Tag: bootcamp

R9D18&19 – Bootcamp 2.3.1 and X2 Recovery And Mobility

Bootcamp went well considering it was the first day back after the break for most people. The spin bike warmup was more challenging than I thought it would be for some people and the introduction of pull ups was a rude awakening for most. I have to say I am not surprised, I mean the pullup motion is not something that you use in your normal life, most other things you can say have some practical application but the pullup is pretty unique in it’s lack of day to day application. It would be an understatement to say that they struggled however I am confident in a few weeks we will have them all doing at least 1 free pullup.

I opted for the mobility DVD last night, I was sore from bootcamp and knowing that I had the cardio bootcamp coming up on Wednesday  I wanted to give my body a rest while treating it to a bit of an active recovery. It’s a little weird workout, I guess because you end up chasing your own sore spots with the roller and at least in my case go ahead oblivious to what is happening on the screen. The roller made me sore, the actions are very painful in places but that just goes to show even when you are not that sore, the muscle itself can always use some work. I find that the end of my triceps near my elbows are sore, my quads right up high by my hip flexors are bad and the inside of my quad by my knee. I haven’t really found a good way to get the shoulders worked and I find that rolling my entire back at once doesn’t quite hit the areas right. I will have to figure that out, all I know is when I use the stability ball to elongate my back it makes me sore where the foam roller does essentially the same thing but leaves me feeling refreshed.

I have not done any of my measurements for the beginning of the year but I think I know where I am except for my actual inches. I should do that soon, but the photos on my bar (to the right, top and bottom) are quite recent so they will do for now.

By the way, if anyone wants to buy me a mini (or large) rumble roller, I would be forever indebted to you!

R9D17 – X2 Core And Bootcamp Plan

Every time I have done it, I come away thinking that X2 Core is more of a leg workout than anything else. maybe it’s because the leg portion is quite challenging, maybe I am not noticing the abs and core work because I am resting after the leg stuff I don’t know. Whatever it is, I enjoy it! I did find however that I was getting ahead of the workout as I was doing it, there are specific numbers to some of the movements and I find myself able to do them quickly since my balance is pretty good. At one point I found myself to be 3 exercises ahead having inadvertently skipped the water break. This is not something I am unfamiliar with, in fact I have commented in the past on the workout being too long partly due to the large amount of rest given between exercises. I could condense the X2 Core workout into about 40 minutes if I went at my own pace, and I know from experience with P90X that I will probably end up doing just that. As you get more proficient, you don’t necessarily want or need to do more volume of work, so a shorter time becomes more desirable.

It’s time for bootcamp to resume at the gym, I will be leading the group tonight with weights and lower body / back workout including pullups for the first time. It’s going to be a bloodbath, after almost 3 weeks off I can just imagine what they have been doing during their time off and I would bet it wasn’t chair dips and decline pushups!

Here’s the plan:

Legs and Back

Spin bike warmup – Up & down 10-10-20-10-30-10-40-10-50-10 x2

Air squats 20
walking lunge x 20
long jumps 2 length
jump chin ups (10 max)

MK Tucks (2 mary Katherines + tuck jump) x 10
Lunge to knee raise x 10 each side
Side jump to single leg squat x 10
beat chin ups (10 max)

squat jump half turn
warrior 3 to lunge x 10 per side
warrior 3 squat x10 per side
strict pull ups x 10

med ball Mary Katherines x 20
med ball squat jump quarter x 16
med ball long jumps
chin ups x10

wall ball x10
med ball 1 leg squat to calf raise x10 per side
med ball single leg hip raises x10 per side
med ball single leg laying hip raises

med ball burpees x15

 

 

Bootcamp 2 W2D1&2 – Cardio & Bodyweight Upper

I’ve been so wrapped up in the P90X2 reviews that I neglected to list the workout from Monday’s bootcamp. It’s now Wednesday night and we just completed Bodyweight Upper day so I will add that here too.

