January, 2009 - 10 Books

1. Natural Ordermage, L.E. Modesitt Jr.
2. Codespell, Kelly McCullough
3. The Return of Count Electric, William Browning Spencer
4. Dewey: The Small-Town Library Cat Who Touched the World, Vicki Myron
5. The Hope: A Novel, James Lovegrove
6. Dragonhaven, Robin McKinley
7. The Looking Glass Wars, Frank Beddor
8. Seeing Redd, Frank Beddor
9. Middle-Earth Quest: A Spy in Isengard
10. Middle-Earth Quest: Treason at Helm’s Deep

See more progress on: read 100 books this year

Weakness Rising

Today's workout

Mix of really poor straight arm frog stands
2 x 30 second chair support
2 x 30 second bent knee hang
2 x 10 second chair L sit
30 minutes Wii free step
6 minutes Wii boxing
1 minute (ugly) bent knee frog stand

I was horrible on the frog stands. With nearly straight arms (I never did get them locked out properly), I could barely hold myself off the ground. Guilt, after sitting down to write this, made me throw in the bent knee frog stand and even that was pretty ugly with me barely able to keep weight off my feet and with several touchdowns.

I've been weighing in with the Wii every morning for a couple weeks. For some reason, I lost 2+ lbs both Monday and Tuesday. I don't know if the conditions that caused the weight loss also caused the loss in strength but I feel so weak today it is like I'm a different person. Even exercises that should seem easy seem very hard.

Let's Pretend We're Gymnasts

CrossFit St. Charles (CFSTC) is a fairly new CrossFit affiliate with space inside the Generation Gymnastics facility. This affords some unique advantages. CrossFitters, as a rule, seem to adore gymnastics. Emphasis on amazing feats of functional strength achieved through body weight exercises, extreme body control and joyful expression of the human body at its peak capability combine to inspire us to greatness. Kim Wilkes (of CFSTC) recognizes this and has fostered a positive relationship with the gym resulting in an all day gymnastics seminar a couple months ago and a 3 hour open gym yesterday.

Yesterday's session was wonderfully attended by friends of CFSTC, local do it yourself CrossFitters (Brett, myself and others) and a swarm from CrossFit Valley Park (CFVP). Allie (sp?) from Generation Gymnastics ran us through our paces, everything from tumbling runs, to rings, to parallel bars, to vaults into the pit. She seemed to take delight in torturing us and showing us our weakness and for that I thank her.

It doesn't matter what level you are at. It doesn't matter where you start. A day at the gymnastics gym is fun, exciting, and one of the best workouts you can get. With luck, Generation Gymnastics will start an adult gymnastics class soon and I'll get to do this to myself every week.

Weak All Over Again

Today's Workout
5 x 7 second straight arm frog stand on 1 minute interval
6 x 5 second ring support on 30 second interval
4 x 7 second straight arm frog stand on 30 second interval
6 x 5 second ring support on 30 second interval
1 x 30 second bent knee hang
30 seconds rest
1 x 22 second bent knee hang
20 seconds rest
1 x 10 second bent knee hang

My wrist flexibility isn't what it needs to be for straight arm frog stands. Also, my ab strength and shoulder girdle strength is low. I really want to get my leg to arm contact point above my elbows but every time I moved it up that high, I couldn't keep my arms straight. Today's stands had my thighs contacting my forearms about 2/3s of the way to the elbow from the wrist. You have to lean a lot further forward when you straighten your arms and apparently my wrists are not happy going past 90 degrees. The extra stretch was uncomfortable and contributed to the shortness of reps.

I broke up the long sets of similar exercises but decreased my rest times for everything today. 30 second intervals really help boost your heart rate while you are performing these exercises, adding to the training effects. Yesterday's bent knee hangs (2 x 30 seconds) were performed with 1 minute 30 seconds rest between sets. Today, I tried to reduce that to 30 seconds rest with detrimental effect on the 2nd set. I almost quit with just the 52 seconds because my forearms were so pumped but I couldn't let it go and threw in the worst 10 seconds of the workout by demanding the last set from myself. For 10 seconds, it was just 1 mm of slip after another. I was afraid I'd be hanging from my fingertips before it was over but I made it.

