I wasn't ready...

I had a fun weekend.  I went and watched a roller derby match for the first time, which was really fun.  These girls go round and round and just bash the crap out of each other. There's a method to the madness and even some strategy, but mostly it's like professional wrestling.  I left that night for Newport to go fishing.  No fish.  No sleep.  I got back late Sunday and crashed, only to try and drag my ass out of bed for work.  It's one of the few times I really didn't want to engage in anything at work.  Didn't want to talk.  Didn't want to go on runs.  Just wanted to veg.  And, I did.  I got in a short nap before dinner and when I was woken up by Napolean Dynamite calling me to dinner (it's a Sta. 20 thing), I thought it was the next morning and I was going home.  I was a little disappointed.  After dinner and a couple runs, I changed into my shorts and committed to riding the spin bike for a while as I watched a movie.  I managed an hour, keeping the revolutions/minute up around 80-85.  My legs were a little jelly-like after that, but at least I did something.  I made a promise to get in more of a weight workout the next day.  So I did this, this morning:

Warm-Up:  "Core Performance" Movement prep

DB Shoulder circuit @ 10#

Main: Do each exercise for 10 reps, 3 sets, for time

-Hanging Snatch High Pulls

-Pull-ups

-Zercher Front Squats

-Spine Hip Extension

-Jackknife push-up

I wasn't ready for this.  I was a bit jazzed up after I wrote it out this morning, and I even jogged in between the snatch high pulls and the pull-ups, but after that I was done.  I rested quite a bit between sets of 5 of the pull-ups.  Everything else went okay, but I was walking to each station.  I used 95# barbell for the high pulls and front squats.  The Zercher front squats are really cool.  If you're like me and have a hard time maintaining form on regular squats, you might try these.  You cradle the bar in between your forearm and biceps, right in your elbow-pit.  The weight is then in front of your body and lower than normal.  I could really feel it in my glutes and hips.  Anyway, I slogged my way through this in 13:47.  Good news is, my shoulder hasn't been bothering me at all, though I did hear little "pops" when doing the pull-ups.  Oh well, just another lifelong injury.

Rest assured...

... I'm still doing it.  I was up in Seattle for a bit where I got in some hiking around UW where I went to school.  Everything there is uphill.  I also did a couple of hours of kayaking on Puget Sound out of Alki Beach.  Really fun, I may have to get a kayak soon.  Daph, this was different from the one we used, it was a true sea kayak with a rudder that you controlled with your feet and sprayskirts.  I had planned a hike up Mt. Si, but chose instead to sleep in instead before heading home for a concert.  I worked a couple days in a row, the second day of which I played some HORSE (shooting baskets) with a co-worker followed by some core work.  I didn't workout the first day because I forgot any remotely athletic shoes and so played basketball and did this core workout with boots on.  I don't recommend it.  So my co-worker told me he did a big leg workout the day before and that he wanted to target his abs today.  I came up with this and we both did it.

Main: 3 sets of 20 each

-V-ups

-Standing Russian Twists

-Sky-Rockets

-Weighted Twists

-Ball Slam/Jump

It hurt.  I still feel it two days later.  But it's a good hurt, like I feel stronger.  I'd been having some pain in my lower right back, not a spine kind of pain, but muscle pain.  I finished the workout with some relaxed positions that I got from Pete Egoscue's book "Pain Free".  After doing what he told me to for lower back pain, I was pain free for the next 2 days. 

Yesterday I slept a ton (up at work for two nights in a row) and got in some outdoor dodgeball that evening which can be a decent little workout, definitely fun and dynamic.  And today I got back into a more traditional workout.

