In My Tree

A National Day of Strength

Posted in 12 week challenge, fitness, strength training at 2:10 pm with tags: 12 week challenge • fitness • full strength • health • shawn phillips • strength training

Tomorrow, May 1st is A National Day of Strength and the release of Shawn Phillips’ new book, Strength for Life. Shawn was one of the original co-founders of EAS nutrition products, and his ideas about strength training and product full strength have been instrumental in my reclaiming my body. (and losing all that weight last year!)

In support of Shawn, we’re trying to get as many people as possible to buy his book tomorrow to drive it up the bestseller lists! Purchase it below and order some FULL STRENGTH HERE

Popularity: 66% [?]

Power Lifting: Day 1

Posted in fitness, strength training at 8:12 am with tags: 4 week power

Casey and I started a new intense 4 week lifting cycle today. Instead of 3 days a week, we’re bumping up to 5 for the short duration so we can more intensely focus on specific muscles. Despite an exhausting weekend, little sleep, and the knowledge of extremely long days ahead of us, we had a killer chest session this morning and really started things off with a bang. It’ll be an exhausting 4 weeks, but I think good ones.

In other news, while bowling in Denver last night I managed to get a strike when the Red pin was in the front at Lucky Strike. Why’s that signifcant? I won a 16 person party with unlimited bowling for 2 hours, along with free shoes and chips/salsa. Right On.

Popularity: 17% [?]

Updates……including training

Posted in fitness, life, strength training at 1:49 pm with tags: boulder • chicago • H.I.I.T. • life • personal growth • work

Spent a good weekend in chicago filming more videos, this time at Navy Pier. Got a little sunburned, SHAME on me. Flew back Monday morning and went into work, then went straight to the gym for a truly ass kicking afternoon chest/triceps session. Nearly passed out in the Sauna, then headed home for a bit before meeting stan for some drinks in the evening.

Had a good hill run this morning, realizing that winter is coming has made it a bit easier to get up and enjoy the warmth. This year is flying by. Starting to get a fairly good outline/vibe of what the next year or so of life is going to like, and must say it feels pretty good to have some direction again. Still working through some of the issues that came up for me a few weeks ago, and while not really enjoyable, it feels good to be letting go of some things.

Popularity: 45% [?]

8 Tips to Lose 15 pounds in 12 weeks

Posted in 12 week challenge, fitness, strength training at 1:39 pm with tags: H.I.I.T.

After going from 23.6% to 16.8% body fat because of my 12 week challenge, I decided to share a few tips about what worked for me regarding how to lose fat while gaining muscle:

• Forget the cardio

Getting bored of slaving away on the treadmill for hours each week while not seeing results? Can’t say I blame you.
Doing long stints of cardio is the equivalent of putting your body in cruise control…keeping the same pace maximizes your body’s mileage. exactly what you DON’T want to do to burn fat. instead of cardio, do a few short sessions of high intensity interval training a week. they take 30 minutes at MOST per session. intervals can be done running, swimming, biking, or on the elliptical or stairmaster. HIIT training is all about varying your pace to keep your body on its toes. all you do is alternate between doing your exercise at your near max level and a slower steadier pace. go hard, then go less hard. that’s it. more and more research is showing HIIT to be far more effective in burning fat, and it even helps build muscle.

you can do interval training while walking, running, or bicycling. if you’re in a gym, most machines have interval settings pre-programmed in already. Personally, running up a nearby steep hill has worked for me, and just the process of running up it immediately puts me in my target high intensity zone.

if you don’t have a hill, only have access to older machines, or simply want to make sure you’re always pushing yourself, checkout the amazing Cardio Coach series of training music. you can get them on CD or download them straight to your iPod. They’re fast paced decent music blended with guided training narration and are excellent for people training at all levels.

• cut the booze

everyone loves a good drink. and at the right time and place I’ve got no problems having a few glasses of wine or drinking a few beers. but if you’re serious about losing fat you’re going to have to at the very least cut back on booze, if not completely eliminate it. why? while traditionally people think ‘beer bellies’ come from the body converting alcohol straight into fat, that’s actually not totally true. what actually happens is that the majority of the alcohol consumed is turned into acetate, which your body uses for energy BEFORE carbs, protein, or fat. you’re basically putting your metabolic process on “hold” until your body burns through it all. additionally, alcohol consumption has been shown to increase people’s appetites and decrease testosterone levels. so while alcohol isn’t necessarily turning straight into fat, its preventing your body from burning the fat it already has, while simultaneously making you hungrier and more likely to eat more on top of everything else.

I personally kick started my 12 week challenge with 30 days of sobriety to get the ball rolling. It meant I had a lot of energy the first month (no horrid hangovers), saw results faster than I would have otherwise (which made it easier to move past the first 2 days), and got me used to feeling GOOD all the time, so that even now I drink far less than I used to as the enjoyment I get from feeling good all week has pretty much eclipsed the pleasures of drinking.

• set a measurable goal

‘losing weight’ isn’t good enough. the clearer your goal, the easier it’ll be for you to focus on obtaining it. Whether its fitting into a specific pair of pants you haven’t worn for years, losing a certain percentage of body fat, or bench pressing 220lbs seven times, the key is to make it specific and measurable. This obviously A) makes it easy to discover whether or not you succeeded at the end, but it also B) lets you chart your progress as you go, allowing you to see that your program is actually working, which actually increases motivation throughout your program. When you know its working, it becomes that much easier to do. And if it isn’t, then you still have time to tweak your program without wasting a full 12 weeks.

