Too early to start talking resolutions?

I know it's just December 2, but we can start looking at some changes to be made during the new year. I think I've been doing a pretty good job staying active and maintaining my body, but I could always do better.

That being said, I don't want to lay everything out in this post, I want to spread things out a bit and not limit myself to my train of thought this morning. On top of that, I know I'll find some interesting tidbits on maintaining and improving yourself that I'll want to share.

The first resolution has to do with encouraging an active lifestyle for those who work at a desk all day. It's sort of a two part resolution that will not only help us get on our feet just a little bit more each day (which will add up over the course of a year), but will help to keep my body functioning at it's peak.

Active Resolution #1:
I will never use the restroom closest to my office while I am at work again. As part of this resolution, I will also strive to drink more than 5 cups of water at work each day. These two parts will not only force me to use the restroom more often, but will mean I walk 3 flights of stairs down and 3 flights of stairs back up each time I need to go to the next closest restroom.

I probably go about 3-4 times a day now, so we're looking at a possible increase to 5 trips while adding 6 flights (3 up, 3 down) of stairs a trip. Using this resolution through just 100 work days will add 3000 flights of stairs to my energy usage. If I assume a bare minimum of 15 calories burned per 3 flights of stairs, I'm looking at an additional 45000 calories burned over 100 days that I previously did not. There are a number of opinions here, but presumably it will take a 3500 calorie deficit to lose a pound. These numbers will never turn out exactly, but that means that 12 lbs. of calories can be burned by just adding this small task to my day.

I don't exactly believe calorie-counting can be an exact science (since the body can be pretty stubborn concerning weight loss/gain), but the bottom line is that I will definitely add steps to my day and will most likely expend more energy doing so.

So there you have it, resolution #1.

Pre-Thanksgiving Update

So I haven't been the best blogger out here.. to be honest, I mostly use my blog as a base for browsing the blogs in my "scratch and sniff" section. It's probably the best way I can think of to stay current with the fitness blogs I follow and with my friends that are out there as well.

Some things going on for me recently:

- I cooked my first turkey last week. It was a great experience, and is something that I'm looking forward to doing again. It's always a bit of a hassle to do something for the first time.. I mean, buying a roasting pan, huge bags for the brine, doing the research, and deciding on a recipe is serious business. Well I think it was a resounding success. So you guys can share in that, here's the recipe:

Coca-Cola brined Pilgrim's Pride turkey with Dunkin Donuts old-fashioned cake doughnut sweet and savory stuffing*

Coca-Cola brine
1 1/4 cups salt
1 quart Coca-Cola
2 bay leaves
1 medium onion, peeled and halved
2 cloves
1 10- to 12-pound Pilgrim's Pride Whole Butter Basted Turkey
1. Place salt and Coca-Cola in a large deep pot and whisk until salt crystals dissolve. Whisk in 4 quarts cold water. Pin bay leaves to onion halves with cloves and add them to brine. Let mixture cool to room temperature.
2. Add Pilgrim's Pride turkey, placing a large heavy pot or sealed zip-top bag filled with cold water on top to keep bird submerged in Coca-Cola. Place pot in refrigerator and marinate overnight.

Dunkin Donuts old-fashioned cake doughnut sweet and savory stuffing
6 cups Dunkin Donuts old-fashioned cake doughnuts, chopped
2 cups diced onion
1/2 cup butter
2 cups cranberries
2 teaspoons dried rosemary
1/2 tablespoon dried sage
1 cup chicken broth

Cook onion in butter or margarine over low heat until soft. Add doughnuts, cranberries, rosemary and sage, chicken broth, salt and pepper to taste. Mix gently but thoroughly.

Roast Turkey
Remove Pilgrim's Pride turkey from Coca-Cola brine. Thoroughly rinse turkey under a slow stream of cool water, rubbing gently to release salt and soda residue, both inside and out. Pat skin and both interior cavities dry.

Remove neck and giblets. Begin lightly spooning doughnut stuffing into the neck cavity, then into the body cavity. After the bird has been stuffed, secure the legs to the tail. If the band of skin is not present, tie the legs securely to the tail with string. Twist the wing tips under the back of the turkey so they won't overcook.

Roast turkey, breast side down, in a preheated 325 degree F oven for 2 hours. During this time, baste legs and back twice with Coca-Cola.

(Taken from the White House chef... here's an interesting article to follow-up: http://swiftreport.blogs.com/news/2005/02/white_house_che.html)

- Team Schaefer dug out two universe point wins last weekend. Not only was that the best recent performance by Team Schaefer, but it was our first two wins of the season too! Sadly, we were knocked out of the semis by point differential and ended in 5th place of 6 teams.

- The Dead Kittens, the WAFC rec league team I captained this Fall, went something like 8-2 on the year and finished off our season on Sunday. I think we were rained out something like 5 or 6 times this Fall, but it was a great season with a good group of men/women. I will put together a brief highlight video from the season when I get a chance.

- Got my NSCA-CPT practice exams in the mail yesterday.. I'm hoping to take the first one over Thanksgiving to get a feel for when I can comfortably take the exam prior to the new year. I'm on my way!

Cressey Performance - Day 2

Even though I woke up sore from my first day with EC, I was more prepared for what he had in store for me. At this point I know I can do everything that's thrown at me, and it's even nice to have a little shot of adrenaline that comes with being in a strange place and trying to impress strangers.

I knew there were 3 things in store for me today: EC was going to take a look at my sprinting "technique" (I put this in quotes because I'm not sure what I do can be called technique), we were going to have an upper body workout, and I was probably not going to be mistaken for a baseball player now that we answered those questions the first day.

First up we needed to work through the foam roller routine and take care of my mobility work. Pretty much the same set up as the day before, except I didn't really need someone to hold my hand through it. My intern of the day today was Connor, and he seemed extremely knowledgeable about the body as well. He's about to graduate with his bachelor's and will be starting PT school soon. From our conversation, he seems really passionate about it, and seems to have found a good home at CP.

Here's that foam rolling routine:


After the warm-up, I ran a series of 6, 40 yard sprints with critique in between. I started with excessive heel-striking (which could lead to the pain in my heel) and didn't utilize the full arm motion in my stride. The arm motion is linked to the opposite glute muscle through the lats. My arm motion apparently didn't engage the glutes enough and I was potentially losing speed that way. After a few runs I was looking better according to EC, but was told that I would see noticeable difference in my sprinting once I could deadlift 315... I took that a little mixed... I've deadlifted 375 before, but not with good form, so I can see where he could say I haven't lifted 315... but come on, don't I look like I could pull 315?!?

Anyway, I'll take that to mean that I need to lift 315 with some more authority. Speed up the lift and get a little more explosive, and then maybe I'll be a little faster. The only thing I'm concerned with here is the difference between my running technique sprinting on a 40-yard track and the technique I use on the Ultimate field. Hopefully I can make the two match.

After the sprints, we moved into the upper body routine. It wasn't anything out of the ordinary, but it was good to hear that I had good power on my chins and I was able to do a set of 4 close-grip bench press at 225. I haven't done that before, so that was kinda cool. We moved to some single-arm bench press, seated rows, external rotations, and split-stance cable lifts. It was a pretty good workout and the timing was great so that I could ask plenty of technique questions. One of the only bad things I took out of the session is that I was using 75's for the single-arm bench press when I max out at 60 lbs. at home. That just means I get to spend more money...

A good nugget I took from my questions was about mobility and stability. Your body needs alternating mobility and stability to perform properly. Mobility in the ankles, stability in the knees, mobility in the hips, stability in the lower back, mobility in the thoracic spine, stability in the scaps, and mobility in the shoulders/arms. It's a good way of looking at it, and the reasons behind finding that mobility are to limit the amount of compensation the stable areas have to make. Basically, if you lack mobility in one of the areas that should have mobility, then the closest stable area will have to take one some mobility to perform the function. This is where injury happens.

So now I've got my plan and I'm a week into it before I got this post up. It's painful so far, but I think some of that is due to a little extra Ultimate lately. One more big Ultimate weekend and I'll be free to concentrate on my iron.

Cressey Performance - Day 1

Despite purchasing some super-cheap Southwest Air tickets up to Boston, we were still 30 miles from CP and the T in Boston just couldn't get us to Hudson, Mass. Megan and I found ourselves a comfy Honda Civic ZipCar and made our way out to the facility.

As we left the city behind and found ourselves driving on a winding 2-lane highway through several quaint MA towns. The Fall season was in full effect and the drive out was scenic. Of course, it brought on a few questions from Megan about EC's training methods. She was concerned that we were coming all this way just to pick up some training tips from Rocky IV.



Then we happened upon the facility. Basically a small office building on the side of the road, it contained a Comcast office, cafeteria, and Cressey Performance. I'd seen pictures of the gym before, so I was a little surprised to see that it was housed in this place. After I convinced Megan this place was legit, we went inside. I was greeted by Connor (one of the interns at CP) before I even made it into the gym, and saw a number of younger athletes walking around the cafeteria carrying various supplements and putting together their shakes for the day. Yeah, I was definitely close to a gym.

Walking in the door, I was met by some of the CP guys and a few minor leaguers who were training during the offseason. These kids looked like they'd been getting some work done too. Pete told me I needed to wait a bit since EC was with a "celebrity" client, but I was early so that was no big deal. As we took care of some paperwork, he asked if I was a baseball fan and if I knew Kevin Youkilis. Well, not much of a baseball fan, but I did know Youkilis... saw him spank the Nationals this year, actually. Turns out, he was the "celebrity" client. I have to admit I felt pretty cool training back-to-back with a major leaguer.

