Press 2x5,1x5+ (go to failure on the last set using push presses)
2x5x135#
7x135# (last two reps pushed)
DB Jerk 3x5
70# dumbbell used for all reps
125 KB Swings for time:
6:33
MOB- 1 min couch and glute
COMMENTS:
Presses felt really good. Enjoying training this way but feeling really sore the last few days. Going to deadlift for the first time in about 5 months tomorrow.
Friday, September 6, 2013
Thursday, September 5, 2013
1 Mile TT, pushups, pullups
1 Mile Run
5:56
FM Chin Ladders
2,2,3 X 3 (21 total)
FM Pushup Sets throughout the day
185 total
MOB- 2 min couch stretch
COMMENTS:
21 seconds off my all time PR for 1 mile run (senior year of high school, ~25lbs lighter than I am now). I'm larger and fatter than I have been in a long time, but it's good to see I can still go sub 6.
Nutrition on point today.
5:56
FM Chin Ladders
2,2,3 X 3 (21 total)
FM Pushup Sets throughout the day
185 total
MOB- 2 min couch stretch
COMMENTS:
21 seconds off my all time PR for 1 mile run (senior year of high school, ~25lbs lighter than I am now). I'm larger and fatter than I have been in a long time, but it's good to see I can still go sub 6.
Nutrition on point today.
Squat, GHR, Conditioning
Squat
5x45
5x135
5x225
5x275
GHR Sets
12, 12, 16
Conditioning WOD done with Dan
3 Rds for time:
250m Row
7 DB snatches each side, 50#
4:43
MOB- 2 min of couch, some glute work
COMMENTS:
5x45
5x135
5x225
5x275
GHR Sets
12, 12, 16
Conditioning WOD done with Dan
3 Rds for time:
250m Row
7 DB snatches each side, 50#
4:43
MOB- 2 min of couch, some glute work
COMMENTS:
- General: I was supposed to do three squat sets but I got the leg cramps I normally get when I haven't squatted in a long time. Being that it's been four months, I didn't push it.
Sunday, September 1, 2013
Press, Sprints, Pushups
Press
3x155#
17x95#
Pushup Sets
40, 30, 25, 20, 15
5 ~70 yard sprints, 1-2 minute rest
MOB: 3 min of couch stretch ea side
COMMENTS
3x155#
17x95#
Pushup Sets
40, 30, 25, 20, 15
5 ~70 yard sprints, 1-2 minute rest
MOB: 3 min of couch stretch ea side
COMMENTS
- General: Definitely easing back into things. Was pleased that my press didn't go down too much, although all my lifts suffered with no lifting all summer. The high rep set surprised me.
- Nutrition: I'd call my diet plans going forward primal. I'm keeping things that work like whey and have no aspirations of being totally strict. Wanna lose some weight though.
- Body: I have a nagging tightness in my shoulder that has been a problem for a few months.
- Sleep: 7-8 hours
- Reflections: None
Beast of the East
I'm back from the best summer of my life. Colorado was more than I ever could have asked for it to be and I'm being honest when I say I couldn’t feel more blessed. The people I met at CCO were the highest quality of people I have ever surrounded myself with and it was amazing getting to grow as a person around them. On top of my amazing experience there, I spent a week road tripping home and going on a cruise. This was the greatest 4 months of my entire life, hands down. This summer was the palate cleanse I needed to get my life back on track, and I fully intend to do this going forward.
My senior year of college starts tomorrow. This is amazing to me, seeing as I started this blog before I even left for college in June of 2010. I still remember that version of myself so well, and many, if not all aspects of my life are different at this point. My future plans right now are looking to go one of two ways-
1.
Two more years of grad school to get my masters in
Applied Sport and Exercise Psychology
Or
2.
Move out to Colorado on a permanent basis and start
teaching and coaching.
Both have potential to be great decisions but they
both have drawbacks. If I had the perfect situation, it would be getting a
fellowship in Colorado for my master’s, but I’m finding this to be unlikely.
Ultimately I’d be dumb to turn down free college education so if that
opportunity presents itself (I’d like to think I have a good chance), then that’s
probably the route I’ll go.
I have more plans after the next 2-3 years in my
mind but I don’t want to put them down on paper yet. I won’t know what my
future holds until around March 2014 so I have some time to just stew, which
sucks for my psyche.
