Training for Monday-Wednesday, March 30th.

Monday 03/28

Today was a pretty normal training day. Nothing special. However, I am going to do another Pulse Fast today after the weekend carb-up.

AM - 16 Reps on the Waterbury Challenge.

PM - Upper Body

Chins: 65 x 4, 4, 70 x 4, 4, 75 x 4, 80 x 4

Yates Barbell Row: 265 x 12 + 3, 3, 4, 4, 4

High Incline Smith Press (Fat Gripz): 185 x 17 + 3, 3, 4, 4, 4

Neutral Grip Icarian Press (Tyler Grips): 130 x 15 + 5, 5, 6, 5, 6

Incline DB Side Laterals: 37.5 x 14 + 4, 4, 5, 5, 5

Rear DB Laterals: 30 x 19 + 5, 5, 6, 6, 7

Hammer DB Curls (Tyler Grips): 50 x 17 + 4, 3, 4, 4, 4

Tricep Pressdown (Fat Gripz): 160 x 15 + 4, 4, 5, 5, 5

Didn't get any cardio in after work. Went to Costco instead. :)

Tuesday 03/29

Weight is holding around 191 after yesterday's Pulse Fast.

AM - Foam rolling and 17 reps on the Waterbury Challenge

PM - Legs

I'm going to take a break from the Front Squats for a few weeks. My back still feels a little weird and I haven't taken a break from the Squats for a few months.

Cybex Squat Machine: 360 x 6, 380 x 6, 400 x 6, 420 x 4

Cybex Squat (Myo Reps): 300 x 12 + 3, 3, 4, 4, 4

Hip Thrust: 275 x 8 + 4, 3, 3, 3, 3

One Leg Press w/mini bands: 140 x 15/10/8 + 6, 5, 5, 5, 5

One Leg Calf Raise w/mini bands: 140 x 16/10/5 + 5, 5, 6, 5, 5

Lying Leg Curl: 155 x 10 + 3, 3, 3, 3, 4

Cybex Calf Raise: 270 x 10 + 3, 3, 3, 3, 4

After work - Sprints

10 x 50 yards followed by some stretching.

Wednesday 03/30

Normally, today is an off day, but I had energy to burn after work.

18 reps on the Waterbury Challenge (still only one set for each exercise)

15 min on the Recumbent Bike

20 min Yoga - Gaiam PM Yoga.

Sucker Punch - Movie Review.

Sucker Punch - Movie Review

I'll start off by saying that I actually like Zack Snyder. I've enjoyed most of movies, like 300, I loved Watchmen, and I even liked Legend of the Guardians. Like him or not, he has a distinctive style. I was really looking forward to this movie. It looked just insane to me from the previews and I was looking forward to seeing what this was all about. Then, I starting hearing all the bad reviews and was like, uh oh. I still went into this with an open mind.

I just got out of seeing this movie a few hours ago and I was kind of speechless. Not because it was so good that I couldn't put into words how much I loved it, but more like that I couldn't tell you what this movie was supposed to be about. The best way I can describe this movie is that it's a beautiful movie about nonsense. The effects are great, the fantasy sequences are really beautiful and there are some gorgeous women in this movie. The story, however, is just nonsense.

To sum it up, Emily Browning plays a girl, simply named Baby Doll, that is put in a mental institution. Except that in this mental institution, they are made to perform and dance for people. You know, because that's what they normally do in mental institutions with the patients, make them put on shows to entertain people. Makes perfect sense. So, they make Baby Doll dance, and when she dances, her mind goes into this fantasy world where all this weird shit happens. During her first dance, she gets the idea to escape from the mental institute and enlists some of the other patients to help her and escape with her. They need to steal a few items from several people and Baby Doll will dance to distract them while her friends steal the item.

It's kind of established in the movie that Baby Doll doesn't know how she's doing this and she just goes into a trance. However, she states as they are coming up with the plan to escape that when she does her dance, the target will be distracted and they can do their thing. Huh? If you don't know how you're doing it and you're in a trance yourself while you do it, then how the hell do you know how it affects other people? It's only a single line, but it's just of those things that when you're trying to make sense of a movie it takes you out of it a bit because you realize the writing is weak.

Don't take this to mean that I found that movie confusing, it's just not a very good story or screenplay. It felt like this movie was trying to be smart and have multiple layers, like Inception, but it's just nowhere near as good.

The fantasy sequences seemed just kind of random to me. It felt like this was written by a kid that wanted to make a movie and decided to throw every fantasy element he could think of into it.

Synder overused the slo-mo in the movie to the point where it became annoying. I understand it's his style, but it's just way overdone here. However, if you watched some of these action sequences at regular speed, you probably wouldn't have been able to tell what was going on at all. This is a movie that's probably much better to watch on a nice HDTV where you can rewind and watch some of the action sequences to see that is going on.

With that said, this is a rental and even then I would tell you not to expect much.

Training for Thursday through Sunday the 27th.

