11/28/12:

I was delayed with some errands I had to run in West Covina today.  I wasn't happy when I called in a found out that my call time for the meeting was 2pm.  When I normally workout. I told the guys that I would have to get the wod in later when I got back.  It really screwed with my head.

The rest of the day I spent in a total mind-fuck. I kept telling myself it was going to suck to workout alone.
Luckily, I was able to get done in time to get back and workout with the guys.
I pushed hard and today went well.

I have always enjoyed training partners... and I rely on them for the push.  I dont want to let them down.  Once my fitness gets up to par, I try to challenge them while training together.

I definitely do not like training alone.

Oh well. Tomorrow is a rest day and I am ready for it.

I will be visiting Kaiser tomorrow to have my knees examined by a general Doctor.  Once he sees my knees he can refer me to get an MRI.  Hopefully in the same day, most likely another day.  Either way, my foot is in the door and now I can get this knee taken care of.


Sleep:
Waking mood: Tired

Nutrition:
Today was an experiment:  I ate only raw food (and my morning coffee).  All protein was from Fish.
Coffee with Heavy Cream
Tuna Sashimi
Brown Pear
Almond Butter
Salmon Sashimi
Bluefin Tuna Sashimi
Uni Sashimi
Squid
Quail Egg
I snuck in some rice but no more than a few ounces.

Training:
4 Rounds for time of:
500m Row
20 Russian Kettlebell Swings (32kg)
15 Shoulder to Overhead (40kg)

Results:
15:47.  This was a good burner. The first two rows were in the 1:50's the third row was 2min, and last was around 2:15  The kettlebell swings and overheads were nothing but a choice. They were just uncomfortable enough to challenge me to finish the sets unbroken.  I like testing my ability to push.  I know that as long as I am challenging my mental fortitude, I will eventually be putting up competitive times.

Cheers to Burning Shoulders!

11/27/12:

Today was a tough... I know I say that every day, but it really was.
I was reading through Primal Blueprint today and he mentioned the idea of of a higher consumption of Carbs for fat loss than I am normally used to. I have always taken Robb Wolf's advice of less than 40g/day if you want to lean out, but I find that when I train with the volume I have been doing I get ultra sore.  My body aches.  The P.B. suggests 100-150g/day for Fat loss. 
It might be difficult to get that full paleo, but I have been testing out my sensitivities with a few cleaner grains to see if they might be more tolerable.   Lately I have been consuming anywhere between 80-100g of carbs daily.  I am gonna try and adjust my carb intake next week to see how it feels. 

Sleep:

Nutrition:
Coffee with Heavy Cream
Granola with Almond Milk 
24oz Fresh Squeezed Orange Juice
8oz Brisket
32oz Green Juice from Whole Foods
Pho with Beef and Veggies

Training:
A:  8 Sets:
Min 1: 3 Bench Press
Min 2: 8 Ball Slams
Min 3: 20 Double Unders

B: 7 Rounds for time:
10 Kettlebell Snatches 
10 Burpees

Results:
A: Used 80kg for Bench/30lbs Slam Ball.  I know, I suck at Bench but it is definitely something I want to work on as I progress along with this training.  This felt okay. I was able to get 4/8 sets of DU unbroken. None of them where difficult but at the time in my training, it is just about being consistent and getting back in the flow with things. 

B:  15:47.  Used 24kg Kettlebell. The Bench and Double Unders must have added up.  2 Rounds in and I was feeling empty.  My shoulders were just smoked.  When my shoulders get smoked, It makes me feel like I want to puke. It slowed me down big time.  The group Cheered me on and since Jb accidentally did 6 rounds, I technically didn't come in last!

Cheers to my shoulders wanting to throw up!

11/26/12:

No blog posts over the last few days.  Thursday morning I woke up with a nasty sore through that merged into a bit of a chest cold. 

I hydrated and fueled up like crazy over the weekend.  I ate good food and I ate bad food. 

Today I was able to feel good enough to get a training session in to see if I could sweat out some of the funk. 

