Fiddleman

Here are some fiction books I have been reading in the last 2 months or so: Dan brown - Inferno (I like them all) John grisham - Sicamore row (next read) Gilligan Flynn - Gone girl (current) Richard Preston - the cobra event (similar to the hot zone) David baldacci- first family Stephen king - the stand (oldie, but writing is excellent) When I am looking for something to read, I like to get on the kindle store and look at what is "popular," but being careful to avoid the mommy porn which always ends up near the top of the list. If I am unfamiliar with the author, but it still sounds intriguing, I will first download the sample. I also like Stephen Frey and Joseph finder; these are mainly wall street, litigation and corporate based fictions. Page turners for me, but you have to be into those genres. I also read some non fiction mostly related to fitness ( cross fit auto biographies for example), but these will be fairly boring to most. I am not into fantasy or sci fi genres. Will not go near the vampire stuff and do not understand the trending towards them in last few months. Hopefully it is a fad to end soon.

This sounds good. I am wondering if we can replace crunches with "knees to elbows"? Knees to elbows is where you find a pull up bar, hang from it and lift knees up to touch elbows. Works both grip strength and core. I need to improve my speed on these by doing more in an unbroken set so what better way to do this then by tracking them on this thread for the month. I can do about 12 before taking a pause to do another set, working towards 50. I would like to do 50 k2e unbroken with no rest as part of my December fitness challenge of completing filthy 50 sub 18 min. These feel like crunches on steroids.

My December goal is to get a sub 18 minute on a workout called the filthy 50: The Filthy 50 is a brutal series of taxing exercises that’s likely to seem endless if you’ve never done it before. The circuit includes 50 reps of 10 different exercises, all done as quickly as possible. Do 50 box jumps with a 24-inch box, 50 jumping pullups, 50 kettlebell swings (54 #), 50 walking lunge steps, 50 knees to elbows, 50 reps of push press with 45 pounds, 50 back extensions (45 # bar), 50 wallballs using a 20-pound ball, 50 burpees (dropping all the way to the floor), 50 double-unders. My filthy 50 time came in at 23 minutes last week. This last month I made really good improvements overall in core strength, agility, speed, and stamina so think this goal will be possible. Those knees to elbows are REALLY good ab exercises. I am still sore on them a little today, 4 days later. I think I will measure the progress by slotting in this workout once a week and recording the time.

Finished the month at 131.23 miles of running with 5-10 miles of rowing (did not track, but did at least 500 m a day up to 2000 m in a session about once a week). Most days averaging 2-3 miles of fast runs / sprints, but also got in some big 10-15 slower mile days and even 1 20 mile day. Averaged 4-5 workouts a week of high intensity cross fit stuff (15-30 m in length, most being around 12-18 m) in addition to 20-30 m of warm up, 20-3o minutes of strength and skill building and 20-30 minutes of mobility (stretching, roller and lacrosse ball mashing). I enjoy doing some mobility work also while watching TV or a movie. Feels good to get the tightness out of the hips and upper back. Fish oil really helps daily also to combat inflammation (4-5 g). I have stopped taking nsaids for soreness, especially doms, after reading it puts a damper on the muscle and tendon recovery process. Did not know that. Now I try and really focus on quality mobility work to relieve any aches, even that not related to exercise. I dropped about 5 lb this month and am at 172, but my strength has gone way up with a much better eye towards posture and protection of core movement when walking, running, lifting and sitting. I feel very stable and fit going into December. Looking forward to another month of improving fitness. Good luck everyone in your fitness and weight goals. A little exercise daily (30m-1 hour) is really good for the psyche and overall well being. It will raise your spirits and put you in a good mood, as well as make you more productive at work, at home or on projects. It just makes you feel good and ready to take on the day. Currently enjoying sunny California in Santa Cruz area, touring the towering redwoods, golden gate bridge, fantastic beaches, etc in the afternoon and some cross fit in the morning at a local cross fit gym while on vacation.

I do not have treats because my body simply does not need them. It does much better on healthy food. However, I do consider my nightly chocolate protein shake a treat; others may not hold this same perspective. I also still enjoy the caramel calcium chews every day.

I actually caffinate (sp?) quite a bit. Once in the morning to start the day and once in the afternoon, before working out. I think it is about 200 mg am and 300 mg afternoon. 16 months post op. I am thinking about cutting back one of these days.

Agree. My sleeved wife does these with her coffee on occasion. I think they are OK.

