GYM ANIMUS IS OFFICIAL

Gym Animus is now up and running! We are still fine tuning and adding some more content, but the site is up and very functional. Please visit www.gymanimus.com. The blog will soon be only on www.gymanimus.com as well as the daily workouts. Some articles are on their way. As of now, my contact will be email using andy@gymanimus.com. Thanks for checking it out. Drop me email and let me know what you think.

Still Training...

Sunday:
Crossfit's "Fran"- 95lb Thruster and Pullups - 21-15-9 reps of each for time. 12:21

Monday:
Morning: 5k Row: 21:43
Evening:
Row 1000m warm-up
Snatch Grip Deadlift
135/5
225/5
245/5
265/5
275/4
315/4

Pullups
5 x (1,2,3)

Renegade Row
50lbs/3 x 5/5

Back to the BLOG

Haven't posted in awhile, but I've been keeping up with my training. Here's what I did this past week:

MONDAY - Bouldering at NJ Rock Gym. A super-strong bouldering gym that really tests your technical and physical climbing skills.

TUESDAY - Crossfit's "Nate", a new "hero" workout that they posted last week. I was excited to try it because I went out and made rings for myself, and the workout uses rings.
4 ring pullups (I did them L-sit style)
4 ring dips
4 handstand pushups
8 32kg KB Swings
as many rounds as possible in 20 minutes
I got 8 rounds, swinging my 7th rep as the timer went off. The workout originally calls for 2 muscle ups instead of the pullups and dips, but because of the height of my basement ceiling where I have my pullup bar, the rings were hung pretty low, to allow room for the dips. This caused me to start the pullups from a dead hang L-sit position, not allowing the "kip" that I needed for the muscle up, hence the pullups and dips.

WEDNESDAY - Morning- 6500m row, split into two sessions, 2500m before and then 4000m after a PT session.
Afternoon- 3 rounds, 21-15-9 reps of: 225lb deadlift and ring pushups
I did the 45 reps of each in 13:21. Great workout, will definitely do it again.

A Pulling Day

I trained a client in the morning at the YMCA, and I had her on the rowing machine, so...

I rowed 3000m in 14:56.

It wasn't a furious pace by any means and I definitely could have done it faster. I had never really rowed before, and part of my workout was me trying to figure out the correct technique. I think I got it on some strokes and definitely not on others. Great training session though.

At night I went climbing at the gym. It's the first time I've been there in over a year. All the gymnastics-type exercises and the pullups that I do really helped me on the wall. The kettlebells helped me to "relax under tension" and be more movement efficient, like in a long snatch session. I really only got pumped a few times, and I definitely surprised myself with my bouldering skills. I flashed a bunch of V4's, which isn't bad at all for not climbing for a year...

Kettlebell Triathlon and Snatching

On Tuesday I did a nice workout with the 24kg. I couldn't decide which exercise to focus on, so I did them all, triathlon style. All with the 24kg:

Long Cycle C+J/ 6 minutes, hand switch every 5 reps, @ 8 RPM

Rest 2:00

Snatch/ 6 minutes, Hand switch every 10 reps, @ 10 RPM

Rest 2:00

One Arm Jerk/ 6 minutes, hand switch every 5 reps, @ 10 RPM

P-Bar Pushups/ 3 x 10


Cool workout and really fun. The snatches were the hardest part I think. The pace was the "fastest" and the rest was always in the top position, never in the rack, where it's easy to relax. I will probably do this workout again sometime soon.

Yesterday I did some Olympic Lifting with Dustin again. We both did some snatching, trying to work on our technique. I think by the end of yesterday, we have a pretty good base to start from, although I'm sure both of us have a TON of work to do.

Barbell Snatch
20kg/8
30kg/5 x 2
40kg/4 x 2
50kg/1 x 2

Bench Press
225lbs/1
245lbs/1
260lbs/1
270lbs/1

Dynamic Pushup
/8 x 2
Feet On Box/5 x 3

The snatches were awesome. It's a great movement overall, with a nice overhead squat built right in. The hardest part is locking yourself into the overhead squat once you get under the bar. I lost the bar on a few attempts, and dumping it was an awesome feeling...
The bench press was a 1RM attempt for me. Dustin was curious, because he hadn't maxed in awhile. When he was done I got curious because I never bench press...ever.
I don't think a 270 pound max is too bad...
The dynamic pushups were done with two bumper plates stacked on the outside of my hands, in a fairly narrow position. You do a pushup, explode up onto the plates, and then do another pushup. Walk your hands back down into the starting position and do another rep. The "feet up" version was done with our feet raised onto a 12 inch ply-box.

The ADK's

This is the hockey rink where the "Miracle" game took place. The USA versus the USSR, in the 1980 Olympics in Lake Placid. The USA hockey team beat the Russians and secured what could have been the biggest victory in the history of hockey.

Here's Samantha, approaching the top of her first ascent for the day. She did great. I was amazed at her charging attitude and ruthless determination. She took some good falls and kept on climbing where most people would have quit.

Here's me stemming between two falls. In the middle, where I am climbing, there was a trickle of water flowing down, splashing off the ice. I came down from the climb soaking wet. Awesome:)

This is our guide, Bill Dodd. I highly recommend him if you ever need a climbing guide in the Adirondaks (www.rockandriver.com). He was extremely knowledgeable and professional, and he's definitely got my vote;)

High Falls Gorge. A mini-Grand Canyon type gorge formed over hundreds of thousands of years. Absolutely beautiful.

This is from the bottom of the 120 meter Olympic Ski Jump. Those guys are CRAZY...flying off a 260 foot tower, going 60mph, flying through the air 100 feet off the deck...

