11/30/2010

I got about 8 1/2 hour of sleep and I felt great when I woke up. I wasn't as sore as I thought I'd be from the heavy clean and jerks yesterday. I wasn't really sore at all. Anyway, the WOD today wasn't too taxing. It was:

5-5-5-5-5 on back squat. I ended up at 295 for my last set. I've never done that many repetitions with 295 before. It felt good, I haven't done a one rep max in a long time on squat; I'm looking forward to finding where my 1 rep is at.

The WOD was:

10,9,8,7...1 of

Burpees
Rope Slams
Hallow Rocks
Jump Squats

My time was 7.52. The fastest on the board so far that day. It was a quick workout, I didn't feel at all gassed at any time during the workout. I'm so used to having heavy weights in my WODs that this was great to just do body weight stuff. It was nice conditioning; it made me excited for getting closer to the games when I get to start doing conditioning everyday. I miss being extremely conditioned. I'm extremely excited for tomorrow's workout, it's going to be intense.

Meal 1 - Whey (12g), Flax (8g), 1/2 Banana

Meal 2 - Whey (27g), Flax (8g), 1/2 Banana, 1 Slice Whole Wheat Bread, 1 tbsp Peanut Butter, 1 tbsp Beta-alanine, 1 tbsp Creatine, 1 Multivitamin

Meal 3 - 1 Burger, 7 Olives

Meal 4 - 1 Burger, 1 cup Broccoli

Meal 5 - Whey (27g), 1 cup Milk

11/29/2010

I still felt a little bit crappy from Saturday. I just can't handle my hangovers like I used to. Anyway, I got in the gym and did a great workout. It was:

Split jerk 10,9,8,...1 rep with 1 round of 'Cindy' in between sets (5 pull-ups, 10 push-ups, 15 squats)

The split jerk weight started with 95 lbs and the last rep ended with 185. Each rep number was increased weight. This was a really good workout; I really like Olympic weightlifting. Although I'm very weak at it. Anyway, today was a great workout and I was happy to get my diet back in order after Thanksgiving.

Meal 1 - Whey (12g), Flax (6g), 1/2 Apple

Meal 2 - Whey (27g), 1/2 Apple, 1 Slice Whole Wheat Bread, 1 tbsp Peanut Butter, 1 cup Milk

Meal 3 - 2 Chicken Sausages, 12 Almonds

Meal 4 - 1 Burger, 2 Cups Broccoli, 1/2 cup Tomatoes

Meal 5 - Whey (27g), 1 cup Milk

11/28/2010

I ended up drinking more than I planned last night. I started drinking around 5 pm and I was out by 1030. Anyway, I was hungover today and did not feel well at all. This is the first time I've been hungover in over two months and I really hated today. I didn't really eat much today because my stomach was off. I tried to get a couple protein shakes down throughout the day though. Anyway, I won't be touching any alcohol again for a while.

11/27/2010

I got about 10 hours of sleep, which was much needed. I was excited for today's WOD and a little nervous. The WOD was:

'Nate' - AMR in 20 Minutes of:
2 Muscle-ups
4 Handstand Push-ups
8 KB Swings @ 70 lb

I was shooting for 10 or more rounds. The workout ended up not being timed because I was sharing 1 set of rings with 5 other people that couldn't do muscle ups consistently. Basically the majority of their attempts were missed and they were taking a really long time on the rings. So I ended up just working in when I could and I did a total of 15 rounds, probably in around 30 minutes. I really enjoyed this workout, the muscle-ups came easily today, the HSPU were more difficult for me.

Meal 1 - Whey (14g), Flax (6g), 1/2 Apple

Meal 2 - Whey (27g), 1 Slice Whole Wheat Bread, 1 tbsp Peanut Butter, 1 cup Milk, 1/2 Apple, 1 tbsp Beta-alanine, 1 tbsp Creatine, 1 Multivitamin

Meal 3 - Whey (27g), Casein (12g)

Meal 4 - 1 Chicken Pita and Beer

11/26/2010

I had really strange work hours today. I worked from 0430 to 1400. I didn't get much sleep, a little under 5 hours. Today was a rest day and I got a 2 hour nap in the afternoon.

