17 minutes of Hell!

"But I firmly believe that any man's finest hour - his greatest fulfillment to all he holds dear - is that moment when he has to work his heart out in a good cause and he's exhausted on the field of battle - victorious." Vince Lombardi

It all started with a goal of 300reps, and began at 70reps 8 weeks ago. With-in the first month I was up to 150reps and then only two weeks later hit 200. Being that I turn 30 this week my goal was to attempt 300, and I am proud to say I did it.

I’m not going to lie to you, it wasn’t pretty. Half way through my body began to feel the affects of doing 50 deadlifts in a row then dropping to 50 push-ups…I had to remove the idea that I was tired and in pain and all I had to do was quite and it would all be over. But then what would have been the point. I also knew that if I stopped, the pain and exhaustion would go away in only a few minutes of rest and I would be disappointed that I didn’t suffer through, which is the point after all.

The dreaded break down was;
25 Pull-ups + 50 Deadlifts @65lbs + 50 Floor wipers @ 45lbs + 50 Push-ups + 50 2ft Box Jumps + 50 Hang Cleans + 25 Pull-ups. It took me 17 minutes to complete. 200 only took me 8!

I asked myself why am I posting this? Well first training interests me a great deal. Second I just like writing about it and hope that -as it has in the past- my nutrition and training blogs will inspire or educate others or encourage others to ask question about things they could do.

But finally it is also to show that the training techniques and healthy eating choices I use can work for everyone’s health, with a little tailoring to what they want out of it. They say the proof is in the pudding so here it is. My injury resulted in me taking 4 months off with no cardio and relaxed weight training. I was at a soft 183lbs. I had a beer belly and the small tire to go with it.

10 weeks later of healthy eating and training hard I am back to my 175lbs after losing approximately 10 to 15lbs of fat and gaining a great deal of muscle back. My short runs are back to a minimum of 40min 7kms 3 to 4 times a week, with one long run of 10km+.

I also train for endurance/power/strength so that when I hike, for example, I can hike at higher speeds, gain great amounts of elevation in a short period of time and in my during rest I will recover faster.

I also train for muscle density not size. Meaning that a great deal of training is done with the concentration of the movement with long negatives tearing the muscle over and over again. So that I can lift the same as a man who is bigger then I am.

For example a weight lighter who is 6foot, ~200 lbs of bulky muscle and is lifting 115lbs dumbbells (per hand) for chest press will need a great deal of recovery. The way I have trained I lift the same amount at 5' 8" 175lbs as a larger man. Reason that I want this? I am as strong as the bigger lifter but when I attempt my sports 1. I do not have a bulky frame to move around, 2. I recover faster, 3. have more endurance and stamina, and 4. I am as strong or stronger then my larger counterpart.

Like I mentioned I train this way as it is what I need for my sports and it keeps me healthy. Others train for different things but the bottom line is to eat healthy, keep active, and get rest so that you can live a healthy life and feel good all the time.

And a note about the weekend. I will try to post a blog tomorrow with some pics from the beer butt chicken and ribs fest at my parents place. The beer tenderized the chicken perfectly while infusing it with great flavour. The ribs were chard and crispy with lots of meat.

BBQ tip if you have been drinking through out the afternoon and you are almost done grilling, the piece of meat that falls off the bone onto the grill, eat it with you fingers or a fork. Do not, and I repeat, do not use the tongs you have been using all afternoon and better part of the evening. Reason being; if you happen to touch the end of the tong to your lip you will lose a good portion of skin. If you are wondering why I am saying this lets just say I have had to put some ointment on my lip today, stupid ‘night marc’ was out early that day.

We had a great day lots of laughs, played some cards, and had some drinks. The food was only trumped by the company.