The Knife

A fitness experiment about one guy’s journey to get fit, cut out negative influences and establish balance in life with the help of the Inner Circle Gym.

February 7, 2012

Upping The Ante

Sorry I’ve been so reticent (not revealing in my thoughts or feelings) lately. I’ve been a busy boy – busy getting my ass kicked.

Or perhaps not so much kicked as reshaped – literally – these lunge matrixes are nuts.

The Knife blog/training project kinda snowballed on me. I went from eating Taco Bell at 2 a.m. to “eating clean” (as Adam is so fond of saying), downing IPA’s to drinking horrible green mixtures of powdered plant matter and screaming through karaoke at Trav’s to screaming through workouts. Y’know, basically sweating my guts out on the floor of this little gym I never knew existed until 6 months ago.

FUN FACT: I sweat so much that the halo of perspiration I leave on the floor after a workout is something Adam and Cathy have started calling “sweat angels” (you can see a slight example above).

But I wouldn’t trade it for the world…

And now I, along with two other brave souls, have begun the 4-Month Extreme Transformation with Blaine Davidson. You can check out the link for the details but basically it’s four 1.5 hour sessions a week for four months and he tells you what, why and when to eat.

Even though I was doing personal training twice a week, working out on my own and trying to eat healthier this training regimen has taken my fitness to the next level – in just three weeks.

When we started I weighed 285 lbs. In just a few weeks I’m down to 279 lbs. and I’ve put on more than 5 lbs. of muscle. And we’re just starting the cardio phase…

Blaine says I can get down to 220-230. After losing a mere 15 or so pounds since starting at The Inner Circle I shudder for a moment at the work I know that will entail. But I am also excited by the challenge and eager for the increased fitness, strength and mobility.

So stay tuned because we’re taking it to the next level…

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January 10, 2012

Strong Man

 

Yesterday I experienced (arguably) the hardest workout of my life. Cathy set up a “Chipper Style” or Strong Man circuit for me and I had no. idea. what was in store for me when I walked into the gym…

It started out innocuous enough, I warmed up on the Airdyne for a bit and then we did some overhead warm ups with the PVC pipe.

Then shit got real.

The 30-sec.-on-15-off interval circuit started with tire step-ups with single-arm overhead alternating thrusters for 30 seconds followed by a 15-second rest and then it was right in to tire flips. A tire flip is exactly what it sounds like – you flip a big ‘ole tire over and over again. Following that was inclined pushups on the same. damn. tire. I just got done flipping and stepping up on (I hated that tire by the end of the workout).

Then it was on to bucket pulls, which is also exactly what it sounds like. You pull a wheelbarrow without wheels around the room – but first you load it down with weight!  The weight in this instance was Cathy herself (plus a 40 lbs. sandbag).

Then it was on to battling ropes. After that was a 1 minute rest. Then it started ALL OVER again. And she put me through the paces four times.

After that it was a Tabata bottom-to-bottom squat finisher and then I felt like I was simultaneously going to puke and die. Then I felt great!

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January 4, 2012

Group Therapy

In addition to personal training sessions twice a week I’ve been trying to hit a yoga class and a group crossfit circuit at the Gym once a week. As a former high school athlete, working out in a group brings a motivational intensity as well as an element of support you just don’t get working out by yourself or with a single partner.

And the thing about ICG’s circuits specifically is that you work TOO hard to care about anyone else. 

In fact that’s what I adore about these workouts and The Inner Circle Gym in general – no one comes to people-watch, they come to work.

It’s not about your clothes or shoes or protein shakes or your tan of any of that nonsense. The vibe, the attitude, the atmosphere (whatever you wanna call it) is about pushing yourself to be better, faster, stronger than you were last week.

And it’s the people who workout at the ICG that make the classes so much better than anywhere else I’ve worked out.

Even though I sweat profusely, grunt, moan and breath loudly and have been known to excuse myself to go vomit no one seems to mind (and if they do no one lets on).

And for that I am truly grateful…

Here’s what we did for today’s noontime circuit class (which was PACKED btw):

 

 

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December 27, 2011

No Gimmicks

Being an only child born to a fiercely independent farming family I’ve always preferred to run apart from the pack and live life on my own terms.

My dad says a man makes his own way and if things seem too good to be true, they are. He also says, “don’t piss on my leg and tell me it’s raining” which, as a guiding philosophy for one’s behavior, I find to be quite sage.

So it is probably because of that that I strive for authenticity in my life.

I loathe gimmicks, slick marketing and fads. Consequently, I find New Year’s resolutions to be the vapid vestiges of a season dedicated to mindless consumerism – you’ve bought everything else under the sun, why not buy a gym membership too?

But I don’t need society to tell me when to love my family or designate a day when I’ll change my life – I’ll do that on my own terms.

Which is why I’m so happy we started this project before the holidays were in full swing. This blog and my journey are deeper and more important to me than a fitness fad or lifestyle whim begun on Jan. 1.

And that is why I love The Inner Circle and crossfit in general. It’s Spartan, intense and realistic. No gimmicks, no B.S., just the resources and honest support you need to change your life – in a real way.

Adam and Cathy’s motto “Intensity Required” says it all…

 

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December 16, 2011

Progress

You know what they say: “No pain, no gain.”

Since I’ve had my fair share of pain recently I’m happy to report that I’m beginning to see some of that gain everyone’s been talking about.

I’m starting to feel bigger, faster, stronger.

My cardio is up, my body feels harder and any post-workout soreness is usually gone after about 24 hours. Earlier this week I swam 2000 yards in about 35 minutes. And let me tell you, there’s no headier drug than a sense of accomplishment mixed with fresh endorphins.

Now that my body is responding to this training regimen I think it’s time to redouble my efforts to eat healthier…

 

 

 

 

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December 8, 2011

Fitocracy

So I’ve been playing around with fitness applications and websites as a part of this project and one of my favorite new discoveries has been Fitocracy.com.

It’s still beta (meaning they’ve opened it to a select number of people so they can work out the kinks and see what works) but me being a technorati, I went on Twitter and begged myself an invite from some hardbody on the East Coast who had some invites.

Basically Fitocracy is a social media site dedicated to sharing your workouts with friends. After you’re done for the day you log your workout and earn points for activities. The more points you earn, the faster you level up. The higher your level, the more you can brag to your friends about how awesome you are.

Narcissism truly is the fuel of the Internet.

But it actually works! Although there aren’t a lot of people using it yet I’ve got a couple connections, including a couple buddies and my crazy-rugby-playing cousin from Montana who makes Bluto from Popeye look like a little girly-man. I’m in a close points race with an ex-roommate of mine and he’s hot on my tail since he can see what my daily workouts are. Seeing what your friends are doing is definitely an incentive to work harder.

But in addition to the competition you can join forums and groups dedicated to sharing training tips and advice on specific interests, like yoga or weightlifting.

And you also get badges and awards when you complete challenges that set the bar higher than you’ve already been.

For instance, I got this badge for completing the challenge of doing five pull ups. Kinda reminiscent of the boys scouts but it still makes you feel a sense of achievement.

But everybody who gets a beta invite to Fitocracy also gets 10 invites themselves so if anyone wants to check it out for themselves just leave a comment with your email address and I’ll make sure to send you one.

P.S. I didn’t tell Fitocracy finishing those pull ups involved Cathy below me, pushing upward on the soles of my feet with as much strength she could muster – so keep that to yourself.

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