Category Archives: Programming

A game of fitness

high-level1

I’ve been in a training rut lately. Going through the motions without a clear goal. This either changes now or I may just hang the towel and start something a bit more fun. Fitness, as many other hobbies, should be enjoyable. So, changes ought to be made.

Why make a game out of fitness

Why am I doing this? Mainly to make it fun again. Making fitness a game is a fun way to track, plan and do your workouts. Making a game out of fitness allows me to see where I stand, and where I want and need to go easier. So, I’m making this a game. I’m RPG-ing my workouts.

Why make it like an RPG

The structure of an RPG game makes perfect sense in fitness; you’ve got all the elements. But we’ll focus only on character progression. So we’ve got:

  • Character stats: This shows the present. How strong, conditioned, flexible, mobile, etc.
  • A leveling up pattern: This is when your stats change. You get stronger, more flexible, mobile, better conditioned, better balanced, etc. and you gain new skills and abilities.
  • Miscellaneous skills: These are side skills not directly related (or anywhere close) to fitness. As you did in Skyrm, you can become an alchemist, you get better at wielding weapons, you get better at magic. In real life you can get better at those, true, or we can get parallel: you become a better at other unrelated skills that make your character whole, you learn to cook, you learn to groom, you learn to write. These may not directly affect your fitness, but no good RPG is without its side quests.

So as I said before, it makes perfect sense from a tracking and planning standpoint. Your character starts at level 1/whatever level it is you are at, and you plan accordingly on what you want to improve and maintain. You plan your workouts with that in mind! If you need to be better at flexibility you may start doing yoga as the meat of your workouts while keeping the other skill on par.

How to play the game

Every game has a set of rules, and this is no different, especially since you won’t be getting magic anytime soon to help you out.

Only rule: be honest with yourself

You start where you start, and wherever that is, it’s important to start at your level. There’s no one game in which you can get to the end-boss after two levels, and if you did, you’d get destroyed before your first move. So no, you start killing rats, you start taking out the lowest of the lowest of enemies. Why? Because you can take them, it will be hard at first, but eventually you’ll level up. And as you get better, so should your “enemies”.

On leveling up

This is usually one of the best parts of any RPGish game. You level up, your stats increase and you get new skills. It’d be awesome if this would work that way in real life. You walk 3kms a day and you become overall stronger, more flexible and powerful. It doesn’t. Fitness is more complex. You get better at certain skills that relate to stats. Getting better at yoga will make you more flexible and balanced, but it probably won’t do jack for your strength and conditioning. So this is how it works:

You level up as you practice your skills and these affect your stats. You get better at a skill and you get stronger, better conditioning, more balanced, etc. Some even make you better all around. You go through the progressions of a certain skill and you get the benefits. Practicing pull-ups makes you stronger, once you get strong enough you can start practicing the next exercise in the progression towards the one arm chin or the muscle up, you practice yoga and you get closer to nirvana. That’s how leveling up works.

Skills

As I said before, you practice skills and your stats get better. It’s quite simple. You bench press and as your bench gets stronger you get stronger. Simple right? Well, get to it!

Of course, and as in many great RPGs, once you get up to a certain level in a skill, others will need to get to par in order to keep progressing, this is where accessory exercises come into play. To keep with the bench press example: you strengthen your back, shoulders and triceps to help your overall bench. In RPG terms: your equipment must be up to par (wooden swords are not good for stronger monsters).

Skill progression for a game of fitness

Skyrim is probably the ultimate example of mapping your skills

HP

When you start on any videogame, your HP is freakishly low. Low as hell. That’s why we start slow. You start killing sewer rats and weak monsters, and each hit you take takes a lot of your total HP, but as you level up, your HP increases and your resistance to hits. So, not only do they take a smaller percentage of your total HP but in numbers it is still smaller. You can do more before you have to stop and take a break (or dying).

In fitness it’s much of the same. You start with easier exercises that take enough of you as to elicit an adaptive response. You don’t jump to pistols directly, slowly progress to them.

Recovery

As Hp gets drained you need to recuperate in order to go back out again and train your skills to level up. You do this by feeding, resting and sleeping. So eat enough and sleep well. There’s nothing else you can do as effective as that to regain your HP!

