"Dalton" - AKA Century

For time:

100 squats
100 pushups
100 situps
100 jumping pullups (everyone)
100 walking lunges

Once you have started an exercise, you must complete all 100 reps before moving to another.  
Post time to comments.

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Since May of this year Matt Dalton has lost 100 lbs as of yesterday.  Today we do this workout to honor his great achievement and to say thank you for all he has done to inspire us all.  We have also re-named this "century" workout. From this day forward, it shall forever be known as "Dalton."  Thank you, Matt!  

The day I took this pic (5-6-09) was the day I knew he'd "make his goal" of 100 lbs.  Care to venture a guess as to, why?   

Push Press 5x3 / IronMan Chronicles

FitZone standard warmup:

run 1 lap, then...3 rounds of: 

5 pullups
10 pushups
15 squats

----------------- then, 

5 rounds of: 

3 push press AHAP

Post weights from all sets to comments

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by Lizz Bennett

I’ve learned that some things are vital for success in endurance sports. Following a great training program, proper nutrition, smart planning, good equipment; are all obvious aspects in preparing for a race.  But there are a few important things that aren’t as obvious, things I couldn’t race without, things I’ve learned are just as valuable.

1. Good friends to train with, race with, and support.

 
 Sylvia, Rex, Lynnette, Tawnya, Barbara, me at Wasatch Back Relay

2. A supportive family.

My husband and youngest daughter right before a spring race, are they excited! 

3. If something could go wrong, it probably will!  Good ‘ol Murphy was a triathlete.

My twin sister Dorothy and I at the finish of the Women of Steel Triathlon, last May.  We finished dead last-had to walk her broken bike 6 miles after she crashed twice! We cried and laughed at the finish.  I’ll never forget that race! 
 

4. The ability to not take myself too seriously.

Notice the plastic “medals” we got for winning. I’m 100% positive they came from the Dollar Store.  We didn’t race for the hardware, that’s for sure! 
 

5. Triathlon is the most challenging thing I’ve ever done.  But it is also a lot of fun!

My son, Jordan, and I at the finish of the Bear Lake ½ Ironman Triathlon in August, we are ready to hit the beach.

pull,dead,push / sleep

AMRAP in 20 min:

5 pullups
10 deadlifts 95/135
15 pushups 

Post rounds completed to comments.
Scale weight/movements where needed.

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Too little or too much sleep can make you fat.  A recent study from the journal of sleep (Sleep, 31: 517-523), found that nightly sleep duration predicts future fat gain.  Sleeping too little, less than 6 hours and sleeping too long, more than 9 hours was found to increase your risk of obesity by up to 27%! 

The study found that sleeping less than 6 hours was worse for you.  Those who slept less than 6 hours per night were 7% more obese, on average, than those who slept too long (over 9).  In both cases the study found that short and long duration sleepers were more likely to gain up to 11 pounds per year that their poor sleeping habits persisted.  

We at the FZN value good restful sleep as highly as proper nutrition and great exercise patterns.  We have long persisted that one without the other is useless.  This goes for sleep, too.  Good sleeping patterns are critical to your health.  Proper amounts of restful sleep can go a long way toward making your healthy goals more practical and within your reach.  Proper sleep can decrease stress, irritability, likelihood of serious illness and disease, risk of falls or injury.  It can also improve concentration, healing, recovery from workouts, emotional interactions with others, and etc.  

Good restful sleep is most often the result of deliberate actions and routines on your part.  As with exercise, a little training can go a long way toward improving sleeping patterns.  To get a good night's sleep every night avoid caffeine in the late afternoon. Also, go light on alcohol, it disrupts brain patterns during deep sleep phases and leaves you less rested in the morning.   Sleep in a dark quiet room, avoid vigorous exercise before bedtime and get up at the same time each morning.  This includes weekends.  

If you are not meeting your goals with FZN recommended nutrition and exercise as quickly as you expected, look into your sleep patterns.  A little more shut-eye may be all you need to get to the next level.   

Sumo-WallBall-Sprint / "Damn Lies"

6 rounds for time:

15 high sumos 45/65
15 wall-balls 10/14
sprint to the wall and back (100 yds total)

Post time to comments.  

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Meg watched yesterday's video and took it to heart.  I'm not sure if she loved the workout, but she seems to have adopted the look.  

Big hair - check! Leotard - check! Tights - check! Leg warmers - check!  That only leaves...

Eat your heart out, Greer!  

I know, I know, I couldn't believe this was OUR shy little Meg either!  CMAU!

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“Damn Lies”
by Neil Anderson

 

The way I've got it figured...the health and fitness world is full of "Liars" and "Damn Liars." I guesstimate 9% the former and 90% the latter. This leaves about 1% of the rest of this multi-billion dollar industry "suspect" to say the least.

