The History and Evolution of A Cycling Blog
Paul Lopez
pacificpedaling.com

In the Spring of 2007, I set out on a serious effort to lose some weight. I had gained nearly 70 pounds over the 16 years I’d been married, and all my previous attempts at getting healthy ended like most folks experiences–either shortlived, or in rollercoaster fashion at best. I would need something to help me get out of that rut, and the internet proved to be an invaluable tool in doing just that.

I read an article about a very tangible way to lose weight by watching closely what you eat, counting the calories, and understanding how many a typical person needs for each day. The article made sense to me, and resonated with me as well, so I set out to give it a try, not really knowing what to expect. Surprisingly, it worked. I started dropping weight and was very excited about it, but I’d been there before and didn’t want to fail after just a few days, so I set up a sort of accountability for my efforts — I started blogging about it.

I launched a personal weightloss journal at http://weightlossgrace.blogspot.com/, and kept track of all the things I was doing to get healthy and lose weight. Additionally, I told all my friends about it, so they could keep checking in on me as well. If EVERYONE knew I was trying to do this, I’d be more inclined to succeed and not give up.

Over the course of the year and a half that I was journaling there, I realized that my posts had slowing started turning from meal plans and daily weigh-ins to stories about bikes, cycling and anything else having to do with two wheels. This change in postings reflected my thought process in life too. I had gone from thinking everyday about how to lose weight, to thinking “how can I get out on my bike today?”

In October of 2008 I launched PacificPedaling.com, a blog about cycling, bikes, and riding in this Pacific Northwest area we live in. Our goal was to not only write about what was going on, but also be a part of the cycling community in very real ways.

In April, we sponsored, and helped pull off the Union Street Bridge grand opening event in downtown Salem.

In September, the Pacific Pedaling sponsored cycling team began racing in the MTB Short Track races  and in October we began racing in two different Cyclocross Series.

As we end 2009 and look forward to 2010, the PacificPedaling blog is a sponsor of the Boys and Girls Club Junior Cycling squad, and team members have become part of the team of mentors and coaches that will help train the kids to ride a 100 Mile century ride this coming summer.

We’re looking forward to 2010 at PacificPedaling.com!

Here are some great pictures we wanted to share showing off the awesomeness of the Pacificpedaling.com Team.

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We have already covered some good stretches you should do right after you wake up in the morning to help activate your muscular system. What about before going to bed? Throughout the day we all develop tightness and stress in different areas of our body. These areas often include our neck, upper and lower backs, hip flexors and hamstrings. Most of these can be attributed to the lack of stimulus to our muscular system throughout the day to take our joints through their full range of motion, as well as the seated position our bodies cast to over a period of time.

Before going to bed, you should take advantage of these 5 great moves that will help to combat the tightness that builds up so you sleep better, and ultimately don’t allow those tightnesses to consistently progress into worse and worse posture that could eventually result in chronic pain symptoms.

These moves focus on lengthening out the different muscles that most often become tight from sitting on a consistent basis.

Downward Dog – Lengthens the hamstrings and lower back. From your hands and knees, point your toes into the ground then lift your hips by straightening out your legs. Keep you quads flexed and try to pull your chest towards your knees. Hold this position for 30 to 60 seconds.

Lower Spinal Floor Twist – A very standard move that loosens up the lower portion of the back. Lay on your back with your legs straight on the floor. Now raise one leg up with your knee bent at 90 degrees, and with the opposite hand, pull it down across your body. Your lower back should be twisting as you pull your knee down, keeping both shoulders on the floor. Hold between 30 and 60 seconds each side.

Cats and Dogs – A move that goes well after a spinal rotation move like the lower spinal floor twist as it reintroduces flexion and extension into the spine. From your hands and knees, tuck your chin to your chest as you arch your back up towards the ceiling, then look up towards the ceiling as you let your back drop towards the floor. Repeat this motion 10 to 20 times

Kneeling Hip Flexor Stretch – Lengthens out tight hip flexors from sitting. From a kneeling position, place one foot out in front of your body and press your weight into that hip. Be sure to contract the glute of the leg in back, and do not let your front knee go farther than your front foot. Keep your shoulders up tall throughout the stretch. Hold 30 to 60 seconds each side.

