Wednesday, December 30, 2009

Friday, December 11, 2009

Umm, not much to say

Training has been going consistently well over the past couple of weeks. I have routinely been hitting numbers that are good. For me. It’s all relative, OK? The latest, of which I was certainly happy about was a 5x3 Dead Lift at 455 and an easy Snatch at 230# today. Steady progress.

There is an Olympic Weightlifting Seminar at my gym, Crossfit Cheshire, in which Connecticut State record holder and former Masters National Champion Gary Valentine (brother of my favorite Bobby Valentine) will come teach and analyze lifts. He’s going to video tape the participants so it will be nice to see how bad my lifts really are. I’m interested in going, especially because it doesn’t interfere with any of Carlee’s races. Good times.

Because of a lack of interesting content I present to you some of my favorite Mark Rippetoe quotes:

Yes, if you squat wrong it fucks things up. If you squat correctly, those same fucked-up things will unfuck themselves

The Olympic Snatch is gymnastics with a bar

Trust me, if you do an honest 20 rep program, at some point Jesus will talk to you. On the last day of the program, he asked if he could work in.

Baby mammals drink milk, and you sir, are a baby mammal

I strongly advise against intentionally farting whilst moving heavy weights. Sometimes -- especially under those circumstances -- farts have a solid center

…and my favorite…

Strong people are harder to kill than weak people, and more useful in general

Wednesday, December 2, 2009

Saturday, November 28, 2009

Lightning Round

It's been a little while since I've posted anything. I have my reasons. Well, just one big one. Carlee and I finally closed on our condo a week and a half ago. And while the place is in great shape it needed cleaning and right now I'm in the process of painting the living/dining room and quite possibly the master bedroom today if I'm feeling up to it (I'm not so sure. I'm sore. This is how "old-man strength" is developed). Here's a list of updates for you, lightning round style
  • Tried to leave no leftovers for Thanksgiving, gave a valiant effort
  • Have spent over $200 at the hardware store in a week
  • Went to my buddy, Ryan's, b-day party in NYC, saw a fight
  • Watched Man vs. Food last night and legitimately thought that he was a wimp when he couldn't finish the 7.5lb burger
  • Need to catch up on sleep
  • Have fallen in love with the Chinese Buffet
  • DL'd 420 3x3
All in all, things have been going well. Now, time for a much delayed return to the gym and then for my massive breakfast. Things are back on schedule. Except for the whole after, we have to pick out a color to paint the walls. Welcome to home ownership, I guess.

Biggest Loser - Unhealthy

Monday, November 16, 2009

Why Do You Train?

…And we’ll keep on fighting to the end. Dunn dunn dunn dunn dunn. Team 1, known the world over as Dark Side established itself early as the team to beat in the CT Ultimate Fall League and maintained their momentum all the way through the last week of the season where they ended up on top. All is right with the world.

And now it’s over. My beautiful, fun Ultimate Frisbee season has come to a close. I was able to learn and play a new sport, as outlined in Crossfit’s 100 Word Definition of Fitness, and thoroughly enjoyed it, even in the cold.

That’s what fitness should be about though. I don’t believe that being fit, or achieving fitness should really be what it’s all about. Certainly I would suggest going to the gym regardless of the goal involved if for nothing else than heart health and decreased risk of stroke and cancer. If you enjoy going to the gym for the sake of going to the gym, good for you, I kind of do too, but getting strong and fast for the sake of getting strong and fast isn’t half as appealing to me as getting strong and fast for a sport. Organized sports, whether they’re competitive (like Summer Frisbee) or just for fun (Fall/Winter Frisbee), are where you can test yourself to see how far you’ve come.

I saw my family (and by family I mean a whole lot of family) this weekend and when I told my dad that my Frisbee season had just ended he asked if there was a hockey league around. He knows that I love competition and that having an end-goal is important to me. While I’m not sure there is a hockey league in middle CT, or that I could even play as well as when I was 12, or that I could afford the equipment, but having something to do, besides squatting, is good for me and he knows it.

Winter Frisbee starts in January and it could be fun to play, especially because it’s indoors. But I’m not sure that I will, the hours are screwy, it’s in North Branford and I hate traveling in the winter. But it is nice to have that conditioning aspect to my life. Playing Frisbee is certainly more interesting than hopping on that treadmill, at least for me.

Wednesday, November 4, 2009

Recovery

Recovery is a four letter word. The idea that you ought to do less in the short term (read: today) to make improvements in the long term (read: next race, meet, fight…) can wreak havoc on your mind.

But let’s face it, recovery is important. Some people are proponents of the “do-nothing” method. These people prefer to let their bodies return to homeostasis and then begin training. Others, however, would rather just take it easy and focus on things like technique lifting only 65% of their maxes or jogging fewer miles at a lower intensity. I prefer the active recovery method. My weekly template generally looks like this:

Monday

Hard

Tuesday

Easy

Wednesday

Hard

Thursday

Off (Frisbee)

Friday

Hard

Saturday

Easy

Sunday

Off

Obviously, because I’m assuming you all can read, there are really only three hard days on the schedule. This changes from week to week depending on scheduling, soreness or emergencies (especially this house) but for the most part, less than half of the days are truly intense lifting days. Two are active recovery and the other two (Thursday and Sunday) are for vegging out. Granted, I’m probably not the best programmer on the planet (I actually guarantee it) but for the time being this is working for me. This allows my muscles to recover but also allows me to recover mentally which brings me to another important point.

