crossfit lifestyle

May 3rd.

The real motor of a bicycle.....the crank set.

WO du jour:

56 mile bike ride. Longest this year and done with my new "compact" crank set. What a difference! It made the hills plesent and speed maintained. A lesson learned as bigger is not always better when selecting a gear racio consistant with your type of riding, and level of strength. I should have done this long ago but ego does not alway work in your behaft. We stopped for coffee as the moring was cold for this time of year. Great 4 hour ride.

May 1st.

The Central nervous system is the command center for body action.

WO du jour: warm up with bands, jump rope and Indian clubs

"CNS" Train the central nervous system. 8 Sets of 3 reps of each exercise with 30 sec rest.

8x3 barbell box squat: 225# performed with speed off the box.

8x3 Dumbell renegade row: 80# dumbells

8x3 kettlebell push press: 2-28kg kettlebells performed at speed

8x3 Kettlebell side snatch : 2-24kg snatching bells from the sides of the body

The workout today is one I designed and was not based on a bunch of random exercises done in a circuit like a think many done today. The goal of this workout was to train the Central nervous system which is the primary system that gives the greatest activation of absolute strength.

some of the major considerations, is speed of movement for maximum neurological activation has to be AFAP, so the weight selected has to be challenging but without restricting movement.

exercises are performed at sets of three and repeated 8 times on a timed 30 sec rest not for cardio, but for continuous high strength loading for at least 8 mins.

the exercises are designed to stress a much muscle mass as possible in compound form. I have no way to verify this, but EPOC levels seem to be elevated for longer time.......but that is totally subjective.

Juggling kettlebells always fun

April 29th.

Jeff Martone is a master of juggling kettlebells as he calls H2H drills.

WO du jour:

warm up: 10 min on Thai bag hand, elbow, knees and kicking.
50 wall balls with the SHOT and Kettlebell H2H drills, like Jeff Martone showed me. My juggling sucks but it feels good when it comes together.

"Franane" ( a crossfit WOD "Fran" with little more suffering, because Fran is a little short once you get it down.) I could have used kettlebells in place of the sand bag and cut the time but that would be too easy.

21,15,9 reps AFAP

Reg. Dead lift at 220lbs
Sand bag thrusters 80#
pull ups
handstand push ups
10: 22

Note this is not a beginner session. The deadlifts were as always, easy, pull ups had to be partitioned on second set, Hand stand push ups I have not done in a dogs age, but they were reasonable except on last set when I ran out of gas and felt like some one jumped on.
The Sandbag thrusters are killers! I gassed out on the first set, probably because they were sloppy, but the next to sets the form got better, but they were a great for stress loading.
I would use sand bags more often, but I have so many other "toys" and so little time to use then all.

Kettlebell heavy day for a change.

April 28th.

Pursi, did you drink up all my beer? I think I will keep the Kegs now for lifting.

WO du jour:

heavy thai bag hands and legs warm up for 10 min. 50 sit ups, 50 push ups

Kettlebell ladders:

12kg 1,2,3,4,5, reps with 2 reps weighted pull up with 12kg KB

16kg 1,2,3,4,5, reps with 2 reps each set pull ups with 12kg KB

24kg 1,2,3,4,5, reps with 2 reps each set pull ups with 14kg KB

28kg 1,2,3,4,5, reps with 2 reps each set pull ups with 14kg.KB

32 kg 1,2,3,4,5, reps with 1 reps each set pull ups with 16kg KB

Afternoon Boot camp

April 27th,

WO du jour:

Warm up with 50 sit up, push ups, 50 fig 8 and hold with 6 kg kettlebell.

15 mile bike ride at hard pace. Temp was in the high 80"s I will be changing my large chain wheel to a 50-34 as most of my runs are on hilly courses with little or no drafting.

April 26th.

WO du jour: Mostly kettlebells on a sunny Sunday morning.

Warmup: 50 situps, 50 push ups, 20 pull ups, Indian Clubs, stretch bands.

10 min heavy thai bag hands and kicks.

3 mins work and 1 min rest 16 kg GS kettlebell

2 sets push jurk

2 sets smatch

2 sets long cycle.

Kettlebell GS snatch 30 sec. work 30 sec rest 11 reps per work set.

20 sets with 16kg Kettlebell.

April 25th. Sat.

Sandow on a bike?

WO du jour: 30 mile bike ride in the morning with bike club. 20,9 MPH pace. Not bad for a first real warm morning.

Weekly bike ride with the bike club. It was a warm for this time of year so the attendance was double that of last week. Most looked a little overweight from the winter, so hopefully, the next few months of hard riding they will shed some of that shit off. However, they are still very nice people.

There are three classes of riders, AA and A which follow a pace line of stay in a pack to help each other maintain a 20 plus MPH pace. They never look back to see if you are keep up or have mechanical problems, therefore you my be "dropped" if you can't keep up! God that's really the way it should be with all things. Yes you can fail.

