Audits

Audits. You got to love them if you are a bean counter. In actuality, they really are a pain. But with every audit or analysis, something is learned. And often times, things are changed forever because of what was discovered. When things change there is pain. But there is also growth.

Of course this applies to all mental, physical and spiritual endeavors. Corporate internal audits, while not mandatory, are usually very productive. External or mandated audits are often unproductive and time wasting. Nevertheless, they need to be done to remain in compliance. What big corporate does should also be done on a personal level. Taking inventory of your life is not a necessity but it sure clarifies goals and helps to determine your focus.

Bottom line: Most people live unexamined lives because there are no mandatory audits for personal and spiritual fulfillment. While the IRS and other legions of regulatory bodies have specific, defined methods, looking at your own physical, spirtitual and mental well being should be done regularly. And that is why DOCUMENTING is crucial. During an IRS audit you will be asked to produce many different documents. Why would training be any different? To do the Gym Movement protocol you will need impeccable record keeping in order to break records on a continual basis.

Speaking of physical: The gym movement scores again - I listen internally only:
Pullups: 31 reps in 15 minutes for a volume and density PR
KB flipping: 10 minutes, getting 10 reps for back flips and 5 for front. Front are very difficult at this time but all tested well.
Standing dumbell hammer curls: double 50s x 2 reps (PR) then 35# for 10 reps

Client #1 CR:
Day 1: 80 snatches (70 at 16K, 10 at 24K), 20 pushups, BUP 36 reps with 16K
Day 2: 100 snatches with the 16K in 4:55

Insidious improvements

I've been doing the Gym Movement protocol for less than three months and while my lifts and body comp are improving, there is often insidious improvements that occur as well. Case in point, I met with two business colleagues recently and both said I looked really good; like I was handling the stress very well. I replied thank you and thought to myself, they really don't see me at my worst:) But truth of the matter is, people can see a difference. I just read an article about non-verbal clues and it was fascinating. It focused more on how to look powerful without saying anything. That is not my goal but I also don't want to look like a spineless wimp either - so keep your hands out of your pockets! By moving better, I'm sure I appear more confident; I know I feel a heck of a lot better. And my ROM has been simply outstanding, a definite PR. On Friday a co-worker saw me crossing the street and asked if I was in a hurry. I said no. He said you must have been because I was bookin'. Well, if your movement is good you can actually walk in a straight line (physics based) and you do get there faster! I had to laugh.

Training:
Pushups tested well: 26 PR intensity 75 volume PR and done in 10 minutes for a density PR.

Goblet Squat: 4x10 = 40 reps with the 24K in 10 minutes was a volume and intensity PR

Hammers: 5x5 with the double 35# dumbells in 5 minutes was a PR for volume/density

Today: just did snatches: 44# for 130 in 14.75mn for volume PR. Want to get to 150 in 10 minutes. As Mike Nelson told me, upgrades in volume will eventually translate to intensity PRs.....gotta love it!

A typical day at Mike T Nelson's house

Had a great Memorial Day with the family just being outside and active. Got some paperwork done and then decided it was time to go to Mike T. Nelson's garage gym. Actually, the goal was to work on a few new things. They were juggling and falling/rolling so we actually went out to the yard. Flipping the 12K was about all I could do for my "First rep is the worst rep" try. Talk about FUN! It wasn't that bad but I destroyed a Target cardboard box of his as well as a few holes in the ground (sorry Mike). All I know is that I can't be trying too many things at once - just stick to basic progressions and do a few. Mike said this exercise has helped his sports vision more than any other protocol. Gross to fine applies here - doing juggling is much more real world and "gross" than doing simple eye tracking. So I got PRs in front and back flips and the open hand snatch. Great stuff!

Moved on to falling and tumbling. While this seems so easy, it is a VERY important concept to learn. You never know when you could be in this situation and you want to be sure to spread the load by using your elbow to brace your fall and not your hand. If you do it right you can really feel the difference. Started by standing but it was too hard - it is best to progress from a crouch position to standing. So I crouched and ground out probably 5 reps on each side. When Mike asked me to do it on my left side I began to laugh. Why? Stress response! As I am right handed, it seems everything I do on my left side is a little weak. I should probably do twice as much work on the left than the right to make up for this.

