Monday, January 31, 2011

AND NOW FOR SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT!!!

I'm sure only fellow Monty Python nerds will get that title. 

Any who, I figured I'd do something totally different than normal and blog about something else in my life.  Today I'll cover shaving.  For most guys shaving is seen as a chore.  There is no joy in it, no pride and there is certainly no craftsmanship involved in it anymore.  The blades are numerous, sharpened by chemicals, the "shaving cream" is nothing more than "goop" that comes from an aerosol can and the act itself is usually carried out in the shower just like any other maintenance-type grooming.

I used to HATE shaving.  It chewed up my face, gave me bad acne and burned for almost an hour after I got done.  I tried everything; 2 blade, 3 blade, 4 blade, different types of shaving gels, creams, and soaps.  My beard is not coarse by any means, but it is quite dense, so if I wanted to keep a razor as sharp as it needed to be, I had to change out the cartridges out every third shave.  That got really expensive and my face was not getting any better treatment.  So how did I solve this?  I grew a beard.  Well, that got old and I decided to start shaving again, but this time I went all out and started shaving my head for the first time.  I'm not going bald by any means, actually it pisses a lot of people off when I shave my head because, to quote, "You have such gorgeous, thick hair".  That was when I discovered HeadBlade products.

HeadBlade is a company that makes products exclusively for guys that shave their heads.  They make shaving creams, aftershave and even a razor system designed for shaving your head.  Well, the razor sucked just like every other razor I had tried in my life, but the shaving cream was what I got the "Ah-Ha" from.  I started to use the shaving cream on my face as well as my head and I begun to see good results on my face as well as my scalp.  Then it dawned on me, shaving was not about just the razor but the total system that you use.  I then started doing research.

Come to find out there were bigger and better things out there for shaving and to boot the vast majority of them were not all that expensive.  First I started working on building a better lather.  I started out with Kiss My Face shaving creams and using a brush.  For those of you that have never shaved with a brush and hot, hand-made lather, you are doing yourself a great disservice.  If you change nothing else about your shaving, this is the one thing to convert over to.  A good lather will make a shave ten times better.  Invest in a good brush, not the crappy boar hair brushes you get in the pharmacies and Walmart, but a good badger hair brush.  A crappy brush makes a crappy lather, just like crappy soap makes a crappy lather.  There are some good videos on YouTube on making your own lather.


Once I became pretty proficient in making a good lather and saw better, but not good results into my shaving, I went for a different razor system.  I looked for all kinds of different options and the two that made the most sense were the double edge razors, like your grandpa used to use, and the straight razor, like you see in the movies.  Straight razor shaving completely intrigued me.  Buy on razor for the rest of your life, sharpen it to your liking and you get a clean close shave every time.  I already had the vast majority of the hones I needed to get the job done, all I needed now was a razor and a strop.  Being the handyman that I am, I wanted to do things my way.  I went to eBay and found some old razors and strops I could restore.  I cleaned the razors, reconditioned the strops, and started honing the razors.  After about a week of making sure everything was in order I did my first straight shave and loved it.  I've fallen in love ever since.

Shaving has become more of a part of my evening wind-down time.  I take pride in it, hell, I even look forward to it.  This evening I just took all of my stuff, put it on the coffee table and shaved while I talked to my wife.  If you look at the picture at the top that is all the shaving stuff that is required to do a shave wherever you want.  It is a scuttle(white thing to keep the lather warm), Silvertip Badger brush, shaving cream, a straight razor, a mirror and a damp cloth.  I also had to strop the razor, but the strop was not in the picture.  Being the nostalgic nerd that I am, I took the badger knot that I ordered and installed it into the shaving brush handle that my Dad used when I was a kid.

Now I have an eight razor rotation that I use.  I'll use three at a time and just mix and match depending on how my mood is at the time.  Sometimes I like a light full hollow ground blade and other times I like the heftier wedge blades.  I have the following as of right now:  Wade and Butcher with real tortiose shell handles, a BBB Bingham brothers, Henkels Platinum #401, King Double Temper, Boker Extra Hollow #201, Our Leader, a Colonel Conk branded Dovo, and a Black Demon.  As you can tell I  have quite a fancy for these things and have sought out some of the more obscurely named razors.  In addition to the Black Demon I also have a razor that is labelled Lucifer, but it was broken in transit.  I probably would have been too weirded out to shave with it anyway.

