Chains, Thrusters and, um, 7 Minutes of Burpees...

     So the site that I use for this blog has a feature where you can see how many people look at your posts and where in the world they are located.  I check this out every once in awhile and when I looked today I found that there are 23 Canadians, 19 Russians, 3 Germans as well as randoms from the UK, Germany, Switzerland, United Arab Emirates, Thailand and South Africa who have read this blog!  Seriously...Thailand!!  I don't know why this surprises me considering the reach of the internet but I didn't think that there wouldn't be much worldwide appeal in how much I squat or how high I jump.  I mean, it's not like I'm Mikko Salo or Nate Schrader.  Back when I was playing music I once had a guy in Poland write to me to get one of my records.  I felt like Bruce Springsteen.  But thanks to everyone who's stopped by to check this out!  It's not always fascinating shit but that's what the music and videos are for...

Apparently the world is watching...

   (As a side note to this photo I found an article today about Bret McKenzie (half of the occasionally funny Flight of the Concords) writing songs for The Muppets.  The best part was when he talks about "the rules".  Rules such as- "Frogs and bears and pigs can talk, but penguins and chickens can’t. They can cluck or squawk musically, but they can’t say words."  Somewhere in there is a life lesson...)

    On Thursday February 23 this was my training...

A. front squat w/chains: 5-5-5; rest 3 minutes (sets across - same weight)

B. incline bench press w/chains: 5-5-5; rest 3 minutes (sets across - same weight)
+
12 minutes - steady pace:
10 walking lunge with 12kg/hand
3 L pull-up

     The chains have finally returned!  Here's a little bit of information from the incredible Louie Simmons from Westside Barbell talking about using chains for increasing strength and explosiveness.  It's great for training but it also sounds bad ass in the gym when the chains hit the ground!  For me it's been awhile since I've used the chains for lifting so I was guessing a bit as to my starting weights. 

  

     A. 75kg + chains.  This was actually a bit heavier than I thought I might be able to go but I felt really good during warm ups so put on more weight for the work sets.  The last two reps of the last two sets were tough but still very manageable.  

     B. 50kg + chains.  I kept it a bit conservative for the incline bench mostly because I had a few rough sessions with this lift previously and I wanted to build a bit of confidence.  These sets felt really easy and presented no problems. 

     For the lunge/L pull-up portion I substituted L chin-ups for the pull-ups mostly to save my shoulder.  Oftentimes L pull-ups pull my shoulder anteriorly which hurts and I'm having enough trouble with that as it is.  I kept working steadily throughout the 12 minutes and tried to keep moving the whole time.  I finished the lunges, took 3-5 breaths, did the chin-ups and then hit the lunges again immediately.  I finished with 16 rounds + 3 lunges. 

     This was training on Friday, February 24: 

5 sets:
max burpee - 20 seconds
rest 3 minutes
+
5 sets:
10 thruster, 95lb
5 ctb pull-up
rest 4 minutes

     The burpees were "lazy" style that I learned from Carl Paoli when I did his gymnastics workshop last November.  Basically it's a burpee that saves you from doing as much push-up work and saves your upper body (and some of your lower body) from a bit of fatigue.  These 20 second sets were intended to be sprints so it was a bit tricky to maintain that form while still moving as fast as I could.  Each set was 10 burpees except for the last one where I farted out 11.

     The thrusters and ctb pull-ups went better than I imagined.  This is a brutal combination of movements (ahem) and I anticipated being pretty beat up by this session.  It actually wasn't that bad!  Everything was unbroken and there was no rest at all between the thrusters and the pull-ups.  The set times were- :35, :32, :30, :31, :30.  Pretty consistent.  I felt completely recovered between sets which I'm pretty sure was the goal here.

     So, yeah, 7 minutes of burpees....

