7/2/10 - WOD

10 Sets for Time:

10 Pullups
10 Situps
10 Puships
10 Body Squats

Remember to adjust workouts to your personal ability. If you cannot do a pullup, do a jumping pullup. Do your pushups from your knees instead of feet.

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"I've had smarter people around me all my life, but I haven't run into one yet that can outwork me. And if they can't outwork you, then smarts aren't going to do them much good. That's just the way it is. And if you believe that and live by it, you'd be surprised at how much fun you can have."
- Woody Hayes

"The one thing in my life that I can control is effort. How much energy I expend on a given activity is completely up to me. On occasions, my game may not be top notch: my touch may be off; I can't seem to make a shot; I'm not in the right place at the right time. But my effort level lies outside of the realm of influence of these variables. Effort is my constant."
- RUFIO

7/1/10 - WOD

4 minute body hold

Push up/Sit up Tabata

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Picture and Video Coming Soon...

Horse Hooves?

I guess I knew that I was finished playing soccer when working out became a chore. Mind you, I love exercising, as seen by my blog. Often, I go over the top, challenging myself to things that I cannot do physically, mentally, or both. But I think, for me, that challenge is the point.

As a college soccer player not quite good enough to play professional soccer (USL-2 probably, but let's get real: is it worth playing on such a small stage? If a tree falls in the forest and no one is around, does it make a sound? Are squirrels and deer and other "woodfolk," like elves and unicorns, sentient beings? Meaning if they are around that tree when it falls in the forest, does it make a sound? What is sound? Is sound something more than waves traveling through the air before it hits our ears? Existential crisis, much?) I have taken this fitness kick to be a level of validation. Can I still do "it?" Do I still have "it?" Sometimes yes and sometimes no - I'm looking at you 3 football fields of pushup burpees and "100 flights of stairs." But at least I am consciously trying. To make sure that I am setting up a true challenge, I write the workout down when I feel fresh - no aches, pains, soreness, or other ailments that could discourage me from ambition.

A friend once told me that I wise man once said, "Aim for the moon, and you'll land in the stars." I told him that an idiot said that. If you think about it, that phrase makes no sense. If anything, it should be aim for the stars, and you'll land on the moon - which also makes no sense. Realistically, for you to land on the moon, you would have to aim straight for the moon. If you aimed for a star and did not quite make it, you would not end up among any stairs. You would end up dead in space. If you were lucky, before the air is sucked out of you by a space vacuum, your shuttle would blow up in the atmosphere to serve as a reminder to all that here was an idiot who aimed for the moon/stars and most certainly did not end up among the moon/stars (which might be a sick epitaph on your tombstone). I revised that figure of speech to be this, "Aim for the moon and land on the moon. But just so you know, if you miss, you are in some serious s@*t. Can't say I didn't warn you."

While the above tangent has nothing to do with the previous paragraph - and, upon a second reading, sounds quite discouraging, kind of like a certain person's pregame speech... "Now this guy does not belong on the field with you. I mean he is head and shoulders above everyone else... now let's go out and win this game" - I am handing out life lessons, pearls of wisdom.

Take these pearls, one by one, tie them together, and string a necklace. But be careful to not spill on them and make sure to have a professional jeweler clean them for they are a porous stone, easily stained. Do not stain my pearls.

RUFIO

6/30/10 - WOD

100 Burpee Pull Ups

Tabata:

Run

Tabata: 20 seconds SPRINT SPRINT SPRINT; 10 seconds REST REST REST; 8 sets
It should go something like this: SPRINT-REST, SPRINT-REST, SPRINT-REST, SPRINT-REST, SPRINT-REST, SPRINT-REST, SPRINT-REST, SPRINT-REST.

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"I go to the same place to write almost every day. I don't bring a cell phone. I don't take an iPod. My mind is thrown on its own resources. I make a little deal with myself. I say, just get five pages out. Five pages, and that's it. You're done. Of course I'll get to five pages and always want to write a little bit more, but without that quota, I'd have a hard time even starting. It used to be that I would work on something new in the daytime and then I would rewrite and work on something new at night, but those were the days when I drank a lot. There was a lot of liquid energy and Bolivian marching powder. " - Stephen King

DAILY AFFIRMATION

6/29/10

REST DAY

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Dates got all messed up.

