Out of curiosity, what are some of the goals you are going for with the new trainer? And are there any favorite workouts you'd like to share? I know I made some huge gains using some of the workouts Doug gave me, back on the old site.
I'll e-mail my current workout, if you like. It's a pretty specialized broad-spectrum workout, and some of the stuff on it isn't obviously apparent what it is (tennis ball reaction drills, dot drills, etc). I'm on a 1-year programming cycle with recovery cycles built in to coincide with my work travel, so it is pretty specific. I'm only three months in, but I'm looking forward to what is in store. It is already pretty insidious.
I appreciate the feedback. I spoke with my trainer and a nutritionist who explained that this supplement aids the body's processes such as assimilating protein and boosting the hormones that affect muscle growth. I will moniter its effect carefully, I have decided to drop the L-Citrulline. I take my vitamins daily, and am sure to load up on a vitamin B Complex. Coffee is a morning staple, I usually try to hit the weights early if possible.
About a month from now some of my friends and I are going to be doing a mini combine for fun, and I could use some pointers on training for it. Here are the events we'll be doing. 40 yard dash bench (135 for as many reps as you can) standing jump cone drill For the standing jump I'll just keep doing squats, deadlifts etcs and I'll add in squat jumps (just jumps with the bar on my back, can't think of what that's called). Bench should also be pretty easy to train for. So what would you guys suggests for training for the 40 and the cone drill. Anything besides just doing the events themselves?
I am training for a 10k on Memorial Day. This is my first, well, anything physically competitive event in about 8 years and those events had me riding a horse. I realize that I have picked a big race, I have been halfass looking for a shorter event prior. Any tips on getting the most out of this race? Any specific exercises that would make me bionic? Thanks.
Which cone drill are you doing? There are a few. Are you doing the 5-10-5 shuttle or the 3 cone drill? The best way to train distance is to simply get out there and run. You can try looking into Fartleks to improve your time, but you have to be able to run 10k first.
The 5-10-5 drill is more about stopping and changing directions than it is about speed. You need deceleration training to properly stop and change direction. Unfortunately, it's somewhat complex and very difficult to explain in words. It's a long process that takes a lot of stages of progression. I happen to be involved with a facility right now that is focused on training athletes for the NFL combine and this is exactly what we're doing. Believe me, it is hard to explain without actually being here to do it but I'll try. Start in the start position with one leg forward (just like how a defensive back's stance). Start by taking only two steps and stopping dead on that 2nd step, ending up in the same position in which you started. Do it until you can work your way up to a 5 yard sprint/stop, a 10 yard sprint/stop, and finally a 15 yard sprint/stop. Also work the lateral starts and decelerations. Once you can properly decelerate (decelerate means 'stop on a dime') while at a full out 15m sprint, you can start practicing direction changes. That probably made absolutely no sense to someone who can't see it.
My first race was a half marathon after gaining a bunch of weight watching my mom fade into nothing (Fuck you, cancer.) My weight went from 220 to 260 sitting around all day at my parents for months. I began with learning how to run. I couldn't run around the block without nearly collapsing. I started by running one street, and walking the next. Very quickly, my body remembered what work was and I was able to take 2 streets as a time. Within 2 months, I could take the neighborhood. What I learned in this was to run at a pace that allows you to improve. If it means running at a slow jog, so be it. You improve. Distance running is not about time, it's about finishing. I began training for the 13 mile race using this: http://www.halhigdon.com/halfmarathon/novice.htm. There's one for 5ks and 10ks also. By the time, I began training, I could do 4 miles in an hour. By the date of the race, I had covered the first 4 miles in 35 minutes. Do not get discouraged if you hit a plateau, or running is particularly difficult in a week. This usually hits about week 3 or so of full out training. The next week is usually easier.
