Posts tagged fitness
This Is What I Do
a health and fitness blog
Today’s Training
Today I found out I got an A on my Neuromuscular Control & Learning exam! Great start to my day!
Afterwards, I went to the gym determined to max out on squats and set a new PR. My previous max was 205 lbs but I felt it would be much higher since I’ve felt strong but I just haven’t really tried to max out in a while. I worked up to 215lbs and tried to get a 2nd rep and failed. A friend who works at the gym and is also a great power lifter saw and came over to offer me some tips on my technique as well as to spot me. With his help I managed another rep at 215 and one at 225. I decided to try for 235 but failed. BUT that’s a 20lb PR so I was happy :)
After squats I did some pullups, lat pulldown, and military press.
At 2pm I had to be at the Applied Physiology lab to participate in a study. I thought I was just going to be filling out paperwork and consent forms today and would be doing the physical part another day but they had my cycling on a bike today. I was a little nervous because I hadn’t eaten anything yet by that point, but I didn’t feel tired or faint or anything. I guess after a year of intermittent fasting my body is well adapted to fasted training. They had me pedal for 8 minutes at 70 rpm at 150 Watts and then 8 minutes at 70 rpm at 100 Watts. Every 30 seconds they noted my heart rate. It’s supposed to test the reliability and validity of the physical working capacity at heart rate threshold (PWCHRT).
Today at MashElite
As of this morning I am officially an NASM certified personal trainer! After I took my exam I headed over to MashElite to train and then observe and learn from the S&C coaches there.
Today was an awesome day of lifting for me. Worked on hang cleans which were giving me trouble but Kevin told me to activate my lats, stick my chest out and pull the bar towards me and after that, my form was much better and the weights went flying up. Worked up to 125lb hang clean.
Next was deadlifts from a high box. These made me feel supa strong! Got up to 265lbs.
Front squats were crazy! I did them last week and my new calculated 1RM based on that workout was 165lbs. Using that as my 1RM today, my workout projected my new 1RM to be like 195lbs. I don’t even know how that happened!
Single leg squats felt awesome today! I had better balance for multiple reps, even on my right leg which has less than ideal mobility (but I’ve been working on it!).
- Hang Clean:
- 55 lb x 3 reps (+30 pts)
- 75 lb x 3 reps (+34 pts)
- 85 lb x 3 reps (+36 pts)
- 105 lb x 3 reps (+42 pts)
- 115 lb x 3 reps (+45 pts)
- 125 lb x 1 reps (+33 pts)
- Rack Deadlift:
- 215 lb x 1 reps (+50 pts)
- 235 lb x 3 reps (+84 pts)
- 255 lb x 3 reps (+96 pts)
- 265 lb x 3 reps (+103 pts)
- Front Barbell Squat:
- 100 lb x 3 reps (+54 pts)
- 115 lb x 1 reps (+41 pts)
- 130 lb x 16 reps (+104 pts)
- Single-Leg Plank:
- 20 sec (+11 pts)
- 20 sec (+11 pts)
- 20 sec (+11 pts)
- 20 sec (+11 pts)
- 20 sec (+11 pts)
- 20 sec (+11 pts)
- Knees-To-Elbows:
- 10 reps (+13 pts)
- 10 reps (+13 pts)
- 10 reps (+13 pts)
- Superman:
- 10 sec (+4 pts)
- 10 sec (+4 pts)
- 10 sec (+4 pts)
- Body Weight One-Leg Squat:
- 1 reps (+5 pts)
- 3 reps (+13 pts)
- 3 reps (+13 pts)
- 3 reps (+13 pts)
- 3 reps (+13 pts)
- 1 reps (+5 pts)
- 1 reps (+5 pts)
- Holding on the the foot that sticks out makes these so much easier - no muscle cramping.
- Double Kettlebell Swing:
- 25 lb x 8 reps (+96 pts)
- 25 lb x 8 reps (+96 pts)
- 25 lb x 8 reps (+96 pts)
- Lying Dumbbell Hamstring Curl:
- 0.5 lb x 8 reps (+9 pts)
- 0.5 lb x 8 reps (+9 pts)
- 0.5 lb x 8 reps (+9 pts)
- Used stability ball
Awesome Power Clean PR today.
