Plenny Stuffs Foa Talk About

Been a lot of changes in my life in the last couple of years, but RFM has remained one of my constants.

Sure they've moved locations but the workouts, the attitude and the gym are still the same.

Most importantly, the people were the same. The same good, fun, friendly and crazy faces that I would see week after week.

But then DMeyer left. And today my most favorite person to write about on this blog will leave.

That's right, super-strong Samongan woman Kehau "Tehau" Cerizo Deutsch said bye-bye with tears and a sad face today. On the outside my eyes were dry but on the inside I  wept. That's because there is no weakness in this dojo, yes sensei.

(Sorry, I have to use an 80's reference once a month or I lose my contract to blog.)

I don't blame her though. I've known for a while that the Maui News is laying off people. I've experienced the old newsroom downsizing myself. It's not fun.

But what I didn't know was that while Tehau was leaving the newsroom she had a new opportunity at the upcountry crossfit gym. That's right, she's going to get paid for what she does so well which is train and inspire people at the gym.

Good for her, they're lucky to have her. But Sole Claus has to say goodbye to her here on I Hate Cardio the only way that Sole can:

"Watchoo mean, Tehau is kona leaf? Das not possible, whose kona spot me when I lift da car or da truck?

She's da only one wit dat kina muscles. When she leaf I'm kona do da sole slap dance for her until my skin is bleeding wit my blood. CHEEEEEEEEEEEHOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Yes, another sad day at RFM. But at least we had a good time at the Warrior Dash this weekend.

(Insert picture here)

Here are our RFM ladies all dressed in their cavemen outfits. Warrior Dash was about 3 miles of wooden obstacles, one river swim, two fire leaps and a mud crawl.

It was actually kind of easy, I was a bit disappointed.

BUT . . . the fact that I've gotten to the point where I can say a three mile obstacle course is easy makes me happy.

So what's next? Guess it's the 13 mile Tough Mudder. One year and counting.

In the meantime, let's talk WOD.

Today was the 800 meter run, four rounds of 10 push-ups, 20 sit-ups and 30 double-unders then end it with another 800 meter run.

So the first run was tough and I came in towards the back end of the group. The push-ups were easy though and the sit-ups only needed minimal rest. The double-unders only sorta sucked as I was able to crank out at least 10 at a time.

At first I couldn't but ole Beezlebump knows his stuff and told me to relaaaaaaaxxxxx.

That worked, after forcing myself to slow down I was able to speed up. Pretty cool.

The last 800 was actually easier to run than the first but I still missed the 20 minute cut-off. I think I came in at 20:07 or something. Damn it.

Anyway, did I say this was my  second day of Paleo? Going to see how far I can go, at least until Cinco De Mayo which is about 40 days from now.

Whatever. Can you tell I don't really want to talk about the everyday crap? This blog feels hollow now, as if the loss of Tehau has weakened it, made it less important.

I can write no more tonight. Instead I leave you with my most favoritest picture of Tehau, as she push da car foa win da "Strongest Woman on Maui" title back in 2010:

Let us pause for a moment and think of her . . . as well as come up with funny captions for this photo.

I shall start it off:

1) "Damn . . . you . . . Elena. So . . . hung . . . over."

2) "If these assholes weren't going in reverse I would have won by now."

3) "Why is my husband just standing there? I'm beating the crap out of him later."

4) "This would be much easier if they hadn't made me drink those three kegs first."

5) "Well this is embarrassing. Now I wish I had shaved my armpits this morning."

6) "They can keep the prize money, I'm taking the car."

Yeah, I know, not my best work. But I'll miss them both, Tehau and Kehau.

Good luck and God bless in all that you do.

Aloja,

Rod

If can, can. If no can, no can.

Like Snoop said, today was a good day.

First off, I get to the gym and for strength we do this funky workout that involves doing two cleans and one jerk.

Odd. But okay, I threw on 95 pounds because I want to work on technique and after my first clean Kristi goes, "Rod that looks really good. What happened?"

Well, what can I say? Good training. Yesterday we spent a good long time just doing cleans WITHOUT bending at the hips. So it was all just shooting upwards and getting that triple extension.

I guess Kristi was excited because she and Bump figured I was a lost cause. Seriously I wasn't even thinking about it, the triple extension was just happening today. I didn't have the heart to tell her that it might disappear next week, just wanted her to enjoy the moment.

So anyway the strength workout was actually more like a technique workout which was good because I needed that. 

Then we had the WOD. Ten push presses, 25 sit-ups and 10 overhead squats.

