I posted in the newbie forum & got some great advice from the BF community. I was going to continue my post in the newbie forum, but thought it was more relevant for mileage reporting.
I have been running 35-40 miles a week for the past 5-10 years. In shoes. I have done some reading on BFR & have started the journey. It has been "one step forward, 3 steps back" in my first attempt.
Here is how I started out.
WEEK 1: first try
5 mins BFR, day off, 5 mins BFR, day off, 10 min BFR. All of these runs @ a slow pace, trying to relax my calves & ankles & arms/shoulders, focus on lifting my feet & increasing my cadence. I also ran on smooth hard surfaces (e.g., concrete)
WEEK 2: first try
5 min BFR, 7 min BFR.
My calves cramped up so I stopped BFR for about 2 weeks, focused on cross-training (biking, yoga, swimming, elliptical) & posted under the NEWBIE forum to get some advice from more experienced BFR. Made some changes that included: (1) rolling my calves to massage them & work out any places that are especially tight; (2) walking around barefoot whenever possible & focusing on lifiting my feet when walking.
WEEK 1: second try @ BFR [running on smooth hard surface = indoor track @ my gym]
5 min BFR, day off, 5 min BFR, 2 days off, 10 min BFR. All of these runs @ a slow pace, trying to relax my calves & ankles & arms/shoulders, focus on lifting my feet & increasing my cadence. Still rolling my calves 3x a day. Trying to place a tennis ball or baseball under my calves to loosen them up (thanks for the tip zapmamak!). Cross training w/ elliptical in VIBRAMS (@ the gym), wearing VIBRAMS or going barefoot 100% of the time, increasing my distance swimming (up to 2400 m 4x a week), & biking if it is not 120 degrees outside. NOTE that I tried 2 days off before the 10 min BFR.
WEEK 2: second try @ BFR
5 min BFR. 1 day rest, 7:30 BFR. [running on smooth hard surface = indoor track @ my gym]
This is as far as I've gotten so far. My calves are a little sore today, but I will roll them tonight & try to loosen them w/ the baseball/tennis ball trick.
Keeping my fingers crossed & focusing on my form. I felt a little pain behind my right knee in the middle of the 7:30 run & tried to bend my knees more & shorten my stride. Pain behind right knee went away. (yeah baby!)
If anyone has any advice to give me on completing my transition to BFR & slowly building up my mileage base, that would be fantastic.
best, shawshank.
I have been running 35-40 miles a week for the past 5-10 years. In shoes. I have done some reading on BFR & have started the journey. It has been "one step forward, 3 steps back" in my first attempt.
Here is how I started out.
WEEK 1: first try
5 mins BFR, day off, 5 mins BFR, day off, 10 min BFR. All of these runs @ a slow pace, trying to relax my calves & ankles & arms/shoulders, focus on lifting my feet & increasing my cadence. I also ran on smooth hard surfaces (e.g., concrete)
WEEK 2: first try
5 min BFR, 7 min BFR.
My calves cramped up so I stopped BFR for about 2 weeks, focused on cross-training (biking, yoga, swimming, elliptical) & posted under the NEWBIE forum to get some advice from more experienced BFR. Made some changes that included: (1) rolling my calves to massage them & work out any places that are especially tight; (2) walking around barefoot whenever possible & focusing on lifiting my feet when walking.
WEEK 1: second try @ BFR [running on smooth hard surface = indoor track @ my gym]
5 min BFR, day off, 5 min BFR, 2 days off, 10 min BFR. All of these runs @ a slow pace, trying to relax my calves & ankles & arms/shoulders, focus on lifting my feet & increasing my cadence. Still rolling my calves 3x a day. Trying to place a tennis ball or baseball under my calves to loosen them up (thanks for the tip zapmamak!). Cross training w/ elliptical in VIBRAMS (@ the gym), wearing VIBRAMS or going barefoot 100% of the time, increasing my distance swimming (up to 2400 m 4x a week), & biking if it is not 120 degrees outside. NOTE that I tried 2 days off before the 10 min BFR.
WEEK 2: second try @ BFR
5 min BFR. 1 day rest, 7:30 BFR. [running on smooth hard surface = indoor track @ my gym]
This is as far as I've gotten so far. My calves are a little sore today, but I will roll them tonight & try to loosen them w/ the baseball/tennis ball trick.
Keeping my fingers crossed & focusing on my form. I felt a little pain behind my right knee in the middle of the 7:30 run & tried to bend my knees more & shorten my stride. Pain behind right knee went away. (yeah baby!)
If anyone has any advice to give me on completing my transition to BFR & slowly building up my mileage base, that would be fantastic.
best, shawshank.