Gobble, gobble

Hi folks, this is my first blog since taking off for Thanksgiving. You didn't miss much. I drove, ate some turkey, relaxed a few days and then drove back. It was the driving that squelched any desire to work out. Sitting in the car for hours is enervating.

That meant when I finally got back and rested, there was a significant pent up demand for training. Yesterday, I broke out the Frankenstein monster:

-set the kitchen timer for 10 minutes

-go wild

The few days off did me good. I completed 26 of the db burpees (clean to a thruster instead of the jump), up 2 reps from the last time. I was really spent doing this workout. The no-mas-ometer read 4.0.

11/30/10

-Sound of Wheezing

-10 burpees

-4 kneeling to standing roll-outs

-4 24 kg pull-ups

x10

Again, a few days rest paid off, or was it repetition. SOW time 20'59. Time-off did not help the pull-ups. After the 4th set they got pretty sloppy. I seem to have regressed a bit on the pull-ups. The no-mas-ometer reads 3.5.

4,847/[160]

a few of my favorite things

This past weekend I watched my friend, FredinChina, a guy my age, fight multiple 1 minute non-stop matches against guys half is age and younger. He knocked quite a few down, and held his ground, which is impressive because the fighting style is knockdown karate, ie. no pulled punches or kicks. The experience got me thinking about strength endurance. Yesterday, I did the Fredinator. Today, I introduce the Sound of Wheezing:

-10 burpees

-4 kneeling to standing ab-wheel roll-outs

-4 pull-ups w/24kg kb

x10

The kneeling to standing ab-wheel roll outs start from the kneeling position. Once you hit full extension, you straighten the legs and return to the standing position. The rest should require no further explanation.

The Sound of Wheezing is less intense than the Fredinator, which is a good thing. I definitely tweaked something yesterday which will require the attention of the lacrosse balls. SOW took me 23'05 challenging but not painful minutes.

The no-mas-ometer reads 3.5.

4,721/[134]

Top Gear

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. In the case of the American version of Top Gear, the immensely popular British car fan program, the compliment falls just short. It reminded me of children playing grown-up: just because you can put on mom and dad's oversize shoes and clomp around, doesn't mean you can fill their shoes. Such was my feeling as I watched the video of the program while working out today.

You've seen this routine before. It's Frankenstein, only double the duration (20 minutes). I'm calling it the Fredinator, after my pal FredinChina, who this weekend showed me what toughness was all about.

Fredinator:

-set the kitchen timer to 20 minutes

-db burpees (substitute clean and push press (or thruster) for the jump)

What's challenging about doubling the duration of the exercise is your body wants to quit half-way through the workout. I was determined not to quit, but wondered if I would be rewarded for my efforts (42 reps) with a tweaked something. So far so good. I just don't want to sneeze and end up with a crick in my neck.

The no-mas-ometer reads 4.0.

4,621/[134]

I ain't got time to bleed

One of the best lines in film if I ever heard one.

Which brings me to today's workout. Same deal, got cojones (3x15 HPC & burpees). At 6'58, again, there isn't enough time to cue the background music, much less enjoy it. It's just a few minutes of intensity and I'm still feeling it in my back (traps mostly) and quads.

I wasn't feeling too peppy today, and I thought the breaks to shake out the legs and catch my breath slowed me down. I think I can better it next time.

4,579/[92]

Frankenstein meets Kraftwerk

I was so pleased with my VB50 time from yesterday that I wanted to give Frankenstein another round. This time I pit him against the grand daddy of electronica: Kraftwerk. It just so happens that there is a 10 minute mix on YouTube, several in fact.

Trying to improve on previous workouts keeps the intensity just within my capability, but barely. The no-mas-ometer says 4.0. Mr. Frankenstein 24 reps.

I'm not noticing a performance effect from the background music-too busy wheezing.

4,534/[92]

Take 2 lacrosse balls and call me in the morning

I've got a growing collection of pain relief gadgets to which I've added 2 lacrosse balls and a sock. A sock is an excellent self-massage tool for your back, but only if you drop two lacrosse balls into it and tie off the loose end.

In the balls in sock configuration, you can roll out any tightness from your hips all the way up to your shoulders. The foam roller can also do this, but it is a blunt tool in comparison. Remove one lacrosse ball from the sock, place it on the floor and roll your abdomen on it. Boom, instant pain relief if you've over-done direct ab work like me. With the one lacrosse ball remaining in the sock you've got an improvised medieval weapon/self-flagellation device. Of all my pain relief gadgets accumulated thus far, only the lacrosse balls in a sock get mrs. meguro's back pain relief seal of approval. (She was never a fan of the foam roller.)

11/14/10

-Got cojones (6'58)

random business ungluing

11/15/10

-VB50 (3'20)

-50 knuckle push-ups

The got cojones workout (3x15 db HPC & burpees) isn't getting any easier. It was a little better, but not by much, than the last time. It's still not where I want it to be. However, the effort seems to be paying off. Between gc, Frankenstein, and other routines I am bringing my 50 burpee time down, without focusing on VB50 exclusively. Oh joy.