I won't lie, I was excited. This was my kind of workout. Bwahahahaha.

I stick with the 95 pounds and rip through the workout. I'm strong enough in the shoulders that I didn't have to rest after the OHS and could go right into the next round of push-presses which saved some time. I think I finished a little after 5 minutes.

I wasn't even breathing that hard. So then I got the bright idea that I would do the other WOD too.

Yeah, there was a Crossfit Games WOD today. It was fricking nuts. You start out with 3 thrusters and 3 chest to bar pull-ups, then 6 thrusters and 6 chest to bar pull-ups, then 9 thrusters and 9 chest to bar pull-ups . . .

You get the idea. The reps jump up by three for every set. And you had to keep doing this for seven minutes.

Well, I tried to do this after the first WOD I was feeling so good. Right. 

I do the first round of three/three . . . then my legs were shaking and I was like, "What am I doing?"

So I quit. WTH, I did the first WOD right?

Something about those game WOD's though, you feel like you've just got to do them. Argh. 

Ah well, I'm happy. Bring on the Warrior Dash!!!!!!!!!!!!

Late,

Rod

I just got a cramp in my back while wiping my ass

Holy crap.

So today I returned to the gym after taking a week off to hang with a friend who is visiting from D.C.

I'd say we were pretty active. Swimming, hiking, jumping off waterfalls.

But there were some beers involved almost every day for 7 days straight. Sometimes just a few, sometimes much more than a few.

Let's face it, I was drinking a lot and not really taking care of my body. Unless you count running through Twin Falls with a 12 pack of beer and a box of Minit Stop chicken. (Hey, I was on vacation.)

Then I went back to Raw Fitness today. Oh Lord.

The workout: 3 rounds of running 400 meters, 30 double unders, 20 push-ups and 10 pull-ups.

Ah man. So the first round I'm okay, except it takes me a while to do double unders. But running out of the gate the second round I was winded as hell. Had to actually stop several times during the run.

I could feel it as the beer sweat poured out of my skin. I could have filled a pitcher with what was being sweat off of my body. Woof.

At least my back wasn't getting stiff but it was taking me a long time to do 10 pull-ups. I even felt a little faint at one point.

Whew. Finally it was over. Not happy about the 17 minutes it took me but you kind of accept that you're going to do crappy after you take a week off.

BUT. . . then I got home. You probably know what's coming up based upon the title of today's post.

I'm in the bathroom and doing the deed. It's time to clean up and I friggin get a CRAMP in my right lat as I reach backwards to wipe.

I couldn't move my arm and had to raise it above my head to stretch it out. And every time I reached back there I would cramp.

I finally had to switch arms which if you've ever tried that it's kinda awkward.

Damn.

That's why it's about time. After the Warrior Dash this weekend I'm going Paleo. I told  Bump this at the gym and he said let's go Paleo till our 40th birthdays this summer. I was down, but had to list some conditions.

Me: "Yeah, paleo . . . except for Cinco De Mayo."

Him: "Yeah, except for that."

Me: "Yeah. . . and maybe 4th of July."

Him: "And 4th of July . . . and other holidays."

Good job. So paleo except for holidays. I can live with that. Let's see how that works.

By the way I'm afraid to use the bathroom again. Just sayin.

Later,

Rod

Let's change our strategy

Sometimes Beezelbump has some words of wisdom that solidifies why he owns the gym and I just workout there.

I had just had a really crap day on Monday. Handstand pushups and power cleans for 21, 15 and 9 reps. Took me 12 minutes to do while everyone else did around 8 minutes.

My back was blasted and today Bump was trying to show me some pointers. Says I have to start receiving the bar a bit lower because I've got a good pull.

Yeah I know, I have to squat a little more. I hate squatting but if it saves my back I'll start trying harder.

Then he said something else that kind of opened my eyes. He said for the WOD's I should be doing lighter weight and concentrate on moving faster.

It made sense. It's not like I'm going to be losing strength if I keep pushing it during the first part of the WOD. Lift lighter and move faster. Sounded very 36 Chambers of Shaolin-like.

Again if you don't get that reference I don't care. This be my blog and you're all just reading it.

So today was as good as any a day to check out that theory. We were doing man-makers today, which consists of a pushup, a row, another pushup, a row, a power clean then a push press with whatever dumbell weight that you choose.

Usually I would have picked like a 40. Today I picked 30 instead.

Concentrate on speed. Did I say we had to do 30 reps? Already I was worried about the first 10.

