Wake-up Workout

•November 10, 2009 • Leave a Comment

After a short warm-up run this morning I launched into a serious strength and conditioning workout that definitely worked my shoulders (especially) hard. I went through the following circuit three times:

1. Peek-A-Boo Walking Lunges: Walking lunges while pressing a tire over my head.

2. Kettlebell Side Lateral Raise Switch: Just a variation on a typical side raise–one rep on one side and then one rep on the other side until failure.

3. Backpack Pull-ups: Err…pull-ups with a backpack on.

4. Nuclear Push-ups: Push-ups with my feet in the webbing. Add one two-leg tuck and one set of mountain climbers (single leg tucks) after each push-up. Great chest AND core workout.

5. Webbing Hamstring Curls: Alternating one leg at a time.

6. Log Bench Rows: That old college rowing exercise with the warrior twist–using a log instead of a nice olympic bar with plates.

7. Kettlebell Alternating Step and Press: Possibly one of the hardest movements on your body and mind–a warrior workout favorite. Hold the kettlebells at your shoulders, step with one foot and at the top of the step press with the opposite arm. Step down and repeat with the opposite foot/arm. This is a total body movement that also forces you to focus and think to stay on track.

8. MORE Backpack Pull-ups

9. Backpack Atomic Push-ups: Push-ups with feet in the webbing and a two-leg tuck after each.

Just a great way to wake up my body, mind and start the day. Remember, if you are looking to start the day with a killer workout, I am available for personal training as well as small group personal training and customized boot camps for larger groups–just give me a shout at kipkayak@hotmail.com.

Posted in Adventure Racing, Kayak Racing, Primal Fitness, Warrior Workouts
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Kip? Kip?

•November 5, 2009 • Leave a Comment

I’ve been BUSY–doing my own training–getting ready for 2010.  I’ve got some big goals for racing/adventures and want to get a jump on being in the best shape. But, expect some updates on many things in the future–more workouts, more inspiration, more adventures, and more on that book (The Built-in Smile) I need to finish.

Posted in Primal Fitness, The Built-in Smile: Wendall's Lullaby, Warrior Workouts
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

400 Workout: Because sometimes 300 just isn’t enough

•October 20, 2009 • Leave a Comment

This morning I fed the warrior:

60min run

100 Kettlebell Walking Lunges (each leg)

50 Pull-ups

100 Atomic Push-ups

50 Decline Slosh Pipe Crunches

100 Peek-A-Boo Presses

I completed the total reps for each exercise as quickly and continuously as possible before moving on to the next exercise. Excellent workout.

Posted in Adventure Racing, Kayak Racing, Orienteering/ROGAINE, Primal Fitness, Uncategorized, Warrior Workouts
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

New Warrior Gear! AND, Workout Inspiration from the Gods

•October 15, 2009 • Leave a Comment

I spent a couple of hours late this afternoon absorbed in a project I’d been working on for some time–creating a PVC pipe and rope ladder. After some tweaking of both the spacing of the rungs and the setup to hang the ladder I was satisfied with my work–happy with what all that focused energy had created. Look for photos of the ladder in use soon.

In the meantime, I wanted to share a workout I did last week.  THOR’S ANVIL is in honor of the Germanic god of Thunder and his favorite weapon. In this particular workout we used sledgehammers for almost all of the exercises (with only a couple of exceptions).

1. Thor’s Walking Lunges: Walking lunges while holding the sledgehammer with a wide grip and rotating (almost like hammering) while stepping. If you hold it left-handed for one set, change the grip and the rotation on the next. A great exercise for your legs, your rotational core control and your balance. Plus, it just looks powerful.

2. Tire Whack: one of my old favorites.

3. Sledgehammer Balance Squats. I’ve created a balance board of sorts by nailing a piece of plywood to a six-inch diameter log. Stand with feet about shoulder width (or slightly more) apart. Hold the sledgehammer with the head up and as close to the bottom of the handle as possible. Hold the sledgehammer about a foot or so away from your body. Squat slowly and don’t let the sides of the balance board touch the ground.

4. Decline Sledgehammer Flies: work the chest on a decline board with a hammer in each hand.

5. Backpack Atomic Push-ups: Another favorite with the added challenge of a weighted backpack.

6. Tire Whack: Too much fun to not do again…

7. Thor’s Shoulders on Balance Board: You’ll be doing three exercises in succession–no rest. Take an athletic stance on the board. First, Punches: hold the sledgehammers six inches to a foot below the head and alternate punching out with each hand.  Then, side lateral raises. Finally, front raises.

8. Log Bench Rows: I’ve built a high bench and added some handles to a heavy log for this. A reworked version of an old college rowing favorite.

