Just Bells

The guyz have been working hard and decided to lighten their overall load to keep them fresh and focused. The conditioning and strength levels are increasing and this is a good thing. However, must make sure it does only add to and not subtract from their main training so taking a step down on the run conditioning (sprint type work) and just allowing the bells and odds combined with their main training be their conditioning elements and some light swimming

SO the bells (my workout which is pretty similar to theirs)
Windmill
32/5/5x3

Snatch
32/5/5x5

Pull-ups
8x3

Swings
32/20x5

Good workout and keeps them fresh for their boxing/mma training

Odd Enough

Well, well, well how you learn something new everyday. Took it to a new level today with a big circuit of odd lifts

Tire Drag (asphalt) with a 75# heavy bag
Tire Flips (300#) for reps = 10
Sandbag get-ups 60#/5/5
Sprawls with 20# weight vest

3 rounds with 4 fighters and myself so 1 of us got a short rest.

This was brutal especially for me. My conditioning is good but this put it to the test. The hardest part was going from the get-ups to the sled to the flips. The ground waves so the surface is uneven in spots making the difficulty level change consistently. Overall this was a fantastic workout. One guy got sick to his stomach and puked everywhere. Jeff, our 205 guy did Get-ups w/ one of the fighters as his resistance (this was amazing, this guys strength is off the charts and he does not even know much, yet).

Good hard workout, very specific, very efficient, very effective!

Pics of some of the fighters doing KBs

A Bell of a Monday

Well, fatigued, hungover and tired from a long flight but it still has been a bell of a Monday.

Get-up Sit-up
32/5/5x3

Pistols
32/2/2x3

Renegade man-maker (Row, Clean and Push Press)
32/5/5x3

Tough!

Deck Squat
32/5/5x3


Boxing session with Tony and the Team

Off to Utah

I am travelling this weekend to Utah for a weekend Snowboarding Trip so not much to report in the way of workouts. Just know I will be surfing the mountains, enjoying the high altitude, the freedom and flow on and of the snow. I am super stocked to be riding here, as it is a remarkable place to ride and a picturesque place.

Enjoy your weekends and smile at the beauty that is life.

KB Recovery

Hit the bells with 4 of the guys on the team today, 2 newbies and Jeff and Dave.

Sore from yesterday but still had a little something in the tank

Overhead Squat
20/3/3
28/5/5x2

Military Press
32/5/5x3

Squats (2 KB)
32/5/5x3

Guard Press
32/5/5x3

2kb Swings
32/10x3

I know I was not as strong today as a fresh day but I am going to snatch those babies and soon. :-)

that is it. Had to teach while training so just did something today and the 2 kb swings made me happy

Sac Up

Took the opportunity today to meet up with Ken Black, Strength coach extradionaire at his home in Sacramento. Took two of the fighters with me, Shoulders and Jeff Quinlan to enjoy the experience and open their eyes to a whole new training.

Tire Flips
300#/10x1

600#/10x1

OH my goodness what a frickin workout. This smoked me and was a true test of strength and as Jeff said makes you feel strong and powerful all in one. The cool thing is Ken gave us the 300# tire to take home to the gym for training :-)!!!!!!

Fat Bar Deadlifts
135/2x1
185/1x1

Rolling Thunder
120/1/1x1
70/1/1x1

Med Ball Clean and Press
150#/1x1

Rope Climb
1 rep to the top

Sled the tire
Just for practice

Sled touch the nose
8#/1/1x1
10#/1/1x1

two sled, 8#/1x1.....super tough

Some of this stuff is just hard to explain and is must see. Just put it this way, none of it was easy and we had a great time. Ken just has so many wonderful toys to match a creative mind and simple way of explaining techniques

I love the Bells

thanks to the Russians, Pavel and Rif for creating, bringing and introducing me to the Kettlebells. I just love the bells. I love the feeling of being strong, fit, athletic, mobile, flexible, smooth, rhythmic, and so much more. Plus, the effects it has on all the folks I personally have worked, those whom I do not know and the athletes I train are just incredible. I have really yet to have me et a person who has trained with them and exercises in general on a regular basis who does not enjoy having them as part of their regular workout routine.

