Wanted...

I have a, somewhat, unusual schedule in that I work 600a-1200p and then I'm on admin/family time from 12p-300p and then I'm back to work from 330p-645p. 

I've been really struggling the last few weeks with my workouts and finding a workout buddy that can workout mid afternoon. I can workout on my own...but I get so much more out of the workouts when I have a friend with me. I don't care to get up at 400am to workout before clients get here...and I'm not a huge fan of working out after 7p since that is usually reserved for friend and family time. 

So, my goal this week is to try to find someone that I can workout with on a fairly regular basis mid day. I hook up with Ken on Sundays and Cowboy Jeff when he is not working or in school...just need one more buddy in the rotation. So...all that to say I'm going to try to workout tonight around 900p...but I'm not too terrible excited about it given that I'm usually in bed by 1030p. 

See...even trainers have trouble finding the time to workout when they want to. ; ) We are human after all...I know. 

Food...

530a-liquid egg whites,  1/2 avocado. frank's red hot, organic chocolate milk

830a-curry cashews, 2 gala apple, 2% string cheese

1130p-spaghetti squash, pesto avocado dressing, and 10 oz baked chicken breast (recipe from Biggest Loser cookbook...so much food for so little calories.)

230p-2 cuties, 4 energy nuggets, FRS energy drink

5000p- 6 slices of boar's head turkey

700p-Chicken Sandwich on sandwich rounds, romaine lettuce, frank's, mustard, and 2 cups of steamed broccoli 

1000p-Syntha 6 protein shake with 8oz 1% milk

Weekend Wrap Up

Myself and about 7-8 clients ran the Junior League Downtown Derby 5K this weekend. The run went well...I ran a 23:09 and averaged paced at 7:42 per mile. I took half a 5 Hour Energy before the run...man was I up! I usually don't use caffeine, but it makes for a nice recreational drug for cardio work. 

When I got home I had more work to do. We had Aggies coming over to help in the yard for "Big Event" so the boys and I stayed outside and worked for the majority of the afternoon. We ended up working in the yard for about 4 hours. I did spend about 30 min on my riding lawn mower...but the other 3:30 was spent weed eating, hoeing, edging, cleaning the pool, and getting the Big Event kids started on other projects around the yard.  The Big Event kids did a great job and helped pull weeds in flower beds, lay down landscape fabric around trees, put out some top soil on some low spots in the yard and weather treated the kids tree house...it was a huge blessing to have them here this year. 

Sunday morning, my running buddy Ken and I ran 7.26 miles in 1:01 at a 8:23 average pace. 

Food for today was...

Pre-Run 630a: Gala apple and half of a 5 Hour energy. 

During Run: water and 100 calorie Expresso GU at mile 6. 

Post Run 830a: Muscle Milk Shake and 3 energy nuggets (drank while getting groceries at HEB)

Lunch 1100a: Went to couples shower...outdoor grilling...I improvised and went with a water, an apple, 3 hot dogs with no bun, mustard, relish, 5 bean dip (salsa, beans, cilantro, onions, garlic) and gluten free crackers my wife brought. No chips, no cake, and soda...tough to do at parties. 

Snack 330p: fage 0% with cranberries and small bit of wheaties fuel 

Dinner 630p: Turkey fork burgers, 2 turkey burger patties, avocado, mustard, dot of catsup, 1/2 slice of colby jack cheese,  2 cuties.

Bedtime Snack 930a: 4 slices of Boar's Head Turkey, Frank's Red Hot, 8 oz 1% milk

Poor Garden Thursday

Here are pictures of the pool side garden...

We lost one of the tomato plants in the storm last week...but everything else is still fighting! 

Today I went to the Mall and picked up some new running shoes, Nike Lunarlite Racers. Sounds fast huh? Let's hope so, it's a really light shoe made with compressed silicone and mesh upper. Can't go wrong with that...

Got home and had to break them in with a little workout. Workout was 10 minute speed squat practice for metabolic component then...

As many sets of 15 reps in 3 minutes on the following stations (this was 1/2 the HD workout for the morning groups...)