     This was WOD 12.1 of The CrossFit Games Sectionals.  I have decided to put as little thought into performing these workouts as CrossFit seems to have done designing them.  Which is to say that I'm going to do my best each week, push myself appropriately and, mostly, try to keep this fun (at least as fun as 7 minutes of f?!king burpees can be).  For those of you in, I don't know, UAE, who might not know exactly what a burpee is, this is a burpee.  For 7 minutes.  (For the record I'm sure they do burpees in United Arab Emirates).  

     I started out way to fast, which I told myself not to do (but since when do I listen to myself?) and did 23 the first minute.  Then I had to figure out a way to slow down without a.) resting too much and leaving reps on the table or b.) slowing the movement down so much that it's excruciating to perform.  I guess I found a happy medium and managed to keep working steadily until the last minute where I turned it on a bit (at least as much as I could).  I ended up with 94 total.  Good for a tie for 17,561st fittest person in the world.  

     I asked Justin before I started if he needed to notify the Reebok people that the CrossFit Games Champion 2016 was about to begin his journey to the top.  He said they were on standby waiting for word.  Hey Reebok- I wear a size 9 shoe.

     For all 23 Canadians reading this, here's fellow countrymen Neil Young and Crazy Horse doing a live performance of "Winterlong" (definitely one of his best...)

A Change in Training...

     So it's been almost a week since I've posted anything so you'd think that I'd have a lot to say today.  Well...you would be wrong.  

     I did, however, start Coach Jen's mobility class last week.  I'm generally pretty good about mobilizing and stretching after workouts but it will be great to focus on it and learn a bunch of new things over the next 6 weeks or so.   Let's face it- I'm not getting any younger and if I intend on beating the crap out of my body for the foreseeable future (and I do) then I'm going to need to keep up with the stretching.  After all, I'm planning on being old and awesome, like this guy or these people.  Here's an actual photo from class:

I'm on the right.

 

     In other news my training has changed a bit and we've started the 8 week ramp up to the OPTathalon 2.0.  My training on Monday looked like this:

     

single leg take-offs w/jogging between: 5/leg x 3; rest 2-3 minutes

+
A. snatch complex (light weight) x 4; rest 1 minute (1 power snatch + 1 overhead squat + 1 hang squat snatch + 1 snatch)

B. hang squat clean cluster (power position): 1.1.1 x 5; rest 2-3 minutes
C. press/push press/push jerk: 1.2.3 x 3; rest 2-3 minutes
+
on the minute - 8 minutes
2 muscle-up

     The single leg take offs felt pretty good.  I focused on exploding off of each leg and timing the jumps so that I alternated legs.  Of course I looked like I was leaping around the gym like a dork, but I think people are pretty used to that by now.

     A. 40kg, 45kg, 50kg x 2.  I kept the weight relatively light for the snatch complex.  I haven't done any snatching in awhile so these were a bit rusty but, overall, they were no problem.  On the last two sets I dropped the bar in between the hang squat snatch and the snatch to reestablish the hook grip.

     B. 60kg x 1.1.1 x 5.  These cleans were just from the power position so I kept the weight very manageable and concentrated on exploding out of the power position (the third pull of the clean) and dropping under the bar as fast as I could.  This is a bit of a different mental game than lowering the bar to the hang or the floor and then bringing it up until the explosive third pull.  On the very last rep of the last set I could feel that I pulled too early with my arms so I made that rep up because I'm a head case and I didn't want to end on a bad rep.  

     C. 50kg, 55kg, 60kg.  The overhead work was obviously limited by my shoulder press.  I think that 60kg is my last known shoulder press PR and that felt really light today.  So I have that going for me.  Unfortunately the push presses and jerks didn't feel as powerful as I would have liked.  My right shoulder has been a bit funny lately and I don't think that helped.

     The muscle-ups went well.  Again my right shoulder was sore but I was able to complete these with no problem.

     Today brought this....thing....

