120711

"If you strike me down I shall become more powerful than you could possibly imagine."

Who said that, Gandhi? Wait, no, Obi-Wan Kenobi. That's right... In any case, that's how I feel! Five weeks ago I had back surgery. More precisely I had a "Lumbar 5 / Sacral 1 Micro-Discectomy". I was experiencing a LOT of pain in my lower back and down the back of my left leg due to my spinal nerve bundle being trapped and strangled by a ruptured S1 disc. I also had a cracked L5 vertebrae. Well, it's all fixed now. I feel great. My back feels ten years younger than the rest of my body. I am so incredibly glad I went ahead with the surgery. It was easily one of my better decisions.

I haven't updated this blog in quite a while. Namely because I didn't really have anything of interest to write about. Since my surgery I have, obviously, been off work. My main goal was to simply relax and heal. I believe that has gone just as planned. I read a lot, watched a lot of TV, got bored and remodeled our downstairs bathroom, and surprised my wife with a trip to Las Vegas for our anniversary. The ac unit / furnace in the upstairs portion of our house died, so I had the pleasure of getting a new one installed. By the way, if there anything on Earth more ridiculously over-priced than ac units? Besides Gillette Mach 3 razor blades? Good Lord... If you have never had to replace a unit in your house consider yourself lucky. I could have purchased a decent car for what these things cost. And I'm pretty sure the downstairs unit in my house is going to have to be replaced next year. What a rip off.

In any case, Wednesday July 11, 2012 deserved a blog update because I got back into the gym. Yes, after a nearly two month layover, due to my injury and subsequent surgery, I was finally able to workout again. This was a big deal to me as I still have every intention of getting in fantastic shape over the next year. My back injury slowed me down some, but I'm not giving up. Due to the nature of my injury and surgery I have had to re-define the term "working out" for myself. I may never be able to perform compound / Olympic lifts again. I certainly won't ever be able to pull heavy weight from the ground again. Without being able to do these things (which, might I add are the most effective muscle building movements ever contrived) most Crossfit workouts are now outside the realm of possibility for me. I am relegated to isolation movements, at least for the foreseeable future (read: the next several years). Don't get me wrong, these movements, which are the movements most modern people associate with working out, are still effective. Various bench press angles, curls of all types, dumbbell work, and machines aimed at legs, chest, back, biceps, etc. are now what my workouts consist of. While these movements and machines work, to an extent, they are much slower to work, are much less effective, provide virtually no conditioning, and are certainly much less exciting compared to what I was doing. Luckily our Crossfit gym is housed in our local YMCA. This grants me access to the traditional gym located at the YMCA as well as access to the Crossfit gym upstairs. I felt good, the doctor said it was ok, and the timing felt right to ease back into working out, so I did. I am keeping the original weekly schedule of 3 on, 1 off, 2 on, 1 off beginning with Monday. Therefore our rest days will continue to be Thursdays and Sundays. Due to the more traditional nature of what I am now forced to do we will be following the listed schedule.

Monday- Chest and Triceps
Tuesday- Back and Traps
Wednesday- Legs (Quads and Calves)
Thursday- Rest
Friday- Shoulders and Biceps
Saturday- Deadlift and Hamstrings
Sunday- Rest

Wow. What a different mindset from what we were doing. But, when life gives you lemons and whatnot. Now, I know what you are thinking...up there in that list is a dirty word. Right beside Saturday is "deadlifts". I know, I'm thinking it too. I will not be doing these at this time. I will substitute as necessary. As time progresses I'm sure I will try them with VERY LITTLE weight, keeping perfect form, and see how I feel. We will continue this schedule for at least 12 weeks and see where we are. I will probably switch the programming up at that time. I will be posting new starting numbers and photos for myself tomorrow as I am basically having to begin this process again. New benchmarks, new movements, same goals. As for my first workout yesterday? It was not much to speak of. Basically just got in the gym, rode the bike for a little while, and did some chest and back exercises to see how I felt. I felt good. That was all the testing I needed to know that it was time to get back after it. Thanks to everyone who checked up on me and sent prayers up on my behalf for a quick recovery from surgery. Obviously it worked. I'll post my first workout Friday. As always, I encourage you to follow along and post your numbers to the comments section. We can motivate each other!

120611

I am 4 days out of surgery and I feel great. Great for someone who had spinal surgery 4 days ago, that is. The pain in my leg, as well as the pain from the injury to my back is gone. It's like it was never there. Seriously, this surgery was that effective. Now, I still have soreness from the surgery itself, but it's bearable. As a matter of fact I stopped taking my pain medication Saturday afternoon. I found I really didn't need it. I started taking 800 mg of ibuprofen 3 times daily after that to manage what was left of my pain. I have since dropped it to 1 dose of ibuprofen as needed. Hopefully in the next couple days I can forget about that as well. I am starting to get a little stir crazy. As you are aware, I cant drive for another 9 days. And, honestly, I can understand why. I would be unsafe to others on the roadway as I can't turn from side go side to see out of the vehicle. Looking behind me is completely out of the question. I could drive if, say, the zombie apocalypse happened tonight. Other than that, I am pretty unsafe behind the wheel. I am pretty much confined to my house for another couple of weeks. I have been surfing the interwebs, reading Clive Cussler books, playing PS3, and generally procrastinating on what I should be doing, studying for the LSAT. I have decided to take it in August, just to see what happens, but I was always much better at procrastinating than studying. As a matter of fact, if we all die eventually, aren't we all just procrastinating until then? Yeah, thats what I thought.

I have been eating like crap. Since I can't really stand long enough to cook a meal I have just been eating whatever was around the house. This includes pizza, chips, sandwiches, etc. Pair this with the fact that I can't work out for another couple months and I am sure I will have to start my year of getting fit all over again. I'm ok with that as I wasn't very far into it. We went to eat with several members of our crossfit family tonight. It's hard to hear them talking about the gym. I want to get back in there badly.

So, 4 days post surgery wrap up. If you are considering this surgery, then you are like me and are beyond any other help. Either you have exhausted your other options, or you have an injury that is sufficient enough that other options really aren't options for you. I fell into the later category. So, if your doctor is suggesting a Microdiscectomy, I say do it! I certainly don't regret mine. I can already tell this has taken several years off the age of my back. It really feels great. Once I get fully healed up I feel certain that I will be back in the swing of things in no time. I'll update again in a few days.

120608

So, I had an L5/S1 Microdiscectomy yesterday morning. The surgery itself went smoothly. The only unexpected thing they ran into, according to the surgeon, was a hole in the disc they were repairing. Apparently it was so badly herniated that it was actually ruptured. This increases the possibility that i could herniate the same disc again if I'm not careful in the future. I was in surgery just under 2 hours. Woke up lying on my side in the fetal position in the recovery room. When I went under I was on my back. They must have forced me into the sideways position and operated on me that way. Probably makes it easier to perform the surgery with the spine elongated in that way. In any case, I woke up slightly when I was in the recovery room. They made me roll over into another bed once I was in my actual assigned room in the hospital tower. This was a little painful, but I immediately fell back asleep.

I woke up some time later with my family in the room with me. My back felt tight and a little sore, but it was nothing that was unbearable. I noticed that the pain in my left leg was gone! That was really the whole reason I had the surgery, so I was extremely excited that it seemed to be successful! I was told by the nurses that Discectomy patients are generally required to spend the night at the hospital before being allowed to go home. I informed them that I was not really interested in playing sleep over at DCH and asked what I had to do in order to be discharged that day. They said I had to do three things: (1) take a second round of intravenous antibiotics, (2) be able to stand up and walk a little ways, and (3) urinate. I told them to hook up the IV, bring me a bunch of cups of water, and lower the bed rails. Over the next few hours I completed all three tasks given to me. The surgeon came by to see me and gave me the blessing to go home if I wanted to. I didn't give him the opportunity to change his mind. I left the hospital shortly thereafter and came home.

I spent much of yesterday sleeping due to the medication I was given. My wife and my parents were nice enough to rearrange the living room furniture so I could relax, see the tv, and still feel like I am part of the group. The last thing I want is to feel isolated for the next several weeks. The doctor told me that I should get up and walk a few times daily to make sure I stayed stretched out and try to strengthen my core. I have been doing this. It blows my mind that my spine was operated on yesterday and today I'm walking down the street. I have a large back brace (that resembles a corset, really) that I am supposed to wear for the next two weeks, until I have my post-op meeting with the surgeon. I am on pain medication, anti-inflammatories, and muscle relaxers. The concoction makes for an interesting feeling. I dare say that I am a little stoned at times. All in all I'm feeling pretty good for having endured spinal surgery yesterday. My incision is burning a little and my back is fairly tight. I can't sit down for more than a few minutes (per the doctor), so lying down or standing up are my only options. Right now the hardest thing for me to deal with is the fact that I can't drive for the next 2 weeks. Apparently if I were to react quickly while driving I could mess up whatever they did in my back. So, for the first time since I was 15 years old, I have to rely on other people to drag me around town. That sucks. Hopefully when I visit the doc in a couple weeks he will clear me to drive. So far I'm definitely happy that I had the surgery. I feel better already. An unexpected gift from the surgery is a large swollen upper lip. Apparently they busted my lip while inserting the breathing tube after I was under. It's very swollen and is making speaking, drinking, and eating difficult. It looks and feels like someone punched me in the mouth while I was unconscious. Since Sarabeth is working at the hospital this summer I have tasked her with finding out who busted my lip and whether it was on purpose. Once I heal up I'll exact my revenge. I'm joking of course (or am I serious?) I'll update again in a couple of days to let everyone know how I'm progressing.

