Felt pretty good on the bike today, despite the uphill half being into a headwind (and lack of gears - really do need to get round to changing tyres on the geared bike).
I think it’s time for an easier week next week though. Plan what to vaguely focus on next. I think I need to start adding weights- all I have here is KB’s. I was playing around with single-arm and double racked squats a bit last week. Also will try out @crimsondonkey core stuff.
@crimsondonkey it was your pointers around the wipers and reading up on obliques that led me to the single arm racked squats. My wife checked my form and said it was good (she has done weights for a while and has a really good PT with a great focus on correct form, so I trust her judgement)
Video please 
I thought we weren’t allowed nude selfies
@crimsondonkey the KB workout I was doing for a while, last year was 3 rounds of 8-10 exercises supersetted with 1-2 mins rest in between rounds- would that be a reasonable general structure for a workout?
I’m thinking of building on the bodyweight stuff that I’ve been doing since lockdown started, adding weights to ‘fundamental’ movement patterns, i.e. squat, lunge, hinge, push, pull (carry? rotation?)- I’m thinking racked squats, deadlift/swings, pushups, bent over rows, racked (reverse) lunges. Start off at 8 (?) reps then increase - up a weight when I get to 12 (?) and reset to 8?
I’m wondering whether it’s best to do core stuff like your workout on different days? e.g. KB’s on Mon/Wed/Thurs, core on Tues/Thurs, cycling Tues/Thurs/Sun
Goals?
Right now? 
Seriously though…right now it’s rehab and then injury prevention and to support cycling. Injury prevention for cycling and general life. I wouldn’t mind doing a bit of running in the future if it was possible
My primary focus has to be family and our collective mental health. I might be able to squeeze some longer rides in around things but if there’s the risk it will make me useless for the rest of the day and/or short-tempered I’m not going to do it. Funnily, one of the things I’ve found difficult is having lots of energy when I know I would be better resting. Today is a good example. I did quite a lot last week and more than the 2 previous weeks so I’m pretty sure I’d be best to have a very easy day and an easy week- but I feel like I could easily go have a bash on the bike.
So far, I’ve made progress incidentally through focusing on consistency rather than progress or goals. I’m thinking of it kind of like a year of conditioning/ base training- spend time working on weak links as I come across them. I’ve now got to the stage where I think I’m ready to start introducing some weight 
I have 12kg (x2), 16kg and 20kg KB’s and 2kg (x2), 4kg dumbbells to play with.
I do have some vague, disparate goals, that I’m not particularly invested in, like:
I’d like to be able to do a pull up again, then I’d like to be able to do 10 (I did manage to strain one out today…)…I don’t think I ever got past 5 or 6 when I was trying before.
I’d like to be able to do a Turkish get up with a weight (12kg?)
I’d like to do 20 push ups, next goal would be 30 (currently at ~16, I think the most I ever got to before was 24/25).
I feel like I’m laying better all-round foundations this time, and in some ways (squat and lunge form for e.g.) I feel stronger than before, but push ups and pull ups not where they were before.
Can you get discipline and motivation in pill form?
I need some.
Only before a stage finish on Alpe d’Huez.
I prescribe a mixture of qualudes and viagra, crushed up and snorted.
(Not a medical doctor)
I need a bit of time to unravel all that! We could try tofocus explicitly on what you are trying to achieve and why, and then link that back to the equipment you’ve got/ want to use.
I’ll post a bit more when I have a bit more time.
Hehe, thanks. Only if you have time and enjoy thinking about it. There’s no expectation on my part. We all have enough on our plates at the moment.
I’m using my physio stuff as a starting point and I’m not planning on doing anything wacky so I’m pretty happy that if I keep doing what I’m doing and don’t overdo it I’ll be heading in the right direction.
I’ve had a tendency to try to do too much at one time, overload myself and progress less as a result. I think the main thing will be holding myself back from increasing the cycling volume.
Or for record buying money you could get 1-2-1 coaching from someone who will motivate and hold you to account 
Have more time on my hands at the moment whilst I can’t train is all I’m saying…
You ok?
He has been dogged by an injured hand…
Thanks for the offer but my money is currently going into creating another revenue stream with the aim of leaving my job.
I need to set time aside and focus on this as well, which I’ve been failing to do.
Good luck
Do you mean static holds rather than something like shoulder taps where you are resisting movement?
Yes - shoulder taps are good, static planks I’m not convinced about - there are much more efficient and effective exercises (see the core routine above 
).
In my experience unless the thing you’re trying to do is functional/ supports something else then it’s not very motivating. For example if I told you that if you could full squat your bodyweight on a barbell
for 20 reps then this would improve your uphill acceleration on your bike by 15% that might give you a good incentive.
Conversely being able to do 10 straight pull up reps won’t really have much of an impact on your cycling (which I’m assuming is the thing that you value most in terms of performance). Its also very hard and strenuous and takes quite a bit of time to achieve - so there would need to be a lot of effort for not much if any transferable benefit - net result = give up (also opportunity cost of what you could have spent your effort in doing).
That’s why I asked you what your goals were - I always start with trying to narrow these down to the things that the trainee really values and wants vs the ‘nice to haves’. There is a direct correlation between how targeted and motivating these are to their actual achievement.
As soon as you start to consider adding a load to a movement I think you really have to be clear on what you’re trying to achieve.
Loading a muscle can do many things if you plan it to -
Increase strength/ force production
Increase speed of contraction
Increase the ability to endure, perform contractions before fatigue
Increasing muscle diameter
As well as having a function in -
Burning calories/ losing weight
Improving muscular system performance (by addressing weak links)
Improve cardio vascular performance
You use load, reps, tempo, sets in different ways to achieve the muscle physiological change and the exercise functions listed above.
So the puzzle is to match the way you use the load to the specific goals you’re trying to achieve with the equipment you have.
As above I always tend to start by trying to unravel the needs/ wants and finding out what will really motivate you and give you the results you’re looking for. For me, that’s the value of a coach/ personal trainer - not the stereotypical idea of someone who pushes you past your self limited performance and works you hard, that’s actually the very least important aspect!
Does that lot make sense?
Yup, very much- now I need some time to digest 