rop medium day

press ladders w/ 53 lb'r
5 ladders of 3 rungs

rolled 3( is it a good sign that I was disapointed with the low roll?? )

40 swings straight through

Read a quote today

It was on one of the quotes a forum member had on all his posts.
Don't know who originally said it but

"The more I eat and the heavier I train the better my genetics get."

Reverse engineered it means of course 99% of us never ever reach our upper threshold in any activity, yet most people are always looking for a reason why they can't reach their potential.


The more I re-read this simple statement the more power it has.

Shut up and squat.

replace squat with whatever you like. In my case, for the moment, it's swing, at some point it will be squat again.

One more plug for KB's

or sandbags, or yoga, or biking, anything simple and effective.

http://www.t-nation.com/readTopic.do?id=1431471

Can you imagine reading this when you have decided to get in shape.

I am NOT dissing Charles Poloquin, dude obviously has a BIG brain.

But really people if the average overweight couch potatoe reads this and thinks OMG I have to learn all this before I can get in shape, they would just get another bag of chips.
This of course is not targeted for the average person.

Eat better and move, make some of that movement for strength and mobility, simple.

I HIGHLY encourage anyone seeking to get into shape get ETK from dragondoor.com
http://dragondoor.com/b33.html

3 moves, that's it, 3 moves. targets the entire body,simple easy to read. simple to follow. and you will get in spectacular shape.

This post was for any lurkers on my blog.
Peace out ya'll.

RoP light day

Felt SO much better today, actually looked forward to my w/0

press ladder with 53
5 ladders of 2 rungs

rolled ll
76 snatches

easy easy

Old life

Just some fat pictures of me, there aren't many as I don't like the camera when I'm heavy.

I'm pushing 300 in most of those pics.

These were of me back in 2001 I believe, I was about 220 in the pics. I was doing the whole run-on-the-treadmill-for-an-hour lift one bodypart a day 6 days a week type workouts, I had dropped about 40 lbs in these pics.

220 is a big goal weight for me to hit, then I'll repost pics!!

OK mood much better

I recovered from my workout, I feel a lot better.
Barb is going to be working a lot and I won't get to see her much with the brutal school schedule I will be undertaking for the next couple of years. That was part of my shitty mood today.
Just sucks, but so does always being on the edge financial ruin.LOL

I got my EDT video a couple of days ago, ( I am so getting addicted to all things strength related again ). Cool video, wish I would have had that and KB's when I was 18.
It's funny the last time I felt this way I knew all the big names in bodybuilding, now I am starting recognize the powerlifters names!!

I watched a show last night on Sumo. There was this 6'3" 400 lb teenage guy that had been training for Sumo as an amatuer ( the show followed several Sumo including one Tongan national training the traditional way in Japan ).
They showed the kid strength training, he was squatting in a Smith Machine.....arrgh.

I was like give that dude kettlebells and have him deadlift!! LOL.
The biggest problem he had (according to his coach ) was that he couldn't hit that hard, he needed that explosive power KB's will give you.

Just rambling right now.
Peace out, here's hoping I get a good nights sleep.

RoP heavy day

numbers were fine today but they LIE.
workout fucking sucked today
shitty sleep for 3 or 4 nights in a row, Cheyenne and Ryan are on crack
they won't go to sleep earlier than midnight, damned dogs woke me up every hour or so,
Lyndsey is running a 104 temp if we don't give her tylenol and she is just dragging around wich is how I feel, but I don't have a temp.
Enough bitching

press w/53
5 ladders of 4 rungs, big jump, the 70 is coming into focus.
the last rung on the last ladder was TOUGH, after the 3rd rung I was thinking "I don't need to do another rung, after all it has already been more volume than last week."
Then I picked it up and did the last rung COMPLETELY on autopilot.

rolled 8
100 swings
20l 20r 20l 20r 20l
not bad, not good.

Yeah.......

Let me think about this for a minute, I can't really work with heavy grippers but I can repeatedly catch a spining handle that requires me to really grip it hard.......uh no I can't.
Forearm has been giving me problems all day, little sharp pains, guess that ends my kettlebell juggling career untill my grip is 100%
But damnit it's so fun :-(
Guess it's back to a more logical approach to my variety days.

I am seriously amazed at the forces kettlebells produce

So after my flips today I was all cocky and decided to do a little more tonight, I mean it is so cool to be able to do that with that chunk of metal.

Did several singles felt good, did one wrong, one wrong rep.
I am fine I still don't know what happened but I ended up diving face first into the dirt.

That thing flipped me forward like the bad guy in a bad martial arts movie. LOL.

My extra workout just became h2h stuff with the bulldog, it is SO cool.

Being a meathead with KB's

OK, this was kind of fun, I hate to admit it but it was.
I have always tried to maintain some sort of zen beahvior what the crazy bird lady next door. Sometimes it works sometimes it doesn't, however I never intentionally try to do anything meatheadedly.
But crazy ladies new husband ( who is all of 125 lbs and maybe 25 years old ) has his friends drive by the house and stare at Barb, she never backs down, 'cuz she is a tough chick. 10 years in an abusive oppressive marriage will do that to a person.
Well whenever I walk out to see the people they drive off in a hurry, pussies, trying to intimidate a woman.
Lately crazy ladies husband has taken to sitting out in the front yard at a table and stares at Barb, not me of course.
I don't care, Barb is not intimidated, and for all I care he could run around naked chanting in his front yard.
If they ever tried to come in my house, my ferociously loyall lab/pitbull mix would take care of them and I would shoot the remains. So they don't intimidate me at all.

