Author Archives: Mike Vulanich

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About Mike Vulanich

I'm an amateur triathlete and professional daylight maximizer, fueled by peanut butter and espresso. Here at mvtri.com I write about my training & racing as a competitive athlete, and the cool places around the world it's taken me.

track-session: 10.13.11

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A weekly refresh to your workout tunes. New artists, all paces. Each week, the same format will be followed – warm-up…tempo…chief, I’m in the zone…cool-down. Note – not all songs will appeal to all folks, some may even include coarse language.

New artist and tracks, with one throwback. Enjoy!

warm-up – get muscles movin’, wake up the mind, creep the heart rate upwards.

Sun Goes Down feat. The Knocks – Icona Pop  The duo from Stockholm bring the syndrome with synths, beats and pleasant vocals on their recently released Nights Like This EP. While the ladies are more upbeat on the rest of the EP than on this selection, Sun Goes Down has a very nice build-up feel to it makes it a great tune to help lead into the rest of your workout.

tempo – driving beats for a driving pace. Rev up the RPMs and hit cruise control.

Brain of J. – Pearl Jam In honor of their 20 yr anniversary, j-m is giving a nod to p-j. This track’s steady tempo is almost too perfect. It’s like Vedder was cranking out 6:00min/miles when he brained this one up.

chief, i’m in the zone – intervals, hills, racing – whatever the challenge, you’re out-of-your-skull owning it right now.

Plugged In – Bassnectar Remix – Rollz Off his album Divergent Spectrum released a couple of months ago, Bassnectar  toes the line between the original drum-n-bass lines of fellow UK producer, Rollz, and his own synth laden dubstep style  in this track. If you were off pace in your efforts for your hard workout, this one will snap you back into it.

cool-down – deep breath, flush it out, almost time to feast.

Florescence – Welder In his debut album under the new moniker, Welder, Brendan Angelides (aka Eskmo) trades in some of his more atmospheric electronic tendencies for more organically produced landscapes – perfect for cooling down! What he does not deviate from however is his pension for off-kilter beats while keeping an stable overall sound. Sad to see him move from San Francisco to LA last month…!

As always, if you think YOUR tracks would get the bodies movin’, e-mail junkmiles.blog@gmail.com and tell us just what new tunes are keeping your workouts fresh

the monday-meal: 10.10.11

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Sure they say it’s the most important meal of the day, but breakfast can also become the day’s most drab and repetitive as rushing to work – perhaps after a morning training session – can make the convenience of cereal, toast, bagels and the like too attractive to pass up. Pour cereal, add milk, mosh on banana, repeat tomorrow. There’s nothing wrong with cereal, many are awesome and if you choose the right one, they can be a surefire way to get the essential nutrients and fuel for a long day.

 

But what if we wanted to enjoy something on par with our Sunday brunch favorite in the same amount of time it took to make any of the aforementioned breakfast staples? This five-minute recipe will help you do just that.

 

Flax Seed waffles topped with greek yogurt and blueberries. This is as simple as – toast, plop, top and eat. It couldn’t be a better fuel combination and it’s so tasty that you’ll want to rethink that $13.50 you spend on waffles Sunday mornings.

 

Nature’s Path Flax Plus Frozen Waffles– These organic waffles use 100% whole wheat flour and flax seeds will give you a great combo of quality complex carbs and Omega-3 essential fatty acids. Those looking for less…ehm, fiber…in their morning, opt for a waffle that uses a combination of wheat flour and whole wheat flour.

 

FAGE Total 0% Greek Yogurt– Any Greek yogurt will do and it should probably be fat free. A whole serving (1 cup) piles high on the waffles, but it’s worth the 23 grams of protein. The thickness of Greek yogurt is what makes this work because it isn’t runny and doesn’t soak the waffles. And it emulates whipped cream…

 

Frozen Blueberries – Sure you can use fresh blueberries, but at a fraction of a cost per ounce and likely higher in nutrients due to immediacy of the freeze, frozen fruit and vegetables are a great way to have fresh fruit whenever you’d like. Defrost while the waffles are toasting.

Throw a banana on the side and sit down to a 485 calorie, nutrient-packed start to your day. For those needing a bit more in the caloric bank, spread the serving of Greek yogurt and berries across three waffles if carbs are the call (totaling 575 calories). Going to need a little more protein instead? One large egg will bump the protein up 5g with a side of HDLs (555 calories).

