Probably not a fellow you’d want to date.
In a better mood this Saturday. I’ve been tight with the diet all week and Wed/Thu were both IF days (eating in the evening only) - this is more because I’m rushing around school these days and don’t have time to eat much anyway (Friday is the only day I get a full lunch break). I’ve been feeling a bit weak and feeble in the mornings, to be honest. Today is definitely time for a carb up, especially as I have my 90 min gymnastic class tomorrow.
Gym:
Superset:
Hypers: 30, 20, 10
Rolly uppy things: 10, 10, 10
Military Press:
Bar x 10
25kg x 10 (+2)
27.5kg x 7 (+1)
30kg x 6 (no change)
Sort of superset:
Chins (underhand) 2, 1, 1, 1
Negative pull-ups (overhand) 3, 3, 3, 3
I say sort of, because there were gaps between the chins and the negatives. Quite long ones. Honestly, I didn’t have a lot of energy so just getting them done was the main thing.
Also opted out of the rack pulls for the same reason and because lower back is slightly cranky today.
Dips: 8, 6, 6
Lat Pulldowns: 30 x 12, 40 x 8 (I think!)
I’d had enough at this point. I did some handstand prep work and practised my forward rolls. I can actually do them into standing now - even did two in a row. Pleased with that. Dunno if I can repeat that in class tomorrow but would be nice if I can.
Also stretching.
Then weighed myself. 10 stone 13! (153lbs) That’s 7 pounds (or half a stone in English money) down from last week. I realise a lot of that is water because I’ve been pissing like a horse, but damn, I didn’t expect to duck under 11 stone within a week. My waist is slightly more than 28" this morning so that’s nearly an inch too. Triceps still look like shit but hey, can’t expect miracles right away. Happy with the progress I have made, though.
Then grocery shopping.
I’m about to have breakfast - quark with vanilla whey mixed in and blueberries. Quark has a bit more protein and fewer carbs than cottage cheese. I did think of getting some nuts to put on this confection but then thought it’d be a bit of a slippery slope, so decided that would be a bad idea.
I’m going to have a baked potato, salad and smoked salmon trimmings (bargain bin price - they’re basically offcuts and not nice to eat on their own but great to go in a potato) later on.
Right, I’m off to eat my quark and watch the episode of The Walking Dead I recorded last night.
Hey Cal,
Impressive dietary resolve through the week–a 7lb drop is huge. Good for you.
The half is a great distance. It feels like a significant accomplishment but it doesn’t leave you beat to shit. I’ve run 2 this year, with one more in Dec. After that though, (and with the worsening weather) I’m going to try to back off the distance and work on pace. Do you require an off road run because of your sciatic?
Re the forward rolls, remember the 1 is luck, 2 is skill, 3 it’s yours mantra. Once you do a skill 3x successfully (in a row, no misses) you own it and you can and should expect to hit it most every other time. Sounds like you’re there to me. Is it just floor work in your gymnastics class?
This class is a beginner class - it’s run by Crossfit. Since there are a lot of things like handstand push-ups in their workouts, the guy running the London branch realised a lot of adults were struggling with these moves and, given most gymnastic coaches are only interested in teaching kids, he brought in someone to do a class once a week. She teaches a beginner class, which I go to, followed by a more advanced class. I’m not sure what they get up to in that one, but the beginners is all floor work so far. They don’t have any beams or bars or horses although they do have rings so I’m not sure if we’ll get to use those. They’re mainly there for people to do ring dips and muscle-ups though.
Re: running, I run off road to save my knees, more than anything. I can run on pavements - when I do my “three common death run” I have to run on pavement to get from one common to the next. It’s OK but I don’t want to beat the crap out of them any more than necessary. In my last job I ran home (5.5 miles) a couple of times, all on pavement, and it wasn’t pleasant.
