Thursday, November 6, 2008

Stew Smith's Leg Exercises for the Road

Charlie Mike reader Luciano had a question about working out on the road: I´d like to ask you if you have some work out for the legs for those cases when you don´t have access to a gym. Did you train with squats, lunges etc.? I have trained in a gym for several years, but always think what happens if you have to travel or can´t go to a gym because you haven´t the time, money, etc.

Answer: Here is what I do when I'm traveling for leg days.

Option #1 - run 2-3 miles but in between each 1/2 mile I stop and do

squats - 25
lunges 15 / leg
heel raises - 25

Option #2 - if not comfortable with running around a strange town or gym does not have a bike, treadmill, etc... do the same leg exercises but run flights of steps.

I like to run 5 flights of steps / stop and do above leg PT - repeat 4-5 times. Then I go back to my room and do ab exercises in between leg stretching.

Stew


Stew Smith CSCS
Alden's USNA and BUD/S classmate and pal for more than 20 years (ouch)

Note: Charlie Mike blogger Tom Ranich (another SEAL pal on the 20 year plus plan) had the following advice for Luciano: Lunges, squat thrusts, 8- counts, flutter kicks and my favorite---running the stairs of the hotel. Lastly, Alden Mills's advice is to do the 8-count Body Builder Perfect Pushup workout (to the right of your screen: it's the fourth workout, at the bottom).

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Stew Smith is a former Navy SEAL and fitness author, certified as a Strength and Conditioning Specialist (CSCS) with the National Strength and Conditioning Association. If you are interested in starting a workout program to create a healthy lifestyle - check out the StewSmith.com Fitness eBook store and the Stew Smith article archive at StewSmith.com. To contact Stew with your comments and questions, e-mail him at stew@stewsmith.com.

8 comments:

Joe G. said...

Perhaps the world's most boring exercise -- running in place -- also works well on the road. It gets the heart rate up instantly. With the P.Pushup and traditional calisthenics, you're good to go. It's not rocket science.

Running in a dangerous area is also highly recommended. It intensifies the morning coffee's effects! I'm not talking Baghdad -- Good Lord, I'm afraid to run in New York City -- I mean like downtown San José, Costa Rica. People stare at you like you're from a different planet. Adds a little humor and excitement to the day.

Exercising on the road offers the most entertaining ways to cross train because the possibilities are limitless. As SS mentioned, running stair flights, etc. works like a charm. And if you lose your P.Pushup you can do regular ones, which will immediately remind you how extraordinary this device is.

Charlie Mike, gentlemen!

Lisa A said...

Happy Veteran's Day!

To all our veterans at Charlie Mike a heartfelt "THANK YOU!!" for your service to our nation!!

Joe G. said...

My math skills are bad. How bad are they? When I look at my Bodyrev poster that tells me specifically how to customize my P. Pushup workout, I’m thinking, okay, 2 minute drills, 2 seconds per pushup, 1 second down, 1 second up – I am now at day 20 and my max is up to 30 (Hooyah!), so I’m doing the 20-12-8 routine.

I AM RUNNING OUT OF SECONDS! MAY DAY!

What happens when my max gets to be 50? (I expect to be there in less than a year; maybe even within 3-6 months. Hey, I’m 49 years old. Don’t laugh.) The routine then becomes 30-16-12. That is 116 seconds even if you can keep a 2-second-per-pushup pace, which you cannot unless you are Superman or a Navy SEAL.

Don’t tell me I only get 4 seconds of rest at that point. I’ll quit now!

Seriously, what gives?

Happy Veterans Day, champions.

Alden Mills said...
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Travis said...

I'm kind of a fitness novice, so forgive the perhaps naive questions. I have used the Perfect Pushup for several months now (probably around 8 months)and have really grown in my ability to do push-ups. However, I have grown past the provided chart and so I started making up my own increments. I currently do 40-24-16 each time, and always have a protein shake or some form of mass protein intake following each workout. I am worried that the emphasis is/has shifted from increasing muscle/strength to simply increasing endurance. How do I make sure to continue building muscle with the push-ups? Also, I would like to get a pull-up bar and add that to my training. But would that interfere with my push-up routines? Would it be best to alternate days or combine both push-ups and pull-ups on the same day?

Thanks for the advice!

Alden Mills said...

Charlie Mike blogger – and former SEAL – Tom Rancich took time on Veteran’s Day to answer joe g’s question:

“You can either whine about it or do it—which do you choose Sally?” * the idea is to rest just enough to avoid total muscle degradation—so, my answer after the wise ass answer is—extend the rest period to accommodate the increased numbers—then, well, we never had anyone get that far before---

* Apologies of course to any Sallies reading. I have nothing personal against you and have in fact only known two people named Sally—that I can remember at this moment—both of great character, one was Sally Corbin who was way smarter than me and one was Sally Scinko who could beat me up (and swim faster).


Travis, joe g – stay tuned for some new Perfect Pushup routines and schedules, some combining Perfect Pushup and Perfect Pullup workouts. Check on Charlie Mike and eventually on our upcoming Community Site.

And keep the questions coming!! Thanks Tom for fielding joe’s question.

Anonymous said...
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Joe G. said...

Hey, I’m just a beggar looking for a few crumbs here, but this is good stuff. Thanks a million!

I’m at Day 21, a rest day for the P. Pushup, so I did my running routine, which for today was a slow 6-miler. My slow runs are about a 9-minute pace. A fast 6-miler for me is a 7:45 pace. My PR in a 10k is only 43:58 – years ago. Nothing special.

But I really am psyched about this pushup thing. My posture has improved in the past three weeks. You believe that?

If people have even the most elementary knowledge of health and fitness they will RUN to the nearest dealer or buy a set online. Make it two sets; one for your closest friend. My max was 23 perfect pushups three weeks ago, so I stuck with the 14-10-6 plan for 20 days, and yesterday my max was 30!

This is known as MEASURABLE PROGRESS, my friends. IT’S RIGHT THERE ON THE CHART!

I really am fired up, as you can tell, which is precisely what my chart tells me to do on Day 21. Later!

- Sally