Extreme heat, exhaustion and cramps ruled the day.

Jul 30, 2007

The last CRW ride of July proved to be perhaps my worst experience on a bike ever. The heat and humidity of the day turned out to be more than I could handle. Approximately 34 miles into the ride I started to feel the affects of dehydration and from there matters deteriorated.

The rolling terrain and relatively fast pace guaranteed that I hit the wall 43 miles into the ride with severe cramps and dehydration which caused me to get off my bike to massage the lactic acid from my quads. Thanks to Alex and Beth for being there and understanding what I was going through.

Truly I hit my lowest point and from there I simply followed the wheels fighting cramps until we made it home. Wishing, during the last ten miles, that it would all just end.

I think I've answered my question about being over trained. Time to take a few days off and recover I think.

Next week we'll be doing the CRW 58 miler on Sunday. Let's hope my performance is not as disappointing as this week!

Apple Pi Ride, Sunday - July 29

Jul 29, 2007

The final CRW ride for the month of July has for me been perhaps the most intriguing ride to date. Each of the CRW rides is excellently organized and arrowed and each has a picture. The picture for today's ride is what has intrigued me the most. (see below). It almost seems unreal in a way.

The long ride passes an impressive array of apple orchards, while taking in a few hills. sounds like fun huh? If you agree the BABs team will be at the start line at 9:30am ready to participate in the long ride event. As always, I should be at the event 45 minutes prior to the start time wandering around sizing up the competition and of course, eating. I'm not really sure what I do most during our rides, eat, drink or pedal ?

Ride details can be found below. See you in the sun

Apple Pi Ride, Sunday - July 29

Ride Type: Cue Sheet, Arrowed

Times and Routes: 9:30 for 50 and 35 miles

Leaders: Jack Donohue (781-275-3991 before 9PM), Susan Grieb

Description: The short ride goes through Concord, Acton, Littleton, Westford, and Carlisle. The long ride adds Stow and Harvard. The long ride passes an impressive array of apple orchards, while taking in a few hills.

Start: VA Hospital Parking lot, Springs Road, Bedford

Directions: From 128 Take Rt 4 north to Bedford Center. Turn right on Springs Rd. Follow signs for VA Hospital/Middlesex Community College. Meet at first parking lot on right.

Relationships take a whole heart to make them work. That's why selfish people don't make it in relationships.

Interesting quote.

Jul 28, 2007

Relationships take a whole heart to make them work. That's why selfish people don't make it in relationships.

Another two gone.

Jul 28, 2007

I've lost another two pounds, bringing my total weight to 203. After a plateau at 207 for several weeks my body has started once again to utilize fat stores for energy.

When I originally took back control of my life and decided to become healthy again, I secretly targeted 195 as my final weight. Knowing this was for me, a considerable, almost unreachable challenge, I aimed for 195 and started in earnest. In hindsight it seems like I started my journey a long time ago but in reality, it was only a few months in the making.

My starting weight a little less than 4 months ago was approximately 247, give or take a few pounds depending on my health and my diet on the day. In some respects it has seemed like such a long journey and in other respects, it seems like it has flown by.

The reason I am sharing this information with you is because recently I have received both compliments on my significant weight loss and encouragement that I've passed the point of looking healthy and attractive and have begun to look withdrawn and at times run down. The reality is although 195 pounds was my original target weight, I realized several weeks ago that I would probably be uncomfortable reaching that goal and decided to level off at 210. Unfortunately it's been difficult to prevent my body from continuing to burn fat as it's worked over time to sustain my workouts on the bike.

My total workout time now exceeds 12 hours each week on average. Add to that my work schedule and stress that goes along with it and you may begin to see how it's difficult to maintain a consistent weight.

Although I have enjoyed my workouts on the bike, enjoyed immensely how I look and feel and the successes I've had, I have to admit that part of me will not be sorry when the fall comes and riding becomes more difficult due to shorter evenings and colder weather. Hanging up the bike for the winter will be extra sweet this year. The season is more than half way through and I've already exceeded my own expectations. All that's left is to complete a century in one piece and it will have been nothing short of spectacular.

The truth is lately I've gone from feeling good to feeling ok. The past several months of workouts have taken their toll and for the first time in years the heat and humidity of the summer are taking more out of me than I expected.

The pain I feel in my muscles now has gone from a healthy, tired, soreness to a rusty, weak nagging pain. I'm starting to feel of late that I'm becoming over trained despite the fact that I've been taking more days off this month than I have at any other time during my training this year. To counter these feelings I've started to decrease the length and intensity of my workouts in the hopes that I'll start to feel more energetic.

This workweek was long, exhausting and at times frustrating. I'm glad the week has ended and I'm glad for the first time in many weeks I will be taking a Saturday night to just be by myself. No plans, no one around, just the TV and the computer. Of course I will be in bed early so I can be up at the crack of dawn to fuel for what will probably be 3 or 4 hours in the morning sun riding my bike with team BABS.