Warm-up:

-Plate warm-up

-WGS

-Sumo Squat-Stand

-Lunge w/ twist

-Shoulder DB Circuit

Main: Straight through

-Deadlift x40

-Pull-ups x30

-Strides x5

-Overhead Squat x30

-Cartwheels x5 each direction

-DB Overhead Press x40

Cooldown:

-Lower Back positions from Egoscue's "Pain Free" book

Good warm-up.  I did the main workout straight through, as it's written.  However, I did rest in between go's.  For instance, I'd do 10 deadlifts and rest.  10 more and rest, etc.  Same with the pull-ups.  I'd do 5 and rest, etc.  For the deadlifts I used 155#.  The overhead squats were just with a 45# bar.  DB presses were done with 25# DB's.  The strides and the cartwheels were thrown in to give me a bit of a break and to sort of re-align my body and it's functions.  If I were to just do a bunch of lifts without working out those muscles, I think I'd get all crampy and tight.  It helped to sprint a bit, and the cartwheels were good to use my shoulders and body awareness.  And they're fun.  Finished it up with the lower back positions and hoping to keep the lower right pain from coming back.  We'll see.

Back at it again...

After the death march described below, I took a day off and did nothing but eat, sleep, and work.  I felt pretty good after the hike, not too sore, just a bit tired.  I followed that day up with more resting and some softball for two days.  Nice and easy.  And then I decided to jump back in.

Warm Up:

-Plate circuit

-World's Greatest Stretch

-Sumo-Squat-Stand

-Cat-Dog

-Bird Dog

-Archer

Main: x3 sets

-One legged get-ups x10 each

-Push ups x10

-Weighted wipers x20

-Standing Russian Twists x20

-Knee lifts x20

-Ham curls on swiss ball x20

Also: DB shoulder circuit

Cardio: 20 minutes on elliptical

Cooldown/Stretch

I felt this the next day.  After the hike, I noticed how much I'd used my hamstrings.  Then doing this workout really hit them again.  Now they kinda feel like they did when I was training for the pole-vault, only they're not tight... yet.

The standing russian twists are my favorite new movement for training the core.  You take a long barbell and put one end in a corner.  Then put some weight on the other end, closest to you.  I used 50#.  At that point, you pick up the weighted end with both hands, and starting with the weight at arms length on the right side, move it in an arcing motion to the other side, as if you were to paint the biggest semi-circle you could on a wall while standing in one spot.  Back and forth, 20 times. 

Ok, I'm tired, I'm in Seattle and I may or may not get in some activity today.  But tomorrow I believe we're going to hike Mt. Si, which is an 8 mile hike gaining something like 3000' elevation.  I think that'll suffice.

Snow in June...

This was our first look at the mountain.  We'd spent a great night outside on the asphalt parking lot near Mt. Bachelor, covered with tarps in blowing snow.  Robin opened the door to his warm car at about 3am and told Stephen and I that it was time.  We were up, packed and moving by 3:30, using headlamps in the snow to find our way down the road.  Right away we were putting on snowshoes, which stayed with us for the rest of the trip except for a few brief moments.

Here we are during happier times.  We'd just hiked about 7 miles down hill to the point where we would leave the road and bushwack up towards the

 base of our goal: the South Sister.  At over 

10,300' elevation, it's the third tallest peak in Oregon.  It's also at this point that Stephen shared with us the greatest gift of the trip.  His girlfriend, Autumn, had packed along some homemade Orange Sweet Rolls.  Note:  Ladies, if you want to gain favor with your boyfriend/husband's friends, pack along sweet baked goods.

Shortly after the food break, we started up.  And by "up", I mean we somehow forced ourselves to climb a snow 

covered pitch that bur

ned our calves, thighs, hamstrings and lungs like nothing else this trip.  The nice part was that at some points, if you were tired, you could just put your arm out in front of you and rest against the ground in a standing position.

After the steep ascent, this was our reward:

It's hard to describe just how serene it was up there.

  I've never seen the sky such a deep dark blue.  The snow was untouched.  And we were running out of time.  The goal was to climb to the top of the mountain, ski/snowboard down, and hike back to the car where we'd drive home and I'd go to work the next day.  With the distance we ha

d cov

ered and had to cover bac

k home, we just didn't have the time or the energy to make it to the top AND back.  We decided that it would be a two day trip to do it right and that this year we'd have to

 just be content with a great hi

ke and a few turns taken from the base of that mountain.

After dropping in to the bowl and pretending we knew what we were doing, we had a few miles to go down hill.  Unfortunately, my map reading skills didn't account for all the trees, the running creek, nor the quickly melting snow that didn't want our boards to slide.  So it was back into the snowshoes and falling over logs and our feet in delirium back towards the road.  Once safely on the road, we set a good pace, took a few deserved breaks, and slogged back uphill to the car.  For our own curiosity and safety, I packed a GPS unit with us and left it running the whole time.

