Not sure what to title this one yet, maybe something will come to me as I go; it promises to be a bear though.
Workout:
1 mile run
75 pull-ups
125 push-ups
175 squats
1 mile run
For time.
I jacked this workout from crossfit.com, but I admittedly cut it nearly in half from the original 100 pull-ups, 200 push-ups, and 300 squats. I'm not up at that level yet, but it's good to have goals.
Time: 59:10
Whoa. Whoa. That was brutal. My hands are still shaking. That's a whale of a workout, and since I listened to almost all of Led Zeppelin II while struggling through the pullups/pushups/squats, I christen this thing Moby Dick. I broke up the pull-ups and push-ups by doing 25 squats here an there. the pull-ups were killer, I probably had to do negatives for half of them, but hopefully I get better as a result.
Saturday, August 30, 2008
Friday, August 29, 2008
8/28/08
Apollo Creed:
Warm-up
5 rounds for time of:
20 single leg squats (10 per leg)
10 Box Jumps
10 Shoulder Presses (60#)
Yee-haw.
Today's Time: 15:33
Slaughtered my previous time of 19:56, with heavier presses even.
Warm-up
5 rounds for time of:
20 single leg squats (10 per leg)
10 Box Jumps
10 Shoulder Presses (60#)
Yee-haw.
Today's Time: 15:33
Slaughtered my previous time of 19:56, with heavier presses even.
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
8/26/08: Mason Dixon
I've did this workout a couple of weeks ago as a light gap filler, but after some input from Jayson at nevergetsoft.blogspot.com, I've adapted it and worked it into the regular line-up.
Warm up: 5 min light to moderate cardio, light shoulder presses, 15 'air squats'
Workout:
4x10 Reps Deadlift, 195#. Rest for 120 sec. in between sets.
4x10 Shoulder Press, 60#. Rest for 120 sec. in between sets.
Strenuous ab workout of your choice.
Run 20 min.
This is a good strength workout, the challenge being to perform the workout once every two weeks, adding 5# to the shoulder press and 10# to the deadlift each time.
Warm up: 5 min light to moderate cardio, light shoulder presses, 15 'air squats'
Workout:
4x10 Reps Deadlift, 195#. Rest for 120 sec. in between sets.
4x10 Shoulder Press, 60#. Rest for 120 sec. in between sets.
Strenuous ab workout of your choice.
Run 20 min.
This is a good strength workout, the challenge being to perform the workout once every two weeks, adding 5# to the shoulder press and 10# to the deadlift each time.
Monday, August 25, 2008
Getting My Oil Changed
The bloodmobile was at our school today, so I took the opportunity to donate (and get free food). As usual I was completed fascinated by the proceedings, including the accidental blood squirtage I achieved when she stuck me with the needle. Gross, I know, but I think this stuff is cool, so bear with me. I also asked the nurse if their were any known health benefits to the occasional bloodletting; she responded in the affirmative by comparing donating blood to getting a cars oil changed.
This confirmed my previous suspicion that similar to muscles, lungs, etc., other body elements such as your kidneys can benefit by being forced to work a little overtime now and then. I'm not sure how long an individual blood cell lives in the body, but it can't hurt to let some of the old ones go every now and then in order to make room for some fresh ones.
This confirmed my previous suspicion that similar to muscles, lungs, etc., other body elements such as your kidneys can benefit by being forced to work a little overtime now and then. I'm not sure how long an individual blood cell lives in the body, but it can't hurt to let some of the old ones go every now and then in order to make room for some fresh ones.
8/25/08
Today's Workout Plan:
Do as many rounds in 20 minutes as you can of:
5 pullups
10 pushups
15 body-weight or 'air' squats.
20 minute run.
Nick's Rounds: 8
I'm trying to switch to working out in the morning at least two or three times a week. It's not something I'm used to, so I think that's why I declined from my typical 9 rounds. I did feel as strong in the pullups and pushups as ever, I was just moving a little slowly at the start.
Do as many rounds in 20 minutes as you can of:
5 pullups
10 pushups
15 body-weight or 'air' squats.
20 minute run.
Nick's Rounds: 8
I'm trying to switch to working out in the morning at least two or three times a week. It's not something I'm used to, so I think that's why I declined from my typical 9 rounds. I did feel as strong in the pullups and pushups as ever, I was just moving a little slowly at the start.
Friday, August 22, 2008
A different approach to training
I've been carefully nurturing a nice little Bhut Jolokia bush on my deck for the last three months. For those who don't know, the Bhut Jolokia is the world's hottest pepper plant. Twice as hot as your garden-variety Habanero or Scotch Bonnet pepper. Mine are almost ripe.
To prepare for the test of eating them, I've been consuming a whole Habanero every-other night for the past two weeks, sans water or any other thirst quencher. My taste buds have acclimated; alas, my digestive track has not.
