Power Workout Part 1

I've said it before.  Power in lifting can be easily defined.  How much weight can you get off the ground, and then up and over your head.  Easy right?

Warm Up
Strict barbell military press 10/5/4/3/2/1 (progressively heavier)
20 rep squat set
Thick handled dumbbell bent over rows
Neck work
Grip work
50 rep set of crunches

Tomorrow, basketball, and more running up and down the stairs trying to get the second floor remodeled in my house.

Check back Sunday for 2 of 3 of the Power Workout Series

The Never Ending

When you've got a baby on the way, a house in "remodel mode", and the Christmas season bearing down on you, it can seem like the great never ending do-dah.  Guilty of not working out and letting other pass times override what little time I have free.

Lifting tonight.

Basketball Saturday morning.

I'm pulling down a new workout idea from The Dinosaur Files for this month.  The mainstay of the workouts, my favorite, the overhead press.  That workout scheme will trickle out of this blog over the next week.

Progression

What is Progression?  If you're weight training, it means a greater number of reps at a given weight in a given movement, or a  greater amount of weight in that movement.  If you're running, it's all about covering greater distance, or covering the same distance in less time.  Progression is a simple increase in work load.

What is work.  Check " P=w/t " blog right here at this site.  The measure of "work" is very simply an increase in intensity in your workout.  Check out the " Intensity " blog here at this site.

Take note.  What did you do last time?  What do you hope to be able to do?  The distance you need to cover from what you can do to what you wish to be able to do is your goal.  Progression is the incremental steps you can take to get from here to there.  If you're not "working", you are always the same distance from where you are to where you want to be.

I like weight training because it it so damn easy to check progress.  "Last week I benched 225lbs for 10 reps.  This week I benched 225lbs for 11 reps" or "I benched 230lbs for 8reps".  Either way it's progression.

Had a friend of mine, Beantown is what I call him, who loves the GPP just as much as I.  We had a few different movements we were working on one night, and the one he really excelled at was throwing an 8lb medicine ball from the ground up and over his head to as far behind his body as possible.  It took him only 2 tosses to traverse the property where we were working out.  It took me 3.  He felt very proud at his ability in this segment of the workout, but when I explained to him that his next test would be to either A) make the distance in 1 movement, or B) do the two throws in less time his response was "I did it in two, you did it in 3?".

Progression is always a test of you vs. you!  I don't care if the guy at the end of your block runs 20 miles a day.  I don't care if the guy at the other end of the block can bench 400lbs, and that you've heard rumor that there's another person 2 blocks over who can squat 1000lbs.  Your fight is the good fight!  You fight to push your body to the limits of what is genetically possible for you.

Don't give up.

I'm The Walleye, and I approved this message.

Randomness

If you love rocking the FFM, either step outside and howl at the moon or take the silent protest, and don't cut or trim a mighty goatee.

This is a message presented by The Walleye, and I approve this message.

Wait for it....wait for it....

Rest, recuperation, and the building of the human body.  I've read quite a bit recently on the virtues of abbreviated training.  Don't workout everyday.  Don't tear yourself down.  Plateaus will prevail.

I tried the every day thing for a while.  Injury prevailed.

Once a week isn't a bad thing for lifting.  A few times a week isn't bad for cardio.  If you're blasting heavy weights, and extra long intervals of low to medium intensity cardio every day, I hope you're eating 5 nutritious meals a day and sleeping 16hrs a night cause you're looking to fall flat sooner than later.

Hard and intensive.  Brief and regular.  Rest well, and give your body the fuel it needs.  Here's a peak into a new schedule I'm toying with.  One day, I like to lift competitively, so even thought I need to increase my "wind", I can't let lifting go.  Still trying to shed some pounds too....

Week (A)
Sunday - Squats, bench press
Tuesday - Muay Thai
Friday - Trap bar deadlifts, barbell rows

Week (B)
Sunday - Suspension training with the homemade TRX set up
Tuesday - Straight leg deadlifts and the "dumbbell curl and press"
Thursday - Muay Thai

Muay Thai and the TRX represent the metabolic/cardio conditioning and with winter looming, it's hard to imagine anything more than tacking on the airdyne at the end of some workout to increase the "wind".

