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2013 Fitness & Nutrition Thread With Coach Beard

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Jjmorris said:
Nice war. It's so nice to be able to feel the progress. How long is the boot camp?
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5 weeks on, 2 weeks off. Then start again.
 
interlooper said:
mrbaker:

I have from time to time, and likely will again this March. I really need work on my hip flexors. This spring (about 4 weeks prior to season) I will start doing exercises to increase flexibility and strength in my hip flexors. Opening those babies up has helped me a ton with the golf swing in the past.
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Thanks for the advice, that sounds like a really good idea.

And I appreciate the answers from everybody else. This thread looks awesome, I think I'll drop by and post up what I'm doing. I usually lift weights 2-3 times a week and try to get in 2 cardio sessions. This week is cramped due to other stuff, so last night I did 20 minutes of lifting doing super-sets, and I did 20 minutes of HIIT running. 30 seconds sprinting and 1 minute walking. I love that stuff, it drenches me in sweat and my legs are like jell-o afterwards.
 
War Eagle said:
5 weeks on, 2 weeks off. Then start again.
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Nice dude! I would like to get into something like that as well, so much easier to do morning workouts when you feel like you have to be there.
 
Coach Beard Quick question, I enjoy running and when the weather is nice I try and run outside( I hate treadmills and elliptical machines) I usually go for about 19-20 minutes without stopping twice a week. My usual route has quite a bit of elevations changes and some good sized hills. My question is would I be getting a better cardio benefit trying to run for as long as I can or incorporate some sprinting even if I have to walk for a bit?

A little background, I am looking to lose some weight about 10-15 pounds but also build muscle in the process. In addition to the cardio, I have been doing push ups, squats and sit ups/crunches at home. Do you have any recommendations for circuit training or additional exercises I should be doing?

Thanks in advance for your help! Great thread keep it up all!
 
TheCrest4 said:
Coach Beard Quick question, I enjoy running and when the weather is nice I try and run outside( I hate treadmills and elliptical machines) I usually go for about 19-20 minutes without stopping twice a week. My usual route has quite a bit of elevations changes and some good sized hills. My question is would I be getting a better cardio benefit trying to run for as long as I can or incorporate some sprinting even if I have to walk for a bit?

A little background, I am looking to lose some weight about 10-15 pounds but also build muscle in the process. In addition to the cardio, I have been doing push ups, squats and sit ups/crunches at home. Do you have any recommendations for circuit training or additional exercises I should be doing?

Thanks in advance for your help! Great thread keep it up all!
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Crest
I'm not coach Beard, but I don't think he would mind me chiming in here! I think harder sprinting, followed by walking is better than jogging. First of all, sprinting will get your heart rate up much higher than jogging, and keep it up, and you will burn more calories even long after you are done exercising. Second, and I am basing this on my own experience, as well as what I have read/ learned - jogging is much harder on my body than running sprints. I would mix in some other cardio training at times - biking, etc. to prevent overuse injuries.

As far as your strength training, body weight exercises are great! The one thing though is that you have to learn how to make them harder. If you can do 30 push-ups, doing more isn't going to do much. There are many variations on making push-ups, core exercises harder. Maybe get a weighted vest, have a child sit on your back when you do push-ups. ( I used to do this with my step daughter. Not only was it effective, she still reminds me of how much she liked that! ) Doing push-ups with the feet on a stability ball, one foot off the ground, etc work well also. If you have a place to do them, pull-ups, IMO, are the best bodyweight exercise out there. Even if you can do only one, do it! Do it a few times throughout the day - before you know it, you will be doing them for reps! Check out "Core Performance" by Mark Vansteegan - a lot of really great core exercises!

Go get 'em!
 
Big Ball is correct. If you want to do cardio to focus on burning fat rather than focus on getting more in shape, interval training is where it's at (you will still do both doing straight cardio or intervals, they just accomplish different things faster). You are essentially tricking your body and it is going to burn more fat to try and keep up with the intervals.

Set a starting point of sprinting/jogging to start out, say 20 sprint, 40 jog. Do that for 2-3 times a week (or however many times a week you do cardio) but slowly build the length of the workout up. The next week, bump it up to 25 sprint/40 cardio. You can't keep the intervals the same or your body will learn and you will plateau.

These numbers are just an example btw, do what you feel most comfortable with.
 