I didn't do any WiiFit last night. It is like having a live in trainer who can't talk to you unless you talk to her first. If you just ignore her, she can't scold you. At around 2:00 PM to 2:30 PM yesterday, I crashed hard. The next couple hours were very hard as I could barely keep my eyes open. I assume the crash was due to making poor nutritional choices as lunch where I consumed 2 chicken legs and a large chicken gizzards from Lee's Chicken. Regardless, I only managed to eat about 4 bites of dinner before I retired to bed where I must have passed out by 7:00 PM or 7:30 PM.

If it is worth doing, it is worth doing now.

I don’t know when, or if, I will actually get to attend St. John’s College. It is still my dream but it seems so far off right now. Still, I keep railing against New Year’s resolutions because if something is worth doing, it is worth doing now and not waiting for the new year to start. Applying the same logic to myself, I’ve decided to start reading from the St. John’s College reading list. This year, I want to read at least the Illiad, the Odyssey, Agamemnon, and Libation Bearers.

See more progress on: read 4 books from the St. John's College reading list this year.

The Journey of 1000 Miles...

...begins with just one frog stand, or something like that.

The straight arm frog stand is the 2nd stage of my progression to a front planche. Even though I can now do 60 second bent arm frog stands, I can’t do a full second of the ball planche or tuck planche which is supposed to be next. CrossFit Portland suggests the straight arm frog stand can be a helper exercise in between the bent arm frog stand and the tuck planche for people with this problem so here I go.

See more progress on: do a 60 second straight arm frog stand

Two Steps Forward, One Step Back

This morning's workout:

1 x 60 second frog stand - completely clean
2 x 30 second bent knee hang - rough
12 x 5 second ring support

For the last 5-6 supports, I switched to a 30 second interval. This really kicked up the cardiovascular effect of the exercises but by the last set started to impede muscle recovery enough to interfere with my performance of each rep. I dropped back down from 6-7 second sets to focus on better position for each rep, shoulders shrugged and tall. Halfway through, my form started to deteriorate again but I would say 9 of 12 were of much higher quality than all but 1 or 2 reps before.

Maybe I will do some more WiiFit tonight.

Funny story, I get some pretty strange looks at the office when I talk about the things I do for exercise. Yesterday morning, my boss comes in and asks me for a link to the exercises I've been doing. Then he turns his head to show me the red welt on the side of his head. I guess his spotter was sick yesterday morning and he managed to drop a 150 lbs barbell on his head trying to do some bench presses. Suddenly, body weight exercises don't seem so crazy.

Wii Fit vs. Gymnastics Strength

On New Year's Eve, a friend introduced me to the Wii Fit. The next day, my wife and I called about 30 stores before we found one 45 minutes away in Granite City, IL. They got a shipment in the morning and by the time we were there to get one around 11:30 AM, over half were gone. The man at the store made sure to point out, they hadn't even been busy all day. I think if Nintendo ever makes enough hardware to meet demand (for anything), the oceans will pool at the tops of the mountains, leaving the sea bed bare and dry.

I've been doing the Wii Fit daily since New Year's for 30-60 minutes a day. Most of the strength exercises seem pretty good and the Yoga is nice. Having balance feedback during Yoga poses is especially cool. The cardio (hula hoops, boxing, step aerobics and running in place) is bearable though not very exciting. The balance games are fun and a good way to work on your balance control. Overall, the Wii Fit seems to be a fun way to introduce a little more activity into your life. The balance feedback alone was worth the purchase price in my opinion. I just wish there was a free balance mode where I could do what I want and see how well balanced I am and/or work on my balance.

I don't see the Wii Fit replacing my gymnastics strength exercises. For one, most of the Wii Fit strength focuses on the lower body where the gymnastics exercises focus on upper body strength. Speaking of strength....

Today's workout
30 minutes Wii Fit cardio
1 x 60 second frog stand
9 x 7 second ring support
2 x 20 second bent knee hang
2 x 10 second bent knee hang

Considering how little I wanted to do anything today, I'll take 30 minutes of sweat and increased heart rate along with a record frog stand, my first for 60 seconds. My feet did barely touch the ground twice briefly but I controlled myself with my hands and didn't put any weight on my feet so I think this counts. I'll try to keep doing 60 second frog stands this week with a goal of a perfectly clean one by Friday and then I will start working on a straight arm frog stand. Even with the 60 second stand under my belt, I still can't muster a second of front tuck planche and I hear the straight arm stand can help when that is the case.