• get your community involved

Let your friends and family know that you’re training. The support and encouragement they provide can be invaluable, and also acts as a strong motivator to keep at it. Having to explain to a dozen people that ‘you just got tired and gave up’ isn’t very fun, so often its just becomes easier to do it than to have to deal with them. Plus, letting those around you know you’re working towards a goal lets them support you, whether by making you a special dish for dinner or not pestering you to ‘just have one’ beer while out on the town.

• keep a training log

Here’s mine. A training log gives you a place to keep track of stats from #7, provides continuing motivation for you to keep at it, and creates a space that allows you to write about what went good or bad during a particular exercise session. At any given two times sometimes you’ll have a great workout, and sometimes you full on won’t. instead of getting discouraged by this, the training log gives you somewhere to record those feelings and be okay with them. Plus if you choose to share your training log as I did, it becomes another great way for your community to hold you accountable for your training.

• drink lots of water

you might have the perfect diet and be training 7 days a week, but if you’re not drinking enough water you might as well stop now. water fuels everything in the body, and as rob over at PPN says, “its the layer the food pyramid is built on”. Drinking water can decrease if not often eliminate a great many hunger pains, gives you more energy, improves skin complexion, aids your body in protein absorption, flushes out bodily toxins, and increases training efficiency all around. not bad for something that falls from the sky, eh? so, how much should you drink? 8-10 glasses a day, not counting coffee, alcohol, or soda. You know you’re getting enough when your pee turns from yellow and pungent to clear and nearly odorless.

its best to distribute your water intake evenly throughout the day, so try to be constantly sipping throughout the day as opposed to just chugging a few glasses before bed.

• don’t diet

but do change your eating habits. you don’t have to starve yourself. instead, focus on protein, carbs, greens, and fats. in that order. you’ll want equal portions of the first (if leaning one way go for protein), a decent amount of the third, and obviously try to limit fats, though you don’t need to avoid them. needless to say its better to get your fat from something natural like an avocado than it is a big mac.

the best part of developing healthy eating habits is that it means there is absolutely no reason you ever have to be ’starving’ while losing weight. plan your diet correctly and you’ll always feel satisfied.

• eat more often

along with eating the right foods, you want to eat the right amount at the right times. first and foremost, avoid skipping meals at all costs. the less frequently you eat, the more likely your body is to start conserving energy and taking any excess calories you intake and converting them to fat. evolutionary wise, obviously when food intake is sporadic and irregular, your body prepares for the worst. meaning your metabolism slows down and fat storage goes up.

Encourage the opposite of this by eating less per meal, but more meals per day. instead of the traditional 3 meals a day, aim for 5 or 6 a day. this usually breaks down to eating about every 3 hours or so. doing so causes your body to increase its metabolism and gives you more energy. Optimally you’re aiming for 300-500 calories a meal, ensuring that your body is always getting enough energy to work with without going catatonic. (no more crashing after a huge meal). i personally found that after a few weeks of eating every three hours, my body naturally started getting hungry just about 10 minutes before my regular mealtimes and would be more than satisfied with my smaller portions during those meals.

• get an amazing partner

related to involving your community, getting an amazing training partner can be a particularly important part of any program. whether strength training, interval training, playing sports, or whatever physical activity you choose to do, it’s ALWAYS going to be easier if you have someone to do it with. A great training partner is holding you directly accountable, provides both constant challenge and support, and just makes the whole ordeal more fun.

The absolute best thing to do is to create a light dependency between you and your training partner. Something as simple as carpooling to the gym together can cause your consistency of training to go through the roof. Knowing your partner is going to be waiting for you, regardless of how you’re feeling that morning is just about the best motivator to almost never miss a training session.

• Strength Train

if you’re really serious about shedding fat and toning up, there’s simply no better practice to start than strength training. While long term cardio can lead to weight loss, the second you stop doing that cardio your body stops burning calories. Cardio is like the typical 9-5 job in which you only get paid while on the clock. strength training, however, is the equivalent to getting paid regardless of being on the clock. just doing 3 sessions of strength training a week can increase your muscle mass significantly, and since one pound of muscle burns roughly 25x more calories a year than a pound of fat, that’s one hell of a time investment. just a few hours a week of actual ‘work’ on the clock, and yet your body keeps reaping the benefits the rest of the week.

Strength Training will help you build lean muscle mass, strengthen your bones, lose body fat, and give you higher energy levels all around. Plus it also makes you look good.

Popularity: 45% [?]

Training Log: Day 68/69

Posted in fitness, strength training at 8:54 am with tags: H.I.I.T.

Lifting legs went well yesterday morning, been trying to hold better form during squats. Frisbee last night was good, a little running after a hard lifting session seems to get the blood flowing and prevent some of the hardcore soreness
i occasionally get.

this morning’s interval running also went well, felt a lot better than Tuesday. I’m finding that I’m able to push myself more if i ease into things and really warm up before i go at it hard. so instead of trying to go balls out on my first few charges up the hill, I’m focusing on making the hardest intervals some of that last, using the first few to really just get the blood flowing.

seems to have worked well this morning.

Popularity: 22% [?]

Training Log: Day 65/66/67

Posted in fitness, strength training at 12:06 pm with tags: H.I.I.T.

Okay, so I think I’m going to keep logging my trainings, though perhaps a bit more sporadically now that my 12 weeks is over. New logs won’t have the “12 week challenge” tag, only “fitness”.

Anyways, had a great bicep workout friday, we switched things up again and did back before biceps which was GREAT fun as always. Definitely felt the repercussions of that one.

Monday’s chest workout was good, felt a little week but I do feel the soreness today, so that’s good. I’m down to 6 on assisted dips, and am pretty sure i’ll finally being doing body weight dips by years end! Wooh!

