Running to the top...ouch!

STAIRS!  Holy cow!  Fun times were had todayJ.

If you are injured and can’t use your upper body, I strongly recommend stairs.  Originally I was only going to do lower body weights and core strengthening, but no, my teammate Kathleen wanted to do that AND MORE: stairs!  As I am not ready to erg yet, I couldn't resist this opportunity to put my legs through serious discomfort so that I could still get some physical benefits after for rowing - bring on the challenge!

Just a couple of weeks ago Kathleen sent me a video of Apolo Ohno doing a stairs workout...today Kathleen and I did a part of the workout, not all of it, and we were still struggling – but it was a good feeling and we have room to improve;)  Without fail this will now become a part of my training.  It's a great way to get your heart rate up (I hit 182 bpm), push through lactic acid, work through exhaustion and loss of perception (the stairs can make you dizzy!), and more.

We did 27 x 88 stairs (4 flights)

3 sets of:

·         3 x Running up stepping on each stair

·         3 x Running up every other stair

·         3 x Hopping up each step with both feet…once you reach the fourth flight you feel like you want to vomit:S

After stairs, we did lower body weights…it is usually hard to do weights in general, but to do them when you have shaky legs from stairs is even more challenging.  That’s why it’s good that we did them together - we could spot eachother.

Enough said!  Today hurt, but I wouldn't have it any other way.  So if you are injured or have limited access to training equipment, look around you in your environment and see if there are new things you can try that will still give you the physicial benefits you need for your sport.  Of course, I also suggest visualization:)

Happy Training