120604

I've been away for a while. When I found out that I was having spinal surgery I got a little depressed. The doctor said I couldn't work out exactly the way I wanted anymore and that kinda bummed me out. I actually felt sorry for myself for about 2 minutes. However, I'm realigned and squared away again. Thanks to everyone for the words of encouragement via messages, emails, phone calls, etc.
I went to the beach last week. The in-laws took Sarabeth and I down to Orange Beach. It was a nice little vacation. I definitely had time to re-evaluate my situation while I was there. I was very jealous of Sara. We took a set of bumper weights, her bar, a kettle bell, and a 20# medicine ball for her to use while we were there. She woke up every morning and performed a solid workout in the parking lot of the condo complex. Of course, everyone else staying there thought she was crazy. At one point she was using the side of my truck as a wall for handstand pushups. She was also using the tailgate for box jumps. That was one heck of a high box. Easily 36 inches, at least. She is so dedicated. In any case, all I could do was sit and watch. I wanted to participate so badly. I finally had to stop watching. I spent most of my time during daylight hours on the beach reading Clive Cussler novels. I love his books. I managed to keep the pain in my left leg at bay thanks to anti-inflammatories, Lortab, and a few Bud Lights. My doctor also prescribed me a dose pack of steroids to keep the swelling down. Sara told me it would work well, but would be temporary. She was right. It worked very well, and had my pain all but stamped out. However, I finished the pack Friday. It's Monday and my pain is already seeping back in. Luckily I only have to endure it for a few more days.
I am scheduled for my presurgical testing today at 1230. Hopefully everything will check out alright and they will give the green light for surgery Thursday. People keep asking me if I am anxious about the surgery. My answer is an overwhelming "No". I am ready to have the procedure and get on with my life. I am ready to get back to a pain-free state and see what I am able to do in the gym. Unfortunately, the weeks since I hurt myself have probably set me back to my beginning state, as I feel I have gained a few pounds of chunkiness and lost some strength. I feel certain that I will get it back, and that this is just a set back I must deal with.
My major goal right now is to be able to walk without pain by June 25. June 26 is our wedding anniversary. I have booked a surprise trip for Sara and I for the 25th through the 28th. It had to be a quick trip due to her work schedule, as she has an internship at DCH all summer. She knows we are going somewhere...she just doesn't know where. I'm going to try to keep it a secret until the day we leave. I think it will be more fun that way. In any case, that is only 2.5 weeks after my surgery. I don't want my back to limit us on our trip, so I am so focused on being able to walk a decent amount by that time that I don't have time to be anxious about the procedure. Sarabeth is much more nervous about it that I am. I would do it today if I could.
I will update again before the surgery. Afterwards I am going to try to give a play by play rundown of everything that is going on with my body in the hopes that it will benefit someone else down the line. Thanks for reading!

120525

Well, it has been a very interesting couple of days. As you may recall I injured my back doing behind the neck Snatch grip Push Press this past Saturday. I had an MRI Tuesday evening. Based on this image I was referred to Dr. Rick McKenzie, a local neurosurgeon at DCH. I met with him yesterday afternoon. He showed me the images of my back. I have an ENORMOUS herniation in the L5/S1 disc. My L5 is also cracked. It is not simply pressing on my nerve bundle, it actually has them trapped and violently pinned on my spinal column. Based on the severity of the herniation, the possibility of permanent nerve damage, and my desire to return to an active lifestyle we decided that surgery was the best option. He will be performing what is known as an L5/S1 Discectomy on me. This surgery is scheduled for June 7. I am unable to work before my surgery due to the fact that I have lost nearly all strength in my left leg and the fact that I must stay under the influence of fairly heavy medication in order to remain in a seated position for any length of time. Since my job requires me to drive around, handle firearms, and make split second decisions that carry the weight of life and death I can not work with a system full of narcotics. After the surgery I will be unable to return to my full police duties for approximately 8 weeks. He stated I might be able to perform some type of light duty job within a month or so post surgery, but that remains to be seen. This means that all in all I'm basically out of work for the next 10 weeks. The worst news of all is as follows: several of the Crossfit movements, including heavy squats, deadlifts, snatches, cleans, etc. are no longer possible for me. I will never again be able to do Crossfit as it is intended. I will have to do a sort of modified version of everything. This means no more competitions for me. I'm very bummed out about this. I obviously can't work out at all for the next 10 to 12 weeks. I'm hoping that after that I will be able to at least do more traditional movements, or Olympic movements with lower weight. This will not produce the muscle gains I desire, but it is what it is. Just when I got motivated to make a drastic change in my health, appearance, strength, and life in general this happens. Sometimes life simply isn't fair. Of course, I never expected it to be. In any case, I will continue to update this blog throughout this process. Maybe someone in my position, that has to have this surgery sometime in the future, will benefit from it. Once I am fully healed I intend to complete what I set out to do, even if I have to take a slightly different approach. Thank you all for reading my entries, and I ask that you not give up on me. This is just an obstacle in my path that I have to deal with. It is not the end of my fitness journey.

120523

Well, I haven't been updating for a few days. Sorry. This is because there has been nothing new to tell. I haven't worked out since my back injury saturday. I have been to the chiropractor twice and had an mri last night. I suppose I will see the results of the mri tomorrow. My back feels much better. Despite what some people believe the chiropractor is the only thing that has provided me any relief for my back pain since I originally injured it 3 years ago. I have also been using a TENS unit at home and will have an inversion table arriving within the week. However, the shooting pain that my back injury is causing down the hamstring in my left leg is almost unbearable. It is not too painful when I'm standing or lying down. However, when seated, and the pain is impossible to ignore. This makes driving a vehicle for any distance an exercise in agony. For this reason I took a few days off work, as riding around in a patrol vehicle has been completely out of the question. I'm going to try to go back to work Thursday with the aid of some OTC anti-inflammatories. If you are following the blog, by all means keep up with your workouts and let me know how you are doing. Thursday is our normal rest day, so I'm going to try to ease back into the gym Friday. I will let everyone know how the mri and Friday works out.

120519

Saturday was a frustrating day. Let me lay out the workouts, then I will explain.

BARBELL GYMNASTICS
- Take 12 minutes to establish your 1RM Snatch
1a) 4x3 behind the neck Snatch grip Push Press @ heaviest possible, rest 60 secs
2a) 4x3 Snatch Pulls @ heaviest possible, rest 60 secs

CONDITIONING
- For time:
Run 800 meters
9 Back Squats @275/185# (women)
18 Dumbbell Push Jerk @60/40#
Run 800 meters
7 Back Squat @275/185
14 DB Push Jerk @60/40
Run 800 meters
5 Back Squat @275/185
10 DB Push Jerk @60/40

*****MY RESULTS*****

BARBELL GYMNASTICS
- The day started off well with me hitting a 10# Personal Record (PR) on Snatch. I pulled 145# and stuck it on my second attempt! I was super pumped. Only 19 days ago my I struggled to Snatch 135# and got it on my 6th attempt. This is a testament that my programming is working. I can actually feel myself getting stronger. It was an awesome feeling. One that I want to replicate over and over.
1a &1b- This is where my day went downhill. I did the first set of the Snatch grip Push Press and the Snatch Pulls with no problem. However, when I started my second set of Push Press (@140#) I threw my back out. I had just dipped to perform the first press of the set when I actually felt one of my bad discs in my lower back slip. It was excruciating. I ditched the bar and immediately sat down. I was obviously done for the day. I can't tell whether the disc slipped further out, back in, or if just compressed somewhat. I stopped my workouts for the day right there. Sarabeth finished them as I watched jealously. I'm heading to the chiropractor Monday morning to see what he says. I have also gotten in touch with the folks at the Spine Care Center here in Tuscaloosa to make an appointment with them. This has promoted me to explore options about my bad back. I am so incredibly frustrated that the will to get in shape is in me, but my lower lumbar is holding me back. I'm too young go suffer constantly from this problem. I will update with my back situation as things advance.

120518

I felt strong today. Although I didn't rest all that much on my rest day (I worked a 12-hour shift, then slept for about 6 hours) the absence of lifting weights makes me feel great the next day. In any case, here was the workout.

BARBELL GYMNASTICS
- Take 10 minutes to establish a heavy power Clean and Jerk.
Notes: This should be a true power clean and push Jerk. No split is allowed. No squat clean is allowed. It should end up being as heavy as possible while still remaining under control with good technique.

-7 minutes of 3 Power Clean and Jerk every minute on the minute @ 85% of the above weight

STRENGTH
1A) 4x5 1& 1/4 Front Squats @ heavier than last werk
2A) 4x8,6,4,2 strict Handstand Pushups + Max Effort kipping Handstand Pushups

CONDITIONING
-10 minutes AMRAP of:
100' overhead kettle bell carry @ 70#/53#
5 Muscle Ups
25 Verticle Kettle Bell Swings

*****MY RESULTS*****

BARBELL GYMNASTICS
-I found my controlled max on the Power Cleans and Push Jerk to be 185#. I was excited about this because my previous Clean and Jerk max was 185#. If I can now Power that weight I bet I can break 200# with my C&J.
-I did the 7 minute EMOM with 160#. This was a little more than 85% of 185#. I completed the workout, but it was pretty tough. I never missed any pulls during the workout. I enjoyed that.

