If you are following my blog you will know I am training to re-enlist in the NZ Army at 40.
You will also know I just sprained my darn calf muscle while on the treadmill doing a crazy sprint.

Well I got to thinking what has changed about my training since I was in the infantry reserve ten years ago. In all respects I am a better athlete except at running. My flexibility is about the same, strength quite a bit better, muscle mass greater, cardio is fine on the rowing machine, crunches I can pump out by the hundred.

One thing is different – I used to skip. I also used to do chi kung and muay thai on my hand made punch bag but thats for another post.

Skipping is held to be three times as effective as jogging.

Heres a breakdown of calories burned with intense activities…

The thing with skipping is its a hell of a lot easier on the body that sprinting.

Your calves, tendons and ligaments are likely to be strengthened rather than injured like they could be running. Thats my only gripe with running being a big guy – I know I can blow a gasket.

I weigh 220-230 lbs so thats a lot of weight to be putting on my hips, knee’s and connective tissue.

I do rowing but it wont condition the lower body much even though its great for cardio. Skipping is the solution that can improve your running without risking lower body injury.

You know as an athlete two golden rules are “Don’t waste time” and “Don’t risk injury”.

Try heavy starchy carbs like potato’s – put it into a big stock pot and boil them up with the skin on with other vegetables like leeks, swedes, carrots, spinach, sweet potato etc.

Boil up some beef first and chuck it all in there together – you want a big stock pot of this.

Through out the day have a feast on the boil up, in between have fruit, yogurt, protein drinks.

Thats the way to gain bulk – you will gain a lot of muscle mass and a bit of fat.

You dont need to count calories when bulking up – just guts out and feel full all day.

And enjoy that delicious nutritious boil up.

Stop freaking out about calories and protein and EAT LIKE A FUCKING MAN !!!!

If you are anything like me at the age of 40 you know its make or break
time. If you don’t enact a program to slow the aging process, well its going
to be all down hill.

Any male over 40 is sure to have an interest in enhancing Testosterone
production while mitigating production of estrogens and the possibility of
prostate cancer.

There are tests your physician can perform to check for signs of prostate
cancer – and no I don’t mean a physical exam. You may want to keep that
in mind if you are following a testosterone enhancement program.

The Testosterone Stack Ingredients

Ok lets get down to business and make our own Testosterone stack at 70%
below the cost of retail supplements.

The Ingredients: Take twice per day

• DHEA – 25 mg
• ZMA
o Zinc (L-aspartate or zinc chelate) – 30mg
o Magnesium (Magnesium Aspartate)- 450mg
o Vitamin B6 – 22mg
• Tribulus – 600 – 800 mg

Additional Supplements

• tongkhat ali – 1:100 extract at 400 mg for 10 days (5 days off)
• horny goatweed – 200 – 1000 mg extract per day
• saw palmetto – 160 mg twice daily

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Its very minor, I didnt warmup quite enough on the lower body and I also pushed quite a lot harder than my progressive resistance plan allows – so thats two things to remember in the future.

Did it on a sprint at the end of my 1.5 mile run.

Should be better in 5-6 days. I think I will hit the punch bag tomorrow instead of running.

This is a special report I decided to make having come across a product claiming to contain HGH and HGH precursors.

The product looked great, many of the purported advantages of HGH supplementation or enhancement are very appealing.

· Increase Muscle Mass and growth
· Improved sleep
· Reduced stress
· Anti depressant
· Increased energy
· Improved cholesterol profile
· Improve immune system function
· Strengthen nails and hair
· Improve cardiovascular and respiratory functions
· Decrease body fat
· Reduce wrinkles & age spots
· Restore hair condition and color
· Improve memory
· Improve vision
· Enhances effects of exercise

That’s quite a list of benefits and the list on the sales page was very similar. As a bodybuilder and health enthusiast I could not help to become excited.

Now I already have researched HGH in the past but I did not want to be injecting myself with hormones.

So, when I came across the term “secretagogue” that changed things somewhat.

A secretagogue is a pro-hormone stimulant that causes the body to naturally produce and secrete its own hormones at a greater level.

The natural balance is maintained within the body.

DOWNLOAD THE FULL REPORT IN PDF FORMAT…

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The following program is from the New Zealand Army and is preparation for the 1.5 mile run:

male week one:

20 minute run 5 times per week

male week two:

1.6 km run in 9 mins x 2 per week
25 min run x 3 per week

male week three:

1.6 km run in 8 mins x 1 per week
2.4 km run in 12.5 min x 2 per week
30 min run x 2 per week

male week four:

1.6 km run in 7 mins x 2 per week
2.4 km run in 11.5 min x 1 per week
35 min run x 2 per week

male week five:

2.4 km run in 11 mins x 2 per week
2.4 km run in 14 min x 1 per week
40 min run x 2 per week

male week six:

2.4 km run in 10.5 mins x 2 per week
3.2 km run in 13.5 min x 1 per week
45 min run x 2 per week

Many people also recommend some form of sprint conditioning in addition to the above. This makes sense considering the intense nature of the 1.5 mile run.

From the Singapore Army Fitness Website is the following advice for speed work to improve the 1.5 mile time:

Different Types of Speed Training

1. Fartlek – Try a 20-30 minutes easy run with some quick bursts interspersed. From an easy run, try speeding or burst from one landmark to the other, e.g. lampposts, bus stops or trees. Run as hard as you can and slow down your pace to an easy run once you pass your target landmark. Fartleks break the monotony of normal speed runs though not feasible for large groups of people.