Today I watched the penultimate stage of the Tour de France and to clear my head and try to establish a better relationship with my bike, I went for a short ride. Riding clears my head now like never before and anything else for that matter. When I'm on my bike I get lost in my own little world. I'll miss that when the winter comes. Unfortunately the heat was extreme today and the humidity was worse, so I kept it brief.

The last time I went for a ride to clear my mind was the day I arrived back to Boston on the Red Eye from California. I ended up riding 40 miles and came home exhausted. Today, thankfully, was much more sensible. I did a slow, by my standards, easy workout so as to leave enough in reserve for tomorrow's tough morning ride.

I'm off now to relax and enjoy some mindless television and decide what I should eat.

Enrique is back!

Jul 24, 2007

If you're like me and you think Enrique Iglesias is the bomb then you'll invariably love his new album 'Insomniac'. The highlight of the CD for me is 'Somebody's Me'. From the first listen, you'll be hooked. Enjoy!

Can you really train through an injury or does an injury mean the end of your training until you've made a 100% recovery?

Jul 24, 2007

I've been competing in one sport or another, whether it was Bodybuilding or Cycling, since I was 14. It's unquestionable that I've been successful and that I have been the best in my class whenever I decided to compete but it hasn't all been rosy and it hasn't all been without sacrifice and at times, injury. The first question you find yourself asking whenever an injury occurs is, 'Will this be the end of my training? Or just the end of my training until I recovery?'.

I trained as a bodybuilder for many years. During that training I often had minor sprains and minor injuries to various body parts. Competing at a National and International level means you must find ways to work around injuries or at worst, work through them. While I don't advocate anyone working through an injury or working a muscle directly using an exercise that will aggravate an injury further, I don't believe that your training needs to stop until you make a complete recovery and I understand some people's need to continue their training in light of contracts and other obligations.

It's safe to say I've been injured in the past. During my career as a Bodybuilder I have injured my shoulders, elbows, calves, biceps and hamstrings to name just a few body parts. Bodybuilders have the luxury of working specific body parts with all kinds of different exercises and possibly at no time is this more important than when you have the misfortune of becoming injured. If you injure your shoulder for example doing barbell presses there's a good likelihood that you can continue to train your shoulders using lateral raises. A technique I had to employ several times when coping with overuse injuries or simply a poor spotter injury when handling large amounts of weight.

The experts will tell you that the best way to deal with an injury is not to get injured. Which is great advice but now back to the real world. An injury is not the end of the world and it is NOT the end of your training (sometimes). An injury is a wonderful opportunity handed to you by the Gods to teach you something. I'm not one for sitting around and meditating when I'm injured, but I do take a cold hard look at every facet of my training when an injury occurs. I look at my form, the frequency of my workouts, how much rest I was getting before my injury and leading up to my injury. These are just a few examples of how I've reflected in times of trouble to ensure this NEVER happens again.

If you're like me, when I can't workout I'm miserable. I'm upset with myself and I'm angry. I frequently test the injured area and monitor recovery as critically as I do my regular training. I make sure I'm doing everything I possibly can to achieve results in my training at all times and I apply the same almost maniacal focus to my recovery. Except results in this case mean getting back on my bike or getting back to those workouts which provide me with my daily well being and at times, sanity.

At no time is it more important to be too hard on yourself than when you're injured. Understanding why you got injured and the physiology of that injury is imperative if you are to ensure you don't re-injure the area in the future. It's time to ask your self some questions:

Did I stretch enough?
Was I over working the muscle when it became injured?
Did I give my body sufficient rest between workouts?
Did I provide my body with the nutrition it requires in order to sustain my workouts?
Was I pushing myself too hard?
Did I increase the duration of my workouts or the number of miles I'm capable of by an unreasonable percentage?

The list of questions goes on and they'll invariably differ depending on the activity or the sport you were taking part in when you got injured in the first place. The point here is reflection. Learn why it happened and take steps to prevent it happening in the future.

The reality is injuries happen. Body parts become re-injured. Injuries don't need to be the end of your training until you make a complete recovery. It's possible to find creative ways to continue to workout and continue to make progress in light of the fact that you are injured, provided you are careful. Naturally if you break your leg, cycling is out of the question. But if you injure a calf, it may be possible to cross train or continue to ride by altering your positioning on the bike.

You need to be smart to ensure you don't aggravate the injured area further and don't impede the recovery progress. A few days break from working out isn't the end of the world (of course I don't believe that) and a few days from the gym can be utilized to catch up on tasks you had been putting off because training took priority.

Stretching, proper nutrition, rest and recuperation, good form (perfect form) and a sensibly paced workout schedule with goals that are NOT too aggressive can prevent you from becoming injured. But if you do, find ways to work around your injury and listen to your body. Don't be surprised if you find that an injury can be the best thing to that can happen for your training

Everything is set for the finale

Jul 21, 2007

After an extremely successful first night of 'Rally in the Ally', we're faced now with just hours to go before the big finale gets underway.

The weather looks fantastic and the stage is set for what should be an explosive night.

I'm planning to arrive to the club shortly before 8:30 and you should expect me to start spinning soon after that. Tickets are still available at the door but the club is already at 80% of capacity, so don't leave it until later to get there.