STRENGTH
-I started the Front Squats with 155#. Each set I went up 5#, from 155 to 160 to 165 to 170. 170# was tough. I really had to get psyched for the last couple reps at that weight. I handled the strict HSPU without much trouble. However, I just don't get the body movement for tge kipping HSPU I didn't do many of those, just a couple each round. My wife, on the other hand, did 120 of them, total. Here is a picture of her "resting" between massive sets of HSPU.

CONDITIONING
-I used 53# Kettle Bells for the overhead carry. I did this because I didn't want a torn rotator cuff. I used a 70# for the swings. Also, I can't do Muscle Ups yet, so I did a chest to bar pull up, then a ring dip for each rep. I completed 2 full rounds of the workout and was worn out afterwards.

POST YOUR RESULTS!

120516

I have a new appreciation for Thursday and Sunday. Not that they weren't already fine examples of days of the week. Thursday has always been one of my favorites. This probably originated my freshman year of college when we had mixers at my fraternity house on Thursday nights in the fall. Any time a bunch of sorority girls come to your house to party is a good night. Later Thursday became the home of thirsty Thursdays at the Birmingham Barons games. Cheap wings and beer are good things. Sunday is, in the Christian faith, the Lord's day. A day to go to church, eat well, and lay around the house with your family. Sundays are so lazy. It is also a good thing.

Fast forward to May of 2012. Thursdays and Sundays are now rest days on our Outlaw programming. I need these days. By the time they come around my body is so beat that I can't hardly function. After today's workouts I need my rest day even more than usual.

BARBELL GYMNASTICS
-7x1 3 Count Snatch.
Notes: This is designed to work on your form. It should not be heavy unless your snatch form is perfect. Mine isn't. I doubt yours is either. Start light and work your way up. See Crossfit.com for a video on how to complete these. Its basically a full snatch from the ground, then a full snatch from below your knees, then a hang snatch from your thighs. All this without dropping the bar. This counts as one rep.

STRENGTH
1a) 3 x Max Effort Bench Press @ 95%
2a) 3 x 8 Good Mornings @ heavy

CONDITIONING
- 4 rounds for time of:
30 Front Squat @ 115#/95#
15 Toes to Bar
15 Lateral Box Jumps
Notes: Front squats come off the floor, not a rack. Lateral Box Jumps are simply sideways box jumps, onto the top of the box. Full extension at the top and off the other side.

***** MY RESULTS *****

BARBELL GYMNASTICS
- This was the first time I had done these 3 position snatches. I went light as I am still working on my snatch form. I used the following weights: 65, 85, 95, 105, 105, 105, 105

STRENGTH
1a) I used 185# on the bench. Did sets of 3, 2, and 4. Each of these were to failure.
2a) I used 135# for the Good Mornings. These are meant to simulate and strengthen deadlifts. I was afraid to go heavier with my bad back. These were sufficiently stressing. Ill probably go a little heavier next time.

CONDITIONING
- Yikes. This workout was horrible. Front squats are one of my worst movements. Its just so hard to breathe during them. I started the workout at the prescribed weight, but dropped to 95# after the first round. This was tough enough. It took me 30:32 to complete this workout. My first goal was to keep it under 40 minutes. Once I got moving I felt like 8 minutes a round was more than sufficient, so I tried to finish in under 32 mins. I accomplished this goal. Sarabeth did the same weight as me (95#) and finished in less than 15 minutes. She is ridiculous. I'm average. See you Friday!

120515

I read an article once by Dave Barry called "Dave Barry's 16 Things". Apparently it was a list of the some of the most important things he had learned in 50+ years of life. Among these lessons were the following: Never lick a steak knife; Never, under any circumstances take a sleeping pill and a laxative in the same night; and You will never find anyone who can give you a clear and compelling reason why we observe daylight savings time. Dave had a pretty good list. He had some hard-learned lessons in his list.

The reason I brought this up is because I learned a hard lesson last night that would certainly make my list of 16 things. Never apply Rock Sauce to one of your hamstrings without first putting on underwear. Not familiar with Rock Sauce? Let me give you a little history lesson in modern day liniments.

Liniments, also known as balms, have been around for ages. They are medicated topical ointments or creams that are applied to the skin in order to sooth minor aches and pains. They are used for minor sports injuries, arthritis, overtrained muscles, etc. Your father or grandfather probably used Bengay in his time. It was the first of it's kind as a modern liniment containing menthol and methyl salicylate. These are the ingredients that produced that cooling sensation that Bengay was famous for.

Because Bengay wasn't strong enough for some people along came Icy Hot. It had basically the same stuff in it that Bengay had. Just more of it. Shaq now sells Icy Hot, apparently.

Well, once again, a few years passed and Icy Hot just wasn't icy or hot enough for some people. Enter a product called Biofreeze. Biofreeze was suped up Icy Hot. You still see it quite a bit in doctors offices and chiropractic clinics. It can be difficult to come by without a doctors order. That's how serious Biofreeze is. You can't just waltz down to your local CVS and pick it up. Use it more than a few times a day in one spot and you can develop a chemical burn.

Was I just talking about how serious Biofreeze is? Ok. So some lunatic decided Biofreeze was for sissies. This lunatic created a product called Rock Sauce. Rock Sauce contains more menthol and methyl salicylate than any of the previously mentioned products. "So, what?" you may be asking. So, it also contains capsicum. Capsicum is a fancy word for chili pepper extract. You know the O C Spray that police carry? That "C" stands for capsicum. It's hot. Really hot. The Rock Sauce bottle has a skull on the front of it. That means death.

So, I said all that to say this- my left hamstring was really sore last night. Sarabeth won a bottle of Rock Sauce at a Crossfit competition in Nashville a few months ago. We hadn't tried the Rock Sauce yet. There sat the bottle, the skull on the front staring me down. I was about to enter the shower, and was dressed (or undressed) to do so. I rubbed Rock Sauce all over my left hamstring. As soon as I did this I stood up. A very sensitive organ of mine (I belong to the protruding organ gender) made contact with my Rock Sauce- covered hamstring. Oh my gosh. I thought my area was going to melt. It was like being pepper-sprayed in the groin. Actually, that's exactly what it was. I ran downstairs seeking help from Sarabeth. She laughed at my misfortune. I suffered through a shower and got in bed. The pain eventually subsided enough for me to fall asleep.

When I got out of the shower after working out today I decided to try the Rock Sauce on the same area again. I pit my underwear on as a protective shield first this time. Lesson learned.

ON TO THE WORKOUTS!

BARBELL GYMNASTICS
-5x2 Clean and Jerk @ 80%, rest 60 to 80 secs

STRENGTH
-Take 15 minutes to establish a 3 Rep Max Back Squat

CONDITIONING
-Tabata:
Pull Ups
Notes: Tabatas are always 8 rounds of 20 seconds of work and 10 seconds rest, alternating, until all 8 rounds are finished. This particular Tabata should alternate between strict and kipping pull ups, beginning with strict.

*Rest 5 Minutes*

-Then 3 rounds for total reps of:
90 secs Max Effort 15' rope climbs
90 secs rest
90 secs Max Effort Burpees
90 secs rest

*****MY RESULTS*****

BARBELL GYMNASTICS
- I used 140# for the Clean and Jerks, which was calculated from my 1RM of 185#. I didn't have much problem with these. I am still learning the movement and am getting better. I was excited that I hook gripped all of these pulls.

STRENGTH
-I ended up doing 225# for the 3RM. This was pretty tough on the last rep.

CONDITIONING
-Tabatas are always tough. I can not do any strict pull ups. I have to give myself a very slight Kip to get moving. Hopefully I will get to where I can do them. I scored a 50 on this workout with the following sets of pull ups: 3,16,1,9,1,9,1,10
-I scored a 60 on the next workout with rope climbs of 3,3,2 and burpees of 16,16,19

POST YOUR RESULTS!

120514

They finally released the results from the competition I attended this past weekend. I placed 30th out of 32 people, which accomplished my goal of not finishing last! Actually, if this were a regular competition, where they did not divide your weight lifted by your weight class I would have done much better. I probably would have finished in the top 15 or so. I'm pretty excited about my showing. Even though the competition was poorly run I will probably attend next year to see how much better I got. On to today's workout.

BARBELL GYMNASTICS
- 5x2 Snatch @ 80%, rest 60 secs
2a) 3x3 Snatch Pulls@ Heavier than last week, rest 60 secs
2b) 3x3 Snatch Balance@ Heavier than last week, rest 60 secs

CONDITIONING
- For time:
Row 500 meters
100 Double Unders
200' Farmers Carry @ 100#/70#
20 One Handed Dumbbell Snatch (alternating) @ 100#/70#
100 Double Unders
Row 500 meters

STRENGTH
1a) 8x3 Weighted GH Raise, rest 45 secs
2a) 8x3 Tempo GHD Situps (5 counts up, 5 counts down), rest 45 secs

*****MY RESULTS*****

BARBELL GYMNASTICS
-I used 110# for my sets of Snatches. This was calculated as approximately 80% of my 1RM of 135#. I am still getting used to this movement, so every day with it I get better. My pull is looking more violent and I feel like I could put up a higher max.
-I used 185# for my Snatch Pulls. This was probably sufficient as I am learning the Hook Grip and it is relatively painful right now.
- I used 140# for my Snatch Balance, which was 5# more than I used last week. I failed a couple of the reps and had to try them again. However, when I was putting them up I felt strong. It was manageable.

