Hard Men With Bad Knees

F3 has a NEW SATURDAY WORKOUT!!

Start date is next Saturday August 18th.  7 am start time (as always)

Location:  Myers Park Traditional Elementary

F3/ MP Trad *CORE*

This is a new type of workout.  It is going to be targeted for Pax who need us but want/need reduced running.  We will still make the workout tough.  It is time to EH guys that might have knee issues or are worried about keeping up on the running portions but still want the F3 experience.

This is a great opportunity to get some FNG's that have been draggin their feet.

DoReMi and CrotchRocket will start out as Q's for workout. This is different from the Eastover group of 1/1/12.  We are not looking to build up group and then start running more.  We are going to keep the CORE focus.

For men  who have been shelved by doctors due to knee or back issues and this is a great alternative for them.  F3 sees this type of workout growing into the weekdays.  This type of workout will be identifyed by the name and *CORE* next to name. 

PINCH Hits The Green Beret Physical Challenge

The Cylon's nutrition and workout counselor, PINCH, sends us the following: 

The UBRR was recently brought to my attention by none other than The Cylon.  For those who are unaware the UBRR is a new, much more intense PT test utilized by Tier 1 and Tier 2 special forces units in the United States military.  I read the UBRR and thought (sadistically so) of how much I would like to challenge myself, see wher I am at in my level of fitness, identify my weaknesses and hopefully motivate others to do the same.

A few notes and observations before I post my scores below:

First, it was tremendous to look at the results and see where I need to focus and get better, particularly running and pull ups.  As an aside, it is incredible how much more difficult "dead hang" pull ups are than "speed" pull ups (ie, the 3/4 kind done during a Murph or other type of workout testing muscle endurance and speed at the same time).

Second, similar to pull ups it was amazing (and simultaneously depressing) to feel myself tiring so much more quickly doing push ups almost to the floor and locking out arms at the top vs speed push ups.

Third, based on the previous two points I will likely work in at least one workout per week during which I stress excellent form over number of repetitions.

Forth, given the number of strong runners in F3 Nation I would expect some monster scores to be posted.  I know of several Pax who will run the 5 miles somewhere around 33:00 give or take and that alone will add 150-160 points to their UBRR scores.

Finally, I hope this provides a baseline for my F3 brothers and I can't wait to see some of the tremendous scores that will be posted.

Rules:

The UBRR is comprised of 9 events, 8 scored and one (the 20 feet rope climb) pass/fail.  I did't have a 20 feet long rope but have done it easily before so I am giving myself a pass on that.  Assuming minimum requirement is met in each exercise, every additional rep or lower run time adds additional points.  The higher the point total the better the performance.  Within various blogs online it was indicated that 1,000 was minimum score, 1,100 was decent, 1,400 was a freakin' cyborg and no SF operator is known to have broken the 1,500 barrier.  So, here are the scores:

Pinch, 6'5" 210 lbs

1. Bench Press - 80% x body weight, every rep above 6 adds 3 points. 

170 lbs x 23 reps, score = 151 points

2. Push Ups - 1 minute/max reps (chest almost to floor, must lock out arms at top).  Every rep above 40 adds 2 points.

51 reps, score = 122 points

3. Sit Ups - 1 minute/max reps (hands clasped behind head, knees touch elbows at top, shoulder blades touch ground at bottom), every rep over 40 adds 3 points.

 40 reps, score = 100 points (embarrassing!)

4.  Pull Ups - Max reps in one attempt, letting go of bar or feet touching ground ends the attempt.  Very strict form, chin above bar, no kipping, locked elbows at bottom.  Every rep above 6 adds 3.5 points.

11 reps, score = 117.5

5.  Dips - Max number of dips in one attempt, feet touching ground or releasing from bar ends attempt. Very strict form, arms locked out at top, arms at 90 degrees at bottom, no kip.  Every rep above 10 adds 2.5 points.

25 reps, score = 137.5

6. Rope Climb - Explained above

7. Kipp Ups - Tough to explain but imagine facing a pull up bar, turing 90 degrees and then grabbing a pull up bar palms facing each other, one hand in front of the other.  Pull feet up to bar such that both heels touch the bar, max reps in one attempt.  Feet touching ground or releasing hands from bar end attempt.  Every rep above 6 adds 3.5 points.

12 reps, score = 121

8. Shuttle Run - 25 meters down and back, twice, 100 meters total.  Must touch beyond line at each end.  Every 0.1 seconds under 24 seconds adds 2 points.

20:52, score = 170 (caveat, distance was approximate, I walked off 26 big steps and was timing myself while running so plenty of room for error here)

9. 5 Mile Run - Run 5 miles as fast as possible, every 5 seconds under 40:00 adds 2 points.

37:14, score = 166

TOTAL SCORE = 1,085

It was humbling to attempt this and made me appreciate even more how impressive our elite military really are.  Hopefully this is a baseline of sorts as I fully expect several 1,200 or better scores and even a few 1,300s.....BEST OF LUCK, GO GET 'EM!!!