Meal 1 - Whey (27g), Flax (12g), 1 Plumb

Meal 2 - 1 Turkey Sandwhich

Meal 3 - 2 Chicken Sausages, 1 cup Milk

Meal 4 - 1 Steak, 2 cups Broccoli

11/25/2010

Slept a little under 7 hours; felt great when I woke up. I look and feel really lean, it feels awesome. Got in the gym at 0900. It was a little hectic because it was Thanksgiving. There were a ton of people in the gym, most doing the 'Filthy Fifty.' I was still on schedule with my workouts; it was a little awkward to get space to workout. I didn't have room to do 'Annie' again; I'll do it Saturday morning if the gym isn't too packed. Anyway, the WOD was:

Every minute on the minute pull-ups (max at 20 rounds).
I wanted to get 15-20, I haven't ever tried this. Considering I don't have very good butterfly pull-ups 20 was an impossibility. I got to 15. On the 16th minute I ripped my hand bad and threw in the towel. I probably could have finished the minute and maybe even gotten 17 rounds. Once I fully master the butterfly I'd like to try this again. Got a nice pump from this session.

After about 4-5 minutes of rest I did some wall-balls. With a partner we did 10 and rested during the other person's set. It took about 11 minutes for a total of 150 reps each. It was a nice way to get the heart rate up. This week was a lot less taxing on my body, I'm looking forward to an easy run tomorrow and for the muscle-ups on Saturday.

Meal 1 - Whey (14g), Flax (6g), 1/2 Apple

Meal 2 - Whey (27g), 1 Slice Whole Wheat Bread, 1 tbsp Peanut Butter, 1 cup Milk, 1/2 Apple, 1 tbsp Beta-alanine, 1 tbsp Creatine, 1 Multivitamin

Meal 3 - 2 Chicken Sausages, 12 Almonds, 30 Grapes

Meal 4 - Whey (27g), Casein (12g), Flax (12g)

Meal 5 - Traditional Thanksgiving Dinner :)

11/24/2010

I slept in and ended up getting about 9 hours of sleep. I felt good when I woke up and I felt awesome in the gym. The workout today was:

For time:

100 x 45 lb KB Snatches (50r/50l) - This felt good aside from my calluses; especially on my right hand. My muscles weren't extremely fatigued from the movement, just my calluses hurt extremely bad. I broke it into four sets of 25.

Rest a few minutes then:

For time: 'Annie'

50,40,30,20,10 Double unders and sit-ups

My time for Annie was a little over 12 minutes. I was disappointed with this time, but the double unders didn't go very well today. The most I got consecutively at any given point was 13. I worked on double unders for about 45 minutes after the workout. I ended up getting 32 in a row after a little practice in the mirror. They came a lot easier after the practice, I'm going to do the workout again tomorrow to see if I can get under 10 minutes.

Meal 1 - Whey (12g), Flax (7g), 1/2 Apple

Meal 2 - Whey (27g), 1 Slice Whole Wheat, 1 tbsp Peanut Butter, 1 cup Milk, 1/2 Apple, 1 tbsp Creatine, 1 tbsp Beta-alanine, 1 Multivitamin

Meal 3 - 4 Eggs, 1 cup Broccoli, Green Onions, 1/3 cup Cheese, 1 cup Milk

Meal 4 - Whey (27g), Casein (12g), 1 Plumb, 20 Almonds

Meal 5 - 1 Steak, 1 cup Milk

11/23/2010

I felt decent when I woke up this morning. I was excited to train as my leg felt good. Despite the fact I felt great before the workout, I didn't feel that great during the workout. The WOD was:

