pauls 4X7

[Paul Keith]

here is the outline of the 4X7 program

Intu flow everyday as warmup and prep for movement
FlowFit®® as primary method for GPP
prasara for working on the lower body issues muted hip flexor function in the frontal plain and over tight hams the test for efficacy will be the four corner balance drill (leg hight and RPD)
I will be using re-set methods throughout the program

FlowFit®® will be my moderate and high intensity. my goal with FF is to get to one round in under a minute (25 rounds) with an RT of 7-8, I want to keep the RT at 7-8 so I will double my time and compress rest periods as I go so the FF so I am looking at 50 min total work time FF (I may be setting the bar too low with 2 min rounds, I will find out in my first couple of workouts and adjust accordingly).

I will use flock of pigeons to cobra to camel (modified caterpillar type movement for my low intensity day, and perhaps as a cool down on higher intensity days to address the hip flexor/hamstring issues,

My no intensity day will be Intu-Flow® and walks, first thing in the morning and post meal (the weather is slowly starting to warm up and I am looking forward to this)

-to anyone who reads this sorry for the blog dump I do my workouts in a paper notebook and transfer to computer when I have time-

Monday (mid intensity)
03/10/08
4:45 PM
Intu-Flow® basic level slow concentrating on recovering ROM
Overhead circles seem tight

9:00 pm
FlowFit®
25 rounds in 50 min (1 R every 2 min)
RPE 6
RPT 7
RPD 3-4 (old residual tension in legs bleeding over into knees a bit)
Underestimated my ability a bit, seemed too easy, will shorten rest periods for the rest of the program.

Tuesday (High)
03/11/08
3:15 PM
Intu-Flow® basic lev
Overheads tight again did AIS pectoral routine and returned to arm circles, noticeable increase in ROM after. (I will have to find posture in Prasara to address tightness in pecs, and integrate it into low day routine).

10:10 PM
FlowFit®
25 rounds in 37.5 min (1R every 1.5 min)
RPE 6-8 (8in the last 8-10 rounds)
RPT 5-7 (form degraded a bit when I pushed to get through rounds)
RPD 3-5 (tension in knees made breathing squats a bit challenging, might have to back off them a bit until after I see massage therapist)
Pace was challenging made me push harder.
Vibration between rounds

Wednesday (low)
3/12/08
4:40pm
Intu-Flow® basic
Felt good overall DOMS in legs from yesterday, did vibration for a few minutes before Prasara.

5:00 PM
Prasara
Flock of pigeons flow from sleeping warrior at the end of FOP I transition into cobra slowly concentrating on maximum ROM in the hips to cobra to downdog to cobra again I draw up the knees and begin camel. I am still trying to make this smooth (especially the end) but I found it so enjoyable I lost track of time. It was 6:30 before I knew it. I finished with corpse pose and square breathing for roughly 5 min.
Thursday (no)
3/13/08
3:00 PM
Intu-Flow® basic
Walked roughly 2 miles

Friday (mid)
3/14/08
2:30 AM
Intu-Flow®
everything feels pretty smooth (backed down to basic level IF after NU, to really concentrate on what I think I was kind of phoning in before)

9:00 AM
FlowFit®
RPE 6
RPT 6-7
RPD 2-3
On my low days I am going to eliminate the breathing squat portion of the FF program due to the knee issues mentioned previously, to give that part of my body one more day to recover (I will drop and do the low FF portion then stand between rounds)

Saturday (high)
3/15/08
11:00 AM
Intu-Flow® basic
During 4cbd felt much less tension in my hip flexors and quads no real height difference but not as much tension at the same heights.

11:25 AM
FlowFit®
RPE 7-8
RPT 7
RPD 3-4
I don’t know if it is my messed up work schedule (overnights during the week and normal during the weekend) in conjunction with this 4X7 or what, but my energy levels are wonky, I slept 12 hours last night, and I am probably going to take a long nap later, I feel like I got run over by a truck. On the bright side I feel like I have this program pretty dialed in now.

Sunday (low)
3/16/08
10:40 A.M.
Intu-Flow® (inter)
Began going up in sophistication a bit (kept the legs at basic level)



11:15 am
Prasara
Back to FOP with cobra, DD and camel again my hips feel looser, but other then increased relaxation in the poses and movements I am not yet seeing much difference, I think I will do a full cycle of Prasara work after this 4X7 is done, besides I need to work on cleaning the slate a bit more anyway. Energy levels have been weird all weekend, I slept most of yesterday.

Mon (no)
3/17/08
3:30 pm
Intu-Flow® (inter ,Legs at basic)
Feeling lots of lower back releases and general crunchiness in the hips

4:00
Walk 1.5 miles



Tusday (mid)
3/18/08
2:08 pm
Intu-Flow® (inter)
4CBD felt about as good as it ever has as far as keeping the leg raised, usually burns in the quads and hip flexors when the foot is raised above 2.5 ft I was at about 3 ft and it felt pretty good.