So proud of my Power Cleans today! My past full clean PR was 135lbs and today I completely beasted a 140 power clean. I’m stoked!
My friend Greg helped me out a ton with form and he suggested moving from a clean pull, to a high pull, to a power clean for the first few to get work on my pull.
It helped a ton! I also got a lot of encouragement from HolmesImprovements :)
Today was also my first day interning at MashElite so after my workout, I walked around and helped guide people through the warm-up, spotted, and advised the athletes training there. I am definitely going to learn a ton about lifting, coaching, and training for different sports this summer :)
- Body Weight Squat:
- 10 reps (+8 pts)
- 10 reps (+8 pts)
- Body Weight One-Leg Squat:
- 4 reps (+18 pts)
- 4 reps (+18 pts)
- Body Weight Lunge:
- 20 reps (+32 pts)
- Power Clean:
- 45 lb x 10 reps (+41 pts)
- 65 lb x 1 reps (+22 pts)
- 75 lb x 1 reps (+23 pts)
- 95 lb x 1 reps (+27 pts)
- 105 lb x 1 reps (+28 pts)
- 115 lb x 1 reps (+30 pts)
- 125 lb x 1 reps (+33 pts)
- 140 lb x 1 reps (+36 pts)
- New PR! :)
- High Pull:
- 45 lb x 1 reps (+22 pts)
- 65 lb x 1 reps (+25 pts)
- 75 lb x 1 reps (+27 pts)
- 85 lb x 1 reps (+29 pts)
- 95 lb x 1 reps (+31 pts)
- Front Barbell Squat:
- 85 lb x 5 reps (+61 pts)
- 100 lb x 5 reps (+67 pts)
- 115 lb x 15 reps (+93 pts)
- Barbell Bench Press:
- 105 lb x 2 reps (+47 pts)
- 125 lb x 2 reps (+54 pts)
- 135 lb x 2 reps (+58 pts)
- 140 lb x 1 reps (+48 pts)
- off of a 2 board. First time doing these off of a board. Man these make you feel really strong! :)
- Pull-Up:
- 10 reps || assisted || 45 lb (+19 pts)
- Not sure of the exact weight of the assist since I used bands but it felt like ~45 lbs help
- Lying Dumbbell Hamstring Curl:
- 5 lb x 10 reps (+10 pts)
- used a stability ball for leg curls
- Foam Rolling:
- 2:00 (+5 pts)
- 2:00 (+5 pts)
- Stretching:
- 0:05:00 (+2 pts)
- 0:05:00 (+2 pts)
Wednesday Training
- Body Weight Squat:
- 10 reps (+8 pts)
- Body Weight Lunge:
- 20 reps (+32 pts)
- Push-Up:
- 10 reps (+19 pts)
- Superman:
- 2 sec (+4 pts)
- 2 sec (+4 pts)
- 2 sec (+4 pts)
- 2 sec (+4 pts)
- 2 sec (+4 pts)
- 2 sec (+4 pts)
- 2 sec (+4 pts)
- 2 sec (+4 pts)
- 2 sec (+4 pts)
- 2 sec (+4 pts)
- 10 sec (+4 pts)
- 10 sec (+4 pts)
- 10 sec (+4 pts)
- Bent-Arm Dumbbell Pullover:
- 15 lb x 10 reps (+22 pts)
- 15 lb x 10 reps (+22 pts)
- Barbell Deadlift:
- 135 lb x 10 reps (+88 pts)
- 225 lb x 1 reps (+75 pts)
- 135 lb x 1 reps (+41 pts)
- Fail at 255, then fail at 245, then at 235. I think I wore myself out trying. I guess I should allow more time to recover after squats. Bleh
- Power Snatch:
- 45 lb x 7 reps (+58 pts)
- Working on technique
- Walking:
- 0:20:00 || 0 mi || 0 bpm || 0 lb (+10 pts)
- 0:20:00 || 0 mi || 0 bpm || 0 lb (+10 pts)
- Trail Running:
- 0:26:40 || 3 mi || 0 bpm || light hills || 0 lb (+429 pts)
- Parkour/Freerunning:
- 0:15:00 (+97 pts)
- Body Weight One-Leg Squat:
- 6 reps (+27 pts)
- One-Arm Kettlebell Snatch:
- 26 lb x 20 reps (+45 pts)
- 26 lb x 20 reps (+45 pts)
- 26 lb x 20 reps (+45 pts)
- 26 lb x 20 reps (+45 pts)
- 26 lb x 20 reps (+45 pts)
- Working on my snatches. New goal is to be able to do the RKC snatch challenge: 100 snatches in 5 minutes. Right side is so much better than left side
Learning Parkour
Now that my Junior year of college is over and I’ve taken a week to chill, I’ve decided to talk about a new activity I’ve been enjoying — Parkour. Parkour involves moving quickly and efficiently through your environment but also encourages self improvement both physically and mentally.