I'm still feeling pretty weak, so I'm just treating the rest of this week as a back off week. Hopefully, I'll start feeling better next week.

Thursday 03/24 - Upper body

AM - Got 12 reps each of chins, reverse lunges, pushups and single-leg calf raises. I like the way I feel after these. It's similar to how I feel after a tabata session.

PM - Upper body

Floor Press (Fat Gripz): 225 x 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3 - Two second pause at the floor

Incline Hammer Strength Press: 230 x 12 + 4, 4, 4, 5, 5

Close Grip Pulldown: 160 x 15 + 3, 3, 4, 4, 4

Hammer Strength Seated Row: 230 x 16 + 4, 4, 5, 5, 5

Rear Delt Raise: 35 x 12 + 3, 3, 4, 4, 5

Cybex Tricep Pressdown: 120 x 12 + 3, 3, 3, 3, 3

Cybex Preacher Curl: 110 x 10 + 3, 3, 3, 3, 3

After work, I got 15 minutes on the recumbent bike.

Friday 03/25 - Lower Body

AM - Did 13 reps each of the Waterbury Challenge. Still feels pretty easy and energizing.

PM - Weights (Lower Body)

RDL: 405 x 4, 4, 415 x 4, 425 x 3, 4, 5 - My back felt a lot better this week.

One Leg Curl: 90 x 6 + 3, 3, 3, 3, 3

Seated Leg Curl: 285 x 12 + 4, 3, 4, 4, 4

Leg Press: 450 x 18 + 5, 4, 5, 6, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5

Leg Press Calf Raise: 500 x 13 + 4, 3, 4, 4, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3

Saturday 03/26 - Off

Weight was at 190 even today. I'm giving blood around 1:30 and then I'm going to carb back up with some pizza and watch some movies. I intended on doing some sprints before the blood donation, but my back was pretty sore from yesterdays workout, so I decided against it. I did do 14 reps on the Waterbury Challenge though, so I at least did that.

Sunday 03/27 - Prowler

Weight is back up to 195 after the carb up. I'm a little tired still, but I have a little more energy this morning. As the weather has finally let up, I can get a Prowler session in. Before my Prowler session, I did 15 reps on the Waterbury Challenge. The good news is that I can still do it all in one set. I still have a few left in the tank, so I think I may be able to get up to about 20 before I need to start breaking it up into multiple sets.

Prowler Drive Pad:

180 x 30 yards x 2, 230 x 30 x 2, 260 x 30 x 2, 270 x 30 x 2

Prowler Reverse Push:

180 x 30 x 2, 190 x 30 x 2, 200 x 30 x 2, 210 x 30 x 2

Prowler walk with Strength Shoes:

210 x 30 x 2, 220 x 30 x 2, 230 x 30 x 2, 240 x 30 x 2

Paul - Movie review and this week in DVD.

Paul - Movie Review

Today, I saw Paul. This is a total geek-fest! If you liked stuff like Fanboys, then this is like Fanboys, but with better writing and actors. It's not great, and the Pegg/Frost duo would have been helped by Edgar Wright, but it still was happy with this.

As much as I liked this, I actually recommend this as a rental. Rent this, get a 12 pack or two, a few pizzas and a collection of your best geek buddies and watch this together. Make a game out of all the movie references you catch. You'll have a blast if you watch it that way.

The Tourist

What a fucking bore! Before I saw this, I was wondering how you could fuck up a movie starring Johnny Depp and Angelina Jolie, but these guys found a way. I don't blame the actors. I blame the writer/director of this movie, who's essentially an unknown, and with movies like this is going to stay that way. This was just plain bad.

Hereafter

I really wanted to like this. Directed by Clint Eastwood and starring Matt Damon. What could go wrong? A boring ass story, that's what went wrong. This movie blows it's wad in the first 5 minutes. The tsunami scene you see in the commercials? That's a the beginning of the movie. The rest is people just wandering around. You really feel the length of this movie, which is only just a tad over two hours long, but feels like it's three hours plus. You can leave the room for 15-20 minutes and come back and not feel like you really missed anything. I was really disappointed in this.

Morning Glory

This movie kind of broke my heart. A perky Rachel McAdams (who I still love) and a cranky Harrison Ford (which would have worked here with a better script) and this movie just came up short. You get a glimpse of what this movie could have a been about halfway through when there's a pretty good scene of Harrison Ford and Diane Keaton going back and forth at each other. At the end of the day, I'm not sure what this movie wanted to be. At times, it seems like it's going to be a smart-assy movie making fun of morning news shows. Then, it feels like it's a story about a woman balancing her love life and career with a bit of romantic comedy thrown in. I don't think it committed to any of these themes and ultimately suffered for it.

Switch

I actually didn't mind this. It's another romantic comedy, so it's inherently predictable, but it's carried by the performances of Jason Bateman and Thomas Robinson, who plays the neurotic kid. This is also a movie where I actually felt Jennifer Aniston was not playing the typical romantic comedy role that she seemed doomed to play for eternity. It's pretty funny at times and I enjoyed it for what it was.

