Thursday 8/14 (AM)
Kettlebell Workout (20 Minutes)
Bike To Work
No kettlebell workout yesterday, just the beach muscles, so I did a bunch of clean and presses this morning.
Thursday 8/14 (PM)
Bikram Yoga Class (90 Minutes)
Friday 8/15 (AM)
Chest Press
8x100
8x110
8x120
8x130
8x140
8x150
8x160
8x170
8x180
8x190
8x200
Lat Pulldown
8x100
8x110
8x120
8x130
8x140
8x150
8x150
Pumped the beach muscles again this morning; I’m heading out of town for a couple days so I’ll be doing just yoga classes (with my parents!) and a kettlebell workout or two until I get back on Monday.
Friday 8/15 (PM)
Hot Yoga Class (90 Minutes)
Addendum to my 8/15 (AM) post about a chest press and lat pulldowns workout:
I did this workout in my apartment building’s fitness center. A very, very skinny kid (no more than 135 pounds) was in there at the same time, looking a bit lost…he’s an international student, new to the States, and was interested in the idea of lifting weights but clearly had no clue what he was doing. I just showed him how to use the machines properly for the first day, but offered that if he’d like, I would work out with him once or twice a week in the mornings (just using our apartment fitness room at first to build some basic strength - the kid could barely do lat pulldowns and chest presses with 30 pounds on the stack, but I figure keeping him on the machines will allow him to progress fairly quickly, and once he can handle that a little more, perhaps I will see if he’s interested in learning the barbell and dumbbell lifts). I’m not going to turn him into Arnold, but if I can at least set him on the right path and give him the basic tools, he can figure out what he wants from there. He seems enthused at the idea.
Saturday 8/16 (AM)
Sorry if this double-posts, just tried this and it didn’t show up.
Worked out at home with my dad this morning using some old Standard plates, hence the odd poundages.
Overhead Press
10x100
10x100
10x100
5x130
5x130
5x130
5x130
5x130
5x130
5x130
5x130
Barbell Row
8x130
8x130
8x130
8x130
8x130
My dad just turned 58, and while he’s not as spry as he used to be, it’s good to be home and see him still pushing some weight. I think his mix (2-3 yoga classes per week, one squatting workout per week, one power clean and snatch day, and one overhead pressing day) is a terrific “keep you going as you get old and fat” program. I love my old man.
Saturday 8/16 (PM)
Kettlebell Workout (20 Minutes)
Assorted carries and walks. Basically just took my kettlebell outside and walked around with it.
Sunday 8/17 (AM)
Bikram Yoga Class (90 Minutes)
[quote]ActivitiesGuy wrote:
My dad just turned 58, and while he’s not as spry as he used to be, it’s good to be home and see him still pushing some weight. I think his mix (2-3 yoga classes per week, one squatting workout per week, one power clean and snatch day, and one overhead pressing day) is a terrific “keep you going as you get old and fat” program. I love my old man.[/quote]
That’s awesome that your dad is still going strong in the weight room. For years, my father has been working with a PT who has him convinced that he “can’t do” squats because of a history of disc herniations. Actually, he “can’t yet do” squats because his lower body is super tight from having neglected this movement for the better part of 68 years.
I’m always in awe of those in the older generation who have avoided fitness trends and continue to do sensible full-body resistance work. It keeps you young.
Monday 8/18 (AM)
Chest Press
8x100
8x110
8x120
8x130
8x140
8x150
8x160
8x170
Lat Pulldown
8x100
8x110
8x120
8x130
8x140
8x150
Seated Row
10x100
10x100
10x100
Monday 8/18 (PM)
Bike Home
Kettlebell Workout (20 Minutes)
Clean and presses with a few sets of good old regular push-ups mixed in.