Week 2 Day 1 – Cardio

Wide leg squat to toes
Weighted Mary Katherines
2 foot slalom jump – 4 lengths
Long jump/straight jump – 2 lines

Air squats
Weighted Walking Lunge
Super Skater Kicks
Step up, jump down + Straight jumps over box

Burpee tuck jump
Hopping slalom 2 lines
1 leg squat with knee lift
jump 1/2 turns

Weighted shelf stack with abductor lift
Toe tap 360
Flying kick with back kick / scissor leap with needle
8 knees, 4 pushups, 2 plyo pushups, tuck jump

Bonus Round (x2)

20 jump ropes
10 block jumps
10 up and over the block
10 clear jumps

Week 2 Day 2 – Bodyweight Upper

Holding Stability Ball warmup

5 – 10 reps as needed

Pushup
Military
Plyo
Plank to Sphinx
Pushup Balance

plank knee to elbow
plank knee to both elbows
plank x crunch – superman to elbow/knee touch

Stability pushup bounce
Stability pushup clap
Stability plank to elbow no step
Stability elbow balance Stability shoulder support leg raise
Stability shoulder support bicycles
Stability ab roll in
Stability leg hold leg raise
Stability ball passover

Medicine ball twists 4 in 4 out
Medicine ball around the world
Medicine ball leg lift
Medicine ball pushup switch
Medicine ball single military
Medicine ball single leg pushup
Medicine ball pushup balance
Medicine ball plank to floor plank to sphinx

Bonus – NOT COMPLETED

Stability elbow roller crabs
Stability pullups?
The impossible possible – feet on Stability hands on Medicine pushup

This was a tough workout, it’s hard to get across the value of balance work when the participants are so used to working hard on moves that increase the heart rate. I think this workout was very valuable, we will have to see if they agree long term.

R8D66 – Bootcamp2.2 – P90X2 ARRIVED!!!!

Bootcamp was a good class last night, the weights area still not completed so we were on the floor with dumbbells and I think most of the participants are getting a sense of how much stronger they are getting now. The workout was simple:

Strength – burn holds – flex for 5 release for 1 repeat 5x increase weight repeat

To Burn:
Forearm
90 degree bicep hold
side fly hold
front fly hold
laying tri ext 90 degree hold

WOD – 10 reps 3 sets

Wallball shots
double curls

double swimmers press
box dips with lap weight

double press with simulated chest fly
high pull

laying fly
laying pullover

But obviously the big news is that P90X2 arrived on my doorstep last night. The package is pretty click, just like most Beachbody products are, there’s a nutrition book, a big manual that outlines the workouts and the science behind the system and of course a little black book of DVDs. My diet is set, so I am really just in this for the workouts, and since I tend to do a lot of thinking and tinkering with my own bootcamp class I am hoping to both validate what I do and also pick up some more great moves for class. Today is something called X2Core which sounds like it works on your foundation strength, tying your core strength to your other bodypart movements. I will try and write a review of each workout as I do it this time and give my opinion. I just hope that it’s not a let down like I found Asylum to be. The funny thing is that in the manual they give you an optional workout schedule not with Insanity but with Insanity Asylum… Interesting…

Basal Metabolic Rate (How Much Should I Eat?)

Since the bootcamp is Monday and Wednesday this week I took Tuesday off in order to manage my workload a little just in case I ran out of gas for Wednesday’s class. I have been mulling over the content and format for this session and I think once the new gym area is set up I will take a leaf out of the Crossfit world and try to incorporate some strength / max weight work into the class before some lighter MetCon work. For today I don’t think it will be possible even though I suppose I could do squats, the gym and the placement of the equipment isn’t ideal.

That’s later, for now I want to answer another question I get very often… How much should I eat. Once you introduce people to calories and the idea that your body requires a certain amount to function then they get curious and wonder how much they need. It’s an inexact science still, and the numbers depend on a lot of factors. We know that it’s not necessarily calories in Vs calories out since there are “good” and “bad” calories but still there are guidelines that can be used to establish a starting point.

