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12/27-12/28/2011 Making Incremental Progress

Small Victories

In the past two days I have beat the crap out of my body, not by design it just sort of happened.  Tuesday morning I woke up to rain.  Rain for me is like kryptonite it ruins my day, as it affects my business.  Having a crappy start to our busy season because we don’t have snow, I felt self-numbing medication through exercise would be a good way to go.

Tuesday 6:30 AM

I started with a 6:30 AM Crossfit WoD at PCF.  The days work consisted of 3 sets of 5 hand stand push-ups, 4 sets of 2 muscle snatches, and a short 8 minute AMRAP of 10 db ground to overheads and 30 double unders. 

Being inverted challenged, meaning I can’t quite get upside down yet, I did seated dumbbell presses.  I used 45 lbs dumbbells for 3 sets of 2, and 50 lbs dumbbells for 3 sets of 2, which was all done in 6 minutes.  I found with the 50 lbs dumbbells that I had to use my knees to get them into a racked position so I could press them.

With the muscle snatches, I did all of my muscle snatches at 95 lbs.  Muscle snatches are tough because you have to use a less aggressive movement from your lower body, to get the bar overhead, instead of trying to get under the bar you are trying to flip it up.  I think it’s a drill used to develop the speed to get under the bar and get it over your head.

During the 8 minute AMRAP I finished 6 rounds plus 17 reps, which means I did 10 more ground to overheads, and 7 running man jump ropes.  Ground to overheads get exhausting quick, it uses so much of your body that there really is no way to rest or recover especially in an 8 minute time span.

When I finished, the rain started to come down, and I was getting bitter, so I walked to Washington Sports Club to do some Cardio.  I was working to do an hour on the Arc Trainer, when half way through a Personal Trainer comes over to me and says hey, you have 5 sessions left that are going to expire, so I schedule a session with him the next day at 11 AM.

8:30 AM

As I continued on the Arc Trainer I started thinking I’m never going to use them all, why don’t I do another one today, so I got off the machine and decided to work with this guy so by the end of the day Wednesday I would have used 2 out of the 5 I have left.

I started my session with Abdul doing a short circuit of 90 seconds each of mountain climbers, pushing a 45 lbs plate on the floor of the cardio room, and ropes.  He had me do 3 rounds of the above three exercises.

While doing them, I found myself first questioning what I was doing, especially the pushing of the plate on the ground, that shit I don’t get at all, but what I found interesting was that none of it felt difficult.  Having done many of these same exercises earlier in the year, and feeling like I was getting my ass kicked, it felt good doing these same movements without feeling tired. 

From the circuit work, I asked him to work on doing a core-oriented workout.  I found myself doing planks, doing a transition from elbow planks to push-up planks; I did a series of crunches and sit-ups with medicine balls.  The trainer got a bit agitated with the medicine balls because he could tell I wasn’t being challenged, the heaviest medicine ball they have at WSC is 15 lbs, and while doing sit-ups while holding the medicine ball over my head and then fully extending myself I think he expected this to be more difficult for me, so when we moved onto the second round of work he grabbed a 25 lbs plate and had me do the same thing, I think if he wasn’t such a pussy he would have grabbed a 35 lbs plate in the final round.

When I finished the session, I felt good, and was satisfied with myself in the progress I’ve made in the last three months.  I was for sure starting to feel tired.

8:00 PM

After a relatively unproductive day in my Private Bat Cave office, I went home to recover a bit, and prepare for an 8:00 PM intro to yoga class.  Clarendon Fitness, a small personal training studio was offering a free yoga class, so I signed myself, and my girl up for the class. 

The room where the yoga was being done was tiny, and with 10 people in it, there wasn’t much room to extend your arms out the sides.  I found the yoga interesting, and can see the value in it over the large arc of my life. 

Unfortunately I am a pervert, and found the yoga instructor very sexy, and with my girlfriend next to me couldn’t get the idea of the instructor, my girlfriend, and me in an extra private session in my place after class…if I can stop my brain from sexualizing the yoga instructor I think I will add it to my routine, by the way with the start of the New Year I would like to thank God for all of the brave men and women who are in our Armed Services, Salt Truck Drivers, and the inventor of Lululemon yoga pants for making the world a better place.

My personal victory here was, when we started to do planks, and then side planks.  A few months ago I could barely do a side plank with one knee on the ground, and this time I did them all the way up, and then extending my arm upward towards the ceiling once in the plank.

Wednesday 7:00 AM

I woke up at 6:15, already late for my usual 6:00 Am WoD at Patriot Crossfit, so I decided I would just go to the 7:00 AM WoD.  I was greeted with a nice ribbing from Matt R. about defecting to the 7:00 AM, I told him I was trying to sneak in, and he told me I’m a hard guy to miss, I should have responded with something about the “Jerk Store”, but didn’t have a come back because really, I’m an overweight Asian Guy wearing a black Lululemon skull cap, a big reddish-pink sweatshirt that says “Life is Good”, and a pair of Brooks Pure Ugly Neon Green Shoes, I would find myself sticking out in a Sumo Convention, let alone being 1 of a few token Asians in the AM WoDs.

The workout was good; it’s been a few days since I worked on some cleans.  The power clean was something that I worked on with Liz a couple weeks back so I feel I’m making progress in my technique.  We were supposed to do 5 sets of 3, and I did 3 sets at 135 lbs, and 2 sets at 155 lbs, which was a first for me.  Watch video below of my third set of 135 lbs.

 

I’m still having a bit of trouble with my elbows in the racked position, and as the weight got heavier, I am driving my hips a bit too far forward, causing me to look like I’m pushing my fupa outward.

The metcon today was 5 rounds of 5 clapping push-ups, 10 ring rows, and 15 wall balls.  I was surprised at my ability to do about a third of my total push-ups, from a regular push up position, and then the remaining from my knees I did the clapping push-ups.  The hardest part of this WoD was the wall balls.

Wall balls suck, especially when a part of the WoD works one of the areas of the wall balls, in this case the push-ups caused a great deal of fatigue in my chest, so trying to push the medicine ball upward was a challenge, and really had to start with your hips and legs.  Wall balls are also a huge mental fuck, because every time you miss, it’s discouraging, and if you cheat and don’t hit the target and count it, you feel like shit anyway, yet towards the end you get so tired you start to tell yourself anything upward is okay. 

 I finished this WoD in 10:42, not a great time, but considering all the other work I had done before this day I felt good. 

Video below:

  

11:00 AM

So I got to Washington Sports Club at about 10:50, I rowed 500 meters to get warmed up, and then was ready to work with Abdul the trainer.  He’s an ok trainer, but clearly a bit inexperienced, not good at thinking on the fly, and I hate to sound like a douche but when he got in close he smelled like hummus, it was distracting. 

He had me start with a circuit of four exercises which included a shuttle run between four cones, a ladder exercise, high knees over low hurdles, and step ups on a low box.  Each station was given a time period of 1 minute to 2 minutes with a 60 second rest at the end of each round.  The first round of work I was still warming up, during the second I could feel a bit of my second wind developing, by the third round of work I was warmed up and had broken into a sweat. 

 

 

What I found personally inspiring for myself, (yes I did just say I inspired myself) was that I was doing these exercises after 5 previous workouts in a 48 hour period far better than I had four months ago, if it had just been one of my weekly workouts.  The level of control I have over my body, and just general focus I have to will my body to move is building my confidence.  In terms of a mental challenge this was a walk in the park, the real challenge was focusing my exhausted mind into a place to work hard. 

After the agility work, I boxed.  Abdul sucks at holding mitts, in fact it sucked so bad that I asked him to just put up a heavy bag.  I really want to find a trainer who I can hit mitts with because I like to do it, and I would like to find out how much stronger my punches are relative to four months ago.

The final part of the workout involved more abdominal work, and we did a couple variations of sit-ups, including one were you keep one leg straight and the other bent.  The final exercise was to sit a decline sit-up chair while holding a 15 lbs kettle bell with one arm extended as I tried to do sit ups.  I was surprised to find that I could do about 8 full sit-ups per arm. 

