Harlem Quijano

Wisdom: 4th and Long

Harlem — Thu, 28 May 2009 01:22:17 +0000

Now that series finales for “24″ have come and gone, I find myself needing a monday night television fix just to satisf my boob tube craving. And, to be totally honest, I haven’t (and probably won’t) settle on a regular Monday night must see episode. I am not much for watching a lot of television as I think I fulfilled my quota for myself and perhaps a small third world country whilst I was a bored teenager oh so many years ago. I might watch an interesting NatGeo show or turn to the many rerun options of Mythbusters which seem to run on at least half of the DirecTV channels that are within my tier, I mean what is not to like about that show including Jamie’s sweet ’stache. I have just recently stumbled on a very interesting show on Spike TV that I thought at the time it was going to be “uber” lame. Yup, so lame that it has compelled me to use the word “uber” that is until I made the serendipitous decision to watch it. Here is the premise of the show in 100 words or less – basically 12 guys who for some reason or maybe excuse did not make it into the National Football League who vy for a chance at a roster spot on the Dallas Cowboys. Now, mind you, these are not just any ordinary folk stripped from their couch potato nirvana to participate in greuling activities like in “The Biggest Loser” which I am a big fan of! But, these are blue chip athletes that went to prominent football colleges that just did not make it into the League through various circumstances that run the range of being truly heart wrenching to eye-roll-inducing-don’t-look-at-me-in-the-eye-and-give-me-excuses-it’s-your-own-fault stories. In two words these guys are “real athletes”. The host is none other than Michael Irvin who is just fitted for the job. Say what you want of Irvin, about his character, his ethics, or moral at the time – he is well suited to be the host. In typical reality show style the athletes go through a series of tests to see who among them is good enough to make it to the next episode and true to reality show style it gets ugly. The drill is not a spectacular one but it does the job that it was designed to do. First, to teach offense and defense how to handle the ‘gunner’ on a kick off or punt return. Second, to see which of the athletes were in NFL ready shape. If you watched the show you could easily see which of the athletes were physically prepared for the taxing activity and who were not as several of them were easily winded after a couple of reps. More than a few were doing the technicolor yawn and leaving their lunch on the field from the over-exertion and believe me I know how it feels to be out of shape and going all out for a strenuous activity, it isn’t pretty nor does it feel good. But, that is not why I watch the show, or put it on my DVR queue. No, in fact, I watch it for the sheer brilliance and wisdom coming out of the mouth of Michael Irvin. You heard me right. you see I never played football my high school never could afford to have one and the student body couldn’t support one even if there was money for it. But, you can tell that Michael Irvin was bred for it not in his physical stature but in his drill instructor -like response to the mere hint of pain. One statement still rings true to me. One that I can transpose into everyday life. And that is, “most players train to look good in the first quarter, at the start of the game, but successful players train for the fourth quarter” (maybe not verbose cause my memory isn’t what it used to be but it’s close). I take it to mean that one can anticipate in the last part of any sport, maybe the most crucial part, tiredness becomes a factor in the success equation. Don’t be caught being the tired one. Here is an excerpt from the show – enjoy.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Still Alive

Harlem — Mon, 04 May 2009 23:40:03 +0000

Yes, I am still alive and the pushups have yet to kill me. In fact, I think I am definitely a bit stronger and am now in the process of starting week six! I am pretty sure you are getting the same gains as I am if you are at week 5 or 6 so keep up the good work.

Overall, with the increased strength I am also feeling more energetic. So much so that I have started doing the 200 Squats program from the same folks who do the pushup routines. And, in fact, just started today. This time my wife and a few of my kids will participate in the fun.

Just some random thoughts about the site:

I think I am going to make a new template or at least mod an existing one.

What else am I going to put up on here?? Hmmm…thinking makes my head hurt.

Wordpress is a really great CMS, but some of the plugins aren’t behaving right:(

More to come soon….

