The Becks Workout

Each month, I look forward with anticipation to the arrival of my Men's Health magazine. It wasn't until about a year ago that I actually had any interest in reading a publication like that but once I picked up a copy of Men's Health and saw all the great fitness tips, recipes and articles, I was hooked. I finally subscribed about four months ago, hence my monthly anticipation.

When I got the latest edition, I wasn't expecting to see an MLS player on the cover. I wasn't expecting it but I wasn't exactly surprised. Actually, one of my first thoughts was "What took them this long to get David Beckham on the cover?"

The magazine is an intersting one. It's got two covers and both sides of the magazine open up to completely different stories. On the one side, Beckham is dressed in a black tank top and looks like he's ready to hit the gym... once he sheds his jeans. On the other, he's looking dapper in an $1,100 suit. The fitness side has, well, fitness tips among other things while the dressy side has style tips.

[On an aside, if you scoff at such style tips for men, then don't do the same to the guys who dress like that and the lovely ladies at their side. But I digress...]

On one of the Beckham profiles (he gets two, after all who can combine fitness and fashion like Beckham?) there is an accompanying Beckham Workout. It's a five-week workout that instructs the reader to "perform your challenge twice a week at an intensity tailored to your maximum heart rate (MHR)."

That caught my attention. Some of the other workouts have been a bit too challenging for me to even attempt, such as Jason Statham's workout, which is just ridiculously grueling.

Beckham's is challenging but it's got a bonus. It's been modified for the average guy becuase, as the magazine says, "Beckham is one of the fittest men on earth."

So I figured, I like to work out and all, push myself to the limit and try new things so why not? I've got about two months left until the Camp Pendleton Mud Run, which I signed up for, so this could add some fun to my workout regiment.

Starting Wednesday, I'm going to try the first part of the five-week workout and I'll report my findings here.

Here's the workout, both the Becks one and the one for the Avgerage Guy, or Mine:
Becks: 5-minute run, 85 percent MHR, 4-minute rest, 3 sets
Mine: 5-minute run, 75 percent MHR, rest until MHR is at 60 percent, as many sets as I can do in 30 minutes.

Some notes: You calculate your MHR by subtracting your age from 220, so mine is 220 minus 33, I mean uh... 27, and I get, um 187 (it's fuzzy math). So 75 percent of my MHR is 140. Wow. That is actually a bit low. I ran for an hour on a treadmill last Friday and my average HR was 176. Hmmm... maybe I need to modify my usual workouts.

Or maybe I'll try the Becks workout.

Anyway, check back sometime Wednesday after I've tried the first of the first week of the Becks workout and I'll report my findings.