More BJJ and Sleds...

Well, back on Saturday, Mark and I went over to our friend Pat's place to take advantage of his barbell and squat rack. It was super uncomfortable and slipped a lot, and he didn't have quite enough weight.. I worked up to 3 sets of 5 at 245lbs and that was enough.. (I don't think I've gotten weaker, but I"m out of the groove)... And then I did a few sets of circa-max deadlifts... This took ALL the weight he had and we still only got it up to 295.

Other than that, there've been more BJJ sessions (getting better, slowly..) and today, we had another sled session. There was much sprinting, backwards drags, and newly incorporated pull-throughs. Let me tell you... Sled pull-throughs are a BITCH. That's all I got, though. More later.

Random things.

It's been quite a while since I made a post... mostly because I haven't had any access to a gym, as stated before, and I don't feel there's much of a reason to make a post. But I've been keeping things up.. I mean, a lot of bodyweight stuff and stuff with my weight vest. There's been some Parkour and other such things, so I mean... things are maintained, I guess, even if I do expect a loss of strength to come out of this.

Today, Mark and I whipped out my sled and did sprints back and forth on a basketball course. The format was always the same: one full sprint forward, one backwards drag. We alternated and eventually worked up to about 120lbs. Not a whole lot, but definitely enough to feel it working. The only thing we didn't anticipate was that it was 90 degrees outside and we were in direct sunlight. It wasn't long before my vision started to flash (anyone who's ever been severely dehydrated, at heat exhaustion, or even in hypothermia will know what "flashing vision" is). And we kept going. The nausea came next. We kept going. Then my vision started blacking at the edges. ..okay.. probably time to call it quits.

Turns out we both suffered from heat exhaustion and were miserable for the rest of the day and night. But it was still the first good workout I've gotten in awhile.

Pussy lightweight stuff.

4x25 80lb squats (50lb weight vest+30lb DB)
3x15 80lb Bulgarian split-squats
3x20 50lb Push-ups w/ Mini-band
3x10 50lb kneeling ab-wheel roll-outs

Ugh... I hate not being in the gym. This is pretty much all I managed to do with what I have at home. My sister brought up the good point that I have access to a local "gym" that services our neighbourhood. There's no barbell, just a bunch of pulley machines and the like, but they have DBs up to 80, if I recall correctly. I think i can get creative. 50lb vest +80lb DBs on each shoulder is.. well.. enough. This is just going to be annoying until I get myself under the bar again, though.

Past few days...

Without regular access to a gym, I'm a little annoyed. I won't have the ability to get back into the gym for quite a while, so I'm going to have to make due with my weight vest, my pull-up bar, and my sled. It's just kinda a hassle and since all this stuff is at home, I'm more likely to be lazy.

On the other hand, I went out to the Mason session on Thursday. Met a new guy Gabriel, saw Hai again, got pissed off at Trey for being lazy. We did a light warm-up and the conditioning routine was pretty much ruined by Trey's laziness (in that small of a group, it matters big time). I worked with them on quick changes of direction coming out of a roll, or just rolling in general. Then we spent awhile playing around and trying new and different things. It's good to have Hai around just because he'll get me to try things I've never seen before. Too bad he has to go back to Blacksburg. If Knox shows up routinely, maybe he'll do the same thing.

Last night was my first BJJ session. I suck arse. Strength means shit when you're on the ground. At the very least, it means terribly little. I intend to get much better, though. But I see a lot of disadvantages with my body type. Short arms, short legs.. Almost no leverage at all.

DE "C&J"/RE Upright Row

Upper body warm-up

DE Kipless C&J:
1x8 empty bar
1x3 55lbs
1x3 65lbs
1x3 75lbs
8x3 85lbs

RE Upright Row:
3x12 95lbs

Horizontal Pull:
3x15 Inverted Rows

Horizontal Push:
3x8 155lbs Bench

BB Finisher:
Curls, HSPUs, flies, more curls. Whee.
---

Nothing special to report today.

