Oxymoronic Weekends

Have you ever watched the Crossfit games?  I was introduced to the sport of Crossfit almost two years ago, and watching Crossfit athletes compete in games during the spring and summer of the last two years has been a favorite weekend past time (ask my wife).  She kind of snickers at the fact that I enjoy watching people basically workout for time.  For some reason though, it is awesome!  Watching what some of these athletes can do is absolutely amazing and extremely inspiring and motivating.

The last few weekends, I've found myself watching the Games live (when they are streaming it) and catching up on the updates throughout the weekend...all the while snacking and eating.  While I'm getting motivated and psyched, I'm eating and snacking...what a moron.

Oh well.  I'll enjoy while I can and hope that my oxymoronic weekends don't take too much of a toll on my weight loss and fitness goals.  Here's a great video from the past few weeks - Rich Froning setting a world record on an absolutely insane workout.

Most will find this boring.  I'm amazed at the stamina, but mostly the mental approach and planning.  The pacing, methodical active rest and guts are just awesome to me.

Ballsy Sports Performance | Daily Workout Motivation

There's probably a better terminology for me to use, but this one just works for me.  Growing up as a child who competed in soccer, swimming, tennis, basketball, volleyball and tennis, I was always moved and psyched when I saw a "ballsy" performance by an athlete.

The ones that I remember the most, are those in which athletes overcame seemingly insurmountable odds to perform.  To me, these odds come in many forms: sickness, injury, personal loss, disability, etc.  I realize that there are so many that can be told.  These are a few that come to mind:

Chris Paul's Grandfather's Death - after his 61-year-old grandfather was beaten and killed in a park, two nights later, Paul scores 61 points in honor of his grandfather.  He purposely missed a free-throw that would have been his 62nd point, walked off the court and embraced his father.  Now, more than 8 years later, Paul is actually an advocate to have those once young and wreck less teenagers released from their prison sentence so that they can live their lives.  What an amazing man.

Jordan Plays through the flu - any basketball fan who lived through the dual three-peat era will remember this Jordan's 38 point performance in the NBA Finals against the Utah Jazz.  The iconic picture of Scottie Pippen basically carrying him off the court will always be seared in my memory.

Kerri Strug nails her vault - I'm not a gymnastics fan (unless my nieces are performing), but man this is an iconic moment in US Sports history.

The Story of J Mac - I think this guy is a royal stud.

A Ballsy Performance at the Crossfit Games
I came across another ballsy performance from this past weekend.  Heather Scaglione, in the CrossFit Games regional competition dislocated her shoulder doing muscle-ups.  She popped her shoulder back in on her own, and through evident pain, continued the competition.  Her standings were such that even with a 1st place finish in coming events, she would not have advanced to the games.  I would have given up.

Not Heather.  She went through additional workouts which included burpees, ground-to-overheads, rowing and hanging toes-to-bars and fought through evident pain.  I wish I could have been at the event to witness this amazing display of heart and grit.  Check out her ballsy performance.

When I see or hear about a performance like this, I can't help but be motivated.  Those extra reps in a workout look a bit easier, the energy to get to the gym comes a little faster, and my motivation to kick my butt back into shape is invigorated.

To all athletes who've ever put out a ballsy performance.  I salute you.

Week Wrap Up | 6/12/2011

This has been a fun week.  Summer is finally here and I'm definitely excited for summer activities.  Yesterday was the Orem Summer Festival, so we decided that we'd take the little guy and head out for a day of fun.  There was great food, rides and local entertainment.  It was a blast.

I love summer activities with my son.  I realize however that in coming years, the activities will require more and more "activity" from me.  Especially because we're expecting our second.  Like I've said before, my children and family are the greatest motivations for me to get and stay healthy.  I'm sure that in the coming years, I'll be running around soccer fields, swimming in pools, surfing, playing football, wrestling and shooting hoops.  I tell you what...it would also be cool to be able to coach my kids as well  I definitely can't wait.  Time and effort today is an investment in the future.

