12/30/09 -- Lethargy

I didn't get any sleep last night, but I still managed to whack the bag and drag myself along the asphalt for a while.

Sometimes, it's good to train even when you feel like crap because you never know what kind of conflict you'll face in the future.

I know that Navy SEALS do their BUDS training under a lot of sleep deprevation. Of course, they're in a lot better shape than I am.

12/28/09 -- Overcoming

You were taught with reference to your former way of life to lay aside the old man who is being corrupted in accordance with deceitful desires, to be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and to put on the new man who has been created in God’s image – in righteousness and holiness that comes from truth.
-- Ephesians 4:22-24

Had a tough time tonight, I laid in bed for a while not finding the motivation I needed to go downstairs and lift. Tried to sleep, but couldn't. Then I remembered a scripture by Paul when he was writing about the "Old Man." I knew then I had to overcome and go train. I hit the weights tonight around 11pm. Had a good session, it's during sessions like that one that we make gains and learn something about ourselves.

12/27/09 -- Smelling the roses

I did four rounds today on the heavy bag, for the first time I felt myself breaking a sweat.

I've always enjoyed my runs outdoors. Running on a track indoors or on a treadmill just isn't the same. Today, I watched the planes flying in and out of the upstate. My guess is people are trying to get back home after the holidays. There was a line of planes flying both in and out tonight.

Living in the country somewhat I've seen a lot of nature during my runs as well, I've seen a Mother and Father deer with their Fawn, a baby Turtle no bigger than a silver dollar, and a baby red spotted Salamader among other things.

12/25/09 -- Timing

After my workout today I thought of the following verse:

"There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven: a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build, a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance, a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain, a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away, a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak, a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace."
-- Ecclesiastes 3:1-8

...add to this, "a time to throw a jab and a time to follow up."

While I was hitting my Wavemaster / Heavy Bag tonight I realized that I need to time my punches by the swaying of the Heavy Bag.

This important because it allows you to pace yourself better (ending the frustration that comes with overpunching) and when your in the ring fighting someone it simulates the way an opponent moves. I've read about this in some of my books, but it's been a while since I've put these lessons into action.

I also had a strong run tonight.

12/25/09 -- Merry Christmas!!!

To all of my readers, Merry Christmas!

12/24/09 -- The Power of Three

Pushed my sets up to three on most excercises, a little more tired than usual which is good.

12/22/09 -- A Good Day

I had a good day today on the trail. My run had more intensity than usual and I ran a bit farther than before.

12/21/09 -- Lift Performance

Lifted weights today, I need to work on my movements a little more. I noticed they were a little sloppy tonight.

12/20/09 -- Fitness and the South

I felt like I was sand bagging it today. A big fella in a truck pulled over while I was running and asked, "Are you gonna make it or do you need a ride?." I told him, "I'll be alright" he said, "Okay buddy" and drove off.

The South is really weird when it comes to fitness. When people see me running, they stare and yell profanities. When they see me it's like I'm doing something strange they've never seen before. I guess they think I'm either running from the law or my truck ran out of gas. Fitness gurus in The South are treated like they're in some kind of strange cult.

I'll never forget the time I was walking getting warmed up for a run and a group of 16 year old girls started making fun of me. Calling me fat, when I turned to look at them I noticed everyone of these girls was grossy obese.

12/18/09 -- The Ice

Snow covered the East Coast over the weekend and I stayed indoors and missed an opportunity to train like Rocky and run in the snow.

I'll have to remember that next time.

12/15/09 -- New ideas

Had a good three rounds on the bag and a nice relaxing run downtown.

But, I think I need to work on improving the speed of my runs. From now on I'm going to try to sprint at least 1/4 of a mile at the beginning of each mile (or 2:30 mins, every ten mins).

12/14/09 -- Working out Ghetto style

I w0rked out so hard tonight that I could see the steam rising off my head.

Tonight, I thought I'd say a few words about my home gym. I have two sets of weights, one for my smaller old rusty bar, and one set of olympic weights. To go with my weights, I have two benches. One bench that I use with my olympic set and one for free weights. I also have an area for working my abdominals and hitting my wavemaster.

All of this stuff I keep in my downstairs garadge where my gym is contained. This garadge also contains stacks of boxes everywhere, a closet full of old clothes, a dusty TV, and stereo (that no longer plays CDs without skipping).

For the next five weeks I'll keep my sets at two after that I'll increase them to three.

12/13/09 -- Colder still

Raised my rounds on the bag from two to three.

Ran, the weather was cold and I felt the effect of my three rounds on the bag somewhat. Hopefully I'll make it up to five rounds in the next few weeks. At which point I'll stick to that number for about a month.

