My sleep has been a bit up and down recently. When things are less busy at work and I’m chilled I can climb into bed, read for a bit and then happily be asleep within minutes of putting out the light. Unfortunately, when I’m stressed and busy I find that my ability to go to [...]
Entries Tagged as 'Rest'
Powerlifting progress 2010: week nineteen holiday
May 16th, 2010 · No Comments · Training
I am serious about wanting to qualify and compete at powerlifting but that didn’t stop me from having a holiday last week. What were we doing? We were cycle touring round the far North East of Scotland. When I say far North East I really do mean far North East. We drove for nine hours [...]
Lessons learned: getting work capacity right!
May 3rd, 2010 · 1 Comment · Training
It’s not often I get to write a blog post like this, but this will be a short celebration of the fact that I had learned my lesson last time I tried to increase my work capacity and workout density. I applied those lessons and as a result I managed to smoothly move into my [...]
Tags:contraceptive·menstrual cycle·Recovery·Rest·Training·Work capacity
Lessons learned: exercise and the menstrual cycle
April 5th, 2010 · 1 Comment · Training
I had a tiring reminder this weekend of the impact that my menstrual cycle can have on my physical activity levels. The usual activity levels In a standard week I usually do a bike ride on Saturday and Sunday mornings and a weights session that lasts about an hour and a half on Tuesday, Thursday, [...]
Tags:menstrual cycle·Rest·Sleep·Training
Lessons learned: training outside the box
March 22nd, 2010 · 1 Comment · Psychology, Training
Management consultants: not all bad Thanks to my job, the language of management consultants has become second nature to me. Some phrases, like ‘straw man’ and ‘thought shower’ leave me cold and I avoid them whenever possible. However, I like the concept of ‘thinking outside the box’ and I think that it’s something that applies [...]
Tags:Goals·Injury·Powerlifting·Psychology·Recovery·Rest·Training
Powerlifting progress 2010: week eleven (holiday and active rest)
March 21st, 2010 · 1 Comment · Training
It’s been a week off for the powerlifting. I may be serious about qualifying for powerlifting, but everyone needs a week off and this was a week of active recovery. I won’t fill a post with ramblings about the six days we spent walking out on the hills of the Lake District, the surprisingly good [...]
Lessons learned: sleep
February 22nd, 2010 · 1 Comment · Psychology, Training
I was staying away from home the other week because of work. For the second week I had a dreadful mattressso my sleep quality was poor and by the end of four days I was stressed and physically tired. Sleep is a hugely underestimated element of athletic performance. Dan John swears by it for performance [...]
Tags:Insomnia·Recovery·Rest·Sleep·weight loss
Cortisol
January 3rd, 2010 · 2 Comments · Psychology, Training
Cortisol is an awkward inheritance. Once upon a time it had a very real purpose. Even today it still serves it’s original purpose when given the correct opportunity, in situations like earthquakes, tsumanis, attempted murder, robbery and the humble, but basic, accident. Depending on what you read it may also regularly serve it’s purpose by [...]
Tags:Bone density·cortisol·Insomnia·Magnesium·Recovery·Rest·Training·Women
Lessons learned this week: the art of relaxation
November 2nd, 2009 · No Comments · Psychology, Training
Having suffered so horribly from insomnia before we went away I have now fully recovered. For the last week I have slept for about 10 hours each night. Sometimes a bit more, sometimes a fraction less. Additionally, apart from spending either two hours on the bike or 20 minutes doing lengths of the pool before [...]