Oh, not to be left out, on Saturday, I went horse back riding with my wife and friends for two and a half hours. This is the kind of thing that is why I want to get in shape in the first place. It is nice to have the energy to do fun things and not have to worry about being wiped out by the end.

Pseudo Huevos Rancheros

It isn't often that I feel compelled to blog about food but this morning I outdid myself with breakfast. I brought half a can of mild Rotel and half a can of El Pato to a simmer with a little fresh pepper, a pinch of salt and a slight hit of soy sauce. When those were simmering nicely, I added 3 eggs, not scrambled, to the mix to poach and grated some fresh manchego cheese over the top. I left them simmering in the sauce until they looked nicely poached then removed the eggs to a couple pieces of toast and continued to simmer the sauce until it reduced slightly. Finally, I poured the reduced sauce over everything. I enjoyed my spicy egg concoction with a glass of skim milk.

Starting with a lot of high flavor content ingredients (El Pato, Rotel, soy sauce, manchego cheese) made this simple and quick to prepare meal a stellar hit in my book. I can't remember the last time my stomach was this happy with something I prepared myself.

Gymnastics Strength Progressions

Today's workout

1 minute each of frog stand, ring support, bent knee hang. Complete in as short a period and as few sets as possible.

My frog stand today was weak. I completed 1 x 30 second stand that was very clean. 2-4 minutes later (I failed to keep track.) I completed another 30 second stand that was horrible. Me feet touched the ground 3-4 times. I should come up with a time penalty of some kind when this happens. Still, the first 30 second stand was the best 30 seconds I've done so far. I had good strong control on my hands and never touched the ground after getting in position.

After my first attempt at ring supports a few days ago (30 seconds in 10, 10, 7, 3 and I couldn't even hold myself in the position after that.), I decided to try for a shorter length hang but consistent time. I managed 10 sets of 6 seconds on a 1 minute start interval. Sets 5 through 10 were progressively worse with each set. Set 10 felt like I was slowly melting through the support and dropping out the bottom just as time ran out.

I did OK on my bent knee hangs. These are a really early step in a progression to a tuck front lever but I have a long, long way to go. My grip is weak. My abs are pretty weak. My entire shoulder girdle is beyond weak. For now, just holding 275 lbs off the ground with my knees raised as high to my abs as I can get them is plenty of work. I completed 3 sets of 20 seconds on a 1 minute start interval. I just started doing these on my new rings and this time I had the rings just high enough that in a hang, my feet and behind were not touching the ground. This provided great feedback as I fatigued in set 2 helping me increase my pull as I started touching the ground. Knowing the feedback was there in set 3 kept me strong through a rough 20 seconds. my forearms are still so pumped that typing is difficult 30 minutes later.

So, call it 60 second frog stand in 4 minutes, 60 second support in 10 minutes, 60 second bent knee hang in 3 minutes. I'll be trying to work this 3 minute workout (in 20 minutes) in 4 days a week, Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday. I'm going to try to fit in some running and CrossFit workouts throughout the week as well.

Here's to strength, balance, resolve, self awareness and determination. I hope this holiday season finds you happy and on the path to enlightenment.

Concrete Goals

I have a tendency to add vague goals with no way to measure completion. Instead of having a goal of “learn gymnastics” on 43 Things, I’ve opted for specific skills based goals. I’m currently working on 3 gymnastics strength exercises that should help me progress into more difficult skills down the road – frog stand, bent knee hang, and ring support.

See more progress on: learn gymnastics

Gymnastics Seminar for CrossFitters

CrossFit St. Charles organized a gymnastics seminar. (Video here: that is me hanging from the rope before the video starts.) It was a day of great fun and very hard work, especially for a big guy like me. At the end of the day, I was so tired I could barely stand.

See more progress on: learn gymnastics

Replacing Push-ups

Unfortunately, by the end of the second week, the 100 Push-Up challenge left me miserable and hurting all the time. Fortunately, I haven't given up on getting fit, just on the challenge.

I've been doing some miscellaneous CrossFit workouts, scaled to the buttercup versions. I've done a few 1 mile runs. I did a one day gymnastics class. (video here) And for the last couple weeks, I've been working on front planche and front lever progressions.

