Tuesday, July 31, 2012

Close Your Eyes and Jump

Best advice I ever got. Sometimes analysis just gets you in trouble. Like standing on a cliff over a river and trying to figure out all the details that may result in an injury or a death. The fun of the jump is there and sometimes you have to put all analysis aside and just jump.
This has been one minute in focus and has nothing to do with anything other than I was thinking about it and thought I would share.

TUESDAY'S WORKOUT
Row 500 meters w/u
Row 1800 meters finished in 7:14.7  and kept the pace below last weeks 1600
avg pace 2:00.7/ avg SR 25
The pace was faster but the stroke rate remained the same so I was producing more power per stroke.
Pull ups 3/3/3/1
Back ext. 5 x 10
The above done as a circuit with 1:30 RI
On the last pull up I held in an L for 10 seconds at the top and then lowered slowly.

I go now but I will be back.

Monday, July 30, 2012

Quit Whining Kenny and Get Under The Bar

I don't know who Kenny is but the above was advice given to him, by his coach, when he asked how to increase his squat numbers. This article by Jim Wendler doesn't apply to anything I am doing but I like to spread the gospel of Wendler whenever I can.
Slept good last night although dreams of aliens taking over the bodies of dead birds woke me up a few times. Anyone know anything about dream interpretation?

MONDAY'S WORKOUT (deload week)
Row 500 meters
DROM
Squat 5 @ 85/5 @ 105/5 @ 125
Deadlift 5 @ 125/5 @ 155/5 @ 185
DB press (I do these standing) 10 @ 15/10 @ 17.5/10 @ 20 (can anyone say weak sauce)
Pull ups 3/3/3/1
Ab wheel 5 x 9
Done as a circuit with a 2:00 RI

'Nough said.

Saturday, July 28, 2012

Shy and Blind Seeks Same

I have been accused of being aloof and arrogant (the arrogant part might be true) but the reality is that I suffer from the heartbreak of macular degeneration and shyness so the problem is I don't recognize you from across the room and I am too shy to say hi to someone I don't recognize. The result is a reputation for aloofness and arrogance. Enough of that.
Here is a link to the first of a four part series on the back squat/ front squat debate. A good read and lots of info.
SATURDAY'S WORKOUT
Row 500 meters w/u
Row Sprints 10 x 160 with 1:30 RI. Avg pace 1:37.5 Avg SR 34
:33.3/:31.9/:31.7/:31.7/:31.2/:31/:31.6/:30.4/:30.8/:30.4
Keeping all these right in the same range.
Pull ups 3/3/2/2
Floor wipers 5 x 10
The above done as a circuit with a 2:00 RI

And away...we...go.

Friday, July 27, 2012

Squats Beware

I hit 195 for a single on my squat today and that is 40 lbs over my previous one rep and only 15 pounds off bodyweight. I'm comin' for ya.
There was an interesting piece on Eric Cressey's blog today that you can read here.

FRIDAY'S WORKOUT
Row 500 meters
DROM
Squat 3 @ 85/3 @ 105/3 @ 125/1 @ 155/1 @ 175/1 @ 195
Press 5 @ 45/5 @ 55/5 @ 65/5 @ 85/3 @ 95/1+ @ 105 (got 3)
Pull ups 2/2/1 @ 27.5/1 @ 30/1 @ 32.5
Reverse Hyper 3 x 10

...and out.

Wednesday, July 25, 2012

In 'n' Out

It's a burger, it's a blog post. It's 2, 2, 2 things at once. isn't that special.

WEDNESDAY'S WORKOUT
Row 500 meters
DROM
Squat 5 @ 85/5 @ 105/5 @ 125
Bench 5 @ 70/5 @ 80/5 @ 100/5 @ 130/3 @ 145/1+ @ 165 (got 3)
The last set was supposed to be at 160 but for some reason I got 165 stuck in my head. Oh well.
DB rows 3 x 10 @ 55
Pull ups 3/3/2/2
Slant sit ups 5 x 10
Almost bailed on the last 2 after the first set but I didn't because real men don't bail.

Tuesday, July 24, 2012

No Clever Title.

