31 January 2009
Brutal Leg Workout - Hail The Barbell
Lunge step 400m for time. Record time and number of steps to comments.
It's a good idea to pick up a pair of kneepads before you perform this workout. Though you are only to barely tap the knee on the ground on the lunge step, it is inevitable that you will whack that knee on the ground pretty hard once you start to fatigue.
Taken from Cross Fit One World
Tribute To The Haka - The All Blacks War Dance
The various types of haka include whakatu waewae, tutu ngarahu and peruperu. The peruperu is characterised by leaps during which the legs are pressed under the body. In former times, the peruperu was performed before a battle in order to invoke the god of war and to discourage and frighten the enemy. It involved fierce facial expressions and grimaces, poking out of the tongue, eye bulging, grunts and cries, and the waving of weapons. If the haka was not performed in total unison, this was regarded as a bad omen for the battle. Often, warriors went naked into battle, apart from a plaited flax belt around the waist. The aim of the warriors was to kill all the members of the enemy war party, so that no survivors would remain to undertake revenge.
Source
The "Ka Mate" haka generally opens with a set of five preparatory instructions shouted by the leader, before the whole team joins in:
| Leader: | Ringa pakia! | Slap the hands against the thighs! | |
| Uma tiraha! | Puff out the chest! | ||
| Turi whatia! | Bend the knees! | ||
| Hope whai ake! | Let the hip follow! | ||
| Waewae takahia kia kino! | Stamp the feet as hard as you can! | ||
| Leader: | Ka mate, ka mate | 'I die, I die, | |
| Team: | Ka ora' Ka ora' | 'I live, 'I live, | |
| Leader: | Ka mate, ka mate | 'I die, 'I die | |
| Team: | Ka ora Ka ora " | 'I live, 'I live, | |
| All: | Tēnei te tangata pūhuruhuru | This is the hairy man | |
| Nāna i tiki mai whakawhiti te rā | ...Who caused the sun to shine again for me | ||
| Upane... Upane | Up the ladder, Up the ladder | ||
| Upane Kaupane" | Up to the top | ||
| Whiti te rā,! | The sun shines! | ||
| He! | He! |
Read more...
26 January 2009
Cross Fit Journals - 51 Years Of Fitness
Does this sound familiar?
Getting old sucks. I’m only 51, not ancient by any means, but I can see the future, and it ain’t pretty. I’m fatter than I used to be, less buffed than I used to be, even shorter than I used to be—all this, despite an active lifestyle that gives me the appearance of someone years younger than my peers. For years I’ve gone to the gym. I’ve been a runner forever; a while ago, I began doing triathlons. But things start happening that are out of your control. I went from running 10 miles a day, to running 200 yards and feeling like I couldn’t run anymore. At 30, I could run 10 miles without having run in months, but not now—my knee, my ankle, my this, my that, would hurt.
Paul Manfre - is alot like many of us - 'past our prime' like they say.
But he stands tall because he did not let his (crushed) ego take him down - and now he stands all towering and rippling with strength.
Read how he overcame it all over here Read more...
HIIT - Training & Pictures
Here's another post why you should incorporate High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) in your workout regime instead of doing that 3rd endurance run of the week.
HIIT training has a number of benefits in addition to the reduction in training time. First of all, this type of training is far superior to steady-state exercises when it comes to increasing your VO2 max, which is the maximum amount of oxygen you can uptake during exercise. This means that you'll be in much better shape when it comes time to play a game of football with the guys.
Secondly, when you perform long-duration, moderate-intensity exercise, you can actually put yourself in a catabolic state in which you will start losing muscle mass. That's right: Some of that hard-earned muscle will start degrading itself in your quest to get lean.
The reason is that there are two types of muscle fibers in your body: fast twitch and slow twitch.
Slow twitch fibers are more compatible with endurance training (such as a steady-state one-hour run), whereas fast twitch fibers are more compatible with short, intense bouts of exercise (such as weightlifting or sprinting).
When we train in one of these modes, our muscle tissue has a tendency to take on the appropriate properties. As an illustration, imagine a marathon runner and a sprinter. The sprinter is composed of fast twitch muscles and carries a great deal more muscle mass, whereas the marathoner has a lot of thin, slow twitch muscle fibers so that his body is as light as possible to transport across those great distances.
This is going to the extreme to prove a point; however, you can see how much of a difference the type of training you do has on your body shape.
AskMen.Com
In short, do you want to look like this:
Or this:
My current HIIT program involves:
50-100m sprints
Rest 2-3min
15 tuckjumps
Rest 2-3min
Repeat. Read more...
Sandbagging By CrossFitEastSide
Your fastest way to recruit all those muscle fibres. CrossFitEastSide
25 January 2009
22 January 2009
Why Jogging is Bad for Fat Loss
This deserves some reading - especially for those who keep running and running but yet have the layers piling on - this article explains to you how your body adapts to your running routine, putting you at the loserly end of this battle.
So you folks might want to take up High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) - its rarely practiced in the running population here in Singapore. I did it at a local running stadium and it sure invited stares. Only a caucasian who was doing the same thing as I could appreciate what I was doing.
Firstly, the human body is very smart and will always try to adapt to the activity it is being put through. Therefore, as you jog, you will get more and more efficient at jogging. You get to use LESS calories by getting better at jogging. For example, when starting out you may burn 300 calories by jogging for 30 minutes. As time goes by and you get more proficient at jogging, you can only burn the same amount of calories (300) by jogging(at the same pace) for an hour. See, this works in reverse to what you want!
By jogging for long periods of time, it actually puts your body in a catabolic state, which means you start losing muscle. Having muscles actually raises your metabolism rate so there you go, jogging actually DECREASES your metabolism rate. If your goal is to lose fat, you would want to retain as much muscle mass as you can or even increase, and jogging contradicts what you want ultimately.
High intensity interval training (HIIT) is great for fat loss and it involves alternating short bursts of high intensity of work followed by resting. There are many forms of HIIT like sprinting, cycling, burpees intervals and kettlebells. An example would be the stationary bike: cycle all-out for 30 seconds and rest for 45 seconds and repeat for a number of sets. The work:rest ratio will depend on your current fitness levels and you have to experiment it yourself to find a sweet spot. Always aim to improve by increasing your work:rest ratio as you progress.
Read it all over here Read more...
20 January 2009
02 January 2009
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