Fitness Solutions for the Computer-Bound

Sitting is the new smoking. I'd be surprised if anyone in the country hasn't heard by now that excessive time spent sitting poses risks to one's cardiovascular and musculoskeletal health. Unfortunately, we all sit a lot, and for many people, this is unavoidable. Nearly any non-labor job requires sitting in front of a computer for hours on end. Driving requires a similar position, and most car seats do nothing to foster an upright posture. Even much of our relaxation time is spent sitting on a couch or slumped over a computer. Cardiovascular risks arise from hindered circulation, and less overall calories relative to more active lifestyles means greater chance of fat accumulation.

Unless you have a FITNESS ORB

When one examines the sitting position, it becomes apparent how a slew of musculoskeletal issues can also manifest as a result of the desk job lifestyle, including the following:

1) Slumped-forward shoulders
2) Forward neck posture and increased shear forces on cervical vertebrae
3) Poor grip strength
4) Low back, hip, and knee pain. These are often connected to some degree, and may be the result      of one or more of these factors:

            -Shortened and weakened hamstrings, hip flexors, adductors, and even calf muscles from        

              spending time in a passive, shortened position.

            -Lengthened and inactive glutes

            -Weak knee flexors

            -Improper core bracing and stabilization

     A tight calf muscle can cause dysfunction in the ankle joint, which leads to compensation through 

     the knees and hips. This pattern can lead to excessive forces and eventual problems in the  

     compensating joints, and before you know it your tight calf may be causing you hip pain.

Solutions have been proposed, and the simplest and most obvious of them is to sit less. That's easier said than done when working a white collar job. Life hack enthusiasts found potential in the highly fashionable standing desk. Unfortunately, standing desks don't fully address the problem. They don't prevent a person from leaning forward (especially at the neck), and prolonged standing may be unhealthy as well. Then there are treadmill and pedaling desks, which seem great for never getting any work done, ever. 

If there were a desk modification that were somewhat promising, it would be an adjustable desk that can transition between standing, sitting, and maybe even squatting positions. These do exist, and provided they aren't inconvenient to adjust, they allow you to regularly change positions. This somewhat addresses the immobility inherent in a desk job. However, you'd probably be just as well off saving $300, and simply getting up and moving around in short intervals at work. This is what spine expert Dr. Stuart McGill recommends. One would be wise to utilize the same practice when lounging about for leisure activities.

Other than minimizing time spent sitting and simply getting up and moving more (which includes cardiovascular exercise), one can take reactive or proactive measures towards directly addressing the musculoskeletal issues that often arise from excessive sitting. Let's address each issue mentioned above with some potential solutions. All exercises listed below can easily be found on Google/YouTube for execution tutorials and tips.

1) Slumped-forward shoulders

Also known as excessive scapular protraction, this can be solved with a three-pronged approach.

A) Lengthen and strengthen the anterior shoulder girdle musculature.

An excellent solution here is to utilize pressing movements that stretch the pecs and front delts, such as a dumbbell bench press. Everyone who goes into a gym does the bench press, which is a great exercise but doesn't provide a significant stretch to the pecs or front delts. Many people don't even bring the bar fully down to the chest. Using dumbbells and descending into a deep stretch at the bottom provides a loaded stretch to the pressing musculature, which will strengthen as it is lengthened. A push-up where the hands are slightly elevated, so that the chest can come down past the hands at the bottom, is another good option that also allows for more natural scapular movement.

B) Build the upper back musculature.
The lower traps and rhomboids make up the majority of the upper back musculature and are the primary muscles responsible for scapular retraction (which is the opposite of protraction, and precisely the quality we want to improve). Visual inspection of your average desk jockey will indicate a woefully underdeveloped upper back. This is a shame, because in addition to the shoulder stability it provides, a strong upper back is transformative to a physique.

Building the upper back is largely a matter of rowing. To keep the focus on the upper back muscles rather than the lats, rows should be pulled to the chest instead of the waist (lat work can be done separately). My favorite row for the upper back is the neutral grip cable row with a moderate to wide grip. Start the movement with a protracted scapula (slumped forward shoulders, but also keeping the lower back neutral or slightly arched) and initiate the pull by pulling the shoulder blades back, and then pulling the bar into the chest with the arms. Start every rep from the protracted position, and focus on initiating the pull with retraction of the shoulder blades.

C) Develop external rotation and overhead stability.
An excellent exercise for developing external rotation of the shoulder is the face pull. It's also an excellent upper body warm-up. Developing external rotation is important to counteracting the internal rotation we often find ourselves in while sitting at a desk.
As for overhead stability, any form of overhead pressing will achieve this. Pick your favorite or favorites, and have at it. If you can't figure out an overhead press that doesn't cause you pain, try a front raise with a plate to fully overhead until the overhead position gets more comfortable for you.

2) Forward neck position
Fixing the shoulder problem will, to some degree, solve the neck issues. For strengthening the neck, I've never found anything more effective than neck bridges. I attribute these to acquiring a 17 inch neck at 125 pounds back when I was wrestling in high school. While we aren't all trying to pop size small shirt collar buttons, a strong neck plays a significant role in cervical spine injury prevention. In wrestling, we would bridge from our backs, and then roll the head forward and back, side to side, and even turn over on our heads so that our stomachs ended up facing the ground.

