The Top 5 Benefits of Alternative Locomotion:  Part 5 – Be a Kid

by Joe Di Stefano co-founder of Spartan Coaching

Need some catching up?  Here’s Part I, Part II, Part III, and Part IV

GET COMFORTABLE WITH BEING UNCOMFORTABLE

At a recent Spartan SGX Coaching workshop, following one of Dr Jeff Godin’s lectures on analyzing the specific demands of Spartan Race’s most troublesome obstacles, a seminar attendee named Jackie, said something that struck a chord. Her point was one that Dr. J and I have heard before but for some reason this time,  I really pondered it.
Jackie, chuckling, said, “you wouldn’t believe how easy these obstacles would be for my five year old!”

Wild. Isn’t it?

But how could that be?

How could a human being who has been capable of standing upright for fewer months than I have remaining on my car loan, actually be better on two feet than most of us?  Without getting into the nitty gritty bio-mechanical or structural differences between children and adults, let’s give the real reason.

We are born fearless.

We are born tough.

We are born strong.

And most importantly,….We are born to live for the moment.

Through conditioning from upbringing and social pressures, we learn to embrace fear, that pain should be avoided at all costs, and that pessimism is ultimately the most secure path to longevity, health, and dare I say,happiness. Our instinctual mindset when faced with an obstacle should not, by nature, be focused on what might happen if I try, but about how exciting an attempt would be. Ask a five year old child why she felt compelled to try and jump over that ten foot wide puddle there was no way she could leap, decode your answer to discover it was for none other than a slight chance of victory and the inevitable emotional high no matter the result. If we are all the same humans we once were, why don’t I see suits on Wall Street skying over bums and wet pavement?

Because that’s not socially acceptable, TRUE. However, the fact that we contain and limit our adventurous side habitually, destroys our body from the inside out.

Just watch a young child get up onto a full size chair. They brace the chair  with their hands and then at the hip flex, abduct, and internally rotate all and climb up effortlessly. As we get older, we do fewer and fewer activities that require 1/10 of that amount of hip functionality so the body gives it up. Don’t use it, you lose it!

At the grocery store, how often do you see someone over the age of 25 having a good time or even wearing a smile? Or how many people in that group ever ride the cart like a skateboard?

We have to be coached and instructed how to conquer even the most basic obstacles is not because we have gotten older, but as a result of losing our emotional connection to being human. The biggest difference between Jackie’s child and most of us is that her child lives for the moment. Most of us today are all stuck somewhere in the future or the past. We often times bury our human priority list to focus on more socially acceptable or financially rewarding priorities.

Get that back and life becomes your Spartan Race.

WORKOUT:

Stand up for 30 seconds every 15-20 minutes. Close your eyes and this will be surprisingly meditative in helping you regain presence and very beneficial to your productivity.

Do one thing today that you wouldn’t normally do. This might be jumping a puddle, riding the cart at the grocery store for a few feet, skipping to the coffee line, whatever! (Post your funny one’s to the comments section!)

Grab a friend, do this workout in public and try to be a kid again. Live for the moment, and get comfortable with being uncomfortable:

At a jogging track, skip at varying intensities for 5 minutes with opposite arm and leg moving in a coordinated rhythm. Try jumping for height, jumping for distance, “double time” by doing quick, low to the ground skips, etc. Then, complete one full, 400m lap:

Bear Crawl for 15 “One-thousandths”
Burpees 5x
Reverse Bear Crawl for  15 “One-thousandths”
Burpees 5x

Cool down / recovery: Skip at varying intensities for 5 minutes

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The Top 5 Benefits of Alternative Locomotion:  Part 4 –  Distracted Cardio

by Joe Di Stefano co-founder of Spartan Coaching

Need some catching up?  Here’s Part I, Part II, and Part III.

What percentage of the American public is either thinking about getting in shape or is actively on the wagon right now? My guess is that it’s got to be over 75%…So why is it so hard? ….And what percentage of this hypothetical 75% do you supposed has been on the wagon before? ….

If you’ve been to one of our SGX seminars you know the real reasons why the failure rate is so high but let’s just look at this on a more superficial level….Most of the time, it didn’t work last time because losing weight or getting in shape for most is synonymous with major suck.  

“Major suck” means giving up all the foods you love and then dealing with the drug addict-caliber withdrawals from doing so, while you spend hours on stationary cardio equipment watching TV doctors who tell you that your unfitness is just more than likely genetic and so you might as drink wine every night to try and avoid heart disease.

So of course because of a variety of social and internal pressures, many throw their hat into the game, maybe even hire a trainer to show how serious they are. Whatever the case may be, ultimately many do the equivalent of showing up at the base of Mount Everest holding the flag they want to plant at the summit, wearing flip flops. They show up, they are serious, they are gung-ho…but ultimately most know from the start they are not going to succeed and act accordingly until they finally fall off the wagon.

