NOLS Southwest Back in Action

Returned from my weekend vacation back east with friends and returned to the staff of NOLS Southwest rolling in to begin the Fall Season! Some folks were asking about an evening workout so I am going to do a workout solo in the morning and I have set up and evening circuit training. Great to have folks back!!

Morning workout:
Warm-up:
3 minute continuous Turkish Get-Up
10 PVC Wraparounds
10 PVC Passthroughs
1x mod burgener warm up (Clean and Jerk Focus) (45/35)
Strength:
Box Back Squat, 3 Repetitions Every Minute for 10 minutes, 70% of Back Squat
Metabolic Conditioning for Time:
Grace:
30 Clean & Jerks (use a weight that is appropriate for you)
Cool Down:
3 minute row
Mobility:
PVC Shoulder Girdle Mobility Stretch

Evening circuit workout:
Perform each exercise in order for 1:15 to complete a set. Three sets total with a one minute rest between sets.
Jump Rope or Jumping Jacks
Calf Raises
20" Box Jump or Step-Ups
Wall Sit
AbMat Sit-Ups or Abdominal Crunches
Barbell Weighted Good Mornings
Wall Ball Toss

Have a Great Day!!

Traveling Workouts and Today's Workout of the Day

This weekend I am headed back east to visit friends. I will workout today like I normally do and I will take tomorrow off as I travel. I have listed three travel workouts where there is no equipment required. I will get back at it here on Monday when I will post again.

Warm-Up:
3 minutes continuous KB swing, light
10 H/L PVC Wraparounds
10 H/L PVC Passthroughs
Strength:
Back Squat, 4 sets of 8 repetitions. One set every three minutes.
Workout of the Day:
10 Minutes, AMRAP
21 Wall Ball Tosses
15 Dips
9 24" Box Jumps
Cool-Down:
3 minutes continuous Air Squats
Mobility:
Quadriceps stretches

Travel Workouts:
Friday:
2 rounds for time:
20 Jumping Air Squats
Run to make the block
At each corner 20 Jumping Air Squats

Saturday:
15 minutes AMRAP:
5 Burpees
10 Alternating Lunges per leg
15 Abdominal Crunches

Sunday:
15 minutes AMRAP:
15 Air Squats
15 Hand Release Push-Ups
30 second Plank Hold

Have a Great Weekend!

99 Years of Blessings, Hotshot Heroes and the Workout of the Day!

The USDA Forest Service is 99 years old today. Originally founded to manage the nation's forests as a sustainable crop, their mission has changed dramatically to a multiple use mandate. I have spent an awful lot of time on Forest Service land and I have appreciated their management. There are a lot of other folks out there that don't like "big government" telling them what they can and cannot do on "their" public land. Fair enough. However, when you live out west there are Forest Service heroes that I think deserve the same respect as our military veterans: Wildland Firefighters. These folks put it on the line everyday during fire season to save our forests, protect people's homes and unfortunately sometimes die doing it. It seems that the Hotshots 19 WOD is done on August 30th each year in memory of the Granite Mountain Hotshots that died here in Arizona. I will be gone on vacation on the 30th but I will do it when I return. Get ready, because it is an ass kicker. But then again, so is fighting a forest fire.

Warm-Up:
5 minutes As Many Rounds as Possible (Paced, warmup style):
15 Jumping Jacks
7 Barbell Thrusters
5 Lateral Lunges
7 Barbell Strict Press
20 Seconds Handstand Hold
Strength:
Bench Press, 4 sets of 8 repetitions. One set every 3 minutes.
Metabolic Conditioning for Time:
21-15-9 Repetitions:
Shoulder to Overhead (The bar starts and ends on the floor!)
Hanging Knees to Chest
Burpee to Bar
Cool-Down:
25m Bear Crawl
Mobility:
PVC Shoulder Girdle Stretches

Have a Great Day!!

Heroes Do Something and the Workout of the Day

Passengers on a train traveling from Amsterdam, including three 20-something year old Americans subdued a gunman who seemed intent on committing a massacre. It was very brave of a citizen of France, an expat from Midlothian, Virginia to initially step in and attempt to disarm the gunman. Mark Moogalian got the AK-47 from the shooter, but the gunman pulled out a pistol and shot Moogalian in the neck. It was then that the three Americans and a British citizen jumped on the gunman and subdued him.

I am sure some of my facts are a bit off here, but there is one thing that is true.... a small number of unarmed train passengers subdued a heavily armed assailant. One man was shot in the neck and will recover. One man was injured by the gunman's knife including having his thumb nearly severed. Terrible injuries for sure. But this gunman had eight or nine magazines of ammunition for his AK-47. Hundreds of people may have been killed or injured if these folks hadn't done something. Heroes take action.

Today's quote is from Brad Meltzer:

"We are all ordinary. We are all boring. We are all spectacular. We are all shy. We are all bold. We are all heroes. We are all helpless. It just depends on the day."

Workout:
Warm-Up:
3 minutes AMRAP (Warm-Up Pace):
15 Air Squats
20 PVC Pass Throughs
5 Pull-Ups
Strength:
Deadlift, 4 sets of 8 repetitions (One set every 3 minutes)
Metabolic Conditioning for Time:
100 Calorie Row
100 Wall Ball Tosses
Cool-Down:
400m Walk
Mobility:
Hamstring Stretches

Have a Great Day!!

Bacon and the Rest Day!!

I was sent a great photo taken by a friend who knows how much I love bacon. I think it says everything you need to know.

Often times on my rest day I stay active. Today I woke up and my now 46-year old body said, "For the love of God please rest today." So I am.

Have a Great Day!!

Quick Strength Training Post

Warm-Up:
3 minute Row
15 Ball Slams
Strength Training:
Bench Press, 5 sets of 5 repetitions
Back Squat, 5 sets of 5 repetitions
Strict Weighted Pull-Ups (Bodyweight +50 lbs.), 5 sets of 5 repetitions
Strict Overhead Standing Shoulder Press, 5 sets of 5 repetitions
Cool-Down:
50 AbMat Sit-Ups
400m Walk

Have a Great Day!!

A Man Before His Time and the Workout of the Day

It was very sad for me to hear that former President Jimmy Carter was diagnosed with brain cancer this week. I don't think that the United States was ready for Carter. Jimmy was "Green" before it was cool, installing solar panels on top of the White House (later removed by Reagan?!) and famously told Americans to turn down the heat in their homes and "put on a sweater" during the energy crisis of the late 70s to early 80s.

Carter's greatest impact on the world certainly came after being the 39th President of the United States. Carter has spread democracy around the world more than any other President through the Carter Center. The Carter Center was founded to advance human rights around the globe and has been the primary tool Jimmy has used to observe and certify the legitimacy of elections in other nations, lead peace negotiations, and to help eradicate diseases around the world. Carter is a veteran who served in the Navy and won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002. The irony is that Carter won the Nobel Prize in 2002 for among other things, protesting President George W. Bush's war in Iraq. I wish somebody would have listened to him.... like I said, a man before his time. Carter is 90 years old and I can only hope for all of the world that he makes it a bit longer. We are a better species with him around no matter what your politics are.

Workout of the Day:
Warm-Up:
5 minutes AMRAP, Warm-Up Paced:
40 Jump Rope Skips (or 20 Double Unders)
10 24" Box Jumps
10 Wall Ball Toss
Workout:
200 Calorie Rowing Machine for Time
Every minute stop and perform 5 burpees
Cool-Down:
100 AbMat Sit-Ups
400m Walk
Mobility:
30 second Pull Up Bar Hang
Hamstring Stretch

Have a Great Day!!