20.08 miles.  If we'd done the summit, a marathon.  This was the longest day-hike most of us had ever done, and we did it with snowshoes and packs loaded with boards, boots, and assorted gear.  Truly and ass-kicker.

My butt hurts...

Yesterday, I couldn't get into the little workout room at work until sometime after dinner.  I waited until my burned bacon and green beans had stopped giving my stomach a hard time (I can't cook bacon) and went down to watch a movie and get some activity going.  Luckily, Transformers was playing, so I got a little amped up and used it to challenge my legs, which are today screaming at me.

Warm-Up:

-Plate Warm-up x20 reps each

-World's Greatest Stretch x10

-Curtsy Squat x10

-Cat-Dog Stretch x10

-Hip Circles x10

-Arm Circles x30 each way

-Bird Dogs x10

Main: Three Sets

-Single Leg Bench Getups x20

-Single Arm DB Row x10 each

-Bench Dips x20

-Superman on Swiss Ball x20

-Single Leg Romanian Deadlift x10

-Sit-Ups with Plate Overhead x20

More:

-DB Shoulder circuit x10 each

Cardio:

-Spin-Bike, x5 30 second intervals with 1:30 easy pace in between, followed

by continuous pedaling for total of 30 minutes on bike

Cool Down/Stretch

I went pretty light on the weights because I'm still a little worried about my shoulder,

still getting it tightened back up. Hopefully I've got a softball game tonight for my

workout; it's been raining all day but it's sunny now. If not, I may just take it easy the

next few days to save up for this weekends death march up the South Sister with the

boys. Hours of hiking in snowshoes ought to be enough of a workout for the rest of the

week, but I'll continue to do small active things and post them. Can't stop completely,

I still have to make a conscious effort to improve even when I'm resting.

Parade work...

Saturday night was my first experience with being a fireman at the Portland Starlight Parade.  Since it was my first time, I was stuck on the tarp crew.  I should back up and describe what it was that we were doing here.  

Every year, Portland Fire runs in the Starlight Parade.  We get a group of firefighters with helmets on, an old hose wagon that used to be pulled by horses (now firefighters) equipped with christmas lights and rock music.  And we have the tarp.  You know in old movies and cartoons when a building is on fire and they tell the person to jump into the little circular tarp?  Well, it's real and it's not light.  We had probably 12 guys or so all holding onto this thing running pretty quickly from Station 1 down by the water to somewhere up near Powell's Books.  And THEN the parade could start.  So we'd chase after the wagon, stopping here and there to put kids in the tarp and toss them in the air a few times.  This gets tiring, because every kid wants to do it.  Meanwhile the wagon is still running along and we have to catch up.  And being a bunch of new guys with quite a bit of pride about being a part of Portland Fire & Rescue, we ran hard.  At most intersections along the parade route, the wagon would stop and out would slide an antique wood ladder, about 14' long with 4 ropes coming off the top.  The ladder would go up, straight into the air and we with the tarp would position below it.  Up would climb a firefighter to the very top, stand on the top rung and take a head-first dive towards the tarp.  At the last second, the jumper would tuck and land on his or her back in the center of the tarp.  We the tarp holders would hold the tarp up at shoulder level and try to decelerate the jumpers fall by letting the tarp down to near mid-thigh level.  The ladder would slide back in the wagon and we would be off, only to throw more kids and newscasters before running after the wagon.  At the end, we were a sweaty and tired mess, looking forward to nothing more than a beer, which we stopped by the local bars on the way back to Station 1.  It was really fun being a part of this and getting to see the people I work with have so much pride and tradition.  And to drink beer with them.  I'd thought about doing a workout before the parade, but afterwards, I was really glad I hadn't.  Sunday was completely recovery, both from the parade and the bars, and mysteriously, my shoulder is feeling pretty damn good.  Yay Beer!

Easy on the shoulder.

<-- Probably the main reason my shoulder can get out of whack so easily.