10 sets:
airdyne @ 80% - 30 seconds
airdyne @ 50% - 30 seconds
+
10 sets:
4 pillar suicide; rest 30 seconds
+
10 sets:
C2 row @ 80% - 30 seconds
C2 row - easy, no arms - 30 seconds

     This is the first true bit of MAP work that I've done in a long, long time and I'm pleased to say that I felt pretty good.  Considering.  I kept the airdyne RPMs at 72-76 for all 10 sets and focused on breathing through the pain.  The lactic acid build up in my legs built up quickly and made these super challenging.  I heard someone say once that if they had 24 hours to live they would spend it all on the airdyne because it would feel like an eternity.  I couldn't agree more.

     The 4 pillar suicides were the hardest part of this workout though.  Each run was 38 seconds long and miserable.  Justin told me I might get a "runner's high" during these.  He lied.

     The rows actually felt fantastic.  I decided beforehand that a 1:50 500m/split was about 80% for me so I tried to keep all of the sets there.  I was pretty much able to do it and a few times even had to slow myself down a bit to keep it at that pace.  I would say that it was definitely close to an 80% effort.  I focused on pulling hard and breathing and even did one extra interval because I didn't set the rower up correctly when I started and the clock stopped running after my first row.  

     Overall I managed to be very consistent throughout tonight and I recovered quickly when I was done.  I'm pretty excited to learn more about my engine and learn to fine tune my work efforts.  

     I think it's time to class this place up a bit so here's one of my favorite Beethoven works (I guess you don't walk out of a college and grad school music education without a favorite Beethoven piece or two...)  This is the 2nd movement of Sonata No. 8 "Pathetique" performed by ex-CSO conductor Daniel Barenboim (I wanted to put the one up of Glenn Gould playing but there were always ads beforehand and that annoys the crap out of me).

 

"Coffee Is For Closers"

     The title of this post, a quote from the movie Glengarry Glen Ross, is pretty fitting for my training the last few days.  Especially Tuesday's which looked like this:

SERIES 1

back squat: 90-95% x 2 x 2; rest 3-4 minutes
+
airdyne - 4-6 minutes easy

+
depth jump over hurdle: 8-8; rest 4 minutes (drop from 16" box)
+
airdyne - 8-10 minutes easy
+
SERIES 2

back squat: 90-95% x 2 x 2; rest 3-4 minutes
+
airdyne - 4-6 minutes easy

+
depth jump over hurdle: 8-8; rest 4 minutes (drop from 16" box)

+
3 sets:
12 glute ham raise

15 ghd sit-up
rest 2 minutes

     If this looks familiar it's because it is.  I did this two weeks ago (and wrote about it here) with great success.  This time...not so much.  Everything felt incredibly heavy today.  The back squats were still 112 kg and set 1 was tough but complete.  On the second set I got the first rep and then failed at the second.  I think it's the first time I've failed at a back squat in probably 6 months and, let me tell you, that shit instantly gets in your head.  And the best part was I had 6 minutes of airdyne, an entire jump series and then another 8 minutes of mindless airdyne pedaling to think about it!  It was during this second airdyne space-out that the quote that serves as the title of this post came into my head.  

     I think one of the hardest things to do is visualize success immediately after a failure.  I actually thought of closers in baseball and how mentally grueling that job must be.  If you fail one day and blow a lead or a game, you have no choice but to put it behind you and move on.  Don't get me wrong- sometimes they do this- but then they all get ready to pitch again the next day.  Some blow it more than others (LaTroy Hawkins blew so many saves for the Cubs from 2004-2005 that he has his own Urban Dictionary entry) but they all lose some.  Here's Mitch Williams blowing a save in the 2003 World Series.  One of the most famous home runs in baseball history was given up by future Hall of Famer Dennis Eckersley.  The best World Series that I've ever seen, the 2001 Series between the Yankees and the Diamondbacks, was practically a clinic in blowing saves with the game 7 losing pitcher being none other than Mariano Rivera.

