I tried it!

This afternoon, I was talking to a couple of my mentees. Yes, I am entrusted with the honor of mentoring young Marines. (Insert Evil laugh here) One of them picked up the 16k kettlebell and began doing 1 arm presses just as I instructed him in a 10 minute period of instruction back in June. He did a fine job. I told him to park the weight and shake it out.

I asked him and the other Marine if they wanted to try the overhead press part of the combat fitness test (CFT). This portion is a 2 minute overhead press with a 30 lb. ammo can. Well, I don't have an ammo can in the office but I do have 16k (36lb) and 24k (54lb) kettlebells sitting by my desk (You never know when you will get the itch). Well after watching them both do a couple reps...I got the itch.

I said, "Let's race. I will use the 24k and you can use the 16k. We will race to 45 reps."
It was an agreement. I raced the Lance Corporal and the Private First Class counted reps. Ready, Set go! We started going at the same pace until around 30 reps. Then things got interesting. He slowed way down and was having issues. I paused a moment to show him the resting postion. I hit 45, and the LCpl had 37ish and I called it a day. Good thing too, the kettlebell was getting slippery. We didn't time the event but I'm most certain we were at about a miunte.

Lesson:
I'm pretty sure I don't need to practice this event.
I will continue working towards the heavier 1 arm press, jerks, Viking push press etc.
The young Marines need to work on this event. The LCpl I raced is probably one of the strongest Marines in the student population. If he was sucking wind...It's gonna get ugly.
This was fun.

Training:
Z
RIFGA
Ride 25
Clean and press - 24k 5x5
2 hand overhead press 24k - 1x45 (I used a combination of strict press, viking push press and jerks when the lactic acid was flooding my shoulders)
Jerks 1 arm 24k 3x10

Recap

Photo by Branson K.

Saturday was the RUSA 10th Anniversary 200k. Click here to read the day's recap.

Ride Stats:
125 mi.
Time: 950. 1 hr stopped time.

No NSAIDs! Before during or after the ride (even now). This is the first time I've done one of these events without this aid. GO Z!

Chow:
2 pkg cliff shot, 2 gatorade, 6 bottles water, 3 peanut butter and honey sandwiches (need to make them bigger), 1 ham and cheese sandwich, 1 Cliff Bar.
I did have some bonkage but it could be more fitness related than food intake.
Weight Loss: 5 lbs =~3 body weight. This is acceptable. Of course this weight is after a picnic.

Note: I did Z 10 min warmup with some added lower body drills and 10 min RIFGA pre ride.

Today:
Ride 6 miles
Z
RIFGA
Foam roller 'fun' begins shortly!

Intervals

I've put it off long enough (a few years). It is time to do intervals. I need to get faster. I've made some average gains on the bike by just riding the bike. The adaptation result from this method does work but there is a better way - increased intensity.

I plan to increase intensity significantly, keep strength training and get in at least one 3+ hour ride on the weekend. I also have to balance this with added combat conditioning but the instructor is a real pain in the you know what!

The problem is that interval training sucks! If it were easy, everyone would be doing it. The results are worth the effort.

I have been messing around with some sprinting and hill climbing for the past few weeks.
Tues - ride 15
Wed - ride 15 with 6 miles of hill repeats
Thurs - ride 30 - 7 x 36sec speed/36 sec rest. this was difficult. I tried to keep the RPM at 85. This proved to be very difficult. I need to figure the best gear combination and cadence for this workout.

Hammer Fest

I just returned from a hammer fest on the bike. We cruised up to Ft. Story and did a few loops with the rollers and wind. This quick ride has left me pretty much DUN!

I've been doing 2 Z sessions each day. The 10 neural warm up and the R phase movements later in the day. In addition, I've continued the Z homework from Mike Nelson. In a conversation I had this afternoon with a colleague about supplement, mainly multi-vitamins we debated supplements and multi-vitamins. Here are the questions I'm left with.

1. Do you really need a multi-vitamin or are the claims a marketing gimmick?
2. What is really in multi-vitamin? Are the ingredients safe?
3. Do we really get enough essential vitamins and minerals from food?

What do you think?

My colleague also mentioned that he was taking a certain multivitamin (GNC Sport) and had severe headaches from them.

• I said, "you mean like a hang over?"
• He replied, "exactly."

I haven't taken this particular vitamin for a few weeks as I try to switch brands every other bottle. I too get a severe headache with this vitamin. For the past few years I just thought it was the pollen in the air. WTH? So, I ask you this, have you had this experience with a vitamin (or this vitamin)? I think it is interesting and need to know if there are others that experience this.

