Hey Friends.
It's been quite a year.
We are definitely different from the group that set out to do this a year ago.
Stronger, fitter, leaner. It's been great.
Very proud of all you.
Things will be changing this year. It's time for a re-evaluation of everyone's goals.
We will see you all in the coming months.
Thanks for your friendship and support.

http://www.bakersfield.com/136/story/255340.html

copy and paste that link into your browser and see our local article.

As impressive as the display of force is in the foreground of the picture. I love to see the renegade rows in the far back.

Great Job all. The race is this weekend, hope to see you all out there!

.....................................JULY 2007....................................................
Hey once again we must update because we've changed our routines.  I'm a little late, but here is what we have done the past 3 to 4 weeks.

We split our routines in half still, but they are split differently than before.

THE FIRST HALF
This is our strength training portion of the workout.  We perform 3 exercises in 8 minute rotations.  For example on Tuesday we did Walking Swings - Turkish Get Ups - T push ups.  We perform anywhere from 5 to 10 rep sets for each exercise.  So we perform 8 T push ups and rest as needed then repeat for 8 minutes.  The goal is not speed but at the same time the goal is not 2 minute rests between sets.  After 8 minutes we move to the next exercise and do the same as above.  Once all three exercises have been performed and all 24 minutes is up we take a quick 1 minute rest and move on to the second half.

THE SECOND HALF
In this portin we pick another 3 to 4 exercises.  The goal of this routine is to complete as many rounds as we can in a set time.  We have been doing 15 minute rounds.  So one round might be 12 air squats - 5 renegade rows - 10 ballistic push ups.  Speed is the goal.  We move as fast as we can while keeping good form.  A round would go in order.  12 air squats then move to 5 rows and then to 10 push ups.  1 round completed now repeat it.

That is it.  We also try to run or sprint during the week on our own.


.....................................JUNE 2007....................................................
We have once again changed phases.  With the help of some awesome people we have put together our most complete exercise routine. 

Before I go further I want to thank a couple of people. 

Allen!  You keep the information coming and have answers for every single question we have.  We keep you far too busy and we want you to know that we realize how much you are helping us and we appreciate it...thanks so much!  Without you this new phase would not even exist.

Josh.  Thanks for all the books and info you send our way.  We've learned so much from the books you keep us up to date with.

Zach and Jason B.  Thanks for all the variations on kettle bell and sandbag workouts.  We never have a shortage of routines to pull from because of you guys and all the work you put into underground training.  Thanks!

THE ROUTINES:

We have three workout days a week.  On top of this we try to do anaerobic exercise or aerobic exercise on our off days.  Friday tends to be everyones off day.  It's good to just have one day where you do nothing right?  Right.  The body needs to crash from time to time.

The ideas and principles we used to develop our routine are based on Alwyn Cosgrove's Hierarchy of Fat Loss.  If you want information on this hierarchy it can be found here http://www.t-nation.com/readTopic.do?id=1526539.

The big three days:  Each night is the same structure with different exercises.  A few moves to target every body part.

We basically divide our workouts into halves. 

Resistance training - This is the first half of our workout. We perform full body routines.  Legs, back, shoulders, arms, abs we work it all.  This portion is about 45 minutes to an hour.  Our primary equipment is still Kettlebells, Sandbags, and ropes/bands.

Anaerobic/aerobic routine - This is the other half of the workout.  We try to keep this portion of our workout about 20 minutes long.  We perform a combination of aerobic moves and anaerobic moves in a 4 minute cycle with 1 minute of rest.  This cycle is repeated 4 times.

That is it.  It's not too complex but it is effective!


.......................................MAY 2007................................................

Hey guys thanks for sticking with us! 

We have entered a new phase in our 8 month journey.  It's week 10 and we've had beyond great results! 

We have spent the past several weeks learning from some of the industries best.  One thing we've been told by several professionals is that the body can't grow and lose at the same time.  Since this is the case we've been told that setting up a plan that flows with the way the body works can be the most beneficial process. 

So what does this mean for us?  Well we've spent the past several weeks working on weight loss plus muscle endurance and it's time to change phases.  The next phase will be about a month to two months long.  This new phase will be a strength/power building phase.  The goal is to grow stronger and to pack on more muscle mass. 