I have been monitoring my sleep using an App called Sleep Cycle Timer.  I have used it before in the past and love it.  

Bob noticed I looked leaner.  That is a win for me because Bob spends most of his time calling me a fat guy weightlifter.  I am pretty happy about that. 

Sleep:
Wake Up 4am
Hours of Sleep: 5hrs.
Mood:  Grogy.  Always feel that way waking up this early on Mondays. 

Nutrition:
Coffee with Heavy Cream 
3oz Grass Fed Meat Ball with Pesto
Chicken Breast Salad with Vinaigrette, Walnuts and Cranberries. 
24oz Freshly Squeezed Orange Juice 
2 Chicken Breasts + 1 Chicken Thigh

Training:
A: Deadlift
- Build to a heavy Double

B: 10 Sets:
1 Min Airdyne Sprint
1 Min Rest
(Goal is to break 300 Cals)

C: Press + Push Press:  (x/2+2)

Results:
A: 210kg (462lbs), 230kg (506lbs) x 1 rep. I felt good on my lifts today.  I like that I was able to lift 230kg today.  Its the first time I have lifted over 500lbs since the CrossFit Football Cert 10 weeks ago when I pulled my Hamstring. I am going to keep building my deadlift. I'd love to see myself break a 275kg lift. 

B: OUCH!! Break Down: 31/30/30/29/26/23/26/24/23/26 = 268 cals.  The goal of this is to eventually build my capacity to 300 calories in 10 min.  

C: 65kg.  I was ruined after the Airdyne.  Couldnt do anything. 

Great training day. 

Cheers to Burning Adductors!

11/20/12:

Training was good today.  My left shoulder was a bit tight from all the overhead yesterday.  Got a tune up from Dr. Choy and took it a little easy today by scaling back the pushing.  Ill do some more mobility tonight and tomorrow before training tomorrow.   I was able to have breakfast this morning with my wife since she is on vacation.  That is nice. I love spending time with her. Jb Trained with us.  I know it  must not have been too challenging for him, but it was still a blast to train with him.

During my training session, my client Armen hit a huge milestone by nailing a 138kg clean and finally breaking 300lbs.  He has had it in him for a long time...  Im glad I got to watch him do it.  In November of last year when we started training, he had a PR Clean of 225.  Thats a 78lbs increase in 1 year... 

I. Fucking. Love. That!


Nutrition:
Meal 1:
2 Cups of Coffee with Heavy Cream
5oz Filet
2 Eggs
Berries
Meal 2: 
Shrimp
Cauliflower
Meal 3:
Chicken Sausage
Onions and Peppers
Meal 4:
Granola 
Berries 
Almond Milk

Training:
A: 5 Sets:
5 Power Cleans
12 Wall Ball Push Press
2 Min Rest

B: Every 5 Minutes for 6 Sets:
10 Passthroughs
7 Burpees
200m Run

Results:
Part A:  COmpleted using 70kg. All but set 2 were touch and go. My hands slipped. These were pretty fast intervals. Felt good. 

Part B:  I used 24 inch boxes for the passthroughs.  Those got tough!  My torso is going to be sore and my shoulders were getting tired stabilizing my body during them. Fastest set was 1:39 slowest set was 1:52.  


Cheers to Armen on his PR!

11/19/12:

Today felt good. Wayne was out sick today because he ate too much Mexican food over the weekend. haha. Actually, I would have rather been in his shoes than to have to go through the workouts we did today.  They were tough.  I am light on sleep hours going into today.  Tiff is on vacation and whenever she is on vacation, she kills my sleep patterns. I had about 4.5 hours waking up to open the gym.  I will catch up tonight. 

I spent yesterday completely relaxing.  I have also been noticing it is tough to finish a plate of food.  I feel better knowing I have left food on the table.   

That said, Roy is on vacation this week so he trained with us this afternoon and so did Jb.  that was fun. 

