I realize now that it’s sort of dumb to not say the bw stuff I was doing for the last couple of months is. Perhaps there comes a time years down the road when I look at this particular part and think “Wait, what exactly was I doing?”
Well, I bought the Elements program from gmb.io back in January and just finished this early March. I think it was beneficial. It definitely improved my static strength and got me mobile enough to do a shitty back bridge again. I’m now running through the program again with the goal of being able to hold the movements for longer periods of times. I now wish that I did this as I considered back in 2020, since this may have helped lessen the impact working from home had on me.
8x12+4 push-ups and pull-ups throughout the day and lunges at lunch yesterday. Jogged 2mile(ish) as well. Body seems to be feeling lighter, but I suspect this is because the weather was really good.
Today-
OHP- 95lb, 4x7, 3x5 EMOM
I wanted to do 7x7 but my muscles started to fatigue a lot. I blame the horrid sleep I had today; went to bed at 4(!!)AM in the hopes that little sleep will get me sleepier later tonight. Also am going to reduce the PM coffee intake.
Back squat- 45lb, 1x100
I’m now taking a breath between every rep to pace myself better.
BB row- 95lb, 1x13, 1x12
Did the first set with 3 second pauses but didn’t bother on the second.
Should have just done the 60 rep set with 45lb instead.
Don’t feel like doing the burpees. Will be walking in a bit.
Tested pull-up and push-up maxes/how long it takes to hit 50 and 100 reps today.
I believe I did the following on pull-ups-
15/10/10/6/7/2 with minute rests in between. Didn’t break my record of 19 pull-ups but I didn’t expect to- my upper back has been feeling pretty garbage in the last couple of days and I’ve been doing low-rep deadstop pull-ups the last couple of weeks, no practice with high rep. What is a PR is the ability to do reps of 10 after that all-out first set. I always saw a significant drop in reps after that all-out set and that didn’t happen today, so I count that as improvement.
Did 1x71 and 1x29 on the push-ups, blowing past my previous records. I took a 3 minute rest in between the sets when I think I previously took 2 minute rests.I was shaking head to toe from the first set though, so I needed that 3 min rest. Overall very pleased.
I’m pretty convinced now that EMOM sets are an good way to improve everything without much fatigue if you’re willing to humble yourself and use the appropriate load and reps.
4 mile jog. Roughly timed to be about 11min/mile overall. Felt very pleasant outside of the usual blisters starting to form. Said blisters are forming later and later into the jogs, so the skin must be getting thicker. I never really imagined that I’d say that jogs feel pleasant. I think I finally understand what runners mean by running at an easy pace. I think I can jog at this pace forever as long as my feet and leg muscles can keep up.
Elements program yesterday and 7x13+9 push-ups yesterday. Doing sets of 7 on the pull-ups now. This is more like the greasing the groove method now. We’ll see how far this goes.
The back squats seem to be having the desired effect- core no longer feels sore during this and I can stand more and more upright, judging by how my view of the wall before me is changing. I want to add weight to this but I know that’s a terrible idea given by how heavy my legs feel during the jumping burpees.
The first set of the BTN press feels quite tough.
I slowed down the rows and they felt quite tough too. I had to rest a couple of times in a squat with my grip loosened so that they could get a break while not actually letting go of the bar.
Burpees feel hard as usual.
Elements program and 7x13+9 push-ups. Ran 2 miles. Now that I can comfortably jog 4 miles I plan on increasing the pace on these 2 miles bit by bit. Ended up running the first mile at a harder pace than I intended for it to be, I think because I don’t really know how to pace myself correctly, so I jogged the second mile at a comfortable pace.
First mile took ~8:30-9min. Total took ~20min.
I also impulse bought Hot-Rox after seeing the ad/article about it on the front page last week. I’ve been vacillating on goals since finishing the Elements program. I originally thought that I would have made up my mind on whether to join the local Crossfit box/get a home gym/decide to just get a regular membership in a gym by now… But nope, still undecided. So I decided that I might as well drop some bf while I keep failing to make up my mind on what to do.
I’ve sorta been working towards weight loss anyways. The four-pack is beginning to reveal itself again. But I’ve always had an issue with loose skin, even when I got down to 161lb(ish) back in 2020. I’d like to see if I can get rid of that once and for all. I figure that Hot-Rox can only help.
I just hope the high levels of caffeine don’t fuck up my sleep.
Back squat- 55lb, 1x100
BTN press- 45lb, 1x50
BB row- 45lb, 1x50
7x13, 1x9 EMOM burpees
2 mile(ish) walk
It is amazing just how much harder the squats feel with just a 10lb jump.
