illc

December 18th sleep (prev night): 10 hrs (15:30 - Riverside trail, Iowa City, IA) run 4.99km, 28:35, 5:44 min/km Nice, scenic trail along the river and University of Iowa campus.

December 17th sleep (prev night): 7.5 hrs (17:00 - Hampton Inn, Iowa City, IA) 3 rds x5 inch worm push ups x5 reverse crossover lunges side lever prep arch body rock 3x 24 standing hip cicle 3x10 manna prep straddle up 5x 9 jefferson curl 5x 5, two 20lb DBs Both of these felt great. Kept my straddle wide and even through the full movement of SUs. single leg squat prep side to side squats 5x6 / side (20:00 - hotel pool) CESAs 3 rounds of 4x lengths horizontal CESA (short pool)1 10 minutes in the hot tub reading "3 Cups Of Tea"

December 16th sleep (prev night): 8.5 hrs (11:00 - Hampton Inn, Iowa City, IA) 3 rds x5 inch worm push ups x5 reverse crossover lunges willl have to find a youtube video of these lunge stretches, as I find them really useful for unkinking hips and ankles jump rope 5 minutes, starts and stops as I tripped up front lever prep, 5 rds hollow body hold x36 sec standign trunk circle x 10 Oops, did wrong mobility element for this pair straddle planche prep, 5 rds single arm plank x30 sec / side donkey kicks x10 / side Paid attention to body position with more detail than I have previously during the single arm planks as I had a mirror I could assess in. Initally my butt was floating up and I was hunching forward at the shoulders. Difficulty (and benefit !) increased quite a bit by tucking hips and depressing scalpulae. hollow body press prep, 5 rds pseudo planche push up x10 xiao peng (forward) x5 / side Also noticed in the mirror that I'd been getting sloppy with form during the PPPs. In this case letting mmy hips sag. Focused on maintaining a stiff hollow body. While it took a bit more mental effort this did actually make the push ups "easier" later in the sets as I conserved muscular force that would otherwise have been leaked through a loose trunk. rope climb prep, 5 rds ring rows x10 twisting bent lat stretch x 4 "pulses" The program as prescribed by Coach Somers calls for 30 sec of the stretch, but I find grasping an upright and moving through a low squat to stand range of motion moves the shoulder and lat through a much more satisfying set of positions so do this 4 times per side. 10 rds, 30 second intervals alternating between: 10x 45lb DB swings 10x 45lb DB goblet squats

December 14th sleep (prev night): 8 hrs (12:00 - West End YMCA, Toronto) 4 rounds squats 10x 95lbs, 3x10x 135lbs push ups 4x 10 barbell press 10x 45lbs 3x10x 65lbs 3 rds 10x pull ups 10x push ups

December 11th sleep (prev night): 8 hrs (11:00 - Holiday Inn Express, Whitby-Oshawa) Gymnastic Bodies Foundations side lever: arch body rock 3x 24 standing hip cicle 3x10 manna: straddle up 5x 9 jefferson curl 5x 5, unweighted (20:00 - Holiday Inn Express, Whitby-Oshawa) 5 rounds, not for time 5x 45lb DB one arm press / side 10x 45lb DB "goblet" reverse lunge / side Two light sessions today. In a bit of a mental funk and comparing the amount and intensity of training I've been doing this Autumn to what I was doing around the same time last year - also the satisfaction I'm getting from it. Perhaps it is time to look for some fresh perspetive and reasons? "Positive Why? Positive How?"

Absolutely "fitness" activities can be a challenge on the road. At the same time, especially once they're becoming part of your routine I've found they can provide a bit of base and foundation during otherwise topsy turvy times. That and they start lending energy back to you that you can use to rise to those wider categories of adventure. What have you enjoyed doing in the past? Steve's outlined some ideas around equipment free training. I know I do push ups and squats fairly often and they take about 1.5 feet by 6 feet (for me, less for smaller people ) but not everyone's up to doing those yet. Progressions are available!

