CONGRATULATIONS TO BOTH JUDY AND TRACI FOR GETTING THEIR FIRST UNASSISTED PULLUP TONIGHT!!!! That’s what I love about coaching – helping people reach their goals.
The Tabata Protocol was called into action tonight using punchout drills, air squats, and medicine ball slams. Sets of single leg squats, pullups, and pushups were in between each interval.
I’m glad the strength workouts I do myself leave other people in pain, too. They are usually breif and involving only three to five exercises, so they look pretty wimpy written out on the board. Everyone tells me they’re sore today, so it’s not just me!
Melissa and Traci were put through a fat-burning circuit workout last night. High intensity intervals of compound exercises result in massive calorie (and fat) burning long after the workout is finished.
30 sec Burpees
30 sec Right Arm DB Swing (20lb)
30 sec Left Arm DB Swing (20lb)
30 sec Grasshoppers
30 sec Knee Tucks
30 sec Rest
Repeat 5x
The aftermath. I almost felt bad for them. Almost…
I decided to give unique challenges to everyone who attended last night.
Matt’s challenge: 70 sandbag shoulders (as fast as possible) – 24:36
Melissa’s challenge: 100 Squat and Presses, 20 lb DBs (as fast as possible) – 9:11
Judy’s challenge: 150 PSPs, 10 lb ball (as fast as possible) – 15:11
I think I am going to try a 100 sandbag shoulder challenge tonight. Should be fun!
** My first 100 Sandbag Shoulder Challenge resulted in a time of 12:29…brutal.
Blurry action shot. Note Matt’s Ninja Turtle-caliber arm definition.
Suicides and strength training make a great combination. So, that’s exactly what we did last night.
5 sets of Pullups
2 Suicides
5 sets of Power Cleans
2 Suicides
5 Sets of Ring Pushups
Also, we had two people come over for a trial session last. To be nice, I gave them tabata intervals on the airdyne and tabata medicine ball slams. We all had core work for dessert. I hope they’re not too sore to come back tonight!
Post-Tabata Recovery…
There is nothing more fun than playing in the rain. As of late, we have had our tire flipping and sledging reduced to once a week at best (due to our awesome neighbor), so Sunday afternoons at 4:00 I like to make a little bit of noise – even if it’s raining. My thought process was that our neighbor would be more reluctant to walk outside to complain if it’s storming. We never heard from him… or the cops, and we got in a great workout, too.
- 10 Tire Flips (600 lb)
-20 Pushups (with feet elevated on the tire)
- 15 Pullups
- 30 Sledges (16 lb hammer)
Complete 5x as fast as possible
Now that 2012 is here, what to do want to achieve? Is it a certain number on the scale? A smaller pants size? Run a certain distance? Lift a higher amount of weight?
Personally, I like to set my goals very high and associate my goals with strength or endurance. Training for strength or endurance goals will keep you distracted from training for aesthetic reasons; which tend to lead to frustration and eventually burnout. There nothing wrong with desiring a good physique. But if that’s what drives you, what will you do when you reach your goal?
Maintain? The problem with “maintaining” is that there is no motivation to get up and work hard.
So, do you set an even lower weight or size goal? There will eventually be a point where you will be below your optimum weight for a good physique and you’ll look unhealthy. 
DON’T LET NUMBERS ON A SCALE CONTROL YOU. DIET IS THE NUMBER ONE FACTOR IN CUTTING FAT, HIGH INTENSITY EXERCISE IS NUMBER TWO (which we do plenty of).
You are the only person responsible for what you eat. Discipline yourself and control your diet. You don’t need to follow any fad “diets” either. You’re an adult and you can use common sense to discern what you should eat. Change the way you eat and drink to be healthy for a lifetime, not a season. Remember, that a poor diet is simply counteracting all of your hard work. Healthy eating in conjunction with regular session attendance will ensure that FAT will be gone, not necessarily weight.
Now that excess fat is not an issue, set your sights elsewhere. Because if you attained the optimum weight for your physique, you’re now lost and you have outgrown your goal. However, you can never outgrow strength or endurance goals. There will always be a load you cannot overcome or a distance you cannot run. With this in mind, what do you want to achieve?
Be specific and make goals that are quantifiable. ”I want to be better at pullups” is not a goal. ”I want to be able to do 10 pullups” is a goal.
Once you know what you want to achieve, write it down. Either in a comment here, on the board in the garage, or somewhere else that you pass by frequently to keep you reminded.
With all of that said, here are my goals for 2012:
- Perform a Single Arm Pullup with each arm (this is a continuation from last year and a LONG term goal)
- Perform Standing Ab Wheel Rollouts (another continuation, but I’m very close)
- Burpee 5k (I’m ready to do it now, but the time needs to be right because I will be out of commission for awhile!)
- 100 lb Dumbbell Snatch with each arm (currently at 95 lb right arm, 90 lb left arm)
Today marks Judy’s two year anniversary of training with us! Thus far, she has outlasted literally every single person who has ever trained here, and reaped the benefits. Judy didn’t let cold weather, holidays, vacations, sickness, or any other hurdle life threw her way interfere with her fitness. You’re seriously an inspiration to all of us and I hope to keep training you for many years to come. Honorable mentions: Matt is close behind at 1 year 11 months and I know if Addison wasn’t living in NC he would still be here. Typically, our client life span is 6 months, so two years is a huge milestone! WAY TO STAY STRONG, JUDY!
The first workout of 2012, as with every holiday or special occasion, had to be designed to reflect the celebratory day. For the past couple of years it has been a workout featuring 2010 and 2011 reps of multiple exercises. But, this method takes a few hours to complete the workout and it usually makes my punk neighbor mad if we’re outside working out past 9:00pm. So, this year I took a different approach, which went over everybody’s head except Judy’s.
Use intervals of 20 seconds on max intensity / 12 seconds off (Tabata style, but 20-12, get it?!)
Pick any three of the following exercises:
- Airdyne, Elastic Rows, Medicine Ball Slams, High Knee Dumbbell Press, Air Squats, or Sprint in place Jump Rope
Perform Choice #1 for 12 intervals
Perform Choice #2 for 10 intervals
Perform Choice #3 for 10 intervals
(10+10 = 20 + 12 = 2012, get it?!) The workout lasted a total of 17:04 plus core work at the end.
Recovery
