Sounds Like the Cherry Blossom 10 Miler Will Just Be The 10 Miler This Year

What's better than running a ten mile course with water on one side and ginormous, patriotic, neo-classical monuments on the other? Running a ten mile course with water on one side and big ole neo-classical monuments on the other while petals from Japanese cherry trees fall on your head like ! Yes, every American's dream, to run the Cherry Blossom 10 Miler.

Yes, the Cherry Tree. The symbol of our country's founding father, George Washington. Yes, George Washington who confessed, "It was I who chopped down your cherry tree!! For I cannot tell a lie!"

His confession of felling the tree embodies everyone else's chopping down of my expectations for the race. Apparently, nobody thinks there will be any cherry blossoms at the Cherry Blossom 10 Miler in 2012.

It was first brought to my attention by the girlfriend of my buddy (and donor of my bib, thanks D, author of Fueled by Iron). Who, tweeting along the Potomac after a run, said, "Lonesome cherry blossoms. Not too many left sorry u cherry blossom ten miler folks @jmegsboston." My hopes sank slightly.

Days later a friend and I were making plans, 

"Sorry I can't this weekend. I'm headed to DC for the Cherry Blossom 10 Miler."

"I don't think there are any cherry blossoms left."

Again, ambition fell. 

Even today, as I spoke to my very own grandmother:

"Hi theah sweethaht!" She exclaimed in her Rhode Island accent. "What's new with you?!"

"Hi Gram! I'm going to Washington DC for the Cherry Blossom 10 Mile Race!"

"Oh, well I don't think there'll be many cherry blossoms left for you."

Et tu Gram?! Et tu?

So unfortunately there may not be many cherry blossoms at the Cherry Blossom 10 Miler. Nah it'll be good. I'm hoping for another 7:05 pace which means 1:10:50 in all. We'll see. I ran a 1:17 on Monday and felt like poop so here's hoping warmer weather, a flatter course and a couple of days' rest will shorten that time.

Keep running,
LSF

What Do You Look For In a Gym?

If you read The Post of Revelations, you learned that yours truly is on a crusade in the Villages of Allston and Brighton to evaluate the highly competitive fitness industry as the one and only Boston Gym Critic. You may also recall the first post scriptum where I admonished, "I need some help figuring out what gets people into gyms and keeps them there..." Well now is that time.

"Why should I help?" you ask. Just think of the hours of free entertainment you've received by reading these side-splitting blog entries. Think of all the free personal training you've received by reading this blog. You've learned so much.  You've learned how to run barefoot on concrete. You've learned how many calories you burn in a day. You've even learned that short white socks don't go with black shoes on white people. (5th on the list when I Googled "Gym Fashion Faux Pas". Athankyou.)

Picture Source. Caption Source.

"But Long Sox, I haven't used any of that information." Not true. You've burned a bunch of calories by laughing at it. We've tightened up your abs, obliques, diaphragm, and increased your lung capacity. You are a better athlete from reading this blog. Don't go reading hilarious blogs all day and expect to be able to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro... But do you think you could pay it forward... back to me? Your feedback would be a great asset to the effort.

It would be awesome, IF, in the comments section below, in an email, on FB, on Twitter, on DailyMile, face to face, in the mail, or by Bat Signal, tell me why you choose one gym over the other. In other words, what do you look for in a gym?

The reason that I'm asking is because the goal of BostonGymReviews.com is to help uninformed gym-goers make decisions as to where to work out. Think about what gets you to go to the free 1 day trial, what gets you to commit to your first month, and what keeps you coming back.

The most obvious reasons are:
-Location
-Cost
-Vibe (intense, chill, etc)
-Features (pool, basketball court etc.)
-Hours
-Classes
-Staff
-Equipment
-Cleanliness 

So that's all folks. If you have anything to contribute, even as part of one of the bullets above, it would be greatly appreciated.

Keep brainstorming,
LSF

The Post of Revelations

Despite the nonprolific last five days, I've been rill busy, just schemin' like a demon.

