So yesterday I attempted eight rounds of the MMA inspired workout I mentioned in my last post. After a quick warm up (5km run) I knuckled under and pushed myself as hard as I could to finish in less than 15 minutes.

There were a couple of times during the assisted chin ups and inverted shoulder presses that I got very close to muscle failure, but I was able to push through the pain and fatigue to finish in 13:23.

So where to from here? I’m going to do it all again tomorrow!

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So my January was going OK exercise wise, with the late starts at work, the longer day light hours and just the general good feeling that summer give I was going well. Marine Fit, Navy Seal workout, a hill run with a 291m vertical climb and I even blew the dust off my dumbbells.

Then with the beginning of term looming work turn to complete chaos and I was finding all sorts of excuses, the main one being that I was just too tired. I skipped day after day on that excuse but when I did make it out for a run I noticed something really odd, I was going faster and faster. I haven’t run anything further than 6.5km since February 2011, instead preferring to focus on getting a decent cardio workout to combine with some form of resistance training, usually callisthenics.

I had a good run last Saturday and thought that I’d gotten through my flat spot, only to find myself skipping Sunday, Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. By Thursday I’d decided enough was enough and threw my running gear into a bag and took it to work so that I could run at lunch time.

I decided to combine Thursday’s run with a workout I found in the January 2012 issue of Australian Men’s Health. It’s pretty simple, four exercises, no rest in between and six rounds starting with six reps of each and dropping a rep each round until the final round is just one rep. The four exercises are Hindu push ups, assisted chin ups, inverted shoulder press and upright power row.

The article in Men’s Health mentions that if you get through the full six rounds in less than 15 minutes to add an extra round next time starting at seven and if you can complete eight rounds in less than 15 minutes, according to MMA trainer Chad Waterbury you’re “ready to rumble”.

I finished six rounds in just over 9:30 so resolved to start at seven next time around. On Friday I ran a new personal best for both the 5km and the mile, shaving 0:44 off my previous best for the 5km. I think I set that PB when my Nike+ was misconfigured too, when I first used it, it added roughly 20% on to my distances but this time I know I did that 5km in 23:00.

Not content with that PB, I then sat down and powered through Hard Corps Abs from Marine Fit. Two of school’s gun rowers were impressed with my core strength too as I busted out the atomic sit ups, one of the most painful exercises known to man I’m sure.

Today I put in another good run of 5.5km (23:43 for the 5km too) followed by the Men’s Health MMA workout again. This time I got through seven rounds in 12:09, somehow I think eight rounds in under 15 minutes is a realistic goal for next week.

I also jumped on the scales at work and found I’m a little heavier than I thought, coming in at 80kg although I did have shoes on. Therefore I have around 10kg to drop but I think it’s a realistic goal. I’m still 22kg down on the heaviest I ever weighed.

And my final word of warning to those out there, it takes a lot of hard work to get that extra weight off. Most of that weight loss came from training for half marathons when I was putting in 30-50km a week, and take it from me, that’s very hard work, hard enough that I think twice before I bite into a Big Mac.

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So last week I tried out a recipe out of Men’s Health which looked pretty good. It’s just chicken and brown rice cooked in beer, sounded pretty good on paper but just didn’t quite work for my wife and I.

So I turn to the internet to give me some suggestions on how to fix this recipe. I should probably point out that the original recipe called for wheat beer which I didn’t have so used an APA instead, so that could have contributed to the failure.

• 250g chicken breast
• 2 cups of cooked brown rice
• 1 cup of chopped vegetables
• 1 cup of chicken stock
• 1 bottle of beer

Season chicken then brown on all sides in a pan. Remove chicken and stir fry vegetables for one minute. Add in cooked rice, chicken and stock then heat until the liquid boils. Add the beer then cover and bake in the oven at 150 for 10 minutes.

So what could I replace the beer with? My initial thought was just water to keep the amount of liquid the same but perhaps I could use something to enhance the flavour. Ideas?

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1. Recipe: Satay chicken and vegetables
2. Vegetarian “sausages” recipe
3. Recipe: Tomato and vodka sauce

So I’ve changed my plan a little bit with regards to my exercise. The old plan of alternating between MarineFit and Navy Seal six days a week was a good one but it lacked one important factor: It just wasn’t fun. The problem with that is that if it’s not fun I’m likely to start finding excuses to not do it so time for a change.