Remember to always wait for it.  I can go down to my basement lair every night, and belt out some weight lifting movement.  That's not what the body needs though.  Fast, hard, productive....and wait for the next night after the rest.  Earn your rest time....and use it.

Stroganoff

1 - 12oz package of egg noodles
(Healthier choice - Barilla whole wheat medium shell - doesn't really taste like whole grain)
1 - regular can of creme of mushroom soup
1 - small can of regular sliced mushrooms
1 - tablespoon or so of granulated garlic powder
1 - lb of your favorite red meat (usually beef, but we like ground deer or lamb)
1 - heaping helping of sour creme (less will cut the fat, more will ratchet up the flavor)

Boil your paste per the directions on the back.  In a skillet, brown the meat.

Drain the paste completely.  Drain the fat from the meat completely.  Add everything into the pasta and stir until thoroughly mixed.

T'Da.  Go with the egg noodles and hamburger for a filling, inexpensive, flavorful meal.  Change to whole grain pasta, and wild/free range meat and up the ante on the fiber and omega-3 content.

Either way, a nice quick meal that doesn't make a big mess.

More On That DIY TRX

Great workout Monday night.  Atomic push-ups (check 'em out here http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x9gpap_trx-40-40-atomic-pushup-low-row-cha_school ), dips, and rapid fire alternating single leg squats.  Good stuff all the way around.  Kept it short on time and hard on work...just the way to do it!

Two workouts in one day?  Usually not my style, but football was on and I was relegated to the basement.  Can't bare to look at the equipment and not put it to use.

Tuesday night, Taylored MMA in full effect.  I love making focus mits sing.  If you're not working on a combat sport, you should go out, buy some gloves and pummel whatever buddy is willing to go.  Get a heavy bag or something.  Nothing feels better than just beating the shit out of something every once in a while....I like twice a week, but hey, like I always say, do what works for you.

Get out, let it out, and make sure you're breaking a sweat every day!

Tomorrow - a homemade stroganoff recipe

-The Walleye

All Natural Testosterone

Lifted weights right right away this morning.  It's been a while since I've used that natural testosterone high to fuel a work out.  "High?" you might ask.  Well, indeedy-do.  Us men produce and subsequently have a higher percentage of the muscle making magic in our systems when we sleep.  Makes since given how much our bodies will repair during those blissful hours of slumber.  You might think that morning wood is from a full bladder (maybe partially) but it also comes from the man-serum pumping thru your veins.  Like The Beatles, you might just look to run a comb thru your hair and be on your way, but spare that 30 minutes and give the early morning blast a try, especially if you're after mass.

As always, make it a quick workout.  My morning...

50 jumping jacks
60 second plank
Dumbbell pressed over the head
Dumbbell curls,
Dumbbell straight leg deadlifts (RDL)
Dumbbell squats
60 second plank
....and repeat.

Do single sets of the movements with the maximum number of reps till momentary failure and move on.

It's invigorating.

--The Walleye

DIY Suspension Training

TRX...eat your heart out.  Your business plans are on the ropes!

You want inexpensive, more affordable options for the suspension training goals?  Why wouldn't you?  Dips, and ab work.  Push-ups and rows.  Assisted single leg squats and lunges for the beginners....and tons more core work.  You couple this sucker with some running, and you're going to be shedding fat and packing on muscle.

Welcome Taylor to the blogsphere my friends.  He's more than happy to share how to obtain this awesome toy that is guaranteed to take you on a wild ride thru the definition of "intensity"

Check out his toy at http://tayloredmma.blogspot.com/2010/10/diy-suspension.html

--The Walleye

Intensity

I've written about 3 key elements.  Work, nutrition, and rest.  All 3 making up the progression we find in our physical bodies over times.  Neglect any one of the trinity, and you will find a lack of health.  Rest is easy.  Nutrition, we'll see about in future blogs, but I want to break down this whole work topic in to two very simple components.  The first is, intensity.  This word has a very broad connotation.  Think about your goals as a person looking to improve one's self.  Most of us are not athletes.  Most of us are training to live...be healthy...be a better me.  What are your goals?  Looking to lose weight?  Put on more strength?  Put on more balance/agility?

