Always Trying To Keep Up

I'm always trying to keep up with guys. I might blame some of that on growing up with a brother, his best friend, and six male cousins (notice there were no girls). I never really had any other choice but to fend for myself. I doubt that climbing trees, hiking through the woods, stomping through streams, and being the only bad guy against all the good, developed the physical strength I have today. I'm sure that it helped to establish my mental strength. In fact I know that it did.

Everything we experience in life adds to our character, it adds to our will, and those experiences effect the choices we make and reasons we choose them. So growing up with 8 boys often made me choose between running around outside and playing house.

Although I don't really compete with them now, I always remember the little things I learned from them.

It hasn't changed, on occassion I workout with the guys, I try to keep up with the weights they lift, with the distance they travel, and the amount of time it takes them to complete a task. I usually get beat, but I appreciate their encouragement, and I often think of the one day I might beat them, match them, just as I did when I was a kid. It'll come, all things being equal, it kind of has to.

Aspire

The definition of aspire...

to long, aim, or seek ambitiously; be eagerly desirous, especially for something great or of high value.

That's an awful lot for a six letter word. You can aspire to be great, you can aspire to be strong, you can aspire to be successful, I suppose you can aspire to be just about anything. Most of what each of us apsires to be is relative to the rest of the world.

Perhaps that is why apirations are individual. They account for who we are, our character, our charisma, our actions. We aren't programmed to aspire to just one thing. I hope most of us have, at the very least, a few aspirations to obtain. Some for the short term, some for the long term, and even a few in between. I myself have several. All the smaller ones are the stepping stones to the final one, and once I get there, I hope to have more.

Aspirations need to be driven by something, external or internal factors, just as motivation, one is stronger than the other. Whatever it is you aspire to do or to be, it needs to come from within you. External factors can help with the motivation but you have to want it, think it, and desire to be it.

Good Start

Yesterday morning's workout...

5 - 1 minute rounds of...

DB See Saw Presses 20lbs
SB Exchanges
Contralateral Push Ups
Sandbag Floor Wipers
8 Count Body Builders
Sit Ups
Ball Jacks

1 minute rest between rounds.

15, 8, 5, 5 Pull Ups

And today...

Lots of bodyweight movements for about 15 minutes straight.

I'm hoping to get something in tomorrow afternoon after I attend what's supposed to be one heck of a Strength and Conditioning Clinic at Villanova University.

To Start A New

I love how I'm talking like I've taken 10 weeks off from injury! The fact is when I injured my back over 2 years ago during the DL at the TSC (the first event) I still did the last two events, one of which was Kettlebell Snatches with the 16kg for 5 minutes with 130 reps. Point being, and it might not have been the smartest idea ever, but I kept at it. I took a few days off afterwards and worked through the pain. The orthopeadics didn't help any or offer any sound advice, so I did what I could. Two years later, I'm pretty much back to normal, mostly with the assistance of my chiropractic friend, the only activities that bring back the pain, literally, are back extensions and running on hard surfaces.

Anyway, now, I'm not injured and I just took days off because something inside me tells me I should? My last week of workouts weren't solid, I felt weak, tired, less than motivated, but I forgot about the important part...that I could move. I wasn't injured, I was in a rut and just bailed. My reasons all ended up in my 'Poor Excuses' book because that's all they were, and now they'll always remind me.

My original plan was to ease back in to my program tomorrow afternoon, but I think the better option is to just dive right in, bright and early tomorrow morning, and workout with the group. This way I can't control the length of work/rest periods, someone else has to, and I just have to get through the movements properly.

Taking Off A Few Days

I did not plan to take off from training for a few days, but it feels like the right thing to do. Allergies sprung up from somewhere since it's 60 degrees in the dead of winter, I feel overly tired, and very unmotivated, stuck in a rut. Generally, I would tell myself to suck it up, but this time I'm taking it as a sign. A sign to rest, re-evaluate where I am, think through the plan one or two more times, make some more solid changes to my nutrition, and just kind of catch up on all things, personal and business.

Fresh start begins on Thursday, with a good and swift kick of an afternoon workout based around fundamental movements, and not forgetting that rest and recovery are equally important to my goals.

Failures vs Successes

A good friend of mine just emailed me today and the one thing that stuck out most in my mind was when he wrote, "It is far better to fail at great things, then to succeed at nothing."

Isn't that the truth?

This applies to so much... training, life, relationships, business, family, and well pretty much everything. In your comfort zone you find just that, comfort. You nuzzle yourself in a corner, whether it's actual or just a spot in your mind, and then you rarely if ever walk away from it. You become happy with the way life has settled upon you. Leaving options to become obsolete, leaves life with no choices.

Inadvertently, self doubt becomes part of the equation. Self doubt doesn't fit into any equation that includes success.

