Westside and Crossfit: do you really think you can pull that off?!?

[BubsNBean]

Drive by- things are looking strong in here BSG!

Random question/comment: my left erector gets all fired up during heavy DLs too. Leaves me wondering if its because I do mixed grip, and the left is the underhand side. Something about how it pulls on the erector differently on the underhand side? Maybe I should switch it up and see if the right does the same.... Thoughts?

[Big_Sky_Guy]

Bubs-

You are on the right track that if one muscle in the chain is consistently firing up, then something else in the chain, from feet to shoulders is causing it. Generally a downstream or opposite flexor/extensor is the issue.

Is it the erector or the hip flexor? The HF often feel like a low back ache.

Either way, it's a good hypothesis and worth checking out. I know my L trap takes over when I go mixed as the R is the under.



What happened the other day is rare. Any time I have had erector issues it was due to not keeping my lats tight and shoulder blades together = erectors have to do more work as I loose my groove. More often, I flare up the HF. My L hip flexor and hip is always tighter than the R. I have really taken the time over the last year to keep the L side more pliable and it has helped a ton.

Let me know if switching grip alleviates the issue. You can be an official switch lifter then


You may also want to ask Equinom if she has studied anything about mixed grip and the affect on the posterior chain.

[BubsNBean]

Bubs-

You are on the right track that if one muscle in the chain is consistently firing up, then something else in the chain, from feet to shoulders is causing it. Generally a downstream or opposite flexor/extensor is the issue.

Is it the erector or the hip flexor? The HF often feel like a low back ache.

Either way, it's a good hypothesis and worth checking out. I know my L trap takes over when I go mixed as the R is the under.



What happened the other day is rare. Any time I have had erector issues it was due to not keeping my lats tight and shoulder blades together = erectors have to do more work as I loose my groove. More often, I flare up the HF. My L hip flexor and hip is always tighter than the R. I have really taken the time over the last year to keep the L side more pliable and it has helped a ton.

Let me know if switching grip alleviates the issue. You can be an official switch lifter then


You may also want to ask Equinom if she has studied anything about mixed grip and the affect on the posterior chain.

It's definitely the erector, although I have left HF issues too, but not from DLs. I'm thinking its from not keeping my shoulders back and tight. I tend to float a little forward with the BB on the left more than the right, so it makes sense thatim not keeping things as tight as I could.

I'll let you know how it goes, I can be a switch lifter, I tend to be a little ambidextrous anyway

[Big_Sky_Guy]

4/29/13- Gym. Weather is gettin nicer = less busy on Mondays at the gym.

Warm- 10 on X-trainer, walking lunges, 4 way hip, goblet squats

Squats-
135x10x3
185x5
225x5
275x5
315x3 (all paused from here on in)
365x1
385x1

Still working on coming up as evenly as possible. No rebound out of the hole made it entertaining.


Deads- Sumo w/ speed
135x5
185x5
225x2
275x2x10

I rarely do sumo, but wanted to try the cue of "teabag" the bar. Made perfect sense. The first several sets made my HF scream like a girl in a horror show, so I took extra warmups before moving onto the speed work.

Stretched-


I ate like a viking coming into the meet 2 weeks ago and was sitting close to 240 all bloated up at night. Stepped on the scale last night at the gym and I am sitting at 230. Now I need to add some more running in...can you tell I am pretty excited about it? Right now Zumba seems less painful than running.

[Big_Sky_Guy]

4/30/13- Gym


Warm- 8 on x-trainer, external rotations, cable press downs


BB Bench-
135x10x2
185x5
225x5
275x3
295x3
315x3

Well, at least bench is going relatively well.


DB OHP-
60x10
80x5
100x5
110x8


Pushups and stretching-
40, 30, 20

[Big_Sky_Guy]

Down with a cold the past couple days. Too much stress this winter = been sick twice.

The past few weeks I have been standing up against a re-org. We have been an effective Division for 15 years and my counterpart Section Chief retired, so the new Director and new HR are trying to re-org us. My boss is not being agressive in defending our structure, so I have been working to hold our position as you can almost never get back what you give away. Stress.

And our Guard Unit is going through a conversion that will cost us about 35 full-time jobs, so people are really spun up. We brought in a unit that is doing the mission we are moving to so we could meet people in the majority of the career fields. That way our people can make informed decisions about the new career fields. Stress.

5/4- Guard Gym

5 on bike

~10 on the treadmill = .75 miles

Stretched

[DieselsMom]

Stopping in to say hi. Sorry to hear of all work stress and a stinking cold too. Feel better soon.

[Big_Sky_Guy]

Still sweating it out, coughing it up, sore throat...whatever.

