Spartan WOD for Tuesday, 12.12.12 brought to you by Gaspari Nutrition

By James Villepigue, CSCS

This WOD goes out to all the Spartans out there that for whatever reason, find themselves forced to train in the gym.

Additionally, for those who are a member at a gym that doesn’t have an indoor or outdoor track. I understand what it means to depend on the treadmill for cardio. This WOD is about turning a typical treadmill and a set of dumbbells into a metabolic extravaganza. Here is what one circuit looks like:

1)  Interval Dumbbell Farmer Walks: 2 Cycles

2)  Dumbbell Burpees x 12

(1 Minute Rest)

3)  Sprint Intervals: 2 Cycles

4)Dumbbell Clean & Presses x12

(1 Minute Rest)

5)  Single Arm Farmer Walk Intervals: 2 Cycles 1Per Arm

6)  Alternating Dumbbell Lunges x 20

(1 Minute Rest)

This is going to be fast paced, and will only require enough room around the treadmill to be able to get down into the burpees and lunges. The intervals will go quickly, and so will the sets of exercises, but physiologically you’ll be asking a truck load from your body and central nervous system.

There will some other time for chit chat, but not when you tackle this. The rest periods will seem to fly by. Control your breathing, pace yourself, and treat this WOD like it’s the last one you’ll do as final prep for a hardcore race.

We’ll be challenging your muscular endurance, cardiovascular stamina, mental strength, and fitness level big time. Shoot for three sets as is, without adding any extra rest. It may take a little time to get used to the controls on your treadmill, but once you’ve got it down the transitions between types of intervals should only take seconds to get going.

Grab your dumbbells and get ready…

Interval Dumbbell Farmer Walks: 2 Cycles

What you need to do is set the downtime interval to 1 minute, and the uptime interval to 3 minutes. Both together are considered one cycle for this exercise, so four minutes total per cycle.

The pace for both should be about 3.0-3.3. Then set the uptime elevation to a pretty high level. Go as high as you’re comfortable, but take this as an opportunity to prep for steep hills.

Grab your dumbbells, and these should be a moderate weight for both men and women, or between 25-40lbs. Hop on, start it up, and get ready for the hill. Once it hits, dig deep, revel in the strain in your shoulders and forearms, and resist the urge to lurch forward. Stand up tall, control your breathing, and focus. Stand up straight and go with it.

 

Dumbbell Burpees x 12 :

As soon as you’ve completed the third minute of uptime and it drops back down, stop the tread mill and get ready to do some dumbbell assisted burpees.

 

These are great full-body exercises that keep your heart rate up, muscles pumping, and endorphins flowing. When you drop down, try to make it more of a deadlift pose into the plank than a bending over.

 

While on the ground, as usual, feel free to add pushups, rows, or whatever you like to increase the difficulty. Also, when you come up from them, keep the deadlift posture in mind to get the hamstrings into the muscular chorus.

 

Sprint Intervals: 2 Cycles

For these intervals you’re going to be forced to draw on reserves. Adapt and overcome! Again, set the down time to 1 minute, and the sprints to 3 minutes.

Now, I don’t want you to be that person who everyone can hear almost breaking the treadmill around the entire gym. Set it at a bit more than a moderate pace that 9 out of ten people would call a full on run.

You can add elevation if you like, but I wouldn’t recommend anything more than slight. The importance is to sustain two bursts of energy that push you beyond your energy threshold.

 

Dumbbell Clean & Presses x12:

These are going to be rough. Suck it up, and do them with good form, you’re almost half way done!

Bring them from hanging in front of your knees, slightly in front of the hips, up to your shoulders as you squat down keeping your back straight, and then thrust up to the sky! Like the man in the picture, add that little extra push by going up onto to the tips of your toes without losing balance.

 

Single Arm Farmer Walk Intervals: 2 Cycles 1Per Arm

What makes these a challenge is walking with weight on only one side of the body, while going up and down in the intervals. It’s something that poses different physiological force manipulation obstacles that we don’t normally face.

Keep the same settings as the first set of farmer’s walks, but slow things down a bit. It’s too easy to strain something if you’re in too big of a hurry. You’re going to do two cycles, so switch the weight accordingly so that both sides of your brain and body have to grapple with it.

Alternating Dumbbell Lunges x 20: Once you’re done with those, I want you to do 20 lunges and try to mix up the plane of motion between frontal, lateral, and transverse.

Additionally, stick with only one dumbbell instead of picking up the other.

The lunges will be a bit more challenging with weight on one side of the body. Switch the weight back and forth, and pose as much of a challenge to your internal balance and stabilization mechanisms as possible. Feel free to do presses as you go into the lunges as well for increased demand.

Keep Going!

James Villepigue CSCS

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Spartan WOD for Monday Dec 3rd, 2012

This week’s WOD is an outdoor interval training and bodyweight powerhouse. We’re going to incorporate a pyramid structure of full-body workouts in sets of two. Here is what the basic breakdown looks like. The numbers, for example 40/40, means forty seconds of both exercises in the set, and then you move onto the next one. They scale down as you go, but it works out to a really effective workout.

Here we go…

1st Interval Cycle: 40/40

Jog to Sprint

Plank to Sits

Crawling to Lunges

Flutter to Scissor Kicks

14 Alternating 1-leg Burpees

 

2nd Interval Cycle 30/30

Jog to Sprint

Plank to Sits

Crawling to Lunges

Flutters to Scissor Kicks

13 Alternating 1-leg Burpees

 

3rd Interval Cycle 20/20

Jog to Sprint

Plank to Sits

Crawling to Lunges

Flutters to Scissor Kicks

12 Alternating 1-leg Burpees

 

4th Interval Cycle 10/10

Jog to Sprint

Plank to Sits

Crawling to Lunges

Flutters to Scissor Kicks

10 Alternating 1-leg Burpees

 

Ideally you should complete all four cycles of interval training without any specific rest periods. As long as you keep moving, it’s fine, but shoot for as little down time as you can manage.