Here's what my workouts looked like this past week:


Monday: Homebound WOD
With a running clock, each minute do the following:
5 ground to overhead dumbbell snatches - 25 lbs
10 push ups
15 squats
+
15 minutes of jump roping.
I did 14 rounds

Tuesday: Legs
This was a great workout that a friend of mine and I did of:
2x20 Back Squats
3x8 Clean and Press
3x6 Front Squats
Lunges
Lunge Jumps

Wednesday: Upper Body
We broke our workout up into two different sections.
Section 1 - we tried to turn this into a little metcon and do it as fast as we could:
30 burpees
2x20 Incline bench press
50 push ups
3x12 Incline bench press
50 push ups

Section 2:
Supersets of 3x10 T-rows and 3x8 rear deltoid shrug
Supersets of 3x10 lateral bungee raises and 3x30 overhead plate presses

Thursday: Cardio
Elliptical Machine - 4.2 miles in 40 minutes

Friday: Rest Day

Saturday: 100s workout
For time:
100 burpees
100 squats
100 push-ups
100 double-unders
I completed the workout in 27:10 - burpees and consistent double-unders are still a challenge for me, but I'm definitely getting better.

I'm excited for another fun week of working out and staying healthy.  Enjoy yours.

Week Wrap Up

This has been a pretty good week.  Last week I made a decision to be more conscious and aware about what I ate.  As a result, I loss two lbs and feel great.

Here's what my workouts looked like this week:

Monday - Homebound WOD
Variation on "Cindy":
As many rounds as possible in 20 minutes of:
5 hanging dumbbell cleans (40lbs)
10 push-ups
15 squats
I was able to do 17 full rounds + 7 squats.  It was my first workout after being sick for 5 days, so I'm hoping I have a better result next time.

Tuesday - Self-Programmed WODs
Four rounds for time of:
400 Meter Run + A round of "Cindy"
I did it in 15:12

8 minutes of "Death by Pull-up"

Wednesday - Cardio Day
30 minutes on the elliptical for 3.15 miles

Thursday - Variation on Annie
50-40-30-20-10 of
Double-Unders
Push-ups
Squats
I did it in about 15 minutes which is not nearly as good as the last time I did it.  My rope is at my brothers house, so a buddy of mine and I had to share ropes.

Friday - Rest Day

Saturday - Homebound 100s WOD
For time with 25lb dumbbells:
100 hanging cleans
100 thrusters
100 crunches
100 ground-to-overheads
I finished in 28:08 - this was a fun workout.  I need to work on increasing weight while still decreasing time.

Good week.  I'm still recovering a little from the sickness last week, but overall it feels great to be back in the gym and active again.

While browsing some videos this morning on the Crossfit Games website, I came across this bio.  I love this guy's workout philosophy.  This is good stuff to get you motivated.

CrossFit Games Regional Highlights - Day Two

Day Two Highlights from the Regional Competitions for CrossFit are posted on the CrossFitHQ YouTube account.  If you haven't watched them you...you should, they're intense.  I am amazed at the sheer strength and competitiveness that exists.  I hope that one of these are close to me next year so I can be there in person to watch.

Again, there are a lot more videos posted of Regionals, however this is my favorite one from Day Two.  The end of this video is awesome!  Great competitive spirit.

North Central Regional CrossFit Games 2011 Highlights - Day Two

For a little more insight into what these athletes put themselves through on Day Two.  Here is the workout schedule.

Individual Workout 3
21-15-9 of:
Deadlift (315/205 lbs) (male/female)
Box jumps (30"/24")

Individual Workout 4
For Time:
100 Pull-ups
100 Kettlebell Swings (24/16 kg)
100 Double-unders
100 Overhead Squats (95/65 lbs)

The team workouts are similar, however more reps/rounds and split between team members.  To all the athletes competing in the games.  I salute you.

Sometimes it's the Little Things

I want to be the cool Dad.  The one who plays sports with his sons.  The one who can still take his sons in a game of one on one.  The Dad that despite the age difference can still whoop his sons' butts into shape.

My son is only two, so now is the time for me to prepare and get healthy and active.  The days of basketball games, running, and training and years from now.  I realized last night that I can still be the cool Dad, even now.