2. Hills – Find a gentle hill and run 4-6 X 1 minute uphill with 85 – 90% effort, then slowly jog down to starting point. Increase gradually to 10 repetitions. Hill runs are good for quadriceps and hamstring development and create less impact on the joints. When running downhill back to the start point, do an easy jog or walk.

3. Tempo runs – Run 5 minutes, walk/jog 1 minute and repeat this for about 30 minutes.

4. Intervals – Do 4-6 X 200m with 2 minutes recovery jog on stadium tracks.

Other Advance Methods of Speed Work

Since the 2.4km run is not so much on endurance, but on speed, you need to train yourself to maintain an intense (not all-out all the way) pace throughout the distance. Once yoiu have completed about two months or so of speed training, and feel that you need more variety to speed training, you can try out the following.

1. Race simulation session – Run 6 X 400m at race pace, with one minute or less recovery time in between. This would train your body to adapt to running at a full 2.4km.

2. Run descending distances at increasing pace – Do a 500m, 400m, 300m, 200m and 100m with increasing pace, recovery less than 2 minutes.

3. Run circuits – Find a running track and do 4-5 circuits of about 800-1000m, recovery of 5 minutes in between repetitions.

Adequate Recovery

* Always ensure sufficient recovery, and remember to keep speed training to not more than twice a week with at least a recovery day in between.

* After each speed training session, cool down adequately by jogging (easy pace) for 10-15 minutes and stretch, especially your leg muscles (hold each stretch for 30 seconds). This will allow your body and heart rate to return to their normal resting levels.

* Rehydrate fully. Remember to cater for recovery after these high-intensity sessions by either doing only light workouts, cross training or having a rest day the following day.

* Assess yourself by doing trial 2.4km runs after two months of speed training. You should have shaved a few minutes off your last timing.

* Lastly, avoid pushing yourself through more speed work if you have limited time leading towards your IPPT to prevent potential injury.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hydration is very important, keep it in mind at all times, not just when you are running and be especially mindfull 2-3 days running up to your actual test days.

Keep doing your weight training and flexibility work. The above can be done in addition to your other conditioning.

Wind sprints and hill running are a great way to increase speed and lung capacity.

Work directly on increasing lung capacity – I have made a post some months ago on rib cage expansion and lung capacity training.

Try hypoxic training – this can increase oxygen uptake and improve your lungs and circulation if done correctly.

– Army fitness test

– 2.4 km run

– situps

– press ups

– Drill and marching

Day off – legs very sore

– 20 minute run

Gym:

Rowing machine 20 minutes
leg press 6 sets x 6 reps
leg extension 2 sets x 6 reps
leg curl 2 sets x 6 reps
seated calf raise 6 sets x 20 reps
crunches to exaustion

– Run 20 minutes

– 120 press ups

– 20 minute run

Wednesday 22nd

– Rest day

Thursday 23rd

– 1000 consecutive stomach crunches
– 130 press ups
– 2.4 km run in 20 minutes
GYM:
bench press 6 sets x 6 reps 240lbs+
Seated reverse lat pull downs descending sets from 240 lbs 6 sets x 6 reps
Cable tricep push downs 4 sets x 6 reps
seated calf raise 6 sets x 20 reps

– day off

-1.6 kms run in 9 minutes (strong headwind gale blowing)
-1000 crunches
-130 press ups

– 25 minute run at 7km / hr pace
– 15 minutes rowing machine 2.7 kms

-130 press ups
-25 minutes run at 7.5 km / hr pace
– 15 minutes rowing machine

Just had a blood test and my AST & ALT levels are slightly elevated. I haven’t drunk in 24 years, never used steroids etc.

A quick bit of research revealed that liver enzyme elevation is common after heavy exercise.
I supplement with glutamine, creatine and protein also which could also elevate certain liver markers.

The bottom line is don’t freak out over slightly elevated liver enzymes. If you want to make certain – stop supplementing and working out for a week then re-test.

My test was for the army so I will only do a re-test if they request it.

Heres a great medical study on the subject:

http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=2291230

Man I nearly have my ass back in the army as an electronics systems engineer.

Its a good job to see me through the recession but I have to admit at 40 I felt out of place at the fitness induction.

I was twice the age of all of them, and I’m disappointed to say my perfomance on the run was very poor. Not only that but I am much bigger at 100 kg than the others there.

Well wait till the little ferrets find out they are too skinny to carry a pack and we’ll see then.

Meanwhile I have a shitload of running to do, must say its a chore. I’m doing 5 runs a week on a 6 week army program.

I have 4 months until boot camp (basic training) if I make it in. I will add hill sprints and pack runs once I have done the 6 week program.

Hey folks I’m putting together a new manual specifically on bench press.

It will be pretty factual and straight to the point covering the following so far:

Bench Press Anatomy

Bench Press Bio Mechanics

Bench Press Form

Bench Press Routines

FAQ

Its fully illustrated and so far I am up to about 20 pages. I hope to get it to between 30 and 50 pages.

This WILL NOT be a freebie but will be super cheap like about $7 – $27 maybe. I have all the bench press manuals and books so am extracting the best information and putting it all into my manual.

Join my optin list and download the anatomy manual to be informed when the bench manual is available. www.FreeFitnessGuru.com/FreePassword.html