Training is and achieving results is much harder than what some people might think.  Training is not about having to spill your guts everytime you go to the gym.

I have a couple of CrossFitters friends in Facebook and they brag everyday on how hard their WOD was, and how they all most puked or how one of their friends did.  I admire their motivation and enthusiasm, but training that hard won’t get you anywhere but the hospital.

Today I wanted to share with you something my mentor Scott Sonnon wrote on his facebook page, which I hope you all learn from.  It explain why training to HRmax is not good for you and your results.  Enjoy the post.

Tim Noakes, MD (Lore of Running, 1991, p39-40): “For reasons that are not absolutely clear, it is not possible to run at 100% VO2 maximum for more than a few minutes. This concept has been most clearly researched by C.T.M. Davies and Thompson (1979), two eminent British physiologists who found that trained athletes could maintain an average of 94% (range: 89 to 100%) of the VO2 max values for a 5-km race, 82% range… for the standard marathon, and 67% range… for the 85-km London-to-Brighton race.”

How long is it safe to attempt to exercise at HRmax? Some assure that you cannot injure a heart that is normally functioning through through one intense bout of exertion. However, a heart which is impaired with blockage can suffer ischemia; possibly sufficient enough to cause heart tissue death (heart attack). A heart rate that stays elevated for 10 minutes post exercise can mean several things. It can be a sign of low fitness levels and low stroke volume (CO=HrxSV), it can almost mean poor parasympathetic tone and lack of the nervous systems ability to down regulate hear rate. If your HR stays elevated for long durations post exercise, see your physician about getting a nuclear stress test done. Bradycardia with rapid tachicardic response – meaning your HR goes down so far the electrical system in your heart gets shorted and starts to make extra beats. Tachycardia is a deadly arrhythmia. This will not be noticed unless you are resting, not while you are exercising or immediately after (often called “athletic cardiomyopathy.”) According to the ACSM, in 1995 there were 100 cardiac related deaths among high school and college athletes during or shortly after a workout; each related to either congenital defect or infection of the heart muscle (with no incidence of cardiomyopathy).

It is the issue of parasympathetic regulation (or the “relaxation response”) which is the issue with heart rate maximum (HRmax) events. When you rapidly approach, maintain and exceed HRmax, the sympathetic nervous system begins to move from a slow drip (at moderate intensity) to a fast dump (at high intensity) of a biochemical cocktail, including but not limited to “adrenaline” (epinephrine). When this supercharged fuel enters your bloodstream, you are able to tap into heights of human performance. But, when you rapidly approach, maintain and exceed HRmax, the sympathetic nervous system assumes a lethal threat (as it cannot differentiate between an emotional / symbolic threat – such as the will to succeed – and a true physical pernicious predator chasing you down meaning you grave bodily harm.)

Unfortunately, you cannot adapt to anything exceeding HRmax, as it is purely a “chemical burn.” Therefore, above HRmax, it’s all garbage repetition. As an athlete, you need to walk the line the more elite your competitive aspirations. Often you cross it. But it isn’t how fast, often or far you cross the line, but how fast, often and far you can RECOVER back from it. Why? Because only as you return to approximately 60-80%HRmax (moderate intensity) do you regain access to your fine and complex motor skills, as well as full cognitive function.

Fighters, Survivors, Combatants and First Responders who face sudden mortal threats experience what they refer to as “Adrenal Dump” which causes a host of psychotropic phenomena: tunnel vision, auditory exclusion, short term memory loss, tachipsychia (time distortion), fumbling, trembling, chattering, etc. These are all due to the sympathetic nervous system’s “fight or flight” reflex over-reacting from the Dump rather than the Drip. Recovering FROM that requires reactivating the parasympathetic nervous system’s “relaxation and recuperation response” through vibration drills, mental imagery, performance mantras, psychological suggestions, breathing techniques, etc. If the parasympathetic response is impaired, then the sympathetic nervous system runs amok, and eventually cannibalizes the host through stress-related diseases (which is why the #1 killer of soldiers, firefighters and police is stress related heart disease at on average age of 54.)

Who recovers fastest wins, and lives the longest. So instead of focusing on how long one can stay in HRmax, concentrate on how fast you can recover back to moderate from high intensity exercise during the rest period breaks.

Lastly, HRmax is NOT 220-age. That was an outdated guestimate from a flawed study. It’s an easy go-to quick-math, but even more accurate formulae such as 205.8-(0.69 x age) are inaccurate because your HRmax changes dramatically from day to day, based upon your level of recovery from prior stress, load of current (emotional, mental, and physical) stress, nutrition, hydration, altitude, barometric pressure, chemical exposure, electromagnetic disturbance, etc. The only way to truly know your HRmax is through expensive machines such as the “OmegaWave.” But regardless of HRmax, it is not the time “at” it, but the speed of recovery from it which determine one’s true “fitness” in light of the above definition of sympathetic vs parasympathetic balance.

