So I've noticed the overwhelming majority of folks I talk to about their activity levels over Thanksgiving week all report little to no physical activity. So I've been inspired to talk a little bit about an experience I had on Thanksgiving day that relates to this. :)

The last few years on Thanksgiving Day I've participated in what's called The Turkey Bowl, it's a group of guys and we play Flag Football. I recently bought a Chest Strap Polar H10 HR Monitor in order to get more insight about what my HR is doing during various workouts, as well as things like recovery time and Heart Rate Variability and whatever else I can come up with. 

Several things stand out here:
The game made me work hard for about an entire hour! And it was a blast. This hour was composed of sprinting, jogging, short bouts of recovery, and tons of lateral and backwards movement - this covers a TON of bases as far as goes movement and energy system training. It's timing, coordination, balance, direction change, etc. My Hips and legs were sore for several day Lol.

The next thing is the Max Recorded HR at 174 - which I have yet to replicate during training in the gym, although I have come close, and I also have not deliberately tried. But that's the beauty of playing a game - it makes you try much harder than you would if you weren't competing! For me, I've learned 174 is quite high, and when I get into the 170's, recovery from such workouts takes more time and more carbs than recovery from workouts where my HR never gets into the 160's.

The next thing was the Estimated Calorie Burn for my size weight sex age activity level and fitness level and HR expenditure and activity profile. This came in at 874 and I was quite impressed. It would require monumental amounts of focus and dedication for me to match this on a cardio machine, I typically don't even touch the 400 Calorie mark on the Concept 2 or AirBike, although I am NEVER on there for an hour at a time, to be fair. This left me extremely impressed at how effective going out and playing sports can be, plus it's a good explanation for why I was STARVING after this!  Hence the Duck, Turkey, White Sweet Potato, and Veggies after this on Thanksgiving day :)

Another cool set of data points:
1:32 in the most intense, max performance and max speed zone (this level does not get reached often or for long, except during the highest intensity intervals in training)
23:11 in the increasing max capacity zone (this is quite good!)
28:34 in the aerobic fitness impovement zone (Interestingly this time must have been primarily the time between plays when my HR was recovering from the spikes that happened with the sprints during every play)

I could have learned a lot more data with a high level sports watch that was coordinated with the HR Monitor - this may be something that I'll look in to and share my insights about the data I learn in the future. I would have underestimated how hard I worked if not for this data tracking - it's true I was quite tired at the end and there were moments where I was utterly exhausted (HR 174!) but still, I would have discounted and minimized the overall work I performed. Cool stuff - excited to keep learning more as I go. 

First Impression: This thing is a beast! It's sturdy as hell, and it's substantially bigger than the Assault AirBike. It feels way overbuilt. The main difference is the the drive train system, this one is belt driven whereas the Assault Bike is chain driven. The result is that the rogue bike is smoother and more quiet in operation, and it is very sensitive to changes in power application. The chain system of the Assault Bike is louder, but it feels much more like pedaling a real bike. It also seems like for the same level of effort, the assault bike displays a slightly higher wattage output than the rogue bike does. They're both awesome and you can't go wrong with either one. I'll do a more detailed review and compare and constrast the two in a later post.

Below are pics of the unboxing and install process:

Considering buying your own? My affiliate banner below will take you straight to the Rogue Echo Bike and clicking through will support my business and family :) 

QSC has a brand new Concept 2 PM5 Rower! :)  It's beautiful, and even has Bluetooth connectivity with the ErgData app, which will record your workouts and display additional metrics that you can't find on the regular display. I've been using it the last couple days and it's very technical and impressive. ​

Also we've got a new lighter slam ball, lighter wall ball, lighter KB's and a set of lighter DB's :) Reviews on all the gear and links where to purchase coming later - but in short, I love it all, excellent quality.  Plus there's more gear on the way! 

So with this brand new rower, we will see how you do on the Rowing tests! We'll be using to gauge your progress - 

100 M For Time: this is a max power, short duration, CPr (creatine phosphate) and ATP energy system dominant test - every 1/10th of a second counts! 

500 M For Time: this is a longer duration power event compared to the 100M test. It draws mainly upon the Glycolytic Energy System, also called Anaerobic Glycolysis, which serves as a bridge between the Creatine Phosphate (Phosphagen) system and the longer duration Aerobic System. 

2000 M For Time: this is an even longer duration test, drawing mainly from the Aerobic Energy System (Aerobic Glycolysis). This test duration is long enough that the Phosphagen system and Anaerobic Glycolysis systems can no longer be the main energy provider after a few minutes, so this is designed to place a large demand on the Aerobic System. 

No energy system works in a vacuum, you're always using every energy system, to an extent, to do any activity, the difference is which one is providing the dominant amount of energy. Let's find out how your energy systems stack up! Schedule at the link below or message me let's get you in here! 

In an effort to expand the wall storage options for all my gear, I finally managed to extend the pipe shelving all the way to the wall! This doubled the amount of shelving I have to keep organized and keep more gear off the ground. I needed 2 more Swiss Brackets from Rogue, 2 more 2 x 6 Stringers (Doug Fir) cut to 10", 6 3/8th's x 5" long stainless steel lag screws and washers, and 4 black steel 10 foot long schedule 40 pipe from the hardware store. Check out the photos below :)

There are a lot of different ways to put something like this together but I'll show pics of how I did it this time

Tools used:
Ratchet and socket set
Impact Wrench and Impact Sockets
Circular Saw
Drill and Drill Bits
Reciprocating Saw 
Level
Measuring Tape

1. Check where the wall studs are
1. Cut Stringers to 10" 
2. Trace holes for brackets, drill pilot holes for lag screws
3. Partially screw in brackets in with lag bolts
4. Run Pipe through brackets, find where the bracket wants so sit on the wall relative to height, check if it's level, adjust as necessary, mark spots to drill for lag screws
5. Drill pilot holes for lag screws in the studs 
6. Torque down brackets to the wall
7. Cut pipe to appropriate length
8. Install pipe through the brackets 
9. Attach fasteners around pipe to secure pipes.