Wed Nov 17

Last night, I went to be early .. which means I was up and at them at about 5:45 am. I checked my email, unsubscribed to a few "Healthy Living" e-newsletters that were really just looking to take my money, and I also read a few really good articles about lifting.

I did not consume a smoothie as I drove my kids in to school today - which left me rather uninspired to do my workout. My stomach actually growled through a round of planks this morning.

I did this workout:

Day 2: UPPER BODY
1A) 40 lb SB Push Ups (mix hand positions each set) 4 x 10 reps (last set drop sets)
1B) tire flips (12 flips per round x 4)
2A) Double KB Military Press Variation 4 x 5-8 reps (30 lb KBs)
2B) 1 Arm DB row 4 x 8-12 reps (50 lb DB)
3) KB Farmer Walk x 200 meters non stop (two 50 lb DB used)
4A) TRX face pulls 3 x 15
4B) abs: 3 x roll outs on green ball, 10 "mountain climbers" then 10 sec front planks.

My grip was spent after this workout. I was cranky and hungry.

I ate this:
Breakfast (After workout) roast beef with poached eggs. OJ and coffee to drink.

Snack: water to drink

Lunch: the usual tuna (tomato and basil) on lettuce greens. Almonds, prunes. Carrots and spinach dip today. (Not sure about the spinach dip, but it's gone, so w/e)

Dinner:turkey and veggies. Raw carrots and hummus. OJ to drink. Smoothie for dessert.


On my drive in, thought about why I didn't workout like this in HS and University. In the time I have been doing this, I have made some real progress on my shoulders and my overall fitness. Why didn't I do this when I was 20? I projected for a bit, blamed my coaches, my buddies.... but I know why I didn't do this training: I didn't know about it. The first time I was training like this was the Iranians at the Cabbagetown WC back in 1995. I saw them dancing on the mat before most wrestling sessions, and thought it was stupid. Then they handed my ass to me, repeatedly. All it was was bodyweight training. I found out this month, they were doing a "House of Strength" training, the Zoorkaneh type of stuff that has been working for eons in the Middle East.

I just didn't know.

I did a lot of running, but very little weight training. I think, as I look back, I used to do a lot of push ups at Mac and a lot more while at UNB after every training session, but that was it. I recall doing a lot more training as a part of sessions at UNB, but only running outside of that. Never training with weights.

Why not as much at Mac? Because I was a lot more interested in my social life than anything else. I was more interested in my friends (who also happened to be wrestlers, thank goodness) than just about anything else. Training was something we did at Wrestling practice, not really anywhere else. Such a lot of time, wasted. A shame, really.

Shrug my shoulders. Move on, man. Let's not turn this post into a pity party.

I feel awesome, today. I feel as if I am in good health, strong and able-bodied. Very few injuries plague me at the moment, and things are just going my way. My wife, my kids are healthy and happy, doing what they can to stay healthy and safe. Life is good. Taxes and bills are being paid on time, too. What else do you want?

What got me thinking about this was an interview between Craig Ballentyne and a nutritional doctor, of all things. A lot of talk about motivation and how trainers just shouldn't harass people into doing work they know they need to do. I'm like that. I knew I had to work out - at least I did rugby - through my 30's. I kinda am pissed that I let myself go as heavy as I did. I was struggling with a lot, though. The two hours I spent in the car every day on the commute was a big thing. But I'm pretty sure I'm doing with being unfit. Looking forward, I put together a to do list for the next month or so; lots of reading, lots of listening to interviews on my iPod, lots of "me centred" learning. What will the final outcome be? Dunno.

Oh, and a former flame has launched her blog to lose 100 pounds by the time she reaches 40. This will be her second time losing a significant amount of weight like that. Like me, she stopped workouts and went back to old habits after losing it all. Meh, I'm pretty sure that I'll keep this going for as long as I last; like 40 years, right?

During my time to research, watched this video on doing a roll out on an ball:



A few things learned here and there - which makes this an even better day.

I watched this one, too, but kinda not liking the "crunch" aspect of this one, althogh I can see the benefit of 'working da core, yo!"

Tuesday Nov 16

I needed to be punished today - I was an idiot last night. How can I hit another personal best in the mile, hit a personal best in the 5k run ... and then suck back a six pack of beer? I dunno - seems rather "split personality" time to my rational self.

To quote the book I'm reading .. I gotta get my elephant and my driver on the same page.

So ... it should have been a relaxing stretching day ... and I turned it into a punishment day. Had to happen.

