Tuesday, August 18, 2009

I just noticed my last post was on May 5th For those of you who know me, you know what a challenging spring and summer I have had both in my personnel life and my set backs I have had with my back and the surgery I had. Well this week, everything feels like it is coming back together and I am expecting a full return to my training and active lifestyle beginning in September.

So 1 goal I want to start working towards is riding the Seattle to Portland ride next year. I am hoping to find a few others that will be interested and start training for it by doing some weekly rides that range in different distances and difficulty. If anyone is interested in doing the ride next year, let me know.

Other then that, I just can't wait to get back into the gym and get my fitness level back up to where it used to be. However, I am not looking forward to starting off and becoming all sore like I did when I first started. haha

I have a slack line being delivered to my place today. I don't remember if you have seen people using these before, but they look like a lot of fun and good for the core and balance. I figure that I can start using this now as it is low impact but will still be a challenge.

Anyways, it feels good to know there is an end to all the bad luck I have been having and I want to thank all my friends who have been so supportive and continue to give me words of encouragement. I look forward to seeing all of you back in the gym!

Tuesday, May 5, 2009

It has been awhile since posting. I have been extremely busy for the past month so hopefully I can get back into blogging a little. My work outs have been going really good. I have been going through a cutting phase in my diet and have lost about 15 pounds in the past 3 weeks. Now before you start freaking out and thinking that is too much in that short amount of time, let me say that I don't believe this is for everyone and when I did this I followed a strict diet and was still eating 6 times a day and was strategically adding carbs, fat and protein where needed. The great thing about this is that I was able to still have great work outs and don't feel like I lost any strength in the process. Usually that kind of cutting will result in loss of muscle and energy. But because of the foods and supplements I was taking it worked out great.

So anyways, I am looking forward to finishing up my dieting and start eating like a normal human again. I have been dieting now for about a year and a half and have lost 150 pounds. I can't wait to get back to eating normal. I love the foods I am eating now and won't change that, but I will not have to be so strict anymore.

Sunday, April 12, 2009

Yoga photos

I posted a while ago about doing a small photo shoot with a friend of mine up in Seattle.  Well I finally got the chance to do it on Saturday.  The weather was crappy and we were able to get in a few shots between rain storms.  The location isn't what we had planned but with the weather being iffy we took what we could get.  Here are a few of them.





Tuesday, April 7, 2009

Check up


So I decided to to go do a couple things today to see where I am at medically speaking.  I scheduled a physical with my Dr. and also scheduled a hydrostatic body fat test.  


First off at Dr., things went really good and I am looking forward to getting all my blood work back to see how things like my blood sugar levels and cholesterol levels are doing.  They were pretty good the last time I had them checked but I am hoping for a very good report back. 

Then I went for the hydrostatic test.  This was the first time I have done this type of body fat test and everyone tells me it is the most accurate way to measure body fat. So the day before I started working out at Recreate Fitness back in November, I got my body fat tested and I was at 35%, well after a little over 5 months I am at 16%!!!  The test came back as 179 lbs of lean (muscle, bones, organs) 35 lbs of fat.  Which for my age and build puts me in an ideal bmi.  That is probably the first time in my life I have ever heard that.  
So in a little over 5 months at recreate, I lost 25 pounds and 19% body fat!  I wish I knew how much lean muscle I have added...

Work out:

Skill:
10 heavy kettle bell swing - 24k/28k/36k
play fetch with  a 30 pound d ball 3x

Work out:
Partner work out: 30/30 6x

jumping pull ups
wall ball 20 lbs
rope snaps
sprints

Monday, April 6, 2009

AMAZING DAY!

From sun up till sun down, I was in a fantastic mood today.  The sun was shining and the air was so fresh that I could not stop smiling all day!  My car even broke down today and as it was being picked up by the tow operator all I could do was crack stupid jokes and comment on what a great day it was.  I don't think he usually gets that response when he picks up someone's broken car.  :) 


Went out and snapped a few pictures this evening of the waterfront.  I didn't have a lot of time because I got down there a little too late for the good light, but still enjoyed myself.  


Had a great work out this morning.  It is short but probably one of the hardest work out we do there for some reason.  It was row, slam, run!  All of them are a sprint and try not to get sick!  haha

Work out:

skill:

Front Squats

5 sets of 5....got up to 165 is all today.  I struggled with form last time and I wanted to work on it this time.  They felt much better then our last cycle.  

5 sets of ring rows...put feet on box this time and really liked it, made it much harder.

WOD:

row 250 meters
20 ball slams / 20 lbs.
sprint to end of parking lot and back.
3 rounds for time.
1:49 / 1:54 / 2:04


Sunday, April 5, 2009

Hiking


I stopped into REI yesterday to pick up a small gift for a friend for his birthday yesterday.  While I was in there I started looking at back packs and hiking equipment because I keep toying around with the idea that I want to jump into it this year.  Well after having dinner with him and his friends last night and hearing some of their stories and advice,I really want to start hiking.  I have always loved the outdoors and walking trails, but for whatever reason I have never followed through with actually going out and doing it!  I live in the Great NW for goodness sakes!  It isn't like I can't find anywhere interesting to go.  Between all the great places within an hour of Portland and all the trips I make up to Seattle there are probably hundreds of easily accessible challenging trails.  I want to find ones that are challenging and scenic so I can also do my photography while I am hiking.  I am curious to find out how my fitness level will work out on some of these difficult hikes/climbs.  I am sure I am in for a rude awakening!   So now the obsessing and research begins and equipment, trails, safety, rules, what to bring, etc...  Good thing I have some good friends that are very experienced with hiking and climbing to give me some advice. 


Work out:
Partner work out - 

6 times sprint around the building
6 times heavy med ball carry
100 double kb swing.  (ended up using a 44k kb)  long story!  haha
100 ball slams 25 lb ball
100 med ball passes
6 times mini leg circuit
6 times row 250 meters

Katie was an awesome partner!  I think our time was 25:21

Food:

oatmeal
1 can of tuna fish and two corn tortillas 
banana chips
crackers
a lot of Lebanese food (was really good)



Thursday, April 2, 2009

Jami knows

Of course yesterdays post was an April fools... Those pancakes looked good in that picture though. I might need to make some this weekend.

Work out:

travel-
burpees
pushups
modified wall push ups
sit ups
tgu
went to the small gym in the hotel....
lat pulls
press
tricep extensions

food
smoothie
trailmix
turkey sandwich, fruit
protein bar
sushi

Wednesday, April 1, 2009

A new plan

I give up! All this eating good is too hard for me. I think I am ready to go back to eating bad and just sitting around. So I decided to start it off right with a nice big breakfast as you can see in the photo of what I ate this morning. That was some good stuff, I think for lunch I am going to head over to McDonalds for a couple Big Macs and fries! I haven't had anything like that in over a year and a half. Then for dinner...hmmm Maybe a whole pizza or someting will be good. Ohhhh then desert! I am definately going to have to go out and find some Pecan Pie!

Tonights work out will consist of me trying to walk up to my hotel room after eating all this food.


Yesterdays Work out:


Swimming....I don't know how many laps I did, but my arms feel a little like jello this morning. Plus I really need to invest in some goggles, my eyes are burning from the chlorine still.
Yesterdays food
oatmeal
trailmix
large chicken salad
ahi, asparagus, bread

Monday, March 30, 2009

I didn't realize it until today but today was my 6th day in a row of working out. The last time I did that I was hurting bad for a few weeks afterwards. This time I feel great and that is even after a long day of snowboarding yesterday. (which was flippin amazing!!) So now, I am going to to be heading back out of town the rest of the week and do some other things such as hot yoga, swimming, and just doing body weight exercises in the hotel.
So, I am glad to keep seeing progress like this even though it is small....I couldn't do that 2 months ago without feeling totally wrecked! We will see how I feel after doing work outs while I travel.

