Anger and the Damage Done

I have noticed that I am feeling better physically, as of late, and that has translated into being less angry. I have been angry for a long, long time. As my sense of physical well being increases I am less inclined to indulge in things which affect that feeling. Anger affects that feeling in a big way. Don't get me wrong, I am not going to stop hating on stupid but I am going to scream less in the car.
The research I have been doing lately and the conversations I have had in the recent past are leading in the direction of me embracing a vegan diet. The paleo thing is coming under fire lately as having nothing scientific to back it up. Alan Aragon's presentation at the NSCA conference The Paleo Diet Claims versus Evidence was what got me started. Reading Mike Mahler's articles on a vegan diet gave me some clarity. And finding the Vegan Fitness website opened some doors as well.. Since I love to experiment on myself this seems like a good choice.

TODAY'S WORKOUT

W/U
OS reset at home
 3 rounds of:
 10 hinge patterns and and 5 squats.

WORKOUT
Dead lift
3 x 5 @ Bar/135/155
3 x 3 @ 200/220/240
3 x 1 @ 245/255/265
Bench press (still giving my shoulders a tweek)
Bench 3 x 3 @ 45/95/105
Batwings 3 x 10 seconds with 30 lbs
Plank 3 x 10 seconds
Row 5 x 1000 meters/:20 RI
rate changes 25/22/25/28/25 each 1,000 meters
I made every one except the 28.

I am going to get to the bottom of the shoulder thing before I load it again.

Practical Application

I went to the park today to do my original strength resets and decided to baby crawl my way to a tree and then transition to a leopard crawl and go up the tree. Worked out nicely. There was not the sense of imbalance I had when I last tried this.
Today I rowed 12 x 250 meters with :45 RI it felt good. Then I tried some trap bar farmer's walks I did 3 sets x 40 yds with 135/185/225. So I made basic strength standards for farmer's walks...bodyweight for 40 yds. the standard is actually BW x 50 ft. so I am off and running.
I ordered the Essential Somatics book and DVD set 2 days ago and I can't wait to try it.
I promise to keep you posted.

Out From The Shadows

Well, here I am again. Full of good intentions and dedication. We'll see how long this lasts.
I have changed my workout structure considerably since the last time we talked and here is what I am doing.
For a warm up I am doing Original strength coupled with patterning moves from Dan John's book Intervention
It goes like this:
Farmer walks plus cross crawl
Batwings plus segmented rolls
Planks plus neck nods
Squats plus six point rocks
Hinge pattern plus leopard crawl

Then a lift:
Deadlift
Press
Squat
Kettlebell swings
Farmer walks

Then some conditioning on the rower on M/W/F and longer crawls on T/Th or Sat.

This is making me feel good and I like things that do that.

I've Seen This Somewhere Before.

It is I. Returned, for the moment, from an hiatus of sorts. Just finishing up a 4 week cycle that consisted of 1-2-3 ladders of dead lifts, one arm dumb bell presses and towel rows. I got the dead lift back up to 315 and the press up to 50 lb DB's. The towel rows are good for grip strength. Throw a rolled up towel over a bar and row away.
This will be short today as I am realizing that I don't really have all that much to say.

The Leisure Movement

I decided the other day that we have built a society that values mindless productivity over mindfull leisure. I would like that to change, and with the aid of a friend, I have started the Leisure Movement. The primary tenets are that you have an understanding of and an appreciation for the act of leisure. Just doing something, especially if it is work, it pointless and overrated. One can be more productive and less angst prone when one is looking out the window on a nice day rather than toiling away at some ridiculous form of work. So get out there, spread the word and stop work before it stops you.
I have been spending the last few weeks working on Pavel's Simple and Sinister program and I am liking it. Check it out if you have some time.

Funny How Blogs Die

I feel like someone sneaking back into the house after having attended my own funeral. There has been a lot of activity lately and that has parked adding to internet chatter way in the back of the lot. I will now walk out of the shadows take the long trek across the vast, empty space and dust off this blog and see if it will still start.
First: New things in the L.A. area, Tav Byerhoff, formerly of Bodytribe Fitness in Sacramento gives classes on Wednesday morning at 7 AM at the foot of Ocean Park Blvd. in Santa Monica. If you are familiar with Chip Conrad's work you might want to check this out. Tav's group is called Ritual Fitness.
Second: Ken Froese offers groundflow classes in Culver City on Tuesday and Thursday evenings. (e-mail him for times and location) This looks interesting and fun although I have not, yet, been to one of the classes. I will probably go next week after my stupid back gets better.
I promised a few tidbits on content versus quality so here they are:
I believe that being able to satisfy the interwebz insatiable appetite for more, more, more has diluted the quality of the information to such an extent that it is almost laughable. I have friends who want to start blogs on various subjects and are not looking for writers but  for content producers. The depths to which this has sunk is indicated by the proliferation of content mills that pay writers ridiculously low rates to just produce internet friendly content (one or two paragraphs) to fill their gaping maws. This has produced an environment in which writers are having an increasingly hard time making a living. Most of the writers I know, who are making a living, started out and got established when print was still the dominant medium. Chew on that for awhile and buy a book, a real book and keep it by your bedside. You can read them without turning anything on. You can also throw them across the room, mark up the pages with highlighters and scratch notes in the margins. The funniest thing I saw recently was a book on how to survive grid crash that was only available as an e-book.
I attended a Strong First Kettle Bell course last weekend and it was great. I hope to write a review of this for publication soon and I will keep you posted.
See you soon. If I can get this thing to turn over. I might have to push start it.

Link-a-palooza

Over two weeks since my last post. I have been in a state recently and not up to the task. I have, however, found some new stuff for you to read.
A new article by Mark Rippetoe about Crossfit that reinforces what we already know. It needs to be said again and again as new people investigate the method. These folks need to have access to this information if they are to make an informed decision. Maybe if more people walked in the door demanding that safety concerns be addressed then the CF gyms will be forced to comply. Free market and all that.
Tony Gentilcore's site is great. Be sure to visit his Resources page for links to other sites.
Aleks Salkins site had this great article on movement. Directed toward getting you to check out Primal Move, while not a bad thing it did end up sounding like a sales pitch.
Gold Medal Bodies is a good bodyweight and gymnastics site.

Now that my readership has precipitously declined I must work hard to regain  your interest. Tomorrow on this subject we will talk about content quantity versus quality.

The workouts for the next 8 weeks:
Day One:
5 rounds/Rest as needed
Trap bar Dead lifts x 5
Ring Rows x 5
Goblet Squats x 5
Single arm KB swings x 5 to 20 ea.
Ab wheel x 5 - 10
Day Two:
5 rounds/Rest as needed
Trap bar Dead lifts x 5
One arm dumb bell press x 5
Goblet Squats x 5
KB snatch x 3 - 10 ea.
Farmer Walk x 40 meters

These will be alternated each workout and I will try to get in 2 - 3 days of outdoor workouts.
so it would look something like this:
Sunday - outdoor
Monday - workout 1
Tuesday - off
Wednesday - outdoor
Thursday - workout 2
Friday - off
Saturday - Maybe a row  or some sort of fun thing.

So that's it for today.