SF Testing Burst/Recovery

During my time in Special Forces (early 90s), we were subject to the same physical training test (APFT) that the rest of the Army took to determine fitness. It was only three events: max pushups in 2 minutes, max sit-ups in 2 minutes and a 2 mile run for time. It had a sliding scale based on age and gender and once you hit the maximum (e.g., 92 pushups was 100 points), anything over that was irrelevant. It did not account for strength, speed or burst/recovery stamina--which are really the things a soldier needs in abundance. The sole virtues of the APFT were 1) it was easy to administer, and 2) it was at least a standard, something the World outside of the military did not have. Sadly, as easy as the APFT is, I doubt that 90% of the civilian population could pass it.

But things have changed. Apparently it is not Army policy (yet), but the SF world is using its own test now, called the Upper Body Round Robin. Here is the full description of the UBBR.  It consists of 11 events, has no sliding scale (except for a % weight adjustment on the bench press) and requires both a shuttle run (speed) and a five mile run (endurance). It features three separate events that require body weight strength management (pullups, kipups and rope climb). Truly a Burst/Recovery tester that I cannot wait to try.

Jerk-Dads

"If you live under my roof, you have to obey my rules. It's my way or the highway." Every kid gets that line at some point in the haze between late adolesence and early manhood. The kid is feeling his oats, seeing how far he can push it and he gets The Choice: keep sucking off the teat or make your own way. But if you stay on the teat, you are subject to the rules of the house. If the relationship between Dad and Son is healthy, The Choice is a good thing and not as stark as it seems on the surface. There is a power struggle that is being resolved by two men who love each other and want to work it out. The Son is asserting himself, but he's basically an inexperienced dope. The Dad is protecting his authority, but he knows he's on the wane and the kid is on the wax, so it's just a matter of time really. The ultimate goal of both men is that the Son is an independant, free and strong man. He can't get there if he stays on the teat until he's 30. That's if the relationship is healthy. If the relationship is unhealthy, if the Dad is jerk, he doesn't share the goal of the Son's strong independence because he wants to live forever or something in some utopian vision that excludes God's natural order of things. He wants to keep his Son down, not raise him up. He'll start working his angle at the cradle and keep it up as long as he possibly can--probably to the grave. He'll try to keep the Son on the teat by convincing him he can't make it on his own. And the jerk-Dad will keep ramming those rules down the boy's throat the whole way. It's a power thing. It's sick. Under that sicko formula, there is no real Choice. The Son either rebels against, escapes from or is consumed by the jerk-Dad's manipulation. Mostly, I'd bet it's consumed by. The kid believes the bullshit and becomes a man/boy, dependant upon the teat and beaten down by the rules that go with it. Here's my contention: every political philosphy and governing system from the dawn of time works the same way. A bunch of jerk-Dads band together to run the place. They get control of the teat and convince everybody else that they can't live without it. The price for life-long-teat-sucking is of course obedience to the capricious rules of the jerk-Dad cabal. Their house, their rules. And they don't like it much when you take The Highway either. The Pharoah was not happy to see the Jews ride off to Canaan and King George didn't throw a party when he got the Declaration of Independence in the mail. It's a power thing. It's sick. In America, the jerk-Dads are restrained by the Constitution. The Framers knew that just knocking the King off would not keep them free forever. They knew there would be more jerk-Dads. They may not have foreseen exactly what we have now, that the jerk-Dads would be telling us how much soda we can drink and what kind of insurance we have to buy. That would probably be a surprise. They would also be surprised that the crew they appointed to make sure the Constitution kept the jerk-Dads from getting out of hand was turning the thing inside and out and not really being helpful at all. Oh well. That jerk-Dad impulse is pretty strong. We Sons of Liberty still have the same three choices: rebel, escape or be consumed.

DownPainment/Flaming Youth

For reasons outside of his control, The Cylon has been doing a bunch of solo workouts lately, which usually translates into a lot of running. Better than nothing, and TC has come back from an undisclosed DownRange mission having violated the Pinch Principles way too much, but keeping the weight right smack in the middle of the fluctuation zone. OK, not too bad. But TC needed a good old-fashioned snot-woggler, and he got it today at the little known and kinda shadowy F3/Junction. Here's the Thang: 4.9 miles - Marinate staggered start - Prowler from starting position to 2nd cone & rotate 180 degrees for next man Run to Pull Up Bars – 10x Run up Lurker – 10 burpees @ the top Run down Megatool to Princeton entrance Bear crawl from 1st cone to 2nd cone Run to Hamburger Hill – 10 burpees @ the top Run to Little Mike’s dip bars walk the plank (up hill) Run to park exit @ Princeton – head toward Hillside to pick up greenway Lunge walk from 1st cone to 2nd cone Run down greenway and cross bridge to backside of Park Road Montessori From baseball backstop – 3 Q Dogs (ie. 1 lap in q formation with 10 burpees @ the backstop upon return x 3) Run back to greenway – lunge walk from 1st cone to 2nd cone Run back to Princeton & up Megatool – 10 burpees @ the top Run down lurker to Pull-Up Bars – 10x Run to launch site staggered finish - Prowler from starting position to 2nd cone & rotate 180 degrees for next man Yeah, it was a bear and it brought a full dose of the #DownPainment. But the best part was the other PAX. Given that The Cylon's identity is undisclosed, it's a given that his age is unknow. But, here's a clue: he ain't young. So, having to chase all these young studs around the Gloom is like an extra #WeightVest for TC and cranks up the pain to a point he could never reach solo. The flame of youth may not be burning so bright for TC anymore, but he can borrow a little from the young guys to whom the torch is ever being passed. Anon.

