Back to the blog! Yeah that's right! This guy is not done telling the world of his fitness epiphanies! But I do not blog here as an 18 year old high school student now..... I blog to you as
A LEVEL ONE CERTIFIED CROSSFIT TRAINER!
Dig it.
A lot has happened since my last post. College has happened.Pr's have happened. Ladies appear out of nowhere in gaggles. New gym has been joined. So let us get to the good stuff.
Sure she is 28 and her bicep is the size of mine, but she is still in my league right????
I came down here going terminator on this hizzouse! In other words I was slightly "bionic" as my new nickname goes for my gym, Outlier Crossfit! I had a torn MCL in which I have no clue how I tore it. So what did I do? Workout of course! Destroy every and any WOD in my way of success and establish myself as a strong presence in the gym.
But now I am sick. A long weekend comprised of many long nights has lead this guy to illness. SO here the topic begins.
DO NOT WORKOUT WHILE YOU ARE SICK. Sure you may want to, yeah if you do not want to get better! It has been proven that you are six times more likely to get sick after running a marathon than before. So I know that is an extreme case right there because not everybody runs a marathon, but if exercise puts you at that much more of a risk, imagine what being sick already and exercising can do. Not good stuff. What happens is your immune system gets compromised and your body becomes the France of the world wars. Easy to invade. So in essence if you are slightly sick, your workout will be sub par, you will get angry and sicker. That is how the cookie crumbles.
Another 1Rm today. Failed this morning, but I returned in the evening to get it and I was stoked! Best feeling in the world. But it was horrible weather so my sprint workout was cut short. And not to mention the crazy old man who tried to say a prowler would ruin asphalt. If he thinks that is the case then he has a lot to learn because we will prove to him that it is not bad for the asphalt via massive amounts of prowling. Benicia PD we have a 1074! Haha
Well this topic is something that I can talk about shortly because there is not much to it! Why shy away from any weight that is a 2RM or 1RM. People achieve a 5RM and then call it quits. WHY!!!!! Are you scared of hurting yourself? Well simple keep proper form and do less reps. Hence why when you increase the weight you find a 3RM because you will not be able to do as many with proper form. Secondly, just drop it. If it is heavy drop it where you are. We use bumper plates for a reason. You get stuck at the bottom of a clean. Drop it. You fail on a jerk, drop it. You lose your balance on an OH squat, drop it. It is a simple concept.
Not only can you gain large muscle and strength finding low rep maxes at high weight, you get an overwhelming sense of confidence. When you clean that weight and you are holding it up after a hard squat, stand there and take in your accomplishment. You deserve it. You are seeing results, which we all like to see!
Now don't be a complete douche about it and rub it in to people's faces or run around in circles yelling. Take a deep breath and pat yourself on the back. Remember half of being a true athlete is being humble at ALL times.
Workout
Clean Practice 1 RM 175lbs
Prowler sprints
2 high bar, 2 low bar
4@90lbs
4@160lbs
4@210lbs
Well I sure got my butt kicked today. Not only was it a tough workout, but it was a Monday, so of course every other breath was a yawn. But hey! I mean I got to enjoy a last workout with the beast Taylor before she leaves to kick butt and take names at the USNA!!! You go girl!
....................yes, the periods are necessary because I have to talk about Overhead squats which I completely hate!!!!! This is one of the workouts where flexibility is strength, so sure my legs can be as strong as they want, but if my shoulders are not flexible then I will not move much weight.
So let us take a look into the mechanics of an OH squat. So. Push press or strict press or snatch, any move you want to get the bar in the overhead position. Once up, Lock the shoulders and imagine that you are trying to pull the bar in two. It really helps you stabilize the bar. The bar should be right behind your head if brought straight down to ensure the weight goes straight up and down so you can perform a proper squat. If it is too far forward,directly over your head for example, you will squat on your toes. NO NO! It is awkward. I get it. But just do it right!
At the bottom of your squat for it to count you need to go past parallel with your legs. It sucks, and then bring it back up remaining locked out the whole time. Now this is really where flexibility turns into strength. Sure you can deadlift 300s but you may only be able to OH 115lbs because you cant get max power. Lack of flexibility leads to effort be put into the bar to hold it into position meaning that there is that much less power directed to the squat. So if you are flexible, you don't need to divert any power to the bar position so it can all be directed to the squat....lucky people...
