by hattenburrow | Feb 20, 2017 | Film & Photo, Kit Reviews
Last weekend I had the pleasure of working with Grip Grab on the promotional videos and photography for their up and coming women’s range. This progressive company has been listening to customer feedback and decided to produce an exclusive women’s range designed specifically for female riders.
The new women’s range has been developed to work seamlessly with existing cycling kits, the colours they have chose turquoise and purple/pink compliment many existing women’s kits, however if you fancy being totally matched then their new women’s kit is an appealing choice.
The new women’s kit includes matching shoe covers, gloves, headbands and cycling caps all designed using the highest quality materials with performance and comfort at the core of each product.
Here are some of the pictures from the shoot.
Photo by Martin Paldan | GripGrab Media Crew
Photo by Martin Paldan | GripGrab Media Crew
Photo by Martin Paldan | GripGrab Media Crew
by hattenburrow | Feb 17, 2017 | Training, Uncategorized
For the last three weeks I have been working on my strength in the gym with my personal trainer Steve. After a long time off the bike I needed a way to build up my power and endurance and weight training is great for this.
Yesterday we worked on glute strength, with walking lunges, Bulgarian split squats and hip thrust to name a few.
In most of us today our glutes are not being fired up on a regular basis due to the fact we spend a long time sitting! Even though this is a big muscle group it gets lazy when it’s not used and weight training with exercises like squats, lunges and hip thrusts are a good way to build glute strength.
What’s a glute? The gluteal muscles are a group of three muscles which make up the buttocks: the gluteus maximus, gluteus medius and gluteus minimus. The three muscles originate from the ilium and sacrum and insert on the femur. The functions of the muscles include extension, abduction, external rotation and internal rotation of the hip joint. So there pretty important!
Bulgarian split squats work the glute muscles as well as the upper leg muscles. The target muscle is the quadriceps with the gluteus maximus, soleus and adductor magnus working to assist. The hamstring, gastrocnemius, gluteus medius and gluteus minimus all act as stabilizers.
The glute bridge and the hip thrust are very effective, targeted and versatile exercises designed to activate the gluteal muscles. Being that the glutes are the largest muscle in the body (by surface area), they play an important role in hip movement and stabilization.
by hattenburrow | Feb 7, 2017 | Training
The first week of February signalled a change in my training, after a few weeks of building my cardio back up I made the commitment to get stronger by taking on a personal trainer once a week, to help build muscle. I felt getting the help of a PT would mean I would be pushed out of my comfort zone. I have also in the past found the free weights section in gyms rather daunting with the amount of testosterone being pumped around, I have often found myself gravitating to the machines, or lifting small weights where I feel at more at home. So picking a personal trainer who could help guide me to the exercises I should be doing to gain strength quickly, without injury and also having them there to spot me were important considerations in making this decision. One that seems to be paying off (now two weeks into my gym plan).
Last Monday the alarm rang at 5:45am and I rolled out of bed made my eggs and Matcha tea whilst feeding Luna (who was not impressed about being up so early), before heading to the gym.
I met Steve the PT at the gym and for the next hour we went through resistance exercises that would make my whole body stronger. As I have mainly concentrated on building my leg strength for years my upper body and back have become weaker so I was keen to work on this area and improve my strength. Steve took me through exercises like tricep dips, press ups and squats with kettle bells to help build my all round strength.
Most of the exercises I am doing use free weights and resistance I think resistance training works especially well for me as I get bored sitting on machines. Resistance training tends to be more dynamic and interesting.
After my PT session there was time for a protein shake, shower and quick change before driving to the office.
I had said to Lauren we would run at lunch, expecting my body to cope with strength training after weeks and weeks off was rather silly on my behalf!
None the less Lauren and I went for a walk/run and I actually felt okay once I was moving, once we had stopped and I was back at my desk it was clear that the running gym combo was maybe too much too soon and three days later I was still suffering with DOMS!
DOMS can occur anywhere in the body that has recently been exposed to unfamiliar or intense physical activity.
After working my whole body in an unfamiliar way there was not a part of me that didn’t ache in some way.
Top DOMS alleviation tips:
- Drinking plenty of water
- Eating the correct food, protein shake after my workout and then a meal of good carbs, protein and vegetables.
- Resting in front of the tele watching Scandal with your legs in the air (insert favourite TV program)
So much for a big training week… This really highlighted to me the importance of resting and eating for recovery. I have been keen to start building up my miles on the bike again in preparation for racing but having decided to also focus on building strength by using the gym I need to work on a better plan of how my training week will be brought together.
I spoke with Steve and we have adjusted my PT sessions slightly as it’s no good going to the gym if it means I can’t do any bike work during the week.
