Strength & Fitness
for Days
Embrace the suffering and take your fitness to a whole new level
By Dr. Rick Kattouf II
Athletes are
always looking for ways to take their fitness to the next level. Many times,
one of the key components is teaching the mind and body to embrace the
suffering you experience during challenging workouts and training sessions.
Whoever can best accept and embrace the suffering, will “win.” Suffering during
workouts is not about putting a square through a circle and pushing your body
towards an injury; rather, it is about raising your own personal ceiling and stretching
your comfort zone, both mentally and physically. Here are a few workouts that
will train your muscular system, aerobic energy system and your anaerobic
energy system. Implementing these workouts into your training regimen, over
time, will enable your body to go longer, harder, faster and perform more
repetitions before you fatigue.
Prior to starting these
workouts, warm up easy, 10-15 minutes, on the exercise bike and spend 5-10
minutes using the foam roller and light stretching. All of these workouts will
be based on your heart rate. The max intensity that you want to be at is 94% of
your lactic acid threshold or 89% of your max HR. For example, if your lactic
acid threshold is 175bpm, the max HR toy want for these workouts is 164bpm. If
your max HR is 180bpm, the max HR you want for these workouts is 160bpm.
High-Output
Begin this
workout by performing 25 repetitions of the following exercises in this order:
push-ups, situps, jump rope, jump squat. Immediately following the jump squats,
you are off to the stationary bike for a 6-minute effort. For the first 5 min.,
remain seated and maintain 100+ RPM (revolutions per minute). If the stationary
bike you are using does not have an RPM/cadence monitor, no worries; simply
count how many times one leg pedals in 20 seconds. You want to be sure that in these
20 seconds, that one leg is rotating at least 33-34 revolutions. The 100+ RPM
goal is one of the main keys of this workout. There will be a low amount
resistance on the bike, by design, in order to maintain this high RPM. It is
this high RPM that is designed to tax your cardiovascular system. During this
time, in terms of intensity, gradually and progressively increase your HR to
the levels as mentioned above. Following the 5-minutes cycling seated, you will
then get out of the saddle and stand and pedal for the final 1 min. (you may
need to make a slight adjustment to increase the resistance/gear so that you
can stand and pedal). Following the 6 min. on the bike, without any rest, begin
again with the 25 repetitions of the above exercises.
This is one circuit. Your goal is to complete 6 nonstop circuits for a total of 150 repetitions per exercise and 30-minutes cycling. Following the final cycling effort, pedal easy, 3-5 min., in order to cool down and then spend 5-10 min. on the foam roller and light stretching.
Twin Turbo
Begin this
workout by performing 25 repetitions of the following exercises in this order:
push-ups with your feet/shins on a stability ball, stability ball situps, jump
rope, jump squats holding a 10-20-pound medicine ball. Following the jump
squats, it is off to the treadmill for a 2-mile jog. The key to the running
portion of this workout is to use a max HR of 88% of your lactic acid threshold
or 85% of your max HR. Following the 2-mile jog, return immediately to the
strength exercises and perform 25 repetitions of each of the exercises above.
This is one
circuit. Your goal is to gradually and progressively build up to 5 circuits for
a total of 125 repetitions of each exercise and 10 miles of running. If you
choose, the run segments can also be done outdoors. As you can imagine, a
10-mile run in and of itself is no easy task; let alone, adding in 125
repetitions of strength exercises. Depending on your running pace, this workout
will be a long one, so, you want to be sure that you are properly fueled and
hydrated. Consume a K II Kookie Bar™ prior to starting this workout + 20-30oz
water. And during the workout, consume ½ K II Kookie Bar™ after mile 4 and after
mile 8. In addition, consume 20oz water/hour during this workout. It is long
workouts like this that significantly help to raise your own personal ceiling
and to take you well outside of your comfort zone. After performing a workout
of this duration, everything else will seem that much easier. Following the
final running segment, walk 5 min. in order to cool down and spend 5-10 min. on
the foam roller and light stretching. Looking for more great strength training workouts? Look no further than LEANDOWN FITNESS®!
Recommendations:
- Heart Rate Monitor
- Treadmill
- Stability ball
- Medicine ball
- Stationary bike
- Jump rope
- “I’ll do whatever it takes”
mentality
- No whining, No complaining, No excuses
Workout Smart, Eat Right, Get
Results®!
Rick Kattouf II, O.D. is a 2x
Best-Selling Author and Fitness & Nutrition expert and has been named one of
America’s PremierExperts® and one of the World Fitness Elite® Trainers of the
Year. He has been seen on ABC, NBC, CBS and Fox affiliates around the country
as well as in the USA Today, Chicago Tribune, Ironman.com, Livestrong.com,
FIGHT! Magazine, Florida Cycling Magazine and The Independent in the UK. Rick
is the CEO/Founder of TeamKattouf® Inc, CEO/Founder of TeamKattouf® Nutrition
LLC, CEO/Founder of Virtual Gym LLC, Creator of TeamKattouf® Nutrition
Supplements, Host of Rx Nutrition, author of Forever Fit, Creator of 5-Round
Fury® Nutrition Supplement, 5-Round Fury Fitness® workout app, Creator of
Coach2CEO, Creator of Fuel Keeper®, Entrepreneur and Inspirational Speaker. Dr.
Rick has personally coached individuals in 30+ states and 10+ countries.