Success doesn't necessarily mean that you have answered all the questions to life, it doesn't mean that money is no longer a matter of importance, it doesn't mean that you stop believing in yourself, and it doesn't mean that you no longer have to try. In fact, all these things become that much more important as you continue grow. With success comes growth, and the acknowledgement that without trying you never know what could have been.

If you question an action that you haven't taken, reflect on it's options, determine the ideal outcome, and visualize how that outcome will affect your life. What happens if the outcome isn't ideal? You learn. You know that you tried. You know that you have something to work toward, or something to change, or something to become better at. You have a chance to grow and to learn, and to recognize that you made an attempt. Regardless, you added an experience, one you never would have had without taking a chance.

Persistence...

Persistence is the act or fact of persisting.

The definition of persist, is to continue steadfastly or firmly in some state, purpose, course of action, or the like, escpecially in spite of opposition.

How does persistence relate to your training?

How many times have you set a goal, and then set it aside because you did not succeed in the allotted time frame?

or

How many times have you gone back, over and over again, to continue pressing forward even on the hardest training goal you've ever assigned to yourself?

Depending on which question you answer, maybe it's even been both. How does persistence relate to the actions of your life? Do you give up and walk away, or do you press forward until all the possible options have been exhausted?

Hopefully you press forward, both in your training and in your daily life and all the options it offers you. Although persistence does not directly equal success, it's an important factor that accompanies it.

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WTH Effect...Maybe

Anyone who knows me, knows I don't like to run and I don't like the cold. I'll include some 1-3 mile runs/jogs every once in awhile provided the weather is optimal, which basically means, I run at most 12 times a year. Not sure what got in to me this week, especially since it's only 30 degrees outside, but I ran some trails with Bella twice this week and felt great! Especially today, and it was cold! We were out for over an hour, I got completely side tracked with the scenery, and barely realized where I was, not to mention I found myself running up hills, jogging flats, and walking downhills.

To be honest I really wasn't that tired, and I actually enjoyed running, which hasn't happened in years. I had no muscle fatigue in my legs, any fatigue was in the lungs, and I'm not sure if this was due to lack of conditioning (I don't think so) or the cold air. Part of my enjoyment though had to be the scenery. The idea of running flat terrain, mile after mile, on a treadmill, or around the track bores me to death, but the variety of the hills, and the scenery, and just the piece of mind and serenity that I zoned into was actually relaxing and calming.

My training for the past few months had to be everything with my ability to run for the length of time I ran this week.

How do you get strong?

This past weekend I was teaching a kettlebell workshop in a club that had more amenities than my own home. During a break I was speaking with a trainer, who asked me what kind of facility I worked in. I briefly explained that ours was studio space that consisted of mostly kettlebells, dumbbells, medicine balls, lots of rings and pull up bars, and few odd tools that make training a little fun and different. We don't have any machines.

He looked at me in utter confusion. The first thing he said was, "How do people get strong if you don't have cable machines?"

I paused for a second to make sure his question was serious...it was. I couldn't believe it, or could I? Here I was in one of the most beautiful and fully equipped gyms in the world and I was being asked how people get strong without machines.

I first want to clarify that I am not totally against all cable machines, but I certainly don't think they are the answer to everything, and I most certainly do not believe in their ability to make one the strongest they have ever been. So my reply, was, "Our philosophy is that the body moves through everyday movements as a whole so we train it that way. Rarely do we perform isolation movements, and we can create/encourage/motivate strong and conditioned bodies within all of our training programs."

Still I got a look of disbelief. Then, remembering the equipment that I just listed, he asked, "Well what do you for cardio if you don't have treadmills?"

Again, I had to pause to make sure he was serious, and he was. Again, I almost couldn't believe it. I mean I was there teaching him how to use kettlebells. We'd been "hands on" for an entire day, and were two hours in to the second.

So I again discussed the benefits of kettlebell training, I talked about using intervals instead of 60 minute treadmill sessions. I talked about the inadequacy of the recombent bike and the elliptical. I invited him to workout with me, he declined, and still looked at me in disbelief. All the while, I had demonstrated just about every single kettlebell lift with the 24kg bell.

I guess you can't break them all. I'm the strongest, most well rounded athlete/person I've ever been, through years of competitive swimming, soccor, track, and now jiu-jitsu. I left the converstation a little disappointed, and even when he walked past me after 15 mintues into my workout he still didn't believe.

Playing Around with 28kg

It's been a light training week due to circumstances beyond my control, so I thought I'd play around a bit. Didn't get it on film, but pulled off a Turkish Get Up with the 28kg too.

Working Through It

No, it's not an unassisted muscle up, it's assisted, but a good photo for using the self-timer.

