My BAD! But It's Paleo Time!

Okay, okay. I have been a terrible blogger. I mean it was spring break and family time and I have actually had some homework. So I have been busy but the working out was still accomplished as always as it should have been for you!

Well as some of you may know, I now officially have a date to prom with a beautiful woman. Be jealous... But anyways, reading this blog not only gets you more fit but it also increases your game with the ladies. How? Well ask me and I shall tell...

Onto the good stuff! Diet Diet Diet Diet! Its the most important thing out of gym! I mean its the whole shibang! Its the milk to your cookies (which arn't paleo bee tee dubs). So A major movement in the CrossFit world is the Paleo Diet. Its pretty simple for guidelines. Eat lots of fruits and veggies along with lean meat at every meal. Stay away from dairy, sweets, starches, and all grains. May seem bad at first but now only does it increase health and lower risks for diseases like diabetes, it makes you feel great! The lack of processed foods and increased natural foods gives you much more energy. I mean i just feel happier when I eat healthier! I won't go into the science of it all but take my word unless you want me to prove it to you using the language of the nerds, which I dont think juiceheads will appreciate. So another main thing is protein. You may need to supplement to get all the protein necessary for your diet. I aim for about 300 grams a day which is tough to get so I usually supplement with two shakes a day. Now everyone is different, so we all have different needs. SO try and shoot for 1.5 grams of protein for pound of body weight. and also, we need calories. I am a very active person and need about 3000 calories to stay alive. SO cutting calories is not the way to get lean! I promise. Protein is the way to get big and lean I swear it! Again, trust me or I will overflow your frontal lobe with gibberish that you will fall asleep to. But feel free to ask as I would love to explain and fulfill my inner nerd.

Workout:

Track:

Discus Practice

3x8 minute whistle blow indian runs

Strength:

Rest day! I am sore all over. Legs, back, arms. Well needed

Hit The Stretch

Just another day in the world of fitness. Same old, same old for some people, but is it really the same old thing? No! New workouts, new weights, new everything! Or maybe that's just me and my addiction. Man I sure tell you school these days is getting pretty crazy. Here I am taking some classes that should be pretty difficult, I mean physiology, physics, Calc BC. And what do I get? The easiest year of my life! I mean it is crazy. I fell asleep in three classes today, not because I hate school and hate the lesson but because I am ahead in all of them and have nothing else possible to do! No classes to get ahead in even more. Some call it senioritis, but senioritis doesn't include getting straight 4.2 GPA

So, the topic for today is stretching! And it is one of my favorites! Not to mention one of the most important! So a lot of people follow the misconception that stretching before your workout is a need. It in no way is. A warm-up, yes but a stretch. NO! It is a waste of time in the beginning. For your warm-up you should do plyometrics and warm the joints and muscles up with movements and exercises but not static stretching. The real time to stretch is after your workout. It helps in so many ways! Your muscles will already be loose for starters, so all the stretching will go straight toward adding to your range of motion instead of loosening the tight muscle. Secondly, it helps keep your muscle fibers straight and in line with each other, reducing the risk of knots developing and cramps. The best of all, is a good and proper stretch will reduce soreness the next day!! I think we all can love that part of it! The stretch may feel uncomfortable but it is worth it. If it is painful then you may have a strain of some sort or are pushing too much, but uncomfortably feeling is what we are shooting for.

Better yet, stretching in a warm shower adds to the benefits. Not to mention just feels like pure bliss. SO when your showering after your intense WOD or run, toss some toe touches and Sampson stretches in.

Track

Discus Throwing


Workout-(Super-set Every Two)

3x(15,15,15)

Shoulder Press (in front of head)
Seated Cable Rows
Up-Right Rows
T-Bar Row
Lateral Deltoid Raises
Lat Pull Downs (in front of head)

3x (10,10,10)

Shrugs
Bent Over Deltoid Raises

Abs

3x(25,25,25)

True Sit-Ups


Now I know there hasn't been CrossFit on here for a while and that is because I haven't had time or energy to throw it into my days, I am hating it, but I owe my obligation to the track team more so then my own fun. So bear with me until I do the next WOD which I expect to be friday. I now do my WODs and CrossFit with CrossFit 707 for their equipment and expertise.

Wants Vs. Needs

Ahh. This weather is killing me. Rain is no fun. End of story. But good thing you make blogs inside!