Then there is the "B" riders, who will follow a route that is very hilly, and does not encourage a "Pace line" as its too hard to maintain on hills. Anyway the pace is hard and even more difficult than a A pace, due to no one to draft on or pack assistance. You will not be dropped unless you over extend your abilities, which a lot of beginners tend to do.

Lastly, there is the "Pokers" of fun riders who want to ride at the pace they want and not someone else's race. Pokers are a strange bunch, as they range form old ladies who ride a 10MPH to some who like to ride in a small group at speeds of 18-25MPH.

Now you may ask if some one can ride at a 20 mile per hour pace they don't ride with the A group? Well, some people like the freedom to ride that their pace and not someone else's. That is want is called Freedom.

what makes a good training platform.

April 23 Thurs


Tang Soo Do





" My god have mercy on my enemies, because I don't"
a Russian toast. ( performed with Vodka)


WO du jour:
Heavy thai bag warm up for 10 min, jump rope, bands and foam roller.

1 set of 3 min. each kettlebell push jerk @ 12 reps per min.

10 sets of 5 reps without stopping for 25 mins,
pull ups
barbell bent rowing: 185#
kettlebell high box step ups 2-24kg.
Dips, body weigh.




When I studied Martial arts in Korea in the 60's during the Vietnam war, the facilities were about as basic as it was 500 years prior. We trained mostly outside in all weather,(snow, rain, heat of summer) on dirt ground year round for the most part. In very cold weather, and Korea can have brutal winters, we trained inside a hut ,with basically no heat. The frost would cake on the walls from our breathing. Every time you got kicked or punched, it was double pain from the cold. In summer, you would sweat so much, there was always a wet puddle around your feet, as though you pissed yourself. If you passed out from heat exhaustion, you were ignored. No, there were no kettlebells, but we did have some primitive hand weighs that resembled kettlebell used to enhance punching and arm strength.

The training was not hard it was just a sadistic as it could be made. Your push ups were performed on your knuckles and if they started to bleed, it was a welcome sign that the scar tissue would form and it would not happen again. When I left Korea, my first two knuckles resembled human golf balls. 40 years later, I still have disfigured hands from the sticking hard structures so I could break bricks and ceramic roof tiles without feeling pain.

As an American, I had to earn respect, as we were all precised to be weaklings and soft even though we were in the military. It was several months before I was worthily of consideration, as I persisted and many of other Americans did not continue the training any more than a few lesion's or a month. The Koreans were correct, they were weaklings and soft.

When I left the military and started to train in an American training studio, the owner, and a Korean who trained as I did, informed me that I have to adjust to the American culture so the students stay around. Here, he suggested, its about the money, and not what is useful.

Fast forward a few months of dealing with, overweight, complacent, weak, arrogant students, and one shit-head decided I was not for real, so he wanted to fight for " real" It was like music to my ears! He threw his best punch, and I did not move. I said it was my turn and hit him in the chest with a round kick, which knocked all the weak ass wind out of his chest so he had to be revived. At that point, I decided to retire my uniform, as my employer was upset and I knew my next action would lead me being fired or jail.

I never regretted the experience of working as a martial arts instructor, but I took what I believed was useful and made it part of my life, which provided me the confidence that I could do anything if I was willing to perceive, regardless of how hard it was. This foundation, I got from my training, like Chuck Norris, who was also a student, of the same system, gave me a life's accelerator I could have not gotten anywhere else. So when people wine about hard training that they have, I don't usually have a lot of compassion as I shook that off a long time ago.

"La ndssion est sacree,tu l'executes jusqu'au but, a tout prix"

Kettlebell are most pratical

April 22nd wed.

"use and take what is useful and discard the rest"
Bruce Lee

Thai Boxing is simple and effective.

Bruce Lee was mainly known a martial artist of the highest order, but what his greatest asset was his training methods and the continuous effort to find the best and most practical methods to improve his art. Forget the media, they have their interest in mind;not yours.


WO. du jour:

Working outside at my "mini box" gym. Starting with 50 sit ups and 50 overhead squats. Thai bag warm up, 100 round kicks and lots of hands for 10 mins.

burpees and barbell power clean AFAP:


1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10 burpeess


10,9,8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1 110 lbs barbell power cleans;

7:20 a good quick time. Power cleans were not sloppy but the burpees are always as I can't wait to finish them off.



Rest 10 min then the real workout.

6 sets of 3 min long cycle kettlebell concentrating on smooth form. It was not until I got to the last two sets that I found my grove and was starting to fell good.




Night session:
4 sets of three min Kettlebell snatch workout.



