1MILENATION.COM

New Toy, New Job, New Start...

1 Mile Nation — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 23:50:00 GMT

Greetings,

This past Friday I made a trip to my favorite sporting goods store, Scheels, in Fargo, ND to pick up an item I've had my eye on for too long. The Garmin Forerunner 205 GPS monitor for running is something I've been looking to get for a long time. I got it for about $160 total with the tax included, $150 retail. Saturday & Sunday were some okay days to test it out. The weather was warmer, but slushy roads and wet, cloudy, foggy conditions have taken over here as of late. Not a pleasant run, but a run outside for once, nonetheless!

Saturday's run was an out & back run to the cemetery, a 2.21-2.22 ish total run from my house and back. My guess of a 2.25 mile run from last week wasn't that far off, I'd say.

Sunday's run was a spin through the various streets of Finley, as I was more interested in the elevation points & climbs of certain hills throughout my town. Some of the run was taken on part of the town's 5K route for our summer 5K race. Some hills had a 40 foot climb over just one block length. Only just 2 miles ran on this one.

I'm not sure how totally accurate the elevation point data was, because of all the cloudy conditions I was running in. Speed-wise, it seemed fine though.

The things I really like about my new Garmin Forerunner 205 are:

1. Easy software system to figure out. I used to have a Timex Ironman GPS system with data collector from a few years ago (no longer works), so I had something good to compare it to. This told you more, and I am not even through looking at all of it yet.

2. There are zones setup for how much time you spent in each zone, tallied up for you at the end of your run in a spreadsheet-like format for evaluation. Average Pace & Max Speed's are also given for your run total.

3. You can see your running route's data points get transferred over to Google Earth, giving you a nice satellite image of your run. If I were coaching cross-country again, this would be a great aid in helping me make a running course map for the XC meets. I can see this being helpful if you go to other towns and run 5K's, letting you track the course route during your race, and being able to go back & map that route out if you wanted to go to the town & prepare yourself for the race route for upcoming races.

4. I love the Current Speed option of getting that read to you while on your run. It's just like seeing your MPH readout on your treadmill.

5. I like the 20 hour battery it has. Not that I'll be running for that long, but its helpful to know its full of energy for that long.

All in all, I feel this new toy will help me a lot in speed workouts and evaluating my runs even further.

In other news, I have a new job: junior high head coach for track! I'm also in charge of the long distance crews as an assistant for the high school team. We are a pretty small squad, between 30-35 total, 7th-12th. I am really excited to get back into coaching the 800, 1600, and 3200 events. You will probably see a few of our team workouts put on the blog now & then. I can't give away all my secrets, though.

All in all, its a great new start in this journey I call my life. I'm happy to get back into coaching runners for track, happy I got a new toy to help me coach better & run better, and other things in my life are really coming together too.

In closing, you know I'm all about high intensity workouts for strength & speed development. Well, a trainer named Virgil Aponte has been widely known as "The Stair Man" when it comes to using stairs to help you get fit, strong, and fast.

He's having quite a deal this week on his products on his Ultimate Stair Exercises websites. I have a few free reports to share with you to view, so take a look & educate yourself a bit on how stairs can be a great option in your training.

I've had a sneak peak at Virgil's products, and I can say he's really got some GREAT workouts offered in his workout guides. Being in ND, we don't have much in rural ND for series of stairs to climb (no tall business buildings). But, we do use hills the best we can, and many of these ideas can be applied to hill training.

Stair Climbing Basics:
http://asapworkouts.com/Basics.pdf

Stair Climbing Lunge Variations:
http://asapworkouts.com/Lunges.pdf

Special Stair Climbing Report:
http://asapworkouts.com/SCReport.pdf

Run Strong, Run Fast...
Run So As To Win!

Coach Rick Karboviak
http://1MileNation.com
http://MakeVarsity.com

The 36:36 Workout, & more

1 Mile Nation — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 23:56:00 GMT

Greetings,

Since last week when I first tried the 15:15 Protocol of the Viking Warrior Conditioning kettlebell training book, I had a bit of fear, trepidation, and a few ounces of courage to try the 36:36 Protocol in the VWC list of things to accomplish. First, it called for 17 kettlebell snatches for every 36 second set, with 36 seconds rest before you do the other arm. 35 sets total. I did the math on that, and its just shy of 42 minutes (41:24). 72 seconds x 35 = 2520 seconds, or 42 minutes. Take off the final rest period, and its 41:24. It also came to 595 total kettlebell snatches in that time frame. Yeesh. I just did 560 of them in the 15:15 Protocol. Could I handle 35 more with just under 1:30 added to my total training time?

Well, I did it, but not without struggle at the end. You see, when you're doing KB snatches for extended periods of time like this calls for, you'll notice something. All the action of the KB going from between your legs to above your head & back tends to cause a lot of blood to flow to your body, and it feels like the blood just flows right to the end of your hands & forearms. It fills up so much, it feels like you can't even squeeze or grip the kettlebell sometimes, especially as you reach the 12th or 13th rep of your 17 in each set. Thankfully I made it through, but I really had to concentrate. I'd say it worked just as much on my mental toughness as it did with my physical ability.

Bottom line: it was worth it. This one taxed me, even more than one very hard 5K, I would dare to say. That is worth it to me.

I'm taking a break here before I worry about the next step in the protocol series.

Today, I felt like a run on the t-mill, so I did the following:

1/2 mile @ 8.0mph
1/2 mile @ 10.0mph
1/2 mile @ 8.0mph
1/2 mile @ 10.5mph
1/2 mile @ 7.5mph

Total time: 17:25. I was amazed I could do this, because of the tough workout of the 36:36 Protocol on Wednesday. I plan to take Friday OFF to recover from these 2 days of very hard, and slightly hard back to back workouts.

I better get used to the hard stuff, as I will be starting up with coaching my school's track team next week! I am returning to coaching once again for track, taking the long distance kids of the 800m to 3200m distances. I will have a small group, and it should be a ton of fun to do some workouts with them as the season goes on. I'm already planning out their focus on the first few weeks, and when I start adding in some meets on the overall plan, I can go into some more precise planning. Mostly, my coaching plans follow a plan of:

Hard Day - Speed Day
Medium Day - light running with 1/3 to 1/2 of race distance at race speeds
Light Day - 1.5 to 3x the race distance, done at easy-moderate paces for recovery

When I get into the thick of 1-2 meets/week, the meets themselves work as "Hard" days, and the Light/Medium days get planned out on a day by day basis. It all depends on how everyone feels. With such a small group, I can perhaps give more precision to each kid this way.

I also add in some unique stuff, meaning KETTLEBELL stuff, on the medium days. My main staple is doing KB Swings between laps on the track. The Swing portion becomes a brief, intense period of work, with easy jogging on the track between sets of Swings. Sometimes, a deck of cards comes into play and certain exercises get assigned for each face card or number drawn. Numbers 5-10 get kept in the pile, with the face cards, in this deck. If they pull a 7, they run at 70% around the track for a lap. In order to keep it not TOO intense, only one 9 and 10 card is allowed to be drawn by each person. If they get it again, they simply re-draw for something else. Kings are Swings, Queens are Bodyweight Squats or Lunges, and Jacks are usually Jump Roping. Aces are Wild Cards, where they can choose whatever they want to do. This workout has been a very fun one, from my days in doing boot camps or coaching XC & track kids in the past.

'Til next time...

Run Strong, Run Fast...
Run So As To Win!