The BTN press felt painful, but I am happy that I managed to do this without having to put the bar down. I rested with the bar in the back squat position. I hope to be able to do this with the bar pressed during rest for my next progression.
Gave up with trying to slow the reps down by around rep 36 of the rows and blasted through them. My forearms truly have shit endurance.
Burpees felt great. Leg endurance isn’t an issue when I’m not jumping. It was my shoulders that felt tired today.
Elements program and 7x13+9 push-ups.
It is much too hot outside, and more importantly the Sun seems to be extra sunny. I “might” go for a walk after the Sun sets but that’s very unlikely, so I’ll instead march in place while watching stuff and waiting for dinner to cook in the oven.
I’ve also been waking up much earlier in the last two days so that I can take Hot Rox earlier- as feared taking the second dose in the afternoon messes with my sleep. I need to take both doses in the early morning/early afternoon at the latest so that it doesn’t mess with my sleep. On the bright side this gives me time to actually do that very short Yoga flow that I’ve been meaning to do in the morning for a very long time. And I hope to make this into a habit that I can keep up even after I finish this bottle.
Didn’t do much on Sat/Sunday besides push-ups on Sunday. That rest seemed to have helped a lot- my back felt a lot better during the pull-ups on Monday and today. Now on 8 reps of pull-ups and 7x14+2 push-ups. The pauses feel very natural now with the pronated grip, which I think is great.
Back squat- 45lb, 5x20 EMOM.
Did these without locking out. I can obviously do these without stopping but I lack the will right now.
BTN press- 45lb, 1x50
Still painful.
BB row- 45lb, 1x50
Managed to do these at a slower tempo. Felt quite painful.
8x8, 4x9 EMOM jumping burpees.
These felt the easiest they’ve ever felt.
2 mile(ish) walk.
My two spoonful of peanut butter tasted so amazing today. Hunger appears to be kicking in.
No longer following any set day on the Elements program. I’m instead focusing on the cartwheel progression they introduced near the end of the program + doing stuff that (hopefully) will slowly get me to the flexibility require for a handstand + a 5 min free flow of movements + generally just horsing around for fun. Did 7x14+2 push-ups and then ran 2 miles.
The run took ~18:32 in total. Finished the first mile strong and then went back and forth between a comfortable pace and a faster pace in the second mile. Made a pacing error during the second mile that tired me out a lot; I may have finished quite a bit faster if I didn’t do that. Overall pretty pleased with the improvement.
I think I’m getting a lesson in how quickly the body builds up tolerance to things with this Hot Rox use. I went from feeling WIRED in the last couple of days to actually feeling sleepy and lethargic today even after the second dose. I’m only taking 2 pills a day and have no plans of going up to 4 pills, but that’s still quite a bit more caffeine than I usually take.
It may also be because of accumulated fatigue from sleeping less and getting up earlier, but I believe that tolerance is playing a huge role as well.
Didn’t do any pull-ups today because my lats keep feeling painful. I’ll try doing them every other day and see if I can get back to doing them daily.
Power clean-front squat-OHP- 95lb, 15x3 EMOM.
Pressing felt odd and uneven but this didn’t feel like it required real effort until the last couple of sets. I do get the sense that the BTN press is taxing me way more than I thought.
10x10 EMOM burpee
Felt tired.
2 mile(ish) walk
I’m feeling very sleepy and I see the dark circles under my eyes that I get when I’m truly tired. I want to keep getting up early, so the obvious answer is to go to bed earlier. I need to really get myself into bed at 11PM.
Pull-ups and what I suppose should now be called moving around + 7x14+2 push-ups and a 2 mile(ish) walk yesterday. Pull-ups felt a lot better. I guess doing them everyday is putting too much strain on the lats.
Today-
Back squat- 65lb, 4x25
BTN press- 55lb, 3x16+2
BB row- 135lb, 3x15+5
90 second rests for everything.
100 burpees in ~7:32.
Took my time with these, so they didn’t feel too challenging. I’m starting to get bored with burpees and want to do something else for the conditioning work.
2 mile(ish) walk.
13 pull-ups earlier in the day. Nothing else because I want to have a bit of rest; I’m thinking that I’m overdoing some things.
5 mile(ish) jog. Took a little under 53 min, so I kept a sub 11min pace. Felt very comfortable (besides blisters) until the last half mile or so when my legs started to feel heavy. Lungs felt fine though (in fact I tested this by literally spelling out the ABCs at a little over mile 4 just to prove to myself that I can speak), so I’m sure I could have kept it up if I lowered the pace.