Running this morning went well, I was totally dreading it for some reason or another, had a hard time falling asleep last night (haven’t been able to crash till like 10:45 lately for some reason), but dragged my ass out of bed and went for the jog. And, despite the fact that all these weeks later running intervals is still hard as hell for me, and by NO means fun, I ended up almost enjoying it and was very glad I decided to continue running them. The first 3 intervals in particular were fab, then 4-6 I felt my body lose steam rather quickly. Really is a great way to start the day though.

Popularity: 22% [?]

12 Week Challenge Training Log: Day 64 - Success

Posted in 12 week challenge, fitness, strength training at 6:50 pm with tags: H.I.I.T.

Today was officially the last day of my 12 week challenge. I showed up at the Life Measure Labs van at 12:19, one minute before my appointment. I was a bit nervous, as I’ve been training really hard over the last months trying to hit the goals I set back in April.

I took off my shoes and all my metal and lay down on the table. LML uses a machine that slowly scans over your entire body, limb by limb. The entire process takes about 7 minutes, during which time I was wondering whether or not all my work had paid off. 12 Weeks is a long time, and though I definitely knew I had lost a little weight, I didn’t really feel all that much skinnier.

A few minutes later a cheap HP printer was spitting out my results as I sat in anticipation, chatting with Casey (whom also got the test for the first time today) about this and that.

When I was told my results I was shocked, surprised, and incredibly relieved. Not only did I meet my goal, I exceeded it.

On April 17 my test results had me at 23.6 percent body fat, with exactly 45.55lbs of fat total.

Today that same test produced the following: 16.8% body fat, with exactly 30.09lbs of fat total.

My goal was to hit 18% in the 12 weeks, which translated into losing about 10lbs of body fat. The truly exciting thing is that while I lost even more than that, (15.46 lbs of fat) I actually managed to put on 1.75lbs of lean muscle mass as well. Fat went down and muscle went up, and thanks to the advanced form of the LML test, I even know exactly where it happened. For me, it just happened to be the holy grail for men, the region that is often the hardest to lose fat in: the midsection (abs). I went from 26.6% (25.6lbs) to 16.4% (14.4lbs) in my trunk, and managed to increase my muscle mass in the region by 3%.

I’m absolutely thrilled with these results, as they provide concrete stats that my training program has been working.

So, how did I lose nearly 7% (15.46lbs) of body fat in 12 weeks? What did I do?

Let’s start with exercise.

On Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays I do strength training at the North Boulder Recreation at 6am with Casey.

On mondays we do abs/chest/triceps.
On wednesdays we do abs/lower body (legs)
On fridays we do abs/biceps/back.

abs recover fastest so they can be trained more often

On Tuesdays and Thursdays, I do high intensity interval training (h.i.i.t.) by running sprints up the Mapleton hill here in boulder.

I start with a 5 minute warmup job to the hill, and then do 6 sets, one set involving sprinting up the hill which takes about 60 seconds. I then take 2.5 minutes to walk back down. After doing this 6 times, I slowly jog home with an optional flat straight away sprint about a block from my house.

On Wednesday afternoons I sometimes play ultimate Frisbee or go on the occasional hike, but that’s really all the exercise I do.

Now, my diet.

I’m vegetarian, which some people would say is crazy for someone weight training. It’s not a big issue for me as I’m not looking to get crazy huge, just toned.

I’m convinced that at least 75% of my fat loss results can be attributed to finally figuring out my diet.

My first step was deciding that I needed to learn a little about nutrition and what healthy eating habits looked like. Thankfully, the amazing team over at Phillips Performance Nutrition made this a snap, and Shawn’s excellent ebook The 7 Eternal Laws of a Red-Hot Fat Scorching Metabolism taught me all I needed to know, and more.

Based on that learned knowledge, my next step was deciding that I wasn’t going to diet, but just eat properly. This small but crucial decision meant that I was rarely, if ever, starving. Instead, by eating smaller portioned meals, but have 5 a day instead of 3, i would only be just starting to get hunger pains when it would be meal or snack time. Eating every 3 hours worked like a charm for me, 7:30am (I eat after training to increase the fat burning of my workouts), 10:30am, 1:30pm, 4:30pm, and 7:30pm.

On non gym days I have the following for breakfast: 3 scrambled eggs (3 whites, 1 yolk), 1 breakfast veggie sausage, and one piece of wheat toast. I always have this meal within 30 minutes after I’ve completed running my intervals, and also within 30 minutes of waking up on weekend mornings. On gym days, I bring a Cliff’s Builder Bar with me which I grub on immediately after lifting before hitting the showers. Again, I make sure to eat it within 30 minutes of lifting no matter what.

At 10:30, my second meal of the day, I have a Full Strength. I’ve tried a lot of protein/nutritional mixes in the past, usually ordering large buckets off ebay that would make me nearly gag upon consumption.

Full Strength is hands down 200% better than any of these. They taste good mixed with only water (which means you can have them ANYWHERE there’s water), are incredibly filling, and completely annihilate any desire for sweets (they’re like desert). 40 grams of protein and only 300 calories, incredible!

At 1:30 I have lunch, most usually a 6 inch veggie pattie on wheat at subway, but sometimes a burrito bowl at Chipotle or whatever else comes my way. Whatever it is, aim for mostly protein balanced with carbs and veggies. If nothing else a peanut butter and jelly with some celery and hummus generally did the job for me.

Another full strength at 4:30pm, usually mixed with peanut butter or a banana. (even once mixed Tabasco with vanilla!)

at 7:30pm I have dinner, which for me usually ends up being a bowl of soup mixed with high protein seitan. a GREAT bachelor meal, it takes only 4 minutes to make, is incredibly cheap, and is easy to keep exciting by mixing up the soup used as a base.

