Tough Mudder Training Time - Hammer Jammer Happy Hour

Hmrjmr1

Well Here we are Gun Runners, 10 mos out from the Vegas Mudder. Plenty of time to train up so we are all confident going in that we will have a good time being the best we can be at stuff we've never done. E Z PEEZY.

Training Philosophy - My Tough Mudder participation is based on two things,
- 1. Have Fun with my friends
- 2. Challenge myself to complete something I'm not sure I can do. Failure is an option, not trying isn't.

So my Training will be
1. Fun
2. Challenging

Which brings us to OUR training.

I hope you'll join me in our training and have as much fun at it as I do. Here is what to expect.

• A One Hour (roughly) training session that should be conducted once every 7 - 14 days.
• It is designed to be walked not run but if you can run, it won't hurt to use a sprint to make it challenging.
• It will change constantly, but periodically return to one or two so you can check improvements.
• Timing it is used to track your improvement not to compete against each other, so I will post times and reps for your comparison to me; a 60 year old male who has the skeletal structure of a guy whose already dead and been buried for a while. Go ahead Beat my time or reps. But record yours so you can check you later.
• While not required, having a Fit Deck Bodyweight Deck will be useful to standardized the phraseology of the exercise names. Here is a link amazon.com/gp/product/B000UEP0NI/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=211189&creative=373489&creativeASIN=B000UEP0NI&link_code=as3&tag=hammjammuniv-20&linkId=WVIYORF6J56ZB5X2http://
• A Stop watch or phone Ap or a GPS run/walk ap is also very useful. A Tabata Timer Ap is helpful as well.

Fundamentals

I will not be reminding you to do the following each session but read it here and now these are required before and after each session.

Dynamic Stretch / Warm Up / Cool Down 3-5 mins This is a routine that is best individualized so here are some guiding principles in designing yours, It should go from head to toe, Lots of movement in all directions no to little stress on joints. By the time you're done with it a sweat should just be popping on your brow for the warm up, and breathing should be normalized after cooldown.

Stretch to tension not to pain.

Soreness is expected, Pain is not, If you are in pain STOP.

Exercise Modifications

Be not afraid to modify an exercise to scale it for you. That being said here is one mod that has been around for a long time that folks need to put away. Going to your knees to do push up / planks etc. Not good on your joints. Even Mark Sisson and Primal has recently changed their guidance on this. So if you are having trouble with plank or pushup style exercises use walls, tables, chairs or benches to modify. Not your Knees. Keep abdominal engagement and good form throughout.

I will be naming the Sessions so you can track Yourself. If you like spreadsheets etc the names will come in handy.

I strongly encourage those who like to work out with a partner or buddy, to do so with these. But if you are like me, you may find doing them by yourself as meditative. I fully admit this is strange but no new info there.

Some Advice - Find a good quarter to half mile loop that you can walk or run, that has a start/return/finish point and that you can leave your water bottle etc and it will be there when you return. (I use my Patio). If you absolutely have to use a treadmill, (it's better than not doing it at all) go ahead but outdoors is much better.

Have Fun. First Session Coming soon. Real Soon.

Hmrjmr1

The Base Line - Here we Go Folks

Zena - The Entire Sequence is Timed

Wide Squats 1 min As Many Reps as Possible (AMRAP)
Walk 1/2 mile

5 Sets of

The Bridge 20 / 30/ 50 Sec Hold ( Times are for Beginners / Intermediate / Advanced
10 sec rest
Bear Crawl 20/30/50
10 Sec Rest
Right Side Obliques Bridge 20 / 30/ 50
10 Sec Rest
Left Side Obliques Bridge 20 / 30/ 50
10 Sec Rest

1/2 mile Walk
AMRAP 1 min of Standard Pushups.

Record total time and number of Reps for Squats and Pushups.

Score =( # Squats) | (Total Time ) | (# Pushups)

Example 50 | 20:05 | 30 *

*made up not my score

beerbikegirl

Thanks John. Great of you to do this.

For those without the deck...the translation...bridge = plank. Oblique bridge = side plank.

Hmrjmr1

All Righty then 1st iteration of Zena - 52| 34:57 | 27 First time in a long time I didn't bench modify Pushups etc. So not a bad place to start, did the 20 sec holds on the Center 3 Exercises. Good burn.

kris3b

John, You are awesome! Thanks for all the work you do for us. Much appreciated. Love that the first one was named after your love:) As always, she is a part of our little group.