Sorry but I just couldn't  come up with anything clever for the title of this post and while that is out of character it just happens sometimes.

TUESDAY'S WORKOUT
Row 500 meters
Long row 1,600 meters
Time 6:30.8/avg pace 2:02.1/avg SR 25
I pulled back on these a little and added 2 x 100 meter sprints in the middle and at the end. Kept the pace steady otherwise and what I am going to do is try to lower the pace a little at a time.
Pull ups 3/3/2/2
Back ext. 5 x 8
Did the above 2 as a circuit.
The pull ups are feeling stronger and I am getting them chest to bar and lowering slowly in an L.

Monday, July 23, 2012

A Few Things Everyone Needs To Know.

Just read a great, another great, article by Mark Rippetoe on the press. This is something that you need to take to heart and implement in your training. The other item of interest was a fun fact to know and tell. Approximately 1% of the population suffers from celiac disease and around 6% has a gluten intolerance. Hardly a reason to adopt a gluten free or paleo style diet. You can read the whole piece here. As far as diet is concerned keep T.C. Luoma's advice in mind.

MONDAY'S WORKOUT
Row 500 meters
DROM
Squat 5 @ 85/5 @ 105/5 @ 125
Dead lift 5 @ 125/5 @ 155/5 @ 185/5  @ 235/3 @ 265/1+ @ 295 (got 5)
Pull ups 3/3/2/2
Ab wheel 5 x 8
I ditched the DB bench work today because my shoulder is still a little sore(injured sore not exercis sore) from last week. Substituted 40lb DB farmer walks
3 x +/- 100yds 2 sets with 2 DBs and one set with only the left arm out and the right arm back.

Have a fun day. Still working on the Old People With Attitude site hopefully done by the end of the week.

Saturday, July 21, 2012

Hot Like Hell

So Cal and the heat has moved in. Mild compared to some places but still way too hot for me. I would prefer a new ice age to global warming.

SATURDAY'S WORKOUT
Row 500 meters w/u
Row sprints 1 x 140 meters/ 1:30 RI
:28.9/:28.6/:27.6/:27.3/:26.5/:26.5/:27.3/:27.6/:28.4/:29.4
avg. pace 1:39.3 avg. SR 33
I tried to work a little on pacing going faster on #1-5 and then working back to slower on #6-10
I did it but sprints are supposed to be sprints so I won't do that again. I will work on pacing on the long rows.
Pull ups 2 x 2 then 1 @ 25/1 @ 27.5/1 @ 30
Ab wheel 5 x 7

Mahala and peace out.

Friday, July 20, 2012

Vegan or Not

Read some interesting articles yesterday about vegan diets and not vegan diets. The paleo people are absolutely convinced that you will get sick and weak on a vegan diet. What I would like to see is one of them go up against Mike Mahler in a test of strength. It won't happen but I would still like to see it.

FRIDAY'S WORKOUT
Row 500 meters
DROM
Squat 5 @ 85/5 @ 105/5 @ 125/2 @ 145/2 @ 165/2 @ 185
Press % @ 45/5 @ 55/5 @ 65/3 @ 75/3 @ 90/3+ @ 100 (got 4)
Pull ups 3/2/2/2/1
Back ext 3 x 10
Swings 3 x 10 @ 35
The above 2 were done as a circuit with a :30 RI

A note: fatiguing my lower back with the extensions and then trying to stabilize it for the swings was not a good idea.

Wednesday, July 18, 2012

I Row Therefore I Am

I have decided to identify myself as a rower. This takes a load off as I can now answer the question; What are you training for? by saying I am training for indoor rowing races. Isn't that comforting. I see too many people at the gym just training with no goal other than to look pretty and that isn't working out for many of them. If there is anybody in the Inland Empire reading this contact me as I would also like to start training to climb Mt. Whitney.

WEDNESDAY'S WORKOUT
Row 500 meters
DROM
Squat 5 @ 85/5 @ 105/5 @ 125
DB Row  3 x 15 @ 52.5
The squats and rows were done as a circuit
Bench 5 @ 70/5 @ 105/5 @ 125/3 @ 120/3 @ 135/3+ @ 155 (got 6)
Pull ups 3/2/2/2/1
Slant sit ups 5 x 10
The above 2 were also done as a circuit
Reverse Hyper 3 x 10

Tuesday, July 17, 2012

Just a Post Before I Go

Work rears its ugly head.