Awards

There’s no RPG without prizes. You go through a dungeon and you expect, nay, you demand a treasure chest filled to the brim with new weapons, gold, and assorted items. In this game, there are no dungeons, and I don’t really know there’s a lot of old pharaonic tombs left to raid. So you’ll have to award yourself for every accomplishment you manage. Just keep a simple rule: Those awards should help you in achieving the next goals (those dungeons on the game were left with things that would help you in your quest). So, award your running victories with new shoes, your barbell gains with more weights, your fatloss goals with a new wardrobe (you get my meaning).

Potions

No role-playing game is complete without potions. But, in a game of fitness you should consider most potions as you would in a Fallout game. Some, the better ones, will help you recover HP with little to no drawbacks, others, will have some serious ones. It’s your game and your life, play it as you wish. Just be well informed.

By the way, potions won’t ever be able to replace food and sleep. They’ll work supplementing them.

Building your Character

Now we get to the stuff. This is the you of the game of fitness. You’ll want to be honest with yourself when you complete it:

  • HP: XX

    Character stats are key for a game of fitness

    Just change the names for the skills you want to set into your stats!

  • Strength: X/100
  • Conditioning: X/100
  • Balance: X/100
  • Flexibility: X/100
  • Mobility: X/100
  • Agility: X/100
  • Power: X/100
  • Recovery: XX
  • Weight: XX
  • BF%: XX%

This is where you start. Embrace it.

Now, imagine how you want to end up as. Have a clear picture of what that end person can do, how he looks and how he moves and his end stats (try not to make it 100/100, that’s like being a god in AD&D). Write those things down (if that’s too hard, imagine a videogame character you’d like to emulate). Now start mapping what skills you’ll need to improve on to get there, and what tools you’ll need to get there.

Once you have those skills, map them, and put all the skills between you and your end goal (example: If a strict muscle up is the end goal, you’ll need to get pretty good at dips and pull-ups and muscle-ups as well). Make a roadmap out of it. Every skill you achieve is a +1 for that stat. Only multi-joint skills counts (preacher curls don’t add to your stats, but will help you to build up on skills that do), and some skills will improve on more than one stat (Pistol squats, for example, will be awesome for balance and strength).

Some tips to win

  • Think of it as an actual RPG game. You’ll have to put in the hours.
  • Better to play smart than strong. Plan according to your goals and focus.
  • Use the tools at your disposal. Don’t leave them for “later” or you’ll end up with a full stock of elixirs that would’ve made the whole game easier.
  • Always face a boss with full hp, play it safe.

Now press start to play

Motus Virtute

A lesson in programming – how to build your workouts

It’s been a couple of months since my last post. The reason for it was, among other things, work. I’ve been swamped and tired and didn’t really stop myself to even think. Last week, as I was surfing through an interminable pile of e-mails with an urgency here, an urgency there and the urgent need to plan ahead for work I had an epiphany. I basically took my fitness programming and applied it to my own life.

An epiphany alright

I’m not alone. And what’s happening to my blog is what most people suffer with their workouts. I, of course, had a myriad of reasons and

A needed lesson in programming

Overworked and tired. Never good for your fitness edeavors. Photo by Tim Caynes

excuses that stopped me from doing something I really enjoy, which was writing this blog (all valid excuses of course, at least in my mind), and I’m sure that the same has happened to you. Be it in your workouts, projects, social life, etc.

Well, as of today I’m saying fuck it. I’m not letting work cut out into something that makes me happy. It just won’t. I’m sure it’ll be hard some days, but I’m keeping it from affecting things that do me well. How will I be doing that? Well, I’m planning ahead, I’m programming my week as if it were a fitness endeavor.

Let’s call it programming, cause it’s more fitnessy

This is kind of building a training program for me, a friend or a client. First order of business: what are the main things that a happy week for me has to have? In no particular order these are spending time with friends and family, having time for my girlfriend (and sexy-time, you have to have sexy-times), working out, writing this blog and successfully promoting it, having a successful work week and keeping up with my reading (I haven’t grabbed a book in ages). Putting this together was of course a big deal, there are only 24 hours every day, and only 7 days to a week. All other things are miscellaneous and not really important (although time consuming). This other stuff is: videogames, housekeeping and future projects, all those go in the back-burner, I’ll keep them active, but once I’m satisfied with the bigger things.

So, as of now, a regular week for me may look something like this:

Monday: Work, working out, promoting the blog, cooking a whole week’s worth of lunches, miscellaneous.

