In regard to six weeks of doing everything right, a friend asked me how it was going in the comments, and I thought I'd reply here rather than there. Anyway, here's how it's going:
It's going okay-ish. I just finished my second six weeks, and am now in the midst of a four day break before signing on for a third six-weeker (happily, the break coincided with a long vacation weekend visiting friends and playing in a tournament). Friday was quite a few Ella-safe blondies (my daughter has allergies, so these had no dairy, but sugar galore). Saturday was pretty good, just chocolate mousse for dessert. Sunday was a bunch of Oreos on the ride home and a Blizzard from DQ. Not sure what poison I'll pick today, and then it's back on the wagon tomorrow.
I can definitely feel a change though. The desire for sugar, while still there quite powerfully, feels like it's more in my head than in my gut. It's the memory of how great it tastes rather than the deep-down craving (most of the time, sometimes the tough one is still there). And I have found myself slightly ambivalent about my current little sin siesta, with more feelings of "do I really want to do this?" than I had last time. I even find myself toying with the idea of jumping back on the wagon today rather than tomorrow, but man, I haven't made Ella-unsafe brownies yet, and there's that "Endangered Species" brand dark chocolate with toffee chips with my name on it lurking out there.
So, three months in and I can feel changes, although the beast is far from licked. I really feel like any health or fitness plan that tells people "stick with it for 3 weeks and you'll stop wanting it", or "exercise for 6 weeks and it will becoming a habit" are doing their adherents a disservice. For me, the exercise habit took probably TWO YEARS of fighting for it before it became a habit. And my sugar battle is in its infancy at three months. To tell anyone they just have to make it a few weeks before it gets easier is setting them up for failure when that inevitably turns out to be untrue. Of course, the truth might be too discouraging, so I don't really have an answer.
Coincidentally, the friends we were visiting called this very interesting article on leptin to my attention: Can't Keep the Weight Off? Maybe Leptin is the Culprit. (and here's a brief
postscript). In a nutshell, there may be a powerful hormonal response to weight loss that suggests to you (in much the same way Tony Soprano might suggest something to you) that maybe you should think about putting that weight back on. And this hormonal response can last for YEARS. Sucks. But you gotta love that last paragraph:
How do some people manage to overcome the leptin effect and keep weight off? Generally by watching their food intake very carefully and continuing to increase their physical activity. "Anybody who has lost weight and kept it off will tell you that they have to keep battling," says Dr. Rosenbaum. "They have essentially reinvented themselves, and they are worthy of the utmost admiration and respect."
Yeah baby.
I wasn't going to write anything up about this, as I didn't really think it was significant, but I read this series of blog entries from Ross Enamait:
... and taken together, along with this bit from the last one:
...transitioning to a healthy lifestyle may not be easy at first. If you've lived the last 20 years with poor nutritional habits and limited (or no) physical activity, you can't expect to suddenly transform yourself into the next Jack Lalanne. Self discipline will be needed to kick start the transition. Any change in habit requires a conscious (active) effort on your behalf.
Once you see the light, you'll realize that it's easy to keep, and certainly worth your time and effort. You won't see the light on your first day however. The transition from inactive and unhealthy to active and healthy is one that will take time and patience.
... got me thinking it might be worth posting a little something on my dietary struggles after all.
So, I eat too much sugar and white flour, both poisons. While I've made great strides over the past four years in both exercise and nutrition, I've never managed to kick the habit. HIGHLY addictive, those things. I've read all about alcoholism, and the behaviors I exhibit are the same (without the drunkenness and the social stigma). I've read all kinds of posts from evolutionary fitness folks that once you get yourself off the stuff, you'll stop wanting it, so I thought I'd put that theory to the test.
First, I tried a Thin Red Line approach. On a calendar, I'd draw a line through days I was good (no sugar, no deep fried stuff, no starch/minimal grains, and only whole grains at that), an X through days I was bad, and I'd try to make the line as long as I could. I thought just by tracking it that would be enough reinforcement. No way. The red Xs just piled up. I think I made it 11 days once, and when I'd fall of the wagon I'd stay off for days before climbing back on.
So I figured drastic measures were needed. Time to really give the whole "you'll stop wanting it" idea the best chance for success. I needed an interval where I'd be nothing but good. I thought six weeks would be enough. Short enough I could see the light at the end of the tunnel, long enough that my body would have time to adjust, and the cravings would lessen. I hoped.
So I did it, and it sucked, and through the whole thing I never stopped craving brownies, donuts, french fries, chips, ice cream etc. I thought I wanted it just as bad on on day 42 as I did on day 1 (it didn't help that I pulled my hamstring pretty good 12 days in and really wanted to say "screw it" and eat my way out of the resulting funk).
So I thought my experiment was a failure. I took three days, ate whatever I wanted, and then had a decision to make. Would I basically throw away six weeks of work by reverting to my old habits, or would I go once more into the breach? Well, I'm now two days into another six weeks. Sigh. I must confess I'm not dreading it quite as much as the first round. Here's what I've taken away so far:
- Holy crap, kicking sugar is HARD. Even at my worst, I was fit, and ate pretty well otherwise. Even after six weeks of abstinence, I still crave it.
- Jury is still out on whether it's possible to stop wanting it. Since my second six weeks fills me with a bit less dread than the first six, I'm going to take that as a sign.
