6/30 workout

"I sleep less than most and train harder than most. I don’t do it for any other reason than the simple fact that I enjoy it. I wouldn’t be waking up at the crack of dawn to train by myself in an old garage-converted-gym if it wasn’t fun." Ross Enamait

4 mile tempo run with 1 mile warmup and 1 mile cool down

4 miles 28:05
50 burpees 4:03

I almost broke 7 minute miles for this run, which hurt at the time, but felt pretty good afterward. This was almost 30 seconds faster than last week's run. It is amazing how much difference your attitude and how your body feels each day has on performance. As Yogi Berra said, "Baseball is ninety percent mental and the other half is physical."

Personally I think the streak runners in this article are crazy, but I can respect where they are coming from. I think the best part of this article is the end (that's where I got today's quote).

Running Every Day for 40 Years

6/29 workout

2000 meter row intervals with 4 min. rest between each interval (8)

7:10.0, 7:44.5, 7:43.0
ab circuit

For the couple of people that have asked me, the stroke rate on the rower for the first row was 27 spm, the other two rows was 23 spm. Funny times for the intervals again. The third interval was faster than the second, which I had thought in the past was due to me being a wimp. But today I definitely pushed hard, and the third interval was still faster than the second. I think what is happening is my endurance is improving faster than my sprint strength.

Training vs. Diet

For many people, their primary goal is to lose weight or body fat. In that situation, diet matters far more than training. Just look at the Survivor television series. By the end of the season, the contestants have lost a ton of weight, and I doubt any of them are running two-a-day track intervals.

To prove this point, below is some information on the P90X diet program. My friend Curtis was nice enough to share this with me.

1. Calculate your resting metabolic rate. This is basically the number of calories you need to breathe, pump blood, grow hair, blink – be alive.
Your Body Weight x 10 = RMR (in calories)
2. Calculate your daily activity burn, the calories required for daily movement apart from exercise.
Your RMR x 20% = Daily activity burn
3. Add the calories required for your exercise needs (600 calories per day for a high intensity 6 day per week program, 300 per day for a lighter exercise program)
Your RMR + Daily activity Burn + 600 (or 300) = Energy Amount
4. Now use your energy amount to determine your nutritional level:

Your Daily Calorie Needs
1800-2399 = 1800 calories/day
2400-2999 = 2400 calories/day
3000+ = 3000 calories/day

So I fall into the 2400 calories per day category. But only 600 of that is exercise, so only 25% of the diet picture has anything to do with exercise. I estimate that a burpee burns about 2 calories. A Big Mac and fries has 920 calories and 48 grams of fat. I would have to do 500 burpees just to burn that off (which would probably kill me). The math proves that exercise can not compensate for poor diet.

The bottom line is, if your goal is to lose weight, devote 75% of your attention to diet and 25% to exercise. If you goal is athletic related (run a race in a certain time, etc) devote 75% of your attention to exercise and 25% to diet. However, if you are really competitive, devote 100% attention to both. You will find that after awhile your commitment to training will carry over to eating, and it will be fairly easy to maintain a healthy diet.

6/28 workout

run 8 miles 1:02:19
100 burpees 9:15

Even though I took a day off yesterday, this run was tough (and slow). On the bright side, the burpees went pretty well. We walked 18 holes at Thunder Canyon yesterday, and around the 15th hole I got pretty tired. This morning my legs were sore -- they didn't loosen up until about mile 5.

This isn't totally surprising since I have increased the number of miles I am running in a week, as well as the intensity. Combine that with substituting burpees for ab work and I have been beating up my legs lately. In theory, they will adapt and I will be stronger for my races in three months. Still, it does make it harder to crawl out of bed and get it done.

Training vs. Exercise

There is an important difference between the two. Exercise is getting out and going for a walk or a run, going to the gym, etc. When you exercise, you have little "skin in the game". Your times don't really matter and it isn't too big a deal if you miss a day. You might have a goal of losing weight, but that is a different ball game (tomorrow's post will be Diet vs. Training). Believe me, I am not knocking exercise, more Americans need to do it.

However, training is different. Training is working hard to accomplish a specific goal. It is a more emotional experience -- you invest more of yourself in it. If you are training, you might reach your goal and feel accomplishment, success, satisfaction. You might not reach it, and experience failure and disappointment.

Why did I get up and run 8 miles this morning, even though my legs were already sore? I set a goal of breaking 34 minutes in the Reno Journal Jog (5 miles), and I am training for that goal. I may or may not achieve it, but I am going to try. I have a plan, and I am going to carry out that plan, and on race day I will know that I tried my best. The competitive aspect of training (against myself) if a big motivator for me.