Tuesday 8/19 (AM)
Chest Press
8x100
8x110
8x120
8x130
8x140
8x150
8x160
8x170
Lat Pulldown
8x100
8x110
8x120
8x130
8x140
8x150
Seated Row
8x130
8x140
8x150
8x150
Fly Machine
8x100
8x100
8x100
8x100
Today’s workout was done while teaching my new buddy the ropes on all of the machines in our apartment building fitness center. If he’s going to start from scratch with no clue what to do, the least I can do is teach him how to use the machines properly and what a sensible number of sets and reps for each workout are. We’ll basically do this workout together twice a week for the first month. Once his arms are more than wet noodles (which they are right now; he can barely lift 40 pounds on the chest press machine and 50 pounds on the lat pulldown), I’ll teach him a few dumbbell and barbell exercises, and eventually I’ll let him figure it out once he knows enough to get started (right now he doesn’t even know enough to read an article/book and get something out of it). He seems like an eager and willing pupil.
Tuesday 8/19 (PM)
Bike Home
Kettlebell Workout (20 Minutes)
Did the following cycle
10 push-ups
3 clean and presses (each hand)
1 Turkish get-up (each hand)
Repeated for 20 minutes. I think I ended up with about 10 rounds.
[quote]ActivitiesGuy wrote:
Tuesday 8/19 (PM)
Bike Home
Kettlebell Workout (20 Minutes)
Did the following cycle
10 push-ups
3 clean and presses (each hand)
1 Turkish get-up (each hand)
Repeated for 20 minutes. I think I ended up with about 10 rounds.[/quote]
10 get ups with each hand just makes me tired just thinking about it! Cool workout. May have to steal this one at some point!
[quote]jblues85 wrote:
[quote]ActivitiesGuy wrote:
Tuesday 8/19 (PM)
Bike Home
Kettlebell Workout (20 Minutes)
Did the following cycle
10 push-ups
3 clean and presses (each hand)
1 Turkish get-up (each hand)
Repeated for 20 minutes. I think I ended up with about 10 rounds.[/quote]
10 get ups with each hand just makes me tired just thinking about it! Cool workout. May have to steal this one at some point!
[/quote]
You know, it really kicked my ass, too. I admit: I’ve almost never done get-ups, just always kept my workouts to be mostly goblet squats, swings, cleans, presses, carries…and now I can’t believe I ignored the get-up for so long!
In that vein, this morning’s workout was another “interesting” one:
Wednesday 8/20 (AM)
Kettlebell Workout (20 Minutes)
Bike To Work
So I have a book that I bought way back when I bought my kettlebell, not a landmark one like Pavel or anything, but a generic “Kettlebell Training For Athletes” book that I probably found for 3 bucks. I paged through it when I first got my 'bell, but probably haven’t picked it up for a couple of years…until this morning, when I realized I didn’t feel particularly drawn to any special workout. I decided, wacky as this sounds, to just pick up the book and do one set of each exercise listed within…what a great idea! I was introduced to all kinds of stuff that I normally don’t do: not only get-ups but stuff like sidewinders, windmills, bent press, figure-8 passes…it was a great changeup. I’ll have to keep this in my back pocket as a great “I don’t know what to do today” workout…just get out the book and do one of everything!
Wednesday 8/20 (PM)
Bike Home
Kettlebell Workout (20 Minutes)
10 Pushups
1 Clean and Press (each hand)
1 Turkish get-up (each hand)
…repeated for 20 minutes.
Thursday 8/21 (AM)
Chest Press
8x100
8x110
8x120
8x130
8x140
8x150
8x160
8x170
8x180
Lat Pulldown
8x100
8x110
8x120
8x130
8x140
8x150
8x150
8x150
8x150
Seated Row
8x150
8x150
8x150
8x150
Worked out with my new skinny buddy again. He’s terribly weak, but definitely an eager pupil; he should make good progress in the next few weeks as long as he eats enough.
Bike To Work
Thursday 8/21 (PM)
Bike Home
Kettlebell Workout
10 pushups
1 kettlebell clean and press (each hand)
1 kettlebell Turkish get-up (each hand)
Basically, my own bastardized Simple and Sinister alternative. I definitely think more pushups and get-ups would do me some good as an Activities Guy, so this might become my regular “evening” workout.
Friday 8/22 (AM)
Bike To CMU
60 Pull-ups
Bike To Work
10 sets of 6 today. First time doing this workout in about a week.
Shooting for 10x7 next week.