TUESDAY'S WORKOUT
Row 500 meters w/u
Row 1400 meters 5:27.4/ avg pace 1:56.9/avg SR 24
DROM
Floor wipers 5 x 10 @ 115 (went down in weight on these as I added 2 sets)
Pull ups 3/2/2/2/1

See you tomorrow

Monday, July 16, 2012

AHHHHHHHHH Sleep.

Two nights of good sleep. Aided by Advil PM and I feel like a new man, or if not new slightly less used. I have found nothing new on the fitness front but will keep looking although I know there is nothing new just rehashed old stuff with new names. Kind of like breakfast cereal, there are only two or three with slight variations and a new name and you have the illusion of variety.

MONDAY'S WORKOUT
Row 500 meters
Don't know if I mentioned it but I always do the WU row strapless for form and to put the power in the first part of the pull.
DROM
Squat 5 @ 85/5 @ 105/5 @ 125
Dead lift 5 @ 125/5 @ 155/5 @ 185/3 @ 215/3 @ 250/3+ @ 280 (got 6)
DB bench 3 x 15 @ 40
Pull ups 3/2/2/2/1
Ab wheel 5 x 6

Another thing I may not have mentioned, but I may have and I just don't remember is that I am now including in the warm up the following:
10 R arm snatches @ 35
10 swings @ 35
10 L arm snatches @ 35
10 goblet squats @ 35
10 ea arm windmills @ 5 Flexibility is an issue here and I will stay light on these until I feel the form is correct. 

Friday, July 13, 2012

Long Legs, Short Back...

...does not, an ideal, squatter make. I continue to struggle with the squat. It is my nemesis. It is a foe. I will vanquish this foe but it is going to take a long ass time.

The sport of exercise begins its games today. check it out at the CF games site.

FRIDAY'S WORKOUT
Row 500 meters
DROM
Squat 5 @ 85/5 @ 105/5 @ 125/5 @ 135/5 @ 155/3 @ 175 failed on these as I didn't get below parallel on any of them.
Press 5 @ 45/5 @ 55/5 @ 65/5 @ 70/5 @ 85/5+ @ 95 (got 6)
Pull ups 5 x 2
Ab wheel 5 x 5
The above 2 were done as a circuit with a 1:30 RI.

Wednesday, July 11, 2012

Cashing Out.

Among other things, I had completely bought into the  idea that high intensity interval training and anaerobic work would translate into improved aerobic capacity. Yet another poorly thought out, baseless claim by "those people". Here is a great article on why it doesn't work.

WEDNESDAY'S WORKOUT
Row 500 meters
DROM
Squat 5 @ 85/5 @ 105/5 @ 125
Bench press 5 @ 70/5 @ 85/5 @ 100/5 @ 110/5 @ 130/5+ @ 145 (got 8)
DB row 3 x 10 @ 50/52.5/55
Pull ups 5 x 2
Slant board situps 3 x 10

Tuesday, July 10, 2012

Short and I'm Never Sweet

I am going to keep this short today as I am spending my time trying to get the Old People With Attitude web site up.

TUESDAY'S WORKOUT
Row 500 meters
Row 1200 meters 4:34.7/Avg pace 1:54.4 (beat last week)/SR 24
Pull ups 5 x 2
Floor wipers 3 x 10 @ 125
Box jumps 5 @ 20"/3 @ 24"/1 @ 36"

Decided to throw some box jumps in just for explosiveness and springiness. (is that a word?)