Most people don't possess the neck strength required for supporting a significant portion of their body weight, especially with forward neck position. This exercise can be dangerous if your neck isn't strong enough for it. An easier variation that will be more manageable for most people is to use the hands as support on the floor, or to elevate the head above the feet, so that the feet take a greater proportion of the weight. This can be done by standing on the floor and placing the head onto a couch or bed.

3) Poor grip strength
This one is nice and simple. People today have weaker grips because they're utilized less on a daily basis. Manual labor isn't as intrinsic in our lives as it was decades ago. The solution is to work the grip more frequently. There are countless ways to do this. Farmer's walks, curls of any and every type, sledgehammer swings, all back and pulling movements, rope climbs and pulls, captains of crush, plate pinches, timed holds, and any other imaginative training modalities are valid. The key is that grip is being trained, and trained frequently. Grip training of some form can be done almost every day. Let's not forget that jacked forearms look great, too.

4) Low back, hip, and knee pain.
This one is the most complicated cluster of symptoms, because these joints are all immobilized by sitting, are connected in a sort of "kinetic chain," and are often required to work in synergy in daily activities such as walking. Note that the below training modalities should not be used by a person with severe joint issues, which should be addressed by a physician and/or physical therapist.

Weak, tight hamstrings are injury-prone and do a poor job at stabilizing the knee joint. Hamstrings can be addressed with two exercises. The first is leg curls. Any variant is fine. These should be done first, to warm up the hamstrings for the second exercise, which will involve an intense loaded stretch (and thus shouldn't be done without a warmup). This second exercise is the stiff-legged deadlift. I think this is possibly the single most beneficial exercise for the desk-bound, because it strengthens the entire backside of the body. It will effectively build the entire back, from upper traps to upper back to lats and erector spinae. It will put the hamstrings through a full range of motion, facilitate glute contraction, and serves as a good teaching tool for core bracing. Getting good at the stiff-leg deadlift can solve many of the problems associated with back, hip, and knee pain.

Increasing glute strength will help in shifting the hips out of the tightened position caused by chronically shortened hip flexors, and additional exercises should be done for the lower body to build the glutes and knee flexors (the quads, particularly near the knee insertion). Simple glute bridges from the floor serve as an excellent queuing tool for learning how to contract the glutes. Lunges and Bulgarian split squats are great for stretching the hip flexors and quads of the back leg while working the glutes and quads of the front leg. Both of these movements also provide work for the adductors and smaller hip muscles, which may become shortened during extensive sitting as well. With both of these movements, it is critical to not allow the forward leg's knee to cave inward towards the other leg. This will put unnecessary strain on both the the hip and knee joint, while making the exercise less effective. Don't use more weight or do more reps at the expense of form.

Doing regular, two-legged squats is great as well, and will simultaneously address the issues of glute weakness, knee flexor weakness, and improper core bracing. In particular, the barbell front squat is valuable, because in addition to developing the above qualities, it builds the upper back and forces upright torso and neck position. I've also found that it's often easier to learn than the barbell back squat. As a warm-up for the legs and knees before doing focused quad and glute work, I've grown to appreciate the leg extension, done on a properly adjusted machine for higher reps.

All remaining trunk bracing and stabilization concerns can be addressed with planks (done with a conscious effort to retain a braced core, and not done for increased times at the expense of positional quality), ab rollouts once planks become easy, 45-degree back extensions, and a hanging trunk flexion exercise such as toes to bar or hanging leg raises (making sure to crunch the hips up, and not just bend at the hip flexors without flexing the spine). The hanging exercises provide the added benefit of decompressing the spine, and toes to bar additionally provide a respectable lat stimulus. Keep in mind that the core should be braced during loaded exercises like squats, stiff-leg deadlifts, and farmer's walks as well.

Stable ankles that aren't excessively tight are vital to executing proper squats and many other daily movements. The simple solution here is to do calf raises with a deep stretch at the bottom, similar to how Dante prescribes for DogCrapp training. This deep, loaded stretch will provide a potent stimulus for strength and growth as it also promotes full-range ankle mobility.

The above bodybuilding-oriented exercises are excellent for building a durable, healthy body, but I do feel that they alone will leave a deficit in one's capacity for rapid muscular output. When an inactive individual plays a sport that requires sprinting, such as football or baseball, pulled hamstrings often result. Without practicing sprinting, even an individual who works hard in the gym will be at risk for muscle pulls when the time comes to do so. Training the quality of sprinting will hone one's ability to perform explosive, coordinated movement. For inactive individuals, it may even build some muscle. Sprinting uphill versus on a flat surface will decrease the risks of a hamstring pull (due to the altered stride length and path). However, even going uphill, it's unwise to go directly into 100% sprints, especially if the trainee been inactive for a long time. Start slow. These shouldn't be true, all-out sprints, but rather around 60-70% of maximum speed at first. If possible, sprints should be done on soft ground to minimize joint impacts.

For the significantly overweight, sprinting and running should be avoided completely. The joint impacts and injury risk significantly outweigh the potential benefits. Weight loss should be achieved through low-impact cardiovascular exercise, diet modifications, and a safe resistance training program. After achieving significant weight loss, higher-impact training modalities can be considered.


