Some of you probably already know this, but Jenny and I have separated. She has her reasons for wanting to and I just want to ask our friends to please don’t judge what we are doing, just give us both some support. All I want is for her to be happy.
Right now I am just trying to figure things out for myself, try and get through this as best as I can. It’s not going to be easy I know. But i have no other choice.
All I can do now is be the best dad I can be for my two wonderful sons.
I have since moved into an apartment, and so I don’t have access to my most of home workout equipment and heavy bag. I do have my dumbbells, stability ball, exercise bands, and elliptical. I also brought my tire and sledge hammer which I hope to use in the field next to the apartments.
But I will be joining the local YMCA to get in my daily workouts. Mainly for the social aspect and to also have some place to take my sons when they are with me. Newton has a fairly new Y that has indoor pool and other activities.
I will try to resume the regular sporadic posts relating to fitness, food, and what ever else on here.
This looks interesting. It’s a fitness system developed by Moni Aizik, of Krav Maga fame. It’s a combination of Olympic and MMA training drills and workouts. From the video there doesn’t seem to be that much equipment, which I like, a kettle bell, medicine ball, sledge hammer and tire. Probably more, but I’ll find out when I get the set. I’ll need to wait for the snow to melt and the temperature to get about freezing before I can do the outside stuff though.
No, not the decade. A couple weeks ago I was wanting to come up with a workout that was simple, easy to remember, doesn’t need a lot of equipment but would still be challenging and effective. I came up with what I called The 50′s. Basically it’s doing 50 of each exercise and using a 50lb barbell when needed. I have been mixing up the order but I always try and follow the push-pull method. The push-pull is alternating between a pushing exercise and a pulling one. Here’s an example of one of my 50′s. The 50 reps do not have to be done at once, either something like a 30rep -rest- 20rep, 15rep -rest- 15rep -rest- 10rep -rest- 10rep, or what ever works for you. Just finish all 50 before moving on to the next exercise.
50 Bodyweight or “Hindu” squats. push
50 Bent over rows with a 50lb barbell. pull
50 Overhead presses with a 50lb barbell. push
50 Upright rows with a 50lb barbell. pull
50 Push ups. push
25 Pull ups, 25 chin ups. pull
50 Squats with 50lb barbell. push
100 Bicycle crunches. (Ok not 50 but if you count a “right-left” as 1 that’s 50. Ha)
I’m sure there are lot more to add to the mix, so be creative, and have a good workout. Yes that is a photo of my workout room. When the weather is nice I do try and workout outside though.
I wanted to post last night’s workout on here, mainly for my own reference, but also for anyone that happens to read this. My workout and fitness goals are not to have big “fluffy” muscles, I’m not out to look like a ballooned bodybuilder. I like to be able to scratch my own back. My goals are to have over all strength, endurance, speed, and agility. I have been into Mixed Martial Arts from way back before it was even called that. But in recent years it has been honed to a science and the fitness levels and workouts pro fighters use are, in my opinion, the best out there. What good are over sized biceps in a fight? Why spend 30 minutes doing an “isolated” exercise, when the 30 minutes could be spent doing over all conditioning and complex movements that work several large muscle groups that develop a more conditioned and stronger body?
I rarely ever do the same workouts twice. Since my workout space is limited, I have couple rooms in my basement that I workout in. I have my heavybag and 50lb barbell set up in the laundry room and in the other room I have 2 30lbs dumbbells, a 30lb barbell, kettlebell, stability ball and some tension bands. Weather permitting I go out side for some wind sprints up and down the block, jump rope in the driveway, overhead squats, or use the pull up tower. Three times a week I try to get some training in with the Grinnell College MMA club.
Here is just an example of a typical workout for me:
Warm up with some jogging in place, jumping jacks or jump rope
Bodyweight squats (hindu squats) 30-40 reps
Pushups 30-40
Sit up cluster: 100 alternating knees to elbows, 50 bicycles, 50 crunches
Hindu pushups 25-30
More hindu squats, as many as I can at this point
Stability ball pushups 20 or so
Upright rows 30lb barbell 20reps
Alternating 30lb dumbbell curls to over head press 15-20 each arm
Upright rows 30lb barbell 15reps
Alternating 30lb dumbbell curls to over head press 10-15 each arm
Upright rows 30lb barbell 10reps
Alternating 30lb dumbbell curls to over head press 8-10 each arm
Over head press with 30lb barbell 20reps, then 15, then 10
Sit up cluster
Side arm raises with the tension band, 20reps x 3
Over head squats with small heavy bag (about 30lb I think) 20reps, 15, 10
One arm snatch with kettlebell 10reps each arm x 3
I don’t like to take too much rest between sets or exercises, maybe 30 to 60 seconds. I will take more if I think I need it, but I like to keep moving. I also don’t do all of those each time, but I try to do most of those exercises. I only do that work out a couple times a week. The other days I’ll do either 30 min of Muay Thai on the heavy bag, Randy Couture’s, grappler’s set using the 50lb barbell, or I’m training with the Grinnell MMA club.
