Today's workout was...

[Laura]

Great job on the Spartan Race, John! I was hoping you'd post about it. So, what were the obstacles?

[Ryan]

Thanks, Laura! I'm glad your knee is feeling better.

Took a rest day yesterday and just worked in the yard a bit and went for a couple mile long walk. Still deciding what I want to do today...

[John Rauch]

Great job on the Spartan Race, John! I was hoping you'd post about it. So, what were the obstacles?

At three different times, we had to carry a log, once was down and back up a rather steep hill. Two rope climbs. Two cargo net climbs. Crawled through a drainage pipe. Swam across two different ponds. One was 12' deep, the other a tallish person could walk through if they wanted. Many, MANY mud pits. Basically, you'd climb up a big mound of solid mud and fall into a pit of watery sludge underneath, just to have another mound of mud waiting for you. This one showed up over and over again, with various amounts of pits consecutive to each other. A couple rope assisted hill climbs, for when it got too steep/slick to make it up otherwise. The worst was the barbed wire, though. We had to crawl under about 20 yards of barbed wire low enough that you had to lie down. Then, when I thought it was over, there was another, and another, and another. It seemed like this went on for a couple city blocks worth. There were a bunch of things to get over like hay bails and such, but I don't know if those count as obstacles. Right before and at the finish line were two logs you had to find a way over. One was about 6' high and the other 7', which was a real pain if you didn't have team mates with you to help. Honestly, though, the entire course felt like an obstacle. It was so muddy and slick that running was seldom an option. I slipped three different times and fell on my right shoulder and had a bunch of other close calls. It was fun, but I felt like I was limited by the speed the terrain would allow me to go (or other runners in my way at some of the obstacles) than by my own physical ability. So, I hate to say I'd like to try an easier race, but I would like to try one that allowed me to move faster through it. Most of this was just fast hiking. Also, it was 43 degrees out, if that counts as an obstacle. It certainly made the swims and being wet the entire time more daunting.

*edit* Found these. I couldn't watch the whole way through, but jumping around, there's some interesting stuff to be seen.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GLi6nEVp ... ture=share
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w7mfjMRX ... ture=share

[Ryan]

dang, did anyone get caught in the barb wire? How many waivers did you have to sign, haha.

My calves were still pretty sore today, so I had a light workout: 15 miles on the recumbent bike and 5 minutes of jump rope and high knees. I'm planning on loading creatine and lifting weights again tomorrow.

[John Rauch]

Plenty of people got snagged and scraped, but there were more dangerous things. They had an ambulance there all day and I'm pretty sure it got some use.

Side note: I'm not a big fan of loading creatine. It can cause bloating and cramps when taken at high levels and it really just isn't necessary. I stay on about 5g every workout day.

[Laura]

Hey, thanks for bringing that up. Let's talk supplements. What, if anything, are y'all taking? I'm not taking anything other than omega-3 right now, but I have a bottle of CLA and a bottle of L-Carnitine at home. Reading up on them online sounds like the L-carnitine is basically useless if my diet is rich in meat and dairy (which it is), but the CLA could be beneficial -- if it's from natural sources. Synthesized CLA could have some unhelpful side effects.

I'm going to start taking melatonin to help me sleep at night. Been having serious trouble with that lately.

[John Rauch]

I try to keep it minimal, but it ends up sounding like a lot when I say it. Here's my basic list:

DAILY STUFF
Multi-vitamin -4/day
Fish oil -4/day
V. C -2-3g/day
V. D3 -not sure how much.
Creatine 5-10g on workout days

AS NEEDED
Melatonin -as neccessary, but I try to limit it since it can affect your natural production.
Various pre-workout drinks -depends on the workout, but sometimes I'll take something for energy. Current favorite is D-Stunner (no laughing)

CYCLED ON AND OFF
DAA -Off and on for a few months at a time. DAA is one of the only natural supplements that can slightly raise testosterone levels. It's a minor help, but I'm not getting any younger.

[Ryan]

Side note: I'm not a big fan of loading creatine. It can cause bloating and cramps when taken at high levels and it really just isn't necessary. I stay on about 5g every workout day.

The first time I tried creatine I only took it after workouts, and saw little results. The last time I loaded for 5 days (5 g, 3 x a day), then switched to 5 g a day and saw good results. Granted, that's not a valid, conclusive test, but I'm going to try what worked and see if it works again

I try to take supplements that have no added flavors or ingredients, but that's not always possible:

Unflavored/Natural Whey Protein
Pure Creatine (Creapure)
Pure L-Glutamine
Multi-Vitamin
Vitamin D, B, C (not daily)

I was taking pharmaceutical grade vitamins (which are 10x better than otc), but it got too expensive. Now I'm taking a gel-cap multi from Nature Made that doesn't have all that cellulose binding garbage, so it's easier on my stomach.

