My New Fat Loss Program Is Ready For Takeoff…
October 15, 2014 by danny · Leave a Comment
Hey, all. I’ll make this brief as most of the explanation can be found in the video below. But quickly, I just published my first program for weighttraining.com. The first one is geared towards fat loss, but I will be adding new programs with different goals… programs geared towards adding strength and explosivenss (i.e. improving your vertical jump), for basketball players, another fat loss program that will compliment and progress from the one that I currently have up, etc.
Anyway, I’m pumped to be writing programs for them as I think this will help a ton of people. Many people don’t know where to start. While others have hit a wall and don’t know where to go to take their training to the next level. I think this will help get them going in the right direction.
If interested, simply click on the link below.
Fat Loss Program, Block I
And again, check out the video below as I elaborate and on some of the benefits and what this whole thing entails.
Let me know if you have any questions, and I look forward to helping you reach your health, physique, and performance goals!
Some Of My Favorite Cardio Options
September 19, 2014 by danny · Leave a Comment
This is the longest I’ve gone between blog posts since starting up DannyMcLarty.com. BUT, I’m back! My summer hours were crazy but with high school and middle schoolers back in school, I *should* have some free time to make more frequent posts. At least, I’ll try my best!
The treadmill is not my friend. I have A.D.D. to the 27th power. After about 14 seconds on that thing I start to get panicky, as if I was locked in a small room… GET ME OUT OF HERE! Humans are meant to move, and if getting on the treadmill is something you enjoy, more power to you. Just not for me.
Maybe you’re like me and need to change exercises often to prevent extreme boredom. If so, below you’ll see some of my favorite cardio/conditioning options. Start incorporating one, or all, into your cardio program…
-Battling Ropes – Great low-impact exercise. Even if you have a lower body injury, battling ropes offer a great conditioning tool to work around your injury.
-Heavy Jump Rope – This exercise will get your heart rate up and have your quads burning in no time flat.
-Medicine Ball Jump ‘N Chase – I love this option because it involes deadlifting, jumping, throwing, and sprinting. That’s a big-bang-for-your-buck exercise!
-Sledgehammer Tire Swings – Tough day at work? Kids driving you crazy? This exercise is great for taking your frustrations out! Unleash your fury!
-Plank-Ups – These are really hard. Whenever a member of my gym comes in and sees plank-ups on their training program, it’s usually followed by an eye roll. Hard, but effective!
-Slideboard – Another great low impact option. A unique benefit we get out of the slideboard is the fact that we move laterally (sideways). Most exercise options have us going straight forward. The slideboard helps reduce the chances of overuse injuries since this gets us out of the usual straight forward motion – now we are not performing the same repeative motion over and over and over and over and over again.
-Farmer’s Walks – Another big-bang-for-buck conditioning option. It works your grip, traps, core, and if you choose a heavy enough weight, will really get your heart rate up!
-Boxing - I don’t coach or compete in Boxing/MMA/UFC, so I’m not real concerned about technique (don’t want it to get ugly though). I just use the heavy bag to rapidly raise my heart rate, and like the sledgehammer tire swings, get in to beast mode and go to town! Thrity seconds of all-out effort will make you really tired and definitely give you new found respect for a boxer’s high-level of conditioning!
-Kettlebell Swings – KB Swings are great for working the posterior chain (hamstrings, glutes, low back). They’re also a great teaching tool for learning the hip hinge. Excellent exercise!
-Dumbbell Jump Squats – Another great exercise. Just make sure that you choose a weight that is fairly light… heavy enough to increase the difficulty level of the jump, but not so heavy that it has you slamming down to the ground greatly increasing joint stress. Depending on your strength level, body control, and the amount of reps you are performing, anywhere between 5-25 pounds would probably be a good choice.
-Jump Rope – The simple jump rope was a great choice when TVs were in black and white, is a great option today, and will be an excellent choice in 2054. My powers only go so far… I only have 40-years of future-predicting-ability left in me. But my guess is that our grandkids grandkids will still be using the jump rope.