But it all made sense. Don't worry about weight, worry about moving you ass. Burning off the fat, working on the cardio.

So we start and it's tough. The first 3 were hard but I was trying to move my ass. I got to ten and finally had to rest a bit. But I picked up the weight as soon as I could and continued.

The last 10 were a slow hell. I think I did one rep then stopped. Then two and stopped. Then one rep and stopped again.

I did two more and Bump asked how many reps I had left and I said 26. Then he said to "turn off your mind and just do it."

Brah, I'm Pocho. My mind doesn't listen to me, he just does his own thing. Bruddah just talks and talks and talks and I do my best not to listen but I cannot. That's why I had trouble concentrating and paying attention to my ex wife.

Yeah she didn't buy that excuse either. But seriously I cannot turn this off.

I tried though and my mind said, "What you doing?" I said "manmakers" and he asked back "Why?"

The conversation went back and forth like that for the last four reps and it was hard to concentrate but I powered through. I think my time was just before 8 minutes. Not bad. Faster than I would have done had I gone heavier and I think going faster worked me harder than going heavier.

Okay, so my new strategy is lift heavy during strength and go lighter during WOD's and work on moving faster.

In other words, turn on the Hulk then switch to the Flash.

I'm game. Let's do this. Thanks coach.

Rod

Genetics, environment and pride

So in case you don't know, my buddy Bruce has seriously messed up his shoulder.

This is the same guy that push-presses 210. The same guy that told me we should use 135 for a WOD that required us to use 10 percent less weight.

Now he can't even do push-ups.

The thing is, Bruce told me he was having some pain in his shoulder but chose to power through. I've done the same and so has everyone else that's ever been in the gym.

But at RFM we've got our own resident physical therapist, our head coach and fellow c/o 90 classmate Beelzebump Kikuchi. He can diagnose you right there in the gym and if you have Kaiser you can follow up with an actual appointment.

The thing is, you have to actually tell him that there's something wrong. He can't read minds.

Like I said, we're all guilty of this. We are there at the gym and feel something in our knee or back or shoulder and we just tell ourselves, "Ah, I'll just do the workout and it'll be okay."

Except when it's not. So don't keep quiet if something isn't quite right. Speak up and say something and go get something done about it before your body does something you don't want it to do.

Like mess up your shoulder. Or in my case tear your pectoral.

Anyway, thanks for letting me preach today. Now let's talk workout.

On Wednesday we did weighted dips for strength. Marcus was there and of course he wants to get stupid and throw on as much weight as possible. Bruce may be taking it easy but Marcus is still going at full tilt. Yay.

In fact, that's how Marcus convinced me that I should do 143 pounds for the weighted dips along with him. He said, "Bruce would do it" like he died in some weightlifting accident. Thing is it worked because I'm stupid like that. "Yeah, okay. Let's do it for Bruce."

It was frickin heavy. The damn dip bar was shaking it was so heavy. My triceps still hurt. Thank you Marcus.

Then there was the WOD, one of those 20 seconds of work and 10 seconds of rest things. But for six rounds. Push-ups, mountain climbers and air squats.

Six rounds is a long time to do all the crap. I think I got to 270 or 280 reps. Would have been nice to break 300 but no dice.

Then there was the cash out, grab a plate and walk 200 yards, to the fence and back.

I grabbed the 45 pound bumper but didn't feel good about it. Not because it was heavy but because I saw little Shauna grab it too during the 4 p.m. class. She's nuts. I'm going to have to start writing about her in my blog too because she's just as intense as Kehau and DMeyer and the other nuts in the gym. I saw her doing mountain climbers and her legs were moving FAST. Then she grabs the 45 pound plate for the cashout? She's gotta weigh about 109 or something but she did it. Un-fricken-real.

Then again she tells me she also does the Insanity workouts too. When? Does she do Crossfit then go home and pop in the Insanity DVD? I hate that guy Shawn T by the way. I think he's a cyborg. Nobody can move like that for an hour and be human. Bastard.

Anyway, so I grab the 45 pound plate knowing full well that a girl about 100 pounds less than me did the same weight an hour later and start the walk. Between the dips and the push-ups my arms were toast. Specifically the triceps. They were burning. I had to rest the plate on my head a few times.

Woof. So that was Thursday. Then on Friday we had the Crossfit Game workout that consisted of 15 box jumps, 12 push-presses of 115 pounds and 9 toes to bar. As many rounds as possible in 18 minutes.

Dude. I'm not going to lie. By the time I finished 3 rounds I looked over at the clock and it said I had 12 minutes left and I wondered if I could milk the time and spend 12 minutes doing only one more round.

