Daily Mental and Physical Training
The Training blog of Tom Rowland. Father, Husband, Son, Professional fisherman, Television host, Television producer, Athlete, living life with passion. Mental and physical training through SealFit, Goruck Selection and CrossFit.
With rain on the forecast again, I decided to flush out the lactic acid from Frogman's New Year with an original deck of cards.
This one is easy and a great travel workout, but I really do enjoy doing it with the group. It is somewhat conversational but still, a lot of work.
Shuffle a deck of cards
Red cards = pushups
Black Cards = Burpees
Face Cards = 10
Aces = 11 or 1 as a scale
go through as quickly as you can.
Tuesday
For time:
Row, 3000 m
300 Double Unders
Run, 3 mi
Wednesday
Normal Park Stairs
Thursday, Christmas Eve
Frogman's Christmas (Frogman's New Year)
100 Pullups
250 Pushups
500 Situps
Run 3 miles
For time
My time on this one today was 65 minutes. When preparing for Selection, I did it in 56 minutes. That is a little disappointing but still an awesome workout. Great group of guys today with alot of kids. Nate Drew killed it and beat his Dad...and his dog.
Merry Christmas to everyone
Our finisher was 1RM Turkish Getups. Trey got 135 pounds and I almost killed Mike's dog Sophie
Posted by Tom Rowland Training on Monday, December 21, 2015
Row 1000
then
20 Wall Ball
20 Box Jumps
20 Burpees
x 2 rounds
then Run 800
For time
then
Finisher: 1RM Max Turkish Getup (See video)
We ease our way into the weekend with some Double Kettlebell situps with 53 pounds in each hand and then Every Minute on the Minute 5 pullups and 5 Dips for 20 minutes. We are all a little sore from this week and some will be running the Lookout Mtn race tomorrow. Easy day. Enjoy your weekend
Posted by Tom Rowland Training on Friday, December 18, 2015
Linda left us all more than a little sore yesterday so I planned a pretty easy day today to get us moving, eliminate lactic acid and get ready for a great weekend.
Kevin remarked that it seemed like Festivus today with feats of strength and the airing of grievances (Seinfeld). We did double kettlebell situps with 53 pounds in each hand and some other core work and then hit the workout of the day:
Every Minute on the minute (EMOM) for 20 minutes
5 pullups
5 dips
Some days it is nice to back off the intensity and have a conversational pace. I had a good time this morning working our way through a relatively simple and easy workout.
Update on Wim Hof breathing: I have been experiencing a plateau for the last couple of weeks. When I first started this method, I saw rapid improvement in my breath retentions but soon after they began to drop and eventually simply plateaued until today. I was getting around 2 minutes for each one but really not getting any further. Without worrying about the time, I continued along with the program and saw significant success in other areas like my running, several workouts, many PRs and an overall feeling of being less tired and more focused.
Today, my retentions started around the same but on set 2, I went for 2:30. Again on set 3 and 4 I hit 2:30 and on set 5 went to 2:40. This was exciting to me because it is the first time I have seen improvement in 5 or 6 weeks. Some of us are seeing times of 5 minutes or more on the breath retention with lungs completely empty but I have just not gotten there yet. Today gave me hope that I will continue to improve and may be able to make it to 3 minutes or longer.
Many people have communicated by email with me about the Wim Hof Method. If you are trying this, I am very interested in your results. Leave a comment or email me at Permitfly4@aol.com and let me know what kind of results you are experiencing.
Today started a little differently than most. I opened the garage at 4:50 am and met Bill Clift outside. We prepared to do the Wim Hof Breathing Method like we have every day for the last several weeks. When doing this breathing, you get pretty focused on what you are doing and in a zone. During this time, I was aware that my dogs were making a funny bark that I don't normally hear but continued with my breathing. It seemed that Gus had caught an Opossum and brought it in the garage and dropped it on Bill's legs while he was in deep breathing. I was unaware of what was happening, but once I finished I saw what was going on. Bill is visiting from Austrailia, so this will give him a great story to take back to his mates. Only in Tennessee!
Recently, I purchased 2 new Rogue benches. These things are really solid and came fully assembled. We really don't do a ton of bench pressing at the RRL, but it is really not because I don't like the exercise, it was mostly due to the fact that we really didn't have enough benches. With these two new ones, I decided to do a workout that I have always wanted to do but have avoided because we didn't have enough gear.
