Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Stairs / Kettlebell

86 Flights Stairs - Empire State Bldg Race!  haha

Kettlebell Squat & Press - 20 reps each arm
* 40 total reps
*16KG / 35lb Kettlebell

Monday, April 11, 2011

Pushups / Stairs / Rowers

60 Pushups
60 Flights Stairs @Ofc
60 Rowers

Hike

2 mile hike with kids at Bull Creek.  Carried one of them most of the way for extra load.

5 mile run

5 mile run
25 x 40yd sprints

Friday, April 8, 2011

Thursday, April 7, 2011

TUESDAY NIGHT HOCKEY!

Felt great to be on the ice again.  Started a 9 week Power Skating hockey class, each Tuesday for 1 hour.

+80 Squats holding kiddos.

Tuesday, April 5, 2011

Monday, April 4, 2011

Friday, April 1, 2011

Rock Climbing / Working Man

Rock Climbing Wall - 1 hour
Working Man - Dug up grass patches around garden boxes and replanted sod elsewhere in yard.  Hauled 50lb bags of gravel & dumped around garden boxes, creating a gravel walkway.

Pullups / Skating

10min timed - 35 Pullups +7 cooldown = 42 total
Skating - 4 miles / 35 mins

Pushups / Squats / Dips

5 min timed - Fingertip Pushups: 44
5 min timed - Prisoner Squats: 94
5 min timed - Dips from Bench: 80

Wednesday, March 30, 2011

5k+

5k
Run 32:07 at relaxed pace

+
1 mile jog
High Knees
Walking Squats
25 Pullups
50 Swiss Ball Crunches
50 Swiss Ball Bridges
1000 calorie protein milkshake

Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Monday, March 28, 2011

Stairs

85 Flights Stairs @Home

Hell Run Prep / Working Man

Hell Run Prep - if you haven't yet done a group workout with Adrian... don't delay, these rock! 

Working Man - Mowed grass.  Dug up old, dead plants & roots - planted new, alive plants.

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Hotel Room Workout

Biz Travel... need a workout!

5 min timed set - 111 Prisoner Squats
5 min timed set - 63 Pushups
5 min timed set - 71 Dips on Bench in room

Giant Bacon 1/2lb. Burger after... MMM

Monday, March 21, 2011

Thursday, March 17, 2011

Grab Bag

50 Flights Stairs @Ofc
70 Kid Squats - Sumo Squat holding kids (35 reps per kiddo)
40 Swiss Ball Bent Knee Bridges
20 Abs Leg Lifts
10 set Countdown Burpees (55 reps) 4:11 - New Personal Best

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Stairs / Crunches / Bridges

30 Flights Stairs @Ofc
100 Swiss Ball Crunches
100 Swiss Ball Bent Knee Bridges


Monday, March 14, 2011

Sunday, March 13, 2011

Every Day Is Like Sunday

~1 Mile Hike at Upper Bull Creek Trail with FutureMan.   Carried him half the distance - by request - for extra load.

35 Pullups at playground w/ FM from swings' overhead bar.

Workin' Man - mowed grass; raked / picked up leafs in the yard.

Single Leg Theory:  pair of 25lb DB's - combo curl & overhead shoulder press, standing on 1 leg.
120 total reps, 60 on each leg.

Saturday, March 12, 2011

Hike

~5 mile hike exploring all the elevations at St. Edwards Park off Spicewood Springs Rd.  Lots of hills.  Corazon walked with me about half the way.  Little legs get tired so I carried her the other half for some extra work output.  She's like a little mountain goat climbing up the limestone bluffs with me!

Gorgeous day.  Loving this California weather we have for a few weeks every spring and fall in TX.  GREAT for outdoors exercise.

Friday, March 11, 2011

SKATING ROXXX

I wouldn't BS you.  It does.  Orders of magnitude more than running.  Working on Endurance - pillar #3 in Adrian's 4-step SMES:  Stability/ Mobility / Endurance / Strength.  Aside:  Adrian - SMES is the perfect foundation for your burgeoning biz, the 4-step program of advancement.  SMES has stuck since you first mentioned it b/c it's accurate.

8.25 miles in 80 mins.  Around the 'hood at midnight, inline hockey blades.  Going the Distance... not going for Speed today.

