Affordable Home Workout

Some exercise equipment just isn't in the budget of many homes these days, thankfully for those of you that can swing spending a little on your home gym there are some inexpensive alternatives that can help you reach your goals. Check out the...

Best Exercise Bike Under $250

For those of you going out to celebrate, stay in control and be safe - I hope everyone has a great time ringing in the new year.

Swingin' & Intervals

The last two nights have been all conditioning work, Monday was 25 minutes of intervals on the stair climber and last night consisted of a few hundred (250 to be exact) kettlebell swings. The swings were not the traditional though, Hands were alternated every swing with a toss/catch to add an element of hand/eye coordination to the equation.

I also had off of work yesterday and we (my wife and I, two of my brothers and my sister-in-law) took the kids bowling. It was a first for both of my kids, they caught on quickly, had a great time and did surprisingly well. I, on the other hand, didn't perform as well as I would have liked - fluttering just below the century mark in the first game and just above it in the second game, it's a good thing I don't try to make my living as a professional bowler. I did have a very good time though, and the kids have already asked when we can go again - maybe after a few months of semi-regular excursions to the lanes I can get myself up to a somewhat respectable score.

The New Year is literally right around the corner, for those of you planning on fitness resolutions remember that about 75% of resolutions fail because they aren't very realistic. If you plan on making a resolution, make sure that it is a clearly defined one that is possible to reach if you want to stick to it and achieve it!

Boxing Gloves

For those of you currently involved in the fight game, or for those of you who think that boxing/mma training for fighting or fitness may be in your near future, you'll most likely be needing a good pair of boxing gloves for at least a portion of your training...

Best Boxing Gloves Overall

Regardless of your fight training goals, you really can't go wrong by choosing any pair of gloves on that list.

Christmas Miracle

After a few days of wrapping my wrist at night - everything is A-OK, I even did some plyo push ups to give it a real test, with no pain at all.

I hope everyone's holiday was top notch, mine certainly was. Santa and relatives were all very good to the kids who are pretty much on cloud nine with all of the toys/activities they got and I didn't do too bad either. I got a nice new weighted vest from my lovely wife (which I'm actually wearing right now) some new clothes and a few gift cards.

My brother-in-law was home from the Navy this past week and I've got family coming in from Tennessee tonight so the good times should continue right through New Year's Day.

As far as workouts were concerned I skipped Christmas day all together, but today I've done some conditioning work and plenty of body-weight stuff (+ weighted vest). I feel good, but I may still hold off on grip training for another day or two just to be safe.

I've been doing a lot of thinking about my goals, many of which I either accomplished or made excellent progress with through '09. Financially speaking I should be in prime position to execute a move to working completely from home before Summer and training went exceptionally well this year. The only goal I set for myself that I didn't either achieve or come as close as I would have liked to was certing on the CoC #3 - a couple of minor injuries certainly got in the way and I don't think my original training plan was as sound as it probably could have been.

I'm going to approach the New Year with the very same passion I did for '09, the difference will be that I've learned from my mistakes of last year - I'm more experienced and stronger both mentally and physically. It's going to be a big year for me and I hope that I can help make it a big year for you too.

Christmas Eve

We've just about finished everything that needed to be completed prior to the big day tomorrow. Hope you all have a Merry Christmas and a safe and happy holiday season.

Keep in mind that this is a time to celebrate and have fun with family and friends, it's understandable that you may need to adjust your regular schedule to fit in all of the things over the course of the very busy next few days. That doesn't necessarily mean that you should abandon all of the the hard work that has gotten you to where you currently are though. You can have fun and celebrate and still maintain some semblance of order in the plan toward your ultimate goal.

If you've been wanting to embark on a new healthy lifestyle but have yet to make that move, this is the perfect time to get things started. The New Year is practically upon us, as you enjoy your time off around the holidays take a little bit of time to set some definable and reachable goals as the New Year begins and work on a plan that will help you achieve them. The first step on the road to successfully reaching your health and fitness goals is creating a sound plan.

Confused about where to start - just ask, there is plenty of solid information available out there and if I can't give you a good answer to your questions I'll direct toward an expert who can - no excuses, if you really want it start planning for it now.

Home Gym

Looking to drop your gym membership in the new year and have access to everything that you'll need for a great workout right in the comfort of your own home? No more commuting, no more waiting in line for machines and no more uncomfortable conversations with people you don't know anything about?

Check out these options for...

Best Home Gym Overall

Last Night's Work and a Wrist Injury

I honestly didn't think it was bad at all when it happened - Sunday night I was doing some body-weight work and during wall walks I was stopping at the top and holding a handstand against the wall with one hand. I felt a slight tweak in my right wrist, but continued to finish what I was doing with little problem.

When yesterday rolled around, the pain was like a dull ache whenever I put pressure on it still nothing to intense but today the pain is pretty constant. I'm not exactly sure where the problem lies, but I certainly don't foresee any bending or heavy grip work going on over the course of the next few days.

With the sore wrist my workout was limited to lower body stuff, I stuck to high rep body-weight squats and some plyometric jumping. I actually expected to be feeling it today as I didn't cut the workout short by any means, but I'm actually feeling pretty aside from the wrist.

Exercise Bikes

Exercise bikes are still pretty popular in commercial gyms, but more and more people seem to be choosing other options for their home gym equipment. Maybe the reason lies in the fact that the commercial quality machines are so darn expensive. If that's the reason in your case, check this top five list out:

Best Exercise Bike Under $500

Shoveling

Two feet of snow from early Saturday morning until early Sunday morning meant shoveling - lots and lots of shoveling. Two plowed in cars, a plowed in driveway and two properties between me and my wife was probably enough conditioning work for the day.

I'm gonna hit some body weight squats, some planks for time and have a few squeezes on a gripper or two before I jump in the shower and grab dinner - after that it'll be time for relaxing before hitting the hay early because I'm probably in for some more shoveling at work tomorrow.

Haven't seen this much snow since I can't remember when, had the kids out three different times for sledding, snowball fights and some general mayhem over the course of the last two days - the clean up is a pain in the..., but the benefit of watching them have what seems like more fun than is possible is worth every minute of that clean up.

Pull Up Bars

Pull ups are one of the cornerstone exercises to any body-weight routine, they are also hugely beneficial to any weight training routine as well. They strengthen your back, your upper and lower arms, your core and they improve your grip.

The beauty of the pull up, like many body-weight exercises, is that you don't need any big fancy machine to do them - all you need is a bar and a sturdy door frame. If you want to add this incredible strength building exercise to your repertoire, here are the best of the best in portable pull up bars:

Best Pull-Up Bar

Conditioning and Weathermen

Last night's workout was a split of conditioning - I started out doing some interval work on the stair climber and followed that up with 125 kettlebell swings. Some people fail to realize just how effective kettlebells are for fat burning/conditioning workouts - if you want a serious cardio challenge grab an appropriately weighted bell and crank out 100+ swings, it might just make you rethink your approach to what is good for increasing your "wind."

On a side note, weathermen are predicting a number of possible scenarios for this weekend in my neck of the woods - anywhere from a few inches to upwards of a foot before the weekend is out. They've already issued the winter storm warning.

I, like everyone else, have been disappointed/confused by weather predictions in the past but with a "100%" chance of snow it looks as though I'll be getting some outdoor conditioning at least once this weekend and that I better reserve plenty of time to play because if more than a few inches falls, the kids will have me out there for the bulk of the available daylight hours.

Indoor Bike Trainer

Exercise bikes can certainly have their place when it comes to getting in some cardio, but for avid cyclists there is no feeling like actually being on your own bike inside when you can't hit the great outdoors do to inclimate weather.

If you live in an area that gets less than favorable weather for good portions of the year but want to keep biking for your cardio check this out:

Best Indoor Bike Trainer

Hectic Night Last Night

I honestly don't even really know where the time went, I didn't get involved in any major projects but the time got eaten away - the night seemed to completely vanish. I didn't use that as any kind of excuse to miss my workout though - I just shortened it up a little bit.

I skipped grip (my hands needed a day off anyway), and resistance training was minimal ( a few planks for time and a few handstands) - I pretty much focused entirely on conditioning with intervals on the stair-climber.

I spoke with my older brother via text a little last night and some this morning - I could be re-entering the world of competitive sports in the not too distant future with him as a catalyst. The prospect is pretty exciting - after thinking about I realized that I haven't actually been involved in any kind of serious competition in far too long - official announcements will be made as soon as the details are hammered out.

Elliptical Trainer

Elliptical trainers have taken the fitness world by storm over the past few years, with one you can get a good cardio workout with very little impact. For this reason elliptical machines offer a good choice across the board, trainees of all ages and levels of fitness can benefit - the downside is that they can be a little pricey but if you are interested, here are a list of the top five affordable elliptical trainers:

Best Budget Elliptical

Bodyweight and Conditioning

Tonight's workout consisted mainly of hand balancing and other bodyweight movements for the resistance portion and some pretty intense intervals on the stair climber for conditioning.

The workout was pretty quick but definitely effective, I haven't done any handstands or the like in a little while and I'm feeling it in my shoulders and wrists.

Good Workout!

