Play-Out

Why are we so enamored by the term “work-out”? Are we obsessed with “work” so that it becomes pervasive throughout our entire lives?

What if instead we did our “play-out”? What if we went to the gym with the goal of having fun? Obviously, we see this with folks who do a lot of cross training, and play sports to get their exercise. But, so many folks are trapped in the cycle of slogging. Slogging through an hour on some sort of ergonomic machine or slogging through a circuit of exercises with various machines. GAHHH! HOW DAMN BORING!

CrossFit defines fitness this way:

Eat meat and vegetables, nuts and seeds, some fruit, little starch and no sugar. Keep intake to levels that will support exercise but not body fat. Practice and train major lifts: Deadlift, clean, squat, presses, C&J, and snatch. Similarly, master the basics of gymnastics: pull-ups, dips, rope climb, push-ups, sit-ups, presses to handstand, pirouettes, flips, splits, and holds. Bike, run, swim, row, etc, hard and fast. Five or six days per week mix these elements in as many combinations and patterns as creativity will allow. Routine is the enemy. Keep workouts short and intense. Regularly learn and play new sports.

So, I love that they chase after variety and intensity – and they encourage folks to play sports – particularly to learn new sports.

What if we called an exercise session a “play-out” and we looked for fun things to do? What if we said I have to go to my "learn-out" and we looked for new sports, new skills to learn?

Agility drills and skills offer a lot of fun.

Drills for Balance and Coordination

Drills for Speed and Agility

Eye-hand coordination stuff can be a hoot. And not everything has to be about grunting and sweating.

Learn to Juggle

Ross at Ross Traing has an interesting article about Juggling particularly about the mental benefits of learning new skills.

Of course places like Brand X, and HardCore Kids know that it has to be fun for kids to want to come back -- why do adults make exercise such a vitamin pill?

Interestingly Jim Baker of CrossFit makes the point that in coaching elderly people you have to remind them of seemingly simple neuromuscular activities, how to crawl, how to get up from a kneeling position -- they have to become child like to retain their youth.

Of course, now I have to take my own medicine.

December 2, 2008

Warm-up
10 minutes of treadmill intervals and 5 minutes talking to "W" about asthma -- ok so not the best one.

Workout

3x5, Bench Press, #195
3x5, Squat, #205
3x8, Glute-ham Raise
1x5, Deadlift, #285

Core, 3x20

4 way neck machine, #120
cable crunches, #150
cable push pull, 60#
hyperextensions
supine hip march

December 1, 2008

Workout group about a dozen folks showed up.

General warm-up
Hips in shuffle
Hips out shuffle
Puddle hops
Various skips w/arm swings
Skip with a twist
Skip, skip, lunge
Carioca, l, r
Forward Shuffle 2left, 2right
Backward shuffle 2left, 2right
Backward push
Butt kicks

Stretch
Reverse walking lunges hands overhead
High knee walk, Walking Lunge with quad stretch
Walking knee out Lunge with a double twist
Lunge elbow to instep w/ rotation
Inchworms with double kick
Walking Knee Machine
Superman walk
Kick walk

Agility/Speed
Sprint from a lying start
Prone head first
Supine head first, l,r
Prone feet first, l,r
Supine feet first

Weights 3 rounds
12, Sumo Dead lift, 50% bodyweight
12 Jump tuck
12, Dumbbell PP alternating sides
12 Jump tuck
12, Goblet Squats
12 Jump tuck
Farmers Walk, 40% body weight


V-ups , Planks, Cross lateral superman

Too damn hard my eyes were bigger than my stomach. Kinda embarassing to write a workout you can't do. Next time I'll drop the number of reps, to 8 and on the jump tucks I'll do a descending pyramid, 10, 8, 6

November 26, 2008

Warm-up

10 minutes of treadmill intervals

2/10
OHS – empty O-bar
Sit-ups
Hyperextensions
Bar dips
Pull ups

Work Out

Military Press, 120/3/5
Squat, 205/3/5
Clean, 140/5/3

Core – 3/20

4 Way Neck Machine, 120#
Cable Crunches, 150#
Cable Push Pull, 60#
Hyperextensions
Supine Hip March

Felt pretty good today. Unfortunately some wanker came in 3/4 the way through and started doing Cleans and dropping the weight from shoulder height. After 3 sets, I went over and asked if I could work in. I did his weight and his number of reps and never made a "clank" -- in all honesty I think he was too stupid to get the point but I think everybody else in the gym got it.

November 25, 2008

Warm-up

10 minutes of treadmill intervals, 7.2-8.2 mph work, 3mph rest

2/10
OHS – empty O-bar
Sit-ups
Hyperextensions
Bar dips
Pull ups

Workout

ad lib warm up for each

Bench Press -- 195/3/5
Squat -- 205/3/5
Dead lift –285/1/5

Core – 3/20

4 Way Neck Machine, 120#
Cable Crunches, 150#
Cable Push Pull, 60#
Hanging Knee Raises

Olympic Lifting

Benefits of Olympic Weightlifting, Never too late to begin, Not just for boys

There are 2 Olympic lifts the Snatch and the Clean and Jerk, both are compound movements and that means they can be broken down into pieces. The pieces can be learned and then added back together to complete the compound movement.

Some coaches argue that the Snatch should be learned first, because, it requires more explosiveness and better technique. Basically, the Snatch consists of 3 parts.

Dead lift
Hang pull
Over head squat, notice the width of the grip.

When added together they look like this: Snatch 1, Snatch 2

Mike Burgener Teaches Pat the Snatch Ia (CFJ Preview)...[wmv][mov]
Mike Burgener Teaches Pat the Snatch Ib (CFJ Preview)...[wmv][mov]
Mike Burgener Teaches Pat the Snatch II (CFJ Preview)...[wmv][mov]

The Clean and Jerk consists of 4 parts – 2 we have already seen. But, I will link to different videos for different perspectives on those elements.

Dead lift
Hang pull
For detail we will break out the Clean Catch, notice the elbows, high and forward, and the width of the grip.
Front Squat
Split Jerk

When added together they look like this: Clean and Jerk 1, Clean and Jerk 2

From what I’ve seen during workouts we need to first work on proper technique: Squat
Dead lift.