The blisters are getting increasingly annoying, and I just found that they’re spreading out of the usual area. I should use something to prevent them from becoming too much of an annoyance.
Pull-ups (now on 9 reps)+moving around+7x14+2 push-ups(forgot to move to 15) and 2 mile(ish) walk yesterday.
It’s so much fun to just move around. Forward rolls feel good now that the fear is gone again. I can actually feel both my legs lift off the floor during the cartwheel attempts, so that’s cool too.
Today-
Power snatch-back squat- BTN push-press- 75lb, 20x3 EMOM
I thought the push-press might get tiring in the later sets but that never happened. Everything felt fine.
10x10 EMOM jumping burpees.
Here’s where the fatigue from the push-presses (and presumably the power snatches) showed up- my triceps and upper back felt increasingly tired and sore.
Pull-ups (now on 9 reps)+moving around+6x15+10 push-ups, then ran a mile (~8:42) and walk/ran the second.
I thought I’d be able to run faster than that. Just have to keep at it. Improving my running pace is becoming a bigger priority for me right now. I can keep lifting in the summer but running is probably not going to happen unless I do it in the morning.
Finally bought a squat rack from Rogue, so I’ll be able to squat heavier weights soon.
Back squat- 75lb, 4x25
Leg endurance is garbage. I need to keep resting a bit on the third and fourth set.
OHP- 55lb, 2x25
Had a 30 min phone call right after I started the second set of OHP. This felt about as hard as I thought it would be.
Didn’t do rows because the 30 min phone call ate up my time.
Didn’t walk because it’s rainy outside. I did more burpees instead.
10x10 no push-up EMOM burpee
10x15 no push-up EMOM burpee
I originally planned on doing 20x10, then started doing sets of 15 on the second half because it felt too easy. Sets of 15 definitely got my HR up and it started to feel tiring as I had less and less time to rest.
6 mile jog in (somehow) exactly 1hr 1 min on the phone timer. Checked the timer at 3 miles and saw 29:42(ish?), so I slowed down a bit on the second half. Almost 10min pace for the entire thing.
I visited Yosemite with my parents yesterday and they left early in the morning today. I saw it that was 8:30AMish, remembered that it’s supposed to get pretty hot today and decided to do my jog in the morning instead. I feel that it was a very wise decision. The Sun began to feel pretty warm at mile 5ish.
The first 3 miles didn’t feel good and I wasn’t sure if it was because I spent most of yesterday driving/walking or because I’m doing this fasted. I now think it was (probably) because I was jogging at a faster pace than normal.
This did begin to feel tiring at mile 5.5(ish). The last 0.5 mile didn’t feel good and now my legs feel pretty achy.
This is the farthest I’ve ever jogged in my adult life and I’m honestly pleased that I can run an almost 10k at the supposed average speed. I don’t plan on running any longer than this for now.
Pull-ups(now on 10 reps)+moving around for 15 minutes and other mobility stuff+6x16+4 push-ups, then 2 mile(ish) walk.
The pull-ups are starting to feel difficult.
I find it amazing that continually moving around on all fours/your hands and in the squat for 15 minutes gets me that sweaty and out of breath. I do recover real quick but I always find it an eye-opener that I breath heavy from this to begin with.
I’m beginning to need to rest at the top on the push-ups as well.
Back squat- 85lb, 4x25
OHP- 55lb, 2x25
The second set felt HARD.
BB row- 135lb, 2x17, 1x16
This felt hard, probably because the OHP took a lot out of me.
10x10 EMOM jumping burpees.
This felt really tiring. I felt like I was moving in slow motion in the last couple of sets.
1 mile(ish) walk.
Cut the walk short so that I could eat dinner a bit earlier and meal prep.
The parts for the squat rack will finish arriving tomorrow. Hopefully assembly doesn’t take too much effort.
I’ve been eating chicken breast instead of chicken legs last week. I previously ate chicken legs because they’re cheaper, but had to substitute for breast cause I couldn’t find legs on that day. I’ll be honest- breast tastes better now that I know how to cook it. I just pound it out a bit and cook it as though I’d cook a steak without the oven time. It’s delicious.
I like it even better than the chicken thigh that I had to substitute for again this week (I need to stop going to Walmart at night). The thigh feels too fatty while the breast is juicy and just a bit salty.
I find that to be the case as well. I eat nothing but breasts and wings for the most part when it comes to chicken. I find wings to be a good balance between the two. Although chicken breasts make up 3/4 of my meat intake. If you want some extra flavor/fat, you can buy split breasts. They’re essentially the breasts still on the bone with the skin still on too. If you’re looking for some fat/flavor without the dark meat taste of thighs or legs.