Update

Monday 10/05/09

Ah, been a way for a while again. School has been my priority and studying has been consuming all of my time. I've been in a funk lately and it's taken me longer than normal to come out of it. I think it might be work; too much non-sense training and not enough real action, call volume's been low, real low! And, I've been studying a lot, sometimes sitting in the same chair all day long, reading, reading and reading some more.

We did however, have a good shift two days ago. We finally had a structure fire first thing in the morning and then a trauma alert about midnight. Calls went well and my adrenaline was flowing. How can people sit behind a desk?

As far as workouts go, they've been good. I did push it a little hard today. The wife and I had some family over last night and the eating was all good and primal right up until the ice cream. So, I had some dark chocolate (85% Cocoa) and some Breyers Vanilla. I had a craving but, even the littlest bit throws me for a loop now. Sleep was horrible and not very long. So, I pushed it today, workout wise. Took the dog for a walk (brisk, very brisk) in the sticky Florida humidity early this morning. I guess I made him suffer along with me. Then I did a 6 exercise string of a Tabata workout. I'll probably be sore tomorrow but...

Warmed up with some GHD sit-ups and back extensions and some one-arm pull-ups with pinky finger of opposite hand for assistance.

Tabata intervals for all exercises: - 20 seconds on, 10 seconds off, continue for 4 minutes (or 8 intervals) with one minute of rest between exercises. Total workout time with rest 30 minutes.

1. Kickboxing to the heavy bag

2. 100lb. sandbag clean, shoulder and throw

3. Jump rope - double unders (forward and backward), run in place fast (forward and backward)

4. Sledgehammer swings to the tire - 20lb sledgehammer first four rounds for strength; alternated sides with each round and, last four rounds were with the 8lb hammer for speed.

5. Ground and pound (kicks, elbows and punches to the heavybag on the ground.

6. Kettlebell swings ( full range of motion ROM, to over head) started with the 70 pounder, then the 50 pounder and finished with the 35 pounder.

Breakfast: Couple of hand fulls (maybe more) of almonds and walnuts thrown into a bowl with blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, coconut flakes and almond butter.

Lunch: Huge spinach and mixed greed salad with lots of left over veggies from last night's dinner

Dinner: Big fatty steak grilled with shallots and red onions and sauteed zucchini. One glass of red wine.

To note: I sold my bumper plates; hasty decision? I'm not sure. I miss them from time to time but I'm trying to simply me life. I've always been a bodyweight guy and like the fact of being able to get it all done with the minimal. So, thought I've always kept the basics, I'm now solely going back to them. Lots of one arm pulls, push-ups, sprints, plo's, oh and a lot of unilateral work, that yes, does involve some kettlebells and dumbbells. Ok, maybe not just bodyweight.

Sunday 10/4/09

One-arm kettlelbell presses

One-arm pull-ups

Handstands

Push-ups

Standing wheel roll-outs

I was just fiddling around today, throwing around some weight and playing with skills. I didn't keep track of reps or sets.

Saturday 10/3/09

Fought fire and overhauled for 3 hours, THAT WAS MY WORKOUT!

Friday 10/2/09

4 mile beach walk with intermittent soft sand and hard sand full on sprints. Also, plunged into the water after each sprint for a full on swim sprint.

Thursday 10/1/09

Walked the dog for about an hour

Wednesday 9/30/09

Marine Rescue training. Lots of swimming, jet skiing and paddling on the paddle board.

Tuesday 9/29/09

Walked Yogi

Monday 9/28/09

Walked Yogi

Sunday 9/27/09

Rest day, at work

Saturday 9/26/09

10 - 100m sprints barefoot in the grass at UNF with the wife. Three minutes rest between sprints. I like taking 5 minutes better, more recovery.

Evolving

Well, last night was fun! I ate good all day long and had a really good dinner (to save money) before I went to the Ale house last night with friends. I ended up having 6 rather large draught beers, 3 Dos Equis and 3 Guinness. To my surprise, I woke up early (0530) feeling like a champ but to late and a little worn out to make it out the dawn patrol surf with the fellas! I guess your body sometimes needs some good healthy dark beer and some heavy sleep.

As the title of this post suggests, yes, I seem to keep evolving (with many things it seems lately). Surfing continues to humble me but, I'm becoming more fluid and somewhat smooth. I love it! I wished I lived closer to the ocean, the drive sucks. On the other hand, I could live in Nebraska and that would really suck! My workouts have become completely disorganized and it's awesome. I find now that when I do partake in an organized workout, I don't like it anymore. I've kind of always been this way sorta, I've never really known what I was going to do until the day or minute that I decided to do it, but I don't even really do that anymore; no more organized gym sessions, no consistent routinized progressions that cause overuse injuries, just none of that anymore, it's simply not needed. I am becoming the ulimate freestyler!

I've also realized that people are deathly afraid of change, and that from now on, even when asked (and I am asked a lot) about fitness, nutrition, running barefoot, having a positive attitude, and wanting to move somewhere (other than here), etc. etc., people just don't want the answers that I provide. I think most people want justification for the way they do or see things, to make themselves feel better..., I guess. I've just felt lately that most people don't want to see other people make positive, lasting changes in their lives and succeed. That is unfortunate. I refuse to join the ranks of people who act that way and I refuse to conform to the so-called "norms" of society and/or conventional wisdom (a Mark Sisson term for all the morons who think they've got it right but deep down have to know their dead wrong). I am learning to keep my mouth shut and only give advice to those who really ask and want it.

I'm trying, learning, practicing to show/use great restraint in all aspects of my life these days. Talking quieter (and not as much) not working out hard (see above) only enjoying really good beer and really good wine with really good friends and family and after I've put in a hard day's work of some sort. Not smoking cigars (I really hate tobacco, I don't know why I indulge in this from time to time..., it's rather stupid) Not being so cynical towards the ways of the world even though that now...uh, that's right, I won't go there. Just tyring to stray away from all the instant gratification and chronic indugences that most people partake in.

School will be starting up this Monday and I'm getting myself ready. It's tough to stay motivated sometimes, especially when surrounded by many negative people. I'm getting better at separating myself from such individuals but sometimes the negativity takes its toll. Nevertheless, I'll press on and try to get all A's again this term. There is a goal in sight. Whereas my goals use to lie in the health and fitness realm (I don't know what for) they now have moved to that of education and simply having fun with my life.

Other than that, I had a huge bowl of spaghetti with garlic bread and salad tonight at the fire station. This always seems to be the meal that allows me to sleep really good and wake up feeling totally refreshed. I hope this carries on because the surf is going to be big and clean tomorrow and I need some extra energy.

Not surfing dawn patrol session tomorrow because I'm currently drunk and will most likely be hungover in the morning. But, I will be going to good ol' Station 9 to get some much needed "hungover sleep" and recuperation from tonight's festivities.

Regression..., but not

It has been a while since my last post; just before I left for Cali, and Hawaii, actually. Just before I left I hit a big PR in the back squat, squatting 230lbs. 2o times! However, my deadlift took a serious nose dive. My 1RM was sitting at 380lbs. but I just barely got 320 a week ago today. I had to reset my new 1RM to 320 and work up from there. I don't really mind the regression in the deadlift though because I have felt a ton better from all of the walking and sprints. There is no formality to my routine anymore (guess that makes it "not a routine," either). I walk, for some distance or time (always varies) almost daily, sprint once or twice a week, lift something heavy a couple times of week and, intermittently play around with bodyweight stuff. I have discovered that I would much rather do hard work, i.e. working in the yard, surfing (which, by the way is hard work and fun at the same time) and something I have done for about 5 days straight due to the hurricane off the coast. I REALLY wished I lived somewhere where I could hike all the time, a place with big hills, mountains and a better variety of terrain, environment, etc, hmmm, maybe like San Diego.

Month three of 5/3/1 for Deadlifts and de-load on BP

Saturday 8/1/09

Walked and sprinted with Mar and Yogi; they both quit on me early today! For being very, very sore, my sprints were light and fast today.

Workout: Deadlifts: Warm-up: 135x5, 185x3, Work sets: 235x5, 270x5, 305x3 (WEAK, WAS SUPPOSED TO GET AT LEAST 5 REPS!!!!) All I can think is that I am still way too sore from the squat PR only two days ago, my lower back is a little tender and my CNS is now completely fried from the early morning sprints (very CNS intensive). This was my last official workout for about 10 days. I am actually looking forward to this time off, it will be fun and much deserved. However, I plan to do a lot of low, low level aerobic work, i.e. walking, hiking and swimming, and plan to do some surfing and the occasional hill sprint while out on the west coast and in Hawaii. This is going to be a great trip! I haven't decided if I will continue to week two of month three for the lifts when I do resume or just do a quick recap. I think I'm going to recap so that I can bring my bench up to date with the other lifts and start fresh with everything, including becoming proficient at the snatch and clean and jerk (the O'lifts).

Good rest day

Friday 7/31/09

Walked Yogi for an hour. Cut, edged and clipped the grass later in the day. Today was a good recovery day from yesterday's squats. Tomorrow is my last day before the big trip to Cali and Hawaii. I plan on getting in a good session of deads, power snatches, bench presses and sprints. The only working out I plan to do on the trip is all natural; lots of hiking, surfing and some much needed and (excited about) hill sprints (since we don't have a single hill around here). How many people get excited about hill sprints?

Month three of 5/3/1 for squat and press

Thursday 7/30/09

Walked Yogi for an hour

Workout later in the day:

Power cleans: 125x3, 145x3 165x3

Back Squat: Warm-up - 135x3, work sets - 185x5, 210x5, 235x20!!!!!!!!!! Big time PR!!!!!!

Overhead Press: Warm-up - 45x5, work sets - 105x5, 120x5 137.5x5(whoops, forgot to put the other 2.5 on the other side of the barbell.)so... redid 140x5. These were weak after the squats, my legs were done. I realized how much legs (or full body rather) actually goes into this overhead lift. Unbelievable.

I also got a bunch of OAC's today with the right hand. I'm pulling higher with the left but not quite there yet. I can almost get a OAP (palm facing away).

Sunday 7/26/09

Rest day, at work.

Monday 7/27/09

Paddled 4 miles in the ocean. Did some tree climbing, muscle ups, flags, etc at old station 18.

De-load with deadlifts, finish week 4/month 2 of bench press.

Deadlift: 145x5, 180x5, 215x5

Bench Press: 150x5, 165x3, 185x7

Tuesday 7/28/09

Walked the dog and did sprints. Swam a little in the pool. Did some bodyweight stuff later in the day.

Wednesday 7/29/09

Paddled 5 miles in the ocean and did various planks and push-ups throughout.

Walked both dogs for about an hour.

