Thursday, April 30, 2009

The vast emptiness of a 15 block meal plan.

Ok. So the progress has started again, down 16 pounds from the starting weight. It is nice to mark some progress. People have commented how lean my face is becoming. Not that that really helps -- I of course want to hear that my gut is becoming lean, alas. I noticed some veins showing just a little on my theighs which is motivating too, but, again, the point here is lose the gut. Perhaps, if I say it a few more times I can make it true.

15 blocks is right on the money for me. As I said the last time I posted on this getting an accurate bodyfat percentage really helps. I think we are really inclined to estimate our lean body weight high, and our fat low, particularly, if we have been working out for any length of time. I was estimating my lean body weight about 10 pounds more than it is. Seems like TV and roid monsters have really warped our self-perception. I think I'll keep the running thing going for a while. I'd like to get that down to about 3, 10 minute miles, and do some Hang Cleans, and some Core work. See if I can hold that for 6 weeks or so. I don't want to lose the strength just the fat.

April 30, 2009

Work out group, only about 5 of us showed up.

Warm up and Mobility standard fair.

Medicine Ball stuff

Egg toss to a split lunge, 5 on a side, 60 seconds of rest
10 Push ups toes on the medi-ball, to 10 opposite knee to opposite elbow in a high plank, 30 seconds of rest
10 Medi-ball supermen and hold, to chop lunges, 5 on a side, 30 seconds of rest

Squat jumps for 20 seconds, Ski squats for 20 seconds, squat hold for 20 seconds, 45 seconds of rest

Tabata Interval
5 yard lateral shuffle, pick up medi-ball every other time

April 29, 2009

So, rather like the stubborn coot that I am, I laced on the shoes and had a go at the 3 mile loop again today. 25 degrees cooler and a nice breeze and I did a lot better. Still embarassing, but at least not pathetic.

April 28, 2009

So, I thought to self, "self" I said: I'm going for a run... I'll run the 3 mile loop. Boy how pathetic that was. Yes, it was 85 degrees, yes, the pollen count was probably out the roof, yes my shoes are old and should be replaced. None of which justifies just how pathetic that run was.

Monday, April 27, 2009

April 27, 2009

Workout group had about a dozen folks show up.

Warm Up and Mobility

Standard Fair

Did a bunch of triplets, with medicine balls. 4-6 rounds of each triplet. Mostly today was about mental toughness. Just had to keep going. "J" added metabolic work on the last rounds, so about 60-90 seconds of Burpees, or Jumping Jacks, Jump Tucks which were completely laughable, they just looked like vertical jumps at that point, and finally a jumble of calisthenics.

Just and all around work out again mostly focused on toughness and determination.

Thursday, April 23, 2009

April 22, 2009

Today was kind of a bust. Not really surprising after yesterdays high. I rowed for 10 minutes, did some lack luster OHS, and Dumbbell Snatch, gave up and did some stretching. My shoulder was tender too, so that kinda damped things down a bit.

I'm sure that like everyone else I struggle with the whole eating thing. On one hand I know for all sorts of good reasons that losing another 10-20 pounds would be a great thing. Tain't easy McGee. I'm intrigued how all sorts of emotional things play into the equation. If my calories are too low to get a satisfactory work out, then that is negative feedback on the whole eating less thing. If there is chocolate, or tortilla chips around, it is really hard to keep my eye on the ball. I think that evening time is the hardest. I can see that I'm eating cleaner and with a greater variety of vegetables and fruit and that is cool. But, it is interesting how hunger, and emotional need are closely related. Any emotional fragility and eating seems the first recourse for filling the hole in my soul. Sure it is easy to say, "Oh shut up and tough up." But in truth that is as much a rationalization as anything else. In that case I would be ignoring the very thing that might be at the root of my trouble. If instead I spend some time struggling with the hole in the soul, perhaps, I can be even tougher on the far side?

I've been focused lately on lifting heavy. I wonder if I shift to an emphasis on endurance if I can burn more calories at the same time I'm restricting them and so hit the goal? It seems 16-17 blocks is a maintenence level for me, 15 is just too lean to sustain high intensity lifting, at least until I've adapted to it a little more. What if workouts are 15 minutes of rowing, a Tabata cycle of calesthentics and 15 minutes of treadmill? That should get me in the realm of 600 -800 calories burned, roughly a weekly deficit of 2100 calories through exercise. That leaves 1400 calories to eliminate through diet to create the 3500, or 1 pound per week loss. I don't know, nor do I really want to spend the time converting calories and blocks. I know that 15 blocks leaves me a might peckish and that is probably good enough. The point here is to take off the fat and leave it off so slow and steady is better.

