All While Intermittent Fasting

[B_to_the_rian]

Wednesday, August 3rd

12:00 P.M.

1/2 Mile Runs: 6.5 mph, 6.7 mph, 6.9 mph, 7.1 mph

5:30 P.M.

A. Deadlifts: 3x135x3, 185x3, 225x3, 275x3, 315x3, 365x3, 315x4
----Total: It’s over 6000!!
B. Light Clean Singles for Speed: 5x135
C. Hanging Leg Raises: 5x10
D. Weighted Crunches: 3x10 @ 105 lbs

First day back on the conventional deadlift. Not too bad. I’m used to being able to pull 365 for 3 fairly easily, and this was a little more difficult, but could’ve still pulled out a 4th and possibly a 5th rep. (we’re staying in the 3-rep zone for now, though)

It was a little annoying to watch the CrossFit fairies take the bars off the monolifts to do their shitty, lightweight exercises, but I tried not to pay too much attention to them.

[B_to_the_rian]

Friday, August 5th

12:00 P.M.

Steady State Cardio: 2 mile run - 18:41
Heavy Bag Work: 10 minutes of kicking and punching

6:00 P.M.

A1. Bench Press: 3xBARx3, 135x3, 185x3, 225x3, 245x3, 265x3, 4x225x6
A2. Seated Chest-Supported Rows: 4x6 @ 230 lbs
B1. Weighted Dips: BW x 5, BW+20 x 5, BW+40 x 5, BW+60 x 5, BW+80 x 5, BW+60 x 5, BW+40 x 5, BW+20 x 5, BW x 5
B2. Parallel Grip Chin-ups: 9x5
Pinwheel Curls: 4x6 w/ 45’s, 50’s, 55’s, 60’s

Hard day in the gym. Really feeling the 6 hours of sleep last night. Plenty for some, but not for me. I’m used to nearly 8 hours. It is encouraging, however, to see my 2 mile time come down by nearly a minute. I mean, I used to run 2 miles in 12:00 during high school cross country. However, I was also about 50-55 lbs lighter, too. Maybe I’ll break out the physics equations and find out what the work value is for then vs. now. Also, time to break out the spikes to start running hill sprints. I’ll be damned if steady state running is all I do.

[B_to_the_rian]

Sunday, August 7th

Energy Systems Circuit - Completion Time 33:00
—1.) Dips: 5xBWx10
—2.) Deadlift Squat Thrusts: 5x135x10
—3.) Parallel Grip Pullups: 5xBWx5
—4.) 1/2 Mile Run: 7.0, 7.2, 7.4, 7.5, 8.0

Not bad. Not bad at all. Only had to tripod once during the whole thing.

[B_to_the_rian]

Fun with Physics

Decided that it would be interesting to see what kind of disparity exists between my power-output of a 1/2 mile run in highschool versus now. On Saturday, I ran five 800m intervals, which is similar to some Cross Country practices we used to do. Back then, I could run each 1/2 mile in an average of 2:45 where as I only ran one sub-4:00 1/2 on Saturday. So how about some stats first:

Highschool Stats:
Weight: ~155 lbs (70.33 kg)
Avg 800m time: 2:45 (165 seconds)

Current Stats:
Weight: 207 lbs (93.92 kg)
Best recent 800m: 3:55 (235 seconds)

Starting from the top, Power is a measurement of Work over time, or P=W/t. Since Work is the same measurement as energy, then W=E. So we need to find E. In this case, we’ll be working with Kinetic Energy, or KE. Kinetic energy’s equation can be written as KE=(1/2)mv^2, where m is mass of object in kilograms and v is velocity in meters per second.