- Another sign: after the six weeks were up and I ate whatever I wanted for three days, I did not binge nearly as badly as I have in the past. It wasn't three days to be proud of, but it also wasn't embarrassing.
- Man, I hope it's possible to stop wanting it altogether, because as Ross points out in one of his articles, any diet based on a feeling of deprivation is doomed to fail over the long term.
- I suspect that your body chemistry has to change in a pretty deep and significant way before your desires change, and I don't know how long that takes. I wish I did! Pretty long time, it seems, so hang in there and give your body a chance if you embark on a similar effort. However long you think it will take, that's not long enough.
P.S. Some people have it easy, some have it extra hard. I'm betting I'm in the middle. The difficulty of the battle varies with the individual. UPDATE: I posted a bit of follow-up in the comments below.
P.P.S. A reader comment below. EIGHTEEN MONTHS?! Yikes.
- 135 lbs. on the overhead/military/shoulder press (whatever you call the thing that's harder than a push press or a push jerk). I'm particularly happy about this because I can now just leave a set of 45s on the bar all the time. Hooray for laziness. :-)
- Broke 1:30 on the C2 500m row. Specifically, 1:29.6. Owwwww. I never want to do that again; the 1.4 seconds I needed came really hard. I think deadlifting, even though I'm fairly new to it, helped with this one. More power in each stroke. Also, this workout of mine may have helped, as it really gets you pulling hard.
The 500m reminded me of a really weird symptom I get when I really push myself to the brink: my teeth feel weird. Like a numb ache. Very unpleasant. Lasted for like 20 minutes after this effort. It's probably a heart attack warning sign, or something.
Okay, that's more than enough about me.
Here's a workout I've tried a couple times now that I like. I apologize, but it does call for a C2 rower, although you could simulate the fatigue with a 20-second all out exercise bike sprint (on a Schwinn Airdyne would be even better). Still, your gym may have a C2. Check the dusty, unused corner of the gym reserved for pieces of equipment that cause real misery.
Anyway, the workout probably doesn't seem like much (and maybe it's just that my off-season conditioning slide is worse than I thought):
- 100 meter sprint on the C2 (I do it in 18 seconds)
- 10 max. speed/jump burpees
- Rest as long as you want
- Repeat 10 times (I only did 5 today)
By round three I could feel the burn in my legs, and round five was pretty darn uncomfortable. Surprising, given how much rest I was allowing myself. I think what made it so hard was giving a true maximum effort. I can't pull 100 meters any harder, and on the burpees I made a concerted effort to (a) do them as fast as possible and, this is key, (b) jump as high as possible with each jump.
I don't know if you're like me, but when I do burpees I tend to short-change the jump in favor of getting the reps done faster (after all, more time in the air hurts your reps/minute). Burpees with a max. effort jump torch the legs in a hurry (and they are already fatigued from the C2 sprint).
Anyway, give it a shot, report back!
I've started deadlifting for the first time. Bought a 300 lb. Olympic weight set from Dick's, and dove right in. After a couple weeks I'd worked myself up to 330 lbs. (strapped another 30 lbs. onto the bar) and was feeling all proud of myself. I mean, at a bodyweight of 200 lbs. I know I'm not even approaching respectability until I get to 2xBW (400 lbs. for me) but I was still pleased since I'd never done anything but dumbbell work before, working at much smaller loads.
Then I did what I should have done in the first place. I re-read these three fantastic articles on the deadlift by Eric Cressey:
... and I shot some video of myself.
Holy crap, MY BACK! Slightly rounded at the bottom, very rounded at the top, and my shoulders were practically hanging from their sockets. Humiliating. I'm going back to 135 lbs., going to video every session, and only move up as good form allows. I consider myself lucky I didn't hurt myself over the past couple weeks.
I know I've read somewhere that you really can't coach yourself when it comes to lifting, and after this experience I can see why. If you're lifting without feedback it's really hard to know what your body is really doing. However, I do think the combination of excellent freely available information on the Internet and home video get your pretty darn close. I can look at a good deadlift and compare it to my deadlift and see quite clearly where I'm lacking, and what adjustments I have to make. The video was such a stark contrast to the picture in my mind. Really essential, I think, if you aren't being coached.
So, a couple quick equipment recommendations:
- Flip Video Camcorder. That's the basic 30-minute version for under $100, or you can spring for one of the newer versions. This has got to be one of my favorite gadgets of all time, purely for its simplicity. There's just a couple buttons, the USB connection is integrated into the unit, and the software for managing your videos is stored on the camcorder itself, so there's nothing to install. You literally buy it, put in batteries, and throw away everything else in the box. Beautiful.
- Joby Gorillapod. Set your camera up anywhere. For my video I set it up on the wheel of my rower, and it was totally secure. Great tool. There's also the Monsterpod, which looks very cool, but I've never tried it myself.
If you have access to a rower, here's a workout I run through when I'm strapped for time. With 30 seconds rest between each interval, row:
100m
200m
300m
400m
500m
400m
300m
200m
100m
Last time I set an average 500m pace of 1:43. I think I can do better, but that was a pretty good workout.
It's a bonus if you can set up this workout on a C2 rower, as you can program the distances and the rest intervals into the monitor, and it forces you to be honest on the rest time. Once the rest is over, the clock starts ticking on your interval time, and any time spent dead in the "water" REALLY hurts your average.