Nutrition:
Meal 1:
Coffee with Heavy Cream
Chicken Breast & Salad with Vinaigrette
1/2 Pear
3oz Walnuts
2 Dates
Meal 2: 
Chicken Curry with Veggies
Meal 3: 
BBQ Brisket
Sweet Potato Fries
Iceberg Salad with dressing
Meal 4:
Paleo Granola
Berries and Almond Milk

Training:
A:  8 Rounds:
Min 1: 3 Handstand Push Ups
Min 2: 8 Burpees
Min 3: 30 Sec Row Sprint

B: 5 Rounds for time of:
7 Jumping Pull Ups
15 Russian Kettlebell Swings (28kg)

C: Strict Press + Push Press:  1+3

Results:
Part A. Completed.  I used 3 ABMATS for the HSPU.  It felt easier than last week. I tried using 2 mats, but I wasn't ready. I worked on the speed of my burpees. My fastest set was 19 sec.  Most of my sets were between 23-25 sec. The average row was around 155m. The rows caught up to me. I had to take a long 400m walk after to regain myself. 

B: 4:48.  My grip got to me and I began getting some heart burn left over from Part A:  

C: 80kg. I was smoked.  I know I am stronger than this.. but I was on empty.   I look forward to getting this back up around 100kg. 

Cheers to strong shoulders!

11/17/12:

For the last 3 weeks I have given myself Saturday and Sunday as a rest day. 

Today I felt like I had some extra energy. Could have been the cheat meal I had last night giving me some extra calories. It could also be my body adjusting to the volume.

I will be adding Saturdays into my training program as I get further along.  Today was a day to feel it out and see how it went. 

Nutrition:

Meal 1: 

Coffee with Heavy Cream

Greek Yogurt with Granola (From Starbucks)

Meal 2: 

Burrito Bowl

Quesadilla with Chicken

Meal 3: 

2 Fried Chicken Strips and some Pirates Booty while watching the UFC Fight at the gym

Meal 4:

4 Al Pastor Tacos (Tossed out the Tortilla)

Training:

5 Sets:

50 Double Unders

8 Ground to Shoulder with Slam Ball (80lbs)

Rest 4 Min

Results:

Completed. I still have pretty good double unders, but once my lungs go, so does the consistency.  I look forward to having them back (both my lungs and bigger sets of Double Unders). My largest Unbroken set today was 25. I tell you what, maintaining a paced jumping cycle at 300lbs is no easy task. Each round took between 2:10-2:35 depending on the double unders.  I would love to get this to a point where it is not taxing at all and is just a good sweat and active recovery. 

Cheers to tight Calves!

11/16/12:

Sorry for the delayed post.

I feel good this week.  A little extra energy.  Today was fun because I invited my old training partner Trenton to join us.  The hardest I have ever trained with CrossFit was when I trained daily with Trenton and Nathan a few years back.
Life has changed for all of us.  My Business is growing, Nathan now owns an affiliate and is within his first year of business (always a demanding time) and Trenton is continuing his efforts to becoming a Firefighter.  Trenton is a champion and has been an athlete all his life.  Although there was a lot of rust on him, he handled today's training like it was nothing.

I am in the process of looking for a very accurate, High Quality Scale that I will use to consistently weigh myself. Once I do get it.. I will begin posting weekly weigh-ins.

The folks around the gym have already noticed a difference in my body. I do this for myself, for my wife and for my community. I want to be the best example.

I spend my entire life's energy taking care of the members of my community.  Sometimes I feel a little bit selfish taking this time to work on me, but when my community members take notice, it shows me they care that I am taking care of myself.   I look forward to taking a few classes with them once my knee is up to par.

Nutrition:
With the delayed post, I do not have a log of my food.

Training:
A: 10 Rounds:
Min 1: 4 Power Snatches (62kg)
Min 2: 7 Burpees
Min 3: 10 Ball Slams (30lbs)

Rest about 10 Min.

