As for this week’s challenge:

- 20-29 minutes cardio (2 pts)
- 30+ minutes cardio (3 pts)
- Wed practice (3 pts)
- 100 strokes or 3 min pool paddling (1 pt; earn up to 6 pts per day)
- Gold boat challenge (3 pts)

Gold boat challenges:

- (Strength) “Tabata Something Else” - Consecuetive Tabata rounds of: pullups, pushups, situps, squats.  One Tabata round is 8 reps of 20 sec work/10 sec rest
- (Cardio) Run a total of 6 miles over the week. You can do it all at once, or break it up into 2×3mi sessions or 3×2 mi sessions, or if you really hate running, half mi sessions in the morning, lunch and evening for all we care - just get that distance down in 5 days!

So here’s the deal, no victory is sweet without a goal. The target weight loss goal is 100 pounds total. The more people participate, the easier it is for us to obtain that goal. And how’s this, a little monetary incentive. There is going to be a $5 pool for this program. Back to our boat example, if 20 Guppies participate at $5 a person, that’s a $95 pool. Not too shabby.

Here are the rules:

• The Long Beach Races weigh-in shall be baseline.
• Winner(s) selected on greatest percentage loss from Long Beach Races to San Francisco Races.
• No buy-in necessary to particiapte weight loss recording only portion of this
• Final pool winner to be selected from greatest pool participant weight loss percentage.

Harry will be keep track of the weight loss, so PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE email Harry by end of business day Friday. Email info@killergupies.org to get Harry’s email address.

planks
crunches or situps
twisting crunches or situps
bicycle crunches
side bending (for obliques)
leg lifts
and many more…
And let’s not forget, we paddle as one boat, we earn teams as one boat:

(per day)
2 points for 20-29 min cardio
3 points for 30+ min cardio
1 point for every 30 ab reps (or 1 min plank), up to 5 points/day
3 points for each gold boat challenge (see below)

Let’s aim for 30 participants and 200 points this week!

Gold boat challenges
——————————–
cardio:
high-intensity interval run (similar to the 3-2-1 from practice):
800m, 1min rest, 400m, 1min rest, 200m, 1min rest
rest 4 minutes, then repeat

strength:
Armstrong pushup/pullup program
http://www.4mcd.usmc.mil/AOP/OSOHyattsville/Armstrong%20Pullup%20Program.htm (ask Ellen or I if you have questions)

Division IA (Killer Guppies Gold): Third Place

Division  IIIA (Killer Guppies Blue): First Place

Division VB (Killer Guppies White): Fifth Place

Open A (Killer Guppies Men): Third Place

Womens A (Killer Guppies Ladies): Third Place

Masters A (Killer Guppies Masters): Third Place

Not bad at all!  All those weekly fitness challenges came in handy!  Next up SF Race!!  If you haven’t already.  Please reconfirm your response so we can get a better head count (I am sure this weekend’s victories has wet many of your appetite for more competition!!).  So don’t delay, do it today!

Also, there will be a gender practice following regular practice. So please expect to stay a little longer.

Also, there will be a team meeting this weekend after practice. All the important race information, meeting times, and parking locations will be discussed. Not to mention Ellen’s highly motivational speech.  So please PLEASE be there!

Each day, earn:
1 point for 12-19 min cardio
2 points for 20+ min cardio
1 point for 50+ twisting crunches or twisting situps, or 2+ min of planks
3 points for Wed practice
1 point for 2 min paddling visualization
2 points for 5+ min paddling visualization
3 points for gold boat challenges (see below)

Gold Boat Challenges from Ellen
———— ——— ——— ——— ——–

Endurance- Choose one sport:
Swim: 5×75m SPRINT. 2 min Recoveries
Bike: 3×3k SPRINT. 4 min Recoveries
Run: 4×400m SPRINT. 4 min Recoveries
C2: 4×500m SPRINT. 4 min Recoveries

Strength-
crossfit “Annie” — 50 jump rope “double unders”, 50 situps,
40 double under, 40 situps, 30/30, 20/20, 10/10 for time.
(a “double under” means passing the rope twice under you during one jump)

substitution for double unders — tuck jumps:

http://www.asimba.com/video/ small/tuck_ jumps.avi

“Stand with your feet slightly inside the width of your shoulders. Bend
your knees and lower your body down 8-12 inches. Explode into the air and
bring your knees up to your chest in a tucked position. Upon landing, your
feet should be in a strong, dorsi flexed or “toes up” position. Use your
whole foot to generate power not just your toes! Maintain good posture in
your upper body. Keep your chest and head up. Don’t let your shoulders
lean out beyond your knees. This can stress your lower back. Explode off
the ground as quickly as possible and repeat for the required number of
repetitions. ”

Also, Coach Kevin asked each and one of us to try a coaching challenge. Try to see if you can teach someone how to paddle in 5 minutes. You’ll start to notice that you know a lot more about paddling than you think.

