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