Taking the rest days allows the athlete (you, me, Carlee) to focus on other things besides the gym or the road. You can kick back and relax a little bit. If this works, you ought to be more mentally sharp for those intense days allowing for greater gains, whether they are strength, speed or even fat loss.

I encourage you to draw up a plan. In your plan include rest days. I would recommend against going everyday until you crash and burn, this plan of attack never ends well. Carlee followed the Pftizinger programming which included rest days and recovery runs and was able to drop 24 minutes off of her marathon. Rest is just as important as the workout and gains cannot be made without it.

Friday, October 23, 2009

WE MUST PROTECT THIS HOUSE!!!

People are very territorial. This is MY house. This is MY job. This is MY path to greatness. This may be genetic, this may be a learned trait, but everybody suffers from “posessionism.” Are we born with a need to grab our piece of the pie? In addition, is it in our nature to grab the biggest piece that we can?

Or is it a learned trait? Could the way we are raised change how we react to encroachment? If parents behave this way do their children develop territorialism through observational osmosis?

Sometimes territorial behaviors are manifested in a group dynamic. The Crips and Bloods have their spot and heaven help anybody dressed in the wrong color comes onto their turf. Other times it’s an individual characteristic, Wall Street for example. A trait that seems to be a uniquely Western peculiarity, but I doubt that’s entirely true.

I noticed this last night at Frisbee. “Don’t give up your position.” And again today at work. “Don’t let him talk to suppliers. That’s not his job.” Of course my boss was implying that it’s mine.

Last night, Carlee and I had a scare. We almost lost our pending territory (although our current living arrangements are pretty spiffy). It seems as though we’re out of the woods and that we’re still on track (just a little bit behind schedule) but it got me thinking. What would you do to protect what you feel is yours? Would you be physical as is the case in Frisbee or would you not allow somebody to help you out for fear that somebody could take your territory? Would you take legal action or would you let the chips fall where they may because we all know that good things come to those who wait (or do they).

I know what I am going to do. I am NOT going to let Carlee down. It is because of me that we are in this position in the first place and I will make the necessary sacrifices to ensure that our territory is protected. I will do everything within my power, given the tools that I have, to make certain that we get what we deserve, together. She’s earned it, especially after her 3:48 marathon. This is our pending territory, I am territorial and I won’t let anything take it from us.

Friday, October 16, 2009

So I Got That Going For Me, Which Is Nice

Lately, I've been listening to my body a little bit more. When I'm tired I rest and when I'm feeling good I hit it hard. These recovery days are really helping. While I haven't taken an actual day off this week I have gone for more an active recovery sort of feel to a couple of my workouts. I feel that this will help me in the long run in that I won't hit a wall down the road and can continue training at a high level (for me). Taking days as active recovery also, I feel, will keep the gym fun rather than feeling like a chore which is how my workouts had been feeling about a month ago.
Until I have a post of substance (which hasn't happened, well, ever) enjoy the video and extracurricular reading.

Gender Strenth
10 Reasons Heavy Weight Training Doesn't Bulk Up Female Athletes

Friday, October 9, 2009

Carlee's Marathon

Carlee's getting me up pretty early tomorrow. We're going to be out of the house at 6AM. Still, later than a weekday. We'll head up to Hartford, put her things away and get ready. She'll get nervous and I'll try to calm her down. Then, at 8, the gun will go off and so will she. She will weave and dart through people. She will probably play 'Run and Snipe.' It will be glorious. Her goal is a pristine 4 hours but then ultimate would be 3:40, the Boston Marathon qualifying time. She's going to do great and it'll a lot of fun watching her cross that finish line. She deserves it, with, you know, the running and the running and the running and the never ending running. Maybe I'll get a good picture of her this time.

From the Ground Up
Unhappy at Work and a Solution

Thursday, October 8, 2009

Thursday

Carlee and I are headed to the Excel Center for the Marathon Expo. Should be a good time. They'll have some chiro's, maybe some ART massage people and I'm hoping some food.
For those concerned, training has been going well. Yesterday was more or less a rest day for me. Some medium weight thrusters (245) and I called it for the day.
Today was a speed day with 10x3 squats @ 225#, rest 30 seconds and then after a quick break AMRAP 15 minutes 5 Push Jerks (start set from floor), 10 Pushups, 15 Back Extensions. 8 rounds completed at the 14:30 mark.
I hope you enjoy these links.

Energy System Interaction and Relative Contribution During Maximal Exercise
Why Meat Eating is OK for the Environment

Thursday, October 1, 2009

Plan Ahead

Sometimes the apple rolls miles away down a hill from whence it came. My parents have it. My fiancée has it. I don’t have it. “It” is the ability/desire to prep for anything. Like the Joker, “I just do.” While to some this may seem like a great lifestyle, living all nimbly bimbly, it’s not always the case. My inability to prepare, look ahead and organize my life has greatly impacted myself and those around me.

Not preparing has gotten me into trouble a couple of times, from getting a respectable credit score, paying more for flights and in school. Two of those only affect me, which I’m ok with. That happens. I am, however, not OK with how my lack of foresight impacts those that I am associated with.

Carlee has been a champ in dealing with this but I can tell that her patience is running thin. The way that I plan holidays, wait for the last possible second to do anything and have a general “things will fall into place” attitude has put an unneeded stress on our lives.

So what I’ve decided to do is to start keeping a calendar, a notebook or something that will keep me on task. This has to be something easily accessible and memorable enough to do it everyday. I’m figuring out a system. I believe that this will greatly impact my life in the positive. I’ll be able to do things beforehand thus producing something of better quality. Carlee should be most pleased.

