"He's soft and he's fat and he's wearing my cloths and he was born on my birthday
and he's getting too old and I'm afraid if I stop running, he'll catch up with me."
- Nike motivational poster

FEBRUARY 2024

- 7 hours of some form of exercise every week
- Endurance training for peak climbing
- Core strengthening & conditioning
- Kettelbell workouts
- Slow movement hikes
- Natural movement workouts
- Olympic Lifts (adjust loads as needed)
- Play different sports (cycle, kayak, hike, snowshoe, climb, Fish)

February Workouts

Days This Month: 28
Some form of exercise: 0 of 28 days
Exercise hours: 0.0
Hiking/Climbing miles: 0.0
Paddling miles: 0.0
Cycling miles: 0.0

WORKOUTS AT A GLANCE
4/3 - Clover Springs Training Hike
4/2 - Road Ride/Cloverdale Loop



Febuary Work-Outs

Days This Month: 28 Some form of exercise: 2 of 30 days Exercise hours: 2.0 Hiking/Climbing miles: 3.75 Paddling miles: 0.0 Cycling miles: 6.0 WORKOUTS AT A GLANCE 4/3 - Clover Springs Training Hike 4/2 - Road Ride/Cloverdale Loop

Monday, April 18, 2011

Location: North/Central California

Pinnacles National Monument
Hiking - Old Pinnacles/High Peaks Trails, North Chalone Peak

I hooked up with Jaime's group again for a couple of days of hiking at Pinnacles National Monument.

Driving, camp set-up, horse shoes and eating on Friday. Saturday a group of us hiked (from the campground) the Old Pinnacles Trail/Balconies Cave Trail/Balconies Trail to the Chaparral Ranger Station at the West entrance. We then went up Juniper Canyon to the High Peaks and back down to the shuttle at Bear Gulch.

About 16 miles and 7 hours.

Sunday Eric and I did a quick run up North Chalone Peak because we both had a long drive home ahead of us.

About 9 miles in 3 hours.

Horseshoes at camp on Friday evening


Jaime showing of his Barefoot wine.
The two Eric's fixing food.
Starting up the canyon on the Old Pinnacles trail.
The faster hikers pull away.
The Balconies.

Machete Ridge.
Formations.


Eric high up in Juniper canyon. Eric is hiking the John Muir Train this summer, so was carrying a 35# pack as training.


Will starts up the "Steep & Narrow".
Back at camp refueling.

The step coming out of the upper Bear Gulch caves.
Sam & Eric on the North Chalone Peak summit.
South Chalone Peak.
Racer on the way down



Total hiking time: count as 08:00:00
Aproxx miles: 26.0

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Location: PFC Gym

Workout: Strength, Power
Warm Up
Jump rope 1 min.
Stretching

Strength
Stronglifts 5x5 - w/o "A" +4
5x 5 squat @ 115#
5x 5 bench press @ 110#
5x 5 barbell row @ 110#

Power
Kettlebell Complex @ 53#
3 Rounds of
30x two handed kettlebell swing
10x swing clean
10x swing clean & press
10x dead snatch
10x sumo deadlift high pull
10x cross chop
3 minute rest between rounds

Round 1: 00:07:16
Round 2: 00:07:26
Round 3: 00:08:01

Bonus
3 Rounds of
4x hanging handle pull up
10x push up

Total time: 01:11:00

Sunday, April 10, 2011

Location: PFC Gym, Cloverdale Backroads

Warm up
Jump Rope - 5 min.
Lifting Stretches

Workout
Stronglifts 5x5 - w/o "B" +4
5x 5 squats @ 110#
5x 5 overhead press @ 85#
5x 5 deadlift @ 165#

Lower
3 Rounds of
30x two handed kettlebell swing @ 53#
10x walking lunge @ 25# dumbbells
10x 20 inch box step up @ 30# sandbag

Endurance
Cycling - Preston Loop

Total time: 01:31:06
Miles: 11.67
HR: ave.-135 max.-177
Cals burned: 963

Saturday, April 09, 2011

Location: Clover Springs

Workout: Endurance
Trail Run/Speed Hike - Upper Forest
Via the Creek Trail. Run until tired, then speed hike to recover. Repeat.

Time: 00:25:03
Miles: 2.5
HR: ave.-144 max.-174

Bummer! I ran the spur trail to the lower falls and found this. A multi trunked tree has fallen across the falls. The size and in this location, impossible to clear.

