Round 4 Day 33 – Shoulders and Traps (Gym)

I can’t really find a good sequence of shoulder stuff in P90X so I am going to stick with regular gym and Crossfit stuff. I made up a short workout for yesterday and may have given myself tennis elbow in the process.

4 Rounds for Time:

Alternating Shoulder Press (35lb DB)
Upright Rows (95lb barbell)
Clean and Press (35lb DB)
Shrugs (95lb barbell)

It didn’t last long and I should probably have added some flys on the end of the workout to round out the shoulders but by the time I was done I was pretty tired. I was pushed for time since my wife and baby were waiting for me to finish so although it was short I had to make sure it was tough. The hardest part was the clean and press with the dumbbells. Controlling dumbbells through a clean motion is difficult at the best of times but add tired aching forearms to the mix and you have a potential disaster. Today I feel like I have tennis elbow in my left arm from not warming up properly. We went straight out for a walk after to Starbucks with the baby so at least I got the warm down right!
Anyway, that was yesterday, today is Pure Cardio.

I have also started to use FitDay.com to track my stuff. All my workouts and eating etc will be available here:

http://fitday.com/fitness/PublicJournals.html?Owner=Perfik

It’s OK, nobody is here… hehe.

Round 4 Day 32 – El Improvisario (FGB)

After completing the workout, he said it felt like a "fight gone bad"

I don’t know if that is even a word but my improvising skills are getting better and better as I try to keep up with some of the signature Crossfit workouts. Today, as promised, was Fight Gone Bad but since I lack the basic necessary equipment I had to improvise.

The workout Rx (as prescribed) is like this:

You rotate through five stations, spending one minute at each:

  • Wall ball: 20 pound ball, 10 foot target. Each rep is scored as 1 point.
  • Sumo deadlift high pull: 75 pounds. Each rep is scored as 1 point.
  • Box Jump: 20″ box. Each rep is scored as 1 point.
  • Barbell push-press: 75 pounds. Each rep is scored as 1 point.
  • Row: Your butt off. Each calorie burned (according to the monitor) is scored as 1 point.

Rest one minute, and then repeat the five stations. Rest another minute, and then repeat it all again. Three rounds total.

Wall ball is simple, just throw the ball at the 10ft target and catch. However, once you catch the ball, you have to go into a full squat at the bottom.
SDHP is also a simple move if you know the mechanics of a deadlift. Even if you don’t, as long as you keep your head up and back flat you should be OK with only 75lb.
Box jumps can be anywhere from 18″-24″ depending on  your comfort level
Row – Since there are many people who don’t have rowers at  home, you could sub outdoor sprints or treadmill running in a pinch. Since many of the WODs include sprints or short distance runs I don’t see the harm in this but your score would be off.

For me, working in my basement now that winter is closing in, this was going to be a challenge. I didn’t have the ball or the height to do wall ball and I have read that you can sub thrusters instead if you want. Not knowing this, I opted to use dumbbells and throw it as high as I could which in a 8 or 9ft ceiling basement isn’t far. I should probably have used more than a 20lb DB too but I can try that next time. For the SDHP I wanted to use the bar not only for the pull but also as a target to jump over for the box jumps so I put 25’s on the Olympic bar, rested the bar on 2 small boxes and had a decent set up. With my back history it was important that now I am moving back into Olympic lifts that I go easy so having the bar a little higher than it would normally be with bumpers was a bonus. The bar was only about 18″ off the floor so I had to make sure in my jumps I was clearing it by a decent margin. As you have figured out, my SDHP was done with 95lbs not 75.
I used 35lb dumbbells for the Push Press which left me 5lb short.
Instead of the row I had to run on the treadmill and since  the treadmill we have doesn’t like me running on it the fastest I can go is around 5mph, after that I blow the fuse.

So there you have it. With the warm-up and the WOD it was about a half hour workout. 3 rounds of 5 minutes plus extras.
My counts were (I am sure) pitifully low but here you go:

DB throw – 30 – 40 – 40 (110)
SHDP (95lb) – 8 – 10 – 10 (28)
Jumps – 14 – 15 – 14 (43)
Push Press (35lbDB) – 20 – 15 – 16 (51)
Run  ?