If you’re not already, taking this approach can really beneficial to your fitness goals. Keep records and keep goals. The gym is way less of an inconvenience if there is a goal in mind. It could be a marathon, a weight lifting meet or just to be able to do 10 pull ups consecutively. The preparedness and having certain guidelines to accomplish tasks will easily make obtaining these goals more manageable.

I feel like Johan tossed me closer to that tree.

Monday, September 28, 2009

Farm Crawl!!!

Farm Crawl 2009 was epic. So epic, in fact, that Farm Crawl Iraq could happen. Carlee and I invited our UVM friend Natalie for a weekend of reminiscing and trouble making. We didn’t plan ahead and played it mostly by ear, which is how we like it.

She arrived on Friday night, shortly after 9pm and even before she entered the door had broken a beer bottle. We cleaned up and invited her in. Natalie brought Carlee a Sparks, ‘cause we’re classy. With the three of us together it was as if we’d seen each other at least once in the past two years. We started talking like there were no breaks, bantering back and forth, poking fun at ourselves, our school and a couple of our friends. After a couple of hours we went to bed knowing the epic day that lay ahead.

Carlee woke up first, of course, and went on a 16 mile run. I woke up second and did what felt like a half assed Fran but ended up being really good for me, 2:46 (PR). I think what happened was that I decided not to drop off the bar but instead take an extra 2-3 seconds between thrusters and pull-ups for rest. Jason “Rhabdo” Kaplan’s sub 2-min still seems miles away. Natalie woke up, we showered, dressed and made our way to Michaels for some Pumpkin Bread French Toast, eggs, sausage and home fries. I think Natalie came away impressed, and full.

The Lyman Orchards was the first stop on our Farm Crawl bucket list. We crushed it. George Washington/Barack Obama Maize Maze had no chance although it was surprising how much harder Carlee’s trivia questions were. After the maze, venturing into the whirlpool of people known as the Apple Barrel and stealing a peach we ventured down the road to the Durham Fair, known simply to us as Farm Fair! Farm Fair was an extraordinary sight to behold. Food as far as the eye could see and manure as far as the nose could smell. We polished off our crowded snails pace walking with root beer floats and maybe a sense that we were more patriotic for having visited.

On our way back to Cheshire we hit up a couple of orchards to make Farm Crawl 2009 legit. In total: 4 orchards, 1 Farm Fair, a Maize Maze and a stink that I don’t think I can get out of my nose.

Was I exhausted? Absolutely. Was I hungry? Absolutely not. Will we do it again next year? You bet.

Farm Crawl 2009 was epic.

Saturday, September 26, 2009

Fucking Grey's Anatomy

Do you want to know the only thing that I dislike about Fall. It's pretty simple. TV. More specifically Grey's Anatomy. The show that has captured female hearts nation-wide is back and it makes me want to douse my head in chlorine. What bothers me isn't the lack of working knowledge of medicine in the writers room or the fact that an entire hospital can be impossibly good looking (it's network TV) but that everything is said twice. They are, at all times, doing the repeater ON THEMSELVES. For instance, during an exchange between a patient's mom and Torres, the spicy hispanic surgeon with the caliente demeaner the parent says, and I quote, "We can't sleep, he can't sleep, I can't sleep, (with more spacing and more drama this time) We...Can't...Sleep." Imagine if the rest of the world spoke like this. "I want a cheeseburger, a burger with cheese, a cheese burger." "It's hot out today, hot...today." I'm fairly positive that you would get punched in the face. If I heard anybody do this in real life, and be 100% completely serious I might defacate on something of value.
By writing this I am hoping that you, if forced to watch this garbage like I am (a small price to pay for an entire weekend of Football sans interruptions) it will be impossible not to notice. The annoyance will spread to every husband, boyfriend and son who will actively protest such horrible writing and one or two things will happen. The show will either be improved markedly or it will get cancelled. I enjoy medical dramas as much as the next guy (which is to say not very much but they're tolerable) so to see an entire ensemble cast out of work would be tough, especially since none are all that talented to land a movie deal or another pilot. On the other hand, basketball and hockey season starts soon so Thursdays airwaves could be spent much more wisely.
The point that I'm tryng to make is that we, as men and people who enjoy quality television, can change the course of network programming. Point out the repeater, see if it doesn't get on anybody else's nerves and start the revolution by fighting against bad TV, Bad...TV.

Michael v. Mikhail
Are We Meat Eaters Part 2 Part 1
A Conversation with a Nobel Prize Winner
The Cost of Aging

Thursday, September 24, 2009

FGB4

Every once in a while Crossfit decides to put its pretentious and pompous attitude about most everything aside and decides to do some good. For the fourth straight year affiliates will host Fight Gone Bad (FGBIV) to raise money for worthwhile causes. This year the proceeds will split between Wounded Warrior Project and Athletes For A Cure. The former supports injured soldiers while the latter is a charity for Prostate Cancer Research. Athletes from each affiliate raise money to “sponsor” them and then on Saturday 9/26 those athletes go through the ringer of Fight Gone Bad. I encourage each and every one of you to join the party (and I assure you that it is a party) and donate your time to these worthy causes. If you don’t workout at a Crossfit affiliate you can go to the Affiliate Blog attached to the Main Page to find the gym nearest you.

