Celebrating My Brother's 40th & Star Wars Day

After NerdStrong I headed over to my brothers to celebrate his 40th birthday as well as Star Wars Days.. Both were a week or so ago, Michael's birthday was May 5th and Star Wars Day was May 4th but he was having a big party to celebrate both today. He had planned to watch all six of the Star Wars movies starting at 10am. When I got there a little after noon, Star Wars The Phantom Menace was about an hour in and there were only a few people but soon the place was packed.

The majority of the people were outside socializing and only a few of us die hard Star Wars fans were inside watching the movies. I did make my way out from time to time and played a few rounds of corn hole (tossing bean bags into a hole thirty feet away), jumped on the trampoline for a few minutes with the little kids, played with the kids on the swing set for a bit and I also had a chance to chat with a friend of my brothers who I hadn't seen in over 20 years who also happens to be gay and sadly is dealing with cancer, he seemed to be in good spirits.  I also chatted with another of Michael's friends who I hadn't seen in quite a while.. we talked fitness which is one of my new favorite topics, he's been following my progress on Facebook.

My buddy Chris also came with his girlfriend Hayley so we got to hang out for a bit. I made it to Star Wars A New Hope before calling it a night around 8pm and heading home. If I didn't have to workout in the AM I may have stayed the entire night and finished off the series, but I was tired and new I needed some sleep before tomorrows themed workout. Overall it was a fun party/movie marathon.

NerdStrong Gym - Laps & Thrusters

Today was the first workout in the newly expanded NerdStrong Gym. What is funny is that when we all arrived and was waiting for the warm up to begin we were all standing in the new section of the gym.

It's different now that the gym has doubled in size. When we go to warm up or do our work out we not go to both sides of the gym and the coaches stand in the middle. So when you're working out you are looking at fellow NerdStrongers across from you.

Lots of leg/calf stretches in todays warm up. We also did a bit of yoga with 1 minute of Downward Dog with heel pulse.

For the workout itself it looked simply but I know looks can be deceiving and this one was tough. We started with a 1 lap run/jog around the parking lot. We then came back in and did 20x Thrusters. This is what was different about these Thrusters, we could do them either with dumbbells (my usual way) or with a barbell (Thanks to the larger gym and having more room). I figured I'd try something new so I did my 20x with a barbell (53lbs of weight). I have to say doing them with a barbell it felt like I had more control over the thrusters and I liked that.

We then went for a run/jog two times around the parking lot and then coming back and doing 30x Thrusters with a barbell. We then did 3 laps around the parking lot and came back in and did 40x Thrusters. These last 40 were tough, I would do 10 and then rest a thirty seconds before doing 10 more until my 40 were done.

This to me was a perfect workout as it pushed me to my limit but I didn't feel like I pushed myself to far. Once we were done it only took a minute or two to recoup from the workout and then I felt great.

BTW the group picture to the right is the new NerdStrong Gym Nerd Salute. It's pretty awesome!!!

MASH Podcast, Muppet Cuckoo Clock, Twin Peaks & Angel From Hell

Today Geekyfanboy Productions released a new episode of the MASH 4077 Podcast. This is episode 104, covering S5 Ep 7 "The Abduction of Margaret Houlihan". You can Download from itunes tinyurl.com/MASH4077itunes , listen on Stitcher Radio ow.ly/iZJIz or listen and get direct download from our main website MASH4077Podcast.com  Don't forget new episodes are released on the 1st and 15th of the month.

I came across this awesome Muppet themed cuckoo clock. If I wasn't low on funds I would actually consider purchasing this clock and adding it to my collection. I don't have many Muppet items in my collection and this one would make a nice addition. But atlas it's not meant to be.. at least not yet. And to be honest even if I had the funds $200 is a hefty price but it is pretty unique and awesome. You can check out the page for this clock HERE.

