Dream Come True

So last Saturday we did a rather enjoyable workout as you can see by the picture of Chad lying dead on the floor.  While it was going on, I had the thought that I have many times while being at the gym.  And that is, how freaking awesome is it to be in a place where these people care about their fitness to the point that they are willing to push themselves of utter and complete exhaustion.  From those that do the workout perfectly as laid out to those that try their darnedest to get the bar up, it is just plain awesome.  I tell my wonderful wife this all the time, it is awesome to train people that give full effort. 

 On a side note, it is pretty crazy how you can do a workout that does more for you physically in 5-15 minutes than 2 hours of jogging does and still be able to function the rest of the day.
Here is the picture of the awesome Saturday group.

Get After It

I came across this quote from Teddy Roosevelt:

“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.”

Its all about getting there and getting after it.  Since I started doing this, it is interesting to see the wide range of people and their attitudes and devotion.  Some people want to be fit and continuously talk about how they are going to start working out and eating right and this that and the other while never doing a darn thing about it.  Some people do the talking and come once or twice and then they are done working out and talking.  Some people have a schedule that they just flat out don't have time.  Fitness and health is not a priority (maybe because it cannot be) and quite frankly never will be.       And then on the other end of the spectrum you have people who have made health and fitness a part of their everyday life.  They sacrifice to make sure they are keeping themselves healthy and upright.  There is no time for excuses and they just keep on coming back for more.  I have always been of the opinion is easier to get out of shape than in shape.  But there is so much awesomeness that comes from trying to get in shape and trying to stay in shape.  So for those of who who make time to workout whether it be a low level of fitness or Elite Fitness kudos to you!    

Here's some people getting after it before the rooster crows with no excuses:

Sugar

So starting tomorrow we will begin our no-sugar challenge.  The rules are simple, everyone puts in 10 bucks and the last one who partakes of the legalized white drug gets the money.  Basically you cannot eat anything that has been made or processed with SUGAR.

Classes Wed will be 5:30 and 6:15 a.m....no evening classes.
Thursday we will go 5:30 and 6:15 a.m. 6 p.m.
Friday Rest Day
Saturday- 8 A.M.

Friday

Rest Day

I rode in the car yesterday with a fellow co-worker and he starting talking about weight and body fat percentage.  He was so worried about being at a certain weight and he thought that once he got to that weight he would like the way he wanted.  I think there are many people out there if not most that think this way.  The more I get into real "fitness" the more I believe that the weight on the scale is just one more factor in the bigger realm of things as far as what is your end goal.  Do you want to lose 50 pounds unhealthily and look deathly skinny?  Then start starving yourself and go do a whole bunch of cardio.   Being fit is so much more than that.  It is being able to handle your body in a way that can produce life saving results i.e. pulling yourself up onto a branch when dangling from a cliff.  Furthermore it is being able to do similar feats with external weight factors such as having someone on your back.  I really believe that the harder you work towards being fit, the healthier you will become.  And looking the way you want to?  Yep that is going to happen too, but rather than be this big stressful deal in your life, it is just going to be a less-stressful by-product of working hard.      

Thursday

It has been an awesome first week in the new building.......gonna try to be more organized when it comes to posting workouts, so working a day ahead, here is tomorrow's:

021413
Strength:
Front squat- heavy single
Clean pull 5 sets of 3
Back squat- heavy single

Conditioning:
7 min AMRAP
8 push jerks 155/105
10 toes to bar
30 DU
Then immediately:
UB hang power cleans in 1minute
If you drop the bar on the cleans before the minute, the workout is over

Almost Ready

A picture during construction....

1 year ago

Well as Calvin so politely reminded me last night.  It has been exactly one year since our little group started training together.  It is really awesome to see people come and go but especially awesome to see people come and work hard and get in really good shape.  I remember one person had a goal to do 10 HSPU and now they are busting out 15 and doing extra range of motion.  We also continue to crush P.R.s which is a really cool thing.
Here are some pictures from the early days: