Courtesy of Mark over @ GJ
It is meant to be a warm-up...yet I never really feel like working out after I am done with this
All work is done with 53# Kb (You can scale the workout as needed)
10x One-arm KB Swing (each side)
10x RTW (both directions)
10x Figure 8 (front-to-back)
10x Figure 8 (back-to-front)
10x Goblet Squat
10x Push Squat
10x Standing Halo
10x Half-TGU (each side)
10x Windmill (each side), alternate arms and do One-arm Snatch to switch sides
10x Get-up (each side)
I am just posting this so that I can reference to this in later workouts. But, if you are feeling like a new adventure...enjoy this
Thursday, July 15, 2010
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
DIET...
It seems everyone wants (or needs) to lose weight, but with all the information out there it just gets more and more confusing for the average person to know what to do? Let’s back it up a little and start from the basic understand of how fat loss happens in a simple and easy manner. Once you can master the basics, that is probably 90% of where all your results will come from!
Fat loss first and foremost is a hormonal event, the right hormones telling the body to release the stored “energy” in the fat cells to burn off. It is also important to know that there are also fat “storing” hormones that act in the opposite way, triggering the body to store “future energy” into the fat cells. The body triggers these hormones through many different stimulus like food, drink, exercise, stress and sleep. Fat cells are just the body’s emergency storage tanks afterall. If we didn’t have fat cells, we wouldn’t have survived the famines of the past. It’s a built-in survival mechanism that is getting all the wrong signals today. The body wasn’t designed around constant intake of food, especially the processed and high in sugar kind. (as that is not something that naturally grows on trees!)
So we know that fat loss is hormonal. Also fat loss occurs when oxygen is present, what is known as aerobic. (which means “with oxygen”…don’t get all happy yet all you daily joggers) The other stage is called anaerobic (which means “without oxygen”). Anaerobic training is also known more commonly as “strength training” (which you can tell by the lactic acid burn). Here’s where people get confused when it comes to exercise. Most people think that by doing aerobics you burn all the fat you want. Well if that was the case, obesity would of been taken care of in 1986 and your gym aerobic instructors wouldn’t have an average BF% over 25%. Who ever said you are guaranteed to burn fat? What about stored glycogen? Plus if you can burn fat in an aerobic state, well aren’t you in an aerobic state all day long (minus brief times of anaerobic activity) including sleeping?? So here’s the breakthrough, you have the ability to burn fat all day long! The only thing left is the hormones and whether they are saying “empty the storage tanks” or “here comes some more” to the fat cells.
The Fat loss hormones were are going to focus on briefly are insulin, glucagon, and growth hormone (GH). Insulin is a fat storing hormone, while glucagon and GH are fat burning hormones. If insulin is present and elevated, the other hormones go down (this is an important relationship to realize). Another hormone called cortisol (stress hormone) is a muscle breakdown hormone….and that is not something we want in our fat loss quest. Below are just quick and easy bullet point on how to maximize the fat burning hormones and minimize the muscle breakdown/fat storing hormones (don’t think all muscle breakdown is bad, you need to break down and rebuild the cells it’s when you have excessive breakdown and minimal rebuilding that is the issue as that will lead to a loss of muscle).
Your #1 enemy, sugar and all it’s hiding places (drinks, sauces, dressings, etc). If it has a label, read it and see what sugars you are really getting, as everything you put into your mouth counts! Why is sugar bad? Because sugar will be quickly absorbed into the blood which cause a spike in your blood sugar and with that spike the body releases insulin to take care of it (shuttle excessive blood sugar into the fat cells for storage!). So like I tell my clients, every time you put sugar into your mouth just tell youself “I don’t feel like burning fat for the next 3-4 hours” as that is exactly the hormonal signal you are giving it. Remember also when insulin is high, glucagon and GH go down (this is important to remember especially at night)
So let’s recap, for fat loss we want:
1. Minimal insulin levels thoughout the day (no high levels/spikes except during the post workout window when the insulin sensitivity is maximum, it goes into muscle not fat)
2. Maximum Glucagon (which is directly inversely proportional to insulin levels)
3. Maximum GH (which is controlled by insulin, exercise response and sleep)
4. Keep Cortisol in check (you will have some, but excessive will lead to muscle loss)
For Insulin control (and max Glucagon response):
* Keep levels low by not eating sugar or foods that quickly break down into the bloodstream (processed foods, breads, cereals, pasta) Just say to yourself everytime you are about to put sugar in your mouth, “I don’t want to burn any fat for the next 3-4 hours”...as that is exactly what you are telling your body with your hormonal response from the ingestion of sugar! (Already said that above but I want to drive the #1 important point home!)
