....so I have been kinda sluggish and seem to be getting a bit tired right dab in the middle of the afternoon, which is extremely unusual for me, and today was a pretty 'no rush' kinda day. Take my time with the cycle I'm working on, take my time rolling to and from lunch with the crew, take my time driving back to the pad, take my time reading up on a few things, take my time changing, take my time driving to the gym...hell I was going like 3 miles under the speed limit.
It's been this way for a little over a week now, and I've been wracking the ole melon trying to figure it out. Lack of sleep? I've been staying up a bit later than normal, getting up at the usual time. Might be it. The almighty 'seasonal depression' famous to those of us who live in the PNW? (that's Pacific NorthWest if you're not local-ish and don't know). Well I've been guilty of a little slow down in the past, could be that too. Fighting a cold or other body invasion? Feel fantastic outside of being a bit run down and tired, so that's not it for sure.
Well then I read Seth's latest post, and I think I've got it figured. Caloric deficit. I've been cutting the intake, dropped a good portion of my carbs, hell I cut flour down to a bare minimum, and have upped my protein. Well processing proteins and converting them to muscle tissue forces the body to work a bit harder than using carbs and fats as an energy source. Yup, pretty sure that's it...I'm not about to jump into carb loading phase, but I may change some of my food choices now and again to keep the fuel tank a bit fuller, but I will say I am noticing a physical change...and like Seth says, 'change is good'.
So today I even took the workout a bit slower, longer breaks between sets and exercises.
240 reps - 36 mins
Leg domination day - 4 exercises 2 sets each.
Lying leg press - back rest reclined completely to make sure my range of motion is extreme
270 x 30
450 x 30
Seated Leg Extentions
70 x 30
85 x 30
Straight legged dumbbell deadlifts
40 x 30
40 x 30
Seated Leg Curls
70 x 30
90 x 30
A bit lighter than I'm used to but still left the gym feeling like I need to yak...so overall a solid workout.
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Sunday, January 29, 2012
My Legs They Are Sausages
So I wore gear for the first time ever tonight. I figure if I'm going to compete in strongman, I may as well get every advantage I can.
My legs looked like two hairy sausages, except for the areas that the suit ripped the hair off of. That kinda hurt.
My legs looked like two hairy sausages, except for the areas that the suit ripped the hair off of. That kinda hurt.
Also apparently the camera adds 10 pounds to my stomach as well as my bald spot...
A1. Deadlift
B1. Snatch
A1. Deadlift
8 x 135#
5 x 225#
3 x 275#
1 x 315# suit on, straps down
1 x 365 straps down
2 x 0 x 405# straps up- suit was biting hard on my right side, and with the straps upit was way harder to get down to the bar
2 x 0 x 405# straps down. This is hard.
1 x 405# straps down woooooooo
1 x 405# straps up bigger woooooooo
B1. Snatch
4 x 45#
2 x 65#
2 x 85#
1 x 105#
1 x 120#
1 x 135#
.5 x 135# I got under it but couldn't stand it up
.5 x 135# I got under it but lost my balance
.5 x 135# I got under it but lost my balance
1 x 135#
.5 x 135# I got under it but couldn't stand it up
Overall a great day in the gym. Jessica PR'd her geared squat at 325# and made it look easy!
I'm gonna look into maybe squat briefs for squatting, and see if they help at all with deadlifting. For now I'll keep learning the suit.
Video after the jump, be warned that I am a shirtless fatty in the deadlift suit. Watch at your own risk :)
I'm leaving the darkside upside down
Change. As alot of you are probably aware, it's been at the forefront of my thoughts for quite some time now, and it shows no signs of stopping. I don't say that like it's a bad thing, I love change. I learned years and years ago that change is something to be embraced, to the point where with me, I've noticed it just happens. I don't even really think of it as change, just as what I'm doing now. But when I stop and think, like I did today and now, I have to say life's about to change again. I feel like I'm surrounded by people who are changing the world around them and by association, I am too. It's a good feeling, because so far it's all been for the better. There's one more major change on the books, which I should know more about by the end of the coming week. I'm excited.
