May’s 30 Day Fitness Experiment Recap and Analysis

Posted on June 3, 2012 by The Young Urban Unprofessional

I’ve spent the past 9 months doing various 30-day lifestyle experiments which have targeted many different aspects of my life. However, I had yet to do one concerning fitness so I figured it was about time. The month of May was an attempt to do something active and different every day as a means to get out of my comfort zone to try new methods of exercise. As with every other experiment I’ve done so far, aspects of them have crept their way into my life and have become habit (compost bin, talking with strangers on the train, minimalism, eating less meat and more veggies, reading short stories, having sober weekends and not feeling weird about it, etc) and I’m sure that this fitness month will be no exception to that. As with any good experiment it is important to first ask the right kinds of questions. I wanted to find answers to questions like: “Is broomball a legitimate form of exercise?” or “Should I spend my time going to the gym or playing pickup soccer?” or “Do I get a better workout when I do them alone or with friends?” I definitely found some answers to those questions and I’ll recap some of them in this post.

I did a total of 27 different kinds of workouts this month, it was pretty tough logistically but with a little bit of organization and a whole lot of supportive friends I managed to do it. The only repeat workouts were running during Ragnar and hiking during my Hawaii trip. In sum, I ended up doing 31 total bouts of exercise, some more intense than others but at the end of the day I accomplished my goal of getting out of my comfort zone and trying out new exercises. For a full list of the workouts I did, scroll to the bottom of this post.

At the beginning of the month I bought a heart rate monitor because as an engineer, I had to find a way to measure my experiment. How do my new workouts compare to my habitual workouts and how do all of those relate to my overall fitness level? Here’s a chart for min/max/average heart rates for each exercise I did this month. I managed to either forget or mess up my heart rate data for only 3 of my workouts, so they’re omitted from this chart, showing 28 out of the 31 workouts I did this month:

Having the heart rates recorded is one thing, but what’s more important is to put these into context of your training zones which differ from person to person depending primarily on age and resting heart rate (54bpm for me): Fat Burning Zone (125-160bpm), Aerobic Zone (160-174), Anaerobic Threshold Zone (174-181), and Anaerobic Zone (181-195). I won’t go through how I calculated the zones because it’s pretty well-established and you can find the equations online anywhere. HERE are the equations I used. Here’s the chart with the zones overlaid on my heart rate data:

In terms of Average Heart Rate, I did not have any exercises that were in my Anaerobic Threshold Zone nor in my Anaerobic Zone. Most of my workouts landed me in the Fat Burning Zone:

Fat Burning Zone: Broomball, Harvard Stadium, Soccer, Lead Climbing, Plyometrics, Ragnar 1/2/3, Insanity, Boxing, Road Biking, Dragon Boat, Austere Fitness, Rollerblading, Spartan Race WOD, and Swimming.
Exercises that didn’t make the Fat Burning cut for Average Heart Rate: Bouldering, Rowing, P90X Shoulders/Arms, Apartment Moving, TRX Suspension Training, Outrigger Canoeing, Hiking 1/2/3, Yoga, Resistance Bands, Fitness Park.

The caveat here is that I only measured heart rate. I indeed burned fat while hiking 22 miles over 3 days in Hawaii, it’s just that my heart rate didn’t bring me into that zone. A proper measurement would include EMG for measuring muscle activity and VO2 for measuring oxygen consumption, but I’ll never have such advanced equipment so heart rate is all I have to work with. The moral of the story here for me is that for the exercises that didn’t make the fat burning cut, I likely wasn’t pushing myself hard enough (low intensity level) or consistently enough (too many breaks). The other lesson is that I was burning fat doing a variety of different things; from rollerblading to boxing to throwing rocks, I was helping make my body leaner and healthier, all without having to join a gym, spend any money, or use any weights/gym machines.

In terms of my Maximum Heart Rate, I had a few surprising findings:

Anaerobic Zone: Broomball was the only exercise that brought me to an anaerobic level of working out, who knew? I knew I was working really hard and super out of breath but I had no idea I was playing at such a high intensity level. Thank you Social Boston Sports for introducing me to Broomball (league champs 2 years in a row!)
Anaerobic Threshold Zone: Pickup Soccer and my 3rd Ragnar leg. Both of these workout were done with friends, were competitive with other people, and were among the most fun I had while exercising.
Aerobic Zone: Harvard Stadium Run, Plyometrics, Ragnar 1/2, Boxing, Spartan Race WOD, Austere Fitness, and Road Biking.
Fat Burning Zone: Rowing, Bouldering, Lead Climbing, P90X Shoulders/Arms, Apartment Moving, Insanity, Dragon Boat Racing, Outrigger Canoe Paddling, Hiking 1/2/3, Power Yoga, Rollerblading, Swimming, and the Fitness Park.