CONDITIONING
- Workout finished in 13:08
I used the 70# kettle bells for the Farmers Walk because we didn't have any 100# weights around. I used a 70# dumbbell for the one arm Snatches because I felt like 100# was a bit much for me. Although I used the women's weight I felt as though this workout was in my wheelhouse. The movements were ones that I do well, so I put up a decent time.

STRENGTH
Oh my gosh. GH (Glute Ham) Raises are awful. This was the first time I did them. I can only describe the feeling as a cramp in your butt and hamstring all at once. Only, it's not cramping. You just have never really used these muscles before. I didn't even use weights. Just my bodyweight nearly killed me. Between these and the Tempo GHD Situps I was sweating like crazy. I think I screamed at one point. Get you some of these GH Raises. They will take you to a dark place. Glad they are over! See you tomorrow!

POST YOUR RESULTS!

120513

*whew*

What a weekend. It's Sunday. It's a rest day. I'm resting. Happy Mothers Day to all the moms that stop by my blog. Especially to my mother. I love you, you are awesome. I'm excited to see you soon. I'm lying on my newly constructed gigantic outdoor swing/bed as I type this. I'm drinking a cold Bud Light and fighting off an urge to go to sleep. Jealous? Heck, I'm even jealous of me. That is, if I wasn't me. But i am. Figure that one out. Sarabeth and I competed in the Pound 4 Pound event yesterday in Montgomery, AL. It was part of the Again Faster Garage Games series. These Garage Games events have a reputation for being poorly managed, for being overly expensive to compete in, and for giving out shabby excuses for prizes to the winners. In keeping with this rich heritage of mediocrity the Pound 4 Pound competition was a complete letdown. To be fair, not ever thing was bad. The venue itself was pretty cool. It was held at the Riverwalk in downtown Montgomery. I had never been down there, and it was a very nice area. The highlight of the venue, for me, was the fact that one of the events was held in front a quaint little outdoor bar at the Riverwalk called The Sand Bar. Being able to sit at the bar, order a drink, and watch that portion of the competition was neat. The volunteer judges, overall, did a good job. I didn't hear much complaining about the judging standards, which is rare for these types of regional events. The workouts themselves were a good mixture of movements that tested one's overall fitness, which is the whole point of Crossfit, so that was well done. However, unfortunately, the bad outweighed the good. The first problem was the weather. I know no one can do anything about whether or not it rains, but the event organizers should have planned for inclement weather. I am not a big fan of Crossfit events that take place entirely outdoors for this reason. Right beside the Riverwalk park is a venue known as The Train Station. It is basically a huge concrete area with a very high metal roof. It's easily the size of a football field. Apparently they had the competition there the previous year. They should have held it there again. I heard they tried to book it because of a previous engagement being held there, which ended up being a crappy concert with a cover band playing hip hop music. There might have been 50 people attending this concert. There were over 750 people at the Crossfit event. They should have reserved it sooner. However, the weather didn't ruin this event. A lack of organizational skills ruined the event. The first problem was the schedule. It was so tight that there was no way it was going to run on time. Even if the weather had been perfect, even if everyone was where they were supposed to be when they were supposed to be there, it simply would not have worked. By mid day the event was already 1.5 hours behind schedule. By the time they called it due to weather it was over 3 hours behind. They were 3 hours behind and they had even re-structured one of the events so they it only took half the time originally allotted for it. The next problem was a lack knowledge between the organizers and volunteers. No one really knew what was going on. No one could tell you what was going on. One minute one event was going to be in a certain place. The next minute all the equipment was being moved to another location, but no one knew why. Etc. Another problem was last minute changes to workouts. During the first men's advanced heat on a certain workout a couple of the guys made wrong turns during the run. So, the organizers completely re-routed the run. Fair? Maybe. I don't know. Efficient? Probably not. Another example of this was a workout that included. One of the reasons I decided to compete in this event was the fact that it included an intermediate division. I am just starting out and I have a bad back, so asking me to lift the same weight as the advanced men seems a little lofty. The deadlift weight for the intermediate men was supposed to be 1x your body weight. This means I would have had to lift 210 lbs. This is reasonable for me and the rest of the intermediate men. At the very last minute someone made the decision to bounce this up to 1.25x body weight. This was the same as the advanced. This put me lifting more than 250 lbs. That is a lot to ask from us, and it showed as most of the intermediate men struggled under the weight. They also used axel bars for the deadlift. I had never used them. If you aren't familiar with them they are lighter than traditional bars, but much bugger around. I can only fit my my hands around half the bar, if that tells you anything. I have no problem with the use of these bars under normal conditions, but it was raining. Axle bars are made of painted steel. With no knurling. And mine had 250#+ on it. It was wet. Try holding on to that. In any case, they cancelled the competition when it was just past halfway over. I got to complete all 4 of my workouts. Sarabeth only got to complete 3 of the 5 she was supposed to complete. When they cancelled it they just placed everyone where they were standing at the time. The problem with this was the following: they were going to take the top 12 men and the top 12 women and cut the rest of the field. Then, these top athletes were to run the last workout to determine the winner. Meaning after the first 4 workouts your placement up to that point was erased and only your standing on the final workout determined the winner. Since they were doing this all the top female athletes (and probably males too) were simply trying to stay in that top 12 and pace themselves for that final workout. Sarabeth, Leah Polaski, and Jordan Pepe, three of the top athletes in the southeast, were playing by this game plan. They were all in 5th through 10th place through the third workout, biding their time to go all out in the final workout. Then they simply called the event and awarded the top three places to the current top three female competitors. These were nobody girls that could not hold a candle to any of these three previously mentioned women in any competition. This was rather silly. But, whatever. I had fun seeing a lot of our Crossfit friends and spending the weekend with my wife. It was, after all, my first competition. These were the workouts:

EVENT 1- As many rounds and reps as possible in 8 minutes:
2 snatch attempts at any weight you wish
Row 150 meters
Notes: It was very important to make all the snatch attempts count as any missed rep still counted as an attempt. Your score was comprised of the total amount of weight you moved during the 8 minutes divided by your body weight. The row counted for nothing except that you had to complete it before moving on to the next 2 snatch attempts.

EVENT 2
-15 minute clock starts at the horn. During this 15 minutes you have to run 1000 meters from the venue to the Crossfit Montgomery gym. Once there you had to complete as many rounds and reps as possible of the following: 5 pull ups
10 hand release push ups
15 air squats
-When the 15 minute clock was up you left the gym and ran 1000 meters back to the starting line. The scoring was 2 parts, one score for the number of reps you completed in the gym and another for the time it took to run from the gym back to the starting point. This was a pretty cool event.

EVENT 3
-As many rounds and reps as possible in 8 minutes:
2 Clean and Jerk attempts at any weight you wish
6 over the bar burpees
Notes: This was a lot like the first event. Your score was simply the amount of total weight moved divided by your body weight. They cancelled this event just before I started it and changed it to simply as many reps as possible in 4 minutes of Clean and Jerk at any weight you wish. This was for total weight as well. It was much tougher.

EVENT 4
-As many deadlift reps as possible in 12 minutes:
Run 160 meter downhill
8 handstands (both heels much touch the wall on each rep)
Run 80 meters up stairs
8 deadlifts at 1.25x body weight Notes: the scoring for this was simply the number of reps done of the deadlifts.

*****MY RESULTS*****
EVENT 1
- I used 115# for all my Snatches in order to do them quickly and not fail any attempts. I completed 7 rounds for a total of 1610# lifted. This gave me a score of 7.67

EVENT 2
-Once at the gym I think I completed a full 9 rounds, plus another 5 pull ups, 10 push ups, and around 10 air squats. I don't remember exactly, as it was not written down anywhere. I think completed the second kilometer run in 6:29 . I don't know what kind of score that gave me.

EVENT 3
- I again chose to use 115 for the Clean and Jerks as I decided a high number of reps at a lower weight would be worth more points than a low number of reps at a higher weight. I completed 28 reps of Clean and Jerk in the allotted 4 minutes. The movement was broken into 2 parts, the clean and the jerk, so each counted as a separate lift, which gave me 56 reps at 115# for a total of 6440# lifted. Divided by my body weight this gave me a score of 30.67 for the event.

EVENT 4
- I was very worried about my back during this event, so I really took my time. I would rather finish in a lower ranking and not have spinal surgery. I completed just over 2 rounds of the workout, for a total score of 20 dead lifts.

Remember, my entire goal was to not finish in last place? Lets see if i accomplished it. Where did I finish overall in the competition?......... I have no clue lol.This brings me to my final complaint about the event- the schedule and scoring were so complicated that they still haven't figured them out! The event ended almost 24 hours ago and the judges are still tallying the results! This is what happens when you try to reinvent the wheel. They tried to get fancy with the weight classes and scoring at this event and it bit them in the butt. There was no live scoring system, like at most events, so no one knew where they were in placing! Their most recent announcement states that they are still figuring the placements and that should should have them up shortly. This is what they have been saying since lunch yesterday! Amateur hour. Maybe it is because I lived a previous life playing professional paintball, attending huge events that encompassed thousands of individuals competing over several days. Those events were VERY well run and put this rinky dinky operation to shame. Hopefully I will be able to update you on my final placing later in the evening and we can either celebrate or cry together. Look for an update tonight. Back in the gym with a new workout posted tomorrow! Thanks for all your support this weekend!