In any case, this is what I did to make it up to myself:

Five rounds of:
10 SH snatches (both sides) 53 lb KB
SB OH walks 80 feet (50 lb SB)
15 push ups
20 BW squats
10 green ball roll outs



By the end of the fifth round, I was sweating like an idiot. But I deserved it.

I had this to eat:

Breakfast: Smoothie. No flax this morning; just frozen fruit and grapefruit juice with some green goo.

After workout meal: poached eggs and some roast beef. Seriously.

Lunch:The usual salad and tuna with green peppers and hummus. Oh, and a rather spicy veggie samosa.

Dinner: small bowl of veggies and pasta.

After I scarfed down dinner, I had to meet up with my parents and help them buy a Macbook Pro at the nearest Apple Store. That was kinda cool - but what wasn't cool was having to set it up at home, with promises to teach them how to use their iTunes. I am SOOOOO going to look into some sort of remote login, so that I can fix problems on their computer from my house. It should be good.

But no second workout for the day, although there should have been. Meh, whatever, it was really crappy out. Tomorrow evening will be clear and better for a run.

I'm also having to show up to put some flicks and tunes on their Macbook on Friday, too. Might have to make it to a small gym I know of, to drop off a piece of timber.

Monday Nov 15

I got up late this morning at 6:30am and have been kinda off since then. Got my kids to school and got home to do this workout:

1) SB Bear (clean + squat + press) x 10, 8, 6, 4, 2
2A) chin ups 4 x submax reps 2B) plyo push ups 4 x 10
3) battling ropes 3 x 1 minutes
4) 6 tire flips and 10, 53 lb kb two handed swings x 3
5) three rounds of: grip roller x 2, 5 Indian club OH wrist rolls and wall pushes

At the end of this, I was pretty spent - and I had to get on my horse to get to work on time. I made the time for a decent breakfast, though.

I also did a 5k run in a record, at least a personal record for me. 24 minutes and 38 seconds. Seriously, I think I could beat that, but I'd need a few days to try. That, and snow free roads. We'll try later on this week.

I put a bet down that my newest child would not arrive until Dec 15th today. I'm hoping that's the date - things just work out best for everyone involved if my new boy waits that long. My wife was hoping for sometime next week, but .... no one is in charge here but the baby. I'm so stoked.

On that note, I watched all of the Krav Maga videos on Moni's site today ... I realize that what I do is sorely lacking in what I see on the street, what I see in my school. I'd really like to make sure that no one gets hurt because they cannot defend themselves. I would be cool if I could learn how to teach people how to defend themselves. Oh wait .... I get money this year for ProDev ... hmmm eatch this space for more info.

This is today's diet:

Breakfast: smoothie (fruit, green goo, Grapefruit juice, almond butter) poached egg wrap with tomatoes.

Snack: coffee

Lunch: salad with spicy tuna, veggies and hummus, water to drink. Some almonds.

Dinner: roast beef with some horseradish, salad with light dressing, smoothie (as above, except for the Almond butter) to drink.

After run recovery ... I'm afraid to say it ... beer.

I dunno. I need to get to bed.

Sunday Nov 14

Again, I love my weekends off - they give me a chance to reconnect with my family, instead of traveling all over Ontario for rugby, I'm at home, relaxing and taking some time to get things ready for baby, for my job and for myself.

This morning, I didn't eat until after church, which was about 11am.

Breakfast coffee. Coffee and water.

Lunch two steak wraps, around 2pm

Dinner: grape fruit juice.

Snack: veggies and hummus. Beer - which I should not have had, but gave into weakness.

I did four rounds of this session:

1A) 1 Arm DB Snatch 4 x 6 (first round 40lb, two rounds with 53, last with 72 lb KB)
1B) 6-8 chin ups
2A) KB Goblet Squat 4 x 6 2B) Lunge Jumps 4 x 6/6
3A) BB Cheat Curls 3 x 5 - 8 3B) feet up push ups, 3 x 15
4A) 12 tire flips x 4 4B) OH sand bag walk x 4 (50 feet)

After that, I did three rounds of:
duck under the rope x 50 feet (I'll get a shot of this next time. Pretty slick, man)
wall wrestle with the green ball x 2 minute goes.

I was pretty sweaty by the end of this, but then got the call that we were going swimming, like, now. No chance for an after workout shake, let alone meal. I ate when we got back from the pool.

Sat Nov 13

I was needed at home. I was taking care of, well, just family stuff. I did get a chance to work in a stretching session while taking care of my kids.

The liked jumping on the tire, then filling it up with the various things I own. I had to make sure the leaky Indian clubs didn't get in there, though. I was using one of them for rolling on my itb band and other leg parts. Man, rolling the indian clubs felt good on my calves. And my hamstrings. And my quads.

