Category: Gymnastics / Bootcamp

Since the gym is dead, I now refer to the gymnastics club as the gym. This is the bootcamp, the workouts with the kids (which are also mostly crossfit inspired) and other gym related activities

10.37 – Century Club Nightmare And Tanita Explains Itself In Pictures

Last night was a nightmare workout, no wonder one of my kids feigned a foot cramp to get out of it (you know who you are!). It started innocently enough with my clean and press workout the other day where I figured out that if you did 1-10 then 9-1 reps you get a total of 100 reps so I set out the workout pretty simply.

1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 reps

The question was, what exercises to put in there. I called it Century Club since I have such fond memories of playing Century Club back in University  where the aim of the game was to drink a shot (2oz) of beer every minute for 100 minutes. That would be equivalent of 6 liters of beer or the rough equivalent of 18 330ml cans of beer. I remember the game well, but I don’t remember feeling this bad when I woke up the next day! This morning I had a hard time getting out of bed and I can only assume that the workout was a touch too long.

I decided on The Quad as the name, and the following exercises:

Chin Ups
Squats
Tricep Dips
V-Snaps

Maybe I should have stuck with The Tripod or The Twins. I suppose that the Quintuple will have to be shelved! Thankfully it is cardio tonight so my aching traps and lats will get a rest, however my butt which still aches from Thursdays squats and Sunday’s cleans will have to wait until tomorrow for respite.

Moving on, the graphic above relates to yesterday’s post and is Tanita’s attempt at explaining their BC549 scale’s weird classifications. Apparently according to them I am pretty much average for my age except for the fact that I have large bones rating a 9.2 lbs of bone mass. I was a little surprised to see the healthy ranges for fat levels which are noted below next to the list from yesterday.

Date June-30-12 July-01-12 July-02-12 Healthy Ranges
Weight 232.6 231.2 231.2
Fat 19.4 19.5 19.4    11%-22%
Water 54.2 54.1 54.2    50%-65%
Muscle 178.2 177 178.2    Lean Mass
Rating 6 6 6    4-6 (Higher is better)
BMR 2512 2594 2511    Calorie Req’s
Age 29 30 29    Metabolic Age
Bone Mass 9.2 9 9.2    5.9-8.1
Visceral Fat 9 9 9    1-12 (out of 59!)

I am treating this as a long term experiment so we shall see where my numbers go this summer as I try to keep my participation above 70% and try to hit that 220lb level.

10.31/2 – Day Of Rest Plus Bootcamp Weights

D8 4.4.2 Weights (plates)

15 Plate curls
15 Plate shoulder Press
15 free Dips
15 Sumo high pull
10 chin ups

10 Squat plate curls
10 Squat plate press
10 weighted dips
10 squat sumo high pull
10 chin ups

no weight
20 in and out
20 ARX bicycles
20 full situp
20 russian twist

16 lunge walk (hug plate)
10 suitcase with floor touch each side
10 Halo each way
10 kneel downs each leg
10 chin ups

with plate
10 squat 3 calf raise
10 squat half bounce
10 squat knee raise
10 squat hop

20 air squats
10 each proposal squat
10 each lunge front no step
20 each weighted calf raise
10 Scapular Retractions

20 plate air squats
10 each plate proposal squat
10 plate each lunge front no step
20 plate each weighted calf raise
10 Scapular Retractions

10 Laying chest plate press
10 Laying chest plate pullover 2 way
10 Shoulder fly front to overhead
10 Shoulder fly front with high pull
10 halo

BONUS
10 chest to bar chin ups

10.30 – Bootcamp Bodyweight And Reflecting On Cardio

The one question I get most often, or the comment I hear most often from people trying to lose weight is how much cardio should I do? Either that or I get people who rely on 15-45 minutes on the treadmill or worse, the elliptical to get the job done and wonder why they are not losing weight. Or, if they are losing weight, why they feel so weak and have no strength.

Let’s take a quick look at the model of maintaining a muscular physique. Why? Because that is the goal for everyone, whether they realize it or not, their goal is to be more lean and less fat. Taking that model to the extreme (drugs and other issues aside) the person you need to look at is the professional bodybuilder. I know, I know, nobody wants to look like that, women tell me all the time they “don’t want to get all bulky” blissfully ignorant of exactly how much blood sweat and tears goes in to building muscle tissue. But on the logic side, the bodybuilder is only an extreme version of what we all want, lower bodyfat, higher lean mass to prevent bone loss, encourage healthy hormone production and the ability to move around in the world with efficiency and reliability. Now before you all get up in arms about professional bodybuilders being restrictively inflexible or mobility challenged due to their mass, I agree, to a degree. We are only talking about modelling a behaviour to get the results you desire. Ask any professional bodybuilder what they think of cardio and they will tell you it’s a muscle killer. The reason that bodybuilders put on as much mass as possible during their off season is because they know the second they start to do cardio to pull the liquid out of their system and to lower their fat levels to dangerous levels they will start to burn muscle tissue. Ask them how much cardio they do during the off season and for the most part they will tell you very little. There is good reason for that, and without going into details here, I will refer you back to the posts I have written in the past regarding the dishonour of cardio and the dangers of stressing your body on the treadmill.