-Ring Push Ups (5 sets)

-Calf Raise/Reverse Calf Raise (7)

-Cable Biceps Curls (4 sets)

-Stable Ring Swiss Sit Up (8 sets)

-Narrow Dumbbell Bench Press (5 sets)

Finished with more squat practice (overhead squat, traditional squat, and frontal squat) and stretching. 

If I can continue to avoid the full blown cold, my little one's have been passing around, I'm going to take the LunarLites out for a little 4 mile run. I'll keep you posted on the garden and let you know what i think of the shoes. 

Wednesday 3/24

The big news today... just trying to stay well despite all three children being sick with little colds. I've been pumping up my vitamin C, throwing back my usual 100 oz of water,  and getting my smoothie immune builder every other day...so hopefully I can kick this thing before it gets full blown. 

I was going to run today, but decided to not compromise my immune system while I'm fighting this thing. Tomorrow will be the test...I'll likely either wake up dog sick or back to my normal self...we shall see. 

If I do turn up sick tomorrow I know the Thursday morning clients will be in good hands with trainer John tomorrow. He just sent me a text asking me if I was cool with a Jersey Shore inspired workout titled, "the stair stepper situation." That sounds awesome...GTL. 

Food today was...

530a-Whole Wheat Sandwich Rounds, Smart Balance Peanut Butter, Honey, and Banana sandwich, 1 Cutie

900a-Curry Cashews, Cranberries 

1130a- (2)Whole Wheat Chicken Tacos with left over baked chicken from two nights ago, guacamole, fage as sour cream substitute, romaine lettuce, 2 cuties, 1 apple.

300p-Fage 0% with grapes, cranberries, 10-15 natural cheetos (treat)

645p-(2)Breakfast tacos with eggs, frank's red hot sauce, whole wheat tortillas, avocado, 2 cuties

930p-2 gala apples

Too many grains. I didn't feel great today and I went for easy today...and grains are easy. I had four serving of grains today and really like to keep it under 2 servings. I'm hopeful that tomorrow will be great and I'll be back to 100%. 

-Peace

Health Care Reform Monday

Regardless of what side of the aisle you are on, today was a monumental day in American health care history. Hopefully, we will become a smarter, healthier nation because of it. 

Monday food was...

700a-Eggs, left over buffalo burger patty chopped up, avocado, frank's red hot, apple, 

100a-Fage 0%, sprinkled with Wheaties Fuel, fresh pineapple on the side, 2 energy nuggets. 

1230p-Homemade Pita Pizza (adapted from Eating For Life...centro sauce, whole wheat pita, 2% cheese lightly sprinkled, black olives), cutie. 

300p-smoothie king small immune builder, curry cashews

630p-Eating For Life Chicken Parmesan (spinach fet, baked chicken, romaine lettuce salad)

1000p-4 slices of turkey, 8 oz chocolate milk (post workout), gala apple. 

Monday workout-Isolations

5 Sets of Each Movement (target is to hit 10 reps on each set with weight adjustments as needed)

Incline dumbbell flye (30-55lbs)

Machine Quad Ext (85lbs-135lbs)

Machine Ham Curl (50lbs-60lbs)

Hammer curls (35lbs-40lbs)

Leg Press Calf Raise (for 20 reps) 185lbs

Cable Tricep Ext (50lbs-70lbs)

Med Ball Shoulder Toss (2-3 minutes)

Thursday Food and Thursday/Friday Workouts

Here's the low down on Thursday food and Thursday & Friday workout...

Thursday Workout
5 min on Stair Stepper
50 Kettle Bell Push Ups
200 Meter Row
50 Butterfly Sit Ups
10 minute high intensity intervals on Spinner (heart rate 160-175)

Friday Workout (happening in about an hour)
25 Push Ups
25 squats
25 Sit Ups
25 Pull Ups

50 Push Ups
50 Squats
50 Sit Ups
50 Pull Ups

75 Push Ups
75 Squats
75 Sit Ups
75 Pull Ups

...all for time. Goal is under 30 min.