In the war on sitting, there's no need to raise a white flag to joint pain and chronic illness. I have utilized the above exercises for myself and others to improve joint health. A conscious and proactive approach can largely nullify the negative (physical) effects of a white collar job, and allow a person to participate in athletics and daily life without pain. 

11 Simple Habits for a Better and Healthier Body

1. Eat meals, not snacks. Snacking on crap absentmindedly is a great way to get fat. Get in 3-6 square meals a day, and you won't be hungry for snack foods. Some of these meals can be smaller, where some are larger. Taking a different mindset towards eating can make a big difference in your body composition. Eat with purpose.

2. Include at least 20g protein in every meal. Protein is very satiating, and will help prevent you from overeating unhealthy foods. If your only option for food at a given time is something low in protein, you can always have a shake before you eat. Steadily consuming protein throughout the day will also enhance muscle retention and building capabilities.

3. Eat "healthy" food whenever possible, 80+% of the time. 90% is better than 80. When I say healthy foods, I'm not referring to Oprah's acai berry products, or any kind of "superfood" or supplement (though protein powder gets sort of a pass since it's essentially food). I'm referring to simple vegetables, lean meats, whole grains, nuts, legumes, fruits, and dairy. Junk is alright from time to time, but shouldn't be a staple of your diet.

4. Get in at least 3 workouts per week. The only excuse is when you're on vacation.

5. If you're weak in a certain area, train it more frequently. If a body part or lift is proportionally weak for you, training it more than once a week is a good idea. When your frequency goes up, your intensity and volume per session have to adjust accordingly, however.

6. Do bodyweight exercises (in addition to weights). They will teach you coordination and body awareness while building strength, size, and endurance. They also serve as a way to keep track of your relative strength. Classics like push-ups, dips, pull-ups, hyperextensions, squats, and lunges are very effective. Adding weight is a great option when you're strong enough.

7. Don't extend sets past the point where you begin to compromise form. If you go to failure on a set, your "fail" point should be the last rep you can make without getting out of proper position. Don't contort yourself on a bench press, or round your back in a squat or deadlift. There's no point in being strong or muscular if you're injured all the time.

8. Include some degree of both cardio and lifting at all times. At any given time, you can be emphasizing one over the other depending on your goals. But you shouldn't completely neglect one for the other, as they can complement each other well.

9. Track your progress. This can mean keeping a workout log, a food log, or a journal, taking weight or measurements, or simply taking pictures regularly. It's easy to let your nutrition or training slide for an extended period, only to realize that you've made no progress or even regressed. Keeping track of things can help you figure out what's worked for you, what hasn't, and what reasonable adjustments you can make to spur on progress. Hold yourself accountable.

10. Don't sweat the little things. With the above in mind, don't stress yourself out over normal weight fluctuations, slight deviations from diet, or a bad training session. If you aren't training for a competition, these minor setbacks don't mean a damn thing in the grand scheme of things. Don't let a slip-up throw you off the rails completely. After an off day (or days), resume business as usual as soon as possible, and your slip-up will be negligible.

To expand on this point, you also shouldn't be thinking about the minutiae of diet and exercise when you still have 60 pounds to lose, or you're an able-bodied man that can only bench 155. It's easy to become overwhelmed by all the information out there, but the principles laid out above are all you need to get started.

11. Tune out the noise. This applies to many aspects of life.

Social media is filled with a lot of words and a whole lot of nothing. Some people love to tell others that they will fail, simply because they're insecure, and success makes them uncomfortable. Those people are nothing, and should be regarded as such. Do you think Tom Brady gets concerned over the armchair quarterbacks criticizing him on sports forums? No, he's too busy winning rings and spending time with his supermodel wife.

More specifically to health, fitness, and muscle, don't listen to the charlatans pushing products and promising outrageous results. If you've found something that you believe in, and that works for you, then stick it out and don't take on a "grass is greener" attitude towards other diets or workout routines.

This doesn't mean you should be close-minded. Be willing to continually develop your knowledge. But there comes a point where you need to stop second-guessing yourself, commit to something, and just grind it out. Don't let the latest article or study sway you. One study means precisely nothing, and an unsubstantiated article (like this one) means even less.

Choose a path, and walk it with confidence.

The Spartan Ultra Beast: 29 Miles, All of the Suffering

29 miles on a mountain, 60+ obstacles, with strict time limits. I knew what I was signing up for.

That didn't make it any easier come Saturday, but my four months of training paid off, and I finished the Ultra Beast convincingly, with plenty of time to spare.

My buddy Nick and I signed up for this back in December after I suggested we do a Spartan Race. Since we'd already done Tough Mudder a few times, which was about 12 miles, I thought the 12-14 mile Beast would be a good idea.

Nick, being both a sadist and a masochist, said we should do the Ultra Beast instead. The Ultra Beast is 2 laps of the Beast course, with time limits. Not being one to back down from a challenge, I agreed. Over the past 4 months this race has required us both to completely overhaul our training to become physically and mentally prepared for the race.

While Nick loves pain, he's also a philanthropist, and he came up with the idea to do the race for a charity. We managed to raise over $600 in donations to Action Against Hunger for the race, which feels pretty awesome.

