Just updated my bits on Ross Enamait's triple-clap pushups (he has expanded his post into a full article) and the Turkish Get-up (via the Crossfit forums comes this excellent demonstration from the Art of Strength folks (WMV, 7MB)). Definitely going to start doing my TGUs like that.

I took last week off, and pretty much spent the previous two weeks experimenting with different workouts and exercises. I realized I'm kinda idling while I wait for Ross Enamait's Never Gymless to come out next week (next week! I can't wait!). So today I thought I'd give The Magic 50 another shot. It is the very first workout of Enamait's sample program in Infinite Intensity. I didn't finish my first attempt at it, even using the relatively paltry weight of 30-pound DBs. By week five I had increased the weight, and managed to finish, even if I was quite unhappy with my time of 26:25.

But I'm happier with my latest attempt, completed a few minutes ago: 50# DBs for both the snatches and the swings, and a total elapsed time of 19:45 (might have managed 60# for the snatches, but am still nursing a shoulder injury). At this rate I should be able to get under 15:00 in another 5-7 weeks. I could almost convince myself of that if I wasn't on the brink of hurling all over my keyboard.

I've read a few Brad Johnson articles, and linked to a couple in the past, but recently sought out all I could find. Very cool, creative stuff. Here's the rundown:

• Brad John's Extreme Bodyweight Training. Currently this link is for "See-Saw Pullups", but I assume that will change eventually as this is the start page of the series. Here's the rest:
  • Upper Body Crush Pushups
  • Sledgehammer Pull-ups
  • Ball Pull-ups
  • Anvil Horn Pull-ups
  • Suspended Renegade Rows: I tried these by tying some dumbbells to my rings. Killer core workout.
  • Gripper Pull-ups
• DragonDoor.com Bodyweight Strength Training Articles:
  • Abdominal Exercises for Total Body Mastery: It's a little hard to tell with the lighting and lack of shadows, but I believe that's a benchless Dragon Flag in the two pictures at the bottom. Quite a feat!
  • Get a Grip When You Hit the Road
  • Gymnastics Tension Exercises
  • Progressions to the Standing Evil Wheel
  • Tired of the Same Old Pull-ups? Try These!
  • The Rafter Pull-up

If you're like me, once fatigue sets in the first thing you start short-changing on your burpees is the leap. Here's a solution: mark off 100 yards or so and start at one end. Do a burpee, but instead of leaping for height, leap for distance. You aren't done until you get your feet past the 100-yard marker. Shorter jumps equals more burpees.

Shee-it (emphasis added):

Last year, patient care director Colleen Becker decided to check the numbers. She looked at a daily hospital census—about one-third of the 900 patients weighed 350 pounds or more.

Startled, Becker checked another date, then another.

The numbers were consistent. On some days, half the patients were obese. Some weighed 500 pounds or more.

"We ran the data again to make sure we weren't hallucinating," Becker said. "We weren't. So we had to somehow figure out the appropriate supplies, equipment, training and care for the patients we're dealing with."

So here's an idea: tax credits for fitness. To qualify, if you're fit, your doctor gives you a form you can attach to your return at your annual checkup. I'm betting any economic loss in tax revenue would be offset by the reduced obesity-related burdens on our health care system (the economic damage goes far beyond hospitals buying reinforced beds and such).

Ross Enamait discusses and demonstrates triple-clap push-ups. Always informative, always inspirational.

(Video links in the article.)

Since I post my humiliations so freely, I hope you'll forgive me posting the occasional triumph. Along with Tabatas, Scrapper's Workout #1 put me on the road to wellness. As you'll read in that last link, I first started doing it a little over a year ago, and it killed me, even halving (or two-thirdsing) most of the repetitions. The last time I did it was months ago, and I'd probably gone up to 70-80% on most of the repetitions. The legs still really wiped me out though, and it remained a workout to dread.

But tonight I was casting about for a workout, and thought I'd give it a shot. I blazed through it, only short-changing the pushups (pyramid to 10 instead of 12) and felt like I could keep going at the end. A far cry from the nauseating experiences of months past! It's so gratifying to have such a clear indicator of progress; I had to crow a bit. So indecorous. My apologies.

Outside Magazine answers the question, "Will listening to music improve my training?" (scroll down to the second question)

Among the many things I would like to learn but haven't yet is unicycling. A buddy of mine shared these great videos with me awhile ago, and I was reminded of them when I learned one of my daughter's friends learned how to ride, so thought I'd post them here:

• Universe II trailer (MOV, 6.6 MB)
• Unizabatrailer (MPG, 4.3 MB)
• Into the Thunder Dragon trailer (MOV, 14 MB)

Always on the lookout for new ways to hurt myself.

