It Is Alive!

On the heels of the Jim Steel article I linked to a few days ago here is a great piece by Jim Wendler.
A standout article with the last line deserving of special notice.
"And please, don't try to sell us on how hardcore you are or how dedicated to strength you are. Your lifts and your silence do more talking than your Internet chatter and bravado."
You all keep that in mind.

THURSDAY'S WORKOUT
W/U
Dropped the weight on the TGU today after watching this piece from Cressey Performance. I need to get the moves down throughout the entire exercise and not focus on weight just yet.

W/O 5 rounds/R.A.N.
10 KB swings
2 dips
15 KB swings
3 dips
25 KB swings
5 dips
Finished in 20:31 which is 2:36 faster than the last time :) sideways smiley face for that.

C/D
Indian clubs and rolling around on the floor. (Imagine the looks I get at 24 hr. fitness)
Actually no looks at all people there are uninterested in anything new or innovative. Just marching dutifully away on their treadmills and stair things and pretending like they are getting healthy.

side note: All of the trainers there have failed the test. They are incapable of moving out of their comfort zone.

Creep, Creep, Creep

My readership is creeping down. I will have to do something spectacular to draw attention to myself.
What could that be?
Dropped another 3 minutes off the Swing/Goblet Squat workout and I am pleased. You can see how pleased I am by looking at me.

W/U
Dropped the weight on the windmills and am just working on thoracic mobility and rotational stuff for my shoulders.

W/O
5 rounds/R.A.N. (rest as needed)
10 KB swings @ 24K
1 Goblet squat @ 75
15 KB swings @ 24K
2 Goblet squats @ 75
25 KB swings @ 24K
3 Goblet squats @ 75
Time: 22:45

C/D
Threw some of the Primal Move warm up stuff into the cool down

Alone

Here is a quote by James Steel from his article Alone, Alone, Alone on "Throw Up Hill."

And when I was doing these sprints, I thought of how long I had been doing these types of workouts alone, without paying some guru (no gurus or Speed and Performance centers in 1983), or some self-proclaimed expert or even having a friend train with me. Nobody wanted to go out in that time of the day, and I liked it that way anyway.

Isn't there something about doing it alone? Getting off of your ass, getting out in the woods, and just getting it done? You mean that you wouldn't do it if somebody didn't tell you that you had to do it? Insanity. You HAVE to have somebody tell you that it is time to train? Who else in life, and that is what you are training for, life itself, can you really depend on? Better to depend on yourself that someone who just brings you down, shows up late, complains about their relationships or their jobs or has it so damn tough that they just cant go hard today because they have something that is bothering them physically. Enough, its time to start, this is important to me, so I am just going to start. Uh huh, no, I am starting now!

It may seem silly to some, but I don't care. Somebody told me today that I should be careful, being alone in the woods like that, what if you sprained you ankle, what if you broke your leg, what if... I said okay because I respected the guy, but to myself I am thinking, yeah, I really don't care, I have been banged up many times before, and its no big deal, in fact I accept that it will happen eventually, because its not running on a treadmill, it's TRAINING, and there is risk involved and I am alone because I want to be and I don't want to live like you think. I have fought against thinking and living like that my whole life and I figure that as soon as you let that type of thinking creep into your head that you are done, you might as well go to the mall and follow the herd.
Getting back in those woods rejuvinated me and brought me back to a time when life was much simpler and the worries were less. Important? Yes, its important to do things like that, at least to me, because it is the essence of what training is really about; being alone, self motivated and without relying on anybody at all, getting back to the way things should be done.

Food for your Brain.

Recked ma Rhomboids

Don't know what I did but now they hurt. If they still hurt tomorrow I will take the day off.
I put some useful links on the useful links page.

SUNDAY'S WORKOUT
W/U 3 rounds
Upped the TGU weight to 15 and the Windmill weight to 10

W/O 5 rounds/rest as needed (or RAN in future posts)
Time went up over last week as I felt a bit out of sorts.
10 KB swings
1 Press @ 85
15 KB swings
2 Press @ 85
25 KB swings
3 Press @ 85
Time 25:31
A sad face for that.

C/D
Indian clubs and Reset

What Are My Options?

Observer: Your options? Well, option A is you didn't sleep very well last night.
Me: ...and?
Observer: Option B is you didn't eat very good yesterday.
Me: Option C
Observer: You really don't want to hear option C do you?
Me: Yeah. I think I do.
Observer: You won't like it.
Me: Try me.
Observer: Your a pussy.
I got up and walked out of the room. Shame contorting my features. Tears streaming down my face cutting hot paths like lava on my cheeks.
He was right. I didn't want to hear it but I needed to hear it.

I am officially cancelling Chip's workshop today. I have not gotten anyone to sign up.
A less than stellar workout today.

W/U The usual but went with 12 lbs on the TGU's.

W/O 1 round
10 KB swings
1 pull up
15 KB swings
2 pull ups
25 KB swings
3 pull ups

My heart rate was jacked after this and I was sweating profusely and I stopped.
C/D
Indian clubs and reset.
Worked on crawling sideways and backwards today.

Open Up The Window. Let some Air Into This Room.

I think that's a clever title for this post but I don't have anything to follow it up with other than it was really hot in the gym today.
I decided to get in an extra 250 KB swings today because I didn't have to go to work.
Last night I went and worked out with a guy named Tony Cortina. He runs a place called Cortina Training.
He is a SWAT guy and a fight coach who teaches exactly the type of fighting I have been looking to learn. It is not martial arts as a sport. it is not BJJ it is just down and dirty take the fight to them and end it as quickly as possible. Here is a copy of his article in Black Belt magazine that explains the idea better than I can. Good stuff.

THURSDAY'S WORKOUT
W/U the usual

W/O
10 rounds of 25 KB swings on 1:30 @ 24K
It took 14;13
..and it was hard.

Sandbagin' Or What? (2 g's or 1?)

I dropped 6 minutes off the swing/goblet squat workout today so I have either gotten exponentially stronger or I seriously sandbagged last week. I prefer to believe that I have gotten stronger.
The clock is ticking on Chip's appearance. It will be cancelled on Friday if I don't have 13 people signed up. I now have exactly zero.
If I have to cancel I would highly recommend, if you live in So Cal that you make the trek out to Palm Desert and see Chip at Desert Crossfit on Saturday the 9th of November

WEDNESDAY'S WORKOUT
W/U 3 rounds of:
Haloes x 5 ea
Windmills x 5 ea @ 8 lbs.
Wall squats x 5
Pump stretch x 5
TGU x 1 ea @ 10
Other than the weights on the windmills and TGU this will stay the same for awhile so I am not going to write the whole thing out each day.

W/O 5 rounds of:
KB swings x 10
Goblet squat x 1 @ 75
KB swings x 15
Goblet squat x 2 @ 75
KB swings x 25
Goblet squat x 3 @ 75
Almost woossed (spelling) out on the GS today but I toughed it out because I am a tough guy.

C/D
Indian clubs and reset