Tuesday, April 12, 2011

It’s Not Whether You Win Or Lose...


In some sports overtime is referred to as sudden death, which is pretty much what happened to me on Sat. I’d done a hard brick workout (running and biking); that was pretty much a 100% effort and then decided, just for kicks, to follow it straight away with Asylum’s Overtime workout. Safe to say that I didn’t win the game, but at least I was in it.

Overtime is the shortest workout in the Asylum series. It was meant to be done after another workout, specifically Game Day (but could be added to any workout) when either is starts to become routine or you just feel the need to put the hammer down. Overtimes are generally shorter than the actual periods of a given game, too, but they are usually the most painful period. This is the thought process behind the Overtime workout and it doesn’t disappoint. You come out of the gate at full speed and don’t stop until “the game is over.”

For some of you it may be over before others, like it was for me. That isn’t true as I finished the workout but if it had been a game it would have been over long before. After about five minutes of Overtime things turn cruel as you begin a series of 100% explosive jumps. As I “exploded” (Shaun’s word, not mine) on the first of them I had nothing left to give. Directed to hang in the air and switch my legs I found that I could barely get into the air at all, much less switch my feet. I felt like BYU superstar Jimmer Fredette in the NCAA tourney during the second overtime against Florida when his shot stopped falling. “That’s it,” said the announcer. “The legs are gone. Game over.”

The cool thing about games, however, is that they never really end. Win or lose there’s always another one to play, which is pretty much the hook of playing sports. Like the saying goes, “it’s not whether you win or lose but how you play the game that counts”. We play games because we like to see ourselves improve. Asylum Overtime leaves plenty of room for that.

pic: kemba: more fun to win but the physical pain is the same either way.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Steve,

Sorry, off topic, but I wanted to bring to your attention to this re GMO's (loved your previous post re same, btw):

http://www.responsibletechnology.org/blog/1340

/michm

Tommy said...

This Asylum thing sounds great. I'm starting to precede intense cardio workouts, like Plyo X and Insanity Max Interval with a 1-3 mile run. It definitely tests my limits, but I know even if I simply show up/dig deep/push hard......I'll get the results.

Anonymous said...

A comment about the BYU,Florida game. Jimmer Fredette was a one man show. He had absolutely no support from his team. Once his legs went, Florida pulled away and won by 10. Jimmer is somewhat of a ball hog as well.

Steve Edwards said...

somewhat of a ball hog? Will be interesting to see if that game translates to the next level. Fun to watch now though.

Chad said...

Steve,

Not related to your post, but a few months ago, you mentioned something about teaming up with Sagi Kalev to develop an in home mass program. any update/progress?

I have another month left on my latest round of P90X (#6 I think) and then I'm going to give Asylum a try. Can't wait.

Thanks,
- Chad

TheThinker said...

Man I hate bonking...Worst feeling on the planet. Had a question for you steve, what is your opinion on HIT for hypertrophy? The popular Dorian Yates training philosophy. Two warm up sets followed by one all out set for each exercise. Low volume, high intensity. Yates built his crazy olympian physique off this, for me it seems weird, since I was always a high volume guy.

Thanks.

Marianne said...

Steve -

I'm a little frightened now :-) but intrigued. My copy of Asylum is on it's way so I am so hungry for information and this was a fun read! Thanks for always keeping us entertained!

Marianne

Steve Edwards said...

Not sure about Yates' plan. I suppose if you do long enough workouts, since it seems the most hypertrophy is gained by elevating testosterone levels for about an hour. Then again, depending on whether you're a fast or slow twitch type dictates volume effectness. Yates, too, most likely was on the juice when he got large. I'm very interested in mass dieting but it's decidedly not my wheel house as most of the guys I've personally worked with who were huge took 'roids. Hoping to learn more about it when/if we create our mass program.

TheThinker said...

These pros have great genetics, going over 200 pounds easily without aas. Roids (not trying to be a typical meat head) aren't that bad if you know what you are doing. Now you shouldn't mess with them before you reaching your genetic potential. I tried HIT yesterday and found it rather good, rear delts are sore. I'll just experiment with this training style, might work, might not. Thanks.