Best of luck everyone!!

Lower body strength. Our goal again will be to have 30 participants log 180 points.
Here’s how to earn daily points:
1 point for 12-19 min cardio
2 points for 20+ min cardio
3 points for attending Wed. practice
1 point for 40+ walking lunges with twist (count each side as one)
3 points for each gold boat challenge

Gold Boat Challenge:

STRENGTH
20 rounds for time of:
5 pullups
20 twisting lunges (count each side as one)

ENDURANCE (2 workouts - 1 long, 1 short)
long interval
2 mile run: Run at 80% for first mile and then 90% or more one 2nd mile.
Swim substitute: 1000 yd/m swim

short interval
Tabata sprints (any sport)
3 rounds of 4 reps of 20sec/10sec rest, 1 min rest in betweeen each round.
So 1 round would be 20/10 20/10 20/10 20/10 (1 min rest)

Also, Coach Gary has announced the schedule for mandatory practices for SF’s race. Here are the dates:

Aug 23-24
Sept, 6-7
Sept 13-14
Sept 20-21
Sept 27-28

Good luck Guppies!!  Don’t forget to update your response to the eVite for SF!!

Goal: 30 participants and 180 points

- 1 for 12-19 min cardio
- 2 for 20+ min cardio
- 1 for 60+ pushups
- 2 for Tabata pushups (8 sets of 20 sec pushups, 10 sec rest)
- 1 for 20+ reps bench press, any weight
- 3 points for attending Wednesday practice
- 3 points for Gold boat challenges
- 2 points for ‘B’ boat challenge

Gold Boat Challenges:

Endurance - “1 minute ladder”

Goal is to use maximum effort for 1 min interval. Any sport - running,
biking, rowing… Follow this pattern of work/rest
1 min on/ 1 min off
1 min on/ 50 sec off,
1 min on/ 40 sec off,
1 min on/ 30 sec off,
1 min on/ 20 sec off
1 min on, 10 sec off,
then go back up the
ladder until you finish with 1 min on, 50 sec off, 1 min on.

Strength: a variant of “Fight Gone Bad”

Do each of the following exercises for 1 minute. After a minute is done,
as fast as you can (i.e. no rest), start the next exercise.

pushups
squats
situps
pullups (negatives, assisted accepted)
box jump (any height acceptable, just record it)

you get a point for each rep you do. total up your points!

For “B boat challenge” do 1 round of these 5.
For “Gold Boat Challenge” do 3 rounds of these 5, with 1 min rest in
between.

Also, if you haven’t already, please PLEASE update your reply on the eVite for the San Fransico Race. Include if you need a room or not and who you will be rooming with. Good luck Guppies!!

Goal: 30 participants, 180 points
Earn:
1 point for 12-19 min cardio
2 points for 20+ min cardio
1 point for climbing 10+ flights of stairs
3 points for attending Wednesday practice
3 points for each gold boat challenge

Gold boat challenges:
- 30+ min hill-climbing workout (includes stairs or hill workouts on exercise machines)
- 3 x 1/2 mile run, with negative splits

Rest with 1/4 x (your best mile time this season) in between. Foul if any time gets slower. So aim for each set to be faster than the next. So if my mile time is 10 min, my rest time is 2min 30 sec.

And P.S., are you keeping up with your workout?  You’d better be!

For this week, our goal is again 30 participants and 180 points.

Per day, earn:
- 1 point for 12-19 min cardio
- 2 points for 20+ min cardio
- 2 points for doing 300+ strokes of pool paddling
- 3 points for either of the gold boat challenges (or 2 points for the rec challenge: Tabata protocol - sprints)
- plus earn 3 points for attending Wednesday practice.

Thank you so very much for your participation in the Relay for life, especially those who walked into the wee hours of the morning. I really appreciated your time and commitment to this important cause. I know Robin, Andi and Wilma were overwhelmed and touched by your support, but also the family members of their loved ones that were not there to tell their story.

Our goal was $1,200. Not only did we reach our goal, we exceeded it by raising over $1,500 dollars. Thank you very much for your generous donations and support.

I’m very proud of all of you for rising to the occasion and taking such an active role. Together we can find a cure for cancer. I am very proud to be a Guppy. I hope, together as a team and community we can continue to participate in other worthy causes and make an impact.

Again, thank you very much.