Tuesday: Work, working out, promoting the blog, misc.

Wed: Work, Social life (girlfriend/friends/family).

Thu: Work, working out, promoting blog post, social life (as misc.).

Fri: Work, working out, social life.

Sat: Writing a blog post, social life and either misc. or whatever I missed doing on the rest of the week (yes, I’m flexible like that).

Sunday: Social life and misc. because you need to rest.

I know, I might’ve become a rocket scientist (not!). But doing this keeps me objective and driven. It helps me build good habits and focused. And this is important. Know what you’re doing, I’ll let you keep the why’s to yourself.

Think it as your workout program

What has this to do with fitness (which is after all, the whole point of this blog)? It’s simple, plan ahead for the most important things (to you)

However your programming, remember to enjoy it!

However you workout, have fun. It’s fitness, not talking to your boss! Photo by Arya Ziai

and let the rest fill up where and when you can. Prioritize on what will help you keep forward. If you want draw parallels, see it this way:

Work: this is something I have to do whether I’m enjoying it or not at the moment. This takes up almost 1/3 of the week. If I don’t do it I can’t make rent, eat, basically, it’s what keeps the rest going. Work in your fitness endeavor is what you have to do to do whatever you want to do later. In my case it’s strength training (I’m not competing, so that’s an advantage when I prioritize). This can be meal planning for you, strength work, and road work, whatever it is that you don’t necessarily enjoy (it’s better if you do though) but must do in order to achieve your goals.

Working out and social life: It takes a big piece of the pie as well, 4 regular day of around an hour each. It’s something I enjoy and am good at. It not going to feed me nor pay my bills, but it keeps me sane. This is the part of your workout you regularly enjoy. A favorite exercise? A meal? A TV show? Whatever works for you. But take it seriously.

Writing the blog and promoting it: It may take a long time before this blog takes off and I become a fitness/internet success. If it happens, that’s awesome, and I’m sure it eventually will. This in my training is technique work. I started sucking at hand balancing. Today I’m not particularly any good, but I’m getting there (I’ll let you know, I have managed to keep a 7 second free standing handstand). In your life this is anything you want to become better at. It needs regular practice and work. It’s not always fun, but it’s always satisfying when you get a little bit ahead. Think in what you wish you could do and work towards it!

Miscellaneous: this is something that can or can’t be there. If it can be squeezed in, great, if it can’t, well, that’s ok as well. You’ve probably covered a ton anyways. This won’t really drive your goals nor your life, and the worst mistake I’ve done in several occasions was letting this take too much of my time. In your training this is assistance work. It’s there to assist. But it won’t be what makes you great or progress. Call it your 3rd bicep exercise. It will help your pull-up, but it won’t make that big a difference.

So there you have it. I’ve decided to retake life by the proverbial horns and guide it again. No more bullshit. After I clock out I’m still driven and moving forward, no matter how shitty my workday may’ve been. This will always keep me smiling.

In a nutshell – since you probably skipped the whole thing anyways!

So, after almost a 1000 words, here’s my epiphanic life lesson in a nutshell (fitness written):

Plan ahead and strategize by priorities (this by the way is called Goal-setting and successful programming).

The biggest amount of your training time should go to whatever’s going to keep you in the race (and improving).

Keep working in what you enjoy and improving on it. Keep being driven by it.

Take time to practice and improve on what will bring the biggest satisfactions (like a handstand if that’s your thing, it may be marathon running).

Assistance work may be fun. But remember, it has to assist your goals, don’t confuse it with the important stuff (I’m looking at your 3rd bicep exercise of the week, or your 4th calve exercise).

I know, I know “well, duh!” but sometimes we need to be either called out or hit ourselves with a wall to wake up and pick up the pace again! So here’s what life taught me about programming and the need to plan ahead.

Motus Virtute

7 reasons to keep a training log

I know, I make it sound as if it were optional. But truth is, you absolutely must keep an updated training log. Be it in your computer, online, on a notepad (whatever floats your boat), this is a must have for any trainee, whatever your goals are. Why should you keep one?

Checking where you’re at

This is basic. It lets you know, objectively, where you’re at: what exercises you’re doing, what weights you’re moving (if any), what volume you’re doing, intensity, etc. Everything should be written down. Why? Because tomorrow you may forget what you did today, and you may need to make adjustments.

