Coach John Hughes

The American College of Sports Medicine Recommendations   By Coach John Hughes   “Act Now.” No, this isn’t a sales pitch on late night television! Even if you’re a young 50-something (or even younger), now is the time to start taking care of all aspects of your physical condition, not just ride your bike! A recent study at Duke University determined that the physical decline in … [Read more...] about Fit for Life IV: Act Now!

By Coach John Hughes By the time I reached my riding goals for the year, and with winter looming, I was tired of riding. We can ride all winter around Boulder, but it’s riding on the plains and – to me, at least – rather boring, and often not in ideal conditions. I prefer to cross-train through the winter anyway, still riding occasionally but not exclusively, so I turned my … [Read more...] about Cross-Train for Fun and Fitness this Winter

  By Coach John Hughes   “Baseball is 50% physical, and the other 90% is mental.” – Yogi Berra. A roadie wrote, "After post-graduate math courses at the Yogi Institute, I've since changed the percentages to, "Cycling is 25% training, 25% planning, and 95% mental." Lying on the frozen ground with my mountain bike on top of me, I admitted to myself that I wasn’t having a good … [Read more...] about On the Rivet II: The Importance of Progressive Relaxation

  By Coach John Hughes   Mature is a much better word than old, senior, etc., don’t you think? Although my chronological age is 67, I’m on Medicare and I’m eligible for Social Security, I think of myself as having acquired 43 years of athletic maturity since I started riding in 1975. I’m not old! I'm athletically mature! Athletic Maturity looks at total body fitness and is a … [Read more...] about Fit for Life III: Improving Your Athletic Maturity

  By Coach John Hughes   I had lunch on Friday with my friend John, who turns 80 next year. He said he’d recently realized that he hadn’t touched his toes in a few years so he’d bent over and tried to touch his toes. He couldn’t. Now his back hurts when he gets out of bed in the morning. He flexed his arm, pointed to his biceps and said, “In a few years you won’t be able to see … [Read more...] about Fit for Life II: How Athletically Mature are You?