Run, Bike, Lift, Repeat.

Greetings, RAW Warriors,

Its been a steady stream of workouts, either with runs, on the bike occasionally, and lifting at the gym. Having the new running club start up has been a great motivator for people in the community here. Getting a nice response to it and good turnouts too for the first 3 runs we've had.

My lifting has remained relatively the same, in the 4x5 phase this week. I took Thursday off due to a shoulder issue I woke up with.  Not sure how it happened but I knew trying to lift with a bum shoulder would just be a recipe to make it worse than it is.

Here's a snapshot of the workouts:

Bench Press: 4 x 5
DB 1 Arm Rows: 4 x 6
DB Single Leg Deadlifts: 4 x 6 each side
Bent Presses: (still a big favorite) 4 x 5 each side
Back Extensions: 3 x 10, just BW

As I go on the road now, I'm going to switch over to a KB routine, bringing just one KB with for some creative workouts to do in hotel rooms or even outdoors if the weather is fine. Not sure how many of the hotels I will be at that have a gym room, so a KB fixes that issue just fine.

Running workouts have been pretty simple, did a 6 miler on last Saturday's run, developed a blister issue, so I've been keeping it easy on that and just ran 2x this week for 2 to 2.5 miles each time. Finally getting the blister issue healed up, so Saturday's run might be just fine for the club run.

Bike rides have been nice in the evening too, as well as the stationary one I have at home. The stationary one will come in very handy for this winter.

I must say I love the combination of my regular runs and the Indestructible plan from JTW.  JTW's plan is pretty straightforward and easy to follow. Combine it with the percentages given to you in Just The Chart, and its a great combo for only $1.98 on your Kindle.

Check out a copy of JTW and other guides at http://tinyurl.com/rkofp

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Lift. Dominate. Repeat.
RABC
Coach Rick Karboviak

The first rule of Run Club is to talk about Run Club!

Greetings RAW Warriors,

I just started up a local running club last night and things started off great for it: at first I just aimed for Wednesday nights at 7pm and now we are adding another time, Saturday mornings at 7am. There were about a dozen people to show up, which was great to see and the word spread quickly online when I announced it last week. 

I have been pondering the idea of making a membership site for running workouts, or perhaps just making a new product to sell for running workouts, or a combo of both.  For now, I am at least planning on a new product, it may just be a Kindle guide or a new e-book with photos and program sheets to print off.

I also like the idea of putting up some running workouts for an exclusive members-only site.  I'm checking out my options on that and seeing which one is going to best fit my needs. This would be a nice way to train/coach multiple people via an exclusive membership site. If you have an interest in this, please message me about it. I'm trying to see as well if enough people want it, should I build it?

As far as lifting workouts have gone, I'm basically doing a 4x5 routine this week:

Bench Press: 4 x 5
1 Arm Rows: 4 x 5
Single Leg Deadlifts: 4 x 5 per side
Bent Presses: (becoming a fave of mine) 4 x 5 per side
Windmills: 4 x 5 per side

My legs were feeling it this morning after a pretty good clip last night for the club run: I did 4 miles in 29:40, basically a 7:25/mile average pace.  I also did 7 miles on the indoor bike Wednesday morning, and decided for that option once again this morning. Monday was Run in the morning, bike in the evening. Tuesday I lifted, Wednesday was another double workout day (bike am, run pm). Today is just the bike. Tomorrow I'm looking to lift. The body is telling me to take a little rest today.

All in all, its been a nice productive week for exercise.

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Lift. Dominate. Repeat.
RABC
Coach Rick Karboviak

Back to the Basics

Greetings, RAW Warriors,

Its once again a visit back to the basic lifts and getting things done in a fair time frame.

As I'm breaking myself back into a regular gym routine, my focus isn't on tearing into a 45-60 minute session each time. The focus is on keeping it brief, short, to the point, as I always seem to go back to.

I've done the longer workouts and beat myself up more than I needed to in the past. (P90X, anyone?) Right now, I just need to:

1. Get stronger again by hitting the weights, instead of doing mainly at-home workouts as I've done the past few years with bodyweight and kettlebell stuff taking up the majority of it all.

2. Lift 3x a week and run on the days in-between, hitting up rides on my bike as I wish. The bike is my enjoyment factor... you can measure the weights/sets/reps plus time and distance of running workouts like a scientist, but the bike is more of my time to enjoy the benefits of both the running and lifting. Its not my main mode of exercise, but its a fun one. I still have to keep myself in check in overanalyzing my rides, since I'm used to analyzing everything else so much.

