October 27, 2010

Clean and Press
28kg; 4(2, 3, 5)
15:50

Squats
BW
Goblet Squat 16kg; 4 x 2
Double Front Squats 20kg/20kg; 3 x 3
Emphasis was completely on technique.
15:00

Double Clean and Presses
3(16kg/16kg x 5, 20kg/20kg x 5, 24kg/20kg x 5)
ala DeLorme
18:00

@49 minute workout and I felt trashed and weak. What a wimp. I can’t even lift as much as a girl…then I took another look. The total pressing volume last time I pressed the 28kg was 10,248 lbs and it took me an hour and a half. The only other thing I did was horizontal pulls. When I took a look at tonight’s volume it was 12,800 lbs for just the pressing part. That’s a 25% increase in volume and I did it in a third of the time. No wonder I feel like jello.

Oh yeah, I walked the dog for a mile too.

A looong way to go

One Armed Clean and Jerks
28kg
8/8
(Crap maybe I'm not as strong as a girl. Of course she was lifting a lot closer to half her body weight.)

LCCJ
16kg/16kg
10 minutes
4 x (2,4,6)

Swings
20kg
7 minutes
7 x 10/10

I felt weak. Reasons could be the lay off. Today wasn't really a fast day, but it would be fair to say I was running on empty.

Am I as strong as....a girl?

Below is a video of one of the Ice Chamber Kettlebell Girls qualifying for Strongwoman LongCycle with the 28kg (at a body weight of 60kg!!). This is Grevoy Sport (GS) not the RKC Hard Style. There are stylistic differences, but I don't care this is still strong stuff. I'm currently working my cleans and presses with the 28kg. I am going to be the last person to throw stones.

So....why is this interesting to me? Well, although I like the RKC my one beef is that it's a pyramidal instructor system and I'm not interested in being an instructor. So what do I shoot for if I don't want to be an instructor? The only competitive event associated with RKC is the Tactical Strength Challenge.

What I'd wish for is a system of proving proficiency, not just qualifying to be an instructor. Kind of like earning a green belt, then on to the next. GS has just that. Now I don't intend on traveling to New York or San Francisco to compete and qualify for a ranking, nor am I going to peel away from Hard Style. I do like the idea of saying I've (roughly) achieved the equivalent of an S-44 in GS.

Today I guess I'll have to settle for saying I'm as strong as a girl.

Just when you think you’ve got it all figured out.

First:

Saw my trainer today. We worked on squats (‘cause I’ve got knee problems and I round my back in the hole) and breathing pattern’s during cleans and presses and squats (‘cause I’m having trouble staying tight and breathing). She always brings clarity to problems I’m having with technique. It’s nice to have that in a life otherwise filled with clutter. The kicker is that she said I should be working on doubles. Yes. I don’t question her judgment. In fact I see the wisdom. It’s just that I feel like I’m finally getting my programming and goals dialed in. Now it’s back to square one. I know wha, wha, wha…

Coming clean part II.
(See part one)

There are actually two parts to the 1* program. The second part is one lifestyle change each week(or every other week). I was thinking this week should be increasing my water intake. The purpose is to increase satiety and detoxification. According to one of the books I am reading (I got the lifestyle change idea from The Power of 4 by Paula Owens)I need about 17 cups of water a day. Yeah. That’s not happening. Then I was thinking that a better goal would be to get my butt out of bed and walk the dog on the mornings I don’t have my daughter. But then as I was thinking about it I came to the realization that a) Abby is a pain on the leash, and b) anybody she sees at 5:30 in the morning gets barked at.

I did find a good book on loose leash walking (My Dog Pulls. What Do I Do? by Turid Rugass). We started last night, and I think it’s going to work pretty well. The concept is to call the dog back when the leash gets tight, then rewarding the dog with positive feedback when the leash is loose, rather than negative reinforcement when it’s tight. It seems to be working, but if I’m picking up Abby’s vibe, it’s working for different reasons: Uno – it interrupts her sniffing and she doesn’t like that, and Dos – she has to walk twice as much coming back all the time. She still gets the point that loose is better.

Now I just have to find a good book on the barking aspect and we’re in business. Until then I’ll be increasing my water intake.

Training:

B/W Squat; 3 x 3
GS 20kg; 3 x 3

C&P 24kg/24kg; 5(2, 3, 5)
H. Pull 2 x 17
FSq 24kg/24kg 2 x 3

Working on breathing. Not sure, but I'm thinking I'm still fatigued from the lesson.
46:30 after GS’s.

10-Oct-10

Swings
16kg; 25 x 10/10
24:31
Fasted

I just wanted an easy practice today. It’s the third day in a week I’ve fasted; not because I’m being aggressive, but because I’m not sure how I’m going to get away with two days in the coming week. Tomorrow I have off and will be training heavy. Normally Mondays will be one of my two days, but I don’t think I can afford that tomorrow. I have lost some weight this week, but since next weekend will be some serious carb loading I think I’ll hold off in reporting the results. Just taking the long view.

