Tues Nov 30

I am now the father of a newborn boy, born today. I feel awesome, he's so beautiful.

I'd like to say something hardcore and brutal. That I swallow steel and spit out rivets. That I can take stuff the life tried to pound me with today and can wipe the blood from the side of my mouth with a shirt sleeve, and ask life to keep coming.

I know I can't do that. But I have to.

I ate as well as I could today, without a workout in the traditional sense. Let's just say that today was one non-stop gut check, which should continue tomorrow. I was tested today, like Job ... and I think I passed.

Everyone is ok - both at home and at the hospital. It's me I'm wondering about.

Monday, Nov 29

This was a chilly one this morning - just below freezing outside, just above freezing inside.



Four rounds of:

1A) Push Ups (mix hand positions each set) 4 x 8-15 reps (last two sets with 50 lb SB on my back. That was pretty .. um ... hard)
1B) tire flips 4 x 12
2A) Double KB Military Press Variation 4 x 5-8 reps (30 and 40 lb KB)
2B) 1 Arm DB row 4 x 8-12 reps (50 lb DB)
3) KB Farmer Walk x 200 meters non stop (50 lb DBs)

Then three rounds of this:
4A) wrist rollers (5lbs) x 2 (up and down is 1)
4B) 10 ab roll outs on the green ball
4C) 10 tricep dips
4D) 10 gi grips and lifts with the blue heavy bag - have to think of a way to make this one harder/more efficient. Still, it felt good to get my hands on a gi again.
4E) 5 two handed then 5 SH Indian club halos.
4F) chin ups (sub max) getting better at these...

After going grocery shopping I went for a 5k run - it just seems a good distance, and I am in a "Fastest 5k in November" race on the Nike+ website. After tonight, I'm in 40th place. Not bad, considering the top 15 are all under 20 minutes. 24:32 is my time. Boo ... ya! Oh, and I got a foam roller tonight for 10 bucks, so I am off to make my muscles happy...

I think the focus this week should include work on my KB windmills and TGU's. If I ever want to get good at them, I need to train with them ... and they're just good things for what I want to get out of this training.

I'm sort of glad I've made most of this gear; it's cloth, wood or PVC so that I can warm up without touching cold metal. When I get in the gym, I turn on the heater, place at least one KB in the way, then start with something else - the cloth sandbags, for instance. It's cold in the gym, but that shouldn't stop the workouts.

This was a tough morning - I went for a run last night and totally forgot to go for groceries until well after 11pm. I had to get to bed, I was so beat. Getting up required a bit of force. I had some stuff for my kids' lunch in the fridge and freezer, but I'm sure I'm going to hear about the lunches today. Meh, it came down to a choice for them: the Christmas tree up or shopping for groceries. For them, the tree won. I'll make sure I point that out to them, too. I'm going to the Organic Garage in a bit for my won lunches for the week - at least my diet while at work will not suffer for the Christmas season.

After a short trip to get my food, there are few things I've noticed: one) eating well can be inexpensive; less than 20 bucks for a week of the lunches I've eaten as of late. Except no almonds, so ... I'll get them tonight, somewhere. Two: there are an awful lot of people out there who eat poorly and sleep through life.

I went to get most of the groceries from the OG; it's down the street and around the corner. I got everything there except the tuna and almonds. I got the tuna (on sale!) at the local discount grocery store on the way back. In both places there were people acting as if they were asleep - walking around, shopping and just asleep, man. Kind of a shame, really. One nice thing was this gentleman who let me ahead of him as he had a full cart and I had four tins of tuna. Him, he's the one that will save the planet, I'm sure.

I'm so glad that November is almost over; this one was less tough, thanks to an increase in intensity of these training efforts I am making. I'd rather it be summer time, but as a Canadian, I know that winter has to come at some point. It's the price we pay for living here.

Right, this is what I ate today: (diet was not as good as it should be, yet)

Breakfast: Tim's Belt. and coffee

Lunch: Salad with tuna, carrots and hummus.