Anyway, I promise some video of me eating the first pepper, it should be entertaining.
To prepare for the test of eating them, I've been consuming a whole Habanero every-other night for the past two weeks, sans water or any other thirst quencher. My taste buds have acclimated; alas, my digestive track has not.
Anyway, I promise some video of me eating the first pepper, it should be entertaining.
Today
Comfortably uninspiring. Just went to the gym and made this up as I went, didn't feel like putting too much thought into it.
Warm up: The usual cardio and light weights.
Workout:
4 sets x 10 reps of close-grip bench press
Alternates with:
4 set x 10 reps bent-over rows
Switch to:
4 sets x 8 reps military press
Alternate with
4 sets x 8 reps of wide-grip chin-ups.
I've been dealing with what I think is an infection of the fluid in my knee. It's almost better now, but I've been living easy this past week. Still managed to play volleyball and softball though. Dumbass.
Warm up: The usual cardio and light weights.
Workout:
4 sets x 10 reps of close-grip bench press
Alternates with:
4 set x 10 reps bent-over rows
Switch to:
4 sets x 8 reps military press
Alternate with
4 sets x 8 reps of wide-grip chin-ups.
I've been dealing with what I think is an infection of the fluid in my knee. It's almost better now, but I've been living easy this past week. Still managed to play volleyball and softball though. Dumbass.
Monday, August 18, 2008
8/18/08
Homebrew:
Because I don't feel like heading to the gym.
5 rounds for time of-
20 pushups
10 pullups
Thank god for rafter beams.
Nick's Time: 22:24. It was a tough fight, I definitely wasn't feeling it today. But I finished.
Because I don't feel like heading to the gym.
5 rounds for time of-
20 pushups
10 pullups
Thank god for rafter beams.
Nick's Time: 22:24. It was a tough fight, I definitely wasn't feeling it today. But I finished.
Friday, August 15, 2008
Take it easy
I hate The Eagles.
Anyway, this workout was fairly relaxed, I''m still a little wiped from a tough week last week, and a busy work schedule this week. I did want to get in to the gym and start tuning it back up again, so here's today's action:
Warmup - moderate cardio, light squats, bent over rows, and push presses.
Workout-
Deadlift - 4x10x185#
Push Press 4x10x70#
Not too tought, the presses got to a fairly taxing level, and the deadlifts started to burn pretty good at the end. Just enough to start getting the body back into work mode.
Anyway, this workout was fairly relaxed, I''m still a little wiped from a tough week last week, and a busy work schedule this week. I did want to get in to the gym and start tuning it back up again, so here's today's action:
Warmup - moderate cardio, light squats, bent over rows, and push presses.
Workout-
Deadlift - 4x10x185#
Push Press 4x10x70#
Not too tought, the presses got to a fairly taxing level, and the deadlifts started to burn pretty good at the end. Just enough to start getting the body back into work mode.
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
A Little Beat Up
I'm a little beat up (or down) from an arduous week of training and playing last week, including 5 hours of softball on Sunday afternoon, followed by two hours of sand v-ball on Sunday evening. I'm doing a little recoup for a couple of days while attending the Will Steger Foundation's Summer Educator's Institute for Climate Change Research. I did get to meet the intrepid and renowned explorer himself. I was surprised by the fact that he's maybe 5'9'' and about 140lbs, but as they say, big things come in small packages. The guy is pretty amazing. I'm hoping to get a post together on the 7,000 calorie per day nutrition plan that these arctic explorers adhere to while on the ice.
Monday, August 11, 2008
Monday 8/11/08
For Today:
Warm-up - 5 minutes light to medium cardio, low weight bench press, assisted or negative pull-ups. Until you're warm, duh.
Workout:
5 rounds of 10 rep benchpress at as close to bodyweight as you can handle.
Alternate with 5 rounds of pull-ups.
You want to push yourself; it's okay if you take a break midway through a set, but you should be able to get through the first couple rounds without breaking, and if you need more than one break, you should scale it back a tad next time. Or not, I'm not the boss of you. On the pullups, if you need to take more than one break, you can finish with negatives (jump into the 'up' position and then slowly lower yourself back to starting.
Oh yeah, this is timed.
Nick's Time: 18:48. A little slow, but it was a long day and I'm beat up from a physical week.
I switched from the bar bench to dumbbells, just for variety. It's a good idea to rotate between bilateral movements (olympic bar) and unilateral movements (dumbbells) every now and then. More on this in a later post.
Warm-up - 5 minutes light to medium cardio, low weight bench press, assisted or negative pull-ups. Until you're warm, duh.
Workout:
5 rounds of 10 rep benchpress at as close to bodyweight as you can handle.
Alternate with 5 rounds of pull-ups.
