Bear Crawl Sprints!

We've got the Cybex Arc Trainer at my gym and I love this thing. It's kind of like an elliptical machine but with longer strides and even lower impact - you can use the arm bars for a full body workout or just balance yourself and do legs. I go for the full monty!

At it's lowest incline it simulates x-country skiing, then elliptical, then stair stepping, then hiking, and finally mountain climbing.

Of course, I max it out and put it on 10 (mountain climbing mode) and the resistance up to 100 (also max) and grab the handles on the heart rate sensors and slowly climb the mountain while maintaining my HR at 120bpm (fat burning zone).

I set the timer for 60 mins - and every 5 minutes, i reach forward and grab the front handles and I do a 40 second all out sprint. This raises my HR to about 173bpm at the end of the sprint. The sprints are insane though - It's similar to a bear crawl sprint up a mountain. In 60 mins, it said I burned 1365 calories but I'm not sure how accurate that is... all I know is my legs are shaking and feel like they left my body when I'm done. It's an absolutely insane workout.

Now that the weather is starting to get reasonably warm, I'm going to take my cardio out in the hilly woods and play... I can't wait!

My Workouts

In the past I was trying all sorts of different methods of exercise - Isolated weightlifting, pyramid lifts, 4 day splits, high rep / light weight, no weights - just massive amounts of cardio, etc. The end result - sure I made some progress but nothing in comparison to what I've been up to lately!

As I mentioned in my last post, Primal exercise consists of mimicking the gathers & hunters of years past. Slow walking (or any type low intensity cardio), sprints and lifting heavy objects.

Now I'm not out in the woods with a spear hunting down animals and then carrying them over my shoulders back to camp for dinner... so how did I incorporate all this in to a modernized version that benefits me with strength building and getting leaner?

Two ways. For my heavy lifting, I'm doing StrongLift's 5x5 program which is absolutely killer! A massive core and mass building routine that requires heavy lifts and a shorter time spent in the gym. It's a win win situation! I do this on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. There are two workouts as part of this plan - Workout A and Workout B - which I alternate back and fourth each time I'm at the gym. I will explain what the workouts consist of in just a few. For my low intensity cardio and sprints, which I do 2 days out of the week (not on lifting days of course!) I switch things up with walking, cycling, or hiking. I go at least 1 hour at a moderate pace so I don't elevate my heart rate too high - I like to keep it right at around 120 bpm, which for my age and weight is right in the fat burn zone. For the sprints, this can be obviously done with any of the aforementioned exercises by incorporating a 20 second max push back to your moderate pace for ten seconds, then repeat. I do this at least 8-10 times over the course of my hour.

The StrongLift 5X5 Program

Workout A

Squat 5x5
Bench Press 5x5
Inverted Rows 3xF
Push-ups 3xF
Reverse Crunch 3x12

Workout B

Squat 5x5
Overhead Press 5x5
Deadlift 1x5
Pull-ups/Chin-ups 3xF
Prone Bridges (Planks) 3x30sec

For those who may not know 5x5 means: 5 sets with 5 repetitions per set. 3xF means: 3 sets with each one to failure.

Seems simple enough right?

Well let me tell you, as you progress by adding 5lbs. to the bar each time you workout, regardless of what pound weights you were able to start with from day one, and no matter how much of a man (or woman) you think you are, this routine will push you to your absolute limits in no time at all. It is BRUTAL!

Today, Friday, I finished up the week with Workout B and plan on a casual 5 mile hike through some local trails tomorrow... it's supposed to be up in the 50's and sunny. I'm looking forward to it!