B: EMOM for 10 Min:
2 Jumping Pull Ups with Negative Eccentric
20 Sec Airdyne Sprint

Results:
Everything was completed. I love the volume I have right now.  I can feel myself getting used to it and not being as sore now.  I balance the rest intervals with a reps so that I can get a good volume in to keep me moving around and active enough to lose weight while not overly punishing my body.  It is a good balance.  Today Rob felt a tweak in his back on the first set of Snatches and it forced him to sit out the rest of the workout. I hope it is nothing serious. He is very motivating to train with.  He kicks my ass on everything and he was the one who initiated our training group. Seems like everyone in the group has something they are mending. That's okay, though.  We just have to pace the road back.

Cheers to 40 Snatches in 1 training session!

11/14/12:

I need to get a handle on my stress. I went into today's training with good energy but felt it drop as soon as the workout started.   That said, todays training had everything in it that I would never program for myself... but I did.

Nutrition:
Meal 1:
Granola
Berries
Almond Milk
Meal 2:
Steak
Broccoli
Paleo Hummus
Mixed Berry Iced Tea
Meal 3:
Steak
Broccoli
Meal 4:
Sashimi:
Salmon
Tuna
Uni

Training:
3 Rounds for time of:
30 Cals Airdyne
15 Push Press (40kg)
30 Cals Row
15 Burpees
200m Run
15 Push Press
25 Double Unders
15 Burpees

Results:
43:33. Probably the worst wod ever.  I felt so drained after the 1st round. I didnt want to let myself quit.  I just closed my eyes every time and repeated positive words to myself to get through it.
This will definitely be one that I revisit in a few months to see how my conditioning has improved.

Cheers to Sweat Goro's

11/13/12:

Today was another butt kicker.  Today was different.  It is usually all about my conditioning.  Today was all about my muscles.
It's bee a stressful day/week and it has taken its toll on me.  When I get stressed, I eat sweets.  It was definitely a challenge to stay away from them when the evening came around. Meal 4 was an effort to curb the sweet tooth.  I consumed more fat.  I am going to try to re-wire my body by eating protein and fat every time I crave carbs.  I need some better resources, since I know I shouldn't be eating Paleo Granola all the freakin time!


Nutrition:
Meal 1:
Coffee with Heavy Cream
Paleo Granola
Berries
Almond Milk
Meal 2:
2 Chicken Thighs
Zucchini
Squash
2oz of Grass-Fed Meat Balls with Pesto
Meal 3:
Porterhouse Steak Thin Cut
Brocolli
Meal 4:

Paleo Granola
Berries
Almond Milk

Training:
A: Every Min on the Min for 12 Min:
2 Handstand Push Ups
3 Deadlifts

B: 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 of:
Power Snatches (44kg)
Ball Slams (30lbs)

Results:
Part A:  I used 3 ABMATS for the Handstand Push Ups.  It was very scaled.  I wanted to do strict push ups but my current level is in that sticky point where 3 matts is easy and 2 matts is IMPOSSIBLE!  I used 140kg on the Deadlifts.  MY back started to tighten up around min 7 and stayed pretty tight throughout the rest of the workout.

Part B:  12:02. We rested about 20 min before hitting this. because of my knee I wasn't squatting to catch the ball slams... so I was basically doing the same movements between the snatch and ball slam.  My back lit up hard!  The last few sets, my back was so tight that it sucked to pick up the bar.

I know that as my conditioning gets better my muscular threshold will improve. All I have to do is keep hitting it hard.

Cheers to Spinal Erectors on Fire!

11/12/12:

I was kind of dehydrated going into today's training.  Don't know why, but I had cotton mouth.  Just need to be better about water... It's always tough.  Anywho.. today would have strung just as much fully hydrated.

Nutrition:
Meal 1:
Coffee with Heavy Cream
Yogurt with Granola and Fruit
Meal 2:
Chicken Shawarma 
Greek Salad with Dressing
Humus 
1 Slice of Pita Bread
Meal 3:
Salad
Chicken Breast 
Vinaigrette Dressing
Meal 4: 
Granola
Almond MIlk
Meal 5:
Ginger/Teriyaki Chicken Breast

Training:
A: 5 Rounds for time:
5 Power Cleans (70kg)
10 Hand release Push Ups
30 Double Unders

B: 21-15-9 of:
Russian Kettlebell Swings (32)
Burpees

Results:
A: 13:52.  It's been a while since I've done double unders.  So long that I wasn't even sure where my jump rope was.   Well I found it, and I only had 1 bad round of trips during the set!  Super Happy about that.  My knee seemed to hold up well during the jumping too. 
This workout had nothing to do with any of the movements, just my engine.  Not a single set after the first round was done unbroken... even with 70kg power cleans. Should just owned them, but my lungs were burning!  I pushed through it.  