Grip and the Best Adjustable Dumbbells

Wanted to get the blood flowing in my hands, wrists and forearms so I decided on some active recovery tonight - 110 full ranges reps (switching hands as necessary) with a nice and easy gripper certainly did the trick.

The review I wanted to link to today would probably be of good use to anyone who wants a good (weighted) workout, but who doesn't have a ton of space...

The Best Adjustable Dumbbell Set Overall

A good variety of weight options without taking up much more space than a big pair of hex dumbbells and in most cases much more affordable than buying a complete set of hexes. The ones I own (number one on the list), I use for everything from front lateral raises to farmers walks - that's a hugely versatile piece of equipment.

Want a Treadmill on the Cheap

Treadmills can be a decent home workout tool, you can work intervals or do some warm up or sprints regardless of the weather, but if you don't want to invest too much of your hard earned cash - how about trying a manual treadmill, here are some of the best.

Best Manual Treadmill Overall

These might not hold up to the abuse that the top of the line, commercial quality treadmills will, but they will cost you a whole heck of a lot less and they do serve virtually the same purpose, just with fewer bells and whistles.

Grippers

Last night's focus couldn't have been simpler - grippers, grippers and more grippers.

I started out with holds until failure, moving up in difficulty until the amount of time I could hold the gripper closed was bordering on zero. After time holds I moved onto parallel reps on the Vulcan - 100 reps switching hands as necessary, then finally no set reps on the lowest Vulcan setting for one set on each hand to failure.

Once the workout was done, I threw back a Muscle Milk and hit some alternating hot and cold soaks to try and speed up recovery. The soaks must have worked pretty well - both hands feel fine today.

Reviews of Shoes

I've decided to start linking direct to some of my "best of" lists on Bestcovery so anyone who's interested in a particular item can have direct access rather than trying to find what they are looking for. The first list I did was for best running shoe - if you're in the market for a gift for someone, or if you just need a new pair of kicks check out the list:

Best Men's Running Shoe Overall

Hope the list comes in handy for some of you, more to come in the very near future.

Coolness

One of my best friends has re-entered the world of education - he's back in school studying video production, which I never thought he should have abandoned a number of years ago (temporarily abandoned would be a more appropriate categorization now I suppose). His class had apparently had a project last week in which they had to pitch an idea for a show - long story short, the team used video clips from YouTube to pitch an "online talent search" and one of my videos was featured:



I still think it's hilarious that my son runs into the room to clean up my wraps after I've finished the bend - I only wish those habits of cleaning up had continued : )

I know that if my buddy wasn't on the group that picked the featured videos that I probably wouldn't have been on there, but any way that I can pass along my passion (and the benefits) of old school feats of strength to others who would have otherwise not been exposed is cool with me.

Back to Basics for Tuesday

Had a lot of running around to do last night, but as I've said on a number of occasions - lack of time is not a very good excuse to skip a workout. I decided that it would be best for me last night to rock some quick bodyweight training instead of having to set everything up down in the dungeon.

It was a lighting fast, but pretty brutal circuit consisting of push up variations, squats, pull ups and burpees. Lots of huffing and puffing and plenty of sweat generated in a brief period of time.

I decided to give my grip a day off after a few pretty intense sessions over the course of the last few days, but I'm feeling recovered and I'll hit it hard again tonight - the pull ups worked it a bit, but I could feel that my hands needed some rest beyond that for the evening.

The Weekend

Saturday's workout was brief but intense - just grippers and some bends. Lots of overcrushes and holds and some max attempts on the Vulcan followed by some short lengths of 1/4" CRS from SteelWorks.

Sunday started off with 225 swings with the 24k bell then moved on to grip work. Lots of volume with the Tetting Hub, FBBC Bomb and finished up with half of a 70lb hex for some pinch work.

The hubbing felt particularly good, haven't done any of that in quite a while, the k-bell swings worked up a nice sweat as well - all in all it was a very good workout for the amount of time invested.

New Linkage + Workout

If you'll take a gander over to the sidebar, you may notice that I've added two new links - allow me to explain.

Bestcovery is a site devoted to providing reviews (top five lists) of products by experts along with external links to places in which to procure said items. There are categories that cover just about everything - electronics, apparel, appliances, travel, health and beauty - and take a wild guess who's doing the ranking and reviews for fitness equipment.

I've been over there for about a month and have down 20+ lists, the latest of which include: heart rate monitors, assorted boxing equipment and ab machines. If you're in the market for just about anything, but want some helpful suggestions before shelling out your hard earned green - take a jump over and see what the knowledgeable experts have to say.

The second new link is for Brotherspeak, which is a very well put together online magazine. You may have taken a brief trip over there in the recent past via a link in a post here. I've been writing a monthly fitness column for them since the end of summer, but I think it certainly deserves a link to the main page here - there are plenty of very well written and informative articles on a wide variety of topics over there.

As far as tonight's workout was concerned - all bodyweight: lots of good ol' fashioned push ups, squats and chins. Letting my grip have a break tonight after the recent abuse.

Tuesday & Wednesday

Haven't missed a workout, but couldn't quite find the time to post - nothing too exciting anyway.

Lots of grippers both days - holds for time, had one hold with the right that seemed like an eternity. One hundred parallel closes changing hands as necessary.

Warm up for both days was plyo jumping and kettlebell swings - I'm really digging the plyos at the moment, high intensity. 150 kettlebell swings on Tuesday, 165 on Wednesday. I finished up both workouts with some finger lifting - my hands have felt great, even morning after - must have something to do with the hot/cold soaks before jumping in the shower.

Monday Night

I felt like doing something a little bit different at the beginning part of my workout tonight, so instead of swings I hit some plyometrics. I stuck to mostly jumps because I didn't want to wear out my upper body too much - haven't done these in a little while, dang they can get you breathing heavy in no time.

Once the plyos were taken care of, it was all grippers and bending. The grippers came first and I hit them pretty hard, lots of choker work and some holds until failure - I honestly didn't have a whole lot left in the tank for the bending but I crushed down a half a dozen short pieces of 1/4" cold rolled steel.

It was a Good Day

Not the Ice Cube song (though that is an old time favorite), but the workout - lots of finger lifting, some very solid gripper closes and 150 kettlebell swings followed up by a spirited bout of bending. My conditioning is showing good signs of improvement since the increase of daily workload began and I haven't seen anything that would indicate my strength waning at all.

Illness recovery aside, everything felt very strong today, particularly the bending session in which I managed to quickly kink and crush down some steel that's been alluding me for some time. The finger lifts seem to be going well also, I'm doing static holds with a decent amount of weight for what seems like an eternity and I plan on working up to another max effort sometime before Christmas comes.

Holiday Weekend

I don't get sick very often but back to back holidays have been riddled with illness at the homestead. The kids are fine this go round, but my wife and I caught some nasty colds just in time for Thanksgiving - in terms of illness, this was a blessing compared to the swine flu, but it was still a pain in the rear.

I didn't let it ruin my holiday, nor did I let it keep me out of commission - black Friday workout consisted of some heavy bending, finger lifting and 125 kettlebell swings. I'm already running low on steel so a trip to the home improvement center will certainly be in my near future.

Still suffering from some post nasal drip and a bit of a cough, but my body feels good, so there's no reason tomorrow's workout shouldn't go on as scheduled.

Hope everyone had a safe and happy Thanksgiving.

Monday Night Workout

The rain had subsided by the time I got the kids into bed so I hit the back yard for some hammer swinging. It's starting to get cold and the forecast has each evening this week getting a little bit colder, tonight was well within what I would call tolerable but I wonder how swinging a sledgehammer outside will feel once the temp has dropped below 30.

My hands felt fine after yesterdays grip workout, so once the hammer was put away I did another heavy gripper session - plenty of overcrushes and some CoC #3 choker work.

Weekend Work

This weekend was all about kettlebells and grip in the home gym.

Saturday was a heavy gripper session with lots of work on David Horne's Vulcan gripper and culminating with some choker work on the CoC #3.

Sunday had 250 kettlebell swings first on the agenda then some blockweight work.

Blockweights consisted of singles and holds with a 35lber (half of a 70 hex) and then reps and hulas with a weighted 25lber (half a fifty hax with an extra five pounds strapped to it). Tonight will be some light gripper work as active recovery then some hot and cold soaking.

I also hacksawed up some SteelWorks CRS for before Thanksgiving bending, got a feeling this is going to be a good week.

TGIF

Ah, the weekend is almost upon us - looking forward to some relaxing and family time!

I've been doing some fitness equipment review articles lately - everything from adjustable dumbbells to whole home gyms, but the main focus has been on cardio equipment. That inspired me to do some intervals on my Precor stair climber last night as part of my workout.

I've been on plenty of different machines lately, but that was the first time I'd been on my own in a little while - I forgot how good of a workout you can get on that thing.

In addition to the intervals I did some block weights, some grippers and a good bit of mobility work and even after limited sleep last night I'm feeling great right now. Tonight will consist of taking it easy (maybe a few gripper closes here and there, but nothing to serious).

