When I first started doing SUPERHERO ACADEMY ON BLOG TALK RADIO we had a weekly feature called THE DROP ZONE where each week I would share my weight loss (or gain) and thereby hold myself accountable to my listeners to actually keep on my diet.
Then life went a little crazy (mixed up schedules/moving/family issues) and we lost half our show time (forcing the streamlining of the program) and the DROP ZONE
got…well…dropped.
As of October 1st, that has all changed.
I am embarking on a one year fitness experiment designed to take me from couch potato to spud muffin (pun intended) and I wont be doing it alone.
Joining me on this adventure thus far are Midnight Detective, Skyman, Levionne Clay, and Silver Sentinel…Valerie Finnegan of Heroes Fallen Studios, and a few others have also joined in to show support for the rest of us…there are a some who have been invited but have not officially signed on yet…AND I am issuing an open invitation to anyone else who wants lose weight and get into shape to join us.
This program is based loosely on military basic training. We have a thirteen week pre-basic schedule, a thirteen week intense shape up, and a 26 week advanced training to reach our ultimate fitness goals.
The plan is set up using weekly benchmarks. Each week we have a set of goals that we are working toward being able to achieve by the end of the week. For example if your Benchmark on Sunday is 10 push ups then you have to be able to do 10 push ups by Saturday of that week in order to pass the benchmark for that week. If you dont make it, you dont stop there…you just work toward the next week’s goal. Everything progresses in small steps so it shouldn’t be that difficult.
The reason for using this system instead of a daily “do this” kind of workout is because we are all different. We have different strengths and weaknesses and we will have different challenges to overcome as we go through this. I already know that
chin ups are a problem for me, so I will have to tailor my training to compensate for that or I will not be able to make the grade in that area.
I’ll be keeping a food and training log and sharing the highlights of it on the CROSSFIRE ACADEMY FOR SUPERHEROES blog…and encouraging the others to share their victories there as we progress. We will also be sharing training tips, new exercises, and much more on the blog as we move forward with this.
And I will be keeping a group weight lost tally there as well…I might even do some sort of funky pie chart or bar graph to show our success.
I have even enlisted the aid of our resident personal trainers Flora V Arbor and Amazonia to assist us with any problem areas we may encounter along the way…and we couldn’t ask for better coaches.
SO…if you are one of the RLSH communities “heavy hitters” and you want to give this a try then please feel free to join us…we launched October 1st. You’ll need your list of weekly goals so message me and I’ll send you the full one year list of benchmarks.
In the meantime, here is the first quarter (pre-basic) training schedule for anyone that wants to get started right away.
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ONE YEAR FITNESS CHALLENGE – PRE BASIC BENCHMARKS
Week 1: October 1-7
Push ups, Sit ups, & Jumping Jacks – as many as you can do for 30 seconds
Walk for 5 minutes
Week 2: October 8-14
Push ups, Sit ups, Jumping Jacks, & Crunches – as many as you can do for 30 seconds
Walk for 5 minutes, jog or run for 1 minute, walk for 1 minute
Week 3: October 15-21
Push ups, Sit ups, & Jumping Jacks – as many as you can do for 45 seconds
Crunches and Flutter Kicks (or Reverse Flutter Kicks) – as many as you can do for 30 seconds
Walk for 5 minutes, jog or run for 1 minute, walk for 1 minute
Week 4: October 22-28
Push ups, Sit ups, Jumping Jacks, & Crunches – as many as you can do for 45 seconds
Flutter Kicks (or Reverse Flutter Kicks), & Chin Ups – as many as you can do for 30 seconds
Walk for 5 minutes, jog or run for 1 minute 30 seconds, walk for 2 minutes
Week 5: October 29-November 4
Push ups, Sit ups, & Jumping Jacks – as many as you can do for 1 minute
Crunches and Flutter Kicks (or Reverse Flutter Kicks) – as many as you can do for 45 seconds
Chin Ups – as many as you can do for 30 seconds
Walk for 5 minutes, jog or run for 2 minutes, walk for 3 minutes
Week 6: November 5-11
Push ups, Sit ups, Jumping Jacks & Crunches – as many as you can do for 1 minute
Flutter Kicks (or Reverse Flutter Kicks) and Chin Ups- as many as you can do for 45 seconds
Walk for 5 minutes, jog or run for 2 minutes, walk for 4 minutes
Week 7: November 12-18
Push ups, Sit ups, & Jumping Jacks – as many as you can do for 1 minute 15 seconds
Crunches and Flutter Kicks (or Reverse Flutter Kicks) – as many as you can do for 1 minute
Chin Ups – as many as you can do for 45 seconds
Walk for 5 minutes, jog or run for 2 minutes, walk for 5 minutes
Week 8: November 19-25
Push ups, Sit ups, Jumping Jacks & Crunches – as many as you can do for 1 minute 15 seconds Flutter Kicks
(or Reverse Flutter Kicks) & Chin Ups – as many as you can do for 1 minute
Run 1/4 mile (walk before and after)
Week 9: November 26 – December 2
Push ups, Sit ups, &Jumping Jacks – as many as you can do for 1 minute 30 seconds
Crunches & Flutter Kicks (or Reverse Flutter Kicks) – as many as you can do for 1 minute 15 seconds
Chin Ups – as many as you can do for one minute
Run 1/4 mile (walk before and after)
Week 10: December 3-9
Push ups, Sit ups, Jumping Jacks, & Crunches – as many as you can do for 1 minute 30 seconds
Flutter Kicks (or Reverse Flutter Kicks) & Chin Ups – as many as you can do for 1 minute 15 seconds
Run 1/2 mile (walk before and after)
Week 11: December 10-16
Push ups, Sit ups, & Jumping Jacks – as many as you can do for 1 minute 45 seconds
Crunches & Flutter Kicks (or Reverse Flutter Kicks) & Chin Ups – as many as you can do for 1 minute 30 seconds
Run 1/2 mile (walk before and after)
Week 12: December 17-23
Push ups, Sit ups, Jumping Jacks, Crunches & Flutter Kicks (or Reverse Flutter Kicks)
& Chin Ups – as many as you can do for 1 minute 45 seconds
Run 3/4 mile (walk before and after)
Week 13: December 24-30
Push ups, Sit ups, Jumping Jacks, Crunches & Flutter Kicks (or Reverse Flutter Kicks)
& Chin Ups – as many as you can do for 2 minutes
Run 3/4 mile (walk before and after)
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ONE YEAR FITNESS CHALLENGE EXERCISES
These are the basic exercises we will be doing for our weekly benchmarks. Other exercises will be added to help us reach the goals each week, but these are the ones we are testing ourselves with.
