December 2008
53 posts
2 tags
Kung Fu practice
Ran through Tiet Sien Kuen to recover from the Deck of Cards workout. I tried to focus on regulation and releasing the chi rather than power generation. It was still pretty tough since I was fatigued, but I felt better afterwards.
Dec 31st
4 tags
52 Card Throwdown
Met up with some of the kung fu brothers for a New Year’s Eve Day workout. We had a go at an old favorite - the Deck of Cards workout. The card’s value determines the number of reps (Ace is 11, face cards are 10) and used the following exercises this time: Hearts = Burpees Diamonds = Medicine Ball Slams Spades = Medicine Ball Woodchoppers Clubs = V-Ups Jokers = Run 400m Total time:...
Dec 31st
2 tags
Back to 5x5 Strength Training
This is my last recovery session before jumping back into the Stronglifts 5x5 program. Started with 3 sets of Cindy to get the blood moving, then started pushing light weight: Squat 5 x 5 x 225lb Press 5 x 5 x 95lb Simple pair, repeat 3x: Pullups - 15, 15, 12  Dips - 15, 15, 15 Turkish Get Ups 5 x 30lb, 3 x 60lb My elbow felt a little wonky during my warmup, mostly on...
Dec 30th
2 tags
Kung Fu class
Sifu took us through lots of different stance drills after the warmup tonight. Then we drilled some dragon techniques and combos that worked the forearms nicely. My elbow felt good throughout.
Dec 30th
1 tag
Dec 29th
2 tags
Kung Fu practice
Down in the basement today for some practice. I started off with a light run-through of Tiet Sien Kuen to get the blood pumping, then went through Fuk Fu Kuen several times at different speeds and power levels. After I had a good sweat going, cooled down with a full power Tiet Sien Kuen. Everything felt really good the second time through.
Dec 29th
5 tags
Crossfit WOD: Annie
50, 40, 30, 20, 10: Double Unders Situps Total time: 5:35, unanchored abmat situps. I’ve never done Annie before so I set an arbitrary target time of 6:00, which I hit. I didn’t take any rest, but I tripped up at least once in each set which ate up a lot of time. Next time I know what to expect, so I’ll shoot for a sub 5 min time.
Dec 27th
2 tags
Back-Off Strength Session
My elbow is feeling better after a few days of complete inactivity, but I’m not jumping right back into the stronglifts program right away. Headed to the 5th Ave Gym for some light lifting to work on my form: Squat 5 x 5 x 135lb Front Squat 5 x 5 x 135lb Deadlift 5 x 5 x 135lb Looking forward to getting back to pushing some heavy weight next week.
Dec 27th
2 tags
Kung Fu class
Light warmup followed by some heavy stance training and then into some technique work. We drilled the chow dar and some follow up moves today. I had to go pretty easy because of my damn elbow.
Dec 23rd
1 tag
Dec 22nd
3 tags
Squats and Core Work
My left elbow started really bothering me yesterday, so there was no way I was doing overhead presses, deadlifts, weighted pullups, or even burpees today. Decided to keep up the squat portion of the stronglifts program: Squat 5 x 5 x 255lb Since I couldn’t do much else, I cooled down with 5 sets of 135lb squat and really focused on form. I’m feeling pretty good with my squat...
Dec 21st
3 tags
Day 19, StrongLifts 5x5 Beginner Strength...
Squat 5 x 5 x 250lb Bench Press 5 x 5 x 210lb Power Clean 5 x 5 x 45lb I almost hit some trouble with the last rep on my second set of squats, but I powered through it. Focused more on using my hamstrings and hips to drive the weight on the last 3 sets and it was no problem. Bench press was tougher than I thought it would be, but I don’t plan on stalling there. Went back to...
Dec 20th
2 tags
Kung Fu class
Small class tonight. Went through a forearm/hand training circuit after the warmup: Stick wrist flicks x 60 sec 10 Knuckle pushups Tiger claw squeezing sand bag x 60 sec 10 Fingertip pushups 10 Wrist roller Repeat 2x, followed by 5 min three star block. Worked on some basic hand techniques and form after that. Did my 64 burpees at the end of class (16 x 4).
Dec 19th
2 tags
Kung Fu class
After the quick burpee/bear crawl warmup, went into some staff drills. We did partner drills working basic combos for a while and then drilled some applications. Afterwards, ran through Tiet Sien Kuen a couple of times. Felt ok the first time, felt really good connection the second time.
