Going to play a bit with my format here. Today, chronological order! Get excited.
Sleep last night was roughly 6 hours. Not ideal, but that Natural Calm works like a charm. I woke up before my 4:00 alarm feeling relatively rested.
Breakfast 4:15
5 eggs over easy in coconut oil
1 grapefruit
1 avocado
6:00
16 oz black coffee (feeling that 3:45 wake-up time)
9:00
3ish oz pasture-raised ham (Thistles & Clover) with a nice 1/2" rind of fat - little bit crispy on the outside, gooey against the ham... so tasty
noonish
My work schedule on Monday is a little scattered, so I can't get to the gym outside of class times for competition prep. Luckily, this morning's workout was easily done in the fitness center at work.
400m run
20 burpees
15 bent over DB rows (35#)
3 rds = 14:57
This was meant to be 5 rounds, but my lunch break is only so long and I still had to actually eat lunch, so I stopped at 3. I can't say I was too disappointed to stop. :) The runs were okay - slower than I would have liked, but not terrible. (At least it was inside and flat...) Burpees were awful. Slow and painful. Just didn't have any fire after the first 10. Rows went well - sets of 10/5 throughout. I wanted at least one round to be unbroken, but form started to deteriorate around #9 or 10.
PWO
11 oz coconut water
1 pm
2 chicken thighs (.75ish pounds) with salsa verde, onions, tomatoes (recipe)
4:30
30 box jumps 24"
30 power cleans 126#
30 box jumps 24"
5:37
My goal here was sub-6:00... mostly because on the board, I knew I couldn't beat Libby's 5:02, but the noon guys got just over 6:00. Have to try to beat someone! My box jumps were not good right out of the gate, which is unusual for me. And they just went downhill from there. Power cleans were slow and steady - dropped and waited for it to settle, then right back at it. I rested a breath or two too long here and there, but overall a decent sustainable pace. On a good box jump day, I think I could get closer to that 5:02. Heavy power cleans and box jumps are two of my bigger strengths - this should have been a bit better.
PWO
11 oz coconut water
12 oz chocolate milk w/2 scoops Progenex tropical vanilla
I'm not sure I'm noticing a benefit from the Progenex... this flavor especially is tasty as hell, but I'm not sure it's worth the sketchy ingredient list and the slight tummy discomfort. I'll give it another week or so and reevaluate. In the meantime, it's delicious...
Monday, January 24, 2011
Sunday, January 23, 2011
Last hurrah
Well, I said I'd start food logging today, and even though it was far from spectacular, here it is.
Brunch @ Granite City (we had no eggs at home, no extra money, and a $30 gift certificate to GC. might as well go out with a bang)
12 strips bacon
3 links sausage
gobs of Reggiano hashbrowns
decent amount of some sort of slaw with bacon, chicken and banana peppers - whatever it is, I love it
several grapes
Snacks at parents' house
a few cups black coffee
bowl of popcorn w/salt (popped in olive oil, I imagine)
1 apple
Dinner at parents' house
1 apple gouda chicken sausage
salad w/oil and vinegar dressing, apples, oranges, toasted almonds, feta crumbles
fingerling potatoes sauteed w/olive oil, rosemary, onions and mushrooms
Far from perfect, but not totally off the deep end. A couple starchy vegetables, some popcorn, and some extra dairy. Also, the protein-less snacks are atypical for me. But, free food is better than no food this week, so I'm not terribly disappointed.
Looking to get to bed by 9ish tonight, after I make up a big batch of this: http://everydaypaleo.com/2011/01/09/a-meal-in-minutes/ Also, figuring how I'm going to manage to get my workout shoes from the gym and still make it to work by 5:15 tomorrow morning.
Brunch @ Granite City (we had no eggs at home, no extra money, and a $30 gift certificate to GC. might as well go out with a bang)
12 strips bacon
3 links sausage
gobs of Reggiano hashbrowns
decent amount of some sort of slaw with bacon, chicken and banana peppers - whatever it is, I love it
several grapes
Snacks at parents' house
a few cups black coffee
bowl of popcorn w/salt (popped in olive oil, I imagine)
1 apple
Dinner at parents' house
1 apple gouda chicken sausage
salad w/oil and vinegar dressing, apples, oranges, toasted almonds, feta crumbles
fingerling potatoes sauteed w/olive oil, rosemary, onions and mushrooms
Far from perfect, but not totally off the deep end. A couple starchy vegetables, some popcorn, and some extra dairy. Also, the protein-less snacks are atypical for me. But, free food is better than no food this week, so I'm not terribly disappointed.