     The point is that I had just completely eaten it on a lift that I've done several times before and I had to go out and hit it again- 4 more times.  Sure, I could have just gone down in weight, but that would have felt like turning a small failure into a big one and then the terrorists win (there's a lot at stake with my back squats).  Since I've drawn this out long enough I'll just tell you...I succeeded in the final 2 sets of squats.  The depth wasn't as far as my usual squat but, fortunately, I squat deep enough that there's about a 3" margin of error and they were still legit.

     The celebration looked like this:

     

     Series 1 of the jumps were 34" x 8 and 36" x 8 with Series 2 at 36" x 8 x 2.  I missed a few of these, mostly because by big ass hit the bar on the way down but I made up all of the reps.  I've come to the conclusion that these have to be done without thinking about them.  I remembered again to do the assistance work as well (I think that's two in a row!).

     This was today's training:

     

A. bench press @ 60%: max x 3; rest 90 seconds

B1. ctb pull-up: 12-15 x 4; rest 20 seconds
B2. ring row off box: 8-8-8 x 3; rest 2 minutes
+
for time: 15-12-9
kb snatch (each arm), 24kg
ring dip

     This is a 5% increase in the bench press from what I did last week with the anticipated drop in max reps coming along with it.  

     

     A. 57kg: 22, 10, 6.  I felt fine with all of these efforts but especially the last set which, as you can imagine, is the worst.  I managed to squeeze out an extra rep (and even tried for one more) after I had hit the wall.  I think I definitely left it all out there on these sets.  

     B1. 12 (butterfly), 12 (butterfly), 12 (9 butterfly + 3 kip), 12 (8 butterfly + 4 kip)

     B2. 8, 8, 4+2+1+1.

     These were tough, as I expected.  To save my shoulder a bit I only went for 12 pull-ups each set.  The second set looks deceiving...I did all 12 butterfly, but I did them in two groups.  I hung there for a second but managed to re-start my butterfly motion as opposed to just switching to a straight kip like I have done previously (and did in the final two sets).  

     The couplet at the end was miserable.  It took me 10:11.  It probably should have taken me half that time but I missed several kb snatches in the left arm and that slowed me down a lot.  I was also way more out of breath than I should be for this as well.  If this is any indication then I'm way more screwed than I thought for the Open, which starts next week.  Seriously...my participation in The CrossFit Games this year should be sponsored by FEMA because it's going to be a complete disaster. (get it?)  

One Up, One Down

     So it's been a few days since I've updated this.  I think that's going to be the deal around here though.  If writing starts to become an obligation or a chore I'll just stop doing it and I'd like to keep this going.  So it might round out to about 2 posts a week.  I know you're disappointed, but I'll make it up to you.  I promise.

     Well, I did it.  I went ahead and signed up for the CrossFit Games Open.  I haven't been specifically training for this competition at all but I still would like to do it, mostly for the same reason people climb mountains- because it's there.  I don't think I've run farther than 40 meters in about 4 months and when I did I felt like I had just done "Fran" so I might be a bit screwed.  I'm actually interested to see what the little bit of extra strength I've picked up over the last few months does for me over the course of these 5 competition weeks.  

     I think that, as an exercise regimen, CrossFit is fantastic.  It's a great way to get people moving in ways and at intensities that they never thought possible.  It's wonderful for confidence and can definitely make a difference in people's lives.  I'm certainly thankful that I was introduced to it and I'm extremely grateful that I found Windy City CrossFit.  As a sport, CrossFit- and the sport of fitness in general- has a few bugs to work out.  James Fitzgerald (OPT) is making huge strides in terms of fitness competitions with his OPTathalon, an event that I competed in in San Diego in October and am looking forward to again in Chicago this spring.  Standardized judging and weight classes are two issues that seem to come up quite often.  I understand that every sport has a certain amount of human element in the officiating (this was not a touchdown and Don Denkinger definitely blew this call in the 1985 World Series.  In fact, here's a list of some terrible baseball calls) and that's part of what makes sports fun.  But the opportunity for shady judging and lousy range of motion in the CrossFit Open is off the charts.  Here's a video of some dude from CrossFit talking about cheating during the Open.  I hope that they take this seriously because this issue undermines the legitimacy of what CrossFit is trying to build by having such a large scale fitness competition.
     It would also be nice to see weight classes in this as well but that won't happen.  They're looking for all around fitness and are trying to test their 10 elements of fitness (strength, stamina, endurance, flexibility, power, speed, coordination, agility, balance and accuracy if I remember my Level 1 class correctly) and believe that, regardless of size, you can achieve a balance of all of these elements and prove your all around "fitness".  Historically though strength is King and that's the main reason I've been trying so hard to build mine up recently.  The decathlon doesn't use weight classes either, so I guess that makes me feel a bit better.