The new routine will be performed only 3 days a week.  We will work several sandbag and kettlebell movements into a new full body routine each night.  Along with new movements each night we will alternate loads.  This means one night we will increase weight to above 85 percent 1Repmax and perform 3 to 5 reps.   The next night we might perform the same movement with 75 percent 1Repmax and work for 8 to 12 reps.  By alternating work loads in this way, we are told we can gain strength, power, and mass. 

.......................................APRIL 2007................................................

Hey all,

We are glad you have become our friend, keep a look out for our website coming in the next few weeks.

We are facing this challenge through two areas.
1. workouts
2. nutrition

The key to everything we do is our encouragement of eachother. As you start to make healthy lifestyle changes make sure you have surrounded yourself with folks who will not only be supportive but join you in your journey.  More and more trainers and athletes are realizing the power of friendship in their workouts. It's more than encouragement, it's more than being challenged. Taking this trip together will bring you closer and get you through all the rough patches.

Our workouts are all based around functional strength training. Please keep reading, many cardio-aholics don't realize that functional strength training is one of the most effective cardio workouts.

We are not only moving weight, we are moving our bodies and pushing ourselves. This is not sitting on a bench isolating a muscle for gains, this is compound movements that push every part of you.

Sundays and Tuesdays are Kettlebells workouts.
New kb routine for april
now in 3 minute cycles w 1 minute rest
1/2 group
kettlebell overhead walks 1 min
doublehand kb swings 1 min
clean and jerk 30 sec each arm
1 min rest

1/2 group
pliets 1 min
pushups 1 min
sandbag carries 1 min
1 min rest
then groups switch
4 cycles thru,

finish w 5 min ab routine
29 min high intensity workouts
this is a vomit inducing set!

Thursday nights are base training for the Volkslauf.
We also changed our thursday night routine.  

We kept the exercises from the first months cycle but we changed time and added one exercize. 

The new routine starts with a jog.  From the jog we jump right into partner tug of wars.  This is the new exercise.  It's basically a 1 on 1 tug of war.  Each individual must pull the other to a set marker 10 times.  No stopping! 

From their we jump into our new cycle.  We have a distance about the length of a football field marked off into 4 sections.  We sprint for the first section, walking lunge to the next, bear crawl from there, and jog to the end.  We're not done!  Turn around and jog back to marker, bear crawl to next marker, walking lunge, then sprint.  Done.  1 complete set.  Do as many sets as you can in 25 minutes. 

Warm Up
Jog
Tug of War

25 Minute cycle. 
Sprint
Walking Lunge
Bear Crawls
Jog

Gut check.  Or upchuck check, whatever you'd like to call it.
Resistance Sprints

Done!

Saturday is Sandbag day.
We have a cycle of 4 exercises repeated 4 times for time.  This is our new baby.  Oh how it has worked us over!  As with our other days, this too will change with time.  We are told the body is incredibly adaptive.

Timed Burpies
Timed Sand Bag Runs
Timed Sand Bag Seated Roll & Toss
Sand Bag Clean x 5 Snatch x 10 Press x 5

100lbs is easy on a bar, it's not easy at all in a shapeless bag.

Days Off??
We have 1 day off these days as monday and wednesday nights have become jog nights.  We get together and jog ,depending on the night/individual, 2 to max amount of miles.  So far the max is 5.  This race we will run is a 6 mile course the marines like to call the Ultimate challenge. We will rest as we need it and weeks before the race. 

My workout partners are freakishly strong and continue to push themselves every night.

The goal of all we are doing is to see our lives transformed. We are taking our lives back from obesity. We are discovering the inner athletes in all of us. We are healthier and happier than most of us have ever been and life is only getting better.

Don't wait another day, whatever is holding you back what ever is your excuse for your problems deal with it. Do what ever it takes to conquer the burdens in your life.

When you need encouragement check back with us, we are putting our lives on display to show everyone that we can change.

If we are succeeding at this, trust us, there is nothing you can't tackle head on!

-VOLKSLAUGH
The Fecta loves you!

Hey we'll keep posting pics as we take them.  I think we'll probably for sure keep up this montly group photo update. 

SEPTEMBER



AUGUST

JULY



JUNE


MAY



APRIL



MARCH

Ever wonder how many calories you should eat in a day to lose weight, gain weight, or maintain weight?  Well to do that you need to figure out how many calories you burn in any given day.  That is where this blog will help!

First things first!  You need to know a couple of terms.

