When too much isn't enough...

SO today was bad. I was in a bad mood. It was Navy Seal FitDeck time. I decided I needed more so I came up with this brilliant plan....

Navy Seal FitDeck (NSFD) is 20 cards. 4 sets of 5 cards, shuffled randomly. 1 lap after each set for a total of 1.3 miles.

Futhermore, b/c I needed punishment I stepped up my rep ranges on everything but the pull ups. Advanced on core, intermediate on lower body and push ups, but still beginner on all pull ups.

All that together did me in. Took about 30 min. It was BRUTAL. I am shaking all over AND I vomited after my last lap. Success!

Scheduling

I didn't work out yesterday but I'll get on it today.

So I'm putting in my 4 days a week but I'm doing it haphazardly. Not Mon- Th or Mon, Wed, Th, Sat or anything like that. It's just sort of getting done when it gets done so I can't complain but I would like to get myself back on a schedule. I'm thinking after the holiday bullshit is totally gone I'll be able to pull that off.

Side note- my olympic set and its 500lbs gets here in about 3 weeks. The count down has started. I will put up some videos of me getting awesome with it. Also, I think this spring I'm going to kick it into overdrive and get SERIOUS with bouts of HOC, sprinting, dead lifting, Navy Seal FitDeck-ing and all out brutality. I want to become a machine in '09 and put on at least 15 pounds of solid muscle. I am looking to the deadlift and the squats for that one.

High rep snatches, pitbulls, and the Bouncing Souls

Today, I got back from running around and was feeling a workout. I decided to do high-rep snatches w/ the 20KG. I have usually used the 16KG in the past and now I know why. I had to take a break after round 20 for about 2 min before I finished the last 10 rounds. The video is my last 6 sets. 30 rounds, reps of 6, 8 seconds rest between sets. The two ogres in the video are my stubborn headed dogs who have to get in the way when I'm home b/c they are nosey and lovable.

Man Makers

Friday I didn't work out. Yesterday I did and it got serious.

3 rounds,heavy.

3 24KG man makers (these with the two 24KG are brutal on me. its almost 70% of my bw)
5 windmills R/L
4 20KG double snatches to military press
4 get-up sit ups R/L

finish with alt leg raises, planks, descending twisting crunches from Newport.

The double snatches to MP I just kind of made up on the fly. It was actually pretty challenging on my shoulders from dealing with catching the weight overhead at he top of the snatch, then bringing back down to the rack and instead of going back btw my legs and my hips/core taking the weight, it stayed in the rack for the press and came back to it one more time. I really felt it. Give it a shot and see what you think.

Merry Christmas and Navy Seal Fit Deck

I celebrated the birth of baby Jesus this morning by going through my Navy Seal FitDeck.

It was easier this time than it was last time. By easier I mean that I didn't have to break up any of the pull up sets to get my reps in (except for 1 and I drew it as my second to last card- bastards).

I still don't feel ok about myself. I will probably work out again later today. Maybe run sprints or do high-rep snatches.

Heavy is Hard

yea yea... the below might not sound heavy to you but it's heavy to me.



4 sets of 5 swings to snatches wth the 24KG





4 sets of 8 double 20KG KB long-cycle clean & press

destruction care of kettlebells, soundtrack care of blood for blood and blacklisted.

i cannot wait to get my olympic bar and plates for xmas. no more chicken legs. heavy squats and heavy deadlifts here i come!

Saturday's Hangover Cure

When I drink and get hungover, the next day I have to workout. Personal rule. It's always ruff on multiuple levels. Saturday to make it count I did this weird circuit that sounded like a good idea but maybe wasn't such a good idea after all.

3 rounds of
10 behind the back squats w/ 24KG
1-5 C&P ladder w/ 20KG
10 front squats w/ 24KG
10 swings w/ 24 KG

After that I tried one C&P ladder using both 20KG at the same time. I got from 1-3 and at that point I was sort of done. I could have probably gotten rungs 4 & 5 but wife and were running late to a family function and my back was starting to get worn out from the squats and the double C&P is really a whole diff ball game regarding full body tension.

I finished it all off with side bends using the 24KG and then I went in.

Friday Nite

Tonite is our holiday party at the house. I had to get a workout in before I walked the dogs and got preparations started.

I grabbed the 24KG and was going to do a little circuit but then saw my FitDeck cards on way out door. I shuffled them and counted out 1/2 the deck (9 cards).

Went out to the park by the pull ups bars and made 3 piles of 3 cards each.