* Have protein with every meal (as that will slow down the digestion of any sugars). Also protein intake stimulates the release of glucagon.
* Improve insulin sensitivity with glycogen draining exercise (resistance training) which will in turn reduce your insulin resistance (which is one of the biggest reasons for obesity and a serious increase of risks for many other diseases including heart disease, cancers, diabetes, accelerated aging and more!)
For max GH response:
* Most of your daily GH is released in the first couple hours of sleep at night (75%) . Keep your insulin levels low (which means no big meals or sugar 2-3 hours before bed) and get to bed by 10pm to get the maximum response. So get your sleep, your body will thank you. People shorting themselves on sleep will also be hindering their fat loss efforts and may lead to more weight gain from improper hormonal responses (which can also trigger cravings!)
* Exercise with Intensity (for fast twitch muscle recruitement, not slow twitch), whether it is resistance training with short rest periods or doing interval training like sprints. Short burst of anaerobic intense exercise (lactic acid burn) will in turn signal the body to release GH. Long aerobic activities (jogging, etc) will NOT. (The old argument of look at the body composition of a sprinter vs the marathon runner…the sprinter has more muscle and very low bf%, the marathon runner has little muscle and a higher bf% even if they look smaller) See the role of lactate in exercise induced GH response.
* Exercise in a fasted state has also shown to increase GH levels (again make sure you have enough energy to get through the workout, a small meal may be needed 1-2 hours prior if the activity it too intense)
Minimize excessive Cortisol:
* Keep all intense strength or cardio exercise under 45min (remember we want to increase the intensity in a short period, not the duration). Anything longer will just start wasting muscle as fuel.
* Practice relaxing throughout the day, don’t stress out over things that mean very little in the long run (ask yourself will this really be important in 1 week, 1 month, 1 year). Get perspective on things in your life, and detach from things that really don’t matter. Smile more, take deep breaths throughout the day, get out in nature, find your passions in life, etc. We are too stressed out and our body was only meant to use stress in short bursts (fight or flight response) not all day long events.
So if you can master these small steps, you will see tremendous changes. Remember that fat loss is an all day event! So eat and live your life that way! Don’t worry about how many calories you burn doing something, because that is not the point. Worry about what you eat all day and how your hormones are going to react to it. Eat the foods your body was meant to eat and live the active lifestyle your body was designed for….and you will have increased health, look great, feel great and hopefully live long and stay active.
IN SUMMARY
1. Remember that 85% of fat loss is nutritional based (not how many calories you can burn doing something) and you have the ability to burn fat all day long if your hormones tell your body to do so.
2. Eat whole natural foods (not processed..if it wasn’t around 100 years ago, you don’t need it!), avoid all sugars (foods and drinks), have protein with every meal
3. Train your fast twitch muscles with resistance training 2-3x a week and do 30-60min of “active lifestyle” based movement daily (not going to call it cardio). Go have fun doing whatever! (play tennis, go walking/hiking, ride a bike, enjoy what you do!)
4 Stop stressing out, take some deep breaths, get outside to relax and get your 8hrs of sleep.
Now what if there was something else you could do to decrease insulin resistance and improve GH response to exercise and sleep? Hey how about something that also helps the health of the gut, gives increased brain function, improves the digestive process and liver function (which is an important organ for fat burning)? What if there were loads of studies linking benefits for disease prevention and anti-aging? Hmmmmmm…..could that be Intermittent Fasting?? Wow….look how everything starts to nicely come full circle!