Anyway, that's what I thought. But I kept jumping and push pressing. The toes to bar I ended up having to break up into three sets of three.

I ended up getting 5 rounds and three reps. Kehau got 8 and she said she was "disappointed" with herself.

Yeah, seriously. That's the thing about RFM, I don't mind so much the guys lifting more than me and getting more rounds. It's the women that kill me every damn day.

And before I just used to worry about Kehau and Lori. Now I gotta add Shauna to my "watch out" list too.

It's a good thing though, because I need all the motivation I can get.

Alright people, time to enjoy the sun because this is the first time I've seen clear skies in about a week. Aloha.

Rod

Adios DMeyer

You know when I joined RFM there was this guy Derek Meyers, and he looked like this:

But then that guy went on Paleo and frickin ran and worked out like a madman and guess what, he's skinnier than me now. He's even skinnier than that pic below which was taken last July in the Whole Foods parking lot. (Yes we tailgated in the Whole Foods parking lot at Maui Mall after the WOD. It was awesome.)

Anyway, DMeyer. Good guy, great friend, dedicated athlete and inspiration for anyone out there that wants to change your life. No excuses, he just did it. He said I'm not going to eat like crap and I'm going to push myself every day and have an healthy and active lifestyle and still have fun at the same time.

How many of us can say we had the guts and discipline to do that? We're gonna miss you buddy. Come visit us again sometime. Not sure when I'm going to be up in Bend, OR but you never know. Cause I gets around.

Okay . . . that was sad. But DMeyer would want us to go on with the blog.

So here we go.

Today I packed my lightweight red shoes that I love so much because the workout said we would be running, doing power cleans and toes to the bar.

Then Mother Nature said "Nah, let's send two storm systems your way instead."

So when I get to the gym I realize that unless I felt like swimming 400 meters there was no way we were stepping foot outside today. Then I see Kristi writing on the board that we were doing double-unders instead.

Okay, these red minimalist shoes are GREAT. I love them.

 Except when it comes to double-unders. Then I refuse.

Why? Try doing double-unders barefoot and whip your toes with that rope. It freakin hurts doesn't it? Well that's how it feels. My shoes offer no protection at all. Hence the whole minimalist thing you know?

So usually if I see DU's on the website the night before I make sure and bring my old New Balances. I know enough of you guys have seen me rip through the double-unders so you know I can do them. But I have to do them with regular shoes.

ANYWAY . . . that's why I was like eff that I need substitution. I could either run in the rain or . . . hit the rowing machine.

But then I noticed there was another option, that funky stationary bike with the digital readout and the hand pump things that went back and forth. Whatever it's called.

I was like, cool, it's even got a timer on it. I asked Bump about it and he was like, "Just go really hard like you see those guys train on the Ultimate Fighter." Okay.

I'm not dumb, I know that thing is going to be tough as hell. But I still rather do that then break my toes.

Anyway, by the time the workout starts Kehau is snickering, Kristi is smiling and Frank is looking at me like I'm from Mars.

The original workout called for a 400 meter run, 15 power cleans, 20 toes to bar, an 800 meter run, 15 power cleans, 20 toes to bar then another 400 run to end it all.

Everyone else did DU's instead of running and I was on the stationary bike.

It wasn't pretty. That bike kicked my ass. You know what really hurts?

My forearms.

I can barely type on the keys right now, but I had to. Had to dedicate this I Hate Cardio blog to D-Man.

Gonna be a much quieter gym without you. Aloha and God bless.

Rod

Today was so weird and wonderful I don't even know what to title this blog

Okay, so. This all started off with me being late to the gym today.

Had a late meeting and was pissed. I was hoping to workout at 5 then hit First Friday, then see a friend of mine play music in Kihei.

I got out in time to catch the 6 p.m. class. I get there and I see the group already doing their warm up 400 meter run. Sigh.

I've been missing so many workouts lately that making Friday's workout had a sort of sense of urgency for me. And today was supposed to be thrusters and running, not my most favorite movements.

Notice I said supposed to. Yup.

Anyway so I walk into the gym and the whole RFM crew is there. I just figured everybody was still hanging out from the 5 p.m.

I get changed and come out of the restroom and somebody asks me, "Hey, you snatching today?"

Snatching? Then I remembered. We were supposed to do snatches for the Crossfit Games this week.

I was stoked. Snatches instead of thrusters? No contest.

I like snatches. The weight's on the ground and you lift it above your head. No bending your wrist backwards, no squatting, no funky movements. You just lift the weight.