Yes, I do believe it's time for a fresh start
You know, I used to give everyone good frying pans as housewarming gifts, because really, you can make almost anything with a good frying pan. I think I'm going to start including a good stick blender and a slow cooker in my housewarming packages, because well...they're both awesome. Seriously, i can put 12, count them, 12, pounds of chicken breasts in my slow cooker (3 bags). That's like a week's worth of pulled chicken. How awesome is that? Hmm...you know, maybe i'll make it a Magic Bullet instead of a stick blender, methinks the laykitchenperson could do just as well with one of those.
Cut calories are starting to affect, deadlifts were really hard today. Of course, my upper body still screaming from all the striking we did saturday may be partially to blame too :) Man...i feel wrecked but so alive. For the past 9 months, I've felt like my life was just almost where I wanted it to be. Methinks after this week, it will be!
Today's TrainingTune: Upsidedown - Lacuna Coil
Yes, I do believe it's time for a fresh start
You know, I used to give everyone good frying pans as housewarming gifts, because really, you can make almost anything with a good frying pan. I think I'm going to start including a good stick blender and a slow cooker in my housewarming packages, because well...they're both awesome. Seriously, i can put 12, count them, 12, pounds of chicken breasts in my slow cooker (3 bags). That's like a week's worth of pulled chicken. How awesome is that? Hmm...you know, maybe i'll make it a Magic Bullet instead of a stick blender, methinks the laykitchenperson could do just as well with one of those.
Cut calories are starting to affect, deadlifts were really hard today. Of course, my upper body still screaming from all the striking we did saturday may be partially to blame too :) Man...i feel wrecked but so alive. For the past 9 months, I've felt like my life was just almost where I wanted it to be. Methinks after this week, it will be!
- Jumping Jacks: 1x50
- Deadlift: 275 5x5
- Sumo Deadlift: 225 4x8
- Romanian Deadlift: 185 3x12
- Pushup: 4x25
- Bodyweight Squat: 5x20
- Crunch: 4x25
- Bodyweight Jump Squat: 5x10
- Plank: 60sec
- Bodyweight Lunge: 5x10
- Jumping Jacks: 1x50
Thursday, January 26, 2012
the creation...
When push comes to push harder, you pretty much only have one choice, and that's push harder. Otherwise you just don't get anywhere. I sort of wonder how I'm going to have changed physically after 3 months of this Crosspit madness, I really haven't done anything like this since back in the old days of Capoeira. It's funny because I'm waking up feeling that way, and I haven't felt that way in years. Maybe it means I'm doing work again, which is awesome. I'm getting ready to really tweak it to the bone in February and see how low I can go while still maintaining. I'm going to cut but not quit training martial arts this time, which means I won't be able to cut as hard as I'm used to, but it'll be a fun experiment methinks.
You know, one of the things I've noticed/come to realize/inferred/not really sure which is that for in the world of any sort of pursuit that requires mental effort, e.g. software development, game development, any sort of academia, it's all about marketing. Puffing yourself up and telling the world how fucking smart you are, oh look at the big brain on me. Honestly, that's the thing I've hated most about being in game development, is having to get good at self-promotion to get anywhere, or at least to keep moving up the pay scale. Once all the false trappings that are the current social structure fall way, you know after the EMP or the Zombie apocalypse, or hopefully both, then what? My big brain and self promotion aren't worth a damn...
Fuck your GDC Talks, I'll eat the shit out of you...
I think this is one of the things I come to appreciate about good martial artists, that humility. It reminds me that I need to be more humble, and it drives me to step away from the things that I feel are keeping me from being humble. I'm doing two more GDC presentations, and then I'm done. No more self-promotion, no more marketing, none of that. Just gonna bury my head in a computer for 8 hours a day, then train and be humble. I'll be much happier for sure.
Warmup:
Today's TrainingTune: Kabalah - Astral Projection
You know, one of the things I've noticed/come to realize/inferred/not really sure which is that for in the world of any sort of pursuit that requires mental effort, e.g. software development, game development, any sort of academia, it's all about marketing. Puffing yourself up and telling the world how fucking smart you are, oh look at the big brain on me. Honestly, that's the thing I've hated most about being in game development, is having to get good at self-promotion to get anywhere, or at least to keep moving up the pay scale. Once all the false trappings that are the current social structure fall way, you know after the EMP or the Zombie apocalypse, or hopefully both, then what? My big brain and self promotion aren't worth a damn...
