Thanksgiving day- 10 minute "fuel" workout

It's been a while since I posted, but todays workout not only kicked my butt, but also was quite comical. Since the gym was closed it was necessary to improvise and improvise I did:

Concentrated on intervals today, so no need for lots of weight, but nevertheless found a few things to make it harder- Heres how it goes: I use an interval timer app like GymBoss and set it for 4 intervals of work plus one interval of rest- in this case 45 second work X 4 equals 3 minutes of high intensity followed by 30 seconds of resting. The 10 second countdown is only at the beginning of the first set. I have this set up to do 4 sets.  I did two rounds and the whole workout took less than 10 minutes.


First Rep: 45 seconds of burpees with pushups (I'm not sure why people say "with pushups" because I thought burps had pushups in them anyway)

Next is where the "fuel" comes in, but don't rest- go straight from burpees to this

Second Rep: Gasoline stair step carries Get two full 5 gallon cans of gasoline (they are about 32-33lbs each) if you don't have gas cans a small child will do, or a two large turkeys. Run up and down steps as fast as you can in 45 seconds- going backwards on the down step. Don't rest!

Third Rep: Diesel goblet squats. I know- those shorts right:-) Grab a 5 gallon can of diesel and squat keeping your back straight- do as many as you can in 45 seconds keeping good form. (5 gallons of diesel weighs about 36-37lbs depending on the container). Not yet on the Resting!!

Fourth rep: Propane Russian twists Grab a 5 gallon propane tank and sit on the ground- get into a Vee position with your legs elevated  about 30- 45 degrees and your back about 45 degrees off the ground. Take the propane tank and twist your trunk touching the tank on the ground, rotate to the other side and repeat. Do as many as you can in 45 seconds. (The propane tank was about a ¼ full and I have no idea how much it weighed- I'm guessing 15-20lbs)









Rest set: 30 seconds. Best to walk around, definitely do not sit down.  Now repeat the whole thing for a total of four sets. Go baste the turkey and then do the whole thing over again.

I did 8 sets total and was wiped- heres a photo of Dover the sheep looking at me wondering if I had gone completely mad

Sunday- upper body pick-up

Abs/Core- no rest between sets

Plank- 60 seconds
Mountain climber- 30 reps
Plank 60 seconds
Crunches on swiss ball- 30 reps
Plank 60 seconds

Upper body

Rotator cuffs with bands- 8 sets
Dumb bell bench press superset with dumbbell flies- 3 sets
Incline dumbbell bench press superset with incline flies- 3 sets
Wide grip rows superset with narrow grip rows- 3 sets
Wide grip pull ups- as many as possible, then straight to wide grip lat pull downs superset with
one arm bent over rows- 4 sets

Seated dips- 100 reps in drop set format (heavy to light)

Finish up with barbell bench press- 100 reps in drop set format

Shoulders, arms and core

Fridays workout

Shoulders, arms and chest recovery:

Military press-3 sets 8-10 reps
Arnold press Superset with
Straight bar curl 3 sets 8-10 reps

Shoulder flies superset with front, side and press 3 sets 8-10
Hammer curls Superset with 
tricep kick back
Eazy bar curl on Bosu ball superset with
Bench dips 3 sets 8-10

Legs/core

Hill sprints- 6 sets (run up steep hill as fast as possible, then walk back down)
Medicine ball side toss
Squat thrust with medicine ball 3 sets 10 reps (this is a squat jump, but at the end of a jump throw a heavy medicine ball as high and as hard as you can)
Kettle ball swing long jumps 3 sets 10 reps (take a kettle ball between your legs. swing it forward and leap forward at the same time)

Chest recovery: 3 sets light bench press then drop set of dips followed by 100 reps. Lean forward to activate chest muscles.

Remember, the idea here is to move quickly with little rest to get aerobic activity engaged too

Workout of the day

With all the different workouts out there, one begins to wonder which one is best for you. I've noticed that many have a theme and that theme is intensity. We've found that planning weight lifting routines ahead of time reduces rest time and increases intensity. Super setting routines also cuts down on time in the gym and keeps the metabolism fired up. With that in mind, I'll post here some routines that will target certain muscle groups and keep a good cardio going. Here's Thursdays- Tuesday was leg intensive and you'll see that the last set is a recovery set- the idea being that light weight helps reduce the acid and speeds recovery.

