Monday, June 30, 2008

Moutain goats...

Newport and I did not get along so well today. My worst performance ever- don't know why. I did all of it, even though I did about half of every round. I took a break on every round except for the ab portions and the walking push-up round.

I'll take solace in the fact that I am on my way to successfully completing my second week of my AOS DVD resolution. However, my performance today still blew goats.
DIrty goats too, not the cute, domesticated, raised-for4H-competition-and/or-petting-zoo-goats; we're talking dirty, grimey, wild mountain goats.

Yep- those goats.

Tomorrow is field day.

Saturday, June 28, 2008

A pleasant suprise

So my resolution is to do AOS DVD's 3 days a week. It was originally going to be Newport, 3 days a week.

Now I LOVE AOS products- not one has ever let me down. BUT- I need variety. The idea of doing Newport today made me want to hide. Working out should never make me want to hide. So I was thinking, "damnnit, what do i do?"

THEN, i remembered I had Firepower and had never really done it. I grabbed the other 20KG off the porch, popped that bad boy in and started to get down. Some thoughts-

1. I really really enjoyed the mobility warm-up round and the double KB drills were a lot of fun. 2 Kb's at once really really loads your core up.

2. Alarm 1 with "long rests" is some false advertisement- those were not long rests. HA!

3. The alternating double clean is the hardest exercise I have ever done. Period. Anthony D calls it a smoker during the round on the DVD and he isnt kidding. I did 30seconds of the 1 min round and almost died. I took 10 seconds off and when I tried to get back on it, it wasnt really happening.

4. Firepower worked my muscles more than my lunges. I had to stop but not b/c I couldnt breathe but b/c whatever was working was cramping so bad and burning. I even did (parts of) the 5 min snatch test at the end. I NEVER have anything left after round 8 in Newport. Firepower felt like more of a muscle building workout than an endurance work out (I'm sure its both- thats just what it felt like).

It was a breath of really fresh air and exactly what I needed to mix it up. 2 days a week Newport , 1 day a week Firepower or vice versa. I'm really looking forward to doing Firepower again and I am pleased that I could succceed on the double KB drills.

Wednesday, June 25, 2008

One time for your mind...

1. Met wife @ 4:30 for social obligations

2. Not in mood at all for social obligations- my mask is cracking and being around people i dont know is difficult.

3. Got home at 8:40PM from social obligations. Did not drink on purpose so I could still do Newport. Ate light dinner on purpose so I could still do Newport.

4. Did Newport- as hard as I could. I did rounds 1-4 harder than I have ever done. Kept up with Anthony D 97% move for move.

5. As a result of #4, by round 5 I started to fall off and at end of round 5 I really thought I about quitting b/c I felt like I was dying. I immediatley told my brain to shut the fuck up, that this was our time and our place where we can control what happens and that the workout was getting finished and it was getting finished strong.

6. I get my ass into gear by middle of round 6 and I finish strong.

7. I almost vomit.

8. I still feel naseuous and shaky and Newport is still the hardest thing I've done- but I did it despite all of me not wanting to.

That makes me feel good.

wishful thinking

pull ups and GTG C&Ps w/ teh 24KG did not happen yesterday. I was just over life and gave up- BUT- not today.

Me and Newport, around 6PM. It better bring its fucking game face.

Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Newport+ME=

sore sore sore. my abs are a wreck. when you do all those round as hard as you can you can really tell the progression it is supposed to have on your core.

my obliques are wrecked. my lower core is wrecked. pretty much everything from right below my waist line to about the bottom of my sternum is full of lactic acid- AWESOME.

it makes me feel alive. i need it. i need more of it. i'm going to have to try hard not to overtrain right now.

i posted something earlier today. i deleted it. if any of you read it- sorry. it was a little much- even for me.

pull ups today and some more GTG presses with the 24KG.

Monday, June 23, 2008

"... sed libro nos a malo..."

did Newport again as hard as I could. Have to be honest, i took more breaks than I did last Thursday. I still pushed as hard as I could. Got dizzy for a while and saw stars- worked through it.

Those C&Ps I did yesterday with the 24KGs actually made me a little fatigued in my legs and in my shoulders- I could feel it today.

