Hi people.
I know I may have said on a certain social media site that I'd be making a new post tonight, and I don't wan't to make a liar out of myself. So here.
Some pertinent details:
I am currently training for a Strongman contest in early February.
I've gained a lot of useless weight, and I'm working really hard to fix that.
I'm finally teaching in the district I want to teach in, albeit part-time, but I am so much happier.
My gym is still awesome.
I'll get back to posting once or twice a week with training videos and sharing out my programming and thoughts soon, probably tomorrow!
Thanks for reading!
CB
Thursday, January 9, 2014
Friday, February 15, 2013
Where does the time go?
MAN! A whole MONTH has gone by since I've posted anything! How do you mega-bloggers do it?
Anyhow: Here's what I've been up to since my last post:
I did some NASTY volume work:
Yowza. Was definitely a bit sore for a few days after that...
Got to do some MC-ing at the NorCal Masters event (which was multiple levels of RAD),
Then, I Established a SEVEN rep-max on my high-bar back squat (330. I'll take it):
A few days later I played around with some barbell step-ups:
Established another 7RM (135, in the press this time):
And wore my weight vest for a yucky lunge/ball-slam couplet:
Played around with some heavy rack pulls (these are gross, and NOT easier than regular deadlifts. Counter-intuition at it finest):
Got in some much-needed skill work:
And then DOMINATED a Squat piece in a competition:
(and then proceeded to get my ass handed to me on a metcon later that day)
The next day, I attempted (and failed) a PR Frontsquat:
THEN RALLIED BACK AND TOOK THAT FUCKER TO THE BANK:
Then played around with some agility drills in an EMOM:
Getting really excited for The Open and to get back out on the gridiron! I will do my best to post more often. This once-a-month thing is wreaking havoc on my patience with iMovie.
NOW DO THE HARLEM SHAKE.
Earworm:
Anyhow: Here's what I've been up to since my last post:
I did some NASTY volume work:
Yowza. Was definitely a bit sore for a few days after that...
Got to do some MC-ing at the NorCal Masters event (which was multiple levels of RAD),
Then, I Established a SEVEN rep-max on my high-bar back squat (330. I'll take it):
A few days later I played around with some barbell step-ups:
Established another 7RM (135, in the press this time):
And wore my weight vest for a yucky lunge/ball-slam couplet:
Played around with some heavy rack pulls (these are gross, and NOT easier than regular deadlifts. Counter-intuition at it finest):
Got in some much-needed skill work:
And then DOMINATED a Squat piece in a competition:
(and then proceeded to get my ass handed to me on a metcon later that day)
The next day, I attempted (and failed) a PR Frontsquat:
THEN RALLIED BACK AND TOOK THAT FUCKER TO THE BANK:
Then played around with some agility drills in an EMOM:
Getting really excited for The Open and to get back out on the gridiron! I will do my best to post more often. This once-a-month thing is wreaking havoc on my patience with iMovie.
NOW DO THE HARLEM SHAKE.
Earworm:
Monday, January 14, 2013
Focus on the PROGRAM.
Hey hey y'all!
Even though I have developed a gross icky cold, I am wicked pumped to start my final ramp-up to my next competition in 3 weeks. I got up on the bright, blew my nose, and got some WERK done in the gym. Squats and a met con!
Squats felt good. The last set of 5 at 340 was around 82% of 410. So I was pleased with that. I felt like I could have managed a set at 85% (350), but decided I better take it easy given the short window I'm working within, the cold issue (literal and figurative: it was around 35 degrees up in there!), and there was a little seam in the concrete where my feet were set so my technique was not the awesomest (Toe pitching a bit). There was a severe cliff on my"wind" during the conditioning around my 7th rep of Hang Power Snatches; regardless of the wall I smacked into I was pretty pleased with my time/performance there. A bit rough, but hey, I did it and I'm movin' on.
