Sorry I fell behind on this. I was going to have this weeks schedule up today but got caught up in other stuff (mainly helping my brother with homework and finally getting some play time in with Lost Odyssey again). I' ll have a schedule up tomorrow.

I' m currently recovering from blacking out at the end of my workout today. First it was blacking out onto the the floor (just for a split second). Once I was on the floor my breathing was extremely rapid and very irregular (the timing of my breaths were very inconsistent with a lot of gasping). Once I could get up, several minutes later, I started climbing my stairs to my room and once again collapsed on the stairs. It was kind of funny... when I fell on the stairs and couldn' t get up the scene in 300 where Leonidas was climbing the mountain to the Ephors. Some how that motivated me to get up and go the rest of the way. Cheesy, I know... but true, lol.

I am ok actually. I didn' t finish moving until Yesterday, so I am still behind. I did the run today and I am doing that heavy stuff tomorrow.

Btw, I hope you recover. Sounds like some tough sh!t!

Chimura, did you do those workouts?

THURSDAY:
100x Push-up +
100x Sit-up

FRIDAY:
5x Pull-up
10x Burpee
15x Squat
20 minutes, as many rounds as possible (record number)

Yeah, did them today. That was some tough stuff. Tomorrow looks like a killer!

I am assuming I can do these at my own pace, right?

Yeah, it' s at your own pace. It actually isn' t that bad of a workout. It takes a while but you probably won' t feel nearly as bad as most of the other workouts make you.

Got a question for ya, Leonida... I mean Rampage.

Do you work out in one of the Crossfit Gyms, or do you just do the workouts at your schools gym? The reason I ask is because I' ve got a Crossfit gym pretty close to my neighborhood, and I' m thinking about joining. The thing is it is pretty expensive. I could just buy all the equipment and do the sh*t at home, so that' s kinda what I' m leaning towards. Maybe I' ll just do their personal training sessions for a little bit, and then strike off on my own. The personal training sessions ain' t cheap either, though!

If I do decide to do this stuff at home, what equipment should I buy? Money is no object, so let me know. This is what I' ve decided I' ll probably need so far...

Olympic barbell and weights (with handles), medicine ball (different weights?), Kettlebell (what sizes?), pullup bar, and dip station. As for a rope to climb and Olympic rings, I don' t have the space for that, so I' d have to substitute. When suggesting weights, keep in mind that I' m not weak, but I haven' t worked out in quite a while.

Thanks bro.

Um I' m not going to cry while I work out..

I don' t go to Crossfit myself. I have a home gym that my family and I put together around Christmas. I' ve slowly been adding pieces bit by bit. I honestly am not sure if I' m even ready to go to the Crossfit that' s closest to me... the guys there are insane.

It' s nice to have that group mentality when you work out but like you said, membership fees are pretty steep. Really a home gym is all you need. If you want to take those personal sessions they probably are beneficial (again, I never took part in any of these though I have thought about it). They will most likely focus on form for all the exercises and give you a good foundation to grow on.

If you want to set up a home gym (which I personally recommend because you always have access to it) here' s a good place to decide on equipment- Crossfit Gym. They go into a lot of detail on how to create a small gym to a fully loaded gym.

If you want my personal take, this is what I' d recommend-

Olympic Barbell and Weights- You want a good amount of weight. My set is a total of 300#. I wish I had more. I may at some point go and grab an extra couple of 45# plates. 300# is a good start though.

Pull-up Bar- A pull up bar that gives you room to swing is the best to go with. It' ll allow you to do a kipping pull-up. This method allows you to do many more pull-ups than the strict method (no swing). I currently have one that looks a lot like this. I can' t swing on it but the added benefit is that it has the dip bars built in.