If you’ve done things correctly, by the time you reach the last cycle, you’ll be struggling to make it through even ten second intervals.

1) Jog to Sprints: We’re starting with jogging, and this should serve as your warm up. There is no need to stretch or do anything beforehand, aside from some basic hopping, or slow pace knee-high jogging in place.

At the forty second mark you should take off like a cheetah that’s been juiced with 100 CCs of pure adrenaline. Make sure to prepare your mind and body before it happens though, as this will give your neuromuscular system the preparatory messages. Forty seconds may not sound like a whole lot, but for most people it should be nearly impossible to go at 100% the entire time.

Keep it as hardcore as you can, concentrate on your breathing, and do everything you can to still the hectic convulsions of your mind. The body thinks you’re either running after prey, or you’ve in danger of being something’s dinner.

2) Planks to Sits: You’re going to start in regular plank position. As long as you keep your butt down, I don’t care what you do while you’re suspended against gravity. You could shift to your obliques, shift around on your toes, whatever. Just make sure you are clenching your core and your glutes, and giving it everything you got.

After you’ve reached the interval time, hop up, and get down in a free-form wall sit position and stay there. There will be no placing of the hands on the knees, because the point is to sustain as much tension as possible.

For the most muscular benefit during the longer intervals, it’s wise to gracefully move from one angle to another. Make this an active isometric contraction.

3) Crawling to Lunges: I would like you to get creative with the direction of not only your crawls, but your lunging as well. Don’t get stuck in forward momentum because life, like obstacle course engineers, loves to throw curve balls. What I would rather you concentrate on are angles.

Basically you need to stay in a crawling position and keep moving until time is up. Then, get up and go straight into continuous lunges in both lateral and reverse angles. Don’t be in such a hurry during any of this that you sacrifice form and risk injuring something.

4) Flutter to Scissor Kicks: Get down on your butt, put your hands wherever is most comfortable, and start with some full-body flexing flutter kicks. These should be fast but controlled; extremely tacking on the mid-section.

The scissor kicks should also be at a decent clip. Switch the top and bottom feet every repetition, and have a nice wide gate. To make them more challenging, slightly lift the upper body a few inches off the ground and use it as leverage. This balancing act compounds the pressure on the core.

5) 1-Leg Burpees: These are pretty self-explanatory. It’s a pretty simple adjustment that very few people take advantage of. On the course, you’re body is moving and adapting organically.

Try to simulate this in as many exercises as possible. All too often it only takes a slight change to incorporate more internal balance and stabilization mechanisms.

Make sure that you’re alternating which leg you go down on, and again, once you get down there, you can do anything you want, but try to get in a few fast paced ones as well. It will provide a challenge to your body that it is most likely far from accustomed to.

Keep Going!

James Villepigue CSCS

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Spartan WOD for Wednesday 11.28.12 brought to you by Gaspari Nutrition

~By James Villepique CSCS & Hobie Call

For this week’s WOD, it’s time to really turn it up a notch, and push the body through any mental comfort zones. To win and to overcome, one must be able to demonstrate they’re more than they seem to be, while seeming to be more than they really are.

The workout below is about two things; challenging the central nervous system with complex movements, and weight distributions it isn’t used to. We’re going to be pushing maximum oxygen uptake and cardiovascular endurance. Obstacle Course cravers are about progressive fitness, and this set of exercises delivers just that. Intense variation isn’t only about going from one traditional exercise to the next, it’s also about compounding exercises to incorporate the use of the entire musculature at once.

You’ll be performing a vast array of exercises, but they can be broken down into four. There’s nothing wrong with mixing four traditional exercises together and molding one that’s unique and extra challenging. When off the course and training, we get to make the rules, and define our grit.

Ideally, for a hardcore session, 5 circuit sets should be done with the exercises back-to -back and minimal rest. For those that love structure, a breakdown on a good use of rest is supplied at the end of the workout. Each set should be at least 12 reps of continuous motion. Rest in between exercises rather than between reps.

I could list the muscles this workout puts under strength building strain, or I could just sum it up in three words: all of them.

Let’s Get Into This…

Before tackling this circuit, make sure you have a bench press and some room close by with dumbbells ready so there are no interruptions. On average three to five revolutions should take no more than forty minutes, but internally strive for the best time possible. This workout is an obstacle course for the body itself.

Here’s Your Movements List…

1-  Front Barbell Squats-First things first; form. Make sure that the weight is directed straight down the kinetic chain into the heels.

Leaning forward, even slightly, with a weighted barbell in front of the body is disastrous for the lower back. The weight should be moderate; for men 95-115lbs and women 30-60lbs. It’s wise to use Olympic size barbells, typically found on the bench press. Additionally, doing them while standing over the bench itself isn’t a bad idea. This way you can go down to a sitting position, and then stand back up. It reduces risk and typically allows for more reps, but don’t lock the knees. Make sure to keep the back straight and head up, and let the barbell rest comfortably on the shoulders across the neck line.

While most people think this is primarily a leg workout, it’s not. Actually, because the weight is where it is, the core is heavily engaged to steady the body in space, especially when coming back up. Remember to breathe with each rep and keep your eyes pointed straight ahead.

2-  One-Legged Dumbbell Step-up – These weights should be moderate, because after you’ve stepped onto the elevated surface, you’re going to perform a hammer bicep curl and shoulder press.

To drastically increase the difficulty, and force the central nervous system to become truly occupied, do them with only one weight at a time. Furthermore, make sure that the leg you choose to step up with is the opposite one from the arm holding the dumbbell. This way, it causes the internal balance and stabilization mechanisms to join the party, especially while the curl and press motions are occurring.

Sometimes during training, people forget that there are far more muscles in the body than the major muscle groups, and the ones that can be seen. An exercise like this instigates neural signals to muscles of all sizes throughout the body, from the joint capsules and tendons, to ligaments and supportive muscles.