Well today his nuts finally dropped, and he decided it was time to start staring me down as I went to and from the house in my daily activities.
Again for most of the morning I though " Who cares, I am not going to let his idiocy control my behavior."

Then I thought ya' know maybe I should educate this poor dude in the kindest manner possible.

So I walked in my house brought out my big KB ( the Bulldog ) and did my extra workout next to his fence.

2 hand front flips 2 or 3 sets of 5 or 6 I wasn't counting
1 hand front flips 3 or 4 each side
snatch 3 times each side
a couple of clean and jerks each side.

rested between each set, no rush wasn't trying to get winded.
pretty sure I have never done flips with the bulldog so these are PR's.

I rested leaning on his fence between sets, he didn't move from the table the whole time.
When I had done my last set I slammed the KB down turned and stared at him, not angrily, just like, Dude your in over your head.

I genuinely felt sorry for the guy, you could almost see his nuts recede as I looked at him.
He got up and gingerly pushed his chair in and walked in the house, they never use the front door, so he had to walk within 3 or 4 feet of me to go in the gate.
He almost trembled the whole way in.

Pissing contests are really meatheaded and I try to stay out of them for sure, but it was funny.

FaREEEEky, but very very cool

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16784022/

RoP medium day

press ladders with 53
3,3,2,2,2

swing rolled 4
60 swings
10 10 10 10 10 10

medium day, felt good and strong all the way through
wind very managable

another one in the bank.

They say it takes 21 days to form a new habit, I haven't missed a scheduled workout in over 3 weeks. NEATO.

Ok WOW

Hey baby do you remember this

So yesterday was Valentines Day, and yes I know it is a made up holiday by the greeting card industry.
I don't care, I had too many years with no one to share it with. I will make sure it is something special for me and Barb every year.

Having said that, we had very little money yesteday. So we got each other a card and candy.
We went for a walk later in the evening, it was like 65 degrees, perfect for me.
I haven't worn a jacket or jeans yet this winter, don't nead them in Phoenix!!

I was contemplating our situation, money, love, kids, retirement, travel, moving outta Phoenix ( despite the mild winters, this place is the 6th level of hell ), vacations ect.

We were walking through an office complex that is beautifully landscaped with rolling hills and well kept grass.
Barb dared me to roll down one of the hills, well that is not really a dare!!
I of course did it, then I dared barb to do it, there were people watching and everything, she did it.

Do you remember how it felt to be carefree, have implicit trust, not have any feelings of worry or doubt, well I do, as of last night all those feelings came flooding back to me.
I still have a residual little glow happening from just letting myself go, being free, no worries, no concerns!!
Grown ups do grown up things, ski, sled, bike, go tubing down the river ( still don't see many people over 30 doing that ), work, worry, contemplate, blog, go to Ikea to find the perfect whatever, college, and how many things else!
There is absolutely nothing wrong with these things, they all have their perfect places, in fact I may be going to Ikea today!! But we need to take time, no to MAKE time, to play, and not just get some friends together and play bridge or poker, I mean play like a child again. Find a tire swing, skip rocks on a pond( do you remember your highest number of skips???)
AND FOR GODS SAKE, FIND A BIG, WET, LONG HILL AND ROLL DOWN IT!!!!!!!!!!! do it in front of people, to hell with what they think, they will envy you anyway.
Trust me you will be laughing untill you pee by the time you hit the bottom.
It is the most incredible 30 seconds of therapy you will ever have!!!!!!

Hey baby do you remember last Valentines Day, I do, and this year is coming up.

I love you, I am glad I found you and the kiddies!!
I am proud of you for looking into the yoga studio.

Your husband always, Royce.

Cracking up

I have been doing a lot of soul searching since before Chrsitmas, then I ran across this post by Jack Reape navy powerlifter and big brain.


"For all the talking and wondering and reading and soul searching folks do trying to hone the perfect workout, it is about lifting heavier things today than last week or month or year.
Go spend as much time training as you do philosophically ruminating over minor points.
When you come to the point where you are out of things to try, and i mean a real tryout, then go back to searching and debating ideas."

Nice.

Lunch

Big handfull of baby carrots,
one whole large blood orange
6 0z of chicken, sauteed in EVOO
tsp fish oil

Man this is a freakin lot of food on one plate, easy to prepare too as I like my veggies raw, Always have. I can sit and eat half a head of red cabbage easy.
I am going to rotate the veggies, fruits and meat, every week or so.

The thing I like about this way of eating is that it FILLS my stomach but does not slow me down, very cool.

Extra workout

bulldog floor press ( elbows tucked ) 2/2 x 2
2 pood snatch 2x3 each arm
2 minutes between arms on floor press
3 minutes between arms on snatch
Grabbed my severely filed CoC 1 and did an exploratory test on my buggered right hand.
Hook grip on ballistics I feel strong and forearm doesn't bother me at all.
1 or 2 reps with a gripper no go. No pain though just didn't feel right, ain't going to chance it.

Snatches really loosened me up, was going to do 3x3 each side but I felt it in my traps, so I stopped.

Still have no idea how much volume I can handle. I guess if I keep making progress on the program I can handle more, if I stall I need less.
Guess that is what training logs are for.
I never kept them religiously before, how freakin' stupid is it to go bust your butt in the gym and be to lazy to spen 5 minutes to write something down.
LOL

Live and learn.

RoP easy day and some cool new insights

press ladders with the 53
2,2,1,1,1
snatches with 53
rolled 6
36 snatches
3/3 x 6
really felt it today, superior workout, hip snap is starting to develop some strength and snap to it. BAM snap the hips feel the bell float, Awesome.

easy on purpose today wed and fri went heavy on the swings didn't want to overtrain

Rants
let me preface, this living mindfully is a great thing. I am trying to get back to my philisophical roots. Every action contains intention. We are acountable for every action. Life is so much better, food intake is actually healthy, fruits, nuts ,vegtables, lean protien, EVOO, ultra-refined fish oil ( no mercury or PCB's ). No weighed down feeling after meals.

