Becoming an Athlete

This year has been a real test of character, and I have to say, I  passed with probably a B+, or maybe A-.   What makes a warrior different from the ordinary man is not whether he faces obstacles or not. We all face obstacles.  No; what makes a warrior different is how he faces the obstacles. An ordinary man and a warrior will both map out a course to  their objective. The ordinary man will get distracted along the way.  He might see the trail up the mountain and convince himself he never really wanted to reach his objective. When his arms go numb from shouldering the load, he discards item from his pack he suddenly sees as unnecessary.  He might sprain an ankle, call 911 and decide the course is too dangerous for any sane person to attempt.  So much the better, because now he has plenty of time for other more important things.  Isn't it football season anyway? The ordinary man makes excuses to stay ordinary. The warrior notices and appreciates all the beauty along th

So this is my "off" week.  All it means is no gym time.  Apparently it doesn't mean rest and recovery. Friday after work I parked a the trailhead of Goodwater Loop on Lake Georgetown.  I set out at 5:00 PM with 6 liters of water, a liter of coconut water, some trail mix, and a few turkey pitas. For the first 17 miles I maintained a 3mph pace.  I reached mile 17 at midnight at had a 30 minute break to eat.  I finished the remaining 10 miles at a 2mph pace.  The last 8 miles were pure hills. I made it to my truck right at 5:15 AM, putting this at 12 hours and 15 minute hike.  I was delirious on the last mile.  My mind just wanted to sleep.  I got home and slept like I was in a coma.  I was useless on Saturday, but went to a concert that night. Sunday I went rock climbing at Main Event.  When I got home from an hour of climbing, I noticed my feet had blood blisters all over.  OUCH!  SO now my hands and feet are killing me.  :)

Yup.  I'm at the wall.  Everything feels heavy.  Everything hurts.  24 hours is not enough sleep.  My mood and my energy levels are shot. On the plus side, my physique looks pretty damn good.  :-( I'm going to take a week off then get back after it.  Need to consider if I've take whole body training as far as I can.  Making gains three times a week is getting harder and harder.  Much as I hate to admit it, I may need to consider a split routine again.

Oh my gosh!  My muscles hurt.  My joints hurt and make popping noises all day long.  My appetite is off the charts.  My feet are sore. But goodness gracious, I've never seen my body respond so quickly as it is right now, and I'm not taking any supplements whatsoever. My legs are really responding to the extreme double progression method, and the thrice weekly stimulus of pistols and squats.  I'm going to do my best to gut this out and not take any time off, but the wall is coming..... 9DEC2014: P2-wk1-d3 Warmup including Turkish getups and wood choppers. Alternating low box pistols: 6,6,6,6 NG pullup:  5,4,3,2,2 Snatch complex:  65# (just a warm-up.  Will move to 85 next time) a. snatch high pull x 3 b. snatch x 3 c. snatch balance x 3 d. overhead squat x 3 Bench press: 165 x 5,5,5 (went light because my shoulder hurt so bad) Hammer Strength row: 160x10; 180x20 (Rest Pause) DB Shoulder raise tri-set: a. prone: 15s x 8 b. front: 15s x 8 c. side: 15s x 3 Squat:

Man, what an awesome Monday night.  The cards are starting to fall into place, by the grace of God.  I just hope that this is his will, and not my own.  Details of the story are too hard to summarize, but the short of it is I am going to be volunteering as a youth boxing coach for some disadvantaged kids at a boxing gym run by a local church. I was there last night checking the place out and got in a GREAT boxing workout.  Time to search my own archives and get some boxing workouts prepped.   I am so enthused!!!!!