In between and during all these meals I’m always drinking WATER. If you don’t have enough water, your diet doesn’t mean shit, no matter what it is. If nothing else, just start drinking twice as much water as you think you should be, and only then will you be getting enough. The easiest way to gauge your hydration level is to water the color of your pee, which should almost always be clear, not yellow and stinky. Fairly quickly you may even learn that what you once thought were hunger pains are actually THIRST pangs. A glass of water will often killed over 70% of my hunger pains.

Also of note, to get my training rolling I started off with 30 days of sobriety to cut out many extra calories from drinking. Most alcoholic drinks have lots of carbs and zero nutritional content, so they often get stored as fat. Plus, no hangovers made it much easier to stick to my schedule that first month and start feeling some momentum to carry me through the following weeks.

Supplement wise I took the following during my 12 weeks: Full Strength (protein shakes previously mentioned), Lean System 7, and flax seed oil pills.

The final key to my success was my community.

Perhaps more important than anything else, I stayed consistent in my 12 week routine. This turned out to be amazingly easily because I surrounded myself with the right people. I would have never stuck out the 12 weeks without my training partners, mainly Casey Capshaw (with Rollie Stanich on the assist). Casey not only motivated me inside the gym to always work TO failure, but since we carpool to the gym together also motivated me to GET to the gym each morning. I knew he’d be waiting. His consistency reinforced my own.

The other key was this training log. While I could have done it in a notebook, putting it online where friends and family could view it meant my larger community, though not directly involved in my training, was able to both encourage and push me along the way.

So that’s how I lost 15 pounds of fat in 12 weeks, which was really just a beginning, not an end to my fitness program.

Popularity: 33% [?]

Training Log: Day 63

Posted in 12 week challenge, fitness, strength training at 9:13 am with

Wednesday=Legs Day. Decent session this morning, not quite as intense as last week but still a valuable one. During my squats today I suddenly became acutely aware of the fact that with each rep my left leg bends inward at the knee. I’ve known something was up with my legs for a while, the right one is stronger, i wear through my shoes differently, and like clockwork break through the left knee one my jeans first everytime. Eventually want to see a specialist to investigate further, but having identified something that could be contributing/resulting from the problem is exciting, as I can know work that leg with more consciousness and intention in next weeks session.

Popularity: 22% [?]

Training Log: Day 61

Posted in 12 week challenge, fitness, strength training at 11:20 am with

Chest and Triceps on this lovely monday morning. I was draggin’ a bit of ass today, my muscles were giving out quite a bit sooner than I hoped. Interestingly enough, I haven’t actually done a per exercise log yet in my training (how much weight and # of reps), which I’m starting to think would be a good idea. I think such logs help quell any mental obstructions, because having recorded knowledge that I did x reps at y weight last week might make it much harder for my mind to make excuses to not give 100% this week.

nonetheless, great workout and I should be right sore tomorrow!

Popularity: 50% [?]

Training Log: Day 60

Posted in 12 week challenge, fitness, strength training at 11:47 am with

My 12 weeks are over! I must say, the time has really flown by! I’m scheduled to get my body comp test next thursday afternoon, so I won’t know whether I technically hit my goal or not until then. Regardless, I feel like a totally different person compared to 12 weeks ago. I’m definitely starting to see the results of my efforts manifest physically, but also am very much enjoying the confidence and euphoria coming that’s come from sticking to my routine for 12 weeks. The routine feels good, and I feel good. I’m an early riser now, and consequently feel more productive than I ever have before. My diet is like clockwork and my metabolism has most certainly increased.

Whether or not I technically hit my numbers, I consider the endeavor to be a complete success! My combination of strength training, high intensity interval training, proper diet, lots of water, and getting the right amount of sleep has worked, and its worked damned well.

I’ll officially be ending my “program” next thursday when I get the test, so I’ll certainly keep updating things until then, and perhaps even after that. This training log was an integral part of my routine, as it gives me a way to easily reflect on what’s happened over the weeks and was even partially a motivator that helped hold me accountable for my goals.

This morning’s bicep workout was really good, Casey’s been pushing me hard on focusing on the RIGHT muscles, instead of just heaving up the weight anyway I can. It’s a strange experience trying to relax certain parts of your body while working others at full intensity, especially when the muscles are closely situated together. It’s definitely noticeable when I do bring the attention to the right place though, a few reps with proper focus can do more than entire sets without.

My legs are CRAZY sore from Wednesday, the time off combined with a good focused leg workout really did the job!

Popularity: 20% [?]

Training Log: Day 58

Posted in 12 week challenge, fitness, strength training at 8:58 am with tags: business ideas

I went to bed pretty early last night and consequently felt really good upon waking. This morning’s strength training was LEGS, which I haven’t done for 2 weeks. The time off was good for my body, as I was really able to feel into squats and the leg press today, even hitting failure on the latter. I started taking Creatine again on Sunday and definitely felt its presence in the muscles today. And while that certainly makes lifting more intense, one training tip I’d have to give is that probably more than anything else, the one thing that has led to me seeing some results is just the sheer consistency of what we’re doing. Change doesn’t come overnight, it comes in between overnights. Whatever that means.

And as always, had great conversation with Mr. Capshaw and spit out another idea for a website/company, one that could go huge but is very nice because it can start really small with some practical next action steps. Plus, if it really takes off it has some cool possibilities to integrate business and our personal lifestyles and goals.

Buying the domain now in fact.

Popularity: 20% [?]