3-  Dumbbell Burpees w/ Lunge – Directly after the step-ups, you’re going to keep the tension on the legs and abdomen going. The more of the overall exercise that can be fit into one continuous and fluid movement, the better the results will be. This means good form and determined motions are a must.

If the weights are on the lighter side, then you can add some pushups, and dumbbell back rows to the burpees. Afterwards, before going into the lunges, they could also be used for any number of upper body exercises like curls or presses as well.

Additionally, to make the alternating lunges more difficult, only bring one dumbbell up from the burpee. Doing lunges with weight on only one side of the body is going to increase the metabolic demand. Our thinking muscle is arguably the most important tool at our disposal on the obstacle course; train it.

With this exercise heavy weight can be safely used. You’ll have to cut out some of the extra exercises though. However, with the heavier weights a half-squat can be executed when coming up from the burpee, and it makes the lunges far more intense on the glutes. Remember, form is always, and in all ways, more important and beneficial than weight alone.  

4-  Barbell Bicep Curl to Squat – This exercise is a combination of barbell bicep curls and front squats. Try as hard as possible to make it one fluid movement as well, from the moment the bicep curl begins to the moment you come back up from the squat. In a way, when done correctly, it feels like a type of inverted snatch.

Beware of swaying. Use the lower back as little as possible during the curl. Rather than simply going along with gravity, do everything on purpose. Imagine how effective it would be if you could do it in slow motion. For most people one rep of this compound exercise takes about 2-4 seconds. What if you could stretch it to 10-15 without ceasing movement? This cannot be stressed enough: heaving weight pales in comparison to the deliberate manipulation of stress and proper form.

Active Recovery is Better Than Rest

Going from these intense and taxing exercises to standing or sitting still isn’t a good idea, and it’s counterproductive. Instead, keep an eye on the clock and follow the prescribed active recovery times below. In between rounds, do these exercises that keep the heart pumping, but give the muscles some time to refill their glycogen stores.

Active Recovery Exercises

1st Round - Go up to a wall and do some bouncing pushups. This isn’t going to require much effort from your recovering body, but the activity will keep your muscles warm and prepared for the next bout of exercise.

2nd Round - Because of the type of muscle tissue in the abdomen, it can be used and abused more than almost any other muscle group. Perform a plank during this recovery phase to really engage the abdominal muscles and core.

3rd Round - Take a minute to stretch any muscles that are tightening up or knotting. Some good preventative stretching ideas for these exercises would be the thighs, hips, and chest.

4th Round - Rehydrate, but don’t drink too much and then do some torso twists to loosen up the abs. Some jumping is a great idea to keep those muscles warm while maintaining your elevated endorphin levels for the last set.

If you make it through the 5th round, congratulations! Remember not to sit down or rest just yet. Your heart will benefit with a short cool down. Go for a short walk and cool it off.

Active Recovery Times at the End of Each Round

1st Round – 2.5 Minutes
2nd Round – 1.5 Minutes
3rd Round – 1 Minute
4th Round – 45 Seconds

Pre and Post Workout Recommendations

This workout is geared towards strength endurance over brute force. Therefore, a meal consisting of clean complex carbs (fruits, vegetables, berries, etc.) protein, and fat should be eaten about an hour before hand. The portions should be roughly 60% carbs – 20% fat – 20% protein.

After the workout a blended shake with close to the same portions of carbs, protein, and fat should be consumed within 30 minutes for best results. Also, keep in mind that the metabolism is going to go into overdrive for hours after this routine, so adequate amounts of calories are needed, especially protein saving fats; mono and polyunsaturated are best.

As always, if at any point during the circuit, you feel dizzy, nauseous or you cannot catch your breath, please be smart and stop! Take the time to assess your condition.

If you haven’t already, get yourself a timer. Here is a great GymBoss App that I found:

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/gymboss-2-interval-timer/id500887448?mt=8

Check out the brand new BodyBuilding.com obstacle race training section that I just put together with the support of my awesome team at Gaspari Nutrition. Spartan Race is now being recognized as the most competitive and rugged obstacle race in the world. Please check out the new BB.com section, “Like” and share it with your friends and loved ones!

Keep Going!

James Villepigue & Hobie Call

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Spartan WOD for Tuesday, 11.6.12 brought to you by Gaspari Nutrition

~By James Villepique CSCS

You’ve decimated one half of a 4 week progressive fitness orientated and periodized training program. It’s time to add some heat, ask for extra endurance, and communicate to the body that a new adaptation is required. This week’s WOD is adding in time constraints, oh yeah, we went there. Here is what things looked like last week:

Week 2 Periodized WOD

-  Jog 1 Half Mile

Lower Body Agility Exercise x 7

1 min rest

-  Jog 1 Quarter Mile

Alternating Split Squats w/ Jump x 12

1 min rest

-  Jog 1 Half Mile

2 Pushups + Burpees to Tuck Jumps x 15

1 min rest

-  Jog 1 Quarter Mile

Full-Body Agility Square x 8

1 Min Rest

Changes

-1 min rest
+1/2 Mile
+7 Reps to Agility Drills
+30 Pushups

Last week we spoke about implementing visualization techniques to enhance and elevate performance, especially when things get rough and the mind begs us to call it quits. As you’ll see, we’ve added another half mile to the WOD, and added a time constraint of 8-12 minutes on it.