Overall, the race went through the most difficult terrain I've ever faced. I've never ran 29 miles in my life, much less on terrain this treacherous. I'm talking "60+ degree inclines for an entire mile," treacherous. A lot of people sign up for OCRs to have fun. If you're one of those people, this is not the race for you. Do a sprint or a regular Beast instead. The Ultra Beast is something else entirely.

UPDATE: Here's a bird's eye view of a single lap of the course.

I'd consider this to be my greatest physical test to date, and one that I'm proud to have overcome.

Some quick thank yous:

Thanks to Nick for being an awesome teammate in preparation for the race and during it, and serious props for not giving up early on despite the adversity.
Thanks to my girlfriend, my family, and Nick's family for the support before and after race day.
Thanks to Metallica for the song "Orion," which played in my head throughout the entire race.
Thanks to the Spartan Race for attracting quality competitors, creating a very challenging course, and developing a positive environment.

Here's a rundown of the days leading up to the race, and the race itself.


Training up to the race
I made a post a while back about my training when I started preparing for the race. My training evolved over time, and had to evolve even further when I decided to sign up for a powerlifting meet 2 weeks after the race. Why did I do this? Because I'm an asshole. Truthfully, the powerlifting meet was never a priority to me at the degree the race was.

Here was my training split by the end. I mostly stuck to the principles laid out in my OCR training series, although my philosophies have evolved with my training. This was the best program I could develop that gave me adequate training stimulus but also left time for all of my school and work-related demands.

Sunday: Squat and Deadlift day: Heavy squats and deads, ab work (usually in the form of toes to bar), burpees.
Monday: Bench day. Heavy bench, tons of pull-ups, and that's about it.
Tuesday: Medium-fast run: 1.7-3.4 miles for a timed pace. Usually done on campus, which was mostly flat. My best was 3.4 mi in 22:45 (6:42/mi).
Wednesday: Either off, a light accessory bodyweight exercise/lifting day, or some stationary bike work. I started using the stationary bike after having an overuse injury creep up in my foot/ankle about 2 months out, and kept it in after I got better because I realized it was great for leg recovery and quad endurance.
Thursday or Friday: main accessory work. Usually arm, back, shoulder, and some single-leg work, plus burpees. The other day was usually off. Sometimes I'd do a little bit of something on both days.
Saturday: Long run, usually on a hiking trail. My longest run before the race was only 10 miles. I did this in 2 hrs 10 minutes, which sounds slow, but it was done on rocky and steep terrain (not as rocky and steep as the actual race, though).

The only thing I would have done differently is more weighted carries, since those were definitely the worst obstacles for me. If I wasn't also training for a powerlifting meet, I would have done front squats and barbell lunges one week and split squats and stiff-leg deadlifts the next, in alternating fashion, in place of regular squats and deadlifts. I think these movements have better carryover for this type of race.

My diet was pretty normal. Probably ate around 3000 calories a day, decently clean, not skimping on any particular macronutrient.


The week before the race
Training had been going great for Nick and I. Then on the Sunday before the race, Nick ends up hospitalized with the flu. GREAT TIMING, BRO.

He was in pretty bad shape for a few days with a 103 fever, and was considering the fact that he might not be able to compete, but by Thursday he was thankfully feeling nearly 100% with no fever.

The week before was all about getting my gear together and packed up.

To wear, I had:
Under armor shirt (short sleeved)
Compression shorts
Lightweight running shorts
Running socks
Calf compression sleeves
Simple, waterproof digital watch

For my Camelbak (to be carried during the race):
3.5 scoops Mercury mixed in 3L water for the drinking reservoir
Headlamp (this was required to stay on the course past 6:30 PM, otherwise you'd be kicked off)
Glowsticks (attached outside of bag, also required past 6:30, and a few spares in my bag)
A bag of table salt
6 Clif bars
Some GU energy gels
12 Advil (pain isn't an option)
Space blanket
A small bottle of apple cider vinegar (which is supposed to cure cramping nearly instantaneously... it didn't, but may have helped a little)

We were also allowed to bring a bin, which we could drop off and have access to after Lap 1. We could fill it with anything we wanted as long as it was 30 quarts or less.

For my bin:
3.5 more scoops of Mercury
Gallon of water (turned out that we were allowed to
Banana
PB&J sandwich on white
2 Nutri Grain bars
Fresh socks
Towel
2 printed pictures: The first was of Shia Labeouf's "JUST DO IT" speech for comic relief, and the second was Ragnar Lothbrok, the badass protagonist of Vikings.

I captioned it "Finish what you started."

The day before the race, we had to head up to the course for the packet pick-up and bin drop-off. It was rainy and ominous, which was fucking awesome (seriously). We were told not to leave our bins if we wanted to leave food, however, because of bears. *Foreshadowing.* So we picked up our bib numbers and brought the bins back with us.

That night, I had a metric shitton of chicken and rice, played some guitar, and tried to sleep around 8. I went on and off with sleeping since I'm not usually asleep that early, and read Blood Meridian when I was awake. I probably got 2-4 hours of sleep that night. Start time was 6:15 AM.

Race day
Alarm goes off at 3:00 AM. I go downstairs and turn on the oven to heat up 2 egg white flatbreads that I had bought from Dunkin Donuts the day prior. Perfect breakfast (seriously, they're really solid).

