Saturday 1 December 2012: RUN FOR DISTANCE

RUN FOR DISTANCE

Advanced:
Run for twenty minutes.

Intermediate:
Run-walk for twenty minutes.

Basic:
Powerwalk for twenty minutes.

Friday 30 November 2012: H-T/S-M PU/PULL

HIGH TENSION, SLOW-MOTION:
PUSH-UPS & PULL-UPS

Today's workout uses high tension techniques and slow reps to increase the difficulty of two of our favorite bodyweight exercises: the push-up and the pull-up. High tension involves a conscious, greater than necessary contraction of the muscles involved in each exercise. Imagine that you are pressing or pulling a tremendous weight as you perform each exercise. Slow motion will also be utilized on each rep to enhance the difficulty. Slow motion reps help increase the strength building value of the exercise while protecting the joints from injury.

Do not hold your breath during these exercises. If you find the reps too difficult to complete: Reduce the amount of tension you are generating, and/or Move to an easier version of the exercise.

The sets and reps listed below are suggestions. The idea is to perform five sets of each exercise with each set lasting approximately 0.5-1 minute and with 1-1.5 minutes of rest between sets. You may find it necessary to decrease the number of reps, increase the speed of the reps, or decrease the amount of tension being generated. Feel free to adjust the sets/reps as necessary.

Perform one set of HT-SM Pushups at the top of every second minute for ten minutes. (On the 1st, 3rd, 5th, 7th, and 9th minutes)

Perform one set of HT-SM Pull-ups at the top of every second minute for ten minutes. (On the 11th, 13th, 15th, 17th, and 19th minutes)

Advanced:

• 5 x 5 High-tension, Slow-mo Pushups
  (5-6 seconds down, 5-6 seconds up)
  (Rest at least one minute between sets)
• 5 x 5 High-tension, Slow-mo Pull-ups
  (5-6 seconds down, 5-6 seconds up)
  (Rest at least one minute between sets)

Intermediate:

• 5 x 5 High-tension, Slow-mo Knee Pushups
  (3-6 seconds down, 3-6 seconds up)
  (Rest at least one minute between sets)
• 5 x 5 High-tension, Slow-mo Lying Body Rows
  (3-6 seconds down, 3-6 seconds up)
  (Rest at least one minute between sets)

Basic:

• 5 x 5 High-tension, Slow-mo Countertop Pushups
  (3-6 seconds down, 3-6 seconds up)
  (Rest at least one minute between sets)
• 5 x 5 High-tension, Slow-mo Standing Body Rows
  (3-6 seconds down, 3-6 seconds up)
  (Rest at least one minute between sets)

Shocking Your Body Through Nutrition?!?!?! Say Whhhhhat

Hi Internetssss

This week I’m going to be talking about nutrition. Specifically, I’m going to compare my experience with two ways to eat for a) weight loss and b) maintaining lean muscle and strength. I can talk to these two things because they have been two goals of mine since about April of last year. I lost approximately 10 lbs and have managed to keep it off while decreasing my body fat. If you would like to read about my first step click here

The two types of eating “styles” that I’m going to compare are….

Style 1.) Eating every 2-3 Hours with a big breakfast, medium lunch and medium dinner.

This style of eating is what I adopted between April until about early September. I found it very effective initially at keeping my energy levels up to train but also shed weight and keep/grow some muscle. I don’t know exactly why, but I have a sneaky suspicion it had to do with the fact I was carrying extra weight for my frame from over eating pretty much all of last year (and drinking beer quite frequently) and eating this way kept my blood sugar levels stable. It’s important to note with both eating styles I try to eat as healthy as possible (for me). 

Style 2.) Eating a large breakfast, snack throughout the day, small dinner on non-train days, larger on training days combined with “intermittent fasting”

This may sound similar to #1 but it is different in many subtle ways. First let me state that I do not recommend eating is way if you are diabetic or have problems with blood sugar, because it is really a trial and error about how low you can go while still being able to function.

Now, I’m a pretty active woman. I usually teach 3-6 fitness classes a week at pretty high intensity and rock climb whenever I can. So for me, finding out how I can perform on different amounts of food intake during the day has been tricky.

However, this style of eating has done something interesting. At the beginning of September my weight loss hit a plateau. I wouldn’t have considered myself “overweight” per say, but I was still uncomfortable with my body size.  I wanted to get leaner, while still maintaining muscle (mainly for climbing). So I tried something different nutritionally than the 5 small meals a day thing.

