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OR Show ECSTASY!

ImageLast week I had the opportunity to accompany a friend up to the OR show in Salt Lake City for an absolutely wonderful day of epic gear-filled distraction. Some of the booths were simply amazing. The Sherpa Adventure Gear booth was by far my favorite. Their booth fit their brand and company philosophy perfectly and was a great extension of what I hope becomes a strong and stable outdoor company.

I was a little disappointed by the folks at Arc’Teryx. They had a lovely booth, but you could tell they weren’t there to spend time with fans. I was turned away from the goodies because I didn’t have an appointment.

My feelings quickly rebounded though, as the Mammut and Petzl shops were close by, and both spots had very welcoming staff (not to mention lots of stickers!)

One of the most elaborate and WOW booths was that of outdoor market leader The North Face. From one side it looked like the kind of tent TNF would give to Nasa to employ on the moon. It was a gigantic space, and had very cool lighting.

It is no secret that I am a Patagonia junky, and their booth was more like a quaint series of stores and shops, filled with beautiful, wonderful Patagonia jackets, fleece and shoes.

I have to give mad props to the Sierra Design guys as well, especially for hooking me up with a pro-purchase membership… that will make upgrading the tent and the kids’ sleeping bags a lot easier on the pocket book this year.

I saw tons of gear, far too much to review or talk about here, but one of the coolest things I saw was from a Colorado company Green Guru Gear, who take old bicycle tubes and “up cycle” them into bags, wallets, computer sleeves, etc.

 

I can haz Cheezburger?

I went to lunch with my lovely wife today and as we passed by my favorite burger joint, JCW’s she asked if I missed it… I said not as much as I will miss these pounds when they are gone!

Down to 260. 11 pounds since Jan 1… which if I just look at the weight reduction isn’t that much… but I have definitely put on some muscle…

Oh yea.

Yesterday I got humiliated by Kerri and Hilary again… 50 Pullups. 100 pushups. 500 jump ropes. 500 “quick feet” and then my leg went to crap… so I got on the bike for 10 minutes.

We alternated pullups and pushups… it sucked. but not as bad as the jumping routine. Holy mother…

Today I was ecstatic to see the other Jeremy show up so I could lift instead of chasing around the energizer bunnies again. We did a chest and shoulder routine with:

 

Farmer Johns 2 X 40yds

Bench 10,5,3,2 (I started with 185, then went up to 205, then 235, then 255)

single arm incline dumbbell press 8,5,3 started with 50, then 55, then 65

TRX band rotational rows

hanging knee benders.

Cannons!

Today we worked on the guns!

2 x farmer walks with 65lb dumbbells (70 yards)

Close grip bench – 3 x 10 – 5 seconds on the down and then up.

Pull ups 3 x 10 (we alternated close grip bench and pull ups each set. so 10 bench, then 10 pull ups, then 10 bench etc.)

Incline dumbbell press (8 x 5 x 3)

Reverse Inclince Rows (Failure) (again, alternating dumbbell press with the rows each set)

speed curls

powerball hamstring curls.

 

I could barely squeeze the shower gel out of my bottle today after… holy cow.

Buns of Steel!

Today was more legs…

Golbin (Goblet) Squats X 5

Box Jumps X 5

Some DB Lunge Squat thing of Horror X 5 each leg.

More Lunge Squat Horror X 5 each leg. (you put one leg on a bench and then hold dumbbells in each hand do a squat)

Cry.

Repeat X 5

 

I weighed in at 262 this morning.

 

 

Today’s Man Club Workout

Today started off with a “hops circuit”, where you space small hurdles on the ground and hop on one leg down, switch and hop back… and then sideways down and back.

Then we did 120 jump ropes .

Then the Farmer John Walkabouts with a 35 pound weight help over head, while carrying a 65 pound weight in the other hand, switch halfway and coming back.

The we were on the Medicine Ball Circuit - 10 reps each side with 5 side lunges each, and 5 reverse lunges each.

Then we did 6 sets of 2 close-hand bench with 275 pounds.