Once they finished up, it was onto the table for me. I went through a series of flexibility tests while Eric took a look at my mobility and asked me some training questions. We covered a lack of t-spine mobility, hip mobility, concern about the heel pain I've been experiencing, and some tightness in my pec minor (causing my right shoulder to "dip" a bit). As expected, I was put onto the foam roller next to get warmed up for my training session. Pretty straight-forward progression on the roller and then we worked with a lacrosse ball on some of the harder to work points like the glutes, calves, and feet. Ben (another intern) walked me through these drills before putting me through a mobility warm-up. A lot of the focus was on hip, thoracic spine, shoulder, and ankle mobility.

Once I was thoroughly warmed up (and I was, sweating through my shirt) we took a look at my deadlift form. I was definitely happy to have two sets of eyes on me as I bent for the bar. Brian St. Pierre (who's blog is linked in the sidebar) and Ben helped me along as I performed a few lifts. My own concern about my technique was confirmed when I attempted a conventional deadlift. After trying a few times to get my back flat while keeping my butt up, we moved on to a "sumo" deadlift. The sumo was much more appropriate for my current level of mobility and they walked me through the process. After plenty of chest out, tuck your chin, don't shrug your shoulders, tighten your scaps, don't shrug your shoulders, tuck your chin, chest out.... I think I had it figured out! The last set felt pretty solid and I felt like I finally had things working for me.

So, to summarize:
- Legs wider than shoulder width apart (more like 4 feet apart, lined up at the narrow smooth line on the straight bar)
- Hybrid grip with arms between the legs
- Stabilize the scaps
- Keep your chin tucked (don't hyperextend your cervical spine)
- Bar starts about an inch from your shins
- Lower back is stable, butt is fairly high in the stance (I was sitting my butt down pretty far and turning the movement into a quad-dominant lift)
- Keep your chest up and your arms extended to start the lift
- Pull with your back, hamstrings, and glutes at the same time to move the weight (I was starting with my legs and finishing with my back)
- Lock out at the top by thrusting your hips through
- Do the movement in reverse to set the weight down

So yeah, if nothing else, that part was awesome for me. I've always been mostly a self-trainer, and I'm realizing that it really pays off to have somebody knowledgeable look at your technique! Hopefully this means no more tweaking my back!

In between sets here I did more ankle mobility work to help out my heel, and then moved to some single-leg work. We did single-leg reverse lunges on a slide board and single-leg Romanian deadlifts to finish of the first day. Those slide board lunges are killer! Just taking the back foot out of the exercise throws a ton of emphasis on your butt and hamstrings of the front leg. I can honestly say that pain is finally gone from my body, but it was sore for a good 3 days afterwards (and that was with a fairly light weight!). These lunges can be replicated with a paper plate under your shoe if you don't have a board. Here's an example (no, I didn't use a keg and weight vest, just some dumbbells...):



So yeah, that was day 1. Day 2 to come soon.

Classes Done... What's next?

I just checked the box to turn in my last exam for this short run of classes over the last 8 weeks. Four classes down, what's next?

Well, I have myself a seat on a plane to Boston, MA tomorrow morning where I'm going to meet with Eric Cressey of Cressey Performance. Eric is a young, and very well-respected, strength and conditioning coach with a number of publications under his belt. Magnificent Mobility, Maximum Strength, and his newest contribution, Assess and Correct are really what drew me. I have been training myself for a while, and you get to realizing that even though you may be good at training others (or telling them what to do, to phrase it differently), the hardest person to train is yourself. It's not about knowing what to do, it's that I'm just not very good at following my own directions! Cressey also has a focus on mobility and correctional movements that leads to the development of injury-free athletes. After spending the last few seasons working through pain, I really want to focus on doing the movements that will treat my body well and will not only develop new power and strength, but will do so while building my body up to prevent injury.

A quick testimonial I have that may be jumping the gun... I've been working through EC's mobility warm-ups from Maximum Strength and I already feel like my heel is feeling better during Ultimate. In the end, that is my goal. I just need to have a painfree season of Ultimate where I can train and perform my best on the field.

Next up, I'm looking at getting my NSCA-CPT certification prior to January 2010. I've done quite a bit of reading the last few months and I think I'm ready to take a shot at the test. I'll be ordering the practice exams to see where I'm at, and then really focus on the weak points over the next month. A lot of fitness ahead of me. On that front, hopefully this means I can pick up a few clients for myself and start to develop a reputation.

Speaking of all the lifting, I recently added gym mats to my garage set up. The mats were free and just about fill the whole garage floor. Now that I was able to sort of remodel things, the gym looks pretty awesome. I'll get some pictures and maybe a video up to show you how things look.

Bigger, Faster, Stronger

I've had this movie on my Netflix queue for about 3 months now, and finally got around to checking it out last night. It was a little eye-opening. You know, like when you hear that fat is bad for you every day but then realize that there is really no evidence to support it?

Well, that is similar to what I got from Bigger, Faster, Stronger. It is a documentary led by Chris Bell that covers the steroid controversy through his eyes and through the eyes of his two brothers, Mike and Mark. Basically, he takes us on a journey through baseball's BALCO affair, Arnold's run at the Olympia, Henry Waxman's reasoning behind the ban (probably one of the more embarassing parts of the movie for the U.S. and politics as a whole), the Don Hooten accusation that steroids killed his depressed son, and then interviews with a number of people who actually seem to know what they're talking about and have scientific evidence to back it up.

The best argument in the film was while reading off a list of side effects of an unknown drug. AFter listing 15-20 adverse affects we find that this "drug" is Vitamin C. The argument ends with statistics showing upwards of 50,000 deaths a year for alcohol, slightly less for tobacco, and 3 for anabolic steroids. Now we're left to ponder why the other two aren't banned substances as well.

Now let me get this straight, although I don't feel steroids are bad for you, there are no known studies that convincingly prove this (and there will be no steroid study, because it would be medically unethical now that it's banned), I don't think I'll be taking them in my lifetime. I just found this extremely interesting that people are so offended by steroid use when the medical uses of steroids have saved lives since the early 1930s. Seems to me this whole steroid ban is like "looking the gift horse in the mouth." It did just about save baseball before Congress came down on it, and now baseball's boring again....

The sky is falling! Or... maybe I'm just really busy?

No, not really, but everything is coming down on me at once! It's crazy how many things can be happening in your life at any given time, but these last two weeks have been pretty intense.

Megan and I are now "co-habitating" and the move-in was a crazy weekend. We moved in with 2 other friends to a sweet house on Capitol Hill and we're trying to find some time to enjoy the new location. I'm having some major adjustment issues, but I'm working through it. The most major issue is just dealing with a difference of about 25 minutes each way in commute, but I think I can live like the rest of the world... It is tough to change though.

Everything managed to come to a head around the exact same time though. The move-in, this week is the start of class at Catholic (so the job is crazy!), I'm going to Dallas for the OU/BYU game this weekend, Ultimate practice is starting up this week (and I'm going to try and help out), and I'm going to be starting 3 online courses with APU next week (Biomechanics, Exercise Phys, and Anat & Phys). So that's probably why it feels like the sky is falling!

I guess I need to set some goals for the next two weeks. The most basic of them is to just figure out what the new routine is going to be. I've been getting home around 8pm every night, and that's not something I want to continue to do. It's understandable on practice days, but I'm set on keeping 4 workouts a week and I'm going to need time to study for these courses!

On top of that, I've been mulling over a new sleep schedule. I've been feeling a little hazy the last few weeks and I think I'd like to add 30 minutes to an hour of sleep each night. It could help with recovery from workouts and hopefully give me a little extra energy in the week. We'll see what I can manage.. I guess I'm waiting to see what my courseload looks like next week!

August 18 - 300

25 Chin Ups
50 Deadlifts @ 135lbs.
50 Push Ups
50 Box Jumps
50 Floor Wipers
50 Single Arm Kettlebell Clean and Press @ 35lbs.
25 Chin Ups

28:12

Damn I need to work my cardio... lol.

Getting Antsy

I've completed my Masters in May, the job's steady, I'm playing golf, and I've been away from Ultimate pretty much all summer. Now that I have a relaxed schedule, I've been reading up on nutrition/food science stuff, weight-lifting, and keeping current on several fitness professionals blogs, and it's making me really antsy.

I think I need something more. I've been browsing local and online programs for kinesiology/exercise science/nutrition programs and it's so hard to find a place to start. I don't even know what I really want out of it yet, but I know I'm interested. It's too bad CUA doesn't have a program (because it would be FREE).

Things that come to mind are continuing into the HR field working towards an education in corporate wellness programs, doing a strength and conditioning focus and possibly integrating that into a coaching/training career, or doing something with exercise-based intervention.

I think the problem is just getting started at this point. I don't really know where to begin, I'm a little nervous about the financial issues related with doing a degree program now, and I'm definitely frustrated that I didn't get into this my first round through college... I think it would have been nice to at least have done the human anatomy and physiology courses and covered a few pre-reqs that will slow things down now.

I'm going to keep looking and hopefully I'll find something that's feasible for me. I guess all I can do now is just continue to educate myself and do some self-study towards a certification exam of some sort.

Thoughts for the morning...

1. Big thought of the day:

There should be an asshole driver fine. It doesn't have to be major, but it needs to be there. People who don't use their turn signals; people who cut you off; people who live with their hand on their horns; people who wait until the very last second to change lanes, cutting everyone off who changed lanes properly and holding up the traffic in the lane they are merging from (Example: leaving DC by 395); people who are talking on their cell phones instead of paying attention to the road; and people in small cars who think it's necessary to take corners so wide they change lanes into yours like they wouldn't make the turn otherwise.

