Decreasing time intervals increasing speed burpees workout

 

My Burpees 2021 Journey continues, and I recently arrived at the halfway point towards my destination.  My journey is to perform 100 burpees workouts in 2021 where I complete at least 100 burpees.  In the process, I’d like to reclaim burpees performance on par with where I was at last year.  You see, I’ve experienced some burpees performance erosion.  This happens when you slack off and don’t do your burpees.

I’d like to do better than reclaim my 2020 burpees performance.  I’d like to achieve a goal that has alluded me for a long time.  It’s to complete 100 burpees in 10 minutes or less.  I almost got there last year but didn’t achieve it.  I’ve got some work to do if I’m going to have a fighting chance of achieving it by the end of 2021.  That’s my goal and I’m training with this in mind.

So, I’ve added some structure to my burpees training, borrowing some of the ideas I learned about when I was training to improve my one mile running time.  One workout consists of a longer and slow workout with some burpees volume, while the other days focus on speed.

One training day I’ve put together an interval workout that consists of decreasing time intervals with increasing speed.  It’s designed to help me achieve a negative split during my burpees workout.

What’s a negative split?  View this video where I explain it and you’ll also get an idea how this workout is done.

Mobile phone users, if the video doesn't appear below, click this link:

(3) Burpees Decreasing Time Intervals Increasing Speed Workout done by 66-years young middle-aged man - YouTube

Training to improve burpees performance is hard work but I’ve signed up for the task and am going to hang in there and do the hard work.  One way I’ll get to my destination is by regularly doing my decreasing time intervals increasing speed burpees workout.

Pax Domini sit semper vobiscum

Burpees 2021 Journey

Earlier this year, I began my Burpees 2021 Journey with a goal of performing a 100 burpees workout for 100 days in 2021.  I started my journey on January 1^st and completed 100 burpees that day in 15:56. I was off to a good start.

But along the way, this good start changed.  Lackluster enthusiasm for the task, a sternum injury along the way, followed with some right-hand and wrist injuries that still linger, and before I knew it, I was behind the performance pace needed to complete 100 burpees workouts for the year.  As of the end of May (yesterday), I’ve only completed 24 burpees workouts and my last burpees x 100 workout’s time of 15:46 is only 10 seconds faster than my January 1^st effort.  I have a long way to go.

By frame of reference, last year on June 1st, I began a Burpees x 100 Summer 2020 Countdown, completing 100 burpees in 12:48.  Therefore, it’s now taking me about three minutes longer to complete 100 burpees than last year.

My goal for the first day of summer last year was to complete 100 burpees in 11:00.  I accomplished this goal on June 19, 2020, with a time of 10:46.  

As is often the case with burpees, I eventually got burned out, distracted, and eventually lost the burpees conditioning gained from my Summer 2020 Countdown effort.

To jumpstart my lethargic effort thus far this year, I’ve decided to start today a Burpees x 100 Summer 2021 Countdown with plans on completing 100 burpees each day until the first day of Summer 2021 on June 20^th.  It’ll be like last year’s countdown except I’ll not set a time goal for the first day of summer but promise to make my best effort each day.  It would be nice, however, to knock three minutes off my current time, which would be a time of 12:46, but we’ll see.

If I get a burpees workout in every day until the first day of summer, that’ll give me 45 burpees x 100 workouts year-to-date for 2021, a much better position to be at mid-year with a goal of 100 burpees x 100 workouts for 2021.

Wish me well and follow along as I share the details of my Burpees 2021 Journey.

Pax Domini sit semper vobiscum

My Burpees 2021 Journey

Last week I told you about my Asian Squat Journey that’s currently in progress.  I’m pleased to report I had a good training week and was able to set a new personal best, a 9:00 Asian Squat.  Here’s video proof of my latest proud accomplishment:

As also previously shared, I have a goal of completing an Asian Squat for 10:00 by my 66^th birthday.  I have about five weeks to accomplish this goal and at this point, I’m confident I will.  Check back often for updates. 

Moving on to another 2021 fitness training preoccupation I have; it’s with an old friend named burpees.  I’m calling this fitness training preoccupation my Burpees 2021 Journey. 