The short version is this, if you want to lose fat, increase your lean mass. You can do this by moving your body effectively and often, sometimes with added weight, but that is absolutely not necessary. Take a look at any gymnast’s body and you will see the effectiveness of bodyweight training. Also, ask any competitive gymnast how often they are on the treadmill… I think you can guess the answer. Long slow “fat burning” cardio sessions were popularized in the 80’s and the fallacy has continued to linger but the new research shows that effectiveness in training comes from intensity, not duration. That’s why programs like Insanity are so good, it’s high intensity interval training with bodyweight movements thrown on top.

Kettlebells – Don’t suffer on the treadmill
Forget what you believe, find out what you need to know
Sorry for the rant, I will get back to the regular program now, with a listing of the class from last evening.

D7 4.4.1 Bodyweight

Balance and coordination

10 regular pushups with shoulder touch
10 military pushups with hip touch
10 sphinx to plank step or drop
10 pushup side raise
10 pullups

20 in and out row
10 roll to boat hold 3 count
20 bicycle with leg extension
20 side crunch per side
10 pullups

10 SB pushup boing
10 SB Burpee lift ball
10 SB Plank to sphinx
10 per SB elbow plank side raise

Feet on SB

10 regular pushups with shoulder touch
10 military pushups with hip touch
10 sphinx to plank step or drop
10 pushup side raise
10 pullups

20 Crunchy Frog
20 vsnap
20 laying triple bicycles
20 full situps

Arms on SB 20 360’s
Arms on SB plank to sphinx
10x feet on SB walk out and back
20x feet on ball face down roll ball in to chest
20x laying hamstring pull
10 Hindu Pushup

10.26-29 – The Long Weekend

It was Canada Day here this past weekend and so that meant a long weekend and an extra day off from coaching. After Bootcamp cardio during coaching on Thursday I took Friday off and took Saturday as an Olympic lifting day in order to try and work a little on my shoulder strength and mobility. It’s a little foggy now but I think it was something like:
25 Shoulder Press
25 Squats
25 Clean and Press

Although I was only using a light weight to dedicate my concentration to my form it was still a bear to get the mechanics of the press correct without compromising my lower back.

Sunday I took in an X2 Yoga class, which was actually very enjoyable and although I do like the Fountain of Youth Yoga with Tony, it’s a little dry. At least with X2 you have others to watch and emulate.

Monday was a DIY WOD out on the balcony, I decided to take a familiar apporach and do things I enjoy but also get some pullups in since I am disappointed in my ability on the chin up bar recently.

10 rounds:

5 Pullups
10 55lb kettlebell swings
15 Pushups
10 Full Squats
5 Ring Dips

It was a satisfying workout, I am still a little disappointed that  I didn’t get in a RKC workout this week but I can always get that done next time.

Tuesday will be bootcamp bodyweight day, a return to the shcedule!

10.24/25 – Rest and Bootcamp Cardio (That’s Not Too Complicated, Is It?)

Last night was warm again, I suppose its a little redundant since summer in Toronto has seen weeks over 30 degrees in the past. It was 34 in the shade yesterday, that’s about 93 degrees for those from the 70s. It was cardio, and although we have been avoiding doing real cardio classes due to the heat and rather doing abs workouts I decided today was a return to the core cardio we love. You would be amazed at how challenging the people still find the stability ball work, it’s a little freakish actually.

