Tuesday….
I learned what real dead lifting is.
Warm up with cable lat pull downs, medium weight. Moved onto Smith machine rows with 95, 115, 135.
then…
Dead lift
135lb. x15
185×10
185×8
235×6
235×4
Not a lot of weight, but I’ve never dead lifted more than 135, ever, period. WOW. My whole lower back is sore, not bad sore but I’m more aware than ever how seriously involved the lower back is involved in everything. Everything.
Moved on to some trapezius work and got finished with serious bicep work, all sets going 12, 10, 8.
Not my usual protocol but I’m working with an old-school trainer learning the body builder routines, soaking it in and seeing what it’s all about. He’s a well of knowledge and I’m enjoying his push. A whole different kind of pain, very quick and concentrated and it goes away as quickly as it comes. I’m used to endurance pain that comes, stays and fades only after time. This is intense, pointed struggle. Filling muscle with maximum force and seeing if you can push more. Running a mile at top speed certainly takes more mental focus and is, in my opinion, more grueling, but I can see the allure of the battle against heavy objects and I’m certainly not immune.
Today I did a good chunk of our morning class and rested the rest of the day outside of a few 55lb barbell jump squats and rear shoulder presses I did just because the bar was there.
We did a good full cleaning of the space today….swept, double mopped, vacuumed, polished, etc.
Chest, shoulders, triceps.
Lots of isolation movement.
Incline chest press@ 135 x10, 155 x8, 155×6, 155×6
supersetted with pliometric push ups to failure (10, 8, 8, 7)
Seated dip machine….this one was funny. Last week I worked out with Zolton and put a bunch of weight on it. I guess I didn’t understand how much push he was putting on my negative movement. I had to take plates off twice before I could do it.
Anyway, 3 sets with 160lb.
Decline chest press
155 x10, 155×10, 175×6, 175×6 (thanks for the spot Mark).
Smith machine shoulder press
65lbx10, 95lbx8, 115lbx8
supersetted with plate squeeze drop (grab a plate, squeeze it hard, lift your arms straight out, slowly drop arm to front, elbows locked)
25lbx12, 35lbx10, 35lbx10
shoulder sets
seated lateral raise, seated front raise, 90 degree short shoulder raise all at 15lb each arm x10 each, immediately followed by rear deltoid lift 30lb each arm x10
repeat x2
lying medial deltoid raise 15lb x10 each arm, 2 sets
triceps pushdown 100lbx10, 120lbx10, 110lbx10
supersetted with slow drop tricep pushups (drop to stomach, not chest, no thumb used for grip) to failure (8,7,6)
stretch, protein, shower, a little music work, more food, nap.
Twenty five hot miles in 90 degree weather in the heaven/hell that is Shark Valley Everglades Park. Learned that my back hates bikes (again) and that I need to
a. see i chiropractor weekly if I want to get good at biking.
b. spend about ten times more time on a bike if I want to get good at biking.
Welp, I’m ready to get passed after the swim at the next race and have a healthy back.
Amen.
I woke up this morning with a dream fresh in my mind. I was playing basketball one on one on a beaten down grass and dirt field with a beat up old ball shooting into a netless almost broken hoop, playing against a dread locked young black dude that kept calling me for traveling, carrying, sliding. I kept making beautiful shots but turning it back over to him, using the universal street ball rule of ‘respect the call no matter what’.
Flash back to six pm last night, I was jogging to the gym and stopped at the Lemon City courts to watch an ugly game of one on one between a tattooed up young black man with gold teeth and an over weight Hispanic teenager. It was a painful session of bricks and bad calls on both sides. The game eventually ended and of course I had to get in the mix with a quick ‘I got next’. I played the first game to 16 with Marco, the young black dude. His dread locked homeboy that I had been chatting with on the sidelines prior to my game stood and watched.
“I’m gonna murder him” Marco exclaimed to his boy.
I was pretty sure that he was talking about the basketball game, but thanks to the gunshot scars, gang tatoos and teardrops under his right eye, I wasn’t all THAT sure. I kept it cool, didn’t call obvious violations and walked it to a 16-3 win.