PUSH UP
Lie chest-down with your hands at shoulder level, palms flat on the floor and slightly more than shoulder-width apart, your feet together and parallel to each other.
Look forward rather than down at the floor. The first contact you make with the floor with any part of the face should be your chin, not your nose.
Keep your legs straight and your toes tucked under your feet.
Straighten your arms as you push your body up off the floor. Keep your palms fixed at the same position and keep your body straight. Try not to bend or arch your upper or lower back as you push up.
Exhale as your arms straighten out.
Pause for a moment.
Lower your body slowly towards the floor. Bend your arms and keep your palms in fixed position. Keep body straight and feet together.
Lower body until chest almost touches the floor. Try not to bend your back. Keep your knees off the floor, and inhale as you bend your arms.
Pause for a moment. Begin straightening your arms for a second push-up. Exhale as you raise your body.
SIT UP
Lie on the ground with your back to the floor.
Bend your knees into a 90 degree angle, but keep your feet on the floor.
Place your hands across your chest. Make sure to keep them there throughout the duration of the exercise.
Using your abdominal muscles, raise your upper body completely off the ground. At the peak height of the exercise, only your feet and buttocks should be touching the
ground.
Lower your upper body back to the original position.
Perform this movement in a slow and controlled manner.
JUMPING JACK
Stand with your arms at your sides. Be sure your feet are straight and close together.
Hold your head straight, but in a comfortable position to avoid strain.
Bend your knees. Jump up while spreading your arms and legs at the same time. Lift your arms to your ears and open your feet to a little wider than shoulder width. This should all be done in a fast fluid movement.
Clap or touch your hands above your head. As you return from jumping up bring your arms back down to your sides and at the same time bring your feet back together.
Continue with as many jumping jack repetitions as you can do.
CHIN UP
Reach up and grip the bar with your palms facing toward you. The bar should sit close to your fingers, rather than in the center of the palm of your hand.
Lift your feet off the ground so you are hanging from the bar with your arms fully extended. Keep your legs bent and your feet crossed.
Take a deep breath and pull yourself up toward the bar by bending your arms. Lead with your chest and keep your shoulders back.
Drive your elbows toward the floor until your chin is just above the bar.
Lower your body slowly to the original hanging position in one controlled movement by straightening your arms and keeping your legs slightly bent.
CRUNCHES
Lie on your back with your knees bent and your feet flat on the floor in front of you.
Lie on an exercise mat rather than a hard floor to prevent back strain.
Position your feet as wide as your hips.
Place your hands behind your head so that your thumbs are tucked behind your ears.
Hold your elbows slightly out to the sides and keep your chin pointing upward.
Curl up and forward so that your head, neck and shoulder blades lift off the floor.
Make sure you’re not pulling your head forward with your hands. If your chin is making contact with your chest, the abdominal muscles aren’t being used in the exercise.
Pause for a moment. Lift your head up enough so that your middle and lower back stay on the floor. Squeeze your abdominals as you pause.
Slowly lower your head, neck and shoulder blades to starting position.
Keep your knees bent, your feet in the same position and your back straight throughout the entire exercise.
FLUTTER KICK
Lie flat on your back, with your arms resting palm-down by your sides.
Lift your heels about six inches off of the floor. Keep your legs fully extended, with a slight bend in your knees.
Now, quickly move your legs up and down, alternating in small, rapid and scissor-like motions – as one leg goes up, the other comes down. Use your arms to stabilize you, but keep your lower back flat against the ground as best as you can.
Continue these motions for 5-10 seconds per rep. Keep your abdominal muscles contracted throughout the exercise – they should be doing most of the work.
REVERSE FLUTTER KICK
Lie on your stomach with your arms extended in front of you palms down.
Lift your hands and feet approximately 4-6 inches from the ground supporting all your weight on your abdomen.
Move your hands and feet up and down, alternating in small, rapid and scissor-like motions – as one arm/leg goes up, the other comes down.
Continue these motions for 5-10 seconds per rep. Keep your abdominal muscles contracted throughout the exercise.
WALK/RUN
This can be walking in place, treadmill, or on the track. Walking should be quick time (standard marching pace – 120 steps per minute) and running should be double time (180 steps per minute). Walk/run will be based on time for the first few weeks and will change to a distance goal as time progresses. The idea is to be ready for a one mile run by the time we start our “basic training” in January.
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There you have it..the first quarter of the RLSH ONE YEAR FITNESS CHALLENGE