[Neil]

Neil on July 8, 2017 at 7:44 am · in reply to: Progression for Scott’s Killer Core Routine #5541

An amazing “cross-core” exercise is the adductor plank. I do them as repeats, not holds. Helps for hip-knee stability on downhills and REALLY works the obliques. You can tweak the exercise in various ways and put plates on your upper flank.

[Neil]

Neil on June 30, 2017 at 8:40 am · in reply to: Is elevation gain per week an important metric? #5470

Focusing on total ascent is sort of like focusing on any other single metric such as time, calories burned or distance. I think you could improve things by combining vertical gain with other criteria such as steepness of slope (you could work out 3 different slopes, say- mild, moderate and steep), rate of ascent if you have an altimeter, heart rate and breathing. Then with modulation, progression and consolidation, adding weight for ME and so on, I am sure you will come out the other end a lot fitter than going in.

[Neil]

Neil on June 21, 2017 at 4:00 pm · in reply to: Max Strength exercise choice. #5254

Well, I decided to include sled pushes for one of my 3 lower body exercises. (Also included single-leg half squats along with box steps) I’m worried about too much stress on my pat-fem from the knee-dominant resistant exercises. For the box steps I used a 50lb. pack and 2 30-pouind kettle bells (no swinging as per the video!)

On another note I decided to do each exercise 4 times in a row with a 2 min. break in between each series of four reps. Then I took 4 mins. of rest prior to starting in on the next one exercise. This is different from what I did 2 years ago where I alternated thus: 4 reps each of of: first lower body exercise-upper body exercise-2nd lower body exercise- one core exercise etc. with 30 secs between exercise and 3 mins between circuits. (total of 4 circuits).
I just re-read though that the inter-exercise breaks should have been more like 3-5 minutes.