Still increasing daily Workload

I've continued to increase my daily workload (even though I haven't been posting about it every day) and I'm still pleased by the short term results that I've seen. I feel like I have more energy when I get up in the morning and that energy seems to be lasting me longer during the day.

In terms of recovery I'm not exactly sure, I did push the envelope a bit last night with 200+ kettlebell swings and a spirited set of sledge hammer swings after that and I am feeling it some today - no pain though, just some mild soreness that seems to be waning as the day progresses. I'll get through tonight and then have my training "weekend" as Friday and Saturday are customarily my off days.

I imagine I'll have a good idea if this experiment holds any real validity in the very near future as I push through a few more scheduled heavy workouts.

Busy, busy, busy

The weekend was packed with family fun: movies, birthdays and shopping - good stuff, especially considering the fact that everyone was recovered enough to actually enjoy it!

Sunday's workout consisted of Squats and Swings - the squats were of the barbell variety in the 20 rep format and the swings were performed with a 24k kettlebell.

Last night I took the 16k kettlebell and performed 250 swings without a break (I did switch hands a few times, but without breaking rhythm in the swings).

Two pretty good, but very different feeling workouts, even though both had one large element in common. I'm feeling one (or maybe both) workouts in my legs, lower and upper back - but in a good way.

Regular Training Day

On my normal "weight training" days I'm not going to be out with the hammer as I was every night this week - I've decided that I'll get down into the dungeon after the kids are in bed and move some iron.

Tonight consisted of squats (3 sets of fifteen w/ manageable weight) and v-bar (working sets up to singles with hold - 171 each hand until failure)

Following the moving iron I decided to bend some steel: about half a dozen or so easy 60d's followed by some 1/4 X 6 SteelWorks CRS.

Finished up the evening with some gripper overcrushes working up to the HG250 for holds until failure. Everything felt good, though I think that my strength may still be down a bit from flu recovery - all in all it was a good night.

Lack of Video

It's been a while since I've put together any kind of grip/feat video, I've got some thoughts for a few in the not too distant future but for those of you jonesin' for some footage here's something from Grip-Master Paul Knight and his pals - grippers, blocks and a bit of humor thrown in for good measure...



In all of the videos that I've seen from Paul, I can't remember any that I haven't been tremendously impressed by. They always seem to be joking and having a good time but the feats performed are nothing short of incredible.

Early Evening Movement and more Hammerin'

Most of the family was all but immobilized for the duration of last week with the dreaded illness, so the kids and I decided that an after dinner walk was in order. Of course we picked the coldest and dreariest day of the week to get out and get moving, but nothing a jacket couldn't solve.

We walked around a local park for a total distance of 1-1/4 miles, which I think is a pretty good distance for a two year old who is practically still recovering from the flu.

Once the kids were in bed I attacked tire with hammer again; upped the reppage by another five swings from last night. Everything still feels good and I actually woke up this morning with what seemed to be even more energy than normal - hopefully that isn't just a coincidence.

Implementation of Increased Workload

I decided to physically expound on the thoughts of my earlier post and begin my experimentation of daily increased workload tonight. Once the kids were off to bed I jumped out back and went to town with the sledgehammer. A quick but intense session that consisted of five more total swings than last evenings session. I felt as though I had plenty of swings left in the tank, but I didn't want to move too fast too soon - I'll be back out there tomorrow after all.

As a secondary thought to my increased physical workload, I've also decided to up my daily protein intake. I'm very aware of what I consume but being a vegetarian I feel like sometimes I'm not quite meeting my body's daily requirements of protein for my activity level, I feel an automatic increase of 15 grams a day should suffice for the extra demands that I'm putting on myself.

Deep Thoughts

My time incapacitated allowed me to do a lot of thinking, particularly when my head wasn't throbbing, and the topic that entered my thoughts the most was over-training (odd as I wasn't really doing any kind of training).

My question is that why are there people who work hard labor jobs (concrete, construction, heavy loading, etc.) for eight hours or more every day then follow that up with a trip to the gym who have no concern what so ever for over-training; then there are guys who sit at a computer all day and visit a gym 3-4 days a week who complain about suffering injuries stemming from over use?

Wouldn't the person who beats their body up at work on a daily basis, then goes for a heavy session at the gym be the one more likely to suffer from "over-training"? - from my experience this rarely seems to be the case.

Is over-training just a concept that's related to workload in the gym as it compares to workload on a day to day basis - and if so then shouldn't the office worker who places lighter demands on his or her body adapt to their activity as well (if not easier) than the laborer who is constantly putting their body in a stressful situation?

I've noticed that I don't tend to recover quite as quickly since taking on a more sedentary career, I had just chalked it up to aging and the natural slowing of my recuperative process - maybe there's more to it than that.

Anyone who has any thoughts, feel free to post them in the comments as I'm interested to hear someone else's perspective on this. For now I think I'm going to try and increase my daily workload a bit, without doing anything to change my heavier days to see if there is any positive effect overall.

Back to Work Tomorrow

Well, my swine flu symptoms are all but through as are my daughter's and my wife's so it will be back to the daily grind tomorrow. I stayed home today because my son is still experiencing symptoms and I wanted to be certain that all was at least reasonably well on the home front before I returned to my normal drudgery.

Once the kids were in bed for the night and all was quiet I snuck out back for a little hammer swinging. I still don't feel one hundred percent, but hammers and clubs are easy to adjust the intensity on while still giving you an insanely good workout. I didn't push it to any kind of limit, but certainly got the blood flowing.

All felt and still feels good.

New on Brotherspeak

The new issue of Brotherspeak is alive and kicking and Garrett (the man behind the magazine) has said that he feels this is the best issue yet. I'm very proud to be a part of this effort - check out my latest contribution here:

Versus

While your there be sure to take a look around, plenty of good info there.

Swine Flu

Are you kidding me?

Everybody seemed to be doing better Thursday, the week of sick seemed all but over but after we put him to be my son started to get worse. Fits of coughing kept him (and me) from sleeping for most of the night - a trip to the pediatrician revealed that he had a virus brought on by the swine flu - the perfect vacation had gotten even better. Apparently, that was the reason we'd all been out of commission for so long...

None of us are entirely better yet, still suffering from some aches and pains and lingering coughs but it's not as bad as it was. I did manage a light workout on Thursday and am possibly considering another today - with the way things are going, I wonder if I'll make it back to work tomorrow as scheduled.

At least now when people ask me how I spent vacation I'll have an interesting story.

Ugh

Been stuck in the house of sick for the last week - what a way to spend vacation. Last Friday my daughter started complaining of a sore throat, Saturday things got worse and the sickness spread - first to me, then my son and finally my wife. I've been pretty much out of commission since Monday morning.

We had lots of plans for this week, which was the main reason for taking my last vacation week of the year, but with Thursday upon us and two of the four of us still pretty much reeling, it doesn't look like there's going to be an overabundance of family fun.

I'm finally getting back to normal and planning on a light training session tonight, my daughter seems to be nearly recovered and my wife is fighting it off pretty well - hopefully we'll be able to throw some fun together for the weekend.

New on TSB

This weeks piece on TSB revolves around a topic that is pretty important to me, and evidently not so important to many other people:

Kids and Fitness

Check it out, whether you have kids right now or not - feel free to let me know your thoughts in the comments.

Bodyweight Stuff

Tuesday and Thursday have become primarily body weight and grip days for me as my wife has been working late both nights. With two young kids it's pretty much impossible to get down into the dungeon to do any heavy lifting until they are both in bed, which is sometimes well after when I would be most up for pushing heavy pounds.

No real worries though, there are plenty of body weight movements that I can do right in the living room, many of them the kids are doing right beside me. Tuesday was a lot of lower body and core movements and tonight consisted of a boatload of push up and pull up variations along with some time on the grippers.

Good Weekend

Took the family to a local farm yesterday for some Hayride/Corn Maze/Pumpkin Picking fun, it was a beautiful day to be outside and moving - crisp and cool, but the sun was out to take the edge off the the air. The kids got a good haul of pumpkins for decorating and had a blast.

Once we got home it was down to business in the dungeon: cleans, one hand pulls and dumbbell bench were on the agenda and 7+ tons of cumulative pounds were moved in around thirty minutes. It was a good workout after the nice morning on the farm, fueled by a few apple cider donuts.

This Week on TSB

Got a new article up over at TSB, it's a look into people's willingness to help their pets in times of need. Check it out here:

How Willing Would you be

Hope you enjoy.

Some A-Hole Stole my Bike

Well, it was my wife's bike to be more precise, but I did a good bit of riding on it as well. The douche bag came right onto my porch (enclosed porch) right in the middle of the day to take it - while my wife and kids were home.

The thing that makes me even more angry is the fact that the child seat was on the back of it - how low do you have to be to steal a bike with a kid's seat on it?

Guess I'll be needing to find a new place to park the two wheeled vehicles of the house, but in the meantime if you see some A-hole riding around on a Diamondback Parkway with a child seat on the back, let me know because I've got an extra ass whooping here that I wouldn't mind handing out.