I am beginning to embrace the suck a bit better. 

B: 6:43.  I know...  F*&king Burpees.  I will start incorporating these into my training more.  They seem to absolutely drain my energy, so or course that means more. I was with Wayne on this one and had originally planned on using 24kg. Wayne walked out and handed me the 32kg and said some shit about me being able to clean 150kg blah blah blah.  It was his birthday so I did it. 
We rested about 20 minutes between A & B and I felt I had enough but by the time the 15 burpees hit, I felt like I was right back on the last round of part A. It was really hard to finish.  I was on the ground for a while after that one and was coughing all through lunch. 


Cheers to coughing up a lung!

11/09/12:

Training:
100 Cal Airdyne
Followed by 10 Rounds of:
3 Power Clean & Jerks (62kg)
5 Burpees
7 Wall Ball (Scaled to Wall Ball Push Press)

Finishing time 30:15

There was no recording of my food.  I did go out with Rob, Wayne, Jb and Bo to Gyu Kaku for lunch and had a Rice bowl and a scoop of ice cream after within the loads of meat we grilled up. 
Definitely felt sodium overload.

It is getting slightly easier to say no to bad food during the week.  Weekends are tough.  I will eventually be adding a Saturday recovery session to my days just to be more active during the weekends. 

11/07/12:

Remember how yesterday I said I wasn't that sore when I woke up?

I spoke too soon...
By the time my training session rolled around, I was so freaking sore from yesterdays deadlifts and bear crawls I could barely sit up straight. 

Man!  I tried giving myself some more calories during the day because of the energy drop I felt the day before. I also took my wife out to dinner and we had Sashimi... and a few pieces of Sushi with rice. 

Nutrition:
Meal 1:
Coffee with Heavy Cream
Banana
Steak & Broccoli
Meal 2:
Shrimps (with some awesome Paleo sauce)
Cauliflower 
Meal 3:
Oh My Bar
Meal 4:
Sushi Dinner
Salmon Sashimi
Tuna Sashimi 
Uni Sashimi
Edamame
Squid/uni/quail egg awesomeness
Salmon/lemon/radish/egg amazingness
I was able to refrain for a lot of baked stuff I usually enjoy from this place. 
Meal 5: (Not pictured)
I had a sweet tooth after dinner so I had:
2 Honey Crisp Apples
Peanut Butter

Training:
50 Cals Airdyne
10 Power Snatches (50kg)
40 Cals Airdyne
8 Power Snatches 
30 Cals Airdyne
6 Power Snatches 
20 Cals Airdyne
4 Power Snatches 
10 Cals Airdyne
2 Power Snatches 

Results:
13:35.
This was a burner!  My adductors were on fire during the 40 cals set.  Holy crap.. it took everything to keep going!
The Snatches were not difficult at all, but being mindful of my knee, the larger sets were broken up.  The challenge was to get back on the airdyne and just pedal with no hesitation. Push through the burn and keep breathing.  It was a perfect cherry on top of the last 3 days of training. 

Afterwards, Rob and Wayne did some squatting.  I miss squatting. 

Tomorrow I will be calling Kaiser to schedule an MRI for my knee. Dr Choy is worried about it and so is my wife.  

I need to be realistic in my expectations.  If there is something torn in my knee and a surgery is prescribed, I need to make sure I lose enough weight prior to getting the surgery so I can stay on path while recovering.  I cannot let the momentum I am working hard to build be shut down by anything. Post surgery there will obviously be a needed recovery time where I have to refrain from over exertion. After that, there will be no excuses... Ill have to get ultra strong in my upper body and find a way to get a good sweat on without using my legs.  There are infinite possibilities and I just have to keep an open mind and clear visualization of my goals. 
   