1:00 PM

 Ingrid the god send.  Alison recommended to me a great massage therapist who is actually from Sweden.  It was exactly what I need, she kept saying to me “you are really tight here”, she said this at least 6-7 times during the one hour of work.  It was a nice day to end my two days of increased work.

Summary

Various people who are trying to lose weight have been asking me how I got to where I am, and I often tell them focus on making incremental progress, that they need to focus on the moment, that they win in the moment.  The difference between obesity and health is not some extreme 80% calorie reduction, even if your goal is to go from eating 10,000 calories in a day to 3,000, you can’t do it in a week.  You have to make incremental progress and you do this in each moment of your day, making the choice to drink water over a diet soda, or an apple instead of Doritos, or a fish fillet over pasta. 

I have understood the benefits of Crossfit, and also understood it’s limitations, yet this last couple of days has shown me in an exponential way what happens when you take small steps forward in your physical development.  Over the larger arc you make significant progress.  It’s the simple principle of improving 1% each time you go to the gym, if you can do this over your lifetime you will have achieved growth that is hard to quantify because of the percentage growth that you achieve. 

The last couple of days has shown me the exponential result after being frustrated for months, I am in a place of physical strength that I didn’t think I would achieve for many more months, perhaps because I was too focused on body weight.  Standing where I am today I wouldn’t go back and do anything differently, as much as I would like to be below 200 lbs and a 32 waist today, I’m pretty content with how I feel today at 270 lbs and a 40 waist, I know the other part is coming perhaps not at the rate I want it to, but when I get there I know I will be in better shape haven chosen this path, as opposed to the one I was on…

When I started to choose Crossfit a few months back as my primary place to workout, I could barely get a 53 lbs kettle bell above my head to do an American Kettle bell Swing.  In all of out WoDs I choose to work with the 70 lbs kettle bell, and today when we did the Russian Kettle bell swing, I spent some time after the Metcon to try and play around with it.

I found myself capable of swinging the bell and doing some of the maneuvers that Michael C taught me including, clapping my hands, and touching my shoulders.  I tried to flip it, but could not get my hands back on it fast enough, each time I would reach for it too late and have to dump it.  In either case this 10 minutes of playing around showed me truly how far I have come, because I could not have imagined even trying to swing the 70 lbs kettle bell back Malibu, which was only in April. 

Incremental progress over time yields significant results.  Wining moment to moment is how you overcome your personal Mount Everest.  

 

12/22/2011 Learning to Rest, and Shopping Fucking Sucks

12/22/2011 Learning to Rest, and Shopping Fucking Sucks

Wednesday I went to Patriot Crossfit around 9 AM, I was taking the day off and wanted to get some extra sleep, I figured this would give me a little extra energy and the ability to rest my legs a little longer.  I’ve been dealing with a tight left groin, and strangly tight in my butt dimple, this is especially strange because I’ve never had a butt dimple before.

I am almost inclined to try on some Lululemon pants to see if my ass looks as fine as most women’s do in the ubiquitous black yoga pants found in every gym. 

When I got to Patriot I felt pretty good ready for a good workout, I stretched and focused on loosen my hips, hamstrings, and groin.  Every time I stretch the groin I feel like a combination of an old man, and an injured bear.  Trying to get into the stretches I am clumsily contorting to maximize the stretch, and once I’m done with stretch I am getting out of it using any support or leverage I can find. 

The workout involved doing jerks, behind the neck jerks, push jerks, and split jerks.  I was able to work most of the jerks at 135 lbs, and did the final set of jerks at 155 lbs.  It was the Metcon that destroyed me, not only causing muscle failure but further aggravating my groin and hamstring. 

The metcon was to do 5 rounds of 5 front squats, and 5 muscle ups.  If you can’t do muscle ups you had to substitute 3 pull ups, and 3 ring dips for each muscle up, which means I had to do 15 pulls ups, and 15 ring dips per round. 

I was surprised to find that I was able to do the ring dips with a green band, and I tried to the pull ups with my fat guy black band and a green band.  I quickly learned that doing pull ups with bands is a huge leap towards pull ups over ring rows. 

After the first two rounds I felt ok, but my legs just could not get deep enough on the front squat.  Starting with the fourth round I dropped the weight down from 135 lbs to 95 lbs and I just couldn’t get any depth.  I switched to doing lunges with a 45 lbs weight, but my left leg could not push at all to get off the ground so I just did walking lunges. 

This is the first metcon I did not finish, and it was disheartening, further exasperating my feelings was that after the WoD my legs were done.   I spent the entire day feeling every bit of soreness and tightness while shopping. 

I made a conscious decision that evening to rest.  I decided fuck it, better to take 4 days off and work on recovering, then continuing to reinforce bad habits because my muscles are so tight that it alters my form, and seeing as I’ve worked through this pain for two weeks perhaps it’s time to just back away.    

This is a very difficult decision, and trying not to go to a WoD is really hard.  When I read Thursday mornings Metcon it was extremely hard not to just go, the work involved two things I can more than do without scaling, so it would have been another Rx workout for me, alas I made the smart choice and stayed away. 

It was evening harder this morning reading that the WoD involved a 1 mile time trial, as I’ve been wanting to run a bit but my distaste for moving one foot faster than the other has prevented me from running at all, I really do hate fucking running, so whenever running is part of a WoD I detest it and appreciate it at the same time because it forces me to do something I’m not good at do not enjoy. 

Deliberate practice is a term I picked up from “Talent is Overrated”, it’s attributed to be the single largest reason that separates average performances from great performance.  Those of us who are “gifted” in an area tend to work harder than most, and will focus on those areas that we are weakest in order to improve overall performance.  I am trying to apply this to my workouts but something mentally prevents me from running.  I just hate it; as much as I want to I just can’t bring myself to run.

Getting back to my original point I really wanted to get up and do today, but I’ve made a decision to rest my legs.  I may do some cardio this evening to get blood moving through them, so I can stretch it out.  I haven’t decided whether or not I will do tomorrow, but if it involves some type of squat I think I am going to stay away until my leg feels fully recovered.  Either way Monday is the first day I will be back on the ball.

Shopping Sucks

Top five things I hate more than myself:

5. Ryan Seacrest

He's so cool!

• I can’t stand this docuhie asshole who has a career and makes far more money than I do, he is the motherfucking antichrist, the fact that he makes a living that can allow him to dictate to other people that he needs a helicopter to transport him from his radio show to American Idol studios tells me that the fucking world is going to end, and that Satan walks the earth among us, how else can you logically fathom his existence?

4. BMW Drivers

• I myself drive a BMW, and realize that I am a douchie asshole on the road, I don’t know what happens but some apparent genetic mutation happens to people when their hands touch the steering wheel of a BMW, it causes you to make lane changes without signaling, accelerate rapidly from a red light, weave in and out of traffic, talk shit about other people who drive non German Cars, and generally show your distain for anyone who isn’t a part of the “elite-elite”.

3. Fox News

• The idea of “Fair and Balanced is such bullshit”.  Fox News is designed to two things, make money, and deliver Republican Talking points as if they were the news.  The Chairman of Fox News Roger Allies unabashedly admits that the “news” they deliver is built around his political agenda.  In a recent Rolling Stone article they break down how over the course of the day the Chairman has direct influence as to how the message is delivered and what the message is, regardless of how my political beliefs may lean, this is way too much power for one man, and last time I checked this type of spin, isn’t news it’s PR.  So fuck you Roger Allies I hope you get hit by a fucking bus, and because I wrote this you will probably find a way to ruin my business because it is somehow linked to Obamacare. 

2. Tim Tebow

• I like my football without Religion please.  Okay we get it, you were one of the greatest college football players of all time, but I don’t care your mother decided to keep you instead of aborting you.  That’s great for you, but don’t throw your political bullshit onto the lives of other people, and if you love God fantastic, but are you really telling me that if you win God preferred your team over the other?  The one being who is omnipotent, omnipresent, and omniscient, really is petty enough to care about your fucking football game, it sounds a bit like narcissism Mr. Tebow, unfortunately for you last week God loved Tom Brady more than you, so you better pray harder and convert me asshole.  PS I have no problems with religion, or religious people, but please don’t spend your time trying to convert me.