Saw a tweet from David Lynch "Dear Twitter Friends, the rumors are not what they seem ..... It is !!! Happening again. #TwinPeaks returns on @SHO_Network"

Twin Peaks 3rd season was announced last year and I was super excited as both David Lynch and Mark Frost were returning to write the nine episode series. But last month David announced on Twitter that he had to pull out of the project because Showtime wasn't willing to pay the amount of money he felt was needed to make this third season properly. Many assumed it was a stunt (to get more money) as there couldn't be a new Twin Peaks without the creator and if it was... it worked.. according to his tweet, he's back. Showtime and Mr. Lynch have come to an agreement and he is now back on the project and it's moving full steam ahead. So now all we can do is wait and see if there is any more drama before and if we see the final product next year.

Last thing I wanted to share was a trailer for a new comedy coming out this fall. It stars Jane Lynch, whom I adore. I thought it was an interesting idea so I'll give it a watch when it airs. It's called Angel from Hell.

NerdStrong Open Gym - Weights, Weights, Weights

Today is open gym with coach Seely at NerdStrong Gym. Coach Seely has two workouts up on the board called his Seely Specials. Of course we don't have to do what's up on the board and can work on anything but one of his workouts looked particularly tough so I figured I'd give it a go. The one I chose was called Weights, Weights and Weights.

The workout consisted of 10x Weighted Step Ups, 10x Weighted Sit Ups, 10x Weighted Lunges and 10x Weighted Push Ups. It was a 10 minute out AMRAP (as many reps as possible). It was a good workout but 10 minutes didn't seem long enough so I opted to do it for 15 minutes. In the end I did 4 reps of each so 40x Weighted Step Ups, 40x Weighted Sit Ups, 40x Weighted Lunges and 40x Weighted Push Ups.

Once I was done with that I still have about 20 minutes left in the hour so coach Seely helped me with my "Cleans". Of all the bar workouts I tend to have the hardest time with Cleans. My mind knows what I need to do but for some reason my body can't quite get it. It's a work in progress.. I know one of these days it will just click but until this I'll keep trying. Thanks coach Seely for another great workout.

Legends of Tomorrow & The Magicians Trailers

So they released some trailers for some upcoming TV series that I mentioned in my blog a few days ago.. first one is DC's Legends of Tomorrow on the CW. I have to say this look absolutely amazing. And I can't wait for it to start airing.. unfortunately it's a mid season replacement which means we won't be seeing it until the new year 2016... but when we do it's going to be AWESOME!!!

Next is the trailer for Syfy's new fantasy series The Magicians. It's based on a book series and people have said that it's an adult version of Harry Potter and after seeing this trailer.. I understand what they are saying. Wasn't my favorite of all the new trailers but it I'll give it a go.

NerdStrong Gym - Deadlifts and Strict Press'

Today's STR workout look simple but looks can be deceiving. We started with some good stretches since we were going to be doing some bar work.

We are continuing with "Finding our Max Reps" week and today we worked on a Deadlift and Strict Press.

We teamed up and my teammate was Jim. We didn't start with our heaviest weight, we actually worked up to it. Coach Andrew had us to 5/3/3/1, so 5 at 60%, 3 at 70%, 3 at 80% and finally 1 at 100%. I knew my deadlift max from two month ago was about 225 so we started at 95 lbs and did the 5 reps, we then added more weight for the next set of 3 and even more weight for the 3 that followed that. Jim's max rep was 265 lbs so he repeated that weight. Instead of taking weight off I figured I'd give it a go and sure enough I lifted it. We then added more weight to 275 lbs and we both lifted that but it was defiantly getting harder. We then added 5 more pounds to make the total 280 lbs and I manged to get that up as well. I could have continued but I didn't want to push my luck. I went from 225 lbs to 280 lbs in two months. Not only do I think I've grown stronger but my form was so much better with these deadlifts. I could feel myself doing it correctly and I think that helped with my confidence so I was able to lift the weight. Next time I do a deadlift my new goal is to max rep 300 lbs.