For 2021, I’m going to complete 100 burpees workouts of at least 100 burpees.  The burpees I do have a pushup and hands-extended overhead jump with each repetition.  The jump makes them harder; at least that’s my story and I’m sticking with it.

Last year around this time, I was knee-deep with my burpees workouts and had a goal of completing 100 burpees in 10:00 or less.  I never achieved this goal but got, sort of, close with a time of 10:37 until distractions and/or burnout arrived. 

Reviewing past training journals, my current time to complete 100 burpees is about what it was last year.  I’ve completed three burpees workouts thus far in my 2021 Burpees Journey and have 97 more workouts to do.  Just hanging in there and showing up will result in progress which’ll be nothing more than reclaiming what I had last year and eventually lost.  Maybe, this year, I’ll finally achieve my goal of completing 100 burpees in 10:00 or less.

Here’s my latest effort, burpees workout number three.  You’ll notice I’m sucking air because I’m not in burpees conditioning shape.  I’ll be back.

I’m asking that you privately cheer for me as I travel down my middle-age man fitness training highway working my 2021 Burpees Journey.

Pax Domini sit semper vobiscum

Summer 2020 burpees x 100 countdown

On June 1st, I decided to get ready for Summer 2020 by chasing it every day doing a burpees x 100 workout.  This would be 20 days of 100 burpees a day or 2,000 burpees completed on the first day of Summer 2020 which in my part of the world is June 20, 2020.

Here’s my day 7 effort done Sunday evening in the park.  The weather was burpees-friendly at 73F degrees with low humidity and a pleasant breeze.

I can hardly wait for Summer 2020 to arrive and I’ll celebrate with my final day 20 effort during my Summer 2020 burpees countdown.

Pax Domini sit semper vobiscum

Cafeteria-style fitness training menu

I describe my fitness training as intuitive fitness training because I don’t follow a specific workout program that’s spelled out for me with specific exercises, weights, sets, reps or times that I follow to the “T”.  My approach, rather, has me never knowing exactly what I’m going to do until I step into the batter’s box ready to swing.

To make what I do legitimate, I’m guessing that 80 to 90 percent of the time what I do will be done with intensity. 

Otherwise, I risk the chance of being a sandbagger playing or working out below my potential.  Sort of like a B-level racquetball player who plays the D-level competition ladder at his local racquetball club.

Intuitive training works for me because I never know how my body is going to feel on any given day.  How my body feels depends on what I may have done the previous day.  For example, as I peck away on my keyboard composing this blog post, I’m very sore in my wheels because yesterday I ran six miles.  If I had some very specific plan to do this or that today, I’d probably not do this or that today because I wouldn’t feel like it.

Therefore, intuitively, today is a rest day but tomorrow will probably be an intense workout day.

This works for me.

So, the way I do things is like going into a cafeteria to have a meal.  As I walk down a cafeteria aisle, there are several foods to choose from: main dishes, side dishes, desserts, and beverages.  I might have a little of this and a little of that. As I approach the end of the aisle, chances are my plate is full and I’m about to begin having what’ll hopefully be a good meal.

This is how my workouts are put together on any given day.  I chose from a menu of fitness activities and exercise selections from my cafeteria-style fitness training menu.

Here are the exercises and activities currently on my menu, in no order of preference or training frequency:  

Pull-ups and chin-ups – Lately, a typical workout consists of about 100 repetitions done greasing the groove style.  I like doing this while at work where I have a pull-up bar.

For example, I might perform 10 sets of 10 repetitions during the morning or throughout my workday depending on how busy I am.  Last summer, I did more weighted pull-ups and chin-ups; lower rep volume of course with a 20kg or 24kg KB hanging from my waist using a lifting belt.

Bar dips – I have a bar dip unit in a spare room in my office and do most of my bar dip work while at work just like pull-ups and chin-ups.  I generally shoot for about 100 bar dips when I do them.  I’ve also done weighted bar dips but not lately.

Slam ball work – A couple months ago, I purchased my first slam ball; it weighs 15 lbs. and I’ve used it for about four workouts.  Honestly, I thought I would have used it more than I have thus far.  Also, honestly, the slam ball workouts I’ve done have spanked me big time in a short amount of time.  I’m looking forward to more slam ball work in the months ahead.