Monday, July 9, 2012

More Weird Pain

Hips were acting up today and that shut down the ab wheel right quick. This stuff just shows up and then goes away. Guess its just being old.
MONDAY'S WORKOUT
DROM
Squat      5 @ 85/5 @ 105/5 @ 125
Deadlift  5 @ 125/5 @ 155/5 @ 185/5 @ 200/5 @ 235/5+ @ 265 (got 7)
DB bench 3 x 15 @ 37.5
Pull ups 5 x 2

Saturday, July 7, 2012

Curiouser and Curiouser Those Crossfitters

I found this posted on a crossfit facebook page. It is curious that CF which is, in large part, high reps and low weights would turn around and post something that says this is not a good approach.  Workouts like "Randy" 75 power snatches at 75 pounds sounds pretty high rep/low weight to me. This is just further confirmation that there is a fundamental disconnect between saying and doing. Denying that something works and programming it at the same time.
Those darn crosfitters.

SATURDAY'S WORKOUT
Row 500 meters
Row 10 x 100 with 1:30 RI
:20.6/20.4/:20/:19.2/:19.3/:20.2/:19.6/:19.2/:19/:18.7
Average pace 1:38/Average SR 39

Pull ups 5 x 3 with 1:30RI
Hang clean and push jerk 1 x 5 @ 45
Hang snatch 1 x 5

Friday, July 6, 2012

Saving You Some Trouble

I found this article on nutrition from  Mark Bittman of the NY Times and thought I would save you the trouble of going to look for it by posting it here. But first....
FRIDAY'S WORKOUT
Row 500 meters
DROM
Squats 5 @ 80/5 @ 100/5 @ 115
Press 5 @ 45/5 @ 55/5 @ 65
A point of interest. If anyone still uses the term shoulder press its time to stop. Mark Rippetoe says that we don't say shoulder press for the same reason we don't say leg squat. Unless modified by bench a press is always overhead.
Weighted pull ups 1 x 3/1x2/3x1 @ 25
Ab wheel 3 x 9
And now this...

WHICH DIET WORKS?
One of the challenges of arguing that hyperprocessed carbohydrates are largely responsible for the obesity pandemic (“epidemic” is no longer a strong enough word, say many experts) is the notion that “a calorie is a calorie.”
Accept that, and you buy into the contention that consuming 100 calories’ worth of sugar water (like Coke or Gatorade), white bread or French fries is the same as eating 100 calories of broccoli or beans. And Big Food — which has little interest in selling broccoli or beans — would have you believe that if you expend enough energy to work off those 100 calories, it simply doesn’t matter.
There’s an increasing body of evidence, however, that calories from highly processed carbohydrates like white flour (and of course sugar) provide calories that the body treats differently, spiking both blood sugar and insulin and causing us to retain fat instead of burning it off.
In other words, all calories are not alike.