Starting the 6th week of this and it's going well.  My pressing movements are stalling, so I had to dial it back a few pounds while my joints and muscles recover. Warmup includes Turkish getups with a 25#kb, and reverse wood choppers:  60x10 each alternating low box pistols: 8,8,8 ((These are freaking crazy difficult) Neutral grip pullup: 5,4,3,2,1 (taking a few steps back to reduce volume) Klokov complex:  5 singles with 15 seconds between reps at 135 Overhead press: 125 x 5,5,5 (front delts really hurting) Hammer Strength row: 160x10; 180x17 (rest pause to failure) Incline bench press: 165 x 7 (front delts really hurting.  Going to dial it down to 145 and work my way back up) Squat: 135 x 10,10,10,10,17 (easy peezy.  Ready for 5x15 on Tuesday.) a. EZ-bar curl: 75 x 8,8,8,8,8 b. Straight bar pressdown: 120 x 8,8,8,8,8 Stomach vacuums:  a few

Holy crap am I exhausted!  I tried to get to the gym at 10:00 PM last night, and I didn't have any strength or energy at all. Totally wiped out.  I could barely get 1 low box pistol per leg.  I barely got 2 pullups.  I tried a light snatch complex to warm-up, but it smashed me. So now that I've  been at it for a few months, it's time to change the methods, but keep  the same principles. Observations: High rep double progression squats ROCK!!!!  No change needed Pavel's 5RM Pullup plan ROCKs, too.  No change there.  If I get to 10 reps, I'll switch from neutral grip to pronated (i.e. normal pullups) Low box pistols are WAAAY harder than the taller box.  It's going to be a long road to full pistols, but the plan I'm following is great.  Big improvements in my weak leg, and it doesn't hurt my squatting or deadlift training Traps are dwarfing my delts.  Looks kinda weird. Arms are responding well to the high volume double progression approach.

Changing the warm-up for the sake of entertainment:  5 minutes of alternating Turkish get-ups with 25# KB, then stomach vacuums. Alternating low box pistols: 10,10,10 NG pullups: 3, 3, 5, 2 (feeling weak / sore / tired) Klokov complex:  singles at: 135; 145; 155; 165; 175; 185; 195; 205(fail, fail, fail) Deadlift: 315 x 2,2,2,2,4 Incline bench press: 135x5; 145x5; 155x5; 165x5; 175x5; 185x4 a. EZ-bar curl: 70 x 8,8,8,8,8,8 b. Straight bar pushdown: 110 x 8,8,8,8,8,8 Clean & Jerk for max reps: 135 x 14.  I dropped the bar mid-clean on the 15th rep.  Total failure. As my buddy Borat would say, "VERY NAAACE!  HIGH FIVE!"

Just an easy treadmill session.  I was sore, tired, and cold, so it was a shabby session. 4 rounds of: - 1 min run at 5.5 mph / 4 degree incline - 2 min walk at 3 mph / 4 degree incline

Usual warm-up, then the usual work: Low box alternating pistols: 10,10,10 NG pullup: 6,5,4,3,2 a. Row:                 135 x 8,8,8; 115x15 b. Clean & Press:  135 x 5,5,5; 115x10 Box squat: 135 x 10,10,10,10,10 a. EZ-bar curl: 70x8,8,8,8 b. Straight bar pushdown: 110x8,8,8,8

Met up with a marathon runner / run coach and worked on stride, mechanics, and all sorts of cool stuff I never thought about before.  We did about 3 miles and I was huffing and puffing, and she was just talking and joking. I must work on running!!!!!

Day after Thanksgiving Did my usual warm-up, plus a few minutes in the sauna Low box alternating Pistols.  So much freaking harder than the taller box!  This is going to take a while!!!!: 5/5, 4/4, 3/3, 2/2, 1/1 Neutral grip pullups: 5,4,2,2,1 Box squat:  135 x 5,5,5,5,5 My left knee coould really feel the extra 20 pounds.  When I hit 5x30, I'll be ready for more weight bent row:  135 x 5,5,5,5,5 Klokov complex: singles at - 135, 145, 155, 165, 175, 185, 195 a. EZ-bar curls: 70 x 5,5,5,5 b. Dips: BW x 5,5,5,5 This was just an easy breezy workout to get some blood pumped.  The only difficult part was those dang pistols on the low box.