Sparrow's Dozens

Today I had the choice of doing something else and i was dumb enough to choose this one.

Its called Sparrow's Dozens

12 Rounds of:
12 deadlifts at 185lbs(about bodyweight)
12 pullups
12 pushups
12 25lb ball slams
52minutes.
Had to do straight leg ring rows on the last 3 as hands began to rip from all the pullups. Really glad i did this workout but was wishing i had picked what was behind door number 2 instead. Looking forward to jits tonight.

10/27 evening

Last night i met Nathan for some more Jits rolling. Boy was that intense. Nathan is so strong and so efficient that it was a major beat down.At one point i stood up and with just one leg, he was able to throw me to the floor with force. Even though i was unable to take a single dominant position, i felt like i learned a lot and got an amazing workout. Nathan was great about pointing out things i could do in the middle of a move. i have crazy bruises all over my arms this morning. Fortunately, they dont hurt. Looking forward to the next one. Its a great stress relief too. Nathan was reminding me to not get discouraged. The thing is, even i suck at it, i'm getting a fantastic workout. Of course, i hope to get better with practice but in the mean time, i am really enjoying the learning and the workout. Ordered my Gi(jits robe) yesterday. Looking forward to the next time we roll. I'm super sore this morning in my legs but i think that has more to do with heavy back squats and box jumps from yesterday. good stuff.

back squats & weighted pullups

Today's workout was all strength.

5 x 5 tall box jump (maybe 28 inches)

then

8x3 back squats first set at 225. 7 remaining sets at 245
then

Work up to 1RM weighted pullup.
1RM was 40K today

then

2 rounds of(4 were prescribed but time was running out and i was gassed trying to find my 1RM):
1@ 80lbs
1@ 60lbs
1@ 45lbs
2 clapping pullups.

then

5x5 box jumps on same 28inch box.

first jits class!!

i thought it would take several sessions before i felt this way but i'm totally hooked. it was SO much fun and SUCH a great workout. i still feel like im going to puke and i have purple bruises on my body. Omar is our instructor and he's fantastic. He's one of those real deal Gracie trained guys. He's very technical and an excellent teacher. He was able to give us some basics so we could start rolling around and having fun. Then Nathan schooled us some as well. I'm really looking forward to doing this on a regular basis. I could only describe as "like holding on to a bull in the rodeo. When you don't know what you're doing, you're basically just trying to not get choked for as long as you can. I'm sure we'll learn to play smarter once we have an arsenal of moves. For now, its just trying to stay alive on the mat. Good stuff. I guess i found my new sport!!!

single leg day

Most of todays workout was single leg stuff. Single leg stuff is great because it recruits so many secondary muscles for stabilization. It's also great because you dont need as much weight to get a great workout. I also believe it is safer in many movements because proper form is so critical just to do the exercise. With 2 leg moves, sometimes a strong guy can power through something with improper form and possibly hurt himself. With single leg stuff, if you dont have the form, chances are the weight isn't going anywhere and nobody gets hurt. That's not always true but for the most part, single leg stuff feels safer and really beneficial.

workout(from memory. may correct when John posts)

warmup 5 min row easy

Workout:
3x30m Lunge (Forwards & Backwards)
2x15m Lunge @ 45# (in Rack Position)
2x15m Lunge @ 75# (Overhead Hold)
2x15m Lunge @ 95# (Overhead Hold)

Then:
Work up to Heavy SLDL

Then:
4x4 SLDL @ 185#

Then: 5 rounds
15m Farmer Carry/Sled Drag (Forward) @ 2 x 40kg KB Farmer(1st round did 32k), 200# Sled +
15m Overhead Carry/Sled Drag (Backward) @ 2 x 25# KB, 200# Sled

photo courtesy of John

maybe my favorite workout so far

i absolutely LOVED today's workout. if its not my favorite one yet, its certainly near the top. Lots of explosive movements and a new move. the knee jump. Knee jumps are as scary as box jumps. reason being that if you dont make it there's no graceful way to land. You either make it or you fall on your face.

row easy 5 minutes
Then
2 x 10 (airsquats, 10 jumping air squats)

Then
Then work up to 1 rep knee jump
(Knee jump is: barbell racked on shoulder blades with knees on ground. Butt starts out sitting on heels while toes close to flat on the ground. As butt comes off the heels, hips drive to bring feet forward underneath the knees landing in deep squat position.)
pvc, 25lb bar, 33lb bar, 45lb bar, 65lbs

Then
begin one set every 30 seconds for 10 minutes=20 rounds
1 clean, 1 hang clean, 1 front squat
115lbs for all rounds.

Then
8x3 rapid barbell snatch
2 rounds at 95lbs
6 rounds at 105

Then
2min of 30sec db push press followed by 30 seconds of overhead db hold. If dbs drop below ears another set is required.
20lb dbs since last time i bombed with 25lbs.30 seconds above head is the hard part of this.
Round 1: 25
Round 2: 25
Round 3: 25
Round 4: 21
Note: might be good to do 25lbs next time

Then
4 rounds of
750meter rows faster than 2:45
2:37, 2:42,2:41, 2:43

We were supposed to do 300seconds of FLRS but 6:30 class began. next time.

rec fit 10/21

didnt register for class but they let me come anyway. walked in late after a very long day at work. Been trying to do some form of cardio every day to lean down a little. I snuck up above 185lbs and am now i'm back to just under 180lbs again. Would like to be a lean 170. Hoping Jits will also help with that.

today i went light weight wise not knowing what tomorrow's session has in store for me.

skill:
Med ball clean and presses. 50-80lbs
wod:
5 sets of
5 double db swing(30lb dbs)
5 renegade row(includes a pushup)
5 thrusters
5 db burpees

