September 30, 2010

1 mile treadmill, 1 mile elliptical thingy, 1 mile stair-master, 3 miles bike.

OHS 95# plus chains, 3x8
Standing Cable Crunches, 150#, 3x20

Second Workout

Back Squats, 135#x8, 185#x8, 225#x8, 335#, 2x2, 315#, 2x5, 295#, 2x5, 275# 2x5, 225#x5

Incline Bench Press, 135#, 2x8, 225#x3, 205#x5, 185#x5

Good Mornings 135#, 3x8
Standing Cable Crunches, 155#, 3x30

September 29, 2010

1 mile treadmill, 1 mile elliptical thing, 1 mile stair-master, 3 miles bike.

September 28, 2010

Yoga. S'ok I guess.

September 27, 2010

Treadmill 1 mile, elliptical thingy 1 mile, bike 3 miles, StairMaster 1 mile.

Fall sucks. Just taking it easy.

OK, fall doesn't suck.

September 24, 2010

Yoga. I talked S into joining me, for his first ever class. Whooo boy... my comment at the end class was "There we threw your ass into the deep end." He was fine. A just runs a rapid flow so knowing the poses and the transitions helps. But, S is strong and has good joint mobility so he did fine.

I'm feeling pretty good too. I guess that was the right thing to do.

Interesting video on running efficiency

September 23, 2010

Workout group, 20 something people, weighted vest.

Standard warm up and mobility.

Medicine ball and running fun. Kinda like "the machine" but with a medi-ball and J picked the running activity, so, not really like "the machine".

September 22, 2010

1 mile on the treadmill, 1 mile on the elliptical thingy, 3 miles on the bike, 1 mile on the stair-climber.

September 21, 2010

Weighted Vest.

S and I tried to figure out how 2 people and 3 sets of dumbbells could go up and down the stairs in some sort of pattern, and failed. But, we got warmed up.

Fat bar hang cleans, 115#, 4x5
push up burpee with a pull up

Incline Bench press, 155#x8, 175#x8, 185#x6, 205#x5, 185#x6
Alternated seated rows, 200#x8, or pull ups to failure/gravitron pull ups twice what we did on body weight

K and M were doing bench squats, pretty scary to watch.

We joined them for a couple rounds of goodmornings

September 20, 2010

Work out group, 15 or so, weighted vest.

Warm up and mobility, pretty much standard fair, but, somethings we haven't seen in awhile.

Jump Thursday, Monday

Jump squats for 20 seconds
2-5 push ups
3 way lunges, 40 seconds
run 20 yards, walk backwards to start
hold plank, we did 4 rounds so plank in each direction

Broad jumps for distance, jog to opposite goal line
jumping split squats, 40 seconds
supine bridge hold,
4 rounds

3 way superman, 20 seconds
3 way single leg squats, 20 seconds
10, 20, 30 suicide

3 way superman, 20 seconds
3 way single leg squats, 20 seconds
cowboy, ninja, bear suicide...
1 burpee on the goal line, bear crawl out, 5 yards, 2 burpees, run back, 1 burpee, and so on adding a burpee with each additional 5 yards, so 4 on the 15 yard line, for example.

September 17, 2010

S&M joined me today and we threw together some fun.


4 Rounds,
Stairwell farmers walk, 50#, M did 75#, this was the trigger event
Rest was to hold the striking pad,
3rd person strikes the pad for as long as it takes the first to climb and descend the stairs

Heavy singles, Bench press, and Back Squat, M and I held at 315# for the squats, on bench we worked up to 280# but for me that was mostly a failure, 4 rounds

weighted pull ups to failure, both reps and weight

good way to start the weekend.

September 16, 2010

Group Workout, outside and beautiful, 20 or so, no vest.

Medi-ball warm up, and mobility.

Dumbbell 55#

10 seconds of goblet squats, 30 second plank, 4 rounds

20 yards of back pedal, forward shuffle 2 left, 2 right
dumbbell overhead, reverse walking lunge
something
sumo-shuffle with triceps press

we did another circuit and the only parts I recall were burpees with a sit through, and bear crawl

finished with a partner run and plant and hand slap thing

2nd work out while the male offspring did Jujitsu

Stairwell, farmers walk, 25# and 50#, 3 rounds

Incline bench press, 155#x8, 175#x8, 185#x6, 205#x5, 225#x5
Seated rows, 200#, 8,8, 6,6,6

Fat-bar, hang squat cleans, 135#s5, 140#x5, 140#x5
ham raises, 8, 8, 8

OHS, 95# plus chains, 3x8

September 15, 2010

Warmup
Hang Squat Cleans, 115#, fat bar, 6x5
Push up burpees with a pull up, 6x5

Work
Bent over rows, 135#, 5, 5, 5
Machine seated press, 240#, 5, 5, 5

Farmers walk, 100# dumbbells, 75ft
4 way neck machine, 150#, 5x5x5x5
Hanging Knee Raises, 15
Diagonal Plate Raises, 25#, 5 per side
Farmers walk, 100# dumbbells, 75ft

OHS, 89#, 4x8

Basically felt terrible so to hell with it, just have some fun.