I’ve been working to steer this blog/website thing in a new direction. I want to make something worth more than a few yucks here and there. Something that harnesses my passions for sweating my buns off, exploring the vast and undercharted expanse of Eastern Massachusetts, getting attention from people on the internet (the true gauge of a man’s worth), and helping those in need…

Those in need are the people in Boston who want to feel better about themselves and have a good time as they transform into superior human beings. They are ready to fight harder, eat better, run faster, and lift stronger but don’t know who to turn to for expert advice. 

Yes. A new age will soon begin for them. For I will bike, run, spar, stretch, and lift the heavens themselves to provide them with answers. I will give my expert analysis on why they should or should not pour from their pores at any old location. Yes I will do this, so that they do not have to carry the exhausting, gruesome, ugly burden of being a Boston gym critic. A job description that exists for only one man. Yes. It is I who will be... THE ONE!

As THE ONE I am sworn to protect the recently graduated from the emptiness and loneliness of being forsaken by their cushy collegiate gymnasia.

I have vowed to defend the traveler. That stranger in our strange land. He who has only a short time in our historic and athletic city.

I have promised to guard the legions of Boston’s new inhabitants who, like me only two short years ago, line the streets with their dented, scratched, and other-state-plated vehicles.

I make this pledge to them, for they have not the experience that I, an incredible athlete, trainer, and tax-paying Bostonian, have forged over the past 30 months in this great Commonwealth.  

Source

The advent of Boston Gym Reviews on bostongymreviews.com is nigh. Be ready.

Keep reading,

LSF

PS: Readers, I need some help figuring out what gets people into gyms and what keeps them there so stay tuned for a chance to affect where this thing is going.

PPS: A buddy of mine said, "I hate how bloggers always write in a tone like they're better than you." Don't know what he's talking about.

Blogging Lessons Learned

Welcome, everyone, to blog post #50 of Long Sox Fitness where the writing is wridiculous, the fitness is fun, and the obscure references are not so obvious. Here's what I've picked up over the past few months.

-People love celebrities. "Six Pack Abs, Only for Sallies?" is by far, our most popular post with over 624 Pageviews from some of you loyal fans...as well as a vast majority of people from the United Arab Emirates, to Bangladesh, to Argentina looking for pictures of Arnold and Bieb's abs. I'm not surprised... but I'm surprised.

-Don't underestimate reposting and getting others involved. "A CrossFitter on CrossFit" is the top viewed post not related to a celebrity, with 84 individual page views. Thank you to Rob B for the  enlightening material, reposts, and personal lesson at XFit Dewitt.

-My main fan base is females age 25-30. Women my age will most often reference having read the blog or outright compliment it (thank you ladies). I always thought I could write for a lame Lifetime sitcom. Pumping out hilarious posts ain't easy and it takes a little booze to get those creative sparks. If you're worried about my health, don't. Hemingway did it. I'm pretty much a modern day Hemingway on the blogosphere. Think about it. He went on awesome adventures all the time. I go on awesome adventures all the time. He liked to fight. I like to fight. He's an Army veteran. Me too. And he drank while he wrote. So I guess I'll be okay.

Source.

-My talent is(ish) humor, my interest is fitness. Kind of like I said above, I get compliments that the blog is funny, not that someone was inspired to try one of my workouts, start running, start exercising, or dieting. I'm not getting a PhD in sports science or trying out for the Patriots, so to think that I can offer any insight into unwritten territory or be part of something that the masses care about (besides Bieber's abs) may be outside of the scope of the blog in its current form. It's funny (sometimes), but lacks focus (unlike our sister blog). I'm working on another project to see if some focus and research won't result in something more relevant to the world. Stay tuned.

-Online journaling is good for you. Public reflection forces you to put your ambitions, character, and reputation out there for your friends, family (even Grandma), and current and potential employers to see. The best way to represent yourself well is to be your best self. Or just lie on the internet... not that I have.

Between marathon training, 5Ks, Jiu Jitsu, weight loss, studying for and passing the personal training exam I have not had a dull or unhappy moment. If you've got the time, write about what interests you, publicly or privately.

Keep reading,
LSF

Cardio Lifting Circuits

I'm supplementing jiu jitsu and running with cardio lifting to increase cardiovascular endurance, increase total body strength, and max out on calorie burn.