Intensity is defined by your objectives.  In less than 5 years I want to lift competitively.  That means I have a coordinated increase in weight or repetitions across a given expanse of time in order to achieve greater weight totals in the big 3 lifts (squat, dead lift, and bench press).  Next year I have a friend who wants to run a marathon.  He's already well conditioned, but he has a special 18 week course of running, rest, and nutrition that is built for him to shave weight, build endurance, and remain at his peak strength thru the time of the race and remain healthy.  Again, a course of increasing "intensity".

Intensity is what you make of it.  You want to be a part of the 8lb pink dumbbell crowd?  Once you can press those dumbbells 50 times, try to cut down on the amount of time those 50 reps take.  ManTis over at USAJG knows intensity.  Doesn't look like he's working towards a max dead lift.  Doesn't look like he's worried about his time in the 5k.  But it does look like he ratcheting up that intensity every time out.

Remember Sir Kelvin.  He stated that what can not be measured, can not be improved upon.  Power is a simple equation between the amount of weight moved and the time it takes to move it.  Either move more weight, or the same weight for a longer time, or do both in less time.  Make sure to keep notes, and make sure to do it every time.  Don't pump, and strut around in front of those full length mirrors.  You're not built to be a model, but you are built to improve.

--The Walleye

Not feeling great, but always feeling better after a workout

I've had some horrible days this week with only a couple nights that let me sleep well from dusk till dawn.

No energy.  Light headed.  Down right grouchy.

After a day wasted on this Sunday...nothing but sleeping and eating...Taylor showed up.  He was packing his new DIY TRX suspension trainer system.  Every other Sunday he's at my house..  Normally...it's all about slinging iron like "they" won't let him do at his regular gym.  Tonight was to be different.  Tonight was special.  We packed up his $35 chunk of craziness and some cones to mark some points out on the playground at my local school.  1/2mile job got us their.  We hooked up the TRX like suspension bands and "body weight" became the "counter weight" that drove us to our limits.  Just wait!  Taylor is on his way with his own posting so I won't steal his thunder about how you too can have a $200 TRX system for $35...but I know I've got all the components in my basement and I'm ready to put it all together for my very own.  Stay tuned, and you'll see the link to his page soon.

Don't forget we jogged back to my place.  Hard and heavy neck work...deadlifts....and more neck work (shrugs).  Topped it all off with heavy grip work with things like Captains of Crush grippers, Thor's Hammer, and personal favorite, hub grip work on leftover jars of protein shake mix filled with concrete.  (Secret DIY idea embedded here).

Good night for those who like to work it hard.  Ready for a new week of personal records and exploring the world of The Free Fitness Movement (FMM)????  Check back soon.

---The Walleye

DIY Eggs

I once made a comment that I wouldn't have too much to say about nutrition on my blog.  Unfortunately, the more I persist on staying on this road I routinely find myself reminding my peers of one very valuable lesson.  Good health (in it's physical attrition) is simply put as Work, Nutrition, and Rest.  Rest is easy.  Get 8hrs if and at all possible....if your body wants more....give it to it if you can afford it.  Work is fun, and that's what I would prefer to talk about.  Work, in and of itself is easy to define and will be the purpose of a soon, probably lengthy posting.  But, I keep finding myself advising on nutritional issues more than any other.

I love to cook.  I keep it simple, hopefully nutritious and tasty.  I am the man who is absolutely notorious for eating damn near anything for breakfast.  In my defense, since it has been drilled in my head for so long, this breakfast meal is the most valuable meal of the day, and why not?  A steak and salad?  Sure.  Pasta in a thick and creamy sauce?  Yes.  Leftovers are god when you're talking breakfast.  But here's the rub.....sometimes you can mix traditionally American Breakfast ingredients and some ethnic ingredients and enjoy one heck of a great meal.