-Complex – Complexes can have you laying on the floor gasping for air minutes after completion. There are 456,256 different options to chose from. In the example you see above, I’m performing deadlifts, followed by hang cleans, followed by push presses, and finish will back squats.
-Conditioning With A Ball - You knew that I had to include a conditioning option that involved basketball. Any time a sport is played or a ball is involved in a conditioning drill, I’m in! It could be the shooting drill you see in the video, or running pass routes in the backyard with your kids. You get in better shape while having fun. Win-win!
If you dread the idea of performing the same old, same old, hopefully some of these options get you motivated to hit the gym and have some fun doing it!
Did I leave out your favorite(s)? If so, let me know your favorite options…
TRULY HIIT
June 4, 2013 by danny · 2 Comments
Sorry that it has been so long since my last blog post. I’ve been spending a TON of time giving basketball lessons, training people, and changing poopy diapers. I promise to be back on here again soon though! As for today’s post…
Many people claim to be doing HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) as a part of their cardio program. But in reality, few actually reach an intensity that I would TRULY consider HIGH intensity. If you honestly go ALL OUT like you are sprinting away from a hungry bear, then after about 12-20 seconds you would need over a minute to recover (maybe considerably more than a minute). If you do something like 20 seconds “on” followed by 20 seconds “off,” then you are not going as hard as possible during that 20 seconds… and/or not choosing an activity that makes you tired enough after 12-20 seconds (i.e. jumping jacks would be much easier than sprinting up a steep hill).
Quick Note: When I say “intensity” in this article, I’m talking about how fast you are going in regards to your max speed. In other words, if you do 20 seconds on, and 20 seconds off, you may truly be going as fast as you can, but due to the fact that you’ll be under-recovered going into the next set, you won’t be able to maintain your max speed from set-to-set.
Now, I have no problem with interval training where you do something like 20 on/20 off or 30 on/60 off, but don’t confuse that with TRUE HIIT. I’ll invent a new acronym right now (at least I’ve never heard it), M/HIIT… Medium/High Intensity Interval Training. This is much higher intensity than steady state cardio (like jogging 5 miles or doing a 15 mile bike ride), but nowhere near MAX effort followed by a full (or near full) recovery.
Think about it this way, let’s say you were being timed in a 100 meter sprint three times, and here were the 2 scenarios…
#1) Sprint 100 meters, rest 30 seconds, sprint another 100 meters, rest 30 seconds, and finally sprint one more 100 meters vs…
#2) Sprint 100 meters, rest 120 seconds, sprint another 100 meters, rest 120 seconds, and finally sprint one more 100 meters.
Obviously your times would be much faster with the longer rest intervals. This longer rest allows you to more fully recover, which allows you to run at an intensity closer to your max speed (like when running from that hungry bear).
Dr. Layne Norton and Dr. Jake Wilson talk about all the benefits of this truly HIIT in THIS PODCAST.
In short, HIIT (with the LOOOONG rest intervals) is a great way to hold onto muscle mass and strength/power gains while still getting your cardio in.
Just remember, you don’t rest a long(er) time just for the hell of it. You do so because you need to in order to repeat that HIGH intensity for the next set. Here’s an example of me doing plank-ups yesterday. I did this for 20 seconds, and in actuality I slow down a little bit towards the end and probably should have only done sets of ~ 15 seconds if I wanted to prevent my intensity from dropping towards the end of the set.
So, my advice for the individual that is looking to maximize muscle mass/strength/power but doesn’t want to get “too out of shape,” perform true HIIT for the majority of your cardio sessions (and if this is your goal, you shouldn’t be performing much cardio in the first place… maybe once per week).
If you are a “general fitness enthusiast” just looking to “be in good shape” and lose a few pounds, go ahead and perform a mix of true HIIT AND “M/HIIT.” And if you’re like me and can’t stand the long, slow stuff, never do it! If you enjoy that, go ahead and mix a little of that in there as well. You weirdo, you! Just kiddin’… kind of.