Faster

Don't expect much in the way of dialog, but if you want to watch a mindless, action flick, look no further. It's basically The Rock playing the Terminator for 90 minutes, which is kind of bad ass. This is the kind of stuff I was expecting The Rock to do when he first started acting, instead of shit like The Tooth Fairy and The Game Plan (I'm sure it helped pay the bills though, so whatever).

This isn't a great movie, but considering the alternative, I'd rather see The Rock make 10 more movies like this, than make one more The Tooth Fairy.

The Next Three Days

Man, another bore of a movie. You get Russell Crowe and have him do nothing for 90 minutes. Unfortunately, this is a two hour movie. The last 20 minutes is pretty much the only part worth watching. It's a waste of time otherwise.

Luther

This is an awesome, short BBC series starting Idris Elba. If you're a fan of Idris Elba, that's probably already enough information. I'm not going to spoil anything here, but this is just a bad-ass mini-series about Idris Elba playing a detective who forms a weird bond with a killer played by Ruth Wilson. The exchanges between the two are fascinating and kept me wanting more. This is fast paced and just a great show all around. I highly recommend this to everyone looking for a good, but short, mini-series to watch.

Training for Monday-Wednesday, March 23rd.

Monday 03/21 - Upper Body.

Ugh...man, I am achy today. I'm not sure if this is from dieting all month or being sick all of last week. I'm still not 100%, but I just hate being lazy or making excuses.

Chins: 60 x 4, 4, 65 x 4, 4, 70 x 4, 75 x 4 - No Fat Gripz today. Just regular Chins.

Yates Row: 255 x 12 + 3, 3, 3, 3, 3

High Incline Smith Machine Presses: 185 x 15 + 3, 3, 4, 4, 5

Incline Machine Press: 220 x 10 + 3, 3, 3, 3, 3

Incline Side Raises: 37.5 x 15 + 4, 4, 4, 4, 5

Incline Rear Raises: 30 x 16 + 4, 4, 4, 4, 5

Hammer Dumbbell Curls (Tyler Grips): 50 x 12 + 3, 3, 4, 4, 4

Tricep Pressdown (Fat Gripz): 150 x 18 + 4, 5, 6, 6, 7

After work, yet another 15 minutes on the recumbent bike.

Tuesday 03/22 - Squats and Sprints.

Weighed in at 194.4 this morning. Today I'm doing another Pulse Fast, so this should be interesting.

Just did a little bit of foam rolling before work. I also started the Waterbury Challenge today. You can read about it here.

http://www.t-nation.com/free_online_article/most_recent/plp_the_60day_challenge

This should be pretty easy for the first 30 days. It's mainly just something extra to throw into the mix. Before work I did:

10 chins

10 reverse lunges (per leg)

10 pushups

10 one-legged calf raises - the workout didn't call for this, but I hate my calves

PM - Legs

Front Box Squats: 275 x 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2 - I just didn't have it today. From this point on, I considered today a back-off day.

Front Box Squats (Myo Reps): 185 x 11 + 3, 3, 4, 4, 4

Hip Thrust: 275 x 13 + 4, 3, 3, 4, 4

One Leg Press w/mini bands: 140 x 10, 10, 10, 6, 6, 6, 6, 5

One Leg Calf Raise w/mini bands: 140 x 10, 8, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5

Cable Pull Through: 150 x 10 + 5, 4, 4, 4, 5

Cybex Calf Raise: 270 x 8 + 4, 3, 3, 4, 5

Weak sauce! The diet's over soon, so I can finally eat more carbs.

After work was sprinting time. Despite my fatigue, I actually felt pretty good during sprints. Perhaps all the leg and Prowler work carried over.

10 x 40 meter sprints followed by some stretching.

Wednesday 03/23 - Off, but some notes.

Today, I was pretty happy. I weighed in at 191 flat this morning and then I took a certification test for work that I've been stressing about for a few months now. Fortunately, I passed the test and I can say it was clearly affecting my mood as I was instantly in a good mood the rest of the day. Went out after work, had a drink and caught a movie.

After the movie, did the Waterbury Challenge:

11 Chins

11 Reverse Lunges

11 Pushups

11 One legged calf raises

Fun stuff!

Limitless - Movie Review

Let me start by saying that before this movie, I did not like Bradley Cooper. First off, his name is fucking Bradley Cooper. Second, he always just had that douchey, asshole attitude to me. I wasn't sure if that was just the type of roles he was taking, or just his own personality coming through in his acting. Hell, I'd be the first to admit that maybe I hated him cause he's just too good looking or something. Fuck him and his good looks. :P

Well, after this movie, I have to say that my opinion of Bradley Cooper has changed. I genuinely liked him in this movie and now I think he can carry a movie.

Yes, I enjoyed the hell out of this movie! It's not a perfect movie, nor is it a movie that I can see watching over and over, but I think it's a really good story.

