CHANGE IS GOOD

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

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.

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

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. 

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....

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!  :)

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. 

“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

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! : )

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

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

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

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!!! : )

"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

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 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

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.