Last Thursday after my Bodyattack class a good friend and colleague of mine was very happy:
“Did you actually see me do all the push-ups on track 5 on my toes?” he asked me.
Yes, I had seen from the corner of my eye that he was standing on his toes and was quite impressed. I have to say that hardly any of my participants – and I myself don’t, either – do the push-ups in track 5 completely on their toes, because first of all you have already mastered a power track and are snorting accordingly, and secondly the exercise combinations in track 5 are quite challenging and the movements can be very fast. Some alternate and sometimes do the variant on toes, sometimes the variant on knees. However, at the latest with the fast pulse triceps push-ups (small, pulsating movements at half height), which are part of every Attack release, most of them get down on their knees.
So how did it happen that my colleague “suddenly” was able to do the entire 72 triceps and 12 chest push-ups (no pulses, but half speed, therefore using the full range of the push-up, as it is expected by me with the slow exercise variant) on his toes, which he had never managed before?
Now he has just returned from his holiday and had no chance to do any sports at all in the past two weeks. His first thought was therefore that his body had regenerated so completely during this time that he could now release undreamt-of powers. In my opinion, this might play a role, but I don’t think it can be the main reason, because I neglected weight training completely during my holidays, as well – with one exception – and I clearly experienced this negatively yesterday: I had to do all push-ups on my knees, sometimes even at half speed, and really clench my teeth.
No, I have a different theory: My buddy has travelled through Germany with his motorcycle. Of course, motorcycle racing must definitely be seen as a sport – the impressive physical fitness of all racers is beyond question. But how about hobby bikers? I mean people who – mostly only in the summer season – ride their bikes to work every now and then, take a day trip on weekends from time to time (weather permitting) and maybe once a year, when it gets high, leave for a one-week tour. So what happens when a hobby biker spends two weeks riding a motorcycle for up to six hours a day?
I am only a passenger myself, but even from this experience I know that it can be quite exhausting: You have to hold on tight, adapt to the movements of the driver and the motorcycle, balance out small movements of the bike, etc. The driver certainly has a lot more to do. My friend confirmed to me that he was actually always pretty knocked out in the evening. And which muscles are particularly stressed? Sure, the upper body: arms, shoulders, chest and core.
My theory:
His new strength for push-ups is a consequence of this two-week “strength training” on/with the motorbike.
I am always very proud when my participants make such great progress and I think this story is truly FIBER.
P.S. If it turns me into a “push-up animal”, maybe I should get my motorbike license after all… 😀
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