First posted in 1996

Profile:

Name: Larry Steinrauf

Birthdate: June 8, 1931, in St. Louis, Missouri, USA

Home: Kaohsiung, Taiwan

Occupation: Visiting Professor of biology and director of the Scientific English Service at the National Sun Yat Sen University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan.

All-time T&F bests: Missouri state high school champion in broad jump (twice), relay (three times), second in 440. Four letters in track at University of Missouri. Second in Big 7 relay. Best performances: indoor 440 at 51.3, 50.4r, 880 at 1:58.2, 660 at 1:23.5 (school record), outdoor 440 at 49.5, 400H at 54.9.

Masters achievements: Ten Midwest championships at high jump, long jump, triple jump, pentathlon, 400m dash and javelin. Best performances (M50) 26.8 in he 200, 58.36 in the 400, 2:24.0 in the 800, 4:56.8 in the 1500, and 35'6" in the triple. Second at the nationals in 1982 in both high jump and triple. Third in the Indiana state 5-mile in 1994. Three years ago did 800 in 2:36. Blood pressure then was 180/100. BP is now 110/70.

Trivia: Larry is well-traveled. Earned B.S. and M.A. from University of Missouri in 1954, both in chemistry/biochemistry. Ph.D. from the University of Washington, Seattle, in medical biochemistry. Was research fellow in chemistry at Caltech in Pasadena. Research fellow in physics, University of Cambridge, England. Assistant professor of physical chemistry, University of Illinois, Urbana. Visiting professor of biochemistry, University of Bristol, England. Visiting professor of physiology, Harvard Medical School, Boston. Professor of biochemistry and molecular biology and professor of medical biophysics, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis.

This schedule was for building strength and endurance and avoiding injuries. I have had my share -- severely pulled hamstring, split rotator cuff in the shoulder, torn meniscus in the knee, tendinitis behind the knee cap. I have successfully overcome all of these.

My workouts follow a three-day schedule:

DAY 1:

About one hour on the stationary bike, followed by 1/2 to 1 hour on the weight machines. This includes both upper and lower body work. My favorites are the bench press and the squat. I hate the hamstring curls, but I think that there is the potential for improving sprinting speed.

However, extreme care must be used to avoid cramping. The squat must be done with care. I do the squat exercise only with machines, and I never bend the knee more than 90 degrees. I prefer the vertical squat machine but the 45 degree machine is OK. I start with about 200 pounds and go to 300 or 350 max. Of course it is absolutely essential to keep the military position for this exercise to avoid any injury to the spinal disks.

I stay with weights where I can do at least 10 reps, and I go to max 3 to 5 times for each session. The same is true for the bench press, where I could do 220 to 235 before the rotator cuff problem. I am now back to about 180 pounds and improving.

DAY 2:

This day is for swimming, using flippers on my feet; otherwise I just sink to the bottom of the pool. I have never learned to do rotary breathing, so I use the backstroke, and I can make good time with the flippers.

I do at least one hour with the last five minutes as hard as I can go. The pool temperature is distinctly cool and I hate the first three laps. Swimming the backstroke is the best therapy that I know for the rehabilitation from hamstring injuries. After the swim, I feel like nothing except drinking a cold beer and orange juice and taking a nap.

DAY 3:

The remaining day is for running. I run on grass or a soft indoor track. If indoor, I use the stationary bike as part of my warmup. I use a very long warmup with very gentle stretching of those parts that are likely to give trouble. I also must adjust my metabolism to the endurance cycle. I start the running part of the warmup with long, slow running and then easy intervals. This part takes about 30 minutes.

The production part of my workout is either long distance or intervals. If I have a partner, we do the long steady distance. If I am alone, I do the intervals; no one seems to want to do intervals with me. The distance is at about 7 minute/mile pace, and 2 miles is enough if I am not in shape, but 3-5 miles is more usual.

After the distance, I usually do 4x200m at a quick or not all-out pace. The interval workout is usually 4 or 6x800m at around 3 minutes each, with a walk of 200m between. These are followed by 4x150m at the fastest pace that is still fully relaxed. If running indoors, I do not fight the curves.

I seldom take a day off, but about once a week I take an easy day. If my running is going well and I have no pendin injuries, then I run every other day, and alternate the swimming and bicycling. I would not swim during the week of a competition.

The goal of this schedule is to avoid injury. The time is enough to allow all small injuries to heal. No one, under any circumstances, should do the same hard workout on successive days. This is just asking for trouble.