So today a couple of the guys on the team and I got out and hit the bells

Windmill
24/5/5x2
32/5/5x1

the groove is strong, I felt so good with this move. I find that this is the move that when I do it I realize just how much I enjoy the motion, how crucial it is and just why I need it in the program.

Pistol
24/3/3x1
32/2/2x1
40/1/1x2

Another great move and everytime I do it I am reminded of the KB Principles. The groove felt good and the left leg equal to the right which is not always the case in this exercise.

Clean and Press, 2 KBs
24/5/5x1 warm-up
32/5/5x5

Awesome and progressively improved with each set. I cannot wait to do double 40's....yikes, lol

2 hand swing
40/10x5

followed Rifs blog entry a number of days ago. We went 1 for 1 and had heavy weight, low reps, limited rest. We could have done more but considering the fact we are meeting up with Ken Black tomorrow and who knows what he has in store for us and the fact the guyz had more workouts and I am starting to feel under the weather this was a great point to build off.

Until tomorrow

A bundle

Started off the day with a strong 25 minute joint mobility session. Working a lot on the double infinity motions and finding that I am improving rapidly. I am concentrating on doing the motions for each joint.

Second workout took some of the boyz down to the gym for a deadlift, bench press combo. I like the idea of feeling weight in the hands and as well the techniques and concepts of the movements do have a carryover effect that is quite nice.

Deadlift
started with 135 and warmed-up all the way to 365 doing doubles
405/1x2
425/1x1
455/1x1

Wow did I feel the connection to my body and the bar. The weight went right up. I am back on a good groove with the deads and ready to approach the 500's.

Bench Press
135/2x1
185/2x1
225/1x1
245/1x1
265/1x1

I was surprised at how easy this was, of course relatively speaking. I am not a huge fan of the movement and not very concerned about achieving anything in particular so I keep the total volume low. However, I do like the feeling of pushing that weight and the psychological carryover is real.


Workout 3
Shuttle Runs
300 yards x5

Did these with 2 groups. Group 1 goes, followed by group 2 at the finish for 5 rounds. Did both 10 to 50 and 50 to 10 versions. I find the 10 to 50 much harder because the distance increases as the fatigue increases and I feel the lactic acid start to build

20 yard Shuttles x4
Sprint, 1 by 1 for the four of us. Fast and furious and a nice transition

Tempo Runs
100 yardsx6

Nothing to hard, we needed to flush the lactic acid and we were all burnt. So this was a great time to stop and listen to the body.

Great day

How to release a tight muscle/increase flexibility

I found this post on Mark Reifkinds blog and when he speaks I listen and I had to share this with everyone who wants to increase flexibility or release a tight muscle.

"One of my favorite of Pavels book is Relax into Stretch as I could relate to the principles so much as a gymnast. I spent a lot of time stretching out each day before we started training. Much of that time was spent in passive static stretching as we worked on our splits,pikes, and straddle positions.
Waiting out the tension. The principle Pavel writes about probably being the least effective for Westerners as they can't relax enough to do it successfully. Well gymnasts are a strange breed. I remember watching TV each night with my family just sitting in straddle position on the floor trying to get that much more flexible.
Not so far into the stretch that I couldnt stay there, and not such an easy angle that I didnt feel a stretch.Just on that edge. And, every so often the tension would release and ,dloop,you would be a bit lower as the golgi tendon organ relaxed a bit more.
And it's a bit ironic that I've gone back to my beginnings once again using 'waiting out the tension' techniques to relax the muscles. Only this time it's not to get my splits or a tighter pike position in my flips. Its to keep the overly shortened, tonic muscles from living in spasm and getting shorter each day.
I selectively stretch only what is locked short and I think of it as "lets kill the stretch reflex" and it's been working great. I am more square and plumb than I have been in ages.
I've been on the floor a lot today as yesterdays little variety pack got me quite sore, lol! Its amazing what even the little bells can do to you."