So at what point do you say this is a pain that will not go away and needs to rest. I was faced with that decision today and man oh man is it the worst decision that I have to make. For example, I had a back spasm a week ago, so my lower back has been extremely tight and has not let up a whole lot and made working out and running an adventure each day. On top of that, the last three chest workouts I have done have ended up with left shoulder pain that ceases to go away. Now these are pains that are not serious in any way because there was no actualy injury. Chances are they are pinched nerves, tight muscles or inflammation. Now usually they can be worked through and will go away on their own. But be careful because not all of them do. Some of them need to be rested totally for a few days so they can have time to get some real recovery in. But when do you know to keep working out with them or to rest them. Well usually I give them three weeks to work themselves out. And if not, then the worst happens. Days with no working out. They are terrible I know.

I want more than anything to be out there demolishing a WOD in record time, hitting new lifting maxes, and running further and faster than I ever have, but none of this is possible if you are not 100%. So it may be worth taking a day or two off to rest and heal so you can return to 100% instead of wasting two weeks working out at 85%. Believe it's way better in the long run. And if I can take a break from the gym then anyone can. There may some some withdrawal but its normal. haha. I just get my gym fill from home by watching youtube videos of new workouts and the CrossFit Games. To anyone wondering there are other ways for different injuries, like working the muscle carefully, but that is for a later post.

So use your judgement wisely and remember your body knows best. Be smart and work hard.

Track

3 mile run in the rain :(

Man I ate some salad and orange before it and that was a mistake. My tummy was not in a running mood. Good thing it was only 3 miles.

Expanding Horizons

So I got my inspiration for this post from my run through the Benicia State Park. Fitness is not about what we can do or what we can't do, but its about what we are willing to try to do.

The Benicia State Park is a decent paved trail through a marsh, but along it are the various structures for workouts. There are probably 6 stations (that's a guess), and they are all awesome. They are there with a specific workout posted, but they are awesome in the sense that you can try all new things on them. For example, at the ring station where you are supposed to practice hanging and doing leg lifts, you can try and do ring dips, or improvised muscle-ups. Both of which are very good workouts and CrossFit staples. So practice up!

Now back to the general topic. The point of CrossFit is to defeat the specialist with consistency. So instead of going along with your regular workouts and schedule, throw something new in. Even a rest day, try a new movement or form of cardio. Variety is the key to success as I said earlier. Anyone can specialize in just lifting weights or just running or just biking, but a true person of fitness aims to succeed in all forms of of the exercise world. So instead of going on a run, go on a bike ride instead. Instead of rowing, jump rope instead. Forget weight lifting one day and do all body weight exercises (my favorite). And for those rest days where you don't want to work out, play a new sport. Like frisbee or volleyball, or some form of sport that you have never tried or are new to. The world is full of things to do, so why limit yourself to only a few? Even cheese-rolling if you will. Never tried it, sounds like a Community Park on a sunny afternoon type thing!

Track

5 mile run at 65%

Super enjoyable.


Workout

3x(15,15,15)
Superset each two workouts

Standing Dumbbell Curls
Tricep Pressdowns

Preacher Curl
Skull Crushers

High Cable Curls
Dips

Inverted Ab Thrusters
Calf Raises

Accept Nothing

I apologize to my fellow people on their quest to become the fittest individuals possible. I was booked up the past few days. Two track meets and practice and math homework. Conics in calculus. Really? But that's beside the point, now the title for this post relates to a personal thing I realized. NEVER accept any limits of excuses.

Now I know this isn't a lady of fitness but in the spirit of track he is the most amazing man ever. I give brownie points to any person who can name him and kudos to those who can state his famous quote. Comment below .



So I was recently in my track meet and I was all warmed up and ready to run the 1600m. As I walked up to the starting line, I couldn't help but notice the size of all those around me. As said by someone, "You looked like a man among boys". And then the gun went off and the race began. It was a decent race, not what I had hoped for  but it was good enough. I got a 5:39. But immediately looking at all the sub 5 minute milers, I saw that they were all probably 130 pounds and extremely skinny. I began to think, well they beat me just because I am not the ideal body type, I have too much weight being close to 190lbs. And then immediately I struck those thoughts down. I was making excuses and setting limits for myself based upon others. It's been said, "don't let what others can do interfere with what you can do". What a load of Bologna! That phrase may be slightly true, but others also give us the fuel and desire to beat them. I know I may be a good 60 pounds heavier then all the other runners on the track and it may take that much more strength to beat them, but it's not about body type. It's about passion and hard work. There is no substitute for hard work in the world of fitness. And I know that I may be behind them, but I will personally guarantee that I will work harder and longer than any one of those other guys because I am determined. So for the next time I meet them on the track, I will be ready to show them the new and improved me. So moral of my little story here is, never limit yourself and make excuses. With hard work and determination, you can achieve anything physically that you wish to attain. But there is no easy way to do it. It takes a huge heart and hours upon hours of extreme training.