Mark Twain - My First Lie

6/27/10 - WOD

3 Rounds for time:

Burpee-Broad Jumps for 100 Yards
Sprint 100 Yards

3+ Hours Later

4 Rounds of:

3 minutes on, 1.5 minutes off

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Is anyone else excited for the forthcoming Strokes album? It has been way too long since they got together in the studio. In the meantime, here are three of my favorite solo songs by the Strokes members:

Albert Hammond Jr. - Everyone Gets a Star

Julian Casablancas - Left and Right in the Dark

Albert Hammond, Jr. - In Transit

6/26/10 - WOD

For Time:

800 Meter Run
10 Burpees
15 Dips

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Employed at last... A bit ironic in light of the previous post... Still going to shoot for 5 workouts in 3 days.

Argentina makes 'em good, but it sure doesn't make 'em pretty.

6/26/10 - WOD

Tabata:
Body Squats/Split Squats
Walking Push Ups/Dips

AND: 2 sets of the stairwell - 17 stories up and down

3+ Hours Later:
Run:
1 minute high-intensity, 3 minutes low-intensity
2 minutes high-intensity, 2 minutes low-intensity
3 minutes high-intensity, 1 minute low intensity
4 minutes high-intnensity, 1 minute low intensity
3 minutes high-intensity, 1 minute low intensity
2 minutes high-intensity, 2 minutes low intensity
1 minute high-intensity, 3 minutes low-intensity

NOTES:
Tabata: 20 second SPRINT, 10 seconds REST, repeat for 4 minutes
High-Intensity means 75-85 percent; slow jog for the low-intensity

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I'm unemployed. I have accepted it. It could be for a short time. It could be for a long, long time. In any case, the result is the same - I have loooooaaaaaaaadddddsssssss of free time. I mean I have jack squat to do. Yeah, I should be networking, interviewing, and other activities that get me dollar bills, but, honestly, there is not that much to do... I do not know what else to do.

I am wandering in the forest. I am surrounded by trees. But I can't find the path.

Anyway, I might as well get really freaking fit and healthy. Five workouts in the ol' 3 day stretch (if you have not noticed, it goes 3 days on, 1 day off). I am going to post a WOD and a completely separate running workout. Word of advice: I am probably fitter than you - it's true - so make sure you scale this stuff down.

Gorillaz - On Melancholy Hill

6/25/10 - WOD

REST DAY

Become a follower of RUFIO

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Click on this sentence to watch Germany clown on Ghana

And here is a Disney Channel interpretation of Franz Beckenbauer in that game

Is it just me, or was Ghana completely inept? In a span of fifteen years, Ghana went from garbage to making it to the knockout phase. Thanks to globalization, most games of the World Cup are proficiently played and competitive - every country is "Deese."

Except North Korea: proof that communism and isolationism do not work. Seriously, I expected more from them. One would have figured that they had been training together in a secret military-soccer camp in the Kumgang Mountains since the age of 13. BBC reports that:

"North Korea may ring the changes after picking the same starting XI in their opening two matches.
Coach Kim Jong-hun is likely revert to an even more defensive system as they look to salvage pride after their 7-0 thrashing against Portugal."

So instead of the revolutionary 5-4-1 that has thwarted Brazil and Portugal, we can expect to see a 6-4 or maybe a 7-3.

Scientists built a rat lung yesterday. Oh, the double-edged sword that is science. Here are the two options:

A. As an optimist, I hope the rat lung is the first step toward the creation of my very own clone who exists solely to be harvested for organs as needed.

B. As a realist, here is where I truly see this "breakthrough" heading. (Sidebar, this trailer actually motivated me to watch Splice. I am 3/4 of the way through (side-sidebar: I hit the 72 minute mark on Megavideo, freezing the movie and my life for another 54 minutes), and I do not like where this is heading. Dren, the lab-experiment-gone-wrong/proof-that-science-should-stop, will bang either the male or female scientist - disgusting in both cases. I really should have finished watching the Portugal-Brazil game instead, but the first half was soooo boring. Cristiano doesn't even look like he wants to be there.)

