Pain without gains

 This year marks six years since I found Crossfit. The fitness revolution that changed my life for the better. Right away when I started training huge gains came fast. I quickly became the strongest in the gym at the deadlift. Since then , as with most things in my life, have fallen off track and came back. With all of this on and off training the hardest thing I find is dial back my intensity upon returning to training. Often I jump back in, were I started and injure myself in the process. starting the cycle over. Currently I am recovering from a triceps strain. I am working on slowly returning to my training. Time is the main ingredient in recovering from a muscle strain. My plan, so far has consisted of 3 weeks off, and now I have started at 10% of what I was doing before. Basically, preventing any more muscle wasting that has already occurred. at this point, I plan to progress, by 10% a week. Hopefully in 10 weeks I will be at 100%, and get back after my goals. Unfortunately I have decided not to compete in the BC strongest man competition in June, because of my injury. Currently my plan is to drop some body fat that has incurred during my long winter hibernation.


MOBILITY -->

 This weeks song is an oldie, but one of the best songs for pumping you up for a big lift!

P.O.D - Boom!

 This weeks fitness idol is Dr. Fred Hatfield or Dr.Squat. One of the most influential people in fitness history.I cannot write a better bio on Dr.Squat, than the one already on his website, so click his name and check him out.

Another attempt

I have been thinking of things important to me since I fell off my last attempt at daily blogging. So I am planning to try and get in a weekly blog that will include; a mobility video, a weekly workout song, a weekly fitness Idol and hopefully some other content, yet to be determined.

The Mobility is going to start with MWOD, and I hope to evolve it as I go along. The weekly workout song is for you, my readers that are on the lookout for workout tunes, maybe you haven't heard them before, or maybe you forgot how awesome they where. The fitness Idol, will be just that, someone who has made amazing contributions to fitness.

This weeks mobility video, starts out where Kelly Starret started the famous MWOD. On Video number one!

Weekly Workout song this week, is my 4 year old son's favorite. Juicy J, Wiz Khalifa, Ty Dolla $ign - Shell Shocked ft. Kill The Noise & Madsonik

Pavel Tsatsouline is this weeks fitness Idol. Pavel is credited by some as the person who brought Kettlebells' to North America. Pavel has a few books that can be found at Amazon.
 

Last blog I posted was for the Whole Life Challenge and that was a great kickstart. Of course, after straining my right triceps things really fell apart. First training fell of the rails, then nutrition went out the window too. I really love cheese, and 8 weeks without cheese proved to be too many. So, now I have gained back some of what I lost, but things are back on track. I will be hitting some kettlebell training after I finish this post, and working on my conditioning and mobility for the long run.

New Year New Challenge Whole Life Challenge

It’s a new year, and again, I have been slacking on my blogging. Today I embark on a new challenge, The Whole life Challenge. My wife and I are getting settled in a new home, a permanent home in Burns Lake, BC. My home gym is coming together, I have a space set aside for it, and the squat rack is set up, I just need to get a gym floor in there. My wife found out about a cool, paleo, lifestyle challenge through our friends at Bodyshop Crossfit in West Kelowna, BC.

The Challenge is run through the wholelifechallenge.com website and for the next 56 days, we organize our life around the WLC 7 Daily Habits:

1.       Eat by the WLC rules you choose at the level that is right for you. Make conscious choices that support your vision for a healthy lifestyle. Earn up to 5 points daily for nutrition.

2.       Exercise for at least 10 minutes each day. We recommend 3-5 “workouts” each week. The other days you’ll earn your points by being active. Ride your bike, surf, hike, even take an invigorating walk at sunset. This is your time to move daily. You earn 2 points for exercise.

3.       Stretch for at least 10 minutes each day. You earn 2 points for stretching.

4.       Water One third of your body weight in oz. of water each day (20 ml per kg). You earn 1 point for water.

5.       Supplement with a dietary supplement that would make a difference for your body if you took it every day. You earn one point for your supplement.

6.       Live the WLC weekly lifestyle practice – things like sleep, meditate, & supporting others. You earn 1 point each day you complete the weekly lifestyle task.

7.       Reflect at the end of each day and check in with how it went and how you’re doing. No amount of numbers can paint the whole picture. Your daily reflection helps you see how the challenge is really going. You earn 1 point daily for your reflection.

