Just Like Fran

This one was an ass kicker. I definately underestimated this one going into in. JDP introduced Lance and I to this one.

He called it the Vomit Comet! Enjoy

20-10
Push Jerks
Burpee to Pullups

Big Mikes time: 4:09 @ 135lb Jerk
Lance's time: 3:00 @ 95lb Jerk

The endless choices

Everything we do is a choice. We can choose good or we can choose poorly. Before we make the choice we have an opportunity to evaluate our options. Sometimes its easy to skip the thinking process and just act on the way we feel at the giving moment. Whether we think something out or we just do something off the cuff, the outcome is a direct reflection of our choice.
Some people have neglected making good choices so often for such a long time, there ability to do it has become almost non exsistent in their own minds. People forget that it is still a choice and instead figure that the is just nothing they can do about making a situation better.
The power of the mind is amazing. Whatever you put in it is true. You can trick yourself into an idea of good or bad. The beuty of tricking your mind is that the outcome is identical to what you think.
Can't stop smoking? Eating Bread? Waking up early to work out? Can't afford something? Can't remember where you put things? Think pull-ups are too hard? Stuck in your crappy job?
What you think is your reality!
Decide what you want and have it! Or don't decide and get what you don't want!

A different tune

A huge percentage of my clients train in groups of 8 or more. I love working in that setting. I really enhances my ability to coach and motivate many people at once.

However I have a few clients who I train on a more personal setting. Many of days it is only myself and them in the gym. This has alot of beneficial penpoints for both my client and I. These clients I feel grow to become a much closer friend who I can talk to about more things from a personal standpoint than a class would regularly allow.

Dave originally started in a class. I reallized quickly that I had made the wrong decision in allowing him to do that as he was more physically in need of training session that could aid him in more of his specific needs.
Since that time Dave has made some major headway! More importantly though, this guy has really become a close friend and somebody a have major respect for. I am excited to know that I am able to help him out in ways he needs me and he has been a great influence for me in a time of my young career and life pursuit.

Can it be done?

How many veggies do you need to get in all you micro nutrients if you Zone?

Turns out it a whole lot. I have been dialed in on the Zone with a paleo approach to food quality over the last 5 weeks. Robb Wolf said a a Crossfit Cert in Ft Worth that if you eat a diet that is high in Vegetables as you carbohydrate source with some fruit that you won't have to worry about taking in a multi-vitamin. I always heard how impossible it was to get enough micro nutrients without a vitamin. Well now I realize that Impossible is nothing.

Bell Peppers, asparagus, spinach, kale, Brussels sprouts, zucchini, squash, broccoli, cauliflower, mushrooms, onions, okra and yams. This is what fills my refrigerator these days. I don't have the ability to run out of this stuff because my diet requires so much of all of this that to get my fill, I have to eat out of these selections all day long. Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner, Late night snacks... VEGGIES! They are always there.

Think about this... I didn't touch this stuff growing up. Some of you don't touch them as adults. Most Zone followers are still getting the carbs from bread, pasta, potatoes, and rice or some other filler that has no nutritional value (or no health benefit). I will not say this is an easy way to eat some grub, but I will say that it is the best way. A funny thing happens when you learn to eat better. Foods you used to hate become Delicious! Foods you used to love suddenly become bland and truly make you feel like Crap.

Fix the quality of you food! No excuses! You are grown now right? Children Food will no longer due!

The Stuff

I finally got out of the habit of drinking coffee and espresso drinks. About 4 weeks ago I decided to give them up only because I was having problems with intense head pains and an adverse affect of mental fatigue. I didn't know if it was for sure the cause but now I believe it was because I have been more awake and focused lately than I have in a long time.

I have not however stopped using Spark. This delicious drink delivers a powerful boost of Mental clarity that I occasionally need during the day to get me through the hours in which I most need it.

Some of my clients will asked me for a box or canister of this stuff ever 1 to 3 weeks and swear my it. This is not to boost your physical energy levels but it works great to get your mind right for your workouts. However I suggest that if your workday is like most and a good swift kick in the brain to keep you on point with whatever you do is necessary, then this is what you need.