A number of you have emailed me enquiring about my set tonight. Normally I don't predict what I'll play or how the night will be structured, but I am prepared just this once to share with you some of the songs I believe will be huge tonight.

Like it or not, the Top 100 is littered with laid back tracks and low slung basslines. Here are my picks for the biggest songs of the evening:

Timbaland Featuring Keri Hilson - The Way I Are
Eve - Tambourine
Rihanna Featuring Jay-Z - Umbrella
T-Pain Featuring Yung Joc - Buy U A Drank (Shawty Snappin')
T-Pain Featuring Akon - Bartender
Fabolous Featuring Ne-Yo - Make Me Better
T.I. - Big Things Poppin' (Do It)
Justin Timberlake - Summer Love
Sean Kingston Beautiful Girls
Plies Featuring T-Pain Shawty
Rihanna - Shut Up And Drive
Lloyd - Get It Shawty
Gwen Stefani Featuring Akon - The Sweet Escape
Kat Deluna Featuring Elephant Man - Whine Up
Yung Berg Featuring Junior - Sexy Lady
Pink - U + Ur Hand
Timbaland Featuring Nelly Furtado & Justin Timberlake - Give It To Me

Time now for me to sign off and do some last minute set preperation before the big gig. I'll see you all very shortly at the party.

The Rally in the Ally

Jul 19th, 2007

This weekend is arguably the biggest weekend of the year for Club 58 in Quincy. The 11th annual Rally in the Ally is taking place.

The weekend features some amazing bands and some amazing DJs. I will personally have the pleasure to close the party on Saturday night. Hopefully this will be the pinnacle of the weekend.

Unfortunately there is no guest list for this event and we expect the club to be full by 9pm. Please DO NOT take this for granted if you really want to get in. Arrive early, you've been warned. See you this Saturday!.

Excellent new music

Jul 19th, 2007

It doesn't happen very often but every once in a while a song comes along that blows your socks off. Recently I have encountered two such songs and I thought I'd share my findings with you.

The first song is from Blizzard - Kalopsia. This is an incredible Summer track with an ethereal vocal. I have no idea what she's saying but this track just touches me in a way I find hard to describe.

The second track is one I've been after for quite some time. It's from Filo and Peri and is called, Anthem. The John O'Callaghan Remix is the best.

Unfortunately neither of these tracks have been released yet and a release date has not been scheduled. When they become available, pick them up!

The Producer/Artist and the DJ

Jul 16th, 2007

People frequently remind me that I spend far too much time talking about cycling and not enough time talking about DJing and producing. That's probably because I've been talking about music for years and it's almost like a job to me. Cycling is a hobby for me and I spend far less time involved with it. That being said, some people consider me to be a far better producer and DJ than a cyclist (which I don't know whether to take as an insult or a compliment) and don't understand why I don't spend more time discussing music.

Anyhow, it seems that many of you would like me to provide more detailed information about the gear that I use and the work flow(s) I follow to produce my individual sound. Naturally this is a loaded question and leaves me wondering, 'where on earth do I start when trying to explain this?'.

Rather than just jumping right into the middle of the question and spending weeks trying to figure out where to start communicating what I do, I figured I would take a more introductory approach and talk about some of the pieces of equipment and software that I utilize in the studio and on the road.

I want to state up front that the hardware and software mentioned below is a list of gear I'm using at the moment and doesn't represent the complete list of hardware/software I have at hand.

Hardware

Juno D: Many years ago I purchased the Korg Karma and couldn't ever get my head around how to use it. It was too much of a machine for someone so naive and ill prepared to be a producer. Recognizing I couldn't make much progress as a producer without first learning at least one piece of equipment really well I decided to find a synth that had a less steep learning curve and focused on sound design with that device knowing that I could later parlay my knowledge from one synth to another.

The Juno D was a fresh start, a synth that was middle of the road in terms of functionality and level of difficulty. The Juno D is an excellent keyboard/synthesizer which is capable of producing some fantastic sounds. I've spent a great deal of time playing around with this unit in an attempt to 'really' become familiar with sound synthesis. I'm pleased to announce that my investment has been worthwhile and I feel comfortable with the synth. This is also a synth that's extremely easy to use with many of the controls available via the top portion of the board itself. I can usually sculpt the kind of sounds I need pretty quickly and easily. I admit that I have yet to connect it to the computer and really start to extract sounds from the device itself so I can't tell you how well it hooks up to software and the Mac.

Korg Microkorg: What can I say? The Microkorg is small, portable and easy to use. This awesome little synth is equally at home in the studio or on the road. It can even act as a companion to your DJ sets if you're that way inclined (which I am). Unfortunately this synth has received mixed reviews since its release. Having used this synth and compared my results with those that provided reviews online, I have begun to wonder if people have realistic expectations when they purchase a piece of equipment such as this. It seems as though they expect it to be the be all and end all and the only piece of equipment they'll ever use in the studio. If that's their intention when buying a synth then they're almost certainly going be grossly disappointed with almost anything they purchase. Before purchasing a synth I think you should have an idea of what kinds of sounds you're looking to get from the unit. This will help you tailor your purchase so you can minimize your disappointment and conversely your satisfaction.