For 2 hours every Saturday in the past 6 weeks, I’ve been taking a Parkour Fundamentals class with a training group in Chapel Hill, North Carolina called Fifth Ape that also teaches martial arts and other movement classes. Colin Pistell is owner and head trainer of Fifth Ape and he was my teacher for most of the course.
During these 6 weeks, I learned how to approach, vault, climb, balance on, and descend from walls, rails, and other structures. There was also crawling in dirt, childhood games, and a myriad of other movements one doesn’t typically see on their college campus.
Each week of the fundamentals class we worked on new skills that built upon one another with the program culminating on the 6th session into a long form run—an extremely physically and mentally demanding venture where teacher and students go out and run for about an hour and go over obstacles as they encounter them.
In this post I’ve summarized what I learned each week and at the very end is a reflections section with some of my thoughts on parkour after having finished the course.
Never Leave the Playground
This is probably one of the most inspiring and awesome videos I’ve ever seen on staying fit and healthy into old age! Meet Stephen Jepson, a 71 year old man who hasn’t forgotten what it’s like to play and have fun. And he’s thriving!
I want to be as healthy as he is when I’m that old!
Check it out
Reads of the Week 4/16 - 4/22
Happy Monday! This week and part of next week is exam week for me. Wish me luck! And good luck to any other students suffering through exams! Have a great week everyone!
This week I have a ton of posts on intermittent fasting. Definitely check those out if you are interested. I’ve been intermittent fasting for about a year now and love it!
Exercise:
- Cool New Glute Activation Drill: “The Side-Lying Clam Raise” bit.ly/JXzBYf from Bret Contreras
- 6 Ways to Help Your Rotator Cuff and Not Hurt It: bit.ly/I94YT8 from Rick Kaselj
- Monster Walks and Sumo Walks: youtu.be/jiD4eOaivqY from Bret Conteras
- The Pitfalls of Progressive Overload: bit.ly/JnEGOx Great post from Bret Contreras
- The Nerd Fitness Playground Workout -bit.ly/HGzbq7 from Nerdfitness
- 18 Months in the Making: Exercising Around the World - Nerd Fitness bit.ly/HQO51n
- The 80/20 Rule and Training: bit.ly/HR1naT SAPT Strength
- Can a Bigger Squat Make You Faster? | Breaking Muscle http://bit.ly/HwFElA
Food/Nutrition:
- Prolonged sitting spikes insulin and glucose; 2min “light” walk breaks prevent them: http://bit.ly/Hn64cM from Travis Saunders
- Is this the end of dieting? More on Intermittent Fasting: ow.ly/amiCz from Adam Bornstein
- A Hidden Benefit to Intermittent Fasting http://bit.ly/I0fokt From Brad Pilon
- How Fasting Improves
Brain Function bit.ly/HdGBV1 from Mark’s Daily Apple - Alcohol actually increases insulin sensitivity: http://bit.ly/Jay9BR from BMJ
- How to Implement Fasting | Mark’s Daily http://bit.ly/K1SGsh
- Another great recipe from Neghar Fonooni - Turkey Kabob and the Best Sauce EVER: bit.ly/IsdMRD
Miscellaneous:
- Harmony and traininghttp://bit.ly/Jfhn5vfrom Colin Pistell
Reads of the Week 4/9 - 4/15
Forgot to post this on Monday but here it is!