Abs and core:
Plank 90 seconds
Seated leg in and out 25 
Plank 90 seconds
Cruches on Swiss ball 50reps
Plank 60 seconds
Human flag 45 seconds each side

Trunk twists 

Side plank 45 seconds each side
Lying butt raises

Chest/lats: 

Benchpress- 1 warm up, then 3 sets 8-10 Superset with

            Incline pull up to bar (feet on the floor, bar at about 48")

Basketball push ups 3 sets Superset with 

            Pullups as many as you can, then staright to seated pull ups

Incline dumbbell press 3 sets 8-10 Superset with

            Standing wide grip pull downs arms outstretched 

Machine fly crossover past centerline (have to do this unilaterally) Superset with

            Cable flies from low pulley up to chin level

Legs recovery set:5 minutes
Squats in rack 50 reps

I'll post more here later

Foam Rollers

About a year ago, a trainer at the gym had me spend about 20 minutes with a foam roller. He explained to me that using this thing correctly would help stretch my muscles and tendons and break down soft tissue adhesions.

We started out rolling my calfs and it hurt like hell in certain spots. He explained that the superficial fascia, a soft connective tissue located just below the skin can adhere to the muscle tissue and become stuck. This can cause restrictive motion, cramping and muscle knots or trigger points.

In my case, my calf muscles were so knotted that it had affected my stance and stride. I couldn't do a squat without turning my knees out. The trainer had me roll the knots out in my calfs and I found I could balance better and do my squats correctly.

I should of gotten into a regular habit of rolling my muscles out, but I'm too impatient for that kind of thing. Lately though, my hamstrings, calfs and glutes are all knotted up and I've been rolling them out the last couple of days. It makes a big difference and I found that I could squat a lot more weight after a few sessions. 

Theres a great article here about using foam rollers and detailed instructions in running times showing how to use them. There's also plenty of good vids online.

 SPRI 36 " High Density Black Foam Roller - FR-366BLACK (Google Affiliate Ad)

Water!

Wow, have I ever underestimated how much water it really takes to run a human body efficiently!
For the last two weeks I've been drinking over three quarts a day and its done wonders.

Our bodies are estimated to be about 70 to 80 percent water. Our muscles, lungs and blood are mostly comprised of water. Water regulates our body temperature, transports oxygen to our cells, cleans out impurities and believe it or not revs up the metabolism.

Without enough water, we become dehydrated, which reduces blood volume, that in turn means less oxygen is getting to our muscles. Unfortunately our bodies are slow to warn us of dehydration; the saying goes that if you're thirsty you're already dehydrated.

A good rule of thumb is to drink one half ounce of water for every pound of body weight. So while the old eight glasses that we're used to might work for many people, its not enough for the likes of a 200 lb guy like me.

So go ahead, have a glass of good clean water, or two or ten- its refreshing, cheap and really good for you!

How many reps and sets should I do

There is an old adage that more reps/less weight equals more fat loss and less reps/more weight equals muscle growth. While the former is true, there's some question about the latter; in fact studies have shown that using different rep ranges builds more muscle.

There's lots of routines that call for 5-8 reps, and many that call for 8-15. The correct answer though, is that both are right. In fact recently I've been varying my reps and I seem to be benefiting from changing it around. But here's what I do: I make sure to do about 25-30 reps total per routine. So if I'm doing 5 reps, I'll do 5 sets but if I'm doing 8 reps, I'll do 3 or 4 and so on.

Obviously if I'm doing more reps per set, I'm using a lighter weight than if I'm doing 5 reps. But one thing I try to focus on is not only the positive (lift) but also the negative (return). Especially on lighter weights, I'll lift quickly and forcefully, and then lower the weight slowly, focusing on the muscle in both directions.

For example If I'm doing a hammer curl, I'll literally imagine that I'm trying to hammer a nail in upside down in front of me  and push the weight accordingly. Then lowering the weight slowly, the muscle is still working on resistance, rather than letting the weight fall.

Try it- it makes a difference, and don't forget to have fun!