Image by Michal Novotny

Monday, February 2, 2009

100 Pullups for Time, Did only 94 pullups

Time: 2:30:84.04

Intensity Rating: 5/10

Wednesday, February 4, 2009

Max rounds in 20 minutes of:

• Bodyweight Squat, 20 reps
• KB Swings, 10 reps
• KB Windmill, 5 reps

Completed 8 rounds in 20 minutes

Intensity Rating: 6/10

Fridy, February 6, 2009

For time:

• Dive Bombers, 15 reps
• KB Snatch, 3 reps
• Dive Bombers, 12 reps
• KB Snatch, 6 reps
• Dive Bombers, 9 reps
• KB Snatch, 9 reps
• Dive Bombers, 6 repss
• KB Snatch, 12 reps
• Dive Bombers, 3 reps
• KB Snatch, 15 reps

Time: 11:36

Intensity Rating: 8/10

Monday, February 9, 2008

Max rounds in 9 minutes of:*

• Chinups, 5 reps
• Medicine Ball Uneven Pushups, 10 reps
• KB Swing, 15 reps
• Pushups, 20 reps
• Squat Thrust w/o Pushups, 25 reps

Performed one round, + chinups and med ball pushups

2 minute Rest

Max rounds in 7 minutes of:**

• Chinups, 4 reps
• KB Swing, 12 reps
• Squat Thrust w/o Pushups, 20 reps

Intensity Rating – 5/10

Performed 2 rounds

Notes: Intensity rating is personal thing. I guess you can even match it to how high your heart rate was. An exercise can be difficult, but it might not be intense. This is probably why the Caveman guys wear a heartbeat monitor when they workout (maybe an Idea I should pick up).

10 Burpees for a beginner would probably be on a scale of 9/10,, but for someone more advanced it could be a 5/10. It really just depends on personal abilities.

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

So this was the workout that came up through my index card experiment :

4 rounds for time of:

• Sprint 2 blocks
• Jog back
• Ankle Grabbers, 20 reps

Time: 13:37.13

Intensity Rating: 7/10

Notes: I haven’t sprinted in a LONG time. (See, Olinek, this is why I need index cards or some system in place. If I woke up and just decided to do what I felt like, then I would never sprint). But the sprints felt really good. I felt like I was good at them. The only problem was my recovery time. The sprints were good, but the jog back was lacking. I need to find a way to work on my recovery time.

Image by abbyjane Here is a really great bodyweight workout using simple, basic movements that’ll take just 15 minutes of your time:

Perform 5 rounds of:

2 minute interval:

• Pullups, 5 reps
• Pushups, 10 reps
• Bodyweight Squat, 20 reps

1 minute rest

Here’s how to do it:

1. Set the timer for 2 minutes, and perform as many rounds as you can of each of the exercises listed for the suggested repetitions
2. After the 2 minutes, rest for 1 minute
3. Repeat four more times

Some ideas on how to make this workout harder:

1. Increase the time interval. You can perform 3 rounds at a 3 or 4 minute interval, or 2 rounds with a 5 or 6 minute interval, followed by a minute rest.
2. You can replace the exercise for difficult ones. For example, perform Side to Side Pullups instead of regular pullups, hindu pushups instead of regular pushups, and squat jumps for bodyweight squats.

Some ideas on how to make this workout shorter:

1. Shorten the rest period to 30 seconds
2. Use alternative interval schemes such as Tabata – 20 seconds work, 10 seconds rest.

One of the best ways to help you with your intervals is to use the GymBoss Interval Timer. It costs just $19.95, and you can program it to help you keep track of any sort of intervals you may use. Click here to grab yours today.

The following are some templates you can use to design your workouts:

Superset Template One (Rounds for Time):

1. Choose total rounds that you wish to perform (i.e. 5)
2. Choose exercises (Choose one push up variation, and one kettlebell exercise)
3. Choose number of repetitions per exercise (start with conservative numbers)
4. Time the entire workout. Try to beat your time the next time you perform the workout.

Sample Routine:

5 rounds for time of:

• KB Clean, 10 reps each side
• Pushups, 20 reps

Superset Template Two (Each Round for Time)

1. Choose total rounds that you wish to perform (i.e. 5)
2. Choose exercises (Choose one push up variation, and one kettlebell exercise)
3. Choose number of repetitions per exercise (choose higher than normal numbers)
4. Choose rest between each set (at least one minute, trust me on this one)
5. Time each round separately. Record your fastest round, and try to beat that round the next time you perform the workout.