Jjmorris said:
Nice dude! I would like to get into something like that as well, so much easier to do morning workouts when you feel like you have to be there.
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You know, it's funny. The place I am going to do the class is right next to our bike shop, and a place that I have driven by just about every day for the past 7 years. Today, I was asked by the teacher why I havent done it before, and I didnt have a good answer. I'm glad I am going though, it's a tough but great workout early in the morning before the kids are up, and gets my day going in the right way. Working with a group like this and having to go gives me some sort of accountability to show up, rather than forcing myself to the gym to workout alone.
 
BIGBALL said:
Crest
I'm not coach Beard, but I don't think he would mind me chiming in here! I think harder sprinting, followed by walking is better than jogging. First of all, sprinting will get your heart rate up much higher than jogging, and keep it up, and you will burn more calories even long after you are done exercising. Second, and I am basing this on my own experience, as well as what I have read/ learned - jogging is much harder on my body than running sprints. I would mix in some other cardio training at times - biking, etc. to prevent overuse injuries.

As far as your strength training, body weight exercises are great! The one thing though is that you have to learn how to make them harder. If you can do 30 push-ups, doing more isn't going to do much. There are many variations on making push-ups, core exercises harder. Maybe get a weighted vest, have a child sit on your back when you do push-ups. ( I used to do this with my step daughter. Not only was it effective, she still reminds me of how much she liked that! ) Doing push-ups with the feet on a stability ball, one foot off the ground, etc work well also. If you have a place to do them, pull-ups, IMO, are the best bodyweight exercise out there. Even if you can do only one, do it! Do it a few times throughout the day - before you know it, you will be doing them for reps! Check out "Core Performance" by Mark Vansteegan - a lot of really great core exercises!

Go get 'em!
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Thanks for the response Big. I appreciate it.

Funny you mention about Mark Verstegen's book, I saw a thread and wrote that down to go get it this week.

Thanks for the advice about the cardio. I really do enjoy running but I am going to try and do some more sprints and hill work into my routine. Good call about switching up the exercises, I need to do more of that to keep it interesting. One more question do you think I should try and set a target time say 25 minutes or 30 minutes for cardio? Even if I am doing sprinting and interval training.

Thanks again Big!
 
TheCrest4 said:
Thanks for the response Big. I appreciate it.

Funny you mention about Mark Verstegen's book, I saw a thread and wrote that down to go get it this week.

Thanks for the advice about the cardio. I really do enjoy running but I am going to try and do some more sprints and hill work into my routine. Good call about switching up the exercises, I need to do more of that to keep it interesting. One more question do you think I should try and set a target time say 25 minutes or 30 minutes for cardio? Even if I am doing sprinting and interval training.

Thanks again Big!
Click to expand...

Don't plan on doing sprints/interval running for more than 20-25 minutes at the most. The idea is to run full tilt on your sprints, then rest and repeat. You can't sustain that for very long if you're actually doing full sprints. You'll get a damned good workout in just 20 minutes or so. The technical term for it I believe is HIIT (high intensity interval training). Lots of good info regarding that all over.
 
Pure cardio today, was sweating like a mad man, great workout
 
Alright guys, I may be doing a 30 day review of a Supplement pack for a company, Would you guys be interested in me posting my review in here once a week, and answering any questions you have?
 
War Eagle said:
You know, it's funny. The place I am going to do the class is right next to our bike shop, and a place that I have driven by just about every day for the past 7 years. Today, I was asked by the teacher why I havent done it before, and I didnt have a good answer. I'm glad I am going though, it's a tough but great workout early in the morning before the kids are up, and gets my day going in the right way. Working with a group like this and having to go gives me some sort of accountability to show up, rather than forcing myself to the gym to workout alone.
Click to expand...

This is what I feel like would be key and a good stepping stone to building a morning workout into a daily routine.

mikedean441 said:
Pure cardio today, was sweating like a mad man, great workout
Click to expand...

Love the feeling of a good workout, nice!

Bogey317 said:
Alright guys, I may be doing a 30 day review of a Supplement pack for a company, Would you guys be interested in me posting my review in here once a week, and answering any questions you have?
Click to expand...

I am always interested in learning more about that stuff. let us know how it goes.
 
Bogey317 said:
Alright guys, I may be doing a 30 day review of a Supplement pack for a company, Would you guys be interested in me posting my review in here once a week, and answering any questions you have?
Click to expand...
As long as you are not pushing a product or advertising for it, I wouldnt mine hearing how it works for ya.,
 
The diet part has been killing me lately, not sure if I am anxious or something but its hard to get away from the food right now. Luckily I haven't gained any weight but it certain;y isn't helping me.
 
TheCrest4 said:
Thanks for the response Big. I appreciate it.

