Quick shoulder workout
Press: 95 3 x 6, 115 x 6, 135 x 6
Face pulls: 3 x 10
Pull-ups: 2 x 6
Tri push down: 70 x 15, 100 x 10, 120 x 10
Stomach decided to turn on me, so left there. Press felt good, shoulder is still noticeably not normal but not bad either. Will knock out some extra work and maybe some conditioning/core this afternoon
Stomach and head were off yesterday, so didn’t do any of the extra work I planned. If all stays well I think I’ll start a peloton program designed to build my base, not super different than what I am doing now but will provide structure
Back/bis:
Reverse hyper: 50 x 15, 60 x 12, 70 x 10
BB row: 135 x 10, 185 3 x 10
Hammer pulldown: 140 x 10, 210 3 x 10
Curls (db): 25 3 x 10
Machine hammer curl: 50 3 x 10
Stomach felt better today, was a bit sleepy but this is pretty much all I want to do at this point anyway, felt solid enough. Bike this afternoon given health and no more meetings scheduled 2 hours before they happen le sigh
Started the “build your power zones” program today, if I stick it out it will mean an FTP test in about 5 weeks. It will also mean I’ll have a few weeks in not a cut to work hard to give myself a better result.
45 min peloton @ 165 watts
HR was way too high, legs were sore going in but never came close to limiting me
Yesterday:
Kb swings: 2 x 25
Hip and glute felt like shit so bailed.
20 min Yin Yoga, helped things for sure.
Today:
Weekly weight update:
254.8, no movement. Expected a drop here but my stomach has been a disaster recently so bloat and dehydration are playing a role but I didn’t eat cleanly enough to except a ton of movement. No worries though, will be better this week even though a friend is coming into town last minute and staying with us.
Chest/tri
Bench: 135 3 x 7, 225 x 5, 10
db row: 50,70,80,90 x 10
Triangle pushdown: 80, 100, 120 x 12
Neutral chins: bw x 7, 5, bw + 50 x 3
Tri overhead: 80 2 x 8, 1 x 11 (degraded form)
Pec deck: nope
So weight wasn’t where I wanted it to be and the pec deck is still a pretty hard “no” but bench was great, I could feel my shoulder a bit but nothing close to acute pain and 225 x 10 after months of little work wasn’t very hard, had slight pauses at the bottom of each rep. Will keep weight low for as long as needed here.
Some beast of a man was putting 25lb kbs on each foot and doing pull-ups so I gave it a shot, knocked out 3 before the kb slipped of my clown foot, maybe had one more maybe not. In any case, I might start throwing some weighted ones in the mix, felt strong.
Have a 45 min peloton on deck for this afternoon.
Yesterday afternoon:
45 min peloton @ 169 watts
This afternoon
60 min peloton @ 170 watts
Ride today felt like shit in the middle third but the last 25 min were quite strong, pretty big PR without trying to PR anything, definitely just getting strong over longer distances which is the goal.
The weight I thought I was going to drop yesterday I dropped today, 253.6. Physique still has a bit to go but it’s slowly getting there
you look fantastic. lean and strong.
I’m not sure I can picture this… His ankles were at 90 degrees and he was balancing them on top of his feet or some shit?
Looking jacked dude!
Delts looking good mate.
@throwawayfitness @boilerman @simo74 Thanks dudes! We’re getting there.
Ran a bit over a mile and did some abs yesterday. The weekend was chock full of activity, drinking, eating, and smoking but it was a great time. Old friend who went to Cornell as an undergrad came back, so we walked the campus and threw a frisbee around on everything that we could find that resembled a quad lol. Got in a lot of walking, some jumping, and a lot of rotation work. Also went to a local concert and a NASCAR race this weekend, my lower back and hips are fried. It’s causing a huge knot in my whole left side.
Plan for this afternoon is a 45 min peloton, yoga, and maybe a quick shoulder workout. Haven’t checked my weight in a few days but imagine with all of the moving I did, I wasn’t in much of a surplus.
45 min peloton @ 184 watts (14 watt PR)
20 min slow flow yoga
Did a bunch of stretching throughout the day, didn’t think the bike would go well but it actually felt fine, could’ve pushed harder for sure but I stayed within the constraints of the program.
Yoga felt good, hip still isn’t quite right but I’m hoping it will improve over the next few days. Will try to make it to the gym tomorrow.
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Read a few good books recently.
A Brief of Seven Killings, that spins a tale of Jamaica centered around a Bob Marley assassination attempt. Fascinating in both plot and writing style, where James hops between white CIA operatives and young Kingston thugs.
Lincoln in the Bardo, unlike anything I’ve ever read. Passion, death, and longing told by dozens of mid-19th century ghosts and actual sources. Will definitely read more Saunders.
Embers of War: The Fall of an Empire and the Making of America’s Vietnam, maybe the best piece of history I’ve read. An in depth look into the French arrogance and political scene that led to the First Indochina war which transitions into American influence in French, Vietnamese, and World policy. While incredibly infuriating at times, I always find it fascinating to see behind the scenes at would could’ve been, given a few different rolls of the dice.