4,510/[68]

Frankenstein meets the Ramones

More experimentation with background music and performance. This time it's the Frankenstein workout (c&p db burpees) vs. the Ramones. I'd like to say the Ramones won, but let me tell you, Frankenstein is hard to beat. Up to the 7th rep I was convinced that I had the right pace. It fell to pieces after that. At the 14th rep, I caught the db's and rolled onto my keister for a failed rep. It got uglier and uglier. At the 10 minute mark I completed 23 reps.

The no-mas-ometer reads 4.0. No joke.

4,415/[68]

notice and other stuff

I seem to be having some problem with publishing comments-some appear and others do not. I don't know how to fix it, so my apologies if it appears I have ignored you. Your comments are valued.

Anyway, change of pace today. I wanted to give my legs a break and test my core and pull-ups. Now, it's been some time since I did roll-outs, and I was wondering what I may have lost. I did get to the point of squeezing out a few standing roll-outs, but they were really max effort and off-putting. Kneeling roll-outs and weighted kneeling roll-outs, in contrast, were boring.

I came up with something more to my liking. You start with the kneeling roll-out, and at full extension straighten the knees for a one count and then return to the kneeling starting position. You end up training the hardest part of the standing roll-out, full-extension, while doing something manageable, the kneeling roll-out. I'll keep to this roll-out variation or a bit.

11-10-10

-kneeling ab roll-outs.v1 (4x10)

-pull-ups w/Fe (4x7)

I'm noting progress on the pull-ups, with 7 reps per set. Woohoo! That's a lot for me with 24kg on the dip belt.

The no-mas-ometer reads 1.7 and looks like it needs new batteries.

Business ungluing to follow.

Oh man. I did "got cojones" and discovered "no hay cojones." Dang 7'07 (3x15 hpc & burpees), and I thought I was flying. Grip is no longer a problem. It was the burpees that did me in. I was sucking air like the inlet on a jet engine.

The no-mas-ometer reads 3.9.

4,392/[45]

it's alive

The monster returns, for reps (23). Unlike the first outing, I ignored my stop watch, took deep breaths between reps, and rested a bit longer after every five reps. At 10 minutes, I knew it was the right thing to count 22 reps and not 27 previously. With my leisurely approach, I completed 23 in 12'53 and I was done. The left shoulder got twingey, signaling a stop to all festivities.

The no-mas-ometer reads 3.8.

4,347/[45]

Dr. Frankenstein I presume

I've been dreaming about this workout for two days, ever since the idea started an itch in my brain. It's a chimera; a hodgepodge of brutal exercises. Any one of these exercises would give you a nightmare, together it is a Frankenstein monster.

You've got the squat thrust, jump and push-up of the burpee, a shrug and weighted jump courtesy of a db clean, a squat and push press from the thruster, and cardiovascular meltdown from the Tabata protocol style interval work scheme. If I carried this beyond 10 minutes you might include the drama of a visit from emergency services.

This is how you put the monster together. Take two dumbbells (together mine equal .675 bodyweight), push-up from the db's, clean, stand and push press, return db's to floor, thrust legs out to push-up position, count 1st rep, repeat ad nauseum ( literally). Nausea hit at approximately 10 minutes.

My background music was Rammstein, interspersed with Linkin Park, Evanescence, P.O.D and the like.

No-mas-ometer reads 3.8.

4,324/[22]*##

*Frankensteins will count toward total burpees and will also be tallied in brackets

## I lost count. It was either 22 or 27 reps of these monsters.

Blah di blah blah.

Let's see, Sunday I did 30 hang-power-cleans to push-press for time. I got the idea from CrossFit, only their version employed cleans. They caught the bar down low on the clean and then dropped the weight after the jerk. I like that it works the grip, along with the traps as well as the muscle groups involved in getting weight overhead. This was a short bit of work and only took 3'38.

On Monday, I did the "got cojones" routine again. A little slippage here, 6'48. I think it's because I skipped a meal. Yeah that's it. I blame hypoglycemia.

Tuesday, 2x15 dips and pull-ups w/Fe (6,7). Woohoo, 7.

Random business ungluing

Wednesday, the bear, 45 C&P's. I expected misery. Yesterday, I actually made a Fran attempt but stalled at 11 thrusters. Didn't even record it I was so disgusted. This experience confirms that I need more low end power, hence the bear. The weights started on the ground, no hang-power nuthin', with a deep catch in between. I broke this up into three wheezy sets that took about five minutes per set, with plenty of rest between sets. Operator error prevented me from determining the exact time, but the last set took well over 5 minutes. Argh!

Edit: I forgot to mention that I was conducting an experiment with Wednesday's workout. I wanted to see what effect, if any, background music had on my energy level. I set my music system to play easy listening type music: Melody Gardot; Nora Jones; Frank Sinatra, Julie London; Astrud Gilberto; Billie Holiday. You get the idea. Next time I'll try the same workout with everything Rammstein, then classical, and so on.

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