The best activities for true HIIT include (but are not limited to)…
- sprints
- hill sprints
- sled/prowler pushes or car pushes
- battling ropes
- plank-ups
- hitting the heavy bag
- heavy jump rope
- bike sprints (up a hill or on a stationary bike with the resistance turned up pretty high)
Now of course, some of these may not be appropriate for you depending you strength level (and injury history, etc).
Just remember if you are performing HIIT you will NEED a good amount of rest between sets, otherwise it is NOT truly HIIT. Both M/HIIT and HIIT can be incorporated into your plan if that fits your goals. Just make sure that you know the difference.
Now go get lean for the summer! 
And if you know someone that says, “I’m heading to the gym for a HIIT session,” make sure you forward this article to them so that they too know the difference.
Have you ever performed true HIIT training? If so, you know that it ain’t for the faint of heart!
Training and Nutrition Content From Around The ‘Net…
April 3, 2013 by danny · Leave a Comment
I hope everyone is having a great week! I’m looking forward to the Final 4 this weekend and I’m pumped that the Cubs started the season off with a victory!
If you have a few moments, I have some great reading content for you. First up…
Roundtable Interview: 3 people you should listen to, Part I
This is a great, common-sense article on nutrition. And Brian St. Pierre is one of the “people you should listen to” in this article. If you’ve been reading DannyMcLarty.com for sometime now, you know that I’m a huge fan of BSP. His part alone is worth the price of admission. Well, it’s free, so it’s a pretty good price either way. Anyway, give it a read.
The Doctors Talk Cardio
This is a podcast where Dr. Layne Norton and Dr. Jake Wilson talk all things cardio. Very interesting! Long story short – steady-state low(er) intensity cardio (like jogging) breaks down muscle tissue more than high intensity cardio (All OUT sprinting/bike sprints, etc). And lower intensity cardio has an “interference effect” while high intensity cardio does not (interference effect in this case means that it is harder to add muscle while performing lower intensity cardio). Plus, as we all know, it is MUCH more time-efficient! Check out the podcast… a lot of great thoughts!
And here is a video of Paityn performing box squats at MVP Training the other day. Box squats are awesome. AND, they are great to use as a progression en route to back squats (with no box beneath your butt).
If you’re looking to improve your squat, or to simply start adding squats, check out this article that I wrote just over a year ago…
First Time Front Squatters and Squat Progressions
Make sure to pass these articles around to your friends on facebook/twitter/e-mail, etc, as they can definitely help out the majority of fitness enthusiasts out there.
See you soon…
My Fat Loss Program
July 18, 2012 by danny · Leave a Comment
For the past four weeks I’ve been performing a program that I wrote up with fat loss in mind. Another way to look at it for an individual that is already lean, this is a program design to help take someone from lean to ripped. Either way, it’ll help a person shed away some unwanted fat.
In this blogpost, I’m not going to get into the specifics about my program. I’ll save that for the next post that I make. Today, I want to talk a bit about program design as it pertains to a “fat loss program.”
Nutrition is King
The training god of the world could write up the “perfect” fat loss program for any of us, but it wouldn’t do us much good if we didn’t pay special attention to our nutrition plan. I mean, I could actually gain fat on a fat loss program if I consume too many calories. Likewise, if I were on a plan designed to add muscle mass, I could actually become skinnier/smaller if I consumed too few calories. So really, the program is only as good as the nutrition plan that goes along with it.
Not too long ago I had a few “fitness pictures” taken so that they could be used when I write for various fitness websites.
To prepare for this “photo shoot,” I did ZERO cardio. All I did was lift hard, and most importantly, tighten up my nutrition in the days leading up to the shoot.
Does the Training Program Even Matter When Trying to Drop Fat???
After reading what I just wrote above, you probably think, “well, if nutrition is THAT important, the only thing that matters is that you eat ‘right.’ Therefore we can perform any training program we want because nutrition is going to be the deciding factor in the results we get anyway.”
I almost agree with that thinking, but not completely. I definitely think adding in some cardio and designing a lifting program that is conducive to fat loss is the ideal route to take. But again, if your nutrition doesn’t compliment your cardio/weight lifting program, you are NOT going to get the results that you want.
Then How Did you Get So Lean for Those Photos?