Training and Team Tryouts

Yesterday we had tryouts for our IFL and Submission Fight Team. Because I knew I was going to have a long day I went out and did a quick workout.

Military Press
40/3/3x3

Now these are really coming along, not in terms of reps but pure strength and ease of movement. Now, 40 kg is not 'easy' but the reps are beginning to look more like a weight I can handle with comfort.

Snatch
40/3/3x3

So on the first set I brought the bell down through my shoulder and the left side felt really smooth and strong and the right was ok. However, come the second and third sets the move become strong and explosive for both sides and did them in a downward swing from the top. I am pleased with my progress here and with my overall strength. I do not want to jump the gun but I am going to get myself a Beast soon and conquer that beast challenge once and for all.


TRYOUTS

These are a lengthy process where we interview, test the athletes condition, test their techniques and then put the in the 'ring' and test their skills on the various aspects of MMA (box, wrestling, kickbox, mma, etc).

Yesterday we had 5 guys come out as we were specifically looking for a 170 and 205. So we got two 170 and three 205 guys out to test their mettle. The tryouts are grueling and more than anything the one thing that always seems to show is the heart or lack there off.

I was very impressed with the heart side yesterday but not as impressed with the technical/skill ability of these men. Now, all have some ability and all are more than coachable which true be told is a positive thing as we can train and develop them.

We had 2 gentleman who stood out, a 170 and 205 which is perfect...both have some skill and show much potential/promise and are guys we can have ready for our March 17th fight against Bas Rutten and his Anacondas.

I am looking forward to more such tryouts as we are now on the look for talent on an ongoing basis. Our goal is to expand our talent pool and have more fighters fighting for our teams. Things are progressing quite well.

Some Heavys

Got out today and did some Deads, pull-up and light presses

Deadlift
405/1x3

Been 11 days so lost a littel steam but still felt strong and connected. The weight went up easy, really felt the hips and hammies

Pull-ups Weighted with 32kg
2x4

These were great, the first pull the best but I completed the second pulls without failure. Quite pleased

Military Press
32/5/5x3

What is there to say, technique and some grease on the groove. Want to get heavy tomorrow

Repost from Tom Shooks Blog, excellent read

TRAIN LIKE JOHN

John is my buddy, and he gets it when it comes to training. This guy is amazing. He is strong, fast, flexible and coordinated. In fact I would say that pound-for-pound he is probably one of the strongest guys in the world! Now I know that’s a bold statement, but let me tell you a little bit about John’s method and then you can decide for yourself.

John doesn’t really have what anyone would describe as a set routine or program. No two training days are exactly alike, ever, yet he maintains a steady diet of core lifts and drills put together in some rather odd combinations at times. Sometimes his methodology even spooks me and I’m not one known for too much structure. John seldom spends more than 10 minutes at a time engaged in what I would call a workout, but he’ll do between three and five of these mini-sessions a day, almost every day. He always trains to music, never takes it too seriously and if it ain’t fun, he doesn’t do it.

Here are a few examples: One session he’ll fire off three or four sets of kettlebell swings without counting reps. He’ll just swing until he doesn’t feel the groove anymore and he’ll put it down. After that he might do a few push-ups or a few fat-bar pull-ups. Again, nothing outrageous here just a couple of sets until he hurts then he backs off. John never trains to failure, ever! After that he might call it good for a while or he might go shoot some hoops or run a set of wind sprints. He’ll chill out for a few hours and then do a heavy set of deads or a few clean and presses. He always lifts with intensity though; he’s never satisfied with the weight and always tries to up his last PB even if he can’t quite remember what it was exactly. Just a few hard reps…intensity but not much volume all at once. I suspect that he finds high rep sets of anything boring, so he just doesn’t do them.

John does a lot of climbing activities too, which is where I suspect his simian grip and pulling strength comes from. He’ll climb anything: trees, poles, ropes, climbing walls…you name it he’s probably climbed it, or at least tried!