Now workout revelations.
i have been reading everything I can get my hands on on WSB barbell training ( although this system is WAY over my head ) Pavels stuff, all the strength articles on DD, powerlifting forums, and whatever comes my way.

Kettlebells primary selling point is strength-endurance wich the concept of just hit me hard when I first heard it. Second if you do enough of the right excersizes brute strength.
For instance squatting 200 lbs is no big deal ( especially for someone like me where 200 lbs is getting pretty close to lean ). But single leg squatting 100 lbs for reps is freakin' strong, benching 200 lbs is no big deal, overhead pressing 2 100 lb kettlebells ( BIG FREAKIN DEAL ).


So all this reading and thinking has had me asking myself what is MY definition of fitness.
I have seen guys bench 400 lbs but get winded walking up the stairs to the gym, I have seen runners that couldn't curl 25 dumbells,
And I am not making a judgement call, to each their own, if someone can run 10 miles that is a HELL of an accomplishment that they should be proud of.
Getting a black belt amazing
benching 405 raw at any weight stunning.
But I have to specialize in something, and here is the thing, I have to be proud of what I am trying to do.

I was thinking about the tempo or speed of acceleration used in KB hardstyle ballistics, they are the exact tempos you would use in real life, because they are real life, they are awkard, there is no microloading ( the last time you helped anyone move did you say, I will start with boxes weighing 15lbs work up to 55 lb boxes then work my way back down to 15 lb boxes.)NOPE.

I read something somewhere that got my attention not strength, not strength-endurance, not flat endurance.
But what sums up my definition of fitness POWER-ENDURANCE.
I have to spend time working on the basics, build up a strength base, and then work on power.
By that I mean the ability to accelerate moderate weights rapidly and repeatedly.

Example loading trucks full of bails of hay, but tossing them to the front of the truck.

Basic grinds + heavy KB ballistics = power-endurance.

Right now I am working on snatching the 53 200 times in 10 minutes,
then I want 150 with the 70
12o with the bulldog
100 with the beast
Clean and Jerk with the bulldog 110 reps in ten minutes

No GS stuff ( well maybe a corkscrew on the descent of my snatches )

this may take years, it may be beyond my capabilities, and I am not deluding myself these are huge numbers, but like my dear old pappy says.
"The time will pass weather you do it or not."

Damn I am a moron

LMAO, I just figured out why ETK and the Right of Passage workouts galvenized me so quickly and why the book hit me so hard in the gut.
It addresses my 2 weaknesses
pressing
conditioning
LOL x a lot
I am going to stay on this program for quite a while!!!

Bodybuilding

OK I just went to a bodybuilding site to check out what's new. I used to want to compete naturally but man did I lack the commitment. Really not complaining at all here, in fact the opposite. HST, BFT, HIT, GVT, on and on and on each claiming to be the end all-be all. I got that familiar overwhelmed feeling and I don't even want to work out like that any more. LOL
I ain't knocking bodybuilders though If I ever ran into a genie I would ask to be built like Mike Mentzer, with the functional skill of Rickson Gracie.
http://www.bodybuildingpro.com/buymikementzer.html
But that ain't going to happen, AND ya' know what, kettlebell training , especially the RKC way, is so much easier on the head. No grinds over 5 reps, ballistics for as many reps as you want, and do most of your workouts in a medium to medium hard fashion, push hard as a test every now and then.
Hell of a lot of variety in there, hell of a lot of functional strength, and a lot of energy left over for other stuff like MA, sports, or just raising 5 kids.
This kind of training is so much better for me mentally, physically and practically.


When you are ready the teacher will appear.

rop heavy day

press ladder
53 lb bell 4,4,3,3,3
could only do 2 4 rung ladders the rest 3 rung
felt cool, first good pump from ladders.

rolled 9 swings with 53
set breakdown, rested between sets, 20 l, 20 r, 20 l, 20 r, 15 l, 15 r, 10 2 hand
120 reps in 9 minutes, great, totally satisfied with how conditioning is going.
HARD though

From now on light, medium, and heavy days will be just that, no more PR attempts on my medium day. LOL

Ryans B-day

Today is Ryan birthday. He is a loving little guy, we asked him what he wanted for his birthday a couple of weeks ago and he said " Something for Chy Chy." This is the way he is, and it's all very natural to him. if he has 3 pieces of candy he will give 2 away. He always tells us good morning when we wake him up. Asks us how we are and tells us he loves us.
His favorite way of saying it is " I love you past China and back."
He is going to be my adopted son, I have raised him since he was 7 months old.
He is one of the single greatest gifts in my life.

After My PR

yesterday I am walking around on cloud 9 today. I feel like my training resolve has finally coagulated into something solid. And I feel like I have finally found the perfect tool to train with, it doesn't detract from my lifestyle but enhances and compliments it.
Then today I read this post on Dragondoor.com From John Ducane quoting the founder of godaddy.com
# Get and stay out of your comfort zone. I believe that not much happens of any significance when we're in our comfort zone.
I hear people say, "But I'm concerned about security." My response to that is simple: "Security is for cadavers."

# Never give up.
Almost nothing works the first time it's attempted. Just because what you're doing does not seem to be working doesn't mean it won't work. It just means that it might not work the way you're doing it. If it was easy, everyone would be doing it, and you wouldn't have an opportunity.

