Monday, April 25, 2011

Jim Wendler on fitness...

Moving North of Vag 
I can’t take credit for this name. I wish I could, but both the idea and the name come from my good friend Jim Messer. Jim and I have been friends since junior high, and we have the kind of friendship that doesn’t require us to talk every week. Or even every year. This is more of an idea. A concept, if you will. 

Jim started training with the 5/3/1 method without my knowing it, and he’s had great success. He emailed me and let me know about this. Here’s part of an email he wrote to me:
I feel compelled to tell you that after a few months of using the now-legendary 5/3/1, I have now moved somewhat north of being an utter vag. I f**ked my body up pretty badly last winter, stopped all physical activity, and thought that was pretty much gonna be it. Just another skinny f**king wimp. It’s been a really long time since I’ve felt this good physically. By God, last week I puked in my mouth and almost blacked out squatting. I’d thought that time in my life was over. 

After I stopped laughing, I began thinking about his statement and about how many people seem to be moving and staying well south of vag. To quote Black Sabbath, this is a symptom of the universe. Then I started to contemplate how one stays in the Northern Hemisphere of the Holy Holes. What followed was the training template I’ll show you now. It’s very simple to follow: 

1. Warm-up: foam rolling, static stretching and jumping rope (or something similar). 

2. Lift Weights: 5/3/1; keep it basic and strong. 

3. Condition: Run hills, push Prowler. 

That’s it. Do this 3-4 times a week and you won’t fall into the trap of being normal. You’ll be strong, healthy and in shape. You won’t make New Year’s resolutions because you’ll be living it every day. You can eat that final piece of pie and not count carbs because you just ran 20 hill sprints for the third time this week. You can wake up and not feel like shit because you’ve actually taken the time to foam roll and stretch. You actually have some traps from deadlifting. You don’t fall for fitness trends, because you know what works. You stop caring what people say on the internet, because you’re always making progress. You’re always moving forward toward something. 

People ask you how to train, and you answer, “I look at what you do, and then I do the exact opposite.” 

You’ll actually be able to move because your feet will be fast from jumping rope. You won’t be out of breath all the time. You’ll be able to take on any physical activity you want. You’ll be different once you’ve spent time straining to get a rep PR in the squat or pushed a Prowler for 40 minutes. Dealing with the idiots at work or your boss will no longer be an issue. It’s hard to bring a man down after he’s had three weeks of personal records in the gym. It’s hard to get mad at the guy who cuts you off in traffic after you’ve left your lunch on top of the hill after bear crawling up it. Who cares about all that meaningless stuff? When your training and your life are moving forward, you certainly won’t. 

It doesn’t take a lot to do this. You already give 8-10 hours a day to your boss and to your work. To boredom and to people and organizations that couldn’t care less about you. Then your family and friends get the rest of your time. 

What about you? Do you really think so little of yourself that you can’t sacrifice an hour or two, 3-4 days a week, for yourself? This “me” time isn’t spent shopping, watching TV or getting on the internet. You’re spending it reinvesting in your body, building strength, and building character. Kicking ass and training consistently – and with some balance – will do wonders for both your body and your mind. 

Get rid of all the meaningless crap in your life and your training. Get rid of the things that bleed your energy in the weight room and in life. What’s better for you? The Prowler or a stroll on the treadmill? What do you think is going to make you better? 

Don’t fall for the crap that people are peddling on message boards, in magazines or on TV. Get your shit in order, and get your training in order. Start kicking ass, and take out the crap that doesn’t matter. Start doing and believing in the stuff that works, and do it today and forever. You want science and studies? Fuck you. I’ve got scars and blood and vomit. 

This is a call to arms for some of you. It is for me, too. Stop all the things that make you a pussy and steal your energy. Get your life back.

Tuesday, February 01, 2011

workout 1-31

we only have a few machines and dumbells in the apartament gym
bench machine did a few sets
knee supported rows a few sets
arms

just enough work to get sore


tonight tempo runs
im planning 10x50 yards at about 70% effort.

I need to get my lungs in shape in a hurry, nothing like wind sprints 3 times a week for a few months to do that.