Except that I’m the hypocrite that won’t be participating or raising funds. I know, I’m a jerk, but one of my buddies from Vermont is visiting and since it’s been close to two years since our last visit N McWill takes priority and that’s a fact. She may want to participate, in which case we’ll take the drive up to Watertown but I don’t want to be held responsible for a bad race (she has a marathon the following weekend).

Anyway, make it up to gym, do the workout, maybe raise a couple bucks (the goal is to break $1 million) and have a good time. I wish that I could be there to root you on.

Equality in Health Care?

Vitamin D For Athletic Performance

Reading the McChrystal Report

Friending Admissions Officers

Preventing ACL Tears in Girls

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Articles and Apologies

I'm sorry that I've been less than enthusiastic about posting lately. I promise, when things let up a little (and the crazy tattle-tail who sits behind me takes a day off) I will post something of note. In the meantime, please read these articles, digest them and if you feel so inclined, post in comments
Exercise vs. Dementia
How Genes Get Altered
Fat Loss and Running

Saturday, September 19, 2009

Fuck This Gym

I'm not sure where the disconnect is. It could have been in the training, it could've started in the programming at Crossfit USA or the disconnect could be born simply out of confusion but somewhere along the line, the owner and head trainer of Crossfit Cheshire seems to have lost the fact that Crossfit is measureable and repeatable. A workout should be able to determine power output over the cliched broad time and modal domains. However, during today's workout at CFC, in which we did the standard Crossfit Chaos (intro) workout I realized that all new clients were not going to understand what makes Crossfit a different type of program from anything else that can be found on the internet. The workout was not timed nor were reps counted. Besides this, improvement of technique was not approached and skills were not improved.
How am I supposed to know how my fitness has improved from day to day, week to week, year to year? By the way that I feel? That's hardly scientific. I've done Helen and Fran, felt stronger but have gotten worse times, thus decreases in power. The same applies to workout types such as Fight Gone Bad or Cindy.
In Crossfit, fitness is to be a measurable venture and from what I've seen, aside from poor technique coaching and lesser standards, the trainers at CFC don't understand this. Because of this I have vowed, starting after tomorrow's Special Olympics Charity WOD, to not participate in Group WOD's at CFC. My disappointment with the quality at Crossfit Cheshire cannot be ignored any longer and going forward will continue to train myself.
I guess these are the reasons to open my own box.

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Dueling Eaters

I’m still reeling from Sunday. I decided to take my eating to the limits. I entered the Blackie’s Hot Dog Eating Contest at the Cheshire Fall Festival. The challenge: AMHDAP in 10 minutes. Rules: the hotdogs were foot longs and they were covered with mustard and hot pepper relish, delicious. The other option; finish all 12 hotdogs before time expired.

The results: my buddy ‘Nucci broke us all down with an impressive 12 dogs in 7 minutes. I finished out with 9 during that time coming in a staggeringly low 4th place. You might be asking yourself, “hot dogs, with buns? Those aren’t paleo, are they?” No they’re not. Oh well. One indiscretion won’t kill me. It’ll make my stomach do back flips and cause food comas but in the long run, one meal won’t kill me (although, at hot dog 8, I thought a little differently).

But that night, I jumped right back on the bandwagon. Nothing but water for the rest of the evening. The next morning, a salad for breakfast, you know, to even me out. The point is a moment of weakness won’t derail your fitness goals. I won’t ever say that 9 hot dogs is a great way to getting beach body ready but seven minutes of indiscretion over the course of 168 hours of clean eating can’t undo the hard work already put in.

Don’t use this post to eat like crap seven minutes out of everyday. That’s enough time, as I’ve realized, to really do some damage. It’s the occasional treat that makes everything alright. A cookie or brownie here and there won’t kill your efforts, although I’d recommend eating paleo versions of the two. Now, I don’t want to hear about anybody downing an entire cake unless, of course, it’s in competition. In that case; BRING IT ON!

The Euwww Ads

Athletes: Keeping it Real

Angry Republicans

Game Brain

Tuesday, September 8, 2009

Running?

Weights withdrawal is an ugly thing.  It’s rearing its head as we speak.  I’m getting the itch and my legs feel weak.  There’s a sense that I have become too comfortable.  There is no DOMS and there is no way that I could do this again.  I have officially gone since Friday without moving a barbell. 

Not that I really had a choice.  CFC was closed on Monday due to the holiday and on Saturday I enjoyed some time with the CFC crew for a Barbell free WOD.  In lieu of squatting on Monday I ran (pick your jaw off of the floor).  It wasn’t just a couple of 100’s, or even 400’s.  I ran a 5k.  The New Haven Road Race, held every Labor Day was a nice little 3.1 mile jog through some nice and some seedy parts of New Haven.  While Carlee ran the 20k, knowing that I don’t run, hate to run and dislike runners I still would rather put myself through 23 minutes and 30 seconds of misery than to stand around for nearly an hour and a half with nothing to do except watch people with a misguided sense of fitness zoom, stroll, limp or crawl by me. 

It will be nice to get back into the gym and do what I enjoy doing again.  I will be picking weight up off of the floor and putting it over my head; not mingling with anorexics chasing down a cheese burger. 

You might be wondering how I was able to move fairly quickly despite the fact that I don’t really do any conditioning, let alone jog.  The answer, while not blowing in the wind, is very simple.  I work hard, have strong legs and can tolerate pain and being uncomfortable. Through years of swimming and the past two years of serious weight training I know that the discomfort I feel while doing something is only temporary and that kicking ass and taking names (my two qualities that I cherish the most) takes being uncomfortable.  Now, I won’t be running in too many races, it doesn’t appeal that much to me, but I could see myself doing Turkey Trots and stuff like that, at least for the t-shirt.