In all of my workouts this month, I at least reached the point somewhere in the workout where I was burning fat, it just might not have been burning fat the entire time as the average heart rate would indicate.

As for my initial questions starting this month, I found that Broomball is not only a legitimate form of exercise, it’s a fantastic form of exercise which could help push the limits of my anaerobic conditioning. I also found that I didn’t need to go to a gym or lift weights, I’m better of running around outside playing pickup soccer. Lasty, I did 15 of my workouts (roughly half) with friends, these were also the ones where I pushed myself the hardest (anaerobic threshold and anaerobic zones).

Would I do another 30day fitness experiment? Definitely. I had a blast, I feel great, and I have plenty of ideas for other types of exercise. There were about a dozen other exercises that I couldn’t quite do just because of logistics, time, and access to gear, some of them are: ultimate frisbee, mountain biking, break dancing, capoeira, various martial arts, kick boxing, spinning, kayaking, canoeing, and others.

Here’s the list of the exercises I did this month, feel free to check them out by clicking on the links:

Pickup Broomball in Somerville (thanks to Michelle for enlightening me to glory that is pickup broomball)
Harvard Stadium Run (thanks to Dan for always being willing to crush it)
Rowing in the Gym (thanks to no one because erging sucks)
Bouldering Pyramid Workout at Metrorock (boulder sesh with Tony)
Pickup Soccer at Tufts University (thanks Dan, Lauren, and Katie for inviting me)
Lead Rock Climbing at Farley Ledge (thanks to Tom)
P90X Shoulders, Biceps, and Triceps
12 Minute Tabata Abdominal Intervals (thanks Julia for sending this my way, sorry we couldn’t get any spinning classes in)
P90X Plyometrics in my Living Room (sorry neighbors below me)
Moving Apartments as a Workout (you’re welcome Sarah :)
Ragnar Relay Race Cape Cod (thanks Katie for organizing it and thanks team for being awesome, 6th place out of over 300 teams!)
Active Recovery Day
Boxing at the Ring Boxing Club (thanks Dan and JLo for joining me)
TRX Suspension Training (thanks Shane for providing the gear and walking me through a workout)
Insanity – Core Cardio and Balance (thanks Karen for letting me borrow the DVDs)
Road Biking
Dragon Boat Racing (thanks Julia for sending this my way, thanks Dave the team’s coach for letting me try it out)
Outrigger Canoe Paddling on Oahu (thanks to Sarah and the Lanikai Canoe Club)
Hiking the Kalalau Trail in Kauai (thanks to Sarah and her expert logistics)
Power Yoga on Kalalau Beach in Kauai Featured as the Adventure Photo of the Day on LetsbeWild.com
Fitness in Austere Environments (Kauai) (thanks Trevor for being a berzerk viking and designing these workouts)
Rollerblading on the Charles River Bike Path
Swimming at Tufts University (thanks Ashley)
Resistance Bands (thanks Graham)
Elliptical – didn’t even write about it b/c it was so lame, recap: awkward/unnatural motion and couldn’t raise my heart rate higher than 140 no matter how high the resistance and how hard I pushed.
Spartan Race Workout of the Day (WOD) (thanks Andy and Joe from Peak and Spartan Races)
Fitness Park Workout (thanks Boston)

Power Yoga on Kalalau Beach in Kauai, Hawaii

Posted on May 30, 2012 by The Young Urban Unprofessional

I knew that yoga would have to be one of my exercises while I was on vacation in Kauai, living on Kalalau Beach. Kalalau is a very spiritual place for the people who have lived there over the centuries so I found it fitting to do my one yoga workout this month while in the valley. Also, after 15 miles of hiking over two days with a pack weight approaching 50 pounds I knew my body needed some recovery. Yoga definitely did the trick. I most often do yoga on Mondays or Tuesdays after a weekend of beating myself up hiking, climbing, or adventuring. It helps lengthen my body back out and helps me work my muscles in a super low-impact way to help them recover. I’ve definitely seen an improvement in my recovery time as well as other aspects of my life (core strength, flexibility, rock climbing, etc) thanks to Yoga.

I used to be a huge naysayer toward yoga because I had wrongly assumed it was just for people who wanted to be flexible and/or wear yoga pants (both of which I fully support but that’s besides the point). I remember the first time I did yoga three years ago during a PE class at Tufts. I figured I would walk into the class, stretch out a bit, hopefully meet a girl or two, and I was golden, basically foolproof. Boy was I wrong, I was totally humbled because power yoga absolutely kicked my ass. My mat was covered in my own sweat, my muscles were shaking uncontrollably, and I felt like I wanted to die. I was that guy in the back of the class cursing and falling over and getting exceedingly frustrated because everyone else was in the zone with these expressions of zen on their faces. After taking a few semester-long classes in college I’m now a firm believer in making yoga part of my weekly routine. I like the emphasis it places on balance, power, and flexibility (not just flexibility as I wrongly assumed).

