I recently did 1000 pushups in 1 hour to see if I could do it. It was much more difficult than I thought, and on the last 50 or so it was pretty hard to push. It was nice because I got really sore, and it lasted for several days, which doesn’t happen with my normal workouts. After I recovered in did 2 minutes of pushups to see if it made a difference, and I went from 104 to 113. What I found changed was my endurance from 80 on, where I could push more faster than before. I also did 1000 flutter kicks in 1 hour as well and that was rough too. I am going to start doing both of these in an hour as a workout a couple times a week. Here is what you need to do it in 1 hour.

Get a count-down timer and set if for 2:24, it also helps if you have a timre that can also repeat so you don't have to start it every time. So you start the timer then do a set of 40 pushups immediately followed by 40 4-count flutter kicks. This leaves me with about 1 minute of rest out of the 2:24, use this time to rest and when the timer beeps to start over you repeat. Do this 25 times and it will be exactly 1 hour and 1k pushups and flutters. I tried it and went to 400 on each the other day. If anyone has a chance to try this let me know how it goes.

Tony

Haven't selected a specific program just yet. Gonna try out some of the Crossfit excersises, and pick up a couple of the books (Combat Conditioning) you and some others have suggested. Yesterday was a lot of dips, push ups, pull ups, sit ups, and flutterkicks. I need to incorporate more running into my workouts as well.

My gym has a 30 ft rope for climbing, that I had just discovered a couple of days ago. I understand that's something I'll have to be sure I can conquer, over and over (after being smoked already).

I am gonna try this. Haven't worked out in awhile and my weights are in storage. Very interesting.

I hope you get as sore as I did. :D After you have been working out for such a long time it is hard to get sore, and I was happy when this workout did it. Good luck and let me know what you think.

Tony

finally tried crossfit. The good 'ol 21-15-9 reps (powerclean) and 46-30-18 (superman) followed by some muscle-up and rope climb...

Both legs and arms turned to butter + blister from learning muscle-ups. Played tennis afterwards but the blood didn't seem to have returned to the head enough to enable good hand-eye-body positioning coordination. Thank goodness I didn't have any breakfast or late dinner the previous 13 hours.

Crossfit program definitely works both cardio and strength/power at the same time. I really like the functional strength exercises. Although you can do them by yourself at home, folks at the gym can make sure you have proper posture/technique and they won't count your repetition if you do it wrong.

As far as stress relief, when the pain was so intense for some reason I couldn't remember at all whatever it was that's causing stress, sadness, etc. (or what planet I'm from) even for some time afterwards. The only other time I had this experience was during rock climbing when your grip was about to give up and you're set for 30+ feet fall. Crossfit exercises can easily become addictive.

I started to do the "guerilla workout" running regime that was mentioned in an article posted here. The article take-away was a 12 min running session consisting of 4 min at 50% percieved exertion, 4 min of sprinting at 100% for 20 secs, resting 10 secs, then another 4 min at 50%. I did this three times a week in place of my usual APFT 2 mile runs.

In terms of results, I recently started running at the beach. The heat and soft sand normally take it out of me so that my run times are significantly worse than on a hard running surface. Apparently as a result of this 'guerrilla workout' running method, my run-times on the beach are 3/4 to 1/2 of what they were before. I have also noticed distinct gains in my ability to ruckmarch at high altitude.

Thank you,

Solid

Interval Timer
 

For those doing Ross Enamait's Infinite Intensity GPP Workouts or something similar, I found an interval timer for Palm that works really well here:
Link to Timer

It was actually designed to time photo processing, but it works well.

BTW, IMO, Ross' stuff is the best I've seen out of all the new programs.

Just started riding a road bike with a heart rate monitor(using it in other cardio areas also). just read a post on here for the book Heart Monitor Training for the Complete Idiot by John Parker Jr. will be ordering it after the holidays.

Am new to the whole bike riding for exercise; any suggestions on a workout routine?

I use this timer: http://www.speedbagforum.com/timer.html when I'm doing workouts in my room (burpees, tabatas, static holds...)

NDD, any favorite workouts? I only have Never Gymless myself, and can't condition for a few weeks due to a leg injury (Osgood-Schlatters), but I'm always looking for new ideas...


- Derek

has anybody tried p90x
 

I saw the infomercial for a workout called p90x (please hold you informercial skepticism). Short story told, 9 weeks later I completed the workout and it was awesome. It was given the dvd's from a friend who decided it was too hard for him. It incorporates alot of calesthenics and that was a big draw for me. Additionally all the workouts are done in circut training style so they're very taxing.
All in all, I highly recomend this workout for anybody looking to get or stay in shape.

What NDD said way earlier in this thread about functional strength and about training in body armor, got me curious about something...

I used to get all my aerobic workouts by playing 2-3 hours a day of serious, full court basketball outdoors or in an unairconditioned gym. Not only was it more fun (I hate running just to run), but, I think, it also develops alot more functionality because you're having to think while moving and because it incorporates lateral movement, change of direction, change of speed, etc.

I'm just curious, but might it be more useful for you guys to adapt/invent some kind of sport that you could play in body armor for your aerobic training?

that has been invented...it's called football

Had an opportunity to focus on some basic medicine ball training a few months ago. I like the variety it adds to "power" (strength and speed) workouts and the wide range of supporting muscle/connective tissue it involves.

Something New...
 

Well I guess the only thing new I'm doing is Rock Climbing. I used to fence saber competitively which kept me in shape for the APFT, and Rugby is probably the best all-around workout I've ever had. My only problem with rock climbing is that it doesn't provide a consistent workout, meaning that I can't tell whether a route will work forearms, shoulders, or upper arms more. I like to know what I'm working so that I can plan workouts. Rock climbing just kinda picks it for me. I'm kinda curious about this new thing some froggie came up with called Parkour. It's basically this all-terrain (particularly urban) gymnastics thing that looks like a lot of fun as well as being one hell of a workout. Might not be without practical application either; I heard a rumor that some military units were paying for this stuff.

Parkour is also called "free running" and "urban mountaineering". Basically, its climbing urban landscapes without any aids (no ropes, no picks, etc). Did you see Casino Royale (the new Bond flick from last year)? The guy he's chasing in the opening scene is one of the best free runners in the world.