You know how you watch a movie and go, "If he's so smart, then how come he doesn't do this?" Well, I didn't find myself saying this that much. I actually found myself surprised at the lack of plot holes in this movie. The movie kept me going and I didn't find myself going 'huh?' through most of it.

Overall, my enjoyment of the movie is a genuine surprise. I was really expecting to hate this.

The less you know about this movie, the better. Stop watching trailers and just go see this.

Training for Thursday through Sunday the 20th.

Thursday - 03/17 - Upper Body.

Still feeling pretty weak from being sick and the diet. I almost called in sick today, but we're short handed at work, and I'm no pussy, so I went in. Around workout time, I actually felt pretty good, so I decided to do a workout session. Around the time I got to the gym, most of my gym buddies were at the gym, which kind of motivated me. At worst, it at least made me feel like I was at home...

Floor Press (Fat Gripz): 255 x 3, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2 - Man, the weakness is really settling in.

Floor Press (Myo/Fat Gripz): 205 x 11 + 3, 3, 4, 4, 3

Close Grip Pulldown (Fat Gripz): 160 x 15 + 4, 4, 4, 4, 5

Seated Chest Supported Row: 180 x 20 + 5, 5, 6, 5, 5

Rear DB Incline Delt Raise: 32.5 x 18 + 5, 5, 5, 5, 7

Rear Delt Machine: 120 x 10 + 3, 3, 3, 3, 3

Cybex Tricep Machine: 120 x 15 + 3, 3, 4, 4, 4

Cybex Preacher Curl (Tyler Grips): 110 x 15 + 4, 3, 4, 4, 4

Friday - 03/18 - Off

Today is normally not an off day, but I felt like absolute HELL today. My weight dropped to 191, which normally would be a good thing on a diet, but with me being sick and how I've felt, seems like more of a signal to take a day off. Today ended up being a pretty busy day at work, and I ended up not taking a lunch break, so I just skipped the workout. I got home Friday night, made a big dinner, watched Hereafter (which sucked) and then rested up.

Saturday - 03/19 - Legs

I'm on call this weekend, which normally means I can't do much as far as working out, but around 3:30, I figured I wasn't going to get called, and I was feeling pretty rested, so I wanted to get a session in. Because my normal gym closes at 4 on the weekends, I needed to go to the new, but really super shitty, 24 Hour. This place sucks ass! There's one power rack and one weighted leg press. Period! Everything else is a machine, which isn't inherently bad, but only one plate loaded leg press? Huh?

Plus, they used to follow you around and harass you for carrying a gym bag on the gym floor. Even today, most of the people at the gym seem more interested in watching the games on the TV screens, than working out. I mean, seriously people, go home and watch the game if that's your priority. Get the fuck out of my way (and out of the way of anyone that wants to work out seriously). As busy as the gym was, I saw maybe 4-5 people that looked like they were actually trying to get a good workout in. Anyway...

RDL: 405 x 4, 425 x 4, 4, 435 x 4, 4, 445 x 4 - Still a little weak, but not too bad. I have to admit that it's nice when you put that much weight on a bar and people start to stare. :)

Lying Leg Curl: 155 x 12 + 4, 3, 4, 4, 5

Seated Leg Curl: 120 x 20 + 5, 5, 5, 6, 8

One Leg Press (Free Motion): 180 x 20 + 5, 5, 5, 5, 6

Leg Press: 450 x 18 + 4, 4, 5, 5, 10 - Okay, I'm clearly not pushing myself enough on the first set. I'm going to need to figure out what the deal is here. More warm up maybe?

Calf Press (Hoist): 376 x 13 + 4, 4, 4, 4, 5

Seated Calf Raise: 135 x 20 + 6, 6, 6, 6, 8

My back felt pretty sore after, but I felt okay on Sunday. I was tempted to do sprints, but I ended up getting a few calls for work, so I just didn't have time. Plus, I don't like to do sprints when I can't start my day with yoga before the sprint session. Hopefully, the weather will lighten up and allow me to do more sprints and Prowler sessions.

Training for Monday and Tuesday

Monday 03/14 - Upper Body

Nothing special about today's training. Just a regular session.

Chins (Fat Gripz): 55 x 4, 4, 60 x 4, 4, 4, 4

Yates Row: 245 x 15 + 3, 3, 4, 5, 5

Incline Machine Neutral Grip: 220 x 15 + 4, 4, 4, 5, 5

Hammer Strength Dips: 270 x 17 + 4, 4, 5, 5, 6

Incline Side Laterals: 37.5 x 12 + 4, 4, 4, 4, 5

Incline Rear Laterals: 27.5 x 18, 5, 5, 6, 6, 8

Hammer Curls (Tyler Grips): 47.5 x 16 + 4, 4, 4, 5, 5

Tricep Pressdown (Fat Gripz): 150 x 16 + 5, 5, 6, 5, 6

After work, I did 17 min of cardio on the recumbent bike.

Tuesday 03/15 - Legs

My weight is holding at 194, so that's not too bad. I hope I can get around 192 this week.

