all things mau

The back is fully recovered and stronger than ever thanks to sports chiropractic work in Oakland, a Thai massage in Soma, and low weight, slow deadlifts. My goals are back on track.

Speaking of which, I realize I never mentioned specific goals of this 90 day project. After all, you can’t create a map if you don’t have a destination. There are a few fitness goals that I take issue with, and I am qualified to rant on the subject because I’ve tried the following in the past:

I want to lose x amount of pounds
I want a six pack
I want to gain 2 inches on my biceps

Photo by flickr user darkmatter

Each one of these goals place the cart before the horse. They all focus on a minute portion of the benefits of exercise and negatively distort one’s perception of body. This isn’t to say one shouldn’t track physical progress. Metrics are one of the greatest motivators when it comes to breaking personal records, and hacking the mind to bring effort levels up a notch every session. But activeness dictates metrics, not vice versa. When I focused on gaining those 2 inches on my biceps in college, I created an unstable house of cards and a silly looking, useless, out of balance body. Or as others have humorously put it, “Display model only”.  It wasn’t until I put my personal health and fitness first, that I reached any “vanity” goals. But I tell you what, I’m much prouder of my 1000 meter row time than the 4 lbs I’ve lost getting there.

My goal is very simple. A balanced and active lifestyle. Something meaningful beyond the 90 days of this project. These 90 days are an opportunity to reprogram my mind into a lifetime habit via complete immersion. I’m don’t wanna be a runner, or a biker, or a swimmer, or olympic weight lifter, kettlebeller, mixed martial artist, yoga practitioner, or climber. I want to be them all.

Jack of all trades, master of none.

Today’s workout
3k run (≈1.9 miles)
7 mile bike ride
2400m row (≈1.5 miles)
and
100 situps just for good measure.

Mark Rebec’s last day, originally uploaded by maubrowncow.

I didn’t take it all too well.

Creative/visionary video for a creative/visionary song. Squeak E. Clean and DJ Zegon are getting quite the lineup going with the N.A.S.A project. In this case, Kanye West, Santigold and Lykke Li.

Nobody’s Ugly, originally uploaded by maubrowncow.

My new custom made stamp came in. I think it’s time to visit a magazine rack. Preferably the beauty section.

So the big predicament today is how to deal with a thrown out back just 2 days into a 90 day project.  Do I tap out, hit pause, say mercy.  What do professional athletes do in situations like this?  That is, besides be tended to by a staff of specialists.

Well, let’s bring it down a notch.  What do athletes do when they get sick? Well, according to Dr. Rick Kellerman of the American Academy of Family Physicians:

Skip the workout if you have a fever. It puts too much stress on the heart, which already is beating faster because of the higher body temperature. If you’re suffering from chest congestion, coughing and shortness of breath, he said, you also shouldn’t work out. And exercising with a stomach ache will probably make you feel worse, he added.

But if you have the sniffles and milder symptoms of a cold, moderate exercise is probably OK, Kellerman said.

This concept was put in simpler terms for me not too long ago: “Suck it up you cry baby.”  It was put in kinder words too: “If the source of your sick resonates from your head, workout.  If the source is in your chest, take a break”. More importantly, above all, don’t be a douche bag.  Don’t go to a gym if you’re contagious.

As for the thrown out back, aside from not being able to put on my own socks this morning, I’m mobile and slightly less whiney this evening. The recommended two days rest will be respected, followed by “maintenance mode” exercise.  However, my upper body is just fine and dandy. Which is why we’ll be visiting the pull up workout tomorrow evening.

Ten rounds for time of:
3 Weighted Pull-ups, 45 pounds
5 Strict Pull-ups
7 Kipping Pull-ups (Check out Adrian of SF Crossfit teach the kipping pull up.  The back is relatively active during kipping so I’ll play this by ear.)

BTW, anticipation of a planned workout creates visualization which also creates efficiency and general badassness.

Run D&D by Scott Beale/Laughingsquid

Scott Beale of Laughingsquid announced the “winners” of the caption contest he began while we were all in Austin, Texas for South by Southwest.  Please give a warm welcome to RUN D&D.  You can see the other hilarious suggestions here.

Tonight’s workout is one of the lovely “girls” of crossfit. “Karen”.  She consists of 150 twenty pound wall balls as fast as you can. Karen is a very unassuming lady.  What could possible be difficult about tossing up a ball a few times.  Don’t be fooled.  Karen is a bitch.  She toys with your confidence in the first 30-40 tosses.  Then she slowly breaks your will and heart.

Wall ball is one of my major mental blockers.  It has the ability to coax out the retreat part of my brain right around 100 reps.  I mean what’s another 5 seconds of rest going to hurt in your overall time, right?  Power through it.  The biggest reward out of crossfit workouts isn’t the physical accomplishment.  It’s the mental.  If you can beat Karen’s mind games, she’ll bestow upon you some valuable skills you can use outside the gym.

“Karen”

For time:
150 Wallball shots, 20 pound ball

modified to 15 pound ball, the heaviest the gym provides, therefore increased to 170 wallballs

time: 10:20… not happy with this one bit.

Oh yeah, also, I threw out my back AFTER the crossfit workout while working on clean technique with a light load.  FML.

I am currently 26 days and 11 hours away from the Red Bluff Ramble Sprint, but more importantly, I’m calling today day 1 of a 90 day fitness experiment.  I don’t consider myself to be out of shape, but for the next 90 days I’m going to push my mind and body to the limits I’ve always said I’d get around to.  I’ll be using this space to track my progress, strategy, tools, and tears.  Today’s workout courtesy of Crossfit LA.  The crying begins now.

10k run in Santa Monica

For time:
1200m run
21 Knees to elbows
21 Jumping Squats
21 Burpees
800m run
15 Knees to elbows
15 Jumping Squats
15 Burpees
400m run
9 Knees to elbows
9 Jumping Squats
9 Burpees

Done in:
20:45

4 miles of city biking

The unboxing of my netbook got WAY out of hand. Interns are creepy.

A time lapse video I made during the LA layover, coming back from SXSW in Austin.