6:15pm
FlowFit®
RPE 7
RPD 3
RPT 8
Motivation low today feeling tired but otherwise session went well felt better after as usual. Legs felt good today in the sense that they seemed to have a bit more mobility so it made the overall work easier in the lower positions. I stayed with the reduced breathing squat today also.









Wednesday (high)
3/19/08
2:30pm
Intu-Flow®
Had some releases in my upper back (didn’t know I had issues there but I will take what I can get)

3:00 pm
FlowFit®
RPE 7
RPT 7
RPD 3-4
Exertion was high but I felt I was reaching a second wind faster overall this was probably the best high intensity day so far.




Thursday (low)
3/20/08
4:50pm
Intu-Flow® (inter)
Felt some residual tension in legs from yesterday

5:45 pm
Prasara
FOS with add-ons
Felt great; both sit bones are pretty close to the ground in pigeon pose and I feel like my ROM is finally opening up in the movement from sleeping warrior to cobra, feels weird (not bad) but I am going through the whole motion without hips and hams being super shakey and tight.

Friday (no)
3/21/08
08:30am
Intu-Flow® (inter)
Did pretty much nothing today

Saturday (mid)
3/22/08
5:50 am
Intu-Flow® (inter)
Worked some of the advanced coordination movements after the intermediate haven’t done them in a long time need more work.

1:15
FlowFit® (limited breathing squat)
RPD 2-3
RPE 5-6
RPT 7
Energy levels feel good, didn’t get out paced half way through I shortened the rest periods to a minute and actually finished, I will try shortening them tomorrow and see what happens when I have the breathing squat added in.

Sunday (high)
3/23/08
8:00 am
Intu-Flow® (inter)
Stuck with the intermediate level even with the lower body, still cant quite raise legs to waist level without pinching/burning but my leg is higher.

10:00am
FlowFit®
Tried shortening recovery time and adding in breathing squat, bad idea, lost track of breathing around round 10 and taking the full minute to complete the round no recovery increased the recovery time around round 12 back to what it was before (1round every 1.5 min)

Monday (low)
3/24/08
3:30pm
Intu-Flow® (intermediate)
Something I have noticed is that when my static ROM increases my dynamic ROM is close behind, I was playing around with my heavy bag after Intu-Flow® and my kicks seemed to be higher then usual with more control at lower levels.

4:15pm
Prasara
Felt tight today not sure why it was taking longer for my hips and legs to “surrender” to the tension.

Tuesday (no)
3/25/08
2:50 pm
Intu-Flow®
Lots of crunchiness in hips when doing lumbar infinites and pelvic circles.
I held my foot at hip level today just pinching no burning cool.

Wednesday (mid)
3/26/08
2:45 pm
Intu-Flow®
More crunchiness I seem to have reached a new threshold with the 4CBD hip level is the new point above that and the discomfort starts I tried to bend over to grab the foot, bad idea changed the tension in the hip, I will have to be more patient.

Flow fit (reduced breathing squats)
RPD 2
RPE 5-6
RPT 7
I did the rounds in a minute with time to spare did chug and shimmy between rounds. My transitions from low squat to spinal rock are feeling good (my squat position is deeper) I just need to work on getting more forward movement so I don’t have to use my hands.

[Paul Keith]

Thursday (high)
3/27/08
4:00 PM
Intu-Flow®
My leg infinites are feeling pretty smooth and seem higher I feel like progress is being made, just not as fast as I want (blasted impatience)

Flow fit (full breathing squats)
RPD 3
RPE 7-8
RPT 5-6
I compressed the rest period to 1min 15 sec. It was challenging but I made the time, toward the end I was pushing it with the form a bit but I’m sure it will get easier. On a side note I started wearing different shoes at work (I walk a lot at work) and my knees have not bothered me as bad (the knees never bother me in the workout, the problem manifests itself as really intense DOMS in the days after the high intensity day)

Friday (low)
3/28/08
9:00AM
Intu-Flow® (inter)
I needed this I finished the session with pigeon pose and shin box switches, my legs were angry with me from the Flow fit work yesterday.

Didn’t get my prasara in today ran out of time running around and whatnot, will do a downgraded prasara tomorrow.
-Since technically I am awake all day on Friday’s (no sleep between Thursday and Friday if I am really in a sparate day with the 4X7 I am thinking no but am not sure how to alter the program for this (probably a question I should have asked in the beginning). This is probably why I don’t really have increased energy with this program so far I tend to feel more run down and require more sleep, however I will say in many ways so far it has been a gut check to get through the higher intensity days with little sleep.


Saturday (no)
3/29/08
9:00 AM
Intu-Flow®
Always feels good on a Saturday I feel like when I am fully rested and do IF my movement is cleaner (what ever that means) all day.
9:30AM
Prasara
concentrated on release of tension in the movements and didn’t try and push anything much, felt overly tight in my hams.

8:42 PM
My legs were tight so I performed another lower body round of Intu flow.

