I should be returning to my regular posting schedule of at least once per week again.  Several months ago my computer went south and it’s been a constant struggle trying to keep it on life support.  I finally decided to bite the bullet and build the PC I’ve been planning on building for about a year now.  Here are some specs along with a good poor quality picture of the rig.

Intel i7 930 Bloomfield Quad Core Processor

ASUS P6X58D-E Motherboard SATA 6 and USB 3.0 compatible

Western Digital Caviar Black SATA 6 Hard Drive

EVGA GeForce 9800 Video Card

6g of Corsair Dominator RAM

LG Blue Ray player and DVD Burner

Corsair PSU 850hx

All inside a Cooler Master Storm Sniper Case

It’s my first real build of a “gaming” computer and so far It’s working out pretty good.  A few problems in the beginning with booting as was expected, but all in all it’s coming along better than I had predicted.  I bought a Creative sound card but it turned out not to be compatible with the Windows 7 64 bit I was running.  Any recommendations for a good sound card that is compatible would be much appreciated. I’m looking at the Omega line.  Props to Newegg for handling my audio card return so smoothly.  Good customer service over there.

Where do we go from here?  I plan on updating the blog more regularly now that I’m back on line with a more stable computer.  My studies into the art of fitness have continued as always, more or less going in a more philosophical direction as opposed to the technical material I had been studying in the past.  I’ve come to the realization that no matter how technical you get with some of this stuff, there’s always contradictions, anecdotal evidence, and ongoing research that you have to respect.  There can be no room for ignorance if you want to take as objective of a view of this stuff as possible.  So look forward to some more abstract and honest thinking coming out of this blog.

Until then; Peace, One Love, and Rock N Roll

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you probably have heard of a squat.  It’s one of the most fundamental movements in fitness.

Today I’d like to share with you my favorite variation.  The Front Squat.

As opposed to the more popular back squat; the front squat has you positioning the weight closer to the front of you body.  This allows you to keep a more upright posture thus reducing the risk of back pain/damage due to excessive compression.

Tips:

1.  Before descending into the bottom position, really brace your abdominals and make your belly as big as possible.

2.  Keep your heels on the ground and your eyes on the horizon.

3.  Try to keep your elbows high and your upper arms parallel to the floor.

4.  This movement requires a lot of ankle and hip mobility as well as shoulder flexibility.  You may not be able to complete the movement with the same range of motion that I can so work to your own abilities.  Start with half of the range you see here and progress as you feel comfortable.

Goal: To keep my metabolism up through the fat season and avoid putting on any excess lbs.

Since my last update I’ve only gained 2 pounds of body mass.  Not bad considering all the chocolate I got into during the last couple weeks.  The kicker; although my bodyweight has gone up, my waist size has dropped by two measures.

This is a great indication that I have gained or maintained a good amount of lean mass while dropping some fat mass.  I’m happy with that.  Let’s see if I can keep it up.

Here’s what I did this past month.

Lifted weights three times a week alternating between these 2 routines.  Each routine takes about 35 minutes with warming up.

Workout A

Superset
Deadlift 150lbs x 20reps x 2sets
Bodyweight Rows x 20reps x 2sets

Superset
Alternating Lunges 10lbs x 20reps x 2sets
Push Ups x 20reps x 2sets

Plank :50 seconds

Workout B

Superset
Stability Ball Leg Curls 20reps x 2sets
Assisted Pull Ups 7pl x 20reps x 2sets

Superset
Step Ups 20reps x 2sets
DB Military Press 20lbs x 20reps x 2sets

Side Plank :45 seconds

I also did cardio three times per week on my non weight training days.  I use an elyptical/cross trainer.  Here is what that looked like.

4min warm-up at level 5

4min HIIT :15 sprint :15 moderate on level 10

And those 8 minutes is really all I do for cardio.  I find if I try to throw in another set of intervals I lose weight much too fast.  You can hate me if you want but when I do those sprints I am in lots of pain, trust me.

I’ll be switching my routine up through November and see if I can’t keep this momentum up through New Years.

I’d love to hear what everybody else is doing to keep off the fat during fat season.  Please leave your comments below.