Linda
10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1
Deadlift 1.5x Body weight
Bench Press 1 x Body weight
Clean .75 x Body weight
Set up 3 bars and go through as fast as you can. Do 10 of each exercise, then 9 and on down the line.
I like this one because I am weighing 170 rather than 187 and that sure does make the whole thing easier. My weight loss reminded me of the book that I just read called Extreme Ownership by Jocko Willink and Leif Babin. In it they go over the concept of Discipline = Freedom. I had to be extremely disciplined to lose 17 pounds, but by having that discipline, I now enjoy the freedom of running much faster and using lighter weights in a workout like this. There is far more to that concept than my extremely simple comparison, but it hit home today. I strongly suggest that you read that book.
I finished in 27:14 today and don't really have any idea how that stacks up. I am sure that lots of people can go much faster, but I thought it was decent for my first try.
It is also of note that it rained during 90% of the workout and we had about 15 guys today. No one complained. Not even Bill regarding the opossum.
We made our 7.12 4 Bridges route safer by taking a back road. This added a little and our new route is 8.01 miles. We still run the 4 bridges and cross the TN River 4 times. I liked this new run better.
I ran it in 65:01 but Michael Miller crushed it almost 5 minutes faster than me! Way to go MM.
Alan rounded up some cash from the guys and gave my wife a very nice gift of a few gift cards for massage and other stuff that ladies like. Thank you so much to all of you guys for thinking of her. Without her patience, there would not be an RRL.
Great one today and Trevor really went after it.
Great day to sweep behind the weight stacks because we used almost everything we had. I think we had 15 athletes today and still had room and enough weights to get this one done.
#Greatwaytostarttheday
Despite a pending rain storm, we had a full house this morning. We almost beat the rain.
At the RRL, we dont have weather days. Rain, snow, sleet, hail, extreme cold or extreme heat will not change what we do. This is mostly because we only have a driveway to do our workouts with a small garage. Not too many people can fit in the garage, so, over the last 8 years, we have just learned to love the elements. Today offered unseasonably warm conditions followed by the beginning of a nice storm front. We finished 90% of the workout in summer-like conditions in December.
RRL Warmup
WHM Breathing- 5 rounds plus pushups
1. Sled Push/Burpee
Sled Push 50 m (down and back) with 225 lbs
5 Burpees
x 4 rounds
for time
2. Push Press
5-5-3-3-1-1-1
3. Sled Push/Burpee
Sled Push 50 m (down and back) with 180 lbs
5 Burpees
x 4 rounds
for time
4. 50 Power Overs for time
Power OversAlan Lebovitz and Rusty Gray doing Power Overs this morning before the rain
Posted by Tom Rowland Training on Monday, December 14, 2015
We have done this Sled Push/Burpee workout before...but that was also before I resurfaced the driveway with about 400 lbs of sand in the mix. No doubt that there is more friction on the driveway. We used to pile 315 pounds onto the sleds but after trying that yesterday, I dropped it to 225 for about the same effect. Today, we pushed the sled x4 then did our push press and then returned to the sled -45 pounds for a second round. Things changed as it began to rain. I thought that traction would be an issue, but I was surprised when the sleds were moving much faster. The rain was an advantage as it made the driveway slicker but we were able to maintain traction. I got some cool pictures and video this morning of Mike and Alan in the rain. See below.
Great Morning! Happy Monday.
If you don't know Ross Enamait, you definitely should. Ross is a boxing trainer who runs the site, www.rosstraining.com
I found Ross' site in 2005 and loved it right away. Ross has an excellent attitude and I enjoy what he writes. He has books and videos that are excellent. Check them out. I liked his attitude so much that I asked him to be on Saltwater Experience. The weather messed us up a little, but we had a great time and he caught a huge Bull Shark.
One of Ross signature workouts is one called Work Capacity 101 (Sometimes just WC 101 seen in the video above). It is a simple workout, really, but guaranteed to give you a challenge and a benchmark to work towards each time you repeat it.
The idea is to do as much work in 20 minutes as possible (work capacity) with the goal of completing 10 full rounds. At some point, I started to see how fast I could do 10 full rounds and it made the workout even more intense. You can do it either way.
The concept of work capacity is simple. Take a given amount of time and do work in that time. If you can increase your fitness to allow for more work in the same amount of time, you are in better physical condition. Work capacity is a great judge of fitness.
