Week Wrap Up - 5_6_2012

The weeks feel like they go by faster and faster with less and less time to do things.  I guess a combination of work, two kids, spending time with my wife and trying to find time to stay active makes for a busy schedule.  Here's what my week looked like:

Monday:

Morning - 45 minute cardio sesh

Lunch - 

• handstand push-supersetted with butterfly pull-ups
• power cleans supersetted with butterfly pull-ups
• hanging power cleans
• finished off with a 15 minute walk at high incline

Tuesday:

Morning - 45 minute cardio sesh

Lunch - Chest

Wednesday:

Morning - 40 minute cardio sesh

Afternoon - "The Chief" - 5 cycles of:

• 3 minute AMRAP of:
• 3 power cleans at 135#
• 6 push ups
• 9 air squats
• 1 minute rest

I ended up doing 5 rounds, 4, 4, 4, 4 respectively through the cycles.

Thursday:

Morning - 45 minute cardio sesh

Friday:

Morning - 45 minute cardio sesh

Saturday: Rest Day - Happy Anniversary to my awesome wife!

Pretty good week.  Dropped a few lbs and about 1% body fat.  The Crossfit Games Regionals have been going on, so it's been fun to watch those.  Here's of video of Ben Smith, a Crossfit beast.  He works out in his garage and for that, I think it's a great inspiration that the dude can do what does and compete at such a high level.  Enjoy.

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).

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!

Week Wrap Up | I turned 28

My B-Day Present From my Wife

Happy Father's Day to all the Dad's out there.  I'm especially grateful for my Dad and all he's done for me.  He's been a great example of many things and I hope to be able to be half the man he is.

This is always a fun time of the year for me.  My birthday and Father's day fall within the same week of each other each year.  It typically means a lot of fun and family time.  This week and especially this weekend did not disappoint.  Thank you to my wife for making this weekend so fun.  Thanks also to a few buddies at work for taking me out for sushi and surprising me with a "Hawaiian" pineapple upside-down cake.

Here's a look at what my workouts looked like this past week.

Monday: Legs

2x20 back squats - 185 lbs

3x8 clean and press - 155 lbs

3x6 front squats - 185 lbs

3x10 overhead squats - 135

3x10 box jumps - 24"

Tuesday: Jump Rope WOD - a spin off Workout 11.1 from the Crossfit Open

AMRAP in 15 minutes of:

30 double-unders

15 ground-to-overheads - 25 lbs dumbbells

I completed 6 total rounds + 30 double-unders

I also did:

3 supersets of 30 plate presses (45 lbs) and 10 double-unders

3 supersets of 15 ball crunches and 10 double-unders

I'm becoming more efficient at double-unders, but still have a long way to go.

Wednesday: "Fran" + Legs...again.  This was a pretty brutal day.

"Fran" - 21-15-9 of:

95 lb thrusters and pull-ups

I did a pretty legitimate "Fran" this time.  No jumping pull-ups until the last 3 reps.  I completed the WOD in 5:39

I also did:

2x10 back squats - 225 lbs

3x10 overhead squats - 135 lbs

Thursday: Normal/Traditional Day

3x10 flat bench press - 135, 185, 225 lbs

3x10 incline bench press - 135, 155, 185 lbs

3x10 Tri-shoulder complex at 25 lbs

3 sets of plate presses - 45 lbs

3 supersets of bungee lateral raises and plate presses (45 lbs)

Friday: Hiking

I did a short hike with our church's youth group.  We were in the mountains for about an hour and a half.

Saturday: 28th Birthday Workout

For time, 28 reps each of:

Burpees

Regular Push-ups

Thrusters - 25 lbs dumbbells

Crunches

Ground-to-overheads - 25 lbs dumbbells

Air Squats

Hanging cleans - 25 lbs dumbbells

Lunges

Wide Push-ups

Squat Jumps

High Decline Push-ups (feet resting on a four foot window sill)

Jumping Jacks

Narrow Push-ups

Ground to Ceiling Jumps (9 ft ceiling)

I completed the workout in 21:10.  This was a fun homebound WOD.

What a fun week.  As you can tell, I worked my legs pretty hard this week.  I think that I'm going to take it easy on them this coming week (with the exception of one day probably).  Thanks to friends and family, especially my wife, for making this Birthday/Father's day week so much fun for me.

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.

