Can't Stop me now... Diesel!!!

This week has been very busy and very hectic.  HOWEVER!  I have Smashed through some PR's and I feel like I am ON FIRE,  Like I am UNSTOPPABLE!  it's a great feeling.   everyone knows that the gym keeps you on ups and downs...  For a while you feel like you're in a slump, not performing quite like you want, then all the sudden the tables turn and a hot streak emerges!

So my week looks a little something like this, and trust me, I'll let you know which workouts and loads were busting my old PR's.

Monday
Shoulder Press 1-1-1-1-1
115,135,135,145,155F
Push press 3-3-3-3-3
115,125,135,145,155
Push Jerk 5-5-5-5-5
115,135,155,165,175 (175 x5 is a PR!)

then 5 rounds of
Snatch @ 115 x 5
OHS @ 115 x 3
 then
Max Pull ups - 41
30x Toes 2 Bar

Tuesday
15 rounds of:
power snatch immediately into 5 OHS

90,90,90,90,90
110,110,120,120,120
135,145,145,155F,145

Wednesday - Rest day (had to go out of town for the day)

thursday
Double unders
3 sets of 50 (stretch between sets for warm up)

Push jerk 5x3 @ 135#
Split Jerk 5x3 @ 135#
Push jerk 5x2 @ 176#
Split Jerk 6x2 @ 176#

Double unders
5 sets of 25 (stretch between sets)

Friday
OHS 1-1-1-1-1
155,165,175,185,198(NEW PR, SMASHED THE OLD 190# PR LIKE A BOSS!!)
Front SQT 1-1-1-1-1
220,230,240,250-255
Back SQT 1-1-1-1-1
265-265-275-275-285

So,  Ive been working hard and eating right, gained about 8 pounds in the past few weeks(and it aint fat)  And even though Ive been training for a pretty good while.  seeing hard work pay off is the motivator of all motivators!!  My Over Head Squat PR of 190 was from just a few weeks ago, and today I smashed it by OHSing 198.  Everyone around me could tell i had busted a PR  as soon as locked out and threw the weight to the ground, jumping around and doing some sort of ridiculous "victory dance".
Ok, thats fun and all, but really it comes down to this.  Measurable progress is what its all about.  keeping track of loads, times, rounds complete or what ever it may be, and then "retesting" at a later date to compare the results, and when the result is in the positive, well it just feels good to see hard work pay off.

How do you track/measure your progress?  What is your motivator?  How long can this "Hot streak" stay HOT??

Maintaining a sufficient carb intake (enough for fuel and recovery, but not so much that it promotes storage for fats), high protein intake, and a recently introduced higher caloric intake(I found that I was not taking in enough calories daily to build, I was barely taking in enough to maintain and recover)
This has been my most recent "trial by paleo" and so far so good!!!

Destruction!

So, me and my guys were out in the field training Wednesday morning through Thursday afternoon.  We did the normal AM training session Wednesday before leaving for the training area, and I was able to make it to the gym Thursday afternoon, as well as one good AM training session today (Friday) which leads into the weekend rest days. (No PM training today unfortunately.  I had shit to do.)

So It looked like this...

Wednesday AM- "CrossFit DESTRUCTION"
and holy shit  was the name right on the money...
AMRAP (As Many Rounds As Possible) in 45 minutes of:
2x 25ft rope ascent
25 chest to ground push ups
run 800m

You'd think this one wouldn't be quite so bad...   yea right. I started off strong and then it hit me like a freaking brick wall.
8 complete rounds + 2 rope ascents + 25 chest to ground push ups.( there was 5 seconds left at this point and I didn't even make an attempt to start into an 800m run.

Thursday PM training -
Clean and Jerk
3-3-3-3-3 (For 3 rep max)
135#,155#,175#,175#,180#
then
muscle up improvement
5 sets of 5 with minimal rest between sets, just enough rest to maintain unbroken sets

Friday AM Training - "Gumby Legs"
10 rounds of:
10 Overhead squats
then immediately
loaded sled push 25m down and back
(this workout is done with a partner or with two partners, first athlete does one round and second athlete begins overhead squats when first athlete returns with the sled.)
*My freakin legs are DONE!!!  but I like it!

