Getting fit with SwordsMaster

**edyzmedieval** · 06-05-2008, 20:42

Swords, what do you think is better? Bicycle (staying in the same place) or running on the treadmill? Losing calories and training the leg muscles, as this is my focus this summer, along with the upper body.

**woad&fangs** · 06-05-2008, 22:34

can't you go on a jog?

**Ice** · 06-05-2008, 23:18

Originally Posted by edyzmedieval

Swords, what do you think is better? Bicycle (staying in the same place) or running on the treadmill? Losing calories and training the leg muscles, as this is my focus this summer, along with the upper body.

Squats, other leg workouts, jump roping, sprints, and bike sound decent. I've heard running is hell on your joints, and this coming from a past cross country athlete.

**SwordsMaster** · 06-06-2008, 00:54

Originally Posted by edyzmedieval

Swords, what do you think is better? Bicycle (staying in the same place) or running on the treadmill? Losing calories and training the leg muscles, as this is my focus this summer, along with the upper body.

I have supplied a decent leg workout higher up on this thread, IIRC it included about 30 min on the bike, on a hillcourse, 20 min run, again, on a hill course, and 10 min row for 3000m.

Go back in the thread for more details.

**SwordsMaster** · 06-09-2008, 19:23

So. SwordsMaster just discovered the new and so far most effective weight loss method. Losing 6 kg in 4 days, this particular one beats Atkins, and what have you.

It's called: dysentery. Here in Lagos most half spicy food will make you drop your ***. African spicy, and middle eastern spicy are in 2 different leagues... I thought i was used to curry, but damn!

Add to that the fact that malaria pills also make you regular, and you can't drink the water that isn't bottled, and you get a bacteria playground that will make dr. Pasteur sweat in his cold grave.

And since about the only thing your body can hold is water or tea, the weight loss is almost miraculous.

That being said, there's some nice food here. Not for the faint hearted...

**Beirut** · 06-27-2008, 16:22

Originally Posted by SwordsMaster

Here in Lagos most half spicy food will make you drop your ***. African spicy, and middle eastern spicy are in 2 different leagues... I thought i was used to curry, but damn!

That being said, there's some nice food here. Not for the faint hearted...

Sorry to be late asking, but can you expand on this? Would love to hear the details.

Omit no burn.

**SwordsMaster** · 06-27-2008, 17:31

Originally Posted by Beirut

Sorry to be late asking, but can you expand on this? Would love to hear the details.

Omit no burn.

Heh, sure. I think the secret is in the local chili pepper. Green and nasty, while most spices will be hot in your mouth, and then dissipate, this chili is spicy in a completely different, nerve attacking/chemical burn kinda spicy. If you get some pepper juice on your hands, the skin will get red. Imagine what it does to your mouth and intestinal track...

Apart from that, I have been asking them to give me "oyibo spicy". (Oyibo is the local word for White man - not very polite if they say it, but they take it as a joke when i refer to myself as oyibo.) Oyibo spicy is very little spicy for their standards - at this stage i'd like to add they also abuse black pepper.

They have a variety of fried chicken recipes - most of them spicy, with curry powder (red), and the infamous chilis, a local "soup" called Okra or Okro, which they usually eat with a doughy substance called Ebo - essentially bread dough, but made in a different way. The soup is full of local herbs and leaves I don't know the name of, and has a very unusual flavour - it has a very yellow colour and is very tangy.

Another thing they have here that I love is coconut rice: it's prepared wth dry coconut powder, rice and hot red pepper. It's spicy, and eaten with chicken or beef and Moi-Moi (a paste made out of beans that may or may not be spicy depending on the cook).

Also, since there area lot of muslims here, it's hard to find pork in local restaurants, although most hotels have bacon and sausages and anything else you want.

Phew. Long post. I'll post more when i sample them...

**Geoffrey S** · 06-09-2008, 23:29

Originally Posted by SwordsMaster

I have supplied a decent leg workout higher up on this thread, IIRC it included about 30 min on the bike, on a hillcourse, 20 min run, again, on a hill course, and 10 min row for 3000m.

Go back in the thread for more details.

Must point out that 10 min rowing for 3000m is pushing it a bit for someone who has little experience with the things. An average heavyweight freshman (75 kilos and higher) on his first 2k trial can be expected to do around 6.35/6.45, with someone higher than 85 kilos probably pushing the 6.30 mark - an average lightweight (67-75 kilos), between 6.55/7.10. Most higher-level heavyweights in the Netherlands going all-out would push just under the six minute mark on the 2k. Not that the Dutch are on top of their game, but on average aren't too shabby.

Certainly for less experienced rowers, extra weight and length make a huge difference on the times achievable on an erg.

Edit: heh, and keeping things on rowing - your post above reminds me of some of the things lightweights do to just edge into their weight category on the last few days. All those herbs to lose some weight at the last minute make the facilities most unpleasant an hour before weigh-in...

**SwordsMaster** · 06-10-2008, 09:00

Heh. Sure. Happens the same with boxing.

As of rowing, I do 2k in about 7.20, but i'm 1.78m and around 84 80kg, so relatively short. I aspire to 3k in 10 min, but you're right, it's not easy, I hover around the 11 min mark myself. But if you think about it, 3.5 min/km it should be doable if you can keep up the pace...

**Geoffrey S** · 06-10-2008, 09:58

I'll admit it's a bit of a pet peeve of mine. When I go to the gym, quite frequently I see people abusing the erg. Rowing is pretty much all about the legs, which deliver far more power than the back and arms possibly can. Lots of people do it the other way round (and at max settings), and that's just not effective - there are far better ways to train the upper body. Plus, it's injury sensitive.

One of the best things to do, at least for practice, is to set the screen to show the power curve and row at a pace no higher than 22. Ideally, the curve is pretty close to a smooth bell shape, flattening out most towards the end. Was one of the first things our coaches made us do, and I do with new rowers, and it helps a lot.