Ten On – Day 11!

I couldn’t resist the free guest day at my wife’s gym so I thought “what better time to try my 1RM and test my bench”!

The workout wasn’t exactly a tough one but the results were interesting.

If you remember, I was interested to get on the page with the following (I have added Clean and Press):

Strict Shoulder Press 125-190
Squat 250-420
Bench 190-310
Deadlift 320-490
Power Clean 180-300
Clean and Press 150-250

and my goal was for the big 4 to get a total of 800lbs to start, and 1000lbs as a functional working goal. Last night I was unable to really test my squat because some idiot wouldn’t clear his deadlift bar away from the ONE rack they have at the gym (now I remember why I quit). Anyway, leaving my squat short and not wanting to do too much deadlifting I was left with the following numbers:

Squat – 185
Bench – 305
Deadlift – 185
Press – 185

For a total of 860lbs which considering I wasn’t able to do much except for bench is a good result. Add to that my first time, all time record of Clean and Press 185lbs and I was pretty happy. Sore, but happy. I am guessing that 1000lb mark is within easy reach.

I often get asked what else I do for my chest except pushups due to the fact most people think pushups won’t make you strong or even maintain your strength. Hmm…. All I ever do is pushups and I benched 305 last night with no problem. That’s why pushups rock and gym memberships suck.

Ten On Day 9 and 10

Day 9

I feel refreshed. I am close to the end and I am getting impatient with my “rehab” weights. The soreness is gone for the most part other than now my abs are painful after much abdominal work during bootcamp last night. It was swimming day with my daughter today so we went to the pool and she ended up in bed around 7 after progressing a little with the head dunking. She hates to have her head under the water, but at least now she isn’t crying when it happens and she isn’t asking to go to the toilet every 5 minutes either.
So today I decided that I would take to the garage again and increase my weights on the Olympic lifts. I stacked the bar with 95 and then 135 lbs, happy to get back to my pre-back issue weight. I was careful with the reps though, I did a total of 140 reps with the various weights and only 40 total Clean and Clean and Press. Nevertheless, I felt much better, although slightly aware of being close to the line once again. The workout was only about 40 minutes but I really don’t like doing late workouts like that, my tendency is to not warm up or cool down enough and therefore to end up more sore than I should be. I need a warmup routine!

Day 10

The scheduled end.
We did a bodyweight class for bootcamp and due to time constraints at work I had to repeat a workout from our past. However, with one injured and one lazy participant, it was never going to be a landmark class…  It happened like this:

20 shoulder crunch
20 leg up crunch
10 full situp double twist
10 side crunch
10 hanging leg raise

10 pullups
10 regular pushups
10 military pushups
10 sphinx to plank step or drop
10 pushup side hold

20 shoulder crunch
20 leg up crunch
10 full situp double twist
10 side crunch
10 hanging leg raise

10 Knees at wall assisted squats (Sissy Squats)
20 Air squats
20 step back lunge front kick
20 belt kicks
20 front lunge

10 regular pushups
10 military pushups
10 sphinx to plank step or drop
10 pushup side hold
10 pullups

20 shoulder touch
20 hip touch
10 spider each side
10 knee to elbow each
10 knee to opposite elbow each

20 Air squats
20 step back lunge front kick
20 belt kicks
20 front lunge
10 assisted squats half distance (Sissy Squats)

10 pullups
20 single leg knee raise
20 super skaters
30 second chair pose
10 front kick back kick each side

20 shoulder touch
20 hip touch
10 spider each side
10 knee to elbow each
10 knee to opposite elbow each

10 pullups
20 single leg knee raise
20 super skaters
30 second chair pose
10 assisted squats full distance (Sissy Squats)

10 pushup step out
10 clap pushup
10 plyo pushup
10 pushup side raise leg raise
5 Worlds slowest burpee with clap