Here is my 5K playlist'

Phish - Bold as Love

Blur - Chinese Bombs

John Mayer - Try!

Lustra - Scotty Doesn't Know ( a young Matt Damon everybody!)

Schooly D - Aqua Team Hunger Force

NERD - Lap Dance

Kings of Leon - Red Morning Light

Thursday, September 3, 2009

End of Summer

There’s nothing sadder than Labor Day.  The summer is over and it’s time to start putting our clothes back on.  But there’s a lot to love about Fall.  The veggies are more delicious, the weather isn’t unbearable and my two favorite holidays are on their way (Halloween and Thanksgiving).  We can’t forget that snowboard season is only a couple of weeks away in some places (Boo-yah!).

But, thanks to living in the Northeast, I can avoid being vain altogether and focus on gaining weight again.  With the summer around there was this lingering temptation to keep the six-pack going just to impress the other beach goers (and hikers).  But now, with the calendar pointed towards sweaters and snowboard boots I can get my mind off of the absurd idea of looking sexy and get under some heavy weight again.  It’s time for me to rep it out at 315# and to really pull under the bar with serious weight.  Because of my new schedule I will be able to commit a little bit more time to conditioning in than last year (nobody wants to be winded after a couple runs down a mountain) but I have a real opportunity to hit my goal weight of 230. 

So, despite bikini season being officially over, I look towards the fall and winter with wide-eyed optimism that I can take care of business in the gym and in my kitchen to hit my goals.

Coconut Water

School Lunch

Primal Jambalya

Grilled Lamb Chops

Mango Salad w/ Steak

Friday, August 28, 2009

Lessons

Reggie Bush must do CFFB.  That’s got to be the reason he’s the NFL Running Back with an actual Six Pack.  Since jumping on board (and temporarily off Mike’s Gym) I’ve gotten my abs back.  It certainly isn’t the quality of food (I’ve been downing Muscle Milks to make up for the lack of protein) so it must be the quality of the work done in the gym which is all because of the quality of the programming.   I’m happy with the results that I’ve been getting.  It’s been a struggle and an adjustment to actually doing real conditioning but I can’t argue that I haven’t been getting more powerful, especially in the upper body where I was proportionally weak during the Oly-lifts year. 

Another reason for my resurgence is that the quality of my warm up has increased ten-fold.   I’ve been alternating between a warm up taught to me by Neal from CFBoston that I learned at the Glassman Q&A and also Dutch’s warm up which is posted below.  Getting my muscles loose has been a great help in that I can hit the WOD’s hard immediately rather than get warmed up during the first round.  Also, working up to 315# singles of back squats during the warm up regardless of SWOD or DWOD really gets all the large muscle groups in my body fired up. 

So, the lessons learned: actually warming up is good and conditioning gives me my abs back.  Good to know.


Monday, August 24, 2009

How About Some 100% Effort for the 100th Post

Since I started this bodily experiment there seems to be one common denominator.  Whether your goal is increased strength, speed, GPP or just bigger biceps and wicked abs, you know, for the ladies, the common denominator seems to be just plain, old fashioned hard work.  It’s all about busting your ass in the gym and in the kitchen.  All success starts with an internal “how much do I want this” conversation.  If you answered anything that sounds like “a lot” you’re on the right track, congratulations.  You then have to ask yourself, how hard am I willing to work for it.  You know damn well that the answer better be “One-hundred-and-fucking-ten-percent effort baby!”  That’s how this fitness game works.  Like everything else that you should do in life put your balls on the line, get out there and take care of your shit.  When you’re in the gym, focus, not on the uber-hott doing lunges or the scroate flexing his abs in the mirror (“yeah, work it”) but on that next set, that next lift or that next lap around the track.  Effort people. 

The best part about this approach is that it applies to other parts of your life as well, or at least it should.  Do you find yourself in financial trouble?  Manage your portfolio, work extra hours if you can, handle your business with credit card/college debt, start putting more away in savings but do all of these things with intent, purpose and the same 100% effort that I hope you do in the gym. 

I encourage you to find parts of your life that are lacking.  It could be your love life, your work, your education and really give all that you can.  It’s absolutely the only way that you’ll be pleased with the results because a half assed effort is weak-sauce and I don’t tolerate weak-sauce.

Where Should You Put Your Money?

Old School Gymin'

Saturday, August 22, 2009

FGB

It's been a long time since I posted the results of a workout.  But I feel that it's time to let you, my faithful readers (reader?  anyone?) that I just posted a solid 367 on Fight Gone Bad.  Certainly, you may think, that that's not a terribly great score.  Solid, certainly no disrespect, but not a score to put n the history books.  To which I will reply, "Go fuck yourself."  This score comes after strictly strength training for a year, a two week hiatus and working off of the CFFB site for just a couple of weeks.  My time modalities aren't 15 minutes of work, rather they are in 15 second range.  This is a big deal.  This implies, at least through the small test sample of one, that training for strength my be the most important inlier for metcon success.  Put it this way: if 75# seems light to you, you can do more reps.  If you are used to cleaning 275# then 75# SDHP's are a breeze.  This isn't to say that a typical intense workout in the 20 minute range all the way through 180 minutes should never be done nor does it have benefits, but I would argue that increases in strength can't hamper those abilities and should be done more frequently to gain strength and maintain metcon "awareness." 
For people who wonder what Oly-Lift Training looks like, below is a video of the Korean National Team from December 2008

Monday, August 10, 2009

Take Me Away

I was not made for this.  Currently, as I type this, I am sitting at my desk at work, staring at a computer screen, listening to people bitch about jobs that they hate in order, to quote Tyler Durden, “to buy shit we don’t need.”  I’m two days removed from being nomadic, being diurnal and being completely content with everything in my life.  I was with my fiancée, I ate, I walked, I shat and I moved on.  Literally, I was a bow and some quivers from saying, “Fuck it, I’m staying out here.”  Now, I wish that I had. 