So ways to help this out, do pass throughs before to open up the shoulder. This will help greatly. And the next best thing I already mentioned is really try to pull that bar apart when overhead. It will really help stabilize it.
Workout
Rode bike to everything today so the rides are short but tiring as they are right after workouts
4.5 mile bike ride
CrossFit
OH squat Max 120 (didn't do pass throughs, will retry for 130 soon) Shoulder flexibility sucks!
60 burpee bar jumps
30 OH Squats 75lbs
10 ring pushups
time : 10:31 Burpee bar jumps were long and tiring but not terrible. OH squats sucked after the burpees and the max. Had to do sets of 3. Ring pushups were a joke for me because I love my push ups
6 mile bike ride to gym
3x10 Squats at 150lbs (should have been 15 reps but tired from bike ride)
back extensions 4x15,12,8,6 at 10lbs,25lbs,35,45
dips 1x60 Broke up into sets of 10 with 10 seconds rest in between
sit ups 1x60 Broke up into 30,10,20 no more than 10 seconds rest
Rest day today. No lie, I needed one today, but it hurts because I know the workout today is a one mile run for time which could quite possibly be one of my favorites. But I am being a good little athlete and taking my rest even though my heart stopped beating. It seems like every rest day I have is the day of an awesome workout! I hate it but what can I do.
So this topic is one that I take personally. For example, yesterday was a team throwdown and it was very competitive. What does that mean, everybody wanted to win. Now I am not calling anybody out, but especially men, I know most of you have probably done this. Adding on a few reps to your total just to beat that guy next to you. Sure it feels good to have won according to the board, but did you win? No! You LOST! Dead last. You cheated yourself, you don't have accurate numbers to track your progress for the next time you do the workout. Not only that but you just straight lied which gets you nowhere.
You might as well sit down and watch people workout and then take their numbers. A lie is a lie. CrossFit is not about being that guy who wins in every WOD or beats the man next to him, it is about who makes the most gains. Sure you dead-lifted more than him, but in a two month period he increased his PR by twice as much as you. That is a true win. It is not about being the guy on top. I would much rather come in dead last in every WOD but make personal gains than to cheat to win and not make gains.
So next time your doing a WOD, be completely honest. I get beat by 40 year old men sometimes, sure they are in freakishly good shape, but still it hurts. But there is no need to lie. You are stealing their deserved glory and cheating yourself from lots like the feeling of success when you break a true PR.
Well I sure am tired after today. Like no joke I hurt all over. The cure...A MASSAGE! Now the tough part is finding somebody who is willing to give me a massage. People these days, so worried about themselves and not wanting to help others in need.
Well the main topic of this entry is the clean and jerk. And man oh man is it one of my favorite moves. It is complex and requires power gathered from all parts of the body. Legs, core, arms, shoulders. It is some good stuff that I am going to pass on.
In short, the clean and jerk is the way to get the most weight from the ground to the overhead position. It starts off with a dead-lift stance and grip (which i covered yesterday). From there you explode up with your legs. Once the bar is past the knees you shrug your shoulders straight up and then at the top of your shrug row the bar the your chest. The whole time during all these moves, the bar is right against you, at any given moment the bar should be touching your trunk. At the top of your row, you jump under the bar into a squat and rest the bar on your shoulders in a front squat hold. Now for the clean to count, you need to catch the bar in a squat position where your legs are further down than a 90 degree angle. So catch it deep, we don't want it deemed as a no rep. Once there. Finish the squat and stand up.
Once you are standing with the bar resting on your shoulder shelf, like you are set for a push press, comes the jerk part. The jerk is pretty simple but is very powerful. You dip your hips no more than four inches so you can fire upward, once fired upward, drop low in either a split stance (lunge) or OH squat stance. I prefer and think the split stance is easier. Catch the bar with straight locked arms. It is easier to go lower with the legs then push press the bar up. Walk the bar up front foot first. stand straight up. And this is crucial! Let out a big roar to say look at me I lifted it and drop the weight. Okay maybe the roar is not needed because I usually need to do mine front squatting the weight.