Friday, April 08, 2011

Location: Cloverdale Backroads

Workout: Warm Up
Cycling - Preston Loop
With an additional run up the first hill on Cherry Creek Road.

Miles: 9.0
Time; 00:36:14
HR: ave.-123 max.-170

Location: PFC Gym
Workout: Strength
Stronglifts 5x5 - w/o "A" +3
5x 5 squat @ 100#
5x 5 bench press @ 105#
5x 5 barbell row @ 105#

Bonus
3x 10 thrusters @ 65#

3 rounds of
4x hanging handle pull up
10x push up

Time: 00:41:12
HR: ave.-115 max.-157

Wednesday, April 06, 2011

Location: Clover Springs

Workout: Endurance
Speed Hike - South Ridge
Original version @ a fast pace with 20 air squats at the top.

Time: 00:38:51
Miles: 2.5
HR: ave.-131 max.-160

Location: PFC Gym
Workout: Power
"The 500" Core strengthening & Conditioning
- Mix and match as needed to complete reps.
100x two handed kettlebell swing @ 53#
100x barbell russian twist @ 60#
100x abmat sit up @ 10# med ball overhead
100x good mornings @ 45# bb
100x dead cleans @ 65# (did not finish)

Note: stopped @ 74 reps on the dead cleans because of shoulder pain.

Time: 00:54:29
HR: ave.-136 max.-173

Monday, April 04, 2011

Location: PFC Gym

Workout: Strength
Warm Up
Cycling - Frontage Road Loop (short ver.)
Lift stretching

Strength
Stronglifts 5x5 - w/0 "B" +3
5x 5 squat @ 95#
5x 5 OH press @ 80#
5x 5 deadlift @ 155#

Push Up Ladder
1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,9,8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1 - 100 total

Time: 01:08:55
HR: ave.-130 max.-222

Location: Northern California

Workout: Climbing
Little Hawaii - Top-roping

I drove up to the Manton, CA area to do some top-roping with Ricky's Epic Masters group. Little Hawaii is a small unknown climbing area being developed by Ricky and a few others.

The climbing was ok for what and where it is. I'm not sure what type of rock it is, but not granite. The rock has nubbins and quite a few pockets for holds. Not a lot of features to place trad gear and the routes haven't been bolted yet so this is all top-roping.

All the formations are pretty much in the shade, but temperature in this area is too hot to climb during the summer.

I think there were a total of 13 people and it seemed everyone had a great time. We stopped at the Manton Saloon for a few beers afterwards, our antics entertaining the locals.

Time: Count as 03:00:00

Danielle on the third route.
Hayden on the second route.
Scott's girlfriend (can't remember her name) on the second route.
Anna on the first route.
Dow high on the cave route.
At the Manton Saloon.
Front: Hayden. L to R: Danielle, AM, Jeremy, Dow, Caitlin, Sam.

Saturday, April 02, 2011

Location: PFC Gym

Workout: Strength, Core Strengthening & Conditioning
Warm Up
400 meter row @ 80# resist.
Lift Stretches

Stronglifts 5x5 - w/o "A" +2
5x 5 squat @ 80#
5x 5 bench press @ 100#
5x 5 barbell row @ 100#

Dead Clean
5x 5 @ 75#

Core Strengthening & Conditioning
3 Rounds of
30x two handed kettlebell swing @ 53#
16x kettlebell woodchopper @ 53#
20x good morning @ 45# barbell

Bonus
6x 3 handing handle pull up

Time: 01:15:53
HR: ave.-122 max.-171

Thursday, March 31, 2011

March Totals

Notice: 3/12/2011 - Any "West Hill" activities will
now be referred to as Clover Springs.