We already have m, so we need to find v. Since v=d/t, where d equals distance in meters and t equals time in seconds, we can simply plug in numbers.

v1 = 800m/165s = 4.85 m/s
v2 = 800m/235s = 3.40 m/s

Now that we have v, we can find KE

KE1 = (1/2)(70.33kg)(4.85 m/s)^2 = 827.17 kJ
KE2 = (1/2)(93.92kg)(3.40 m/s)^2 = 542.86 kJ

So apparently thereâ??s a difference of 284.31 kilojoules in work. Since power is a measure of joules per second, we need to convert kJ to J (just move the decimal 3 places to the right). Plugging these KE figures into the power equation we come to:

P = 827170J / 165s = 5013 watts
P = 542860J / 235s = 2310 watts

That’s a pretty embarrassing difference in power output. So how fast would I have to run at my current weight to equal the power output of my highschool days? Well, using KE = (1/2)mv^2 to solve for v would give us the following:

KE = (1/2)(m)(v^2)
827.17 kJ = (1/2)(93.92kg)(v^2)
17.61 kJ/kg = v^2
4.20 m/s = v

If I know my velocity and distance then I can rewrite d=v/t to be t=d/v.

t = (800m)/(4.20 m/s) = 190s or ~3:10.

Translation: I have a long way to go!

[B_to_the_rian]

Monday, August 8th

12:30 P.M.

Cosgrove’s Evil 8 Complex - Completion Time 13:00 - Weight 95 lbs
—1.) Deadlift: 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1
—2.) Romanian Deadlift: 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1
—3.) Bent-over Barbell Rows: 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1
—4.) Power Cleans: 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1
—5.) Front Squats: 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1
—6.) Push Presses: 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1
—7.) Back Squats: 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1
—8.) Good Mornings: 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1

I fuckin’ destroyed this! The last time I tried this even with only 95 lbs, I was suckin’ wind after the 2nd round and was halfway debating why I didn’t have to finish it. This time, I shortened the rest period on the last 2 rounds because I got bored of waiting the 90 seconds between rounds.

5:30 P.M.

A. Clean and OHP: 3xBARx3, 95x3, 135x3, 155x3, 175x3, 185x3, 195x3, 3x185x3
B. Barbell Shrugs: 135x8, 225x8, 275x8, 2x315x8
C. Lateral Raises: 3x10 w/ 30’s, 30’s, 25’s
D. Single Arm OH Triceps Extensions: 4x8 ea arm @ 50 lbs
E. Close-Grip Bench Press: 3x10 @ 135 lbs
F. Single-Arm Rear Delt: 2x12 ea arm @ 30 lbs

The 195 for 3 on OHP felt good. Since it was a strict press, I’m wondering if my 1RM for that lift has gone up. The last I hit was 205. Maybe next week, we’ll see.

[B_to_the_rian]

Wednesday, August 10th

12:00 P.M.

Energy Systems Work - Completion Time 28 minutes
—1.) Pullups: 15, 14, 13, 12, 11
—2.) Handstand Pushups: 15, 14, 13, 12, 11
—3.) Dumbbell Swings: 15, 14, 13, 12, 11
—4.) Burpees: 15, 14, 13, 12, 11

Suckin’ a lot of wind after 2 rounds. Feeling dizzy after 3. Pretty sure I didn’t eat enough yesterday. Solution? Large general tso’s chicken after this workout. Gotta re-fuel before the next workout in a few hours.

5:30 P.M.

A. Front Squats: 3xBARx3, 135x3, 185x3, 205x3, 4x215x3, 185x3
B. Romanian Deadlifts: 135x6, 185x6, 225x6, 2x275x6
C. Leg Extensions: 45x8, 90x8, 135x8, 180x8, 2x225x8
D. Hamstring Curls: 90x8, 135x8, 2x180x8

I almost didn’t go for this one. I felt pretty depleted after the mid-day workout. Lesson learned. Absolutely don’t undereat during this training. I had to take a double shot of RedLine just to feel any motivation. And just to make sure I didn’t undereat yesterday, I had a pizza and chocolate milk after the workout. That oughta serve as a good mid-week re-fuel.

[B_to_the_rian]

Friday, August 12th

12:00 P.M.

2-mile Run: Completion time - 17:52
Heavy Bag Work: 10 minutes

50 second improvement over last Friday. Glad to see the time coming down. I’d like to be around a 15:00 2-mile before the Tough Mudder, though. Long way to go.

5:30 P.M.