1. Shopping Malls, or any type of shopping in general

 

• I spent much of my childhood in shopping malls, working for my parents during the summer, spring break, weekends, and every fucking minute I had available.  I used to stand behind the counter of a store staring at all the people going up the escalator wanting to see if I could somehow hitch a ride out of there with them.
• I hate the existence of shopping malls, I hate the hours of inane time that is wasted walking around looking for something, the fucking people in the shopping carts who are trying to get you to try something even after you tell them to die. 
• I hate the noises of a mall, the smells, and everything about being in a closed environment designed for one thing…to shell you shit you don’t need.
• I hate it, I hate it, I fucking hate it.
• Did I mention I hate it?

 

So after my bad of Crossfit, I ended up spending 10 hours shopping with my girlfriend for Christmas presents, this was like being waterboarded, while having your nuts connected to a battery.  I am all Christmased out, I have spent too much, I am an angry guy but I am a thoughtfully angry guy, so when I hate you I will not just kick you in the balls but will probably find a way to cause mental anguish to you as you are grabbing your balls in pain, so when I love you I find ways to purchase thoughtful gifts.  In this circumstance, it makes shopping awful, because I am trying to one up the year before, and buy awesome presents. 

 

When I finished shopping I was done, I went to bed and let my girlfriend wrap all the presents, I know Chivalry at it’s best, bu as soon as she gets her Christmas presents she’ll stop complaining…

 

 

12/20/2011 Official Weigh In, and Fuck Me 50

12/20/2011 Official Weigh In

269 lbs

29.9% Body Fat

 

Well, it’s not great but its progress.  The last time I weighed in was two weeks ago, so I lost about a 1lbs a week for the last two weeks.  I guess that’s okay.

As I have stated before I find myself in a strange place, not content at the rate at which I am losing weight, but I am happier with how I feel.  A testament to my improved physicality was the WoD this morning.

Crossfit has these benchmark WoDs which are named after fallen Military Personnel, Police Officers, or Firefighters, and some are named after women’s names, then they have a handful of Workouts of the Day with cute names like “King Kong”, “Nasty Girls”, and what I learned today the “Filthy Fifty”.

When I read this WoD the night before, I thought to myself, one I’m glad I took a rest day, and two this is going to suck.

The filthy fifty is 10 exercises each with 50 reps.  Here is the prescribed progression you are supposed to follow:

1. 50 Box Jumps with 24” Box
2. 50 jumping pull-ups
3. 50 kettlebell swings, 1 pood (35 lbs)
4. 50 walking lunges steps
5. 50 knees to elbows
6. 50 push presses 45 lbs weight (the bar)
7. 50 back extensions
8. 50 wall ball shots 10’ target 20” medicine ball
9. 50 burpees
10. 50 double unders

Doesn’t that look like a great way to start the morning?  My gym substituted the 50 back extensions with 50 straight leg deadlifts with 95 lbs because there isn’t enough equipment for back extensions. 

I substituted the 24” box for the 20” box; I also did trunk tucks instead of knees to elbows, and 100 single unders.  The other 7 movements I did as prescribed.  My goal when I started was to maintain the volume of work. 

This is not a workout you can just keep pushing through, there is just too much work, you reach muscle fatigue in the middle of your fifty, and then waste time recovering.  I had to break down each exercise into smaller pieces.  Through the first 4 movements I tried to break them into sets of 10, then take a 10 second break and push again.  The kettlebell swings were the only motion which I did all 50 straight.

What was interesting on the swings was that with the lighter weight, you have to use your upper body to stop the upward momentum, and then use your chest to pull it back down.  This is also the reason that I ended up smacking my thigh with the kettle bell on the last rep.

The push presses and dead lifts in lieu of back extensions weren’t so bad, yet the final three movements made life miserable.  Starting with the 50 wall ball shots my mind started to fatigue, my body was getting tired, but it was my mind that started to break down.  I was getting pissed every time I missed a wall ball target.  I tried to do sets of 10, but I could only do 5 at a time.  Not wanting to bend over to pick the ball up between sets I placed the medicine ball on a couple of boxes.

When I finished I had fucking 50 burpees to do…I HATE FUCKING BURPEES…it is like the truest indicator of the amount of excess weight that I am carrying.  Every time I have to get to the deck, I feel fat, then pushing myself up I feel fatter.  It sucks. 

I had to break the burpees into sets of 5, then somewhere at 30-35 reps I broke them into sets of 3 and then 2, taking short 5-10 second rests.  I was able to finish the last 10 reps with two sets of 5. 

When I did finally get to the jump rope, my mind was done.  It’s the first time I’ve been chided by Ericka to finish a WoD.  I was starring at the door, I’m sure subconsciously my brain wanted to stumble out of it as fast as possible. 

I did 100 single unders, but it’s clearly not the same as doing 50 double unders. 

The workout finished nicely because I got a bit of entertainment from a Southern Gent Joe, who is an extremely nice guy but has the mouth of a harden biker.  He was doing the WoD Rx, but the Christmas party from the night before was clearly hindering his work.  He finished it Rx but in a style all his own…Nice Work Joe!!  I learned today that you can curse like a motherfucker during Crossfit.

The new name of this WoD should be called the “Fuck Me 50”, because that’s what you will be telling yourself the entire time…based on your personality it may come out as “Fuckmefuckmefuckme50”, or “FUCK! ME! “50”, or even “Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuucking meeeeeeeeeeeeeeee 50”.

 

12/16/2011 What a difference a good breakfast makes…..

What a difference a good breakfast makes…

Thursday morning was a rest day for me, so I slept in an extra hour, getting up at 6 AM instead of 5 AM.  It was nice to take my dog for a walk and not rush to leave my place to drop him off for day care. 

In the interest of getting to work earlier than I normally, I do I rushed through my morning routine and didn’t have my usual breakfast of 4 eggs, spinach, and bit of protein delivered through a whey powder.  I instead opted to eat a balance bar.  Not a good idea.

I have balance bars because I like to eat something before my morning Crossfit workouts yet I have a hard time eating any normal food, as it makes me feel heavy, or I find myself burping and farting the entire time, something my 6AM brethren wouldn’t appreciate.  It’s one thing to be the fat guy, but to be the smelly fat guy is a whole another imposition. 

I started eating before my workouts after reading the article linked here by Clarence Bass.  Clarence sites a study done by Syracuse University revealed that when subjects consumed protein and carbohydrates prior to a workout that they increase their Resting Energy Expenditure (the amount of energy required to live, and includes the energy required to rebuild muscle), and a decrease in the Respiratory Exchange Ratio (a ratio which measures the amount of oxygen inhaled to the amount of carbon dioxide exhaled, it tells you whether carbohydrates or fat is burning to supply energy, the lower the ratio the higher the fat burn). 

The conclusion, pre-workout consumption of the right amount of Protein and Carbohydrates and you increase the calorie and fat burn.

So back to my lesson of the day, balance bars have been my non paleo choice of a pre-workout snack.  So I figured no biggy today I will use it as my breakfast. 

The entire day yesterday I found myself with the urge to snack, and I was constantly hungry, but not hungry in a visceral physical sense of fucking feed me now, but more of a I don’t feel so hot so let me eat more shit.  Fortunately I have been carrying around a couple bags of proportioned nuts, hardboiled eggs, and a couple pieces of fruit.

Yesterday was the first day I went through all of my snacks, and even bought a bag of New Family Kale Crisps, which are supposedly dried kale with Paprika and other spices.  They taste good, and with the price being $6.50 a bag it makes you stop and ask if you really want to eat some because who the fuck spends $7.00 on a snack food item…or you may only experience this if you are Korean.

By 6 PM yesterday I had eaten my two catalyst meals, all of my proportioned snacks, a bag of Kale Chips, and I was still hungry.  It may just be coincndinese, that the first day I felt like devouring everything around me was the day I didn’t have a proper breakfast, or it could also be that I’ve been exhausted the last week, and just now starting to feel better. 

I would have thought the exhaustion played a role, but I’ve gotten two straight nights 8 hours of uninterrupted sleep.   I for now will choose to make sure I eat a normal breakfast even on my off days.