The Microkorg itself is intended to be an easy to use synth based on the MS2000 sound engine. The unit itself has some excellent presets which may be manipulated pretty easily to create some unique and original sounds. The key features in this unit are the Vocoder and the Arpeggiator. It's pretty amazing that a unit this size and in this price range has both a Vocoder and an Arpeggiator.

Mac: Obviously I couldn't function without my Mac(s). I have several of them each of which has a special purpose either on the road or in the studio. I have a 17" that I use for DJing and a 14" that I use for production work at home. I also have a 24" desktop in the studio.

Evolution UC33e MIDI Control Surface: To control the mayhem happening on the screen I rely heavily on the Evolution UC33. I have a number of these devices spread between the studio and my live gigs. The UC33 allows me to manipulate Ableton with relative ease. I have found that these devices invariably wear out pretty quickly though (usually after 8-9 months of frequent usage) so I have been disappointed that they are somewhat throw away if imperative to my workflow.

Trigger Finger: The UC33 has been my staple device used when DJing or producing. Recently I have expanded my setup to include the M-Audio Trigger Finger. I find this to be an excellent companion to the UC33 that allows me to trigger samples or add live percussion my DJ sets. I can simply map drum kits to the responsive pads on the device and drum away at a gig. This device provides additional control to all of my DJ sets but has little use in the studio as much of the drumming and percussion and programmed via the arrangement and session view in Ableton.

Ozone: The M-Audio Ozone is a great little portable keyboard that provides just enough keys to be useful at a gig yet still portable. This is a device I use when I want to add some new or additional riffs on the fly or in the studio. Unfortunately this doesn't make it to gigs because I can't quite settle on a software synth.

Software

Ableton Live 6: At the heart of my studio is Ableton Live. There is so much I can say about Ableton and all of it is good. When I think of words to describe this product I think, outstanding, incredible, amazing, wow. This is perhaps the greatest piece of music software ever written! Ableton Live and Blackberry are my two most cherished possessions. I am as fanatical about Ableton as I am about my 'Berry. It is phenomenal to find a piece of software that is as at home in the studio as it is in a club. I can DJ, produce, master, remix anywhere with this product. The software is incredibly stable and the new features in Ableton 6 make it a truly producer and DJ friendly piece of software. Warping in particular is FINALLY much, much easier in Ableton 6.

Having said all of that, I am still getting used to some parts of the product and have finally found a few nagging bugs that drive me nuts! Ableton 6 also uses quite a bit more memory than previous versions and can make gigging a little scary when it becomes unresponsive for a second or two. There are no audio dropouts which is the most important thing!

Peak Bias: I've been a huge fan of Sound Forge for many years. It provided the under pinnings for my sound editing in the studio for quite some time until I converted entirely to the Mac. At which point I converted to Peak Bias. Peak is a great product which is a suitable replacement for all of my sound editing needs even if it took some getting used to.

That's about it for my studio and live setup. In a future Blog post I'm going to explain (with screenshots) how to warp songs with Ableton 6 and describe how much easier it is to perform this critical task with Ableton 6 that so many people seem to have difficulty with.

Until then ...

Upcoming big gigs to talk about

Jul 13th, 2007

Now that the Summer is in full swing it's time to break out the big gigs. Two of which worth mentioning are the Rally in the Ally held on the 21st of July. Join me at Club 58 on the 21st at 9pm. Flyers below:

The second gig is this weekend, I'll be spinning at the Water Club in Marina Bay in Quincy. The party starts at 10pm and the place fills up fast so don't be late! Call me for guest list.

From Lance to Landis, inside the American doping scandals

Jul 12th, 2007

While Jet Blue has me captive on my way back from another business trip to California, I thought it would be nice to make use of this 'dead time' by writing another Blog post. This time I thought I'd review another cycling book which I finished quite ironically, on my way to California less than 24 hours ago.

It's obvious that the recent doping scandals affecting cycling have got my complete and uninterrupted attention. So it's no surprise that this book would be the next book on cycling that I would read. This is certainly not the first book to be written about doping in cycling and probably won't be the last. Paul Kimmage wrote one the first most notable books more than 10 years ago on the subject entitled 'Rough Ride'. Unfortunately when Paul Kimmage's book was released he was, without surprise, immediately alienated by his friends in the Peloton. He was discredited. Some considered his cycling career to be mediocre and his book was an attempt to achieve some kind of fame or monitory compensation from a sport for which he had little talent for. He was again, without surprise, labeled a liar.

'Rough Ride' provided an intriguing and equally shocking look into what goes on in the professional Peloton. 'From Lance to Landis...' provides an up to date account aimed squarely at exposing the sports biggest champion, Lance Armstrong. The book relies on the testimony of several individuals who worked closely with Lance throughout his career. They provide details of conversations which are alleged to have taken place between Lance and various different individuals.

According to the author the purpose of writing this book is to expose the horrific doping habits of pro cyclists. By exposing the horrific habits he will somehow provide the impetus to clean up the sport and will prevent unnatural deaths and the probable destruction of riders' health resulting from doping.