     That was way more than I intended on writing about that subject.  But, yeah, I'm all signed up...

     

     On Thursday February 9 I did this:

A. hurdle-hop: 3 consecutive x 8; rest 2-3 minutes (allow 3 steps)

B. hang squat clean cluster: 66% x 1.1.1 x 5; rest 2 minutes
C. kb squat jump: 32kg x 6 x 3; rest 3-4 minutes (again, only 1/4 squat)

D. farmer carry: 45 seconds tough x 3; rest 2 minutes (keep pushing weight here)
+
3 sets:
12 glute ham raise
15 ghd sit-up
rest 2 minutes

     Overall this felt really good and I was focused on my training and objectives.

     A. 36.5" x 3 x 8.  I missed a few reps here and there again, mostly due to starting position but I made up all of the reps.  These feel much better when I don't think about them as much and just think "step, step, explode" or something simple like that.  It's dumb to write but makes sense when I do it.

     B. 66kg x 1.1.1 x 5.  Generally these felt really solid.

     C. kb jumps felt really easy and explosive on this day.

     D. 122lb/hand x :45 x 3.  I finally managed this weight for the complete time for all three sets which is a step in the right direction (no pun intended.  Although I do kinda like puns).  And I did the assistance stuff too.

This was today's training: 

A. incline bench press: 2-2-2-2-2; rest 3 minutes
B. depth jump push-up, 12": 8-8; rest 3 minutes
C1. bat wing @ 20X3: 8-10 x 3; rest 10 seconds
C2. kb clean: 8-10 x 3; rest 2 minutes
D. waiter walk: 40m/side x 3; rest 1 minute

     Today wasn't as good.  I walked in feeling fine after a decent night's sleep but once I started lifting I just didn't have it.  My focus wasn't solid and I couldn't successfully visualize myself hitting everything.  It went downhill a bit...

     A. 70kg, 75kg, 77kg, 79kg (1 with help), 79kg x 1.  This was frustrating because just last week I managed 77kg x 3 and today couldn't successfully do 79 x 2.  Ugh.  I was really, really disappointed.

     B. depth jump push ups: 8 x 2.  These were generally fine except that in the first set, on the last rep, the box slid away from me and I missed.  I made the rep up but, after just being disappointed on the incline bench, it wasn't good timing for me to fall on my face.  Literally. By the way...the jerk boxes that I use for these are actually 14".  I measured them once.  

    C1.  30lb x 10 x 3.  I finally moved this weight up a bit.  As I've said before: these suck at tempo.

    C2. 32kg x 8 x 3.  I moved this weight up a bit as well.  Mostly because I wanted to improve at something today.

    D.  32kg x 40m/side x 3.  No trouble here.  

     Since I was pretty disappointed with my performance today I've decided to post a few videos of things to make me feel better.  

     Here's a really funny bit that Eddie Izzard does about a cafeteria on the Death Star, acted out with legos: 

     Here's my boyhood hero, Ryne Sandberg, hitting two game tying home runs and a walk off single against the St. Louis Cardinals on June 23, 1984 (The Sandberg Game):

     Here's some highlights from the 1985 Super Bowl (I still remember almost everything about that day, including what I had for dinner.  Beef stew):

     Here's my teenage idol Ian MacKaye and Fugazi performing "Waiting Room" (I think I'll save my thoughts on why I looked up to Ian MacKaye for another post):

     One more...here's a collection of chicken dances on one of the best shows ever on TV, Arrested Development:

Vacation!!

