Author Archives: bgoldstein

Oven Roasted Ribs

I make this one often. It’s really simple, quick to prep, and delicious.

What you need:

  • Ribs (I usually use spare or St. Louis)
  • Baking Sheet
  • Foil
  • Water
  • Oven
  • Spices

What you do:

1) Pre-heat your oven to 325 degrees.

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2) If you’ve bought a full rack of ribs, you can leave it intact, just make sure you have enough foil to completely wrap the ribs. I usually cut my racks in half. ANYWAY… get your ribs on to some foil.

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3) Get your spices together. For this dry rub, I use salt, paprika, garlic, and pepper. I don’t measure, but it’s about equal parts of salt, paprika, and garlic, then about 10-20 grinds on the pepper mill.

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4) Mix your spices.

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5) Rub both sides of your ribs liberally with the spice mix. Make sure you get a good, even coating.

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6) Place your ribs with the meatier side down.

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7) Get ~2 tablespoons of water and pour it around the edge of the ribs.

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8) Wrap them up as tightly as you can. We want the water to get trapped in there to steam the meat.

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9) Put your ribs onto a baking sheet and put it in the oven for 2 hours. No peeking.

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More Strength

Monday, 9/26/2011

Felt pretty good and strong for this workout. First time I have ever rep’d DLs over 400#, even if they were halves =).

  • 3x (3 dead lift@ 90% (1/2 way), 6 box jumps) – 410#/20″
  • 3×5 dip (BW, 1.5 pood (fail @ 4), 1 pood), then 1 set of negatives, got 9 unweighted.
  • 3×5 back squat (235#, 265#, 285#), then 12 @ 50% of 1RM (185#), the 1 set of negatives @ 155# (got 12)

Wednesday, 9/28/2011

Bigg Dave had a lot on the plate for us tonight… we didn’t get much sleep. I was pretty tired for this and it showed.

  • 50 heavy Russian KB Swings: 2 pood (20, 15, 15)
  • 3×5 hang squat clean (95#, 115#, 135#)
  • 3×5 power clean, no squatting allowed (155#, 165#, 175#(2), 155#)
  • 3×5 mixed grip pull up (close grip, rings, reverse grip)
  • 1 set to failure of pull ups (got 6)
  • 1 set to failure of seated dumbbell presses (used 40#s, got 10)
  • 4×5 Bulgarian Split Squats supersetted with pushups to failure (40#/18, 40#/17, 40#/19, 50#/20)

SuperStrong

Bigg Dave started a new strength class at CrossFit Cedar Park called “SuperStrong“. We could NOT pass this up. It’s an 8 week class (2x/week) that focuses on making you freaky strong.

I haven’t really been blogging my workouts a whole lot as, for a while, I was happy just to get into the gym and move around. But now that we are doing more strength oriented workouts, I need to record stuff so I can gauge my weights.

Monday 9/19/2011

CrossFit Total – 3 attempts to find your 1RMs of:

  • Dead lift
  • Back squat
  • Strict press

Apparently, the starting strength stuff I was doing over the summer has had a pretty good affect on my capacity. My numbers worked out like this (holy crap!!):

  1 2 3
Dead Lift 425# 445# 455# (PR)
Back Squat 315# 345# 365# (PR)
Strict Press 155# 175# 180# (PR)

It was a good night, with a trifecta of PRs. My total was 1000 on the dot and it felt fantastic. I haven’t PR’d something in a really long time and it felt nice to show some progress SOMEWHERE.

My last successful CrossFit Total was back in October of last year and was 945# (445# DL, 335# back squat, 165# press). I have added 55# to it (10# DL, 30# back squat, 15# press).

Wednesday 9/20/2011

“We are going to get sore tonight”… he said as class started and… yes, he’s correct.

The workout last night was:

Hang squat snatch: 5 – 3 – 3 – 3 (75#, 95#, 105#, 115# (2, then lost grip).

Then,

  • 3×5 Front Squat, then 1 set of negatives
  • 3×5 Strict Press, then 1 set of negatives
  • 3×5 Dead Hang Pull Up, 1 set of negatives

Weights used:

  1 2 3 Neg
FS 225# 245# 265# 155#(12)
SP 155# 155#(4) 145# 135#(8)
PU Me Me Me Me(6)

I am pretty happy with all of this. My strict press seems to have suffered a bit, but it could be just fatigue, so I’m not really stressing about it. I really surprised myself with the front squats and the pull ups seemed pretty easy… not the negative… those were a bitch.

On top of all of this, the class runs from 645pm – 830pm, which is sort of hard with little Ms. Brenna, but, she has been SUCH a good baby and the people in the class have been so incredibly tolerant and helpful with her. I can’t thank them enough for not making us feel like we had the annoying baby there (I don’t think she’s annoying at all, but some people just don’t like kids).