WOD - 6/24/10

Tabata:
Burpee Broad Jumps
Dips/Push Ups
10 Yd. Shuffles

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Tell me what you know about dreams?

Tell me what you know about night terrors?

Ten hour tennis match. Are you kidding me? Ten hour tennis match. Things I can do for ten hours:

Sleep
Real Housewives of Orange County Marathon
Come into and then out of an existential crisis
Wait in an investment bank for one interview
Putter
Watch Huricanranas

6/22/10 - WOD

3 Rounds:

5 minute run
20 pushups
20 situps

RUFIO

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Pursuit of Happiness Cover

6/21/10 - WOD

For Time:

100 Burpees
100 Situps
50 Pushups
50 Dips

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Yin: Jersey Shore Season 2 Preview

Yang: Unknowable Unkowns

RUFIO

6/19/10 - WOD

30 minute run

If you want, break it up into intervals, like 4 minutes at a fast pace and 2 minutes at a slower pace.

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6/18/10 - WOD

REST DAY

Yoga/Stretch

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Jon Harkes, American bad ass. First he bangs Wynalda's wife, and then he takes his job.

Did Robert Green star in Lost?

6/17/10 - WOD

For Time:

300 Body Squats
200 Knee Tucks
100 Push Ups
50 Dips (I am headed to the Yale Club, so I am going to do Pull-Ups)
Then 17 Floors (The number of floors in my apartment)

Yoga

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The second round of the World Cup started yesterday. I am writing this post during the early minutes of the South Africa vs. Uruguay game. To be honest, the first round was pretty boring. Yeah, there have been some highlights and great moments:
- New Zealand's last second comeback
- Brazil's two goals were gorgeous. We could debate whether Maicon intended to shoot on target from nearly no angle, but, judging from the way he struck the ball and his reaction I reside in the camp that believes it was on purpose. The second goal was a sublime through ball, the kind that catches a viewer by surprise. Perfect weight, perfect angle, perfect run.
- South Africa's goal and quality result tying Mexico, far exceeding expectations (to be fair, Mexico was much, much better and a bit unlucky to not win. The South African goal did feature a great through ball and superb finish; however, it came against the run of play. South Africa certainly gained confidence after the goal and started to play quite well, but the goal was not deserving).
- The upset of Spain by Switzerland (again, the scoreline is not indicative of the way the game went. I say this realizing that Switzerland's game plan was not to go toe-to-toe with Spain. Their defensive shell was an obvious tactical decision. Nonetheless, Spain did about everything except score).
- Messi: may not have scored but undoubtedly the player of the moment. He seemed to be creating scoring opportunities for himself at will. I thought he was going to have 4 goals in the opening game. His inability to get on the score sheet could be attributed to misfires and not being shut down. If Argentina's defense can improve on that first game performance - it has a long way to go - I think this team can go far.

The fact of the matter is that the World Cup, thus far, has been relatively boring:

- Dearth of goals: perhaps it's the ball. Perhaps it's the lack of chemistry inherent in the nature of putting together a national tea consisting of players tossed together for a couple of months. It appears that teams look scared, as if they are afraid of losing. See Mexico, England, Brazil (though their two goals were quality, their first half performance was dull. Every shot they took was 25-35 yards out and from very poor angles. The goal by Maicon liberated them.)
- Poor goalkeeping: Though I loved that the US scored, the goal let in by Robert Green of England was poor. Dempsey had a good turn, but his shot was as flavorful as oatmeal. The list of poor goalkeeping performances includes Faouzi Chouchi of Algeria and Villar of Paraguay. Off of Italy's corner, Villar flapped at the ball but made no serious attempt to catch or punch it out. De Rossi poked it in, salvaging a point for Italy.
- Ties. Okay, ties are not the end of the world. A 0-0 tie can still be an entertaining match so long as there are some close calls, good passing, clever dribbling, etc. But the manner in which these ties happen is most alarming. They are boring, drab stalemates with fear paralyzing both teams.

Diego Forlan scored the first long-distance strike. About freaking time. This bodes well for the rest of the tournament. More goals. Less fear.

WOD - 6/16/10

Tabata:
10 yard shuffles
Dips
Burpees
Sit up/Push up Alternating

Tabata = 4 minutes total of an exercise, 20 seconds of high intensity followed by 10 seconds of rest. The key to it is pushing yourself to the limit. SPRINT!!!!!