The progressions are awesome. I call them my 2 minute workout that takes more than 2 minutes to complete. I'm currently up to 2 sets of 30 second plus frog stands and 4 sets of 15 second starting tuck levers. I barely break the plane of vertical with my hips right now but it is a start. My progress (from 6 second frog stands and 3 second front tuck/hangs) has been awesome. My current goals are a 60 second frog stand and 5 second tuck/hangs where I raise my hips at least 6 inches.

If anyone knows gymnastics flexibility progressions, please drop me a line. I haven't found anything good on starting gymnastics as an adult or on the skills for early (1 - 4) gymnastics levels.

Starting Over (again and again and again...)

After months of inactivity, save the occasional bike ride at work, I'm trying again. I'm back up around my peak weight of 280 lbs. My diet has gone down the drains. It is frustrating to have achieved so much for it to all go away. But I'm starting over. I swear I am.

This week, I did the buttercup versions of the CrossFit WODs on Monday, Wednesday and Friday courtesy of BrandX and their scaled workouts. I'm trying hard to pace myself so I didn't time the workouts. Keep in mind, the buttercup versions look almost nothing like their bigger sisters. Helen is one of the signature CrossFit, push for sub-5 minute times, workouts and Nicole is a killer 20 minute max rounds completed with max rep sets of pull-ups. Two very different workouts but the buttercup versions look similar.

Monday
Helen (buttercup)
3 rounds
Run 200 meters
8 lb swings (1 gallon tea jug)
6 body rows

Wednesday
Nicole (buttercup)
3 rounds
Run 200 meters
12 body rows

Friday
Run 5k (buttercup)
I'm running 1 mile later today.

And to top things off, I'm going to a 7 hour gymnastics class on Sunday, courtesy of CrossFit St. Charles.

one hundred push ups

I've picked a short term fitness goal. I'm going to try the one hundred push ups challenge. A 6 week program to get you from where you are to 100 consecutive push ups. It sounds like fun.

I took the initial test and managed 16 push ups. This wasn't a max effort as I left a few in the tank but it was enough to figure out where to start in the course.

I thank the new site of CrossFit St. Charles for introducing me to the challenge. It sounds like a good way to ease back into my workouts.

On the Bike Again

Back in June, I started working for a new company. Voxitas is primarily a business voice over IP company and I'm doing general software and web development. A couple guys at Voxitas have bicycles at the office and try to go riding as much as 3 times a week. Voxitas is in downtown Saint Louis so they ride down to the riverfront and take a bike trail there.

I finally brought my bike in so I could join them and schedule craziness ensued. I've had my bike there for probably 5 or 6 weeks and yesterday was only the second ride since I brought my bike in.

One of the guys who rides is an avid cyclist. He rides with a group on the weekends and is in much better shape on a bicycle than anyone else. All distance estimates in this post are based on his experience.

There were 3 of us for my first ride. I believe we rode about 12 miles in just over an hour. The trail is smooth and there is little elevation change. On the way back, with about 3/4 of a mile to go, we do have to climb a small hill that seems like a major challenge to me right now. This ride seemed pretty easy though I was working just about the whole time. The hill left me completely wiped out at the end and I was glad to get off my bike. 12 miles is what I was riding to work a couple years ago so I was pretty pleased to see we kept the same pace I had then even if it is a lot easier route than I rode back then.

My second ride was yesterday. There were only me and the experienced cyclist. We rode about 18 miles with me setting the pace the whole way. Those of you who know me know that I suck at pacing. 18 miles is half again as far as I've ridden at any one time in close to 15 years. I think we finished the 18 miles in about 1 hour and 40 minutes. With 80% of the ride complete, I remembered my Alexander technique training and tried to ride with less stress and tension - too little, too late. When we finished, my whole body was singing with exhaustion. Arms, legs, neck, back, feet, hands, everything was burning. Major blood vessels in my neck were radiating pain like they were fit to burst. My forehead was throbbing. Now, a day later, I can barely wait to do it again.

It is nice to finally be back on my bicycle. When I stopped two years ago, I had nearly passed out on my bike and I was headed in the wrong direction fast. So much has happened since then. I've taken a class in fencing. Studied capoeira for a month. Worked out with a personal trainer for about 6 months. Run a couple official road races. Discovered CrossFit.

Of everything, my trainer and CrossFit have had the most long term effect. My trainer helped me go from nothing to a functional fitness foundation. I probably couldn't have gotten there without her help.

