Waveloads or Wavereps - mix it up!

I learned this technique off of a blog I follow and when I finally got around to doing it, I discovered how brutal it was.  You can do this with any exercise or group of exercises.

WaveLoading looks like this:
Bench Press
100lbs, 10 reps - rest 2 min
120lbs, 6 reps - rest 2 min
140lbs, 4 reps - rest 2 min

100lbs, 10 reps - rest 2 min

120lbs, 6 reps - rest 2 min

140lbs, 4 reps - rest 2 min

continue if necessary

WaveRepping looks like this (no rest):

Pushups 5

Situps 5

Deadlift 5

Pushups 10

Situps 10

Deadlift 10

Pushups 15

Situps 15

Deadlift 15

Then repeat whole series above, starting with the 5 rep sets.

On Thursday of last week we did:

5-10-15-5-10-15 of the below set of exercises, as a circuit

Sumo Deadlift high pull with 75#

Shoulder-touch Pushups (touch your right shoulder to right hand then left shoulder to left hand, that's "1")

Deadlift wtih curl (using 20# in each hand do a deadlift and curl weights while standing up)

dumbbell bench press with uneven weights (20# and 30#)

bent over dumbbell row

box jump

2 new Personal Records

I just broke two of my old records.  One was sort of an endurance record (not that big of a deal) the other was a personal Crossfit record.

Best 1 mile time (haven't tested in years) was 6:30sec
Best 3.8 mile time (hill course*) was 38 min
New 3.8 mile time (hill course*) 31:40.  That's 8min 19s per mile.  For some this is slow - for me it's good.

(I should probably head down to the track to find out my 1 mile time.)

Old Crossfit PR for Cindy** was 23 rounds
NEW Crossfit PR for Cindy** 28 rounds!!!
---also, I broke this record on my SECOND WORKOUT OF THE DAY.  I did a brutal 11 sets of: 3 pushup w/ rows (2x40#db) with 3 thrusters (2x40#db) and a 40m run holding 25# plate.


*hill course involves a low point below my house of about 100f down and a high point of 100f up.  I'm in the middle in terms of altitude.  It's up and down a lot but one full mile goes from the lowest point to the highest point.

**Cindy is conducted as follows:  20 minutes max to complete.  Each round is 5 pullups, 10 pushups and 15 squats (bodyweight only).  Complete as many rounds as you can in the 20 minutes.

What are you training for? (and a good recovery shake recipe)

I mostly train for "adaptation" rather than "competition".  What's the difference?  "Adaptation" is concerned with the fundamental changes in the body and "competition" is about the best performance at that single exercise session.  Most people think they want "adaptation" (changes in the body) but they fuel their bodies like they want "competition".  When you train and fuel your body for "adaptation" you get faster results.  When you train and fuel using "competition" methodology, you get slower results but THAT ONE session you will perform better.

Make sense?

The end result is, train months with "competition"-style vs "adaptation"-style and the "adaptation" trainer will beat out the other every time in results, stamina, body fat, etc.

How to tell the difference:

Adaptation training trains low carb (or fasted) and waits 2 hours after the training session to consume carbs.  Protein is okay right after sessions, however.

***Performance training exercises with high carbs and amino acids in the blood before during and after.  Recovery drinks are immediately after session.  3:1 ratio of carbs to protein after the session.  So 30grams of carbs with 10g of protein or 45g carbs/15g protein.
***this type of training is much more comfortable and recommended for beginners.  Adaptation training is much harder.

on Saturdays, I like to run fasted but I prefer a recovery drink right afterwards.

Recovery Shake:
1c Organic Milk
1c purified water
1 scoop NOW Whey Concentrate
1-2 Tbs chocolate syrup
1 oz espresso (if you can't make your own - remove the extra water listed above and substitute 1cup of drip coffee)
add ice to preference
blend

Carbs:  36-48 (depending on chocolate)
Prot:  30g
Fat: 8g

I still lean heavy on the protein but this shake makes me feel great!

Burst Circuit - 18 minutes

It takes a lot of "power" (in the physics sense of the word) to finish one of these sets quickly.  The burst circuit is about fast reps and speed of transition.  By now, many of my readers know that's not the only way to go but it makes for a fun workout.  It's like 6 races in a row so get a friend to compete with!




Start a new round every 3 minutes any remaining time in the "3 minute round" can be used as rest.

5 pullups

5 1 arm overhead dumbbell press (30#)

5 pushups

5 1 arm (other arm) overhead dumbbell press (30#)

5 pushups

25 squats

6 rounds

My fastest round was 50 seconds and on the 6^th round I doubled the set and finished in 1:32.

20/20 workout - no perfect vision needed. 13 minutes!

Most Interval workouts I've seen are 30 seconds of effort and 30 seconds of rest or 60/60.  This is pretty standard and I do them myself this way sometimes.  The 30/30 set up ends up being something like 15/45 or 20/40 when you end of doing it.  Most folks can't hold a sustained set for more than 20 seconds of something (legs are the exception).  Imagine 30 straight seconds of pushups as fast as you can.  Great for the first round but what happens on round 4?

Tonight we did a 20/20 split: 20 seconds of effort and 20 seconds of rest.  It was perfect for my group.  It's a little hard using a clock to time this one out, you'll need an online interval timer or get one from gymboss.com.  Wow, what an effort.

Here are the exercises.  Do them in a circuit.  Meaning, take 20 seconds to go ALL out on the exercise and then take 20 seconds to move to the next station.  Do 4 total rounds.  The order is important it offers maximum rest to each exercise.

Bent over dumbbell rows (use 20# dumbbells)
pushups
split jumps (count each time a foot hits the ground)
situps
overhead dumbbell press

Count your total number of reps for all exercises.

I got to 460 reps
Evan beat me at 475
Others on our team were in the 400 rage.

Yes - nearly 500 reps in 13 minutes.  It's all out.