Looking to get to bed by 9ish tonight, after I make up a big batch of this: http://everydaypaleo.com/2011/01/09/a-meal-in-minutes/ Also, figuring how I'm going to manage to get my workout shoes from the gym and still make it to work by 5:15 tomorrow morning.
Saturday, January 22, 2011
Back in the saddle
Sectionals are coming right up, and it's time to get a bit more serious. Training is going well, but nutrition could use a bit of a clean-up. I'm mostly keeping it clean, and always gluten-free, but have definitely been giving myself a little more give than I should. (cheese! ice cream! chinese buffet! pudding! hashbrowns! marquis torte with caramel sauce!)
Which brings me back here. It's time for food logging. (Starting tomorrow. Because I don't want to write down my peppermint patties... oops...) And a return to training-logging.
Training volume bumps up starting Monday, and it's going to be tricky to fit it all in. 2-a-days on Mondays and Fridays, and 3-a-days on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Because of the way my work schedule lines up with class times, I think I'll have to try to do Monday mornings (and possibly Tuesday mornings) in the gym at work, which I imagine will require massive modifications most days, as all of the barbell collars are welded in place and the "track" is littered with shuffling octogenarians.
Nutrition will be paleo + a little dairy (specifically, a PWO near-pristine grass-fed corn syrup-free chocolate milk with decidedly un-pristine sugar-laden protein powder made from sketchily-sourced whey... but the price is right. and it tastes like chocolate ice cream, so I've got that going for me.). I've never done a PWO shake before last week, so I'm still trying to figure out how to balance it out with my meals - I'm significantly less hungry than I should be the rest of the day. Work in progress. For my regular meals, these next couple weeks are going to be a bit dodgy, because I'm broke as a joke. January is lean times in the restaurant world, and it's killing me.
Which brings me back here. It's time for food logging. (Starting tomorrow. Because I don't want to write down my peppermint patties... oops...) And a return to training-logging.
Training volume bumps up starting Monday, and it's going to be tricky to fit it all in. 2-a-days on Mondays and Fridays, and 3-a-days on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Because of the way my work schedule lines up with class times, I think I'll have to try to do Monday mornings (and possibly Tuesday mornings) in the gym at work, which I imagine will require massive modifications most days, as all of the barbell collars are welded in place and the "track" is littered with shuffling octogenarians.
Nutrition will be paleo + a little dairy (specifically, a PWO near-pristine grass-fed corn syrup-free chocolate milk with decidedly un-pristine sugar-laden protein powder made from sketchily-sourced whey... but the price is right. and it tastes like chocolate ice cream, so I've got that going for me.). I've never done a PWO shake before last week, so I'm still trying to figure out how to balance it out with my meals - I'm significantly less hungry than I should be the rest of the day. Work in progress. For my regular meals, these next couple weeks are going to be a bit dodgy, because I'm broke as a joke. January is lean times in the restaurant world, and it's killing me.
Friday, November 12, 2010
Log 11/20
Good stuff today. Perfect deload week - a nice and welcome break, fun but challenging work, and I'm definitely looking forward to some 1RMs next week. I have conflicting feelings about what's to follow, though. Barbell II is over next Friday, and then it's on to Games training. I know it'll be good stuff, but I'm dreading the return to regular metcons. Specifically, runs longer than 200m and workouts longer than 8 minutes.
A: Band pushups - tan and blue
I really don't even know how to describe these - bands hanging from the pullup bar, hands in the bands, feet on a box, life flashing before your eyes (hyperbole? probably). They went better than I would have guessed (maybe I just need to come to terms with the fact that I don't suck at pushups anymore. at least not as much.), but they were tough.
The goal was 3 sets of 8-10. I got 8 on the first set, but just 6 on sets 2 and 3.
B: Multi-depth jumps
Again, difficult to describe, but luckily there is video evidence. Note the awesome music switch for Greg's jumps.
Special guest gangster, indeed. He was sure he wouldn't be able to get these, but sure as shit made at least 2 perfect runs.
We went 5 times through. Zack and I had grand plans to do tricks at the end of the runs; he got a sweet 180 off the last run, but I just never quite had my bearings enough after that 4th tall jump to pull it off. There goes my circus career.
C: DB backward walking lunges
3 x 10 each leg 25# - 30# - 30#
D1: Swiss ball holds
2 x :45? I'm not sure how long he had us hold it. The first hold felt great - way more stable than last week and considerably less effort expended. The second hold, however, went straight to hell after about 15 seconds. My lower back just started to slowly clamp down, and I had to bring my foot down for a few seconds before just barely finishing out the last 10 seconds or so. Really painful.
superset w/
D2: Swiss ball hip extensions/leg curls
2 x 15
These just get worse every week. The second set, I rested quite a bit, and my hamstrings felt like death.