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The Real Life Lone Ranger

BRING THE WORLD CUP TO THE USA

ESPN snapshot of USA's bid to host the 2018 or 2022 World Cups

WOD - 6/15/10

My apartment complex workout of the day:

Six Sets for time of:
17 flights of stairs UP
10 clap push ups
10 jump squats
17 flights back down
10 sit ups

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From Jerry Maguire:

Two nights later in Miami at our corporate conference, a breakthrough. Breakdown? Breakthrough. It was the oddest most unexpected thing. I began writing what they call a Mission Statement for my company. You know--a Mission Statement--a suggestion for the future. What started out as one page became twenty-five. Suddenly I was my father's son. I was remembering the simple pleasures of this job, how I ended up here out of law school, the way a stadium sounds when one of my players performs well on the field... I was remembering even the words of the late Dicky Fox, the original sports agent, who said: the key to this job is personal relationships. And suddenly it was all pretty clear. The answer was fewer clients. Caring for them, caring for ourselves, and the games, too. Hey, I'll be the first to admit it. What I was writing was somewhat "touchy feely." I didn't care. I had lost the ability to bullshit. It was the me I'd always wanted to be. Starting our lives, really.

WOD - 6/14/10

REST DAY

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Are hedge funds evil?

Anthony Bourdain

WOD - 6/13/10

A bit late on this one but it's cool.

Tabata each of these:
Burpees
Sit Ups
Squats
Push Ups

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I can't tell if the World Cup is good or bad for me. On one hand, I am unemployed and able to enjoy every game (which I, happily/sadly have). On the other, I am unemployed and am watching every game, as opposed to job searching.

WOD - 6/12/10

3.5 mile run

Tabata push ups/sit ups

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CLINT DEMPSEY!

High on US Soccer,

RUFIO

WOD - 6/11/10

I am going to steal this one from the crossfit main website:

15 rounds for time of:

5 pullups
10 pushups
15 situps

AND then Tabata on the bike...

It has been brought to my attention that I never explained what Tabata is. Here you go:

TABATA = 20 seconds on, 10 seconds off, 4 minutes; maximum effort

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The rise of the set piece.

Ron Artest wears the number 37 because it was the same number of weeks "Thriller" topped the charts.

Will somebody please tell Joey Fatone to quit calling me? I can't give him free tickets to the Super Bowl.

I am an avid viewer of Bravo. I know what you are thinking - doesn't that make you "a gay." No, Andy, it does not make me a gay. Real Housewives of choose your city is dynamite. In the last episode, they taped a woman losing her mind. I mean she was literally going crazy in front of our very eyes ("Truth, you can't handle the truth!" "Oh my God, Al Sharpton. Al Sharpton!"). From Top Chef to Nine By Design to The channel consistently puts on quality programming.
Here is the main reason that I enjoy Bravo: outside of those misplaced Law and Order episodes (must be an old contract waiting to expire because that series does not fit the Bravo motif), Bravo plays its primetime shows around the clock. Whether its 2 a.m., 10 a.m., or 4 p.m., one can catch a marquee Bravo program.
This practice raises a valuable question. Why are reruns of Doogie Howser M.D. on TV? I do not understand why TV doesn't just play its quality programming around the clock. A given channel probably has about 4-5 good shows. AMC, just run episodes of Mad Men and Breaking Bad around the clock because I think I speak for everyone when I say we do not want to watch They Live. ("When two men put on special sunglasses they see aliens and subliminal messages." I am always amazed by the plots of some movies. I picture two guys sitting in their living room and one turns to the other and says, "Dude, I have a great idea for a movie. Picture this. Two guys find these special sunglasses." And then the other one finishes his thought, "And when they put them on they see aliens and subliminal messages..." Even more amazing than this initial jam session is that THEY END UP WRITING THE WHOLE THING. Never at any moment did they second guess themselves.)

