Week 3 - Belief

Week Three – I’m starting to believe….

1 Year Ago....

After 19 workouts, I’m starting to see how this program of training really works...on me.  It’s been an interesting period, learning and working through this program, especially because I have been trying to generate a workout routine that fits with my work and watch keeping routine. I generally workout during lunch time, and eat a green alkalizing berry smoothie after my recovery protein shake. I’ve started saving my breakfast’s boiled eggs for snacking on between meals, plus for the extra protein I’ve been chucking down a small tin of tuna and some nuts whenever I feel hungry too.

2014 Health Challenges

40 Days Clean

It has actually been 41 days clean – no coke, no soft fizzy carbonated drinks, no alcohol. I feel great. I’m way more hydrated, and I’ve even cut down my coffee intake… Wifey will be pleased will this! My energy levels are way more regulated since I have cut this drastic sugar intake out of my diet, and reduced my stimulant intake. So, for those trying to give up their ‘vice’, it is possible – but trust me willpower only works when you believe in the end objective… 100% or not at all.

Local Coconut Water Rehydration - Yummy

Local Coconut

Power & Strength

By breaking up my workouts into a heavy day for each muscle group I’m getting sufficient physical respite before the next heavy day (usually heavier), for the same muscle group.  This means I’m starting to be able to push harder and get more from each progressive session.

Today, on Back day, I just smashed two personal bests – Landmine Inverted Row: 100kg, Deadlifts: 110kg and I managed all 5 reps each set on both! On Inclined Dumbbell Rows I worked up to 32.5kg on each dumbbell, which is also a new maximum! This is development is happening across the board, so it should be interesting when I reduced the weight a little and return to 8-10 repetitions on heavy days!

Endurance & Stamina

I believe that by increasing the number of repetitions and dropping the weight right off, I’m working my muscles differently and the ‘pump’ of doing multiple repetitions is developing a new level of endurance. This is really improving my muscle stamina. It’s getting harder, and in this rotation will push me to knock out up to 30 repetitions. I think this is a huge element in how the ‘shred’ of fat tissue will also occur. I’m not looking forward to this final phase of the third rotation. 

Speed & Fitness

So the High Intensity Interval Training, between each set is really making me feel fit. It’s turbo-boosting my heart rate and my workouts are really pumped up as a result of it. This, coupled with the awesome power of Oxyshred has really made me heat up during my workouts. My speed during spinning, rowing and cross-training has been dramatically improving, although between day 4 and day 6 I struggle a little, but I think this may be mild fatigue! I’ve spinning at around 0.7km per minute, which is like 42kph! So, in 1-minute bursts, for around 15 repetitions, I’m busting out 10km, which is pretty intensive! From a fitness point of view, I’m really starting to see additional fitness gained from doing cardio sets of leg press, and seated calf raise with comfortable weight. I’m feeling stronger in my lower body, especially with all the stairs and long, tiresome rounds I conduct as a watch keeper.

Week Two – Getting Harder (Saturday 25 October 2014)

So it’s day 13 on this new program. I’ve done as many days of heavy-weight, low repetition and light-weight, high repetition exercises and I’ve smashed myself with intense cardio intervals. Today’s Chest, Abs, Cardio smash was freaking brilliant – plus I had the gym to myself…. This meant Oasis, The Killers and Ministry of Sound being played on the music box for around 90 minutes! J

On this ship, we have a selection of cardio machines and I’ve mostly been using the spin bike (of course), the rower and cross trainer. I’ve also been making up my HIITs with rapid high repetition (low weight) leg press, calf raise and hamstring curls. The spin bike and I have covered close to 120km of 1km sprints, the cross trainer has seen me smash 4km per 12 minutes of 1 minute intervals per session (4 sessions so far means 16km total), and the rower and I have effectively travelled 10km in 4 sessions of 1 km sprints. So, I’m going pretty hard!

The abdominals everyday element is highly addictive and increasingly more difficult, but it is helping me feel less ‘blubbery’ and more taught if that’s possible (?) coupled with my program’s intensity. I’m researching and trying new exercises for abdominals, and feeling constantly that I’m working them. I even feel my core getting stronger, especially during the weights exercises, meaning I can lift heavier, or for more reps! Awesome.

