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300 Challenge – A Week in Review

Mike Haydon — Sat, 11 Apr 2009 07:30:00 +0000

So my week long 300 Challenge has come to an end. The challenge was to do the 300 workout every day for one week. Here are the day’s results:

Looking back on the week that was, this is what I learned, in no particular order:

Going hard every day causes you to adapt quicker that I thought possible;
By working out regularly, you can overcome DOMS;
Being sore shouldn’t be a reason not to train or to train light;
A training schedule that seems impossible can become possible just by going hard at it and sticking to it;
An alternative to the 30, 60 or 90 day plans is the 7 day plan, just to get you moving;
If you are struggling to make gains, take one week to do something you think you can’t and just go for it. You might surprise yourself;
You can increase strength significantly in only one week;
The 300 challenge is great for boosting your metabolism;
Doing a workout outside is a great way to add some variety to your training schedule;
As a whole body workout, the 300 challenge is a fantastic way to figure out which body parts are lagging and need to be focused on;
No matter how hard you think you are training, you always have that little extra to give; and
Before training, setting your mind to really push yourself on your most difficult exercise is a great way to perform well at that exercise without compromising your performance on the others.

I highly recommend you take on the 300 challenge for yourself. I was fitter and stronger after completing it. Maybe you could be too. Don’t let the intensity scare you off. Just do it

300 Challenge – Day 7

Mike Haydon — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 08:12:07 +0000

So the challenge is finally finished. I pushed hard all the way and romped home in a time of 18 minutes 25 seconds, more than half my original time just one week ago.

I knew that to beat yesterday’s time, I had to improve my floor wipers. For some reason, they were not too difficult today. I guess because my abs aren’t nearly as sore as they have been. I also made it through the box jumps without a rest, which all adds up.

Surely I'm not the only one who wants to look like this?

I think I figured out why my elbows were so sore: towards the end of the last set of pullups, I’ve been hyper-extending my elbows at the bottom of the lift, then trying to throw myself back up (no feet on the floor, but kicking my legs for momentum). Is this cheating? I think as long as your feet don’t touch the floor, it’s not cheating. I know that I could have rested for ages and still not been able to pull myself up right even for one at the end. The first set of pullups was fine every day – no problems getting through them with strict form. It was only the last set, after I was exhausted.

It’s good to have completed the challenge and I may do it again some time, but for now, I just need to rest I feel like you do when you’ve just played a really hard soccer game in the heat and even though you won, you just don’t care – your body just wants to go slow for a change. I’ll do a proper post on what I learned from doing this challenge, but with all the Easter services starting in a few hours, I’m not sure when I’ll be able to do it. Hopefully Saturday.

300 Challenge – Day 6

Mike Haydon — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 10:25:34 +0000

You Gotta Fight The Pain

First mission objective accomplished! I completed today’s challenge in 19 minutes 46 seconds. Oh my gosh the last set of pullups were hard. I was a gasping mess with 5 pullups to go, looked at my watch and saw 19:30. With my arms screaming at me to stop, I managed to fight through the pain and got there just in time.

Every day has been strange, and today was no different. I don’t understand this, but for some reason I had extreme difficulty pushing through the pain barrier (except on the last 5 pullups and that was different). I wasn’t even hitting total positive failure and still just couldn’t keep going. If I were a beginner, it would make sense, but I’ve been lifting for years and never had a problem going to positive failure. Perhaps it was because the temperature was around 30 degrees celcius…

Yesterday’s time was really good, and I knew that to beat it I’d have to get quicker on the floor wipers. The hardest part about the floor wipers is that it’s hard to breathe when you’re doing them. The way the exercise works, both your ribcage and diaphragm are constricted. Sure the exercise is difficult, but being oxygen deprived makes it a lot more so.

I struggled to string a decent set of pushups together, only managing 5-7 after the first 10. On other days, I’ve gotten to 20 or 30 before the first rest. I caned it on the box jumps, though, racing to 30, taking a few seconds to catch my breath, then finishing off the rest. I picked up a minute there, I think.

Now that I’m getting stronger, this challenge is turning more into a fitness challenge, rather than a muscle challenge. Interesting…

300 Challenge – Day 5

Mike Haydon — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 10:36:13 +0000

Praying for the strength to continue

Wow, I didn’t think I’d be able to beat yesterday’s time, but I finished the workout in 22 minutes 20 seconds! The time to beat is 20 minutes and I’m almost there. Very happy with the progress.

The floor wipers were slightly easier today. They are still the hardest part by far, but I’m needing less rest in between. The first set of pullups are also getting easier. It’s so strange.

I don’t know whether I need worry about this yet, but my elbow and shoulder joints are starting to get pretty sore right where the muscle attaches to the bone, particularly on the left side. I’ll have to keep an eye on it. It may be that the challenge is starting to take its toll The last set of pullups were really painful and I lost a lot of the time I’d gained.