120509

I slept an hour later today, so I really don't have time for a long post. I wish I had a witty anecdote or funny story for you all today. Sorry. I do, however, have an absolutely demonic workout. It is as follows:

BARBELL GYMNASTICS

-5x2 Snatch from blocks @ 85% 1 rep man, rest 60 secs between

Notes: This should be a full squat snatch. No power snatch allowed. Blocks should be just below your knees. You are going to have to be very fast with your second pull to get these up consistently.

STRENGTH

1a) 3xMax Reps Bench Press @ 90% of your 1RM, rest 60 secs

1b) 3x8 Bent Over Dumbbell Rows (8 left, 8 right) @ Heavy as possible, rest 60 secs

Notes: These should be done, as usual, as a set of 1, rest, a set of b, rest, repeat

CONDITIONING

-3 rounds for time of:

5 Snatch Balance @ 135#/95#

20 Wall Ball @ 20#/14#

30 Double Unders

20 Toes to Bar

30 Double Unders

*****MY REULTS*****

Barbell Gymnastics

-I did the workout at 125#. This was sufficiently stressing, with me missing a few of the pulls. I am just learning the Snatch movement the correct way and it is coming along very slowly

Strength

-I used 165# on the bench. This was less than 90% of my 1RM, which I believe is about 195# right now. Honestly, I thought I would have more trouble with it. Apparently this should have been so heavy that between 3-5 reps was to be expected. I did 10,7,7 for my bench sets. Should have done more, I guess.

-I used 65# for my dumbbell reps. This was 10# more than I did for this workout last week. I probably could do 70# to really hit what I am capable of doing for these pulls. These wore me out, regardless. I'll probably try 70# next time,

Conditioning

-Wow. This workout nearly killed me. This was the worst MetCon I have done in a hot minute. It just absolutely wore me out from the start. I plodded through it and finished with a time of 24:29. And I did the Snatch Balance at 115 rather than the prescribed 135. I was just too beat to put up the 135. It was super slow. My wife finished in 11 minutes and some change. This was very slow for her too. Drew, the guys who owns the gym, who also uses Outlaw finished it in 8:57. That's blazing fast. Of course, he competed at Regionals and this workout was in his wheelhouse, but dang! He did the whole workout in what it too me to do a single round! That's unreal and it ought to show you how well Crossfit actually works.

Tomorrow is a rest day. Hurray! I'm going to mount my giant swing / outdoor bed. I'll post some pics of it once it is up. POST YOUR RESULTS, and see you all Friday!   

120508

You know on Fight Club when Brad Pitt gives his "disciples" homework? At one point their homework is to go out, pick a fight with a stranger, and lose on purpose. I suppose this is to teach them wheat it feels like to lose, and and that life continues on after this loss. Well, I have officially picked a fight that I fully expect to lose. In the spirit of jumping headfirst into my body transformation I have signed up for my first Crossfit competition. Now, you may be thinking, "Well, that's not so bad! You will have time to prepare for it, and by the time it gets here you should be in great shape and ready for anything!" Yeah...the competition is this Saturday. Like, 4 days from now. Yes, I have signed up for the Pound for Pound 4 competition in Montgomery on May 12. It is part of the very well respected 2012 Garage Games series sponsored by Again Faster Fitness. Granted, I will be in the "intermediate" class, somewhere between beginner and advanced, but I expect to get destroyed by everyone in that class. My goal is to not finish in dead last place. If I can keep that from happening, then it will be a victory in my book. My wife is signed up to compete in the advanced female division. I expect her to win. I just expect me to finish not last. HERE is the website for the competition if you want to see what it is all about. Be sure to post on here and cheer my on Saturday. Hopefully Sarabeth won't have to drag my dead carcass back from Montgomery Saturday night.

Today's Workouts!

BARBELL GYMNASTICS
- 5x3 Clean & Jerk @ 75%, rest 60-80 secs between sets
    Notes: These are not touch and go reps. Reset before each rep

STRENGTH
- 1X20 Back Squat @ 50%
    Notes: This should be a maximal UNBROKEN set. This will give us a benchmark of sorts to use for large number single sets of squats in the future. You will see this exercise fairly frequently. 

CONDITIONING
1a) 4X3 Weighted Strict Pull Ups + Max Effort Kipping Pull Ups @ 20#/10# (women), rest 60 secs
    Notes: This should be one unbroken set. Do the 3 strict pull ups, then, without dropping off the bar, complete as many reps of kipping pull ups as you can. This is pretty much only accomplished with a weight vest. Its hard to do with a weight belt. 
1b) 4x400 meter Sprint, rest 60 secs
     Notes: These should be ALL OUT efforts. Pacing is NOT acceptable. Degradation of pace is acceptable. These workout should be completed as follows: 1a, rest, 1b, rest, 2a...etc.

*****MY RESULTS*****
Barbell Gymnastic
-I did the clean and jerks at 135#. This was calculated based on what I believe my 1RM to be- 185#. It was fairly stressing. With so little rest between the sets breathing became difficult and I really had to focus on each rep. I felt good during the work. I had Sarabeth video a few of my reps. I really need to work on getting under the weight and getting a deeper split.

STRENGTH
-I did not have any idea what weight to do the back squat at. So, I did it at 155#. I should have done at least 175, maybe 185#. Apparently this workout was supposed to be extremely difficult. At 155# it was mostly a breeze. Apparently this workout gets programmed quite a bit, so I will know next time.

CONDITIONING
- Oh, the conditioning workout. I actually thought I was going to die during this one. 400 meter sprints? Are you kidding me? I did not time my runs. My pull up reps were as follows: 17, 17, 20, 11. This was not including the initial 3 strict pull ups of each set. All of my runs were definitely under 2 minutes. The first was probably under 1:30. I would start hard on each, but after 150 meter or so I would fade quickly. I guess that's the point? I don't know, but it was bad. Glad its over with.

POST YOUR RESULTS!

      

120507

I hope everyone following the program had a good rest day. I certainly was thankful for it. My energy was pretty well gone by Saturday and my lower back was good and tight. What did you do with you rest day? Post and let me know about it. I got a wild hair and, based on a photo I saw recently, I began a carpentry project. I enjoy doing a little carpentry when I get the chance. It's between hunting seasons, so any relaxing time is welcome. During hunting seasons being in the woods is usually my "me" time, when I get to re-focus. This time of year, between everything that spring and summer bring with them, I sometimes find it difficult to have time to myself. Carpentry has always been one of those hobbies I have that pops up every now and again, whenever I get inspired about a project. This time my inspiration came in the form of a giant front porch swing. It's giant because it is less a swing and more an outdoor bed. Like I said, I saw a picture of something similar recently and thought, "I can do that, but better." It doesn't so much swing as gently move with the breeze. It's big enough (3 feet by 7 feet) for my wife and I to both lay down on together. I plan on getting a futon mattress, or something similar to put on it when in use. I'm sure my wife will pick out some pillows for it. Pretty soon it will be my favorite spot to lay and read Clive Cussler books. I'm addicted to them. I think I'l pull down one of my porch lights (that hangs over the swing) and replace it with an outdoor fan since I believe this summer is going to be miserably hot. Did anyone else notice that spring was only like 48 hours long this year? In any case, here are some pictures of my outdoor bed. I got the thing built, sanded, and primed today. I also hung the attachment points from the ceiling of the porch. Have you ever tried to find ceiling studs under vinyl siding? That's a special kind of frustrating. I have to get the bed painted gloss white and suspended over the next couple days. I'll take more photos once it is up.

On to the workouts!

BARBELL GYMNASTICS
1) 5x3 Snatch @ 75%- Rest 60-80 seconds between
     Notes: These are NOT touch and go. Rest after each rep.
2a) 3x3 Snatch Pulls@ Heaviest possible- Rest 60 secs between
2b) 3x3 Heaving Snatch Balance @ Heaviest possible- Rest 60 secs
     Notes: These types of workouts should be completed together, alternating between the two. Example- A set of 2a, rest, a set of 2b, rest, repeat


CONDITIONING
- Every minute on the minute (EMOM) for 5 minutes:
     12 (kipping) Hand Stand Push Ups
       Notes: These can, like everything else, be scaled. If you are a beginner, just do push ups. If you are intermediate put your feet on an elevated surface and do push ups. As you progress begin stacking weights or pads underneath your head to make the distance you have to travel less. Eventually work your way up to doing them. They are not as hard as you might think. Spend all rest time holding (Farmer's Carry- style) 100#/70# (women) dumbbells. Make every effort to pick up the dumbbells right after your final HSPU rep.


*Rest 10 minutes, then*

-3 rounds for time of:
     Row 500 meters
     20 Wall Ball @ 20#/14# (women)
     20 Kettlebell Swings @ 24kg/16kg (women)- Make sure these go absolutely vertical!

MIDLINE
1a) 2x15 Strict Toes to Bar- Rest 45 secs
1b) 2x10 Reverse Hypers @ Heavy Weight- Rest 45 secs
     Notes: Again, these should be alternating sets


*****MY RESULTS*****
BB Gymnastics
-Put up 105# for the 75% Snatch. This was a full Snatch rather thn a Power Snatch
-Did 185,185,205 for the Snatch Pulls, and 115, 125, 135 for the Snatch Balance. I failed twice at 135 for the Snatch Balance. I put it back on the rack both times and was able to complete all 3 the third time I tried it. It was a matter of balance for me.