Chins and dips are looking good. Nice job skipping the nuts if you aren’t sure you can stop eating them once you start. Isn’t the amount of water weight we carry amazing? I’m glad you got a positive start to the cut.
Sounds like the cross fit thing is a good deal. Gymnastics is tough to do as an adult–in terms of finding an opportunity to do it.
I have vibrams, but I only use those to push the prowler. No way could I run in them. I’m running in Newtons–the stability performance trainer. They’re spendy as shit, but I think they have helped me. Anything to stay in the game.
[quote]Nadia Comeandeat wrote:
Sounds like the cross fit thing is a good deal. Gymnastics is tough to do as an adult–in terms of finding an opportunity to do it.
I have vibrams, but I only use those to push the prowler. No way could I run in them. I’m running in Newtons–the stability performance trainer. They’re spendy as shit, but I think they have helped me. Anything to stay in the game. [/quote]
I just got my vibrams recently, but most definitely not for running. Running barefoot on rocks is just plain stupid. I only wear them in the gym, and when I can start working my MA again, they’ll be used for bag work. Since I can’t run until sometime in December, I’m waiting until I can get to a running store stateside to get a new pair of shoes.
[quote]Cal Jones wrote:
Probably not a fellow you’d want to date.[/quote]
So…since I have braces on my teeth, and I’m not averse to wearing braces on my trousers with certain suits, I’m un-dateable? That’s bullshit!!! j/k 
Not joking about the teeth part, though.
Heh heh. It’s very unusual to find adults with braces in the UK (the orthodontic kind - and actually the other kind too these days, although they were popular in the 80s). I lucked out because I had really gappy teeth as a kid (I could get my tongue between my front two teeth) but when my wisdom teeth came through, they pushed them altogether so they lined up nicely.
Had a busy morning. I’m doing a first aid course tomorrow (paid for by the school) so I’ve had to fit four days training into three days. I squeezed in a 4.5 mile run this morning, then my gymnastics class. Didn’t have time for breakfast so I’m pretty hungry now.
I nailed the forward rolls - which is a good job as I’m bollocks at cartwheels. But my handstand practise is coming along - we put our feet on a wall and walk our hands back, and my hands are getting closer. My arms and shoulders are strong enough to hold myself there - I’m not sure if my core will be strong enough to hold myself upright under gravity, but we’ll see I guess. I’m still a ways off trying that.
[quote]Cal Jones wrote:
Heh heh. It’s very unusual to find adults with braces in the UK (the orthodontic kind - and actually the other kind too these days, although they were popular in the 80s). I lucked out because I had really gappy teeth as a kid (I could get my tongue between my front two teeth) but when my wisdom teeth came through, they pushed them altogether so they lined up nicely.
Had a busy morning. I’m doing a first aid course tomorrow (paid for by the school) so I’ve had to fit four days training into three days. I squeezed in a 4.5 mile run this morning, then my gymnastics class. Didn’t have time for breakfast so I’m pretty hungry now.
I nailed the forward rolls - which is a good job as I’m bollocks at cartwheels. But my handstand practise is coming along - we put our feet on a wall and walk our hands back, and my hands are getting closer. My arms and shoulders are strong enough to hold myself there - I’m not sure if my core will be strong enough to hold myself upright under gravity, but we’ll see I guess. I’m still a ways off trying that.[/quote]
I was robbed of my wisdom at the young age of 15. So, braces (ortho-kind) it is. My effort to finally be full-fledged sexy! lol.
The handstand stuff will come pretty quickly. The hold itself helps build your core. When I started the work, I would hold a handstand for time. Usually started with 20-30 seconds, then just build from there. From there, I progressed to the handstand pushups.
Awesome on the forward roll. You did finish with a “ta-da” didn’t you? It’s very important to teach children to “ta-da” so you must do it yourself!
I bet your core is strong enough to hold a free standing handstand. What’s hard about handstands is learning how to make the correct body shape. No arch. Hollow body. Are you learning hollow body rocks? I wouldn’t say these are a kick ass core move, but they are instructive in shaping.