He likes to run, but not for distance. He runs multiple short sprints almost every day. Up grassy hills, on the flat, sometimes not in a straight line (around obstacles) and often changes pace or direction in mid sprint! Crazy?! Yeah, crazy fast and agile.

He’s competitive when it comes to sports, but he is pretty good at keeping it in perspective. The performer in him gets a little pissed-off if he doesn’t play with good form, but otherwise it’s cool. He can be aggressive, but isn’t above giving a teammate a hug if he feels the need.

He practices martial arts but only uses one or two techniques. The thing is he practices those few drills repeatedly throughout the day and can execute them from either a conventional or southpaw stance. He comes at you with speed, power and at funny angles. He does need to be reminded to be mindful of his defense though, that’s a work in progress.

John also knows how to turn it off and chill out too. This dude can power-lounge like you couldn’t imagine. He calls it “getting a brain massage” and he swears by it.

Overall John is probably has one of the most effective training systems around. In summary it goes like this:

• Employ basic, whole body lifts and exercises in random sets, reps and combinations. Employ iron and body weight drills.
• Don’t be afraid to train similar movement patterns every day or even multiple times in the same day.
• Pull your body weight in as many different ways as you can and do it frequently.
• Don’t train to failure, not even close, just feel the groove and move on.
• Keep the intensity high. Low-intensity, long-duration activity is for truck drivers, not athletes. Sprint!
• Practice skills frequently but for short duration; once it gets boring or you get tired move on to something else or call it a day.
• Also, when it comes to skills, a few skills practiced to mastery beats out a laundry list of things you can’t perform flawlessly and without thought.
• Multiple short sessions will trump the long exhaustive workout on any given day.
• Play with heart but respect the game, your teammates and your opponents.
• Have fun, otherwise what’s the point?

If you train like John you will be better off than 99% of the people in this country when it comes to the cultivation of physical skill, emotional health and balance. By the way, John is my five-year-old son and he gets it.

Capoiera

Ok, did my first session this evening. Now I have to admit I did so following DVD's but this guy is awesome.

First off it is an awesome movement that is all flow, non-stop and set to some kick ass beats. I love the feel, I love the culture and I have to find time to get to class. I know there is a studio in San Jose that teaches and m goal is to get down to refine/improve my basic techniques. I would like to add this to my moblity workout and use it as part of my daily practice.

I am finding that a lot of what I am learning is becoming part of my mobility/conditioning program. Of course I am still doing my kettlebell workouts, deadlifts, and pull-ups. Add that with learning the movements of the MMA stuff and I have a lot fo great things on my plate.

Now, one would say, in factmany that it is difficult to work them all and be great. True, possibly but I find they compliment each other. Plus, with the MMA stuff I am not trying to be a master. The thing I want to master is movement and flow while increasing my strength, cardiovascular conditioning, flexiblility, mobility, and overall athletic ability. I love to move plan and simple and I love to flow.

Back in the Saddle

Ok, so I have been on the run travelling across the country over the last week. Now, I did get some workouts in focusing on doing bodyweight movements, 100 squats, 100 push-ups, 25 pull-ups and abs stuff.

So, most of you probably know we got DQ against Gracie which is a shame but it is what it is. I have my thoughts, I have my opinions but since I am so close to the situation I believe it is best I say nothing. I am excited for us to get back in the gym and continue building steam for our next fight.

Today I got back into the gym and teamed up with our boxing coach Tony DeMaria and had my first true 1 on 1 lesson including shadow warm-up (technique) with just the jab and evolving to hitting mitts using various combos, etc. WOW, there is so much too boxing and it is such a highly technically skilled sport. I could see my game improve but my level of understanding exceeds my abiliities. More tomorrow

Tonight I will hit the bells and focus on Clean and Press, Snatch and maybe pistols. I have deadlifts and heavy pull-ups tomorrow plus whatever else (like boxing) comes my way so I want to be ready since my body has laid off any big stuff since last THursday. Play it smart and see how the cards unfold.

