The Gym and Passing Judgment.

Sooo... tonight boxing was cancelled, no jiu jitsu, and I had already run with Emily and Gator (the fine canine running specimen that he is becoming), so I was planning on hitting a really good workout in the living-room a la kettlebells. But, one of my friends that I box with called me to ask if I wanted to got to the gym and "lift" since practice got canceled. So, I obliged. Now, I love relentless gym bashing (almost as much as Republican bashing... no, not as much) since the gym is only good for the Olympic lifting platform- that I would also install in my living-room if I could afford to do so- as far as I'm concerned. :) Maybe I'm a hypocrite or maybe it was just for nostalgia, being that it is the same gym I used to teach aerobics to whiny, dependent wives at. Either way, I went with and didn't have a bad time... till I left. Nothing was wrong with my workout: I can enjoy about 20 different modifications to the deadlift, and squats, and all the super-duper new "ab machines." But, some things are only entertaining for so long. The TT gym = one of them. As we were leaving I began to think (that's usually 1/2 the problem right there).

I am very lucky to have such wonderful people and facilities to train in. I am grateful for all of them everyday. But, I do jiu jitsu in a pole-barn style building that also serves as the county fairgrounds that's an hour from my house. I box in an old, run-down, 1/2 torn apart boxing gym. I run... um...on the sidewalk. I play with iron kettlebells in my living room trying to dodge the dog and three-year-old... and I love it- all of it! I wouldn't ask for better places to do any of those things. And I utilize them all, voluntarily, on a pretty-much daily basis. The reason I point all this stuff out is this: What possible reason could a Marine or dependent-spouse have for not being in shape. Of all of the excuses that exist, unless you are physically not-able to get yourself there (walking, running, driving, or riding a bike), none of them are acceptable. There is all of the super-duper equipment provided (to include a machine that assists in medicine ball sit-up tosses- WTF?!) for free, free personal training, free group fitness classes, free usage of the locker rooms, even free towels to wipe your sweaty self off- none of which seems to be enough to get some of these folks to want to go. Apparently, therein lies the problem- They don't want to go. Period. They would rather sit on their butts when they get home and eat Doritos and drink Mountain Dew than go use all the nice free shit that the government is trying to taunt them in to good (or better) shape with. I don't get it. I understand we don't all have the same schedule (its open almost always) or the same priorities (but I'll go ahead and call you screwed up if good health isn't in your top 5), but give me a break. Barring any legitimate medical issue, there's no reason any military family member should be out of shape- point blank.

This phenomenon needs to be explained to me, scientifically. So many military spouses are notoriously out of shape, overweight, or both. Nothing I've read thus far, even attempts to breach this topic. Does the means not justify the ends? Who doesn't want to look and feel better if you presently look and feel like shit? Like I said before, the DoD is practically doing a fitness strip-tease on base housing. I doesn't get any easier or more convenient. I suppose the point of failure is the point at which you actually have to sweat. Hmmpf. You can lead a horse to water...

Okay... off my soapbox and off to bed ;)

Funny Stuff

Of course there's a funny story that goes along with this, and I have to thank KJ for the link to the site that I created it on. But, this was not one of the finer moments of the Emily and Renee Show :)

The Last Week-ish

The last week has been super busy. My classes this semester = super tough. Actually, they're the toughest I've had since I started this whole college thing (which, BTW, I am so ready to be done with). But, good thing I have such positive outlets for my pent up aggression and frustration.

Boxing is 6 days a week (and running in the morning with my team-mates 5). We've worked a whole lot on movement and footwork, which is exactly what I need. We've had three new guys start training with us, and I don't have to drop weight right now, which is pretty nice (I'm not super fun when that's going on). So, things there are very well. My focus needs to be on footwork and technically sound punches, so I have tried to incorporate jumping rope, slipping/step-around drills, and lots of shadow boxing (in my own workouts, not just at practice).

Still doing jiu jitsu. I didn't go last week because of vehicle situations, but I'll be up there tonight- right after boxing to get back on the mats. Jiu jitsu is such a beautiful sport when its done well. Watching guys like BJ Penn (and of course Jerry, my coach)- they transition and maneuver so smoothly. I wish it was as easy as they make it look... No, I wish I could make it look as easy as they make it look :)

My kettlebell workouts have been lots of working the 15:15. I will do anything to get me out of having to do sprints, he he. But, I have done some sprint work (sprinting between light-poles) on one of our running routes in the mornings. We try to switch it up based on what we do at practice (if we do intervals, then we run longer and slower- if not, then we pick it up with sprints). It seems to be working well.