The workout looks like this:
Work Capacity 101
As many rounds as possible in 20 minutes of:
5 Pull-ups
10 Ball Slams (we use an 8 lb non bouncing slam ball)
15 Burpees
20 Jumping Jacks
I think the fastest that I have ever completed 10 rounds is 16:39. We have not done this workout in over 2 years so I was excited to give it another try.
Today, I was thrilled to complete 10 rounds in 15:56. I have been doing this workout since 2006 and consistently improved, but today was the best. This is very satisfying because I am 47 years old and still improving.
Workouts like Ross' WC 101 give us the opportunity to use simple movements to set benchmarks and gauge our fitness. Keeping track is hugely important to always know where we are and what we need to work on. Besides...seeing improvement; even by 1 second is incredibly motivational. That motivation carries through every part of your life.
Short and Heavy...That is the theme for today.
RRL Warmup
30 Overhead Squats with PVC, 10 Push-ups, 10 Ring Dips, 10 Pull-ups, 10 Burpees, Jump Rope (Singles), 3 mins ,20 GHD Sit-ups, 20 Hip Extensions, 20 Toes To Bars
1. WHM Breathing 6 rounds plus pushups
2. Workout 1
5 rounds for time of:
12 Kettlebell Swings, 70/53 lbs
40 Double Unders
3. Workout 2
Complete as many rounds as possible in 6 mins of:
7 Front Squats, 135/83 lbs
50 Double Unders
Here is a picture of our board today with results
Still reeling that Turner turned 18 yesterday. Cant believe it. This is me and him in 1999 walking to the skiff. One of my favorite pictures
Alarm: 4:45 AM
1. WHM Breathing 6 rounds plus pushups
2. Run 7.2 miles
I ran today WITHOUT the dogs for the first time in quite a while. It was kind of nice for a change because I had a chance to listen to the first few chapters of Jocko Willink's Extreme Ownership. If you own a business, manage a team or simply manage your most important team...your family, this is a great book.
I ran with Mike Drew, Michael Miller and Patrick this morning and held the lead to Walnut Street Bridge and then got passed by Mike and Michael. I was able to stay in sight of them and even catch up a little by concentrating on higher cadence and shorter steps. It does take concentration for me to run that way, but I am noticeably faster and could probably drop minutes if I could remain concentrated for the entire run.
I felt great today. It was 38 degrees and I just ran in a pair of shorts and t shirt. My time was 54:04 which is a 4 minute PR and really about a 6-7 minute improvement over my average on this run.
Thanks Mike, Michael and Patrick for pushing hard. We all set PRs today.
I have kept up the breathing every day and really do feel as though it has made a remarkable difference in my performance. The cold exposure is definitely not as pleasant as the breathing, but I am doing it. Doing something when you dont like it is a mental victory. I definitely dont like the cold water, but I will stick it out. Part of this program is to choose a challenge that you didnt think you could do at the beginning. I think that a 15 minute swim in the lake on Jan 1 may be in order. Who knows...I could chicken out.
I am so proud of all my children. Today is Turner's day. He is the one in the blue shirt. I am a very lucky man to have a family like I do. I am very grateful. Happy Birthday Turner.
Today is my son's 18th birthday. It is an important day for so many reasons. Of course, I am so proud of Turner. He is a wonderful young man who is making excellent choices. He is working so hard in school and in wrestling this year. His current situation is a great example of the post I made yesterday. Discipline = Freedom.
Turner has been disciplined in his studies, chosen to take difficult classes, remained focused on the goals, worked extremely hard in his chosen sport, was disciplined enough to avoid trouble and because of all of these things he is experiencing tremendous freedom. He has been admitted to tons of schools for academic reasons, as well as receiving attention from many college wrestling coaches. He is basically able to write his own ticket to where he wants to go and what he wants to do. I am extremely proud of him.
Today is also a day that reminds me that physical fitness, diet and taking care of my body was not always a top priority for me. Nope...in fact, I got pretty out of shape at a few points and neglected my body pretty badly; but it was Turner who helped me to turn it around completely.
As a fishing guide, I worked 12-15 hours a day and when finished would polish off a 12 pack while getting ready for the next day. I was on a See-Food diet (See food and eat it) and really paid no attention to my weight, cardiovascular conditioning or even strength. Soon, the physical toll of guiding fishing trips caught up to me and I started to have back trouble. This was the first clue that I needed to take some steps to get stronger in certain areas.