This particular snatch workout called for 30 reps of 75 pounds, then 30 reps of 135, 30 reps of 165 and then as many reps as possible of 210.

I knew for sure I wasn't getting to 210, but I was thinking it was possible to get to 165 and crank out one rep at least.

What I didn't know was that this workout was freaking people out for some reason. I was late so I guess I didn't see people struggling with some of the heavier snatch weights. I was totally oblivious.

Anyway since I missed the warm-up I figured I better stretch and maybe practice a snatch or two so I walk over to the 135 someone set up and get in position. Bump says to me, "Hey, did you even warm-up?" and being a smart ass I told him, "Yeah I went out last night." Then he says "don't blame me when your shoulder hurts tonight."

I thought he was joking. I was like whatever and I snatched the weight.

The reaction in the gym was like I had just turned water into wine.

"Whoa!!!"

"Did you see that?"

"Holy sh..."

I was totally confused. I  thought I was missing some sort of joke. Then I realized everyone was serious.

A little bit later Frank slaps on 155 to get a good feel for what it might be like if he gets a chance to hit 165. I figured I should try it too. When I walked over to it Frank said later that he thought I was joking.

So yeah, I snatched that too. It was a little harder than the 135 but I got it up with almost the same effort.

Again, the reaction was like I had performed some sort of minor miracle. Then Frank said something that really really really humbled me. He said he had a lot of respect for me for lifting that weight.

That's huge, I consider Frank one of the best athletes that I've ever known in my life. A rare blend of speed, strength and stamina combined in a guy that doesn't say much because he's too busy trying to run faster, lift heavier and push himself harder than anyone else.

That's when I started getting really nervous for the workout.

I felt like now that people saw me lift those weights that the pressure was on. I started thinking about my back and whether it would allow me to finish and whether I had the stamina to endure 60 reps.

Because as you know, I freaking hate cardio.

I had a LOT of nervous energy. I started feeling jittery and began breathing kind of quickly.

Then I found out that I wasn't going to be in the first round. Great, now I have to spend 10 minutes feeling like I want to throw up.

Derek needed a counter and so I paired up with him. He tells me he's hoping to just get 5 reps of the 135.

That's when I knew I was going to scream really loud for him. Not just to help him but to help myself get rid of some nervousness.

So the first round starts and Derek breezes through the first round of 75. Then he puts on the 135 and gets his first snatch. Then his second. Then his third. I'm screaming at him. I'm jumping up and down. I'm shaking my fist and telling him to do more.

He hits 5 and he keeps going. At some point I notice that he's actually having an easier time lifting because he technique was improving and I yell at him, "YOU'RE GETTING BETTER AT THIS!!!" or something like that.

What was funny was he looked up like a little kid and smiled and said, "I am, huh!"

That was the turning point because he believed he could do more. Confidence is a game changer and he just got some right there and then. He ended up getting 17 reps total and we were both hugging each other. It was friggen awesome.

Meanwhile I saw Frank got all 60 reps. I found myself thinking that I had to do at least as many as he did.

Then I caught myself and thought, "Holy crap did I just think that? I have to do as many reps as Frank. That thought has never even occurred to me before because it has never been possible."

Oh man, I felt better yelling for Derek but then the nervousness started kicking up again.

Anyway, we start the second round.

The 75's were easy but by the end of it I was a little winded and my legs were shaking. I couldn't figure out if it was because I was tired or still nervous. Probably both.

Somehow I got the 135 on and took my first rep. Whew. A little harder than the practice reps I took because I was winded from the first round.

All of a sudden I felt my dreams of hitting 165 slip away.

Thank God for Derek, he kept me on track. I don't know when I finished the 30 but I had less than a minute to get the 165 on and take at least one rep.

But I swear to God, at that point putting on weights with my back fried like that was probably harder than actually doing the snatches. I was moving like an 80 year old man with scoliosis. Derek was yelling at me to forget about the clips and I was putting on the last weight when time ran out.

Damn it. I don't know if I would have gotten it but it would have been nice to try.

Later on Erin was showing me her iPhone video of my snatches. I have no technique whatsoever. No wonder Bump said it was super ugly.

But for the first time we had the same WOD score, 60 reps. It's pretty cool to say I got the same score as Bump and Frank. Not sure when that's going to ever happen again but I'm happy it happened at least once.

And thanks to Derek for the pic. See you all next time guys. Maybe tomorrow.

Because I still want to try that 165.

Shoots,

Rod