Burpees – I hate and love burpees in the same breath of air, just like everyone else.  I hate how they make me feel and how they keep me humble whenever my head swells thinking what great fitness conditioning shape I’m in, but I love the fitness conditioning results they deliver.  

Lately, I’ve been doing burpees a couple times a week and am chasing a goal of completing 100 of them in ten minutes or less.

Running – I don’t know how many times in the last ten years I’ve retired as a fun runner only to come back out of retirement.  I’m currently out of retirement again and have been so for almost two years.  It was tough coming back and I swear I’m not going to retire again but, rather, ramp up or taper the running I do depending on what else I’m doing.  

Lately, I’ve been running at a slower and steady-state pace only once a week for between 30 and 60 minutes.  During this summer, I’d like to do some more speed work and see how fast I can fun a one-mile distance on a high school all-weather track.

Kettlebell work – I really like kettlebell training and the stuff I do tends to be kettlebell complexes or chains.  I have a limited inventory of kettlebells that I own but enough to get awesome workouts.  I have a couple favorite routines or complexes I like to do so progress doing them comes from completing a certain number of rounds faster than the last time.

Other items that have been on my fitness training menu in the past – Certain menu items in a cafeteria menu might be seasonal and not always available.  This is also the case with my fitness training menu selections.  Things that I enjoy doing, have done in the past but am not now doing include pull-up hang and handstand against the wall holds for time, Heavy Hands workouts using a pair of 5-lbs. dumbbells and higher-repetition step-ups using a 12-inch step.  

I’ll add these exercises to my training when they come "into season" according to my whim.  I may also add new selections to my menu.

As a middle-age man fitness training warrior trying to achieve age-adjusted upper-percentile cardiovascular-respiratory and strength endurance conditioning, I do best with my intuitive fitness training approach and having a diverse selection of activities and exercises to chose from in my cafeteria-style fitness training menu.

Pax Domini sit semper vobiscum

Real men do burpees

I may have shared before, but pardon me if I didn’t, that one of my current goals is to perform 100 burpees in 10 minutes or less. My best modern time thus far is 11:53 so I have a way to go. It gets harder as you get older or at least that’s my excuse.

There’s no shortage of burpees junkies sharing their amazing performances on YouTube and the videos I view are a source of inspiration.  Yet, while they inspire me, I must pursue my progress within my own middle-age man abilities, limitations and terms.  

I’m not going to bang out 100 burpees in 6 to 8 minutes no matter how hard I train and try. But, a 10-minute goal is a sensible one so that’s what I’m shooting for by the end of Summer 2020. First stop, however, is completing 100 burpees in 11:00 or less. I hope to be there by the first day of Summer 2020 so that gives me two months to progress at a pleasant pace.

If you view YouTube burpees videos, you’ll see a couple different variations. One is the original burpee that was designed as a fitness test by physiologist Mr. Royal H. Burpee.

The original burpee

Other versions include ones adding a pushup and a jump with arms extended overhead, Navy Seals’ burpees and prison burpees. 

I prefer the version that includes a pushup and a jump with arms extended overhead jump for each burpee done. They’re all good and tough as can be if you do them fast enough and for many repetitions.

Why do I bother, or punish myself, doing burpees?  

Because they keep me honest that, no matter how fit I believe I am, burpees remind me that maybe I could be a little fitter. Not that being a little fitter makes me any better of a person. If I’m a jerk, doing a bazillion burpees won’t make me any less of a jerk.

Nonetheless, I’ll keep on doing burpees because real men do burpees.

Pax Domini sit semper vobiscum

65th birthday burpees challenge

Last week Pierini Fitness had a birthday so he’s now a bona-fide 65-year young middle-aged man.  Thus far, I’ve been blessed with good health and wellness and for this, I’m most grateful.  I know it could all change in a heartbeat and take nothing for granted.

I’m quite proud of my current fitness level but must always be on guard that I’m also humble about it.  One way I keep my humbleness is by regularly stepping up to the plate and doing a quick burpees workout.  I find 100 burpees for time is one way to keep me very humble.

On my 65^th birthday, I did just that with a birthday burpees challenge of 100 burpees for time.  My approach was to perform 5 burpees every 35 seconds for 17 rounds and then a final round of 15 burpees.  My time was 12:02; not great but good enough for a newly crowned 65-year old man.

