Ill be honest with you, if you didn't start building you beach body a few months ago you are playing catch up at this point. Fat Loss and performance are built over the course of months and not weeks. But there is hope to get your body dialed outside of instilling a proper nutrition plan into your lifestyle. It is going to take work, the pain face may come out a lot but I promise the following Cardio/Strength training tips will work 100% of the time. So throw out your ideas on what you should be doing and listen to what you ought to be doing!
Cardio is touted in fitness concepts the world over. Going on long endurance runs at 50%, doing interval work at sub maximal levels, using 10# weights during strength sessions and throwing 1000 reps behind everything. Ive seen it, studied it and dismissed most of it. The truth is that Sprinting, Performing barbell or Strength Complexes and Circuits at maximal intensity are the only way that you can crash through the barriers that keep you from the body and performance you want in your life.
Sprinting.
I have been a strength and conditioning coach for nearly 10 years now and an athlete for much longer. Not too much hurts more, makes atheltes skip sessions and otherwise instills fear than Sprint training. Why?? Because they fucking hurt! Sprinting at MAXIMAL intensity for durations of 100-400m lengths push your threshold so far that the results I have seen in overall performance match that of a typical 8 week strength cycle. But lets talk MAXIMAL EFFORT. Max Effort Sprinting means that you are pushing your body to failure the same way that you may when performing a 1RM back squat. I want you to fall down afterward, I want you to beg for a 2-4 minute rest in-between efforts instead of saying "this is too long" .. If your rest feels too long between efforts, you simply didn't go hard enough. I purposefully program my rest periods so to increase performance on the next effort and/or maintain output. We are in the Strength/Endurance phase of our year so expect to see more distance and shorter rest durations. But dont be surprised to see the 100's come back soon!!;)
Circuit Training.
CrossFitters Know this well. The beauty that lies int he couplets and Triplets. Taking 2-3 exercises and pairing them thoughtfully to illicit a stimulus on the athelte to drive a certain adaptation. The 21-15-9's, the 4 Rounds for time, all have meaning. Each week I thoughtfully program a general fitness program on goodtimescrossfit.com which is going to hit all the metabolic pathways, help burn fat and increase the threshold of atheltes determined enough to work. Here is something to consider when putting circuits together;
-Keep it simple. Dont over program your circuits. Dont try to hit a ton of exercises each day, focus on a certain stimulus and plan your week accordingly. Think about the old days of back/biceps, chest/triceps. The purpose was to keep the muscles fresh to train another day and work antagonistic muscle groups on off days rather than punishing the entire system and giving 50% to the whole week instead of 100% to every session.
-Program for intensity. As I noted above in the SPRINT section, you have to go hard to see the results. Circuit training allows for distinctive rep schemes that are unique to each workout. Think about how many reps you can maintain at a certain level of intentsity and stay there. If you note my programming, I rarely go above 15 reps on many exercises to keep intensity high and allow for maximal effort to occur.
Barbell Complexes.
I love barbell Complexes. Increasing Time under tension, pushing past the mental barriers, and burning fat. Barbell Complexes are like a cardio session but help build functional strength at the same time. Barbell Complexes utilize a few exercises, a certain amount of reps and an unrelenting mandate to NOT PUT THE BAR DOWN! Here are some great ideas for complexes;
-"DT" 5 Rounds of 12 Deadlift 9 Hang Power Clean and 6 Shoulder to Overhead. Probably my favorite barbell complex. The goal is to do this in 5 minutes @ a weight of 155/115.
-Back Squat/ Thruster/ Shoulder Press X 12 Reps at Each @ 95/65. Rest 3 minutes and repeat for 4 Rounds.
-Romanian Deadlift/ Barbell Bent Row/ Hang Squat Clean @ 135/95. This Upper Back Complex can be done with any implement, including KB's or DB's . The weak upper back is something I see very often. This one will keep you sore for a couple days and build you great strength gains.
-2 Mins without putting the bar down. Front Squats/ Back Squats @ 185. Perform 5 Reps of Each , moving the bar over and back of the head. Rest 1:1 and repeat for 5 Rounds.
These complexes are fun to build and illicit a Cardiovascular response that is unparalleled. You will want to puke and that is ok. Rest , drink water and repeat. Go Get it.