About forty minutes, before dinner. Overall, not a great stretch, as I had to keep interrupting it to stop my children from hurting themselves ... seriously ... but a needed recovery day nevertheless.

Before this, I took my kids out of hte house so that my wife could rest - went to Kors MA place... I'll be checking it out on Tuesday.

Tomorrow I will be working hard. Then I have to sweep the garage out. Lots of dust, dirt and just stuff on the floor in there.

This is what I ate today:

Breakfast: Breakfast Belt.

Lunch: Steak wraps - tomato, hot pepper, steak on a wrap.

Water to drink

Dinner was a sirloin burger with a salad. Beer to drink.

I watched some of the UFC 122 - something my wife will never understand. She is grateful I'm showing no interest in doing that for a living. Humph, there goes Plan B...

I'm kidding, of course. Sort of. ;)

Friday, Nov 12,

Today’s blog was started overlooking the Starbucks in Niagara Falls, Ontario. I just finished with a couple of presentations for people with exceptionalities. The highlight was a young lady who represents Canada at the Special Olympics in Rhythmic Gymnastics. I was within a foot of her performance area after she gave a ten minute speech. It was just really cool. She sat right beside me after her performance.

The some ministry wonk got on the mic and bored the tears out of me with the keynote speech. (yawn) As he finished, I turned to the young lady and said “I liked your presentation WAAAAAAY better.” Both she and her mom had a good chuckle.

I forgot what presentations I signed myself up for, so I went to the ones with the titles I thought were the coolest. “The elephant on the trampoline” was the one that has just finished. I’m thinking I need to tell more jokes to my kids, which was the way that the presenter said that most students learn better.

In the afternoon session, it was “Accessibility in the e-World” ... helping people with better websites for people with disabilities. Should help with blogging for the various classes I teach.

Oh, I did this before I left for this conference this morning:

As many rounds as possible in 25 minutes, got through 9 rounds of:
6 Tire flips
2) Bodyweight Pulling x 10 (TRX lat pulls)
3) Bodyweight Pushing x 10 (push ups on the tire)
4) KB Swing x 10 (Used the 40lb KB ... next time, it’s the 53)
5) OH SB walking x 50' (used 40 lb SB)
Sledge Hammer on the tire x 10 (Which didn’t go over very well at my house at 7am in the morning. Alas, they love me, and didn’t scream at me ... too loudly...;) nah, there was no screaming, I just got a few raised eyebrows when I was done.)

Ate this:

Breakfast : grapefruit juice, OJ, too. Had to get moving after the workout.
Snack: coffee, coffee and some water.
Lunch:Tuna wraps with grilled peppers and leafy greens. Water to drink. Coffee on top, too.
Lots of water to drink
Dinner was a lightly seasoned chicken, over rice, asparagus and red peppers. One beer to drink.

Tomorrow is SOOOO going to be a recovery day. Stretching, working on muscles and the like. My butt is aching right now. Seriously, needs a really good working on.

Thursday Nov 11

Lest we forget.

Today was 'normal" in that I didn't have too many surprises, man. Lots of things expected and I saw them coming, for the most part.

I did this, after dropping my kids off at school:

Four rounds of
1A) 1 Arm DB Snatch x 6
1B) 6-8 chin ups
2A) KB Goblet Squat x 6
2B) Lunge Jumps x 6/6
3A) Band Curls 3 x 5 - 8
3B) DB Press 3 x 12-15
4) ab circuit 4 x in a row

By the end, my left shoulder was hurting. One of those "You know, if I keep doing this, it's going to be a long time off training" kind of feelings. I finished the abs, though. Felt a lot better after finishing.

Ate this today:

Breakfast: smoothie

After training was coffee

On hte way in was coffee

Lunch was salad with tuna, carrots and green pepper with hummus.

Snack was almonds and steak. Yeah, that was pretty good.

Dinner was two small slices of pizza.

Went to the rugby clubhouse, which is normally an excuse to have six or seven beers, but this time, picked up my ticket, had a beer and then left. I was kinda proud of myself. I got home and even my wife took notice that I was "there and back very quickly".

I feel pretty good these days. Tomorrow will be complicated, as I have to get to Niagara Falls for business for 9am - which means leaving when I should normally work out. I think tomorrow I will do something quick and then go. Being late to a conference is not a big deal, I think.

I hope.

Finished reading Tuesdays with Morrie for the ... fiftieth time ... today. I'm now going to go and wiggle my toes, just to make sure I did that today.