My weekly training and the "4-Hour Body" book

A recently popular book is the 4-Hour Body by Tim Ferriss.  Personally, I think he is a bit of a freak, and much of his conclusions are a result of experimenting on his own body as well as data gleaned through case studies of other people.  Some of his self-experimenting is a bit disturbing, but to each his own.  His first book "The 4-Hour Work Week" is a stroke of genius and I have begun to incorporate elements of this books teaching into my life.  I'll touch more on this in a later blog.

While I'm not training for an ultramarathon (yet) or a thru-hike, I have adopted some training elements from the 4 Hour Body into my weekly training routine.  My running injuries (pre and post minimalist shoes) are centered around a weak core (Physical Therapist basically told me I have a weak butt!) and lack of balance.  Thus, I have incorporated his Critical (M)Ass: The Kiwi's Complete A/B workout into my routine (Monday and Friday).  Tim Ferris is a lot of hype and yet, I think there are some pretty good nuggets in his book.

My interpretation of his approach/suggestions is that if you only have a limited amount of time to work out, then do these things as they will be the most physiologically inclusive/advantageous.  Reference this link on his blog for more information on the Critical (M)Ass workout.  He talks a lot about the kettlebell swing in his book which is included in the Critical (M)Ass workout.  He has detailed instructions on his blog for this as well.

My training approach for running specifically is to slowly build up my long weekend run until I can comfortably do a 12-14 mile trail run on the weekend as prep for the Superior Trail 25k race in May (I'm at 6-7 miles now) and then 20+ miles over the summer for my goal of doing the Superior Trail Marathon in the fall.  That's my goal for this year.  We'll see where that takes me and what next year will hold.  My goal is only to finish and to not finish last... my competitive nature will probably propel me better than last.  If my body starts to reject this training, then I will back off and only train for 5k and 10k trail races for this year.

To summarize my weekly routine, Monday: Kiwi's Workout A, Tuesday: rest, Wed: Interval or Fartlek run, Thurs: rest, Friday: Kiwi's Workout B, Saturday: Long Run, Sunday: easy run or rest depending on how I feel.  My plan is to not increase my long run by more than 10% with a step-back once per month.  Yes, that's only running 2-3 times/week.  Is this enough running to train for a marathon?  I don't know, but it is all I have time as I feel I have a greater need for building my core strength than to get lots of weekly miles in.  At this phase in my life, time is limited so I'm going to give it a try...  I'm curious to see what others think.

Here's my detailed workout

Monday
Double Leg Glute Activation - (Bridge) x15
Single Leg Glute Activation x15 each
1. Heavy dumbbell front squat to press (ass to heels)
2. One-arm, one-leg DB row
3. Walking Lunges with sprinter knee raise
4. Wide-grip push-ups
5. Two-arm kettlebell swings x20-25
--Repeat sequence (1-5) 2-4 times

Wednesday
Double Leg Glute Activation - (Bridge) x15
Single Leg Glute Activation x15 each
Bicycle Crunches
Interval or Fartlek Training Run (3-5 miles including warm-up and cool-down)
Yin Yoga - Butterfly Pose (3-5 min)
Yin Yoga - Sleeping Swan Pose (3-5 min each side)
Quad/Hip Flexor Stretch (3-5 min each side)

Friday
Double Leg Glute Activation - (Bridge) x15
Single Leg Glute Activation x15 each
1. One leg Romanian Deadlift (10-12 reps each side)
2. Chin-ups (4s negative lowering portion only) x 10
3. One-leg hamstring curls on a ball (6-12 reps each leg)
4a. Myotatic Crunch (on a Swiss ball)
4b. Front Plank and Side Plank - 30s front, 30s each side
5. Reverse hyper on a bench and Swiss Ball x 15-25
--Repeat sequence (1-5) 2-4 times

Saturday or Sunday
Double Leg Glute Activation - (Bridge) x15
Single Leg Glute Activation x15 each
Bicycle Crunches
Long Trail Run with Hill Work (1-2 hours)
Yin Yoga - Butterfly Pose (3-5 min)
Yin Yoga - Sleeping Swan Pose (3-5 min each side)
Quad/Hip Flexor Stretch (3-5 min each side)