Observations of a world traveler

Oh how traveling anywhere offers an abundance on experiences and what a joy they are. First off I love to travel. I have been to over 15 countries and all throughout the United States and I cannot find an experience I did not enjoy. Today in particular I decided to observe some things and here is what I have come up with so far and I have only been from San Jose, CA to LAX (Los Angeles, CA).

• Flights get cancelled and at the last minute
• Make sure you can run fast
• It is best to not check luggage just in case flight gets cancelled and this way you have everything you need with you.
• Just because you have a seat and reservation does not mean you will get to fly on that flight.
• Why? Because computers screw up and cancel people out of the system.
• Make sure to wear your running shoes just in case you have to catch a connecting plane that you are late for.
• Patience is truly a virtue
• Make sure to smile and laugh it makes everything more pleasant.
• Ask for help
• Be kind to the help often it is not their fault
• Excuse me/pardon me are rarely used terms.
• To many you are only an obstacle in their path.
• This security threat business is wacked. What the heck is Orange anyways.
• Airport food sucks, this is where the warrior diet pays off.
• If you drink a lot of water make sure to get an aisle seat.
• There is no such thing as free wireless internet in the airport.
• Fly direct.
• Bring your IPod and a good book.

Continuation of my Journey on route from LAX to Memphis, thru Dallas
• I found one place where being short has its advantage, in airplane seats
• It pays to fly first class
• Did I already say how much the food sucks, especially when you it comes to eating time on the warrior diet.
• Gotta love the view from a plane
• Sunsets are amazing from the sky
• Clouds look so much different when you are above them or in them
• It truly is the journey and the destination that make trips memorable.
• If you have never traveled alone, do so.
• The best people watching

I am sure there are many more things but I hope this gets you to think as you travel and maybe even inspire you to travel. It is fun to step out of your world and into other worlds, it makes you realize so much about yourself and life. I hope you add to this list as you travel. I have a number of other trips still too come this year myself so I am looking forward to reflecting, utilizing and adding to the list.

Enjoy

A playful day

Still feeling sore from the last few days I decided to play it by ear today.

So, I am teaching a bootcamp at the Beach this week and today I decided to start with a beach run at 6 am, nothing to long but a good run and I set the pace and then we did a joint mobility session. So that was my warm-up for the day.

Then I had another class back at home and joined in, here is what I did

Push-ups
25x3

Pull-ups
5x1
10x1

Snatch
32/5/5x5

Powerful today! A nice fast, strong whip

Cleans
32/5/5x3

Bear Crawl (one 40 kg and one 32kg which I switched)
2 sets of approximately 40 steps total/set

A fun day full of play and who knows I am staying at the Beach (Seascape in Aptos, CA by Santa Cruz) so I may go back to the beach for more fun.

The 3 P's

Military Press
24/5/5x1
32/5/5x1
40/5/5x3

Yes!

Pistol
32/1/1x5

Clean, crisp and stong. Plus my legs, especially hams and glutes are sore from all the work the last 2 days :-) so these felt strong

Pull-ups
8x4


Joint Mobility 20 minutes

Flexibilty vs Mobility

Flexibility v.s. Joint Mobility
I have had considerable experience with various stretching protocols. Being involved in a martial art (BJJ) that requires a fairly high degree of flexibility has led me to search for ways to improve ROM for jiu-jitsu fighters. I train my students with a lot of mobility drills. I have a saying regarding range of motion training; "It is better to learn to put yourself there because someone is going to put you there whether you want them to or not". In a nut-shell mobility is more important than flexibility. Mobility is defined as an active form of flexibility where the body is voluntarily moved into the full range with strength. Special breathing techniques are used to release tension and allow the body to move more deeply into full ROM. Another words, if you can't get there under your own muscle power then any extra range of motion is useless. The difference between your passive flexibility and your mobility is the percent chance of you getting injured. It has been my experience that the most flexible students are the most frequently injured. This is because they do not have strength in the extreme ranges. Many people can do passive hamstring stretches for example and get way down past their toes. But when they must raise the leg with muscle power, their hamstring isn't able to let go and the range is greatly compromised. In grappling it is better to be a bit tight than to loose. Unless you are a dancer, gymnast, circus performer or in a martial art that requires high kicks, spending a lot of time on extreme flexibility is a waste of that time. If you really need to get extremely flexible, then PNF is the way to go. The most important thing is freeing the body of tension through breath control. Pavel has the best book on the market in that regard.