There's this thing that my son loves.  I lie on the ground and stretch my arms up over my head.  He then stands on my hands and I have to bring my legs up above my head so that he can grab them.  Then basically, he wants me to balance him a couple feet off the ground with his feet still on my hands and his arms wrapped around my legs.   It requires a little bit of flexibility and strength, but nothing strenuous.

We were doing that last night (and he always wants to do it over and over again), and my wife commented, "That requires a lot of flexibility.  I don't think that you could have done that before."

Being able to do that with my son, and my wife's comment last night made me feel like a champ.  It definitely is the little things that make a big difference.  Stuff like that is enough to keep me going back to the gym.

Fran Taught Me a Few Lessons Today

I met Fran at the gym today.  If you haven't been introduced to Fran, let me do the pleasure of telling you who she is:

"Fran"
21-15-9 of
95 lb Thrusters
Pull-ups

Fran is one of the CrossFit Benchmarks and is a brutal one.  I finished the workout in 4:30, however I needed to start doing jumping pull-ups during the round of 15.  Fran taught me a couple of lessons today.

1. I really need to work on my pull-ups.  I definitely need to improve my kipping pull-up, but I think more importantly, pull-ups at 260 lbs get hard and I don't have the stamina for it.  One more piece of motivation to shed some weight.

2. The positive lesson.  Lifting is my strength in the WODs and my stamina is getting much better.  In this and other WODs that I've done this week, I have been able to handle the lifting elements well.  My stamina from previous weeks is much improved.  My struggle are the bodyweight exercises like pull-ups, handstand push-ups, dips, etc.  The good thing is that all of those will improve with a combination of increased strength and weight loss.

For motivation here's a video of some CrossFitters taking on the WOD.  I apologize for the very mild language.  It's PG-13, don't worry.

I thought I was going to be funny and post a picture of Fran Drescher in this post, but found that LAX Crossfit had already done it...I guess I'm not original.

My Dilemma

I'm Polynesian.  I'm big boned.  I have a slow metabolism.  I love to eat.

You know, I've always been a big guy.  In the words of my sister, "You know you were always the chubby and awkward one, right?"

See why I really have no reason to complain?

I have this dilemma.  I love to go to the gym and stay active, yet the Poly inside of me eats like a Poly.  I'm also part Japanese, so you combine Japanese food with a Polynesian appetite...you get the picture.

It's an awfully fun dilemma to be in.  I really shouldn't complain.

In all seriousness though, in my efforts to be healthy, finding a balance in this dilemma will be one of the most important things I do (and biggest battle I'll face).  The reason I'm thinking about it now is that my parents are in town.  When the family gets together, we have great food and I eat more than I normally do.  After this week, I'll probably have a pound or two to shed (but it will totally be worth it).

After a weekend like this, I definitely have to hit the gym hard this week!

Benchmarks From this Past Week or Two

In a recent post, I wrote about how progress motivates me and the importance of benchmarks.  I made a goal to do a "benchmark" Crossfit workout each week.  It's been good to do a couple of Crossfit workouts mixed with the other things that we've been doing in the gym.

It's been a lot of fun to do and track the benchmark workouts.  I've also done a few variations on the workouts as well and they've been great.  Here is a list of the workouts I've done and my results for each of them.

"Cindy"
As many rounds as possible in 20 minutes of:
5 pull-ups
10 push-ups
15 squats
I was able to complete 19 rounds and 6 squats.

"Annie"
Double-Unders and Sit-Ups
50-40-30-20-10 reps; for time
Neither are strengths of mine.  I completed the workout in 13:25

"Jeremy" - This isn't a benchmark workout, but definitely one that I'm going to come back to and compare times in the future.
21-15-9 reps of:
Overhead squats at 95lbs
Burpees
I do not heart burpees.  I completed the workout in 6:51

Variation on "Annie"
Double-Unders, Squats and Push-Ups
50-40-30-20-10 reps; for time
I completed the workout in 12:57.  Much better time than my traditional "Annie".  It's probably due to a good rhythm with the rope, and that I'm much better at squats and push ups than sit ups.

