Back On The Pain Train

First day back after a week or so of sloth. Ran 2 easy miles.

Blah

Ran to the gym.
Squats warmup 45x3, 115x3, 145x3, 175x3
working 205x3, 230x3, 260x3

Press wu 45x5, 65x5 working 80x3, 90x3, 105x3

Did some random stupid cable rows 85x10x3

Ran halfway home then walked the rest.

Focus was nil and felt pretty blah. Didn't drink enough water today and haven't been doing great at eating my fruits and veggies for a bit. Also I had a few drinks last night which probably didn't help. Going to pay more attention to that stuff.

AM body weight

4x15 pushups
4x20 situps

This was a bit too easy really. Probably going to work some more PU/SU into the PM workout.

Lazy Run

This morning things got a little confusing for PT. I ran to the PT location to find it empty which is a bad sign if you are supposed to be meeting folks. Ran to the other place and by the time I got there, a few minutes late, everybody was headed home to be lazy so I ran back home to do the same. Probably 2.5 miles at a 9ish mile pace.

Planned to go to the gym but it didn't happen. Oh well.

Lift

Squat racks were busy and since it was a light day and I'm squatting 3x a week anyway missing a light one will not kill me.

Bench wu 45x5, 95x5, 135x5, work 145x3, 165x3, 185x5
D Rows 55x10, 55x10, Krok style 55x15

Sleep In Day

No PT this morning. That meant I got to go back for an hour and a half nap before heading off to work. Good times. Now I am drinking some iced coffee and getting up the motivation to go lift.

3x3 Week

Squats 115x5, 145x5, 175x5
Deadlift wu 45x5, 135x5, 195x5 working 225x3, 255x3, 295x3
Dumbell Press 55x10, 8, 8 alternating in chinups (sets of 7)

2.5 miles this morning. Was theoretically an interval workout but the difference between the sprint and jog were not very significant. It was cold (for Arizona anyway) so it took awhile to warm up and I just wasn't feeling it at all.

Easy Morning

Did some Ultimate Football this morning. A nice little break. Will lift in the PM.

Manic Monday

1.5 miles up the hill
1.5 miles down the hill

Earning Beer 30: Friday Lift

Squats WU 45x5, 135x5 Working 190x5, 225x5, 245x5. Maybe heavy (vs light on the other days) squats on Fridays isn't so great for me. Between the previous 2 light workouts, 4 runs and Wednesdays lunges my legs were smoked from the start. Oh well, if it is this way for the next couple weeks I'll look at moving things around.

Military press WU 45x5. Working 75x5, 85x5, 100x5

Between those sets I did pullups 8, 7 (may have forgotten this one, not sure) 6.

Bent over rows WU 45x5, Working 95x8, rep, rep

Hill Run

2 miles up hill fairly slow 2 fast miles back

Between intervals Tuesday and lunges yesterday my legs are smoked. Did 2.5 easy miles this morning @ about a 9 minute pace.

Lift

3x20 pushups and situps
Bench 135x5, 155x5, 175x5+ (I just got 5 today)
Squat 115x5, 145x5, 175x5 (Out of order because the squat rack was full but the bench was empty)
1 Armed D Rows 50x10x3

Chinups 6x3

Functional Fitness Day

I am not sure what exactly functional fitness is aside from obviously the definitions of those two words stuck together. The  Crossfit folks like to say whatever random stuff they do is good but I am not sure that is so. I do like circuit type stuff with moderate resistance for that sort of cardio/ muscular endurance fusion that I would label functional fitness. It is worth noting to me this not instead of a real running program and is a small part of an overall strength program.

First circuit:
3 Curtis P's
3 Pullups
3 Burpies
 10 minute AMRAP (I did 8 rounds)

Second circuit:
4 Curtis P's
4 jumping squats
4 Broad Jumps
Bridge 30 f, 30l, 30r

3 rounds

Third circuit
5 duffel bag cleans
5 half moons
5 knees to bar

The whole thing took about 45 minutes including some time standing around sucking.  Resistance exercises are done with a duffel bag weighing approximately 40-50 pounds.

Interval Work

800, walk 400, 800, walk 400
400, walk 200 x4
200, walk 100 x3 (ran short on time)

The 800's were at about a 7:30 pace. As I got all the way warmed up and into the 400's the split slipped to 6-6:30.

Hitting It Hard

Morning
2 miles @ approximately 85% of race pace for 2 miles in 16:20
2 easy miles back

PM
Squat 115x5, 145x5, 175x5
Deadlift WU 135x5, 190x5 Working Sets 210x5, 240x5, 275X 5+ (8)
Dumbell Press 50x10x3

Didn't get to pushups, situps and pullups today due to lack of time.

That puts this month's run count at 4 miles.

Nada

I had kinda penciled in a ruck for this afternoon. Decided against it. I ran a lot this week (15+ miles a significant jump over the last several weeks) and moving to the new full body routine with squats (albeit fairly light ones) daily has really increased the volume of overall leg work. In 2-4 weeks once I become accustomed to the mileage and volume of leg work rucking at least once and probably twice will resume.

