And so starts another semester

I'm sorry, I keep listening to that little guy that sits on my shoulder saying - Eh, do it later. Turns out later usually doesn't come around. Finally though here I am.... I know you're all so excited.

The new semester started about a month ago, and at first I had grand plans. I was going to build a new lifting program, run for miles, oly lift, conquer the world, etc etc. Instead I find myself falling asleep at 6pm on a Sat night, and trying to be cake boss all day Sunday. For the record, fondant isn't as easy to play with as Buddy makes it seem.

Not to say I've done nothing lately, it just hasn't been organized, or lifting. I went to a Judo class last week. Oh man, so fun. It was mostly ground work in class, but even with that there was a lot that I didn't know. And then we rolled. I haven't rolled with Judo guys before. It was ridiculous. I kept getting swept with things I had never seen before. Or mini take downs from the knees? That's possible? Rolling with the Judo white belts made me want their skills. I think it might be worth the hour drive to go to a class a week. It'll get me more comfortable on my feet, the guys were really nice, and they have a consistent girl. It'll be good to get used to a female's center of gravity.

On top of that, my mom has signed us up for a body transformation challenge at her gym. I've been on her about doing things and getting in shape, and this is her answer. I told her as long and she'll do it, I'll do it. I think I've kinda let myself get to a point where I probably need the kick in the ass too. We did body comp stuff last week and lets just say, I think I've gotten too old to take 2 months of the summer off of eating well and working out. I've got about 130lbs of lean muscle mass which means the other 40lbs of me is fat. Taking the boobs and curve thing into consideration, I should be about 145-155. Which means I've got about 30lbs to lose to hit ideal. Can I lose 30lbs in 2.5 months? I guess we'll find out.

Part of the challenge is a Bootcamp at 6:30 in the morning, MWF. We went last week, and the running sucked, but the rest of it wasn't bad. I think it's geared for the weakest in the bunch or maybe they were just lulling us into comfortable? Since it wasn't that bad, and I'm usually up and at the gym at 5, I think I'm going to try to get some lifting in before hand. I'd like to come up with something new and exciting, but honestly I know I won't do it if it requires too much planning or thinking. I'm lazy like that. I can go to the gym, but so help me if I have to decide what to do once I get there.

Which means... I'm back on the 531 train. I liked it, and I do it. So, it works. What's that saying... the best plan is the one you will actually do? I'm just going with the maxes I started last cycle with. I'm assuming I haven't lost much strength.

Maxes:
OHP 75lbs
BP 110 lbs
Squat 135 lbs
DL 250

So that's pretty much the workout plan. Judo, 531 and Boot Camp. Probably some spin and yoga as needed. The weight loss is pretty much a kitchen thing. It's a boring grind. But one I've done and know I can do. I'm going to start with 1700 Calories total, at least 140g of protein, no cheese, no processed. It'll be fun.

For now though, bath time!

Finally! Some Pajamas

Yup, finally some pajamas. I managed to get some BJJ time in this month. I spent some time in Cleveland and got to roll in the academies new space. They've moved since I was last there and so things have changed a lot about the space, but the guys and Darren are just as awesome as ever ( link to website, I tried to link the logo but I'm not sure that will work, go see my boys, you'll love them as much as I do  http://www.clevelandbjj.com/ ).

I hit a few classes. It's been about a year (!) since I've actually been on the mats, and that felt really evident to me. I couldn't remember anything. We did the elbow escape and I kept forgetting to hook the leg after I escaped it. Even some of the self defense stuff was rusty. Despite all the rust, it was it was kinda nice to get back on the mats and be in class.

I rolled a bit but, I was just relying on instinct. I closed my eyes and just went with it. I didn't branch out and just rolled with the guys I'm comfortable with. All the same issues I've always had were still there. I can't pass butterfly guard with any sort of grace, and I still just hide in turtle guard even if it's not the best idea. There were a few times that I could have maybe gone for a submission, but that's never been a strong point of mine. I did get a few backs, but I don't know if that was just the guys going easy on me. It was nice that I was still able to do things based on instinct. I got submitted a few times, but it wasn't like I was getting my ass kicked. They were nice challenging rolls. It's reassuring that the fundamentals are thoroughly a part of me. 