Coach Rick Karboviak
http://1MileNation.com
http://ASAPWorkouts.com

30 is the new 50...in degrees!

1 Mile Nation — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 23:01:00 GMT

Greetings,

Up here in ND today, temps were in the 30's for a change. After facing bone-chilling wind chills from December through February, we have been patiently waiting for some above-freezing temps. I always tend to say that after a few months of sub-zero weather and wind chill factors, when it hits 30, it feels like 50. Perfect day for my first outdoor run of 2010!

I decided for an out & back run on the roads, since its the only thing that is clear right now. I went in the following format:

4 minutes easy
4 minutes Tabata rounds
Turn around
4 minutes easy
4 minutes Tabata rounds

I had one block left to cover, and I was ready for a cool-down walk back home.

This felt pretty hard today, as the body is still a bit sore from the Kettlebell protocol workout I did on Saturday. Plus, its my first outdoor run in months, with most of my running being on the treadmill over the winter. I would venture to say I covered about 2 & a 1/4 miles in this 16 minute run. I went mainly in a straight line, from the 4-way stop out to the cemetery, which is 1 mile. Add in the jogging of 2 blocks worth before I hit the 4-way stop, and jogging it back, it's roughly 1/4 mile of distance. Considering I've been getting 2 miles in about less than 14 minutes, and a 1/4 mile jog for me is about 2 minutes, that's how I get to a 2 & 1/4 miles estimate for today.

All in all, a pretty nice run outside. Just need to get used to the cold air. It may feel like 50 out, but the air temp is still in the 30's on the lungs!

Run Strong, Run Fast...
Run So As To Win!

Coach Rick Karboviak
http://1MileNation.com
http://MakeVarsity.com

New Stuff, New Workouts!

1 Mile Nation — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 14:15:00 GMT

Greetings,

This past week, I have been doing some various workouts on the ski machine and with my kettlebells. I also got 2 new DVD's on fitness training education topics, called "Free the Hips!" and "Shatterproof Spine", by trainer John Izzo of http://izzostrengthtraining.com. I watched them both on Saturday and learned a lot of good things about preparing and helping the hips/lower back become better prepared for exercise & sport. A lot of new things I haven't really seen before, actually. If you're a trainer, I'd highly recommend checking those videos out. John really does a great job in presenting lectures on these topics. Shatterproof Spine has both a lecture & practical in it, so its like you are right there in the room to attend that kind of workshop. With me being in ND and there not being a lot of workshops going on in this region, this was a great value to me as a trainer. I got both DVD's for $45 as a combination offer. I can't travel to a workshop & back to the Twin Cities for that kind of cost, so you are getting quite a deal here!

My other gift in the mail this week was Viking Warrior Conditioning, a kettlebell protocol book for improving VO2 Max, by Kenneth Jay. As you know, I LOVE Kettlebell training, and have experienced its benefits first-hand with my own running performance since I first trained with them in 2005. This book covers the protocols that were studied on kettlebell training & VO2 Max efforts, finding out that the Kettlebell Snatch exercise is the best one out there to help elicit a VO2 Max training response for improvement. I first became aware of this book last year, when it was all the rage in discussion forums on kettlebell training sites. I finally got around to purchasing it. (A little tax refund 'gift' for myself!)

On Saturday, I tried the first protocol's workout, since I did the VO2 Max cadence test on Friday to find the number of snatches I'd need to hit in my 15 second work time frames for the first protocol. My cadence test was 28 reps in one all-out minute (which is performed at the end of the cadence test's own protocol), meaning I'd have to get 7 snatches per 15 second work period in the "15:15" Protocol. You basically start out by doing 15s with your left arm, rest for 15s, then do your right arm for 15s, and rest again for 15s. The GymBoss Interval Timer works out superbly for this, I highly recommend getting it at http://gymboss.com ! If you do these protocols, this is pretty much a neccessity, as much as the kettlebell is needed for the workout. I forgot to mention how I used a 35# kettlebell for this test & workout. Most men should be able to start with this weight, women will need lighter ones, such as a 12kg, or roughly a 25# k-bell. I think some have used a 17-18# k-bell as well. Guidelines are provided in the book to figure this out.

The first 15:15 protocol called for up to 80 sets in order to fully complete this protocol. If you get perhaps 20 or so at first, you simply stop when you can't hit your 15 second cadence reps (for me, that would be 7 reps/set). Over time, you gradually increase and decrease your workloads to build up over the course of time to 80 sets, which is 40 minutes total. 20 minutes of that is work, 20 minutes is rest, but with 15s intervals of work & rest, you really feel yourself working the whole time.

My first attempt at this workout had me wondering greatly how I'd hit 20 minutes total, or 40 sets, within my 20-30 set range of the workout. Then, it was like my body hit a groove and I was still going strong after 40 sets had passed. Soon, the 50 & 60 set marks kept coming my way, and once I hit 70, I just KNEW I could hit the end-point of 80 sets with this protocol. I'm not saying this to brag by any means, but with my background of doing combinations of snatches and the clean & press workouts with kettlebells, it was really helping me out with this workout. As you probably know, if you read this blog, you know I do a lot of 20s work, 10s rest intervals with my kettlebell power training workouts. So, 15s work and 15s rest was giving me 25% less work time and 1/3 more rest time each minute.

I did complete 80 sets of this protocol. The guidelines did say I could try it up to 9 reps/set before I move to the next one, but the minimum before advancing was 7 reps/set for the entire 80 sets. I feel I will move onto the next protocol, with the same weight and a new cadence of 36 seconds work, 36 seconds rest, for 35 sets total. The math on that brings it to a 42 minute workout for total time. That might be rough...but doable, if my goals are to improve my VO2 Max to help me hit a sub-5 minute mile. There are even MORE protocols after this, so the progressions are pretty much endless, the stronger & fitter you get.

Don't get me wrong, I will still plan to run & do speed sessions as I prepare for this goal of a sub-5 minute mile. I will just supplement my training with these new kettlebell protocols because they are proven to help improve VO2. I gotta try and use every edge I got, and kettlebells are a unique part of my edge as an athlete. If you read this blog, they should start to become one of your own edge's, too!

In other news, this past week I wrote an article called "That Chart" for http://MakeVarsity.com. The article is referring to a relatively well-known weights/sets/reps chart that has followed me wherever I have been in my journey of strength training & sports performance. In junior high, "That Chart" first surfaced on the scene as the workout chart that everyone used in the weight room at school. It once again not only showed up at my first college, but the 2nd one as well, and later when I returned to my first college as a student strength coach to finish out my education. I came across it once again last week while digging through my collections of programs, and felt it was needed to write a story on "That Chart" and give the basics of it out in the article. I am also thinking of reproducing this chart and creating a full athletic package around it, as something new to work on and provide for people.

So, read all about "That Chart" at http://asapworkouts.com/ThatChart.pdf Please let me know if you know any history or origins of this chart. I have talked with a few people and they are in the same boat I'm in: they KNOW about this chart, but don't know where it exactly comes from! If you have a clue, please let me know!

Til next time...

Run Fast, Run Strong...
Run So As To Win!

Coach Rick Karboviak
http://1MileNation.com
http://MakeVarsity.com
http://ASAPWorkouts.com

2 turned into 3...

1 Mile Nation — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 21:20:00 GMT

Greetings,

Went back on the treadmill on Monday, with the purpose of doing the following (at first)...

