Monday 9 April 2012

We learn wisdom from failure much more than success. We often discover what we will do, by finding out what we will not do-

We sincerely hope all you peeps out there lurking had a splendid holiday weekend with the family.  Good, don’t mind us now as we urinate all over your feel good plans for the week…

The above poll is our “scientific” contribution to the blog-o-sphere this morning.

To recap our little pep talk for the week regarding the seeking of providing and/or of advice…It comes down to one of life’s most basic dicta “You are more likely to get what you want if you ask for it.”  Shocking isn’t it?!?

The Plan-

The Workout-

For the rest of the week our Warm Up will consist of the following (may be done indoors or outdoors) Preferably in order:

Forward Rolls X 10
Backward Rolls X 10
Dive Rolls X 10
Quick Rolls (3 successive rolls as fast as possible) X 5
Forward Roll To Bear Crawl
Backward Roll To Crab Crawl
High Knees (running, 40m)
Butt Kicks (running, 40m)
High Knees (running drill, 40m)
Butt Kicks (running drill, 40m)
One Legged Hops (get up high, extend, 40m)
Two Legged Hops (get up high, extend, 40m)
Backpedal (backwards run, reaching back, 40m)…Followed by:

One Hundred of Something…”  This may be the only time we’ll ever actually use a clock as a means of measurement during a program!

Pick a movement and without stopping (obviously unbroken)…100 Perfect Reps.  We did this last year at about this same time, who knew that keeping a workout journal would come in handy?

This is what we did:  100 One Arm Perfect Presses Each Arm (20lb db)

Get creative today doing this…

Notes:

A few things are going to happen quickly if you give the program a go today:  One you over-estimate your athletic prowess.  Two is that 100 is a lot of reps to muster with an inflated sense of self worth…No matter what the outcome may be today.  Please do this safely and ENJOY!!!


Friday 6 April 2012

Every ceiling, when reached, becomes a floor, upon which one walks as a matter of course and prescriptive right-

Kathrine Switzer

The Plan-

You may need to scoot on over a little bit closer today, just a bit…The talk we would like to have with you is something, let’s be straight forward shale we?  Not something you want your friends to overhear or even that pretty little treadmill chica next to you.  We all have dirty little bad habits that are deeply anchored in each one of us.  As a matter of fact they have evolved into automatic actions during every waking moment of the day.  Take Uncle Paul for example:  “Normal” dude who likes to stay fit and obsess over his diet.  If you ask nicely he will happily pontificate a sweet story telling you all about staying fit and eating healthy…Until the weekend comes and it’s off to the races.  Just last week we bet Uncle Paul that he could not match his 5k time from the Saturday (25:40) before to a similar time on the same course on a Wednesday morning.  Same course, same time, even conditions…Different day!?!

What was his second time?  Let’s just say it was “OFF” by a considerable margin…Which he attributed to being “competitive”  whatever that means?  Train hard all week recuperating from a weekend competing, rinse and repeat all summer long.  Sound familiar dear friend?  What we propose is this:  Break the habit and become more, well: “YOU”.  Free yourself from the habit of perpetually grinding yourself down and awaken yourself to the present, the now.  This is going to hurt and will definitely be a process, and you know what?  Who knows you may find other areas of your life that need improving.

The Workout-

Pulled from our “Even a kid can do this” Series here at CultFit HQ…Hopefully you are sick of Perfect Push Ups right now:

Warm Up thoroughly as you see fit…Hardy/Flowing Lather, followed by:

Gather up the kids, the hubby or even the chica on the treadmill, head outside and…

Wheel Barrow Relays (Don’t act like you have no idea what this is?  Fire up the Google Machine…).  We decided to have a competitive program with the victor getting some Hobgoblin as a reward!!!

Sprint 40m out…Last one does the Wheel Barrow back to the start.  But before you start on the way back:  20 Perfect Push Ups for both of you.

If you quickly realize that there is an inherent mix match of talent?  Simply switch it up and keep the sprints spirited!

Get into this one today, it’s a blast!!!  Oh, and 6-10 times through  is going to be pretty impressive…

Notes:

We have a bit of light homework for you this weekend.  In between trying to kill yourself running a 5k and sometime before you head off to Whole Foods…Dying To Be Thin.

By all means have a great time if you give the program today a go.  And if you do?  Be safe and ENJOY!!!


Thursday 5 April 2012

Breakfasts come and go Renee, but Hartford? The Whale? They beat Vancouver maybe once or twice in a lifetime-

***A beer to the first peep who can name what we are really excited about (No homo)**

It’s Thursday once again and you all know what that means!  Put your caption spectacles on and give this one a go:

The Plan-

Embrace your inner self and become comfy in your own skin:

Keith Apicary…You Rock!!!

The Workout-

Rest Day or if you happen to live in your parent’s basement:

Dear God the world really is going to hell!!!

Notes:

Please take a moment today to pay yourself first and realize all the hard work you have been doing is not going without notice…REST!!!  Be safe and no matter what the season may be, ENJOY!!!


Wednesday 4 April 2012

In the hopes of reaching the moon men fail to see the flowers that blossom at their feet-

Every once in a while (about three times a week) we find ourselves overwhelmed by life.  A little bit of this and a little bit of that and before you know it?  Life is completely out of balance.  Honestly this is more of a “Life” piece than a “Fitness” piece today.  NO, we are not getting all soft and timid peeps!  It’s just that stepping back a few steps to put things in a wider perspective is always a fairly decent idea.