Fat loss first and foremost is a hormonal event, the right hormones telling the body to release the stored “energy” in the fat cells to burn off. It is also important to know that there are also fat “storing” hormones that act in the opposite way, triggering the body to store “future energy” into the fat cells. The body triggers these hormones through many different stimulus like food, drink, exercise, stress and sleep. Fat cells are just the body’s emergency storage tanks afterall. If we didn’t have fat cells, we wouldn’t have survived the famines of the past. It’s a built-in survival mechanism that is getting all the wrong signals today. The body wasn’t designed around constant intake of food, especially the processed and high in sugar kind. (as that is not something that naturally grows on trees!)
So we know that fat loss is hormonal. Also fat loss occurs when oxygen is present, what is known as aerobic. (which means “with oxygen”…don’t get all happy yet all you daily joggers) The other stage is called anaerobic (which means “without oxygen”). Anaerobic training is also known more commonly as “strength training” (which you can tell by the lactic acid burn). Here’s where people get confused when it comes to exercise. Most people think that by doing aerobics you burn all the fat you want. Well if that was the case, obesity would of been taken care of in 1986 and your gym aerobic instructors wouldn’t have an average BF% over 25%. Who ever said you are guaranteed to burn fat? What about stored glycogen? Plus if you can burn fat in an aerobic state, well aren’t you in an aerobic state all day long (minus brief times of anaerobic activity) including sleeping?? So here’s the breakthrough, you have the ability to burn fat all day long! The only thing left is the hormones and whether they are saying “empty the storage tanks” or “here comes some more” to the fat cells.
The Fat loss hormones were are going to focus on briefly are insulin, glucagon, and growth hormone (GH). Insulin is a fat storing hormone, while glucagon and GH are fat burning hormones. If insulin is present and elevated, the other hormones go down (this is an important relationship to realize). Another hormone called cortisol (stress hormone) is a muscle breakdown hormone….and that is not something we want in our fat loss quest. Below are just quick and easy bullet point on how to maximize the fat burning hormones and minimize the muscle breakdown/fat storing hormones (don’t think all muscle breakdown is bad, you need to break down and rebuild the cells it’s when you have excessive breakdown and minimal rebuilding that is the issue as that will lead to a loss of muscle).
Your #1 enemy, sugar and all it’s hiding places (drinks, sauces, dressings, etc). If it has a label, read it and see what sugars you are really getting, as everything you put into your mouth counts! Why is sugar bad? Because sugar will be quickly absorbed into the blood which cause a spike in your blood sugar and with that spike the body releases insulin to take care of it (shuttle excessive blood sugar into the fat cells for storage!). So like I tell my clients, every time you put sugar into your mouth just tell youself “I don’t feel like burning fat for the next 3-4 hours” as that is exactly the hormonal signal you are giving it. Remember also when insulin is high, glucagon and GH go down (this is important to remember especially at night)
So let’s recap, for fat loss we want:
1. Minimal insulin levels thoughout the day (no high levels/spikes except during the post workout window when the insulin sensitivity is maximum, it goes into muscle not fat)
2. Maximum Glucagon (which is directly inversely proportional to insulin levels)
3. Maximum GH (which is controlled by insulin, exercise response and sleep)
4. Keep Cortisol in check (you will have some, but excessive will lead to muscle loss)
For Insulin control (and max Glucagon response):
* Keep levels low by not eating sugar or foods that quickly break down into the bloodstream (processed foods, breads, cereals, pasta) Just say to yourself everytime you are about to put sugar in your mouth, “I don’t want to burn any fat for the next 3-4 hours”...as that is exactly what you are telling your body with your hormonal response from the ingestion of sugar! (Already said that above but I want to drive the #1 important point home!)