LSR

5 mile run at about a 10 minute pace

PM Lift

Squat 5x3
Bench Press 5x3
Dumbell rows 5x3

Weights are light(er than my mediocre normal) because it is deload week. Next week I'm back at it heavy (well heavy for me anyway) for another three then deload again.

Breaking Up The Monotany

100 pullups
10 Turkish getups
100 pushups
10 Turkish getups

(I ran out of time here and will finish in the PM)
100 situps
10 Turkish getups

Homework Happens

This afternoon homework got the better of me. Lifting tomorrow.

Speed Work

Run 1,200 walk 400
Run 800 walk 400
Run 600 walk 400
Run 400 walk 200
Run 200 walk 200, repeat, repeat, repeat

Mixing It Up

400 meter warm up
10 toes to bar (T2B)
60 second front plant
Run 1 mile
10 T2B
60 second front plank
60 sec side plank (L then R)
Run 1 mile
10 T2B
60 second front plank
60 sec side plank (L then R)

Weights

Deload week is a time to recover physically and get ready for the next 4 week cycle. As such my workouts will be pretty easy. Today I forgot the usual little print out but since it is deload winging things is fine.

Pushups and situps 2x20
Squat 3x5
Deadlift 3x5
Dumbell Press 3x8 with pullups between sets

For next week I will add a 3rd set to the pushups and situps which will be done with each workout.

Monday AM

Did a set of pushups this morning after getting out of bed. It helped get my blood flowing which was good. For PT a typical dynamic warm up to get started. Ran 1.5 miles to a nice hill and did 8 sixty second sprints (more of a fast jog toward the end), walking down the hill in between. After that 1.5 mile run back.

Stroller Sprints

Went running with Walker today. Did sprints pushing him and the stroller with jogging then walking in between. Went for a mile or so in which there were about a dozen sprints. Short but pretty intense.

Hangover Lift

Too much food and drink yesterday left me wanting to just sit around like a slob today. However sometimes motivation has to win or my inner fat drunk kid takes over which is not desirable.

Squats: 115, 135, 175
Bench Press: warmup 95, 135. working sets 150x5, 170x3, 190x1+. Got 5 today which is the same as last time but since I feel like doo doo it was good enough.

Dumbell rows: warmup 40x10x2, Krok style rows @50 pounds for 20 reps (each side).

Chins and Dips: 3 easy sets of each.

Thought I was going to puke a few times but thankfully I did not. Getting the blood moving was a good thing and I feel better than before the session.

Ahh

Light stretching in the AM

Various productive things that were not physical in the PM.

Works out well because I'm pretty much smoked anyway. Will get back to it Friday.

Full Body Routine Day 1

Run .75 mile to gym
Squat 115, 135, 170 x5
Deadlift 235x5, 265x3, 295x1+ (I did 8 which is 2 more than last time)
Dumbell press 50x8, rep, rep (I am going to either add weight or reps, this was a bit too easy)
Run halfway home, walk rest

Sprint Day

400, 800, 1200, 800, 400 walking 1/2 the distance in between.

Taking Care of Myself

No PM workout today. Ended up taking a long nap. Hopefully it cured whatever was ailing me as coming into the work week sick sucks. Can't wait until Thanksgiving and a long weekend.

Monday PT

AM
4 mile run
3x knees to elbows

PM
Probably nothing as I am feeling under the weather. Going to try and get a nap then kick this funk.

Getting Ready For Next Week

Today we walked around Tombstone for a couple of hours. I did some stretching this evening to get ready for tomorrow's morning PT and lifting.

Fundamental Fitness Beliefs

It is worthwhile to talk about where I am coming from in terms of fitness. These are things I have learned through trial and error as well as self directed education and formal stuff.

Some quotes really say a lot about my beliefs in terms of fitness:
1) "There is no such thing as too strong, only too slow" -Attributed to an unknown SF NCO
2) "I don't want to be the biggest guy, the strongest guy or the fastest guy, but I want to be big, strong and fast" -CPT M my old boss
3) "You are only as strong as your weakest link, so don't have any weak links" -Unknown

Fundamental beliefs:
-I believe function is more important than form. At this stage in my life I exercise to improve and maintain my physical capabilities to be a protector, soldier and all around capable guy. Really don't care much what I look like. Also I would rather suprise people by being stronger than I look than the opposite.
-Strength is a good thing. A high level of strength lets you do things a weaker person cannot. Also strength makes a relative exercise lower in intensity (because you are stronger) and thus higher reps are possible.
-I believe in building strength through compound multi joint exercises like squat, dead lift, bench press, military press and power clean.
-Form follows function. A guy who bench pressed 1.75x BW (body weight), squats 2.25x body weight and runs a 10k in a respectable time is going to look like the athletic guy he is. If folks want to do the whole body building thing that is fine but I do not think it is necessary in terms of real capabilities. A dude who can do 10+ pullups with a fighting load (40-50+ pounds) will have arms that look just fine.
-I do not, as a general rule, believe in single joint (bicep curls, tri extensions, leg curls/ extensions, etc all) exercises should be avoided. The three valid reasons for doing them are A) to conduct rehab/ prehab on injured body parts. B) to address physical imbalances and  C) to improve at, or break plateau's on the big lifts.
-Running is a good thing and you should do it.
-For functional fitness as a soldier or potential G ruck marching is essential. The ability to carry yourself as well as a fighting and sustainment load over distance at a relatively (even a fast road marcher is slow compared to a guy on a bike, let alone with a truck) high speed.
-Stealing a line from Jim Wendler I do not believe in bulking and toning and all of that junk. If you are strong and in shape all the time that stuff is just stupid. Sure things ebb and flow. Our pursuit of fitness changes with our goals. Maybe we run a bit more to get ready for a race or lift a bit more to get ready for sports or whatever. The point is that it is minor course corrections, not 180 degree turns.