Today kind of sucked. I was feeling weird all day and then work was slammed so I ended up getting to the gym a lot later than I wanted to. As a result, I didn't get as much work in as I wanted to. The good news is that I felt a lot better after Front Squats today, so hopefully I can build on that over the next few weeks.

Today was also the return of my sprinting sessions now that I have daylight after work.

AM - 15 min of foam rolling for the lower body.

PM - Weights and Sprints

Front Squats off box: 275 x 3, 3, 285 x 3, 3, 295 x 3, 3

Hip Thrust: 275 x 16 + 4, 5, 5, 5, 6

One-Leg Polaris Leg Press (with mini-band): 120 x 12 + 4, 4, 4, 4, 5

Lying Leg Curl: 155 x 12 + 4, 3, 4, 5, 6

After work - Sprints. I did three laps of the track today, sprinting the straight parts and walking the curves. I only did three laps today, as this was my first sprint session of the season. I'm taking it easy and building into it gradually. Plus, it was raining and the track was kind of muddy, so I didn't want to go too hard when the track conditions are poor.

That's it for now. Tomorrow is my off day.

Short Sunday session and Battle: Los Angeles movie review.

Well, despite me setting my clocks ahead at 7 pm on Saturday, I still managed to sleep-in until about 10:30. I guess I needed it, but still, it really put me behind today. No yoga or foam rolling for me. I was pretty 'achy' today, so I probably could have used it.

I've been taking a single scoop of Geraniamo! from TrueProtein.com before my Prowler sessions and I think I really like it. I've had a ton of energy for my sessions this weekend despite feeling pretty tired from the dieting. I mix that with a full serving of NO-Holds N-O and a gram of Beta-Alanine.

As far as supplements go, I'm kind of a TrueProtein.com whore. I really love their stuff. I get most of my stuff from there, most of my vitamins from Vitacost.com and then a few things from Nutrabio.com and Biotest. I'll have do a post sometime soon outlining all the supplements I take, as I feel that are a few supplements I take that I think everyone should be using (and most people that have started using them have had great things to say about them).

Anyway, short session today. I had fully intended on doing a full session, but my workout was interrupted by all these fucking people showing up for some kind of Lacrosse or Field Hockey practice or whatever the fuck they do. It's really annoying, too, because this is a Middle School and the girls showing up to the practice are driving themselves. So, they are clearly of High School age. What, they don't have a practice field at their own High School? It's not available on Sunday? Fuckers!

Prowler - Drive Pad:

180 x 30 yards x 2, 230 x 30 x 2, 260 x 2

Prowler - Reverse Push:

180 x 30 x 2, 190 x 30 x 2, 195 x 2

At this point, I had a quit when everyone started to show up for their practice. I was going to make up for it after the movie, but then it started to rain, so there went that. Now that we have more daylight though, I'll probably start adding shorter Prowler finishing sessions after work.

Battle: Los Angeles movie review:

Again, since it's opening weekend, no spoilers.

I didn't think this was bad, but I was actually kind of disappointed in this. It was just kind of blah for me. It's more of a general 'war' movie, than a sci-fi movie. The story and dialog are just pretty generic. I didn't feel like there was anything new here, including the aliens. I felt it was just going through the motions.

If you're into these types of movies, see it at a matinée. Otherwise, wait for Blu-Ray.

Saturday Prowler Madness!!

Today I was extra motivated to push myself. Mainly because I did my taxes this afternoon and I'm getting reamed by the IRS yet again. I'm over it, mostly because I had a great session today. I was instantly put in a good mood when I arrived at the school where I normally push the Prowler and the parking lot was empty. Lately, there's been all kinds of stuff and events going on there, so I've had more than a few times where I've driven to the school only to immediately turn back around because there were too many people there.

AM:

SMR and 20 minutes of Yoga. The DVD I used was Baron Baptiste's Unlocking Athletic Power. Nice, short yoga session that targets the hips and hammies.

PM - Prowler Madness!

From high poles:

200 x 30 yards x 2, 240 x 30 x 2, 270 x 30 x 2, 285 x 30 x 2

From low handles:

165 x 30 x 2, 180 x 30 x 2

Prowler Chest pushes:

160 x 30 x 2

Prowler Back pulls:

160 x 30 x 2

Prowler Laterals:

80 x 30 x 2

Farmers Walks:

100 x 50 yards x 2, 110 x 50 x 2

20 min of yoga to finish - Rodney Yee's Lower Back Yoga for Beginners.

Now it's time to eat, watch a movie and pass out on the couch. :)

Training for Thursday and Friday

Thursday 03/10

My weight is holding steady at 195.6 and I'm going to do another Pulse Fast today, so it should be interesting to see how I respond to that again.

Floor Press (Fat Gripz): 255 x 4, 4, 265 x 3, 3, 275 x 1, 2 - I just felt weak as hell here.