Medicine Ball- I started with a Nike 12# medicine ball and it got the job done for a while. I' ve grown out of it though and currently have a 20# D-Ball on order. Sadly the D-Ball company is the only company that makes medicine balls (non-leather) over 12# and they are slow as sh*t. I ordered my ball on the 11th of February through Rogue Fitness and have yet to receive the ball. I' ve been on the phone with them several times and it seems D-Ball has a problem filling their orders in a timely manner. The 20# ball is probably what you' d want to go with. These are costly at around $120 after shipping.

Dumbbells- If you get the KBs listed below you can really get away with just 2 25# DBs. If you don' t get the KBs go ahead and get 2 35# and 2 45# (if you really want) as well. They are much cheaper than KBs.

Kettlebell- I currently have 2 35# KBs. They were $85 a piece in store. Ordering online you' ll find them cheaper but as soon as the shipping gets added in the price will shoot right up there. I' d say if you had both 2 35# and 2 45# (or 55#) KBs you' d be very well off.

Something for Dips- I didn' t want to say dip station because there' s a lot of different things you can do dips on. Really you could put a chair on each side of you, weigh them down so they don' t move, and proceed to use those for dips. as long as you' ve got two things of equal height that can support your weight you' re pretty much set.

Now if money really doesn' t matter here' s a couple things I dream about...

Concept 2 Rower- I want one sooooooooooooooo bad! These are pretty essential to both Crossfit and Gym Jones. This thing destroys people. It works every part of your body and your lower back will become rock solid. I' ve only had one opportunity to use one and I fell in love. These things cost an average of $1,000 though...

Glute/Ham Station- Another thing I really wish I owned. This is a great tool for working out the core, both front and back. Costs over $400.

Squat Rack- Since I' m a tall guy getting a large amount of weight up to my chest and shoulders for squats is a big problem. This solves that problem. I' m thinking about building one myself because it' s a fairly straight forward design. I' m sure I could put it together for less than the $400 asking price.

Climbing ropes and rings aren' t all that necessary. They are nice but pull-ups replace the climbing rope for the most part and the rings are just really used for dips and push-ups which you really don' t need rings for. Having a nice rope that you can use to pull weights with is useful though. I' m probably going to go pick some heavy duty rope up this weekend so I can do pulls and drags.

I' m going to throw one more item out there that I find pretty fun-

Slosh Pipe- Slosh pipes are awesome! The thing is you have to make it yourself. Luckily I think it cost me only $25. All you need as a 9 foot PVC pipe with a 4 inch diameter, two PVC caps, PVC glue, and water. Most PVC comes in 10 foot lengths which is what I bought and just sawed a foot off of it. From there you just glue one cap on, let it dry, then fill it half way with water (ONLY HALF!!!). From there glue a cap on the other end, let dry.... done. You now have a pipe that weighs only around 35# but will kick your ass. The water inside sloshes around (hence the name) keeping the thing off balance. Lifting this thing feels like your lifting close to 100#. You can do lunges, push press, static holds, etc... with it and it will ravage your body. I love mine!

So yeah, that' s about it. If you have any questions just ask and I' ll answer what I can.

Can you suggest a space-efficient method for benching? I was considering picking up a barbell and using that, but I don' t want to buy it, bring it home, and find out that I don' t have enough horizontal clearance for my hands. I' ve got long arms.

By the by, do you suggest substituting the kipping pull-up with inverted hands to work biceps? I prefer supine chin-ups for the brunt of my bar-based back/shoulder workouts, so I' ve got those about covered.

I' m currently recovering from blacking out at the end of my workout today. First it was blacking out onto the the floor (just for a split second). Once I was on the floor my breathing was extremely rapid and very irregular (the timing of my breaths were very inconsistent with a lot of gasping). Once I could get up, several minutes later, I started climbing my stairs to my room and once again collapsed on the stairs.

Do you think you might have been hehydrated?

ORIGINAL: Eddie_the_Hated

Can you suggest a space-efficient method for benching? I was considering picking up a barbell and using that, but I don' t want to buy it, bring it home, and find out that I don' t have enough horizontal clearance for my hands. I' ve got long arms.

