Peter Beck Kim's Other Blog

Creating this YouTube video of the Rings One routine was super fun, but...

My long suffering spouse shot this on her iPhone 4, and I put it together using iMovie and its royalty-free music clips.

Doing the session was arm shaking but mindblowing: working through the Rings One progression from Gold Medal Bodies (affiliate link), doing things I couldn't remotely do before, and getting incrementally stronger from one week to the next.

Filming, editing, and sharing it? MasterCard priceless.

And the insights that came from the creating and sharing? More critical to the success of the program than the workout itself.

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Rings One (Day 8) + light cardio + RESET + low starch/salt diet = a template for living?

8/8/6/5/8 reps, then 3508m #rowing just under 120 bpm, back in the WaterRower saddle, again :)

Am following the Rings One protocol, a gymnastics ring-based program designed by CST folk Ryan Hurst, Jarlo Ilano, and Andy Fosset. This is the first day of Week 2, and the elbow-flexed DOMS has finally passed. Reaching the keyboard without cringing...muy nice.

There are Prasara yoga warmup and cooldown moves, which are done together as extra compensations on the off days (M/W/F on, T/R/S/Sn off). I'm continuing to run, RESET-style, on my off days, as well as do some low intensity cardio like the rowing above on the Rings days; for me, this plus a low starch, low sodium diet keeps my BP in check. Am also doing RESET vibration drills during the 60-90 second rest periods between sets, to counteract any tendency to get tight and push up the pressures. Will see what this does to the BP over the next few weeks, and add TacFit Commando back into the mix one day per week, for high intensity metcon.

I've come to the realization rather late in the game, that diversification is as important as depth.

I can think of a couple of phenomenal martial artists off the top of my my head, who were done in by health problems, arguably prematurely. Their activities and mastery thereof did not save them.

Attention to what we now know make a real difference -- diet, avoidance of certain overindulgences, sufficient rest and recovery, and, yes, medical treatment if all else fails -- might well have.

Mere mortals have enough to contend with, just showing up on a regular basis: the "depth" allusion above. Consistency with whatever your workout regimen is more than half the battle: put forth your hand and Make it so, Number One.

For the Activity slice of the pie.

Just remember that Activity may not be the whole pie for you. If you have certain health goals that aren't being met by Activity alone, or the activity types you're doing, it's back to the drawing board:

1. Look and See, without blinders. Getting to the goal? No?
2. Adjust accordingly. Ratchet down the intensity, throw out the kettlebells, add dishonorable running, if those have worked for you and closing to the goal demands them.
3. Repeat.

I dislike sounding like a wannabe, quoting The Little Dragon, but Bruce had it right:

Adapt what is useful, reject what is useless, and add what is specifically your own.

Creating innovation, influencing customers and organizations...suddenly everyone's talking about what really works to create lasting behavioral change: what I call Incremental Iterative Improvement. Adapt, reject, add. Look, adjust, repeat.

That's the theory, anyway.

20 minute loping jog in the hills

Next year, aiming for CST, TacFit, and Rings One seminars, instead :) There's nothing like learning directly from the experts.

But today, a much more modest target. A TacFit Commando, high intensity session later today. Letting the digestion rest until this evening, given last night's high protein and fat fest.

And a RESET style loping jog, just now, to shake things out and keep the blood pressure unclenched.

Not exactly a trail, but horsey fun, nonetheless.

It's all a package deal. Active exercise gets the most focus, usually prescribed by someone else. But you have to find what works for yourself - there are just too many variables of your physiology, work duties, stress levels, diet, etc. to use anyone else's program as anything but a guide.

If I could, I'd get to my goals by doing pure strength training, alone. But the qualities I'm tracking - and you can't honestly improve without tracking - only get better by attending to aerobic loping, Tabata intervals, low starch and sodium eating, and loads of sleep. Your mileage will vary, as it should.

6 ingredients for humble pie: TacFit Commando, Day 3

Or "6 Exercises Done Tabata Style -- Need I Say More?"

I was first introduced to the Tabata protocol -- 20 seconds of active work, 10 seconds of rest, repeated 8 times -- by Steve Maxwell, gentleman and grueling taskmaster/trainer extraordinaire, so I already knew that peaceful smokey feeling. And today was supposed to be more an intro to the 6 exercises for the introductory level, with tomorrow, Day 4, being the push it session.

Feeling mighty smoked, nonetheless. Mayhap the 20 minute jog beforehand had something to do with that.

In TacFit Commando (TFC), you keep track of the number of reps of each exercise you do per the 8 rounds, and watch to see how they change over time. The lowest number is what you record for each of the 6 exercises, and when the sum reaches 40, it's an indication that you may want to kick it up a notch. Tonight's sum was 27: 6, 5, 6, 1, 6, 3.

The system overall is much more than this, including mobility warmup, active yoga-based cooldown, and a unique 4-day cycle. All designed specifically to prepare you over 9 months for tactical fitness: very active burst work, in any plane of motion, including functional endurance. Based on movements and needs of law enforcement, military, fire and first responder folk. No equipment needed. Recovery and careful cycling in an upward spiral built in.

I can tell my bod will need more loosening; the warmup and cooldown, extensive as they are, are challenging in themselves. Yin and Yang, but my own physiology is hankering for a bit more Yin :)

Luckily, there's plenty of that on hand: the RESET material, plus the Intu-Flow joint mobility that I've been doing for some time. Lots of unkinking, unbinding, and redistributing of bloodflow and nutrients. Extra TLC for TFC.

Next steps:

• Following the protocol, esPECially the low/light/medium/high intensity wave
• Improving technique with the unfamiliar movements, by chaining them together in a FlowFit-style routine, and practicing them -- gently and at near zero intensity -- on non "working" days
• Continuing with my running for stress decompression and BP control, but sensibly integrating it with TFCMDO
• Attending, and improving incrementally

And sleeping and eating properly!

Back on track with a homemade Primal salad lunch after a morning walk and run.

Not entirely sure why I've become a CARB DEVOURING MONSTER this past week, but it's time to stuff Mr. S. Tarch Hyde back into the shadows.

Ingredients:

• organic salad greens, prewashed and packaged
• 1 tin of sardines packed in mustard
• a few ringlets of purple onions
• handful of organic walnuts
• vinaigrette of Udo's Choice Oil, balsamic vinegar, a goodly squirt of organic Dijon mustard, ground pepper, and a few shakes of Italian Seasoning

Pretty much zero prep time, no carbs to speak of, and muy high in protein and omega-3s (from the fish, the nuts, and the oil).

To go lower on the sodium (the sardines have about 500 mg), substitute a hardboiled egg or two and don't add salt.

Morning routine, replete with vitamin D, wind in the hair, hugs and sunshine:

1. 22 minute park walk with the pups, kids, and my honey
2. 30 min garage treadmill session, moderate program with RESET loping, HR 116-130s

BP still doing alright -- no longer in the hypertensive range, though I'd still like it lower. So next steps will be losing another 5-10 lbs, and carefully adding another activity layer to the running foundation, all while carefully monitoring BP, energy levels, injury proofing, etc.