Intensity

How hard should we work out? How long should we work out? Can I work out 2 - 3 times a day? These are all questions that I have been asked many times. I am amazed that some people still think that workouts should be based on time and not intensity. I suppose that I could work out 2 or 3 hours a day if my workouts consisted of machine based exercises and cardio equipment. Then I wouldn't be stressing my body out too much and I could go to the "gym" 2 times a day. In my opinion the best way is to hit it hard and make it count. Meaning go to your box (or gym), and have a workout planned that works your entire body and also your energy systems (ATP, anaerobic, aerobic etc) be intense and make it count, NO HALF ASSING it! If it takes you 20 minutes to accomplish that - then walk away and be happy knowing that you did more of an effective workout than that person on the elliptical for 45 minutes.

Thanksgiving Morning Workouts are the Best

Robert getting ready to do his share of burpees for his team

Gabe and Amelia with Jill and Angela watching. Mark is on the other team

Team Jumps and step ups

10 people on Thanksgiving morning for a few box jumps burps and coffee. How good is that

Why Aren't the Workouts Posted

Every now and then someone wants to bring in a pen and paper and copy down our workouts. I then have to inform that person that the workouts are not to be written down or taken away and copied or duplicated elsewhere. Why is that, when workouts are posted all over the internet and really you can go out to your car and write it down after you are done? Our workouts are for us Warriors and Bootcampers, except for a few that are unique to us, they are kinda like the ones that you can find all over the internet (remember I said kinda and we also have some that I haven't seen done anywhere else). Seacoast Boot Camp and Warrior Fitness workouts can be done by anyone of any fitness level - BUT - they always need to be supervised and sometimes adjusted due to injuries, fitness levels and many other variables. Form and understanding what you are doing is extremely important. It makes for a safe, effective and challenging program that for about 95% of all participants has made incredible change in their fitness levels and body shape.

GUY I might LOSE it

This week has been a very tough week with me receiving emails telling me how sore you are (good sore) and this morning 5 out of 6 in the 0600 class letting me know that they may lose it. 0645 didn't say anything but they had that look. Getting sick is not what we are going for but sometimes going so hard that you feel like you are going to be sick is what we have to do.

Today is the second time this week for deadlifts and presses (along with some other good stuff). One day for heavy lifting and today for more reps at a lighter weight (is 185 considered light). Throw in some rack holds and burpees and ring rows and we have a great week

Why is Eating Healthy so Difficult

What you are about to read is my personal opinion and is not based on scientific facts!!
Why is eating so difficult? I think about this quite often and I think it is because of a lot of reasons. I think most people know what they should be eating or at least what they shouldn't be eating, but the food industry and all the media outlets (TV, infomercials, radio ads, the magazine at the checkout counter) are doing their best to confuse us. I have a pretty good understanding of the physiology of micro and macro nutrients and how they break down and are used in the body, but even I get taken sometimes. Not that long ago I read an article about a new supplement or superfood (can't remember for sure) and the article convinced me that I should be using this product. And for a couple of hours I was convinced that I had missed something that we should be taking/using. Of course I then did my research and realized that I had been sensationalized by this article and that it was completely useless except for someone making a profit off of the product. The other problem is that our lives have become so hectic and rushed that unless we plan out every meal, we will end up eating foods that have no nutritious value. Eating healthy is not difficult - planning our meals around our busy schedules is difficult. I was asked this AM what would be a good breakfast to have on the go. Of course my response was "fruit, hard boiled eggs, leftovers from last night, cottage cheese, cheese and milk. Of course there are other choices but the point though is that it has to be on the "go" because that person doesn't have the time to make a nutritious breakfast in the morning. Thus the popularity of drive thrus for EVERY meal - hell they even stay open after midnight now for us. I am not immune to this either as I go thru a DD drive thru every day once or twice for coffee and unfortunately because I am not always the best prepared eater, sometimes a donut. Most likely we will never go back to the times of waking up to a warm breakfast followed by a leisurely drank cup of coffee, but if we make the effort and plan our meals we can eat better foods and have better meals on the go. Also, Eating healthy does not mean eating the same foods or not eating good tasting food (another subject for another day). As we cut the crap remember to plan meals, make as much as you can the night before, make a lunch the night before and Plan, Plan and Plan.

Cutting the Crap - 15 to 25 November

Today is the first day of CTC and I want to remind everyone of the rules.
No sugar
No sugar substitutes
No High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS)
No processed foods
No Refined flour 0r flour products
No Alcohol

Breakfast today was eggs with onions and peppers, real cheese and Louisiana hot sauce

ABSolutely a great day

Today was some planking and KTE plus ring holds and other great core exercises.. Oh plus 80 perfect push ups.

First Video

0600 group flipping the tire in November. How good is that. Of course this is after sumo deadlift high pulls and pull ups and some other fine exercises. Of course let's not forget Mondays heavy push press with Robert pushing up 195 (with just a little help), not bad for only starting about 3 months ago and telling me that he can't bench 100 pounds.

Goals for 2009

I asked all participants to think about why they are in the program and what they are trying to get out of the program. I also asked you to come up with a fitness/health goal for the end of December, which gives us 2 months. The responses are slowly coming in and it is good to see that you aren't just saying lose weight. Losing weight is a good goal, but I like to see you change your body composition. Either way think about it realistically.

Cut the Crap Challenge

As we come to a close of our short cut the crap challenge, I am reminded how hard it is to eat properly. Our lives are so hectic and fast paced that if we haven't planned our meals out ahead then we probably won't be able to eat cleanly. The rules are fairly simple: no sugar or sugar substitutes, no high fructose corn syrup, no refined flour, no processed foods and no alcohol. I did not include additives and preservatives because they only makes it harder. We made a lot of meals on Sunday so that the first half of the week would be covered, but something came up and we were unable to cook on Wednesday and ended up eating take out. We will do another CTC after Halloween

Operation Thank You

Operation Thank You was a huge success. We set up an obstacle course, push up stations and a push pull or drag your child station. We had about 75 kids come through and a few parents also. All in all a great day.

Manmakers and a countdown from 30

This week has been a good week starting with some front squats and KTE's to manmakers and step ups today, we have been working hard this week and I have heard a lot of "Guy my legs are sore" or "my ass hurts". A sore ass means that you probably had good squatting form and were going down low enough. Remember a squat is Hips, Quads, hamstrings and core.