Conditioning:
CFO WOD was 'Black Lung' (21-15-9 box jump, burpee, ball slam)
Ricky swapped kipping pullups for the box jumps and, thankfully, switched up the rep scheme and added in a little rest.
3 rounds:
7 pullup, 7 burpee, 7 ball slam
rest :30
3 rounds:
5 pullup, 5 burpee, 5 ball slam
rest :20
3 rounds:
3 pullup, 3 burpee, 3 ball slam
Perfect rep scheme - my burpees got slow here and there, but I was able to keep moving with some semblance of intensity the whole time. Pullups felt pretty good until the end of the 5s. Ball slams were quick as usual. (I don't know why I dread them so much - it's always where I make up time.) Most importantly, I beat Zack by 1/2 slam. An important victory after my depth jump trick fail.
A: Band pushups - tan and blue
I really don't even know how to describe these - bands hanging from the pullup bar, hands in the bands, feet on a box, life flashing before your eyes (hyperbole? probably). They went better than I would have guessed (maybe I just need to come to terms with the fact that I don't suck at pushups anymore. at least not as much.), but they were tough.
The goal was 3 sets of 8-10. I got 8 on the first set, but just 6 on sets 2 and 3.
B: Multi-depth jumps
Again, difficult to describe, but luckily there is video evidence. Note the awesome music switch for Greg's jumps.
Special guest gangster, indeed. He was sure he wouldn't be able to get these, but sure as shit made at least 2 perfect runs.
We went 5 times through. Zack and I had grand plans to do tricks at the end of the runs; he got a sweet 180 off the last run, but I just never quite had my bearings enough after that 4th tall jump to pull it off. There goes my circus career.
C: DB backward walking lunges
3 x 10 each leg 25# - 30# - 30#
D1: Swiss ball holds
2 x :45? I'm not sure how long he had us hold it. The first hold felt great - way more stable than last week and considerably less effort expended. The second hold, however, went straight to hell after about 15 seconds. My lower back just started to slowly clamp down, and I had to bring my foot down for a few seconds before just barely finishing out the last 10 seconds or so. Really painful.
superset w/
D2: Swiss ball hip extensions/leg curls
2 x 15
These just get worse every week. The second set, I rested quite a bit, and my hamstrings felt like death.
Conditioning:
CFO WOD was 'Black Lung' (21-15-9 box jump, burpee, ball slam)
Ricky swapped kipping pullups for the box jumps and, thankfully, switched up the rep scheme and added in a little rest.
3 rounds:
7 pullup, 7 burpee, 7 ball slam
rest :30
3 rounds:
5 pullup, 5 burpee, 5 ball slam
rest :20
3 rounds:
3 pullup, 3 burpee, 3 ball slam
Perfect rep scheme - my burpees got slow here and there, but I was able to keep moving with some semblance of intensity the whole time. Pullups felt pretty good until the end of the 5s. Ball slams were quick as usual. (I don't know why I dread them so much - it's always where I make up time.) Most importantly, I beat Zack by 1/2 slam. An important victory after my depth jump trick fail.
Thursday, November 11, 2010
Log 11/10
Last catch-up post!
A: Pistols
3x5 each leg unbroken
While my HSPUs have managed to improve without any direct practice, my pistols... have not. I used a purple band hanging from the pullup bar to help me get past the sticking point. The first set, I held on around the middle of the band; the second set I held on about 1/4 of the way up the band. For the third set, I tried unassisted, but only got 3 on the right and 4 on the left (and really, not eve that - I think my heel grazed the ground a couple times). So I rested a couple minutes and went back to 1/4 band or a little less. Felt good to do these again.
B: Press w/bands
8x3 44-44-44-44-44-44-44-49-49
These were not fast this week. Not terrible, but not as good as last week. My left arm just didn't want to fire. Blah.
C: Med ball granny toss (the first version in the video) - 14#
3x12
These were a little awkward at first, but lots of fun. Nice to get outside.. even nicer now that November is acting its age.
D1: Glute-ham holds (set up like a GH situp, then just hold level)
2x:30
Brutal. These are really difficult for me. My shoulders felt like they were going to come out of their sockets, I had to stay so tense.
superset w/
D2: Weighted hip extension (on swiss ball)
2x12 w/50#
Conditioning:
We did a version of Wednesday's CFO WOD - 3 rounds of 3 complexes, 200 m run.