Got dressed, ate, packed up the last of my supplies, hydrated, and headed off to pick up Nick. The drive, still in the dark, was about 45 minutes, and we got there before 5:00. Mountain Creek is a pretty beautiful place, with a gorgeous lodge.

Upon arriving, it became clear that the demographic of racers for the Ultra Beast was way different than other OCRs I had done. These people were in much better shape, and on average older (30s-40s. Nick and I were among the youngest there). These people were experienced endurance athletes.

We went up to the bin drop-off tent, which was a hike on its own, and shot the shit with some other racers. We went back into the lodge to stay warm since we left our sweats in the bins.

We waited around till 5:45, made a few bathroom trips, and then headed over to the starting line to watch the Elites start at 6:00. Problem was, there was a delay to getting the volunteers in place due to bears on the course *foreshadowing* and they didn't get started till 6:30, which meant we didn't start till 6:45. I was freezing by then, and just wanted to start, to warm up if anything.

The "I am a Spartan" speech went graciously quickly, and Nick and I took off fast to ensure we wouldn't get stuck on lines. We were actually in second/third place for a bit. The trail started off on an incline, and then after a brief flat came to a massive, near-vertical wall of rock, mud, and loose plants. I knew right then that they weren't pulling any punches with this course. In fact, the entire first mile was like that, and without a doubt was the worst mile I've ever trekked. Our fast start slowed to a literal crawl as we climbed up the mountain. I began thinking that I was insane for trying this.

We were given our numbers for the memory test at the top of one of these slopes, and it was at this point that I realized Nick was looking pretty run down. He had been lagging behind a bit during the ascents, and I waited up for him a bit to see what was up. He told me he was getting extremely dizzy and that his flu symptoms were coming back. He was going to drop out. He told me to move on. This was really disappointing because I knew how badly he wanted this, and I'm sure that he could have done it if he was healthy.

Still, I wasn't about to quit myself. Despite the fact that that first mile was so awful (and so were the next two... and most miles after that) and even made me question whether I could finish at some points, I carried on. My strategy for the mountains were to hike the ascents, run the flats, and speed down the descents. There were very few flats. The elevation changes were by far the worst obstacle in the race, and the reason that finishing times for this are so much longer than regular marathons.

This was sort of a high-risk-high-reward approach to the descents, but it saved me a ton of time. It's a crazy thrill to be hurdling down a steep hill. It beats up your knees, which I thankfully didn't feel until mile 26 or so. There's also the perpetual risk of falling and twisting an ankle, breaking a leg, or worse. I passed several people along the course that were sidelined with twisted ankles and possible broken legs.

Miles 1-3 were mostly characterized by heinous elevation changes and weren't that eventful in terms of obstacles. There was a log carry (uphill and downhill, of course), which was pretty awful, and I believe the rope climb and hanging obstacle were within these first three miles as well. The rope climb was easy, but I actually missed the hanging obstacle (which involved transitioning from a straight bar to rings to ropes) due to a technical error. I grabbed the rope too low from the ring, and my feet touched the ground before I lost my grip. I began my burpees, which were thankfully the first of only two times I'd have to do them for the day.

Miles 4-6 were flatter than the first 3, but were far wetter. The water was chilly, and the mud was thigh-deep in parts. Luckily I chose the perfect shoes for this, Salomon Fellraisers, which drain off water and mud very quickly to stay lightweight. Unfortunately, the cold water triggered my first cramps (in my calves and hamstrings), which I would have to deal with for the entire rest of the race.

I eventually developed a contingency plan for the cramps where I'd take salt, a gel, and water. This pretty much always worked, even when the vinegar didn't. I figured out that when my Camelbak was diluted when I filled it with plain water at the water stations, my cramping improved. With both gels and the Mercury, I may have overdone it with electrolytes and not had enough water. Once my Mercury was diluted (I figured this out around mile 8) my cramping improved.

I'd have a Clif bar whenever I was hungry. These were pretty much perfect as race fuel and I'd have no cramping for quite a while after I took one.

I can't remember the order of every obstacle, but they were mostly standard fare for Spartan Races, but amped up a bit in difficulty. There was a gravelly, uphill barbed wire crawl around Mile 4. Walls of varying heights were throughout the race, a rope traverse was around mile 6.

Miles 7 through 8 were hellish. The tail end of Mile 7 was the bucket brigade, which entails carrying a bucket full of gravel up three steep hills and then back down. This was the worst obstacle, in my opinion. Immediately after began the longest ascent of the race. My quads, adductors, and hamstrings were cramping around this point, but once I nailed my nutrition protocols it became less severe.

During this ascent, I was with a group of 5 or so other guys, and one of them turned and pointed out something to our right: a big ass black bear, about 100 feet away. It was just standing there, staring. Then, two cubs came up over a ridge right behind it. I just kept a wide berth and kept going, making sure to let the volunteers ahead know. And that was pretty much it -- the first time I've seen a bear in the wild.

Another barbed wire crawl (much flatter and grassier) was at mile 10.5 (I just rolled for this one), a sandbag carry was around mile 12, two sled pulls were around Miles 9 and 12, which were decently heavy. The spear throw was just before Mile 14, and I made it on the first lap but barely missed it on the second. Mile 14-14.5 was mostly downhill and included the varied elevation monkey bars, hercules hoist (which was heavy as SHIT this year), and A-frame cargo net.

