(this will be long)

I know this sounds like some kind of commercial guys, but it's not, it's similar to some military type training that some offer, but it's based on my own stuff that I did all through highschool and college.

I know this is site is dominated by the female pursuation, in the process of getting back
into shape, I have remembered some of the things I have done when I was younger to
shake my body out of it's summer slump. Many women never did competetive sports in highschool or college, where the coaches really start to push the physical limits of their charges, I wanted to share some of them with you guys because I realize that some, if not most of you have never tested your physical endurance limits. Let me explain.

First an example:
Ever wonder how the army takes a bunch of flabby bellied, lard assed ppl and in 9 weeks
turns them into lean, mean 5% body fat machines? It's not so much diet (although the army
does make sure nutrition is met). It's training through physical limits, and it just plain works!

the reason most people don't use this technique is that, quite simply, it sucks! It's hard on the
body, exhausting, and hard to keep up. But if you can do it for a week, you WILL notice a dynamic
increase in not only your outward appearance, but your physical endurance, concentration (it will literally reshape your blood flow patterns, increasing your blood flow and giving more oxygen to the brain and muscles), and power levels. It will also give you a level of confidence in your body you never had before.

In college we had what's called triple sessions or (in the south) 3-a-days. We get up and don our gear and do a full practice, at 11:30 we break and have an hour and a half for lunch then we do it again, break for dinner, then a padless practice at 6:00 to 8:00. All of these practices involved wind sprints, and there is nothing better for working your body to exhaustion!

Now to the actual routine.
This isn't complicated or magical it's quite simple actually. Block out an hour of your day, that's all you need is 1 hour (your heartrate will hit 90% for a good 30 to 45 minutes of this so don't worry about calorie burn, you'll burn 7 to 800 easy probably closer to 1000).
Find a park or open field with flat grass, watch out for rough patches that can turn an ankle.
First do an opening 5 minute jog around, you should make this brisk, not just a warm up, but faster, try to get your heart rate up to about 70% max.
Next start with wind sprints, we will start with reps of 15. Count 30 yards, 30 strides should do, call it 32 or 33 for shorter people. mark them with something (I just make a mark in the grass with my heel)
Sprint as fast as you can, pushing yourself as hard as possible through the end of the sprint, give yourself 30 seconds and return the same way. Do 15 of these, I guarantee by 15 you'll be saying, "Wow, this is worse then I thought").
Next give yourself 3 minutes to rest, and off to the frog jump. Using that same distance, do a frog jump from one end to the other, AS FAST AS YOU CAN. no stopping for breath, just push through it. for a frog jump, you squat until your hands touch the grass, and explode forward and up as far as you can, repeat. do 5, 30 yard lengths of these.
Another 3 minutes.
next is side shuffle. Also same 30 yards, position yourself facing 90 degrees from the end of your 30 yard line, taking long strides put your forward leg out and "skip" sideways, never crossing feet, always bringing your back leg towards your front. Don't cheat, do this fast, keep your ass down, center of gravity low and knees bent. Do 10 of these.
3 minutes rest again
Jumping jacks. If you have a watch, do 3 minutes of these, AS FAST AS YOU CAN, you will start to slow down probably, this is rough on the thighs, but keep going, don't stop even if you pace is nill by the end.
3 minutes rest
forward crab crawl. Same 30 yard distance, get on your hands and balls of your feet with your butt up high, crawl to the end as fast as you can, 30 seconds rest at the end, return do 10 of these.
By now you should be very winded, you should be at about 35 minutes by now.
3 minutes rest.
Pushups for 1 minute, don't stop for the whole minute, even if you have to slow down, never take your body out of a start position, never rise up to your knees, even if you can't complete another one,stay at the start position until you collapse or the 1 minute is up.
2 minutes rest. You should have enough wind back to do your final lung buster.
another 15 wind sprints
DON'T LET UP NOW, ALMOST DONE
Do these as hard as you can. don't take a break, you should be dizzy with fatigue by now. Don't stop, this is the point where your body actually starts to make it's changes! Push through the fatigue, really tell yourself, this is where it counts!
take a 3 minute break, put your arms over your head to recover your wind.
Do a 5 minute jog to cool down.

that's it. Easy right?
Do this 7 days in a row and your wind will increase by atleast 10% and you will probably burn double that of a normal cardio workout, plus it offers some resistance training.

The one thing I stress is the fact that you need to feel the fatigue, you need your body to feel like it's collapsing any second, see those spots infront of your eyes. Feel like you can't catch another breath.
That's the whole point, Your body will recoginze this and immediately put a priority on increasing capacity and muscle strength. If you don't cheat, it WILL change your body.

WARNING: DO NOT DO THIS IF YOU HAVE ANY PRE-EXISTING MEDICAL OR HEART CONDITIONS!

Good luck.

Thanks Banks -

dd

Icky.... Boot Camp hurts!

Arrgghhh!! Talk about a kick up the jacksey!!