Why 34 minutes? Because I ran 35:25 last year, and 34 is a round number that I think will be a challenge for me. It doesn't matter what your goal is (run 3 miles for the first time, do 5 pushups, run a sub 3 hour marathon), it just matters that you set a goal and you work towards it.

Again, both exercise and training are good things. Just be sure you know which one you are doing. It might make the difference between getting up and running this morning or staying in bed.

6/26 workout

“The simplest solution tends to be the best.” Occam's Razor

row 10,000 meters 39:27.9
50 burpees 4:25
standing dumbell shoulder press 20lb x 20, 20lb x 15

I have found in exercise (as with most things in life) that when I simplify things, it is easier and more effective. Here are some articles along those lines:

Exercise -- Another Vote for Simplicity

Diet -- Simplify Your Eating Habits

Life -- The First Rule of Simplifying

6/25 workout

"You have to forget your last marathon before you try another. Your mind can't know what's coming." Anonymous

Mile intervals with 4 minutes rest between each interval.

Mile 1 6:21
Mile 2 6:38
Mile 3 6:38
ab circuit
standing dumbell shoulder press 20lb x 25, 35lb x 7

I ran to the track today which is 1 1/2 miles one way, so I ended up running 6 miles this morning. Again, I am struggling with pushing myself. The first mile should be faster, and the 2nd and 3rd shouldn't be the same time. That shows I am just falling into a pace rhythm, which is good for a race, but crummy for interval workouts. Believe me, it still hurt this morning, but I know I have more in me. Just another confirmation that training is mostly mental. I also started to add some more light upper body work because I have been neglecting the weights lately.

This list of motivation tips is pretty good: Top 20 Motivation Hacks

6/24 workout

"Most people never run far enough on their first wind to find out they've got a second." William James

100 burpees 8:18
gauntlet stairs 30 minutes 191 floors

Recently I have been getting some comments from folks regarding my running and rowing times. My purpose is not to post my times for comparison, but hopefully to provide an example of someone pushing their personal limits. Quite a few people who read this blog are both faster and stronger than I am. My inspiration comes from sharing my efforts with all of you (and thank you for reading) and to see others work hard and set personal bests, regardless of their current fitness level.

It is much more inspirational to watch someone work hard and finish a marathon for the first time in 5 hours than seeing a professional run an easy race and finish in 2 1/2 hours. No matter how fit (or unfit) you are, you can always find 100 people who are more fit than you and 100 people who are less fit than you. The key is to challenge yourself, not those around you.

Along those lines, I have included a couple of excerpts below from an article about the most accomplished Olympic rower in history, Steven Redgrave. He won 5 gold medals in 5 straight Olympics. The point is that even though they make it look easy, Olympians -- the best in the world at their sports -- go through the same pain and effort that you and I do. While all of our times may be different, the act of finding and pushing your personal limits is common among each and every one of us.

He said, "I don't row for pleasure, I row to win gold medals." He hates to train. Nevertheless, he works out six hours a day, seven days a week--all this for perhaps ten six-and-a-half-minute races a year.

The paradox of rowing is that this most physically demanding of sports is about eighty per cent mental, and the higher you rise in the sport the more important mental toughness becomes. Mike Shannon, a sports physiologist who works at the new Olympic training center, outside San Diego, told me that the highest levels of lactic acid ever found in athletes--as measured in parts per million in the bloodstream--were found in the blood of oarsmen, about thirty parts per million. "That's a tremendous amount of pain," he said.

Marathon runners talk about hitting "the wall" at the twenty-third mile of the race. What rowers confront isn't a wall; it's a hole--an abyss of pain, which opens up in the second minute of the race. Large needles are being driven into your thigh muscles, while your forearms seem to be splitting. Then the pain becomes confused and disorganized, not like the windedness of the runner or the leg burn of the biker but an all-over, savage unpleasantness. As you pass the five-hundred-metre mark, with three-quarters of the race still to row, you realize with dread that you are not going to make it to the finish, but at the same time the idea of letting your teammates down by not rowing your hardest is unthinkable. Therefore, you are going to die.

In a sense, all the training you do as an oarsman is to prepare you for this critical moment in the race, which is extremely dramatic, though it doesn't show up on television. But heavyweight oarsmen are famously laconic by nature, and they almost never talk about pain; it's a taboo subject. The feeling is that if you talk about pain you might begin to fear it, and the fear will get into your head in funny ways, both in the specific dread of racing and the long-term dread of training, like a psychic version of repetitive-stress injury. When I asked Redgrave about the pain, he said, "What pain? There's no pain," as though he didn't even know what I was talking about.

