So the back issue passed apparently without incident however I was unable to really push myself as hard as I wanted this week. After Family Day off coaching I did a tuesday workout that I can’t really remember but I think was a P90X2 whole body affair. Wednesday was bootcamp and we did a cardio abs session similar to the last one but with variations I will have to embellish on next time. Thursday I did another P90X2 workout of PAP Lower, a workout I had never done before and which I enjoyed but it made my already sore ITB even worse. Today I took off, partly because I was sore but also because there were really no kids to do gymnastics conditioning with. It’s been a tough week with the threat of back spasms or a lengthy downtime hanging over my head but I hope starting tomorrow I can turn up the wick and get back to the serious work of keeping myself in shape.
Back Twinge – That Was Close!
Thursday after bootcamp I was too tired to work out and I had very little time to work with so on Friday I did my RKC workout at work. In fact, it was a run through of the Art Of Strength Providence DVD with my 45lbKB so it wasn’t incredibly taxing. That night however I was coaching and during the conditioning at the end of class I stumbled during a 24″ block jump and may have exacerbated an already sore lower back. As I got up on Saturday I felt sore, I was having cramping during the night so I knew I wasn’t in good shape. A few minutes after sitting down for breakfast I got that familiar searing pain in my lower back and since the last time it happened I spent 10 days off my schedule I was more than an little pissed off. So I filled my face with anti-inflammatories and muscle relaxants and it wasn’t until a couple of hours later that I realized I had over done the medication. I was pretty comatose for all of Saturday and not much better on Sunday. However, I am slightly happier to report that after Monday off for Family Day I am feeling better. I got back to mobility as fast as I could and did another chest and tricep bench workout in the afternoon after which I felt much better. It is now Tuesday and of course I am on my feet at work but my back is feeling OK. I Â hope I can do a short P90X2 workout tonight and be in shape for a cardio abs workout tomorrow before coaching. If everything goes well, I should be back to normal on Thursday having dodged and enormous bullet. The last thing I wanted was to be on my back filled with painkillers on my birthday. I am sure that would have only magnified any lingering feelings of old age that I am bound to feel tomorrow…
11 Lies In Mainstream Nutrition
Ha… Like there are only 11…
http://authoritynutrition.com/11-biggest-lies-of-mainstream-nutrition/
Bootcamps This Week. Double Down!
First time ever, here are both bootcamp workouts from this week. Bodyweight on Monday and weights last night.
7.5.1 Bodyweight
10 regular pushups
10 military pushups
10 sphinx to plank step or drop
10 pushup side raise
10 pullups
10 air squats reg
10 2 way lunge front and side
10 1 leg squat knee raise
10 air squats half bounce
10 pullups
20 in and out row
20 roll to boat hold
20 bicycle with leg extension
20 arms up in and out
20 pullups
10 pushup
10 clap pushup
10 plyo pushup
10 pushup side raise toe touch
10 pullups
ONTO BOXES AGAINST WALL
10 dips legs bent
10 dips legs straight
10 dips one leg raised
10 leg lifts
10 dips legs bent
10 dips legs straight
10 dips one leg raised
10 leg lifts
regular pushups 10 decline 10 incline
military pushups 10 decline 10 incline
sphinx to plank step or drop 10 decline 10 incline
pushup side raise 10 decline 10 incline
20 Crunchy Frog
20 superman banana with vsnap
20 laying triple bicycles
20 full situps
7.5.2 Weights – The Mixup
10 curls
10 press
10 tri ext
10 high pull
10 squat
Drop sets
10 + 10 curls
10 + 10 press
10 + 10 tri ext
10 + 10 high pull
10 + 10 squat
10 lunge squats each leg
10 Thruster
10 squats
10 curl and press
x2
10 chest press
10 fly
10 pullover
10 pushups
10 military
10 Half hindu
25 crunch
20 full rainbow
15 vsnap
10 full situp
4+4+4×3
Shoulder press + squat + thruster
row + shoulder fly + clean and press
(Military pushup + kneeling extension + overhead ext) – Skipped
Curl + press + arnold curl and press
Cruelty Bonus
Burpee curl and press
Overachieving
After bootcamp last week I decided to try not to take Thursday off and keep that day in my pocket in case I needed it. On reflection it was a great idea, I think I made some good strides this week back to my 232lb partial goal and I am hoping to gain some momentum to pass right by 232 without noticing.