As you can probably see, the vast majority of these blades are stained, or have a patina.  I love a good patina, not only does it protect the blade, but it shows that the razor has history.  Not just some thing that someone used to shave with at one point but a tool, used for a purpose.  Patina tells a story to me just like the pits and scratches on the old shotguns and rifles that I restore(another blog post for another time).  Who am I to take that away just to make the metal more aesthetically pleasing to someone else?  But, that is just one man's opinion.

So try it out.  If not straight shaving, at least try making your own lather.  But watch out, it is just as easy to get addicted to acquiring new soap, creams, and brushes as it is new razors.  Right now I have three different soaps, two different creams, two double edge razors, eight straight razors, two complete brushes and two vintage brush handles that need new knots.  To make it worse, that is considered pretty bush league compared to some of the collectors (read addicts) out there.

Sunday, January 30, 2011

Been a while

It has been one of the longer hiatuses I've taken from blogging since I started this blog back up.  It has been a crazy past week or two.  New intern, new hires, master level class and new hire orientation to plan and instruct.  I'll be instructing three classes this go 'round, The Anatomy of Training, Interval/Metabolic Training and Facility Orientation.  To be honest, the Facility Orientation is the most difficult to keep track of and remember everything.

The facility I work at is HUGE and I have to go over everything from the cold pool to the group ex. room to the free weights to the two Personal Training rooms.  The biggest challenge is going over all of the equipment in the Personal Training rooms.  Kettlebells, Macebells, dead and live medicine balls, bands, chains, blast straps, Vertimax, and ALL the other stuff that we have in the room.  Not to mention I have to go through and show them all how and why all these things work.  It is especially a challenge when the vast majority of these cats have never handled any of the non-traditional equipment.  I just have to make sure that they become proficient in the use of the stuff before they give it to their clients.

I went to the Hoggetown Medieval Faire yesterday with my wife, son and the in-laws.  I figured at least I'd get to see some good looking women in wench outfits or corsets.  Oh boy was I wrong!  I used to work with a guy that was into the DragonCons and ComicCons and all that stuff.  He used to talk about how these things and Ren. Faires had all these hot chicks in outfits.  I was lied to I tell you, lied to.  On the lighter side, it was fun.  Kaine and I shot some dude with a bow and arrows, we stared at weirdos that dressed up as God knows what and had nothing to do with medieval times, and watched dudes beat the ever-loving crap out of each other with foam weapons.

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Central Florida Highland Games

I am officially an Amateur A Division competitor.  Let me tell you, it feels pretty damned good.  The morning of the competition they were predicting an overflow of B Division competitors, so they allowed me to throw with the big boys based on my past throws.  I was really excited to learn and boy did I ever learn.

Lessons Learned
1.  My form is absolute garbage.  No lie, I looked like some hulking galoot out there on some of the throws.  I don't pick up my chest in time for the stone, pull too late on the weights for distance, have horrible timing on the weight for height, and God help my sheaf.  I did okay in some events, but I was always at the back of the pack.

2.  My Caber is not as bad as I thought.  I was the third athlete to turn the caber on the day, finished fifth, but at least I got the thing to turn.  It was only 2:00, and I need more pull out of my upper body.

3.  I was stronger than most of my competitors.  At least in the weight room anyway.  Hearing some of these talk I'm smashing weights in the weight room they won't even touch.  This leads me to believe that I really need to work on my throws and not concentrate so damn much on my numbers in the gym.  Practice on the throws is going to be my main concern over the next month and a half to get ready for Jax.  The only guy that I talked to that was stronger than I was ended up being Wes Kiser.  This guy is fixing to go pro in the Highland Games and is an absolute animal in the weight room as well as on the field. 

4.  I've been relying way too much on brute force.  I LOVE getting in the gym and hitting MY Big 5: Squat, Deadlift, Overhead Press, Power Clean, Power Snatch.  Being strong as a bull is great when all you do is actually lift the weights, but when you have specialized throws, you need technique.  I will still hit up the big lifts, but from now on it will not be my big focus.  I need to find a park or a field around town to hit up throws practice at least once a week.

5.  My upper body strength is pathetic.  I can blame it on my shoulder all I want, but if I want to succeed in the Highland Games the way I want to, I HAVE to just suck it up and JFDI, as my Dad would say.  For crying out loud I have a 500+ lb deadlift, an almost 300lb clean and I can only 3 board press 275!?  It is absolutely pathetic.  I may take a trip down to Orlando Barbell to get some help from Brian Schwab.  Brian is a graduate of the University of Florida and a world record holding powerlifter.  I talked to him Sunday and he said it would be okay to come down and train every once and a while.