Checking what you’re doing

This is very important. This will let you know what it is that you’re regularly doing, what you’re paying extra attention to (probably your strong points). This will allow you to adjust and make sure everything you’re doing is balanced (unless you’re doing it on purpose).

It will show you what you’re not doing

As important, or even more so, than the former point. It will let you know what you’re regularly skipping. Ever heard someone make a question about their training and how it’s not giving them results? Here’s where the answer lies most of the time. Check what you’re missing, it will probably be the key to success.

Let’s you see what’s working, and what’s not

Try keeping a log regularly for 3 months and check on your goals. How much closer are you? What’s gotten closer? Then check your log, you’ll see exactly why. Keep what’s working, change what’s not. This is the main benefit of having a training log: it helps you.

Making adjustments

As stated before: you’re going to see what’s working and what’s not. Having a clear status on this will let you know what to change and how to change it.

Tailoring your routine

Eventually your training log will be a huge fountain of information about your training. Showing exactly what works, what doesn’t and for how long. You’ll be able to broscience the whys. How’s this important: you’ll be able to tailor your routine and program to yourself. Nobody will know you better than yourself after this. This is very important when you’re experimenting new things, adding exercises or adding extra days to your routine.

Experimentation

Keeping a track of your training program day in and day out will allow you to experiment and track the results (if there are any). Say you started bridging: you’ll know every change in your range of motion, hip strength, back strength, hypertrophy, endurance, flexibility,… (as long as you keep a very detailed track that is). If things changed according to your goals you’ll keep it, if, on the other hand, they haven’t, then you’ll either drop it or make the necessary changes until it starts working towards your goals.

How to keep a training log

Any good training log needs to have a couple of things:

  1. Your goals: keep them simple and specific (here’s an older post in which I cover goal-setting). Don’t forget to give them a time frame.
  2. Your stats: this will be your before picture if you want. All the stats regarding your goals should be here (weight, 1RM, max pull-up number, etc.)
  3. A blank page: This will be to have a side by side of your before and after. You’ll later fill it with your “new and improved” (lets hope) stats.
  4. The training log proper. In here you’ll put a date and what you’ve done for the day. Exercises, sets, reps, weights, rest periods, notes for your next workout (as in “add reps”, “add weight”). You want to keep it as detailed as you can.

Keep this for a couple of months and you should be able to objectively see your improvement. What are the benefits of keeping a training log? Besides what I’ve written before, it’s a great source of self-feeding motivation. No one wants to quite while they are on a streak!!

Motus Virtute

To strength train or not to strength train: It’s not really a question

Last week a very close friend of mine came to ask for the same thing he usually does: I need a routine he said, I need to start doing something: what can you give me? After several questions I sat down to write in a napkin his new, shiny and of course, repeated routine that he would, again, never use. He claimed he needed only to run and jog to get to his all-around health and fat-loss goals (to which I asked: then why the f*** did you just ask me a new one if you already “know” what to do?! But that’s neither here or there). The answer I gave to him as to why I told him to strength train is exposed (and much better structured) in this post.

Why you need to strength train

Bear in mind, I’m not talking competitive lifting. Especially in regards to health.

It has a larger carryover to all other attributes

Endurance, power, speed and even flexibility should be built from a foundation of strength. You can’t endure if you don’t

Handbalancing, strength train to get strong enough

Hand balancing moves: great feats of balance, only achievable by having enough strength to keep the position

have anything to endure on. If you can’t move something there’s no chance that you’ll move it fast, the same goes for running. And, if you can’t reach somewhere with strength, then there’s no really a point to it, is there? (but kidding aside, just get strong).

Of course, this doesn’t mean that you’ll be breaking world records in marathon running if you solely train for strength. But, you will get more endurance from strength training than strength from working on your endurance. I don’t know if it’s because the relative intensity of other things will be lower, but it works.

Aesthetics

I don’t care if this rates high or low for you, but, relative to body-composition, barring people with health concerns, the goal is mainly for looks. Well, strength training will help build lean muscle mass (not bodybuilder sizes), which in turn will raise your basal metabolism, which will, In turn, burn more calories while you’re resting. This of course, will mean less fat under the same amount of calories consumed. This is especially true for beginners (which my friend most certainly is).

Health

I’m talking about muscle and joint health. As long as you are being consistent and making slow improvements, the low rep approach keeps the joints from being overworked in any range of motion.