When I first learned about Crossfit I loved it. The people, the adrenaline, testosterone, intensity, everything about the atmosphere is awesome. My friend probably defined it best, “It’s a place where people get their asses kicked, and love it.”  I love the fact women are not afraid to do pullups, to lift weights, and to measure up against guys. Hell, some of these women have more testosterone than some men I know.  There are however a couple of things that I didn’t like:

1. Technique is usually horrendous. I know the competitiveness in a CrossFit gym is high, and that finishing first or doing the most rounds is the objective of most WODs, but people remember that the reason why you are training is to improve your health and strength.  Poor technique does neither for you.  All it does is keep you away from the gym.  the “NO pain, no gain” philosophy is a thing of the past.

2. Training until you puke.  Now I used to be proud of myself when I managed to train until my guts came out.  I thought it would make me tougher, but it turns out it doesn’t.  I learned this in my TACFIT and CST instructor seminar.  Training past your HR max won’t make you better. Here is coach Sonnon’s explanation,

“As heart rate approaches maximum (HRmax), the endocrine system slow-releases a “chemical cocktail” which elicits a host of psychotropic phenomena which can be described as “the Zone” of optimal performance. However, as one exceeds HRmax, the endocrine system moves from a slow release drip into a rapid release “dump” which distorts the phenomena into what is described as the “Vortex” (visual exclusion or tunnel vision, auditory exclusion or hearing loss, cognitive dysfunction, short term memory loss, tachipsychia or time warp, fumbling, stammering, stuttering, apraxia, etc.)

So, from a biochemical perspective, if a challenge is PERCEIVED to be less than a high difficulty, then it cannot elicit the higher levels of flow, but if it is perceived as extremely difficulty (improbably accomplished), then over arousal cannibalizes the process.”

3. Some students or beginners are asked to do things which are completely out of their skill level.  In today’s world there are a lot of people that are not conditioned for high intensity training, teaching them how to do snatches or continental cleans will definitely lead to injury.

4.  Most WODs are very high intensity and are done too often.  The body does not grow when it exercises, it grows and adapts while it rests.  That is why who ever recovers fastest gains the most, and usually wins.

I know you love CrossFit and nothing I’ll say can possibly make you quit it in favor of something else, but you do have to admit that it has its flaws.

I just wanted to introduce you to a new type of training which is growing in popularity among fire fighters, police officers, and Special Ops forces. It’s called TACFIT (short for Tactical Fitness).  TACFIT takes care of all the flaws I mentioned above, plus it has a whole mess of new exercise that will kick your butt and mind in ways you are going to love.

Here are some of the physiological effects TACFIT can have on your body.

TACFIT has a cool system of keep score (uses reps and heart beats per minute), so not only must you win by doing more, you also got to make it look easy.  Remember that technique is very important, that is why the program has an INTUITIVE TRAINING protocol that keeps you grounded and keeps those stress hormones from giving you tunnel vision. Each exercise has 3 different levels which vary in sophistication (this means your brain gets trained to).

If you want a sample workout I recommend the Israeli Challenge you can get if for free by clicking the image below.

Are YOU up for the CHALLENGE!!! I DARE YOU TO TRY IT NOW!!!

TACFIT is the next step in Fitness Evolution. Where most men and women fall short, TACFIT Legionaires thrive. They don’t train to be strongr, faster, or agile, they just train to be better, because only better is better.

Who are these exceptional group of men and women you have never heard of?

To tell you the truth, you see them everyday.  They don’t have huge bulky muscles, they actually look like regular people.  What makes them different is their training.  They don’t use fancy equipment, they use fancy moves, and that is where the secret lies.  The tools they use are primal like clubbells, medicine balls, gymnastic rings, sand bags, jump boxes, and parallette barsthat help them:

1. Build functional power, stamina, and agility.
2. Become biomechanically more efficient, while improving body alignment.
3. Build GO muscle instead of show muscle, while developing incredible athleticism.
4. Have fun while getting in the best shape of your life!!

Want to Join the Few who have Dared to Evolve

Click Here

A while back I wrote a post on comparing the TACFIT Commando and TACFIT Warrior programs, and now I’m getting asked a lot about how the Commando and ROPE programs compare.  I know the TACFIT Programs aren’t exactly “cheap”, especially if you don’t buy them during the launch, but if you have ever bought one, you know they are definitely worth it.