Saturday's Metcon
There's no name for this one, but I did this metcon this morning.  It was brutal and I did not perform well.  Here's what the workout called for -
Four rounds for time of:
15 burpees
10 wide push-ups
10 narrow push-ups
14 lunge jumps (7 both leg)
15 V-ups
10 pull-ups
10 halos
I completed the workout in 28:07.  Not a very good time at all.  I don't heart burpees, v-ups or tackling this type of a metcon alone.

Exhausted after a Metcon

These benchmark workouts have been great.  They don't take long, but man do I get a burn and work up a sweat.  They are great workouts for my type of schedule.  I look forward to tackling a few more benchmark workouts over the next few weeks.  I especially look forward to coming back to these in a couple of months and seeing how I perform.  Ideally, I should do better, right? :-)

It must be the business person in me, but I anticipate an amazing feeling of accomplishment when/if I crush these times/performances.  Because these are all firsts for me, these times serve as baselines to crush in the future!  Wish me luck.

Check out more of my benchmarks.

To the Mothers in My Life...

...Happy Mother's Day.

I'm extremely thankful to the mothers in my life, especially my mommy and my wife.  There are many other "mother" figures for me to honor on a day like this (my mother-in-law, my mission mom, my Aunty Maile, and the list could go on and on).  For the purpose of this post, we'll just focus on the first two.

To me, they are great motivators to stay healthy and active.  My mother always encouraged her children to eat healthy, to not eat too much, to stay active, to not watch too much TV, to go on walks, to play with friends...you know, all the things a mother does to ensure that her kid stays healthy.  Not only did she encourage, but she DID as well.  I remember my mother going to the gym, to step class, to water aerobics, playing tennis and much more.  When I was in high school, and I was told that I had to trim up for my senior season of volleyball it was my mother who drove my strict diet and ensured I was up early enough to run before school.

Now that all the kids are out of the house, she drags Dad out to do a bunch of fun activities.

Mom and Dad's new favorite summer activity

I've talked about my wife on this blog before.  She's absolutely amazing and is a great example for me.  We've got one little boy and one more on the way.  In between the two boys, my wife decided that she really wanted to get in good shape.  We engaged a personal trainer and my wife became extremely dedicated.  She lost about 20 lbs over the course of a few months and still remains active far into her second pregnancy.  She is such a great example to me.

Family pictures 2010

To all the mothers out there: thank you for being the drivers and motivators behind that which is good. To the mother's in my life, I love you and thank you for being my motivation.

I'm Solar Powered

I think that we may finally be saying good bye to winter and hello to spring.  It was a beautiful day today.

Saturdays are a hard day for me to make it to the gym.  I get up in the morning and my son is normally awake and excited to spend time with me.  I've resorted to the fact that I'm going to have to do pretty quick workouts on Saturdays most of the time.  This morning I decided that I would just jump rope for about half an hour.

I went out on my driveway and in the 8:00 AM sun, and just got in a rhythm for about 30 minutes.  I did some sets of 30 double-unders, jumped to the rhythm on my iPod and just enjoyed my time in the sun.  It was invigorating to feel the sun on my face and back as sweat poured down my face toward the end of the 30 minutes.  

I needed to help our local church's youth group aerate a bunch of lawns today as a fundraiser, so I was in the sun for a total of about six hours.  I'm fried and red (thank goodness my Hawaiian blood turns that burn into a pretty nice brown), but it was totally worth it.

I'm so excited for warm weather.  In the words of a friend of mine, "We truly are solar powered."  Being in the sun just makes me want to stay active and healthy.

Set Some Benchmarks. That'll Keep You Going.

I made a return to CrossFit this week.  We've been doing some great workouts for the last few weeks, however I simply felt like I needed to do a couple of Crossfit workouts to get motivated again.  I made a decision that I'm going to try and do one of the "Benchmark Girl" Crossfit Workouts each week (mixed in with the other workouts we're doing).

If you're not familiar with the Benchmark Girls, let me introduce you to them.  They are a group of gals who will absolutely kick your butt, so don't mess with them.