But wouldn’t an egg (or two) take this from a 5 minute meal and turn it into a much longer, messier endeavor? Well, we’ll show you on the next Monday Meal that it doesn’t have to! See you next week.

Item Name Calories Sugars Carbs Fats Protein Cholesterol Sodium Dietary Fiber
Nature’s Path Organic Flax Plus Frozen Waffles 180 5g 26g 7g 5g 0mg 380mg 5g
FAGE 0% Yogurt 130 9g 9g 0g 23g 0mg 85 0g
Blueberries Frozen 70 12g 17g .6g 0g 0mg 1mg 4g
Banana, medium 105 14g 27g 0g 1g 0mg 1mg 3g
1 Brown Egg (optional) 70 0g 1g 4.0g 6.3g 180mg 60mg 0g

gear-up: GoFit Ultimate ProGym

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Strength, flexibility and stability whenever you need it. Even if that’s before you leave for work. 

 

The first j-m gear-up post couldn’t have come any easier. This item’s main benefits aren’t aero dynamic advantage, moisture wicking technology or weight optimization via carbon fiber. Rather the value proposition is something simpler, more universal that anyone would value: time efficiency and opportunity. And it comes in the form of rubber tubes.

 

Strength, stability and flexibility training are critical but often dropped the second work, family or even sport specific training get in the way. The opportunities and, dare I say, flexibility provided by three colored coded pieces of rubber and some handles are nothing short of invaluable to anyone that isn’t a professional athlete who’s calendar is filled with  multiple daily training and eating sessions. Any takers?

 

Specifically, I am referring to the Go Fit Ultimate ProGym. The aforementioned rubber tubes come in three resistance levels indicated by color (Green = “15 lbs.”; Blue = “10 lbs.”; Red = “5 lbs.”), two handles that can be fastened to any combination of said tubes, a door stop (explained later), examples of workouts in print and DVD and a carrying bag. All told, when zipped up in the bag, the “gym” in its entirety is not much bigger than a toiletry case.

We’ll get to how they’re actually used, but let’s start with the most important asset of this item, the potential usage occasions. These are examples of scenarios where I have used these to find otherwise unavailable time or access to resistance training:

–  Traveling: Backpacking through Europe, visiting family, work travel, any time you’re not by your neighborhood gym.   I’d be willing to bet grandma doesn’t have a bowflex. Traveling for work and staying at the Marriott, you may not have time to head down to the gym. This fits as into your luggage as easy as anything else you could pack save for a pair of socks. It’s in my carry-on above my head as I write this.

–  Cardio compliment: After returning from a ride or run. Supplementing a three hour group ride with some strength training sounds about as appealing as pogo sticking to the dentist. It’s a lot more manageable when you can spend 10-15 minutes in your room when you get back and get in a full resistance workout and stretch. You’re overall fitness level will thank you.

– Time maximization: On the days where there isn’t enough time to even eat real meals let alone get in a resistance session. Have I brought these to work and found somewhere out of the way to do15 minutes of resistance during lunch? Yes, yes I have. (The living room at home is a more socially acceptable alternative)

– You just hate the gym: This one’s pretty simple. Some folks, especially endurance athletes, find spending time and effort in the gym unappealing for many reasons.

 

Now, how do these things actually work? The wonderful thing about this is that your muscles don’t know if you’re lifting iron or rubber. If the resistance is there, they’ll respond. So doing curls is as simple as: (1) choosing the combination of resistance you’d like; (2) snapping them to handles; (3) standing on the center of the tubes; (4) engaging a curling motion. Shoulder raises? Repeat steps one through three and do shoulder raises. Shoulder press…you get the idea.

However, where the range of exercises grows exponentially is in using the included door stop, which is how Go-Fit can call this a “gym.” It allows you to put the bands above any door hinge you can find, freeing both handles and your feet. And given that just about any door I know has multiple hinges, multiple angles exist for exercises such as chest press, leg extensions, rows and beyond.

Here are some exercises and usage instructions. You can also get creative and emulate other exercises done with more traditional methods.

Is the Go-Fit Ultimate ProGym the same as going to the gym and getting in a full scope strength session? Probably not – especially if you’re interested in 50 lb. curls…per arm.  But it’s pretty darn close. Especially if you pack the punch in the time you use them, doing core work as active recovery from chest press, for example. Not waiting in line or having to go back and forth between stations is a HUGELY underestimated efficiency win. Keep as active as possible and in 20 minutes, you can knock out a full session that will not leave you disappointed.