ME Deadlifts/DE Box Squats/Parkour

Lower body warm-up

ME Deadlifts:
1x5 135lbs
1x3 185lbs
1x2 225lbs
1x1 275lbs
1x1 315lbs
3x1 345lbs

DE Box Squats:
8x3 175lbs

Unilateral:
3x8 135lbs reverse lunges, each side

Calves:
3x12 160lbs calf raises

Weighted Abs
---

I'm pretty happy about 345. I doubt I'll jump to 355 next week, though. I'll try to get a solid five reps out, maybe. The only reason I didn't is because my grip was giving out (mostly due to sweat). I wish I had chalk. Sweat should never be an issue. I do feel myself reaching my limit, thoguh. My lift for 345 is really slow.

Parkour today was fun. We had three youngsters who were quite new and began seeing how we could structure their training in an appropriate way. We started with a light warm-up and began a few technical things, making sure they knew lazies, sides, speeds, and turns. From there, we had small and short routes for them to practice connecting those basic movements together. We spent a good long while doing this, then moved to the rocky area to practice some jumps. Then to BSB to play with the rails where it winded down a bit and we began to just mess around and drill. The end was at "Heather's Place" where we practiced some more jumps and I played around with some drills and very short "combos." A fun day that otherwise just would've been a hot day spent indoors with air conditioning.

ME Bench/DE Pull-ups - Monkey Vault

(Friday's Workout)
ME Bench:
1x8 Empty bar
1x5 95lbs
1x5 135lbs
1x5 155lbs
3x5 185lbs

DE Pull-ups:
6x4 BW

Horizontal Pull:
3x8 155lbs Bentover BB Row

Vertical Push:
3x8 HSPUs
---

Trevor and Jordan thought it would be a good idea (and I don't disagree) to go to the Monkey Vault one last time before I left. The workout above was actaully the first thing I did when I got into the gym. I'm ecstatic that my 1RM from last week has become my 5RM again. I guess I just needed to get my body back into the groove of benching. Nothing else much to report as far as the workout goes. Although, later, I did manage to bench 225lbs with a spot. I could probbaly comfortably do 215, which makes me pretty happy, too.

While I was at the Vault, hbw and Stephen came in and wanted to know if I was squatting (since I was in the weight room). Turns out everyone has wanted to see me squat! The day before, of course, was a high-rep squat day that nearly killed me (not literally), and I was feeling pretty sore, but I figured I could just attempt a light max out. So I worked up slowly and got to 295lbs for one. I didn't want to do any higher than that given my state, but it was fun and it's nice to know I'm back there and probably back to 315 for one on a good and fresh day.

The rest of the time was spent goofing off in the gym. A few vaults, a few runs, one poorly executed front flip into the foam pit. Was fun.

DE Broad Jump/RE Squats

Lower body warm-up

DE Broad Jumps:
1x2 Approx 3ft.
1x2 Approx 4ft.
1x3 Approx 5ft.
1x3 Approx 5.5ft
1x3 Approx 6ft.
1x3 Approx 6.25ft
1x3 Approx 6.5ft
1x3 Approx 6.75ft
6x3 Approx 7 ft

RE Squats:
1x15 185lbs
1x11 185lbs
1x15 165lbs

Posterior Chain:
3x8 GHR
---

Okay, so, for the broad jumps, I wasn't measuring, but eyeballing and also measuring by my feet and dividing by 12 for the approximate inches/feet. Seven feet, roughly, is a lot longer than you think it is. But the real pain of today was the high-rep squats. I swear to God, it was torturous. The first fifteen weren't so bad, but after the second set, I just felt like I was near to puking already. It really reminded me of when I first started strength training, and how I would get in the car and just need to sit there for 20 minutes to make sure I didn't puke on the way home. It's something I am completely NOT used to, and understanding how quickly my quads got gassed out on Friday... I know I need to get better at this. The last set was done at a deload because I'm pretty sure I would've puked otherwise. And I skipped unilateral for the same reason.

