Tuesday December 8, 2015

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I am so proud of all my children.  Today is Turner's day.  He is the one in the blue shirt.  I am a very lucky man to have a family like I do.  I am very grateful.  Happy Birthday Turner.

I am so proud of all my children.  Today is Turner's day.  He is the one in the blue shirt.  I am a very lucky man to have a family like I do.  I am very grateful.  Happy Birthday Turner.

Today is my son's 18th birthday. It is an important day for so many reasons.  Of course, I am so proud of Turner.  He is a wonderful young man who is making excellent choices.  He is working so hard in school and in wrestling this year.  His current situation is a great example of the post I made yesterday.  Discipline = Freedom. 

Turner has been disciplined in his studies, chosen to take difficult classes, remained focused on the goals, worked extremely hard in his chosen sport, was disciplined enough to avoid trouble and because of all of these things he is experiencing tremendous freedom.  He has been admitted to tons of schools for academic reasons, as well as receiving attention from many college wrestling coaches.  He is basically able to write his own ticket to where he wants to go and what he wants to do.  I am extremely proud of him.

Today is also a day that reminds me that physical fitness, diet and taking care of my body was not always a top priority for me.  Nope...in fact, I got pretty out of shape at a few points and neglected my body pretty badly; but it was Turner who helped me to turn it around completely.

As a fishing guide, I worked 12-15 hours a day and when finished would polish off a 12 pack while getting ready for the next day.  I was on a See-Food diet (See food and eat it) and really paid no attention to my weight, cardiovascular conditioning or even strength.  Soon, the physical toll of guiding fishing trips caught up to me and I started to have back trouble.  This was the first clue that I needed to take some steps to get stronger in certain areas.

When my wife and I started to consider having children about 20 years ago, everything changed for me.  I did not want to be out of shape, in fact, I decided that I wanted to be a positive role model for my new child and show them that it is important to take care of your body. 

It was tough, but I turned it all around.  No more drinking, and I started running.  It was a chore to run at all, but soon I was getting 30 minutes in every day.  I worked my way through almost every running injury that there is and patiently stayed the course.  My diet improved and when I read Enter the Zone by Barry Sears, I developed a much better understanding of how food nourished our bodies.  At the very least, I became very clear on what a carbohydrate was, which foods were fat and which contained protein. 

I dropped tons of weight and on this day 18 years ago, I had regained my athletic life.  My business was improving steadily and my wife and I welcomed Turner into our lives.  From then on, everything changed.  I realized that I had to work far more than ever before to make sure that I could provide for my family and I had some serious motivation in the form of an 9 lb 1 oz baby boy. 

Realizing that being a fishing guide was like being a professional athlete, (at least the type of fishing that I was doing...pushing a boat around in the wind all day, every day with a long stick) I began to put my physical state as a priority.  This priority was not a selfish act, rather it always came from a place of wanting to be able to do my job better so I could work more days in a row without having to take a day off.  More days equaled more money and we needed every cent we could get back then.

In the guiding world, physical fitness is a strange concept, but it turned into my edge and I was able to be on the water anytime the phone rang and never had to turn down a trip because I was tired.  (Discipline = Freedom)

It is hard for me to believe that Turner is 18 today.  So many things have happened in his life and sometimes it seems like yesterday that he was born.  His life has been a journey in so many ways.  It is certainly a learning process to raise any child, but the first one is kind of like trying to hack your way through a jungle with a machete.  There are no owner's manuals so we just had to forge our way the best we could.  We made tons of mistakes along the way and continue to make them today.  Turner has always been patient with us.  Thanks Turner...one day you will have a child of your own and realize what every parent does...wow...this is tough.  It may be tough, but it is worth it...every moment, every laugh, every tear, every smile, every day...it is all worth it.

Today, we honored Turner's birthday by doing a workout that I named for him a while back.  I chose to do it in the 20 pound vest just for kicks:

Turner

Run 1 mile

Row 1000 m

100 Burpees

For time

Happy Birthday Turner!  I love you.