6/23 workout

"Motivation gets you going. Discipline keeps you going." Jim Ryan

4 mile tempo run with 1 mile warmup and 1 mile cool down

4 miles 28:34
50 burpees 4:11

This is the second component of my fall race training. The goal of the tempo run is to run 4-6 miles as fast as I can. I ran a strong negative split this morning (second mile was 7:30, last mile was 6:40) which means I could have pushed myself harder. My legs are pretty tired because of the speed work and the burpees I have been doing the last week, but hopefully in a month or so my legs will adapt and I will be stronger. At least that's the theory.

I was talking to a friend last night who was a pro mountain bike racer for three years. I asked him what racing and training was like. He said "you just peg your heart rate at 180 beats per minute for 2 hours, and suffer" (p.s. I can hold my heart rate at 180 bpm for maybe 2-3 minutes). I asked him how he was able to manage the pain he said, "you look over at the guy next to you, and usually he looks like he is suffering more than you, so you figure that you probably must have some more left in your tank, so you just keep pushing." He shrugged his shoulders and said, "you have to like pain to race."

The most interesting part to me was he acted like I was asking him how he brushes his teeth. Someone that has spent that much time training and racing at that level doesn't think the pain is a big deal, its just a fact of life that you adapt to. I know not everyone aspires to be a pro cyclist, but I think the lesson here is we all have a lot more effort in our tank than we think we do. Whether you are running 10 minute miles or 6 minute miles, the path to personal bests is mostly mental.

6/22 workout

"It's what you learn after you know it all that counts." Earl Weaver

500 meter row intervals with 1 min. rest between each interval
1:42, 1:46.2, 1:45.5, 1:45, 1:41.6 total time 8:40.3

row 2000 meters 7:28.8
50 burpees 4:34

The best part of today's workout was that it kicked my butt in only 30 minutes. It is good to have a couple of workout plans that take a short period of time. Sometimes people fall into the trap that if they don't have time for a full workout, they don't do anything. Even if you only have a few minutes, something is better than nothing. And if you plan your workout correctly, you can accomplish a lot in only a few minutes.

Here are some great diet tips from Men's Health magazine.

Don't Miss Meals

Severe calorie restriction creates a biological billboard that says, "We're starving here!" Your body responds by slowing your metabolism in order to hold on to existing energy stores. What's more, if the food shortage continues, you'll begin burning fat and muscle tissue, which will further lower your metabolic rate. If you must look leaner in no time, temporarily reduce your daily carbohydrate intake to below 50 grams, but without eating less than 2,000 calories total.

Protein Is Good

Protein helps kick-start your metabolism, because your body uses twice as much energy to break down protein as it does to break down carbohydrates. So when you eat a high-protein meal, you actually burn off additional calories while you're digesting.

In one study, people who ate high-protein diets burned more than twice as many calories in the hours after their meals than people who were on high-carbohydrate diets. But protein is also important because it helps flip your satiety switch -- you feel fuller faster and longer, meaning that you gorge less.

Finally, protein serves as the nutritional building block for lean muscle mass. And remember, when you add muscle mass, you're burning even more calories, because your body requires more energy to sustain that muscle than it does to sustain fat. Adding 1 pound of muscle equals up to a free 50-calorie burn every day.

Ideally, you'll integrate protein into all of your meals. You can also eat a little protein -- for example, a glass of low-fat milk or a handful of almonds -- before your meal. That will help keep your hunger -- and portion size -- in check.

6/20 workout

“Quality means doing it right when no one is looking.” Henry Ford

run 10 miles 1:18:54
ab circuit

A friend and I were talking last night about diet and a weekly shopping list. As a refresher, the diet rules are lean protein, lots of fruits, vegetables and beans, few grains, no processed foods or sugars. On a good eating week, our shopping list looks something like this:

Costco
2 cartons strawberries
2 cartons blueberries
1 carton apples
1 large bag baby carrot sticks
1 bag sugar snap peas
1 box of spinach
1 package of organic chicken
1 box Detour bars (breaks the processed food rule, but these are a good way to get a lot of quick protein)
1 box Quaker granola bars (takes a 2-3 weeks to go through this)
1 bag frozen halibut
2 bags turkey jerky
tuna (this lasts awhile - only eat once per week because of the mercury)
egg beaters

Grocery Store
non-fat milk
canadian bacon (ham) - 1 g fat, 9 g protein per slice
eggs
some other random veggies for dinner
instant jello pudding
free cool whip
Go Lean cereal (this breaks the processed food rule too, but I need some carbs and this is high protein cereal. If you aren't used to a lot of fiber, go easy on this stuff at first)

I am sure I am missing a few things, but this is the general theme. Eat as much of this stuff as you want (without going overboard on the Detour and Quaker Oats bars) and you will lose weight.

