Month: September 2011

R8D5&6 – Equipment and Improvisation

I decided that since a few of us needed some supplies that I would take a run to the fitness store with the best pricing, which around here at least is Fitness Avenue and pick up some stuff. For myself I decided on a rafter mount chin up bar for the laundry room so that during the bleak Canadian winter I can still crank out appropriate chin ups. Unfortunately, the door mounted bar isn’t cutting it any more. I also opted for a 55lb kettlebell at around 1.09 a lb and a set of gymnastics rings. I went for the rings primarily since I wanted to do 2 things, ring dips and muscle ups. I am not sure I will ever get to the point of being able to do muscle ups, I don’t think I have the flexibility in my shoulders and a little too much bulk. But at the very least I have an extra variety of pull ups and ring dip capability.

So this week was a real mix of stuff I hadn’t planned and things I made up on the spot. What with the crossfit trip, an injured calf, a strained hip flexor and ribfest in Aurora on Sunday the week was all over the place. However I am happy to report that I only skipped one day and that was very well earned. Friday was the off day, mostly to help recover my sore shoulders, on Saturday I did a 5K run/walk to try and test out my calf which went well. I have not done any cardio workouts since I strained my calf and I am really feeling it! Sunday I felt I had neglected my chest and triceps so I did a short workout with pushups and ring dips. It was 8 sets of each, with 4 kinds of pushups involved. I loved the ring dips, they are far more difficult than dips on my homemade dip station given that you need to squeeze the rings into your body as you dip. I am looking forward to getting back into some cardio this week, and getting back on track with the plan. I also have to try out my new larger kettlebell and see how much harder that is.

By the way, Ribs Royale in Aurora do a wicked full rack.

R8D3&4 – Rude Awakening Crossfit Style

I did a light leg workout with the kids at gym, it was supposed to be a rest but that’s OK. I am glad I did because yesterday my wife surprised me with a trip to an actual Crossfit Box to do one of the WODs.

It looked easy enough.

Strength Workout:
4×5 strict presswith chest to bar pullups
4×5 push press with chest to bar pullups

Metcon:
30-20-10 for time

Overhead kettlebell swing
Dumbbell push press
Walking lunges with bumper plate overhead

Looks were deceiving. It was a killer workout.  I made it through the 30 set without a lot of problem other than my heart rate being frighteningly high (107bpm) but by the time I did the push press with dumbbells the second time for 20 I had to stop part way through in order to get enough energy to finish. Then when I tried to keep my arms straight with the bumper plate overhead for some reason my arms wouldn’t go straight.

The third round, although it was only 1o was the worst. My arms were fried, my shoulders were gone and I felt a strain in my hip flexor that was becoming more and more painful. I made all 10 kb swings and 9 db press. The last one I had to repeat 3 times. The final walk was sheer agony but I made it through in a pedestrian 11:30.

I admit, it was a rude awakening to the reality of crossfit as compared to my “interpretations” of crossfit that I do at home.

It was, in a word, awesome.

Then…. When I thought the night couldn’t get any better, I was sent by my wonderful wife to the Healthy Butcher in Toronto for a sausage making class. Now I love sausage and I would like nothing better than to make my own but I never imagined I would get the chance.

Last night, I did. I made sausage with fennel, white wine, dijon mustard, cheddar, caramelized onions, allspice and a 75/25 pork beef mix with a coarse grind. I have to say it was amazing, not just the sausage itself but meeting with about 12 others who also were keen sausagistas and learning a new skill in the process. It was a brilliant evening and I even ended up with a bag of sausages!

R8D1&2 – A New Beginning

Big RKC day on Round 8 Day 1 (Monday), and I have to say I am not about to lose my love of kettlebells any time soon. What an awesome workout it is!

Day 2, Tuesday, was scheduled to be P90X Chest and Back and for a little added extra I decided once again to do the workout with my Mir Weighted Vest. So I loaded up 20lbs and set about the workout. Now 20lbs doesn’t seem like a lot, especially since I have lost 60lbs over the last year however once you strap it to your back and start working you would be amazed at how much it impacts your ability.

