Man Eater

(compare to Aug 2)

AMRAP (as many rounds as possible) in 20 min of: 

5 pullups
10 burpees
15 pushups
20 squats

Post rounds completed to comments

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It has been a great year.  We at the FZN are grateful for you.  We are grateful you have shared a bit of your lives with us.  We feel privileged to have gotten to know you, and we look very forward to many years of continued friendship.  

Happy New Year!   

Go CRAZY tonight and we will see you bright and early tomorrow morning for your first workout of the year!  

Power Squat Cleanapalooza

(compare to Aug 17)

With a continuously running clock do one power squat clean 95/45 the first minute, two power squat cleans the second minute, three power squat cleans the third minute... continuing as long as you are able.

Use as many sets each minute as needed.

Post number of minutes completed to comments.

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Back in the Saddle

By, Lizz Bennett

 

Up until a few months ago, I thought my bike was perfect.  Sleek, fast, and light; it did me very well in my shorter races. But during my half Ironman in August, I sprained my sacrum and it took me 3 months to recover 100%.  All due to poor bike fit. (If you would like more details on the pain I went through, please refer back to my poem “An Ode to My Sacrum”, really one of my better pieces of writing.)

 Now this bike was measured and specifically designed; custom built…for someone else.  Although she and I seemed similar enough, small centimeters and tiny angles equal huge differences in body positioning.  That equals a big gamble in comfort and efficiency.

 You can spend $350 on a bike fit that will give every detail you ever wished for about how a bike should fit you.  By the way, that is how it should work-you don’t fit the bike, it should be adjusted to fit you.  A bike fit this detailed involves measuring every angle of your body, every length, it will tell you every option for maximum power and that can make the difference between first and second place.

 I’m not interested in getting first or second, or even 103rd place, I just want to race without back spasms and swelling.  So I opted for the $50 bike fit at Biker’s Edge in Kaysville, Utah.  Within an hour we had my problems figured out.  Here is a picture of Tyson measuring my height, and other angles of my body on a computer scanner.

 

 Afterwards we adjusted the seat height and the distance of the aero-bars from my shoulders. I got on the bike and we measured the angle of the bend in my knee and then the angle of my knee over the crank in the pedal.

 

 After an hour of measuring, adjusting, fitting different stems to the saddle and bars, getting on and off I could feel a world of difference. Here is what I looked like in aero-position before the bike fit.

 
 

And this is after…

  

 I see the biggest difference in the angles of my elbows in relation to my shoulders.  My seat was raised as well.  I am not down as much and probably not as aerodynamic, but the pressure in my lower back was relieved almost immediately. 

After months and months apart, my bike and I have been reunited, I’m not dreading the miles ahead of us anymore.  But only the miles will tell me if these adjustments are enough.  I am going to try these changes for a week and reevaluate how I feel.  1 hour and $50 bucks well spent.

HSPU, SAS

5-4-3-2-1 reps of:

Handstand pushups (pike or strict db press AHAP to scale)  
Single arm snatch AHAP    

Rest as needed
Post consecutive reps and weights for each movement to comments.
See video demos below. 

HSPU demo

/p>

SAS demo

/p>

Stamina

Perform 3 sets of each exercise AFAP before moving to the next exercise.  Time each set and try to accomplish all three sets at or near the fastest time possible.  Rest precisely 1 min between each set.  

12 pullups

15 thrusters 45/65

18 pushups

21 situps

24 KB swings 25/35

Post all times for each exercise to comments.  

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My favorite thing that I have heard said in the last couple of months came from Lizz on the FitZone Nation Radio show last Saturday.  

She said, "I HATE New Year's resolutions."

I asked, "Why?"

She said, "Why put off til later something you should be doing now?"

  

  

 

Saturday Surprise

Go as hard as possible for 4 min of each of the following:

row
lunge steps
hanging leg raise
burpees
high sumo 45/65

post reps and distances to comments

or, 

Go run 2 mi. for time.  

Merry Christmas

It is official FitZone Nation policy that you should tear it up today.  Eat as much of ANYTHING you want all day long.  Go Crazy.  Don't worry about missing today's workout.  You deserve days like this - OFF.  

Merry Christmas, friends.  

 

Flabaway

(compare to Oct 26)

5 rounds for time:

15 barbell biceps curls 45/65
15 triceps overhead DB extensions 15/25
15 sideups R
15 sideups L
run 400m, or row 500m, or 100 double unders, or high knees for 2 min

Post time to comments.

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Aftermath of the 5:45 "Meg-inator."  I'd say that pretty much sums it up.   

Meg-inator

For time:

15-16-17-18-19-20 reps of:

thrusters 45/65
burpees
KB swings 25/35

Post time to comments.

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Mike is POUNDING "Manimals."  

I can't tell if this is a look of pain, fatigue, disgust or intimidation.  Whatever it is, Mike, you are selling it!  

Don't forget...tomorrow is high socks Wednesday!   

Ham Haters / Iron Man Chronicles

5 rounds for time:

10 BW deadlift
20 jump squats
1 ladder sprint (10 total turn arounds)
rest 1 min.

Post time to comments.  

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"My motivation here...just to stay in front of this guy."