And CrossFit changed everything. My whole understand of what it means to push and to work hard has changed. Mental barriers where I would just stop before, I now see aren't even mileposts to what I'm capable of. CrossFit is what I've missed most in the last nine months and what I'm most looking forward to doing again. I'm saving for my first pair of gymnastic rings and I'm fighting to overcome habitual lethargy.

It is great to be back on my bike. 45 lbs down, 30 lbs up. This is just the start of things to come but I'm optimistic, and until I hit the hill again, I'm happy.

Push-ups, No Letting Me Down Easy

I got a fair bit of exercise Saturday in the pool. Lots of handstands and spinning in circles, etc. Monday, after I'd thought I was in bed for good, I got up to work out. I wanted something easy, no equipment, but challenging. I settled on 100 push-ups. It took me between 45 and 60 minutes, I think. I started with sets of 10, resting between sets until I felt like I could do another 10. This took me to 80. Did a set of 5. Rested for a short while, less than a minute, then did another set of 5. I finished with a 4,3,2,1 with really short (5-10 seconds, sometimes less) rests in between.

Now, at the end of 100 push-ups, even though it took ages, I still felt it. Not a little either. Confused muscles wanted to know who signed them up for this outfit. They wanted their money back. Today, they decided to go on strike, and while they were at it, they burned down all the facilities.

I knew push-ups used a lot of muscles but I didn't count on just how often those muscles are used in everyday movement. Today, everything hurt. Laughing hurt. Pushing doors open hurt. Pulling doors open hurt. Accepting a 15 lb UPS from someone surprised me it hurt so much. My arms hurt on both sides. I expected the triceps to hurt but the biceps?! Stabilizing abs, deltoids, pectorals, but quadricepts?! And lots of little muscles around my spine.

100 push-ups in 1 hour. Not much of a goal but the workout is worth it.

Workout 2008-07-16

Another workout with Orie.

A couple of minutes of jump rope with the odd double under.

Joint mobility, including lunges with elbow to instep.

A set of 10-12 air squats.

A set of 12 overhead squats with dowel.

Tuck hold for 60 seconds on parallelettes. It took me 4 or 5 sets to get to 60 seconds.

30 second plank on the rings (feet supported), one set.

Overhead lunges across the room and back with dowel.

30 second plank on the rings (feet supported), one set.

Overhead lunges across the room and part way back. When my hamstring started cramping, we switched activity.

7 sets of 5 x push press at 45, 55, 65, 85, 105, 110, 115 lbs.

Orie Inspired Cuisine

Someone I respect is slowly, indirectly persuading me to cook again, particularly, vegetables and fish.

I'm not good at following recipes. Flavors in my head scream for attention and I'm more like the child of a mad scientist with his first chemistry set. Sure, every once in a while I make a winner, but mostly I get ugly, smelly puffs of smoke and lots of frustration. I'm reluctant to cook for others because my lack of consistency terrifies me. Today, I'm home alone.

I tried to go to breakfast at a local Mexican place but they were closed. I decided to hit the grocery store instead of going someplace else. (Thank you, little Orie shaped angel on my shoulder.) The near recipe below is the result.

1/4 head green cabbage
1 smallish radicchio
1 small stalk rhubarb
1 medium white onion
4 large brussels sprouts

Slice everything into thin strips. Toss with olive oil. Add salt, pepper and garlic powder (Paula Dean's house seasoning) to taste.

Add everything to high sided pre-heated med-high skillet. Allow to cook, stirring occasionally until everything has softened and turned sweet. Add a dash of lime and serve.

What worked: The rhubarb was a surprising success. It adds a hint of flavor that I'll be craving all day. The brussels sprouts gave a slight meatiness. The overall flavor of the dish is great.

What I'd change: I'd like to replace the radicchio with red cabbage. The bitterness of the radicchio didn't mellow as much as I'd hoped and it brings down every 5th or 6th bite. I'd either use a sweeter onion or less onion. There is just a tiny bit too much onion taste. More rhubarb. I wish I'd added 2 large stalks. And, less seasoning. As happens so often in my cooking, I over-seasoned the whole thing. Mostly with pepper today. The heat is good but sometimes it gets in the way.

Would I make something like it again? Yes, absolutely. I might even consider offering it to someone else.