September 13, 2010

No vest.

Warm up
Farmers walk in the stairwell, 45# and 25#, 3 cycles

Pre-work
Hang Squat Cleans, 115#, fat bar, 6x5
Push up burpees with a pull up, 6x5

Work
Incline Bench Press, 155#x12, 135#x10, 115#x8
Pull ups, 5,5,5
Gravitron Pull ups, 10, 10, 10

30# dumbbell, halo swings, 3x10

I'm having a thought here Barbossa.

Records are for glory. Lifting is for life. Live a little.

Kat Ricker

I've been struggling a bit with the good old questions of why, and what, in order to answer how.  I've increasingly been unhappy with the "Sport of Fitness".  Some of my disenchantment comes from the notion that the right way to execute a movement is based on its most comparable configuration.  Some of it arises from the transference of one kind of fundamentalism to another, the cult like quality of certain training systems in other words.

I'm interested in two aspects of form, first, avoiding doing the wrong way, and two playing with the possibilities of movement.  Both are for physiological reasons, and the second, is for mental health, too.  Injury, particularly the older we get is bad, or wrong, and hence to be avoided.  Sudden injury, and chronic overuse, both inhibit our training and hence use up time we don't have to waste.  And to my mind that is the morality of that.  I struggle with the abstraction, the artificiality that defining a movement for the sake of competition is the standard of that movement.  CrossFit is notorious for this in my opinion.  

Barbell Burpee
The movement begins in a standing position with the hips fully extended. The chest must hit the ground. You must return to an upright position with the hips fully extended and execute a sideways jump from both feet with a clap behind the head while the feet are off the ground. Some portion of the ear must be visible in front of the arm when viewed from the side by the judge. If the jump/clap was inadequate, and you successfully completed the chest to ground portion, you do not need to go back to the ground but can repeat only the jump/clap.

So this makes our movements comparable in order for competition to be fair, but, what does that do to our thinking and our souls? Lets compare this to the following video and meditate on the proliferation of possibilities that it brings to our thinking, and our fitness. Now in fairness to Bill, and Central Maine Crossfit, that they accommodate a sideways jump, is unusual it calls into question the single right "burpee", yet that seems so invisible in this overwrought definition of "Barbell Burpee".



I suspect this is the difference, in part that Kat is making in her statement that heads this meditation.  Records rise and fall, fade and are forgotten.  But, living the disciplined life, pitting oneself against gravity on a daily basis -- well that is life.  There is a 20-something kid in our gym, he weighs 165# and pulls my max dead lift for reps.  I will never again weigh 165# and my max dead lift, might increase a bit, but, in truth I've probably gone about as far as I can with that movement in that direction.  So, for me to salvage the movement I have to play with it re-invent it or walk away from it.  Now I know that same 20-something kid admires the bunch of us geezers because we've made a lifestyle of exercise and he hopes to see us in the gym when he is 40 and we are 60.  And so we see the truth of both sides of Kat's statement.  I'm proud of my "records" because they mark my progress, but, in terms of the planet, well, I'm just a slightly above average middle age guy.

I think fitness is a big tent.  Folks who enjoy the sport of fitness should pursue it but, they need to, realize the limits that sets on their movements and thinking and that they choose to accept those limits is fine, but, outside of the competition, realize that movements are just movements -- except if they are done dangerously.  Too, I don't think it is wise for every workout to be a competition a race against others or the clock.  Variety is the spice of life, so sometimes, yes, but not always, I worry that warps ones thinking and in turn ones life.  Increasingly, I'm thinking that variety in duration, in intensity, and frequency, as well as in types of movement is an important element of healthfulness and of gpp.

Likewise the cult of gyms and the cult of trainers need to be shown for what they are.  I am coming to detest gyms as sacred sites, exclusive sites for exercise. Increasingly, I want to take the toys outside and play.  I have yet to figure out how to get the O-bar on my silly Corolla but when I do... I'm gone.  In the mean time the rocks, and benches, the swing sets, and picnic tables and railings all are gyms that beckon the imaginative.



