Move It

I'm quickly moving into longer circuits, which means more work time, which means more calories burned.

Here's tonight's circuit.

5 Rounds - 26 min. 30 secs

1. Lunge to High Kick
Left - 50 reps, Right - 50 reps

2. Rotating One Leg Pushups
50 reps
-Start in the position of a crabwalk w/ your butt off the ground. Rotate to one side so you are face down with arms extended. The leg you lifted up in order to rotate stays elevated. Do a pushup and rotate back to face up. Rotate the other direction.

3. Jumping Sumo Squat to Jump Up
50 reps
-Jump your feet out wide and squat. Jump your feet back together and then jump up.

4. Inchworm
20 yards - 5 times

5. Side Lunge Jump with Floor Touch
100 reps

My body is still loving all this movement. It's a good change of pace from the heavy lifting I've been doing.

More Body Weight Training

I tried out a few more body weight drills. It was fun to put down the weights for a day and work what my momma gave me!

Circuit - 5 Rounds - 22 min. 30 secs

1. 1/2 Pistol to 1 Leg Pike Press
Left - 25, Right - 25
-While balancing on one leg, you do 1/2 squat then pull the free leg behind you while falling forward to your hands and doing a push up. Then you bring the free leg in front of you and begin again. This takes balance and extreme core strength. I had to touch my free leg down between reps quite often. I have a lot of room for improvement in the movement quality.

2. Burpee to Jump
50 reps
-Burpees are hard enough by themselves, but add in the jump at the top and wowsie.

3. Inverted Rows
50 reps
-I did these on the TRX. I love how I have more range of motion with the TRX than on a static bar.

4. Sumo Squat to Knee Raise
80 reps
-These were really fun. I love sumo DL and squats, so this drill was enjoyable. I alternated which knee I would raise. I raised my knees to between my elbow and shoulder.

I can tell my body was craving a change of pace. Body weight drills are fitting my needs right now. I'm looking forward to improving my speed and ROM with each of these drills.

Inspiration

Thanks to the inspiration from my friend Tera, I did several fun body weight drills today in my training. I needed some new ideas, so her inspiration came at the perfect time. I wish Tera and I lived closer so we could train together and keep watch over each other. We are kindred spirits!

I put together a short circuit today using some of Tera's suggestions. I was pleased with how the workout turned out.

Circuit - 5 Rounds - 17 min. 30 secs

1. Pike Jumps to Frog Jumps - 50 reps total
2. TRX Pushups - 50 reps total
3. Lunge to High Kick - 35 reps each leg
4. Swings - 200 lbs. - 50 reps total

That was pretty fun and got my heart going. I'm going to be trying out some more new body weight drills in the weeks ahead.

I didn't post my swing session from Tuesday. I did 110 swings at 200 lbs. in 10 minutes. Just a quick heart pounder!

PRs Come in Small Packages

I've grown accustomed to moving 30-40 thousand lbs. every workout, so today's total volume seems small in comparison. It's okay. I still had a big PR. That means that even though one metric didn't increase, another one did. It is good to remember that and not get fixated on increasing one certain metric (density, intensity, volume, movement quality). What's important is that I am increasing one of them. That means I am better.

Circuit - 7 Rounds - 19 min.

Sumo DL - 270 lbs.
35 reps = 9450 lbs.
Intensity PR

Pushups
42 reps

One Arm Rows - 16 kg
Left - 70 reps, Right - 70 reps

I'm so happy with my intensity PR on the sumo DL. I never thought it would be possible for me to lift over 200 lbs. Right now my ROM doesn't allow me to lift a straight bar. Since I got the plateau buster, I've been able to quickly increase my intensity on DL. The largest plates I load it with are 35 lbs. I've also used 25 lb. plates as the largest plates. I vary the plate sizes to work different ROM.

I don't plan to be a professional power lifter, or even an amateur for that matter. Being able to DL a straight bar isn't a priority for me. Getting stronger and losing body fat are. Heavy DL and swings will help me achieve both.

One Drill, Two PRs

I showed up ready to move this afternoon. I tested and tested and tested. Sumo deadlift was the only movement that tested well. Bummer. I was hoping for a big training day.

Even though I didn't have the opportunity to do more movements, I did set two PRs today with the Sumo DL.

Sumo DL - 260 lbs. - 8 minutes
80 reps = 20,800 lbs. = 2600 lbs./min.
Intensity and Density PR

(Now that I think about it, it was probably a volume PR as well. I won't be greedy.)

Tomorrow is another day. I will show up and see what happens.

Quality Tested Movements

After several days of distress, I moved into eustress today. The pressure cooker had been turned off, and I was able to clear my head.

Several movements tested well. They just didn't test well with weight. While that is disappointing, I can't change it. All I can do is go with it.

Performing quality tested movement was the goal. I succeeded. I did hindu pushups, light swings, egg rolls, and TGUs (no weight).

I'm very proud of myself for not pushing myself to do heavy swings or deadlifts. There was a time when I would have. Nothing good comes of it. Trust me!