7-Oct-10

TGU’s and Renegade Rows
TGU's
16kg
(3,3,3,2,1)
Rrows
16kg/16kg
5 x 3/3
28:00

Swings and Pushups
Swings
20kg
15 x 10/10
Pushups
15 x 7
Also 28:00

Still beat from yesterday, today was a struggle. Added the TGU's and rows to my swing workout. The TGU's weren't perfect, but they felt pretty strong. The goal for TGU's will be (5,4,3,2,1) for a total of 30 (15 each arm). Sticking with the slow progression and super sets seems to be effective for the short time I've been using it. Yesterday was also a personal best with the LCCJ for volume.

6-Oct-10

LCCJ
16kg/16kg
6(2,4,6,4)
supersetted with
Cheat Pull-ups
6x6
28:00

Took the dog for a mile drag.

Here’s the podcast I listened to while Abby and I were out: Superhumanradio.com - mini-fast-builds-muscle-and-burns-fat

Coming Clean.

The Scoundrel program 1* is actually, or rather one component is loosely, based on the book Eat, Stop, Eat.

I have for a long time now believed that there are health benefits associated with fasting; giving the body a break so to speak. The Eat, Stop, Eat program is a two times a week 24 hour fast. I like this philosophy because of the health benefits, but also because it’s easier than planning meals and percentages and weights. Granted it doesn’t really give me license to eat a pizza and several beers every other night. Let’s use some common sense here. But it is an easy and effective way to manage my weekly ‘caloric budget’. The biggest challenge to a fasting program though is to not over eat after breaking the fast. For instance, Monday was a fast day. The meal I had to break the fast was supper at 8:00: squash, nuked potato with cottage cheese, and steak. The steak would definitely be bigger than a fist full. I probably would have been fine there, but then I had two pudding cups, a yogurt, luckily no ice cream in the house, two cheese sticks, and a bowl of popcorn (shared with the dog because I value my life), and three glasses of whole milk. Hey, I’m a voracious eater. That’s what got me into this mess. Also, this was after an abbreviated workout which always makes me hungry. Over all not a great way to spend my ‘caloric budget’. I may have wound up with an overall net loss, but I probably could have done better if I practiced some greater self control.

Today is also a fast day. We’ll see if I can’t do better.

Announcing Scoundrel’s New Diet and Health Program – 1*

1* Program

Right. Welcome. It as simple as this, or as hard as this. One ass to risk (1*) is based on the objectives of a creating a weekly caloric deficit, a desire to lose fat and retain lean muscle, and an attempt to forestall the starvation response (in my case this just leads to over eating).

I wanted to keep the program simple. Not too much science. All those programs out there are like playing chemistry with the body. Also I don’t believe in throwing the kitchen sink at a problem. How would you know what element of your program works and what doesn’t? I also believe that several diets out there are based on flawed science. For instance the Mediterranean Diet; one thing the foundational studies failed to account for is that culture is predominantly Greek Orthodox. The Greek Orthodox have several holidays which require the observance of fasting. Fasting has many health benefits and has been shown to be a factor in longevity in mice. Does the Mediterranean Diet program include fasting? No. How would you sell fasting? That’s a simple explanation, but you get my point. Enough said.

Back to the program. There are two components of the 1* Program:

1. One calorie a week. More is ok, but there’s no guarantee that it’s not water weight. Also remember my three objectives. Slow and steady wins the race. Increase effort in the workout area and a slight (weekly) caloric deficit cycled in a zig zag fashion of deficit and replenishment so as not to lose muscle mass or go into starvation mode. The goal is a slow burn of fat a pound at a time, which takes about 3,500 calories, while not losing muscle, which is about 600 calories per pound.

2. One lifestyle change each, or even every other, week. Again, health habits but at a slow pace. For instance increase sleep time, reduce stress, dance more, reduce pop and beer intake, cut out certain sugars and processed foods, cycle in skim milk or even give up whole milk (ok, let’s not get carried away). That’s like two months of stuff right there. Small steps, but at a concentrated effort on developing good habits that will carry on after the weight is lost. After all the uber goal is to live a long a quality filled life.

In essence, "Live long and prosper"

- Scoundrel

4-Oct-10

Swings
20kg
15 x 10/10

supersetted with

Pushups
15 x 7

3-Oct-10

C&P - 28kg; 3[2, 3(1), 5(2), 5(3)]

(1) F. Squat - 28kg; 3 x 5/5

(2a) ScDl - 32kg; 3 x 5/5
(2b) 1 Arm FW - 32kg; 3/3 x 60'

(3) Horizontal Pulls - 3 x 16

My intent was to increase the number of lifts I was super setting and to go the full 6 ladders. I felt like throwing up after the first ladder. I like this idea, but yet again I'm bumping my head on work capacity.

Challenging my buddy to a weight loss contest: Throw down