Ten On – Day 8

I have been wrestling with my strength and weights recently. Especially during this re-introduction. I am allowing myself to get frustrated but I think maybe I should be, at least just a little. Doing 135lb deadlifts is not going to win me any competitions however in the spirit of simplicity I work with the 135 because it’s the heaviest of my weak lifts. By that I mean if I can clean and press it, that’s my max for all lifts. However, I simply can’t continue to think that a 135lb deadlift is going to be of any functional use. I was looking at the Crossfit strength chart yesterday and according to that my weights should be as follows (considering myself an intermediate athlete due to my conservative approach):

Strict Shoulder Press 125-190
Squat 250-420
Bench 190-310
Deadlift 320-490
Power Clean 180-300

At this time, since I haven’t actually tried to max out on any of my lifts they are all sitting at 155lbs. Well, apart from my bench which we can assume is probably still up at 315. So what to do? I’d certainly like to get into the range for all these lifts but the thought of deadlifting 300+lbs makes my spine cry tiny tears of spinal fluid.

Day 8.

This was bootcamp agility, and laying out the hoops in a long single line enabled us to do 2 run throughs of each line instead of 4. It wasn’t particularly difficult, but my heart rate topped out at 165 so it was no stroll in the park. Here is what happened:

Hands behind line
10 plank step over and back
20 shoulder touch
5 burpee on floor
sideway in and out both cones

10 plank step over and back with pushup
10 shoulder touch with pushup
5 burpee on floor with sphinx plank
sideway in and out both cones

10 air squat
10 squat jumps
20 ski pole 90s
side jump in and out both cones

10 frog jumps
10 tuck jumps
10 jump 180s
side jump in and out both cones

10 side plank arm balance
10 superman 3 counts
5 burpee star jump
front facing jumping jacks both cones

10 pushup arm balance
10 superman knee to elbow
5 burpee tuck jump
front facing jumping jacks both cones

10 wall sissy squats
10 frog jumps
10 MK switch
front facing in and out both cones

20 wall sissy squats
20 frog jumps
20 MK switch arms up
front facing in and out both cones

10 pushups
10 Military pushups
10 Sphinx to plank
step in and through tap

10 Clapping pushups
10 Plyo pushups
10 heart to heart pushups
step in and through tap

14 long circle punisher

sideways in and out
sideways in and out jump
jumping jack in and out
step in and out
step in and tap through

Ten On, Days 4 – 7

Day 4 – I am running short on many things, energy, motivation, sense of humour…

Last night’s bootcamp has left me a little tired. Unfortunately my nemesis, lack of sleep, is in full effect and my will to participate in this program is waning to say the very least. However I feel like this is the worst this week will be. Day 4 you are kind of over the initial pulse of the blender and into the swing. The soreness should stabilize by now and although you feel like have a concrete spine balancing on glass legs you are able to convince yourself that the worst is over. For me, this is simply lies. Big fat stupid self-effacing lies. I know this because I have to face the 55lb kettlebell today and then at some point in the near future the olympic bar again.

My workout today was a mixture of Pavel’s RKC and what probably looked like a small child trying to lift a Buick.

I managed to squeeze out 4 ladders of 3345 each with 20 swings in between which if I am honest isn’t bad considering I haven’t used the 55 in some time. I am still feeling uncomfortable with my back the way it is. It’s sore, makes weird sounds and feelings and I feel like it is still just on the brink of another episode.

Day 5 – OK I was wrong, this can get so much worse. Having hurled around a lump of iron yesterday I can say with 100% certainty that if you are ever in doubt of the possibility of your body to make you feel like it just doesn’t like you, be assured, if you treat it badly enough it will remind you of just who is in charge. I feel like I went for acupuncture and the therapist (are they therapists?) used skewers and forgot to remove them. My entire body feels like Pinhead from Hellraiser but without the cool clothing and obvious masochistic tendencies. My forearms hurt, not because of the kettlebell yesterday but rather just not to feel left out. My hands look like I peel sandpaper covered corn cobs for a living and I am pretty sure when my neighbours saw me today they must have thought I was working on my Walking Dead character for Halloween.