Sample Routine:

5 rounds, each for time:

• Incline Pushups, 30 reps
• KB Swing, 40 reps
• Rest 60 Seconds

Superset Template Three (Inverted Pyramid)

1. Choose total rounds that you wish to perform (i.e. 5)
2. Choose exercises (Choose one push up variation, and one kettlebell exercise)
3. Choose the total number of repetitions you wish to perform per exercise.
4. Set the exercises up so that the reps for the first exercise steadily decline, and the reps for the second exercise steadily increase (refer to sample workout)
5. Time the entire workout. Try to beat your time the next time you perform the workout.

Sample Routine (This is actually the workout I performed in the Video)

For time:

• 15 Dive Bombers
• 3 KB Snatch, each side
• 12 Dive Bombers
• 6 KB Snatch, each side
• 9 Dive Bombers
• 9 KB Snatch, each side
• 6 Dive Bombers
• 12 KB Snatch, each side
• 3 Dive Bombers
• 15 KB Snatch, each side

Time: 11:04.67

Think you can beat my time? Try out the workout, tape it, and send your link to shah@shahtraining.com.

Cover image by Mazdabation

Additional Resources

Mike Mahler is the king when it comes to Kettlebell training. If you’re looking to perfect your kettlebell snatch or try out some new workouts, check out his website here.

I’m not a bodybuilder!

I’m not a Crossfit athlete!

No matter how many times I try to tell people that I do not belong to a particular category of fitness, people still tend to categorize me!

“Oh but you’re a bodybuilder,” says a customer at my Dad’s store while we’re talking about nutrition. “You’re a CF (CrossFit) athlete,” writes my bodybuilder friend on AIM.

Why do we Categorize?

Human begins use categories as a way to store information. It’s a great way to organize information, but a dangerous way of living your life. If you call yourself a Crossfit athlete, or a Bodybuilder, you will forever be a part of a stereo type of training methodologies and will inadvertently disregard anything that does not fit into the Crossfit or Bodybuilding methodology.

I feel that there are certainly things that bodybuilders can learn from Crossfit athletes, and vice versa. Each method has a particular flaw, and the best way to fill in the gaps is to “reach across the aisle” and try something new.

I think people should follow some sort of hybrid of a variety of fitness programs. Use the following guide to create your own unique program:

High Intensity Training

• Crossfit, Heavy Duty, Tabata
• Pro: Exercise can be done in a short period of time.
• Pro: You can improve strength and mass dramatically (depending on program)
• Pro: Can drop fat and improve athletic conditioning dramatically (depending on program)
• Con: May not be suitable for beginners
• Con: Can easily lead to over training and fatigue if there is poor focus on diet

High Volume Training

• German Volume Training, The Russian Bear, Traditional Bodybuilding,
• Pro: Great for hypertrophy
• Pro: Simply program for beginners
• Con: Added size comes with minimal gains in strength
• Con: Workouts take a long time

Strength-Based Training

• Stronglift’s 5×5, Starting Strength, Westside Barbell
• Pro: Can put on size and strength extremely fast
• Pro: Can drop fat due to an increase in metabolic rate
• Con: Beginners need more time to learn movements
• Con: Workouts are boring

There you have it. Try each program out for a few months.

Then:

• Choose one program that you really like and know will stick for the rest of your life
• Identify the strengths and weaknesses of that program
• Fill in the weaknesses of the program using principles from other programs.
• Now create your own website and brand your program!

I’ve been making a HUGE mistake. I’ve been tracking my workouts, but not measuring them. Before I go any further, I should probably clarify two words: tracking and measuring. There is a difference.

Tracking is the recording of an event, in our case a workout.

Measuring is estimating by evaluation or comparison.

Here is the major flaw: Each of my workouts is random, from week to week I perform a completely different workout than the week before, and my workouts rarely ever repeat.I had adopted this training style simply because I realized that I adapted extremely quickly with my workouts and could not stand the thought of performing the same workout week in and week out. However, this was before I had discovered fast, intense workouts. This was when I was doing some hybrid form of martial arts and bodybuilding. I didn’t know anything about metabolic conditioning or how to train with your bodyweight. All I knew was that you were supposed to stay in a gym for 2 hours and do “stuff” until the clock told you to leave (or someone from the staff).