I can get very lean without performing cardio and/or a lifting program designed for fat loss. This makes me one of the “lucky” ones I guess. But don’t get it twisted, I work my ASS OFF in the weight room, and this goes a long way in one reaching their physique goals. BUT, just so you know, I am also “cursed” when it comes time to adding muscle mass. Another words, I can easily get lean, but have a hard time adding size to my biceps and calves and shoulders, etc, etc. We all have weaknesses when it comes to physique development. It sucks, but it is what it is. All we can do is do our best and not stress too much about it… as excess stress will just lead to more problems.
My Fat Loss Program
For my fitness clients (the non-competitive athletes), I spend the majority of my time designing programs designed to help them lose fat/weight. But for the reasons mentioned above, for my personal programs, I don’t usually write up and perform “fat loss” programs for myself. However, I decided to do something a little different a spend some time training with fat loss in mind. This involved a weight training program with higher overall reps than I am used to; less rest intervals between sets than I am used to; and more overall suckiness than I am used to. 
Most people make the mistake of making their weight training session turn into a cardio session. While my heart was pounding through my chest for much of these workouts, I MADE SURE to also include some heavy, low rep sets to make sure I don’t turn into a weak and skinny looking human being.
GREAT actor! Poorly muscled.
Final Thought
Now, in order to lose fat/weight, you do NOT need to turn into a miserable person that can only eat broccoli and plain chicken breast day-in-day-out. I definitely make sure to enjoy the finer things in life like beer, pizza, and cookie crisp cereal. I just try to make sure that those types of foods are NOT the staple in my nutrition plan. AND, if you are serious about making a “significant” fat loss run, you will probably have to give up those foods for a month or so. I think that is a great thing to do… live a “mostly clean life” (but not to strict) as your way of life, and then from time-to-time go on a ~ 30 day “strict” run.
Anyway, in my next post I’ll include my current “fat loss” training program, so you can see how I set it all up.
I’ll see you then…
Working Around An Injury
May 1, 2012 by danny · Leave a Comment
If you missed my post from the other day (Saying Goodbye To My First True Love), you know that I tore a muscle in my calf. Yeah, it sucks. But I’m not going to hang my head and sit around on my butt. There is still PLENTY of work that can be done in the weight room. Here is my leg training session from yesterday…
Despite being limited in exercise selection, I still was able to get a few things in … 1-Leg Hip Thrust for my glutes; Ski Squats for my quads; 1-Leg RDLs for my left leg – I tried 2-Leg Swiss Ball leg curls and 1-Leg RDLs for my right leg (the side that I tore my calf), but those both bothered it so I decided it was smart to be patient and not force it. And then I finished up with the battling rope for my cardio.
Nothing special, and not exactly my usual exercise selection, but there is no way that I’ll allow myself a major set-back from this injury.
Ouch!!!
Finding A Way
There is always a way to get something in. I really believe those that are happiest with their physiques are the ones that avoid big set-backs. I’m nowhere near perfect, but I’ve NEVER had a bad month of training. Maybe a few days, but I’m always sure to get right back on track. Does one of these scenarios sound like you…
-You’ve been working out consistently for a number of months and you’re feeling and looking good. Then you take a vacation, do no working out, but swear to yourself that you’ll get back on track once you get back home. But before you know it, 2 months have gone by and you STILL haven’t touched a weight or gotten a cardio session in.
–You’ve been working out consistently for a number of months and you’re feeling and looking good. Then you get sick and miss a week of training. You’re excited to get back to training once you feel better. But when the time comes around you just can’t quite find the motivation to start back up. A year has passed, you still haven’t gotten back into it, and you feel like a piece of poop.
-You suffer an injury and promise yourself that once you’re healthy you are going to come back better than ever. But you missed a bunch of workout sessions while injured, and this has now turned into a habit. You never get back on track!
Remember, it’s not how you respond when things are going well, it’s how you respond to adversity that counts.