What do I mean by cardio lifting? I'm not talking about that class gyms offer, aka Body Pump (which is not bad). But I AM talking about maintaining an elevated heart rate for an extended period of time while conducting full body lifts and cardio circuits.

Advantages:

Burn 1000+ calories in just 14 hours. Source.

+Enormous caloric burn: 1000+ calories over 70min, similar to the burn you get when running, doing jiu jitsu, swimming, or roughly 14 hours of what's going on in this picture.

+Muscle definition: You won't get super muscly with this but you'll get a more shredded, sinewy, fighter type look. Lean and mean.

+Endurance: pushing for 70-90 minutes with a high heart rate translated into success during a 90 minute half marathon despite lack of training by running. My cardio endurance over 90 minutes is as high as it's ever been.

Disadvantages:

-No major increase in muscle mass: If you want muscle mass, high weight low reps is the way to go, that takes patience and focused effort on individual muscle groups.

-Jack of all trades, master of none: Full body exercises prevent focus on any one muscle group.

-Time: 70-90 minutes. You've got a life to live, I get it.

-High Effort: You have to constantly push, if you have juice left at the end of a set, give it another rep. You'll get sweatier than the people around you as you transform into a superior athlete.

-Gear: You need a heart rate monitor (HRM) because you won't have time to manually check your pulse.

Here's the basic pattern I follow:

• Stretch/Foam Roller
• Warm up cardio
• Full body lift
• Cardio, 75-80%
• Weights A and B alternating
• Cardio, 85-95%
• Weights C and D alternating
• Cardio, 70-85% Cool Down

Here's one I've done.

Example:
-Stretch/Foam Roller
-1 Mile Rowing Machine Warmup: 60-70% HR
-Olympic Lift Medley: recover back to 60% HR before beginning the next set.
*Continue this 60% trigger with all other lifts. Once your HR returns down to 60%, start the next set.

-1.5 Mile Run: 70-85%
-Superset dumbell chest press: x12, 8, 6, increase weight each time. Do this on a bench then immediately on a stability ball, so 6 sets altogether.
-Jumping Pull Up: 3 sets x20, I do it on a bar that's about 6-12" above my hands extended vertically. The lower the bar, the easier it is. Get a platform if you're still developing those mad ups.
*Alternate between the chest presses and pull ups to give the muscle groups some time to recover without lowering your heart rate.

If you want to reduce muscle reaction time you
have to Mufasa during your lifts. Pun.

-1.5 Mile Run: 85-95% for advanced athletes, 70-85% for moderate athletes
-Rafikis: sit up on a decline bench with some form of weight in your hands. I use medicine balls or plates and feel like Rafiki from the Lion King.
-Back Extension/Oblique Side Bend: 3 sets, unweighted, 10lbs, 25lbs, decrease reps with more weight

-1 Mile Run: 70-85% Cooldown

Nice work. Grab some water. If you want to make up your own or want me to make one up for you, just send in your goals and I'll be glad to help you out.

Keep lifting,
LSF

PS: I couldn't even begin to think of a good enough caption for the treadmill picture up there.
-This is how you win at treadmill.
-She's not fat, she's efficient.
-"I don't see why people complain, running is just as easy as driving."
-Once you've mastered the Treadmill Sit, try modifying it so you're resting your arm on the backrest. This will better engage your core and condition you for more complex seats like sitting on stools.

Tabata? What the WHAT?

I've heard a little bit from friends about tabata-style training. In short, 20 seconds on, 10 seconds off. And during that 20 seconds, volume is at 11. Commonwealth Sports Club has a Tabata class on Mondays so I decided to check it out. We're talking max cardio for basically 40 minutes of a 60 minute workout. One of the best ways out there to burn fat. With the 6 Pack Abs deadline approaching, it's time to get in some serious burnage. What was notable about it?

-The class got barked at. Like Ranger School barked at. "WHY AREN'T YOU MOVING?!!" Simmer down instructor guy. 

