Asterisk!!

I had a great idea for a workout. I started to tackle it and was on the down slide when I realized I didn’t have my heart rate monitor on. I felt like tossing in the towel, but pushed through...

Workout:

I wanted to try the 5 minute SSST test. Eventually I want to do the 10 minute – 200 snatches minimum. This time I just wanted to see where things would fall out. I didn’t quite do 100 in 5 minutes. It took 5:30, but I’m happy with it. My technique was not great and I wasn't trying to push for numbers. I just wanted to see how the time felt.

Snatches;
16kg 5 x 10/10
100 reps; 3,520 lbs


I wanted to add some clean and presses. New ladders with the 24 kg but I was running out of steam.

Circuit:
repeated 3 times:

C&P; 24 kg
1/1,2/2

Bike rollers @3.5 minutes

Swings; 24kg
5 x 10/10
* I was into my 3rd set of swings when I realized I hadn’t turned on my HR monitor – Crap!

Bike rollers @ 5 minutes


C&P
18 reps, 950 lbs

Swings
300 reps 15,840 lbs

55:00 - Duration Actual
37:21 - Duration HR monitor
546 - Calories
35% - Fat
169 bpm - Max heart rate
97% - % of max:
146 bpm - Average heart rate
83% - % of max:

15:32 - Hard Zone
21:49 - Medium Zone
00:00 - Light Zone
26 - 60 second recovery **
128 - Heart Zone Training Points

** I was worried about my recovery times. Apparently a 60 second recovery rate of 12 bpm means you should check yourself into a hospital. Since I was averaging 24 bpm over 120 seconds – I was starting to feel ill. So I tried something different. After my last set of swings I took a 60 second reading and came up with a 26 bpm recovery. I realized that I was taking a recovery rate after I was already recovery – coasting practically on the bike. Taking it when my heart was banging made a huge difference.

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Don't be shy

I don't get it. Swami had a great workout Tuesday AM. He documented it in an e-mail so we could trade opinions - and he doesn't post it. I don't get it. Why not give yourself credit for a great workout.

Swami says:

I'll start from the end...
finish with 35 swings. I did 25 with the 16, in 2 groups 15, 10. My
legs were shaking and the room was getting grey.
All my weaknesses were exposed today. Strength, endurance/stamina,
flexibility

I'll try to remember the routine. There wasn't any resting today.
swings/24 - 15 x2
TG/16 - 3/3 x2
press/16 - 5/5 x2
row/24 - 5/5 x2
windmill/16 - 5/5 x2
squats/24 - 5/5 x2
push press/16 5/5 x2
1 arm swings/16 10/10 x2
press/12 5/5 x2
squats/16 5/5 x2
row/16 5/5 x2
Overhead Walk/12 right/left about 30 feet each way
Dragon Walk/12 20 steps
swings/16 - 35 (only did 25 15/10)



Swami - feel free to make modifications to this posting of YOUR workout. I think it looks great. - Scoundrel

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Getting Stronger

Each day upon entering the weight room you demonstrate a desire for excellence that makes you someone special. Special, because few people possess the dedication and strength of heart required to regularly work hard at something this difficult. Upon completion of each workout, you can and should feel proud, for you have just moved one step closer towards reaching your full potential and the ultimate goal of and being the best you can be. — Mike Berry

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Weekend workout.

I was thinking that I may be cheating myself by spreading out the swings. So I tried a slightly different approach. (That’s one of the great things about kettlebells – their versatility.) I alternated Svetlana and Medusa swings. It looked like:

Workout:

Swings:
16kg; 15/15, 30 second rest
24kg; 15/15, 30 second rest
x4 sets

Bike for 10 minutes

Swings:
16kg; 15/15, 30 second rest
24kg; 15/15, 30 second rest
x3 sets

Bike for 5 minutes

420 reps
18,480 lbs

Got the heart beating pretty well.

37:21 - Duration
557 - Calories
30% - Fat
168 bpm - Max heart rate
96% - % of max:
147 bpm - Average heart rate
84% - % of max:

21:54 - Hard Zone
15:23 - Medium Zone
00:04 - Light Zone
N/A - 120 second recovery
134 - Heart Zone Training Points

Weight:233

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Fabulous Friday

Started out with a full set of clean and presses with Svetlana. I was going to follow-up with swings and cycles but decided to switch to a variation on the VO2Max workout with two minutes of snatches using the 15 second work/15 second rest cycle and then hopping on the rollers for 2.5 minutes. Since I’m not very proficient with the kettlebell snatches I wanted to see how I would do when racing against the clock.

The more experienced kettlebell lifters start VO2Max routines with the 16kg bell and go either 15 sec/15 sec or 36 sec/36 sec. When using the 15/15 they try to work up to 50 sets of 8 reps. Nine reps in 15 second would be pretty sloppy technique. I was able to do 7 reps for some of the sets with my right hand, which was showing a cleaner technique. but mostly I was doing 6 reps in the 15 second work period. I counted only 6 reps for all sets to be conservative. My technique was far from perfect, but I was pretty happy with my volume. I still had some gas in the tank at the end, but didn’t want to go past an hour for the workout.