In America at this point, an 8-12 minute mile is asking a lot, but not when it comes to Spartans. Stretch well, prepare, bring your mind to the field, and make pacing a priority. Here is what this week’s WOD looks like, including the overall changes to the program so far:

Week 3 Periodized WOD

-  Jog 1 Half Mile (4-6Min Time)

Lower Body Agility Exercise x 12

50 Sec Rest

-  Jog 1 Half Mile

Alternating Split Squats w/ Jump x 15

1 Min Rest

-  Jog 1 Half Mile (4-6Min Time)

2 Pushups + Burpees to Tuck Jumps x 15

50 Sec Rest

-  Jog 1 Quarter Mile

Full-Body Agility Square x 10

1 Min Rest

Change

- 20 Seconds Rest
+1/2 Mile
+ 10 Reps to Agility Drills
Added Time Constraints to 1 Mile
-1min 20sec Rest
+1 Mile
+17 Reps to Agility Drills
+30 Pushups
+Time Constraints to 1 Mile

Overall Changes

-1min 20sec Rest
+1 Mile
+17 Reps to Agility Drills
+30 Pushups
+Time Constraints to 1 Mile

Ideally the jogging should begin to feel like a cool down period between energy expensive exercises. That last quarter mile should be producing a slight adrenaline burst, and the minor decrease in rest should have left its mark.

Next week the rest periods will change again, and there will be more periodization for the final stretch.

I’ll briefly go over the different stations of the circuit again, but by now you should know them pretty well.

Prepare Yourself…

Jogging

Along with soreness in the gastrocnemius and soleus muscles in the calf, joggers can begin to feel soreness in their ankles, especially around the Achilles tendon. If you begin to feel this, then rest and recuperate. Talk to your doctor if the soreness worsens, you see swelling, or it lasts for more than four days.

Adequate recovery, tying your shoelaces tight enough, and wearing appropriate footwear can all help guard against this. Make sure to stretch, breathe correctly and deliberately, and get sufficient micro and macro nutrients before/after.

Lower Body Agility Drills

As you get used to these, again, pay attention to your ankles. The jogging, shuffling, and scooting really puts the pressure on the joint capsules, and they should give you an appreciation for them!

It’s easy to forget about them in the modern American lifestyle, but in these WODs and on the obstacle course, they are absolutely crucial.

If someone suffers an ankle injury in post apocalyptic movies, what does the audience do? They sigh, because that person is a goner! Focus on what you’re doing, and avoid injury.

Alternating Split Squats with Jump

Why is jumping in general such a huge calorie burner? Jump roping burns around 700 calories an hour, and that’s more than half a pound of fat. You’re engaging your calves, shoulders, quads, arms, and all else, and then pitting them against gravity.

This exercise should give you more of an appreciation for balance training. Each time you awkwardly lean to the side, lose your footing, or come down in a dangerous fashion, imagine doing so while the clock is ticking during a race.

Pushup Burpees to Tuck Jump

Why does every military make its soldiers do tons of burpees, why are they in obstacle courses, and why do athletes get extremely used to them? What is so special about the burpee?

Well, for starters you enter into different planes of motion, have to coordinate the upper and lower body, and when you add in jumps and pushups, they become a full-body workout that expends energy and kick starts the metabolism. If you do them quickly enough, they’re probably one of the most difficult kinds of cardio ever.

Full-Body Agility Drills

How about the wrists? Excessive jogging can bring your ankles to life in ways that aren’t so pleasurable. Well, as you get used to the bear-crawl like movements, don’t take your wrists for granted.

Be precise in your movements, and because they won’t be timed, there is absolutely no reason to be quick about it. Take your time, and act deliberately, focusing and paying close attention to what kind of language your wrist and hand joints are speaking.

 

Keep Going!

James Villepigue

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Spartan WOD for Saturday, 11.3.12

By Jason Jaksetic

 

We can’t plan life.  All we can do is be available for it.

—Lauryn Hill

Strength:  4  Endurance:  3  Speed:  3

Exercising keeps you ready for whatever may confront you.  It’s all about persistence in the face of adversity.  Fitness is both physical and mental in nature.  Training is about systematically accomplishing objectives that you once held as beyond your capabilities.

How did Spartan develop the Spartan Pancake at HQ?  There were all these sandbags laying around after hurricane Irene.  Not knowing what to do with them, we started lugging them around on our mountain trail runs.

The results have been remarkable.

Get outside and run with a sandbag.

The key word for this Spartan WOD is HUSTLE.

Maybe you have some serious storm clean-up?  Forget the sandbag and start running to an hurricane impacted friend’s home or business, roll up your sleeves and get to work! Keep your heart rate up. 2 hours minimum!

Did you know that Spartan Race’s FREE eBook contains not only the definitive history of Obstacle Racing, but ialso has training programs for each Spartan distance.  Whether you are readying for a Spartan Sprint or an Ultra Beast, be sure to check out the workout programs provided by Dr. Jeff Godin Ph.D., CSCS of Spartan Coaching to get you into peak condition for a Spartan Race near you.

 

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Spartan WOD for Tuesday, 10.30.12 brought to you by Gaspari Nutrition

~By James Villepique CSCS

 

In last week’s WOD we set the tone for the next month of progressive and periodized obstacle course training. This WOD is going to add a degree of intensity in a few ways. Here is what last week looked like:

Week 1 Periodized WOD

-  Jog 1 Quarter Mile
Lower Body Agility Exercise x 5
1 min rest

-  Jog 1 Quarter Mile
Alternating Split Squats w/ Jump x 10
1 min rest

-  Jog 1 Quarter Mile
Burpees to Tuck Jumps x 12
1 min rest

- Jog 1 Quarter Mile
Full-Body Agility Square x 5
2 min rest

The wise would take the experimental knowledge they have of last week, employ some determined visualization techniques, and produce serious gains.

Try to do all the WODs in the same place, because this will make visualization more powerful. See yourself running farther and enjoying the endorphins; see yourself demonstrating catlike agility across the field; smell the grass in the full-body drills, and feel how high you go with the tuck jumps and split squats. It works wonders.