Training by yourself can allow you to go into a zone that is unable to be interrupted. Training by yourself can also be boring, when you only have you to push you. Little words whisper in the back of your mind the things you should be doing, the motivational words you've heard over and over again, or the extra push from those you've trained with. Then there are other sets of little words that tell you to quit when it's hard and tell you to stop when something doesn't go right. It really takes determination and a strong desire to override the ill words, despite any sufferring you think you're going through.

It's like the red devil on one shoulder and the white angel on the other. Who do you listen to, who do you let take control over your training?

I try to use them both. I listen to the motivation, I hear the faint words that at some point pushed me to finish. I also hear the words to give up or to quit, but I use those words to push me harder, I use those words to get to the end, and to never give up. Even on bad training days I use those words to come back to it tomorrow.

"Success means having the courage, the determination, and the will to become the person you believe you were meant to be." - George Sheehan

Finally Back To Training

For the past 6-8 weeks I've only been spending about 2-3 hours a week working drills on the mat, and hardly no time training. Which, I must say is not enough, it's not enough to learn, it's not enough to practice, and it's not enough to get better. Despite having a mostly shitty weekend, I dragged myself to open mat today. I'm really glad I did. I spent about an hour training off and on, mostly on, and atleast I don't feel like I lost too much. I was a little tired, but I'm chalking that up to the weekend. I also noticed how two of my training partners have gotten significantly better as well.

John, who got promoted when I did, has dramatically changed his training. He probably weighs 20lbs less than me, but feels like he's 20lbs more. He doesn't freak out ever, just goes through the motion knowing what he's hunting. Dov comes from a wrestling background and I used to be afraid of training with him because of his crazy ass stunts that carried over from wrestling but today he was very calm and almost methodic. (Except for the time he smashed my head on the mat, ha!)

Assisted Muscle Up Variations

I'm debating which of these two assisted muscle up variations has the most benefit to actually doing a muscle up. I've noticed that while jumping into a muscle up I find myself much lower in the bottom of the dip when compared to the box assisted muscle ups.

The box assisted muscle up forces you to use pulling strength while minimally relying on the legs, teaching the movement to your muscles. The dip is still effective. It seems to be easier to control how tight the rings stay to the body in this version as well.

The jumping muscle up seems to have a stronger benefit in getting through the transitition faster and teaching you to almost dive over the rings and get away from just pulling yourself up as you would in a pull up. The dip is very effective. It seems to be a little harder to control the rings and keeping them tight in this version.

I do question the validity of being able to perform 15 dips and 15 pull ups prior to being able to do a muscle up.

Timeline

I just re-read my training goals from five months ago. I still have the same goals on my mind, but I forgot about one key component, the timeline. I know that everything I want to do...is just that...doable, but I never gave myself a time frame for completing those goals, so I never had an urgency to accomplish them.

So before a whole five more months go by without marking off a single goal on my list, I'll be setting the time frame.

Referring back to the list from early September...

Single arm press 32kg... I have 22kg right now.

KB Snatch 24kg for 40/40 reps... I have 22/22 right now.

Ring Muscle Up... I have assisted ones now.

24kg Weighted Pull Up... I have 10kgs now.

40kg KB Snatch... I have 36kgs now.

I don't want to focus on just one goal at a time because then I will neglect other movements and other important aspects of my training. I don't want to set an arbitrary date because it isn't practical.

I'll train the heavy snatch, the press, and the weighted pull up with ladders. I'll train the muscle up through repitition of the movement. I'll train the 40/40 reps with descending ladders and adding reps weakly.

So, I still need the timeline.

Single arm press 32kg... by the end of May.

KB Snatch 24kg for 40/40 reps... by the end of March.

Ring Muscle Up... by the end of March.

24kg Weighted Pull Up... by the end of April.

40kg KB Snatch... by the end of April.

Keep me honest.

What's The Point?

"You're crazy!"

-Maybe I am

"Why would you do that?"

-Because I can

"What's the point?"

-Because it's who I am

The top exclamation and the top two questions responded to in less than 12 words. Pretty damn simple.

"Technique is what you fall back on when you run out of inspiration." -Rudolf Nureyev

Overhead Squats

The most weight I have ever had on the bar for overhead squats was 95lbs, I got 3 reps. It was ridiculously painful at the time. Right now I'm comfortable with 88lbs and about 5-6 reps. It still isn't easy, but if it was everyone would be doing it.

I'm re-writing my training program a little bit, since I have the tendancy to jump around on what I want to work on. Too many goals and so little time. Time to prioritize. Not exactly sure how I'm going to do it yet, but I know kettlebell training will go back in the mix at least three times a week, barbell work once maybe twice a week, BJJ back to three times a week with actual training one of those days, and finally bodyweight work mixed in on most if not all of the days.