Training Log: Day 56

Posted in 12 week challenge, fitness, strength training at 9:38 am with

Dive right in. Me and Casey tore right into chest and triceps this morning, and it really felt great. My sleep, eating, and hydration routine has been a little off, which I definitely felt, but overall I think I gave my body a pretty solid workout. We pushed easily to the point of exhaustion, with my muscles usually giving out between 5-8 reps or so, exactly what I’m aiming for right now. It’s funny how even a few weeks off is noticed in my routine, have to gently wake the muscles back up and push back into that feeling of working past failure.

This is week 12, and I just confirmed the Life Fitness van will be back at the rec center next thursday, July 19th. So that’ll be the day I get my body fat tested and will be able to confirm whether or not I hit my goal. Regardless, I’m feeling like I pretty much want to stick to this routine and will most likely will continue the 5x a week early morning workouts. While I’m not the the fittest I’ve ever been, I think I’m pretty close to where I was during my best years of college. So if I keep this up for another few weeks I’m pretty sure I’ll be in the best shape I’ve ever been in period, which is pretty crazy exciting. Still carrying some weight around the belly, and have some soft spots here and there, but there’s a good chance I’ll be able to reduce some of that even more and literally be in a different body than I was a year ago today, and that’s pretty damned cool!

Popularity: 20% [?]

Training Log: Day 51

Posted in 12 week challenge, fitness, strength training at 9:03 am with

Day #2 going at it solo, partner #1 got stuck in Boston for the night and partner #2 refuses to celebrate the independence of our great nation, so he ran off to Canada. Chest is probably the hardest day to lift alone, as for me to really push myslef I need a spotter. I reduced my weights a little bit and still gave my muscles a run for their money though. The sauna felt really great today, and should be a good preparation for the supposed 97 degree heat today.

Popularity: 19% [?]

Training Log: Day 50

Posted in 12 week challenge, fitness, strength training at 8:25 am with tags: boulder

Was flying solo today, partner #1 is on Boston for a wedding and partner #2 had a major calf injury playing frisbee on wednesday, he could hardly walk! It was a beautiful morning here in boulder, and I merrily sprang out of bed to head to the gym. Friday’s are back and bicep day, and while I didn’t have anyone to push me today I was fairly pleased with my performance. I think my body has started adapting to our routine a bit, so am starting to feel it might be time to change things up pretty soon and swap in some new exercises.

The gym regulars were great today, people notice now when our whole crew wasn’t there so I got a number of numerous comments. I like my gym, I like the people that are there when I work out. Most of the people there are quite a bit older than me, and I find it awesome that they work out as regularly as they do. Great models of how to make working out a lifestyle, not just something you do to look better.

I’m digging this strength training thing I really must say.

Popularity: 25% [?]

Training Log: Day 48

Posted in 12 week challenge, fitness, strength training at 5:21 pm with

They’re Legs, Legs, they’re big, they’re heavy, they’re wood.
They’re Legs, Legs, they’re better than bad, they’re good!
Everyone wants legs! You’re gonna love um, Legs!
Come on and get your legs! Everyone needs Legs!”

Yup. With Rollie this morning. We rocked ‘um.

Popularity: 20% [?]

Training Log: Day 43

Posted in 12 week challenge, fitness, strength training at 9:04 am with

Ouch, today wasn’t good. Had plenty of sleep, did my bike warm up, abs, and then got to the squat rack. Did a warm up set with just two 45′ers, and all was well.

Got to my first real set with full weight, had a belt on and was adjusting here and there trying to get into best form. Around rep 8 I started feeling pain in my lower back, and that was it. Not sure what I did, but in trying to better my form I f’d something up. Ended up only doing one more squat set with low weight just to feel things out. Did the rest of my leg routine without problems, but my back is definitely hurting.

On that note, and because for the last 7 days I’ve been feeling really low energy, I’ve decided to listen to my body and down shift a bit. First off, I’m going to cut the weight for the next few weeks and focus on low weight/high reps. Second, I’m going to take the week of July 2nd completely off to give my body a solid 7 days to rebuild and recover.

I’ll probably continue with the low weights through July, and then do another high weight mass building cycle in august.

It’s good to remind myself that there is no rush with my strength training, as I don’t need a new body over night, and this is after all a practice I will be doing for the rest of my life.

Popularity: 20% [?]

Training Log: Day 41

Posted in 12 week challenge, fitness, strength training at 9:36 am with

Week 8 begins. I’m traveling to Chicago thursday night until monday night, so the routine will be a wee bit off this week. Which is why it was good to start the week with a bang. Myself and Rollie hit the chest/triceps pretty hard, though I was a bit sluggish as I was up later than usual to see Brett Dennen play the Fox Theater. Thanks to all those who came, was an excellent show! Had a nice chat with Randy and Brett afterwards to catch up on things, quality cats they are.

I’m so incredibly hungry I can’t WAIT for my 10:30 shake. Fuel the body, fuel the mind, all in time…

Popularity: 19% [?]

Training Log: Day 40

Posted in 12 week challenge, fitness, strength training at 9:18 am with

Biceps and back on Friday, the end of the 8th week. No pretending today, this morning’s workout kinda sucked. I was really, really sluggish, as were my training partners. We all stayed up too late and didn’t really dial in and focus on the workout.

My body felt a little rocked this week, and I still gave my arms a run for their money. Ups and downs, strikes and gutters!

The training continues and that’s far more important than how any one day goes.

Popularity: 20% [?]

Training Log: Day 38

Posted in 12 week challenge, fitness, strength training at 10:21 am with

Legs this morning, our posse or trainers was just down to two. Yet again I went to bed about an hour too late last night, must get myself back on schedule!

None the less, today’s strength training session was another fabulous day or leg lifting. For squats and the leg press I tried to really focus on form today, which I need to continually work on as I advance in weight.