Our ancestors didn’t evolve for millions of years to stare into computer screens, wake up before dawn and be generally miserable.  I am the top of the food chain.  I am strong, smart, aware and agile.  My body was built to do work and I have built it to do more.  I should be out there, stalking deer, eating berries and grabbing fish.  I should be running for my life from some mountain cat and making sure that I fatten up for the cold hard winter ahead of me.

Maybe this is just the linger from my camping trip.  It could be that our cerebral evolution is so far ahead of our physical evolution that if only my physiological side could catch up to my psychological side everything would mesh perfectly and my life as it currently exists makes sense.  But I don’t want it to.  I want to be out there doing, not wishing that I was.  Going back into those woods for the first time since I was 18 years old felt amazing.  It wasn’t like pancakes where I was excited in the beginning but sick of it at the end.  The outdoors is where I, we, belong.  I moved, I focused, I was aware of the task at hand.  I want to go back; hopefully you’ll come with me, if only to understand what I’m talking about.

Sunday, August 9, 2009

Guess Who's Back

That's right, me.  I'm back from the mud and mosquito's of the Adirondack State Park and am happy to report that I survived (I can't say the same for Little Timmy).  Mountains were hiked, lakes and rivers were swum in and we even snuck into a BBQ across a really long lake (go us).  All-in-all a grand time was had by all.  I didn't take very many pictures for two reasons A) the memory card that I bought had to be redeemed ahead of time and I was unaware of this and B) I don't take too many pictures.  My mancave is in disarray right now so I'm not going to load any pictures quite yet, but they'll come.  I promise.
For those interested, it's good to know that the hard work done in the gym translated well into going up (and down) mountains with excess of 50 pounds on my back.  I'd call it a very successful trip and can't wait to do it again.  Although the diet wasn't ideal (should've brought a bow + arrow and gotten some deer, or maybe bear) and I could definitely feel my body not enjoying its lack of protein intake we ate fairly well for our circumstances.  
Anyway, I'm excited to get back to the gym on Monday.  Hopefully it'll be like I never left.  

Monday, July 27, 2009

It's My Party and I'll Eat if I Want To

I’m exactly one year away from being a quarter of a century old.  You are correct, it is my birthday.  Birthdays aren’t that special, really.  At least, I’ve never thought they were.  Everything about them is a coincidence.  By celebrating your birthday you are telling the world that approximately 37 weeks before this date, however many years ago, I was conceived.  They procreated and it worked.  Today is no more or less special than yesterday or tomorrow except that today I eat ice cream cake.  I have been fairly good about my eating lately with admittedly a couple of slips here and there when situations arose that did not lend itself to strict adherence to the rules, but always, when possible, making the correct decisions. 

But today, I’m eating ice cream cake.  I’ve had a couple of blondies that were made for me by work buddies and I’m ok with this.  It’s impossible to just go full force paleo all the time.  You will burn yourself out.  Besides, if you can stick to it, 95% of the time, you’re doing something right and better than most of the population.  Then again, to quote Howard Stern, with the “pussification of America” you’d better be better than most of the population.

The people below eat paleo


Saturday, July 18, 2009

The PowerBarner

I'm here, watching George of the Jungle, munching down on "the Power Barner" from Owen's and realizing that although the new change of pace in workouts has been a real treat my diet and food intake has been less than optimal.  There were days that I was pretty strict about my food and they felt great.  I had energy, my workouts felt good and I could focus.  However, on days like yesterday when I'm downing ice cream and vegan fo0d (damn you Carlee) I feel like crap throughout the day, perform like crap in my WOD's and feel even worse the next morning.  Time to get back on track.  After this sandwich.

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

Shiny Newness

The time has come for me to change it up a little bit.  For over a year I have had Olympic weight lifting as my main focus with the intentions on getting strong.  However, my training, although progressing, has gotten a little stale and a bit too stagnant for my liking.  Following Catalyst Athletics and then to Mikes Gym has been great in terms of getting stronger, but without the proper coaching I cannot see myself improving too much beyond this point (that’s actually untrue, I believe that I can get stronger, but gaining better technique would jump my #’s much quicker than just following the Mikes Gym template).  I have decided then, to finish out July using the Crossfit Football method.  August will be devoted to the main page and I will alternate as I see fit.  This could change, I don’t know, but this seems to me the right direction to follow, especially considering the goal, to be a complete athlete.

Friday, July 10, 2009

Aerobic

There are few things in life that are certain: the Mets suck, work makes me a miserable piece of crap and crossfit doesn’t get easier.  It’s pretty tricky, this crossfit.  I get stronger, faster and sexier and my times drop (sometimes) I’m still just as physically taxed as I was the first time that I hit Fran.  But now, crossfit isn’t only maintaining it’s degree of difficulty, it’s getting even harder.  For over a year now my main focus has been strength in the absolute rather than the relative sense.  My goal has been to toss progressively heavier weights over my head.  Well, I’ve done that.  My snatch is astronomically heavier than what it was a year ago and my clean and jerk has gone up exponentially as well. 