Work out:

Warm up:
2 rounds:
5 halo
5 around the body
5 good morning
5 spinal wave
5 goblet squat
5 clean&press
10 push ups

Strength:
thrusters
2 warm up rounds of 5, then 5 work sets of 5 reps, followed by 5 pull-ups:
warmed up with 45lb. bar. 95/95/95/115/95
Pull-ups: 5/5/5/5/5

WOD:
As many rounds in 15 minutes of:

7 Med ball cleans (25lb.)
7 burpees
run around the block
finished 6 rounds

Food:

6am oatmeal/flax/glutamine/protein
9am trail mix
2pm half of a chicken sandwich from subway
4pm trail mix
8pm tuna steak, asparagus

Saturday, March 28, 2009

Slackline

So I saw this "Gibbon Slackline in a magazine and it looks like a lot of fun.   I am hoping to pick one up before summer for something to play around with outside at a park or something.  It would be fun to bring into the gym too and wrap it around the big posts and try some balancing core stuff with it.  Anyways....here is a video.





Work out:

Skill:

5 get up sit ups each arm 35/25/25
8 DH pull ups 3x
5 pistols each leg 3x

WOD
Ladder 10 -1 partner work out

Row 1000 meters
Wall Ball 20 lb
Ball Slam 20 lb
Box jumps (big box)
Ring Rows
Heavy med ball walk 80/90/100/100

Food

oatmeal
fruit and cheese
banana/choc drink
cookie
trailmix

Ate crappy today!  

Friday, March 27, 2009

TGIF

Had a really good day today!  Nuff said!  :)

Warm up:
2 rounds:

Med ball complex 20 lb
15 pushups
5 spiderman

Strength:
BB Hang Clean - 2 warm up sets of 10 or 5, followed by 5 work sets of five + 8 knees to elbows +10 halos

barbell hang cleans: 75/95/105/105/105

WOD:

Partnered with Devon  

3 rounds:

Row 250m
Double KB rack hold (24k) while partner rows
Sounds easy, but that was tough!
6:46

Food
6am oatmeal/flax/glutamine/protein
9am trail mix
11:30 greek salad with a side of chicken
3:00 2 string cheese
6pm oatmeal/glutamine/protein

Thursday, March 26, 2009

I haven't been doing much photography lately, mostly because the weather has been so bad and I like to do most of my shooting in natural light. I am going to be shooting a friend of mine and a couple friends next week doing yoga up in Seattle. It will be a nice jump back into it and will be something a little different then I am used to. Should be fun! Hopefully we can come up with a good area to do the shoot at and the weather cooperates.

It felt great to get back into the gym today. I wasn't expecting such a hard work out though. Anytime I see burpees or running I know that I won't be setting any land speed records. So I accepted that before even starting the work out and really tried to have good form on everything. It was one of the tougher work outs I have done in quite awhile. It felt good to finish it.

Work out:
Warm up-
3 rounds:

10 around the body
10 halo
10 goblet squat
100 jump rope
Row for 20 calories

WOD:

10 burpees
15 db snatches each side (35#)
20 med ball slams (20#)
25 2-hand swings (24k)
1 Bear crawl length
1 lap around the building

5 rounds 32.29

At home - Rowed 2000 meters

Food-
6:30 oatmeal/flax/glutamine/protein
9am trail mix
12:30 Turkey sandwich
7:00 5 oz chicken, 1/2 cup brown rice, 1 cup of broccoli and cheese

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

I am back from Chicago now and looking forward to getting back into the gym tomorrow.  I did mange to get in a work out Tuesday morning, just did a lot of body weight exercises and leg circuits.  I didn't eat really good while I was gone, since I was at the mercy of where ever the people that were driving too me for food. 


I went to Lou Malnati's for dinner last night and had a slice of  Chicago deep dish pizza that was incredible, it is a good thing I don't have a restaurant like that around here.  

Anyways, not a lot to update on, I was 1/2 off my diet for 3 days and I feel pretty slugish right now.   Looking forward to getting back to normal.  

Saturday, March 21, 2009

Goals needed

Ok folks after completing my goal of lifting double my body weight I am in need of my next goal.  I have some small goals I have been working on that are more long term, but I want something I can achieve in the next month or two to keep pushing along.  So here is my dilemma....I am thinking I don't necessarily want it to be a "strength" style goal because I tend to go a little nuts and could end up injuring myself.  I am thinking or something that might be more endurance/strength.  Here is where I struggle the most....


Running  (Right now I have no wish to do any distance running.) Going twice around the building at a time is about all I want to run right now.  But I would like to get faster in my sprints.

Core.  My abs are still pretty weak and on things like the power wheel and atomic push ups, my back begins to sag causing some pain.

My grip.  Doing things like 10 minute snatch drills, long kettle-bell circuits, rope climb....I seem to lose my grip and my forearms feel like they are on fire.  

Legs - I am getting stronger, but those leg circuits kick my ass.  

So those are just some areas I want to improve....but I still need a goal to shoot for.  Any ideas?

Work out:

Skill:
5 windmills each arm 25 lb.
5 get up sit ups each arm 25 lb.
5-8 pull ups. ( I did not do these...I got some strange pain in my arm today)

WOD:  
Partner work out

8 laps around the building
8 mini leg circuits
8 bear crawls
8 250 meter rows
Time 24:51

Thanks to John B.  He was an awesome partner today and really kept me moving.  Also, thanks to Jami C.  It was sooo hard to keep up with you on the run today.  Thanks for the push!

Food:

7 am oatmeal/flax/glut/protein/almond butter
9am trail mix
noon 1 can of tuna/1 tortilla/feta cheese
3pm - 4 pm 1 small jamba juice, a few crackers
6pm - whole wheat couscous, salmon, asparagus


Friday, March 20, 2009


Ok, so I couldn't resist the temptation.  I was thinking about it all morning and decided I was going to attempt lifting double my body weight (430).    I decided to see how I felt and Nathan talked me into trying 415 which is 10 pounds more then my PR from last week.  I figured if I felt good I could do an extra set to get my goal of 430.  So on my 4th set, I did 395 and as soon as I lifted it I figured I could not go any heavier.  It was frickin heavy!!!  So then I put on 415 and it took me forever to get my mind right...I just couldn't get psyched enough to lift it.  Then it happened!!!!!  The little push I needed and as soon as it happened I knew I was going to lift it.  It was all thanks to Tina...she went over to her music and put on "Eye of the Tiger"!!  Ok,  you may laugh but to any guy my age.....you know that song gets you psyched!  hahaha  (I can't believe I am admitting that.) Anyways, I pulled the 415 and it went up easier then the 395 and felt better then my 405 last week.  So as soon as I put it down, I said....I am going for the 430.  Tina was even kind enough to loop "eye of the tiger" But this time I wasn't so psyched, I couldn't stop thinking about how much weight 430 was and almost decided not to lift it, but I heard a little voice in my head telling me that I could do it and I had to try and give it everything I had.  So when I lifted it......it was slow....it was ugly....it was even kinda funny....but I got it up and down and I am going to count it!  :)


Work out:

Strength 

Deadlift 3/2/1/1/1/1

225/315/365/395/415/430
with x-chop to halos /35lbs

I didn't do much of the WOD.  I spent most of the class Dead-lifting.

Food:

6am oatmeal/flax/glut/protein
9am trailmix
noon a piece of birthday cake
3pm food substitute protein drink
5pm tilapia / steamed veggies / brown rice

Thursday, March 19, 2009

Felt great to be in the gym today and do a lot of kettle-bell work.  For strength today we did a double kettle-bell push press.  We did 5 sets of 3 paired with jackknives and spidermans.  I made it to the 80 pound kettle-bells and was able to push press them ok....bringing them back down to the rack position was a little more difficult.  Nathan gave me some good advice to try and absorb the kettle-bells on the way down instead of staying so rigid.  I will give that a try next time we do those. 


Tomorrow is our final day of the dead-lift for awhile.  I am not sure if I am going for more weight or staying where I ended up last week.  I guess we will see how I feel when I get in there.  I really want to go for lifting double my weight...but that would be a 25 lb. jump from my max last week.  