That said, today I coached for 3 hours and at 8:30pm launched into a painful WOD designed to get my cardio moving a little and introduce me to crunches again. One of the overriding fears I have is that abs work was responsible for my back issue. I can’t be sure, but I am a little gun shy of doing too much ab specific work right now. Here is what we did, the “run” was across the floor and back, a whopping 15 metres or so each way.

Friday WOD

Suicide Plus – Repeat 3 times (should really be 5!)

10 Wallball +3 runs
20 Pushups +2 runs
30 Box jumps + 1 run
10 Dips + 3 runs
20 squats + 2 runs
30 crunches + 1 run

Day 6 – I decided today would be my “rest” workout. In other words I would do a little yoga with Tony Horton and give my body a window of rest. Yeah, right, who am I kidding? Anyone who tells you that yoga is a rest day is a filthy liar. I know I am not the most flexible person in the world but today I felt like my joints were filled with molasses and my muscles were made from suspension bridge cable. I did manage to suffer through, embarrassed and humiliated but that’s what yoga is for right? At the very least I can say that I am far enough past half way after that to call this event almost over!

Day 7 – Is it possible there is light at the end of the tunnel? I woke this morning feeling way better than yesterday. So much so that I was able to stick with my plan to increase my Oly lift weights a little to 95lbs in preparation for a return to 135 for day 9. I was able to do the following before the feeling of weakness and instability in my back made me stop.

@75lb
20 Deadlift
20 Squat
20 full clean
20 full clean and press
@95lb
20 Deadlift
20 Squat
10 full clean
10 full clean and press

I really wanted to push through to 135 but it was just not on the cards. I am doing this 10 day return in order to get back into my workouts, not attempt to derail my progress. I wanted to feel stronger and better as time went along, not more beaten down like it was a pressure test. I think that my maturity helps in that respect. I am a much smarter athlete now than I was and dialing back the intensity is something that I am more comfortable with now that I understand the value. So the question is, am I feeling better? I am not entirely sure but I will say that for having worked out for 7 days straight I feel surprisingly good but not quite 100%. I certainly wouldn’t want to participate in a Mud Hero or Warrior Dash at this point!

 

Ten On – Day 1-3

As far as this “experiment” goes I am not going to try and pretend there is anything more than a vague and unscientific methodology behind it. I took 10 days off, so I am going to do 10 days on. There is a little information about glucose burnout and inefficiency around the 10 day mark but I think my experience with working out 10+ days in a row is just as valid. Also, it kind of fits with my schedule at the moment given that 10 days will give me 2 full weeks of bootcamp.

Day 1

Day 1 is cake, it’s filled with enthusiasm and determination, it’s a true romance of physical challenge and I felt like there was nothing that was going to stop me. I even pushed aside my frustration with getting tired too fast, with being weaker than I had imagined I would be and the inevitable body shakes which come with a vigorous workout. I knew pain would be coming but it was day 1 so I didn’t care. It was bootcamp, so I had the added motivation of being surrounded by other fitness enthusiasts and my own motivation to stay ahead. Day 1 was great. I love day 1.

Day 2

I foolishly lulled myself into a false sense of comfort and security during day 2. My day 1 workout was at 6pm so of course during the day at work I was fine, a little tired maybe but otherwise in good spirits. It was not until the tail end of the day that I started feeling nagging aches and pains. My triceps started to twitch, my shoulders started to ache and I realized that it had begun. Even though we had deliberately taken it easy on day 1 I was still pretty sore when I went into the garage to do my day 2 workout. The workout was, again, gentle so that I would preserve my recovery. It looked like this:

Using 95lb loaded bar:

50 deadlifts
40 Squats
30 Cleans
20 Clean and Press

It took around 35 minutes in total, probably because I was ensuring that my mechanics were solid and my form was good. The weight was embarrassingly light but then again the pain of my back injury was still fresh in my mind and pushed any ego from my thoughts. By the end of the workout I was loose and although a little sore, I was moving pretty freely. I still was thinking that this was going to be pretty easy as long as I took it in context of a return to form, not a stress test.