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

April 21, 2009

Warm up

10 minutes of Rowing, 2 minute hard, 1 minute spinning

Went for personal record on Clean and Jerk. Warmed up with 135# and 183#. Nailed 193# like it was nothing, same with 205#. I'm talking to myself, about now, and pretty damn excited. The clean catch with 225# was like silk. The jerk I struggled a little to lock out my left elbow but I nailed it. Added 5#. About now I'm really excited so all at once I'm trying to settle down, and still stay psyched. I missed 230# on the clean catch. Good enough for today. I'll try again some other day.

Farmers Walk, length of a tennis court (roughly), 100#, 90#, 80#
4 Way neck Machine, 150#, 5 each direction
Cable Crunches, 150#, 3x10
Farmers walk back to the rack

April 20, 2009

I get to play the dad taxi today so I can't join the work out group.

Warm up
10 minutes of Rowing, 2 minutes of hard pulling, 1 minute of spinning.

OHS, 89# plus the chains, probably 120#, 10, 8, 6, 4, 4,
Glute-Ham Raises, 10, 10, 10, 10, 10

Military press 89# plus the chains, 10, 8, 6

Friday, April 17, 2009

April 17, 2009

We don't need no stinking warm up. Warm ups are for people with too much time on their hands.

Incline Bench Press, 135# & chains x8, 145# & chains x8, 150# & chains x8
Dumbbell swing, 35# 3x8

Front squats, 185# chains x8, 185# & chains x6, 185# & chains x7
Gravitron Pull ups, 3x8

Dead lift, 205# & chains x8, 205# & chains x8, 205# & chains x8
Glute-ham raises, 3x8

Farmers Walk, length of a tennis court (roughly), 100#, 90#, 80#
4 Way neck Machine, 150#, 5 each direction
Cable Push Pull, 60#, 3x10
Farmers walk back to the rack

K. I'm done. Ready for the weekend. Ready for a cheat day on the "diet". Feeling the calorie deficit today.

Thursday, April 16, 2009

April 16, 2009

About dozen folks.

Medicine ball Warm up.

Some mobility stuff, lunge and quad stretch, inch worms and so on.

Did some work with hurdles, high steps, and some over under stuff. Fun, and great for hips.

Medicine ball tosses combined with sprinting, basically the length of the football field.

Did a version of running the rabbit but with a medicine ball. If the ball dropped everybody on the team did 10 push ups.

Medicine ball calisthenics for 10 minutes.

Call it good. It was great to get outside and to do a variety of stuff.

Wednesday, April 15, 2009

April 15, 2009

Warm up

15 minutes on the rower. I broke it into two minutes of hard pulling followed by 1 minute of spinning -- active rest.

Work

Tabata Cycle,

Push ups/Supine Rows
Squats/Lunges
Dumbbell swings/Speed Skaters
Sit ups/Hyper-extensions

1 Round
Farmers Walk, 100# dumbbells, about the length of a tennis court
4 Way Neck Machine, 150#, 5reps in each direction
Cable Crunches, 150#, 30 reps
Farmers Walk, 100# dumbbells, about the length of a tennis court

Today is a rest day, of sorts. Important to leave some gas in the tank for Thursdays, as "J" comes up with fun stuff for us routinely.

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

April 14, 2009

Warm Up

10 Minutes on the Rower

Trying to improve my technique which shows how intense this exercise can be. I had to break it up into 3 minutes of good pulling, 1 minute of easier pulling, 2 and 1, and 2 and 1.

Incline Bench Press, 135# and the chains, 3x8
25# Plate Swings, 3x16
60 seconds of rest between each round

Squats, 185# and chains, 3x8
Gravitron Pull ups, 3x8
60 seconds of rest between each round

Dead Lift 205# and chains, 3x8
Glute-Ham Raises, 3x8
60 seconds of rest between rounds

Farmers Walk 100#, 90#, 80#
4 Way neck machine, 150#, 5reps each
Cable Crunches, 150#, 30 reps
Farmers walk back
rest 60 seconds between rounds

Ok, so that was a fairly tough. Working with the chains is amusing in a sick sort of way. I load the bar up, and then drape the chains over the sleeves. As the chain comes off the floor the load gets heavier, so the lift is harder at the top. Too, they sway and cause the load to wobble, which forces all sort of stabilization.

