Sisyphus's daily to-do

[Guzzi]

Ha! Good to know.

[The Most Loathed]

Last night's game:

 

 

[Guzzi]

Totally lost... That meant nuffin to me.

[KB Girl]

Board games are the best! Looks like you have a lot of structure, that seems nice. I'm still working on getting there. The only organized part of my week are my workouts, hehe..

So cool you signed up for the competition! it'll be a nice challenge and it's so much fun to meet more people with an interest in kb training. It's a good thing, this nerdfitness!

[The Most Loathed]

03/25/2014

Bodyweight:

205.9 (I should start doing this in K - 93.4)

 

Workout:

20K LC 7:00 7 RPM X 2

16K gorilla cleans 1 minute - started second but no go.

 

Notes:

• My new pattern RE: bodyweight seems to be a bit of a bounce up on Tuesday then a slide down the rest of the week. I'm not unhappy with this, just observing
• I did a longer than usual warm up partially because I was putting off the work set. I was worried about failing at the second set. I've not tried 2 sets with 20K before. I have to say that as much as I believe I do this entirely for myself, the thought of posting a failed set helped push me a bit. It was very hard work in that second set and I'm glad I did it.
• Gorilla Cleans have been a thing I've worked on over time. They are just so insanely tough. A minute in and I'm winded and fatiguing
• I started a program to fix my shoulder mobility issue at lock out. Every two hours at work I'm a doing a figure 8 with my arm in the lock out position. I also did a long cooldown that involved some shoulder work.
• I found out a cousin that I haven't seen in years, despite us being the bet of friends when we were children, lives an hour away from the kettlebell meet I signed up for in June. That will be fun.

[The Most Loathed]

03/26/2014

AKA - The 1st of Barbell!!

 

Bodyweight

 

Workout

Barbell warm up

Squat 100K X 10

 

1 hour TRX class

 

Notes

• Barbell arrived with nice new Rogue locking collars. Played with the barbell progessing by 20K at a time up to 80K doing deads, cleans and snatches (no snatches at 80). The last clean was ugly and should have been let to go. 100 should come back quickly this year. Nort bad for a guy who hasn't pulled in 6 months
• Squats were good. Man, this barbell feels so light and easy. I have no idea how that works. I'll hit my 20 rep squat in a few weeks then have to figure out what I want to do with squats this year.
• TRX class tonight was taught by a new guy. The poor guy got me and a chick who was brand new, as new as they come. He did his best but it's far to say that it was a lackluster class. I don't really blame him. I also found out that he's the new kettlebell instructor that they have been bragging to me about. He has a Kettlebell Concepts certificates - it gives me the willies.

 

 

[Guzzi]

New barbell... Woohoo!

Gorilla cleans look insanely tough! 1 minute of those is fecking impressive never mind going for 2.

[The Most Loathed]

03/27/2014

bodyweight: 203.2

 

training:

Concept II setting 2 5K 20:00

1 hour reformer pilates

 

notes:

• I wouldn't have minded a little more time on the rower but that was all I had. 
• I set the rower to two so I couldn't rely on strong pulls to keep it moving, I had to take a lot of strokes to keep that pace, I think I was around 28 SPM
• Pilates was kinda meh but I've been pretty tired this week so I honestly didn't mind an easy session.

[The Most Loathed]

03/28/2014

bodyweight: 202.0 (91.6 k)

 

workout

24K LC 3:00 6 RPM

3 :00 rest

24K LC 3:00 6 RPM

3:00 rest

24K LC 2:00 6 RPM*

3:00 rest

24K LC 2:00 6 RPM*

 

Crossfit 14.5

95lb (40K) barbell thruster

bar facing burpee

reps 21->18->15->12->9->6->3

24:00

 

notes

• * = failed set, I was prescribed 3 X 3:00 but just couldn't find the mental toughness for the third set. I still physically felt ok so I went back to try again and just burned out again.
• temp outside was 40 (4 C) but it was warm enough to train in the driveway
• This morning our manager bought a breakfast pizza that we all used to love including me. I've been eating so much good food that it was just of no interest to me. I had a bite and left it. I never leave food. 
• My time on the crossfit workout is super average but I don't really care, it was just a thing to do. I may try again with kettlebells just because I think it would be more comfortable for me.
• I took the afternoon off from work which was nice but it's weird sitting here no, knowing that other than supper, I'm done for the night
• Tomorrow I'm getting my first deep tissue massage ever. I've had a massage once or twice years ago but they were more of the feel nice and relax a bit type. Laura's been getting a massage every other saturday and I've gone into the gym at that time. Last time I came to pick her up after she had ne they asked if I wanted one. I told them that if they had someone who could get deep into my muscles, I'd give it a try. We shall see how this goes.