Day 3

It’s day 3. My hamstrings hurt. A lot. I have lingering soreness from day 1, sprinkled with a fresh coat of pain and suffering from day 2 in the cold garage with the olympic bar. I am wondering about the effect the painkillers had on me and if they have driven me insane. Even just adding the extra day between the bootcamp days seems like an exercise in insanity. Today was bootcamp weights and although it was a shortened workout it was still a surprisingly taxing process. My arms burned out really quickly, my overall stamina was gone after just a few rounds and I was left clinging to the notion that if I could just get through this day it would get easier. How deluded am I?

Here is the weights workout we did:

D 5.6.2 – Weights Recovery II

x10x2
Double Curls
Double Press
High pull
Wallball
Chin ups or turnarounds

x10x2
Alt curls
Alt press
Front and Back Rolling Shrugs
WallBall
Chin ups or hand turns

x10x1
DB good mornings
Sitting shoulder press
dips no weight – legs above hands
dip hops
dips leg up each side

x10x1
Olympic bar single end push – switch
Olympic bar single end push – waist to waist
Olympic bar single end push – 180 degree throw
Dips no weight – legs above hands
Dips no weight – legs even with hands
Dips no weight – legs below hands

10×2
Sitting shoulder press
Weighted dips both weights
Weighted dips one weight
weighted dips no weight
10 Pullups plus 10 full pbar dips

Abs – With DB

In and Out
Full situp
Legs out arms extend up and back overhead
Crunch

 

I think I cried a little at the end there.

 

Back On Track – Introducing Ten On.

I got to thinking while I was “off” with my back issues that a return would mean a structured and systematic approach to get me back up to speed as fast as possible. That led to the creation of “Ten On”, a 10 day program whereby I will try to offset all the rest I have had by pushing myself through a kind of gauntlet of all my workouts condensed into a 10 day test of will. I will be monitoring my body composition since it seems that the only thing that changed by my not working out was my % fat, my weight is still, stubbornly around the 232 mark. I read during my time off that the body will start to have more difficulty storing, using and producing glucose after 10 days of exercise and it appeared to me that the longest you really want to go without taking a day off is around that 10 day mark. Also, this is not something you would want to do on a regular basis since you are starting to affect the efficiency of your endocrine system. That said, in order to kick start my recovery from my rest period this would be the ideal time and opportunity to try this sort of thing.

So here is my plan.

Day 1 – Bootcamp Bodyweight
Day 2 – Olympic Lifting
Day 3 – Bootcamp Weights
Day 4 – Kettlebell RKC
Day 5 – Agility / Cardio / Hills
Day 6 – Olympic Lifting
Day 7 – Kettlebell RKC
Day 8 – Bootcamp Agility
Day 9 – Yoga (P90X2 or FOY)
Day 10 – Bootcamp Bodyweight
Day 11 – Off

Day 1 – Bootcamp Bodyweight

5–10–15
Regular Pushup
Air Squats
Military Pushup
Pistol knee raise
Pullups

5–10–15
Ultra wide pushup
Back lunge front kick
Plange Pushup
Super skaters
Pullups

With Partner
10 Squat ball pass
10 Back to back lean twist pass
10 Wall sit side to side pass
10 Full situp ball pass (Throw not pass)
10 Pullups

10 One hand on ball pushup
10 Side to side one hand on ball pushup
20 Single hand ball touch
10 Double hand ball touch
10 Pullups
10 Double hand ball touch
20 Single hand ball touch
10 Side to side one hand on ball pushup
10 One hand on ball pushup

Tentative Return – Bootcamp Hybrid

Recovery Workout Body and Weights
with blocks
x2
10 regular pushups
10 military pushups
10 sphinx to plank step or drop
10 pushup side hold
10 pullups

x10x2
Double Curls
Double Press
High pull
Curl and Press
Pullups

x2
20 Air squats
20 step back lunge front kick
20 belt kicks
20 front lunge
10 pullups

x2
10 military pushups
10 regular dips
10 diamond pushups
10 leg up dips each leg
10 side tri rise

x2
10 lawnmowers each side
10 knee brace curls each side
20 alternating shoulder press
10 chest pullovers on box
20 high pull