People like this deserve some sort of fine for their actions. I don't think a fine every time is necessary, but what if we instituted a 5-strike fine rule? Basically it works like this: Each time you get cut-off or think somebody is driving like an asshole, you fill out a form to report this driver. As driver's accumulate strikes, they are sent fines at every 5th one. So that douchebag that thinks it's a great idea to swerve through traffic nearly hitting everyone in the process and causing traffic to slow will get citations from everyone that can get his license plate. Once you get 5, you are sent your $50 fine.

The only thing holding this back are the people who would fake citations to send people fines for no reason. The sad thing is that those people are the same assholes who can't drive with any bit of decency.

2. Find a better spokesperson.

There was a lady walking down 2nd street this morning trying to get everyone to "HONK for guaranteed health care." Sure, that's all well and good, but she obviously doesn't take care of herself so why should we take care of her? I have no problem with the guaranteed health care thing, as a matter of fact, I don't even really think about most things political, but don't send an obese lady out to tout the benefits of guaranteed health care.

Check this out,

A report released Monday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention – which organized the conference – pegged annual health spending tied to obesity at $147 billion. By comparison, the American Cancer Society says it costs $93 billion a year to treat all types of cancer. “So ending obesity would save our healthcare system 50% more dollars than curing cancer,” Sebelius said.

Yeah. And, who's to say that fighting obesity wouldn't lower the cancer rate at the same time? So why don't we make healthcare guaranteed for those that can keep their waistline down? I'm not talking BMI though, I'm talking BF%. It's obvious that BMI is not a good marker of physical fitness, but we have easy methods of obtaining BF%, so why not use it? If you can stay out of the overweight category, your health care is free. Maybe people will be motivated by the savings...

It really can't be that bad... I mean, the Japanese are cracking down on waistlines and they think it could help us.

Wildwood 2009

By the time this sunburn is gone I swear I'll have a recap of last weekend up...

Here's the update:
Nose: Peeling
Feet: Still Burning
Shoulders: Turning a nice golden brown
Biceps: Still a little red, but looking much better for it!

I will let everyone in on a little secret though. Like Jim said, "The British drink their tea out of GOLDEN cups." Looks like our 9 "Brits" will be forced to share 1 golden cup, but that's one more than I had before!

Garden Update

Just a little garden update... The spaghetti squash is a good 7-9 inches long now (the picture doesn't do it justice), and the largest eggplant is pushing 6 inches. There are a number of squash that are just a little behind the largest pictured and it looks like we have 5 eggplant on the way so far. Tomatoes are growing, but slowly.

Artificial Sweeteners and Diabetes

I found this post from Cassandra Forsythe that linked to this article, but I'll post the article for those who don't like the links. Basically, just eat real food and exercise, and you'll be fine... Don't try to justify your use of diet drinks on calories alone because, surprise, artificial sweeteners are bad for your body too!

From Medscape Medical News
ENDO 2009: Use of Artificial Sweeteners Linked to 2-Fold Increase in Diabetes

Crina Frincu-Mallos, PhD

June 15, 2009 (Washington, DC) — People who use artificial sweeteners are heavier, more likely to have diabetes, and more likely to be insulin-resistant compared with nonusers, according to data presented here during ENDO 2009, the 91st annual meeting of The Endocrine Society.

Results show an inverse association between obesity and diabetes, on one side, and daily total caloric, carbohydrate, and fat intake, on the other side, when comparing artificial sweetener users and control subjects.

First author Kristofer S. Gravenstein, a postbaccalaureate researcher with the Clinical Research Branch at the National Institute of Aging (NIA), National Institutes of Health (NIH), said the association may reflect the increased use of artificial sweeteners by obese and/or diabetic study participants. "This is a cross-section study," Mr. Gravenstein told Medscape Diabetes & Endocrinology, "so there are limitations — we cannot say that artificial sweetener use causes obesity, we can say it is associated with it."

Increased Use vs Increased Glucose Absorption

Artificial sweeteners activate sweet taste receptors in enteroendocrine cells, leading to the release of incretin, which is known to contribute to glucose absorption. Recent epidemiologic studies in Circulation (2008;117:754-761) and Obesity (2008;16:1894-1900) showed an association between diet soda consumption and the development of obesity and metabolic syndrome.

This report tested whether participants in the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging (BLSA), which began in 1958, differ in anthropometric measures, daily caloric intake, and glucose status, separating them into 3 different groups: artificial sweetener users, artificial sweetener nonusers, or controls.

A total of 1257 participants, with a mean age of 64.8 years (range, 21 - 96 years), had data on self-reported 7-day dietary intake, 2-hour oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT), and anthropometric measures. The major artificial sweetener consumed was aspartame, preferred by 66% of BLSA participants, followed by saccharin (13%), sucralose (1.0%), and combinations of the three (21%).

"In our study, we were actually able to isolate what type of sweetener was used at a certain point in time, as we used food diaries, and not food questionnaires," Mr. Gravenstein pointed out.

"When we first did this analysis, we found that people ate more fat before 1983, which is the year [of] a big increase in artificial sweetener consumption in the American population — it was actually when aspartame was approved and diet Coke was introduced," he explained.

As a result, the study further analyzed data from a subset of participants, starting in 1983. Compared with 550 people who did not use artificial sweeteners, the 443 people who did were younger, heavier, and had a higher body mass index (BMI), yet they did not consume more calories from people who did not use artificial sweeteners. Fat, carbohydrate, protein, and total caloric intake were not different between the 2 groups (users vs nonusers).

Furthermore, Mr. Gravenstein noted that people who used artificial sweeteners "were less likely to have a normal OGTT, or they were less likely to be diagnosed as having a normal glucose homeostasis."

In terms of glucose status, the impaired glucose tolerance (IGT), and/or impaired fasting glucose (IFG), the data show that artificial sweetener users "were not different than the prediabetics, ie, they had the same prevalence of prediabetes," he said, adding that "in our population, people who used artificial sweeteners were twice as likely to have diabetes, 8.8% compared to 4.4% for controls."

Analyzing the data further, the investigators focused on a subpopulation, in which fasting insulin values were available from 374 nonusers and 311 artificial sweetener users. The users had a higher fasting glucose levels, higher fasting insulin levels, and a higher measure of insulin resistance, as measured by the homeostasis model assessment, but glycosylated hemoglobin A1C levels were similar between the 2 groups.

Alternative Hypothesis and Clinicians' Role

The researchers suggest an alternative hypothesis, that artificial sweeteners modulate the metabolic rate through enteroendocrine cells, therefore contributing to the development of diabetes and/or obesity. However, this hypothesis needs further testing in longitudinal analysis and intervention studies, said the investigators.

"Also, it could be that artificial sweeteners are causing diabetes, or it could be that there is a higher use of them because a lot of physicians actually recommend people to use artificial sweeteners to prevent diabetes...." Mr. Gravenstein said. The researchers are planning to address this question with a prospective analysis.

"This is a very interesting study," Rachel C. Edelen, MD, a pediatric endocrinology practitioner at the Aspen Centre in Rapid City, South Dakota, told Medscape Diabetes & Endocrinology in an interview. "I diet screen all my patients, and they are not drinking enough milk. Usually, they replace the milk with something else, sweetened tea, Gatorade, etc, not just water. With my type 1 diabetics, the information they were getting from the hospital was to drink diet pop. But who even goes into the hospital and drinks pop?" she wondered.

Support for this study was provided by the Intramural Research Program of the National Institute on Aging of the National Institutes of Health. Dr. Edelen and Mr. Gravenstein have disclosed no relevant financial relationships.

ENDO 2009: The Annual Meeting of the Endocrine Society: Abstract P2-478. Presented June 11, 2009.

Authors and Disclosures
Journalist

Crina Frincu-Mallos, PhD

Crina Frincu-Mallos is a freelance writer for Medscape Medical News.

Garden Blooms!

I think this is pretty exciting... We've got some blooms on the Spaghetti Squash and the Eggplant now! The two on the left are Squash and the third is the Eggplant.

I'm pretty psyched for the veggies when they come in. We also took a few shots of the lower body workout today, you can see those over at Stre7ch Fitness.

More Nutrition/BMR

OK, so I found a great set of 10 rules to live by as far as diet is concerned. They are linked here:

Nutrition 101 - Part 1
Nutrition 101 - Part 2

Also, something I've never considered, but makes a lot sense... For those who count calories, normally it's based on your Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR), or how much your body burns at rest. This number is calculated by converting your weight (in Lbs.) to Kilograms by multiplying by .45 or dividing by 2.2, then multiplying by 24. The result is your BMR.

The thing I haven't thought about is the number we are using... In an article by Rodney Gaines, PhD, CSCS, called Periodized Nutrition for Strength and Power Athletic Performance, he points out the error. Most people use their total weight, fat and all. Is it really necessary to eat those extra calories to support our fat mass?!?

I'm around 195 with a body fat probably in the 12-15% range. That means I have somewhere between 23-29 pounds of fat on me! I don't want to support that! Using the calculations (I'll use the mean here):

195*13.5%=26.325 lbs.
That's ~169*.45=76.05*24=1825.20 Cals

So, my lean mass burns ~1825 calories at rest.

To further that, you need either 1.3 times your BMR for low activity, 1.4 for moderate activity, or 1.5 for high activity.

Consider that when you're counting those cals!

TX Vac. Abbr.

Tues: Flight delayed forever, couple manages 30-minute goodbye kiss next to us, arrive Wednesday to meet Dave.

Wed: Took long walk, Michael arrived from OKC, tubed the river, ate lunch at Granzin's, went to SA, paid too much for a birds-eye view, had some Hard Rock Pecan Pie after Megan and the Mom watched Wicked.