 

 

[The Most Loathed]

03/29/2104

bodyweight: 204.3

 

workout:

16K LC 10:00 10RPM

 

16K Gorilla Clean 0:20 on/0:10 off X 5

 

60K Power Clean X 100

 

 

notes:

• got a massage today. It was good. I'm not a whole new person or anything but she went after my spinal erectors with elbows and forearms. She did a bunch of fascia work on my legs. I'll do it again in a couple weeks
• workout today was weird. For one, I forgot that it was supposed to be two sets of five and just cranked through a full ten minute set at 10RPM. It was really hard from minutes 2 - 8 then got easier again. Then the power cleans were pretty much a breeze. I felt good and I felt like I had some time to spare (I had used 60 of 90 allotted minutes) but the knees were feeling creaky and the brain was starting to drift. I probably could have done better with my time.
• Undecided on yoga tomorrow. Undecided on what follows yoga tomorrow.

[Guzzi]

Glad you enjoyed the massage. There's a girl near me who does Thai massage and it's great. It's definitely not a relaxing thing, you feel like she's been beating you up by the time you leave. I think it does help with the flexibility.

:o :o <-- to the workout btw!

[The Most Loathed]

03/30/2014

bodyweight

204.5

 

workout

1 hour yoga

 

20 rep squat 100K

 

circuit X 6

jump lunge 10/10

16K figure 8 to a hold 10/10

staggered explosive push up 5/5

24K renegade rows 5/5

24K framers walk 40ish meters

 

notes

• yoga was interesting this morning, we ended up doing a fair amount of one leg work that was quite fatiguing. I really questioned any squatting after that
• Squats came easy. I videoed it but my phone hasn't uploaded yet. I'm sure a few of them were shallow as I was a little tight in the hips after pulling yesterday. The last couple are a little sloppy. I'm interested to see how sloppy. Video Link
• I'm not quite sure what I want to do with squats this year. My weights don't quite reach 400lbs and I don't know that I Really care to squat that much again just to say I did. 
• The circuit was honestly a little easy but it was more about doing it than any specific thing.
• tomorrow is off day
• Today I'm doing a pantry rebuild project that we've talked about for a couple weeks. I have to credit Laura as being the one motivated to get it done this weekend. She wanted to go to Ikea last night and get the shelves I had settled on. This morning she skipped singing and cleaned out the pantry. Next step is me getting my ass in there and putting together the shelves and deciding where things to.
• I also have a guy stopping by later to trade my copy of Netrunner for his copy of The Lords of Waterdeep. He's definitely coming out ahead financially but Netrunner wasn't getting played and I can't and won't spend the money to keep up with the game. I hope to get Laura to settle in for a teaching game of Lords of Waterdeep later. Wish me luck.

[The Most Loathed]

03/31/2014

bodyweight: 203.4

 

workout: off

 

Notes:

This week in stuff you don't care to know - The games thing

 

I was pretty typical of an american of my age and time. I grew up playing the occasional board game like Monopoly, Uno and so on. I had an original NES when they were new and had various consoles over the years as well as playing PC video games. pack around 2004 or 2005 I was playing World of Warcraft pretty regularly and getting dissatisfied that I was investing time and energy in something that would only ever reward me by letting me invest more time and energy. I was also playing a game called Kingdom of Loathing (KoL).

 

KoL did and does have a podcast on which the creators talk about the game they make but also what else they do. Time and time again they mentioned Betrayal at House on the Hill and Arkham Horror as some kind of really neat board game. I decided to learn more. I ended up going to a meetup a couple hours from my house and playing boardgames for six hours. I learned a host of games including Betrayal at House on the Hill. I was smitten.