Fuck your GDC Talks, I'll eat the shit out of you...
I think this is one of the things I come to appreciate about good martial artists, that humility. It reminds me that I need to be more humble, and it drives me to step away from the things that I feel are keeping me from being humble. I'm doing two more GDC presentations, and then I'm done. No more self-promotion, no more marketing, none of that. Just gonna bury my head in a computer for 8 hours a day, then train and be humble. I'll be much happier for sure.
Warmup:
- A1. Jumprope 2x3min
- A2. Shadowbox 2x1min
- B1. Medball Burpee: 12 3x1min
- B2. Heavy Bag Squat: 75 3x1min
- B3a. Fortyfive: 45 1x1min
- B3b. Plate Swing: 45 1x1min
- B3c. Fortyfive Swing: 45 1x1min
- B4. Hanging Bag Guard Situp: 3x1min
- B5. Heavy Bag Kick: 3x1min
- B6. Wrecking Ball Punch: 3x1min
- B7. Rest: 2x1min
- C1. Bench Dip: 2x1min
- C2. Pushup: 2x1min
Control...
....are you a freak? Well are ya? Having been a gym rat for most of my adult life as well a certified trainer for a good number of years as well, I tend to get asked a lot of questions. They come from all places, friend, family, co-workers, random strangers, people I meet at events I attend and one of my personal favorites, is 'how do I build muscle'?
Well now...I could go into a long diatribe about different body types, and different schools of thought, and diet, and training time and on an on and on. BUT I always answer with two simple phrases.
CONTROL the weight and FULL range of motion.
Let me elaborate a bit. Control is simple, you can work slow, or you can work fast, both are valid and both build differently, so I always suggest a combination of the two depending on end goals and what exactly you're training for. A competitive athlete is going to get a much different program from me than someone who wants to lose the baby fat after a child birth, but both will have variations on the speed at which they complete the exercises as well at the individual reps. But ONE thing has to be maintained at ALL time. CONTROL. I have a simple rule which goes back to my days of training with John Taylor, Mr. Pacific Coast '94 (he also won Oregon and some other titles, but that's the one I remember)...and it was this:
If you cannot stop the weight withing 1 inch of me saying stop then it's all momentum.
So if I say stop or you say stop, you have 1 inch to do so....no matter how fast you are moving.
Now Range of motion is an often discussed topic among trainers, and there's two distinct definitions to it.
1. The range you can maintain tension on a muscle.
2. The complete motion of a joint.
So what's the difference? The range you can maintain tension is simply that, your limbs are comprised of multiple muscles and once you pass the point of tension for one muscle another one comes under tension, so you lose that tension and ultimately take away from the work of that muscle. The complete motion of a joint is pretty self explanatory, if you want to feel the difference, stand up, put your hand on your quad and squat to the floor, touching your heels to your butt. At roughly 92 degrees you'll feel your quads slack or lose tension, and your glutes and hammies kick in.
So what's the big deal here? Well the biggest issue with RoM that I see continuously is lack of. People cutting themselves short...literally. You do not engage the entire muscle by doing 1/4, 1/2 or 3/4 of the movement. A shoulder press starts with your hands as close to if not touching your shoulders and ends with your arms as straight as possible without locking your elbows. Anything less is cheating unless you are SCULPTING for a competition.
Tonight was arm night, and one of the guys I met at the gym, Lauren cracked a comment at me tonight. "Duud, you're taking to long of a break to get your 5000 reps in!!!" It was arm night after all...so the rep count goes UP!!!
ARM a GEDDON!!!
390 reps - 28 minutes
Seated dumbell tricep press ups - 65 x 30, 80 x 25 (started to feel the shoulder give so I cut it short)
Standing cable curls double pulley station - rope 50 x 30, 70 x 30
Cable push down single pulley station - 70 x 30, 80 x 30
Incline seated arm curls - 17.5 x 30, 20 x 30
Reverse cable push down - double pulley station - 50 x 30 (too light so I hit 3 sets) 70 x 30, 90 x 30
Wide grip cable curls - V bar - double pulley station - 60 x 30, 70 x 30
It hurt...alot.
So
Do you have CONTROL???