Friday 7/25/09

... later in the day

De-load week:

Workout:

Overhead Press: 65x5, 80x5, 95x5

Back Squat: 110x5, 135x5, 160x5

Saturday 7/26/09

Drank too much crap last night, shots (I hate "sweet" shots) and beer games. Hey, I'm all about drinking some good beer and wine but just not to excess. Over that. It ruined my day today and i had a lot planned that did not get done because I had a horrible hangover. Tried to surf; not happening; bad surf and I sucked

Workout: Intermittent sprints with some gymnastics stuff. I did explosive L-pull-ups and slapped my thighs and then grabbed the bar again. Good stuff!

Wednesday 7/22/09

Surfed for two hours

Walked for an hour.

Thursday 7/23/09

Surfed for an hour EARLY in the morning. AWESOME TIME!

Swam and paddled (minimal effort) for a brief time later in the day.

Adv. front tuck lever holds: 10x6 seconds

PPPU's with feet on wall: 3x5

Friday 7/24/09

Surfed for two and half hours, again, AMAZING TIME. It's starting to really come around now.

Saturday 7/18/09

Surfed for about one hour.

Walked the TWO dogs for over an hour (no sprinting).

Workout: Deadlifts: Warm-up: 5 reps x 135lbs., 3 reps x 185lbs., 1 rep at 225lbs. Work sets: 5 reps at 300lbs. (oops, wrong weight at the wrong set, this was supposed to be set two for 3 reps), anyway, went back to 265lbs.x5, 300lbs.x3, 330lbs.x7 (PR)

Sunday 7/19/09

Warm-up: Some kind of warm-up, forgot what I did.

Workout: Snatches: Uh, pathetic, did not do a very good job, back is sore and tight, just wasn't feeling it.

Clean and jerks: same as the snatches, but I finished my prescribed weights, sets and reps for today: 135x5, 155x3, 175x1

Monday 7/20/09

Walked Yogi for over an hour with a bunch of sprints mixed in. Sprints felt good!

Tuesday 7/21/09

Surfed for about 2 hours.

Workout: Kickboxed for 12x3 minute rounds with core work between rounds.

Friday 07/17/09

Warm-up with some dumbbell snatches and handstands.

Workout: Bench Press: warm-up- 45x5, 95x5, 115x3; work sets: 140x3, 155x3, 175x14 (PR)

Farmer's walk with 100lb. and 110lb. dumbbells

Walking...

Walking is good. I used to make fun of people who would walk for exercise. Because I was "so hardcore" and intense with my exercise, I thought these people who simply walked didn't know what true fitness is. Turns out, I was the one who was wrong. Walking, with sprinting coming in a close second, is the purest form of exercise and human movement. I now find it to be very relaxing and to be the main source of my "cardio-esque" training now. I usually walk in the morning with my dog (so he can get his exercise to) and throw in some sprints (because I love to run fast). There is something about being awake and active and taking in the morning air when most of the world is asleep. It's as if you have the world all to yourself. It's a beautiful quiet.

I have found recently that the phrase "you have to crawl before you can walk, and you have to walk before you can run," applies to more than just the physical. In a sense, with my workouts and rediscovering walking, I feel as though I'm beginning all over again and in a way, crawling... if you know what I mean. I recently started back at school (community college to purse a degree in nursing). I will be officially finishing three classes on July 26th (should be making A's in all of them) and just registered today for four more in the fall. I feel I'm crawling again here, taking the basic courses and setting a good foundation for future studies. The road ahead will be long, but it will be worth it. Where will I be in five years? I know that five years ago, when I asked myself the same question, it seemed like such a long time away. Well, here it is five years later and... damn, it went by fast. I certainly have not wasted the last five years; I've learned a lot about myself and continue to do so, more-so now than ever before. Maybe these are my "identity college years," seeing that I never really went to college, or maybe this is just me, getting close to 30 and realizing that I truly do have the power to do anything I want, it's just a matter of doing it.

So, in some aspects of my life (most) I'm crawling, some I'm walking, and in others (much less) I'm running. I will do my best to find the balance between the three and at times stop all of them, to reflect and take in my surroundings. These are where the best moments are found anyway.

Friday 07/10/09

Warm-up

Back squat: 185x3, 215x3, 240x4

Bench press: 130x5, 150x5, 165x13

Felt great after this workout. Numbers are coming up.

Saturday 07/11/09

First day back at work after 3 shifts off. Busy as hell. Rest day.

Sunday 07/12/09

Clean and Jerk: 125x3, 145x3, 165x3

Deadlift: 245x3, 280x3, 315x3

Back was very tight, tender and sore from too much sitting at work the previous day. The deadlifts were extremely weak, probably also due to following the C&J's I was planning on going for reps on the last set of 315 but those 3 reps were a struggle today.

Monday 07/13/09

Extensive warm-up

Kick boxed 12x3 minute rounds with core work in between rounds for one minute.

Tuesday 07/14/09

At work, rest day.

Wednesday 07/15/09

Surfed for 2 hours than walked around the Farmer's market at the St. Augustine Pier and bought some fresh food. Fun time.

Warm-up

Workout: Power cleans: (de-load week): 70x5, 90x5, 110x5

Overhead Press: 115x5, 135x3, 150x3

Good workout, pressed felt strong.

Thursday 07/16/09

Walked and sprinted with Yogi for over an hour early in the morning.

Skills warm-up: handstands, flags, muscle-ups, levers, O'lift warm-up

Workout: Power snatch: 90x3, 105x3, 120x3

Back squat: 200x5, 225x3, 250x7

Great workout today. The sprints first thing in the morning were light, springy and fast. The power snatches felt fluid and the back squats felt real strong. 250 for 7 reps is awesome!

Surfed for about one hour later in the day. Small, but fun.

Thursday 07/09/09

No workout today, rest day. Went surfing with the buddies. Fun surf today!

Monday 07/06/09

Warm-up

Workout: Power clean: 135x5, 155x3, 175x1

Deadlift: 230x5, 265x5, 300x7 (feeling weak today, back was stiff).

Kickboxed 12x3 minute rounds with one minute rest between.

Tuesday 07/07/09

Warm-up

Workout: Snatch: 65x5, 95x5, 115x5

Overhead Press: 110x3, 125x3, 140x6

Wednesday 07/08/09

Natural warm-up of jumps, crawls, ducks, runs, push-ups, pull-ups

Workout: 1 400m sprint: 58 seconds

2 300m sprints

3 200m sprints

Great workout, took almost 30 minutes. This is my "distance" sprint workout.

Held the flag again, on a thinner bar, a fatter bar, and on a chain fence. Holding the flag with my right arm down is still tough though. I will bring this up to speed.

Some unexpected PR's in Miami Beach

I don't know what superpower came over me this weekend but... Saturday, the 4th of July I was in South Beach, Miami with my wife. If you've ever been to South Beach then you can envision the ambiance; the beautiful cars, hotels, people, great food, drinks, luscious landscape and the list goes on.

Probably, right now (and it has been for some time) Miami is my favorite place on earth. This day, on our way to the beach, after we walked a mile from our hotel on the other side (bayside) of the island, as usual we saw some guys (and gals) on the parkour fitness bars on the beach. There's four stations, a set of 3 pull-up bars of varying height, parallel bars, push-up bars and I believe a sit-up bench. There was one impressive black guy there who was in phenomenal shape and was doing some very basic but good, strong, and functional exercises. The others', were just kind of there. Some were REALLY TRYING TO LOOK COOL and showoff for the onlookers.

Now, I passed on going over to this area on Friday because, "I'm not that kind of guy." But, on day two, after walking to South Beach to have breakfast and watching some of these guys not go to full extension on their pull-ups and my wife constantly asking for me to "assist" her on some pull-ups (so she could better fit into her too-small-for-her dress later in the day) I figured "what the hell" and on our next walk, after walking another mile back to the hotel and then another mile back to the beach, I decided to try some stuff!

So, with that I somehow managed to hold a back lever (RATHER EASILY) hold a front lever (FOR ABOUT A SECOND, BUT IT DOESN'T MATTER), perform a right arm one-arm chin-up, and hold the FLAG with my left arm on the bottom for a really long tim!. I seriously have no idea where this strength came from. I told my wife that when under pressure, (I guess you could call a lot of people watching pressure), I seem to be able to bust stuff out that even makes my mind boggle. Now, I could go on and on how great this was for me and I've tried to describe to my wife the high that I got from doing this. But, it's no use. It's no use trying to tell anybody. This is one of the those things that is so personally gratifying that I simply can not put it into words. It makes me want to continue to just keep doing any and all things that I otherwise thought were impossible, from exercise, to school, to profession, to life.

There was a good bit of a crowd there on one of the world's most famous beaches and I received a bunch of cheers, praise and disbelief and... yeah, it felt pretty cool. But, if I would have done this in the wee hours of the morning without a soul in sight and no one there to witness it, rest assure that I would be just has thrilled, amazed and happy. Needless to say, I'm not necessarily happy to have left Miami, (I love it there and hate coming home sometimes), but I am looking forward to getting back to hitting some more moves and hitting the academics, two things that I have learned are completely in my control. Setting goals isn't always fun and can seem like a daunting task at times trying to achieve them (especially why you have multiple ones) but, when you do achieve them, DAMN, what a neat feeling!

Some PR's!

I just finished m deload weak on the four major lifts, so nothing really impressive to talk about or list there. However, I did three days ago, get a one-arm chin-up (palm facing) with my right arm (I had a shit ton of energy). Also, after weeks of being able to one-arm press approx. 6o lbs. and a solid month of slowly and gradually building my two-arm barbell overhead pressing strength, I pressed the two-pood kettlebell yesterday with relative ease. I could possibly go for reps with this my the end of July. Funny as it is though, with all of this strength, the shorter workouts, the more energy, my muscles have become smaller and I have dropped weight. Must be all the natural movement stuff. Feeling good.

Time..., Priorities?

Wednesday 06/24/09

Where does the time go? I have become extremely busy lately with way too much going on and my priorities seem to be out of whack. With the addition of my third class, which started about a month later than the other two and therefore is an accelerated course, things have become a little more chaotic. Some days I'm able to schedule and prioritize better, but not lately. Here though, is my official plan. Please, don't laugh; this plan does include some other... extracurricular activities that most definitely have to fit into my day. Below will be my day (depending on where I'm at or where I coming from in the morning) and how I would like it to pan out. The schedule, with all other things in life is subject to change and not stay on course.

Days that I wake up at home:

0530-0700 Usually wake up at this time and drink two big-ass mugs of only the finest coffee, watch some news and do some intermittent studying.

0700/0730-0800/0830 Walk/run Yogi

0830-0900 Workout

0930 Breakfast

1000-1230 Study, read, online course work, etc. EVERYTHING SCHOOL RELATED!