It'll be a tricky little mix to work on strength, keep up with my conditioning, and work on my skill set both on and off the mat, without overtraining. Nutrition and rest are key. Lots to think about, but I'll have it together by Monday.

Never Turn Your Back

On your opponent or yourself. Three things happened to today.

One, I had a good, hard workout this morning, and as much as I hated it I wouldn't let myself quit. (Angie from crossfit.com 39:35 as rx'd)

Two, I went back to training BJJ after 5-6 weeks of not training. We worked on a drill that wouldn't let us take our eyes off of our opponent.

Third, I read an article in the Performance Menu titled, Mind Freak, and I couldn't agree with it more.

So what's the big deal? It should sound like a typical day in the neighborhood for me.

All three things happened in the order listed. Prior to my workout I was curious as to how many sets up of pull ups I would break my 100 reps into. I never once had any doubt about doing the 100 pull ups, I just wondered how'd I get there.

During jiu-jitsu I was told to not take my eyes off my opponent, never give up your back, always be able to see your opponent.

So far both have me staring my opponent in the face, whether it's the 100 pull ups or a real live person. I wasn't going anywhere.

I literally just read the article in the Performance Menu. The entire time I thought about my training. I thought about the lifts I struggled with or never got. I thought about the movements I couldn't pick up or the ones that seemed damn near impossible. I thought about some of the distractions I've encountered during tournaments.

I thought about how all those things weren't going to be an issue any more.

Even though I coach it myself every single day, to visualize the movement, to visualize the lift, the jump, everything, I have needed to be reminded of that simple task just recently. If there is any doubt, if you cloud your mind with other thoughts, if you don't keep your eyes on your opponent, you will have trouble succeeding.

Although I know all the things I'm writing, the three events of today have become a circular pattern and constant reminder, that I am only as good as I make myself.

Bring Your Best Everyday

I'm not sure who said it first, but I heard it said several times at a conference I was attending a few months ago, while listening to Thomas Plummer speak. Again, it was one of those lines that struck me, something I should remember, and something I should do, so I wrote it down.

Now, I'm not a huge fan of posting little notes on every mirror in my house, but this one I do have sitting on my desk, it's right between the phone and the computer, with the sole purpose to be read each day, at least once, but preferably more.

You see it's all about how you approach things. When you wake up in the morning, if your first thought is negative, you haven't started your day off well and you haven't even gotten out of bed. However, if you start your day off on a positive note, you will start to see positive changes through out your day. Sure, annoying and bothersome things are bound to happen each day, there really is no way to avoid them, but how you handle them can effect the outcome of those little annoyances that appear each day.

If you don't put your best foot forward everyday you have no one but yourself to blame when you have a sub-par day. It's just like skipping breakfast, if you do, you'll be hungry on your commute to work and you're likely to stop for an egg and cheese breakfast sandwich when you should have taken a few extra minutes at home to make some oatmeal and egg whites (or anything that's better than a fast food breakfast sandwich.) Then because you ate a bad breakfast the likelihood of eating a bad lunch is greater because you already screwed up today's nutrition. It's a domino effect. Approach each day with the maximal amount of positive energy, to make the most out of each day.

Bring Your Best Everyday.

'Never Let Down'

When I first read the phrase, it actually made me think hard about the last three words I just read. I immediatley related it to training, determination, and dedication. Later a friend let me know that it's actually the name of a song, and though it's meaning could still be similar, the lyrics allow you to think about those three words, 'never let down' in different ways and apply it to different aspects of your life beyond training.

"Never Let Down"

Never wanna break your heart.
Never wanna make you cry.
Never wanna give up and die.
Even if you can't stand up.
Even if you lose your life.
I'm a friend by your side.
You're never gonna be alone.
You can never let down.
Never let down.
You can never let down.
Never let down.
Never wanna make mistakes.
Never wanna do no wrong.
Never have a place to belong.
And I'm never gonna leave you out.
If you ever lose your way.
Not alone or betrayed.
I'm always gonna be around.
You can never let down.
Never let down.
You're doing alright.
You're doing ok.
Just follow your heart.
And don't run away.
You can never let down.
You're doing alright.
You're doing ok.
Just follow your heart.
And don't run away.
You can never let down.
You're doing alright.
You're doing ok.
Just follow your heart.
And don't run away.
Never wanna break your heart.

Although I now think of other things when I hear these words I still come back to my training. Everyone has a focal point, everyone has at least one thing that drives them, makes them care, makes them get out of bed in the morning, makes them live life. Right now, mine is training, it's one of the few things, although sometimes frustrating, that allows me to zone out. I have a goal and I have steps to conquer each goal, it's methodic yet at times totally random, but it's the main thing that drives me.

Even on bad training days... All these apply. Determination and dedication...