Workout:

Clean and Press
16 kg: 1/1,2/2,3/3,4/4,5/5 x 5 sets
150 reps
5,280 lbs

Circuits @ 30 minutes
Snatches on the fives. 15 second work sets and 15 second rest sets for two minutes.
Bike on the rollers wound up being about 3:30 in between.

Snatches
16 kg: 6/6/6/6 x 6 sets (or 24 sets of 6)
144 reps
5,069 lbs

1:04:13 - Duration
705 - Calories
45% - Fat
160 bpm - Max heart rate
91% - % of max:
125 bpm - Average heart rate
71% - % of max:

14:30 - Hard Zone
19:45 - Medium Zone
27:50 - Light Zone
25 bpm - 120 second recovery
173 - Heart Zone Training Points

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Bionic Man

Here is the my story for how I went out of town skiing for the weekend and came home with titanium in my leg!

We left for Denver, CO on Valentine's Day. We got our luggage, rented our SUV, stopped to buy lift tikets and groceries, and headed out to Brekenridge, CO where we rented a nice three bedroom cabin with an outdoor hotub. Once we got to the cabin, we unpacked a little and headed to town for our dinner reservations at the Blue Lagoon, and great place that was perfect and served a very good steak.

Day 2: Friday
Friday we deceided to ski Breckenridge. The conditions were perfect. It was sunny all day, temps in the upper 20's, great snow conditions. We started right away getting midway up the mountain. Amy and I had not ski'd in 2-3 years, last time being Red Lodge, MO. It did not take us long to catch the hang of it again. In the afternoon, Brian and I split off from the girls for some black diamond and 1 double black diamond run. We got a good workout and the skiing was challenging and fun. We were saving the peak for the afternoon, but were quickly running out of time and were fatiguing fast. When it was time to make the call at 3:30p (lifts start closing at 4:00p) we learned that they shut the peak down at 3:00p daily. Too late. Thta's ok, we have two more day of skiing ahead of us.

Day 3: Saturday
We were feeling nice and refreshed after sitting in the hottub after skiing Friday and getting to bed a little early. We previously decided day 2 would be out at Keystone, followed by Vail Day 3. We were up early, had breakfast and made our way to Keystone at 9:00a. We took some pictures at the top of the mountain from the first gondola ride. It was a great view. We decided on a 3.5 mile green circle run to start the day and get warmed up. More stopping for pictures and a movie on the way down. After the last set of movies, this is where Pete's day goes bad. He sees a nice liitle path on the side of the run through the trees, like many he took Friday. They provide a little more excitement on the easier runs and sometimes offer a jump at the end. Galan probably had too much speed entering the trail, which didn't head back into the main run right away and got narrower and narrower weaving through trees. Galan could shave off much speed through the narrow trees and started to loose his footing. As a tree approached right in Galan's path, he needed to leap at the last minute to his left to avoid hitting the tree head-on. Galan felt his lower right leg glance off the tree pretty hard and he tumbled, his skiis releasing.

Galan figured he either deeply bruised his lower leg or fractured it. He was able to bend and move his knee normally. Galan thought about trying to stand up when he reliazed he would not be able to go on and was encouraged not to try and stand. He made the decision to call to ski patrol and skirted his way out of the trees on his behind.

The doctors were great and the rest of the trip may be written in another post. Long story short. The hit with the tree put enough pressure on my knee to break my tibial plateau in three pieces and tear my miniscus away from the lower joint. I received a plate and 4 screws to hold the break together to heal. It does not appear I did any ligament damage or if I did, non e of great concern that they would let heal naturally anyway.

No weight bearing for 6-8 weeks. I see the orthopedist Monday and will post on my physical therapy routine. I should be healthy enough for waterskiing season, and I might be a litte delayed for motorcycle riding.

I feel bad for Amy because she now has to handle all of Isabel's transitions and driving duties. SHe's been a trooper and I can't thank her enough. I will definately be less adventourous in the future knowing an accident like this can have such a big lasting impact on our daily lives. I would not avert skiing, or even the black diamonds, but there is no need to take trails through the trees, when the wide open runs are really just as fun.

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My Second Time

Kettlebell session #2: I missed the opening swings running late ;(. I jumped right in with presses. 24kg bell 5 reps x 2. Arms like jello! Things went downhill from there. We did a couple of sets of squats. I dropped to 16kg. Windmills. My arms are giving out. TG with 8kg!. Because I'm slow, I'm always the last to finish so I'm not getting any rest. Overhead walk, Dragon Walk! Much easier this week. Finished with 24kg swing. 20 reps. My arms will so week I could barely shave!
I'm working with Lifetime to get kettlebells oput in the open.

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Is it that time again?

I'd better bet a post out before an angry Scoundrel gets on me! It's been a busy week, but I got in 3 days of racquetball and another Kettlebell session. I was 274 on Monday! How about I split out my entries.

This is for when you ramble on and on and on.
Just delete if not needed. (along with the span class)

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BRUTAL

I always hate when it’s been more than a couple days since my last workout. I feel like I’m banging off the rust. So I was not looking forward to today’s workout. After a long weekend with KT, it’s been almost a week since my last workout. On top of that I was feeling a little stiff and sore...probably from the weather and since it’s been so long.