In the case of getting injured, there really is a ton that can still be done. Getting hurt has taken me on a bit of a detour. I completed four weeks of my chest specialization training block and was about to start up weeks 5-8 (that would take me to late May, then the plan is going to be getting “beach ready” … you know, get as lean as possible for the summer). But I’m adjusting on the fly. I now plan on doing weeks 5-8 of my chest program next week. And will have to continue to tinker with my leg workouts as the injury heals.
We can always find a way! Even in tough times, make sure to get at least a little somin’ somin’ in, in order to avoid BIG set-backs. I mean even something like 3-4 sets of push-ups + 3-4 sets of a lunge variation 2-3 times per week (come on, that’ll take you ~15 minutes to complete!). THEN, when life settles down, you won’t be starting from such a big deficit.
Get er done!
Saying Goodbye To My First True Love
April 30, 2012 by danny · Leave a Comment
No, I’m not talking about the first girl that I fell in love with. I’m talking about basketball. I think it’s time to say goodbye…
This past Thursday night I headed up to Hononegah High School for open gym. I hadn’t played full court b-ball since the tourney I was in about a month ago – I gave the tourney highlights, HERE. The first game of open gym was all good. We won and I wasn’t rusty at all. I probably went 4-5 from the floor. And in the second game, I started the game off pulling up from the top of the key and hitting a 3. I thought to myself, man I feel good, pretty damn tired, but good! One of my teammates even said to me; “Geez, do you ever miss!?!”
We then had a couple more trips up and down the court. When we headed back down to our offensive end, I came off a screen, pushed off with my right foot, and then it happened!!! I felt a POP in my right calf. It felt like someone shot me!
The aftermath...
I hobbled over to the sideline in excruciating pain. I knew something was wrong and I couldn’t walk so I called up my dad to pick me up (he only lives a 1/2 mile from the school) and take me over to immediate care to get it checked out. It turns out I tore a muscle in my calf. Damn!
What’s Next?
Ever since I was 8-9 years old, I basically lived with a basketball in my hand… always dribbling around the neighborhood, on the bike path, while walking over to a friend’s house, etc etc. But I think it’s time to say goodbye to my first true love. Not goodbye, as in I’ll never shoot or dribble a ball again. I mean goodbye as in, I’m done playing in tournaments, pick-up games, open gyms, etc. I depend on my body to make a living. If I’m hurt, I can’t effectively demonstrate dribbling moves when giving basketball lessons, and I can’t effectively train people if I can’t demonstrate how to perform a certain lift.
I have given a few basketball lessons and trained a number of people in the weight room since last Thursday’s incident. And let me tell you, it’s not the same! Now, I don’t think that if I continued to play that every time I stepped onto the court I’d walk away with injury. But the risk:reward just isn’t there anymore. If I’m hurt, I can’t do my job optimally. Because I play full court hoops so infrequently nowadays, I’m always VERY SORE the next day or two… which is no fun. In order to get rid of this soreness, I’d have to play a few times a week until I got accustomed to it. And that would just kill my body/joints.
So, on one hand I’m sad that I’m saying bye to playing competitively. But on the other hand, I’m ok with it. I mean, I’ve played more basketball in my life than most people would play in four lifetimes.
Making a Comeback?
Who knows, maybe I’ll miss it so much that I’ll make a Michael Jordan type of comeback. ”Retire” again. Then make another comeback. But I doubt it. I think for now on, all of my cardio is going to be the low-impact kind. Just like I preach to my clients that are 35 years old or older. I can still do battling ropes, use the prowler, do some barbell complexes, etc. etc.
If I do make a comeback, you’ll have to come back to this blog to find out. Because I’m pretty sure ESPN won’t be covering it. Although I wonder if I can get ESPN 8 The “Ocho” to air it?!?
Do you know what movie this is from?
Ok, I guess this it, the time to say goodbye has arrived… Goodbye basketball. Thanks for all that you’ve given me. You’ve changed my life. Thank you and I love you.
