Okay, I’m going to lay it all out here and face the crowd. I started Day 1 of Week 1 yesterday on the Functional Size and Strength Program. Quite frankly, I didn’t get to the weights. I got through the KB circuits (30-lb. DB for the 2-arm swing and clean & jerk, 10 lbs. for the 1-arm swings). Then I started the jumprope… I did the 30 pushups during the break, but I couldn’t even do all 30 in a row. Mind you, SIXTY pushups NORMALLY is a breeze, but I couldn’t do it after all of this. My last 3-minute set of jump ropes included about 1 minute of struggling to stay standing. After the rope work, I walked around for 10 minutes, stretched for 10 minutes, and then SLOWLY drank my workout shake. I STILL puked. ;(
Here’s the reason for my post: what do I do? I WILL DO THIS WORKOUT, and I will ADVANCE to the next phase!!! But, I need to know, if I am in THIS bad of shape, how should I “work into” this volume level? I didn’t even get to the weights!!! I am a perfect example, unfortunately, of someone that looks like he is in great shape but can’t hang with the true athletes. I WILL BE A RENEGADE, but I need some help.
Hmm, well Jeremy with every challenge we will answer the call. I have forwarded you some adjustments and we will get your conditioning level up. I know you are capable & WE will attack this with a vengence. I look forward to hearing from you. In faith, Coach Davies
The trainig is brutal!!! I’m all about all go!!! Everyone else seems to be all show and no go! I’m sure visual results will come, but also you’ll be able to function better in life, sports, and the weight room. I bodybuilded and all that. It led to overtraining and sore joints and crazy stiffness. I’m 5’7" and a former athlete. It keeps a constant challenge and I want to get in the best shape of my life. I want to slam dunk again too. Being in the best shape means strength, endurance, flexibility, agility, etc. Keep it up! It’s a elite class to be in and it’s also the future of training. Forget bulk and stiff and being out of shape!!
Jeremy, don’t sweat it, I had a hell of a time getting through the workouts at first too. I would back off on the kbell swings and rope work. These are meant to increase work capacity, the weights are the focus of the workout. The kbell work should be sub-maximal as well as the rope work. Drop yuor kbell weights a little, and try doing 1.5 min rounds of rope. DO NOT go to failure on the push ups either. Then every session try to skip rope 15 seconds longer or do 2 more push ups, you will see your capacity go up and then those parts of your workouts will be easy and you will have to do Coach’s advanced rope work (crossing hands, etc). Hope this helps. In faith - Matt Slaymaker
If you have time, you may want to try dividing the workouts. Do the rope work, kbell lifts and unweighted GPP early in the day. Then do the weights and weighted GPP later in the day.
Otherwise, you may need to cut back on sets, weights or time in order to complete the workout. The first two weeks of Renegade training killed me. It took me 2 to 2 1/2 hours to complete the workouts, and I thought I was going to die. After a while, my body began to adjust. But in the end, the best thing I did was weight workouts on Mon, Wed, Fri (along with rope work, kbell lifts, and weighted GPP) and then do rope work, kbell lifts, med ball and sled drags on Tues & Thurs. If you want to see my current workout plan, just go to my web site and email me. Good luck my man!
Jeremy… I think we have all felt your pain. I think you’ve gotten some great advice already. I just want to say don’t get discouraged. Going from a body building routine to renegade training is a wake-up call. Ease into it … and come a month from now, you’ll be a machine.
I just wanted to say “thank you” to everyone for your very helpful and complete answers. I am hitting it again tonight at 50% of workout recommendations and will finish each workout this week at this level. Next week, I will jump to 75% and gauge progress again. I will keep everyone updated. Again, a sincere thank you to everyone.
Well, it was much better tonight. I made it 63 minutes before I puked up the pre-workout shake I was sipping. I only had 2 more exercises left, so I came back and finished. Total workout: 80 minutes. I feel great (seriously). =)
Goldberg, I cheered at Culver-Stockton College, a small college in NE Missouri. We were the smallest school to get invited to Nationals both of the 2 years I cheered. What a blast!
Jeremy,
When approaching a functional workout, the movement is the key. If you can’t stick to near perfect form for a given amount of reps, lighten the weight a little, and build up your reps as long as the form is good. For now, you’re finished with your set when the form breaks down. Don’t try to make yourself finish a set if you are breaking good form for the movement. If you don’t stop when your form breaks you will be recruiting faulty movement patterns because your body WILL compensate to allow you to move the weight, even though you’ll be moving wrong and probably not working the muscle groups you are trying to. As with all swinging movements, the core muscles are emphasized, which puts pressure in the abdominal cavity (which you want), but the draw-back to that is some people have a hard time breathing during the movements. BE SURE YOU ARE BREATHING! That might help your early fatigue as well.