While I think this is a noble goal, I'm skeptical that the author really believes that exposing cycling for allegedly all its worth will all of a sudden change the sport and remove drugs entirely from the pro Peloton. I'm not saying that he or other individuals should remain quiet about their experiences or not share the information they have about the individuals that are allegedly doping, I'm simply pointing out that the author is going to make quite a lot of money from publishing allegations about individuals which do not have their basis on a lot/if any facts.

Having said all of that, this book provides an interesting read. Early parts of the book are slow but it certainly provokes more than a little doubt about the results attained by many of the current champions in the sport. I found much of the allegations about Lance to be believable, certainly not far fetched. The book makes allegations about Lance, Hincapie, Tyler, Charmichael and Bruyneel to name just a few. It talks of a sport with deep dark secrets. A sport that will do almost anything to keep those secrets, secret.

The truth is, Lance is probably the most tested athlete in cycling of all time. He has never, at least not officially, produced a positive test result. Yet he has made some pretty miraculous improvements, Cancer recovery aside, in his career in a relatively short period of time.

Doping accusations were made about Bjarne Riis. No one believed them. Recently Riis admitted using rEPO during his career and he subsequently removed himself as CSCs Director Sportif shortly before the start of the 2007 Tour. Tyler and Floyd were also accused. Tyler received a 2 years suspension for unexplained blood readings during and after his Olympic win. When confronted Tyler gave hideous arguments as to why those readings may have taken place. Tyler has recently completed a 2 year suspension from the sport and is back racing. In my opinion, he is only a small percentage of the rider he once was.

Floyd has been accused of doping and is pending arbitration to find out if he will receive a ban from Cycling that may end his career.

Paul Kimmage made many accusations about riders that recently have proven to be true. Many have made accusations about Lance, yet have never been proven. Will another 10 years need to pass before we finally know the truth or is the truth, as unbelievable as it may seem, the truth? As human beings we need hope. We need something to believe in to get us through the day. Hope is probably the reason we have religion. Without it there would probably be anarchy. The truth is we need our heroes. We need people to knock down and we need people to believe in. We need a fairy tale.

I ask you, do we simply hope that Lance and other cyclists are capable of super human endeavors and not want to see that if something seems too good to be true then it probably isn't true?

I'm not saying I believe Lance doped. Frankly, my opinion doesn't really matter and the last thing the sport of cycling needs is one more idiot giving us an unqualified opinion. What I am saying is that it's a shame, a huge shame, if it's true, that to compete in the worlds biggest cycling races you need to dope. It's sad that we may be seeing apparent super human acts that may be simply unnatural. Conversely, it's sad that an athlete so tested and so admired, could have so many accusations slung at him throughout his career and have none of them proven.

Do I think the majority of cyclists dope? I believe there is a high probability. Given my experiences in sports I don't blame them, I don't condemn them, I just think it's a pity.

My hope is that it doesn't take 10 years to find out that another hero wasn't really a hero after all. When Lance broke protocol and spoke on the Podium during his final victory in Paris he made one last plea that people would believe in the miracle of cycling. A plea to believe that the impossible is indeed possible and that the human mind and body can overcome such great obstacles and produce such great results. I hope in time, we still have reason to believe ...

Heart Rate Ranges, the debate continues ...

Jul 11th, 2007

Since my last post regarding my training for Century rides, a number of people have asked me for additional information on recommended heart rate ranges. I don't want to enter the controversial arena on appropriate or accepted heart rate ranges for the general populous but I do want to convey what has worked for me both now and in the past while giving you just a little insight into the two schools of thought.

There have been repeated debates about appropriate heart rate ranges to burn fat. There are essentially two schools of thought: (1) the recommended heart rate range to burn fat is 60 to 70 percent of your maximum heart rate. (2) Other people believe that by simply creating a calorie deficit you will kick start the fat burning process and cause your body to burn excess fat stores.

Now that you understand the two schools of thought let me tell you exactly where I fit. I believe, and have found personally, that the best results, when attempting to burn fat, come from a heart rate range that is somewhere in the 60 - 70 percent range. Particularly during the earlier part of the season or during the beginning of a workout program that is designed to shed a few extra pounds.

Later in the season, or after some weight loss has taken place, it seems that simply working hard and ensuring a calorie deficit takes place, I have found similar results even though my heart rate range is in the 80 - 90 percent of it's maximum range.

In short I'm saying that at different times during the season and in my training programs, each of the ranges has worked for me.

I tend to be a little old school and think that the 60 - 70 percent range is absolutely the best range to be in when attempting to burn fat and given the choice what range to target in an attempt to gain maximum results, I would choose the 60 - 70 percent range.

'How is this so?' I hear you say. 'How is it so that exercising at a lower intensity will potentially burn greater amounts of calories?'. Well, put simply, moderate intensity exercise actually burns more calories in a given time period. For example, you may burn 200 calories during a 30 minute low intensity exercise session and 300 calories during a 30 minute moderate intensity exercise session. Therefore increasing the amount of moderate exercise your body can handle without needing rest and the frequency of your workouts will probably cause you to experience greater results.

