JULY 20, 2010

Training:
10 min - muscle up skill work
+
5 sets @ high effort:
15 burpees
20 unbroken chin ups
25 GHD Sit ups
rest 2 min - add 30 sec to rest time b/t sets/set

post notes to comments and post what your main weakness is in the muscle up that needs improvement? - transition, extension, multiples, etc...?

JULY 18, 2010

Training:
Clean and Jerk - find your 1RM

JULY 17, 2010

Training:
Row 1K

post avg watts divided by BWT in # as score, not time
i.e. 340/170# = 2.0 as score

JULY 15, 2010

One of the marks of excellent people is that they never compare themselves with others.
They only compare themselves with themselves, and with their past accomplishments and future potential.

Training:
A1. Back Squat @ 30X0; 5,4,3,2,1; rest 3 min
A2. Medium Grip Pronated CTB Chin Ups @ 31X0; 2-3 x 5; rest 3 min
+
5 sets:
20 unbroken CTB chin ups
40 squats
rest 3 min

BCAA and L-Glutamine dosing

As I've been eating a strictly Paleo type of diet for the past couple of years, I've discovered for myself that the need to add a bunch of supplements to enhance my performance, isn't just unnecessary, but just plain wasteful. Long gone are the days of spending a couple hundred dollars monthly on pills and powders that falsely claimed to add pounds to my deadlift, or would make me an animal in the gym. All they really did was give me zits and make me feel like a bloated whale.

That being said, however, I have found the use of whey protein to be very important, but possibly more so are the supplementation of BCAAs as well as L-Glutamine.

This link explains the importance of utilizing BCAA and L-Glutamine, but here's the meat of the article:

"To maximize the various anabolic effects of BCAA's and glutamine it is essential that adequate dosages are used. Although dosages as low as 3 grams/day have shown benefit, studies involving BCAA usage show dramatic benefits when using approximately 9 grams per 100 pounds lean bodyweight per day. Further results may be obtained during strenuous training or dieting periods, or for a real anabolic kick, by using BCAA dosages as high as .44 g BCAA per kg of lean bodyweight. To use this formula simply deduct your body fat in pounds from your total weight then divide this number by 2.2 to get kg. Next multiply by .44 g to get the dosage. So a 220 lb individual with 10% body fat would use this formula:

220 lbs (total weight) - 20 lbs (body fat in lbs)= 200 lbs / 2.2= 90.91 kg (weight in kg) X .44g = 40 grams BCAA per day.

"For glutamine a minimal dosage for those on a limited budget would be .05 grams per pound of lbw/day. Further results may be seen by using dosages as high as .10 grams to .20 grams per lb of lbw/day. So the same 220 lb 10% body fat individual would consume between 10-40 grams of glutamine per day with the higher numbers most likely used during periods of intense training coupled with severe calorie and carbohydrate restriction.

JULY 14, 2010

A1. Dead Lift Cluster @ 11X1; 1.1.1.1.1 x 5; rest 3 min
A2. Close Grip Bench Press @ 30X0; 3-5 x 5; rest 3 min
+
3 sets:
15 unbroken power clean - you choose
10 sec rest
20 clap push ups
3 min rest

A1. 295/315/335/345/--
---> Took a 10 sec breather between pulls. Didn't do last set as I was trying to conserve some time with my daughter waking up.
A2. 165x5/185x5/205x5/225x3/--

MetCon:
Power Cleans @115#
1:38
1:35
1:36
Total: 4:49

How to Develop Mental Toughness

By Michael Powell, author of Mind Games

How often have you heard the phase "mental toughness" applied to athletes and thought that it doesn't apply to you? If they need it to win a race, then how much more important is your entire life? If you want to get what you want and have a healthy and active life, you've got to develop plenty of mental toughness.

People go to the gym to develop physical strength, but pay scant attention to their mental stamina. Just as repetition of exercise builds muscle, fitness, flexibility, and stamina, repeated mental exercise buffs up your mental toughness, If you don't train your mind, you will never control your life, reach your full potential, and have fun along the way. The only way to develop mental toughness is with maximum reps. Here's how:

1. Don't postpone happiness or the ability to effect changes until after you have reached your goals or you will have to wait a long time ("As soon as I get that pay raise, I'll quit smoking").

2. Set clear and detail goals and break them down into long-term, short-term, and daily goals. Motivation comes from having plenty of good reasons for doing something. If you can't come up with good reasons, you're wasting your time.

3. Pace yourself. Being consistent, regardless of the context, produces better results than a quick burst of activity followed by burn out or a bender.

4. Put in good work. Whatever your goals, practice does not make perfect--only good practice does that. Give your full attention to the matter in hand. Concentrate on the process, not the outcome. If you work of train all day thinking about how good it will feel when you've finished, you will slack off and open a can of beer too early--you know what I mean.

5. Focus on what you want to happen, not what you are afraid might happen.

6. Recognize that negative thinking has absolutely no positive benefits (that's why it's called "negative").

7. Be willing to change tactics if you aren't achieving the desired results. Insanity is repeating the same action and expecting a different outcome.

8. Ask yourself: "What would I do in this situation if I couldn't fail?"

9. Force yourself to act positively--bodily and mentally. If it makes you feel like a fake, then it's a clear sign that you really need to act positively.

10. Forget about the past and concentrate on the present. The best way to repeat mistakes is to worry about repeating the, . Learn from mistakes, the forget them and move on.

11. Respond to challenges with discipline rather than punching holes in your furniture.

12. Accept that results take time; they will come, but not immediately. That said, success doesn't have to be a hard, painful slog. Put in the work and commitment, and success has a habit of creeping up on us when we are least expecting it--don't reject opportunities for success because they feel too easy.