I lucked out today and found some time to do something before dinner at work.  I kept coming up with great ideas of different lifts I wanted to do, but thought better of it when I remembered my shoulder.  After cleaning house yesterday (it actually went pretty well and it only looks like half a dump now) my shoulder felt a lot better, just a little sore and stiff.  So today's challenge would be to come up with a routine that wouldn't work my shoulder too hard, but would do all those motions that can get everything back in order. The focus became my legs, and specifically, my hips.  I was surprised how quickly I got this whole thing done.

Warm-up: 

-Arm Circles x30 each way

-Plate warm-up 10#

-Worlds Greatest Stretch x10

-Hand Walk x10

-Sumo-Squat-Stand x10

Main: x3 for time

-Body weight Squats x20

-Inverted "Rockets" x20

-Spin-Bike x20 Calories

-DB-KB Swings x20

More:

-Shoulder routine with elastic bands

Cool Down/Stretch

The warm-up went well enough, and using a 10# plate worked really well for my

shoulder. For the main event, I clocked in at 10:43, a bit of a longer workout than

I anticipated. What I call "Inverted Rockets" are just an abdominal type exercise

where you're on your back, legs vertical, and you push you hips up until you're balanced

on your shoulders, body fully extended. On the bike, I just rode it until the computer

said I'd done at least 20 calories worth of work. And for the DB-KB swings, I used a

30# dumbell.

This all did well for my shoulder, which is feeling a lot better right now. Still a little sore

and stiff, but getting better. I'll be back in pull-ups in no time.

Active Rest... Needed.

Wow.  I've got some serious sore spots today.  Yesterday, my right elbow was hurting, but I pushed through and today it's doing quite a bit better.  My lower right back was also hurting a little yesterday, but after warming up it was working well, only to be uncomfortable the rest of the day.  Today, it's fine.  But my left shoulder, or I should say my rotator cuff...  Ouch.  After years of beating on it while pole-vaulting and an unfortunate dislocation during the fire academy, it's a wonder it works at all.  So it's strange that I'm surprised about this pain.  The range of motion is a little smaller than normal.  It's popping a little.  Just the usual inflammatory stuff I guess.  

And I'm tired, which is no surprise.  So today is a rest day; an active rest day.  I need to clean my house (yeah, laugh it up asshole).  And I read that for my 212# self, I'll be burning 240 calories an hour doing light cleaning with moderate effort.  Whether or not that's true, I don't know, but it sounds good to me.  So to actually CLEAN my house, I'll be burning about 2,400,000 calories today...

Day 2, still motivated...

I decided this morning that rather than take a shower and a nap after work, I'd just write down a workout and go do it.  It rocked!  I wasn't too happy with the pull-up bar situation at my station, so I wanted to do more today.  And I wanted to hit some different areas that I didn't stress too badly yesterday.  Again, mostly compound exercises, done one after another in supersets.  And again, I did the pull-ups by swinging and kipping, just getting over the bar.  Enjoy...

Warm-Up: 

-Hip cross-over x30

-Scorpion x30

-Calf Stretch x10 each leg

-Hand Walk x10

-Inverted Hamstring x10

-World's Greatest Stretch x10 each leg

-Lunge w/twist x10 each

-Sumo Squat-Stand x20

-Arm Circles x30 each direction

Main Workout:  For Time: 3 sets 

-Pull-ups x10

-Straight Legged Deadlift x10

-Push-ups x10

-Box Jumps x10

More Goods:

-Weighted Wipers x30

-Knee Raises x30

-50 Meter Strides x6, 50% effort

Cool Down/Stretch

I liked this one.  The warm-up is based on the book Core Performance by Mark Verstegen.  I can explain all of those names if you want to attempt the warm-up.  Next, the main workout was completed in 6:35, and I was hurting after the first round.  My hands especially took a beating with the pull-ups.  For weight on the deadlift, I used a 115# bar, just over 50% of my bodyweight.

You can see a picture of the weighted wipers.  I don't know quite what to call those, but basically, you get a bar, get into bench press position, and just hold it up there while raising your straight legs from right side to left and back again.  I used the 115# bar.  For the knee raises, I used parallel bars and just lifted my knees up to horizontal.  Strides- just an easy sprint to shake it all out and line it all up.