Work out:

Skill:
5 rounds 
double kettle-bell push press 20k/24k/28k/32k/36k
12 jacknives
5 spidermans

WOD
How many rounds in 15 minutes? 5
Each arm with a 16k
5 kettle-bell swings
5 snatches
5 thrusters
run 1 lap

Food:
6 am oatmeal/flax/protein/glutamine
9am  meal replacement drink with glutamine
noon chicken and pear salad
4pm grapes and string cheese
6pm chicken, onions, cheese, 2 small tortillas


In times like these when there isn't always a lot of good news out there.  It gets hard to find things to get excited about.  I was helping out a young woman yesterday who's car broke down on I5 and seemed to have nothing bad luck going on in her life as we talked a little while waiting for her father to come help her. I was there almost an hour with her and all she did was cry and talk about how miserable life  was.  Anything I tried to say to cheer her up was immediately followed up with a negative comment.  When I left, I was kinda sad that such a young girl has such a negative outlook on life.  I hope that something or someone will turn her life around.

So anyways, long story short....it made me realize how thankful I am for the people in my life and what a positive impact they have on me.  I have such wonderful friends and family although I don't get to see a lot of them as often as I would like.  It is great to keep in touch through all of todays technology...face book, email, texting, etc...  

Work out:  ( Copied from Nadine...thank you.  Too much to type.)

Warm up:

3 rounds:

10 halo
10 around the body
10 goblet squat
75 jump rope

WOD: Core Grind

Station 1 (3 rounds):

3 Sandbag get up or TGU (kettlebell 25/25/35)
6 Knees to elbows
Broad jump from 1st to 3rd beam and back
Rest 1 minute

Station 2 (5 rounds):

Power wheel crawl from door to 3rd beam (5 times)
10 Power wheel curl
Rest 1 minute

Station 3 (4 rounds):

10 Double KB front squat (35/35/45/35)
Run around building
Rest 1 minute


Food:

breakfast smoothie
10 am trail mix
noon ahi sandwich and steamed broccoli
3pm meal replacement drink
7:30 laughing planet burrito
8:30 1 brownie

Tuesday, March 17, 2009

It's Working

“You cannot control what happens to you, but you can control your attitude toward what happens to you, and in that, you will be mastering change rather than allowing it to master you." ~Brian Tracey

I was forced to give the people at one of my branches some bad news today and it was pretty hard to go through the day with a good attitude. I thought about what I wrote last week about how people are effected by the way I carry myself and my attitude. So all day I tried to stay upbeat and keep smiling and it really helped I think. I was able to think clearer and because of that I came up with an idea to help create more of a positive spin on the news rather then it just being all bad. The news was still bad to them but it could have been a lot worse. They will never know that....but I do and I feel good about helping them out, even if they don't know it.

Work out

Swam last night then did 4 rounds of:

Mini leg circuit
10 burpees
20 sit ups.

Food:

8am smoothie
10am trail mix
noon bbq chicken (no skin) corn bread and slaw
3pm food supliment shake
9 pm CPK Salad

Monday, March 16, 2009

Ok, so if you remember last week I talked about not getting on the scale for a week and just eat good and stay active. Well I ate just about as good as could be expected last week in my opinion and when I got on the scale on Sunday I lost 1 pound. Now at first I was thinking...1 pound? WTF!! I felt like I lost 5 pounds after having such a great week. I have to admit, I was a little discouraged but after thinking about it for awhile I remembered what an amazing week I had in the gym and how strong I felt. (Until Saturday...that is a whole other topic.) So really the way I ate and felt last week probably had a lot to do with how good I ate. It is hard for me, but I have to stop worrying about the scale, my fitness is what is more important to me right now then what number is on the scale. If I keep eating like this and keep having weeks in the gym like I did last week, that should be enough to keep me going.
I am traveling a lot the next 3 weeks so my work out schedule and eating will be put to the test. But I am staying POSITIVE!!! I will do good! : )

Friday, March 13, 2009

New PR today

So at the beginning of the Dead-Lift cycle we are doing at the gym. I had a goal of lifting 400 lbs. by the end of the cycle. After the week I have been having and how good I felt I decided to give it a try today and see if I could do it. On my final set I was able to lift 405 for 1 rep. It was not easy and was not pretty but I am so glad I got it and now I can go into the final week of it not having to worry about reaching my goal.

Other then that, last night I went up boarding with David and had some great runs, I am feeling more and more comfortable at higher speeds on the board. It did get very cold and windy up there though but other then that it was a lot of fun.

Work out:

All I did was pretty much Dead-lift

3-3-3-1-1-1

I think it went 225/275/315/375/395/405

Food:

7 am otameal
9:30 am trail mix
noon turkey sandwich
3pm meal replacement drink
8 pm burrito from laughing planet

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Daaang

Great endurance work out tonight. I really like these type of work outs because they are just as much mental as they are physical. Not a lot to say about it except it was hard and you just had to get in there and do it. Overall I was pretty happy with my performance, it looks like I need to work on my med ball cleans a little, I struggled there and was hunching over way to far.

I still feel really good this week and have no pains to speak of and my energy is higher then it has been for a long time. I am not sure what has come over me this week, but I hope it is here to stay. : )

Work out:

5 Rounds for time

25 two hand swings ( 24k )
20 Ball Slams (25 lb.)
15 Med Ball cleans (25 lb.)
10 box jumps
5 knees to elbows on the bar
Run 1 lap around the building

Time: 24.51

Food:

7 am oatmeal
10 am trail mix
1 pm 1/2 turkey sandwich with extra turkey
3pm meal replacement drink
8:30 2 corn tortillas, 4 oz chicken, 1 oz cheese, onions

Tuesday, March 10, 2009


I know it is only Tuesday, but I feel so good this week. I didn't sleep the best last night but still made it through the day just fine and hopefully I will get a full night sleep. I like the food choices I have made the past couple days and plan to keep eating clean as much as I can the entire week. I am actually hoping for a good weight loss this week....even though it hasn't been my goal lately, it would be nice to see a good drop. Now I have to say, I have been pretty bad about weighing myself constantly to see where I am and if one day made a difference. Well, a friend of mine talked to me last week and she told me how unhealthy it is to get on the scale every day and convinced me to go this whole week without looking at the scale. So, I am 3 days into not looking at the scale and won't look at it until Sunday.

Great work out in the gym tonight. I struggled a little and tried to make it harder then I should have. But I have a hard time turning down a challenge. :)

Work out

Skill:
5 ring dips
1 arm kettlebell clean and press. 20k fir 3 rounds Tried 24k on my last set and could only get a couple on my left arm, but got all of them on my right.
double KB rack walk. 3 rounds of 24k 1 of 36k

WOD Tabata 20/10 6 rounds

Jingle Jangles ( sprints)
jumping pull ups
rope snaps
mountain climbers (held rest in a plank)
burpees ( held rest a couple rounds in a plank)

Food

7am oatmeal
10 am trail mix
12:30 laughing planet burrito
4:00 protein mix, water
8:00 veggie salad with nuts

Monday, March 9, 2009

Great day!

Thank God I used the power of positive thinking today.  It seemed like the first 3 or 4 hours of work today I was faced with bad news and more bad news.  I faced every challenge with a smile and a positive attitude and it was amazing how I was able to handle the issues.  So even with all that......I had a great day!   I even had a coworker ask me what I was so happy about, because he said he has not seen me smile so much before.  hahaha  What an eye opener that is....I noticed because I was in such a good mood..coworkers came into my office more and just talked, and then they were smiling too.  It was contagious.  Sometimes we don't realize how our mood and facial expressions can effect others.  I guess I better check myself more often before I walk into work, I want more days like today!!! : )


Ok, then getting in the gym was a lot of fun tonight, I was waiting all day to get in there and work out.  I felt so good....so much energy and just couldn't wait to attack the WOD.  I couldn't have asked for a better WOD....we did 5 rounds of rowing for calories and ball slams....1 minute at each station as hard and fast as you can.  I got partnered with Amanda M. she was a great partner and did an awesome job!  We both went pretty hard.  I gave it just about everything I got and was totally spent by the end....what a great feeling!   

