chinny, chin, chin

Yesterday I followed a Crossfit WOD which comprised singles of weighted pull-ups. I did close-grip chin-ups and started with 69 lbs on the dip belt, increasing 10 pounds for each rep up to 99lbs, and did doubles back down to 69, where I completed 3 sets of doubles. It was relatively stress free.

1-10-11

-30-24 kb swing breathing ladder

-squat cleans (5x5, 30 secs work, 30 secs rest)

Today's workout took just about 10 minutes and left me beaten. I completed 24 more swings than last time with the breathing ladder. Oh joy!

Eccentric me

I had a bad date with Fran. She was all mean and nasty. I called it off at the 12th rep of the second set of thrusters, and finished with 12 chin-ups.* Felt like a broken down ol' geezer, 'cause I didn't have the energy. Ba-humbug.

The next day, I wondered if it was not so much my fatigue (3 hrs sleep) going into Fran but weak squatting ability. Since I'm limited by the equipment I have at home, I can't do heavy squats. I'd been reading about eccentric training**, and remembered how weighted negative pull-up training helped me increase my max number of pull-ups. I devised different ways to improve my squatting with eccentrics.

1-6-11

-3x20 alternating pistol negative (down on one leg, up on two)

-planche position planks

-50 burpees (3'10)

I have never tried pistols (one-legged squats), but pistol negatives were the first things to pop into my head. Controlling your descent on one leg is a unique experience. I wondered if my knees would explode on the way down. Thankfully, no blow-outs. The planche position planks were done to get my shoulders and triceps prepared for planche push-ups. Still a ways to go on that front. I was pleased that my burpee time didn't increase too much over the holidays. Phew.

1-7-11

-db squat cleans (4 reps/minute, ≈ 8 minutes)

-close-grip chin up negatives (4x5x5 secs, 30 kgs)

-frog stands (sets of 10-20 secs for 2 min)

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*Since a one-armed chin up is the objective for all my pulling, I decided to stick with close grip chin-ups, and forego neutral and wide grips.

**Eccentric training is elongating a muscle while it is under a load. It is said to activate more fast-twitch muscle fibers than concentric (contracting muscles under a load) and requires less energy.

another kind of ab-rollin

Had to happen. You just don't do 100 L-sit pull-ups and 100 kneeling roll-outs and expect not to experience even a little DOMS. It doesn't even matter if you space out the sets with long rests (OK, maybe a little). The DOMS is still gonna get you. . . so I'm discovering.

There were time when I worked my abs so intensely that a cough or a sneeze would hurt as much as a switchblade stuck into your pancreas. It doesn't hurt that much. One thing that helps mitigate the pain is that I did space out the sets with long rest periods. The other thing is SMR (self-myofascial release). Did you know you can roll-out sore abdominal muscles? Yes you can. Place your trusty lacrosse ball on the floor, lay your sore belly on top and roll. Collect some minutes ungluing your ab business. I also noticed some soreness in the forearm extensors. Direct pressure with the Knobble on this area brought relief.

1-3-11

-10 minutes of db (2x24.7 kg) squat cleans

I was reading on Ross Training about a 100 rep, 1/2 bodyweight Steve Reeves squat challenge. It turns out some beastly folks can easily do this in less than 10 minutes. Yikes. Well, the load I chose was 3/4 bodyweight and I did squat cleans instead of squats. I also didn't get anywhere near 100 reps in 10 minutes (36). I am toast. The no-mas-ometer reads 3.7.

helloooo, anyone there?

It's been quiet here and I apologize for that. It's just that with family over for the holidays, and the house just filled with warm bodies, air mattresses, packages, and a large Douglas fir there was little space and time left over to train much less post about not training.

What I did was shop, wrap presents, cook, eat, drink, watch movies, and walk in a blizzard. This activity did burn some calories, no doubt. I was pretty certain that the calories consumed exceeded the calories expended. There was the osso bucco (actually, ox tail bucco as veal shanks were unavailable), Patsy's pizza, coq au vin, assorted cheeses including the infamous tetilla, Austrian sweets, sushi, Chinese dumplings. It was at least a week of decadent eating. Each dish deserves a blog of its own.

With all that eating and no exercise, I was prepared for an immodest weight gain. Actually, I was looking forward to it. Nothing. I am lousy at bulking. I did notice a dramatic loss in conditioning when I attempted to do 30 minutes of db clean & press burpees on the last day of the year.