You want to push yourself; it's okay if you take a break midway through a set, but you should be able to get through the first couple rounds without breaking, and if you need more than one break, you should scale it back a tad next time. Or not, I'm not the boss of you. On the pullups, if you need to take more than one break, you can finish with negatives (jump into the 'up' position and then slowly lower yourself back to starting.
Oh yeah, this is timed.
Nick's Time: 18:48. A little slow, but it was a long day and I'm beat up from a physical week.
I switched from the bar bench to dumbbells, just for variety. It's a good idea to rotate between bilateral movements (olympic bar) and unilateral movements (dumbbells) every now and then. More on this in a later post.
Sunday, August 10, 2008
Today: Crossfit Total
The Crossfit Total is a good workout thought up by some folks at Crossfit, and makes a good test of overall strength. To find your total, you combine your one-rep maximum weight in the backsquat, deadlift, and shoulder press.
Warm up - 6 minutes of medium-light cardio.
Workout - Crossfit total.
1. Back squat: Start small and work your way up for some warmup reps. If you've never tried to 1-rep max a back squat, get to a weight you know you can do three times, and slowly build from there. After you're warmed up, you get to take the highest score of three attempts as your 1-rep max.
2. Deadlift: Same routine as the back squat, only deadlifting instead. You shouldn't need as much warmup here, since you just finished squats. Best of three 1RM attempts is your score.
3. Shoulder Press: Same drill, only with shoulder presses.
Add up your scores in all three to find your total.
Nick's Total: 600
220# squat + 275# deadlift + 105# shoulder press = 600. My near term goal is to hit 300 in the deadlift, 250 in the squat, and 130 at the shouders.
Warm up - 6 minutes of medium-light cardio.
Workout - Crossfit total.
1. Back squat: Start small and work your way up for some warmup reps. If you've never tried to 1-rep max a back squat, get to a weight you know you can do three times, and slowly build from there. After you're warmed up, you get to take the highest score of three attempts as your 1-rep max.
2. Deadlift: Same routine as the back squat, only deadlifting instead. You shouldn't need as much warmup here, since you just finished squats. Best of three 1RM attempts is your score.
3. Shoulder Press: Same drill, only with shoulder presses.
Add up your scores in all three to find your total.
Nick's Total: 600
220# squat + 275# deadlift + 105# shoulder press = 600. My near term goal is to hit 300 in the deadlift, 250 in the squat, and 130 at the shouders.
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
Today
Pretty Simple:
Run 5k. As fast as you can.
Nick's time: 27:56
I used my Nike ipod deal to figure my time and distance, so they might not be too accurate. When I tested it last summer was fairly close, but I have no way of telling for sure. Either way, I'd like to get my time on this down to 25:00 flat.
Run 5k. As fast as you can.
Nick's time: 27:56
I used my Nike ipod deal to figure my time and distance, so they might not be too accurate. When I tested it last summer was fairly close, but I have no way of telling for sure. Either way, I'd like to get my time on this down to 25:00 flat.
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
Ivan Drago
Ivan Drago (Back-squat count-up)
A revisit to the count-up style workout:
Warmup -
6 minutes of light to moderate cardio
10 squats w/bar
5 squats @ 95#
Workout -
The Drago is a count-up style workout. Set up a stopwatch somewhere near the rack where you can see it. Load the bar with 135#. Start the watch, when it gets to 1:00, do one squat. Rest. When it gets to 2:00, do two squats. Rest. Etc. Obviously, the higher the time, the more squats you do, the less rest you get. It gets tough fast, you'll truly feel like a Soviet killing machine when you're done. Or you'll feel like you just got your ass whooped by a puny American capitalist. Either way, it does the trick.
Nick's Effort: 9 (one better than last time, woo hoo!) I didn't even think about trying for ten. I basically ripped off 17 135# squats in a row, which is a lot of effort for my skinny legs.
A revisit to the count-up style workout:
Warmup -
6 minutes of light to moderate cardio
10 squats w/bar
5 squats @ 95#
Workout -
The Drago is a count-up style workout. Set up a stopwatch somewhere near the rack where you can see it. Load the bar with 135#. Start the watch, when it gets to 1:00, do one squat. Rest. When it gets to 2:00, do two squats. Rest. Etc. Obviously, the higher the time, the more squats you do, the less rest you get. It gets tough fast, you'll truly feel like a Soviet killing machine when you're done. Or you'll feel like you just got your ass whooped by a puny American capitalist. Either way, it does the trick.
Nick's Effort: 9 (one better than last time, woo hoo!) I didn't even think about trying for ten. I basically ripped off 17 135# squats in a row, which is a lot of effort for my skinny legs.
Monday, August 4, 2008
Clubber Lang, Round 2
To refresh the memory:
Warm up: light stretching
Exercise:
5 Pullups or Chin ups
10 Pushups
15 Squats
Do as many rounds as you can in 20 minutes.
