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Daddy, who’s that sweaty guy on the jungle gym? August 30, 2007

Posted by hardly Uncategorized, Strength Training, Walk, General Cardio, Run, Kettlebell Digg! this story! Digg! this story. , 4comments

Very exciting, we’re at the beach!

I’ve been looking forward to this to see if I can create a workout on the fly, with the things I find at hand on the beach. And no, the couple that was tryng hard to swallow each other’s tongues somehow didn’t even notice I was doing this. I know. Sorta like finding out a Senator from Idaho has a secret life when he enters public bathroom stalls. Who knew?

There were numerous findings along the way:

  1. Running in soft sand is harder than running on a hard surface. Duh.  Plus, sand in the shoes. Double duh.
  2. As one does situps in the sand, you actually dig your way into the sand. I can hear my coach saying “O.K., gang, we’re going to China today…”
  3. There IS a neet-o jungle gym near Mo’s at Cannon Beach that is just high enough off the ground for an adult male of my size to do pullups! 2 year-olds are shocked that Adults also play on the jungle gym, and what is that pull-up thing anyway? Daddy, can you do that, too?

I won’t say this was the most taxing workout I’ve done of late, but it definitely got my hr going (and I checked my hr monitor just to make sure I was somewhere near where I ought to be). Plus, it was mentally fun to run around on the beach looking for heavy things to pick up

ps. And what, exactly is a toddler squat? That’s where you pick up your toddler and use her as an added weight to your warmup of body-weight squats.
pps When one returns to room, said toddler MUST show Daddy how she has figured out how to do body-weight squats, too!

Back from Vacation… almost August 27, 2007

Posted by hardly Strength Training, Flexibility, Kettlebell, Bar, Medicine Ball, Row Digg! this story! Digg! this story. , 8comments

Last week was spent doing a lot of 4 wheelin’ in BC in pursuit of trout. When someone tells you that “The Map is Not the Territory”, tell them to go to BC to find out what this means!

Today is back to work, as is Tuesday, and then off to the Oregon Coast. In addition to being a good vacation spot, I can’t think of a better place to run in the sand, then do pushups in the sand, then situps, then dig sand castles, etc. So, while my coming workouts won’t be as structured as before, they are definitely going to be all about ‘functional fitness’!

For today…

Warmup:
- 50 KB Swings @ 20 kg
- 50 Pushups
- 50 Bodyweight squats
- Walk around the room carrying 2 16 kg kettlebells, 2x

Workout:
- 500 M row @ 1:42
- Double kettlebell push press w/16 kg bells: 40 in 3 minutes
- Double kettlebell deadlifts w/16 kg bells: 60 in 3 minutes
- Double kettlebell swings w/16 kg bells: 43 in 3 minutes
- Stair run
- Wallball, 18 kg medicine ball: 20
- Leg Overs: 20
- Thrusters w/45lbs bar: 20

Ah, to get back to working out. The feeling of accomplishment, the profuse sweat, the feeling of nausea. Oh yes, I remember all this through the dim mists of vacation…

Logbook Day Info

…and back down again August 19, 2007

Posted by hardly Uncategorized Digg! this story! Digg! this story. , 2comments

5-miles back down the Hoh River Trail w/45 lbs pack. Removed boot’s insoles and little toes were much happier!

One thing about this trip made me think a bit more about BMR. The question is this: What’s the difference in one’s BMR if they are living outside v. living inside a house? Additionally, if you work in an air-conditioned office, how does this affect BMR? Personally, I notice a big difference in hunger and food eaten when I’m camping in a tent than when I’m at home.

Logbook Day Info

Hoh, Hoh, Hoh August 17, 2007

Posted by hardly Uncategorized, Walk Digg! this story! Digg! this story. , add a comment

Today’s workout was fairly simple: Take a Troop of Boy Scouts on a 5-mile hike up the Hoh River Trail w/a 45 lbs pack.

Add in boots that started bruising the tops of my little toes at 2.9 miles in, and that’s that.

Logbook Day Info

Are you ready for failure? August 15, 2007

Posted by hardly Uncategorized, Strength Training, General Cardio, Dumbbell, Row Digg! this story! Digg! this story. , 1 comment so far

Failure. What does this mean to you?

For those involved in fitness, and who’ve attained a certain mastery of a given discipline, failure is something that is required to continue to grow. Failure as in muscular failure, or really hitting your max heart rate until you gotta stop.

One of the things I find fascinating with fitness is the small differences that go into making a new personal best. Lately, my coach has been saying, “Failure is a concept that you need to start getting comfortable with.” By this, he means that in order for us to continue to hit personal bests, we need to be working so hard that we go to the point that we can’t go any more. My suspicion is that he’d really prefer it if we do this all the time…

Warmup:

Workout:

I’m particularly excited about my rowing time because the last time I did this, I was 20 seconds off of my PB, which was highly irritating. I was not happy about that at all, however, my strategy for that row ended up failing me because I had to push too hard, too soon, and I failed before the end of the row (and to be fair, I had not slept well in several nights). In today’s row, I had adopted a different strategy, which included a max push 200M from the end. I came quite close to failure, probably had one or two more good pulls left.