     That's right...I'm on vacation for the next 11 days!  Vacations for me a much less about travelling right now than they are about living like a human being for an extended period.  You know, little things like sleeping through the night, cooking all of my own food, hanging with my dog and ramping down the general stress of waiting for "emergencies".
     I took the opportunity today to get my body fat percentage tested by the amazing Sheena Lawrick because I've been up around 8-10 lbs lately and I want to make sure that it's a quality 8-10 lbs.  There's good news and bad news I guess.  The bad news is that I went from 5.9% bf to 7.2%, but the good news is that I added about 6 lbs of muscle with that as well.  Sheena said that it's next to impossible to add weight and muscle without adding at least some fat as well and I'll take her word for it.  (Although she doesn't have to look at me when I go to the beach.)  Honestly, as long as I keep seeing the strength gains that go with it I don't care what my weight is. Even Patron-Saint-of-Small-Crossfitters Chris Spealler is trying to gain weight this year.  You know...like this guy...

Beefcake!!!

     I haven't updated this for a few days so there's two days of training to get to.  The next two weeks looks somewhat similar to the last two weeks, with a few differences here and there.

On Monday, February 6 I did this bad boy:

      SERIES 1

back squat: 80-85% x 2-3 x 2; rest 3-4 minutes
+
5 minutes - easy airdyne

+
kb squat jump: 32kg x 6 x 2; rest 3-4 minutes (only bending 1/4 here - no full depth squat)

+

6-8 minutes - easy airdyne

+
SERIES 2

back squat: 80-85% x 2-3 x 2; rest 3-4 minutes
+
5 minutes - easy airdyne

+
kb squat jump: 32kg x 6 x 2; rest 3-4 minutes (only bending 1/4 here - no full depth squat)

+
box jump, 20": 25 unbroken x 3; rest 2 minutes

*20" box - focusing on reactive ability, minimal ground contact

+
3 sets:
12 glute ham raise

15 ghd sit-up
rest 2 minutes

     Both Series 1 & 2 of the back squats were at 100kg x 3 x 2.  These felt really solid and I had no doubt about any of the reps.  Even if I feel myself coming up on my toes out of the squat I'm getting pretty good at pushing myself back on my heels and driving up.  For an exercise that I used to dread, back squats have quickly become one of my favorites.

     The 1/4 squat kb jumps felt a bit awkward at first but quickly improved as I got more used to the lesser range of motion.  By the end I was feeling very explosive again.  The increase in the box jump height from 16" last time to 20" this time was an adjustment as well.  All of the reps were unbroken but they occasionally felt clunky and like I was landing really heavily on the box.  I was able to focus on having minimal ground contact, like instructed, and these are definitely improving.  I also managed to remember to do the assistance work today as well.     

     Today's training was this:

A. bench press @ 55%: max x 3; rest 90 seconds
B1. ctb pull-up: 12-12-12-12; rest 10 seconds (keep working butterfly here)
B2. bat wing @ 20X3: 8-10 x 3; rest 2 minutes
+
3 rounds for time:
10 hspu

10 ring dip     

     A.  52 kg x 26, 52 kg x 13, 52 kg x 7.  I was somewhat happy with the 26 reps for the first set.  If the NFL combine used 55% bench press as a test rather than 225 lb bench I maybe would be a 6th round pick. Maybe.  (And that's if they don't look at any of the speed drills or jumping tests.  If they do then I'm definitely having one of those awkward Brady Quinn days).  The last two sets completely fell off a cliff.

     B1. 12 (butterfly), 12 (9 butterfly + 3 kip), 12 (7 butterfly + 5 kip), 12 (6 butterfly + 6 kip).  The first set of butterfly ctb always feels fantastic and then they start to die a slow, painful death.