As for Strict Press' I didn't have a max rep so today I would be establishing it. Again coach Andrew asked us to do 5/3/3/1. We started at 45 lbs (just the bar) and did the 5. We then went up to 95 lbs and man that was tough. My arms were shaking like crazy but I manged to do my 3 rep. I kept that the same weight for my next 3 rep as I didn't think I'd be able to go any higher with the weight. For my final 1 rep we added ten more pounds to make it a total of 105 lbs and I managed to get my one rep in. I increased it another 10 pounds for a total of 115 lbs and though I did it I felt my form break and I used muscles that I shouldn't have so I didn't count that rep. I was exhausted but wanted to try one more time but couldn't complete the rep. So my max rep for Strict Press is 105 lbs. My goal for when we do this again in 8 weeks is to be able to strict press 125 lbs.

Overall it was a great strength day. The deadlift really showed me how far I have come in the three months that I have been at NerdStrong. Thanks to coach Andrew and coach David for all that you do.

Supergirl & Back to the Future Doc

More Upfront awesomeness today. CBS released a synopsis for the upcoming Supergirl series as well as a "First Look" video

First CBS announced that it will air on Mondays at 8pm starting sometime in November. Now here is the sysnopsis: Supergirl is an action-adventure drama based on the DC Comics character Kara Zor-El, Superman’s (Kal-El) cousin who, after 12 years of keeping her powers a secret on Earth, decides to finally embrace her superhuman abilities and be the hero she was always meant to be. Twelve-year-old Kara escaped the doomed planet Krypton with her parents’ help at the same time as the infant Kal-El. Protected and raised on Earth by her foster family, the Danvers, Kara grew up in the shadow of her foster sister, Alex, and learned to conceal the phenomenal powers she shares with her famous cousin in order to keep her identity a secret. Years later at 24, Kara lives in National City assisting media mogul and fierce taskmaster Cat Grant, who just hired the Daily Planet’s former photographer, James Olsen, as her new art director. However, Kara’s days of keeping her talents a secret are over when Hank Henshaw, head of a super-secret agency where her sister also works, enlists her to help them protect the citizens of National City from sinister threats. Though Kara will need to find a way to manage her newfound empowerment with her very human relationships, her heart soars as she takes to the skies as Supergirl to fight crime.

They also released a "First Look" kind of trailer of the pilot. I actually really enjoyed it, it's funny, kind of quirky, and feels like a rom-com though the synopsis says it's an action adventure drama.. I'm betting there is some humor mixed into the bunch. I'm loving the way they are portraying Kara as this hard working young lady looking for something more out of life. And I'm a huge Calista Flockhart fan since her Ally McBeal days, so it was great seeing her again.

This video has been very polarizing in the geek community, either you love it or hate it. I don't understand all the hate it's getting but to each their own. I'm sure die hard Supergirl fans want it to be a certain way which is nearly impossible since everyone has their own interpretation of Supergirl but I for one am excited for this series. And to be honest you really can't tell how this series is going to be from this trailer. So if you don't mind holding off bitching and complaining until they have aired the pilot, that would be great.. kay.. thanks.. bye.

I also wanted to share this trailer for an upcoming Back to the Future Documentary celebrating the 30th anniversary of the release of the first movie. They are releasing the doc on October 21, 2015. This was a labor of love and they used Kickstarter not once but twice to raise the funds to make this and they almost tripled their $50,000 goal. They have interviews with super fans, cast members, the writer and director. I'm a huge fan of the BTTF series and look forward to watching this when it's released in October. Check out their video below.

NerdStrong Gym - It's All About The Core

It's CON day and that means coach Blair. Today's workout was themed "Power Man And Iron Fist".

We did a quick warm up which wasn't horrible and then got into the main workout.

It was broken down into two parts. Half the class did Iron Fist while the other half did Power Man. I started with Iron Fist and coach Christy was helping out with that section. For this workout we had to run 2 laps around the parking lot (about 500 meters) and then come back and do pull ups. Again this week we are not working on the amount we can do but the proper form.

