Oldie but goodie #2

Today we continue our short trip down memory lane of revisiting my top 12 favorite blogflections from the past year with oldie but goodie #2.

While the Pierini Fitness banner describes it as a cyberspace for me to chronicle my journey down the superfitness highway in the fast lane, the blogflections I delivered during the first month clearly established my growing interest in writing middle-age man reflective ramblings unrelated to fitness.

My second oldie but goodie blogflection was originally published on October 4, 2008. It was my first of several to follow with a political message. You can read it here: Always be her groom.

It’s one of my favorites because I shared about my personal life and values and discovered that, while I generally am not one to engage in political discussions and debate, there are instances in which it is necessary to do so for my sanity.

I hope you enjoyed today’s Pierini Fitness blogflection oldie but goodie #2.

Pax Domini sit semper vobiscum

And I shall rest

Our trip down memory lane to revisit my top 12 favorite blogflections from the past year, that began yesterday, takes a familiar time out today because it’s Sunday and, as usual, a day of rest for the chief executive blogger to rejuvenate his body, mind and spirit.

Visit Pierini Fitness tomorrow as the oldie but goodies journey continues with another of my favorite blogflections. It is Sunday and I shall rest.

Pax Domini sit semper vobiscum

Oldie but goodie #1

Today is the start of a short trip down memory lane to revisit the chief executive blogger’s top 12 favorite Pierini Fitness blogflections from the past year – one from each month. These oldie but goodie classics will appear here during the next two weeks in their chronological order of original appearance.

Pierini Fitness entered the blogosphere on Thursday, August 28, 2008 with this introductory blogflection:

Welcome to Pierini Fitness, a middle-age man's cyberspace chronicle of his journey down the superfitness highway in the fast lane.

For the past four years, I have maintained a training journal on two different fitness forum websites. I've created this new blog to continue my cyberspace training journal, and to record anything else I have on my mind for my archival benefit and for the benefit or disadvantage of anyone else who happens to stumble across Pierini Fitness.

Read at your own risk. I make no guarantees and I do not profess myself to be an expert at anything other than my own pursuit of my own destiny.

The first Pierini Fitness oldie but goodie blogflection was originally published on September 3, 2008 and you can read it here: Every man who looks in the mirror sees a 16 year old kid. It's one of my favorites because it made me aware that I enjoy writing about the thoughts that swirl around in middle-age men minds.

I hope you enjoyed Pierini Fitness blogflection oldie but goodie #1.

Pax Domini sit semper vobiscum

Happy Birthday Pierini Fitness!

One year ago today on August 28, 2008 at 11:24 a.m. in the morning Pacific Standard Time, Pierini Fitness was born and entered the fascinating blogosphere universe.

Originally intended as a cyberspace training journal of the chief excutive blogger, Pierini Fitness has become more than that with daily blogflections of middle-age man fitness training ideas, reflective ramblings and occasional economic and political thoughts.

Where did the year go and what's in store for the next year are questions that not even the chief executive blogger can answer despite having an answer for everything else under the sun.

The next two weeks will be devoted to revisiting my favorite blogflections from the past year - one from each of the past 12 months. I hope you'll enjoy this short trip down memory lane as much as I will. Stay tuned because the best is yet to come.

Today's blogflection on the one-year birthday of Pierini Fitness would not be complete without a happy birthday song so please join in below:



Happy Birthday Pierini Fitness!

Pax Domini sit semper vobiscum

Backside barbell thruster

The barbell thruster is an exercise generally performed as part of a circuit or combo of exercises designed to provide an anaerobic challenge. It’s a staple of the daily workouts of the day (WODs) posted on the CrossFit internet fitness website.

The barbell thruster begins by taking a barbell off a squat rack and positioning it in a front squat starting position. You perform a front squat, sometimes to a bottom depth of a bench or large ball and then drive the barbell upwards and perform a push press for one rep. The barbell thruster is a whole-body exercise that, if performed for high reps, will definitely provide a cardiovascular anaerobic challenge.