I still feel that something is off between my left leg and right leg, be it the muscular imbalance I discovered when I got my body comp test, or possibly even a difference in length. Once I have some consistent cash rolling in again I think I’ll see a rolfer or chiropractor to figure out what’s going on with my gait.

Popularity: 19% [?]

Training Log: Day 36

Posted in 12 week challenge, fitness, strength training at 11:09 pm with

So begins the week of 8. Went to bed pretty late last night, but managed to crawl out of bed, though my effort was nothing compared to that of the crapshaw, who woke up in a tent in mountains and still managed to make it down to pick me up, now that’s hardcore!

Good chest/triceps lifting session today. I did drop sets on both the incline and decline bench press, which seems to currently be a key factor in my gains. Additionally, I’m using an exercise ball for my crunches, which while painful as I have flabs, not abs, seems to be working my out nicely.

Popularity: 19% [?]

Training Log: Day 35

Posted in 12 week challenge, fitness, strength training at 9:53 am with

Week 7 rocked. I’ve had 5 solid days of physical practice this week, all of which I felt like were at a great level of intensity. This morning’s biceps/back workout was quite good, I definitely pushed to the edge of my performance level, and it felt good.

I’m not sure if I’m going to make my 12 week goal or not, but at this point I’m starting to not care. Strength Training is slowly becoming the anchor and point of stability in my life, and that’s something I’m going to want to continue for the rest of my life (so I hope).

Getting up at 5:30am is no longer a problem, my body has fully adjusted to my new sleep schedule and routine. I’ve always liked mornings, but never been a morning person before. I must admit it feels good to have that change, there seems to be a different energy available in the mornings, shit is just that much easier to get done. Days now feel like an intense session of lifting actually - doing the biggest and hardest shit (ala working out your biggest muscles) first, then moving on to smaller stuff throughout the day until you’re simply taxed out for the day.

I like it, and hope to continue it in what’s shaping up to be one of the craziest summers ever…

Many thanks to Casey and Rollie for a great week.

Popularity: 20% [?]

Training Log: Day 33

Posted in 12 week challenge, fitness, strength training at 9:35 am with

Yee-haw. Legs this morning, and it rocked, so much in fact I’ve got the rubber legs. This morning’s leg workout went really well, pushed myself hard on squats, leg press, stiff legged deadlifts, leg extension, hamstring curl, and calf raises. Definitely got in the flow today and it felt damned good. The sauna was brutally hot as I was pretty dehydrated then.

anyways, good stuff. Week 7 is going pretty damn well.

Popularity: 19% [?]

Training Log: Day 31

Posted in 12 week challenge, fitness, strength training at 11:04 am with

Week 7 begins. Chest and triceps. The whole crew was there this morning, along with another member. Seems like we’re attracting quite a crowd, we’re gonna have to split up pretty soon as it gets increasingly harder to focus with more people around to chat with.

Pretty good workout, my chest still feels pretty weak in comparison to other parts of my body, but I’m taking the slow and steady route so it’ll really just take some time considering I’ve never had any muscle there before. Triceps didn’t quite get their due today, we just ran out of time and it felt like we were kind of rushing things and not focusing.

Keep on keepin’ on.

Popularity: 20% [?]

Training Log: Day 30

Posted in 12 week challenge, fitness, strength training at 10:20 am with

Take note y’all, day 30 has been completed. That’s 6 weeks meaning I’m halfway through my ‘training program’. Feeling good too, my body has adjusted to the higher intensity trainings and I’m feeling pretty damn healthy overall. Jumped on a scale today and was pleased with the numbers, though I’m not going to pay them all that much heed as its body comp that i’m really interested in changing.

Anyways, after a few weeks of craziness, the 3 Amigos re-united this morning for a good solid bicep and back workout. Twas good clean hard workin’ fun for sure, a nice 2 hours of simplicity and stability in this crazy ass world of ours. Lookin’ forward to the weekend and figuring out what’s coming up next in life…

Popularity: 20% [?]

Training Log: Day 28

Posted in 12 week challenge, fitness, strength training at 10:30 am with

Life, as they say, can be pretty crazy. So I normally lift with my great mates: Casey and Rollie. We were all set to lift as usual this morning, emailed each other talking some trash last night getting psyched up for our massive leg lift in the morning. As I drifted off to sleep I thought about the mighty amounts of weight I’d be forced to squat the next morning….

And then around 3:15am I get a text from Casey: Can’t Lift in morning. House burned down. In a shocked state I gave him a ring to see what was going on and make sure all was well. Unfortunately, despite Casey’s heroics involving the house’s fire extinguisher and a blazing upstairs, Maxwell House is no more for the time being. Structurally its still intact, but it will need major renovations before anyone can live there again. Strangely enough it was the oldest rental in boulder, guess it was due for an overhaul! Apparently it was a candle in the upstairs rental unit that was the root of the problem.

Best wishes to the tenants of Maxwell House in this difficult period of transition.

Yet another reminder of the fleeting nature of the manifest realm. one day you have a home, one you don’t. Make sure to give your house some love tonight, cuz it might be gone tomorrow.

Good leg workout with Rollie though despite the morning’s craziness. Squats were pretty hard today as my overall energy level is still a bit low, but its definitely recovering.

Popularity: 14% [?]

Training Log: Day 27

Posted in 12 week challenge, fitness, strength training at 10:10 am with tags: california • daily practices

Soooooooo, I took some time off. I hurt my back a bit doing squats Thursday, so rather than push myself too hard I took a step back. Thursday I spent all day preparing for my Memorial Day Weekend trip to CA, so I didn’t run or lift. My 30 days of sobriety ended this weekend, and with authority! The holy temple of my body was desecrated a bit this weekend…..boozing, ice cream, shitty food, and many a good times!