A few things not directly related to BJJ became evident while rolling too. I could really tell that hooping had helped with hip mobility and control. I could feel the difference in my ability to surf when on top. The only thing that saved me from being swept from butterfly guard was moving my hips and sprawling on different sides as needed.

I also felt a lot stronger while rolling. In the moment it was really evident to me. The guys aren't weak, but I could still keep my arms when they were tugging on them. A lot of the times all that saved me was strength. I just felt more solid in general. I try not to let strength play a big role while rolling, it's not the game I want, but sometimes it's the only game I have. 

The game I didn't have, was a game with any sort of endurance. Oh man, after a few minutes of rolling I was wiped. Let's not even talk about the warm up and finisher mountain climbers after class. I guess ignoring cardio at the gym isn't the best idea. 

Overall, I'm really glad I went and rolled. I was a bit afraid at first to go to class. I hadn't been in so long, I was really worried that I'd have forgotten everything and would just totally suck but that wasn't the case. It felt really good to roll. I'll have to do it more often :) 

Summer Fun!

I haven't spent a lot of time at the gym over the last month, but instead have been enjoying playing outside. I've recently discovered kayaking and have been doing a lot of that. We've done both slow lazy rivers and faster moving creeks and I've gotta say I'm more of a faster water fan. Not white water, but something with a current.

We spent some time in the Huron National Forest. Did you know jack pines need heat to reproduce? (1) Which means we got to hike through the burned down remains of a forest. While the heat was a little miserable, it made for good shooting and it was cool to go off trail. There are some trails in the forest, but they let you roam where ever you want. 

I have managed to hit the gym twice this week. I think my 531 powerlifter phase is over for a bit. I've kind of lost gym motivation, and that usually means it's time for a change. With the inconsistent schedule summer II provides it's hard to stick to a program, so I think I'm just going to try to do complexes when I'm in town. Maybe steal a bit from CrossFit WODs (2), you know the opposite of PL. So, this week Monday I hit a yoga class. After a weekend on the water it's about all my body can take. 

Tuesday:

Jump Rope - 450 jumps, I'm slow and have no endurance (hopefully the complexes help with that) so for me that's about 50 jumps (do we call them jumps?) in 30 sec. So it's about 10 min of 30on 30off.

Ab Wheel - I couldn't get my own skirt on my kayak, I had to have Dallas get out of his and help me. It was embarrassing. He told me I needed stronger abs. So, stronger abs it is.

Clean and Press - I don't really know the Olympic lifts. I know theoretically what this is supposed to look like, but I'm not sure if it's what I was doing. I did about 20 with 65lbs in sets of 4-5. I didn't really keep track. I'm going to have to plan complexes so that learning the lift isn't a hurdle to getting a workout. 

I finished with some single are snatches with 45lb dbs. Mostly because I could.

Wends:

Kept it simple, not easy, but simple.

KB swings -50 with 30lbs to get my ass into it

Ab wheel super supersetted with Palof Press (3)

Squats - 100 with 75lbs, it took me like an hour, but it was more mental then anything else. I needed a good kick in the pants.

Then I walked on the treadmill a bit, you know to make sure I could still walk.

Not sure what I'll do today.

(1) In case you want more info, a starting place since the jack pine is a common name http://www.pc.gc.ca/dci/src/3d_e.asp?what=more&sitename=reforest&theme=mi&btn_state=3-d&more_lnk=no

(2) The WOD list, and info about what WOD even means can be found at the CrossFit website http://board.crossfit.com/showthread.php?t=42693
(3) I just do them standing, but progressions since I know you all can kick my ass http://www.tonygentilcore.com/blog/everything-pallof-press/

531 W1 C4 and Camping!

I crammed bench and squat into W and Th of last week, and damn it was hard. I went camping with my parents and brother at the end of the week though, so it had to be done. We rented a rustic cabin from the state park and had a blast.