6/19 workout

"Whoever wants to reach a distant goal must take many small steps." Helmut Schmidt

100 burpees 9:06
gauntlet stairs 121 floors in 30 minutes (this is the escalator-like stair machine)
ab circuit

My old burpee record was 7:57, it will take awhile to get back to that level.

Here's some weekend reading:

All About Intervals

Don't Quit

Hard Work

Have a good weekend!

6/18 workout

“Whatever you think, that you will be. If you think yourself weak, weak you will be. If you think yourself strong, strong you will be.” Unknown

run 5 miles 36:50
50 burpees 4:48

I love burpees. I used to do them a lot last winter, and then laid off mostly because they hurt -- a lot. However, they are probably the most efficient way to make yourself miserable in the shortest period of time. If you don't believe me, try them some time. This video shows how to do them. His form isn't perfect, but this is the fastest confirmed time that I am aware of to do 100 burpees. Check out the dog on the couch. It's the best part of the video.





What should I do today?

One of the things I think we all struggle with at some point is difficulty in putting together an exercise plan. I tend to focus on one thing for awhile (like rowing lately) and try to get better and better at it. The cycle is always the same, I make good gains, enjoy what I am doing, and then eventually the gains slow down or I get some overuse aches and pains and I move on to something else.

The result is over the course of a year I go through 3 or 4 completely different exercise programs and don't really get good at anything. Even though I have tried to be better at being consistent this year, I have recently hit my "not making gains and my body hurts" point again. Lately it has been rowing aggravating the tendonitis in my elbows and my right shoulder aching after pretty much any upper body work.

I don't really have the answer as to how to deal with this (maybe I am just getting old). I am bringing it up more to share that you are probably not alone if at times you struggle for direction. What I am going to try to do is focus less on general fitness work and really try to prepare for the races I have coming up in the fall. I am thinking about the following program:

1. run 3 days per week -- one long run (8-12 miles), one faster intermediate distance run (6-8 miles) and one track interval day.
2. row 2 days per week --- one distance day (5k or 10k) and one interval day
3. 1 day per week of something else (probably a cardio machine at the gym, maybe some weights)
4. instead of doing the ab circuit every single day I will incorporate more burpees (they take the same amount of time)

We will have to see how it goes.

6/17 workout

"All men may not be brothers, but that's the way it feels after a marathon. You feel - you can't help but feel - that you all understand each other." Benjamin Cheever

Row 5,000 meters (7) 19:22.0
60 pushups
ab circuit

This quote reminds me of something my cousin always says, "If you want to be a professional baseball player, hang out with professional baseball players." One of the easiest ways to stay motivated and to develop successful habits is to interact with other people who are focused on health and fitness.

I have run quite a few races in my life, and I have never seen a grumpy person at a race. No matter how early it is, or cold, or rainy, everyone that puts in the effort to train and show up for the race is happy about being there. I read a column once that speculated that there never has been a marathon runner who committed murder. It just doesn't fit with their mindset.

As you work hard to achieve your fitness goals, some people will call you obsessive compulsive and ridicule you for getting up at 5 in the morning to make yourself suffer. Others will tease you for skipping desert. But a few people will just smile and understand exactly what you are doing, why are you doing it, and why it makes you feel good. The more people like that who you hang around, the easier it will be to stay motivated.

6/16 workout

1 mile intervals with 4 min rest between each interval (at Reno High track)

6:19, 6:44, 6:43
60 pushups
ab circuit

A humbling workout today. I ran a 6:07 mile in January, and based on my other running and rowing times I feel like I am in much better shape than I was then. In fact, I thought I could pretty easily break 6:00 for 1 mile. Not even close. No other cross training can give you the right kind of leg strength to run fast. The only way you can learn to run fast is...um...run fast. Unfortunately, that tends to hurt -- a lot. I will need to add some more track workouts because I set a goal of running a sub 6 min mile, and I don't want to let you guys down.

Someone asked me last night how to lose weight and look better. A lot of the stuff I write about is probably a bit too intense, so I thought I would take a lighter approach and discuss the simple secret to weight loss. Those of you who have been reading my stuff for awhile will have seen this before in various forms.

Losing weight and looking better is simple, but not easy. Here is the formula:

Eat fewer, better foods and burn more calories.