Here is what this week’s WOD looks like:

Week 2 Periodized WOD

-  Jog 1 Half Mile
Lower Body Agility Exercise x 7
1 min rest

-  Jog 1 Quarter Mile
Alternating Split Squats w/ Jump x 12
1 min rest

-  Jog 1 Half Mile
2 Pushups + Burpees to Tuck Jumps x 15
1 min rest

-  Jog 1 Quarter Mile
Full-Body Agility Square x 8
1 Min Rest

Changes

-1 min rest
+1/2 Mile
+7 Reps to Agility Drills
+30 Pushups

 

It may not sound like a big leap, but metabolically your nervous system will notice it. Furthermore, those changes will increase next week, and they may not be the same. Next week the increases will be a bit different, and throw a new variable in the mix – time.

The exercises are the same, but to be thorough I’m going to list and briefly go over them.

Let’s Do This…

Jogging

Altogether this week it’s one and a half miles. Jogging and cardiovascular endurance is the mana of the fitness gods. However, what we’re teaching your body to do is handle the physicality of it, the mental work is your job – pace yourself.

You’ll know you’re getting addicted once you’re brain begin to drift off into thinking about something other than jogging. At this point the exercise has become mechanized by your body, and it just comes down to how much energy you have to spare.

The jogging regimen we have you on doesn’t require packing in tons of carbs, or loading. Just make sure you have enough fat and carbs in your diet to facilitate a steady amount of jogging.

Lower Body Agility Drills

The exercises in these WODs are all agility based, but the drills are especially effective. Why do so few people use them? The health industry can speak for the countless bounty that’s spent every year on avoidable joint, tendon, and ligament injuries.

All too often people see athletes doing these on commercials and assume it has to do with their performance. It does, if we actually got to talk to these competitors, it also has a fair amount to do with Injuries.

Set up your rectangle, get to work, and take it seriously, because it could very easily be saving you from serious injuries.

Alternating Split Squats with Jump

The reasons these burn so deeply after so short of an amount of time is because they coagulate power based movements with endurance enhancing stability work.

The higher you jump, the harder you push, the more your entire musculature has to perform a mid air dance to keep you positioned to come back down smoothly and dip into lunge position without falling over.

Take a second or two to make sure you’re stationed correctly, and then set up. Stay controlled, and don’t give in to those adrenaline rushes that may creep up and try to send you into orbit.

Pushup Burpees to Tuck Jump

So basically we’re adding two pushups which you will perform after going down into the burpee, and before coming back up fluidly to execute a pristine tuck jump.

It’s not only going to warm up your chest, shoulders, and upper back before the full-body agility drills, but will increase the amount of calories burned as well. We’ll be adding more pushups throughout the next few weeks, so make sure you’re getting adequate recovery time after your WODS.

 

Full-Body Agility Drills

By the end of the month these will feel as natural as walking on two legs. The point is to tell your central nervous system that you require a new adaptation that requires you to be as nimble on your toes and fingertips and your feet.

Again, let me stress that you must pay special attention to your wrist joints, and shoulders. If anything starts to hurt, like perhaps a rotator cuff, then ease up a bit. For the first two weeks the most important thing as you crawl along the ground, is form.

Hang Tough & Keep Going!

James Villepigue

 

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Spartan WOD for Tuesday, 10.23.12 brought to you by Gaspari Nutrition

by James Villepique CSCS

 

The WOD you have before you is the first of a set of four. The circuit you’ll perform this week is going to be scaled up over a month’s time; meaning added intensity, metabolic demand, and challenge. It’s focused on periodized endurance and agility training from head to toe.

We’re conditioning you for Armageddon basically. This is how you would train as a Spartan leading up to a major battle in the old days. You’re going to be able to look back at the end of the month and marvel at the sheer amount of hardcore obstacle training exercise you pulled off.

If you accept this regimen, stick to the way it intensifies, and time it to end just before a Spartan race, well, you’ll step up to the start line like a madhouse of confidence.

We’ve provided the layout of the circuit, and for this week you’ll do it three times. There are no resting periods other than those listed. In the following weeks certain things like the length/speed of running, the numbers of reps, and rest periods will change and increase your workload.

Keep your pace, keep tabs on energy expenditure, and keep your wits when the body entices you to devour adrenaline bursts in a single short lived burst of speed.

Strap in…

 

-  Jog 1 quarter mile

Lower Body Agility Exercise x 5

1 min rest

-  Jog 1 quarter mile

Alternating Split Squats w/ Jump x 10

1 min rest

-  Jog 1 quarter mile

Burpees to Tuck Jumps x 12

1 min rest

-  Jog 1 quarter mile

Full-body agility square x 5

2 min rest

 

Lower Body Agility Exercise – This is a classic agility exercise, and the reason why it’s survived so long and is used in most major sports to this day is because it works!

You can eye ball this, but it’s more effective to set up a square with objects you can see and aim at. Furthermore, it’s more effective to be able to see where you’re going to stop and immediately change direction.

Picture it like a big rectangle on the field. The two shorter lengths should be at least 10 feet apart, and the long ones double that.

You won’t change the direction you’re facing, just the plane of motion you’re in. So keep facing forward. Start by shuffling with quick steps forward as fast as you can, head left and do a side shuffle alternating the front and back feet, shuffle backwards, then side shuffle back. That’s one; do that five times without stopping!

 

Alternating Split Squats w/ Jump – This is a fully body balance and agility exercise that will be a bear to get through after running; that’s the point.

Use mental focus, the core, and your arms to keep your internal equilibrium centered. While you’re jumping into the air and switching which legs you come down on, rely on the mind muscle connection to guide you.

Try not to let your knees touch the ground, keep the weight in front in the heel, and absorb the downward force. Form is obviously a big deal, so during this first week take them a little easy, especially if they’re new.

The jump should be straight up, and there should be sufficient room between your feet while you’re on the ground. Rather than sinking into the lunge position, pausing, and then going back up, try to think of your body as a ball and take that pause away.

 

Burpees to Tucks Jumps – Again it’s best if in the initial phase you concentrate on taking this full-body complex movement slowly so that you can perform it deliberately.

Make the burpees controlled and then do a squat afterwards to prepare for a proper tuck jump. This means that you aim to keep your head up and jump high enough to bring your knees into the chest.