That is all I can think of right now.

Sloth and Laziness

Did not lift this afternoon. Ran some errands and it became my fatty evening. Enjoyed some wings and pizza for dinner and am having a couple drinks. Doing this about once a week keeps me from going nuts and so long as I am making progress (lost a pound and change this week) it is probably a good thing.

Going to try to hit the gym tomorrow. Probably shifting up my weight training routine a little bit starting Monday. Sticking with Jim Wendler's excellent 5/3/1 but going to the 3 day a week full body routine. It looks like this:

Monday

• Squat – 3 sets of 5-10 reps (using deload percentages)

• Deadlift – 5/3/1 sets and reps

• DB Bench – 3 sets of 8-20 reps

Wednesday

• Squat – 3 sets of 5-10 reps (using deload percentages)

• Bench Press – 5/3/1 sets and reps

• DB Row – 3 sets or do Kroc Rows

Friday

• Squat – 5/3/1 sets and reps

• Press – 5/3/1 sets and reps

• Chins or T-Bar Rows – 3-5 sets of whatever reps you want, usually 5-30 reps. (I will do chins)

Say Hi

Hey Folks, I know there are a few of you out there. Please introduce yourself briefly and let us know what you are doing for fitness and what your goals are. Thanks,
R

AM PT

First day of organized PT here. Walked down to the PT field/ We did a dynamic warmup at a pretty slow pace to help get everybody onto the same page. Following that was a 3 mile run in approximately 26 minutes. Quick stretch then walked back home.

If I get off work early enough there will be lifting this afternoon.

Speed Ruck

Today I went for a quick short ruck. After work I had to go do some stuff in the computer lab so it was getting close to dinner time. Put on my oldie but goodie REI ruck with a total weight of 40 pounds. The goal was to do approximately 2 miles (probably 1.8) as fast as possible without running. To me ruck running The ground is gently slopped on the way out and thus upward slopped on the way back. The time was 19:40.

The goal of these fast rucks is two fold building the ability to conduct intense cardiovascular events of reasonable duration and to improve my combat fitness. I don't think all ruck marches have to be telatively slow endurance fests. While they have value I can pretty much show up and walk 16ish minute miles with a combat load for a really long time. Also this sort of ruck takes less time.

Once I get a bit more used to the elevation here and build the work capacity for my planned routine things will change. I plan to keep increasing the weight and sometimes distance.

Being able to do a 12 mile road march at a sub 12 minute mile split without running would be pretty awesome. I think that is my goal.

Bench Day

Run .75 mile to the gym with intermittent sprints.


Note I am using Jim Wendler's 5/3/1 as my strength program. Here is a good write up of the program. It is no BS, simple and quick which I appreciate. Also training optimally instead of maximally means a lot fewer injuries. Other folks like different programs and that is cool.

Right now I am lifting about 3x a week doing a big lift (press, deadlift, bench press, squat) and some body weight stuff each session.

Warmup: 45x5, rep, 85x5, 105x5
Working sets: 140x3, 160x3, 180x3+(6 though I probably could have gotten another)

Body Weight work
Pullups and Dips 10, 9, 8

Easy .75 mile run back.

Think I like running to the gym. It is an easy way to get some additional road time in. Also wimping out on the run once you drive to the gym is easy. If you run there the choices are either to run back or walk.

Stroller Run

Today's workout was a 2 mile run pushing kiddo in the jogging stroller. We took the front wheel off earlier today so it was off kilter and despite multiple attempts to get it balanced the darn thing pulled to the left the whole time which was pretty annoying.

Running with the kid is good for everybody. I get a workout and kiddo likes it. If Wifey is around (she was out this time) it is a nice little break for her. We do it once or twice a week.

What This Blog Will Be About and Goals

I started this blog for myself as a means to keep long term track of my fitness and see if progress is actually being made. Shortly thereafter I deployed to Afghanistan and things went dark. Well it is coming back.

The notable difference from it's first run is that now it will be public. I am doing this for a couple of reasons. The first is to keep myself accountable. The second is that maybe it can give somebody the motivation to start getting into better shape. Also this will migrate the topic of fitness from my other blog where most people seem uninterested in it.

Over the next couple weeks I might line out some goals but for right now strong and able to control my body in a variety of ways (core, body weight stuff, pushups, pullups, etc) with a solid underlying endurance base is good enough. 

I plan to post the exercise that I am doing here on a regular basis. Now and again I might write about some topic related to fitness.

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