New on TSB

I spent Tuesday and Thursday night doing kettlebell C & J, nothing too exciting to write about but a truly kick butt workout none-the-less. And speaking of butt kicking workouts, this week on TSB is all about Tabata:

How Four Minutes can Kick your Ass

On a side note, was at the Home Depot today and pick up a mess of big nails and bolts, will be doing some serious bending this coming week for sure.

Bizarro World

Yesterday's workout focused on a lift that I have not performed in quite a while - in fact, I darn near gave away a necessary piece of equipment in performing this lift the other day. The equipment: my bench, the lift: the bench press...


I thought my days of benching were done; a less than perfect elbow and shoulder had made the lift difficult for me to begin with and I learned what I thought of be much more productive ways of building the muscles that get worked by the bench - but somehow, someway I still ended up performing powerlifting's most popular movement.

All in all it went pretty well, no tweaks, twinges or pains and I alternated each set of bench with a set of heavy power cleans to avoid any feelings that my workout was unbalanced.

I feel good today, a little residual soreness, but nothing more than I would have expected from performing a lift that I hadn't done in ages.

New on TSB and some Jerks

New piece up over at TSB:

Passion over Attitude

I also did some kettlebell jerks last night, it was a bit of a test. I wanted to do more jerks than I encountered at work - k-bell jerks performed: 105, it was a close call.

New on TSB

I have been kind of taking a step back over the last week or so, trying to get my head together and working toward my ultimate goal of being a full time freelance writer. During that time I've come to realize a few things about myself and I've decided to undertake a physical challenge.

For the next few weeks at least my training is going to be very different from what I've been doing, it probably won't seem very exciting as it's happening so I may not be logging workouts regularly. I'll still make an attempt to update every time a new fitness piece crops up somewhere and I'll probably be doing a training piece or two right here if there is ever some downtime in my work schedule.

In the meantime, please check out my latest piece for TSB magazine:

Is This Really Necessary?

Hope you enjoy.

Time Flies...

I must be having some fun, or working my a$$ off - could be six on one hand and half a dozen on the other.

MY wife's work schedule changed again and I've landed another writing gig, which is keeping me BUSY. I'm still managing to maintain the same workload in training, but I am tired by the time that evening rolls around.

Sunday's workout was HEAVY squats and grip (it's Tuesday and my legs are still sore).

Grip went well, I absolutely manhandled my 35lb block weight. I've been able to lift it consistently for a while now, but this was the first time I've been able to pull it for multiples so easily and to move it + weight for reps.

Tonight I'll do some light bending and some grippers before I dive into my latest assignment.

Back to 100%

Everyone seems recovered from last weeks illness and yesterday's workout was a good one.

From the beginning everything was heavy: deadlifts, rows, v-bar and finger lifts. I finished up with some nice long farmers walks with 100lb dumbbells.

I've been working my tail off writing for the last week in addition to being sick, so getting down into the dungeon and moving some heavy iron felt particularly good.

Feel good enough tonight that I'll hit a little bending and if the weather holds up I might take the kids outback to sit around the fire pit and roast a few marshmallows.

Rough Weekend

My daughter is back to school and as some of you know that leads to rampant illnesses running through the house. She got sick the middle of last weekend, then subsequently passed it on to my son and me - who were both sick through the weekend.

She is totally fine and back to school and my son is perking up - I still feel a little like garbage, but managed to crank out a quick kettlebell workout tonight in spite of it all.

Cleans X 100 switching hands as necessary
Jerks X 100 switching hands as necessary
Snatches X 100 switching hands as necessary

Certainly not the most difficult or inspiring workout of my life, but it was quick and got the blood flowing after a weekend that was, for the most part, filled with inactivity.

Should be back to 100% by the time Thursday's workout rolls around!

Today's Workout

Felt good today!

Did some 1" V-bar working up in sets of ten (alternating hands) to 171lbs then hit some singles with a hold at 196 - even though I haven't played around with this in a while I didn't feel as though I as too far off my previous max.

After V-bar I moved onto bear hug deadlifts working up to singles with 200 lbs, I was way out of practice with this lift - my first couple pulls over 180 darn near tipped me over until I got back into a groove.

Finished up with some one-finger lifts - nothing too crazy, multiple singles working up to 160 in plates + the pin.

I haven't worked any of these lifts with any regularity for a while, so I was pretty happy with the volume and numbers I was capable of.

Conditioning and Bending

I've been blasting the conditioning work for the last few days, as well as hitting lots of mobility work. My joints are feeling loose and I feel as though I've got even more energy - actually had an overabundance of energy today, so in addition to my conditioing work I hit some bending.

I smashed quite a few 60d's in DO style, then played around with some 1/4 X 6 CRS from SteelWorks in a few different styles. I haven't been bending nearly as frequently as I had since recovering from a bending related hand injury, but today felt very strong - zero pain at any point.

Answers to Questions

I just had a great question from Terence on my last post regarding a sudden inability to tear cards with quite the same ability, despite the fact that a marked improvement in overall strength has occurred.

The solution to these problems could seriously depend on a number of things in each individual situation, but there is usually a reasonably simple solution to most problems at hand.

What I'd like to do, if it's alright with Terence, is to get some information via e-mail so I can sit down and think about things before answering. Once I have had a chance to look over the info, I'll put the best answer I have down in a new post that everyone can take a look at and that hopefully many will be able to benefit from.

So Terence, if you're game, shoot me an e-mail with your workload (both regular training and tearing, etc.) leading up to your initial success with the feat as well as what your workload looked like directly leading into the sudden loss in ability and we'll see if we can't help you through this frustrating problem.

My e-mail is : fitnessquest1@yahoo.com

Looking forward to hearing what you've been doing and hoping that I can help you get through this.

Jeff

The Great Pyramids

Well, not really, but today's workout did consist of push up pyramids from 1 to 15 and then back down - and it did seem pretty great. Nice upper body pump, and with only 20-30 seconds in between sets it took pretty much no time at all.

The back end of the workout consisted entirely of conditioning and mobility work - about twenty minutes of each.

I've got a lot of new things in the works - new articles, new challenges and new styles and methods of trying to reach new goals. Stick around, you won't be disappointed.

Mobility and Conditioning

Thankfully, the weather held off long enough yesterday for me to get out in the backyard for a workout.

I kept it exceedingly simple using nothing but a jump rope and my homemade macebell. I alternated a set of macebell swings with a bout of skipping, no break in between for five full circuits. I finished up the workout with some light stretching right before the skies opened up.

I haven't done any rope work in a little while, and this workout opened my eyes to one thing - my conditioning isn't nearly what it used to be, but now I'm aware of where I stand I'm aiming to do the work necessary to change that.

Mobility & Bodyweight

The last couple days I've spent a decent amount of time playing around with bodyweight movements. It's not as though this is uncharted waters for me, I've done plenty of bodyweight stuff in the past, I'm just trying to put some different moves together in order to develop a good routine for when I'm strapped for time or when I can't get down into the dungeon.

I've also upped my focus on mobility work because lately my right shoulder and my hips have been pretty stiff - good news is that after just two days I feel a good bit looser and feel like I have more energy because of it.

Spent some quality time with the grippers over the weekend as well - had some solid work on the Vulcan and a few decent attempts at the #3.

Hammer Time

Today's workout began with the macebell - 100 swings switching directions every twenty five, then I moved on to some light kettlebell snatching before getting into the meat of the workout...

250 swings (full force, not playing around) with an 18lb homemade hammer. Fifty swings per side then switch until I reached the 250 reps, by the end I was a sweaty mess. This workout was quick, but really worked my grip, back, arms and conditioning.

New Article up on TSB

There's a new piece up on TSB, a review of John Beatty's equipment from Fat Bastard Barbell Co.

FBBC Review

John is a stand up guy who does everything that he can to support his sports. If you are in need of any kind of strength equipment, I strongly recommend taking a trip to FBBC's website and taking a look around.

Today's Workout

I've submitted my "official entry" for the WSL card tearing contest - sort of. You see I tried in vain for a few days at the end of August to really put something special together, something that had never been done before, but I just wasn't ready to hit it yet. I'll get there, and when I do, this will be the place to see it - but for now I'm going to put tearing on the back burner for a minute and focus on a few other things...

Kettlebell Swings

24k X 200

Kettlebell Juggling w/ 16k

freestyle for fifteen minutes, lots of hand switches and several (failed) attempts at the elusive double flip

Macebell (of the home-made variety)

150 swings

I feel like my mobility is still lacking, particularly in my right shoulder, which has been affecting some of my heavier lifts, my bending and even my tearing to an extent so I'm going to try and incorporate a lot of circular movements for a few weeks and see how everything feels. On the plus side, all of the swings, twists and flips should give my conditioning a serious kick in the rear end!

New Article up on Brotherspeak

I have a new piece up on Brotherspeak Magazine, apparently they liked me enough to keep me around for a second month : ^ )

Simplicity Reigns Supreme

Hope you enjoy

This Weekend...

Or I guess since it is technically over, it would be last weekend.

Either way: Made the workout short and sweet on Saturday because we had my son's second birthday party on Sunday and there was a decent amount of prep still to do.

Deads: 5 X 5, incresing weight with each set followed by three heavy singles.