That’s about all from me for now, except I’m still feeling the pinch of, maybe, a trapped nerve or muscle tweak in my shoulder – but I’m not made of glass and Yoga has taught me to listen to my body better. I’ve even started to Savasana at the end of my really hard workouts (most days!) – which must look weird since I’m doing it on the gym floor for 2-3 minutes as my cool down, calm down meditation. Love combining all this stuff I’ve learnt in the past few years.

6 Days into the program I switched my supplements around. The ON Hydro Builder is dee-lish! Plus, it’s giving me what I need to replace lunch (alongside a WinGaz style berry, superfood smoothie-yum!). The OxyShred is an interesting product because it really kicks my workout into a new gear; the thermogenic is less aggressive, but it turns up the heat! The good this is the absence of heavy stimulants and I’m not ‘buzzing’ just getting into the ‘zone’ of my training. Happy.

That’s all from me, from the middle of nowhere. Hopefully, I can upload soon.

Do yourself a favour, immerse yourself in some good old school tunes and get sweaty. Work at whatever level you are comfortable, to achieve YOUR goals.

“Never Back Down, and don’t succumb to your own justifications. Ignore them and Just Freaking Do It!” (Thanks Mish)

Day 92 - Balls, Bells and Bars...

Variety 

The spice of life and the means to staying focused on my journey from fat to fit. I like to mix things up, and apparently, its good to do so. This week, being the crazy last week of my leadership course is a bit messy and getting into my normal routine is getting harder as the week progresses toward graduation. I decided to mix it up again tonight....but why?

Variety, or, the quality or state of having different forms or types can be important within a strength and conditioning program. Triathletes and cross-fitters tend to need a variety in their program to develop different physical qualities. My variety of strength, endurance, speed, stamina....run, swim ride and sports seems to be the go here!

Athletes must incorporate variety in their regime to become more complete. There is no single exercise or piece of equipment that will create the complete athlete. In order for muscles to increase strength, the workload must be greater than normal. I've noticed that since I started mixing things up, even as early as when I started to train for triathlon (instead of just running) I got stronger sooner. By overloading the muscles, your body adapts by growing stronger. Once the body adapts, a new stimulus is required to continue the reaction. Workload must progressively increase to make gains in strength and endurance.

Variety is a method of adding tools to your toolbox to facilitate your progression.

Tuesday night football..

Almost certainly its harder to play, or more intensive to play indoor football on a full size court with less people. Tonight there was 5 of us! 3 on 2 was the order of play - so lots of running and stop/start sprints, changes to direction was in order. For the first 30 minutes my game was all over the place. Mr Peds reckoned my skills were better when I took a few moments to stop and think, prior to taking shots or passing. This actually seemed to be true...I missed, hit the post and crossbar...I hit the ball wide by the narrowest margins and somehow couldn't find the back of the net. On taking those moments to think, I went from hell to high scoring! I even knocked 3 long-range (from our goal area) shots into their net! I really started to score all over the place, even nut-megged the keeper three times. Such fun.

After 75 minutes I was pooped, needing to change the pace for gym time!

Bells and Bars...

Tonight I opted for the mammoth session - Back and Arms. I reduced the number of exercise variants, but pushed hard to make the ones I was doing count. My dead lift technique has definitely improved, and I feel stronger for it. My rows were all a good show of my developing back strength. I concluded back with 3 sets of 3 unassisted chin ups...and my gosh I was trying hard!

I moved into Biceps and then Triceps. I was feeling the burn by now, 45 minutes in and that was my cue to finish off with a kettle bell circuit. Qinno joined for a bit and we did some basic run throughs. I've been intensifying the kettle bell circuit and 15 minutes is pretty tough....for me!

After all the hard gym work, I think my back deserves a good relax on the foam roller tonight. Looking forwards to that!

Day 87-91 - Kettles, Bars, Bricks and What?

Bells, Balls, Pucks, Weights and lots of sweat.

Another mad-crazy week, filled with multiple workouts. It has been a busy week work-wise too (hence my lack of posts).

I've done some interesting preparations to enhance my training for the marathon; working on core and strength with weights workouts, endurance with kettle bells and agility, power and speed with run sessions, and triathlon brick training sessions.