Enjoying the smooth consistency of applying the Scientific Method to workouts by keeping a log.  Just b/c it's called a Workout doesn't mean it has to be Work!!

Pushups

100 Pushups

Stairs / DB's

100 Flights of Stairs - Home
(1 flight @home = 14 steps)

Single Leg Theory:  pair of 25lb DB's - combo curl & overhead shoulder press, standing on 1 leg.
100 total reps, 50 on each leg.

Stairs

40 Flights of Stairs at Office
(1 flight @office = 20 steps)

Friday, March 4, 2011

Pushups / Golf / Skating

Thursday

80 Pushups
15 Pullups
18 holes Golf with my Dad
6 miles skating (hockey blades) - 1 hour continuous

Stairs

25 Flights of Stairs - Office on Weds

Tuesday, March 1, 2011

Sunday, February 27, 2011

Working Man

Adrian has called it the Working Man workout.  A tribute to the Great White North power trio.

SAT - Till / Turnover all soil in the 4 organic garden beds.  Lots of digging & squatting to remove root systems from last year's plants. At the Natural Gardener, dig 12 bags of organic soil (to mix in with the old soil.) Once into bags, deadlift each bag (~60-70 lbs) into the truck bed. Once home, carry bags from truck to garden boxes and empty bags.  ENDURANCE workout - all this took several hours.

SUN - Lift bags of gravel, small stones and mulch for garden and yard landscaping at Home Depot onto truck bed.  At home, carry bags and empty.  Much lighter workout.

Friday, February 25, 2011

Pushups / Abs / Rear Delts

105 Pushups

Abs Challenge - 10 mins
1 set = 20 mountain climbers + 20 toe touches.  See link for demo.
4.75 sets in 10 mins

Rear Delt Raises w/ 15 lb DB's
Cranked up the ZEPPELIN to 11.
93 reps in 5 mins

Zeppelin rebirth!  Don't call it a comeback....

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Mo' Stairs

For the Hell of it.
For the Yell of it.
For the Smell of it.

30 more flights.
80 total flights today.

1/2 GOMAD - Day 1

GOMAD (Gallon of milk a day) stopped a week into the experiment when I caught a chest cold from my kids.  Observations-
  • All that milk + chest cold phlegm = much too much
  • All that milk decreased my food intake from other sources, disrupting the nutritional balance.  I'm all about that Food Pyramid.
  • New Plan - attempt 1/2 Gal / Day.

Stairs / Burpees / DB's

Warmup - 20 Flights Stairs
Burpee Descending Ladder - 10 sets, 55 reps = 4:14   *New Personal Best*
Curl / Shoulder Press combo w/ 25 lb DB's- 55 reps
30 Flights Stairs

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Yoga / Situps

50 Warrior Situps
50 mins Power Yoga - Ashtanga
50 Donkey Kicks

Pushups / Stairs

100 Pushups
50 Scapular Pushups
50 Flights of Stairs

Monday, February 21, 2011

Chiropractor - Referral

I've been pushing a bit too hard on my recent workouts.  That plus EOQ equals extremely sore neck/back.

Yoga helped some.
Massage from Heather helped more.
Doc Zeke helped get me back into alignment.

Referral - If you need a chiropractor in Austin, Doc Zeke is simply amazing.  He uses new technology in the field and always knows how to help.  He gives you exercises to do at home for preventative maintenance.  You don't go multiple times per week - with painful results - as typical chiropractors require.  Doc Zeke gets you going in 1-2 visits.  If you need a chiropractor, don't hesitate.  I literally cannot say enough good things.

Yoga For Athletes (YFA)

"Yoga for Athletes" by Rodney Yee - 60 mins.  GREAT for flexibility and relaxation.

Saturday, February 19, 2011

Pushups / Hills

60 Pushups
10 Hills (Far West Field) - Running carrying kids

Friday, February 18, 2011

Pushups / Situps

100 Pushups
25 Scapular Pushups
100 Situps

Thursday, February 17, 2011

5k

5k Slower Run / Walk = 31:07.  Focus on endurance building.  A bit gassed from faster mile earlier today.

