Wisdom of homer.. #1

"No one snuggles with Max Power! You strap yourself in and get ready to FEEL THE G's!"

Crappy day at work.. seems to be getting better (knock wood)
Evil plans await the Friday fun group.
Have a good weekend.
Mahalo.

Eat breakfast.

Dan John, EC, and most of the folks over there---->
Tell you to eat breakfast, because it keeps your metabolism humming along, keeps you from having an insulin dump after lunch blah blah blah.. well the other day I was sitting down.. ahem "reading" Uncle John's bathroom reader and I came across.. well I'm paraphrasing but:
75% of folks involved in industrial accidents skipped breakfast.
Considering that according to an NPD group survey only 25% of us skip breakfast regularly, seems to me a bad idea.

Went to class last night. I think I'm over the flu that had me beat down on Tuesday.
Good luck to CES and Jesse, both of whom have races on Saturday.
Mahalo.

Bumperstickers.

two funny bumper stickers on the way to work today:
"Your hummer looks stupid."
"support search and rescue: get lost"

No exercise yesterday, only sleeping.

I feel gnarly..

Not as in "totally tubular," but as in "gnarled bent and twisted." The wife's been sick, the guys at work have been sick, some folks at Jujitsu have been sick.. now.. I'm feeling sick.
I'm going to go home early and take a nap. hopefully I'll still be able to work out and do the technique part of class.. maybe not.
Wish me luck.

loads of workouts to update.

It's been beautiful and sunny in Seattle the past few days, so I've been neglecting you all. Sorry for that.
Friday's workout was outside. I was running late, and didn't bring my workout gear. I trained barefoot in shorts bought on the way.
Friday's workout:
tire throw and chase with kb farmer's carry/sledgehammer swings
x2
equal rest
x2

medicine ball and tire throw and chase/kb rack hold.
x2
equal rest
x2

Saturday:
Jitz, and lots of sparring. Including some no-gi takedowns. I'm still far more comfortable working takedowns without the gi.

10x60 sec on 120 off on the hand bike.
Toast.

this morning I had to make up for thursday's slack.
high pulls, and drills to warm up.

hang snatches @110x5
chins @ bw x5
rest 30 sec
x5

face pullsx10 @ 80
dipsx10
x3
no rest

Lots of soft tissue work and stretching.

Stuck.

I got stuck at work last night, couldn't work out.
My bruised knee needed the rest any way.
I think tonight's workouts are going to be outside.

Breakdown, take down, you're busted..

Last night was all about takedowns. I pretty well stunk up the joint. I have to remember that BJJ takedowns are different from doing the same in a wrestling singlet. I get so caught up in fighting for grips and working for things that I lose sight of the game. Simplify young man, simplify.

Oh, and I bruised the crap out of my knee, but that's only a nuisance..
shouldn't effect me.

Mahalo.

workin.

Just finished eating, watching the biggest loser.
tonight's workout:
complex:
bent rowsx5
OHPx5
front squatx10
x3
all @ 135.
This was the first time I've done any free squatting in a long time. They went great. A2G, my heels came up a bit but my hips were great.

Glute hams
10@ mm band.
chins 2@bw+20.
x4

Then off to class.

I am toast. Had some more bad job news today. That and total glycogen depletion had me pretty down. I've got some food in my belly, and I'm feeling better.
Mahalo.

Raccoons.

Sometimes a blog post sparks a memory, an anecdote that you just need to share, but since this yarn is too long to be spun in someone else's comments, I'm posting it here.

Many moons ago I lived in a small college town In the Midwest. I spent 3 summers in said town. I had bills to pay and rugby to play during the school year, so I had to get jobs (yes, plural) during the summer, and I tended to live in pretty crappy housing, and never had conditioned air.
One evening I was coming home late from one of my jobs, covered in McSludge (tm) and weary. I came up the stairs to see two of my roommates poised. Weapons in hand just outside the door to their bedroom. They were giggling and well pretty intoxicated. One of them had a blow gun in hand, the other had a broom. I sighed and said "what the hell are you guys doing?" They shushed me with vigor, then began to giggle uncontrollably. They pointed into their bedroom. I peer into their room. Their window was open, and a huge fat raccoon was digging through their ashtray for seeds.
Seeds of what.. who's to say.
I sigh again, stride forward and grab the broom out of my roommate's hand. I swat I take one Macwireian swing and swat our pudgy friend out the window, and slam it shut. I turn, and walk out. I hand the the broom back to my roommate as I pass, and head for the showers.
"Next time, guys, put the box fan in the window. It keeps the varmints out."

But Mom, I'm not hungry for Ballard!*

Yesterday, it was sunny and in the mid 50s here in Seattle. I wore shorts, and had lunch with the wife outside. A little girl and her mother walked past. The girl stomped along and in a whiny voice said "but Mahhhhhum, I'm not hungry for Ballard!" I have no idea what that means.
Yesterday was a triple workout day.

workout 1:
kb clean and press ladder/chin-up
1-6-1

workout 2:
BJJ class.
Sweeps and sparring.

workout 3:
10x 60 sec on 120 off on the hand bike.
average watts: 120
goal "off" watts: 60
assuming above watts were acheived, average "on" watts: 240

2x 4 minutes of tabata on the erg.