Thursday I put myself through a 45 minute kettle bell workout, targeting all of the major muscle groups. I also chucked in some barbell training to deepen the efforts on my core muscles. After, I did a triathlon brick. This particular brick involved a 20 minute spin, with a cadence of 100rpm. This speed and duration meant I could knock over a 10km spin, I averaged about 28kph, which is a nice speed for me. After the spin, I jumped onto a treadmill to do a quick run. I was running at 5:40 per km for 28:24, and that allowed a good 5km run at 10.6kph.

Saturday, I did a 35 minute intensive (no rest) kettle bell workout with my amazing wife, at the Bond Street Fitness First. I got a real good sweat on and had fun training with Winnie. It is the favourite part of my weekend. Winnie and I always train so well together, she truly is my soul mate and training buddy!

Today was a great day for leadership training. Today our instructor (Leut. Johno) took us to the gym to play 'handball - It's good to be king' and a 30 minute deck hockey game. I was team captain for team blue. I picked an awesome squad and we actually won 4-1! Two games that we can play with our sailors at sea, both pretty fun, full-on activity.

Deck hockey is a sport that has been played on ships at sea, since the 1800's and I would like to think that I could keep that piece of history as I progress my career. Here's hoping - and my new ship has a pretty massive deck!

After the 60 minutes of team games, I headed into the gym. Working out with Qinno was a good change of routine. We did a good hour of chest and some shoulders - working hard, and using a spot is a nice way to push yourself! After this workout I got stuck into a 30 minute cardio-strength burnout using my new favourite toys - the kettle bells. I incorporate step ups and box jumps to build on the cardio and agility.

Day 86 - Faster, Faster!

As I woke this morning I could tell that my body was in need of a little rest or a slower pace today. Today's leadership classes were fairly sedate and that provided the well needed recharge. As the day proceeded, I realised that I was gearing up to do my first proper speed session after work.

Speed Sesh...

My Speed Session, can be reviewed in detail on this link: Speed Session: 3 x 1km and there you'll see I ran off the beaten track (well its a gravel path around the back of the Creswell gym, and what you can't see is the gradient of  the slow climb I was running on. This was an added element into the session that wasn't necessary, but a challenge regardless.

I planned, and executed 3 sets of 1km fast runs. By fast, this is my slightly faster than race pace, which really got me going. The distance, although low, is actually far enough to give me a good workout.

Overall, with warm up and cool down I covered a mere 3.46km in 20:10, which yields an average pace of 5:50min/km, but if you look more closely the average included the warm up and cool down! A true test of how hard I was working was my heart rate. I was working with a training effect of 3.2 (improving category), which meant an average heart rate of 149bpm (81% of max), and a peak heart rate of 170bpm (92% of max) - which is pretty good. Lap times were:

Lap 1 - 4:39:80

Lap 2 - 4:15:00

Lap 3 - 4:32:60

On completion of this training session I felt smashed, yet exhilarated for completing the running exercise. I had a good cardio and run training session, that had me out of my comfort zone for a few moments of each set - the hill that leads up to the main gangway (main gate).

After I had quickly recovered from the running, I started a new element to my training, Kettle Bell workouts, done my way.

I covered pushups, goblet squats, military shoulder press, one leg dead lift, kettle bell swing, Floor chest press, pirate ships (kettle bell's version of landline 180s), floor pectoral fly, and some abdominal work. My abs are still so sore from the caving yesterday.

Today I learned that rest, planning and a new routine does help keep you motivated, challenged and interested in what you're doing.

Oh and go the Blues...NSW finally win Origin!

Day 85 - Caving Activity

What a day. I think that today has been one of the most challenging days for me; from a physical and mental point of view. Today our class went on a caving trip, to develop our leadership and offer a different setting for some self-development and reflection.

Caving

So, having done lots of tight spaces in the diving sense, in wrecks and caverns all over the world, I was feeling pretty confident about today's challenge. Still it pays to go with an open mind, because every day we can find learning opportunities in almost everything we do.

The caving was carried out at Bungonia National Park, NSW...3 hours away from Jervis Bay. In the middle of nowhere, we were there learning about leadership and crawling around like rats!