Fuck that squat/kick round and fuck that overhead lunge. That killed me today. Also, I hate watching him do that hot potato. I hate that drill, I don't have a small enough KB for it. In the DVD it looks like he is using a 12KG, little me doing it with the 16KG SUCKS. I tried it hard today. Today was just hard in general. I didn't want to do it. I wanted to give up and sleep. I'm trying to fight back when and where I can and Newport is going to be my battlefield. 3 days a week- M, W, Sat... me and Newport, toe-to-toe.

I don't feel better right now. But I am so physically spent I almost don't care. I am predicting a sleepless nite. Msg me if you're up. I'll be around evaluating life.

(side note- sorry this is so dramatic lately. my wife can only hear me loose my mind so much before it starts to hurt her feelings- she'll worry about me too much. also i use this for accountability. i do not lie to myself on this. i do not lie to yall on this. b/c of that i can't leave this out. this is me. its where i am. its effecting my life in all aspects- fitness included. thanks for your comments and support. it really does matter to me a lot. makes me feel not so alone in this when i feel lost and helpless already.)

(side note to life- consider this as me, going down in writing, saying FUCK YOU)

Weekend Wrap Up

Nothing to wrap up. Was so depressed all weekend I slept the whole time. Didn't work out Friday, was resting from Thursday's attacking of Newport. Rested Sat for my test Sunday. Slept through the test Sunday. Did do some GTG C&P's Sunday w/ the 24KG so I wouldn't feel totally useless.

Either way I slept all weekend. Still feel physically exhausted from the emotional wreck that I am.

I am going to go home and do Newport again as hard as I can to make myself feel something because at moment I feel dead and numb inside, like I am in a walking dream. In about 2 hours I will get Newport out and try to feel alive again even though every inch of my being wants to crawl inside a hole or a bottle and hide and wait for inevitability to find me. I am coming unraveled- pray for me.

Thursday, June 19, 2008

Fuck it

Today punches me in the balls again. I am trying to stay positive. It is going to be hard. To fight back I took control of what I could and attacked AOS Newport as hard as I could.

Did it almost all the way through without stopping. Had to stop on the squat/kick round and I still cannot do sots press. The overhead lunge round gave em a run for my money too.

I was wrecked afterwards. My muscles are still sort of shaking.

Fuck it.

"You can't kill the blues with a gun..."

"Monday morning can't open my eyes cause everyone's looking for me
My life's no longer a seven day weekend cause I'm still asleep on my feet
Wanna stay on top of your life you got to try as hard as you can
But all you got is another struggle and no one's gonna lend you a hand

You can't kill the blues with a gun, you gotta find the strength to stand
You just gotta keep your eyes straight ahead, walk on like a man"

Wednesday, June 18, 2008

Antys at the office ...

So I did 10 sets of 5R/5L snatches w/ teh 20 BUT... from reading the blog of the illustrious and dedicated Jen B, I thought I would try them how she has been doing them- dead, from the floor.

FUCK THAT.

It was harder. Hence my 5/5 protocol. I got the 100 total done but it wasn't fun (+ I had to loose the dress shoes to get on my heels right).

If people keep not returning my phone calls/emails, I think some 1-5 x 5 C&P ladders are up next.


Another reason why KB's are AWESOME... try getting your Wieder machine or hammer curl bench into your bull pen at work- exactly. Not so easy. But my bell fits fine...

Most pull ups ever (for me)..

Yesterday we did

65 pushups- strict form
leg raises a-la-Newport 30sec each side
pull up ladder 3-7
10 KB burpees w/ 24KGs imm followed by 5 regular burpees

10 handhsake pushups, 10 spider pushups
descending twists a-la-Newport 3 rounds in a row
pull up ladders 1-5/5-1
4 rounds 70 yard sprints

DONE

my pull ups are getting way better. the first 10 now when i do them fresh feel easy. SUCK IT PULL UPS!

We test this saturday for our BW cycle. I will post my progress.

After that I think we are going to do next 3 month cycle on just straight, good old fashioned KB circuits mixed with tire flipping and sprints. I'm excited.

Monday, June 16, 2008

Self-Loathing

is in full effect. I hate it when I get pissy when I can't workout. I feel like I got hit by a train so I am thinking that working out today MIGHT not be a good idea yet but I am very very antsy and need to get serious.

Saturday, June 14, 2008

Flu in June, WTF

I got sick yesterday. I feel like shit. NO working out this weekend- BOOOO!

