Get Ready for your Warrior Dash! (Or Whatever Challenge you Face)

Hey all you Fitters!
 As some of you may know, I am all signed up for the Warrior Dash in September in Crawfordsville, IN. For those that aren't familiar with WD, it is a 5K obstacle coarse filled with fun and challenging obstacles to test your meddle, as well as get crazy messy and have a great time (check out the obstacles and more at WarriorDash.com).

Because I love a challenge, especially one that lets me express my fitness, I want to be prepared for this thing. So I have created a workout that simulates the experience of the WD's fitness demands, including cardiovascular endurance, speed, strength, power, and more. I did this for a few reasons:

 1) Progress mapping - I want to know exactly what I am getting into, and how well I am conditioning to get that way. Therefore this workout is designed to prove if I am ready, and how ready I am. It is important to Test/Retest yourself on a regular basis, to make sure you are better today than you were yesterday.

2) S.M.A.R.T. goal - Specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and timely. This is what is necessary to set a goal. The workout is very specific, and equally measurable. It is most certainly attainable (I did the workout already), and the level of intensity in which I want to do it by race day is also attainable (the time I want to beat it by), my goal time is realistic, and the amount of times I am going to Retest are timely (every two months, to give myself time to change, but also have enough retests to know what I need more improvement on).

3) Train for Life - A philosophy I live by (more later), train in the things that you are going to see in life. I won't see these exact moves at the WD, but the stresses these moves elicit, and my body needing to handle these stresses, I will most certainly see. What stresses does your body see? Lot's of stairs? Lifting heavy boxes? Standing on your feet all day? Train for Life.

So the following is my workout I will be using to prepare for the Warrior Dash. It will be my test, and also my conditioning routine. I will do it every two months from now until September, tracking everything from food consumed that day, to how long each movement takes. And I will use this empirical data to adapt my training to see improved results. Scientifically based fitness, gotta love it!

To explain this workout - The warrior dash is a 5K (3.1 mile) run, with 13 rigorous obstacles to face. Dividing 3.1 miles by 13 gives us 0.238, or rounded to 0.25 miles between each obstacle. So, I created an exercise routine to mimic this specific situation, using 13 movements that required one of the aforementioned fitness demands (strength, cardiovascular endurance, etc.).

Warrior Dash Special

Run 1/4 mile before first movement, in between each movement, and after the final movement, for a total of 3.5 miles. The movements are:

30 air squats
30 pullups
30 straight-arm sit-ups, 20# each hand
5 rope climbs, 10 ft. rope
30 sumo deadlift high pulls, 65#
10 Turkish get-ups (5 each hand, 25#)
30 box jumps, 24 inch box
30 burpees
30 overhead walking lunge steps, 35#
100 meter bear crawl
30 deadlifts, 135#
30 shoulder to overhead, 65#
30 dumbbell box step overs, 30# each hand

There you have it. The Warrior Dash special. If you have any questions about the programming, execution, or movements, please feel free to ask. And also feel free to use it for your own training, be it the Warrior Dash or some other fitness endeavor.

For any that may ask, I finished this workout in 1 hour, 10 minutes. I did it after not eating for 5 hours (extreme stupidity), and with a 16# vest on (10% body weight) (verdict is still out on level of stupidity, but it was fun!). I gave this information because I know some will ask, not to be used as a comparison. Be your own person, work at your own level, and above all else.

Stay Fit

The original workout. It has been slightly modified.

Think of the Children! (And their Movement)

Greetings Fitters!

 I hope you have found some time this weekend to put yourself first, and work on your fitness. You have to take care of yourselves before you can take care of anyone else!

Speaking of taking care of anyone else.....I know that for many of us, that "someone else" is our kids. Over the past few months, I have been seeing some interesting articles related to children and their health and wellness. Two in particular are below:

 Mother Penalized for Not Giving Child Balanced Lunch, School Gives Ritz Crackers

 High School PE Program Recognized

The second one is an exciting possibility in my eyes. Finally, teaching kids how to move well for the rest of their lives! It is upsetting to see that children from elementary school up in to high school are given lessons in their Physical Education classes (if they still are allowed physical education) about things they will never use the rest of their lives. How many kids go on to play volleyball, dodgeball, football, basketball, etc.? Maybe 1%. How many go on to pick things off the ground, carry heavy objects, sit in a chair, or sprint to catch a bus? I'm going to go ahead and say all of them.

