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.

 

R7D86 – Test Week Day 2 – Fit Test and Fran *light*

Shaq and his strained calf…

I was scheduled to do P90X Fit Test, Insanity Fit Test and a round of Fran. Unfortunately as I was getting to the end of the P90X Fit Test my calf brought me to a screeching halt. It is not as bad as last week, but only, I fear, because I let up immediately. I had managed to get through the P90X Fit Test (results to come) and was still feeling like I could have done the Insanity one energy wise. However, the calf was so painful that I just couldn’t do it. It was also hurting to do the full 95lb thruster so I opted to use my 45lb kettlebell instead and did a light Fran in around 6:30. I am a mixture of angry and frustrated, I know it has only been 10 days since I hurt the calf but at the same time I should be able to do jumping jacks for 2 minutes without it pulling again.

Firstbeat Athlete was not terribly impressed with my workout, but you should see the size of the HR and EPOC spike when I started to do Fran. It was a great workout, very short but very brutal. I will post my actual results later tonight when I get my papers from the basement.

For now, damn you calf!

 

Results:

P90X Fit Tests

Third P90X Fit Test

Resting Heart Rate   65 (-5)
Pull-Ups   23 (+7)
Vertical Leap Inches   18 (+0)
Push-Ups   80 (+30)
Toe-Touch+2 (+0)
Wall Squat (Seconds)   70 (-20)
Bicep Curls (Reps | Wt )   15@95lbs
Total Poundage   1425 (-325) Bad decision to go with 95lb barbell
In & Outs   65 (+15)

Heart Rate Maximizer

Immediately After   147
After 1 Minute Rest   129
After 2 Minutes Rest 118
After 3 Minutes Rest 106
After 4 Minutes Rest 95

Second P90X Fit Test

Resting Heart Rate   70 (+0)
Pull-Ups   16 (+9)
Vertical Leap Inches   18 (+5)
Push-Ups   50 (I got bored after 50again)
Toe-Touch+2 (+3)
Wall Squat (Seconds)   90 (+30)
Bicep Curls (Reps | Wt )   25@70lbs (2x35lb db)
Total Poundage   875 (+75) (1750 total)
In & Outs   50 (+0)

Heart Rate Maximizer

Immediately After   150
After 1 Minute Rest   141
After 2 Minutes Rest 125
After 3 Minutes Rest 116
After 4 Minutes Rest 95


 

R7D85 – Test Week Day 1 – Chest and Triceps

Day 1 of my test week was going to be a fun day, I knew it would have to be at gym with my girls so we all did this:

Push To Shove

10×3
Military Pushup
Superman Pushups
dips
dip with leg raise
shoulder touch
hip touch
clapping pushup
plyo pushup

Bonus:
plank side reach (5 per side)
plank side reach pushup (5 per side)
arm circles (60 seconds)

It was a quick but decent workout for me. For them it was tough but doable, we all finished in under 20 minutes.

I feel like my body has started to give up it’s stranglehold on this plateau. Today I feel better, lighter, and hopefully this means my stubborn weight which has been around the 235 mark for a couple of months now will start to decrease once again.

R7D80/84 – Rest Week Love/Hate

It always seems to be the case that when it comes to rest week I run into some problem that means I can’t train. It’s either sickness, travelling, hectic scheduling or work but it just always seems to get in the way. It’s fine, I am not complaining because if I am honest there is nothing worse than rest week. I am of the mind that rest week should be 5 days, 2 off, one yoga, two off instead of 7 days of watered down ab routines and plie squats. At least that way you would get total rest, the kind of rest that your body can actually use. This rest week was no different and in fact for the first time in months I ran into a 3 day complete rest. But I finished with a decent RKC day and a Cardio Recovery workout that left a lot to be desired.

