Renaissance Periodization : RP

So, in my last 2 posts I talked about my journey out of and then back into fitness and shared some initial before and after photos.

While I said my wife and I used RP  I wanted to share a few more specifics on why we chose RP, what it is, and what we used of theirs, specifically, as well as what we're doing now.

What is RP?

They're a company who is made up of a large board of PhDs, RDs, and current college professors, which is cool.  What's more cool is that they largely agree on everything (which is shocking) and the things they don't all agree on (alcohol consumption, for example) they're open about.  What's even cooler than that is that they are all Olympic lifters, power lifters, endurance athletes, and/or CrossFitters so they understand the needs of athletes and they are not here for your starvation diets (yay carbs!).

Who uses RP?

I mean, other than the super famous me and my wife.... you can go look through the "RP Transformations" group on instagram.  Oh, and they have a few no-name clients too, like Annie Thorisdottir and Rich Froning jr.

What do they offer?

They have nutrition templates as well as workout templates.
They have mass and cut programs, including plans for athletes, non athletes, vegan, gender specific, hypertrophy, etc. 
For nutrition they have a Standard Template, for serious athletes, which is macro counting
A new app that is macro calculating
Then they have what my wife and I used:  The Simplified Template

The simplified template is macro based, but RP has done all the macro counting for you and all you see is a list of foods from each category (protein, fruits and grains, veggies, and fats) and how many ounces (or tbsp) you are to each of each for each meal.  All the meals are the same so you don't have to think about which day it is, which type of meal, or calculate workout times or intensity.  It's.... simple.

For us, the Simple plan worked well for our cut, which is what we were using it for!  I lost 30 pounds in ~90 days and my wife (who weighed much, _much_ less than I did) lost 12 pounds.

It got us back down to fighting weight, got us exposed to thinking about how macros look, disciplined our food choices, and let us practice meal prep.

We are now nearly 7 weeks past completion of our RP simplified template cut and here we are
(the photo was taken on August 3rd, ~4 1/2 weeks post RP):

In the next blog I'll share what macros we are focusing on now, how you can incorporate that into your life, whether you are wanting to cut, mass, or maintain and whether you are a distance runner or a CrossFitter!

Stay tuned!

Transformation Tuesday: Coach Dodd edition, 2019

*Before and after photos at the bottom*

So, in my last blog I introduced my journey over the last few years....

The tale of the tape:
I come in at a towering 5' 6"
I didn't break 100 pounds until I was a freshman in high school.  I graduated high school at somewhere between 120 pounds and 130 pounds.  Yes.. yes... I know... a monster.  "Mammoth of a man" I think is the name you're looking for *flex* #bodybysoccer

Throughout my 20's I stayed between 140 and 165.
31-33 I stayed right at 180.
34 I hit 200 pounds for the first time.
At 36 I was a sloppy 205.

A few things to hear me out on:
1.  Weight alone is a terrible indicator
2.  I despise BMI.  It's stupid.  No, I do get it.  Yes, I still think it's 90% useless at best, detrimental more often.

I could be 205 if I was a powerlifter, CrossFit games athlete, body builder, etc.  But I wasn't... I was just an out of shape 205.  You can be cut up at what BMI says is "morbidly obese".  You can also be obese at that same weight.  The scale is not a good primary indicator of health.  It can be a tool, but just one small tool in a very large tool chest... full of tools... other tools.... better tools.

My wife:  over the last 25 years my wife has been a 4 1/2 foot tall 160 pound overweight adolescent, a competitive gymnast, an anorexic madly in love with "Ed" at 87 pounds (zero muscle mass, hair falling out in clumps, digestive issues, hiatal hernias, faint, etc), and she has birthed 2 children that included gestational diabetes, preeclampsia, and emergency c-section.  She has tried every crash diet, fad diet, pill diet, starvation diet, and pay-for-pounds diet you have ever heard of.  All the bad ones, that is.  She has believed what most girls are taught:  All food is bad, carbs are bad, fat is bad, calories are bad, it's all bad, and the only way to lose weight is to starve your body to the point of misery. 