Dec 18th
3 tags
Bearcage 10
Inspired by the prison burpee workout, but bear crawled from one end of the kf school to the other between sets: 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 Burpees Total time: 3:53. Previously: 4:30 on 9/3/08
Dec 18th
Drink Less Water? →
“In general, we want to replace the fluids we lose in a day, and intensive activity (with its accompanying sweat) will increase the amount of fluid we need. (For prolonged, intensive exercise and/or significant water intake, it’s essential to balance salt/electrolytes with water.)”
Dec 17th
3 tags
Day 18, StrongLifts 5x5 Beginner Strength...
Squat 5 x 5 x 245lb Press 5 x 5 x 135lb *FAIL* (5, 5, 4, 3, 2) Deadlift 1 x 5 x 305lb Weighted Chinups 3 x 5 x 105lb There are some days when I can’t wait to get to the gym and lift. Today wasn’t one of those days. The squats felt pretty good, but I’m pissed about failing on the presses. I really thought I’d be able to hit 135lb easily. I’ll get...
Dec 17th
2 tags
Review: Tony Dapolito Rec Center - West Village,...
Decent weight room, serviceable pool, terrible staff. The weight room here was my main gym for about 3 years and I made it work. It’s theoretically open year-round…except for the days when it’s inexplicably closed without warning, which gets very frustrating. There’s a decent amount of space, dumbbells from 5lb all the way up to 100lb, benches, and a place to do pullups. However,...
Dec 16th
“There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you...”
– Bruce Lee
Dec 16th
4 tags
Short and Sweet aka Stuart Little
A fun quick workout to squeeze in my 61 burpees today: 20 Double Unders 10 Burpees 5 Kneeling Wheel Rollouts Repeat 6x Total time: 7:26. I got through all of the double under sets unbroken until the 19th rep on the last set. Dommage. After some light skipping to cool down, I tried to string together as many double unders as possible without tripping up and I got 61 (PR). I’d like to try...
Dec 16th
The (Real) Perfect push-Up →
We call these tiger rolling pushups in kung fu. Maxwell calls them dands. “The dand strengthens the wrist; fingers; palms, neck; chest and back. It also increases flexibility and mobility in the back, hip flexors, hamstrings and calves.”
Dec 15th
1 tag
Dec 15th
3 tags
Day 17, StrongLifts 5x5 Beginner Strength...
Squat 5 x 5 x 240lb Bench Press 5 x 5 x 205lb Power Clean 5 x 3 x 160lb Weighted Dips 3 x 5 x 80lb I don’t think I spent enough time warming up today because the first couple sets of squats were rough. Sets 3, 4, 5 felt pretty good. Still using 2 min between sets. This is the first time I needed a spot on the bench (last set), but I got all 5 reps easy. The cleans felt...
Dec 14th
4 tags
Jump Rope / Burpee Intervals
Downstairs in the kids’ playroom to make up for yesterday (58) and today’s (59) burpees. I had to take an unscheduled rest day yesterday because my hands are all blistered up from installing some shelves in the house and there’s no way I can lift weights. 30 sec Jump Rope 30 sec Burpees (14) 1 min Jump Rope 1 min Burpees (24) 2 min Jump Rope 2 min Burpees (39) 3 min Jump...
Dec 14th
The Importance Of The Vertical Jump For All Sports →
“[T]he vertical leap…is frequently used as a measuring tool to assess the ability to display power, explosive strength, and the ability to use your strength.”
Dec 12th
2 tags
Review: Nike Speed Rope
This jump rope is the suck. The “rope” is plastic and after weeks of trying, I never got the damn thing to straighten out properly. I tried hanging weights from it, I tried stretching it and nothing could get that damn rope in skippable condition. Shout out to the garbage for taking this thing off my hands. I’ll never buy another jump rope from Nike. Looks like the reviewers on...
Dec 12th
2 tags
Kung Fu class
Went through the standard warmup with the beginners and then did some work on the basic kicks with them. After that we ran through the first part of Gung Ji as a group a few times and then went into some technique work. Focused on the chop choy and the water fist tonight. Finished with my 57 burpees for the day (17, 20, 20). I’m still trying to figure out the optimal way to partition for...
Dec 12th
3 tags
Medicine Ball Madness
Thinking of clever and more interesting ways to fit in my 56 burpees today: 11 Medicine Ball Burpees 11 Medicine Ball Slams 11 Medicine Ball V-ups Repeat 5x Total time: 7:07. The med ball burpees have a smaller range of motion on the pushup part, but the way I was holding the ball made it tough anyway. I had my hands on the sides of the ball squeezing into the center, so I was really feeling...