3. Keep it simple, silly.... I'm keeping my exercises to about 4 to 5 per workout, compound movements, and the weights in a decent but challenging range.  Case in point, I hit the bench presses a bit too heavy at first, backed off to a more conservative manner last week (followed the 3x5 weights for each set on my predicted max) then found myself handling the weight better this week already when I moved to 4x5 for the phase. 

Right in line with #3, keeping it simple is what I like a lot about the "Indestructible!" program from "Just The Workouts" from my Kindle guides.  The weights, percentages, and sets/reps are all there to follow.  Pick your exercises, plug them in, and go.  Sometimes you just gotta follow a plan instead of overanalyzing which program you need or should be doing next... focus on the one in front of you first.

Grab yourself a copy of JTW right here for less than a buck. Spend another 99 cents and get the accompanying "Just The Chart" Kindle guide, too.  JTC is so handy in the gym or when you are preparing your log books for your workouts. Its a great resource to have on the Kindle smartphone app or your tablets. It is why I spent the time creating the JTC guide to use as such a quick reference.

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Lift. Dominate. Repeat.
RABC
Coach Rick Karboviak
http://tinyurl.com/rkofp - Get all your cool training guides right here!

Back "Home"

Greetings, RAW Warriors,

Its been a while, but I finally got internet at my new apartment and am mostly, fully moved into my new place now. Time to get back to blogging more often.

I've also been associated once again with my 'old home', the old gymnasium's weight room, back at Mayville State.  Its in its final year of being around, so I better get the most I can out of it.

Hopefully a new performance center can be constructed next year to replace it. It was the first gymnasium on campus, and it once held two games where the Harlem Globetrotters played the college team on their tours in the 1930's. A lot of history in this old gym, and its good to be back in it.

My plans have been pretty simple since I started back in the gym and also the new wellness center's weight room.

Deadlifts: 3 x 5
Power Cleans: 3 x 5
Push Presses: 3 x 5
Bench Press: 3 x 5 or 4 x 5
Pulldowns: 3 x 10
Bent Presses or Windmills: 4 x 5 per side
Leg Presses: 3 x 12 (optional lift in place of Deadlifts, depending on running/cycling)

It feels great once again to be doing some Deadlifts and Power Cleans, as well as the Push Presses. Those 3 are some of my favorite exercises.  Hang Cleans & Push Press combo's are also another one I will add later.  Its all about getting used to the movements again, and going light in my workouts.

I have been running at least 3x and up to 4x a week now, plus lifting 3x a week on days in-between. I finally got my bikes over here too, so I just did a 22 miler on Sunday and an 11 miler tonight.  Feels great to have time to be more active now.

I can fully say its great to be 'back home' at the college that grew my love & passion for the training side of things.

I must say, my "Just The Chart" Kindle guide has come in handy on the phone for finding exact weights for sets/reps I need. Find it here at http://tinyurl.com/rkofp

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Lift. Dominate. Repeat.
RABC
Coach Rick Karboviak

Comet Barbell Club

Greetings RAW Warriors,

Now that I'm back in Mayville with a new apartment and a wellness center just 2 blocks from me, its time to get back after some lifting for deadlifts and bench presses for sure. Just got my membership this week, so once I'm all settled into the new apartment, it will be time to go back to the "Comet Barbell Club" for some good old workouts once again.

My membership gets me into the athletes' weight room as well, so I'm looking forward to some 6am workouts under the bar once again. This weight room was where I mainly discovered the "Indestructible!" program that's outlined in "Just The Workouts" and charted in the "Just The Chart" workout guide for 1 rep maxes and their corresponding weights for sets/reps needed in the Indy program.

In the meantime, I'm getting in a lot of good runs in the morning and KB Swing workouts too. Looking forward to a mix of barbells, kettlebells, and speed workouts.

Once I get more settled in, I will also look at some private coaching for runners in the Mayville area. This is the best transition I can see myself doing instead of trying to go full bore into personal training again. I wouldn't mind doing some online workouts in that capacity but I still love the personal workout atmosphere. Private coaching as a 'track coach' for serious runners is right up my alley.