Training wise, I spent a lot of this summer
working on the bodyweight movements. I got pretty good at ring pull-ups and
dips and did a few “metcons” every now and then, but nothing crazy. My diet
went to shit. This summer was so much more than exercise and nutrition that I
can never even consider this to be a negative, more just a reality of the situation
I was in. When I go back to CCO next summer I’m hoping I can set it up to
incorporate training and nutrition a little bit more into my lifestyle, which
will take some preparation.
I am leaning towards following a more CrossFit
style of training going forward. At this point in my life, I’d rather be
extremely lean and get more muscular slower than be big but holding excess
weight. My training will ramp up in intensity in the coming weeks and months
and I’m really looking forward to putting my body through the ringer (in a safe
manner) and seeing how the old machine responds.
Until next time.
Friday, April 26, 2013
BostonStrong
I ran a marathon on my school's track on Wednesday night (106 laps) to raise money for the victims of the Boston bombings. We raised over $1200 dollars and I made the news. I'm so happy to be an American. God bless all those effected.
http://www.masslive.com/news/index.ssf/2013/04/springfield_college_student_be.html
http://www.wwlp.com/dpp/news/local/hampden/springfield-college-students-are-running-for-boston
http://www.cbs3springfield.com/story/22071685/springfield-college-student-runs-1-man-marathon-for-bombing-victims
Check out the last link for a live news interview.
http://www.masslive.com/news/index.ssf/2013/04/springfield_college_student_be.html
http://www.wwlp.com/dpp/news/local/hampden/springfield-college-students-are-running-for-boston
http://www.cbs3springfield.com/story/22071685/springfield-college-student-runs-1-man-marathon-for-bombing-victims
Check out the last link for a live news interview.
Tuesday, March 12, 2013
I'm Headed out West!
Training recently has been bodybuilding stuff mostly. I've had a sore shoulder the last week so I've been taking it easy. Going to hit some hot yoga for the first time tomorrow morning in about a month.
Besides that- got some amazing news. I'm moving out to Granby, CO for 13 weeks this summer beginning on May 29 to work as a camp counsellor. I went through two interviews and my three references (including this guy) solidified this dream job for me. I'm so excited to go out there and see if it's a place I would actually like to live. I'll have two days off a week to travel to see different parts of Colorado and check out some grad schools while I'm out there. Needless to say I haven't been this excited in probably two years for anything.
Other than that, I'm making moves with my music career too. I'm performing for the first time at the end of April. I'll be opening a small perfomance on campus with a guitar and singing piece by John Mayer, singing two other songs, and doing a skit song with another girl. I've never done anything like this so I'm extremely excited for a new opportunity but nervous as well.
My life has been prioritized recently as such: school, work, the future, music, training. I wouldn't even call it training because I have no goals in mind at the moment. It's been on the back burner for over a month now and I'm okay with it. I'm very excited to develop some other elements of my life I had slacked on, and grad school is right around the corner, so I need to get my GPA as high as possible to ensure I get into everywhere I apply. I'm getting paid well, studying a lot and playing a lot of music, and I'm a lot happier than I have been in the past.
With the Colorado news, I know that I will not lift weights for over 3 months, a tough pill to swallow indeed, but will be a good experience. They will be here when I get back, and I'll be a beast on the gymnastics rings, with bodyweight exercises and at trail running and hiking. I'll probably be the leanest I've ever been!
Anyway, that's my spiel. 10 weeks until I leave for Colorado, and I'm sure I'll post between now and then. Hope all are well.
Besides that- got some amazing news. I'm moving out to Granby, CO for 13 weeks this summer beginning on May 29 to work as a camp counsellor. I went through two interviews and my three references (including this guy) solidified this dream job for me. I'm so excited to go out there and see if it's a place I would actually like to live. I'll have two days off a week to travel to see different parts of Colorado and check out some grad schools while I'm out there. Needless to say I haven't been this excited in probably two years for anything.
Other than that, I'm making moves with my music career too. I'm performing for the first time at the end of April. I'll be opening a small perfomance on campus with a guitar and singing piece by John Mayer, singing two other songs, and doing a skit song with another girl. I've never done anything like this so I'm extremely excited for a new opportunity but nervous as well.