Then we did pull-ups from hell… sets of 10 until failure. I failed early.

And to top it all off I got to take my “before” photo… yea  today is not a good self-esteem day.

My weight is down to 263 from 271 though… good, healthy, sustainable weight loss!

 

 

The Man Club

So today’s workout at ASAP was another killer… but obviously… if it wasn’t hard, we would be at Gold’s Gym.

Jumprope x 120 (Warmup)

DB Shoulder Press (Seated) x 8

DB Shrugs x 10

BB shrugs x 10

DB side raises x 10

BB reverse curls x 15

DB Hammer Curls x 10

We got through 4.5 sets… I could barely hold onto the bars at the end…

DB = Dumbell

BB = Barbell

20 Minutes AMAP (As Many As Possible)

 

ah enjoy the rest…

While it lasts.

Today is my rest day – and for the next couple weeks I am going to take it. My quads are killing me!.

In a couple weeks I will use my off day to ride my bike or go for a long slow jog, but for now – I am sleeping and eating lots of bananas and protein.

Tomorrow, stretching on the roller is going to kill me.

 

I need to find a good recovery drink, other than my favorite – chocolate milk…

 

Any suggestions?

Today’s workout -

So today we were focusing on arms and chest.

We started out with doing a “farmer john walk” which is 40 yards carrying a dumbell over your head – then you switch hands and come back – then you carry one in each had down and back.

Then we moved over to the rope and spent one minute, alternating at 30 seconds, flipping the rope, warming up our shoulders.

Then we did the Medicine Ball circuit with a 10 pound ball you throw it against the wall 20 times, 10 times each side, rotating your hips… and then did reverse lunge over head throws – 5 each leg – and then the always fun forward lunge with karate chop action, just like the old Chuck Norris dolls, throwing the ball against the wall 5 reps each leg.

Then we did a Bench Press set – 8, 5, 3… increasing weight each set.

Then we did 8, 5, 3, chin ups. (Chin ups or pull ups I hate them all… I need a lot of work on these!)

We finished with 2 sets of 12 dumbell rows.

The lunges and the squats are killing me. I can still bench quite a bit of weight – but can’t pull myself up to save my life from a pit of hungry crocodiles.

I finished with 10 minutes on the eliptical, which regardless of the workout, makes me feel uncoordinated and dumb, but I did it anyway.

 

Jason Gay: The 27 Rules of Conquering the Gym

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If a gym wanted to make you feel instantly better about yourself, it would be a bar.

killer quads…

Man,

Today’s workout was a killer. Ok ok… every workout for me right now is a killer, but seriously – I was done after this mornings circuit.

I started off with my usual stretching routine and 10 mins on the bike.

Then I joined the girls, Hillary and Kerri, and let me just say… wow… these are two fit ladies.

We began with these straps that you tie to a bar and then lean back to a 45 degree angle for a rowing exercise. 10 reps.

Then we did reverse lunge chops, where you hold a dumbbell in your right hand and reverse lunge with your left leg and during this motion you “chop” from right to left and then come back up to standing. 10 reps each leg.

The we did the killer goblin squats. I don’t know if it is goblin or goblet, but since I feel like a fat little troll, I call them goblin squats. You hold a dumbbell right under your chin and squat down until your elbows touch your knees and come back up. 15 reps. I started with a 40lb weight and moved to 35lb and then 30 on my last set. My quads are killing me.

Then we laid down and did these one leg lifts on a bench… where you thrust your raised leg up… not too bad except after goblin squats I was dead.

Then we did a set of 5  ”get ups” where you hold a weight in your right hand above your head and then sit back roll onto your back and then roll over on your side touching the dumbbell on the ground and then return to the standing position. 5 reps each side.

Holy crap.

What ever happened to good old fashioned bench press? After 3 circuits I was dead.

I am already feeling it in my quads today. It was a great workout.

Dave from ASAP training has a Youtube video channel where he posts most of these workouts. I will try to link to any that have videos so you guys can try them at home… if you dare.