Kettlebells: Straight hand to hand tosses X 100 - these are just like ketlebell swings, but where the bell is released at the top and caught with the opposite hand on the decent, good for the lower back, legs and grip.

Grip: nothing to write home about, just a few max attempts on the Vulcan and 2 "work sets" of three reps.

Got everything done in time and the party was a blast!

Tonight's Workout

Had a great workout today - Swings, snatches and jerks with the 24k kettlebell followed by about ten to twelve minutes of juggling with the 16k bell.

I haven't really juggled in what seems like ages, I've done hand to hand tosses and a few flips here and there but it felt like a long time since I actually focused on juggling with any fluidity. It was just as awesome as I remembered and I managed to pull off most of the moves that I tried without missing a beat. If the weather holds up on my training days I plan on trying to get out for at least fifteen minutes to juggle on one day a week.

I've also upped my grip training another day per week in an effort to push the limits just a little bit more toward certing on the number three before the year is out - it feels like one of those "so close, yet so far away" type of things and I'm hoping that the extra day will give me the kick in the a$$ I need to continually close in on that goal.

New Article up on TSB

New piece on TSB discussing developing massive amounts of power through practicing old school feats of strength - this is the first in a series of (hopefully) many

Building Power with Feats of Strength part I

At the end, you'll notice a recommendation for Jedd (Diesel Crew)'s Card Tearing E-book, if you're just beginning your road to the goal in the piece, buy Jedd's book - buy Diesel and you get nothing but the best.

If you enjoy this piece, keep coming back because I'll be doing more on old school feats and perhaps even be getting some guest commentary from Jedd here and there.

Saturday's Workout

Juggled things around this weekend a bit - workout moved to Saturday, with the way things are going this may be a permanent switch - either way is fine with me...

I foolishly attempted some one-legged deadlifts after seeing Gripster Ben Edwards doing them in one of his videos. I did find out the my balance is pretty much terrible: - )

On the upside, my frustration from absolute failure on the one-legged variety spurned me on for one hell of a session of 5 X 5 deads!

Worked just a little bit of 1" V-bar and some one finger lifting (this went much better that the previously attempted one leg lifting) and finished up with some work on the Vulcan - still confident that without any injuries that I'll be capable of Captains of Crush certification before 2009 is through.

Yesterday's Workout

My wife has been picking up extra days at work for the last couple weeks, filling in for people who are on vacation. For the most part, these days have been Thursdays, which is normally one of my heavy days in the dungeon - since I'm alone with the kids while she's at work, the last couple Thursdays have been k-bell days.

I basically fix their dinner and while they're eating I pound away at the kettlebells for 25-30 minutes.

Last night included 200 swings (switching hands as necessary), 50 BUP's (switching hands as necessary) and one long set of front squats. I finished up with around 100 reps on the Vulcan at varying levels of resistance.

You don't need a membership to Gold's gym to get a good workout, I did this in an area of my dining room not much bigger than a closet.

Training Video for WSL Card Tearing Contest

Actually did this video a couple days ago but hadn't had the chance to post it yet. The contest is winding closer to the end and I'm trying to come up with something cool for the submission video - this is just me hammering into a deck at the end of a gripper workout...

New Article - Working out with your Four-Legged Friend

I've got a new piece up over at TSB. It covers some of the things that a good training partner can provide you with along with were you might have to go to find the right one...

Not All Training Partners Suck

Thanks for stopping in, hope you enjoy!

Busy Sunday

My brother is flying in for the day and we have a mess of stuff lined up for the very short time that he'll be in town, so I had to keep this morning's training brief to be able to get ready for the day ahead.

During times like this is refreshing to know that you don't have to spend hour after hour in the gym in order for your workout to be effective. Today only took a little over twenty minutes, but still managed to kick my butt. On the schedule was:

5 X 5 deads - as heavy as I could handle after two sets of warm-up.

One Max attempt

3 X 3 Finger lifts

3 X 25 weighted sit ups

Everything was done with minimal rest - post workout included a 12 oz glass of milk, a PB sandwich and a quick shower - no it's time to hit the road

Today's Workout

Tuesday night I did a ten minute set of snatches at 12.5 reps per minute - it's been a little while since I've done timed sets - I almost forgot how fun they were. So tonight I devoted 45 minutes to timed sets of kettlebell movements.

10 minutes of swings*

10 minutes of snatches*

10 minutes of cleans/jerks*

10 minutes of TGU's*

* I don't have a timer, so times were all estimated/calculated along with music.

This workout was no joke - I'm burnt!

More Swingage

Yesterday's workout was pretty much one long kettlebell swing session interspersed with a lot of (mostly hip) mobility work.

I completed a total of 245 swings, switching hands and taking short breathers when necessary. Before and after the swing session (as well as during some of the short breathers) I worked on loosening up my hip ankle and shoulder joints with some circular movements.

I'm not sure what kind of effect the swings/snatches that I've been (and will continue to be) performing will have on my deadlifts numbers, I've heard the translation between the two is great - I guess only time will tell. I've been using deadlifts as my main strength movement for years and have been implementing kettlebells of late for conditioning/explosiveness, I guess it's time that I try and marry the two forms of training to try and yield the best possible results.

I also worked some grippers (Vulcan for warm up and work sets followed by some spirited attempts on the # 3.

Deads, C & J & MORE GRIPPERS

I had a bit of a cold early on in the weak, which kept me from doing a whole heck of a lot of accessory work on Tuesday but I felt good yesterday. I decided to put pretty much all of my energy into deads and to work some technique on the barbell C & J.

I've worked some Oly lifting before, but mainly just with kettlebells and I think that focusing on some barbell cleans and clean and jerks will help me build more explosive strength (one thing I think that I'm currently lacking).

I jumped right back to where I left off before vacation on the 20 rep deads, though the last few were grinders. Thought I was going to be a little sore today, but I actually feel fine. In favor of my normal accessory work on dead day I worked a few sets of C & J, it took me a few reps to really start to feel the groove but once I got it, it felt surprisingly natural.

I didn't do any gripper work, as the title implies, but I think that I forgot to mention that I had spoken with John over at FBBC before I left for vacation and that I have two of his grippers on the way. For those of you who don't have any experience with John or his products, he is a class act and produces nothing but top quality strength/grip gear, so I'm looking very forward to their arrival.

New (first) Article at Brotherspeak

Brotherspeak is the latest home for my writings. It's a sight dedicated to improvement and empowerment and this week I put together a piece on matching your outside with your inside - being healthy and looking good.

Looks can be Deceiving

While you're over there, take a look around - the site is new but already is amassing some good quality content.

New Article over at TSB

This week at TSB, I did some talking about protein. The subject of proper dietary supplementation can get pretty confusing - if you are new to working out there is a lot of information and even more mis-information that can have you stumbling Most of the information you can find easily comes from someone trying to sell you something, someone who doesn't have your best interest in mind, so I constructed a bit of a guide for you to determine what sources of protein may be right for you and about how much you should be getting on a daily basis.

Protein - It does a Body Good

Enjoy!

Vacation's over - Time to get back to Work!

My family and I just got back from a beautiful week down in Tennessee. We had a lot of fun with my brother and his family - we hit the Zoo, toured downtown, went swimming, spent some time by the fire pit and did some much needed relaxing. As far as working out, there wasn't much - I played a little basketball and bent a few 60d's for show, that was about it.

We got home last night and today it was back down into the dungeon.

V-bar

96 X 6 right X 6 left
141 X 4 right X 4 left
176 X 2 right X 1 left
196 X 2 right X fail left

1 Finger Lift

76 each side X 5
96 each side X 3
126 X 1 each side with hold
146 X 1 each side with hold
166 X 1 each side with hold

TGU's w/ 24K bell

2 X 5 each side

finished up with some light grippers

Nothing to max, but it felt great just to get the blood flowing again!

Grippers and Cards

Did lots of gripper work tonight:

Warmed up with the HG150 then proceeded to work my way through a few more HG's a few BB's and some spirited work with the Vulcan. It shouldn't be long before I'm ready to certify CCS with the Vulcan - and I put in a request for a few grippers from John at FBBC (smooth handles like the Vulcan so I could be ready to certify on one of them almost straight away as a result of all of the Vulcan work)

Finished up the workout with some card tearing in interesting fashions - still working on something very innovative for the contest at "The World's Strongest Librarian"

Gettin' my Swing on

It's been a while since I brutalized myself with a workout that's main focus was the kettlebell swing - lately it's been deads, squats, snatches and grip. I won't have any of my bells on vacation so I figured today would be a good day to get my swing on!

24K - 200 swings performed in as close to one long set as possible, brief breathers were taken but I didn't put the bell down.

To close the workout out I did a few sets of snatches, a few sets of jerks and a little bit of walking around with the bell held in lockout.

On a non-workout related note, the vacation countdown has officially begun. We're leaving Sunday afternoon, and my mind is already far, far away from: the 9-5, traffic, noisy neighbors and anything else that I don't particularly enjoy encountering on a day to day basis.

Deads and Grip

Twas a busy weekend - we had my daughter's fifth birthday party(ies) on Saturday - the kids party started at one and went until a little after four, then the family party began and it was after ten before it all came to an end. Long day, but lots of fun - the kids (and many of the adults) seemed to have a blast.