Many people mistakenly believe that their maximum fat burning takes place during their workout. It is true that fat is burned during your workout but something more important happens as a side effect of your workouts which happens to be far more critical to the fat burning process. The truth is, studies have shown that moderate intensity exercise increases your basal metabolic rate (BMR) more than lower intensity exercise. This means that you'll burn more calories 24 hours-a-day!

Your BMR is the rate at which your body burns fat. Your body doesn't arbitrarily decide when the best time is to burn fat, just as it doesn't make choices about what calories to burn, calories from fat vs. calories from carbohydrates. Raising your BMR causes your body to burn fat all day long. If you're trying to shed some pounds or make some dents in that bulging waist line, then raising your BMR will be a huge help in this process.

Another reason why moderate exercise achieves greater results over higher intensity workouts is because when you approach what's called the "anaerobic threshold" your body will burn more and more glucose for fuel and when you cross that threshold your body will burn exclusively glucose and NOT fat. If you have ever ridden with serious cyclists you will undoubtedly have heard them discuss replenishing their Glycogen stores prior to or after a (long) ride. Whether they understand the mechanics of this process or not, replenishing the Glycogen stores in their muscles is the correct thing to do.

Now that you understand some of the mechanics, it's time to calculate your maximum heart rate range so you can identify your target heart rate range which will invariably be a percentage of your maximum heart rate range. To calculate your maximum heart rate range simply subtract your age from 220.

For example, let's calculate my maximum heart rate range:

220 - 32 (Age) = 188 (Maximum Heart Rate)

Now that you understand some of the mechanics of how your body works when exercising, you can begin to construct a training program that best suits your own personal training goals. Remember, with any training program that is geared towards losing fat without appropriate attention to proper nutrition your results are bound to be less than optimal. Ah, nutrition. That's a Blog post for another time. Good luck with your training and remember while it's great to listen to experts (and I am not one!) it is imperative that you ALWAYS listen to your body. In the end, your success and happiness will be determined by how much you listen to your body and respond accordingly to the messages it's sending you.

Additional notes about Century training

Jul 8th, 2007

After I posted my blog entry about my training for Centuries a number of people sent me emails asking me some additional questions so I thought I'd respond as a blog post rather than through email.

First question people asked me is about weight and weight loss. Many of you want to know if cycling is a better way to lose weight than doing cardio at the gym on a stationary bike or an elliptical machine.

The truth is I don't rely on cycling to lose weight. Instead I focus on elliptical workouts each morning which allow me to focus on keeping my heart rate in a specific heart rate range. I find it very difficult to keep my heart rate in a fat burning range while I ride my bike either during training or during longer rides.

To burn fat my heart range is approx. 120 - 122 bpm. When I ride my heart rate is often 90% of its max during tough portions of my rides. Often I average approx. 144bpm. A heart rate range that is far too high to ignite any kind of fat burning.

There are advantages to employing this strategy to my workouts. Cyclists strive to decrease and maintain as little weight as possible. Fat burning workouts in the morning allow me to meet this requirement. Of course cyclists are also required to be aerobically fit. The latter requirement I satisfy during my training workouts or rides.

Having said all of that, while riding or training a calorie deficit is created. During a 4 hour workout, for example, I burn on average approx. 4,400 calories. Replacing that many calories in a single day is difficult. The purists would say that a calorie deficit is required to burn fat and if cycling produces that deficit then fat burning takes place. Perhaps I do burn some fat during my cycling workouts also but that's not the purpose of those workouts.

Next question I was asked is how much weight I have lost in the several months since beginning my training. I started at approx. 247 and now weigh approx. 210 pounds. I have been hovering around 210 - 213 for the past several weeks. This weekend I managed to drop as low as 206 so perhaps I've broken through another barrier and will continue to burn additional fat stores on my body. At this point I'm about as lean as I want or probably need to be so additional weight loss if it happens is welcome but not required.

Back to watching the Tour de France. That's enough for now, I'll answer the remainder of the questions in a later post.

Training for my Century Ride(s)

Jul 7th, 2007

A Century ride is a 100 mile ride which can be under taken alone or with a group of riders. Century rides are organized by various different groups around MA throughout the Summer and provide an excellent opportunity to ride with quite a number of other riders.

A Century ride is generally considered to be a marathon on wheels. There are a number of differences, obviously, but the general concept is the same and the effort required, although drastically different, is quite considerable none the less.

Many of you already know that some time ago I injured my knee. I injured it during a ride and went through many months of rehab to nurse my injury back to health. Unfortunately I have a condition rather than an injury and surgical intervention cannot help resolve the issues. What is required is constant stretching and workouts which strengthen the affected knee.

Needless to say last season was a total loss. I managed to ride a little but never felt comfortable on the bike. My knee constantly felt aggrevated and any ride longer than 45 minutes aggrevated my knee to the point of pain for several days. I had all but given up hope of being able to ride long distances ever again.

This year for some reason I decided to give cycling one more try. After some strength training for several months I decided to get back on my bike and try one last time. On May 5th of this year I went for my first 14 mile ride. It took me about 52 minutes and my recovery went well. Naturally I was skeptical that my knee would be capable of a greater workload and constantly waited for the other shoe to drop as I continued to ride and continued to add miles with each ride.