Now down to the real business. The workouts.

Thursday
1600m  5:50   :(
100m    13.17s
4x400m    1:01 (split)

Friday
Rest (meet the next day)

Saturday
1600m          5:39   ehh its getting somewhere
800m (DMR)         right after the mile. 2:27 split. Sorry team
4x200m           26.1 (split) Not bad for a miler

Sunday
4x(5,5,5,15)
Flat Bench Press
Incline Bench Press
Decline Bench Press

3x(6,6,6)
Flat Dumbbell Bench Press

3x(10,10,10) SUPERSET
Straight Standing Cable Flyes
Diagonal Standing Cable Flyes
Downward Standing Cable Flyes

Abs

2x(15,15)
Full Range Sit Up + Twists 4lb Ball
Inverted Thrusters

Don't Push It

What a day today! I mean it was beautiful weather, easy practice and fierce CrossFit. Sounds like a good day to me! Except me ignoring injuries so they are even worse!

What;s the moral of this blog? You guessed it! Injuries! Why I am cheering, I have no clue. It's not like I am excited about injuries because they suck! In every way possible injuries are no fun! For example, I sprained my lumber area while rowing. So now it is ridiculously tight. What did I do wrong. I kept working out after the injury. We have all had lumber area sprains before they are actually quite common in the fitness world, but despite how little or much they hurt they need rest to get better as does any other injury. I did my whole CrossFit workout today with one and it felt like my back was as stiff as piece if wood. Dumb, yes. Really dumb, YES YES YES! I have a freaking track meet tomorrow. So with a stiff back, no pr's will be achieved. 4 events and all of them will be under par because of my failure to rest my injury. So don;t do the same mistake I did. But on the other hand, I get to write about my WOD today :D

WOD

20 Minute AMRAP

20 Power Cleans
15ft run with 30lb Dumbbells
8 Foot Wall Crossing
45 ft run
8 Foot Wall Crossing
15ft run with 30lb Dumbbells


Finish: 9 rounds and literally 4 steps away from my tenth


Another thing, You may only be 4 steps away from the clean bar on your final run, but whether it be four steps or one step, no matter how close you are, if you don't get to that bar before the time you can;t count that round. You may want to count it because you were so close to it, but a quarter of a second is a quarter of a second. You may win or lose by it and in this case I lost by it. If your frustrated over your loss that's good! It's a sign of passion, but use it as fuel for your next WOD. So when you are in your next AMRAP and have a few seconds to finish, give it your all because you know how it feels to fail by so little, and you don't want to feel that pain again.

Meet Tomorrow

1600m (mile)        Would be happy to start season with a 5:30
110 Hurdles (death)  Would be happy to finish in one piece.
100m                      Would be happy somewhere around 12.2
Discus (back permitting)                Aiming for 80ft to 100ft. Back my screw it up

No Plateau For Me!

I know, I know! I forgot to do a post yesterday! What are you going to do? Tar and feather me? I think not! So stop complaining. Complaining is for whimps....shmOTISdjhfa. Haha. So get of my case!

What's the agenda for today? Hmm well we had track and bi's and tri's followed by a little bit of cardio and some steam room.

I threw today instead of running. Lazy yes. Fun, yes. Beneficial, yes! Nuff said!

Now bi's and tri's I decided to change it up. After a few weeks of mass and strength sets, I decided to do some higher reps to get those slow twitch fibers and to aid me in those periods of early burnout. But it's not all about trying to get that endurance aspect. Even if you still want your size you need to keep your muscles confused. I'm not talking slightly confused. I am talking as confused as you are after trying to and integral using sigma notation.

 I don't mean to make your brain hurt too bad, but it's to make a solid point. Now what does this offer us? it keeps our muscles on their toes so they cannot become accustomed to the usual workout. Every time you change your workout, the curve of muscle gain increases greatly, so the more confusion the more gain. As simple as that. If you have done the same sets for 3 months, you might as well start clicking the emote, because thats al your muscles will be good for.