Went to work to approve time and then planned to head back home for more sleep. Boss grabbed me and let me in on the re-org plan I have been fighting to have a say in. Thankfully they have listened to several of my concerns. I could not understand how we were going to consolidate 2 managers into 1 and not at least have 1 if not 2 lead workers to help coordinate the workload.

The good news, as this is a re-org, the boss can choose his new Program Manager. He chose me! Now he needs to re-write the position description and we need to work with HR to determine if the 2 task breakouts warrant new PD's, or if the tasks will be simply assigned to the best specialist for the task. Either way I am fighting for more $ for my new position as there will be more responsibilities and for the other 2 to also be properly compensated.

Then picked up some more decongestant, back home for a nap, more nose blowing, cough drops, etc. Gorgeous out today, so I eventually wandered out and worked on the Arctic Cat. The kids hammered a stump with it the other weekend and busted up some of the suspension and steering. Removed the front tires, left lower A-arm and steering links. Just enough work to get me sweating again!


And....some wall ball love




Glad I wifed her...she's on a 5 mile run around the lake the other day.

[jjeane]

BSG, sorry about the stress and being sick. Glad you got a promotion! Hope you get more money as well! Feel better!

[DieselsMom]

Congrats on the promo - karma gods should allow for the raise as well.

Gen looks awesome as you well know. Hubs and I are talking about a trip down your way this summer to try something different for camping.

[Keltron]

And....some wall ball love




Glad I wifed her...she's on a 5 mile run around the lake the other day.

Next to thrusters, wall balls are my least favorite conditioning exercise!!! 'Tis why my Fran has always sucked balls.

[taiga1]

Awesome pics...your wife is a HOTTIE!!!

Congrats on the promotion!!!

[Big_Sky_Guy]

BSG, sorry about the stress and being sick. Glad you got a promotion! Hope you get more money as well! Feel better!

Thanks J! Much of it is my own fault for not trusting the processes at either job. Trying to balance trusting with standing up for what's right. I knew I would be pay-protected, but loosing a stepping stone opportunity for our Division was frustrating me to no end. Waking up at night thinking about work...never good.

Congrats on the promo - karma gods should allow for the raise as well.

Gen looks awesome as you well know. Hubs and I are talking about a trip down your way this summer to try something different for camping.

She never lets me forget it! LOL.

We would love to get together. Mid-June is Italy and a fishing trip and PL meet in mid-July. No other plans at this point. I will PM phone to M and touch base on schedules.

Next to thrusters, wall balls are my least favorite conditioning exercise!!! 'Tis why my Fran has always sucked balls.

Front work is far from my favorite as well. When I started a couple years ago, after about 20 reps my thrusters looked like a front good morning!

Awesome pics...your wife is a HOTTIE!!!

Congrats on the promotion!!!

She is indeed! Thanks T.

[Big_Sky_Guy]

5/7/13- Gym

15 on the X-trainer, stretched, toes to bar 3x10

Pretty exciting stuff!

[BubsNBean]

Good luck tomorrow!

[Big_Sky_Guy]

I survived the Spartan Race. No major injuries!

Having never run 5 miles in my life, much less up and down the mountains, I knew this was going to be a serious challenge. Having just finished a PL meet last month, I had next to no time to develop any real cardio, much less prep the legs for the 2000 vertical we went up and down.

Loaded the camper over the week and late Thursday night I smelled sulfur in the camper. The relay for the charging system was bad and boiled the battery. So, we pulled into camp and set up with no lights, no fridge, no water pressure! Hahaha...glad we were with friends at a group camp spot. Pre-race fire and hydrating.

Cliffs-
- Running in the mountains
- Pushed past mental barriers
- Wife did most of the obstacles several times...for fun
- Lots of mtn running
- Wife ran back and forth to check on me...often
- Conquered all sorts of obstacles (only did burpees once)
- Lots of walking up, then jogging down the mtn
- Wife is a stud

Did I mention 5 miles and 2000 feet elevation in less then 2 hrs



Race Day- They were launching us in ~100 person groups at 15 min intervals. Off we go through the trees and ~200 yards in we have to wade through a hip deep muddy bog and then up the trail. No vegetation was cut or trees moved, just a trail pounded through the mountains. I kept a pretty even pace through the first mile as it was fairly rolling with some steeps and rocks to climb a couple times and a couple simple over-under wall type obstacles to give us a taste of what was to come. And then the first long steep ascent that went on forever. Calves got too pumped to keep running so I was slowed to a walk with all the rest of those who were not truly in shape for a mountain adventure run. Every flat and down I got back to a pace and we hit the first obstacle with a 30 burpee penalty...a set of wide monkey bars that took a lot of people out. At this point we started flip/flopping with a team that was better at running but at least a few would not pass the obstacle. We finally peaked on that side of the mountain and the view of the lake and surrounding mountains was ridiculous, but short lived as we needed to cross the ^ cargo net and get some water at the aid station.