A1. BB Bench Press: 3xBARx3, 135x3, 185x3, 225x3, 245x3, 2x265x2, 2x255x3, 245x3
A2. Chest-Supported Rows: 4x8 @ 200 lbs
B1. Weighted Dips: BWx5, 3 x BW+40 x 5, 2 x BW+60 x 5
B2. Chin-ups: 5x5
C1. Pushups: 3x15
C2. Horizontal Pullups: 3x15

Sad to see some of my strength go down. Last week I hit 265x3. Today, I just couldn’t fathom a 3rd rep without grinding to the max. This is the price to pay for dropping bodyweight. Especially since some of it is going to have to be muscle if I’m going to get back down to 190. I’ll have to push with everything I can to increase muscle efficiency, I guess.

Excited to do some sled work on Sunday…I’m sure that’ll change when i’m actually in the middle of it, though.

[B_to_the_rian]

Sunday, August 14th

My friend with a sled bailed on the gym today. Decided to try and beat last week’s Sunday workout instead.

Energy Systems Work - Completion Time 31:00 (2 minute improvement)
–1.) Dips: 5x10
–2.) Deadlift Sprawl: 5x135x10
–3.) Parallel-Grip Pullups: 5x10
–4.) 800m Run: 4:10, 4:05, 4:02, 3:59, 3:47 (8 second improvement)

Slowly and steadily I’m getting faster. Plus, I only had to tripod once in this circuit…right before the last half-mile.

Seems like Saturdays and Sundays are turning into Warrior Diet days. Yesterday, I only had one meal. Same today…of course it’s going to be a cheat meal, but still. What happened to me? I used to feed round the clock in evenly spaced intervals 5, sometimes 6, times. Now I eat 2 meals and one snack a day on non-workout days and the same plus post-workout nutrition on workout days during the week. But, even stranger than that, I’m okay with it.

In the winter, I’m probably switching back to 5-6 meals a day and putting muscle back on after the Tough Mudder is over. Maybe Indigo 3G will be more readily available by that time and I can avoid ballooning up to 15%+ bodyfat in the process. I’m okay at 10-12%, usually.

[B_to_the_rian]

Monday, August 15th

12:00 P.M.

Left work to go to the gym in the middle of the day. Got all the way there and realized I’d left my gym bag at work. Dumbass!

5:30 P.M.

A. Clean and Strict OHP: 3xBARx3, 135x3, 155x3, 175x3, 185x3, 195x3, 205x3 (PR), 3x185x3
B. BB Shrugs: 135x8, 225x8, 3x275x8
C. Lateral Raises: 3x10 w/ 25’s
D. Close-grip Bench Press: 135x10, 155x10, 165x10, 175x10

10 minute break

Cosgrove’s Evil 8 - 95 lbs - Completion Time 10:30
–1.) Deadlift: 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1
–2.) Romanian Deadlift: 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1
–3.) Bentover BB Row: x, x, x, 7, 7, 7
–4.) Hang Clean: 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1
–5.) Front Squat: 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1
–6.) Standing OHP: 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1
–7.) Back Squat: 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1
–8.) Good Mornings: 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1

So a PR for 3RM of standing OHP, and I beat my last time on Cosgrove’s Evil 8 by a huge margin. And here I was getting all down on myself on Friday and Sunday. I guess the huge cheat meals on Sunday make for good Monday workouts. I’m glad it’s before an OHP day instead of bench day.

Next time, I’m going up a bit in weight for the complex. I’d like to see how well I’d handle 135. But that may be too big of a leap.

**note: I forgot to do the bb rows in the first 3 rounds of Cosgrove’s Evil 8, so I just did the total I would normally do by the end in 3 even sets. Not sure how much that affected the time. Might’ve shaved off 20-25 seconds.

[B_to_the_rian]

Wednesday, August 17th

5:30 P.M.

Complexes - 45 minutes - ?? Rounds
–1.) Top Squats: ?? x 495x3
–2.) ATG Squats: ?? x 225x3
–3.) Deadlift Jumps: ?? x 185x3
–4.) Vertical Leaps: ?? x BWx3

I didn’t really count the number of sets. I just kept going for 45 minutes. I had to take off for the fire station after that.

