Conditioning | DEAN COULSON

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Conditioning, Endurance, mindset, Motivation

Crazy Fitness Challenges – Intention is Everything!

Ok last week I decided that this was the week to get my crazy challenge done and that was to do 1500 burpees in 1 day.

You may remember my last post was about not getting it done, I laid bare, I put it out there that it is OK to fail and not get what you want or where you want to be every time it’s attempted.

But I also said that it shouldn’t be any excuse to give up either. This is where the winners are separated from the losers. Winners, will get up, dust off and move forwards again, Losers will think it is too much stay in their comfort zone and back off, like a boxer wanting his ultimate dream of winning the title. Do you think they lie on the canvas after a setback? if they can and want it badly enough they will get back up.

I am a naturally positive person and so always look at the best of things even if they are going to shit. This is both a blessing and a curse, because you have got to realise that you can be the most positive person in the world and things will still be shit for you, because you still have to do things and by doing things that cause you discomfort and pain.

I know this first hand. For Example I can and will frequently completely wreck myself training, I have a gung ho style, which completely takes over with a serious amount of determination and drive. I am driven to be better than was the day before, I compete with myself to be better. I don’t just train in a traditional sense with Barbells and dumbbells, I look for all manner of things, which are now becoming more and more popular these days.

I have always pushed the boundaries of everything i do.

What stands me apart and I am sure many others is how you push, how you handle the set backs, how you handle the failures. If someone dares to say I cannot do something then that is a challenge, a gauntlet laid down.

Impossible Is Nothing!

NO ONE tells me I cannot do something.

NO ONE is going to try and shape my future because they either

don’t want you to succeed
don’t want you to high light them as a failure because they can’t or won’t do what they can in their lives to succeed
Try to manipulate you for their own gain. or
All of the above.

Despite the failure of the challenge I set myself the week before, it never occurred to me that I wouldn’t be able to do it. Even though I didn’t do it first attempt, I never thought for one second it would be unattainable. My intention was sound and I believed I could do it, no question, no doubt. 1500 was just a number I was just going to get it done.

Don’t get me wrong, for the amount of burpees in one day it may seem like a big number but I didn’t see it that way. Near the end my legs were getting tired, but I still kept going.

Remember it only seems impossible until either you or someone else does it.

“Our Beliefs determine how high we set our sights”

Ambitious beliefs lead to ambitious goals. Limiting beliefs lead to impotent goals. You will rarely accomplish more that what you set out to, and can’t hit the target if you’re not aiming for it.

“The man who can drive himself further when the effort gets painful is the man who will win.” –Roger Bannister

On May 6, 1954, Roger Bannister became the first person to run a sub-4 minute mile. Prior to this monumental event, the 4-minute mile barrier was considered by some to be physically impossible. But the next month the barrier was again shattered by John Landy, and in the following few years broken by almost a dozen more runners. Now, there are almost 900 men who have run a sub-4 minute mile, including a former high school student and a 40+ year-old man.

The only limits are those that you set upon your self.

If you want to do something do it, find a way, set your stall out, do what you need to do and get it done.

If there is something you want in your life, then go out and get it, life is simply too short. It is only deemed impossible because it hasn’t been done. Why not make it possible by doing it?

To your strength and Health

Dean Coulson

Conditioning, Mental Strength, Motivation

Kill or be Killed!

Hi Guys

Today I am bringing you a guest post from one of my good friends, fellow fitness professional and boot camp owner Paul Wilson. This dude oozes energy and has a unique way to train both himself and his clients. So without further ado I hand you over to Paul…

Hey Paul Wilson here,

I just wanted to share with you how I train my clients but more specifically because I would never ask anything from anyone without being prepared to do it myself, it’s how I train.

So when I’m training my guys, in my overactive imagination, it’s me thats doing the workout with them.

Like i’m the one doing their reps,

Like i’m the one whose breathing out of both ends,

Like i’m the one who’s legs are trembling underneath them.

This principle of being prepared to do it yourself, and then expressing that emotion and that energy out for your clients to feed off is exactly what spurs them to the next level. This energy that is humming around our sessions is what allows my workouts to thrive with members who have now become the woodwork.

Although I train my guys outdoors 12 months of the year every year so these guys are more like solid oak trees which are way tougher than your Ikea flat packed furniture.

Wow! I’ve not even got started yet or shared with you what this post is all about.