Let me get the reflection out of the way. Four years ago after letting my game languish and decay, I decided I was going to get it back. My goal each season was to play better than the year before. I did that three years in a row, but this year broke the streak. Ah well, it makes it that much easier to meet my goal next year.
Anyway, it was a weird year for a lot of reasons, but the only one relevant to this weblog is that I didn't really adjust my training to more difficult time constraints and stresses as well as I could have. Started the season injured, and never really made up the ground physically or, more importantly, psychologically.
So, after some noodling around, I do believe I have the next couple months of my off-season mapped out (PDF) (update: see below for revised version). Sorry if the notation is kinda terse, it started out as a cheatsheet for myself, but then as I realized I was going to post it I tried to flesh it out while still keeping it to a single page. Feel free to post questions.
A few ideas/influences I kept in mind when designing this:
I did the "Deck #6" workout yesterday morning as a bit of prepaid gluttony penance, and it was great. I mean, I sucked at it, leaving cards in the hole after I hit the 30 minute wall, but still, I'm going to like this plan. I think I'll run through it twice and then change it up a bit.
UPDATE: After a pass through, I've tweaked the program a bit with some of my own ideas and some of Noel's. See below for his great comments. Noel, I wanted to change the exercise order to line up more with your suggestions, but found I ended up ordering largely due to time efficiency (mini-circuits timed largely based on whether you're working both sides simultaneously or not for a given exercise). Anyway, here's version 1.2 in PDF and Word formats (the latter for those who want to do their own tweaking).
It's been awhile since I posted a workout of the day. From this afternoon:
- Tabata jump rope (20 seconds sprint, 10 seconds rest, repeat 8 times).
- Rest one minute.
- 500m sprint on the C2 rower. Finished in 1:34. My record is 1:31, so didn't feel too upset, given I don't usually do Tabatas first. Three seconds is an eternity though. Every second is precious in the 500. You'd think I'd be able to shave off 0:02 and get under 1:30. Not yet.
- Waited for the blood roaring in my ears to subside, and for my legs to stop quivering. Five minutes, maybe?
- Tabata NordicTrack: See above. Only managed six rounds. Hated myself. Pride is fleeting, shame endures.
- Rest. Three minutes?
- 100 sledgehammer swings for time (10 lb. sledge, striking tire). 3:15. Wanted to break 3 minutes. Alas. Weakling.
Could have been worse, but could have been much better. Still, it was hard, so it was good. I'll do some hard running tomorrow, pickup Sunday, then just hone a bit next week and get fresh for Regionals next weekend.
Can't. Wait.
It's the simplest workout: 100 burpees, as fast as you can. I try this once in awhile, when I'm pressed for time, or when I just feel like testing myself. Getting all 100 inside of 10 minutes has been a goal of mine for some time. My typical strategy is to set the timer for one-minute increments, and try to knock off 10 every minute. This usually results in me quitting somewhere between 60 and 80. Or, if I don't pace myself and just do them as I'm able, I finish well over 10:00. For example, a little over a year ago I tried it for the first time and sucked mightily.
So today I tried it again with my "10 every minute" strategy. I'm pretty slow at these, so even at top speed I can only manage 10 in 30 seconds. And that's what I did for the first five minutes. 10 in 30 seconds, then 30 seconds to rest before the next minute starts. Then it gets hard. My pace erodes at the expense of my recovery time. I got to 70 with about 15 seconds to rest before the eighth minute was due to start. At this point I pretty much abandoned the clock and started counting down the 30 reps I still needed. This, by the way, is usually when I quit. I was at 89 with a minute to go, and hit 100 at 9:56!
It was physically painful, but I have to admit the bigger obstacle until today has been mental. I simply haven't wanted to work hard enough to turn in a time like this.
Anyway, 100 in less than 10 minutes, very happy. It might not seem like much when you watch this guy crank out 100 in 5:00 and change, but for me it was a good day.
I came up with a workout, heavily inspired by Ross Enamait's Work Capacity 101 (but easier), that takes advantage of all the equipment new equipment I've mentioned recently (my hanging pullup bar, my new jump rope and tire (the latter for sledgehammer training), and my horse stall mat as a nice burpee surface):
- 5 pullups
- 10 burpees
- 20 sledgehammer swings (10/arm)
- 40 high-knees, sprinting rope skips (if you miss, do them over until you get 40 in a row)
- Rest 1 minute
- Repeat 10 times
Well, my plan was 10 circuits, but the kids came home after the fifth. I say that like I blame them for cutting my workout short, but in reality I was grateful for the excuse. My forearms in particular were on fire, and I thought I was going to fling myself from the bar as I kipped at the bottom of the pullups, and my grip on the sledgehammer was so tenuous by the end that I feared for our car's safety (I workout in the garage). I would hate to have to explain a sledgehammer-sized dent in the door.