Sincerely,

Coach Gary

To make a donation online, visit my personal page

http://main.acsevents.org/site /TR/RelayForLife/RelayForLifeCa liforniaDivision?px=4959727&pg =personal&fr_id=4274

Per day, earn:
1 point for 12-19 min cardio
2 points for 20+ min cardio
1 point for 20+ reps of tricep exercises (chair dips, regular dips, weight exercises for triceps)
3 points for attending Wednesday practice
3 points for doing a gold boat challenge (see below)

Rebecca also has a video that you can watch on proper technique for chair dips see:
http://www.youtube. com/watch? v=nx9gVDCnT84
(make sure you have sound, because he also shows the wrong way to do them)
And let’s not forget the Gold boat challenges:
- 3 mile run
- pushups in ‘Tabata’ intervals: max reps in 20 sec, rest 10 sec, repeat for 8 rounds, score only the LOWEST round.

Good luck Guppies!!

The newbie boat was the first to test the sluggedy waters in Long Beach this weekend. That paddled with all their hearts and came in third in the race. Up next were veteran paddlers taking first in the first race and a small technically pushed us to 4th in the second race. But not to worry!! Our burning desire to win the gold earned us 1st in the Semi Final round for the 200m race. Coach Gary then decided to give the newbies another taste of the race as they set out to win second place in the final, in which was the most nerve wrecking, nail biting, photo finish. CONGRATS NEWBIES!!!

Also! The Guppies will be participating in the 24 Relay for Life to help find a cure for cancer. The event starts TONIGHT at Orange Coast College in Costa Mesa. It’s not too late to donate. Please contact info@killerguppies.org !  Or send good vibes to the runners/walkers!

And Guppies, what’s another week without another Fitness Challenge! It looks like the “Physical” points are really working out, since we surpassed our goal of 300 points last week by logging in a total of 330 points! Good job Guppies!! Keep up the STELLAR work! For this week’s challenge, here’s the break down:

“PHYSICAL” POINTS
————
Earn up to 2 points/day for cardio:
1 pt for 12-19 minutes
2 pts for 20+ minutes
Bonus: earn 3 points for attending Wednesday practiceEarn up to 1 point/day for strength by doing 20 reps or 1 min of any strength exercise (or any combination)
examples:
- 20 pushups
- 5 pullups, 5 pushups, 10 situps
- 1 min plank
- 30 sec plank, 30 sec wall sit
- 30 sec plank, 10 bicep curls
…”MENTAL” POINTS
———— ——— ———
Earn up to 1 point/day for race visualization
Earn up to 3 points (for the week) for listing “things I will work on in the race” (1 point each)

Since we have a race coming up this Sunday, we’re encouraging that you continue doing your cardio and workouts until Thursday. Also, don’t try new workout routines this week! We don’t want any Guppies injuring themselves before the big race! We’re also including some mental challenges to get us psyched up for the race. Remember, if you can do anything just so long as you put your mind to it!

We competed in the Mixed, Open and Womens division. For the gender races we combined with our new friends the L.A. Thunder Dragons and the local team Gila Dragons. The Mixed team advanced to the Comp A Semi-final where we placed third (only first place advanced). The Open (mens) team just missed advancing to the finals by .6 seconds. The womens team, however, advanced to the finals where they finished fourth against San Diego, Wasabi and B.A.D. Keep in mind this was a combined 3-team boat that had no practice time together. Way to go KG women! In the Collegiate division, USC finished third and has improved significantly over last year. Great job everyone!

As our first race of the season, Arizona was a valuable experience. The new team members got their first taste of racing, we had fun and made new friends and most importantly we saw how we measure up to our competition. Although the team did well, we still have work to do. Our competition has been training hard and it showed at Tempe.

We welcome the challenge that competition presents us. It will help push us to greater achievement. Already the team members who raced at Tempe want to get better and train more. I’m sure those who didn’t get to go to Tempe want to get in the game. Now is the time to get fired up and re-dedicate yourself to practice. Now begins the important training. We have the technique and we’ll develop the physical conditioning over the next four months. And we’ll race to gain experience and the confidence to achieve our goal: Comp A finals in San Francisco!

What can you do to help?

Attend as many practices as possible .

Participate in the team challenges and fitness tests .

Race, race, race! LB Spring May 11, Toronto June 21-22, Long Beach July 25-27, San Francisco October 4-5.

Recruit new members.

I hope this message gets you as excited about participating in KG as I am! The Killer Guppies are at the edge of something great this year. If we all do our best we will succeed. Anything less will give our competition the opportunity to pass us.

Here are the guide lines. Any kind of jump roping activity is acceptible, just so long as it is continuous. Or as long as it adds up to a solid minute. If you don’t have a jump rope, jumping jacks can work in place of jump roping. And don’t forget to report your time to Rebecca!! So do your part and jump a little!

So how do you go about doing a solid plank? Check out this link here: http://sportsmedicine.about.com/od/abdominalcorestrength1/qt/plank.htm

Just think, if 40 members do 3 minutes, 7 days a week… well then we’ve well exceeded our goal. Plus it’s the road to tighter abs! So do your part today!