     B2. 25 lbs x 10 x 2, 25 lbs x 8. 

     I ended up with a big fat DNF on the last part because my shoulder was killing me on the handstand push-ups.  My plan was to do sets of 3 (with one set of 4 obviously) for the HSPU and knock out the ring dips unbroken.  I only made it to two sets of three before dropping down to singles in the first round because of my right shoulder.  Every time I pushed myself up I had a terrible pain on the top of the shoulder.  I finally called it quits after one round + 5 HSPUs (at about 7:30).  I definitely should have thrown in the towel before I did but, like I've said a million times here, I'm not that bright.  Quitting a workout in the middle is really hard for me, even if it hurts.  Having said that, I think that something is up with my HSPUs.  I've had to stop probably 3 or 4 workouts due to injury in my somewhat brief CrossFit career and all of them have involved handstand push-ups.  It's not all the time and, when they're working, I can actually do them pretty well.  I asked Coach Jen for some advice and I've pretty much been doing most of what she suggested, such as mobilization and scapular retraction exercises (i.e. bat wings- which I've been doing so much of lately they make me want to puke).  It might come down to form which I should have her, or someone, check out when  I can try them again.  In the meantime I'm popping Ibuprofen and icing my shoulder like crazy.  You know...like this guy...

"HSPUs mess me up too!"

Nothing fun today...

     It's late, I'm exhausted and I have to work tomorrow so there will be no fun stuff today....


Today's training:


A. incline bench press: work-up to heavy 3 (15-20 minutes)
B. 1 arm bench: 12-15/arm x 2; rest 3 minutes
C1. bat wing @ 20X3: 8-10 x 3; rest 10 seconds
C2. db hang power clean: 8-10 x 3; rest 2 minutes
D. waiter walk: 40m/side x 3; rest 1 minute 


    A. 77kg x 3.  I got all of these without help which is a step up from last week.  The first two felt super easy but the last one was a bit of a grind.  I think I pulled something on my right side pushing the last rep out, but it was worth it.  (Don't worry...it's all better now)
   B. 50lb/arm x 15 x 2.  Light and easy.
   C1. 25lb x 10 x 3
   C2. 24kg kb x 10 x 3.  I used the 24kg kb rather than the dbs to make up for the mistake that I made last week.  I felt like this was a much better clean and I was using my hips and posterior chain to move the weight rather than relying on my arms.
   D. 32kg/side x 3.  My right side felt a little less stable today but, overall, these were no problem.


All right, all right...stop begging...I'll find something fun...


Here- how about Iron Maiden doing a super cool cover of Jethro Tull's "Cross Eyed Mary"...

A Healthy Debate...

     So there I was today, innocently trolling on Facebook when I noticed a posting by Robb Wolf, research biochemist, nutritionist and the author of the fantastic book The Paleo Solution.  His ideas, in conjunction with Mark Sisson and others, have had a profound affect on the way that I look at food and what I put in my body. His post was innocent enough but it ended up causing me to do some thinking, not usually one of my strong suits.
     What Robb wrote was:  "Heading to the @RonPaul rally in #Reno !!!"  
      I've struggled with how to write about this today or why it bothered me without becoming overly political or picking a fight with anyone who may be reading this (Hi Mom!).  I will say, however, that I consider myself a progressive, politically speaking.  A big ol' pro-choice, pro-marriage equality, pro-union, pro-health care reform, pro-secularism, anti-gun, anti-tax-breaks-for-the-rich, anti-corporate personhood Liberal (Capital L).  Some may read all that and just hear "Commie" and that's certainly their right.  Everybody has a right to a political opinion and, quite frankly, everyone should have one.  There does become a point where political discussion matures from the realm of ideological debate and becomes public policy and that is where the real effects on people's lives are made.  I know how I use my vote to shape that policy and Robb Wolf knows how he uses his.  But I won't lie and say that I wasn't disappointed to find out how this person, whose work I greatly admire, thinks politically.  I'm not looking to use this space to discuss Ron Paul, but you can read about his conspiracy theories here and his racist newsletter here, here, here and here.  (In no way shape or form am I suggesting that Robb Wolf believes what's in those newsletters...but at some point every Ron Paul supporter has to come to terms with them.)  What was interesting to me and what made me want to write this was this question:  At what point do personal facts about a person cross over into how their work is viewed?
     Does it make me think less of Walt Disney to know that he was quite possibly a nazi sympathiser?  (Yes).  Charles Lindburgh had some pretty terrible ideas but he's still regarded, mostly, as an American hero (the link is to Wikipedia but scroll down...the good stuff's about halfway down the page).  Same with Henry Ford.  Mel Gibson is no stranger to, um, let's just call them "fringe beliefs" (more here) and his abusive rant at his ex-girlfriend and the mother of one of his children is indefensible (it's not any better when pictured with kittens either), however, Braveheart is still a fantastic movie and I'll still watch it if I stumble on it on TV.  But does anyone listen to Chris Brown anymore?  How many Pennsylvanians are having an absolute crisis of conscious right now regarding Joe Paterno's legacy?
             