After 2 months of training and hundreds of miles later my knee has not only adapted to increasing workloads but has also managed to improve greatly to the point where I could start to dream again about racing and realizing a long time dream of mine, to ride a Century.

After more than 2 months I'm finally confident that with care and constant attention to form my knee will only continue to improve. In the back of my mind there is always a worry that my knee will suddenly without warning become injured or painful enough to prevent me from riding.

I have always been impressed with individuals who are not only capable of running a marathon but actually finishing one. While I don't posess the skills necessary to successfully run marathons, I do have some kind of skill to ride a bike. So while achieving my goal of running a marathon may be unrealistic for now, a Century is the next best thing.

I'm training for a Century because I respect people that have an ability to ride for that long and I consider it an impressive achievement. I would like to be one of the many riders to have realized their goal of riding a Century.

My training has been going well to date (as mentioned above). I'm pleased to report that I have completed a Metric Century which is 100km (62 miles). I completed the Metric Century this week on the 4th of July. I felt good during the ride and even better when it ended. Today I rode for 55 miles and to be honest felt fatigued and tired. Two long rides in one week was tough!

I will continue to train and continue to find the additional time necessary to train for my 100 mile ride. Many of you have asked me about my training schedule so I'll fill you in on what I have been doing. Each day starts with 45 minutes of cardio (fat burning range). That's right, I'm up at the crack of dawn to workout. Each week I complete two rides. A short ride which is usually around 30-35 miles and that's ridden fairly fast. The second ride is the long ride. The purpose of the long ride is to increase my endurance and obviously the number of miles so I can build up to 100 over time. And that is it! I know many of you are shocked when you hear how little time I spend on the bike and how little time I spend resting but that's the workout regiment that's working for me.

My rule of thumb for resting, unlike when I was a bodybuilder and competing, is to take a break when my body tells me to. I have found that taking several days a week off from working out was counter productive. Afterall, riding a Century is all about endurance so acquiring an ability to handle large workloads at lower intensity is critical. I know many people advocate resting more frequently and spending more time on the bike than I have been but don't feel the need to spend more time on the bike to improve or to take more frequent rest days from cardio. The key point here is to listen to your body if you feel you should rest then you should take some time and allow your body to recuperate.

I'm planning to ride at least one Century some time in August provided I can find the time to build up to 75 - 85 miles. If you feel like riding or training with me send me an email and I'd be happy to share my schedule with you and have you participate in our training.

I'll keep you all posted on my progress.

Cycling this weekend

Jul 6th, 2007

For those of you that enjoy cycling you will be able to find me at this ride this weekend.  The ride starts early at 9:30pm and all the details are below.

Knot Maynard, Saturday - July 7

Ride Type: Map and Cue Sheet, Arrowed.  Times and Routes: 9:30 for 50 and 77.7 miles and 9:45 for 30 miles.  Leaders: Everett Briggs (617-968-2205)

Description: Come enjoy some of our favorite roads in western Middlesex County. Ride characteristics: opportunities to stop and swim, plenty of pit stops, a combination of rolling hills and meandering country roads. We will circle but not enter Maynard.

Start: The Mall at Lincoln Station.  

Directions: Route 2 west of 128/95 to first light, Bedford Rd. Turn left (South), stay straight 2.5 mile to The Mall at Lincoln Station on your right. Please park at the back of lot, away from the shops, in the numbered spaces.

Floyd Landis, "Positively False"

July 6th 2007

I stumbled across this book while wandering aimlessly around Borders bookshop.  Knowing I wanted something juicy to sink my teeth into but not quite sure what.  The cover, the title the book practically jumped off the shelf and screamed ?buy me!?.  I admit it had ?intriguing? written all over it but did it produce the result I was looking for?

The story is Floyd?s testosterone vs. epitestosterone levels when tested, were deemed to be more than double that of a normal person?s. Two urine samples produced almost equal results.  His alleged positive drug test coincides with what some deem to be an almost Herculean effort on one of the Tours most difficult mountain stages which Floyd eventually won.  If that winning stage was Floyd?s finest stage in the tour then the day that preceded it was surely his worst.  It was a day when Floyd cracked.  A mountain stage that saw the majority of the GC rider?s rocket up the road as Floyd languished in pain and simply did the best he could to survive to the top.

I have mixed feelings about this book.  While I enjoyed reading the majority of the book, there was much of it that was simply tedious.  At times I found myself disinterested.  The title and the premise of the book made reading this an attractive proposition.   The book managed to retain my interest throughout because I am always intrigued how or what an individual is going to say in a situation such as this.

Floyd and his legal team spend time attacking the process, the validity of the testing and the result itself.  By the end of the book the reader is bogged down in scientific fact and versed in the intricacies of performing such tests in the lab but no more enlightened about Floyd?s guilt or innocence than when they first started reading the book.

The reader is left to their own devices to drudge through the science of the case and reach their own conclusion.  Floyd would like you to reach his conclusion, one of innocence, but unfortunately it?s not that simple.