Cheers to Sore shoulders!
Coach JD

11/06/12

I was expecting a lot more initial soreness when I woke up this morning but I was pleasantly surprised. After a higher volume day yesterday I thought I'd wake up unable to move. I slept 9 hours, and felt like I needed more.  (probably my body just wanting more time to rebuild and heal up.)  It was definitely a two cups of coffee kinda day.

Dr. Choy gave me an adjustment to my fibial head to see if the tightness was causing a bit of external rotation and "POP"  it definitely moved. It gave me some temporary relief in the knee.  He also set my hips as well before heading back to the gym to train. 

Training was definitely taxing today, I was a zombie for a while afterwards. 

Nutrition:

Meal 1:

(Coffee + Heavy Cream)2

Deli Meats

Meal 2:

Grass Fed Meat Balls, Tomato Sauce, Shredded Zucchini.

Meal 3:

Oh My Bar

Meal 4:

Deli Meats with Brussel Sprouts and Bacon.

Training:

A: Deadlift

Build to a heavy set of 5 reps

B: AMRAP in 10 Min:

60ft Bear Crawl

8 Deadlifts (80kg)

-Rest 10 min-

C: AMRAP in 10 Min:

200m Run

8 Shoulder to Overhead (40kg)

Results:

A:  180kg.  

I thought I was lifting 190kg.  I was kind of disappointed, but I remembered that I am rebuilding.  I may have been able to go heavier, but it was more about how much my hands where dying during the lifts than it was about my strength.  Not bad for having not lifted anything heavy in over a month. I'll get it back up.  Plus, Dr. Choy said it would be good to strengthen my hamstrings to help balance out my knee. The day of my injury, I hit 225kg for 3 reps.  I would love to have 230kg x 5 reps without thinking too much about it.  Rob crushed 2 sets at 200kg. Looked like he could have done more than 5!  

Part of training with a team is program good work for them too.  I'd love to see Wayne finally break through that 200kg barrier with his Deadlift because of the training we are doing together. We will work more on it!

B: 6 Rounds complete with a few seconds to spare. 

My goal was 5 rounds and I am happy with my score.  My hands were raw mid-way through the workout because of the matted flooring.  I ran into the closet between sets and got my gloves out, but the damage was already done.  The bear crawls sucked!  My shoulders and hips were burning and by the last round I was feeling it deep in my lats. It was indeed potent conditioning. 

C:  6 Rounds on the button.

The 200m Runs really lit up my calves and soleus. I even had to stop at the turn around point to stretch them out a bit for fear of cramping.  It really kept me from being able to run hard.  the shoulder to Overhead were light and fast, but obviously programmed that way for a reason. 

I'd really like to see some improvements in my running ability, but I also know that will come in time and with much care to my knee. 

I felt low on calories today and my hydration has not been optimal.  I may be adding a meal replacement to my daily menu to get a few more calories in my daily intake. I have 3- 30 ounce water bottles in front of me right now and I am going to try to finish them before bed. 

Cheers to feeling those 90 ring push ups tomorrow!

Coach JD.

11/05/12

I saw Dr. Choy about my knee. He advised me to get an MRI on it.  He is worried I might have some damage to ACL.  Thats rough.  I'll keep my mind positive until I get the results.

Today was a long day.  Monday's are my day where I get the opportunity to open the gym and work with my early morning go-getters at the gym.

I hit up the 7-11 before opening the gym at 4:30am for a Coffee.
When I got the gym I added some Heavy Cream to the Coffee.

Nutrition:
Meal 1:
Celery and Almond Butter
Meal 2: 
Celery and Almond Butter
2 Oz Meatball with Pesto
Chicken Salad with Walnuts and Balsamic
Meal 3:
White Fish with Asparagus
Meal 4:
Italian Sausage with Broccoli and Tomato Sauce. 