But, back to training. One of the beautiful things about routine as practice is that nothing ever really changes in a single session, but each individual session is the road to change itself…

It’s important for me to jump right back into things after taking a break, and as I’m entering week 6 of 12 I wanted to make sure I didn’t lose any of momentum I’ve been building and wanted to jump right back in. Thus, despite incredible exhaustion from this weekend and not getting home and into bed until midnight, I dragged my ass out of bed to do some chest/triceps with casey this morning. Not surprisingly, it was a HARD workout, and I was not lifting my best. One of the crazy side effects of being healthy is how sensitive my body has become to anything that’s outside my normal eating habits or sleeping routine. After a weekend of shitty eating, lots of boozing, and not much sleep I could literally feel the weekend reflected in how many sets I could do. Nonetheless, it felt great to lift, was nice to catch up with my man Casey, and a great kick start to another beautiful day in boulder.

Gonna sleep like a rock tonight. But damn, it was all worth it. Mike, and Julia, that was a rad f’in wedding.

Popularity: 17% [?]

Training Log: Day 23

Posted in 12 week challenge, fitness, strength training at 10:11 am with

Another wednesday another leg day. Felt pretty good this morning, not the most intense workout ever, but had a decent energy level and felt a bit more solid doing my squats than I have in a long while. The sauna was great today, seemed to really sweat out a lot of built up energy. My 25 minute sit was also great today, my posture was as good as its been in ages and felt rock solid and pain free. Frisbee tonight, keep it rockin’!

Very much looking forward to my 10:30 Full Strength….mmmmmmm……..fuel

Popularity: 14% [?]

Training Log: Day 21

Posted in 12 week challenge, fitness, strength training at 10:16 am with

And week 5 starts with a massive resounding……..mehhhhh. I lifted chest alone today, and wow what a difference that made! Energy felt low going into the gym, and I never really got into the zone and built up any real pump. Chest is a very difficult area to exercise without a spotter, and as I’m really relying on going to failure in that area in particular it made it just didn’t work out too well alone. For safety I went down in weight and made myself do more reps, but overall it just didn’t have the same impact my normal lifting sessions have.

Still learning a lot though, and at least I went through the motions…

Popularity: 14% [?]

Training Log: Day 20

Posted in 12 week challenge, fitness, strength training at 10:07 am with

I haven’t lifted today! Dun Dun Dun! Was hired to help Stuart shoot a short yesterday, and because of rain and generally undesirable conditions, we decided to shoot at golden hour this sunrise. Sooo, my biceps haven’t gotten their love this week quite yet, but they will either tonight or early tomorrow morning, I promise!

Popularity: 14% [?]

Training Log: Day 18

Posted in 12 week challenge, fitness, strength training at 9:51 am with tags: fullstrength

Legs this morning, and I felt like I had more control over my squats than I’ve had in a long time. I think my body is really adjusting to all the weight increases of the last month.

I feel like I’ve really dialed in my nutrition, in no small part because of my twice daily full strength shakes, which really are the best meal for after lifting I’ve ever had. They’re also wicked good cures for hangovers!

Popularity: 15% [?]

Training Log: Day 16

Posted in 12 week challenge, fitness, strength training at 10:11 am with

and weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee’re off! Week 4 begins with a solid bang. Today felt like the first time I’ve ever actually done a bench press properly in my entire life. While I certainly am not a muscle bound all star, and really wasn’t doing all that much weight, it was a highlight for me. Still doing the same amount as the last few weeks, but today I felt in control of the weight like I’ve never before. My reps were fairly slow, balanced, controlled, and intense. The rest of the workout went great and was followed up by a great 15 minutes in the sauna and catching up with Mr. Capshaw about our respective weekends.

I am eagerly awaiting 10:30 when I can devour a chocolate full strength. Live Strong!

Popularity: 10% [?]

Training Log: Day 15

Posted in 12 week challenge, fitness, strength training at 11:45 am with

BICEPS. And a little back today. Great workout with my main man Rollie, and a solid end to week 3. Theoretically I should have lost about 2lbs of body fat by now, a little scared to find out! But, since I’m not doing the body comp test until July, we’ll just have to wait and see. The thing about setting a hard quantifiable goal is that it’ll feel incredible if I succeed, but also makes me a little nervous about failing! Though regardless of whether I hit my actual numbers, the satisfaction of sticking to this routine and feeling healthy is just about enough of a payoff to make the whole practice worth it.

Popularity: 10% [?]

Training Log: Day 13

Posted in 12 week challenge, fitness, strength training at 10:18 am with

Shawn Phillips F.I.T. method refers to Focus Intensity Training. It’s a style of weightlifting that incorporates some meditative techniques to help align one’s mind with their body. I really like it and think it’s a simple but extremely powerful method of training.

Today I did the training, but failed to bring the Focus and the Intensity to our leg workout. As a group we were all a bit off, which isn’t an excuse but certainly contributed to my semi lacklustre leg workout. So I’m setting the intention that next week’s leg workout will be the best one ever!

More generally, I’m feeling pretty good overall, and have become completely addicted to my Full Strength shakes. They’re the best meal replacement/protein shakes I’ve ever had, don’t make me gag, and passed the ultimate test when I mixed vanilla with Lukewarm water last month at LAX. I was able to drink the entire thing!

Popularity: 11% [?]

Training Log: Day 11

Posted in 12 week challenge, fitness, strength training at 10:36 am with

Chest day. didn’t do much physical activity this weekend so my body was nice and rested up. Had a hard time generating enough intensity today, but managed to do a few drop sets that will hopefully compensate.

feeling good at the start of week three. very tired of always being congested and coughing though, looking forward to seeing an ENT.

