Fun with the Airdyne

today was a fun one.  Schedule conflicts, transportation issues, sore ribs, and elbow pain made it difficult for me to hit the gym this week. Normally, I'd fall into a deep depression from not working out but fortunately the Jiu Jitsu training has done a good job at kicking my butt. I emailed John late yesterday to see if he was going in this morning and told him I thought I was ready to come back and test drive my rib cage after some days off.

I really enjoyed today's workout. The thing I love about the 5am sessions is the same thing I'm enjoying about the Jits. Comradre. There's something special about consistently sharing a discipline with committed people.  Its what gets me to the gym at that ridiculous hour and its what keeps me rolling on the mats after all the bruises and sweat.  In general people feel good about belonging to something. I think that's why religion works for so many people.  My religion involves wrestling with friends, dragging weighted recycling bins across parking lots, and yelling at my friends to row faster.  works well for me. I'm one of the happiest people I know.

 

warmup

row easy 5 minutes

 

workout

4 rounds of:

Airdyne for 5 minutes (15 seconds hard/15 seconds less hard)

goal 100calories or greater and improve on every round.

5 minutes rest between rounds.

 

Results

100 felt great but wasn’t sure I'd be able to beat it.

101 shocked as hell that I even made it without puking on the airdyne

93 gave it all I had and the tank was empty

106 dug deep and really emptied the tank. last minute was all hard.

fell off airdyne straight to the floor hoping not to have my heart explode.

 

tonight: rolling with Nathan and Jeff.

 

 

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.