* Have protein with every meal (as that will slow down the digestion of any sugars). Also protein intake stimulates the release of glucagon.
* Improve insulin sensitivity with glycogen draining exercise (resistance training) which will in turn reduce your insulin resistance (which is one of the biggest reasons for obesity and a serious increase of risks for many other diseases including heart disease, cancers, diabetes, accelerated aging and more!)
For max GH response:
* Most of your daily GH is released in the first couple hours of sleep at night (75%) . Keep your insulin levels low (which means no big meals or sugar 2-3 hours before bed) and get to bed by 10pm to get the maximum response. So get your sleep, your body will thank you. People shorting themselves on sleep will also be hindering their fat loss efforts and may lead to more weight gain from improper hormonal responses (which can also trigger cravings!)
* Exercise with Intensity (for fast twitch muscle recruitement, not slow twitch), whether it is resistance training with short rest periods or doing interval training like sprints. Short burst of anaerobic intense exercise (lactic acid burn) will in turn signal the body to release GH. Long aerobic activities (jogging, etc) will NOT. (The old argument of look at the body composition of a sprinter vs the marathon runner…the sprinter has more muscle and very low bf%, the marathon runner has little muscle and a higher bf% even if they look smaller) See the role of lactate in exercise induced GH response.
* Exercise in a fasted state has also shown to increase GH levels (again make sure you have enough energy to get through the workout, a small meal may be needed 1-2 hours prior if the activity it too intense)
Minimize excessive Cortisol:
* Keep all intense strength or cardio exercise under 45min (remember we want to increase the intensity in a short period, not the duration). Anything longer will just start wasting muscle as fuel.
* Practice relaxing throughout the day, don’t stress out over things that mean very little in the long run (ask yourself will this really be important in 1 week, 1 month, 1 year). Get perspective on things in your life, and detach from things that really don’t matter. Smile more, take deep breaths throughout the day, get out in nature, find your passions in life, etc. We are too stressed out and our body was only meant to use stress in short bursts (fight or flight response) not all day long events.
So if you can master these small steps, you will see tremendous changes. Remember that fat loss is an all day event! So eat and live your life that way! Don’t worry about how many calories you burn doing something, because that is not the point. Worry about what you eat all day and how your hormones are going to react to it. Eat the foods your body was meant to eat and live the active lifestyle your body was designed for….and you will have increased health, look great, feel great and hopefully live long and stay active.
IN SUMMARY
1. Remember that 85% of fat loss is nutritional based (not how many calories you can burn doing something) and you have the ability to burn fat all day long if your hormones tell your body to do so.
2. Eat whole natural foods (not processed..if it wasn’t around 100 years ago, you don’t need it!), avoid all sugars (foods and drinks), have protein with every meal
3. Train your fast twitch muscles with resistance training 2-3x a week and do 30-60min of “active lifestyle” based movement daily (not going to call it cardio). Go have fun doing whatever! (play tennis, go walking/hiking, ride a bike, enjoy what you do!)
4 Stop stressing out, take some deep breaths, get outside to relax and get your 8hrs of sleep.
Now what if there was something else you could do to decrease insulin resistance and improve GH response to exercise and sleep? Hey how about something that also helps the health of the gut, gives increased brain function, improves the digestive process and liver function (which is an important organ for fat burning)? What if there were loads of studies linking benefits for disease prevention and anti-aging? Hmmmmmm…..could that be Intermittent Fasting?? Wow….look how everything starts to nicely come full circle!
Monday, June 21, 2010
TABATA
The Tabata Method
Fat Loss in Four Minutes
by Dan John
A couple of years ago, a company came out with an exercise machine that guaranteed results in only four minutes a day. The main problem? The $12,000 price tag. My car doesn’t cost that much. I’m not sure I’ve ever spent that much on anything, including my education.
Well, I’m going to save you a lot of money today because I’m going to show you how to do the same thing without an overpriced machine. This “top secret” training method may do more for you than all your other training combined and leave you with 23 hours and 56 minutes to live the rest of your day.
