Fiddleman

Ok, I know I keep throwing out variations on this question over time but today needs some input, fast. I have made my mind up with cross fit to do 3 days on and 1 day off approach to give my body a chance to recover in terms of training for next summer. I do not think I can do 6 days a week of training yet (have not tried) and all my research online as well as asking around my box indicates 3 on and 1 off is a good idea. Yesterday's WOD drained me yet again in the evening (did the Joshua). However, this morning I am feeling fairly decent albeit a little sore (nothing like last night). Today WOD is all about running. Fast running. The idea is to push to run fast 1 mile sprints 3x with 3 minute recovery in between. It is my first running WOD. No lifting. Given my history of running, I believe I can do this. And even do well at it. Minimum time is 12 minutes. However, I think I can get sub 6 minutes if I really kill it to the point of exhaustion and lack of oxygen in the muscles. I will do what I can to refuel in that 3 minutes if it would help. Do you think chomping on a couple energy squares would help or hinder before a 1 mile sprint or would sipping on bcaa be better? I wish I knew the answer. Am I going to regret doing this WOD given today is supposed to be my rest day? Do not know. Here is the description of it: " Thursday September 19th, 2013: Every 12 minutes for 36 minutes (3 sets) of: Run 1 Mile (1600 Meters) as quickly as possible. Each set should be a max effort. I don’t want to see that you can pace, I want to see that you can bust your ass, and then repeat the effort. There will be drop-off…I want to see (and want you to see) what that drop-off looks like. I also want to see you PR your timed mile…at least once. Please don’t make me say that you’ll be dead to me if you don’t complete this. I would like to believe that saying it once underscored my desire for you to accept uncomfortable training sessions, to embrace training in a way that might be unfamiliar and highlight weaknesses. Our community has come to love the barbell – which is awesome – but we cannot forget that to succeed in this sport you must have a huge aerobic base and exorbitant mental fortitude. Get to the gym and get after it. If your mile time is longer than 12 minutes - write your time down, wait until the next minute, and go for it! " Most people at my box do the 3 on and 1 off . And they are usually off Thursdays. However, from the description, it sounds like we should be in the box today. I feel a little guilty about not being there (per comment "dead to me"). Please help me out with your thoughts.

We got the WW digital scale a couple months ago. It is wickedly accurate, manages different profiles and also indicates stats like body fat %, bone density and a few other things. My wife and I both use it and have different profiles set up on it. She weighs daily and I weigh about 2 x a week.

I will probably get flamed for saying this, but have you considered your caloric intake is too low for your caloric burn from exercise? It is not even clear to me what is the right amount of calories to suggest. I have no idea. I stopped thinking about calories several months ago and eat when hungry, paleo style. Protein first, veggies and some good carbs / fat. Not much else. My meals are about every 2 hours where each meal is 200-300 calories. my Breakfast meal is usually the highest in calories (500-600) because i eat oatmeal mixed with a higher calorie Protein powder (400 calories from 2 scoops). There is a mix of calories from Protein shakes and from food for the aggregate of daily meals. Again, I stopped paying attention to exact numbers and just eat in a healthy way and often . It is working for me and it might work for you. It does not feel like a lot of work to eat this way and keeps both energy and insulin response stable. Also, sometimes I do not " feel" like eating (like 3 hours after a workout - my "dinner" time), but I do anyways in order to keep the metabolic response constant from rise to bed. Also look at reducing the inflammation that comes from working out often. You can do this with fish oil (my dose is 5 g daily). Reducing inflammation in the body will reduce fat storage. Also, are you lifting? There have been studies done that show inflammation genes can be suppressed and anti-inflammation genes can be increased in as little as 24 hours when a paleo style diet is combined with training. Isn't that an exciting fact? I exercise about 1 hour a day, but intensely. Rarely do I do steady state cardio any longer (read: fat burning zone for an hour). Instead, I do metabolic conditioning combined with lifting. Almost every day is a different type of workout and always is challenging. Think about adding some shock treatment into your workouts to really increase the metabolic conditioning. Sorry if this suggestion is something you already do. I do not know how you exercise. Just try to stay away from steady state cardio; it triggers your body to store fat instead of lean you out, after a long time of doing it. Just some ideas that might help you. My weight modulates between 175-180 (just Water cycling, I guess) which is just about right for my height and lean muscle percentage. See if some of these suggestions are worth pursuing.

Update (3 hours later): endorphins are wearing off and I feel the tiredness and general aching all around. Hope my body bounces back overnight for tomorrow's WOD. I usually do a lot to assist recovery: contrast showers, rolling, long mobility sessions, quality sleep, high dose fish oil, bcaa drinks, recovery drinks (shake and electrolyte), creatine, glutamine and vitamins. Crossing fingers.

Update: mowed my lawn tonight for an extra 2 mile of walking. 1/2 acre - I think that distance is about right according to this link: http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20090605065701AAM0eaM Gotta rake in the miles from any activity. +2 for 112.5 total.

+4 for 110.5 total. 3 miles were timed at 5:15, 5:59 and 6:20.

