Maddog's Log

[Bri3626]

When I first started I had the same problem as you with remembering how many rounds I did.

I started doing my pullups with 4 different hand positions and then counted one everytime I went back to the original position. Basicially I did both hands pullup position, right hand forawrd left hand backward,then left hand forward right hand backward, then chinups. Once I got into the 20 round range it really helped me keep track. Somedays I set out a line of small pebbles where each one counted as the four rounds. Then I would move the pebble as finished each round. Worked pretty well and allowed me to concentrate on the workout versus trying to remember a count.

[KTG]

As demonstrated in my D3 last week, I also cannot count or do simple math when I get low on oxygen. I also use the pebble method. For D1 it moves through 5 positions and then I write down the time to see how I am doing on the 5 round splits. On D3 I normally write the sets down as I go along. That doesn't add any time since I am taking the little breaks between sets anyway.

[maddog]

Thanks for the advice, guys. I think I will try the pebble method for D1.

Week 9, L5, D2 - 6:02 (-:14) in 1:18, 1:15, 1:08, 1:06, and 1:15. Push-ups seem to be improving.
Week 9, L5, D3 - 7:27 (-:21). While it was nice to get a faster time, I think my form degraded a little too much on the last pull-ups since I was rushing. Next week I'll try to keep better form, even if it means a slower time. Pull-ups were 7/5/4/3/2/3/2 and push-ups were 18/10/9/7/7. Squats were 31 and 20. Push-ups are still the slowest part for me.

[maddog]

Week 10, L5, D1 - 22 rounds (+0). I'd hoped to get 23, but this week the limiting factor was nausea. Not from the workout itself, really, but more from the mild stomach bug I seem to have contracted. I had to stop and breathe slowly a few times when the nauseous feeling got particularly strong. This week I switched my CC handstand push-up workout to Saturday instead of Sunday, and that seems to have solved my elbow pain problem.

Despite my stalling on D1 the last few weeks, I'm pretty happy with my progress in simplefit as a whole as well as my improvements in the convict conditioning exercises (I do all of them, save for the squats).

[KTG]

That's a particularly impressive performance getting over a stomach bug!

I would be interested to know more about how you are integrating the CC program with the simplefit workouts.

[maddog]

Week 10, L5, D2 - Times of 1:16, 1:15, 1:10: 1:13, 1:09 for a total of 6:03(+:01). Not much to report here.
Week 10, L5, D3 - 8:00 (+:33). Pull-ups went much slower than usual today and slowed everything else down. I did angled bridges for the first time yesterday and my shoulders were very sore this morning, which was definitely a contributing factor to the time. Still, I'm not too worried as push-ups and squats went pretty well in comparison...just not well enough to make up for my slow pull-ups. Pull-ups were 7/5/4/3/2/2/2/1, push-ups 18/10/10/7/6, squats 34/17. I'm wondering if I should just try and do squats all at once to speed things up.

KTG- I am not very organized with my CC integration, or at least not as organized as I should be. I just do one or two of the CC exercises on off days from SF, or sometimes on the same day if it's D2. I haven't really thought too much about which should go on which days to optimize performance in SF and I just try and get through them all through the week. I haven't been doing the squats for the weak reason that I just am not that motivated to do the squat progression. I follow the book's instructions as far doing 2-3 warmup sets of easier movements and then 2-3 work sets of the chosen exercise, and progress only when I meet the standard stated in the book. I mostly do CC since the three SF workouts seem pretty minimal and the CC progressions are fun to improve on (especially handstand push-ups). If you pick up CC as well I'd be interested in seeing how you approach it.

[maddog]

Week 11, L5, D1 - 23 rounds (+1). I'm happy to see a little forward movement on D1, though I still have been unable to get back to 25 rounds for some reason. Part of it is definitely my CC stuff, as I was feeling the burn on pull-ups today after doing the CC pull-ups workout yesterday. I'm happy to accept a handicap on simplefit as long as I'm making progress in CC, though.

[KTG]

I've always been interested in the question of whether simplefit is sufficient or what kinds of additional work would speed-up the simplefit progression. Cheapo's a pretty effective advocate for the just do simplefit plus whatever activities you enjoy for the off-days. That is mostly my approach, but I do feel the need to work some more on my push-ups and pull-ups. A small problem with simplefit (which of course is also its advantage) is that it works everything on each day so it doesn't lend itself to A-B kinds of programming.

Our Fitocracy friends are pretty big on the CC, YAYOG, and intensity approaches. But I rather like the straightforwardness of the SF routine and the fact that you can always measure the progress based simply on time or the D1 rounds. Plus it is such a minimal time commitment that there shouldn't ever be an excuse for not fitting it in.

I've no illusions or really any aspirations for achieving the Schwarzenegger look, so am pretty happy just with the fitness, health, and tone effects that come with getting to SF level 5.