I've stopped trusting these damn people. Look, when I (a guy who has been in the game a while) have to make phone calls to find out if a product is legit.  Something is seriously wrong with the way this industry is selling itself.   

Just so people you know can't be conned by the basics, the following are some of the more egregious lies perpetrated by the health and fitness industry:

 

1. "It's not YOUR fault"

These lying liars who say this; make it sound like one day you could ACTUALLY be walking past a mirror and happen to glance up at yourself and be shocked to find a Twinkie hanging out of your pie hole. How could THAT possibly be YOUR fault? Obviously at that point you would be powerless to simply reach up and pull it out, right? We all know that secret ingredients in Twinkies deactivate our spitting reflexes, making it impossible to purge this hellishly delectable treat from our systems. - Stupid!

 

2. "Results not typical and may vary based upon diet and other factors."

All the fine print has gotten under my skin. EVERYTHING has fine print...EVERYTHING! IMHO fine print = LIES and/or DAMN LIES! Why else would you need fine print? Why don't these companies "sack up" and just say what they mean? Here's what that would look like:

"You may get results with our product...unless you don't. In which case, it should be cool with you because we never REALLY said our product could help you in any meaningful way in the first place... Anyway, we are going to keep your money."

I gotta tell ya, the above would be refreshing. I would probably buy from someone who put this as fine print.

 

3. You'll get AMAZING results!

This could be good or bad. Either way it would be true. Think about it..."I'm amazed by the great progress I made with this program" is the same sort of amazing as, "I'm amazed at the crappy progress I made with this program." Either way the company see's the word "AMAZING" from a client testimonial and publishes it. It's like they took spin lessons from a Kennedy!

 

4. “99% [of people polled who bought this video] call [name omitted] most effective They've used.”

My question is — effective for doing what? What did they ask those whom they polled? How many people were polled? How many questions were there? Is this video "the most effective" at helping the user lose weight? If it were (most effective at weight loss) wouldn’t it just say—that? Obviously it is not, then. It makes me wonder what exactly these users said the videos were the “most effective” at doing. Maybe 99% of people who bought these DVDs simply thought it was “effective” at playing in their DVD player. Hard to say, but I will tell you - this dodgy advertising doesn’t sit well with me. And I don’t think I’m way off base when I say, “I doubt if that chicken $*#! type of advertising sits well with anybody.”

 

5. "By following [omitted]'s program you could look like her at age 61."

That might be nice, but between the lighting, make-up, Botox, plastic surgery, contrast, flash editing, and the hazy filter on the camera - I can't see her. Plus, the damn photo of her on the box is 20+ years old.

 

6. It's University Tested/Recommended!

So what? You could pretty much pay EVERY university on earth to test, pretty much, ANYTHING. When you pay them, you get to tell them WHAT aspect of you product to test and HOW to test it. You can even pay them to make recommendations based solely on the testing they performed. It's shady, man.

 

7. It's free!

Since when did FREE require a credit card number?

 

8. Eat all your favorite foods and still lose weight.

What they aren't telling you is - you'll be eating a lot LESS of your favorite foods. We could all do that now, but we don't. Not sure THAT little piece of advice is worth paying for - YOU?

 

9. You will acheive AMAZING results exercising just a few short minutes a day!

The marketing ploy behind this crap goes like this - Buncha bigwig business types get in a room to discuss how to make their next millions.

Smartest guy in the bunch:  pipes up,  "Hey! Lets invent and market a vapor-ware product and claim it can change a person's life in, like, a coupla minutes per day."

Lawyer type: mumbles from the back of the room, "Um, wouldn't we get sued for false marketing?"

Smart guy: "That's the beauty of it...anyone stupid enough to buy this product would either be too dumb to file suit, or too embarrassed to admit they fell for it...We'll make MILLIONS!"

The room erupts in laughter and a new product is born!

 

10. Guaranteed or your money back.

They didn't finish the sentence. It should say "Guaranteed or your money back - Minus a shipping fee...a handling fee...a restocking fee and... a can't really think of what to call it, but would like more money out of you fee."

"Oh, but you can keep these [totally useless] gifts just for trying our product [which you doubly paid for in the above fees]." "No strings attached, (read - technically, it's a binding contract which doesn't need strings)."

Trust me.  I have been in the meetings.  They are making money on you when you send stuff back. However, they are hoping you will simply forget about your dissatisfaction with their product.  In fact, they are really hoping and banking on you becoming so busy that you forget about the product altogether.  After you have forgotten about it for a while, they are counting on one of your kids getting a hold of it and ruining it. Try sending it back then!

 

Here's what we do:

Complain! These companies all have websites. All of the websites have a "Contact Us" menu. Let's start contacting them. I personally am tired of being lied to by people trying to sell me something in the name of health. I refuse to believe I am the only one. Why do we put up with it?

