WOD: 11-03-2011

Today's WOD:

Warm Up:

Basic Stretch on own.

WOD:

20 Minute AMRAP

10x Push Press @ 75 lbs. (Rx was 95 lbs but I knew I needed to lower the weight for 20 minutes)

20x Sit Up

30x Jump Rope Singles

I managed to finish 10 rounds exactly.  My first few round were about a minute and 45 seconds or so.  My reps started to slow down a bit after that.  I finished my 9th round at around exactly 18 minutes on the clock so I picked it up and made sure to knock out my last round in the final 2 minutes.  Finished the last round with 5 seconds to spare but not enough time to get set up on the bar for more push presses.

Overall a great WOD.  Definitely was sweating like a pig at the end of that one.  One note, my jump ropes are getting better. Got my own speed rope last week and have been practicing a bit.  I'm not able to string together Double-Unders yet, but I can do a  Single, single, double, single, single, double pattern for a few reps.  It's a good improvement in the jump rope arena and I'll be stringing doubles together in no time.

Will be going back tomorrow for Friday's WOD giving me 3 workouts in a row for this week.

Been Feeling "Reckless" lately

So, this is a big switch for me.  I've done P90X a few times, gone through good phases and bad phases.  Starts, stops, burnouts and the like.  For some time, its been a whole lot of nothing going on in my fitness routine. 

Late this summer I was driving to work and out of the corner of my eye I saw a sign in a strip mall.  "Reckless CrossFit." 

Now I've heard about CrossFit, and know several friends and acquaintances that have had amazing results from CrossFit.  I've done the hole P90X vs CrossFit discussion online. I never was one to argue for or against.  I've just seen some people get very "into" the discussion.

So, I found the gym's website, and I found the owner on facebook.  She chatted with me and I set up a time for my first workout.

Now, having sat on my ass for 6 months not working out, doing my first CrossFit workout was a challenge.  Yes, I puked. 

But I came back and did the Seven "Foundations" classes and leanred the basics of the CrossFit movements.  I have to say, I've been loving it.  Before starting in late September my weight was about 221 lbs.  (That's even higher than I was before starting P90X and this blog a few years ago...yikes!)

Today, I'm down to 214-215 lbs.  So I'm losing about a pound a week with CrossFit.  The one thing I love is the community aspect of the workouts.  When I go to the gym, I see the same faces.  They cheer me on, I cheer them on, and we hang out and talk about how we're doing.  It's definitely a great environment.

Yesterday was a really amazing day in my CrossFit journey. I did something I never had tried before.  I found my one rep max in a Sumo Dead lift.  We started easy, 3 reps at 135, then 3 reps at 155 and so on and so on.  Eventually we worked up to 1 rep sets.  I did 255x1, 275x1 and finally my last rep was 305lbs.  I've never even tried to lift anything that heavy before.  My coach thought that I probably could have gotten at least 10-20 more lbs up since I didn't struggle all that much.  But dropping that weight, and looking back at that much weight on the bar was impressive for me.  It surely was a good moment...but I'll get even better.

So, this is a new chapter in my fitness journey.  I will be a CrossFitter for the near future and who knows where it will take me.

--John

Day 3, Shoulders and Arms

This is going to be a tough week for me for 2 reasons. 

1. I'm starting P90X this week after a long layoff.
2. This is one of the weeks every so often that I need to cover the office at my job.

See, we have a real small office.  My companies HQ is in Rockford, but I work out of our Chicago sales office.  Due to the economy, streamlining etc, we only have 4 people in the office.  As our main office administrator needs to be in training for the week, I am filling in for her.  Now, I'm in sales and normally only in the office one or two days a week. So, a 55 mile one way trip into my office sucks, but is manageable when I only have to do it once a week.

When it becomes a 5-day a week trip, its stressful.  But here's what I'm thinking.  If I can manage to get a full week of P90X in without any missed workouts this week, then how much easier will it be in later weeks when I don't have the challenges of a 3 hour commute each day.

Last night, I got home, and went straight into shoulders and arms.  I'm not using the same weight that I used to.  But, I picked slightly lighter weight then previous runs of P90X and focused on quality form throughout.

Ab Ripper X still sucks.  I "presently struggle with" most of the exercises.  I have a weak lower back and long legs.  Moves like "fifer scissors" absolutely tear me up.  I have terrible form, can't get full vertical extension with my legs, and can't even keep up.  I'll definitely improve, but this move has always been my weak spot.