Training:
A: Every Min On the Minute for 30 Min:
2 Power Cleans (62kg)
3 Ring Push Ups

B: 4 Rounds for time of:
20 Cal Airdyne Sprint
15 Ball Slams (30lbs)



Results:
Part A was exactly what I wanted it to be.  The power cleans were nice and neat, touch and go and after the last set I still felt like I could do more. My rings were set a little less than 2ft off the ground. The last few sets began to get tough.  I forgot the burn you get on your arms from being on the rings.
It was good to know I could do 60 Power Cleans and 90 Rings Push Ups and still feel able to do more after.
Part B was tough.  I finished the workout in 7:12. the first round went well, but returning to the airdyne, it began to feel like pedaling through wet cement! Rob killed it and finished a few minutes ahead and Wayne hustled at the end and beat me by a few seconds!  I got pretty competitive on it and it felt great!

I dont feel sore but just tired.  I had several things left to do at the gym and didn't get home until about 7:30pm.  Thats a 15-hour day.  I will sleep well tonight!

Oh yeah.. I got up on the new pull up rig and did my first pull up in over a year tonight!  Felt great.
Of course... my loving competition team immediately yelled, "No Rep."

Days this long make it tough to stay hydrated. I have already consumed 160oz of water and still feel dry.  I will try to get another 60oz in before bed.

Looking forward to the rest of the week.

Coach JD

A New Adventure!

My name is Johnny and I am the owner of CrossFit Pasadena.
My adventure in CrossFit started back in early 2005.

I was 1 year out of College and arriving at a crossroads in my life.

My career in music was not where I wanted it to be, I had just ended a relationship and at 23 years old, I weighed in at over 425lbs.

Through CrossFit and an amazing support system I was able to lose over 210lbs in 2 years time.

I was awarded my Affiliation with CrossFit in 2008 and opened my gym in 2009.  I have competed in CrossFit at all levels as have coached athletes to regional levels.

2 years ago, I chose to take my training in a more focused arena:  Weightlifting.  I began studying with the best coach in the United States Bob Takano and resolved that I would do whatever it took to get as far as I could with Weightlifting. I had made up my mind to follow my coach's rule to the best of my ability... including when he told me to gain weight.  After two years of training, I found myself competing at the National Level, The Cal State Games Champion in my weight class and weighing around 320lbs. I was also riddled with injuries.

After my last injury, I have decided to no longer compete in the sport of weightlifting.

My return to CrossFit comes with new challenges.
Yes, I would like to lose weight and get "Fit" again.  At 30 years old, I am ready to focus my training on keeping me healthy, happy and capable for the rest of my life.

There are many different factors this time around:  Running a Business in a very competitive city, Owning a home, married and searching for new motivations and ways to stay accountable.

My community is wonderful and every person in it is unique.  I have teamed up with two of the most boisterous personalities in my community as workout partners.  They never rear from sharing their brutal opinions and are bot genuinely invested in wanting to see me succeed. I am also motivated to avoid the epic public demolishment should I flake on them.

I will log in every training day and occasionally on rest days to keep track on my training as I progress.

I am motivated by my community and family.  They are one in the same.  Your words mean worlds and your continued support is priceless.  Your support is more than appreciated.

Cheers to a healthier and happier life!

11/02/12

I've been worried about my knee lately.  They are very tight and my right knee is super swolen and there is too much pressure and tightness on it to squat.  

There is plently to do working around the knee.  I was thinking of some substitutions for the movements I had programed, when I saw a Partner workout posted by Graham Holmberg:

Accumulate 500 Cal on the Airdyne

*You can only accumulate Calories while your partner holds a empty yoke overhead.

We did this workout with 3 athletes Airdyning a total of 600 Calories with one person resting as we rotated.

This workout killed!  it took us 32:10!

I really enjoyed this workout.  I wanted to help my guys get as many calories as they could and that made me want to support the yoke as long as I could.  I also worked really hard on the airdyne.  

I will definitely be designing more of these workouts in the time to come.

I will also be setting up a blog post that will post training updates... keeping things off my personal Facebook Page.

Cheers to another week of training and eating clean!