But it’s behind me now, what stretches ahead is a week of testing and max effort measurements and then a relaunch of the Superhybrid with some tweaks that I am not sure of right now. One thing I think I may do is cut out the 7 day length which seems to create a problem with my static coaching schedule. I am thinking if I plan a 6 day week instead then the workouts that I schedule will actually get done. Either that, or don’t schedule days at all and just have a total of 78 workouts (13 weeks x 6 days)  to do with a cap of 100 days to finish. I find that especially on days I coach that I don’t have time to work out and since I stand at my desk now, and coach 3 hours in the evening it’s just too much to ask. HOWEVER… on occasion I am able to work out with the girls and get a quick WOD type workout done. That said, it’s just not good planning to schedule RKC workouts for coaching days pretty much knowing I won’t do them. It means I don’t get enough KB workouts done and that makes me sad. The thing is, for whatever reason I can’t seem to just take the 2 coaching days off and do the other 5 days. Maybe it’s a timing thing, maybe growing up in a house where Friday was let loose and forget the week day has created a Friday workout phobia I am not sure.

I should probably shut up and work out.

For all the advice I give others, I am sounding a little whiny today! Decisions, decisions…

I think I may really enjoy this “test week” though.

Respect. Rolling With Punches.

What does it take to stick to your plan? I hear it all the time, what is your motivation? How do you keep going?

I think we all gain inspiration and motivation from many places, just look at Tumblr or Twitter for legions of people posting and forwarding inspiration to each other. It’s not difficult to find pictures of what you want, either what you want to be like or what you want to run from, but whatever you need to inspire you can be found with ease. The question is, what happens when that effect runs out? What happens when looking at another person’s six pack makes you angry or disappointed instead of motivated and driven? In that case you fall back on your character. It’s times like that when you find out what you are made of. We all get disappointed with ourselves sometimes. We eat something we shouldn’t, we take an extra day off when we should have stuck to our schedule. Sometimes it’s a choice, other times it’s just circumstance. What you do at that point will speak directly to your character.

I wrote a while back about the “getting knocked down” analogy that is used by many as a crutch to cover their own weakness but in the end, no matter if it is a bump in the road, a moment of weakness or a bona fide blindside your reaction will depend on who you are at your core and from where I stand loving yourself isn’t going to be enough. A lot of, let’s say, younger people seem to think that “acceptance” or “self-love” will see them through. They seem to imagine that accepting their weaknesses somehow makes them OK. I agree that some things you can’t change very easily, I don’t particularly like my nose, but I accept it. I don’t particularly like the fact I don’t seem to have a butt, but I accept it. Being fat and out of shape however is not something anyone should accept. It’s not a socially based acceptance thing either, it’s a health thing. Claiming that you love your body despite your obvious health risks is not the right thing to do. Rather than accepting yourself, work on committing to respecting yourself. By the way, the same goes for the other end of the weight scale. There are many out there who struggle at the light end of the scale, some with actual sickness, some with addiction and obsession but the same rules apply.

Loving something that is so obviously wrong but within your power to change is ridiculous.

Loving yourself is not enough, you need to learn to respect yourself.

Love is a double edged sword, ask anyone from a broken home or abusive family how they feel about love.

If you want to increase the quality of your life, then learn to respect yourself.

You can love yourself but it makes no demands.
You can love yourself but it implies no standards.
You can love yourself but it doesn’t drive change.

Respect.
Respect expects performance.
Respect demands self-evaluation.
Respect requires constant improvement.
Respect allows you to be a role model for yourself and others.

Respect yourself and you will lead yourself to the place you want to be.

This week for me has been another forced rest. I have not been able to work out for 3 days, coaching, anniversary and sickness all contributing to my first 3 day break in months. But it’s OK. I’m not going to obsess over the time off, just enjoy the break and get back to work tonight.

Feel Like Pushing It…

This week (rest week 3 of my hybrid) will remain as rest week but next week I have a fitting end to my schedule in store.

