May 2009
60 posts
2 tags
Kung Fu class
My legs were still pretty sore from Tuesday’s sprints, but I went through the warmup with the first class and assisted Sifu in tonight’s application drills. After the Level I guys split, I ran through Tiet Sien Kuen to circulate the chi and hopefully get rid of the soreness. Felt pretty good afterwards so I also worked on Hang Yuet Darn Dao a bit.
April 2009
56 posts
Quinton "Rampage" Jackson is a Teen Wolf fan →
I couldn’t care less about the article, but this little nugget caught my eye, “The former Ultimate Fighter winner also asked the former champion about his patented howl after his wins. Rampage replied that the 80’s classic Teen Wolf movie inspired him.”
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Kung Fu practice
Open practice night at the kung fu school. After warming myself up, I did some basic forearm/wrist strengthening and then banged away on the heavy canvas sandbag for about 10 minutes, working all sides of my forearms. Did some sparring after that and got a good sweat going.
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“I’m all for machines…once they come up with one that can really...”
– Vince Gironda, 1949
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Core Training
Standing Wheel Rollout x 5
Abmat Situps x 20
Lying Hip Swings x 20
Bird-dogs x 20
Repeat 3x
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Sprint Intervals
At the McCarren Park track on this warm evening (along with everyone else in Brooklyn):
10 x 100m sprint (walk back to start)
5 x 50m sprint (walk back to start)
I held onto my gymboss as I ran and clocked the 100m runs in at around 12 sec early on, around 15 sec for the last few sets. Unscientific. Also did 15 bar muscle-ups to finish (but not for time since I was sharing the bar with a few...
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Kung Fu class
Got a good workout with the Level I crew tonight - did lots of forearm/bridge conditioning before working on junior-level forms. Did it all over again with the Level II class and capped it with even more three star followed by some basic work on Ng Lung Ba Gwa Gwan.
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More info on the Vale of Cashmere in Prospect Park →
Named from Thomas Moore’s poem Lalla-Rookh: “Who has not heard of the Vale of Cashmere/ With its roses the brightest the earth ever gave.” It’s also apparently a hotbed for gay cruising…won’t be working out there again!
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Vale of Cashmere
After spending a good chunk of a beautiful Sunday in Prospect Park, I found a nice, secluded stairway by the Vale of Cashmere to sneak in a quick workout. There are seven levels on the stairs, each separated by a few steps. I set up each level as a work station and assigned a different exercise to that level. I ran up to the top, hitting 10 reps of every exercise at each level, then back down,...
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Kung Fu practice
Spent a few hours in Prospect Park with my training brothers working on Tiet Sien Kuen. We found a great shady place on the peninsula by the lake to work out. Despite the unseasonably warm weather (high 80s), the shade and the breeze from the lake kept me from overheating. Fine day.
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Double Under Intervals + Tabata Burpees
Headed out to the newly turfed, but not-yet-open Washington Park in Park Slope for some rope work:
5 x 2 min Double Unders (100, 92, 82, 84, 94)
Total work time: 10 minutes. Resting 2 minutes between sets. That’s an improvement of +17 from last time.
I was wearing shorts this time, so there are no excuses. My shoulders are the first to go here and once they’re fatigued, my form goes...
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GPP Circuit
Burpees x 30 sec (12)
Jumping Jacks x 30 sec
Mountain Climbers x 30 sec
Chinnies x 30 sec
Repeat 8x, 30 sec of rest between sets.
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Kung Fu class
Worked on the side kick with the first class of the evening before drilling some hand techniques, then Sihing Malcolm put us to work for the second class. We focused on a couple of crane techniques tonight - drilled em in the air and with a partner.
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Kung Fu practice
Another open practice at the school tonight. Ran through Tiet Sien Kuen a few times with light power, then moved on to work on the bench form. Really worked it tonight and ironed out a few of the main issues I was having. Also did a little wrist/forearm training static holds with the pole.
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Core Training
Started with some light squats, front squats, and deadlifts to work on technique. I still need to figure out my overall strategy for the next few months, but I’ll be backing things off this week. Did the main circuit:
Flags x 5
Russian Twist (25lb plate) x 20
Back Extensions x 10
Knees-to-Elbows x 10
Repeat 4x
Finisher: 2 min plank hold.