Usually I can crank out about 50 pushups each round, but with the extra I struggled to get 30. Not only that, but I found that my performance really started to go downhill during round 2 of the workout. I am so used to it now that I hit the same numbers both times through, which is partly why I wanted to do the extra weight. This time however, I remember doing the decline pushups which is usually an easy 30/30 for me but this time I only managed to crank out about 12 on the second round. It was a little humbling, but at the same time completely awesome!

I am starting round 8 with some difficult times ahead, and it’s going to be a challenge getting everything squeezed in while protecting myself from injuries, past and future. I am probably coaching 3 days a week again, and if not, certainly coaching 2 and leading a fitness class on the 3rd. Couple that with the baby, of course, a niggling calf injury, and a desire to once again get my weight moving in a negative direction and you have a recipe that will require a great deal of attention to get right.

I’m not about to compromise though.

 

Round 7 – Conclusions

I found this round to be as entertaining as you can really make home fitness. There is a lot of variety, a great deal of flexibility and the ability to navigate away from certain workouts and exercises should you need to. However, since I scheduled on a day to day basis and was consistently unable to make Monday and Wednesday’s KB workouts I was a little frustrated. I have 2 options to combat this. I can set a total number of workouts for the round and just do each one on every available day, never skipping a workout. That way I can guarantee I will do every workout I have on the rotation. Second, I can schedule 5 workouts for a week and pick and choose which ones go where. This option is a little more flexible but also less likely to produce predictable results. The problem with choices is that everyone, myself included will go for the easy way out 9 times out of 10. At least having a set schedule but no set time I will guarantee that I know what I will be doing ahead of time.

I think for me that is key.

Also, I wanted to stop with the round numbers but I am not sure what else to do so for now, R8 it is!

Since I don’t need to take it slow for the first month, I can jump in with 34543 and 55555 on the RKC without a problem. The rest I think I am going to do on a daily basis rather than schedule them for week days.

So here is the plan for the first 28 workouts which I will try to execute within 35 days.
1-34543 C&P plus 5 TGU plus 123 C&P+Snatch
2-Chest & Back, Ab Ripper X
3-55555 C&P
4-Plyometric Cardio Circuit
5-Shoulders & Arms, Ab Ripper X
6-Pure Cardio
7 FOY Yoga With Tony
8-34543 C&P plus 5 TGU plus 123 C&P+Snatch
9-Chest & Back, Ab Ripper X
10-55555 C&P
11-Vertical Plyo
12-Shoulders & Arms, Ab Ripper X
13-Pure Cardio
14-FOY Yoga With Tony
15-34543 C&P plus 5 TGU plus 123 C&P+Snatch
16-Chest & Back, Ab Ripper X
17-55555 C&P
18-Plyometric Cardio Circuit
19-Shoulders & Arms, Ab Ripper X
20-Pure Cardio
21-FOY Yoga With Tony
22-34543 C&P plus 5 TGU plus 123 C&P+Snatch
23-Core Synergistics
24-55555 C&P
25-Cardio Recovery
26-Core Synergistics
27-Core, Cardio and Balance
28-Yoga X

R7D89/91 – The Final Weekend

My encounter with Cindy last week left me extremely sore in the quads. I am not sure why it was so bad, but Friday and Saturday I was in agony most likely because I chose to do full squats for Cindy instead of only going to 90 degrees. I was severely compromised during my Olympic Lifting practice and due to the pain rather than doing any max weight, I chose to concentrate on form and get my mechanics back on track.

Olympic Lifts:

3 sets of 10 each, unloaded bar.

Deadlift
Clean
Power Clean
Clean and Press
Jerk
Clean and Jerk
Squat
Push Press

Saturday we attended a wedding, but that timing was good since by that time I was unable to walk without looking like I had a metal coat hanger for a spine and hips made from glass. For Sunday, the official last day of Round 7 I caved and did Yoga with the P90X gang. I admit I did skip some of the savasanas at the start but it was an hour of yoga that I was grateful for.

Monday rolled around and knowing that I am at the very least starting with the same round again I knew it was RKC time. I may change the format a little, but for the first week I knew it would be the same as last time.