We both were fed up.  We both got "done" at the same time.  So, we tried what some good friends suggested.  A crazy program that we had never heard of:  Renaissance Periodization.  Crazy name, but we liked what we saw.  I'll do another post specifically about RP in the next few days (what it is, what it isn't, who it's for, why we chose it, what we thought, how we did it, tips and tricks, etc.), so look for that.  Also, I'll detail what we're doing now and how things are going!

In the meantime, here were our before and after photos (before photos taken the first day of our cut and the after photos taken on the last day of our cut, which was 7 weeks ago):

30 pounds down

12 pounds down

My weight loss numbers each week (notice the up and down)

"What's the Point?": 3 Deadly Words and A New Lease on Life

5 years.

That's how long it's been since I was actively taking care of myself, on a daily basis.

2 years.

That's how long I completely let myself go and allowed myself to fall into full on "screw it all" mode with my fitness.

If you've been a blog reader here and or have read my book  then you know I've had a _lot_ of knee surgeries over the years.  2 years ago I was hired to lead a conditioning and skills camp for a high school boy's soccer team.  Most of the time I'm hired to operate a "hell week" to run people off.... which I love ;)  During this week, while I was out of shape and had already let myself get too far out of bounds, I still had to play.  I. Can't. Help. It.  Much to my wife's chagrin.... but that's for another blog, lol

Anyway, there rolled a 50/50 ball and my foot met the ball at the exact same instant as one of the kid's foot met the ball.  Standard fare.  Only my knee cap slid out to the side of my leg and hung... it got stuck.  So, there I was, on the field, with my knee cap locked to the outside of my leg, decisively where it was _not_ supposed to be.  I grit my teeth, grabbed it with both hands, rolled hard one way while I pulled with hands the other, all while trying to relax the muscles (ha!), and I was able to pop it back into place (about 15 minutes later).  The physical damage sucked, it scrambles everything around when this happens and then "freezes" your quad as well.  The psychological damage is what I let take over, though.  I was done.  I told myself that was it.  I was washed up, I was old (I wasn't), and what I let ring in my ears over and over again was the death nail of "what's the point?"

What's the point?  What's the point of rehab if you're just going to do it again?  What's the point in getting your mileage back up if you're only going to get hurt again and have to start all over?  What's the point in pushing in the gym when you're going to inevitably have another surgery that will cause you to lose all your gains and go back to square one, again?  What's the point?  Those three words froze me in time.  It wasn't pretty.

I lost my engine, lost my gains, lost my drive, lost my fire, lost my desire to run, lost my push to workout, lost my ability to write this blog, and I gained about 30 pounds of pure body fat.  All from 3 little words.  My words, in my own head, my three deadly words: "What's the point?"

In my next blog I'm looking forward to detailing a bit of how I came out of that 3 word hole and where I am now (pics included...)

Don't give up.  It's worth it.  You will get hurt.  You will get injured.  You will have setbacks.  You will start over.  And, most importantly, you will have Life.

What should I wear for a SPARTAN / OCR race???

What do I need and what should I wear for a SPARTAN race???

In this article we will cover Head, shoulders, knees, and toes…. And everything else in-between (don't act like you weren't wondering....)!

If, somehow, you found yourself here but are still unsure, check out this Link that talks about what Spartan racing is all about!

For starters, congratulations!  The fact that you are looking at an article like this means that you are already on your way to becoming a SPARTAN!

What do I need to do/think about before I go?

1.  Surround yourself with a pack of people to support you, whether in training or on the course itself

2.  Bring confidence that you have trained and prepared and are excited - perform a quick "Spring cleaning" of your running form (especially for Beast distance).

3.  Make sure you've looked at some of the obstacles.  Remember that, while SPARTAN has several "core" obstacles that appear at almost all races, they love to throw in new and exciting challenges all the time.  The add new obstacles, tweak old ones, change the weight/height/distance/position, etc.  Even on race day, when you have arrived, you still wont know what all obstacles you'll face - and that's a big part of the fun!

What do I need to bring with me?

1.  Registration and waiver (already printed and signed)

2.  Photo ID (that you'll have to take with you to the registration tent).

3.  Bag (to throw said ID in) with towel and change of clothes - and a trash bag to put the clothes and shoes you just raced in inside for the ride home.

