4 FITNESS GUYS

4 Fitness Guys Launched!

2010-01-08T01:34:00.000-08:00

Last posting on this Blog was dated May 27, 2009 and 7 months later, we continue to practice CrossFit with some Martial Arts (Kickboxing and Krav Maga) on the side. We have also put together a team that will be delivering not just blogs with our fitness experience, but also products that you can use to assist you in a more productive workout. Introduction on our first product will be coming soon.

We call ourselves the 4 Fitness Guys because we consist of 4 guys (Brian, JV, Ryan, Zack) that understands the importance of Fitness and how much they affect our every day life. In this blog, we will strive to deliver our stories, advices, experiences and discoveries as we continue to practice CrossFit, Martial arts and the Primal Diet to 'not suck at life'.

Our goal is to influence, assist and eventually inspire folks out there who are frustrated in losing weight, getting fit, becoming healthy or simply in achieving your goals. You'll be surprised but just adding a good challenging workout routine to your everyday life can make a significant difference in the way you perceive life and manage stress. With this kind of perception, nothing is impossible.

So we ask you to join us in our fitness journey by sharing with us your story, your struggle and your discovery.

-4 Fitness Guys

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Today's WOD - Diablo CrossFit

As many rounds as possible in 20 minutes:
Run 400
20 Virtual Shoveling Reps* (men use empty bar plus 45lbs on one side, women use empty bar plus 25lbs on one side).

*A virtual shoveling rep is moving the bumper plate on the one end of the olympic bar over a 12" high parallette and back to the starting position. Switch sides (which hand is in front) as often as you'd like.

Record total rounds.

How was it?
This seems to be a pattern for me. Every time I see a WOD that looks 'fun', it always ends up feeling like hell. You would think virtual shoveling is a really fun and exciting exercise because it's different, and it's functional and how hard can it be, it's 'virtual'. But in truth, it's pretty hard to execute with proper form (avoid using your back) and 1 count is when you go left AND right. I was sporting my Vibram FiveFingers on this because nowadays, I can't run without them. But since I was late, I was not able to warm up so I started right away and at the end of the workout, my middle toe was frozen. Literally, I can't feel a thing, it was completely pale white and ice cold. Not sure what happened but it did, I probably couldn't feel a thing on that toe until 2 hours after when I arrived home (long commute).
Result: 4.5 reps

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Post WOD Meal:

Snack (within the hour after workout): Handful of almonds
Dinner: 3 pieces of chicken thigh with mushrooms

If I can do it, you can too ... seriously!

Fight Gone really bad ...

2009-05-27T20:00:00.000-07:00

Went back to crossfit today after my first 3 personal training session at DiabloCrossfit. And guess what was the workout for today? Fight Gone Bad! This was supposedly the crossfit workout designed for BJ Penn to prepare him for a fight. After the training, they asked BJ Penn what he thought about it compared to a fight and he said, it was like a 'fight gone bad'. Thus the name.

This is what it covered:
1. Wall-ball: 20 pound ball, 10 ft target men ,14lb ball, 8 ft target women. (Reps)
2. Sumo deadlift high-pull: 75 pounds men 55lbs women (Reps)
3. Box Jump: 20" box (Reps)
4. Push-press: 75 pounds men, 55lbs women (Reps)
5. Row: calories (Calories)
(just copied and pasted this from diablocrossfit.com)

We were to do 3 sets of these with 1 min rest in between (just like a fight). It was tough. I did a total of 203 reps which really sucks, my partner (whom haven't been there for months ... a girl, smaller than me) did like 270 or something like that. But nevertheless, right after, I felt great. I feel fresh, and most importantly, I feel like I've accomplished something.

Here's a youtube video that tells you about Fight Gone Bad (beginning tells you what it is and middle shows you the workout)

By the way, I'm not in here. I got this from google video and it's probably from CrossFit headquarters or something.

Back in the Game ... and now with a Plan!

2009-05-26T00:57:00.000-07:00

It's been a while I haven't been blogging and it's because I got my workout routine back! It was difficult coming back after the rhabdo, the biopsy and all the 'advices' I get from the people that love and care of me (especially my wife) =) ... but I must stay active and get myself back in shape.

So what is the plan?

M-F: Crossfit at diablocrossfit.com. Class is offered at 5-8 (every hour) and it's literally like 5 min from my apt, which is awesome. And they have a kickboxing class on Monday, Thurs and Sat. So i get to maintain my kickboxing training.
Sat - Sun: Krav Maga in San Francisco with my best buddy. On Saturday, they have this great Conditioning class that combines circuit training with bag work. On Sunday, they have a KO bag class which pretty much tells you to hit the crap of the bag. Great workout, and kickboxing inspired (which is a must for me). These are usually followed by jiujitsu and light sparring.

It's been 2.5 weeks and it's been going great. Especially the crossfit. I know it gave me the rhabdo in the first place but where else can you find a workout that can beat the crap out of you in 15 mins?!? Crossfit. Check it out.

Sanshou Throw Instructional Video

2009-04-01T01:11:00.001-07:00

Just found this on Google Video. It's in Mandarin but he goes through the motions quite thoroughly. Check it out. The 3rd throw is pretty cool.

(btw what is up with the background elevator song)

Biopsy Result

2009-04-01T00:51:00.000-07:00

Received my biopsy result last week on 3/23 and the result was ... abnormality. Why? The surgeon couldn't explain it because he is not a neurologist. So I have to wait until May 27th to get an appointment with a neurologist. I thought making reservation for SlantedDoor was ridiculous but making an appointment with a doctor beats everything else. I have to wait 2 months to make an appointment with a doctor. How busy are they really? And how many people are getting biopsies by the day??

