Friday 28th March 2008
Whooosh! That's the sound of another month rushing past since my last update. There's been lots happening since then, so let's get down to it!Training
I am very, very happy with my training lately - things have been going very well. You may remember from my last blog post that there were two main problems I was having with my training - I was not getting enough on table training, and I was not dropping bodyfat fast enough.I'm pleased to report that one simple change to my training program has basically fixed both problems.
What's the change? Walking.
I first wrote about the addition of walking to my training routine on 13th March 2008, and at the time of writing I had been doing it for about a week and a half. Now, after nearly a month, I am in a better position to report on the results.
- Lower impact - fresher legs. As I first reported, since the walking aerobics is much lower impact, my aches and pains have been greatly reduced in comparison to the normal aerobic routine I was doing. Plus my legs remain pretty fresh after my morning walking session, so I can easily do an hour to an hour and a half on the table in the afternoon. So I am now able to train 2½ or more hours a day with no problems.
- Weight loss - a big difference. I had been training from January to February fairly consistently, but I had only lost a pound or two of bodyfat in that time. Since the 3rd March, when I first added walking aerobics to my training, I've gone from 205 pounds (93kg) and 19.5% bodyfat to 199.5 pounds (90.5kg) and 16.5% bodyfat. Overall I've lost just over 7 pounds of bodyfat in 25 days, without dropping any muscle mass (I actually gained a pound or two of muscle). Woo Hoo!
By adding that extra 1-2 hours a day of training to my schedule, I'm burning around an extra 1000 calories a day. That's enough to lose 2 pounds of bodyfat per week, without having to go hungry or diet excessively, which is great.
- Motivation. Mentally, I'm also much better off than in my previous attempt to increase my training last year. Since I am still tracking my heart rate each morning to see if I am overtrained, I know that whenever my heart rate is up more than 10 beats per minute it's time to have an easy day - I usually just have a normal walk or do only half an hour of walking aerobics. And if I don't feel like training even though my heart rate is low, I still give myself permission to take an easy day. Mind you - I haven't had to do that since my last report - I'm pretty psyched at the moment!
I'm still chipping away on my defensive techniques, but I'm pleased to report that my backhand loop has returned with a vengeance, and I'm now attacking very well with it again.
One thing I have noticed is that I am getting lower with my legs but I'm still a bit too upright with my torso when looping on my forehand, so I'm starting to work on maintaining a little forward lean when hitting my forehand. This should help improve my results and aid my balance and recovery, but it will take some time to get it automatic.
Competition
Apart from the pennant match where I lost both matches 2-3, not much has been happening in competition that is worth mentioning. Actually, all the matches I have lost this year have been in the final game, so at least no-one is getting an easy win against me, even when I'm not playing great.The main pennant season starts next week, and there is a couple of tournaments on the horizon, so I'll have more to report on in my next update. But at present I'm very positive about how my table tennis is shaping up this year - I'm finally dropping bodyfat, training well and looking forward to competing in the Australian Closed Championships in late May. I'm trying to get down to 82kg by then, which would put me under 10% bodyfat and certainly increase my defensive mobility. 8 weeks to go!
