My NROL Experience

[Biskit]

Originally Posted by stingo

I had spinning class, but was (since Wednesday) slack on my diet. Since I didn't have a piano lesson yesterday, I visited the local beer bar to have a pint of General Lafayette's Sunset Ale, and some Bergenost cheese. The cheese was very creamy and buttery, in fact that's what I thought of at first - it was rather like eating butter, but very, very good. The ale had a nicely dark citrus flavor to it, almost in the style of an old ale, but not quite. I do like hop monsters once in a while, but a nice well balanced ale like is always a pleasure too. Both the ale and cheese were new to me, and in keeping with that spirit (and since it was on special) I figured I'd try a cosmopolitan. Having one, I thought it was good, but not something I'd likely order again, preferring to stick with wine and/or beer. The slice of shoo fly pie with a chaser of hard raspberry cider was the coup de grace. (Very good though - in talking to the owner, she'd mentioned that really good shoo fly pie isn't supposed to be that sweet. Based on what I tasted I'd have to agree.)

Tonight of course is happy hour, so will probably have a beer or two there, as well as some chicken wings. Tomorrow there's a gathering at one of the philly burbs brewpubs I'll be attending, where people bring in those rare bottles they've been saving in their cellars and finally are opening. So I can see this bad diet front moving out around Saturday evening, with things generally clear for Sunday morning.

Wow, this food-porn obsession has to end! All that wonderful Thai and special brews is making me hungry!

Deb

[LWilson212]

Originally Posted by stingo

That'd be Delirium Noel - a fine beer in its own right. My personal preference is for brewpubs first and foremost, followed close behind by beer bars. (Yes, there is a difference when the beer's made fresh on site - try it sometime.) What's the name of the bar you're referring to?

The bar is called the Sharp Edge Creekhouse. As far as brewpubs around here, the Penn Brewery is awesome and has a really fun Oktoberfest. My favorite is the Church Brew Works. Its in a former catholic church and they make the beer on the altar.

I think I was kind of spoiled being from Portland Or and they have tons of microbreweries out there. I don't know if PA is just slower to catch on and I imagine the liquor laws have something to do with it!

You are out by Philly, right? At my old job we would travel out that way pretty frequently and stay in Wilmington and go to a place called McKenzie's. It seems like they brewed there own beer there. Have you ever been there?

[stingo]

Originally Posted by fengshway

daytona beach /flagler beach florida

Here's Ommegang's website - they do mail order to states that allow it (of which PA is NOT one... )

[stingo]

Originally Posted by Biskit

Wow, this food-porn obsession has to end! All that wonderful Thai and special brews is making me hungry!

Deb

But look how many posts it's generating

[stingo]

Originally Posted by LWilson212

The bar is called the Sharp Edge Creekhouse. As far as brewpubs around here, the Penn Brewery is awesome and has a really fun Oktoberfest. My favorite is the Church Brew Works. Its in a former catholic church and they make the beer on the altar.

I think I was kind of spoiled being from Portland Or and they have tons of microbreweries out there. I don't know if PA is just slower to catch on and I imagine the liquor laws have something to do with it!

You are out by Philly, right? At my old job we would travel out that way pretty frequently and stay in Wilmington and go to a place called McKenzie's. It seems like they brewed there own beer there. Have you ever been there?

I've heard of Penn and Church - and even had Penn's O'fest on tap at home. Good stuff. If you can, get to East End Brewing (in Pittsburgh) as their Blackstrap Stout is excellent.

Yes, I was at McKenzie's a couple of times - they had a great brewer at the time in Scott Morrison but for some reason they let him go right around the holidays either this year or last year. Lots of great places to go in the burbs and in the city for beer - brewpubs alone there's Victory, Sly Fox, Gen'l Lafayette, Iron Hill, Nodding Head, Triumph, Union Brew Works and probably a few others. Beer bars there's even more...

[fengshway]

stingo is a tease:

1.You must be 21 years of age or older.
2. Beer can only be shipped to a NY address.
3. Beer can only be accepted by an adult 21 or older.
4. We must have a copy of your drivers license on file before we can send your purchase.

[stingo]

Barbell Complex 1x15
A1 Power clean and jerk 55lbs
A2 Pushup
A3 Row

B Stairs – 1 set (5 flights)

C Pull-ups – 3 sets – 12, 10, 8 (full weight stack)

D Jump Lunge w/punch out and up – 2 sets x12@8

E1 Piston Press 2x12 (each side)@15,20
E2 Renegade Row 2x12 (each side)@15

F Squat w/Medicine Ball Throw 2x10@BW/6lbs

Notes:

Barbell Complex - well this was my first barbell complex - it was fun and frustrating at the same time. I have to learn the technique of getting into pushup position, doing it, and getting back up to be able to do the row in a reasonable amount of time. Still, I was quite happy because this the first time I've actually used the barbell for these exercises. Also, Tim (my trainer) allowed me to do these as singles, doubles and triples rather than a whole set of 15 at once. For some reason the dumbbells seem more difficult when doing the clean and jerk.

Stairs - Thankfully only 1 set this time... But only because of what was to follow...

Pull-ups - Am I ever glad I started trying pushups on the assisted machine at the corporate gym, so I didn't suck as much as I would have otherwise.

Jump lunge w/punch out and up - Another technical exercise to learn. Balance was better than I expected it to be but still wasn't what it should be. Basically it's a static lunge followed by punching the dumbbells out to your sides, then back, and then up and back, and then jumping to bring rearrange your feet.

Piston Press - new way of doing these - chest pressing dumbbells with alternating hands (hence the exercise name).

Renegade Rows - did these without the pushups, (and not preceded by planks) and I was very surprised to get 12 on each side. Delighted too.