In other news: My Track and Field kids have been doing great things and really answering the call during our (rapidly ending) off-season conditioning program. We are doing really basic, sound stuff (Back Squat, Hang Power Clean, Bench Press, Deadlift) with a handful of assistance work (Lunges, Box Jumps, Plyo Pushups). In just 4 weeks, all of my kids movement in the 4 basic lifts has improved to a point where I have started all of them on either a Linear Progression model (for my noobs) or a 4-week progressive load cycle (for my returners). I'm excited to rub some tasty data in your faces in a few weeks!
Also: I've decided to put in one more season of semi-pro football. I'll be playing either offensive or defensive line for the Golden State Giants. I figure I want to put all this sport-strength I've developed over the last 2-3 years to good use before it starts to slide away. I'll keep you posted on any exciting developments there.
Don't forget to punch your email address into the thingy on the upper left of the page so you can get email alerts when I post! That way you can read all my posts like RIGHT AWAY after I post them, which you know I know is incredibly important for you to lead the life you are trying to live. And stuff.
(oh, also, using the zone diet has been working great so far! I'm still working on creating better habits and routines to get the right number of blocks per day but it's getting easier/smoother each week!)
earworm:
Even though I have developed a gross icky cold, I am wicked pumped to start my final ramp-up to my next competition in 3 weeks. I got up on the bright, blew my nose, and got some WERK done in the gym. Squats and a met con!
Squats felt good. The last set of 5 at 340 was around 82% of 410. So I was pleased with that. I felt like I could have managed a set at 85% (350), but decided I better take it easy given the short window I'm working within, the cold issue (literal and figurative: it was around 35 degrees up in there!), and there was a little seam in the concrete where my feet were set so my technique was not the awesomest (Toe pitching a bit). There was a severe cliff on my"wind" during the conditioning around my 7th rep of Hang Power Snatches; regardless of the wall I smacked into I was pretty pleased with my time/performance there. A bit rough, but hey, I did it and I'm movin' on.
In other news: My Track and Field kids have been doing great things and really answering the call during our (rapidly ending) off-season conditioning program. We are doing really basic, sound stuff (Back Squat, Hang Power Clean, Bench Press, Deadlift) with a handful of assistance work (Lunges, Box Jumps, Plyo Pushups). In just 4 weeks, all of my kids movement in the 4 basic lifts has improved to a point where I have started all of them on either a Linear Progression model (for my noobs) or a 4-week progressive load cycle (for my returners). I'm excited to rub some tasty data in your faces in a few weeks!
Also: I've decided to put in one more season of semi-pro football. I'll be playing either offensive or defensive line for the Golden State Giants. I figure I want to put all this sport-strength I've developed over the last 2-3 years to good use before it starts to slide away. I'll keep you posted on any exciting developments there.
Don't forget to punch your email address into the thingy on the upper left of the page so you can get email alerts when I post! That way you can read all my posts like RIGHT AWAY after I post them, which you know I know is incredibly important for you to lead the life you are trying to live. And stuff.
(oh, also, using the zone diet has been working great so far! I'm still working on creating better habits and routines to get the right number of blocks per day but it's getting easier/smoother each week!)
earworm:
Wednesday, January 2, 2013
So this is the New Year...
Hi, Folks! I'm back, with a plan to post at least once a week (even if I don't have any videos or nothin'!) to create better blogging habits and give me something to look forward to.
I apologize for the long lay-off: I was feeling pretty down-and-out about my fitness after my Power Lifting meet, especially after drastically under-performing at the Diablo Deuces Wild competition, and I was really struggling to motivate to post, or eat properly, or exercise, or be in a good mood, or ANYTHING.
But, as usual, the New Year, arbitrary though it may be, gives us all an opportunity to re-assess where we are, where we've been, and where we want to go....So, my Strong in will to Strive blog is back.
Let's get caught up a bit, shall we?
So: A scant 2 weeks after my power lifting meet, I competed in a CrossFit competition involving partner (male-female teams) workouts. I partnered with a client at our gym, Bridget, who had recently won our "in-house" gym competition. So obviously, she is a bad-ass. She had a lot of fun, and performed really well, and was a GREAT teammate. However, on my side of things, I performed VERY poorly. The weeks of poor eating and lack of conditioning that I excused away by hiding behind my training for the PL meet showed up early and stuck around all day to remind me that I made some really very poor decisions regarding my fitness during the fall. I ran far slower than I know I am capable of, I lifted far less than I know I should have, I broke mentally early in one of the workouts, and my avoidance of practicing technical proficiency on a personally frustrating skill (fkn DOUBLE UNDERS!!!!) prevented me from helping Bridget blow the final workout away (it had prowler pushes in it). Bridget is awesome and would never say this to anyone, but I let her down. Big time.