So how do you write about finding balance in all aspects of your life without offering some bit of self-serving advice?  Into murky waters we travel…Conviction:  The conviction to make the difficult choice; to exclude other possibilities in order to choose the one that suits you best (why does CrossFit and Yoga come to mind); to let go of fearing the disapproval or disappointment of others.  Take the time to care about yourself and soon enough “things” will eventually become more balanced, we hope!?!

The Plan-

Our Philosophia could be considered a living breathing document.  Just like life it is always changing…Here are a few things we have been kicking around as they pertain to “Fitness” and the “Logic” central to the programs we put together for you daily.  Other blog-o-sphere types throw in your general direction daily: 2 Minute Kick Ass Ab Workout, 30 Day Burpee Challenges, Blah, you get the point!  The problem is that there is little or no thought about “YOU“…Uncle Brandon swears by his workout routine although it may not work for you:

Big shout out to: Twisters Sports Center!!!

CultFit Universal Program Principios

These apply to all of our programs:

• Use of the stretch–shortening cycle of muscle contraction.

• Minimization of energy used to perform the task (Extreme/Elite fitness peeps will NEVER grasp this concept!!!).

• Control of redundant degrees of freedom in the segmental chain.

CultFit “As We See Fit” Principios

These apply primarily to speed work (whenever we get around to it):

• Sequential action of muscles.

• Minimization of inertia (increasing acceleration of movement).

• Impulse loading and/or absorption (we have been writing about this for the past two months).

• Increasing efficiency in the acceleration path.

• Overall stability.

That sums up our training theory for the year.  Thank you for reading!!!

The truth hurts peeps:

The Workout-

So how do we begin to feel whole again after basically breaking ourselves in two with Push Ups and Walking Lunges?  Tricky question…

Gently pulled from our “If it smells and looks like yoga” series here at CultFit HQ:

Certainly not for time:

Trail Run/Walk/Hike/Bike/Run (Not to be confused with jogging!  You might as well walk)…Off into some Random direction.  Followed By:

30 Minutes or so of a flowing, graceful Sūryānamaskāra series

During your journey home pick a number between 500 and 750…And behold: This is the number of Perfect Push Ups to perform during the course of your day!

Simply:  We are adding perfect volume broken up neatly into 15-20-25 rep chunks.  If we smacked you up side the head and stated: Perform 500 Push Ups in an hour?  The first 50 or so would be good and the rest would go to hell, quick!

Every rep today is perfection…Pattern the movement to a point where it is second nature to you.  The simplicity in this is just that, keep it simple.  Too many times we are barraged with complex kettelbell, Olympic lifting etc moves “recommended” from a dear blogger…Pattern, Load, Progressions…Four people understand why this is important today?!?

**(Note if you are stuck inside feel free to use a treadmill, stationary bike or a big wheel)**

Notes:

Push Ups are but one example, a simple one at that.  Pull Ups as well and Goblet Squats easily fall into the same category (sense a theme here?)…Be safe today and most importantly, ENJOY!!!


Friday 30 March 2012

Talents are best nurtured in solitude, but character is best formed in the stormy billows of the world-

Quite a few things rattling around in the old noggin this morning here…A fresh crisp morning and the warming glow of the sun serve as an easy distraction to what we planned on talking with you about this morning.  Ease on over if you like?

This is not a coming out party or a hand holding, step by step guide to the inner workings here at CultFit HQ.  This week we have touched upon a few key concepts critical to engaging in a healthy fitness program.  Some have been rather transparent: Loading, Patterning and Basic Human movements (no-picking your nose is not one of them!).  Others, only four people understood and took away the “True” meaning: Kinesiophobia, Tampa Scale and the Tegner-Lysholm Knee scoring scale…Warm-Up into a lather!  This is where our tale could get twisted and go off in different directions…It’s rather deep and seeing that three minutes of your time is too much to ask of you?  We called on our residential expert on all things pithy and blunt:  Uncle Mo!

“…Mobility work is not even remotely close to being considered a warm-up!  If you are not sweating before you pick up your kettle bell, shake weight etc?  You did it wrong!”

Thanks for that tasty little morsel of information.  In essence this message falls into our: Sweat, warm up thoroughly, pretend to be an “athlete” on the weekend…train of thought.  Couple of thoughts:  During the next big marathon (Olympics maybe?) watch the starters, the ones running to win at the at the starting line- Sweating like heck before the start.  This is even more pronounced in cycling etc.  But who cares, right?  Big 5k tomorrow at 7am and you know what?  You’ll show at 6:15, stretch the groin and calves and literally kill yourself in the next 20 minutes…

The Plan-

The Workout-

Pulled from Uncle Mo’s “Told Ya So” Series here at CultFit HQ…(This is assuming you did the program on Wednesday)

Specifically for those who refuse to warm up into a lather and would rather roll their groin muscles out before a program (Hint- Normal peeps?  Seriously get “moist” before you try this on for size today…Your soft muscle tissue will thank you tomorrow!

Not for time…

Run 200 meters (out and back)
10 Bent Over One Arm Rows (Hinge-Pulling arm is opposite of standing leg-Each Arm)
Run 200 meters
10 Perfect Pull Ups
Run 200 meters
30 Kettlebell Swings, 1.5 pood

Do this for lets say…5-8 times through?

Notes:

Listen to your body today and pay keen attention to where you are sore.  Shoulders/neck bothering you…You sank into the hand stands and failed to actively press.  Lower back/chest sore…You need work on perfect push ups.  Listen to your body…Be safe and have an awesome weekend, ENJOY!!!