Without counting calories – 232

Round 4 Day 32 – What to do…

So I am feeling really tired. I know that everyone is going to say it’s the diet but truth be known my sleeping habits are awful. I usually don’t get to be until around 12 or 1 and am up at 530. I think that in the spirit of improving everything I need to look at my sleep and do something about it.
I also hurt my knee last night. I wasn’t doing anything, just noticed that at some point it started hurting. I have been lucky so far for someone so heavy that my knees have held up. Strong quads help but in the end I am sure my weight can’t be good for them.
I tried cold brewed coffee this week. It’s my latest bandwagon onto which I happily throw myself. From what they said, you just brew your coffee the same way you would with hot water but instead you use cold water and then let it sit for 12 hours, press and drink.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/27/dining/27coff.html?ex=1340683200&en=0a9cf1fb9bdd34ea&ei=5124
Now, I have been in the coffee business before so I think I know a little about it and I had never heard of this. Colour me skeptical but I tried it anyway. I have never been able to drink coffee black, it is just too bitter and unpleasant but as I took a sip of the clear brown deliciousness I was shocked, yes, shocked to find that the taste was extremely pleasant. No bitterness, just a really nice nutty caramel taste. This shocked me not only because I was expecting the whoile thing to be bullshit but also because I had used Folgers crappy coffee not even the Time Hortons good stuff! Now some people will tell you to use 4:1 ratio of water to coffee but that is a crazy way to start and gives you more of a syrupy super-coffee. if you just follow your usual directions using your French Press then it will work out fine. You can increase the coffe by up to 50% if you wish before it starts to get too strong and require dilution to drink. Don’t forget though, this is an exercise in patience, the coffee should sit for about 12 hours before drinking.
http://www.cookography.com/2007/cold-brewed-coffee-using-a-french-press
I was also looking forward to doing “Fight Gone Bad” tonight however I can’t find a 20lb ball to throw against the house…
http://www.fitbomb.com/2010/09/fight-gone-bad.html
I also don’t have a rowing machine and the way my knee feels, well, you get the idea. I will have to find another way to work out tongiht.

So I am feeling really tired. I know that everyone is going to say it’s the diet but truth be known my sleeping habits are awful. I usually don’t get to be until around 12 or 1 and am up at 530. I think that in the spirit of improving everything I need to look at my sleep and do something about it.

I also hurt my knee last night. I wasn’t doing anything, just noticed that at some point it started hurting. I have been lucky so far for someone so heavy that my knees have held up. Strong quads help but in the end I am sure my weight can’t be good for them.

I tried cold brewed coffee this week. It’s my latest bandwagon onto which I happily throw myself. From what they said, you just brew your coffee the same way you would with hot water but instead you use cold water and then let it sit for 12 hours, press and drink.

Now, I have been in the coffee business before so I thought I knew a little about it and I had never heard of this. Colour me skeptical but I tried it anyway. I have never been able to drink coffee black, it is just too bitter and unpleasant but as I took a sip of the clear brown deliciousness I was shocked, yes, shocked to find that the taste was extremely pleasant. No bitterness, just a really nice nutty caramel taste. This shocked me not only because I was expecting the whole thing to be bullshit but also because I had used Folgers crappy coffee not even the Time Horton’s good stuff! Now some people will tell you to use 4:1 ratio of water to coffee but that is a crazy way to start and gives you more of a syrupy super-coffee. if you just follow your usual directions using your French Press then it will work out fine. You can increase the coffe by up to 50% if you wish before it starts to get too strong and require dilution to drink. Don’t forget though, this is an exercise in patience, the coffee should sit for about 12 hours before drinking.

I was also looking forward to doing “Fight Gone Bad” tonight however I can’t find a 20lb ball to throw against the house…

I also don’t have a rowing machine and the way my knee feels, well, you get the idea. I will have to find another way to work out tonight. By the way, if you have an extra Concept 2 rowing machine just laying around that you don’t want…

..more later..

Round 4 (Phase 2) Day 29 – Chest and Tri (No Shoulders)

facepalm2

I have made a subtle mistake in my schedule. There seems to be too much chest in this second part of the schedule. My goal was to take the shoulder work out of the Chest Triceps and Shoulders routine so that my gym days would not include all 3 body parts. However, I seem to have mixed up the order and got an additional chest workout in there. This 3 weeks are based on my old gym workouts, a 3 day split with no legs however due to the fact I am doing Crossfit workouts and Insanity cardio, legs just aren’t necessary. If you saw my quads you would agree 😉
So I have modified the schedule a little (and gone back and noted the change in the previous posts) and come up with this for the next 4 weeks. Note that I have changed from a 4 on 1 off to a 6 on 1 off which given the failure to stick to my schedule so far probably won’t matter.