 I could live in a cabin in the woods (and if Dallas gets his way, eventually we will). That much green really does just make me feel whole again. I need a close water source though, carrying water and wood after a week of 531, not fun. My arms are getting super sore, and I don't do any direct arm work. Actually all of me was super sore up until today. BBB is really tough on the body. I usually do 2 a days but I don't think that's going to work out with BBB. I really do need all day to recover. I didn't get in any of my body weight movement goals last week, not a single push up! What I did do:

Wends AM:

Warm up- shoulder upper body focus

BBB BP

5x45lbs

5x55

3x65

5x70

5x80

5x90

10x55

10x55

10x55

10x55

10x65 - 55 wasn't really feeling all that heavy, so I bumped it up. I'll bump it up in the next week for them all. 

Then I did a bunch of shoulder saver stuff, it feels good. I totally planned on going to hula hoop in the PM, but fell asleep after class and missed it. I chalked it up to my body needing the break.

Thurs AM:

Warm up - hip mobility focus

BBB Squats

5x55lbs

5x70

3x80

5x85

5x100

5x115

10x70

10x70

10x70

10x70

10x70

I may bump this up to 75 next week. It sucked, but not enough to keep my mind wandering. Someone told me to think about pressing my knees out when squatting and it's really helped. I think a wave or two of BBB squats and I'm going to start getting much more comfortable with them. That much volume can't help but make you better at them, right?

Afterwards I walked on the treadmill for about 20 min, just to keep my legs and hips from freaking out. 

Friday and Sat were camping! We did a good 4 mile trail on Friday, it really helped with the soreness. 

And so begins another week, thanks for reading along!

531 BBB DLs

When it rains posts, it pours?

I tend to workout in spurts sometimes, and that's been especially true this summer. I'll get all my sessions that are planned in, but I'll do them in 4 days because I have plans that make gym time hard. This is one of those weeks. I'm going camping with the family at the end of the week, so I'm cramming everything into the next two days. It's a bit sucky, but it makes for less guilt when I do nothing, and also a nice long recovery between weeks. So, I guess I'll be logging in spurts too.

I don't know if I'll make it to the gym tonite, which meant DLs this morning. I don't normally like to lift fasted, but eating at 5 isn't happening. I had a bit of milk in my treadmill coffee, but seeing as I had six eggs before bed I wasn't too hungry anyway.

BBB DLs

5min on the treadmill with my coffee
Warm up, focus on hips and some shoulder dislocates

DLs - Sumo!
5x95lbs
5x120
3x145
5x155
5x180
5x200
10x120
10x120
10x120
10x120
10x120

So, yeah that was hard. I was pulling for about 45 min total, and by the end sucking some serious wind and a sweaty mess.

I loved it!

531 W1 C4

I decided to skip the deload and venture right into the next wave of 531. So, I've kinda been eating like a beast along with lifting like a beast for this last wave. It's actually been pretty good to my body. I feel like I've added mass in good places, le ass and shoulders. (I'm going to show off le ass a bit)

What it hasn't done is made me more comfortable in a bathing suit. We've got some beach time planned for the 4th of July, so for this wave, I'm going to ramp it up a bit. I don't like cardio, so my ramp it up is going to be BBB. I know BBB squats feels like cardio, so adding it in for bench and DL should be enough. I'll keep the BW stuff in too. We'll see how it goes, if it sucks/ doesn't work, I'll adjust next wave.

Todays gym time was a little off the norm. I slept in and missed my morning, so instead went at lunch. Remind me to never do that again. I'm not really comfortable with BBB for MP so I'm not doing it. 


Warm up- shoulder focused


MP
5x45lbs
5x45
5x45
5x50
5x65

Face pulls
2 sets of 12 at whatever weight the machine is at

Then I did a yoga class. My hips are still super tight from Friday's squats, and I was there at the right time, so why not? It was fun, and helped the hip situation a lot.

531 W3 C3

It took a few days for me to be able to get into the squat rack. I think the kids are all home from college now and apparently some of them are motivated enough to come shrug in my squat rack (yes, I claim it as mine) at 5am.