.3 mile @ 8.0mph, .3 mile @ 10.2mph
.2 mile @ 8, .2 mile @ 10.2
.3 mile @ 8, .3 mile @ 10.2
.2 mile @ 8, .2 mile @ 10.2

I then went into a cool-down mode, but felt I had some more in me.

So, I added the following for one more mile worth of half mile easy, half fast:

.25 mile @ 7.5mph, .25 mile @ 10.2mph
.25 mile @ 7.5mph, .25 mile @ 10.5mph

All in all, 3 miles total in about 20:30 for total time.

Legs are a little sore, feet more than anything else. But, that's to be expected after doing a lot of fast stuff, and 1.5 miles of those 3 are done at less than 6 minute mile efforts. Running a majority of my easy portions at 8.0mph instead of 7.5mph can make a little difference in how you perceive things, too. I used to have it in my head for years that the 7.5mph, 8:00/mile pace speed was an ideal jog/recovery one for me, when in fact 8.0mph, 7:30/mile pace speed didn't feel that much different.

Right now, I'm anxiously awaiting the arrival of a new KB training protocol book I ordered, should be here on Friday, I think. There's a lot of good discussions on this protocol for improving VO2 Max, so I can't wait to start reading it.

That's all for now...

Run Strong, Run Fast,
Run So As To Win!

Coach Rick Karboviak
http://1MileNation.com
http://MakeVarsity.com

The "Zone" Workout...?

1 Mile Nation — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 04:06:00 GMT

Greetings,

Have you ever heard of the "Zone" diet? The one that's 40% carbs, 30% protein, 30% fat in its daily percentages?

Well, I have a good workout favorite of mine that's similar to "The Zone"s diet structure, but its distance-based. Here's how it goes...

40% of a mile at easy pace, then
40% of a mile at hard pace, then
30% of a mile at easy pace, then
30% of a mile at hard pace, then
30% of a mile at easy pace, then
30% of a mile at hard pace.

Cool-down with whatever you wish to.

Today's workout was done in the following speeds on the treadmill for me.

40% at 8.0mph
40% at 10.0mph
30% at 7.5mph
30% at 10.2mph
30% at 7.5mph
30% at 10.5mph
Time: 13:45 for 2 miles total.

Cooled down with half a mile at 7.5mph.

I must say this went better than expected, after a 2 week layoff from running, mostly doing (get this...) snow shoveling for 30-60 minutes a day, and kettlebell power workouts for 15-20 minutes in the Tabata format with clean & presses.

It felt like I haven't skipped a beat when I got back to running today. This really felt good. I like the 40/30/30 format because its not quite like doing a 50/25/25, where you do a half-mile fast, then finish it with 1/4 mile runs. You almost go as long as a half mile, and then you just do a little longer then a 1/4 mile to wind it down.

We used to do a similar workout on the track for the 5K in cross-country, where we'd do a 2000m run, then a 1500m and another 1500m. We'd also do a 40/40/20 workout with 2, 2000m efforts with a 1000m effort to end it.

On a treadmill, you can easily do this percentage-style format by simply looking at your mileage totals on the machine as you're runninig.

That's all for now. I've been in a good stretch of training clients again and its keeping me busy, but not taking up too much time either for me. Its a really good balance.

Run Strong, Run Fast...
Run So As To Win!

Coach Rick Karboviak
http://1MileNation.com
http://ASAPWorkouts.com

Long Time Bloggin'...

1 Mile Nation — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 23:14:00 GMT

Greetings,

Yes, it has been about 2 weeks since my last blog, and actually, from my last run. That doesn't mean I haven't been getting in any workouts, however. I have had a majority of my workouts from Mother Nature herself, in the form of snow removal. My job at the school has me in charge of removing snow around a building that is mostly done by hand a majority of the time. I've also been on a 15-day consecutive stretch of some form of snow removal, either blowing, scooping, or sweeping. Some days its been over an hour of shoveling work, as I'm all bundled up in heavy clothing to keep me warm. Let's say you burn up quite a sweat, and get in a good, fully body workout by the end of it.

On lighter days, I have been doing 10-20 minute kettlebell workouts with clean & presses, Tabata style, which has been a great staple of my training this winter. I plan to get back into the running groove this week.

This past week has been pretty emotional as well. Our small school, where every kid knows every kid, just lost one of our greatest friends, Lance, a 6th grader. Lance fought cancer for the past 7 years of his life. Through it all, however, he always had a beaming smile, and would never complain about his pain. He enjoyed the simple things in his life: his time with friends, his family of course, his Lego's, and everyone knew he loved his joke books, because he'd always stop to tell you a joke he liked. Personally, we grew a connection over both of us being members of the "Junior Nation" of Dale Earnhardt, Jr. fans. On my 2nd or 3rd day of work, he spotted my Dale, Jr #88 coffee mug on my work cart, and we started talking about racing. Lance got to meet Dale Earnhardt, Jr back in 2005 through the Make-a-Wish Foundation.

Lance's life left us all a reminder that we should always smile, tell some jokes, and enjoy the simple things in life, no matter what the battles you are going through. He was certainly unique, precious, and unrepeatable, just as the way God made him to be. I feel that God always put Lance in our lives exactly when we needed him. I know there would be some bad moments at work, and as I'm walking through the hallway, Lance would be there. Sometimes he'd tell a joke, other times he'd give me a high-five or a fist bump. Most of the time he'd just ask me what I was up to. Another sign of the simple things in life, being there to lift us up.

God bless you, Lance, and thank you for the ways you touched us all.

- Coach Rick Karboviak

1MileNation Treadmill Race Results

1 Mile Nation — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 22:47:00 GMT

Greetings,

Yesterday & today were the 2 days to complete your 1-mile treadmill 'virtual race' efforts. No one has sent in any times over email to me, but I had myself & 4 others on DailyMile.com take the challenge & submit their times over that.

I don't have any last names of these guys, due to DailyMile.com keeping last names omitted in a privacy manner. I do, however, can view where they live. So, we have 2 guys from California, a guy from North Dakota, a guy from the Phillipines, and one from Taiwan? Pretty sweet! The internet is just sweet!

So, here are the results:

1. Rick Karboviak, Finley, ND 5:45
2. Nathaniel G, Manila, PH 6:17
3. Wayne, San Francisco, CA 6:27
4. Andrew T, Taipei City, TW 6:36
5. Logan, Temacula, CA, 6:39

If by chance you forgot to turn in your times to me, go ahead & do so by sending it to Rick@ASAPWorkouts.com.

Thanks once again to Nathaniel, Wayne, Andrew, & Logan for participating!

Run Strong, Run Fast...
Run So As To Win!

Coach Rick Karboviak
http://1MileNation.com

1MileNation Treadmill Race

1 Mile Nation — Sat, 30 Jan 2010 04:13:00 GMT

Greetings,

I know I haven't been plugging this race a whole lot, but I can still let you know about it taking place this weekend: the 1MileNation.com Virtual 1-Mile Race: on the treadmill!

All you have to do this weekend is test yourself on the 1-mile distance on a treadmill. If you wish to run outside and can do so, that is fine, too. I chose the treadmill because for people like me in the northern part of the country, we have icy, snow-covered roads to run on. Just not really safe to try & run hard on that, as well as trying to run hard in super-cold weather (we had -23 wind chills this morning up here in ND!).

So, that's why I picked the treadmill as the main option to take.

Later in May, I plan to have another "Big 1" race that's made for the track, which people can do throughout the world, as the last one was done that way in April of 2009.

So, check out the really-simple-instructions at http://asapworkouts.com/1mnvr.html to submit your times!

Thanks!