Monday, April 13, 2009

April 13, 2009

Work out group, about a dozen folks showed up.

Warm up

Some newish stuff with backward skipping, which is a weird movement.

Mobility

Standard fare.

Jump circuit

vertical jump and stick, 30-40 seconds, jog length of tennis court and walk back
step, gather, vertical jump and stick, 6- or 8, jog length of court and walk back
broad jump, vertical jump and stick, 6, jog length of court and walk back
handstand push ups, 6, jog length of court and walk back, 4 rounds

Work

Worm 'n turn, 6-12, sprint to end of court, lunge walk back the length and do 20 v-ups, continuous movement for 10 minutes

Weight room

Thrusters, 135#, 4 reps, 75 seconds of rest, 4 rounds
Dead Lift, 225#, 5 reps, 60 seconds of rest, 5 rounds

1 Tabata cycle of ski squats

Friday, April 10, 2009

April 10, 2009

Went down to the gym with all sorts of good intentions.

Warm Up

10 minute on the rowing machine. I got some tips from "K" about how to row more efficiently. Fast hard pull, slow restful return, gives a lot of torque. It is tough to do that for long. But, by doing intervals I was able to pull my 500m average down a bit.

I was really fooled. I grabbed a bar for Hang Squat Cleans, and basically, there wasn't any gas in the tank. I set up a BP for bodyweight work, planned on 10, 8, 6, 4 and just didn't have it.

So, instead I dropped down to 135# and hung the chains on the bar. Did: 15, 12, 9. Then hung the chains on an empty o-bar and did OHS for reps, 15,15,15. Spent a bunch of time chatting with "W" who was doing his CrossFit Total. He had a good day for Dead lift. "S" was dorking around like me, but, he pulled off a new PR on BP.

Call it good and enjoy the weekend.

Ruminations on Eating in the Zone

I've kinda hit the sticking point. I seem to have stabilized at the 12 pounds lost mark. My options are to increase activity, and or, decrease intake, or both. I've been dealing with lots of other stuff and so I've been limping along holding at 16-17 blocks. Some days I over do it, but, the Zone is a lot easier to stay with than a deprivation diet, so, not too bad. I've been frustrated in trying to get a more accurate lean to fat measurement. Which I was able to do yesterday. Used a hand held device to measure percentage of body fat. Humbling, of course, but, exactly the knowledge I needed. First, I should be eating 15 blocks, rather than the 17 I have been. I think I'll try 5, 3 block meals. There is always the issue of having enough gas in the tank to get through a work out, but, that is just something to monitor. I think, along with underestimating body fat, I'm over estimating the amount of exercise I'm really doing. So, I adjusted that variable too. I've got another 12 pounds to go. With the days getting longer, and warmer I might be able to fit some more exercise in as well. I guess it is just a matter of tinkering until it takes off.

So, again, no recording of poops, or, daily meal plans,... not to bad for an old guy.

April 8, 2009

Work out group, about 5 of us showed up. So, we did the fun thing and took weights out to the Field house.

Warm up

Standard fare -- skips, lunges, carioca and so on.

Mobility

Standard fare -- walking lunges and quad stretchs and so on.

Work Out (Yippie!)

3 reps, either, snatch, thruster, or push press, put the weight down sprint to mid-court and coast to the baseline, walk back, lather, rinse repeat. We did 4 rounds. 135#

Get the weight overhead safely, walk to half-court, put the weight down, pick it up overhead, walk backward to the service line, put it down, pick it up walk forward to the opposite service line, put it down, pick it up, walk backwards to the half court, and so on. That was a challenge! With the plates, and bars we had I ended up with about 139#, I was talking to myself pretty seriously at the other service line.

Waiters lunges, I used the 45# db, length of the tennis court, so half in one hand then switch at mid-court. Did a round trip as well.

Farmers Walk, we have a couple of 2 inch bars, and so we loaded them with 25# plates for a total of 75#, these are about 5 feet long, one in each hand (balance really matters) and started walking. The next person started where the last left off. Just kept going for about 10 minutes. "W" really schooled me on this one. The big bars make a huge difference.