No post yesterday, I know. No excuses right? Well to all of you heartless readers, I still worked out but I had to get some lady time in. I am a fan of lady time so if it means no blog for the day, then I think you can live, but it did kill me a little bit inside to not be able to blog.
So Two big things today. We will be breaking down the Dead-Lift movement, and also we will talk about strength vs. endurance.
So lets talk Dead-Lift. It is an awesome lift. And most likely your strongest lift. In simple. You pick heavy crap up. But worst of all, it also has the potential to screw you up pretty bad. But that is why I am here to pass on my impeccable knowledge of the dead-lift. Piece by piece we will break it up. Start with the bar over your your toes, and pull your shins into the bar. Next part. Chest up. Push it out like you are trying to impress the ladies. In doing so, your back will remain straight. But that is only part of it. Not only must your back be straight, but it must be extremely tight. The tighter the better, we do not want any sideways movement with it. With that said, Sit the butt down and grip thew bar with a comfortable grip outside your legs. Now you can go normal grip or split grip where one wrist faces forwards and the other backwards. This grip may be awkward at first but will give more stability and strength.
Now for the movement. Before the bar leaves the ground you should already be putting a tight pull on it. You should be tight, arms back legs and all. So if you pull before you lift it will prevent a jerking action which equals pain. We all love hernias right? No! So be tight. While lifting the bar, keep your back straight and tight always! Legs start the lift and extend all the way and the back finishes it out, but at any given time it is a combination of the two. If you don't have one you don't have the other. Then enough said, go back down the same way you went up, except backwards. Haha. And your done!
Now on the next note, everybody's muscles are different. Some people can lift massive amounts of weight, and others not so much but that is only one aspect. Don't forget about repping the weight out. Sure a guy can dead-lift 400lbs but how many reps of 225lbs can he do in a minute? Who knows but a guy with more of an endurance set of muscles can probably do more.
Me for example, I come from a running family so I am very endurance oriented, I can move decent weight, for example today I deadlifted 300lbs, and another guy deadlifted 340lbs. But when it comes to a WOD with 21 reps at 225lbs, I can destroy him. It all depends on your muscle set. So if you get beat out in maxxing out, don't worry because for every max effort WOD, there will always be a chipper or a high rep WOD. Again it is about finding the median in between the two, because a specialist in endurance or volume will not succeed overall but a person decent but not great at both will come out on top. That is the emphasis at CrossFit.
Lift Big and Stay Swift
Workout
CrossFit
DL 1RM 300lbs (sore should have gotten more)
5 min workout
1000m row
AMRAP deadlifts 190lbs
3:22 row (decent)
18 dead-lifts (again sore)
Gym (should not have even been in here)
Over head dumbbell press 3x12 (35,40,45)
Bent over Rows 4x15,10,8,6 (95,95,105,115)
Rainbows 25 each way
Well here I am over training again. It is so easy to over train during the summer. I wake up, have nothing to do so I spend my time working out. Then one thing leads to another and I have been working out for 5 maybe 6 hours. I don't mind it until it hits me and one day I am worthless and am left with no strength. Haha. Sounds like I need another beach trip to give me a break. Nothing beats ice cold waters and burning sand. Actually indoor rock climbing does. Sounds like something to try.
Onto the topic. Don't over train. It is a horrible thing that I myself am very guilty of. Working out can be addicting especially if you love being fit. And especially with the mentality that comes along with it, the more I workout, the stronger and fast I will get. That is not true. When you overwork yourself it is detrimental to your progress and very unhealthy.
Symptoms of over training
Always feeling tired
Constant soreness
Dreading each workout
Waking up in the middle of the night
no appetite
Pessimistic
Let us look at the effects of over training.
Lack of energy: When you do too much, you have increasingly less energy for each exercise, so you lack the intensity with each set. As a result, you fail to maximize the benefit of the movement.
Prone to injury: Over training leads to bad form, and the body focusing all energy towards movement and strength and not other healthful benefits that we need to prevent injuries. For example too much lifting leads to bad form and a hurt back or impingement or shoulder issue. In running, too much running can lead to inflammation of joints, swelling, and stress fractures.