Tomorrow I will return to the gym, see what tests well, and do it. Simple, but effective.

I'm in Love

Since it's Valentine's Day, I thought I'd come clean. I'm in love. It's been building for about a month. Today I realized that I couldn't deny it any longer. Yes. I'm in love with



my Plateau Buster.

He was very good to me today, even though I haven't been with him for a week.

Sumo DL - 250 lbs. - 8 minutes
74 reps = 18,500 lbs.
-I did sets of 7 and 8 reps. This is the most weight I have ever DL in my life. I also moved as quickly as I could. My overall density was 2312.5 lbs./minute. Not bad!
Intensity and Density PR

Swings - 200 lbs. - 9 minutes
119 reps = 23,800 lbs.
-That's 19 reps more in the same time as one week ago.
Density and Volume PR

I moved 42,300 lbs. in 17 minutes. Love that.

After sumo and swings, I did some movement - egg rolls, bridges, and waiter press. It's been too long since I've rolled around. I definitely needed it.

Swing Goal Crushed

I've been working with the Plateau Buster since January 14. That's 24 days. My goal was to swing 200 lbs. for reps. I started at 130 lbs on January 14.

Today, February 7, I did 100 swings at 200 lbs. in 9 minutes.
Intensity PR

I think I crushed that goal. Time to set a new goal!

What a fantastic way to start off a Monday and a work week. Again, I feel so fortunate for having found Gym Movement. It's been a year since I started using biofeedback to train myself. My progress has been unbelievable. Faster than with any program I've ever tried.

Here's the rest of my training from today.

Circuit - 14 min. 30 secs - 26,300 lbs.

Sumo DL - 210 lbs.
66 reps = 13,860 lbs.
I worked for speed in sets of 12-15 reps. Intensity PR

Inverted Rows - TRX
60 reps - 6000 lbs.

1 Leg Squats - TRX
92 reps = 6440 lbs.

I also worked for speed on the rows and squats. Faster movements are good for my body. I moved over 46,000 lbs. in less than 24 minutes of work time.

I'm definitely looking forward to the rest of my week after a Monday like this!

I'd Like to Thank the Movement

And my fellow Gym Movement practitioners as well as myself for the fantabulous day I had today. I feel as if I've won an award; only this one really means something. It means I'm improving. Plus, I have physical proof. Check out my training log from today. Then I'll tell you all a little story.

Circuit - 11 Rounds - 20 min. - 41,250 lbs.

Swings - 170 lbs. - Intensity PR
165 reps = 28,050 lbs.

Inverted Rows - TRX - Speed PR
132 reps = 13,200 lbs.

Did you see my swing weight? 170 lbs. I did sets of 15. It was easy. Seriously. If I hadn't experienced it for myself, I wouldn't have believed it. It is almost surreal to hit these milestones so quickly.

It's partially because I've been dealing with some health issues for the past year that have flared up in the past couple months. I've been in pain. I've also been experimenting with how to eliminate the pain. Today, I feel like I've truly found my way. When I look back over the past two months, I can see the path I took. While I was on the path, I couldn't see it. I just did what tested better and didn't do what tested worse. Simple.

There have been days I wanted to crawl into bed and not get out. Instead I went to the gym; I ate or didn't eat based on feedback; I read books to move my brain in another direction. I wrote. I made music. It all worked to make me better.

Today feels like the payday. Swinging 170 lbs. was easy. My state soared. I feel invincible. This is a day I want to remember because I want to experience more days like this. I know I will. And, I will experience days that are even better than today.

So, I'd like to thank The Movement for allowing me to be my own architect in building my life.

Who else but me can build a better me?

To Phil - You Rock

Punxsutawney Phil. You didn't see your shadow. This winter will soon be a memory. Hurray!

In honor of Phil, I set a PR in deadlift.

Sumo DL - 190 lbs. - 10 min.
115 reps = 21,850 lbs.
Intensity PR

That is the most I've deadlifted. Ever. And, I did 10-15 reps at a time for speed. Yeah, where did that come from?

I Pick Things Up and Put Them Down

Oh, and I swing things, too.














Thank goodness I don't look like the Planet Fitness guy! I do love that commercial, though.

I barely broke a sweat today even though I moved nearly 40,000 lbs.

Circuit - 23 min. - 6 Rounds - 39,776 lbs.

1 Arm Rows - 12 kg
Left - 88 reps, Right - 88 reps
5476 lbs.

Swings - 160 lbs.
220 reps = 35,200 lbs.
Density and Volume PR - I did sets of 20 reps. Sunday I did sets of 17. I might be ready to add more weight. I'll be swinging 200 lbs. soon.

I'll close out my post with a picture of Adam Glass pulling 527 lbs. on the Plateau Buster, the magnificent device made by Ryan Pitts of Stronger Grip that allows me to swing a lot of weight. (I don't have any pics of me with my Plateau Buster. Might need to change that.)