Spreadfoot Forward Bend – Lengthens out hamstrings and groin. Stand with your feet spread out as comfortably a possible, then bend forward from the waist, keeping your back flat and quads contracted. Hold for 30 to 60 seconds.

Loren Sheets

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I was surprised how many of the people in my classes wanted to wear them to train in. They wanted to go for a run, do some jumping workouts, or even play some basketball in them. The idea makes a lot of sense. If wearing them to do pull-ups will make you stronger, then everything else you do while wearing them should help to make you better as well. The idea makes sense but it is completely wrong.

Have you ever wondered why people complain about pain their joints when they are 20, 40, or even a hundred pounds overweight? The reason is that they are placing more stress into the joints than the muscles can support and the result of this becomes pain. We have mentioned constantly throughout the last year how our muscular systems lack of efficiency causes our bodies to be in an incorrect anatomical position. Postural imbalances of all different sorts are the main reason why it would be very dangerous to train in weight vests.

If you look in the picture to the left, notice the angles that are created in this athletes legs as they sprint. There are a significant amount of muscular imbalances that are forcing the legs to run in a circular motion as opposed to driving the femur straight forward allowing the knee to punch straight up in the air. By adding additional weight to the frame of this athlete will increase these imbalances and put the knees and ankles at an even higher risk for potential damage.

The same could be said for doing jumping routines. I know quite a few trainers like to use this as a tool to help build explosion in an athlete. If you are doing jumping drills with a 180 pound athlete would they not get stronger muscles if they had to now power up 200 pounds by adding a 20 pound weight vest? Technically yes but once again at train2move we always go back to the worst case scenario mentality.

If you are doing jumping drills with an athlete you had better be positive that they do not have any form of inefficiency in their body during the jump. Are they able to do the move perfectly? If there is tightness in the hips that forces more stress into the knees upon landing, the weight vest is going to greatly magnify this. The damage to the knees is going to be much more pronounced.

Weight vest, like ankle weights that we discussed a few weeks ago, are a great tool to add to your current program. However, understanding how to use them is the key. Adding weight to a strong athlete who is very adept at a move like pull-ups can take them to the next level. Adding weight to an athlete with poor muscular efficiency can prove to do much more harm than good.

If you are looking for some good weight vests, we recommend trying these out. The Valeo are a good brand that are reasonably priced.

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The danger in doing moves like this in a seated position is the amount of compression and tightness it can cause in your lower back. Many trainers believe you should do them sitting to help reduce this issue and in regards to a comparison against doing it standing, this may be true. However, We feel that sitting is actually the most dangerous and really takes away from a great exercise. Not only do you tend to put very high levels of stress into your lower back, you train your muscles from a poor postural position. I know trainers will argue this and say they make sure their clients backs are straight and shoulders are up but still your in a seated position which your body never requires strength from so why do it?

Truly we are not a fan of doing any strength moves in a chair or seated position. Can you name a time when your going to need to move heavy objects around in a seated position? Is there a sport I am not aware of where you can just it there and push weight around? Sitting to do your weight training is a bad idea. You will ultimately create high levels of muscular imbalance in your body that will lead to poor posture and eventually pain and injury.

Standing is the second most common way we watch people do this move. The real danger here is that your lower back is now even more compromised. I have seen this used in aerobic classes that emphasize strength and if you watch the instructors do a good job of first setting the move up by making sure that the individuals in the class have completely prepared their core to handle the move. Whenever you do an overhead move from a standing position you put the back and knees at high risk for compensation and injury. However done correctly and with the proper amount of progression into the move, standing does present some great overall strength benefits.

The best way to do overhead presses in our opinion is kneeling. In a kneeling position you still can gain the similar strength benefits that you would from a standing position but by taking your lower legs out of the equation it lessens the demands placed on the lumbar spine and knees if your body is not in the anatomically correct position.

