by Woodsman » Sat Jun 28, 2008 2:03 pm
I've been sluffing off a bit over the last couple of weeks but here's some quickie drills that work well for me:
1. pullups and pullup crunches (this is absolutely my favorite exercise) - get a bar 8'+/- tall, jump up, grab it and let your legs hang down as gravity would have them and then pull yourself up straight only moving your upper body all the way until the bar is to the point where your chest and neck come together (the bar should be below a man's "adam's apple" - sorry - I forget technical terms) for 1 pullup rep. For a pullup crunch, use the same "start" position as above, only point your toes as far back as you can, bring your knees up to your neck and back down to the start position for 1 rep.
2. Pushups: Form is everything - must be straight as an arrow from shoulders to ankles and drop down until you are hitting the ground with some upper body appendage. In my case, my nose grazes the floor first - all the weight is carried by the tips of your toes and your hands or knuckles - nothing else. Lots of variations on this will strengthen different areas of the chest muscles: For example, using a chair for your toes to sit on for an incline pushup and using dumbbells as holds in order to get your chest down lower than normal will have different effects.
3. Rope work. Drop a 20' rope from a tree and climb it up and down. This is great for building tenacity in your grip as well as all upper body and core muscle groups.
4. Run like a Cheetah on speed: Quality is everything. zig zag like a quarterback and move like you're trying to spin the Earth with your feet. Doesn't have to be 2 or 3 miles - hell not even 1. 100 yards is a good starting pace. 400 meters at 1 minute is a respectable pace/duration. Run like you're being chased by a bullet train for as long as you can. GO GO GO Should reach 15 mph minimum on a run like this - joggers need not apply. Go for quality (speed) first, then build your endurance by extending the length of your run. 100 yards should bust your ass, otherwise you're not running fast enough.
5. Get some free weights. Dumbbells for curling each arm, a bar for lifts and jerks and get that weight over your head. This is work from a physics definition: moving mass against gravity. So get on it. Kettle balls are the new fad, but a man can't add mass to those pieces of crap. I like to add weight, thus I like free weight dumbells.
6. Swim, swim, swim, swim, swim anytime you can. Swim as fast as you can first and as long as you can second. Swim anyway you can anytime you can.
7. Use resistance of all kinds: Slope, sand, steps and sips (water).
8. Dance or spar. This is a great workout and better if you have a partner. If your ass isn't busted in 3 minutes you're not moving fast enough. HIT IT!
9. Bike.
Here are some goals I have set for myself. They may not be what you had in mind for yourself, but it's at least a starting point for what I consider good fitness.
Swim: 1 mile in 45 minutes.
>/= 100 pushups in 2 minutes time. Perfect form from ground to full extension.
>/= 25 pullups palms out, change grip, >/= 25 pullups palms in: Perfect form, 2 minutes time.
100 pullup crunches in 2 minutes time. Perfect form.
1/4 mile run </= 55 seconds.
3 mile run 18 minutes or less.
As for the closest "measure" for fitness, body fat % is a reasonable measurement. It's difficult to measure accurately, but if you google it you can find several different methods to estimate it and I believe these are accurate to within 2-3 points, which is close enough. Google body fat % - and use a chart that incorporates age and gender. Your bone structure does not matter - the best athletes always have a lower body fat %. Forget body mass index (BMI). This is an idiotic worthless concept. Only fat % is worth a damn as a measure toward the body. Keep that figure down and physical things will come easier to you.
Diet is equally important to fitness as exercise is.
You will never get super fit by eating pasta, rice, breads and all that other cheap filler crap. Go caveman: Nuts, berries, beans, lots of green leafy vegetation, fruit, shrooms and lean meat. Fish and chicken are great - low fat, high protein. Lots of other meats are great too, but those two are what stick in my mind since they are readily available to almost anyone, especially fish.
Bottom line is if you eat a highly varied green salad with lean meat and nuts (say almonds, walnuts or pecans in it) and a couple of servings of fruit for every meal, changing up the constituents some, stay away from cheap fill ur gut food and stay away from alcohol (empty fat ass calories - and allows high probability for being a dumbass - oh how do I know that...), break a sweat every day and you will be in better shape than most.
Use a gym if you must, but there is absolutely no physical advantage to doing so. The idea is quite impractical from my perspective, and there are lots and lots of creative ideas I have that most gyms never could touch.
Fitness summed up in 1 word: Crossfit. Google it.
That what you had in mind Zero?
Life is short. Eat, Drink & Be Merry!