1 mile run 6:53

New personal best.  Shaved 3 seconds off 1 mile time... 6:53

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Burpees / DB Work

Burpees Countdown 10 Set.  New Personal Best at 4:47
15lb DB - 120 reps combo curl + overhead press
15lb DB - 40 reps Rear Delt Reverse Flys

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Stairs / Pushups

40 Flights of Stairs
100 Pushups - 50 swiss ball / 50 regular

Monday, February 14, 2011

Stairway to Heaven

I work on the 1st floor of a 3 story office building.  A couple weeks ago I started running up to the 3rd floor men's room each time the urge called.  Now I run a set of 10 flights each hour for stress release.  If my body is tired during the workday, my mind is calmer to get work done well.


Today was 120 flights
  • Running - 2 stairs at a time; 3 stairs at a time
  • Sideways Crossovers - Right over, Right under, Left over, Left under
  • Walking Forwards - Deep lunge up 2 stairs
  • Walking Backwards

GOMAD - Day 1

GOMAD Day 1 - Baseline
180 lbs

I lost ~20 lbs when my daughter was born in '06.  My son was born in '08 and I'm now re-awakening to quality sleep and fitness.  The kids are a bit more manageable now.  The weight drop was unintentional.  At 6'3" my ectomorph frame loses muscle weight when I stop working out. Anyone reading this who is attempting to lose weight wants to choke me now!  Don't blame me, it's genetic.

So the goal is to get back to ~195 lbs, my pre-kids standard weight. I've gained back 5 lbs of muscle, currently at 180 lbs.  Need another 15 lbs muscle to protect joints from injury.  I'd like to begin playing hockey again!

Since I'm all about Applying the Scientific Method, I'm willing to test GOMAD in the lab.  Rather than drinking whole milk, I'm using 1 gallon per day of Organic 2% Milk for an extra 1920 calories rather than 2400 with whole.  I'd prefer not to spike cholesterol levels too high... whole milk has about 30% more fat.

GOMAD is in conjunction with lots of speed running, burpees for time, bodyweight squats, Hindu squats, squats holding my kids, running up hills holding my kids in fireman's carry, running up stairs in my office building, and dumbbell / kettlebell work.  I recognize it's harder to gain muscle with lots of cardio, so I'm doing much strength work also. 

Overall nutrition is sound with lots of whole grains, raw "superfoods" and less meat than I've ever eaten.  I'm not going vegan, although H does cook some delicious vegan meals from Austin's own Rip Esselstyn's Engine 2 Diet.

More to come from the lab-

Sunday, February 13, 2011

Running on Empty

Thanks Brian for talking me into this... for social connectedness around fitness.  Not much sleep last night though saw an INCREDIBLE film with H @Alamo on our weekly Saturday date, so totally WORTH it.  The King's Speech is exceptionally well filmed (direction & cinematography) with brilliant acting.  If you haven't seen it yet, RUN - don't walk. 

Speaking of running, to improve 5k time it helps to first improve 1 mile time.  Idea is go for speed first, then endurance second... by gradually working more speed throughout the 5k distance.  In theory, the speed can be sustained as your body learns how to manage higher speeds over longer distances.  I'm all about Applying the Method!  Particularly the Scientific Method.  So here goes my test-

1 Mile Time
2/5 - 8:00
2/11 - 7:11
2/12 - 6:56

Goal is to embrace the pain, while shaving seconds off 6:56, in prep for Hell Run on 4/30.  I'm testing the hypothesis of running a 6 minute mile, or how close can I get?  I've run 5 times since Warrior Dash last November.  Began training last week for Hell Run.  More to come-

No Speed Limit story - while this is about learning music quickly, there is a bio-psychological correlation for our bodies. 

Adrian and I have often discussed the concept of pushing physical limits past cerebral / conceptual limits.  I highly suspect this is true with all adults... when we're kids they're aren't any limits.  After chomping on the bit of civilization for many years most of us emerge as adults with preconceived notions of limits in all areas of life.  I'm not an idealist in thinking I can run a 4 minute mile or "anyone can become President".  Yet I believe there's more in the tank than many of us realize.  Hence the need to Apply the Scientific Method! 

No Speed Limit blog is just that - testing my own personal physical limits.  Jack LaLanne (RIP) did 1000 pushups in 23 minutes at age 42, and serves as an inspiration to anyone entering middle age.  If Herschel Walker can do similar high-intensity workouts into his 50's, I can surely elevate my game.

Cheers-
Chris