Other than the joint pain, my body feels like when you worked out really hard and heavy three days ago and the DOMS are just starting to fade. Only 2 more days and I’m done. Really hope my body can stay together long enough to complete the challenge and break through the 20 minute mark.

Seeya tomorrow for hopefully the good news that I’ve broken through 20 minutes

300 Challenge – Day 4

Mike Haydon — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 12:33:48 +0000

Today’s challenge completed in 25 minutes 1 second, beating yesterday’s time by almost 4 minutes! In 4 days, I’ve decreased my time by 37%, cutting 14 minutes 23 off a time I originally thought was pretty good.

The slowest exercise for me is still the floor wipers, but they weren’t as difficult today as yesterday. I also got through pushups a lot quicker today than before, but the big change was in the initial pullups. I got through them much faster, even though my shoulders were aching. I almost managed to get through all the deadlifts without a break. Got to 40 reps, but failure set in big time and I had to stop. It’s a good feeling to be getting stronger & faster at this challenge.

This is what I'm aiming for. How about you?

The strangest thing seems to be happening. I thought by today, half way through the challenge, that I’d be so sore that I’d go slower. But the opposite is happening. Four days in and I only have mild DOMS. It’s fantastic. Each day is slightly easier than the day before (as you can see by the times), even though I’m hitting the exercise just as hard. I’ve also noticed I’m getting fitter, recovering quicker from being out of breath.

The muscle pump you get from doing this workout is amazing. Sure you could do other, less intense exercises to get a pump, but it’s just such a great feeling seeing yourself grow in such a short time.

I’ll take a break over Easter, but I’m already looking for my next one week challenge

300 Challenge – Day 3

Mike Haydon — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 14:09:22 +0000

This morning, I woke up extremely sore, but I noticed something interesting… The only muscles that were really sore today were the ones used in the floor wiper exercise – abs and tensor fascia lata (top of the leg). But those were and still are very painful in a DOMS way. Back and shoulders were a little tight, but other than that, it was as if I’d been resting for the last few days

I completed the 300 workout today in a time of 28 minutes 57 seconds. A full 2 minutes 45 faster than yesterday. I’m pretty sure it’s because I got through the deadlifts and the box jumps much quicker than yesterday.

Combining exercise with the great outdoors. Is there anything better?

Today (Sunday) was pretty full, with church in the morning, followed by my wife’s uncle’s 50th birthday. We didn’t get home until almost 6pm, so I didn’t have a lot of time to mentally prepare for today’s workout. Also, there was a lot of food at the 50th and I didn’t have time to digest properly before the workout. A couple of times I thought I was going to make a pitstop, but it was all good

In today’s workout, other than the floor wipers and pullups, it didn’t feel as hardcore as the previous 2 days (but throw those in and I was wrecked after). I guess it’s clear what body parts are lagging for me! Maybe I should recommend this challenge as a way of figuring out what body parts you need to work on – just wait for the third day and see what’s hurting the most

My lower back started hurting quite a bit towards the end of the deadlifts, so I’ll have to keep an eye on that. Pullups at the end of the workout were so difficult I could only manage 3 or 4 reps at a time and the last 5 I had to do one at a time, with a rest in between. I can shave a few minutes off my time just by getting better at pullups.

Feeling good about the next 4 days. Just gotta keep the nutrition and the rest up. Seeya tomorrow.

300 Challenge – Day 2

Mike Haydon — Sat, 04 Apr 2009 09:59:26 +0000

Ok, Day 2 of the 300 challenge complete. Time of 31 minutes 42 seconds, so I beat yesterday’s time by 7 minutes 42 seconds. I think the main reasons were:

Because I had completed the 300 test yesterday, I already had the belief that I could do it again.
I was more prepared this time – yesterday I forgot my water bottle and towel (for the grass).
I did more reps without a break.

I’ve noticed that my metabolism was way up this morning when I woke up. It was like my skin was tingling with energy and the feeling is still going. That being said, I don’t remember being this sore, not matter how hard I trained.

In today’s session, I found the deadlifts to be the “easiest”. It’s is probably because I do them regularly. I officially hate floor wipers and whoever put those 25 pullups at the end of the workout is truly a sadist

My body is telling me that I won’t be able to complete a full week of this, but I’m not going to give up, no matter how painful it gets or how long it takes for me to haul myself out of bed.

I’ve been going to bed early each day (10:30 pm) and getting up at the same time (7 am), so that’s going to help me get through this. I’m also making sure I’m getting enough nutrition to support this challenge. Am I regretting the decision to take on this challenge? Not at all. It gives me incredible satisfaction (not to mention a massive pump) completing each workout. I highly recommend anyone go for it.

If you really feel like a challenge, let the world keep up to date with your progress and cheer you on. Post a comment saying you want to participate and I’ll email you author login details to this site. You can post to this site and let us support you and cheer you on.