Thursday, June 12, 2008

More Negatives on the Field

Just like last Thursday...

10 sec chest to floor, 10 sec 1/2 up, 10 sec 2/3 up- rest 20 sec. repeat x 5, after 5th set from 2/3up 10 push ups

1 min leg-raises a-la-Newport 30secR/30secL

Pull ups- 5 sec 90 degress, 5 sec eye level, 10 sec chin over bar, 5 sec eye level, 5 sec 90 degrees x 3

60 yards frog jumps

THEN
same push up routine but x 3 instead of 5

10-2 descending twist sit ups, 3rounds straight through a-la-Newport

same pull up routine but 2 rounds underhanded one round "pistol grip"

4 70 yard sprints

RUINED!

Wednesday, June 11, 2008

Still sore

Yesterday was what it was- I worked out with teh guys on the field even though I was so sore from Monday. It was all BW stuff and I think we will test in about 2 weeks.

We did-

50 pushups, strict form
70 sit ups, full range of motion
10 pull ups (i can now eat 10 pull ups for breakfast, i have seen the most progress in this on my pull ups)
15 burpees (most burpees I have ever done in one sitting. once i get to 10 i usually start to have to break them up)

next up
15 diamond pushups, 15 elevated push ups
planks, 20 sec front, 20 sec R, 20 sec L, rest 10 sec, repeat x 3
10 chin ups
100 yards walking lunges.

DONE.

Today I am taking off. Th and Fri I am back on it, with running sprints and general conditioning on Sat.

Monday, June 9, 2008

Lactic Acid will be attending tomorrow's meeting...

It was time to hit the legs again. I am back to legs/lower on Mondays to build them back up. Today was hard. My lower back got TIGHT.

I did 4 rounds of this ciruit using 24KG-
20 2H swings
10 front squats
5R/5L 1-legged dead lifts

Then 4 sets 10 38" box jump

140 yards walking lunges

SMOKED! Legs are wrecked and lower back is super tight. I love it but I am a little worried about how tight my lower back is getting- I think it is from taking a break on those exercises and getting back into it, but maybe not. Who knows. What I do know, is that my legs will be sore tomorrow!

Weekend Wrap-Up

SATURDAY was time to RUN TO THE HILLS like Maiden-

We jogged 1/3 mile and then did 4 rounds 70yrd sprints x 3 and then finished with another 1/3 mile lap so total was 1.28 miles jogged and 1 mile of sprints.

SUNDAY
was hangover workout- UGH. w/ 20KG bell-
1-5 C&P ladder
20 btwn the legs passes
1-5 snatch ladder R/L (not putting down the bell, switching sides in air, 1R/1L, 2R/2L etc)
x 2

that was enough for me, sweated out the whiskey. question, that seems light to quit after just 2 rounds, anyone else think so? i really need an opinion b/c i am not objective enough to be able to tell on my own.

side note- my snatch numbers blow and 30 snatches is the most I have ever done at once. mind you that's changing hands pretty regularly but still. I did 2 sets of 30.. I was happy I could do that. I am going to continue with this ladder program on the snatches and get my #ers really up there.

Leg day today when I get home.

Thursday, June 5, 2008

Negatives

On the field we did negative resistance work on push ups and pull ups.

Push Ups-
chest just off ground 10 sec, chest half way up and elbows bent 10 sec, arms locked, hips tucked 10 secs- 10 sec break, repeat x 3

Abs- descending twists a-la-Newport 10-2 x 3 in a row

Pull ups- 90 degrees 5sec, eye level 5 sec, chin over bar 10 sec, eye level 5 sec, 90 degrees 5 sec- rest 10 sec, repeat x 3

140 yards walking lunges

Push Ups-
30 push up STRICT form, then straight into negative descending, very slow on way down, push up, repeat x 10

Abs- 1 min leg raises a-la-Newport, 30sec R/30 sec L

Pull Ups- 90 degrees 5sec, eye level 5 sec, chin over bar 10 sec, eye level 5 sec, 90 degrees 5 sec- rest 10 sec, repeat x 3

DONE.

This was harder than it sounds OR I'm a little bitch. Either is possible.

Tomorrow I feel SOME SPRINTS COMMING ON!!!! GO GO GO GO GO GO GO - no slow.

In the office..

I didnt work out last nite. Went out w/ friends.