I did a circuit of
L/R 1 swing, 1snatch, 1windmill, 1squat thrust (switch back to L side)
2 swings, 2 snatches, 2 windmills, 2 squat thrusts

Then pile 1 of cards
1 of each, switching hands on the bars while hanging,
regular pull up, wide, close in, underhand, mountain
cliber left and right
5 wide pull ups
20 leg raises

Repeat Circuit

Pile 2 of cards
3 negative 1 arm push ups
12 spider man push ups
(i cant remember this card)

Repeat Circuit

Pile 3 of cards
20 jumping lunges
5R/L jump and sticks ( jump with both feet in air, land on one foot firmly and hold 5 sec- these suck)
20 crossovers (lay on back, feet 8 in off ground and cross one leg over other, everyone other rep counts as 1)

Hiatus and Lactic Acid

I haven't worked out since Monday. I have literally been almost too sore to move since doing that FitDeck workout. Today I am getting back on it with either SiM or some light circuiting. I'll workout today, tomorrow and Sunday so I can still get in my 4 days this week. Tomorrow I will most likely do the FitDeck workout again.

I am getting an olympic bar and plates for Xmas and I am EXCITED! I can't wait to get on heavy deadlifts and heavy squats and some bench pressing. I am also going to play around with learning some of the other olympic lifts like cleans, jerks, etc. Also, I am planning on really trying to get down the bent press using a bar instead of a bell. It's gonna be exciting.

So Sore

I am so sore from that damn Navy Seal fit deck I did not work out yesterday and I PROBABLY won't be working out today either- good lord!

My arms, shoulders, back, abs and sides are wrecked and full of lactic acid. I need to do something to get my blood flowing but nothing heavy or too strenous. I need to recover. WOW! Best $12+ shipping I have ever spent!

Hit the (fit)deck!

So I got home from a shitty shitty day and what was waiting for me but my Navy Seal FitDeck. For those not familiar with FitDeck and their products- http://fitdeck.com/catalog.php

Now the Navy Seal is a booster deck that is supposed to be used in with their larger body weight deck. I don't need all that. I wanted the Navy Seal deck b/c

1. It says it's a Navy Seal workout and those guys are monsters
2. The product description read "Designed for highly-motivated intermediate to advanced users. Contains illustrations for over 20 challenging Navy SEAL-inspired exercises. Buy FitDeck Bodyweight for more middle & lower body exercises. Pull up bar required. (includes plastic cardholder)"- I like to think of myself as being 'highly-motivated'.
3. It sounded hard.

Well folks- it was hard. I am not a Navy Seal. Apparently Navy Seals do LOTS and LOTS of pull ups of all kinds. When I did hit a push up card it was amazing. I have never been more happy to do all sorts of complicated push ups in my life.

That being said, I chose the beginner rep range on all the excercises, even the ones I was comfortable with. For the first 3-4 pull up excercises, I hit the rep range fine. After that it got ugly. When it called for 6 I would have to give it 3, wait 5 seconds, do 2 more, wait 5 seconds do 1 more, wait 5 seconds, and do the last. When it called for 4 I'd have to do 2-3 and bang out the rest, usually, in singles or maybe if I was lucky, doubles.

It was hard. I am seriously sore. It was awesome. I would recommend buying it. I am going to do it twice a week and see how long it takes to break my hymen in.

After the FitDeck, I was still really bummed, which was suprising considering how awesome the workout was. So I went inside and killed Nazi's on my xbox360- that didn't help. So I walked to the grocery stora and picked up our Christmas tree and carried it home. I walked it back in an overhead rack walk, switching arms about every 1/2 block to full block depending. From the store back to the house is about .70 miles. I'll take it. I'm not sure how heavy the tree was. I dont think it weighed more than my 24KG bell but I'm not sure. Either way it made me feel manly but alas did not break me from my funk.

The Dogs

Just a lil smothin-somethin

Last nite to keep it going, I did some snatches with the 20KG. On the advice of the illustrious Jen B, I worked on my form, trying to keep everything tight and strong at the top of the snatch where the lock out is. It'sn hard for me to do that and still keep a rythm so I worked on that pretty hard. Did 50 snatches. Seemed to get it right. It felt slower and somewhat awkward BUT strange enough, while keeping all tension at the top, the next rep was easier, which is strange considering the tension at the top, to me, seems like it doesnt translate into snapping at the bottom of the next rep..
Whatever, who cares. It seems to be working so I'll take it. Anything that helps me with my snatches is awesome. Now I just have to work on finding a rythm with this newly tweaked form.

Friday, quick decisions....

I did 5 rounds of this...




I was a little surprised when I watched the video becuase I thought while I was doing the swings kind of slow but watching the video, I'd say I'm moving at a good pace. I didn't start feeling this until the 4th round. I was taking 60 second breaks between rounds. Except the 4th and 5th. I probablly took about 120 seconds on that one. I REALLY tried to focus on my form, especially on the squats.

Very short workout. Took 15 min. Really wanted to work on my form after I got some critique from my friend and newly minted RKC, Jenn B.