The Caribbean Cowboy. Awesome restaurant, awesome food, recommended to us by Bill, our guide. I think it works because its extremely out of place in the Adirondaks.


A couple other pics from climbing. Overall, an awesome trip. I would do the whole thing over and not change a thing. The Adirondaks are gorgeous, and all the towns cater to the mountain life. I might end up there someday...

Back to Town

Yesterday, I did my first workout since the Adirondaks. I can't say I was extremely impressed, but maybe the long days of climbing and hiking had something to do with my fatigue.

Circuit Style:

P-Bar Pushups x 4
Pullups x 8
Pistols x 5/5
24kg Snatch x 15/15
Rest x 1 minute

Repeat x 5


Later in the day, I went to the S+C facility at ESU to practice our O-Lifting skills. We were both attempting to learn the snatch, so we focused on the assistance lifts for it along with the progressions:

Overhead Squat
20kg bar/8
40kg/5
60kg/4
70kg/3
80kg/2 x 2

Jump Shrug
20kg bar/5 x 2
40kg/5 x 2

High Pull
20kg bar/5 x 2
40kg/4 x 2

The overhead Squats felt great. I really like them. They are a solid, full body exercise. They build "Dad Strength", as Dan John puts it. The kind of strength that your dad has when he pulls an entire engine out from under the hood of a car and carries it over to the front lawn, where it would have taken you and four of your buddies to do the same thing.

To the ICE

I'm off the grid for a while. I'll be heading up to Lake Placid, New York to do some ice climbing with Samantha. No worries, a full photo-journal will be up soon after I get back. Train hard, and don't forget to get outside;)

Snatch Grip Deadlifts Anyone?

Weighted Pullups
24kg/ 3 x 10

P-Bar Pushups
/3 x 10

Snatch Grip Deadlifts off a 4" Platform
225lbs/ 3 x 10

Running
- Fartlek style run, for 18 minutes. One of my fastest...

Just Snatches

Snatch
24kg/ 2 minutes @ 12 RPM, hand switch every minute
/4 minutes @ 12 RPM, hand switch every minute
/4 minutes @ 15 RPM, hand switch every minute
/6 minutes @ 16 RPM, hand switch every 8 reps

That's it. I was running short on time, otherwise I would have liked to add some running at the end. Oh well:)

Long Cycle

One-Arm Long Cycle
24kg/ 2 minutes @ 8 RPM, hand switch every 8 reps
/ 4 minutes @ 10 RPM, hand switch every 8 reps
/ 7 minutes @ 8 RPM, hand switch every 5 reps

Pullups
/ 10, 8, 8, 10

Good Strength Workout

Pistols
BW/ 3,4,5 each leg

P-Bar Pushups
/ 3 x 10

"One Arm" Pullups
/ 3,4,3,3,3 each arm

Snatch-Grip Deadlift off a 4 inch platform
225/ 3 x 4

Swings
24kg/ 30/30 x 3

I added the swings at the end for a bit of conditioning. I really like the snatch grip deadlifts. I feel that I could have done WAY more weight with those, but 225lbs is all I have at my house. Maybe next time I'll have to get those done at the gym before I leave to go home and train. The "one arm" pullups were done with a rope. I grabbed the rope about 18 inches below the bar with one of my hands, and did pullups with the other. The rope was acting as an aid to help me get the pullups done. I tried to put as little emphasis as possible on the "roped" hand.

Fun Workout with My Pup

Long Cycle C+J's
24kg/ 6 minutes @ 8 RPM, switch hands every 5 reps
/4 minutes @ 10 RPM, switch hands every 5 reps
/4 minutes @ 8 RPM, switch hands every 5 reps

Cleans
25.75kg/3 minutes @ 8 RPM x 2

Pullups
/8,9,10

Pushups
/30 x 3

Zercher Squats with the Pup:)
/10 x 3

My dog Lexi, a lab who loves to play all the time, made her way downstairs during my workout. She was jumping on me during the pullups and trying to wrestle me during my pushups, so I decided to include her. I grabbed her and started squatting. She weighs 67 pounds, nd kind of felt like squatting with a sandbag. She loved it:)

Very Cool Conversation

I was out with two friends last night, Samantha and Alaina. We casually stumbled upon the topic of them working out. They started discussing how Samantha "kind of pulled a muscle" while working on the bicep curl machine:/ Since I am on an anti-machine movement, I asked them if they always worked out on the machines when they went to the gym...which they do, except for some yoga classes. Yoga is a great start, as it focuses on your body awareness, breathing, and body control. Good job girls:) We then continued to talk about the machines.
I told them that they could get an even better workout OFF the machines with just their bodyweight and a few household items, to which they BOTH replied: "Really? I would MUCH RATHER use my body than those machines! I just don't know how...that's why I use the machines." I offered to show them both how to do just that, right at their apartment.

It's amazing what their response was. That's the problem with machines...they are too DUMB. They certainly have their place in a rehab setting, I'm not arguing against that, but for a healthy person? There is no reason any normal, healthy person should have to use machines. By healthy I mean any person not in need of any physical therapy, surgery, etc. It's a shame that people enter a gym, get a personal trainer, expecting a good workout, and the trainer puts them on a machine based program. INCOMPETENT, I say! It's easy to put people on machines and not have to correct their technique, show them any technique, or even get their whole body moving at the same time! LAZINESS, I say! Calorie burning? What do you think will burn more calories - curls on a bicep machine (sitting down, supported), or a big compound movement, like a row or pullup variation (you are forced to control your whole body, support yourself)?

Muscle building? Pushups or the pec-deck? Which do you think stimulates more muscle fibers? Good guess. To end this rant, get off the machines, get a knowledgeable and pro-active trainer, and start improving.