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

Redemption Song or F-U Kona Red

So today I have a good idea of why I almost collapsed and passed out on Tuesday.

See, on Tuesday I drank me a bottle of some Kona Red.

What is that you may ask? Well, despite the fact that it's called KONA Red it's actually a drink they make right here on Maui. Somebody figured out that you can take the red fruit from the coffee bean bush and actually do something with it.

Supposedly it has more antioxidants than blueberries and acai berries but it also has a kick like a Red Bull.

I don't drink coffee or even Coke or Pepsi or anything else besides water and coconut juice (alcoholic beverages are different of course) but someone left a pack of Kona Red in the office and offered it to everyone so I took a bottle.

The stupid thing was I drank it late in the day, around 3 p.m. or something. By the time I got to the gym I was feeling sort of weird. I just thought I was excited to make it to a workout finally.

Anyway, like I said during the last post I did the first round of double unders and my frickin heart was pounding and it felt like all my blood was flowing away from my brain. 

At first I thought I might have to do something drastic, like stop drinking beer. (Shiver)

Then today I was in the office and saw the Kona Red box and thought, waitaminute, that might have had something to do with it.

I knew I'd know for sure today because we had to deal with Annie, which was 50, 40, 30, 20, 10 reps of double unders and sit ups. 

If I almost died from doing just 20 DU's then I wouldn't last long today. 

So we start, and I start killing the DU's. 

I mean, not as fast or as quick as D.Meyer or Ikaika or anything, who were both BLAZIN through the first 50 DU's but I wasn't slow either. I got stuck around 30 but pounded out the next 20 pretty easy.

The sit-ups sucked though but that's okay, because I kept ripping the DU's. It was nice to have Kristi reaffirm that I was doing well with her "YEAH ROD!!!" cheers everytime I got up there.

I finally got to the last 10 reps and copied a move that Tehau did earlier, where she flung her jump rope across the room. Freaking redemption today man, I was tired but happy.

All I gotta say is I'm NEVER DRINKING KONA RED AGAIN . . . I mean, as someone who totally supports small business as the solution to bringing back the economy (for example, RFM) and I'm very impressed that these guys found a use for a fruit that was being thrown away by the ton by the coffee industry . . . this stuff and my body do not mix. At all.

By the way, good to see braddah Josh Lindsey in the RFM gym once more. I brought Josh to RFM back in 2010 and he was killing it, but then started working construction in Lahaina and couldn't make the workouts anymore. Today he was yelling at me and pushing me like old times and it was a good thing because those sit-ups were tough. 

Wow, never thought I'd ever say that sit-ups were tougher than double-unders but there you go. They were. 

You know what? For the first time I didn't look at anyone's time except for me. I know I finished at 10:29 but I can't tell you what Derek or Ikaika or anyone else did. 

And you know what, I don't care. It's good to be back. Been a good year so far and it's only getting better. 

As for Annie, she's my biyotch. Who's next?

Later kids,

Rod

Epic fail and Kehau has the same birthday as my grandma

First off, happy birthday to Kehau, aka Tehau, the strongest Samoan/Tongan hybrid woman on Maui.

She turned the big 30 today as my grandma turned 83. Slight age difference between the two.

We had a birthday party this past weekend for Kehau, during which we celebrated only as RFMer's should.

We did WOD's. Well, not me. I was drinking. But her husband Frank and Ikaika were all over it.

By the way, the WOD was ridiculous. It was the "do as many burpees as you can in 7 minutes or until you die" WOD. Here are the guys in action on Saturday:

Yeah, sorta kinda nuts.

In any case I did NOT do this WOD. In fact I haven't been doing any WOD's lately, hardly ever. Combination of stupid after work meetings and more stupid meetings.

Then yesterday I tried to workout, I was excited even. We had this cool WOD upon the board that had like 8 different movements. First was box jumps and push-ups then pull-ups and double unders followed by kettlebell swings and the 100 meter dash. Fun stuff.

Started out well too. Derek did four rounds and I was right behind him and with 3 rounds and 6 reps.

But then I started really SUCKING at the pull-ups like I've never sucked before. And my double unders were there the first round, I went really fast and again I had a witness, Kristi this time.

After that though, I was out of gas. I started feeling dizzy like I just gave blood or something and when the round was over I laid down and couldn't get back up to do the KB swings.

What the hell man? My back was still in one piece and this was a good mix of movements, some upper body and some lower, perfect for me or so I thought.  What the hell happened?

Whatever the case I think I need to get a little more regular about my training. And start eating well again. My body cries out for another round of Paleo and I need it to train for the Warrior Dash.

Seriously, because today sucked.

Here's something that does not suck though, my buddy Josh is back at the gym.

Josh started coming to RFM about two years ago then dropped out after about a month and a half. He just had a lot of things going on but I knew he'd be back one day.

Good to have you back bro, hope you start reading the blog again.

Okay folks, tomorrow is another workout. Let's hope I don't almost pass out again.

Rod

Power cleans are weird and how box jumps can kill you

Had a hell of a workout on Wednesday.

