Fat Blaster

No rest in between sets!

1. Nordic Track Ski = 3:00
2. Dips = 23
3. Burpees = 15
4. Wide Grip Pullups = 9
5. Nordic Track Ski = 2:00
6. Planks = 1:30
7. Burpees = 15
8. Close Grip Pullups = 12
9. Nordic Track Ski = 2:00
10. Incline Dumbell Press = 66LB x 9
11. Burpees = 15
12. Power Clean, Jerk, Push Press = 75LB x 7
13. Nordic Track Ski = 2:00
14. Close Grip Pullups = 12
15. Burpees = 15
16. Standing Shoulder Press = 75LB x 10

Total Time = 24:00

Then immediately after circuit:

Bike Trainer = 25:00

Fat Blaster 21

I was a little bit down in the dumps the last day and a half because I think I strained my hamstring a little bit and have not been able to continue my plan of workouts. The craziest thing is how I strained it. I did it while walking down a flight of stairs holding my 1 and a half year old daughter. She was making a funny squirming movement and I in turn made a funny movement to compensate and prevent her from hitting her head on the wall. --Bam!Strained hammy. Of all the ways! What a wimp. Hopefully it is not as bad as I think.
I realized just how dependent I am on exercise for overall mood and brain function. After 40 hours of not working out, I was feeling kind of sad and negative. Luckily, I have been doing some cardio/weight workouts that don't put stress on the hamstring. The one below, I did tonight. After I did it, I felt refreshed and positive again.
No rest in between sets. Jump Rope/Weight Intervals.

1. Jump Rope = 250
2. Dips = 23
3. Jump Rope = 250
4. Wide Grip Pull ups = 12
5. Jump Rope = 250
6. Planks = 1:30
7. Jump Rope = 250
8. Close Grip Tri Bench = 135LB x 8
9. Jump Rope = 250
10. Ab knee Tuck = 15
11. Jump Rope = 250
12. Tricep Push Down = 80LB x 12
13. Jump Rope = 250
14. Close Grip Pull up = 13
15. Jump Rope = 250
16. Dumbell Incline Press = 65LB x 8
17. Jump Rope = 250
18. Dumbell Curls = 35LB x 8
19. Jump Rope = 250
20. Dumbell Shoulder Press = 40LB x 8
21. Jump Rope = 250

Total Time = 38:30

Total Jump Rope Reps = 2,750

Overall I felt a little lethargic. My time was not as good as I normally could do. But I definitely did get stronger as the workout went on. I was coming out of my funk and was beginning to stop feeling sorry for myself.

This injury is going to cause me to deviate from plan. Even though I hate non-lake swimming, some lap swimming may be in my future.

Hill Running

This is one of the toughest workouts I do. Ethel Avenue hills. It takes me about 9 minutes from my house to run at a warmup pace to the bottum of Rockford's hardest and most steady hill (in my opinion). It is a great place for running hill repeats. At just under a quarter mile, it slowly punishes you. Hills like these certainly make for a stronger runner though.

Today I did 8 hill repeats @ 1:30. My max heart rate for each hill is listed below. On the way back down the hill, I run as slow as possible and let my HR recover to mid 130's befor starting another hill.

Hills

1. 184
2. 188
3. 190
4. 191
5. 192
6. 193
7. 193
8. 194

Total Running Time = 42:21

Total Running Distance = 5.11M

Power Up. Weight Down!

Running Plus

I really do like variety in my workouts. Today, I was scheduled to do a run. I decided to add a couple of different exercises, to make it challenging and keep me interested. In the winter, staying interested and excited about something new seems to be a challenge for most people.

Today's Workout(no rest between)

1. Burpee's = 20
2. Nordic Trac Ski Machine = 5:00
3. Run(Treadmill) = 30:00 --3.98M
4. Nordic Trac Ski Machine = 5:00
5. Burpee's = 20
6. Standing Shoulder Press = 115LB x 7reps
7. Ab Roller = 10
8. Body Weight Rows = 12

***For anyone who hasn't tried a Nordic Trac Ski Machine, they really are a good workout. In my opinion, it is much better than an elliptical machine. My heart rate definitely shoots up a lot quicker on the Nordic Track than the elliptical. It may not be as trendy or comfortable, it just gets the job done.

Fat Blaster

I would much rather be outside in the summer. So I thought I would include a pic from a duathlon I did the summer of 07'.

This was my 2nd workout of the day. I needed a little bit of a change of pace and a new challenge. I came up with this series to work the entire body - cardio, strength, interval, etc. It is designed to be hard and painful. It won't make me look like the Incredible Hulk. The Incrdible Hulk is too big to do triathlons. It will help me lose fat, get lean/strong and ripped. My goal here was to push through with good form as fast as possible.

I did 9 different lifting exercises sandwiched between 250 Jump Rope Reps or 15 Burpee/Squat Thrusts. In between each set there was no rest. The idea here was to get the heart rate up and keep it up. At the end of my circuit I did 10 minutes on the elliptical machine.