And on down the mtn to grab a chain and drag a stone 150 yards (Gen went twice so I could get some running distance on her) and on down endlessly to the bottom where we had to transverse a wall with some sparsely spaced chunks of 2x4 as holds. Slow and focused was the plan (lots of burpees handed out at this site). Gen got kicked off after 2 laps.

And on down to the Start/Finish area via a climbing wall and cargo nets across the top and down to the bog. Then up and down the opposite mountain, climb a muddy wet rope (my 1 set of burpees as my feet slipped) and then grab a sandbag (50# w and 80# m) and go up and down again (Gen grabbed the 80 her second time up...with protesting from the attendant) and then we took on the killer ascent. We estimate it was ~500 ft vertical non-stop) It broke most people. I took me out physically as my calves started to cramp, so I had to take it slow and steady.

By the time we made the top, Gen had to take her shoes off as she had blistered her heels along the way. We walked across the one long flat 2-track area that would have been perfect for a run, but we were both busted up. Water station and salt to stave off the cramps. Then up and over an 8 foot wall with no assistance, down through a waist deep bog, through some rolling hills and down to pick up stones and walk them 25 yards and do 5 burpees and take the stone back. Women's 50, men's 75. Gen did hers and said screw it and went and grabbed the guy's stone and the attendant gave her the, "NO, that's the guys!" and she said, "Yep!" and picked it up like it was nothing and walked it over, did burpees, and walked it back...then she went to the far end and did it again with the lady attendant cheering "Get Sum!" Running, then tire flips. I shared a 600# with a guy and then did a 400 myself. Gen took on the 400 with a gal and then did several with the 250.

Running down to the barbed wire low crawl and rolling. Running (shuffling by this point), then rolling under a log bridge deck, shuffling, spear throw (lots of burpees), shuffling to a ^ climb with rope and then slats down the backside, through the bog and Gen and I met up to "jump through the fire" at the end!

If you're still with me...we survived! Took 1:45.

- Banana, water, picture, load up the truck and back to camp for magnesium, potassium, ibu, water
- Campsite showers (2$ for 5 min) couples style as there was no family shower we just invaded one or the other bathroom
- Tall tales about our adventures with our team while cooking tacos, more water, quad cramped, Emergen-C
- Walk down to the lake with kids and dogs, trying not to cramp
- Friend's 10 YO boy + ceramic knife = a 3-stitch gash in his thumb as he thought it wasn't very sharp
- Cook dogs, burgers, steaks & potato, carrots, onions
- Smores, hydrate, more cramping (the groin really sucks)
- Camp Ranger put us to bed at 11:30
- McLovin decides that she feels so successful from conquering the course that she needs to conquer me...

Sunday AM- Stiff and sore, lots of bruises, cuts and abrasions. Group cooked some bacon, eggs, ham, turkey, etc. Loaded up and headed home to a 78 degree house. Unbuttoned the swamp cooler and got it operational and tried to keep moving the rest of the night to keep the stiffness to a minimum!

Mon AM- Pretty damn good all things considered.


Loaded up & heading out





Before





After





Gen's hamburger heels...yes, that is blood





Takin her ride out





At camp





Meat Anyone??

[HARRYBEAST]

Man your wife is way too hot for you!

[Jrob69]

Bubs-

Is it the erector or the hip flexor? The HF often feel like a low back ache.

Either way, it's a good hypothesis and worth checking out. I know my L trap takes over when I go mixed as the R is the under.



What happened the other day is rare. Any time I have had erector issues it was due to not keeping my lats tight and shoulder blades together = erectors have to do more work as I loose my groove. More often, I flare up the HF. My L hip flexor and hip is always tighter than the R. I have really taken the time over the last year to keep the L side more pliable and it has helped a ton.

If I may ask-
How did you increase pliability? Ive noticed some lower back tightness that is creating a pain of sorts. Usually after deads/lunges or weighted back extensions. I thought it was just a weakness, sounds like possible hip flexors.

[DieselsMom]

Way to go both to you and Gen. Love it!! Can't wait to get some camping in

[jjeane]

Oh that is so awesome!! It looks like so much fun and you guys are too cute together!!
Way to push past mental barriers! The food looks delicious.

[Big_Sky_Guy]

Man your wife is way too hot for you!

Understatement of the decade. She makes me look bad in soo many ways!