Sunday started off sluggishly, but as I crept down into the dungeon for my workout the adrenalin started to flow. This could be one of my last heavy workouts before we head out on vacation so I didn't want to leave anything in the tank - I picked a weight that I wanted to dead for twenty, then grinded (or ground?) out twenty five.

After a few minutes of recovery I hit some plate pinching - nothing too heavy here, just some hand to hand passes with three, then four dimes until they started to slide.

I finished up the workout with some work on the BBSM and a few spirited attempts on the #3 and one quick tear of a poker deck before calling it a day.

I honestly thought that I would be a little beat up today, but I woke up before the alarm feeling great - until I realized that I had to go to work : ^ )

Yesterday's Workout

I set my workout yesterday a little shorter than normal, I've been pushing pretty hard lately and I don't want to get to the point of overtraining - I think heading out on vacation next weekend is going to do my body some good.

I focused my workout around the "20 rep deads" without really attacking too much in the way of assistance exercises.

I warmed up with a few sets of one hand lifts then jumped right into deads. I felt strong and pulled 25 heavy singles, resetting my grip with each rep.

Once the deads were in the books I worked my core with a few sets of side bends and weighted sit ups then gave just a few atempts with each hand on pinching five dimes (all fails).

In and out in around a half hour, but the overall tonnage of the workout was definitely there - despite the session being a little shorter I didn't work with any less intensity.

Yesterday's Work & Some New Equipment

Brief Updates:

Yesterday I decided to make the switch over to 20 rep deadlifts from the 20 rep squats. I was getting to the point that I didn't really feel comfortable with the amount of weight I was using with no means of safety - so the switch made sense. I also worked the blockweights quite a bit in addition to all the deads, so my grip got a heck of a workout.

Yesterday brought the arrival of my new 24K kettlebell, so that means I can start working on the SSST with the weight that I'm actually supposed to be using. Even though I was beat from the workout I couldn't resist a few snatches and BUP's - the thing feels like a beast compared to what I've been using so tomorrow should be lots of torturous fun.

Today my BBSM from Chad Woodall came in the mail as well - the knurling doesn't feel quite as brutal as on the BBSA - I'm looking forward to working with this gripper!

I've been tearing cards quite a bit lately in prep for Josh's virtual comp and loaded up on new decks this weekend, I hadn't torn in a few months prior to last week and am pleasantly surprised at how quickly it's all coming back to me.

I feel like I'm really starting to put all of the pieces together properly - so keep coming back and watch for some BIG things before the Summer is officially over!

Last Night's Workout and a Special Offer

Man, I haven't been updating the old blog as much as I would like to lately - but it's not because there hasn't been anything going on, quite the contrary in fact. I've begun some training for a virtual card tearing contest over at the World's Strongest Librarian, I've been training strongman events and been working on PLing and mobility - in short I've been a pretty busy dude.

Yesterday was a rousing bout of 20 rep squats along with some intense grip training followed by some card tearing - good fun!

What I'd like to offer to anyone who reads this blog, as my form of appreciation - is the opportunity to have your health and fitness questions answered. I may not be the number one fitness guru on the planet, but I've had some decent accomplishments (I've torn and quartered decks of cards, deadlifted well over 2-1/2 times bw, lifted more than 200lbs with one finger, closed a few pretty decent sized grippers and burst a whole can of soda) and I've also worked with a wide variety of strength, conditioning and nutrition experts so I know at least a thing or two about getting stronger and healthier.

If you've got a health, fitness or nutrition question that you feel the answer to would help you in some way on your route to a better you - fire away. My e-mail address is: fitnessquest1@yahoo.com - just put "fitness question" in the topic and I'll get back to you with my best answer to your question.

If the response is great and there is any interest, somewhere down the road I may consider offering one-on-one online training/coaching for athletes who have needs beyond just a few questions and who want some serious attention. Stay tuned and in the meantime, send me a question.

Yesterday's Workout & New Article

Hope everyone had a safe, happy and exciting 4th, as for me and the family it involved hitting the local parade in the morning, followed by a pretty intense workout, then finally on to a BBQ at my brother's house and watching the fireworks.

The parade was fun, just long and loud enough so the kids didn't get too bored or too scared - some fire engines, marching veterans, string bands and a few rounds fired.

Workout started out slow, I felt like it took me a good ten-fifteen minutes to get really fired up, but once I did it was great. Had a set of twenty reps squats that was as good as they get (legs and lungs on fire, but still a few reps away from bringing breakfast back up) and I've got something new that I'm working on - could have a video up before next weekend.

The BBQ was great, a good crowd of folks and plenty of room for the kids to run rampant without getting into trouble - reminded me of the get togethers we used to have at my parents' and grandparents' houses when I was a kid.

We managed to wake my daughter up to catch most of the fireworks on the ride home, but my son was passed out - all in all it was a great day - hope everyone else has as good a time as we had.

Got a new piece up on TSB, I know how a lot of people want a good structured workout without having to spend a bunch of money - so I reviewed the 100 Pushups workout for anyone interested in blasting out some body weight workouts and reaching a pretty impressive goal in the process.

Reviwing a Freebie - 100 Push Ups

Hope you enjoy!

Good Workout Yesterday & Happy 4th

The boss let us cut out a little early yesterday for the coming three day weekend and I was already hankering to start working out, so the early start coupled with the excitement of an extra day out of the office further fueled my workout energy.

I started off with some mace swinging and kettlebell work to get the blood flowing:

4 sets of the following

Macebell swings X 45
Kettlebell 2 hand swings X 35

No rest between exercises 45 seconds between compound sets.

TGU's

3 X 5 each side

Strongman event training

Loading and unloading implements to 40" platform

(Implements include a variety of sandbags and a water filled stability ball)

Sets of shouldering and rowing the various bags and stability ball

Finisher was carries for distance, first with 90lb sandbag for 3 X fail, then with the water filled stability ball for 4 X fail.

Thanks for stopping in and I hope everyone has a safe, happy and productive 4th of July weekend!

Trying to Pack on a Little More Bulk

Getting stronger all around never hurt anybody, and though I've been focusing on strength training for quite some time now and seeing solid improvements, I'm still reasonably light for a strength athlete.

I decided I would do another cylce of 20 rep squats to try and pack on a few pounds of lean muscle. I've had good success with this routine in the past, usually making it throough the six weeks cylce a few pounds heavier and with noticable gains in strength almost all around.

I've decided that I'll modify the routine from the original a bit to still be able to focus heavily on my other goals. I'll do the 20 rep squats twice a week and train grip and with k-bells twice a week to keep making progress toawrd the CoC #3 and achieving 200 k-bell snatches in ten minutes.

Today was the first day of the 20 rep squats and all went very well, by the end I was exhausted and had very little left in the tank - for me that's one of the signs of a good workout.

New Article Up on BMF Forum

Yesterday I put up part 3 in my series of endurance training articles for BMF Sports. Yesterdays peice gave some insight as to the potential benefits of strength training for cyclists.

The Strength to Endure Part III

Thanks for stopping in and I hope you enjoy!

New Article on TSB

This weeks discussion is about the joys of training with one of the worlds most effective tools - the keg!

From Ultimate Party Animal to Physically Fit like an Animal

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you enjoy.

No get up, get out and get moving, because no one else can do it for you!

A Much Needed Day Off

Not for training - from the day job. My wife works every other weekend (including this one) and now that my daughter is off of school I wanted to take a day where we could go out and do something as a family - get out and play.

Last night's workout focused on V-bar, Macebell and some k-bell juggling.

Started with the heavy weight

V-bar
96 X 6 Right, 6 Left
141 X 3 X 3
166 X 2 X 1
191 X 1 X bomb
201 X 1
211 X 1
216 X bomb

Macebell Swings
X 50
X 35
X 35

K-bell Juggling 16k

Freestyle (same hand flips, hand to hand flips, etc.) 3 sets X drop. The first one felt like it lasted forever, the second and third not so much.

This morning I got up early and hit some "quad squats" from the CST system and worked on some mobility movements. I feel great and am looking forward to the day ahead!

Couple Decent Workouts

It's been a few day since updates - I apologize, work's been hectic, I've had articles to write and there's been training to do!

Last night it was all snatches - a post from Josh - The World's Strongest Librarian - got me back on track with the goal of 200 snatches in 10 minutes with a 24k bell (The Secret Service Snatch Test), but since I've only currently got a 16k bell (the 24 is supposedly on its way) I put in some work with that.

I did 180 reps then noted my progress on my FB page (to which I'm apparently addicted now) then as I wrote it I realized just how big of a jump it's going to be working with a 24k bell - so I went back and hit another 80 reps.

Today was all about grippers (I still want that number 3 closed from a CCS by the end of the year). During lunch I warmed up then worked to singles with my HG300 and finished up with some negatives on the CoC #3 - then after dinner I worked the Vulcan a little before doing some strap holds with my HG250 until failure - forearms are nice and fried!