Workout

3x(12,10,10)

Preacher Curl
Skull Crushers
Seated Dumbbell Curls
Single Arm Dumbbell Tricep Presses
Reverse Grip Cable Curls
V Bar Tricep Pulldowns

1x30
Overhead Tricep Rope Press-downs
Concentration Dumbbell Curls
Tricep Rope Press-downs
High Cable Curls

Cardio

1x500m row time of: 1:33.5

Abs

2x20

Oblique Crunches 45lbs
Inverted Oblique Crunch

Now get those 8 hours of sleep to all you sleep truants. Oh, and eat breakfast, not only is it the most delicious meal, its the most important! But i bet you don't because you wake up late because you don't get enough sleep! Bam! Roast! Get out of here with that immaturity! Now DO WORK!

Catch Some Z's

Well oh my goodness I had a busy weekend! And it took a toll on my body and mind! It killed my legs beyond belief! Lets consider the happenings: Friday-15 mile bike ride, dance. Saturday-Snowboarding, woke up at 3:30.

So here I am on Sunday beat beyond all belief. I mean sure I had a fun time Friday at the dance, which turned out to end on a good note. And snowboarding on the next day! I mean bliss right! NO!!!!

15 mile bike ride from Colombus parkway to lake Herman road back to rose and up was not fun! The hills may not have been that steep but they sure did burn. Using those slow twitch fibers that we all hate to use. And dancing! Whew talk about a workout! I mean expressing yourself through the art of dance in NON-AWKWARD ways can take a toll on the Quads.

But heres the real point of this post! I may not have done a whole lot of actual working out the past three days, but it doesn't mean that your body isn't being worked! So just because you are not lifting or running doesn't mean that you don't need to rest or get sleep. Sleep is the most important part of any workout routine! Never less than 8 hours! And if I can get 8 hours a night then you can to. No excuses. If you can't get 8 hours a night then you either have an IQ so low that you should just save the world by removing yourself from society or you need some sort of help if you willingly watch T.V. rather than sleep. Our body repairs itself and regenerates at the most efficient time of the day. When is that? When you sleep!!!! So instead of eating cookies (which are not paleo) and watching GLEE or House or basketball (which is boring) close those eyes and realize what your missing! Just curl up into a fetal ball under a warm blanket and feel the gains being put on....or maybe that's just me. Anyways! Sleep!

Quality Over Quantity

Waddup! It's Thursday night and here I am blogging about fitness. Some say I have no life. Some say I need a girlfriend, and some say its just not healthy. But in the period of time I feel something amazing. I think that it is something similar to enlightenment......or i'm just not through my runners high.

Only because it's track season!

So what was the agenda for today. Track practice, workout, and then homework. The usual.


Track

2 Southampton loops (tougher way)
run to entrance to State Park and back

Totals, 5 miles and long hills.


So I may not have pushed myself to the point of race status, but that doesn't mean I didn't get a good workout. Get out of here with all that knowledge. SO a 5 mile run, yeah big deal right? Yeah it is, especially if you throw in those hills. They are not steep in any way, but they last for a good half mile. And doing that hill twice. It sure takes a toll on the calves. It was a good workout. From my arch supports in my shoes ( I have falling arches) I got some massive blisters. And by the Knights of Colombus they hurt! But you need to ask yourself, can blisters debilitate a man in any way? NO! Pain is pain, if it's no significant injury, then you better not complain or skip practice! It's just not an option or else it becomes a habit! I am thinking of a man that rhymes with Shmotis. Haha. No i love otie, he ran today, and I give him my kudos!

Workout

6x(4,4,6,6,8,10)

Squats
Deadlifts

2x(10,10)

Leg Curl
Side Squats

1x(30)

Bar Squats
Front Bar Squats
Leg Curls

Abs

3x1:00 leg lifts
2x1:00 planks
1x15 inverted thrusters

It may seem like a short workout but if you do it right, I guarantee it will be felt the next day. Now I want to make sure we all now what good squat form is. It doesn't matter the weight or count that your at, what matters is how your squat mechanics are. So look at your toes. Are the flat and straight? We want heels on the ground at all times. Chest out and head looking straight forward. Hips and butt back and when you go down, go past 90 degrees if you can but don't go butt to calf status. Say you only can do 135lbs with this form. ITS ALL GOOD! You will get a better workout with lower weight and proper form than 225lbs with bad form.

As for the inverted thrusters and side squats, I will make videos of those and post them at a later time because those are different workouts that you may not know. As for the side squats, those are created and designed by yours truly, but thats another blog post later.