First, I maintained eating a rather caloric dense breakfast including protein, good fats, and carbs. If you’d like an example of this meal click here.

Then, throughout the day I have not been eating any carbs. I stick to protein, veggies, fruits, and some dairy. At first my blood sugar played tricks with my head, but now I have normalized it seems. 

For dinner I make sure I –only- eat after training, and if I’m not training, I try and eat a very modest dinner.

I also (as of recent) have thrown in intermittent fasting. Without going into detail you can find out more about this form of eating here. I don’t do this as “balls to the wall” as some of people who do partake in IF, but I try it out once and while to see what happens. 

Since I have made this dietary switch I have started to see my body fat decrease. My weight has stayed a constant 130lbs but I am starting to see more muscle definition. I also feel stronger and perform better when training if I manage to figure out what I call my “metabolic push point”.

What I’m talking about by metabolic push point is eating enough to perform effectively but trying to find that happy medium where if I have eaten any more it would be too much, and any less I wouldn’t be able to perform.

Now this takes  a lot of practice to get right if you are super active. Also, I wouldn’t recommend this type of thinking if you are NOT physically active, because that may lead you to a mentality of “well I’m not working out, so I don’t need fuel, so I won’t eat”. This is not healthy for a variety of reasons.

In Summary

So what can you take from my rambleings? Well, first, you have to figure out what works best for your body. However, here are some general thoughts,

·         Eating 5 small balanced meals is good for initial weight loss if you are carrying extra weight (e.g., high body fat)

·         Eating, just like training, seems to shock your body if you change it up every 3-4 months, from my experience

·         Eating minimal while being able to physically perform is possible, you just have to find that metabolic push point, which takes time, trial and error.

·         Eating has to be maintainable, if you find any of the styles of eating above difficult to maintain over a long time, then you should reevaluate how you are eating.

·         Playing around with diet to get the desired body you want seems to not be detrimental to your “metabolism” like a lot of people claim, as long as you do not go to the extremes (e.g., starving yourself or over eating).

If you’d like a more detailed explanation about any of the eating styles above please do not hesitate to email me at byntraining@gmail.com

As always, questions, comments, and concerns are always welcome. If you don’t agree with this, challenge me! Don’t worry, I have a tough skin (from climbing ha)

I hope you are all having a most wonderful week

Stay Strong

~Byn

Thursday 29 November 2012: SPRINT PYRAMID

SPRINT PYRAMID

Today's workout may look complicated, but it really isn't. Run sprints of 10, 15, 20, 30, 20, 15, and 10 seconds with 1 minutes recovery in between (90 seconds on each side of the 30 second sprint).

• 5 minutes - Run or Run-walk
• 10 seconds – Sprint
• 1 minute – Recovery
• 15 seconds – Sprint
• 1 minute – Recovery
• 20 seconds – Sprint
• 90 seconds – Recovery
• 30 seconds – Sprint
• 90 seconds – Recovery
• 20 seconds – Sprint
• 1 minute – Recovery
• 15 seconds – Sprint
• 1 minute – Recovery
• 10 seconds – Sprint
• 1 minute – Recovery
• 5 minutes - Run or Run-walk

Wednesday 28 November 2012: PU OTM

PUSH-UPS ON THE MINUTE

Perform a set of push-ups at the top of every minute for twenty minutes.

Intermediate and Basic trainees should substitute knee push-ups as necessary.

Lots of Push-ups!

Tuesday 27 November 2012: BOXING CONDITIONING

BOXING CONDITIONING

Advanced - Four rounds of:

• 4 minutes - Shadowbox (include kicks, knees, and elbow strikes as desired)
• 1 minute - Rest
  During rest perform:-Round 1 - a set of push-ups
  -Round 2 - a set of crunches
  -Round 3 - a set of squats
  -Round 4 - a set of push-ups

Intermediate - Five rounds of:

• 3 minutes - Shadowbox  (include kicks, knees, and elbow strikes as desired)
• 1 minute - Rest
  During rest perform:-Round 1 - 5-15 push-ups
  -Round 2 - 15-30 crunches
  -Round 3 - 10-20 squats
  -Round 4 - 15-30 crunches
  -Round 5 - 5-15 push-ups

Basic - Seven rounds of:

• 2 minutes - Shadowbox
• 1 minute - Rest

Monday 26 November 2012: TIMED SETS CIRCUITS

TIMED SETS CIRCUITS

Perform four rounds of the following circuit.