Popularity: 10% [?]

Training Log: Day 10

Posted in 12 week challenge, fitness, strength training at 10:29 am with

Week 2 has been completed. Had a good lift with partner #2 this morning, and we tore right into back and biceps. I wanted to change things up a bit by hitting back first, as usually I’m so exhausted by the time we get their my intensity isn’t quite as high as it should be.

My whole body aches of soreness right now after a strong week of lifting, two days of intervals, and some funtastic Frisbee on Friday. I’m going to take it fairly easy this weekend, and other than a possible hike just chill back and let my body rebuild.

Popularity: 9% [?]

Training Log: Day 8

Posted in 12 week challenge, fitness, strength training at 11:40 am with

LEG DAY!! Training Partner #1 happened to oversleep a bit as he forgot to set his alarm clock last night. 15 minutes after our usual departure I called him and said I’d meet him there. Upon arriving I found training partner #2 already hard at work at the squat rack, good for him!

Despite our late start the workout went fairly well. I’m not quite jiving with our stiff legged dead lifts yet, but that will come in time. The sauna felt quite goood today, and after tonight’s game of Frisbee I imagine my legs will be mighty sore for tomorrow mornings run.

Popularity: 9% [?]

Training Log: Day 6

Posted in 12 week challenge, fitness, strength training at 11:11 am with

Monday’s are chest and triceps, and today was a great one. Both training partners were back in action with me, and we jumped right in. Things started off a bit rocky, as my usual pre-lifting routine went a bit out of whack. Woke up at 5:30 as usual, went upstairs to have a glass of juice and somehow managed to only half swallow a pill I was gulping down. My sinuses have been f*cked up lately, and my post-nasal drip has been especially bad, soooooo my throat was already agitated and swollen a bit. Anyways I think the pill got stuck in my throat and it hurt like hell everytime I swallowed. Tried hot water and coughing which didn’t really work, so eventually sat over the toilet and made my self gag which shifted it enough to be properly swallowed. It wasn’t pleasant and it took my system a little while to calm down so I wasn’t really back in my body fully until the bench press, which meant my abs got a little jipped today.

The good news is that I benched a bit more than I usually do, bumped it up to 115 overall which is 10 more than I’ve been doing. It was definitely a struggle but overall I was pleased with today’s performance. A great start to week 2 of 12 I do believe.

Popularity: 8% [?]

Training Log: Day 5

Posted in 12 week challenge, fitness, strength training at 10:47 am with

I was all alone today; partner #1 spent the night in the mountains and partner #2’s alarm clock didn’t go off. Made for an extra special challenge as it always takes a bit more to get motivated when working out alone. Hopped on the bus and headed up to the rec center, and ended up having a fairly decent bicep/back workout, though I do feel like my back isn’t quite getting the love it deserves. I was fairly pleased with my level of intensity for being alone, but will admit it still didn’t quite match the level I hit when lifting with others there to push me.

My legs are so incredibly sore from Wednesday. It feels good, I’m starting to get disappointed when I don’t get sore from a lifting session…

Popularity: 9% [?]

Training Log: Day 3

Posted in 12 week challenge, fitness, strength training at 10:20 am with

Wednesday is LEG day, probably the toughest day of lifting in the week. I was feeling much better this morning energetically, so much so I decided to pump up my weight on Squats and the Leg Press. This bump in weight, combined with a fairly high intensity slightly rushed lift (one of my training partners had to leave early), lead to me nearly puking and feeling like total shit after the Leg Press. I had to sit down for about 5 minutes to really recover, but by then I was pretty spent and didn’t really hit the following exercises as hard as I could have. Lesson learned! Take more time to recover on the massive exercises like squats, leg press, and dead lifts. My legs should be right sore tomorrow!

And no, I didn’t run yesterday, it rained the WHOLE day, and instead of going to the gym to run on the treadmill I went home. A failure I fully take ownership of, and that I’m going to try to make up for by playing some Ultimate tonight and running tomorrow morning, even if its raining again. (the only thing that might stop me is snow…..and since this is Boulder you never know!)

Popularity: 9% [?]

Training Log: Day 1

Posted in 12 week challenge, fitness, strength training at 10:11 am with

This morning I started a 12 week intensive fitness program. I’ve been lifting for several months now with my mate Casey, but decided to up the intensity a bit. Last week I had a fancy test done at our gym, which calculated my Body Composition and broke it down into exact numbers.

Thus, I now have some hard numbers to drive my goals, which makes them a bit more concrete. I currently have 23.6% body fat, which is high for a male in my age group, and why I have a lovely buddha belly. My goal is to reach 18% in 12 weeks, which translates to about 10 pounds of body fat. Now to be clear my goal isn’t actually weight loss, and I won’t be dieting. I’ll have a strict eating routine, but one that nourishes my muscles and leaves me feeling fulfilled. So in 12 weeks the goal is to see the amount of muscle mass go up, and amount of fat go down, which may lead to me actually gaining weight as muscle weighs more than fat.

So, join me on this crazy adventure, I’ll be doing a mini training update each day talking about how the experience is going.

This morning was Chest/Triceps with Casey & Rollie. I’m coming off a nasty illness that had me bed ridden last week, so I wasn’t quite 100% just yet. Despite that it felt great to get back in and hit the weights; chest is a particularly weak area for me and one I’m actually still in the process of learning to exercise. I often cheat and bring in my triceps more than I should when doing our various bench press exercises (normal, incline, decline). Learning to feel what my chest muscles are, and how to lift with them is a great exercise in awareness that I’m enjoying more and more each week.

more updates to come tomorrow when I attempt my first 30 minute H.I.I.T. running session, which should be a hoot.

Popularity: 10% [?]