Saturday 8/23 (AM)
Bikram Yoga Class (90 Minutes)
Saturday 8/23 (PM)
Weighted Pushups (20 Minutes)
Put my kettlebell in a backpack, strapped it on, and did sets of 5-10 pushups periodically for 20 minutes (totaling 125 reps). Really enjoyed this, had a good sweat going by the end too.
Sunday 8/24 (AM)
Bikram Yoga Class (90 Minutes)
Sunday 8/24 (PM)
Chest Press
8x100
8x110
8x120
8x130
8x140
8x150
8x160
8x200
Lat Pulldown
8x100
8x100
8x110
8x110
8x120
8x130
8x140
8x150
Barbell Curl
5x75
5x75
5x75
5x75
5x75
5x75
Monday 8/25 (AM)
Bike To CMU
60 Pull-ups
Bike To Work
10 sets of 6.
Tuesday 8/26 (AM)
Chest Press
8x110
8x120
8x130
8x140
8x160
6x200
Pec-Deck
8x100
8x100
8x100
8x100
8x100
8x100
Seated Row
10x100
10x110
10x120
10x130
10x140
10x150
Lat Pulldown
8x100
8x110
8x120
8x130
8x140
8x150
Bike To Work
The skinny noob showed up again; he’s enthusiastic, that’s for sure. He’s already added a plate or two on each exercise in just a couple of weeks (which was kind of the idea: start him on these machines, let him see progress, get him hooked, then he’ll have enough to strike out on his own and figure out what a decent workout program is). He’s got a little natural “pulling” strength - he can do lat pulldowns with 70 pounds and seated rows with 80 pounds - but NO pushing strength at all, as he can barely chest press 40 pounds (the machines in my apartment’s fitness center range from 20-200 pounds for the chest press and then from 20-150 pounds on the lat attachment, row attachement, and pec deck).
Will probably do some kettlebell stuff after work. Also of note, I purchased a 20-pound kettlebell for my girlfriend, who I’ve mentioned a few times prior in this log; an avid runner and yoga enthusiast, she seemed intrigued by my kettlebell workouts and thought it would be a good idea to expand her fitness repertoire, so I’ll take that up to Michigan when I visit this weekend and put her through a basic workout (teach her goblet squats, swings, rows, cleans, presses, and some variations of loaded carries). I’ve got my 45’er at home, and my 35’er is already at her place, so I’ll leave the 20’er and the 35’er there (so we can do KB workouts together when I visit her up there) and keep the 45’er at my place.
I came across a pretty cool kettlebell workout that I am going to give a shot today, hopefully!! Google “The RKC Deep Six Workout.” It focuses on all of the major RKC movements in one workout: swing, snatch, clean & press, front squat, and the get up. Looks kind of cool and could be potentially tough. Just passing along some useful information!
Tuesday 8/26 (PM)
Bike To CMU
60 Pullups
Bike Home
Wednesday 8/27 (AM)
Bike To CMU
60 Pullups
Bike To Work
Thursday 8/28 (AM)
Bikram Yoga Class (90 Minutes)
Friday 8/29 (AM)
Kettlebell Workout (30 Minutes)
Up in Michigan to visit my GF for a few days, so the next few entries will be all kettlebell workouts. I recently purchased a 20 pounder for my GF to use, so she joined me for the workout today and I introduced her to all the basics that I could think of, sort of a bottom-up progression from the least dynamic movement to the most dynamic:
Deadlifts
Goblet Squats
Squat-High-Pull
Alternating Forward Lunges (Goblet Position)
Alternating Backward Lunges (Goblet Position)
Right-Leg Forward Lunges (Suitcase Position)
Left-Leg Forward Lunges (Suitcase Position)
Right-Leg Forward Lunges (Front-Rack Position)
Left-Leg Forward Lunges (Front-Rack Position)
2-Handed Swings
1-Handed Swings
Cleans
Rows
Basically did 1 set of 10-15 reps of each exercise. Then we went outside and did a few sets of suitcase walks, waiter walks, and walking lunges. Came back in and did a final giant set of swings to finish up.
She really seemed to enjoy it. Should be a nice addition to her fitness routine (mostly running and yoga, and the occasional Jillian Michaels DVD with 5 pound dumbbells haha). Even if she just does it with me when I visit, it’ll be fun for us to share another fitness hobby on top of our usual yoga classes; if she takes to it and starts doing 1-2 dedicated KB workouts per week, even better.
Edited to add: the 20-pounder will stay at her place, as will the 35-pounder (for my use when I’m visiting, since it’s really my only way to work out up here other than yoga classes). The 45-pounder will remain at my place in Pittsburgh for my day-to-day usage.
I also have a progress pic, which I’ll post when I’m back on a better Internet connection (my laptop in my GF’s apartment keeps cutting out).
Saturday 8/30
Push-ups and Kettlebell Circuit (30 Minutes)
10 push-ups
1 Turkish get up (each side)
10 kettlebell swings
Repeated 15 times in 30 minutes.
Sunday 8/31
Push-ups and Kettlebell Circuit (42 Minutes)
10 push-ups
10 kettlebell swings
5 kettlebell lunges (each leg)
Varied the sets of lunges - some with the bell in the suitcase position, some in the front rack position in one arm, some in the goblet position, some forward, some backward. Really good to hit the legs from a couple of different angles. Again, probably about 15 total rounds of the circuit.