By this I am most certainly not saying that other types of exercises are not healthy. All exercise is healthy, if done as it should be, I simply believe that strength training is healthier for the joints and muscles. Cardiovascular health is better addressed with other types of training.

Motivation

This is more personal based than any other thing. But truth be told, there’s little things more invigorating than moving constantly heavier weights or do more complex moves. It was, during a whole year, one of the things that compelled me to keep coming back to the weight room (I was doing PTTP, and the constant adding of weight does wonders for the self-image). Besides, it’s also very cool to still have energy to celebrate the accomplishment and not just smiling while picking up your lungs from the ground.

How to strength train

How often should you do it

This Is one of the most asked questions “how often should/can I work out”. As I’ve said several times before, I’m biased to higher frequency types of training, but you’ll do fine with just 3 times a week (or even two). As long as your overall volume and intensity are balanced you can even practice up to 7 times a week, although this may be too much for most. Try to keep it between 3 and 5 weekly sessions.

Exercises that must be there

This will be no rocket science, only multi-joint exercises apply to these categories.

  • Upper body push
  • Upper body pull
  • A knee bend (SQUAT)
  • A hip hinge
  • Core
  • A carry

You can even divide the upper body into vertical and horizontal pushes and pulls. I don’t care, have at least one of the main categories and you’ll be balanced enough. Any other exercise you may want to do that’s not included in your list before will be tagged as assistance exercise, and their function is either to help build strength for those exercises or to strengthen one of your weaknesses.

Understand that if you’re doing bodyweight only exercises the carry should be done either with an external implement or, switch it with sprints or crawls. If you’re KB exclusive, your hip-hinges will be more ballistic based, and your core exercises should be either windmills or TGUs.

How to incorporate strength training to other types of training

There’s not really a best way to go about this, but will depend more on your context and how you’re working out, just remember that resting is a serious matter and should not be overlooked.

The easiest way would be to add at least 2 exclusive strength training sessions to your week. Make it low volume and go

Carry, whatever, just carry heavy stuff. Photo by Carol Browne

Carry, whatever, just carry heavy stuff. Photo by Carol Browne

through all the movements, doing at least 3 sets for each. Repeat the workout or add weight in the next session.

If by chance you can’t add any more session a week, add 2 completely unrelated movements to your workouts. Push+hinge/pull+squat/Core+carry has worked pretty well for me before.

And that’s about it. I’d love to hear your take on things, so drop a line at the comment section below!

Motus Virtute

The same but different: variation with a purpose

Variation is a fickle lady. Woo her correctly and she will bless you with great progress and advancements in strength, technique, endurance, conditioning, etc. etc. etc. Get on her bad side and you’ll be stuck in the same spot, forever being a newbie, without enjoying the fabled newbie gains. So, let’s do it correctly.

The many ways to change things

There’s many changes you can do to your regular workouts, from subtle changes to more drastic measures. You can change

  • Exercises
  • Rest periods
  • Frequency
  • Volume
  • Intensity

Why you should vary your training

There are several reasons why you should change things up in your training. Basically, you’ve adapted to what you’re doing, you’ve plateaued or you’ve become bored.

You’ve adapted

You’re not getting the stimulus you need from what you’re doing. You should change it. Not drastically, but enough to provoke new growth.

You’ve plateaued

Time to change. If things are not moving forward then they’re moving backwards. Go for a variant of the exercise, or change one of the variables. Maybe even take a longer rest from this type of work. There are many ways to bust a plateau.

You’ve become bored

This one’s tough. This one calls for drastic changes. If you’re bored with your training you should revise your goals first. If you’re still aiming for the same things then maybe change the way you’re doing it drastically. Remember to have fun!

Goblet Squat, Squat, Beginner squat

Goblet squat, one of the best beginner squats in existence. Photo by US Army Central

Why you shouldn’t change your training

There’s also many reasons why not to change what you’re doing.

Too much variation will lead you no-where

Remember to change things up smartly: changing too much too often will lead you no-where. You won’t adapt to the stimulus enough to become (insert goal here).

Muscle confusion is not really a thing

I like to say that if you confuse your muscles too much then they won’t know what they should do! Of course I exaggerate, but I do believe that they won’t know what to adapt to, hence, they’ll give up and simply not adapt at all. All that you should be focused on is the goal at hand. (BTW, of course you’ll never plateu if you’re constantly confusing your muscles, basically because you’ll never get strong enough to plateau in the first place!).