Whatever your goals are - keep at them. If you need motivation, go get it and get your butt moving, NO ONE ELSE WILL DO IT FOR YOU

Good Weekend

Hope all the Dads out there had a great Father's day - in anticipation of a busy Sunday, I moved my regular workout to Saturday night. I was looking to get in and out and get the best workout I could in a short window of available light outside before the rains were due to fall again.

I opted for Macebell Circuits

50 swings
50 Gravediggers (switch sides at 25)
50 Lateral Hops
30 Hindu Squats

Repeated the circuit three times with about a minute rest between, then I cleaned up the workout with some K-bell BUP's - 3 X 10 with each hand.

Sunday was my rest day - We took the kids, the in-laws and my Mom to the Philadelphia Zoo (my bro, sister in-law, god-daughter and brother-in-law also came along for the trip). It was a great day to be outside, the clouds kept the sun from beating down on us and it was cool enough to not be oppressive with all of the walking - everybody seemed to have a great time.

New Article Up on TSB

Hey All - there's a new article up on TSB for this week. This one gives my pick for what this summer's fitness trend/craze will be and where to get yourself the best possible programs if you want to reap the rewards.

Don't Call it a Comeback

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you enjoy!

Good Workout and Too much Time on the Computer

So - I'm on Facebook now, have been for about two weeks or so and I must say that I've been pleasantly surprised thus far. If someone had told me the level to which the strength community over there had grown and how much all of these incredible athletes were willing to share with one another I would have thought they were greatly exaggerating - but in two short weeks I've become "friends" with more than forty of the most innovative and influential people in all of "real world" fitness. I've learned quite a few things and was actually inspired to do an impromptu workout last night based on a few of the things that I saw on FB yesterday.

Started out with V-bar (this wasn't from inspiration on FB, I just want to get back to training this lift on a regular basis)

51 X 5 X 5
96 X 5 X 5
141 X 3 X 3
166 X 2 X 2
191 X 1 X 1
201 X 1 X Fail
211 X 1
216 X 1 (this was pretty close, didn't get it on video, but it felt like it cleared the two inches by a reasonable amount)

Most of the rest of my workout (with the exception of a few pulls on my homemade 11olb thick handle DB) was performed with no weights. Lots of push-up complexes and lower body combinations (squats, lunges, pistols, etc.) Much of what I did here was based on things that I saw in the promotional video for Zach Even-Esh's "Body Weight University" video series that was released yesterday. Admittedly this portion of my workout could have been much more structured, but it was ridiculously intense.

I used a few rounds with the heavy bag as a finisher (inspired by reading Kira Robert Clarke's workout log - he's thefightgeek on Straight to the Bar) in his log yesterday there was lots of sparring and mitt work, and it occurred to me that I hadn't hit anything in a while.

I did three 3 minute rounds using both arms and legs for striking - no rest during rounds, constant movement.

It was a fantastic workout, and I partially have Facebook to thank - Go Figure

New Article on BMF Sports

I put up part two of my series on strength training for endurance athletes over on the BMF Sports forum:

The Strength to Endure Part II

Thanks for stopping in and I hope you enjoy!

New on TSB

Well, I played around a bit with my homemade Macebell - all I can say is Holy Sh*t. One hundred swings - killer.

Anyhow, like the title says, there's a new piece of mine up on TSB.

The five best pieces of Training Equipment that will fit in the Trunk of your Car

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you enjoy.

Good Workout and a New Toy in the Making

Today's workout pretty much focused solely on k-bell juggling. I did circuits of:

10 same hand flips one each hand
10 hand to hand flips
25 two-hand flips

I waited about 60-90 seconds in between circuits and if the bell dropped I immediately picked it up to complete the desired number of reps.

I performed six of the above circuits before moving on to 3 sets of 25 anchor pulls and 3 sets of 6 TGUs on each side.

After my workout was done I set out on making a new tool to add to the repertoire. I recently read an article from Steve Maxwell about making your own Macebell on the cheap - since I don't have the $200 to lay down on an "authentic" Macebell, I decided to give Mr. Maxwell's advice a try.

Here's a picture of the homemade Macebell setting up, should be ready to use in a few days. All it took was a heavy-duty shovel handle, a bucket of Quickrete and a mini basketball. I already had the b-ball, so my total investment was about $14.00 and maybe twenty minutes - can't wait to give it a try!

This Week on TSB

New piece up on TSB, this week I talk about trying to make sense of all of the confusing information handed out on the internet regarding your diet. Check it out here...

Making Sense of it All - The Diet Edition

Thanks for stopping in, and I hope you enjoy!

Inventory Sucks but Stomach Viruses are Worse

I've got "physical inventory" coming up at my day job this week, those of you who've ever had the pleasure of working in a warehouse or retail establishment probably know my fate all too well.

It's days of prep followed by hour after hour of monotony, counting thousands and thousands of pieces of thousands and thousands of items - it promises to put a proverbial damper on my Thursday and Friday evenings (maybe very, very late evenings) and, worse case scenario, much of my Saturday afternoon as well. It wouldn't have been so bad but for Thursday being one of my intense training days - which could have been transitioned to today - enter the dreaded stomach virus...

My son (just under two, and visible in both my more recent card tearing and my most recent bending videos), came down with a nasty stomach bug yesterday evening. Poor little guy threw up more than half a dozen times since the first.

Knowing that a normal training session would be impossible this evening at home with my wife at work I opted to make my lunch hour a training session of sorts.

I managed two hundred Hindu Squats, one hundred push-ups and somewhere around thirty pull-ups before my time expired - tonight I'll hit some grippers and if time allows after I get the kids to bed maybe even a few k-bell snatches.

Sunday's Workout & New Video

Sunday was beautiful in my neck of the woods, so my workout was done completely in the backyard, and pretty much entirely with k-bells and some grippers.

30lb k-bell
100 snatches switch hands every 25 reps
100 swings switch hands every 25 reps
60 cleans switch hands every 10 reps
60 high pulls switch hands every 10 reps

16k bell
3 X 10 Bups each hand
3 X 10 snatches
3 X 10 C & P

Fifteen or so minutes of juggling - same hand flips, hand to hand flips, two hand flips etc. I finished up the k-bell portion of my workout with some BUP tosses from hand to hand and caught it on video...



Finished up the workout by hitting some sets for max reps on my HG200, working my way to 100 reps on each hand.

Good workout!

New Article up on BMF Sports

We've breached new ground over on my second home - BMF Sports now has a section devoted to endurance sports training. I know much of my training now involves feats of strength and borderline crazy activities, but I certainly spent my time in the trenches with endurance sports.

I put together a little piece on cross training, but not in the sense that most people think of it. In most cases when cross training is mentioned it's primarily in terms of strength or skill athletes working on their "wind" - in part because it's widely known that many endurance athletes don't want any parts of weight training.

Well, in The Strength to Endure, I discuss precisely the reasons that more endurance athletes should hit the weight room, have a look and let me know what you think.

Hope you Enjoy.

Good Workout Yesterday! + Tried Protyme protein powder

My hands were a little bit burnt from the recent gripper/kettlebell work, so I decided to not really do anything that would directly effect them yesterday. I opted instead on doing a bit of a variant of the old "Squats and Milk" routine, sans the milk.

I performed pretty much everything in one giant circuit with virtually no rest between the individual exercises, the weights were really nothing special but they weren't necessarily intended to be. I wanted to work intensely and quickly without stressing my hands, and I wanted to do something completely different from what I've been doing lately.

Warm-up
Squats 155 X 20
Dumbbell Pullovers 35 X 20
Stiff Legged Deadlifts 175 X 15
Dumbbell Pullovers 35 X 20
Dips bodyweight X 15
Axle Rows 90 X 12
Dips bodyweight X 15
Axle Rows 140 X 5
Dips bodyweight X 15
Axle Rows 120 X 6

Was in and out of the dungeon in about thirty five minutes, feeling great.

I'm normally not a huge supplement guy, aside from ACT energy drinks, I haven't really been taking anything, but when my sponsor BMF released Protyme protein powder I had to give it a shot. At 110 cals and 26 grams of protein with zero fat, Protyme certainly fit the bill in terms of keeping in line with my diet. I've tried a number of protein powders in the past and haven't really been a huge fan of any of them - most either didn't taste very good, or were a royal pain to mix without the use of appliances.

I was pleased to find that Protyme mixed up super easy in a simple water bottle, after just a few seconds of shaking - no lumps (that's a first from my experience.) Protyme actually tastes good as well, really good in fact - it was smooth and left no aftertaste - and for the first time that I can remember, I didn't have to force down the last of the bottle.

Props to BMF for putting together another incredible product, that delivers exactly what it promises on the label.

Thanks Bud!

Grippers and Prasara

Worked grippers for the last two nights in a similar scheme to my previously posted gripper workout:

HG150 X 100 each hand
HG200 X 50 each hand
Some Vulcan Play

I think I'll continue with this schematic through the rest of this week and then graduate to the HG200 for my initial volume set and the HG250 for the secondary volume set.

I've been practicing some poses from the Prasara Yoga book and I've learned one very important thing - when your mobility sucks yoga is a hell of a lot more difficult than it looks! I've focused on my breathing and on fluid transfers between poses that I can actually do and I am noticing a bit of a difference - my mobility is still in the toilet, but getting a little better and I don't seem to be as easily stressed at work, sothings are looking up on that avenue!