1230-1300 Lunch

1330-1400 Drive to beach and surf

1400-1500 Surf

1600-1800 Study again

1800-2000 Although since 1600 my wife has been home, telling me about her day and asking me about mine with a host of other "womanly" questions that I still don't really have the answers for, this time is complete devotion to her and the pup. Helping with dinner, drinking wine, eating dinner and probably watching some comedy, listening to some music... or watching some Bill O' Reily.

2100-2200/maybe 2300- Intermittent studying, trying reorganize and make sure I'm on track for the next day.

2300 Sleep...

Days that I wake up and go to the station:

0530 Wake up

0530-07000 Drink lots of coffee, maybe study, but probably watch a lethal combination of local news, Fox news, Univision music videos, Gala programming or some DVR'd HDNET fights or WEC Wreckage, make food for the day, get work related stuff ready, etc.

0700-0730 Leave for work.

0800-0800 (The next day, 24hours) Run calls, train, MAKE TIME TO STUDY, possibly get a short workout in, and make more time for more studying. Hopefully I get good sleep on these night, but not always and not likely, especially if I'm on rescue. Not cool.

Days that I wake up at the station:

0600-0700 Wake up

0700-0800 Drink lots of coffee, wash trucks (maybe) and bullshit with my boys (the crew, the A-team, the 12/9 Dream Team)

0800 Eat breakfast at station or in the car on my way to the surf spot.

0830/0900-1200 Surf

1230-1300 Workout

1330 Lunch

1400-1800 Study

1800-2000 Family devotion time

2000-2300 More studying.

2300- Sleep...

Well, there it is... my plan that I really need to try and adhere to. The time really is there, it's just a matter of cutting out the bullshit. The bullshit for me you might ask? Well, anything conventional, i.e. T.V., video games (I don't play these anyway), too much internet surfing (my weakness), long and arduous time-consuming workouts (simply not needed) and any other mind-numbing, media driven time wasters. My life revolves around me DOING GOOD and completing school (short term: nurse prereqs., mid term: R.N., mid/long-term: BSN, long term: CRNA.), not being selfish and allowing my dog to get some exercise, as well as teaching my wife, getting myself some good quality exercise (minimal time, minimal movements, minimal equipment, all natural, super fucking heavy and super fucking fast) all geared towards allowing me to complete my education so I can love what I do and get paid a shitload of money for it and with the workouts designed to get me that much better at surfing and having fun enjoying activities that I love to do.

On a side note, I'm still kicking ass on the 5/3/1 program. I can feel that I am getting strong as fuck and I like how I'm incorporating the O'lifts into the mix. I hope it is not a fluke, but the way I've felt over the pat couple of days and the energy that I've had have been amazing. I hope it continues right on.

Wednesday 06/17/09

Rest day, at work

Thursday 06/18/09

Warm-up

Back squat, can't remember what my sets and reps were. Then, I went to the lifeguard competition, fun stuff, and then drank beer afterwards, even more good stuff.

Friday 06/19/09

Kick box: 12x3 minute rounds with one minute rest between rounds.

Saturday 06/20/09

Rest day, at work. Lots of studying and lots of work completed. Took a long nap.

Father's Day, Sunday 06/21/09

Walk and sprint with Yogi for about one hour

Warm-up, played around with handstands, levers, etc.

Workout: Deadlift: 5 reps, 3 reps, max reps. I can't remember all the reps, but I know I pulled 320lbs. 7 times, fairly easily.

Monday 06/22/09

Walk and sprint with Yogi for about one hour

Warm-up

Workout: Deload week: Overhead presses, 3 sets of 5 reps of a rather light weight.

Front lever pull-ups: 3x5

Tuck planche holds: 10x6 seconds

Played around with flags and handstands

Tuesday 06/23/09

At work

Warm-up

Workout: Clean and Jerks: 1x5 at 115lbs. 1x5 at 135lbs. 1x5 at 155lbs. Felt great

Bench press: 5,3, and max reps: 1x5 at 145lbs. 1x3 at 160lbs. 1x11 at 180lbs.

Later in the evening we did Marine Rescue training from about 1900-2200. Nothing life paddling and swimming in the ocean at night. Awesome.

Wednesday 06/24/09

Rest day but, paddled on the paddleboard for over an hour and for probably a couple of miles.

Behind on posting

Tuesday 6/16/09

I've been behind on the postings for almost two weeks now. Sucks. Anyway, the workouts have coming along quite well. I'm still working on the 5/3/1 program but with my own "primal" modifications. On days that I bench press, I'm adding full squat clean and jerks (1RM is 205lbs.). On days that I overhead press I will be doing power cleans (1RM is also 205lbs.) and deadlifting days and squat days I may try to incorporate some full snatch and power snatch movements respectively. Other than those basic heavy compound fully body movement lifts, I am working on skills and sprints. I am keeping things extremely simple (down to the bare bones if you will). I have found this natural and "primal" way to workout (if you want to call it that) so refreshing. I have ton more energy to do all the other things in life that I really like to spend time doing. I will be taking tomorrow off while at work to hopefully get school work done for the rest of the week and to get ready for a beach flags competition on Thursday. We'll see how that goes.

Thursday 6/4/09

CFWU X 3 with modifications

Skills: handstands, press-to-handstands, L-sit-to-press-to-handstands, L-sits: 8x8 seconds, tuck back levers: 8x8 seconds.

Workout: Adv. front tuck levers: 8x8 seconds/PPPU's with feet on wall: 5x3

Back squats: warm-ups sets: 1x5 with 45lb. bar, 1x5 at 135lbs. work sets: 1x5 at 165lbs.(65%), 1x5 at 190lbs.(75%), 1x17 (max reps) at 215lbs. (85%)

Weighted pull-ups: 1x5 at 50lbs. 1x3 at 80lbs., 1x2 at 100lbs.

FROM HSPU's: 3X4

Workout was a little lengthy today. I'll see how my legs feel tomorrow from all the squats.

The beginning of 5/3/1

Saturday 05/30/09

At work at the station but worked on finding my max bench press, only 215lbs. not very good.

Sunday 05/31/09

CFWU X 3

Skills: handstands, L-sits on the rings, flags for about 30 minutes.

Workout: Deadlift: warm-ups sets: 1x5 at 135lbs., work sets: 1x1 at 225lbs., 1x1 at 295lbs. 1x1 at 335lbs. 1x1 at 350lbs., 1x1 at 365lbs. 1x1 at 380lbs. (match PR)

I was simply trying to find my 1RM for the deadlift so I can start a new program. Even with a long layoff from deadlifts, I still matched my personal best. Unbelievable.

Went out with friends to the beach and bar. Got really drunk and ate lots of pizza and chocolate..., come to think of it, a good recovery meal!

Monday 6/1/09

CFWU X 3

Skill work: very minor skill work today with just trying to feel the movement of the planche, practiced rocking from feet to hands and trying to squeeze my traps, lats, pecs and deltoids as I lean as far forward as I can possibly comfortably manage, without falling. Wasn't too comfortable, the planche isn't supposed to be.

Went to the park and practiced some short sprints, muscle-ups, levers, skin the cats for about 45 minutes.

Tuesday 6/2/09

Rest day, at work

Vehicle extrication for Spec Ops, was in and out of bunker gear for about 2.5 hours sweating my ass off carrying and manipulating various pieces of heavy equipment simulating cutting entrapped victims out of automobiles. Intensive training, good stuff.

Wednesday 6/3/09

Ah, so the program begins, or re-begins. With a much needed layoff (I feel) I am back (hopefully for good) full throttle into the strength and power stuff again. I'm following Wenler's 5/3/1 program centered around the 4 big lifts: the overhead press, the squat, the bench press, and the deadlift. I took all last week finding my current maxes for each. Today, I started with the press. Of course, the program discusses assistance exercises and such, but I have my own for that. Because the program only requires one lift a day (beautiful) I have so much time for my gymnastic skills and strength moves and some other O'lifts.

I am going to create a template for the different workouts I'm going to be doing. ALL workouts will begin with a warm-up, probably the official crossfit warm-up because it utilizes the most muscle groups through a full range of motion and gets a good sweat going. Warming up is so key, I believe that all of the injuries that I have sustained have been to inefficient warming up. Next will ALWAYS follow skill work. Skill work should be done when fresh so the body does not create bad habits. For instance handstand are part of my skill work. Why would I put them at the end when fatigued from a workout when form will only be sloppy and sub par? After the skill work, the workout begins. It will usually be a planche/front lever static or dynamc, then I will move onto an O'lift such as the clean and jerk or snatch, then one of the BIG lifts (full body compound movement) then the remaining assistance exercises, i.e. RTO dips, weighted dips, OAC/OAP, weighted pull-ups, HSPU's PPPU's, one-arm push-ups, body rows, etc. All workouts will finish with stretching and/or cool down. Today's workout for instance will be called A1 and went as follows:

CFWU X 3 - 25 minutes (a little lengthy today)

Skill work - 20 minutes: handstands and press to handstands on parallettes and ground, flags (side levers) rotating right and left sides.

Workout: Tuck planche holds: 10x6 seconds/Adv. front tuck lever PU's: 2x5, 3x3

Power cleans: warm-ups sets: 1x5 at 115lbs. 1x5 at 135lbs., work sets: 1x5 at 155lbs. 1x5 at 165lbs. 1x5 at 170lbs.

Overhead press: 1x5 at 95lbs. (65%), 1x5 at 110lbs.(75%), 1x8 at 125lbs. (85%)

OAC/OAP: 3x2 each arm, assisted with alternate arm and two fingers offset on the bar, slow negative comedowns

RTO dips: 3x3

Stretch/cool down.

Been away for awhile!

Ouch, well over a month without posting; my apologies. I have been consistent with my workouts. I went on a cardio rampage for about the last month. My elbows and forearms got burned out from too much gymnastics stuff and my programming seemed to be just too much. So, I started doing more kickboxing, shadow boxing, etc. Though I have been working out consistently, my workouts have been... all over the place to say the least; no real structure or organization. I also pulled my trapezius muscle almost two weeks ago and had to take about a week off, (pretty bad injury). I have slowly started to get back into it and slowly is where I think I'm going to keep it. I have started back the gymnastics stuff, some heavy strength stuff and oddly enough, have been hitting a few PR's and feeling pretty damn good. There really is no need to get all crazy with trying to cram too much into one day. I will try and post everyday and stay updated. For now, here's a minor recap over the last few days.

Sunday 5/24/09

Warm-up

Workout: Tabata:
Burpees
Shadow boxing
Double unders
20lb. med ball slams
40lb. one-arm dumbbell swings
Jump rope sprints

Monday 5/25/09

No workout, but I worked in the yard with my wife for almost 4 hours. Uh... it pretty much was a workout.

Tuesday 5/26/09

CFWU X 3

Skill work: approx. 40 minutes of ground L-sits, handstands and flag (side lever work). All are becoming increasingly stronger. Balance of the handstands are becoming more solid. No "real" free standing HSPU's yet, but close.