The first cave was a great warm up, a great lesson in communication, some tricky traverses but mostly a simple enough cave to get through. The lights out exercise, resonated with me. It reminded me of night diving skills, but the conversation was interesting. When people were asked about their fears, or anxieties before the cave one person spoke up....whether this was fear of embarrassment or otherwise, the result when asked in the dark was more people talking about the same subject. In my humble opinion, this was a really good exercise in Honesty. It was startling how much more honest people were, when they couldn't see your face, or you theirs. It actually pulled the team together almost instantly and that was staggering. Know Yourself, Know Your People. Be honest.

The second was a little more tricky. There were squeezes, tight ones, propelling along ledges attached to chain, climbs, belays, you name it we were in it. There was a silt out caused by movement, dust and that was hard (on the lungs and the mind). The climbs weren't easy. They required some strength in your upper body and your legs. The crawls were hard your knees, elbows and core - especially the squeeze through sections! I got stuck a few times, still working on reducing the 'Bateman Belly', but at 94kg I'm happy to be doing it after losing some weight! Getting stuck didn't bother me, that was just a logical puzzle to solve. 

Fears, Self-Control and Thinking Too Much

I took more from today, than I have ever on a leadership or development course before. When I was placed at the back of the group in the second cave, I began getting concerned about the people I couldn't see. Coming from the diving world of guiding divers, accounting for them and leading them from the front, put me well out of my natural comfort zone in this case! In the 'cement bag' silt out I couldn't see or hear people for a few moments. I was not worried about myself, per say, just how my team mates were doing, then I started to think...and this situation that can be deadly. I started to think about how deep underground, how the air was dense with silt, how hot I was getting, how my breathing rate was increasing....then it hit me.... focus on your dive training. I regained control of my breathing, and remembered something Winnie wrote on a dive slate: "Keep Breathing, Love Winnie" and that helped, but surprisingly the think that changed it was when I saw one of the staff members Chief Blowie.... I said "talk to me chief" (I was trying to distract my thoughts)...to which he replied "you're a dickhead"... which made me laugh, and remember that comedy or keeping things light can control a situation. 

I was carrying a trusty little rock in my pocket. In the moments where there was inactivity, where I had the potential to think (or over think) I started scratching the rock surfaces. I found I was writing the words "Winnie, Win Gaz, and Batman" quite a lot..... I always find that thinking of Winnie calms me down, make me see sense etc. She's always there, even when she's not!

Later on after getting stuck again, I was actually first going through a very tight crawl-squeeze. I didn't like how tight it was, and almost started thinking again, but using self-control and the knowledge that I was with a great team (My buddy was Mr Protein) and a few reassuring words (that I didn't need as it happens) had me scooting through in no time. I was saying to myself JFDI! It helped.

Physical Training

Caving, Climbing and working your way through the tight spaces is a pretty tough workout. Im so glad my endurance training has been going on. It really did prepare me for the cross-fitness of climbing, sliding, squatting, pulling myself along or up, belaying and carrying equipment. I did a little research on getting home, and a day of caving/climbing burns between 3000-4000 Calories. Which is testament to the continuous whole-body workout that I had received today.

Happy Faces....

Day 84 - Week 13 Commences.

Moving Forwards...

I love this quote.

I know, of late, I've not been as active with regard to my gym usage and blog uploads but in actual fact my training in coming into quite an important phase - Strength Training for the Marathon. 

My decision to participate in a marathon has been something I initially set as a goal, but something that has the potential to facilitate my long term health and fitness goals. I love fitness and being healthy, and I really want to keep this passion by means of gym work, yoga, running, cycling, swimming (and scuba of course). I signed up for the marathon as my main goal for 2014, and I want to be ready from a physical and emotional sense. I want my muscles and joints to be prepared. To that end I've been spending a lot of my free time reading and researching different methodologies (old techniques and new).