Overall I had a great weekend.  Thursday morning I tweaked my left Achilles Tendon that left me with a pretty significant limp.  I sought some advice from two Athletic Trainers we have on staff at work and they both recommended Achilles taping.  Basically this tape job creates an artificial external Achilles Tendon.  I had my wife do it the morning of the competition and it kept me from getting hurt any worse than I already was.  Don't get me wrong I threw like garbage because I threw like garbage, but I just didn't have that "oomph" that I usually have on my throws.  If you want you can check out my field of competitors HERE

I hit 2 Prs.  A 1 foot PR on the sheaf which brings me to 22 whole feet.  It makes me sick to even say that.  I also hit a 5 foot PR on the Hammer.

I'd like to thank Kevin Dupuis and Jim Gibson for pointing out some errors in my throwing.  Jim won Athlete of the Day and Kevin smoked just about everyone on every event.  The only setback is that Kevin fouled out of the 56 WFD. 

Now its is back to the drawing board.  Remember that programming I was talking about earlier?  Yeah, that is in the trash now and I have to reconfigure things.  Oh well, that is the way the game is played.  Time to go back to the drawing board...

Saturday, January 15, 2011

Writing My Own Programming

I'm sitting here trying to plan out my programming for the next few months.  Decisions, decisions, decisions...  Conjugate Method?  Block Periodization?  Hepburn A and B?  Westside Template? Wendler's 5/3/1? Or try my own blend of programming? 

I'm already very explosive and I don't feel like I get too much out of Dynamic Effort work, but I do feel speed work is needed.  Just not utilized as its own day during the week.  Over the past two months I haven't put all of my training on my blog because I've been experimenting a little bit.  Going back to a previous post, you have to stick with something for a considerable amount of time before you get to see the true results.  Well, you've seen some of the PR's I've put up in the Squat, Deadlift, and various presses, so the template I'm using is working.  Now, I just need to see if I continue to see more gains after a planned deload.  In a month or two I may write about the findings and the method. 

As it stands I'm pulling ideas from all over the place.  Just like everything else in this industry I'm sure it has been done before in some way, shape, or form.  I like all of the methods mentioned before, but some don't have enough explosiveness built in for the Highland Games, others are geared too much toward powerlifting to have too much crossover.  As I said before, I'm going to give it some time and post results later.

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

Update and Last Games as a B

Well it has been a while since my last blog post, so here goes. 

I have spent the past two weekends of my life moving.  Nothing makes me more inscenced than moving.  I loathe it, but it had to be done.  Instead of living in the thriving metropolis that is Melrose, FL we have decided to move back into Gainesville.  We found a house to rent here that is pretty alright, but it is a HUGE change from 18 acres of land on a lake.  We will still make it out there as often as possible, but the commute was killing us and we were spending something like $700+ a month in gas alone.  The best part is my drive to work is now 15 minutes, where it was 40-45 minutes before. 

Training has been going very well and now I'm deloading to get ready for my competition in Orlando this weekend.  I feel strong and fast, which is a big change over the past few Highland Games I've competed in.  In the past I've felt strong and slow or fast and weak, so the current combination is what I've been looking for.  A lot of it has probably come from me not worrying so much about my weight.  I'm going to compete at the weight I walk around at and not worry about bulking or too much of a salt bloat.  Another thing, I'm not going to drink the night before the competition.  I usually get together with some of the guys and have a pint or nine, but this time I'm not going to drink at all.  I find that my endurance is much better without drinking the night before.

Equipment will be different this time too.  I thought about getting a pair of lighter Powerlifting briefs to help out, but I decided against it at the end.  I'll be using hammer spikes for the first time in this games and that should put some extra oomph on my throws.  I've decided to stay away from the throwing spikes and just throw in my Five Fingers.  Sure, I get a ton of crap for throwing in them from the other competitors, but they work and I throw farther than the guys that laugh at them.  I should start giggling at the guys in soccer cleats.  I'll be wearing a belt this time it will be a Spud Inc. 3 ply Deadlift Belt.  It will probably only be used for the 56# Weight For Height and the Caber.  I finally got my sheaf fork tuned in and filed/sanded down the way it needs to be, but I SUCK AT THE SHEAF.

Here are my goals for the weekend
56#WFD:  26'+
28#WFD:  52'+
Heavy Hammer:  70'+
56# WFH:  12'+
Stone of Strength: 40'  This is a mark I cannot seem to beat, but I feel much more confident in reaching this goal this go 'round
Caber:  At least one 12:00.  I'm always one of the few guys that turns it, but I usually end up over-muscling it and jacking up the turn.
Sheaf:  Try not to embarrass myself too bad.  I SUCK AT THE SHEAF.