REST WEEK

Tricep Meltdown at Gym
Off Sick
Plyo Vertical Training
Cardio Core and Balance
Core Synergistics
Cardio Recovery
FOY Yoga with Tony

CHALLENGE WEEK

RKC Art Of Strength DVD
Olympic Lifts Initial Testing
RKC Art Of Strength DVD
1k run, Insanity Fit Test, P90X Fit Test, Fran.
Insanity Asylum Fit Test, Cindy.
Game Day and Overtime
Yoga X

I would also like to fit in Helen:

Helen - 3 rounds for time:

400-meter run
21 overhead kettlebell swings (24kg / 16kg)
12 pull-ups

The Tricep meltdown looked something like this:

7-15-21

Tricep dips
Military pushups
Handstand Pushups (or inverted shoulder pushups)
Sphinx to plank
Side Tri Rise

R7D77/80 – Being Sick Sucks

It’ s my own fault, not taking care of the way I was cooking the meat, I made myself sick Monday night and spent all day Tuesday in bed.

Happily I had done a tricep blast with the kids at gym on Monday and I can do a plyo workout with them today BUT this week was supposed to be the big challenge week / final rest week and looking at the schedule I think it may qualify as the rest week alone. What I might do then is convert next week into a week of tests and challenges and then starting Labour Day get back into the hybrid for a second time.

As always, having a flexible plan is good, as long as you can stay a week ahead of yourself. being flexible doesn’t mean giving yourself permission to slack of or sub something easier just because you are a little tired, it means changing your plan according to your external influences to keep your total work load as high as it needs to be for the week. For me, this was supposed to be rest week but I complained about ending with a rest week on a couple of occasions and since I have a “spare” week next week maybe I can put it to good use.

I have a fit test from P90X, Insanity and Insanity:Asylum I can do. I have a crossfit total I can post for a baseline. I have a 1k or 5k run that I could pull off some time and looking back at my “achievements” post a while back, maybe getting weights and times for all those would be a good idea.

Here’s what I said in my last goals post:

I need to work on some personal bests for the following:

1km run
Deadlift
Shoulder Press
Barbell Clean
Clean and Press
Chinups
Weighted pushups
All the Fit Tests P90X, Insanity, Insanity:Asylum
Crossfit WODs such as Angie, Fran etc.

At the same time, I had previously posted this which was the catalyst for my planning, however there are things here I am not willing to try again such as heavy squats, I spent a lot of my life doing them and with my back history, I don’t need to go back there again…

These are some of my CrossFit PRs

Baseline: 3:58
Fran: 7:18 (totally lame)
Jackie: 7:25
Back Squat: 235#
Strict Press: 115#
Deadlift: 315#
CrossFit Total 655#
Max Pushups: 40
Max Unbroken Muscles Ups: 5
Max Overhead Squat: 125#
Max Clean and Jerk: 160#
2K Row: 7:35

I probably should apologize to him for nicking his stuff but I need a little something to concentrate on and getting these numbers for myself is something I would like to do. Also, I think that his site may be a good read, certainly his start here page states some of the reasons I am frustrated with the medical profession.

So here are the descriptions of what those numbers mean:

Fran:
21 Thrusters 95lbs
21 Pull Ups
15 Thrusters 95lbs
15 Pull Ups
9 Thrusters 95lbs
9 Pull Ups

Jackie:
1000 meter row
45 pound Thruster, 50 reps
30 pull-ups

Back Squat  The basic regular squat we all love to hate
Strict Press  Shoulder press, from standing, front of shoulder (I prefer back of shoulder, but my body is weird).
Deadlift  I’m going to assume everyone knows this. Lift the bar from the floor until you are upright. Keep back discs intact!
Crossfit Total  Simply add the totals from the previous 3 lifts (with each attempted 3 times for max)
Max Pushups Unbroken push ups, no rest, full range of motion
Max Unbroken Muscle Ups  Again, no stopping to max
Max Overhead Squat  1 rep max for overhead squat, just regular squat with weight extended overhead
Max Clean and Jerk – Probably the most misrepresented, misunderstood and challenging lift of all.
2K Row Get on a rowing machine and go until your lungs explode!

 

So I will work on a plan and post it later.

He’s Right, This Is Not OK.

Thanks to Fitbomb.com for once again bringing so much information into one place.