The more I talk about cooking, the more I realize that this might be the area in which I am most valuable, so here's the first recipe of this blog.

huevos revela desde las páginas
(eggs revealed from the pages)
First gleaned from a Men's Health article, I found it took way too long to make.  Here's a quick breakfast recipe in a modified version.  This recipe is filling.  This recipe of flavorful.  This recipe if simple.


Remember!!!!  Always experiment.  Real cooking is about using a ton of ingredients sparsely, but with maximum receptiveness.  We all cook for the most important crowd, our families.


Get a skillet hot (medium heat) and ready.  While it is warming, take some canned black beans and remove them from the can.  Put them in a strainer (or similar device) and strain thoroughly under running water.  Basically...rinse the factory off.  Dump the beans in a bowl, and just cover with tap water.  Microwave 1-2 minutes at a time until you reach 3-4 minutes for the total cooking time.  In other words, make sure they are almost, if not, soft.  You're gonna mash 'em...so don't be too picky.  When they come out, add a couple teaspoons of cumin and a couple of tablespoons of lime juice (I use the cheap bottle you find on the juice aisle at your local wally world) and mash with a fork until it looks like re-fried beans.  T'Da!!! Super nutritious refried beans in less than 5 minutes and minus the salt and other crap that we need not want in our diets.  If you're making this for 1, make sure to package half of that can of beans in water in a sealed container in the fridge..


That skillet that's been heating for a while now (since you've been doing nothing but watching the rotisserie in your microwave go round and round for the last 4 minutes)  is ready to sear some small tortillas on both sides.  Use flour or corn tortillas.  Use either butter or olive oil.  Your choice....again, it's all about what you like.  I like the olive oil and corn tortilla combo.  Get 'em browned on both sides and set them off to the side on a plate (2 per serving).  Layer on a fair bit of those homemade refried beans (1/4 can per tortilla).  Top with a fried egg on each tortilla.  Add some guacamole and/or salsa...hell....go crazy with some sour cream and you've got a breakfast that will keep you from being hungry till that last night time meal.  Simple.  Full of fiber.  Crazy amounts of protein.  A warrior's meal.  If you add up the $2 for beans, the $1 for eggs, tortillas and spices...this represents and $3 investments for only 2 meals.  Count your bucks and please....tell me you got something better in this genre of meal.

PVC

Oh how I love fiddling around with PVC pipe.  So many great things can be made.

A couple years ago, I went thru my old components left over from when I completely re-plumbed my house and found a 4ft length of 2" pipe and two caps that were left over.  I filled that with sand from the local hardware store ($1 worth) and I had basically built a "technique bar".  It weighs in around 11lbs and of course has a fatter grip than a normal oly bar and who doesn't love that???  It's just the right length so if my hands are butted up against the caps on either end, it's snatch grip time.

Anyways, with everyone's busy schedule, we didn't hit the group workout Tuesday night.  But here's what I did at home.

Jumping jacks and high knees for warmup

Then I made a move that went like this....

Used that 2" PVC pipe and picked it up like a deadlift off the ground....then once upright, rowed it up to my chin.  This is being done with a close grip.  Now back down, and then back up.  I did this in tabata intervals along with "mountain climbers", and hitting the heavy bag (misc jabs, crosses, uppers cuts and elbows).

If you don't know what a mountain climber is....I found this neat gif, thanks to http://tudefitness.blogspot.com

For us guys, I recommend wearing longer shorts than what this guy has on, but that's up to you.

Thursday Happenings

This week has been a tour de force in weight training....one shovel full at a time.  Finally got my gravel in to re do my drive way.  It's 120ft long, and 15ft wide, and I've got 2 tons of gravel to make it look better than when I bought this little chateau in the country.  The problem....the guy who got me the rock on the cheap, had to send the mini bull dozer he's had for the last month back to his brother in law.  Now I'm moving it wheel barrel full after wheel barrel full.  The weather is perfect.  Cool climate, light breeze, and no rain to turn my 2 tons of gravel in to 3 tons of gravel.