Short and sweet wod tonight and nothing that would beat me up too bad for tomorrow. Little nervous about tomorrow's morning workout. Looking forward to it though. My marathon and my marathon recovery still have me so excited about the current morning programming. I should not have been able to complete, improve, or recover in this last marathon. I was flat out irresponsible for even registering. I knew that what we all do in the gym(rec fit classes included) was potent but its nice to get a little proof in the real world sometimes. I think i was more pleased with my recovery time than the actual marathon itself. I got to visit one of our stores where several of the folks there did the marathon so we were talking about it today. I guess that's why its probably on my mind tonight. Looking forward to the next one. Eugene in may.

rec fit 10/20

went all out on the sprints until i was almost puking. barely survived the quad squats. Goal was to row over 1000 meters in the 6 rows total. That worked out but then i was almost cramping when the high pull came. good cardio workout for me. grabbing lighter weights on the days i come to rec fit classes and trying to just move faster. hard to not let the ego get in the way. would rather go heavy with the barbells and work on speed during these other workouts. getting nervous about ringworm, pink eye, and all the other stuff that i'm now hearing comes with Jiu jitsu. I'm going to bathe in Purell before and after every session.

partner 30/30

6x at each station

run
quad squat/quad hop
row
double kettlebell hi-pull

rest 90 seconds between rounds

mixed feelings about today's workout

Today's workout was a series of letdowns and failures but in the end it was a good workout.
here's how it went.

told my self "i'm going to do 500 thrusters for time"
got to 100 and decided i wanted to do something different.

Told myself "i'm going to do 100 bent over rows @ 135lbs.
got to 60 and decided i wanted(needed) to do something else.

told myself i was going to do 100 bench press at 85lbs
Got to 60 and decided i wanted to do something else.

told myself i was going to do 50 bodyweight dips.
got to 25 and decided i needed to do something else.

told myself i'd row 4K getting off every 4 minutes for 20 honest pushups.
got to 2000 meters and decided i should go home before my ego took any more abuse.

It was kind of a letdown because i was very disappointed in my inability to make myself complete each task i set out to do. Just another reminder of why i need to work out in the company of very hard working, motivating, and supportive people. Working out at 24hour fitness where people dont really workout is very tough. i would have been better off just doing the 10am class. that would have required waking up earlier though. Oh well. Got a great bike ride in the rain.

not sure what to call it.

today John was smiling big when we walked in so i knew we had some cruel and unusual punishment in store for us. i was right.

Started out not so bad but got pretty tough.

5min row

5 rounds: IGOx1rep/UGOx1rep of following:
5 50lb ball slam
10 honest burpees
15 24k swing igo8/ugo8/igo7/ugo7

Fun begins here:
heavy rope pulls, ring hangs, overhead ball holds, sprints.
Too hard to journal but it was great and very challenging.

Then 2 rounds of very quickly throwing 10 random weight med balls over highest pull up bar starting from squat postion. Weights ranged from 12-30lbs.

IWT

3 rounds:

12 high pulls(95/115/115)

2min row @<550m (550/552/553)

Rest 3 min between rounds



Rest 2 min + 3 min rest from last round.



3 rounds:

10 snatch(65/85/85)

2min lunge walk

Rest 3 min between rounds



4xRow very hard for 20sec/rest 10

Rest one minute and repeat.

1st time doing split jerks

Today was my first time doing split jerks. They came more naturally than some of the other things have. i really enjoyed them. I think the split makes things a bit more stable. Ran short on time trying to find a 1RM today. Felt like I got a great workout though. Felt good to move some weight after not lifting since a week before the marathon.

warmup:
5min easy row
3 rounds of:
20 squats
10 jump squats
5 hanging snatch(2 with pvc,1 with barbell)

10x2 Snatch high pull(goal is to pull 90% of 1RM of Snatch) with 2min between sets
95/115/135/135/135/135/135/135/135/135

Work towards finding 1rm or split jerk
5x95
5x115
5x135
5x155
3x175
3x185
1x195
1x205
6:30 class was arriving and it was time to pick up. Had 215 on the bar but didnt get a chance to try it. Guessing that 215 would have been my 1RM for day. Fresh, i'd maybe be able to get 225. Not sure. Its a confidence thing and it started to get a little scary getting under that kind of weight. the nice thing about a lot of these lifts is that i'll see significant gains from technique and confidence improvements. very very happy to be back in the gym. When i finished the marathon feeling great and knowing i hadn't really trained myself at running, i was really thankful for these workouts.

2nd Marathon. 4:02:05

i did the portland marathon yesterday and beat my last years time by 17minutes. I felt fantastic the entire time. I really have to say that the gym training we've been doing made such a HUGE difference. The marathon is more a test of mental determination than of physical ability. I think all the IWT and interval rows we've done really prepared me for this. I barely ran this year so i was actually half prepared to DNF the race. I was pleasantly surprised by how effective our gym training has been and how well it transfered into my running. I was shocked to get a PR. I think there were a few things that made this such a great race for me.
1. the ipod. music really helped.
2. Shirley helped me pace the first 17 miles smarter.
3. Smarter race nutrition.(thanks John! Hammer Gels saved my butt)
4. Jeff running mile 17-20 with me.
This was SUCH a different experience from last year. Last years marathon was one of the worst days of my entire life. I was even kind of mad at myself for doing it. This was quite the opposite. i felt amazing and even high from it. I am going to run it every year until i'm physically unable to complete it. I don't love running. In fact, i don't even like running. I look at the marathon as a measurement of where my mental and physical fitness is at.