The Falcon's View

Well, thank goodness, Friday is here, and leading into a 3-day weekend at that. It's been one of those weeks... marked by extremes... one minute things are going swimmingly, and the next I'm under water, flailing to get to the surface. Take yesterday, for example. I had a good workout, longer than normal, but reasonably successful. I ran 2 miles in 17 minutes, then did some core work, pullups, and pushups, then came back and ran a third mile on wobbly legs in about 10 minutes. Not too shabby, all things considered.

Then I got home. First, Hanna was hungry and fighting a headache. I should have showered right away and gotten her food. Instead, I jumped right into the last blog entry. An hour later, she interrupted and was not happy, to say the least. There goes the running high, here comes an unjustified flash a mad for the interruption. I showered, got her food frumpily, and then returned to writing. Not before my legs began to cramp, though.

Most people are familiar with the concept of Circadian rhythm, but I would argue that this is too shortsighted a view of human rhythms. After having a generally positive, upbeat week, I'm finding today is more down. Not down in the sense of depressed or negative, but just lacking in energy. I've had good workouts all week, but today my lifting frankly sucked rocks. It's definitely normal to have negative workouts like this -- you can't always be at peak energy -- but it's nonetheless frustrating.

What I really wonder is why we rarely seem to see studies about these mid-tier cycles? I've read about life rhythms matching with the seasons, and have also of course read of Circadian rhythm, but there seem to be regular sine waves in between that should also be considered. Anyway, just food for thought.

The good news is that this weekend promises to have some of the best football we've seen all season. Maybe that will help restore my energy. Of course, as for the aches and creaks, it's hard to say. :)

I'm undertaking a fitness mini-campaign today. My goal is to sport climb for 90 minutes, run 3 miles, do 2 core workouts, and make up a legs workout that I completely bombed on Saturday. The plan is start at noon with climbing (SportRock Sterling), conclude that workout with abs, then go get some food and rehydrate. Next, depending on how the legs feel, hope to hit the gym and get lifting in. Then get some protein and rehydrate. Last, do an outdoor run with the wife, then get some Endurox and rehydrate. I'll post updates here as I complete things, as well as note how I feel over the next couple days. :)

Update 1 (2:25pm): 90 minutes of sport climbing completed. Next up: 3 miles running, abs and pushups.

Update 2 (3:30pm): 3 mile run completed (~28 min), 3x20 crunches, 3x10 pushups. Next up: lower body weight workout @ WSC.

Update 3 (5:15pm): Lifting is finished. Almost didn't finish the hack squats, but all's well that ends well. Also did another set of abs, including some cable-weight exercises focusing on obliques. On to dinner!

Update 4 (6:45pm): Mmmmm... meat good! Went to Malibu Grill Steakhouse and gorged myself on meat, with some potatoes and rice thrown in for good measure. All told, I've had a very high protein day! :) We'll see how I feel in another couple days.

Total amount of fitness time today: ~3 hours. A good all-around workout day. A luxury I can only have on holidays like today. Feeling good tonight, but I bet I'm sore the next couple days... :)

I had a reasonably good workout with P this morning, with a continued focus on legs. It's becoming clear that I need to add at least one other lifting day per week with a mix of upper and lower body exercises. One thing I learned is that I'm probably not consuming enough protein. Per P, 0.8g per pound is necessary to maintain, with most people rounding up to 1g/lb. No wonder I have trouble adding mass! This will be particularly important for upper body, for which I would really like to grow arms with some noticeable size. Anyway...

Getting ready to start flag football with the guys in a couple weeks (we think). The team coach (and my friend and other trainer), M, has been guilt-tripping me heavily for the past week to start doing speed and agility drills. Since it was too cold to do them outside today, I went back after lifting and eating lunch to run on the treadmill. The treadmills max out at 12mph, which is a bit slow for a true wind-sprint workout, but was good enough. Definitely sped up the 3 miles I normally run! :) Well, it did until I broke the machine...

I had an excellent workout tonight - one worth blogging about. For the first time, I ran a full 3 miles without walking. I maintained a base pace of 6mph (10 minute pace) with a regular run pace of 7mph (about 8:35 pace), and finished with incrementally faster runs in the third mile of 8.0, 8.5, 9.0, and 9.5 for .15 to .30 miles each to finish out the run. My end time was about 26:15, which betters my previous best by 45 seconds. Woohoo!

