Wow I do forget to update this!
I signed up for a rec basketball league. We had our first game tonight. I shot around for a couple hours to see if anything was in there and I was hitting pretty well. That didn’t show up at all on the court and I was more or less the team liability! It was fun though.
Something completely different today! Credit where it’s due: I took advantage of a ThibArmy sale and am doing some of their programming right now.
I don’t know if they want me writing it all out specifically. So I’ll be a little generic.
Today was explosive work with med ball throws and plyo push-ups.
Then circuits of overhead press and overhead carries and burpees and stuff. The overhead carries are really difficult.
All in all, relatively short workout; very similar to the MetCon for Muscle stuff. I was breathing hard, though.
Visiting some college buddies in AL this weekend. Drank far too much Friday night, but had a great time. I assume the clubhouse is pleased with the mortgages we must have paid off too.
Went deer hunting with them yesterday and missed my one shot. My friend hit an 8-point buck, and he was a tanker when we were in, so I was devastatingly embarrassed.
Finally pulled off my leg day today. I swear I’m still hungover, which isn’t bad: I’ve no desire to drink for quite awhile!
Today was jumps for activation, trap bar deads and carries for the main piece, and Zercher squats, swings and bike for the assistance circuit. These are very different kind of sessions for me; good to change it up some, but I probably will gravitate back toward my norm when this is over. I will probably adopt some of the concepts though.
I swear I still know what the inside of a gym looks like!
In terms of life, my son was sick for two weeks, I went away for a weekend, came back and my daughter has strep throat. When I’m not traveling, I work from home, so this has been a lot of exposure to sick people… more than normal, since they’re my kids and I want to hold them and take care of them. Anyway, I’ve been taking I-Well for about 7 months and I haven’t gotten any of this. They’ve been out of school a collective month between them since Thanksgiving for illness, and at most I’ve gotten a sniffle for a couple hours. I’m not saying the supplement is the cause, because I can’t prove that, but I am throwing it out there for folks thinking about it.
In really good news, my BP has been holding at 112/71 recently. This is a great spot for me, especially with how heavy I am right now. The ideal would be me continuing to act like an adult, get my weight down, and completely come off medication. Acceptable would be to just stay on the lowest dose indefinitely.
I had felt like I was getting a little wussy, and I don’t sleep much anyway, so a couple nights this last week I just did my cardio in the middle of the night and worked as if that was the day, then just rolled into the next day so you get two days for the price of one. I don’t think this is really a cure for insomnia, but I do think it helps get my head back on track when I’m being too soft.
Today was med ball slams and muscle snatches (a new one for me) for the first part, then pendlay rows and zercher carries, then a circuit of thrusters, chins, farmer’s walks, and rower. I’ve missed logging some cardio stuff, but it’s been at least happening. I did have to do two of those at home, because I didn’t know if I had my daughter’s strep and would have been contagious (I’m not so I win).
I have started dialing my diet in a little bit just to tighten up. I’ll ride that and this type of workout out for a few more weeks, then jump back into more what I like/ am comfortable doing and really focus carbs around the workout. I don’t think that “trick” does anything directly for my actual body composition, but it’s magical for being able to still go hard in the gym with reduced calories. It makes your gym sessions almost euphoric, so you look forward to them rather than dreading having to drag your tired butt around.
Next week I’m out of town on my little one’s birthday, but we’re having her party the following weekend, so hopefully she’ll forgive me! She’s at an age where the party is what matters, anyway. Watching little girls is funny in their little friend groups: there’s only one throne, and they play some political games that would rival any Netflix show to sit on it. One of her friends, who I guess is currently the leader, has to move away next school year and they’re already vying for who is successor. I don’t really have a moral to this story, I’m just amused.
My son has been sick a ton too recently. I also take i-well and haven’t gotten any of his crap :).
Just throwing it out there with your throwing, lol.
I’m catching what you’re tossing.
Maybe there is something to it!
Sounds really busy there mate. Looks like you are finding a way through it though
That’s life, isn’t it my friend? These are good busies.
Yeah life is life so as long as you are happy and getting in exercise when you can that’s what matters.
Just make sure you get enough bicep work in, don’t want the python’s disappearing now!
I’ve been doing 0 arm work! My plan is to keep doing what I’m doing for the next couple weeks, then back into a Meadows program
Did an EMOM circuit of press, front squat and deadlift. It really wasn’t bad at all, and I was worried it would be.