The reality is the intricacies of the testing process and the science is complicated.  I would imagine the facts are difficult to comprehend and uninteresting to a regular individual.

I realized along the way that many of the reasons why I enjoyed reading this book were the same reasons I enjoyed reading Lance Armstrong?s two books.  The details that Floyd and Lance provide about life at the Tour and their path to victory are mouth wateringly interesting.   They each offered insights into what goes on at the Tour.  Details we cannot possibly extrapolate from the TV coverage.   Where the books differ are Lance?s talked about his struggle with Cancer and his fight to survive, Floyd?s book beats the reader over the head repeatedly with his statement of innocence.

If you?re interested in Floyd, his up bringing and career to date then this is the book for you.  If you?re also interested in the facts of his case, according to Floyd and his legal team, then this is the book for you.  But if you?re searching for a crisp conclusion or answer to the question, "Did Floyd dope?" don?t expect to find it.  At least this reader didn?t.  A worthwhile read nonetheless.

The Tour de France and the drug scandals rocking cycling

July 5th, 2007

As we near the start of the Tour de France we?re uncertain whether or not Floyd Landis cheated last year when he won his first Tour de France victory.  What is certain is that Floyd will not be racing in this year?s Tour de France and instead will continue with his defense and vehemently deny any wrong doing not only in last year?s Tour de France but at any point during his career.

Floyd is not the only rider to miss this year?s Tour de France.  Ivan Basso will not be joining the almost 180 riders that will descend on Paris on Saturday July 8th 2007 because he has admitted ?attempting? to dope prior to last year's Giro de Italia.  Also out of this year?s race and new to retirement is Jan Ulrich.  Jan was connected with the Operacion Puerto case and rather than deny allegations of wrong doing has decided to enter what can only be described as an early somewhat unplanned retirement.

It?s certain the race will go ahead this year and will continue for many years to come.  What isn?t certain is how many more riders will be linked to Operacion Puerto and will invariably find their careers ending prematurely due to doping allegations and accusations.

The sport of cycling has truly hit its lowest point.  We're all aware of the scandals many years ago but Operacion Puerto has rocked the sport to its core.  With an exhaustive list of riders implicated in the criminal investigation and the UCI's determination to air its dirty laundry out in public all over the media, people are left with a horrible taste in their mouth when considering the prospect that riders have taken performance enhancing drugs or worse, received blood transfusions of their own blood that has been treated to increase the number of white blood cells.

While it?s difficult to comment either way, whether or not riders are taking drugs, it?s certain that this mess is ruining cycling for all of us.

On one hand I sympathize with athletes.  Each year we expect bigger, stronger, faster athletes and we expect them to demand more of their bodies and if they don?t deliver we consider them to be mediocre or worse, a failure.  Yet we fail to realize what is required to make such dramatic improvements from year to year.  Add the increasing pressure from sponsors demanding podium finishes and the constant need to remain competitive is it really that hard to grasp that these athletes may not think twice about doping or grasping for any possible advantage? Wouldn?t you? Alas, I hear you proclaim no but you?re not in the situation, your hopes and dreams and your life long passion are not at stake so your answer is not accurate.

The reality is you?re not in the situation and neither am I, so we can?t say whether or not we would make the choice to potentially destroy our health in order to remain competitive.  I only hope that the sport of cycling manages some kind of consistent testing so that we alleviate drugs from the peloton entirely so that racing becomes fair (fair = means an equal playing field) for everyone.

Welcome!

Jul 8th, 2007

Welcome to my new personal space on the web, BrianRoche.net.

Although this is not my first website, Brian Roche Music has been in operation for many years, I feel as though this is my first real home on the web.  The purpose of Brian Roche Music after all, was strictly for the marketing and promotion of Brian Roche, the artist.  Which was fine as I didn't feel like I had a lot to say to the world other than through my music which included my own original material and my work as a DJ.

Over the past number of months I have gotten more involved in the whole Web 2.0 'thing' and more involved in Wikis, Blogs and RSS to name just a few Web 2.0 concepts.  As part of that research for work I felt it was time I found a place for myself on the web   Somewhere I could Blog about my thoughts and experiences and perhaps even provide an RSS feed so people could keep up to date with my ramblings.

One of the many reasons I didn't create and maintain such a site in the past was because I felt people didn't care much for what I had to say and I didn't really have all that much 'to' say anyway.  Now, although none of that has changed a great deal, I do feel there are some things I'd like to say once in a while and perhaps some people may be interested.  Hence, my new home on the web.

Now you all understand why I have created this new home on the web perhaps I can tell you what kinds of things I'll discuss over time.  

As you all know I'm a huge cycling fan so undoubtedly there will be enormous amounts of cycling commentary and ramblings.  I would image my next post in fact will be all about the Tour de France which is about to start this Saturday.  

Music has always been a huge part of my life and I'll be sure to discuss my thoughts on music and all things related.

I do a great deal of reading so I'm sure there'll be the odd book review or two.

Rather than talking about 'what' I'm going to write about though, why don't I just write about it?  

That's it for now.  Thanks for visiting and welcome once again to my new home on the web.