Our LIFESTYLE PRACTICE for Week 1 of the Whole Life Challenge is to practice Mindfulness for 10 minutes each day.

     What does that mean? Every day of week 1, starting on Saturday, January 17 and ending Friday, January 23 I will earn my lifestyle points for participating in a practice of mindfulness each day, 

·         Mindfulness can come in the form of meditation, prayer, or journaling

·         Any form of meditation or prayer counts

·         Any form of journaling counts, even if you develop “writers block” and have a hard time actually putting pen to paper for the full 10 minutes

·         Any combination of the above two is also acceptable. If you choose to meditate or reflect for a short period and then journal about it for the remainder of the 10 minutes, you can do that as well.

So this is where I’m at, completing my mindfulness task of the day blogging to you. I encourage you all to check out this website and try it out. Be a part of my Cannon Strength and Conditioning team. I hope to continue on this journey and complete the next Challenge starting May 2^nd as well. I hope you will be a part of that challenge with me.

Now on to the fun part, in order to start the challenge we must take before pictures, take measurements, step on the scale, and complete an introductory workout. I plan to use the WLC Fall 2014 Official Workout.

In 11 minutes:

Row/Run 500 m, 1000m, or 1500m(choose a distance you can finish in 6 minutes or less)

In the time remaining, complete as much of the following list as you can:

30 Air Squats

30 Sit Ups

30 Plank Ups

40 Lunges

40 Bicycles

40 Push Ups

50 Squat Jumps

50 Flutter Kicks

50 Mountain Climbers

100 Burpees

Your score is the total number of reps you complete.

Notes:

- Don’t worry – this workout was not designed to actually be finished in less than 11 minutes – just get as far as you can in the list and count all your reps as points.

- Your choice in run/row distance must remain the same for both your prelim and the final inventory.

So enjoy! And start following again, because, I’m back baby! 

Here is a little taste of the new digs...

Goals!

I mentioned in the Holiday update post, that everyone should have goals. I have been really trying to lead by example lately. As most of you know, I am doing a 5050 Burpee Challenge, but I have also asked that as many people as possible join me. I have heard one excuse that I feel I need to respond to. It was "I can't do it because the CrossFit Open is starting soon" Well... I think that is a pretty lame excuse. Really if you wanted to, you could program your burpees throughout the day to avoid fatigue, or you could program the majority of your burpees after your open workout, giving yourself as much time to recover for the next open wod as possible... I never said you had to do burpees every day. So to prove my lead by example, I have signed up for the open. 

Here I go with some goals, I'll list them here, please feel free to ask me my progress to keep me accountable. You can also post your goals to comments if you would like me to keep you accountable. 

Strict Paleo diet for 90 days (Due April 7, 2013)
I should mention That I started on January 6, so today marks 30 days clean. This is very strict, were I am not drinking any alcohol. I have no intention of losing weight; I have lost 5lbs but this isn't on purpose, i am trying to maintain as much weight as possible so I don't lose strength.

Complete 5050 Burpee Challenge (Due May 11, 2013)
I started the movement, I believe it is my responsibility to lead the pack. 

Complete all CrossFit Open workouts (Due April 7, 2013)
I signed up, and I want to follow through and complete all open wods. Up to this point I don't believe I have finished the open workouts any year.

If you want to register for the open, you can do that here.

Lifting Goals
Deadlift - 560lbs - (May 18, 2013)
Squat - 400lbs - (May 18, 2013)
Jerk - 265lbs - (May 18, 2013)

Please create your own goals, and make them happen! 

 Meanwhile, here is some inspiration 

Holiday Update

The lead up to the holidays, I wasn't eating very good, I'm still not... I'm gaining weight, but with weight come strength. I recently pulled a 505lb deadlift... For a triple, My previous 1RM was 507.5lbs. I'm pretty pumped on this. So I figured I would put it out there and pat myself on the back a little. 



As per my previous post the NEW CANNON STRENGTH & CONDITIONING shirts are ready to be purchased. So, me being my biggest fan, I purchased a few shirts for my family, and myself. So here they are!

For Xmas my wife mentioned that she wanted to go to CrossFit again. Yes, I am CF-L1 certified CrossFit coach. No I cannot coach my wife, she doesn't listen to me and she thinks I am too hard on her. So I got her a gift certificate, to get her going at Bodyshop CrossFit. I highly recommend this CrossFit gym. 