Squat w/Medicine Ball Throw - more confident with this one now and I think I'm better able to get lower in the squat.

Overall - this was a fun workout (see, I do workout too!). It's probably due to the singles and doubles, etc in the complexes that gave me more rest than I'm used to but I felt like I was more resilient to the routine than I have been other times. We talked a bit about his approach, since he likes to change things up all the time - it's harder to gauge progress, but it does keep the body guessing. Also to, to him weight is just a number - intelligent program design executed with the appropriate intensity is what makes progress.

[stingo]

Originally Posted by fengshway

stingo is a tease:

1.You must be 21 years of age or older.
2. Beer can only be shipped to a NY address.
3. Beer can only be accepted by an adult 21 or older.
4. We must have a copy of your drivers license on file before we can send your purchase.

Ah see - I know PA doesn't allow shipping at all - so I never bothered to read the fine print . But you can always come up for Belgium Comes to Cooperstown - a fine excuse for a road trip to be sure.

[stingo]

Ended up staying local today, but I did manage to go out to buy beer. (Hooray Beer!) Picked up a sixtel of Bullfrog Brewery's Lights Out Stout, which I put on tap. (Bullfrog's in Williamsport and about 2 hours away - their brewer used to brew at the local brewpub here, but left after the management couldn't get their act together.) Very nice stout, richer and creamier than some, but not quite the shimmering dark lustre of a Stone Imperial Russian Stout, or a Dark Lord. Still, very tasty and quite enjoyable - I'm glad I picked it up. Also picked up a sixtel of Stegmaier's Holiday Warmer - very nice beer particularly for the price. It's nice to be able to support the local brewery particularly when their products are good. Lastly, I picked up a case of Victory's Baltic Thunder Porter. This is a brew that Victory actually licensed from the now defunct Heavyweight Brewing. While it's not quite the same (the original version, Perkuno's Hammer did have the edge in terms mouthfeel, taste and complexity), this is pretty close. Well worth seeking out, it's sold in 12 bomber bottle cases.

[nutbar]

Originally Posted by stingo

Barbell Complex
the technique of getting into pushup position, doing it, and getting back up to be able to do the row in a reasonable amount of time.

Jump lunge w/punch out and up -
Basically it's a static lunge followed by punching the dumbbells out to your sides, then back, and then up and back, and then jumping to bring rearrange your feet.

I'd have tied myself into a human pretzel between the two of these. Sheesh. Great job on getting through all of that!

[stingo]

Originally Posted by nutbar

I'd have tied myself into a human pretzel between the two of these. Sheesh. Great job on getting through all of that!

Thanks - it was doable because he let me do it in singles, doubles and triples - no way would I have made 15 straight through. As for the lunges, that was more figuring out the order of what to do rather than the actual doing of it (except of course for the balance issues). My trainer indicated that he thought I was strong enough for the exercises but needed to learn the technique to do them well.

[tossedup]

Great log Stingo. Keep up the good work man!!

[Victoria]

Originally Posted by stingo

Barbell Complex 1x15
A1 Power clean and jerk 55lbs
A2 Pushup
A3 Row

B Stairs – 1 set (5 flights)

C Pull-ups – 3 sets – 12, 10, 8 (full weight stack)

D Jump Lunge w/punch out and up – 2 sets x12@8

E1 Piston Press 2x12 (each side)@15,20
E2 Renegade Row 2x12 (each side)@15

F Squat w/Medicine Ball Throw 2x10@BW/6lbs

Notes:

Barbell Complex - well this was my first barbell complex - it was fun and frustrating at the same time. I have to learn the technique of getting into pushup position, doing it, and getting back up to be able to do the row in a reasonable amount of time. Still, I was quite happy because this the first time I've actually used the barbell for these exercises. Also, Tim (my trainer) allowed me to do these as singles, doubles and triples rather than a whole set of 15 at once. For some reason the dumbbells seem more difficult when doing the clean and jerk.

Stairs - Thankfully only 1 set this time... But only because of what was to follow...

Pull-ups - Am I ever glad I started trying pushups on the assisted machine at the corporate gym, so I didn't suck as much as I would have otherwise.

Jump lunge w/punch out and up - Another technical exercise to learn. Balance was better than I expected it to be but still wasn't what it should be. Basically it's a static lunge followed by punching the dumbbells out to your sides, then back, and then up and back, and then jumping to bring rearrange your feet.

Piston Press - new way of doing these - chest pressing dumbbells with alternating hands (hence the exercise name).

Renegade Rows - did these without the pushups, (and not preceded by planks) and I was very surprised to get 12 on each side. Delighted too.

Squat w/Medicine Ball Throw - more confident with this one now and I think I'm better able to get lower in the squat.

Overall - this was a fun workout (see, I do workout too!). It's probably due to the singles and doubles, etc in the complexes that gave me more rest than I'm used to but I felt like I was more resilient to the routine than I have been other times. We talked a bit about his approach, since he likes to change things up all the time - it's harder to gauge progress, but it does keep the body guessing. Also to, to him weight is just a number - intelligent program design executed with the appropriate intensity is what makes progress.

Very cool workout, Tom. I think you are getting your money's worth with your trainer.

[dillytl]

Originally Posted by Leah

You are out by Philly, right? At my old job we would travel out that way pretty frequently and stay in Wilmington and go to a place called McKenzie's. It seems like they brewed there own beer there. Have you ever been there?

You are talking my neck of the woods now!! DH and I were both born in Delaware - and we both work near Wilmington!!

Tom - NICE workout there!!! You and my DH would get along, all this talk about different beers!! Me, I'm a Michelob kinda girl - some of the stuff my DH drinks ... ! We've recently discovered this place: State Line Liquors that claims to have I-forget-how-many-hundreds-of-types! He was in there once, and said his head was just spinning with all the different beers!!