I prefer doing 100 burpees for time this way – shorter rep rounds using a fixed time interval rather than going by my intuition gut.  Once I’m able to complete all rounds within this fixed time interval, I then drop the time interval by one second.  My mind and body are more likely to be willing to cooperate with this subtle change.  I call this method of progression “measured coaxing.”

My current 100 burpees for time journey has a Summer 2020 time destination of 10:00 or less.  It’ll take consistent and hard work for me to accomplish this goal.  First up is completing 100 burpees in 11:00 or less.  I hope to accomplish this by the first day of Spring 2020, about one month from now.

When I’m an old man sitting in a rocking chair crapping my pants, I’ll always remember my 65^th birthday burpees challenge.

Pax Domini sit semper vobiscum

Do 100 burpees

Good Friday greetings to all Pierini Fitness sports fans.  It’s been one week exactly since my last post.  This is the time of the year when I work more hours and am therefore challenged in other departments, such as fitness and adding new content here.

My workouts are still taking place but they’re shorter.  One way to take full advantage of a shortened workout is to make sure there’s intensity.  I’m doing this by doing burpees; they’re never easy.

Right now, I’m focused on trying to complete 100 burpees in 11 minutes or less.  I’m not quite there yet but am moving in the right direction.

A couple days ago, after a quick 100 burpees workout, I bumped into an acquaintance at the post office who deduced by my appearance and lingering panting for breathing that I had just finished a challenging workout.  I described the workout I had just completed.  He then asked me why I do burpees to which I replied is that they keep me humble.

Hopefully, soon I’ll have something to share and hopefully it’ll be that I met my short-term goal of completing 100 burpees in 11 minutes or less.  Despite how busy I currently am, I’ll always have enough time available to do 100 burpees.

Pax Domini sit semper vobiscum

A speeding bus with my name on it

Last Monday, I shared my latest interest in heart rate recovery (HRR) after my workouts after recently reading an article written by a medical doctor cardiologist.  This article shared the doctor’s experience in measuring his HRR after a workout he did and how research evidence indicates that HRR is a simple and powerful predictor of mortality. 

Again, what’s HRR?

It’s the rate of decline in heart rate beats per minute (bpm) after you quit exercising and again a minute later (and/or two minutes later) and subtract one from the other.

There’s a 1999 study that examined the relationship between HRR and mortality risk.  This research revealed an average one-minute HRR of 17 bpm, but 26 percent of patients had an HRR of less than 13 bpm. Patients with an HRR of less than 13 bpm had a double risk of dying.

Another follow-up study of about 10 thousand patients found that an HRR of less than 13 bpm doubled the 5-year risk of death.

Yet another study reported that a 2-minute HRR of less than 22 bpm provided a better measure predicting mortality at seven years than the one-minute test.

Being an analytical beast, I decided to capture my HRR for three recent cardiovascular conditioning workouts.  Below is an HRR analysis executive briefing of them.  Note that my perceived maximum HR is 180 bpm.

Sunday, January 19, 2020

Workout – Run 6.0 miles in 1:04:44. 

HRR analysis - end of run 160 bpm - 1:00 = 120 bpm (-40 bpm) - 2:00 = 111 (-49 bpm). 

Monday, January 20, 2020

Workout – Bodyweight squats for 110 reps completed in 4:48.

HRR analysis - start 110 bpm end of BW squats 147 bpm - 1:00 = 116 bpm (-31bpm) - 2:00 = 106 (-41 bpm). 

Wednesday, January 22, 2020

Workout - 20kg kettlebell snatch, right side x 5 reps and left-side 5 reps every minute on the minute for 10 rounds completed in 9:48.

HRR analysis - end of workout 157 bpm - 1:00 = 133 bpm (-24 bpm) - 2:00 = 117 bpm (-40 bpm).

These results indicate I enjoy a lower risk of cardiovascular-related mortality, so I’ll keep doing what I’ve been doing with my cardiovascular conditioning training.

But there are no guarantees in life regarding my premature mortality.    I could have an early meeting with the Grim Reaper if, for example, one day I’m crossing the street and am met by a speeding bus having my name on it.

Pax Domini sit semper vobiscum

Fall 2019 fitness goals results

Pierini Fitness doing a Sprint 8 burpees 
workout on a recent Fall 2019 day.