So, wends and thurs I mostly worked on accessory stuff. I spent some time working on single leg squats where you hold your leg off the ground in front of you. Uh, yeah, that's super hard. I mostly just tried sit on the bench using just one leg. There was a lot of plopping around and giggling to myself. Sometimes when you're learning something new, you just have to embrace the sillyness of it. I look like a drunk toddler now, but how awesome will it be when I'm actually knocking out pistols? I also lowered my push up incline. I've been doing my pushups off the bench, and 5 was gettting a bit easy so I moved to a stair step to push up off of. It's about mid shin height on me. Hopefully this rate means that by the end of the summer I'll be able to get them off the floor.

I did finally make it to the squat rack last night. There are no college kids curling in the squat rack on Friday night! I've been having squat issues and think volume might help that, so I've decided to do BBB. I think next wave I'll do it for bench and DL too, just too see what it's like. It's a hell of a cardio workout too. Maybe I'll have a little less fluff, if I can manage to keep the appetite in check. Not that I've been doing too badly. I have my little belly, but my profile is looking pretty good.

Warm up, focused on hips
Squatz, took about 45 min

5x50lbs
5x65
3x75
5x95
3x105
2x120
1x135 - I wasn't supposed to do this, but I wanted to, so I did
10x65
10x65
10x65
10x65
10x65

Walking and moving today is a bit rough, but I went to yoga and it's helped. I'm going to have to really focus on mobility with this next wave.

531 C3 W3 Benching

Did a bit of benching today, and I wore a cute new shirt, so we'll see if I can figure out how to post pictures on here. It's a nice light material. Lately I've been a sweaty monster in the gym, and have been rethinking the cotton t-shirts in the summer. It's always disconcerting to realize that you're the smelly one in the gym.

Went with the usual start of moseying on the treadmill with my coffee for 10 min. It was hot though, so I did really feel the need to warm up a lot. So, I skipped a lot of it. Probably not the best idea, but meh. Did a few shoulder dislocates and got to benching.


5x45lbs
5x50
3x60
5x75
3x85
3x95 (!)

Reps with 95lbs! This is why I'm liking 531. That's a little over half of bodyweight (170lbs) and I got to put 25s on the bar. I've been focusing a lot on good form and keeping my whole body tight even if the weight isn't heavy. It's really easy to just lay there and knock out the weights below 60 without being mindful of what I'm doing, but I think if I can get the form locked in when I don't have to, it'll be there when I need it. That last rep of 95 really did take my entire body to finish. Who knew legs were so important to benching?

Then I did a bit of ab stuff. I have never been big on ab work, but I think it's affecting my squats and also I'm a bit concerned that I may chip away at all my fat and find nothing but organs under there. I'm sticking to stabilizing movements.

Supersetted for just 2 rounds cause I'm weak and form is shot to hell after more:

Ab wheel x 10 off knees
Paloff press x 10 ea side

Then I didn't want to do anything, so I found a treadmill in the corner and climbed a little hill. 10 min at 3mph with a 5 incline then 10 min with a 10 incline.

531 C3 W3

The picking stuff up and moving it about. I've been doing it.

I'm almost at the end of my third wave of 531! I've been following the book for my main lifts and adding weight with each wave, so for this wave my starting maxes were:

OHP 75lbs

BP 110

Squat 135 - I've been having issues, so didn't bump this

DL 250

Not to say I've moved those numbers about, I just use them for the math.

What that's meant for this week is that yesterday:

OHP 

5x45lbs

5x55

3x65

1x70 (!)

70lbs over my head felt freaking awesome. I also did some shoulder saver stuff and walked the mile and back to the gym. I've kinda slacked on the accessory work. I'm going to maybe try BBB next wave. I played with it a bit for squats and it sucked in a good way.

I'm not going to make it to the gym tonite, so I lifted this morning. After a bit of time on the treadmill with my coffee, I did a nice long warm up and then deadlifts.

DLs

5x90lbs

5x115

3x135

5x170

3x195

2x215(!)

More freaking awesome! 215! I really want 300, and 215 puts me that much closer. It was a great way to start the week. 

Oh and I'll leave you with  a bit of SCIENCE! 