Finish with 20 min run
Nick's Effort: 9 (again)
I really hit a wall after 8, the 9th is a real struggle, although I did finish with enough left on the clock this time to struggle through 4 more chin ups. Could be all the crappy food I ate this weekend. Well, it tasted good, but not so nutritious. On the run I busted out my Nike deal that goes with my ipod. Not sure how accurate, but it clocked my run at 2.12 miles in 20:15. Ouch. I know I'm long past the 5:30 miles of my Jr. High days, but that's really bad. Looks like more running for me.
Warm up: light stretching
Exercise:
5 Pullups or Chin ups
10 Pushups
15 Squats
Do as many rounds as you can in 20 minutes.
Finish with 20 min run
Nick's Effort: 9 (again)
I really hit a wall after 8, the 9th is a real struggle, although I did finish with enough left on the clock this time to struggle through 4 more chin ups. Could be all the crappy food I ate this weekend. Well, it tasted good, but not so nutritious. On the run I busted out my Nike deal that goes with my ipod. Not sure how accurate, but it clocked my run at 2.12 miles in 20:15. Ouch. I know I'm long past the 5:30 miles of my Jr. High days, but that's really bad. Looks like more running for me.
Monday Work Out- Something New
After feeling like crap all last week I am finally feeling better and not so sore. I must have had a cold or something.
For today I wanted to try something different. Taking some advice from the Crossfit website I put this together.
Pull ups, Dips, Sprints for time
Jog 200m- Slow pace- Warm up time
10 pull ups
10 dips
run 200m- Moderate pace
10 pull ups w/chair assistance
10 dips
run 200m- Moderate pace
10 pull ups w/chair assistance
10 dips
run 200m- Moderate pace
10 pull ups w/chair assistance
10 dips
run 200m- Fast pace
I did this in my garage and it is wicked hot and humid today. Just over 19 minutes. I would like to be able to more pull ups without having to use a chair to get to done. Pull ups are by far my weakest area so I am going to focus on that for the next 5 weeks. I want to be able to do 25 in a row.
For today I wanted to try something different. Taking some advice from the Crossfit website I put this together.
Pull ups, Dips, Sprints for time
Jog 200m- Slow pace- Warm up time
10 pull ups
10 dips
run 200m- Moderate pace
10 pull ups w/chair assistance
10 dips
run 200m- Moderate pace
10 pull ups w/chair assistance
10 dips
run 200m- Moderate pace
10 pull ups w/chair assistance
10 dips
run 200m- Fast pace
I did this in my garage and it is wicked hot and humid today. Just over 19 minutes. I would like to be able to more pull ups without having to use a chair to get to done. Pull ups are by far my weakest area so I am going to focus on that for the next 5 weeks. I want to be able to do 25 in a row.
Saturday, August 2, 2008
For Today
Fun for Today:
Warm-up:
5 minutes of moderate cardio
15 squats
15 shoulder presses with light dumb bells
Workout:
5 rounds for time of:
10 single-leg squats (10 per leg)
10 bench or box jumps
10 shoulder presses (as much weight as you can hit 10 times; you would ideally fail on #11)
Nick's Time: 19:25 with 55# shoulder presses.
I could have gotten away with 65# presses, but I was really trying to test the limits of my shoulder. Made it the whole way, no pain, no soreness, no problem. Next time I'll go 65#. Not sure what to label this workout. It's not Nietzsche hard, but definitely taxing. I just finished watching all 6 Rocky movies over the last 6 weeks or so, most of them for the first time. I'm a huge fan of the franchise now, (except for that lame dog Rocky V) so I think I'll start naming some workouts after Rocky characters. This lucky workout gets the moniker Apollo Creed.
Trust me, the Rocky Balboa is going to be painful once I invent it.
Warm-up:
5 minutes of moderate cardio
15 squats
15 shoulder presses with light dumb bells
Workout:
5 rounds for time of:
10 single-leg squats (10 per leg)
10 bench or box jumps
10 shoulder presses (as much weight as you can hit 10 times; you would ideally fail on #11)
Nick's Time: 19:25 with 55# shoulder presses.
I could have gotten away with 65# presses, but I was really trying to test the limits of my shoulder. Made it the whole way, no pain, no soreness, no problem. Next time I'll go 65#. Not sure what to label this workout. It's not Nietzsche hard, but definitely taxing. I just finished watching all 6 Rocky movies over the last 6 weeks or so, most of them for the first time. I'm a huge fan of the franchise now, (except for that lame dog Rocky V) so I think I'll start naming some workouts after Rocky characters. This lucky workout gets the moniker Apollo Creed.
Trust me, the Rocky Balboa is going to be painful once I invent it.
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