Are carbohydrates necessary for a hard workout?

It is ridiculous to think that our bodies would use a very inefficient fuel source for all our daily activities and even most of our physical activities (exercise).

Now if you choose to be a marathon runner or an Ironman distance triathlete you can stop reading this now because this post is not for you. “Chronic cardio” as it is often called in the Primal or Paleo world is defined as logging MANY miles (even hundreds) a week to train for these ultra-distance races. If you like to do these types of races that is fine (I won’t stop you) but just know that long bouts of cardio are detrimental to not only your overall health, your joints also take a beating, overtraining and illness are common place. Most everyone has seen the Sprinter Versus Marathoner picture. Now I know not all marathoners look like that guy but most sprinters look great and no self respecting guy has ever said I wish I had the body of a 140-lbs skinny fat marathon runner.

In very simple terms when we eat carbohydrates or simple sugars (preferred foods of the chronic cardio crowd) our body converts it to glucose which is either burned immediately as fuel (like during a long cardio session) or the glucose is transferred to the liver and muscles where it is stored as glycogen. Glycogen is the bodies reserve fuel source used when the body runs out of fat (the preferred fuel source) or during extremely high intensity efforts.

Depending on the person,

How Strong Are You? Can You Lift Yourself?

My deadlift challenge got me thinking about “general” strength bench marks for both men and women**. How do we determine if we are just average or if we possess superhuman strength? Better yet, how much should you lift (1-rep max) for certain  strength exercises? When determining strength benchmarks I like to use the strength to weight ratio and determine the goal 1-rep max as a percentage of body weight.

For this article I would like to discuss strength bench marks for bench press, squats, deadlifts, and pull-ups. For standardization purposes all exercises discussed are done using free weight, with no added accessories such as weight belts, straps, knee wraps or any other crazy contraption people use to compensate for weakness. I don’t care if you could deadlift more weight if it wasn’t for your grip failing you, guess what, if your grip fails, work on your grip strength. For our discussion I only care about unassisted lifts.

If you are really serious about making an effort to workout and you want to not only lose weight (look good naked), but also

The 2000 mile deadlift challenge…The next 100-lbs

Anyone who has been in a long distance relationship knows it sucks. Anyone who has lost their workout buddy knows that sucks too. When my then girlfriend and now freedom woman* moved for the military that is what happen to me.

* Being a red blooded American we hate all things French, so I don’t have a fiancés I have a Freedom woman! We eat Freedom fries and we don’t drink Grey Goose!

We have tried to be creative in our distance relationship- we both started CrossFit when she moved- as a way of doing something “together”. However as we are discovering CrossFit workouts can vary A LOT between Boxes (what CrossFit calls their gyms) so while CrossFit provides a great workout it has left us wanting more in terms of “comparing notes or shared experiences”.

Right now we are both reading the 4 hour body and it has inspired us to come up with a friendly- distance- no spotter required competition. A good old fashion, one of the best exercises know to man, deadlift competition! We have both hit decent* deadlift milestones this week.  I just hit 300-lbs and Jessica just did 200-lbs. The competition is to see who can get the next 100-lbs first.

* I say decent because their is still room for improvement and I believe that once you start lifting over twice your body weight you are a certified bad ass!

Is this a fair competition?

I am a student of the Game!

First let me apologize for not posting in a long time I have been really busy with a lot of BS. Don’t you hate when real life gets in the way of the stuff you really care about? Hopefully in the future this won’t be a problem!

This post is a preview of things to come:

I have been involved in the “fitness game” for nearly 20 years. That’s right! I have been fascinated with becoming stronger and faster since I was 9 years old. I have had some formal training but mostly it has been an accumulation of  self-study and self-experimentation. I feel that over my 20 years I have achieved a lot of knowledge of how the body works and have gained a great knowledge of the best training methods. But just like any student or practitioner I will admit that I don’t know it all and to be an expert one must be up to date on the latest methods. So over the next year, along with my triathlon training, I will begin a formal training circuit. The goal of this  formal training circuit is not only learn new training methods but also gain a better idea of what else is out there.

I have just started Crossfit

Workout week 9

Since I began training for my upcoming triathlon season I have had my first setback (this year). So this week of training was fairly light. This is not my first setback and will probably not be my last. Remember no matter what your training goals you will always have setbacks and never use a setback as an excuse to quit training. It is overcoming setbacks that makes you a stronger person!