So what if the major suck is optional?

Rather than stationary cardio machines and TV, both of which flood your mind with negativity and consume your precious (and in many cases very limited, will power) why not do something that’s going to work more muscles more synergistically, at higher intensities, that will build coordination, and that requires your full focus and attention. Something that you can also do for half as long to get twice the benefit and leave the gym with a clear, optimistic, and present mind?

Sounds good to me.

Distracted Cardio WOD #1:

Warm up:

Bird Dog x 100 reps total. then:

Power Skip x 50’

Reverse Skip x 50’

x 3, then:

Crab Walk x 25’

Reverse Crab Walk x 25’

x 3

Main Set:

4 rounds of:

Frog Hops x 50’

Bridges x 50 reps with 2 second hold per rep.

then, 4 rounds of:

Bear Crawl x 50-100’

Elephant Walk x 50-100’ (Butt in the air bear crawl)

Jumping Jack. x 60 seconds

Finish with 

Power Skip x 50’

Reverse Skip x 50’

x 3.

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Animal Movement Exercise Glossary

by Joe Di Stefano co-founder of Spartan Coaching

Bear Crawl: Begin in a baby’s crawl position, lift the knees 1-2″ and maintain this posture as you walk in a coordinated left arm / right leg and vice versa sequence for 30-60ft

Bird Dog: Beginning in a baby crawl or “quadruped” position with the knees on the floor. Lift the opposing arm and leg, point and stretch to opposing sides of the room. Hold, then return to the starting position. Repeat on the opposite side and continue alternating for desired number of repetitions. For a more advanced progression, balance a water bottle on your lower back, if it falls off you know you were moving too much from your spine and not enough from your butt!

Dead Bug: Lying on your back with your arms and legs stretched straight up and down, simultaneously attempt to bring your right elbow and left knee together. Return to start position and repeat on the opposing side.

Elephant Walk: (aka “a not-so-strict bear crawl”) -From Bear Crawl position, allow your butt to lift into the air as high as is comfortable. Walk in the same coordinated, opposite arm and leg pattern as the Bear Crawl.

Lateral Ape: Beginning in a bear crawl position, “push” yourself backwards until your feet are flat on the floor and you are in a deep squat and “hands free” position. Now reach both arms to one side and shift as much of your weight into them as possible. Maintain this pressure as you “hop” your legs to that side. Continue in a fluid pattern and repeat on the opposing direction.

 

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3 Eggs a Day: 70% of the time, it works every time.

by Joe DiStefano  of  Spartan Coaches

 

Eggs have been perhaps the most debated food of our time. In fact, I distinctly remember the lecture labeling them as the number one food my father was to stop eating after having a heart attack, along with their partner in crime, red meat.

The influence of the Paleo Diet revolution has really shifted many of us towards going more Pro-egg, so I am hoping to provide perhaps the necessary capstone insight to clear the air…at least for some of us.

Research out of the Department of Nutritional Sciences at the University of Connecticut explains that 70% of the population are “hypo-responders” to dietary cholesterol. In other words, 70% of us Spartans could eat all the cholesterol we want and see little to no change in blood cholesterol levels or heart disease risk. AROO!!!

However, there is a possibility you are in the other 30%. My sincerest apologies, you are a hyper-responders and do show increases in blood cholesterol as a result of your dietary intake. Just tread carefully, and get regular blood work done. I would not wish an entirely egg-free diet upon anybody.

So what about the three eggs a day part? Another published study, also out of UCONN’s Department of Nutritional Sciences, found that men eating three eggs per day for 12 weeks showed a 30% increase in HDL (the good) cholesterol levels. At the same time, these subjects also experienced decreased waist circumference and a nearly 40% drop in triglycerides. In fact, 15 out of the 18 subjects who were classified as having metabolic syndrome at the start of the study, no longer met that criteria by the end of it.

Let me leave you by saying  30% may be a minority, but is by no means a small percentage of a population. This blog is by no means a permission slip to go tell all your friends, family, colleagues, and clients that eggs have finally been solidified as the miracle health food we all suspected they were. Do your homework.

References:

Mutungi G, Ratliff J, Puglisi M, Torres-Gonzalez M, Vaishnav U, Leite JO, Quann E, Volek JS, Fernandez ML. Dietary cholesterol from eggs increases plasma HDL cholesterol in overweight men consuming a carbohydrate-restricted diet. J Nutr. 2008 Feb;138(2):272-6. PubMed PMID: 18203890.