Suunday (Mid)
3/30/08
11:20 AM
Intu-Flow®
Feeling good today fully rested my hams feel better then yesterday did a bit more prasara after the IF session just to make sure my legs are good and loose

12:00
Flow fit
RPE 6-7
RPD 2-3
RPT 7
Kept the rounds to 1:15 per but included the breathing squats performed the chug between, performed flock of pigeons after as a cool down felt good after. I felt like I made the rounds in under a minute, I think I will make sure I rest really well and see if I can make the 1 round in a minute tomorrow.

Monday (high)
3/31/08
3:00 PM
Intu-Flow®
Feel good, slept 6.5 hrs feel ready to go

3:20
FlowFit®
RPD 3
RPE 8
RPT 6-7
Made it I felt like I was cruising in the beginning, I reached CRD at the 7th or 8th round and wanted to quit, but I pushed through and felt much better around the 10th round started to reach another CRD “membrane” around the 20th round but I figured I only had 5 rounds left.

Tuesday (low)
4/1/08
5:00 PM
Intu-Flow®
Touched my toes from standing in the 4CBD in the front otherwise I am barely even feeling yesterdays workout.

5:25 PM
Prasara
I have to start taking a yoga class outside of doing prasara at home there is a highly regarded Iyengar class down the block from me, they travel to India a couple of times a year, I am really enjoying yoga and feel I could do this for its own sake (in the past I have regarded it as the fitness equivalent to the way I view tai chi in martial arts good for others but not “burly” enough to be something I would do) I feel like I have scratched the surface, and I need more technical face to face instruction.

Wednesday (no)
4/2/08
6:00 PM
Intu-Flow®
Feel great my low back is releasing like crazy on a lark I walked backward with my hands down the wall and am back to where I was like 6 yrs ago I need to work on my stability in my right shoulder in my next cycle I think bridges are not far off. On a side note I have lost about 25 lbs since I started this 4X7, probably would have been more but my consistency in my nutrition is still off I have made an improvement but still have a way to go.

Thursday (mid)
4/3/08
4:00 pm
Intu-Flow®
Feel excellent not much else to say

5:00PM
FlowFit®
RPD 2
RPE 7
RPT 7
Only hit a wall once (14th rd) felt pretty good, finished every round with time to spare chugged & shimmied between rounds, was slowing down toward the end barley made it in under a minute, for the last 5-6 rounds. On a side note my leg swoops are looking much better, in the early rounds I was actually doing the full leg swoop, when I hit the 10th round I started to loose technique on the swoop, so I downgraded to just sliding the leg across without the full hop over.

Friday (high)
4/4/08
2:00 PM
Intu-Flow®
Played around with advanced coordination a bit felt pretty good.

2:40
FlowFit®
RPD 2
RPE 7-8
RPT 7
Made the minute rounds but I pretty much only slept today (3.5 hrs) because I didn’t want to punk out on my last high intensity day. The lack of sleep really plays with how I felt during the session; I hit the wall twice and was very happy when I was done.

Saturday (low)
4/5/08
10:00 AM
Intu-Flow®
Felt better today after some sleep and Intu-Flow®.

10:25 AM
Prasara
I was not very sore after yesterday compared to when I started this 4X7. but nonetheless the prasara session felt great.

Sunday (no)
4/6/08
5:30 PM
Intu-Flow®
I was thanking the gods of serendipitous scheduling for the fact this was a no intensity day I went to a bachelor party last night and overdid it quite a bit, I very rarely drink copiously (once or twice a year just to remind me why I shouldn’t) but we went to a Bavarian beer hall, and my motivation to do anything today was low.

[Paul Keith]

4x7 in hindsight. I need to concentrate on rest if I want to continue to make gains. I am going to go back to cleaning the slate for my next cycle, I am going to take the better part of this week to make a plan of action and plan to be starting next monday (I have a wedding to attend and help out with next weekend, and don't want to bite off more then I can chew). I also need to blog daily or at least weekly instead of doing the blog dump (all apologies for the big blogs) in the end I do feel more fit, if not more energetic (this is the sleep thing) I plan on looking for a different job after this semester is over and hopefully will be done with overnights for ever.

[shadow]

Just a comment from a casual observer... but your RPD seemed consistently quite high.

I am finding that incremental work is a lot better than pushing constantly into discomfort, once the RPD is a 3 or higher you may be doing damage to yourself.

[JasonE]

Paul -

Good to see your blog, and congratulations on the progress you made! Dropping 25 pounds is great too... Keep up the good work, and let me know if you need any help!

[Paul Keith]

Thanks jason,

Damien; my RPD was pretty high especially in the beginning, I ideally would have liked to clean the slate for a cycle or two first but, this 4X7 had to be started relatively soon after CST NU, and I felt it was important to work on my weakest points for this cycle,(FlowFit® and overall fitness level) so I programed as much compensatory movement to address the issues I had going in, chronically tight hip flexors leading to holding of residual tension in the add/abductor and knee. this was causing me most of the discomfort but it was largely abated through the prasara work. that said I am looking forward to just working on cleaning the slate for the next month or so.