Performance Enhancement…For Survival!!

December 27, 2011

Every single one of you has seen some survival-driven action movie that follows a lead character. Now, I’d like you think about the physical attributes that the character possesses. These guys/girls are, to keep it short, INCREDIBLE, with the exception of any Kevin James or Jack Black movie which tends to poke fun at their weight anyway! They’re incredibly fit, incredibly strong and incredibly determined. You get the picture: when someone wants to see a movie following a character that battles with aliens, zombies, nature, or even other equally as incredible humans, I would like to think that the camera could follow any person, but guess who it chooses? Not a 250 lb Kirstie Alley, but rather the camera chooses to follow someone who actually has a shot at survival in a life-threatening situation. Would you have a shot?

What I am talking about is Functional Strength, an overall strength and power that makes daily life tasks and situations easier, hence the “functional” part. A 6-pack is not necessarily “functional”, it will not make you a survival machine (though it may get you the lead role as one of these characters). Functional Strength can be attained in many ways including Crossfit™ Workouts, kettlebells, sport/function specific workouts, or strongman training. The first step in surviving an impending apocalypse is to build strong bases in stability and cardiovascular endurance. Once these two systems are built up strong enough, there can be further advancements in Strength and Power building, as well as continuing to develop cardiovascular and cardio respiratory functions. Though this may sound intimidating, it is something that can be adjusted for every fitness level. Whether you’re running from zombies or just trying to keep more stable and balanced in everyday life, stability is a great idea for older populations as well as the younger workout enthusiasts.

Doing long distance cardio day after day, on the same machine, at the same speed, for the same amount of time, is insanity (remember, chubby hamster on the wheel?). There absolutely HAS to be some variance to any cardio workout to see improvement. Try this:

Week 1 – Two Day Rotation (2-6 days)
Day 1 – Moderate Intensity Day: 20-40mins, 60-70% intensity (should be considered work)
Day 2 – Moderate Intensity Intervals: 3mins at 75-80% intensity, 3mins at 60% (slow recovery) rotated for 20-30mins total.

Weeks 2 and 3 are the same except for Week 2, Day 2 you’re at 3mins higher intensity and only 2 mins slow recovery. Week 3, Day 2 is 4mins higher intensity, 1min slow recovery. This pushes the body to recover faster and do more higher intensity work throughout the workout, thus increasing cardio respiratory and cardiovascular function.

Weeks 3-5 – Three Day Rotation (3-6 days)
Day 1 – Moderate Intensity Day: 20-40mins, 60-70% intensity (should be considered work)
Day 2 – Moderate Intensity Intervals: 4mins at 75-80% intensity, 1min at 60% (slow recovery) for 20-30mins total.
Day 3 – High Intensity Intervals: 30 seconds at 90% or higher intensity, 2mins slow recovery (below 50%) repeated for 15-20mins.

This is only your cardio portion of the workout, not the whole thing. Resistance exercise has many more benefits than cardio, so as I’ve said before, cardio should NEVER become the staple of your workout. This is just something to get you started towards improving cardiovascular endurance and ability. Next time I’ll go into some Stability work that will really get you ready to survive the apocalypse!!