I was only going to do some Turkish Get-ups and then bike with some swings tossed in. After the TGU’s I said, “What the hey..” Threw up some Cleans and Presses for a full 5x5. Full ladders and full rungs. Then I did some swings and got on the bike.


Workout:

TGU’s
(off the clock)
16kg, five minutes 7/7
14 reps, 493 lbs

Clean and Press
16 kg: 1/1,2/2,3/3,4/4,5/5 x 5 sets
150 reps
5,280 lbs


Circuits @ 45 minutes
Bike on the rollers
Swings, on the five
16kg, 20/20x9
360 reps, 12,672 lbs

1:14:53 + Duration
934 Calories
40% Fat
165 bpm Max heart rate
94% % of max:
133 bpm Average heart rate
76% % of max:

28:24 Hard Zone
21:38 Medium Zone
24:26 Light Zone
25 bpm 120 second recovery
227 Heart Zone Training Points

And here’s the good news:

…234…234…234…234

I hope it doesn’t take two more months to lose the next one.

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Injured in the line of duty.

This is a salute to our comrade in arms.



We, Scoundrel and Swami, will pause today and take a moment of silence for our “fallen” comrade.


Today it’s been announced that our comrade in arms has had a terrible accident and has broken his leg skiing.


Had we known the nature of Galan’s skiing skills we certainly would have intervened.


We didn’t know he would venture off the bunny hill.


We thought he went skiing to hang out and have a great time.


But, Noooo! He decided to be a daredevil.


Yep he took his life into his own hands and broke his leg...Not a simple snap mind you. But surgery with steel plates and screws and stuff...cool!


The ABC’s Wide World of Sport’s clip with Vinko Bogataj’s failed ski jump keeps running through my head.


Some guys will do anything to get out of a workout.

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I’m melting!

Took some measurements. Very unscientific.



New:
Date - 2/14/2008
Weight - 237 lbs
Neck - 16.5"
Shoulders - 53.75"
Chest - 46.5"
Gut - 45.5"
Waist - 42"
Hips - 42.5"
Right Thigh - 25"
Left Thigh - 25.5"
Right Arm - 14.5"
Left Arm - 14"
Resting Heart Rate - 61 bpm

Old
Date - 11/12/2007
Weight - 246 lbs
Neck - 17"
Shoulders - 53.25"
Chest - 47"
Gut - 45.5"
Waist - 42.5"
Hips - 44"
Right Thigh - 26.5"
Left Thigh - 27.25"
Right Arm - 16.25"
Left Arm - 15.5"
Resting Heart Rate - 70 bpm

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Happy Valentine’s Day!

Svetlana and I did a different dance today. I tried to start out slow but you know how that goes. I tried snatches for the first time.

I decided to do clean and press 5 sets of 5/5/5/5 which nets the same amount of reps I was doing. I was going to bike, clean and press, bike, and snatch; similar to yesterday. I was only going to do snatches at 5/5, but wound up doing 10/10. Oh well that’s just me. I banged the heck out of my left wrist. Tried a couple different things that seemed to work with the right. They were murder on my palms. Obviously I’ve got a long way to go.

Circuit:
Bike, C & P, Bike, Snatches
KB’s on the top of the fives finishing out on the bike. Five sets of each so I finished the last 13 minutes on the bike.

Clean and Press
16 kg: 5/5/5/5 x 5 sets
100 reps
3,520 lbs

Snatches
16 kg: 10/10 x 5 sets
100 reps
3,520 lbs

1:01:37 - Duration
735 - Calories
45% - Fat
153 bpm - Max heart rate
87% - % of max:
130 bpm - Average heart rate
74% - % of max:

04:02 - Hard Zone
38:56 - Medium Zone
18:28 - Light Zone
21 bpm - 120 second recovery
170 - Heart Zone Training Points

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Racquetball Wednesday

Racquetball today: A sweep! Won 3 cut-thoats and a doubles! Could it have been the kettle bells?? Or was it the new strap? The cut-throat games were with Big D and Mr. D. I came from behind 13-7 to win 15-13-4. The second game I was stuck at 12 while the other 2 were in the low single digits. Big D made a run and it was 13-12. Then I won 15-13-7. The third game I wasn't so merciful and won 15-6-3. I played doubles with Mr D and Mr T and Super D was my partner. We won 15-10, but it wasn't easy.

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The Inner Game of Kettlebells.

(The big push.)

I was sore today. Knot in the shoulder. Knot in the back. Glute’s were sore. Quads were sore. Feeling old. Had a zit in a very inconvenient place.

MIND TRICKS!!

So I decided, stick with the 16kg bell, but how can I turn it up a little? I wanted to back off for my back and shoulder, but I was in the mood…

So I figured do a few Turkish Get-Ups, but not enough to over load the shoulder. Then rotate the bike and some swings. But let’s make it interesting…20/20 on the five?? I gave it a try. I didn’t put the TGU’s on the HRM.