DE "C&J"/RE Upright Row

Upper body warm-up

DE Kipless "Clean and Jerk":
1x8 empty bar
1x3 55lbs
1x3 65lbs
8x3 75lbs

RE Upright Row:
1x15 85lbs
1x12 85lbs
1x9 85lbs

Horizontal Pull:
3x12 Inverted Row

Horizontal Push:
3x8 135lbs Bench

"BB Finisher":
1x12 45lbs Strict curl
2x8 45lbs Strict curl
2x8 HSPUs
2x8 25lbs Hammer curls, each arm
---

Over the weekend, I got to play around a bit on Dan's bench press upstairs with Jordan and Ewok. He's got a bench made by Elite FTS and it was super nice, but one thing I noticed in particular was that the bench was MUCH higher than I'm used to. Because of this, tucking my legs underneath my hips was much easier and I got a decent arch in my back with ease and comfort. 135lbs felt really light and easy in this position. Going back to the bench here, I knew what REAL leg drive felt like (and I have never actually used leg drive before, I've realized), so I found a way to get into proper position on a standard lower bench.. Well, let me tell you, it's uncomfortable as shit. I remember Christian Thibadeau saying after Dave Tate taught him the PL bench that it's one of the most uncomfortable things you could do.. His exact words were, "Now I know why powerlifters never go beyond three reps. There's no way you could lay in that position for more than three reps!" That's pretty much how I felt, but I did manage to get the 135 to feel a lot lighter.. I think this technical improvement should improve my 1RM by at least a bit. It didn't feel as light as it did in Toronto, though.. shame shame.

My Summer Jam Write-Up

This past weekend was the annual event many of us have come to know as "Summer Jam." There are a lot of national and international jams out there these days. Beast Coast, PKUSA, Trace Gathering... All of these are well-known and carry almost a "larger-than-life" association with them. But none are simply so large, so ingrained into our custom, so much a part of who we are... as to be known simply as Summer Jam. If you think about it, it's a very non-descript name. It could refer to any of the numerous jams out there during the season, and yet it is still known well enough to JUST be Summer Jam. It doesn't matter who you are or where... If you've been in Parkour for any decent amount of time, you know what Summer Jam is.

This year, nearly 200 traceurs came from all around North America to meet in Toronto, sleep over at one of the world's only Parkour gyms, train together, share ideas, and make new friendships. Three days of training, of goofing off, of learning from one another in the best way possible... Pretty much every community in Canada was in attendance. Along with that, three Americans represented the US: myself from Virginia/Washington, DC; King David from LA; and Rafe Kelley from Seattle.

I arrived with Jordan around noon on Friday to see Rafe still sleeping on a big foam block, and a large group of foreign Canadians speaking French and eating lunch. While I made a meal of some sardines, a traceur from BC introduced himself, and I introduced myself, noting that I was an American. "I'm Andy," I said, a little worried that my sardine tin was reeking pretty badly.

"Andy Animus?" he asked while I shook his hand. Bewildered, as I didn't expect to be known by that name by a random just from the name "Andy," I nodded in affirmation. "You missed some crazy stuff last year, man," he said to me, and then introduced himself. I swore he said "Bryce", so I looked a little confused when he looked at me like I should've known who he was. Well, I don't know any Bryce, so I was confused throughout. Whatever. We'd get to know each other better later (I think he may have thought I was super anti-social, though).

The day started out at Cloud Gardens, one of the most well-known hotspots in Toronto and featured in almost every media piece for the city. I'd never been there before... Let me tell you, until you're there, you have no idea how amazing it is.


It is quite simply one of the best spots for traceurs in the world. There's very little you can't do there. And we played around for a good long while. My heel hasn't fully recovered, so I was wary of the impact forces I was taking and tried to take it easy, but it was a bit difficult given that drops and precisions are abundant here. Toward the end of the day, I heard some of the BC traceurs calling out to Bryce... "Rene! Rene! Come try this." Well, Rene I DO know... And he goes by the name of Res. At this point, I felt pretty rude about not recognizing him, but he repeated himself twice earlier and I heard Bryce both times. Ah well.

Partway through the day, King and Jo Meuris showed up. Now, I've been a huge fan of King's style and technique ever since Cliff showed me his sampler in 2008. This was waaaay before anyone else knew who he was. Way before he joined The Lost Boys. Way before he joined the WFPF and got signed onto the MTV show. So meeting with King was a big deal for me. I mean, we're talking about one of the only traceurs who can move fluidly, confidently, and seamlessly during full sprints. Show me another traceur who can do what King does sprinting and I will be supremely amazed. But maybe King NEEDS to know how to sprint. He's shorter than I am! He's shorter than Dimmonk is! I mean, the guy is tiny and I didn't expect that at all. But I sat down and had a long talk with him... and his take on training, his approach to Parkour as a whole, to media, to competition, to everything.. is so solid and down to earth that I also gained a massive amount of respect for him. I started talking to Jo afterward about her animation (PK Granny.. youtube it if you haven't seen it, it's awesome), her relationship to King, my articles, feminism, and other such things.. It was a very pleasant conversation and she, too, is one of those traceurs out there who I have a massive amount of respect for. These two are some of the best practitioners in the world.. not because of their ability, but because of their heart.