If that's too easy for you, you could switch up the sledge and the burpees like so:
- 5 pullups
- 10 sledgehammer swings per arm
- 20 burpees
- 40 high-knees, sprinting rope skips (if you miss, do them over until you get 40 in a row)
- Rest 1 minute
- Repeat 10 times
Better you than me. :-)
Got a new jump rope this week. I've tried a variety of jump ropes (leather, beaded, and "speed", but this new one is easily my favorite. It's a Cable Freestyle Rope from buyjumpropes.net. The handles are long, lightweight plastic (with foam sleeves, not pictured on the site) and the rope is basically a flexible coated wire. It's the fastest rope I've tried (although not the fastest they sell) and the long handles are nice for crossovers. Since it's been cold I've only used it wearing like exercise pants, which is good because I bet it hurts like hell when you whip yourself with it. Adjustment is very easy, just a little two-part sleeve inside each handle that you slide apart to adjust. Adjusted out to the max. they are just long enough for my 6'4" self.
The other new piece of equipment I got this week was a used tire, kinda on the largish side (maybe off an SUV?), picked up for free at a local garage (they generally have to pay to dispose of them, so I imagine any garage would be happy to be rid of them). What's it for? Why, beating the tar out of it with a sledgehammer, of course!
So, in honor of my new finds (and workout time being pretty tight lately), today's workout:
- Tabata jump rope, immediately followed by...
- Tabata sledghammer, immediately followed by...
- 50 double-unders on the rope.
Ross Enamait recently ran an article on sledgehammer training, which includes a video demo of sledgehammer Tabatas. From there, he also links to his own article specifically on Tabatas.
Anyway, since I mostly feel the jump rope in my shoulders and the sledgehammer in my forearms, it's amazing I can type this at all.
Just a quick workout of the day for you: do a set of Tabata sprints, followed by Tabata "backwards overhead medicine ball throws" (hold the ball with both hands, squat a bit while bending over then hurl the ball backwards over your head as far as you can). I used an 8 lb. ball and a 10 lb. ball, so I'd throw one then the other then sprint to them and do it again as fast and as forcefully as I could. My daughter thought this was a particularly fun one to watch.
Reader llimllib asks:
With the series coming up in a month or so, how are you going to work out to try and peak at the right time?
A teammate has borrowed my Ross Enamait books, so I can't really give as detailed an answer as I'd like (at least not terminology-wise), but it boils down to this: there are several models of periodization (how you time and vary workouts to improve over time), and the one I follow doesn't really emphasize peaking.
What I don't do is follow the periodization model where you spend a certain number of weeks emphasizing strength, then more weeks emphasizing speed, then more where you start putting it together, etc. in the hopes that it will all be in optimal for your event of choice. Don't get me wrong, this can can be a successful model, it just doesn't have much appeal for me. I like to be able to feel like I can play tourneys throughout the season without shortchanging them because I haven't peaked yet.
In his books, Ross favors a model geared towards fighters. There's no well-defined season, fights may occur year round, and schedule changes/opportunties mean you may have to fight on relatively short notice. I'm no fighter, but I like this model for myself as well. I like doing lots of varied routines, working on many different fitness qualities throughout the week. In a given week I try to fit in the following:
- 1-2 sessions Tabatas, with at least one being sprints (emphasis on max. fatigue).
- 1 session hill sprints and/or acceleration work (emphasis on max. effort/power, not fatigue).
- 1 session GPP (fairly grueling bodyweight circuits).
- 2 sessions pick-up Ultimate.
- 1 session max. strength.
- 1 session explosive strength.
- 2-3 core workouts interspersed with the other stuff throughout the week.
- 1-2 rest days/week.
It's pretty easy to fit all that in during the off-season, but adding in the 2 days of pickup makes it hard. At this point in the season, if anything falls off my plate it's the strength work, but I try not to let it.
Anyway, by mixing up the stuff I work on throughout the week, I don't overtrain any one given quality, so I can keep progressing (the rest day(s) are essential, however).
I'll do this pretty hard for three or four weeks, then take a back-off week, where I might just do bodyweight exercise, jump rope for the Tabatas, etc. I stay active, but I don't kill myself like I do in the hard weeks. The back-off week allows supercompentation to kick in, where your body adjusts to the strains of the preceding weeks, and allows you to start again the next week from an incrementally higher level. I think I've got the gist of the theory here, but again, no books to refer to at the moment.
And that's pretty much it. I repeat that cycle year round, varying what I Tabata, what strength exercises I do, etc. to keep it fresh. This has allowed me (I hope/think) to improve my strength and conditioning evenly and steadily. Again, this worked better in the off-season, as pickup kinda messes things up, but I still think I've gotten stronger as the season has progressed.
As for the implications as the fall series approaches, I'm basically going to keep doing what I'm doing, but will time it such that my back-off week is the week before Regionals. I'll probably skip pickup that Thursday, but will otherwise break a sweat a few times that week to stay active and fresh.
I gotta say though, I pretty much adopted this model as one I wanted for life, not for Ultimate. It seems to fit well and work for me, but a more traditional periodization model (build over months and peak for Nationals) might be superior.
Anyway, hope that answers your question!
Alrighty, yesterday's workout. Give it a shot, do better than I did:
- Warm-up: 50 one-arm, light-weight (20 lbs.) DB swings per arm, done in sets of 25. This has become my new favorite warm-up. Hits lots of muscles, doesn't take long to break a sweat. I do the first 25 for a given arm swinging up to vertical, then the second set swinging to 90 degrees to up the tempo.