Run Strong, Run Fast...
Run So As To Win!

Coach Rick Karboviak
http://asapworkouts.com
http://1MileNation.com

My Last Week of Workouts

1 Mile Nation — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 17:36:00 GMT

Greetings,

I've been a bit busy as of late, trying to get my training business going once again at our community fitness center. I haven't been slacking on the workouts, though.

I gotta tell you, if you run, you should be using http://DailyMile.com. If you're a fan of Twitter & Facebook type sites, this is ideal for runners, triathletes, etc. It's been a great online log, and with Twitter/Facebook sharing applications already in place with it, I can share more of my workouts with others.

Here were my workouts from last week:

Sunday:
Upright Bike – 6.18 mi / 00:20 18.5mph pace

20 minute Tabata workout of 4 easy at 6 level on bike, 4 Tabata @ 8, 4 easy at 6, 4 Tabata @ 8, 4 easy. Nice little ride...Roughly half my tri distance for the bike.

Treadmill Run – 1.5 mi / 00:09:45 06:30 pace

1/2 mile at 8.0, 1 mile at 10.1. This was done after the 20 minute ride.

Tuesday: Recumbent Bike – 6 mi / 00:20 18.0mph pace

3 min easy, 3 min Tabata x 3, 2 min recovery ride at the end.

Wednesday: Upright Bike – 3 mi / 00:10:00 18.0mph pace

Tabata ride with 3 min easy, 4 minutes Tabata, 3 min easy. Transitioned to a 2 mile run on treadmill.

Treadmill Run – 2 mi / 00:13:42 06:50 pace

1/2 mile @ 8.0, 1 mile at 10.2, 1/2 mile @ 7.5. Done after a 10 minute upright bike ride.

Saturday: Recumbent Bike – 5.25 mi / 00:15:00 21.0mph pace

Did a quick 15 minute ride on the recumbent bike, doing a 3 minutes easy, 3 minutes Tabata pattern for the 15 minutes. Tried it out on our 2nd new recumbent bike and liked this bike better than the first one.

Sunday: Upright Bike – 4.63 mi / 00:15:00 18.5mph pace

Did another 3 min easy, 3 min Tabata pattern for 15 minutes on the upright this time, then transition into a treadmill run

Treadmill Run – 2 mi / 00:13:45 06:52 pace

Tried a new workout today: .4 mile @ 8.0, .4 mile @ 10.1, .3 mile @ 7.5, .3 mile @ 10.2, .3 mile @ 7.5, .3 mile @ 10.2. This is my '40/30/30' workout, doing 40% of a mile at easy, then hard, then 30% of a mile at easy, then hard, and 30% of each one more time.

As you can see, its a lot of varied workouts on the bikes & the treadmill. I also did 3 strength workouts intermixed on these days. Friday was a kettlebell workout-only day.

This month is going pretty well for me, with the occassional quirk when I'm doing my deadlifts. I have backed off a lot once again. I find that snow-shoveling work mixed in or around on deadlift days are not back-friendly. On Friday night & Saturday, we got nailed with a lot of wet, heavy snow, and I really got spent doing that for just a half-hour. I think part of why I got so spent was because of the outdoor clothes I was wearing: insulated, heavy stuff. The heavy shovel fulls didn't help me out, either. I don't care how in-shape you are, snow shoveling can still make you feel like you're out of shape sometimes!

Run Strong, Run Fast...
Run So As To Win!

Coach Rick Karboviak
http://1MileNation.com
http://MakeVarsity.com

Weekend Workouts

1 Mile Nation — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 23:11:00 GMT

Greetings,

Saturday & Sunday's workout entailed a little of each: Kettlebell Clean & Presses on Saturday, with a half-hour bike/run combo on Sunday morning.

Saturday's Workout:
KB Clean & Presses, 5 per side for every 20s period of work
35# used for first 5 minutes of 20s work, 10s rest x 10
40# used for 2nd 5 minutes
45# used for final 5 minutes

I thought about using my 53# kettlebell for 5 more minutes of this, but my body just wasn't feeling up to that. 15 minutes was plenty it seemed.

Sunday's Workout:

20 minute Bike Ride, of the following:
4 minutes easy at level 6 on upright bike
4 minutes, Tabata style, at level 8
4 minutes easy at 6
4 minutes Tabata at 8
4 minutes easy
6.18 miles total.
transition to Treadmill Run...

TM Run:
1/2 mile at 8.0mph, roughly under 4:00
1 mile at 10.1mph, total time to 1.5 miles was 9:45.

Since my tri race is a 500m swim, 12 mile bike, and 3 mile run, I basically teamed up half of the bike to half of the run portion as a good 'brick' style workout.

A great tool I've been using to track my workouts is a site called http://dailymile.com.
I suggest you go there, as its sort of a Twitter/Facebook-like atmosphere for active people. You can also post your workouts instantly on Twitter & Facebook through that site, too.

That's all I have for now. All in all, a very decent week for workouts. I trained mostly every day except Friday, where I took a good day of rest.

Run Strong, Run Fast...
Run So As To Win!

Coach Rick Karboviak
http://1MileNation.com
http://MakeVarsity.com

Latest Workouts & More

1 Mile Nation — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 00:04:00 GMT

Greetings,

The last few days have been pretty decent for getting in some unique workouts for my triathlon training strategy for my May race.

Sunday, I did a triple-combo workout format of the following:
1. Kettlebell Clean & Presses for 10 minutes, Tabata style (20s work, 10s rest per arm, alternating sides each set) with my 35# k-bell
2. 10 Minutes on the Upright Bike, which was 3 minutes easy, 4 minutes Tabata, and 3 minutes easy
3. Finished off with 1.5 miles in 10 minutes on the treadmill, running first 1/2 mile in 4 minutes, then a full 6 minute mile at 10mph to cap this off.

With slight transition times, this workout was just over the 30 minute mark. It helped simulate the 10 minutes or less I'll do for the swim with the full body action of the KB Clean & Presses, then a brief 10 minute bike ride with some spurts, and basically half of the 3 mile race distance I'll cover, done in 10 minutes time to finish this out.

Monday I mainly lifted my regular routine of bench press & deadlifts, with some pull-up work at home. While at the gym though, I did another run on the 'mill, this time in the following manner:

1/4 @ 8, 1/4 @ 10.2, 1/4 @ 7.5, 1/4 @ 10.2, 1/8 @ 7.7, then 1/8 @ 10.2 x 4 times. It was nice to try some 200 jog, 200 sprints for a change in the last mile of the workout.

As an estimate of where 200m is on a mileage readout in "1.25" format on the treadmill, I estimate a 200m distance to be at the 12-13% mark, so when I hit 12%, I will speed it up to my desired interval speed. It works for me.

Tuesday, I did just an at-home workout with my 40# kettlebell only, doing some KB Clean & Presses once again, this time for 20 minutes in a 20s work, 10s rest pattern, as I usually do.

I find that the 20s work, 10s rest pattern fits in so well with making the workout a swift-running interval plan, switching sides every 30s really helps out, too. One side rests while the other works, but the whole body is working as a unit in the end.

Today's workout was just a bike & run combo, following 15 minutes total on each section.

The Bike portion was 3 minutes easy, 3 Tabata style, x 2, with 3 minutes easy at the end.

The Run was basically alternating 1/4 mile distances between 8:00 pace & 6:00 pace, for 2 miles total, getting 2 miles done in less than 14 minutes total.