Still hit it hard with CrazyLegs and Taylor Thursday night.  BeanTown is definitely down for the next month or two with the hernia.

Simple tabata to start.  4 stations equaling a total of 2 minutes (20seconds on and 10 seconds off) to go thru all 4 and complete a round.  5 rounds total.

Station 1 - 8lb sledge to the tractor tire
Station 2 - renegade rows plus push-up with 25lb dumbbells
Station 3 - 50lb bag of sand across the shoulders with a mix of lunges and squats
Station 4 - Jumping jacks

20 minutes of Calli and Muay Thai

And for fun, we ended with some festivus style feats of strength.  25lb dumbbell thrown for distance 1.) like a bowling ball, 2.) like a basketball style 2 handed chest pass, and 3.) straight up in the air for height off of a shoulder press move.  Good times...bragging rights probably went to me, but it would be up to the other two to dispute me given our less than scientific measurement.  I'll put it like this.  We're officially calling the game "Divots".  Plyometric Explosions would be more like it.

Updates

We've got a member down with a hernia....BeanTown, guess the treadmill wasn't enough to get him ready for the Movement.  I'm sure he'll be back as soon as he can.

I even brought up stenciling "Hernia Maker" on the tire.

But that doesn't seem fair to the ridiculous hill and dragging 100+ pounds of weighted sled up it.

I'm a bigger fan of random chunks of concrete and the sledge hammers that brought them to us....more of those on the next picture posting.

Tonight, it was fat-bar barbell rows, high rep & high weight squats, plus running the rack on incline dumbbell presses.

Don't forget the Walleye's looking to shed fat, so tabata round of going crazy on the heavy bag, then the swiss ball, then the airdyne, followed by a quick blast of jumping jacks.  That's one round.  Give that a few rounds and be intense about it, let me know what you think.

Giving Up On Excuses

I'm a little upset at my fellow folks.  People are "giving up" on maintaining any kind of routine, and boy of boy are there "excuses".

Sunday night, the Walleye and Taylor put in a mad show of squats, straight leg dead lifts, benches, and rows.  Big, powerful compound movement brutally defining hard work.  Tuesday, Big Papa...with a no call no show....probably work as usual.  No CrazyLegs ever at my house.  Big Papa's grandson isn't coming by since he doesn't have a ride.  No Hippie, but I do occasionally see him jogging with his daughter, so I don't know why he's turning his back on me.

Last night, lots of curls and presses, calf raises to the roof and going tabata all over the Schwin AirDyne.  I've got cardio tonight and more backyard antics at Taylor's tomorrow, but it looks like BeanTown might be down with an injury, and CrazyLegs can quickly make himself scarce.

The invitation is always there.  The Free Fitness Movement, 3 days a week, 2 different locations....just show up and kick your own butt!

The group experience grows

I've been talking about wanting more people to get involved with the Free Fitness Movement.  I want others to shed the shackles of personal trainers, 100's of dollars of DVDs and exotic machines to build a better body.  My  main lifting partner got his grandson, a freshman on a high school cross country team, to come by this evening.  Deadlifts and bent over rows were the name of the game.  We were also blessed with Taylored MMA himself showing us how to sling some iron.  A great time.  From teen to grown men, heavy lifting and hard work.

It looks like the stage may be set to take on the ladies in the backyard antics and weight lifting.  Two more have expressed interested, now to get them over here.  I like a diverse cross section of people, and all are always welcome at my house.  Get ready, we're looking at some video being taken Tuesday and Thursday to get you a peek at the action.  Stay tuned.  The Free Fitness Movement Grows!

Abbreviated Training

It's another rainy day here in southern Missouri.  Training has taken a back seat to the practical needs of living.  Sadly, the jeep is gone, making way for a baby transporting, grocery getting machine.  3yrs from now, when this new baby is a walking, talking, buckling it self in little person, I will claim a jeep of my own again, until then, it's a honda element for me.