Not sure what normal eating is. Typically, I eat when hungry which is more often than I care to admit. Or maybe I will admit it - every 2-3 hours. I do not think this is normal, but it is what my body wants. When I do get hungry. I go for 3-4 ounces of lean protein. Chicken teriyaki meat balls are good, but maybe it will be some turkey from the deli. I eat most veggies and some kind of protein 7-8 times a day. Protein in the morning is typically a whey shake and protein at bedtime is typically a very thick casein shake (60 g). Sometimes my snack will be 500 calories if it involves oatmeal mixed with a protein matrix of 50 g. I also eat fiber where I can and good carbs (steel cut oats mixed with protein). This eating feels normal to me, but to some of you, it may seem like excess. Perhaps it is, but I am able to keep in my range of 5-10 lbs below mid range bmi eating like this. I don't eat salty where possible, fried, sugary (no desserts) or high glycemic (mostly no fruit, on occasion might have a few grapes). I only do dairy if it is part of my protein powder. It does not bother me I am not eating some types of food as a rule. My body seems content and pleased with protein and veggies. There are exceptions, but I try not to do it very often. For example, I ate Mexican out with my family a few nights ago and they were pushing tortilla chips my way. I decided to have 1 and 1 turned into too many. A moment of weakness. At least they were baked and not fried. I think it was the saltiness that got me. Point is, that was an exception. As a rule, I am pretty mindful about my food choices and am always making decisions about whether a certain food choice is going to help me or not. Over time, making these decisions gets pretty easy when your body craves healthy eating. I like the way I eat, it satisfies me and gives me energy to take on a work day, a family day or a hard workout.

My wife joined me on her first cross fit experience this morning. So proud of her!! The work out was 4 rounds of 400 m run, 30 box jumps and 15 OHS (overhead squats). She did 3 rounds. I think she will feel it tomorrow!! Now she is hooked and we will be back doing it again tomorrow while we are vacationing down here in sunny CA. We also did about 1000 m row and 400 m run during warmup so that is a little over 1 mile. I like the short fast 400 m sprints. Short enough you still have energy to do other exercises in between.

That is pretty crazy to run in sub freezing temperatures. Will it lead to a better chance of picking up a cold?

Feeling good today after a lot of mobility and stretching yesterday. Bad aches from lifting exercise accident on Friday were short term. Oh and the nsaids happened to help a lot yesterday. I am currently on a tday vacation in Santa Cruz CA with my wife visiting her sister and boyfriend. Weather is beautiful and a little chilly, but not bad. I like the redwood forests here, so beautiful and inspiring. My wife and I are defn going to take some walk/hikes through these beautiful forests. My SIL and I are going to go to her cross fit a few times this week. I am looking forward to being a visitor and experiencing a different box.

Just got the xrays explained. No new truama. I just need to take some strong nsaid for the current discomfort. I did find out I have some pretty substantial arthritis in the spine. News to me (1st xray I have done in these areas), but does explain why my apex region and thoracic region are so stiff. There are many vertebrae fused together in both regions on the film . Any thoughts on how to fix this? I am not that old (38). I am going to follow up with a rhuematologist in the near future. I do know that 2 months of PT so far has helped my back feel better and more relaxed, especially after doing tspine roller exercises with light hand weights.

Dropped a back squat barbell on my neck 30 m ago. Did not bail properly. In urgent care getting checked out. Hope this is not the end of my fitness. Pretty painful in neck and back currently. I got a little too fast and made a mistake during the lifting part of a chipper workout.

Yes, the second one I think is called the pigeon pose, from yoga. I do this one daily and, boy, does it help with that hip pain. Try and get as low as you can to the floor with arms stretched out in front of you. Another good stretch is called the Samson stretch for addressing hip mobility.

Rolling on the hip abductors will help in addition to mashing the area with a lacrosse ball or tennis ball. I got these hip pains all the time too, but not so much in the last month. I think it is caused by piriformis syndrome. Very uncomfortable if you do not target it directly with a lacrosse ball or indirectly by rolling the hip abductors and it bands. The pain may not start immediately, but will become very tangible and real over time, as you run more. Here is some more information : http://destroychronicpain.wordpress.com/problems-we-help-people-with/piriformis-syndrome-pain-in-the-butt/ I got the pain quite frequently on the left side after running as part of a workout until recently, when I mashed the heck out of it for 30 m a day, spread throughout the day. That pain, thankfully, is gone. You might also try leg swings, focusing on the rotation of the hip and not the thigh. Kick you leg forward and backwards, aiming to loosen up the hip abductors. You might also try side ways kicking also. It certainly does help. I have found much of the pain brought on by running is due to either not enough stretching or not enough strengthening of the muscles needing to support the movement requirements of running. As a matter of perspective, I spend at least 30 m daily on mobility and stretching before getting into hardcore exercises. You may not need to dedicate this much time, but do ponder on the importance of it to prevent injury.