We finished up with some deadlift form work, from which I felt as comfortable as I had in about a year. And then did some LCCJ hitting double 53s for PR of 3. Mike did 2 OK reps at the double 32s for a PR! Nice work!

I told Mike everytime I go to his house I learn new exercises, break PRs and move better. Any questions with that? Go to see Mike if you want to take your training to a new level. You'll be glad you did!

Metabolic flexibility Part Duece

I hope you all had a great Memorial weekend, and I hope that everyone remembered what the day off work was really for.

Knowing my family and I were going to my mother and father in-laws house in Alexandria, I knew this would be another great test of the concept of metabolic flexibility. Why you ask? Because my M-I-Law doesn't always prepare the most healthy meals (while delicious) and the majority of the time bakes cakes and Carmel rolls. Add to that, a gluten laden mix of several different breads, all of them the white variety washed down by whole milk. The easiest thing in the world is to spineless, so I said, hey I'll eat everything she throws at me this weekend and see what happens.

To combat this I decided to bring my 20K kettlebell and offset some of the food. Snatches tested well so I started Saturday with a PR in volume of 5,280 on 120 reps in 13 minutes for a density of 406. After a gluten laden lunch of a sandwich and Carmel roll I went out to help my in-laws take down three trees that had died in their yard. Not large ones, but it took some effort. Not willing to take the entire stump out of the ground I used an axe to chop them down below ground level. This took about a half hour or so and in the 90 degree heat was pretty tough. It was great exercise and was contra to the snatches. No big surprise: these tested TERRIFFIC! That was so cool, and was probably why I felt so invigorated. My reward? Another Carmel roll! My gluten sensitivity was too much and I had to take a nap after that. I awoke to watch the Twins crush the Rangers 8 to 3 and did some more work on my book.

Sunday started with gluten pancakes and bacon, preceded by a PR in volume for the press. I did 72 reps in 14.5 minutes for a load of 3,168. Judging by the soreness, I now realize why some kettlebellers have fantastic arm development. Snatches really work the biceps and the presses the triceps..tada.

Back to the diet, I will tell you I felt like crap all day Sunday. Loading up on the gluten was too much for me and I was very crabby - even though I moved quite well. I am happy to report that by Tuesday night I was at 100%. While this is not optimal, completely recovering in three days is much better than I used to be - heck I would feel like crap for up to a week! I am counting this as a victory and again proving that metabolic flexibility is alive and well. Enjoy!

Goal setting & the Movement

Who hasn't heard the mantra "Those who fail to plan are planning to fail." Well, there have been many plans that have failed because they were based on a faulty premise. Realism must be at the forefront, meaning they most be realistic and attainable. For myself, I must have simple goals AND no more than three at a time. While the movement calls for PRs every night, it is important to do the RIGHT exercises that will increase the likelihood of achieving your goals.

In addition to the right exercises and doing them properly, you must live by the ultimate litmus test: TEST IT. You must also decipher how you feel as well, as per my last post where bench tested well but bar speed was slow. Then major fatigue set in. Now remember - this is only MY results. Your body may react totally different based on your body type or even your job.

On that notion, I did snatches tonight for the first time in a looong time. They always test well so that is great. But lately I have been breaking intensity (% of max) PRs and gotten away from volume and density. It appears that my belt is a little tighter and my waist line not so good. So I went after a volume record for snatches tonight, which I did at 5,020. Problem is, my wind was gone! It took forever and my lungs were really pushed to the max using only the 20K bell. My goal is to snatch the 40K and here I am dinking around with the 20K. Not what I want. But at the same time I want fat loss so I need to do higher reps. What a delema! While the 88# is an ultimate goal, I really do want to nail 100 reps in 5 minutes with the 24K (my best is 83). The other reason is I want to compete at the TSC. I need to at least be competitive in this last portion of the contest! So bottom line I have a decision to make.