9. Decline Sledgehammer Crunches: Just like it sounds. Do a set on one side, then the other–emphasize the slight torso rotation.

10. Sledgehammer Sled Drag Bear Crawl: So, I built a sled that my training partner could sit on while I dragged it. This time, I was on all fours with a sledge hammer in each hand.

11. Tire Whack: what better way to finish up the workout.

Now, get to work and tell Odin that I sent you.

Posted in Kayak Racing, Orienteering/ROGAINE, Primal Fitness, Warrior Workouts
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Quote of the Week

•October 15, 2009 • 1 Comment

The ordinary person takes everything as a blessing or a curse. A warrior takes everything as a challenge.

–Carlos Castenada

Go out and challenge yourself in some way today.

Posted in Adventure Racing, Kayak Racing, Orienteering/ROGAINE, Primal Fitness, Warrior Workouts
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Unconventional Personal Training

•October 5, 2009 • Leave a Comment

If you’ve visited here often, you might have discovered that I have a passion for creating unique exercise movements using less-than-conventional pieces of equipment–logs, tires, sledgehammers, sandbags and more. Of course, some of my ideas are originals, some are modifications of what others have done before me, and some are blatantly borrowed. But, all are “designed” to attack fitness conditioning from a number of angles:

1. Sport Specificity: first and foremost I like to tailor movements and workout sessions to the activity for which I or my clients are training–be it a 100-mile run, first triathlon, or a ballroom dance competition.

2. Functionality: while sport-specific movements address conditioning the body for functionality within a very specific framework, I also like to use movements that prepare the body for real life movements–expected and unexpected. It’s rare that we lift a box that is perfectly balanced or walk down a sidewalk that is completely smooth and flat. What would happen if you had to help someone push a car out of the road? Well, I like to think that “the warrior” needs to be prepared for a variety of situations in real life. That’s why we lift oddly shaped and weighted objects and do work that challenges our balance and strength.

3. Attitude: I like exercises that inherently force people to work harder and draw an intense attitude from inside. You just can’t hit a tire with a sledgehammer and not feel some primal need to amp up the intensity.

With those points in mind, I wanted to let people know that I am available for one-on-one and small group personal training as well as for larger group boot camp style settings. While I prefer to work with clients at my home “gym,” I can also come to you and/or have a few parks I can work in as well.

Your first training session is FREE. We’ll spend 30 minutes discussing some of your goals and another 30 going through a workout. Sessions after that are $40 per hour or buy five sessions for $180. Prices vary for small groups or boot camp workouts based on the location and number of individuals.

So, if you are ready to change the way you workout, contact me at kipkayak@hotmail.com or 727-422-1956.

Posted in Adventure Racing, Kayak Racing, Orienteering/ROGAINE, Primal Fitness
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

St Pete Times Article–Adventure Racing

•September 7, 2009 • Leave a Comment

Be sure to check out the St. Petersburg Times’ article (via Terry Tomalin) at:

http://www.tampabay.com/sports/outdoors/an-unusual-trip-though-the-woods/1033340

And, be sure to keep your eyes here for more adventure racing and warrior workouts. There’s some serious training to come…

Train hard,

Kip

Posted in Environmental Issues, Kayak Racing, Orienteering/ROGAINE, Primal Fitness
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Flat Water and the Laird 12′ 1″ SUP

•August 27, 2009 • Leave a Comment

Well, my master plan to hit the beach after work and test the Laird 12′ 1″ stand-up paddleboard in some waves was washed out by torrential rains and lightning. I probably could have squeeked out for a few minutes, but there really wasn’t any surf to speak of by the time I got to Pass-A-Grille.

So, I ended up getting out on the board bright and early this morning and tooling around the flat water of Riviera Bay. The longer board definitely moved better in the flat water–tracking well and accelerating with each stroke.  I did have some trouble catching weeds on the fin as last night’s rain stirred up a bunch of sea grass. But, overall it was a better flat water paddling experience than the Ali’i I.

That said, I’m still undecided. For a kayak racer, used to going 7-8mph, even the bigger board just seemed slow. Sure, it was a good core workout–but, I get that in the racing kayak or surf ski as well. So now, I’m wondering if I’m really more interested in a SUP for flat water or surfing–and, in my mind, at this moment, I seem to be interested in the surfing.

But, I’d still like to give the 12′ 1″ board a chance in some waves–especially since I now have the Ali’i I to compare. I also had a friend mention the Laird 11′ 6″ board and that it surfs well, but tracks better on flat water than the Ali’i. So, I may still be a few steps away from a SUP decision.