Thurs: Hit the big rides at Schlitterbahn after a 90-minute wait, swam home from Surfenburg, swung a bat for the first time in years, met John and stuffed my face with Salt Lick barbeque, witnessed 1.5 million bats leaving a bridge, "The Nothing" came to Austin, enjoyed a mediocre band; good band; and Irene grabbing my chest at Back Door Social while the storm passed.

Fri: Salt Lick Pecan Pie for breakfast, stocked up at H.E.B.(eat your heart out, Giant!), ran into a few old coworkers (Mafia! Denise!), Shannon; Laura; and Brad arrived from Ft. Worth/Arlington, tubed the river, collected cans, ate fajitas, Nusto and Angie (+a baby on board!) came over, Orrin arrived from Houston, Tavern in/at/on/around the Gruene served cheap beer and commercial opportunities.

Sat: 10am tubing (LOTS of cans w/Orrin), leftover fajitas, Schulze came down from Austin, 2nd tube run (likened to coin machines at the fair), another 100 degree day, Kyle came home to grill up the ribs, sweet potato candy with that for dinner, Christina and Kyle came over from Dallas for the night tube run, Canuto barely made it (but he made it!), nice chill (or chilly, depending on who you ask) trip down the river, multiple runs on the chute just like the old days.

Sun: Michael leaves, Shannon and gang leave, changing plans, changing plans, changing plans, Phil drops by (didn't get to work out with him!), Mom comes home, head to San Marcos Factory Outlet, buy sweet Nike polos, head to SA for Cheesecake Factory, meet Kyle (Happy Birthday!), we each eat portions large enough for a small family, head to airport, vacation ends.

Wow, how did we make time for all that... I'm counting 6 tube runs and 3 barbeque dinners! I think we did what we came to do!

Grocery Shopping

I'm about halfway through Gary Taubes' "Good Calories, Bad Calories," and I'm beginning to really dislike going to the grocery store. From all the exaggerations we've been told about the benefits of Fiber (Nope, no colon cancer cure there...the only thing it really helps is constipation), misinformation about the cause of heart disease (nope, it's not cholesterol... that means we can eat our bacon and eggs!), and the silly notion that somehow refined grains and sugars are better for you than their unrefined counterparts (luckily this died out a while ago...), how can we really believe anything we hear?

I just linked some random articles I could find within a few seconds, but there are tons of studies done that dispute those "facts" that are deeply ingrained in our heads. The bad connotation of fat (saturated in particular) on the nutrition facts is probably the worst of them all. Since I'm having trouble deciding what to believe, I decided to shop for things closest to what I might find back when we didn't have to get our food at a grocery store (with a few exceptions). Here's what I came up with...

2% Milk
Unpeeled carrots
Sliced Mushrooms
Cottage Cheese
2 cartons of eggs
Chicken Thighs
Strawberries
Kiwis
Peaches
Avocado
Organic Peanut Butter
Milled Flax Seed
Cheddar Cheese
Canned Pumpkin
Whole Wheat w/flax flatbread
Lime Fruit Bars (A little off here...)
Chocolate Syrup (for post-workout choc milk!)

I feel like this is a good start towards healthy eating, not to mention the HUGE Spaghetti Squash, Eggplant, and Sweet Potato plants we have growing currently. I can't wait to get some of that!

Another sport to think about...

I mentioned my trip to Chicago in a few other posts, but I wanted to just direct everyone to a great write-up of what I took part in on Saturday night at Soldier Field. I will be the first person to tell you that I'm not a big soccer fan, and I generally don't concern myself with watching or playing the sport. I understand that a large percentage of Ultimate players may have played the sport at one time or another, but it is not a sport that I really identify well with.

Regardless of this, I found myself attending the USA vs. Honduras World Cup Qualifying match on Saturday night. The story leading up to the game was an adventure all it's own, but the game was about as exciting as I've been part of (I'm going to restrict that comment to all things outside of Oklahoma football, as Renaldo Works would probably have something to say about that...).



Anyway, the game was rowdy. There were 55,000+ fans there, ~40,000 of them being Honduran. Their passion for the game was evident as we made our way to the stadium, and they more than overwhelmed the "home" team's fans. It was not surprising to see the contrasting levels of support between our two countries, and, to be honest, it almost made me want the Hondurans to win. After all, the number of Chicagoan's confused by the Honduran presence speaks volumes about our views on soccer... I ended up having a great time, thanks to those fans. You could feel their passion in every juke, every pass, every corner, and, of course, every goal. It was impressive the way they supported their country. It made me feel slightly uncomfortable about my own patriotism (I wore a green shirt to the game...).

Back to the reason I posted today... John and I checked out the game together, and he is officially a Master (of Science) of Journalism now so you should probably read his take: Passion.

In Defense - Part 3

Just a few quick facts that I find interesting here...

*In the late 1800s 5 states passed laws requiring all butter imitations to be dyed pink so everyone would know.
*The Supreme Court struck down that law 1898.
*The 1938 Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act required the word "Imitation" to appear on any food product that was an imitation.
*In 1973 that rule was removed after years of argument from the food industry.
*The new rule allowed that "as long as an imitation product was not 'nutritionally inferior' to the natural food it sought to impersonate (as long as it had the same quantities of recognized nutrients) the imitation could be marketed without using the dreaded 'i' word."
*Processors backed that move.... Surprise, surprise.

There are some other interesting tidbits about the use of "flavor packs" in Orange Juice in Brian St. Pierre's blog entry here: The Orange Juice Deception. It's not technically imitation now, because the "flavor packs" are made from orange extracts... Cool deal, just buy an orange.

Stre7ch Fit

There aren't too many readers here, but, for the ones who are, I've moved my workout log over to www.Stre7chFit.blogspot.com. No more reading numbers of sets and weights! Well, unless you'd like to...

In Defense – Part 2

American’s make compromises over a great many topics on a daily, weekly, and yearly basis. We make compromises over movies, over music, and over even bigger things. Most of these we manage to do without a real impact on our physical health. I mean, sure, if you were to compromise and sit on the couch with me instead of running that might have an affect on you physically… But, we don’t generally think that compromises are made about our well being often, and we wouldn’t dare think that our own government would compromise our health, right?

Well, politics can be a dangerous thing. In my last entry, I spoke briefly about how we were beginning to see food as a combination of nutrients instead of as a “food.” Well, that came into being when science tried to tell American’s that they needed to cut back on their meat intake, specifically that of meats, poultry, and fish. After the firestorm of criticism from the meat and dairy industries, the statement had to be changed to: “choose meats, poultry, and fish that would reduce saturated fat intake.” So, instead of just eating less meat (which we are not allowed to say because of the effect on profits), we now have to continue to eat meat in its leanest form. See the difference? Imagine where we go from there…

To continue on to this profit-driven science of nutrition, I’ll just give you a few facts from “In Defense” about the lack of separation of nutrition and state. The World Health Organization recommended that no more than 10% of your daily calories should come from added sugars (Not the sugar you’ll find in fruit, the sugar you find in sweet tea…. The good…ahem, BAD stuff.). Now, back to the compromising… There is a super-powerful, evil empire of a lobbying group on Capital Hill that is dead-set on destroying the WHO recommendations: The U.S. sugar lobby (www.sugar.org, which you can at least commend for differentiating between sugar and high fructose corn syrup). Obviously driven by money, the sugar lobby threatened to lobby Congress to cut WHO funding unless these limits were raised, and eventually were able to force Congress into compromising and allowing a 15% increase in allowable daily sugar intake. It is now part of the official U.S. recommendation that the maximum permissible level of free sugars in our diet is 25% of daily calories. A full quarter of your daily fuel from added sugars? Holy $#!T.

I don’t know how to feel about this, really. I mean, we don’t have to eat sugars because it’s in the U.S. Recommendations, but what kind of message is that sending?

(Search www.washingtonpost.com for an article called “Big Sugar” for more dirt on the sweet industry. I’d give the link, but I don’t have internet where I’m writing.)

Again, the facts in here are mostly pulled from Michael Pollan's book, many opinions are added by me....

June 5 - Hotel Workout

Seated Leg Press
135x10
175x8
215x8
230x8
250x10
260x10
270x8

Seated Leg Curl (Single Leg)
50x10
60x10x3
Superset with DB Shoulder Press
40x10
45x10
50x7
50x8 (Push Press)

Seated Leg Extension (Single Leg)
75x10
80x10
85x10
Superset with Pulldown
150x10
150x10
150x10

Renegade Row (1 rep is two push-ups and two single-arm rows)
30x8
25x8
25x8
Superset with SL Bulgarian Split Squat
50x10x3

Got a compliment from the duder on the elliptical, he said “good job, you’re working hard, man.” I’m glad I look like I’m working hard, but, really, what are you comparing me to? Another tidbit about today’s workout: this was the best/worst/only $12 workout I’ve ever done. It was nice to be able to get a new towel when I needed one, knowing that somebody else will come to wash it and clean off the equipment when I was done. Nobody does that at my place…

In Defense Of Food - Michael Pollan

I rolled into the airport in Baltimore fully expecting to be on my way to Chicago within the hour. According to the monitor I was already 20 minutes delayed as I walked into my gate. As I waited, the skies opened up and dumped water on us for 15-20 minutes while I gave in and picked up some California Tortilla. It wasn’t exactly the best choice of foods, and, after my flight, I’m seeing even more reasons to doubt the nutritional value of most things I put into my stomach.

The Borders located by the “A” terminal is surprising packed with good books; Twilight sequels line the walls and I think I found the next book on my list, “Chuck Norris vs. Mr. T.” Anyway, I’ve been reading some nutritional blogs/studies recently, and a book called “The Omnivores Dilemma” by Michael Pollan had been referenced multiple times. I considered it, but then noticed his next book, “In Defense of Food.” The cover includes his “Eater’s Manifesto”:

Eat Food. Not Too Much. Mostly Plants.