On a side note: on Monday, I weighed myself and took my body fat %, which I really haven't done in a long time. Last time I checked I believe I was around 185 & 13% body fat, back when I was working as an auto detailer by day. Now with my new job, I am not so physically rushed & pushed, making me actually put some 'good weight' back on. I'm now 195 and 13% bodyfat. What amazes me is how I've been able to still keep moving pretty good on my treadmill runs and handle things well. I think its because as I've slowly gained some weight back, my body has slowly adjusted to handling it. I know I feel much stronger lately than when i did back in October, after starting the program up that I'm doing now. I suspect with further training, I will maybe drop down that weight a bit as my volume goes up in overall cardio training for the triathlon, but I should still be able to keep the new strength I've been getting.

All in all, its been a good week.

Run Strong, Run Fast...
Run So As To Win!

Coach Rick Karboviak
http://1MileNation.com
http://ASAPWorkouts.com

Low Mileage + Strength + Power = Faster Times

1 Mile Nation — Sat, 09 Jan 2010 13:37:00 GMT

Greetings,

This past week has been filled with some okay workouts. I registered for the triathlon I plan to do in May, so you could say that the tri-training has begun. This week was capped off pretty well on Thursday, when I tested out a new 5RM for my deadlift (now at 275) and also decided to see how I could handle a 6 minute-mile pace for 1.5 miles after that run.

My running workout went like this:
1/4 mile at 8.0mph (roughly 2 minutes)
1.5 miles at 10.1mph (under 9 minutes)
1/4 mile at 7.5mph (2 minutes)

All in all, under 13 minutes for 2 miles total. At first I was planning on doing just 1/2 mile at 10.1mph, then it grew to 3/4, then a full mile, and I just felt like I wanted to keep going, to see how I could handle it.

I went to http://exrx.net, which is a great resource site for training calculators. Go into their "Fitness Calculator" section and you'll enjoy the stuff they have. I punched in a 9 minute, 1.5 Mile Run test time and noticed that I'm perfectly happy with that readout. A 57 VO2 Max estimate is fine by me. There are other tools on there, for estimating body composition, 1 rep maximums, and more.

My back was pretty sore on Friday, however. I think it was a combo of a lot of snow removal work on Wednesday & Thursday with my job at the school, plus the heavy deadlifting.

This morning it seems a lot better, so I will mainly do a kettlebell power workout later today, and also plan a bike/run 'brick' workout for my triathlon training on Sunday.

Also, last week, I was reviewing my Running Times magazine from Dec 2009, and there was an article in there on Scott Hartley, a Masters runner who has ran a 1:58 800m, and a 4:07 1600m time at the USATF Masters Outdoor Championships: in the M45 age division. Those times would have won in the M40 division as well...the thing that stuck out to me in this article is the guy's training regimen, as its strikingly similar to what I promote doing.

Basically, its low-mileage runs, under 25 miles a week. He does the famed Cross-Fit training program style for his strength training & power training focus. I myself am not a fan of Cross-Fit's training style, as I am a bit reserved on their overall take of training. But, that's for another rant...the meat of his running workouts are, you guessed it: interval training. The article states that a typical week in February for him would be runs no longer than 4 miles, a "Tabata Run" on Sunday (a staple of my training!), 3x400m on Tuesday, 4x400m on Thursday, and a unique workout of 800m runs with 50 back extensions and 50 sit-ups after each 800m, done on a Friday.

This is MY KIND OF TRAINING that I like to see, and how its working so well. Hartley had a 'good run' of success in college as a track runner, focusing on the 800 & 1600, with also a sub 15-minute 5K to boot. After a lot of high mileage training, the injuries would come, and come again, and he almost had to give up running. Then he found a co-worker who was thinking that maybe all he needed was some strength training to help fix the issue. It's a good thing he had a co-worker to help him out, because he sure has a lot of success with his new style of training. Talk about being 're-born' as a runner, especially with those times, and especially at that age!

I think the quote I like the most in this article is from Hartley himself: "I don't like jogging, I want to go fast & get it done."

My kind of guy...doing the kind of training I like to see people do.

If you want to read more about my methods & training principles, there's no better place to go than to join my new site at http://MakeVarsity.com, where you can download all of my e-books, such as "Endure!" and "KettleBolics", for free.

"Endure!" shows you how I took a XC team of multi-sport athletes and helped them improve their overall fitness levels through high intensity interval training and low-mileage training, applied with GPS technology to aid them in setting their running paces accordingly.

"KettleBolics" shows you how to incorporate kettlebell power training into your running workouts and how it transfers into greater power for hills, and in flat-out power on the track.

Those 2 guides alone are well worth joining the site for! And its free to join, so you have nothing to lose!

Go to http://MakeVarsity.com and join today!

Run Strong, Run Fast...
Run So As To Win!

Coach Rick Karboviak
http://1MileNation.com
http://ASAPWorkouts.com
http://MakeVarsity.com

New Year, New Goals, New Site!

1 Mile Nation — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 14:17:00 GMT

Greetings,

I want to wish to all of you a very Happy New Year in 2010! I'm sure most of you have set some goals & resolutions already. Here are my goals:

1. Compete in the Thief River Falls Sprint Triathlon in May. My last Tri there was in 2005, so I want to make a return up there for this race. Since I used to live in "TRF" and coach there, this race is sort of a mini-homecoming for me, since TRF really felt like a place to call home.

2. Break 19 minutes in a 5K race this year. My main 5K I'm aiming to do this in is my local Finley 5K race, which I got 19:33 in, without really training specifically for that time. I feel I got a sub 19 in me.

3. Get the 5 Minute Mile at the Prairire Rose State Games in July. I feel with the intense training for the triathlon this winter/spring, I will have quite the base to bulid upon as I hone my speed efforts in April, May, & June on the track for this race. I'll also compete in the 400m and 800m races, too.

4. Break 250 in the bench press. Just last night in my workout, I did a rep maximum test at 200, and got 4 reps. A 1-rep max calculator I did online said my estimate is now 224. I feel I can get this number in due time with patience & practice. As a part of this goal too, I want to break double my bodyweight in the deadlift. I'm 185 on a good day, so 370 would be lofty to achieve.

5. I want to help out MORE & MORE people through my sites. As a part of this plan, I am making a BIG change to how I do things.

For 2010, I am going to be focusing on 3 main sites:

1. This blog, http://1MileNation.com. Looking back in 2009 when I launched it at the start of the year, I was amazed at how many people read it & visited it. I know I target just a small amount of people who like to run fast & furious, and try to convert others to do so. 2010 just may be THE year that more & more people see the benefits of shorter & faster running efforts.

2. My http://ASAPWorkouts.com site is now going to reflect my entry back into the realm of fitness & sports performance training as a part-time hobby business for me. I want this to be the local portal for people in/around Finley, ND for my training service information.

3. My NEW site, which I'm making public today through this blog, is going to go along the lines of what ASAPWorkouts.com started as: an information site for athletes & parents & coaches, but its going to be more than that...

I created http://MakeVarsity.com as a new site that integrates all of my past articles, and my past e-books & guides, into a Free Membership site for people to join! All young athletes are on the journey to "Make Varsity" at some point, and once they get there, they need to know the roles & efforts it takes to stay there and perform your best! As an athlete, coach & trainer, I've been on "all sides of the bench" when it comes to sports. I have seen what roles are needed to play for team success to happen.

http://MakeVarsity.com will have the following for its free members:
1. Free membership, of course!
2. A Photo's section for all to add & view
3. A Video's section for all to add & view
4. A Discussion Forum for athletes, parents, & coaches
5. An Articles & Guides section, showcasing all my past articles & now, all of my past e-books, including Endure!, KettleBolics, The Rocket Speed Training on a Budget guides, and more! Yes, all those items are now for FREE when you join!
6. My New "Coaching & Consulting Services" will be offered in special packages for parents & athletes. I'm also offering specialized "Workshop by Phone!' and "ASAP Coaching Calls" as part of this, too.