My life has been prioritized recently as such: school, work, the future, music, training. I wouldn't even call it training because I have no goals in mind at the moment. It's been on the back burner for over a month now and I'm okay with it. I'm very excited to develop some other elements of my life I had slacked on, and grad school is right around the corner, so I need to get my GPA as high as possible to ensure I get into everywhere I apply. I'm getting paid well, studying a lot and playing a lot of music, and I'm a lot happier than I have been in the past.
With the Colorado news, I know that I will not lift weights for over 3 months, a tough pill to swallow indeed, but will be a good experience. They will be here when I get back, and I'll be a beast on the gymnastics rings, with bodyweight exercises and at trail running and hiking. I'll probably be the leanest I've ever been!
Anyway, that's my spiel. 10 weeks until I leave for Colorado, and I'm sure I'll post between now and then. Hope all are well.
Wednesday, January 2, 2013
A Year In Review- 2012
2012 was not the year I had planned that it would be. Ask me last December where I would've been writing this now, and I would've told you a 100 mile run completer and a powerlifting meet competitor. Today I stand as neither of these. The following is an attempt to recap the year at hand.
Jan-April
This was the beginning of the end of my ultra career. I started off 2012 HOT by hitting a 52 minute PR on my GAC 50k Fat ass run, coming in at 4:58. I had not run in three weeks prior to this race and had not been doing very much running training at all. Like I mention in my post, I got lucky, which was a theme with my entire ultra career. I stopped loving running ultras after I ran 50 miles in 2011 and it took me almost a full year to realize my head was no longer in it. My last run was at the TARC Spring Classic in April of this year, where after completing about 10 miles I dropped from the race and headed home. I was having a knee issue that had been bothering me for several weeks prior to that and I knew that my head was not in it at all. I had to come to a decision to eliminate running from my life for the time being. My body was beaten up, I had muscle imbalances galore and I had made my heart issue worse from stressing over doing something I wasn't loving anymore. It was less difficult than I thought it would be to ditch the ultra lifestyle- it was no longer for me. Do I miss ultras now? No. But more on that in a bit.
May-August
I spent the summer working as a lifeguard and had plenty of time to train most days. I had the best job I could have ever asked for this summer. The majority of my training during this time period was powerlifting with body building movements thrown in. I experimented with a few routines, including a repeat of doing a 5 week trial of Layne Norton's program that I ran in 2011 with good results once again. I will likely do that in the summers because I enjoy it and it's a nice break. I did not do too much of note in training this summer besides aesthetically grew, which has been a goal of mine forever. I also did a few weeks of CrossFit at a local affiliate but did not like that because of the programming choices of the coach and quickly decided it wasn't in my best interest.
September-End of The Year
Probably the highlight of my year was hiking Mount Washington to the summit at the end of September. This was probably the one thing that makes me say "You did something that no one else is doing right now" throughout the entire year. I used to get that feeling a lot. In my mind, 2012 was a complete failure because of the choices I made. I no longer am an athlete- I am a normal person. This is my own fault and is something I am working on. Mount Washington was something I will never forget. Hiking has become part of my life and I enjoy it a lot, enough that I am looking at graduate schools away from where I want to go just so I can spend more time in the mountains. I feel better that I gave up ultras because of my enjoyment of hiking. I can still spend time with nature and get away from society for a while, just at a slower minute per mile pace. This is right up my alley and will (schedule permitting) become a bigger part of my life in 2013. Not for goals, not for aesthetics, but simply because I love being outside and hiking is one of the few times I ever feel totally happy anymore.
Besides this, I ran Johnny Pain's Gladiator program with good results. I now program very similar to how he does because I do believe in it. If I begin personal training soon, I will use many of the movements I learned from him. I am still getting stronger, which if for nothing else, makes me happy.
This was also the most significant part of the year because of my heart issue. I had to take three weeks off completely from training to get medically cleared to exercise because it continued to get worse. I am still waiting on the results of this, but I know it is mostly stress related.