You might need a little background here: To differentiate “bad” carbs from “good,” scientists use the term “glycemic index” (or “load”) to express the effect of the carbs on blood sugar. High glycemic diets cause problems by dramatically increasing blood sugar and insulin after meals; low glycemic diets don’t. Highly processed carbohydrates (even highly processed whole grains, like instant oatmeal and fluffy whole-grain breads) tend to make for higher glycemic diets; less processed grains, fruits, non-starchy vegetables, legumes and nuts — along with fat and protein — make for a lower glycemic diet.
A new study published Tuesday in the Journal of the American Medical Association adds powerfully to the notion that low glycemic diets are the way forward. (Or, actually, backward, since the low glycemic diet is largely traditional.) The work took place at the New Balance Foundation Obesity Prevention Center  of Boston Children’s Hospital, and looked at people’s ability to maintain weight loss, which is far more difficult than losing weight. (Few people maintain even a small portion of their weight loss after dieting.) To do this, the researchers — led by the center’s associate director Cara Ebbeling and director David Ludwig — put three groups of people on diets to lose 10 to 15 percent of their body weight.
They then assigned each of the dieters, in random order, to follow four weeks each of three diets with the same number of calories. One was a standard low-fat diet: 60 percent carbohydrates — with an emphasis on fruits, vegetables and whole grains (but not unprocessed ones) — 20 percent from protein and 20 percent from fat. This is the low-fat diet that has been reigning “wisdom” for the last 30 years or more.
Another was an ultra-low-carb diet (for convenience, we’ll call this “Atkins”), of 10 percent of calories from carbs, 60 percent from fat and 30 percent from protein. And the third was a low glycemic diet, with 40 percent carbs — minimally processed grains, fruit, vegetables and legumes — 40 percent fat and 20 percent protein.
The results were impressive. Those on the “Atkins” diet burned 350 calories more per day — the equivalent of an hour of moderate exercise — than those on the standard low-fat diet. Those on the low-glycemic diet burned 150 calories more, roughly equivalent to an hour of light exercise.
Three conclusions you can draw on the face of this: One is that the kind of calories you eat does matter. Two, as Ludwig concludes, is that “the low-fat diet that has been the primary approach for more than a generation is actually the worst for most outcomes, with the worst effects on insulin resistance, triglycerides and HDL, or good cholesterol.” And three, we should all be eating an “Atkins” diet.
But not so fast; the “Atkins” diet also had marked problems. It raised levels of CRP (c-reactive protein), which is a measure of chronic inflammation, and cortisol, a hormone that mediates stress. “Both of these,” says Ludwig, “are tightly linked to long term-heart risk and mortality.”
His conclusion, then? “The ‘Atkins’ diet gives you the biggest metabolic benefit initially, but there are long-term downsides, and in practice, people have trouble sticking to low-carb diets. Over the long term, the low-glycemic diet appears to work the best, because you don’t have to eliminate an entire class of nutrients, which our research suggests is not only hard from a psychological perspective but may be wrong from a biological perspective.”
Almost every diet, from the radical no-carb-at-all notions to the tame (and sane) “Healthy Eating Plate” from Harvard, agrees on at least this notion: reduce, or even come close to eliminating, the amount of hyper-processed carbohydrates in your diet, because, quite simply, they’re bad for you. And if you look at statistics, at least a quarter of our calories come from added sugars (seven percent from beverages alone), white flour, white rice, white pasta … are you seeing a pattern here? (Oh, and white potatoes. And beer.)
So what’s Ludwig’s overall advice? “It’s time to reacquaint ourselves with minimally processed carbs. If you take three servings of refined carbohydrates and substitute one of fruit, one of beans and one of nuts, you could eliminate 50 percent of diet-related disease in the United States. These relatively modest changes can provide great benefit.”
The message is pretty simple: unprocessed foods give you a better chance of idealizing your weight — and your health. Because all calories are not created equal.

Wednesday, July 4, 2012

Later That Same Day

It is nearly 8 PM here in California. It has been a mild day, a cool breeze blowing and some high clouds. I think its a holiday but I don't much keep track of that sort of thing.
WEDNESDAY'S WORKOUT
Row 500 meters
DROM
Squat 5 @ 80/5 @ 100/5 @ 115
Bench 5 @ 65/5 @ 65/5 @ 100
DB rows 3 x 10 @ 50
Slant board situps 3 x 10
Reverse hyper 3 x 10
I did the squats, rows and situps as a circuit
Finished the whole workout in about an hour. Flexibility is finally improving in my shoulders and making the windmills a little easier.

Tuesday, July 3, 2012

Squash

I kind of overdid the squash plants this year. We have 9 of them and they are starting to come in. Kind of like chickens laying eggs. I look one day and there are several little ones and the next day there are several foot longs. Not quite sure how they do that. Plenty of squash though.
TUESDAY'S WORKOUT
Row 5 minutes
DROM
Push ups 3 x 12
Floor wipers 3 x 10 @ 120
Row 1000 meters 3:50.5/1:55.2 avg pace/23 avg SR

Monday, July 2, 2012

And Now Something New

I changed the Dynamic Warm Up routine some and am now doing this . Ignore the girl in booty shorts and sports bra. I am keeping windmills in. This seems like a good overall warm up. There is also a good article on zone training on The Science of Running site.
MONDAY'S WORKOUT
Row 500 meters
DROM
Squat 5 @ 80/5 @ 100/5 @ 115
Dead lift 5 @ 120/5 @ 150/5 @ 180
DB bench 3 x 10 @ 37.5
Ab wheel 3 x 9
Reverse Hyper 3 x 10

Slept good last night and had a sufficient quantity of coffee. The workout felt good and when the workout feels good I feel good.