4 Minute Workout for $14,615

A while back I saw an ad in the back of magazine (I think it was Forbes) while I was skimming it in a waiting room.  The ad boasted this machine that looks something like a metal version of Santa's sleigh and was called the ROM.  This machine, as the ad read, would give you a complete full body workout in just 4 minutes a day and the cost was a whopping $14,615!  Now I know there are some expensive gym machines on the market but this one is out in the stratosphere.  On the ROM's website they actually defend the price.  They are perhaps going after the wealthy readers of Forbes who have no problem throwing $14,615 at an exercise machine if it will save them time.  For myself, I find the price quite ludicrous.

To be fair, I haven't tried the machine and it may in fact provide an excellent 4 minute workout.  I do believe that you can get a great workout in 4 minutes as it has been proven with the tabata.  A tabata is 4 minute workout where you perform high intensity work for 20 second segments and rest for 10 seconds so in a 4 minute period you will have done 8 high intensity segments and 8 rest segments.  If that sounds easy to you, buy a jump rope and a Gymboss Interval Timer and jump as fast as you can for 20 seconds, rest for 10 seconds and repeat this process seven more times.  I highly recommend the Gymboss Interval Timer as it lets you program dual intervals and beeps and/or vibrates after each segment.  Other great exercises for tabata are kettlebell swings, thrusters, burpees, and sprints (running or on a stationary bike).  Be forewarned, if you are not used to doing intense exercise you may have to work up to the 4 minutes.  It is not as easy as it may sound.  If you are not breathing heavily after the four minutes you probably did not work hard enough.  Using a heart rate monitor can help you see exactly how hard you are working. Do this workout 5 days a week for 6 weeks and you should see some great results.  Even if your results are only half as good as the $16,415 contraption, you just saved yourself quite a bit of money getting in shape.

For more in depth information about tabatas click here.

Getting Better

Feeling better today.  Luckily I never felt bad enough to miss a day of work.  All that is left to get rid of is an annoying cough that started today.  I am going to the mountains of western North Carolina and may do some hiking in the Great Smoky Mountains with my son or I just may take it easy and pig out.  A few days off from intense exercise should be good for me.  I will return this Saturday and will re-start my pistol program.  In the meantime. HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Sick Again...

It is a rare day when I don't feel well enough to exercise.  This is one of those rare days.  Feeling weak, sniffly and my eyes are burning when I look at the computer screen.  I think I will get home and get to bed early.  I hope this passes quickly.   One of these days I will get back to that pistol routine!

Pistols Update...

This weekend would have been days 2 and 3 of my pistol training but yesterday, Saturday,  I woke up extremely sore in both my legs especially my quads and every stabilizer muscle around my knee.  I decided to give it another day or so before getting back.  Saturday, I went to my karate class but did nothing else.  Today, Sunday, I am feeling a bit worn out so I thought it would be best to rest and start the week fresh. 

I guess it just goes to show how intense single leg squats are compared to normal squats.

The Road To My First Pistol - Day 1

I did my first day of pistol training at my company gym by performing 3 sets of ten on each leg of the eccentric portion of the pistol (squatting to the floor) and then doing a deck roll back on to both of my feet.  My second set for each leg I used a 15 pound dumbbell in my hands.  This added some stability but I am nowhere close to controlling the movement all the way down.  I can lower myself without crashing hard on my back and butt, but I do not have the balance, stability, flexibility or strength to get more than halfway down as I slowly fall backward on my butt and back.

Tomorrow will be the same workout.  We'll see how my legs adapt.  One of the positives from this workout is that I am losing the fear of falling backward while lowering myself on one leg.  It is a tiny victory but a victory nevertheless.  It would have been completely disappointing to not have been able to perform the movement.

I will be ecstatic when I could do just one pistol after 15-20 days but will give myself as much time as I need to achieve my goal.  It looks like I am not as young as John Sifferman whose blog post I am using to accomplish this goal so I will give myself more time than he needed which was only 11-12 days.  Less than two weeks does not seem realistic to me but who knows.  I will follow his plan to a tee and if it takes me longer - so be it. 

The Pistol

The single leg squat or "the pistol" as it is called is one of those exercises that most people struggle to perform including yours truly.  It is a true test of balance, strength, and flexibility.  If you are weak in any of those areas - I am sure I fall short in all three - your muscles will immediately give you the vote of no confidence and you will find yourself on your back or your butt crawling off the floor.

