Ian is my trainer and high school friend.  I remember developing a friendship with him because back then there were only a handful of students who lived in Alexandria who made the commute to DC to Gonzaga, and of those who did even a smaller number took the Metro from Union Station towards the King Street area. 

He was an easy enough guy to start a conversation with because he has never been bashful about talking to anyone, he is one of those guys whose brains frequently operates at maximum speeds, this is evidenced by his ability to spout out words faster than you or I can think them.  During high school there were times, when I thought he was a good friend, and then there were times when I wanted to punch him in the head to turn “it” off (it being his over stimulated mouth, not him). 

Through the years I ran into him a few times, a brief stint we hung out for a bit because he worked in a mall where my parents used to own a bakery.  After those last encounters I didn’t see or hear from him for years.  This all being in the late 90’s BF (Before Facebook).   Then coincidentally about a year ago I ran into him in Arlington out at a bar with some friends.  We did the thing that old high school friends do, get the Tivo version of the years which have passed, and start asking about mutual people we knew.  When the night ended we parted ways exchanged numbers and I basically thought I probably won’t see him again until the 20^th reunion. 

In the months that followed this encounter we attempted to get together a few times but it never seemed to work out.  Then one night we met up with a handful of other Gonzaga Alumni and went out to get drunk.  My most vivid memory from that night was at the Clarendon Ballroom, where as we were leaving an attractive Asian woman approached him.  He started a conversation instantaneously, and the next thing I knew I looked over at him and he pulled out a knife, showing the Asian girl.  I thought oh shit time to go. 

Once outside I waited for him with another mutual friend of ours.  When he came out he thought nothing of it, so I asked what the fuck was that all about.  He said nothing I was trying to convince her my knife was bigger than hers.  By the way she gave him her number, which he threw away as soon as he came outside, I’m sure his girlfriend at the time wouldn’t have approved of the very notion of the conversation.  I remember walking home thinking, good to see some things don’t change over time.

What has changed is that Ian is far more controlled than he was in high school.  He clearly has learned to channel his high level of energy.  The energy is more focused.  His brain still moves at a pace which is hard for most people to keep up with, yet he has learned to temper his own comments to listen to what the other person have to say. 

Another thing which hasn’t changed is his thoughtfulness, and high integrity towards friendship.  Presently he no longer trains on a regular basis, as he in the process of starting a new business.  You can check his company out here.   Our friendship which hadn’t been on hold for 12 years is the reason why he is willing to get up at 6 AM and come over to my place to train. 

Fast forward to this morning, the workout started low impact.  We went through what he called a dynamic warm up, which took about 20 minutes.   We then got to a 20 minute cycle of the actual workout.  He called the workout “fight gone bad”. 

To put it in his own words:

“The methodology was initially set up for a mixed martial artist by the name of BJ Penn. The workout was so intense that at the end of it, he collapsed into a pile and said “that was like a fight gone bad.” The name stuck and ever since the routine has been used as barometer for how efficiently a fighter can recover from an all out effort when only given one minute to recoup. The pattern mimics a high output round of work followed by a minute of corner time just like an MMA match.”

We did 5 exercises each for a minute then took a one minute break between sets for a total of three sets.  The five exercises included a thruster which is like a squat and shoulder press, sumo squat to high pull, explosive jumps (though I lacked both the explosiveness and my 1 cm vertical is not quite a jump), push presses which are shoulder presses which use a slight push from the legs to create explosiveness, and burpees.   The video below is of the third and final set.

When I started the workout I hadn’t broken a sweat yet, by the end of the third set the sweat covered my shoulders and started to pour down my chest.  At this point I was thinking to myself this workout wasn’t shit, we were just getting started.  I continued to work with Ian for another 30 minutes doing low impact exercises again, some more core work, and stretching. 

By the end of the entire session I was covered in sweat.  It was almost as if the 20 minute intense part had turned on some faucet of sweat.  In fact I didn’t stop sweating until almost 15 minutes after my workout.  He called it the After Burn. 

Ian has explained the principle to me several times but I haven’t retained it, when he explained it to me again at the end of the workout I blankly stared at him.  It was then I realized how much I had exerted myself in that hour. 

I have to admit that by the time I had breakfast I didn’t want to go near a treadmill or an Arc Trainer; in fact I didn’t feel fully recovered until after 3 pm. 

The way the workout was structured is something I am keen on, efficient and effective.  Ian calls it like training like an athlete.  I look forward to more of it on Thursday.

My eating today was fantastic.  I had my new favorite morning starter of a whole heat English muffin, three egg whites, 2 slices of chicken breast from Apple Gate, some spinach, mushrooms, and a piece of Laughing Cow cheese.  This breakfast sandwich keeps me filled up until lunch, I intentionally eat a piece of fruit about 2 hours after this meal solely to intake some good carbohydrates for my brain to function.  Lunch was a salad I created at home which included a new found favorite veggie arugula, and chicken breast which I broiled the night before.  The chicken breast was marinated with a sauce I came up which tasted great.  Dinner included more green veggies, and 10 oz of turbot.  Turbot is a fish I am eating on a regular basis.  I really enjoy it.  It has a similar taste to Chilean Seabass but has a lower fat content, and is significantly cheaper. 

I found a link online which I’ve posted linked here. 

It’s an article from Time Magazine in 1963.  The thing which is interesting is that in the first line it talks about how US chicken was being kept out of Europe for health concerns, then in the second paragraph how farmers can produce a 31 lb chicken in 9 weeks with only 8 lbs of feed.  That’s the thing about history; everyone makes the connections after the event has already occurred.  Clearly this article which is short, didn’t mean much to people then and I am sure even today no one would give it a second thought. 

Cnn.com industrial vs organic.

How is that food which something we have to consume, and something which defines cultures, it’s something that we use to recall memories, yet we don’t question at all where it comes from and how it’s produced.  The next time you see an ad from the chicken growers of America or the beef council just know it’s probably controlled by a large food conglomerate like Cargill.  Ok no more food preaching this week, perhaps more about how to overcome the douche bags.