Friday Dec 4, 2015

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This doesn't have anything to do with today's workout.  This is a moment from Goruck Selection where they had us take everything out of our bags and put it in a giant pile.  THey took all our food and made sure we didnt have any prohibited…

This doesn't have anything to do with today's workout.  This is a moment from Goruck Selection where they had us take everything out of our bags and put it in a giant pile.  THey took all our food and made sure we didnt have any prohibited items.  We had :30 seconds to get ready.  I am just over the Cadre's left shoulder.  This part of the event was not ideal for me or many others.

Sorry for the late post, I was pretty busy all day answering questions on my other various social media accounts.  For those who may not know, I have 3 fishing television shows that all have pretty healthy social followings.  My show is called Saltwater Experience and the handles are:

Twitter: @saltwaterexp

Facebook: Saltwater Experience

Instagram: @saltwater_experience

and my personal instagram @ tom_rowland

If you are into fishing, go check them out. 

Today, I offered to answer any questions posted until 2 pm.  There were alot of questions!  Wow...I hope I helped some people. That is what I was hoping to do.

On the workout side of life, we started our day with this one:

1. WHM Breathing

2.

CrossFit Games Open 11.6 / 12.5 : 93 reps | Rx'd -14 reps

AMReps in 7 mins:

3 Thrusters, 100 lbs | 3 reps 3 Chest-to-bar Pull-ups | 3 reps

6 Thrusters, 100 lbs | 6 reps 6 Chest-to-bar Pull-ups | 6 reps

9 Thrusters, 100 lbs | 9 reps 9 Chest-to-bar Pull-ups | 9 reps

12 Thrusters, 100 lbs | 12 reps 12 Chest-to-bar Pull-ups | 12 reps

15 Thrusters, 100 lbs | 15 reps 15 Chest-to-bar Pull-ups

18 Thrusters, 100 lbs | 3 reps 18 Chest-to-bar Pull-ups

21 Thrusters, 100 lbs 21 Chest-to-bar Pull-ups

 

It might look confusing the way it is written above but it is really simple.  do 3 thrusters/3 chest to bar pullups, then go to 6/6, 9/9, 12/12, 15/15...ect... for as many as you can possibly do in 7 minutes.

I have done this workout several times and my best was 107 reps or being 1 shy of completing the 18 thrusters.  I thought I could beat that today, but was not able to.  In fact I was 14 short.

I guess it is hard to set a PR every day, but at least I got one this week on the 5 mile run.

 

Ill take it. 

 

Have a great weekend

Wednesday Dec 2, 2015

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Run day

Run 5 miles

Again, I set a PR on this course.  After 7 weeks of Wim Hof Breathing and cold immersion, I have set 3 Prs on our 5 mile course.  Today, I ran 35:19 which is 3 seconds faster than last time.  Bravo was being a little difficult which slowed me down a bit.  Im pretty sure I could have run faster today.

I also have to credit the Dolce Diet to some of this speed.  I have lost 17 pounds since Sept and feel much faster.  However, the weight alone is not the reason for the newfound speed.  The breathing is definitely making a difference.

Monday Nov 30, 2015

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Rainy day here so I planned something that would require almost no movement and allow everyone the option of being under the cover of the garage.  It turned out to be tougher than we thought it would be.

 

2 Man Team

One partner works at a time.  Both partners do all the reps on the board.  Kettlebells may not touch the ground or +10 rep or second penalty.

2 Min plank/Farmers Hold 140 lbs

50 burpees/Farmers Hold 140 lbs

50 double unders or 150 singles/Farmers Hold 140 lbs

50 pushups/Farmers Hold 140 lbs

 

then

100 Arm Haulers

100 grasshoppers

Thanksgiving 2015

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I always try to schedule a long workout for Thanksgiving.  The guys who stay in town generally have a little more time and we all want to earn our cheat day and also burn up everything we have to make room for the good cooking later in the day.