Floor Press (myo reps): 195 x 19 + 3, 4, 5, 5, 5

Close Grip Pulldown (Fat Gripz): 150 x 20 + 4, 4, 5, 5, 6

Hammer Strength High Row (Tyler Grip): 230 x 20 + 5, 4, 5, 5, 6

Rear DB Laterals on Incline Bench: 32.5 x 17 + 4, 4, 5, 5, 6

Rear Delt Machine: 110 x 19 + 4, 4, 5, 5, 6

Overheard Rope Tricep Extension (Tyler Grips): 110 x 20 + 5, 5, 5, 5, 5

Machine Preacher Curls (Tyler Grips): 110 x 14 + 3, 3, 4, 3, 4

After work I did 15 minutes of recumbent bike riding. No biggie...

Friday 03/11

My weight was 193.6 this morning, so the Pulse Fast really worked. I felt pretty beat though, so this has been a rough week for my energy due to the dieting.

RDL: 425 x 4, 435 x 4, 445 x 4, 455 x 3, 3, 3

Natural GHR: 35 x 15 + 3, 3, 4, 4, 5

Seated Leg Curl: 285 x 16 + 4, 4, 5, 5, 5

Leg Press (w/Light Bands): 470 x 12 + 4, 4, 4, 4, 5

Leg Press Calf Raise (w/Light Bands): 520 x 13 + 4, 3, 3, 3, 3

Training for Tuesday 03/08

Nothing too remarkable about yesterday's (Tuesday) training. The past few weeks my back has felt a little 'tweaked', not so much that it hurts, but enough that it's in my head a bit and preventing me from pushing my legs more.

My weight was 195.6 this morning, so you can see the effect the Pulse Fast has on my weight.

AM - Typical SMR session and 15 minutes of stretching.

PM - Lower Body

Front Squats off Box: 275 x 4, 285 x 4, 3 - My first three sets were with light bands.

Front Squats off Box: 285 x 3, 3, 295 x 3 - no bands

Hip Thrust: 275 x 15 + 4, 3, 4, 4, 4

Seated One-leg Press (Polaris): 105 x 15 + 6, 5, 6, 6, 6 - Mini band double-looped around the foot plate.

Lying Leg Curl: 145 x 15 + 4, 3, 5, 5, 6

Cybex Calf Press: 300 x 21 + 5, 5, 5, 5, 6

Seated Calf Raise: 175 x 17 + 5, 5, 5, 5, 5

After I got home I did a quick session of the following:

Neck Harness: 35 lbs x 25, 25, 25, 25 - This was too light. The goal was 100 reps for the session though. I super-setted this with...

Sledgehammer work on the tire: 100 total reps, 25 per set.

Then, I did a quick kettlebell Tabata session with a 35 lb kettlebell. It was a circuit of one-armed swings, front squats, shoulder presses and then two armed swings.

Monday, 3/07 - Training Log

So, it's time to get serious again. I weighed in at about 203 this morning, but a lot of that I'm sure was due to carbing up and bloat from yesterday. I kind of ate everything I could get my hands on, as Sunday is usually my cheat day. Plus, I knew I was doing to do a Pulse Fast today.

If you're unfamiliar with a Pulse Fast, you can read about it here:

http://www.t-nation.com/free_online_article/sports_body_training_performance_bodybuilding_supplements/mag10_pulse_fast

I expect to drop 5-6 pounds today due to the fast. I'll likely do another fast on Thursday. I have a goal of getting below 190 by April 1st, which shouldn't be too hard considering I was 196.6 on Friday before the carb up.

I'm still having issues getting up early to do yoga, but I was about to get about 15 minutes of foam rolling in this morning. This is something I need to get better about moving forward.

Today was upper body. I'm still doing Myo-Reps for the most part, but I like to start the workout with one 'heavy' exercise done with straight sets.

Chins with Fat Gripz for all sets: 45 x 4, 4, 55 x 4, 4, 65 x 4, 2 (my grip just gave out here)

Barbell Rows: 275 x 16 + 4, 4, 5, 5, 5

Neutral Grip Incline Machine Press: 205 x 19 + 4, 4, 5, 5, 6

Hammer Strength Dips: 270 x 15 + 4, 4, 5, 5, 5

Incline Laterals: 35 x 18 + 4, 4, 5, 5, 6

Rear Laterals (also done on low incline bench): 27.5 x 15 + 4, 4, 5, 5, 5

Hammer Curls (with Tyler Grips): 47.5 x 15 + 3, 3, 4, 4, 4

Pressdown (with Fat Gripz): 140 x 21 + 5, 4, 5, 5, 6

I did about 15 minutes of cardio on the recumbent bike when I got home. I'm not a huge fan of cardio, but what I plan on doing is reading a chapter or two a day of whatever current book I'm reading to make it go by faster. This way I'm getting my reading in and a little extra cardio while I'm at it. I'll probably end up just doing about 15-20 minutes a day this way.

The Adjustment Bureau movie review.

The Adjustment Bureau

I saw The Adjustment Bureau yesterday and I have to say that the more I think about it, the more I liked it. Since this just came out this weekend, this will be a short, spoiler-free review.