"la ndssion est sacree,tu l'executes jusqu'au but, a tout prix"

April 18th

WO du jour:

Rest day: 30 mile bike ride at mostly race pace. The weather was fantastic. It was a little stiff the first 10 miles but came alive the last 20. My kettlebell training makes me almost bullet prof in regards to stress perception, but I would need more rides during the week if I want to push harder. I am about 10 lbs heaver than last year from all the crossfit and kettlebells, but I feel much stronger.

On a side note, as we were on our ride, we saw a fitness gym with their spin bikes working out in the parking lot. It was too good of a day to spend inside for them, but it looked kind of lame as we passed at 20 plus miles per hour. I am not dissing the people who spin, it just that I am thankful I have the health, strenght, ability and craziness to ride on the roads knowing I could be a hood ornament at any time.

April 17th.

WO du jour: "Danny" -a crossfit WOD

In Memory of Dan Sakai of Oakland SWAT, killed on duty march 31st.

Heavy bag warm up, 50 sit ups, 50 push ups, 50 air squats.

as many sets in 20 min.

20" box jump 30 reps.

push press barbell, 100lbs 20 reps

30 pullups

Completed 3 and haft sets. in 20 min. However, did one set of 20 reps 2-24kg. kettlebells.

It was a fairly hard WOD but I did not use the full standard as It would take me two hours to get 90 pull ups without some assistance of my small band. The weight I could handle at 115 lbs.

You don't have to go over seas in one of many war zones, to be in harm's way.

April 16th.

WO du jour:

Battling ropes warm up; 10 sets of 30 sec on 30 sec. off various oscillations.

16kg kettlebell GS push press, snatch and long cycle.

4 mins each hand. 1 min rest.

24 mins total work. with the snatches being the hardest as I kept the pace high at about 80 each hand.

your junk, my gold

April 15th.

Another hero has passed on.

WO du jour:

Warm up with bands and 25 burpees/pullups

"DT" A memory of SSgt. Tim P Davis,26 vet died in the line of duty in Feb.

5 sets without stopping each of three lifts. Stop at the top of each clean, then do a seperate set of push presses.

165lbs BB deadlift 12 reps

100lbs BB dead hang clean 9 reps

100lbs BB push press. 6 reps

9:20

Took a 15 mile bike ride in the afternoon as it was a nice day.

A close friend of mine, has a junk yard. Every so often he has some weights to dump at my house for me to enjoy. Yesterday, he asked me if I still needed any more weights? My friend showed my a pile of major size hex dumbells from 80lbs to 120lbs which completes my set, I guess. WOW what a find! Someone left the weights at the junk yard just to get rid of them. They were not that scratched up that much, so who ever owned them did not have the training to utilize such large size dumbells. Hell, maybe I won't neither, but I going to try. I do prefer kettlebells but I have always alternate some exercises with dumbells for verity. The larger hex dumbells are a bitch to move around as though they add an extra 10 lbs to the number on the end. Well it not every day you get a 1000 lbs of weights as a gift.

good form is critical

April 14th.




Perfect from for kettlebell GS long cycle








WO du jour:


warmup: bands, heavy thai bag hands and legs.


100 situps


100 ring pushups.



12kg. kettlebell : 3min each hand 1 min rest GS snatch 75 reps per hand


16kg. kettlebell: 3 min each hand 1 min rest GS snatch 70 reps per hand


20kg kettlebell: 1 min each hand no rest GS snatch .25 reps per hand





16kg kettlebell: 2 min long cycle with 30 sec static hold at top and rack.


20kg kettlebell 2 min long cycle with 30sec. static hold at top and rack.






When you perform an athletic movement, it must have consistently the best form possible. The "form" is the most efficient way to execute the action of that physical activity or sport. When you have form constant to the motion desired, you can perform at your highest potential. In essence, you may not reach the professional level but you will be at your best.

So you want to be a Pirate

April 13th.

So you want to be a bad-ass pirate!

WO du jour: bands and pulley warm up. 100 swings with 20kg. kettlebell.

My Pirate workout.

75 reps 2-16kg kettlebell cleans and hold for 5 sec.
5:30

75 reps 2-16kg. kettlebell box squat push jerk thruster.
5:05

special racked box jumps with 20kg kettlebell to enhance the leg action on the push jerk.

I tried to pace myself for the cleans so to prepare for Girevoy style lifting. As for the thrusters it was just to get extra stress for the legs with the push jerk, and box jumping with racked kettlebells.

Our US Navy rescued the kidnapped captain of a hijacked ship yesterday. I know its too much to assume that this action will reduce the international hijacking, but at least it got the attention of a few thugs who tried to intimidate the wrong people. SEALs 3 thugs 0.

Happy Easter

April 12th. Easter Sunday.








WO du Jour:


30 mile bike ride on a cold and very windy Easter morning. If it were not for the sun, it would have been like a winter ride. It takes 20 mile to get into the grove and line out. anyway there was no need to be a sissy and punk out just because the temp is at freezing.

