Adapted from Crossfit:

5 circuits:
Deadlift - 3 reps
Handstand pushups (max.)

Results:
Jeremy: 225, 2 negatives, 245, 2 negatives, 245, 2 negatives, 275, 2 negatives, 275, 2 negatives
Ryan: 135, 3 negatives, 145, 2 negatives, 145, 2 negatives, 145, 2 negatives, 145, 2 negatives
Aaron: 135, 1 negative, 145, 1 negative, 145, 1 negative, 145, 1 negative, 145, 1 negative

Aaron and Ryan are just learning the deadlift, so they went light today. I haven't worked the deadlift in a long time, so I also went pretty light. None of us can do handstand pushups yet, so we did negatives. Aaron didn't know how to get into a handstand, so after some training, he was able to do negatives as well. Felt like a lighter day today after the recent difficult workouts.

Adapted from Adapted from Crossfit:

For time:
75 sumo deadlift high pulls with 45# bar
15 burpees
50 sumo deadlift high pulls with 45# bar
25 squat thrusts with a jump
25 sumo deadlift high pulls with 45# bar
35 squat thrusts with a jump

Results:
Aaron: 13:30
Ryan: 14:20
Jeremy: 14:20


While looking at the whiteboard in the middle of the workout, Ryan said “I think there's a problem with those numbers. The squat thrusts keep getting higher!”

Adapted from Crossfit because we're not tough enough to do the prescribed workout:

One circuit for time:
50 pushups
50 sumo deadlift high pulls with 45# bar
50 chair dips
30 jump pull-ups
4 20-sec. handstands against wall

Results:
Aaron: 15:55
Ryan: 16:30
Jeremy: 17:55

So Firth boot camp isn't much like real boot camp because we took the day off on Sunday. However, we were back at it this morning.

Today's workout:
15 clean (and yes, that's a full-squat clean, not a power clean) and jerk - 45# bar
400 m run
As many rounds as possible in 20 minutes.

Results:
Aaron: 3 complete rounds plus 10 C & J
Ryan: 3 complete rounds plus 11 C & J
Jeremy: 4 complete rounds plus 15 C & J

I finally won!

By the way, if you don't know what a clean and jerk looks like, it's an Olympic lift, and this is a great demonstration of the exercise:

Three rounds for time:
800m run
50 good mornings with 45# bar
50 situps

Results:
Aaron: 23:50
Ryan: 26:00
Jeremy: 32:35

In case you don't know what good mornings are, check this out:

I have added two new recruits to my fledgling boot camp. My brothers, Aaron and Ryan, and living with me now and I figured the best thing I could do to help them would be to work their asses off, so that’s what we’re doing. Today’s workout:

3 circuits of the following, switching stations every minute:
8 lb. sledgehammer swings
24 kg. kettlebell swings
tire flipping (with a hop in and out of the tire every flip)
250m run

5 min. rest

Dead hang for time, first one to drop had to do 20 pushups. That would be me.

Finisher:
as many sledgehammer swings as possible in one minute. Loser has to do a 200m farmer's carry with two 24 kg. kettlebells.

Results:
Jeremy: 54
Ryan: 57
Aaron: 74

Again, I got the honor of doing the farmer's carry, although I will say that the swings I did and the swings Aaron did looked different, but that's my fault for not being specific, hence I took my medicine without complaining.

Well, kids, I do need to say upfront that this is NOT the first time I’ve worked out since my last “Today’s Workout” post. I have worked out quite a few times, but have not posted them, unfortunately. So I only get half credit for those workouts. It’s back to the workout-and-blog-it pattern, though for several reasons. I have a few people who follow my progress and check back to my workouts for motivation (mostly to feel better about themselves for how much more intense their workouts are than mine.) More importantly, I like having a record of what I've done and having something to look back on. I get really motivated by looking at the list of entries for my blog and seeing all those “Today’s Workout” posts in the list.

My dad told me one time that one of the biggest reasons he's a welder is that he loves getting to the end of a long, hot workday and being able to look behind him and see all the welds he made on the pipeline stretching miles behind him. It's a physical record of what he accomplished that day. Since the nature of my work (internet video news) is so ephemeral, I don't have the same opportunity to gain that sense of satisfaction that comes from looking at some physical thing and saying “I did that.” Making these blog posts help create that record.

Having that record really helps me to get back on track. I’ve noticed that when stress comes along, the first things to go out the window are the things that help me deal with stress most effectively. I revert to old avoidance patterns and the stress and anxiety wakes me up at night and I can’t focus during the day.

Take it from me, because I have had anxiety issues for a long time, and there is NOTHING that is as effective for dealing with the roots of anxiety than exercise. Seriously. I’ve tried a LOT of other dopamine-inducing behaviors, and they all have some pretty terrible side effects. Exercise gives me the same dopamine rush and endorphine flood without wrecking my credit or my relationships.

Enough preaching. Today’s workout:

15 sec. (7 snatches right hand) work, 15 sec. rest
15 sec. (7 snatches left hand) work, 15 sec. rest
15 minutes

I have talked to several friends that have had some different training on what a snatch is. I got my training from Pavel Tsatsouline’s videos. If you want to get kettlebelling (and break my personal records!), I recommend the men's 35 lb. starter kit or the women’s 18 lb. ultimate kettlebell workout kit found here. The kits include a how-to video to get you started. Yes, they're expensive. They're made in the U.S.A. and they work. So deal with it. If you want to see someone doing snatches the way I do them, check out this video from Mark Reifkind:

The blog is back baby! I'm blogging about blogging. So lame. Anyway, I have a backlog of topics scribbled down in my Moleskine notebook, so stay tuned for a flurry of insightful and witty blogs! Well, they'll be new, anyway.

My name is Jeremy Firth and I'm really disappointed that I can't put up my blog entries. I have friends and family who are trying to keep up with me, and they keep asking me when I'm going to update my blog because they're tired of reading about my fish.

I was sitting next to the VP of marketing for Albertson's grocery store on a flight to Vegas a few days ago. While I was sitting there, I thought of something I'd like to see. I said to him, "You guys have all of my purchasing information since I got your preferred member card. You give me “discounts” every time I purchase stuff, which is fine, but what about targeted coupons? I receive the bundle of ads every week, but frankly, I just don't have time to try and sift through all that. I literally walk from my mailbox to my trash and that's the extent of my involvement with the weekly ads. Since you already have my purchasing information, I'd be happy to include my email address when signing up if you would just email me coupons for stuff that I've already bought, or similar items. That way, your computers are doing the filtering for me, you still get me to come into your store instead of your competitors, and I don't have to spend an hour every week looking at stupid ads, when only 5% of the stuff in the ads are relevant to me." He sounded intrigued, but I'm afraid that generational differences may get in the way of him seeing how huge this is for people my age and younger.