another lead change in the informal 24kg one arm LCCJ race

I woke around 4am and couldn't go back to sleep. I think doing the Bear and Tiger Power Qigong before bed was a mistake .. yep! Weight: 176 lb. Great, two days in a row but I did wake up hungry as a bear! My elbows felt very good and my upper back pulled muscle is now very mild. When it acts up, the tennis ball against the wall works wonders.


Qigong: Bear and Tiger Frolic
Day 3

This works better in the morning. On the DVD, John suggests to truly evaluate the effectiveness of these movements, one should practice them for 100 days. At this point I have already received some definite positive changes and will continue at least for a few more weeks and re-evaluate.

I have been quite fascinated by the majority of the Bear and Tiger Frolic movements. Once I was able to correctly synchronize my breathing with the movements, most of the jerkiness was eliminated. This morning I decided to combine a very deep bear stance with Z-Health R-Phase elbow circles and the result was very positive. The bear stance is basically a dual lateral lunge position with the hips in as if just finishing a KB swing hip snap. Also the back is straight. By deep, I mean, the lunged legs and torso are in the same plane and the thighs are parallel to the ground. This is very difficult to hold for extended periods of time.

Sumo DL 10 Day Linear PTTP Cycle: (lbs)
Cycle 2: Day 7: 200 x 1 x 5, 180 x 1 x 5

Sumo DL off 6" blocks:
180 x 4 x 1

With the 200 its starting to get more challenging and weight moves slower off the ground. The 180 regular sumos and block sumos were much easier. I believe I will just make it through day 10 with a 215 x 1 x 5 by a hair.

I demonstrated the LCCJ to one of co-workers. I introduced him to KBs back in August and he is progressing nicely. After showing him how to tame the arc on his cleans and one-hand swing transfers, he made very nice progress on the 24kg Jerk with both right and left .. not surprising as he is a solid 200 lb at 6'1", fairly strong and a quick study.

24kg 2 x 5/5 LCCJ
24kg 1 x 3l/7r MP

Three MPs with the 24kg on the left is a new PR. I would attribute this to the new timed LCCJ sets I have been doing recently.

Looks like I am headed to NYC in two weeks to join my brother in iron-ball-with-handle crime, Howie Brewer, for the AKC Fitness Cert. I knew World Champion Valery Federenko was going to head the training, but last night when I learned that Coach Scott Sonnon was going to be there as well, it got much more interesting. Coach Sonnon may be a little over the top for some folks, but if you check out some of his youtube videos its clear this guy not only is a world class champion and athlete but he looks and trains like it as well. Of course this is not replace the eventual RKC Cert I will attend but I couldn't pass up the chance of some relatively local training action. The good news is I hear that DD may hold a 2009 Cert in the greater NYC area.

Colin of the UK and I have nice little informal competition going to see who can first make it to 100 one-arm LCCJ with the 24kg in 10 minutes with no putting the bell down. After relinquishing the lead to Colin's posting today of 70 in 8 mins, I have re-taken the lead with this late night set:

24kg x 8 x 5/5 LCCJ @ 8:55 (PR)
Total reps: 80

The last 10 reps were pure torture .. legs and shoulders were blasted. This and my deads this morning were all I had time for. None the less I feel it was a total body workout. At this point my pace is decent so I should first hit the sub goal of making it to 10 mins with 88 to 90 reps. Given I was rested and how spent I was after this, the 100 in 10 mins seems doable but no longer as short a project as I had originally thought.

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Diet and Nutrition Log

Breakfast:
1 bowl of Kitchari with sweet potato and green gram curry
2 cups of coffee with tbs of 1/2 and 1/2
2 dates

Morning Snack:
4 oz of Kefir
1/4 sweet potato

Lunch:
3 large leftover huge garlic shrimp
1 large helping of stir fried chinese greens
1 tangerine
4 dates

Aftenoon snacks:
10 small handfuls of roasted peanuts

Dinner:
1 bowl of Sichuan shrimp with veggies
1 bowl of ma-po dou fu with brown rice and sweet potato
2 small bowls of ice cream

I had a terrible craving for roasted peanuts which I subsequently gorged myself. Then I had a huge dinner to top it off.