CONDITIONING
-I have always been able to do strict Hand Stand Push Ups. Kipping HSPU are new to me. As a matter of fact, today is the first time I have tried them. The motion is difficult. I tend to bounce myself off the wall. I'll get it down. I ended up doing 35 seconds of attempts, during which I usually got a couple kipping HSPU, then held 70# Kettlebells during the rest portion. We don't have any 100# dumbbells.
-The MetCon was not as bad as I was expecting. I finished it in 16:02. Of course, I say that, and you say, "Then why didn't you do it faster?" I went as fast as I could, but my rest periods have gotten less frequent and less lengthy already from this programming. Afterwards I was not as gassed as I thought I would be. I rested about 5 minutes prior to doing the Midline work.

MIDLINE
-The Toes to Bar are getting easier for me. I couldn't do them at all a couple weeks ago. Now I'm doing them in sets of 5. Exciting stuff going on!
-This was the first time I have done the reverse hypers. We don't have a machine at the gym for them, so we have to make do with holding onto the GHD rack and using bands for the resistance. I didn't think they were too bad. Everyone else claimed the were excruciating. See you tomorrow.


POST YOUR RESULTS!

120505

Happy Cinco de Mayo! Now that the celebratory formalities are out of the way, let's get back to work. I had my body fat token yesterday with calipers. Turns out, as Matt Powell so accurately stated the other day, you can't trust the Navy. My body fat percentage, per the Naval charts, was around 28.9%. Thanks to Carla Skelton (wife of Cary Skelton, of Skelton Chiropractic), who pinched the crap out of me in various parts of my body, I have been officially measured for body fat percentage. It turns out that my actual BFP is 23.85%. Still not good, but not as bad as we previously suspected. I still have a long way to go.

So, I am worn out. We go to the gym today and I just wasn't feeling it. I will post my results after the workout. Today was as follows:  

BARBELL GYMNASTICS

     1) 12 minutes to establish a 1 Rep Max Push Jerk

       Notes: You should do this quickly. Take no more than 5 attempts. You made use a rack for this.

     2) 5 sets of 2 Cleans from blocks (just below your knees) @ 75% (rest 60 seconds between sets)

CONDITIONING

"Fran"

     21-15-9 of:

       Thrusters @ 95#/65#

       Pull Ups

MIDLINE STABILIZATION

     1a) 3x3 (3 left / 3 right) Turkish Getups- Heaviest possible, rest 45 secs 

     2a) 3x15 Reverse Hypers- Medium/Heavy, rest 45 secs

       Notes: This should be done as 1 set of Turkish Getups, rest, then a set of Reverse Hypers, rest, repeat. As always, see crossfit.com descriptions, instructions, and videos of the movements.

*****MY RESULTS*****

Boy, I was worn out today. The lack of a rest day Thursday really did me in. I tried, in any case. 

- I ended up doing the Push Jerk off blocks. I did 185# fairly easily twice. I tried 205#, but was unable to get under it. I probably could have done 195 or even 200, but I didn't attempt them.

- I used 145# for my Cleans off the blocks. It was kind of stressing, but not really. This was calculated as 75% of my assumed 1RM Clean of 195#.

-I did Fran on Tuesday, so I did not attempt it again today. I was feeling pretty tired, so I just watched my wife do it instead. My time earlier in the week was 7:59. She finished it, at the women's weight, in 2:59. She was just as tired as I was. I think she is superwoman.

When she finished that we both looked at each other, assessed our mutual exhaustion, and decided to go home. I am looking forward to my rest day tomorrow. I ate a WHOLE lot today, as I just felt like my body needed a ton of food. My family came into town today to celebrate my brother's, and my father's, birthdays, so I hung out with them all day. We did some fishing, drank some beers, and had a piece of ice cream cake. I really felt fine afterwards, and I feel like Monday I can blast off again. Tomorrow is a rest day if you are following along, so enjoy your rest! Go to church, spend time with your loved ones, do something you enjoy, and come mow my grass. See you all Monday!

120504

I have not really addressed what I am doing for my diet. I have been getting a good number of questions about this topic. Here's the deal- I'm not really into specific diets. I agree that there are certain diets that can work for some people. However, I always seem to find flaws with them. I'm not going to do the Zone or the Perfect Blocks diets because I refuse to weigh or measure out my foods prior to eating them. I'm also not going to do mathematical calculations to figure out whether I have enough protein/fat/carbs/etc. It's lunch, not algebra. I'm not all that impressed with the Paleo Diet. I tried it for a couple weeks a couple years ago. It made me very tired and I felt extremely weak while on it. I'm not going to try any of the crazy “just eat this one thing and you will be fine!” diets either. Honestly, I feel as though just eating CLEAN foods when I am hungry (which seems to be 5-6 times a day) works best for me. When I say clean I am referring to the following types of foods: vegetables, meats, fruit, etc. Things to avoid at all costs: anything with gluten in it (gluten is the enemy), sugar in all forms, junk food s of all types, etc. I do eat some certain foods for specific reasons, however. I eat almonds and almond butter (or natural peanut butter) for their beneficial fat content. I try to ingest a spoonful of natural peanut butter with breakfast, pre-workout, for example. I am also having to get it through my head that a protein shake can, and does, count as “eating”. I take one post workout, then another later in the day, after dinner. This, by itself, gives me a solid 100 grams of protein along with countless other beneficial vitamins. Very important. I have been eating a lot of chicken, tuna, deer steaks, bacon (yum), carrots, almonds, eggs, milk, etc. Basically, if you want an easy way to figure out if you are shopping, and thus, eating correctly, try this. The next time you go to the grocery try to keep your cart on the perimeter of the store. There are very few things up and down the aisles of the store that are good for you. Pretty much everything you are going to want to ingest is on the outside perimeter of the store. This proves to be fairly simple. If you stick to this practice you will probably be good to go!

On to how I'm feeling. I am extremely sore. My muscles are simply not used to this much stress yet. They will get used to it. The human body is a miraculous thing. It will respond to pretty much any type of stimulus and, after a while, will get used to it. This is seen at both ends of the spectrum. The ultra-marathoner's body gets used to running for hundred of miles at a time, and adapts to its situation. The drug addict's body becomes used to the poison being pumped into it, and eventually needs the chemical to operate normally. The good news is that after I get a good stretch when I get to the gym the soreness doesn't hinder my workout at all. It just goes away. The bad news is that when I sit down for more than a few minutes I start to lock up and get very tight. This will all pass. My mind, however, is functioning MUCH better than previously. I have always heard that gluten does all kinds of horrible things to the human body. The rationale is as follows:

Humans have been around for a long time. Depending on your view of evolution a very long time. We, as a species, have always eaten meats, vegetables, and fruits as these things are naturally occurring. Not very long ago (in an evolutionary sense) humans figured out how to farm and cultivate crops. We started producing grains as with crop cultivation came processes of refining these grains. Gluten entered our lives in a large way. The thought is that the human digestive system has not evolved to the point that it knows what to do with these products yet. Evolution takes a long time. Since we don't really know what to do with it it causes a lot of health problems. Do I believe this concept? I don't know. I'm not a scientist. I do know this: The New England Journal of Medicine, a very well respected medical research journal, has confirmed 55 “diseases” that are directly linked to eating gluten. These “diseases” include osteoporosis, IBS, anemia, cancer, fatigue, canker sores, various types of arthritis, lupus, MS, anxiety, depression, schizophrenia, dementia, migraines, autism, etc. I could go on and on. Does this mean that eating bread is the cause of all these diseases? Of course not. However, doctors agree that the consumption of gluten is very bad for us. Nearly all stomach cancers are almost directly linked to gluten. It appears as though the continued consumption of gluten by the American public costs us hundreds of millions, if not billions, of dollars a year in health care costs. I have also heard of a concept called “gluten fog”. This is a term used in the fitness world to describe one's mindset while eating foods containing gluten. It is said that once you cease to eat gluten your mind functions much more efficiently and effectively, making you feel and behave more sharply. I always thought this was ridiculous. Let me tell you: It is TRUE. I just stopped eating gluten Tuesday and I already feel light years better. I can actually tell I was walking around in a constant fog. The feeling is unreal. Try it for yourself if you don't believe me. Gluten is the enemy.

I know what you are thinking...”I'm sick of hearing about diets.” On to the workouts!

BARBELL GYMNASTICS/CONDITIONING

*This should be performed as one continuous effort. MAKE SURE to read the notes below.

1) 4 sets of 2 touch & go Snatch (do one, guide bar back to floor, touch it, do the next), any style, @ 80% of your 1 Rep Max (1RM)- rest 40 secs
2) 50 Double-Unders- rest 20 secs
3) 1 Snatch @ 90% (1RM)- rest 20 seconds
4) 50 Double Unders- rest 20 seconds
5) 1 Snatch @ 95% (1RM)

Notes: 40 seconds rest should be taken after the final set of snatches @ 80% and before the first set of double-unders. It is not necessary to time the double-unders, but there should be no extra rest. 3 attempts may be taken at the 90 & 95% snatch singles, but all 3 attempts should be kept to under 60 seconds.

STRENGTH

1) 4 sets of 5 1&1/4 Front Squats (it is just what it sounds)- heaviest possible, rest 45 secs between
2) 4 sets of 3 Weighted Muscle-Ups- heaviest possible, rest 45 secs between
Notes: I can not do muscle-ups. I doubt any of you can either. If you can, then awesome! You are a pretty advanced athlete! I am a long way from doing even a single one. The good news is that you can scale this workout down to your skill level. The bad news is that my scale for each muscle up is 3 pull ups AND 3 dips. Weighted. Do it. Want to make yourself sick? Read the following: my wife does muscle-ups wearing a 25# weight vest for FUN!