1. Jump Rope = 250
2. Planks = 2:15
3. Burpee/Squat Thrusts = 15
4. Dips = 15
5. Jump Rope = 250
6. Dumbell Should Press = 45LB x 8
7. Burpee/Squat Thrusts = 15
8. Wide Grip Pullups = 10
9. Jump Rope = 250
10. Incline Dumbell Press = 60LB x 8
11. Burpee/Squat Thrusts = 15
12. Body Weight Rows = 12
13. Jump Rope = 250
14. Tricep Dips = 18
15. Burpee/Squat Thrusts = 15
16. Close Grip Pullups = 12
17. Jump Rope = 250
18. Power Clean, Jerk & Push Press = 40LB x 6
19. Burpee/Squat Thrusts = 15
20. Elliptical Machine = 10:00
    Total Time = 42:30

Long Run Intervals

This morning I planned on going for a long run outside. But one step out the door let me know that conditions were way too slick and icy to risk an injury. So I decided to go to the YMCA. The thought of running long on a treadmill did not excite too much, so I thought of a way to spice up the workout. I did 8 (15 min) running segments sandwiched around 1 set of various multi joint lifting exercises. I did not rest at all. I went straight from the run segment, down a couple of flights of stairs to the strength training room and did my lifting set, before returning upstairs for the next running segment. The only time I deviated from this plan was once to quickly change my soaked shirt(I brought an extra one with me to to the treadmill) and once to refill my water bottle. My workout is as follows:

1. Run = 15:00 (1.68M)
2. Planks = 2:00
3. Run = 15:00 (1.70M)
4. Close Grip Pullups = 16reps
5. Run = 15:00 (1.70M)
6. Power Clean, Jerk, and Push Press = 40LB x 8reps
7. Run = 15:00 (1.68M)
8. Back Raises = Body Weight x 8reps
9. Run = 15:00 (1.68M)
10. Standing Dumbell Shoulder Press = 50LB x 6Reps
11. Run = 15:00 (1.68M)
12. Wide Grip Pullups = 10reps
13. Run = 15:00 (1.68M)
14. Body Weight Rows = 15reps
15. Run = 15:00 (1.73M)
16. Dips = 20reps

-Total Running Time = 2:00:00

-Total Running Distance = 13.53M

-Total Workout Time = 2:22:15

This was an extremely challenging workout for me. Some of the lifting exercises I did were strenuous enough that I was extremely worn out when starting the next running segment. This was by design, not by accident. This workout helped me achieve a number of different training objectives:

1. Teaching my body how to recover after a hard effort. For example, after doing the pullups, it was really difficult to start running right away. I actually started to recover a little bit during my run.
2. Build run endurance. 2 hours of running certainly qualifies as a long run at this stage of my training. Even though I broke the run into 8 segments, my body got the benefit of running for the entire time because I did not allow myself enough rest time in between the segments.
3. Transition Training. In triathlons there are transitions between each phase. These count in the overall time. During this workout, I had 16 transitions where I had to switch gears and quickly refocus on a new task. Teaching my body and mind how to do this has value in triathlon training.
4. Teaching my body how to use fat as a primary fuel. Most everyone has heard that intervals are excellent for fat loss. Even though this was a much different and longer set of intervals than most, it resulted in fat loss for more than the obvious reasons. I went into this workout with a completely depleted system nutritionally. I carb fasted. When exercising, the two main sources of fuel are glucose and fat. The body naturally wants to burn glucose first - its easier to burn and a better energy source. But, if a persons body is depleted of glucose, there is nothing to burn but fat. As McMillan states, teaching your body how to use fat as fuel is not easy to do, but is important for ultimate results. http://www.mcmillanrunning.com/ If I can teach my body how to efficiently use fat as fuel, when I give it glucose for a race, it will be supercharged.
5. Mental Toughness. Although this workout was extremely challenging physically, it was just as challenging mentally. I wanted to stop many times. But this feeling just made me more determined to push through to the end. I believe this type of mental toughness can be learned and developed. Workouts like these these are helping me to develop this toughness.

Jump Rope/Lifting Intervals

For this workout I did 9 different lifting exercises sandwiched between 250 Jump Rope repetitions. In between each set there was no rest. The idea here was to get the heart rate up and keep it up. At the end of my circuit I did 10 minutes of elliptical.

1. Jump Rope = 250
2. Dips = 22
3. Jump Rope = 250
4. Dumbell Should Press = 45 x 10
5. Jump Rope = 250
6. Body Weight Rows = 12
7. Jump Rope = 250
8. Incline Dumbell Press = 60 x 8
9. Jump Rope = 250
10. Wide Grip Pullups = 8
11. Jump Rope = 250
12. Planks = 1:30
13. Jump Rope = 250
14. Tricep Dips = 16
15. Jump Rope = 250
16. Close Grip Pullups = 12
17. Jump Rope = 250
18. Double Dumbell Curls = 30 x 10
19. Jump Rope = 250
20. Elliptical Machine = 10:00

Total Time = 47:30