- The Dreaded Leg Matrix as described by Skwigg (see paragraph 3). Took me 120 seconds (sigh), crappy form (sigh), probably managed 1-inch vertical on most of the squat jumps (sigh). The lactic ache in sets 3 and 4 was incredible. I would like to see a video of someone doing this in the prescribed 90 seconds, with good form. I mean, if you're a complete rock star and able to do good jumps for the lunge jumps and the squat jumps, won't the time in the air alone pretty much consume whatever time you socked away from the first two sets? Volunteers?
- 4x4 on The Evil Wheel. I do it from my feet, but rollout to a wall that stops me way short of going to the floor. Gonna start working on these more regularly.
- Tabata pushups. Pretty good for the first couple sets, then lucky to get 5-6 in the each remaining set. Weak.
- Core circuit. I set my Gymboss for 30 seconds work, 15 seconds rest, and did this circuit: [1] Chinnies, [2] Plank, [3] Plank, right side, [4] Plank, left side, [5] Superman, [6] Knee Hugs, [7] Medicine Ball Slams (10 lbs.), [8] Medicine Ball Twist Throws, [9] Flutter Kicks, [10] Plank. Actually did a pretty good job on really cranking during each 30-second work period.
Let me know how it goes!
I always seem to find ways to not do Work Capacity 101. Frankly, it scares me. I mean, who isn't scared by this:
- 5 pull-ups.
- 10 med. ball slams (non-bouncing ball, hard and fast, like a zombie is trying to get up from the ground and eat you, and you are trying to pummel it back into the earth).
- 15 burpees (not squat thrusts - incorporate a push-up and leap).
- 20 jumping jacks.
- Repeat 10 (10!) times at the top of every two minutes (that means, if you go as fast as Ross does in his video, the most rest you can hope for is about 45 seconds, and personally, I'm not nearly as fast as Ross).
I think the first time I tried it was around six months ago, I cut almost everything in half, and I still only managed five or six circuits. I might have tried it one other time since then, and wussed out similarly. I've made progress at The Magic 50 because I keep trying it, but little on WC-101 because I avoid it.
So today was the day, and I was determined not to shirk. Here are the rules I laid down for myself:
- Perform all the reps as prescribed, as fast as possible.
- One minute rest between rounds.
- As many circuits as possible before exhaustion.
So how many circuits did I last?
Four.
I suppose that number is meaningless without also including a total elapsed time, but I forgot to set the clock. Next time.
The big problem for me is the burpees. The way the workout is structured, you arrive at those slightly winded and with your triceps pre-fatigued. I'm also not used to doing 15 at a stretch. I usually do 10 at a time, and even when I'm doing as many as I can in a 30-second block, it's never much more than 10. Those extra five make a big difference.
I definitely have to plug away at this workout some more. It induces levels of discomfort I never experience on the field (and then only if we're committing way too many turnovers).
Anyway, read Ross's article, watch the associated video, and give it a try! I'd be curious to hear if it's as painful for you as it is for me.
My fourth pass at my de facto benchmark workout, The Magic 50 (background: first, second and third runs). I used a 50# DB for the swings and snatches last time, but today I cut it to 40#, as it has been a long time, and I was feeling fragile after yesterday. I resolved to go quicker this time to make up for the lighter weight. Man, every move was a chore. But I'm not too disappointed with my time: 14:31. Heaps better than my second attempt from around the beginning of the year, which clocked in at over 26 minutes!
Alrighty, I'm through floundering around toying with exercises and workouts and now have a five-week plan hybridized from Never Gymless and Infinite Intensity and some friendly advice from Ross himself on how to build the weekly cycle around two days of pickup. The next five weeks plus a light week will take me right up to Log Jam, our next tourney. Anyway, yesterday was an "explosive strength" and core day that left me pretty sore in the hamstrings, entire back, and shoulders, so that's good and bad. Good in that I worked, bad in that I think I've lost a bit by just doing a la carte workouts for quite awhile rather than having an actual program. It allowed me to slack rather than push myself to do what I'd planned. The soreness is also bad because I'll be hitting my defacto benchmark workout, The Magic 50 today, which I haven't done since April. I'm thinking I'll have to cut the weight a bit. Anyway, yesteday's workout, which I had to tailor a bit around some achilles tendinitis (yes, another injury post is forthcoming) I've been flirting with since the bad ankle sprain last year, and which Easterns threw into full effect:
- Flag, 4 reps, 4 sets: Probably should go at the end with the core work, but it's really a strength move so I stuck it at the beginning. It's that thing you've probably seen Bruce Lee do where basically you cantilever your body out horizontally, with only your shoulders on a bench, and your hands gripping the bench behind your head. I do it on the floor, gripping the underside of a closed door (and wearing thick gloves). I haven't trained this movement in awhile, and it really shows. Starting with body vertical, probably only got down to like 45 degrees, so I've lost at least 15 degrees.
- Mini-circuit, 4 sets: 1-DB High Pull, 8 reps, Knee Tucks, 10 reps: See the Crossfit Exercises for the High Pull demo ("Sumo Dead Lift High Pull"). I do it one arm at a time with a dumbell, and my legs are bit closer together, but you get the idea. Knee Tucks are basically jumps where you try to get as high as you can, bring your knees to your chest, and explode again upon landing, minimizing ground contact (like you're doing them on a hot plate). Only did two sets of these because I could feel it starting to bother the achilles, which I've done an admirable job of resting (i.e. not playing). I'd hate to torpedo that. I really like the High Pulls.