It has been a good month of fitness. Each day has seen between 2-3 miles of running, mostly either sprinting for short distances (400 m intervals) or fast for longer durations (6 min average for 1 mile). Running a mile feels really comfortable now at race speed. My lifting has seen a slow progression of PR every week. This Friday marks the end of our 1 month nutritional challenge at the crossfit box. We will also be doing a special chipper WOD that identical to the one from last month to see where we have improved. Most are taking on weight loss as a goal for the end of this challenge. I wasn't intending to and actually saw my weight climb by 5 lbs in last few weeks to hold stead at 182. Every day. I attributed the weight gain to lack of proper recovery / sleep / muscle gain, but not really sure of actual cause. Today, I got on the scale this morning and it said 176. I checked and rechecked 8 times. Same weight. Interesting drop. Batteries are Ok. Not sure if it was because I slept more (actually got 8 hours instead of usual 6) or because of a chipper workout I did yesterday: 6 Sets Of: ​Hang Clean + Power Clean + Jerk then 14 Minute AMRAP: 10 Ring Dips 200m Sprint 10 Pullups 200m Sprint I got 6 rounds and, man, was that tough. My dinners have also been a little more on the "rich side" these last few months, but last night I had straight Turky (4 ounces). Maybe that did it? Who knows...

Its strange. I had a business trip this last week with a colleague I have not seen face to face in 2 years (before wls). No comments on weight loss or fit look. I have lost 180 lbs and am holding a low body fat %. Not one comment in over 2 days shared together. Really?? No need to lie if the topic never comes up I guess. We are fairly comfortable with each other after working together remotely for 2 years ( phone, email and IM). I was just surprised. Maybe it is a work thing not to talk about weight things. He did / does know I workout almost daily because I told him that on several occasions. What gives?

I read this and kept thinking about Super Rhino the hamster in Bolt after he gets super powers. He didn't get them from protein, but still...Lol!

yes, it helps so much!

Ok - how about this : I go to PT 2 x a week to work on mobility issues in my back, hips and shoulders (really helps before a cross fit session). As part of the warm up before we start on PT exercises, I use an arm ergonometer for about 6 minutes. It is an interesting machine and is kind of like peddling a bike with your arms. I can get about a mile and sometimes 100 calories, depending on the resistance level. Oddly, I find the arm ergonometer entertaining.

If you find out the secret, please share!! I lift 5 days a week, rotating through different cross fit type skill lifts from day to day. One day it will be deadlifts, another day it will be bench presses, another day it will be front squats and another day it will be over head pushes. And so on. These lifts are heavy, low rep (5-10), about 5-7 rounds and may be anywhere from 70% to PR. It really depends what we are trying to do on a given day. Not every day is a PR day. During our met con workouts, we will do high rep lighter lifts like thrusters @ 95 or power cleans @ 125 and so on. These will be anywhere from 15 rep up to 50 or even 75 rep. Again, it depends on the work out. We did some back squats earlier this week (Wednesday) and my hammies are still sore today. I hope this soreness is going to pay off. Neither the heavy lifts @ lower rep or lighter lifts @ high rep are causing bulk. I try and eat between 30-50 G Protein a meal up to 7-8 meals a day. My body remains about same body composition in last few months, low body fat, 5 lbs under center bmi for my height. I am pretty comfortable with this reality of not being able to bulk past my current efforts (may be genetics or it might be the met cons), but it would be nice to see more bulk. Still playing around in my head with the trade offs of being a good all around athlete or with wanting to focus more on strength. There are disadvantages to being really strong in a bulky way. I do met cons with a guy who can do 400 lb back squats (he is screaming when he does it, lol) and my back squats are at about 270, but his general athletic abilities absolutely tank when he does the met cons. He really suffers in the amount of perceived work it looks like he does and he is 5-15 minutes slower than others. For example, today, we did 3 rounds (35 rep, 25 rep and 15 rep) of wall ball lunges (20 lb), power cleans (95 lb), over head squats (95 lb) and kettle bell swings (53 lb). A hard workout. His time was 30 minutes. Most finished in about 18-22 minutes (mine was 20:35). Again, I do not believe a person can be both super strong and super good / fast at functional training required of a met con. I may be wrong. What do others think about this? As an aside, I was watching man of steel specials today and they had a little segment on their workouts. Superman started at 235 lb and worked up to 450 lbs on his deadlifts !! The functional training these actors had to do for the movie are fairly intense. It would be awesome to have access to their coach.

great job!!

Good luck you guys! Cross fit is very rewarding. Let me know if you have any questions on mods or anything really. I love it as my new addiction.

That is really something that you are doing cross fit post op 3 weeks. Really! Most of us were still figuring out how to walk without getting winded and /or dealing with pain, fatigue, etc. does your doctor approve of this? Regardless, be careful! Exercise, in general, will get much easier by post op 5-6 months. You are way ahead when I started my cross fit journey (month 7 for me) , so it is definitely new territory. Maybe 1-2 days a week for you and heavily modified. Go easy on the weights and intensity of the met cons. I still struggle with days feeling like crap after 3-4 days in a row @ post op 16 months. Just saying. Cross fit is not easy.

Isn't it really something that all these WLS post ops are getting so serious about fitness and exercise! We put all the "normal" folks to shame. That is, all the "normal" people who have been naturally thin, never exercise and could eat whatever they wanted while still maintaining a BMI weight. WLS makes us into our ideal selves. Isn't that great?