Running My Tail Off....

That's what I've been doing as of late, anyway. :-)

The past few weeks have been pretty hectic out here in Iraq. I mean, work is usually somewhat hectic, but the incoming IDF has been worse. That means more time in the bunker (esp at night) and less sleep. They've also installed a new security systems that warns us of pending incoming IDF. They're having trouble with though, as we're getting a lot of false alarms. Better than the real thing, but still wreaks havoc on sleep.

That said, I've drastically altered my workout plan.

Waiting until after work to get my workouts in just wasn't cutting it anymore. I was getting too tired, and couldn't put the "oomph" into them I knew I needed to. However, at the same time, I didn't want to be doing too much work overall, as I knew that stress levels overall were kinda running me ragged, and even though intense exercise helps me lower/work off stress, there is a fine line between working stress off, and still burning yourself out from simply having just too much on you.

So, as of about 16 days ago (I started when I was 80 days out from going home for Christmas - now I'm at 64 WOOHOO!!!), I started just working out at lunch. Workouts are usually no longer than 20 mins in length - 25 at the most. This is, if for no other reason, that I don't have that long for lunch, and with a small gym near my hooch, I can leave the office, get to the hooch, change clothes, hit the gym and workout, back to the hooch for a quick shower, and back to the office in about 40 mins.

I've dropped most of my strength training altogether. I've got plenty of strength, and gain it back pretty quick when I start focusing on it again. I don't like to neglect areas of training, but given my situation, something had to give - and this was it. I'll do strength work at most once a week or so.

What my workouts have been are hardcore conditioning - based on my MFD (Medium Fast Distance) and/or "Density Conditioning" principles. Each day changes - some days it's incline interval sprints on a treadmill. Some days it's 15 mins. "balls to the wall" on a Concept 2 rower followed by 5 mins. even more "balls to the wall" on an elliptical trainer. Some days it's bodyweight circuits a la Program #5 from Working Class Fitness - The Programs, or the complexes out of Program #1.

I train everyday, taking a day off when I need to - usually once every 3-4 days. This ends up being 5-6 days of hard training per week.

Doing this type of training is doing wonders not only for my conditioning, but as I'm varying the type of movements, and still using (many times) some sort of resistance-based exercise, muscular and strength-endurance is going sky high. And work capacity feels GREAT.

I've also reduced my diet a little - a smaller breakfast (usually a couple cold cuts and some mixed nuts - maybe a piece of fruit). No lunch (too busy training). By the time dinner comes around, I'm one hungry dude. So I eat what I want. I try to keep sweets out of the picture (have them maybe once-twice/week - not ideal, but again, out here, sometimes something just has to give). I eat mostly meats, but don't eliminate carbs totally. And most of the stuff out here is fried (nobody ever said DFAC food was healthy). A typical dinner for me might be buffalo wings, onion rings, a grilled chicken breast, and half of one of those small frozen pizzas. If I get hungry in the afternoon (which happens a lot), I'll graze a little on sunflower seeds in the shell. If you saw my last newsletter, you'll know I'm a big fan of them and why.

Not even close to being considered a "good" diet, right? Results so far? I'm down ~15 lbs. in 16 days. I plan to drop even more by the time I get home. I'll let you know how muc it ends up being.

I must be doing something right. :-) Imagine if things were a little more low-key, and I could give full-effort to Program #5 (the bodyweight program)? Or better yet, Program #6 (the overall program for mastering bodyweight)?

I'm telling you - the workout programs I design work. And I'm living proof. All it takes is hard work.

Wiggy

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