I'm looking at private sessions and semi-private sessions for individuals alone, as well as small group training.  Check out CTP Coaching at http://climbthepodium.com/coach.html

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Lift. Dominate. Repeat.
RABC
Coach Rick Karboviak
http://tinyurl.com/rkofp

Run, HWR, Run, etc.

Greetings,

The blog posts are once again sporadic at best lately, making some changes in the future here with a move to where I'm working now and trying to finish up stuff at my old house. Not to even mention packing and cleaning through stuff I have.

In sections of my house, I discovered all the old track workouts and binders I've collected through the years of coaching. I did turn a lot of those into Kindle guides now, so there really isn't a need to hold onto the junior high track meet results from May 5th of 2010. :)  Most of these solid workouts are in my "Just The Track Workouts" guide at http://tinyurl.com/rkofp  The new Kindle Unlimited program is really doing well for my guides, since a majority are on the KU plan.

I am looking at some private coaching once I get settled into my new place, and things settle down on the other end of trying to sell my house as well.  Looking at my work schedule, I'm not sure how it would go, but I could do a lot of distance coaching online with some people too. The coach in me still wants to go, but keep it pretty simple as well and easy to manage. I know plenty of runners who might have an interest in some additional help with their running plans and race objectives.

In the meantime, I am getting in some solid workouts in the wee morning hours, sometimes with moonlight to begin with, followed by the sunrise as I end the workout.  Its also a lot cooler in the mornings and pretty peaceful. I really missed morning runs for a lot of years unless it was on a weekend. Now that my workday is starting later, I have the time to do this and I'm thankful for it.

Also, I've been getting in some solid kettlebell and bodyweight routines again, following the HWR circuit style. This past week was 12 minute circuits, doing mostly 2 minute rounds of various exercises to squat, lunge, push, pull, bend, and twist. (2 minutes on each movement and you're set!)

I know its time to start lifting heavy with the kettlebells too.  I've took off a lot of time from the KB's and after a couple weeks now of readjusting to them, I'm set to get after them again.

That's one great thing I tout about with the HWR plan, is that even though its all bodyweight on the videos, you can sub new exercises in for some of the same movements with KB, band, or dumbbell exercises.  You're not just stuck with 51 workouts (which is plenty to begin with, can P90X give you that? nope!) but you can make them more challenging if you need to.

Check out the great value of the HWR plan and get downloading the videos ASAP (another thing you can't do with those at-home DVD-only plans!) at http://tinyurl.com/cbhwrevsale

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Lift. Dominate. Repeat.
RABC
Coach Rick Karboviak

Run, Lift, Repeat

Greetings,

The past week was a mix of lifting and running workouts. With the new job, I have more time in the mornings to workout now and its been a nice boost to the day to start things off with a workout.

Monday was an HWR day of a 10 minute circuit. I really love the HWR circuits, as they are brief, intense and short on time for effectiveness.

Tuesday and Thursday were track workouts.  Tuesday I did some 100/100's, which is easy for 100, hard at race pace for 100, in a continuous fashion.  I started with a 1/2 mile warm-up, then went into the 100/100's for 6 laps worth (12 cycles of 100/100's).

Thursday was the 2nd track workout of the week, with 200/200's. That started out with a 1/2 mile warm-up, followed by 2 miles worth of 200/200's, getting under 7 minutes a mile in my mile pace for the 2 mile portion on the track. This workout felt like a good mimic of a 5K pace, since you may be alternating paces quite a bit in some races due to hills, wind, and other race day happenings (such as getting around people in a surge).

Wednesday was just an easy run, going 2.5 miles on the Finley 5K route.  I didn't do the whole route of course, but finished up 2.5 miles in under 20 minutes for a nice, solid, steady pace. 

Friday was another HWR day, mixing in my kettlebell with some Swings and Cleans for some portions of the circuit.  I like mixing in kettlebell exercises with the HWR videos a lot.

Check out the HWR videos, all 50+ of them, for less than $1 per workout: http://tinyurl.com/cbhwrevsale

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Are you a Kindle book reader?  The new Kindle Unlimited plan is a nice boost for my guides, as a majority of them are on the KU plan now. "Just Swing It!" is taking the lead overall as the most downloaded in the KU plan this month so far, as well as last month.

See which one of my training guides meets your needs and download a few of them today at http://tinyurl.com/rkofp

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Lift. Dominate. Repeat.
RABC
Coach Rick Karboviak