I’ve decided to go back to my old reliable method: running. I enjoy running, it’s a good way to stay in shape and requires not additional equipment, especially since I got a new pair of running shorts and a new pair of socks for Christmas from my wife.

I’ve also decided not to really push the envelope with distances, wallowing in the shallows of 5-8km runs and supplementing it with weight training once I’ve built up a decent level of running fitness.

Yesterday I managed a really good 6.5 km run at lunch time with a good time and felt almost perfect the whole way around. Almost because I managed to roll my ankle on some uneven ground around the 1km mark, thanks earthquakes!

Thanks to that little hiccup I had to give myself today off running because the ankle doesn’t feel quite right. It’s not particularly painful, more stiff than anything but I know running on it will slow down the healing process and I’d rather avoid that.

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So as part of the new year, I’ve increased my effort to stick to my workout plan more strictly. This week I managed to hit the mark perfectly, completing six workouts this week.

I’ve picked up a couple of military style workouts that combine callisthenics and cardio in the form of body weight exercises followed by running. Now running is something I’ve always enjoyed and found quite easy but the callisthenics before hand make for a much tougher workout.

Running the numbers, I’ve put in some pretty hard work. So far this week I’ve done:

• 300 star jumps
• 255 press ups
• 180 sit ups
• 75 mountain climbers
• 75 eight count body builders
• 75 leg raises
• 30 Hindu push ups
• 75 flutter kicks
• 60 squat thrusts
• 75 bicycle abs
• 15 tricep dips
• 42 pull ups
• Run 28km

Not bad huh?

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1. The Marine workout

So it wasn’t that long ago I finished Rushfit and got myself into the best shape I’ve been in a long time. Then I started slacking, suddenly my exercise wasn’t as important as it should have been. I’d make a plan, then push it back a day, then another day and next thing you know I’m working out two days a week.

Then I got really slack and let it slip to the point where one week the only exercise I got was supervising students while they were ice skating. Sure I skated for two and a half hours, but the sheer number of students on the ice meant I didn’t really get my heart rate up.

This week I’ve put that slacking to rest with some hard workouts that have me feeling much better about myself. Monday and Tuesday of this week I spent my lunch break doing the Marine Fit workout I’ve previously mentioned, fortunately with little to no pain from the running.

Wednesday was a tough one as that was the day of our staff Christmas lunch. As luck would have it, I found a workout online that I thought looked really interesting. It’s the strength training segment from Navy Seal boot camp, I told you they were tough! After a good warm up, you do 15 press ups, 20 sit ups and 3 pull ups with no rest in between, then rest for two minutes and repeat three more times.

Thursday and Friday had me really finding my groove, getting up at 6am to fit in the Marine Fit workout before breakfast, followed by a nutritious breakfast of course. With the weather being nice and the sun coming up nice and early, it’s quite a pleasant way to start the day.

Tomorrow I’m planning something a little easier and giving myself Sunday off. I had previously used Friday as my rest day while doing Rushfit and found it worked quite well for me, going to have to tweak my schedule a bit so that I can get back to that too.

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1. Slacking off

I must say, today I was pleasantly surprised when I put myself through the Marine PFT again I actually found it all easier and managed to improve on last week’s score of 141.

After getting some pain in my knee after last weekend’s runs, I took a few days off to heal up. I actually saw a physio during the week who said I have weak glutes and a tight IT band which pulls my kneecap off track. A few stretches and some proper rest days later and today’s run was almost completely pain free, well in the joints anyway.

So on to the meat of the matter, how did I do today? I saw improvements in all three activities and put together a final score of 167, putting me in the second class for a male of my age. I’m pleased to have seen some progress despite only getting in two workouts since the last PFT, but I do wonder if that had to do with having a target to aim for. Either way, I’m pleased and aiming to raise my score even higher.

I want to get to 200 before Christmas and there’s an obvious area for improvement: the pull ups. If I can move that up from a mere five to double figures, I can achieve that goal.

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1. The next stage

So the next stage of my workout routine has gotten off to a slightly shaky start. My intention was to start five days a week with the daily workout US Marines do but unfortunately an old running injury has flared up again so it looks like I’ll have to build up to five times a week.

The actual workout is tough. Very tough. But then again, I’d expect nothing less from the Marines. It starts out with about 20 minutes of callisthenics followed by a 30 minute run. This is actually a really good combination for weight loss as it combines cardio and resistance training into once simple package.