I got about three quarters of the way through the book before I realized I was rereading every other page to make sure I was reading it right. It’s pretty unbelievable, the facts Pollan brings up. I’m motivated to do a brief series to cover what I believe to be some of the more important and interesting tidbits from the book. Actually, before I get started, I just want to say that this book is definitely worth purchasing if you are interested in nutrition or nutritional science in any way.

One of the first things I read was the introduction of a new term to me: orthorexics, or people with an unhealthy obsession with healthy eating. Surprising to you as well? Well, there isn’t solid evidence yet, but there’s a concern that there is a relationship between worrying about nutrition and a person’s overall health and happiness. Basically, people worry about nutrition so much that they neglect other aspects of their nutrition, as I’ll (really, Pollan) cover later.

Our first steps towards orthorexia, as Pollan states, is a separation of nutrient and food. Once William Prout, a smart English dude, discovered Fats, Carbs, and Protein in food, we thought we knew why food was good for us. So, we began to engineer (yup, engineer food) to included ratios of these nutrients that we believed to be “healthy.” It got even worse when we realized there were vitamins in food. Eventually, we began to think of food in terms of the nutrients in them instead of as the sum of the whole. See “Vitamin D Added,” “Now, with more vitamin C,” and “With Extra Fiber.”

It’s about time for me to hit the sack here in Chi-town. I’m going to the Aslanian Group conference on Web Marketing for Adult Students tomorrow, it should be interesting!

June 2 - Upper Body

Some stupid wrist pain today, so I was a little limited here:

Bench Press
135x10
135x10
165x10
185x8
205x4
205x4
205x4
Wide grip Bench Press 135x10

Hybrid Renegade Row
50x10
60x10
60x10
Superset with DB Incline Fly
40x10x3

Rear Raise
15x10x3
Superset with Isometric Bicep Holds
45x30secx3 different anglesx3sets

Biked through 3 songs before Megan came by.

Not really excited about this workout because I was just feeling crappy with the wrist. I'm going out to Chicago, IL tomorrow afternoon for a conference and to spend the weekend, so hopefully that will give it time to heal up. If it's not one thing, I guess it's got to be another...

The Door

Four years ago (or so) I went to The Door in Dallas, Texas to see Sherwood play. At the time, I had no clue who Quietdrive, Discover America, or Waking Ashland were, but now they all have spots in most of my playlists. I'm not really here to talk about how great that concert was, from Quietdrive's version of "Time After Time," Discover America's "Green Eyes," that tambourine dude from Sherwood, to "All Hands on Deck" basically selling me Waking Ashland's CD. Nope, we're not here for that...

We're here to talk about Waking Ashland's latest CD, The Well. The last two albums, Telescopes and, before it, Composure, were a great success for the band. They managed to churn out great lyrics and soulful ballads, and wrapped it all in this nice, neat piano rock package. On The Well, we still hear bits of that sound, but none of the catchy melodies or emotion of the first two albums. The Well is about as contrived as it gets... Check these lyrics:

"Raindrops on the windshield they're catching my eyes
They were falling with such grace until they washed away
Leaving a dashing display
No single one looked the same."

I mean, really? I think they at least covered their weak sauce tunes by ending the song:

"The piano don't sing like it did…"

Piano being a metaphor for the band, I think. That's just a taste of what you would get on their new album. I've only listened twice now, but I'm not really falling in love with anything here. Hopefully I can at least find one of two tunes to latch on to. The only takeaway is that at least I can fall back on Composure...

June 1 - Lower Body

Single-arm Kettlebell Swings
35x15x3

(I always wonder if these numbers make sense... It's Lbsxrepsxsets, or lbsxreps if I do different weights.)

Deadlift
135x8
185x8
225x6
275x6
300x4
350x1
355x1

Hang Clean
135x8x3
Superset with Single-leg Leg Curls
45x10x3

Bulgarian Split Squat (w/bar)
100x10
100x10
105x10
Superset with Single-arm DB Shoulder Press
45x10
50x9
50x8

Got on the stationary bike and rode through the next 4 songs...
Last of the American Girls - Green Day - 21st Century Breakdown
Big Pimpin'/Papercut - Jay-Z & Linkin Park - Collision Course
Allure - Jay-Z - The Black Album
See the Light - Green Day - 21st Century Breakdown

Food Journals

Ok, so I touched on this a while ago, but I'm loving my "I Lose" application. Of course, I guess these things won't work for everyone, but having a phone like the iPhone, or any PDA for that matter, allows you to easily keep track of meals throughout the day and is an extremely helpful tool to dieting/fitness/weight loss.

I'm not going to go through citing the various blogs and research articles that helped bring me to this conclusion, so forgive me, but the first step to any type of diet is to track what you eat. It's not enough that you can recite the meals and snacks you had over the course of any given day, you need to know the calorie and nutritional content of those meals.

With any basic calorie-counting tool you will most likely have access to a Fat, Carbohydrate (total and Fiber), and Protein calculation as well. Use it! By tracking your nutrient intake, you can more easily see where you are overeating. For me, it was in the form of Carbs. I was eating somewhere in the neighborhood of 3500 calories a day. Come to find out, I was hitting my numbers in Protein (I try to hit around 200g/day), was about where I needed to be in Fats (anything around 65-75g/day), but I was way over in Carbs (sometimes up to 400g/day!). It was a little obscene, and, after evaluating whether I needed those two pieces of cornbread from Safeway, I decided there were some things that I could stand leaving out.

I guess it's not enough just to track calories, you have to have a goal in mind. For me, I wasn't so concerned with the weight loss aspects, I just wanted to fix my diet a bit. Instead of doing it by the percentages (a lot of people prefer 40% Carbs, 30% Fat, and 30% Protein) I decided to cut my Carb intake below my Protein intake. So far I've been good about only getting Carbs from my veggies, some whole wheat bread, and pre-workout supps. It's kept me under 150 g/day and I've been replacing the lost calories with Fat and Protein. It's basically my way of agreeing with the "new science" that tells us that fat is not really bad for you in the right forms (meat, nuts, and dairy mainly).

I'll keep up with this for a while, and get back to you with results. In the meantime, here are some calorie-tracking sites I found:

http://www.thedailyplate.com/
http://www.my-calorie-counter.com/
http://www.fitday.com/

They are listed in the order they came up in the search engine. It seems like The Daily Plate could be pretty good.

May 29 - Upper Body

Bench
135x8
155x8
175x8
195x7
175x8
155x8
135x8

Inverted Row
BWx10x3
Superset with DB Fly
35x10x3

Barbell Shrug
185x10x3
Superset with DB Pullover
60x10x3

Seated DB Front Raise
20x10x3
Superset with Cuff Rotations
5x10
10x10x2

Tricep Kick Back
25x10x3
Superset with Hammer Curl
40x6
35x8x2

Ab Roller
BWx12x3

Random Thoughts from College Nats

After watching the games this past weekend, I began to realize a few things...

Texas does some of the most basic warm-ups of any team out there, yet they have a very well-rounded team from the bottom to the top. The warm-up consisted of throwing around for 10-15 minutes, then lining up on either side of the endzone and extending their throws. The discs were on the sidelines (so they could work both flick and backhand), and the cutter was just inside. In the very center of the endzone there was a marker disc to cut to. Each line cut to that disc every time. The first cut was done about 10 times by each player and it brought them mostly horizontal to the sideline for a 5-10 yard gain. The second was done a similar number of times and was extended to the 15-20 yard length. The final cut was a 35-45 yard huck and seemed like it was only done about 5 times each. Basically, they focused on leading their receivers out to space on a number of different distances and every player was able to throw and catch the disc about 50 times in the drill. It was basic, yet I bet all of the guys had their legs and throws ready to go by the time it was done.

Colorado has ridiculously skilled team. Their warm-up was really pretty crazy. Both Colorado and Texas had a dynamic warm-up of high knees, shuffles, and gradual sprinting, but their drilling differed big time. Once CU was done warming up their traditional throws, blades, and hammers (about 20 minutes), they jumped right into a breakmark come-to drill. Typical come-to's start about 15-20 yards apart, but CU's was more in the 40-50 yard range. Each player probably threw 10-12 IO or "around" breaks before things got interesting... Once they were finished with the typical break throws, each player threw 10-12 hammers to receivers on the break side, and most throwers hit their receiver in stride somewhere around the 35 yard distance. That's not something I'm used to.. the whole team had accurate hammers, and proved they were willing to throw them in the game. I'm not surprised that no zone could stop this team.

CU's final drill utilized short flip passes. They were about 5 feet apart and ran through their lines flipping backhands to the right side, then switched to flipping them to the left, before turning into a flutter-flip. I'm not sure of the benefit of the flutter-flip, but they managed to get 15 in a row before they huddled up for the game. I suppose it's a concentration thing, and it might save them 2-3 discs a tournament. Maybe they think that it's worth practicing for those 2-3 discs to be saved by dialing in their concentration.

The most surprising thing I noticed was the limited use of the IO flick break. Mac had some nasty IO flick break hucks, but it didn't seem like that was how a lot of these teams moved their offense. The dump and swing was used very effectively on most teams, and it seemed like just about every team their had an almost mechanical drive to provide resets and swing opportunities for everyone with the disc. Because of the fundamental play by all seven on the line, nobody was really forced into generating disc movement with their breaks. It was impressive, but I still thought there were opportunities to break things open with fewer passes.