Fernandez ML. Dietary cholesterol provided by eggs and plasma lipoproteins in healthy populations. Curr Opin Clin Nutr Metab Care. 2006 Jan;9(1):8-12. Review. PubMed PMID: 16340654.

 

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Flexibility:  A Core Fitness Component in Obstacle Racing

by Jason Jaksetic

 

The bamboo which bends in stronger than the oak which resists.

—Japanese Proverb

 

The 49ers are going to the Super Bowl and their flexibility may be the reason why.

Athletes at Spartan HQ weren’t surprised by the revelations found in a recent Wall Street Journal article (this one), that tells of the off-the-radar stretching program of the San Francisco 49ers, a regiment that possibly has enabled their two year charge into NFL dominance.

The piece joked about 300 lbs linemen being more mum about their stretching routines than their squat and bench press records out of machismo.   But the author also hinted that the truth for this reticence might have to do with keeping a competitive advantage.

It seems the flexible, the limber, and the loose have a competitive advantage in football.

I’m not an expert of football, but I know this makes sense from the obstacle racing perspective.  And it also holds true for other endurance sports like running and cycling as well.

 

Obstacle Racing is not a linear sport, and in this aspect, it has much in common with football.  There are complex movements happening when you scale an 8-foot wall or navigate an endless uphill barbed wire crawl.

Did you see Tiki Barber, former New York Giant great at our NY Times Square event?

 

Obstacle racing is a sport engineered for those who can get from point A to point B fast.  There is irregular terrain, walls, mud pits, agility obstacles, and myriad other ways to send your body flying in every possible direction.  This is not road running or cycling where efficiency dictates one (or a few) optimal motions repeated over and over.  In obstacle racing you are racing on some of the most gnarly trails going – often something that just has the semblance of a trail.

To be successful in obstacle racing you want to have a good range of motion for agility.  You also want to avoid injury.  Both agility gains and injury reductions are related to flexibility, and flexibility is related to stretching.

 

Why You Must Stretch

At Spartan HQ, daily training might incorporate Bikram Yoga at Bikram Yoga Pittsfield.  Liz Cotter, head Bikram Yogi there, recounts how she used to train many of the 49ers when she lived in San Francisco.

“They were just so huge.  Extremely muscular. And this was a problem.”  she said, “Range of motion was an obstacle for them.”

Stretching before a workout is more controversial then stretching after. Many studies (here is one, and another) caution about decreased performance.

An ideal warm-up would include some dynamic stretching first to warm the body up, says Dr. Jeff Godin of Spartan Coaching.

“The majority of stretching should be done after exercise, when the muscles are warm and limber.”  Dr Godin say, “That is when people will see the most improvement. Or to conduct stretching entirely separate from other exercise like in a yoga class.”

Don’t know how to stretch?  Don’t worry.  We recently recorded these two short videos to help you out.

In these two videos Jenny Wilson, a Bikram yogi, demonstrates the stretching routines we use in training for Spartan Races.  If you are new to stretching, start slow!  Incorporate it bit by bit into your training routine and into your life in general.


Warming up – Pre Workout Stretching Routine

Cooling Down – Post Workout Stretching Routine

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Pacing the Long Run

by Jeff Godin, Ph.D., CSCS, creator of www.spartancoaches.com

For many people the thought of the long run seems daunting.  I am not sure why, it is one of my favorite workouts.  The pace is pretty relaxed, conversational, and I usually get to look around and enjoy the scenery instead of focusing on effort. Most people actually run their long runs to fast. To achieve the maximal benefits, the pace should be slow, a lot slower than most would think.

I have discussed the lactate threshold before. The lactate threshold is a measure of exercise intensity. The long run should be conducted at a pace where there is no lactate accumulation, the muscles are 100% relying on aerobic metabolism, and utilizing fat as the primary source of fuel.  It is ideal to have your lactate threshold measured and utilized to calculate training intensities.  However, this may not be feasible or practical for everyone. The next best method is to run based off of your target heart rate.

The first step is to estimate or actually measure your maximal heart rate. To estimate your maximal heart rate use the formula 220 – age. Maximal heart rate declines, on average, about one beat per year. Unfortunately this formula can be off by as much as 12 bpm for some individuals. For example my predicted maximum is 175 bpm, but when I am in the middle of some serious hill training it gets as high as 190 bpm.  Therefor my actual is closer to 190 than it is 175. To actually measure your maximal heart rate, try a graded exercise test. This can be done on a treadmill or on a large hill. You will need a heart rate monitor.  If you are on treadmill, warm-up for 10 minutes then increase your running speed up to a comfortably hard pace (not quite out of breath, could carry on a conversation but would rather not). Increase the grade on the treadmill every 3 minutes until you cannot continue. Outside on a hill, run up the hill at a moderate pace, then repeat the hill at a slightly faster pace. Continue until you can’t run the hill any faster. In both cases, note the highest heart rate achieved during the test.  NOTE: Before engaging in maximal exercise it is always best to check with your physician first to make sure that it is safe for you .