- Mini-circuit, 4 sets: Clap Pushups, 8 reps, Lunge Jumps, 10 reps (5/leg): Start the Clap Pushups with a 5-second static hold in a halfway-down pushup position, get a little static-dynamic protocol action going. Let one pushup flow into the other, stop early if you start breaking form. Quality over quantity. For the lunge jumps, go into a lunge, spring out of it, scissor your legs in the air, land in another lunge, spring out of it. Again, one lunge should flow into the next. My back leg doesn't go back very far, as it bothers my back knee when I do. Instead, as I flex down into the lunge, my back knee ends up pretty close to my front foot, if you can picture that. One of the few high-impact exercises my knees will tolerate, if I get the position right. Experiment with what's comfortable to you. This will shred your hamstrings, be careful. First time I tried these I came very close to pulling one in a big way. Could be I'm just weak, but I can do these pretty comfortably and still be sore as hell the next day. Also, these don't bother the achilles at all, happily.
- Mini-circuit, 4 sets: 1-DB Push Press, 5 reps, Ankle Hops, 20 reps: See the Crossfit exercises page again for the Push Press (again, I'm doing a single dumbell variation). Ankle hops are just jumps with ankles only (just enough knees to absorb the shock). Skipped these because of the achilles.
Okay, on to the core. A meager three circuits of the following:
- 15 Knee Hugs:: Lie on your back, arms stretched overhead. Heels just off the floor. Pull your knees to your chest as you crunch and loop your arms over your knees (without touching your knees - no cheating). Extend out, returning arms to overhead and heels just off the floor (basically no part of your legs except your butt should ever touch the ground). That's one. I believe it's a good sign if your low back stays pressed to the floor. Arching means a weak something, somewhere, I vaguely recall reading. Don't hold me to that, though.
- 16 Lying Hip Swings (8/side): Lie on your back, raise your legs to upright (12:00). Arms out to your sides. Keeping your legs straight, rotate your hips/waist to bring your legs to 3:00 (more like 2:30 for me). Then back to the other side (9:00), like a metronome.
- 15 Supermans: Lie on your stomach, arms stretched overhead. Simultaneously raise your arms and your legs such that you're arched and as little of your torso is on the ground as possible (ideally just your hips). Careful about your back on this one.
- 10 Unstable Rows (5/side): Special equipment for this one. Set up a single gymnastic ring as close to the floor as you can (or some kind of strap/handle kludge. Put a dumbell next to it. Now assume a pushup position with one hand on the ring and the other hand on the DB. Pull (row) the DB to your chest. The closer together your feet, the harder this is. My feet are pretty damn far apart, even with just a 20# DB.
I do not think this should have laid waste to me as badly as it did. I felt okay throughout, but basically my entire backside from just above my knees to the tops of my shoulders are sore today. And to think I have to hit The Magic 50 next, which is all 1-DB swings and snatches, and burpees. Yowch. More on that in a moment...
I took last week off, and pretty much spent the previous two weeks experimenting with different workouts and exercises. I realized I'm kinda idling while I wait for Ross Enamait's Never Gymless to come out next week (next week! I can't wait!). So today I thought I'd give The Magic 50 another shot. It is the very first workout of Enamait's sample program in Infinite Intensity. I didn't finish my first attempt at it, even using the relatively paltry weight of 30-pound DBs. By week five I had increased the weight, and managed to finish, even if I was quite unhappy with my time of 26:25.
But I'm happier with my latest attempt, completed a few minutes ago: 50# DBs for both the snatches and the swings, and a total elapsed time of 19:45 (might have managed 60# for the snatches, but am still nursing a shoulder injury). At this rate I should be able to get under 15:00 in another 5-7 weeks. I could almost convince myself of that if I wasn't on the brink of hurling all over my keyboard.
Since I post my humiliations so freely, I hope you'll forgive me posting the occasional triumph. Along with Tabatas, Scrapper's Workout #1 put me on the road to wellness. As you'll read in that last link, I first started doing it a little over a year ago, and it killed me, even halving (or two-thirdsing) most of the repetitions. The last time I did it was months ago, and I'd probably gone up to 70-80% on most of the repetitions. The legs still really wiped me out though, and it remained a workout to dread.
But tonight I was casting about for a workout, and thought I'd give it a shot. I blazed through it, only short-changing the pushups (pyramid to 10 instead of 12) and felt like I could keep going at the end. A far cry from the nauseating experiences of months past! It's so gratifying to have such a clear indicator of progress; I had to crow a bit. So indecorous. My apologies.
I wouldn't want anybody here to actually think I'm good at the stuff I write about. So, details on my embarrassing workout of the day, 100 burpees, as fast as possible. While burpees figure prominently in my routines, I've never actually tried this before.
My time? 15:58.
Shhh... Hear that? If you listen real close you can hear hear folks clicking the "unsubscribe" button in their newsreader of choice.