I'm not saying avoid all sports. Sports are a fun way to get children excited about moving. Just don't make sports the entire focus of fitness. Not many of us will go on to win the BWF Badminton Championship.

I've had countless conversations with people who have an investment, in some fashion, with high school children, and in all cases, nothing positive was said in regards to what is being taught to them in the ways of their physical movement. I've spoken with Athletic Directors that when I ask what their strength and conditioning programs look like, they claim "There is none." But in practice these children are asked to "hit squats for the next 30 minutes." Who's coaching them to properly squat? That is an extremely technical movement to complete while loaded. Who is qualified to critique the technique of the kids doing it, or even further, write conditioning programs for the entire team for the entire season? If they do have someone qualified, that is terrific. But I can say that the norm is quite the opposite.

I've spoken to Athletic Trainers who talk about the children that are visiting their offices on a regular basis each season from injuries that are clearly the cause of overuse or dysfunctional movement. No child should already be having knee pains and joint issues when they are 16, 17, or 18. So why are we seeing this? Because no one has taught them how to activate their glutes, turn their knees out, and have a solid knee when they are running, or squatting down to go for that low volleyball, or how to brace their shoulder when they wind up for a pitch.

I've talked with parents who are concerned that their children aren't being shown the importance of physical activity, because the school systems are taking away the only allotted hour of their child's day that they used to spend being active, P.E. class. Consider it.....a kid in high school (that isn't in sports) wakes up, goes to school, sits in a chair for roughly 5-6 hours a day (minimum), gets out of school, comes home or goes to a friend's house, sits around for a few more hours, then goes to bed. When do they get in their physical activity, exercise, movement? Who is teaching them how to move well?

So what do we need to do? We need to invest more into teaching our children the importance of simple movements. We need develop programs that are going to help them find significance in making good choices about their food and health. So what is the answer? CrossFit in school? Maybe, maybe not. But who cares about the right answer? Figure out what is important to teach kids for their future (not the 1% of them who play sports to make a living) so that they can move well for the next 90 years, and teach that. Teach it well, and teach it in a way that will stick. Help the people of the future learn how to

Stay Fit.

And NO, the answer is not "tricking them" into moving with video games.

The Perfect Warm-Up

Greetings Fitters.
 Welcome back. I hope you've fared well this Wednesday. For this post, I wanted to get into the "Perfect Warm-Up".

 I'm going to go ahead and burst the proverbial bubble early. There is no such thing as a perfect warm-up. But there are aspects that should be present in every warm up to ensure that your body is ready for the rigors you are about to put it through.

1) Cardiovascular - Do this to stretch the lungs, warm up the muscles, increase core temperatures slightly, and pump the blood more quickly. It does not need to last more than 5 minutes, and shouldn't be vigorous. Rowing, biking, jogging, or uphill walking are great examples.

2) Dynamic Movements - Use movements that move your joints through an increased range of motion that they usually do not see throughout the day. This gets your muscles ready to stretch farther, and harder, than the usual day-to-day movements. This may include arm circles, long lunges, high kicks or high knees, wide side-lunges, etc.

3) Shoulders and Hips - These are the "junction boxes" between the torso/core and arms and legs. Because of the vast amounts of muscles that are connected here, the range of motion that these joints have, and the fact that an extremely large percentage of exercises utilize these joints, it is important to make sure they are ready to move.

4) Movement specific - If you are going to do deadlifts, make sure you stretch the hamstrings and lower back. Lunges? Do deep, long lunges to warm up. Bench press? Do some pushups, and warm up the shoulders. Burpees?......well, better get it all warmed up. And good luck.

5) Sweat - "Are you sweating?" "No." "You're not warmed up." "But I feel loose and ready to go!" "Are you sweating?" "Well...no." "You're not warmed up." You don't have to be drenched, but you have to be warm.

Warm ups should be a minimum of 7-10 minutes. There's no sense not being ready to move. Keep yourself safe, and always

Stay Fit.