December 8th (10:00 - Sheraton Downtown Hotel fitness centre, Toronto) sleep (prev night): 8 hrs 3 rounds 10x v ups 10x jump squats 5 rounds 5x pull up 3x one arm press, 45lbs 5 rounds 5x ab wheel rollouts from knees10x 10x step ups to bench, 45lb DBs per hand

December 7th (18:30 - True North Climbing, Toronto) climbing, sport lead 5.7 5.9 5.9 (one take prior to a series of diagonal fat pinches which have caused me trouble every time I've encountered them) 5.9 (short route!) 5.9 (one take) 5.10- (quit after two attempts at second clip. Looks like a great route but the combination of long reaches from odd postures under a little overhang, and fat pinches - the exact things that make it a cool route - put me off this time)

Belated congratulations on your wedding, Tracer.

December 7th (11:30 - Sheraton Downtown Hotel fitness centre, Toronto) sleep (prev night): 9 hrs inverse rep ladder, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 45lb DB turkish get up 45 lb DB clean and press ... but illc, don't you live in Toronto? Why would you be at a hotel gym? Welll, good question. In all my dynamic and globe trotter-ly wisdom I subletted my apartment for Novemmber through February. My plan had been 5 weeks on work in Brazil, 10 days of famiy visiting through the holidays and then 6 week of rock climbing vacation in Spain. Curve ball! I'm home! ... but only briefly.

December 5th (10:00 - my parent's house, wilds of Ontario) sleep (prev night): 9 hrs 5 rds, spaced out through morning 10x push ups 10x one arm KB swings/ side, 45lb Unexpected training session at th'ol' homestead. My grandmother was sick so I flew home from Brazil expecting a funeral and got some quality family time.

November 28th (18:00 - Center FIT, Braganca Paulista, Sao Paulo, Brazil) sleep (prev night): 10 hrs dynamic mobility various ... I don't keep track of these well if I don't program it myself. warm up 1:00 plank 20x hands up squats 1:10 plank 20x monkey fuckerssome other kind of twising and stretching squat 1:20 plank 20x skaters 3 rounds 10x ab wheel roll outs from knees 10x jump squats Ab wheel roll outs have never felt this easy. Must be the tiny dose of consistency with planks this week. I've got a roller at home so may just work these in more often than I have been! (which has been pretty much not at all) 5 rounds 2, 4, 6, 8, 10 long cycle clean and jerks, two 16kb kettlebells. Alternating with partner: they rest while I do mine, I rest while they do theirs. (150 reps total)

November 26th (18:00 - Center FIT, Braganca Paulista, Sao Paulo, Brazil) sleep (prev night): 9 hrs dynamic mobility various ... I don't keep track of these well if I don't program it myself. warm up 1:00 plank 20x hands up squats 1:10 plank 20x some other kind of twising and stretching squat 1:20 plank 20x skaters 1:30 plank 20x ... I don't recall kettlebell snatches inverse rep ladder from 10 down to 1 per side, 20kg kettlebell (110 total reps) 6 rounds 6x pull up 10x racked squats per side, 20kg kettlebell (36 pull ups, 120 total squats) 20 rounds 10x kettlebell swings every 0:40, 24kg kettlebell (200 total reps) By the end of this session it felt like it might have been a bit too much volume for by lower back. By the next morning I knew this was true for sure. I spent a lot of time on the floor trying to find the right mob' drills to unlock low back, glutes and hamstrings. Take care kids! There's no shame in easing yourself back in after a lay off or light period.

Thanks, Lanithroe, this is a bit of a mash up of two days from the gymnasticbodies.com Foundation 1 program. It is a really good system from what I've seen, though truth be told I'm a bit impatient for it. It is very progression oriented, taking you from the difficulty of movements and volume of work you can do and building towards some really shocking skills. More info: http://robbwolf.com/2014/07/01/episode-230-coach-sommer-gymnastic-bodies/ -- Interview with Robb Wolf, quite informative https://www.youtube.com/user/GymnasticBodies-- a sampling of movements along the progression path ... I am doing some very simple stuff that does not make the cut here

November 25th (16:30 - NC Hotel, Braganca Paulista, Sao Paulo, Brazil) sleep (prev night): 9 hrs front lever hollow body hold 4x 36 sec table rocks 4x 5 straddle planche single arm plank 4x 30 sec / side donkey kicks 4x 10 /side hollow bent press pseduo planche push up 4x 10 xiao peng (backwards) 4x 5 / side side lever arch body rock 5x 12 standing truck circle 5x 10 manna straddle up 4x 9 jefferson curl (unweighted) 4x 5 single leg squat side to side squat 4x 6 jump rope 5 minutes, as steady as possible