Funny you mention about Mark Verstegen's book, I saw a thread and wrote that down to go get it this week.

Thanks for the advice about the cardio. I really do enjoy running but I am going to try and do some more sprints and hill work into my routine. Good call about switching up the exercises, I need to do more of that to keep it interesting. One more question do you think I should try and set a target time say 25 minutes or 30 minutes for cardio? Even if I am doing sprinting and interval training.

Thanks again Big!
Click to expand...

Completely agree with Big's thoughts. Any cardio is better than no cardio. I would shoot for about 30 minutes. That is usually my target if I am increasing intensity.
 
TheCrest4 said:
Coach Beard Quick question, I enjoy running and when the weather is nice I try and run outside( I hate treadmills and elliptical machines) I usually go for about 19-20 minutes without stopping twice a week. My usual route has quite a bit of elevations changes and some good sized hills. My question is would I be getting a better cardio benefit trying to run for as long as I can or incorporate some sprinting even if I have to walk for a bit?

A little background, I am looking to lose some weight about 10-15 pounds but also build muscle in the process. In addition to the cardio, I have been doing push ups, squats and sit ups/crunches at home. Do you have any recommendations for circuit training or additional exercises I should be doing?

Thanks in advance for your help! Great thread keep it up all!
Click to expand...


Also, I am really big on hills. They really are vital to really reving things up. I always recommend P90X if you are into interval training for muscle building while trying to get in as good of shape as possible. It really is a solid workout plan.
 
TheCrest4 said:
Thanks for the response Big. I appreciate it.

Funny you mention about Mark Verstegen's book, I saw a thread and wrote that down to go get it this week.

Thanks for the advice about the cardio. I really do enjoy running but I am going to try and do some more sprints and hill work into my routine. Good call about switching up the exercises, I need to do more of that to keep it interesting. One more question do you think I should try and set a target time say 25 minutes or 30 minutes for cardio? Even if I am doing sprinting and interval training.

Thanks again Big!
Click to expand...

Mrbakers post is correct. The body can only handle so much of that before it will breakdown. And I wouldn't do it more than 3 times a week - sometimes twice is good, with more "relaxed" training a couple other days a week. This type of training is often referred to as a Tabata protocal - he is the person who really brought this training to light.
 
Thanks for all the responses guys. I appreciate it. I will let you know how things are progressing.

Hopefully this rain will hold off and I can get started with some work today.
 
I agree with what Big said, especially since you have some hills to run. The body weight training is also good. Do a search for complexes, which are a form of metabolic weight training doing multiple exercises in a row using the same barbell or dumbell. Makes a great finisher after a weight workout or even a stand alone workout. There are several trainers with YouTube videos and a couple of good articles on T Nation. Com.

To maintain and/ or increase strength you probably want to do a full body weight training session a couple of days a week. Focus on compound movements with an upper body push and pull, and lower body hip dominat and quad dominat exercises. You could do a complex after or just a few sets of kettlebell swings or burpees for a finisher.
 
Tried Turbo Jam this morning to burn some quick calories, not a bad workout, 460 calories burned in about 30 minutes, the non stop movements throughout helped the cause.

Back to the insanity tonight or tomorrow morning
 
Great work all! Almost to the weekend! It is really warm here today. Going to try to run outside this PM. Haven't done that in about 2 months.
 
Well, it is the end of the first month for me so I will weigh in today, I am heading to the gym momentarily The last week has been useless because of the flu but I still hope to make some progress.
 
I just finished the first day of P90X.

The good: I didn't pass out afterwards, and the instructions were pretty easy to follow.
The bad: I have the upper body and core strength of a 5 year old. That's not good. I was terrible at doing everything in Ab Ripper X.

I'm going to keep sticking with it, I figure that the first day is the worst, right?
 
arydolphin said:
I just finished the first day of P90X.

The good: I didn't pass out afterwards, and the instructions were pretty easy to follow.
The bad: I have the upper body and core strength of a 5 year old. That's not good. I was terrible at doing everything in Ab Ripper X.

I'm going to keep sticking with it, I figure that the first day is the worst, right?
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Second day you'll be more sore- then it gets a little easier. Great job dude!
 
Wicked Cool Bearded Man said:
Second day you'll be more sore- then it gets a little easier. Great job dude!
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Thanks bud. I have 3 goals: lower my cholesterol levels, get rid of some (if not all) of my gut, and gain some strength so that I can gain a little club head speed. I absolutely hate going to the gym, so I think that this program will work well for me.
 
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