ACTURAL
Days this month: 31
Some form of exercise: 23 of 31 days
Approx. exercise hours: 23.5
Approx. hiking/climbing miles: 24.5
Cycling miles: 22.0

MARCH WORKOUTS - AT A GLANCE
3/31 - Clover Springs / Move Slowly
3/30 - Cycling / Preston Loop, PFC Gym / Core Strength
3/29 - Clover Springs / Speed Hike, PFC Gym / Strength, Power, Core
3/27 - PFC Gym / Strength, Power
3/26 - Lake Sonoma / Natural Movement Hike
3/25 - Cycling / Preston Loop
3/24 - Clover Springs / Hike, PFC Gym / Strength, Stamina
3/22 - PFC Gym / Strength
3/21 - Clover Springs / Move Slowly
3/20 - PFC Gym / Strength
3/19 - Clover Springs / Speed Hike
3/18 - PFC Gym / Power
3/16 - PFC Gym / Power, Strength
3/15 - Clover Springs, PFC Gym / Move slowly, Power
3/14 - PFC Gym / Power
3/13 - PFC Gym / Strength
3/12 - PFC Gym, West Hills / Power, Move Slowly
3/10 - West Hills / Endurance Intervals
3/5 - Tahoe / Snowmobile
3/4 - PFC Gym / Core, Lower Body
3/3 - West hills / Move slowly, Cycling / Preston Loop


UPDATE: Weight loss since going Paleo 1/7/2011: 18.6 lbs.

Location: Clover Springs

Workout: Slow Movement
Hike - Water Tanks
Slow movement hike with Katie. Sunny and warm out. Shorts and no shoes.

Time: 00:278:51
Approx. Miles: 1.5
HR: ave.-103 max.-128

Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Location: Cloverdale Backroads

Workout: Warm up
Cycling - Preston Loop

Time: 00:30:52
approx. miles: 7.7
HR: ave.-134 max.-220

Location: PFC Gym
Workout: Core Strengthening & Conditioning
"The 1000" - Rest as needed to complete all reps
600 meter row @ 80# resist.
100x kettlebell swing @ 53#
100x 1/2 get up (to kneeling position - core strengthening) @ 30# sandbag
100x 5 count superman back extensions
100x wood chopper @ 20# med ball
Rest as needed to complete all reps

Note: I basically broke this up into 4 rounds. Completing the rows in the first 3.

Bonus
3x 3 hanging handle pull ups

Note: I was surprised I completed these with little effort. Three months ago was struggling to do one!

Time: 01:17:51
HR: ave.-134 max.-170

Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Location: Clover Springs

Workout: Warm up
Speed Hike - South Ridge (original route)
Speed hiking only. No rest for round trip. Personal best time for hiking this route.

Time: 00:37:49
Approx. miles: 2.5
HR: ave.-130 max.-156

Location: PFC Gym
Workout: Strength, Power, Core
Strength - Stronglifts 5x5 - w/o "B"+2
5x 5 Squat @ 85#
5x 5 Overhead Press @ 77.5#
1x 5 Deadlift @ 145#

Power - Dead Weight Complex @ 33# Bulgarian Bag
5 rounds of 10 reps each - 150 movements
- squat
- lunge (alternate)
- 20" box step up (alternate)

Bonus - Core
3x 2 hanging handle pull up
3x 7 ab wheel (strict)
3x 7 abmat sit up (strict)

Bonus Bonus
3x 7 med ball push up

Time: 00:53:52
HR: ave.-126 max.-166

Sunday, March 27, 2011

Location: PFC Gym

Workout: Strength, Power
Warm up
- 1 min. jump rope
- 200 meters row @ 80# resist.
- 3 rounds of
10x air squat
7x abmat sit up
7x ab wheel
7x BA pull up

Strength
Stronglifts 5x5 - w/0 "A" as listed
5x 5 barbell squat @ 75#
5x 5 bench press @ 95#
5x 5 barbell row @ 95#

Power
Bulgarian Bag Complex @ 33#
3 Rounds of
6x swing snatch
6x swing shoulder flip
6x push up
6x hip extension (feet on bag)
6x 360 swing
6x swing squat
6x swing lunge
1 minute rest between rounds, no rest between movements.

Bonus
3x 6 supine ring pull up (feet on box)
6x 3 sitting dips



Time: 01:10:00
HR: ave.-119 max.-166

Saturday, March 26, 2011

Location: Lake Sonoma

Workout: General
Natural Movement
A short workout at the overflow parking lot - log walk, log flip, log jump, log push up, stair climb.

Then take off cross country for some natural movement.

Descending a forested slope. Lake Sonoma in the background.
Enjoying the area after the climb up out of the canyon.
Madrone grove.


Time: 01:25:02
Approx. Miles: 2.0
HR: ave.-125 max.-167

Friday, March 25, 2011

Homemade Equipment

The Bulgarian Power (Fitness) Bag
Alright..., I first saw these being used at Mark Twight's Gym Jones site. I have never heard of them before, so I googled it and came up with hundreds of hits.