TGU's
16kg, five minutes 7/7
14 reps, 493 pounds

Curcuit
Swings, on the five
16kg, 20/20

Bike to finish out the five @ 3:30 each

For a full hour
480 reps, 16,896

It was tough:

..man this sucks – jmt!
I got a pee. – jmt, you don’t have time. You’re lucky I let you have any water.
Half an hour? Oh my, I’m running out of steam. – Jmt, kick it in!
I’m not gonna make it. – Show some character!
My hands are so sweaty the bell is slipping! – Take your shirt off and use that. Times up!
I’m beat. – Where’s your pride? –Well....I use MY strap! – Quit yapping!


It was brutal, but at least I don’t hear Obi – Wan – A - Swami in my head any more!


1:00:14 - Duration
889 - Calories
30% - Fat
164 bpm - Max heart rate
94% - % of max:
147 bpm - Average heart rate
84% - % of max:

43:58 - Hard Zone
15:37 - Medium Zone
00:38 - Light Zone
32 bpm - 120 second recovery
224 - Heart Zone Training Points

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My First Time

I got up at 5AM this morning to make the drive to the St. Louis Park Lifetime Fitness for the 6AM Kettlebell class. John Rock was the instructor (Good name for a kettlebell instructor). There were 6 of us for the class. You need to get there early to get a 24kg bell. I started with a 16kg bell. We started off with 2 sets of 15 swings (2 handed)

Then we went to squats. 2 sets of 5. Holding the bell about chest high with your arms bent at the elbow. Deep squats. From there we did 2 sets of 5 presses. Next was windmills 2 sets. This was more of a technique exercise. From the windmills we did these exercises that can be best described as a side lunge. Holding the bell out in front as a counter balance and turning you feet 45 degrees and bending your front leg while keeping you back leg straight and pushing you hip up. 2 sets of 5. a couple more sets of swings (15 ea). Now we did this overhead carry. Holding the bell up like the finish of a press and walking and return with the other arm. Next on the list was Turkish getups. Because I was new I did mime without a bell. The next exercise we did was called a Dragon Walk. This one was a killer. While holding the bell like you do for a squat, cross one leg over the other and bend your back leg down so that you knee is on the inside of you front heel and then stand up and cross-over with the other leg. We did 20 steps. by 15 steps my thighs were screaming and I was sucking wind. After a short rest, we did 6 more steps. Of all the exercises we did this was the most intense. We then did Renegade Rows. Since I was a newbie, I did regular rows. We then finished with 20 swings. 30 minutes. Good workout, good sweat. My legs were pumped and my knees were ok. It's now over 12 hours later and my knees feel great. John complemented me on my swings. I said I had a good instructor - Scoundrel. We'll see how stiff I will be tomorrow. I signed up for the next 4 Tuesdays.

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A Little Perspective.

Today someone I care for deeply reached a milestone. My eight year old learned to jump. Not out of a plane, into a pit, or over a bar. Simply, off the ground. A mere two inch leap. Never before has she been able to get both feet off the ground at the same time.

This is something she is very proud of, and rightly so. It is a major accomplishment for someone with her disability. She has Down syndrome which entails so much more than cognitive disabilities. Don’t get me wrong, this isn’t a pity party. On the contrary, I am very proud of her. She has an incredible sense of humor. She is a great singer and can memorize a new song much faster than her old man. She is constantly amazing me with all sorts of little ‘miracles’.

But it makes me pause too. Here I am trying to master the 'Right of Passage' – dreaming of 200 snatches in 10 minutes and taming the ‘Beast’. I read about guys who are lifting 500lbs or more, bending bars of metal, or other super-human feats. But to me these tasks pale in comparison to KT’s achievement today and her self stated goal of learning to jump rope this summer.

It just makes me pause and say….Hmmm.

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Catch up

Need to catch up on my last few workouts.

Monday, February 11, 2008
Variety Day

Up for something a little different. I was initially going to do Long Push Presses.

For this techniques you clean the kettlebell and go into a full front squat. Then you drive out of the squat and push press as you are nearing the top of the squat.

I was going to alternate that with 10 minutes on the bike for an hour. Instead I turned it up slightly and did one set of Long Push Presses, biked for 5 minutes, one set of Swings, biked for 5 minutes and repeated six times for a total of an hour.

I started with the 24kg, but after 3 circuits my shoulder popped. So I quickly ratcheted down to the 16kg KB. Yes, I’m getting old.

Long Push Press;
24kg; 5/5x3
16kg; 5/5x3
60 reps; 2,640 lbs

Swings;
24kg; 10/10x3
16kg; 10/10x3
120 reps, 5,280 lbs

Plus time on the bike.

Duration: 1:02:34
Calories: 801
Fat: 40%
Max heart rate: 154 bpm
% of max: 88%
Average heart rate: 135 bpm
% of max: 77%

Hard Zone: 12:10
Medium Zone: 42:37
Light Zone: 07:30
120 second recovery: 28 bpm recovery
Heart Zone Training Points: 190


Sunday, February 10, 2008
ETK Day

Clean and Press Ladders
16 kg: 1/1, 2/2, 3/3, 4/4 x 5 sets, all full rungs, two up from Wednesday.

100 reps
3,520 lbs

One handed Swings
On the top of the minute

24kg; 5/5 x 7 sets
Two sets more than the usual five at 24kg’s. I changes back to 16kg’s when I felt my technique slipping.
16kg; 10/10; x 8 sets

300 reps
13,024 lbs

@ 30 minutes on the cycle.