Now that you have either your estimated maximal heart rate or measured  maximal heart rate you will calculate your target heart rate for your long runs. Long runs should be run at an intensity that corresponds to about 65-70% of your maximal heart rate.  For me, that corresponds to a long run training heart rate of 123-133 bpm.

Don’t be fooled by the intensity of the workout, it is about putting in the miles and getting in time on your feet. You have other workouts during the week that will include work at higher intensities.  Enjoy the long run for what it is:  a long distance, moderate effort.

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by Carrie Adams

Our Top Ten Blog Posts of 2012 span a variety of topics.  Yesterday, we introduced you to #10, a blog by our own Chris Davis who left Atlanta and came to Spartan HQ in Pittsfield, VT to live, work, and train with our staff and founder Joe Desena.  He lost over 400 pounds and completed the Spartan Beast, and earned his Trifecta Tribe status.  No small feat!  In today’s recap of post #9 we revisit something that has made Spartan obstacles famous (errr, maybe infamous is a better word.)

In a word: Burpee.

Missing a Spartan Obstacle doesn’t mean that you just mosey on your merry way, it means that you owe 30 burpees before you are to continue.  Here, our very own Dr. Jeff goes over the Muscular Analysis of the burpee.   If you don’t know Dr. Jeff, you should.  He’s greatly responsible for the success of the Chris Davis Project and is also leading the charge on the Spartan Coaching program.  He also routinely participates in the Spartan Death Race, because, well, that’s what happens when you work for Spartan Race.

From the drop to the ground through each phase of the movement, the body positions are described in detail to ensure that from the elite athlete to the newcomer, everyone can see the proper form associated with the burpee.

Read more HERE.

Interested in coaching the Spartan Way?  Click HERE to learn more.  Finally ready to get signed up?  Click HERE. 

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Training in the Dark: 5 Spartan Tips to Run Roads and Trails at Night or in the Early Morning

by Jason Jaksetic

Training at night or in the wee hours of the morning might not be your first choice for training time, but if it’s the only time you have available, a Spartan should utilize it.

-  Wearing a headlamp.  This will allow for free hands, which, particularly on a longer run, is a huge benefit.

-  Be seen on the streets.  Don’t worry – it’s dark – you don’t have to look cool.  Revive neon stylings.  Get a full bore reflective vest from a road crew.

-  Temperatures can drop, so be ready.  Here in Vermont it happens FAST.  When leaving after dark dress for the worst case scenario.  Particularly, in the winter, and whenever there is a seasonal change, really, where you might get caught off guard.  If doing trails, run with a backpack with basic survival suplies if you’ll be more than a mile or two from the road.

-  Know your route.  Night is not the time to get lost or discover hard to see potholes.  So stick to the tried and trued day time routines, or scout out your ‘night run’ first during the day.

-  Play defense.  Be honest with yourself and acknowledge you are hard to see, and always run as if you are invisible on the street.  Night is not the time to assert your rights as a pedestrian.

 

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Spartan WOD for Wednesday, 10.18.12

by Jeff Godin, Ph.D., CSCS and Director of Spartan Coaching

 

Pain is inevitable, but misery is optional.
-Tim Hansel, author

 

Bourbon

Some may find this Spartan WOD difficult to swallow.

Repeat 5 times :

10 push-ups

10 burpees

5 pull-ups

30-second sprint

1-minute rest

 

This is the kind of intensity your find when Spartan Race takes over Times Square.

Download our free eBook now and find this Spartan WOD built into an entire training plan that was developed by Dr. Jeff Godin to get your ready for your Spartan Race.  Find out what it will take to finish a Spartan in our free eBook that outlines specific training plans for Sprint, Super, Beast, and Ultra Beast distances.

Sign up to get you Spartan WOD emailed to you daily.

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Run cadence is an often overlooked factor in running.  It varies for each individual, and you’ll notice variations in cadence when watching elites.

But it is common knowledge that a faster cadence aids in efficiency.

I typical elite run cadence will be around 90 bmp’s.  That means the right foot will fall 90 times in one minute.

To see what this is like, try running to a song that has a tempo of 90 bmp, and make sure your right foot falls on the beat.

So think of running as dancing in a strange way.

Let your mind go bland and just run with the beat.

A perfect song for this is “The Distance” by Cake (Fashion Nugget, 1996).  Just run to the beat and you will find yourself running at the same run cadence as many pros!  If you are a musician or a DJ, you should have the know how to program a whole play list of songs at either 90 or 180 bmp.

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