'Linda'
10,9,8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1

Dead lift @ 275
Bench Press @ 165 (scaled, should have been 185)
Clean @ 135

The last time I did this workout (9/6/10) it was in 20.38, but the bench press and dead lifts were 265/155. I didn't time the workout today, but it was not close to 20.38. When I did this September I did it with a guy I consistently train with and we really pushed each other. I did this by myself today and did it at about 80% intensity. Considering my hamstring pull on Saturday I didn't want to play around with the dead lifts and cleans. I really noticed how aerobically fatigued I was on this workout. In September I remember blowing through the cleans like they were nothing; today they were the part that gassed me the most. I know I'll get my aerobic ability back with a little tapering toward competition, but its something I always like to have and it's a little frustrating to be in oxygen debt when lifting heavy weights, which usually doesn't happen when I'm doing a lot of intervals/hills/rowing etc.

I'm charging my camera due to the lack of pictures also. I'm going to start bringing in the gym with me. When I first started this blog I was getting a lot of pictures on the website, but I'm not getting any right now. Expect some more pictures.

Meal 1 - Whey (12g), Flax (6g), 1 Plumb

Meal 2 - Whey (27g), 2 Slices Whole Wheat Bread, 1 tbsp Peanut Butter, 1 cup Milk, 1 Plumb, 1 tsp Beta-alanine, 1 tbsp Creatine, 1 Multivitamin

Meal 3 - Chicken Breast, 1 cup Broccoli, 7 Olives

Meal 4 - 2 Chicken Sausages, 1 Slice Whole Wheat Bread, 1 cup Milk

Meal 5 - 2 Chicken Sausages, 20 Grapes, Fiber Shake

11/22/2010

I was pretty much ready to go today, but my hamstring still felt a little off so I didn't train at all. I thought the extra day of rest was the safe thing to do and I'm glad I took the extra day.

Meal 1 - Whey (27g), Flax (12g), 1 Plumb

Meal 2 - 1 Chicken Breast, 1 cup Broccoli, 1/2 cup Carrots

Meal 3 - 3 Chicken Sausages, 7 Olives, 1 Banana, 1 tbsp Peanut Butter, 1 cup Milk

Meal 4 - 2 Chicken Sausages, 1 cup Milk

11/21/2010

Took today as complete rest, as Sunday usually is. My hamstring felt tight today. I'm definitely not happy about that. My meals were strange today. I slept in and went to sleep super early. (woke up 9 am, asleep by 8:30 pm). Thus I didn't take in that many meals.

Meal 1 - Whey (27g), Flax (12g), 1 Plumb

Meal 2 - 2 Chicken Sausages, 1 Slice Whole Wheat Bread, 1 tbsp Peanut Butter, 1 cup Milk

Meal 3 - 1 Chicken Breast, 2 cups Broccoli, 1 Banana, 1 tbsp Peanut Butter, 1 cup Milk

11/20/2010

I was going to do Olympic Lifting today; the workout was already planned. I was fully recovered in my entire body aside from my groin muscles that were still tight from the squats on Tuesday. As I was going through a thorough warm up I pulled my left hamstring/groin muscle while doing wall-balls while in the full depth of a squat. This was extremely frustrating; I can't remember the last time I was this sore, but I figured I could still train through it. I had never lifted such heavy weight for such volume and it caught up with me. I'm always the person that attempts to push my workouts a little much; sometimes to my downfall. I was extremely pissed I couldn't do the Olympic lifting; or anything involving my legs for that matter. Here is a quote I wrote in the summer of 2009 when I pulled my hamstring; it left me out of the gym for 4-5 weeks:

"Planning is essential to success. Adversity strains individual plans. The deconstruction of these plans promotes negative attitudes. Reconstruction of plans under adversity to stay consistent with individual goals is a vital, if not the most vital, element of a training plan I’ve encountered. Adversity creates an environment where a change must take place. This change may vary in degree, but a change happens nonetheless. When an individual has been consistently working toward a goal, an adverse challenge can create intense emotional stress on the individual. Considering these feelings of frustration, depression, loss of self-worth etc all because of inability to train consistent with the implemented plan, what makes an athlete successful is his ability to continue to stay consistent with his goals despite adversity and the stressful situations and environments adversity creates and promotes. Thus change of a program, rest, diet etc can all be successfully altered to stay consistent with a goal, despite adversity, injury etc. It is adhering to your goals, no matter the stress or strain, that creates character and successful people."