I haven't been sick like this in a long time. Sure, back in late December I felt like I'd been hit by a Mac truck with the flu du jour, but this has been much, much, much worse. That's right, I've been hit with a stomach bug (virus, food poisoning, hard to tell which). It has been absolutely nasty and atrocious.

Well, today is Day 4 of "the stomach bug from hell." Spoke to the doctor's office yesterday, this is apparently the bug du jour this year. Loverly. I honestly cannot remember ever being this sick before. So, at their recommendation, made use of Imodium yesterday to allow myself a respite from certain symptoms. This seems to have helped, and carried through to today, though I had the wonderful side effect of heartburn all afternoon. *sigh* Even when I win, I lose.

Did manage to eat a few mild solids yesterday... toast, banana, chicken noodle soup, oatmeal... all promising signs... I'm having terrible cravings for bad foods, like a McDonalds sausage egg mcmuffin, or a Burger King double bacon cheeseburger. This tells me my body is probably craving a couple things: protein and dairy. Will make efforts to increase protein intake today (appeasing my achy muscles, I hope). As for dairy, we'll see. Maybe I'll get brave later and try a quick run to BK. Or not.

A mathematical puzzle for you: when does zero not equal zero? Today's answer: when reporting the amount of trans fats contained in the crappola food we oftentimes eat.

As of 2003, food companies are required to list the amount of trans fat contained in their product. However, this measurement is reported in grams, which has caused the ever-so-brilliant government to create a lovely little loophole for the food industry. A product can have up to 0.4 grams of trans fat per serving and still report it as 0g. Bloody brilliant! So, the food industry has to report presence of trans fat, except when it doesn't want to do so, and can then play the old serving size game to reduce the serving size until the amount of trans fat can drop to 0 on the nutrition info label, and then life is swell (for them, not us).

For more information, check out the Ban Trans Fats campaign. Full information there on this labeling insanity as well as extensive information on why this kind of fatty acid is bad for you.

Anybody who knows me knows that I'm generally an intense, high-energy person. This persona seems to translate into my sleep patterns, too. It is not unusual for me to awake from vivid, active dreams at a least a couple nights per week where it's very difficult at first to distinguish between dream and reality. This sensation can be disorienting as the logical brain fights to sort fact from fiction. Add in moving about the room/apartment and potentially waking up in some place other than one's bed, and, well, it's crazy. Now add the last factor: having a spouse who is affected by your sleep behaviors. It can lead to less than ideal situations. Suffice to say, there are right ways and wrong ways to wake someone from a vivid, active dream.

So, the bad news is that I won't be playing flag football this Spring. A bunch of guys backed out at the last minute, preventing us from fielding a team. Kind of annoying, since a bunch of the guys bailed just a day or two before the season was to start (yesterday). I think I'm both disappointed at something I was greatly anticipating, as well as upset that I rearranged my workout schedule in order to fit this in, and now that change wasn't necessary (not that it's been a bad change).

The good news is that my weightlifting is going well, with steady progress every week. Of course, I'm now down to one week of sessions left before I take a break over the Summer (transferring the funds to our Europe trip - $700/month for training adds up quickly!). But, nonetheless, I'm pleased with the progress that I've made and the marks that I've achieved.

Just finished my weekend mostly-lower-body workout and am happy to report 3 new personal records -- w00t! :) This was also my last trainer-assisted workout until September, while I redirect the monies to another target (namely, our vacation to Europe).

Anyway, the PRs:
- Squats: 10 x 325 lbs (could have done more)
- Bench Press: 4 x 185 lbs
- Leg Press: 8-10 x 700 lbs (had minor assistance on the last 2 reps)

I've just finished my first official Pavel workout - and it rocked! I recently purchased three of his books (Power to the People! : Russian Strength Training Secrets for Every American, The Naked Warrior, and Relax into Stretch : Instant Flexibility Through Mastering Muscle Tension), which arrived late last week.