Well I finished one round of P90X. I half assed it quite a bit. I didn't follow the diet as I am in china for a short time and would rather go out and experience the food culture instead of doing the calorie count. I also didnt have real weights and only used some fake P90X bands we got off Chinas ebay clone TaoBao. Honestly, I think any exercise routine that has you working moderate to heavy 5-6 six days a week added to a healthy diet is going to show really good results. So if you are only really looking to lose weight and shape up this could work well if you stuck too it. The only thing that I really liked was how it made cardio unboring, though not very interesting. Beats running or sitting on a bike at the gym for an hour and a half. Im kind of stuck on what I want to do next. We have the next video in the BeachBody universe, The Insanity Work Out. I might give it a try as it is much harder and would help in my ultimate goal of slimming down. Ive also thought about restarting P90X with the "doubles" program and do cardo on the lifting days as well. My diet is kind of all over the place I usually only have breakfast (scrambled eggs with some vegetables) and then a big dinner which is usually protein, grease, and carb heavy (these fucking chinese drowned everything in oil and pig lard). Like college I drink pretty heavy on the weekends. I had lost 20 lbs upon arrival and falling vivtim to travelers diarrhea. I probably put 8 back on around the old stomach. My level of P90X, though giving me a righteous pump did little in the way of fat shedding (my fault though).
It depends on what you want to do and what you have available to work with. If you just want to straight up lose weight and get deffinition then I'd go with P90X again. If you want a significant increase in strength though, I'd suggest you go back to strength training with MBP or some variation of it because in that respect I found P90X kind of lacking. I don't see how Insanity could be any better since there are no weights whatsoever. The strength gains I got from barbell training have obviously been DRASTICALLY greater than what I got from P90X. But with that you're gonna be packing on both muscle and fat. Unless you don't eat enough. Then you'll just look and feel like shit. That's my take on it, you know what you're looking for though.
Ive always had goals in about the following fashion: 60%: Purely for looks so that girls will be more willing to fuck me. 20%:General fitness and over all wellness. 20%:Strength. Depending on what program I use these change slightly. Id agree totally that for strength MBP is much much better and by focusing my on strength goals will doing it I saw much better results. I also like the 5x5 as a beginner strength program too. I think if I had real weights, I only have access to a few dumb bells and a few crappy weight machines, I would have seen a lot better results with p90x. Having shitty bands I busted them twice trying to make it harder. Also actually sticking to a cleaner diet could have really helped as well. As far as short term goals Id like to shed about 10-15 lbs before I head to a friends wedding in late may. I'd like to clean up my diet a bit and find a good mix of cardio with the program to help with this goal. Thats why Im going with the "doubles" program.
1. Eat meat, vegetables, fruit, nuts, & seeds. Can't stress that enough. 2. Hate to say it, cut back on your drinking. And if you're gonna drink, drink whiskey. 3. You may read up and try the Starting Strength program.
I've been experiencing some tightness in both my achilles tendons, which even a good deal of stretching reduces but does not completely eliminate the problem. What's strange is that the tightness happens randomly, sometimes while resting and sometimes midway through lifting or running. Anyone ever have this problem or know any solutions?
When in doubt, talk to a physical therapist. it could mean many things, but a professional opinion would point you in the best direction. You may be pushing something too hard or tendonitis.
I know it seems counter-intuitive, but continually stretching an already inflamed achilles is actually making the problem worse, not getting it better. You need to lay off whatever is causing it to give you problems -- running/lifting/whatever long enough for the inflammation to go away. Then gradually work your way back up. That, and if you have a problem somewhere, look upstream and downstream. I'm willing to bet you have super tight calves - rather than using a traditional calf stretch (which will aggravate the achilles) you can try some active release stuff -- using a roller or even an elbow to dig in there. You can put that in the google machine if you have no idea what I'm talking about.
I don't know why I didn't think to do it earlier, but a few days after I posted I went to mobility wod and pretty much did exactly that. I just took the lacrosse ball and (an improvised) roller as instructed to my calves and everything was great afterwards. Thanks for the all the tips though guys and gal.
I've been to Kstar's box. He has his guys use old scuba tanks for rollers...try that on your ITB. Ow.