Heading out for a family reunion tomorrow up in the Pittsburgh area, so rather than spend my evening working on the ol’ blog like I would prefer, I’ve been trying to get my act together since I’m heading out right after work tomorrow afternoon.

I’ll be in the mountains for a few days with no gym to speak of as far as I know. So what am I going to do? Bring the gym with me:

For once in my life, I think I packed more than my sisters.

I can’t even tell you what my workouts will look like yet, but I’m pretty sure what you see here gives me plenty of ammo to get in an awesome workout or two. I’ll be sure to fill you in on whatever I come up with.

Damn, I need to transfer my laundry. Hope to get another post up tomorrow on the drive to PA.

Oh, and since I didn’t have a whole lot to say today, check this out. Pretty cool eh?

Yesterday was deadlift day. I’ve got proof.

After totalling up all the pulls we did, with a trap bar mind you, which did a wicked good job of isolating my laughable quads, I pulled a total of almost 20,000lbs. (assuming I did my math right) Today my quads, along with my entire posterior chain, is jacked. up. So much so, that I didn’t even do my “day off” core work, or go to yoga. What did I do instead? Grabbed a couple of Tecate’s with a buddy. Now that’s what I call an “active rest” day.

Yesterday’s Workout:

• Roll out/warm-up
• Deadlift w/ trap-bar
  • 1 x 5 @ 135lbs.
  • 1 x 5 @ 185lbs.
  • 1 x 5 @ 225lbs.
  • 1 x 5 @ 275lbs.
  • 1 x 5 @ 315lbs.
  • 1 x 5 @ 365lbs.
  • 5 x 10 @ 245lbs. w/ 60 seconds rest between sets
• Kettlebell swings – 2 x 8 @ 70.4lbs.
  –supserset with–
  Sidebends – 2 x 12 @ 100lbs. dumbell

I need to preface my posting of this video with the title you see above, because I think the Crossfit folks have a pretty awesome thing going on, and who knows, I may even try my hand at it at some point in my fitness journey (though every time I see a kipping “pull-up” I cry inside a little, and my testosterone levels drop precipitously at the thought of even doing one, but I digress…)

BUT. Just like anyone else (powerlifters, strongmen, climbers, yogis, whatever), the Crossfit folks are very prone to cultism, and like any good cult, they need to be made fun of. My coach showed me this video today before lifting, and I almost peed on, “Shut up you zombie, your max deadlift is 315!”

Well done to whoever made this, keep it coming.

If I’m going to continue this “post everyday” business, I may need to start coming up with a couple recurring themes to cut myself a little slack. For instance, I’m contemplating making Monday the, “post random hilarious picture day because it’s Monday, and Monday’s f$%#ing suck for everyone”… Still working on the the title of the theme, but here’s the pic of the day. Warms my heart everytime:

Because it's Monday, and sometimes we all need a the reminder: just play your game, playa'

It’s no surprise to me that getting out of bed this morning was a bit of a chore. The muscles up and down my thoracic spine were not happy with my decision to dismount, and it may or may not have taken me more than one try to pull off this feat.

Who do I have to thank? Brute Strength Gym located in Norfolk, VA. What a great facility they have down there. Here are a couple of pictures I snapped upon first walking in:

After walking around in awe for a bit, I finally found the bands and kettlebells I was familiar warming up with, and got in my usual upper/lower body warmup.

After that, it was straight to the logs:

I started off warming up with the 70 & 90 lb logs just to get the hang of it and ease into it. I worked all the way up to 180, and failed at that weight 3 or 4 times. I backed off of that, and finally 1RM out at 165lbs. What’s the significance of 180? That’d be the log weight in the competition that’s in September, so I’ve still got a little ways to go, but I’m sure I can get it if I hone my technique a little bit.

After the log, I went over to the Atlas Stones. These are completely bad ass, and I could definitely see myself investing in a couple down the road when I finally get a shed in my backyard to store stuff…. Not that I’d be too worried about somebody rolling up and stealing 200+lb balls of concrete out from under my nose, but my yard already looks ghetto enough, so I don’t want my neighbors to hate me any more than they already do.

I worked up to 235, which you can see in the pictures below. It was very heavy, but obviously doable. I’d like to think that with some adrenaline I could probably do 250ish at this point. Competition weights are supposed to be from 175-270, so I’ve got some ground to cover to get the final stone, but I feel like that range is pretty good for me since it’s challenging, but not out of my league by any means.

Next up was the yoke walk. I really had no idea how much weight I’d be able to handle on this. I ended up working up to 450lbs, with 1 drop midway. I think with a little work I could make some good progress on this, and maybe flirt with 500. Pretty sure the starting point on the neck is something I need a little guidance on, because a few times it felt like it was going to slip off my back, and let me tell you…trying to walk with 450lbs on your back while battling it to keep it from slipping off is pretty draining.