Here are a couple...

http://www.suples.com/bulgarian-training-bags/


http://www.mytrainer.com/action/viewvideo/534/Bulgarian_Power_Bag/


I then search Mark's Daily Apple and sure enough, he talks about them also. So, I though I would make one.

There are several videos on-line that show how these can be made, just search the phrase.

Weight: 33 lbs. (They can be made to weigh whatever one wants).
Total approximate cost: $25.00 - or a lot cheaper.

Components
14 inch Inner tube - used or new
Sand or some other sort of filling for weight
Zip Ties
Cord or tubular webbing (optional)
Duct and/or electricians tape

The Inner Tube
I bought my tube new at a tire shop. One could probably get these for free if you asked around, but I didn't want to deal with the holes or weak sections associated with used inner tubes. The new one I bought was 14/15 inch @ $16.00.
I cut out the stem section. I will adjust the length later on.

Leaving about 6 or 7 inches for the handle, secure the closer with the first zip tie. If adding additional handle (tubular webbing or cord), lay it in and tie off with 3 or 4 more zip ties.

As pictured below, when I trimmed off the tag end of the zip tie, I left a couple inches so I could tape them down later on. Cutting them short leaves a sharp edge that will cause problems later on.
I used the burly Duct Tape to cover and secure the zip ties, then used stretchable electricians tape to to form a tight handle.
Fill the tube with the desired material and weight.
Pull it up tight and repeat the process of creating a closer and preliminary handle. Depending on how much material one puts in, one might end up trimming several inches off the tube.
Here is the finished product before shaping better handles.
I Built up the handles with tight wraps of electricians tape. I like the softer, stickier feel of cloth athletic tape, so I used that to finish up the handles.

Here is the finished product.


Location: Cloverdale Backroads

Workout: Endurance
Cycling - Preston Loop
Via RiverPark, West Side (with a push up the Cherry Creek Rd. hill).

Time: 00:35:14
Miles: 8.0
HR: ave.-135 max.-174

Location: Clover Springs

Actual: 3/24/2011
Workout: Warm up
Clover Springs - Trail Run/Hike
South Ridge to top fence line and back. Run until tired, then speed hike while recovering. Repeat.

Location: PFC Gym
Workout: Strength, Stamina
Stronglifts 5x5 - w/o "B"+
5x 5 squat @ 80#
5x 5 overhead press @ 75#
5x 5 deadlift @ 135#

Sandbag Complex - 5/50
3 Rounds Of @ 50# sandbag
10x get-up
10x clean squat
10x snatch
10x clean & lunge
10x half moon

Bonus
3 Rounds Of
7x push-up
7x abmat sit-up
7x ab wheel

Total Time: 01:38:15
Approx. miles: 1.5
HR: ave.-141 max.-173

Thursday, March 24, 2011

Non Fitness Related

3/23/0211
The San Jose Sharks laid it to the Calgary Flames last night at HP Pavilion.

At one point Cory Sarich of the Flames put a hard clean hit on Logan Couture. Couture's line mate Ryan Clowe took exception to it, probably because earlier in the game Sarich had taken another run at Couture, or maybe just because Clowe hates the Sumbitch.

Anyway, Clowe gave him a pretty good licking. Not any knock-out punches, but I'm sure Sarich had a sore nose when all was said and done.




Thanks Ryan! Your moral conduct and leadership are inspiring, even for an old guy like me.

(Photo's poached from the Sharks Website)

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Location: PFC Gym

Actual: 3/22/2011
Workout: strength
Warm up
400 meter row @ 70# resist.

Stronglifts 5x5 w/o "A"
5x 5 squat @ 75#
5x 5 bench press @ 95#
5x 5 barbell row @ 95#

Time: 00:36:06
HR: 103 ave. 152 max.

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Location: Clover Springs

Actual: 3/21/2011
Workout: Move Slowly
Clover Springs - Hike
South Ridge (original route) keeping heart rate near 125 bpm.

Looking North - Cloverdale.
Looking East - Mount St. Helena.
Ridge greenage with wildflowers.


Time: 01:02:31
Approx. Miles: 2.0
HR: 106 ave. 132 max.