By the by, do you suggest substituting the kipping pull-up with inverted hands to work biceps? I prefer supine chin-ups for the brunt of my bar-based back/shoulder workouts, so I' ve got those about covered.

I' m confused when you say " horizontal clearance for my hands" . Could you explain that a little better? I have long arms (I' m 6' 5" tall) and I have no problem with a regular olympic bar. If anything you can always get some dumbbells and do dumbbell presses. You actually get a better range of motion for your chest with those.

For the pull ups I always keep my hands facing away from me unless my arms can' t do anymore. Then I' ll switch my grip to face towards me so my biceps can help get through the remaining reps. It' s one of those things where as long as you get the rep in it doesn' t really matter. Still, if you are focusing on the back you should have your grip facing away from you. I suck at pull-ups... Pulling 185# is a pain in the ass. I wish I was lighter.

ORIGINAL: Agent Ghost

Do you think you might have been hehydrated?

Nope, I was very well hydrated for the workout and made sure to down water as soon as I was done. I made my brother get me a few glasses while I was collapsed on the floor. It was just an intense workout that caught up with me at the end.

Done with today' s. Took me 35 minutes. It really wasn' t as bad as I though. Sit-ups are not a big problem for me for the most part, it was the push-ups where I had to stop every 20 or so reps to catch my breath.

Yeah, that type of workout is referred to as a Single Movement Mind F*ck (SMMF) by Gym Jones. It' s one of those things where you brain is like " 100 reps?!?" and makes you nervous. In the end though once you get through it you realize it' s not all that bad. It' s intended to break down mental barriers for workouts.

Well, I bought two 44 lb. kettlebells for $85 a piece, a 20 lb. rubber medicine ball for $80, and a dip station for $84. I also threw in a 75cm unbreakable yoga ball, as I figured that might come in handy (and it was only $12).

All prices include shipping. Damn I love Amazon!

I figure, since I' m setting my gym up in the garage, I' ll just mount a chin-up bar from the ceiling.

My friend Todd is moving in next month, and he has a weight set, so I' ll probably use that for a while. I don' t know if it' s an olympic bar or not, but we' ll see.

Thanks for the input, Rampage! You input definitely helped with my decisions. I' m also gonna pick up some more kettlebells, eventually, but I figured two would do for now. Now I just need to build a lifting platform, mount my chin-up bar, and get started!

What brand did you get for the medicine ball? I' ve never really used Amazon but am browsing it now that you mentioned it. Was it this one? I guess some other companies are trying to move in on D-Ball' s territory. I was wondering why the D-Ball prices has been dropping. The 20# used to be $130 before shipping so I was excited when I got mine for that with shipping.

You got some good deals there man. I' m tempted to snag an extra set of KBs.

Let me know when your stuff comes in and take some pics of your setup as you are putting it together. Stuff like this always gets me excited!

That' s the one! Hopefully the quality is alright.

Yeah, I thought those kettlebells were a good deal. I almost bought 4, but I figured spending $350 was enough for the day! Also, the 44 lb. versions cost $85 a piece,but the 53 pounders jumped up to $110 each! That would' ve been another $220!! That' s why I said, " maybe later" .

As far as Amazon, I get a LOT of sh*t from them! Their prices are usually either better or, at least, competitive with most other places, and you can get free shipping and no tax if it' s sold by Amazon themselves, as opposed to a third party vendor. Of course the kettlebells are third party, but that' s just lucky I guess!

I' m gonna take pics, for sure! I' ll post them. I' ve already got my Powermaster dumbells, but I haven' t unpacked them yet!

Off to a 15k race this morning, woohoo!

Good luck!

Sorry forgot to update. I did the sets, and I managed to 4 of them. That was as much as I could muster.

Look what I got in the mail today!!!



I' m so pumped!!! Been waiting over a month for this thing to finally arrive.

Btw, I know I' m way behind on the workout schedule. This week will be a week off. I' ll start posting workouts again next week and will post two weeks worth at a time.