________Other News_______

The much anticipated USMC Physical Fitness Order was disiminated today. The order explains how we will be tested for physical fitness (PFT) and for combat fitness (CFT). To summarize there are 2 different tests that will be administered semi annually. I did the math and that is 4 fitness tests per year. The order also states that ALL Marines will participate in physical training for 30 min 5 days per week. Judging from the new CFT, doing pt 5 days each week is a really good idea.

In short order I was assigned as the Combat Conditioning Instructor for my command. I have some work ahead of me. The important thing to remember when training or introducing this training to the average Marine is to take it slow and build the intensity over a few months. Even though all Marines should already have a good fitness base it is still good practice to work into it. Add volume with common sense. It does the Marine and the Marine Corps to hit it hard for 30 minutes to failure everyday. You will get overtraining and injury.

Here is a fact, the introduction and testing phase of the CFT has yeilded a 30% failure rate. Marines, Get Off the Couch and PT.

--------More to Follow--------

Last, an update about last months remedials. Both of my pull up projects are now off the remedial pt program. This morning Schmuckatelli did 3 pull ups on a PFT like he owned the bar! GO front planks!

Training:
Ride 20 mi. - Several sprints and hills.

Wed.
Viking Push Press VO2 protocol 6 reps x 20 sets 15 on/15 off

Monday:
Ride - 30

Lunch time fun

Today I sucked up the heat and headed outside. I quickly found a pull up bar sitting in a small shaded area near a very large tree. I didn't have as much time as the workout required but I made the best of it.

In about 25 min. I warmed up, worked on some skills and almost made it through a VO2 max session. I had to stop 5 min early as I ran out of time. Better than nothing!

Z
RIFGA
Pistol 16K 1 x 5/5, 1 x 4/4, 1 x 3/3 alternated with
Pull Up 16K 5 set of 3 reps
1 leg DL 3 x 5
VO2 max Snatch - 9 reps x 30 sets

The first 10 sets or so seem so simple it is like a nice warm up. That ends really quickly. LOL.

I have to confess I actually planned to do this 2x per week all month. I blew it off. Now I will pay for a few weeks as I adjust to the protocol.

Tuesday

I keep going back to the old Army recruiting commercial...'Some people do more before xxxx in the morning than most do all day. Actually it has been true for the past 18 years but this past month has been crazy.

I was up at 0330ish, after a snooze, to get ready for a bike ride, the gym with the fat-bodies (actually only 2 are fat, the others are just weak) and then my own workout. All before 0700.

The best part is the reward, a fantastic meal at the best chow hall (galley) in the Navy for $2.10. The best chow hall must be a relative term. I tend to think it is an oxymoron. How can something so terrible be the best? I can actually stomach breakfast at the place. Some bacon, toast (that I cook), hard boiled eggs, glass of water and a large cup of 'truck driver' coffee.

Training:
Z drill
Ride 20
Z 10 min warm up
RIFGA
DL - 135 x 10, 295 x 5, 245 x 5
Bench Press 135 x 5, 185 x 5, 155 x 5
Pull up BW 5 x 6 reps + 5 hanging leg raises.

At lunch, misc. kettlebell exercises for demonstration/instruction.

Note: I still dislike the bench press but I am very weak at it so must keep working it.

Read some more PTTP last night. I learned more new stuff.

Remedial UPDATE:
One month of supervising this program:

The fat people are still..FAT. I can't control all the twinkies, pizza soda they eat! They probably drink Gatorade too. Because it is healthy -- another blog post in the making, yea?

The two Marines that were struggling with pull ups showed huge improvements.

One Marine started at Zero Pull ups. I saw him do 4 sets of 3! He should be off the program in a few weeks as he has to do at least 3 on the PFT.

Core strength and the pull up are friends!

Fatigue

Perhaps it's not wise to do heavy deadlifting the day before a scheduled long ride. On my ride this morning, I felt lethargic during the whole thing. The pace was a little quick for me and I feel every mile ridden. I turned of and took a short cut home cutting off about 10 miles from the total. I'm not over trained but I am tired. Heck I was tired yesterday AM when I got up after sleeping through the alarm.

Either way, I plan to change my weekly lifting schedule a little so I am rested before I attempt to ride longer distances. I will do my Friday workout on Thursday and do some 'light' work like the VO2 protocol on Friday. The good news is I only have 1 more remedial day this month and I can get back on a regular sleep schedule.

Ride 30