15:58!? Fer cryin' out loud. That's barely over six per minute! Anyway, enough lamentation. Here's how it broke down for me. I figured I'd tackle it in 10 as-fast-as-I-can blocks of 10, with the minimum rest between blocks. My first block of 10, which is when I should be able to record my best time, took 40 seconds. That is not very good. I'm not sure why I'm so slow at burpees, but I keep working at it. Anyway, if I did them straight through at that pace I'd be looking at around 7 minutes. Of course, fatigue sets in, so subsequent sets take longer, and rest between sets takes longer, and before I knew it I'd nickle-and-dimed my time to death.
My pipe dream was 10:00. At 13:00 and two sets to go I was gunning for 15:00. Pretty much killed me to get under the 16:00 wire.
Consider this a public service. On many a gung-ho site (you know who you are :-) you are encouraged to post times, and one notices a preponderance of superhuman times. One might develop an inferiority complex ("everybody can do these workouts better!"). My theory is that folks with non-superhuman scores are less inclined to post, skewing the sample. That, my friends, is where I come in.
P.S. Score above recorded with a bad shoulder and pulled abdominal muscle.
P.P.S. Immaterial. Even healthy I doubt I would have cracked 15:00.
P.P.P.S. Yet.
I've been a bit at sea since finishing the 10-week sample program in Infinite Intensity. I figured I'd revise it slightly and go through it again, but haven't gotten around to the revisions yet, so have been picking and choosing workouts while I waffle. Last week I found myself on a GPP/core day, but without enough time to do both. I didn't want to pick one over the other, so this is what I came up with:
- Body Rows x 30 seconds
- Mountain Climbers x 30 seconds
- Weighted Russian Twists x 30 seconds
- Rest x 30 seconds
- Repeat 10 times
Set things up so you can move between exercises without rest. I felt this one in a bunch of different places for a few days: hips, upper back, lower ribs, obliques (really noticed it sitting up sideways to get out of bed the next morning). Some notes:
- The closer you are to the floor on the body rows, the more challenging they are, but they still aren't nearly as hard as pull-ups. Still, they are a good movement and work the muscles a bit differently. And if you're babying a shoulder that doesn't like going overhead at the moment, they are a nice substitution. If you prefer pull-ups but can't do 10 good circuits of them you can do negatives after you run out of gas (jump to the bar and lower yourself) or static holds (perhaps jump to the uppermost position, hold, lower halfway, hold, lower and hang, keeping shoulders activated).
- To do mountain climbers, assume a push-up position. Sprint in place, pistoning your knees to your chest as fast as you can while keeping good form. The less your butt bobs up and down, the better. The closer your knees get to your chest, the better. The faster, the better. If you haven't done these before, you will find them surprisingly tiring.
- To do weighted Russian twists lie on the floor with your knees bent like you're about to do sit-ups. Holding a medicine ball with both hands, bench press it to the fully extended position and hold it there. Now do a partial sit-up and hold. From this position, keeping the medicine ball extended, twist back and forth, first bringing the medicine ball towards the floor on one side, then the other, maintaining tension throughout your core. You can do this without the ball to make it easier (just clasp you hands). You can do it on an incline bench to make it harder.
Given my high opinion of his other books, it should come as no surprise that I was thrilled to note Ross Enamait has a new book coming out in the next couple months! From his forums:
As for products, I've got a new book that I've been working on since the summer. I'm still testing the workout program(s).
The book is called NEVER GYMLESS. It's a bodyweight based program (with some additional tools mixed in such as resistance bands). Basically, a way to train at home without free weights. I'll post more details soon.
I'm also hoping to make a DVD later in 2006.
Sign me up for both, without a doubt.
He also has a new video clip up, The Home Gym (WMV ~6.1MB). I love these videos of his for illustrating so plainly the gap between what I can currently do, and what is possible. Some examples...
After 12 weeks I'm finishing the 10-week Infinite Intensity sample program this week (I repeated two weeks I wasn't happy with), and having just done the "Fast & Furious" workout today (which includes plyo pushups) I know exactly how impressive those clapping push-ups are. It's all I can do to clap in front of my face, and I feel like I manage that more with hand speed than the explosiveness of my push-up. And the the one-arm rollout? Criminy. I still have around a foot to go, maybe more, before I master the two-arm rollout.
Still, rather than be discouraged by how much more is possible, I'm inspired by it. I'm also very happy with the results of my first 10 12 weeks. I've increased by at least a third the amount of weight I can put over my head in various ways (single dumbbell snatches, push presses, push jerks, etc.), I've added probably a foot to my standing wheel rollout, and a good 15% to the ROM on my flag. Various nagging knee woes seem to be improving with all the squatting rather than worsening, although that varies by the day, and it did take some tweaking to find the right form for me. I'm even making progress on the one-legged squat, as I've lowered the blocks I sit-to/get-up-from as I build up the movement. When I do Tabata burpees, I can hit my max for 20 seconds for more than the first set, and by the last set my form and rhythm haven't completely gone to pot (even if I'm well off my max by then).
And, happily, the ankle sprain that only let me enjoy two-thirds of my first Nationals is finally starting to feel healed! Not completely, there's still the slightest bit of swelling, but the post-workout tendonitisy feelings are almost gone, and running/playing feels like it's on the horizon. Oh, how I long for spring...