I think I need to reframe ‘failure’ to ‘maximum effort’. Or something else. I’m not ready to admit to failure, but I am ready to admit to ‘going all out’.

Logbook Day Info

Do we need really need a heart-rate monitor? August 13, 2007

Posted by hardly Strength Training, Flexibility, Bar, Dumbbell, Row Digg! this story! Digg! this story. , 6comments

For today’s workout, I decided to strap on my HR monitor and see what the results were for this workout.
As I did this, it was with full recognition that my coach’s view on HR monitors is that they really aren’t that helpful in achieving “extraordinary fitness”, and also that for some, HR monitors are absolutely essential in their workout plans. I suppose that the reality is that both sides are right, depending on what one is trying to achieve.
For today, I just wanted to see what my avg, min & max were because I’ve wondered, particularly on the max value, where exactly I end up on any given day. On those days when we have a timed-movement, which requires pb-level efforts, I sometimes wonder, as I’m gasping for more oxygen, “Hmm, I wonder what my HR is NOW???”

Warmup (2x of each):

Workout:

Situps w/a load is interesting. Start from an extended bench-press position w/your arms, and your legs at a 90 degree bend w/foot holds, and then do situps. All I gotta say is that you know you’re working hard.

HR Stats:

Min: 74

Avg: 134

Max: 180

Logbook Day Info

8/10 Workout - It’s Friday! August 10, 2007

Posted by hardly Strength Training, Run, Bar, Medicine Ball, Dumbbell, Row Digg! this story! Digg! this story. , add a comment

Pretty good workout today, got re-introduced to some fun movements, and a pb in Thrusters!

Warmup: 2x of each:

Workout:

One of the things that’s very rewarding about these classes is hitting a new personal best. Back in May/June, I was STRUGGLING with new, higher weight loads, and would get discouraged with my numbers, despite the fact that at the end of one of these ‘tests’ I was only capable of rolling around on the floor with my chest heaving for more oxygen for a minute or so. Today, my Thruster score was 11 more reps than my previous pb in this movement! It was stunning! I was still rolling around on the floor afterwards, but one could just make out a very satisfied, wry smile between breaths.

8/8 Workout (I TOTALLY called it!) August 8, 2007

Posted by hardly Uncategorized, Strength Training, General Cardio Digg! this story! Digg! this story. , 4comments

There are few emotional highs that are better for me than calling the shot, and then making it (my kids and my wife are higher on the pecking order, just to be clear). But, today, when we picked up our kettlebells, I had a mixture of “YES, I KNEW IT!!!”, and “We’re working today…”. I guess you can’t win them all.

Except when you set a new personal best in time to 100 swings w/20 kg ‘ball!

Warmup:

Workout:

Two other points: My time for 100 kettlebell swings completely shattered my last time by ~ 35 seconds! I love it when that happens, though I don’t think it will be by quite the same amount next time! Secondarily, what in the heck is a Turkish Get-up? Simple: Lay on the floor, holding a bar in one hand straight up (arm is perpendicular to the floor, bar is parallel to the floor), then stand up, keeping the bar parallel to the floor, at the top, switch hands, and then lay back down. Repeat.

For a look at the movements we do in class: http://www.scoreperformance.com/mvmnts.php

1st Day of Bootcamp (Session 4) August 6, 2007

Posted by hardly Uncategorized, Strength Training, General Cardio, Run Digg! this story! Digg! this story. , 1 comment so far

I really can’t believe that I’m starting my 4th BootCamp (each seession is six-weeks in length). However, the results have been fantastic, and on another level, it’s obvious I’ve been doing something different of late.

Today’s workout was seemingly all about setting benchmarks. What was cool is that I nailed some personal bests in several of them which means that progress has occured!

Warm-up:

Workout:

Tabata events are those where you perform a given exercise for 8 timed sets, where a set is 30 seconds performing, and 20 seconds resting. Your score is the lowest number you complete in any given set.  And usually, where you end up doing the least is the last set (sorta obvious), unless you’re just fooling around trying to figure out where your mark is for a given tabata excercise.

The one thing about Boot Camp is everything is counted or timed. And, as you get better at a given excercise, it gets harder and harder to eclipse your previous mark (declining returns, etc).  Even though I missed a few of these, I’m not too worried about them. For one thing I think my max situp score was partially due to a timing error the last time around, so I’ve got a VERY hard target as a result. Second, running the 1K at the end of a big leg-work day was, well, hard. Had it been in the middle, I probably would have beat my 4:20 pb time.

Wonder what’s in store on Wednesday?? Kettle bells most likely… ;-)

Logbook Day Info

8/1 Workout - For the Boy Scout in you! August 1, 2007

Posted by hardly Strength Training Digg! this story! Digg! this story. , 4comments

August 1st is the 100th anniversary of the Boy Scouts. What does this have to do with working out you ask? Simple: One of the three tenets of the Boy Scout Oath Duty to Self. Specifically, “I shall keep myself physically strong, mentally awake and morally straight.” Here’s to “physically strong”!

Warm-up:

Workout:

Logbook Activity