Thursday Food

515a-Wheaties Fuel w/ Syntha 6, 1% milk, and apple

830a-Fage 0% Greek Yogurt, cranberries, grapes, cayenne cashews (on the side)

1200p-McAlister"s Fiesta Chicken Salad (dressing on side, no sour cream)

330p-Paleo Protein Bar, 8 oz Organic Chocolate MIlk, 4 turkey slices (post workout)

500p-1 gala apple and 1 cutie

700p-Turkey sandwich on sandwich rounds, romaine lettuce, mustard, boar's head turkey, 1 apple, 1 cutie (this was a meal on the go since our church small group was meeting. My sweet wife packed us a lunch so we wouldn't have to dine out.)

1000p-Fage 0%, cranberries

4x4 Tuesday workout

We started our pool side garden this past weekend (tomatoes, bell peppers, more peppers, cucumbers, and watermelons) and I meant to get a picture. We decided to do raised beds this year that would add to the landscaping of the pool. Our hope is that our 6 year old son will develop a love for vegetables as he participates in the process...we'll see.

If you would like to start your own garden at home, I highly recommend visiting Producer's Co-Op in Bryan. They were very knowledgeable and very helpful in getting us started. So...I'll try to put up pictures this week.

Monday's workout was 4x4 sets (4 sets of each exercise at 4 reps each)

Rower Warm-up

Deadlift (235lbsx4, 255lbs x 4, 265lbsx4, 270lbsx4)

Bench Press (240lbsx4, 235lbsx4, 230lbsx4, 230lbsx4)

T-Bar Row (115lbsx4, 125lbsx4, 135lbsx4, 140lbsx4)

Weight Decline Sit-Up (25lbsx4, 30lbsx4, 40x4, 40lbsx4)

Tuesday Food was...

730a-egg beaters, turkey sausage, avocado, frank's red hot, apple

1100a-turkey sandwich on sandwich rounds, romaine lettuce, mustard, all-natural white puff cheetos (treat), grapes, thai curry cashews

300p-energy nuggets, cayenne pepper cashews, Jenny L's friend's Paleo Protein bar (really good BTW.)

500p-2 Cuties

700p-Kara's vegetable lasagna (no pasta at all...just veggies, lean beef, and riocotta cheese), mixed vegetables (carrots, snow peas, broccoli, water chestnuts.)

930p-2 gala apples, 8 oz 1% milk

Monday 3/15/10

Food for Monday...

730a-FiberOne with Syntha-6 Protein and 1% Milk, Gala Apple


1100a-Turkey Sandwich on whole wheat sandwich rounds, yellow peppers, romaine lettuce, mustard, avocado, and Frank's Red Hot

330p-Smoothie King Chocolate Protein Shake

500p-2 Cuties

630p-"Breakfast for Dinner NIght"-Eggs, Southwest Potatoes (shredded), organic salsa, whole wheat tortilla

100p-8 oz 1% milk and 1 gala apple

Too many grains today. I'd like my daily diet to consist of no more than about 2 servings of grains per day. After reading books like "Dangerous Grains" and "The Paleo Diet" I'm suspicious of the role of grains in the typical American diet.

If you look back over history, the people groups that were the healthiest, leanest, and most active are those that had very little or no grains in their daily diet. No cancers, no metabolic syndrome, very little disease...all things that make you go..hmmmm (shout out to C + C Music Factory.)

So, I'm not saying zero grains...but I am very suspicious after reading these books. If you are interested, I'd strongly recommend reading both.

Weekend Workout

I did two very fun workouts this weekend. The first was a 6.37 mile run with my buddy Ken. Our final time was just over 53 minutes and average pace was 8:36 per mile. My knee bothered me during the run, so I'm going to stick to spinning and rowing this week and let it heal. I hate to cut my runs off for a week...but I know it's the wise thing to do. I think a week off from running and it will be back to 100%.

I also did one of the W.O.D (Workout of the Day) from the Crossfit main site. It was short and sweet, weighted pull ups for sets of 1-1-1-1-1-1-1. Basically you are trying to see how much weight (in addition to your body weight) you can pull up over the bar for 1 rep. No jump, no kip, no bands, just a pure perfect hanging pull-up. So, I put my weight vest on and went to work...