Quick background: I tried twice to make a slammable medicine ball but neither held up. Then I found this approach by Pierre Auge on the Crossfit forums. I resolved to give it a try, but didn't get around to it until recently. In the meantime, a new four-page thread based on enhanced instructions from Pierre appeared, and I finally gave it a go. And it worked! I now have a twenty pound basketball that I can inflate so it bounces slightly, and I can slam the heck out of it with no (so far) big sandy mess to clean up. Here's my version of Pierre's instructions (the instructions are his, the particular experience is mine):

1. Get a cheap rubber basketball, the tougher the better. I think I paid $6.
2. VERY IMPORTANT! If you're going to want to inflate the ball, then the very first thing you should do is inflate it and let it sit around for a day or two to make sure the damn thing doesn't leak. I am speaking from bitter experience: it is quite a letdown to spend hours (really, hours!) filling the ball with sand only to discover a leak near the valve (that you couldn't possibly have caused) days later. *&$#! cheap-ass Walmart ball...
3. Once you're sure you have a good ball, grab the spike from a radial tire plug kit (it should include a spike/rasp, a plug-insertion tool, some cement, and some plugs which are basically long gooey strips of rubber or something) and puncture the ball with it. I actually drilled a hole in my ball, but I read later that stabbing might be better, as no material is actually removed from the ball with a stab. So far no problems with the drilled hole though. No matter what, you want this hole to be as small as possible while still admitting the rasp.
4. Insert an inflation pin into the ball valve. This will allow airflow out of the ball when you pour the sand in. Surprisingly important. Oh, so I guess this means you'll want your hole somewhat near the valve so it stays clear of sand as you're filling. I put mine on the next black line over from the value (in the picture above, you can see the inflation pin in the valve, and my hole is very close to the right edge of the picture).
5. Get a funnel. It will have to be fine enough that you can jam it into the hole, but not so fine that the sand won't flow through it. I used one of those diner ketchup bottles (pictured above) with the tip cut off at an angle (I tried cutting the tip square on one, but then I couldn't jam it into the hole).
6. Pour your sand through the funnel into the ball. A surprising amount can be said about the choice of sand. I used play sand and it was a pain to get into the ball. I would fill my ketchup bottle (which also had a hole in the bottom for airflow purposes) jam it into the ball, and a trickle of sand would flow in before it would jam. So I'd jiggle it around, and it would flow a bit before jamming again. So I held my random orbit sander against the bottle, and the vibrations kept the sand flowing. I don't know how long it took me in total, but I do know that I watched all of The Memory of a Killer (good movie!) on my tiny 7" portable player under flimsy headphones against the whir of my orbital sander, standing on the cement floor of my cold workshop and probably only did three-quarters of the job in that time. It would be much better to rig up some self-filling solution, kinda like my ketchup bottle but much bigger so you can fill it and walk away while the ball fills. I'll leave that as an exercise for the reader. Anyway, back to the sand: some Crossfitters recommended silica sand, as it is finer (I think it's used for sandblasting, among other things). I already had the play sand though, and I could only get the silica sand in 100 pound bags. Besides, silicosis is such an ugly word. Very recently somebody suggested using sugar, which I bet would flow nicely. You could probably get 20 lbs. for $10 or less. Anyway...
7. After the ball is as full as you want it, rasp around in the hole to clean it, then follow the instructions on your tire plug kit to patch the hole. Then slather the plug and surrounding area with Shoe Goo for a good seal. Leave it alone for 24 hours.
8. Inflate as desired, and get slamming!

A couple other notes:

• Clearly getting the sand in is the big chore. I read on one of the Crossfit threads folks that recommend an approach where you slit the ball or cut a flap into it instead. When I did this the ball did not hold up to slams, but it's entirely possible they are better patchers than I am.
• Suddenly $50 or whatever it is for a twenty pound slammable ball doesn't look so bad. :-)
• Thank you, Pierre, for the great instructions!

Art De Vany reposts a letter in defense of Barry Bonds. I think I'm going to have to read his paper.

Jane Brody's perspective on recent studies that might otherwise lead you to load up on the fat and drop the supplements. Love the dog anecdote:

Since the dog had no idea what the capsules were for, or even that he was getting them (they were hidden in a meatball he swallowed whole), I knew there was no placebo effect.

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