When your body has no more glycogen or lipids to gather energy from, the body goes to its next source which is muscle cells. When this happens you are losing muscle while you are trying to gain it. That is self explanatory. Burning muscle is not good.
Weight gain: When your body uses all of its lipids, it begins to create and store its own lipids, leading to weight gain over time. If our body is the main source of lipids, it is most certainly a horrible thing because they arnt stored in the best of ways.
Central Nervous System fatigue. After serious over training you CNS will actually take a beating. It will actually run low on neurotransmitters, inhibiting your workout, the most important being acetylcholine.
Once you have over trained, you need to take a long rest. About a week would be ideal. During this week you want to get at least 8 hours of sleep a night, going into a low energy state in which your body can maximize muscle repair to fix the muscles you have destroyed and not for the better. You also need to keep the protein intake high so your body has building blocks for the muscles.
Ways to prevent over training
Set a new workout schedule where you do not do as much in each day. You do not have to run, swim and lift everyday. It is not needed. Recovery is just as important as exercise. Make your schedule smarter not harder.( I made a new schedule that I will show you all tomorrow.)
Take at least one mandatory rest day each work. Two would be even better. On these days, do absolutely nothing. You need to rest and build back up. No running, no easy jogs or lifts. Nada. Zip. Zap. Zilch. ZERO!!!
Spread your workouts throughout the day. Morning then evening. That little rest in the middle of the day will pay off greatly. I promise.
Eat Eat Eat!!!! Make sure you are eating plenty of calories. Plenty of protein and plenty of water. The more you eat, the faster you will recover.
Listen to your body. If it hurts, take time off. Don't push through it.
Well that about sums it up. I will add my email address for anybody who wishes to send me individual questions which I would be glad to answer.
Today's Workout
CrossFit
Practice Kipping Pull Ups
WOD
Each Round 1:30
200m run
AMRAP Push Ups
1:30 rest
Results: 32,28,27 (push ups)
Really really easy WOD.
Gym
50 Pull Ups Broken up as needed
Heavy Dumbbell walking lunges 4X(15,12,8,6) 45,45,50,55lbs
Man it is getting hot out. Well seems like it is just that time of the year to head to the beach, or lay in front of a fan. They both work. Today marked the official start of my marathon training and also my triathlon training. And so far it is not too bad. For those of you who think I put this on here just to add a pretty lady, SHE ACTUALLY HAS GOOD SQUAT FROM!!!! The rear is back and chest is up.
I want to talk about intensity today. What people think matters is the hours they put in to working out each day. And I feel sorry for those ignorant souls who are going to fitness hell. IT IS NOT ABOUT THE HOURS. Anybody can come sit down in a gym and do three workouts in an hour. Is that hard? NO! What really matters is how filled those hours are.
I guarantee that if you speed your workout up. Lower rest times and not talk at all. Your intensity will increase greatly and you will benefit from the workout much more. Shorten the workouts too. You should never have to spend more than 45 minutes working out lifting weights. If you need more time than that, then you might as well throw your gym time away because you are not getting the maximum benefit. Go big or go home.
Intensity is the key with most things, but not all. For example today was the start of my marathon training. I am following one of Hal Higdon's programs and they are awesome. But they are about building the body up and preparing but not about pure intensity. Save it for race day. Running itself is draining. So for each training run, my mile split should be one minute slower than my goal race day split. I am shooting for a 4 hour marathon so I need to train at 10 minutes miles. And besides I don't mind a nice easy jog everyday.
Workout
CrossFit
1 RM Front Squat 185 lbs
12 min AMRAP
8 Front Squats
8 HSPU (negative)
20 DU
2 Rounds + 2 HSPU
This was more of a form practice than a WOD but it still got me. I need to work on my HSPU.