29 P90X Chest & Triceps, Ab Ripper X
30 Max Interval Plyo
31 P90X Back & Biceps, Ab Ripper X
32 WOD with Pullups
33 GYM Shoulders Traps and Ab Ripper X
34 Pure Cardio
35 OFF
36 GYM  Chest and Triceps
37 WOD with Pullups
38 GYM Back & Biceps
39 Pure Cardio
40 GYM Shoulders Traps and Ab Ripper X
41 WOD with Pullups
42 OFF
43 P90X Chest & Triceps, Ab Ripper X
44 Pure Cardio
45 P90X Back & Biceps, Ab Ripper X
46 WOD with Pullups
47 GYM Shoulders Traps and Ab Ripper X
48 Max Interval Plyo
49 OFF
50 FOY Yoga
51 Core Cardio and Balance
52 Core Synergistics
53 FOY Yoga
54 OFF

29 P90X Chest & Triceps, Ab Ripper X
30 Max Interval Plyo
31 P90X Back & Biceps, Ab Ripper X
32 WOD with Pullups
33 GYM Shoulders Traps and Ab Ripper X
34 Pure Cardio
35 OFF
36 GYM  Chest and Triceps
37 WOD with Pullups
38 GYM Back & Biceps
39 Pure Cardio
40 GYM Shoulders Traps and Ab Ripper X
41 WOD with Pullups
42 OFF
43 P90X Chest & Triceps, Ab Ripper X
44 Pure Cardio
45 P90X Back & Biceps, Ab Ripper X
46 WOD with Pullups
47 GYM Shoulders Traps and Ab Ripper X
48 Max Interval Plyo
49 OFF
50 FOY Yoga
51 Core Cardio and Balance
52 Core Synergistics
53 FOY Yoga
54 OFF

So for day 29 I did the Chest and Tricep portion of Chest Tri and Shoulders. It was about 30 minutes but was actually hard on me since you don’t get the rest of doing shoulders. It is basically a quick circuit of chest and triceps. Since I am doing dips instead of some of the stupid and frankly useless tricep moves Tony provides, my triceps get an awesome workout.

Following such a good day I was disappointed in my Insanity Plyo workout for day 30. For some reason I felt listless and tired. I didn’t make it through many of the sections and given that each one is only an minute that really sucked. Hopefully it was just a reflection of too few calories or not enough sleep.

Round 4 Days 26-28 (Rest Week) – Rest and Fit Test

So I figured I should take some time to unwind my body and change things up a bit. I was scheduled for a 4 day run of Core Synergistics and Core, Cardio and Balance however after a day of running and one installment of CC&B I figured I would make a change. So instead I did Stretch X, something that I was in dire need of since my whole body was starting to feel compressed and the Insanity Fit Test. This was my second attempt at the Fit Test, the first (prior to Round 3) made me quit so getting through this was going to be goal enough.

The Insanity Fit Test comprises of the following:

How the Fit Test works is you do 8 different exercises for a minute each doing as many reps as you can. Here are my first results with the Insanity Fit Test:
Switch Kicks                125
Power Jacks                  45
Power Knees                 84
Globe Jumps                   8
Suicide Jumps              13
Push Up Jacks              25
Low Plank Oblique     50

You do 8 different exercises for a minute each doing as many reps as you can. Here are my first results with the Insanity Fit Test:

Switch Kicks                125
Power Jacks                  50
Power Knees                 114 (on weak side)
Globe Jumps                   14
Suicide Jumps              11
Push Up Jacks              50
Low Plank Oblique     36
Since this was my first time I had nothing to compare to however since I have been doing the Crossfit workouts I have become much better at the “minute on/minute off” type of interval training. Given that I actually quit the last time I tried it, I have to figure I am pretty far along. I will try to do another run through next “rest week” approximately a month from now and see how that goes.
**Note, I did this again HERE for comparisons sake.

Diet Update – Escaping The Worst Man In History

evolution_20of_20men_small

So I have become a Paleo convert. I have done P90X for almost a year and up until now I haven’t really taken on my diet. I didn’t follow the book, I just assumed I knew better. However, knowing isn’t the key. Doing is the key.