We are woefully ignorant of our bodies and so experts have their roles, but, very few are experts and most copy from each other -- and with that liberating knowledge we can become our own experts about our own bodies.  And as such we are liberated from one more system designed to separate us from our money while keeping us blissfully mediocre.  Use a personal trainer hard and put them up wet and get on with your life if you must. A thoughtful person needs none of it. I'm sick to death of the cult of personality and personal trainers, internet exercise celebrities, to hell with the bunch. Experts, wankberts, shit... Elliptical-rowing-stair-master-mill skull numbing drudgefuckery machines. Up to my ears fed up with gyms, and membership fees. And along with all of that the Medical-Insurance-Government corporate clusterfuck telling us the minimum is sufficient -- self serving liars. Wankers all.

Trust yourself.
Get some friends together.
Play hard and challenge each other.

But, what does it mean to trust yourself? Who are your friends? How do you meet like minded people? If you challenge each other do you risk taking the "play" out of it and turning it back into work or worse competition? I don't know for sure but I've got to keep trying.

September 10, 2010

No vest.

I thought I was going to do Yoga today, but, the new schedule doesn't start till next week, D'OH!

Back Squats, 135#x10, 185#x8, 205#x8, 225#x8, 275#x5, 295#x5, 310#x5, 315#x3

OHS, 95# plus chains, 3x10
Ham Raises, 3x8

Farmers walk, 100# dumbbells, 75ft
4 way neck machine, 150#, 5x5x5x5
Cable Push Pull, 50#10 each side
Halo swings, 30# dumbbell swings, 10 or so,
Farmers walk, 100# dumbbells, 75ft

September 9, 2010

Workout group, 16 folks, no vest.

Warmup
Fairly standard warm up, little longer course, but the same movements.

Pre-Work
10 yard run toward partner, plant foot slap hands, lather rinse repeat... doing it was more fun and easier then explaining it.

Work
1 practice round, then 3 rounds as fast as possible
2x 20 yard backward shuffle, 2 left, 2 right, run back
10 reverse walking lunges with medi-ball overhead
10 jump and stick with medi-ball
10 Renegade Rows

2 Rounds
6-10 Medi-ball push-ups
2x Clock Face Lunges
medi-ball hold windshield wipers
Move the Mountain, 5, 10, 15, second round, 5, 15, 30

I felt great today.

Workout # 2

Weighted vest

Warm up
Hang Squat Cleans, 95#, 10, 8, 6, 4, 2
Push up burpees with a pull up, 2, 4, 6, 8, 10

Farmer Walk Stair Climb, 45# and 25# 1 cycle

Work
Incline Bench Press, 135#x12, 115#x10, 95#x8
Pull ups, 8, 6, 6

10 minutes on the elliptical thingy

100# dumbbells, Farmer walk 75ft
4-way neck machine, 150#, 5x5x5x5
Cable Push Pull, 50#, 10 per side
100# dumbbells, Farmer walk 75ft

Had to pick up after the students, what a freaking mess, and I was driven out finally by the hiphop lyrics.

September 8, 2010

I've missed a fair few workouts of late -- dealing with stuff.

So, I did a homemade Fun with Weights this evening, since the noon hour was lost on dealing with stuff....

I have only got about 30 yards of flat grassy area, so it was a short course. 135# barbell and I started with dead lift suicide, 5 lifts at the start point.  Moved onto a barbell complex, 3 dead lift, 3 BOR, 3 high pull, carry the bar 5 yards run out and back and so on.  I really don't recall it all I just made it up as I went along, trying to balance pressing, pulling, leg strength, and spine strength.  About an hour of work.  It is more fun to do it with others, but this was still nice.  I have been struggling to breath in the gym and beating myself up about not being in good shape.  Being out side with good air showed me that most of the problem is environment and not me.  Kind of a relief, but, opens up a dilemma as to how to get a workout in and still breath?  Soon enough that flat area will be covered in snow, and it will be dark before I get home?

September 7. 2010

1 mile on the treadmill

3 rounds
75# Dumbbell Snatch 5 per side
single arm single leg cable row, 50# 5 per side
Good mornings 95#, 10

3 rounds
Standing cable Crunch, 150# 5x5x5
hanging knee raises, 15

Elliptical thing, 15 minutes

Chain Yoke another possiblity for DIY

I love this stuff -- DIY Gym,