How the heck do I NOT use my upper body?

Great night last night!

After picking up the rest of the crew, we chilled out in the afternoon and then packed up the van and headed to a double bill at Drive-In Movie Theatre...all 7 of us. It was fun. We saw both the new Shrek movie and the new Iron Man.

The kids ended up falling asleep in the back and we didn't get home until 1am, but it was all worth it because it was one of those nights that you know they'll remember.

It was tough getting up at 5am this morning (yes, I even do it on Sundays), so I hit the snooze button a couple of times and finally made it to my feet. I got some work done early and then went to the gym to train a client.

I also managed to get in a lot of foam rolling and stretching and a mini-workout/ab circuit. The gym that I train at has a "land mine", so I can do one of my favorite ab exercises - a Full Contact Twist - without wrecking the corner of a wall. Here's what went down...

1) Ab Wheel x 15

2) Reverse Ab Curl-Up x 15

3) Full Contact Twist x 15/side

4) Tricep Extensions on the rings x 15

5) DB Bicep Curls x 15

I repeated that circuit 3 times and then went home.

The back is feeling much better, but I still won't really do any upper body lifting until Tuesday.

Chris

I Got A Chiropractor For My Daughter's Birthday

Today is my #2 daughter, Joey's, 7th birthday.

I spent the morning taking my wife through a workout (she's looking really good and has lost a lot of weight doing only KB & bodyweight exercises - NO CARDIO!!!) and then we took Joey out to her favorite restaurant for breakfast.

Last night, we dropped AJ, Frankie & Mikey off at my parents house to spend the night because Rozanne and I like to spend one-on-one time with each kid on their birthdays.

I also managed to reconnect with a friend of mine on Facebook who also happens to be a chiropractor. Thank goodness for Dr. Waj because I was able to see him in the morning and get my back & neck worked on and my rib popped back in (although I had 3 ribs out on my left side and he could only get 2 back in).

The bad news is that I need a few more treatments and the left side of my back is - and I think this is a medical term - "royally messed up".

No workout for me today on the recommendation of Dr. Waj. My back will be pretty tender for a while so I'm going to lay off the upper body workouts for the next couple of days.

Luckily I'm on a deload week this week, so I'll be lifting really light and will just focus on doing hills and lots of full body abdominal work.

Popped Another One

I woke up this morning and my upper back was really bothering me.

Remember back on Tuesday how I said I popped a rib? Well it feels like another one popped. I really need to find a chiropractor to see over this long weekend (it's Victoria Day weekend here in Canada).

My lower body feels good and I was scheduled for a lower body workout today anyway, so I went down to the gym to finish off week 3 of my 3rd phase of 5-3-1.

Here's what I did...

1) Bulgarian SS w/the bar in the racked position (3 x 5-3-1)
2a) Pistols (3 x 10)
2b) GHR (3 x 12)
3) 2 arm KB Swings x 100 (24kg KB)

The kb swing s at the end of the workout was a bonehead move on my part because now my upper back feels even worse.

I need to find a chiro to pop this rib back in!

Thursday Upper Body Workout

Upper body workout today. I've been using Jim Wendler's 5-3-1 system that I picked up over at elitefts.com.

After speaking to a few people about the book and reading a few reviews about it, I decided to invest $20 and pick up a copy for myself.

The verdict? It's probably the best $20 that I've spent in a long time. I'm big on simplicity and making the most of my time and this book really forces you to keep things simple and do only the things that work.

If you're looking to increase your strength and are willing to put in some good, hard work. Then I suggest you pick this book up.

So onto my workout...

1) Military Press (3 x 5-3-1+)
2a) 1-arm KB press
2b) DB Row
3) Seated Row (1 set x 40 reps)

My ribs and upper back are still bothering me. It's not like it's painful, it's just an annoying kind of feeling. I'll hit the foam roller hard and do lots of t-spine mobility. Hopefully that will alleviate the pain a little.

An Off Day

I'm sitting in my family room watching my 2 year old do her version of prisoner squat and push-ups. Pretty Cute.

It's the absolute truth that kids do what they see, so hopefully my wife and I are on the right track when we exercise in front of the kids.

No workout for me today. I'm still sore from the cleans, deadlifts and ring pull-ups. I also think I popped a rib on my left side.

Popping a rib is one of those annoying pains that eventually go away. Although I should try to get in to see a chiro tomorrow because I'm scheduled to be back at the gym and doing military presses as my main lift.

Nutrition today was alright...

7am - 3 free range eggs (scrambled) with chives cooked in butter, black coffee, an apple muffin (it's got squash & spelt flour in it - my wife baked them), water & a teaspoon of coconut milk

10am - Walnuts & an apple

Here's where stuff started to get interesting...

I took AJ (my 12 year old) to the dentist to get 4 teeth removed to accomodate her new braces. So, I spent an hour walking around the swanky Yorkville area of Toronto with a 6-month-old strapped to my chest and a 2 year old either in my arms or holding onto my left-ass jean pocket.

****A note to all the single guys out there...Kids are chick magnets. NO JOKE. I got stopped 6 times in less than an hour by women who just wanted to coo at my kids. If you want to pick-up, borrow a niece or nephew and take them out!****

She was hungry and I was famished. She wanted a hotdog and I wanted nothing to do with it. I bought her a hotdog, she ate 1/3 of it. I ate a the rest.

We also found out that my wife needs (another!!!) root canal.

Chris

Coconut Oil, Training & Burritos

I had a good workout & eating day today.

7am Breakfast - steel but oats, oat bran, cinnamon, coconut milk & dried cranberries

9am - big teaspoon of coconut oil

11am - apple & walnuts

1pm - Training...

1) Cleans 3 x 3 @135, 140 & 145

2) Deadlifts 3 x 5 - 3 - 1

3) Snatch Grip Deadlifts 1 x 20 @ 135

4a) TGUs 2 x 5 @ 24kg

4b) Pull-Ups on the rings (10, 8, 6)

Then I did some "arms". What can I say, it was a slight resurfacing of my inner-meathead.

2:30pm - Barbacoa Burrito from Chipotle (I love this stuff).

My wife, Rozanne, is making dinner tonight, so I'll look forward to having the night off from the kitchen.

I also hit the grocery store and bought some celery, broccoli & red peppers to chop up for the rest of the week.

If you haven't yet, check out Today's Sign that The Apocalypse is Upon Us on my Tumblr blog...

=>FitAndBusyDad's Sign The Apocalypse is Upon Us

Enjoy the rest of your day,

Chris

The Rebirth of The Original Blog

So I'm going resurrect this blog and call it the home of my daily ramblings. This will be more for me to store my training and nutrition journal and to help direct you to the various places that I post.

My day got royally messed up because of a cancelled dentist appointment for my oldest daughter. Because today was meticulously planned, I had no intention of getting a workout in. Instead, I scheduled my workouts for yesterday (squats) and tomorrow (cleans & deadlifts).

Now, I've got all this time on my hands, so I made it home early, picked up some swiss chard and some navy beans for lunch from the Big Carrot and am eating all of it with some homemade guacamole.

Prior to that, I did manage to get a workout in....

1) Foam rolling, T spine mobility & stretching for hips, hams & pecs.

Then I did an ab circuit....

2a) Ab Wheel x 20

2b) Reverse Ab Curls x 20

2c) Side Plank x 45s/side

and then some Convict Conditioning...

3) Isometric Handstand x 2 minutes

That was it. I think I'm saving myself for deadlifts tomorrow.

Chris

p.s. Make sure to check out my wife's workout over at the KB Blog...

=>Kettlebell Training For Women