I've now read through most of all three (well, ok, read Power, skimmed Naked Warrior and Relax). Last night I tried a few of the stretches in Relax and was quite pleased. Today I did the recommended Power 2-exercise program and felt great. I still have to work on form a bit more, but while practicing with my trainer buddy on deadlifts, I was able to put up 225 lbs without much trouble. I need to do a lot of work with the side presses, but then my upper body is behind my lower on strength.

Anyway, I highly recommended Pavel's works! The strength program, the bodyweight-only program (great for traveling!), the stretching, and - of course - the kettlebells! I do not have personal experience (yet) with KBs, but 2 friends are using them now and loving them. It's on my list for starting in the Fall. Get to it! Oh, and ladies -- Pavel's program provides real strength and toning without adding mass!

As mentioned recently, I'm officially on the Pavel bandwagon. Today, about a week into things, I noticed my first major gains. Just a few weeks ago, I put up some new personal records (PRs) in my last trainer-led lower body session. At that time, I knew that I could do more than 325 lbs on squats, but didn't make any further attempts. I did, however, have trouble at 700 lbs on the leg press. Well, after just a week of Pavel's "Power to the People" workout, I can honestly say that 700 lbs does not trouble me any more.

I've been feeling fat lately. Not sure why. Maybe it's because my weight is up, even though that's likely attributable to my increased strength (see my recent post). Nonetheless, I feel kind of pudgy, so I decided I needed to kick the lagging cardio back up into overdrive. So, today I did a 5-mile run (slash walk). It actually went fairly well, though my legs are starting to kill me now. Most impressive, I think, was that I was able to jog the last mile in almost its entirety (stopped to walk for about 15 seconds to let a car turn). So, that's pretty good, I think. I need to go get a banana now before my legs cramp up (I've already had my Endurox R4).

Well, I've done it! I've purchased my first kettlebell, and it's awesome!!! I'm a huge fan of Pavel, as you can tell from my previous posts here and here.

I also purchased a copy of a Qigong video, and it's pretty cool, too. Far more of a workout than I would have expected. I received the videos and kettlebell ("li'l red") on Saturday and immediately pulled them out and went through the training videos. I need to go through Qigong a few more times to get it down. But, man, it's killer!!

I highly recommend the kettlebells to anyone serious about strength, anyone who might be getting bored with the gym, to anyone who's working on strengthening their core, and so on. Head over to Dragon Door and find the good stuff!

Well, we've done it! We've ordered - and taken delivery of - more kettlebells! Hanna indicated that she was interested in trying them out, so we got her an 8kg bell (18 lbs). At the same time, I order a pair of 24kg bells as the 16kg bell was starting to feel light. I've already started working them into my workouts (swings, in particular). What a nice set these make!

If you're tired of going to the gym (or, rather, paying for a gym membership that you're not using), then it's time to check out kettlebells! If you've always hated dedicated aerobic exercise - for the sake of getting a little cardio - then it's time to check out kettlebells! They're an excellent one-stop-shop for strength and cardio. Get the workout hardware that helped make the men of the movie 300.

Well, I've decided it's time for an upgrade for my workouts. Swings with the 24kg (53lb) kettlebell have been feeling a bit easy lately. I've been able to do snatches easily with it, too. Turkish getups still give me a little challenge, but I'm consistently able to do a few reps per side with it. So, that means it's upgrade time! My first kb was a 16kg (35lb) Russian Red, which I really liked. For the 24kg, I went with the traditional black paint, which was fine, but honestly, not as enjoyable. As such, I've ordered a 32kg (70lb) Russian Red to add to my collection.

In addition to ordering a new kettlebell, I've also ordered the "Russian Kettlebell Challenge" DVD in order to better round out my workout routine. I'm looking forward to seeing some new exercises in video (since it's hard to read about the exercises and fully understand them).