• Round One perform each exercise for 60 seconds
• Round Two perform each exercise for 45 seconds
• Round Three perform each exercise for 30 seconds
• Round Four perform each exercise for 15 seconds
• Rest 1 minute between each set of exercises in all four rounds.

Advanced:

• Pull-ups
• Sit-ups
• Push-ups

Intermediate:

• Assisted, Partial, or Jumping Pull-ups
• Sit-ups or Crunches
• Push-ups (go to your knees if necessary)

Basic:

• Body Rows
• Crunches
• Knee Push-ups

Sunday 25 November 2012: REST

REST DAY

Bynuffins: These Arn't Healthy So Workout After

Hi Interwebs

I made muffins today and they are very nommy so I'd thought I'd share the recipe (also my friend Kelly demanded the recipe).

I stole this recipe from here, who stole it from another person. So by no means is this my creation. This is verbatim from the website I took this from FYI.

Lawsuit Buttermilk Muffins

Adapted from The Best of BetterBaking.com by Marcy Goldman.

For the streusel topping:

• 1 tablespoon cold unsalted butter
• 1/3 cup firmly packed brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 cup finely chopped walnuts

1. In a bowl, combine all of the streusel topping ingredients.
2. With your fingers, combine until you have a crumbly mixture.
3. Set aside if using immediately or store in the refrigerator.

For the muffins:

• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1-1/3 cup packed brown sugar
• 1-1/2 tablespoons grated citrus zest (I use lemon or orange.)
• 1 egg
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 2-1/2 cups all-purpose flour (you may need a bit more if the batter is too wet)
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1-3/4 cups fruit (coarsely chopped if using fruits like apples, banana or pears)
• Byn added chocolate chips and bananas! (1 cup chocolate chips and 2 bananas)

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F and line a 12-cup muffin tin with paper liners. If you don’t have paper liners butter and flour the muffin tin.
2. In a bowl, mix together the dry ingredients (flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda); set aside.
3. In another bowl, combine the oil, brown sugar, citrus zest and egg. Once combined, stir in the buttermilk and vanilla extract.
4. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix well. Gently mix in the fruit. If the batter seems to liquidy, add a tiny bit more flour. The batter should be fairly stiff. 
5. Spoon the batter into the muffin cups filling them right to the top. Divide the streusel topping equally among the muffins.
6. Bake for 15 minutes and then lower the temperature to 350 degrees F and bake for an additional 12 minutes. When the muffins are done they will spring back when lightly pressed. Otherwise, test the muffins by inserting a toothpick.
7. Let the muffins cool in the pan for 10 minutes and then remove the muffins and let them cool on a wire rack.
8. Enjoy!

Batter after everything is made!

Note:  These muffins freeze well so feel free to bake up a huge batch! When mixing the batter, be careful not to overmix. 

 As you can tell by the ingrediants and the title these are not very healthy muffins, but I believe they fall under my "living" category of this blog... and eating of course.

Stay Strong

~Byn 

Saturday 24 November 2012: RUN FOR DISTANCE

RUN FOR DISTANCE

Advanced:
Run for twenty minutes.

Intermediate:
Run-walk for twenty minutes.

Basic:
Powerwalk for twenty minutes.

Check out Matt Wiggins programs to take your training to the next level. http://workingclassfitness.com

Friday 23 November 2012: BP + PULL CHALLENGE

BURPEE + PULL-UP CHALLENGE

Today's workout involves back-to-back ten minute challenges.

Advanced:

• Perform as many burpees as possible in ten minutes
• Perform as many pull-ups as possible in ten minutes

Intermediate:

• Perform as many squat thrusts as possible in ten minutes
• Perform as many partial, assisted, or jumping pull-ups as possible in ten minutes

Basic:

• Perform as many jumping jacks as possible in ten minutes
• Perform as many body rows as possible in ten minutes

Thursday 22 November 2012: CRAWL...SPRINT #2

CRAWL...SPRINT #2

Same workout for everybody today, but adjust the intensity according to your ability.

Complete as many rounds as possible in twenty minutes.

