295.6

If you are like me and don’t go to a gym that has a coach that can give you pointers when you work out, take video and save it for later. You can always watch yourself do the work and then find a video of someone teaching the movement and you can compare and see where you can improve. I have been working on getting my back squat up to 200#(90kg.) for 5 sets of 5. I feel this is an achievable short term goal. For a long time my progress was halted by the fact that I did not have a squat rack and I could only manage about 150# front squatting in the racked position. Unracking the weight put unacceptable strain on my wrists. I finally installed a sort of squat rack on the side of the house and have been able to increase the load now. My new limiting factors are from errors in form and recovery time vs. detraining atrophy. From the video I took the other day I can see that I have corrected for the most part rounding of the back at the bottom of the squat and a tendency to butt wink occasionally. I still however keep way too much weight in the front of my feet, you can tell this by watching the bar path as I go down each time. Things to work on means more reasons to workout again, practice, practice, practice!

A word about shoes. When you workout, especially if you are running or moving your feet side to side a lot, it is incredibly important that your shoes fit correctly. I am as guilty as the next guy of buying the cheapest tennie-runners out there for normal wear, but when I workout, I have good quality, well-fitting shoes. If I am shuffling down the road and my shoe starts moving around on my foot and my toes are trying to keep my feet in the same place all the time I am setting myself up for injury. Stop. Right. There. No excuse in the world is good enough in that situation.

My first pair of workout shoes were Inov8 bareXF-210’s. I scoured the inter webs for weeks looking for the perfect shoe, mainly because I have enormous, extra wide, size 15 feet. They turned out to be the only shoes available in my size but I did have a choice of colors, hideous green or dayglo pink. I love me some green shoes. I can wear out a $13 pair of WalMart’s fine footwear in about 3 months but these shoes soldiered on for three years solid. They still get to do some duty when I run in the morning, there is something to be said for minimalist shoes when you run on concrete. Before I put the green meanies out to pasture I made my most significant footwear purchase to date. The ultimate workout shoe of it’s time. Reebok CrossFit Nano 3.0’s. Also in a hideous color, ‘Rope Burn Red’ this time, because of the size. I kid you not, it’s like having Cadillac’s on your feet, the shoes feel so good. They cost enough, I will probably be buried in them, lol. just get shoes that fit you, that’s all I’m saying, the whole purpose of shoes are to protect your feet and good shoes do just that.

Squats- The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

My Food:

4 eggs(320 cal.)P28F21.2C1.6
1 can tomatoes and chilies(50 cal.)P2.5F0C10

16oz. 2% milk(244 cal.)P16.2F9.6C24.6
total= 614 cal. P 46.7 F 30.8 C 36.2

lunch salad

4 oz. spinach(28 cal.)P3.2F0C4
1 cup cottage cheese(240 cal.)P26F10C8
1 can tuna(90 cal.)P20F1C0
2 Tbs. ranch dressing(260 cal.)P0F28C2
total= 618 cal. P 31.2 F 39 C 14

dinner

6 oz. chicken thigh(354 cal.)P43.9F18.5C0
1/2 cup rice(320 cal.)P6F0C72
sweet chili sauce(100 cal.)P0F0C25
total= 774 cal. P 49.9 F 18.5 C 97

My Workout

1 mile run
Back squat 5×5 @160#
100 singleunders
Hang-clean reverse pyramid EMOM ‘Every Minute On the Minute’
10@95#-9@100#-8@105#-7@110#-6@115#-5@120#-4@125#-3@130#-2@135#-1@140#

If you are following along with the getting started workouts I post, your workout today is:
1 mile walk
25 single unders with the jump rope, I know it sounds monotonous but you will soon be able to tear through all 25 without stopping, it really gets your heart racing, that’s the exact effect we are after, chasing VO2max.