Dean asked me to share with you guys how I get insane results with my clients and build a tribe or loyal warriors!

Now theres a lot that goes into a program, and a lot of work behind the workout scene in order to get a client an epic result.

And though less intensity workouts are important.

GENERALLY speaking, they are only important because you are doing the INTENSE workouts.

Now if you are someone who is really stressed out with work, life and every time you drop a book you scream like Macaulay Culkin in Home Alone, then training with intensity and brutality is probably not the best thing for you right now, with crazy high cortisol levels you are not going to see benefits.

But for us guys & gals who love to train hard because we know we will see the most change in our physique and physical ability – We train with INTENSITY because it’s where the real change is going to happen!

Arnie said “The last three or four reps is what makes the muscle grow. This area of pain divides the champion from someone else who is not a champion. That’s what most people lack, having the guts to go on and just say they’ll go through the pain no matter what happens.”

I know you love that shit too because you’re still with me reading this.

By the way I’ve just finished throwing Atlas Stones in my garden for FUN, and i’m BUZZIN right now hence why you can smell the essence of MAN humming in this blog post today.

So let me hit you with the punch line.

KILL OR BE KILLED!

This is what I do in my workouts and this is how I coach my clients in their workouts.

Workouts are not in the mind. So do not think about it. Escape the mind and be free. You do not need to think about the exercise in hand, because you have already had enough practice doing it to know the movement that you can now play on auto-pilot. Your job now is in the body.

Workouts are in the body! Thats where you do your thinking in a workout, not in your head.

This is great for clients who have had a day of thinking and stressing at work etc.

Escape your mind!

LOSE YOUR MIND!

And enter your body for the physicality.

The brutality you will put in that workout!

I coach my clients this by taking them through that pattern I mentioned above where I release the emotions and energy as if I was doing the workout and I talk them through it as if I was doing it.

I use power words to them like DRIVE, EXPLODE, PASSION, OBLITERATE, SMASH, DESTROY, TEAR IT, RIP IT APART! KILL! KILL! KILL!

KILL YOUR WORKOUTS!

Kill or be killed by your workouts.

**Put your hand up if you have ever been beaten by a workout where you have THOUGHT about it and decide your head isn’t in the right mindset to train today so you go home.** Be honest!…?

Well do not THINK about it!

Remember to escaped your mind and enter your body!

This is the best bit about training!

It’s like meditation only you also actually grow muscle doing it!

I want you to KILL your workouts because your primal body would be it’s leanest, its strongest, its most divine version of itself if it had to fight to live.

Warriors had the best physiques.

Warriors were the fastest.

The leanest.

The strongest.

You do not need to kill anyone or anything, but you DO need to kill your workout and get from it those same benefits!

As modern people we no longer need to kill people. (it’s illegal)

As modern people we now need to kill our workouts!

Never again say to yourself your “mind is not in the game!”

You will never from this day say that again because the game is played with your body!

And now you know this.

You need to set yourself free from the mind!

The mind is the prison.

The mind tells you that you can’t.

The mind makes you think you are not worthy.

Not ready.

Not enough.

Escape the mind and enter the body and enter the now!

And kill it.

Kill that workout. Kill the day! Make it your own!

Own it!

The best thing about tomorrow is you have an opportunity RIGHT NOW to make it better.

I love you people,

Paul Wilson

p.s. Practice doing this – move, shake, bounce, vibrate, do some push ups, jump! Wake up the body by using it the next time your mind goes into over drive telling you negatives and you will then escape the mind prison and free your body! Use it! If you have brain fog sitting at a computer all day, get outside and walk! Walk until you are “out of your mind” and free into your body. Use your body! Find a quiet space away from people and scream out loud and make it a loud place! Be vocal, release that energy! Now you are ready for the game!

Conditioning, General Physical Preparedness, Motivation

You got To Train, To Gain!

Today’s post was gonna be a general training type post, but then I thought instead of just posting a kick ass routine that you can follow, maybe I should kick your butts first to get into the right mindset to get going with it! 🙂 It is sad to see the health of the society around me deteriorating. Today world seems to be a mere shadow of what it was, sure technology is booming but to what expense? seems to me that our health is suffering, there is no balance in what we do. I am not saying that technology is bad, I am as much a gadget freak as everyone else, but I don’t allow that to be to the detriment of my health. Can you care too much? probably, but since it is my job, scratch that, my passion to educate and get people fit and healthy I cannot help myself. I wrote this yesterday on Facebook after some reflection…

What is stopping you?

