Wednesday's Workout

I woke up achy and cranky. After spending two days moving back into our house, I probably should've slept in, but didn't.

Strength Skill:

• Kettlebell Clean & Press (5-5-5-5-5)

Wow. I think I'm in love. From what I can tell, kettlebell cleans and presses -- done correctly -- are incredibly efficient (and effective) at developing power, strength, and coordination. Starting with your feet about hip-width apart and a kettlebell on the floor, you grip the handle with one hand, flexing your hips, knees, and ankles, and then use your legs to drive the kettlebell up to rack position in a straight line. "It's like zipping up your jacket," Tim cued us. With our core and lats engaged and elbows down and in, we were able to quickly and forcefully transfer the kettlebell up to a rack position before pressing it up into the sky.

Twenty-five reps with each arm were enough to get me toasty this morning, but I'd like to work this movement into my home workouts. They were fun, and deliver huge bang for the buck.

Metcon:

3 rounds for time:

• 10 hang power snatches (135lbs / 95lbs)
• 15 chest-to-bar pull-ups
• 20 box jumps (24" / 20")

I scaled today's workout way down, snatching just 75 pounds and -- in light of my problematic left Achilles -- doing step-ups instead of box jumps. I could do the chest-to-bar pull-ups as RXed, but by the tail end of the workout, I had to bust them out one at a time. I can't imagine how long it would've taken me to finish the WOD if I'd gone heavier with the snatches and/or actually did some jumping.

Result: 10:11. 

On another note: As of today, the Nom Nom Paleo app has been available in the App Store for two months -- and it remains one of the top paid Lifestyle iPad apps! As of this moment, it's in the number 10 spot:

You can read more about the app here (and you can download it here), but for those of you who are interested in the backstory, I'm working on a series of blog posts about how Michelle and I created the app, from the inception of the idea and recipe development to working with a team of programmers and all the unexpected post-launch drama. Stay tuned...

Every Home Needs a Coffee Faucet

Am I right or am I right?

Also? It can be controlled with an iPhone or iPad.



I'm having a coffeegasm over here.

[Source: Buzzfeed]

Link Dump

I've been laying low this week.

It's not by choice. The house is still wrecked, which means we're well into the second month of living in a hotel. Which means the grandparents don't have room to crash overnight when Michelle's working. Which means I have no babysitters at 5 a.m. Which means no gym. Which means I'm cranky and restless.

Maybe it's a good thing that I'm forced into taking a few days off. My right shoulder has been bothering me for over a week now, and I might as well give it some extra time to recover.

Plus, I've been slammed with work, kid stuff, and the Nom Nom Paleo iPad App. (Yes, still. We're feverishly working on a new update to fix the update that was supposed to fix the previous update, but didn't. Got that?) So getting a few extra hours of sleep is a good thing. 

I'm hitting the sack, but if you're looking for something to read, check out these links:

• The New York Times wrote up a nice piece about CrossFit and Memorial Day Murph.

• "The Paleo Diet Moves From The Gym To The Doctor's Office" (NPR)

• Our friend Stacy Toth from Paleo Parents is the "Face of Paleo" in Women's World!

• Holy crap. Tickets for this year's CrossFit Games are sold out. The Home Depot Center is at capacity. I fully expect that it'll be a bazillion times crazier than last year. (And it was already pretty insane last year.) To whet your appetite for the competition, check out the Regional summary videos here.

• The Wirecutter recently researched and wrote a lengthy piece on the best standing desks. Check it out, because your office chair is killing you.

• Last but not least: Glazed-donut-flavored vodka exists. Be afraid.

Wednesday's Workout: Relief

I missed class again this morning.

As readers of Nom Nom Paleo know, we hit a bunch of rough patches this week, and the upshot was that I wasn't able to indulge in my usual early-morning workouts with my fellow 5 a.m. nutjobs. Monday's workout was Cindy plus double-unders (a 20 minute AMRAP of 5 pull-ups, 10 push-ups, 15 squats, and 20 double-unders), and I've been kicking myself for missing it. I really didn't want to miss another sweatfest at the gym.

So today, after finishing up a series of meetings at work, I sped down the freeway from San Francisco to Palo Alto in time for the 5 p.m. class. While I was on the road, I got a call from Michelle and the kids, who gleefully filled me in on some big news:

The Nom Nom Paleo iPad app got approved this afternoon by Apple! (Look for it in the App Store this Friday.)