I just used 88#, because GH holds did a number on my back. (My slow-ass presses probably didn't do me any favors there, either.) These were tough - an 88# back squat should NEVER feel that heavy. I'm sure my 3rd round was my fastest - Reba thought we were supposed to rest between rounds, which put me in striking distance on that last run. She was in a zone with her headphones, so I snuck up on her and we sprinted it out the last 100 m. It felt awesome - I love a good sprint-to-the-finish.
A: Pistols
3x5 each leg unbroken
While my HSPUs have managed to improve without any direct practice, my pistols... have not. I used a purple band hanging from the pullup bar to help me get past the sticking point. The first set, I held on around the middle of the band; the second set I held on about 1/4 of the way up the band. For the third set, I tried unassisted, but only got 3 on the right and 4 on the left (and really, not eve that - I think my heel grazed the ground a couple times). So I rested a couple minutes and went back to 1/4 band or a little less. Felt good to do these again.
B: Press w/bands
8x3 44-44-44-44-44-44-44-49-49
These were not fast this week. Not terrible, but not as good as last week. My left arm just didn't want to fire. Blah.
C: Med ball granny toss (the first version in the video) - 14#
3x12
These were a little awkward at first, but lots of fun. Nice to get outside.. even nicer now that November is acting its age.
D1: Glute-ham holds (set up like a GH situp, then just hold level)
2x:30
Brutal. These are really difficult for me. My shoulders felt like they were going to come out of their sockets, I had to stay so tense.
superset w/
D2: Weighted hip extension (on swiss ball)
2x12 w/50#
Conditioning:
We did a version of Wednesday's CFO WOD - 3 rounds of 3 complexes, 200 m run.
I just used 88#, because GH holds did a number on my back. (My slow-ass presses probably didn't do me any favors there, either.) These were tough - an 88# back squat should NEVER feel that heavy. I'm sure my 3rd round was my fastest - Reba thought we were supposed to rest between rounds, which put me in striking distance on that last run. She was in a zone with her headphones, so I snuck up on her and we sprinted it out the last 100 m. It felt awesome - I love a good sprint-to-the-finish.
Log 11/8
This is the beginning of a deload week, which I actually don't really like that much. I get that they're important and blah, blah, blah... but I don't ever really look forward to the break. It just means light weights and more volume. And I. hate. volume. This time around it's a little more fun, though. With the lifts changing every two weeks, the deload is a little looser and a chance to mix things up a little.
A: Box jumps - highest consecutive
3x5 24" + red + yellow (I really need to figure out the actual heights)
These were fun - I maybe could have done a red and a blue for the last set or two, but my landings were already a little iffy here and there so I wanted to work on that consistency.
B: Box squat
10x2 @ 60% (132#) w/ 60 sec. rest
These felt great this week - I could still get a little more consistent with the power off the box, but they feel comfortable.
C1: Handstand pushups
3xmax reps 12 (kipping w/abmat) - 19 (2 tan bands) - 16 (2 tan bands)
Ricky wanted us to aim for 12-20 reps, which meant beaucoup assistance. I was really happy to get that first 12 on the wall, but I knew I wouldn't get another set of more than 6. The bands are fine, but I never feel like I'm doing any work until the last few reps and then it's miserable. But, I'm definitely seeing improvement, so I'm happy.
superset w/
C2: DB Renegade rows
3x:45 w/ 30# 23 - 25 - 23
These were brutal. End of story.
D1: DB external/internal rotation
2x10 w/ 5#
I'm still not quite getting that internal rotation to the ground with my shoulder glued back, but it's getting better, and the left arm is REALLY close.
superset w/
D2: Glute-ham raises
2x5
Conditioning:
Reba had the bright idea to do the CFO WOD for Monday, minus the press. This was the last thing I wanted to do, which I made abundantly clear, as I so often do. But I stayed, the workout started, and it sucked. Shuttle runs were SLOW, and the squats made my right hip feel like it could blow out the side at any moment. Things just weren't firing right. The smart thing would have been to stop. I assume that it goes without saying that I did not. I had bitched and moaned so much about it that I felt like maybe I was just trying to create excuses. So I just took the squats nice and slow, and went on to the 2nd shuttle. More of the same. On the third round of squats, I finally felt like my hips were tracking right, and I could crank out some reps. But it was too late. I got a measly 59 reps total. Lame. On the plus side, I only had to do about half as many squats as Reba. Take that.
A: Box jumps - highest consecutive
3x5 24" + red + yellow (I really need to figure out the actual heights)
These were fun - I maybe could have done a red and a blue for the last set or two, but my landings were already a little iffy here and there so I wanted to work on that consistency.
B: Box squat
10x2 @ 60% (132#) w/ 60 sec. rest
These felt great this week - I could still get a little more consistent with the power off the box, but they feel comfortable.