• 30 seconds Bear Crawl
• 15 seconds Sprint
• 30 seconds Crab Crawl
• 15 seconds Sprint

Advanced trainees should rest as necessary between rounds.

Intermediate and Basic trainees should rest as necessary during each round.

30/30 = 30 seconds work, 30 seconds rest, repeat for specified repetitions
15/45 = 15 seconds work, 45 seconds rest, repeat for specified repetitions

Wednesday 21 November 2012: 3 POWER CALS

Physical Culture Classics

 

THREE POWERFUL CALISTHENICS

Repeat the following circuit for twenty minutes.

Advanced - Intermediate:

• Dive Bomber or Hindu Push-ups
• Reverse or Hindu Squats
• Atlas Push-ups
  Atlas Push-ups: Place your hands in the seats of two chairs. With your body held straight, dip yourself between the chairs. This exercise is similar to a countertop push-up, but it stretches and utilizes more of the chest muscles.

Basic:

• Yoga Push-upsYoga Push-ups: Transition between Upward Facing Dog and Downward Facing Dog continously while keeping your arms straight (but not locked).
• Reverse or Hindu Squats
• Countertop or Atlas Push-ups

Today's exercises can be found in many manuals on physical training. The above arrangement, however, was adapted from Pushing Yourself to Power by John E. Peterson. PYTP is a comprehensive collection of Dynamic Visualized Resistance and Dynamic Self Resistance exercises and includes many Isometric and Power Calisthenic exercises.

Tuesday 20 November 2012: CONDITIONING

CONDITIONING INTERVALS

Today's workout uses 30/30 intervals (30 seconds work, 30 seconds rest, repeat for time allotted).

Advanced:

• 5 x 30/30 Jumping Jacks or Jump Rope
• 5 x 30/30 Burpees
• 5 x 30/30 Mountain Climbers
• 5 x 30/30 Squats

Intermediate:

• 5 x 30/30 Jumping Jacks or Jump Rope
• 5 x 30/30 Squat Thrusts (add push-up if possible)
• 5 x 30/30 Mountain Climbers
• 5 x 30/30 Squats

Basic:

• 5 x 30/30 Jumping Jacks or Jump Rope
• 5 x 30/30 Half-Squats or Squat Thrusts
• 5 x 30/30 Mountain Climbers
• 5 x 30/30 Half Squats

Monday 19 November 2012: DO IT ALL

DO IT ALL

Complete the following circuit five times:

• 30/30 Pull-ups
• 30/30 Sit-ups
• 30/30 Push-ups
• 30/30 Squats

30/30 = 30 seconds work, 30 seconds rest

Substitutions

• Pull-ups: Partial, Assisted, or Jumping Pull-ups or Body Rows
• Sit-ups: Crunches, Flutter Kicks, Leg Levers
• Push-ups: Dips, Knee Push-ups
• Squats: Squat Jumps, Half-Squats

Sunday 18 November 2012: REST

REST DAY

How to Start Back Up After a “Break”

Helllllooooo Webernets!

Disclaimer: I’m very hyper today, so enjoy this rather obnoxiously bouncy post.

Today I’m going to give some insight and recommendations for those of you that have taken a little “break” on fitness and wish to get back in the game. I wanted to post this NOW, as I know the holidays are coming up and it’s an ideal time to get active(er).

Why? Because you have vacation time, and probably a lot of stress around the holidays. Also, most gyms stay open now even until Christmas eve. Furthermore, there is always your living room, local climbing gym (*cough* www.grandriverrocks.com), or a good old side walk to get you going.

Tip #1: Don’t Self Talk Your Way into De-motiviation

Before embarking on any fitness goal or plan I’d like you do something, if not for you, for me! Please accept that’s a) it’s ok you haven’t been as active as you’d like, b) remind yourself you’re human and not perfect and, c) tomorrow is another day.

Most people think being hard on themselves will finally get them active again. If you do this to yourself, let me ask you, how is this tactic working for you? Do you feel motivated and optimistic? In my experience, beating yourself up about how awful you are for “falling off the wagon” (I hate that term by the way) is the #1 way to sabotage yourself into being de-motivated to be physically active.

Some familiar terms I often hear are...

1. 1   I used to be able to do or I used to do *insert activity of interest here*, I have really just fallen off the wagon. 
2.   I used to be so strong, I’m so weak now (everyone knows social comparison is bad, why are you doing it with your previous self?) 
3.   I’m so fat and out of shape, I just wish I hadn’t of stopped working out 4 months ago, I just go so busy!