Food:

6:30 am oatmeal
9:30 am home made trail mix
12:00 Half or a turkey sandwich with extra turkey
3:30 protein shake
8:00 chicken, a little cheese and corn tortillas

Sunday, March 8, 2009

Be Positive

"Our lives are not determined by what happens to us, but how we react to what happens to us, not by what life brings to us, but by the attitude we bring to life. A positive attitude causes a chain reaction of positive thoughts, events and outcomes. It is a Catalyst…. a spark that creates extraordinary results."
~- Anonymous


That was a quote I found that kinda hit me recently.  I see it happen a lot in the gym and in life.  By nature it seems most of us have a hard time believing in ourselves and having positive thoughts that we CAN do something.  A positive mind can change so much in our everyday lives and it can come from anywhere and the chain reaction that you will get from having a positive attitude can change your life.  

A small challenge for everyone this week (including myself)  For those of you who work out...I want you to try one thing that has been hard for you to accomplish in the gym or at whatever sport you do.  When you go to do that one thing...have a positive thought, think in your mind that you can do it and imagine what it will look like and feel like when you do that one thing.....and then do it!    After that, try it with your job, with a relationship, in anything you do this week...try and keep that positive attitude and see where it takes you.  

Saturday, March 7, 2009

It was great to work out with no back pain today.  Those days off really made a difference.   I still had a difficult time breathing today because of all the crud in my chest, but at least I know that will go away.

After talking to Ben today, I am thinking of switching up my diet a little bit and see if I can't shock my system a little and make some changes.  I am going to read more about it tonight and see if it is right for me.  I will keep you posted if I change it up.  ( Change is good )

Work out:

Skill:
10 2 hand heavy kettle-bell swing.
5  weighted get up sit ups

WOD:  Partner work out

50 ring push ups
100 wall balls 20 lb
8 bear crawls
row 1000 meters
6 mini leg circuits
100 sit ups
50 pull ups - deadhang

Food:

6 am Oatmeal
9 am homemade trail mix
1 pm sushi
7:30 8 egg white omelet 

Friday, March 6, 2009

After being sick all week and not working out for 4 days it felt great to get back in the gym. That sickness might have been just what I needed to convince me to rest my body for a few days. The last couple days all I wanted to do was sleep to try and get over the bug I had. When I got into the gym tonight and started moving around I realized that this was the first time in probably a month that my knees and back weren't bothering me. I still felt a little lethargic because of my sickness but my body felt good.
We did Dead-lifts tonight and I got to 365 on my 5th set. It felt good but had a problem keeping my upper back from rounding. I know how to fix that and need to focus a little better next time.

Anyways, I am looking forward to the next couple days and getting back to my normal eating, sleeping, and work out schedule.

Work out:

Dead-lift 5 sets of lifts paired with 5 knees to elbows. Final weight was 365 for 3 reps.

Rope climb
Dot Drills
Double unders
power wheel

Food:

9 am Smoothie
2 pm oatmeal
7 pm burrito

Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Sick Days

Well it finally caught me. After seeing all of these people all around me from day to day get the flu bug, I came down sick Monday night and it feels like I have had a fever ever since. I am out of town right now which is probably good for my family so that they don't catch this junk. So, I have just been going to work and going back to the hotel and trying to sleep this off.

No workouts for me since Monday morning and I probably won't be working out until Friday. I think this will be the longest break for me in 4 months. I am already missing it, but I know I need to rest up and get better first.

Food choices have been prety good while up here. Some eating is out of convience but is still not too bad for me.

Saturday, February 28, 2009

Tomorrow we are starting the Sunday 10:00 am class at RF, Nathan and I will be co-leading the class for a few weeks to help me get my feet wet, then I will be flying solo.  We were originally thinking that a couple people might show up at the start of this and it would take awhile to catch on.  Boy were we mistaken...It sounds like we are going to have over 20 people there tomorrow.  It will be a lot of fun and I am excited to be working with everyone who comes in on Sundays.  

So yesterday I took a day vacation day and went up to Timberline with some friends for a day of snowboarding.  The conditions were amazing and it was blue sky the entire day.  I felt really comfortable on my board and am finally getting used to going fast and not worrying so much about falling.  
Before we went up I worked out in the 6:30 am class because I didn't want to miss out on doing dead-lifts.  I have been nursing some back pain all week so I decided to take it easy and go a little light.  I was not happy about going light, but it was my own call because I do not want to get a bad injury.  I remember kind of being in a bad mood that morning because I couldn't give 100%.  I hate having to take it easy in anything I do.  Anyways, I don't remember how the progression went, but after the 3rd set of 5 I think I was around 275 and I didn't have any back pain but I did have a strong pull in my glutes....but no back pain.   So by my 5th set of 5 I made it up to 315  and knocked it out with no problems.   It felt so good that I thought about doing another set but, realized I should just be thankful I got to 315 with no pain.  
Then we hit the mountain all day and I thought for sure when I woke up this morning that I would be in a lot of pain.  Well, nothing...I felt better this morning then I did all week.  My back got a little tight by the end of the day today, but I am wondering if that tight pull in my glutes actually helped my back out.  


Thursday, February 26, 2009


Like I have said before I always enjoy work outs with Kettle-bells.  For our strength/skill today we did 1 arm push presses with the KB.  I like the focused muscles this hits and I feel like I get a lot stronger with my press when we do these, like it gets easier every time to increase weight each week.  I was able to go up from 32k to 36k today on my fifth set.  Even though I was able to lock out every time I felt like I didn't have as much control on the way down, so I will probably stay at that weight next week and try a new technique when racking it that Nathan suggested. 


I got my Freedbord from the UPS man today and gave it a try tonight for a little while.  It is hard, but I started getting the hang of carving before I started getting too cold and hung it up for the night.  Only fell one time....right on my butt!  That kinda hurt....hahaha

Busy day tomrorow!  Working out at 6:30 am and then hitting Timberline for a day of snowboarding!  I am so psyched to get up there.  They have gotten sooooo much new snow this week.  

Work out:

Skill/Stength
1 arm kb push press 5 on each arm 20k/24k/28k/32/36k
10 plank rows 20k 5x
5 Spidermans 5x

WOD
run 1 lap
3 TGU each side with sand bag.
10 weighted situps
Heavy med ball carry 75 lbs. 90 lbs.

I got in 2 rounds


 

Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Great night at the gym! I pushed pretty hard, pretty much to the point I could have lost my lunch in the 4th round. GOOD STUFF! hahaha
We did 4 rounds of a 30/30 work out, this is the kind of work out that is up to you to decide on how hard you want to push. I just happened to jump into a group with someone that I do not know very well but found out that that she is very competitive. As much as I tried to keep up with her on sprints there is just no way she was going to let me pass her. It made the work out fun and it probably pushed me harder then I normally would have gone. : )

Work out:

Skill:
3 TGU's each side
10 power wheel roll outs
8 ring dips

WOD: 30/30 4 rounds

JPU
burpies
row
bear crawl
sprint

Food:

Oatmeal, flax, glutamine, protein
Protein, water
chicken spinich, blackbean burrito from laughing planet
protein, water
1/2protein bar

Monday, February 23, 2009

I am not sure if I have discussed Glutamine before, but it is something I have been taking for about 4 months now. You can read about the help it provides for intense training below. But some of the other things that aren't listed is the fact that it strengthens your nails and hair. My nails used to crack pretty easy but since taking this stuff, they are much stronger and healthier. Read below, the experts can explain everything a lot better then I can.

•Most abundant amino acid in skeletal muscle often
depleted due to training,stress and poor diet.

•Can be utilized to repair trained muscles and support
the natural production of human growth hormone.

•Supports the immune system.

•Allows for more intense training sessions.

•Involved in more metabolic processes than any other
amino acid.

•Speeds recovery and prevents muscle wasting.