Here’s the actual workout:

• 50 jumping jacks
• 40 press ups
• 25 mountain climbers
• 25 eight count body builders
• 25 flutterkicks
• 10 Hindu pushups
• 25 leg raises
• 20 squat thrusts
• 25 bicycle abs
• max reps pull ups
• max reps dips
• 30 minute run at steady pace

Now as you can see, it’s got a lot of variety to it and it’s tough work. I’ve already found that the eight count body builders, which appears to be an exclusively military exercise, are really hard work and I haven’t been able to complete the full set without having to stop to catch my breath yet.

The other thing I notice is the callisthenics seem to completely empty my tank before the run, today I hit the wall (runner will know that feeling) just after 1.5km! Usually I have to run 10km to feel that.

The first time I did this workout was on Sunday and my old knee injury flared up so I have to give myself a few days to let it heal up. I did it again today and found that my knee was fine with it, and I even managed the run much better. Sunday was a real plod-a-thon and a very poor time, while today was fairly straight forward after the 2km mark and an acceptable time.

Friday, as always, is my designated day off and Saturday is another PFT day. Will my score improve? Doubt it, in fact I wouldn’t be surprised to see it go down but I’m not about to let a little adversity put me off here. I’m in the best shape I’ve been in for a long time, it’s time to push it and take it to the next level.

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So now that I’ve completed Rushfit it’s on to the next stage in my fitness journey. One of the mistakes I made with Rushfit was not taking any sort of before and after measurements to get some hard data, so that’s obviously the first thing to fix. The second thing to fix is the play a little more to my strengths, which for me is long, steady cardio work.

To achieve this, I’m using the 100 plus years worth of accumulated fitness knowledge of the United States Marine Corps. I’m going to be doing a Marine style workout five mornings a week, plus additional workouts in the evenings including weights and Pilates. Each Saturday I’m going to run myself through a Marine physical fitness test or PFT.

This test is pretty simple: as many abdominal crunches as possible in 2 minutes, as many pull ups as possible then a three mile run. Each activity is given a score out of 100 giving a total out of a possible 300.

Today I had my first crack at it and I have to say, it’s pretty brutal but then again what would you expect from a test designed to tax Marines. I’m pleased to say that for a male my age, I passed (thanks Rushfit) with a score of 141 putting me at the top end of the bottom class but you know what? The only way is up from here.

Roll on my first crack at the callisthenics and cardio work out tomorrow, I’m sure that’ll be tough too but that’s kind of the point, right?

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1. Need to cut out the slacking

In the words of Mike Goldberg, “It is all over!” I have made it to the end of my eight week program doing the Rushfit system and I feel great. Early on in the program I struggled to find time and motivation as I got deeper into each week, but eventually started getting up around 6am and getting my workout done before breakfast which made it a lot easier. The decision to start the program on a Saturday also proved to be a good one as it meant Friday was a rest day.

Overall the program is challenging, fun, but most of all achievable. As I’ve said before, almost every exercise is given with a less intense alternative for those just starting out, which makes it very accessible for the beginner. As I started on the intermediate program, I found these a welcome relief in the early going but eventually went on to the regular, and in some cases the advanced versions.

Progress through the program was steady, I increased the weight on my dumbbells at the half way point and noticed that some of the exercises I struggled with became much easier. One thing that didn’t become easier was the explosive power training workout, unlike Georges, I am built for endurance not speed and as a result really struggle with plyometric workouts. Sure it was fun and I saw some gains, but overall that workout continued to be very difficult for me to keep up with.

Some highlights:

• Once I learned the combinations in the fight conditioning DVD I found it was nothing but fun. The rounds just seemed to melt away and I found myself looking ahead on the schedule to see when it would come up again.
• The first time I made the full 60 seconds for an iso squat. Like I said, I’m built for endurance not power so naturally isometrics are another weak point.
• Matching a world champion movement for movement for 3 rounds. I simply don’t have the genetics to be like Georges St Pierre so keeping up with him for 15 minutes gave me a great encouragement.
• Getting through 11 sets of 10 air squats and 5 Hindu push ups in five minutes. In some respects I wish I hadn’t because it was the first round, but as a personal best it’s still a high point.

The one mistake I made with Rushfit was I didn’t take any measurements or pictures for before and after comparisons. All I can really say is my clothes are looser, I feel better and I move much more easily. This is not a mistake I intend to make on my next program. What is it? Stay tuned for more updates.

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