As I mentioned a few weeks back, I’ve decided to change my training program and eating habits to facilitate weightloss. My diet is hardcore paleo, a surprisingly pleasant ordeal so far. The training program is a bit more complex, so I thought I’d jot it down for you.
Martine’s fatloss training program:
Morning program:
This program is done Monday through Friday. Alternating days you do either 50 kettlebell swings or sun salutations. If you don’t have kettlebells or dumbbells at home, I suggest switching the exercise for burpees (though you might want to decrease the amount of reps at first). The good thing about this is it wakes you up, gets your body going, without tiring you out before work.
Afternoon program:
Here, the real work begins. My program is designed to give maximum fatloss, meaning weightloss without decreasing muscle mass. (I know morning workouts would be better for fatloss, however, that doesn’t mesh with my current work situation. But if you want to try this program, every workout can be done in the morning.)
Monday: Powerlifting
Squats: warm-up sets then 5×3 work sets. Each time you successfully do three sets of five reps, you increase the weight with 5lbs for next session. Right now, I’m lifting 165lbs. Next week, I’ll be lifting 170.
Press: warm-up sets, then 5×3 work sets. Same deal for progression.
Power-cleans: Same deal.
Tuesday: Interval running
I do 4×4 intervals. That is, four minutes of sprinting (currently 9.5K/hr) followed by three minutes of rest pace (currently 5.5K/hr) four times. Remember to warm up before your work sets and increase the pace every time you successfully complete all four sets.
Wednesday: Metcon
For my metcon day I do a variation of the famous crossfit exercise Fran. 10×3 reps of thrusters and inverted rows for time (my thrusters are currently at 65lbs). To add progression in this exercise, I’ve added the rule that if I can complete the exercise within less than ten minutes, I add another set next time. So if I finish in five minutes, I’ll have to do four rounds of work sets next week. Once I hit five rounds, I increase the weight and start over. Short, and sweet.
Thursday: Rest Day
Friday: Powerlifting
Squats: Same deal as Monday. 5×3
Bench: Same concept, only with bench press. 5×3
Deadlift: Again, same concept, except instead of adding 5lbs if you complete your work set, you add 10lbs, and instead of three sets of five reps, you only need to do one.
Saturday: Interval running
To mix up my intervals, I do 2×8 intervals on Saturday. That is 2 minutes of sprinting (currently 9.5K/hr), followed by 1 minute of rest pace (currently 7K/hr) eight times. Again, remember to warm up before your work sets.
Sunday: Yoga
I’m fortunate enough to have a friend who’s a yoga instructor, so we practice together each Sunday. If you don’t have the opportunity to following someone else’s lead here, I strongly suggest you go to youtube and get some free classes there. It’s amazing what a difference it can be to have someone guide you through the movements.
So there you have it. Pretty straight forward, no? I’m enjoying it so far, but I’d love to hear your opinions. Does it sound doable? Fun? Challenging? Do you want to join me? I’d love to know how it works for you!
nascentnovelist 
Too much heavy lifting for me.
When talking about running it’s normal to use pace instead of speed, you’ll notice this if you read a magazine about running, visit a running website or talk about running to runners (at least the kind of runner who cares about pace, and most of them do). Your 9.5 km/h would be about 6m20s per km, and once you start tracking your runs with a GPS you’ll appreciate them seconds more. An improvement of 10 sec per km sounds better than 0.25 km/h.
Last summer I attended a running class with former Olympic gold medalist Vebjørn Rodal, and he favoured shorter intervals with higher intensity and not the classical 4×4. Run 200 meters, then walk back, then run the 200 meters again. Repeat something like 20 times. You’d have to run faster then you do in your 4×4, but you can get your heart beating a bit harder, which I guess is the whole point of doing intervals.
Personally I’m not that fond of sprinting, but I did find a stadium with an oval running track and did my intervals around it. 200 meters of fast running (4m/km), not sprinting, and then 200 meters of easy running (6m45s/km). As my normal run passed by this running track I just climbed the fence and did 5-8 repeats of this near the end of my normal run. Granted the first time I did this the pace was a bit slower and I ran fast for 100 meters and easy for 300, but I soon prefered the 200/200 intervals.
Comment by Gaute — January 22, 2012 @ 3:34 am |
Seems like I forgot that you’re not running outside, but pound away on a threadmill. The changing of pace on a threadmill is a hassle, and I’d probably do longer intervals on a threadmill too.
For that added fat burn I’d consider getting in some walking too, walking to work, or just jumping off the bus a few stops earlier. Getting in half an hour here, and half an hour there adds up pretty quick if you can squeeze it into your daily routine.
And I know I’ve said it before, but it’s those 2-3 hours of cardio that gets the calories flowing. If you can’t run for several hours (I know I can’t), then go hiking, or better yet, as a norwegian you are supposed to be born with skis on your feet. Cross country skiing is a great workout, and if you grab a backpack with some paleo snacks like nuts and raisins you’re set for a good long workout.
Comment by gaute — January 22, 2012 @ 4:08 am |
I know, but it’s a time issue there. I have too much stuff that I need to get done to be able to set aside more than 8 hours of training per week.
Even though I didn’t mention it in the program though, I do not own a metro card so I walk everywhere. On average that’s about 5-6K per day. Every Sunday, I walk up to a fruit and vegetable market, buy my groceries for the week and walk back. That’s an added 10K (half of it with an average of 35lbs on my back). So I do get that shit in there, it just doesn’t feel like training so I didn’t add it into the program. 😉
When/if we move back to Norway, then skiing will definitely be an option. Here, I need a car to get to the slopes (and to buy skis). 🙂
I’d love to do shorter intervals, but the only way I can get high enough intensity on the treadmill is by jumping off and back on. I’ve been told stopping completely between sets is less than optimal?
Thanks for commenting! Really appreciate your input on this.
Comment by nascentnovelist — January 22, 2012 @ 10:52 am |
Looking at my log for tha last couple of months it seems like I get in 4-5 hours per week, and I’m quite happy about that amount.
Unfortunatly I don’t have a plan to it all, I just go for a run or go to the gym for some spinning, and I try to do it at least 4 times a week.
I know I should do more strength training, but unlike you I like cardio, and find strength training to be boring.
Comment by gaute — January 23, 2012 @ 4:53 am |
I found this post fascinating…every occupation has its own language and while unfamiliar with this language of powercleans and metcon, I enjoyed the swim, Robin
Comment by Robin Hawke — January 24, 2012 @ 3:59 pm |
Glad you did! Let me know if you want any explanations! (I could talk about this for hours)
Comment by nascentnovelist — January 24, 2012 @ 5:37 pm |