Becoming an Athlete

10 mins of stretching KB windmills:  35 x 5/5, 5/5 deadlift:  135x10; 185x10; 225x10; 315x5; 365 x 4,3,2 wide grip bent row:  95 x 12, 12, 12 flatback goodmorning:  95 x 12, 12, 12 Kroc row:  65 x 15/15, 15/15, 15/15 (easy.  need to go heavier next time) incline dumbbell curls:  30s x 8, 8, 6 cross body hammer curl:  25 x 8/8, 8/8, 8/8 (gonna ditch this one for regular hammer curl.  don't like how it forces my shoulder to lurch forward) EZ-bar curl:  30 x 25.

Followed some advise from a man much more knowledgeable than I. warm-up:  500meters on Concept2 rower in 2:22 KB getups:  3 per side with 35lb KB stretching for 10 minutes overhead press:  95x10; 115x8; 135x6; 155x4, 4; 135 x 8 incline dumbbell press:  60s x 12, 10, 10, 8 dumbbell shoulder superset a. laterals:  10s x 10, 10, 10 b. bent laterals:  10s x 10, 10, 10 rope grip tricep extension:  80x10; 90x10; 100x10; 110x8, 8; 100x10,10

I don't want to get overly personal and philosophical, so I'll leave it at this.  I love my children unconditionally, but it was my wife who really made today special for me.  I have good kids, but my wife is amazing.  I'll leave out the deeply meaningful parts and cut to the fitness chase. She got me an 80 pound kettlebell.  Those things aren't cheap, and especially not at that weight.  We had been casually messing with some at a fitness store a week ago and she said the 45, 55, and 60 looked too easy for me.  I can barely 1-arm press the 80# 4 times with my right and twice with my left.  I'm going to have to log some serious hours to develop any form of mastery with this behemoth. 

My wife and I went to the gym together for the first time in quite some time.  She isn't a member at my gym, but got a free day pass.  Since we had time on our hands, i made this one count. lots of stretching (down-dog, cobra, hurdler stretch, front splits that are far from complete, hamstrings, quad stretches) foam rolling (piriformis, IT band, back), shoulder 'dislocations' with stick Step-mill:  10 mins at level 4.  Not so bad when I can crack jokes to my wife about my stair climbing ineptitude. Goofy hand crank cardio machine: 10 minutes.  This thing looks like a bicycle crank with handles.  I set it to intervals and it definitely got my shoulders and arms warm while raising my heart rate and breathing. Recumbent bicycle: 14 minutes while maintaining heart rate at 160 according to a questionable built-in heart rate monitor.  It honestly felt easy. Playing with a 55lb kettlebell:  clean & press; snatches; 1-arm swings; windmills more stretching very similar t

Sort of swimming.  More like alternating between hot tub and sauna with a few laps in between to cool me down.  All together I did maybe 10 laps, with several trips to the sauna and hot tub.

Great workout today.  Now that I joined a gym, I can do normal stuff while my daughter is at roller derby practice.  The gym is 3 blocks from her derby facility. 5 mins on treadmill at 3mph / 5 degree incline. stretched for 10 mins chinups:  BW x 3, 3, 3 superset: a. Pullup ladders:  BW x 1-2, 1-2, 1-2, 1-2, 1-2 b. rope grip tricep pushdown:  70 x 10,10,10,10,10,10,10,10,10,10 wide grip bent row:  95, 10, 7, 10, 10 superset a. skull crusher:  60 x 10, 8, 8, 8 b. leg raise off bench:  15, 15, 15, 15

The battery in my truck died, so I rode my bike to the gym.  It's only 4 miles, but there is one big hill along the way.  My legs were very tired by the time I got there. bike ride to gym 10 mins of stretching deadlift:  warm-up sets135x10; 185x10; 225x10 295x5; 315x5; 335x5; 355x5 bike ride home I skipped all the accessory work since I rode my bike.

concept2 rower:  2 mins stretching, 10 mins chinups:  BW x 5, 3, 3 bench press:  185x5; 205x5; 225x5; 185x13 dips:  BW x 3 shoulder superset a. snow angels:  10s x 8, 8, 8, 8 b. bent laterals:  10s x 8, 8, 8, 8 abs / biceps: a. incline dumbbell curl:  25s x 8, 8, 8, 8 b. plank:   30sec, 30sec, 30sec, 30sec EZ-bar reverse curl:  65 x 10, 10, 10, 10

Nothing fancy.  Just an evening bike ride with my son.  We did about 5 miles.

nothing fancy.  Just got some jogging in while my son was at the skatepark.   All together, maybe 2 miles of jogging and 1 mile of walking.

Went swimming with my kids for about 90 mins.  After that i went to the gym for my last day of messing around: chinups:  5, 5, 3, 3 bent lateral raise:  15s x 10, 10, 10, 10, 10 cable rows:  some weird machine, 140 x 10, 10, 10, 10 got bored and went home. Later this evening i took my son to the skatepark and did some shotput and light weight for distance.

Today was one of the rare days where I walked in without a plan and just nailed it.  I did what I needed to do, and it was little more than luck and intuition.  Damn I need a plan. Deadlift: 135x10; 185x10; 225x10 275x5; 315x5 365x2,2,1 405 x 1, 1, 1, 1, missed the 5th single Single leg curl: 40x9/9, 9/9, 6/6 double leg curl: 60 x 24 Leg press machine: 160 x 50; 200 x 50; 240 x 50 lots of stretching

I am still lifting and still trying to follow a plan, but I just don't buy into what I'm doing right now.  3 days a weeks is not adequate.  I feel lost.  I can't use the garage gym because our contractors are still using it for a remodeling project. Normally I am very objective about what my goals are and what the best way to reach them is, but for whatever reason I've been very uncommitted to a single goal.  I keep flip flopping and getting nowhere.  I am seeing some progress here and there, but without commitment or direction, progress is almost meaningless. So I joined a commercial gym yesterday and bought 4 personal training sessions.  Normally I wouldn't do this but the guy is a competitive strongman, and former powerlifter.  I can get on board with this.  He talked to me about his reasons for abandoning the Westside training template, which are the same reasons I've had for not doing it.  He mentioned his current training, which has many of the same

More Highland Games practice.  We've got a pretty solid group now, with ample equipment to get real work done. Braemar stone:  My form has improved dramatically this year.  I've added 2-3 feet over any previous best. I may hit 30' before end of the year Open Stone:  I'm trying to transition out of the Glide to the Modified South African method.  My glide is fine and will put me in the hunt with Amateur Cs, but I need to get the MSA down if I want to hang with the Bs. Heavy WFD:  I suck at this.  I'm above novice, and respectably in the C distances, but nothing close to Top Three.  I know I can bring this up to at least a consistent 21' before end of year.  Its just in the timing. Light WFD:  I'm already throwing further in practice than I have in competition.  45' won't wow the crowd, but it'll keep me competitive. Caber:  Still my best event.  As my grip strength improves, it just keeps getting easier.