Dec 11th
2 tags
Kung Fu practice
Just me and Francis at the kung fu school tonight, so we ran our own open practice. After a quick warmup we ran through Ng Lung Ba Gwa Cheung a bunch of times. I also spent some time training the forearms and hands: Tiger claw squeezing sand bag x 5 min Wrist roller x 2 min Tiger claw squeezing sand bag x 2 min Wrist roller x 1 min For a total of 10 minutes.
Dec 11th
2 tags
Review: Everlast Multi-function Chinning Bar
The Everlast Multi-function Chinning Bar is the best home solution for pullups that I’ve come across and it only costs about $35. It’s very stable, slips in and out of the door frame without screws, and easy on the hands. After some serious use, it turned out to be not so easy on the door frame though. In all fairness, I used it often and I didn’t use it gently, so maybe some wear and tear...
Dec 10th
2 tags
Review: Youbars
Youbars seemed like a great idea to me – you design your own snack bars on their web site and the company makes a box to your exact specification and ships them to you. You choose a base ingredient (some kind of nut butter) and then pick a bunch of mix-ins (nuts, dried fruit, berries, etc), protein, grains, sweeteners, infusions, and the like to add to your bar. I created a bar with almond...
Dec 10th
3 tags
Day 16, StrongLifts 5x5 Beginner Strength Training...
Squat 5 x 5 x 235lb Press 5 x 5 x 130lb Deadlift 1 x 5 x 295lb Weighted Chinups 3 x 5 x 100lb Squats are feeling allllright. I almost stalled on the fifth set of presses, but I locked it out. I can’t believe how disproportionately weak I am there. Good thing I’m doing something about it. Deadlifts felt really good today, but my chalk can’t get here soon...
Dec 10th
2 tags
Review: APT Professional Grade Dip Belt Dipping...
I used this belt for weighted dips and weighted pullups for about a year and a half (the stylish black model, which doesn’t seem to be available anymore). It’s a serviceable belt when you’re working with lighter weights (under 100lbs) but traumatized my tender little hips whenever I approached my 1RM for weighted pullups (at about 155lbs). Under the heavy weight, the leather part of the belt...
Dec 9th
2 tags
Kung Fu class
Took it nice and easy tonight. Led the beginners through a quick warmup and went right into form work. Helped out with Fu Hok and sword, then worked reviewed myself on the bench after class. Finished with my 54 burpees, broken in multiple sets. I also cranked out a one arm pullup, a few one arm divebomber pushups, and a one armed clapping pushup. You know, just to show off.
Dec 9th
1 tag
Dec 8th
3 tags
Day 15, StrongLifts 5x5 Beginner Strength Training...
Squat 5 x 5 x 230lb Bench Press 5 x 5 x 195lb Power Clean 3 x 5 x 155lb Weighted Dips 3 x 5 x 75lb Rough day today. No excuses, just wasn’t feeling my best. The squats and bench were alright, but the cleans were rough. It’s tough to maintain explosiveness on heavier weight for 5 sets of 5 reps, so I knocked it down to 3 sets today. From now on I’ll be doing 5...
Dec 7th
3 tags
Day 14, StrongLifts 5x5 Beginner Strength Training...
Squat 5 x 5 x 225lb Press 5 x 5 x 125lb Deadlift 1 x 5 x 285lb Weighted Chinups 3 x 5 x 95lb Squats are still feeling good, jack. I’m getting good depth and driving with the hips. The presses were tougher than I expected today and my hands were way too sweaty to be safe on the deadlifts, but I got em done. Chinups were also tough, but 95lbs is a lot for 5 reps....
Dec 6th
2 tags
Review: Larabars
Surprisingly tasty nutrition/snack bars with amazingly short ingredients lists. This is about as close as you’ll get to real food in bar form. There’s no added sugar, no grains, no garbage – just dried fruit and nuts – and did I mention they actually taste good? My favorite flavors are key lime pie, apple pie, and banana bread. The cherry pie bar that I’m eating right now has just 3...
Dec 5th
2 tags
Review: Pier 40 - West Village, NYC
I fucking love this park. It’s a fake-grass outdoor field on the Hudson River at Houston Street that’s open year-round, 24 hours a day (as far as I could tell). It’s primarily a soccer field (and there are usually a few games going on) but there are also baseball fields that occasionally have games going on. No matter what’s going on, there’s always space for a workout. Since there’s...