 

Motivate…Yourself

By, Lizz Bennett

 

There are only two ways that motivation originates, intrinsically and extrinsically.  Either it comes from inside or out; from within yourself or from the way you compare yourself to others.  Lately I haven’t been able to access either.  I don’t know if it’s because of the crappy weather, the holiday stress or just plain laziness, but I have really questioned my goals as an athlete and my ability to compete.  Everyday has been a fight to get to my workout and make my workout count.  Friday it took 3 miles on the treadmill to get myself out of my head and just run, 3 long painful miles. I won’t lie, 10 miles really helped me feel better but my workouts are suffering and my diet has gone down the toilet which has only contributed to this downward cycle.

 I heard some girls talking today about how they can’t wait for January 1^st to kick it in gear and be perfect on their diet.  My first reaction was, “geez, what are you waiting for?  Why is January 1^st the only, the absolute day to start treating yourself better? I hate New Years resolutions; I haven’t made one in years. I feel like it is just another way for people to allow themselves to fail. I feel like it gives people an excuse to wait.

Although I haven’t been waiting for the first of the year to push myself, I guess I have been waiting for something.  In my experience extrinsic motivation will only get you so far, there will always come a point in a race where it isn’t enough to not let someone pass you or care who is watching.  At some point those things become obsolete as you struggle to keep going.  Competition has its place; don’t get me wrong, it is a huge motivating force.  But when I start to care too much about others and their performance and what I think they might think of me, I am putting too much energy into mixed perceptions and not enough energy into myself.

 The power you get from motivating yourself has longevity and force.  It’s what moves you in a race when it hurts to bad to run so you start to walk, and then it hurts to bad to walk, so you start to run.  It is the absolute belief in yourself and the faith in your preparation. Ultimately it is what will get you across the finish line.

 So what am I waiting for?  Why let a few bad days determine the rest of my training?  I believe that if I push myself through this I will reach a new summit in my training and then I can look back and remember that when I hit my next brick wall.  How am I going to do this?  Well, I could write about it and then put it on the web for peer review.  But I have some other techniques that I have learned.

 Last year I attended a triathlon clinic where we had pro athlete’s and professional sports psychologists come and talk about ways to stay motivated. I have combined their great suggestions with some of my own. It’s a good idea to write these down so that you can look at them when you need a reminder. Ask yourself some questions. 

          -Why am I really doing this?

          -What is it I enjoy most about triathlons?

          -How does this affect my life?

          -What is a favorite race memory?

          -What is a favorite workout that I haven’t done in a while?

          -If I couldn’t do triathlons, what would I do?

          -What part of training do I love the most?

          - What has been my favorite race and why?

          -When I have a great race, I feel…

 

Hopefully these will kick start some positive self-thought.  I definitely need to go through these again and get my head back in the game.  But I am not waiting for January 1^st to do it.  

Shoulders + Pre-Fatigue / Meeting the Yak

complete 3 rounds of the following:

4 Strict standing OH press AHAP
20 side lateral DB raise 10/20 ea.

Then,  

complete each triplet 3x with little to no rest before moving on

15 biceps db curls - 20lbs./30lbs ea.
max reps of Australian pullups  
20 sit-ups

repeat 3x then:

15 db OH triceps extensions 15/35
max reps of push-ups
20 back extensions

repeat 3x then: DONE

Post reps and weights to comments.

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I have always said one of the best things about the FZN is EVERYONE must leave their EGO at the door to workout here.  It is why we don't have those assholish types walking around the place flexing and gawking at themselves in the mirror.  These types have only one purpose in life...to intimidate the weaker.  There is no other purpose behind their posing and pea-cocking. 

Those jerkwods don't last long at the FZN.  Their EGOs won't allow for it. 

See, the coolest thing about the FZN is, after a workout, we all walk out just as tired as one another.  From the most fit, to the stone cold NOOB.  Our workouts are INFINITELY SCALABLE.  This means if you were brand new you could scale back the workouts.  It also means if you were a certified fire breather you could scale the workout up to suit your needs.  These workouts suit the needs of little children and the quite elderly, the same.  They are HARD as hell EVERY fricken time.  This is the secret to our great results. 

Posers and primpers lack the ability to be seen in others eyes as anything but "the best."  By participating in a FZN workout, the very BEST are the ones who take themselves to their own highest level.  They seem to be the ones on the floor wrestling with "an attack by the Yak" after each workout."  You can easily recognize them by the green coloring around their eyes, and the whitish blue lips from lack of O2, lying on the floor in a pool of their own sweat.  Not a very flattering picture.  At the same time - quite flattering. 

I have found myself on the floor quite often lately and have been the architect of many a perfect sweat angel.  I have stared the "Yak" deeply in the eye many times, recently.  I have done this while performing behind others who wonder why I am struggling to keep up with them.  Yet I know they don't judge me. 

It is impossible to do so. 

This is the magic of the FZN.  On any given day, EVERY one of us are merely ONE workout away from an attack by the Yak.  If you two haven't met - you will.  He will not be denied.  Regardless of your fitness level, simply stepping into the FZN with guts and determination, is equivalent of waving a red cape in front of "his nastiness."  We all know it is simply a matter of time before we each take a horn in the gut.            

While the uninitiated NOOB might worry about what others think of him or her if they get sick or have to quit a workout early to burst into the parking lot and construct a puke pile...he or she would feel much more relieved to know, as I do now, that instead of judging them weak or insufficient...we are only feeling lucky.  Lucky because we know next time it might be one of us.  And we welcome them (and their outstanding effort of intensity) to citizenship in the nation!