Diet:  I'm going to start talking about diet on a weekly basis as opposed to a daily basis.  I feel that micro managing each individual meal is too much pin pointing and too picky, I think looking at a week as a whole is going to be a much better control measure in maintaining as strict of a paleo performance diet as possible (for my level of nutritional knowledge, which i would say is moderate at most).

So this past week my diet has pretty good, considering the time we spent in the field training, where there is only one option and that option is to eat what is available (MREs, Hot chow that is brought out at meal times) and neither of these provide a paleo friendly menu. However they DO provide one with fuel for high work out put, just not really the type of fuel I (or any athlete or paleo follower) would prefer.  Its high calorie, high card, high sodium chow that isn't made to taste too great but is made to keep you going for the work being done, long, low intensity movements that lead to short, high intensity periods, followed once again by long low intensity movements.
Chili Mac, MREs, corn and Lima beans, chicken cordon-blue, just a few examples of typical field chow.

But other than the field days, I managed to maintain a relatively strict paleo performance diet, with my recently increase calorie intake, slightly increased card intake (not too much though) and consistent protein intake.  I've been feeling pretty good this week.  looking forward to next week.  Hard at it once again!

"How can you expect others to be confident in you, if you aren't confident in yourself?"

Boom goes the dynamite

Friday Am training
A squad relay (8 People) with two people working at a time, however the next set of two cannot start until BOTH of the first set people have completed their given reps for the exercise.  Entire squad must complete each exercise before moving on to the next.

5 Rounds of
45# overhead lunges 10 each leg
10 HSPU (handstand push ups)
15 pull ups
10 tire flips


Last Thursday I wasn't able to do my PM training due to a night range at work.  So I did Thursdays PM training (30 muscle ups for time, then Clean, and Clean & Jerk improvement)  I used the 30 muscle ups (for quality instead of for time) as warm up.
Then I conducted Fridays workout-
30x power snatches (starting with moderate weight, ending with hard but doable)
started with 115#, worked up to 135# by rep 15, then up to 145# to finish it out
30x Clean and jerks (starting with moderate weight, ending with hard but doable)
started with 135#, worked up steady to 185#
3x5 Overhead Sqt @ 155#

5 minutes rest

10x Power Snatch@ starting weight from previous snatch ladder (115#)
10x Clean and Jerk @ starting weight from previous ladder (135#)
then
10x Clean and Jerk@ ending load from previous ladder (185#)
10x Power Snatch  @ ending load from previous ladder (145#)
then cool down and stretch.
I felt pretty good coming out of this one.

Monday AM training-
Trail run for target heart rate of approx. 65-70% on "the hills"
12 minutes out and 12 minutes back, attempting to set such a pace that in keeping both pace and heart rate one will finish the 12 minutes back at the same point in which they started.
*This one was tricky, I must say.  Keeping steady pace and heart rate on soft sandy hills was a PAIN IN THE ASS!! but fun none the less.

Monday PM- Today is a smoker!!!
3 rounds of-
10x ground to over head @ 95#
200M sprint by way of 50M (so 50m down and back twice each round)

3 minutes rest

Heavy Loaded sled push,  Load the sled so that you CAN move it, yet it is heavy to the point that your pushing pace is a slow "Creep".  It should be all you can do to push this sled at this creeping pace the full 50m without a rest. When doing this with a partner, your work time is their rest time, as soon as they complete the push. You begin yours.
We loaded the sled at 270# PLUS the sled weight.
This was definitely a smoker, and some technique definitely helps when making a long, slow, heavy push.

I"m also trying a higher daily caloric intake, I believe that I was leaving myself in deficit or at least barely breaking even as far as calories and carbs. Output vs Intake.  So we will give this a few weeks and see how it goes.  Like I've said before this is a never ending experiment to find what works the best for my body. 

Question of the day:
How "warm" do you get when you warm up?  What are your results when you over do it on the warm up? or when you don't warm up enough? 
*My feelings...  If you arent sweating, you arent "warm".  Breaking a light sweat doing a variety of exercises that are usually body weight movements including the entire body.  Burpees, GHD sit ups, Toes 2 Bar, Pull ups, Burgener Warm up ( with no more than 45#) and double unders are a few of my "Go To" warm up movements.   Let me know what you think. 

"Marty is a Caveman"

So to keep get this rolling, the first "actual" entry.  First I'll cover my diet in the last 24 hours.