Week Wrap-Up | Starting a New Circuit

So I'm kind of torn this week.  We started a new workout routine at the gym this week.  It's been a great week, and the workouts are pretty awesome, but I miss doing the CrossFit WODs.  However I'm sure that we'll be working and mixing them in over the next couple of weeks.

The workouts started on Monday, but I wasn't able to make it to the gym to do them, so I started Wednesday with the guys from work.  Here's what my workouts looked like this week.

Monday: Home Workout
On my way to the gym, my son freaked out and didn't want me to leave.  I ended up doing the following workout in my drive way:

Four rounds for time:
15 double-unders
15 squats
10 burpees
10 squat jumps

I wasn't feeling too hot that day and it ended up taking me 18 minutes to complete.  I hate burpees.

Wednesday: New Circuit Day 3
It consisted of:
- Warm-up with high knees, push-ups and star-jumps
- One-legged straight dead lifts
- Straight-legged dead lifts
- Bent-over Rows super-setted with Good Mornings
- Pull-Ups
- A Core Workout

Thursday: New Circuit Day 4
It consisted off:
- Warming up by jump roping for 5 minutes
- Clean and Jerks
- Bench Press super-setted with Dips
- Skull-crushers
- Wide and narrow push-ups super-setted
- Kettle bells swings
- A Core Workout

Friday: New Circuit Day 5
It consisted of 5 rounds for time of the following:

15 squat jumps
20 push-ups
20 crunches
8 lunges (each leg)
7 pull-ups

I completed it in 12:27.  I did that workout last week in 15 minutes (I didn't fuel up before, and had to run between locations to do pull-ups).  I'm interested to see how my times progress over the coming weeks.

Saturday: Cardio
3.15 miles in 30:30 + 15 minutes of jump roping.  It was a great way to end the week.

It's been a great week.  One thing that I've loved about doing this blog is that it serves as a sort of fitness journal.  Seeing what workouts I've done and being able to think through some of the progress that I feel I've made is a good mental exercise for me.

My wife is headed out of town at the end of this week, so I think that I'm going to gear up for a pretty strict diet while she's gone (it's hard to ask your family to follow a strict diet just cause you want to).  We'll see how that goes!  Wish me luck.

Week Wrap Up

Here's what my workouts looked like this week:

Monday: Chest

For some reason, I felt like I had gotten hit by a train over the weekend.  Therefore, I didn't feel like doing a MetCon.  We did a chest workout instead.  It included the following:

A short warm up

4 sets of Bench Press

3 sets of Decline Bench Press

3 sets of Incline Bench Press

3 sets of Overhead Shoulder Press

The funny thing about this workout, is that this is the type of workout I would have done a few years ago on a normal day.  We did this workout today because we wanted to do something "lite".

Tuesday: CrossFit

21-15-9 of

225 lb Deadlift

135 lb Overhead Squat

I ended up scaling the weight back on the overhead squats for the 2nd and 3rd round to 115 (I don't have the core quite yet) but was able to complete the workout in 10:30

Wednesday: CrossFit

Run 1 mile

155 lb clean/jerk - 21 reps

Run .5 mile

155 lb clean/jerk - 21 reps

Run 1 mile

I ended up doing the .5 mile in the middle on an elliptical machine.  As much as I wanted to, I didn't end up scaling the weight back on the jerks (looking back I'm really grateful that I didn't) and completed the workout in 41:30.  I know, not an impressive time, but I'm just glad that I finished in one piece.

Saturday: 

5 rounds for time of:

15 squat jumps

20 push ups

20 crunches

8 lunges (each leg)

7 pull-ups

I completed it in 15:10.

Wanna know what my motivation is today?  Results.

I realize that I still have a long way to go, however I am grateful for the results that I've seen.  Pull-ups have always been something hard for me to do.  Even when I was in my "prime" I struggled doing pull-ups.  For many of the MetCons we've been doing over the past few months as well as our daily warm ups, I've needed to do a lot of jump pull ups.

I was warming up the other day, and noticed that I could pump out 5-10 pull-ups for each of my 3 warm up sets.  That was a small victory for me, but a victory none-the-less.  Sometimes it's the little things that keep you motivated and moving.

If not, hopefully this will help.  I love the types of exercises that this group does.  A lot of functional movements and core elements built into majority of the workouts.

When you consider what type of physical activity this group engages in and how dominant someone like Laird is in his sport, you've got to be motivated by, and admire the type and amount of training that goes into it.

Happy Weekend.