CONDITIONING (PAIN THRESHOLD EXPANSION)

-5 rounds for TOTAL time of:

Run 200 meters

9 UNBROKEN Hang Squat Cleans @ 155#/105# (women)

6 Push Jerks @ 155#/105# (women)

*Rest 2 minutes between each round, then subtract the resting minutes from your total time so you are left with a working time. Post this time.

Notes: The hang squat cleans need to be UNBROKEN, meaning you should do all of them without dropping the bar. Adjust the weight accordingly so you can accomplish this. This load should be heavy, but still unbroken. If you do not feel sufficiently taxed after 5-6 of the reps, with the thought that you might not finish the set, then ADD weight. Don't cheat yourself!

LET US KNOW HOW YOU DO! GOOD LUCK!

*****MY RESULTS*****
- I pulled 110#, then 115#, then 125# on the snatch ladder. My current 1RM is 135#. The 125# felt fairly easy today, and I power snatched it. I feel like I could have set a new Personal Record (PR) if I had kept going up the ladder.

-The strength work nearly did me in. Those 1&1/4 front squats were awful. They took me to a very dark place in my mind lol. I left 125# on the bar for the whole front squat portion. Apparently I was supposed to add a little each time. I didn't know this. 125# was pretty rough, but I feel as though I could have gone up some. As an aside, my tiny little wife did this workout with me today. Her final set of front squats was at 175#...50# more than I did. That should prove to anyone that this stuff works, and works well!

-Gosh, the conditioning work was awful. I don't know what it was about that combination of exercises, but it flat wore me out. I did it at 125#. There was no way I was going to make it through at 155#. I made it through the first set unbroken. After that I had to break my hang squat cleans into sets of 5, then 4. I kept all my push jerks unbroken until the last set when I lost my grip on the bar. My final time on the conditioning portion was 18:02. This was, of course, with the 8 minutes of mandatory breaks removed. How did you do? Tomorrow's workout will be up...tomorrow. 

120503

Good Lord. Do not attempt to go to Wings U in Midtown Village and order something even remotely healthy. I ended up with a shrimp cocktail and a small basket of sweet potato fries. My mother-in-law looks across the Tavel at me and says, " Well, that's not like you." it is now.
Speaking of food, I'm extremely hungry. Quick post before a snack. The training program I am following (and that hopefully you are following with me) has a 3 on, 1 off, 2 on, 1 off type of training week. This means our rest days always fall on Thursdays and Sundays. This is how we will normally operate. However, since this is my first few days I am going to forgo the Thursday rest day and try to stick it out until Sunday. As such, tomorrow's WOD (workout of the day) will be a double of benchmarks that we still owe for my first week and a quick MetCon (metabolic conditioning) borrowed from my buddies at Crossfit Tuscaloosa. The workout is as follows:
*Benchmark*
-Establish 1 rep max of clean and jerk
-Establish mile run time
*Rest sufficiently, then*
-Complete as many rounds and reps as possible (AMRAP) in 15 minutes of the following:
15 burpees
150 meter run
15 front squats @95# / 65# for women
Let me leave you with this neat video featuring my wife, Sarabeth, and the other top 2 female competitors at the time from the Crossfit Southeast Regionals this past weekend in West Palm Beaxh, FL. This video was filmed by crossfit.com and placed on their main site as a demo for that days workout (the one you see them doing in the video). I thought it was pretty cool. It's still there in their site if you want to check it out under the workout from Saturday April 28. HERE YOU GO

*****My Results*****
- My single rep max clean and jerk ended up at 165#. I could have gone higher, but my left shoulder started hurting. I'm not trying to injure myself, so I stopped there. I believe I could have put up 175, maybe a little more.

- My mile run was actually not a mile. It was actually closer to 1600 meters. I did not have a track readily accessible, so I just kinda had to make do with what I knew was approximately 1600 meters. It was raining. I ended up with a time of 8:42. That is one of the slowest miles I have ever run. It was probably because, in the back of my mind, I knew I had a pretty rough workout coming afterwards. I wasn't really all that taxed after the run. I probably could have shaved a minute off the time.

-Oh, the MetCon. That was rough. There was nowhere to hide from it. Burpees are one of my worst workouts, as I am fairly tall, fairly heavy, and very out of shape. The front squats also present a specific problem. They bind your upper body and close your lungs off somewhat. It is very difficult to breath through them. I had to break them into sets of 5. I finished the workout by getting through 3 full rounds, then an additional 9 burpees. I had to lay down afterwards.

Good luck to anyone doing this wokout today! I'll write back later!

120502

So, I am still getting the hang of how to work this website on an iPad. It's certainly not designed with IOS in mind. Apparently I just erased my entire blog from earlier today.(sigh) it was a prettynlong one. I don't think I have it in me to recreate it. Anyway, let me try to sum it up in 500 words or less. Thanks to everyone for the encouragement I have been receiving on this little project of mine. I could not hope to see this thing through without your help. A friend of my wife and I has decided she likes what I am doing here and has started a similar blog about the same type of journey, which she intends to take. Check it out HERE. Make sure you send her some love and encouragement, as she will certainly need it! I managed to accomplish nearly all my goals from my first day yesterday. There were some rocky moments, but altogether it was successful. I'm finding that the most difficult part of all this is eating enough clean food to keep my body fueled. Snacking in the middle of the day on good muscle-building food will be, simultaneously, extremely important and highly difficult. It's going to take some experimenting to find what works for me. On to the workouts! Barbell Gymnastics -Take 10 minutes to establish a 1 rep max snatch from lifting blocks (below the knees) Notes: Take no more than 5 attempts. Work up to weight quickly as well. This entire workout should take no more than 15 minutes. Strength 1) 3 sets of max number of reps of bench press at 85% of your 1 rep max (rest 60 secs between sets) 2) 3 sets of single arm dumbbell rows (8 right, 8 left)- As heavy a weight as you can do (rest 60 secs between) Conditioning For TOTAL time: 3 rounds of: 20 pistols (simply one leg body air squats, alternating legs) 3 rope climbs (15' rope, if you have access) *THEN* 50 toes to bar (hang from a pull up bar, then raise your feet so that your toes touch the bar) *THEN* 3 rounds of: 20 wall ball @ 20# (14# for women) 5 power cleans @ 215# (145# for women) Notes: the is no rest between any of the movements for the whole workout. The goal here is to have the lowest possible time. If you have trouble with the pistols,try holding something vertical and steady, like a doorframe or a rack, while doing them. As always, refer to crossfit.com for full descriptions, instructions, and instructional videos of the movements if you have never done them. Do not attempt the snatch without the aid of a coach the first few times. *****MY RESULTS***** Barbell Gymnastics - I did not feel like dragging out the lifting blocks today, so I decided to just snatch from the ground. I'm sure I could have pulled a little more weight with the blocks, but I got the same workout in. I ended up putting up 135# for my 1 rep max. It was a full snatch, rather than a power snatch. I was happy with the number and gives me something to work with. This is an extremely technical movement and I was just happy to be able to pull it off under weight. For reference, my superstar wife holds a 1 rep snatch max of 150#. She is 5 feet tall and weighs about 115#. if you are not familiar with her, she was just named the 6th fittest female in the southeast at the Crossfit Regional Qualifiers this past weekend. She is my hero. Check out here blog HERE if you are so inclined. It's much more popular than mine. Strength -I did not have a spotter in the gym today for my bench press.I also do not know what my single rep max is. Due to these facts I just loaded 155# on the bar to see what would happen. I was able to complete 3 sets of 4 with that weight. I could have probably done twice that many, but without a spotter I was hesitant to try. It's one thing to ditch weight while you are standing up. It's another when you are lying underneath it. -I did 55# for the dumbbell rows. Again, I believe I underestimated what weight I could pull. I think I could have done 70#. Conditioning -This workout was pretty tough. I am unable to do pistols unassisted, so I held onto the pull up rig with one hand as I did them. I got through all 3 rounds of them and the rope climbs in under 6 minutes. The toes to bar slowed me down considerably. This is a movement that I have not historically been able to do. It takes a decent amount of flexibility and core strength. My gut and my painful back has always kept me from doing them. I don't know how or why, but I did them all today. I had to break them down into sets of 2 or 3 as my hands were hurting quite a bit from the rope ascents. All my wall ball shots had to be broken down into sets of 5. I would throw it 5 times, take 5 quick breaths, and do it again. I was unable to power clean the prescribed weight of 215#. That is considerable weight for someone starting off. I had to drop the weight to 155#. I finished the workout in 27:19, well under the 30 minute goal I had. My wife did the workout with me. She did it prescribed at the women's weight. This was only 10 pounds less than I cleaned. She took the workout slowly as she is still getting over the competition this past weekend. She finished in 17:25. Oh well...I'm used to her destroying me at workouts. This time next year I am going to give her a run for her money.