My diet consists of fruit, vegetables, protein in any form and dairy. I am trying not to overdo the dairy part, cutting down my cheese intake and so on but apart from that, I am a caveman.

What I have found after almost 3 weeks:

  • I have lost 10lbs
  • I am not really hungry any more. Even if I haven’t eaten for a while (I no longer need to eat 6x a day at regular times according to some) I don’t seem to be getting the same craving for food as I did. This is particularly unnerving for me since I have lived my life thinking about food and pretending to be hungry. Now I just eat what’s on the paleo list whenever I want. You would be amazed (as I still am) at how long you can go on an apple.
  • I am not getting tired like I used to, no 2pm let down and getting out of bed seems a lot easier.
  • I am sleeping better. That may be because I am turning off the TV at night in the bedroom but also because I am not full of sugar.
  • I pee like a pregnant woman. Seriously I have not been drinking more, just the 3 liters (or quarts) a day but I guess the live food is mostly water anyway.

I can’t say I have lost 10lbs in 3 weeks any other time without being mostly miserable. Other than before the wedding but even then, I was losing a couple of pounds a week AT THE MOST. Mainly because I was eating plenty of rice and oatmeal but no wheat. Even when we went totally raw for a few weeks I didn’t see that kind of loss. I was so paranoid about not eating protein at that point however that I was eating waaaaay too many nuts! That didn’t last long I have to admit. This seems easy though. I like to snack, I admit it but snacking on an apple or a banana was laughable to me only a few weeks ago. Now, it’s like I found Jesus behind the couch.

I’m going to try being more positive too, I think the grains were making me angry and I am tired of being the “worst man in history”.

Round 4 Day 25 – Rest Day or Not

Today was supposed to be a rest day but since I have rest “week” for the next 4 days I thought I would do a short run in my VFFs and see how they felt. It was a short 20 minute run but the shoes held up great, super comfortable and with none of the usual calf cramping, shin splints or back ache. It was a huge boost to the justification side of the KSO argument. The other side of the argument being why would you wear something that looks like gorilla feet or badly cut off circulation.

*Edit

And by the way, don’t skimp on the warmup or stretch. Even a couple of minutes is enough. For some reason I didn’t stretch today after my run and I am now feeling the tightness through my hamstrings.

I thought I knew about this stuff…

Vibram Five Fingers KSO – My Experience So Far

VFF KSOI have been doing my P90X workouts in bare feet for as long as I can remember. The only reason I don’t do my Insanity workouts barefoot is because I was afraid of slipping on the ugly grey foam tiles we have on the floor. That is, until now. As you have probably noticed I am an avid reader of Fitbomb and his experience with the P90X program, the Insanity mix and his transition into Crossfit are similar to my own not by chance. I have always said that if you want to see the results other people have, a good place to start is by doing what they are doing. I am not trying to change myself into a small American-Asian man but I am interested in the fact that a lot of the mental arithmetic that you go through when subscribing to a “system” is similar inside his head and mine. So our paths have taken similar routes. He has long been an enthusiast of the Vibram Five Fingers KSO (among others) and the notion that barefoot running is the wave of the future. Yes, I know, roll your eyes now and then go and try it. For years I have professed that I am “not built” for running and a large part of that was because I got terrible calf cramps and shin splints from running. I have now discovered it was not my fault, I wasn’t running right. Ever since I have been forefoot running (both barefoot and in shoes) I have been relatively injury free. Now I don’t run a lot, in fact I rarely run at all however I find that everything that I do without shoes is better. What better way then to feed my desire for shoelessness than by getting a pair of the VFF KSO for myself.

This past weekend we went to Penetang and on the way passed by Soujourn in Barrie. For under $100 I walked out with a pair of KSO’s and, little did I know at the time, the stigma of having black gorilla feet. I wore them most of the day, went outside in them, walked around in them, even ran around the parking lot in them. The moment you put them on, you realize that this was a great idea. You can feel the floor beneath your feet (something of which I am a huge fan) however it’s like you have super tough bulletproof feet that can’t be hurt. If you are a fan of not wearing shoes, and I have noticed that you either are or are not, it’s not really a grey area for people I have spoken to, then these are the things you have been looking for. Forget the Nike Free, like most things Nike it is shit. It’s not a barefoot shoe, it’s sure as hell not a VFF competitor, it is the usual corporate response to the latest shift in the market from a company that pushes it’s image harder than it’s R and D. It’s a cop out. If you really want some comfy shoes for the office that is something else but if you are looking to lose the shoes for running or for your sport of choice for gods sake get off the Nike teat already. It is fair to say that the Crossfit rage now is pushing the sales of the KSO. Everywhere you go and talk about them people either assume you are or are becoming a Crossfitter. That is not a bad thing, there are worse things than following a trend that makes sense.