Anyway… she has been a really good baby through both classes now and everyone in the class is awesome. This is why I love CrossFit and this gym. Thanks, guys (and gals)!

FGB and More Strength

Dave said that I should do FGB on Friday. I didn’t want to, but he said to, so I did it. I got to the box at 4pm and did it alone. Just me and the Tabata timer. I have to say that I am somewhat happy that I was alone b/c it was pretty pitiful. Yeah, yeah, I know that just the fact that I went and did it is great and all that, but boy did it kick my ass and leave me feeling just… worse than 17 minutes prior.

I started counting my reps on the first round. When it became apparent that no PRs were gonna happen (unless you count a PR for WORST), I kinda just said “fuck it, it’s gonna be horrible anyway”, stopped counting and tried to keep it together for the rest of the 15 minutes.

Bad attitude. I know.

I do know that I got at least 10 reps every minute, so my score was AT LEAST 150. I also know that I got around 20 push presses every time and about 15 cals on the C2 each time, so perhaps I’m closer to 200. At any rate, when all was said and done, I was feeling pretty down and in the dumps about how far I am from where I used to be. I laid around for about 10-15 minutes on the foam roller inflicting pain on various parts of myself, then, when I could see straight again, got in the car and went home.

<BitchFest>

I was pretty sad and discouraged for the rest of the night. It was another one of those “nothing is really working and why the fuck am I putting all this effort in etc” waa waa waaa, you get the idea. So, it’s been a pretty much “eat whatever I want” kind of weekend b/c what the point, right? I was talking with Mike T. a few days ago and he told me that all of the people he talks to that have a hard time dropping weight have issues with sleep. Ding ding ding. My sleep is pretty much crap.

I can’t shake the feeling that I am doing all of this for nothing. Taking a step forward and 3 back. So much effort for so little return. Is there something wrong with me? How is it possible that I put in all of this work, am pretty fucking careful about what I eat most of the time and make so little progress?!? ARGH!

It’d be WAY easier to just sit around and do nothing. Honestly.

</BitchFest>

I guess though, I do have to be a bit positive and say thank you to all of the people that don’t let me fall into the little well of self pity that I commonly default to. Mostly V, but also, my friends (who I should really call family) for constantly encouraging me to just keep going despite all of this and that one day, things will be better. For also reminding me to just have fun and let go of all of this shit that I stress about. Maybe one day I will be able to do that. I will keep trying, but I hope you all will keep helping me b/c clearly, if you were not encouraging me, I’d be doing a lot more TV/Computer/video game watching, and a lot less moving around.

So, sincerely, thank you. You are the best.

Moving on.

Saturday morning, we went to open gym. V did the workout and started in on the third strength WOD of the week. This time around it was:

  • 3×5 back squat: 300# – all good… felt pretty strong. Thanks to Fio and Chanse for spotting.
  • 3×5 bench press: 205# – felt heavy bit still doable.
  • 1×5 dead lift: 365# – again, felt heavy but still doable. I had to take a little bit more pause in between each rep to make sure that I was all set up and keeping really good form.

2011.08.10

Today was really tough. I haven’t gotten very much sleep in the past few days, so I was already pretty tired before I even started. Anyway, I went in and tried as best I could.

  • Back squats: 3×5 @ 295#. Hard, but OK. I really need a spotter.
  • Press: 3×5 @ 160#. Very hard. I failed on the 1st set on the 5th rep. I then went to 155#, did it, then 157#.
  • Clean: 3×5 @ 175#. Hard, but doable.

Bonus

  • 1×8-12 Press @ 155# w/4s negative. Bad idea to use 155#. It was WAY to heavy. I got 7 reps and failed.
  • 1×8-12 Squat @ 155# w/4s negative. I got the full 12 reps, but it was pretty tough.

Dave HeyTell’d while I was working out to ask how things were going. I told him I didn’t have much in the tank and he suggested that I might be dehydrated. I hadn’t even thought of it.

Hopefully, tonight, we will get a bit more sleep and I will try to drink some more water. Let’s see how I feel tomorrow.

2011.08.08

So, after throwing a hissy fit and all in my last post, I was still back in the gym today working on strength, with a few additions from Bigg Dave:

  • Back squats: 3×5 @ 290# felt good… I definitely feel better when someone’s spotting me. Makes me think about what the best way to continue with this is.
  • Bench Press: 3×5 @ 200# felt fine. A bit challenging on the 4’s and 5’s but totally doable.
  • Dead Lift: 1xt @ 360# felt strong and solid. Good to go higher.

After that, the new additions were:

  • 1x(Fail 8-12) dead lift @ 165# with a 4s negative. I made it all the way to 12, so I guess we go heavier next time.
  • 2x(Fail 8-12) pull ups with 4s negative @ my fat ass bodyweight. I was not able to do 8 unbroken. I kipped and V counted for me. I was able to do 4, then 3, then 1. I will have to work up to doing 2 sets of 8, I guess.