Metabolic Jumble

45 seconds of work, 30 seconds of rest, the work is just a bunch of calisthenics, burpees, push ups, jumping jacks, jump tucks, mountain climbers and so on. I think we did 4 rounds.

I love these kinds of workouts.

Wednesday, April 8, 2009

April 8, 2009

Warm Up

10 minutes of rowing, I don't really know enough about these machines to know if I'm doing a good thing... 2:36 is my average for 500 meters, and I'm burning 600 plus calories per hour. From a subjective point of view it feels like I'm pulling along briskly.

Work Out

It is a pull day, I love pull day. Probably something about having short legs, and long arms makes my body good at it.

Dead lift, 10, 8, 6, 4, 2, 1, 225#, 275#, 315#, 365#, 395#, 410#
BOR, 8, 8, 6, 5, 4, 135#
Gravitron Pull ups, 8, 8, 6, 6, 6

I called it good a little short today. My PR on Dead lift is 410# so pulling it for a single on my last set was really cool. Next time I go for a PR, I'll probably start at 405# and see where it goes. The one rep max calculators suggest 420#. Interestingly, at my weight, the strength standard charts on EXRX put that at only somewhere between Intermediate and Advanced. I'd have to pull 567 to be considered Elite. Humility.

Tuesday, April 7, 2009

April 7, 2009

Warm up

10 Minutes of Rowing

Work out
Squats 10, 10, 8, 6, 4, 2, 135#, 225#, 245#, 265#, 275#, 295#
Glute-Ham Raises, 12, 12, 12, 12, 12, 12

1x4 set of hang squat cleans 185# cause some wankers were dropping it and I was sick of it, so I showed them how to do it without dropping it.

OHS 2x10, 135#
Calf Raises, 2x8, 135#

Worked in with "W" doing 5x5 of Squat Jerks, all around 150#

Wrist Rollers
Farmers walk, 100#

Cable Crunches

April 6, 2009

8 or so folks showed up. Our regular leader is still too busy to run the workouts, but, we are still hitting it hard.

Warm up

Skipping, and carioca, and such stuff.

Mobility

Usual fair.

Jump Circuit, 2 rounds of a Tabata cycle

Blast offs/Broad Jumps/Blast offs/burpees/Blast offs/backward broad jump/blast offs/vertical jump and stick

Rocket Girls/Speed Skaters

Weight Room

3 rounds 6-8 reps

Thrusters
db bench press
db rows

3 rounds 8-10 reps

Ski squats
negative pull ups
lawn mower RDL

4 rounds
Finished with bleacher run and exercises, crunches, v-ups, burpees,

Friday, April 3, 2009

April 3, 2009

Warm up
5 minutes on the treadmill

Work out
Hang Squat Cleans, 10, 8, 6, 4, 135#
BP, 10, 8, 6, 4, 185#
2 minutes of rest

Trashed around lamely with Split Jerks and gave up for today, try again on Tuesday.
1x205#, 1x205#, 1x185#, 3x135#

Core
Cable Crunches, 2x36
Cable push pull, 3x24

Wrist rollers, 3x5#, 2x10
Farmers Walk, 80yrds, 100#
Wrist rollers, 3x5, 2x10
Upright rows, w, 2 inch bar, 3x6, 115#

April 2, 2009

About a dozen folks showed up.

Standard Warm Up

Standard Mobility

Work Out

3 rounds, 4-6 reps
RDL
Pull Up
45 Seconds of rest
1 Leg Bench Squat
Weighted Push ups
45 Seconds of rest

3 rounds, 6-8 reps
Dumbbell Swing
Speed Row -- Supine Rows, or BoR w/DB
45 Seconds rest
weighted Jump Squats
Clap Push ups or Shoulder Taps
45 Seconds of rest

Plank Waterfall sprint
hip march suicide
duck walking
bear crawl sprint, w/waterfall shoulder tap

Wednesday, April 1, 2009

April 1, 2009

Warm Up

Tabata Cycle
Push ups/Supine Rows
Squats/Lunges
Dumbbell Swing/Speed Skaters
Sit ups/Hyper-extensions

Work Out
Dead lift, 10, 8, 6, 4, 1, 225#, 275#, 295#, 315#, 405#
Supine Rows, 10, 8,6,4

Cable Crunches, 1x45
Cable Push Pull, 1x24

Wrist Rollers, 4x5#, 3x10#
Farmers Walk, 100#