Redoing Week 3 – 100 Pushups

Harlem — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 00:15:19 +0000

Aww man!! I screwed up and did week three all wrong!! I hope you didn’t do what I did, but, I just went partially through week three without doing the pretest. Which is probably why I was a bit confused about the numbers. So I am redoing week three again, only this time I will have done the pretest which I did last Saturday. I ended up with 28 good pushups and I really mean GOOD ones! Twenty-eight is double my initial pretest which is not too bad, I guess, for a wimp:) So week three once again starting tonight, Monday April 13th. Week looks to be pretty tough, with the numbers increasing steeply after day one! So wish me luck.

Just Finished Week Two! Whew!

Harlem — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 17:04:43 +0000

I just finished up week two of the hundred pushups program and honestly I am very concerned about what week three holds. It is getting a bit tougher to do the routine even with a day of rest in between. Not only from the sheer number of pushups that you ought to do but also life is getting in the way as it so often does. So, I am going to identify some of the time wasters that i can absolutely cut from my day to free up some more time to do the things that I need/have/desire to do. You may not know this since many of you might be new to this blog, but, I am particularly intrigued by Timothy Ferris’ book The Four Hour Work Week. Mostly it talks about doing the least amount of activity to get the greatest amount of activity through automation, time management, prioritizing. But, I am not giving it much credit because I think this is a must read for anyone doing anything on the internet, IMHO. Let me get back on topic, to the pushups and my lack of motivation or should I say an over abundance of distractions. I have identified a few things that might deserve less attention than I actually give it. One of these being the internet! Yes, believe it or not it is potentially the greatest distraction since the television and probably more so since I spend much more time in front of a computer than I do a television. It is too easy to open a browser (if it isn’t already opened) and go to a favorite site. Also, when I say the internet, I am also lumping in with that email, IM’s and even twitter. I also like to check my stats, or lack of them in my case. I think I may have mentioned this already, but, the television is a complete waste time also. To be completely honest with myself, do I really have the time to watch television? Me with my wife and five kids and a household to help run? And, if I give in to my desires do I have the time to click through several channels to find something worthwhile to watch even if I’m using the on screen tv guide? Mind you these are mostly rhetorical questions and by default I know the answers to them. Perhaps the most valid use of rhetorical questioning is to force you to think of a logical answer that undoubtably makes you think that you are stupid. So as I continue to stream line my time, I also contemplate how difficult the pushups have become. What has started out as about 10 to 14 pushups per set with a max of at least 9 on the last set during week 1 has now become 14 to 16 pushups per set with a max of at least 20 on the last set. That is almost 100 right there and it is only week 2! Now maybe you are feeling my pain or maybe sympathizing or maybe just downright laughing at me, I say whatever. Week three starts tommorrow for me so please say a prayer:)

Day 2: 100 Pushups

Harlem — Sat, 28 Mar 2009 22:30:14 +0000

Just to clarify somethings, when I say day two, I mean the second exercise day of the program. Essentially, the program is divide up into seven weeks and within each week are three exercise days. In other words, each week participants will be doing pushups three days of that particular week preferably with a rest day in between pushup days and two days of rest between the last pushup day of the week and the first pushup day of the next week.

Day 2 consists of:

Set 1 : 10 pushups
Set 2 : 12 pushups
Set 3 : 8 pushups
Set 4 : 8 pushups
Set 5 : Max # no less than 9

I can fully say that this day was quite a bit easier than the first day and I was somewhat pleased by this. Muscles can adapt fairly quickly when it is afforded plenty of time to rest and a decent amount of nutrients not to mention being mindfull not to overtrain which is virtually impossible to do with this program. I am still working on the nutrient part, i.e., trying to maintain a properly balanced eating plan with plenty of the “good stuff” and less of the “bad stuff” (more on that later). But I do have the rest part pretty much handled, in fact, I consider myself and expert.Well, that is all, keep pushing!

Day 1 of the Hundred Pushups Program

Harlem — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 18:10:50 +0000

I just did day one of the hundred pushups program and boy are my arms tired! Sounds like a joke but trust me its a lot more than that. It took a lot out of me and my son as you shall soon read.

