What you do

"Any decline in muscle performance with muscle activity at the original intensity."

This juicy little quote is the intro to a fascinating article on the effects of physical activity (and inactivity) on fatigue. The entire article here. 

I bring this up today because in another article someone actually did a study on the benefits of enhanced physical fitness for lovemaking. Seems the better shape the test subjects were in the better (sometimes) the activity that we (coincidental) celebrate today. There are a LOT of variables here, so let's isolate the ones we can control.

One of the main goals of our training, especially indoor cycle training, is to delay the onset of fatigue. We want to maintain power longer. We want to sustain the output, to endure. How we do that is the centuries old question, and in today's break-neck - mach 3 - double caffeinated - merry-go-round the hamster wheel world, we want the results NOW. Maybe even yesterday. 

But that is not the way our bodies work. These things take time. You must START and you must CONTINUE, happy with incremental increases and daily improvement, however seemingly insignificant. Because, over time, they add up. Consistency is crucial. You must turn the pedals A MILLION TIMES, take a million deep breaths, land successfully a thousand times on each forefront and learn the feel of the water over countless laps in the pool. Should you desire to tri, of course. 

You cannot do all of the above at once. 

You need faith. You need motivation and you need a goal. Something to keep you coming back for more of the same day after day. Eventually it must become ritual. Starting any day without a workout, for me, would be like doing same without a cup of coffee. After a while (YMMV) it is not only what we do, it is who we are. 

Making it an act of love. We do what we love. And we love what we do. 

So we work towards increasing our fitness, extending our power, building resistance to fatigue on a consistent basis, adding increased loads and intensities, supported by our group in a holistic environment. The latter meaning we also are attentive to the periphery elements of overall balance; rest and recovery, fuel, stress management and, my favorite today, the sharing of love. Let us share. 

After my TWO HOUR body work massage yesterday, I felt 100000% better. A few of the benefits of deep tissue sports massage:

Increased flexibility

Increase circulation

Pain reduction

Muscular release

Injury prevention

Better deep sleep

Deep relaxation

And those are just for starters, folks. I highly recommend a massage for all you who are cycling, running, swimming, lifting down the path of optimum fitness and good health. It is probably not too late to schedule one today.

You will both be glad you did. 

Happy Valentine's Day.