a reasonable success

For the last few weeks i've been getting in a lot of massage therapy practice, since i can't legally get paid yet, my program director said i could take donations for charity instead, as long as 'I' wasn't the charity. So I've been taking donations so i could do a big shop for toys for tots...i figure i should at least be able to get the fun of toy shopping out of the whole situation. So the results of all my practice sessions resulted in 3 shopping carts full of toys; all sorts of games, stuffed animals, balls for various sports, and all sorts of things that encourage a kid to use their imagination. Talk about fun. I plan on continuing to keep doing this but just pick different charities for a while.

not a great picture but check out the giant playground ball...

I've been slack...

at least on here, a few things have happened. Beginning of last week i was starting through the second time through of the second circuit of the second part...yes that's a lot of 'seconds'...but it gets better on the second round i felt something go in my back after the second pistol on the second leg...i swear i'm not making this up...so i stopped and for the next couple of days i did nothing but mobility and took a complete rest, i slept, i ate and i went to work.

Now the back feels better, actually it feels normal. And i decided to start over with a new cycle to focus more on some specifics that i feel that i'm lacking in climbing, since the goal of me doing circuits is to improve my climbing i don't feel too bad about not completing the second. On the whole i'm happy that i achieved about a 50% improvement in my recovery time and i look forward to improving it further, but for now it's time to move forward some.

So I've started through some new things my main goals are two fold: improve my ability to generate high levels of tension especially in grip and total body tension when fatigued and to strengthen my body in core flexion and rotation. I'm seeing these two things as my major limiting factors in climbing. I still keep improving and thanks to there being a new climbing gym that opened up last week motivation should be high.

I also decided to do some pseudo tests...they weren't all out so hence the 'pseudo'...snatches with the 24kg 90 in 3'30" not a rip roaring pace but i value my calluses and it's more important for me to be able to climb than to PR most of the time and Mills with the 25lb club 40/40 i know i have more in me i just need to condition my skin to the different pull the clubs and bells give in high reps. I'd like to do 100 snatches in 3'20" or less and a minimum of 60/60 in the mills. I may start up a density cycle with the mills later on to boost the numbers but it's not too bad for now.

So my new circuits for the next two weeks are:

Hack Squat 24kg * 3
C-n-P 28kg * 2/2
1arm lock off 5sec/5sec
Leg raise to feet above bar * 3
rip phonebook * 1


Overhead Lunge 32kg * 3/3
swinging plank 8/8
floor wipers with 2*24kg * 4/4
Renegade Rows 24kg * 4/4


Snatch 24kg 10/10
Swipe 2*25lb * 10
Mill 25lb * 10/10
Hammer Throw 25lb * 5/5

So far I made it through the first two circuits this week and I've gotten in a decent bit of climbing so far about 5 hours this week...

Circuit 1 - 4 rounds in fifteen minutes

Circuit 2 - 3 rounds in fifteen minutes

For what it's worth i usually get in at least 30 - 60 minutes of Z in each day and lots of extensor work with the rubber bands or doing hand resisted finger extensions.

Workout of the day...

C1 again 6 rounds in 14'30" Max Hr 184 and recovery at one minute 153...have to love improvements, RPE was about the same 8+ and RT was also 9ish.

So for those you following along and so you don't have to go back and forth between posts, last time 5 rounds in 15 minutes with maxHR 190 and recovery 166 with the same RPE and RT.

We'll see how climbing goes tonight and if the earlier workout impacts it much.

I'm enjoying this trend...

Yesterday was another good climbing day, it was inside but still good nonetheless. Spent about an hour and a half before climbing playing around doing some miscellaneous jujitsu with another climber. I really enjoyed it and think I'll have to check it out some more. Afterwards did a V7, worked an 8 and did a bunch of 5's and 6's, it all felt really easy. My only complaint is my endurance is a little lower than i'd like but it may have been due to not eating enough prior, but it's something to think about in the future. I'm really enjoying my shorter supplementary workouts, they leave me a lot of room for improvement and don't leave me so gassed that it takes a while to recover. As long as climbing keeps going this way, I should end up having one hell of a season.

Today's workout C3, 5 rounds in 20 minutes MaxHR 194, recovery one minute post 163, RPE 8+ - 9, i didn't want to have to stop mid round so i increased effort a little today. RT was 8-9 on everything except for the leg swoops, which started to feel a little clumsy, i think i'm going to start adding in some dexterity work or higher skill activities into the mix in my next minicycle. We'll have to see how that goes, i have some ideas of what to add in but i won't hammer it down until the end of next week after i've finished the 2nd round of this minicycle.

holiday fun

Made it out to Asheboro again yesterday and had an incredible day, for some reason the last couple of times I've gone out there I've had my best day of climbing yet and it keeps getting better. I did nearly everything i wanted to do on the first or second try, I did a bunch of 2's, several 4's, a couple 5's and made some good progress on an 8...i'm loving it. My skin held up much better this time so i think that helped a lot.