R9D1 – My RKC mini workout:

Ladders of 3,4,5,4,3 with pullups

For those who are unfamiliar, a description of the ladder system is here.

I did 20 swings between each set (some head height, some overhead) and at the end decided to add something extra.

1 clean and press left
1 clean and press right
1 snatch right
1 snatch left
1 pullup
2 clean and press left
2 clean and press right
2 snatch right
2 snatch left
2 pullup
3 clean and press left
3 clean and press right
3 snatch right
3 snatch left
3 pullup

 

Fitness Bucket List – To Do

I’m loving the Fitness Bucket List Idea… I have found several people who have a published bucket list, not stuff they necessarily want to do any time soon, but stuff that in time they would like to accomplish.

I should start working on one, plus a done list to remind me what I can do when I try…

It may look something like this…

Done:

Run a 5K
Bench Press 400lbs
Shoulder Press 275lbs
Squat 495lbs
Complete Warrior Dash

To Do:

(Off the top of my head)

220 lbs
Under 15% body fat
Run the scenic drive at red rock canyon (13 miles) – not for me but an interesting item
Fastest 1k run time goal (no idea at this point)
Crossfit Total of 1000lbs (Yeah right… not any more!)
Run 10K –  Not sure why I would want to do this when I could… Beat my Warrior Dash time
Do 10 sets of 10 pullups (harder than it sounds) in 10 minutes
(Zero interest in marathon or half marathon)
Mini triathlon maybe, I do like to swim 😉

I will try to work on this, it’s just a spitball at this point, then I will post in in my pages and link it to the front page. That will make it all official and stuff!

R7D88 – P90X2 and Cindy (Kicking My Ass)

Its finally here for pre-order, P90X2, the much anticipated sequel 2 years in the making (make that actually 7 years waiting for those who got the P90X bug in 2004). You can check out the new glitzy looking P90X2 page here.

I’m bothered by a couple of things already.

First is the name, could they really not come up with a better name than P90X2? It reeks of laziness.

Second, the packaging makes me nervous that this is going to be just as gimmicky and redundant as Insanity:Asylum turned out to be. I can’t be the only one who thought that I:A was a waste of money, and I am still hoping that although you can get a package containing all the equipment you need, you don’t actually need it at all…

I know they need to make money, but charging $180 for a stability ball ($20 at Walmart), 2 8lb medicine balls ($16 each online), a foam roller ($15 anywhere) and a pair of push up stands ($20)  is excessive to say the least. Those prices are RETAIL for a total of around $70 which BB could sell for $40 and still make money.

I am not about to give up on Tony just yet. I think there is a lot of research and science in the BB products and I am willing to bet without the gimmicks, P90X2 will be just as popular as the original. Keep your bodyparts crossed everyone.

Back to reality. 

Last night, Cindy kicked my ass. I thought I had her for a good 25-30 rounds as I started but by the time I had counted 15 I knew defeat was only a matter of time.

It doesn’t sound like much:

AMRAP (As many rounds as possible) in 20 minutes

5 chin ups
10 push ups
15 air squats

but don’t let that fool you. The first time I did this I came up with 13 rounds but quit after only 15 minutes. I don’t think I have ever done a “real” Cindy which is AMRAP but I did try a Chelsea which is 30 rounds in 30 minutes, doing 1 at the start of every minute. That went better, a little, but I only managed to get to 21 rounds in 30 minutes. My final attempt at Chelsea turned up 20 rounds in 20 minutes but there is a significant issue here. If you are required to do one per minute, it seems different than if you are doing them in your own time. Mostly because you have a forced rest after each repetition. I don’t think it is because I am less fit now than I was, even though last time I claim to have done 20 with “air to spare”. Then again, claiming and doing are two separate animals.

Result: 21 rounds in 20 minutes out on the deck in 32 degree weather. Damn you Cindy.

I had planned to do the Insanity Fit Test also, but with my calf injury it wasn’t going to be possible. Not only that, I am not a fan of the Insanity Test really so I am not going to hold myself to it. The bigger problem is that my calf is going to hamper my attempt at a 1k run time and my completion of Game Time and Overtime. Test week may not survive as designed, but it is definitely something I will tag on the end of each round to finish with a bang.