I have been GTG with snatches today at the office with the 20KG I'm keeping under my desk. I think I have done about 60-90... not sure. My hands are out of shape on the snatches. I have a huge new subcutaneous blood blister under a callous on my right hand- NICE!

more snatches, more snatches MORE MORE MORE.

Field day today when I get home.

Wednesday, June 4, 2008

Its hot...

it is. Yesterday was brutal- like 106 with the heat index. Not used to it yet so short work out.

1 round planks, 20 seconds a side (middle, right, left, middle) into 10 dive bomber push ups

30 yards walking lunges, 30 yards frog leaps back (fuck frog leaps)

60 yards walking frog drops

.... And then pull ups.

I did the most pull ups I have done at once since jr high. I could have done more! But I knew I would be smoked and I wanted to get in more reps.

I did 10 in a row...

[so what, not a huge # but considering I could barely do 6 in a row and yesterday I banged out the first 10 no problem and probably had 4-5 more- I was fucking excited because pull ups have seriously been the bane of my existence. I am not a large man. I should be able to eat pull ups for lunch but they killed me. I hate watching crossfit people destroy pull ups like they are nothing. So we started really doing them and wha-lah! PROGRESS! Imagine that!]

Then I did 9 more. I wanted to ladder down to 1 but after the 9, that was no realistic so I did a 1-5 ladder.

Then we called it QUITS. It was hot and I'm a little bitch.

This morning got up at 6Am with the wife to jog. Did 1.15 miles fast jog. Then sprint 1 block, walk 1 block for the 1.15 miles back to the car. I hated getting out to the boulevard but once we started I am glad I did it. We have decided to do this every Wed and Saturday morning, however on Saturday it will not be at 6AM.

For those that haven't guessed, me running @ 6AM is a very suprising action and the fact that it could become a mini-habit is very very out of character.

Monday, June 2, 2008

Tonite, Tonite...

I did 4 sets of 4 windmills R/L w/ the 24KG and got back on the C&P ladders. 5 ladders with 5 rungs each. Ill do this twice more this week to warm up then get back on the 24KG attack with the C&P ladders. That's what I was working on when I had my little life-break from the world as I knew it.

Getting back to things. Getting back on it. I am going to try and keep up the new trend and run some sprints tomorrow before I leave for work. We shall see how well that endevour goes.

Until then.

The Park


I write about the park a lot. Its where we flip tires, sprint, lift KB's and get serious.

I am at work and goofing off. I used our aerial program to make a picture of the park and label points of interest. This is silly but I wanted to put it up here to put a face to a name- so to speak.

Above on the right is Lawrence Park in all of its glory.

Some thoughts from Wisdom in Chains

Some people trade life for the bottom of a whiskey bottle.
Too far gone, can't get it back now.
Some people love the pills.
They'll eat an entire bottle.
If that don't work, they'll cut their wrists off.
Some people love whores.
They'll spend every fucking dollar.
Go home empty,not an ounce of self-respect.
Happiness must be a dream.
I know it ain't material.
I've seen men search the world but die alone in the end.
So fucking alone.

No woman, no wine, no pills can cure this fucking disease.
It's in my brain.
No matter what I do, I can't get it out my head.
Years of memories flood my brain.
I just wanna sever these fucking veins so I can sleep forever never coming back no more.

Too far gone.
Too far gone.
Too far gone.
Too far gone can't get it back

"no woman, no wine, no pills can cure this fucking disease- it's in my brain.."

Exactly.

Weekend wrap up...

Friday was off day.

Saturday I did online defensive driving at the office and brought my 20KG LB with me. While trying to keep my brain from dying I did-
approx 300-320 swings (sets of 30, all kinds, 1H, 2H, darcee)
4 rounds of 8 slow, strong windmills R/L
4 rounds GRINDING presses, 8R/8L

Sunday I ran 2 miles. Mile 1 was straight, fast jog. Mile 2 was alternate between 1 block sprint, 1 block walk/jog. This sucked. My legs are sore.

This morning I ran 1.28 miles around the park before work. Sometime today at work I'm going to do some GTG stuff with the 20KG. I have to go to my little sister-in-laws graduation today in the 'burbs. When I get home (whenever that is) I will do some bells and some BW stuff. I am going to have to make myself b/c by the time I get there, I am not going to want to- heh.