(A bit of clarification, the title is misleading, working out doesn't change the sequence of your DNA. Your genes stay the same, rather it changes how your DNA is expressed. In super simplified terms, working out changes what genes are on, and what are off. If any of it is confusing, let me know and I'll explain)

http://www.npr.org/2012/03/09/148306989/a-workout-can-change-your-dna

A Workout Can Change Your DNA

"Reporting in Cell Metabolism, researchers write that when people who lead relatively sedentary lives worked out the DNA in their muscle fibers changed almost immediately. Scientists also found caffeine had the same effect on isolated rodent muscles. Study co-author Juleen Zierath discusses the DNA modifications"

Why?

And once again, a bunch of time has passed. I'm feeling like logging again though, so hopefully the trend will stick for a while. 


First some unfinished business. My last post (if anyone can remember that far back) was about feelings and I was being reflective about why I was doing things. My friend Nadia wrote this response:


"I've been back and forth on the log/no log question. As I became more conscious of my reader, the value of logging went down. But, if I write just for me, unafraid of what others will think, but still open--I think there's lots of value there. 
And I can so relate to your statements about feelings. I hate when I'm having an emotional response that is not rational and recognize it as such, but still feel the feeling as strongly....what to do? Must emotion always give way to reason?"


I wanted to reply to her answer here, but, uh, never did. So, better late then never... right?


To try to tackle the first issue, or at least put my ideas about it out there, and see if they can smush together to make some sort of sense. 


I think I'd like to start with the idea of who I want to be. I'm working towards being someone that is open. I believe that everyone has the same few themes running through them. I do not think I am a special snowflake in that what I feel is unique and no one has ever had the same thoughts as me. By sharing those thoughts, even the ones that seem silly or make me feel weak, I feel like I am able to connect with other people and (to sound all hippy dippy) through those connections, I feel a little stronger.


If I know my friend is just as worried about the same little thing, it's a bit less lonely and a bit easier to deal with. I'm not the only one that panics when the bar feels too heavy. By sharing that sense of panic, I was able to see how other people dealt with it, and what they did and thought. Without that, I probably just would have passed on the back squatting thing as a whole. That's a lifting example, but I think the same theme runs true through life. 


Also, I'm conscious of my reader, yet I still want to be open. I am working towards being the same person regardless of the situation. I'm not saying that being open is the same as having no discretion. There are things that should be private, , but I'm working on making that circle a bit smaller and not letting a fear of vulnerability masquerade as being private. Also, there are different facets of ourselves that we present in different situations but, the person I want to be in general is open and strong enough to deal with a bit of judgement when I believe in something.


So, I guess my goal is to both be unafraid of what others think and still be open. I hope that made some sort of sense. I'm still (and think I will always be) working on it. 


Feelings! Lets talk more about feelings! (at this point 90% of readers run away) 


I am a scientist. I have years of training that have enforced that nothing means anything without logic, consistently reproduceable, statistically significant peer reviewed proof. But I do not think emotion should always give way to reason. I don't even know that the two are that different. 


I don't know that there are emotions that are not rational, but rather that we don't always know the ration behind an emotion. There's a reason you're feeling whatever you're feeling, you just may not be clued into it. There is a lot we don't know about ourselves. I think that's where the being reflective part comes in. While an emotion might superficially seem not rational, there's usually a reason somewhere. Maybe with enough digging we can find the reasons. There's not always time for digging though, I totally get that. Sometimes I just ignore what I'm feeling because I know that rationally shit's gotta get done. I can cry and panic later, now, we're doing work.


Or sometimes it's the opposite. If the emotional response is strong, or unique, I go with it. If something feels wrong, and there's no way to be assured that it's not, then it's wrong. We take in a lot of information that we can't consciously process. There is plenty of work out there on it.That's the information that drives feelings, and sometimes that's the information that you should go with. Like all of life, it's complicated and situational.


Damn, I hope that wall of text makes some sense. I'll post workouts in a different post. 

531 C2

I haven't felt very much like logging lately. I've been doing stuff, I've just felt rambly and thus haven't posted, but I think I may indulge myself in rambles.

Is is even possible to have a log that's only about one thing, don't all the parts of life encroach on each other? If I have a good workout, it can make the whole day better. A crappy one can leave me in a terrible mood. I'm finding the reverse can be true too. A crappy mood can easily turn a workout crappy.