When my wife and I started to consider having children about 20 years ago, everything changed for me. I did not want to be out of shape, in fact, I decided that I wanted to be a positive role model for my new child and show them that it is important to take care of your body.
It was tough, but I turned it all around. No more drinking, and I started running. It was a chore to run at all, but soon I was getting 30 minutes in every day. I worked my way through almost every running injury that there is and patiently stayed the course. My diet improved and when I read Enter the Zone by Barry Sears, I developed a much better understanding of how food nourished our bodies. At the very least, I became very clear on what a carbohydrate was, which foods were fat and which contained protein.
I dropped tons of weight and on this day 18 years ago, I had regained my athletic life. My business was improving steadily and my wife and I welcomed Turner into our lives. From then on, everything changed. I realized that I had to work far more than ever before to make sure that I could provide for my family and I had some serious motivation in the form of an 9 lb 1 oz baby boy.
Realizing that being a fishing guide was like being a professional athlete, (at least the type of fishing that I was doing...pushing a boat around in the wind all day, every day with a long stick) I began to put my physical state as a priority. This priority was not a selfish act, rather it always came from a place of wanting to be able to do my job better so I could work more days in a row without having to take a day off. More days equaled more money and we needed every cent we could get back then.
In the guiding world, physical fitness is a strange concept, but it turned into my edge and I was able to be on the water anytime the phone rang and never had to turn down a trip because I was tired. (Discipline = Freedom)
It is hard for me to believe that Turner is 18 today. So many things have happened in his life and sometimes it seems like yesterday that he was born. His life has been a journey in so many ways. It is certainly a learning process to raise any child, but the first one is kind of like trying to hack your way through a jungle with a machete. There are no owner's manuals so we just had to forge our way the best we could. We made tons of mistakes along the way and continue to make them today. Turner has always been patient with us. Thanks Turner...one day you will have a child of your own and realize what every parent does...wow...this is tough. It may be tough, but it is worth it...every moment, every laugh, every tear, every smile, every day...it is all worth it.
Today, we honored Turner's birthday by doing a workout that I named for him a while back. I chose to do it in the 20 pound vest just for kicks:
Turner
Run 1 mile
Row 1000 m
100 Burpees
For time
Happy Birthday Turner! I love you.
Alarm: 4:45 AM
1. WHM Breathing6 rounds plus pushups
2. Squat Clean 5-5-3-3-1-1-1
3. Workout
Row 30 calories
30 Bar Facing Burpees
30 Hang cleans @ 135 lbs
4. Chi Gong Yoga Finisher
This doesn't have anything to do with today's workout. This is a moment from Goruck Selection where they had us take everything out of our bags and put it in a giant pile. THey took all our food and made sure we didnt have any prohibited items. We had :30 seconds to get ready. I am just over the Cadre's left shoulder. This part of the event was not ideal for me or many others.
Sorry for the late post, I was pretty busy all day answering questions on my other various social media accounts. For those who may not know, I have 3 fishing television shows that all have pretty healthy social followings. My show is called Saltwater Experience and the handles are:
Twitter: @saltwaterexp
Facebook: Saltwater Experience
Instagram: @saltwater_experience
and my personal instagram @ tom_rowland
If you are into fishing, go check them out.
Today, I offered to answer any questions posted until 2 pm. There were alot of questions! Wow...I hope I helped some people. That is what I was hoping to do.
On the workout side of life, we started our day with this one:
1. WHM Breathing
2.
CrossFit Games Open 11.6 / 12.5 : 93 reps | Rx'd -14 reps
AMReps in 7 mins:
3 Thrusters, 100 lbs | 3 reps 3 Chest-to-bar Pull-ups | 3 reps
6 Thrusters, 100 lbs | 6 reps 6 Chest-to-bar Pull-ups | 6 reps
9 Thrusters, 100 lbs | 9 reps 9 Chest-to-bar Pull-ups | 9 reps
12 Thrusters, 100 lbs | 12 reps 12 Chest-to-bar Pull-ups | 12 reps
15 Thrusters, 100 lbs | 15 reps 15 Chest-to-bar Pull-ups
18 Thrusters, 100 lbs | 3 reps 18 Chest-to-bar Pull-ups
21 Thrusters, 100 lbs 21 Chest-to-bar Pull-ups
It might look confusing the way it is written above but it is really simple. do 3 thrusters/3 chest to bar pullups, then go to 6/6, 9/9, 12/12, 15/15...ect... for as many as you can possibly do in 7 minutes.