2015 did not disappoint as I scheduled a workout that I have been wanting to do for a long time. 

Clovis is a Hero workout from CrossFit

Run 10 miles

150 Burpee Pushups

For time

We split it up into 2 miles and 30 burpee pushups rather than the full 10 miles and then 150 burpee pullups.  It is probably much faster the way we did it.

It took me 1:33:00

Later, I set a record for caloric intake and loved every second of it

Tuesday Nov 24, 2015

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A favorite emerges today.  Leap Frog format team workout featuring rows, kb swings and wall balls.  I love this format as it is a perfect interval which is intensified by your team mate.

1. Bear Complex 1-1-1-1-1

2.  Leap Frog Team Workout

Row 10 calories

15 kb swings

15 wall balls

Partner 1 starts on the row while P2 rests.  when 10 calories are completed, P1 calls out to P2 and P2 starts on KB swings.  P1 moves to the Wall Balls.  Continue moving through the exercises with one person working at a time for 20 minutes

I think we were all going with meters on the rower rather than calories which would explain the higher scores yesterday.  Calories would take a little longer.  Need to watch that next time.

 

Saturday Nov 22, 2015

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We had a great RRL party last night.  Good food and great friends! 

It is timely that this party happens right around Thanksgiving.  I am thankful and grateful for so many things in my life.  I have been truly blessed and I am thankful for big and little things every day...every minute of the day.

One of the things that I am constantly grateful for is the group of people that I surround myself with.  The guys of the RRL are some of the finest individuals that I have ever met.  Through our training we develop a kinship, trust and a bond that will not be broken.  Add humor to the mix and you have the ingredients for great relationships.

I have always liked the quote above by Jim Rohn.  I think that it is true, but I also suspect that Jim Rohn didnt have a group like the RRL.  Starting my day with you guys is inspiring and it has developed me into a better person. 

I also like this quote from Henry Rollins about lifting weights.  To me the iron is the iron...but this group is also the iron.  200 pounds is always 200 pounds, but the RRL is the same.  When you show up, you are expected to give your best and you are surrounded by others who are giving theirs.  If you arent feeling good, you will be brought up by the intensity around you, but excuses arent tolerated by anyone.  Either do it or dont.  I love that about this group.


Last night we were able to share so many laughs and memories and get to know those closest to each of us.  Thank you all for being a part of the RRL.

Friday Nov 20, 2015

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We ended the week with a lung burner

1. WHM breathing4 rounds of 30-40 breaths plus an additional round with max pushups

2. Bravo (Yes, named after my new dog)

100 Burpees

100 Double Unders

Run 800 m

100 Mtn Climbers

100 Pushups

For time

3. Back Squat 5-5-3-3-1-1-1

Update on the WHM Breathing.  We have about 5-6 of us giving this a regular try.  The workout starts a little earlier, about 5:10 and we go through the breathing exercise plus the pushups before the workout. 

My retentions were decent this morning but Matt Greenwell shocked us all when he hit 2 over 3 minutes and then one at 5 minutes.  Incredible.

I was interested to see if I would be able to do 100 burpees straight and unbroken again and I could.  I, once again, finished so quickly that I thought I miscounted so I threw in another 10 for good measure.  I finished in 4:20 and then hit the double unders.  The whole workout took me 13:32.  I was very pleased.

 

Thursday Nov 19, 2015

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Great day today

We started the morning off with a small group interested in the weird, heavy breathing that we have been doing.  It may look strange to the uninitiated, but there really seems to be something to this breathing method. First, it is the only breathing method that I have tried that I actually enjoy doing.  Second, it seems to be having performance increasing results for me.  I will stick with it for the full 10 weeks and then determine if it is something that I will leave in the daily training or not. 

For those who might be interested in this but my have missed an earlier post, here is a Vice documentary on Wim Hof and the method we are currently trying:   (if video does not display, please click here)

We had some pretty incredible things happen today with the breathing.  Matt Greenwell was able to hold his breath for 3:30.  Yep...thats right...3 minutes and 30 seconds.  Incredible. 