I'm hoping my uncle can get this interpreted quicker. We'll see. This was the result:

Muscle Biopsy

2009-03-23T00:10:00.000-07:00

Since it was somewhat of a mystery how I got Rhabdo after a bunch of squats, the doctor prescribed a biopsy on my upper thigh. I don't know what a biopsy was but the description was pretty scary. Cut a 1-2 inch incision on my upper thigh for them to take out a piece of my muscle. So, after feeling great of being able to walk with both of my legs that weekend of 2/22, I had a biopsy surgery on Monday.

Post biopsy, here's what I experienced:
1. Couldn't bend my left leg (leg they did biopsy on)
2. Tingling feeling on the area above my knee
3. Numb on the area above and next to my knee

Asked doctor about #2 and #3 and apparently, after a biopsy it is common to feel those. Why? Because apparently, when they extract the muscle, some of the nerves may be cut or irritated. That was unexpected, and a little annoying to tell you the truth. And it may take a long time to heal.

But as of now (2.5 weeks after the biopsy), my leg doesn't hurt so much anymore. It's still numb but at least, it doesn't tingle. And now I can squat and bend my legs.

Next week, I'm going to try coming back to kickboxing. I might even contact crossfit again and see what happens ... (will post more after that starts)

Rhabdomyolysis

2009-03-21T11:52:00.000-07:00

So a month ago on Feb 11th - 16th, I was admitted to the hospital for an illlness called Rhabdomyolysis which really is caused by overworking of the muscles. You can read all about Rhabdo on the link above, but here's what happened, (which I've been telling people for way too many times now), I tried a new workout called crossfit, which is really a workout for the military, police force and mma fighters. And the trial workout that I did was squats. And I never do squats. So he told me to do as much as I can for 10 minutes. And sure enough I did more than what I can.

Next day, this is what happened:
1. can't bend my knees
2. can't walk (see #1)
3. can't sit (see #1)
4. and the most ultimate (probably gross), my urine was black!

So, we went to the ER that night since it didn't get better. And the doctor said I wasn't going home and needed to be admitted to the hospital. 3AM and I ended up on the hospital bed, with an IV!! If you ever had IV'd, you know much it hurts to put it in, and the annoying-ness of that needle on your arm stays with you.

So, 6 days at the hospital, stuck with an IV!! Apparently a normal CK (creatine kinase) is 600 ish and mine went up to 70,000. And it was up and down after that. Since I'm a geeky consultant, here's what my CK number looked like in a chart.

So as soon as the CK number went down below 10,000, they let me home because my kidneys could process it on its own. For that week, my leg still hurts and I still walked like a robot. But what was interesting was, just sitting on my desk and on my bed, made my leg feel better. I guess no pain, has gains too!

By 2/21 (my wife's bday party), I was doing fine!! Until ... (to be continued on next post)

My Sanshou In House Tournament at Tat Wong Kickboxing - 9/14/2008

2008-09-23T23:27:00.001-07:00

Below is the video of my latest fight at my school (Tat Wong Kickboxing). This was an 'in-house' tournament which means that it was a fight between students in the same school. We had students from San Mateo school, Concord school and of course the San Francisco School.

Each Sanshou fight followed the official Sanshou tournament rules. Three 2 minute rounds with punch, kick, throws and push-outs. Those push-outs were definitely something different. It pushes you to know where you are on the mat and making sure that you don't go out of the line. If you're out of the line twice, you lose.

The main difference that I really noticed was that in this official rules, they actually stop the time when the referee stops the fight due to push outs, unsuccessful throw, etc. You can't imagine how much that delayed the end of the round. I've done this 4 times before and this is the only time when one rounds seemed like two rounds.

Well anyways, enough chatting, on to the videos. Below is my first 2 rounds. It's not even worth it to see the third round =)

History of Sanshou

2008-09-21T00:14:00.000-07:00

The History Channel has a show called the "Human Weapon" where they send two people (one an MMA fighter and an ex NFL player) across the world to explore and learn the various martial arts of the world. On this episode linked below, they went to China to explore the History of Kung Fu. Here you can see how the ancient martial arts of Kung Fu has evolved and how it has now become Sanshou.

Watch the History of Kung Fu on the History Channel's "Human Weapon"

One of the Best Sanshou on Video

2008-09-21T00:02:00.000-07:00

On YouTube, this video is titled "2003 Sanshou World Cup Highlight". Truthfully, I didn't even knew they had a Sanshou world cup but if you really want to know what Sanshou is like and how intense and quick it could be. This is the video to see. Watch the variety of kicks and throws that these guys use.

And check out how quick these guys move! Sanshou is truly the modern kungfu tournament.

Let me know what you think by leaving a comment. Enjoy!

1st Post

2008-09-20T16:53:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone,

This will be my first blog. I'm starting this to post and archive anything and everything I can find about the increasingly popular Chinese Kickboxing called "sanshou". Some background on me, I've been doing martial arts since I was 8 years old. Started with Taekwondo, Aikido and when I came to the US, I started taking Sanshou (which at the time I thought was Kickboxing/Muay Thai).

I'm fascinated by how Sanshou has become a martial art sports instead of a brawl or a violent sport. Just in case you didn't know, Sanshou was part of the 2008 Beijing Olympics. And they've got some really quick and tactical fighters on that tournament.

If you think all kickboxing tournament is muay thai and a fight is what you see on UFC, you might be surprised with the many variety, rules and style there is all around kickboxing. And I will post here the different styles or discipline that has come out of Kickboxing in general. But the main focus will be on Sanshou since it is what I do, and what I want to share with you.

Here's the wiki on sanshou:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Shou

Thanks and hope you enjoy the upcoming blogs.