I know, this is earth shattering information. But usually the most important things in life are pretty simple, we just like to overcomplicate stuff.

For someone starting from scratch without a lot of fitness or diet experience, here is what I recommend. Eat 1500 calories per day of fruits, vegetables, lean protein (chicken, fish, tuna, pork), beans and a few whole grain foods. No processed foods, sugars, fried foods, french fries, chips, etc.

Exercise 1 hour per day 5 days per week. Do only cardio based exercises including biking, swimming, running or a cardio machine (elliptical, stair climber, etc). Switch things up so you do different cardio exercises in a cycle (i.e. day 1 - running, day 2 - cardio machine, day 3 - biking, day 4 - rest, day 5 - running, etc.). Try to focus on doing exercises you enjoy.

When you exercise you should start out a comfortable pace and by the end of the hour work up to a challenging pace that leaves you sweating and breathing hard. If at first you can't go for an hour, then start at 30 minutes and work your way up. Keep track of your times and continually improve on them over the course of 3 months. Do the above for 3 straight months and do not weigh yourself, look in the mirror, or in any other way attempt to measure your progress except for tracking your running/biking, etc times, (which should get faster over the course of the 3 month period). The most common mistake is expecting results in a week or two. Unfortunately, that won't happen.

That is it. Worry about weightlifting, ab routines, interval training, supplements, tempo runs, metabolism and all of that other junk after you have firmly established the habit of 5 hours of hard exercise per week combined with your 1500 calorie diet.

This is not easy. If it was everyone would look like fitness magazine cover models. The reason this blog is geared towards motivation is because you can find lists of diets, exercises and routines everywhere. Getting up and implementing the plan is where the real work comes in.

But also please remember that anything is better than nothing, so even if you eat a little bit healthier and exercise a little bit more you are ahead of the game. It's the consistency that matters. Build the proper habits, and everything else will work out.

6/15 workout

"The biggest thing is to have a mind-set and a belief that you can win every tournament going in." Tiger Woods

row 2000 meter intervals with 4 min rest between each interval

7:15.5, 7:40.3, 7:41.3
ab circuit

I created a new recipe section under articles. There is just one there now, but I will be adding more. If you have healthy, easy to make recipes that you want to contribute, please send them to me or just post them in comments, and I will add them to the list.

Also, I am slowly adding old workouts to the archives. If you are on the e-mail subscription list, you will get e-mails from time to time with a list of the old workouts as they are added. Since the e-mail is automated, I can't turn off the notification when I am filling the archive. Sorry if this spams your inbox too much.

6/13 workout

run 12 miles 1:39:42
ab circuit

Got up early this morning and walked 18 holes at Arrowcreek golf course (shot an 88). We figure that walking that course is about 8 miles, so after I got home I decided to run 12 miles to make it a round 20 miles traveled for the day. My favorite part was around mile 5 this guy who was probably in his late 50's passed me like I was standing still. I always like when people older than me are faster than I am. It helps me see the big picture and think about how much better I can get if I work at it consistently for 20 more years.

This article is a Q&A with an ultramarathoner on recovering after a race. She sounds crazy, running an ultra once per week, and never missing a day of running. Personally, I think ultramarathoners like this are nuts, but you can get something from this article because it reminds you that the human body can do amazing things if you work on incremental improvements over a long period of time. Michelle Barton on Recovery

6/12 workout

row 10,000 meters (8) 39:09.2 -- new record
ab circuit

Set a new personal best today (by 15 seconds, which is quite a bit) in the 10,000 meter row. I have been feeling strong lately, which I have found happens from time to time. I will feel weak and slow for a couple of weeks, and then everything suddenly seems much easier and I break a bunch of records. Then the cycle starts over, which I think is just part of the natural cycle of training.

Another reason is I have been training at a higher resistance level. The number in parenthesis is the drag factor for the rower. It can go between 1 and 10, and is a little like the speeds on a bike, 10 is harder, but it takes less strokes to go the same distance. I have found that training at 10, but then trying to set personal bests at 7 or 8 tends to work best.

This applies to any goal you want to acheive. If you want to run a fast time in a 5 mile race, you should run training runs of 6-8 miles a little slower than race pace, and shorter 3 mile runs faster than race pace. So you train your body to go longer than the race distance, and also faster than you can currently run the race distance. Combining the two leads to better race times. I will probably start a race training series as we get closer to the Journal Jog in September, which is a 5 mile race that I encourage everyone in Reno to run in.