Wednesday 5/27/09

At work, rest day. I hate rest days like this. Sat around in the recliner all day. Very stiff and very moody; completely unproductive.

Thursday 5/28/09

CFWU X 3

Skill work: Straddle L-sits, handstands (floor and parallettes), flags for about 40 minutes.

Strength Workout: Overhead presses: 1x1 at 115lbs., 1x1 at 125lbs. 1x1 at 135lbs. 1x1 at 145lbs. 1x1 at 155lbs. 1x1 at 165lbs. 1x1 at 170lbs. (PR!) Obviously, these were all singles with approx. 3-4 minutes rest between sets. I was trying to find my 1RM for the possibility of starting the 5/3/1 program... will explain another day.

Friday 5/29/09

CFWU X 3

Skill and strength work: Tuck planche holds: 10x6 seconds, supersetted with Adv. front tuck lever holds: 10x6 seconds.

Back squat: 1x1 at 135lbs. 1x1 at 185lbs. 1x1 at 225lbs. 1x1 at 245lbs. 1x1 at 265lbs. 1x1 at 275lbs. 1x1 at 285lbs. (PR match by self with no spot!) Same as yesterday, trying to find my 1RM for the backsquat. Not bad today.

CF WOD: 30 muscle-ups for time: Mine- 6:31, not a PR for me.

Wednesday 04/22/09

CFWU X 3

Squat: 3-3-3-3-3, My totals were: 135-185-225-245-265, OK

Deadlift: 1-1-1-1-1-1-1, My totals were: 325-335-345-360-370(fail), could not go any further, too sore from yesterday and should not have done with the squats.

First Crossfit workout in 6+months!

Tuesday 04/21/09

Did "Angie" ax rx'd:
100 pull-ups
100 push-ups
100 sit-ups
100 squats

Time: 13:54 seconds

A rough week/weedend

Wednesday 04/15/09

At work, was on jet skis and sleds all day "training" in the Ocean.

Thursday 04/16/09

Paddled out in the ocean EARLY in the morning (was still slightly dark) and watched the sun come up. Paddled for approx. one hour and probably a couple miles.

Hung my 2" diameter, 20ft climbing rope at Station 18 and messed around on it and doing pull-ups on trees and such.

Took Yogi for a walk/sprint at the parkour loop. Did lots of sprints, planches, MU's, levers, handstands and such. This was a really good workout.

Ate lots of pizza for dinner at Renna's (good pizza) and drank too much beer.

Friday 04/17/09

Shadow boxed: 12x3 minute rounds with one minute rest and core work between rounds.

Went to the rock climbing wall. Was very fun, but I was very humbled. My forearms were sore for days.

Ate lots of Mexican and drank lots of beer for lunch. This is where the downward spiral began for the weekend.

Lots of artificial carbs, sugars, candy, etc with dinner and lots of wine tonight. Hard to sleep, feel like crap.

Saturday 04/18/09

Had to take a rest day, WAAAAY LOW ON ENERGY, POOR, POOR, POOR EATING THE TWO NIGHTS BEFORE. I had too much sugar and way too much alcohol, my body is in a complete fog and is completely shut down. This sucks!

Sunday 04/19/09

Surfed for about one and half hours. Not feeling it today.

Kickboxed: 12x3 minute rounds with core work in between rounds.

Ate more crap today/tonight. Too much endurance work is probably fueling the carb binge/overload. Not good. Lots of beer at the Greek Eater festival.

Monday 04/20/09

My own Tabata workout: 20 seconds of intense work, 10 seconds of rest, 4 minutes each exercise.

1.Burpees
2. 20lb. sledgehammer swings on tire.
3. Ground and pound on the heavy bag
4. Double unders
5. 100lb sandbag clean and shoulder
6. punches and kick to hanging heavybag.

This is such a badass workout. I felt better after this. Nutrition is back on track and I am feeling much better. I did some research on fish oil supplements and bought some Carlson's liquid fish oil formula. We'll see how it goes. I'm feeling pretty damn good today. Again, going against the grain is my thing. I know how shitty nutrition makes me feel. I will not fall victim to other people's shit way of eating or pathetic ways of working out. What I do works and this weekend all but proved it. I certainly love to indulge on good beer, wine and crap food from time to time, but this weekend I certainly over did it and my mood and body paid the price. I also smoked too many cigars this week (while at the fire station) something again, I really find no purpose in doing. Back on track now!

Easter Sunday 04/12/09

At work at the station. Took the paddleboard out in the ocean and paddled and swam on and off for about an hour. Played a little bit of b-ball in the bay.

Monday 04/13/09

Kickboxed 12x3 minute rounds with one minute rest between rounds. Core work in between.

Tuesday 04/14/09

PPPU's with feet on wall: 8x3
Adv front tuck lever holds: 8x8 seconds

Deadlifts: Warm-up sets: 1x5 at 135lbs. 1x3 at 225lbs., Work sets: 1x5 at 325lbs. (85% 1RM), 1x3 at 345lbs. (90% 1RM), 1x2 at 365lbs. (95% 1RM)
Box jumps just following deadlifts, nothing too high or spectacular today.

Ring routine: Muscle-up to L-sit, lower legs to support, lower to hanging L, pull to invert, lower to tuck back lever. Each hold was held for 8 seconds.

Handstand and side lever practice. Both felt good today.

... following today's earlier post. Got a lot done today, including working in the yard, lots of weed pulling and tree planting; got extremely dirty, loved it, truly primal. Had lunch and some good IPA! Will be going out with some friends later for food, drinks and a sssshtogie! Uh,..., still no surf in St. Augustine, WTF!

Friday 04/10/09

Kickboxing: 6x5 minute rounds on the heavybag with one minute rest between rounds. Sluggish today, no power behind any of the punches or kicks, basically just a workout to get the kinks out.

Saturday 04/11/09

Shadow kickboxing: 6x5 minute rounds with core work in between. More energy this morning, nice and humid outside so I worked up a good sweat. Fairly fluid kicks and snappy punches, felt good.

Followed this up with a nice HUGE breakfast, good coffee and a mimosa. I work tomorrow so today's my Easter. Will probably demolish some Cadburry Eggs later!

I had planned to head out to the ocean about 0600 this morning, but it was too windy and there's still no waves! Where is the surf? I'm working at the beach tomorrow (Station 9) so I'll probably paddle out before shift, waves or not, we'll see.

Friday 04/10/09

Well, I wish I could say the two days off were nice. But... I'm fairly low on energy today, can't figure out why. Healthy eating the past couple of days and zero workouts, not even stretching. Maybe I need some crap food! I do believe however, that I am possibly "overtrained," or as real HARDCORE fitness fucks would say "underrecovered." Regardless, I'm going to try and take some REAL time off any intense workouts. Due to tendonitis in both elbows and strained forearms from all the gymnastics, I really don't have a choice in the matter. It's to the point where it hurst to lift semi-heavy stuff. Probably stick to running/running sprints, shadow boxing and swimming.

"Be strong to be useful." Erwan Le Corre

I find the above quote better than the now trendy "functional exercise" slogan. "Sooo, your giant green swiss ball is functional?" OK!! Slogans, phrases, workouts, exercises, clothes, slang sayings, etc. become so trendy so fast in today's world, they soon become so dumb too. I'll tie in my heading quote below in a bit.

Well, I haven't posted here in awhile mainly due to laziness. My workouts having been staying fairly consistent but, I am beginning to enter "yet another" CNS burnout/adrenal fatigue. I've went at it pretty hard for the past four straight days (today included) and am looking forward to a two day layoff. Today's workout wasn't really a workout per se, but is something that is becoming the backbone of my fitness/athletic endeavour.

I woke up at 0630 this morning at Station 9 (on the beach in Vilano Beach) and walked over to the boardwalk to watch the sun come up. Beautiful. One hour later after my relief had arrived, I was in the water (water temp.- 68, air temp.- 48) and on one of our paddleboard/rescue boards paddling up the coast. I probably paddled about a half hour, then swam a little. There is something therapeutic about the cold, ocean water on my body, especially that early in the morning. I noticed (as I have times before) that when doing this, all of my senses are working. You can see all the shadows cast by the sun and clouds, you feel the wind and the cold water, you smell the salt, you hear the waves, the ocean, the birds, sometimes the dolphins, and, on rough days, sometimes you even get to taste the salty ocean with a nice mouthful of water. That part sucks. Following this, I drove up to UNF to "run"the trails. Now, when I say run, I don't mean jog, like you would see gerbil imitators doing on a treadmill at your local 24hr fitness. I mean, I RAN, and jumped, and climbed and so on and so forth. I initially only planned on being on the trail for 20-30 minutes but it turned into about an hour and fifteen minute exploration fest. I had no timer, there were no reps and sets, no fixed weight, no bars, no iron, no chalk, no rings, no bags, no gloves, no nothing. It was me and nature. And as I described above about all of the senses working; the woods really brought that into perspective. What I did today was basically a trio/combo of me acting like a four-legged animal, a monkey and a child at play. This kind of natural work/play blows away any fitness routine, regimen one could think of. I'd be willing to put money on that one. I'd like to go into detail and describe to people exactly how pure and natural doing this is, but at this point in time I will not waste my breath. To be simple about it, it's basically parkour in the woods. Running full speed, jumping as high as you can to grab a tree branch, climbing the tree, jumping down (or falling from the tree) and then off on another sprint to the next obstacle. That's only a small sample. I'm sure that most people, if they came across me in the woods and observed me jumping from trees, throwing big rocks, and shadow boxing would probably think "what the hell is this guy doing?" I believe that getting back to nature as I have described above with my early morning ocean spectacle and my trail parkour adventure is for me, the ultimate mind-body connection. I don't think that is something you can find in the gym or even in a yoga or pilates studio with jungle music and spandex on. Maybe some people THINK they can, but I think they're missing some important elements. So, in a sort of concise way, that is my answer to "being strong to be useful." One day, you may have to lift heavy rocks to help free a loved one, or lift heavy sandbags to ready your home for an incoming hurricane or flood. You may have to fight off a predator in an alley and then sprint to safety. You may even have to climb something, again to escape some impending doom. All of these which I mentioned, you and I would never do at a "steady state" treadmill pace, nor a "let me stand here and curl my 50lbs. 10 times pace." Be strong to be useful, for yourself and for others.

Tuesday 04/07/09

I think I basically described this above, but...

30 minutes of paddling in the ocean, followed by a brief swim.

1 hr 15 minutes (approx) of trail/woods sprinting, jumping, climbing, walking, slower running, balancing and general human movement, ducking, squatting, lunging, hurdling, shadow boxing, etc. The UNF trail now actually has a "parkour" loop of various bodyweight stations; i.e. pull-up/push-up bars and such. Of course, I utilized these. I also did a muscle up on a really thick tree branch.