On to the good stuff.  Abbreviated training goes back a very long time, and the best piece of literature on the subject comes from Brooks Kubik, and his manual to hard and heavy lifting, Dinosaur Training.  Last night for example, my workout looked like this.

- Lots of jumping jacks and cross country skiers
- Light stretching
- Heavy dumbbell curl and presses for 3 sets of as many reps as I could get.
- Heavy trap bar deadlift 5,5,5,5,5,max effort
- Heavy barbell calf raises with the barbell held at waist height (arms fully extended),  great for the calves and the fore arms
- Captain of Crush gripper work
- Heavy dumbbell bent over rows for 3 sets of as many reps as I could get
- I also put a plate on one end of the barbell and swung it side to side while the un weighted in was on the floor.  Great for rotational strength.  If you know what that move is called, let me know.

35 minutes later, dripping in sweat, I went back to dealing with the sheet rock in my bedroom remodeling project.  Remember, I think GPP is all about the ability to do work.  Abbreviated training should put you in the weight room 1 to 3 times per week max, and keep it under an hour, but don't go collapsing into your favorite recliner with a beer and remote in hand.  Stay up and keep moving.  I find less soreness and more benefit from the weight training when it's coupled with simple old active living.  Stay abbreviated on the weights, but active in life and reap more benefits.

--The Walleye

The Beginning....again

With a lengthy hiatus from MMA training due to Taylor going down with a blown up knee, my training and weight have fluctuated greatly.  Today, we start again.  With no aspirations of any sort of MMA future, I do realize that the genetic response that comes with the violence, the self defense, the unleashing of power contained in every muscular cell with as many of those pistons firing at oncee brings great progress.  Mentally, letting the animal loose to run certainly helps him sleep better at night.  But the metabolic responses to working it to the end, to fatigue, to just saying "Hey boss man, need rest here boss man" springs forth hormonal responses that harken back to a time when it was truly those who could progress (dare I say evolve with all its horrible connotations) faster than those around them.  Those who would then eat well, thrive, and turn land into home.  Next Tuesday, I take what will probably be my last trip (albeit free) to the great chrome covered, fern decorated land that is Taylor's gym.  I will hopefully blow up their equipment with too many reps set on whatever "high" is for the gizmo, and lift weights so heavy that it makes the muscle pumpers near by cringe.  Not for the sake of ego, but for the sake of awakening the inner beast...knowing that the shortest distance to 1000lbs isn't 100 reps 10 times, but when you can do it in 1 rep, and then have enough time left over to flip a tractor tire, and throw a keg or 2, and run some 400m sprints.

As a money competition for weight loss starts at work the 16th, weight loss will become more important than big gains under a barbell....but I will not regress.  9 weeks to a thinner self, increase the weight to power ration we used to always say back when we raced Honda Civics against Mustangs and Camaros.  Decreasing the weight, increasing the agility....sounds like the making for one hungry beast....and I can't wait.  (BTW - for those who workout with me....say hello to 20lbs. of BFH....soon to be our new best friend Mu-ah-ah-ah!)

Rookie status continued

Check out the main man of living out of a van (free as it gets) and playing hard all over the web.

Tonight the macebell was finally set up and it went to the back yard as the choice of finisher.  In the misting rain, I meet my first macebell...how romantic.

Wanna know how to make one?  http://maxwellsc.blogspot.com/2008/10/gitchy-gitchy-gada-ya-ya.html

Choke up and work your way down til you find the magic spot where you're challenged but not ripping your arms off.  After a bunch of heavy, heavy calf raises and deep, wide stance squats, this was just what the upper body called for.  It'll challenge your core and grip.  Made mine for less than $10.

Get ready.  Tomorrow night, Taylored MMA is back in effect after a long hiatus.  Backyard odd object antics coupled with an hour of stand up round after round goodness.  Hopefully, pictures to follow.