Some reading for your Friday:

If you think you are working hard, check out these guys: Stealth Trainer

Cindy forwarded this article about doing two a days. Great idea for the summer if you have the time: Double Duty

This could have a huge impact on the health of Americans. There is a bill going through Congress that would require every restaurant to post the calorie content of everything on the menu. Do you think people will think twice before ordering a triple cheeseburger if they are reminded it has 1200 calories? Calorie Reporting Article

6/11 workout

"Consistency Wins" Ken Lambert

row 500 meters 1:29.8 (10) --- New record, reached my goal!
20 pullups
seated dumbell shoulder press 35lb x 15, 25lb x 15
flat dumbell chest press 50lb x 8, 40lb x 8
cable chest press 70lb x 8
dumbell bicep curls 35lb x 10, 25lb x 10
ab circuit

I did it!! 20 months ago when I first went to a personal trainer (Jason Martinelli at Anatomie) he introduced me to the 500 meter sprint on the Concept 2 rower. The first time I did it I took about 2 minutes to go 500 meters, I coughed up a lung, and decided this guy was fricking crazy. Over time it became clear that within his gym and in the on-line rowing communities, you were an elite if you could row 500 meters under 1:30. Being the competitive person I am, that became my new goal. I have been trying for 20 months to get there, had a couple 1:30.3 times a few months ago, but I could never get it done.

Today I made it. It was hard, but actually not as painful as I thought it would be, though the rest of my workout was pretty weak because I was so thrashed from the row. I have been putting a lot of hard work in on the rower the last couple of months, and it paid off. I know I keep saying it over and over, but consistent, disciplined effort will pay off, not over days, but over months and years. If I knew it would take 20 months to reach my goal, I might have given up. But by just putting my head down and working hard each day, it all added up to an accomplishment I am proud of. As my Grandpa would always tell me, you would be amazed at what you can do if you set your mind to it.

6/10 workout

"If there is doubt in your mind...how can your muscles know what they are expected to do?" Harvey Penick


run 5 miles 37:20
ab circuit


I am always posting stuff about moderation and discipline in eating, so I have to admit when I don't follow my own advice. Last night there were some great chocolate chip cookies in the house, and I had one...and then another...and then another, until I had eaten 8 of them. The proper thing to do would be just have one. I ended up eating 500 calories of sugar and chocolate. Is that the end of the world? Of course not. A few cookies aren't going to ruin anything.


However, if you are trying to lose weight, or if you are really trying to cut bodyfat, these little slip ups lead to more slip ups lead to you not reaching your weight/fat loss goals. No one gets fat by eating 4 hamburgers at once. It is an extra chip here, some fries there, 8 cookies instead of 1, etc. If you are really serious about dieting, you have to be sensitive to everything you put into your mouth, all the time. That doesn't mean you can't ever eat a donut, you just have to consciously decide to and be aware of the consequences in the context of everything else you are doing. Just as consistency wins in by allowing you to reach your fitness goals with incremental improvements, the reverse is also true. "Just one more cookie" over and over again is how you fail to reach your fitness and diet goals.

6/9 workout

"When I'm in my groove, there is no thinking. Everything just happens." Ozzie Smith

row 5000 meters (10) 18:50.2
ab circuit

Beat my 5000 meters personal best by 5 seconds. I know when I am doing well at any cardio activity when I get a second wind about 2/3 of the way through. It is a pretty cool feeling, as everything feels easier, even though I start going at a faster pace. This just confirms that when you are really pushing yourself, mental stamina and discipline is just as important than physical stamina.

I get a lot of the quotes I share from a book called Mind Gym. One of the chapters is about being in "the zone", that place where performance flows smoothly, effortlessly, and almost unconsciously. The book refers to the following quote from Yuri Vlasov, a Russian weightlifter:

"At the peak of tremendous and victorious effort, while the blood is pounding in your head, all suddenly becomes quiet within you. Everything seems clearer and whiter than before, as if great spotlights had been turned on. At that moment you have the conviction that you contain all the power in the world, that you are capable of everything, that you have wings. There is no more precious moment in life than this, the white moment, and you will work very hard for years just to taste it again."

Experiences like this are why I enjoy high intensity exercise. Once you get this feeling once and awhile, it becomes addicting. I also believe this is part of the reason that people can use their experiences from exercising in other areas of their life. Pushing through a hard workout requires many of the same personality traits that are needed to overcome many of the other challenges we face from time to time in life.

6/8 workout

"Exercise is nothing but pain management." Paul Grady

row 2000 meter intervals with 4 min. rest between each interval

7:05.47:48.87:40.4
ab circuit

I am continuing the hardcore intensity topic today because of the comments to Friday's post. While many people have no desire to push themselves to the "seeing stars" point (which is perfectly fine) for those who are interested in that kind of self abuse, there is a lot to discuss. That is the main reason I have enjoyed rowing so much lately. In my opinion it is the fastest, most efficient way for you to see what you are really made of because it requires the perfect blend between physical and mental stamina. I would have to say that most days the rower reminds me that I am not as tough as I would like to be.