# When you're ready to quit, you're closer than you think.
There's an old Chinese saying that I just love, and I believe it is so true. It goes like this: "The temptation to quit will be greatest just before you are about to succeed."

# With regard to whatever worries you, not only accept the worst thing that could happen, but make it a point to quantify what the worst thing could be .
Very seldom will the worst consequence be anywhere near as bad as a cloud of "undefined consequences." My father would tell me early on, when I was struggling and losing my shirt trying to get Parsons Technology going, "Well, Robert, if it doesn't work, they can't eat you."

# Focus on what you want to have happen.
Remember that old saying, "As you think, so shall you be."

# Take things a day at a time.
No matter how difficult your situation is, you can get through it if you don't look too far into the future and focus on the present moment. You can get through anything one day at a time.

# Always be moving forward.
Never stop investing. Never stop improving. Never stop doing something new. The moment you stop improving your organization, it starts to die. Make it your goal to be better each and every day, in some small way. Remember the Japanese concept of Kaizen. Small daily improvements eventually result in huge advantages.

# Be quick to decide.
Remember what General George S. Patton said: "A good plan violently executed today is far and away better than a perfect plan tomorrow."

# Measure everything of significance.
I swear this is true. Anything that is measured and watched improves.

# Anything that is not managed will deteriorate.
If you want to uncover problems you don't know about, take a few moments and look closely at the areas you haven't examined for a while. I guarantee you problems will be there.

# Pay attention to your competitors, but pay more attention to what you're doing.
When you look at your competitors, remember that everything looks perfect at a distance. Even the planet Earth, if you get far enough into space, looks like a peaceful place.

# Never let anybody push you around.
In our society, with our laws and even playing field, you have just as much right to what you're doing as anyone else, provided that what you're doing is legal.

# Never expect life to be fair.
Life isn't fair. You make your own breaks. You'll be doing good if the only meaning fair has to you is something that you pay when you get on a bus (i.e., fare).

# Solve your own problems.
You'll find that by coming up with your own solutions, you'll develop a competitive edge. Masura Ibuka, the cofounder of Sony, said it best: "You never succeed in technology, business, or anything by following the others." There's also an old Asian saying that I remind myself of frequently. It goes like this: "A wise man keeps his own counsel."

# Don't take yourself too seriously.
Lighten up. Often, at least half of what we accomplish is due to luck. None of us are in control as much as we like to think we are.

# There's always a reason to smile. Find it.
After all, you're really lucky just to be alive. Life is short. More and more, I agree with my little brother. He always reminds me: "We're not here for a long time; we're here for a good time."

Insights

Too pumped to sleep, I am going to pay for it tommorrow.
Conditioning has always been the bane of my existance. But it is increasing very fast at the moment.
I could and have gotten strong quickly in the past. Especailly in my back and legs. But you see this raises an interesting dilema. Did I get strong from my training or my jobs. From 18 on I had manuel labor jobs, and not just any jobs but hard ass jobs.
Like the four years I spent at Ameritone paints compared to a normal workout.
Each bucket of paint weighed on average 60 lbs, I deliverd on average 300 buckets of paint per day, each bucket had to be moved at least 5 times before I was done, 1 down from the rack, 2 to the tinting machine, 3 to the shaker, 4 on the truck, 5 to the delivery sight. and a lot of times a long ass farmers walk ( 2 at a time ) to the construction trailer. so lets say 5.25 times per bucket x 300 = 1575 x 60 lbs = 94500 divided by 2000 ( to get the tonnage ) 47.25 tons per day 6 days a week.
Now lets compare a leg day when I was strong ( I didn't keep workout logs so i am going from memory. wich will always favor the higher number so consider this a kick ass day )
Squat 275 5x5 6875 lbs
Stiff legg dead 175 5x5 4375 lbs
Trust me this is a BRUTAL leg day.
Especially when you do them as a circuit with 1 minute rest between sets
SQ
SLDL
SQ
SLDL
SQ
SLDL and so forth

11250 is the total poundage or 5.625 tons as opposed to almost 50 from manuel labor.
So where did I get strength from, to answer this I think about the nature of manuel labor what muscles do you use. Back and legs. My press SUCKS at any angle bench, overhead, incline, whatever. And I struggled to get it strong, and it QUICKLY fell off when I stopped pressing.
I think I got strong from hard ass, long damn days of work and ASSUMED it was strength I developed in the gym.
I think when I am done with my RoP goals ( press the kb closest to 1/2 bodyweight overhead and snatch the 53 lb'r 200 times in 10 minutes ) I am going to base my S&C around the EDT principle choose a time frame and work to increase my capacity within sed time frame.
The thing that brought this on is the fact that my conditioning is increasing almost magically ( minor yes, but it has always been a struggle ) and the only difference is the fact that I am training to increase density ( more swings or snatches per minute ) not decrease the time in wich I do particular workload.
It really is a subtle difference but one that apperantly works better for me.

Quantifiable progress

FUCK YES
100 DAMN SWINGS IN 8 MINUTES ON MY MEDIUM DAY

c&p ladders 5 ladders of 2 rungs
rolled 8
100 swings in 8 minutes w/ 53

PROGRESS man Progress is the motivator.

This pitting myself against the clock and increasing the density in a time frame is a powerful way to train.

THIS IS WHAT I TRAIN FOR NOW

Just helped a fellow and another person push a big old Catalina through an intersection and a couple of hundred yards down a road into a buissiness driveway, out of rush hour traffic.
The last 50 yards or so was a sprint to make it up over the slanted driveway entrance.
Was I winded? You bet.
Was it bad? Not at all, completely controllable, almost no lactic acid buildup or fatigue in my legs.
I looked a the skinney guy helping me push the car and he look like he was going to pass out.
He looked at me like "WTH this fat guy isn't even sucking wind and I can't stand."