1 Set:35lbs (my 20lbs weight vest plus 15lbs dumbbell between knees)
2nd Set: 50lbs (my 20lbs vest plus 30lbs dumbbell between knees)
3rd Set: 60lbs
4th Set: 70lbs
5th Set: 75lbs
6th Set 80lbs
7th set: 90lbs (couldn't get this one)
7th set again: 85lbs (20lbs vest plus 50lbs dumbbell plus 15lbs dumbbell)

Sunday Food was...

630a-Gala apple before run

900a-Eggs, avocado, turkey sausage, and Horizon Organic Chocolate Milk (post run)

1130a-Subway Turkey Sandwich on Wheat with all veggies except onions. No chips and no cookie.

100p (Special Treat Alert )Slice of the delicious carrot cake my wife made for a baby shower we were hosting at our home that morning. It's my favorite kind of cake...and my wife made it...how could I say "no?"

200p-Fat Free Cottage Cheese, berries, apple slices, and grapes

400p-Thai Cashews and 2 Oranges (Cuties)

700p-Turkey Tacos with ground turkey, lettuce, salsa, and corn tortilla.

1000p-2 Gala Apples

Pre-Weekend Update

I thought I'd update one last time before signing off for the weekend. Today was an active recovery day, so I did about 3 hours of yard work instead of traditional gym work. I have workouts on both Saturday and Sunday and will update on Monday.

We had dinner tonight with friends and had a wonderful meal and a wonderful time. I think sometimes my job can be a little intimidating to others, especially those that invite us over for dinner. We never intended it to be that way...people just assume we eat perfect all the time.

Needless to say, our friends prepared a great meal that was very healthy and I had to remind them that even if they had made fried chicken or pizza we still would have enjoyed the meal with them. One meal out of 42 in a week isn't gonna hurt anybody...

Here's what I ate...

530a- Syntha 6 Protein Shake with FiberOne cereal and 1% milk (not my first choice...but I was in a hurry)

830a (2nd Breakfast)-Eggs, 3 slices turkey bacon, 1/2 avocado, and splash of Frank's red hot sauce mixed together in bowl (10 mins prep time)

1130a-Fork Burgers "hamburger with no bun" (2 turkey burger patties, mustard, avocado, romaine lettuce, drop of catsup, and of course a splash of Frank's Red Hot sauce. (15 min prep time)

300p-Handful of Soy and Flaxseed Chips,Fage 0% greek yogurt, grapes, cranberries

600p-8 oz steak, green beans, red peppers, squash, spinach salad, 1/2 a sweet potato, 1 cup broccoli.

900p-Boar's Head Turkey (5 slices), 1 cup 1% milk and Gala 1 apple

Thursday Workout 3/10

Yesterday Cowboy Jeff and I did the one exercise that I, to this day, have never given to a client. I've given variations of this exercise to clients...but not this particular variation.

Here is how it went (the real nasty part is at the end)
-10 minute moderate pace on the Spinner
-10 minutes stretching
-3 sets of 25 reps @ 225lbs Leg Press Calf raise
-3 sets of 25 reps @ 5lbs of Free Motion/Ab Mat/Butterfly Sit up
-3 sets Elbow to Knee Core Tuck @ 10 reps

Then it got nasty...
-50 reps of negative/reverse counting leg press @ 225lbs. This means all 230lbs of Cowboy Jeff presses down with his foot on the downward phase of the leg press while I slowly resist his pressure. At any point, if we stop or rest the reps start to roll off. Meaning if we stop at 31 to take a break...we start losing reps...30...29...28, etc.

By the time this set was over, I was hoarse from yelling, my arms were in a spasm from my body breaking down over 50 reps, my knees were shaking uncontrollably, and Cowboy jeff was laughing at me saying, "dude, you're a screamer." Screamer...you bet... I felt like I was being tortured by Jack Bauer. That was a lot of fun and I can't wait to do it again in a few weeks.

I finished up with 3 sets of burn-out cable tricep extensions @ 50lbs. Reps ranged from 15-20 reps. Spent.

Food and Linda and Abbie's Workout

Yesterday was a rest day for me...however it was not a rest day for one of our trainers, Linda T, and her buddy Abbie W. Linda and Abbie are in the TR 900a 12 Week Challenge and also do a private workout with me on Wednesday. Here is what they did...