Building the body does take time but you can crash through a lot of the barriers if you are willing to suffer a bit for them. That, my friends, is athleticism. If you want to be great there are no cheat days, no off days, just laser focus and self determination. These 3 tips are the best way to see results. Just keep it varied and push FRICKIN hard. I am fired up for summer and the good stuff to come.
Love,
Eric
Programming Notes 5/28-6/1
5/28
Baseline:
-Marching High Kicks
-Shoulder Rolls
-Arm Circles
-Half Moon Stretch
-Bow/ Bend
-Side Lunges
Partner Warm Up
-Banded High Knees/ Partner Holds
-Banded Butt Kickers/ Partner Holds
-Banded High Skips/ Partner Holds
-Banded Chariot Run/ Partner Holds
WOD:
"Murph"
1 Mile Run
100 Pull Ups
200 Push Ups
300 Squats
1 Mile Run
*wear 20# vest if available
5/29
Baseline:
3X :60 @ Each
-Jump Rope Freestyle
-Barbell Good Mornings
-Barbell Bent Over Rows
-Barbell Overhead Reverse Lunge
Lunge Flow: Ankle Roll Outs, elbow to instep W/ Reach, hamstring Pulses, Back Bends, Side Lunge, Pigeon Stretch
Strength/Endurance:
Deadlift
3X15 @ Bodyweight
*The stimulus is to test the capacity of the hinge. The sets are meant to be unbroken and just above the ‘easy’ designation.
SUPERSET each set with
3X 10
Dumbbell Bent over Rows (each arm)
WOD:
27-21-15-12
Kettlebell Swing 53/35
Box Jump 24/20”
Alternating Single Leg V Ups
5/30
Baseline:
Agility Warm Up @ 10m Each
High Knee Pull
Quad Pull
Marching High Kicks
Squat 180 **stepping the leg high over hip, swing opposite leg to 180, squat
High Knees
Butt kickers
Marching High Kicks
Groiners
Straight leg shuffles
Power Skips
A Skips
B Skips
Fig 4 Drill
Lateral Shuffle
Carioca
Lateral Bounding
Sprint W/ Change of Direction
Endurance/Speed:
On a Running Clock,
400m Run
2 Minute Rest
200m Run
2 Minute Rest
400m Run
*Record Time. We will be repeating this for the next 4 weeks, record all details as to the ‘feel’ of the run, quality of the run and the times.
Strength WOD:
3 Attempts at max Reps @ 225.
-BackSquat-
Rest as needed between sets.
5/31
Baseline:
Roll Out Hips and Upper Back for 3-5 Minutes.
Dynamic ROM:
10@ Each
-Shoulder Rolls
-Arm Swings
-Lateral Jabs
-Bow/Bend
-PVC Trunk Rotations
-PVC Pass Thru
-SIde Lunges
-Squats
-Leg Swings
-Narrow Foot Pos. Squat
Movement Primer:
3X4 For Quality
-Negative (eccentric Pull Ups)
-Tempo Jump Lunges (+:03 Eccentric Lower, as soon as Knee touches, explode up!)
*the purpose of this drill is to activate the antagonist muscles and prime the movement pattern and CNS for the Box Pistols.
Gymnastic Strength:
3X6
*eccentric or focus on the negative
-Handstand Push Up (+:03)
-Box Pistol Squat (+:03)
*spend 5 minutes covering the clean and barbell Lunge, work up to load 135/95
WOD:
4X 3:00 AMRAP
3 Clean 135/95
6 Barbell Front Rack Lunges
9 Ring Push Ups
*match or beat each round
6/1
Baseline:
1 K easy Row.
Rotator Cuff Drills W/ 5# weights
-Bent Scarecrow +External Rotations
-Bent Plate Pull To Cheeks
-Bent Reverse Flys
-Bent lat pulls
-Standing Lateral Raises
-Standing Front Raises
-Standing Corkscrews
_Standing Wide Presses
-Standing Narrow Presses
WOD:
0:00-12:00
27 Dumbbell Shoulder to Overhead 50/35
21 Toes To bar
27 Wall Ball Shot
500m Row
12:00- Finish
27 Dumbbell Shoulder to Overhead 50/35
21 Toes To bar
27 Wall Ball Shot
500m Row