I have tried a few methods but never committed to a daily routine to actually master the pistol.  In the articles and demos that I have tried no method seemed to have a logical daily progression that would work for me until today when I found this article in John Sifferman's blog.

What I like best about John's method is that I am starting where he started.  His post includes a video and and he writes how he progressed with daily practice from where I am today - I can lower myself on one leg to a certain point and then I collapse down to my butt and onto my back -  to twelve days later where he can now perform the pistol - and more than just one repetition!  I am going to give this a my best effort every day and track my progress here in my blog.  It should be fun.  I will be away during Thanksgiving and since this only requires my body and no extra equipment I can practice this anywhere anytime.

5.5+ Mile Trail Run At Renaissance Park

You have to love the weather in Charlotte, NC in the Fall. Today it was in the 40s when I took my son to the bus stop at around 6:40am but by lunchtime it was in the low 70s and sunny with humidity in the mid-50s. They say Charlotte is one of those places where you can actually run an Air Conditioner and a Heater in the same day.

It was so beautiful out that we did the 5.5+ mile. Felt good but started getting a bit tired towards the end - perhaps it was the kettlebell snatch workout I did in the AM before work...

24KB Kettlebell
Reps 12-10-8-6-4-2
Snatches each arm and dips

Not a bad way to start the week! Feels great!

Running My First 5K In Vibram Five Fingers

The day of the Matthews 5K finally arrived. It is my first 5K since July 24th and my first wearing my Vibram Five Fingers KSOs. I had slowly built up mileage on them over the past couple of months and felt confident I was ready to wear them to race. At this point going back to regular running shoes is not an option and my only other option would be to wear my Puma H Streets however with those I have to wear socks and I end up with some blisters. The plus side of wearing the Five Fingers was no socks and no apparent blisters. To be fair it was in the 50s when I ran today and not in the 80s-90s which is usually when I get blisters so the jury is still out on the blister factor. I wanted to get a few more road runs in before this race but it just wasn't happening.

The race only had 57 participants. The July 4th race back in 2008 at the same Matthews location drew almost triple that number. I am thinking perhaps the recession and other local competing races were reasons for the low attendance. With that said it was easy to get near the front at the starting line. In the first minute or two I was actually keeping pace with the leaders. We turned a couple of corners and the distance between myself and the leaders(only four or five guys) started widening. Three guys passed me early as the gap was widening. Two of them looked like they were around my age so I knew I had to keep a strong pace to stay in the top three in my age bracket. The front runners looked much younger than me so I was not concerned. The other guy that passed me was pushing one of those baby buggies and keeping a heck of a pace but luckily he too looked younger than me. This race used 10 year age groups so I was in the 40-49 which is extremely competitive even in a small race. I ended up passing one person, a 14 year old, somewhere in the first mile. In the second mile a tall guy with blonde hair passed me. He looked younger so again I was not too concerned.

I remained close behind the blonde guy when we came to the crucial part of the race - the big long downhill into the big long uphill which comes just before mile marker 2. I conserved lots of energy on the downhill and was getting ready for the uphill when I noticed Blonde Boy was not moving that quickly up the hill. I thought I would give it a go at speeding up and passing him. I tend to enjoy running up hills so I slowly kicked it into gear. For a few seconds I was neck and neck with Blondie and when he didn't seem to be accelerating I turned on the juice and regained my lead. He was not able to catch me after that.

After that there was nobody to pace with as the distance between myself and those in front of me had grown quite wide. Two of the guys in front of me were within eye shot but I knew it would take a major sprint to catch them and not knowing the course that well I was not sure how much of the race was left so I conserved for most of the last mile. Another factor in the last mile was knowing where to turn. The course was not well marked and I was thrown off a couple of times. The police were not very helpful about directing the runners either. Twice I had to ask which way to turn as I approached corners. One runner I spoke with after the race missed a turn. During the race, a police man told me I had made a right turn down the wrong street. Some turn markers would have been nice. The street I turned down ran parallel to the correct street but the confusion certainly didn't help my time.

I hope to run the 5K at the Charlotte Thunder Road Marathon in December. Overall my time of 22:52 was good for a ninth place finish overall and 3rd in my age group so I'll take it and start training for my next race.

Powerbocking

I stumbled onto these through a link on Inov-8. I have not seen these in the U.S. yet possibly due to the cost which is upwards of $269. It is described as a portable trampoline/pogo stick and it enables you to run 20 mph and stride 9 feet and jump high and do pretty neat tricks. Rather than explain, here is a great article courtesy of gizmag.com.