Well now...I could go into a long diatribe about different body types, and different schools of thought, and diet, and training time and on an on and on. BUT I always answer with two simple phrases.
CONTROL the weight and FULL range of motion.
Let me elaborate a bit. Control is simple, you can work slow, or you can work fast, both are valid and both build differently, so I always suggest a combination of the two depending on end goals and what exactly you're training for. A competitive athlete is going to get a much different program from me than someone who wants to lose the baby fat after a child birth, but both will have variations on the speed at which they complete the exercises as well at the individual reps. But ONE thing has to be maintained at ALL time. CONTROL. I have a simple rule which goes back to my days of training with John Taylor, Mr. Pacific Coast '94 (he also won Oregon and some other titles, but that's the one I remember)...and it was this:
If you cannot stop the weight withing 1 inch of me saying stop then it's all momentum.
So if I say stop or you say stop, you have 1 inch to do so....no matter how fast you are moving.
Now Range of motion is an often discussed topic among trainers, and there's two distinct definitions to it.
1. The range you can maintain tension on a muscle.
2. The complete motion of a joint.
So what's the difference? The range you can maintain tension is simply that, your limbs are comprised of multiple muscles and once you pass the point of tension for one muscle another one comes under tension, so you lose that tension and ultimately take away from the work of that muscle. The complete motion of a joint is pretty self explanatory, if you want to feel the difference, stand up, put your hand on your quad and squat to the floor, touching your heels to your butt. At roughly 92 degrees you'll feel your quads slack or lose tension, and your glutes and hammies kick in.
So what's the big deal here? Well the biggest issue with RoM that I see continuously is lack of. People cutting themselves short...literally. You do not engage the entire muscle by doing 1/4, 1/2 or 3/4 of the movement. A shoulder press starts with your hands as close to if not touching your shoulders and ends with your arms as straight as possible without locking your elbows. Anything less is cheating unless you are SCULPTING for a competition.
Tonight was arm night, and one of the guys I met at the gym, Lauren cracked a comment at me tonight. "Duud, you're taking to long of a break to get your 5000 reps in!!!" It was arm night after all...so the rep count goes UP!!!
ARM a GEDDON!!!
390 reps - 28 minutes
Seated dumbell tricep press ups - 65 x 30, 80 x 25 (started to feel the shoulder give so I cut it short)
Standing cable curls double pulley station - rope 50 x 30, 70 x 30
Cable push down single pulley station - 70 x 30, 80 x 30
Incline seated arm curls - 17.5 x 30, 20 x 30
Reverse cable push down - double pulley station - 50 x 30 (too light so I hit 3 sets) 70 x 30, 90 x 30
Wide grip cable curls - V bar - double pulley station - 60 x 30, 70 x 30
It hurt...alot.
So
Do you have CONTROL???
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
It's been a while...
Since I've posted anything here. Been training, not regularly unfortunately, but I'm determined to get better about tracking my training here.
The year has started out pretty well. Been working a lot, but have also been planning on competing in some strongman competitions (training plan compliments of my lovely wife). Considered doing this meet:
http://www.nastrongman.com/pdf/2011/laddy.pdf
But it's the weekend after GDC, and the weights are a bit intimidating. We found this one, but it's in York, PA, in June:
http://www.nastrongman.com/pdf/2011/key3.pdf
The travel might be a bit much, but we may turn it into a "visit friends and family" trip the week after. Anyhow, I have something to train for. Training has been sporadic, but here's a few videos from the past few weeks before jumping into tonight's training:
First Stone training session of 2012. Was supposed to be 12 reps (4 x 3) but my bicep got blowed up on set 3 (Set 1 not video'd):
And now for tonight!
A1. Swiss Bar Simulated Log Press
2 x 8 x 35#
8 x 85#
5 x 105#
3 x 125#
2 x 175#
2 x 185#
2 x 195#
Videooooooos:
B1. BB Row
4 x 8 x 185#
C1. Blast Strap Ab Fallout
3 x 8 x bw
So yeah,, here's to keeping up on here again. Happy New Year!