We did a video on this awhile back, here it is again showing what we feel is the best form for you to have to do overhead press style moves. If you are currently doing your overhead moves seated, we highly encourage you to watch the video and begin to do them kneeling. The benefits are significant and your back will thank you for it.

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Here is the honest truth about pushups, there are only good ones and bad ones, not boy ones and girl ones. A good pushup requires you to be able to drop your chest all the way to the floor. The inability to do this is what should determine the style of pushups you do. If you are unable to drop your chest all the way to the floor when attempting a pushup from your toes there is a gap somewhere in your strength or some form of muscular tightness throughout your upper body. Regardless of where your lack of strength or tightness is, doing pushups without being able to do them correctly will lead to higher levels of muscle imbalance and lack of joint mobility in your shoulders.

Doing pushups from your knees helps to eliminate these potential negative side effects and allows you to administer the stimulus of the pushup in a progressive manner. This relates to the 4 Laws of Training, specifically Law #3 that states the body is designed to receive stimulus in a progressive manner.

If you have not tried to do a pushup workout you might be surprised at how much your overall strength improves by doing pushups that your body is capable of doing correctly.

We too often see people sacrificing proper form on exercises simply so that they can pretend to be doing a more aggressive version that is well out of their current muscular ability level. While this can satisfy the ego from time to time you will ultimately pay the price for asking the body to perform things it is incapable of doing correctly. The end result of going this direction is injury and to those who need the ego boost, a lack of performance.

Take the time to do these and all your exercises at the level that your current level of muscular efficiency will allow to

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This week I have been doing quite a bit of stretching. I mostly wanted to combat the tightness that I was beginning to feel as a result of sitting in classes and studying at my desk, along with the lifting I have been doing as a part of training. It feels good to be able to bend and twist now without significant tightness in my lower back, hamstrings, hip flexors, etc. As I was thinking of a good tip for the week, I remembered how we always used to stretch in PE classes and for team warm-ups several years back. Typically, you hold a stretch and count to 10 or so. This week though, and from now on, you should try holding each stretch you do for at least thirty seconds or even up to a minute. Ten seconds is really not long enough to significantly and adequately lengthen out the muscle fibers and tendons.

In your body, there are tiny sensors called receptors. They are a form of neuron, which carries electrical impulses to and from the brain. In the skin, there are several types of receptors that pick up the sensations of temperature and pressure. In the eyes, these receptors detect light. All these receptors do is carry the information to the brain when stimulated. The brain then reacts and sends signals through neurons to your muscles. This is how you can react to stimulus. Sometimes these reactions are voluntary, and other times they are involuntary. In the muscle itself, there are tiny receptors called mechanoreceptors. A particular type of mechanoreceptors called the stretch receptor detects the amount of tension on a muscle. They send this information to the brain, and it reacts. So, when you stretch a muscle, your brain knows it is being stretched. Stretch receptors are partly responsible for maintaining balance, or proprioception. When you walk on uneven ground, your brain can sense the stretching of the muscles and appropriately react to maintain equilibrium.

In regards to stretching, your body has an involuntary process called the stretch reflex. When a muscle is stretched to a certain point, the brain tells it to contract in order to protect it from being stretched to the point of tearing. Well, when you are doing a stretch, the muscle will naturally resist, and become tight. After a period of time, however, the information from the stretch receptors to the brain begins to lose its intensity as the brain tunes it out. It is similar to how you can tune out random noise over time, as your brain loses focus on it. When this happens with the stretch receptors, the stretch reflex weakens and allows the muscle to stretch a little farther. This will increase the muscles overall flexibility. This cannot be achieved in only 10 seconds of stretching, however. It may take thirty seconds to a minute for the stretch reflex to wear off so the muscle can be fully lengthened. This is why you should take the extra time and hold you stretches longer from now on.

Loren Sheets

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The tip I want to give you this week is something that many of you may do to some degree or another, but this tip will help give it a little more structure. Start to make it a habit to do some quick stretches and movements when you wake up in the morning. If any of you have a cat or dog, watch them the next time they wake up from a nap. What do they do? They stretch out their legs, shoulders, back, pretty much everything. It’s simple, yet effective.

