the roads but I think it's more down to the fact I'm a bit older, I'm approaching my mid 30's now and metabolism slows down as you hit 30 and it's harder to keep that extra layer of fat off.
Physically I feel really fit and I'm really happy with my results over 6 weeks but image wise, no, I have found it hard to get the toned look, never-mind looking anywhere near as ripped and built up as I did a couple of years ago, but I know I have tried my best and physically there's no more I can do in that sense.
CONCLUSION:
I know that I have reached and past my peak as an athlete and reached my physical natural peak, I believe I was at my all-time natural peak physically at 28 years old. At 29 I feel I peaked in terms of performance, using my physical condition and experience in sports. At 30 I do believe my conditioning was at an all-time high. Between 27-30 I was at my peak. I do believe however that although I am past my best, I am far from past my sell by date and when I am in full training I am very fit, I have just accepted that I am past my best. I definitely have a few more years at my twilight of my fitness years before I begin to go on the slippery slide down the decline so I know I can still achieve some things but it's more having time to achieve things I would like to achieve as I have a lot more other things going on in my life now where as 2, 3, 4 years ago I had so much more time on my hands to put a lot of my efforts into training and competing in sport. So I hope to prove at next years London Marathon comeback race that I can still achieve 'Good For Age' or 'Sub 3-Hour' times.
Naturally I have bucket loads of energy which really helps me but I think I've also got to put into consideration that my body isn't as fresh as it once was. I've been playing competitive sport almost every year, almost all year round since the age of 8, that's 24 years, not to mention running half marathons since I was 22 years old and 5 'Good For Age' pace marathons in 5 years, that's miles on the clock in itself then top that with over 900 games of competitive football / 5 a side. It all adds up and takes it out of your body eventually - years of wear and tear. Although I have pushed myself in sports and in the gym and trained really hard, I've not always lived the lifestyle away from sport and that eventually takes it out of your body I guess. But overall I feel great at the moment.
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