[maddog]

Same here. I think of simplefit itself as just "maintenance" and everything else as an added bonus. It works well for me since then I am in the mindset that every week, if nothing else, I must do the sf workouts, even if I do them half-heartedly sometimes. If you discover anything about integrating other workouts I'd be interested in hearing your revelations.

Back to the report. I'm a little behind on the workout logs since I've been really obscenely busy the past few weeks, a condition that will probably get progressively worse until June. However, I haven't been so busy to skip the workouts!

Week 11, L5, D2 - 5:30 (-:33) in 1:09, 1:08, 1:06, 1:05, 1:02. Pretty pleased with this time. I'd like to maintain a time between 5:00 and 5:30 for the rest of level 5.
Week 11, L5, D3 - 7:57 (-:03). Not as fast as I'd have hoped, but not horrible. Pull-ups 7/5/4/3/3/2/2, Push-ups 19/11/8/7/6, Squats 31/20.

Week 12, L5, D1 (today) - 26 rounds(+3 from last week, +1 from PR). I have no idea where this came from, but I'm grateful for the improvement. I was shooting for 24 and was shocked when I saw extra time on the clock and squeezed out two more shaky rounds. The faster pace meant that it was much more aerobic of a workout than before, and I was sweating and breathing hard at the end. Very pleased with today's efforts, but I can tell I'll be moving slowly tomorrow.

[KTG]

That jump to 26 rounds is terrific! (it's not a race, it's not a race, it's not a race--saying to self)

I think that is an interesting idea making simplefit the foundation, and then working the other programs on top. For me that's attractive when I'm in an ambitious mindset about seeing some abs (usually only visible with a little imagination and a bit of squinting) or cranking out 25 quick pull-ups in a set. But the reality is that my life is always crazy busy; when I'm honest about my own life priorities simplefit (plus running and fencing and a few other fun sports) is probably the appropriately efficient approach to a sufficient level of healthy fitness.

[maddog]

Thanks KTG! Even if it was a race, I'm pretty sure you've got a several month lead on me on D3.

Week 12, L5, D2 - 5:08 (-:22). This is just the time I want to keep. I haven't been very good with keeping the rest periods short, as I have a tendency to wander off between rounds. I think that in the coming weeks I'll try and get the rest times consistent while staying under 5:30. Times were 1:06, 1:02, 1:01, 1:00, :59.
Week 12, L5, D3 - 7:41 (-:16 from last week, +:14 from PR). I'd hoped to get back down to 7:30, but I suppose that the improvement from the last two weeks (stuck around 8:00) is good enough. Pull-ups were 7/5/4/3/2/3/2, Push-ups 18/12/8/7/6, Squats 32/19.

[maddog]

Week 13, L5, D1 - 19 rounds (-7). Today was one of those days where I get dangerously close to skipping a work out (it's always a d1...). I feel lame giving excuses, but contributing to my low morale was the fact that I was up doing homework till 5am last night, i had some DOMS from the weekend's activities, and it is the hottest day so far this year. I almost told myself "i'll do it later, after class and dinner", but that means pushing it off till 7:30, and I'd likely be too sleepy and stressed out to follow through. So instead I told myself that I could go as slow as I liked, taking rests, doing some standing around before the pull-ups, and whatnot, as long as I kept perfect form. While my number is super low this week, I'm okay with it because A) a bad workout is better than no workout and B) I rarely get full range of motion on D1s because I am focused on moving quickly. Next week will go better...

[KTG]

I think that's a great strategy. Doing anything is better than letting it start to slide.

[maddog]

Ok, that "easy" day seemed to do its magic. I was very sore the next couple days, which probably resulted from getting the fullest range of motion on all my reps. I'm getting busier and busier, and it's going to be increasingly difficult to maintain SF through finals...But that doesn't mean I won't give at a try!

Week 13, L5, D2- 5:08 (-:00). I was a little better on rests this week, keeping two of the four to around 3:00 but slipping to 4:30ish and 5:00 on the others. Must do better this week. Times were 1:04, 1:02, 1:02, :59, 1:01.
Week 13, L5, D3 - 7:15 (-:26, -:12 from PR). I didn't write down my reps, but IIRC they were nothing out of the ordinary. L3 is still really damn hard!

Week 14, L5, D1 - 24 rounds (+5 from last week, -2 from PR). Back to around where I'd like to be. Ideally I would have hit 25, but whadya know, 15 seconds is not enough to squeeze out even the fastest of rounds! Thinking about it, I'm not sure whether I get more out of D1 from pushing for rounds (like this week) or for form (like last week). I guess they both have their respective advantages.

[KTG]

Nice job! Particularly nice times on D2. Once you get those D2 rounds down to about 1min, I'm not sure how much more room there is for getting much faster.

I think I've been able to keep pretty good form on D1. The real speed gains for me have come from decreasing the gaps between exercises.

Good luck on finals! They will go better with good sleep and a few exercise breaks.