To say that I have not been making progress is a false statement. I have. I see it in my movements. I see it on video. And I see it in the mirror. But all this “seeing” is dangerous. There is something about writing down your time and then comparing it to last weeks time with the same workout: it never lies. When you “see” things you rationalize your way into thinking that you are making progress. Or for some people, you rationalize your way out of making progress.

How do you know you are making progress?

This question was actually posed to me by my bodybuilding friend: “How do you know you are making any progress if you keep doing random workouts?” Good question, and one that I really couldn’t answer. I went to the Crossfit forum to pose the same exact question, and they referred me to their benchmark workouts. Benchmark workouts are simply workouts that are used to measure progress and appear in the Crossfit programming once or twice a week. For example, one of their workouts is Fran. This particular workout may be performed on, say, December 8th, 2006, and will not appear again until February 16, 2007. I’m just throwing out random dates here. But the point is that Fran will appear a few weeks apart, but they will have other Benchmarks within the weeks such as Barbara and Nate.

I have attempted to create benchmark workouts in the past. But honestly, at that moment I was not as familiar with Crossfit’s programming as I am now. I respect Crossfit, but I’m not sure if all their methods are a right fit for me.

I have two options in terms of measuring progress:

1. Create a training program based on five to six workouts per week, and repeat them for six weeks straight, attempting to make as much progress on them as possible. This progress can be measured by being able to complete the workout at a faster time, the amount of weight used in the workout, increasing reps, or increasing rounds.
2. Develop a series of benchmark workouts that appear in your programming each week along with a few other random workouts. Use these benchmarks as measures of progress.

Ok, so the second method is Crossfit. The first method I’ve actually seen on a few bodybuilding forums. People will choose one workout and then perform it along with their bodybuilding workouts as a form of cardio or conditioning. They’ll choose a goal, say drop total time by 3 minutes, and keep working on it until they reach their goal.

Hmmm…I think this time around I’m going to side with the bodybuilders.

I’ve decided to create 5 workouts, some of which I’ve done before, and work on them Monday through Friday. Each workout will have a set of measurement, a different one for each workout. For example, the Monday workout may be focused around time. The Tuesday workout may be focused on increasing weight. Etc. you get the point. I will try this for 6 weeks as an experiment, and then show you guys the progress I’ve made on this very website. Stay tuned!

Many females do not lift weights because they do not want to get big and bulky like a guy or like a big female bodybuilder. Instead, they want a toned body with the right curves in the right places. So in order to avoid getting big and bulky, many women either train with extremely light weights, or they do not lift weights at all.

In short, women are afraid of lifting weights. Females should not be afraid of weight lifting or of getting big and bulky like a man because of one reason: Testosterone. Simply put, men have a lot of testosterone and women do not. Men can get big and bulky because of this testosterone, and women can not get big and bulky due to the lack of testosterone.

Women can train with big, heavy free weights or perform higher reps with light weighs. Either way, they will not be able to put on the type of mass that they are afraid of putting on. Women are able to put on a certain amount of muscle mass to help them get nice and toned, however, not as much as most women believe.

Now, I know what you are thinking. What about those female bodybuilders, wrestlers, and athletes that have big arms and shoulders that look like a man? Well, since females do not have enough testosterone to build that kind of mass, there is a strong chance that these women have used steroids or other supplements to increase their level of testosterone. So, if you do not plan to use steroids or testosterone boosting supplements, then you have absolutely nothing to worry about anymore.

I realize that I will be unable to convert a female right away and get her to start lifting weights. To remedy that, I have designed three intense bodyweight workouts to help you break into the business of intense workouts:

Intense Workout One:

For Time:
Pushups 20 reps
Squats 30 reps
Sit-ups 50 reps
Squats 30 reps
Pushups 20 rep

This workout will work firm up your entire body and is a great beginner workout before starting serious weight training. The goal here is to finish the prescribed repetitions before moving onto the next exercise. For example, perform 20 pushups first before going onto 30 squats. Then perform 50 situps, and continue in this manner. Be sure to time the entire workout.

If you are unable to perform all the repetitions, then it is ok to scale down the workout. For example, if you can only perform 10 pushups instead of 20, then you can perform only 10 pushups in the workout. If you are unable to perform pushups or any other of the prescribed exercises, then you can replace them with easier variations.