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“Losers always whine about their best. Winners go home and fuck the prom queen.”
– John Mason
CrossFit Virtuosity's 100 Day Six-Pack Challenge →
The mandatory food logging precludes my participation, but I like the press for tumblr as a platform for workout logs.
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Kung Fu class
Holy crap are my lats sore today. I didn’t realize it until the first set of pushups during the first class today, but cheese and rice. It must be from the deadlifts in yesterday’s workout, but I’ve never had any lat soreness from deadlifts before. Anyway, made it through two classes tonight and opted to do regular (non-divebomber) pushups with the second class. Worked on a few...
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Crossfit Total
Testing my 1-rep max for the three major lifts, as per Crossfit’s rules.
Squat: 335, 355F, 355
Press: 165, 185F, 175
Deadlift: 425, 445, 470
Total: 1,000lb. Chuffed.
This was my first time ever failing on the squat and it wasn’t as terrifying as I thought. I had the bars in the squat cage set to just below my bottom position. On my first attempt at 355 I let my core get soft and just...
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“All three lifts are done while standing on the floor. They require minimal and...”
– Mark Rippetoe, “The CrossFit Total,” Dec. ‘06 CF Journal
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“If you don’t have confidence, you’ll always find a way not to win.”
– Carl Lewis
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Day 26, Texas Method Intermediate Strength Program
Recovery day:
Squat
3 x 3 x 230lb
Press
2 x 5 x 140lb
Overhead Squats
1 x 3 x 120lb
Power Clean
3 x 3 x 140lb
Warmed up with 3 rounds of Cindy and got to work. Focused on speed and proper form for the squats today. The presses felt really strong and the cleans felt buttery. The OHS felt weird, so I called it after the first set. Total gym time: 40 mins.
Spreadsheet of my entire...
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Kung Fu class
Worked out with the first class tonight and focused on all the usual beginner stuff. After they left, worked on the bench form with Frank and Sifu for a while. We finished it up tonight, which feels nice, but I still have lots of work to do with it.
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Burpee Breakdown
Breaking the burpee down to its individual movements. 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 of the following:
Burpees
Pushups
Burps
Squat Jumps
Total time: 7:52. The squat jumps were the toughest part for my sore, fatigued legs. A good warmup for kung fu class today. I did a variation of this in December, but the time isn’t really comparable.
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Kung Fu practice
Open practice at the school tonight. Started things off with a bridge training circuit:
Stick wrist flicks x 60 sec
10 Fingertip pushups
Wrist roller x 60 sec
10 Knuckle pushups
Tiger claw squeezing sand bag x 60 sec
10 Fingertip pushups
Heavy sand bag forearm strikes x 60 sec
Repeat 3x. After that I worked on Tiet Sien Kuen for a spell.
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Day 25, Texas Method Intermediate Strength Program
Volume day:
Squat
5 x 5 x 290lb
Push Press 6 x 3 x 175lb
Power Clean
1 x 3 x 175lb
1 x 1 x 185lb
Weighted Chinups 3 x 5 x 110lb *FAIL* (5, 4)
Dips 3 x 15
Did another burpee/samson stretch warmup today: 3 sets of 15 burpees followed by 15 sec samson stretch on each side. Another rough day. I’m feeling worn out these days, especially on volume day. Squats and push presses...
“No excuses. Play like a champion.”
– Rule #76
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“If they can make penicillin out of moldy bread, they can sure make something out...”
– Muhammed Ali
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Kung Fu class
Went through the paces with two classes today - the first included lots of stance work and drilling some basic hand techniques. The second class was a quick warmup followed by form work, mostly Ng Ying Kuen.
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“If you cannot squat low, you ain’t worth shit.”
– My old pal Elliot Hulse
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Metcon Circuit
Cooked this one up on the spot with Frank:
5 Man-Makers (25lb)
10 Pullups
15 Weighted Double DB Decline Situps (25lb)
Repeat 3x
Total time: 8:31, of which the bulk of the time was spent on the situps (sore from yesterday’s core session). It occurred to me during the first set of situps that DB swings would have been a much better choice. Ah well, next time.