12/16/2011 Workout Recap

When I read last nights WoD for today, I thought, oh great 5 rounds with 4 minutes of rest between each round.  I knew that I should temper my feelings of joy, because WoD’s that give you rest between rounds or work are normally there for a reason.

•  WoD 5 Rounds
• 1 Minute Row for Calories
• 1 Minute Thrusters with 40 lbs Dumbbells
• 4 Minutes Rest

Round 1

During the first round, I thought this isn’t so bad, I’m going to do well today.  At the end of the first minute of rowing, I felt good.  The thrusters weren’t so bad, except for my left groin feeling tight. 

End round one 20 Calories, 13 Thrusters

Round 2

When I started the second round I still felt good, and I pushed a little harder on the rowing.  When I started the thrusters, I decided I want to just keep moving.

End round two 22 Calories, 14 Thrusters

Round 3

At the start of round three, I could feel in my legs that the rowing was doing it’s damage.  I had to concentrate on pulling to get a full extension, and the last 10 seconds were tough.  When I started the thrusters I set a goal of 15 reps having done 14 the previous round, I was barely able to get 13.

End round three 21 Calories, 13 reps.

Round 4

At the start of round four, I told Chesley who was working next to me that this was the suck round.  The rowing was awful, the last 30 seconds I had to give everything I could to make up for the first 30 seconds which sucked.   When I started the thrusters my legs were sore, and trying to do the thrusters became difficult, I had to do sets of 3, and was able to complete 11 reps.

End round four 21 Calories, 11 reps.

Round 5

At the start of round five, I went for broke on the rowing, which netted me a whole 1 extra calorie from my highest round.  I was trying so hard to get to 25 total, but 23 is all I could muster.  The final round of thrusters was like trying to pull myself out of a sand trap without any arms.  I’m sure a few times the 40 lbs dumbbell was wavering off to the side.

End of round five 23 calories, 14 reps.

My grand total for the WoD 172 Rx bitch, that’s right it was prescribed.  I now have half a dozen WoD’s finished as prescribed.  I am the man, and you suck.  No…actually proving that I am not really Asian I incorrectly wrote 150 on the whiteboard. 

In maintaining my breakfast routine I had 4 eggs with spinach, but was given a surprise when I cracked open the big egg and found two yolks.  Started the morning with a prescribed WoD and a second yolk in my egg, Damn Right It Was A Good Day.

12/12/2011 Recap & Self Destructive or Motivated

12/12/11 Recap

I spent a good deal of yesterday feeling like…shit.  Yesterday’s WoD was a simple work session of front squats, and a timed 2000k meter row.  It wasn’t called a sprint, but to some degree it is, it’s an attempt to row to 2000k meters as quickly as possible. 

On working on my Front Squats I was able to do 3 sets of 3 at 135 lbs, and 2 sets of 3 at 155 lbs.  The actual weight for squat is not heavy, trying to maintain an upright chest, and my elbows and shoulders in rack position are the real challenge.  It’s also a challenge getting used to holding the bar with two fingers while it rests on my shoulders, the two fingers don’t support much of the weight but do function as stoppers, and balance points.  Crossfit if nothing else points all of the areas that you are weak, and inflexible. 

You can see the ugliness that is my front squats below:

  

I'm still amazed that the plate covers my bulbous head.

The 2000 meter row was the first time I’ve done it “official” for time during a WoD.  I’ve felt a bit run down the last week, and I’m almost certain had I felt better I would have tried this with the damper at 10.  Liz was coaching the class, and suggested the damper set between 4 and 6, I of course opted for the higher number which would cause me greater pain.    

My goal was to get the time under 8 minutes, because I knew if I didn’t I would get shit from Shady con Shady.  The 2k is not a long distance, but trying to maintain a speed which is less than 2 minutes per 500 meters over 2k meters is tough.  The first 1000 meters wasn’t so bad, I was maintaining a split time of 1:48-1:52. 

Starting at 1200 meters I hit the proverbial wall, I just needed a moment to be able to recover, and then sprint the last 800 meters, but with such a short distance amount of time resting wasn’t an option.  In this third 500 meter piece is where I started to feel unhinged, I ended up finishing the 500 with a split time which was greater than 2 minutes. 

In the final 500 I was rowing on will, at this point the timer is your enemy because every second wasted here can’t be made up.  I pushed as much as I could, with 250 meters left, I was looking like I would get a time in the range of 7:30, but I just gassed out, and ended up with a time of 7:43. 

I didn’t feel great, but I was happy that I was under 8 minutes, knowing that commentary would ensue.  Later in the day I saw a posting from Potmac Crossfit of the Personal Records for the 2k meter row, and the top time by Drew S. is 6:38.  That’s a number that is insane, the world record for the actual 2k meter row on the water for an individual is 6:33 set in 2009. 

Doing it on the water is obviously tougher dealing with the elements, and water conditions, but it should give you an idea of the athleticism of Drew. 

When I finished, I debated whether or not to do extra cardio work, it didn’t take long to convince myself that you achieve your goals by doing the things you don’t want to do, and pushing yourself when you have nothing left.  Ben Hogan was once asked where he got his golf swing, and he said “I dug it out of the ground”, this from the man who used to practice hitting golf balls until his hands bled, and became a Major Champion after he was involved in a near fatal car accident, which the doctors told him he would never walk again. 

People like this inspire me, to be more, and do more than anyone ever expected of you, not because you had some vendetta about people putting you into a tiny box but, doing something because you believed you could, and then overcoming the obstacles that appeared along the way without reservation because it’s what you wanted.  It’s about you, and the satisfaction you feel from achieving what you set your mind to be…

I set the damper to 10 and I rowed three five minute pieces, with a 3 minute recovery period in between each five minute piece.  I then did two sprints one 1 minute sprint, with a 3 minute recovery and then a 2 minute final sprint.  I ended up rowing 6443 meters in 30 minutes. 

I don’t get prideful very often, but for some strange reason I felt good about myself for having done the 6000 meters.  I would pay the price the rest of the day.

I spent the rest of the day walking like an old man, or someone a guy who had lost his ass virginity the night before.  I found it hard to get in and out of my car because of the muscle soreness and tightness.  I texted Liz at some point during the day to tell her that she was right, that I should have taken it easy. 

Feeling spent most of the day, I took it easy with work (one of the few privileges of being the boss), and went home early.  When I got home I still felt like shit, so I texted Liz to setup an appointment for a personal session the next day to do some more stretching.  It’s fucking insane that I won’t go do an hour of stretching on my own, but will when I have to pay someone else to stand there…making fun of me…or at least laughing at me…I think the last time we did this Liz got excited when my faced contorted into undiscovered territory because the pain I was feeling was different, and probably because I didn’t know that area could feel sore. 

I am a broken person, trying to fix who I am, this feeling of inadequacy, or desire to feel better about myself physically is something I’ve felt for so long, I can’t remember what it’s like not to have this feeling.  I can’t imagine a world which doesn’t cause me to push my physical boundaries, in order to change who I am, I realize much of how I got to a place of morbid obesity is completely unrelated to how I felt physically, and more to do with how I felt emotionally, and I used food as a coping tool.

In trying to better myself, and be more of the person that I have been destined to become, how do I overcome this innate desire to work myself into oblivion, is this a self-destructive pattern manifesting itself in a new arena, or is it the driving force of how I’ve gotten to my present weight, and how I will get to the next platform in my development. 

The strange reality that I felt yesterday was that the self-medicated numbness I used to feel from over eating is reappearing on the days I feel overworked.  It’s a quieter world, and I don’t know if it’s healthy. 

At what point is the drive going to drive me into the ground?

I’ve always felt that all obese people are broken inside, the break may not be as deep or as big as I once felt, but it takes a great deal of effort to make your body so healthy that it wants to kill itself, I am today questioning whether or not I am projecting my own shit on all the other fatty’s out there…my guess is that the truth is somewhere in the middle, which I clearly am not near.

 

12/12/11 Recap

I spent a good deal of yesterday feeling like…shit.  Yesterday’s WoD was a simple work session of front squats, and a timed 2000k meter row.  It wasn’t called a sprint, but to some degree it is, it’s an attempt to row to 2000k meters as quickly as possible. 