Sunday (February 13, 2011): – 0930 heavy weight session in fasted state, also wearing 5-finger shoes. 10-min warm-up jog. 1-hr total time

• Bench press – 215-lbs, 4 sets, 4 reps
• weighted step-ups (about 2 feet high) –  holding 35-lbs in each hand did 4-sets each one minuet long
• 4 sets pull-ups till exhaustion
• Deadlifts – 185-lbs 4-sets, 6-reps
• 3sets kettle-bell swings heavy till exhaustion
• Push press 105-lbs 4sets 6reps
• Dips 3 sets till exhaustion

Monday (February 14, 2011): – 0530 spin class (I teach at Define Fitness Juan Tabo Gym, come to the class and join the workout).

Strength Training

We all have different fitness goals. Some of us want to become faster triathletes, some people just want to be able to take their shirt off without feeling embarrassed, and others want to be able to play tennis well into their 70’s and 80’s. Only you know why you are training. I believe that everyone should have a personal fitness goals, it is the secret to staying motivated! But no matter what your fitness goal I believe you can benefit from strength training. Strength training can be intimidating but I will help with your transition into strength training.

Workout week 8

Feeling refreshed after having an east week last week.

Sunday (February 6, 2011): – 0930 heavy weight session in fasted state, also wearing 5-finger shoes. 10-min warm-up jog. 1-hr total time

• Bench press – 205-lbs, 4 sets, 4 to 6 reps
• weighted step-ups (about 2 feet high) –  holding 35-lbs in each hand did 4-sets each one minuet long
• 4 sets pull-ups/weighted push-up combo (45-lbs plate on back) till exhaustion
• 3sets kettle-bell swings heavy till exhaustion
• Push press 100-lbs 4sets 6reps
• Dips 3 sets till exhaustion

Monday (February 7, 2011): – 0530 spin class (I teach at Define Fitness Juan Tabo Gym, come to the class and join the workout).

11:00 lunch workout 3-mile easy run

Tuesday (February 8, 2011): – 1100 swim session in a fasted state.

• 200-meter warm-up
• 6, 50-meter (25 drill, 25 swim)
• 4, 50-meter kick drills (with fins)
• 4, 50-meter sprints
• 100-meter cool down
• Total = 1000-meters

1850 Bootcamp (I teach at Define Fitness Juan Tabo Gym, come to the class and join the workout)

Workout week 7

After 6-weeks of good training and completing Tough Mudder (definitely the hardest thing I have done in the past three months!) I thought this week would be a good rest week. It is crucial to have lighter weeks every now and then to re-charge your body, prevent over-training, and avoid burnout. This week was minimal training and I used the extra time to make some necessary house repairs!

Monday (January 31, 2011): – 0530 spin class (I teach at Define Fitness Juan Tabo Gym, come to the class and join the workout).

Tuesday (February 1, 2011): –  1850 Bootcamp (I teach at Define Fitness Juan Tabo Gym, come to the class and join the workout)

Wednesday (February 2, 2011): -11:00 20-minuet easy walk on treadmill

Friday (February 4, 2011): – Repair fence. 2-hrs. This was more of a natural workout. Digging holes, basically I was constantly moving.

Saturday (February 5, 2011): – Finished up the fence repair 4-hr of constant movement.

Workout Log Week 6

Monday (January 24, 2011): – 0530 spin class (I teach at Define Fitness Juan Tabo Gym, come to the class and join the workout).

11:00 lunch workout swim

• 3, 400-meter swim.
• 4, 50-meter sprints
• Total = 1400-meters

Tuesday (January 25, 2011): – 1100 sprint session in a fasted state and wearing 5 finger shoes.

• 4, 400-meter sprints all out effort
• 4, 100-meter sprints all out effort
• Total = 2000-meters max effort

1850 Bootcamp (I teach at Define Fitness Juan Tabo Gym, come to the class and join the workout)

Workout Log Week 5

Sunday (January 16, 2011): – 0930 heavy weight session. 10 min quick jog to warm up. About 1 hour total

• Bench press – 2 sets, 205-lbs 4 reps. 2 sets 195-lbs 4 reps
• Deadlift – 4 sets165-lbs 6 reps
• Pull-up/push-up combo 4 sets of pull-up till exhaustion then push-ups till exhaustion with 35-lb plate on my back
• Dips 2 sets till exhaustion