Even if you aren't comfortable pushing yourself hard, ask yourself, "could I push just 1% harder, or 5% harder?" The attached article is the clearest explanation I have read of what it is like to push yourself, and why you might want to do it.

http://www.gymjones.com/knowledge.php?id=40

Some of the key sections:

To be transformed by effort, one must dig deep, surpass one's expectations or self-imposed limitations, risk failure, blow up, and, as cycling guru Keith Bontrager aptly described, “get the full dose.”

Pain is constant during hard effort. Bontrager wrote, “It always hurts when you go as hard as you can.” And this is precisely what keeps most people from pulling out all the stops – it fucking hurts.

Bontrager also states, “the perspective that you acquire on facing hardship makes you stronger and tougher in a lot of ways that are unrelated” to the specific sport or endeavor, though only “if you get the full dose.” When dose and duration are great enough you will be transformed. How much, and how long? Olympic gold-medalist rower Brad Lewis wrote, “A man goes through many changes in 2000 meters. Some of them not very pretty. Some make you hate yourself.” Brad's incredible intensity allowed him to plumb his soul in less than seven minutes. Others substitute duration for intensity, spending hours or days on honest self-inquiry. Some dedicate themselves to a lifelong process. For those interested in finding answers, the journey lasts as long as is needed, constantly attended by the risk that the answer may not be the one desired.

Suffering is the gateway to true knowledge of one's self, and therefore humility. Season the physical with psychological difficulty and risk and administer at the proper dosage to achieve higher consciousness.

You have to be willing to bite off more than you can chew, to overdose, and to fail. If you won't risk the answer you won't ask the question...I criticize lack of will (especially in myself) and ask, “What's the worst that can happen?” The fearful part of me replies, “I may fall short of my expectations. I may not be who I pretend to others. My perception of self may be proven wrong, very wrong.” The confident part of me says, “So what ... only after breaking myself apart may rebuilding begin.” So go ahead, break stuff.

6/5 workout

"When the game is over I just want to look in the mirror, win or lose, and know I gave everything I had." Joe Montana

Row 10,000 meters (10) 39:31.3
ab circuit

Definitely not a negative split today. I thought I could break my record for 10,000 meters, but I hit a wall with 4,000 meters to go and it took some serious willpower to not quit. I ended up within 7 seconds of my record, which doesn't seem like much, but is actually a lot on the rower. Still a good workout since this was my sixth day in a row. Will rest this weekend.

6/4 workout

Row 500 meter intervals with 1 min. rest between each interval (10)

1:38.7, 1:41.3, 1:42.8, 1:43.8, 1:42.5 total time = 8:29.1
rest 5 minutesrow 2000 meters (10) 7:42.0
ab circuit

New record for me. This is the first time I broke 8:30 for the interval workout, and the combined time of the intervals and the 2000 meters was also a personal best for me. This was another one of those workouts that I wasn’t even sure I was going to get out of bed and do. But the thought of having to update this blog motivated me to suck it up and get it done (thanks guys!). Then of course when you are most relaxed and have low expectations, you bust out a personal best. It is a little like the saying that you can’t win the lottery if you don’t buy a ticket. You can’t set a personal best if you don’t show up.

Paul posted the following comment yesterday, and it is a great topic.
Here it is:

I too have been getting up and working in the wee hours. For 3 days a week I also work out in the late afternoon. I have also been dieting, oftentimes consuming less than 1,000 calories a day, perhaps less than 600 of that is food consumption (the rest is a coke and a few buds). By getting up early I have been averaging just 7 hours of sleep a night. I noticed the last couple of days that I have been light headed. I believe it is because of the combination of too much calorie burning and too little sleep and eating. I actually got on a website yesterday that confirmed my suspicions. They believe that when you exercise for X amount of time, based on a few other factors like size, age and exertion you need Y calories to sustain good health. If not your body can become toxic and you may actually be doing more harm than good. I think your readers should be aware of what that minimum calorie consumption is. Obviously there are more factors involved, but I am hoping you grasp the basic concept. For me, if I am going to do 2 a days, I need at least 1500 calories by food alone to allow my body to function normally.