As a new lifter, I find the emphasis on the arch in all the lifts very odd. In gymnastics, a hollow body, is in most instances, a better body.
What progression is your instructor using to help you with the cartwheel? Are you placing your hands on an elevated mat? Are you learning them from a jump first?
7lbs in a week!
damn. and those gymnastics are actually starting to sound like fun 
Nadia - we haven’t done those - we’ve done the face down version, but I guess that’s not going to help, lol!
Cartwheels - no raised section, no. She drew some chalk crosses on the mat to show where hands should land. She’s not expecting verticality at this stage but honestly, being somewhat dyspraxic, I couldn’t even get my hands on the crosses. There’s a lot of stuff going on during a cartwheel and I am not great with complex moves - I have trouble wrapping my brain around them.
You make me miss gymnastics so much, only sport I was awesome at 
They kicked my ass out though because I got too top heavy.
But that’s besides the point; I’m glad you’re doing this though Cal. Being able to continue with that says a lot about you.
Cal,
In terms of cartwheel progression, I’d start with a two footed “monkey jump” to help you get comfortable moving your body sideways through space. Pretend you have something like a hula hoop on the floor. Squat down and put your hands (facing the right way) in the middle of it and then jump your feet over to the other side. It’s cool to keep your legs tucked in. The point (in the beginning) is just to get your feet from one side of the hoop to the other. As you feel more comfortable, but still with your feet tucked in, work on getting your hips up higher and higher).
Once you’ve mastered the monkey jump, and I suspect that won’t take long, then moved to a raised panel. Here, start with your fav foot in front, place your hands on the mat, and then kick that back leg over as you push off your front foot–again the goal is simple just get your feet over to the other side. For the first time or two, you may want to do the same monkey jump that you did on the floor here.
The raised panel will help you develop the strong leg kick that you need. When you are able to easily cartwheel over it and land one foot at a time, then I would take it to the floor.
re: running in vibrams
prolly still not a good idea on rocks, but new studies show that running “correctly” on the balls of your feet and not hyperextending your knee while subjecting it to impact is better. ie, barefoot. or vibrams.
still wont catch me running unless im paid, or something whose ass i cant kick is chasing me.
[quote]CBear84 wrote:
re: running in vibrams
prolly still not a good idea on rocks, but new studies show that running “correctly” on the balls of your feet and not hyperextending your knee while subjecting it to impact is better. ie, barefoot. or vibrams.
still wont catch me running unless im paid, or something whose ass i cant kick is chasing me. [/quote]
My thoughts on running: getting chased by something that would frighten me, ie-bombs/gunfire; going after someone that warrants being chased.
Speaking of running, Cal, kill that 15k please. That is all.
[quote]Beast27195 wrote:
Speaking of running, Cal, kill that 15k please. That is all.[/quote]
You already know.
Nadia - thanks for the tip. That also gives me some good ideas for teaching my girls, especially as we do have hula hoops at school.
Bear/Beast - I switched to running on the balls of my feel a few years ago. My achilles tendons took a beating but seem to have got used to it now, and my knees are ever thankful. My Frees are light enough not to get in my way, although they’re a bit flimsy for winter - they certainly let water in when it’s squelchy out, which isn’t ideal.
[quote]Cal Jones wrote:
Nadia - thanks for the tip. That also gives me some good ideas for teaching my girls, especially as we do have hula hoops at school.
Bear/Beast - I switched to running on the balls of my feel a few years ago. My achilles tendons took a beating but seem to have got used to it now, and my knees are ever thankful. My Frees are light enough not to get in my way, although they’re a bit flimsy for winter - they certainly let water in when it’s squelchy out, which isn’t ideal. [/quote]
I run on the balls of my feet, as I have a game right leg. I imagine you’ll want to run in something light for your race, though. Especially since you’re going to be bogged down anyhow.