Drop Set Chest workout

Cameron has me doing some drop sets this next iteration and it's been fun!

Chest and Triceps:

I've been sore, but that's such a great feeling.  My swim times haven't been hurt by this lifting.  I just make sure to take it either really light and easy a few days leading into a meet, or skip lifting altogether so that I'm fully recovered come swim time.

Been sticking to my diet with minimal cheating here and there.  Still on the bandwagon.....

Lifted Legs with Cathi

It's been a very long time since I last posted.  It's not that I've been a slacker.  About 13 months back Cathi convinced me to go see a trainer, and within 4 months of that I was in the best physical shape of my life.  I tapered off just a bit with my swimming and the need to put on a little more body fat, but am back at it again and leaning up.  Here is a graph of my progress.  So right now I'm at just under 9% body fat.  Not too bad.  Hoping to get it down to 6 again within a couple months.

This morning I got up at 4:30am and Cathi got up with me, but soon reported that her running partner just texted to cancel she was disappointed.  I didn't want her to get up and get all dressed ready to workout for nothing, so I offered to go to the gym with her and lift.  She typically lifts during the day when the kids are in school and I typically lift at lunch time.   What a great opportunity to workout with my lover!

Today I lifted legs:

Drop sets (Lift reps of 10 (failure), then drop 20% or so of the weight and immediately do another 10 reps)

Squats: 3 x (185, 135)
Leg Press Machine: 3 x (300, 260)
Leg Curl Machine: 3 x (130,110)
Calf Machine: 3 x (310, 280)

Then went swimming....

Bike and TT

Second day now on the bike.  30 minutes bike, then played TT with a guy at Tomax named "Shaddddd'on"  Like Sharon, but you roll the "r" like something fierce!

I need to get the spelling.  Anyway.  Got some sweat going, and felt good to get my heart rate up.  Biking in to work tomorrow, and that'll definitely do it.

First day back to a more well-rounded fitness routine

Over the past two years, my training routine went from triathlon training, to exclusively swimming.  Thus the huge absence from this site.  Now that I've successfully swam the English Channel, I'm going back to a more well-rounded approach to fitness.  Swimming for me is very easy, and I'd say feels like a calorie burn of only about 200-300 calories per hour.  Running on the other hand feels like 800-1000.  It's tough for me.

Cathi is such a great coach!  So upbeat!

So today was my first time running in a very long time.  On the way down from the hotel (Cisswood House in West Sussex, UK) room, Cathi and I stopped at the fitness room for a "Biggest Loser weigh in".  When I left for England I weighed in at 220.  Today: 95 kg (209 pounds).  I actually have lost 11 pounds from the time I last weighed in before coming to England.  That's great!  Now that I'm pulling back on the swimming and reintroducing running (and when I get home, cycling), I expect the weight will just fall off me.  

Especially considering that I'm passing up sweets, and eating alot more veggies and fruits.  No more big pasta dishes, large servings of chicken.  I'm going for healthy now.  

This morning ran 20 minutes in the country with Cathi.  Got a good sweat going.  20 minutes isn't much, but its a decent start.  

Medicine Ball workout video

One set of medicine ball work = 15 minutes  Here's what I end up doing.  Rest about 30 seconds, get a drink and do it all over again, a few times:

Perfect Chest workout for just getting back into it

I haven't done any consistent weight training in a very long time.   After last week's race and not hitting my goal time I decided I needed to do some things outside the water to increase my strength.  So today's workout went like this:

Bench Press:

12 x 135, 8 x 155, 8 x 165, 8 x 155, 12 x 135

DB Flys:

5 x 12 x 35

Then I moved to the cardio room and got my 12 pound medicine ball and did 30 minutes of laying on my back and lifting the ball in certain directions that really worked my shoulder joints and my chest.  I'll have to video the sets I do.  To go through all the different movements takes about 6 minutes and I did 5 sets of those.  It was awesome!  My entire upper body was shaking and quivering, but the ball is so light it wasn't overly strenuous, but I was definitely getting all those muscle fibers to fire to hold the ball steady.  I had such a fun time with it.  I left the workout with that exercise high which I haven't felt in a very long time.  I'm excited to get back down there and do it again!

 

 

Albion To Mt. Harrison Cyclocross

The annual tradition of Cycling from Albion City Park to Mt. Harrison was again completed!  Got up at 5:30am and got everything ready to go up there.  I packed snowshoes this time because I knew that the snowpack up there was going to be insane!  I was right on, cause they were definitely needed.