Recently Oliver mentioned to me that he was waking up at 2 am hungry. I looked at his workout regimen and diet and confirmed the same thing Paul did, he wasn’t eating enough. Your body is just like an engine, it needs fuel. When you are dieting and exercising you can take the diet part too far and actually starve your body. For example, a 175 pound man with decent metabolism burns approximately 1500 calories a day just laying on the couch. Add some minimal daily activity plus a 500 calorie burn workout and you should be eating at least 2000 calories per day. The important thing is those 2000 calories need to be from quality foods. The rule of thumb is that to permanently lose weight you should lose no more than 1 pound per week. Everything above that is just screwing with your body’s water and food intake in a manner that is not sustainable. One pound per week is 0.14 pounds per day, an amount that can’t even be captured on most scales. True body fat and weight loss is earned through consistency and permanent habit changes. It is a marathon, not a sprint.

In my case when I diet I focus on eating only good foods, but lots of them. That is harder than it sounds, because the easiest to access foods are usually not good for you. So you have to work to prepare so you have healthy proteins, vegetables and fruits with you throughout the day. Try to focus on cutting out sugars, grain based carbs and processed foods and focus on smaller, more frequent meals with lots of lean protein, fruits and vegetables. I have found that if you eat only good foods, you get hungry every couple of hours anyway, so the eating frequency takes care of itself.

6/3 workout

“I’m proof that great things can happen to ordinary people if they work hard and never give up.” Orel Hershiser

run 6 miles 44:51
ab circuit

Great run by the Truckee River. Mornings like this are why I run. Ran negative splits, meaning the first 3 miles was in 22:51 and the last 3 miles in 22:00. The last mile was 7:12. As I have mentioned before, in my opinion all of your cardio should be done in negative splits (the last half of your workout is faster than the first half) regardless of whether it is running, rowing, elliptical, etc.

I was thinking on my run about the most important thing I have done from a fitness perspective in the last couple of years. This may sound strange, but I think the most important thing I have changed is coming to the realization that the only way I can consistently exercise is if I get up earlier in the morning. I used to try to work out in the evenings, and it is very difficult to consistently do with a busy schedule. It is possible, but you have to be very focused on prioritizing and scheduling. I used to get up at 6:30 am. Now I get up at 4:45 am, work out from 5 am to 6 am, and I am done. Since I “created” extra time that I didn’t have before, and it is at a time of day that doesn’t conflict with anyone’s schedule, it is nearly impossible to miss a workout, unless I am just being lazy. As Tiger Woods said, you can get a lot done if you only sleep 5 hours a night. Personally, I go to bed earlier so I get more sleep than that, but you get the point.

The moral of the story here is developing the habit of exercise in a way that fits into the rest of your life is far more important than any specific exercise program you follow.

6/2 workout

I am not going to my trainer anymore (just like the state of Nevada, our household is implementing budget cutbacks). But I will still keep the one day a week weightlifting program. Didn’t push super hard today, this workout ended being almost like a rest day. Is it always better to show up and do something than stay home and do nothing.

20 dead hang pullups
seated dumbell shoulder press 35lb x 15, 25lb x 12, 15lb x 10
lateral shoulder raises 15lb db x 20
20 pushups
cable chest press 100lb x 4, 50lb x 10, 25lb x 10
20 pushups
chest fly 35lb db x 10
cable chest press 70lb x 10, 35lb x 10
dumbell bicep curl 35lb x 12, 25lb x 10, 15lb x 10
ab circuit

Diet Stuff
“Evidence is growing that what people eat may be a bigger issue than how it’s cooked. A National Cancer Institute study of 500,000 people found that those who ate four ounces of red meat or more daily were 30% more likely to die of any cause over 10 years than those who consumed less. Those who ate mostly poultry or fish had a lower risk of death. Many experts advise eating meat sparingly and filling up your plate with vegetables instead.” (source Wall Street Journal)

This is an article about those 100 calorie packs of snacks that seem to be everywhere now.
http://health.msn.com/blogs/daily-dose-post.aspx?post=1127656

6/1 workout

“Consistency is what counts. You have to do things over and over again.” Hank Aaron

row 2000 meter intervals with 4 min. rest between each interval (9)
7:20.7, 7:29.9, 7:39.9
ab circuit

One of my goals was to row 500 meters under 1:30. I have added to that row 2000 meters under 7:00. For some reason, even though I have been rowing more, I seem farther from achieving those goals than I was a couple of months ago. I think the reason is it hurts A LOT to push yourself to the limit on the rower, and I have been wimping out lately and not giving 100%. My rationale is I will build a fitness base with the current program and then I will suck it up and give it all I’ve got at a later date. The only flaw with that reasoning is at some point I am going to have to man up and just do it.