Produced in the body naturally, Glutamine is the
most abundant amino acid in skeletal muscle and is often depleted due to
training, stress, and poor diet. Research indicates that bodybuilders, fitness
and strength athletes, and other active people often do not produce enough
Glutamine within their liver to restore critical Glutamine levels within a
reasonable time frame following training.
Glutamine is involved in more metabolic processes than any other amino
acid. Glutamine is converted to glucose when more glucose is required by
the body as an energy source. It serves as a source of fuel for cells lining
the intestines. Without it, these cells waste away. It is also used by white
blood cells and is important for immune function. In hospitals, Glutamine
is used for patients that have severe burns to speed recovery and prevent
muscle wasting.
Supplemental Glutamine can be utilized to repair trained muscles and
support the natural production of human growth hormone, which is
important to muscle recovery and gains. Glutamine can also support the
immune system, and allow for more intense training.

We did a partner work out today. It was a lot of fun and a great work out. I know I will be feeling that in my abs tomorrow.

Work out:

Partner work out
1000 meter row
50 ring rows
100 double KB cleans / 35 lbs.
100 sit up med ball pass / 20 lbs.
50 knees to elbows
two handed walking KB swing / 45 lbs.

Food: After a bad weekend, I am back on my plan....here is a more detailed description of what I am eating and what supplements I am taking.

6:30 am 3/4 cup oatmeal, flax, glutamine, 30 grams of protein (maxpro)
8:30 am 1 scoop Max Gourmet, glutamine, 8 oz water (meal replacement drink)
9:30 am 1 scoop ISO Extreme with 8oz water (quick release protein used before and after work out)
11:30 am 2 scoops of ISO Extreme + 2 scoops of Max ACM with 16 oz water (quick release protein and triple carb complex/loader)
12:30 pm Turkey sandwich - 6 oz turkey, hummus, lettuce, onion, tomato on whole wheat bread.
3:00 pm
1 scoop Max Gourmet, glutamine, 8 oz water (meal replacement drink)
6:00 pm CPK - Waldorf chicken salad...contains field greens, grapes, apples, candied walnuts, blue cheese and a Dijon dressing that I keep on the side and use sparingly.
8:00 pm 1 scoop of maxpro ( weigh protein ) with 8 oz of water.



Sunday, February 22, 2009

Freebord

Spent the day trying to relax the body. Did a pretty good job of it, we went out and did a little shopping and saw a movie. Then I came home and thought of different ways to abuse my body...hahaha See video below! I WANT ONE! : )



Work out: NONE!

Food:

Oatmeal, glutamine, flax oil, protein
protein, water, glutamine
greek salad from Panera
strawberry smoothie
a bunch of Almond M&M's during the movie
oatmeal, glutamine, protein

Friday, February 20, 2009

Dadlift Friday!!! I love the deadlift....got up to 305 x5 on our fith set today. Still had more in me, but playing it safe for now and just keeping good form and making sure I don't get hurt. I saw some people going heavier tonight then they ever have....I think there are going to be a lot of new PR's at the end of the cycle. Some people are already doing more in their 2nd week then their 1 rep max at the end of the last cycle.

Work out:

Deadlift ( I can't remeber the pregression) 5 sets of 5....last set was 305 for 5.

WOD

dot drills
hip slaps
power wheel
double unders

Food:

oatmeal with stuff in it. hahaha
protein, water
chef salad
half protein bar
laughing planet burrito and a few chips (feeling bloated now)

Thursday, February 19, 2009

The Basics


So I have been getting a lot of questions about how I lost all the weight. I wanted to give everyone a couple basic things I did and still do that were key for me. Keep in mind this is before I started working out. While working out it is important to add more protein to your diet.

1. Eat something every 3 hours. This will keep your bodies metabolism moving and is key to losing weight no matter what kind of diet you are on. Here is an example of a day of eating every 3 hours....

6 am - 1 whole-wheat English muffin with 1 & 1/2 tbsp of unsalted almond butter

9 am - 1 oz of unsalted cashews, 1 string cheese, apple

noon - Turkey Sandwich with mustard (no mayo) and lettuce/tomato

3 pm - 5 low sodium triscuts, 1 lowfat yogurt, celery

6pm - 5 oz of fish or chicken, 1 1/2 cups of steamed veggies, 1 cup of brown rice

That is a pretty organized day and you really don't want to eat after that last meal....if you need something have another fruit or a string cheese to get you by until you fall asleep.

2. Drink at least 64 oz of water a day....it is pretty safe to say that not many people do not drink this much water and it is VERY important not only for weight loss but our bodies recovery.

3. Stay away from heavily processed foods such as fast food, frozen dinners, fruit in cans, etc...anything that has a lot of preservatives in it. Try and eat things with an experation date on it and try cooking for yourself and plan your meals out.

4. Stay away from salts. Try and eat low sodium foods.....things that are under 500 or 400 grams per serving.

These are the basics of what I did. Sticking to it is obviously the most important thing. You can work so hard during the week and lose 2 pounds ( which 1 -2 pounds is a normal weight loss) and blow your diet on the weekend and gain back those 2 pounds you worked so hard on in 1 day. So if you do go off of your plan try and make decisions like eating every 3 hours, drinking water, and staying away from salt.

Feel free to ask more detailed questions or ideas....I have been doing this long enough that I have a few ideas up my sleeve. ;)

Work out:

kb Push press 16k/20k/24k/28k/32k 5 each arm
plank rows 20k 5x

15 minute WOD

run 2 laps
10 pull ups
Finished 4 rounds

Food:

oatmeal with supliments
water with protein
baja chicken salad from Grand Central bakery
water with protein
6 oz of chicken
2 cups of steamed veggies

Tuesday, February 17, 2009

Bounced Back

What a strange day. I think I ended up with a little food poisining or something because I flet like crap all morning and then ended up haaving a small gaul bladder attack that lasted about 30 minutes. Thank God for taking that pain away, those usually last a good 4 hours or more when they come on. You are all going to think I am crazy about this, but my Dr. said I should have my gaul bladder removed, but she said I can't do anything physical for 6 weeks afterwards. She has no idea how depressed and miserable I would be if I couldn't work out for 6 weeks! hahaha So I do a good job of controling it, but like I said...whatever I ate the night before probably did it to me because the meat I ate looked like a mystery. ughhhh So after lunch today I started to feel good again and all my sore muscles that I woke up with were gone.

I was still dreading going into hot yoga tonight because of how hard it was for me last night, but for the first time I made it through the whole class without stopping to rest. So all that whining I did this morning about how sore I was can be thrown out. I am so happy with these quick recoveries...I hope they last!

I am heading back home tomorrow and back into RF, my home gym. YEAH!!!!!!


Work out

90 minutes of hot yoga

Food

4 eggs, 1/4 cup oatmeal
protein, water
CPK Waldorf salad
protein bar
chicken pho with about 12 oz of chicken.

Hurtin' Dude

I think having all this energy can work against me sometimes. I have a hard time listening to my body sometimes when it is screaming at me to stop because my mind is saying go for it you can do more. Last night was a good example of this as I got out of my car to walk up to my hotel room my legs were hurting!! It wasn't like they were just a little sore....my calves hurt, my hamstrings hurt, my butt was cramping and my quads were still on fire from the hot yoga class I just finished. At that point my body was talking to me louder then my mind. When I hit the bed last night I was out like a light. When I got up this morning I felt a lot better and my legs feel pretty fresh again. My knees definately do not, but I think that is mainly from falling on the ice while snowboarding on Sunday. I am just going to have to becareful the rest of the week and see if I can get them to heal up.

Anyways, love all the stuff I am doing and amazed that I can do it all still. To think that a little over a year ago I would be out of breath just bending over to tie my shoes and if my legs were sore it was because I walked up a flight of stairs. hahaha CRAZY!!

Work out:

Skill -
8 weighted lunges
10 plank power wheel
1 other thing I cant remember

WOD:
30-20-10

*run 2 times around the building then*
2 hand swing 24k
goblet squat 24k
push ups
mountain climbers

Did 90 minutes of hot yoga in the evening.