As previously announced, I decided it was time to upgrade my workout arsenal. Well, I'd now like to officially welcome Big Red, a 32kg (that's 72lbs for us Yanks) Russian Red kettlebell, into my family! :) Woohoo! My muscles are already a little sore just from unpacking it, moving it around for a couple quick pictures, and trying a few swings. I don't expect to be doing presses, snatches, or Turkish getups with it anytime soon, but it sure is cool! :)

Phase 1: Acquire Big, Red Hunk of Steel - Complete
Phase 2: Begin Swinging Big, Red Hunk of Steel - Pending
Phase 3: Begin Pressing Big, Red Hunk of Steel - Future
Phase 4: Demonstrate Über KB 1337ness & Pass RKC - 2008/2009 Goal :)

Comrades - sign-up now for early-bird savings up to $1000 on Pavel's Russian Kettlebell Challenge Certification Program in St. Paul, MN. Date/time and discount information is below, or click here for more information. Register here to if you're already ready to go (if you decide to register for this workshop, please bookmark this page for later so that I can get the referral credit).

St. Paul, Minnesota
June 6 — June 8, 2008
Friday: 9:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. & 1:30 p.m.-5:30 p.m.
Saturday: 9:00 a.m.-12:30 p.m. & 1:30 p.m.-5:30 p.m.
Sunday: 9:00 a.m.-12:30 p.m. & 1:30 p.m.-4:30 p.m.

Extreme Early-Bird Registration Discount:
Register and pay by Jan 04, 2008, fee is only $1495.00 (Save $1000.00)

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Alrighty, folks, the holidays are coming up, and you know we're all dreading getting fat from the Christmas goose! :) In fact, if you're anything like me, you're probably already feeling a little heavy from Thanksgiving goodness, and you're really not looking forward to entering the new year feeling like you've just been fattened for market. My answer? Time to step up an aggressive workout routine! I've developed the following routine based on a combination of kettlebells and Pavel's "Power to the People" routine. Here's what I'm going to attempt through Friday, December 21st:

Performance Report to Date: I began this routine on Tuesday after cooking it up. Tuesday and Wednesday went fine, but today (Thursday) simply did not happen. I was rather sore from the deadlifts yesterday (it's been a while), and life got in the way. I will still do some kettlebell work here tonight, but it won't likely be the full kettlebell core workout. Tomorrow I plan to get back into the gym to run, assuming I can get out of the office a bit early.

I'm not a fan of better living through chemistry. In fact, I firmly believe in weight loss and muscle gain through proper diet and exercise. But here in the real world, with a full-time job that requires sitting at a desk for 8+ hours/day, it's darned near impossible to get activity levels to where they need to be, and as for eating a proper diet, well... let's just say I have some weaknesses that are hard to discipline out after a long day staring at a computer screen.

To that end, in an assault on my abs, obliques, and emerging double-chin, I've decided to give Cytolean a try (product info here and here). The product was recommended by the local Vitamin Shoppe manager, so I figured what the heck, I'll see how it goes for a week. There are a couple reviews here and here.

The two main things that I notice are feeling hyper/jittery today, and that my mental acuity is through the roof (one might link my multiple of blog posts today to this first course of chems). We'll see how it goes this week, and if I'm able to get some sleep. I also need to get my workouts going better. As noted here, I'm trying to pursue a fairly aggressive workout plan into the holidays. Thus far, my body has only been able to handle 4 out of the 6 planned workout days per week. I've simply been too sore from the combination of kettlebells and deadlifting (in fairness, Pavel says one should alternate these programs every 4-6 weeks, not every-other-day). After the holidays, I'll try to decide on whether to focus more on gym time, or on kettlebells. If I wasn't afraid to drop the KBs on the floor, I'd probably just push an aggressive KB program. However, 32kg of iron dropping on a wooden floor in a top-floor apartment problem isn't a good idea, so I tend to play it conservative. Anyway, we'll see what I'll think of next.

Hopefully this little chem program will help things out... I'm tired of busting my hump and not getting noticeable results in the key mid-section area. That's the one place where I want the the fat to burn off, and it's the one place where it's not budging. Hence my decision to try this stuff out. I'll report more as time goes on here...

As mentioned here, I tried a thermogenic weight loss OTC drug recently. I decided last night, after 2 days on Cytolean , to halt use of it for the time being. It had a lot of caffeine in it that made me jittery, hyper, and cranky. I also noticed dehydration effects, with my MCLs, LCLs, knees, and ankles screaming. My workout yesterday seemed decent, with good energy levels, but the joint and ligament pain didn't seem like a good tradeoff. I might try it again after the holidays one my joints and ligaments feel better.