This ended the first lap at mile 14.5, and then I had the chance to go to the bin area. According to several people's GPS watches, the mile markers were conservative, and the course was actually well over 29 miles, around 30 or more. This doesn't surprise me -- some of those miles dragged on forever.

It was 12:15 when I reached the bins, and the cutoff to leave the bin area was 2:00, so I was well ahead of schedule. The first thing I did was check to see if Nick's bin was still there. It was. I had a suspicion that he didn't actually quit during that first mile, and I was right. I knew this either meant that he was airlifted off of the course, or more likely, that he was still going... with the flu. Hell yeah, man. This got me fired up.

At the bin area, I took about 20 minutes to change my socks, eat, refill my Camelbak, and take a mental break. I didn't lie down or sit for any extended period, though. That would've just made it harder to start lap 2. I left at 12:35 to start lap 2. By this point, I determined that I had to finish, because if I didn't, I'd have to try again next year.

I was dreading the ascents at miles 1-3 and 7-8 the most. Otherwise, the course actually felt easier the second time around since I had gotten the cramping under control. By this point, the trails were clogged up with people doing the regular Beast, and I had to pass these people to make time. Because they knew about my time cutoffs, they were respectful in letting me pass, and often offered words of encouragement. You meet some really great people at these races.

At the final checkpoint, mile 25, I met another Ultra Beast runner from Long Island named Brian, who was a really cool guy. The Ultra Beast runners were pretty spread out by this point, so it was good to see someone in the same boat as me. We were about 2 hours ahead of the 7:30 time cutoff for mile 25, so we took our time and commiserated over how badly we both had to shit. Repeated impacts wreak havoc on the intestines. We lost each other at the sandbag carry, but I was well past the worst of the course by that point, and the rest of the course was an easy, mostly downhill finish. I took these final downhills pretty fast.

I made quick work of the monkey bars, and it was after this that I saw Nick, waiting at the finish line. He told me that he made it 20 miles before being removed from the course after a volunteer saw him hacking his lungs up and doubled over in cramps. 20 miles, with the flu. The man can persevere. He'll get it next year for sure.

I helped out some guys with the hercules hoist (and received some help myself), scaled the cargo net, dipped under the dunk wall, jumped the fire, and crossed the finish line at just about 6:30 PM. Done.


Results
I took 66th overall in the Open category out of 326 finishers, with a final time of 11:46:23. That 326 doesn't include the many people that inevitably didn't finish, and I'm not sure how many actually attempted the race. By eyeballing the waves, (and taken directly from the Athlete Guide for this weekend), it was at least 1000. A volunteer said it was a record-breaking 1200+ who signed up for the Ultra. Maybe it will be officially released eventually. The finisher rate was probably somewhere between 25% and 50%.

I was 6th in my age group (M 20-24), 60th in males, and actually would have placed pretty well (I'd be 107/188 overall) if I went for the Elites.

For my first Ultra Beast, I think that's pretty good. Most of the finishers above me were in their 30s or 40s, which seems to be the peak for endurance athletes.

The aftermath
For the first time in the 5 years I've been doing OCRs, I was old enough to get a post-race beer. A cold beer was actually the last thing I wanted since I was already pretty cold, but I downed it anyway.

I got my Ultra Beast medal, which is also a huge and awesome belt buckle, and a finisher's T-shirt.

Oh yeah.

I didn't get any pictures at the race. PICTURES ARE FOR THE WEAK. I'll update this post with any pictures of me that get posted on the official website later on, though.

Update: All I could find

The soreness and pain began to set in after I crossed the finish line, and walking up to retrieve my bin was absolute torture. I was so mentally, physically, and emotionally drained. When I got home, I told my family all about it while devouring wings, burgers, and brownies that my cousin baked for me, then passed out early.

Sitting here on Monday writing this, I am still more sore than I've ever been, and I'm still shuffling around like a cripple when I get up. But I'm proud of what I've accomplished. I don't even want to think about another Ultra Beast right now, but I'll be doing a Super to complete the Trifecta and another Sprint to see how fast I can get it alone. Until then, I'm looking forward to going to the gym and being able to just do "arm day."

The Myth of the Once Per Week Bodybuilding Split

If you're like most dudes in the gym, you follow a routine something like this: Monday is chest day, Tuesday is back day, Wednesday is arm day, Thursday shoulders, and Friday legs. Except you tend to miss leg day every other week or so because you're too busy trying to crush some puss, brother!

BUT IT'S ALWAYS 100% PC, BRO!

Because your busy Friday schedule has caused you to skip leg day, you now have to wait till next Friday to (maybe) hit legs again. This means your legs went two weeks without a growth stimulus, and so you've probably actually atrophied a bit. When you think about the larger implications of this, you're only training legs about twice a month. It's hard to argue that you're maximizing your growth this way. 

If you actually are being consistent and hitting every one of your workouts, chances are that you're making some pretty good progress. This definitely isn't a bad way of training, and you can get very far training this way. Most professional bodybuilders (but not all) train each body part once per week. Yet these are guys moving 500 pound bench presses and 600 pound squats for reps, which causes massive trauma to their massive muscles. Can you do that? If not, you probably don't need an entire week to recover from your workout.