 

In the years that immediately followed I spent time training for strongman and powerlifting but I spent my off time buying, trading and playing boardgames. Oddly, it was easier for me to find people to lift with than people to game with. My poor wife tolerated me teaching her a lot of games that just weren't very interesting to her. Then we moved to Minnesota. Here I have found amazing training and gaming partners.

 

I found my first new Minnesota gaming partner at my first job. He was a fellow nerd who started a few months after me. I don't recall how we broached the subject but we ended up playing Risk over lunch. It felt like we were doing something wrong, playing a boardgame at a place of business. Soon we started playing Race for the Galaxy regularly. Then I had the gall to change jobs and leave him behind.

 

At my new employer, I was at a large team event and saw two guys with a bag full of hobbiest games. I struck up a conversation with them and we gamed the rest of the day. I found out later that they play games once in a while over lunch. I came and played a couple times and we became a group. Since then that group has grown and we play almost every single day at lunch. I enjoy it so much that there are days that I could work from home but I come into the office just for my fix. 

 

If my boardgaming life wasn't already picturesque (noon games, the occasional outing to game) there have been two new developments. My wife has made a couple friends who are just beginning to become interested in games. I'm enjoying being the guy who they come to for advice on new games or when they need someone to play with because not one else will. Also, that guy that was my first game partner, I got him to come to my new employer. He plays in my noon time game group. He also moved from the part of town that we both used to live in, to the part of town that I now live in. He's super close to me and when I take Monday night off from training, it's because we find a bar or game store to hole up in and play more games. Sometimes we meet up with larger groups and sometimes it's just the two of us.

 

It's a charmed life that I lead and this is just one more aspect of that. I like to believe that balancing my physical training and boardgames will lead to neither my mind nor body just failing me at an early age. I realize that I don't have total control over this but it seems like the right idea. I also like games because they give me an interesting puzzle to solve, forcing me to learn new thinking skills. Finally, I often use them as a social crutch. I'm pretty much your typical nerd, introverted and easily embarrassed. I fake a pretty good jock when needed but even as I do it, I'm 100% self conscious about the whole experience. With games a framework is provided in which we all interact, allowing me to ground myself for the social experience.

 

 

[Guzzi]

Oh dear God, the NES. Fond memories of playing on that as a kid. We used to try get my Granny to play with us, but she would only ever play Duck Hunt, do you remember that? Good grief.

I think it's really interesting to hear about your life and your gaming. And I absolutely agree that the two disciplines will keep both your mind and body healthy. Barring illness and physical injury, age really can be a state of mind, or at least your attitude towards it can be. I love to see "old people" who live life to the full and refuse to just grow old and fade into the background. I hope to be like that one day myself

[KB Girl]

I forget to read this because it's in logs and not challenges, but I'll get on it! I like your updates. Looks like training is going well! Suffering through a heavy 3x3 workout is really quite the experience isn't it? I'm sure next time you'll nail it. And then just start decreasing rest times. If you can do it with 1 minute rest in between you're ready for competition with that weight (if it's a decent pace).

My philosophy is exactly the same as yours! I tend to think that all the gaming and nerdy stuff I do balances very nicely with all the physical activity

Currently I'm very much into league of legends.. And I play some civ with my brother when we have the time

[The Most Loathed]

Guzzi

Duck Hunt?! Of course I remember Duck Hunt. It came with the console and Super Mario Brothers. I was lucky, I got Zelda right away too. Then you had to play those games until next Christmas. I have a friend who still has some consoles, we got into a Duck Hunt show down last Christmas. I'm not above saying I completely owned that.

 

KB Girl

No sweat. You've been a tremendous help already so I was just trying to do the time and get my reps in.

I've not played any League of Legends although I hear people talk about it. Every once in a while I think about buying a PC that I could game on but I realize that I have to stop doing something if I do that and I don't have anything that I currently do that I want to do less than I want to play video games. I keep hoping Laura will suddenly get a  10X raise so I can quit work and be the house-husband I always wanted to be. I'd play a lot more games then because I'm already doing the chores and I have to spend that time somehow.

[KB Girl]

Heheh, yea being a housewife sounds like just the thing!