The top squats made my right knee a little sore. But it was good to see I can still stand under 500 lbs relatively easy. I probably should’ve used Front Squats instead of ATG’s, but I wanted to try out the monolift with a backsquat. I’m thinking I should’ve included speed squats in there, but my mind was elsewhere worrying about the final exam I have.

[B_to_the_rian]

Friday, August 19th

12:00 P.M.

2-Mile Run: Completion Time - 17:11 (-0:41)
Heavy Bag Work: 10 minutes

41 second improvement. Alright, now we’re talkin’. Starting to get closer to the 8:00 mile pace.

6:00 P.M.

A. Bench Press: 3xBARx5, 135x5, 185x5, 225x5, 3x245x5, 225x5
B. Bent-over T-Bar Rows: 5x180x5
C. Weighted Dips: 5x5 @ BW+40
D. Pinwheel Curls: 3x10 w/ 45s, 55s, 55s
E. Hanging Leg Raises: 5x10

Eh. Not all here today. Vacation starts tomorrow.

[B_to_the_rian]

Wednesday, August 24th

7:00 P.M.

Firefighter Drills: 1 hour of donning & doffing, crawling, ladder raising & climbing

Back from vacation. Sure I might’ve put on a couple pounds. But I feel refreshed, re-focused, and ready to re-invent my approach to training for this Tough Mudder.

[B_to_the_rian]

Thursday, August 25th

5:30 P.M.

A. Powerlifter Squats: 3xBARx3, 3x135x3, 3x185x3, 3x225x3, 135x3
B. Cleans (from the floor): 5x135x5
C. Speed Squats: 6x135x2
D. Barbell Squat Jumps: 3xBARx10
E. Standing Jumps: 3x10
F. 1-Mile Run: 7:40

With my back seeming to be under constant stress, I think I’m switching from ATG to powerlifting style. The wide stance doesn’t allow me to really sink below a level where my back rounds. Sure I have to knock the weight down a little and re-build, but I’m willing to put in the time. I don’t have much power coming out of the hole, for sure. But once it gets half-way up, I can rocket up fast enough to launch it off my shoulders.

The 1-mile run was a shock. I didn’t think I had a sub-8 in me, yet. If I can knock that back down into the 6’s I’ll be golden. Granted, I used to run low-to-mid 5’s in highschool, but I was also only 160 lbs back then, too.

[B_to_the_rian]

Friday, August 26th

5:30 P.M.

A. Bench Press: 3xBARx5, 95x5, 135x5, 185x5, 225x5, 245x5, 255x5, 245x5, 225x5
B. T-Bar Row: 45x5, 90x5, 135x5, 180x5, 225x5, 180x5
C. Dips: BWx5, BW+20x5, BW+40x5, BW+60x5, BW+80x5, BW+100x5 (PR), BW+40x5
D. Seated V-Handle Rows: 110x8, 3x180x8
E. Close-Grip Bench Press: 135x10, 155x10, 175x10
F. Pinwheel Curls: 35’s x 16, 2x8 w/ 50’s

Tired after today. No running. I’ll get that tomorrow. Pleasantly surprised with being able to do 5 dips with 5 chains.

[B_to_the_rian]

Saturday, August 27th

6:00 P.M.

Energy Systems Work - Completion Time 15:57
–1.) Clean and Press: 135 x 10, 9, 8, 7, 6
–2.) DB Swings: 50 x 10, 9, 8, 7, 6
–3.) Pullups: BW x 10, 9, 8, 7, 6
–4.) Burpees: 10, 9, 8, 7, 6

My heart and lungs hurt. I didn’t feel like doing handstand pushups and having to answer questions about CrossFit. Simple substitution of Standing OHP. Stupid CrossFit.

[B_to_the_rian]

Monday, August 29th

5:30 P.M.

A. Clean & Press: 3xBARx3, 135x5, 155x5, 175x3, 195x3, 205x1, 215x1 (PR) 3x185x3
B. BB Shrugs: 225x8, 3x275x8
C. Lateral Raises: 3x10 w/ 25’s
D. Thib Lat Pulldowns: 150x8, 3x180x8
E. Pronated Triceps Kickbacks: 3x10 w/ 30’s
F. Clean & Press: lots of sets and rep variations with 135 & 155
G. Rack Bench Lockouts: 185x5, 4x205x5, 255x5

Both F & G were just some extra work with a powerlifter friend of mine. I wasn’t really pushing for heavy weight. Just didn’t feel like leaving the gym, yet. So I worked in with her for numerous sets. Kind of glad I stuck around. I like getting in extra work.

