Louis,

To get started you should read and understand the rules and how to perform
each of the 5 upper body disciplines for the STREND Fitness Challenge. This is
important. Doing an incorrect rep doesn't help your performance or score.

You should check with your doctor to insure he gives you the green light for
taking up the physical activities you'll need to perform in order to prepare
for this event Then the fun part begins.

Beginning by building a base for the 5 upper body disciplines and run. I
will define Base as the ability to perform at least 10 reps of each of the upper
body disciplines. But not necessarily having to perform them one after
another. You can rest as long as you like between each discipline. And you
should be able to run 3 miles at a sub 9 minute pace. Your definition of base
may vary depending on your fitness level. Achieving your base may take up to
3 months, if you're consistent in your training.

Once you've established your base, begin increasing your strength/endurance
(the number of reps you can perform) for each of the upper body disciplines by
performing negatives. You'll need a partner to help you. What is a
negative? An example for the bench press would be to do as many reps as you
can
until you can no longer perform a repetition on your own. What you've achieved
at this point is muscle failure. Since you can no longer push the weight
upward, have your partner help you lift the weight up. Once up, you should be
able to support the weight yourself. Now slowly, with as much control, lower
the weight until the bar touches your chest. Have your partner help you bri
ng the bar up. Repeat until you can no longer slowly lower the bar. This
can be done with the shoulder press as well.

For the pull up, chin up and bar dip the negative works like this. When you
can no longer perform the exercise (pull yourself up to the top of the bar),
have your partner assist you to the top of the bar by grasping your legs/feet
and assist you. You're partner will also get a good workout at this point.
Once your nose is level with the pull up bar, slowly lower yourself till your
arms are fully extended. Your partner will again assist you to get you up
to the top of the bar. Repeat until you can no longer control lowering your
body all the way down.

To become a better (faster) runner, there are two things you need to focus
on. The first is cardiovascular. This means running, not just putting in
nice and easy runs, but also performing speed work (intervals). When you do
intervals, you're exposing your body to run out of your comfort zone for short
periods of time. This allows your body to adapt so after a period of time,
you'll find running slightly faster is easier. When this occurs, you have just
moved up to a new comfort zone. The most common form of intervals is running
1/4 mile sprints on a track. You want to do a warm of running at least 1
mile easily. Run the 1/4 sprints so that you are running faster than you would
usually run. You'll hear phrases like 80% effort, 85% or 90% effort. Rest
about 1 to 3 minutes between each interval depending on your fitness level.
A good thing to remember is to time each interval. Your first and last
interval should be within a few seconds of each other. If your first interval
is
substantially faster than your last interval, you've put more effort than you
should have in the beginning. Increase the number of intervals by one each
week. After a month, you may consider increasing the length of each interval
or mix them up so you are running some longer. You should perform interval
training only once a week until you get used to them. Do not do intervals
more than once a week until you've been consistently doing them for a few
months. You may then do them twice a week. But vary the types of intervals.

The second and mostly over looked thing is to improve your running skill.
In the past 5 years, I've discovered that running skill is just as important
building your cardiovascular base. The advantages for learning and improving
your running skills are, maximized energy spent, less muscle effort and less
impact on the body. I can't tell you what a difference it's made for me now
that
I've learned the skill of running. But that's another story.

What you've read is a general idea on how to get yourself ready for a STREND
FITNESS CHALLENGE. It does work. Use the information as a baseline for
preparing. As you become more experienced you'll find things you like that
work
just a good if not better. Adapt.

Be sure to eat nutritional food and stay hydrated to keep your body fueled
for your increased work load. Also allow your body ample rest each night.
When you train you break your muscles down. When you rest, your muscles repair
and get stronger.

Also, don't try to do too much too soon. It takes time for your body to
adapt to the stress you'll be imposing on it. Train hard, but understand that
the body can only adapt so fast.

Hope this helps.

Have a STREND day,

Ed Bugarin
Founder


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