4.  Bring cash for the secure bag check (usually $5).

5.  For Sprint distance, most people will not need food, water, or packs of any kind.  For the Super distance you may want a hydration pack and protein bar

6.  For the Beast you will want to carry your own fluid, bring protein bars/chews/etc. and consider S-Caps

What should I wear?

1.  Pay attention to the weather!!!  

Check for temperature and check for rain/sleet/snow.  Plan accordingly!  Remember, whatever you're wearing (if you're racing in cold weather) you should be COLD when you're standing waiting to race.   If you are comfortable (temperature wise) before you start you will be sweating and miserable very soon!

2.  Just say "NO!" to cotton
Nothing on your body, anywhere, anywhere should be cotton!

3.  Head:

Spartan will provide a race headband with your race number on in.  In the heat this is a nice sweat band and in the cold it can be pulled over your ears.

4.  Ladies: Sports bra.  

We all know there are lots of different types of sports bras.... there are instagram photoshoot sports bras, there are slow-no-impact-don't-I-look-Cute sports bras, there are sports bras with underwire, there are sports bras with zippers.  Find a good, NO-COTTON, truoee compression fit, highly supportive (high impact), full coverage sports bra with no bells and whistles (no pockets, no zippers, no underwire).

5.  Shirt or no shirt?  

This is a question you will have to answer yourself, there will be always be men and women in both camps, regardless of temperature.  That said, here are a few things to consider:  a.  be COMPLETELY comfortable. If you are in anyway self conscious about not wearing a shirt (even though you shouldn't be), then wear a shirt!  You will be uncomfortable enough... lol.  If it's cold, going shirtless Can be better because you don't have anything that is wet and cold stuck to your body.  On the shirt side, remember that you will be crawling on the ground in dirt, gravel, sand, hay, and for many people (myself included) having a layer between your bare skin and all those irritants is very beneficial.  Be sure to remember, should you wear a shirt, refer back to rule number 2!  Think compression.

6.  Pants/shorts:  

My suggestion here is compression tights, for men or women.  3/4 length is fine, but full length is better (same reason as given for wearing a shirt in number 5).  Shorts are great as well, but make sure there is no cotton.  If you don't have to carry anything, try to find shorts with no pockets.  If you do not need to carry something (like an emergency inhaler in my case) try to find something with a zipper pocket.  I say this because you don't want pockets filling up with mud and dirt, making them uncomfortable and Heavy.

7.  Underwear:  

Men:  wear compression shorts as underwear if you are wearing shorts - or just wear the compression shorts As your shorts (with nothing underneath them And nothing on top of them).  If you are wearing compression tights, just wear compression tights, no underwear underneath.

Ladies:  no cotton, No Cotton, NO COTTON.  If you are wearing compression tights, just wear compression tights (the good thick ones... not the see through "yoga" ones) with nothing underneath.  If you are wearing compression shorts (probably best), just wear the compression shorts with nothing underneath.  If you want to wear regular running shorts, wear compression shorts underneath, as underwear, and then your running shorts over top.  If you are one who just absolutely can't stand the idea of not having underwear on (even though that's what compression shorts are supposed to be) then wear a basic, non-lacy, non-frilly, completely non-cotton thong.

8.  Calf sleeves?  

If you are wearing shorts (and not compression tights) then calf sleeves are an option.  Will they help?  Maybe.  They wont make you super human, they wont make you faster, they may help with cramping up during the race, they may help with DOMS, they will provide some level of skin protection (if you're not wearing tights) just among briers and such on the race course.

9.  Socks:

Sock choice is actually Very important.  Just ask anyone who didn't think about their sock choice until after the started the race!  What's rule number one in choosing socks?  See rule number 2 above!  Above that, you want socks that come up high enough to protect your achilles from rubbing (blisters) and I would strongly suggest toe socks .  Reason being, your feet will get wet and stay wet most of the race, regardless which race you run.  So, separating your toes helps tremendously with keeping your toes from rubbing (blisters).

10. Shoes:

 Shoe choice is also important.  You want shoes that will survive, first off, and you want shoes that you probably aren't going to cry about if they don't...