My favorite workout that I have done three times in the past week has been this one (which I will alternate with the 15:15 after some low-rep heavier stuff):

2 min each:
2 hand swings w/ 16 k
1 min each L/R TGU's
jump rope
1 min each L/R one-leg m.p.
1 min each L/R high pulls

I finish by wearing myself down with as many pistols as I do on each leg and sets of BW pull-ups.
I have laid off my abs (and its shows), only doing as much as we do at practice, but I'm kicking it back in this week. If I haven't mentioned it already- I love my ab wheel. My living room keeps getting more stuff put in the "kettlebell corner" like my ab wheel and stability ball- more to come for sure :) Wish I had a garage.

Lil Bit of This, Lil Bit of That

Today started out super ick outside. It was rainy and cold so, being the cool kid that I am, called my running buddy (he'd really hate to know I just called him that, he he) to cancel. That was 5am. I slept in till lil man woke me up (7ish) and after he got off to school I planted myself at the computer for the next 5 hours. I'm so studious, I know ;) Good news- got lots of homework done. Bad news- I didn't really eat or drink anything till I left to pick up my room-mate at 3, nor did I bother to run once it stopped raining. Either way, I boxed tonight for a little more than an hour. I felt stupid drained, because I was running on empty, but that's good for me. I can't imagine I'm going to feel completely "nourished," so to speak, when I step in the ring at my fight weight. I don't think I'll make a habit of not eating though- not fun. At boxing, we did awesome intervals of footwork and heavybag, then worked the mitts, and did some ab stuff.

When I got home, I ate. I was f'n starving. Even though I was tired, I did a "lil bit of this, lil bit of that" with my 12k... just as the icing on the cake.

I did 30 sets of the 15:15- something I always go back to, because (1) I know it works, (2) I can time 15 second splits a lot easier than 36 second ones, and (3) Its something I can do with good form, even when my shoulders are smoked from hitting the heavy bag.

After that I went through:
2x 3L/3R pistols
2 x 10L/10R one-leg m.p.
3 x 5 bw pullups (did I mention my shoulders were smoked?)
3 x 20 swings w/ 16k
2 x 10L/10R clean&press
3 x 5 bw pullups (love the pain)

Oh yeah, then 20 mins of ab stuff
(I can finally touch my toes to the bar- YAY!)

Nothing too tough, just a little bit to wear me out before bed. And now I'm very stinky and very, very tired, so shower and sleep sound good.

Back For The New Year

I decided when my mom got sick to re-evaluate my priorities and updating my blog didn't make the cut. I dropped everything having to do with training my clients/fighters and spent quite a bit of time back in IL with my family as my mom won the toughest fight there is, against a very aggressive cancer. For all of the fighting that I train for, I will never measure up to my mother who fought off breast cancer by the force of her own will and determination, with a smile on the face of the most beautiful bald woman ever :) She's by far the toughest woman I've ever met, and how lucky am I that she is not only my inspiration and role model, but also my mother. Even in her hardest days fighting with the side effects of chemotherapy, she was still out there walking, jogging, and (as of recent) using her new elliptical machine daily. She did a lot of body-weight only exercises within her range of motion limits, but kept reminding me (as she did going in to her first surgery which was on her birthday in Sept.) that "This time next year I'll be windsurfing in the Caribbean and back on the tennis court in full force!" She is so strong, determined, and never once complained about what she was going through. She is so positive and by the grace of God, has just had her last successful surgery which came shortly after her last chemo treatment around Christmas.

I have certainly not abandoned training. In fact, I have been training my butt off for some (hopefully) upcoming events that I am very much looking forward to. I have brought new focus to my training to make me a better athlete, boxer, and jiu jitsu fighter. My strength and conditioning has been primarily in an effort to better myself at these specifics.

A very general idea of what I have been doing includes lots of the VO2 Max protocol workouts to increase my anaerobic conditioning which is essential to my sports. I have been working a lot with swings and high pulls and also various interval workouts that have involved strength training (lifting, etc.) w/ kettlebells. I've been runnin' for fun, the fat burning benefits, and really to keep my sanity. The gym is only good for dead lifting and squats, which I have really come to appreciate the gains acquired in those two things. I have been wrecking my abs and core (not just for vanity), but because so much of my power comes from there. Other than that, lots of sports specific stuff: boxing 5 days a week and jiu jitsu 2-3 times a week. Took a break from these over the holidays, but kept in awesome shape and came back from Christmas at home in better anaerobic shape than when I left. I did have an unbeatable place to train in our basement, and nothing beats working your butt off, hitting the steam room, then out to the hot tub. I've got it so good back there. If I just could have brought my coaches with me, it would have been a sweet ass training camp. But, I did have my dad out there who was encouraging/coaching me. He is quite the badass himself and an accomplished boxer in his day (by accomplished I mean that his dad used to take him to the bars when he was a young man and bet on him to fight the grown men).

So, my intention from here on out is to keep a training log and updates on upcoming fights, jj tournaments (my prep for them- to include cutting weight- boo), and all of the other very sweet stuff going on in my life. I'm really looking forward to this upcoming year and all the awesome things that will be happening! Till tomorrow...