Monday, March 21, 2011

Location: PFC Gym

Actual: 3/20/2011
Workout: Strength
Warm up
3x 1 minute jump rope
Stretching for lifts

Kettlebell Complex - 3 Rounds @ 53#
30x two handed swing
6x swings clean - 3 each side
6x swing clean & press - 3ES
6x dead snatch - 3ES
6x dead clean squat - 3ES
6x clubbell forearm extension @ 16# - 3ES

Overhead Press
3x 3 press, 3x push press @ 85#
2x 3press, 3 push press @ 87.5#
1x 3 press, 3 push press @ 90#

Bent Row
1x 3 @ 135#
2x 3 @ 115#
3x 5 @ 115#
I was finding the right weight for the Bent Row. I will work forward from 115#.

Time: 01:15:46
HR: 136 bpm ave. 177 bpm max.

Sunday, March 20, 2011

Homemade equipment

Clubbell
Another piece of homemade equipment, the clubbell. I got the information for this off the video in the link. Here is the specs. and cost break down.

Weight: 16 lbs.
Length: 29 inches
Component Cost: (from my local ACE Hardware) approx. $55.00
It can be made for less. I will explain below.

Here are the components
- Galvanized pipe and fittings
- Cylindrical piece of cast iron (an old window counter weight)
- Sand
- Electricians tape

The pipe and fittings weigh 8 lbs. The piece of cast iron weighs 6 lbs. The remaining 2 lbs. comes from the sand.

One could use other material or objects to adjust the weight. Chain, lead ball fishing weights, cement or just sand. Pour sand in on top of whatever you use to hold everything together and prevent movement inside the pipe.

Here it is assembled
I covered the pipe threads and filled in the gaps with duct tape, then finished off the handle with plastic electricians tape.
The finished handle.
I wanted to eliminate the cold industrial look and feel of the piece, so I gave it a coat of cold galvanizing primer and a black top coat.
After the paint dried I gave it a few swings. At 16 lbs. it seems a little heavy now, but will be good in the future. The endcap is removable so I can adjust the weight as needed.

The electricians tape on the handle didn't feel right so I covered it with cloth athletic tape for a better grip, much better. I then ended up covering the rest of the pipe with silicone self bonding tape to give it a rubberized feel.

The final product with a olympic bumper plate for size reference.
Flat with a dumbbell.

By eliminating a lot of the extra crap I put on this thing and just going with the pipe and some form of filler for additional weight, the cost would be about $40.00 - $45.00, possibly cheaper if the conponets were bought at a super store like Home Depot or Lowe's.

Make one and enjoy!

Location: Clover Springs

Workout: Endurance
Trail Speed Hike
North Ridge/main fire trail

Time: 00:41:21
Approx. Miles: 2.0
HR: 135 bpm ave. bpm 163 max.

Friday, March 18, 2011

Location: PFC Gym

Workout: Power
Warn up
Ladder @ 1,2,3,4,5,6,5,4,3,2,1 each
- strict sit up
- push up
- ab roll out
-b/a pull up

Deadlift
5x @ 155#
5x @ 165#
5x @ 155#

Back Squat
2x 5x @ 65#
2x 5 @ 75#
2x 5 @ 95#

Walking Lunge
2x 10 with 44# KB in each hand
Notes:
-Walking Lunge - stopped at 2.5 sets because of knee pain. 44# is too heavy. Too much instability causing poor form. Start next w/o @ 25# dumbbell.
- Start next back squat session @ 95#

Time: 00:48:39
HR: ave.-113 max.-157

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Location: PFC Gym

Workout: Power, Strength
Warm up
Ladder @ 1,2,3,4,5,4,3,2,1 for each
- push up
- sit up
- ab wheel
- B/A pull up

Kettlebell Complex @ 53# KB
4x 25 2 handed swing
10x swing clean
10x swing clean & press
10x dead snatch
10x squat clean
20x cross chop (10 each side)
20x OH forearm extension @ 44# KB

Stronglifts 5x5 - W/O B + 5#

Time: 00:59:08
HR: 123/201
DISCLAIMER: I have never had any formal workout or fitness training instruction. Everything I have learned has been self taught, self motivated, learned from trial and error, or picked up from books or the internet. Because of this, some of the words or phrases I use might not be the correct terms used by "professionals".
The logs listed on this site are workouts I have put together for myself. They are not meant as examples to teach others, but only as a way for me to track my own progression.

Thanks for viewing.