Then I did my patented 5-minute arm workout for people that don’t like doing arms. Not in the plan, but @rugby_lifting shamed me.
3 rounds of:
Then 3 rounds of:
Stuck in airports for the last two days after missing a connection. We also lost my bag, which honestly is my fault for letting them check it (I never do that).
On the plus side, I got to see the whole Bengals game and they looked absolutely dominant. I also have been doing my cardio and have my eating under control.
On the downside, I’m going to smell pretty bad when I get in this afternoon. Hopefully it’s not so atrocious it causes folks to quit; I’ll let you all know if I have to talk to HR.
PSA as I sit here missing another connection: don’t fly United.
Although I don’t know which airlines are awesome right now; tough business these days.
Holy crap my friends; that was a week. I spend 100-120 nights a year on the road, so I feel qualified to say that was extraordinarily subpar air travel game. I finally made it home, though.
I didn’t do any of the workouts I was supposed to do this week. I legit walked around airports for hours when I was stranded to get my cardio in (sorry seatmates), so I was able to still lose a couple pounds.
Today I just went back to doing what I’m good at. I am going to take a real run at the bodypart specialization in a calorie deficit theory I keep espousing. My thinking is maybe this allows you to still hypertrophy something while losing weight because of the focus. I’m going from pretty chubby to acceptable, rather than from lean to stage, anyway, so it probably doesn’t matter that much.
Today was a back day. This is always an easy one to start for me.
Meadows Row
Some warmups
75/8
85/8
95/8
One-arm BB Row
50/8 x 3
Lat Pulldown
Emphasis on the stretch
3 sets of 8-ish
Straight-arm Pulldown
3 sets of 8-10
4 rounds of:
My daughter’s birthday party was today - it was cute. We went to one of those indoor skydiving places with a handful of her friends; there’s a giant fan in the floor and they lay above it and “free fall”. They had a good time and now they’re singing and dancing and arguing over who is coolest in the basement.
I did a bit of two workouts: the EMOM I’m supposed to do and the chest workout I felt like doing. I’ll write out the latter. I went way late for me - 8pm! I’m basically a vampire.
Machine Press
Worked up to 3 tough sets of 8
Incline BB
3 x 8
Slight Incline DB
3 x 8 with a double drop on the last set
Incline Pronated Flye
3 x 8
Machine Rear Delt
4 x 20
Machine Side Raise
4 x 8
I played pretty well today, although my knees feel like they may explode. A dude on our team got ejected, which was a surprising amount of intensity for me. A guy guarding me on the other team got caught up in it, but I politely suggested he not do that with me and everything was ok. Really interesting atmosphere for these games!
Birthday sleepover was a great success and all the girls left happy.
The house across the street from us went up for sale for more than I think these houses are worth anymore. Fingers crossed I’m wrong and they make a ton of money.
Now it’s time for football… Who Dey!
My knees hurt! I’ve convinced myself I can feel the screws in them, which I know isn’t true but apparently makes me feel better.
I’ve also got to start getting a little hungrier and actually lose some weight. I’ve got a fat kid inside me… but more in a Grimm sense than Freud - I ate him.
I struggled, heroically, through a secondary back workout today. I’m super sleepy after staying up to watch what turned out to be a very frustrating loss!
10 minutes of Airdyne
Pulldown
Warmups then
3 x 10
Smith Row
135/6
185/8
205/6
185/6
DB Shrug
2s hold at top
100/10
110/10 x 2
Hyperextension
BW/ 15 or so x 3
Crunch Machine
4 x 8
Skipped the back half cardio and calves. To the hot tub!
You’re such a nice dude that I’m honestly not sure how I’m imagining this going down.
Was it:
A) you were cordial and said something like “we’re both too pretty to be getting punched” or
B) you hit him with the gun show so he knew you were armed.
I need to know; it’s important.
Haha - I still kinda look mean… at least to small children.
He was just getting pushy and mouthy, and he’s super chubby and soft; the next play down I set a pretty hard pick and just said something like “let’s not start doing that” and it was fine.
It was really shockingly rough for a bunch of adults playing rec basketball with nothing on the line. I grew up playing ball, so I get it, but I was still a little surprised.
You see this in combat sports all the time: the dudes who AREN’T the fighters are always Billy Badass in class, pushing the sparring way too hard, moving too quick through drills, putting partners at risk, etc. These dudes wanna be bullies when no one will stomp on them for it, but refuse to actually step up to someone that will take their lunch money. Good on you for setting things straight.