12-31-10

-set the kitchen timer for 30 minutes

-db (2x24.7 kg) c&p burpees

I found this work-out grueling. For the first ten reps I incorporated squat cleans (where I caught the db's in a deep stance and stood up with the db's racked). The remaining 55 reps were done utilizing a hang power clean to get the weight up to my shoulders. The no-mas-ometer read 4.1.

1-1-11

-25x4 L-sit pull-ups

-10x10 kneeling roll-outs

This was a low intensity density training day. My intention was volume without pain. No pain, no gain, NOT? We'll see. No-mas-ometer read 2.0

1-2-11

-set kitchen timer for 5 minutes, db (2x24.7 kg) hang cleans w/5 kg backpack (20 reps)

-db frog stands (12x10 secs)

This workout took about 7 minutes. The hang cleans were brutal. I couldn't keep up the pace I had started out with. The frog stands are new and add a bit of isometrics to the workout. The no-mas-ometer reads 3.3

It's a gas, gas, gas

Same but different stuff today. The first part of the workout consisted of hang clean thrusters: 10 minutes; 3 reps on the minute; 2x24kg dbs + 5kgs in a backpack. I didn't want to use heavier db's because of the touchy shoulders, so the extra weight in a back-pack seemed like the thing to do. If I had a weight vest, I would have used it instead. I think I can add more weight to the back pack next time.

The next thing I did was 500 hundred jumping jacks. I have never in my life done this many jumping jacks but after reading about somebody else incorporating 500 jj's in their training, I thought I'd give it a try too. They're just the thing to build up the soft tissue in my lower legs and feet. Now, 500 jumping jacks did not get me wheezing like 500 burpees might, but I did experience some slight cramping. My calves and quads are just a little tingly now. I'll be using the Stick and lacrosse balls to unglue some bidnez tonight.

Shiju-kata

I spent the weekend working on my shiju-kata. For my karate pals out there, no, it's not a martial dance with hidden deadly technique. Shiju (40) and kata (shoulder) is a Japanese term referring to shoulder immobility characteristic of desk-bound types in their 40's. My shiju-kata presents itself as an inability to touch fingertips of opposite hands when one arm is raised above shoulder level, elbow bent, hand behind the head, while the other arm reaches up from behind. In truth, I had poor shoulder mobility long before I hit my 40's. It's only now that I am trying to address it.

One of the things I'm doing to combat shiju-kata is to raise one forearm behind my back with the aid of nylon webbing. The webbing loops around the wrist and drapes towards the front of the opposite shoulder. Pull down on the free end. You need to do this move while seated in a chair. With the arm raise in this position, lean into the chair back and enjoy the pain.

12-13-10 (more density training)

-15 minutes of squat-clean press and weighted pull-ups

-2 reps of each per minute

The no-mas-ometer reads 3.8. Ouch.

My lower back fatigued before I could get to 20 minutes. I stopped at the 15 minute mark rather than risk injury. You can bet I'll be hitting the lacrosse balls for recovery.

fair trade

I was thinking of the cultural largesse we receive from Japan in the form of Karate, Nintendo, Godzilla and anime, and felt slightly embarrassed with what we gave in return-PlanetHollywood? Pft! Today I can raise my head in pride. Japan, we give you, Hooters!

http://www.slate.com/id/2276982/

Coming off a cold, which put me out of commission for a few days, I wanted to ease back into training. Since one of my goals is to increase my capacity for thrusters and pull-ups (Fran), I thought I'd do a little bit of density training today. You know, ease into it.

12-10-10

-Set the kitchen timer for 20 minutes

-2 Frankensteins(2x24.7 kgs), 2 weighted pull-ups (24 kgs) on the minute

For the first 10 minutes, it looked like I would stick to the pace. I didn't notice a slackening of the pace until I looked at the remaining time and realized I was working at half the previous work rate. Cleaning and squatting the db's seemed to be my sticking point. Pressing the db's hardly was an issue-no leg drive, strict presses. The pull-ups were sloppy but complete. In the end I completed 30 reps of Frankensteins and weighted pull-ups.

Not the ease-back-into-it routine I envisioned, but it's good to be back. The no-mas-ometer reads 3.8. No mas. No mas.

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