12/11/09 -- Intensity

I had a good two rounds on the bag today, I felt like I was getting some of my old intensity back from when I trained Jiu-Jitsu.

Made it through my run even though it was bitter cold and cars coming in everywhere from work.

12/9/09 -- Learning

I've always believed that if a person trains enough, that their own body will teach them everything they need to know as far as improving their own technique (a priori knowledge so to speak). In other words our body is already hard wired for any activity we may want to pursue.

Today, I witnessed this first hand as I was throwing low hooks on my punching bag. While I was throwing I realized that the only difference between a Low Inside Hook and a Low Outside Hook was the target (ie. Breadbasket VS Kidneys).

Later, I did my usual 30 min run. Also some strectching which I need to take more time with.

12/8/09 -- Still pushing it

Pushed my sets up to two today, except for my Total Body Lifts. I'll try increasing those next time.

12/7/09 -- Momentum

Increased my rounds up to two today, moved through both of them nice and easy. Focusing on technique over speed and power. I had a good flow through my workout.

Good run, I got out earlier than usual which saved me from the cold.

12/5/09 -- Fighting the cold

Today, I had one of those cold lonely runs after working on the bag.

Next week I'll add another round to my bag routine.

12/2/09 -- Pushing it

Last night I pushed my reps up to 15 to see which lifts I should increase. Some of my lifts like the power clean and bench press will go up, others will not and I'm sure I'll be lifting the same weight for a while.

I also need to buy some more plates.

I'll be running this evening, report on that later...

12/1/09 -- Overcoming again...

Felt strong today, noticed that it is getting colder.

I need a new stretch routine.

11/30/09 -- Overcoming

I really didn't want to train tonight, but I overcame that.

During my next session I'm going to play with the weights a little bit and push my reps up to 15, that way I can adjust them for next time.

Right now I'm burning a mix CD to use while I'm hitting the bag with the audacity software. Each track contains 3 mins of high intensity fast music, then 1 min of easy slow music. I'm going to use it to measure my rounds on the bags with. Sadly, I was only able to get 18 tracks on one CD. I wanted 20.

11/29/09 -- Grace over Utility

I felt like during my last session I was hitting the bag willy-nilly without getting my technique together. So with that in mind I put the heavy gloves away and put on my bag gloves. That way I could focus on my technique without getting tired so fast. The heavy gloves are great for improving cardio and they make you fast, but bad for working on technique. I felt much better about my work today.

Running was good beautiful day.

11/28/09 -- Hurts so good...

I'd like to report that I'm sore from yesterday, that's a good sign.

11/27/09 -- Getting acquainted w/ the weights

I skipped yesterday due to Thanksgiving and decided to get reaquainted with the weights today. Today, I did one set of each of the excercises I listed in my last post. After the total body excercises I was sweating and my heart was beating out of my chest. But I made it through this and just finished stretching so we'll see how it goes next week. Next week I plan on sticking with one set of each excercises and increasing the number of sets over a period of a few weeks.

11/25/09 -- Success!

Today, I completed one round on the bag and ran for 30 mins. My plan is to add another round each week till I get up to five (after that I'll hold it at five rounds for a while, then move up to 10, then move up to 20).

My current workout routine is as follows:

Cardio: Day One

Bagwork: 5 rounds

1st rd light
2nd rd medium
3rd rd heavy
4th rd medium
5th rd light

Running: 30 mins

Weights: Day Two (note: I borrowed this part of the routine from "Fighting Fit: Boxing Workouts, Techniques, and Sparring" by Doug Werner and Alan Lachica)

Total Body Lifts:
High Pulls 3 x 8-12
Power Clean 3 x 8-12
Split Jerks 3 x 8-12

Upper Body:
Bench Press 2-3 x 8-15
Incline Dumbell flies 2-3 x 8-12
Straight Arm Pullovers 2-3 x 8-12
Bent Over Rows 2-3 x 8-12
Barbell Curls 2 x 10-12
Skull Crushers 2 x 12-15

Lower Body:
Lunges 2-3 x 10-15
Leg Curls 2 x 12-15
Leg Extensions 2 x 12-15

Abs and Lower Back:
Bent-Leg Lifts 2 x 20-30
Seated Dead Lifts 2 x 10-12
Crunches 2 x 20-30
Side Crunches 2 x 20-30

* When you can perform 15 reps of any excercise it's time to increase the weight
* Add stretching for 30 mins after training every day

I'll let you know how the weight routine goes tomarrow.

Workout 11/23/09 -- Pain

Tonight I eeked out about three rounds on the wavemaster while using music on my mp3 player to time myself.