“You’re tired now, you ready to play again?” Marco asked lackadaisically.
“Okay, your ball, run it back.” I answered, feeling no tiredness.
My cardiovascular respiratory system is at such a high level these days that I rarely tire in a game of basketball, whether it’s game ten or 15. I hit walls, get the gut burn, but a little push and I’m alright. I breathe hard, I sweat hard, I hustle my ass off but fatigue is not a factor.
“Carry” Marco stated.
I didn’t argue.
“Your ball” I said, handing him the rock and getting ready to defend.
His pure jump shot warmed up and it was 11-10 after a few hits form behind the line for him.
“Travel”.
“Carry”.
“Charge.”
“Offensive foul.”
I gave it back every time, D’d up and got the ball back, concentrated on midrange jump shot work with minimal opportunity for calls and It was 20-14, my advantage.
I thought I had won at 16-11, but after scoring that bucket Marco informed me that the game was to 21 and that I was getting tired. Okay, no problem.
So, at 20-14 I rebounded Marco’s missed 18 footer and took it back behind the arch and finished with a layup…I thought.
“Naw man, that ball went out of bounds” Marco stated matter of factly.
Even though the ball had gone nowhere near the base or side lines, I coolly handed it back and got into a defensive stance. He missed, I hit, it was over.
“I didn’t want to get my Timberlands dirty, ” Marco let me know after saying something in Haitian to the old man sitting under the tree drinking a beer watching us.
Of course you didn’t, who would? Why play hard when you can look good and have an excuse for your lack of effort.
“Good workout” Marco said.
“Good warm up” I replied and jogged down the street to the gym for some work…I thought.
Man, I never really go to they gym after three o’clock, as it starts to fill up and I can’t move around the way I like to. I figured it was Friday evening, people will not be in the sweat house. Wrong.
The gym I frequent is primarily a gay gym, which doesn’t bother me usually, but Friday nights I’m staying away from now on. I’ve never felt stares so hard in my life. I did three sets of pull ups and left. Too much. I now know how a woman feels in a straight gym. I know why all womens gyms exist. Dude’s don’t even know they are staring hard, it’s just a part of the ‘lead with the penis’ nature of man. Add in weights, vanity, grunting and sweat and you have a fairly uncomfortable environment for a lot of people.
Rewind again to Friday morning. Peter and I conducted the morning class at Morningside and had a nice life chat before heading our separate ways. I was planning on heading to the Garage and getting in my workout. As I drove out I noticed the basketball court was active with a decent game of one on one. I stopped and quickly paired up with Stan to take on the two guys that were playing ones. It was 87 degrees, sun blaring. Stan quickly tired, hands on his knees. I moved, rebounded, scored. It was 9-5, our lead. I drove the ball, went up and got NAILED on the head with what I thought was an elbow.
“What the F#%??!!” I spat.
I turned around and saw the guy that had went up to defend me holding his jaw, mute.
It was a hard hit, really hard.
“You okay?” I asked.
Nothing.
“Spit” his partner told him.
Nothing.
Oh shit, my skull broke this guys jaw, I thought to myself.
“Spit.”
Nothing.
Another minute for Stan to catch his breath.
“Spit.”
Nothing.
“Check ball,” I heard him say.
Okay, we’re back on.
The young man that was guarding me had neatly arranged cornrows, two diamond earrings in each ear and a powerfully built 5′ 10″ frame, six pack and all.
“You’re tired” he said to me.
I drove on him, stopped, let him jump, scored from the left.
Check ball.
I drove on him, stopped, let him jump, scored from the right.
A quick and painless finish.
“You got tired there, huh?” he said loud enough for his friends to hear at the picnic table on the other side of the fence.
“Let’s run some lines,” I suggested.
“Lines?” he asked.
“Free throw, touch, half court, touch, next free throw, touch, full court, all the way back,” I let him know.
We started and I was five steps ahead before half court. I ran backwards and asked him where he was. He skipped the free throw line on the other side and quit.