Sunday, January 30, 2011

Starting the blog back up

Don't have much to say today. I'm going to start logging my workouts again. I'm also learning to trade forex.
I'm hoping to do it full time at some point in my life. So I may blog about that too..

Sunday, May 09, 2010

To all the mommies

Happy mothers day!!!

Tuesday, May 04, 2010

True benefit of hunger

I've been letting myself get really hungry between meals and I've learned something very cool. Most diet books tell you to look at food as
Fuel. And people who don't are ususally racked with guilt once they eat something non-diety. So either eat food you don't like or hate yourself for eating food you do like. Been there done that. It's dietary hell.

I found if I excersize and eat only 3 meals a day and only after I'm truly hungry I enjoy my food immensely. Plus I get cravings for fairly healthy fare like salmon and lentils. But even if I eat a burger, it tastes like the best burger I've ever had. Eating is fun now.

Monday, April 26, 2010

Food addiction

Ok moment of truth for Roycie. I was doing low carb/low cal. Wich sucks. Workouts suck. Elizabeth suggested the no s diet wich I looked at. I like the enforced moderation of the whole concept. It looks like a truly simple lifestyle change. So I decided to give it a try in conjunction with kettlebells as opposed to his ( very cool ) sledgehammer training. It's all about portion controll and moderation. Move more eat less. 3 meals a day no snacks no seconds. I thought it would totally be easy to implement. I like protien, I like veggies, and I get to have some moderate carbs too. WRONG.
I cannot believe how addicted I am to food and constant grazing, I was in the kitchen about 10 times today mindlessly looking for snacks. I just drank water between meals and didn't cheat. But my god!! I'm
Going crazy. Un-freaking-believable. Really, I'm shocked. I have no idea how much I was eating like that even with low carb.

Sunday, April 18, 2010

Kettlebells and meat society, first meeting.

Went to the park today with the kids and Pat. Me and Pat go way back. I feel very fortunate to know Pat. Through all my fuckups he's been a true friend. Never judgemental, and he never comprised his integrity either. When I was doing drugs he always kept away from them.

Anyway due to the constraints of both our hectic lives we don't get to see one another very often. That is going to change for the better. We grabbed some kettlebells and the kids and went to the park, I paid Sidney to babysit and me and him just did some freestyle cattleballing. This really really reminded me of why I wanted to get into kettlebells in the first place.

In another life ( it seems ) I had a strong back and rough hands from real honest to goodness Manuel labor. I've done construction clean up/ demolition, landscaping in the Arizona heat, air conditioning duct work and sheet metal work, I worked for a paint factory where I would move 1000 5 gallon buckets of paint a day. I had callouses across my fingers you could put out a cigarette on.

I got tired of working myself into the ground and went into the medical field and immediatly put on 80 lbs. Sure I lifted a few weights or jogged a little now and then. But I never felt "put together" like I did when I was working.

Then I saw kettlebells. Farmers walks, cleans, rows, swings, snatches, jerks, squats, thrusters, presses, single or double kettlebell. Done work style. Do it rest some do some more pick another drill do it some rest some. I just wanted to mimick work to some degree.

Then came the great achyball debate where I sorta got depressed and gave up on bickerballs for a while. Actually I spent to much time on the Internet and not enough time swinging. No excuses I chose a bad path.

But today reminded me of two very important things. 1 working out with someone is crazy fun. 2 kettlebells rock. Don't matter what style you choose. It's the effort not the tool.

I had no set plans for the workout, what it ended up being for me was a strength test followed by a set of ballistics. I squatted and pressed double 70's swung double 70's . H2H cleaned a 70 bottoms up cleaned 70, DARC swung the 88. Snatched the 88, and did several sets of ballistics beside that. Kind of a tough set followed by an easy set. We were there for an hour.

My lungs, hips, grip, abs and shoulders are pleasently toasted.

This is what I enjoy, random practice. Some sets all out some easy, while trying for PRs in strength AND volume and endurance. I think I will constantly try to push the volume with the smaller bells and every month when me and pat meet up go balls out with the heavier stuff. But still keeping it random and working on the basics seeking out my weaknesses and trying to improve them.

Damn do I feel good right now.