So, I invite you to Register today with http://MakeVarsity.com and start adding your thoughts & commentary for the community! If anything, once you join, you can download all my training guides for free (with the exception of "7 Weeks to 7 Minutes", that one I am keeping up for sale only).

Also, let me know of your thoughts on the site, and if you feel it can be improved in any way. Like anything, it will take a while to get the kinks out as it gets going.

I hope 2010 brings you 12 months of joy & happiness on your own journeys & goals!

Run Strong, Run Fast...
Run So As To Win!

Coach Rick Karboviak
http://1MileNation.com
http://MakeVarsity.com

A 2-Workout kind of day

1 Mile Nation — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 00:56:00 GMT

Greetings,

This morning started off with me doing a 20 minute kettlebell routine, thinking that it would make me feel fine enough for the day. The workout ended up being this:

Tabata interval style, 20s work right arm, 10s rest, 20s work left arm, 10s rest x 20 times.
Used a 35# kettlebell, and did 5 clean & presses on each arm, per minute. Made for 200 reps total for the workout.

I went to Mass, then went to a pizza place for their lunch buffet. Felt like I ate way too much there.

Later this afternoon, I got pointed in the direction of a new mini-blog site called "DailyMile", at http://dailymile.com. Here, you can update your runs & other activity in a twitter-like ability.

So, I felt the need to get another workout in tonight, after feeling like crap from that meal, and knowing that a workout will start pushing some of that awful feeling out of the way.

I then did my strength workout next, doing my bench press & deadlift routine, followed up by this run on the treadmill:

1/4 mile @ 8.0 mph
1/4 mile @ 10.2 mph
1/4 mile @ 7.5 mph
1/4 mile @ 10.2 mph
1/4 mile @ 7.5 mph
1/2 mile @ 10.2 mph
1/4 mile @ 7.5 mph

2 miles total, 13:50 for a time to get that in. My body felt really good after this one. Tired, but good.

All in all, if you feel sluggish, perhaps a little workout is all you need for a pick-me-up.

Run Strong, Run Fast...
Run So As To Win!

Coach Rick Karboviak
http://1MileNation.com

What 3 Days of Snow Will Do...

1 Mile Nation — Sun, 27 Dec 2009 01:16:00 GMT

Greetings,

Well, I hope you had a great Christmas holiday. Mine was spent being stuck inside for most of it. I went over on Christmas Eve to my parents for dinner, and to open up gifts. We couldn't get out of town for Midnight Mass due to the storm that hit, and Friday wasn't any better. This storm was so big, I'm sure you've heard about it on the national news. It didn't really slow down until Saturday afternoon. Close to 18 inches and 24 inches fell in some areas in our region.

So, with all that time, I had a lot of time to read my new Convict Conditioning book, go over some older books, review some sites, and work on my new site, while revamping another.

I did finish my Convict Conditioning book, and it really was a great read, all in all. Sort of a hybrid book on strength training, calisthenics, endurance training, and bodybuilding, but I use bodybuilding loosely in that sense. It lays out quite the progressive plan, with 6 major movements that are compound in their nature (which I like), and a 10-step plan for each movement to progress to more & more difficult, challenging exercises for that action.

I'm not sure how to fit this into my training right now. I've been planning for my races I want to do in 2010, and the first major event is a triathlon that I want to do again. I've done this triathlon twice in the past, in 2004 & 2005, and its held in a town I used to train & coach in. I'd love to do it once again. The other events that are important are my town's 5K (I took 3rd in it last year, missing 2nd by 2 seconds!) and the ND state amateur track meet. Those are my big three I want to prepare for. I might do some other 5K's that come up throughout the summer and do them just for fun as the come up. It's hard to really know when most of them get planned until the summertime anyway.

I feel for the swimming portion prep for this triathlon, the closest thing I can do is a kettlebell power workout for it, in place of it. The nearest indoor pool is at my old college, 25 miles away, and its not really a feasible thing to do with my work schedule and upcoming training schedule for clients. I trained for my other two triathlons without doing any swimming either, and got improved times in the bike & run anyway. This is what you have to do, when you live & train in rural ND. We don't have YMCA's or big-time fitness centers around every corner like a big city does. You simply have to make due with what you have. All I'll have is a bunch of kettlebells, a gym, and an upright bike to use at the gym to use, until I can get out on the road with my regular road bike. I'll have to use the treadmills too, for my running, until I can get out on the track again.

The registration for this triathlon will start next week, from what their website says. Usually the end of December is the time they open it up.

My other events of course are the local 5K race in June, which is a course I could run pretty often throughout town when it gets nice for that, and it will be a good course to run on as I prepare for the triathlon in April/May. In July, I'll really hunker-down and get ready for the track events of the 400m, 800m, and 1600m races. I might even do the 2 mile as well, not sure on adding that yet. I know last year's 2 mile didn't have too many in it.

In other news on my end, I am preparing for doing some in-person training once again in January, and making the neccessary changes to my websites to reflect that. ASAPWorkouts.com will now be my main site for in-person training information.

In my biggest news, I am moving a lot of my products and articles over into one main membership site, directed at preparing the high school athlete, and helping their parents out with the whole preparation process.

I feel right now, in this day & age, there is a greater need to reach out to high school athletes & their parents, in teaching better ways of preparing for sports. So many kids get lost in the world of reading muscle magazines for training information, and get mislead so much by it. Parents mostly think that sending kids to a bunch of week-long camps is the answer to getting them better, and by putting them in travel league after travel league. Coaches perhaps try to push way too much out of their athletes by recommending such things and giving the impression that they are almost mandatory for the athlete.

As a current coach once again, I see all these issues that are hitting all sides of the bench.

This mess has to stop, because its ruining high school sports! Participation numbers are going down, and I feel its because too much pressure is being put on these athletes, in all the wrong places.

That's why my new site is going to be FREE for membership access into it. I am going to be giving away all my past products, free for download, because I feel they need to get out more to the masses and shared with others. Things like my e-books, "Endure!" and the "Rocket Speed Training On A Budget" series, will be available for you to download, once you join the site. I also have a lot of other small workout guides, like "Power & Control Workout", "Caveman Strength!" and others that will be available, too.

Instead of trying to continually sell these e-books, I figured it would be better if I offered for sale my Coaching & Consulting services instead. People are always asking me direct questions pertaining to an athlete's needs, so if people really want all I need to offer them, I can't give them all of that through just one e-book or a collective arrangement of them. Those items are better used as resources. They need direct consulting, if they truly want the best strategy for today's young athlete.

So, I will be offering Full Year, Pre-Season, In-Season, and Off-Season coaching plans, as well as "Workshop by Phone!" and the "ASAP Coaching Call" option, too. The Coaching plans will be limited to the number of athletes I can take on for each plan.

I will still try to write some timely articles for this new site as well. I will also keep this blog going strong, too. This way, I only have 3 main sites to worry about: this blog, ASAPWorkouts.com, and the new one, yet to come...

It will be released soon, so keep your eyes open on the blog in the next week or two.

Until next time,

Run Fast, Run Strong,
Run So As To Win!