Your body is made up of muscle, bone and fat. Your muscle and bone require significant calories to maintain their state and as such contribute to your basal metabolic rate which is the minimum amount of calories your body needs to fuel itself just sitting still. If you fall below this number, your body will catabolize itself to make up the shortfall either by burning stored fat or by burning lean tissue. Which one it picks is partly due to your diet composition, partly down to hydration levels and partly due to hormonal balances. But to keep this basic lets just say that in order to maintain your lean mass you need to eat a minimum amount of calories. Since our body is only using fat as a “just in case” source of energy we will ignore it in our calculations, especially since it requires basically no calories to exist. So in order to calculate our calories we need to know our lean mass. This is easily done by getting your bodyfat measured with calipers, a fat scale or a water tank dip. These methods will all give you differing accuracies as far as the results but in the case of the scale, it’s a good tool to use on an ongoing basis to give you a start point and an average measurement. For me as I stated the other day my numbers look like this:

Weight 231 lbs or 105Kg (1Kg=2.2lbs)
Bodyfat 15%
Lean Mass (total weight x .85) = 196 lbs or 89.1Kg
Fat Mass (total weight – lean mass) = 35 lbs or 15.9Kg
you could also do Fat mass as total weight x .15 and get the same results.

So I calculate my BMR (not the bullshit BMI!) with the following Cunningham Formula:

500+(22xLean Mass in Kg) which for me is 500+(22×89) = 2458 calories

We take this BMR number and multiply it by a variable between 1.2 and 1.9 to get our caloric requirements for the day. The difference in activity will determine whether you use 1.2 or 1.9 or a number in between.

Again using myself as an example my calories required for the day would be BMRx1.2 up to BMRx1.9 or in numbers:

2458×1.2 = 2950 calories
2458X1.9 = 4670 calories

For most people who are not competitive athletes and spend less than 4 days a week in the gym you are probably good around the 1.2-1.4 mark. For someone who works out vigorously at least 4 days a week (note there is no time duration here) then you can probably bump that up to 1.5-1.7. There are probably very few people in the general population who would need to be in the 1.7-1.9 range.

So in my example I would start out eating around 3000 calories a day and see what happens to my weight, my energy levels and my tolerance for either hunger or the ability to eat that much fruit and veg! The key is to give yourself a place to start and then to adjust as time goes along. As long as you are measuring what you are doing and what is happening, you will know what adjustments to make. But you need to know what the numbers are if you are going to make informed changes.

In the end, do something, have some information about what you are doing because something beats nothing every time!

R8D65 – Bootcamp Redux Day 1

Today was the start of the second bootcamp session, we are doing 2 days a week now so I decided to bring in the scale and let the participants get their bodyfat measured before we start and then after we are done. Two days a week of bootcamp should make a difference to them no matter if it is strength gain, weight loss or bodyfat loss. I have decided on a 3 day rotation for the class of bodyweight work, weights work and finally a cardio/plyometric day. That way, if they can only come one day a week they won’t get stuck with the same type of workout each time. So we did the weigh in and got to work. Since it is part of the gymnastics class now, the gym girls were there too which is going to make the class pretty big some days.

Before I list the workout though I want to just pat myself on the back a little if you don’t mind.

Last night when I got on the scale I was 231lbs and 15% bodyfat. Now it’s been a while since I posted any of my goals and even though I consistently tell people that it’s not the weight that is important, it’s the bodyfat, I still wanted to get under 220lbs. However, it seems as though I have somehow, without even realizing it, dropped to my goal percentage while my weight has (at times frustratingly) gone nowhere.

As an update seems appropriate so here we go:

Start:
Weight 295 lbs (I was probably too embarrassed to put 300!)
Bodyfat 30%
Lean Mass 206.5 lbs
Fat Mass 88.5 lbs
Waist 50″

Current:
Weight 231 lbs
Bodyfat 15%
Lean Mass 196 lbs
Fat Mass 35 lbs
Waist 37″

Loss:
Weight 64 lbs
Bodyfat 15% – THAT’S 50% OF MY STARTING FAT PERCENTAGE!!!
Lean Mass 10.5 lbs
Fat Mass 53.5 lbs
Waist 13″

I still can’t believe that I have managed to pull off 15% body fat, the last time I was under 15% was when I was at university!