Monday 04/06/09

At work at the station but got a good workout in.

Adv front tuck lever PU's: 6x5
Tuck planche holds: 10x6 seconds
55lb. dumbbell swings (one arm): 4x5

Band assisted OAC/OAP: 3x3 (each arm)
Block assisted one-arm push-ups: 3x5 each arm

Tuck back lever holds: 8x8 seconds
L-sits on the ground: 8x8 seconds

Sunday 04/05/09

Practiced handstands and flags. Handstands are becoming more solid. I am actually starting to feel the flag position. I held it for one second today.

Adv. front tuck lever holds: 8x8 seconds
PPPU's with feet on wall: 6x3
Standing wheel rollouts: 3x6,1x5 last set was one short, back started to hurt, overworked.

L-pull-ups from rope and square bar with 45lb weighted vest on: 3x5
RTO Dips: 3x3

Tuck back lever holds: 8x8 seconds
V-sits: 8x8 seconds

Saturday 04/04/09

MMA style kickboxing, bag lifting, bag "ground and pound" work: 6x5 minute rounds with 1 minute rest between.

Friday 04/03/09

Rest day, at work at the station.

Thursday 04/02/09

Shadow kickboxed: 12x3 minute rounds with one minute rest between. The one minute was spent on ab and lower back work.

Wednesday 04/01/09

Rest day. Up all night from a structure fire at 0300 this morning.

Tuesday 03/31/09

Rest day, at work at the fire station.

Monday 03/30/09

Boxed: 12x3 minute rounds with one minute rest between. The one minute was spend doing ab and lower back work.

Falling behind

I haven't updated here in almost 2 weeks. I've been busy at work and with other miscellaneous stuff. I will try to post later this evening.

Getting back to BASICS

So, I watched Glen Beck again yesterday, (he and Bill O'Reily are my media role models) where he interviewed Dr. Drew Pinsky, (another, seems to be cool, down-to-earth guy). I'm not going to go in depth about the interview but rather just hit on one point. Dr. Drew spoke about how this country needs to "get back to the basics," and how our culture, in so many words is simply "lost." This truly is sad...and true. "What basics are you speaking of?," one might ask. How about core family values. Parents are afraid to be parents. They'd rather be "friends" to their children and be considered "cool and hip" rather than lay down some authority and guidance. Kids have enough friends, what they need are some good role models and mentors, hence GOOD PARENTING! I was/am fortunate in this department. My parents are good people and did a good job raising my brother and I. Did I turn out perfect? Fuck no! Did my folks make mistakes? You bet. But, as a whole, the four of us stuck to the basics and got shit done. I'll take a break for a moment to lay out my "ideal" basics list, not in any particular order and for both parents and kids:

Love, talk, and read to your kids, from day one.

Eat dinner as a family and discuss the day. Pretty simply, right?

At some point, turn off the goddamn T.V...and limit the video games (or just break the console altogether).

Have a hobby; play an instrument, dance, sing, play a sport, work with wood (for boys, not your own), work on cars, etc.

Get the FUCK OUTSIDE and kick around a ball or something. (I don't believe in Global Warming, I don't think the ozone layer is depleting that fast and I don't think that sunlight is all that bad for you. Don't believe everything you hear.) Al Gore is a tool.

Stop eating crap, i.e. processed foods, sodas, etc. People need to learn (and know) that eating clean really can make everything in your life easier. I don't care what infomercial your currently "attached" to late at night, uh "P90X," you have to transform yourself from the inside out. This starts with good, healthy food; lots of vegetables, fruit, meat, chicken, fish, eggs, nuts, seeds...you get the picture.

Exercise, or just get active. I hate gyms, but if you like em, utilize em. Personally, I think that spinning your legs on a stationary bicycle or running (for any length of time) on a treadmill is artificial and to put it bluntly, fucking stupid. The only thing running a marathon is good for is... well, running a marathon. To get away from the enemy, our Army guys, Navy SEALs, etc. are not going to run at a 6:00 minute/mile pace over a perfectly flat surface. When hunting Saber tooth Tigers thousands of years ago, our ancestors did not "pace themselves" during the chase. On a side note, I also don't believe that the previous mentioned groups lifted "light, pink and purple dumbbells" for excessive reps either. So, what am I trying to say? If you're going to run, run fast and run hard and don't do it for long time. If you want some good, natural cardio, then walk or ride a bike, but for God sakes, do it outside. Oh, and yeah, lift some heavy shit, that goes for women too. No, you're not going to get big and bulky, that's a "busted myth" from like the 80s and 90s.

Smile, help others, and be nice to people. Your day is not any worse than anybody else's.

There's so much more that I could add to this list, but I believe if people can at least get these down, other elements of their life may just be able to fall into place. Not so hard, huh? Well, obviously it is, because we're "discussing" it on the news now, which I guess makes it an issue. If we all, as Americans and as a society can quit bitching and complaining about how are lives suck and start focusing on what's important (THE BASICS), we may just be able to pull ourselves out of this cultural/economical/emotional/whateverelseical you can think of rut. Yes, their certainly are people who have the right to complain more than others. If you've lost your job, your retirement, (been fucked by Maidoff), you certainly have the right to complain. But, if you still have a job, a home, and are generating an income to pay for that home, food, or some nights out on the town, your life doesn't suck that much and you should feel fortunate.

Wednesday 03/18/09

Worked out while I worked on the computer.

Tuck front lever holds: 8x8 seconds

PPPU's with feet on wall: 6x3

Ring rows with 45lbs. weighted vest (strong, explosive pull with slow negative): 3x5

One-arm push-ups: 3x5 each arm (assisted)

Tuck back lever holds: 8x8 seconds
L-sits on ground: 8x8 seconds

Pistols: 1x5 at bodyweight, 1x5 at 35lbs., 1x3 at 53lbs. 2x2 at 72lbs. (all sets and reps are for each leg and holding a kettlebell)

Nutrition

Breakfast: 3 hard boiled eggs and a couple handfuls of almonds and walnuts.

Lunch: Spinach and mixed green salad with raw broccoli, various colored peppers, tomatoes, black olives, feta cheese, and grilled chicken.

Dinner: Chicken Bryan (ours is better than Carraba's), broccoli, mashed red potatoes, a whole bottle of red wine and dark chocolate covered strawberries for dessert. GOOD STUFF!

New thoughts

Ok, a couple of weeks ago I posted "some thoughts" on what I was/am going to concentrate on. Well, yet again, things have changed. I think I will drop the O'lifts at least for now. I'm still learning how to put my training into perspective on what matters to me the most. First, is feeling good, springy and full of energy everyday (at least most days) and remaining injury free. I'm not a professional athlete, there is no reason for me to push my body in a non-smart abusive way. Sometimes, there's too much "going on." Every time I turn around or read another blog or forum, someone is posting that "you must SQUAT, or you must DEADLIFT, or you must do PULL-UPS." YOU, must shut the fuck up and stop trying to impose. I wrote before about this; about getting caught up in other peoples suggestions, advice, recommendations, etc. etc. Most of these people probably don't know half of what they're talking about and probably don't even do half of what they're suggesting. Do what you want to do and what's important to you right now. But, see it through, as you'll never make progress by constantly going from what thing to the next without progressing on one thing first.

What's important to me now:

Feeling full of energy and being injury free
Getting back to nature: sprinting barefoot, jumping, rolling, climbing, swimming, hiking, surfing, rock climbing
Gymnastic progressions: for me, that's the full front lever/front lever pull-ups, full planche/planche push-ups(this will take a while for me, I must be patient), 10 free standing HSPU's, the "flag"/side lever/side lever push-ups, full back lever, OAC/OAP
Deadlifting 500lbs. and increasing sprint speed.

Yes, this list is in order of preferance and importance. I believe everybody should have goals and write them down. I am trying to get better at this.

...been lazy

Shit, this sucks! I haven't posted in a while and have forgotten a lot of my workouts. I will try to do somewhat of a recap.

Sunday 03/08/09

Went to the beach with friends and surfed for about 3 hours (yes, I was literally in the water for 3 hours, great fun, great workout)! Drank some good beer, 2 Modelo Negros, 2 Dog Fisheads, good stuff. Later in the evening, my mom and dad took my wife and I to dinner (my birthday is March 10th) to Maggiano's. Drank some wine, ate good food, and ate lots of cake and ice cream. Today was a really, really good day.

Monday 03/09/09

I can't remember the entirety of this workout, but I do remember deadlifting and I remember doing too much deadlifting too soon. I had to cut the deadlift sets to only 4, which is OK anyway.
I also did some pressing and believe I stalled at 160lbs. today, just no energy (and probably not enough recovery to lift the weight). Played with some gymnastics.

Tuesday 03/10/09 My 29th birthday, holy shit, one more year till I'm 30, fuck!

At work, rest today, more cake and ice cream.

Wednesday 03/11/09

Played around with some gymnastics and did 10 - 15 second sprints out in a field with some handstands/handwalking, and pull-ups/muscle-ups/ninja warior type work. Muscle-up to L-sit, lower to support, lower to L-hang, pull to invert, lower to tuck front lever: 8x8 seconds in each hold.

CNS is fried. My mood is down, my body is beat up and the night sweats are starting to slowly creep back due to my overtraining. Time to ease off again.

Thursday 03/12/09
Easy day, walked the dog, light work, can't recall too much of what I did. Planks, and pull-up work.

Friday 03/13/09

Rest day, at work.

Saturday 03/14/09

Warm-up

Tuck planche holds: 10x6 seconds
Front tuck lever PU's: 5x5
72lb. kettlebell swings: 5x5

Full ROM HSPU's: 1x5, 2x3
L-pull-ups: 3x5

Sunday 03/15/09

My own Tabata metcon: 20 seconds of intense work, followed by 10 seconds of rest, for 8 intervals for a total of 4 minutes for each exercise. The exercises were:

1. Sprint in place jump rope, (forward and backward).
2. Sledgehammer swings on the BIG TIRE, (rotate sides).
3. "Ground and pound" on the 85lb. heavy bag on the floor.
4. Double unders
5. 100lb. sandbag shoulder clean and jerks
6. Heavybag kicks, punches, knees and elbows.

Tuck front lever holds: 8x8 seconds
PPPU's with feet on wall: 6x3

Monday 03/16/09

Rest day, at work.

Tuesday 03/17/09 St. Patrick's day!

Warm-up with muscle-ups, pull-ups, push-ups, back extensions, GHD sit-ups, etc.

Skill work of flags (side levers), and handstands.

Workout:

Tuck planche holds: 10x6 seconds
Front tuck lever PU's: 6x5
One-arm wheel rollouts from knees: 4x5

RTO Dips: 3x3
One-arm chin negative come downs: 3x3 each arm

Straddle L-sits: 8x8 seconds
Tuck back lever holds: 8x8 seconds

Took the dog for a walk/sprint. Lots of sprints, jumps, parkour rolls, a really fun and primal activity.