I want everyone to start thinking New Yeas Resolution! Something with a clear goal that is attainable. We will be getting strict with our diet at home, especially with my wife starting CrossFit. My goals will be strength related and will finish in March maybe, I will post the goal on my next post along with my progress. I predict it will be something like Deadlift 560lbs, Squat 400lbs, Jerk 280lbs.

Today, More heavy lifting.

 After a weekend of horrible eating... I mean delicious, but horrible. I had a really rough Monday, so I pushed back my squat deadlift day to today. My stomach feels better, but felt a little drained had only 4 egg muffins for breakfast. 

My calf is still injured from practicing POSE, obviously not practicing correctly. I hope that my Calf feels better for Thursday, so I can try again. But I will only do 100m sprints this week and progress slowly.

Squat

135 x 5

225 x 5

305 x 5

225 x 5

 Deadlift

225 x 5

315 x 5

425 x 5

425 is harder than I remember it being... I went to a power lifting grip for my heavy set. My goal is slowly getting closer, I still plan to hit 500 x 5 but it might be harder than first thought.

I really need to tighten up my diet if I am going to keep hitting PR's It is always the weekend that is hard on me. During the week I can control myself.

A new direction...

My current thought is that I will try and keep my posts to my personal experiences. I keep trying to write articles that are intelligent and and coherent; while teaching you, the reader about something important. Since my writing skills are neither intelligent nor coherent; I will point you to what I have learned, from were I learned it. Now I listen to a ton of podcasts, A lot of which would probably put the not so interested to sleep, but if you can read my blog without falling asleep you should be okay. My training knowledge, started with CrossFit, but has been evolving with my coaching and my personal training. Most training links I give you will reflect this.

You will notice I posted "nutrition" related links on the right. I think I may also post training related links as well, but one step at a time. Look for those in the next week or so.

Today's ramblings are from my personal training.

 I have been following a novice strength program to get my strength to were is needs to be, but I have been running out of time. I do my workouts on my lunch hour, and as the weights get heavier and recovery time increases I am running out of time. Next week I will change my programming from a three day ABA, BAB workout to a 3 day ABC style workout.  

My current program looks like;

A: Squat, 5 reps x 3 sets; Bench 5 reps x 3 set; Deadlift 5 reps x 1 set.

B: Squat, 5 reps x 3 sets; Press 5 reps x 3 set; Power Clean 3 reps x 5 sets

Next week will look like;

Monday                           Reps                       Sets

Squat                                5                               3

Deadlift                             5                               1

Wednesday                                                    

Power Clean                    3                               5      

Bench Press                    5                               3      

Friday                                                              

Front Squat                      5                               3

Press                                5                               3

Note: These are work sets, always warm up to your work sets. 

This is still a novice training program, I will have to adapt it further once I max out on a novice level. Intermediate programing will be planned on a monthly schedule.

Currently I am listening to presentations on Paleo Summit, which is a Free online event brought to you by Underground Wellness. Check it out, let me know what you think.

Paleo Spring Challenge 3-2-1-GO!

Today is the day to make a change for the better! Tune up your diet, get away from evil grains, and start feeling all around better. 

Evil Bread

This week everyone who wants to participate will put in their $10, then have a "before" picture taken. Carrie will take before pictures for girls if they would like. The picture will not be public, it will be used to determine the winner. Also there will be a WOD & Strength element to this. The body composition will be ranked by most change, not necessarily most body fat lost, it could be muscle mass gained etc...

Strength:

Find 1RM Power Clean

(Scored 1st to last for most % change.)

WOD: 

 Run 400m for time

 (Scored 1st to last for most % change.)

 Rest then...

For Time:

50 Double Under (New Standard 3 for1 singles/sprints)

40 Squat Jumps

30 Toes 2 Bar / V ups

20 Hand Release Pushups

10 Burpee Pullups

  (Scored 1st to last for most % change.)

The Person at the end with the lowest score between these four aspects will be the winner. And will take home all the collected cash.

This workout will be available all week and will be done again the last week of the challenge.

In other news The shirts are here for those of you that said you wanted them! I also got extras in case you missed the boat $20ea.