The weather has been very strange this afternoon and it is extremely dry in the air. That will explain what happened to me during Cykel 30. Anyway, I felt very out of place with this bunch and to try and get the most for one of the 4 min songs I had basically maximum resistance while sitting. Damn right it hurt but I kept at it and obviously pushed a wee bit hard. The next song was 3 min of high cadence which is actually stupid after such a tough song. But in a room full of beginners, no one was really making any effort so it didn't really matter to them.

Somewhere a minute into this song my nose started bleeding quite badly. Dryness does this kind of thing. Sure, everyone has a nosebleed once in awhile but this was one of the worst I have had. Good thing they had napkins because I needed a lot and I could feel myself becoming quite pale. All this is natural since my heart rate was up and the blood was pumping strong. What pissed me off was that not one person in the entire room bothered to ask if I was okay. They just stared and kept riding. What the hell is this? If you fall on your ass in the street, someone will say 'Hur gick det?'. In this room? Nada.

So after another few minutes the bleeding stopped and I did Core but I was not all that into it after this...especially when it was the same people.

In a way this is good because MCK is starting the MTB training and then I will be there 3-4 days each week. And tonight I could have been running instead which would have been more effective. Stupid gym.

BodyPump was pretty tough tonight. They changed a little bit to make it 'more fun' which means pure pain. My legs were burning through the knee bends and 'for fun' the lunges were with one leg on the step board and weight on your shoulders. The 12kg left me dying to scream FAAAANNNN but I resisted.

My new schedule of the week is this.
Monday: Spinning/trainer + core (home)
Tuesday: BodyPump
Wednesday: Core 45
Thursday: Sportlife running
Friday: Nothing
Saturday: Spinning/Core 45 or Running/Cycling
Sunday: depends on Saturday

I know that I am having many revelations lately when it comes to my training. But it just never ceases to amaze me what my body is capable of.

Today I did Core 45 and I have never felt so strong in my stomach and back. Everything went well today which means everything hurts like hell right now. I am just wondering why I never thought of this before. Yes, Core is core for running, cycling and many other things. So I think I will up this to twice a week instead. I noticed also that you can do 60 min spinning and this 45 min pass back-to-back on Saturdays. =)

Otherwise, all the bike paths or sidewalks in Partille are a crappy mix of water and ice so we will see what it is like tomorrow. I just need one good hill which is free from ice. Anyone know of any?

Now it is time for me to give a very good promotion for Sportlife because today's members benefit was well worth my 299kr/month. From v8-19 on thursdays down at Skatås, they offer some quality running passes. I know that GöteborgsVarvet has their sessions on the weekend but I found them less useful than tonight.

I had to run about 2km just to make it on time due to bloody Västtrafik so I was warmed up and ready to go. But tonight was about various types of strength training under the heading of Löpteknik/löpkoordination. So my arms and legs were getting all stretched and people walking their dogs got a nice look at our group hopping on 1 foot or other strange things. But this really helped. And unlike BodyPump, you could actually get it without 3 weeks of trying.

There was a guy from Hisingens CK there who heard I was from Mölndals CK and said 'So you ride with the fast boys...' Damn right I do! =)

I have already had to change my training plans for the week. But work is important since I need to buy a few bike parts.

This double pass felt so much worse today than the first time I tried it, probably because of my stupid run yesterday. The only real challenge in the spinning is the last song with 3 sets of 2 min/30 s intervals at a pretty high tempo. And you can always choose how jobbig it is so I made sure it was torturing. And then they tried to squeeze everything from Core 45 into the 30 minute version which makes it too rushed.

I can understand why triathlon is so tough. Passes back-to-back are always more challenging than each on their own. Now it is sofa time for me...

Finally a miracle happened. Tonight, in the middle of another massive snowstorm here in Göteborg, I figured out BodyPump. Instructor Helen explained things in a way that made me finally get it. Or, like she said, it was probably because this was my 4th time. But I think she should take my compliment in this case and forget the jantelagen stuff.

Once you have the technique you can just keep increasing the weight when you get stronger, like the Nautilus method. So I went to 12kg for the knee bends/legs and OMFG that hurt. 7kg for everything else was respectable because of the 5 minutes of repetitions which hurt more and more.

Now I have earned a pizza and a night of OS. Trevlig helg!

Time again for S Core 45 and this was the same feeling as yesterday. Some strength things I am doing at a level equal to or better than the instructor but other things are just hopeless. Why can't I seem to do a situp? What they expect are crunches but even that I end up pulling my neck while my stomach just sits there checking out the women. Yes, 2 guys and 30 women.