Good day Pierini Fitness sports fans.  Have you been wondering where I’ve been?  It’s been a while and I’ve been known to go AWOL every now and then for various reasons.  This time, I was gone for slightly over one month.  What was going on?  I hit a creative dry spot, something I’ve done before.  But I also got busy helping Mrs. Pierini Fitness help her 91-year old father who has become increasingly frail and needing more assistance.  It’s a reminder that we’re all going to, sooner or later, get our turn.

Despite my absence, I’ve managed to continue with my fitness training which, as of today, is for the most part significantly done for 2019. Mrs. Pierini Fitness and I are leaving for a two-week vacation in Arizona to visit our four little grandsons.  It’ll be a breath of fresh air that I’m looking forward to beginning, and it will on Saturday.

I’ve made and uploaded several YouTube videos sharing snapshots of my fitness training. Most of them showcase my pursuits of pull-ups, bar dips and burpees performance goals.  As a soon-to-be Medicare Man, I’m proud of my current conditioning yet grateful and humble, realizing that it could all be taken away from me in heartbeat.

The remainder of this post will give an accountability report of how I did in achieving, or not, various Fall 2019 fitness goals that I previously shared.

Fall 2019 Fitness Goals

1 - complete 100 reps of alternating pull-ups and chin-ups in 20:00 or less. Accomplished on 11/29/2019 - 100 reps in 19:38.

2 - complete single set max reps of 18 pull-ups. Did not achieve, best this Fall 2019 is 16 pull-ups on 12/14/2019.

3 - complete single set max reps of 25 bar dips. Accomplished on 12/3/2019 with 30 bar dips. 

4 - run mile in 7:00. Did not achieve, basically abandoned training effort due to demands of chasing burpees goal. Will achieve by Summer 2020.

5 - complete 100 burpees in 12 minutes. Accomplished on 12/14/2019 completing 100 burpees in 11:54.  

6 - morning weigh-in of 170-175 lbs. 100 percent. Accomplished, did not weigh more than 175 lbs. at any time but did dip below 170 lbs. for a streak.

7 - pull-up hang hold of 1:50. Accomplished with 2:02 on 10/19/2019. 

8 - handstand hold against wall of 1:15. Did not achieve but did do 1:14 on 12/10/2019. 

9 - body fat of 16 percent (currently 18.6 percent.) Did not achieve but measured 17.4 percent on 12/18/2019.

To all my Pierini Fitness sports fan, Merry Christmas 2019 and Happy New Year 2020, and may all your dreams and desires for 2020 be realized in the new year.  I’ll be away until the first week of January 2020 and it may take another week before I return to Pierini Fitness with fresh new content of my middle-aged man reflections about living and dying, gracefully aging and trying to live a good and honest life.

There you have it, my Fall 2019 fitness goals results.

Pax Domini sit semper vobiscum

Tabata Burpees

Yesterday, Sunday late morning, I went to the park for a quick workout.  It included a single set of pull-ups of 15 reps.  Then, I wrapped up my workout with a 4-minute quickie of Tabata burpees.

Tabata burpees are done following the Tabata protocol of 8 rounds of high-intensity exercise work with a brief 20 seconds recovery.  In my case, it was 20 seconds of doing as many burpees as I could. 

I did this workout only once before five years ago but only shared the first round of effort, because I was embarrassed at my performance for the latter rounds.  That time, I completed 48 burpees but ended up being off-cadence and it took me 5 minutes to complete all 8 rounds.

Yesterday, I did better but still have work to do.  I completed 45 burpees in the prescribed 8 rounds and got all 8 rounds completed in the prescribed 4 minutes, despite having a “technical difficulty” during the first round of trying to sync by Garmin heart rate monitor timer with my Gymboss timer.  Nonetheless, I was satisfied with my effort.

All the burpees I’ve been doing lately is training to help me achieve one of my Fall 2019 fitness goals of completing 100 burpees in 12 minutes.  It’s a goal I expect to achieve early, likely this month.  Then, God willing, I’ll continue marching forward to see how much more progress I can make.

I’ll never go wrong banging out a quick 4 minute workout of Tabata burpees.

Pax Domini sit semper vobiscum