When was the last time that a workout actually made you sore for an entire week? Of course that probably happened to you a lot when you first started lifting, and even happens now occasionally when you do an absurd volume workout. But you're probably not training pants-shitting insanely week in and week out. Even if you are, you could probably benefit from a greater training frequency for each body part. This can be a great way to break through a stall in progress.

I first got the inspiration to write about this after listening to this (excellent) podcast that featured Dr. Mike Israetel:

http://openskyfitness.com/podcast/mike-israetel-proper-weight-lifting-techniques-ep-80/

Dr. Israetel brought up the point that most guys can really handle more frequent training than they think they can. For example, he recommends training chest 2-3 times per week (and even up to 4 times per week for small body parts like biceps), and that it doesn't need to get its own day. He also brings up the point that the seven-day week wasn't created muscle recovery periods in mind. People mostly choose to use once weekly splits because they're easy to organize, and that's fine. But there are plenty of training split methodologies that are just as easy to organize, but are also more effective. I'll discuss this more in a bit.

Some would argue that the 1X/week per body part split is superior because you can get in more total sets per body part in each workout. This is flawed thinking.

Training a body part more frequently can cause better muscle gains, even if you're using the same total weekly volume. Brad Schoenfield did a study on the matter, comparing your traditional bro-split with full-body workouts where each part was worked 3 times per week. 

http://www.lookgreatnaked.com/blog/bro-split-versus-total-body-training-which-builds-more-muscle/

What this means is that doing 3 sets of 10 on the bench press with 200 pounds 3 times a week is better for muscle gain than doing 9 sets of 10 once per week. The difference wasn't huge between the two groups, but it was significant enough to report. 

Most guys won't do 9 sets of 10 on bench press, but will introduce variation by doing 3 sets on flat bench, then 3 on incline and 3 on decline, or permutation of that. That's not bad, but if you split those 3 lifts up throughout the week on separate days you'd be able to either use more weight or get more total reps since you'll have more time for local chest recovery between each exercise (2-3 days rather than 5 minutes). Most of the time, 2-3 days is enough to recover from 3 sets of a chest press.

However, sometimes it won't be, and this is where you can manipulate the routine to include emphasis days and lighter days for certain body parts. This is something Dr. Israetel mentioned in the podcast as well. For example, say you're on an upper/lower split. You bench pressed and incline pressed on Monday and really annihilated your chest. Thursday has come around and it's time for your next upper body workout. You know you should be hitting chest for the second time of the week, but your chest is still sore as shit. 

You have two main options here:

1. Pick a movement, either the same movement from Monday or a different one, to directly hit chest. Do this movement, and only this movement, as your chest workout. Do a light, moderate-volume workout to flush metabolites into your chest and get a nice pump. This will feel good and probably actually help your recovery more than if you simply didn't work chest at all.

2. Pick a movement that indirectly or less directly hits the chest. For example, close-grip bench presses will emphasize the triceps but will still hit the chest without stressing it too much.

Another thing you'll want to do if you're including multiple body parts in one workout is sometimes switch up the order of the body parts. For example, if you do a chest/shoulders/triceps workout in that order every time and you have small/weak triceps, you're doing yourself a disservice. Hitting movements that emphasize the triceps early in the workout will allow you to handle more weight and give you more growth where you're in need of it. If you save triceps for the end of every workout, that may be part of the reason they're weak in the first place.

Now let's talk about setting up a split.

If you have 3 days a week to work out, 3 full-body workouts is a great option. As you can see from my last post, I've been doing this recently and have been making good gains -- especially in my chest, which is getting worked three times per week. I determined that full-body workouts were the best way to manage both lifting and running together. If I weren't devoting so much energy to running, though, I'd at the gym more days per week.

If truly maximizing muscle gains is your priority, it's best be lifting more than 3 times per week, and using some form of a split. Devoting 4-6 hours a week to the gym isn't unreasonable for something that you're prioritizing.

Organizing these workouts is actually easier to do around a busy schedule than the once per week splits because if you miss a workout, you can simply pick up where you left off for your next workout and not have missed an entire week of training for a body part. Don't feel like you have to operate in a 7-day rotation. If you're like me and have a schedule (like for school) that allows you to only work out on certain days, this type of split is great. I usually pick 5 or so days of a week and go through a rotation, always working out on the same days but not necessarily doing the same workouts on each day week-to-week.

Here are some split options I'd recommend for working out each body part with increased frequency. Remember not to go crazy with the per-workout volume here, since you have to hit each body part again at least once more later in the week.

Two-way splits: Alternate between the two days for 4-6 total days per week

Option 1:

Day 1: Chest/Shoulders/Arms

Day 2: Legs/Back

I've used this many times and like it a lot.

Option 2:

Day 1: Upper body

Day 2: Lower body

Again, something I've used a lot to good results.

Option 3:

Day 1: Torso (chest, shoulders, back)

Day 2: Limbs (legs, arms)

This is Dorian Yates's intermediate workout.

Option 4: 

Day 1: Chest/Shoulders/Triceps/Back (2 movements for back)

Day 2: Biceps, forearms, Calves, Hamstrings, Quads

This is the standard DogCrapp split. 

If you did 5X/week here, you'd be hitting your Day 1 three times in the first week and Day 2 twice that week. The next week, you'd hit Day 1 twice and Day 2 three times. It all balances out nicely.