Then I went out for sushi with the in-laws.

Gumbo.

Yesterday afternoon I did some intervals on the hand bike:
4x 60 sec on 60 sec off. @ 75 rpm
4x30 on 30 0ff.
the rpms were too high, and my watts were all over the place.
8x30 on 30 off @60 rpm.
target watts:
on: 275
off:60.

Tonight I'm going to make some gumbo.. assuming I can find some file powder.

I got stripes, stripes across my soulders..

I was awarded two stripes today. Really a proud moment. It's great to have your efforts recognized.

Friday's workout:
sled pulls: tire+90lbs across parking lot and back
whip smash/dumbell bear crawl @30 each hand
kb snatch @ 44.

Sled pull is the timer. Everyone works till the puller makes the round trip then everyone switches.
3x no rest

Then a station of rest was added and we went through 3 more times.
Mahalo.

St. Valentines.

Met up with the wife, and went to our favorite sushi place for a quiet dinner. Nothing extravagant, but nice. They were pretty busy. I think they'd forgotten to staff up for the holiday. A couple people complained. We didn't. It's always interesting to see who shows up at a place like that on the holiday. Loads of people either very early in their relationship, or who have moved beyond the big expensive valentine. The time is worth more than the valentine.

Before that I had to get some work in:
warm-up:
clean and press
20@110

supersets:

1A DB press
5/5
1A Row
5/5 all @ 75
5 chin-ups
rest 20 sec
x4

Face pulls:
10 @ 80
dips:
5@ BW
x4

This was the first time I've really done any dips since I got my shoulder fixed.
They felt good, but I'll have to be careful with them for a while.
I hope you did something nice for your sweetheart, and I hope they reciprocated.
Mahalo.

Make the best of it..

be humble.

Dead on.. and on and on.

warm up:
mobility drills, x-band walks, OHS w/ broomstick.
1x30@315.
No bouncing the bar, It must remain 'dead' between reps. You can stop to breathe. Longest break was 5 breaths.
Total killer.

then:
Glute-hams
4x10 vs mm band.

then Jitz.
technique, and sparring.

T-Monk and drawing.

Work is a little nutty today, but in a good "gettin' sheeot done" way, not the usual "you guys are @ssholes" way. I had 12 drawings to do when I got here, and well, I have 4 down. When I'm drawing a lot I put on headphones so I can get in "the zone." Today's zone-y selections: started with a mix of Amy Winehouse (in honor of her grammyness) and cuts from "Down From the Mountain" and are winding up with "The Measure of Monk."
I've just stopped to say 'Yo!' to ya'll and stick some food in my gob.



Oh, and according to this, the wife and I are distantly related.. ewww.

Rollin with the homies.

Had a good weekend.
No jujitsu yesterday as there was a tournament.
I got up a bit early. Since it was the first day of on the water training for the rowing club, and since I owed my wife's teammates a "home cooked meal." (volunteered at a charity auction for the club)
I made some french toast, and eggs.
Kind words, pictures, and my pets here:

Custard for the french toast:
brown sugar, solid hand full
10 egg yolks
2 whole eggs
zest of 1 orange
salt
1 quart whole milk
Cinnamon
nutmeg
I made it up, strained it and refrigerated it overnight.
I cut up some challah, left it out over night. The day of I dipped it, browned it in butter, then stuck it in a 200 oven for a half an hour or so.

I cleaned up a bit, and laid down on the couch and promptly fell asleep for several hours.. no workout Saturday.

This morning I had to make up for yesterday's slack:
Intervals on the hand bike:
30 sec on
60 sec off
60 sec on
60 off for 10 minutes.
"on" intervals goals:
30:270 watts
60:225 watts
rest @ 40 watts

then 30 on 60 off x 6 on the spin bike.
That's it.
Hope you all had a great weekend.
Mahalo.

And then we had tacos.

workout:
Partner work.
KB clean and press/clean and press/chin-up. 1-2-3-4-5-4-3-2-1
partner holds plank position with both hands on kettlebells while the other works.


rest 2 min.

complex.
5 romanian deadlifts
5 bent rows
5 push-ups with hands on barbell.

partner does bear crawls with 35 lb dumbell in each hand.
all x4

then I met the wife and we had tacos.

I wasn't singin.. guy.

Props if you get the reference.
One of my all time favorite cult movies.

Another hint?
"It happens sometimes, people just explode.. natural causes."

last one:
"The more you drive, the less intelligent you are."

Oh and the Soundtrack is excellent.
Enough of that stuff you'll figure it out.

On to the workout.
Warm-up:
hang cleans, drills and high-pulls.

1 clean
5 push-press
5 bent rows
@155
1 minute rest
x4

2:30 rest (including putting stuff away)

1A dumbell press
5/5
@75
chins
5@bw
1 min rest
x5

3 min rest

hang snatch x 20 @95

Solid workout.
Good amount of strength work.
Plenty of endurance.
Quick and brutal.