How funny would you look in the middle of a park, crawling on your hands and knees though!
Hahahahaa!!!

Maybe in the summer ill give this a try!

Thanks

__x

My heart rate is up 90% just by reading this!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I would need someone yelling at me to do this... Thanks!!!!

Why do I fell like I need a nap now?


J/K thanks for the info, banks!

No funnier then we used to look, and I look right now. But think about it this way, is it worse to have someone seeing you from a distance and chuckling at some anonymous person doing an odd looking exercise, or you at the beach, overweight, wearing a tee shirt because you never got into shape?
Every time someone see's me doing this, I get a quick pang of...what? embarrasment I guess. But the I tell myself, the simple pleasure of taking my shirt off at the beach this summer and being proud will make up for it and SO much more.

Thanks for the ideas. I'm about to go to interval training on the treadmill... Maybe I should go to the park instead.

A note to this workout. It's awesome, if you can get through the first week it gets a heck of a lot easier, I know by the middle of the 3rd week doing this, wind sprints no longer make me see the fatigue divots (those weird, blurry depressions in the ground right in front of your eyes because the blood is pumping so hard to your brain), and running a 5 K becomes almost a warm up. I'm not kidding! do this for 3 weeks and you will be in a LOT better shape.

If you've never had fatigue divots, or had to double over because you can't breath and your legs feel wobbly (I mean REAALY wobbly like you can no longer stand), then you should try this at least once. For all the extreme discomfort right after the workout, you feel amazing about 1/2 an hour later when your wind and stamina have returned but the endorphins haven't left yet. This is the only time I really feel the endorphin effect, and there is nothing like it. Feels like you can run a marathon with 50 lbs strapped to your back and chuckle the whole way. You may get a headache the first couple of times, that's normal. Make sure you drink water during your 3 minute rests, not a lot, but some, stay hydrated.
You WILL, most likely, overheat during this, just be aware of the fact and keep water around to cool off. And if you start feeling dizzy, take a break or stop. A note, if you're doing this for the first time, might be better to have someone around, just in case. I know where my limit is, but some people may not.

You know, it DOES help. But you don't need it, just take 5 minutes at the start and COMMIT! You need to commit to yourself. I thought this too at first, but I learned, that if I really commit to it in my own mind, you don't need someone yelling (I still think it helps though).

Who's willing to try it? I can rail on it all day, but I want one of you ladies to give it a shot, JUST once.
and come back with your comments. I need someone to be my spokes person.

If one of you guys can do it, I know others will give it a shot.

Alright, im up for new things, Ill have a go! (By a go, i doo mean a go, i may fail )

Just sorta explain, what are wind sprints, Im from UK and not heard of that!

The weather better pick up very quickly if ima do this tonight

__x

BANKS IT HAS BEEN TO COLD UP HERE TO GO TO THE PARK. DO YOU HAVE A GYM EXERCISE THAT I CAN DO IN AN HOUR. I HAVE TO RUN BECAUSE LOL I AM IN THE ARMY. I RUN ALL THE TIME AND I DO AN AEROBICS CLASS ON M, W, F. SO I NEED A REAL GOOD EXERCISE ROUTINE THAT INCLUDES 2 MILES OF STRAIGHT RUNNING. ANY IDEAS?

Lol, that's an easy one. Run as fast as you possibly can, hold nothing back, that's it.

Well ...

Right ok, I shall start a post tomorrow morning, And run it for the week ( If i make it that far )

I am expecting big things here Banks, and well if i work my A** off, and these things dont happen, i shall hunt you down

Be Afraid

__x

BANKS IT HAS BEEN TO COLD UP HERE TO GO TO THE PARK. DO YOU HAVE A GYM EXERCISE THAT I CAN DO IN AN HOUR. I HAVE TO RUN BECAUSE LOL I AM IN THE ARMY. I RUN ALL THE TIME AND I DO AN AEROBICS CLASS ON M, W, F. SO I NEED A REAL GOOD EXERCISE ROUTINE THAT INCLUDES 2 MILES OF STRAIGHT RUNNING. ANY IDEAS?


Well, ahh, that depends on a few things. If your gym's tred mills go up to 12 or 13 you can try doing it with those (a 30 yard sprint is equivalent to about 4 to 6 seconds on the tred mill, but if it doesn't go up to as fast as you possibly can run, then I would push that up to 10 second intervals). Replace the crab crawls with eliptical set on 4 or 5 (minimum) and replace your side shuffles with recumbant bike on medium resistance. It won't be the same, but it should get you close to it. If your running the 2 miles to stay in tolerances for the army fitness, the workout I suggest will get you more wind and better endurance then any straight run, trust me on that one. After 4 years of college rugby and 3 years of post college mens rugby (you run between 6 and 9 miles total in a rugby game (80 minutes, about 25 to 30 of which are spent SPRINTING) I know for a fact, 2 miles will be breeze for you if you can do this workout for 3 days a week for a couple of weeks.
I know the weather is cold, (I live in MA), but as long as you bring a coat for immediately after, it shouldn't matter what the temp is, you will be hot in no time.