Duration: 1:01:02
Calories: 757
Fat: 40%
Max heart rate: 165 bpm
% of max: 94%
Average heart rate: 133 bpm
% of max: 76%

Hard Zone: 15:34
Medium Zone: 25:34
Light Zone: 19:26
120 second recovery: 22 bpm recovery
Heart Zone Training Points: 178


Saturday, February 9, 2008
Variety Day

Turkish Get-ups
16kg; five minutes

Bike; 42:24 Minutes (Got a little saddle sore)

Duration: 42.24 (I didn’t clock the HR during the TGU’s)
Calories: 440
Fat: 55%
Max heart rate: 130 bpm
% of max: 74%
Average heart rate: 120 bpm
% of max: 69%

Hard Zone: 0:00
Medium Zone: 3:12
Light Zone: 0:39:12
120 second recovery: 21 bpm recovery
Heart Zone Training Points: 88

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The New Jocks are Here!

Today in the mail arrive my long sot after Bike jockstraps. When I started playing racquetball last year, I didn't know how long it would last and low on my list of necessities was a jockstrap. Well.. several weeks ago while playing I was running after a ball in the back court and the ball took a funny bounce in the corner and in the effort to hit the ball, I hit something other than a raquetball and was dropped right down. Yeah it was funny. Ha Ha. So I decided the time had finally come to purchase an 'athletic supporter'.

I didn't think it was going to be a big deal. I wanted the "Bike" brand because in the past I have found them to work the best for me. So off I go to Sports Authority. They had exactly what I was looking for, Bike athletic supports "2 pack" for $9. Great! I thought. only one problem... Something was missing, They didn't have any XXL. (and no, I don't need the size for anything other than I'm fat.) So off I went to Target, no Bike brand and no XXL. Ok, let's try Walmart, they had XXL but it was a 'Duke' $5 for one. So I picked it up. The size range for XXL was 38" to 44". Kind of a stretch if you get my drift. Not comfortable and cheap! Well off to Dave's Sporting Goods. Dave's is an institution here. Hey if anyplace is going to have what I need, it's going to be Dave's. Well... No Bike, they did have XXL, but I don't remember the brand. $9 for 1! Same result. Not comfortable. Rough and course. So I turned to the Internet. The Internet is a great place to shop. It's just those darn shipping charges! After looking around I found a place - freshpair. Here they had everything I was looking for. Bike supporters, XXL and free shipping!
$14 for a 2 pack. So I bought 2 packs. Tomorrow I get to try them out at my first Kettlebell class! You wouldn't think it would be this hard to find a XXL jockstrap.

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Running after the ball

I tried something new this morning. Running after the ball. I had made up my mind this morning that I was going to try to run down all the balls today. I had an interesting result. I won! I played Super D and Mr. R in cut-throat for the first game. I came from behind (9-9-13) to win 15-9-13. (A few service aces helped too ;) ) Then played Mr. S and Mr. R. Mr. R came out on top in both cut-throat. But I was in each of the games 9-12-15 & 7-12-15. My shots were letting me down today. Especially when I was serving.

This is the second time in a row I didn't play with my knee supports. Last Wednesday I forgot to put them on before I had my shoes on and didn't feel like taking my shoes off so I played without them. So some reason, I felt quicker. I didn't seem to have any adverse effects so today I didn't use them either. Same thing, I felt quicker and so far no adverse effects. The tops of my knees feel pumped and they are always sore about an hour after playing anyway. I still need to get around to trying those knee exercises. 278lbs today.

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Brother, Can You Spare Some Pins?

The long awaited, somewhat anticipated bowling update. As you know, Galan, The Captain, and me joined a mid season bowling league. Well... We're 5 weeks in and are in 5th place. Galan and the Captain doing fine with averages of 168 & 170 while I'm bringing up the rear with a 133 average. I've got some stats if you're interested. Bowling Standings (Scoundrel will love it!)

Swami's Statistics..............Avg Avg Todays
Wk ....HCP Gm1 Gm2 Gm3 SS HS Ln Bef Aft Avg +/-
1 1/10 72 119 128 112 359 575 7 119 119 119 0
2 1/17 72 158 116 179 453 669 1 119 135 151 32
3 1/24 60 116 135 124 375 555 10 135 131 125 -10
4 1/31 63 120 126 146 392 581 6 131 131 130 -1
5 2/7 63 126 164 127 417 606 2 131 133 139 8
Avg/Game: 128 134 138 Next Weeks Avg: 133

Galan's Statistics .............Avg Avg Todays
Wk ....HCP Gm1 Gm2 Gm3 SS HS Ln Bef Aft Avg +/-
1 1/10 36 189 136 171 496 604 7 165 165 165 0
2 1/17 36 146 206 176 528 636 1 165 170 176 11
3 1/24 32 136 169 190 495 591 10 170 168 165 -5
4 1/31 33 168 157 189 514 613 6 168 169 171 3
5 2/7 32 146 166 183 495 591 2 169 168 165 -4
Avg/Game: 157 167 183 Next Weeks Avg: 168

The Captain's Statistics .......Avg Avg Todays
Wk ....HCP Gm1 Gm2 Gm3 SS HS Ln Bef Aft Avg +/-
1 1/10 35 184 127 187 498 603 7 166 166 166 0
2 1/17 35 167 127 169 463 568 1 166 160 154 -12
3 1/24 40 204 194 146 544 664 10 160 167 181 21
4 1/31 34 218 117 160 495 597 6 167 166 165 -2
5 2/7 35 198 169 194 561 666 2 166 170 187 21
Avg/Game: 194 147 171 Next Weeks Avg: 170

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The Riddler

I’m still trying to riddle out the information I posted yesterday. There’s virtually no toning down the swings. Those will have to be my high intensity days. Besides I love those.