Dinner: two slices of pizza with hummus as dip. Almonds for dessert.

Lots of water to drink during the day ... tomorrow I'm going to have to tighten up on the nutrition. I'm glad to say that the groceries are in the building and ready for Tuesday.

Sunday Nov 28

I think this is post 90. Whoa. Cool.

In any case, I had beer last night, so I have to make up for it today.

I did this workout for 25 minutes, and got 6 rounds completed.

1) Tire DL + 80 lbs x 5 reps (I’ll see if the internets has the weight of the tire somewhere)
2) Bodyweight Pulling x 10 (on the TRX)
3) Bodyweight Pushing x 10 (one leg up, other on the tire)
4) 53 lb KB Swing x 10
5) OH 20 lb weights walking lunges x 50'
6) Sledge Hammer x 10
7) jump onto height (sb on top of the milk crate)
8) bicep curls (band with handles)

I felt good after this, but as usual, had to get my butt in gear and get kids to swimming and get groceries done ... then off to my parents place for dinner and helping them get their Macbook Pro up and running.

After I got back from helping my parents and getting my kids into bed, I went for a 5k run. 25 minutes long - which I used to think wasn't very good for conditioning, but now know better. I need to stretch.

I like the new set up of the garage - I got motivated yesterday and did some moving of stuff around. Then last night, I was kinda grumpy, so I did a workout with the car in there. Kinda interesting, to say the least. I got it done, but was pressed for space.

This is the diet for the day:

breakfast: poached eggs and chicken breast

Lunch: tuna wrap - onion, celery tuna and a little mayo on a wrap. Lots of almonds to eat and water to drink.

Dinner chicken and rice, nice salad with a beer to drink. Lots of water, too.

Sat Nov 27

OK, there were like five KB events in Toronto today - and I went to the one that was the coolest, the Toronto KB clubs' event at the FACT. It was cool. I was there, at least I can say I was there, I didn't compete, as I had to make it to piano for my youngest, but I was there, man. I saw history happen.

Seriously, like five KB events: the one at FACT, the one with Shawn Mozen, the one the Ajamu Bernard (in the 'Sauga) and the one at my house .... well, there's four ... ther was one more, it just escapes me at the moment.

Anyway, I had to leave to get to the event by 8:30, so there was no morning workout for me. I got to the event, saw the first set of women lifters, shook some hands and then had to go. Meh, at least I got to piano on time, then rearranged my garage gym, then put up Christmas lights outside, then had lunch, then got the tree up from the basement .... ugh, man ... then I got a chance to work out. With the car in the garage, as I wanted to see whether or not I could do it.

It was done.

Anyway, here is what I did:

warm up; jumping, body movement, static and dynamic stretches

four rounds of:

double hand KB swings
10 KB snatches
10 TRX body rows
10 TRX push ups (2 rounds of push ups, too)
20 BW squats (touched a milk crate with my butt)

three rounds of:
10 count of front and side planks
30 count of step ups onto a milk crate
10 count hand stands with wall assist (yeah, you read that right)

That was pretty cool, then I stretched. A lot.

What I ate:

Breakfast: I was on the go (lame excuse) so I had a Timmy Ho's Belt and coffee.

Lunch was later, had meatballs and veggies with hummus

Snack was almonds and water

Dinner was chicken pasta with almonds and a beer to drink.

I've been hungry since dinner, so I've been eating almonds, almonds and almonds. Trying not to have the kids' Haloween' candy, nor my pregnant wife's ice cream... so ..I'm hangin in my garage in order to stay away. When I come in, I get to feel the tummy and witness the belly rolling and rolling over and over. Seriously.

Fri Nov 26 ..... and a pause for a wish list

This is a nice and relaxed day at work. I had to get in earlier than usual, but I'm here and I don't have a lot to do, so .... I'm trying to make the most of it, soak in a few moments of peace before the mad rush of Christmas. In a chat last night, I mentioned having a wish list for my garage/gym. Almost at the same time we both pointed out that I needed more mats.