So if we couldn't do pull ups then we could to do ring rows. I did my first 2 laps with ease. Came back and did 1 pull up (which I knew would be my max). When I finished the pull up I opted to drop down and do ring rows. So I did another 2 laps and came back and did 10 ring rows before going out and running again. I did this about five times before the 20 minutes was up. I have to say that I did a great job at pacing myself with my running. It wasn't until the very last lap that I felt winded but that could have been because I had :30 seconds to finish to I kind sprinted to the end.

I then moved on to Power Man section of the workout. Coach Blair was in charge of this section. Here we had to to TABATA's for Planking, Bicycles and Banana Holds. TABATA means 8 rounds of :20 seconds of work and :10 seconds of rest.

We started with planking (I opted for a low plank to work my core more) this was easy the first six times but the seventh and eighth, I don't know how I got through them. We then took a much needed break before doing 8 rounds of bicycles, this is when you're on your back and you bring your opposite knee and elbow together as quickly as possible. These were the death of me. After the fourth set I struggled with every set after. This really works the core and my core was not happy. After another much needed break we did the final workout which was banana holds. This is exactly what it sounds like. You lie on your back and lift your feet about six inches off the ground while also lifting your head and shoulders off the ground.. in essences you're in the shape of a banana. These really work your core and as I mention my core was not happy and I struggled to complete all 8 rounds.

It was a great workout, though not as crazy as some past CON workouts. Thanks to coach Blair and coach Christy for your constant encouragement and support.

Agents of SHIELD S2 Finale - My Thoughts

::There will be spoilers:: So tonight I got home from work and purposely stayed up an extra hour so I could watch the season finale of Agents of SHIELD season two... and man was it crazy good!!! I don't even know where to start. I guess I'll just go person by person.. let's start with Jiaying, Cal and Daisy (Skye).

I have to say it's tough to call Jiaying a "bad person". What she was doing was wrong but she was doing it to save her people and I can't fault her for that. As the episode progressed she got worse and worse until you knew there was only one things they could do to stop her.

Now for Cal I never thought this character would have ever been redeemable but man the writers did it. They took this crazy Jekyll and Hyde type person who killed many times and turn him into a love lorn, devoted father who would do anything for his daughter. Even at the end he was willing to accept his fate and be jailed for life, but of course Coulson stepped in and gave him the TAHITI treatment to live the rest of his life happy and unaware of his past life and the fact that he has a daughter.

Skye went from turning against SHIELD, loved the short but cool fight between May and Skye, to finding out that her mother is a crazy person when she killed Raina in front of her and then tried to use the excuse that Raina betrayed them. Skye kicked butt in this episode, I especially liked the fight with the multiplying girl. And of course we have the end fight with her Mom, but luckily Cal shows up and not wanting Skye to have to kill her own mother does it for her. It's kind of sad as the main focus of Skye the past two seasons was finding her parents and now that she did, one is killed in front of her and the other has his mind wiped. Also she tired to prevent her mom from spreading the mist to the general public but by doing so Skye accidentally set things in motion, the mist leaked into the ocean, fish absorbed it, then fish were caught and turned into fish oil that is now being put on store shelves... season three is gonna see alot more Inhumans.

Raina also kind of redeemed herself a little bit by sacrificing herself so Skye could see her mother's true colors and not side with the Inhumans. Raina had the vision on her own death and looking back at her final conversation with Skye, she said that Skye would lead the Inhumans and that this conversation would be their last. I enjoyed Raina and it will said to see her go.

Coulson was great in this finale, always level headed and knew that something must be up with Jiaying..  he also managed to calm down the now Hyde version of Cal, and get him to help them fight the Inhumans. And of course you have one of the many shocking moments when he saves everyone on the ship from the mist but by touching the crystal he infects himself and slowly starts to turn to stone but Mack has the idea to chop off Coulson's arm before it spread to the rest of his body.

Speaking of Mack, we thought he was quitting SHIELD but after the Inhumans killed Gonzales he couldn't leave without getting more details. He had some of the best lines in the finale and as I mentioned above it was his quick thinking that save Coulson's life.