With those thoughts in my head, it’s time to head into the garage (and the maelstrom that tonight’s thunderstorm is stirring up) and get in tonight’s warrior workout.

Posted in Kayak Racing, Primal Fitness
Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,

Stand-up Paddleboard Take Two

•August 24, 2009 • 1 Comment

Sunday morning I loaded up a loaner stand-up paddle board and headed to what was supposed to be ankle-high waves off of Passe-Grille beach in Pinellas County. Well, when I arrived at the beach and paid my parking fee, I was somewhat excited to see that the offshore (and moving onshore) rain storms were stirring things up just a bit more than expected.

I was “somewhat” excited because the board strapped to the roof of my Subaru Baja was a little different from the 12′ 1″ long and 31″ wide Laird from Surftech–it was a shorter (11′ 6″) board (the Ali’i I designed more for surfing by legendary shaper Donald Takayama) that was also less stable.

After a couple of attempts I finally stood up and stayed up. The board was more stable when moving and as long as I kept in a nice bent-knee “athletic stance”  and told myself to relax I was okay. I spent a good hour just tooling around and getting a feel for the board–falling off and remounting frequently. But, at least I was slowly getting more comfortable.

Or so I thought. Overconfidence overran my comfort and I had a string of swims. I’d remount the board, wobble and swim. Repeat. I was about to give up and decided to ride the board into the beach as best as I could–I didn’t think it would be pretty.

Then, IT happened. I caught a wave, shifted my right foot back into a surfing stance and using the paddle and my legs controlled the board–riding all the way into the shallows where I stepped off like a surfing god. A smile tore across my face and my first thought was “crack cocaine.” Probably not the best first thought for public consumption, but it was just the sudden realization of how incredibly addictive the feeling of catching and controllably riding a wave could be.

Over the course of the next hour, I managed to catch five or six similar rides–shifting my feet, controlling the board and getting to the shallows or almost to the beach. For at least two of those, I stepped off the board gracefully.

If I wasn’t hooked on my last experience with the Laird 12′ 1″ board, I’m definitely hooked now. Now, the decision will just be what board I want to buy for myself. The following morning I took the Ali’i for a flatwater paddle from my house and out on Riviera Bay. While I had no stability issues on flatwater, the board didn’t track as well as the longer Laird and was definitely a bit slower. So, I’ll likely borrow the 12′ 1″ board again this week and try it in both some waves (hope there are some) and flatwater.

Either way, I’m pretty sure I’ll be strapping a SUP to the roof of my Subaru a little more often! If you haven’t tried one yet, find a place to get on the water and give it a go. If you live in the Tampa Bay area, head to Bill Jackson Shop for Adventure in Pinellas Park–they have the Surftech boards and a lake behind the shop where you can try them in a fairly controlled environment.

Posted in Adventure Racing, Kayak Racing, Uncategorized
Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,

Feed the Warrior Workout

•August 13, 2009 • Leave a Comment

Okay, if you are a fan of Lance Armstrong and haven’t seen the Dick’s Sporting Goods/Feed the Warrior commercials–be sure to check them out at:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zHtFixj0cWk

I don’t know how I missed them for so long–my only guess is that it’s because there aren’t many Dick’s Sporting Goods in the Tampa/St. Petersburg market.

Still, I was SO inspired by that clip (and the others in the same group) that “Feed the Warrior” has become my new workout mantra. We tested it last Thursday with a great strength and conditioning workout:

Three times through the following circuit:

1. Atomic Push-ups

2. Webbing Horizontal Rows

3. Webbing Hamstring Curls + Y

4. Sledge Hammer Tire Whack (yeah!): again, whacking the tire hard enough to slide it along the ground.

5. Sand Bag Curl and Press while balancing on a log

6. Hand-Over-Hand Seated Log Pulls: I took an old climbing rope, attached it to one of our logs and stretched the rope out about 30 yards. We sat on the ground and, using the rope, pulled the log to us. Great for your arms, back and core.

THE KICKER:What brought this workout up to “warrior intensity” was that between each of the above exercises we did a set of walking lunges (about 30 yards). The first time through the circuit we held 20 pound kettlebells in each hand AND wore a backpack with a sand bag and some books inside. The second time through we just wore the backpack for the lunges. The last time, we ditched the backpack and did bodyweight walking lunges.

We all felt those walking lunge sets for a few days, but are looking forward to what promises to be another killer workout tonight.

Inspired? Get out there and feed the warrior this workout–or dig into your athletic recipe book, step into the kitchen of pain and cook up your own meal for the warrior within.

Posted in Adventure Racing, Kayak Racing, Orienteering/ROGAINE, Primal Fitness, Uncategorized
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

« Previous Entries
Next Entries »