PRICELESS.

Woke up feeling great today

Yesterdays extra workout must have kicked up the Test a little, or maybe not
Swinging 108 lbs was COOL ( even if it looks like a Frankenbell ), lots of fun. I need to get a Beast. Goy all the reps chest to face high.
Mild soreness exactly where I get it with a DL glutes and hammies.

Medium day later on today, can't wait!

Extra workout

Decided to actually think about my extra workout.

Because of the post on Dragondoor about how one rep limit strength affects the number of reps you can do with a lighter weight, I decided to compliment the training I am already doing

108 lb 2 hand swing ( 88 with 2 10's taped on )
3 sets of 5 with 5 minutes rest between sets

Floor press with 70
elbows flared 5 reps each side

I wont go over 3x5 on the floor presses
and won't go over 5x5 on the swings

when both those get easy
floor press the 88
swing 2 70's


work up to floor pressing the Beast for 3x5
swing 2 88's 5x5

Oh yeah and leave reps in the bank, no where near failure.

To Deb

Hey I appreciate your heartfelt concern when you told me to stop beating myself up.

Let me re-assure that is not what is happening.

Something really good happened to me before the end of the year, I read 3 posts about training, and more importantly about the philosophy behind the way we train.

Suddenly I was transported back in time to when I was 19, all the old feelings for the gym, for the weights, for the PRs came flooding back to me.

Its like a long lost relationship, like if I hadn't seen Barb for 10 years, you just flood with memories and feelings.
Training is a lot like relationships, you find what works for you, you persevere through difficult times, and ultimately you become a stronger better person along the way, just like relationships you get injured too.
I have a song chorus stuck in my head fro Three days Grace

"So what if you can see the darkest side of me?
No one will ever change this animal I have become."

Trust me this isn't me lamenting, this isn't me beating myself up.
This is me feeding the animal.

" I let myself get fat, 10 more swings."

"I let myself get weak, press more weight."

Thanks again for the concern, but trust me this is the best I have been inside for many years.
And soon form will follow function and I will be better on the outside too.

Sentiment

I don't exactly know where to start on this post.
There is a dude named Mark Riefkind who has mantained an inspirational blog.
He has learned how to push his body in good health and bad, in fatct I can't describe it here is the link
http://rifsblog.blogspot.com/
Ya know how 2/3 of america is overweight and fully 1/3 is obese, well we wouldn't be if we were like him.

I don't know exactly how to describe what happened to me but I was down to 260 before Halloween, then through the debauchery of Thanksgiving and Christmas I gained 20 lbs.
I had a revulsion, a revulsion to being me, a revulsion to what I had become.

I changed, I became something else. I HATE, fucking HATE, what I have done to myself.
I hate, more than I have ever hated, the fact that I haven't set and reached my goals.
I need to confess something, if it weren't for my wife and kids I probably would have shot myself when I steped on the scale at Christmas. This is completely literal, not an exageration. I would rather be dead that live with constant failure.

Well while looking over Rif's blog I noticed he added my blog to his list.
This may seem like a minor thing to ya'll out in blogland, but it isn't to me.

You see the character of the people on his blog list is amazing, trainers, elite athletes, RKC's and things of that sort.
Then there is my blog, me, fat, a failure for the last 10 or 12 years, there is my blog on his list.
I don't feel like I have EARNED the right to be there.

I make a solomn promise ( and I always keep my word ) that I will ABSOLUTELY, WITHOUT A DOUBT, MOTHER FUCKING EARN, the distinct PRIVELAGE to be on that list.

I cannot and will not fail this time, I really need to earn what he gave me. Even if he doesn't know how much it means to me.

Peace, love and success to all.

Workout musings

I don't know where I went wrong. I used to work out religiously. I found what worked for me with trial and error, I made progress. I got fairly strong. Not PL strong, not Oly strong, but much stronger than average.
As I sit on the verge of my 35th b-day ( may 5 ) I realize what I have done to myself with 12 or 13 years of bullshit.
I should have NEVER experimented with narcotics, NEVER EVER.
Meth especially. It causes you to stop eating, therefore you can't train, plus it fucks with your CNS and brain big time.
I wish I had those years back, but I don't, and never will, ever.
You can still train with a hangover, there was a Scottish fellow that used to work out at the gym I went to. He did like SCA stuff, you know sword fighting, staff work, and some sort of Scottish martial arts. Every day he trained he was hungover, and he was seriously strong and intense. He would vomit whiskey and keep squating.
I have NO desire to do that, but he didn't let his drinking keep him from the gym, I did.
He was a better man that me.

I am improving in my kettlebell practice, I am ALMOST halfway home on my United States Secret Service snatch test on my easy day. It is a LOOOONG way off though.
It is like saying I want to bench 270 but can bench 135 so I am halfway there.


Just a few weeks on the ETK program and I am making progress. I need to reflect on my past mistakes without dwelling on them. I need to learn from them. I NEED to keep this improvement, I NEED to keep going.

Fortunatly this is not a post to keep myself motivated, I already am. I won't stop.
I am just lamenting on my misspent youth, it does no good to beat myself up, but it does no good to refuse to acknowledge and learn from the past.

Here is what gets me in the gut, no matter how hard ( or rather how smart ) I train I will never get to the peak I could have with the extra years I have missed out on.


There is a saying "life is what passes you by while you are waiting".
I let alot of life pass me by, no more.