Intense Workout Two:

For Time:
50 yard sprint
50 sit-ups
50 yard sprint
30 squats
50 yard sprint
20 pushups
Run 1 mile

This is another great non-weighted workout which is specifically designed to help you burn fat. You will be performing sprints at an approximate distance of 50 yard, followed by prescribed bodyweight exercises. Finish off the workout with a one mile run, and do not forget to time the entire workout.

If you are unable to perform all the reps, then you can scale the workout as mentioned previously.

Intense Workout Three:

Perform maximum rounds in 20 minutes of:
10 Burpees
10 Pushups
10 Squats
10 Dips
5 Chin-ups

In this workout, you set a timer for 20 minutes, and you keep performing the prescribed circuit until the 20 minutes are finished. Your goal is to perform more rounds as time goes on. And as always, you may scale the workouts to your specifications.

If you want more information on high intensity home training, then you should check out Gladiator Body Workout::

• Gladiator Body Workout is an Athletic Fitness system which combines Dumbbell and Bodyweight exercises along with interval training to help you Drop Fat, Build Lean Muscle Mass, Get Stronger, and Improve Athletic Performance.
• If you purchase the Combo Pack, you can also get two other eBooks which Author Coach Eddie Lomax sells separately: “Ultimate Gymless Workout” and “Extreme Dumbbell Fitness.” When you include all the workouts in all three systems, you’ll get literally months worth of fitness programming.
• The Basic version sells for just $27. Each separate eBook in the Combo Pack sell for $27 but coach is giving them to you for just $49.00.

This has been in the works for a while. I wanted to develop a series of workouts which measure multiple qualities of fitness at the same time. These would basically be standards of fitness which would ai me in not only measuring personal fitness levels, but also those of my clients. If a client (or myself) fails at any of the levels, then I know exactly what to do to get them up to the next level.

The Shah Training Fitness Standards (STFS) are a series of workouts designed to test strength, speed, cardiovascular endurance, power, and strength endurance. Here is what I came up with:

Level One:

3 rounds of:
400 Meter Run
10 Hindu Pushups
Hang Power Clean, 50% bodyweight 5 reps

Time: 12 minutes

Level Two:

3 rounds of:
400 meter Run
15 Hindu Pushups
30 Bodyweight Squats
Hang Power Clean, 60% bodyweight 5 reps

Time: 18 minutes

Level Three:

4 rounds of:
400 meter Run
15 Burpees
15 Double Unders
Hang Power Clean, 70% bodyweight 5 reps

Time: 18 minutes

Level Four:

4 rounds of:
400 meter run
25 burpees
25 Double Unders
Hang Power Clean, 80% bodyweight 5 reps

Time: 30 minutes

Level Five:

5 rounds of:
400 meter run
25 burpees
25 Double Unders
25 Crossovers
Hang Power Clean 90% bodyweight, 5 reps

Time: 30 minutes

Developing your own fitness standards

I encourage each of you to develop your own fitness standards. My goal was to create something that fit into my broad definition of fitness. In my view, human beings should be strong, fast, have great stamina, and be aesthetically pleasing.

Now, it’s not possible to measure every single attribute in one workout, but you can surprisingly close. Here is how I did it:

• Speed is measured by two things: 400 meter run, and total time of workout. The 400 meter run is synonymous to speed. Olympic and speed athletes incorporate the 400 meter as part of their regular workouts when attempting to improve their times, regardless of the type of sport they participate in. Timing the workouts as a whole forces you to push yourself, which enables you to improve your speed while performing each activity. Many times I have noticed that when I do not time myself, my transition between each exercise is extremely slow, thus wasting time. If you’re resting, you’re not working.

• Muscular Endurance is measured by the high rep calisthenic exercises ( hindu pushups, bodyweight squats, and burpees) as well as the fact that you will be pushing through one exercise after another for multiple rounds.

• Pure strength is difficult to measure in this sort of workout, but you can get a sense of where you stand with your personal strength with the hang power clean. Lifting a percentage of your bodyweight for five rounds will be a grueling test of strength. And naturally, the strength endurance and recovery factors will come into play when you have to repeat this task for multiple rounds in conjunction with other exercises.