But there’s a price to pay. Think exhaustion, vomit and pools of sweat.
Enter the Tabata Method
Tabata is the name of a Japanese researcher who discovered an interesting way to increase both anaerobic and aerobic pathways at the same time. It’s one of those strange training programs that seems to fit across disciplines: it’s excellent for bicyclists, speed skaters, Olympic lifters, or the person looking to lose fat quickly.
This training method is so simple, yet so incredibly difficult, that athletes tend to try it once, acknowledge its greatness, and then vow to never speak its name again. What is it? It’s simple: take one exercise and perform it in the following manner:
1) For twenty seconds, do as many repetitions as possible.
2) Rest for ten seconds
3) Repeat seven more times!
That’s it! You’re done in four minutes! Oh, and that thing you’re trying to brush off your face? That would be the floor.
240 Seconds of Pain
Why should you do this workout? The Tabata program might be the single best “fat burning workout” that I know. It might only be four minutes, but you seem to keep sweating and breathing hard for a long, long time afterwards. Moreover, it seems to teach the body the proper method of squatting far easier than all the instruction in the world.
One other thing: Tabata truly teaches a person the mental focus needed to push past pain and reach his body comp or athletic goals. It’ll save you 12,000 bucks, too!
Fat Loss in Four Minutes
by Dan John
A couple of years ago, a company came out with an exercise machine that guaranteed results in only four minutes a day. The main problem? The $12,000 price tag. My car doesn’t cost that much. I’m not sure I’ve ever spent that much on anything, including my education.
Well, I’m going to save you a lot of money today because I’m going to show you how to do the same thing without an overpriced machine. This “top secret” training method may do more for you than all your other training combined and leave you with 23 hours and 56 minutes to live the rest of your day.
But there’s a price to pay. Think exhaustion, vomit and pools of sweat.
Enter the Tabata Method
Tabata is the name of a Japanese researcher who discovered an interesting way to increase both anaerobic and aerobic pathways at the same time. It’s one of those strange training programs that seems to fit across disciplines: it’s excellent for bicyclists, speed skaters, Olympic lifters, or the person looking to lose fat quickly.
This training method is so simple, yet so incredibly difficult, that athletes tend to try it once, acknowledge its greatness, and then vow to never speak its name again. What is it? It’s simple: take one exercise and perform it in the following manner:
1) For twenty seconds, do as many repetitions as possible.
2) Rest for ten seconds
3) Repeat seven more times!
That’s it! You’re done in four minutes! Oh, and that thing you’re trying to brush off your face? That would be the floor.
240 Seconds of Pain
Why should you do this workout? The Tabata program might be the single best “fat burning workout” that I know. It might only be four minutes, but you seem to keep sweating and breathing hard for a long, long time afterwards. Moreover, it seems to teach the body the proper method of squatting far easier than all the instruction in the world.
One other thing: Tabata truly teaches a person the mental focus needed to push past pain and reach his body comp or athletic goals. It’ll save you 12,000 bucks, too!
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
Relative Strength / Power-2-Weight Ratio
The power-to-weight ratio is important to the sports requiring locomotion; the cyclist that generates 400 watts of power with a 145-pound frame is more efficient than the cyclist that creates the same force with a 180-pound body. The 200-meter runner who can deadlift 3x bodyweight runs faster than the sprinter who can only deadlift 2x bodyweight. The runner's size/weight does not determine the one-rep max instead it is the neurological pathways and ability to recruit a greater percentage of existing muscle that are decisive factors. Because of this an athlete may develop the ability to generate incredible power without significant size or weight increase - by simply making the appropriate neurological pathways more efficient.