True Love
Have any of you made the tough decision to “retire” from a physical activity you love that was beating up your body? If so, how tough was it and did you stay with it? Please, let me know…
Last Workout of 2011…
January 1, 2012 by danny · Leave a Comment
With 2012 just hours away, I thought I’d end ‘11 on a good note. For those of you that know me, it may surprise you that my last workout of the year was, wait for it, wait for it… a cardio session! In attempt to achieve my health and physique goals, I rely mostly on nutrition and weight training, with the occasional (VERY occasional) cardio session thrown in from time to time. I will say however… don’t tell me that weight training can’t have a cardio-like effect! Ever try 20-rep squats with as much weight as you can handle?!? I rest my case.
Anyway, overall my conditioning is pretty piss-poor right now, so in 2012 I VOW to increase my cardio from once every two months, to once every month. Just kidding (but not really).
My friends also know that I RARELY, RARELY, RARELY, perform “traditional” cardio. The thought of getting on a treadmill or going out for a boring jog excites me about as much as the thought of changing ANOTHER one of my babies diapers!!!
Daxton looks like he left a "Dax special" in the back of his pants... again!
Actually, I dont’ even come close to performing traditional cardio “rarely.” More like, never. I literally haven’t done a treadmill or straight line jog for more than 400 meters in over 10 years.
With that said, here’s what I put together for today’s cardio session…
And on to 2012 we go. This upcoming year (and every year going forward), make sure to hustle, bring the enthusiasm and passion, and do so with a positive attitude. If you can consistently do that, there is money to be had, lives to positively impact (including your own), and good times ahead.
Thanks for reading my blog/website this year! I look forward to sharing 2012 with you all!
2011: The Year That Was…
December 21, 2011 by danny · Leave a Comment
Once again, the end of the year is already here! It’s time to reflect on what we did, what we are proud of, and what we could do better going forward. As a reminder, when you sit down to write your resolutions, focus on your behaviors rather than your goals. For example, if you want to lose 10 pounds by February 14th, write down the behaviors that will help get you there…
1) I will eat 6 + servings of fruits and VEGGIES per day.
2) I will train with weights 3 times per week and get 2 additional cardio sessions in.
3) I will eat (pick your vice) only 1 time per week – max.
Focusing on your behaviors will give you the road map to reach your goals.
2011
2011 was a BIG year for me… life changing! Let’s take a look at some of the bigger events that stood out – both training and non-training.
-In January me and my friend’s Marci and Jason flew down to Arizona for some fun and some education. Marci and I visited Bret Contreras and his garage gym. It was great and we picked up a lot of great information from Bret! I reviewed our time with Bret, here… My Visit With Bret Contreras.
-My favorite interview of the year was the one I did with Jen Comas Keck. She’s one bad ass girl! You can read more about it here… Girl Gone Strong.
-As 2011 kept moving on, Shondra went from pregnant, to VERY PREGNANT!
You'd think there was two in there!
-The BIGGEST day of my life happened on May 27th, 2011 (at 8:02 and 8:03 a.m. – in case you were wondering ) …
-This was a fun little interview I did with the Rockford Register Star.
-I continued my work, writing for FitStudio.
-I became a FitFluential Ambassador. Chief Execute Officer and Founder, Kelly Olexa asked for a blog post directed to those new to fitness. This is what I came up with … Dear Young Fitness Friends.
-I had to say goodbye to a my good friends in California.
Good times. Good friends.
-Although it was hard, I was excited to head back “home” and get our babies closer to family.
The reason we came back to Illinois!
-Da Bears looked great early on. Then Jay Cutler got hurt. Then Da Bears started stinking up the joint. Then I cried.
-Da Bulls showed A LOT of promise and I’m excited about their future. D. Rose is a stud and he just signed a contract extension. I smiled.
-The Cubs picked up Theo Epstein, which has many of us Cub fans really excited. BUT, we are still the Cubs – so I only half smiled.
-After arriving in Illinois, I started training people out of my basement, continued training clients on-line, and have been busy giving basketball lessons and clinics. I continue to add equipment to the basement, but here is what it looked like early on…
-My most “controversial” post/video of the year came when I posted a YouTube video, giving the reasons that I am not a fan of distance running (for most). Check out the video for my more in depth reasoning for this. But the short of it is; running is very high impact and very repetitive. So, the main point is, EXCESSIVE running is what I am not a fan of. However, “excessive,” may actually be less than you think…
I came across this article yesterday called, “America’s Scariest Fitness Trends.” Check out fitness trend #2, as Rachel Cosgrove talks about some of things I mention in the above video.