Feeling a little beat up after the workout today. Took a nap after the workout and lunch. I got up twice last night to run calls. Forearms and inside of elbows feel wrecked. Felt groggy after the nap.

Nutrition was good today (as always).
BREAKFAST: Hard boiled eggs and walnuts and almonds for breakfast (my quick breakfast)
LUNCH: HUGE SALAD for lunch: spring mix lettuce, spinach, raw broccoli, tomatoes, red, orange, yellow and green peppers, feta cheese and grilled chicken, (I basically eat this salad everyday).
DINNER: Grilled steak and meatloaf, and three big beer mugs of Guinness. Hey, it's St Patty's day!

Cardio sucks!

...well not entirely. My thoughts, since REALLY cutting out cardio (or endurance based training): I feel better when I lift heavy, when I lift explosive, when I run fast, and when I throw my bodyweight around like it's nothing. I love how all of these help me to feel better throughout the day and make other things easier, like surfing, playing, etc. Hence, my workout program is mainly based on the following:

Powerlifting (aka, lifting heavy shit): Deadlifts, squats (back, front OHS and one-leg), presses (maybe bench presses one day)

Olympic lifting (aka, explosively lifting semi-heavy shit): Power cleans, Power snatches, clean and jerks, full snatches

Gymnastics: planches, levers, handstands, presses, etc.

Plyometrics: sprinting, max box jumps and verticals, broad jumps, depth jumps, medicine ball throws, etc.

Metcon: Maybe some boxing from time to time, maybe a CFish metcon (every once in a great while)

Friday 03/06/09

Warmed-up by cleaning out my garage for about 5 hours.

One-arm barbell press: 1x5 at 45lbs. each arm, 1X3 at 45lbs., 1x3 at 55lbs., 1x2 at 60lbs.

Front squats: 1x3 at 135lbs., 1x3 at 185lbs., 1x2 at 205lbs., 1x1 at 225lbs. (PR) never front squated before.

Power clean and jerks: 1x5 at 135lbs., 1x3 at 155lbs., 1x2 at 175lbs., 1x1 at 185lbs., 1x1 at 195lbs.

PPPU's with feet on wall: 8x3
Adv front tuck lever holds: 8x8 seconds

Ring rows with 45lbs. weighed vest (strong explosive pull, with slow negative): 3x5

Thursday 03/05/09

Surfing for one hour at Vilano Beach. Water temp was 57 degrees. NICE!

Slight warm-up with handstands, pull-ups, muscle-ups, etc.

(Press strength) Full ROM HSPU's: 1x5 head to ground (not full ROM), 1X4 on bricks, 2X2 hands on parallettes
(Press plyometric) 20lb. medicine ball chest thrusts while lying flat on ground: 4x5

(Pull strength) Deadlift: warm-up with 1x3 at 135lbs., 1x3 at 225lbs., Work sets: 1x3 at 315lbs., 1x3 at 335lbs. 1x2 at 355lbs., 1x1 at 375lbs. (PR)
(Jump plyos) One leg box jumps: 4x3 each leg to 24" box, 1x3 to 25", 1x3 to 26"

Tuck planche holds: 10x6 seconds
Tuck back levers: 8x8 seconds
One-arm wheel rollouts: 3x5 each arm

Burgener warm-up, and then some snatch practice with pvc pipe, 45lbs. barbell and finally 65lbs. NEED MORE WORK. I really want to get good at the O'lifts.

Rest day, at work.

Monday 03/02/09

Warm-up with hollow rock and hollow arches: 3x15 of each. GHD sit-ups and GHD back extensions: 3x15 of each, some pull-ups, handstands and overs and unders

(Push strength) Shoulder press: 1x3 at 135lbs., 1x3 at 145lbs., 1x2 at 155lbs., 1x2 at 165lbs., 1x1 at 170lbs. (failed twice) 170 is my 1RM for the shoulder press
(Push plyometric)20lb. medicine ball chest throw at heavy bag: 5x5

(Pull strength) Deadlift: 1x3 at 315lbs., 2x3 at 335lbs., 2x2 at 355lbs. 370 is my 1RM for the deadlift
(Jump plyometrics) Depth box jumps: 5x5

5 minutes rest between all exercises

Various tuck planche holds: 8x8 seconds
Hanging leg raises: 3x10 BW, 3x5 with 10lbs. (total on ankles)

Handstands

Tuesday 03/03/09

Tuck front lever holds: 8x8 seconds

PPPU's with feet on wall: 6x3

One-arm push-ups: 3x5

Tuck front lever PU's: 6x5

Back squats: 1x3 at 225lbs., 1x3 at 245lbs., 1x2 at 265lbs., 1x2 at 275lbs., 1x1 at 285lbs. 285lbs. is my 1RM for the back squat
Standing, two leg vertical jumps: 5x5

V-sits: 8x8 seconds
Tuck back levers: 8x8 seconds

Handstands

Saturday 02/28/09

Over and under warm-ups, some pull-ups and handstands

Workout

PPPU' with feet on wall: 2x5 with hands flat on floor, 2x3 with hands on parallettes, 1X1 (attempted straddle), 1x3 with hands flat on floor.
Plyometric explosive push ups: 2x5, 2x3, 1x2 Rested five minutes between sets (after plyo's)

Pistols: 1X5 at BW, 2x3 at 53lbs., 2x2 at 72lbs.
Box jumps: 1x5 at approx. 38 inches, 2x3 at approx. 43 inches, 2x2 at 47 inches (and some misses) 5 minutes rest between sets.

Adv. front tuck lever holds: 8x8 seconds
L-sits on ground: 8x8 seconds

Held a straddle front lever for approx. 1 second, NICE!

Sunday 03/01/09

Rest day, at work.

Rollercoaster of a week!

Yep, as the title states, that's basically what it's been for me. Maybe I was (possibly am) suffering from burnout; job related, work related, hell, maybe even life related! I've always (almost always anyways) prided myself on being a positive person. Lately, I have found myself being the opposite. For the most part, my mood is good, but when it's bad, it's bad, and I really don't like myself. A few things that I think may be contributing: First, TOO MUCH DAMN SPARE TIME! Oh, don't be fooled, you read that right. You see, I'm a firefighter/paramedic and have the luxury of working 24hr shifts with 48hrs off, a great schedule. The problem is that when I'm at work and not running calls, I'm doing the exact same thing I do at home, sit in the recliner, watch T.V., maybe read, maybe get up and stretch or even workout a little. I know, I know, I could be training right, doing something productive toward the job, yeah, whatever, that's all well and good, and we do a lot of that, physical training, fire training, EMS training, etc. etc. Most of the time though, it is BUSY work, boring, mundane busy work. Believe it or not, I actually like it when my day starts off with a bang and we're knocking off calls left and right. What I hate, is not running any calls all day, then getting some BS call at dinner time or right before or during bed. But hey, that's the nature of the business and the profession that at this current time, I have chosen. I try REAL HARD not to complain, because I hate whiners, so why become one? My father was right however about this, "Idleness is the devil's workshop." That statement is so true. I truly believe that evil stems from sitting around doing nothing and constantly being unproductive in society. As I've said before, I'm not a staunch, right-wing Republican nor am I a loony, left-wing Democrat, but hey, fuck you socialists!

Which brings me to my next, kinda, sorta burnout, the shitty economy. Ok, maybe not that shitty (this country has seen worse), but shitty enough for me to first handedly see the effects. I, personally, am grateful that I have a job and am fortunate to collect a paycheck, but paying the bills has become somewhat harder. Harder even still, is watching and knowing that my parents and in-laws who have spent far more time at this game of life than I, are slowly losing their retirement and are having to "make rearrangements." That sucks, they shouldn't have to do that. They should be looking forward to the day they retire and excited to move on to the next half of life, the half of life that I continue to think for myself, will be better than this one, even though I'm in my youth.

And finally, my workouts. Yep, they've been sucking lately, and really this is the one area that I have the most control over yet repeatedly continue to ignore my body and push through fatigue (not the good fatigue) and pain. As a result, I've had to take some days off from various movements and progressions. Did me some good though, but, I'd rather do a little each day, have fun, and not suffer the mood swings that accompany chronic pain, fatigue and burnout. I dabbled in a workout this past Monday while at work, it sucked. Tuesday, I hit it fairly hard but was unmotivated and it as not fun, hence, it sucked. Did a light, "loosening up" workout on Wednesday, getting better. Thursday, at work and rested, good day. And today, was probably one of the best workout days I've had in a while. Again, as I've said before, I will be changing some things.

Monday 2/23/09

At work, messed around with pull-ups, inverted PU's, some handstands, some levers, that's it really. Not very productive and not very good. I'm done working out at work.

Tuesday 2/24/09

Gymnastic progressions

PPPU's with feet on wall: 6x5
Adv front tuck lever PU's: 8x8 seconds
Standing wheel rollouts, Standing one-arm wheel rollouts with assistance.

Full ROM HSPU's on parallettes:3x2
L-sit PU's: 3x5

V-sits: 8x8 seconds
Tuck back lever holds: 8x8 seconds

Unmotivated and I hurt, uncomfortable.

Wednesday 2/25/09

Boxed 6 - 5 minute rounds (MMA style) core work beforehand. A nice, loosening up workout.

Thursday 2/26/09

Rest day, at work. Needed this

Friday 2/27/09

Ah, yes, the ultimate, natural workout! Surfed, with my buddy Pete, in cold-ass water for approx. 3 hours. Caught some great waves today. Later in the day did:

...kind of a Barry Ross "speed workout."

Kettlebell one-arm press: 1x3 at 53lbs. 1x3 at 58lbs., 1x3 at 63lbs., 1x1 at 65.5 lbs. 5 minutes rest between sets

Deadlifts: 1x5 at 300lbs., 1x3 at 315lbs., 1x2 at 330lbs., 1x1 at 355lbs., 1x1 at 370lbs. (PR) 5 minutes rest between sets.

Standing wheel rollouts: 4x5

Played around with handstands and front levers, almost can hold a straddle front lever, after taking 4 days off.

Upon completion of this workout, I felt so invigorated and fresh. WOW, today was a good day, but an even better end to a roller coaster of a week!

Week 3 of cycle 2 complete

Monday 2/16/09

25-30 minutes of handstand and flag practice

One-arm push ups: 3x5 each arm
One-arm ring rows: 3x5 each arm

Tuck planche holds: 8x8 seconds
Adv. front tuck lever pull-ups: 6x5

Tuck back lever holds: 8x8 seconds
Floor L-sits: 8x8 seconds

Tuesday 2/17/09

Rest day, at work.

Wednesday 2/18/09

25-30 minutes of handstand and flag practice

Full ROM HSPU's on bricks: 3x5
Weighted chins/pulls: 1x5 at 50lbs. 1x4 at 85lbs., 1x2 at 110lbs.