Got in a leg/back session this morning. Want to do something else today but not sure it will happen:
Ham curls: 70, 110, 130 x 10
FS: 135, 185, 225, 275 x 5, 295 x 3, 315 x 2, 1
Split squat: 60 3 x 8
DB row: 60 2 x 15
Pull-ups (neutral): bw x 8, +40 2 x 5
Strength felt okay on everything but front squats, not sure why they felt terrible but they did, some combination of tightness, bad positioning, and leg fatigue. Probably should go back to the abduction/adduction instead of ham curls for the warmup. Much more exhausted than I should be after this but we’ll get through it.
45 min peloton @ 172 watts
Stayed in z2/z3 for this one, legs were pretty sore from the last two days but watts are slowly going up and HR is staying flat or going down. Will do some stretching but not much else for the night. Plan on hitting some chest/tri tomorrow
Got in and did a little chest
Incline Bench (waiting for flat): bar 2 x 10, 95 x 5, 135 x 5
Tri DB overhead (slow, pause at bottom): 35 3 x 10
Bench: 135, 185, 225 x 8
Tri puldown: 60 3 x 8
Facepulls: 60 3 x 15
Feeling a bit beat up at this point, probably just need to get some rest been a busy stretch. Will do something else today that gets the HR up or at least the legs moving. Upper back is also pretty sore.
Weighed in at 254.2 yesterday, weight has been pretty steady. Honestly, I’m somewhat ambivalent about the cut right now, it’s supposed to end in just under a week but I don’t have much momentum and haven’t really locked in for the last month or so. Going to try to lock in this weekend, shed a bit of bloat, then try to make it to 253.2 or lower by Thursday to hit “low 250s” (poorly defined). In any case, I’ve shed 6+ lbs in the last 8ish weeks and gotten a bit leaner, really looking forward to eating a bit more and going a bit harder. The silver lining here is I haven’t fallen entirely off the wagon, like I did last year and have previously done with regularity
Gym has been intermittently inspiring but pretty lackluster overall. Been feeling good about the riding though, have just under 4 weeks left in my current program, after which I’ll do an FTP test and have a few weeks to push the weights before an amazingly hectic (and expensive) October starts.
Back
Reverse hyper: 50,70,90 x 10
Low row (neutral, medium): 110 x 12, 130 x 10, 150 x 8
Hammer pulldown: 180, 230, 250 x 10
DB curls: 30 3 x 10
Hammer rope curl: 60 3 x 10
Smith row: 225 3 x 8
Lats are toast, reverse hyper felt good, arms were popping. Going on a little hike in a bit to relieve some pre-boards stress for the lady
60 min peloton @ 176 watts (6 watt PR)
Shoulders, 3 rounds:
Kb lateral raises: 23 x 8
Kneeling landmine press: 45 x 15
Facepulls: band x 20
HR is trending down, Watts are trending up. Shoulders got a decent pump but not much else. Good enough. Activity levels are through the roof, genuinely just physically tired at this point.
Might take an actual off day tomorrow but might also just go in and hit some arms, calves, and abs or some other light but random work that isn’t going to generate meaningful fatigue.
Took yesterday off, got to my 10k step mark and did absolutely nothing else but eat. Weight is not trending down but I felt like I needed some real recovery. I think I’m developing some sciatica, probably should actually use that referral from the doc for PT but probably won’t until Novemberish. I also need to do like 30233 things, feeling stressed, the end of summer is always like this. Cancelled plans to go see Death Cab/Postal Service didn’t want to fly again and then have to pay for an AirBnB, sad but think it was the right call given my physical/mental state and upcoming travel.
Speaking of, my backpacking trip in October (in the Enchantments) is going to be even colder than I thought (avg high/low in Oct is 40/10) and the elevation is going to be insane, so going to be buying cold weather gear (recs welcome) and continuing the cardio training until then.
Anyway…
Shoulders:
band face pulls: 4 x 10
OHP: bar x 10, 95 x 8, 115 x 8, 135 x 6, 155 x 6
Pullups: 3 x 6
Lateral raises: 15 x 15, 20 x 12, 25 x 10
Rear delt flies: 25 3 x 8
That’s all for now, have a hardish 45 min peloton this afternoon, will be spending a decent amount of time in z4 and touching z5 for a bit, will be interesting to see how my back/hip/leg respond.
We are the same person!
Ha, sucks for you!
Seriously though, my music year has been very subpar compared to last year’s kind of a bummer. At least I got money back from the tickets and didn’t have to pay more Ticketmaster fees.
You asked for it, I love talking gear.
First off, base layers are essential. Get some made of Merino Wool, it still keeps you warm when wet (sweat, rain, etc.) and resists body odor for multiple days. Smart Wool, Ice Breaker and REI Co-op all make them. I recommend wool socks as well.
After that, layers are your friend. Get a fleece, flannel or similar mid-weight layer.
Lastly, a down jacket. Make sure it’s actual goose down, if the tag says synthetic, walk away. Synthetic is not as warm, and doesn’t pack as small. Get at least 800 fill (fill is for the density of the down, oz will be how much they packed into it). A good down will be able to pack into its own pocket, which is great for shedding layers. This jacket with your other layers should be enough to keep you warm at camp, and be thin enough to sleep in. I like Kuhl, Cotopaxi and Patagonia, but there are many great brands around. Warning, these will run you about $200-300. Also with jackets, a rain shell might be a good idea. Depends on the forecast. In a pinch and for weight savings, you could always carry a poncho or trash bag, they just don’t breathe well.
The down statement above goes for sleeping bags too, if you don’t already have one.