In all seriousness though, they are a set of Crossfit workouts that are meant to be basic benchmarks for you to track progress with.  Take a look at some of them.  If I'm not mistaken, Angie was my first ever CrossFit workout, and boy did it gas me.  I wish I could remember my time...well not really :-)!

From the FAQ on CrossFit.com

Also from the FAQ on CrossFit.com

So on Thursday I did Cindy.  I did 19 rounds and got to 6 squats.  I'm going to admit that around rounds 13 or 14 I needed to start doing jumping pull-ups (that is a major improvement from 5 months ago).

There is something about benchmarks that motivate me.  When I realize what my baseline is, and I am able to come back and improve against that baseline, I feel a great sense of accomplishment.  I'm hoping that in a few months, my times and results for each of these workouts will improve.

Having something to work towards and against...now that's enough motivation for me to keep going.

Change Motivates Me to Workout

We started a new workout plan today.  It's actually the second part of the one we've been doing for the last few weeks.  For the past few weeks it was a lot of high reps.  This next section is lower reps and much heavier weight.  I feel like these past few weeks have been great for me.  I feel stronger, I have better endurance and am getting closer to where I feel that I need to be.

Despite that progress, today gassed me.  It was great!

I've often found that I lose motivation when I feel that I'm doing the same thing over and over again.  I actually found that with this last section of the workout.  By last week, I was ready to move on...despite really enjoying the workouts.

That's a good lesson for me to learn: when I feel like I'm not motivated, change things up a little bit.  I think that even small changes help.  Add an extra motion.  Ask someone who's working around you for tips.  Observe what others are doing and try to incorporate what they're doing into your workout.  Do something different and see how your body reacts (just don't overdo it).

CrossFit nails this principle and it's one of the reasons that I admire the lifestyle and program so much.  Much of what you do in CrossFit is based on the unknown.  You don't necessarily know what your workouts are going to look like until maybe the day of.  There are so many different motions, combinations and challenges.  It's exciting.

Man, when I have the money (and I'm in much better shape), I can't wait to join a box.

Inactivity. That's What Motivates Me Today.

So you'll notice that I haven't posted in a week or so.  I was on a business trip in Phoenix for a few days, and I spent the last few days of the week catching up on things that came up while I was gone.

I was only able to make it to the gym three days last week.  What's funny, is that 6 months ago that would have been an amazing accomplishment for me.  Now, I feel let down.  That's a good sign right?

Well that feeling of "inactivity" is what motivates me to hit the gym hard this week (and what motivates me to get back to blogging).  I learned a couple of things this week while on my business trip:

1. I love really good Mexican Food.  Man, Phoenix has great Mexican food.
2. Pro baseball games are a blast.  I got to go to my first MLB game while in Phoenix.  It was a blast, but the food selection isn't the healthiest.
3. It doesn't matter where you are, being active feels great.  The hotel we stayed at had a very small "exercise center".  30 minutes of cardio, 100 push ups, 100 squats and 100 crunches later, I felt ready for the day.  I've often found it easy to blame my surroundings for not working out.  I realize more and more how much that really isn't the case.  You can find something active to do nearly anywhere you are.

Well...thanks for listening to my jabbering.  Have a great week!

Early Morning Rush

I wanted to go to the gym yesterday morning.  I knew I had to be at work by 8:00, so I wanted to be at the gym before 6:30.

Being ambitious, I set my alarm for 5:00 and then again for 5:30 (don't ask me why, but I have to set two alarms like that in order to function throughout the day).  I rolled out of bed, regretting the fact that I had woken up so early.  I kept telling myself that I was a dummy and that I should have stayed in bed.

The funny thing is that I used to get up early like that to go running and/or go to the gym all the time.  Now, it's labor to me.

Once I got to the gym however, my mind quickly changed.  The gym was busy.  The people and the energy quickly took my mind of my seemingly regret.  50 minutes of cardio later, I felt great!

Early morning crazies, I salute you.

What is it about Running?

After completing the Moab Half

So I left my house this morning at 7:30 and it was damp and cold outside.  On my drive to work, I always see people running.  Often times, I see the same people on the same route.