Three-way splits: Do each workout twice per week for 6 days total per week

Option 1:

Day 1: Push (Chest/shoulders/triceps)

Day 2: Pull (Back/biceps/forearms)

Day 3: Legs (Quads/hams/calves)

Always solid.

Option 2: 

Day 1: Chest/back

Day 2: Shoulders/arms

Day 3: Legs

The classic Arnold split.

Full-body splits

Hit a pressing movement, a squat or deadlift variation, an upper body pulling movement (chins or rows), and a couple of small accessory movements in every workout. Do 3-6 days per week.

Increasing frequency for small body parts

Smaller body parts can withstand more frequent training, even around 4 times per week. A lot of golden-era bodybuilders trained abs every day. This can be done with any of these splits. 

Let's use someone who desperately wants to improve their biceps as an example. We'll make a 5-way split. This is a bit more complicated than the other versions but still very manageable.

Day 1: Quads, chest, triceps, biceps

Day 2: Back, hamstrings, biceps

Day 4: Biceps, triceps, forearms

Day 4: Quads, hamstrings, calves

Day 5: Chest, back, biceps, calves

As you see, there are endless ways you can set up a split. Don't get caught up in the idea of only training each body part once per week. If you do, you're short-changing yourself a great deal of potential muscle gain.

Update on my Current Training

If you saw my last post 1000 years ago, you'll know that I'm running the Spartan Ultra Beast in April. 26 miles on a mountainous ski resort with 50+ obstacles. It'll take somewhere between 7-13 hours, way longer than any race I've ever done. I've had to adjust my training accordingly over the past month. I've begun running again 4-5 days per week, and adjusted my lifting to three full-body workouts.

In creating my routine, I've utilized principles from Alex Viada's The Hybrid Athlete and Chad Wesley Smith's books/articles. 

From The Hybrid Athlete, in particular, I've taken the idea of increasing volume and decreasing intensity throughout the week. I do my heaviest, lowest-rep lifting and fastest, shortest-distance running at the beginning of the week and my lightest, highest-rep lifting and slowest, longest-distance running at the end of the week. I've essentially ripped my running program right from Alex's Obstacle Course Racing template. 

I've deviated from his lifting template slightly by using 3 full-body workouts instead of a 4x/week upper/lower split. I felt this was best for me personally, since I need plenty of recovery time while adapting to the running that I've neglected over the past few months, and it minimizes the number of days that I have to both run and lift, which can be very time-consuming.

From CWS, I've taken the idea of block training and increasing specificity as competition day approaches. Currently with my lifting, I'm working on a hypertrophy/work capacity block. Muscle mass won't be an issue at all for me in the race, but the high volume of work will be useful for conditioning. I've been keeping weights mostly constant with modest (5-15 lb.) increases throughout the course of a 4-5 week block, while increasing volume. For example, I may take the goal of going from 4 sets of 8 to 4 sets of 12 with a given weight. My exercise selection right now is all general strength movements. I'll be moving more towards more race-specific exercises as I approach the race.

As for diet, I haven't changed anything significantly. I am eating slightly less fat and even protein in favor of more carbs, however.

Here's a layout of how I've been training for my first block. 

Sunday: Heavy lift + Intervals

High bar squat: 3-4 sets of 6-8 @ 70-75% 1RM

Bench press: 4 sets of 6-8 @ 70-75% 1RM

Weighted pull-ups: 3-4 sets of 6-8 @ 70-75% 1RM 

6-10 ~140m hill "sprints" at ~70% intensity (I began at 6 and am working myself towards 10+)

Monday: Tempo Run

2.6 miles at race pace, aiming for time improvements each week

Tuesday: Medium lift + Recovery run

Incline DB press: 3 sets of 8-10 @ ~90% 8RM

Stiff-leg deadlifts 3: sets of 6-8@ ~60% Regular deadlift 1RM

Machine Row of any kind, 2-3 sets of 6-12

Arm work, 4 sets

1-2 mile easy slow run

Wednesday: Off day

I'll occasionally do the recovery run on this day instead of Tuesday.

Thursday: Light lift

High bar squat: 3-4 sets of 12 @ 60-65% 1RM

Bench Press: 4 sets of 8-12 @ 65-70% 1RM

Pull-ups: 3 sets of max reps, bodyweight only

This is actually the hardest lifting day because of the high rep squats. My benching is awful afterwards.

Friday: Fartlek run

4.2 miles, 2-3 surges per mile. I'll usually pick a point ahead of me, sprint to it, then return to a moderate running pace. I'll occasionally do this on Thursday to give myself an extra day off, but since the Thursday workout is so draining I'll usually prefer to do this on Friday.

Saturday: Long run

This is where my greatest focus on progression is. I'll increase either total time running or distance ran each week. Each run is a minimum of either 5 miles or 80 minutes. For example, my first week was 80 minutes (unknown distance, but probably under 7 miles), then I went to 7.8 miles in ~85 minutes the next week, then 7.8 miles in ~73 minutes the next week.

Though I mostly run a particular course that's somewhat hilly, I'll sometimes vary the terrain by running trails with significant elevation changes -- especially on the long run day. This is important, considering I'll be running a damn mountain on race day.