I'll stand up for Braveheart. Lethal Weapon 4 not so much...

                             
     These examples differ from just simple knowledge of someone's political slant, however.  I found a list of Republican celebrities and, scrolling through, found a few surprises (Easy-E? Johnny Ramone? Prince?) and a few not-so-surprises (Chuck Norris, Dennis Miller, Arnold).  Even my beloved Coach Ditka almost ran for Senate as a Republican against Barack Obama in 2004.  Curt Schilling considered a Republican political career as well.  Even KISS founder and marketing whore Gene Simmons put his two cents in about the presidential race (um, oops).  (A cynic might say that it's a lot easier to be Republican when you're rich.  I'm not saying that...but some people might...perhaps...moving on...)  I think I can honestly say that this list doesn't change how I think of the work of any of these people.  And, truthfully, it doesn't change what I think of Robb Wolf or his potentially life changing thoughts on diet.  But I do kind of wish that I didn't know that he was going to that rally today.  A little political TMI I guess...

Coach, yes.  Senator, no.

Today's training:

A. hurdle-hop: 3 consecutive x 8; rest 2-3 minutes (allow 1 step)
B. hang squat clean cluster: 63% x 1.1.1 x 5; rest 2 minutes

C. kb squat jump: 32kg x 6 x 3; rest 3-4 minutes
D. farmer carry: 45 seconds tough x 3; rest 2 minutes
+
3 sets:
12 glute ham raise
15 ghd sit-up
rest 2 minutes

     A.  34", 36.5" x 7.  I went up a little bit from last time even though last week I was allowed two steps and here only one.  These generally felt good but my knees hit the bar 2 or 3 times, mostly from a bad starting position rather than a bad jump.  I'm still experimenting with finding a good starting point for these jumps.  If I'm too close my knees hit the bar and if I'm too far away I run the risk of landing on top of it.  For the most part I'm not thinking too much about it though because I feel that over-thinking jumps makes them a lot harder than they should be.  I'm clearing these by a good distance too, apparently (at least that's what people said who saw them).

     B. 63kg x 1.1.1 x 5.  This was obviously heavier than last week but they still felt pretty easy.  I concentrated on good form and getting my elbows under the bar quickly and keeping them elevated during the squat..

     C. 32kg x 6 x 3.  These felt especially explosive during the last set.

     D. 119.2 lbs x :45 x 3.  I managed to successfully combine lbs and kgs to get the right weight and I'm very proud of myself for that.  Trust me- there are about a million ways I could have screwed that up, but I think I got it right.  The three calls we had at work after midnight had caught up to me at this point and I was getting pretty tired but the walks themselves weren't too hard until the last set, which I just barely made.  

     I completely forgot the assistance stuff so I'll make that up tomorrow.