Despite the fact that there is zero cardio in this at all, many of the exercises are for the stomach. And it is good to make some attempt to shrink my growing gubbmage.

Träningsvärk is one of those strange things. I woke up this morning feeling rather blää and a bit stiff everywhere yet last night I had far more specific pain in my legs and biceps.

This feeling is the same I get after a good CX race. I don't really understand how I am using every muscle in my body but apparently I am. Interesting. One could perhaps argue that I am so out of shape that no matter what I do will be useful. But if that was true I would not even be able to run up the Furulund hill without dying.

I was getting very frustrated at BodyPump tonight. After 3 times, I would expect to get some kind of technique but it just wasn't coming. Each 4-5 minute song is one muscle group and when done right, this should be plenty of torture. I figured out the biceps technique and the stomach but the rest was just rather confused. I felt nothing at all in the chest song. But on the positive side, I did do my 15 proper pushups and the plankan thing plus the tricep dips. In other words, I did all the things which require no timing and that I could just as well do at home.

So I asked the instructor after and hopefully that will help. Friday I will know.

Fy fan! I feel absolutely dead right now. I was curious to see how many people would be at the gym on a Friday night. The answer...quite a few. But BodyPump was not so crowded. Two instructors were there because one is leaving and both were screaming a lot. And without getting into any discussions of women who scream during exercise, I will just say that it very motivating. Even if they were lifting twice what I was and laughing.

Once you get the technique, this hurts like a bitch. And I had most of it down today which explains how I feel. Aj.

Tomorrow is vilodag for me. Good thing OS is one all day. =)

Tonight I tried the 45 minute variant of S Core without any spinning before. One could call this more hardcore than S Core 30. I have no clue what the S means but since I am in a silly mood I will guess Super Core, Strength Core or Sorry Core because that is how I will feel tomorrow. Sportlife Core could also be an option but that would be boring.

Anyway, the instructor said that the first time you try Core you will probably not feel anything. But by the 3rd time, your body will figure out what you are doing and then the 'fun' starts. When a fitness trainer says 'fun', it's gonna hurt. But she was wrong because the fun started for me on this 2nd time. OMFG is what a fjortis bloggare would say. *lol* =)

Finally I have found exactly the pass I need to compliment my running and cycling. And that feels good. My body, however, is screaming at me with a very upset Italian accent...

Anyone who saw me at MTB SM last year in Falun knows that I can keep cool while making a complete ass of myself. So I thought it was time to try out Bodypump at Sportlife. There were about 5 guys and 40 women so I was surrounded and also worried since this was my first time ever with this kind of pass.

To keep some type of respect, I never had less than 5kg on the bar but no more than 10kg because I had no idea what was coming. And the worst part was my complete lack of co-ordination. When the rest of the room was lifting the bar, I was letting it down. With practice it will be fine but tonight I felt so stupid.

My strength was fine except for the bench press which made my muscles shake in a bad way which made the bar also shake. Oops. Triceps and biceps were fine but my shoulders and knees are not happy. The pushups hurt because I did them properly. A real man can't do a pushup with knees on the ground. And that plankan thing is wonderful.

So I survived but need to work on a few things. This was zero cardio so I wasn't sweating. But others were so I should probably increase the weight when I have the timing down.

And, no, I will not try aerobics.

Now I have time to train again so I started the week with 2 passes back-to-back: Cykel 30 and S-Core 30. It was a bit strange because half the room was doing both while the rest were complete beginners who thought the idea of cycling for a whole 30 min was torture. I positioned myself strategically so that I would not discourage anyone. Of course I managed to be next to one of those annoying women who never sweats while I was splashing everything and everyone.

I would not be allowed to call myself a cyclist if I didnt do this pass at max speed, max resistance, max vomitkänsla. I was actually going for about 40 min because I was early and knew what to do with the bike. The fine choice of hard rock music pushed me even harder.

So once I had drained myself of energy, I still had another pass to do. Core training seems appropriate after cycling when my muscles are tired because it is precisely at that point I am likely to lose balance and fall. But I was having trouble following the instructor through the sea of asses in the room so I just looked over to my neighbour who seemed to know what she was doing. This training I need more of...a lot more of.

My balance is not so useless but it needs work. About all I was good at was the plankan but that is just strength and no balance stuff. One leg out in front of you, knee bends, arms still? No, more like arms waving frantically and muscles shaking. All I know is that I will not try yoga because this whole body relaxation really does make you feel like farting. And that is not appreciated in a room full of women.