• Strength and Power go hand in hand, once again measured by the hang power clean. Power is primarily a function of load and time. And hence to measure power we would have to develop some sort of points system. Crossfit uses reps over time, or poundage, depending on the workout. What you may be able to do is assign points to each exercise. For example, the 400 meter run is 1500 points for each round. Calisthenic exercises would be number of reps x bodyweight. And finally the hang power clean would be weight used times number of reps, multiplied by 5. The idea here is to give each exercise equal weight. If we get two athletes that weigh differently, we can see how effective this formula is:

• In the above chart, Dominic and I have an 11 pound difference. I complete the circuit in 9 minutes, 23 seconds, or 563 seconds, while Dominic takes 11:18 to perform the same circuit. Work Capacity is measured at 8.94 work/time for myself, and 7.89 work/ time for Dominic. What do these number mean? Since we’re talking work capacity, or work over time, the longer it takes for you to complete a task, the lower your number. Hence in this case, the higher number is better. My work capacity is greater than Dominic’s.

• If Dominic wanted to match my work capacity, he would have to perform the same workout in 9 minutes and 50 seconds, which is just 27 seconds away from my time. Naturally, bodyweight differences will result in greater differences for time and work.

• Finally, Cardiovascular Endurance is better measured in the latter aspects of the system by jump roping exercises. However, the sprinting will tax your cardiovascular system. There is no room for true endurance training, as running a mile would severely compromise your strength numbers.

I want you guys to start thinking about this system. Does it makes sense? Is it doable? Does the point scoring and work capacity formula make sense? Please, post your thoughts to comments.

I also want you guys to either try these workouts on your own, or develop your own standards of fitness. If you try the workouts, please post your work capacity score on comments. If we get enough people I may even decide to put on some sort of contest.

Intensity is as much a product of how one organizes their workouts as it is a mind-set. I’ve realized that my workouts are much more intense when they are planned to be short as opposed to being long. You can only do two things, workout for a long time, or workout at a high intensity. There is no way you can go for long at a high intensity.

Just as a sprinter will lose speed after a certain distance, you will lose breath, control, and form after a certain amount of time. The key is to design workouts which are short in nature and are timed against the clock. Competition often yields the best results. Think of the stopwatch as an enemy you must conquer and as a foe you must defeat.

Have you been putting all your effort into your workouts? Post your thoughts to comments.

Coming from a Martial Arts background, conditioning almost always overtook all of my other goals. Forget about fat loss if you can’t even go a few rounds without puking. Muscle mass and all that will come with the training you need to do to prepare your body in sport.

The true mark of an athlete is not one that gives his all, but one that keeps giving his all, again and again. We call this Work Capacity, or the amount of work you can do and how hard or fast you can do it. In martial arts, a higher work capacity is what gives you the fighting edge over your opponenet.

Think about it. If you can perform 30 punches with good form in 10 seconds as opposed to your opponenet being able to throw 20 punches in 10 seconds with good form, who has a greater chance of winning the match? It’s actually hard to tell. But what if I said your opponenet threw went all out for 10 seconds, then needed a minute to rest up while you were ready to throw your assault within 10 seconds of rest? Now who has a better chance of winning?

So in other words, work capacity in my book is how much work you can get done in a short amount of time, recover, and repeat the same performance over and over again.

How do we Increase Work Capacity?

My favorite method of increasing work capacity is something called Density training. There are two ways of doing a density workout: either do more work in the same amount of time, or the same amount of work in less time. I will show you examples of both variations:

Density Workout One: Do more work in the Same amount of time

Complete as many rounds in twenty minutes as you can of:

10 Kettlebell Swings, each han

5 Pull-ups

Lets say you did a total of 120 swings, and 60 pull-ups. Your goal for the next work is to be able to do one more rep, or 121 swings and 61 pull-ups in the same time.

Density Workout Two: Do the same amount of work in less time.

For time:

25 Medicine Ball Haybalers

50 Clean & Press

75 Push-ups

75 135lb Deadlift

50 Burpees

25 Medicine Ball Woochops

Time the workout, then strive to complete the workout in less time.

Start implementing Work Capacity workouts in your training for increasing conditioning!

Related Posts:

• Differences in Training
• Train your Body as One Unit
• Stop Rationalizing and Lift
• Your Fitness Routine Away from Home
• Keep Changing Your Routine for Constant Progress

Subscribe to the Shah Training RSS Feed

Need help increasing your work capacity? Let Shah Training Analyze your Training.