White Flag

I sort of give up.

It’s been 4 weeks of doing Starting Strength + Intervals while paying really close attention to what I am eating.

I don’t really see much difference. The scale says that I am down about 2-3 pounds depending on the day/time, but my BF % is still between 18 and 19.

I have been able to steadily increase the weights on my lifts, so I guess I have made progress there.

If you are one of my 3 readers or know me, you know that I, historically have a very hard time dropping weight. I can’t even being to describe the amount of jealousy I feel when someone new starts at the gym, goes paleo, works out, and is shredded in a month. It seriously makes me want to put my fist through a wall. I have been at this for YEARS and I can’t even make a freakin’ dent.

After just years and years and years of struggling with this; after reading all of the information I can get my hands on from blogs, books, articles, etc, you’d think I knew it all. Apparently, I know nothing or at least not enough to make anything really substantial happen.

If you asked me, I’d say the 2 biggest contributing factors to my lack of weight loss probably are my high levels of stress (which I am trying my hardest to manage) and the difficult sleep pattern that having a small child yields. I wouldn’t be surprised if my cortisol levels were very high.

Anyway… I say that I “sort of” give up. I am at the point where I pretty much want to say “screw it all”, not work out AT ALL and eat whatever the hell I want. But, I won’t. What I mean by that is, I am done trying to figure out what to do. Whatever I have thought of to do isn’t working for me. Dave has some ideas for me which seemed to work during the last challenge that we did, so I will put my blind trust in that and do whatever he tells me to do for however long I have to do it.

I will continue to work out because it relieves stress and is a source of enjoyment for me. I think at this point though, I am putting my expectations of results into a nice little box and locking it away.

I have explained this before, but it’s not worth going into one more time. My motivation isn’t vanity. I don’t care about having the best body, being the strongest, or the fastest. All I want… all I have ever wanted is to be able to go places in the summer that require no shirts and not feel absolutely horrible about it. I haven’t been in a pool in a really long time and I am pretty sure that I actively avoid situations where people will see my body. Who in the hell doesn’t love being in a pool?! Well, it seems, in adult life, your price to get in the pool is either 1) a body that you are mentally proud of, no matter how it looks or 2) a body that looks pretty good even if you don’t think it’s awesome. I have neither of those things going for me. There is no way in HELL that I am going to any function with my CrossFit friends that requires skimpy clothing. I love them all, but I am too self conscious to be there. Sad? Yes. Reality? Yup.

Really, all I am looking for is a body that I am not totally self conscious about. Will I ever get that? No idea, but for now, I don’t have the energy to care.

I wish that we didn’t live in a society that put so much stress on physical appearance, and I my logical brain, I am pretty sure that my friends who are really my friends don’t care and wouldn’t say anything to me to make me feel bad about it, but personally, I just can’t do it.

Maybe some day, some thing will work and I will be able to enjoy being outside or in the gym not completely covered up all of the time.

I am not holding my breath, though.

Starting Strength #11

I am creeping back up on the weight for the back squats. Knee is feeling better. Today was a challenge…

  • Back squats: Went really careful during the warm up. Started my working set at 255#. That was pretty easy, so I went up 275#, then 285# for the subsequent work sets. I think I am good to go to 290# on Friday.
  • Bench Press: 3×5 @ 195#. Hard but not impossible. 200# next!
  • Dead lift: 3×5 @ 355#. These were HARD. Not impossible, but really hard. I had to really stick with it to get through all 5 reps. My grip also started to go a bit near the end.

My weight today at the gym was 221#, but when I got home it was 219#, so it seems I am down 4-6# depending. Pretty good for 4 weeks, I think.

Starting Strength #10

I had to back off the back squat weight a bit as my left knee has been giving  a bit of a headache. Maybe if it feels better, I will knock it back on Wednesday.

Anyway, here are weights from yesterday:

  • Back squat: 3×5 @ 265#. They all felt good. Just wanted to be really slow and careful b/c of my knee.
  • Press: 3×5 @ 155#. These were rough. I was still able to get them all out without failing.
  • Clean: 3×5 @ 165#. These felt really good. I think I am good to get up some more in weight.

Weight: 223#

Starting Strength #8

Wow… the gains keep coming…

  • Back squat: 3×5 @ 283# – These weren’t bad at all! I did feel a slight tweak in my left knee, but as long as I kept my form good, it was OK.
  • Strict Press: 3×5 @ 150# – These are getting really difficult. I doubt that I will be able to continue going up 5# at every session. I nearly failed on my last rep. 
  • Clean: 3×5 @ 155# – I decided to go up 10# from my last session because these are feeling better and better each time. I am debating 165# next time.

Weight: 220.75#