I'll go to the gym one of these days and try to put together an inside workout that matches the outside one. I'll figure something out. I'm gonna look a litte silly, I'll be trying every single machine in there to see which gives you the best burn, but oh well, I have been silly looking before, I will be again. LOL!

BANKS IT HAS BEEN TO COLD UP HERE TO GO TO THE PARK. DO YOU HAVE A GYM EXERCISE THAT I CAN DO IN AN HOUR. I HAVE TO RUN BECAUSE LOL I AM IN THE ARMY. I RUN ALL THE TIME AND I DO AN AEROBICS CLASS ON M, W, F. SO I NEED A REAL GOOD EXERCISE ROUTINE THAT INCLUDES 2 MILES OF STRAIGHT RUNNING. ANY IDEAS?


Well, ahh, that depends on a few things. If your gym's tred mills go up to 12 or 13 you can try doing it with those. Replace the crab crawls with eliptical set on 4 or 5 (minimum) and replace your side shuffles with recumbant bike on medium resistance. It won't be the same, but it should get you close to it. If your running the 2 miles to stay in tolerances for the army fitness, the workout I suggest will get you more wind and better endurance then any straight run, trust me on that one. After 4 years of college rugby and 3 years of post college mens rugby (you run between 6 and 9 miles total in a rugby game (80 minutes, about 25 to 30 of which are spent SPRINTING) I know for a fact, 2 miles will be breeze for you if you can do this workout for 3 days a week for a couple of weeks.
I know the weather is cold, (I live in MA), but as long as you bring a coat for immediately after, it shouldn't matter what the temp is, you will be hot in no time.
THANKS BANKS I WILL TRY IT AT THE GYM. CANT GO OUT SIDE MY BODY JUST SAYS NO TO COLD LOL.

oh, you know what? I just thought of something, if your gym has a place that is big enough (like a big aerobics studio, or a basketball court or something), that should be plenty big enough for monsters. you can definately replace the sprinting with monsters. Make sure you have good solid cross training (not running, this is harder on the ankles then running) or basketball sneakers for this.

What is a monster you ask?

Here it is:

Mark a spot 10 yards away (10 paces)

then mark a spot 20 yards away (in basketball they do 4 lines but we can do 2 since we are doing other things)
1 monster is: sprint up to the 10 yards, touch the spot, sprint back to the starting line, touch that, sprint up to the 20 yard spot, touch, sprint back and through. You might want to lower your reps to 10 if you do these as, it sounds easy but thats 60 yards instead of 30. The key is go flat out for the 20 yard return (the last part), no matter how tired you are, when I say as fast as you can, I mean it (contorted face, hands clenched, grunting, you know, all the nastyness of a workout in full bore).

If you can't conceptualize it, go rent the movie Hoosiers with gene hackman. If you don't like basketball movies, just fast forward to the first practice scene (I think, Ill check, if you have netflix it's available to watch instantly) That's monsters! And it's brutal goodness.

I was right, First full practice, they do a scene with monsters, near the end when all the people come in to the gym.

This sounds amazing! I am totally up for the workout! Thanks!

We called those Mountain Climbs in school!

So I just did a modefied version of this. I don't get enough time at lunch to do the whole thing.
So I shaved 1 minute off my rest time between each, I took the crab crawls out, and cut the end sprints down from 15 to 8. But it was still a good workout. Man, 2 minutes isn't enough in between. that was brutal, I am now over the post workout slight headache, and the adrenaline euphoria is just hitting me. Man this is a great feeling. I can still feel the residual lung burn from it, not winded anymore but I feel it, but even with that, I'm feeling damn proud of myself.

One modefication to the routine you may need. 3 minutes of non stop jumping jacks might just ruin you, I forgot how rough those are, I would probably do 1 minute on, 30 seconds off and 1 minute on. At least at the start. Also if you don't have great wind yet, that 1st set of wind sprints might break you, you may want to lower that to 10 or 12, the key is going full blast, not so much how many you do, but getting everything you can out of the ones you DO do.

I pushed myself beyond what I have ever done. I worked out with free weights with my husband. My arms are so swollen and it has only been 1.5 hours since we finished. I will be hurting in the morning. My husband mad a good point....use free weights more and machines less. The machines aid you to much and the free weights forces you to use your muscles.
Great post Banks as always
Another 75 degree day in sunny Fresno. CA.
Yard work and planting for the rest of the morning.

Nice! you got a similar end result as me. The only real difference between working to failure with weights as opposed to cardio and circuit type is that the next day, I don't feel sore (well, not AS sore) but that sore is a good thing, it means you worked hard enough that your muscles are still repairing, which means you STILL have a raised metabolism. That's an awesome feeling, I get that in my Quads after a particularly hard body pump class.