I finished up with some tire flips. Here again, I had no idea what kind of weight would be good to work with, but I worked up to a 500lb tire. This is probably the thing that I could use the most work on, because there’s a definite technique to this, and it’s not just brute strength. I kept trying to basically deadlift the thing off the floor, which I’m told is the quickest way to tear a bicep in half (and I can believe it). The best way is to lay your chest on it, arms wide, and drive through the tire like you’re hitting a football sled…. Or at least so I’m told. I tried to do it a few times, and it worked out, but I’m pretty sure I’ve got a lot of work to do on getting the form right.

After that, I was done. A little bloodied, a lot battered, and feeling great. Thanks again to Brute Strength Gym for being awesome, and I’m sure I’ll make the trip again to rage on some weights.

It’s been a long day folks, and my body is a bit beat-up from today’s run in with strongman gym Brute Strength Gym, so I’m going to make this short. Let me just say, I had an awesome time. I left with blood on my shins (log), less skin on my forearms (stones), and tire grim all over me (tire flipping). I’ll write about it more tomorrow, but here are a few pics from my little adventure:

450lb Yoke Walk

500lb tire flip... That didn't happen very many times.

Okay so when I dedicated myself to this “posting every day” for 30 days deal, I never promised youthat I’d have profound and awesome stuff say everyday. It’s not that I don’t have awesome stuff to say, it’s just the I don’t have the time each and every day to write that awesome down. Don’t worry though, it all goes to some place in my brain to percolate and eventually blossom into something beautiful (hopefully).

So tonight, since I’ve been running around non-stop since the minute I got out of the office, between gym, seeing the family, cleaning, and cooking some awesome Paleo-licious pork chops and collards, I’m just now sitting down to write this at 10:45… Yes, that’s 15 minutes past my theoretical, self-inflicted, bedtime.

Anyway, the other day I stumbled upon a cache of quotes from the great Mark Rippetoe, and I thought I’d share one with you. I had considered dumping a bunch of them at once, but since there will most likely be other occasions where I don’t have the time or energy to write, I figure it’ll probably be a good idea to save some of this stuff for another day.

This is Mark Rippetoe. Nothing funny about that.

Anyway, ladies and gentleman, I present a quote from the one and only Mark Rippetoe, which hit home just yesterday when i was squatting in my running shoes like a jackass:

“[Mark], If you had to choose between wearing no shoes or running shoes to lift in which would you pick?”

“….That is like asking me to choose between stabbing myself in the eye with a fork or burning the roof of my mouth with extremely hot pizza. Can’t we just avoid both?”

If you don’t know who Mark Rippetoe is, look him up, and listen to what he has to say about weight lifting. He pretty much wrote the book on it… Quite a few books actually.

I’m stoked, pumped, jazzed-no not jazzed, that sounds fruity, but you know…. excited.Why? Two things:

1. I got my phone back. I also checked through all the pictures, and nobody did anything
   strange with it while it was out of my possession (which, if I had found it, I would have
   done)
2. This Saturday, I get to take my first stab at real strongman implements: Tires, logs, axles, stones (my favorite, theoretically), and a yoke, just to name a few.

Coach suggested we take a trip down to Virginia Beach strongman gym Brute Strength Gym and needless to say I was all about it. I’m a little nervous too, but it’ll be good to get down there and see if I can, well…. actually move anything. Hopefully that’ll give me a good baseline idea of what I’m working with for a “competition”.

Yesterday’s workout:

• Roll out/warm-up
• Power Cleans – 8 x 2 reps @ 155lbs.
      – superset with–
  High box jumps – 8 x 2 reps
• Back squats – 3 x 5 reps @ 200lbs.
• Lying hip thrusters – 4 x 6 reps @ 295lbs.

  

      –superset with–
  Twisty-landmine-grappler-thing – 3 x 12 reps (6 per side) with the bar the first 2 sets, last set added a 10lb plate.
  
  
  
  I was terrible at this, and kept hitting myself in the shin like a jackass. The guy in the video above doesn’t go very far down, but I was taking it all the way down close to the floor and back around….Hey, just doing what I was told to do.

When I lose or misplace my phone I pretty much go ape-sh*t-bonkers. It’s amazing to think 10 years ago I didn’t even have a cell phone, and now if I don’t have mine for 20 minutes, I can’t:

• Communicate…. with anyone. Period. I know one phone number, and it’s for a Thai
  restaurant.
• Take pictures, which is important for the whole blog thing
• Check email
• Wake up on time for work
• Find my way home

Anyway, the point being, I was all amped up and ready to post something else, and then got completely derailed since I left my phone at the damn gym.

So, sorry, but all I’ll have for you today is yesterday’s “day off” workout:

• Plank – for time, with a 45lb plate on my ass/low back:
• Set 1 – 1:10
• Set 2 – 0:46
• Set 3 – 0:42
• Side plank – with 45lb plate held to side:
• 3 x 20 seconds per side, 1:00 rest periods
• Half-peeing Dog:
• 3 x 30 seconds per side, 30 second rest periods.

Don’t worry, I’ll bring the heat again tomorrow….after I get my phone back