Most of those exercises are taken from Matt Furey’s Combat Conditioning book. Some are from other books or web sites such as Crossfit.com or even just from watching pro fighters train. The workouts I do work for me and I have lost almost 20 lbs in the past year, I’m about 185lb now, and I feel great. Another thing is that I have made some big changes in my diet. I have drastically cut out gluten foods, dairy, and sugar. I still sometimes cheat and have pizza or a cookie, but for the most part I eat lots of salads, lean meats, fish, fruit and vegetables.
I forgot to post about the cookies I made the other day. Well, they were edible… my dumb ass forgot to add in the whole wheat flour. But they weren’t as bad as the first ones I tried to make. I’m going to get some more ingredients and try again.
I also want to mention that I am back to a regular workout schedule and am going to be tracking my workouts and keeping a daily food log. In the mornings I have been doing 15 min on the elliptical, 50 push-ups and 100 rotating bicycles. In the evenings I have been mixing in some heavy bag work with some strength training. Either Randy Couture’s barbell circuit or several variations of dumbbell snatches, cleans or presses.
Ok, so those other ones were pretty gross. I thought it was something I did wrong but my wife thinks there was something wrong with the recipe. She says there was no “thickening” ingredient. But I do have a couple more I am going to try. I’ve tried the Peanut Butter balls before and they were pretty easy and tasty. (giggity)
Protein Peanut Butter Balls:
3/4 cup peanut butter
1/4 cup honey
1 scoop chocolate or vanilla protein powder
1/2 cup raw oats
Mix all ingredients together in a bowl and form into small 1″ balls. Place in the fridge for a few hours and then enjoy.
Mix wet ingredients together. Add the rest of the dry ingredients and stir until combined. Drop by the spoonful or shape into patties on a greased cookie sheet. Bake at 350 for 15 minutes.
10 tbsp. natural peanut butter
5 egg whites
5 scoops whey protein (I find that chocolate mint tastes the best in this recipe, however chocolate tastes good as well)
2 cups oats (OPTIONAL: For flavor, I dry cook these on a frying pan until they are toasted)
1/2 cup soy milk
DIRECTIONS
Mix the peanut butter and egg whites in a bowl. Microwave on high for 30 seconds, and mix well (so that the mixture appears smooth). Repeat 4-5 times until all traces of egg whites have dissolved into the peanut butter, and your mixture is a smooth consistent one.
Gradually add the protein (one scoop at a time) and stir into the mixture. Next, add the soy milk and follow with the oats. Continue mixing until a thick ‘sticky’ mixture is present.
Smooth the thick mixture into a 13×9 tray and leave for 20-30 minutes. Cut into 10 equal size bars. Individually wrap each bar (I use aluminum foil) and store in the fridge.
I found several others but I’m going to try this first. I’ll add some more and also post how these turn out. I’ve also tried the ones that Alton Brown made on one of the episodes of Good Eats. They were ok, but were too sticky for me.
I am dude that lives in Iowa by way of Kansas. I make Web sites for a living and am a single father to two awesome sons. I don't blog much anymore, but when I do it's usually about training, working out, my kids, nutrition, the Web, or just some silly random crap.
I wanted to post last night’s workout on here, mainly for my own reference, but also for anyone that happens to read this. My workout and fitness goals are not to have big “fluffy” muscles, I’m not out to look like a ballooned bodybuilder. I like to be able to scratch my own back. My goals are to have over all strength, endurance, speed, and agility. I have been into Mixed Martial Arts from way back before it was even called that. But in recent years it has been honed to a science and the fitness levels and workouts pro fighters use are, in my opinion, the best out there. What good are over sized biceps in a fight? Why spend 30 minutes doing an “isolated” exercise, when the 30 minutes could be spent doing over all conditioning and complex movements that work several large muscle groups that develop a more conditioned and stronger body?