I will say that I think the commercials for it are slightly misleading, but not in a bad way. I was pleasantly surprised at the amount of humor in the movie. It was very light-hearted compared to how the commercials make it look.

I think the chemistry between Matt Damon and Emily Blunt really worked here, so if you like either of them, then I think you'll really enjoy when they are on screen together. I liked just about every character in the movie, Anthony Mackie and John Slattery (for you Mad Men fans), in particular.

Overall, I really liked the movie and I would definitely recommend this checking it out. It's at least worth a matinée.

Catching up on movie reviews...

Okay, people have been asking what movies I've seen lately. Here's a summary, but first...

I've always noticed that when I like a movie, I never have much to say about it. You'll ask me if I like a movie and I'll just go, "It's okay". Now if I love a movie, I'll have more to say about it, but I'll try to stop short of major spoilers. On the other hand, if I hate a movie, I will explain in great detail all the things I hated about it.

As a general rule, I always try not to spoil much in my reviews of newer releases, unless I think it's lousy and you shouldn't see it. Rentals are kind fair game as far as spoilers go, but again, I'll refrain for discussing any major spoilers or plot twists if I enjoyed the movie.

And here we go...

You Again?

I had had the unfortunate pleasure of watching 'You Again?' recently. This is one of the worst movies I've seen in a while. Hell, this is one of the worst movies I've EVER seen.

They go out of the way to state they are in a small town and went to a high school where everyone knew everyone, yet the premise of the movie is that somehow nobody remembers anyone from high school. Case in point the main dude was on the basketball team and somehow doesn't remember what a bitch the head cheerleader was in highschool? Huh? Even 20 years removed from HS, I seem to remember all of the people that were known for being bitchy or being a dick, regardless of whether or not they were in the same class with me, and I went to a larger high school. Hell, I want to TWO high schools and know this.

At the beginning of the movie you see most of the class carrying her outside and I'm wondering, why are there never any parents or teachers around when things like this happen at school in movies? Because, it's seems in real life if you aren't caught red handed doing something like that, someone rats you out.

For example, there a scene where the head cheerleader just hauls off and hits the mascot in the face. Nobody saw this? Nobody?!

The fact checking in this is just terrible. They mention at one point that a video of her from high school had over 1 million hits on YouTube. A video made of her in 2002, yet youtube was founded in 2005, so um...yeah.

Even if the video had been posted several years later. You're telling me that a high school student would have a camera phone or flip camera back in 2002. They scarcely existed back then, let alone ones that did good quality video and the ability to easily upload a video to something like YouTube, which, again, didn't exist yet.

Hell, I have a lot of friends now that don't have phones that do good video, but a high school student does, in this time-altered reality. Was this movie really sci-fi and I missed it?

Even the opening of the film starts with her doing a video blog about how much she hates high school. Again, web cams were pretty shitty back then and stuff like USB 2.0 wasn't standard in all computers back then. Hell, I don't own a web cam NOW and I'm supposedly tech-savvy.

This was written by Moe Jelline, who shouldn't be allowed anywhere near a movie again. There isn't a single original idea or thought in this movie. There's nothing remotely funny or anything that works in this movie.

The directory Andy Fickman, who has also directed shit like The Game Plan, The Race to Witch Mountain, and She's The Man, should also be kicked out of Hollywood.

Oh, an at the end, the Dad of Kristen Bell's character is just suddently the doctor? I know it's a small town and all, but I don't think at any point in the movie it's mentioned, even in passing, what the Dad does, so when he shows up in the room wearing a doctor's coat, all I could think was, 'Oh, you're the doctor, too?! You've been a total dork the whole move and now I'm supposed to believe you're the town doctor?'

At one point Sigorney Weaver and Jamie Lee Curtis' characters were pretending to swim in a pool where you could clearly see the 4' depth marker. I thought Sigourney Weaver was on the tall side for women. Either way, I'm pretty sure they could touch the bottom of the pool.

Anyway, this movie a fucking waste of time and space and if you watch this and like it, then you're a fucking retard and I can never take your opinion seriously about ANYTHING!

It's Kind of a Funny Story

This should have been titled "This Story is Kind of Funny".

I guess given the subject matter it can't be over the top funny, but I still would have thought a movie starring Zach Galafanakis would have had a little more punch to it.

It's not bad or uncomfortable or anything like that. It's just kind of middle of the road.

It's just kind of 'meh' for me.

Unstoppable

Again, not a bad movie, but how can you have suspense in a movie when you know from the beginning that nothing really bad is going to happen. You know the train isn't going to derail or blow up or anything like that.

The SNL trailer of this was more entertaining than this.

Also, why did the train seem like it was actually going only 15-25 mph and not the 70mph they were claiming? They were going through railroad crossings where you could see their faces clearly and I'm left thinking, 'aren't they supposed to be going 70 mph'?