I've actually been thinking a lot about feelings lately. Which sounds a bit silly at first I suppose, but I've been having a lot of conversations (Hi Mark!) about being introspective and paying attention to why I'm feeling the way I'm feeling. While I still embrace whatever feeling it is, maybe knowing why it is will help recreate it if it's a good feeling and keep it at bay if it's not.

Which brings us to workouts of last week. I did a lot of yoga last week; four classes. And I was incredibly pissed off for 3 of them. Yeah, nice relaxing yoga, making me angry. One class was an instructor that just called out position names in rapid fire. I've done enough yoga that I know what to do, but it was constant movement.  Another was too slow and held positions for too long. The third, I'm not quite Goldilocks, was barely a yoga class. In my book a bosu ball and weights do not belong in yoga. They all got me sweaty, they were workouts, but it took me three classes to figure out why they were so upsetting. Working out is hard, of course there's stuff to bitch about. But what it was is that I wasn't getting what I expected out of the class. For me, yoga is active recovery. I go there to stretch, to move, to relax. I don't want a workout, I want relaxation.

It seems a bit obvious and trivial, but it actually felt like a growing moment. Rather then leave when that third class was making me angry, I made adjustments and got what I wanted out of class. That wouldn't have been possible if I hadn't first come to the realization of what I did want. Knowing why you're doing something, is vital to keep doing it. I don't really want to spend any of my life going through the motions.

I do a lot of motions though (see what I did there?) and just finished up the second wave of 531. I'm feeling really good about bench, OHP (overhead pressing) and DLs (deadlifts). Highlights:

Bench 95x3, I'm starting to understand leg drive more and it's paying off. I'm going to have to start thinking about arching. Which I don't really do, but is going to have to get into why I bench. If it's for numbers, I'm going to have to arch.

OHP 70 x 3, I'm getting this form down, this will go up a lot more soon

DLs 195x3 Chalk is totally worth the hassle and hand prints

And now we're to squats. They're just not feeling good. I think I'll pull them out of 531 and do something else. I'm thinking a bit of time light weight, high rep. Grease the groove as they say. I got some really good suggestions on google+ that I need to play with. I'm deloading this week, so by next week I'll have to have it figured out.

Thanks for reading if you've made it this far :)

531 W2

Well, updating more often went to the wayside last week. I guess I'm actually going to have to a schedule a time to do so. There's something about the accountability and the sharing of little victories that I think makes having a log worth it.

Scheduling last week turned into a game of knowing myself and not letting my inherent laziness take over. I knew at the start of the week that I was going to be out of town for the weekend, and that while I always intend to work out when not home, I never do. I know a lot of guys that travel and make the time to get gym sessions in, but I am not that person. Which means I loaded everything into 4 days in a row. What's the opposite of a weekend warrior? That's me.

Sunday (3/25)
I didn't do much, just went for a walk with my mom. I've really been trying to get my mom to do more lately. I mention it because I got her a Wii and the whole fit board thing. It's great! While of course getting to the gym and doing actual yoga or tennis or whatever is better, but I'm a big believer in baby steps and that something is better than nothing. It's not too hard, and gets her to jump around without her having to move out of her comfort zone. I really recommend it if you know some one that likes games and needs to make the transition off the sofa into some activity.

M (3/26)
AM
Spent a lot of time on shoulder stuff, YTLW, dislocates, band pull aparts, face pulls, etc. I've noticed that my shoulder range of motion (ROM) on my right side is way less than on the left. I think it's a result of not tapping to shoulder locks, but I notice it a lot during yoga. Also, last time I took a progress shot of my back my lack of rear delts was pointed out by more than one person. So, while they aren't primary goals, extending my ROM and adding mass to my rear delts are in the 'do want' pile.

Then I got in some band assisted pull ups. I can pretty much get in 4 sets of 5 before even the band can't help me.

PM
Warm up
100 mountain climbers - my calves don't take to running well and were super sore, jumping rope wasn't happening.
MP
reps x weight
5x45
5x45
3x45
3x50
5x55

Played with dips a bit. I think I'm going to just use the assisted machine for a while. I'm not sure where I'd set up bands.