To say the least, being out of the gym for 4-5 weeks left me extremely stressed/depressed/unhappy. I ended up writing this paragraph out as a response to those feelings. I really hope this injury does not keep me from training my legs for very long. But nonetheless I will adapt and work whatever I can around this injury.

Considering I could barely move my left leg I decided to at least get some kind of upper body workout in today. The workout I made up was:

Press 3 x 5 @ 135

Dead Hang Pull-ups and Ring Dips: 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9 (on the minute every minute) followed immediately by:

Kipping Pull-ups and Bar Dips: 8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1 (for time)

After about 5 minutes rest:

50,40,30,20,10 Push-ups with ~60 seconds rest between sets.

This workout ended up being a nice challenge. I got a nice pump, the pull-ups felt extremely easy.

Overall a frustrating day, I really hate being injured.

Meal 1 - Whey (27g), Flax (12g), 1 Banana

Meal 2 - Whey (27g), 1 Plumb, 1 Slice Whole Wheat Bread , 1 tbsp Peanut Butter, 1 cup Milk

Meal 3 - 3 Chicken Sausages, 7 Olives

Meal 4 - 3 Chicken Sausages, 1 tbsp Peanut Butter, 1 Banana, 1 cup Milk

11/19/2010

Slept about 9 hours. I was still extremely sore when I woke up; so I put the Olympic lifting off until tomorrow. I took an entire rest day. It felt good and was much needed. I didn't have much protein in the house aside from chicken sausages; its better than just having whey protein all day, but still less than ideal.

Meal 1 - Whey (27g), Flax (8g), 1 Plumb

Meal 2 - 2 Chicken Sausages, 1 Banana, 1 tbsp Peanut Butter, 1 cup Milk

Meal 3 - 3 Chicken Sausages, 7 Olives

Meal 4 - 3 Chicken Sausages, 1 cup Milk

11/18/2010

Slept 8 hours, woke up extremely sore in my legs. I wanted to get some active recovery today. Ended up going for a 37 minute run in the foothills this morning. It was a decent run, nice and slow, it felt good to be out running. I haven't been running as much as I'm used to lately, so I like to get some in as active recovery each week. Overall felt decent, aside from the extreme soreness in my legs throughout the entire run and day. I'm not sure tomorrow's Olympic lifting is going to go well while I'm this sore. We'll see.

Meal 1 - Whey (27g), Flax (12g), 6 Strawberries, 1 cup Milk

Meal 2 - 1 cup Whole Wheat Pasta, 1 Steak, 1 Satsuma

Meal 3 - 2 cups Broccoli, 1 Steak, 1 Banana, 1 tbsp Peanut Butter, 1 cup Milk

Meal 4 - 3 Chicken Sausages, 1 cup Milk

11/17/2010

I got a little over six hours of sleep. I got in the gym early (0600) due to work related stuff. I felt awesome, albeit extremely sore in my upper and lower body. The workout was a complete strength day, as basically this entire week has been so far.

50 Chest to Bar Pull-ups (30,15,5)

Distance for 50 row strokes, using arms only with legs locked out.

One arm dumbbell row drops sets: 90, 60, 45. 10 reps each weight, for three sets continuous

Dumbbell bicep curls: 50, 35, 25. 10 reps each weight, for three sets continuous

50 GHD back extensions (25,25)

I got 30 pull-ups on the first set, this is the most I've ever done. I might have had a few more in me. I'll try for a few more next time. On the row I got 465 meters, 100 more than anyone else I was training with. I'll be interested to see if anyone beats me. This was surprisingly extremely difficult. The drop sets were killer, definitely not traditional crossfit, but they were awesome. The GHD extensions were rough after yesterday's leg workout. Overall I really liked the workout today was pleased with my performance. I'm looking forward to rest tomorrow and for Friday's Olympic moves. I took a short nap today, I woke up around 5 pm. When I woke up from that nap I was more sore in my entire body than I have been in a long time. This soreness is insane, I'm eating a lot more carbohydrates and calories than I usually would, but I need to recovery from these workouts and grow stronger.