“I see our society becoming more and more sedentary, however our bodies are built to move. Evolution has us one step away from our hunter gatherer ancestry where we had to forage and hunt for food, this instinct has never left us, however society has become lazy, as technology overwhelms our every move and thought and food has become a convenience not a life force. People

have forgotten how to be courageous, they have forgotten how to handle the hardship and discomfort, but would rather run to a doctor for a pill or the bottom of a pint glass before confronting what they fear. We are much more than that. It is vital we reclaim our well being through physical, mental and spiritual means. Be courageous, stand up for yourself, fight for your health, because no one else will.”

What does that mean to you? does that scare you? does it give you a realisation that things have to change, but you just see obstacles? Well guess what? obstacles are the to climb over, we are defined by our actions. Do you really want to slob in front of the TV and do nothing or do you want to stop making every excuse in the book and get off your ass and make something of your life?

Just Do It!

So those of you who think they don’t have time to get into shape and start moving I am telling you now it is an EXCUSE. you don’t need a gym, all you need is you and if you tell me that you don’t have time to spare 10-20 minutes of your day to exercise than I don’t believe you. I have dozens of clients who have kids, jobs and still come to train with me. If this is striking a chord then good, it is meant to, you CAN do this!

The only person who is stopping you is YOU!

Training Options

So Here are some training options I recommend, the first one is body weight only then second one is with minimal equipment, which is the session I did. I was short on time so I made sure i gave it MAXIMUM Effort!

Beginners Routine

Ok this is easy to blast out in 20 minutes, it that is too long, go all out on one of the 2 exercises below. You are shooting fro 30 seconds of work and 30 seconds of rest in between. If you are doing both then give yourself 1-2 minutes rest in between. do 10 rounds of 30/30, so you will do 5 rounds of both burpees and push ups in the first part and 10 rounds of squats in the second.

Burpees / Push Ups (30s/30s x 10)

1 – 2 Mins Rest

Squats (30s/30s x 10)

Intermediate/Advanced

To mix this up a bit you can substitute the push ups with med ball slams to increase the metabolic resistance. Same rule applies for the first part 30/30 x 10 (30 seconds work, 30 seconds rest for 10 rounds). the second one makes use of a skipping rope and increased work/rest ratio. Remember this is meant to be challenging, do not plod along with the rope, make it difficult. You need to be moving your feet at a high cadence, so high knee sprints with the rope or double unders are best.

Burpee Push ups / Med Ball Slams (30s/30s x 10)

1 Min Rest

Skipping 60s/60s x 10

This with be very effective in getting you fit very quickly. For the more advanced practitioners these work well on days when you are not doing strength work.

Yours in Strength and Health

Dean

Conditioning, Endurance, General Physical Preparedness, Mental Strength, Strength

The Dirty Dozen – Conditioning Program

I find strength and conditioning has no bounds other than the imagination of the person creating it. Yes it helps if you have experience in this field as I do, but it doesn’t have to be complicated.

This session will help you increase your strength endurance or functional strength and conditioning. it will also improve your general physical preparedness, or the ability to recover quickly after periods of intense exercise, whether that be high intensity interval training or resistance training.

The premise of this training session is a simple one.

Select 12 exercises and perform each one for 12 reps… Simple

But when does simple equate to easy 🙂

You can perform this anywhere, if you haven’t got access to a gym then get creative and use body weight. there is always a way.

I have performed this outside in temperatures below freezing and in gyms. it doesn’t matter where.

This principles of this session were actually devised by somebody else, so I take no credit them other than the effort I used to perform it. It is always good to learn from others, whether it is another idea of how to apply what you know or something completely different.

My friend from across the pond, Joe Hashey knows a thing or two about designing programs and being a bit off the wall in his training methods, so when I saw his idea for the dirty dozen training protocol as I pondered on a training session a few weeks back I thought that I had to give it a go.

So pick 12 exercises and perform 12 reps of each exercise, sounds easy right?

Well you would be wrong, the first time I tried this it kicked my ass, I was completely gassed. Lucky for me my general physical preparedness (GPP) is at a level where I can recover quickly between rounds. After 4 though I had had enough.