Today's workout....wasn't really feeling like it once i got started but i told myself it's only 15 minutes...

C2) 4 rounds in 15 minutes muscle up was the limiting factor (go figure :) ) Max HR 171, recovery 1 minute later 141, I haven't listed it on the blog before but I generally don't push myself past an RPE of 8 so those Max HR's are still reflective of that, so even though i'm hitting in the 190's sometimes it's still an 8, i've just always been an outlier with things that fall on a bell curve...

Happy Thanksgiving

I'm not really sure where to begin, today i read EPIC by John Eldredge, Geoff had given me this book many months ago and although I never misplaced it, I never picked it up. I think it was because I was scared. Not scared like a little kid and the boogeyman, but scared in the way that when something really resonates with you, how it's almost overwhelming, or not even almost overwhelming, it is overwhelming. I'm sure you know what I'm talking about....someone makes a comment or a suggestion and you get that combination of gut feeling and tingling in your head but you can't quite put your finger on it and you know there's something to it but because you can't immediately identify and isolate it, it goes unresolved or gets forgotten. But later it happens again and you think, "There's really something to this."

So now I'm looking into what this "something" is. So today I'm thankful for fear, for motivation, for support in all shapes and forms, and challenge. Thank you to all those who offer advice, information, and that that I don't always want to hear. If I can give back a fraction of what I've received, I'll have accomplished a lot.

And so not to make this just thoughts, the new circuits for the next two weeks are:

C1)
Pushups * 10
Chins * 6
Burpees * 8
1 arm Swing 40kg * 8/8

C2)
Springing Tripod * 5/5
Muscle-up * 2
Pistol +12kg * 2/2
Double CnP 24kg * 3

C3)
Swipes 25lb Clubs * 10
Snatch 24kg * 10/10
Leg Swoop 3/3
Hammer Throw 25lb club 5/5

Today C1) 5 rounds in 15minutes maxHR 190 - recovery 1 minute 166
focused on bone rhythms and postural alignment with pushups, swings, and chins, focused on the same and "quiet" landings with burpees.

Then when on a slight tear...8 phone books, done popping, sideways, and grip and rip.

All in all feel really good.

Yes I know not exactly the most burly of workouts but trust me when you focus on the Z principles everything gets much harder training wise but your performance in your sport gets much better. It's working so far. I'm going to have an incredible season climbing, it's already better than any other i've ever had i've gotten a bunch of V5's and 6's outside in a single go or two and plan on breaking into the 5.13 realm for the first time outside, i've done stuff in that range inside but it's not the same, outside matters more to me. And for what it's worth today I weighed in at a 'beefy' 160lb and sub 5% bodyfat at almost 6foot. Now it's time to devour some turkey and fixins.

1st post in a while here

So for the last little while i've been gradually getting back into working out, now that I'm allowed to again, I'm starting back slow and everything has been going well so far. I've been doing a circuit style workout inspired by CST, I use the principles of Z to dictate form and load, and use whatever tools are at my disposal...most of the workouts are short since my main focus is climbing for the mean time, the last two weeks of workouts are:

Circuit 1
Deadlift 225 * 3 (about 55% of my old max)
Swinging Plank 5/5
Barbarian Squats 25lb club * 8
Alternating CnP 32kg * 2/2

Circuit 2
Snatch 32kg * 5/5
Back Squat 185lb * 2
Bodyweight Rows on Rings * 10
Dips BW * 8

Circuit 3
Bench Press 165lb * 1
Windmill 24kg * 3/3
Mills 25lb Club * 10/10
Skin the Cat on Rings * 5

I rotated through the three workouts and measured max HR and recovery HR at 1 minute out.

Circuit 1
1st time: 5 rounds in 20 mins Max HR 197, recovery 174
2nd time: 5 rounds in 14 mins Max HR 194, recovery 164

Circuit 2
1st time: 4 rounds in 15 mins Max HR 155, recovery 138
2nd time: 5 rounds in 15 mins Max HR 178, recovery 152

Circuit 3
1st time: 5 rounds in 19 mins Max HR 175, recovery 155
2nd time: 5 rounds in 14 mins Max HR 156, recovery 132

there's also been some bending and a lot of climbing as well, i've gotten in about 10hours or so in.

not bad improvements, i'll post the new circuits soon. thanks for reading.

some scrollwork pieces

Scrollwork is bending metal with your hands and only your hands, ie no tools, into various shapes and designs. It was a way oldtime strongmen demonstrated some talents. Being that I couldn't find much bigger metal, I focused on smaller pieces most all of these pieces started out as 6 ft of cold rolled steel that was 1/8th inch by 1/2 inch or 1/8 inch by 1 inch.