The Lightweight

Welcome back, all my loyal followers. I must say, I have a very elite set of readers; you are literally one in 330,000,000. So don't spread this blog around; it will diminish your special status. You think folks feel special being just one in the 1,300,000 strong crowd of the Colbert Nation?

Today, I'm going to share what I'm doing to prepare for the physical challenges of letting a yak carry my duffle up to Everest Base Camp.

This is not me.

As I've already bragged, I have a decent  level of cardiovascular fitness... just enough to make me think I could do this trek without any artificial aids like a stretcher. But my current fitness is not really enough to take on an Wild and Extreme Endurance Event of hiking up to 18,500 feet (metric equivalent: 63.70 jillometres) in  minus 10 degrees Farenheit (metric equivalent: freeze your nads off cold). For that, some folks simulate high elevation low oxygen by wearing a training mask that basically forces you to breath through a straw. Um, I'm not gonna do that even if I can rock a maple leaf. I knew I needed to round out my fitness, if for no other reason than to give you, my many fellow advernturers, the hilarious mental image of a skinny-armed pale guy trying to do free weights.

Thus, I made an appointment with a personal trainer at the Recreation and Fitness Center at work. Cheryl W. in the SAS personal trainer pool was lucky enough to pull my name. I met with Cheryl for an hour, where we went over my fitness goals - not just EBC, but doing two or three hilly century rides this year, culminating with a double century again at Bike MS in September. At our second meeting, Cheryl showed me some core-building, balance, and general strengthening exercises to add to my current monotonous routine. And yes, these new exercises do involve free weights!

• Start with the big red exercise ball, sort of what you'd use to play fetch with Clifford The Big Red Dog. Sit on the ball, then roll forward until, facing up, your shoulders and neck are on the ball. Make a flat platform with your body, with knees bent 90 degrees and feet on the floot. Using dumbells, press 20 times slowly. Use a weight that is enough that you can just barely finish 20 reps. I won't say what my weight is; use your imagination for best humorous effect. I look at the guy on the bench next to me with 70 lb weights in each beefy arm and I tell myself, "yah, but can he do that on an exercise ball?"
• Next, lay face down with the ball under your hips/abdomen. Lift dumbells, one arm at a time, bringing them to your pits, then slowly return them to the floor. Do 20 reps with each arm. (Again, insert ridiculously light weight here.)
• Last ball exercise: return to the platform position. Starting with weights extended straight up, slowly lower the weights over your face and down on either side of your head, then return, straightening the arms and keeping elbows close together. This is a tricept press. Like the others, doing this while balancing on the ball helps build your core, especially if you position your feet closer together.
• Four, using an exercise step or other platform, and holding weights in each wimpy arm, step up with one foot and bring the opposite knee up to waist height hold briefly (or boxerly, if you lean that way), then return it to the floor. Repeat 20 times on the right leg, then 20 on left.
• E, hold weights in each arm, held low at your sides. With straight arms, raise the weights out to the sides slowly to shoulder height, hold briefly, then slowly lower. Repeat 17 times. (No, I'm kidding, it's 20). Oh, and while you're doing this, stand only on one foot for 10 reps, the other foot for the last 10.
• F is similar, but doing curls while balancing on one foot; 20 curls each arm. As before, choose a weight such that you can barely finish the 20 reps. For some inscrutable reason, this one is called the One Leg Arm Curl.
• Exercise 7 (Bridge): lay on your back on a mat on the floor, with knees bent, feet flat. Then lift abdomen up, straightening your back (or abdomen, I'm adaptable), while pressing arms firmly into the floor (which does not bend no matter how hard you press). Repeat the magic number of times.
• Final exercise is the Plank. I hold this and count 20 slow breaths, which takes about 80 seconds, then repeat. Try to ignore the shaking.

Stairmaster Step Mill

I've been doing these for a couple weeks now, and I'm actually pretty happy with the workout. My balance is noticeably improved; I hardly ever fall over anymore.

In addition to these core-building exercises, I'm adding intervals to my cardio workouts. So instead of just spinning for an hour at a constant rate while I read a book (latest: A Memory of Light, a bicep builder disguised as an 800+ page hardback), I'm doing other exercises. On Wednesday, I did 30 minutes on the "real" stair machine, basically a self-contained mini escalator in the gym, minus the elf. My 7 intervals consisted of 2 minutes at 99 steps per minute and 2 minutes "rest" at 64 steps per minute.  This simulates some pretty serious climbing (150+ flights of 15 steps each).

Although I really went nowhere, I think I'm getting somewhere, getting fit, finding what fits, and having fun while doing it. And that's the point, right? "Dave's journey from here to there." I hope you'll continue the journey with me.