It took me some time to try to get back in a groove. I was still making lazy dietary choices and had little to no direction in my training. I started taking regular CF class 2-3 times a week, and started trying to formulate a plan to (finally) not embarrass myself in the CF Games Open that is rapidly approaching. Finally, Gilly (who I love more and more every day, btw.) sat down with me and called both of us out on the key factor that both of us were avoiding: DIET. So we made a plan to start the new year with some serious nutritional organization with an eye on discipline and consistency: Zone portions of Paleo food. We are 4 days in, and I can definitely feel my body adjusting. Training has been icky, my energy has been kinda low, I've been really sleepy a lot. I know this will all start to improve as my body gets used to how it is supposed to be fueled, and as I find the right prescription of Blocks and such for my daily activity level (kinda tricky during a vacation from work). This has definitely helped re-focus my training.
That being said , I have a month to get ready for some low-pressure competition in the peninsula. I will be competing in the "amateur" division, and I'm not even going to worry about placing. I just want to perform and not worry about other competitors. I am going to give myself permission to have fun and enjoy the process and the moment.
I kicked things off on xmas eve with an incredibly poorly programmed gut-punch of a workout with my main homies Bo and Boone. If you are a "CrossFit-er", then you may be familiar with the "12 days of xmas"-style workout. It works just like the song: Round one, you do 1 of the first exercise, round 2 you do 2 of the 2nd exercise, 1 of the first; round three is three of the third, 2 of the 2nd, 1 of the first...all the way to round 12. Well, me being a moron and all I decided to use that programming template to do an "all-barbell" version. It was horrible, it took an hour, and we all technically DNF'd (we agreed that the 1200m row to start round 12 should be the end of it). But I have to admit, it was nice to kinda suffer and slog through something for longer than 15 minutes (something I avoid like the plague in my training) with two of my favorite people. Here is the video of (most of) the workout. Youtube wouldn't let me upload the 45mins worth that I had on my iPad (even my iPad had had enough after 45mins!), so it is what I was able to upload (solely at Bo's request. I suggest clicking around for highlights. Kudos to you if you can make it through the whole 30-or-so minutes straight through {yes, that was a direct challenge})
I was able to spend a few days down in Topanga with Gilly's family which was awesome. I got lots of baby-holding time with my niece Mia, and was able to check out a quality CF gym in the Thousand Oaks area (Live Train Play CF). It's a CF affiliate run by a coach named Jai out of a legit Athletic Performance Center type of facility. TONS of signed NFL jerseys on the wall, if you catch my drift. Their dumb bells went up to 150, wink, wink. They are no Valley CF, but a great experience anyway!
New years eve, Gilly and I continued a tradition she picked up when she was coaching and training at CF Santa Cruz: the NYE WOD. We picked a rep scheme for a 20 minute AMRAP-style workout that incorporated 1, 3, 20, and 13 reps, and started at 11:40, so we finished right as the new year began. I did 1 jumping Muscle-Up, 3 Handstand Push ups, 20' keg carry (100#), and 13 KB snatches (53#). I managed 7 rounds and 7 Snatches.
New Years Day, I wasn't planning on doing any exercise, but with Gilly's coaxing I snuck a little work in (And yes, Dear, you were right: I am glad I did). I played around with some axle work, then did "Death by Continental Clean and Jerk" with 175#. I made it to 4 minutes and 4 reps.
And, I remembered to bring my iPad to the gym today, so here is what I programmed:
Metcon:
6 rounds for time:
50' Yoke Walk 450 lbs.
50' Prowler Push 165 lbs.
1 rope climb to 15'
Then SKWATZZZZ!!!