New AKC kettlebells

April 11th.

My new AKC pro kettlebell with the sanded handle. Seems ashamed to put chalk on it. right out of the box ready to do timed sets.






WO du jour: At franks gym solo.



warm up: Indian clubs,bands, pulleys, air squats, jump rope double unders. Don't need a lot as the session will be sufficient.


12kg. 3min each arm, 1 min rest.


Push press, snatch and long cycle.


16kg 3 min set each arm, then 1 min rest.


Push press, snatch and long cycle


20kg 1 min set each arm with no rest.


Push press, snatch, long cycle.


36mins of work sets.





I received my new AKC pro kettlebells from their new shipment. What a surprise to find that the handles have been removed of paint and sanded smooth. This saves a lot of time as that is what I have been doing ever since I started using kettlebells. Also the American Kettlebell club has discounted the prices of their kettlebells for coaches to new lows which makes them competitive with all other brands. I have kettlebells from 6 different vendors, and the AKC are the best!

Have a great day suffering and remember the mission is sacred.

April 8th.


This is my "Sig" target pistol which I use for punching holes in perfectly good paper. Great way to rest.





Lately my gun club has a 200% increase in match attendance and triple the new members trying to join. Why! most lightly the next war is coming on your basic right to own firearms. You see the government has to appease those who put them in office that they are looking out for there safety so why not pass more laws they can't enforce. Hell just look how successfull they are at drugs laws what work so well, the shit come into the county by the truck load.

combine old and new methods of training.

April 7th.


This is a lifter in days gone past is performing a perfect bent press. You won't see this a your local Golds or Planet fitness, mainly because it does not isolate muscle groups and its very difficult to do with significant weight. the old timers did this not as a stunt but a strength exercise in every gym in the day.





WO du Jour:
Warm up shoulders and back well for heavy deadlifts and kettlebell presses. Indian clubs, bands and light kettlebell halos and crucifix.


Rack deadlfits: 150lbs to 400 lbs in sets of 2 maybe 20 sets.


Kettlebell press 2 reps and 2 push jerks 12kg to 36kgs. Did a couple of jerks with 40 kg but was not that good.


"Fat bar" 2" barbell side, one arm press. sets of 2 up to 70lbs.


pull ups with kettlebell at waist 20 to 40 lbs in sets with the barbell.



At night, 2 boot camp workouts with new groups. not advance group so the exercises were basic.



The deadlift was a good change from all the low weight high reps I have been using. The kettlebell press/jerk combo was real strong. I must have done more than 20 sets and will feel that tomorrow(DOMS).





Now its been sometime I have used our 2" fat Albert barbell for side presses. I even used the old style of standing the barbell on end and bringing it up to the shoulders. This is really as easy as using a rack. We have racks, but is cool to do it the old way.

Some thrusters and rowing

April 6th.

WO du jour:

Warm up: heavy tai bag hands and legs warm up for 10 min.

'Rowing can be hell"

10.9.8.7.6........2.1 reps Kettlebell thrusters 2-16 and 2-24kg.

100.200.300.400.............900.1000 meter on C2 rower.

35.20 min.

Rowing on the concept 2 is hard enough when you ladder up 100 meters each round. The thrusters added the extra stress to the legs so it made the rowing a little sluggish. However, it was a great workout!

deal the cards

April 5th

WO du jour:
53 mile bike ride on a cool windy morning. Great ride at a moderate pace.



April 4th.

just deal the cards

WO du Jour:





warm up: don't need one today!


take a deck of cards and assign a exercise to each suit and 10 reps for face cards, 15 reps for aces and an extra special like a quarter mile or haft mile run.





Well, I went through 40 cards in 30 min. I set the time limit to maintain intensity as it was not hard to complete the hole deck in about 45 min. or so.


I did get both jokers so I had to do the runs. As for the exercises, kettlebell thrusters, snatches, pull ups and burpees. You wind up doing a lot of varied exercise in a short time period.








April 2


WO du jour:

morning: 20 min bike ride on hilly route. very good ride spent more time in the saddle when climbing as it is more efficient for me then pumping out of the saddle with my current body weight. I always knew this but some how developed a lazy habit of climbing hills using too much energy when it was not efficient.

Did a special kettlebell boot camp for a friend at nite. She brings in instructors to augment her program so her clients never get stale with the same old workout. Boot camp style workout sessions gives the instructor a lot of variation in regards to equipment, type of exercise and environment.

April fools day. don't fool around.

April 1st.


April Fools, then the ass kicking.

WO du jour:
warmup with bands and Indian Clubs.
5 rounds of
10 pullups
10 burpees
8:24

5 min sets of kettlebell timed sets and 1 min rest between sets:

16kg push press
20 kg push press
20 kgs snatch
20 kgs cleans