builder26’s BodyBlog

I have been trying to get aquainted with CF the past couple weeks. Mostly I see how brutally difficult and over my head it is. I try and fit it in on the days I am not scheduled to regularly lift. It is very intense and maybe an alternative to traditional cardio. (Right now it is either my skip/lunge/sprint wo , see the exercise section of my bs), or another stab at the WOD.  Today  its raining, so I looked at the WOD and decided that pullups, pushups, situps, and squats was something I could handle.  Of course they dont simply prescribe these movements, but insist on Tabata intervals, with 8 sets of each. Well, I have been trying this long enough to realize that you have to adapt to the space you have , the equiment you have, and to what you are capable of.   I did 4 sets of the pull-ups , 20 reps, 16 reps, 12, and 11 to failure , and then I abandoned that one.  I did get all 8 sets of pushups, managing 20 on the first couple, then dropping to about 16 for the last 6 sets. I thought the situps would be a breeze, but I did full situps for the first two sets, then abandoned that for half-ball crunches. I quit after (5) sets.  The squats I am good at and I did all 8 sets with a 40k bb. Even this however involved only about 16 reps after the first couple sets. I was determined to finish well, so I banged out 20 reps on the last set of the squats. I am sure my 10 second rests migrated to 14 -16 seconds as well. The whole darn massacre only took about 25 minutes and I was sweating and gasping for breath at that.  My wife was in the next room doing some kind of cardio and she quit and came over to see if I needed an ambulance.

If anyone who knows reads this, is there any consistent rule on how to scale these workouts down to old man speed? I’m sure there is, but I didnt really see anything but hard core info on the website. 

BEAUTIFUL day here today!  started out cold, but the sun is warming things. Did a quick shoulders and bi/tri workout in the gym, then on to the basketball court for lunges, skips, and shuttles. I felt like Maurice Greene!  (sorry MG, if you read this, I know I didnt cover one length of the court in the time you went down and back . You are still the man. hehehe )  Hope you all have a great celebration with family and friends. May you eat a lot, and have a chance to work a little of it off.  Ola!

My running partner couldnt make it this morning. It was a bright and a little chilly (49 deg) day at the basketball court where we do our thing. Thorogood was blasting in my ipod, so I got the bug to push the routine to a new level. Lunges, skips, stretching and then….I expanded the shuttle runs to "suicides". As far as I’m concerned , two round trips equals a shuttle, which is what we had been doing. Three ladder rungs equals a suicide.  Im sure passersby think I am crazy, or at least a dork . Some of the skips look especially fruity, I would think, but this workout is working out!  It takes like 45 minutes, has a bunch of stretching included, and my old bag of bones needs to be pretty warmed up before any sprinting takes place. I did (5) of the suicides , ( this is to the foul line, mid court, and the length of the court), and I was so out of breath that I decided to break it in two with about 1/2 mile jog around the block. When I got back to the court I did the other 5. Last time I did this I was like 22 yrs old, and there were about 50 other sweaty guys doing it with me.  Kinda like swimming, the trick to it is in the transition. If you stop and re-start with a crossover step, and a little athletic talent, (yes, I had to work at it) , the whole thing is somewhat easier, or you go a little faster, take your pick.  IF distance running is not your bag, and you want to get  a little HIIT in, this is kewl. Only thing better is skating, but my son can make me look silly on the ice, and that is a whole ‘nother blog….

IT just sounds nasty…."SQUATS" …Does this sound like something your mother would want you to do? What are the other uses of this yucko sounding word? Short, fat and "squat".  You dont know "squat"….I dont have "squat"… As an exercise though, it does have its merits, and after getting better and better at it  you come to associate it with a good thing.  Really, you do. For one thing, you can move more poundage with this than almost any other exercise (except maybe dead lifts , which sounds waaaaay cooler.)  It fires some huge muscles, which releases all kinds of great endorphins and makes your metabolism hum.  And….(the best part) I did my workout today with 150k ..WOOOOOHOOOOO!!!!!!!  And the hamstring injury I got last summer must’ve healed pretty well, because even though you can see a heckuva divot in my left leg, there is no pain or even little clutching on that side when its under stress.  Keeps getting better and better…

Ok, so we need to do more HIIT to burn the wicked fat monster…so what should we do? Survey says…..sprints!  Actually, I am a little more runner like than trainer man,(if you can believe that),  so this isnt as bad as it sounds. He put together this whole prgression of lunges, skips, quick-foot ladder, and then the evil shuttles….definitely gets the heart rate where it needs to go. Whole thing takes an hour or so. Might even compel me to post another picture in a couple weeks…heheheheh I have to hustle off just now to youngest hockey game…go Jr Stingrays..