PPPU's with feet on wall: 6x3
Adv. front tuck lever holds: 8x8 seconds

Muscle-up to L-sit on rings (hold 8 seconds), lower legs to support (hold 8 seconds, lower to L-hang (hold 8 seconds), pull to inverted hang, lower to tuck front lever (hold for a seconds or two). Rested approx. 2-3 minutes between each set, repeated 8 times.

10x100m sprints barefoot in the grass at UNF with 5 minutes rest between. Practiced free standing handstands.

Thursday 2/19/09

RTO dip: 3x3
OAC/OAP (assisted): 3x2 each arm

Tuck planche holds: 8x8 seconds
Adv front tuck lever PU's: 6x5

Straddle L-sits: 8x8 seconds
Tuck back lever holds: 8x8 seconds

Back squats: 1x3 at 45lbs. 1x3 at 95lbs., 1x3 at 135lbs. 1x3 at 185lbs., 1x3 at 225lbs. 1x3 at 245lbs.

Friday 2/20/09

At work, shitty workout! Interrupted by numerous BS calls.

PPPU's with feet on wall: 8x3
Adv. front tuck lever holds: 8x8 seconds
(ran a couple of calls)

Inverted PU's on PU bar: 3x5, clapping and switch grip pull-ups: 3x6
PPPU's with feet on bench and hands on parallettes: 3x5, explosive push-ups from floor, hands land on bench: 3x3
(ran some more calls)

Muscle-ups to support on bar, bend arms slightly and lower to L-sit (hold 8 seconds) lower to hang, tuck pull to tuck back lever (hold for 8 seconds). Repeat for 8 sets.

Saturday 2/21/09

Rest day, at home. Some foam rolling and lots of sleep.

Sunday 2/22/09

Warm-up with GHD sit-ups and back extensions: 4x15 of each, jump rope 4x100 turns (twice forward, twice backward)

Shadow box/kickbox: 6x5 minute rounds with one minute rest between rounds. During the minute, did hollow rocks and archer rocks for a total of 3x20 of each.

Walked with my wife and puppy for approx. 1.5hrs. Lots of steady walking, lots of sprints and fooled around on some monkey bars and pull-ups bars. I need to do more of this. PRIMAL!

Week 3 is in the books. I had to take off the weekend and some extra days from handstand work and the gymnastics. My forearms, wrists, and elbows feel destroyed and overworked.

Be your OWN person.

Be your own person. It's that simple yet THAT hard to do. That's basically what Hannity said today on "The Hannity Show." No, I'm not an avid Hannity follower and no, I'm not a right wing conservative who is part of the "conservative underground" either. But, I do think Hannity is an intelligent man/journalist and I like to listen to what intelligent people have to say, whether I agree with them or not. Today, I happened to agree with Hannity. He talked about how the people of yesteryear, our founding fathers, the pilgrims, the goldrushers, etc., all came to this country with a dream, a dream of freedom and prosperity. They risked so many things, sometimes risking their lives. They came to this country without the promise of money/wealth, medical insurance, etc. They believed in themselves and that's it. They worked hard. Hannity explained how in this day and age we, as Americans don't have that drive and we are mislead by our "leaders." We think that everything should be handed to us, without any hard work put forth. We seek advice from so-called leaders who are no better of than us. We seek information on the Internet, "the endless search" trying to find the answers to...well, everything. What we don't realize is that the answer lies in each of us. We have the power TO DO anything we want. I truly believe this. The "DOING" is what separates the "haves from the have nots," or better put, the doers and the don'ters" <-(my new word). I want to do and to have, I want to know, and I want to be... I want to BE my OWN person. I too, fall victim to this, we all do, even the greatest. I love health, fitness, athletics, etc. I'm strong, fast, agile and I will always be a student of "the game." Sometimes I find myself searching for answers that I all ready know. I know I need to eat healthy, but do I REALLY need my diet to be that perfect all the time? Do I really need to perform exercise X for Y reps, because some "guru" says that's the rule. No, I don't and neither does anybody else. Some advice is great, some is not. Decipher what is good, take it, apply it, and move on. Next time, YOU give the advice. I love learning but I hate following. I like creating. I like taking samples, putting them together and creating "my own thing." I like being my own person. I encourage everybody to do and be this...sometimes I even have to encourage myself when I feel like I'm searching in the wrong places and listening to the wrong people. And speaking of being healthy, I'm making homemade pizza and drinking Stella Artois beer with my wife tonight, screw healthy!

End of week two!

Sunday 02/15/09
Warm-up with PVC pipe shoulder dislocates and snatch practice. Did some bar muscle-ups and hollow rocks and arch rocks

Skills:
10 minutes of handstand practice facing wall, was able to knock out a couple of freestanding HSPU's. 10 minutes of side lever (flag) practice

Workout:
Adv. front tuck lever holds: 8x8 seconds
PPPU's with feet on wall: 6x5

PPPU's on rings with feet on plyo box: 3x5
Inverted PU's on rings: 3x5, lower to front lever with one leg extending on last rep of each set.

Tuck back lever holds: 8x8 seconds
Roll to straddle L-sits on the floor: 8x4

Shoulder press: 1x3 at 45lbs., 1x3 at 95lbs., 1x3 at 115lbs., 1x3 at 135lbs., 1x1 at 155lbs., 1x1 at 160lbs.

Tuesday 02/10/09

PPPU's (with feet on wall): 6x3
Adv. tuck front lever holds: 8x8 seconds
hollow rocks and archer rocks: 4x15 of each

One-arm push-ups (assisted): 3x5 each arm
One-arm ring rows (assisted): 3x5 each arm

Straddle L-sits: 8x8 seconds
Tuck back lever holds: 8x8 seconds

Back Squat: 1x3 at 95lbs., 1x3 at 135lbs., 1x3 at 185lbs., 1x3 at 225lbs., 1x3 at 255lbs.

Handstand practice

Wednesday 02/11/09

Rest day... kind of. I was at work and had marine rescue training at the pool and did lots of swimming. My shoulder felt tired and worn by the end of the day.

Thursday 02/12/09

Handstand practice and straight-arm press-to-handstand practice

Warm-up with PVC pipe snatch practice, Burgener Warm-up, back extensions and GHD sit-ups

Full ROM HSPU's: 3x5
L-sit PU's with 45lb weighted vest (various hand positions): 3x5

PPPU's (feet on wall): 6x3
Adv front tuck lever holds: 8x8 seconds

Muscle-up to L-sit hold for 8 seconds, lower to support, lower to L-sit hang, pull to inverted hang, lower to adv. tuck back lever, hold for 8 seconds, pull to adv front tuck lever and drop.

Snatch: 1x5 with bar (45lbs.), 3x3 at 65lbs. Very sloppy. This was more just a way of getting acclimated to the snatch. I would like to get to where I'm snatching a significant amount of weight, but this is a very technical move and is going to take some practice and consistency. The little work that I did do felt so good though. Just forcing my body into the correct position made me extremely sore the next day; good sore though.

Friday 02/13/09

I received my "Tiger Paw" wrist guards in the mail last night, they work great. My wrists felt strong and were without pain during Friday's workout. All movements and holds felt really strong.

Warm-up: 3x10 Glute-ham raises supersetted with Hanging leg raises (HLR): 3x5. I overdid the GHR's. I'm showing too much hypertrophy in my legs as a result. At least I proved to myself that I can do 10 of these with no problem. I'll probably add weight and do like 2-3 sets of 2-3 reps as an assistance exercise to bring up my deadlift numbers and increase sprint speed.


Bar muscle-up practice (felt good and easy; I will be practicing these everyday). Parallette handstand practice and side lever practice. Side levers weren't too bad today. I need to practice these while fresh and I have to remember to consciously PRESS HARD with the bottom arm and PULL HARD with the top arm.

PPPU's (feet on wall): 6x3 (REALLY strong today, I was actually able to press up and bring my feet slightly off the wall.
Adv front tuck lever holds: 8x8 seconds
One arm wheel rollouts (kneeling): 3x3 each arm (felt strong)

RTO dips: 3x3
OAC/OAP: 3x2 (each arm, with opposing arm holding on to side of power rack about chest high)

V-sits: 8x8 seconds
Tuck back lever holds: 8x8 seconds

Power clean and jerks: 1x5 at 95lbs., 1x3 at 135lbs., 1x3 at 165lbs. (BW), 1x2 at 185lbs.
Clean and jerk: 1x3 at 135lbs.

Good, strong workout. However, like I said above, a little hypertrophy in the legs. All weighted exercises I have to remember have to be low, low, low sets and reps for max strength and max power.

02/14/09

At work, rest day. Not like Wednesday's rest day. Today, I will do nothing.

Week one of second 8 weeks complete

Friday 02/06/09

30 minutes of handstand practice

HSPU's (full ROM): 5x3 on bricks
L-sit PU's with 45lbs. weighted vest (various grips): 5x3

PPPU's with feet on wall: 6x3
Front tuck lever holds: 8x8 seconds
Hollow rock and archer rocks: 4x15 of each

V-sits: 8x8 seconds
Adv. tuck back levers: 8x8 seconds

Saturday 02/07/09

Extensive warm-up of jump rope, GHD sit-ups and back extensions and shoulder dislocates.

RTO dips: 3x3
OAP/OAC (assisted with opposing arm approx stomach high): 3x3 each arm

Tuck planche holds: 8x8 seconds
Tuck front lever PU's: 6x5
Back extensions on GHD holding 45lb plate: 4x6

Strict muscle-up to L-sit, hold for 8 seconds, lower legs to support, drop down to hanging L-sit, pull with straight arms and straight legs to inverted hang, tuck legs and lower to an adv. tuck back lever, hold for 8 seconds. These were potent and f*****g awesome to say the least.

Sunday 02/08/09

Boxed 3 - 12 minute rounds with core work in between. Drank too much last night but I believe this workout would have sucked regardless. The boxing was too much for wrists and forearms today. Hurt

Monday 02/09/09

30 minutes of handstands: 15 minutes on the parallettes with some L-sit to bent arm presses to handstands. 15 minutes of handstand facing wall and rolling out. I also spent 5 of those minutes working straight-arm press to handstands with my shoulder into the wall for support. WOW, I GOT A FEW. That was a real confidence booster, I am definitely making progress.

PPPU's on rings: 3x5
Inverted PU's on rings: 3x5 (pulled up, held, slowly lowered)

Tuck planche holds: 8x8 seconds (I was supposed to do the PPPU's with feet on the wall. Oh well, it's been a long weekend!)
Tuck front lever PU's: 6x5
Standing wheel rollouts: 4x6 (getting easier)

Tuck back lever holds: 8x8 seconds (I extended to a full back lever, HOLY SHIT, I can do this now!!!)
Glute-ham raises: 5x5 (I definitely feel these in my hamstrings, but they're not that hard.)