Guess what though, this singular approach in training has made me far from a great, or even good crossfitter.  I’ve been #1 in my gym for a long time now and even #1 in a couple of others so I grew a false sense of my own fitness.  It wasn’t until the Trials up in Albany that I learned that there are people hitting it hard, everyday.  They are learning new skills and developing what they are bad at.  Mine used to be strength, now it’s gone into longer metcons (which were at a point and time my bread and butter).  Last Saturday I finished off barefoot-Murph at the 32 minute mark which shows to me that I can sort of still get it done (running, now matter what, has been evil to me) but there was a time when I could probably crush that and be ok to do it again.  This is why I’m glad that I’ve finally signed up for the Cheshire pool.  The hope is to get that aerobic capacity back to where it was.  The focus is still on strength, to get my 250# snatch and 315# clean and jerk, but a few swims a week, probably ranging from 2000yds on sprint days to 10000yds on the long ones will help me retool my body.  I might need to take my rest days more seriously because of this but it should pay off big dividends.

 

PS.  If anybody wants swim lessons from an Olympic Trials semifinalist feel free to contact me.

Thursday, July 9, 2009

Games

A couple of the workouts have been "leaked."  Some conspiracy theorists have surmized that it is just smoke and mirrors and that the actual workouts are still a secret.  As somebody not going I shouldn't care, but I do.  I'm anxiously waiting what Dave Castro and his cronies have concocted this year to torture some of the "worlds fittest."  It should be a great spectacle, even from afar.  Good luck everybody headed out there, even you guys in the affiliate competition.  

WoD Thursday 7/9
Snatch 5x1 @ 80% (197)
C&J 5c1 @ 80% (236)
8 rounds
110 yard sprint
8 KB Swings (2pood)
5 CTB Pullups
8:16

Tuesday, July 7, 2009

Unload

So far, this feels like something of an unload week from mikes gym. I could be wrong, it could be the start of a brand new cycle and he's just starting us a little light to get us used to doing the different movements (muscle snatch/clean, 2pos snatch/clean, rack jerk..., no more 10x squats). Either way, it feels good to put a hold on the stress that my body was going through towards the end of that last little bit. My legs are feeling normal again, the knee pain is gone and aside from the blisters on my feet from barefoot Murph I'm ready to go.
So far the template for this week looks like this and I either expect the weights to go up or I expect the whole course of action to change next week.
Muscle Snatch/Clean - Medium Singles
2pos Snatch/Clean - Medium Weight
Front Squat/Rack Jerk - Heavy Single
Abs/Core

Saturday, July 4, 2009

America! Fuck Yea!

Links:
Tillman  (I did this yesterday.  One of the hardest workouts I've done in a while)

I'm heading over to CFW for Murph.  It's the 4th so we celebrate the people that keep us independent of foreign control (although, maybe we should start celebrating the Chinese New Year, just in case).  To read more about Murph's story click here.  Or better yet, buy the book Lone Survivor

Thursday, July 2, 2009

Thursday 7/2

Phew.  A 4-day weekend coming up full of red meat, beer, birthdays and AMERICA!  

WoD:
Power Clean + Clean 10x @225#
Clean Pull 2x3 @ 295#
Clean DL 2x3 @ 315#

10 Rounds
3 DL (315#)
6 Ring Dips
9 KTE's
10:47
KTE's got the better of me

Monday, June 29, 2009

Monday 6/29

WoD:
Front Squat 10x2 @ 265#
SnPP Heavy 5 - 205#

Metcon (courtesy of NorCal Qualifiers)
500m Row
30 Burpees
10 Shouler-to-Overhead
3:47

Speal did this in 3:33 at 135# body weight.  View it here.

Sunday, June 28, 2009

Michael!!!

This is what happens when the funniest man of all time (don't let the movies about the large family or the pink panther fool you) parodies the King of Pop

Saturday, June 27, 2009

Saturday 6/27 - Recovery

Three hours of sleep is not good for recovery, that's for sure.
WoD:
Played Watermelon

Recovery WoD - NFT (but fast)
5 rounds
10 Situps
15 Pushups
20 Squats

Friday, June 26, 2009

Friday 6/26

Went to the 5:15 class for a couple of reasons 1) to meet the new guy, 2) it's the last morning class that I could hit up before the Power Barn changes into Crossfit Cheshire, and 3) I'm going to the Mets game tonight with my buddies from home where I plan on eating my weight in tacos and enjoying the frost cold beverages.  I doubt that I'll get in a workout tomorrow but I should be back in time for Watermelon with the crew.

WoD:
Power Clean 3RM - Hit 245#, not sure but that might be a PR
For Time:
5 HPC @ 185#
Sprint 100yds
Rest :60
10 Push Press @135#
Sprint 80yds
Rest :40
20 KB Swing @ 2pood
Sprint 40yds
Rest :20
40 Pull ups
Sprint 20yds
5:27 (including rest)

Thursday, June 25, 2009

GOOOOOAAAAAALLLLLLLL

Goal setting is the backbone of a well planned fitness regimen.  It is impossible to devise a formulaic and progressive plan of attack if you have no goals, whether they be immediate or long term.  I want to put you through this exercise, don’t worry, it’s not an actual workout.  List five goals for the summer.  It helps if you are specific.  For instance, making a goal to be healthier is so vague that you won’t ever know when you’ve reached it.  If you need help I’ve listed mine below:

Snatch 250#

Clean and Jerk 315#

Box Jump 60”

100 Consecutive Double Unders

Get at least six hours of sleep per night

You see, those were specific.  Instead of saying things like get stronger, jump higher or sleep more I put out numerical values that can be checked off the list.  Granted, none of these things are easy.  I’m still seven and twenty pounds away from the Snatch and C&J weights respectively and about 8” away from the box jump, but they are certainly within reach but not so easy as I’ll be able to get them next week. 