The point of the post wasn’t really that I had to cut back. It was that I developed an increased awareness of overtraining and energy. The luck part is that I haven’t really been overtraining. I just haven’t been using my energy wisely. I think that the target audience for the book I mentioned would have been runners who have been running for quite some time; racing even, and needed to dig themselves out of a hole. I’m just fat and out of shape. Like a bit fat fish out of water flopping around trying to breath.

I found it especially interesting about increasing mitochondrial density at the 70% HRMax level, and the effect that has on a persons ‘wind’. My take away was that I need to incorporate some of these 70% HRMax workouts into my regime. This means I have to have at least two levels of workout intensity:

The C&P Ladders with the swings (or snatches at some future point) I will continue on with. I really need the bike portion of that workout to cool down. There’s no way around that.

I think for my 70% HRMax workouts I will use the bike. I also like the variety day workouts with the bike (or maybe jumping rope or ski machine) for rounds of 10 minutes with a circuit of Kettlebells in between. Today was the second time with this particular type of workout. It was a good workout, but not at a heart pounding pace. Not an easy workout either. I was still dripping with sweat by about the 30 minute mark. The KB’s increase my heart rate some, but that portion of the workout is spread out enough to have a minimized impact.

Workout:

Push Press
32kg; 5/5

Rows
24kg; 5/5

10 Minutes on the bike

Done as a circuit six times.

84 reps, 4,858 lbs

Duration: 1:16:08
Calories: 809
Fat: 55%
Max heart rate: 142 bpm
% of max: 81%
Average heart rate: 122 bpm
% of max: 70%

Hard Zone: 0:00
Medium Zone: 11:18
Light Zone: 1:04:23
120 second recovery: 27 bpm recovery
Heart Zone Training Points: 163

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Great Quote

I came across this great quote: "I don't race to win, I race to see who has the most guts because if the race comes down to who has the most guts, I will win."

Don't cha just love that? It reminded me of one of my favorite verses:

If you have raced with men on foot and they have worn you out, how can you compete with horses? If you stumble in safe country, how will you manage in the thickets by the Jordan? - Jeremiah 12:5

I love that even more!

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David Whitley RKC

This was too cool not to post.



Iron Tamer

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Quest for fire.

I want to document some of my recent reading to share my findings with you guys. I’m not going to rewrite the articles that I read so there will be several links at the end.

I wrote a couple of weeks ago that I was on a quest to find whether there was a fat burn zone. There was some disagreement on the DD forum as to weather this ‘zone’ exists. Some guys point to Tabata and High Intensity Interval Training and say that the end result of exercising in the high end anaerobic zone has an overall effect of burning more fat calories than the traditional aerobic exercise at 70% of Heart rate max . Originally this interested me because I luv when it’s intense (plus I’m fat). It sounded like the best of all worlds. However, the first two weeks I used my heart monitor with the kettlebells, I noticed an unexplainable drop in intensity (expressed as heart rate max) on the next workout day after an especially great day. The trend continued downward for the next two weeks. I was not happy.

The next book that I read after the one that gave me a panic attack about acidosis was another old Heart Rate Monitor book that I picked up used at Amazon. This book’s main focus was using the monitor to work at 70% HRMax. The book was geared to runners, but the theory was interesting. The recommendation was based on the supposition that people over train. The author’s recommendation was to begin training up to, but not exceeding 70% HRMax (totally different from high intensity type training). His recommendation was to do this for six weeks. The long term goal is fast training maintaining a HR of no less than 85% HRMax with the alternating or supplimental workouts remaining under 70% HRMax. There was a lot of antecdotal evidence that the runners were eventually able to run faster at 70% HRMax at the end of the six weeks, they had more energy, and their race times increased. The basis of his theory is essentially one of ‘conservation and restoration.’ I found this extremely interesting. I wasn’t convinced that I was overtraining, but I was confused as to why my ‘tank’ was running dry. Did I need to conserve my energy?

So...I began to read several articles on line. This may be old news for you guys, some of it was for me, but what I found out was that there are three types of muscles: slow twitch, fast twitch and the other fast twitch. I knew that. What I didn’t know was that each type of muscle uses ATP as its fuel, but depending on the type of muscle and intensity of the exercise, a different ‘source’ for creating ATP is used. For immediate energy there is only a few seconds worth of fuel (creatine phosphate - a high energy phosphate compound) stored in the muscle cells. This is used for the faster fast twitch muscles (fight or flight, sprints, etc.). The second ‘source’ is glycogen. Muscle cells first split the glycogen into glucose( a sugar ) and then metabolizes it to make ATP. Glycogen is stored in the muscles, blood stream, and liver. It is converted to ATP via the might mitochondria. The third, and most abundant, source is fat which is also converted to ATP at the lower heart rate ranges.