Deadlifts: 1x3 at 135lbs., 1x3 at 185lbs. Work sets: 1x3 at 225lbs., 1x3 at 265lbs., 1x3 at 305lbs., 1x3 at 325lbs., 1x3 at 335lbs., 1x2 at 345lbs. (left hand underhand), 1x2 at 350lbs. (right hand underhand)
One-arm KB presses: 1x5 at 35lbs., 1x5 at 40lbs., 1x5 at 50lbs., 1x3 at 53lbs., 1x3 at 58lbs., 1x3 at 60.2lbs., 1x3 at 63lbs.

10 - 100m sprints in the grass (but with shoes on) with 5 minutes rest between. The 5 minutes was spent doing free standing handstands and press to handstands. I also did some L-sits: 8x8 seconds with various hand positions.

Longer times, harder progressions

Wednesday 02/04/09

One-arm push-ups: 3x3 (elevated)
One-arm rows: 3x5 (each arm)

Tuck planche holds: 8x8 seconds
Adv flat front tuck lever PU's: 6x5

L-sits on floor: 8x8 seconds
Flat tuck back lever holds: 8x8 seconds

Strong work today. I have to keep reminding myself that I'm only two months in to a consistent gymnastics program and the results are going to come... but slowly. It can be frustrating at times.

Thursday 02/05/09

Rest day, at work.

8 week cycle complete!

Tuesday 02/03/09

PPPU's on rings: 3x5
Inverted PU's on rings: 3x5

PPPU's: 6x5
Front tuck lever holds: 10x6 seconds
One-arm wheel rollout from knees: 4x3 (each arm)

Straddle L-sits: 10x6 seconds
Tuck back lever holds: 10x6 seconds

Pistols: 1x5 at bodyweight, 1x5 at 17lbs., 1x5 at 35 lbs., 1x3 at 53lbs., 1x3 at 72lbs. (each leg, holding kettlebells)

Sprint 400m one time: Time: 1:04 (not bad)
Sprint 300m two times
Sprint 200m three times
Sprint 50m four times

I rested 5 minutes between EACH sprint and during that time practiced free standing handstands. This workout was very tough today. It was cold and I was kind of tired. But, all was good. I finished the 8 week gymnastics cycle today so now I have to figure out what progressions to move on to. I was planning on starting tomorrow but I injured my left tricep today when I tried to do handstand pushups on the rings and toppled over busting my ass. I'll see how I feel in the morning.

Friday 01/30/09

RTO Dips: 3x3
OAP/OAC: 3X3 each arm

PPPU's: 6x5
Front tuck lever holds: 10x6 seconds
Hollow rock and archer rocks: 4x15 of each

V-sits: 10x6 seconds
Back lever holds: 10x6 seconds

Saturday 01/31/09

Full ROM HSPU's: 3x3 on bricks and parallettes
L-sit PU's: 3x3 (various grips)

Tuck planche holds: 10x6 seconds
Tuck front lever PU's: 6x3

Muscle-up to L-sits: 10x6 seconds
Back lever holds: 10x6 seconds

KB presses: 1x5 at 35lbs., 1x5 at 40lbs. 1x5 at 50lbs., 1x3 at 53lbs., 1x3 at 58lbs., 1x3 at 60.5lbs.
Deadlifts: 1x2 at 135lbs., 1x1 at 185lbs., 1x1 at 245lbs., 1x1 at 275lbs., 1x1 at 305lbs., 1x1 at 330lbs., (left hand underhand) 1x1 at 345lbs., (right hand underhand)(PR)

Sunday 02/01/09

Boxed 12 - 3 minute rounds with one minute rest between rounds.

Monday 02/02/09

Rest day, at work. Engineers exam.

Not a bad week. The barefoot sprints in the grass at UNF were the best part of the week and left me feeling great. I did PR on my max deadlift single, so that's good. The boxing workout on Sunday sucked; it was cold and I was hungover, not fun. I'm going to keep boxing as my "after a drinking or bad eating night" workout just to sweat the crap out. Other than that, again, lots of gymnastics (going to start getting really specific with the holds and dynamic movements), lots of heavy lifting (deads, single-leg squats and power cleans/jerks, and presses), and yes, lots of sprinting. I will finish the last day of the 8-week gymnastics cycle tomorrow and will figure out where to go from there.

Saturday 01/24/09

Rest day, but... had to swim for Marine Rescue training. The water was cold (60 degrees) but I had a wetsuit on and swam multiple laps and practiced multiple drills. Good workout and fun.

Sunday 01/25/09

Boxed 12 - 3 minute rounds with core work in between rounds.

Monday 01/26/09

Tuck front lever PU's: 6x3 seconds
Tuck planche holds: 10x6 seconds
GHD Sit-ups and back extensions: 4x15 of each

Back lever holds: 10x6 seconds
L-sits on the floor: 10x6 seconds

One arm push-ups: 3x5 (assisted)
Ring rows with 45lb weighted vest: 3x5

Pistols (aka one-leg squats): 1x5 at BW, 1X5 at 17lbs., 1x3 at 35lbs., 1x3 at 53lbs., 1x3 at 72lbs.
Power clean and jerk: 1x5 at 45lbs. 1x3 at 135lbs., 1x3 at 155lbs. 1x3 at 175lbs., 1x3 at 180lbs.

Tuesday 01/27/09

Rest day, at work, but swam again for Marine Rescue. Another good workout.

Wednesday 01/28/09

In the morning:

Core work

Kickboxed 6 - 5 minute rounds

Later in the day:

10 - 100m sprints with 5 minutes rest between. Practiced free standing handstands. REALLY STRONG, my handstands are becoming more and more solid!

Thursday 01/29/09

Rest day, OT at the fire station

I have taken a break from the gymnastics progressions for the last couple of days. I am on the last week of the 8 week cycle but got extremely sore and hypertrophied from Monday's workout and felt I needed to ease up. I plan on doing day 2 of the progressions tomorrow and finishing out week 8 over the next 3-4 days. After that, I think I will discontinue the 4 days-a-week thing. Too much working out, too often for me. I am going to start living by my "paleo" or Mark Sisson's "Primal Blueprint" way of working out, eating, living, etc. I'm going to create my own model of 1-2 days a week of sprinting, 1-2 days of week of heavy lifting/gymnastics training, and lots of casual walking and playing. For me (a true, complete mesomorph in every sense of the word, < that is, if you believe in body types), I simply do not need to train that hard or often, whether it be resistance training (bodyweight or weights) or metcon/cardio. I can get by on a lot less, in fact everyone can, they just don't know it yet.

Friday 01/23/09

Inverted pull-ups: 3x5
Pseudo planche ring push-ups: 3x5

Front tuck lever holds: 10x6 seconds
PPPU's: 6x5
Hanging leg raises: 4x5

Back lever holds: 10x6 seconds
Ring L-sits: 10x6 seconds

Practiced a couple of press-to-handstands on the parallettes. Today marks the end of week 7 of the 8 week cycle. Feeling strong.

Begin week 7

Monday 1/19/09

One-arm push-ups: 3x5 each arm with assistance
Archer rows: 3x5 each arm

Tuck lever PU's: 6x3
Tuck planche holds: 10x6 seconds
GHD sit-ups/Back extensions: 4x15 of each

Back lever holds: 10x6 seconds
L-sits on floor: 10x6 seconds

10 - 100m sprints with 5 minutes rest between sprints. During the 5 minutes, freestanding handstands and press to handstands were practiced.

Tuesday 01/20/09

Full ROM HSPU's on parallettes: 3x3
L-sit PU's with 45lbs. weighted vest: 3x3

PPPU's: 6x5
Tuck front lever holds: 10x6 seconds
L-sit and straddle L-sit static leg raise holds: 4x20 seconds of each hold

Back lever holds: 10x6 seconds
Straddle L-sits: 10x6 seconds

Wednesday 01/21/09

Rest, sick, really sick. Got sick as hell Tuesday night, an apparent stomach virus per the doc Wed. morning. I was going to take off Wed anyway, this was just a really forced day off.

Thursday 01/22/09

Feeling a ton better today; wasn't going to workout, but...

OAC/OAP: 3x3 each arm
RTO dips: 3x3

Tuck lever PU's: 6x3
Tuck planche holds: 10x6 seconds
Standing wheel rollouts: 4x6

Back lever holds: 10x6 seconds
V-sits: 10x6 seconds

Deadlift: 1x5 at 72lbs., 1x3 at 135lbs. 1x3 at 225lbs. 1x3 at 265lbs. 1x3 at 295lbs. 1x3 at 315lbs. 1x3 at 330lbs. (PR= Double bodyweight!!!!!!!!!!!) I wonder what I can pull a single for?
Kettlebell presses: 1x5 at 17lbs. 1x5 at 35lbs. 1x3 at 53lbs. 1x2 at 58lbs. (each arm)

Handstand practice on parallettes, freestanding and facing the wall, about 10 minutes.

This workout felt amazing. I'm not even really treating my workouts like workouts anymore, they have become more "fun skill training," even the deadlifts, which I need to incorporate more. STRONG, STRONG work today. I can't believe I pulled 330lbs. for a triple. I need to find my one rep max on deadlifts; goal is still set on 3x bodyweight, though I'm not sure what my exact current BW is at the time. I know I'm hovering right around 165, give or take a few pounds (or a few glasses of water/beer/wine).

6th week completed

Friday 01/16/09

Workout:

RTO dips: 3x3
OAC/OAP: 3X3 each arm

Tuck planche holds: 10x6 seconds
Tuck front lever PU's: 6x3
Hollow rocks and arch rocks: 4x15 of each

V-sits: 10x6 seconds
Back lever holds: 10x6 seconds

Boxed 12 - 3 minute rounds

Saturday 01/17/09

Walked approx. 40 minutes with my beautiful wife and dog

Workout:

Pseudo planche ring push-ups: 3x5
Inverted ring PU's: 3x5

PPPU's: 6x5
Tuck lever holds: 10x6 seconds
Straight hanging leg raises: 4x5

Muscle up to L-sit: 10x6 seconds
Back lever holds: 10x6 seconds

30 minutes of handstands, 10 minutes of flag/side-lever work.

This marks the end of the 6th week of the 8 week cycle. Research suggests that it takes approximately 6 weeks of a consistent and solid strength program to form concrete strength gains and CNS adaptation. I certainly felt very strong yesterday on all strength movements performed. I believe I now have the ability to consciously tense all the muscles needed to for a static hold, (though I have a long way to go). The past couple of weeks I have been off of the M/T/TH/F schedule, but have still been hitting four days a week. I also have not sprinted in about 2 weeks and it's driving me crazy. This week, I should be back on the correct gymnastic progression schedule and should be able to get in 2 solid days of sprinting: Wed. and Sun.