By Steve Maxwell, posted on the www.dragondoor.com forum on 5/15

To reach Steve and learn more about his amazing Joint Mobility workouts and his video please checkout www.stevemaxwell.com

Powerlifts

Had a bit of time between clients this morning and weights at my disposal. So I did my third week of my first cycle of deadlifts and even added in bench press.

15 minutes of Joint mobility

Deadlifts
135/2x1
225/2x1
315/2x1
365/1x1
405/1x3

Can you say strong, I can and I felt it today even with some residuals from Climbing on Sunday and yesterdays work. Because of this I decided to pass on the pull-ups and throw in the bench for fun. Truthfully, not an exercise I enjoy but felt good to hold some weight in my hands. Plus, watching Rif instruct I understand some of the finer points of bench especially for my level

Bench Press
135/3x1
185/3x1
225/3x1
245/1x3

this felt good, ny technique was raw since I have benched only twice in the last 3 years...lol Why bench when you can kettlebell military press :-)

that is it for now, I have a 90 minute yoga session tonight so I did not want to kill myself. Plus I need to loosen up my body not make it tighter at this point.

Sled Dog

Took Shoulders out and trained with him today. The focus was on field conditioning.

We used the Sled, Heavy bag, weight vest and rope pull.

Sled (sandbag for weight 70#s)
round 1: Run to one end of the and run/walk back

round 2: Run to mid field and run backwards to start point

round 3: Run backwards to midfield and return with forward sprint

we did this all in a circuit fashion so the next portion of my circuit was

Exercise 2
Rope Pull with 32kg kettlebell 150 feet

Exercise 3
Sprawl using the 20# weight vest
15 reps/set

Exercise 4
Single Sided Squats with heavy bag
5 reps/side
(Dave did TGU's but my knees were scrapped and tender from climbing.)

Learned to 10 positions for Shamrock Submission Wrestling

Followed up with a technique sparring session with Dave (30 minutes)
Just move and shadow working footwork

Weekend Overview

One heck of a weekend. The common theme, great people! After Friday I spent the first part of Saturday morning hangining at a local coffee shop in La Jolla doing some work and some writing. From there I went and had breakfast overlooking the ocean,
peace and quiet.

Then I took a stroll along the ocean watching the high tides, big rollers and body surfers. I found a great spot on a rock formation on the beach to do a workout. I did some joint mobility that had a combo of martial art moves and yoga moves….love when people stop and watch ☺

Then came David Weck. A brilliant and creative man with an enormous amount of energy and a desire to learn and share, a man of evolution. We worked out, shared ideas, mainly me listening to him and learning. If you do not know, Dave is very philosophical and extremely deep in his thought processes. As he said, like attract like. I love the fact that through it all he laughs, smiles and has fun. Take time to check out his site and his products!

From there I went to laguna Niguel to have dinner with my cousin and her husband, just fantastic people. Then I took off to the Riverside area to meet with Brian Foster, our 185 on the IFL team and his friend Tobias and beautiful wife Summer. The purpose, Joshua Tree and my first ever Rock Climb.

Sunday morning we head out to the Joshua Tree National Forest, my first ever time. We stopped for a great breakfast ( I know, not part of the Warrior but heck I was in vacation). Their I had the great fortune of meeting a world reknown rock climber Dave Mayville and another great man Ethan who owns a store at the main road leading to the entrance. Ethan was kind enough to give me a free pair of brand new rock climbing shoes.