To me this is the Holy Grail. First, I now knew that there is a fat burn zone. I know this intuitively from when I used to jump rope for 40 to 60 minutes back in college and had 8% BF. (Karate too, but no lifting, or running). Secondly, the idea of conservation and restoration was new to me. It takes 24 to 48 hours to replenish your ATP reserves. If you keep hitting it hard, it’s no wonder your batteries run dry…especially if you're an out of shape, 45 year old, fat slob. This made total sense.

So the benefits of working out at the aerobic zone level are: increased level of oxidizing body fat; restoration of ATP and conservation of glucose for hitting it harder during your anaerobic workouts; and increased mitochondrial density.


Here are some of the great articles I read:


Muscle Fibers - An In Depth Analysis: (Tonic And Phasic Muscles - The Original Name For Fast and Slow Twitch and Why It Still Applies! – and - The Body's Three Energy Systems Used For Movement)

Muscle Fibers - An In Depth Analysis Part 2: (Muscle Fibers Makeup and Purpose)

Muscle Fibers - An In Depth Analysis Part 3: (Mitochondrial Density = An Increase In - Fat Burning, Muscle Mass, & Your Ability To Train)

Direct Comparisons of Fuel use during Low, Moderate, and High Intensity Exercises: (Great article that refutes HIIT as a more effective means to burning fat.)

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Wednesday Racquetball

Cut-throat and doubles day. Started out playing MR. D and MR. T. Lost 14-15-9 (MR. T on top) Then with MR. R and MR. D. (MR R coming out on top) Then doubles. MR S and MR D continued their dominance over me and MR R. Winning 2 games. We had a sizable lead in the second but the grey hairs came back!

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Take two workouts and call me in the morning.

Performed two workouts today. Skipped Monday's so I probably owed myself an extra anyway. I am beat.

AM Workout

I rode for an hour this morning. I have a little extra time when I have Kaitlyn, prior to when she gets up - if I can get up (usually I stay up later reading so I can check on her).

During the workout I realized a couple of things.

First I realized that it took a little more ‘effort’ to get to 70% HRMax. When I first tried to maintain a 70% a week or so ago, I could barely move the pedals slow enough. This morning I was going a little faster and started out at 113bpm (120 was my target). I picked up the pace and finally hit the 120 target after about 20 minutes. Later I realized that although I am monitoring my HR it is a relative measure. It doesn’t actually measure the work I do, but the effect of my effort on my heart. It’s not like I can say I biked a mile in a minute. I don’t have an odometer. Theoretically, the more ‘in shape’ I become the less ‘effort’ is going to be discernible on the HR monitor. It’s like I’m using an odometer to try to figure out how fast I’m going. I think I need to take cadence readings as measures of work performed in order to determine improvement in the cycling portion of my workouts. It would be more vital if biking were my sport, which it isn’t. But I’m very interested in progress measures and indicators of fitness.

If I would have taken cadence readings the first time I tried 70% of heart rate max I could have compared them to today’s ride to determine % of increase cadence required to achieve the same heart rate. That would have been some useful information.

Bike

Duration: 56:48
Calories: 546
Fat: 55%
Max heart rate: 126 bpm
% of max: 72%
Average heart rate: 116 bpm
% of max: 66%

Hard Zone: 0:00
Medium Zone: 0:00
Light Zone: 56:22
120 second recovery: 24 bpm recovery
Heart Zone Training Points: 113

PM Workout

Clean and Press Ladders
16 kg: 1/1, 2/2, 3/3, 4/4 x 3 sets and 1/1, 2/2, 3/3 x 2 sets

I added an extra rung on three sets for an additional 24 reps.

84 reps (Oops, I’ve been counting only one arm previously.)
2,956 lbs

One handed Swings
On the top of the minute

I was a little leery because of the last time I did swings and the cramping/twinge in my back so I backed off to the previous weight.

24kg; 5/5 x 5 sets
16kg; 10/10; x 10 sets
I felt it in my back on the last set.

300 reps
12,320 lbs

Bike
Twenty-five minutes on the cycle. My legs were shaking.

Duration: 58:37
Calories: 739
Fat: 40%
Max heart rate: 165 bpm
% of max: 94%
Average heart rate: 134 bpm
% of max: 77%

Hard Zone: 14:58
Medium Zone: 27:17
Light Zone: 15:34
120 second recovery: 25 bpm recovery
Heart Zone Training Points: 173

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Lent

Christ’s faithful are obliged by divine law, each in his or
her own way, to do penance. However, so that all may be
joined together in a certain common practice of penance,
days of penance are prescribed. On these days, the faithful
are in a special manner to devote themselves to prayer,
to engage in works of piety and charity, and to deny themselves,
by fulfilling their obligations more faithfully and
especially by observing...fast and abstinence… (Canon 1249).