My name is Jim Biancolo, and as the disclaimer on every page states, I'm not a doctor nor a fitness professional. Furthermore, as the self-deprecating subhead of this site suggests, while I'm pretty fit I always feel like I have room to improve. Still, I'm a few years into a quest aimed at reclaiming (and then surpassing) my former athleticism (such as it was), I have learned a ton in that time, and I wanted to share it. This post attempts to organize the highlights of the weblog so far, in a guide-like fashion:
Background
Current Practices
Equipment
Diet
Not much to say here. Moderation in all things. I try to stop eating when I'm still slightly hungry, as I overeat if I go until I feel "full." Meat, nuts, fruits, vegetables (far more fruits than veggies, I just confess), whole grains. I limit sugar, non-whole-grain flours, and deep fried foods, sometimes loosely, sometimes religiously. No question I get leaner when I assiduously avoid those three things.
Injuries
Injuries? I never get injured! Yeah, right...
Conclusion
I've never considered myself a natural athlete (that's my brother). My athletic life has mostly been a battle of wills, whereby I convince/trick my scholarly-inclined body into doing athletic things. Hopefully my scholarly inclinations will help in writing this weblog though.
A reader recently asked how I modified the sample program in Infinite Intensity for Ultimate. My reply is here, and hopefully of interest to non-Ultimate players as well, as most of my modifications are not Ultimate-specific.
As I've mentioned before, the very first workout of the Infinite Intensity program is The Magic 50. For me, five weeks ago, it was a rude awakening, as I only managed a Not-So-Magic 30. The workout shows up again in the program at the beginning of week five, so I resolved to post my results regardless of how damning they were. Sigh. Cringe.
50-pound DB for the snatches, 40-pound DB for the swings. 26:25. Twenty-friggin-six minutes and twenty-five seconds.
On the one hand, that score totally sucks. By the third circuit I was catching rest as I transitioned from one movement to another, and my fifth circuit was an interminable score-killer, as I had to wait out waves of nausea before proceeding. On the other hand, five weeks in and I did the whole thing rather than three-fifths of it, and with heavier (probably too heavy) weights to boot. And while I cheated between movements, I did each set with good rhythm and cadence (e.g. I didn't catch rest mid-burpee-set).
So give it a try, post how you do.
(Here are burpee instructions and tips, if you need 'em.)
Today I start week two if the program detailed in Infinite Intensity. Workout of the Day? "Work Capacity 101". Check the video. Ross does the circuit in 1:15, with each of the 10 (!) circuits scheduled to start at the top of every 2 minutes. Pray for me.
Today marks the beginning of my training for the 2006 season and beyond. For the next 10 weeks I'm going to follow the program detailed in Ross Enamait's Infinite Intensity. Today's workout? The Magic 50. Well, for me it was "The Magic 30", as I'm new to dumbbell work and I started to feel a bit of back-related nerve shooting so laid off. I'm sure my form sucks, and I overestimated how much weight I could do. Also, 30 was pretty damn tiring. I have clearly gotten soft since the season ended. Amazing how little it takes to slide.
The Infinite Intensity program promises to be fantastic though. It's a mix of workouts like The Magic 50, interval training, a variety of core workouts, dumbbell workouts, plyometric moves, etc. All speed, endurance, and strength, no bulking up. I've modified it a bit, but not much. The biggest change is that Enamait calls for a work:rest ratio of four days on, one day off, but I'm going to go 5:2 (rest on the weekends). I'm also doing some substitutions where I don't have the equipment, like twisting medicine ball throws instead of heavy bag work, for example (although as an Ultimate player I wish—perhaps counterintuitively—that I could keep the heavy bag work - all that rotational power in the hips).
I wrote up a cheatsheet for the program, and I managed to squeeze it onto one double-sided sheet. 8-point Times New Roman, 4 columns, with the minimum margins my printer can handle. This makes it sound like the program is complicated, but it's not. What it is, though, is comprehensive, loaded with variety, and yet still, amazingly, focused. The book is a keeper.
It's been about a month since the season ended, and I've been noodling about with different things to try for off-season training. I splurged for some rings, and they promise to be a blast (even just regular ol' pushups and dips are entirely different exercises). I gave my double density run at 100 pushups a shot, but it turns out that form of training ran smack into my as-yet-undiagnosed attention deficit disorder. Man, it's dull to do a workout wholly dedicated to pushups! I got to the "10 sets of 10 in 10 minutes" step before bailing. I'm going to concentrate on all-around conditioning and strength and let the pushups follow at their own pace. I made a medicine ball out of a $4 playground ball and about $1.75 worth of sand, and got a feel for what it's like slamming it to the ground and hurling it against my basement walls (cement) and that's going to be a nice exercise, and fun, believe it or not. Nothing like slamming and hurling with reckless abandon. Well, it will be fun once I build version 2 of the ball, and clean up all this damn sand, that is. I have some plyo blocks made from cinder blocks, an evil ab wheel, and I figured out that if I wear a thick pair of gloves I can do dragon flags on the floor by gripping the underside of a door.
So between all the playing around, and minor tweaking and personalizing of Ross Enamait's 50-day program lovingly detailed in his Infinite Intensity, I'm just about ready to have a great winter. A couple more trips to Walmart and Home Depot and a few final touches on the plan, and I ought to have everything I need to blast off the week after Turkey Day. Perfect.
I'll have to share my medicine ball experiments, other homemade equipment, and fun uses for my new favorite cheap product, replacement tennis racket grips. Stay tuned...