Tues (3/27)
AM
Spin
Assisted Pull Ups 4 x 5
Incline Push Ups 4 x 5

PM
Warm
75 30lb KB Swings - I'm really like these for getting glutes going before deadlifting. I really think about making it a hip hinge motion. I try to keep my shins perpendicular to the ground and not really moving them, letting all of the motion of the KB come from the momentum created by my hips.
DL
reps x weight
5x85
5x105
3x125
3x145
3x165
3x185

I love pulling sumo, love it. I think I'm going to have to start chalking soon. As it gets warmer, my hands get sweatier. I don't think the gym will mind if I take in my little climbing chalk bag.

75 Hip Thrusts
75 Swiss Ball Pike

W (3/28)
PM
Hula Hoop Class

Jump Rope x450
BP
5x45
5x50
3x60
3x70
3x80
4x90

Benching 90 for reps left me feeling like a boss. I can't wait until I get to the big boy plates.

Th (3/29)

AM
Spent some quality time with the foam roller and LX ball.
Assisted Pull Ups 4x5
Incline Push Ups 4x5
BSS 2x20 each leg

So when I do these I super set them, but a little oddly. I do 5 pullups, a set of BSS, then 5 pull ups, until I can't do pull ups any more, then I flank the BSS with push ups.


PM
Warm Up
Jump Rope x450
Squat
5x55
5x65
3x80
3x105
3x120

Man that 120 was a grind, but I got through it. There's comfort in knowing that I should be able to according to the program. This was a quick session since I had to get to class.

Fri (3/30)
Finished off the BW stuff so totals for the week:
75 Pull ups
75 Incline Pushups
75 BSS each leg
75 Swiss Ball pike
75 Hip thrusts
Still feeling out dips, but they'll get done this week.

I ended up favoring weight stuff for cardio, which is something I need to watch for. I may try to do one of those couch to 5k programs for running accountability.

Sorry for another long ass post.

531 W1 D3 and D4

You're going to have to bear with me while I adapt to blogging rather than just keeping a log on a forum. It's much more of a two way street there, here I feel a bit like I'm doing a 'dear diary' entry. I think I'll aim for two or three updates a week here, more might be overwhelming and less means I'll forget what's going on.

I may also need to do some name adjustments. I don't know that I can call this a BJJ (Brazilian Jiu Jitsu) blog, if I only actually do BJJ on occasion. I also know I have trouble sticking to just one topic. Life is one intertwined thing, I can't always talk about fitness without mentioning other aspects of life. I'll mull over it and decide, unless someone has some input. I'm going to try to stick to fitness and health related stuff, and if you're going to have to wear pants, pajamas are the best option.

I'm going to cram this past week into one post, to catch up.

M (3/19)
AM I did a bit of incline walking and foam rolling in the morning. If you don't have a foam roller and a lacrosse ball, get them, then google myofascial release. It hurts so good. And I'm pretty sure is what keeps me able to move some days.

PM 531 W1 D3
You'll note I'm in W1 of 531 but still on D3, I'm going to have to double up. The only days I can be sure to hit the weight room are M & W, so next week, I'll do 2 days of lifting in one session.

Warm-up
Jump rope - I am not a very good jump roper, but I'm getting better. I like counting jumps rather than time. So 450 jumps in sets of 100.

BB BP (Barbell Bench Press)
Weight x reps
45x5
50x5
60x3
65x5
75x5
85x7

For that last one the program says just to do more than 5, but I'm not very good at not having a goal number so I picked 7. Do you guys have a way you handle that? AMRAP (as many reps as possible) doesn't work for me.

I skipped accesories, I didn't know what to do, and in those situations my natural reaction is to do nothing

Tue (3/20)
AM Spin

W (3/21)
PM
Hula Hoop class! It fits in my schedule again! I'm not a very good hooper. In fact I sometimes have trouble just keeping it on my waist, but I really like it. It's fun. We had class outside since the weather has been lovely lately.

Then 531 W1 D4

Warmup
The gym was too crowded for jump rope so I went for the KB swings instead.
30lbs KB x 75
I aimed for in a row, but did stop a few times dues to technical difficulties like people walking in front of me, or me not being able to breathe.

Squats (barbell back squats)
weight x rep
55x5
65x5
80x3
100x5
115x5

I don't know what's gotten into me, but I'm finding squatting a bit scary lately. I think the light weight will help with that, but I really had to psych myself up to squat.