End Result
2012 in my mind will forever be a year to forget, but it will be viewed as a stepping stone. I did a complete 180 of what I once was- a kid who would work his ass off to reach his goals to someone who had no goals and messed up priorities. I can kick myself as much as I want and feel poorly about myself for my lack of inspiration but I truly believe everyone needs to go through these growing pains to become a true adult. I am one year away from being in the "real world" if I so choose to avoid grad school (which sometimes sounds appealing) and even though I did not become someone I want to be physically this year, I have grown emotionally, mental, academically and spiritually on a higher level than I ever have in the past, or ever believed was possible in any given year. The 2012 end of the year Ben is more of the adult I will spend the rest of my life as than the beginning of the year guy could have ever imagined possible. I went through many more downs than ups this year, and all I can do is look forward to figuring it out for the best in 2013. A post will soon follow with a general outline, but I am not 100% sure how effective that will be because I have failed to adhere to templates in the past.
Jan-April
This was the beginning of the end of my ultra career. I started off 2012 HOT by hitting a 52 minute PR on my GAC 50k Fat ass run, coming in at 4:58. I had not run in three weeks prior to this race and had not been doing very much running training at all. Like I mention in my post, I got lucky, which was a theme with my entire ultra career. I stopped loving running ultras after I ran 50 miles in 2011 and it took me almost a full year to realize my head was no longer in it. My last run was at the TARC Spring Classic in April of this year, where after completing about 10 miles I dropped from the race and headed home. I was having a knee issue that had been bothering me for several weeks prior to that and I knew that my head was not in it at all. I had to come to a decision to eliminate running from my life for the time being. My body was beaten up, I had muscle imbalances galore and I had made my heart issue worse from stressing over doing something I wasn't loving anymore. It was less difficult than I thought it would be to ditch the ultra lifestyle- it was no longer for me. Do I miss ultras now? No. But more on that in a bit.
May-August
I spent the summer working as a lifeguard and had plenty of time to train most days. I had the best job I could have ever asked for this summer. The majority of my training during this time period was powerlifting with body building movements thrown in. I experimented with a few routines, including a repeat of doing a 5 week trial of Layne Norton's program that I ran in 2011 with good results once again. I will likely do that in the summers because I enjoy it and it's a nice break. I did not do too much of note in training this summer besides aesthetically grew, which has been a goal of mine forever. I also did a few weeks of CrossFit at a local affiliate but did not like that because of the programming choices of the coach and quickly decided it wasn't in my best interest.
September-End of The Year
Probably the highlight of my year was hiking Mount Washington to the summit at the end of September. This was probably the one thing that makes me say "You did something that no one else is doing right now" throughout the entire year. I used to get that feeling a lot. In my mind, 2012 was a complete failure because of the choices I made. I no longer am an athlete- I am a normal person. This is my own fault and is something I am working on. Mount Washington was something I will never forget. Hiking has become part of my life and I enjoy it a lot, enough that I am looking at graduate schools away from where I want to go just so I can spend more time in the mountains. I feel better that I gave up ultras because of my enjoyment of hiking. I can still spend time with nature and get away from society for a while, just at a slower minute per mile pace. This is right up my alley and will (schedule permitting) become a bigger part of my life in 2013. Not for goals, not for aesthetics, but simply because I love being outside and hiking is one of the few times I ever feel totally happy anymore.
Besides this, I ran Johnny Pain's Gladiator program with good results. I now program very similar to how he does because I do believe in it. If I begin personal training soon, I will use many of the movements I learned from him. I am still getting stronger, which if for nothing else, makes me happy.
This was also the most significant part of the year because of my heart issue. I had to take three weeks off completely from training to get medically cleared to exercise because it continued to get worse. I am still waiting on the results of this, but I know it is mostly stress related.
End Result
2012 in my mind will forever be a year to forget, but it will be viewed as a stepping stone. I did a complete 180 of what I once was- a kid who would work his ass off to reach his goals to someone who had no goals and messed up priorities. I can kick myself as much as I want and feel poorly about myself for my lack of inspiration but I truly believe everyone needs to go through these growing pains to become a true adult. I am one year away from being in the "real world" if I so choose to avoid grad school (which sometimes sounds appealing) and even though I did not become someone I want to be physically this year, I have grown emotionally, mental, academically and spiritually on a higher level than I ever have in the past, or ever believed was possible in any given year. The 2012 end of the year Ben is more of the adult I will spend the rest of my life as than the beginning of the year guy could have ever imagined possible. I went through many more downs than ups this year, and all I can do is look forward to figuring it out for the best in 2013. A post will soon follow with a general outline, but I am not 100% sure how effective that will be because I have failed to adhere to templates in the past.