I'm not used to working out in the early evening, but I was still on a high when I arrived at CrossFit Palo Alto, and knew I was going to enjoyed thrashing around in the gym.

Strength Skill:

• Weighted Pull-Ups (5-3-3-1-1, with sets of 10 varying types of push-ups between sets)

On my last rep, with a kettlebell chained to my waist, I struggled to clear my chin over the bar -- but I was determined not to crane my neck. Trish, who teaches the 5 p.m. class (and does a fantastic job of putting us through the paces), had told us to keep our heads level and eyes ahead. "It doesn't count if you're facing the ceiling." Under this rule, I'm pretty sure most of the weighted pull-ups I've done in the past don't count.

Metcon:

"Christine" -- 3 rounds of:

• 500-meter row
• 12 bodyweight deadlifts
• 21 plyo box jumps (20")

This was a fun one -- the deadlifts felt fast and smooth, and the rowing didn't get awful until the final round. It's amazing how a few days away from the gym made me antsy enough to get a kick out of a metabolic beat-down. And although I missed exercising alongside my 5 a.m. buddies, once the clock started, it didn't matter who was in the room. My only goal was to kill this workout.

But although I didn't suck, I didn't exactly murder Christine, either.

Result: 11:58 as RXed -- a few seconds slower than the last time I did Christine. No PR today, but I still have a smile on my face and a spring in my step. I don't know whether it's because I finally got my butt back into the gym or because the app we've long slaved over is finally ready for release, but I suspect it's a little of both.

Friday's Workout

A lot can happen in two days.

Between Wednesday's workout and today's:

• We finished the Nom Nom Paleo iPad app after months of intensive work, and submitted it to Apple for review;
• I sat in a plane on the tarmac for an hour and a terminal for two hours before being told that my flight to Southern California (for work) was grounded.
• I was booked on another flight, only to be told at midnight that it, too, was canceled.
• I drove home and collapsed -- only to be jolted awake a few hours later by my wife, who had awakened to a the sounds of water gushing out from below our kitchen sink. Three-quarters of our house was covered by a half-inch of water.
• We bailed water like crazy.
• An emergency crew came over and started tearing out our hardwood floors and baseboards.
• We packed up our stuff and moved into a hotel. The insurance company has us booked here for a month.
• Oh, and Big-O had a Little League game.

I'm a little tired.

But I was looking forward to getting back in the gym so I could work off some of the stress I'd accumulated.

Strength Skill:

• Turkish Get-Ups (1, 2, 3, 1, 2, 3)

This morning, I didn't feel super-stable in my shoulders, and found my arm wobbling a bit. Perhaps my shoulders are still fried from Monday's and Wednesday's workouts, but then again, maybe I just need to get stronger.

Metcon:

AMRAP in 8 minutes:

• 21 chest-high kettlebell swings (24kg / 16kg)
• 15 push-ups
• 9 toes-to-bar

The swings and push-ups weren't too awful, but my toes-to-bar were slow as mud. I need to figure out a better way to generate momentum at the finish of each rep; right now, I end up in a dead hang position, which forces me to initiate a big wind-up before continuing onto the next rep.

Result: 5 rounds + 1 rep as RXed.

I tried but ultimately failed to catch the Terminator, who ended up with 8 more reps than me. Such is the way of things, I guess. It's a comforting reminder that even when life throws you for a loop, some things never change.

On tap for tomorrow: The Whole9 Foundations of Nutrition Seminar at CrossFit Palo Alto! And another Little League game.

The Project That's Taken Over My Life

I've been a little neglectful of this blog lately. The reason? I've been cranking like crazy (and I mean CRAZY) on M's special side project: a Nom Nom Paleo cooking app. Read all about it here.

The project started off as a lark. M had been approached about writing a cookbook, but we were really intrigued about the possibility of doing something a little different.

"What about an iPad app?" she wondered.

From there, we've gone down the rabbit hole, and we're not out yet. Together, M and I have developed, written, edited, and photographed countless recipes, and our sleep has gone down the toilet. Currently, the user experience/interface and design is locked, and the content is pretty much done. Programming is underway -- and since that's done by the app company we hired, my gut is that I'll have a bit more time to yak away on this blog again.

The investment of time (and money!) has been huge -- but I'm confident that the end result will be well worth it.

Anyway, if you're anti-Paleo or anti-Apple, don't worry: I'll be back to the farting yoga videos again soon enough.