This is what we did:

D6 4.3.2 Cardio

Enough Abs, time for cardio hell

STABILITY BALL
5 SB burpee with ball
20 SB plank run
5 SB pushup boing
20 SB elbow plank run
10 SB plank jacks

10 SB burpee with ball
40 SB plank run
10 SB pushup boing
40 SB elbow plank run
20 SB plank jacks

10 hit the floor
5 Suicides
2 lengths knees up no cross
10 in and out abs

20 hit the floor
10 Suicides
4 lengths knees up no cross
20 in and out abs

4x burpee with jump half half
10 frog jump
8 horse stance jacks with pulse (4+8)
10 vsnaps

8x burpee with jump half half
20 frog jump
12 horse stance jacks with pulse (4+8)
20 vsnaps

3 suicide lines (1,2,3)
3 suicide lines with pancake
3 suicide lines with pancake tuck jump
10 ski abs

3 suicide lines with backwards (1,2,3)
3 suicide lines with backwards with pancake
3 suicide lines with backwards with pancake tuck jump
10 ski abs

2x section
10 frog jumps
10 frog jump half
10 tuck jump
10 tuck jump half
20 plank jacks
10 plank jacks with in and out

Bonus leg burners

10 squats
8 squat 2 tuck -repeated due to non compliance
6 squat 4 tuck
4 squat 6 tuck
2 squat 8 tuck
10 tuck jumps

Summer Warmup 2012

I though I would post the up to date copy of the warmups we are doing, so the kids can have it at home, and so I have a reference to look back on once all the tweaks are done!

Warmup Summer 2012

2 laps each: running / skipping / heels up / knees up / 5 corner sprints
5 minutes foam rolling (Concentrate on large muscle groups, quads, hamstring, hips, calf)
5 laps running during which: 10 burpees / 10 pushups / 10 squats / 10 chinups

Stretching:

15 wall sliders
15 floor sliders (on floor beam)
10x Slot machine pull each arm (Liza)
10 Reverse pole grab, elbow stabilize, slide down pole to extend shoulder (Liza)
10 min ball work (lacrosse ball to loosen upper back)
5 weighted pullovers
5 skin cat hold 15s
5 bridge / elevated bridge 15s
5 wall walk to bridge

Splits cycle:
Kneeling reverse quad stretch x5 hold 10 (go to elbows down if possible)
Knee to ankle against wall vertically, other leg out in front, open hip towards floor (Emma)
Right, left, middle 10s each
Right, left, middle 30s each
Right, left, middle 60s each

Scorpion back stretch (assisted)
Back manipulation / inversion table / individual back stretch

Handstand Cycle:
10 handstand against the wall
5 handstand against the wall 10 shoulder touch
5 Cartwheel to handstand against wall with rollout
10 handstand pivot (5 1/2, 5 full)
10 handstand pop onto stacking low mats
10 free handstand hold for 10
1 full walk

10.23 – 70% and Bootcamp Weights

I finally made it back to 70% participation, however it will dip as I take today off to rest but I assure you by next week I will be comfortably in the sweet spot! Last night was bootcamp weights and I threw in some stability ball sitting to get the core working and to prevent the small cheats I tend to see when standing using dumbbells. It was not a hard class, but it was a varied and challenging class…

Something I am eating is pushing my hydration out of whack. My hydration scale can’t arrive soon enough! I hate it when you can’t find the culprit however I think it is the assorted spice mix I am using since our pepper mill gave up the ghost.

D5 4.3.1 Weights

Huggers
Twists
World’s Slowest Burpees
Inch Worm
Worlds Greatest Stretch
Groiners
Scorpion

Sitting on Stability Balls –  All reps are 10
x2
Laying fly face down
Laying Fly face up
Sitting press
Sitting curl
Double Tricep extension
10 Pullups

x2
Plank row
Floor laying chest fly
Low kneel shoulder press
kneeling single arm curl
football throw extension
10 Pullups or chest to bar pullups (5)
x2
Face down front fly
face up overhead fly
alternating shoulder press
alternating bicep curl
Single tricep extension
x2
High Pull
Incline chest fly
Halo
Hammer double curls
Soccer throw single db

Single Arm x1, Double arm x1
10 Clean
10 Swings
10 Clean and Press
10 Swings
10 Snatch
10 Swings

10.18 – Bootcamp Bodyweights (Hot Day Part 2)

234@19%

It was another boiler in Toronto today, 40+ with the humidity and so I knew the workout was going to be tough. Not only that, but in teaching bootcamp I have learned that the smaller the class, the harder you have to work to get the right results. Since it was exams and hot I ended up with only 1 participant and the workout, with perfect form, was a killer! The toughest part I found was doing the 5-10-15 sets at the start. In fact, it was 60 of each movement in about a 15 minute time frame, that would make a decent WOD by itself!! I haven’t checked my Firstbeat Athlete yet but I know for large parts of the class my HR was way over 160 and for me that is pretty intense.

Here is what we did, and I was glad that I didn’t have to coach 2 hours afterwards, I was wiped out!