(Using 415 as 1.0)
5x.75 (310)
3x.80 (330)
1x.85 (355)
I finished with 5 sets of 10 hollow rocks and 10 reverse hypers with 90lbs.
It feels good to have some direction and a plan again. I know that having nutritional discipline will bring me where I want to go, but I'm excited to see just how far down the road I want to travel it will help me get. This is the most fore-planning I've ever done for my diet, so I'm eager to toe the line, and then of course, relate to you all of my feels on the subject.
I'll leave you guys with this song, which always goes through my head every year about this time:
I kicked things off on xmas eve with an incredibly poorly programmed gut-punch of a workout with my main homies Bo and Boone. If you are a "CrossFit-er", then you may be familiar with the "12 days of xmas"-style workout. It works just like the song: Round one, you do 1 of the first exercise, round 2 you do 2 of the 2nd exercise, 1 of the first; round three is three of the third, 2 of the 2nd, 1 of the first...all the way to round 12. Well, me being a moron and all I decided to use that programming template to do an "all-barbell" version. It was horrible, it took an hour, and we all technically DNF'd (we agreed that the 1200m row to start round 12 should be the end of it). But I have to admit, it was nice to kinda suffer and slog through something for longer than 15 minutes (something I avoid like the plague in my training) with two of my favorite people. Here is the video of (most of) the workout. Youtube wouldn't let me upload the 45mins worth that I had on my iPad (even my iPad had had enough after 45mins!), so it is what I was able to upload (solely at Bo's request. I suggest clicking around for highlights. Kudos to you if you can make it through the whole 30-or-so minutes straight through {yes, that was a direct challenge})
I was able to spend a few days down in Topanga with Gilly's family which was awesome. I got lots of baby-holding time with my niece Mia, and was able to check out a quality CF gym in the Thousand Oaks area (Live Train Play CF). It's a CF affiliate run by a coach named Jai out of a legit Athletic Performance Center type of facility. TONS of signed NFL jerseys on the wall, if you catch my drift. Their dumb bells went up to 150, wink, wink. They are no Valley CF, but a great experience anyway!
New years eve, Gilly and I continued a tradition she picked up when she was coaching and training at CF Santa Cruz: the NYE WOD. We picked a rep scheme for a 20 minute AMRAP-style workout that incorporated 1, 3, 20, and 13 reps, and started at 11:40, so we finished right as the new year began. I did 1 jumping Muscle-Up, 3 Handstand Push ups, 20' keg carry (100#), and 13 KB snatches (53#). I managed 7 rounds and 7 Snatches.
New Years Day, I wasn't planning on doing any exercise, but with Gilly's coaxing I snuck a little work in (And yes, Dear, you were right: I am glad I did). I played around with some axle work, then did "Death by Continental Clean and Jerk" with 175#. I made it to 4 minutes and 4 reps.
And, I remembered to bring my iPad to the gym today, so here is what I programmed:
Metcon:
6 rounds for time:
50' Yoke Walk 450 lbs.
50' Prowler Push 165 lbs.
1 rope climb to 15'
Then SKWATZZZZ!!!
(Using 415 as 1.0)
5x.75 (310)
3x.80 (330)
1x.85 (355)
I liked this. I think I will stay on this 5/3/1 progression after a heavy met con and slowly increase my percentages over the next 3-4 weeks before my competition (the first event involves a arm back squat! Yay!)
I finished with 5 sets of 10 hollow rocks and 10 reverse hypers with 90lbs.
It feels good to have some direction and a plan again. I know that having nutritional discipline will bring me where I want to go, but I'm excited to see just how far down the road I want to travel it will help me get. This is the most fore-planning I've ever done for my diet, so I'm eager to toe the line, and then of course, relate to you all of my feels on the subject.
I'll leave you guys with this song, which always goes through my head every year about this time:
Monday, November 5, 2012
The PL Meet.
I'll just start with the video of my lifts from the Power Lifting meet I competed in (I won the amateur middleweight division!), then I'll get in to my thoughts on the day and some updates.