On working on my Front Squats I was able to do 5 sets of 3 at 135 lbs.  The actual weight for squat is not heavy, trying to maintain an upright chest, and my elbows and shoulders in rack position are the real challenge.  It’s also a challenge getting used to holding the bar with two fingers while it rests on my shoulders, the two fingers don’t support much of the weight but do function as stoppers, and balance points.  Crossfit if nothing else points all of the areas that you are weak, and inflexible. 

You can see the ugliness that is my front squats below:

 

The 2000 meter row was the first time I’ve done it “official” for time during a WoD.  I’ve felt a bit run down the last week, and I’m almost certain had I felt better I would have tried this with the damper at 10.  Liz was coaching the class, and suggested the damper set between 4 and 6, I of course opted for the higher number which would cause me greater pain.    

My goal was to get the time under 8 minutes, because I knew if I didn’t I would get shit from Shady con Shady.  The 2k is not a long distance, but trying to maintain a speed which is less than 2 minutes per 500 meters over 2k meters is tough.  The first 1000 meters wasn’t so bad, I was maintaining a split time of 1:48-1:52. 

Starting at 1200 meters I hit the proverbial wall, I just needed a moment to be able to recover, and then sprint the last 800 meters, but with such a short distance amount of time resting wasn’t an option.  In this third 500 meter piece is where I started to feel unhinged, I ended up finishing the 500 with a split time which was greater than 2 minutes. 

In the final 500 I was rowing on will, at this point the timer is your enemy because every second wasted here can’t be made up.  I pushed as much as I could, with 250 meters left, I was looking like I would get a time in the range of 7:30, but I just gassed out, and ended up with a time of 7:43. 

I didn’t feel great, but I was happy that I was under 8 minutes, knowing that commentary would ensue.  Later in the day I saw a posting from Potmac Crossfit of the Personal Records for the 2k meter row, and the top time by Drew S. is 6:38.  That’s a number that is insane, the world record for the actual 2k meter row on the water for an individual is 6:33 set in 2009. 

Doing it on the water is obviously tougher dealing with the elements, and water conditions, but it should give you an idea of the athleticism of Drew. 

When I finished, I debated whether or not to do extra cardio work, it didn’t take long to convince myself that you achieve your goals by doing the things you don’t want to do, and pushing yourself when you have nothing left.  Ben Hogan was once asked where he got his golf swing, and he said “I dug it out of the ground”, this from the man who used to practice hitting golf balls until his hands bled, and became a Major Champion after he was involved in a near fatal car accident, which the doctors told him he would never walk again. 

People like this inspire me, to be more, and do more than anyone ever expected of you, not because you had some vendetta about people putting you into a tiny box but, doing something because you believed you could, and then overcoming the obstacles that appeared along the way without reservation because it’s what you wanted.  It’s about you, and the satisfaction you feel from achieving what you set your mind to be…

I set the damper to 10 and I rowed three five minute pieces, with a 3 minute recovery period in between each five minute piece.  I then did two sprints one 1 minute sprint, with a 3 minute recovery and then a 2 minute final sprint.  I ended up rowing 6443 meters in 30 minutes. 

I don’t get prideful very often, but for some strange reason I felt good about myself for having done the 6000 meters.  I would pay the price the rest of the day.

I spent the rest of the day walking like an old man, or someone a guy who had lost his ass virginity the night before.  I found it hard to get in and out of my car because of the muscle soreness and tightness.  I texted Liz at some point during the day to tell her that she was right, that I should have taken it easy. 

Feeling spent most of the day, I took it easy with work (one of the few privileges of being the boss), and went home early.  When I got home I still felt like shit, so I texted Liz to setup an appointment for a personal session the next day to do some more stretching.  It’s fucking insane that I won’t go do an hour of stretching on my own, but will when I have to pay someone else to stand there…making fun of me…or at least laughing at me…I think the last time we did this Liz got excited when my faced contorted into undiscovered territory because the pain I was feeling was different, and probably because I didn’t know that area could feel sore. 

I am a broken person, trying to fix who I am, this feeling of inadequacy, or desire to feel better about myself physically is something I’ve felt for so long, I can’t remember what it’s like not to have this feeling.  I can’t imagine a world which doesn’t cause me to push my physical boundaries, in order to change who I am, I realize much of how I got to a place of morbid obesity is completely unrelated to how I felt physically, and more to do with how I felt emotionally, and I used food as a coping tool.

In trying to better myself, and be more of the person that I have been destined to become, how do I overcome this innate desire to work myself into oblivion, is this a self-destructive pattern manifesting itself in a new arena, or is it the driving force of how I’ve gotten to my present weight, and how I will get to the next platform in my development. 

The strange reality that I felt yesterday was that the self-medicated numbness I used to feel from over eating is reappearing on the days I feel overworked.  It’s a quieter world, and I don’t know if it’s healthy. 

At what point is the drive going to drive me into the ground?

I’ve always felt that all obese people are broken inside, the break may not be as deep or as big as I once felt, but it takes a great deal of effort to make your body so healthy that it wants to kill itself, I am today questioning whether or not I am projecting my own shit on all the other fatty’s out there…my guess is that the truth is somewhere in the middle, which I clearly am not near.

 

Recap & Self Destructive or Motivated

12/11/2011 Quick Note on Nutrition, Random Shit

Working on the Nutrition

Ian pointed something out to me a couple of weeks ago, which has helped to move the scale, and make me feel better.  He cautioned his statements, by making it clear to me that it’s possible the scale will temporarily head in the other direction.  It has moved upward a couple of pounds yet it’s nothing that would cause concern or make my head want to implode.

During this same conversation he told me it was necessary for me to approach my nutrition the same way I approach my workouts.  An idea that was planted two weeks ago, and is now only starting to sink in, my melon like cranium is clearly of a thicker gauge of bone, and my ear canal apparently deflects sound in a manner that causes thoughts to dissipate before reaching my cortex. 

I broke up with food not too long ago (click here for that post), it was an end to using food as a means to satisfy or pacify my emotional swings.  Which is why today I feel strange as a newly food neutral guy, trying to redefine what food means to me, and reshaping my habits and approach to how I eat in general.

For most people who don’t have issues with weight, or body composition this notion of trying to figure out portion control, or volume of food one should could consume, it’s innate for most people, but for the unfortunate minority (which is unfortunately becoming a majority) the dynamic between food, body, and mind is impossible to resolve. 

For the most part I have been eating a Paleo Diet since October, with my lunch and dinner delivered via Catalyst Meals to PCF.  I read Robb Wolfs book and found it informative, and the book is the main reason I decided to head into the Paleo lifestyle.  On the rare occasion I’ve had a taste of bread, or rice (give me a break I’m Asian), or any refined sugars.  In each circumstance it’s always been an Amuse-bouche size morsel of food, a good deal of the time it was eaten in order to recall if it was as good as I my memory holds it. 

I do have to say of all the things that I no longer choose to eat that ice cream is the heroine that could take this guy back on the road to Sumo.  Fortunately ice cream isn’t an acceptable form of daily substance, or I might be on a plane to Japan to start my new life as the American Yokozuna.

What’s the point of all of this rambling you ask?

Starting yesterday I have really started to look for reputable resources on nutrition.  I will continue to eat the Paleo Diet, but I want to learn more about how food affects the body, and how different types of consumption during specific times can change, increase, or hinder my weight loss. 

As this is not a fucking journey…I hate this idea and I think it should be abolished from the English language when referencing weight loss, or body transformation.  It’s the kind of touchy feely shit that keeps people in their comfort zones, and ultimately puts them back on the “Journey” to being fat again. 

This is not a fucking journey, if it was it would end.  If your ultimate goal is to lose weight, then go back to your life of eating shit, not sleeping, not working out, then please stay on your journey. 

I’m involved in a personal evolution.  This is as Darwinian as you can get, creationist eat my stinky poop after I’ve eaten a dozen hardboiled eggs, evolution is real, and it is happening before my own eyes.  I have no choice but to evolve the way I live my life, and who I am as a person, otherwise this adaptation to poor health is going to last. 

Back from my angry tirade, the point of today is I need to learn more about nutrition, and understand what I need to put into my mouth in order to maintain the present arc of work, and make progress towards my long term goals. 

