Racquetball Wednesdays

Woke up, got outta bed… Forgot to set the alarm… While it was Pete and Clark that restarted my racquetball passion 7+ years ago, it was the accidental discovery of the morning racquetball players that has kept me playing each Monday, Wednesday & Friday, 6AM. Because I overslept today, I didn’t get my pre-racquetball exercise and warm-ups in. (Stretching, jump rope, specific drills). Jumped right in and continued to skip shots. I Finished with 90 seconds of jump rope. 90 seconds of jump rope may not sound like much, but boy do my legs get pumped! I’m also breathing like a race horse.

 On Wednesday’s we have the regulars, plus the once a weekers. Today we had regulars, Al, (Nancy out with kayak injuries), Arlan the Quick, Steve the Greyhound, and Steve the Whippet. Additionally, we had Big Dick, Little Dick and Rex. I played about 90 minutes. Some singles, some doubles. Worked up a good sweat. 

The morning crowd is thinning out some now. We’ve lost Marvelous Mark to rheumatoid arthritis, Dale aged out and Kern’s shoulder can’t take any more repairs. Roger’s legs and age have caught up to him. Super Dave moved to the greener pastures of Milwaukee, and Ray never returned after the meltdown. However we did get a new slogan out of it, “don’t go all Ray now.” Ralph’s hip got the best of him. Jimmy the Mouse stopped after being hit one too many times (with the ball and racquet!) Jeff switched to LA Fitness. Recently, we lost Terrific Tom for 8 months with a torn rotator cuff and repair. Little Mike is just returning from knee replacement, retirement and moving up north. Steve the Whippet’s missing ACL is becoming a problem.

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Kettlebell Tuesday

50 minutes, 520 calories, 75% average HR.  My lower back didn’t cramp up until about half-way through this time.  I still haven’t gotten to the bottom of this problem yet.  It also plagues me in racquetball.  The gal next to me was using a 24kg as compared my 20kg for swings, goblets and dead lifts.  For doubles, she was using 16’s vs. my 14’s for cleans, clean and squat, swings and renegade rows.  Generally a strength session with ~ 30 second sets done in a ladder format.  We finished with lots of ab work – 2 rounds of pull-overs, planks, criss-cross leg raisers, side planks, leg raisers alternate leg.  Mixed in all of this were squat holds, sumo squats, 3 point hold and push-ups. 

I go to G365 for my kettlebell classes.  They are taught by RKC II instructor, Barb.  The classes are between 4 and 12 people, mostly women, mostly over 40 and strong as hell.  I seem to be the only one breathing like a race horse and sweating like a pig in class.     

Kettlebells are a key element in my training.  I get everything I need in these sessions - Strength, Cardio, Flexibility and Sweat.  It was Scoundrel who introduced me to kettlebells and if it wasn’t for kettlebells, I don’t know what I would be doing for general exercise.  While working on my technique, my goal is to reach 12 calories/minute for these sessions.

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Week One

The first week started out slowly.  About two weeks ago I increased my kettlebell classes to 3 a week (Tue/Thu/Sat) except for last week (only 2) because of the 4th of July.  The kettlebell sessions are about 45-50 minutes, burning about 500 calories with an 80% average HR.  On Saturday I played some pick-up racquetball with some of the regulars.  Let's just say I've got some work to do.  Skipping the ball has become a big problem.  I broke out the jump rope.  Initially aiming for 1 minute of jumping for warm-up and another 1 minute after I'm done playing, by the count of 35, my calves are burning and thighs are screaming.  On the weight front, I'm up 10lbs from 2 months ago.  I did not get any dedicated racquetball practice in.  

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What do I want out of this?

There are several aspects I want to accomplish with this training.
1. Improve my physical condition
    - Increase stamina
    - Get stronger
    - Become more flexible
    - Work on past injuries
2. Better court movement
    - Reaction time
    - Quickness
    - Movement
3. Develop racquetball skills
    - Serving, particularly my drive serve
    - Forehand
    - Shot selection 
4. Lose weight
    - Lose 20lbs

I will expand on each of these areas in further posts. 

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Herein lies the heart of the struggle

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2014 Plan

I'll be back later in 2014 after the summer cabin season. My current workout activities are structured around volleyball, water skiing, and mowing. I have big plans for this winter, since I'll turn 39 in October. Welcome Lard!

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In for an overhaul

This past year saw a lot of racquetball.  By late March, this body was just plane worn out.  Late winter, I was diagnosed with arthritis in my left wrist and being left handed, it was a problem.  However, it was developing plantar fasciitis in my left food that put me out of action for 6 weeks.  This is just one of a long list of of injuries this aging body has piled up.  Way back in 9th grade football, I suffered a separated shoulder and partial tear of my rotator cuff.  In my early days of racquetball, I slipped on a wet spot and did the splits and I am occasionally bothered by my right groin/right hip.  My hamstrings have endured several pulls and tears.  Most recently in 2011 when I started to play competitive racquetball.  I had meniscus repair in my right knee in 2010 and in 2012 I was diagnosed with a ruptured disc in my neck (C5/C6) which sometimes affecst my right shoulder and arm.  Finally, I have a nagging arthritic big toe on my left foot I got when I stepped wrong on the court and bent my toe backwards.  This was sometime around 2008.  During the course my training for the US Open, I'm going to address these injuries with specific exercises.    

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Welcome to the Clan!

Big Boys welcomes, 'Lard' to the clan.  While he may be new here, Lard has been around for a long time.  Lard was the instigator for the Power Lift and Body Challenge in 2009.    

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Let the Training Begin...

Man... It's sure dusty in here.  This place needs some cleaning up!
For the 2014 US Open Racquetball Championships this October, I'm going to train for it.  This will be my third year competing at the US Open. 

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