RoP practice day

Light day
press w/ 53
5 singles each side
decided to add a rep each side on snatches
snatches w/ 53
rolled a 10
72 snatches
just a few weeks of ROP is making a difference

the singles felt like a TOY today.

Yesterday's swings

Lost control of breathing around rep 35 and still made 40 reps, swimming head man.
But when I was done gasping I felt wonderfull, really really good inside and out.

RoP practice

press w/ 53 lb'r 5 ladders of 3 rungs
last few reps on the left were hard, RKC press as Rif says.
swing w/ 53
rolled 3
40 swings, 10/10/10/10
FREAKIN' HARD

Finally the internet is working

at our house!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Rop practice session later tonight.
Love having my KB's at home, my old gym closed at 7pm on weekends. I have a house full of people today and will not get to workout till later.
I would have been screwed in the olden times ( pre-kb's ) but you see I have these iron balls in my living room now!!!

MINOR snatch PR

My step-sons buddy came over tonight. He is a guitar genius and him and Tylers other bro are playing tonight. Very cool.
Well Ryan ( guitar dude ) looks at my kettlebells and I hear Tyler telling him what they are. I decide to demonstrate.
Well I grabbed the bulldog, placed it well in front of me. pulled down witht he hip flexors, arched my back, took a breathe, held it, pulled back behind my legs and did a RKC/swing style snatch wich I have never gottne before with the bulldog. Only a high pull/close to the body/tame the arc style snatch before.

Minor pr, just a form variation really, but one none-the-less.

light, medium, heavy pulls

Figured out a way to do the light medium heavy stuff.
light snatches 5 reps on the minute ( pathetic )
medium 10 swings rest after each set
hard continious swings switching hands after 10 reps, set the bell down before heart failure ( LOL) then continue with as many sets of 10 as possible.

of course the numbers will change, when I can get 200 face high swings in 10 minutes on my hard day I will do a snatch test!!

RoP practice session

Medium day
press 1.5 pood
4 ladders of 2 rungs each side
swing 1.5
rolled 6
70 swings
HEY that is an improvement. I was averaging 10 per minute on my medium day. cool

Master Cleanse the demise.

OK I tried to do it, I tried to go on a 2 week fast from solid food with NO protien intake and still do KB's.
I can't or more appropriately won't.

It's either swing the kettlebell or stay on the cleanse.
I choose the KETTLEBELL!!

RoP practice session

Easy day
Press 4 singles each side w/ 24 kilo bell
snatch
rolled 10
50 snatches

I could probably do 100 in the ssame time, but that is pathetic I need to double that.
Oh well, time patience and CONSISTANCY.

Mind, body, and spirit

Somedays I talk or write, somedays I rant, today I rant. An English proffesor would tear me apart LOL.


The cleanse is definatly working. I blew my nose today and for the first time in 2 years it was clear not puss green. Sorry really gross I know.

The cleanse contains between 600 and 1200 calories a day, very low especially for someone who is physically active. But 12 more days won't kill me.

I have been thinking about mindlessness a lot lately.
Our culuture eats mindlessly, we drive mindlessly ( or angrily wich is worse ), we work mindlessly, we go out after work and drink to mindlessness. We spend HOURS in front of the tv being mindless.

Just like working out this cleanse started becoming something I NEEDED to do something I had to do, an overwhelming compulsion.


I needed to work my mind and feed my spirit.

Choosing to not eat solid food for 2 weeks, choosing to move, choosing as opposed to not choosing ( once again words fail me, or rather my ineloquence with words is appearent. ) This description falls short of what happened.
I have to satisfy the voice in my head that screams " Why the hell did you make that choice? Just because it was easy, you know better!! "



Colors are brighter today.
I am going to pay attention to smells more, especially food.
We drove by a McDonalds and Burger King today and the odors were repulsive to the point of nausea, rotten meat.
I am no vegetarian, and will never be, but that crap was awfull smelling, and I lived on it for 10 years. MINDLESSNESS.

Don't know what else to say or rant or write, just need to think and choose and meditate.

Peace, love, and success.

ROP practice session

Hard day
Press ladders w/ 24 kg bell ( 2 pood is calling my name )
4 ladders of 3 rungs ( finally got a little tough on the left side, although I could probably have gotten 5 ladders )
rolled snake eyes
34 swings w/ 24 kg 'bell 10/10/10 rest 4 time up.

Cleansing diet ( warning GROSS )

YES it gets rid of mucus, very few things live up to the hype. This does.

I don't know how to describe how I feel this AM other than this.
Have you ever went out binge drinking and eat bar food all night?
You know how you wake up all sweaty and with your heart palpatating, then you drink some water to coat the rug that is your tounge?
Then unexpectedly you have a massive bowel movement and the hangover is almost gone??
Then you realize all the poisons from the prvious nights debauchery were sitting in your intestines seeping out into your bloodstream.
Well I didn't go bar hopping last night and I woke up feeling just peachy, then I took my combination of things as Rxed and just released MASSIVE amounts of mucus and black tary FOUL FOUL smelling stuff over several trips to the bathroom.

I feel as elevated from my increasingly healthier normal state as I would have from a hungover state to normal ( hope I got my point across, I ain't that eloquent ya' know. )

Barb is doing this cleansing diet too, we are also doing it as a spiritual excersize as well. I am off to buy her a bike ( a form of excersize she really enjoys ).

I get to practice ( gotta remember it is a series of practice sessions and tests not workouts ) later on today heavy day today with very little calories in me.
But as Thomas Furman would say. Suck it up candy-ass it won't kill you.


And it is actually making me better!!

Ok here goes nothing

Or maybe everything........
I am going on a 14 day cleansing diet starting Saturday, appearantly I can still workout on it ( wich I would do anyway ).

