Becoming Bulletproof – The Super Fit Training Protocol

It’s been a tumultuous couple of months in the Super Fit household.

A bit of relocating, a bit of travelling, a bit of reassimillating, a bit of DIY (and I’m so not a DIY guy).

It’s been a whirlwind and exciting, but also quite discombobulating, and when things are uncertain & up in the air, I have to retreat into some kind of certainty to ensure my head doesn’t explode with anxiety and overwhelm.

That means exercising. A lot.

Why?

I’ll repeat something I heard Tony Robbins say on a podcast: your physiology drives your psychology. 

This resonates with me completely. If I achieve nothing else but a workout on any given day, the day is not lost. I know that I’m building and protecting my body and mind.

Call it a crutch, a compulsion or even an addiction. It’s just something that needs to be done if I want to function optimally.

So below is an outline of what my most recent 10 day training block looks like.

Training Goals

1. Add lean muscle mass – sub 10% body fat at 85kgs is the goal
2. Improve conditioning / engine – sub 40 minute 10k / sub 90 minute half marathon
3. Stay mentally strong
4. Improve Olympic lifting – clean 100kg / snatch 80kg [long-term goal]
5. Stay injury free during football (yes, soccer, not any of the other ‘codes’ masquerading as football)

Types Of Workouts

• Bodybuilding / Strength 3 x per week
• Strength Endurance 1-2 per week
• Conditioning 3 x per week
• Sport-specific 2 x per week – at the moment soccer

This is a heavy volume of work and probably explains why I currently feel as though I’ve been hit by a truck. On this kind of schedule, I need an easy or rest week every 4 or 5 weeks, otherwise I’ll burn myself out.

The great thing about Crossfit or ZUU or bootcamp-style workouts is that you can tick off most of the above in a single hour-long session: perfect for time-poor guys.

In fact the ZUU workout outlined on Tuesday took 7 minutes. Admittedly, it was a long and painful 7 minutes but afterwards I felt great, safe in the knowledge that I’d be burning fat for the next several hours.

The Routine

Friday

AM – Bootcamp session

5.30am start for a 1 hour bootcamp class on Coogee Beach.

This will generally be a non-stop HIIT-type session with varied work / rest intervals, exercises and movement patterns.

For example: 30 seconds jumping squats into 45 seconds of 10m broad jumps forwards and jog 10m backwards with a 20 second recovery x 4 rounds.

Then rest 1 minute and repeat with an upper body movement.

PM – Gym session: Olympic Lifting / barbell work

Lunchtime weights session at Titan Fitness, Coogee.

• 5 min rowing warm up: 1000m at a stroke rate of >20
• 5 pull-ups every minute for 5 minutes
• SFD barbell warm-up: 15/10/5 reps of hang cleans, shoulder press, bicep curls @ 20kg (empty barbell)
• Ezy-bar drag curls 4 x 15 reps @ 30kg
• Shoulder press 4 x 8 @ 40kg
• Snatch technique complexes @ 20kg

Saturday

AM – 440 x 10 hill repeats

4:55am start. Running up the 440m hill at Bronte Cutting (in Sydney) then recovering down the hill x 10.

First time running with this group. They were super-friendly and included some real gun runners.

After an okay start but was ready to pull the pin at rep 6 and slink off to my car to drive home. It was completely dark so I could’ve managed this fairly easily.

I pushed myself to do the 7th lap, knowing that if I did 7, I’d have to do the 8th (because I always like to finish on an even number (I know, weird, right?)).

Once I’d done 8 repeats, I told myself I’d do the 9th and then walk the 10th if necessary – I wanted to finish for me and also to give a decent showing as the new guy.

I jogged my final rep and felt pretty satisfied that I conquered the voices in my head that almost derailed me a rep 6.

Absolutely screwed for the rest of the day.

Sunday

AM – Bicep & Tricep gym session

Weights session at Titan Fitness, Coogee.

• 5 min rowing warm up: 1000m at a stroke rate of >20
• Bar hangs 30 secs on / off x 4
• Tricep superset: french press & close-grip bench press 4 x 8 building to 30kg
• Ezy-bar drag curls: 4 x 15 reps @ 30kg
• Dips: 4 x 8 reps (strict)
• Cable pull-down superset w cable curls 4 x 12 @ 21kg

PM – Football training

60 mins 5-a-side practise. First time playing football (soccer) since last August.

Monday

Rest – seriously beaten up from using new & different muscles at football.

Tuesday

AM – 7 min ZUU workout

#superfitkid had a minor operation so sneaked in a 15 minute session with:

2-4-6-8-10 reps of Frog squats; half-hindu push-ups, body drops; jumping lunges, kick-sits (demonstrated below).

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Wednesday

AM – Bootcamp session

5:30am start. Torrential rain.

PM – Football training

15 minutes of conditioning work including: Chelsea Square x 2; half-pitch shuttles.

Thursday

PM – Crossfit class

• Warm up: 3 x 10 burpees, ring rows, wall balls
• Gymnastic skills: L-Sit, legless rope climbs, handstands against wall
• WOD: 1 rep complex comprising 1 deadlift, 1 hang power clean,  1 front squat, 1 shoulder-to-overhead, 1 back squat. Then 2 reps of each exercise, then 3 reps, then 4 reps etc. 15 minute time cap.

Friday

AM – Bootcamp

5.30am start. Started raining torrentially during session.

PM – Chest & Arms gym session

• 5 mins row warm-up
• 30 seconds bar hangs w 30 secs rest for 4 mins
• Bench press 2 x 25 @ 20kg, 3 x 6 @ 60kg
• Bicep drag curls 4 x 15 @ 30kg
• Dips 4 x 10 (strict)

Saturday

PM – Crossfit-style gym workout

• Warm up: 3 mins of Assault bike
• 5 rounds of 12 x deadlift & 20m sled push working up to 100kg
• Then 500 rep partner WOD:
• 100 med-ball clean & throws
• 100 kick-sitz
• 100 dumbell snatches @ 18kg
• 100 ZUU cobras
• 100 Assault bike calories

Sunday

Rest

Summary

This is a heavy 10 day training block that’s been worked into job and Daddy duties. It’s not as though I’ve made massive modifications to my lifestyle to accommodate this.

I have made, however, a conscious decision that a daily workout (or two) is an integral part of my day. It’s not something I do if I get the time. It’s hard-coded into my routine and has been for a long time now.

With that said,  there haven’t been any major sacrifices made in terms of food and drink, either. I’ve been a little more aware of the fuel going in and have been upping my protein and certain supplements. I’ll detail the nutrition and supplementation that accompanies this kind of training volume in next week’s post.

Most evenings I’ve had a glass or two of wine: either Clare Valley Reisling or a Merlot or Merlot-blend which I find less heavy than big Australian Shiraz’. The downside to this is that a 5.30am bootcamp is even tougher.

Obviously, this exact schedule is not for novices but the philosophy and elements of the schedule can easily be copied or used for guidance.

SFD