Active Recovery-ish - Ski Erg and Push-ups

Saturdays have sort of been a toss up training wise for the past few weeks.  Sometimes I take them off entirely, other times I have done some aerobic recovery and once I did the Manitou Incline (note:  decidedly NOT recovery).

I brainstormed over breakfast (Cliff Bar not pictured):

I had about three ideas going into today.  I thought I might swim, do some intervals on the ski erg (which I am not very familiar with) or just do some bodyweight calisthenics.

This was was I decided:

Probably a bit much for what was planned to be recovery, but I would soon find that out.  I didn't sleep great last night, so I might have already not been fully recovered from yesterday's work out.  I've never really done a workout on the ski erg, but how hard could it be?  Hard.

I got about 20 minutes into the 60 minute timer and fell apart.  My "max" push ups were coming in around 15-17 and the erg was zapping my lungs.  I called it quits and finished with 32 pull ups and 32 dips.

Today was definitely a lesson in what it feels like to go off program when you're not ready.  I should have gone for a long swim or bike ride and instead decided to do something pretty challenging for where I am fitness-wise.  Tomorrow will be a true day off with maybe a bike ride to see my girlfriend at work and maybe a few push ups.

Fuck You Friday - Power Endurance/Mental Toughness

Today I woke up just ready to put in some work.  I opted for more Bulletproof Coffee this morning instead of eggs and oatmeal.

While I waited for my work out partner to show up, I knocked out 50 strict form push ups, 50 strict, dead hang pull ups and 50 strict, as deep as possible dips.  It felt pretty good, especially my push-ups because I've been working so hard on them recently.

This was the plan for today:

While doing burpee pull-ups earlier this week, I noticed my timing and footwork was way off and I was making it a lot harder to do.  I thought the burpee pull-up ladder was a good way to start our main workout with a little leg fatigue and concentrate on perfect reps.  

The bench press/row ladder was especially difficult today.  I wanted to start off at 140m and get progressively faster, but as the bench presses went down, so did my recovery for the row.  I managed to pull off my goal, which only means I could have started at 145m.

(excuse the moto bullshit quotes--we share a whiteboard)

Since we only have the one barbell in the gym now, Adam and I switched off for a 10 minute max strict press at 65lbs.  I ended up with 134 and Adam ended up with 125, I think.

This was my first time doing the Gym Jones "Tailpipe," and it was pretty difficult.  My splits for my 250m were 49.8/49.2/47.3, which hopefully we can improve on.  Our transitions from kettlebell to rowing machine were pretty slow and next time we'll time the whole Tailpipe to get a baseline.

All in all, it was a killer workout and hopefully I earned some margaritas and burgers this weekend.  Starting 5/3/1 for my afternoon workouts next week, so hopefully the heavy barbell work will add that oompf I've been missing with all this conditioning.

Active Recovery - Long-ish Rowing Intervals

Thursdays are usually my active recovery days, but I woke up this morning feeling like I needed to work a little harder.  I did a 2k row earlier this week and was very upset at my time--over a minute off my PR--so a little more time breathing today was needed.  This workout struck a good balance of pace, working my technique and at the end, some mental toughness.

Breakfast was coffee with two tbsp of Kerry grass-fed unsalted butter and Upgraded Brain Octane.  So after training, coffee and a hot shower my blood pressure was...

Not bad.  My systolic went down a few points a few hours after working out.  You can see my pulse is still pretty jacked from the intervals.

I'm not totally consumed with the number on the scale, but to lose body fat, I will have to lose some weight.  Ideally, I'd like to be 180lbs, but this morning I found how far I have to go.

Not a terrible starting point, but definitely some work to do.  

Diet has been pretty great all day and I feel energized and relatively sated.  My lunch was leftover salmon and sautéed broccoli which I didn't heat up, but will next time.

In Pursuit of Not Annoying Everyone on IG, FB, etc

I've spent the last year training sport specific for Olympic style weightlifting and after turning 30 last week, realized I am probably in the worst shape since I joined the Navy almost six years ago.  I have extra body fat, have very little endurance and on some days verge on hypertension.  I have resolved to experiment with my diet and training to produce the fittest version of myself going into my new decade.

I like the idea of a training and diet log, but would like to spare my friends the updates and photos on my instagram and Facebook pages.  This blog will serve as the single point of light for all my fitness things.

I'm sure I'll add to this list eventually, but here are a few goals:

+ body fat ~ 11%
+ 2K row 6:40
+ 10 minute push up test - 200
+ 500m row - 1:25
+ max strict, dead hang, chest to bar pull-ups - 20
+ 225# bench press - 15+ reps

As far as diet, I think I am a little insulin insensitive, so timing my carbs and what carbs I eat will be paramount.  Ideally, I'd like to function with a paleo approach with 1-2 meals a week being re-feed or cheat meals with moderately healthy portions.

I believe part of my tendency towards hypertension comes from my usage of a harsh prohormone in November, fat burners and pre workouts.  I have cut all from my diet.  My supplements will be:

+ LuRong Velvet Dear Antler (2 pills, x2 a day)
+ Fish Oil (5 pills at lunch)
+ Ostarine (a five week cycle)

I may drink a protein shake and creatine on days when I lift heavy, but would like to eat mostly whole foods.

I may post some before pictures if I feel gutsy, but who wants to see my hairy gut?

Okay, follow along if you like and be glad I'm not flooding your IG and FB feeds anymore with pictures of me doing dumb work outs.