24Jul2012 - Breakfast - 4 Eggs, 5 strips of bacon, two watermelon wedges.
                    Lunch- Chicken breast and beans
                    Dinner- Lean ground beef, broccoli

AM workout: took an APFT ( Army PT test)  these are a horrible way to judge someones physical condition. Max push-ups in 2 minutes, Max sit-ups in 2 minutes, two mile run for time.  For everyone that's taken this before, you know its weak and stupid.  Check the block and move on.
76-push ups, 71 sit-ups and 13:10 two mile run.   according to the army I am as physically fit as one my age can be...  the thing is, some people become really good at doing push ups, sit ups and running no more than two miles at a time and appear (according to this test) to be in excellent shape.  I hope that everyone reading this can easily see that this is often untrue.  most of these same people can not perform functional task at heavy weight OR at high intensity (or a combination of the two).

PM workout:  The Crossfit.com WOD (Push press 2-2-2-2-2-2-2)  The results after a short warm up of "the Burgener Warm up",  3x5 95# push press, 2x 95# barbell complex.  
then the actual work - 135x2,135x2,145x2,145x2,155x2,165x2,175x2
Then - the extras
3x5 Snatch - 115,125,135
3x5 Overhead Squat - 115,135,155
3x5 Clean - 135,155,165

Felt great at the end of the day closing this session in the gym, even with my sore legs from all the pistols doing "Mary" WOD the day before.  Got reasonably good rest and hope to get more just like it tonight!!! I feel like I need it. 

25 July 2012- 
AM workout: stretch/warm up,
then 3 rounds of
45# Overhead walking lunges 10 each leg
15 pull ups
10 Handstand Push-ups
10 tire/log flips
followed by a cool down run

Breakfast- 5 eggs, 5 strips of bacon, melon, grapes, small scoop of potatoes
lunch- lean ground beef,  green peas, sliced carrots, a banana

And just so everyone is on the same page, typically my AM workout is conducted with my platoon at work.  My PM workout is conducted at the Gym.  I start "Pre-workout" with a serving of lots of pulp orange juice and/or a banana or some piece of fresh fruit with a high glycemic index.  "post workout" with Nitrean + Protein matrix and a 5-10 grams of pure creatine. I also take Pro-Anox Genesis 2 times a day (excellent product).

Quote of the day:"Can Marty eat like a real caveman? why yes he can, Sam I am. and he sure does love Green Eggs and Ham. "

No PM workout today, going out to a night range with the guys, so here's the question of the day...
If you skip a gym session for whatever reason, do you do that work the next day in addition to your planned WOD?  or do you leave it in the past and move on to your regularly scheduled program?
Does this put you in danger of overworking?  Could this rest be an unexpected "gift"? 
we shall see tomorrow...    your thoughts?

-Spank This Pig-

Here goes nothin'

So here goes, My name is Clay.

Im starting this blog for a few reasons. 
One: In hopes that my experiences, success's and failures, can be of some benifit to anyone who may stumble accross it find themselves reading.
Two: To act as a record of my progress, my activities, changes in life and programming.

This is a Blog about my journey into a never ending fitness experiment, Crossfit and Crossfit style programming, Trial and error with different paleo diet varriants.  What I'm doing, how I feel about it, if it works, and about the people I meet along the way.

I've been on this journey for a few years now, I'll try from time to time to "Flashback" and bring the past to the table.  I'll also try my best to keep this Blog up to date with current post every day or so.

I'm in the military, and striving for a "Fit" life style with a strict diet can at times be very difficult to maintain, and even more difficult to just simply figure out.  Its a fact, we cant eat on a regular schedule ALL the time, and damn sure cant always eat what we want to, in order to stay within the box of our diet.  We even find ourselves going out and doing things for weeks or months at a time with little time or opportunity for fitness programming and even less opportunity for quality food intake. For example, a training event with a long duration, high work output, and MRE's are the only option for food/fuel intake.  How does one prepare for that?  Well, im trying to figure that out, and hopefully somewhere amongst all these rambles of what goes on in my day to day chase for progress, it will help those in similar situations.

I enjoy pushing myself past these so called "limits" that people so easily place upon themselves, I hope anyone reading this feels the same.  If you want it, you can get it, all it takes is work... Hard work.  I'd rather suck in the gym, than suck at life.

Lets "Spank This Pig"