The Mountain - l'etape du tour
“January and February have been a test of my “emotional intelligence” – it’s too cold to ride outside, so I’ve been cycling on my trainer in the basement. On the weekends, my coach – Steve – has me doing 2-3 hours rides in order to start building up my endurance and performance. This is hard as it gets boring riding in one place for that length of time. I do have my music, I watch some movies and sports, but most of all, I am keeping the end goal in mind. I know that the time I put in on the trainer now will have huge benefit to my overall performance once I am training outdoors and when the actual ride comes in July.
During the weekdays, Steve has me either doing a core workout (which is a killer) or shorter 60-90 minute rides (I do have a day job). The shorter rides are easier to do as they tend to have different interval workouts, changes in cadence and heart rate, etc.
It’s those long weekend rides that I dread. It is amazing how a big goal like this can get you focused – there is no way I’d be training this much if it wasn’t for this challenge I’ve taken on. It’s been a huge help to have a coach who has both the end goal in mind, but is also giving me the day to day things I need to focus on. If you want to get to the next level of performance in whatever you do – personal or professional – having a big goal and a coach will make a huge difference.
All this training is paying off – I’ve lost 12 pounds in the first two months and feel better already!
Finally, I have to say thank you to my wife who has been incredibly supportive – we have two young kids and I travel a lot, so on those weekends and evenings that I am riding, she is carrying the load at home. I’m a lucky to have a wife who puts up with this – I tell her it’s part of my emotional intelligence training!
This sounds really exciting. I’ve noticed that intense training can really increase my cognitive functioning, almost acting like a nootropic. Have you seen any pay-off in this department? (PS: When restricted to indoor stationary cycling, I catch up on my reading…) Good luck with your mission, Bill!
Comment by Tom Jones — May 11, 2010 @ 2:02 pm
Tom – thanks for your comment. Apoligies it has taken me a while to respond – we are still getting used to this Blog idea!
I absolutely notice an increase in my abiltiy to think clearly and be creative after exercising. I also find I can listen better.
I asked JP – IHHP’s founder and the head of our research if there are any studies to back up what I experience personally, and here is what he provided:
Most recently a study from the CDC shows that especially in girls those that had the most physical activity per week consistently scored higher on tests with the greatest impact on math scores.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2008-03-04-phys-ed-study_N.htm
Another study looking at the effects of 20 and 40 minutes a day of exercise showed an improvement on executive function scores and possibly on math tests in both boys and girls who participated in a study to help see how exercise can help reduce obesity in our children.
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2007-10/mcog-eit102207.php
Anecdotal studies are pouring in and larger more well planned studies are underway to further study the effect of exercise on cognition in children, a fact that has been studied and deemed so in the elderly by a report out yesterday by the Cochrane Library an international organization that evaluates medical research . This report by a very conservative and cautious review board now deems that along with the obvious positive effects on the body, taking up exercise improves the cognitive function in people over 55 years of age, regardless of whether or not they show signs of cognitive impairment.
http://www.news-medical.net/?id=37449
http://mrw.interscience.wiley.com/cochrane/clsysrev/articles/CD005381/frame.html
Comment by Bill Benjamin — May 18, 2010 @ 4:05 pm