I have never won anything significant as an individual athlete. I have "won" freestyle wrestling tournaments where there was only one other competitor, so I never really counted that. Last weekend, I used 8 weeks of focused training and a fair amount of accumulated skill and competitive savvy to out-lift 4 or 5 other amateur middleweight lifters. I feel that this was a large enough field to allow myself the right to feel really, really...REALLY GOOD about myself. I won. I am a winner. And I have the championship belt to prove it. Mischief managed, now on to my next challenge...
Competing in a "for reals" PL meet was definitely an enlightening experience. Power Lifters as a breed have a reputation for being fairly slow moving creatures, and this day did nothing to dissuade me from this view. Don't get me wrong: These are diligent, hard-working athletes who are capable of amazing and admirable feats. However, I was not expecting a 13+ hour day for 3 minutes of competitive work (Gilly wins Fiancé of the Universe for being a trooper and my lone cheerleader all day). Things got behind schedule quickly and there was very little effort to recover lost time. It quickly became apparent that this was a regular, accepted thing. Now, as someone who has had the pleasure(?) of directing a high school wrestling tournament, I completely understand and recognize how hard it is to keep something like this running smoothly, especially with there being only 1 platform. It was just unexpected to see all the veteran experienced lifters be "okay" with how badly things dragged along.
Another thing that straight-up bugged me was the lack of support for the athletes by the spectators and the other athletes. I mean just simple cheering, for cripes sake. I know watching squats for 3 hours is repetitive but there were a few teens and some masters there setting national and WORLD records, and there was a mere smattering of applause, if anything. Annoying. I cheered and high fived the athletes. I can't help it. And by the time dead lifts rolled around, I knew all the guys in my heat's name, so I started hanging out in the bull pen and cheering for them before their attempts, and wouldn't you know it, other athletes started to holler for me a bit too. I just can't believe that there wasn't more of a sense of collegiality amongst the competitors. That really bothered me.
The Raw lifters were an inspiration and I give them all mad props for what they are able to do. Watching some of these behemoths squat upward of 800 pounds, with just a belt and knee wraps was incredible. Yes, I am aware that most of them are unapologetic dopers, but drugs don't lift the weights or make your food or tuck you in to bed or drive you to the gym.
One thing that I was looking forward to seeing was the "geared" lifting and it ended up being really disappointing. From what I saw, MOST (not all) of the guys in squat suits and bench shirts didn't really have good technique, and they were missing attempts because they couldn't get full range of motion in their suits and shirts! I thought it would be Ripley-fighting-the-Queen-in-the-power-loader-suit awesome and it ended up being Michael-Bay's-Transfomers lame.
In other news: First, we won the Bell Game, then we made the playoffs! We were awarded the 13th seed, so we will travel to Moraga on Friday night to play number 4 seed Campolindo. Our kids seemed genuinely excited to have a chance to be in the playoffs, and from a coaching standpoint we match-up pretty well with them. Also, I have been suckered (not really) into helping out the wrestling team at TL 2 days a week. So that means I am coaching all three sports I did in high school, at the high school where I did them. I know I'm going to be crazy busy, but I have to admit it feels pretty rad to feel "home". Now if I could just get a teaching job there......
I have never won anything significant as an individual athlete. I have "won" freestyle wrestling tournaments where there was only one other competitor, so I never really counted that. Last weekend, I used 8 weeks of focused training and a fair amount of accumulated skill and competitive savvy to out-lift 4 or 5 other amateur middleweight lifters. I feel that this was a large enough field to allow myself the right to feel really, really...REALLY GOOD about myself. I won. I am a winner. And I have the championship belt to prove it. Mischief managed, now on to my next challenge...
Competing in a "for reals" PL meet was definitely an enlightening experience. Power Lifters as a breed have a reputation for being fairly slow moving creatures, and this day did nothing to dissuade me from this view. Don't get me wrong: These are diligent, hard-working athletes who are capable of amazing and admirable feats. However, I was not expecting a 13+ hour day for 3 minutes of competitive work (Gilly wins Fiancé of the Universe for being a trooper and my lone cheerleader all day). Things got behind schedule quickly and there was very little effort to recover lost time. It quickly became apparent that this was a regular, accepted thing. Now, as someone who has had the pleasure(?) of directing a high school wrestling tournament, I completely understand and recognize how hard it is to keep something like this running smoothly, especially with there being only 1 platform. It was just unexpected to see all the veteran experienced lifters be "okay" with how badly things dragged along.