Meal 1 - Whey (13g), Flax (6g), 1/2 Banana

Meal 2 - Whey (27g), 2 Slices Whole Wheat Bread, 1 tbsp Peanut Butter, 1 cup Milk, 1/2 Banana, 1 tbsp Beta-alanine, 1 tbsp Creatine, Multivitamin

Meal 3 - 1 Cup Whole Wheat Pasta, 1 Hamburger, 1 Plumb

Meal 4 - 1 Cup Whole Wheat Pasta, 1 Slice Whole Wheat Bread, 1 Hamburger, 1 Banana, 1 tbsp Peanut Butter

Meal 5 - 3 Chicken Sausages, Fiber Shake

11/16/2010

I slept about 9 hours last night; felt average when I woke up. My chest was extremely sore, my shoulders somewhat. I was frustrated with my sub-par performance yesterday, so I really wanted to do well on today's workout.

5 x 5 @ 275 lb Back Squat
5 x 5 @ 205 lb Front Squat
5 x 5 @ 205 lb Romanian Dead Lift
5 x 5 @ 50 lb Dumbbell Lunges

Followed by double under work. This was a really comprehensive leg workout, I was exhausted afterward. The 275/205 squats back to back were challenging. I'm not really progressing much on my double unders, I really need to work on them. I'm sure my legs are going to be sore tomorrow; but I'm looking forward to tomorrow's workout.

Meal 1 - Whey (13g), Flax (6g), 1/2 Banana

Meal 2 - Whey (40g), 1/2 Banana, 2 Slices Whole Wheat Bread, 1 tbsp Peanut Butter, 2 cups Milk

Meal 3 - 2 Chicken Sausages, 5 Strawberries

Meal 4 - 1 Hamburger, 2 cups Whole Wheat Pasta, 1 cup Milk, 20 Grapes

Meal 5 - 3 Chicken Sausages, 1/2 cup Whole Wheat Pasta, Fiber Shake

11/15/2010

I slept about 8 hours; I felt rested and awesome when I woke up. Feeling as good as I did I was ready for anything. Today was a grueling chest workout that completely kicked my ass. It was as follows:

Not for time:
5 x 8 Dumbbell Press @ 70 lbs (rest is partner's set)
10,9,8,7... 1 Ring Dips (rest is partner's set)
100 Push-ups with 200 m run in between failures (my sets: 25,20,15,20,20)
100 PVC Paralet Dips with feet elevated (4 x 25)
50 Knees to Elbows (35, 15)

Played around with a weighted vest afterward, did some dips on bars and pull-ups. The guy I consistently train with worked me back and forth on this workout. He beat me on literally every exercise beside knees to elbows. The ring dips were terrible, the push-ups were ridiculously hard after the previous exercises. This was an extremely discouraging workout, especially considering how awesome I felt beforehand. My chest/pressing is just not my strong suit at this point; I can already tell I'm going to extremely sore tomorrow. I'm looking forward to tomorrows leg workout.

Meal 1 - Whey (12g), Flax (6g) (I straight up forgot to eat fruit this morning before my workout)

Meal 2 - Surge Recovery, Whey (12g) (about 40g protein / 60g carbs)

Meal 3 - 4 Eggs, 1 Slice Whole Wheat Bread, 1/3 cup Cheese, Green Onions, Pepperoncinis,

Meal 4 - 3 Chicken Sausages, 1 Cup Milk

Meal 5 - 1 Chicken Breast, 1 Bell Pepper, 2 Cups Broccoli

Meal 6 - 3 Chicken Sausages, 1 Cup Milk

11/14/2010

Slept about 12 hours; which was much needed rest. I was considering active recovery today, but ended up just taking complete rest. I felt like my body needed a couple days off. Cut back the calories and had an enjoyable day, excited for the training this week.