300 Challenge – Day 1

Mike Haydon — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 12:47:58 +0000

First day:

I completed the workout in 39 minutes 24 seconds. The hardest exercise for me was the pullups. Because I’ve been hitting the (home) gym a lot lately, I’ve recently grown to 105 kg (230 lbs) and so I’m still not used to my body weight. They also took the longest because I could only do a few before being forced to stop. I definitely felt the after effect of the deadlifts when I did the box jumps. It was weird. The easiest exercise by far was the dumbell clean & press. The weight on that was too light, even for the end of the workout. But that’s the weight I’ve chosen, so I’ll stick with it for the rest of the week. The floor wipers really hurt too.

I was completely drained after the workout and could barely move for about half an hour. I had done as many reps as I could of each exercise, then rested til I could just face continuing, kept going until I could do no more, rested, etc. After the deadlifts, I was seriously out of breath, but got that under control reasonably quickly.

Verdict – great workout (even though it’s meant to be a strength/fitness test), but left me really hungry. Not long after I finished, my wife came home with some roast chickens, so I polished off one of those.

300 Challenge Explained

Mike Haydon — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 12:31:56 +0000

Ok, I’ve decided the weights to use for this challenge (if you missed me explaining my plan, it’s here). It will look like this:

25 x Pullup
50 x Deadlift x 40 kg (88 lbs)
50 x Pushup
50 x Box Jump x 30 cm (12 inches)
50 x Floor Wiper x 20 kg (44 lbs)
50 x Dumbell Clean & Press x 10 kg (22 lbs)
25 x Pullup
Total = 300 reps.

Now I know those weights aren’t that heavy and I could probably go twice as heavy… if I had hours to complete the workout, but the goal is to complete it within 20 minutes and I know that I’ll struggle to complete it in 40 minutes even at these weights.

So you can see what each of these exercises involves, I’ve listed the videos below.

Pullup:

Deadlift:

Pushup:

Box Jump:

Floor Wiper:

Dumbell Clean & Press (like the one in the video, but with a dumbell, rather than a kettlebell, coz I don’t have any kettlebells):

The 300 Workout Challenge

Mike Haydon — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 11:49:54 +0000

I‘ve been reading a few articles lately that got me really jazzed up to go and train out-doors to bring a bit of change to my usual routine. Posts like Strength Training vs Bodybuilding, Elemental Exercises with Matthew McConaughey and a few of the videos on youtube I came across, as well as the Underground Strength Manual.

That all reminded me of the 300 workout (particularly the tire flipping in the video on Gym Junkies) that I’d looked into when the movie 300 came out. This is what I’m talking about:

The “300 test” was designed as a one time test for the actors in the movie as Mark Twight explains here. It wasn’t meant to be a workout in itself. It was meant to be a benchmark to test oneself.

This is the 300 challenge:

25 x Pullup
50 x Deadlift
50 x Pushup
50 x Box Jump
50 x Floor Wiper
50 x Kettlebell Clean & Press
25 x Pullup
Total = 300 reps.

The rub is that you have to do all that as fast as you can with 20 minutes being the benchmark for a pass.

So here is the challenge I set for myself today – to go one week completing the 300 challenge every day in as short a time as possible. Starting today. I’ll keep you updated with my progress.

Take the 5×5 Challenge

Mike Haydon — Sun, 21 Sep 2008 08:00:53 +0000

I just ran across a great program from the guys over at Stronglifts. It’s called the Stronglifts 5×5 and has two stages, one for Beginners and one for Advanced lifters. You can also download a pdf version of the program here for free.

photo credit: CelebMuscle

The main criticism I have of the program is that I couldn’t find anywhere that specified how long to rest in between sets. It’s up to you, but I stick to the standard – no less than 1 minute’s rest, no more than 2.

The program is pretty old school and is apparently based on similar programs used by body building legends such as Reg Park (Arnie’s main inspiration) and Bill Starr. It comes with an excel spreadsheet setting out a calendar with the progressive increase in resistance. I’ve read through it and I’m going to incorporate elements into my workout.

Don’t dismiss the program because it doesn’t use any machines – many people believe (myself included) that free-weights are the only way to go if you are a beginner and serious about getting the best results in the shortest time: only free-weights really build up all those supporting muscles that don’t get worked when you use a machine. Don’t get me wrong, machines have their place particularly when you get to an advanced level or if you don’t have a spotter, but if you are just starting out, stick to the free weights. Build a solid foundation of muscle.

The program isn’t very complex and therein lies its beauty – it is simple enough to stick to. If you think “hey it’s only a couple of exercises with weight and a couple with body weight”, why don’t you try it out. I just did and I’m hurting as I write this (the things I do to give an honest review!).

Check it out. It’s free. What have you got to lose?