Thursday:
Olympic Lifting. I stuck to my plan of increasing my weights slowly but surely. This time I surpassed 205 and went up to 235 with my deadlift. I know, it’s not much but I think once I make it to 300 I will cap it anyway so I am not searching for glory here!
Friday:
P90X2 Balance and Power. I have been trying to stick with at least 1 full DVD workout each week, partly because it makes sure I get a longer workout than usual and adds to my total time for the week but also because it gives me some inspiration for bootcamp. Balance and Power is a good workout if you are looking for something that is not body part specific and had some good coordination/balance moves incorporated. There is also some abs work which makes it a good all around bootcamp style workout.
Saturday and Sunday:
Bench and Free dips plus Fountain of Youth Yoga. Saturday was the first time in a long time that I set up the bench and did some old school gym workout bench presses. I wanted to see if I was still as strong as I was (I’m not!) and see if my endurance for benching is still where it used to be (it is!). I only managed to get up to 235lbs partly due to the fact I didn’t have the new bumper plates in the basement but also because I chose to ramp up slowly taking sets of 10 reps at each increment. By the end I had completed over 100 reps going from 135lbs up to 235lbs. Mixed in with the bench I was also doing free dips on my home made dip stands which added to the fatigue and therefore lightness of weight. All in all, it was a satisfying workout, and once in a while it’s good to go back to bodypart basics and make some waves! Sunday I decided since I hadn’t had a day off since Tuesday I would spend some time treating my body well and did the FOY Yoga with Tony. It’s only 40 minutes max and I have to admit I skipped the abs so it was only about 35 minutes but it was just what I needed. I got to hit 6/7 days this week and didn’t feel like a total basket case at the end.
Bootcamp Wednesday
We did another cardio abs type workout today, nothing too strenuous unless you actually did the whole thing!
Crunch section
25 shoulder crunch
25 crunchy frog
25 side crunch each side
25 pulse crunch – no shoulders down
10 in and out
10 ski abs
20 dog raise each side
20 kneeling lunge lift each side
5 burpee
5 burpee with 8 run
5 burpee with 8 run and 4 in and out
5 burpee with tuck jump
Bicycle section
40 laying bicycle no switch
40 ab ripper bicycles fwd and back
40 laying bicycle with switch
20 plank knees to elbow
20 plank knees cross
10 falling towers
20 kneeling half circles
Combo section x2
10 vsnap crunch vsnap
10 crunch crunch full
10 4bicycles 2 vsnaps
10 level 1 drill 4 run 2 in and out
10 roll to boat hold
20 plank jacks
10 plank jacks with in and out
10 plank jacks with in and out and knee cross
10 in and out crunches knees to elbows
10 vsnaps
5 burpee
5 burpee with 8 run
5 burpee with 8 run and 4 in and out
5 burpee with tuck jump
40 side knee raise
20 swing kicks
20 side knee with itb lift no alternating
Bonus
Up dog to down dog lift leg knee to elbow and back
Hindu pushups
New Grain Manifesto From Whole9
Hi everyone
Today is a big day, there is a new Grain Manifesto posted over at The Whole 9 Blog.
I have linked it here:
Jugo Juice
We have installed a Jugo Juice at our work location so yesterday and today I decided to try it out. Of course, being completely paranoid of any fast food outlet I wrote to the head office to find out exactly what is in the Whey Protein they use and what is in the tropical nectar which I suspected may be packed with sugar and/or HFCS. As it turns out, I got a very nice email from their head office letting me know that the nectar is in fact only concentrated fruit juices and the whey protein is basically just that, whey and little else, no sugar.