Monday 9/1
Push-ups and Kettlebell Circuit (31 Minutes)
Lovely workout with my GF this morning on the lakeshore. I alternated sets of 10 push-ups with assorted kettlebell movements (swings, squats, cleans, lunges). We did about 20 total sets of each. Really good sweat and workout. She seems to really dig the 20 pounder that I bought for her.
Monday 9/1 (PM)
Exercise Bike (20 Minutes)
Just wanted to break a sweat after spending all day in the car driving home.
Tuesday 9/2 (AM)
Bike To CMU
60 Pull-ups
Bike To Work
Wednesday 9/3 (AM)
Bike To Gym
Pull-ups and Seated Rows (15 Minutes)
Bike To Work
Felt like something a little different today, so I rode to the gym and did a back workout incorporating some seated rows with my usual morning pull-ups. I did the pull-ups in sets of 3 reps, supersetted with 10-rep sets of seated rows, completing 12 sets of each.
Thursday 9/4 (AM)
Chest Press
8x100
8x110
8x120
8x130
8x140
8x150
8x160
8x170
Lat Pulldown
8x100
8x110
8x120
8x130
8x140
8x150
8x120
8x120
8x120
8x120
8x120
Bike To Work
Worked out my beach muscles with my skinny newb friend again. He’s made some progress, has already added a couple plates to the stack (now he can chest press 50 pounds and do lat pulldowns with 80 pounds). Once he’s handling a little more weight and feels a bit more confident, I’ll teach him a few things with the EZ-curl bar and paltry collection of free weights in our apartment’s fitness center, i.e. basic barbell curls, bent-over rows, and maybe standing military press. That will be the gateway to real lifting for him, and then perhaps he will start working out in his University’s real gym, although we may continue our occasional machine-based-beach-muscle workouts because that’s what we have available in our fitness center.
It’s great that your new friend seems enthusiastic! Training a friend like that is extremely rewarding, so long as they stick with it.
It looks like your own training is going well 
[quote]furo wrote:
It’s great that your new friend seems enthusiastic! Training a friend like that is extremely rewarding, so long as they stick with it.
[/quote]
I agree. What we’re doing is quite far from really “optimal” training, but since our little exercise room has those machines available…if the kid was just going to mess around with them anyway, I might as well give him a sensible scheme of sets and reps, and some basic instruction on form (machines seem idiot-proof, but they’re not), and get him started. He can figure it out on his own after he’s been working out for a bit, but let’s make sure he can move a couple plates on the Nautilus machine (which will also build some confidence) first.
[quote]furo wrote:
It looks like your own training is going well
[/quote]
I’m sort of a CrossFitter without going to the box. Pushups and kettlebells one day, pullups and rows the next, beach-muscle-machine-stuff on the side, some yoga classes, riding my bike…it’s all fun stuff that fits into my life.
Is this all going to turn me into Mr. Universe? Of course not. But it keeps me happy and healthy.
Tonight, for example, the NFL season opener is on TV (oh wait, you’re from the UK, you don’t know what the NFL is…it’s this game we Americans call “football” even though it makes no sense because you can’t really use your feet for most of the game, and what we call “soccer” is actually what the rest of the world calls “football”).
Point is, there’s this great thing I want to watch on TV. So when I get home tonight, I’ll plop onto my exercise bike and do some sprint intervals while watching the game.
[quote]ActivitiesGuy wrote:
I agree. What we’re doing is quite far from really “optimal” training, but since our little exercise room has those machines available…if the kid was just going to mess around with them anyway, I might as well give him a sensible scheme of sets and reps, and some basic instruction on form (machines seem idiot-proof, but they’re not), and get him started. He can figure it out on his own after he’s been working out for a bit, but let’s make sure he can move a couple plates on the Nautilus machine (which will also build some confidence) first.
[/quote]
I dunno, I think what you are doing with him is pretty optimal to be honest. The last thing you want to do early on is dishearten him. Building his confidence with machines and letting him see progress is probably the perfect way to get him hooked :).
[quote]ActivitiesGuy wrote:
I’m sort of a CrossFitter without going to the box. Pushups and kettlebells one day, pullups and rows the next, beach-muscle-machine-stuff on the side, some yoga classes, riding my bike…it’s all fun stuff that fits into my life.
Is this all going to turn me into Mr. Universe? Of course not. But it keeps me happy and healthy.
Tonight, for example, the NFL season opener is on TV (oh wait, you’re from the UK, you don’t know what the NFL is…it’s this game we Americans call “football” even though it makes no sense because you can’t really use your feet for most of the game, and what we call “soccer” is actually what the rest of the world calls “football”).
Point is, there’s this great thing I want to watch on TV. So when I get home tonight, I’ll plop onto my exercise bike and do some sprint intervals while watching the game.[/quote]
I completely relate to your training philosophy, it’s all about staying healthy and happy. I think a lot of people forget about the happy part. I’m well aware that my current routine isn’t optimal in terms of progress, but it makes me happy and that is important.
Haha I actually watched the superbowl this year - my first full game - and really enjoyed it. I also went to a few training sessions with my uni team (most big universities here have a team) but if I’m honest I couldn’t even come close to affording any of the equipment lol, so that nipped that in the bud.
I hope it’s a good game!
[quote]ActivitiesGuy wrote:
Tonight, for example, the NFL season opener is on TV (oh wait, you’re from the UK, you don’t know what the NFL is…it’s this game we Americans call “football” even though it makes no sense because you can’t really use your feet for most of the game, and what we call “soccer” is actually what the rest of the world calls “football”).
[/quote]
I’m a packers man, all the way down in Oz… love the NFL.
(Aussie Rules footy went to sh!t a long time ago).