You want shoes with a relatively flat bottom (maximum surface area), shoes without cotton all over them (padding, etc.), you don't want waterproof shoes (as your feet will be completely submerged and when a waterproof shoe gets submerged it becomes a bucket), you want shoes with aggressive tread (lots and lots and lots of mud), you want shoes that are zero drop (or as close as you can get - nothing above 6mm, strong preference given to 0-4mm), you want shoes that fit well, and shoes that Will remain tied!  For me, there is NO shoe that even comes close to Altras - not even close.

* For All clothing, thinkcompression:  tight and form fitting. Reason being,  you don't want clothing catching on any obstacle, it will make everything harder, from going over walls to especially going underneath Barbwire.

*  Knee/ankle/etc Braces:

Obviously, one would prefer to not have to wear braces at all.  They aren't comfortable at long distance, cheap ones ride up and/or down, budget ones can soak up water, etc.  That said, sometimes you need to.  Most of the time I do (1/2 dozen knee surgeries over the years), this one I'm running next week I have to (blew out my knee, knocked my kneecap out of place, and tore my meniscus and haven't had it repaired yet).  For knee braces, the ONLY one I have found that I could genuinely run with at any race for any distance is the CEP RXOrtho+

-Also, if you are going to wear a brace of any kind, I would strongly suggest that you put it on first and then wear full length compression tights OVER the brace to help with all of the above issues (specifically: holding it in place comfortably).

Spartan Fit and the transformation of one of America's finest

Last year I got to run a Spartan race with a group of America's finest.  Before the race, one of the LEOs who had signed up for this particular chest thumping torture test was a guy named Nate.

I didn't know Nate's story at the time but was able to learn a bit of it over the next year and the story was so inspiring that I wanted to take a moment to share.

First off, Nate was a college athlete and, as such, a big strong guy.
Nate was also diagnosed with diabetes and the medical condition began, over the years, to take a toll on his body.  Now, as an adult, a dedicated husband, a devoted father, and a fulltime sheep dog (with a K-9 partner of his own), Nate didn't have a lot of time to devote to himself.  Long hours, long nights, changing shifts, a four legged partner, a baby, and the extra jobs that our Law Enforcement officers have to take in order to support a family didn't allow Nate much remaining focus to take care of his diabetes or, therefore, his overall health.
One day, God gave Nate a serious wake up call.  Nate knew, that day, that it was time to change.... everything.

Most people would start small and verify results before making any big plunges.  That's what gets "most" people into trouble, often times.  Nate?  Nate, before his journey back to a healthy lifestyle even started, he got a call from a fellow officer inviting him to come with them on a Spartan race several months out.  That was all Nate needed - that was his motivational goal, that would be his measuring stick, he signed on the dotted line, and went to work.

Remember that first picture?

After several months, the day arrived (the day I met  Nate) and Nate, like thousands before him, toed the starting line of the biggest OCR brand in the world.

Also like thousands before him and thousands more to come (myself included), as soon as he finished the race, he was hooked.

In the next year, Nate would continue to trim down his waist, build up his strength, bore out his engine, and would run several half marathons and several more Spartans (even entering - and fairing quite well - in his first Competitive heat).

Nate didn't buy into any gimmicks.  There were no "super pills", no "detox" drinks, no fad videos, just clean eating and dirty training.  As the pictures show, Nate's dedication to his health, through diet control, protein consumption, HIIT, running, and support from his wife, Lauren, Nate was able to transform his life.  To beat back against the weight of his diabetes, and to make sure he keeps his ability to serve and protect the rest of us with the best of his ability, while being around for a very, Very long time for his beautiful family.

Nate, from the whole Spartan family, "AROO!"

Congratulations on all your accomplishments this past year.


Joe D and the Spartan family are proud to present you with a FREE RACE CODE good for Any open heat Spartan Race this year!

Notice the missing hardware in that 3rd picture!


For everyone else who wants to follow Nate's example and get on board, follow a KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid) program, love protein, HIIT is your friend, follow this blog, look for daily Spartan Workouts, daily Spartan Meals, and check out Joe DeSena's new book (releasing August 2nd) called "Spartan Fit!"

Spartan Fit book provides excellent whole life skills.  This is not a "get fit quick" strategy.  This is a book to get you to change your life, your habits, your thought process.  The lifeskills are great, the motivational stories will get you fired up ready to run through walls, the Hero Workouts are very cool, but the 30 day "do THIS" fitness program included in the book will be what most people find invaluable.