Food:
Oatmeal, flax, glutamine, protein
Protein, water
chicken salad from applebees
protein, water
smoothie
protein bar
Chicken pho and a spring roll

Sunday, February 15, 2009

I had a great weekend.  Here is the quick run down:


Saturday was 80's day at the gym was a blast!  We got some great photos, I will post some later.  The work out was tough and I felt those heavy med ball cleans in my legs the next day.

Did some things with the family and had a wonderful dinner with my wife at Mama Mia's for Valentines day.  

Sunday I spent snowboarding with some great friends from the gym. The day was perfect.....the conditions were awesome and we got a lot of really good runs in.  I am just exhausted from the boarding today so I am going to keep all of this really short. 

Bottom line!  It was a Fantastic weekend and was full of laughter, great friends and one sore body! 

Food:

I ate when I could and what I could. Not horrible, but not great either.  I even had to turn down a leaf of lettuce from Tiff and ate a protein bar instead.  :)

Friday, February 13, 2009

Deadlift Day


We are back to dead lifting again at the gym. HOORAY! We started off light today and worked on form. It felt really good to get back over the bar. I am setting my goal at 400 lbs by the end of the cycle. My old PR was 375 and it was shaky. The last time we did the cycle I was not worried about form and bounced the bar a lot to help get more reps. I plan on taking good controlled motion this time and really focusing on having good form, because with the kind of weight we will be lifting, it is easy to injure yourself if you get sloppy.

Workout:

Strength - Deadlift 5 sets of 8
170/190/210/230/250
12 jackknives after each round

After that I worked on rope climb and did the powerwheel. I have a nasty rope burn under my shin from climbing. I hope it doesn't rub in my boot while snowboarding on Sunday.

Food:

Oatmeal, flax, glutamine, protein
protein, water, glutamine
chicken salad, nuts, cranberries
protein,water, glutamine
6 oz talapia, 1 cup of brown rice
1 skinny cow icecream

Thursday, February 12, 2009

Push Press PR


After last weeks attempt at Push Presses I wasn't thinking I was going to break my PR going into our last part of the cycle. I only got to 165 last week. I felt great once I got into my reps and everything just started coming together. I made it to 200 lbs. for a 1 rep max. It felt really good to break into the 200's.

On the gym's blog they posted some Before and After photos of me and said some very nice things. It is great to be a part of Recreate Fitness and have so much support from Nathan, Tina and everyone else there. I could not be getting the kind of results I am seeing anywhere else. So many people came up to me and congratulated me on my success. It was great to hear and it just makes me want to keep up all the hard work I am doing. My life has changed dramatically in the past year.....even more so in the past 3 months since being a part of RF. I can't see what the next couple months has in store.

Work Out:

Strength-
Push Press 135/135/155/175/185/195/200
10 x-chop to Halo

WOD 2 rounds

3 TGU
kb plank row 20k
10 weighted push ups

Food:
oatmeal/protein/flax/glutamine
protein/water/glutamine
chicken gyro
protein/water/glutamine
chicken/veggies/brown rice
protein/water

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

I am headed up so Ski Bowl tomorrow for some night boarding with David....I can't wait to get up there and into some of that new snow. Hopefully the roads will be clear, my car sucks in the snow and I really don't want to have to chain up.

I subscribed to a new magazine that I am excited about. It is called "Clean Eating" This magazine is packed full of recipes that I actually want to make and totally fit my current eating habits.

I had a busy day today so I got up early to work out. This was my first 6:30 am class...not sure I will be doing another anytime soon. I just could not get into it that early. hahaha Class kicked my butt today.

Work out:

Skill - 3 rounds/ 5 dead hang pull ups / 8 ring dips / 5 swing, hi pull, snatch

WOD: Tabata

double kb clean
push ups
JPU
rope snaps
row

Food

5 am oatmeal, flax oil, glutamine, protein
9 am protein, glutamine, water
noon laughing planet burrito
2:30 protein, glutamine, water
4:00 a few triscuts and a string cheese
6 pm chicken curry and veggies, brown rice
6 pm fruit smothie with protein

Monday, February 9, 2009


Below I copied some advice for building muscle from some websites that I agree with and the things listed below are the basics of what I have been doing everyday to help my performance. I always make sure I have a good amount of protein in me at least 30 minutes before a work out and I always take equal amounts of protein and carbs and 16 oz of water within 30 minutes of completing a work out. Everyone is different and need different things but this is what has been working for me the past couple months and I am sticking to it for now.......

***You can only build muscle if your body is in the correct anabolic balance to allow growth to take place. Intensive exercise is clearly an important part of the muscle building process but achieving the maximum muscle mass depends on putting the building blocks in place. This is achieved through sound nutritional practices so you need to be aware of the following anabolic enhancing principles

Protein is the basic raw material needed to build muscle. Protein supplies the amino acids that the body uses to repair and build muscle following intensive exercise. Aim to consume 1 to 1.5 grams of protein per pound of body weight each day from food like beef, fish, poultry, eggs, milk and whey. Spread the load over at least six meals to derive the optimum benefit and avoid overloading the liver.

Carbohydrates are needed to energize the muscle building process. Carbohydrates stimulate the release of insulin which pushes the amino acids into muscle cells to begin the process of repair. The body uses carbohydrates as a source of energy - consume too little and the body will steal protein that would otherwise be used for repairing and building muscle. Aim to consume 1.5 to 2 grams of carbohydrate per pound of body weight each day from foods like brown rice, vegetables and whole wheat bread.

Get plenty of rest both in terms of adequate rest days between training sessions and sufficient sleep. Your muscles won't grow if you don't build adequate recovery time into your training program. Similarly, you can only optimize your body's levels of testosterone and growth hormone if you spend enough time sleeping.

Consume quality supplements to support a sound nutritious diet. For most people it should be enough to add protein and l-glutamine to your daily diet.

Drink plenty of water. Failure to drink sufficient quantities of water will lead to dehydration and adversely affect your muscle mass. Don't forget that muscle is 70% water so a generous intake will maintain muscle volume and help growth.***

We had a great work out today. I think sometimes these short WOD's kick my butt more then some of the longer ones because I am able to go all out. This was a fun one!

Workout:

Strength - Deadlifts....we were working up to our 1 rep max today. I am nursing a tight groin muscle so I was pretty nervous to go heavy. I got to 205.

WOD
30/24/20/16/12/8/4/2

ball slam - 20 lbs
Kettle bell snatch 16k

Time 8:47

Food:

6 am - Oatmeal, flax oil, glutamine, protein
9 am - protein, glutamine, water
1pm - chicken gyro
3pm - protein, glutamin, water
6pm - 8 oz tuna steak, 2 cups of steamed veggies
9m - Protein, water

Saturday, February 7, 2009

Finally the hype is over and things can get back to normal. We did the Fight Gone Bad benchmark today and it was a lot of fun. I was there for all 3 classes so I got to see just about everyone make their way through the workout and it was amazing to see how hard everyone pushed. It was really cool, I could not wait to get in there and do it. ( I ended up doing the last class of the day.) So anyways I was paired up with Sean and he did awesome. He came out just flying and his ROM was flawless. He killed his old score! I always like working out with Sean, he is a great motivator and really knows how to get more out of me when I feel like stopping. So....I was up after him and I tried to stay steady...I wanted to get at least 20 reps per station except for the rower, I wanted 10 - 15 there. I can't remember my scores per round but I stayed pretty consistent. On my third round after wall ball and sumo deadlifts I got to the box jumps and I seriously did not think I was going to finish without losing my breakfast. Luckily I made it through the last 3 stations and felt pretty good. Anyways, it was a lot of fun and lot of people did amazing today. Eva impressed the hell out of me. She kicked ass!! :)

This might get a little lengthy....So the past week was a fun and challenging week for me. I stayed so busy all week it felt like the week just flew by. I wanted to try and stay active as much as I could this week to kind of see where I am in my fitness.

So it started out last Saturday with a very good partner work out. Then Sunday I spent the day snowboarding for basically the first time ( some previous posts explain that) and that got me sore!!!!! Then Monday I did the 7:30 work out and drove to Seattle for work and then that night I tired out Hot Yoga for the first time and continued to do that the next 3 nights after work while I was in Seattle. Then I drove back on Thursday and hit a RF work out at 5:30. Then the next morning I did the 7:30 am work out at RF. Then Saturday morning did the RF work out FGB.
Through all of this I was super strict on my diet and felt great even though it was a somewhat challenging week my recovery time was great and my energy was up!