Goals are a great way to motivate yourself to do better and be better.  What’s also fantastic is that you can apply this exercise to other places in your life other than fitness.  For instance you can a) save enough money for the wedding next summer (check), create a business model for your own business (still working on), take your fiancée on a vacation (Timberlock?), read three+ books… 

This can be a very therapeutic exercise and once pen is put to paper hold yourself accountable.  Do something towards your goals every day.  Even by taking baby steps you are putting yourself in a position to be better than you were yesterday which is what life is all about.

Please write goals (summer, yearly, lifelong...) in comments.


WoD:

Clean and Jerk 10x1+2 @ 235#

Pullups - 50 - 1:32

Wednesday, June 24, 2009

No Child Left Behind

WoD:
Back Squat 10x8 @225# - kept it light, focused on technique, keeping the back upright, driving through my heels
Chin Ups 20 (strict)
Box Jumps 20 - got up to 52"

I hate No Child Left Behind.  That was edgy.  I realize that saying something like that isn’t breaking ground but NCLB is killing our kids. 

Schools require federal funding; this is no secret but because of this law passed during the Bush administration schools are forced to take standardized tests that determine their funding.  However, the government, in my opinion, got it all backwards and “rewarded” schools for doing well on the tests and “disciplined” schools for doing poorly by giving out fewer dollars.  The problem is that all of the schools that perform well on the tests are wealthy and doesn’t need the extra funding whereas the schools that perform poorly are from poorer regions, such as rural and urban areas where government funding is necessary to keep the schools open.    For instance, Swanton, VT, a small rural town only six miles from Canada has very few people living above the poverty line.  The school has an incredibly high teacher/administrative turnover.  The school, for various reasons including parent involvement and predetermination as well as a whole host of other socio-economic afflictions has scored low on the standardized tests that determine government funding.  Each year, the school receives less and less federal aid forcing teachers to either take pay-cuts or lose their jobs which creates larger classroom sizes while at the same time not being able to afford new books, equipment or the like.  The problem becomes cyclical as every year the quality of education dissipates because the school has a hard time recruiting good teachers despite the fact that UVM has one of the most progressive Colleges of Education in the country. 

The reason that I bring this up in this forum is because this is really hurting physical education programs across the country (as well as music programs which are near and dear to my heart).  Administrators see PE teachers as expendable given that they are not nationally tested nor is funding determined by how many healthy bodies are in the school.  The Presidential Fitness Test has some legs (although it is an incomplete gauge of fitness) but no teeth as nothing is gained or lost by schools based on performance.   With PE being dropped entirely in some school districts kids, along with schools serving unhealthy lunches, children are not only getting poor educations but are being lined up for a whole onslaught of medical conditions with the real possibility of an early grave.  Through a roundabout way, No Child Left Behind is killing children.  Awesome.

Solution: Get rid of the reward/discipline system that is at the base of NCLB.  I believe that testing is an important and necessary way of valuing a school but they should be used for educational purposes, for instance, seeing what needs to be improved throughout the school, where teachers are successful or are lacking and how the geographic areas fared.  With this, along with equal federal funding, schools should be able to keep PE in the schedule, as well as music, art, shop...  It is proven that kids who perform exercise (and music) daily are, across the board, better students than their sedentary counterparts.  It should be mandatory for students to take PE daily in elementary school as well as middle school.  In high school, based on Varsity sport status, gym could be optional during that season and replaced with Study Hall during the season of that sport. 

It becomes vital that schools higher quality PE teachers.  I firmly believe that teachers are there because they have a genuine care for the students that pass through their classes.  PE teachers are no different but they ought to be doing more than setting up two goals, throwing some pinnies out and telling kids “remember, a girl has to touch the ball before you score.”  They should give out nutrition advice and teach students how to live a long and healthy life.  They are, after all, Physical Educators. 

If anybody wants to get me wound up we can discuss the current tenure system.  Below is a sample schedule that I believe any public school could support and be successful with.

 

Day 1-4 Time

Day 1

Day 2

Day 3

Day 4

Day 5 Time

Day 5

8:00-8:55

English (3)

Spanish(1)

Spanish (1)

Spanish (1)

8-8:43

Spanish (1)

9-9:55

History (4)

Study Hall(2)

Study Hall(2)

Study Hall(2)

8:48-9:31

Study Hall (2)

10-10:55

Gym (5)

Gym (5)

English (3)

English (3)

9:36-10:19

English (3)

10:55-12

Lunch

Lunch

Lunch

Lunch

10:24-11:07

History (4)

12-12:55

Band (6)

Band (6)

History (4)

History (4)

11:07-11:40

Lunch

1-1:55

Math (7)

Math (7)

Math (7)

Gym (5)

11:45-12:28

Gym (5)

2-2:55

Science (8)

Science (8)

Science (8)

Band (6)

12:33-1:16

Band (6)

 

 

 

 

 

1:21-2:04

Math (7)

 

 

 

 

 

2:09-2:52

Science (8)