Diet yesterday was good.  Monica and I signed up for a grocery shopping and meal planning service called e-Mealz.  It's a great service.  Not only can you save money on food for your family by having a thoughtful planning list for your both your meals and shopping list, you can get healthy too.  We are currently enrolled in their "Wal-Mart Low Carb meal plan for 2."  This provides us a shopping list and meal planning for the entire week.  We're saving money and have good, quality low carb meal choices to choose from.  Last night's dinner was a cream cheese egg dish.  It tasted great. 

Well, that's all for now.  Back to work.  Yoga X tonight. 

Weight gain during pregnancy....in men???

A British research firm is reporting that the average weight gained during pregnancy is 14 pounds — and that’s by the babies’ fathers.

According to a NY Times article found here the average man gains 14 pounds (or one stone if you're reading this in the U.K.) during their partner's pregnancy.

Guess what?  I'm average. 

Yup, I don't know what it was.  During Monica's pregnancy I gained right along side her.  I put on about 14 lbs exactly.  I didn't watch what I ate, we ate out more because we realized that after Kylie was born opportunities to eat out would be few and far between.  There's a whole list of excuses, but they are all lame.

So, here I am.  Father of an amazingly cute 4 month old baby and pants that are a bit tight.  Isn't she cute?

Good news though, I've got a plan to take off the added weight.  I'm on day 3 of another round of P90X.  I'm around 212 lbs right now.  It's funny, because I now weigh almost exactly what I did way before I ever started P90X in 2008.  However, I can tell my body composition isn't the same.  I have more muscle now than I did back then.  So, the 212-215 lbs I'm at now is not the same body as the 212-215 I was back in 2008.  So at least I've got that going for me.


First couple days of this round have really beaten me up.  I'm taking my own advice that I've given others starting out.  Don't feel bad if you can't keep up.  If the first time through Plyo you're totally killed after 35 minutes take that as a small victory that you made it that far.  Don't think of it as a failure, think of it as an accomplishment compared to the "you" that was sitting on the couch last week.

So, I'll be back here blogging regularly about this round of P90X.  Can't wait to bring it all over again.

--John

1 Year Smoke Free!

For some of you, this isn't a surprise.  For many others, you'll be shocked.  December 2 2010 marks 1 year of me being cigarette free.

Many of you probably have no idea that I ever smoked.  I hid it a lot.  The only person in my family I smoked in front of was my brother once or twice.  My parents probably never knew.  A lot of my buddies knew because I'd bum a smoke at a bar etc.  Anyway, I just wanted to kinda hash out my life with cigarettes.

I didn't start smoking until I was 22.  That's a late time to start for sure.  I had smoked the occasional cigar from about 17 or 18 on throughout college.  No more than about 1 a week at the very most.  After college, a very close buddy of mine and I went on a month long motorcycle trip around the western US.  We started at our homes.  Me in Illinois, him in Ohio.  We met in St. Louis.  We told each other a few weeks prior to meet at the first rest stop west of St. Louis on I-70 at 8 am on a Monday.  We both showed up a half hour early.  My buddy smoked, but I didn't.  I bummed a few smokes from him at our rest stops the first couple days.  I was on a motorcycle trip, it seemed cool, and ultimately, I liked it.  Yes, cigarettes can be very pleasant in the very short term.  So, for the rest of that trip I was smoking about half a pack a day. 

After getting home from the trip I didn't smoke nearly as much.  I think I stopped for a month or two.  Then I went out for a weekend ride on a Saturday and bought gas and picked up a pack.  I'm not sure why, but it just felt right.  Riding my Harley and smoking seemed to go together well. 

I smoked off and on for the next couple years of my military career.  If I went out of town I'd buy a pack.  Monica hated me smoking.  However, I didn't realize exactly how much.  Here's a tip to women.  If you don't want your husband to smoke don't say the phrase, "I don't care if you smoke as long as you don't do it around me."  Men are simple creatures and will take that at face value.  I remember learning this lesson when Monica hung up my leather bike jacket and found two cigarette butts in the pocket.  I didn't want to litter and figured I'd throw them out in a trash can later.

I'd stop smoking for a few weeks, then I'd bum a smoke and this habit went on throughout my 4 years in the Air Force.  I rarely bought smokes unless I was out of town and away from Monica.  After I got out of the Air Force I ended up in a job working a night shift as a manager at a large distribution center.  I was working nights, getting home at 5 am or so.  Monica worked during the days.  This is when I started up smoking kinda seriously.  Some days I'd smoke almost a pack a day. 