You get the idea. Instead, stop yourself when you hear this crap in your head AND coming out of your mouth when you’re talking to people. Despite what you believe it’s de-motivating.

Instead, replace some of the “debby downer” talk with positive self talk. For example, 

1.   I’m so excited to start doing *insert activity of interest here* this week! 
2.    I’m going to do a), b), and c) to get stronger....period
3. You know what would be fun, trying a *insert awesome type of exercise here* class over December, maybe I’ll ask my friend Robyn to join me.

Now this is easier said than done. I’m REALLY bad with negative self talk, so I know how hard it is to change this. However, simply being aware of it can do a world of difference.

Tip 2: Don’t Do a Triathlon Tomorrow

Ok, this is a bit of an over-exaggeration, but I find it’s a typical trap people fall into. They go from nothing to a body building program overnight.

If you say, “Ok, on Monday I’m going to start eating 5 healthy meals a day, no more beer, cardio 4 days a week and resistance 2 days a week”.... ya buddy, that’s gonna go well.

I don’t mean to sound condescending. I’m trying to lightheartly point out how ridiculous this logic is. It usually stems from our “all or nothing” thinking that is rampant in our society (e.g., the biggest loser mentality).

Instead, set an obtainable, reasonable, and (preferably) fun fitness goal for the next 2 weeks, no more, no less. If 2 weeks is too much, do 1 week, if 1 week is too much, do the next 3 days (you get the idea).. but DON’T go over 2 weeks. 

Once you meet your two week goal, make the next 2 weeks bigger. If you don’t meet your goal, no big deal (see point #1), try to set a lower goal for the next 2 weeks and try again. The point is to not see yourself as a failure if you don’t reach your two week goal.

In my opinion, if you go from nothing to something, you’re ahead of the game.

I personally like to use fitness classes as good short term goals. That’s because they are there, and you don’t have to think, you just show up. For example, over the next two weeks I’m going to go to that spin class Monday and Wednesday at 5pm...nothing else, if you do more awesomness!

Tip #3: Tell Your Mother, Your Brother, Your Cousin, and Your Dog

This is a really effective way to motivate you to start something new. Tell everyone you’re going to do it. There is actually research on this topic, which generally states when people make their behaviour change, or in this case, adoption public, they are more likely to do it.

Now don’t tell your condescending friend Susie (I don’t actually have a mean friend Susie, it’s just the first name that popped into my head) that you’re going to do yoga 2 times a week for the next two weeks, as these toxic people (or sabotage-ers) may de-motivate you. Instead seek out and tell people you know are batting for you. An alternative is to annoy everyone on facebook (they’ll get over it).

If you don’t have anyone, tell me (byntraining@gmail.com), I would love to help you stay motivated.

You can take this one step further by telling your friends to check up on you (in a positive, uplifting, non judgmental way of course) or better yet, make them do it with you. You know Susie wants to try yoga..

Tip #4: Plan for Life

This is probably the mostimportant point (in my opinion) to ensure that you continue exercising after “life” happens to you. My rule of thumb is to plan for 6 weeks off a year, kind of like a vacation from work.

Why? Think back to the last time you stopped running, going to your bootcamp, yoga class, walking regularly ect... What stopped you? In my experience it’s usually one of the following three..

1.       You got the sickness (flu, cold, plague)

2.       You became busy (exams, crunch at work, childrens, growing a movember stache)

3.       You got hurt (sprained ankle, pulled muscle, breakup)

So when this stuff happens, say to yourself. Ok, this is part of my 6 weeks off a year. I like to lump them into blocks of 2 weeks, because usually the stuff that happens to you lasts that long.

If it’s lasts longer, add on more weeks. If you go over 6 weeks in a year, who cares? As long as you don’t tell yourself you suck, you’re a failure, and you can’t start up again you’re golden.

So I hope this was motivating, or at least, entertaining.

If this is an area you are currently struggling with and you find these tips won’t work for you, or if you’d like elaboration please don’t hesitate to send me an email!

As always, questions and comments are appreciated! No one has been commenting and it makes me sad, angry, and confused...... not really (ok maybe a little).

Stay Strong

~Byn <3

Now go walk or something...