Life lesson/knowledge of the day?

Here we go! Did you know that your body has an overall PH to it. Excluding blood which is always constant. But as for the rest of your body it is either acidic or basic based upon your diet. Bananas induce a base and dairy induces acid. What's this mean? When your body is acidic, it leeches calcium out that you excrete through your urine. So when it is basic, you retain more calcium! SO moral of the story is you don't necessarily need to increase calcium intake as much as you need to reduce how much your body leeches out of it.

Time is of the Essence

Back again with another post full of fabulous fitness and knowledge. I mean what can be better than that! Please don't answer that question, I realize there can be a long list on answers. But I mean on the bright side now that your reading this you get to see a pretty lady of the fitness world!

So today's workout included track practice, back and shoulders, upper abs, and some cardio. So lets get all this fitness broken down so it doesn't seem overwhelming.

TRACK!

After a 50 minute discussion of something that we all know about, we began practice. A simple warm up of about 3/4 of a mile. We warmed up and did our lines. Now I suggest that the "close the gate" skip warm-up be added to our lines because I have heard a lot of complaints about hip-flexor pain. Now any soccer player knows this pain. It happens no matter what, they just might not realize what is causing the pain. It may seem like a pop but its just a simple strain. How do you prevent this? SIMPLE! Warm it up son! And that is the job of the "close the gate" skip. So we then proceeded to do plyometrics which I am in love with! They make you gather strength and power from new areas of your body that are over looked. For example, your hips and your core. They included frog hops, one legged hops, bounders, and walking lunges. All great things. As for after it was in the weight room which is time for me to chill before the real workout.

WORKOUT!

6x(4,4,6,6,8,10)

Dumbbell military press
Seated Cable Rows
Lat Pull Downs (in-front of head) ALWAYS!
Upright Rows

3x(10,10,30)
T-Bar Row
Horizontal Deltoid Pulls
Pull Ups (CrossFit Style)

4x(10,10,10,10)
Dumbbell Shrugs

ABS

2 rounds non-stop

15 concentration crunches (4 seconds each)
5 Round-the-Worlds (each way)

Cardio

1500m light row.
 Nothing fast. Track then back workout. Rowing for time would be pointless.

Great workout today. A little shorter than I would have hoped for but I had a best bud of mine who needed help with his academics. AND WE ALL KNOW SCHOOL BEFORE ALL ELSE! There will always be time to workout but a quiz is a big deal. It takes priority always. I don't care what people say about high school, whether it being pointless or difficult or a waste of time. No matter how you look at it, the rest of your life is dependent on what you do with your time now. And education is an investment that offers the greatest return.

Now back to fitness. It can be demoralizing when a massive man comes and picks up the 130lb dumbbell and starts treating it like a feather (yes this happened today). Freaking massive juice heads. They make me feel insignificant sometimes, but notice, whenever they come into the gym and start talking you eaves drop on their life and just say "wow it must suck to be you with your sorry life because all you have left is working out". Okay maybe not that harsh but they usually arn't the smartest of men, so they make dumb mistakes. But don't let them and their massively huge yokes get in the way of your workout. If you feel small holding a 60lb dumbbell next to them. Just imagine if you were racing them, how they would look. FUNNY! That's how! Haha. BOTTOM LINE! Your workout is an individual thing. So why let others make you think twice about it or like it isn't doing you any good because they are so much stronger.

"Rest Day"

So here we are with our first rest day. Now any of you exemplary scholars would have noticed the quotations around the title. It's a psuedo rest day, meaning that our body will get a nice day of rest but our mind sure won't.

So our body needs a good rest after two days of good mass workouts and a day of crossfit.  Now you all are probably a lot more fortunate than me because I still have track practice today so I dont get to taste my own medicine. But enough about my complaining of life. That's what suicide hotlines are for......right? Anyways, all offensive jokes aside, we need rest to give our muscles time to repair. Don't treat this rest time as lazy time. Use it to further your knowledge about something that interest you. If you have an injury, take time to read about it. If you need to revamp your diet (discussed later) then read about that.

I guess the point is that rest doesn't exist in the world of fitness. There is always something that can be done.

Random knowledge of this rest day: Peanuts are not a nut at all. In fact, they are a legume because they grow underground. SO for all you paleo people out there. BE WARNED!

Workout

REST DAY (but since I have track not really)

5 mile run. AVG mile time of 7:40.