I don't care if I win or not, I just want to be in the A's.  Don't get me wrong, I LOVE the guys I throw with in the B's, but I'm not learning anything from them.  So this will be my last Highland Games as a B regardless of if I win or not.  It is time for me to move on and start throwing with the big boys and learn a thing or two.  I know I'm definitely strong enough to be in the A's, I just need to translate the technique a little better.

All I need now is to pack up the Blue Heat, ammonia, and the kilt...

Thursday, January 6, 2011

New Intern and Make That 3 days in a Row

I have a new intern in from the University of Florida and her first day was yesterday. If I wasn't with a client I was getting her set up for the upcoming semester. I love interns. Not in that "Mentor on a power trip" way where I get to make them do busy work and all the crap work I don't want to do. I hate when I hear that people's internships are full of that kind of stuff. I eat up the opportunity to teach people fresh out of academia. Get them in the trenches, get them lifting, keep them away from the "fitness trend" stuff that makes this industry reek of douche-baggery. So far I'm batting .500 on interns as far as success, but the last guy I had didn't have "it".

You have to have a certain amount of personality and presence to succeed in this industry. You have to be able to carry on a conversation, think on your feet, and speak clearly without mumbling. The cat had the knowledge and all the book smarts he needed, he just could not get it going on the other front. Too timid, too soft spoken and just had very little confidence. I can teach you all day long on Block Periodization, Conjugate Method, Non-Linear Periodization, stretching, flexibility, etc..., but he couldn't come up with the things I can't teach.

The other intern has become one of our busiest trainers. She logs in hours to rival the big dogs and gets her clients phenomenal results. She is logging in double the hours of the other trainers in her hiring class. This new intern has the potential of the first intern, I just have to make sure that I give her all the tools she need to succeed. Plus, it helps that now I get to hand-pick the interns and she was one I picked out of four others that applied.

I had only 30 mins yesterday to lift, so I was going to work up to 405 on the Squat and do a pain set. A pain set in my book is a 75-80% of your 1 Rep Max done for max repetitions. Well it is New Year's Resolution time in the gym and both Squat racks were occupied and the rest of the straight bars were being used for Power Biceps Curls. So I hit up the Trap Bar and SFW.

Trap Bar Deadlift
135x5
225x5
315x5
405x3
455x3
495x3
545x4 (Rep PR!!!)

I love a PR even if it is 5-10lbs or 1-2 more reps with a set weight. It keep me going and gives me drive. I'm going to take today off and do some Accessory work Friday then deload next week to get ready for the Highland Games. Right now my Erectors and Glutes are fried. 

Highland Games PRs here I come. I want to set at least 5 PRs next weekend

Tuesday, January 4, 2011

PRs Two Days in a Row

Well I have been really busy trying to move back into Gainesville, so the blog has gone on the back burner for a while. Work has been kicking me in the teeth too. I have people wanting to come back and train with me, but I'm not sure if I have room. I've been trying to find the correct balance of training clients and taking care of both my Personal Training Team and my duties as Education Team Leader. To make it even better, I have a new intern coming in and I need to find time to make sure that I can devote enough time to her so that she can get the most out of the experience. I've got to suck it up, be a big boy and just get it done.

I've still been training and still been working my butt off trying to get everything ready for the upcoming Highland Games "season". I've been forgoing almost all accessory work to fit in time for throwing drills. I have been working mostly on footwork for the 28 and 56lb Weight For Distance throws and the Stone of Strength(like a shot-put). Here is how my past few days have broken down:

Monday: Deadlift
135x a few
225x5
315x5
405x3
455x3(Rep PR in itself)
495x1
525x1(PR)
I almost called it quits after pulling 495 as every other pull felt slow and way too heavy. Hell, 405 felt like it didn't want to budge, but I sucked it up and lifted anyway.

Footwork and Throwing Drills to finish the day


3 Board Press:
Bar x 5 or so
135x5
185x3
225x3
275x1(PR)
295x0 bombed
275 flew up faster than I expected, so I decided to go straight for 295. I flared my elbows too soon and stalled. Oh well, a PR is a PR.

Footwork and Throwing Drills to finish

I am feeling ready for the Central Florida Highland Games and I look forward to throwing a ton of PRs. My double spin is coming along well for the weights for distance and I have been throwing close to 60 feet in practice. I hit over 75 feet in the Hammer which would be a huge PR if I could make it translate to the Games.

Well, wish me luck