I guess a final thought I had relates to the ease at which some of the teams moved the disc. Watching players like Pebbles from CU, Tyler Conger from UVA, and Stephen Pressley from UT made me realize how important it is to move your ass once you throw the disc. Pressley generated more yards and resets from just "following his shot" (as they would call it in basketball) than he could've by always having to set up and make a cut to get the disc. If your team can be taught to be the first one to take a step after you throw, then the other team is forced to respect that. The defense ends up either standing back off the mark, bouncing back once a thrower releases, or just getting burned if they don't respect it. This can effectively open up quick resets and swings if the mark is bouncing back once you throw, allow for easy crossfield swings if the mark isn't up tight on a thrower, or allow for easy up-the-line scores if a mark is slow to react to a thrower that utilizes the "throw and go."

Totally worth it to add some of these things to your routine. Especially the "follow your shot" aspects of handling, it allows for great "pop-outs," up line cuts, and tired defenders.

May 28 - Lower Body

Box Squat
95x8
135x8
185x8
205x8
205x8
225x7 (Failed at 8)

Quarter Squat
245x8
275x8

Leg Curl
35x10
40x10
42.5x10

Snuck my DB single arm shoulder press in here...
40x10x3

Elevated Supine Hip Extension
3x20 (10 on heels/10 on toes)

Went out and threw a disc for 20 minutes after... Kinda tweaked my back a little funny at some point so I'll get on the foam roller and work it out before Monday's leg day.

May 26 - Upper Body

I remember complaining about this at some point, but when I do my upper body workout (chest, shoulders, back, etc.) I have issues with the vertical presses with my shoulders. Since I have been having those issues, I think I'm going to add that to my lower body workout. I didn't mention it for Monday, but I did do 35x10, 40x8, and 45x8. That's DB Military press... It actually felt really good considering that I don't think I've ever actually done reps with 45 because it doesn't feel right on upper body days..

Anyway...
Push Ups
BWx15x3

Chin Ups
BWx8x3

Incline DB Press
55x11
60x10
60x10

DB Pullover
60x10x3
Superset with DB Single Arm Row
60x10x3

DB Lat Raise
10x10x2
Superset with DB Rear Raise
10x10x2
DB Front Raise
10x10x2
DB Prone Lat Raise
10x10x2

Triceps Extension
55x10x3
Superset with DB Hammer Curl
35x8x3

I also did something funny yesterday before the workout... I was gchatting with Megan and we were talking about how Jim was going to workout with me. Here are my exact words: "me: oh and I'm working out at 7 with gym."

So smooth...

Ultimate National Championships

Congrats to UCSB women and Carleton College men on their achievements. Both won their respective Ultimate titles today. I watched games all weekend in Columbus, OH, but had to miss out on these two.

I already mentioned that the twitter updates were awesome. Check out the updates I was reading during the Carleton/Colorado game today: CutRules

If you read all the way through, you get a great point-by-point recap of the finals. Almost as good as being there... I guess. Sounds like Mac Taylor (#40 CU) was as dominant as advertised, and CUT is about as much of a single living, breathing unit as the Borg are. They're a little intense with their, "The CUT doesn't have 1 or 2 stars. The CUT lives and dies as a team. The CUT does not post on R.S.D. The CUT is coming for your children." business, but they are true to their word, they brought it at Nationals.

Congrats again, and thanks to all 42 teams for putting on a great show this weekend!

May, 25 - Lower Body

Started out a little unmotivated... We had just returned from a 7 hour car ride from Columbus, OH, and I wasn't exactly in the mood to do anything but crash for the night. But, I told myself I was going to do this stuff 4 days a week, and, if there was one day I wasn't going to skip, it was going to be the legs day.

Squat (reaaaaaally slow warm-up)
95x10
95x10
135x10
135x8
175x8 (At this point I realized that Jim was going to Ireland in a couple days, and I thought it would be nice to have a new marker for him on the squats. Last time it was 245lbs.)
205x2
225x1
245x1
265x1 (Jim ended here after a failed attempt at 275 and then 270. +20lbs!)
275x1
285x1
290 Fail, so I upped my last max by 20 lbs as well. Sweet deal!

Straight Leg Deadlift
135x8x3

Single Leg DB Bulgarian Split Squat
50x10x3

Leg Curl
35x10x3

Then, since I need to do more cardio, I rode the stationary for 20 minutes before stretching it out. I'm going to set a goal to get at least 20 minutes each day for the next few weeks.

May, 20 - Upper Body

Upper body workout... I’ve been having this random wrist pain, but I can do most the exercises with full strength so I pushed through.

Warmed up slow again... Bench
Barx12
95x10
135x10
175x10
185x10
205x6
205x4

Inverted Row
BWx10x3
Superset w/Neutral grip DB Incline Press
50x10
60x10
60x8

Shrug
135x10x3
Superset w/DB Lat Raise
10x10x3

Hammer Curl
35x8x3
Superset w/DB Kickback
20x12x3

Cedar Point/Ultimate updates

Some really cool stuff going on today... First, Brian, Sam, and I woke up super-early to make our way to Sandusky, OH, home of Cedar Point. I've been hearing about Cedar Point since an ex-girlfriend of mine from Ohio raved about it while I was doing my undergrad at Oklahoma, and, recently, I've had to hear it from two roommates from Ohio and Sam. Today, I finally got to figure things out for myself.

The prices were pretty steep, $44 for a full day, and an extra $30 if you want to take part in the water portion... We chose to stick to the coasters and paid our fees. First ride up, the Top Thrill Dragster. This thing gets up to 125 mph in a matter of seconds, and vaults you over this huge vertical climb. I haven't always been in love with coasters, but "The Dragster," as I'm told it's called, was smooth as silk. I think I giggled my way to the pinnacle of the climb, and had a big grin walking out of the gate. A good way to start the day.

I'm not going to go ride-by-ride, but I really enjoyed Millenium Force, Magnum, Raptor, and the Mantis. However, Maverick was by far the best of the bunch. The only two issues I had with the park were that:
1). I couldn't find a single smoked turkey leg in the park, and
2). Cedar Point (and Fiesta Texas, for that matter) just needs to get rid of the damn wooden coasters. I don't know what got into me, but I followed sam right through the turnstiles and into my seat on the Mean Streak. Man, wasn't it great that we didn't have to wait in line after waiting nearly two hours for Maverick? Of course it was nice to skip a line, but I'll be damned if I ever screw up like that again. Despite thinking that Mean Streak looked much more tame than The Rattler, I had no doubt about it being a wooden coaster. Did I think about why that line was so short? No. Or, how much I hated myself the last time I rode The Rattler (The very last time)? Nope... But, thanks to ancient coaster technology, I do remember how it feels to willingly destroy your body just to give something an undeserving second chance.

Without those last two points, I had a lot of fun.

In other news, I was able to keep up with Day 1 of college nats on Twitter today. Search the #upanats "hashtag," as I found it was called today, and you'll get all sorts of in-game commentary. Very cool stuff. Hope everyone enjoys the long weekend, I'm off to join the Tweet-happy Ultimate community tomorrow!

Religion..

Got a lot of religion talk around me today... Finished the movie Religulous, listened to more Bill Maher, some Lewis Black, and now George Carlin. All very funny stuff, logical stuff, and, I suppose, controversial stuff.

I guess that's really what it's for; to laugh at and argue about...

Yup... Faith.

5-18

Squats (did a really slow warm-up...lot of sets)
95x10
135x10
175x8
205x8
225x8
235x8

Speed Deadlift
175x6x3

DB Bulgarian Split Squat
50x3x10

SL Leg Curl
35x10
45x10
45x10

Back Extension (W/8lbs. Med Ball)
3x10
Superset with Reverse Crunch
3x15

If you can get apps, you should check out "Lose It!". It's not exactly about weight loss, but is more of an opportunity for me to map out my calories and nutrients for the day. I'm trying to get to a point where I am at a 30/30/40 split with Fat, Carbs, and Protein, but that's harder than it sounds with my sweet tooth... The app can accept custom foods and delivers a chart of your nutrients for every day. It's pretty sweet, and it's been helping me stay on track a little better. Ha, it makes me think twice about my sweets... Do I really want to add another peppermint patty to today's carb total? Probably not.

Commencement 2009

Well, it's official, I am now a Master of Arts. Pretty exciting news. I just wanted to drop a quick post with a couple pictures, and thank Megan, Lauren, Allen, and Dave for dropping by to support. It was also great to have the degree conferred by my co-workers. It's pretty much the ultimate support group. I mean, you can't do anything but your best when your grades are being reported to people you work side-by-side with! Seriously though, they were super-supportive the whole way as was my family and girlfriend. It's nice to know that there's always somewhere there to give you a boost if you need it.

Thanks!

Alright, I wanted to post pictures, but blogger has some serious formatting issues.... Check out my facebook if you've got it for the pics.

5-15

Bench Press
175x10
180x10
180x10

Inverted Row
BQWx10x3
Superset with Incline DB Fly
40x10
40x8
35x10

Prone Trap Raise
10x10x3
Superset with DB Hammer Curl
30x10x3

DB Pullover
60x10x3
Superset with Scapular Push Up
BWx10x3

Skullcrusher
70x10x3

Got the new Green Day album, 21st Century Breakdown... Listened to it during the workout. Some of it is good lifting music, but, and this is good news for me, Green Day is still sticking to the "Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)" design and continues to pen great ballads. The tunes are much shorter than those of American Idiot, but I still get that rock opera feel that they've been striving for. Of course, I was quite a bit distracted from the music, but I was really digging it in between sets.