“Now you’re tired” he said.
“Ones,” I replied.
“Seven,” he said.
“Best of seven?” I asked, knowing that he meant seven points.
“Eleven” he answered.
I gave him the ball, let him drive past, pinned his layup to the backboard from behind and told him not to do that again.
When it was 10-0 my favor I let him drive past, told him to look out and watched as the lay up nearly rolled out of the hoop. A quick defensive stop and a midrange jumper and it was over.
“Now you’re tired,” he repeated.
“You wanna run a mile?” I asked.
“I’m pretty fast, I did 5:56 in high school” he said.
“Wow, that’s pretty fast”.
He was in trouble from the first step. I talked to him, telling him about my 50k race the previous weekend.
“All in one day?” he asked.
“Yes, all at once, how you feeling?” I rebutted.
“Fine, I used… to do…… this…. stuff in…. foot….ball all…. the…. time,” he huffed out.
The general rule of distance running is that if you can’t get four words out in a row you’re working pretty hard. I casually asked him if he was ready to go, barely into the blacktop park loop that was our race course.
“What?” he barely got out.
I took two steps and was gone. The next time I saw T.J. he was cutting through the grass circle of the loop, barely holding form, looking not so good. I finished and waited, got water…and waited.
Just when I was going to go check on him, he wobbled in and fell to his hands and knees.
“Okay, what’s next?” I asked.
Silence.
“Wanna learn what a burpee is?” I inquired when he didn’t reply.
“You…got…me”. he squeaked out.
I gave him my card, invited him to come out and hear some music and told him to hold his tongue and let his performance dictate his mouth , not vice versa.
An interesting day.
Wednesday….
Crossfit’s Fran
sets of 21, 15 and 9
Thruster…
Followed immediately by pull ups of the same reps…
So…
21 thrusters, 21 pull ups, 15 thrusters, 15 pull ups, 9 thrusters, 9 pull ups.
No stopping, get there anyway you can, which means if you can do 15 and 6 to get to 21, okay. 5 and 5 and 5 and 6? Okay. The real elites do it all straight, but many break it up. I do. I’ll know I’m “there” when I can hit them all in a row without stopping or dropping. Not there yet.
8:57, an improvement of nearly five minutes over my last time, thanks to kipping on the pull ups and a wider stance on the squats, as well as a little bit of gut check on the last sets. Nine minutes may not seem like much, but man oh man, all of the cross fit work outs will make you rethink strength, guts and balls. Serious, serious business.
I was not properly warm or rested and it was the end of a long day, but I hit my goal. Next time shooting for sub seven minutes with proper rest and an earlier start time.
THURSDAY
Started the day with cardio intervals for 20 minutes with Joseph which is becoming a ritual. One minute on, 30 seconds off. A little rusty, as the last three days have kicked my ass.
Did the one o’clock group training session with Joel, Luis and Ryan. A good one. I will post exact details tomorrow when I get in.
Time to eat fish and watch Spurs vs. Hornets.
Monday
60 minutes of doormouse cardio circuit…killed me.
burpees, stairs, plate twists, bench jumps, burpees, etc. etc. etc.
one minute on, half minute off
Tuesday
Got trained by Zultan, a former Mr. Miami bodybuilder. He pushed me in new and different ways. Heaver loads, different angles, different exercises, momentary muscle failure. Chest, shoulders and triceps are exhausted. Looking forward to sleeping, but have to work tonight. Good thing Wednesday is go to bed early night.
Saturday was a rest day, watched basketball, ate Andiamo pizza (!!!) and shopped for mothers day.
Now listening to the classic DJ Unibomber-Do A Trick Or Something mixtape from 1998. SO good. Also listened to the Rub’s 1994 hip hop mix during the workout. Solid as a rock man. Nothing but classic hip hop mixed perfectly.