Another thing that straight-up bugged me was the lack of support for the athletes by the spectators and the other athletes. I mean just simple cheering, for cripes sake. I know watching squats for 3 hours is repetitive but there were a few teens and some masters there setting national and WORLD records, and there was a mere smattering of applause, if anything. Annoying. I cheered and high fived the athletes. I can't help it. And by the time dead lifts rolled around, I knew all the guys in my heat's name, so I started hanging out in the bull pen and cheering for them before their attempts, and wouldn't you know it, other athletes started to holler for me a bit too. I just can't believe that there wasn't more of a sense of collegiality amongst the competitors. That really bothered me.
The Raw lifters were an inspiration and I give them all mad props for what they are able to do. Watching some of these behemoths squat upward of 800 pounds, with just a belt and knee wraps was incredible. Yes, I am aware that most of them are unapologetic dopers, but drugs don't lift the weights or make your food or tuck you in to bed or drive you to the gym.
One thing that I was looking forward to seeing was the "geared" lifting and it ended up being really disappointing. From what I saw, MOST (not all) of the guys in squat suits and bench shirts didn't really have good technique, and they were missing attempts because they couldn't get full range of motion in their suits and shirts! I thought it would be Ripley-fighting-the-Queen-in-the-power-loader-suit awesome and it ended up being Michael-Bay's-Transfomers lame.
In other news: First, we won the Bell Game, then we made the playoffs! We were awarded the 13th seed, so we will travel to Moraga on Friday night to play number 4 seed Campolindo. Our kids seemed genuinely excited to have a chance to be in the playoffs, and from a coaching standpoint we match-up pretty well with them. Also, I have been suckered (not really) into helping out the wrestling team at TL 2 days a week. So that means I am coaching all three sports I did in high school, at the high school where I did them. I know I'm going to be crazy busy, but I have to admit it feels pretty rad to feel "home". Now if I could just get a teaching job there......
Thursday, November 1, 2012
On my way back...
So, I'm still sick. This is in no way the worst cold I've ever had, but it has been close to 14 months since I've caught a bug. I think this is a pretty good signal that eating right and resting properly do wonders to your immune system, training and exercise notwithstanding. I really allowed myself to eat pretty poorly during my training for my meet, and I am paying for it now (fortunately, the price is not as steep as it could have been!). Although I am sick and grumpy, I am glad to have called in sick from school for the week because I am definitely NOT stressed out right now.
Anyway, I decided to forgo my final planned day of deadlifting in favor of some Crossfit. I feel like this was a prudent choice because I don't think pulling heavy right now will help me recover before Saturday or allow me to pull more weight when it is "go" time. I really feel like the proverbial hay is in the barn.
Here is what I did:
Three 15 minute sessions (45 minute running clock)
Session 1: 2 miles Airdyne, then build to a 3RM Power Clean.
Session 2: 2 miles Airdyne, then 3 attempts at max unbroken ring dips.
Session 3: 2 miles Airdyne, then build to a 1RM Push Press.
I feel fantastic today (aside from the fact that I can't breathe through my nose). I'm really glad I did this. It felt good to do some work in a longer domain and move a barbell around in a bit more dynamic fashion.
I've signed up for a CrossFit competition (Deuces Wild) with one of my favorite clients Bridget (Yes, the same Bridget who won THIS). I was beginning to worry that my conditioning was straight-up gone, and this workout gave me some confidence that I am further from zero than I had feared. TJ's Gym will be sending 4 or 5 teams to this competition so I'm sure it will be a super-fun day! I'm especially excited to see Gilly team up with one of my best homeys Evan, as they have both been crushing their training sessions lately.
On a High School Football note: Friday night is the Bell Game. 7pm kickoff at San Rafael High. This is the best rivalry game in the county, and the closest thing to a slice of middle-americana that Marin ever sees and I think a lot of people miss it every year. Grab the kids and a few parkas, and come support local high school sports. Who knows, a legitimately well-played football game just might break out!