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Light day, form work
Still feeling pretty sore today, so I wasn’t about to attack the Texas Method volume day as scheduled. Instead, I hit the gym with Frank, watched him hit some PRs and did some light squat and deadlift practice. I decided I was due for a PR myself, so I went for a 135lb Overhead Squat and hit it. It’s really not an issue with the weight on the OHS, I just need to keep practicing form...
2 tags
Core Training
Flags x 5
Russian Twist (25lb plate) x 20
Back Extensions x 10
Repeat 4x
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Bikemanship
Designed an impromptu workout to work on my bikemanship:
Bike 2 miles
5 Man-Makers (35lb)
Bike 1.5 miles
5 Man-Makers (35lb)
Bike 1 mile
5 Man-Makers (35lb)
Bike .5 mile
5 Man-Makers (35lb)
Bike .25 mile
5 Man-Makers (35lb)
Total time: 18:17. My bikemanship needs a lot of work.
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“You can’t outwork a shitty diet.”
– Gym Jones (via Regimen)
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“I’m not out there sweating for three hours every day just to find out what...”
– Michael Jordan
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Day 24, Texas Method Intermediate Strength Program
Intensity day:
Squat
1 x 5 x 325lb
Push Press 1 x 2 x 185lb
Deadlift
1 x 2 x 415lb
Turkish Get Up
1 x 1 x 110lb *FAIL*
Warmed up with a quick circuit: 10 DB swings (50lb)/10 pushups, 3x. I thought today was supposed to be GOOD Friday? Well, I felt like crud and had a hard time in the gym today. The last three reps of the squat were slow, ugly, and questionable. I’m...
2 tags
Kung Fu class
I really worked the Level I guys tonight. We partnered up and did a tag team slug crawl/plank hold 3x before some forearm/bridge training and three star. Then we drilled some stances relevant to the technique of the night and drilled that with a partner. Afterwards, ran through Tiet Sien Kuen a few times. Felt good.
The Secret To Chimp Strength →
Our surplus motor neurons allow us to engage smaller portions of our muscles at any given time. We can engage just a few muscle fibers for delicate tasks like threading a needle, and progressively more for tasks that require more force. Conversely, since chimps have fewer motor neurons, each neuron triggers a higher number of muscle fibers. So using a muscle becomes more of an all-or-nothing...
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Review: AST Multi-Pro 32X
My man Ross Enamait recommends these as a good overall multivitamin/multimineral for strength athletes, so who am I to argue? I started taking these in 2005 (about the same time I started Ross’s Infinite Intensity program) and have been feeling strong like bull since then. I haven’t gotten sick or dealt with any lasting muscle soreness in that time, but I’m not sure how much...
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Work Capacity 101
It had been way too long since I did the good old Work Capacity 101:
5 Pullups
10 Medicine Ball Slams
15 Burpees
20 Jumping Jacks
AMRAP in 20 minutes.
I finished 10 full rounds plus 5 burpees (that’s 155 total burpees), which is a personal best. I took short, measured rests in each round but I still feel like I could have worked harder and done better. I’ll do this one again...
Men's 181 Pound/82.5 Kg Weight Class Top 20... →
Powerlifting records for the best lifts from dudes my size. Humbling.
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Day 23, Texas Method Intermediate Strength Program
Recovery day:
Front Squat
3 x 3 x 225lb
Press
2 x 5 x 135lb
Power Clean
3 x 3 x 135lb
Overhead Squats
3 x 3 x 115lb*
Turkish Get Ups
2 x 3 x 70lb
Those front squats were tougher than I expected and the going was slow. Presses were also moving pretty slow and got pretty ugly on the last couple of reps. The cleans felt like warm butter and the OHS felt good too. I added an...
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Review: Ironmind’s De Rigueur Dipping Belt
This is a great belt for training heavy weighted dips, chinups, and pullups. It’s rated to hold 1,000lbs (I haven’t tested that yet), but is small and portable enough to fit inside my gym bag, much more so than a leather and chain belt. The way the belt loads took some getting used to for me, but it’s definitely well-designed. I keep the belt looped and locked (never thread it...
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Kung Fu class
Only one class for me tonight, which felt odd - ran the Level I and worked out with them. Lots of basics followed by some form work, all Gung Ji. Didn’t work up a huge sweat today, but got some skill work in.
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“There are no shortcuts to any place worth going.”
– Beverly Sills
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