I saw this earlier and gave it a go. Haven't done one of these kind of workouts in awhile and it was fun. My push ups are back to being sad, but I did 'em. Now, the oblique moves proved to be interesting. First time I tried I got hit with vertigo big time and after a bit was down for the count. I will tweak those.

BTW...ordered the cards yesterday. YAY!

jenniferyounginillinois

Holy cow John. I have no idea what you said up there! I'll have to reread and see if I can decipher it all. I ordered the cards as well so should have them later this week.

kris3b

Jen, You are going to have fun!!!

jenniferyounginillinois

kris3b wrote: »

Jen, You are going to have fun!!!

If you say so Kris. If I don't, can I blame you?

Hmrjmr1

Here ya go
Do 1 min of Squats Count your reps

Walk 1/2 mile

then do five sets of the four exercises (R and L side for Obliques) holding each one for either 20 , 30, 50 sec hold 10 sec rest between exercise, That is to say do one rep of each then cycle through 5 times.

Walk 1/2 mile

Do the Pushups for 1 min count the reps. Keep Time for the whole sequence.

Record your results, we will check this again in a couple months.

Hmrjmr1

All righty then this weeks Hammer Jammer Happy Hour


Good Stretch and Warm up

3 Sets
Jumping Jacks 20/35/50 *
Stationary Lunges 12/20/24

1/2 Mile walk/run Moderate Pace 9-10 min is good

3 Sets
R then L Calf Raises 18/24/32
R then L KickBacks 8/12/16

1/2 mi Walk Fast as you can. Fly like the Wind!

3 Sets
Fire Hydrants 8/12/16
Pushups 8/12/20

Cool Down

Don't worry bout timing it just have some fun with it. If you guys want to name it for repetition purposes Post it after the session but keep it clean more or less (We are after all all adults well chronologically anyway)

* If you have knee issues modify to keep it low stress, if you need help figuring that out let me know.

Hmrjmr1

Week 3 of Tough Mudder training
Hammer Jammer Happy Hour

4 mi walk today, every Half Mile Stop and do a set of 25 | 35| 50 reps Body Weight Squats

Report your time here.

carolssalva

I'm totally behind in our training schedule. I did some light resistance training today though. And I'm going to get with the program ASAP.

thanks for doing this John!

kris3b

You are not alone Carol. I am WAY behind. Thanks John!

Those cards finally came today. I told Jen that I blame Amazon for my weight gain and lack of fitness.

jenniferyounginillinois

kris3b wrote: »

You are not alone Carol. I am WAY behind. Thanks John!

Those cards finally came today. I told Jen that I blame Amazon for my weight gain and lack of fitness.

Kris, we can do this, right?

kris3b

YES! We got this Jen. Doing it tonight, but will have to modify jumping jacks with jump rope. The lateral movement is tough on my knee.

kris3b

Hammer Jammer Happy Hour done yesterday in the driveway. Thank goodness it warmed up up. My dog thought I was crazy and kept barking at me. I did jump rope instead of jumping jacks. OY! Am I ever out of shape. Not for long!!!

Hmrjmr1

All Righty then Got my week 3 $ mi Walk in Time 1:14:01 400 bws squats. pace was 18:04 per mi, avg HR 126 IF you'd like to check out the stats HR etcv here is the link, mapmyfitness.com/workout/904470823

Hmrjmr1

Week 4 Training - The Tabata Tango -
- Dynamic Stretch and Warm Up
If you can run this is a very good challenge, if you are a walker (me) this is a good challenge. It depends on what you put in to your sprints.

1 mi walk or run - start at a moderate pace after 1/4 mi do a Tabata sprint set. (8 reps of 20 sec sprint 10 sec slow) Finish the walk at a moderate pace.

after walk 2 sets of 20 | 30 | 50 Sec Hold

L Oblique Bridge

Tripod Hold

Bear Crawl

R Oblique Bridge

This makes a pretty good tabata set as well if you are up for it. the 10 sec rest is just enough time to transition from one ex to the next,


Cool Down and stretch.

Have Fun Folks post your times. thoughts when you've done it.

carolssalva

John: what is the 20 | 30 | 50 Sec Hold?
The L Oblique Bridge?

Hmrjmr1

Carol 20 | 30 | 50 Sec Hold is Beginner | Intermediate | Advanced Athlete times to hold the pose.
L Oblique Bridge is Fit Deck name for a Side Plank,

Have a Hooah Kinda Day Folks.

Hmrjmr1

Did a 10 miler today averaging 16-17 min miles. Felt good did it fasted and waited when I got home to close out a 24 hr fast. Jamin'!