Yesterday’s fare was a Can’t Beet This (235 calories, 57g carbs, 2g protein) which I found a little earthy but invigorating. Today I was a little more adventurous given the email reply I received and went for a Tropical Protein (350 calories, 59g carbs, 21g protein ). The Tropical Protein is very good, extremely tasty and quite thick. It is certainly satisfying and makes a great bridge between an early lunch at 1130am and my workout which yesterday was 6pm and should be the same today. I can’t say I would recommend it every day, it’s a little expensive for one, but on a day when I forgot my lunch, it’s a great alternative.
Keep Up
Since the infamous Body Beast on Wednesday I managed to squeeze in an RKC workout at work on Friday, an Insanity cardio workout on Saturday and a Deadlift workout on Sunday. Add that to the Bootcamp from last night and I seem to be almost on a roll of sorts.
I picked Pure Cardio for my insanity workout mostly because I had soreness in my shoulder and didn’t want to do too much of the plank or burpee action. My deadlifting is still sadly lacking and I am barely squeaking over 205lbs all the while being careful not to shatter my spine. I am going to try and get up to at least 225lbs in the next month and from there, who knows.
My RKC workout that used to be just ladders of clean and press with pullups is now changing into a more challenging and varied kettlebell workout. I have started to incorporate much more squat, high pull, snatch and swings into the workout to keep it more interesting. I have also managed to get my hands on another Art Of Strength workout titled Providence which I am hoping will add more fuel to the fire. Here’s the latest bootcamp, feel free to tell me if you find it challenging…
7.4.1 – Weights and stability ball
Chest Press
Chest Fly
Chest pullover
Single arm hammer tricep
Kneeling press
Kneeling curl
10 Wallball with pushup
Plank row
Plank row with pushup
Military on db
Kneeling press
Kneeling tricep extension
Kneeling bicep curl against knee
10 wallball with in and out abs
Med ball crunch
mb foot hold in and out
Side crunch hold mb high
mb knee hold crunchy frog
foot to hand vsnap passes
mb chest hold full situp
Chest press alternating
face up overhead fly alternating
Overhead pullover alternating
alternating shoulder press
alternating bicep curl
Single tricep extension overhead
10 wallball with military
High Pull
Halo
Ribbon (extended halo)
Hammer double curls
Military clap
Regular Clap
Plyo Pushup with clap
cooldown
Twisting half moon both sides
warrior 1-3 both sides
Body Beast – Finally, Victims.
I have done this workout twice, both times with the same person, the only one I can count on to work hard every day. It was about time to put someone else to the test so I waited until I knew most people would be here and I hit them with this:
7.3.1 Body Beast
10 regular pushups
10 military pushups
10 sphinx to plank step or drop
10 pushup side hold
10 pullups
10 Pushup with Military alternating
10 sphinx to plank with side hold
10 pushup with in and out
10 military with groiner step in
20 shoulder crunch
20 leg up crunch
10 full situp double twist
10 side crunch
10 hanging leg raise
10x 2 shoulder 1 full
10x 2 shoulder 1 vsnap
10x full with 2 side crunch
20 Air squats
20 step back lunge front kick
20 belt kicks
20 front lunge
10 pullups
20 air squat with pop squat
20 front lunge back lunge
20 belt kick tuck jump
10 chest pullups
20 shoulder touch
20 hip touch
10 spider each side
10 knee to elbow each
10 knee to opposite elbow each
20 shoulder touch with pushup
20 hip touch with military
10 spider each with cross knees to elbows
20 single leg knee raise
20 super skaters
30 second chair pose
20 side lunge
60s squat hold with 10 half reps
20 super skater knee to elbow
20 side lunge leg raise (outside leg plus squat)
20 side lunge leg raise – inside leg
30 second chair twist each
10 pullups alternate hands