Rushfit Week 3 complete: George St Pierre v Bob Harper, who wins?

Twice a week Rushfit calls for a 30-40 mins of cardio in which you "should not feel too out off breath afterwards". I presume this to keep you fresh for the next Rushfit session. Initially  I did some light cardio or some yoga, but this week I decided to kick things up a notch by doing a an hour of high intensity aerobics.

Since I had been using the Biggest Loser Yoga  I picked up the cardio DVD from the new Bob Harper (trainer on The Biggest loser) fitness program The inside out method. Let is be known, this DVD kicks your ass. Within 5 minutes I was sweating and after 15 I was burning up!

The program consist of isometric holds mixed dynamic movements with the aid of dumbbells. The dynamic movements are similar to those used in kettleball work outs and the iso holds are typically switched between plank and squat positions. The negative effect of this is that you get a very repetitive workout and someone without drive may find this an extra burden.

That being said at the end I was totally wiped out even the people in the video were giving up during some of the iso holds. I did the work out twice last week and going back to Rushfit almost seems like a treat. There is two more DVDs in the inside out method; Yoga and Strength. I hope to pick them up this week and tell you how much they hurt soon after

Till next week
TTF
230lb

Rushfit Week 2 complete: 2 weeks late (blame the chest infection)

Right after week one was complete my lungs were assaulted by some viral lout who wanted to take up residence in my alveoli. After two weeks of coughing, spluttering and intense negotiations with the Vascular Tenants Board, I was able to continue with the program, albeit in a weakened state.


One thing I will say about Rushfit is that sometimes it can feel repetitive. This is mostly because of the same warm up and cool down video being used for each work out. I really don't need to here how the warm up is " a multifaceted warm up blah blah blah" every single day, just do it. Another downside is the lack of intensity by GSP and the coach Erik Owings. I expected lots of encouragement and pushing through the tough stages, but Owings sounds calm and passive most of the time and GSP rarely gets things heated up. Sometimes GSP does get pumped about reaching the end off the round or workout and he is a really good motivator but it's not done enough.

That being said, the work outs are excellent. They are well paced and build up in difficulty through each round. As I said before some of the moves (especially in the ab work out) are damn hard, but I found this week I was getting better at them and may actually be able to complete them by the end of the program.


Till next week
TTF
235lb

Rushfit Week 1: Fattie does a Kimura

So how does it feel to get back into training again? On day 1 of Rushfit, I felt dizzy, nauseous and exhausted. Good times!

However, Rushfit is day-on-day-off so the next day I did some cardio (fattie Pilates if you must know). This gave me some much needed stretching and relief from the previous day. Back into the program and things went much better, no dizziness just lots of sweat.

So far there has been 3 rushfit work outs and 3 self assigned cardio sessions.Already I can feel the benefits; with increased around strength and recovery time.I like learning MMA moves which I have not done before, the Kimura really works the abs. That being said when asked to perform a full bridge being held up with my hands I felt that the workout was asking a bit much.

So with week one complete I have a few observations:

Pros:

• The 10 min warm up is excellent and properly prepares you for the main work out. Some other fitness programs skip this or don't spend enough time on it and this has caused injury in the past.
• The round system, 5 mins off, 1 min off x 5, is excellent and creates enough variety to prevent boredom

Cons:

• Some of the moves in the workout are hard to do and some of Ab work out moves are just plain dangerous
• Its the same warm up and cool down for every session and It's already getting annoying. 

3 pounds lost so far, hopefully week 2 will be just as productive

Next week I'll being including my eating schedule for your critique.

TTF
233lb

Fattie does Rushfit, the new workout

Its been 3 months since the fight and training has slowed to a stand still. Maybe once a week I would go for a run or a trip to the gym, but nothing steady and of course the inevitable happened. From a low of 225lb my weight has increased to 236lb. Even with a fairly good diet, without exercise I couldn't compensate for the less than irregular treats.

STOP! This isn't happening again, I made that promise last year. Its time to take action again and this time I'm not making my own program up, I'm letting George St-Pierre do it for me. I picked up Rushfit last week, GSP's 8 week program to "train like a champion". Rushfit appealed to me because it requires no special equipment, only dumbbells.


Day 1 was yesterday and it hurt like all hell, which only means I need to keep going.

More updates soon

TTF
236lb

Fattie has a fight

My apologies for the lack of updates, entries will be more regular from now on.

The fight was a little over 2 weeks ago and it was exciting to get back into the ring after 2 years off.The 1 minute rounds caught me off guard, but it made me work harder in each round. It was scrappy for sure, but hey novice boxing is always more fun to watch :). By the way my official weigh in was 231.0lb

Anyway I'll stop blabbing and you can judge for yourself.

TTF

From another angle

Final Week: 27lbs lost in 10 weeks, the war continues

Bodyweight: 236.5lb "BodyFat": 32.1

I called the Royal Society today to confirm that indeed the laws of thermodynamics are intact. Eat less and move more is the key for Fattie to Fittie and it works.


My fattie-to-fittie plan works for me because I don't have to suffer while I lose weigh (except the rough sparring sessions). I have regularly "broken diet", enjoyed alcohol and did not exercise everyday. However, the old habit of rarely exercising  is broken and 4-5 days a week I work out. The cheat days are now weekly not daily and only for one meal. In fact, today as a celebration I ordered the "fat bastard burger" (I'm not making this up) and I still hope to lose weight by next week. You can too.


Fight night is only 3 weeks away and if you are in the Niagara area I hope to see you there to support a fantastic coach. Then the new challenge starts, reach 200lb by February 2012 and run 10km. This I expect will be much tougher with muscle gain versus fat loss coming in to play. So, I have decided to get a quality pair of fat calipers to track the fat loss. Thanks for all the support and look forward to more updates.


Till next week
TTF

Week 9: Fattie runs for 30 mins, covers 5.3Km

Bodyweight: 240.0lb "BodyFat": 33.0

The owner of a running store in St. Catharines once told me that running is 10% Physical and 90% Mental.  His numbers may be a little off but the theory is sound. Getting from 10 mins to 20 mins took months, but going from 20 mins to 30 mins took 2 weeks. Increasing my runs by 2mins every couple of weeks, made it mentally easier but the jump to 25 and then 30 was pure gut instinct. "If I can do an hour's training at the boxing club, I can jog for 30 mins". So I say ditch the harsh leveling up of Couch to 5K and use the mentally easier 2 minute increments


Weight loss was however a struggle this week, even with the 2lbs gone by the end of the week, it fluctuated almost every day. Looks like I'm headed for the dreaded plateau.  With the 10 week challenge over soon, I will be making a new challenge. All ideas welcome but I'm thinking reduce body fat and increase running time for a start.


Check out the blog next week for the final weigh in of the 10 week challenge.


TTF