LoL doesn't require much, I play it on my 6 year old apple laptop. I'd prefer board or card games, but it's hard to find people to play with. You've got a good thing going! Though I shouldn't complain, we get together with friends to play magic at least once a month and some board games every other week or so.

[The Most Loathed]

Tonight's game was Lords of Waterdeep (good video below)

This is the game I traded for on Sunday. I've played it about a dozen times before and already knew I loved. I was super glad to get a bunch of fast rounds of this game in tonight.

[The Most Loathed]

04/01/2014 - April Fools Y'all - the second dumbest of holidays

 

bodyweight: 205.3 (93k)

 

workout

20K long cycle 7:00 7 rpm

5:00 rest

20K long cycle 7:00 7 rpm

 

circuit

clap pushup burpees X 10

mountain climber 25/25

15 lb clubbell halos 15/15

15 lb clockwork squats 10/10

sit outs 10/10

6 rounds 30:00

 

notes

Now this was a good workout - I get nervous going into the 20K long cycle, it just feels so daunting in my head. The first set was doable, the second set was great! I left my belt off this time and found that I had a lot more mobility in my second set so my rack was almost restful. The circuit was made up with the idea that it would run close to five minutes and I would give myself the balance of that five minutes to recover, it ran right around four minutes giving me about  a minute to recover before I had to go again. I was smoked by the end.

 

We've had a turn in the weather and it's right around freezing again. so I had to bring my kettlebells back inside and my barbell is unavailable to me for a few days, until it gets back up to 40 (3ish C) I just can't justify training outside when it's colder. Tonight I would have liked to pull in the driveway but I'll try and talk myself into the gym for squats instead. I also have a TRX class tonight, i'm kinda looking forward to those ending, they've served their purpose. Tomorrow will be indoor workout anyway. Friday it will be frustrating to not have my outside gear but maybe it's time that I do thrusters and bar facing burpees with kettlebells, for time.

 

Next week I plan to attempt my first ever de-load week. I'm not excited. I'm planning on still doing lighter swings and some bodyweight work. Lots of foam roller and lacrosse ball work.

 

question

For my first real challenge, starting in a couple weeks, does anyone know of good productivity metrics? My mind wanders a lot during the day and I'd like to think of a metric to keep myself on task.

[Guzzi]

Clap push-up burpees.....? :o

[The Most Loathed]

I thought you'd like those. The key for these is to use your whole body not just your chest. Lead the movement by piking at the waist then press explosively. As your arms lock out do the clap then keep them locked or close to locked because you're only doing a single, go through the rest of the burpee then repeat. I don't think that I could do 10 strict clap push ups consecutively.

[Guzzi]

Mzmtg has got me doing daily push-ups to try and get me to suck just a little bit less at them. Once I can do 10 strict on my toes, with full ROM and elbows tight, I'll have a go.

This may take a while.....

[The Most Loathed]

04/02/2014

bodyweight: 203

 

workout: none

 

notes:

Yesterday was jacked. We had a very minor budget crisis that sent us running around to shore up a few things. Long story short, we mis-timed the two paychecks we got today (tons of money) with all the bills hitting yesterday and needed to shuffle some savings into checking and back. No big deal but just extra crap to deal with. It did cause us to reevaluate how much our local gym was charging us which raised the ire of my wife, with them. She wanted out of the gym membership so we started that paperwork but in the way that gyms work that means we have access for two more months. It doesn't bother me as I was just using them for the free yoga class on Sunday.

As a result of needing to run around and take care of that and also sleeping in a funny position, leaving a back muscle not feeling good, I made and executive decision that my deload period started 4/2 and will run through 4/7. The weather is supposed to be dumb this week (a foot of snow tonight) so it's a good time to go light and just do some movement work.

[KB Girl]

You're on point mr executive! Seems like the right decision. Very nice 20kg sets! It seems like it isn't your competition weight if you can do that.

Hope your back feels back to normal soon!

[The Most Loathed]

yeah, I'm thinking about telling them to bump me into the 24K weight for June.

 

Back's feeling better, probably not 100% but pretty good. I think slouched in an arm chair too long night before last while reading. stupid mistake. Hopefully, lesson learned.