My Week in Review

Here's what my week at the gym looked like this past week.  It was a fun week.  I'm a bit sore today.  This type of hurt is a good hurt though :-)

Monday: CrossFit

Here's what the workout called for - 

Complete as many rounds and reps as possible in 10 minutes of:

30 Double-unders

15 Power snatches (75lbs)

I completed 2 complete rounds plus 29 Double-unders.  I realized that the key is to have a good jump rope for the double-unders.

We also ended up doing workout afterwards focused on our calves and rear delts.

Tuesday: Crossfit

Overhead squat 1-1-1-1-1 reps

Front squat 1-1-1-1-1 reps

Back squat 1-1-1-1-1 reps

Try to increase the load on each of the fifteen sets

My weight progressions looked like this:

Overhead: 115-135-155-185-205

Front: 185-205-225-245-275

Back: 275-295-315-365-405

I learned something during this workout: next time I do a heavy workout, I need to start heavier and make my weight increases smaller.

Wednesday: Cardio

Thursday: CrossFit

"Weaver" it called for:

Four rounds of time of:

10 L-pull-ups

15 push-ups

15 Chest to bar pull-ups

15 push-ups

20 pull-ups

15 push-ups

Pull-ups are still a major weak point of mine, so I scaled this back a bit.  I did all the reps, but did all jumping pull-ups instead of the Ls and chest to bars.  I ended up completing it in 23:45.  

Friday: Cardio + Legs

2.5 Mile run (my Nike+ didn't record it for some reason)

+ a leg workout that focused on hamstrings and calves.

Needless to say, it was a busy week at the gym, and I'm a little sore, but it feels great.  For a bit of motivation, check out this video of Jason Khalipa doing Monday's workout.  For those sensitive to language, he does cuss once toward the end (sorry Mom).  That's the only reason it's not posted on the blog.

If you want...you can watch this instead however.  The language is clean :-).  Enjoy!

Week Wrap Up + Kipping Pull Ups

I just realized that I haven't posted in a week or so.  It's been a good couple weeks in the gym...not so good couple of weeks in the kitchen.  I've had some great workout these last two weeks, but haven't done too well in the kitchen.  This next week I'm dedicated to be a bit more disciplined.  Any tips?

Here's what my workouts looked like for the last two weeks or so.

Monday, March 7: Crossfit
"McCluskey" - I had to scale this one quite a bit.  It called for:
Three rounds of:
9 Muscle Ups
15 Burpee Pull Ups
21 Pull Ups
Run 800 Meters

I ended up doing the following in 32:23
Three rounds of:
10 Pull Ups
10 Dips
10 Burpee Pull Ups
10 Pull Ups
Run 800 Meters

Tuesday, March 8: Crossfit
Three rounds for time of:
Run 400 meters
75 pound Squat snatch, 15 reps
9 Handstand push-ups (due to bad shoulders I ended up doing high incline pull ups)
I completed the workout in 15:13

Wednesday, March 9: Cardio
Elliptical for 35 minutes - 2.52 miles

Friday, March 10: Legs
Back Squats - 10 at 135, 10 at 185, 3 sets of 10 at 225.  10 box jumps between each set.
Hamstring Curls - 3 sets with a reverse progression burnout on the last set.
Quad Extensions - 3 sets with a reverse progression burnout on the last set.

Monday, March 14: Crossfit
Standing Shoulder Press
3-3-3-3-3-3-3
My weight progression was as follows:
135-145-155-165-175-185-205

Wednesday, March 15: Crossfit
Here's what the workout called for:
"With a continuously running clock do one pull-up the first minute, two pull-ups the second minute, three pull-ups the third minute, etc.  Continue as long as you are able."
I ended up making it the eighth minute doing normal pull ups and jumping pull-ups from 9-14.  I got a pretty large blister on my left hand from this one.  Not fun.

Thursday, March 16: Crossfit
For time:
Run 1 mile
100 sit-ups
100 back extensions
Run 1 mile
I completed in 27:59

After the pull-up workout on Wednesday, I realized that I needed to work on doing Kipping Pull-ups.  It's basically a pull-up that uses body momentum and is very commonly used in CrossFit.  Some call it cheating, however the idea of it is to use multiple muscle groups together and raise your heart rate...It does just that.  Check out this tutorial below... pretty impressive stuff.

Have a good week!