RCE/Resting Caloric Expenditure:
This is simply the amount of calories you burn just to stay alive.  It is your RESTING expenditure.  So this means If you sat around all day and watched Oprah you would still be burning calories. 

DAE/Daily Activities Expenditure: 
This is the term used when charting how many calories you burn during your regular every day activities.  This does not include any workouts.  This is simply a percentage based on how active you are at school/work combined with your RCE.  So in other words it's a percentage value of your RCE.

WCE/Workout Caloric Expenditure:
This as simple as it sounds.  The calories you burn while working out.

Let's figure out how much you burn!

1. RCE EQUATION (Resting Caloric Expenditure)

FOR GUYS -
(Your weight in lbs) x (11 calories per pound)  = RCE

SAMPLE 200 lb MALE -
200 x 11 = 2200

THE LOW DOWN -
In plain english, guys burn 11 calories for every pound they weigh just to stay alive.

FOR GIRLS -
(Your weight in lbs) x (10 calories per pound) = RCE

SAMPLE 200 lb FEMALE -
200 x 10 = 2000

THE LOW DOWN -
In plain english, girls burn 10 calories for every pound they weigh just to stay alive.


2. DAE EQUATION (Daily Activities Expenditure)

FOR GUYS & GIRLS:
RCE x (percentage of RCE) = DAE

To figure out your PERCENTAGE OF RCE use this guide:

Sedentary ( Sits most of the day - Computer Programmer/Desk job) 15/15%
Lightly Active (Walks/Stands most of day - Teacher/Stay at home mom/dad) 35/30%
Moderately Active (Walks and does light labor - Store clerk) 45/40%
Very Active ( Physically active labor - Dancer/Construction worker) 75/70%
Exceptionally Active (very physically active job - Lumberjack/Mover) 100/90%

If you're not just skipping over this you realized that there are two percentages for each level of activity.  The two percentages represent each sex.  The first percentage is for guys and the second percentage is for girls.  So a moderately active male will use 45% and a moderately active female will use 40% in the equation.  If your job is half and  half then just use these numbers as a guide.  It's okay to put down 20% if you teach for half the day then sit for the rest.  These are just estimates so you can get close to what you are burning. 

SAMPLE 200 lb MALE - (Lightly Active)
2200 x .35 = 770

SAMPLE 200 lb FEMALE - (Lightly Active)
2000 x .30 = 600

THE LOW DOWN -
Basically you pick a percentage based off of the chart above and multiply it by your RCE.  This gives you about how many calories you burn while working and or the calories you burn because of work.


So lets recap thus far.  We now know that our 200lb lightly active male burns 2200 calories while he's doing nothing and because of his work/school routine he burns 770 calories.  So if this guy did not workout or do any other weekly activities he would burn 2970 calories on work days.  If he sits the majority of his weekend only doing minor activities then we could simply take the sedentary figure from above and use the 15 percent value that goes with it.  So using his 2200 RCE we see that 15 percent equals 330 calories.  So doing the same basic math from above we see that our sample guy burns 2530 calories on the weekends. 


3. WCE (Workout Caloric Expenditure)

Because there is no way I want to list every exercise known to man and how many calories you burn doing them I'm not going to.  But I will give you a couple of sites that have done this.

Basically click on these links, enter your weight and the amount of time you workout and BAM hundreds of exercises and the calories you burn at your weight for the time you work.  It's pretty cool. Make sure you check more than one site and take the average calories.  That way you probably are getting a more accurate number.


1st site Fitness Partner Connection
http://www.primusweb.com/fitnesspartner/jumpsite/calculat.htm

2nd site Changing Shape
http://www.changingshape.com/resources/calculators/caloriesburnedcalculator.asp


4. SO WHAT NOW?

You add everything up.  Take your RCE and add your DAE and add your WCE and you have your total calories burned. If you are active you are likely to burn less calories on certain days and more on others.  If you want to loose weight knock off 200 to 500 calories from each day.  If you want to gain add 200 to 500 calories a day.  If you want to maintain then try to hit your daily expenditure right on the money.  It all comes down to you and what you're doing.  We can all beat whatever it is we're dealing with!!!


That is the deal my friends!  Thanks for sticking with us.  Hope this helps you all reach your goals.


Love -

Mr. Volkslaugh

To show exactly what this means...I've decided to post two pictures.  Look at the two pics and try to figure out how much weight Chris has lost since September.