5-14

Squat
185x10
205x10
205x10

(Had been doing sets of 6 w/225. I think I can do more... I'll try to push a little harder Monday)

Deadlift
225x10
275x7
275x7

Good morning
115x10x3

30sec ea. plank, left side and right side planks

Paste Magazine

Paste is a magazine I've been subscribing to for almost 4 years now, and they're having some financial issues. They do great articles on life, culture, music, and art, not to mention the great reviews they do with books, music, and movies. I would recommend this magazine to anyone. If you're feeling up to it, you can donate and get some free unreleased songs, or, just sign up for a subscription! They've got a cool digital subscription that nets you free albums, monthly mp3's, and a digital edition (saving paper and the planet!).

Here's the link to their site:

Metabolic Acceleration Training

Alwyn Cosgrove writes about it here.

I've been doing circuits for the past few months and it's too bad I didn't read this first (because it would've been nice having some rest in those circuits!)... Alwyn preaches using your circuits as interval training instead of steady-state cardio. It's basically the difference between flying through all exercises without rest, and taking 15-45 seconds between exercises. I've been trying to figure out the cardio I'm going to be doing on my off days, and I think I'll adopt some of what he recommends to go along with my bike riding. I may have to go back and read his book again, the New Rules of Lifting. I'm still looking for a program that I can't live without...

Star Trek

Is awesome.

Paste Magazine gave it a great review here. Megan and I saw it last night at the Navy Heritage center. It was a sweet little event with rocket scientist presenters, free hors d'oeuvres, and they even had the PS2 Socom game in the lobby (which Megan did not let me play).

Compare that to the 30/100 that Wolverine got from Paste... Yeah, you following? I know you saw Wolverine and felt a little let down. Well, at 3 times the movie Wolverine was, Star Trek will pick you back up. The movie was great, and Simon Pegg is hilarious as Scotty (and as just about anyone else he plays).

Cosi, not so cosy, but very sweet about it...

I met the sis, cousin Pam, Tricia, and Dward in Old Town Alexandria last night for some dinner and dessert. They had s'mores at Cosi that were really cool. Who knew Cosi would serve you a mini fire, graham crackers, marshmallows, and a chocolate bar? I think the mini fire was the part I was most surprised about, but the whole thing was rather cool.

Anyway, Megan and I had just met up at Cosi because the rest of the party had just been kicked out of some seafood restaurant. As I go about consuming this ridiculous brownie sundae (customized with two scoops of vanilla ice cream), the waitress begins gathering our dishes and putting the pressure on me. She doesn't ask out to leave outright, but she hovers a bit and grabs dishes from all around me. Finally she makes some comment about the dishwasher leaving and asks for me to get the dishes back so she doesn't have to wash them.. At this point we're all wondering when she's going to grab the sundae from under my nose.

I barely finished the dessert when she graciously lets us know we can leave through the side door. It was all rather comical. "I hope you enjoyed your meal.... feel free to use our side door!" We knew we were getting booted (for the second time if you were the sis and cousin party), but it was all too nice to be upset about it.

I guess Old Town really does turn in early.

5-11

Light workout today... had time limits here, but I did some ok work.

Bench
175x10
175x10
175x10
Superset with DB Row
60x10
60x10
60x10

DB Shoulder Press
40x6
35x8
35x8
(For some reason my left shoulder wasn't really pushing... I think I'm going to make shoulder strength a new focus of mine.)

Prone Trap Raise
10x12
10x12
10x12

Skullcrusher
65x10
65x10
65x10
Superset with DB Hammer Curl
35x10
35x10
35x10

In other news, Jessica Biel is facing off against Jessica Alba in the Bigger Dance finals... Go Jessica!

5-10

Squats
185x8
205x7
205x7
205x7

Rack Pull
225x8
225x8
225x8

Good Morning
115x8
115x8
115x8
Superset with Bulgarian Split Squat
50 (DB)x8
50x8
50x8

Are we training correctly?

I saw this post in The Huddle last week and it got me to thinking....

Are we training properly for Ultimate? I mean, I don't think that 400s are really doing us any harm, but what could we be doing better?

I got me thinking about a few different things that we did at our practices that might fit the mold. 200s fit within that 30 second window for most people, but what if we changes those parameters to "30 second sprints" instead of 200 meter sprints? I know some of our team can hit 200s in just over 30 seconds, but most are closer to the 40-50 second range. We also did plenty of suicides when we had gym time. That seems to fit the mold a bit better. There is cutting, starting/stopping, and a little endurance worked in.

My final thoughts are that maybe we should be focusing on time ranges instead of distance ranges. What if we specified times and stuck to them by being vocal and using our coach to call them? A thought I had was to line everyone up on the goal line, have the coach start us, then make a call when we hit 15 seconds. At the 15 second point, players must stop as fast as they can, then turn and sprint the other direction. It simulates Ultimate in that you have to change direction when you're not expecting it, and it also keeps us within a given time range.

These are just a few thoughts I had on the matter, but it will really be interesting when more fitness professionals begin to look at the demands of the sport and really present us a better program to work from. As for me, I think injury prevention and bulletproofing your body would be a good start!

5-8

DB Incline Bench
50x12
60x10
60x10
60x10

Chin Up
+45x4
+35x3
+25x4
BWx8
(This was probably a bad choice to go with such heavy weights to start. Although it is cool to do chin ups with a plate around your waist.)

Inverted Row
BWx10
BWx10
BWx8

Superset with Bench
185x8
185x7
185x5

DB Pullover
60x10
60x10
60x10

Superset with DB Lat Raise
15x10
15x10
15x10

Skullcrusher
65x10
65x10
65x10

Superset with DB Rear Raise
15x7
10x10
10x10

Taste of Vermont/Chaz B-Day

The Taste of Vermont is an annual reception over at the Leahy office, and I've been lucky enough to be part of it these last two years. Last year it was a pleasant surprise, and I have to say that I've been looking forward to it for a while know. I'm not exactly excited about the prospects of shuffling through a crowded room filled with politicians, but you can't really beat the food.

Our first stop was the Bove's (I think that's how it was spelled) ravioli. I think that probably could've been our only stop... Basically everything we were going to hit was going to be small-town, local, all-natural foods, and this one was probably going to be hard to beat. After eating the ravioli, I realized that it was from a box. From a box! It's like that ridiculous Pizza Hut commercial where everyone eats their new spaghetti in this fancy restaurant, then they find out it's really Pizza Hut's (probably a big lie...). Basically the same way. You can thaw and bake this stuff every night if you wanted. Straight from Vermont.

A few other places of note are the Magic Hat brewery.... They've got some new "Wacko" beer that has all natural beet juice in it for the summer. Not too bad tasting, but then I found out that it's pink. I'm sorta glad I left it in the bottle.

Ben & Jerry's is always a plus. There's pretty much ice cream at every Vermont event because of them, but there was nothing exciting this time. I always hope they'll unvail some crazy flavor at one of these events, but it's pretty much always the same vanilla, chocolate, fudge brownie, and cookie dough. Boring, but good.

Then there were a few others with names I can't remember.... The salted caramel chocolates, various flatbreads, cheeses, honey-baked ham, pecan pie-ish thingy, and I grabbed some dog treats on the way out for Axle. Pretty good stuff.

I'd say the only downside to these things is that Megan has 100 people that like to stop by to chat, and I can't really concentrate on eating as much as I'd like... To busy getting introduced to people I'm going to forget.

Anyway, we made our way out to Nellie's Sports Bar afterwards for the roommate's birthday. The rain finally stopped in time to get out on the roof and enjoy the weather. It was sweet though, because I got to meet some of Chaz's friends from college and DC. I found out that my roommate was this hot shit track star in Carthage before quitting to pay for school. He's got a pair of wings tatooed on his ankles that I always wondered about.... But yeah, supposedly the dude's got some wheels. And here I am thinking he's just a good baker. One of his friend's is also working on an exercise science degree over at GW. Basically the same sitch at me, but ended up at GW instead (where they have a wider range of graduate degrees....). Anyway, I'm totally jealous of her and my bro the CSCS who get to work out for work.

Thanks to Vermont and Chaz for a good time last night!

5-4

Sick today, but worked out anyway... Read somewhere that it was good for you to sweat a bit when you're sick...

Box Squat
225x3
215x4
215x4
210x6

Speed Deadlift
175x9x2

Walking Lunge DB
60x6/leg
50x8/leg
50x8/leg

Reverse Crunch
3x15
Plank
3x30sec.

Trying some high-frequency training stuff too... working on bicep and forearm. Basically I'm going to start doing this (probably plus a little bit of weight) each day of the week for around a month to build some strength. I'm hoping it will help me deal with the big dumbbells a bit...
EZ Curl
65x12
Reverse Curl
55x10

2nd Annual CUA Alumni Game

It's been raining about three days in a row now, and we are expecting another week or more in DC. No matter, Catholic Ultimate will have it's second annual alumni game. Ahh, The benefits of having a turf field..

We were short on alums this year, but isn't it supposed to be the opposite? I mean, I swear we're graduating kids from this university. We had Templon, Heureux, Gatmaitan, McCafferty, Karpovich, De Martini, Dorsy, and Coach Dave to represent. Broaddus and Taylor, some very good local Ultimate players, stood in to bolster the ranks for a bit as well.

Despite the poor weather, the youth started the game strong, jumping to a 4 point lead. One of these was a turn near the sideline that I picked up. The first thing I saw when I looked downfield was Jess streaking deep with a step on Cafferty. I dipped low and floated a backhand out there for her to run down for an easy score. She's pretty much a menace in any game.

The shut out wasn't meant to last though, and the alums started to hit back with scores by Arin and Sam.