Meal 1 - Whey (27g), Flax (6g), 1 Plumb

Meal 2 - 2 Chicken Sausages, 2 Slices Whole Wheat Bread, 1/3 cup Cheese, Turkey

Meal 3 - 1 Chicken Breast, 1 Bell Pepper, 2 Cups Broccoli

Meal 4 - 2 Chicken Sausages, 7 Olives

11/13/2010

Slept about 7 1/2 hours. Did not feel well when I woke up (a little dehydrated/hungover). I typically don't drink often because of how conflicting it is to making athletic progress; this was an isolated incident and I made sure not to drink too much. Anyway, today was a much needed rest day.

Meal 1 - 2 Chicken Sausages, 1 Banana, 1 tbsp Peanut Butter, 1 cup Milk

Meal 2 - 2 Slices Whole Wheat Bread, Turkey, 1/3 cup Cheese

Meal 3 - 2 Chicken Sausages, 1 plumb, 20 Grapes, 12 Almonds

Meal 4 - 1 Steak, 2 cups Broccoli, Fiber Shake

11/12/2010

Had to wake up early today, so I got about 7 hours of sleep. I felt pretty good when I woke up; not too tired from the workout yesterday. I had to get in the gym early for work reasons, so I got in the gym around 0600. The workout was awesome; it was as follows:

With a 115lb barbell as many rounds and reps in 5 minutes of:

1. Power Cleans x 5, Burpees x 10
2. Front Squat x 5, Push-ups x 10
3. Push-press x 5, Pull-ups x 10
4. Thrusters x 5, Ring-dips x 10
5. Snatch x 5, Box-jumps x 10

There was 2 minutes rest between each couplet. My rounds were as follows:

5,7,5, 3 and 5 thrusters, 2.

The thrusters/ring dips were extremely difficult; going right in to the full snatch afterward felt impossible. I literally missed my first snatch rep. I really pushed through and did power snatches and overhead squats for some of the reps. This workout was an awesome full body workout and I had almost nothing left at the end. I need to do overhead squats and snatches every week; despite the fact I've drastically improved them, they are my largest athletic deficiency.

Meal 1 - Whey (12g), Flax (6G), 1/2 Banana

Meal 2 - Whey (27g), 1/2 Banana, 1 Slice Whole Wheat Bread, 1 cup Milk, 1 tbsp Peanut Butter, 1 tbsp Creatine, 1 tbsp Beta-alanine, Multivitamin

Meal 3 - 3 Chicken Sausages, 1 Banana, 1 cup Milk, 1 tbsp Peanut Butter

Meal 4 - Whey (27g), Casein (12g), Flax (6g)

Meal 5 - 4 Eggs

Meal 6 - 2 Chicken Sausages

**Went out drinking, got to sleep about 2 AM. I don't know exactly how many beers I had, but not too many.

11/11/2010

Slept in today; got about 10 hours of sleep which was awesome. I felt a little tired when I woke up. I originally was not really planning on training today, it was going to be complete rest. But I felt decent in the afternoon and went out for a recovery/fartlek run. Total running time of 46:00 minutes. After a 10 minute warm-up I did 1,1,2,2,1,1 minutes of 80-90% efforts with the same amount of time as recovery. After the last interval I had about 15 more minutes to cool-down. It was a great workout, not too taxing at all and it felt great to run fast.

I had a slight slip up in my diet, I ate some regular (non-whole wheat) bread, a little cheese and salami today. It was an Italian sandwhich at a work meeting; there's a million worse things I could have eaten, but it was a divergence from my goals nonetheless and I need to be accountable about such things.

Meal 1 - 2 Chicken Sausages, 1 Banana, 1 tbsp Peanut Butter, 1 cup Milk

Meal 2 - Italian Sandwhich (cheese, salami, tomatoes, bread)

Meal 3 - Whey (27g), Flax (6g), 1 Banana, 1 Plumb, 1 cup Milk

Meal 4 - 1 Burger, 1 cup Broccoli, 1/2 Bell Pepper