The traditional Catholic will give up something for Lent. I traditionally give up Mountain Dew for the 6 weeks of Lent. This year along with Mountain Dew, I'm giving up eating out for lunch at work. I feel that this will be much harder than giving Dew has been in the past. Fast Days are Ash Wednesday, Friday's until Easter. Brawler is giving up his Wii. It's the 3rd or 4th year he's given up his video games for Lent.

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New Pace Set

Today was a cardio day. I set a new personal record on the elliptical machine. I set the machine to hill intervals for 30 minutes on level 9 (of 10) and I burned 610 calories in 30 minutes. Previously I haven't supassed about 525 calories. Its all about pushing limits right? I measured my heartrate at minute 25 on a hill climb at it was 174 bpm. I felt great!

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It's been a year

I've been playing racquetball for a year now. I'm not wheezing, and huffing and puffing anymore. Yesterday I weighed 276lbs. I've lost 9 lbs since re-starting racquetball. My game has improved greatly over the year, but I feel I've stagnated over the last few months. Yesterday I lost to Mr. T 15-14. He is someone I should beat regularly, but Mr. T has beaten me the last several times. I get out to a big lead then let up. In my second game, I beat Super D 15-4. My serve was finally working. Even if it was only for 1 game. Then I played some cut-throat with Marvelous and Mr. R and he crushed us - 15-4-2 and 15-11-2 (the two being my score). Marvelous is going in for carpel-tunnel surgery this week. He says the surgery takes 10 minutes and is done by a robot at the Mayo Clinic. He'll be out for at least 6 weeks. Gotta go now my wife is hounding me, she needs to do some "shopping"!

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Workout and Bowling

As Scoundrel points out quite clearly, I have been coming up short on my posts. I still read all the posts (mostly from Scoundrel), but haven't made the time to post myself.

Training Update:

I just started Week 4 of 6 today on my second round of the "Increase your Bench by 40 lbs" workout. I really like the workout and continue to see results. I'm not seeing the same increases as the first 6-weeks, but I didn't expect to. I've also missed more workouts in the last 4 weeks, mostly due to being tired and not getting enough sleep. I normally get 6 hours, but there were some days where I was getting about 5, so I'd skip a workout.

Last week was training all week and high calorie lunches, a dinner, and Super Bowl weekend. I'm way up to 187 lbs, not too bad considering. I'll be eating better again this week and Lent is coming up.

Bowling:

I continue to make small increases weekly in my average. And I still hold a slim lead on our semi-pro Captain, so I feel good. I have trouble hitting the pocket consitently at Flaherty's where I have more success at other lanes. My ball has too much breaking action for my normal postioning and delivery. I make small adjustments weekly to try to hone in on the pocket, but I've had mixed success. My best result is throwing harder to get more slide and less bite, but the angle of attack on the pocket does not give me the best pin action. I'll continue with small adjustments in hopes of getting it right and maybe have a 550 or 600 series.

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Hey you two Gomers..

...time to get with the program. I look at the last few weeks and you two are coming up lame. The last post Swami did was actually from an e-mail I sent. I feel like I’m talking too my self so..

Move it! Move it! Move it!


SWAMI!

I don’t want to hear,“I don’t know what to write.”

















I know your playing Racquetball and working out with your boy. Let’s hear about it. I know your working your way through the Power to the People book. Got any opinions?


OK your going to workout with Kettlebells this week? This is how I see that going...your going to sleep-in on Tuesday and miss the workout, Thursday you’ll get there, but it will be hard. Frankly, I'm curious how your follow through is going to be.


..and what is this about your up coming races?? Like sitting on the couch watching a bunch of Nancys in nail polish colored cars is a great excuse to let your azz spread. Come on!!


GALAN!

I know your busy….BOO HOO. We all have families, jobs and workout. It took you 30 minutes to come up with a great post for your resolutions. How hard can posting your workouts, and how you felt be!?


Swami I want at least one RB and one workout post from you this week. Galan at least one workout post and one on bowling, plus some neat workout information to share. Get with it or I'll find better ways to spend my extra time!

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BBW….BERTHA!!

KT was ill and so I knew we weren’t going anywhere today. I suspected correctly that she’d sleep late too. So I took an early morning workout. The name of the game was overload. Lift heavy weights to prep the muscles for lifting heavy, but go light on the reps so as not to injure yourself.

Workout:

Push Press
32kg; 5/5
Yes that’s Bertha! First time dancing with her. My BBW – Big Black Weight!

Rows
24kg; 5/5
A little heavier than last time.

10 Minutes on the bike

Done as a circuit six times.

84 reps, 4,858 lbs

Duration: 1:17:12
Calories: 823
Fat: 50%
Max heart rate: 146 bpm
% of max: 83%
Average heart rate: 122 bpm
% of max: 70%

Hard Zone 80% + of HR max (Threshold and Red Line Zones): 00:34
Medium Zone, 70-80% of HR max (Aerobic Zone): 16:20
Light Zone, 60 – 70% of HR max (Temperate Zone):1:00:00
120 second recovery: 123 bmp – 100 bpm = 23 bpm recovery
Heart Zone Training Points: 171

..and yes I checked on Kt several times (clock off)

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