That got me to thinking ... about a wish list for my workout space. And so, without further ado ... here it is:

1) more mats - either a single thicker piece for the entire area or just more of the 1/4 inch clip together ones I already have, I have not yet decided. I've been on the look out for them, there are some deals out there, just my current situation says no.

2) move the cupboard and van chair out of the space, to free up space for training while the car is in the garage. 2B) get rid of the other extra stuff in the room, too. Meh, makes sense, right?

3)barbell and some plates. I keep looking for these on Craigslist and eBay. I want to be able to go and pick them up and make sure I'm not being ripped off; I'm still looking. Not sure I need a squat rack for them, but it would be cool to do bicep curls in the rack, just like idiots in my old gym did ....

4)bigger / heavier tire? I dunno, there are ways of taking the big tire I have and making it heavier ... and if I get a bigger tire, where to store it? Move stuff to make room just to store more stuff just doesn't make sense.

5)white board/cork board to post workouts more easily - save me from filling in holes in the wall before I move out. As it is, there's going to be quite the hole filling party in the garage before I move ... I'm thinking this to not make it worse.

6)cooler posters ... 'cuz ya gotta look at sweaty, muscular dudes while you're sweaty and trying to get muscular.

7)wooden stand/table for the heater. I'm getting to the point where the KB's need be warmed in order to not hurt my hands during a workout. Ever held a cold kettlebell? It hurts after a while. Trust me. Why wood? There's going to be snow in the garage at some point in time, and melted snow and an electrical heater shouldn't be together. I need to warm the KB's and keep myself from being electrocuted.

8)heavy bag S clips clipped off and replaced with carabiners. That way I can punch it or wrestle with it, without getting a mouth full of chain. Which might be bad.

9)boxing and/or grappling gloves. To punch without hurting my knuckles and wrist ... again. Might also get the wraps, too.

10) a judo ghee/gi for training ... since the heavy bag has been sweating in it, it's kinda gross .... ;)

11) a thing to go across the bottom of the big door of the garage to get a better seal between the floor and the door - to try and keep cute, small animals and drifting snow out and big scary animals in.

12) battling ropes - well, better ropes than I have right now.




13) a slam ball - or maybe just fix the one I duct taped together.

14) more kettlebells. 'cuz they're cool. And I guess some more hex weights.

15) a lacrosse ball and a foam roller. Man, I'm feeling last night's run. Ugh.

16) a bench. A towel needs to sit somewhere ... ha, ha, ha. No, seriously. A bench. ... need to do DB flies somewhere other than the floor.

17) a rower ... which I'd have to store on it's end, pointing up into the ceiling. But this would have to be a gift, or really, really cheap. I ain't paying good money for some cardio equipment.

18) instruction/resources - kettlebells, boxing/martial arts, running, nutrition, training, etc. Knowledge is power.

19) a jumbo valve box from Home Depot. Nothing says pain like ten minutes of 20 inch steps...

20) a scale .. I am trying to get to a weight class. It'd help to know how close I am.

Whoa, that's quite a list. I'm thinking I'd need another garage just to store all that crap. Anyway, it's a wish list, not a "get this or you'll die" list. All in all, it's a good mental exercise, at least for me. Now I know what I'm looking for when I set money aside for training purposes.



Anyway, that list being done, here is the regular post for the day:

What I ate:

Breakfast: smoothie with a coffee on the way in to work.



Snack: two bowls of cut of fruit: it was awesome! And FREE! I heart meetings!

Lunch: Roast chicken with a garden salad. It's always good.

Break ... I had to get out and see some sunshine, I went for a coffee. W/e.

Snack: left over fruit, see above.

Dinner: Salmon, veggies, salad and 2 beers to drink.



Training:

I had to get into work early today. One of those "hurry up and wait" things. I got to work and worked on this post and my regular stuff at the same time. Relaxed, time enriched moments, with people stressing over money for lunch. I'll go for a run tonight and finish it off with some very quiet KB work in the garage. Saturday I'm off to watch some of the Toronto KB Club's event. Should be good.