IC rookie

Walleye here, the original Indian Club rookie.  Spent the afternoon hitting deadlifts and dumbbell military press extra hard and heavy.  Took it to the back yard with my brand new set of ultra cheap indian clubs.  Check out diystrength.com for how to make your own set.

First experience with the clubs has proven to be fun.  I like mixing it up and this definitely a new way to train.  Ballistic is the only way I can describe it.  Lots of rotational strength to be had with these gyms.  Time will tell, but I think this is going to be a go to finisher for the next month.

A story of an egg recall

There once was little country who greatly depended on it's supply of food stuffs.  Along came unclean working condition that lead to a spinach recall, and animal waste that lead to a lettuce recall, and now more lack of care has sent droves of eggs back from where they came.

I am not an all organic eater.  I maintain my own garden in the summer because in the end, we tend to eat more veggies because they're on hand, and it saves money overall.  Win, win.  I also go thru a lot of eggs.   This is where I'm really concerned.  I make use of protein powders and other similar dietary supplements like the next guy, but the easiest, cheapest way to get more protein in your diet.  Eat eggs.  With that being said, do you know how to spot a quality egg?  The shell should be fairly thick (as thick as an eggshell can be, anyway) and the yolk should be firm.   Do this test, if you crack an egg in to a bowl, and the yolk breaks when it lands in the bowl, good chances is that egg is months....maybe even a year old.  Thank you scientists for making poultry so profitable.   I didn't say healthy as we would assume....I said profitable.  Rolled in preservatives and stored in large cold houses, eggs can be warehoused for very long times.

Again, not a hippie, but I do support a local family by buying their eggs.  I used to be a jumbo sized egg (sometimes 2 dozen a week) on the notion that bigger is better.  It's one of the least purchased sizes, meaning I was probably buying the oldest eggs on the shell.  For 10 cents less, I get eggs that are less than a week old (not the same size) and delivered to my desk at work.

De-stress.  Find local suppliers, farmer's markets and the like.  Next time that ABC recall story hits, you can sit back and enjoy your purchase.  Support your local farmers, not the mega corporations who have their eyes on profit....not necessarily your health.

A justification for cheeseburgers

Alright, the Ms. is definitely exiting her first trimester and she's starting to get her mojo back in the kitchen after a complete, no-cooking-no-how, 15 week hiatus.  Her choice this evening....cheeseburgers and hot german potato salad.  If you're not familiar with the latter, it's this weird concoction of a little vinegar, boiled potatoes and bacon grease/pieces.  In other words, it's pretty tasty.

I've got nothing for the potatoes, no skin, no nothing.

The cheeseburgers on the other hand.  Freshly ground lean cuts of beef chopped full of protein and the creatine that it also brings to the party.  Pass on the white hamburger buns and top with caramelized onions and real cheddar cheese.  Not only tasty, but just the right combination of fat and protein.

What do we need for serious anabolic good times....we buy it in droves at the local supplement shops.  Protein and creatine.  Bring the digestion of fat helping the male body produce testosterone (yeah, that's a big catalyst, look it up), and you got a decent little pre weight lifting snack sure to bring the body online.

Finish a big work out full of thick handled dumbbell and heavy, heavy calf raises with sprints up and down the local basketball court....of course, you can't make the distance of the court with no one on you, and not have a ball in hand for a jump shot....admittedly easy when you're the only person on the court.  Fortunately my local court also comes with a 9 1/2ft goal and since I can't seem to get up like I did when I was younger, I still got to end my cardio work with a phi-slama-jama-good-time.

FYI - my weight sled will be on line by Saturday afternoon, and the weather man is promising beautiful weather.  I hope I wear it out the first day I use it!

-The Walleye

Skipped the workout

No workout this evening, just caribbean jerk chicken and veggies.

Picked up the components for some homemade indian club swinging good times.  Not my idea.   www.diystrength.com  Check it out.

Also, I love vendors who have to make their own skids  for shipping product out of new construction grade 2x4's.  Threw two of 'em in the back of the jeep and I've almost completed my first homemade weight sled.  It'll definitely be rocking the weekend's workouts.