Fitness:
- Parkour Office Hours #8: Catpasses, muscle ups, and other tips:http://bit.ly/HOEztKfrom Fifth Ape
- Competitive PowerLifter Secrets: What The Diet Industry Doesn’t Want You To Know About Weights:http://bit.ly/IUWIDMfrom xojane
- How to get a great workout on a playground:bit.ly/HLwqlCfrom Harold Gibbons
- 5 Coaching Cues: Deadliftbit.ly/Hzvrrxfrom Tony Gentilcore
- Foot Positions in the Squathttp://bit.ly/J4Ejnbfrom Charlie Weingroff
Food/Nutrition:
- How Fasting Improves Workout Recoveryshar.es/r4vpavia from Marks Daily Apple
- Fructose vs Glucose: What’s Worse?bit.ly/IOGMC3from Precision Nutrition
- Amazing pumpkin pie oatmeal recipeow.ly/afT6Lfrom Jeremey DuVall
- Cool flowchart of “A Complete Moron’s Guide To Supplements!”shar.es/ruMTXfrom Fit Jerk
Hope you enjoy!
Squatz on squatz
Great lifting day today. 10lb squat PR!! Finally hit the big 200lbs!
Edit** Holy crap this puts my 1RM at 230lbs!! 0_o
Also, tomorrow in my Exercise Physiology lab we are getting hydrostatic weighing performed. I’m excited and nervous at the same time! We’ve used the BIA gadgets and skin fold testing in lab and now we are going for a super accurate measure.
- Thrusters:
- 45 lb x 10 reps (+69 pts)
- Barbell Squat:
- 45 lb x 10 reps (+48 pts)
- 135 lb x 5 reps (+75 pts)
- 195 lb x 6 reps (+119 pts)
- 200 lb x 5 reps (+116 pts)
- 180 lb x 5 reps (+101 pts)
- Body Weight Lunge:
- 20 reps (+32 pts)
- Parallel-Grip Pull-Up:
- 10 reps || assisted || 40 lb (+26 pts)
- One-Leg Romanian Deadlift:
- 8 reps || weighted || 80 lb (+46 pts)
- 8 reps || weighted || 80 lb (+46 pts)
- 8 reps || weighted || 80 lb (+46 pts)
- 8 reps || weighted || 80 lb (+46 pts)
- Walking:
- 0:20:00 (+10 pts)
- 0:20:00 (+10 pts)
Reads of the Week 4/2 – 4/9
Happy Monday! I hope everyone had a great weekend! Here is a list of some of the blog posts and videos I liked last week. I didn’t put out my own post last week but I should have one for this week about periodization. It will be my last post from the NC Multisport expo.
Food/Nutrition:
- Why You Shouldn’t Put Your Child On A Diet huff.to/I101fX from Yoni Freedhoff
- Is Eating Meat Ethical? shar.es/raLSv from Mark Sisson
- Why Fast? Part Two – Cancer: bit.ly/HfSQkN from Mark Sisson
- The 5 Most Dangerous Food Myths: http://bit.ly/HbViIA from Adam Bornstein
- Sweet Potato Baking Experiments: bit.ly/Hegv1D from Neghar Fonooni
- Want to eat more of the food you buy and throw out less of it? Know where and how to store it in your fridge: lifehac.kr/HVql9e from Life Hacker
Fitness:
- Hilarious post (complete with gifs!!) on 50 Signs You’re a Fitness Buff: bit.ly/HobFm7 from Sohee Lee
- Parkour Office Hours at Fifth Ape - How to do lateral vaults and arm jumps: bit.ly/HXhKo4 with Fifth Ape
Yesterday’s Workout and Breathe Carolina Concert
2 Rounds of:
- 100m of body weight lunges
- 300m of partner fireman carries (20 burpees every time you need to switch positions)
This was a fun, simple, and tough workout. I liked it! My partner was a guy named Braden because there were no other girls there so he had to carry me and I had to carry him lol. I carried a dude on my shoulders! It was cool. I think I impressed him with how far I could carry him.