D4 4.2.2 Bodyweight (HOT DAY PART 2)

5-10-15
Regular Pushup
Air Squats
Military Pushup
Pistol knee raise
Pullups

5-10-15
Ultra wide pushup
Back lunge front kick
Plange Pushup
Super skaters
Pullups

With Partner
10 Squat ball pass
10 Back to back lean twist pass
10 Wall sit side to side pass
10 Full situp ball pass (Throw not pass)
10 Pullups

10 One hand on ball pushup
10 Side to side one hand on ball pushup
20 Single hand ball touch
10 Double hand ball touch
10 Pullups
10 Double hand ball touch
20 Single hand ball touch
10 Side to side one hand on ball pushup
10 One hand on ball pushup

With Partner
10 Squat ball pass
10 Back to back lean twist pass
10 Horse stance ball throw
10 Full situp ball pass (Throw not pass)
10 Pullups

10 Overhead squat
10 Wall ball
10 Overhead tricep wall throw
10 Between Knees hold, double elbow sit up
10 Overhead tricep wall throw
10 Wall ball
10 Hug squat

10.16 Bootcamp Day 3 – Abs and Cardio

It’s going to be a hot one tonight so I think a little more abs and a little less cardio may be in order, we can always run each other into the ground next week!

Here’s the plan:

D3 4.2.1 Abs / Cardio (HOT DAY)

20 Pulse crunch
20 In and Out
20 straight leg toe touch alternate
20 Crunchy Frog
20 Side Crunch each side
5 burpee
5 burpee with 4 run
5 burpee with 4 run and 4 in and out
20 plank jacks
10 plank jacks with in and out

20 standing Knee raise
20 standing leg raise
20 swing kicks
10 vsnaps
10 roll to boat
5 burpee
5 burpee with 4 run
5 burpee with 4 run and 4 in and out
20 plank jacks
10 plank jacks with in and out

Plank hold 30s
20 Plank knee to elbow
10 Plank knee to elbow with kick back
40 dog raise

10 X Jacks
10 diamond jumps
10 wide knee tuck jumps
10 vsnaps
10 rollback hold to shoulder stand

10 X Jacks
10 diamond jumps
10 wide knee tuck jumps
10 diamond jumps
10 X Jacks
10 vsnaps
10 rollback hold to shoulder stand

5x low jacks and pulse 4+8
10 burpee with half turn
20 knees up same elbow
20 knees up opposite elbow
40 happy dance

x2 section
10 in and out
10 crunchy frog
10 ARX bicycle (forwards and backwards)
10 full sit up
10 side crunch
20 side to side flutter (on your back) 3 position
20 russian twists
10 rollback hold to shoulder stand

10.15 – Monday WOD at Gym

Mondays are going to be tricky. I wanted to do some strength training with the girls but their reluctance and their notion that they will turn into men if they use olympic bars is something I have to tackle. Last night was the first night I introduced the new stretching and flexibility portion of the evening. For the record, it goes like this:

5 laps running / skipping / heels up / knees up / 5 corner sprints
5 minutes foam rolling (We have found foam rolling to be a great help in preventing overall soreness and fixing large muscle knots)
5 laps running during which: 10 burpees / 10 pushups / 10 squats / 10 chinups

Stretching:

15 wall sliders
15 floor sliders (on floor beam)
10x Slot machine pull each arm (stand with shoulder and elbow against wall, palm away from wall. Face along the wall, use away arm to pull wall arm down)
10 min ball work (lacrosse ball to loosen upper back)
5 weighted pullovers
5 skin cat hold 15s
5 bridge / elevated bridge 15s
5 wall walk to bridge

Splits cycle:
Kneeling quad stretch x5 hold 10 (go to elbows down if possible)
Right, left, middle 10s each
Right, left, middle 30s each
Right, left, middle 60s each

Scorpion back stretch (assisted)
Back manipulation / inversion table / individual back stretch

Now I am not saying that I am the greatest source of information on flexibility but from what I have read recently, without getting into the kid of heavy manipulations required for mobilityWOD type stretching I think this will serve our purpose well for now. I am sure we will find some shortfalls, and of course there are other mobility items we do for each event as we warm up since I have, or am in the process of, revamping all of our warmups for each event.

Once it was time for our conditioning, we attempted a little thruster work, but the kids have a hard time keeping the bar balanced and close to the body, it’s pretty amazing actually to see just how many different ways there are to do something wrong when you come from a place of zero knowledge and zero preconception. Then it was time for a little metcon work so we chose Half Barbara for 5 rounds for time. I don’t have the exact numbers but it was all over in a matter of under 10 minutes.

Half Barbara:

5 rounds for time:
10 Chinups
15 Pushups
20 Situps
25 Squats