C1: Handstand pushups
3xmax reps 12 (kipping w/abmat) - 19 (2 tan bands) - 16 (2 tan bands)
Ricky wanted us to aim for 12-20 reps, which meant beaucoup assistance. I was really happy to get that first 12 on the wall, but I knew I wouldn't get another set of more than 6. The bands are fine, but I never feel like I'm doing any work until the last few reps and then it's miserable. But, I'm definitely seeing improvement, so I'm happy.
superset w/
C2: DB Renegade rows
3x:45 w/ 30# 23 - 25 - 23
These were brutal. End of story.
D1: DB external/internal rotation
2x10 w/ 5#
I'm still not quite getting that internal rotation to the ground with my shoulder glued back, but it's getting better, and the left arm is REALLY close.
superset w/
D2: Glute-ham raises
2x5
Conditioning:
Reba had the bright idea to do the CFO WOD for Monday, minus the press. This was the last thing I wanted to do, which I made abundantly clear, as I so often do. But I stayed, the workout started, and it sucked. Shuttle runs were SLOW, and the squats made my right hip feel like it could blow out the side at any moment. Things just weren't firing right. The smart thing would have been to stop. I assume that it goes without saying that I did not. I had bitched and moaned so much about it that I felt like maybe I was just trying to create excuses. So I just took the squats nice and slow, and went on to the 2nd shuttle. More of the same. On the third round of squats, I finally felt like my hips were tracking right, and I could crank out some reps. But it was too late. I got a measly 59 reps total. Lame. On the plus side, I only had to do about half as many squats as Reba. Take that.
Log 11/6
Went in to CFO for the power clean/pushup ladder.
1 Power clean and 1 pushup on the first minute, 2 and 2 on the 2nd minute, etc., until you can't finish in the minute, up to 10 minutes.
I was unsure of what weight I should use, and waited until enough people bugged Amanda so that she would write up some weight suggestions. The highest weight she wrote for women was 143, so that's what I did. Big. Mistake. Had I been paying attention, I would have noticed the highest mens' weight was 176... do the math... 143 is a lot. More importantly, had I been thinking AT ALL about what I know to be my own abilities, I would have realized that I can not rep out 10 143# power cleans in any reasonable amount of time. Fairly quickly? Sure. Quickly enough to leave enough time for 10 pushups (generally a weakness of mine) while fatigued? Uh no. Dumb.
That being said, it could (and probably should) have gone a lot worse than it did. I made it through the 7th round with no problems - 20 seconds to spare. I was getting tired, and I realized I probably wasn't going to make 10, but thought I'd be able to squeak out 8. No go. I just barely got the 8 power cleans done, with no time to even drop to begin a pushup. So, I rested a minute, dropped to 132#, and in the last minute redid the round of 7.
Overall, I guess it wasn't a disaster. My pushups felt better than ever (thank you, barbell classes!!), and my power cleans, while sloppy, weren't a total train wreck until that 8th round. And even then, I was present enough to slow it way down and avoid injury (to my body, if not my ego). While it would have been smart to use 120# and knock out all 10 rounds, it was probably useful to get in over my head and hold strong.
1 Power clean and 1 pushup on the first minute, 2 and 2 on the 2nd minute, etc., until you can't finish in the minute, up to 10 minutes.
I was unsure of what weight I should use, and waited until enough people bugged Amanda so that she would write up some weight suggestions. The highest weight she wrote for women was 143, so that's what I did. Big. Mistake. Had I been paying attention, I would have noticed the highest mens' weight was 176... do the math... 143 is a lot. More importantly, had I been thinking AT ALL about what I know to be my own abilities, I would have realized that I can not rep out 10 143# power cleans in any reasonable amount of time. Fairly quickly? Sure. Quickly enough to leave enough time for 10 pushups (generally a weakness of mine) while fatigued? Uh no. Dumb.
That being said, it could (and probably should) have gone a lot worse than it did. I made it through the 7th round with no problems - 20 seconds to spare. I was getting tired, and I realized I probably wasn't going to make 10, but thought I'd be able to squeak out 8. No go. I just barely got the 8 power cleans done, with no time to even drop to begin a pushup. So, I rested a minute, dropped to 132#, and in the last minute redid the round of 7.
Overall, I guess it wasn't a disaster. My pushups felt better than ever (thank you, barbell classes!!), and my power cleans, while sloppy, weren't a total train wreck until that 8th round. And even then, I was present enough to slow it way down and avoid injury (to my body, if not my ego). While it would have been smart to use 120# and knock out all 10 rounds, it was probably useful to get in over my head and hold strong.
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