workday fitness center work out


I deeply appreciate having a fitness center at the building where I work. The dues are cheap, it's convenient. It has more stuff than most average hotel fitness centers.

That said, it's a far cry from my home studio, of course. It's hot - 70 degrees. No ventilation with the outside. Mirrors instead of windows (I'm so over having mirrors around). The floor is too soft - feels like carpet with a full pad underneath.

And I'm a far cry from my mighty mode when I'm standing for the first time in an otherwise sedentary officework day, feeling rushed in a stuffy, soft-floored room.

So all things considered, here is what I'm finding works.

Day 1 - Standard chest & bicep-specific work.
Day 2 - Overall work out to get my blood flowing.
- 5 minutes walking on treadmill
- push-up/pull-up, increase reps - 1/1, 2/2, 3/3, 4/4
- overhead squats on Universal machine, military press station, to work on bottom position in Olympic lifts
- straight-leg deadlift with DBs
- pull-ups, various grips
- push-ups on DB, extend into row, each one
- Atlas hip rotation lift (I created this one, must explain in another post)
- 5 - 8 minutes on elliptical machine

This feels great and gets me back into my groove for the day and week. It's a lesson in accepting the idea of a LIGHT work out. I'm trying to let go of the notion that I'll do any serious heavy lifting there, or anything involving jumping, like DB swings and cleans. There's another time and place for that. Another application of Be Here Now.

Rip-off report on gyms, healthclubs

Rip-off Report health clubs and gyms holds hundreds of complaints about specific gyms - memberships, contracts, fees, PT sales, etc. Is your gym on the list?

Thanks, Krista

a little sandbagging

Oregon Golden Gloves

Championship finals - good tournament, terrific night.

Three out of ten final bouts were chicks. One of those was especially good - featherweight Breanna Morlock of Ferndale vs. Ivet Panacoatl of Hillsboro. Evenly matched fighters with sharp skills and great conditioning. Bantamwieght Janna Piper of Portland had impressive skill and technique. She lost against windmill wailer Angelica Acuna of Ferndale. Acuna had consistent aggression but little skill. Unfortunately, the crowd and often the judges tend to reward that. But I'd watch Piper.

Lots of good bouts between guys, especially lighter weight classes. I particularly liked light-welterweight Jasper Smith of Warm Springs Nation. He won a well-executed fight with Thomas Miller of Kelso that had the crowd roaring over the lounge music from the next room (this was at an Elks Lodge).

Sponsors were all unions - ironworkers, pipefitters, dockworkers, laborers, bricklayers. Awesome.

Of note in the history of this tournament is 77-year-old Dorothy Milberger, who's been organizing and judging the event since the 1960s. The Oregonianhighlighted her in the preview article (nod to Laura Oppenheimer for her thoughtful coverage). I'd love to interview Dorothy for Straight to the Bar, so if anyone out there can hook me up, please post here.

Top - crappy cell phone photo of wailing windmill welterweights Dalia Diaz of Portland vs. Griselda Madrigal-Santana of Wenatchee.

incoming booty



Just ordered the book The Complete Sandbag Training Course by Brian Jones, and the DVD Olympic Style weightlifting with Jim Schmitz, from Ironmind.com. Am also reading up on CrossFit from journals. Haven't bought a book in a while. I did just finally get The Office, season one on DVD, to go with the rest of the series we already have.

ETA: Reviews are up.
sandbag booklet review
Olympic lifting DVD review

boxing kitty

spring