10 pushup step out
10 clap pushup
10 plyo pushup
10 pushup side raise leg raise
5 Worlds slowest burpee with / out clap, plyo etc

Forced Rest. Ten Days From Hell

I hate rest. I hate having to take time out to recover and recharge. I know the value, I just don’t enjoy it. So you can imagine my state of mind now after 10 days of forced rest due to my back being uncooperative. I am still not sure what it was that caused the problem, I am guessing it was something I did during bootcamp with the med balls but whatever it was really did a number on me. I still have what I would consider significant pain in my right hip capsule which may or may not be directly related but may also be coincidental and a factor of not beign able to stretch. Whatever the case, the next couple of weeks are going to be critical as I try to ease back to action and prevent any further damage.

I can’t remember the last time my back took this long to mend, I can only say it was a VERY long time ago and I am thoroughly unimpressed to the point where I have considered voluntary fusion surgery to prevent any further issues. Whatever I do, I still need to get back into action and that is going to be a delicate mix of activity, rest, stretching, mobility and sensibility.

Toning It Down

I have been re-reading my blog and I have to say I used to be pretty funny! I am looking for the parts where my hatred for Tony and his cast of savages cause me to spit venom through the screen at him. I don’t want, for a second, to censor myself but at the same time knowing my penchant for the dramatic and my flair for the amusing some of my comments may come off as a little needlessly excessive. That said, going back to my first round of P90X has brought a swell of pride, some tears of amusement and an even greater desire to inflict help others begin their health and fitness journey. It’s amazing how much you forget, even though I probably thought those days would be etched on my psyche forever. The great thing is that they are here for me to revisit, which was exactly the point. There is actually nothing more motivating than reading about your success and failures in your own words…

Here’s a gem I can’t resist sharing for today:

I came to an interesting realization while attempting some of the flexibility / grab moves and that is that I have managed over the years to build my upper body to the point where I can no longer touch parts of my body I should be able to. I’d actually like to touch those parts again some day and it’s kind of creepy that a guy called Tony is going to help me.

I know that there are products I have tried that I simply did not like, Insanity: Asylum for example but I think in my assessment I was neglectful to admit that although it wasn’t my cup of tea, for someone out there, the technical and specific type of training it provides will be perfect. In fact, there may come a time when I will be ready to accept that teaching and I think I need to find those kind of posts and make that clear. It’s not like complaining about Yoga or the love/hate relationship I have had with P90X Plyo, I know it’s more sincere and vicious than that and upon reflection that doesn’t do anyone any favours. It’s not for me, I know how I feel and I can accept my black/white view of the world but if I truly want this site and any others I make to help people, I need to remember to temper my excess with a little objectivity.

Betrayed By My Own Body – Or Reminded Of Humble Beginnings?

This morning my back went out again.

It’s been since April of 2010 that my back has been OK. Not to say that I haven’t had the occasional bout of soreness but it hasn’t debilitated me like this for nearly 2 1/2 years. I guess that’s a pretty good run but I was hoping that now I am down to around 230 that this would be a thing of the past. The irony of ironies is that today is the first day for Canadians to register as Beach Body Coaches and since I always tell people that BeachBody changed my life I have been waiting for this day for a long time. It’s just funny that one of the major reasons I have for initially doing P90X which was to help with my back should be the reason I was able to register online as soon as 4pm hit. I am sure I will be fine, I think even now after only 12 hours or so and a few sessions on the inversion table that I feel like the morning will bring good news. I will probably have to take tomorrow off and be careful during bootcamp on Wednesday but hopefully this week won’t be a bust for workouts and I can get back on track.

In addition, I am hoping to get another site up and running for a more general interest than just my workouts. I would like to put something together that reflects my breadth of interest so I can give back as much as I have learned over the last few years. Here’s to the turning of the page and another new challenge.