First we started out with power cleans.

Something really really really weird happened while I was doing them.

I think I may have actually gotten the movement right.

But if it is right then it feels so wrong.

Let me explain. So I guess the way you're supposed to do a power clean is pull it up from the floor to your waist and then explode up with a jump.

I always jump too early because it feels weird to not pull. It's like you are forcing your body not to lift weights while you're getting ready to lift weights.

That doesn't make sense, I know. Anyway.

And if you do it right, the bar just flips over and pow, it's on your shoulders. You don't feel like you used your muscles at all sorta.

And that feels wrong too.

Power cleans are weird but I got up to 195 yesterday. It was ugly but I did it. Guess I gotta go for 200 next time.

Really not looking forward to that.

And then . . . came the WOD.

Thrusters then box jumps for rounds of 21, 15 and 9 reps.

Bruce, Kats and I all used 95 pounds as our weight, which we all knew would suck. Bump suggested we all use the 24 inch boxes for our jumps too.

So the clock starts and we start thrusting. The first 10 go surprisingly well and even though I started bogging a little I hit all 21 reps without resting.

But then I tried to jump. Holy crap I almost killed myself. My legs barely made it to the top of the box.

I was like no way, what the hell. I jumped again and again barely made it to the top. I made one more jump and then Bump came with the smaller box for me to use. Either he sensed the danger or got tired of me saying "No effin way brah, this ain't happening."

That was round one. The second round was worse, much worse. I broke up the reps into groups of five so I  could rest 3 times while completing 15 reps. Jumping almost as bad.

The last 9 reps were terrible, I think I could only do two thrusters at a time. The jumps seemed to last forever and I thought it would never end.

Of course after the WOD we had the cashout to do. Grab dumbbells and hold one high and the other low and walk for the fence about 100 yards away. I grabbed 25 pound weights. Yeah I was being a wuss but I DON'T CARE . . . at least not at that point I didn't.

Thrusters man, I hate 'em and I'm tired of being a wuss when it comes to squat workouts. I'm going to have to get serious about improving my leg strength because I can't just continue on like this where I push myself during upper body and just get by during lower body workout days.

Not. Happenen.

Late,

Rod

Fast and furious

This Saturday I missed a good workout. Hand-stand push-ups, dips and push ups.

An all upper body workout, FINALLY. And I don't go.

Great.

But then today I checked and saw another workout that I might be good at. Push presses, sit ups and lunges. Three rounds.

Okay, not bad. The reps were 10 push presses, 20 sit-ups and 30 lunges (15 on each side).

I'm thinking, can do, can do.

Of course I look around during the 5 p.m. class and the big three were there: Ikaika, Derek and Marcus.

And Bruce. I didn't mean to overlook Bruce but he wasn't doing too well.

In fact, he was sick, still getting over some bug or something. Most normal people would stay home but not Bruce of course.

Kehau was sick and she stayed home, and she was one of our coaches. But Bruce . . . you know, I just realized he's got the same name as the guy who turns into the Hulk, Bruce Banner.

Fitting.

Anyway, we're setting up for the workout and Bruce tells me, "Eh Rod we go do the same weight we did last week for push-press."

What? Last week was 60 percent of our one rep max, which is 135. This week it's supposed to be 50 percent, or about 110.

Nah, Bruce said. "We go try 'em. We can die together."

Say what? I thought this guy was supposed to be sick? Kristi even came up to me (nice to have her back by the way) and said, "Ok Rod, pay attention to Bruce during the WOD. He looks kinda pale . . ."

Oh yeah? Try tell him that.

So I notice Marcus and Ikaika also loading up the 45 pound plates and so I'm guessing it's on. We break up into two rounds and Bruce takes the first one.

The timer starts and I know he's bogging because he's actually having a hard time with the weight, and it's only the first round.

And this is Bruce mind you. He throws up 135 above his head like kids eat candy after trick-or-treating.

Anyway he goes for it and I'm watching to make sure he doesn't puke. But the guy powers through and even managed to do some jumping lunges during the last round, which was pretty impressive.

Then it was my turn. The round starts and I THINK I got through my push presses first. I'm pretty sure I did anyway.

I start ripping on the sit-ups but I see guys finishing before me. Then I really lose any momentum I had during  lunges.

Second and third rounds go about the same and I finish at about 6:14 I think. Not bad but my legs were toasted. I had a hard time walking afterwards.

Then we had to do three sets of 10 roll-outs to finish ourselves off. These frickin cash-outs are exactly that. They cash your ass OUT.

OH WAIT, I ALMOST FORGOT!!!

Hahahahahaha . . . guess who wants to run the Warrior Dash with us?

My little brother. Ha!

He lives on Oahu and when I told him we had an extra space for the 10:30 a.m. heat he said he was in.

Now, my brother was quite the athlete in high school: football, basketball and track.

He still runs a lot playing pick-up games, but that's about it.

We'll see how he does at Warrior Dash. BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHA!!!!

See you at the box folks,

Rod