Relative strength can also determine how individuals integrate into a team. In the military context, every soldier wants to be strong and in an effort to become strong many get big as well. So how does the 230-pound guy integrate into the team? He's strong enough to hump heavy loads all day or carry a casualty. But what if he gets shot or sprains an ankle and his teammates have to carry him, and his gear? This same issue affects mountain climbers and backcountry skiers who often operate in remote areas and must be 100% self-sufficient, fire fighters, SWAT cops, etc. To be sure, fitness is an individual concept but each individual's fitness, size and speed can make the team more capable and flexible or less so.
So size matters, but bigger is not necessarily better, nor is bigger always stronger.
Relative strength can also determine how individuals integrate into a team. In the military context, every soldier wants to be strong and in an effort to become strong many get big as well. So how does the 230-pound guy integrate into the team? He's strong enough to hump heavy loads all day or carry a casualty. But what if he gets shot or sprains an ankle and his teammates have to carry him, and his gear? This same issue affects mountain climbers and backcountry skiers who often operate in remote areas and must be 100% self-sufficient, fire fighters, SWAT cops, etc. To be sure, fitness is an individual concept but each individual's fitness, size and speed can make the team more capable and flexible or less so.
So size matters, but bigger is not necessarily better, nor is bigger always stronger.
Monday, May 24, 2010
ANNIE ON THE RUN
50 DOUBLE UNDERS
50 SIT UPS
RUN 400
40 DOUBLE UNDERS
40 SIT UPS
AirDyne 1min +
x10 Pullups +
x50 Jump Rope +
x10 Ball Slams +
x8 KTE's +
AirDyne 1min +
x10 Box Jumps +
x10 Pullups (strict) +
x15 Pushups
x2 Rope Pulls
AirDyne 1min
x50 Jump Rope+
RUN 400
30 DOUBLE UNDERS
30 SIT UPS
RUN 400
20 DOUBLE UNDERS
20 SIT UPS
RUN 400
10 DOUBLE UNDERS
10 SIT UPS
RUN 400
50 DOUBLE UNDERS
50 SIT UPS
RUN 400
40 DOUBLE UNDERS
40 SIT UPS
AirDyne 1min +
x10 Pullups +
x50 Jump Rope +
x10 Ball Slams +
x8 KTE's +
AirDyne 1min +
x10 Box Jumps +
x10 Pullups (strict) +
x15 Pushups
x2 Rope Pulls
AirDyne 1min
x50 Jump Rope+
RUN 400
30 DOUBLE UNDERS
30 SIT UPS
RUN 400
20 DOUBLE UNDERS
20 SIT UPS
RUN 400
10 DOUBLE UNDERS
10 SIT UPS
RUN 400
new work
Front Squats
1x5 @ 155#
1x5 @ 165#
1x5 @ 175#
1x5 @ 195#
1x5 @ 205#
Back Squats
1x10 @ 225#
1x10 @ 245#
1x10 @ 265#
**5 Rounds**
(all work done @ 160#)
x15 Deadlifts +
x12 Hang Cleans +
x9 Front Squats +
x6 Push Press
1x5 @ 155#
1x5 @ 165#
1x5 @ 175#
1x5 @ 195#
1x5 @ 205#
Back Squats
1x10 @ 225#
1x10 @ 245#
1x10 @ 265#
**5 Rounds**
(all work done @ 160#)
x15 Deadlifts +
x12 Hang Cleans +
x9 Front Squats +
x6 Push Press
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Intervals and "The Bear"
10x 1-minute Row, maintain >300m/minute, rest one minute between intervals
The Bear Complex
4 Rounds (75#/85#/95#/115#)
Power Clean - Front Squat - Thruster - Back Squat - Overhead Press (repeat)
Squat Clean:
2x5 @ 50% (of Power Clean 1RM)
2x3 @ 60%
2x2 @ 70%
2x1 @ 80%
The Bear Complex
4 Rounds (75#/85#/95#/115#)
Power Clean - Front Squat - Thruster - Back Squat - Overhead Press (repeat)
Squat Clean:
2x5 @ 50% (of Power Clean 1RM)
2x3 @ 60%
2x2 @ 70%
2x1 @ 80%
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