With the 24KG I did 2 rounds of
10 KB racked squats R/L
10 KB squat thrusters R/L
2 C&P R/L
10 side bends R/L

On the squats i really tried to focus on keeping my core as tight as possible and on pulling lat down hard into my body. On the cleans I tried to focus on getting my butt down low on the starting position and on keeping everything really tight at the top.

It wasnt a lot but focusing on form that much made it hard. My core was angry when I was done and I felt tired when I was done.

Complex-ity

Did a new deal today, got creative.

W/ two 20KG bells, a progressive complex for 5 rounds
snatch
snatch-to-squat
snatch-to-squat w/ thruster
+ 4 more squat-thrusters

Then 5 rounds of
5 reps of KB burpee to between the leg dealift (sumo stance) to double row

Finish with abs- all the way through without stopping-
20 leg raises
30 sec plank
3 sets 10-2 descending twists (a-la-Newport)
30 sec plank
15R/15L single lef raises (a-la-Newport)
30 sec plank

I am sore from this. It was a good workout. That progressive complex was fun.

Legs

Sunday morning I did a heavy leg day/

4 rounds of each exercise straight through, one after the other- not circuited.

R1
10 KB Burpees to DL- two 24KG's

R2
5-7 behind the back squat- 24KG

R3
Assorted swings w/. 24KG- L/slinghsot/R/slingshot, 2H, double-bell,

R4
rep range of 3 long cycle cleans to squats- two 24KG's

I taped me doing this one to check my form on the long cycle clean and on the squat. I think it is looking pretty good. Double squats with the two 24KG's is hard for me and my chicken legs, hence the 3 rep range. If you look you can see me really working to get back up from that squat and not have my spine explode. I like it.

Late in the Day

I got home last nite and wasnt going to work out. Met wife for early dinner after work. Was exhausted. Went home, full, and sat down in the chair to relax before we went out. I was depressed...
At 7:30 I went to the porch and grabbed a 24KG bell.

I did 10 rounds of swings with a round of side bends after the 5th round and the 10th round. I felt 90% better when I was done. Magic. Fuck prozac and zoloft- I've got bells.

I am working on my swings again b/c, as I mentioned a few weeks ago, I've let them fall off. I am back on them.

I was going to do SiM again today but instead I think I am going to do a heavy leg workout with some core finishers. Wont get to it until later but that's ok- as long as it gets done.

SiM

Did Strength in Motion yesterday. Stepped it up. Only took 30sec breaks on rounds 1 and 3. Had to do 60sec on round 2. Thats the harder round for me.

My numbers were better than they have been also. All in all it was a great workout. Yay.

Fear and (Self)Loathing

Took yesterday off. Today is SiM day- I am both looking forward to it and dreading it. Part of the dread comes from the clock- I really don't like working out to a clock BUT it's good for me and it's a great workout so I need to learn to get over it.

Its cold.

No Strength in Motion. I got home late. I was depressed. It was cold as fuck.

I'm from Houston, TX- "cold as fuck" is a technical term that refers to temperatures below 50F. I know a lot of yall are Yankee-assholes and that's ok. The war's been over for a long time and we can be friends. But please understand, while I know it gets to like minus-300 degrees where you're from and sub-50F is tennis & crumpet weather- I, however, live in a fucking swamp 50 miles from the Gulf of Mexico! GULF OF MEXICO. It's a GULF... Furthermore, to explicate further this whole 'swamp aesthetic' for those of you unfamiliar with this ecosystem- swamps are NOT supposed to get that cold. Resultantly, I don't take to well to the cold and last nite it was fucking cold. 'Nuff said.

Due to my disapproval of mother nature's newest curve ball, I was going to work out inside but when I got home I just couldn't do it. I grabbed two 20KG bells and walked the 100yards or so to the BBall court to get serious.

I did 4 laps around the court to warm up then a 5x5 workout of

A1
Double snatch-to-double squat

A2
see-saw press

Finish with modified ab rounds from AoS Newport straight through, no break-
plank 30 sec
16R/L Single leg raises
plank 30 sec
descending twists 10-2 for 3 rounds straight
30 sec plank

100 yard farmer's carry back to the porch.

While it wasn't SiM, this workout was the real deal. I REALLY recommend that double-snatch-to-double-squat. It's the real motherfuckin deal.

Recap

Thanksgiving Day I did 4 rounds of-
5 full body attack(20KG)
50 yard farmers carry
5 double snatch-to-double squat (20KG)
50 yard farmers carry

finished with 3 min of TGU singles

Friday I did 5 rounds of w/ 20KG
10 double swings
8R/8L bottoms-up swings
8 double dead-cleans
5R/5L RR's w/ a push up between each rep

100yard farmer carry for finisher/cool down.

I was so sore from Th & Fri I didn't work out the rest of the weekend. I was going to but my body wasnt ready. I did mow the lawn Sunday with my push mower and even that got my forearms and shoulders really tight and burning and angry.

Today will be a Strength in Motion Day