Swiss Ball Gym Sessions. Image: Delly Carr
JUMP IN THE CREEK
“Boulder Creek, in the heart of Boulder, is really cool even in summer. When I’m doing my big Kona block of training in August, I’d say the water temperature is about 12 degrees, maybe even less. It’s so cold it hurts to get in. I’ll just sit in there from the shoulders down. Normally I do one dip for five to eight minutes every day. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, when I run first, I’ll go straight to the creek afterwards. And on Wednesdays and Saturdays, when I do a long ride and run off the bike, I’ll have a sleep, then go for a dip in the creek in the afternoon. But you get most benefit if you do it straight after the session.”
GYM WITH DAVE
“When I’m in Boulder I meet Dave at the gym and we do a core stability strength session. I try to do it two days a week and it’s a 30-minute routine which focuses on deep abdominals and gluteals. Each session is comprised of seven or eight Swiss ball or body weight exercises, and we normally do two sets of each of them. We do a step up, down, and out to the side on each leg for the gluts. The plank position for the lower back (alternating each leg off the ground) I hold for one minute. We also do leg raises and leg holds, hip bridging on the Swiss ball and some push-ups with wide and narrow arms to finish.”
– Chris Hill