Thursday, January 28, 2010

Kettle bells are legit and semi-literature review...

So the young kids are saying legit for things they find impressive. I am impressed with Kettle Bells. I did one intro workout thinking I would have an easy time-WRONG. It was very challenging and my legs, trunk, and core felt it. Interestingly enough I felt the same muscle groups sore that I struggled with at the end of my long bike rides. I will incorporate this kettle bell activity into my weekly plan. Kettle bells are legit.

I say semi-review because I cannot find my article that I wanted to review to include more details but this particular study has shaped the way I think of endurance training. Here is how the study went. They took 10 stud triathletes, 10 stud cyclists, 10 stud swimmers, and 10 stud runners. They had them perform max VO2 testing in each event running, swimming, and cycling a week apart. Although max VO2 does not translate to performance, what it does tell us is about how hard the persons body was working depending on the event. What they found was that each discipline expert had the highest VO2 in that event (cyclists had the best VO2 max of all the athletes in cycling) and that the triathletes had the second best VO2 max of all the other non expert athletes (cyclists>triathletes>runners>swimmers in cycling). Of the VO2 max's the running VO2 was the hardest of all the 3 disciplines. It went running>swimming>cycling. So what we gather is running VO2 max translates to the other disciplines but they do not translate to running. I am putting this theory to the test by using my pre-triathlon season to run a marathon. In the meantime also try to build aerobic endurance/economy in running and see what my bike and swim do as a result. Here is how my week went:
Monday-Run 3 miles easy and kettle bells-legit
Tuesday-Weight training and core
Wednesday-Skipped my run to sleep
Thursday (today)-4 mile run. 4 miles in 38 min. Including busting ass up a hill at about 8:15 pace for 1/2 mile during the last 1/2 mile. NICE. Shorter long run planned for saturday. Small taper for the Surf City 1/2 marathon. Sub 2 hours? hmmm......QUOTE:

Those who think they have not time for bodily exercise will sooner or later have to find time for illness. ~Edward Stanley

Where is your time spent?

6 comments:

Big Daddy Diesel said...

I agree with you on the kettle balls

Jon said...

I tried Kettle Bells a year ago and I got one of the worst @$$ whoopings of my life! But, they really tightened me up, quickly.

Pete32 said...

Great article on the VO2 study. I have always thought that running translates to the other disciplines better; now there's a study that shows it. It will be nice to see how this theory translates for you this season, I'll be watching. Thanks!

Chuck said...

Enjoyed the post. The results from the study were very interesting. Prior to running I did a lot of cycling for years. Of these two disciplines, for myself, running requires the most work. I found that I could always jump on the bike after months without riding with no problems, but currently I am struggling with my running after taking a month off. My wife was an avid swimmer for years, but she would always struggle whenever she ran with me.

Nice job on the 4 miler. That 2 hour barrier is going down!

Karl Stutelberg said...

Kettle bells...told you so. I am up to 3x30 alternating arm kettlebell swings and 10 single arm cleans each during my 20 minute lunch workout. I'll have to go over that workout with you soon!

Anonymous said...

great study....makes sense to me, definitely.

Have not done kettle bells yet..no access. But I def believe they are legit!

good luck with it..