Come back down, connect with the ground, and then go immediately back into another burpee. There really should be no pauses anywhere; not at the bottom of the burpees, or when you come back down from the tucks.

Don’t get ahead of yourself; it’s easy to tweak something here. Watch your wrists, employ the core in every movement, and pace yourself. Go for as much height as possible, and generate as much power as possible to really kick start your muscular endurance.

 

Full-body Agility Square – Instead of being solely on your feet for this drill, you’ll be on your hands and toes. Why does everyone do bear crawls only going forward?

Just take it easy, bear crawl forward, then to one side paying special attention to your wrist joints and keeping your butt low, then crawl backwards, then to the other side.

This is an amazing exercise but for some mysterious reason people avoid it. Like nothing ever happens in life which could require us to crawl in other directions besides forward? Maybe it’s rare in the real world, but not on the course. There are plenty of opportunities when being able to do this really quickly and successfully can earn a Spartan an edge.

Imagine how many muscles go into these complex movements, and how much more brain work is involved. Start slow, because speeding this exercise up in weeks to come could be a possibility. The lower to the ground you are and the more controlled, the more trained your muscles have become, to say nothing of your central nervous system efficiency.  

Keep Going!

James Villepigue

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Spartan WOD for Tuesday, 10.16.12 brought to you by Gaspari Nutrition

By James Villepigue, CSCS

This WOD goes out to all the Spartans out there that for whatever reason, find themselves forced to train in the gym.

Additionally, for those who are a member at a gym that doesn’t have an indoor or outdoor track. I understand what it means to depend on the treadmill for cardio. This WOD is about turning a typical treadmill and a set of dumbbells into a metabolic extravaganza. Here is what one circuit looks like:

1)  Interval Dumbbell Farmer Walks: 2 Cycles

2)  Dumbbell Burpees x 12

(1 Minute Rest)

3)  Sprint Intervals: 2 Cycles

4)Dumbbell Clean & Presses x12

(1 Minute Rest)

5)  Single Arm Farmer Walk Intervals: 2 Cycles 1Per Arm

6)  Alternating Dumbbell Lunges x 20

(1 Minute Rest)

This is going to be fast paced, and will only require enough room around the treadmill to be able to get down into the burpees and lunges. The intervals will go quickly, and so will the sets of exercises, but physiologically you’ll be asking a truck load from your body and central nervous system.

There will some other time for chit chat, but not when you tackle this. The rest periods will seem to fly by. Control your breathing, pace yourself, and treat this WOD like it’s the last one you’ll do as final prep for a hardcore race.

We’ll be challenging your muscular endurance, cardiovascular stamina, mental strength, and fitness level big time. Shoot for three sets as is, without adding any extra rest. It may take a little time to get used to the controls on your treadmill, but once you’ve got it down the transitions between types of intervals should only take seconds to get going.

Grab your dumbbells and get ready…

Interval Dumbbell Farmer Walks: 2 Cycles

What you need to do is set the downtime interval to 1 minute, and the uptime interval to 3 minutes. Both together are considered one cycle for this exercise, so four minutes total per cycle.

The pace for both should be about 3.0-3.3. Then set the uptime elevation to a pretty high level. Go as high as you’re comfortable, but take this as an opportunity to prep for steep hills.

Grab your dumbbells, and these should be a moderate weight for both men and women, or between 25-40lbs. Hop on, start it up, and get ready for the hill. Once it hits, dig deep, revel in the strain in your shoulders and forearms, and resist the urge to lurch forward. Stand up tall, control your breathing, and focus. Stand up straight and go with it.

 

Dumbbell Burpees x 12 :

As soon as you’ve completed the third minute of uptime and it drops back down, stop the tread mill and get ready to do some dumbbell assisted burpees.

 

These are great full-body exercises that keep your heart rate up, muscles pumping, and endorphins flowing. When you drop down, try to make it more of a deadlift pose into the plank than a bending over.

 

While on the ground, as usual, feel free to add pushups, rows, or whatever you like to increase the difficulty. Also, when you come up from them, keep the deadlift posture in mind to get the hamstrings into the muscular chorus.

 

Sprint Intervals: 2 Cycles

For these intervals you’re going to be forced to draw on reserves. Adapt and overcome! Again, set the down time to 1 minute, and the sprints to 3 minutes.

Now, I don’t want you to be that person who everyone can hear almost breaking the treadmill around the entire gym. Set it at a bit more than a moderate pace that 9 out of ten people would call a full on run.

You can add elevation if you like, but I wouldn’t recommend anything more than slight. The importance is to sustain two bursts of energy that push you beyond your energy threshold.

 

Dumbbell Clean & Presses x12:

These are going to be rough. Suck it up, and do them with good form, you’re almost half way done!

Bring them from hanging in front of your knees, slightly in front of the hips, up to your shoulders as you squat down keeping your back straight, and then thrust up to the sky! Like the man in the picture, add that little extra push by going up onto to the tips of your toes without losing balance.

 

Single Arm Farmer Walk Intervals: 2 Cycles 1Per Arm

What makes these a challenge is walking with weight on only one side of the body, while going up and down in the intervals. It’s something that poses different physiological force manipulation obstacles that we don’t normally face.

Keep the same settings as the first set of farmer’s walks, but slow things down a bit. It’s too easy to strain something if you’re in too big of a hurry. You’re going to do two cycles, so switch the weight accordingly so that both sides of your brain and body have to grapple with it.

Alternating Dumbbell Lunges x 20: Once you’re done with those, I want you to do 20 lunges and try to mix up the plane of motion between frontal, lateral, and transverse.

Additionally, stick with only one dumbbell instead of picking up the other.

The lunges will be a bit more challenging with weight on one side of the body. Switch the weight back and forth, and pose as much of a challenge to your internal balance and stabilization mechanisms as possible. Feel free to do presses as you go into the lunges as well for increased demand.