-100 Wall Ball Shots @ 16lbs (any time they stopped or the ball hit the ground they had to sprint 100 meters in under 10-12 seconds)
-200 jump rope reps (any time they stopped or they got tripped up with the rope, they had to sprint 100 meters in under 10-12 seconds)
-100 calories on the Concept 2 Rower (any time they stopped or their calories went below 1,000 per hour they had to sprint 100 meters in under 10-12 seconds)
-100 perfect push-ups from their toes with their stomach touching a boxing glove (anytime they stopped or the form form got bad...100 meter sprint.)
-50 walking lunge with barbell overhead w/ 15lbs kettle bells at each end (anytime they stopped...100 meter sprint.)

It was quite an unusual workout for the girls...but a lot of fun. Anytime a trainer gets to train another trainer...it's gonna be brutal.

Food yesterday for myself went as follows..

615a (turkey sausage, scrambled egg beaters, 1/2 an avocado with Frank's Red Hot sprinkled on-took about 20 min to prepare and I was able to multi task on draw up workout while waiting on the turkey sausage to cook on the stove top.)

900a-Fage 0% Greek Yogurt, grapes, cranberries

1230p-Cooked Aui Tuna Steak (bought at Sam's) on stove top, 2-3 cups of steamed broccoli with Frank's Red Hot Sauce lightly sprinkled on top (I know I eat a lot of broccoli), and rest of my avocado from breakfast. (Took about 15 min to prepare everything.)

200p-Had an orange and 8-10l of Curry Cashews with Ben

330p-2 scoops Syntha-6 Protein with 12 oz 1% MIlk

700p-Toasted Turkey Sandwich with peppers, 2 slices of whole wheat bread, romaine lettuce, mustard,and lots of turkey, grapes, an orange, and soy and flaxseed chips on the side. (Took 5 min to prepare)


I'm working out with Cowboy Jeff today at 200p and will update tomorrow on what we did and how good/bad it went.

Peace,
Brad

Tuesday Workout

Today I waited until the last minute to find a workout buddy and I ended up having to workout alone (boo.) I sent Cowboy Jeff a text...but he was busy working and couldn't get to the gym. I really always push a little extra hard when Cowboy Jeff and I work out together. He is a bit stronger than I am...but my stamina is a bit better than his...thus we push each other well.

Here was my workout...


-20 minute time limit
-as many sets of 10 rep body weight bench press (180lbs)
-as many sets of 10 reps of hand stand push ups

I finished up with exactly four sets of both in 20 minutes. I really struggled with the handstand push ups after the first two sets and had to break down into sets of 3-4 reps at a time.

After competing this 20 minute block, I did a burn out set (as many reps as possible to fatigue) or 40lb dumbbell preacher curl (10 reps each arm), wobble ball crunch (110 crunches) and diamond push ups with nose touching the floor each time (only 5, i think the bench press and hand stand push ups beat my triceps up pretty good.)

Overall, not a bad workout. I'm going to lay off lower body work for a couple of more days while I let my knee get back to 100% after the half marathon.

Food and Fitness

I've decided to start a blog to chronicle the aspect of my life that I spend 8-10 hours each day teaching to others; food and fitness. Again, this is not my entire life, rather a significant piece of what I do day in and day out.

I hope that you all find it helpful, insightful, and real. So, here we go...

Today was the first day after my first 1/2 marathon, so I decided to take the day off and not workout. The knee and foot on my left leg are pretty sore...so I'm going to give it a little break. Tomorrow, I'll hit the weight room.

My food went really well today. I've been cutting back on my grains and replacing those calories with more fruits, vegetables, and lean proteins. The day went like this...

600a-Protein Shake

930a-Thai Cashews and Guacamole and Turkey Rolls (4 slices of turkey with 95% avocado in the middle)

1230a-Jennie-O Turkey Burger with Avocado on Whole Wheat sandwich rounds, grapes, and glass of 1% milk

3:30p-Total 0% Fage Greek Yogurt and cranberries plus 3 energy nuggets (honey, walnuts,

630p-Baked Chicken, Mexican Salad with guacamole and fage (sub for sour cream)

1000p-2 gala apples

I'll update tomorrow after the workout.