Look, even if you like the product, but the company is using dodgy advertising - complain about THAT. It is offensive, degrading and condescending. I wouldn't let my friends talk to me like that - I especially WON'T let strangers who are asking for my money talk to me like that either! It is like paying someone to insult you.

Clean Your Plate

5 rounds for time:

25 plate cleans 25/45
25 double unders

Post time to comments

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Be looking for this workout to start coming up in the rotation.  Meg, Liz and myself have been working on perfecting these moves.  I'm surprised that daily participation in this workout isn't government mandated.  And by the look on this chick's face...Hell, I might do it twice per day.  

/p>

Run, KB / Row, KB - The Rx Principle

3 rounds for time:

400 m. run
25 Kb swings 26/35

500 m. row
25 Kb swings 26/35

Post time to comments

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Chandler demo's PERFECT A2G form on his way to Rx'ing "Hit the Deck."  Dude is a stud!  Had the fastest lap times, too.  

The following is an excerpt of the FAQ's section of the web-site that I have been working on for about a month.  Hope to have it done by the end of the year...:). - FitZoner   p.s. Sorry, the web-site HATES the formatting from MS word.  It looks funny but all the words are there.  

What is the “Rx?”

Rx simply means “as prescribed.”  Your goal as a FitZoner should be to someday be able complete workouts as they are written, or “as Rx’d.”  In other words, Rx’d workouts are done with ALL the weight, ALL the reps, ALL the rounds suggested and the movements should be done perfectly as instructed.  Where there is a time component the Rx applies to this, too.

What is the best way to progress to the Rx?

Methodically.  Remember, beating the hell out of yourself is not the goal here.  Any idiot can do that.   Progressively adding intensity to your workouts should follow a process.  The process is as follows: 

1. Scale everything.  This means to decrease all Rounds, Reps and Weights (RRW).  

    a. Generally beginners should scale all RRW by 2/3.  

    b. Intermediate exercisers may want to scale RRW by 1/3 to 1/2. 

    c. Advanced exercisers should scale less or more depending on experience with these     workouts.   Just because someone has been working out for years does not make them an     “advanced  exerciser” with FZN workouts.  FZN workouts are usually much more rigorous than     other workout styles.   

2. Add ONE thing back at a time.  Making broad sweeping adjustments to your workouts will only     serve to confuse and frustrate and will not help you progress.  Think about it, if you change two     or three things, meaning you went up in weight on the same day you added reps and weight,     which one is responsible for making you miserably sore (if you get sore)?

3. When adding work back in while progressing to the Rx do it in the following order: 

    a. Rounds.  Your first goal is to complete all rounds suggested.   For example the workout     “Oliver” is written with 7 rounds.  Before you add reps or weight to “Oliver” we suggest you     progress to where you can do at least a few reps at a scaled weight over ALL 7 rounds of this     workout.  

    b. Reps.  Once you have gotten to where you can complete all the rounds of any workout on a     consistent basis over several different types of workouts, you should then try to progress to     doing Reps as Rx’d.  For example: “Oliver” is written for 7 rounds of 20 reps of thrusters; 20 reps     of high sumos; 20 reps of situps; and 20 reps of back extensions.   Begin now to add back reps     gradually until you are able to complete all reps of any given workout at a scaled weight.  

    c. Weight.  The last thing you add is weight.  This must also be done gradually making sure that     your movements are done with proper form as demonstrated.                 

Hit the Deck / B6

With a deck of cards perform exercises as drawn for each of the following:

Hearts = Push-ups
Diamonds = Sit ups
Clubs = squats
Spades = burpees

Numbered cards are done for reps as numbered
Face cards are 10 reps
Aces are 15 reps 
 Jokers = 400m run

As soon as 1/2 the class is done with the card - we move on!
Rx is awarded to those who do all reps 

Please login to see video demos

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B6 Challenge

 

Rachel Jones, MPH, RD

University of Utah

 

Blah.  Blah, blah, blah.  That’d be the number one complaint of Americans.  Feeling tired, unfocused, slow to recover from workouts might be due in part to a low intake of vitamin B6.

Vitamin B6 from food is powerful anti-blah vaccine.  Without vitamin B6 foods in your diet, you could be experiencing depression, skin stuff, anxiety and attention issues, impaired immune response (sick lately?) and metabolic insufficiency (weight gain?).  Vitamin B6 is involved heavily in the conversion of carbohydrate, fats and protein into rocket fuel for humans.  If you haven’t been “feeling the love” when it comes to any of the aforementioned human functions, try my B6 challenge this week.

Over the last three years, I’ve challenged my college students to try this during midterms and finals and it makes a HUGE difference in test scores and ability to concentrate and stay well during times of stress.  If you are tired of being tired, try the challenge.

