The Korean Marathon…………….

In Korea, any kind of running event is called a marathon and some of my Korean colleagues, knowing that I run 4 or 5 mornings a week, thought that I should join them in their Family and Health Marathon on the November 16^th in Asan-si. So they signed me up for the 10K. There was a 6K, a 10K and a half marathon. I would have been happy with the 6K but for whatever reason I ended up in the 10, thank goodness it wasn’t the half marathon. Since breaking my foot in June, I have not run more than 5K at any given time and those runs have been segmented. The 10K was a true test by fire to see if I was all healed up. Other than a blister, I made out just fine. It wasn’t one of my fastest runs nor was it the slowest; I managed to finish in about 1 hour and 3 minutes which is on par with previous 5K runs; about 30 minutes. The best part, I wasn’t all that sore the next day. However, I did take the next morning off as far as a morning run. Gotta’ ensure recovery when going after that Last 10 Pounds.

Optimizing Workout Timing………………

So in all of the books and exercise journals I have read over the last several years I have never read anything that was specific on when you should repeat resistance training on each muscle groups; e.g. specific hours of rest. What I generally see is a squishy non-specific period advice like once a week, twice a week, three times a week, etc… However, recently I ran across something on the internet (I just can’t remember where) that stated 48 to 96 hours. Anything sooner and you over train, anything greater and any gains from the previous work out are lost. WOW!!!

For quite a few years, my wokouts had been based on 3 day splits, Monday, Wednesday and Friday alternating between upper and lower. With this routine I would be at 96 hours and 120 hours, e.g. outside of the ‘green band’. During this last year, I have been consistent with 4 day splits, Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. This keeps me at or inside of the 96 hour window. Has it helped or have I made any real progress? I think the answer is yes. Maybe not in the 1 rep max equation but it has made a difference in workout density. What I mean here is that I am completing substantially more work in a given period. Squats for example; when I left the US it was a warm up set plus 3 sets of drop sets (9 total at weight sets) for a total weight moved of 18,000 lbs. Now I’m in the 20 to 22,000 lbs range, completing a warm up set plus 6 to 8 drop sets (12 to 16 total sets). And I am spending close to 30 to 40 minutes doing this one exercise (squats) without tremendous fatigue; just a great pump.

The other thing that I have noticed is that my body weight is up, close to 10 lbs from a year ago. Initially I had thought the weight increase was just plain fat; e.g. lack of running and no changes in diet. Between the leg and foot injuries that have plagued me since last February, my cardio has been less than half of what it was the previous year. Although, since gaining on that broken foot over the last two months, one would think the scales would reverse themselves. Not so, the scale keeps climbing. The good news, the skin folds are still in the same range as they were when I went through the Lyle McDonald Ultimate Diet 2 (UD2) self-test 1 ½ years ago; I’m still showing about 14% fat. And if we add 4% just because we know the skin fold method is on the low side, even at 18%, that 10 lbs of gain doesn’t look bad, I’m still looking ‘normal’, there has to be some muscle added. The question I have is how much of that muscle can I keep when I push the scales back down. Maybe there is something to this 48 to 96 hour rule. Time will tell.

Running the Stairs……………

Well, the weather has finally turned to crap here in Asan Korea; it is snowing on a regular basis. It’s kind of difficult to get out there and run in the ice and snow, I’m just not geared up for that kind of running. And the local gym at the Grand Hotel; they don’t open until 6:30 am. I need to be getting ready for work by that time, so no morning access to the treadmills. And I really don’t have room for the fitnessblender.com cardio routine in my efficiency apartment. So what am I doing to keep up with morning cardio? I am running the stairs in the 14 story building we live in; from basement to roof there are 16 flights; 240 steps. And after the 4^th bout, I’m bagged. WOW!!! Talk about your O² deficit. Based on the cough-a-thon after my 4 bouts, I’m using parts of my lungs that probably have never seen air. I’ve done this now twice a week for the last 2 weeks, it is really challenging. And as long as there is snow on the sidewalks, I’ll probably keep it up. I may even shift to 3 times per week…………once I stop the cough-a-thon.

More Book Reports……………

I picked up a self-published e-book a few weeks ago written by James Chan. The e-book is titled Strength and Physique, Volume One: The Articles. The book is a collection of magazine articles that author had written for online magazines like T-Nation and Mind and Muscle. At first glance, the content seems kind of repetitive but once you read through the material, I feel the e-book is pretty informative and goes hand in hand with what we learned from Dr. Casey Butt’s e-book, Your Muscular Potential (I reviewed this book several blogs back). Where Dr. Butt leaves off with how to identify what areas of the body need additional work, Mr. Chan’s book gives you specific training advice on how to develop those areas. If you’re looking for that classic ‘V’ taper, you need to read this book.

For myself, a self-proclaimed hybrid (large ankles, small wrists), a rectangle with a larger hip structure than chest structure, Mr. Chen has brought forward some of the original concepts from the infamous Vince Gironda, 1950’s trainer to the stars, that I can use to hopefully give me some width around the shoulder and chest. The major items I will be working on are shoulders, lat’s and chest. So now I include a bench press that brings the bar to my clavicles instead of my nipples (guillotine press) immediately followed by a set of pushups; I’m hoping this will provide better definition of the outside edge of the pec’s.  I am back to dumbbell lateral raises plus a rotating dumbbell press (a bow press) and a side dumbbell reverse fly that hits the lateral and posterior deltoids very, very hard. And for lat’s, lots and lots of pull ups.

This e-book is full of these types of small tips that as a whole make the book a pretty good read. There are tips on diet, tips on routines, tips on work and rest timing and tips on specific exercises. Overall I would rate the book very good and a worthy addition to your fitness library. This e-book is available from LuLu.com or from Mr. Chan’s web site, ‘strengthandphysique.com’.

So with that, lift, run and climb the stairs, do whatever it takes to manage that Last 10 Pounds.

MMJennings