I knew Monica knew.  She knew I knew she knew.  However I think to avoid a fight we both ignored it.  I quit for 13 weeks once, then I started again.  With my new job, the first year or so I was traveling.  I was gone Monday through Friday and only home on weekends.  I smoked when out of town then didn't when I was home.  Then I got more brazen and smoked during the day but not at home.  Then I'd quit for a few weeks, and start back up.

I smoked a lot when I was doing what you'd think of as "manly" activities.  Heading out to the gun range, grab some smokes. 

I don't know how many times I threw half a pack of smokes out my car window in anger and disgust with myself.

Then, last year, on December 2nd, I smoked my last cigarette.  I think it was a Wednesday.  I quit on my own...again...for 2-3 days.  On that Saturday after, Monica and I went out for lunch.  I finally opened up to her about it.  I told her that I needed her help in quitting.  I told her I wanted to tell her how I was feeling about it.  I asked that if I came home and said, "Damn I wanted a cigarette today so bad," that she'd listen and not judge.  I asked her to ask me if I had smoked. I needed to know someone was in there helping me quit and would keep me accountable.  Essentially, quitting smoking is hard enough on its own.  Especially if you are trying to hide the fact you're quitting.

So, this last year hasn't been that hard.  There have been a few days when I've had a really stressful day that I craved a smoke.  But nothing would be worth giving up my streak now.

One year smoke free.  I can't wait to make it two.

30-Day Primal Challenge

I haven't blogged about it much, but about a month ago I got back on the primal bandwagon.  I have to say its been great.  My weight loss has been almost effortless and I've dropped 8 lbs of the sympathy weight I've put on during Monica's pregnancy.  I wanted to share this with everyone then I saw that Mark Sisson's blog, www.marksdailyapple.com is sponsoring a 30-Day Primal Blueprint challenge.

Go on over to Mark's site and check it out.  A direct link to the challenge can be found by clicking here.

Amazon Prime addiction!

 This is a bit "off topic" however I'm going to be including more here about my everyday life and less about just fitness.   I figure that way I'll blog more.

That out of the way.  Let me say, I'm a huge fan of Amazon Prime.  To me, it is the best offering out there.  For those of you that don't know what Amazon Prime is, the short of it is you pay $79 a year for a Prime membership.  That gets you free two-day shipping on all your orders from Amazon.  Also, if you're in a hurry, you get $3.99 next day delivery per item.  At first, some people may balk at that $79 fee and think this is not for them.  However, you have to look at all the factors before deciding.

• Right now there is free super saver shipping for Amazon orders over $25.  How many times have you needed a $20 item off of Amazon then added a $7 paperback you didn't really need to get the free shipping?  I know I did this a few times.  Now, I just order the $20 item and forget about it.
• Sales tax.  In Illinois Sales tax is outrageous.  For example, I was looking at buying my iMac from the apple store in Woodfield Mall in Schaumburg, IL.  Sales Tax in Crook Cook County is 10.25%.  So, that $1499.99 iMac would have been $1653.74 out the door.  Amazon had the same iMac for $1449.00 and I opted for next day delivery.  The cost was $1452.99.  So, right on that order alone I saved $200+. 
• You can't beat Amazon's prices.  Sure, there are rare exceptions, but 9 times out of 10, the most affordable price you can find online is at amazon.  Amazon Prime eligible items are items housed at an Amazon warehouse.  But, there are thousands of retailers and companies that send their products to these warehouses for Amazon to ship.  That means you have thousands of companies competing for your business all on one website.  
• It's not just books anymore.  Everything is on Amazon.  Monica and I have bought diapers, hard to find health food items, water filters for my fridge, furniture, electronics, etc etc etc. You name it, it's available on Amazon.  In fact, I've been looking at buying a case of coconut milk off of Amazon for a few days.  It's to the point right now that I look to Amazon first before anywhere else.
• Subscribe and save options.  If you look around, you'll find items available for subscribe and save.  For example, we recently ordered a bunch of Pampers.  By signing up for a subscription, we save 30% per order, and have free 2-day shipping.  We can change the frequency, add an extra shipment, change the size of the diapers, and have free returns.  You can't beat it!
• Release date delivery.  Another new feature is release date delivery for video games and movies.  If you pre-order certain items, like the newest version of Halo, the item will show up on your door on the release date.  

So, there's my plug for Amazon Prime.  We just ordered a changing table off of Amazon two days ago.  I checked out the UPS tracking info and it's coming via UPS 2nd day air from California.  It's a 50 lb package going from Cali to Illinois.  I did a quick check on UPS and for me to ship this item 2nd day air it would have cost me $212.  I don't know how Amazon does it, but it works.