I Am Number Four

The whole movie I'm watching this and saying, this feels like an episode of Smallville with better special effects and then I see the name Gough and Millar go by and realize that's exactly what I just watched. Gough and Millar are the creators of Smallville and wrote this movie. Additionally, DJ Caruso, has directed an episode of Smallville. So yeah, this is basically an episode of Smallville with better special effects and not about Clark Kent.

It's not a horrible movie, but it crawls along and a tedious pace at points. Just do something!

I found the Dianna Agron's performance weird. It was like her face hardly moved when she talked. Almost like when you watch a CG character and they still just kind of have that not quite real look yet. That's how her performance felt to me.

However, Teresa Palmer's performance I can only describe as 'hot', but that's probably because she's an Aussie and Aussie chicks are hot. I also liked Timothy Olyphant in this, but honestly, when is he not good. He was great in The Girl Next Door, for fuck's sake. He's that good.

The last 15 minutes though...DAMN! If this movie was 20 minutes shorter and then they added another 15 minutes of action like at the end of the movie, then I think they really would have been on to something. It was just like Skyline where you're bored pretty much through the entire movie and then the last 10-15 mintues are pretty epic and you're like, why wasn't the whole movie like that? Well, then it would have been called Battle: Los Angeles. Anyway, I digress...

This is a rental. Maybe a matinée if you're dying to see it.

Life as We Know It

Ugh...just...ugh. It's not awful and this is one of the first movies that Katherine Heigl didn't just annoy the shit out of me. However, this movie is about 30 mintues too long to reach the conclusion that you know it's going to reach from watching the fucking TRAILER!

Let me put it this way, you can watch the first 30 minutes, leave the room for an hour and come back and you wouldn't have missed anything.

Secretariat

I've always been a sucker for any type of sports drama, especially if it's based off real events.

There's nothing new or extraordinary here. Just a standard, race horse movie. The cast really helps here, and I was pleasantly surprised to see John Malkovich in this. This is the kind of movie that made me look up facts about the horse on Wiki after watching the movie and youtube videos of his actual races.

If you like horses of have hard on for Diane Lane, you'll like it enough.

127 Hours

This really is a good movie. I'm impressed when a 'bottle movie' can hold my attention and this did. I never thought much of James Franco as a serious actor, but credit to director Danny Boyle for making this work.

Warning though, if you are squeamish, the last 20-30 min of this movie might be a little too much for you.

Rango

I just got back from watching this. First off, let me say the animation in this is fantastic! Just truly great, to the point where there's no need for this to be in 3D.

Otherwise, I wasn't too blown away by this. I felt that most of the humor was totally directed at kids and the plot was pretty standard for a movie like this. I found myself bored for most of the film and almost fell asleep at a few parts.

The last 20-30 minutes of this were much more enjoyable for me and there's a nice surprise towards the end, but otherwise, I felt this was rental or matinée at best.

If there's anything else you want to know my thoughts on, let me know.

Tomorrow I plan on seeing The Adjustment Bureau, so I'll have a short review for that tomorrow.

I'm back...uh oh...

People have been asking me to bring my blog back, so here it is. I can't promise daily updates, but I'll do what I can.

As part of my bringing the blog back, I actually plan on not drinking any beer between now and April 1st. Now this doesn't necessarily mean I won't be drinking at all. In fact, I'm on a vodka-cran bender as I write this, but the bloat of beer I can't handle anymore. I do have a no drinking on work nights policy that I'm sticking to, but it's fucking Saturday and I don't have shit to do in the morning...

So to catch people up...back in July, I thought I was going to need surgery again, so I stopped blogging in anticipation of my layoff from training. At the last minute, I had a surprising recovery and didn't need the surgery. The ironic part is that I went to train the day I was supposed to have the surgery and ended up pulling a back muscle and had to stop training for a while.

I was able to come back to the gym about a month later, but by then the blog habits had stopped and it was in the middle of summer. I've been training pretty much non-stop ever since. I've even made some pretty great personal bests since then. I've been able to front squat 315 x 3 off a box, Romanian deadlift 455 x 4 and floor press 275 x 2. These are all personal bests at an age of 37 when just a few years ago I thought injuries had got the best of me.

My current goal actually is a to lose a few pounds. I was 211 the day after Superbowl. I was 196 on Friday. I'd like to get to about 185 by April, but I care more about getting my waist measurement down.

I won't recap past workouts, but here's what I did today. Prowler and Farmers Walks.

AM:

20 min of foam rolling and 40 min of yoga

PM:

Prowler:

180 x 30 yards x 2, 230 x 30 x 2, 250 x 30 x 2, 260 x 30 x 2

Prowler Low Handles:

150 x 30 x 2, 160 x 30 x 2

Prowler Chest Throws:

155 x 30 x 2

Prowler Back Pulls:

155 x 30 x 2

Prowler Shoulder Raises:

75 x 30 x 2

Farmers Walk:

112 x 25 yards x 2 - These were with Tyler Grips

112 x 25 yards x 2 - These were with Fat Gripz