For one week, include the following foods (high in B6).  Be committed and you will notice the fog lift.  It’s biology and biochemistry.  I remind my students that they are walking chemistry labs and without the right substrates, metabolism has to shift to preservation of energy rather than abundance of energy.  Foods are powerful.  A banana has 14 times more potassium than a serving of Gatorade.  Use the following foods consistently—EVERY DAY—for a week.  You’ll notice things like better attention and feeling calmer.  Used all the time, the blah’s may eventually become a vocal warm up exercise for your new singing career.

Here are the foods.  Use them daily for seven days.  Don’t get too hung up on amounts, go for frequency and consistency.

1.          Bananas

2.          Salmon

3.          Sunflower seeds

4.          Spinach

5.          Carrot Juice (I make my own but Bolthouse makes a great fresh option in the produce section)

Include these in your current daily food intake.  In other words, eat other foods, too.  Keep in mind, this challenge is only for people who want more energy, a feeling of calmness, better skin, more muscle and less body fat, significant protection from the flu (regular and swine flu).  Give your body a week to consistently receive adequate amounts of B6 from food.  Challenge your fitness, challenge your nutrition.  

5x3 PSC / "An Ode to My Sacrum"

Warm up.

400 m run then, 3 rounds of: 

5 pullups
10 pushups
15 squats

Workout

5 x 3

Power squat cleans AHAP

Post weights to comments.
PSC must go below parallel to count.

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An Ode to My Sacrum

by Lizz Bennett

 

Oh my sacrum, the end of my spine

The bottom of it all

The behind of my behind

 

I never really thought of your importance

I’ve given you 6 weeks of therapy

And that is my penance

 

What have I done to deserve such hate

Is constant pain my outlook,

The course of my fate?

 

All because you’ve popped out of place

Muscle spasmed,

Keeping me out of the race

 

What a bad run of luck it took

To cause you to sprain

Between all of your nooks

 

To inflame the tendons that attach to my hips

To scream profanities

Out of my lips

 

I have iced you, laid on heat

Had you adjusted

Stayed off of my feet

 

Needles, massage, a cocktail of pills

Physical therapists, Dr.’s,

Sweet Loratab, ahhh Flexaril

 

You’ve had the rest, I’ve given you time

I’m over lying around

I’m taking back what is mine

 

And that’s you!  My dear little “end”

I control you

You’ve forgotten that, friend

 

Don’t worry, don’t fret

All out-I’m not yet

But squat, pull and push; I will

No compromise

And that is the dill (deal in Utahn)

 

Soon I’ll be back in the swing

With Kettle bells and Pull-ups

Once that bell rings

 

I’ll be aware, careful, just no longer supine

Oh boney, curvy slope

I’m leaving you…behind

 

100% is my ultimate goal

Ironman St. George

I’m your girl!

FitZoner

This is our benchmark workout: (compare times to Aug 23)

My "SuperFits" can do this in under 20 min. 

For time:

1 mile run
150 squats
75 pushups
50 pullups

Post time to comments.

All movements can be partitioned but the run.

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FitZoners rocking it with their fitness!  Thx for the email and pix Rach & Kelly.  Congratulations Kelly!  

"Neil,

Just thought you'd like some evidence that at 46 you can still beat 26 year olds in the toughest 24 hour mountain bike race in America. With a little help from FZN workouts, Kelly posted sub 1:35 laps on the gnarliest technical 16 mile loop. World's best were riding. Thanks FZN.

Rach"

Kelly - Rockin the young'ns!

This is called a "LeMans start."  It was a 200 m dash to the bikes to start the race.  Most competitive bikers HATE this.  Their "one dimensional" fitness makes their ability to run, almost nil.  I'll bet Kelly, killed them all RIGHT HERE!  

800's abs & squats / Riding Bikes

Complete 3 rounds for time:

800 m run
50 hanging leg raises
50 squats

post time to comments

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Meg, This was DEEEEEP.  I mean, really DEEEEEEEP.  Great article.  - FitZoner

Riding Bikes

By Megan Wallace

 

Tonight I tried (again) to teach my daughter, Briget, how to ride a bike. Honestly, I had no idea how this skill was supposed to be learned. For the past year my husband and I have taken turns running beside Briget providing her balance while she pedaled. We mistakenly expected her to master the skill without doing the required work.

 

As we continued this unsuccessful method of learning a neighbor boy came out and offered Briget his bike. He jumped on his older brother’s bike and she graciously accepted his smaller one. Then everything changed, Briget didn’t want me helping anymore but insisted on doing it herself.

 

As she began trying to figure out how to ride the bike on her own … she got it. We had been working at it for over a year, but it wasn’t until I got out of the way and let her control her experience that she figured it out. As she learned she continued to stumble, but she was riding the bike more than not and she was pumped about it. She didn’t want to stop!

 

I wonder, how many times have I climbed on a “bike” only to wait for someone else to make me move?