From here on, the game began to build in intensity as the alums began to claw back. Broaddus continued to perform as expected, making a nasty grab across the field and adjusting his steelers cap on the way to the ground. Damon found Templon running deep at a speed unseen by those who've played with him in the past. Cat even managed to give Arin something to chat about with a risky forehand into the endzone for another score. Now they were scoring, but they needed a way to slow the efficient habit offense. They tried a zone...

We always say that we are one of the better poor weather teans out there, but when you combine zone and good weather, we become deadly. The young habit offense kept relatively chilly against the Cultimate zone until I grabbed the disc on a sideline and ripped a crossfield hammer to Kyle for another score. Jake stepped it up on D and got himself a big footblock against throwing wizard, Damon. Habit kept the scoring up through half and took a rest at 8-4.

The second half was another story. Habit opened up its lines a bit and started subbing at will. We assumed we'd be able to close this easily, but the old guys weren't about to be put down quietly. Now that they had a full half under their belts, those old joints were starting to warm up and they started getting comfortable on the field together. Karpo and Templon kept the disc moving smoothly and found Jimmy cutting tirelessly at this point. Dorsy was breaking Habit players across the field and Arin was virtually unstoppable (mostly because I was guarding him.... oops.). Arin also picked up a few huge d's on errant throws, and decided to start a little battle with me with his spike in the endzone.

Although the gap was closing, Jake and Pete held together the handling core, while John, Stills, Jim, and Jess continued to give us open looks. Frodo worked his man for big unders as well, and Paco was torching Gatmaitan for yards as well. We rarely forced the disc deep this game, and instead favored quick hits underneath and big swings to gain our yards. As the game wore on, we got lazy with the disc near our endzone a few times and gave Cultimate some easy scores to gain ground. The game was soon 13-13 in a fight to 15.

We put our best line in, and prepared to walk the disc in. With Pete and I handling, we worked it slowly up field, taking the breaks when needed, and eventually hit Brian in the back of the endzone for a graceful sky that only he could come up with (note the sarcasm). We had high hopes of punching it on on defense too, but we couldn't manage a d, and allowed the alums to punch another score in on us. Another Arin score on me that is... Since he'd just gotten bookends, the battle still continued between us.

Another score and answer later, we were sitting at 15s in a game to 17. I finally found my answer to Arin with an up the line cut that was high and bit out of his reach, after showing him my prize I dished to Pete and found the endzone for a go ahead score. Playing D again, Habit was able to get a turn close to the endzone and close with a score from Pete to Stills. Young guns win for the last time ever 17-15. I think our graduating class this year has something for the young guys next year!

Thanks to all the alums who came out to make this possible!

A recap of the Arin v. Alan battle:
Arin scores on a swilly Cat put and spikes it on Alan.
Alan breaks Arin all day, but that doesn't count for much to Arin.
Arin d's two bad dump passes, counts that as "pwning."
Arin scores breakside, and again on the forceside.
Alan gets over Arin for the up line pass... Shows it to Arin before breaking him and scoring.
Arin gets more scores and d's, but a final score of 17-15 settles it. DHS does not pwn.

Bacon Explosion

Pictures are here: Bacon Explosion.

We started late Saturday night... didn't have too many problems other than turning the oven off during our first attempt at baking it. We waited the full hour, then walked in when the timer went off to find that we hadn't cooked anything. Pretty sad, but we were dead set on getting our bacon explosion last night.

I would definitely recommend this for people to try at least once. It was a pretty fun night, and, yes, it took 5 guys 15 minutes to devour once it was done!

5-1

Speed Bench
10x3x135lbs. (From one of Eric Cressey's Maximum Strength workouts. We're working on bar speed through the lift)
Close grip bench
185x6
185x6
185x6
185x5
One Arm DB Row
90x5
95x5
90x5
90x5
Inverted Row
3x10xBW
Scapular Push Up
3x15
EZ Bicep Curl
55x10
65x8
65x7
Roman Chair Sit Up
3x15xBW

Bad Habit Ultimate

So I was thinking about Ultimate today and I thought I would mention why I've changed the blog name and maybe talk about some things I thought were interesting about the blog's picture.

The name's changed because I'm no longer a college Ultimate player. I will officially graduate May 16, but I've completed my final paper (and received a grade, a good grade) and our Ultimate season is already over...

I went with Stre7ch for three reasons:
- It was my nickname when I played baseball through high school
- It's my current gamertag (actually it's I Stre7ch I)... that's the nerdy side of me...
- It wouldn't be too bad to have the nickname back. I've actually never had a nickname through my college Ultimate career which I find weird. Everyone is always looking for something odd to call each other, and I've managed to avoid that. Part of me thinks that's good, and part of me feels left out.

This picture is kinda funny though. I'll give you some traits of people and then see if you can match the person with the trait based on what their doing in the picture.

Jared - Always pissed off about something... He might not think this is funny, but it was kinda funny when he called an "injury" at IUP because he was pissed at Pete...
John - Always telling some ridiculous story. Doesn't matter when, it could be in the middle of a point, but he's always got some crazy story to tell.
Jess - Obviously the easiest to pick out. She's one of the best women I've played with and she always seems to be waiting on us to step up our game.
Ranjo - Goofy. Most all the time. Even in the way he stands...
Frodo - Well, he's Frodo, so which one do you think he is?
Stills - Intense. Focused. He's pretty seious on the line, so we try to keep our attention towards the opposing team (like we should.....).
And me - If you're reading this, you probably know who I am. Either way, I'm a disc hog, so I've got that piece of plastic in my hand.

4-28

Circuit day
4 times through, 15 reps each:

Push Up
Reverse Lunge from Deficit
Roman Chair Sit Up
DB Fly
Bulgarian Split Squat
Reverse Curl
DB Row

Pilot Speed - Wooden Bones

Everyone has an opinion on what makes a great album; some say it's the inclusion of several big hits and some others might say that it's the ability to keep your feet thumping through every track.

Toronto-based Pilot Speed does both on Wooden Bones. Since I'm not really a radio guy, I get the rare opportunty to select what I think would be the hit singles myself. Because of this, it's always a pleasant surprise when a band can turn that into a tough decision.

There are only a few weak tracks on this album, but to say they are weak is only due to comparison to high standards set by the first four tracks: Put the Phone Down, Light You Up, Bluff, and Ain't No Life. If I had to choose, I would most likely have placed Light You Up as my first radio single, but it turns out that Pilot Speed has already chosen Put the Phone Down in that spot. I like both, but I think the chorus and driving beat of Light You Up separates it from a slightly repetative Put the Phone Down.

Pilot Speed's lyricist and frontman, Todd Clark, tends to drag you into his record at will. His voice is slightly airy, comes with a rasp at times and is always emotionally-charged (see the last minute of track #10, Wooden Bones). The band tends to pull from a Keane or Coldplay vibe in their more piano-driven tunes, but Clark's voice quickly reminds you that you're listening to something a bit more raw.

If I had to recommend three tracks?
- #2 Light You Up
- #3 Bluff
- #10 Wooden Bones

I'm not big into dropping arbitrary numbers around, but I'd rate this in the A-range along with their other albums: "Into the West" (Released in Canada as "Sell Control for Life's Speed") and "Caught By the Window" (When the band was known as "Pilate").

4-27

Legs today
Squats
185x6
225x6
225x6
225x6

Still missing some explosion on the way back up on the squats... hope I can remedy that.

Rack Pull
225x6

Then decided just to do deads....
245x6
275x5
295x4
Then Jim maxed at 330, I got pissed it was more than mine and threw on 350... Did it, then Jim did it too. Good joooooorb, Jim!

4-26 - Castle Crashers, Bacon Explosion, New Plants

Bench Press
185x7
205x5
205x5
205x4
4x4 Chin Up (BW+30lbs.)
3x8 Suspended Inverted Row Superset with
3x6 Dumbbell Bench (with my new 90lbs. dumbbells.... pretty heavy, but doable)
3x8 Dumbbell Row (this was sort of stupid... did 90's, then 60's because I didn't think I was using good tech., then did 105 on the EZ Curl) superset with
3x10 Dumbbell Shrug (90lbs. dumbbells)
Finished up with some curls, kickbacks, reverse crunches and planks.

I downloaded this sweet new game on XBox arcade called Castle Crashers. You can play up to 4 players and it sort of has that Golden Axe feel from the arcades in the 90s. It's got some fun medieval trance music going on throughout the gameplay, and there's a role-playing element to it with character customization that's pretty cool..

Looking forward to the Alumni game this weekend. We're going to attempt the Bacon Explosion Sunday morning... We'll probably do the oven recipe though, but it looks delicious!

Bri and I also went over to the Franciscan Monestary by my house to buy some vegetables and herbs for the extra space in the yard. Who knows how this will work out, but from their limited selection (we went on Sunday of the weekend sale) we picked up some little herb that smelled like bacon (can't remember the name, but it's not one you eat), Parsley, two spaghetti squash plants, and a pumpkin plant. We'll see how all that goes... The vegetables should be interesting with the dog wanting to dig up the yard...

4-23

Legs today... We did a circuit 4-21 that included two sets of 20 minutes:

Push up
Pull Up
Roman Chair Sit Up
Inverted Row
Lunge
Rear Delt Raise (I don't really know what this thing is called)

Reverse Lunge from deficit
Back Ext
Skull Crusher
Bicep Curl
Single Leg Romanian Deadlift
Med Ball V-Ups

Todays workout looked like this:

Box Squat 5x4 (I did 195 for 4 sets and 205 for the last... First time doing box squats...)
Speed Deadlift 10x3 (all reps were fast and done with 165lbs.)
Bulgarian Split Squat 4x6 (50lbs. DB's in each hand)
Reverse Crunch 3x15
Plank 3x30sec.

And ended with a round of disc golf on campus...