Becoming an Athlete

Wow! Its been a while since I had space to lift. Now that we are all moved in and all the excess has been given away, we have the home gym up and running. I'm badly deconditioned!! Warm-up: dumbbell complex (35lbs ea) ..a. hang clean x 6 ..b. overhead press x 6 ..c. overhead squat x 6 ..d. bent row x 6 1. Chinup ladders: bw x 1,2,3,1,2,3,1,2,3,1,2,3 (24 reps total) 2. Dip ladders: +20lbs x 1,2,3,1,2,3,1,2,3,1,2,3 (24 reps total) 3. Hindu squat ladder: bw x 10,15,20,25,30 (100 reps total) Quick, but NOT easy!!!

I did about 2 miles on Monday. It was cold and windy, and all I really wanted was a glass of port. So I consider this 2 miles a good thing. I'm getting more acclimated to steady-state cardio work. At first, my feet shins and calves hurt after 2 days of jogging. Now the pain is subsiding, so time to crank up the intensity of the cardio training and add in more anaerobic endurance work.

2.5 mile jog today. I kept it easy.

O did an easy 5K jog, and later that day did another 5K on bike.

My wife and I did 8-10 miles around some park trails. A lot of hills. All in all, a good cardio / fat burning workout.

I had a planned workout that included sprints and agility drills, but rain and a late night changed my plans. I started at 10:30, so I did as much as I could in as short a time as I could. 1. 5 minute dynamice warm-up 2. Countdowns (also called Big 55 by Coach Dan John) part a) Dumbbell swing, 35lb part b) Goblet squat, 35lb Count downs are a great way to drive serious endurance through a specific movement pattern. Start with 10 on the 1st movement, then 10 on the 2nd. 9 then 9. 8 then 8. 7 then 7, etc. By the time you work down to 1 rep of each, you've completed 55 reps of each movement. After that I did 3 sets of 5 Turkish get-ups on each side, using only a 15lb dumbbell. I went light because the Countdown got me tired, and also because it was the first time doing Turkish get-ups in ages!!!! For an unplanned session, this wasn't half bad.

Today's workout was the same as Monday's. All this core stability work and Range of Motion Correction is paying off! I haven't felt this good in probably 2 years! My flexibility is coming back fast and my stomach is looking flatter in profile. I don't want to bore you with the details, because they are 90% identical to 14 DEC blog entry. Diet and supplement stack working great! I can't wait to start the fat burning phase! If these 6 days are any indication, hitting my mark of -10lbs in 24 days should be no problem.

Man, what a great workout. This challenged all aspects of my endurance: anaerobic endurance, aerobic endurance, and lactic acid threshhold!!!! 1. Warm-up (cuz it was COLD!): 800 yards 2. Dynamic stretching (cuz it was COLD!): 5 minutes of stretching like we did in track workouts 3. Sprint work: 3 x 400 yards; 3 minutes rest 4. Pushups: 20,10,10,10; 45 seconds rest between sets (Ohhh. Burn!) 5. Ab wheel: 16,8,8,8; 45 seconds rest between sets 6. Dumbbell swing: 30 x 20,10,10,10; 45 seconds rest between sets Observations: The diet and supplement program are working great! I'm 5 days in and have lost 3 pounds. I'm hoping by the end of the 24 day period to have lost 10 pounds. That'd put me right at 205. But after this endurance workout, I'm a little hungry and it's too late to eat more than just a small protein shake.

For the next 3 weeks, I'm doing three stability or corrective workouts per week, and three endurance workouts per week. If I can man-up, I'll run on the mornings of the stability workout. This morning, 15DEC, my wife and I woke up at 5:00 AM and talked about why we weren't going running this morning. But on to better things; 14DEC workout 1. 5 minutes dynamic warm-up: felt good to loosen and get the mind-body connections 2. Windshield -wipers: 2 x 10 each side - felt great to twist the lower spine, work the abs, and get a stretch in the hips & glutes 3. Windmills: 10 each direction - stretching the whole of the torso and working core stability. I feel it in my lats today 4. Yoga lunge: 3 x 30seconds each leg - OUCH!!!! Hip flexors are tight from all the desk jockeying. 5. 3-position sitting stretch: 3 x 20seconds each position - OUCH!! Hams, groin and spine are tight. 6. Cobra pose: 3 x 20seconds - This was great to extend the lower back and stre...

Went for a mile and a half run this morning. Nothing too serious but the loop ends with a nice incline of about 300 yards. I finished the mile run on Saturday in 9:12. I could have done it a bit faster, but this will work for now. Monday will be my first Stability workout.

I'm doing a 24-day supplementation and nutrition program. The eating is very simple for me, since I've done militant diets in the past to make weight for fights. You can sum up the diet this way: Nothing special, just actually DO what you know you need to do 4 small real food meals per day 2 protein shakes per day no refined ANYTHING (carbs, sugar, etc.) Heavy on fresh vegetables and some fruit Keep the meat sources lean No alcohol The supplement schedule is actually pretty cool. the 1st 10 days are geared towards cleansing, and include probiotics and EFAs. The next 14 days are for fat loss. It fits my workout methodology to a 'T': Undo the bad we've done to this point Get structurally sound Ramp up the intensity and burn as much fat as you can while retaining muscle .... my experience has been that Ii usually add a small amount of muscle through this type of training / supplementing. As of last night, I weighted 215 lbs. Not bad, but not rock solid, eithe...

Well, I've been married for three days now, and life is already better. Jaime and I are still in the process of unboxing and find where everything will go. The garage gym is almost ready for some serious sweat. On Monday 14 DEC, I'm embarking on a new personal challenge. I want to push myself as far as I can go for 16 weeks. The first 4 weeks are geared towards corrections of all imbalances, with a side benefit of weight/fat loss. My goal is to lose 10lbs in during those four weeks. I want to always measure performance, not just aesthetic markers. So while the weight loss and before/after pics are nice, what will really count are the improvements I attain in four weeks for each of the following: Aerobic fitness 1 mile time Anaerobic fitness: Level 1 max reps pushups in 2 minutes max reps ab wheel in 2 minutes max reps Hindu squats in 2 minutes max reps 95lb sumo grip high pull in 2 minutes I've put together what looks to be the most comprehensive, goal-driven workout...