T Nation

Am I on the Right Track?

Beginners
#1

Hey, all.

I am a roller derby player who has lifted in the past, but am starting to get back into it to develop strength and endurance. My current workout schedule looks like the following:

Sun: REST
Mon: 0.8 mi bike ride (x2), 2 hours roller derby practice
Tue: 0.8 mi bike ride (x2), 10,000 kettle bell workout day 1
Wed: 0.8 mi bike ride (x2), 10,000 kettle bell workout day 2
Thu: 0.8 mi bike ride (x2), 3 hours roller derby practice
Fri: 0.8 mi bike ride (x2), 10,000 kettle bell workout day 3
Sat: 8-10 mi bike ride, 10,000 kettle bell workout day 4

Am I at risk for overtraining? Any further recommendations? The kettle bell workout is at juts 5lbs to start–it’s all I have at the house, and I figure as a relatively new lifter I have to start somewhere and build up from there.

Thanks,

Wench

#2

You won’t know if you are over training until you are almost there, but my guess is you will be just fine.

#3

I neglected to mention that my future goals are:

Bike daily to work, 8 mi each direction over varied terrain
Work up to 35lb kettle bell on 10K challenge, either in this one or the next (different workout in between)
Continue pushing myself in derby to skate 30 laps in 5min. Current = 21/5.
Get back to pushing 750 on leg press w/calf raises.

#4

[quote]Fling A Wench wrote:
I neglected to mention that my future goals are:

Bike daily to work, 8 mi each direction over varied terrain
Work up to 35lb kettle bell on 10K challenge, either in this one or the next (different workout in between)
Continue pushing myself in derby to skate 30 laps in 5min. Current = 21/5.
[/quote]

I was with you up until this point:

[quote]
Get back to pushing 750 on leg press w/calf raises.[/quote]
This seems like a random goal, completely out of step with the others, and which you haven’t included any training for.

#5

For actually building strength, that 10k kettle bell workout is, to put it bluntly, useless. It may be decent for conditioning; I have no opinion there.

If strength is a goal, why are you not doing what strong people do (in general): lift heavy weights for moderate reps?

#6

[quote]goochadamg wrote:
For actually building strength, that 10k kettle bell workout is, to put it bluntly, useless. It may be decent for conditioning; I have no opinion there.

If strength is a goal, why are you not doing what strong people do (in general): lift heavy weights for moderate reps?
[/quote]
To be fair, the 10k kettlebell workout does involve strength movements for moderate reps, with the ability to go as heavy as you want. These are done between the swings.

#7

[quote]Lo Rez wrote:
To be fair, the 10k kettlebell workout does involve strength movements for moderate reps, with the ability to go as heavy as you want. These are done between the swings.[/quote]
I agree, there’s more to the plan than “just” swings (I think some people overlook that). But since the OP is using a 5-pound kettlebell for now, I don’t think it’s a significant enough load at the suggested reps (1-3), even for a female who’s new to lifting.

[quote]Fling A Wench wrote:
Am I at risk for overtraining?[/quote]
You’re not, but you do need to be eating properly because you’re training everyday. If your nutrition is off, you’ll run into recovery issues.

8 miles or .8 miles like you’re currently doing? That’s a bit of a difference, to say the least.

The sooner you invest in a heavier bell, the better. Do you have any other equipment at home or literally just the one 5-pound kb?

I agree that this is a pretty arbitrary goal. It’s still something to shoot for, I guess, but how long until you’ll be in a gym where you can actually use a leg press?

Basically, your program is pretty much all conditioning/cardio-based with very little emphasis on strength building. In a contact sport like yours, I’m sure I don’t need to convince you that simply being physically strong is an advantage. Even building some basic bodyweight strength (full-range push-ups, single-leg squat variations, etc.) would be a start, but a free weight plan would be better.