Keep Going!

James Villepigue CSCS

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Spartan WOD for Tuesday, 10.9.12 brought to you by Gaspari Nutrition

by James Villepigue CSCS

This workout is a slow twitch extravaganza to better prepare a Spartan’s musculature, especially the core and shoulders, for many specific obstacles. Slow twitch muscle fibers and the ability to not only sustain your own weight in continuous contraction, but something else added onto it, are essential.

When was the last time you saw someone doing a full-body circuit workout that challenged everything, but added in tons of slow twitch challenge? All that’s needed for this 3 circuit timed workout is a bench, a lat pull down machine of some sort, a weight plate, a set of light dumbbells, and a medicine ball.

We’re shooting for at most a 35 minute workout that you’ll feel for days. I’ve broken everything down, with the W-T-R below.

Let’s start slow twitching…

-  3 Circuits under 11 Mins – 33-35 Min Workout Tops

W-T-R

Exercise 1 – 2 Minutes Non-Stop
Exercise 2- 40 Successful Passes

30 Second Rest to Get to Back Machine

Exercise 3 – 3 Sets of 20 Second Holds
Exercise 4- 2 Minutes

30 Seconds Rest – Active recovery

Exercise 5- 2 Minutes, 1 Min per Arm

 

1) Power Up 45lb Plate Press into Alternating Lunges w/ Twist: This is one of those exercises where we put the body through a metabolic mini-course. The list of muscles being worked is a mile long, and it’s going to loosen up everything. It’s imperative to keep your head up and straight, aligning the kinetic chain through everything. We’re after powerful movements with speed, and control.

Start by sitting on a bench holding a 25lb plate for the ladies, or a 45lb for the guys (generally speaking of course!). You’re going to perform a quick half squat and press it above your head. Don’t yank your shoulders out of their sockets, but give it some heat on the way up!

Next, bring the plate down, tuck it up close to your sternum, and do a front lunge. As you lunge out, push the weight directly out from the chest and keep your arms straight. Before returning to a standing position, while still holding your arms straight, perform a twisting motion to one side, and then the other. Then return to standing position, and sit back down. Now that’s an exercise! It’s hitting fast and slow twitch muscles, and prepping the musculature for pure obstacle punishment.

Like in the picture, you can keep the arms outstretched above your head as well, and then bring it down for the twist. This will add more intensity to the core rather than the arms.

Alternate the lunges, and add some heat to the torso twists. Just be careful, and controlled. Suspend the weight, and feel your arms and shoulders burn! Once the two minutes are up, set down the plate and grab your medicine ball.

 

2) MB Fly Tosses: This is actually one of the best workouts for the chest and inner shoulders, but it’s very rare to see people doing them. This kind of movement builds dexterity in the upper limbs, increases body control, and reinforces the mind to muscle connection.

All of these are crucial when it comes to such a high impact sport like Obstacle Coursing.

You’re going to grab a moderate weight Medicine Ball, but nothing too heavy. This is more of a muscle endurance workout, and it would be dangerous with anything heavy. 10-15lbs should be more than adequate for anyone.

Now lay down on a bench nice and flat. Begin by putting the ball in one hand and extending your arm out into a fly stance. Feel the awkwardness of it, and mentally zone in on your brain controlling and balancing the weight. You should begin to feel the tension in your pecks immediately. This is because the weight isn’t static like it would be with a dumbbell or barbell.

Then you bring the ball up while keeping your arm relatively straight and pass it into your other hand. Let the other arm do a fly motion, and then bring it back up for another toss. Back and forth, while controlling the weight and not dropping it or tossing it on the guy next to you benching 250.

3) Back Muscle Holds: You can use really anything for this, from a machine to a basic lat pull down bar, or even cables while sitting on a Physioball. What matters is that you can choose a manageable weight, which you can safely hold for 20 seconds.

It shouldn’t be an easy hold either, but one that causes you to grunt, and feel an intense burn throughout your upper body and even your abdomen.

For this description I’ll use a basic lat pull down bar. Sit up straight, keep your chin up, and grab the bar with a wide grip. Simply pull it down to your shoulders and keep it there for twenty seconds. Do not arch your back, instead engage your abs and clench them hard.

Make sure to breathe! No holding your breath. This increases the dynamic of the workout. There will come times when you need to be sustaining muscle contraction for a longer period of time than normal. Controlled breathing is key. Focus on the strain in your back, arms, abs, hands, shoulders, and neck muscles, but keep your form picture perfect.

Finally, no cheating by putting your feet under something. Ideally you should do this without being anchored down by your knees either. Choose a weight that’s right at the cusp of bringing your butt off the seat, but you can control it. This increases the intensity tenfold.

4) Spider Walks: These are a bit more complicated than bear crawls. They basically work the same muscles, but there’s far more brain and ab work. It would take up a fair amount of space for me to accurately describe every movement to you.

There are a lot of them that engage pretty much every slow twitch muscle group in the body, especially the core. I’ll give it a brief rundown, but for a great in-depth article with pictures check out this Spider Walk description from Acefitness.org.

You get down on your hands and toes as close to the ground as possible with a wide leg and arm stance like a spider. With the head tilted up mimic a spider crawl; slowly, and with creepy determination. As one leg moves up, so does the opposing arm to the point that your knees and elbows touch! Unlike bear crawls where you can keep your butt in the air, these crawls are meant to sustain a close proximity to the ground from head to toe.

Once these are mastered to where you can completely handle your own body weight close to the ground, moving quickly, these can shave off tons of time on crawling obstacles.

5) Dumbbell Shoulder Circles: This is another exercise that’s going to engage the slow twitch muscle fibers throughout the upper body and core. It’s easy to switch them around so you do some with the wrists pointed out, and some with them pointed at the body.