I'm planning on taking TONS of video at the meet this weekend: Of me, of my home boy JBann, and some of the luminaries of American Powerlifting who are projected to hit some really crazy big lifts. Should be fun! See you then.
Anyway, I decided to forgo my final planned day of deadlifting in favor of some Crossfit. I feel like this was a prudent choice because I don't think pulling heavy right now will help me recover before Saturday or allow me to pull more weight when it is "go" time. I really feel like the proverbial hay is in the barn.
Here is what I did:
Three 15 minute sessions (45 minute running clock)
Session 1: 2 miles Airdyne, then build to a 3RM Power Clean.
Session 2: 2 miles Airdyne, then 3 attempts at max unbroken ring dips.
Session 3: 2 miles Airdyne, then build to a 1RM Push Press.
I feel fantastic today (aside from the fact that I can't breathe through my nose). I'm really glad I did this. It felt good to do some work in a longer domain and move a barbell around in a bit more dynamic fashion.
I've signed up for a CrossFit competition (Deuces Wild) with one of my favorite clients Bridget (Yes, the same Bridget who won THIS). I was beginning to worry that my conditioning was straight-up gone, and this workout gave me some confidence that I am further from zero than I had feared. TJ's Gym will be sending 4 or 5 teams to this competition so I'm sure it will be a super-fun day! I'm especially excited to see Gilly team up with one of my best homeys Evan, as they have both been crushing their training sessions lately.
On a High School Football note: Friday night is the Bell Game. 7pm kickoff at San Rafael High. This is the best rivalry game in the county, and the closest thing to a slice of middle-americana that Marin ever sees and I think a lot of people miss it every year. Grab the kids and a few parkas, and come support local high school sports. Who knows, a legitimately well-played football game just might break out!
I'm planning on taking TONS of video at the meet this weekend: Of me, of my home boy JBann, and some of the luminaries of American Powerlifting who are projected to hit some really crazy big lifts. Should be fun! See you then.
Monday, October 29, 2012
It's a bittersweet symphony, this life...
I'm sick.
Not "sick" like I enjoy creepy activities or exhibit creepy behaviors, but sick like my throat is all closed up and raw and I have some serious fatigue. PERFECT timing with my meet coming up this weekend (hey, sarcasm).
Why did my immune system take a dump on me now? I've got an idea or two:
Idea one:
I had to prepare to coach against a group of kids who I had spent the last 2 years training and coaching and generating quality coach-athlete relationships with with a group of no-heart, no-personality soft-bread punks. You can imagine how that went. I put a lot of emotional energy into preparing my kids for this game, and they just kinda laughed it off all week like "You're just saying they're good because you coached them for two years, we will totally (magically) be able to beat them with our nonchalant attitude and complete absence of any physical training base or technical soundness". And then during the game, it was hard watching former players of mine pretty much embarrassing current players of mine, who just don't want to be coached, apparently. I was able to have a nice little reunion with the 5 or 6 kids from Novato who I really worked with a lot, but it put into really, painfully sharp contrast that even though I'm geographically where I want to be, coaching wise, there is a massive gulf between where I am this season as a coach and where I feel I should be as a coach. Cognitive dissonance at it's most simple and frustrating core. This took a LOT out of me.
Idea two:
I judged and coached all Sunday at the TJs Games. I would not do this any differently at all, but WOW, this just flat broke me. I was welling up with tears of inspiration not 5 minutes into the 1st event, and then spent the rest of the day (roughly 9 hours) on my feet cheering, counting, judging, coaching, and strategizing with clients of all skill levels from my gym (you can peep the workouts and placing HERE). It was an absolutely amazing day, and by the end of it I knew my immune system's goose was cooked. I was asleep on my coach by 6:30. I missed Sergio Romo blasting a fastball down the pipe past Miggy Cabrera to shut up the east coast media. I flat conked out. And now, I am hurting for sure.
These two things combined much like the frightening confluence of meteorological phenomena over on the east coast right now to just completely put me on my ass.