I also put in a request for a price on a twenty pound clubbell from one of the gents on the gripboard (the clubbell is another genius training modality from Prasara Yoga man Scott Sonnon), if the price is right I just may add that to my ever growing collection of grip/conditioning toys.

Workin' on the Snatch

They say that the kettlebell snatch is one of the single best movements for developing explosive strength and improving conditioning. I've been doing k-bell snatches on and off in my workouts for a while now but have never really "tested" myself on the lift - today was as good a day as any...

At a time of somewhere in the neighborhood of 8-9 minutes I hit my 147th rep and subsequently tore a callous from my left hand - nothing serious, not enough to stop my workout, just enough to put an end to my snatch test. I was pretty happy with this number, as I've not done snatches for this duration before. I think if I clean up my form just a little more that 200+ reps in ten minutes will be very doable before the end of June.

I spent the rest of my workout time juggling my new 30lb kettlebell: mostly hand to hand flips and towers. I also spent a few good minutes working on my BUP toss transfer, which I hit a few times - I think I'll be ready for a clean video of this probably within the next week.

All in all it was a good day - might hit up some Yoga tonight after dinner if I can settle the kids down.

Lots of Reading

I've worked my way through Scott Sonnon's Prasara Yoga book and honestly found it very interesting. Sonnon knows how to take scientific verbiage and make it easy to understand in the settings in which you'll need to use it.

I expected a simple layout with instructions on posing and breathing, but what I got was a detailed history and working game plan backed by scientific evidence and Sonnon's expertise in both Yoga and physicality as a whole to get me back on my path to being fully mobile and pain free again.

I even began with some poses and transitions focusing on breathing and flow after putting the book down. I could tell immediately that the stresses I've been putting my body under over the course of the last few years have really taken a toll on some even simple movements.

With Scott Sonnon's guidance through his very well written book, I hope to have full mobility back in the near future (though it will no doubt take plenty of practice and focus) and at that point I believe I'll be an even more explosive and focused athlete.

Yesterday's Workout and New Yoga Book

Yesterday's workout was all about the kettlebell again...

Circuits of:
Snatches X 10 each arm
Cleans X 10 each arm
Jerks X 10 each arm
Anchor Pulls X 40
Front Squats X 30

I performed the above circuit three times with no rest in between exercises and minimal rest in between circuits.

I followed up with about 10-15 minutes of "juggling", mostly focusing on the basics (same hand flips, hand to hand flips etc.) and I'm working on hand to hand BUP transfers - I'll get a video of that as soon as I think it's clean enough.

My book on Prasara Yoga also showed up at my doorstep yesterday, so after my workout I read the first 50 or so pages. Haven't gotten into the movements yet, but the background info seems pretty good - there's a lot of info in their that I was unaware of being pretty uneducated on Yoga. Here's a link to one of Scott Sonnon's websites, where you can check out Prasara and some of the other fine things this revolutionary coach offers - good stuff!

Gippers

The last two nights I've spent doing loads of volume on the new grippers I received from my sponsor BMF Sports via Alan at APT, for those of you who've never visited APT (famous for wrist wraps) I highly suggest a visit. Alan has amassed a huge inventory of powerlifting, bodybuilding and strongman training equipment and his customer service is second to none.

This was done each night:

Hg100 X 100 each hand
HG200 X 50 each hand
Singles with Vulcan up to level 7

(the large quantities weren't all performed in one set, but broken down over a few - ie, I didn't do 100 reps in a row or 50 reps in a row)

I also did some stretching and some super slow rep push ups and pull ups - nothing to write home about, but enough to get a good burn.

New Kettlebell on the Way!!!

I've been doing much of my kettlebell work with the one bell that I currently own, it's a 16k and is very good for some things, a little light for others and maybe just a touch heavy for some of my juggling endeavors.

I supposedly have some heavier bells on the way to take care of my needs as far as pressing and squats are concerned, so I grabbed a 30lb bell from one of the fine gents on the Gripboard. This bell is a bit unusual, as it it isn't the traditional shape, but it will serve my purposes just fine (and I suspect allow me to get in some marathon sessions of juggling as well)

Above you can see the pic of the bell that's on it's way to me, I know it's only about 5 pounds lighter than the bell I'm currently using for my juggling, but I estimate that that will allow me to conceivably continue one "set" of juggling for quite a bit more time, which should really help to improve my conditioning and my reflexes.

Can't wait for it to get here!

Desperately Seeking... Mobility - and wearing crazy shoes

I'm a pretty strong guy, I have good reactions and reasonable speed but one thing that's always been neglected in my training has been mobility. My hips and shoulders both get stiff after certain workouts and now I feel that this neglect is holding me up in certain areas of my training.

A ways back I received quite the deal on a pair of Vibram Five Finger shoes, at that point this unusual form of footwear only had one style and two colors to choose from. I jumped on the chance to grab a pair because I had heard excellent things through the grapevine in regards to them helping to realign the lower body and do wonders for the joints from the ankles up.

Long story short, I wore them maybe two or three times and tossed them in the closet, much like I've done with every other attempt to focus on my joint mobility. Well in an effort to truly become a "complete" and fully functional athlete, I've broken out the "Five Fingers" again. If you've never seen this unique form of footwear, that's a pic at the beginning of the post - and you can find out more info by clicking here

I wore my "Five Fingers" all weekend, which included quite a bit of walking and though I don't necessarily feel like an entirely new person, my lower body does feel a bit looser and free-er than I expect it would have if I'd worn my regular shoes.

I also ordered a book by Scott Sonnen on Prasara Yoga (aka body flow), I hope that by implementing Prasara workouts and frequently foregoing my regular shoes in favor of a more barefoot alternative that all of my mobility problems will soon be a thing of the past - after all, what good is strength if you can't fully implement it in situations where it may be necessary?

Oh - I also had a nice workout yesterday consisting of about 90% kettlebell work (cleans, jerks, snatches, BUPs, Anchor Pulls and juggling) and about 10% bodyweight stuff (push ups, divebombers, squats and chins) It was performed circuit style and I worked up a mighty sweat to go along with all of the huffing and puffing.

TSB & New Grippers

My piece this week for TSB questions the necessity of a positive attitude to achieve results in the gym. In all honesty it wasn't a topic I had thought a whole lot about until I received Mike Mahler's Aggresive Strength Magazine last week. Mike did an article on how having a positive attitude can actually be a detriment to reaching your goals - here are my thoughts on the topic...

TSB Article

I also recieved my three new grippers courtesy of my Sponsor - BMF Sports yesterday (Thanks Bud). I've heard people question the quality of HG hand grippers in the past, but prior to yesterday I had only ever handled two (both of which seemed fine to me), so I honestly wasn't sure exactly what I was going to get. I opened all three grippers and inspected them pretty closely - all mounts are even and all seem of very good construction.

I even took the lightest strength of the three (HG150) and cranked out a few reps on my injured right hand to see how it felt. To my surprise I didn't feel a whole lot of pain, so I proceeded to CCS the 150 for a pretty good number of slow singles with short holds at the end - this was yesterday and my hand actually feels pretty good today, hopefully this is a good sign that I'm nearing full recovery.

Yesterday was pretty hectic (daughter's gymnastics, a fair and a barbecue) so I didn't do a full gripper workout, but like any fitness freak I couldn't resist at least giving all of the new equipment a few minutes of my attention. On my left side I warmed up with the HG150 then did just a few work sets with the HG200 and HG250 - all three grippers seem of very good quality after the brief test run I put them through.

Hope everyone enjoys the rest of their long holiday weekend - it's not often the we get an extra day away from work - so relax, have fun, get in an extra workout and be safe!

Vulcan - and Good News

I did grab a hold of the Vulcan last night for some playing on the left hand. No PR's, but I did work up to 100 reps on level 3 broken down into a couple sets, then I did some negative work at level 9.

Even though I've really been increasing the volume on my left hand of late, I feel as though I'm recovering very quickly. I feel as though I could probably even get in a few solid closes right now if I had a gripper.

Just got word that my good friend, sponsor, and personal/business adviser Shawn "Bud" Lyte of BMF Sports (link to right) has some grippers on the way for me!!! Within the next few days, three brand new, beautiful HG grippers of varying strengths will arrive on my doorstep.

I'll also be getting some samples or Protyme - the new BMF protein supplement, so you can expect full reviews of both the grippers and the protein in the coming days.

Thanks Bud!!!

Today's Workout

For some strange reason, most kettlebell movements don't hurt my right hand as most of the other things that I normally do as a part of my workout, so I decided to put together a k-bell circuit for today. Here's how it went...

BUPs X 5 each hand
Jerks X 10 each hand
Front Squats X 25
Anchor Pulls X 40

No rest between exercises, about 75 seconds rest between circuits. I did the complete circuit four times and got all the way up to the thirtieth anchor pull on the fifth circuit.

I finished up by walking with the k-bell in full lockout press position for three minutes, switching hands every 45 seconds.

It was a good, sweaty workout - might hit some grippers on the left tonight if time permits.