Get some! You just might like it!

Call me or contact your coach if you aren't using Advocare Supplements yet. There is no good reason not to be!

Spark Nutritional Info

The Dot Com Workout

Crossfit is a fitness program with a very specific intention. If you follow it, you will get into the best shape of your life. I have done this now for a few years, but the only thing was I did it the way I wanted to. Many times I would get to the gym and write up a workout based upon what I felt like I wanted to do. Sometimes I would do the Workout that I designed for the class that day. Some days I would write up something completely different. Other days I would decide to do something that was on Crossfit.com for the day. This system of working out in accordance with the way I feel has worked very well for me, but the thing is that I sometimes intentionally avoid exercises in with I don't necessarily enjoy or am not that good at.

Here is the deal. Over the last year I have very much realized that everybody needs a good coach. How could we ever reach our potential without somebody who has more expertise in the field guiding us?

I have decided a few weeks back that I would be doing workout only posted on Crossfit.com. I know that I am at a point that in order to get better I will have to follow a very disciplined approach to my training regimen. Coach Glassman post everyday a workout that If I follow my physical ability can't help but get better faster than anything I would do on my own. Every 4th day is a rest day on this site so I cannot say that I will take off on Sunday or on Wednesday. I have to do what the workout says I have to do on the day that it is posted.

Now I am back to being a little bit nervous because it is entirely being prepared for the unknown. I will not scale any workout to make it easier for me to handle, but just flat out set up the workout as prescribed and get it done.

Today I got weighted pull-ups. 7 Reps of pull-ups is my workout today? Sounds crazy right? Maybe I will be able to get all 7 with added weight of over 100 lbs. Now think 7 reps of 350lb+ pull-ups... That is going to be intense!

Oh well... All I can do is make it happen!

Patience is a Virtue!

Stay off your legs." "Find a new career field to get into." "You will have to have a knee replacements while you are still in you 20's if you maintain the physical lifestyle you live now."

These are the types of things I heard only 3 years ago after my Third knee surgery. I was looking into ways to repair my knee through scientific research that involved implanting new cartilage that would be grown from cartilage I still had in a laboratory in another state. These types of things were being presented to me as my only option for possibly helping me save a joint that was supposedly done for. I couldn't bear the thought of choosing an option that would take close to 2 years to see benefit from so I did what was logical and said forget it!

2005- My first time to do a Crossfit WOD. I just had my knee scoped and hadn't work out almost at all for over a year. Air squats were about the only thing I could do with my lower body in the beginning. I Olympic lifted with the lightest of weights. I was going to be so stubborn that I would do lower body movements until my leg detached from my body. I didn't care, I could not be stationary any more. I couldn't work at a desk so I kept training. I didn't know what was going to happen but I loved what I was doing and I loved that I found Crossfit to teach me how to squat without weights(At the time I was only doing half squats).

All this was a challenge for me. I didn't always feel like my knee was going to handle the forcing of range of motion. I didn't let myself stop doing it though. After a few months I started noticing some signs of progress. It became easy to get lower and I starting gain muscle back in my quads and hamstrings. I eventually was able to start using weight with light bars. Even a year ago doing 95 was challenge. 135 lb max squatting at our old gym would make my knee scream. My legs kept getting stronger and I kept going back to weights that felt comfortable.

I found Trigger Point therapy about that time. This equipment saved my life. Now all of a sudden I realized I could have avoid every surgery I had if I had known about this sooner. I could free up pressure on my knee in 10 minutes of rolling out. My legs got stronger and my knee got better.

Today I Can Back Squat Over 350 lbs and that is going up every week. I haven't done this since I was a Jr in High school right before my 2nd knee Surgery. I never dreamed this would happen. Hell I never thought that I could ever come close to being in better shape than I was in at that age. Now I am.

I am in Love with what I do. Maybe it's because at one point I began to believe that I would never be able to do this. Now I know it is what I am here for.

Never stop Believing in why you do what you love to do.