Gwyneth.
-who's Gwyneth?
Paltrow,

RUFIO

WOD - 6/10/10

Rest Day

3 days on

1 day off

Light stretch if you must... might be a good idea actually

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The drummer might actually explode

Summertime Music Mashup - DJ Earworm

WOD - 6/9/10

Brazilian Run:

4 minute warm up jog

4 minutes high intensity
2 minutes recovery
4 minutes high intensity
2 minutes recovery
4 minutes high intensity
2 minutes recovery
4 minutes high intensity
2 minutes recovery

Cool Down and Stretch

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"The more successful you get, the smaller she gets"
- Kelly Cutrone

"Gotta spend money to make money, dude. Economics 101."


I was talking to my friend about the "burden" of having attended an Ivy League institution. He was saying how his two roommates were nice guys that attended Indiana University and that once they heard he went to Yale, they kept telling him how awesome and amazing it is. Not quite sure how to respond, he sheepishly said thanks. It appears that graduates from elite universities are a bit ashamed of their education. Another friend of mine told me that, when asked where he went, he responded, "New Haven." It's as if we are saying, "Yeah, I went to a douche bag university, but I'm not one of them." But we are. [Pause]. But we are.

End Scene,

Rufio

WOD - 6/8/10

I am in a pretty limited gym because I am job searching in New York. The only equipment available are a few dumbbells and space. That said, here is today's workout of the day:

Tabata on treadmill:
10 mph with 14 incline

Another Tabata of an assortment of exercises:
sit ups
pushups
dips
knees to chest

This got me pretty gassed; if it is too easy/too hard, adjust accordingly. To do a Tabata on a treadmill, set your speed and incline to a challenging level. It is preferable to set it at a level that might be just beyond your capabilities; you can always drop the speed/incline down. Plus, research has shown that running harder in the beginning confers more benefits than kicking it at the end. You cannot perform a running Tabata on a treadmill unless you can get off while it's moving. This feat may sound hard, but in actuality it's very simple. Grab a hold of the guard riles on your side and lift yourself off of the treadmill belt. Then rest your feet on the sides where the belt is not moving (obviously). If you have never done this before, practice at a slower pace until you can do it easily - I'd hate/love to see someone get shot off of a treadmill like it was a trebuchet.

LINKS

GOLD

Gold Prices shooting through the roof:

Why does anyone buy gold? Without any intrinsic value - one can't eat or drink gold unless it is, of course, Goldschlager - gold is useless. I think of gold as very heavy dollar bills. Perhaps too many people have been deceived by those misleading Glenn Beck commercials that eerily resemble and run during his TV show ("I've been spending time with the founding fathers..." Is he chilling with Jefferson on Friday nights and hitting the links during the week with Washington) or, perhaps even better, those campy Good Ol' Tom's Commercials that run in Connecticut.

First Real Post

Let me open with a video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7rvBc0-KoOM

I guess bench press is a really functional move... At least they aren't using the stationary weight lifting machines...

Smoke and Mirrors: "These men are like turtle. Flip them onto their back, and they can't move."

My whole life, I've played competitive soccer. After four years of D-I collegiate soccer, I look back on the fitness and strength portion of my exercise regime and wonder was any of it geared towards creating success on the field. Soccer makes broad, general physical demands - aerobic, anaerobic, strength, speed, power, and coordination. However, the exercise program we followed seemed steeped in the shadow of power lifting. Not to belittle that sport, but it is an extremely specialized activity, requiring one to make similar movements repeatedly - and certainly should not be the cornerstone of soccer training.

That said, from here on out my goal is general fitness - unspecialized, non-specific, and inclusive. I believe that during a workout, one should always be moving - and when you are not, seek "active rest." Doing a set of bench press and waiting a couple minutes before banging out another 8 reps is wasted time. A successful workout need not take hours of time and ought to incorporate the entire body. After all, we are not made of separate parts operating in isolation from each other.

I am going to test and evaluate exercise programs. I will follow the directions as they are outlined by the programs creator and keep a (mostly) daily diary of their effectiveness. Footage and pictures will accompany my text.

Also, I need to get a way better title for this blog... open to suggestions from my vast readership.

• I Scored in a World Cup Final - I especially enjoyed Materazzi
  
• James Cameron to the Rescue - Kind of... If only a tribe of blue people armed with sticks could solve the oil spill...
  

First Post

I am starting this new blog. Much much more to follow. I am about to get super busy, but I plan on writing this blog anyway.

PEACE