Sunday, April 29, 2012

Week Wrap Up - 4.28.2012

Between work, kids and workouts.  Weeks seem to fly by so fast.  This was a great week - had a blast with the family, a lot done at work and some great time in the gym.

Here's the wrap-up of my workouts:
Monday - Mini Murph (kind of)
400M run
50 pull-ups
150 push-ups
200 air squats
400M run

15 minute light cardio

Tuesday - Two-a-Day
35 minute cardio in the morning
Deadlift and Snatch workout + 20 minutes cardio in the afternoon

Wednesday - 45 minutes cardio

Thursday - Two-a-Day
40 minutes cardio in the morning
Plyometrics + cardio in the afternoon

Friday - 5K

Saturday - 45 minutes cardio

Not a bad week.  Diet was a bit more dialed in than last...except for Saturday (lots of snacking).

Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Carb Substitute | Spinach

There is a lot of talk about the effect that cutting carbs out of your diet can have on weight loss.  There are diets that cut complex carbs out completely, some that limit carbs and some that limit you to specific types of carbs.  Whatever the restriction level may be, cutting carbs out of your diet can be pretty difficult.

I can't say that I've cut carbs out of my diet completely - I have a wife who makes amazing bread and growing up in Hawaii, white rice is part of every meal - the stars just aren't aligned for me to cut them out completely.  What I have been able to do however, is limit my carbs and limit myself to the right type.

Every now and then however, there's a dish that you would normally serve over a bead of rice or a plate of pasta.  I find that situations like that are the hardest for me to resist the mighty carbohydrate.  Recently I've started substituting spinach for certain types of carbs.  It obviously doesn't work for all meals, however I have begun putting different dishes over a bed of spinach as opposed to a bed of rice or pasta.  Not only is spinach great for you, but the dent that it'll make on your carb count is minimal.

You should try it some time.

Friday, April 20, 2012

Week Wrap Up - 4.20.2012

Here's the wrap-up for the week.  Great workouts and good lessons learned.

Monday - Crossfit WOD

Run 800M
10 rounds of the couplet:
5 handstand push ups
20 squats
Run 800M

After round 8 I had to do 10 regular push-ups instead - 22:18

Tuesday - Back and Cardio
5 rounds of deadlifts super-setted with pull-ups
30 minutes of cardio

Wednesday - 30 minutes of Cardio

Thursday - Crossfit
"Nancy"
5 rounds for time of:
400M run
15 OH Squats at 95#

New PR in 18:22

Friday - 45 minutes of Cardio

On instagram recently I've seen a ton of quotes posted that say, "Weight loss is 80% diet and 20% cardio" or something like that.  I've definitely learned this week that this is true.  Great workouts, mediocre diet...not much progress on the weight loss front.  Last week, decent workouts and great diet...much more progress on the weight loss front.

Looking forward to a fun day tomorrow with the family!

Thursday, April 19, 2012

Resources on Crossfit Methodology and Training


I've blogged about Crossfit before.  I have yet to join a box (mostly for financial reasons), however I do incorporate two or three Crossfit workouts a week into my schedule.  Aside from the shear invigorating pain that a WOD can give you, I am a big fan of the foundational thinking and concepts behind Crossfit training.


I love the "World-Class Fitness in 100 Words" of the Crossfit mentality:

World-Class Fitness in 100 Words:
Eat meat and vegetables, nuts and seeds, some fruit, little starch and no sugar. Keep intake to levels that will support exercise but not body fat. 

Practice and train major lifts: Deadlift, clean, squat, presses, C&J, and snatch. Similarly, master the basics of gymnastics: pull-ups, dips, rope climb, push-ups, sit-ups, presses to handstand, pirouettes, flips, splits, and holds. Bike, run, swim, row, etc, hard and fast.

Five or six days per week mix these elements in as many combinations and patterns as creativity will allow. Routine is the enemy. Keep workouts short and intense. 

Regularly learn and play new sports.

One of the things that I love about Crossfit is that it is structured to allow me to constantly challenge myself.  The scoring, timing and scheduling always provides an opportunity for me to measurably improve performance.

Anyways, I could spend a lot of time trying to explain the methodology, however I'll leave it to Crossfit pioneer Greg Glassman in his article, "What is Fitness?"

Tuesday, April 17, 2012

The Biggest Loser and PALA

I watched an episode of "The Biggest Loser" the other night.  This happened to be the one where the contestants had an opportunity to visit the White House and meet The First Lady.  First off - I've always been a major fan of Mrs. Obama's movements and passion for better health amongst our youth.  Part of the episode was a plug for one of the program's that she's advocating regarding health and fitness.


PALA, or the Presidential Active Lifestyle Award, is a way for individuals and families to participate with thousands of others who are trying to be more active.  The concept is simple: for 5 days a week, you are to engage in 30 minutes of exercise (for adults - youth is 60 minutes).  You track and log your activity and progress and are awarded points for activity.  The amount of points you earn allow you to qualify for different levels of the award.  

It's a simple concept which has been used previously, but it's fun to see it gaining such support from the White House.  My wife and I decided that we would sign our family up last night to encourage not only ourselves, but our children (specifically our 3-year old) to be more active.

P.S. If you want a fun personality to follow on social networks like Twitter and Instagram, @mytrainerbob, Bob Harper is great.

Sunday, April 15, 2012

Excited for The Dirty Dash

Maybe I just haven't been conscious to it prior, but it amazes me how many more "runs" have popped up in the last couple of years.  I feel like people have become more conscious of health and fitness in the last couple of years and runs and races have followed.  What has been exciting and fun about this, is the amount of "out-of-the-box" events that have risen up.

Mud runs have become a craze and I'm happy to say that I'll be running in The Dirty Dash this June.  If you haven't heard about it, check this video out.


It's probably the dirtiest (and potentially the funnest) 10K I'll ever tackle.  Needless to say...I'm pretty stoked.  More on this later.

Saturday, April 14, 2012

Back at it. Blogging that is.

Wow. I'm a slacker. The two of you who read this blog (analytics can be so depressing sometimes) are probably thinking, "this knucklehead is probably 20 lbs heavier now." Touché.

I a happy to report however, that my offline pursuits have been much more diligent than my online pursuits. These past few months have yielded great results (despite a setback during the holidays due to good food in Hawaii). I have lost 15-20 lbs and am now in the 230s (a place that I haven't been in a few years). My nutrition is much better than it was a few months ago, activity levels are up and all trends seem to point to continued results (as long as I don't get dumb).

There is much to tell, but not much time tonight (my iPad actually deleted an entire post that I just wrote). I bow to be better. Much more coming soon.