But I have had some health issues for the past year or two ( chronic nasal and lung infections and mucus production ) that this is supposed to help get rid of.

Several of my wife's co-workers whao are doctors and nurses SWEAR by it.
I will keep ya'll posted.

Got my 70 lb'r today

Extra workout
Snatch 3 times each arm
floor press/partial rom fly 3 times each side
D.A.R.C swing 10 reps

Not going to do alot of extra workouts at first ( excluding grippers of course when my right hand is 100% ) because I don't know how much volume to use.
I.E. could I bench 5x5?
Could I Squat 3x3 and bench 3x3 twice a week and recover, I have no idea.

Slowly adding things in is the key me thinks.

The 2 pood feels great, there is a nice pull in the snatch and swing but I can still maintain form even in the RKC style snatch.

The bulldog requires me to do a closer to the body modified olympic snatch based an a really high pull ( bad description sorry )

Another scathing reality check from Tom Furman

I want to see my grandkids and great-grandchildren.
I want to be able to have the endurance to defend my family if need be.
I want the fitness to help out in a disaster.
( think it can't happen look at NY and New Orleans as well as much of the Gulf Coast. ) Back in the winter on 92 or 93, I forget wich, the rainfall was so high in the high country The dam on Lake Powell was in danger of collapsing and Phoenix is just one large flood plane.

If at 50 or 60 I have to take on my grandchildren ( don't laugh it's all too common these days ) I want the stamina to raise them with right ( like play ball with them and the such. )

There is no tommorrow, tommorrow is for procrastinators.

Somehow, I have an inescapable drive to workout now, even when I am sick like today.
I am addicted to something healthy for the first time in my life!!

As per Tom Furman

"In Rocky Three, Sylvester Stallone's character is training for a rematch with Clubber Lang (Mr. T). His mentor is his former foe, Apollo Creed, played by Carl Weathers. At one point, Rocky begins to lose enthusiasm. The newness and excitement of returning to the basics and becoming "uncivilized" has worn off. He kind of lets down his guard and quits mentally. Apollo wants to know what is wrong. Stallone says, "I'll try again tomorrow." Creed yells, "THERE IS NO TOMORROW, THERE IS NO TOMORROW!"
The fight was going to happen even if he didn't train. That one line, can add clarity to your life. It did to mine.

Many years ago, I met my wife on a movie set. She was replacing a propman who was caught in traffic, and I was working as security for director Sidney Pollack, Sally Field, and Paul Newman, along with several other security team members. During our dating and later our engagement, I called my older sister Diane in Pittsburgh to let her know that I had met the girl I would marry. I had planned to drive to Pittsburgh so my future wife could meet my family and my sister. I put off that trip. You know, the usual stuff,.. busy, lack of funds, my car was too old, weather, as so on and so forth. Well, I guess I put it off long enough. I lost my sister at age 33 to a multiple sclerosis type disease that was gradually shutting off nervous function in her body silently and with little warning. It was December 19th of 1981. There is no tomorrow.

This "life event" as the chat shows call them had a profound on me, but not nearly as powerful as it would over time. Sometimes events need to "stack" so they redirect this game of decision called life. My awareness of mortality increased, but that enhances your passion for life. Exercise, good diet, and knowledge gathering became passions. With this new found energy my wife, Cindy, and I, decided to take a different path than many. We decided to have a home birth, and had our first child, Shane, in the very bed we have to this day. Not too many people were happy with our choice, but we were. The experience provided the foundation for our second child. He was born in a hospital since we wanted to simplify things. Unfortunately the Doctor left the hospital after waiting for ten hours of labor proclaiming, "She won't have the baby till tomorrow!" My son Noah, had other ideas and he decided on making entrance as soon as the Doctor left. The nurse on duty and I delivered him. There is no tomorrow.

Years later my mother was in ill health. She had lived a rugged life in a coal mining town, one of fifteen children in Ehrenfeld, Pennsylvania. Her mother had an even more rugged life, getting married at age 14 and have a child per year for many years. We had planned a trip up from Florida to Pennsylvania to see Mom, but as things go, work got in the way, the kids were starting school, and it's a long drive. Well, Mom died. I made the trip alone, and had to leave my dad on his front porch to live alone after he had been married for 56 years and known my Mom for 60 years. It was one of the hardest moments of my life. I needed to wind down on the trip home which I always drive nonstop for twenty hours. I wandered up through the Smoky Mountains to see my good friend, and mentor, Mike Collins, the Marine. We sat in his kitchen perched on a cliff on top of the mountain. The clouds actually pass by his back porch as we drank pots of black coffee and cans of MetRx protein. He told me that through his many careers as a Longshoreman, Teamster Negotiator, Professional Wrestler, Stagehand, Force Recon Warrior,and currently a Chainsaw Sculpter, that one thing became apparent. Time doesn't stop. Don't get old doing something you don't like doing. There is no tomorrow.

Two months later I was leaving for work one morning. My wife, Cindy, and I talked about traveling to Boise, Idaho again. It was one of our favorite spots on earth. Her oldest sister Claudia lived there in a log cabin on a mountain top. We both felt the need for a break after my mother's death. We wanted to take the trip sooner rather than later, but we decided on later since "life" was making us put it off. This was the day after Christmas in 2002. I got a call at the theater. Cindy was screaming in pain so loud that I could barely understand her. She told me through tears and despair that her sister Claudia, had died in her house of a brain aneurism. There were no indications of any illness previous to this. My wife ended up going to Boise for the funeral. There is no tomorrow.