Time for bed.
Mahalo.

Lions and Grizzly Bears.

I had a very strange dream last night. I was being chased by a bear, a huge Grizzly. One of the few things in this world that I truly fear is stumbling upon a bear out in the woods, but at the same time, I'm infatuated with them. Bears have real personality, power, and style. Above all Bears are survivors. In my dream, the bear kept catching up to me, and I kept escaping only to get cornered or chased down again. At the end of the dream I pulled out my Buck lock-back knife (aka the Bo and Luke Duke knife) that I carry when I'm camping, and killed the bear. It was a moment of triumph and it was a little sad. Remorse and regret that I had been forced to kill something to save my own life.. strange dream.

Today is the "Chinese" new year. The year of the rat. Where I currently work is a mostly Asian workforce, so there will be a "traditional Lion Dance" here today. Should be really cool. I'm excited.
Happy new year.

The Sweet Science.

To most people, boxing has become irrelevant. A throw-back to the golden age of Vegas, the rat pack and largely something that doesn't exist in the present. The other day I was at a gas station picking up a beverage and the gas station attendant (presumably from the Philippines) Was discussing with a patron (presumably a Mexicano) the upcoming Pacquiao v Marquez rematch. They were both knowledgeable and passionate about their respective countrymen. It was nice to see people actually caring about boxing, even if it was more for national pride than sport.

Hard work beats talent when talent doesn't work hard..
-Dan Gable
On this same note, I (among others), witnessed the rarest of rare entities the other weekend:
An entertaining Heavyweight Boxing match. Alexander Povetkin vs. Eddie Chambers. Both undefeated fighters. Undersized heavyweights. Povetkin is a machine, a fitness fanatic, not pretty, but he busts his butt every round. Chambers is a talent. He's got super fast hands, he counter punches beautifully.. his conditioning on the other hand.. not so much. Povetkin won the fight on sheer will and work, but it was close. A great fight, and a lesson to any competitive athlete.

Secrets and workouts..

Ok, the secret's out. I had a job interview last friday. It went well. It was for a contract job, and I tried to work it so that they'd hire me as a full time employee.. It backfired.. I didn't get the offer, which is too bad, but could be worse. I'd rather swing for the fences and pop out than settle for a walk.

last night's CES inspired workout:
warm-up:
various mobility drills, x-band walks, and OHS.

squats:
worked up to 225+ chains.
I was actually nervous before this set, I've never been nervous before a set my whole life.
20@225+chains.
At 5 I thought "there's no way"
at 10 I thought "Maybe I'll make it to 15"
at 15 I though "that f*cker"
at 17 I though " 3 more, that's just my regular squat work.. that f*cker!"
at 19 "one more, I can do anything for one rep"
at 20 I just sort of laid there.. panting.
Now I sort of cheated, I did box squats which puts a pause in between the eccentric and concentric portions of the lift, but I also went to jujitsu after, so cut me some slack.
4x10 glute hams against monster mini band.

Then I went to jujitsu.
my abs, glutes, and hammies are pretty sore.
I fear there are some pretty serious doms in the mail.
This marks the start of the transition from heavy lifting to more conditioning.
This week will be higher reps, low rest, next week will be heavy supersets, then right into complexes and straight conditioning.
Yee-haw.
Mahalo.

Update Spuer Bowl style..

4 full hours of meaningless lead-up to a fairly straight-forward competition..
Or not.

Friday's workout:
hand over hand @ 90+tire
Kb swings @ 44
burpees w/ ball slam @ 12lb med ball
Slosh pipe squats (I've got a leak so the pipe is less than 1/2 full which makes it nearly impossible to use.)
2 min. each 30 sec transition time
x4

Yesterday:
Open mat.

Today:
tabata work.
Hand bike
versa-climber
erg
4 min each

Now I'm off to watch the game with some folks I know from the rowing club. For those that don't know Boston is a hotbed of rowing, so I'm going to have to keep my ill will toward the Pats to myself.

Friday friday friday!!

Today has been super-duper crazy. Spent lots of time this morning working on improving my quality of life.
More on that when there's something to tell.
last night's workout was good, but hurried.

Hairs cut:
all of them.

Warm-up:
Complex w/ 95 lbs
romanian deads x10
snatch grip high pulls x10
cleans x5
hang snatches x5
x2

chins:
3x5@bw

1A DB bench:
5/5@65
5/5@75
5/5@85
This one is a Dan John favorite. Holding one dumbell and pressing it forces you to stabilize like crazy. This is also great for anyone who doesn't "get" how leg drive can power up a bench. Monster exercise.

1A Row:
5/5@75
2x5/5@80

That's all I had time for.
Good short one.

Great article over at Elitefts by fellow Chuckite Chad Aichs.
This guy will probably end up totalling over 2800lbs within the next year, an insane amount of weight, but he has problems, struggles, and lessons learned the same as every person who takes lifting heavy things seriously. It's humbling hearing someone who has accomplished so much be humble.