-It was my first experience with aerobics and not quite the Eric-Prydz-Call-On-Me experience I hoped it would be. While the majority of the class was female, the look of desperation, pain, and regret was on the face of almost every person in the room. No sexy smirks. 

-Someone's good at everything. The girls on either side of me were not in awesome shape but not overweight. The one on my right could do the rear lunge til the cows come home and the girl on my left could do infinity burpees times a thousand. Diversify your workouts and eventually you'll find your own.

-Tabata class is no place for hardos. For those who are not familiar, a hardo is someone who acts tough at inappropriate times. Think mall cop, the grunting guy at the gym, or LeBron James. This was me for a minute in the class, modifying exercises to make them tougher when I thought, "Gee whiz, class just started. Surely you will get the workout you need, just stick with it." Sure enough, I broke a sweat.

-The very best part of class was the guy in the corner with no weights, no mat, no water, no shoes, and no concept of what normal is. Just picture a flurry of groans, long curly hair, terribly formed/overpaced exercises on a dude with a huge schnoz and zero fat in the first place. I mean everybody in the class looks like an idiot during the exercises but c'mon dude. At least TRY not to look like you've been locked in a cage in a basement in Pulp Fiction and recently escaped to burn lots of calories. I mean, just TRY.

Overall it was nice to get the hang of the tabata rhythm, definitely a concept I will be using in the future. However, I won't be going back to the class. There was a je ne sais quois to some of the exercises that felt extremely effeminate. I'm pretty sure some of the moves were taken straight from here (and I ain't talkin about the awesome part where Crazy Legs stunt-doubled in a leotard and windmilled his way into into our hearts). So I don't think I'll be going back.

Keep up the tabata,

LSF

The Olympic Lift Medley

Between sets of cardio I get down to heavier business. A set I made up while I was in CrossFit heaven, aka Audie Murphy Gym at Ft. Benning, was what I'm calling the Olympic Lift Medley. Olympic Lifting involves lifting a barbell with plates as straight upwardly as possible. It is the best way to get as many muscle groups to lift as much weight as possible. If you're new to lifting I suggest keeping the weight down or getting close supervision from someone with experience. Anyway, here's how the medley goes with links for clarity.

Power snatch, warm up: 45lbs, 5 reps. Enjoy that guy in the clip, I'm pretty sure that's Meatloaf in a fat suit a la Fight Club.

Power snatch: 85lbs, 10 reps. Same thing.

Overhead Squat: 95lbs, 10 reps. The flexibility on the chick in the vid is not earned easily. Stretch out dem lats and pecs to be able to do overhead squats properly.

Barbell Thrusters: 115lbs, 6 reps. Much harder than they look.

Front Squat: 135lbs, 6 reps. Testosterone Nation's clip. You can't possibly go wrong with a name like that. Love the way this guy says "helbow". What is that? A Swedish accent or just Swedish plates?

Squat: 185lbs, 5 reps. Perfect form. Perfect cargo shorts.

Deadlift: 225lbs, 5 reps. Everyone's favorite. It's amazing how much analysis gets put into an act that is essentially grabbing a bar on the ground and standing up. If you want nice buns, I highly recommend the deadlift. It's easy to learn and easy to move a lot of weight. It's also easy to send yourself to the hospital. So taker easy.

From there, head back to the cardio and melt your gut. Don't let your heart rate drop below 60% if you're looking for caloric burn.

Well. I hope you learned something today and might put this in your hip pocket to use in your weight room. Increase the weight if you are the offspring of Batman, Superman, the Incredible Hulk, and Hercules; decrease the weight if you are mortal. You will soon get results like these...

IPhone muscle app, blurry photo, or just the Megaman shredded from shoulder to helbow?

Before I sign off here, I have a confession to make. My form is terrible on pretty much all of these. It is finally time to just give in and get a month-long membership to a CrossFit gym. AHEM. CrossFit Box. Time to cash in all those bonds my aunt got me when I was 9 and maybe take out a loan from the VA. I will keep the masses notified when that begins.

Keep lifting,
LSF

PS: That was an expensive gym membership joke at the end there. Getting tortured for 15-20 minutes a day ain't cheap.