Are KettleBells Better Than Steel?

     After years of pushing steel in the weight room, The Cylon gave up the warm cushy gym for the gear-free outdoor F3 world. While he got in great shape, he did notice that he was losing some of that old Vanity Muscle Mass doing all that body weight work. So, The Cylon now loves the KettleBell--but how does it stack up against weights? Check out a comparison HERE.

PINCH--1 + 1 Doesn't Equal Two With Calories

OK, Cylon Disciples, here's Pinch posting through The Cylon from an undisclosed location where from which he cannot post himself:


As we delve further and further into the nuances of nutrition one topic that continues to generate significant debate is calories.  What is a calorie? Are all calories equal? Should we count calories? Is counting calories even possible?  There are numerous questions and the topic of calories as been studied ad nauseum.  I'll do my best, partly based on science and partly on personal experience to break down the mystery of the calorie.

Technically, a calorie is defined as either of two units of heat energy or the energy needed to raise the temperature of 1 gram of water through 1 °C (now usually defined as 4.1868 joules).  Way too scientific for our purposes but the main take away from both of these is ENERGY, more specifically the energy we need to fuel the human body.  Calories are critical for the human body to function properly and just as critical, if not more so to monitoring weight gain/loss or athletic performance.  Counting calories, however is an inexact and time consuming science.  How many of us have time to measure and weigh every portion of every meal or snack we eat to get an exact calorie count?  Unless it is our profession I doubt any of us do which is why "counting calories" can be so maddening.  

To avoid the time commitment and frustration of counting calories it's helpful to take a step back and ask another question, "Are all calories the same?"  Scientifically, a calorie of pure sugar is equal to a calorie of protein, but their effects on the body are dramatically different.  It seems like common sense but think about it this way, would your body process calories, look the same and perform at the same level if you consumed 1,500 calories worth of candy bars versus 1,500 calories of lean meat, egg whites, fruits and vegetables?  Study after study has shown that diets based on the same amount of calories, but different proportions of fat, protein and carbohydrates result in different amounts of weight loss.  This is due to the fact that calories, in all their forms have different effects on the human body.  Sugar, for example, spikes insulin levels and tells the body to "store fat" while foods high in protein or fiber tell the body to "burn fat" because protein and fiber require the body to work that much harder to digest than do sugars and fat.  At the same time protein and fiber leave the body feeling "fuller" for a longer period of time and cut down on the amount of "cravings" that may lead to unhealthy or excessive caloric intake.  That seems like a great combination for those looking to lose weight or stay lean.

The easiest ways to "count" calories that doesn't want to make us pound our collective heads against our refrigerators are as follows:
1. Smaller portions - This may seem obvious but in today's world every restaurant and even many meals at home are WAY TOO BIG.  Some times the best solutions are the easiest ones that simply arise from common sense...when trying to lean down go to smaller portions.
2. Focus on Protein/Fiber/Natural Carbs - Putting it in perspective, one cup of chocolate ice cream has approximately 300 calories while one cup of broccoli has only 30 calories.  This is an extreme example but serves a much broader point that, in terms of calories it takes a lot of "healthy food" to equal a normal or even light amount of crappy food loaded with sugar and fat.  When eating healthy you can actually eat more food because it tends to be much lower in caloric content and at the same time loaded with the protein, vitamins and minerals that will help you excel in any athletic competition or training.

The great news is that if you use common sense and eat healthy foods you can actually eat more, but will likely be consuming less calories.  A lot of the above is based on articles I have read but at the same time based on personal experience.  When I played college football I ate 5-6 meals a day, but many of those meals were purposely loaded with pasta, bagels and foods heavy in fat and processed carbohydrates to pack the weight on and my caloric intake was somewhere around the 4,500 calorie/day range....and I weighed in around 265 pounds.  Now, however, I still eat 5-6 meals a day and rarely ever feel hungry but I avoid the breads, pastas and foods high in fats.  Because of that my caloric intake is roughly half of what it used to be and my weight is down to a fairly steady 212 pounds.  As an aside, while I don't focus on heavy squats anymore most of weight lifting numbers are similar to those I achieved when I weighed 265 pounds and was 14 years younger.  

The key to weight loss is burning more calories than we take in, but I've found that the key to sustaining that weight loss and enhancing athletic performance is largely found in the quality of the calories we consume.

For more on the art/science of calories check out:

http://home.trainingpeaks.com/articles/nutrition/a-calorie-is-not-a-calorie.aspx                                                
                                                               
http://www.webmd.com/diet/features/dos-donts-counting-calories  
                                                               
http://www.naturalchampion.net/articles/article/2410291/51175.htm