I love how good it feels to crawl out of bed and get out all the kinks that may have come from yesterday’s workout, or just from being in a relatively inactive state for several hours. In fact, one of the best moves you can do is actually named after the way cats and dogs stretch, hence ‘cats and dogs.’ (you may know this move as the yoga move called the cat and cow.) It loads pressure into both the hips and shoulders, promotes good flexion and extension of the spine, and helps reengage the muscles of the hips.

Here’s a quick list of 5 moves you should do when you get out of bed:

Kneeling Good Morning Stretch 10x

Extended Lateral 30 seconds each side

Cats and Dogs 10x

Kneeling Groin 30 seconds each side

Downward Dog 30 seconds

Hopefully doing these five quick stretches will help you wake up and get your morning off to a good start. Check back next Tuesday for another useful tip!

If you are looking or a little more complete program to do in the mornings and evenings check out the AM/PM Program in the Store.

Loren

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Before you assume I am that totally overbearing sports parent who shoves sports down my kids throat let me just tell you this has all been his decision. He absolutely loves sports. Maybe even more than I do. I try to coach him as little as possible, I have not been a head coach on his team yet. he and I just have some fun together in our free time working on his skills for his various sports. I hope to be his coach in High School for the various sports I coach now so I want to make sure he is not totally sick of me by the time he gets there.

To this point most of his sports have been all about fun and learning but I am noticing how quickly this is changing. In his soccer tournament he is participating in this weekend it is interesting to see the different levels of the kids. He is playing a year up, for you in the soccer world he is a U-9 playing on a U-10 team. This means the ids are bigger, faster, and stronger than he is. There are several kids on the team that are in the same situation This does not bother him but I notice the way that the parents on our team are becoming unhappy about our boys getting beat by the older teams.

The reason I bring this up is that I notice the amount of stress and pressure that is being placed on these kids at younger and younger ages. To some this may be a good thing but I think it is very dangerous to start teaching kids at the age of 8 that their worth is determined by their athletic success. Sports has become such a major integral part of our society which to me is fine. I love sports but I think that we are taking it too far when we start putting so much value into an 8 year olds Soccer Game.

I cringe every time I see a parent overly criticize their kid on the field when to be honest the kids are out there simply trying to understand the game. Lets not add pressure to an already stressful situation for them. Encourage and let them grow. Everyone who plays a sport leaves themselves open to criticism but lets not criticize an 8 year old for letting a ball get by him in goal. Save that for the people getting paid to play, not kids who are simply trying to have some fun.

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Weighted Lateral Leg Lifts

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During the last 4 years of our Trinity Sports Summer Camp we have run into a group similar to this, I am not sure if it is the same group or not but the concept is exactly the same. At the park while we ran our camp, a group of 12-20 Women show up and spend the better part of an hour working out.

The kids in our camp love to see them and I really like to hear some of the High School  girls say how great they think it is and that they would totally do something like that when they had kids. I only hope they take advantage of opportunities like this to stay healthy.

The idea behind the program I absolutely love. I can remember many friends, clients, and other acquaintances that had to give up on their workouts when they had children because they cold not find a spot they felt comfortable leaving their newborns while they worked out.

Baby Boot Camp solves this problem by allowing new Moms the chance to workout with their babies. The workouts look like they have some good variety to them but to be honest when I see them I am a little preoccupied with the nearly 100 athletes we are working with. I have seen them not only walking and running laps but stopping to do strength exercises, sometimes even using the baby as the resistance!

The other aspect of this I really like is the social aspect. I am willing to bet that these groups become real close after working out together for awhile. This makes another challenging component of being a new parent a little easier to manage, making friends. If you are a Mother with young ones looking for a chance to socialize and get some exercise I would encourage you to check these guys out. It looks like they have groups all around the U.S. and I am sure there are many more.

Try to not let being a new parent be an excuse for you to not take care of yourself. Trust me, the older they get the better shape you will wish you were in so you can keep up with them.

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