Life Hardcore

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A workout for the masses.

   I am asked alot about what kind of fitness training we do in the fire service. I usually tell them that we do everything. I'm not trying to have an attitude or be evasive it's just that it's true. We do everything! I ask them what they are looking to achieve or what their fitness goals are. Most people are not even sure and they basically are either new to exercise or coming back from a long layoff. So with that I am posting a great 16 week workout plan that you can do if you are looking to increase your conditioning. I also recommended this routine to a guy I work with who was dealing with a back injury he received while fighting a fire. He is a big strong fire athlete and he found this routine good for keeping his fitness level maintained and allowed for him to transition back to his normal training. I used this routine after doing a tough 6 months of heavy lifting that centered around lots of dead lifts. It was a way for me to sort of decompress and to change things up. I also recommended this program to my uncle who is an older man now. He actually has been doing it for 2 years now and his health has improved greatly.

   Make sure you read over the whole routine first so you are aware of how it evolves and read the footnotes on the bottom. Its 12 weeks and the work load will increase so keep in mind that a rest week every 3 weeks or every 4 to 6 weeks is fine and if you want more than that you can go ahead and take more. Remember to perform a warm up and some dynamic stretching and definitely remember to drink alot of fluids and eat clean! Also this is not a substitute for cardio so make sure your getting in some running or biking or any type of activity that gets your heart rate up. By the time the 12 weeks is through re-evaluate your fitness level and the kind of progress you had made and then decide your next move. You are most definitely going to see some good tone and get alot of endurance conditioning.  You can certainly continue with the same program and try to add another 4 weeks  or tweak it to include other exercises. One option is to replace the squats with dead lifts! Or you can write me for some follow up routines to this one that really go hand in hand.

Train hard and get out of your comfort zone!

The obstacle is the path

Week 1:

Push-Ups: 3 sets x 15 reps
Pull-Ups: 3 sets x 4 reps *
Sit-Ups: 4 sets x 20 reps **
Dips: 3 sets x 4 reps

Week 2:

Push-Ups: 4 sets x 15 reps
Pull-Ups: 3 sets x 5 reps
Sit-Ups: 3 sets x 30 reps
Dips: 3 sets x 5 reps

Week 3:

Push-Ups: 5 x 20
Pull-Ups: 3 x 6
Sit-Ups: 4 x 30
Dips: 3 x 6
Military Presses: 3 x 10 ***
Bicep Curls: 3 x 10 ***
Squats: 3 x 10 ***

Week 4:

Push-Ups: 5 x 25
Pull-Ups: 3 x 6
Sit-Ups: 5 x 30
Dips: 3 x 7
Military Presses: 3 x 10
Bicep Curls: 3 x 10
Squats: 3 x 10

Week 5:

Push-Ups: 5 x 25
Pull-Ups: 3 x 7
Sit-Ups: 6 x 25
Dips: 3 x 8
Military Presses:: 3 x 10
Bicep Curls: 3 x 10
Squats: 3 x 10

Week 6:

Push-Ups: 6 x 25
Pull-Ups: 3 x 7
Sit-Ups: 6 x 30
Dips: 3 x 8
Military Presses: 3 x 12
Bicep Curls: 3 x 12
Squats: 3 x 12

Week 7:

Push-Ups: 6 x 25
Pull-Ups: 3 x 8
Sit-Ups: 7 x 30
Dips: 3 x 9
Military Presses: 3 x 12
Bicep Curls: 3 x 12
Squats: 3 x 12

Week 8:

Push-Ups: 7 x 20
Pull-Ups: 3 x 8
Sit-Ups: 8 x 25
Dips: 3 x 10
Military Presses: 3 x 12
Bicep Curls 3 x 12
Squats: 3 x 12

Week 9:

Push-Ups: 7 x 25
Pull-Ups: 3 x 9
Sit-Ups: 8 x 30
Dips: 4 x 8
Military Presses: 3 x 12
Bicep Curls: 3 x 12
Squats: 3 x 12

Week 10:

Push-Ups: 7 x 25
Pull-Ups: 3 x 10
Sit-Ups: 9 x 25
Dips: 4 x 9
Military Presses: 4 x 10
Bicep Curls: 3 x 10
Squats: 3 x 10

Week 11:

Push-Ups: 8 x 25
Pull-Ups: 4 x 8
Sit-Ups: 9 x 30
Dips: 4 x 9
Military Presses: 4 x 10
Bicep Curls: 4 x 10
Squats: 3 x 10

Week 12:

Push-Ups: 7 x 25
Pull-Ups: 4 x 9
Sit-Ups: 10 x 30
Dips:4 x 10
Military Presses: 4 x 10
Bicep Curls: 4 x 10
Squats: 4 x 10

* If you can't do 4 reps then use a resistance band or have someone spot you to assist.

** For some people who find sit ups harsh on their back do crunches instead.

*** You can use Barbells or dumbbells for these exercises. If you have access to both you can try switching every once in a while. Just adjust the weight accordingly. Also you will notice I put squats as the last routine. You may want to switch them to the first if you so you are freshest for them. They are very tiring especially when done with a challenging weight.

Some early morning reading

Reading about health, fitness and lifting(working out) can be motivational. Today is my training day and its very important to me. So as I was having some breakfast and getting my head in the game I came across this website http://www.starkcenter.org/static/quest_for_victory/timeline/ and I found it very interesting that the history of weight training really is much older than we think. As I advanced through the time line I found pictures from the 1800's and I post them here because these guys are pretty muscular and I would say ; what the average athlete looks like nowadays.

Hippolyte Triat 1850

Eugen Sandow 1893

For sure there are men and women out there today who are way bigger and stronger than what these two guys were( and I'm talking about all natural athletes here). But if you look at your average individual who has a regular life and who trains 3 to 5 days a week and tries like hell to eat as correctly as possible, this is what they look like. Now the website does a great job of running down the history of weightlifting but there is not much said about diet. But from what I know, the diets of back then are not like they are now. I don't think they were eating 6 - 8 meals a day and paying attention to macro's and what not. But we all know that diet is so important right? If you lift and train like crazy but eat junk all day long you're not going to have the right energy to train properly and your training will lack and you won't be able to train to your potential. Furthermore, the junk food will make your body look like garbage. My question is ; What did these guys eat? Did they eat whole eggs instead of whites? I bet they did. Did they eat bacon? I bet they did. How about carbs after 4:00 pm? I'm Sure! Did they eat 6 meals a day? Possibly. Possibly more. But maybe they only ate 3 times a day. And I don't think they actually knew how many calories they were eating either. So what gives then? My first theory is that food was actually more nutritious back then than it is now. My second theory is that genetics does play a major role in the whole thing. When you got it , you got it I guess.

I took this picture in the gym locker room when I was feeling exceptionally proud of myself.If you saw pics of myself from any of my younger years you would see that I was never quite this muscular.

"Getting Big" was always my main goal but it always eluded me. Then I started to learn that you should focus on building strength and take your time with it. I also learned diet, diet , diet is soooo important. I was eating 3500 calories a day at the time of this pic and it was super clean throughout. I wrote down every single thing I ate and added up the calories every day. It was fun but it sucked if you know what I mean. For a busy guy its hard to keep up with all that. But I needed to try it. It works! Believe me.

 I had a really good 5x5 routine to follow and I ate like a machine. No drinking and in bed by 9 every night and up at 4 am. I did this for 15 months not to mention the 6 months of lead up to it. It was a tremendous amount of hard work and eventually I found myself burning out. I admit it. I just couldn't keep up with that kind of lifestyle. It was too damn ..........uh........hardcore? (Ha! I love mocking myself!) But now when I see those who have been in it for years and years , I have nothing but respect because I know how hard it can be. But like I said, if you want it you can have it. But you have to work hard.

I'm still working hard don't get me wrong! Just not as hard as then. This is mostly due to having to fix up the old house we bought and doing shit tons of other things (thats life). I would like to pack on a little more size and I will. My deadlifts and squat numbers are going up so it's just a matter of time.