Now I know what all 3 of you, my readers, are wondering: What does this do to my training this week, leading up to my meet?
Well, dear Cranes and my Mom, I used today as an opportunity to train in less-than-ideal conditions. I've called in sick from work for the week, so I decided to get in the gym today and bust out my final prep day of squats and bench, and hopefully I will dead lift tomorrow or Wednesday and use Thursday and Friday to rest like crazy.
And even though I felt like absolute trash, the funniest thing happened: I posted 5RM PR's in both my squat AND bench. The squatting was NOT pretty, but I did it (You can see just how fatigued my back is from everything I mentioned previously on reps 3-5). The benching was pretty awesome, but I had my doppelganger Bob there to spot me to greatness.
So, Even though it hurt and I questioned myself all the way through, I'm glad I trained today just in case I have to go into my competition feeling gross and sick: I now know I will be fine even though I feel like trash.
Ups and downs were in abundance this week but I suppose that's just part of the rhythm of life.
Here is my video:
As always, thanks for reading. I'll update you 3 on wednesday about how I'm feeling and any new developments.
Not "sick" like I enjoy creepy activities or exhibit creepy behaviors, but sick like my throat is all closed up and raw and I have some serious fatigue. PERFECT timing with my meet coming up this weekend (hey, sarcasm).
Why did my immune system take a dump on me now? I've got an idea or two:
Idea one:
I had to prepare to coach against a group of kids who I had spent the last 2 years training and coaching and generating quality coach-athlete relationships with with a group of no-heart, no-personality soft-bread punks. You can imagine how that went. I put a lot of emotional energy into preparing my kids for this game, and they just kinda laughed it off all week like "You're just saying they're good because you coached them for two years, we will totally (magically) be able to beat them with our nonchalant attitude and complete absence of any physical training base or technical soundness". And then during the game, it was hard watching former players of mine pretty much embarrassing current players of mine, who just don't want to be coached, apparently. I was able to have a nice little reunion with the 5 or 6 kids from Novato who I really worked with a lot, but it put into really, painfully sharp contrast that even though I'm geographically where I want to be, coaching wise, there is a massive gulf between where I am this season as a coach and where I feel I should be as a coach. Cognitive dissonance at it's most simple and frustrating core. This took a LOT out of me.
Idea two:
I judged and coached all Sunday at the TJs Games. I would not do this any differently at all, but WOW, this just flat broke me. I was welling up with tears of inspiration not 5 minutes into the 1st event, and then spent the rest of the day (roughly 9 hours) on my feet cheering, counting, judging, coaching, and strategizing with clients of all skill levels from my gym (you can peep the workouts and placing HERE). It was an absolutely amazing day, and by the end of it I knew my immune system's goose was cooked. I was asleep on my coach by 6:30. I missed Sergio Romo blasting a fastball down the pipe past Miggy Cabrera to shut up the east coast media. I flat conked out. And now, I am hurting for sure.
These two things combined much like the frightening confluence of meteorological phenomena over on the east coast right now to just completely put me on my ass.
Now I know what all 3 of you, my readers, are wondering: What does this do to my training this week, leading up to my meet?
Well, dear Cranes and my Mom, I used today as an opportunity to train in less-than-ideal conditions. I've called in sick from work for the week, so I decided to get in the gym today and bust out my final prep day of squats and bench, and hopefully I will dead lift tomorrow or Wednesday and use Thursday and Friday to rest like crazy.
And even though I felt like absolute trash, the funniest thing happened: I posted 5RM PR's in both my squat AND bench. The squatting was NOT pretty, but I did it (You can see just how fatigued my back is from everything I mentioned previously on reps 3-5). The benching was pretty awesome, but I had my doppelganger Bob there to spot me to greatness.
So, Even though it hurt and I questioned myself all the way through, I'm glad I trained today just in case I have to go into my competition feeling gross and sick: I now know I will be fine even though I feel like trash.
Ups and downs were in abundance this week but I suppose that's just part of the rhythm of life.
Here is my video:
As always, thanks for reading. I'll update you 3 on wednesday about how I'm feeling and any new developments.
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