Coach Rick Karboviak
http://1MileNation.com

Tabata's in 3's....

1 Mile Nation — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 23:51:00 GMT

Greetings,
It looks like we are on the brink of a major winter storm heading our way up here in ND, stretching through SD & MN as well as other states south of there. The flurries are just beginning their onset in the past few hours as I type this out. After work today, which was a day of painting a locker room's floor at the school, I think I had too many paint fumes. Wasn't feeling up for a run after work, so I took a nap, getting some cleaner air inside me. After the nap, I decided to stay home & use my XC ski machine, since its been a while and I like to cross-train with it in my mix of training.

Here's the XC skier workout:

3 minutes easy
3 minutes Tabata (20s fast, 10s easy x 6)
repeated that entire pattern 2 more times, for an 18 minute total workout.

I got 4.1 miles according to the readout on my machine. I still don't know how this correlates with running efforts, but the Tabata periods are the main focus for me anyway when I work on this machine.

I've also been playing with my Iso7x isometric exercise gadget. Trying to use it every day for a few basic target areas, like chest, back, bi's & tri's, and my abs. I'm not really taking this thing seriously for now. Mainly tinkering with it, because I feel my main strength workouts and KB workouts are doing their job well enough.

I've been reading my new Convict Conditioning book, which I'm maybe almost half-ways through. Its my goal to end it by the time New Year's comes, and then perhaps try the program and their suggestions out for the month of January. I'm thinking of doing CC's program only for my strength, and since I'm not finished with the book, I'm not sure how they recommend mixing any running into the program. If anything, I would do the CC program and continue with my runs. Since my strength program right now is at near maximal levels and I continually test out a 5RM weight, I will at least know at the end of my training for it where I stand for strength levels. The true test will be seeing how much the bodyweight only exercises will maintain or improve that strength level.

Plans for Thursday are to do a strength workout, I might do a KB workout on Christmas. I should have the time for it, since I'm staying put and my only Christmas visit will be to my parents home, 2 blocks away. We will be hit with a ton of snow anyway the way it looks, so I might be getting a few High Intensity Interval Snow Shoveling sessions in throughout the weekend.

If you haven't done so, and I know a lot of people haven't yet, you should SIGN UP NOW for the 1MileNation.com 1-Mile Virtual Race for January 30-31, 2010! Why haven't you signed up already: you get a FREE training guide from yours truly as my Christmas & New Year's gift to you, just for signing up for this race. Registrants who register early will get my new guide, "7 Weeks to 7 Minutes", which is a $9 download value and $12 Paperback value... Email me, RIGHT NOW, because you know you want to sign up for this event (all you have to do is run your Mile race on a treadmill, or you can even do it outside if the weather permits in your area!) - Email me at Rick@ASAPWorkouts.com right now!

Encourage others to sign up and train for this race as well...its a great way to start off 2010 with a 4 week jumpstart to get in shape for a 1-Mile Race at the end of the month!

I will still be taking people for the race after January 1st, its just that they won't be getting their Free Guide after that date. So, now is the perfect time to sign up, it just takes an email to tell me your name, age, male/female, and where you are from!

Spread the word!

Until next time,
Run Strong, Run Fast...
Run So As To Win!

Coach Rick Karboviak
http://1MileNation.com
http://ASAPWorkouts.com

In Pursuit of Strength

1 Mile Nation — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 22:32:00 GMT

Greetings,

I had a really great strength workout this afternoon, hitting a new 5 rep maximum personal best in the bench press. I took it a bit easier on the deadlifts due to a sore back & legs from snow shoveling a lot yesterday. I took care of my own home in about 10-15 minutes, but spent about an hour doing the removal for my place of work, the school. We are a small school, our campus is only about 2 blocks in length, but with wide sidewalks and other entry/exit points around the building, its a lot to maintain by hand and takes a while to do. It's a nice cardio workout in itself when you get down to it, sort of like a kettlebell endurance workout, but with less weight sometimes to shovel.

Anyway, the strength program I'm currently on is called Power to the People, a book I've often referred to as one of the best ways to pursue the route of strength improvement. It focuses on just 2 lifts for your workout: a Pull action, and a Press action. The Pull is the deadlift, and the Press can be the bench press in most people's picks as to what to do. I've been on the program now since the middle of October, and I can already see some nice improvements in not only my strength, but I've also put some muscle back on my body, which had been missing for a while. As I've often talked about, my former job as an auto detailer through the day had me doing 8-9 hours a day, 45-50 hours a week some weeks, of scrubbing, buffing, and cleaning a variety of vehicles. I'd sometimes go through 30-40 vehicles a week in my log books when I worked there. My right elbow became inflamed and it really limited my lifting abilities, so much so that I would maybe do 1-2 workouts a week, if my arms felt like it. I really got slacked in that, but what was I to do? Further increase the problems with my elbow and make it worse? It wasn't until I started my new job that my daily stress workload diminished, and my schedule has allowed me to get in some really great workouts now.

I first tried Power to the People's format back in 2006. I made some really great gains with the program, and never really went back to it until I got my own home in 2008. I tried it a bit, but as I've discussed, my body was just really worn down and I mainly stuck to basic bodyweight and kettlebell workouts. Now that I have the time again, and a healthier, less-stressed body from work, I have been seeing some great gains with the program now.

I realize we are all in a "Pursuit of Strength" when it comes to athletic preparation. This image of "Strength" is somewhat misconstrued in some people's eyes, as some believe its an image of huge muscles and bulky appearances. I guess that's why I love the PTP program format, because it takes on the 'old school', turn of the century approach to pursuing strength as a SKILL, not as a means to an end of looking huge & bulky. The muscles will get dense, firm, and more powerful, and not overly bloated-looking and bulky like a bodybuilder's appearance does today.

It also lies in a greater balance with the type of appearance and performance that an athlete should have: they shouldn't have to worry about looking bulky and bloated, but should be focused on how their strength can assist them in improving performance in the end. PTP offers this edge, and its one of the best programs I've seen out there that doesn't claim to add slabs of muscle to your frame as the end result. In some people, it does, in others, it helps trim them up. All in all, that tells me that the program is designed to help you get your 'optimum body' in the end for using strength as your skill.

--------------
If you are in pursuit of faster running in 2010, then why not sign up for the 1MileNation.com "The Big 1...On The Mill!" Race in January?

Register early and get in on this unique 1 Mile Race that you'll run on a treadmill...and get my new Guide, "7 Weeks to 7 Minutes", for free!

Email me at Rick@ASAPWorkouts.com to register, with your name, age, city, and country.

That's all it takes! Go here for all the info:
http://ASAPWorkouts.com/1MNVR.html

Also, stay alert for a major announcement with my websites. I've created a new one this past weekend that will really change how I help people out, especially for the high school athlete and their parents, who struggle with juggling all the demands of high school sports today. Every young athlete is in pursuit of something great, and my new site will help them get there!

Until next time,

Run Strong, Run Fast...
Run So As To Win!

Coach Rick Karboviak
http://1MileNation.com

Weight Loss Rantings...

1 Mile Nation — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 13:59:00 GMT

Greetings,

Lately I just got asked a question on a Q&A site that I volunteer for, and for some reason, I feel I get more stupid questions than good ones. Or should I say instead, more ill-informed questions.

Most of these are in relation to weight loss and more specifically, getting 'cut', in terms of looking like a model or a bodybuilder's physique. This goes the same for men or women, and more disturbingly for me, with young teenagers who are athletes and seek fat loss & muscle gain over performance improvement.

