Month: January 2011

R4 D74 – Beginning of the End

Since without a plan, nothing ever happens, here is the push to the end for Round 4.

W 74 – TGU plus WOD
R 75 –  RKC Swings
F 76 – P90X and Insanity Fit Tests
S 77 – 5K run
Y 78 – off

M 01 – Round 5

That should about do it. I am at Wednesday now and the way I figure it I should be able to put round 4 to bed and get Round 5 ready to go by Monday. It’s going to be a bit weird, since my workouts have been somewhat sporadic over the last 2 weeks but I think there is still some value to doing the fit tests anyway. For what it’s worth, my weight is down, my back seems to be bothering me much less and my feet seem to enjoy doing everything barefoot so all in all I suppose I am reaching my goals of general fitness and as Tony puts it, “less vulnerable and more durable” out in the real world. The question is, what is my fitness goal for the next round? I think I am at the point where I need to start documenting weights again. Much as I wanted to get away from that particular facet of working out, I think at this point I need to see my reps and max weights increasing in order to justify my efforts. Moving away from following a DVD schedule means you are vulnerable to coasting and losing sight of the goal at hand. Since I will be moving towards more Olympic style lifting and Crossfit type work, I guess note taking will be par for the course.

R4 D73 – RKC Is Taking Over

treadmill-catsHappy New Year everyone, and I hope now we are 4 days in that your renewed commitment to health and, for some, beauty, is intact!

I am at a bit of a crossroads at this time. Being the start of the year, it is a logical time to start anew and get things rolling in the right direction. Even though I am only on day 73, the fact is that I had only planned on an 84 day program anyway and the last week (79-84) was slated as a testing week. So I think what I am going to do is to do a couple of Crossfit and RKC workouts, get the fit tests done while I build the next phase plan. The thing about the RKC (Russian Kettlebell Challenge) workout to start is that it is really only 4 days a week, 2 of which are just 5 minutes of Turkish Get Ups. So I think I can use the swing/clean days as a full day workout, and add the TGUs as a start or an end to an existing Crossfit or compound lifting day and that in itself would give me a 4 day split. The problem would be working in the lifts and skills I want to do to the program.

I figure I need the following as a minimum to maintain my current skill level:

Deadlifts
Squats / Power Leg Training
Pull ups
Bench
Some form of compound shoulder press (not military press)

Mostly these would be covered off by the WOD I would hope (except the bench), plus I can work some in as the Active Rest during the RKC. I will stick with an Insanity workout I think but I feel like for the first time I will be stepping back from P90X as a staple. It’s not that I don’t like it, or don’t believe in it but I think that I am a little worn out with it and really my skills have outgrown the methodology. As far as Insanity goes, I enjoy the workout and the structure is still entertaining to me. I know I don’t need it for aerobic stress, but rather for a mental break.

As far as Day 73 went, I did the first day of the RKC again with the swings and the active rest. It is by far the toughest 22 minutes I have encountered to date! Looking at my final week, I think I will still do the P90X and Insanity Fit Tests and the timed 5K run (just to run the 5K run would be a big improvement!) but that will only be 3 workouts. Add to that 1 more RKC and 2 WODs and I have 6 active days and maybe 2 rest days until I will need to start the next phase. Better get to work!

By the way, I hit my goal, albeit a day or two late.

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