If I may ask-
How did you increase pliability? Ive noticed some lower back tightness that is creating a pain of sorts. Usually after deads/lunges or weighted back extensions. I thought it was just a weakness, sounds like possible hip flexors.

Google- Defranco's hip mobility. Staying in a stretch for at least 60 seconds, 90 is better to truly get a deep stretch into any area. I have found a lot of positive response to doing a basic lunge with back knee on the ground so everything can relax and then sink the hips in. To work the back leg hip flexor, simply bring the torso to vertical and sink the hips down and lean into the back leg.

Way to go both to you and Gen. Love it!! Can't wait to get some camping in

We did not camp once last year with the wedding, so it was completely refreshing to get out and relax by the lake!

Oh that is so awesome!! It looks like so much fun and you guys are too cute together!!
Way to push past mental barriers! The food looks delicious.

She tries to make it cute Jani, but it is quite obvious that I am an ogre!



A topo of the site:




We worked the right side of the map, then crossed over to the left. A ton of elevation change. Apparently the 2nd hardest course they have built!

[HARRYBEAST]

I feel ya man. My wife is the same. Walks around with her stupid 8 pack abs all the time.

[BubsNBean]

Awesome job BSG!! Looks like you two had a great time, even with the cramping and bleeding. (Sounds like the TOM )

Gen is a hottie, good for you!!!

This is now on my bucket list with hot bodybuilder hubby that I don't have yet

[MRTBOSS]

That a be big shooter! Hope you had a great time. Sure looks and sounds like it. Hope to meet you this summer for some camping and maybe a couple bevies lol. Train hard and keep your stick on the ice! (Canadian saying)

[Big_Sky_Guy]

I feel ya man. My wife is the same. Walks around with her stupid 8 pack abs all the time.

No kidding...who needs the extra 2? Well, except to find our way to heaven!

Awesome job BSG!! Looks like you two had a great time, even with the cramping and bleeding. (Sounds like the TOM )

Gen is a hottie, good for you!!!

This is now on my bucket list with hot bodybuilder hubby that I don't have yet

I was def the grumpy one.

And I can't wait to hear and see all of your infamous bucket list exploits!



5/14- Gym. Starting to feel near 100% again!


Warm- 10 on the x-trainer, external rotations, press downs


BB Bench- speed work
135x10x2
185x10
225x2x10 sets

Incline BB Bench-
135x10
185x10, 8, 6

I did not take long breaks and really bonked on these

Dips-
5 sets of 10

Have not done dips since the tear. No issues...lovin that!

Stretched-

Ab Wheel of Death-
3 sets of 15

[Big_Sky_Guy]

That a be big shooter! Hope you had a great time. Sure looks and sounds like it. Hope to meet you this summer for some camping and maybe a couple bevies lol. Train hard and keep your stick on the ice! (Canadian saying)

Already planning for next year!

And I am familiar with that saying. Grew up watching the Flames

We look forward to meeting you!


5/15- Track Meet, washed the engine bay of the Camaro, then to the Gym.


Pendlay Row-
135x10x2
185x10x5


Pullups-
BW x 5
+25 x 5
+45 x 5 x 3 sets

Rolled legs and Back

Visited with a husband and wife we are friends with about the Spartan Race and got caught up on an injury that will keep her from competing in Figure this summer.

[taiga1]

The Spartan sounds AWESOME!!! I have a friend doin' one soon.

Way to push through it, BSG!!! And, I'm loving how beastly the wifey is. She kicks serious ass!!!

[Big_Sky_Guy]

She does kick arse T!


5/17- Honey do's with camper & 4 wheeler, picked up wood for raised beds, propane and $275 in Drip Irr Supplies, Gym


Warm- ext rotations, light DB OHP


DB OHP-
40x10
55x10
65x10
70x7
75x5


Rope High Pull- to just above the head
3x10 (increased weight each time)

Never done them = determining working weight


DB Lateral Raise-
20x10
30x10
35x12, 10, 9


DB Front Raise-
20x15
25x12, 10, 8


Stretched-


Sort of BB'esque today as I rarely do just shoulders.



*In other news*

The Boss Man along with HR and the Director decided to re-write my JP and incorporate the work that the recently retired Case Manager did into my JP. We broke out a couple tasks that I do in my current position and will assign them to 2 separate specialists. The tasks are sophisticated enough to be written into their JPs and they will get higher pay. That will ensure we keep a stepping stone job that people can strive to attain when the opportunity arises.

This took a lot of weight off my shoulders as I could not get my head around how in the hell I was going to do 1.5 jobs! I will be handing over 0.5 of the daily duties that I currently do to our best specialists.

Steak and potatoes for everybody!