I am going to pursue the nutritional aspects of my evolution like I do the workouts, this the AMRAP of my life, so I have to treat it as such.

End boring rant here…

Random Shit

Summer 2013 I will summit this bitch.

http://www.climbalaska.org/mtc-denali-prep.html

June 1 - 10 2012 anyone want to go with me?

http://www.gymjones.com/knowledge/article/25/

I want to work up to being able to handle these workouts.

Article on attitude, here's a snipet:

"A bad attitude or unsettled mind destroys focus but our definition of a bad attitude doesn't necessarily bear semblance to general usage of the term. Rage, despair, insecurity and a host of other psychological issues can drive an athlete to work harder. The bad attitude is the one that prevents the athlete from realizing his or her desires, or the state of mind that an individual refuses to accept.

A "good" attitude allows and spurs the athlete to conceive and achieve a goal. Such a psychological state does not have to be positive or balanced; personal torment has inspired great efforts. Confusion and questioning, anger and doubt may be fountains of creativity and initiative. What an individual finds dissatisfactory about him or herself is often the bridge to something greater. When combined with the self-discipline required to maintain momentum any motivating state of mind can produce an astounding work of art and action."

http://station515.blogspot.com/p/inspiration.html

 

 

 

12/09/2011 PCF Thrwondown vs. Army vs. Navy

I attended my first PCF throwdown last night, it was a team of people from Potomac and Patriot Crossfit, and a team of Navy Midshepmen, and Army Cadets.  The team competition broke down into three WoDs. 

The first WoD, was a chipper, it's a workout that has a high number of reps which can be broken down anyway you want, as long as collective as a team you do the entire prescribed amount.

• 200 Wall Balls 20 lbs ball for men and 14 lbs for women, with a 10' target.
• 160 Dead lifts 275 lbs for men, 185 lbs for women
• 200 box jumps 24" box for men, 20" box for women
• 160 pull ups

 

 

 

 

 

  

So somehwere between the end of this WoD and the start of the next one, I started drinking...which is why there are only two really short videos of the next two WoDs.  Note to self, in attempting to record an event don't pay for the bottomless cup of Tequila.

WoD 2

• 3 Rounds of:
• Rowing 500 Meters
• 25 Hand Release Push ups
• 25 Kettlebell Swings (53/35)

 

WoD 3

• 4 Rounds
• 30 Squat Cleans
• 30 Burpees

 

So three things I learned from the Thrown down, I have a man crush on one of the coaches Brian.  He's the one in the videos above making 275 lbs dead lifts look easy, I think he might have 2% body fat.  I'm not only impressed by his strength, but how easy he makes it look, the sign of a good athlete in any sport is the ease at which they apply their discipline, which makes appear graceful.

I want to follow that paragraph, with the fact I am heterosexual, and have no inklings to play for another team, just respect for someone who is good at something, I should probably stop here…

Lesson two mixing Captain Morgan, or any spiced rum with VitaCoco water is actually pretty good.  Here’s a way to get your natural hydration, and drink on at the same time.

Lesson three, drinking and trying to do any other activity beyond drinking doesn’t work together very well, as witnessed by the length of the video from the first WoD, and the length of the video of the last two.

One quick final note, I had a couple of people came up to me last night, and introduce themselves because of this blog, I think this is awesome.  It’s not stalkerish (although if I see you during a WoD, then at the same place for dinner, and then staring at me as my sleep that might be on the stalker side), and it makes me feel good that people are actually reading this blog and give a crap, and it just reaffirms to my narcissistic side that the sun does revolve around my life, so thank you.  As one Alex Clifford would say, “I know way too much about the mundane details of your life.”

12/07/2011 Do I really hate myself, or am I just stupid?

12/07/2011 Do I really hate myself or am I just plain stupid?

In repeating the same behavior over and over then being surprised by the same outcome means that I'm slow, the bus I need to ride to school is getting shorter as the days continue.  I woke up this morning feeling groggy, a little less motivated to go to CrossFit than I normally am, it felt like day 40 after Fat Camp, not just tired but emotionally spent.  The kind of day where you realize staying in bed at 5 AM is far more natural then waking up, and putting your body under duress.

It was a day that started in way which I knew was directly connected to what I had done the previous morning, like a bad night out with friends, and waking up to what you thought the night before was a hot latina who looked like Jessica Alba’s twin sister, to only realize that you ended up with her friend who is a dead ringer for Rosie O’donnel, laugh and all.

Yesterday when I finished my CrossFit WoD I told myself let’s just go home, but I had a real itch to play around with the kettle bells, I haven't done much with them since May or June.  I actually like trying to flip them, and do other crazy shit that Michael C taught me in Malibu.  I thought of it as an opportunity to “play”, yet what started as play time turned into working into a burnt stupor. 

The metcon for yesterday was 3 rounds of a rowing 500 meters, the goal being to complete each 500 meters as fast possible, while maintaining consistent split times.  When I read the WoD the night before I thought to myself what is this bullshit? 

It turns out doing three 500 meter sprints is hard, a lot harder than I realized.  You add the fact that when Ericka said take as much rest as you need between each 500 meters, I took it as “prove how much you don’t like yourself by taking 5 breathes between the first and second”. 

The last 100 meters of each sprint was like rowing in a square boat through sand.  Needless to say after the third round of work, my cardiovascular system was taxed.

Somewhere during my rest period before the third round, I decided I would not just play with the kettle bells but do some rowing in between, I figured I already rowed 1500 meters might as well try and achieve 5000 meters. 

I started by rowing 2000 meters, I stayed at a pace of 2:10 per 500 meters.   This was about 30 seconds slower than my sprints, a good even pace.  I then moved to the kettle bells and worked on variations of the Russian Swing which involved flips, clapping between swings, and general meathead shenanigans.  It was fun to swing the kettle bell without fear of damaging the floor if I dropped them.   

40 minutes later I rowed 3500 meters total on top of the 1500 during the metcon, and I had swung the kettle bell around 300 times.  I think there is a deeper feeling of discontent about myself, which drives me to do this extra work even in the face of exhaustion.  Self loathing has a new name, and it’s Louis…Louis Kim.

It is then by no means a surprise that when I woke up this morning, I felt like the hair coming out of a pimple on someone’s ass.  The entire first half o the class, I just couldn’t get loose.  I was sore, groggy, and disconnected. 

While doing my warm up of snatch balances I dumped the bar forward, and ended up dropping the bar on the rack, which caused the bar to jump backwards toward my shins, rupturing my cut from the box jump folly.  It was healing nicely until this morning.

The picture below is:

1. A picture of the original cut.
2. A picture of what stupid people do to themselves.
3. The reason a separate drawer in the Patriot First Aid Box should have my name on it.
4. A picture of what my cut looks like after the bar hit my shin today.

I struggled to get underneath the bar during the snatch balances.  I did however wake up enough to do my four work sets of 2 at 135 lbs, which is a personal record on the snatch balance. 

 

This did however mean that when I started my snatches, I had very little gas left in the tank  I made 5 attempts at 135 lbs, I am 100% sure I can do 135 lbs as a snatch, but today was not the day.  When I went down to 95 lbs, I had just as much trouble.  I was starting to question my decision to the extra work the day before; clearly the extra work was affecting my strength.

It wasn’t until the metcon that I realized I need to cycle the extra cardio work.  Today’s metcon was short a 5 minute AMRAP, 3 pull-ups, 6 burpees, and 9 kettle bell swings.  This type of work is in my wheel house, I like to do these because it’s a test of my mental fortitude, this is where I learn whether or not I am as tough as I think I am, today I realized I’m a big bitch.

If you watch the video below, notice the rate of my burpees during round one, and then the speed of my burpees in round 3.  Round one I am like a gazelle, and in round 3 I am like a hippo.  During the 4^th and partial 5^th round, I reached deep to find that extra gear which pushes me though to the end of timed workouts, and I had nothing there, it’s like reaching into your pocket for another bullet, and realizing that all you have left is a pack of gum.