Now to talk about Bobbi, Hunter, Ward and Agent 33. Let's start with Ward, I didn't think I could dislike him any more then I already do but I was wrong. I'm to the point where I dislike this character so much that I wish for his death in every scene he's in. He is truly an unredeemable character and I'm so happy that they aren't trying to do that with him. Though he didn't die in this finale he did kill the woman he loved and this might sound horrible but I was happy when that happen. He doesn't deserve to be happy and the fact that she died at his own hands was fantastic.

The torture scene with Bobbi was brutal, things being shoved up a person fingernails is always hard to watch but when Bobbi broke free and started kicking ass after hours of torture, you couldn't help but love her even more. She kicked Wards ass and if it wasn't for Agent 33 she probably would have won. There was some fantastic choreography happening with that fight. And then we have the scene with Hunter and the booby trap. We knew they still loved each other and she was willing to die for him.. luckily she doesn't but her fate is unknown because at the end of her scene she tells Hunter that she doesn't want to do this anymore and we assume she is talking about SHIELD.. so will have to see what happens in season three.

May didn't really play a huge part in this finale. But she did have alot of growth and by the end we see a little bit of the "old" May when she decides to take a vacation with her ex-husband. I love the fact that she's ready to kill Ward and I'm hoping one day it happens.

Fitz helps fight Gordan and is actually the one who kills him, though it wasn't by his doing as Gordan reappeared around the pipe that Fitz was holding impaling himself in the chest.

Fitz and Simmons also revisit their relationship, now that they’re friends again, Simmons wants to bring up the topic they haven’t discussed since they were at the bottom of the ocean. Fitz isn’t really into discussing his feelings for her, since there’s no point, until Simmons says there might actually be a point. And of course at the very end of the episode we get the biggest OMG moment of the night. Fitz accidentally unlatches the box the Kree artifact is in when he leave the room and when Simmons notices it she goes to lock it back up but then suddenly the artifacts melts, attacks and swallow Simmons whole before hardening back into stone. The terror in her eye is heartbreaking.

Click on the picture to relive the horror.. poor Jemma :(

So that's it.. that's how season two ends. I think both Erik and were just speechless.. I remember looking at him on the video screen and he had to mouth open and I managed to get out.. Oh My God!! What Just Happened!!!

We now must wait four or so months before we get to see what happens next. I have loved Agents of SHIELD since episode one even when alot of people weren't fans. But the second half of season one and all of season two has been amazing. Face paced and no time to breath. I can't wait to see what's in-store of our team of agents in season three.

Muppets, X-Files, Sense8 & The Magicians

So the upfronts have been happening all week and we've been getting lots of geeky news.. some I have shared in previous blog post but there are more awesome things about to hit the small screen... check them out.

First ABC released a trailer for the new Muppet series and I have to say it looks pretty fantastic. They said it was going to be more of an adult version and from this trailer I can see that. Kermit's voice is a little off (but understandable since Jim Henson as pasted away) and Fozzie Bear sounded a bit off.. but over all everyone else sounded great. I've been a Muppet fan all my life and it's great to see that they are still as popular now as they were when I was a kid.

The second things I wanted to share with you guys is Fox announcing the release date for the six-part X-Files miniseries. It's set to start airing on Fox Sunday January 24th 2016. I loved this series when it first aired and I've enjoyed the movies so I'm really looking forward to seeing this series return.

Next is a new series by the Wachowski's. I've really alot of the movies that the Wachowski's have made.. from Matrix to Cloud Atlas to Jupiter Ascending. Now they are doing a new TV series called "Sense8" for Netflix and I have to say it looks pretty awesome. The concept sounds amazing and I'm really looking forward to checking it out.