The very best thing I can use to describe the motion you’ll be doing in both instances, is the infamous “wax on, wax off” motion from the first Karate Kid movie. I apologize if that was before your time. While keeping the biceps engaged, make a circle motion in front of the body. You can move your arm with either a clockwise (wax on), or counter clockwise (wax off) motion.

Pay close attention to your shoulder joints, and make a conscious effort to keep your glutes and core engaged to protect the lower back. It should be a fluid motion. This exercise effectively trains all the upper body muscles that are called upon on the wall traverse obstacles.

Keep Going!

James Villepigue CSCS

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Spartan WOD for Tuesday, 10.2.12 brought to you by Gaspari Nutrition

By James Villepique CSCS & Hobie Call

The best way to elevate a WOD, and obstacle course training in general, is to incorporate meditation techniques. I always stress this because time after time, athlete after athlete, and one victorious Spartan after another the methodology proves to be truly effective. Throughout this WOD I’ll be including some tips on using it to your advantage.

In essence you’re running a timed event this week. It includes a mile broken up into four sections, each of which will be coupled with a set of body exercises. No weights or anything needed, but as always I advise you to perform this somewhere suiting. You have to be outside, despite downpours, blizzards, and hurricanes! If it’s possible to do in a hilly area or even a track that was once used in a race, that’s awesome.

Let’s strap our shoes on…

Shooting For:

- 3 minute 1/4 miles

- 2 minutes per exercise

The Four Sets in Order

1)  10 Burpees with two pushups and a side hop

2)  Continuous frontal/backward lunges – 40 altogether, 20 per leg.

3)  3 Point Plank – 45 sec per side = 1 minute 35 seconds

4)  20 Single Leg Deadlifts

W-T-R (Work-To-Rest)

I want you to shoot for completing the mile and the four exercises within 20 minutes. If you demolish that time, make sure to let the community know. It’s possible you could hold a quasi record, and trust me, this won’t be easy. I’m adding nuances to the exercises that truly compound their difficulty.

Let up if you feel it’s necessary, but if possible, take absolutely no rest periods until you’ve finished. You can start with the first leg of the mile, or the burpees, that’s completely up to you. Again, be strategic with your energy resources.

The Running Part

In order to make the time you have to plan for about 3 minutes per quarter mile, and 2 minutes per exercise. There’s an energy balance to set up early, and make sure to be strategic with your resources. Everything will get exponentially harder from the outset, so keep that time frame in your mind, and adapt around it.

Once the running begins to get excruciating, I want you to begin using inner visualization and awareness techniques to conquer the pain. Let’s examine it through the senses.

Feeling

Feel everything piece by piece. The hardness of the ground, the temperature of the wind, your lungs contracting, your arms moving, your legs moving, the sensation in your feet, your hair, everything. Concentrate on pinpointing one tiny aspect of the experience at a time. Examine the stress, strain and pain. Know Pain Know Gain!

Smell

What does the environment smell like? Begin to pinpoint things specifically. Trees, bushes, pavement, your clothes, hair, sweat, car exhaust, dirt, everything.

Taste

Do you taste sodium in your sweat? What does the air taste like? What can you taste and be specific.

Sight

This one is obvious, but the trick is to, you guessed it, be specific. Try not to be judgmental, just perceptive. For example, try just to look at a bird without taking any mental notes about its color, size, location, etc. Awareness of the bird is the aim, not an examination.

By practicing these things during running, jogging, or cardio in general, to say nothing of the advantages while on the course, you’ll excel beyond expectations.

 

The Exercises

Burpees: You’ve probably gotten accustomed to my burpee philosophy by now. From standing into perfect pushup position in one motion, and then two determined pushups. Then return to standing and execute a hop in any direction. Rinse and repeat.

However, no sissy hops and each set of pushups should be in a different stance per burpee. There are plenty to choose from. Additionally, as you do these, pay very close attention to how your body, like an organic machine is evaluating and utilizing your energy. Take note of how subtle changes in your attitude can cause it to seem like it is rising and falling. Harness that power to your advantage!

 

Lunges: You’re a fourth of the way through. Let’s keep it going. I advise doing four sets of ten for this. Alternating sets of ten per leg. Why? Because there is no rest period or pausing between the frontal and backward lunges.

While keeping your balance you’re going to go from one to another without hesitation. This is really challenging because it’s a movement that the central nervous system rarely has to contend with.

Focus on that. Don’t judge or label it, just step back and look at it like a mindless perceiver. It’s not good or bad, no one watching is going to lose any sleep if you stumble a bit. Try to grab onto it like a white rope twisting through thick fog in front of you. There’s no need to bang these out really quickly, be mindful, smooth, and maintain good form. Finally, when experiencing your body, try as hard as you can to see it as seamless. There is NO separation between your upper and lower body.

Planks: Half way point! This is where energy management becomes real. Those that participate in Spartan races and watch the videos know what I’m talking about. Exhaustion, doubt, fear, pain, stress, fatigue: which are thoughts and which are physical?

The ones that are thoughts can be completely disregarded with a little training. For thousands of years sages have been showing and telling us that if we examine something like fear, or doubt, it disappears.

There are no rest periods between planks. Go from front for 45 seconds, to a side for 45 seconds, to the other side for 45 seconds and done. Examine the strain, and dissect the way the brain wants to avoid it, conserve energy, and relax. The elite make one choice, the mediocre make another. Which one will it be?

Deadlifts: By this time beads of sweat should be dropping everywhere. Your metabolism is through the roof, and if you haven’t managed your energy output wisely, these seemingly simply single leg deadlifts can suck tons of time.

Try to think of them more as a dynamic stretch, and that may shift your attitude into a final adrenaline rush.

Ten per leg and you’ve done it. You’ll find it especially difficult to balance and maintain perfect form because of what you’ve already put the body through. That’s the point. Enjoy it while it lasts, and draw on anything you can to disconnect the pain and exhaustion mechanisms from causing the body from stumbling.

 

Keep Going!

James Villepigue & Hobie Call

 

 

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