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

Wednesday's Breakfast and Training

Great day today. Got up at 6am and went through my morning routine.

Then had some breakfast and started writing and working on a few projects that are coming up.

Here's how today's gone down thus far...

7:30am: The NEW Breakfast of Champions (see the video HERE)

10am: 2 homemade buttermilk pancakes w/farm fresh maple syrup (made by my beautiful wife)

12:30: Apple & pecans; 2 double espressos & lots of water

2pm: WORKOUT - Ran hills at Riverdale Park in Toronto (13 reps)

2:45: 500mls coconut water, bowl of berries

4pm: Late Lunch - spinach, red peppers, wax beans, black beans cooked w/tomato, onions & garlic

AJ's got a game tonight, so I'll be with the family for dinner. Not sure if I'll eat anything though b/c the beans filled me up. I may have a shake later on.

CL

Tuesday's Journal

Got to bed really late last night. My wife was up working on a project, so on those nights, I like to stay up with her and get some stuff done as well. It helped that I didn't have an early client this morning, so I slept in until 7:30am.

Here's my nutrition for the day...

7:45am Breakfast: Ezekiel cinnamon & raisin cereal, banana, cocoa nibs, coconut, pecans & strawberry kefir

11am Early Lunch: Brown rice, (more) lentils & green beans; lots of water & 3 fish oil caps

1pm Snack: apple, more pecans & a double espresso (from Dark Horse Cafe in Toronto)

4pm workout....

started with some joint mobility and upper back stuff then...

1a) Chin-ups (on my door gym) 15, 12, 12
1b) Decline Push-ups (with my feet on a chair) 35, 25, 25

2) 5 minute KB Snatches: Finished with a total of 88 in 5 minutes (then did another 12 to get to 100)

3a) Towel KB Curls 3 x 10
3b) Close grip push-ups 3 x 20, 18, 23

5:30pm Dinner: Black beans cooked with onion, garlic, wax beans, red pepper & spinach; 3 fish oil caps and more water

6pm DESSERT: 1 scoop of President's Choice "Loads of Chocolatey Almond Bark" ice cream

That was a great way to finish off dinner...although I think my stomach will be paying for it in a few hours.

Weekend's Workout and Today's Nutrition and Training

I ran hills this Friday and then hit the KBs on Saturday for this workout...

Plank: 2mins

Side Plank R:60s L:60s

Hip Bridge: 3mins

Walking KB Press: 16, 16, 20 (w/24kg KBs)

OH Walk Back x 3

Inverted Rows: 12, 15, 15 (using my blast straps attached to the frame of the gate in my backyard)

KB Swings x 100: 50, 50 (w/32kg KB)

That was it. A nice light workout.

Sunday, I focused on just doing some yard work and some demo on the old shed in the backyard. Very unstructured.

Nutrition today...

7am - Breakfast - Green Tea; Bowl of Ezekiel Cereal w/banana, walnuts, cocoa nibs, coconut & kefir and then I downed 3 fish oil caps

11am - Bowl of Lentils cooked in low-sodium chicken broth and then sauteed with onions, garlic, tomatoes & tomato paste.

Then training. Today's workout...

1) KB Push Presses 5 x 5 @ 24kg

2a) KB Front Squats 10, 12, 16 @ 2x16kg KBs

2b) KB Windmill 6, 8, 8 @ 16kg KB
2c) Renegade Rows 16, 20, 20 @ 16kg KB

3) 2-Arm Swings x 100 @ 32kg KB

Post workout: coconut milk, banana, vega supplement

Dinner: chicken breast, steamed green beans & lentils