Sunday…
Warm up…
50 jumping jacks
20 sit ups
20 push ups
Circuit one x3
squat@135lb x15
Ring push up x10
deadlift@135lb x10
Ring dip x10
rest 60 seconds between circuits
Circuit two x2
40lb kettlebell swing x8 each arm
arms only rope climb x2 first set/x1 second set
single arm dumbbell chest press@60lb x8 first set/x6 second set
split jump overhead dumbbell press@35lb each arm x10
cardio circuit…
30 seconds each exercise x2 for a total of 10 minutes…grueling.
jumping jacks
burpees
split jumps
mountain climbers
high knee running
burpees
ball slam
tuck jump
grasshopper
plank hold
core circuit x2
bicycles x100 set one/x200 set two
jump bridges x10 set one/single leg jump bridges x6 each leg second set
turkish get up @ 40lb x4 each side set one/x5 each side set two
side plank hip raises x10 with hold each rep
protein, water, laundry time.
Morning class was a good one.
Sprints, ladder and cone drills, burpees, band work, more sprints, slams, drills, planks, push ups and long jump burpees to finish. It was a very humid day so the sweat was a pourin’.
After that, on to the gym for
-bicep curl/shoulder press super sets 25lbx15, 35lbx12, 40 lbx10
-farmer walk @ 75lb 45 seconds (grab a heavy weight, walk slowly for time, put weight down.)
-side to side pull ups 3 setsx10
-clean and press@65lb 2 setsx10
-lat cable pull down@70lb each side x12
-L pull ups 3 sets x10
-body up pull ups (knees and chin go over bar, body is flat as possible) 3 sets x8
-kneeling lat pull downs 100lb each arm x3 sets
-kneeling one arm pull backs 110lb each arm x10 each arm 3 sets no rest
-hanging pelvic pull up (hang arms, pull pelvis and thus core up as far as possible) 3 sets of 8
protein, water, stretch.
30 minutes doormouse cardio circuit…
one minute on 30 seconds off.
jacks, burpees, stairs, deadlifts, pullups, push ups, etc.
3 super sets (one exercise after the last, no rest with the same bar never touching ground)
@ 65 lbs…
barbell bicep curl x10
jump squats x10
over head iso hold (press bar overhead and hold) 20 seconds
barbell row x15. rest one minute in between supersets.
treadmill intervals
one minute warm up
six one minute sprints {2.0 incline, 5 minute mile speed (12.0)} with one minute rest (4.5 speed)
extended yoga stretch, deep breathing cool down.
Yesterday I saw a full 180 in a client. It was his third session. He had come in looking for what everyone looks for. Six pack abs. Fine, yes, you can have that. Stop eating, move to a third world country. Abra cadabra, six pack abs revealed. We all have a six pack buried beneath. We do not all have core strength, balance, functional fitness tools. Ask the biggest meanest lifter at your gym to do ten burpees, ten pull ups and ten squats. See what happens. Now have him repeat it. And again. I fail to see the point of bench pressing 500 pounds and not being able to touch your toes. Give me a leap, a run and the ability to chase my kid any day. To each their own.
Anyway, the client mentioned had the breakthrough in the middle of a balance drill. All of a sudden he realized that he was doing sport specific movements without knowing it. He made a point that he no longer cared about six pack abs, but wanted to focus on his balance, his flexibility, his core strength. I cannot deliver this to a client without the person coming to this realization themselves, I can only guide them to this point. It was a good moment for both of us and one that I strive to deliver to every person I work with.
Today…
Morning class…full body.
Gym….
warm up
-bench assisted one arm push up x8 each side
-L pull up x10
-feet on bench pliometric push up x10
-135 lb bench press x20
set one:
bench press 185 lb x8, x7, x6, x5
set two:
hammer machine chest fly 70 lb. 3×10
super setted with dips 19, 15, 15
set three:
handstand push ups assisted 3X5
dumbbell clean and press 45lb x8 each arm, 2 sets. 50lb x8 each arm with ten burpees
set four:
three rounds of…
bodyweight skull crusher x10
close grip push up x10, 8, 7
cable pull down 110lb. 2 sets x10, 1 set @100 lb.
assisted stretch finish.