 

Today taught me a lesson, about changing how I approach my workouts.  In the past more, was always better.  Walk more, run more, more time in the gym was always better, anything that got my body moving more often was better, yet when that more comes at the expense of compromising performance, I think that’s when I know it’s time to back away, or take a break.  I don’t want to reach these consistent states of exhaustion, because they are always followed by prolonged mental checkouts, where I go to the gym, and I am just going through the motions, so I get my gold star for showing up. 

I find personal benefit in my extra work, but I realize today it must be tempered, and applied at appropriate times.  My plan is to not do a the extra work this 3 day cycle, and bring it back during the next one on days where there is only a short Metcon.  On longer metcon days I won’t do any extra work regardless of how I feel. 

Had I had a little left in the reserve I would have able to do the snatch at 135 lbs, and done at least 1 more full round of the metcon.  When attempting workouts with high intensity, high output, and consistent rest patterns are just as important as the work.  This is a strange and unfamiliar place for me, I guess sometimes less can be more, especially when you are on the borderline of over training.

 

12/05/2011 DWAYNE!!!!!!!!!!!!

Fat Message in a Thin Bottle

A friend I met at fat camp earlier this year has been struggling every since he got home, so much so that he took another trip back to fat camp, only this time at another location.  Dwayne has his own blog, which you can read here.  You will see large gaps between his posts, during those spans of time he is usually beating himself up and making things worse.

I am here to deliver a little tough love, and for the most part hope to shift his paradigm from short term unsustainable activity to long term sustainability.

A quick digression and backdrop, he’s had similar issues with his weight that I’ve had, a constant ying-yang of ballooning up into the high 300’s and then getting back down to the high 290’s.  When he’s on, he’s on and pushing hard, when I first met him one of his goals was to achieve his RKC (Russian Kettlebell Certification) you can check them out here. 

When he’s on he’s kicking ass, and giving everything he has, yet when things start to head in a less positive direction he really starts to beat up on himself, which turns into a defeatist attitude. 

I say that line with love Dwayne.  One big belly to another!

There is video below of my fellow red shirted fat brother doing a beach workout with Sam at fat camp.  Notice when the tiger is prodded it fights like a tiger.

 

Back to the main point. 

Dwayne!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

After reading your recent blog posts, I’ve made an assumption about one of the issues you are having…stop buying all that technological horseshit which tells you nothing.  Body Bugg, Fitbit, Jawbone, Up it’s all crap. 

Do not use the information those devices give you as if it were providing some type of accurate empirical data.  It’s shit, it’s a huge heaping pile of cow dung, I don’t care about the science, the human body is too complicated for some $100 device to accurately tell you how many calories it’s consumed in a day, and I’m sure most of those devices are based on certain scientific assumption which in and of itself could be completely inaccurate.

I see you posting the number of calories you bruned in a workout, or the steps you have taken in a day, it may feel good, but what is it really doing to how you are conditioning yourself?  I truly believe your desire to purchase these devices is the core of your problems when you get home. 

By using devices like Up, or Jawbone you will end up justifying poor food choices with the idea that you can just work it out.  This is a great idea in theory, and if you do this all the time they have a term for this “EXERCISE BULIMIA”.  Yes I am telling you that when you do this you are acting like a teenaged girl with an eating disorder. 

Are you going to live the rest of your life, having to get on an Arc Trainer or Treadmill every time you have a scoop of ice cream, or a donut as a treat?  I thought the whole point of all of this effort was to have a better quality of life.  In living in this type of cycle doesn’t sound like a better a quality of life, just a more insane one.

I’ve been down this road before, and it allows you to eat shit, because in your mind you think “Oh I’ll just go run or get on the elliptical for an hour and it’s all better”.  This is also the road that got most of us down the road of obesity. 

You say to yourself I can eat this crap now, and I’ll go workout in the afternoon.  Then your insulin levels are so high you are probably having a diabetic attack, so your body shuts down and you pass out.  You don’t go workout, and then tell yourself I’ll go do double the work tomorrow.  Of course you don’t, and then you start this shitty cycle all over again. 

It’s fucking maddening!! 

Horseshit!

If it were as easy as the “calorie balance”, I would already be 200 lbs, be married to Jessica Alba, have a male endowment resembling a donkey, drive a Ferrari, and use my G5 to take Jessica to the Oscars, and I would get to comfort her with the donkey in my pants...point made.

While you are still at fat camp you have to stop trying to balance your calories like a checkbook, because in that checkbook there are no allocations for your hormones, insulin levels, or just general chemical imperfections.  How many times after a weigh in do you see people pissed because they did all the work, ate what we ate, and lose nothing? 

Then the people at the ridge just say, “I don’t know, sometimes you just don’t lose weight”.  What Fitness Ridge does is give you a place to pull yourself from your life, and work on you, it’s a vacuum, but they are by no means a scientific team.  Do they even have a Staff Doctor?    

With your remaining time, start mentally getting ready to go home…

 In your workouts start find other means to push yourself.  During a Mountain Session on the Arc Trainer try and exceed the distance you traveled from the previous session.  On the hikes, try and finish the same hikes at a faster pace, during cardio intervals pick a speed you will carry for the top minute and do it every time, then the next time beat that shit.

Your inability to stay on the path is not because you are lazy, or lack the effort it’s because your head is completely in the wrong place.  Counting calories to establish portion control is vital, I’m still doing it today.  Because I’ve spent the last 10 years of my life eating 10,000 calories, I have to teach my dumb fat brain what 2500 calories looks like in a day.  In this light, count away.

I have a regular commenter on my blog, who says the same fucking shit over, and over, most of the time I think he’s full of shit, but on this one point I agree 100%, YOU CAN’T OUTWORK BAD NUTRITION!

Teach yourself to eat before you teach yourself to work.  Focus on the food, focus on the right foods, and things will get better, but using the manipulative computerized shit just programs your brain to think you can always save your bad eating with good exercise.  That’s crap!

I think of the Jawbone, UP, Fitbit, and Body Bug like all the crap bad golfers buy to improve their golf swing.  I know you have made fun of someone you know who has every fucking gadget to improve his swing, but never takes a lesson, or goes to the driving range to work on his, or even attempt to study what is wrong with his swing. 

It’s because we all want a magic bullet, that secret recipe, well buddy I hate to tell this to you it exists, and you can’t buy it.  It’s inside your head, and it’s in you.  You have change how you think about the work ahead of you.

In returning to the work part, don’t just think about time, or purely distance, make it competitive.  Competition helps to breed success; if nothing else from Crossfit I’ve learned how to sustain a constant high output. 

It’s hard for me to keep the intensity on my own all the time, doing the same bullshit cardio machines over and over, and it’s hard to find the fire, but when my brain is challenged all the time to beat specific personal thresholds, I find the will, and when pushed to beat certain people I not only find the will, but the mojo too.

We did a WoD today that involved doing one handed kettle bell snatches.  I’ve never done these before, but my work with Michael C in Malibu makes confident in working with Kettle bells.  The prescribed weight was 53 lbs, most of the people in my class picked the 35 lbs kettle bell, even people who normally do the workouts prescribed picked the 35 lbs kettle bell, being the big bitch that I am I grabbed both.  I started with the 53 lbs, and used the 35 lbs as safety net if the other one got too heavy.

I never touched the 35 lbs kettle bell, because inside I said to myself fuck this today I am going to out work these guys on this one thing because I fucking can. 

With your remaining time there stop using all of those useless technological devices, don’t even use a heart rate monitor.  Set a target, like running 8 mph on the treadmill for each part of the top of the Cardio Intervals, or doing Mountain all on the treadmill running, no walking, run the entire time. 

Don’t deprive yourself of food, if you’re hungry eat fruit, eat a snack, and eat the extra egg you get in the morning.  There is a difference between controlling your intake, and depriving your body’s innate desire to survive.

I guess what I am saying you have to fix how you think about this endeavor; it’s not a fucking journey, journey’s end at some point.  This is an evolution; evolve your thinking, yourself, and your life. 

The name of the game is long term sustainability; we can do anything for a short time in a vacuum.  You learn far more when you expose the vacuum to the outside air.  Find a way to make it work for you in the long run.  Pick a path that is sustainable, you have tried other ways when you go home, and we both know they weren’t sustainable. 