To be clear, he wasn't actually holding his breath as we all did in a swimming pool at some time.  Typically holding your breath would mean that you took a big breath in and tried to see how long you could hold with your lungs full of air.  In this method, we release all air out of the lungs and simply sit or lay in a relaxed state without breathing.  Matt went for 3:30 with no air in the lungs.  Others like Josh and Jody were also able to set personal records with 1:45 and 2:45. 

We will continue to try this and see where it goes.

Post breathing we hit this workout

Roney

Run 200 m

11 Thrusters @135

Run 200 m

11 Push Press @ 135

Run 200 m

11 Bench Press @ 135

x 4 rounds

Outstanding workout. 

I felt a familiar twinge in my back which, after 18 years of doing stuff like this, tells me that any further stress will result in an injury.  Ok, I know...I am hard headed.  It took me 18 years but I finally learned to appreciate this signal and back off immediately.

I dropped to 95 and finished the workout with no injury. 

We had 3 people who went at full Rx today.  Michael Miller, Mike Drew and JR.  Outstanding effort from these individuals!

Post workout, I am thinking about the journey that I have been on for the last 18 years.  I was an athlete in high school who loved to wrestle.  I tried all kinds of sports and settled on the one that I enjoyed the most.  However, I took small bits and pieces from everything I had done previously.  Waterskiing helped wrestling, racquetball offered something, Karate helped tremendously with flexibility.  I noticed some small crossover when I was still wrestling, but later I realized that every sport that I tried contributed to my profession as a professional fisherman in some way.  I borrowed a little from each sport to be able to survive 300+ days on the water year after year.  Who would have thought that I would be a better flycaster because I had learned how to hit a backhand killshot in racquetball? 

The breathing that we are doing is really no different than any of these other things that I have tried over the years.  Various diets, yoga, marathons, Goruck Selection, Kokoro, swimming, biking running, and on and on...  To find your fitness, you have to continually try new things.  Keep what works, discard what doesn't.  The funny thing is that our fitness is a moving target.  As we age, we change and the needs of our bodies change.  Sometimes, I have tried something that I saw no value in as a 25 year old that I return to at 47 and receive great performance value from. 

This breathing is no different.  Maybe it isn't of interest to you now, but possibly could be down the road.  I guess what I am trying to say is that we should all keep an open mind and be willing to try new things and add them to our training.  However, if you do decide to try something new, go at it seriously,  Read as much as you can and give it it's full due.  Trying anything once and discarding is probably not going to give you much benefit.  Implementing it for a set amount of time and dedicating focus to whatever it is will tell you whether it is right for you.  This can be applied to diet, mobility, yoga, nutrition, supplements, breathing, or other treatment.

Hopefully we will all find our own way to take care of our body to get the absolute most we can out of it every day.  Through experimentation, an open mind, a thirst for learning and the ability to take what works and throw away what doesn't we will find what works for us as individuals.  That is the only thing that matters.

Good luck!

Wed Nov 18,2015

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Another experiment today.  We did the Wim Hof Breathing as a group before the workout.  We combined 3 rounds with the pushups and everyone saw major gains in their pushups over the benchmark set while fresh and breathing.

 

After, we ran 5k.

then Split Jerk 1-1-1-1-1-1-1

My time was, again, fast for me.  I had 29 results for a 5k on the Whiteboard and upon looking about 12 were from this exact course.  I had only run faster than today 2 times since 2011.

The breathing is definitely helping...or something is.  The only thing that has really changed is this breathing program.  I do feel really good when working out and the major results that I have had recently have been somewhat effortless, honestly. 

Who knows...Ill keep doing it and finish the 10 week course and see what happens. 