A variation of the classic barbell thruster is one I call the backside barbell thruster. It's a combo of a traditional squat to as low a depth as you can manage, followed by a wide-grip behind-the-neck push press. Here’s a short video of me demonstrating it:



Obviously, you’ve got to have good shoulder flexibility to perform the backside version. I’ve found the wider-grip actually makes the push press easier. Nonetheless, it provides the same whole-body workout like the traditional barbell thruster with a great cardiovascular anaerobic challenge if done in sufficient reps.

Give it a try and tell me what you think of the backside barbell thruster.

Pax Domini sit semper vobiscum

Single digit midget

An investment-related website named Investopedia describes the term as when a stock price falls below $10 per share. The popular internet website Urban Dictionary, however, states that the term is primarily used in the military to refer to someone who has been on extended deployment and now has less than 10 days left before going home. In a broader sense, the term can be used to describe a milestone or an event that occurs in 9 days or less.

In the blogosphere world, this term describes what Pierini Fitness is today and has been for the past week with two days to go until its one year anniversary. August 28, 2008 is when the blogosphere universe gave birth to Pierini Fitness and every day since then, middle-age men around the world have had had a blog to visit each morning, in good times and bad times, to be inspired and motivated by the reflective ramblings about this and that appearing early each morning at Pierini Fitness.

Pierini Fitness turns one in two days and is proud to be a single-digit midget.

Pax Domini sit semper vobiscum

Forever never made it back to the gym

Last evening I resumed fitness training after a 3-week training rest and recovery sabbatical, managing to arrive at my gym around 6:10 p.m. Since time was short, I took it easy as planned and did a workout that was fast, safe and targeted my whole body. The loads I chose were light and the reps and sets were moderate. I was done 20 minutes later when the clock struck 6:30 p.m.

My workout consisted of a 5-minute warm-up of 25 reps each of the combo shoulder dislocates/overhead squats using a PVC pipe, followed by 4-count cherry pickers. These two warm-up exercises are my favorites to wake up my hibernating body. Afterwards, I completed 5 sets of 5 reps of these three exercises performed as a circuit combo: #1 = front squats - #2 = standard grip pullups - #3 = wide-grip behind-the-neck push press.

As easy as this workout was, I’m sure that by sometime tomorrow afternoon my body will be greeted with delayed-onset muscle soreness (DOMS). Quite frankly, I’m looking forward to it.

In a reflective moment as I began my cool-down, I thought about how good it felt to jump back on the fitness training saddle. Three weeks is a long time off, or at least that’s my perception. I’ve always said that, as a middle-age man, I’m only as good as my last workout.

My reflective cool-down ended as I pondered how many out-of-shape and overweight men and women there are who at one time were fit and trim, took some planned rest and recovery time off, and forever never made it back to the gym.

Pax Domini sit semper vobiscum

Do something stupid and injure myself

Well my three-week fitness training sabbatical is over. My Plan A for today is to go to my gym this afternoon for a workout yet to be determined. If life gets in my way, there's always Plan B which is to go downstairs to my basement and bang out some sets of pullups and pushups and, if I'm brave enough, some burpees.

I don't know how it will all play out other than resuming my training using common sense and caution as I know how easy it would be to let returning zeal cause me to do something stupid and injure myself.

Pax Domini sit semper vobiscum

See you on Monday

Today is Sunday and I'm resting 100%. Yesterday we had our Helpers' Prayer Vigil for Life. Here's a short video:



I'll see you on Monday.

Pax Domini sit semper vobiscum

More to life than just fitness

Today is our Helpers’ Prayer Vigil for Life, a pro-life event with Holy Mass, Benefiction and a 2-mile plus sidewalk rosary procession led by our Bishop Jaime Soto of the Diocese of Sacramento.

My wife and I have been planning this prayer vigil for months and the past week has been extremely busy as we strive for for a perfect peaceful and prayerful event. There are those in the world, including our government, who believe that pro-lifers are dangerous right-wing extremists. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Our goal today is to present the truth of who we are and what we believe to all those who witness us. We are peaceful and prayerful ordinary citizens who bring the love of Christ and offer compassion and choices to pregnant women seeking an abortion.

So that’s all I have to say because I’ve got my hands full today. It's one of those days when there's more to life than just fitness.

Pax Domini sit semper vobiscum