The year has started out pretty well. Been working a lot, but have also been planning on competing in some strongman competitions (training plan compliments of my lovely wife). Considered doing this meet:
http://www.nastrongman.com/pdf/2011/laddy.pdf
But it's the weekend after GDC, and the weights are a bit intimidating. We found this one, but it's in York, PA, in June:
http://www.nastrongman.com/pdf/2011/key3.pdf
The travel might be a bit much, but we may turn it into a "visit friends and family" trip the week after. Anyhow, I have something to train for. Training has been sporadic, but here's a few videos from the past few weeks before jumping into tonight's training:
First Stone training session of 2012. Was supposed to be 12 reps (4 x 3) but my bicep got blowed up on set 3 (Set 1 not video'd):
First training session with the new Swiss bar! I'm using it for a Simulated Log Press. It's a bit difficult to get used to:
And now for tonight!
A1. Swiss Bar Simulated Log Press
2 x 8 x 35#
8 x 85#
5 x 105#
3 x 125#
2 x 175#
2 x 185#
2 x 195#
Videooooooos:
B1. BB Row
4 x 8 x 185#
C1. Blast Strap Ab Fallout
3 x 8 x bw
So yeah,, here's to keeping up on here again. Happy New Year!
Success...
...do you have what it takes? I read a lot of books, go to a lot of leadership training and do my best to improve myself one way or another every single day of my life, and the one thing I've read, heard or seen over and over is the simple fact that Successful People do the things unsuccessful people do not.
An odd way to start off a post about today's workout, but three separate times today, I wanted to quit a set at less than complete, and this is the one thing that kept going through my head 'are you a Successful Person, or not'? So I pushed it everytime...nearly to the brink of hitting that magik spot of having to run to the trash can to chuck. If you're a serious lifter, competitor or athlete, or have ever been one or all of those things, you know that spot, cause you've been there before.
Life is about successes, and success means something different to each and every one of us. Professional, personal, internal, external, all different types of success. Success can be measured in what you do every minute of everyday. From teaching your child to read, or accomplish something, to finishing that project at work and getting it in on time, under budget and polished to an absolute shine, to getting ONE MORE REP at the end of your set when you just don't have anything more to give.
Success.
Live it, daily...earn it with blood, sweat and tears. Put it in your sights and don't stop until you grab it by the neck and stomp on it! Then line up the next one and do the same thing, start small and GO BIG!
Today's workout was single muscle, mass impact, high reps, medium weight for time.
5 exercises, 280 reps - 22 minutes
Bent over single arm dumbbell rows - 55 x 30 - 2 sets
Cross-cable overhead reverse flys - 65 x 30 - 2 sets
Seated rows alternating grip - top, middle, bottom (10 each) 90 x 30 - 2 sets
Good mornings - cable station - 75 x 30 - 2 sets
Bending hip rotations - cable station - 65 x 20 - 2 sets
Success.
Do you have what it takes to GO GET IT!!!?
An odd way to start off a post about today's workout, but three separate times today, I wanted to quit a set at less than complete, and this is the one thing that kept going through my head 'are you a Successful Person, or not'? So I pushed it everytime...nearly to the brink of hitting that magik spot of having to run to the trash can to chuck. If you're a serious lifter, competitor or athlete, or have ever been one or all of those things, you know that spot, cause you've been there before.
Life is about successes, and success means something different to each and every one of us. Professional, personal, internal, external, all different types of success. Success can be measured in what you do every minute of everyday. From teaching your child to read, or accomplish something, to finishing that project at work and getting it in on time, under budget and polished to an absolute shine, to getting ONE MORE REP at the end of your set when you just don't have anything more to give.
Success.
Live it, daily...earn it with blood, sweat and tears. Put it in your sights and don't stop until you grab it by the neck and stomp on it! Then line up the next one and do the same thing, start small and GO BIG!
Today's workout was single muscle, mass impact, high reps, medium weight for time.
5 exercises, 280 reps - 22 minutes
Bent over single arm dumbbell rows - 55 x 30 - 2 sets
Cross-cable overhead reverse flys - 65 x 30 - 2 sets
Seated rows alternating grip - top, middle, bottom (10 each) 90 x 30 - 2 sets
Good mornings - cable station - 75 x 30 - 2 sets
Bending hip rotations - cable station - 65 x 20 - 2 sets
Success.
Do you have what it takes to GO GET IT!!!?
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