Manic Monday

Spent a beautiful evening playing in the yard....playing very hard.  Cross shaped obstacle course of cones spread out about 30 yards bow to stern, 10 yards port to starboard.  Sprinted from the bow to the center of the cross, heal slide left to the tip of the arm, heal slide right all the way to the opposite tip of the right arm of the cross, and heal slide back to the center.  No time to stop...back pedaled back to the base, and then an all out sprint to the stern.  Once you get there, hop side to side over the cone a half a dozen times.  Perfect tabata protocol stuff.  Took 20 to 24 seconds to make the trip.  Walk back gasping hard and go again.  Got out a 40lb back pack and the 60lb tube of sand for walking lunges, squats, and zercher Romanian deadlifts.  The young'en did the same using the 12lb medicine ball.  Throw in a few misc. rounds of push-ups.  That's playing hard, and with maybe 10 whole dollars worth of toys.

Light in numbers this evening, just my step daughter and I, and she likes to drop out when I hit the "cellar dweller" mode and start hitting the weights, but it promises to be a long September with my Muay Thai instructor back from having his knee fixed, and I know he's dying to play around with some odd-object lifting, circuit training, cortex blowing good times.

Read some more from the Steel Tip (Written by Dr. Ken Leistner) and he advocates what he calls the "lift left to the archeologist".  The dumbbell deadlfit.  Use a set of 2inch plus handles, and set 'em for 100lbs each.  I managed 5 triples on some already tired legs.  The grip work and deltoid pinch is good stuff.  Not a ton of compression on the lumbars like heavy squats or trap bar deadlifts, but does the trick.  Lots of wrist roller and heavy gripper work.  Russian twists to finish it off.

Watch out as September 2nd brings back kickboxing couple with weight lifting before hand.  It promises to make everyone understand how much they've been slacking.

One of my only words on nutrition

The 3 over riding things to remember when training, and training doesn't make the top of the list.  This is it, in list of importance.

1.)  Sleep.  Get 8hrs a day and don't mind naps.  This is one of the main pillars of health and wellness.
2.)  Eat.  Bird and fish flesh are at the top of my list.  Plenty of vegetable matter.  Remember, if it has the word "enriched" or "hydrozenated" anything, just don't eat it.
3.)  Train.  As the folks from The Crucible so aptly put it "If it is important do it every day. If it isn't, don't do it at all." 


I don't think it can be put any better.


I've been on hiatus from the workouts since I pulled the spinae erector on the right side of my back Monday night.  We're celebrating birthdays tomorrow and we always make the Lord's day a day of rest, but Monday we'll be back at it, Playing Hard and Living Free!


-The Walleye

P = W ÷ T

Power equals Weight divided by Time.

It's a concept that has caused me many hours of thought.  If a man can move 100lbs in a second vs a man who can move 200lbs in 2 seconds.  Who is truly more powerful?

If a man can move 10lbs 100 times or if a man who can move 100lbs 10 times in the same time frame....who is more powerful?

Sir Newton had numerous equations that would unequivocally explain all notions of motion, but in regard to the sinew and motion of the human body, the leverage points, coupled with muscular design, plus that of the spirit, and other delimiters (the greater connective tissue), would it not leave all issues of theory to be left to those who are in practice and not to those who are in theory?

I leave my issues of development in the hands of the All Mighty as only the most divine can drive an individual to a higher plain and lead that development.  Glossy muscle mags, high dollar trainers, and the chrome plated glam of the local gym may not lead to personal development....but more importantly will normally lead to a distraction in one's unholiness, giving way to little more than a bit of ego development.

This whole thing...this need for development...is about a long term/life long effective treatment for weakness....for a lack of faith.  Not for a need of ego surely...but an increases in one's place in the Kingdom.

As I approach this journey, I acknowledge the power of the Father.  I know that I can't do it alone.  And I know that through the power of the Holiest of Holy that all things are possible.  Only though Him are all things obtained.

Power is accomplishment
Weight is the goal
Time is the agony that the forces of evil can weigh on our souls.

In the beginning....