I have done this workout several times and my best was 107 reps or being 1 shy of completing the 18 thrusters. I thought I could beat that today, but was not able to. In fact I was 14 short.
I guess it is hard to set a PR every day, but at least I got one this week on the 5 mile run.
Ill take it.
Have a great weekend
Run day
Run 5 miles
Again, I set a PR on this course. After 7 weeks of Wim Hof Breathing and cold immersion, I have set 3 Prs on our 5 mile course. Today, I ran 35:19 which is 3 seconds faster than last time. Bravo was being a little difficult which slowed me down a bit. Im pretty sure I could have run faster today.
I also have to credit the Dolce Diet to some of this speed. I have lost 17 pounds since Sept and feel much faster. However, the weight alone is not the reason for the newfound speed. The breathing is definitely making a difference.
Another rainy day at the RRL. I resisted the urge to do a deck of cards and settled on this one
1. WHM Breathing- 6 rounds plus pushups with full lungs
2. Push Press
3-3-3-3-3
Then
3. 5 Push press @ 155
15 burpees
200 m run
AMRAP 10 minutes
Guest Brandon Clift enjoyed the Birthday vest today
Rainy day here so I planned something that would require almost no movement and allow everyone the option of being under the cover of the garage. It turned out to be tougher than we thought it would be.
2 Man Team
One partner works at a time. Both partners do all the reps on the board. Kettlebells may not touch the ground or +10 rep or second penalty.
2 Min plank/Farmers Hold 140 lbs
50 burpees/Farmers Hold 140 lbs
50 double unders or 150 singles/Farmers Hold 140 lbs
50 pushups/Farmers Hold 140 lbs
then
100 Arm Haulers
100 grasshoppers
I always try to schedule a long workout for Thanksgiving. The guys who stay in town generally have a little more time and we all want to earn our cheat day and also burn up everything we have to make room for the good cooking later in the day.
2015 did not disappoint as I scheduled a workout that I have been wanting to do for a long time.
Clovis is a Hero workout from CrossFit
Run 10 miles
150 Burpee Pushups
For time
We split it up into 2 miles and 30 burpee pushups rather than the full 10 miles and then 150 burpee pullups. It is probably much faster the way we did it.
It took me 1:33:00
Later, I set a record for caloric intake and loved every second of it
Short, sprint workouts today
1. Wim Hof Breathing 4 rounds plus 1 round with pushups
2. 3 minute AMRAP- Burpees
3. 4 minute AMRAP- 10 Power Cleans @ 135/ 20 pullups
4. 4 minute AMRAP- 5 Burpees/5 Thrusters @95
A favorite emerges today. Leap Frog format team workout featuring rows, kb swings and wall balls. I love this format as it is a perfect interval which is intensified by your team mate.
1. Bear Complex 1-1-1-1-1
2. Leap Frog Team Workout
Row 10 calories
15 kb swings
15 wall balls
Partner 1 starts on the row while P2 rests. when 10 calories are completed, P1 calls out to P2 and P2 starts on KB swings. P1 moves to the Wall Balls. Continue moving through the exercises with one person working at a time for 20 minutes
I think we were all going with meters on the rower rather than calories which would explain the higher scores yesterday. Calories would take a little longer. Need to watch that next time.
The blog of Tom Rowland. Father, Husband, Son, Professional fisherman, Saltwater Experience Television host, Television producer, Athlete, living life with passion. Mental and physical training through SealFit, Unbeatable Mind, Goruck Selection and CrossFit.
Stats: 53 year old Male, Husband, Father of 3, 5'8, 170 lbs, SealFit Kokoro 30 graduate Class 30, Goruck Selection Class 15 top 10 but DNF, GRT, lots of runs, obstacle races, CrossFit stuff. Professional TV Host, Fishing Guide, Tom Rowland Podcast
Vitals
Age: 55
Deadlift: 355
Back Squat: 365
Front Squat:285
Clean and Jerk: 245
Snatch: 175
5 mile run: 36:47
12 mile ruck @ 55 lbs: 2:57:59
100 burpees: 4:27
Max Pullups: 53
Training for:
LIFE, FISHING, Elk Hunting, CrossFit Games Age Group, Goruck Selection, SealFit, Olympic lifting, Endurance, Life in general
Logged workouts and results
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