On Kalalau Beach in Kauai I decided I would do a 45 minute yoga session. I can safely say that I’ve never had such an amazing backdrop for doing yoga. I wasn’t quite sure whether I should be facing the ocean or facing the valley:

Probably my most epic Warrior 1 ever. I wasn't quite sure what I should be looking at: ocean, waterfall, mountains, cliffs, jungle, beach, naked hippies, etc. I wish this picture could really do Kalalau Valley proper justice but it's simply too big and too amazing to capture with film. (photo courtesy of Sarah).

This picture was taken about two minutes before the wind blew away my inner-tube. The tube rolled up on its side and the wind blew it about 200 yards down the beach and threatened to blow it into the ocean to be gone forever. I ran down the beach as fast as I could and saved the inner-tube. As I returned to my yoga I got a standing ovation from a half dozen naked people who were watching my escapades. After running about 400 yards and now knowing that I had an audience, I had to calm myself down and finish out another 20 minutes of yoga.

My min/max/average heart rates were 70/108/153 and it was pretty clear that the 153 peak came from sprinting down the beach. It was pretty tough to do yoga on the sand, I’m not sure I recommend it. At first I tried to use my towel as my yoga mat but it was significantly too short and it kept moving around. I quickly ditched the towel and accepted the fact I’d just be covered in sand by the end of it. I spent a lot of time getting my hands and feet situated before, during, and after each pose. It definitely wasn’t my best yoga session of all time but it was certainly the best yoga experience I’ve ever had. After the session I promptly jumped into the ocean to wash off the sand and the sweat. Then to wash off the salt water I showered under the waterfall you can see in the picture above.

Active Recovery Day

Posted on May 16, 2012 by The Young Urban Unprofessional

I got home Sunday afternoon from two days of Ragnar with the full intention of going ice skating at a local rink as my exercise for the day. My calves and hamstrings were pretty sore and I was super tired from the sleep deficit that comes from a 24 hour relay race. So I decided that today would be a great day for some active recovery. ”Active recovery can be loosely defined as a low-intensity activity (such as submaximal cycling or low-intensity weight training) used to enhance the recovery process between training sessions or competitions” (evidencebasedfitness.com). This is different than a rest day in that you’re still using your body, just at a super low intensity as a way to get the blood flowing and also helping speed muscle recovery.

Today I was somewhat of a zombie (mentally and physically) and decided that if I tried to go ice skating I might actually hurt myself with overuse. So far it’s been 14 days and I haven’t really taken a light day yet. So I chose to head to the Boston Common for a full hour of some yoga, stretching, and foam rolling. It was a beautiful day so I’m glad I got myself outside in the “fresh” Boston air and my muscles surely needed some attention. I feel like I don’t do enough of these types of days when I’m training. Every coach I’ve ever had has preached the glory of rest as a way to increase performance. For some reason I never listen even though I know it to be true. It’s tough to say, “I’m going to not exercise today”. I like exercising and I can generally alternate workouts so I’m not hitting the same muscles day in and day out. However, your heart-rate doesn’t need to be through the roof 7 days/week in order to be training well. This is where active recovery should come in. Instead of total inactivity after a race you tend to recover faster if you do some kind of low intensity cross-training exercise (less than 130bpm), massage, and/or stretching.

Here’s an example of an Active-Recovery Training Plan that I found on Men’sHealth.com which is intended to be used after a long race like a marathon or a century bike ride.

Active-Recovery Training Plan
First week after race-day:
If there is any unusual post-race pain and soreness that does not go away after your race, or flare up during your post-race training, consult your doctor.

Day	Activity
Mon	Rest day, take the time to re-charge.
Tue	Schedule a sports massage – it relieves the soreness and enhances recovery.
Wed	Cross train to keep your muscles active while they recuperate.
Thu	Rest day for more muscles recovery.
Fri	Active-recovery slow run. Duration: 20-30 mins. Going beyond 30 mins turns the run into a training session. Be aware of how your body feels.
Sat	Resume training with a slow run. Duration: 30 mins. If possible, aim to cover half the distance of your shortest training run.
Sun	Slow run. Duration: 45 mins. If possible, aim to cover half the distance of your long training runs.

Second week after race-day:

Day	Activity
Mon	Rest day.
Tue	Active-recovery slow run. Duration: 20-30 mins.
Wed	Rest day.
Thu	Endurance run. Duration: 30 mins
Fri	Rest day.
Sat	Cross training.
Sun	Long slow run. Duration: 45-60 min