Swim (not my forte) Will get more intense soon. I promise
2x100 yd breast stroke
2x50m breast stroke breath every 2
2x50m free breath every two
5x100 free
Gym
Squats 3x12 @ 135lbs (easy)
Dips 1x50 (broke up into 10s)
Back Extensions 15,12,8,6 (10,15,25,35)
Incline Sit ups 1x50 (broke up 30,8,6,6)
Rest day today for me. It sucks. Special WOD for Kara's birthday and breaking in of the new pull up rig. And of course here I am sitting at home, wishing I could go. But in the mean time, it is time to put some TLC into my bike. She is getting new ball bearings packed in red grease, new tires, cork grip and a bath! She better be ready for some tough riding tomorrow!
Topic for today! Whenever you are lifting weights, how can you tell if you are utilizing yourself to the fullest extent? Often times it can be hard to tell. It makes me thing of this common weight lifting slogan "No pain no gain". Now is this true? Well yes and no. Pain while lifting usually is not a very good thing. So that part is totally wrong. But should it be comfortable? Not at all! What is comfortable about having 165lbs above your head? What is comfortable about having 315lbs hanging from your arms? Nothing!!!
If you are comfortable while you are lifting weights, then you are not leaving your comfort zone to gather all that you have. If you are doing a set of 10 reps, that tenth rep should be the death of you. You should be trying with everything you have to get it up. If it goes up easy, then you are just cheating yourself.
With that being said, when you are doing your next WOD and are scaling or picking weights in a strength training session, keep that in mind. You want to struggle, if you arn't pushing yourself to the limit, you are cheating yourself.
I apologize for the lack of intense lifting knowledge and fun in this post. Rest days are hard to blog on because I usually pick my topic from each day's workout. SO just wait until tomorrow for some juicy blogging!
Sunday morning started out with ripping out some ivy. let's just say that I have done more fun things in my time. It not being one of them. But after that I had another beautiful workout. We got two topics, refueling your workhouse body and your body itself.
So during and after a long hard hot workout is crucial time when we need to keep our body happy. Of course before too because hydration starts hours before your workout. If your doing a long run, ride or strength workout in the heat and working up a sweat, not only are you losing water through your sweat, but electrolytes too. The main electrolytes are sodium, magnesium, calcium, and potassium. All of which are crucial ions in the firing of nerve impulses and in cramp prevention. So as you lose them you should replace them, and in hot weather and intense workouts, food is not enough. Sometimes it is necessary to have an electrolyte drink for example during a marathon. But do not get carried away, the diet does not stop here. Find the lowest sugar drink of it. I prefer cytomax because gatorade is way too full of sugar.
And afterwards, get some real food. Stick to the bones type stuff. A protein based meal is ideal to feed those muscles that are looking for something to build themselves back up with. But don't forget monounsaturated fat (avocado is my favorite source). A few carbs, fruit is the best source for these. So keep that body filled with happy food and healthy food. You put crap in and you will get crap out. You put good stuff in it and you will get good stuff out.
Secondly, let us talk about our body. Is it your ideal body? Do you have the abs you want? Are you arms big enough? Well if you are anything like me, the answers are all no. I workout countless hours only to gain strength, but no results in the way my body looks. no abs, no arm growth, nothing. It can be discouraging, seeing a guy who naturally has an awesome body. But ask yourself this. What is more attractive? I think we can all agree that a man with an average body destroying a nice body guy in a workout is much more attractive. Sure he may look better but if he can't compete at your level of fitness, then he cannot compete with you at all. By nature, women are more attracted to the man who can rise above other men, not the more attractive man with a nicer body. And this is not only men to all you ladies. Sure that lady might have breasts the size of watermelons and a skinny waist, but if you beat her in a workout, you are instantly more attractive. Body's are not attractive, fitness is.
Workout
2.5 mile bike ride
Crossfit
"Modified Murph"
1000m run
100 push-ups
200 sit-ups
300 air squats
1000m run
Here we are on another day of summer and my calves are way too sore to do anything besides rest. Hate resting but love knowing that my calves will be that much stronger. You have to lose some before you can win some I guess. Well the topic for today is going to be a very deep one but I think one of the most important. Inspiration can carry a man far in the world of fitness.