And the final thing I want to share with you guys.. at least for now is a new series that Syfy picked up called The Magicians. This is based on a trilogy book series of the same name. I had never heard of the series but it sounds very much like an adult version of Harry Potter. There isn't much info out yet and now trailer.. yet. But here's a quick blurb about it. The 12-episode drama stars Jason Ralph as Quentin Coldwater, a brilliant grad student who enrolls in Brakebills College for Magical Pedagogy, a secret upstate New York university specializing in magic. He and his 20-something friends soon discover that the magical fantasy world they read about as children is all too real — and poses grave danger to humanity.

I'll be checking out all four of these series!!

NerdStrong Gym - 2 Minute Tests

After having Monday off it was nice to get back into the gym. It's a DEX day which is usually a little less tiring then CON days.

We started with a pretty hefty warm up using bands to stretch out our shoulders and back. We then moved on to what felt like more yoga poses then stretching.. but I guess some of those things are one in the same.

This week at Nerdstrong it finding a base line for our various workouts. Yesterday they did a 1 rep max for back squats. I didn't workout yesterday but luckily I did a one rep max on back squats a few weeks ago so I have my number for that.

Today we did two 2 minute tests for Box Jumps and Push Ups. This really wasn't about seeing how many you could do in those two minutes, it was more about form and doing them properly. For box jumps I manged to do 28 of them in two minutes and for push ups I surprised myself and did 30 in two minutes.. yeah I'm as surprised as you. Because 7am classes have become the new "cool" time to workout they are full which means we had to do these tests in waves and this left about six minutes to finish the final workout of the day and it was a good one.

We had to try and do 3 rounds of 20x sit ups (coach Andrew wanted me to try and do them without the ab-mat and weight for the feet), 50x Jump ropes, which I've always been good at jumping rope since I was s kid and 20x Kettlebell Walking Lunges, which I thought would kill me. After doing Sunday's workout my glutes and hamstrings were sore and to have to do these again was extremely difficult.  I manged to do 2 full rounds and begin the third set of sits up before time ran out.

After the tough weekend workouts it was nice to have a less strenuous workout today.. but tomorrow is CON day and you all know how much I love CON days.

Goodbye Matt

No NerdStrong today and it was awesome.. I got to sleep in for once. Today is my buddy Matt's last day here in the US. I took an extended lunch and picked him up around 2:30 and dropped him off at LAX around 3:45pm for his 5:45 flight. 

I had a great time getting to hang out with Matt for the week. Even with working out and actual work I got to spend every breakfast with him eating bacon and eggs, every evening after work when we watched an episode or two of Agents of SHIELD and 3 full days showing him around town and seeing the sights.

We got to visit Hollywood, Downtown Los Angeles, The Space Shuttle Endverour, Griffith Observatory, American Military Museum, The Science Center, Venice Boardwalk and Beach, Santa Monica, Beverly Hills and Universal Citywalk.

He had lots of "firsts" here, from eating Mexican food, a corn dog and Cinnabon. To experiencing fast food Chinese food, Taco Bell and In-n-out Burger. He got to enjoy loads of sweets from candies like Butterfingers, Junior Mints, Hersey's and Reeses to Hostess' cakes like Twinkies and Ding Dongs. I think he defiantly got the full "American" experience when it came to eating and foods. :-)

I know we didn't get to see everything on his list or visit Disneyland (which I was really trying to make happen) but that just means he has to return to continue the tour someday. It was great having him around and I'm honored that he choose me to visit on his first ever trip to the United States.

Hugs.. and hope to see you again real soon.

Griffith Observatory, In-n-Out and Bubba Gump

Today's is Matt third (and final) day of touring Los Angeles and Hollywood. We started the day with a trip to Griffith Observatory. We spent a good few hours walking around, taking pictures and checking out all the cool sciencey things. We also went and saw one of the shows in the planetarium called Centered in the Universe. Out of the three shows playing this is the only one I had previously seen but the other shows start time didn't work for us. So we watched this one, which was cool with me as it's a great show.