I started out innocently enough, but first, I should post what day 1 includes: for my strength and age group (coincidently my sons group as well)

Set 1 – 10 pushups
Set 2 – 12 pushups
Set 3 - 7 pushups
set 4 - 7 pushups
Set 5 – Max # w/ minimum of 9

As I said, it started innocently enough. I first did my initial set without complication, I’m pretty sure you will (or have) too. My son faired just as well as I did with his first set. Then came the second set. This set included 12 pushups. Two more than the first set and two less than my initial test. Easier said than done because I quickly pumped out 5 good pushups and being the forgetful gent that I am, I stopped mid-pushup in the up position. Thus, losing all my momentum that I had been relying upon for pushups 3 though 5. Why did I do this I asked myself? I should know better, I was a fitness trainer for goodness sakes. I saw it all too often, folks stopping midway in the up postion which I knew still sucked precious ATP. Better to just trudge along than to stop. But I did. So every pushup after was beginning to drain me even more. Muscles pulled on tendon and tendon stretched to its physical and spiritual limits shouted back with great annoyance and sadness as if to say “but Harlem, I thought you loved me?”. I do. I do. You will see. But, I digress….To make things worse, my son started laughing and making fun of me straining which just made me that much more determined. Shortly after I regained my composure it was his turn, and you know what they say about paybacks. He started out fine but began to struggle early and then the laughter started. Not from me but from him! I reckon that even though laughter is contagious, it must first reach a critical mass in the body for it to have deleterious affects on others. So, he continued to laugh and snicker and slowly eaking out a pushup here and there. And so begins my laughter. It is contagious! It was like that the rest of the time. We had a great time doing pushups and feeling pain and laughing for the next few sets. And of course afterwards, when we finished, we shared an experience and looked at ourselves in the mirror just watching our bodies transform right in front of us. I think this is where the joke begins. Stay tuned for Day 2.

Initial Pushups Test

Harlem — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 17:06:11 +0000

I can’t remember when was the last time I actually did an exercise much less a complete workout. I think it may have been the last time I was in California, which was about four years ago. Four years is much too long to be intermittently sedentary, meaning, I wasn’t a complete lazy bum. I still lived an active lifestyle filled with the frenetic coming and going of taking kids here and there (sometimes on my back and sometimes with more than one on it at a time), fixing things up around the house and “whatnot”. I occasionally play some basketball and when I am feeling especially good I consider doing a few calisthenics. Usually the feeling passes before I get seriously hurt. All this preamble to say that I am not as fit as I used to be and to also lead you into how the initial pushup test went.

But, first, why a pushup? I first heard of the 100 pushup exercise regimen when some famous running back (can’t remember his name at the moment) was advised to do it as a way to get bigger during the off season. As the story goes, he worked his way up tp 100 pushups and earned a spot on his high school roster a year after he was cut for being too small (I think, but makes a nice Disney movie nonetheless). Then my son who is all of twelve years old challenged me to do the program with him about a year ago and I did it for about a week and then kept giving him excuses for being unable to do the program. Excuses like, “the next episode of Heroes is on.” I know what you’re thinking because I was thinking it at the time as well, ” I am so LAME!!!!” Then my friend Peter mentioned it to me again last week and I gave it some serious thought, then asked my son, who abandoned the program a month after I did, if he wanted to start up again. And, he looked at me with a grave look in his eye and said, “don’t whimp out on me” and waited for my reply. I said I wouldn’t and we set a date to start the program.

Well, that date has come and gone. And I eeked out 14 really good pushups [Insert sad trombone sound here]. Mind you they were really good ones, that is; body was plank straight, arms planted in a natural position, fully extended all the way up, and chest about a fists width from the ground on the down position. I might have been able to squeeze out a dozen or so more, but I would have sacrificed form. So, I stopped as soon as I felt that my head and upper body was beginning to propel the rest of my body upwards. My son, his name is Meshach, did quite a bit more but i was a bit more lenient on his form. So there you have it, 14 is my starting point and on to the meat of the program today. For more info on the program head over to hundredpushups.com. Til then.

Hello world!

Harlem — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 21:23:32 +0000

Hello there, I thought it might be better to re-brand myself from an opensource advocate (which I wholeheartedly still am) into something that reflects more of my well rounded tastes and personality. Thus, the advent of my new blog harlemquijano.com which will be a little more than just opens source and quite possibly not have anything about open source at all since I have freshubuntu.org! So, here it is and here I go. See you around:)