I'm liking this blog thing.  I know it's only day two and I'll get sick of it, but so far it's making me want to workout and get it on the web.  

Number one, a warm up...

My goal with this is to keep me honest about my own workouts.  

The plan is to write a workout, do the workout, post the workout and any comments about it, and see if anyone else tries it.  If you do, please leave a comment with any times or numbers or complaints.  

This isn't meant to be any kind of competition except with yourself.  Be honest about your abilities to yourself.  If a workout reads too hard, tone it down, substitute weight/reps/movements to make it your own.  If you don't have the equipment, get creative.  Use these workouts as a template if you want, adjusting it to suit you. 

I will try to do full body workouts, changing things just about every time, not letting my body get comfortable.  Some days will read like traditional workouts, others will simply be listing an activity I did.  Occasionally I'll post rants or deep thoughts about fitness or nutrition.  At some stage, I'd like to post what I eat as well.  More of that whole honesty thing.  

Please feel free to leave comments, questions or suggestions.  With any luck this will keep me inspired and possibly a few others as well.

That being said, on to today's activity.

Warm-up:

-5 min walk on treadmill

-Plate warm-up: x20 of each, from left to right is one, from right to left two...

-Rainbow (Plate in both hands hanging at right hip. Swing up to eye level and then down to left hip.)

-Golf Swing (Plate in both hands above right shoulder, swing down and back up to left side above shoulder.)

-KB Swing (Plate in both hands, high above head.  Swing down between knees and behind you, then back up to start.)

-Straight Arm Twist (Plate in both hands, arms out straight, rotate trunk left to right.)

-Squat (Plate close to body, squat down, back up.)

-C-Bends (Plate in both hands, straight above, slightly bend to right, slightly bend to left.)

-Good Mornings (Plate behind head, athletic stance, bend at waist until upper body is horizontal.  Return to start.)

Remember to be careful with your back, keep it straight, chest out, navel in.  Shoulder blades should be back and down.  This is a warm up, using active stretching and a weight plate.  I used a 25# plate and I was sweating a little at the end.

Main Workout: For time, if you can't do a set all at once, stop, breath, start again until it's done.

-Pull-ups x10

-Overhead Jerk/Press x10

-Squat x20

-Pull-ups x6

-Overhead Jerk/Press x6

-Squat x15

-Pull-ups x3

-Overhead Jerk/Press x3

-Squat x8

I don't care how you get your chin over the bar for now, swing and kip your way up, us overhand or underhand, just get 'em done.  I was using a really crappy pull-up station that tipped over at every rep.  Originally, I was going to start with more presses, but after doing 5, I knew I should cut it down in reps to what my pull-ups were.  I used just over a 100# bar.  Use something less than 50% of your bodyweight.  For the squats, just use your bodyweight.  My time for this: 5:13.  I was out of breath and sweating pretty well.

More:  Still going... 10# ball

-Russian Twists w/ Med-ball Ladder (On your butt, torso and bent legs in the air, balanced.  Grab ball with straight-ish arms, starting at right side, move ball to left side, touch the ground with ball, return to right side, touch ground, etc.  20 of them.  Rest 5-10 seconds.  18 of them.  Rest. 16 of them.  Rest. Etc to zero.)

-Flat on your back, knees bent, feet flat on the ground.  20 easy chest passes to yourself.

-Same position on your back, holding the ball with straight arms, touch the ground behind your head.  Rotating at your shoulder, move ball to between your thighs.  Back to behind your head.  20 times.

-Again, same postion, gently throw the ball from right hand to left and back again.  Try to keep your head on the ground.

Cardio: 

-Stair stepper (I planned on 20 minutes but got an EMS run at 6 minutes in, so, that was what I did.  But I was starting to burn and really wondering if 20 minutes was a good idea...)

Stretch:  It's good for you.

So, this was the first day of this with the Blog looming in the back of my head.  I'll probably do more of these type of workouts in the coming weeks, hopefully a couple or few a week.  I had to make some adjustments today, having tried to bite off more than I could comfortably chew.  As time goes on, I'll get a better feeling for what I'm capable of and challenge myself more and more.