 

Stand by

Tuesday Nov 16, 2015

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1. Deadlift 3-3-3-3-3

2. 12 Kettlebell swings @ 70 lbs

    40 double unders

     x 5 rounds

3. Wim Hof Method Breathing x 3 rounds

for those who want to try it

 

The breathing was good this morning but it was the first time that I have done it right after a workout.  My breath hold times were FAR lower than when I am rested.  Today, after the workout I was getting 30-50 seconds while I am usually easily able to get 1:50-2:25. 

I have also found that doing it on an empty stomach is also a big difference.

I want to try this with the group again before the workout tomorrow.

Everyone get your max pushups benchmark.

Monday November 16, 2015

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Great start to today!

Weighted Pullup

5-3-1

30 lb weight vest plus 25 lb dumbell- plus 35-plus 35

 

Then

 

This is the way it seemed today.  Grasshoppers making more grasshoppers.  Tons of grasshoppers!

This is the way it seemed today.  Grasshoppers making more grasshoppers.  Tons of grasshoppers!

200 Runs, 0 m

100 Grasshoppers

100 Double Unders

400 Runs, 0 m

75 Grasshoppers

75 Double Unders

800 Runs, 0 m

50 Grasshoppers

50 Double Unders

1600 Runs, 0 m

25 Grasshoppers

25 Double Unders


Friday 13th November 2015

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This Friday the 13th is certainly not bad luck for me.  I just ran the fastest Minnekahda 5 miler since I moved back to Chattanooga. 

I once ran the Disney Marathon in 3:13:00 which is a 7 minute 21 second pace for all 26.2 miles.  I worked very hard, for years to get to that speed and basically gave up all strength training and also weighed in at 135 pounds.  I never thought that I would see that kind of speed again as I have gotten much stronger and bigger over the years and just kind of accepted that loss of speed may be a sacrifice for being much stronger and heavier. 

Last year, I was running and rucking a ton in preparation for the Goruck Selection event and felt like I was in pretty good shape but I was struggling to run a 7:30 pace for 5 miles.

Today, I ran a 35:22 for 5 miles which includes a very big hill.  This is a 7:04 pace which really surprised me.  I had to check the clock twice and then make sure that I was reading it correctly.

When I recorded my score, I had set an all time PR on this run by 3:47.  I was also surprised to see that I was within 30-40 seconds of the all time gym record on this run.  I had killed this run today.

What happened?  Not sure...

I weighed 187 earlier this year and prompted by the weight loss competition that we had, I got down to 164 momentarily but went back up to 175.  I contacted Mike Dolce of The Dolce Diet and had him write a plan for me and I love the way I am feeling on it.  My weight has dropped to 169 and holding pretty steady. 

Losing 18 pounds will certainly make you run faster, but there is something else happening as well. 

I am on the 3rd week of the Wim Hof Method for breathing and I really think that it is affecting my performance.  I have had 2 instances of setting lifetime PR's on cardio events that have just come out of nowhere.  First, I did 100 burpees unbroken in the mid 4's.  I was so surprised that I just glanced at the clock and thought that I had miscounted...I did 10 more and finished 110 in 5:02.  I have never come close to this time.  It really surprised me and left me wondering if the breathing had anything to do with the PR.

After today, I am pretty sure that the breathing and cold showers have helped to unlock some potential that I didnt know that I had.  If this is true, then the WHM could be a huge advantage to competitive athletes.

I know that Wim is working personally with Allistar Overeem, MMA fighter, right now.  I will be interested to see what his results are.

The breathing exercises are very enjoyable to me and I do look forward to them every day.  I will continue to do them and hopefully make a connection with performance increases,

Thursday Nov 12, 2015

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3 position Clean (Hip, Knee, Ground)

1-1-1-1-1-1-1

 

Then

Row 300

20 Wall Balls

10 Pullups

x 3 rounds

 

Then

Last man planking

(Circle up...one guy does one pushup, then clockwise, everyone does one.  When you are waiting for your turn, you hold a plank.  Then everyone does 2, then 3...until only 1 remains.) 

I won this morning at 17.  Great effort from everyone.  Thanks Trevor for pushing!