In the news today there are articles from the Canadian Academics saying that (read carefully) a HIGH BMR may not indicate a high risk for heart disease and such. This only points to what we all know that BMI is crap. HOWEVER… They are possibly (and likely) referring to people who qualify as high BMR mostly due to increased muscle density, high bone density and so on. They are not likely referring to inactive couch surfers who fill their faces with cheesecake and blame the BMI scale for making them feel bad. It’s not a disease is it…

What most people are getting from this is IT’S OK TO BE OBESE. Holy miss the point people!!

For some, this is another excuse not to exercise and to use the “love yourself the way you are” excuse to do nothing about their ballooning weight. I’m all for people loving their imperfections, just not the kind of imperfection that will kill you or be detrimental to your psychological wellbeing. As soon as you stop avoiding the issue by throwing up your hands and saying “there’s nothing I can do, I love me the way I am” and leveraging that perfectly acceptable reasoning to cover your own laziness and lack of drive the sooner you will understand that if you really did love yourself you wouldn’t make excuses, you would get on with creating a healthier you.

Respect yourself, don’t excuse yourself. There is a life-altering difference.

R7D74/7 – Summer’s Over, Time To Get Schooled

This weekend I managed to do a 100 pullup / 100 35lb curl session in place of back and biceps and a run through of Insanity Max Interval Circuit. I worked out in the cool late summer rain and was invigorated by the winds of change…

This time of year is a great time to start fresh, we are so well trained by the time we leave school that the cooling of the air, the fall breezes of September and the fresh cold mornings all bring thoughts of rebirth. As youngsters we get to go back to school with all our friends, trade summer vacations stories and catch up with all the summertime gossip. As we get older, September means new academic challenges, an end of monotonous summer jobs and the start of new athletic seasons. For me, fall and the start of school will always bring back memories of Western and the start of the rugby season, the chance to help influence a whole new batch of young students coming into residence and a chance to escape the chains of work and once again dive back into the pool of academia. Of course, that is just a euphemism for what used to be drinking my face off and partying with the new kids until someone passed out and got attacked with permanent marker. After 2 years of that, I quit drinking and started to take my health and my life a little more seriously. I got involved with aerobics, step class and rollerblading, had friends who were into fitness and health and started taking note of my issues with food. Each year that passed, I was more aware of the changes I could make with sheer volume of activity and I fell in love with September cardio classes. For someone whose background was strength this was pretty weird, I was doing step classes, playing basketball and was in the best shape of my life. However I was unaware of the weakness I was building into my physique. I continued to play rugby for Western and was faster, fitter and a better player than I had ever been but as my cardio increased, my weight decreased and by the following summer I paid the price. I was flattened by a Samoan with an attitude and separated my shoulder. That was a painful but predictable end to my career as a rugby player. But it sent a damaging message to me that I carried for years: Size beats speed.

Since it is difficult and time consuming for us to create new habits, especially as we get older, it’s of great benefit to take advantage of the habits we already have and although you may not know it, the end of summer brings thoughts of renewal to almost everyone. So it’s a perfect time to kick start your journey, whatever it may be, with some back to school spice! I am lucky right now that I am at the end of Round 7 and it looks like I am going to repeat this round since I seem to have missed out on almost every Insanity:Asylum workout and been a little lazy on the yoga side of things. With a little tweaking I think I can make it work, with RKC not just being a filler in case I get a few minutes before coaching.

So school is in. If you have kids, you will spend lots of time encouraging them to look forward to school, to make new friends and try new things. If you are going back to school yourself you may find that the challenges and changes you face are almost overwhelming, but guess what, that’s what life is like, and you should prove yourself by shaking up your fitness and health regimen also.

So what are you going to do about you? I propose you try something new. Buy a kettlebell, try a crossfit class, make some goals for once! Put yourself back into health school and change your diet, make a resolution for now until Christmas that you won’t fall prey to the muffin, the french fries or the chicken wings. We are about to embark on a wonderful time of year when everything in our lives seems new and exciting. Why let your old routines and habits weigh you down. If you have always wanted to move up in the activity class then get to it. Treat this September like you are going back to school, teach yourself some new tricks, see how much you can change your habits and activities and do something different for once!

But do something, because something beats nothing every time!!