Afterwards we went out to lunch at a local In-n-Out Burger, as everyone who comes to LA to visit must eat In-n-Out, it's like a law or something. I really don't understand why folks love this place. I mean the burgers are good and the fries are okay but theirs nothing special about them.. at least in my opinion. But it seems to be a tradition and who am I to argue with tradition.

We debated on what to do next, his list consisted of LACMA, Natural Science Museum and Huntington Library. All of them great places and I would have loved to visit them all but they all require a large amount of time to see everything. It was already around 3pm and we were trying to set up a dinner with Bel before he left for Chicago (the next leg of his vacation).

So we opted to head home and regroup. On the way home I remembered that I was talking about Fry's Electronics and how each store has a different theme. The one in Burbank, which we were close to, was Sci Fi themed so we went to check it out. We walked around the store and Matt took pictures of the various awesome space aliens and other sci fi things. We also checked out video games, models and mp3 players.

Once we were back home we talked about going to Citywalk to have dinner with Bel and then maybe catch an IMAX screening of Avengers: Age of Ultron, but plans changed when we talked to Bel. He was happy to join us for dinner but he didn't have a way to the airport so being the nice guy that I am I offered to take him after we had dinner, which in essence squashed our plans for a movie after dinner.

So Bel, Matt and I went over to Citywalk and grabbed some dinner at Bubba Gump Shrimp Company. It was a goodbye dinner for Bel (who was leaving today) and my temporary roommate Matt who was leaving tomorrow afternoon. After dinner we walked around Citywalk and had to share one more "first time" thing with Matt.. Bel and I introduced him to Cinnabon and like with everything else new that he tried this week.. he loved it. But he did say that the best thing he had while on this LA part of his vacation was the Mexican food we had Wednesday... woohoo as Mexican food is my favorite as well.

Around 9pm we headed back to the car and Matt and I drove Bel to LAX and dropped him off for his red-eye to Chicago. Matt and I got back to my place around 11pm and I was exhausted so I called it a night. I don't have NerdStrong tomorrow morning but I do have work so I got a much needed good night sleep.

Like with the past few days we didn't get to do as much as I would have liked but we got some fun things accomplished and I hope Matt enjoyed his first time visit to the U.S. and Los Angeles.

NerdStrong Gym - Mad Max Style

Today's team/themed workout is all about Mad Max: Fury Road Our goal was to get "gas" from one location to another.

Once again we are at the local park as they are currently tearing down the wall between the "old" gym and "new" gym. Coaches for today's workout were coach Andrew, coach Blair, coach Marla, coach David and coach Christy who helped with warm up but did the workout as well as we were down one person to make even teams.

First we partnered up.. I teamed up with Jason. For warm up we had to do a joint sandbag carry around the park. This wasn't to bad, while we walked Jason and I talked about your recent lose of weight, he's lost 25lbs while I've lost 30. We talked about buying new clothes or having to wear a belt now.

After the warm up coach Andrew explained the workout. There are five stations "benches" throughout the park. Each station has a particular workout. Station 1 we had to do 40x Burpees (remember we split everything in half). Station 2 had 100x Knee Up/Step Up. Station 3 had 100x Plyo Push Ups. Station 4 had 100x Bench Dips and the final station, station 5 had 100 Lemon Squeezes.

Now that was only half the workout, in-between stations one person had to carry a sandbag while the other person carried a weight over head and did lunges. You could switch back and forth with your partner as many times as needed.

So Jason and I had to decide where to start. We opted to start at station 5 because the distance from station 5 to station 1 was the longest and if we had to do the sandbag hold and weight overhead lunges, we wanted to get the worst of it over while we were still fresh. It was a good idea but also meant we were going to be spent once we hit station 1 and then we had to do 20x Burpees each which made us even more tired... but we did get all the extremely difficult stuff out of the way first.

I think the hardest things for us as a team was the walk between stations. Lunges weren't Jason's best things so I would try and do more but we choose a 25lbs weight to hold and it got tough after a while.

This was an exhausting workout but a good one.. much like yesterday's Escape from Shelob workout. Thanks to all the coaches from their continued support and encouragement.