[Laura]

Interesting things, guys. I need to do more research into multivitamins; I stopped taking the one I was taking because I read in "The End of Illness" that multivites aren't necessary (if you eat a healthy, well-rounded diet) and could actually raise your risk of certain cancers, depending on the dosages of certain vitamins. I'm also thinking of ditching the fish oil because I eat fish 2-3 times a week. I should also mention that I take a baby aspirin every day on the advice of my doctor. I could/should take Niacin to raise my HDL, but it's been going up slowly thanks to the exercise.

So, back to today's workout: I did it! I ran 20 minutes! (Okay, I did stop once; it was totally unconscious. I needed to take a sip of my drink and I had to fiddle with the lid. As soon as I realized that I'd stopped moving, I got right back to it. I stopped for maybe 5 seconds.)

[John Rauch]

Great job on the run, Laura! I've heard similar things about multis as well, but admittedly haven't done much research.

Ryan: What kind of results are you looking for? Creatine isn't really the kind of thing that will make an immediate noticeable difference. It's more accumulative. Also, if you stay on for longer periods, you will eventually reach your maximum saturation anyway, so I never saw the need to waste the extra money loading just to get there faster.

I'll update with my workout shortly.

[Ryan]

I need to do more research into multivitamins; I stopped taking the one I was taking because I read in "The End of Illness" that multivites aren't necessary (if you eat a healthy, well-rounded diet) and could actually raise your risk of certain cancers, depending on the dosages of certain vitamins.

Yeah, sadly I probably don't eat enough greens to get all my vitamins and minerals. One of my Doctor friends also said that microwave ovens effectively neutralize the nutrients in those microwave steamable bags of veggies, which is how I eat a lot of greens because I am lazy, haha. OTC multivitamins have an absorption rate of like 10%-20%, so one every couple of days shouldn't max you out. I think the main things people take too much of is Iron, Zinc and Folic Acid. I know some multis don't have iron or folic acid if you look around a bit.

Ryan: What kind of results are you looking for? Creatine isn't really the kind of thing that will make an immediate noticeable difference. It's more accumulative. Also, if you stay on for longer periods, you will eventually reach your maximum saturation anyway, so I never saw the need to waste the extra money loading just to get there faster.

I get what you're saying, and I know it's accumulative build-up, but I guess I would rather get the saturation quickly. Last time I loaded and then consistently took 5 g a day after that, I just felt tauter (or more "swole" as we say in the South, haha) for longer after lifting. That might be completely a mental thing, but even if it is it encouraged me to pick up heavy things and put them back down again, even if I didn't want to.

I also read that if you drink a lot of caffeine, loading might help the initial creatine muscle saturation. And I do drink a lot of caffeine

[John Rauch]

I also read that if you drink a lot of caffeine, loading might help the initial creatine muscle saturation. And I do drink a lot of caffeine

This is true and untrue. Because caffeine is a diuretic, it's kind of working against the purpose of creatine, which is basically to increase your muscles' capacity to hold fluid. However, people who take caffeine on a regular basis typically stop seeing diuretic effects. I understand what you're saying about feeling "swole" and motivation levels, though. Whatever gets you lifting more is right, as far as I'm concerned. My wife has the same relationship with fat loss supplements. I've shown her the proof that they don't do much of anything, but when she's taking them, it's like a reminder to work out and eat better. Funny how that works.

I have karate in a bit, but here's my workout from earlier:

Rack Deadlift:
(warm-ups first)
460 lb x 3 reps
460 lb x 2 reps
460 lb x 2 reps
460 lb x 1 reps
460 lb x 1 reps
460 lb x 1 reps

Then a five set circuit of sumo deadlifts, toes-to-bar, and Turkish get-ups.
Deads: 315/5
10 toes-to-bar
Get-ups: 2/side w/50 lb. dumbbell and super duper fat grip

Then I finished with a three set circuit of decline sit-ups using bands for resistance and 135 lb. RDL's. 15 reps each.

Speaking of the mental aspect of things and motivation, does anyone else use Fitocracy.com?

[Ryan]

Oh yeah, today's workout was a quick circuit and some weight lifting:

20 sec. rest in between
1 min. of jump rope
1 min. mountain climbers
1 min. high knees
1 min. jump squats
Repeated 4x

Some dumbbell squat pulls to wake some of my larger muscle groups, then weight lifting focusing on triceps/biceps.

[Ryan]

Because caffeine is a diuretic, it's kind of working against the purpose of creatine, which is basically to increase your muscles' capacity to hold fluid. However, people who take caffeine on a regular basis typically stop seeing diuretic effects.

Right, I knew caffeine was a diuretic and how creatine works, but I had not read that the diuretic effects of caffeine lessen over time with regular use. Interasante.

Speaking of the mental aspect of things and motivation, does anyone else use Fitocracy.com?

Nope, I have not.

[Ryan]

Today: walked a mile, ran 2 miles. Lifted weights focusing on shoulders/chest/upper back. Did a bit of ab work.