Happy Thanksgiving, etc.

I know it's a bit belated, but I just wanted to wish any and all of my readership a safe and healthy thanksgiving. Hopefully now that the holiday is over you can look back and be proud of the fact that you stayed active despite eating copious amounts of fattening food. ;)

I am currently RE-writing the History & Philosophy section of the YogaMuscle manual since I accidentally saved over it last week. I am proud to say, however, that despite this grand inconvenience, it is turning out much better than the first version.... and I am including considerably more commentary on yogic history this time around.

It is true that everything happens for a reason; in retrospect, I realize my history tellings of yoga was nothing but a regurgitation of histories told by others, and that brings nothing fresh to YogaMuscle. Instead, I am implementing my own philosophy as the creator and visionary for YogaMuscle in order to develop a modern vision. I so far have taken account of yogic history up to Patanjali's Yoga Sutras, and am comparing and contrasting them to to traditional Hindu doctrine and finding a stance for the philosophy of YogaMuscle somewhere in the middle. If you buy the certification later in time, you'll find out what these differences are. Sorry--- no sneak peeks!

Wishing you a healthy holiday season,

Patrick

The Song James Wanted

Per the request of James, attached is "El Ritmo" by Thomas Penton and Joseph Anthony.

In health,

Patrick

New YogaMuscle Clothes

Today I made the first tank for women.
Back reads, "feel yoga." , which the slogan for YogaMuscle™.

In health,

Patrick

YogaMuscle Clothes

Tonight I was inspired to make my own apparel for my blossoming brainchild, YogaMuscle™. Attached are some photos. I made three shirts.
Anybody want to purchase? Lol Make an offer.

Loving it,

Patrick

YogaMuscle Vinyasa

Tonight's Vinyasa:

Attached

In health, Patrick

YogaMuscle PowerPoint

I have recently been writing the workshop (subject to change, of course) to be presented at MidWest Fitfest 2009. The workshop will be separated in two: the PowerPoint guides the theoretical portion of the workshop, and a practical portion on the mat will follow to put YogaMuscle into practice.

EDIT: At the advice of a respected and esteemed veteran of the industry, the Powerpoint has been removed until I can find a way to copyright it or protect the file. If you're a friend and I trust you, then you may absolutely contact me and we'll discuss sharing the presentation.

In health,

Patrick

Wintervals Journey

The bitter cold has set in- today was the first day I had to wear a winter coat. I taught my usual 90-minute Endurance Ride tonight. The profile was meant to ease them into the idea of winter endurance work.

The goal of the ride is that between start and finish, your effort rarely changes- instead, it hovers right around 75% with fluctuations of +- 5%.

I must say. We finished the ride and our legs about fell off. I admittedly teach a lot of interval rides with fairly frequent transitions. This ride proved one thing, which is exactly what I wanted to prove: your ride doesn't have to be hard to be hard. The intensity never even came close to LT, and yet my students admitted to feeling totally whipped after 60 minutes.

Perhaps the largest challenge comes right then- from minutes 60 to 64, students receive four minutes of recovery; this is the time when they are used to cooling down in a normal 60-minute ride. So, when they had to ramp back up for the last 16 minutes of work, the room was alive with moans and groans. Check out the profile:

Attached here.

In health,

Patrick

FiTour Master Trainer

Well, yesterday I received word that I have been accepted as a FiTour Master Trainer. In this capacity I will function as a representative of the FiTour brand, leading certifications and continuing education workshops, presenting at conferences, etc.

I am honored and honestly slightly in disbelief, as this is a career path I've dreamt about for a very long time, and now that it is actually happening, it's surreal. For someone to have accomplished this at such a young age is a true decoration, and I feel very blessed to have garnered all the success I have.

Your new FiTour ProTrainer,

Patrick

EEZ Profile: Building on Endurance

When beyond the base-building phase and moving into your build phase of cardio training, the Endurance Energy Zone, which you have ridden so much, becomes mundane and almost old hat. My take on the Endurance Energy Zone, admittedly does not match that of the Spinning program in that I both allow and utilize the Standing Flat and Jumps on a Flat. I think to expect my students, about 98% of whom are not cyclists, to stay in the saddle for that long just on a normal day x number of times per week is begging my students to find elsewhere to be.

I do believe however in the prescribed heart rate parameters. To my mind, the benefit of 75% MHR can be had in our out of the saddle. This profile is a bit of a fusion of an interval/endurance ride for a Build portion of a training phase. Longer interval efforts, with frequent rest opportunities for absolute heart rate control.

Profile is, for whatever reason, not attaching. Comment if you'd like me to send it to you.

In health,

Patrick

Off-Season Transition: Winter Weight Training

Winter is here. I have been fortunate in unseasonably warm weather to assuage my anxiety about the coming bitter cold, but I'm afraid it's here to stay. Luckily, it's somewhat timely that my long-standing triathlon training schedule was set to transition to off-season weight training tomorrow, Monday, the 10th.

I have not done any weight training in months. The closest I've come is Strength rides and swimming... so it may be a bit of a challenging return. Here's tuesday's workout, courtesy of Billy Polson, owner of Dikadi Body. He posted the series on Realjock.com .
I'll update with how painful it was. I've done this program before and seen some pretty good results, so I'm optimistic about this off-season to combine this with my swimming regimen.

In health,

Patrick

Go Vote (For Obama 08)

Today is an important day. Go vote. It's as simple as that.

Standing in line is good for your health,

Patrick

Strong Enough for Sparta? The 300 Workout

300 Workout

Check it out, my children. While the intro mistakenly says complete "300" reps of each exercise, it means to say "30" of each, 300 reps of all exercises cumulatively.

Are you strong enough to be Spartan?

In health,

Patrick

USMS Postal 3000 Swim Meet

Today was the USMS Postal 3000/6000m swim meet across the country. Master's Swim Teams from all over conducted this race in their prospective pools. I decided to join in on the fun.

Fun as 1.86 miles in a pool set up short-course (25m lane length) sounds, it is no easy task. I had set a goal of finishing in 45 minutes or less, and I am completely satisfied with the fact that I didn't accomplish it.

I finished in 46 minutes and 10 seconds, which is only 1.16 seconds off per lap (per 50 meters), which goes to show just how much your lap pace, down to the very hundredth of a second can influence your finishing time.

The first 700m I swam with an unassuming forty-somethings woman with a self-proclaimed shoulder injury, so I was expecting to have someone to pace me, since she said she was going on about the pace I wanted. Too bad she blew the first 700m out of the water (pardon the pun). I had done my level best to keep up with her, but at 7000m, still with just shy of 1.5 miles to go, I knew I would blow up before the finish. So I let my pace slip off from her while she continued to deliver nothing short of a maverick swim. ;)

I found on my own an actually quite comfortable pace and stuck to it. I finished near my goal time, so I'm indeed satisfied. Perhaps the only matter of trepidation from today is knowing that in 2006 I swam the mile in TriAmerica in 49 minutes, whereas I did these 1.86 miles in just over 46. Swelling with pride, it's nice to know how far I've come.

In health,

Patrick