Yep, go ahead shocking the muscles you shocker you!

Yep, go ahead shocking the muscles you shocker you!

How to vary the correct way

As the title conveys, doing the same but different has great results, you’ll keep getting better at what you’re doing for one. Always remember to keep your goals in mind when you’re doing this.

Changing intensity

Going heavier or lighter will change the type of adaptations your body will go through. Going lighter will get you better rested, and building back-up will get you stronger. Sometimes screwing volume to get some real heavy work done will get CNS jacked and yourself stronger in the short run.

Changing Volume

Adding reps, reducing reps, adding sets, reducing sets, or sometimes both. This may be the ticket to bridging between where you are and where you want to be.

Changing Frequency

As I said in another post, doing a little every day can get a long way. I like HFT. It helps me improve by greasing the groove. Getting better at the movement allows me to get stronger in the movement, and to get more efficient at lifting certain ways. (Also, the fabled farm-boy strength comes from daily manual labor, and usually not to the max).

Changing the exercises

This is what we do when we go through exercise progressions (and it’s not exclusive to bodyweight). Going for similar, harder exercises is a great way to keep improving strength. Likewise, going for easier variations helps you focus on the weaknesses of your forms, put more volume and get a good rest. You can look at variations for bodyweight exercises here, here and here. But, for an illustrative case, you could first master the goblet squat – Front squat – Box squat – Back squat (See, there are ways to make this variations with weights :D).

All of this will depend on your goals of course. I cannot stress this enough.

How I vary my workouts

My routine is mainly consistent. I have my goals and change things accordingly. Right now I’m quite focused on getting down the freestanding handstand, front lever, back lever and V-sit. I’m going through exercise progressions and regressions (changing the exercises accordingly).

So, for handbalancing I’m doing as Coach Sommers dictates in Handstand One, for all other exercises I’m following Steven Low’s Overcoming Gravity (Amazon affiliate link – It’s a great source of information if you’re into bodyweight training)

Motus Virtute

Frequency + Volume + Intensity: a love triangle

One of the main questions I see in forums, twitter, and facebook when talking about programming is always the same: how often can I workout? The answer to this is always the same: it depends. To effectively answer how frequently you may do it, we should first know how hard, and how much we’ll be doing it.

It all boils down to our love triangle

Intenisty, Volume, Frequency, Training, workout, fitness

Now pick two

Now pick two

Yes, pick two. Barring enhancers, there’s no human way and amateur will be able to sustain a high volume, high intensity, high frequency training regime without burning out sooner rather than later. So you get to pick only two.

Intensity + Volume = High Intensity Training

This is the most common choice we see in most routines. Go tough one time a week. Obliterate the muscles with as much as they can take (think lifting heavy) for as long as they can take it (mid-high sets with low-mid reps). This is what most bodybuilding splits come from: leg day is around 12 sets for the legs in every which way (squats, machines, etc.) till you need a wheelchair to get out of the gym. You’ll be doing this again in around 5-7 days. Next time you go to the gym you’ll obliterate your chest or your arms or your back. You can even go every day to the gym without really upping your frequency.

Think of things you can only do once or twice a week: bodybuilding split, sprints, HIIT, etc.

Intensity + frequency = High frequency Training

This is my absolute favorite. You get to go heavy and often. Think programs likeGTG,PTTP or among the lines. You do a

Deadlift, strength, intensity, volume, frequency, workout, fitness, training

Nothing builds strength and power as a good and heavy Deadlift. Nothing builds injuries as a good and heavy Deadlift done for reps too often. Photo by Tom Woodward

small amount of heavy work with a lot of rest every day (or 5 days a week). Your CNS gets fried, you get no pump but plates in the barbell just keep adding up like crazy. Remember, there’s no going to failure in this scheme.

Think along the lines of strength practice: GTG, PTTP, Pavel’s 40 day workout, most things written by Dan John

Volume + frequency = Endurance work

You won’t be going heavy (remember, heavy depends a lot on the persons capacities, some may think a 300 lb DL is an easy feat, others may feel it’s impossible), so you can take your reps to the higher numbers. Of course, being a high frequency type of training, there’s no way you can go to failure either without really compromising your performance for your next session. Think about someone who goes for a run every day, or someone who walks everywhere or uses his bike to go to work. You’re putting a heck of a workload every day, but it’s a light workload, so you should be able to recover well from practice to practice.