Since it is summer time, I am really going to push for lowering body fat and getting my five minute numbers up. While the movement will tell me which PR to break (intensity, volume, density) I need to snatch EVERY week and maybe multiple times, not once every 2 weeks (that's only twice a month!). And the records need to fall HARD. When I see a 125# Kathi Burger getting 100 reps in five minutes and Mark Wilson getting 100 in 3.5 I realize I have work to do. I don't have the goal to run a marathon but I am tired of getting winded easy - so jacking cardio is a key goal at the present time. For me, that makes the most sense, and my adrenals will thank me for it. Enjoy:)

Flying too close to the sun

The title is a saying that Mike Nelson always uses when referring to overtraining. Well, after Saturday's hard workout I was at the burning point. While bench press tested OK, bar speed just wasn't there. So what did I do? Kept on pushing. Wrong answer. I felt like taking a nap soon after my workout and then proceeded to have no energy the rest of the weekend. In other words, I taught my body that this workout was DIFFICULT. I had pains and tension on Sunday something terrible. My neck was totally whacked, a sure sign of struggling and maintaining high tension. Took until Tuesday night to feel better. I lost a few pounds and had sleep disturbances i.e. 5 hours Sunday night. These are all symptoms of overtraining and overload of adrenal stress. Time to quit working on intensity and start breaking PRs in density and volume!

Busy at work, baseball game until 7:30 so training was abbreviated. Shattered my BUP intensity, volume and density PRs tonight! Started off with the 16K for 12r and 10left, easy PRs. Then got 56 in 10 minutes for volume and density. And it was fun and EZ. No grimacing, no tensing. As soon as it got tough, I took 'er down. Did swings and would have broken a PR but had bad record keeping. That won't happen again!

On a side note, watched the Biggest Loser finale. The guy who won dropped 264 pounds. Wow! The only thing better than that is not weighing 526 to start with. Problem is, the guy moved like crap. His legs were so externally rotated I couldn't imagine him running or doing any kind of sport. Ouch! Movement protocol emergency!!!!

Variety is the spice of Life

Who doesn't like variety? That is why the Gym Movement is the ONLY system you need. The variety is necessary for growth. In the past, I only changed exercises when I was nursing an injury. As such, my training consisted of about a dozen exercises - talk about boring! In addition, it makes you look like a gym exercise. Have you ever seen guys who bench all the time? Their shoulders are rounded in and they walk funny. Is this the look a fluid athlete? Granted, that may not be their goal. But in the long run it WILL result in imbalances and eventual injury.

Case in point, when I went back to training my old way 2 months ago I started to get all knotted up and had to get several chiropractic adjustments. With the gym movement protocol, it is self correcting. Case in point: One of my goals is to increase my bench. When I started this protocol I was bummed that bench tested poorly for the first six weeks; I had to do dips and pushups. Funny thing is, now that I'm getting more balanced, neither of these test well and bench is going up!

Along the same lines, Mike and Adam strongly recommend long cycle clean & jerks (LCCJ). So I decided to try it after bench today after a volume PR of 5,870 (240-245 Matrix). I started at a baseline PR of double 12K for 3x10 in 5 minutes. This gets you working, guaranteed! Hardstyle magazine always talked about how people were gaining up to 15# of muscle doing LCCJ and I always wondered how. That is Frankie's idea of large to small - hard work on large movements is THE best way to stress the body. The body reacts to stress by laying down lean tissue - resulting in weight gain! NICE.

Workout: Bench PR Volume: 135x10 165x8 190x5 200x3 225x1 225x1 225x1 195x5 = 5,870 in 30 minutes

LCCJ: Double 12K for 3x10 in 5 minutes (hamstrings got tight!) Baseline PR

Double DB hammers: 30x6 30x6 30x4 30x3 19reps at 60# = 1,140 density PR in 5 minutes