Metrics

Week 1 Week 5 Week 9 Week 13 Week 17 Pushups (max):           Wall sit (seconds):           Pull-ups (max):           Leg Raises (seconds):           Calf Raises (in 60 sec):           40 Meter Sprint:           Mile (done on endurance day):           Weight:

Pushups:

Standard pushup motion. Lie on your stomach. Place your hands palm down on the ground such that they are perpendicular to your body. Your hands should be wide enough so that your elbows are at 90 degrees at the bottom of your pushup. Start with your arms fully extended and your body off the floor. Lower your body until your elbows reach 90 degrees then press back up to the starting position. Keep your back as straight as possible. For normal pushups your feet should be the fulcrum, for assisted pushups the fulcrum should be your knees. Do as many as possible in one set without rest.

Wall Sit:

Place your back against a wall and your feet away from the wall such that getting into a sitting position puts your knees at 90 degree angles. Sit, as if sitting in a chair (but without one obviously), for as long as possible without rest recording the time in seconds.

Pull-ups:

For traditional pullups: Grab a bar above your head. Suspend your body as straight as possible, knees bent if necessary, and pull until your chin crests the bar. For assisted pull-ups: Loop a towel over a bar or other support. Grab the towel at about chin level with an even grip such that your feet are on the ground. Lower your body until you are hanging from your hands with your feet behind you. Pull up using your legs to assist you until your chin reaches the level of your hands. Do as many as possible without rest.

Leg Raises:

Lie on your back with your hands at your sides. With your legs fully extended raise your legs until your feet are ~6 inches off the floor. Hold for as long as possible without allowing your back to arch or your feet to drop. Record time in seconds.

Calf Raises:

Stand with your feet shoulder width apart. Press using your calves until you are standing on the balls of your feet. Lower your self back to the standing position. Do these as controlled as possible. Record the number done in 60 seconds.

40 Meter Sprint:

From a standing or 3 point start, sprint 40 meters and record the time in seconds

Mile:

Run a measured mile attempting to get the fastest time possible. Record the time, preferably in minutes and seconds. This portion of the metrics should be done on the weeks endurance day.

Weight:

Find a trusty scale and weigh yourself. Record your weight. Please try and use the same scale for all weight measurements. Also weight isn't a reliable metric as the average person's weight will fluctuate upwards of 5 lbs in a day. It's also important to remember that muscle is significantly more dense than fat so significant improvements can be made in body composition without a change in weight.

What I learned from a Bugatti Veyron

I've recently been really into the excellent British show Top Gear (check your BBC listings). They have a relatively famous clip where they take a Bugatti Veyron up to it's top speed of 253 mph. It's really an amazing bit of tv, and an amazing bit of motivation when I work out.

In the video they point out that the faster you the more resistance you encounter. That's why the Veyron only needs 250 horse power to get to 150 mph, but another 750 horse power for the next 100 mph. I can't stop thinking about this when I run. My reasoning is two fold.

First that bit of knowledge reminds me that little gains represent big changes. For every second I shave off any distance that represents a significant gain in my personal horse power. If it takes the car 3 times more horse power to do an additional 100 mph I can only imagine what it takes me to do just one more mph. After all I'm significantly less powerful in the first place and a lot less streamlined.

Secondly the Veyron reminds me that for every little bit harder that I push I'm met by significantly more resistance. That means that even the slightest bit more effort increases the difficulty of my workout, and it's pay off, by a exponentially more. Somehow that makes it a bit easier to push just a little bit more, even when I've got almost nothing left.

So while most people will be chasing a Veyron for it's $1.6 million dollar price tag I'll be using it as motivation of a different kind.