I've ranted on this issue before, mostly in my free guide, The ASAP Way, found at http://asapworkouts.com/asapway.pdf. As a current high school coach and a trainer returning to conducting training sessions soon, I have never really been a fan of shooting for weight loss goal numbers.

I know, that may sound silly, but hear me out. If I have a 220 pound young male who's in high school, and we set a weight loss goal of 40 pounds to get him down to 180, we may be setting the guy up for failure.

Why? Because now instead of focusing on overall health & performance improvements (strength increases, endurance increases, VO2 max increases, anaerobic energy system increases), we are putting the main priority on a weight scale number alone. Who's to say that with some proper training, the kid only loses 25 pounds, gets down to 195, and moves quicker than he used to, runs better, develops more endurance, and gets stronger? Is that a failure if he doesn't reach 180 as the goal? If he were to get down further & further to 180, yet lost some strength and muscle mass in the process due to extreme dieting, now we got some more issues that we wouldn't want to deal with.

I always feel that once you start training the body, you should be shooting for performance-based goals. Its what our bodies are meant to do at any level: perform in greater capacity and endurance for its imposed demands, whether they be mowing the yard, shoveling snow, playing 1-2 sports a year, or running a 5K.

I have yet to see any height/weight charts that show people that you have to fall into a certain category to perform at a certain level. (That's why I hate it when I hear from coaches that if a kid puts on 10 more pounds, they will be a better athlete. Who are we to judge? What about "if that kid works out consistently and puts in quality time into developing himself, they will be a better athlete!")

Throughout the course of training athletes & clients, I tend to track more body fat percentages in each, over the weight scale alone. Body fat percentages tell more of an answer of what's happening to the body with exercise strategies applied to it. Is the program helping the person lose body fat, and build up lean body mass (muscle mass, bone mass)? I've noticed that once people notice their body fat percent dropping, and even though the scale may be staying the same weight, they like how their body is re-shaping itself and how their body is performing better. The scale is a non-issue.

One case in point was an 18 year old female who was about to enter college for playing volleyball & basketball. She told me her friends and other people were asking her if she lost any weight. She said "no, I'm pretty much the same weight as I've always been lately." Other people could notice some definition in her arms and legs (she worked as a lifeguard during the summer, so people noticed these things pretty easily). We tested her body fat percentage, and yes, it sure dropped, but there was also an equal gain in lean body mass. If you lose 5 pounds of fat and gain 5 pounds of lean body mass, you have a zero-sum in total body weight, but a nice increase in what I call 'positive weight gain'. Positive weight gain is focused on muscle mass increases and bone density increases.

Bone density is something that's often not thought about unless you're getting into your 60's and 70's and start losing it. In today's active age, our youth today has a much greater ability to keep their bone density high throughout the years, if they stay active and keep their bodies strong & healthy. Your bones weigh something too! In today's muscle-gaining and fat-loss world, we don't often think about the framework of the body and how that is important to health in the end. Strength training and other weight-bearing activities help strengthen our inside framework, our skeletal structure. They help our bodies handle greater stresses of life as well.

So, to get back to this one question of a guy asking me how to lose 60 pounds, I will re-ask the question and say "How do you know for sure that a 60 pound weight loss will attain what you desire? Do you have a magic fortune crystal ball to give you such a vision?"

I'd say this at first:

1. Let's look at your past & current exercise history habits & structures.
2. Let's see how much available time you have to exercise.
3. Let's see if you have any restrictive health conditions that factor into your exercise programming.
4. Let's see what state your body is in right now, and test out some strength levels, some endurance levels, and body composition levels.
5. Let's setup a strategy that will train your entire body in a time efficient manner, allowing you to get in quality workouts over just pure quantity of workouts.
6. Let's set a bi-weekly testing time for body composition, to see how the program is working for you.
7. Let's go over your eating habits to see if any healthier habits can be formed.
8. Let's re-test those beginning tests in about 5-6 weeks and see how you're coming along.

Notice how none of it is fixated on a scale number. Its a progressive training strategy that takes in all those factors first before a program is designed for specific needs & intentions.

I guess that's why I get so upset with all those fitness infomercials that proclaim you can lose 10 pounds in 2 weeks and lose 2 sizes in your pants and whatever else they want to guarantee you. They don't factor in all those above situations.

All in all, I blame it on the scam artists in the fitness industry who create these false hopes & images of people magically losing weight by doing some goofy little program on a bunch of DVD's. Most of them fail to educate people on these basics. All it becomes is one big sales tactic to promise this and that, just to sell the image of fitness.

I think its why you see so many fitness package DVD's at rummage sales. My sister picked up the Power 90 program a while back at a garage sale for like $10. DVD's were still in the wrapped-up plastic. Never been opened.

She borrowed the DVD's to me and I've watched them. Not really that impressed. If you want workouts, its good for that. If you want a strategy, good look finding one.

Sorry, but I feel a majority of people who by these products will end up doing the same thing: the packages never get opened, and sold for pennies or donated to a thrift store. They got sold on the image of losing weight and getting cut, but because they didn't have the help in outlining a proper strategy to begin with, their DVD packages fail to even get cut open.

It's all about the strategy, folks. You have to line up a strategy if you want to get somewhere with your training.

Rant Over...

Coach Rick Karboviak
http://1MileNation.com
http://ASAPWorkouts.com

More Xpress Lane Workouts

1 Mile Nation — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 22:52:00 GMT

Greetings,

In my running article over on http://asapworkouts.com, "Express Lane: 10 Miles or Less", (found here: http://asapworkouts.com/express.pdf ) I talk about how you can get in quality workouts with 10 miles or less per week.

Today's treadmill run was a snapshot of that style of workout, something brief, concise, to the point.

Here's how it went:

1/2 mile warm-up at 8.0mph

1/4 mile at 10mph
1/4 mile at 7.5mph
1/4 mile at 10.1mph
1/4 mile at 7.5mph
1/4 mile at 10.1mph
1/4 mile at 7.5mph
1/4 mile at 10.2mph
1/4 mile at 7.5mph

2.5 miles total for a run, under 18 minutes. 1 mile of fast stuff at mile pace, 1.5 miles at a good recovery pace.

All in all, its the type of workout that keeps you thinking and adjusting, hitting your body with jolts of speed to shake things up in the end. It's those jolts of speed in the end that make the maximum impact on your running improvements for you.

With a traditional style of run, where you set out at the same, medium-easy level pace for 3-6 miles, your body eventually gets used to operating at such mundane levels over time. If you did little to no speedwork sessions, you may improve some, but not a lot. This is due to your body's need to be trained at the speeds it wishes to attain.

It's why basketball players do drills at 'game speed': high intensity, full-bore, pedal to the floor. If they expect to move that way in a game, they must do it in practice.

If we take this same speed-specific concept and apply it to running, you have to run at your paces you want to perform/race at, otherwise your body won't know how to handle such speeds for very long when it comes down to it.

If you want to make specific goals and changes in your running, bottom line is that you're going to have to run faster at some point. The mile pace you can handle is a good place to start in building up speed.

In case you haven't heard already, I've announced the new 1-Mile Virtual Race to be held in January in Wednesday's blog update. Check out all the information on "The Big 1...On The 'Mill!" right here: http://asapworkouts.com/1MNVR.html

Until next time,

Run Strong, Run Fast...
Run So As To Win!

Coach Rick Karboviak
http://1MileNation.com
http://ASAPWorkouts.com