Cardio Push - Week Wrap Up

I'm feeling a bit under the weather today...which is no fun.  I'm hoping that I can kick this cough today so that it doesn't affect my week in the gym.

I'm noticing that the gym is becoming more and more of an obsession for me.  It's starting to feel good.  What I'm still working on and trying to get more control over is my diet.  In due time, I think that'll come however.  In terms of diet, I've learned a couple of things:

1. If you record what you eat, you're more likely to eat healthier.  I've found that my portion control is better and I'm more aware of when I'm missing out on certain food groups.  I don't think it's worth obsessing over, but it definitely has helped me.

2. Simple sugars kill me.  Enough said.

Here's what my workouts looked like this week:

Monday: Cardio

42 minutes on the elliptical - 4.25 miles

Tuesday: Crossfit Day

5 rounds of the following:

50ft lunges while holding a 45 lb bar above your head

21 burpees

The burpees killed me, but I ended up doing the workout in 22:36.

Wednesday: Crossfit Day

"Cindy"

As many of rounds of the following in 20 minutes:

5 pull ups (I had to end up doing jumping pull ups...again)

10 push ups

15 squats

I completed 16 rounds

Thursday: Cardio

43 minutes on the elliptical - 4.3 miles

Friday: Cardio

35 minutes on the elliptical - 3.7 miles

Like I mentioned in an earlier post, I'm starting to go to the gym in the morning before work, so I'm hoping that I can do a couple days this week with two workouts.  Wish me luck!

It's Been a While...Week Wrap Up

So my gym membership went under for about a week (I'll spare you the details about expiring accounts, renewals and such), however I will say that I'm very glad to have my membership back.  I hated not having access to the gym...especially when it's only five minutes away on my lunch break.  It's feels good to back.

I got my membership reactivated on Thursday, so it's been a short week in terms of work outs.  Here's what the last three days looked like:

Thursday: CrossFit Day
The WOD called for the following:
7 rounds for time of:
15 kettle bells swings (55 lbs)
15 power cleans (95lbs)
15 box jumps

I wasn't feeling very good that day, so I ended up scaling the workout back to the following:
5 rounds for time of:
10 kettle bell swings (55lbs)
10 power cleans (95lbs)
10 box jumps (24 inches)

I kind of felt like a wuss for scaling it back, however, the workout still kicked my trash and made me sweat like mad.  It felt great.

Friday: Legs
5 sets of squats (10 reps) super-setted with 10 box jumps (24 inches).  I ended up doing 3 sets of 225, 1 set of 185, 1 set of 135.

After that I did sets of "side to side" jumps over a 8 inch tall, 18 inch wide box. 

It was a short workout, however I worked up a pretty good sweat.  It reminded me of the type of short quick workouts I used to do in high school for volleyball.

Saturday: Random + Cardio
4 sets of lat pull downs (wide grip) super-setted with reverse, close-grip pull downs ( 130lbs and 110lbs respectively)

3 sets of 1-armed, standing cable rows. 10 reps. (70 lbs).

3 sets of cable fly-presses, super-setted with push-ups. 10 reps of each.

35 minutes on the elliptical machine.

Tomorrow's a rest day: I never work out on Sundays...it's my day for church and family.  Looking forward to beginning another week on Monday!

Week Wrap Up

It's been a great week.  I'm feeling good...with the exception of some shoulder pain that is remnant of a volleyball injury.  Here's what my workout schedule looked like:

Monday: Crossfit Day
"Hollbrook"
Eight rounds for time of...I did it in 22:59
115 pound Thruster, 5 reps
10 pull-ups
100 meter Sprint
1 minute rest

Tuesday: Crossfit Day
Squat Cleans.  7 sets of 3 reps (this is actually what aggravated my shoulder)

Wednesday: Crossfit Day
For time...I did it in 26:43
20 in Box jump, 50 reps
25 pull ups
55lb Kettlebell swing, 50 reps
40 lb dumbbell hang power clean, 50 reps
50 sit-ups
800 meter run
50 Back extensions

Thursday: Rest Day.  Thank goodness.

Friday: Legs
Front Squats/Bent Over Row supersets
Laying Leg Press/Standing Leg Press supersets
One leg bent over rows
Quad extension/hamstring curl supersets

My weigh-in midweek indicated that I've lost 8.5 lbs since the beginning of the year.  It feels good.

I'm looking forward to a busy weekend and a fun Superbowl Party with family on Sunday.  Enjoy your weekend everyone!