When you are doing the "Filthy Fifty" or a chipper and are dying and you are only halfway through, who or what do you look to for encouragement and inspiration to finish? The people around you doing the workout? Some CrossFit pro who destroyed the workout that you saw on youtube? Both very good sources and will help you out, but the strongest source of inspiration is yourself. Nobody will be as hard on you and push you as hard as yourself. You need to prove to yourself that you can do something. If you can't push yourself or have the desire to push yourself then how can you expect others to help you.
Not every workout will be in a box with lots of other athletes to aid you in encouragement. It is something that you need to learn how to do on your own. If you prove to yourself that you can do anything, then you will be able to do anything with a little help from a mental talk.
For example, March of 2010, I got Achilles tendon surgery and when I could walk again in may, I had a boot and could hardly walk 400m without being in terrible pain. Exactly one year later at the same event, I ran 30 miles with a marathon split time of 4:48. I could not have done it without some of my friends cheering me along and knowing that there may be some pretty ladies watching me. Haha. But now having completed that and painted my own success story, I know that I can truly do anything.
I AM NO DIFFERENT FROM ANYBODY ELSE. Everybody has the same muscles and body parts as I do. So honestly and truly anybody can do ANYTHING THEY WANT TO ACHIEVE. They may not feel like it because they have not proved it to themselves, but the proving part is just a mental barrier. Before that I could have done anything I wanted but now that I have proved it to myself it is that much easier.
So on a final note. It may take a feat to prove to yourself that you truly are a force to be reckoned with, but everybody from the start no matter what they think is an amazing human being that when applied and dedicated can achieve feats that would thought to be unimaginable.
Workout
Rest
(Was going to go on a 14 mile ride but calves are sore) Better rest than workout destroyed muscles) ( back to full new routine monday after a much needed 5 day break due to overworking my body)
Another day of the beautiful thing we call summer. Now I went to the beach today, but have no fear I still got some exercise in. Now I know that it may be difficult to get your ideal exercise during summer but instead of seeing it as a burden see it as an opportunity to try something new. For example, at the beach today I did a long run in the sand to work my calves a little bit more.
But now onto the real topic. Change things up. It is always good to change your workout schedule from time to time for a multitude of reasons.
1. Keep yourself entertained. Working out should never get boring and feel like a routine thing.
2. Keep those muscles confused to maximize growth and strength
3. Give yourself a few days layover period in between to give your body some rest which it will always like.
As for myself here is what I am changing to.
> Weight lifting two days a week. Two times each day. One muscle group each workout for a total of four muscle groups. Day 1 is chest, back, and shoulders and day 2 is legs, biceps and triceps.
> CrossFit will be 4 days a week.
>Cardio will be 5 days a week (marathon/triathalon training)
> Abs will be 3 days a week
Diet Guidelines will change a little bit with the increased running.
Paleo with a few exceptions
> Milk added
>Whole grains added
>Any drinks containing sugar (exception of cytomax)
> three protein shakes a day (40g protein each)
First blog as a high school graduate. And......I feel slightly different only because I have more time for activities. And I am for sure of graduate knowledge for you! Now that I am back to the blogging schedule I am full of stuff to say and ready to blow your minds.
Well it may have been awhile, but I am going to get right down to it.
ITS SUMMER!!!! What does that mean? DON'T OVER DO IT!!!! I may have already done this. Today in the gym I was only able to curl 85 pounds 3 times, should normally be an easy 15 reps for me. Now sometimes it may seem like an off day and you shake it off, but before you say that, look at what you have done previously. For me, the day before, I did a chest workout, lower ab workout, 6 mile run, CrossFit, and soccer training. So it was no off day for me. I had worked my body past what it should be able to do.
It does not matter if you feel like you want to workout more or you feel that you need to. Your body can only take so much before it starts to cut out on you for its own health. LISTEN TO IT. Stop lifting, stop running, and lay down and catch some sun. Enjoy life. Read something insightful.
Why am I making a big deal of this whole thing? Injuries happen when you workout past the point when your body can give you 100%. Shin splints, impingement, tendinitis, and pinched nerves; all of these are common injuries from overworking. Injuries are no fun, so let's not put ourselves at risk.
CrossFit
1000m row
1 min rest
100 Double Unders
Row Time : 3:25
DU Time: 2:42
Cardio
6 mile bike ride (ended because my tire got a pinch flat).. :(