Joshua Tree is an amazing place set in the southern part of California in the high desert. Of course it is known for the Joshua Tree and its amazing rock formations which offer the rock climbing community some of the best and most challenging climbs in the world.

As we were driving in the car I pointed out to Brian this guy sitting way up on top of a rock about 150 feet high. Brian looked over at me said 'that is where you are going to sit' and I looked over at him and with a higher pitched voice "FANTASTIC' very sarcastically I might add but with a smile. The realization set in and I have to say I felt fairly relaxed. Inside I knew I had no choice but too make it to the top.

Climbing is one of those things in life that when you on the mountain that you are truly in the moment! Moment such as these are rare and when you have to the opportunity to feel, enjoy, experience such thing you must enjoy. For me all I could think about was my next move, my next foot or hand position. I never thought about falling, never thought how high I was, or how much fear I have of hieghts, or my feelings of vertigo. I just said to myself place your hand or foot here, etc. and make it to the top.

The climb was a 2 pitch climb (2 parts) with the first part involving hand holds, foot rests and a couple of traverses up about 25 to 30 feet. The second pitch was quite diiferent as it involved climbing up a crack ( a split between two giant rocks). This portion was way longer and had little hand and foot holds instead placing an emphasis on friction and leverage. So, my knees, shins, and elbows have some soft tissue discomfort and skin chaffing.

Along the route, whilein the moment I stopped took a deep breathe and reflected on where I was and what I was doing. I got in touch with my fear and I acknowledged it and become more peaceful with the idea of the fear being healthy.

Reaching the top I felt fulliflled that I truly took a step forward in my life on a mental, physical, emotion and very spiritual level. I sat on top of that rock and just meditated realizing what I had just accomplished, where I had come from to get to this point and being thankful for my good friends Foster, Tobias and Summer for taking time out to enjoy a moment in time, a life altering moment, a shift and evolution. They will forever be linked to me for this.

150 feet in the air on a giant rock known as Intersection Rock in the Joshua Tree National Forest with my soul full and great people.

Then came the rappel, climb out to the ledge (scary) and drop off quietly falling 120 feet down where we bouldered the other 30 feet. I love scrambling free on rocks creating paths, jumping and flowing from point to point, rock to rock.

By the way Dave Mayville did a 5.11C climb free and solo up that same rock in 5 minutes. I have never seen anything like it nor could I have ever imagined anything like it....seeing is believing but we were all in awe. Nothing like watching the best do what they do best.

Dave is also a world champion level arm wrestler so I had to take the challenge and we arm wrestled on the hood of Tobias 4Runner. I was fine with the strength until he matched me with Technique and then it was over before I could blink...lol

Can you just say AMAZING weekend on so many levels for so many different reasons and with so many AWESOME people. I am so grateful and so ALIVE. that is what this weekend was about living in the moment and experience life with great people and walking into the sunset feeling alive awaiting the next days Sunrise.

WorldTravels

So, this weekend I am in the So Cal area visiting friends and doing some business. Last night I had the great fortune to spend time with my good friends Franz and Yoana Snideman. I visited there stellar studio in La Jolla and then their beautiful new home in the Carmel Valley of San Diego. It is nice to see there hard work has paid off and I am so very happy for their success and happiness. Plus, Yoana made a fabulous meal and these days I am cherishing home cooked meals:-)

Today I am on my way to meet up with David Weck, the creator of the bosu www.bosu.com to do a workout and throw some ideas around, should be amazing. David is a creative genius.

From there I will move on to hang with one of the IFL fighters, Brian Foster (our 185 beast). He, his good friend Tobias and I are heading to Joshua Tree sunday for some rock climbing, a first for me to do this outdoors, the real deal. So an eventful weekend for sure filled with great people, great times and.....

More to come

Thursday Big Bells

warm-up
20 push-ups/8 pull-ups x 5

Clean and Press
24/5/5x1
32/3/3x1

40/5/5x3

These were strong, right side not as strong but still felt awesome

Pistol
40kg/1/1x3

Left side not as strong!