Also, saw this:


and I listened to an interview with Matt Wichlinski, and read a rather politically incorrect interrogation by ZEE done with Jim Wendler. Pretty informative, to be honest and pretty damn funny, too.

Thurs Nov 25

Whoa, one month 'till Christmas. Not really in the Christmas mood, yet. Although I'd have to say that it has been a few years since I've been in the C-Mas mood. In any case, it is getting really cold in the mornings in the garage/gym, this morning was no exception.

I did this:

1) SB Bear (clean + squat + press) x 10, 8, 6, 4, 2
2A) chin ups 4 x mixed grip x submax reps (usually 5)
2B) SB push ups 4 x 10
3) battling ropes 3 x 1 minutes (no timer, so I counted "Mississippi's")
4A) 25 sec Front and side Planks,
4B) 10 Swiss ball roll outs,
4C) overhead weight trunk side flexes,
5A) grip roller (now with 5lbs on the end of the rope)

5B) judo gi grips and throws on the heavy bag (that was fun grip work)

I did go for another 5k run tonight - I was going to go earlier, but discovered the FILA youtube channel and was watching some Greco. For whatever reason it won't let me embed it here, so you'll have to click on the link. Meh.

Breakfast: smoothie with frozen berries, OJ and green goo. Different OJ this morning, added a lot more Vitmin C than usual. Also had a multivitamin.

After workout meal: beef and eggs. With my wife ... and the belly.

Lunch was skipped for some reason. I guess I just forgot.

Dinner was Blue Label meatballs with some veggies. Really, really tasty and good. I read the nutrition label and the ingredients. I could pronounce all of the contents. Not a single "ose" or "oguawa" in the entire thing.

I'm tired, though. I keep getting that nap in the mid-evening. Tonight I had both kids on my lap as we were watching some trailers from the new Disney film and I nodded off. Kinda cool - my kids let me nap and let the trailers run. A nice way to wake up, too; cuddling with two of the best kids on the planet.

Oh yeah, today is Thursday - I should have gone down to the rugby club. Ah, well. Too late to go there and drink beer. Shame, really. NOT!!

Wed Nov 24

Wow, November is going by in a rush, thank God. Normally, this is the crappiest part of the year, but it is half over, and I feel pretty damn awesome. I took some before pics at the start of September and I looked at them last night.

I'm not ever putting them up, unless this endeavour turns out incredibly well.

I have noticed that when I don't stick to the diet, even semi-strictly, I don't make a lot of progress. Like I needed that idea pounded into my head. Again.

I did this workout this morning:

Day 2: UPPER BODY
1A) Push Ups 4 x 15 (two sets I had a 40 lb SB on my back)
1B) chin ups sub max x 4
2A) Double KB Military Press 4 x 5-8 reps (started with 2 30lb KB, then 40lbs)
2B) 1 Arm DB row 4 x 8-12 reps (50 lb DB)
3) KB Farmer Walk x 200 meters non stop (2 50 lb DBs)
4A) TRX Body rows 3 x 10
4B) abs 3 x (10 each of: Ab roll outs, mountain climbers, tricep dip)
4C) grip 4 roller x 2 (need to increase this weight and get a second exercise)

My wrists are still sore.

Later on in the day, did a 5k run. The damn Nike+ sensor is messed up. I'm thinking on Friday I go to the YMCA in Oakville and recalibrate it on their track. Unless some baby arrives to mess that plan up. ;)

I ate this:

Breakfast: smoothie; frozen berries, OJ, GJ, green goo and almond butter.

Breakfast egg and beef wraps with tomato and hot peppers with some ketchup.

Lunch: the usual. Tuna on salad, almonds and prunes. Water to drink.

Dinner: small plate of pasta and veggies. Water to drink.

While at work, I took some time and watched this:



Seems I have a few new ideas about training with that heavy bag at my house. I'm thinking I put the Judo gi on it, with a belt and throw the shit out of it.

I also saw this one, and now ... I'm pretty much thinking I need to put together a heavy heavy lifting bag and see where that takes me.