Max Capacity Training

I stumbled across Max Capacity Training a little over three weeks ago. I love the concept and execution behind this site.

The basic idea is around short, intense, bodyweight workouts. There are 3 workouts a week performed for 3 weeks - each day uses four different exercises in some HIIT style (e.g. 50/10 work/rest, traditional tabatas, or a reps target). The workouts do a good job changing it up so it doesn't get boring.

If you are a facebook user, the site lets you post your stats for some motivation, inspiration (for others), and as a way of tracking your progress. It even uses the numbers to calculate rep targets for the 3rd week of the program.

If you are looking for a quick bodyweight workout to enhance endurance, strength, and conditioning, I can't recommend this site enough. Did I mention it is free????

Crock Pot Pork Shoulder

We threw a pork shoulder from our CSA into the crock pot and cooked it low all day. Midway through, I tossed in a jar of Whole Foods 365 Salsa. This couldn’t be any easier or taste any better.

The rest of the meal: roasted kale, kale sautéed with lemon, kimchi (found some at Whole Foods), and a combination of Japanese and Jewel Yams (amazing!) with a generous amount ghee and coconut oil.

I am following the Perfect Health Diet’s macro percentage recommendations (using fitday.com to track until I get it is familiar). I find that I am more satiated and snack less when doing so. Here is yesterday’s breakdown ( I don’t track the veggies I eat):

 

Weekend and Rainbow Kale Salad

All in all, I had a good weekend. I did end up “cheating” on Saturday – I had some peanut butter on an apple and a rather large bowl of leftover homemade ice cream that we found on the Perfect Health Diet website. We had that on my birthday last week – it did have Famous Amos cookies in it which aren’t nearly as good or tempting as I remember.

 

Sunday, I was back at it and had a great day. Dinner was spectacularly colorful and tasty:

Grassfed hamburger, bok choy, Rainbow Kale Salad (saw recipe card at Whole Foods), and various kinds of roasted sweet potatoes (3 kinds). I didn’t get a picture of the “kale crisps” (kale roasted with a bit of EVOO in the oven) – the kids loved those.

 

From Whole Foods website, here’s the Rainbow Kale Salad:

Ingredients

1 bunch lacinato (a.k.a. dinosaur) kale, thick stems removed and leaves thinly sliced
4 cups shredded red cabbage (about 1 small head, quartered and cored)
2 navel oranges or Clementines, peeled and segmented
1 small red onion, thinly sliced
1 large red bell pepper, cored, seeded and thinly sliced
1/3 cup sunflower seeds
1/4 cup Dijon mustard
1/4 cup freshly squeezed orange juice (from about 1 small orange)
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

Method

In a large bowl, combine kale, cabbage, orange segments, onion, bell pepper and sunflower seeds.
In a small bowl, whisk together mustard, orange juice, vinegar and pepper. Pour over the kale mixture and toss to coat. Serve immediately or refrigerate for up to 2 days.

Day 5

 

Day 4 went great, though I’m willing to bet the green beans we had from a local Chinese restaurant were probably sautéed in some industrial oil. Given that we didn’t have time to cook dinner, though, I am happy how it went down.

Slept awesome last night – ate a rather large sweet potato (1/2 at lunch, 1/2 at dinner). Just ate 1/2 a sweet potato with today’s lunch.

 

I already hit the gym – Saturday’s are my lift heavy day. I did

Squats 5x5 @ 210lbs

Bench 5x5 @ 185lbs

Single Arm DB Rows 3x8 @60

DB Jumps 6 sets of 12 with 25DBs.

 

Saturday’s are typically “dinner out” and “cheat meal”. Right now, I’m feeling pretty awesome after a solid week and not really in need of a cheat, but if the mood strikes me later, perhaps I will have something “off the menu”.

The rest of the day, it’s

No refined sugar.

No dairy.

No grains.

No legumes.

No nuts or seeds.

No alcohol.

Daily Goal

Day 3 in the bag. I didn’t even feel like the glass of red wine. I did a nice DB/KB workout at home

I seem to really thrive if I have grass-fed beef for breakfast. I need to track this and see if it’s true or selective memory.

More of the same diet-wise today. Tonight might be challenging.

Interesting anecdote – this week, on days where I have had some baked sweet potato, I have slept very well. On days where it’s just fruit and non-starchy vegetables, my sleep has been terrible. Today is a sweet potato day. We’ll see if the pattern holds.

This is easy

I’m on a series of one day challenges. Success is much easier when you break it down.

 

Today:

Don’t eat refined sugar.

Don’t eat dairy.

Don’t eat grains.

Don’t eat legumes.

Don’t eat nuts or seeds (they distress me in many ways)

 

Move around a bit. Maybe some bodyweight stuff.

Perhaps a glass a red wine today if the mood strikes me.

Robb Wolf as Dexter

I just stumbled on this. Being a huge Dexter fan, I was pretty amused.