Thin along endurance training, or recovery. I don’t really know much here to give you many details.

How to pick

Think about your goals first.

Are you going for strength? size? endurance? power? Then you pick what best suits you and your way of life. There’s no reason to lie to yourself saying you’ll be doing this every day if your life will get in the way by day 3. You can get strong, big, lean and conditioned with any of the three picks.

 What works best for what:

  • Intensity + Volume: Conditioning + Hypertrophy + Strength
  • Intensity + Frequency: Strength + skill development
  • Volume + Frequency: Conditioning + endurance + flexibility (yep, yogis were right)
  • Diet: Fatloss (sorry, there’s no other way around it)

So take your pick!

Motus Virtute

PS: Studies show that the Nº1 way to be awesome is following this blog (just sayin’).

Train like a videogame character

I’ve always been a huge fan of video games. The more I’ve played, the more I’ve enjoyed myself. Fighting games and RPGs once had total control over my life, I even remember once there was an epic battle between a complete stranger and me on MARVEL SUPER HEROES VS CAPCOM that ended in a complete draw. I still love video games. In our fitness pursuit, video games have something to teach us. If you want to be like Link, Scorpion or the Dovakiin, you should train like a videogame character.

Lessons Learned

The mission

In video games, our characters have a mission, a huge mission that define their whole lives, or at least, their whole goal in the game (in Mortal Kombat I you prove you’re the toughest fighter, in MKII you save the world, in most RPGs you both save the world and or the universe). To reach this goal, they have to take on smaller quests and milestones: you beat other combatants, monsters, etc. So what’s the lesson here?

You should have a main, big goal: save the world, be the best.

To achieve it, you should focus on different milestones: deadlift x2 your bodyweight, have a 30 seconds free handstand.

You catch my drift.

Leveling up

Every game has the same pattern: they get more difficult as you advance, so, in kind, you must get better in order to win.

Train like a videogame character and defeat the big bad boss

Thank god you brought your swords. Final Fantasy X belongs to Square Enix

Your opponents are faster, stronger and more resilient.

This translates exactly to your training, whether it is bodyweight (going after more complex and harder exercises) or with weights (going heavier, longer, with lower rest periods). Bottom line is: you’ve got to have a challenge yourself if you want to progress.

Choose your weapons

This is the most beautiful part. Your game character has a low amount of movements.

In Street Fighter you have 3 kicks and 3 punches (that only vary in intensity) and one or two special moves. In RPGs, you’re usually running or fighting, and for fights, you usually have between one and three moves, done over and over again until eventually you level up, when you do you either get stronger or you learn a new skill (in more complex games you’ll have to master some moves to learn specific ones).

Bottom line: restrict the amount of exercises you perform if you want to make real gains. Usually, one per movement pattern should get you in the clear (this post should take you in the right direction, but it’s the bare minimum). Use your common sense, choose those that’ll help you achieve your main goal (see title number one up here).

What to take from all this

When you’re creating your character, you should take all of these aspects into account. Or better yet, fill this list:

  1. What’s your main quest: list your longer term goals:
  2. Give us 3 milestones or shorter term goals that you’ll need to achieve before you save the world (ie: beat Goro/compete in a 1 mile race)
  3. How many moves will your character perform, and how often? You may want to choose weak, medium and strong movements of the same pattern (like Street Fighter).

Now go forth hero, and save the world (or kick Shang Tsung’s ass).

high level

Motus Virtute

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The Rest is over: assess and focus

My whole last week was a deloading period. It was great, I feel great, but I was bored. So I ravage my training log and found two important things:

  • My schedule wasn’t balanced. Doing 3 practice days a week with 2 different days (alternating A-B-A-B) was leaving me with one less day. So, to solve it, I’ll be deloading at the fifth week (basically, I’ll be adding one extra week per cycle).
  • I had lost focus of the most basic of movements, and their numbers went down. So, I’ll be GTGing them back up to par (squats, pull-ups and hanging leg raises). This will be done besides my regular training, which includes all of these movements.

This is the real work in your deloading weeks: reassess your training, optimize and start over better, stronger, and better focus.