My work in the technical end of Theatrical Productions has extreme hours and intense conditions. Sometimes this steals time away from family life. You try to compromise, and some times it works, and some times it doesn't. I planned on meeting my family in Miami one night after work. The drive is long and the traffic is dangerous, but seeing your kids awake and wife rested is incredibly rewarding. I put off changing jobs because we were getting used to this hectic pace and doing what is predictable is easy. Well, someone else decided to change our lives. A drunk driver smashed into my wife and boys nearly killing them. He made a retreat, broke an axle, and took off on foot. He is gone forever. Other than bruises and mental trauma, my family was still alive. I had put off a decision and it almost cost my family their lives. There is no tomorrow.

These "stacked traumas" can beat you down. They can also make you focus. I had thought about filming a training video. I wanted it to be different and reflect some of my ideas about training, as well as my personality. I got input from Steve Cotter on filming his DVD's and he helped me a great deal. I had numbers in mind and I needed someone to film it. Luckily one of my clients knew the owner of a video production company. I knocked off the script, arranged the talent, and we attacked it. Hurricanes, influenza, filming permits, hours of editing, and one year of off and on work,,,.. well, there is a tomorrow. I FINISHED IT. If I had any other life,..I think I would have quit. If it had happened earlier in my career, I might have shifted gears. If I was the man I was 20 years ago, 10 years ago, or 5 years ago,....I might have just daydreamed about it. Life teaches you lessons,...well not really,...YOU teach yourself lessons. They are always there, but you HAVE TO BE SMART ENOUGH, OR WISE ENOUGH TO SEE THEM.

If I can pass on one thing to you as one of the most valuable lessons in life, it is that there IS no tomorrow. It is now or never. If you can't,...you must. If you are talking about New Years resolutions you have already lost. If you are talking about starting a diet, you have already lost. If you are talking about that new job you would like to have, you have already lost. If you are talking about joining a gym or getting a Bowflex, you have already lost. Talk is cheap. Action rules. Do SOMETHING. Initiate, act, ignite, excite. You may say someday, someday. Remember this, "someday" is not a day of the week. There is no tomorrow. There is no tomorrow."

RoP Pratice session

medium day
press ladders w/ 53
3 ladders of 2 rungs
rolled 7
70 swings in 7 minutes

Got the breathing in as I fold and the short breath " behind the shield" out at the top of the swing today.
Really made a vast improvement in my stamina, it was truly a medium day.
This Sat. I will add another ladder w/ 3 rungs

New years post

So for my anniversary we went over to my folks house. Me and Barb, my brother and his wife, and my parents all have the same anniversary date.
We had a great time there, the highlight of the evening being a gift my parents gave to Ryan. It was a Spider-man mask and glove that had a mechanisim in it to shoot Silly-string out in 3 streams. For a few breif minutes Ryan was magically and completely transformen into Spider-man ( his hero ).
I mean here he was dressed up like Spider-man and low-and-behold he could SHOOT WEB FROM HIS HANDS.
My description falls completely short the event but he was the perfect picture of unadulterated childehood joy.

Later all the kids went to Garnetts house and me and Barb went out to celibrate not only New Years but also our anniversary.
Well here in this 3 million plus hick town there was almost nothing open on our side of town, sure there were the block parties but to hell with that. Raving 20 year old drunks don't do much for me anymore as well as the crowds and the expense ( getting crotchedy I guess.)

Well we found a little place on Indian School that was open, of course there was Karaoke. Barb is an accomplished musician and I love music, so Karaoke is normally not our kind of night, but we went in anyway.
There were of course a few renditions of good music done poorly ( one that stands out was Evanescence wich should not be in a karaoke book ). Well it was busy and we had not touched our drinks really ( we also didn't like the fact that is was kind of a white upper-middle class bar, we both enjoy diversity.).
Then this SEVERELY obese woman decides to start singing NIN "Closer". Now being "caloricly challenged" myself I am NOT making fun of her weight, ( in fact it was very sad).
But when the pretentious, drunk, women who is so obese she has to sing sitting down because singing and standing at the same time is too much physical exertion starts SCREAMING off key "I want to fuck you like an animal, I want to feel you from the inside" it's time for me to go. So we went.

We went down to the break room where karaoke was also playing but oddly enough it was GOOD, the people could actually sing. I don't like rap at all and there was a guy there just bringing down the house rapping I actually like listening to him because he was so good.
While I was there Im drank as much water as I could stomach and took vitamin B when I got home ( somehow large doses of B vitamins protect you from a lot of the damaging effects of alcohol.)
Then we walked home leaving the van there.

I knew I wanted to celibrate, and I knew this one night wasn't going to end my fitness routine in fact I vowed it not too. So I got up Monday and worked out without the slightest hint of hangover. But it wouldn't have mattered how good or bad I felt I would have still worked out.

Well me and Barb have not had a door on our bedroom for a while so our "adult time" has been diminished wich has been more than a little frustrating to me.
So we did large amounts of very very dirty and quite possibly illegal things to each other for several hours.
I finished putting the door up today.

It really was a good way to start the year, me and Barb have been through some pretty serious stress and we made it out much stronger and closer to each other.
I have started a new fitness program that takes out any guess work and I have some concrete fitness goals. And somehow it seems I finally eliminated the procrastination demon as far as workouts go ( wish I could have done that when I was 17 ).
Love the new direction things are heading, hell I like the fact that I have direction at all.

Peace, love, and success to all as always.

3rd wedding anniversary and ROP practice session

Dec 31st is my anniversary, and it was very very cool this year. More about that later, not much time today.

Practice session/light day
53lb'r
press 3 singles each side.
snatch rolled a 7
28 snatches.
Easy easy easy.


great way to set the tone for another year, great time with my wife and a workout:-)