I've read that combining, equally, running with weights is the best way to prepare your body. I've read that developing a strong core is not all you need. You also need to develop strong glute muscles, good hip extension strength are important too. The definition of Core Strength is how well you can stabilise your upper body on your lower body; in other words how much rotation you've got whilst keeping your trunk stable. Maintaining a strong, stable core will stop you from leaning forwards, arching your back, and in therefore will stop your hip activity from being inhibited. I read that if you inhibit your hips, you end up inhibiting the muscles inside you shins and feet too. I've learnt that this is all down to posture. So, in the gym, out on runs, and basically all other times I need to be working on keeping a good posture to allow my muscles to work as they're meant to.

According to one paper I read, runners need four important things:

1. Postural Alignment
2. Specific Stabilisation
3. High Strength
4. The ability to produce strength quickly  (High Power)

Another reason to incorporate weight training into my regimen for running a marathon is that I want to maintain lean muscle mass, and if I don't train the endurance will eat away at the muscle I've worked so hard to build.

I'm learning, now more than ever to not over exert and to take more rest, including rest days from both gym and run. Since recovery will determine how the preparation builds and how strong overall I become. If I never give my body time to recover, I'll never develop. It also means not doing gym and long runs on the same day, over exertion will just sap my body's resources and leave me feeling wasted all the time. Prior Preparation and Planning, to Prevent Poor Performance!

The Run Element

The plan with the running is not to run 100's of kilometres per week, in fat its quite the opposite. I'm going to employ a variety of cardio components in conjunction with long runs to build my muscle strength and endurance plus condition my soft muscle tissue to the long endurance of a marathon. I'll be doing short quick runs (tempo runs), middle distances at a conversational pace, and intervals (including hills). I will build to around 35km then taper back as race day approaches.

The Strength Training Element

This will be a core stabilising and strengthening combined workout, incorporating compound exercises, the endurance work I've been doing and will be made up of light (ish) weights, high reps and no more than 2-3 sets per exercise. I test ran a workout like this tonight, and it took exactly 1 hour, so that was also a bonus. In sequence, tonight's workout trial consisted of:

• Barbell Chest Press
• Rest: Bottoms Up Abdominal raises 
• Barbell Bent Over Rows (reverse grip)
• Rest: Plank Holds
• Barbell Shoulder Press
• Rest: Side Plate Bends
• Smith Machine Squats
• Rest: Bicycling Abdominal Crunches
• Smith Machine Lunges
• Rest: Leg Raise Holds
• (Heavy) Barbell Dead Lifts
• Assisted Chin Ups
• Rest: Retractors
• Push-ups suspended on Kettle Bells 
• Kettle Bell Swing Twists

The Nutrition Element

Vital to my endurance, health and well being is what I actually put into my mouth. So, I've been going good so far, eating clearer, reduced my gluten intake to almost zero (you can never tell what sneaky companies use thickeners, and I'd be lying if I said it was 100% gluten free - not sure its even possible)...Reduced alcohol consumption to almost zero and good supplementation to back up a healthy diet.

I need to improve the balance of my carbohydrates, proteins and fat intake. I've read that it needs to shift to 60% Carbohydrates, 20% Proteins, and 20% Unsaturated Fats, and I've been working to 50% Carb, 30% Protein and 20% Fat. Carbohydrate loading in food will be a challenge for me, so I'll keep you all posted on how I get there with that one!

The New Training Program

The Marathon is actually 14 weeks away, but my honeymoon is a 2 week period where I will likely be resting more than running, although I'll be working on core, strength and stability wherever I can. So, I have 2 weeks, a 2 week demi-rest, then 10 weeks to bring me over the line. A major milestone in that time frame is that 8 weeks from now I will be running the City2Surf with Winnie. This is a good time to ensure my training is going good - essentially its midway between here and the main event. I can check all the elements are working as they should and I can make sure my mind and body are set up for this.

Rest Days: 1-2 per week

Gym: Combined Weights Workouts / Circuits: 3 per week upto an hour

Non-Run Cardio:  Swim / Spin / Cycle / Football or sports activity: 2-3 per week

Running: 5-6 per week

1. Speed Sessions (multiple short, sharp runs out of comfort zone)
2. Medium Distance Runs (10-20km build up)
3. Easy Runs (5-10km for recovery)
4. Tempo Runs (fast pace)
5. Fartlek Runs (speed-play workout) 
6. Long Run (Slower pace, 13-35km build up, then taper back)