Chris on September 20th 2006



Chris on May 9th 2007



10lbs?  20lbs? 30lbs? 

Keep in mind  that Chris lost  83lbs prior to that september picture. 

In the first picture Chris weighs 215lbs.  In the second picture which was taken today, Chris weighed in at 214lbs.  Yup 1 pound!  His total weight loss since september is 1 pound.  1 little pound. 

Does everyone see how big a difference there is between muscle weight and fat weight?  Chris lost more inches off his waist during his 1 pound weight loss than  during his 83! 

Do not fear muscle weight!  The scale should not be the primary measurment of progress.  How silly would it be for chris to be discouraged with his 1 pound loss?

Chris your goal is getting close!  Keep up the hard work.

Keep pushing hard everyone.   I'm looking around every night and am blown away by everyone!  The transformations are huge!

Love,

Mr.  Volkslaugh

-Update-

A few facts about muscle vs fat.

1. Fat takes up 3 times more space than muscle. 
2. 1 pound of muscle burns 3 times more calories than 1 pound of fat. 
3. Muscle will use fat as an energy source. 

So basically, adding muscle mass will make you smaller, cause you to burn more calories and cause your body to use fat as energy faster and more efficiently. 

On top of this, muscle gain may help prevent joint injury as well as strengthen bones.  Lean muscle mass has also been linked in preventing bone decay which is common in old age.

All this to say...the scale will probably jump up a few pounds when you're gaining muscle.  Do not stress about this. 

If your pants are falling off don't worry about what the scale is spitting out.

Which one of these two results would you rather have?

You've lost 15 lbs but are still in the same pair of pants.  They're a little lose but the next size down is a little tight.

or

You've gained 4lbs but your pants are falling off.  You look like a teenager because your pants are so baggy.  Time to hit the mall to figure out what your new pant size is.  Oh wow you are 2 sizes smaller...you skipped a whole pant size!

I'm 100 percent sure which one you all would pick.  If I'm wrong then you are an athlete needing to maintain a certain weight or you might need to see about getting professional help.

    In addition to working out six times a week, we have tackled the second major component of our unhealthy previous lives: Nutrition!  Beginning February 18, 2007, we began a plan developed for us by a registered dietitian.  The plan is individualized, according to the height and body frame size of the person.  It is based on a specific calorie intake that correlates to that person's particular size.  It is structured, but allows incredible flexibility for an individual's tastes.  The key to this eating plan is balance!  By providing your body with all that it desires and requires through smaller meals spread throughout the day, we fuel ourselves for activity, boost our metabolism, and we also keep our bodies from going into starvation mode in protest.  And it is working!  Just look at the pounds lost!

      Our specific group is on varying intakes from 1800 to 2400 calories. Below is a chart of some sample calorie intake suggestions based on height and body size.

      Caloric Requirements for Men

Caloric Requirements for Women

Once you know your individual caloric intake, you make your own meal plan.  Each calorie breakdown is then given an exchange plan. At each meal and snack, you are allotted a specific amount of each exchange (protein, fruit, vegetable, starch, milk, and fat). Here are some sample meal plans:



Basically, you aren't counting individual calories.  The dietician has already broken it down for you, so if you eat within the plan, you will be eating the right amount of calories.   Here are the exchange values and some examples that fit within them:



 And that about does it!  You make a meal plan based on what you like and your specific needs.  It does require planning ahead, and packing snacks and lunches when you're on the go.  But it's easy, it's filling, and your body begins to crave what it needs.  You find that it gets easier to overlook the cookie or pizza slice.  And at each weigh in, as the scale shows smaller numbers, the motivation is incredible!  If you have more questions or want more specifics, feel free to send us a message!

Hey everyone!  Thanks for checking us out!

Before we get to the banners.

We want to stress that we have no financial gain from this site.  We are doing this for motivation.  Motivation for us and hopefully motivation for you!  Do not worry about any sales pitches from us. 

Now to the banners.

If ya love what we're doing and want to spread the word then we have a banner you can paste anywhere ya want. We should have some more banners and posters and such coming soon.  Maybe some a little smaller??

Just copy the red font below the banner and paste it in your profile.

<a href="http://www.myspace.com/volkslaugh" target="_blank"><img src="http://img50.imageshack.us/img50/3191/volkslaughgif3ya1.gif" /></a>

Thanks guys!

Team Volkslaugh