Dan ran an obstacle course at the end of the evening... I ran one of the slowest times for the course, which I'm perfectly all right with. I was 1:31 or so... the fastest time was 38 seconds. Most people clocked in at around 50 seconds. There'll be a video of my run later. I know I made a lot of mistakes during it... Basically, you could take any path you wanted... But there was really two options: do a series of climbs first, or do a sprint first. Whatever you didn't do first, you pretty much had to do last. I chose to sprint first, thinking I could just do the drops down and be faster at the end. What I didn't take into account was that the sprint (which was slow because of my heel in the first place) fatigued my legs out.. and the running and jumping didn't help too much. So by the time I got to the drops, I needed to cat-to-drop and take it really slowly because my legs were waaaay too tired to take any impact forces. But it was a good learnign experience... Whenever you can, order a sprinting portion last because it gasses you out early.



In the evening, we all sat down and had a long conversation about Parkour, what it is, what it means, what it is to train, and some of the best ways to train the human body for this sport. This was an extremely productive conversation (aside from a few derailings and idiots), and it'll be more to take back with me.

The second day, we woke up early to go to the park. Unfortunatley, we were quickly kicked out of the massive playground and had to make a new plan. This resulted in miles of trailblazing through forestry, mud, water, vines, thorns, and anything else you might think of. People were miserable. The younger and the weaker complained a whole lot. Me? Yeah, I was tired. My feet hurt. And about halfway through, I was covered in sweat, heart pumping with energy, and I just wanted to RUN through it... It was a lot of fun, for sure. By the time we got to where we were trying to go, though, I was gassed out. Everyone was pretty tired, so we took some rest, then played around. Eventually, we made it out to the beach where we were supposed to have an MN session.. But I think Dan decided against it because he hadn't planned that super-long hike. So we got to do what we do best: play. The rocks felt amazing on my feet. I could take drops again, I could do long precisions.. and nothing hurt. The water and the rocks rejuvenated me to an amazing extent.. and then I decided to peel the shoes off... and get into the water. Freezing cold. FREEZiNG COLD. But it was okay.

Up until this point, Rafe had seemed a little antisocial and unhappy.. but I saw him come alive in the water. In fact, everyone came alive. We were laughing, chicken-fighting, swimming, splashing... I think beach meets are one of those things that is necessary every now and then for traceurs. If only to really drive home that sense of community. I wish we could do that more often in Northern Virginia. I hope the videos get posted of some of the crazy stuff that was done in the water. You guys will just have to wait for that one.

The last day was spent in various spots downtown. This was much easier for me to do some things. It's the Parkour I'm used to, after all. So we played around. I was marveled by the climb-ups of the Quebecois (who astounded me the entire weekend, really). They go instantly from being in a full hang into an extended dip. One motion. From there, it's a simple kip to their feet. A two-move full cimb-up instead of the standard three where the dip takes some amount of time dpeending on how tired you are.. Rafe suggested somethign to me that I'll need to work on a lot more when I get the chance. I don't think I'll teach it to beginners since I want them to develop the strength before I give them ways to cheat. After downtown, we went to the harbour front, had lunch (and ice cream.. and the cute ice cream girl snuck me an extra scoop, whoo), and then played around at the harbour. Rather tired at this point, I tried to avoid doing too much.. Rafe had us playing Add-On on a non-rail structure, which was interesting and a little awkward. Should be good for the future.

All-in-all, this was an amazing weekend. It was an extremely humbling weekend, as well. I'm used to being the "experienced" one in my communities. Those who're technically better than me are rarely more conditioned or stronger than me, so we all have our strengths and weaknesses as far as Parkour goes. I'm used to Leon being the best person I'm around with any regularity and it's a little mindblowing to instantly be humbled because you're training with some of the best traceurs in the world.. and you feel like a beginner again, completely and totally. You're suddenly weak, fat, and can't move for shit. And that was the most rewarding thing for me.. to really understand how much more work there is to do.