As I drove past the morning runners, I thought to myself, "That's a little too cold and damp for my enjoyment."

I started thinking (usually not a good thing).  What is it about running that get's people out so often?  I confess that I'm not an avid runner.  I completed a half marathon (notice how I say that I completed it and not "ran" it), but don't profess to be a runner.  What amazes me about running however, is how dedicated some people are.

I live in Orem, UT and used to live in Provo.  One of the fascinating things about the area (especially Provo), is that no matter what time you go out, what the weather is like, and what time of the year, you will see people running.  Seriously...whenever you got out you'll see people running.

I admire that dedication.  To run in the pouring rain, blustering snow, scorching heat, and at any time of the day...that's dedication.

I had considered taking a break from the gym today.  The dedication of the individuals running this morning in the damp cold motivated me to not take that break.

Thank you crazy dedicated runners.

The Burn

Today was a hard day at the gym.  We did the same workout as last week, however I added a bit more weight to the squats.  I don't know if it was the additional weight, or if I'm still a bit tired from last week's workouts (especially doing the metcon Friday and Saturday), but I was completely exhausted at the end of the workout.

That feeling.  That burn.  It's exhilarating.

It's not too often that we put ourselves there.  I think sometimes it's because we don't want to and sometimes it's because we don't know how to.  I know that there weren't many workouts that I put together myself that put me there and exhaust me like that, but a workout that someone else thought up that is meant to stretch me...that'll put me there.  This new workout program and CrossFit definitely put me there.

As much as it hurt, I can't wait until tomorrow.

Progess, Planning and Pals

Those are the three things that motivate me today.  Here's the gist:

As most of you know, I workout with a group of friends from work.  We do an array of different things.  However for the last few weeks we've been doing a workout plan that was developed by another friend of ours.  It's a 5-day a week plan.  Each workout for the first four days includes lifts, super sets, workouts with high-reps, core exercises and full body exercises.  The 5th day of each week is as follows:

5 rounds as fast as you can of:
15 squat jumps
20 push-ups
20 crunches
8 lunges (each leg)
7 pull-ups

One of the purposes of this workout is to gauge progress.  Ideally, you should be improving your time and ability to complete the workout.  The individual pieces of it should become easier as you build strength and endurance.  Here is what my times looked like for the past few weeks:

Week 1:
We actually decided to do this workout once prior to starting the new plan so that we could have a baseline to compare against.  I did the workout in a little over 15 minutes.  I wasn't set up to well (I needed to run to and from a location to do the pull-ups), however, endurance was a large issue.

Week 2:
About 12:30, a pretty good improvement.  I was set up a bit better so that I didn't have to run back and forth to do pull-ups.  If you've read previous posts, you'll know that pull-ups are difficult for me, but they got a lot easier this time around.

Week 3:  This week.
I actually did it twice this week.  I ended up going at it alone Friday night and we all met up Saturday morning (today) to do it together.  I learned something interesting from these last two days.  Here are my times:
Friday: 11:34 - I chalk up the improvement from Week 2 to building up strength and endurance.  As I get more and more active, my stamina in this type of a workout has gotten much greater.  Interestingly enough, I've also learned that paying attention to your breathing patterns plays a large role as well.
Saturday: 10:27 - I chalk the overnight improvement to the fact that I was with three other guys who were going faster than me.  I was anticipating a slower time (because my body was tired from the previous night's workout).  My pride set in however, and despite being absolutely gassed at the end of the workout, simply having them around made me go faster.

I realize that eventually, my times will plateau and I'll get to a point where beating my PR won't happen weekly.  However, I am interested and fascinated by the different factors that have led to the improvement.

The Plan has helped with strength and endurance.
My Pals pushed me to do better than I thought I could do.
My Progress makes me pumped to get back in the gym on Monday for another great week of workouts.

Just Watch. It'll Speak for Itself

Just watch this story.  It'll inspire you for sure.

Enough said?

I Gotta Build Me One of These

This is motivation for me to workout and make money so I can fund this...

Here's Part Two:

I love the tongue-and-cheek conversation as well.  Pretty entertaining.