I really was hoping that 215 would come up a little cleaner on the clean & press, but it was just a little sloppy. Still, I’ve never cleaned more than 205 before. So at least I set one PR today.

The pronated triceps kickbacks were something I read in John Meadow’s article. Wanted a little triceps specific work, so I gave them a try. I could see them being a bit more effective with cables instead of dumbbells.

[B_to_the_rian]

Tuesday, August 30th

6:00 P.M.

A. PL Squats: BARx5, 135x5, 185x5, 5x225x5
B. Romanian DL: 135x8, 225x8
C. Deadlift: 315x5, 365x3, 3x405x1, 315x5
D. Speed Squats: 5x2 @ 135 lbs
E. Jump Squats: 3x8 @ 45 lbs
F. Vertical Leaps: 3x8
G. Power & Hang Snatch: Several sets and reps. Teaching my friend how to do them.

Heavy day. Definitely didn’t eat enough earlier to prepare for this. That’s the thing about working out with my PL friend. I always abandon my previous plan and just lift heavier than I’d planned. Oh well. At least I know I can still pull 405 despite dropping weight.

[B_to_the_rian]

Wednesday, August 31st

7:00 P.M.

Firefighting drills…lot’s of 'em. That is all.

[B_to_the_rian]

Thursday, September 1st

5:30 P.M.

Fran - Completion Time: 4:21
–1.) Barbell Thrusters: 95 lbs x 21 - 15 - 9
–2.) Parallel Grip Pullups (Strict, no kipping BS): 21 - 15 - 9

So one of my supposed friends from EMT school reacted rather harshly to a Facebook post that included the short phrase: “CrossFit sucks!” From that single statement, I was barraged with ad hominem attacks such as “you have man boobs”, “you’re a closed minded douchebag”, and “fuckin’ meathead.” That’s on top of insinuations that he could “run circles around [me]” and that I “flex [my] biceps in the mirror all day.”

I’m usually a put-up-or-shut-up kind of guy, so I went on his page and found that recently he’d completed the CrossFit benchmark known as “Fran” in 4:09. A little research to find the workout, and a few YouTube demonstrations to make sure that I understood and I decided to try it on my off-day. (an internet flamer is never worth missing a REAL workout)

Okay, so my time was a little slower than his. I assume he started a little higher and improved over time due to neural adaptation–not to mention he probably kipped every single pullup, too. That being said, I don’t think a 12 second deficit constitutes “running circles around [me]”.

So I PM’d him on FB with my time and the conditions under which I’d completed it. I then requested that he try one of my circuits that I’d done so I can see how well he does against a workout to which he is NOT neurally adapted. I hope to hear back from him. If I don’t, I’m cutting his fundamentalist, kool-aid drinking ass from my friend list.

[B_to_the_rian]

Friday, September 2nd

6:00 P.M.

A. Bench Press: 3xBARx3, 95x4, 135x3, 185x3, 225x3, 245x3, 255x3, 265x3, 3x225x3
B. Chest-Supported Rows: 180x8, 3x200x8
C. Weighted Dips: BW+20x5, BW+40x5, BW+60x5, BW+80x5, BW+100x4, BW+80x5, BW+60x5, BW+40x5, BW+20x5
D. Chinups: 4x8
E. Machine Flys: 100x5, 2x140x5
F. Pinwheel Curls: 3x10 w/ 45’s

What was I thinking doing chinups today after all those parallel grip pullups yesterday?! A little disappointed I didn’t hammer out 5 reps of dips with 100 lbs. So I slowly descended the ladder instead of jumping back down for one more set.

After doing Fran, I will say that it put me on the floor for 5-10 minutes for recovery. But today, I feel no after effects of this CrossFit benchmark. Well, except for disappointment that I only spent 5 minutes in the gym training. I should’ve stuck around and run a couple miles. It’s been over a week since I’ve done any steady state running.