The program is designed to alternate between strength and conditioning exercises. Of course it isn’t an out and out max strength program and lends itself more to conditioning and strength endurance, but it makes for one hell of a training session. As Joe says, “it is more a method of training and is designed to be short, flexible with the equipment available and what you want to get out of it”.

Which Level?

Your fitness level will define the amount of rest you take. By splitting it up into 3 levels of difficulty it allows you to have your rest defined in advance so you know when to grasp some extra air.

Beginner

Pick 12 exercises, perform 2, rest 20 seconds and move onto the next 2 until the 12 are complete

1) Strength

2) Conditioning

REST 20 seconds and repeat 6 more times

Intermediate

Pick 12 exercises, perform 4, rest 20 seconds and move onto the next 4 until the 12 are complete

1) Strength

2) Conditioning

3) Strength

4) Conditioning

REST 20 seconds and repeat 3 more times

Advanced

Pick 12 exercises, perform 6, rest 20 seconds and move onto the next 6 until the 12 are complete

1) Strength

2) Conditioning

3) Strength

4) Conditioning

5) Strength

6) Conditioning

REST 20 seconds and repeat 1 more time

At the end of the 12 exercises, Rest for 60-90 seconds and repeat for 3-6 rounds depending on your fitness level. Make sure you push hard!!

My Dirty Dozen

I fired in an intermediate session with the following exercises, I have got a shiny new weight vest and decided this was the day I was gonna christen it. I am not sure that was the brightest idea but there you go 🙂

All the exercises were done wearing the vest:

Alternating Dumbbell Shoulder Press
Squat
Inverted strap row
Lunge jumps

REST 20 seconds

Pushups
Burpees
Alternating Dumbbell Rows
Squat jumps

REST 20 Seconds

Dumbbell squat thrust to RDL
Med Ball Slam
Dumbbell Curls
Full Jack knife (V sits ) sit ups

REST 60-90 seconds and repeat for 4 rounds

Man that weight vest made a BIG difference, it totally pushed me to my limit. Remember you can make this method up with any 12 exercises that you want.

Give it a go, post up the exercises and rest and rounds, make it a challenge!

Be strong, stay healthy

Dean

Conditioning, Mental Strength

Conditioning Accumulator

Hey there everyone, hope you are all having a great day!

Just had a great conditioning session and I thought I would share it with you.

I always like to challenge myself with new routines to keep things fresh, Sometimes you have just got to think out side the box and change things up every now and then. The principle for this conditioning session being an interval accumulator.

What the hell are you on about I hear you cry? well it is simple. Pick an exercise that you want to focus on (in this case I used the heavy bag, but it could just as well be any exercise), but to break it up add or “accumulate” more exercises in between. So after every round keep adding another exercise to it to make it harder and to push you that bit further. It is too easy to pick easy exercises and not push yourself. Remember the harder you go the more rewards you will reap.

This is the conditioning circuit I did, The heavy bag conditioning accumulator. Not everyone has access to a heavy bag, so it could easily have been push ups or squats or burpees. But please remember that it is this exercise that you will do the most of. For me I wanted the session to move fast with big body movements and get plenty bag work in.

Lets get on with it, here it is…..

Heavy Bag Accumulator:

30 seconds per exercise with 10 seconds between exercises (this is really to just get into position so it doesn’t cut into your interval time for the next exercise).

Start with Heavy bag, you could keep the bag work the same or mix it up to keep it interesting. I like to add speed work and power punching, basic movements but are still gruelling and then do an “all in” round where anything goes. Then add an exercise after it and so on.

i.e.

Bag, Rope, Bag, lateral burpee, (Rest 30 secs)
Bag, Rope, Bag, lateral burpee, Bag, Rope, (Rest 30 secs)
Bag, Rope, Bag, lateral burpee, Bag, Rope, Bag, Squat, (Rest 30 secs)
Bag, Rope, Bag, lateral burpee, Bag, Rope, Bag, Squat, Bag, Med Ball Burpee, (Rest 30 secs)
Bag, Rope, Bag, lateral burpee, Bag, Rope, Bag, Squat, Bag, Med Ball Burpee, Bag, MB Squat jumps, (Rest 30 secs)

As you can see the intensity of the session increases as you go on and it requires you to push through your fatigue to keep on track.

The whole thing can be completed it 20-25 minutes, so there are NO excuses for lack of time!

Stay strong

Dean

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