Dec 5th
2 tags
Review: Minetta Playground - Greenwich Village,...
This tiny park behind the McDonalds on West 3rd Street has a great little playground for doing pullups, muscle-ups, and all sorts of ups. Of course there’s ample space for other bodyweight exercises, jumping rope, and even an old shed that I used to do handstand pushups on. There’s a lot of foot traffic on this corner, so I generally tried to squeeze my workouts in this park in the...
Dec 5th
2 tags
50 Burpee Challenge
Since I had 50 burpees due today for my challonge, I thought I’d do a little burpee time trial to see where I stand. Finished in 2:19, partitioning in 4 sets: 15, 15, 10, 10. I was shooting for under 2:30 so I guess I’m pleased. If I can keep up that pace for 100, I’ll be under my target time of 5:00.
Dec 5th
2 tags
Kung Fu class
I was feeling pretty worn down today, but I went through the paces with the beginners’ class anyway. Mostly concentrated on stance work and basic pad work with kicks, elbows, and knees before we worked on a few basic techniques. After class, Sifu reviewed us on the bench form and showed us a few new sections.
Dec 5th
Plyometrics For Martial Arts →
“Plyometrics for martial arts will help to increase your explosive power, your speed and your ability to change direction quickly. On their own, plyometric drills have limited effectiveness. They are most useful when performed in conjunction with a strength training program.”
Dec 4th
2 tags
Review: 5th Ave Gym - Park Slope, Brooklyn
The Fifth Ave Gym is where I’m sweating it out these days. It’s a cheap, dirty basement gym with squat cages, heavy dumbbells (up to 150lb), and is filled with some really strong cellar dwellers. There’s almost no cardio equipment, no classes, no TVs – just a bunch of dudes pushing heavy, rusty weights around. No other gym in Park Slope has all the tools I need for my strength training and...
Dec 4th
3 tags
Burpee Breakdown
Thought of a cute way to get in my 49 burpees and to really work the individual movements of the burpee. 7 Burpees 7 Pushups 7 Burps 7 Squat Jumps Repeat 7x for time. Total time: 6:40. Those squat jumps really fatigued my already tired legs, but I motored through without taking any real rest. I felt ok with my time.
Dec 4th
2 tags
Kung Fu class
We started with a circuit-style warmup, one minute at each station: Med Ball Slams (51, 52) Wrist Roller Chinnies Jump Rope Plank Ran through this 2x without rest. Then we ran through Gung Ji Fuk Fu Kuen as a group. We did it three times, with different people setting the pace each time. Spent some time working on the ring of fire drill after that (2 min rounds) and then tried to carry those...
Dec 4th
2 tags
Review: Gymboss Interval Timer
I use the gymboss every time I do a timed workout. It’s a tiny, versatile timer that I keep in my gym bag and is probably the single most valuable training tool that I own, so it gets the full five stars. Like a cell phone, you can set it to beep, to vibrate, or to do both when the interval is up. There’s a dual timer function that allows you to set different work/rest periods,...
Dec 3rd
2 tags
Review: GNC Triple Strength Fish Oil
Most well-informed athletes and trainers recommend supplementing with fish oil, “the most important supplement ever.” I’m supposed to take 9.25g of EPA/DHA per day based on Robb Wolf’s suggested dosage of 1/2g  per 10 lbs of bodyweight (18.5 * .5 = 9.25). With the 900mg in each one of these triple strength capsules, that comes out to about 10 caps a day, much fewer than...
Dec 3rd
1 note
1 tag
TWBS Reviews
I’ve realized that I drop a lot of names in my humble workout log and some people have started to ask my opinions on a particular gym, or a book, or a park for outdoor workouts. So here’s a list of links to my reviews of the equipment I use, the places I work out, and relevant books that I’ve read: Training Gear Gymboss Interval Timer ***** Everlast Multi-function Chinning Bar...
Dec 3rd
2 tags
Review: Good Calories, Bad Calories
by Gary Taubes An exhaustive (466 pages) compendium of pretty much all of the major research ever done on diet as it relates to obesity, diabetes, heart disease, and the full suite of Western diseases plaguing the modern world. The message is simple – refined carbohydrates and sugars wreak havoc with insulin levels and cause metabolic syndrome and pretty much every physical ailment known to...
Dec 3rd