Th (3/22)
AM
I decided to see what I was going to do about BW movements/accessory work. 531 says I should do 75 chin-ups, dips, GHR (glute hamstring raises), HLR (hanging leg raise), push-ups and single leg squats. Two types after each session. Seeing as for most of those I can't do one. Things need to be modified. I've decided to aim for 75 reps over the week, and have modified the movements.

So my goal is to get in one week: 75 band assisted pull-ups, 75 swiss ball pike, 75 hip-thrusts off the bench, 75 band assisted dips,75 incline push ups and 75 single leg squats each leg. As it gets easier I'll make the movements harder.

Th I knocked out the Single leg squats in sets of 10 supersetted with incline push ups in sets of 10. Took me about 45 min! I am no crossfitter.

Fr (3/23)
I ran! Outside! If you don't know me, you may think this is nothing, but running outside has been a big deal for me. I just haven't been able to make myself do it. But I sucked it up, and got in 3.3 miles of run/walk in about 50 min. The goal is to run it all. But I was happy with just getting outside, and I got to wear a new matchy outfit. I'll start posting pics once I figure out how.

Sat (3/24)
Yoga - I haven't gone in a while, it was evident.

And now we're here. Sorry for the super long post. I'll be better about bite sized from now on.

531 W1 D1 and D2

My schedule has been really weird lately. But to catch up with the first week of 531:


Monday (3/12) 
PM -First night of 531! 


Warm up 
Yoga flow 
Dislocates with the band 


Then jumping rope. My ankle can't deal with jumping on one foot, so I just skipped or jumped on 2 feet for 450 jumps, in basically sets of 100. 


Sets xReps xWeight lbs 


MP 
2x5x45 
1x3x50 - I was supposed to stick to 45, but messed up, I'm using the blackiron website, but this seems weird, I need to go back and read the book better. 
2x5x45 
1x10x50 - 10 reps? I hadn't realized reps go past 5, lol 


I want to do the BW program as accessory, but my body weight makes it hard, and I forgot my band at home so I improvised. 


LP 
3x15x65(?) Not sure of the weights on the machine 


Tricep Pressdown - used the machine that's supposed to be like dips. I don't think it's like dips. Machines are weird. 
3x15x weight - no idea what the 3 little dots mean on the weight stack. I think it's supposed to make it less intimidating, but I just find it confusing. 


Tues 
AM 
Spin


Wends: (3/14)


Warm 
Jump rope x 450 
DL 
85x 5 
105x 5 
125x 3 
135x 5 
155x 5 
175x 7 


Swiss Ball Pike x75 
Glute Bridge x75 (since I can't GHR, and we don't have one) 


I didn't get any working out in Th- Su :( 

And we're back

It's been a while since I've posted here. I started keeping a log on a forum and kinda just let this die. The forum imploded though, and I find myself a bit lost. I could find a new forum, but I think I'm mostly over Mod Wrath. I'm going to park myself in this little corner of the internet and you're welcome to join me. 


So, what's been going on in the last few years? I've moved. I haven't rolled consistently in about a year. I do go back and visit my boys but until recently I hadn't found anywhere here that I'm comfortable rolling. I finally did find an academy that's localish (about an hour away) that I can hit once a week. Rolling once a week isn't going to improve my game, but hopefully it will make it so that I don't lose everything I've learned.


In other news, I've just started Wendler's 531. Mostly because of this article http://www.jimwendler.com/2012/02/531-and-mma/ and because I want to play power lifter for a little while. I'm only in week 1 so it's a good time to transition to a new blog I guess. 


I tested maxes before I started:


OHP 65lbs x 1
BP 100lbsx 2
Squat 135lbsx 2
DL 225lbs x2 (I've been pulling sumo)


I'm also trying to figure out the assistance work, I'd like to do bodyweight, but I have a lot of weight (170lbs) and not the best ability to move it around. I'll figure out progressions soon. Just doing it as prescribed is too hard and I've found myself skipping it all week. 


Anyway, if you're reading and I've lost you let me know. I know I can be a bit jargony and my spheres don't always overlap.