Do you like pasta, but are disinclined to eat it because of all those carbs? Now there's an alternative that might just make you take notice. Barilla has the Barilla Plus product line that has whole grain pastas fortified with extra protein, vitamins, minerals, and Omega-3 fatty acids. And, 1 out of 1 Hannas agree - it tastes yummy! :) Just thought I'd pass this little tip along. Check out the nutrition chart for it on the right.

If you happened to see Good Morning America (ABC) this morning, you probably caught the story "Fast Food: The Fast Track to Organ Damage." Well, let's set the record straight on this typical overhyped story, since it once again represents irresponsible, sensationalist journalism, placing the blame somewhat incorrectly.

I need your help out there, since economics and finance isn't my strong suit. I'm thinking about cancelling my gym membership. It's costing me about $45/month, which is ridiculous in and of itself (I think Gold's is about half that). I'm only going 1-2 times/month, because I'm doing kettlebells at home in the morning. The kettlebell routines are starting to pay off. The only thing I really use in the gym are free weights for deadlifts and occasional bench press reps (I can't do squats any more because of the avulsion of my C7). However, I supplement the kettlebells with pistol squats and pushups (normal and one-handed against a wall or counter). In the future, when we've settled somewhere, I plan to add a pullup bar (or maybe a finger board, like the Metolius Simulator) and free weights of my own. Anyway...

All that being said, what do you think? Does it sounds like I'm getting my money's worth? Please leave your suggestions in the comments (note, you'll get a login prompt, just put "comment" as the username and leave password blank - this is to stop automated comment spam). And, thank you! :)

There's a decent article over on Men's Vogue this month. It provides nice background overview of the device, and also has a brief slideshow that walks through a decent basic kettlebell workout. It's definitely worth checking out, and will only take a few minute to zip through.

My two favorite seasons, in order of preference, are Fall and Spring. There's nothing like the cool, crisp air and the colors of the foliage to put the mind at ease come September/October/November (depending on where you live). Spring, on the other hand, often means a return of sunshine, warmth, and the colors of trees and flowers blooming everywhere. Unfortunately, in addition to being colorful, both of these seasons share another attribute (on the East Coast, anyway): smelly mulch.

Though Spring has not yet sprung here (despite stupid DST kicking in early), the landscapers were out in force as of late last week, dumping the foul smelling mulch around trees and flower gardens, in preparation of the growing season. This mulch seems to be home to one of my arch-nemeses: mold. There is, in fact, a specific type of mold (don't recall which) that seems to be in the mulch around here that absolutely kills me.

So, beware, Mid-Atlanticans: the Spring season is here, and your allergies will be striking. Get those inhalers and sprays all primed (Astelin to the rescue!), because it could be a doozy. :)

RKC II Brett Jones has an excellent post up today about his ongoing struggle with eating right to feel right. Check it out here - it'll be well worth your time!

RKC II Brett Jones has a great post up today on a few of his "ah-ha moments" in his fitness career. Good stuff - well worth the read!

If anybody is interested, I've received a pass for a free 30-day membership to one of the clubs in the mysportsclub.com chain, including Washington Sports Club, New York Sports Club, Boston Sports Club, and Philly Sports Club. Though I've cancelled my membership at WSC due to lack of use and inadequate hours, maybe it'll work for you. If you live in the Fairfax, VA, area then I highly recommend getting training sessions with my friend Paul Dz. at the Fairfax WSC. Ping me if you'd like the pass. First-come, first-serve.

One of my dreams for at least a couple years has been to purchase a Metolius Simulator. It's a training board for climbing that you can use for hanging and pull-ups to build arm and hand strength. I'm proud to say that I now have one hung in our new home! Woohoo! And, not only that, but it turns out that I'm even able to do a wide grip pull-up, despite being at a bloated weight these days!!! Even better. :)

Though I wanted a blue Simulator, the only ones REI had were green, so I settled for a grey+green one, and I have to say that it actually looks quite decent. Once we get everything setup and settled, I'll go around and take some pictures of the place for everyone to see - and I'll be sure to include a picture of my newest toy. :)