Of Gyrations, Gyros, Gyrokinesis, And How To Facilitate The Transition From Slow To Fast Twitch Muscle Fibers On The Bike

Tara, FitOldDog’s sports masseuse and Pilates instructor, preparing for the next Gyrokinesis class.

Hi folks! Thanks for stopping by!

It’s interesting how many decisions we have to make in a day, and some of them have the potential to impact our long-term health. It is just a matter of developing good habits and making the world fit in with your desires as best you can.

Yoseph and Ayman cook great food at a reasonable price in the Philly Steak Factory, and they always make you feel welcome with a smile.

For instance, I am really enjoying my Paleo diet, of low carb foods with some meat, especially the fat, and lots of vegetables, fruit (mainly berries) and macadamia nuts. After buying some running shoes for Nick (15 years old and a natural runner) the other day we decided to stop by The Philly Steak Factory (5410 New Hope Commons if you live near Durham NC and want to try it) for lunch, where the food is great, the service friendly and with a smile from Ayman and Yoseph. I used to go there in my pre-Paleo days. How to make it Paleo, I wondered looking at the array of subs on the menu? The answer: just forget the bread, fries and potato chips, and have a Philly Cheese Steak or Gyro salad – I chose the latter, it was excellent and I got my Paleo way. It was really the smiles that made the food perfect.

FitOldDog enjoying Tara’s Gyrokinesis class in Carrboro, NC, USA, which is not so easy as it looks – you have to know how to engage your core.

Gyrokinesis is a whole different story, but it is great for lengthening your spine: once you get your diet right, you have to do some work on your body to stay in tiptop condition. There is no end of learning about body awareness, and one thing I like to do, to this end, is attend Tara’s Gyrokinesis class. The advantage of a class over individual lessons is the much-reduced cost, with an hour class for only about $12, and you get to meet great people. You also have a chance to watch others struggling to get it right, making you feel less like a klutz, and there is plenty of laughter, too. In addition to lengthening your spine (yes, you get to be taller), this method is great for finding tight spots you never knew you had, especially in your core. Perfect for triathletes! The beauty of tuning into your body is that you can apply what you learn to daily life, such as riding a bike trainer for hours on end when the weather is bad.

FitOldDog’s trainer bike set up, which currently uses his Guru.

FitOldDog experiments with transitioning from high load-low cadence to low load-high cadence: the other day I was on my trainer, where I can set the load (wattage) with the push of a button, and the workout was designed to mimick riding hills interspersed with level ground. I noticed that when I went from a steep climb, which for me right now is 160-220 watts with a cadence in the range of 50-60 rpm, to an easy cruise at about 110 watts where I like to have a cadence of 90-105 rpm, it took a long time for my cadence to come back up. I realized that I was having trouble relaxing my slow twitch (think weight lifting) muscle fibers that I use to climb in order to permit my fast twitch fibers (think jump rope or dancing) to move freely. I experimented with this a bit, and found that if I dropped my wattage to 50 for a few minutes after the hard climb simulation, and then returned to an aerobic cruise of 110 watts, my slow twitch muscle fibers got out of the way more quickly and allowed my legs to spin freely again. I just had to give them a small break. It’s the little stuff like this in life that makes the difference when you’re training, as it can reduce risk of strains or injuries, and improve your performance.

A little nutritional and body awareness training is certainly worth the investment of some of your time and money, especially as you age.

-k @FitOldDog