They guy I met in Malibu, who did the Beach Workout with Sam can handle this shit, he just has to get his mind right, and change the way he thinks about the work.  On a personal level you and I both know, you can’t make any more trips back to Fitness Ridge, beyond the financial cost, there are bigger issues involved now, don’t let your fear of change be the reason you bring stress to your life.

You can finish this strong, you can finish this all the way, and I don’t want to have to come out Indiana to whoop your ass.  One because I want to go to Indiana as much as I want to visit Juarez during a cartel war, and two because I would probably get lynched whooping a white man’s ass in public.

Video below from my WoD today.  You have that same fire, find it, and learn to fuel it.

 

12/01/2011-12/03/2011 Official Weigh-In, Silly Runners, Recap

Official Weigh In 12/04/2011

 

271.4 lbs

Body fat % Forgot to calculate

I just have one thing to say to Ian Bradley and everyone who has given me advice over the last few weeks…fuck you…thank you.  After protein intakes of 219 grams, 305 grams, 209 grams, 243 grams, and 258 grams, I finally was able to move the scale.  It was tough trying to consume the extra 700 calories a day.  It felt like I was gorging. 

I realize this is probably something that is temporary in terms the rate of weight loss, but it does feel good to finally make progress towards 250 lbs.  It is what it fucking is…

Why running sucks, an essay by a fat guy.

What is the purpose of running? 

Normally it’s a physical response to avoiding pain, and danger.  You know like when a tiger is hungry, and the only thing to eat is you, or when you are walking down the street in a big city, and a couple of shady characters give you the “I’m gonna get your ass” stare.  Sometimes it’s even a tool used by criminals, when having been caught committing a crime, use this strange technique to avoid the po-pos. 

In the rare occasion it can be useful, when trying to be the first in line to buy tickets, or purchase something at a significant discount, or secure your place in the line of free shit.  If you haven’t seen someone in a long time, you may want to move those feet faster to get the place you are headed a few moments faster, but you can typically achieve this same thing by, oh I don’t know hailing a taxi, jacking a Segway, or hitching a ride with someone who is wheelchair bound.

But for the majority of people, a majority of the time, it is about as useful as your Palm Pilot, Beeper, Brick Cell Phone utility belt, or about as useful as the Cerebal Cortex of Kim Kardashian, or Sarah Palin, yes you Ultra Conservative Bobblehead, Sarah Palin is exactly the same person as Kim Kardashian, deal with it, and Rush Limbaugh is a hypocritical douchebag, so quoting him or Anne Coulter makes you look like, oh I don’t know an asshole.  Life is so much better when you can think for yourself, and not spend it repeating the same talking points of these people.  At least Kim Kardashian, shows us her ass and boobs via a sex tape.

Back to my original point, with my subtle feelings about running, I have committed to two runs next year.

What the fuck you say?  Say it isn’t so…

I have now committed to a Tough Mudder in May in the Twin Cities, and a 5k which I promised my sister I would do with her.  Both commitments made because of personal wishes to interact with people who are important to me.

What the hell did I get myself into…I wonder if they make an off road Segway?

 

Brief Recap of Workouts

Thursday

Thursday morning’s WoD was a good one, we worked on Snatches.  I wasn’t feeling too energetic so I stuck with a lower weight in an attempt to stick to my form, even in doing so I was unable to maintain a concrete effort.  I kept pulling the bar too early, which turns the maneuver into an upper body row, rather than an entire pull and drop underneath the bar.

I did 5 sets 2 at 95 lbs, and 3 at 115 lbs.

The Metcon on this day was a 21-15-9 of Russian Kettlebell Swings, Wallball, and Knees to Elbows.  I did the prescribed work on the Kettlebell Swings, and the Wallball, whereas my knees to elbows look more like knees to FUPA, or feet off the ground.

Video below, amateur shit.

 

 I finished in 5:52.  I then rowed 6300 meters, preemptive to RJP, thank you for your kind comments.

Friday I took OFF

Saturday Morning

It was a Hero WoD, workouts which are dedicated to fallen Veterans, Police Officers, and Fire Fighters.  Saturday’s was named after US Army Staff Seargent Marc Small, of Pennsylvania; you can read more about him here, http://www.crossfit.com/mt-archive2/007687.html.  

The work is 3 rounds of the following:

• Row 1000 Meters
• 50 Burpees
• 50 Box Jumps 24”
• 800 meter run

I signed my brother in-law up for foundations, and Saturday was the first WoD he had done, it just so happened it was on a day of a Hero WoD.  I scaled down the Burpees to 40, and the box jumps to 40, we had an allocation of time that only amounted to about 45 minutes. 

Because of the number of people we had to partner up, so one person ended up rowing, while the other ran, I chose to run first, so I did everything the same except I did the running first, then the rowing last.

There is no video, because I didn’t give a shit, and to be honest I didn’t want anyone see my silly mannerisms that happen when I started to get tired, the twitching, the mini baby steps back and forth, the self hating, and the massive volume of sweat being collected on the floor.

Round 1

During the run, I had a sweatshirt, and Beanie on, because it was cold.  My thought through the entire run, “It’s Cold, It’s Cold, It’s Cold”.

As soon as I got back into the gym I started the burpees.  After about 7, I knew 50 would have taken the entire hour.  I told myself I’ll scale down to 25 burpees.  When I reached 25 I thought, why not shoot for 35 which was the second scaled option.  Then I got to 35, and thought 40 is so much closer to 50 which is the prescribed number than 35, so I got to 40. 

I started the 40 box jumps, and this is still difficult for me, I don’t know if its technique, body weight, or just my own mental shit, but I can’t get them connected, and I really despise the downward impact.  After about 20 I had start to step down, instead of jumping down. 

The row, my goal with the row was to maintain a pace that was under 2:10 per five hundred meters.  I set the dampener at 10, and went to town.

Immediately after this joyous moment, I went for another 800 meter run.

Round 2

During this part of the run, I thought “do-ta-do-ta-do”, and I thought let me try and chase Jen down, and then I thought, not going to happen, she’s moving too fast, then I thought, why is the return part uphill, and finally I thought “I really dislike running”.

Burpees became significantly more difficult, I tried to break them down into sets of 5, I would do 5 take three deep breathes, and go again.  At the 20^th one, I thought my strategy was getting weaker, so I pushed to 6-8 per rest.  By the 40^th one, my jump, was more of a hop and skip.

The box jumps became increasingly more difficult, I had to step back down on each one, and maintaining my balance at the top was tough.  I started to use my arms as levers to mobilize upward.

The rowing, wasn’t so bad, I pushed this time to get my pace below 2:10 per 500 meters.  When I finished I returned to the final run.

Round 3

With time no longer on my side, I started down the road for my run; my head was void of any thought, just a single idea “This Sucks, This Sucks, Women who do Crossfit have nice asses, This Sucks, This Sucks”. 

When I came back from the run I went to Pete who was coaching, and I told him, whatever happens let me finish.

Burpees suck.  That was the sentiment in my final round of work.  I had to break down the sets to 5 for two sets, then to 3 at a time, and eventually the final 5 I just gutted them out.  My pace doubled for the final 5, I was like a fat guy at the entrance of a buffet, I steam rolled those last 5 burpees.  Fuck you burpee, I win today.

Box Jumps, if you want to know what it’s like to try box jumps as a senior citizen, then watching me do the last 40 is probably what it looks like, the only thing that would have made it more accurate is if I had a cane, or a spotter.  I had to use my arms as like a mental lever, and every time I jumped up I felt like I was trying to push through the air, like a fat lady walking in a pool, pushing the water around her.    

When I finished the last one, I jump all the way onto the box, and stumbled off of it to my rower.  The final row, I was watching the clock, I wanted to finish less than 50 minutes, so I pushed myself hard to keep my pace under 2 minutes per 500 meters.  I gave it everything I had, and was able to complete the WoD in 48:54. 

My brother in-law completed 2 rounds, he said that his strength felt fine, but his cardiovascular system just wasn’t ready for the work, I’m happy he got a taste because if anyone will get into Crossfit it’s him.

Thank Smalls, for serving this country, and thank PCF for kicking my ass in honor of his sacrifice.