I have so far worn them for over 20 hours. I have done P90X in them, done an Insanity workout in them and did Chelsea in them today. I am currently wearing them at work and I have to say they are the most comfortable things I have ever put my feet into. I can tell that they change my posture when I walk. I can tell that my calves and arches are getting more work than they are used to but I can also feel that my legs just don’t feel as fatigued as they usually do. I am not walking with that weird “tipping” feeling like my shoes are trying to throw me out. Overall I just feel better. And what’s more, I am down to a few seconds for putting them on… Foot powder helps.

Round 4 Day 24 – Chelsea

Day 20 – Rest

Day 21 – P90X  Chest and Back

Day 22 – Insanity Cardio Power and Conditioning

Day 23 – Today.

The plan is to do a 20 minute Chelsea. Chelsea is supposed to be 30 minutes but I don’t think I need the extra physical stress that the extra 10 minutes would inevitably bring. Of course, not having done Chelsea before I may not make it to 20…

Chelsea:

Each minute on the minute for 30 minutes

5 pullups
10 pushups
15 squats

Your score is the minute that you fail to complete the exercise. If you fail to do the 11th set on the 11th minute your score is 10. If you pass the 30 minutes, you can score Chelsea as Chelsea +3 if you managed to go to 33 minutes.

I will be wearing my new Vibram Five Fingers and I also wore them to do my insanity workout yesterday. So far so good.

.. The aftermath…

My official Chelsea score: 21.

The whole workout from music on to music off was under 30 minutes. It was a tough one, but very enjoyable. However it was a rude awakening that the first time I did the circuit it took me almost 45 seconds. It was then I realized that regardless of how little work it seemed, it was going to be tough. There was not a chance in hell that I was going to make 30 minutes though. Everything seemed to give out at once. I was suddenly struggling and dropping off the bar at 4 pull ups. I was still strong with the push ups but getting back up to do the squats was eating my seconds. Chelsea was good. I will try again for sure but the goal of 30 seems so so far away…

Round 4 Day 19 – WOD Fran (again!?)

So my last attempt at Fran was a bit of a failure. So much so that I didn’t even want to call it what it was supposed to be. According to the Crossfit site, Fran is as follows:

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

and the times that people proudly post for the workout are sub 4 minutes. I think that the last time I did this I was somewhere just over 10 minutes. Given that I didn’t rush through and was at the gym, I don’t think that really counts. This time however I just went through it without trying to hurt myself because I was using 35lb dumbbells instead of a barbell. That is mostly due to the fact that in my basement the ceiling isn’t quite high enough to lift the bar with the 45’s on it, or even I think the 25’s. Since I only have 35’s I was starting out with a 70lb weight. I shouldn’t have been worried however since after about 14 of the 21 Thrusters I had to change the weight for 25’s. It was mostly my balance that was the issue, not the strength. That made the whole thing a lot easier. Even so, I only managed an 8:35 for the whole thing which is a bit disappointing. I was hurting afterwards, so much so in fact that later during the evening I was still coughing up weird phlegmmy acid stuff that tasted like (I assume) battery acid. I almost drowned in my La-z-boy which led me to thinking that maybe I had done a little too much. My personal WOD then looked like this:

MetCon
Supposed to be row 2000m but since I don’t have a rowing machine I ran 1600m instead (1 mile)

WOD

21 Thrusters 70lbs (actually about 14 with 70 and 7 with 50)
21 Pull Ups
15 Thrusters 50lbs
15 Pull Ups
9 Thrusters 50lbs
9 Pull Ups

The whole workout including a short warmup took about 28.5 mins but I think it was the run that really did me in not Fran. For some reason, running messes up my breathing the first few times I do it. If I haven’t run in a while I get really bad indigestion (which I am a victim of anyway) and cough up the grossest stuff you have ever seen. After a few times it goes away, it’s all a bit of a mystery really.

Fran. I can see why people love it.