120501

Day 1 is officially underway. I am excited that a good number of people have already expressed interest in following along with me. That's the ultimate goal. I want you all to follow along! By doing this together we can hold each other accountable. "As iron sharpens iron, so do men sharpen men" and all that jazz. "Men" here being the Biblical "men". This programming is easy to follow for women as well! That's the beauty of Crossfit- it is universally scalable. Meaning everyone can do the same workouts, just at different levels of weight and intensity. I will be glad to assist anyone who would like me to scale the workouts for them. We are here to help each other! Anyway, I got up this morning and took pictures of my upper body. This is my starting point- my blank canvas if you will. Here goes something.

 As you can see in these mildly embarrassing photos I an starting to display that "30 year old guy with a desk job" midsection. You may be thinking at this point, "This guy isn't fat. He obviously has some sort of body-image problem." I would like to introduce a phrase into your vocabulary. "Skinny Fat". This is a term that was designed to answer questions about the female physique, however, it fits in this situation. Here is a link to a pretty good article about the concept http://www.crossfitsouthbay.com/2011/05/skinny-fat/. Basically it is a concept that a human body can have a very high fat content over a relatively low muscle content resulting in a physique that does not look overly large (and thus "fat looking"). This results in the person being extremely "fat" although their appearance does not give this impression. Many of us fall into this category. I was unable to take my body fat percentage today (hopefully I will be able to do so very soon), but I assure you it would be exceptionally high. I was, however, able to generate some other numbers. I hereby submit my starting numbers, for your reading enjoyment:

Weight: 212.8 lbs

Waist: 38.5 "

Chest: 43"

Neck: 17.5"

Right Bicep: 16.5"

Body Mass Index: 28.9

Blood Pressure: 132/81

Resting Heart Rate: 59 beats per minute

Not altogether ugly numbers. However, lets take a closer look. I'm 6 feet tall. 212 lbs in certainly an unreasonable number. However, taken with my body fat percentage it becomes a whole other situation. My body mass index (BMI) is not all that important to me, simply because it is a number that includes a lot of variables. It should be noted, however, that the Department of Health and Human Services claims that a normal person should have a BMI of between 18.5 and 24.9. They go on to state that a BMI of 25 to 29.9 constitutes an individual who is "Overweight" and that anything over 30 is classified as "Obesity". I'm approaching that number. Much more disturbing is the fact that my blood pressure was measured as 132/81. This is classified as "Pre-hypertension" and is directly related to the development of high blood pressure, heart disease, and kidney failure. Again, I am 29 years old. My resting heart rate was actually fairly low, but it has always been low. This is probably a credit to my previous life as an athlete, but I have certainly not been helping the situation in recent years. On to my first day itself.

I began the day with a protein shake. I wanted eggs, but we had none. That will be fixed my this afternoon. I headed to the gym (Crossfit Tuscaloosa, inside the YMCA downtown) around 8:45. As this is my first week I started with a couple of Benchmark numbers. I will be doing these Benchmarks in with my other workouts every 60 days. They should take about a week to complete so that you get an accurate reading on the numbers. Each of them takes a good bit of energy out of you, so don't try to do them all in a day. Here is my schedule for the day-

-1 Rep Max Back Squat

-"Fran"
     Notes: This is THE benchmark workout for Crossfit athletes. The workout is as follows:
        21 reps of thrusters @ 95 lbs (65 for women), 21 pullups
       15 thrusters, 15 pullups,
       9 thrusters, 9 pullups
       This scheme is known as 21-15-9. There is no rest between any of it. This is done as quickly as 
       possible, with the goal being the fastest time. A thruster is simply a front squat, with an overhead        press (Push Press) after it. The most elite Crossfit athletes finish this workout in sub- 2 minutes. 

Rest at least an hour

-Barbell Gymnastics
     1) 5x3 Clean and Jerk @ 70% max (rest 45 seconds between sets)
     2) 4x3 Snatch Balance- NO Heaving (rest 60 seconds between sets)

-Strength
     1) 3x5 Tempo Deadlifts- Heavy (rest 60 seconds between sets)
         Notes: Tempo should be 3 counts from floor to knees, then explode past knees and drive hips
         to bar. 3 counts back to floor. 
     2.) 3x3 Strict Pullups + Max Effort Kipping Pullups (rest 60 seconds between sets)
          Notes: This should be one unbroken set of strict pullups then, without dropping from the bar, 
          a max effort set of kipping pullups. 

Rest several hours, probably until after work

-Conditioning
     4 rounds for total reps of:
        2 minute AMRAP (as many reps as possible) of:
           40 Overhead Squats (OHS) @ 65#
           60 Doubleunders (simply jumping rope, where the rope passes under your feet twice each time)
            Notes: Rest 2 minutes between each round

*UPDATE*
- I ended up putting up 255 lbs for my 1RM Back Squat. Not a terrible starting point.

-Fran time was 7:59. My wife does this workout (at the women's weight) in around 2:30. I'm looking forward to testing this one as I got through this. I think I will see a LOT of improvement.

-I ended up having to wait until after work to complete the barbell gymnastics and strength stuff. I did not know what my 1RM on clean and jerk was, so I just used 135 lbs. This was sufficiently stressing. I also just used 135 on the deadlifts for the strength portion. Part of this process is going to involve me rehabilitating my back, so I have to keep that in mind and not pull too much weight on my deads. The workout for 120502 will be up shortly.

 

 

The beginning of the end

Hello. My name is Brad. I am an average guy who lives in an average middle-class neighborhood. I work everyday as a police officer in an average-sized town in West Central Alabama. For all intents and purposes this could be your town. It could be anybody's town. I am 29 years old. I have a college degree from a state school. I have a lovely wife and a mortgage. And a dog. I enjoy hunting and college football. I rarely see my closest friends because they all moved away. I enjoy a good steak and a cold beer. Does any of this sound familiar? I could be you. As a matter of fact, given the common demographics associated with the average blog reader, I probably am you. The two of us are probably very much alike. However, if things were going to continue exactly the way they are now this blog would become very boring. Very quickly. And you would leave. So, in the interest of keeping you around I'm going to do something a little different. Several years of sedentary living in the American fashion has left my body looking like 215 pounds of chewed bubble gum. I'd wager yours looks similar. I used to be an athlete. You might have been too. I played soccer, baseball, basketball, etc. I played sports in high school. Then, I got to college and found other ways to spend my time. After college I went to work. I joined a local gym and went there to workout...some. I injured my back. I ate like crap. I decided that work and life was too hard to schedule around and I largely gave up. My physique and my health suffered. I, like you, became accustomed to having trouble getting down to tie my shoes. I, like you, got winded after climbing a couple sets of stairs. I knew I would die younger than I should. I was living the American dream. But, something happened recently. Suddenly I was not simply "ok" with how I looked and how I felt. I found myself, for the first time, in a situation. I was standing in a room full of people, thousands of them, with my beautiful wife and I realized I was the most out of shape person there. I saw the looks on several of their faces when they looked at my wife, then at me. I could almost hear them thinking, "What the heck is she doing with him?" I was embarrassed for me and for her. I decided I was going to do something about it. Enter this blog. Notice the title. Flab to Fit 365. Here is what is going to happen- Starting tomorrow morning, May 1, 2012 I am going to dedicate a year of my life to transforming my flabby body into something that I can be proud of. It is going to be a radical change that blasts my strength, confidence, clarity of mind, athletic ability, situational survivability, etc. through the roof. Let me clear, I am going to look like a new man on May 1, 2013. I am doing this for me, for my wife, and for you. I want you, the reader, to look at what happens to me over the next 12 months and decide that you can change your life too! Remember, you and I are extremely similar. I'm not taking a year away from work or being a husband. I am simple re-organizing my time and priorities in order to better myself. Everyone can do this! If you want to take it a step further, let's do it together! I welcome comments and email from you all. Let's motivate one another. How am I going to do this, you ask? Crossfit. Heard of it? Google it. It's a phenominal workout program that has taken the world by storm. I have seen, firsthand, it's unbelievable transforming power. Simply put- it works. I am going to follow an up and coming Crossfit programmer who has been making his name programming for successful Crossfit competitors. He runs a blog on his programming called The Outlaw Way. It's good stuff. I will also be altering my diet in an extreme sort of way. I will not be following any specific diet, but rather simply eating "clean". This means no gluten, lots of protein, no garbage, etc. I will detail my diet more as I figure it out. I do have one advantage. I have been doing Crossfit on and off for a while. I have never taken it seriously and it shows. However, I am familiar with most of the movements used in the workouts. Some of these movements are complex and can be dangerous. Make sure you are trained in these movements before attempting them as you can permanently damage your body by performing them incorrectly. I am not sponsored by any company and no one gives me products to use. For this reason I will attempt to keep the brands of the products I use out of this blog. I will, however, answer any questions you may have through email if you like. How will I track my performance- I will be using photos to show the physical changes in my body. I will freely share by body's measurements and how they change. I will be performing certain benchmark workouts and lifts to track the changes in my strength and overall conditioning. I will also be sharing medical data to show you the positive (hopefully) impact this has on my cholesterol levels, blood pressure, body mass index, body fat percentage, etc. I am going to attempt to give you as much data as I can measure in order to convince you to try this yourself. Did you ever watch the award-winning documentary "Super Size Me?" I am going to attempt something along those lines, just with a much lower budget and much less production value. I will try to keep you filled in on exactly what I am doing, what I am taking into my body, and what these things are doing to my body. Also, please keep in mind that I am typing all this on an IPad in my spare time. Be gentle with my spelling and grammar. I am not a professional writer. Well, let's begin. I hope you enjoy this, but mainly I hope this encourages you to make a life altering decision for yourself too.