Also....I lost about 5 pounds this week through all of this, usually that is too much to lose in a week but if I am working this hard and not cheating in my eating habits I am not worried about it. It would be different if I was constantly hungry and lost the weight by not eating enough, but that is not the case. If I was not eating enough, I could not keep up this kind of energy and do these work outs. So in the past 5 weeks, I have lost about 18 pounds and am continuing to get stronger.

Workout:

3 rounds, 1 minute at each station with a 1 minute rest between rounds

Wall ball
Sumo Deadlift High Pulls 75 lbs
Box Jumps
Push Presses 75 lbs
Row for calories

Score: 316

Food:

5:30 oatmeal with protein/flax oil/glutamine
9:00 protein bar
10:30 protein drink
12:30 5 triscuts, 2 string cheese, a yogurt
3:00 HUB..hummus with veggies, Bavarian pretzels, pear and nut salad with chicken
7:00 protien and milk

Thursday, February 5, 2009

I worked out early Monday morning at RF and then headed straight for Seattle for 4 days.  I got back tonight and hit the 5:30 class at RF.....I basically only missed 2 days but it seemed like forever.  So it was great to get back in there tonight.  It was a good tough work out tonight that had me gasping for air by the end of the 3rd round.  That is a good sign that you gave just about everything you have.  Thanks to Matt G., I spent myself early trying to catch him.  He did awesome tonight and kept all 3 of this times under 2 minutes.  


We also did push presses tonight and I just wasn't feeling strong while doing them.  I should have backed off on the weight and got some better quality lifts in.  That is just not a strong lift for me yet, I need to work more on the technique before trying to go any heavier.  

So it was a great night and it felt really good being back!!  

I am looking forward to fight gone bad on Saturday.  I hope all of you are going to be there, the more I look at the work out....it doesn't look any different then a lot of the other things we have been doing week in and week out.  Nathan has done a great job getting us all prepared for these 5 exercises and I am looking forward to giving it my all.  

Work out:

Strength:
5 sets of 3 push presses and 8 ring rows
135/155/175/185 attempt failed

WOD

Sprint 3 rounds for time - rest 3 minutes between rounds

Row 250 meters
20 ball slams / 20 lb ball
spring to end of parking lot and back.

Times:  1:54/2:04/2:11

Food:

Oatmeal with protein and 2 eggs
protein and water
chicken salad
protein and water
San Sai / 6 pieces of tuna sashimi, 3 pieces of tuna nigiri, small salad
protein and water

I am looking forward to this WOD on Saturday. Here is a good video about it.

Tuesday, February 3, 2009

Quick Post

Hot Yoga was good, I laid there in the practice room for 30 minutes before the class started and I fell asleep before it started.....for some reason I kept dreaming that I was swinging a kettlebell and I kept throwing my hands in the air while I was sleeping and jerking myself awake. The heat in there does feel good. As soon as I started the class though I was sweating a lot more then I did last night. I dropped 5 pounds during the class. I am sure I already replenished that 5 pounds with water and dinner. But it is just amazing how much you can sweat out in 90 minutes. Okay, I am sure you all don't want to hear about me sweating.....I am going to bed. hahaha

Work out:

Still in Seattle....Did 90 minutes of Hot Yoga

Food:

2 eggs, 1/2 cup oatmeal with protein
protein, water
salmon salad
protein, water
chicken salad

Monday, February 2, 2009

Hot Yoga

What a day! I woke up this morning very tight and sore from snowboarding on Sunday. I go in and took the 7:30 class at Recreate Fitness and felt great after the warm up and had a really good work out. I got a new PR on my front squat...225 for 1. I struggled for that rep and kinda lost my form. It was messy....I definately let the weight psyche me out. But I will count it. :)

From there I drove up to Seattle to work up there for the next couple days. A friend of mine has been raving so much about "hot yoga" and the studio she goes to up in Federal Way. So I decided to give it a try tonight. It was tough to stay in that kind of heat but I stayed in the room the whole 90 minutes. My friend thought that it was about 108 or 110 in the room tonight which is hotter then normal. ( my luck ) About 30 minutes into it I started to feel a little queezy and dizzy which they say is normal and just had to lay there for about 5 minutes until I felt a little better. All in all it was good and I enjoyed the deep stretches. My training at RF really helped me for 2 reasons.
1. Strength obviously.....there were a lot of squat like positions and I was able to hold them solid.

2. Mental toughness...I never really thought about this too much before but the past 3 months at RF, I have learned to keep pushing myself and telling myself that I can do it even when I feel like I can't take it anymore. That really helped my tonight because a few times I thought, it was too hot, I couldn't get a deeper stretch, I can't breathe right.....but I pushed through all those things....got my mind focused and made it through. So, I liked it...but I can't see doing it all the time. I am going to do it again the next couple nights while in Seattle for my work outs.

Work out:

Strength. Front Squat 3/3/3/1/1/1 with cross chop to halos.
135/145/155/ 175/205/225

WOD:
15 minutes of

10 2 hand swings
10 2 hand kb flip, catch, squat 35 lb.
10 box jumps

I did 10 rounds.

Food:

Oatmeal, protein, flax, glutamine
protein, water
chicken salad
protein, water
chicken salad with fruit and cheese

YEAH!!!!  No broken bones!  I had such a great time with David, Devon and Tiff up at Ski Bowl yesterday.  We get there and I decided to take a lesson when I rented my equipment.  The price for the lesson, rental and lift was only $54.00 which I thought was a pretty good deal.  So as I did the lesson the other 3 went off and did a few runs and I got some good tips on some basics....mainly how to get around with one foot in the board.  So when I was done with the lesson we met up and up we went on the lift to do my first run.  I got off the lift with not a huge problem, well for me, I did almost take out David.  hahaha  So we get strapped in and off I go and all I could do was stay on my toe side.  Devon and Tiff came down and gave me some good pointers and all of the sudden it just all made sense and I was able to make it down without too many falls.  The more we went down the faster I got and the easier it got to get in control.  I think I got in 7 runs and they got in 11 total.  The only thing that hurt when we left yesterday was my left butt cheek...but around 9 last night I think just about every part of my body was stiff.  :)  Then waking up this morning there was a lot of cracking and popping going on.  This mornings work out should be interesting.  


 I couldn't have asked for a better day and such great friends to be there with to help me and encourage me.  I will definitely be going back and I think I am starting to feel an addiction coming on.  For those of you who know me, you know that is not a good thing as I seem to get a little obsessed.  hahaha  

Devon, got some good pictures, once they get them posted on their blog I will put up a link.  

Thanks again you guys!!  

Saturday, January 31, 2009


For those of you who haven't seen Recreate Fitness, the gym I work out at....here is kind of a birds eye view of half the gym.

I had a great time at the gym today and even had some fun shooting some photos with Matt and Tina during some of the classes. I think Tina is catching the camera bug, she seemed to have fun trying new lenses and playing with different angles. She got some really cool shots.

I got a new PR in class today. I did 20 kipping pull ups, my previous record was 15 on Jan. 3rd. I think my hands gave out before anything else, I need to toughen up these small little dough-boy hands. :)

Sean was my partner for the work out today and we were cruising right along. ( We even found a way to keep good form and still shave a few seconds off our wall ball time. ) But then we hit the atomic push ups and for what ever reason we thought we had to do 100 instead of 50. I think we just about hit 100 and I think it was Devon who pointed it out to us. We were struggling through those last 2o or so towards the end. Oh well, it was a great chest work out and I am sure my chest will be sore tomorrow.

