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Sneaky Pete' Winter Workout Rant 10 10 10 10 10 10 What's with all this "ten" crap? You're supposed to do 10 reps per set. And maybe 5 sets. Of whatever exercise you're doing. This has been the common mantra since before Ben Weider invented "Muscle & Fitness" magazine. Except maybe for the Mentzer brothers who, in the late 70's suggested sets of 2. And lots of steroids. So here I am hoping to help my overall bicycle fitness with some sort of weight-bound training routine. Everybody says "10," to which I can only say "why 10?" When's the last time I did 10 of anything on a bike? Maybe 10,000 reps, but certainly not 10. Ten is just plain wrong, which is so obvious you can see it with your mouth. To put matters to the test I'm putting high reps to the test. Every exercise includes at least two sets of 50+ reps, and nothing less than 20 reps is allowed. So far, and contrary to the "10 trainers," I am in fact adding muscle mass, and I'm not straining any joints. In contrast, the 70's saw all of my joints blown out by Mentzer-like misguidance. Better yet, the bowflex I'm using has a separate cable for each hand. This is different from many commercial weight machines that have both hands locked together in unison. So now I do every exercise left right left right... This puts a moderate twist and/or bend in my torso, which puts the now famous "core" muscles to work. After a couple months of this I feel great. True, the workout exceeds 2,000 total reps. But it is definitely worth the time (90 minutes). So get past the 10, work through the burn, work your limbs alternately, and build a strong and durable body. Website © Copyright 2003, Eastern Idaho Bike Magazine 1336 E. 1130 N. Shelley, ID 83274 phone: 208-357-5148 Please send comments to: peter@eibike.com Website by Teton Multimedia