Below is just one (of an infinite amount of options) example of how to more evenly spread the joint stress throughout the entire body when getting your cardio in. Did I Beat My Previous Time?
-You know that I have to sneak in some basketball. Here’s another basketball article that I wrote for iHoops… “5 Intermediate Strength Training Lifts for Basketball Players”
-I’ve been so busy with life, babies, etc, that I haven’t played much b-ball lately. But I’m back in a league and starting to play a little more again. As I talk about in this post, My Body Is A Mess, I was not smart – the first time coming back to play, I ended up playing on back-to-back days and my body/blisters hated me all week…
My poor blisters!
Oh, and here are a couple updated pictures of Capri and Daxton…
And we had a pretty good deadliftingsession the other day. They struggled with gripping the kettlebell and with mastering the hip hinge, but I think they’ll get it soon enough.
There is a whole lot more that I could include, but I don’t want to make this too long. In 2012 I look forward to helping you all with your health, performance, and physique goals. I look forward to continue spending time with my family and friends. And I look forward to ATTACKING my fitness goals as well! Remember to write down a few of the BEHAVIORS that will lead you to your goals!
Speaking of behaviors and goals, what are yours in 2012? Let me hear them.
Cardio: Did I Beat My Previous Time?
October 25, 2011 by danny · 2 Comments
A couple weeks back I did a blogpost going over my cardio session. I explained the “inverted ladder” and got part of it on video. Well, the other day I repeated the SAME EXACT ladder, in attempt to improve my time. And I know y’all have been on the edge of your seats in anticipation – waiting to find out if I improved. In case you missed the video from my first attempt at this inverted ladder cardio session, here it is …
In week 1, I completed the entire ladder in 7:09. And in my 2nd attempt, I did it in 7:01. As you can see, I shaved 8 seconds off of my time. When I repeat it a 3rd time, I’ll go for 7:00 or faster.
Goals
Each time you head to the gym for your training session, that is exactly what your goal should be… making improvement each and every time! Even if that improve seems minuscule, it is still improving, meaning that you are heading in the right direction. A little + a little + a little, ends up to be A LOT down the road.
When I train clients, quite often they are disappointed when they only beat their previous week’s numbers by 1 rep. I tell them; “No, that is great! Even if you end up improving by 1 or 2 reps on each day of the training program, in the end that is going to be VERY significant improvement!” Example:
Your program calls for 4 X AMRAP chin-ups (that 4 sets of As Many Reps As Possible)
Week 1 you get 10 reps, 9 reps, 9 reps, 7 reps (total of 35 reps)
Week 2 you get 10, 9, 9, 8 (total of 36 reps. “Only” 1 rep better)
Week 3 you get 10, 10, 9, 9 (total of 38 reps)
Week 4 you get 10, 10, 10, 9 (total of 39 reps)
So, over the course of the 4-week program, you just improved by 4 reps. Again, significant! So, small improvements from week to week REALLY add up. And by the way, IF you are making HYOOGE improvements from week to week, then I question your effort. Lets say you went from 22 total reps on week 1, to 35 total reps on week 4. When I see a client do this, it makes me think that they were sandbagging it on week 1.
The only time that I think really BIG jumps in numbers are ok in that short of a time-frame, is if you are just learning a new movement in week 1, and don’t want to push it too much due to the fact that you don’t really have it “figured out” yet.
Moral Of The Story
Make each training session a competition and try to improve each and every time… no matter how small the improvements seem to be. Just make sure that are you being honest, and continue to use good form and a full range of motion (i.e. if you ended up adding 3 additional push-ups on week 2, but didn’t go down all the way to the floor, that is NOT improvement. You cheater! ) 
Is this a new concept to you? I mean, do you just randomly go from session to session without any real purpose? Or do you set it up where you try to beat your numbers from week to week? I’m curious to hear what you have to say, so let me know in the comments section below…