Just got back from my workout. It was awesome! Mile 1: warmup (also did the usual cross fit warmup up pull-ups, sit-ups, push ups, lunges, etc) About 30 min of mobility. Longer then normal. I wanted to make sure hamstrings, gluts and IT bands were good and stretched. Mile 2: 5:15 Mile 3: 5:59 Mile 4: 6:20 I killed it. Best times in the cross fit class (about 25 people) according to the board by over a minute. My coach ran mile 2 and 3 with me and I came in 30 seconds faster then her. Shocked me. I think it was only because I was throwing myself forward instead of running with perfect form and making my strides as long as possible. My breathing at the last 400 m of each mile sounded like labor (another coach told me breathing fast was better when running as hard as you can). Lol. And I felt invigorated afterwards. A little out of breath after mile 4 for 10-15 seconds, but I seemed to be radiating with clean energy. I really surprised I did not throw up afterwards. I honestly thought this workout would do it to me. I honestly did not know I could run that fast outside on the pavement. 1/2 of each mile was on a little incline. Good on the down, but oh so unpleasant on the up, especially because the up was at the end of each mile.

It was about 5.5 months when I felt pretty good about running (started running about a month before). It was about 10 months when I felt pretty good about general fitness (started cross fit about 3 months before 2x a week, @home fitness 3x a week). My 1 year post op was July 2nd 2013. At 5 weeks I was walking with some hiking.

Thanks for your advice and support! I do really want to do it and will report back results later tonight.

Next rest day is Sunday.

Should I do this running WOD today?

You can certainly try it out after the obglitory 6 week wait period following surgery, but if it were me, I would wait until further down the line when you are able to eat enough to support success on the programs.

Oh, I am jealous.

Great job!

These are definitely good programs to follow. Tom V of Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle really focuses on quality nutrition and is very scientific in his communication style. I have read his book a couple times, first when it was still only available as an rebook directly through his site (now available on Amazon). Bill's Body for Life and his brother Shawn's book called Strength for life are fairly hard core to follow during your "losing" stage (eg the "honeymoon" stage). Body for life would be hard for us because it focuses primarily on the development of a muscular body. We do not eat enough to build any kind of real muscle that would win a body for life competition. Strength for life is a more practical approach to building real strength through progressive intensity. I really like this program and did a variation of it at the beginning of this summer. To put it in perspective, I had been in maintain mode for 4 months before starting the strength for life program. It really paid off in huge dividends with helping me build real strength based on power, stamina and endurance, not just flashy muscles?

+ 4.5 miles today for total 106. 2 miles warm up and 2.5 miles of "fast" running in a WOD called Joshua. First WOD I was "this close" to puking on at the end. 5 rounds ("Joshua"): 800 m dash 30 GHD sit-ups 15 dead lifts @ 250 28 min and 20 seconds. Nice thing about cross fit is all the running and the variety of workouts. Different one every day. I won't be seeing this one again for a year.

So what happens if the psych determines you are a raving lunatic ?

It is best to take theanine in the evening because it is anxiolytic on the CNS (read: inhibits anxiety). Some use it to help with falling sleep and staying asleep (i use melatonin for this). However, theanine is good to take whenever encountering stressful situations per OP. Start out with 100 mg 2-3 times a day mixed with your flavored Water and work your way up to about 200 mg. it just works. I have found theanine to be quite effective when combined with a smaller dose of caffeine when lifting by taking 25-50 mg caffeine 30-60 minutes before hand combined with 200 mg theanine. The theanine modulates or down regulates the stimulating effects of caffeine in order to provide a clean energy without jitter. It also helps minimize perceived effort of intense workouts. 200 mg of caffeine is about 1 strong cup of coffee. Hope this helps.

Ran 4 miles today for 101.5. I am feeling kind of achy breaky in my thrusters lifting today combined with burpees over the bar so need to figure out what is going on with my left shoulder (probably rotator cuff is messed up). Whole shoulder and upper arm feels like no strength. I was a bit bummed that my failures were right away on overhead lifting portion of thrusters. Workout was kind of like a Fran if you know what i am talking about - on the floor afterwards. Had some good back squat sets today for skill training though.

Be kind to yourself. Your body is still recovering from major surgery and there will be differing levels of energy. Your diet, while perfectly normal as a post op, is another primary cause of low energy as it is lacking in calories and a balanced set of macronutrients. Again, this is by design until you are further out post op. Lack of carbohydrates will cause both a decline in brain activity and physical response, especially if you are in daily ketosis. Once you are able to eat solid food the increased calories and nutrients should help you with energy. Make sure you are drinking as much water as possible (above 64 oz minimum if you can) and consuming at least 80 G protein daily. Take breaks and relax if you need some recover time.

Reached out to Quest with a note and they responded quickly 2 days ago (a Sunday!). I should be getting mine by next week. They did say their promotional triggered tens of thousands of responses and they got overwhelmed. Try contacting them and they will make it right.

Thanks - I am a software engineer, but do have a wide range of interests. Sorry to go off topic Jane.