As for the bootcamp peeps, the range was pretty healthy from 21-27% and to be honest I don’t expect to see much of a change since I think most of the participants could use some strength gains not percentage losses.

The class looked something like this:

Warmup followed by…
Cardio Warmup 3 rounds – slow med fast
jog heels up
jog knees up
jumping jacks
heisman
123`s

Chest and abs 3x60s with 30s rest

Regular pushups
Insanity in and out abs
Military Pushups
vsnaps

Arm support and abs 3×10 reps with 30s rest

ARX in and out
push up single balance
Ski Abs
Plank to elbow and back

Basic static legs – sets of 10×3
Air Squats
lunge walk then lunge kick
squat jacks
mary katherine switch

More Bootcamp!

Good news! Starting Monday I will be leading bootcamp 2 days a week, Monday and Wednesday at 6pm at Evolution in Aurora. It’s a boatload more work for me, but it’s a great exercise in seeing if I can apply what I do for myself to other people. With the new gym it should be a great time! If you are in the area, come on down and get the lazy beaten out of you!

Bootcamp 12 – The Finale

Bootcamp 12 – Last Day.

We increased the weights where possible and went for lower reps with perfect form. This is the list:

Week 12 – Whole body Max
80/20 split squats
full sit toe touch
push up or alt ball pushup or bosu
curls
press

super skaters
V Snaps
military or bosu military
hammer curls
high pull

Single leg squat with hop
flat bicycle triple
laying pullover both ways
laying tri extension
reverse press

walking lunge
rainbow legs
alt leg and arm superman
floor or box dips
front and side fly

rope climb with poles
treasure hunt with poles
sledgehammer with poles

Bosu Bonus
Squats
single leg squat

R8D53 – Bootcamp 10

I can’t believe it’s been 10 weeks of bootcamp already!

I wanted to do a quick synopsis to get an idea of what to do tonight…

Week 1 – Intro mostly chest and legs
Week 2 –  Tabata, arms, abs, mobility and plyo/legs
Week 3 –  Abs and leg agility with boxes
Week 4 –  Chest and arms plus cardio. Basic plyo
Week 5 –  Weights intro. Chest, shoulders, arms, abs
Week 6 –  Weights and Cardio. Bonus Abs
Week 7 –  Weighted Legs and Abs
Week 8 – Boxes! Cardio Shoulders and Arms
Week 9 – 20-14-8 All around weights with agility fast feet
Week 10 –  True Interval Cardio 120s/30s. Bonus Abs.

So that means today being week 10 it’s time for true interval training. That means timed intervals, no cheating, no overworking (or over resting).

Warmup x3 increasing 30s each
jog
jumping jacks
log jumps
123
heels
knees
vertical jumps

Workout
30s each with 30s rest X3

power jumps
belt kicks
hit the floor
v pushups
BONUS – Floor dips

Log Jumps
Frog jumps
step out pushups
floor sprints
BONUS – 8 hop squats 8 squat push back (then 4/2/1)

Abs

In and out
crunchy frog
reach triple 10s – thighs, knees, feet
cross reach triple 10s – thighs, knees, feet
arx bicycles 25 fwd and back
laying bicycles 4×10 on count
bridge reach triples – shoulder bridge after each one

 

R8D48 – Bootcamp 9

Bootcamp 9

20-14-8

curls
presses
weighted squat
AGILITY
hammer curl
reverse press
military pushup
AGILITY
push ups
laying fly
laying pullover
AGILITY
walking lunge
weighted pistol with knee lift
air squat
AGILITY
plank hold 60s
elbow plank hold 60s
plank walk in 10x
plank walk side 5x each
plank hold 60s
elbow plank hold 60s

AGILITY SECTION

2 foot jumps over line full length forwards and back
over and tap along full line x2
ski jumps 90* turns 20x