Speaking of tomorrow, I am attempting snowboarding for the 1st time in 12 years and back then I only went twice. The first time I thought I was getting the hang of it until I bit it really bad and someone came up to help me and said, " Are you okay? That is the worst accident I have ever seen!" The second time was much more enjoyable because I took a lesson and made it through the day without wiping out. ( I can't say that much for my brother in law who spent half the day getting x-rays from his fall) Now that I am thinking of all this, it probably isn't too smart of me to go tomorrow since these bad accidents seem to follow me around on the slopes. LOL I am going to take it easy and just enjoy the snow and friends. I will let you know if I made it back in one piece tomorrow.

I can't remember the whole work out because I had to run out after class and didn't write it down. But it was good and long and hard! :) Just the way we like them.

Food:
6:30 am oatmeal with protein, glutamine, flax
10:15 am protein, water
11:30 am protein bar
4:00 pm celery, almond butter, protein and water
7:00 pm crab salad, cheese, fruit
8:00 pm eggnog bread pudding

Thursday, January 29, 2009


Spidey is the man, he can do the alligator on his fingertips! hahaha

We did push presses today and they felt really good. I have been staying kind of light because of the lower back pain I was having while doing this lift. I knew the pain was from the bad form I had when bringing the weight back down after the press. So, I finally figure it out and was able to start moving back up in weight. I finished off my fifth set at 175, but I felt like I could have moved up to 195. I think we have a couple more weeks of this, I am hoping to get over 200 by the end of this lift.

Workout:

Strength: 5 sets of 3
Push press 115/125/135/145/155/175
5 dead hang pull ups 5x

WOD:

Run 2 laps
30-20-10
DB deadlift - 30 lbs
DB pushpress - 30 lbs
Run 2 laps

Time: 8:40

at home...rowed 5000 meters in 21:10

Food:
6:30 - Oatmeal with my stuff. :)
8:30 - protein, water
11:30 - protein, water
12:30 - Chicken Gyro / light sauce
2:30 - 3 celery sticks, 1/4 cup almond butter, protein water
6pm - telapia, asparagus, steamed veggies
9pm - protein, water

Wednesday, January 28, 2009


It's time to play....name that work out! I am not sure if Nathan has a name for this yet, but it needs one.

I really liked this work out, it is one of those WOD's that make you feel good to finish. I felt really good today after taking a day off for rest. Between the cert, and travel I was feeling pretty out of it so I didn't work out on Tuesday. I woke up Tuesday morning down in Medford and you know that saying, "Listen to your body" well when I got up, I heard more popping and cracking then I think I have ever heard from my body. So I took the day off and woke up this morning feeling great! Thank God!!!

Work out

Row 1000m
50 pushups
50 2 hand swings / 24k
50 jumping pull ups
50 sit ups
50 med ball cleans / 20 lbs
50 kb high pulls each arm / 35 lbs
50 ball slams / 20 lbs
50 ring rows
250 jump rope

Time was 28:55

Food:
6 am - My normal oatmeal
9 am - protein, water
noon - Beat Salad, cheese, walnuts
3 pm - 1/4 cup almond butter, 3 celery sticks
6 pm - 8 oz chicken, 2 cups of cooked veggies
9pm - protein, water

Monday, January 26, 2009

Jackie

We did "Jackie" today for a benchmark work out. It was a great work out and was pretty happy with my time. ( I think it was 10:04) I don't have anything to compare it to yet, but it felt like a good start.

Work Out:

Front Squats 135/135/145/155 all were 5x
spidermans

"Jackie"
row 1000 meters
50 thrusters 45 lbs.
30 pullups

Food:

oatmeal, glutamine, flax oil, protein
protein, water
chicken salad
protein, water
ahi tuna salad

Sunday, January 25, 2009

Barbell Cert


I completed the Basic Barbell Cert this weekend over at Crossfit hel with Mark Rippetoe teaching. We went over so much information in about 19 hours of class time, there is a lot to soak in but with Mark's books he gave us, I can look a little deeper into some of the topics. So Saturday we did the back squat, press, and bench press. Then on Sunday we did the Dead lift and the power clean. Mark went into so much detail of the skeletal system and positioning of the bar, and how to lift and what to lift with, etc... It just all clicked and made sense. Way too much information to talk about right now. It was great experience to learn these lifts and then also to coach them. I really like that style of teaching. Here is the order in which I liked the exercises from best to least.

Low Back Squat 45/45/95/135/165/185/185 all x5
Dead lift 135/135/225/275/275 all x5
Press 45/45/95/115/115/135 all x5
Bench Press 45/45/90/185/225/ allx5
Power clean 45/45/95/105/105/105 all x3

I am wiped out after this weekend! Hopefully I will get a good night sleep.

Food over the weekend was not so good. I ate when I could eat and it wasn't always the best. Back on it tomorrow!

Friday, January 23, 2009

So today was a "play day" at the gym...basically work on techniques and such. I ended up doing a 10 minute kettle bell-snatch drill that I have been wanting to try. So it was competition rules...do as many kettle bell snatches in 10 minutes without putting the kettle bell down and only switching arms one time. Nathan set me up with a 16k competition kettle bell and off I went. About 3 minutes into this thing I started thinking, "what the hell was I thinking" My shoulder was on fire by that time but I knew that if I switched now I would not be able to do do 7 minutes with my other arm. So I pressed on and I think there was about 5.30 left on the clock I switched to my right arm. Again, 2 to 3 minutes in on my right and it got rough.....by the last minute I wanted to put it down so bad...I could no longer open my hand in the rest position because it was cramping so bad and so did my forearm. Tina started counting down that list minute for me which really helped and I was able to complete the whole 10 minutes. When I was done.....I was done! I got 119 I think. It felt good to accomplish that though. I highly recommend trying it sometime. :)

Food:
oatmeal with the usual.
chicen sandwich
protein, water
steamed veggies and 4 oz of chicken, 1 piece of home made bread.
protein, water

Thursday, January 22, 2009


I love doing the Kettlebell lifts. Tonight we did one arm swings and snatch. I used a 20k comp bell and felt good, in fact the snatch seemed to go up fairly easy when I kept proper form for the whole 15 minutes. I am hoping that we will try a 10 minute snatch challenge soon. I would like to see if I can go 10 minutes with only 1 arm switch.

So next time I get the bright idea of doing 6 days in a row, please slap me!!! What the *%#$ was I thinking? Today's work out was the first one since last Saturday that I felt like I was getting my strength back. I had worked out on Monday and Tuesday and took Wednesday off. I may have been fighting off a cold or something too, all I have wanted to do the past 4 days was sleep. I was still and tired coming into tonights work out but by the time we got done with out push presses I was fired up and ready to attack the WOD. Now I feel hyper and probably won't be able to sleep good tonight. :)

Workout:

Warmup
3 rounds
5 Windmills- 35
5 overhead squat with kettlebell- 20
Farmers walk- 32k

Skill
Push Press 6x5- 135/135/155/155/155/135
Cross chop to halo- 10 / 35 lb

WOD
How many rounds in 15 mins?
5- L 1 arm swing
5- R 1 arm wing
5- L arm snatch
5- R arm snatch
10- pushups
12 rounds with 20k kb

Food:

6:30 Oatmeal, glutamine, flax oil, protein
9:00 protein, water, glutamine
12:30 a little calamari, chicken salad
7:30 oatmeal, protein
( not a good day for my diet )

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

I was taking a look around at some rope climbing vidoes today and I came across this guy doing a one arm rope climb. Check it out.




Work out kicked my ass today. Still a little confused why....I usually like the Tabata drills.

Skill

Dead hang pull ups. 5/5/4/4
dips 5/5/5/5
KB snatch 5 each arm - 22k/28k/28k/32k

WOD
"tabata" (20 sec. sprint 10 sec. rest.) 6 times at each station

Bear Crawl
Combative rope
S.D.H.P KB 24k/24k/24k/24k/45lb/45lb
jumping pull ups

At home : Rowed 2000 meters for Fat Elvis

Food:
6:30 Oatmeal with protein, glutamine, flax oil
9:30 protein with water and glutamine
12:00 Chicken salad
2:30 Fat Elvis (wow that was good)
6:00 8 oz Ahi tuna, 4 asparagus spears, salad
9:30 protein, water, glutamine