I’ll begin by saying that the R.O.P.E program was greated as a plugin module to TACFIT Commando.  A lot of people complained that the Commando program did not have any pulling movements, and that they felt that their backs were being left out.  This is definitely not true, if you have ever tried TACFIT Commando you know your back gets a nice workout, but Scott decided to please his students with the R.O.P.E program.

TACFIT Commando is purely bodyweight training, you don’t need weights, clubbells, or any other type of equipment, just some space and your body; while the R.O.P.E program requires a rope, somewhere to hang the rope, and a pair of gloves.  If you have never Tacfitted before (new verb there for you), you’ll be pleasantly surprised by how hard the workouts are.  Don’t make the mistake I did at first of judging the program by the intensity of the exercises.  If you practice them individually, which I recommend so that you can develop good form, you may find them to be easy, but don’t fool yourself.  TACFIT is not about individual parts… Just try it.  Spare me the agony of having to look for words that describe them.

Get TACFIT Commando<<<<<Click here

In summary, both programs use the Tabata protocol, one is strictly bodyweight, while the other requires a rope.  No matter which one you choose, you’ll end up kissing the floor and begging for mercy (I’ve come close to crying with both these programs).  R.O.P.E works your back out a bit more than the Commando, but in my opinion Commando helps you develop more functional strength.  I personally love TACFIT Commando, and I love the R.O.P.E as a plug in and not so much as an individual program.

Get TACFIT R.O.P.E

There really aren’t that many more differences.  If you can’t make up your mind, I’ll just put you at ease by saying that you can’t go wrong with either one.  TACFIT R.O.P.E is a lot cheaper, not because it is worse, but because it does not bring as many workouts.  Both programs have 3 different levels of difficulty (i.e recruit, grunt, and commando), but Commando has three missions, while R.O.P.E only has 1.  This means that commando has 6 months more of workouts that R.O.P.E.  The Commando manual also explains the theory behind the awesomeness, in the R.O.P.E their is no explanation.  These are the reasons why one is more expense than the other.

I have a confess that one of my favorite movies of all time is… Wayne’s Worlds.  I know to many (including my dad) this is probably one of the worst movies ever, but for some reason I just find it hilarious.

In the movie there  is a scene where Wayne is in the diner where Al Bundy (Ed O’Neill will always be Al Bundy in my heart) works and on his way out he opens a door where a bunch of people are training ” like in a James Bond Movie”.  That door my friend can now be in your home.

I’m a sucker for action movies, especially those where you see the main character go through some grueling drills and exercise, and at the end is just a beast.  His fast, strong and agile… the bad guys just don’t stand a chance!! I come out of these movies wanting to do the same… don’t you.

The program I’m about to show doesn’t include guns, just a bunch of bad ass exercises that will condition you body to respond to crisis situations like no other training will do.  This program was created by Scott Sonnon. Scott is, hands down, the best trainer in the web.  There are a lot of good trainers and coaches out (I’ve tried quite a few), but few give you the knowledge and intensity to really be good.  Scott, as far as I know, is the only professional athlete out there that shares his knowledge with the world.  He won 4 gold medals in the last Martial Arts World Championships, and he also trains the US and Israeli Special Forces.  If there is some one out there that knows how to train like an action hero it’s Scott.

Scott background in martial arts gave him the opportunity to train and learn how the Spetznaz (russian special forces) trained.  He learned all their secrets and he shares them in TACFIT Commando.

What is TACFIT Commando?

TACFIT Commando is on 3 degrees of intensity Recruit, Grunt, and Commando, and each has 3 missions.  The missions last 28 days which are completed in seven 4 day cycles.  This is what Scott calls the 4 day wave.

Each day has a specific purpose and a different degree of intensity.  After years of training athletes he has discovered that this system is what brings the best results.

What makes TACFIT Commando so unique?

First of all the exercise you will find here are not found anywhere else (believe me I’ve looked).  They are specific to help you train in all 6 possible ways your body can move.  This is called the 6 degrees of freedom.  I’m not going to get into this very deeply because it is all explained in the program.  Most training programs are lucky to tab into 3 of these, TACFIT Commando makes you work on all 6!!

The workouts are really easy to follow.  They are based on interval training which is the most effective way to burn fat proven by science.

I almost forgot the coolest part.  All the exercises are bodyweight.  You don’t need and weights,machines,etc.  All you need is some space, and not very much of it.  Here is a taste of what you’re going to get.

I Want To Train Like A Real Action!!!

Give Me TACFIT Commando NOW!!!