To make sure I recover well from my PT session I have changed my cardio sessions around and will try a short run on Tuesdays, walking Wednesdays and sprint sessions, a long tempo ride Thursday a rest Friday and then long low intensity weekend ride.
by hattenburrow | Jan 26, 2017 | Training
The last two weeks have been really busy work has been full on. I have been working hard to also get some new coaching courses off the ground and tie down dates for my first ever series of women’s ‘back on your bike’ sessions. As well as having to arrange plasterers and plumbers for our house renovation! All of this has led to not a great deal of training time. I know ‘not enough time’ is an excuse that I personally don’t believe in, I think if your committed to becoming better at something whether that is a sport or something else in your life then you have to look at your time and how you can use it better. That being said the last two weeks it has been important to focus on sorting out Pedal 2 Pedal and so training has been shifted down my priority list.
With this in mind I decided to try and go running, I knew it would challenge me but also you can fit a 30/40 minute run (this is about all I can manage) into your day quite easily where a 2/3 hour training ride is a little more challenging.
I am not a runner, I used to run a lot at school and I have done the Race for Life with my Mum a few times when I was a teenager but I haven’t run for ages!
My plan was to run every day for the two busy weeks, I soon found out my body was not so keen on this idea! The impact from running on joints etc is far greater than cycling and even with a good stretch I had to adapt my running plan to every other day and so far (with the odd training ride) I have fit it in!
I really have enjoyed running! I went running with friends Lauren and Stu and our dogs Lola and Luna along the sea front which was fun, I did feel like I was cheating slightly as Luna pulled me along!
Lauren and I have been running in our lunch break as well and I have found that this is a great way to spend a lunch time as you get outside away from your computer and switch off, we always come back to the office feeling full of endorphin’s’ and ready for the afternoon after food of course! I highly recommend this all you need is your running gear a packet of baby wipes and a deodorant.
As I am aiming towards some quite big cycling goals this year it is important that I keep training on my bike but I think these two weeks have been good and I will continue to run as it builds bone strength and other muscles that I’m not using as a cyclist.
Sometimes life gets busy but don’t let life get in the way of what you want to do. Remember to make time for yourself even if it is just a 30 minute run your mind and body will thank you for it.
Have a great day!
Share your stories with me below.
by hattenburrow | Jan 18, 2017 | Breeze, Coaching, Training
January is an odd month, after the high from Christmas it can be quite a low month. Low on funds, low on effort and low on dedication to stick to those New year’s resolutions you made one the first. Myself included in this!
This makes it an odd month to decide to set your yearly goals. Talking to a friend recently I asked what were her new year resolutions she said “oh I don’t set them in January, I know what I want to achieve in the big picture and then every other month I re-assess” I can see the benefit in this, it adds in an important part to goal setting, which most people don’t think of and that is the analysis of those goals on a frequent basis. It makes your goals/New year resolutions more tangible by setting mile stones you can celebrate and know you’re on/off track.
This is why I like to have a plan of how I am going to get from A to B and then on to C. It’s sensible really you wouldn’t start driving your car without planning the journey. The same comes for setting fitness goals you need to plan and assess that plan as you go. So I have been thinking of ways in which I can help you with your fitness goals and make sure my own go to plan at the same time!
Your goals need to be SMART. Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Timed. It is alright setting out to ‘get fitter’ for the New Year but what does that look like? How is it going to feel when you get there? How will you know, what stepping stones will you go through on the way to your goal of ‘fitter’.
One thing I have found over my years of training is if you don’t know if your improving you tend to ‘flat line’ going out thinking you’re working hard only to find out when it actually matters that you probably could of pushed harder in training. So it is important to set yourself markers so you will know if it’s going well or if you need to sit yourself down and have a chat! This can also work the other way of course sometimes your pushing so hard towards your goal you forget that rest is the valuable time when your body recovers, re-energises and gets stronger. As a woman I think it’s sometimes harder to properly rest. Or at least that how it seems in my house, my rest days involve house work and a number of other things which mean I don’t always properly rest. A way to test how well you’re recovering is with your heart rate (HR) measuring your resting HR in the mornings will give an indication over training. The best way is to measure when you’re lying down 5 mins after waking, record for 5 days if you see an increase over 2 beats per min you could be heading towards over training. Give yourself a day off.
Heart rate is a great, cost effective way to measure your fitness and create controlled training sessions. By measuring your heart rate you can work out your HR zones and from there you can develop your training in these specific zones.
So my top tips for your 2017 goals are:
- Set SMART goals
- Measure your progress whether that is in a diary or using Garmin/Strava
- Take time to properly rest
- Spend time running/riding/walking with friends
- Create milestones to work towards
- Drink plenty of water
I’d love to hear your goals for 2017 please comment below.
Good luck for 2017 x