The burpees were so hard during all this.
I went straight from this workout to the Breathe Carolina Concert at Cat’s Cradle. It was awesome! That was my 2nd time seeing them live and my sister’s 5th time (she has an obsession ;) )
You have probably heard them because of their songs has been played on the radio a lot this year. (Blackout). I like them because they are a little bit of rock, some electronic, some dubstep, and some screamo.
They always put on a good show. Lots of energy, cool lighting, and dubstep remixes and such. Plus they are funny
Reads of the Week 3/26 - 4/1
Happy Tuesday to you, readers. Here’s my post from the past week explaining VO2max, lactate threshold, and their importance for endurance athletes, in case you missed it :). wp.me/p1vjNi-7G
And below are some of my favorite reads from the past week. I ended up finding a ton of nutrition/diet/recipe posts last week as well as a ton of miscellaneous posts.
Exercise/Training:
- 5 Not so obvious things that fit people should know: bit.ly/Hcd7oJ from Sean Hyson
- Aerobic Hill Sprints: bit.ly/GRVYQg from SAPT Strength
- Fixing the tuck under when squatting Part 2: bit.ly/GSLjVE from Tony Gentilcore
- Can switching from heel striking to forefoot striking help with compartment syndrome? bit.ly/GVkYGX from Alex Hutchinson
- Good Advice for Your Training and Your Health wp.me/p2djGc-2c from Garrett Perrella
Nutrition/Diet:
- The danger of high-sugar diets bit.ly/HdMAde from Greatist
- Awesome, easy egg casserole recipe from Nia Shanks: bit.ly/H4YuED
- Good guide on how to make homebrewed Kombucha: bit.ly/HGcyR3 from Mark’’s Daily Apple
- Do I Need to Refuel Mid-Workout?: bit.ly/H3ZbxZvia from Greatist
- Things You Need to Know Before Taking Supplements: bit.ly/GVzhtx from Breaking Muscle
- Check out this guide for how to pick the best Spring produce: bit.ly/Hl9Vrj from Greatist
- Can a hard workout block iron absorption? bit.ly/Hj1Wqo via Alex Hutchinson
Warrior Fitness: New Lifter Tip #11: Don't Forget About Conditioning
*For all previous tips, you can check out my “New Lifter’s Guide” here.
While lifting (depending on how it’s done), along with proper nutrition can help you achieve almost any physique goal, adding in a certain amount of conditioning can also do wonders for physique and training/performance…
Good advice right here!
Here’s a list from Greatist of the 63 best Health & Fitness apps.
There are some pretty awesome apps in this list! Check em’ out
Reads of the Week 3/19 - 3/25
Exercise:
- The 7 Most Common Power Clean Technique Mistakes: bit.ly/GYECTP from Eric Cressey
- 8 Abilities of an ATHLETIC BADASS (that have nothing to do with the Bench Press, Squat or Deadlift) bit.ly/GNAffi from Nick Tumminello
- Good Kettlebell Interval Home Workout bit.ly/GDK5xg from Myomytv
- 10 Stubborn Exercise Myths that Won’t Die, Debunked by Science ow.ly/9NrTY from LifeHacker
- Good reasons to hire a personal trainer: jdstrength.com/?p=912 from Jeremey DuVall
- Strength Training for Runners Part 3: Warm-ups and Cool-downs: jdstrength.com/?p=656 from Jeremey DuVall
- Pressing considerations for the older lifter: bit.ly/GE5CEi from Diesel Strength
- Straight bar vs Trap bar deadlifts: bit.ly/GD4fXDvia from SAPT Strength
Mobility:
- Unconventional Exercises for Scapular Stability:bit.ly/GO1irI from Dean Somerset
- Q & A: Fixing the “Tuck Under” When Squatting – Part I: bit.ly/GGiGLc from Tony Gentilcore
- Changes in Movement Control Influenced by Duration of Training –Implications for Rehab & InjuryPrevention: bit.ly/GIDpib from PEAK Control