Restart with new focus. Photo by Fitness First Germany

Restart with new focus. Photo by Fitness First Germany

Motus Virtute,

Manuel

How and when to change your routine (and 3 rules to do it succesfully)

Many of us are variety addicts. We cannot keep to our self-plan for more than 3 straight sessions without thinking that some changes should be made. This is a huge mistake. Why? Because our bodies need time to adapt, they need enough stimulus and enough practice in order to learn new skills. We change because we get bored, because our goals are just too damn hard or because we’re not really committed to them.

What’s the cost to this? We don’t reach our goals, we get frustrated and we simply drop out. Well, if you’re like me, these small hacks may help you change things a bit, while keeping focused!

How and when to change your routine

Just a small change, as adding weight may spice your workout right up!

Just a small chante, as adding weight may spice your workout right up!

Photo by Drew Stephens @ flickr

Test yourself every cycle

By this I mean, either before or after your deloading period, test your max again. Test yourself on your next progression. Test yourself in whatever way you may like. This will help you adjust your practices, will keep you honest and will give you a great sense of achievement every time you nail it. Besides, nailing any type of PR feels badass.

Do the same but different

Sometimes, making some small tweaks to your regular practices will spark your training again. Maybe even help you crack some plateaus. Just change an exercise to one of its variants and try it for a couple of cycles (maybe one).

Play/have fun

Get Creative. If your sole focus is always your goals you’re going to break. Athletes have their game days to keep them focused and having fun. Most of us, after high school, don’t really have this. So, you’ll have to play on your own way (just get your kids or friends to play with you, embrace the ridicule). Believe me, this can be anything that can get you to laugh while moving.

Besides, unless you’re a pro, who wants to get bored doing something that they don’t have to do.

Try something new

In addition to what you’re already doing. This may be a new exercise, a new activity, a new whatever related to your fitness. Just remember to keep your recovery in check!

Prioritize

This one’s probably not the best of all of my recommendations, but, the reality is that some days you’ll be more motivated and determined than others. Some days you’ll simply want to skip your practice. So, keeping your goals in mind: Which is more important? If you have only one goal ask yourself what portion of your practice is central, and which is accessory? Choose accordingly.

A Small Warning

Before you start changing everything up, it’s very important that you remember that consistency is key to all programs. So, even

The handstand a great exercise

The handstand makes a great addition to any regime. It also works great as substitute for military pressess.

though I’m suggesting you change some things remember these three basic rules:

1. Don’t make changes until you begin a new cycle: It may be tedious, but keep on doing what you’re doing. Believe me, you’ll regret it later.

2. Remember DO THE SAME BUT DIFFERENT: Don’t alter anything too much. Change a hip hinge for a hip hinge (say deadlifts for single leg deadlifts or deficit deadlifts), a press for a press, a pull for a pull, etc. Be specific here. Make the changes subtle.

3.Introduce new things one at a time: This will help you test them, and see the effects these have.

Just remember why you’re doing each and everything. Keep your mind on your goals and why you want to achieve them, it’ll make it a lot easier!

So, any of you guys have been using any of these hacks? Please, share with us!

Motus Virtute,

Manuel

Active Rest: the importance of deloading

The importance of deloading

Recently I’ve been feeling overly fatigued. I was feeling stiff, hard and tired. So, of course, I went over my training log. Lo and behold, the answer was staring right at me: I haven’t taken a proper deloading week for the last 4 months. Big mistake. BIG MISTAKE.

Deloading is not an excuse to not practice

Deloading is not an excuse to not practice. Photo by Fabio de Albuquerque Vialba

Deloading is crucial for any program (a key aspect in programming as I mentioned in my last post SECOND STEP). On this week you’ll rest, recover and lock-in your progress. While reading one of Pavel’s books (the original RKC – The Russian Kettlebell Challenge) he stated that one of the most effective ways to build strength is to practice moderation when considerably fatigued.

Basically your Deloading template shouldn’t be too hard to manage. I’m partial to the 50% in volume school. Others have thrived through 50% in intensity; some even with 50% of both. Whichever makes the most sense to you; all schools have something in common: It’s not the same as not doing it. This week should not be seen as a “no work out week”. That’s not the point and it will be detrimental to your gains.

The importance of Deloading is intimately tied with the importance of rest. But that is material for another post.

Hope you’ve found this article helpful in your quest for fitness and health!

Motus Virtute

Manuel