I left at 6am exactly from the park and the sun was just coming up as I got to the turn off the highway up to Mt. Harrison.  Took several breaks for pictures.  When I got about 2 hours into the ride, the smell of the air was extremely refreshing!  That alone was worth the trip!  If I could can that air I'd be a millionaire.  Loved it!




Once I got past Pomerelle, I hit my first snowbank on the road that required carrying my bike.  Then I got past the gate on the road and crossed over a couple more snow bank patches on the road.  Then I got up to Lake Cleveland and from there I stashed my bike and hiked/snowshoed the rest of the way.  I did about 3 miles of hiking/snowshoeing.

I was nervous about seeing a bear up there.  Then when I get about 1/4 mile from the top.  I saw a big hole in the snow with tracks coming from it. Man was that thought enough to pump my blood even faster!  I got to the outlook and noticed that this time, they had locked the deck around the building.  I took pics, but no vid from that point since my camera battery was dying and wouldn't let me take vid from that point on.  It was a perfect day.  No clouds, not very windy, and I left early enough in the morning that it wasn't hot.  Plus it wasn't that cold despite the snow.

On the way back down I saw a hole in the snow that was filled with ants. It was amazing. Red/Black ants crawling all over the snow and inside this hole. Awesome!

Absolutely perfect ride!  The last time my butt sat on that saddle was last year when I did this ride. I've been focusing so much on my swimming that I really had to blow off the dust on my bike and get it oiled up for this ride.  I was sure I could make it, but I knew it would take time.  It sure did!  And most of it was because of the detour in my planned trip.  I back country'd a good portion of it.  What an adventure!
Here's all the pics/video in Picasa:

I have forgotten

How good it feels after a really good sweat!  This afternoon I watched this interview on KSL Sportsbeat where Rulon Gardner walked off the show:

Video Courtesy of KSL.com

He said his problem came after the Olympics where he was successful and figured he'd take a week off to let his body heal.  That week turned to a month, and then into years.  Ouch!  I don't have a problem taking a week off, but that's it!  So that inspired me to get my running shoes on and head downstairs.

I did:
1 mile run/walk.  I noticed that when I got to the point where I was considering giving up, that my heart rate was at or above 145.  Then I'd slow down to 3.0 mph and walk and monitor my HR.  When I felt way comfortable and felt like starting to get back to running was when it dropped down to 120.  So my comfortable aerobic HR I figure is about 130-135.  It really doesn't take long for my HR to drop or rise from 120-145 at all.  So if I can find a pace that allows me to maintain that 130-135 HR range, that would be ideal.  Either that, or increase my HR comfort zone.  I did the mile in 11 minutes.

Then I did 15 minutes of elliptical.  That felt good and I really got up a good sweat.  I was maintaining a 130spm pace with my tunes.  Then I did:

2 sets of:
Set the stack at around 110 pounds
12 bench press reps
12 close grip pull downs
12 seated cable rows

About 35 minutes of good work.  Felt great, lots of sweat and I feel like a million bucks.  Even though this is probably one of the wimpiest workouts I've done in a long time!  Consistency is the key now.  Stay with it!

My wife, the biggest loser

Cathi called me at work one afternoon a few months ago and told me she spent $50 to join a weight loss competition among 107 other ladies!  I wasn't too thrilled with that information, but Cathi worked her butt off.... Literally!

She is a running machine.  Over the past several weeks, not only has she been eating like a monk, but she has been running over a hundred miles per week!  Last week she set a new personal record of running 120 miles in one week (She NEVER runs on Sunday either).

So on Tuesday this week the 8 week competition ended and this afternoon she was given the results.  She won!  She lost 21.66% of her body weight over that time.  Losing just over 38 pounds.  The second place finisher lost 19.38%.

I asked Cathi to bring home from the results meeting some stats if they would give them to her.  I'm a total nerd and wanted some data.  Much of it is very disturbing....

Out of 107 participants:

• 54 ladies over 200 pounds

• 37 out of the 54 dropped out (68% gave up)
•  Average lost among those who stuck with it in this group was 6.4% 

• 51 ladies over 100 pounds

• 25 out of this 51 dropped out (49% gave up)
• Average lost among this group was 6.8%.

• 2 ladies over 300 pounds

• 1 dropped out and the other lost 3.4% total (50% gave up)

I figured at the beginning that there would be some drop out rate, but not that much!  And I had no idea that given such a huge field that she would be victorious and win the title, and a $1000 check!  She won several things along the way for being the biggest loser for several weeks:  a hour long massage, a months pass to a tanning salon (Thanks for giving that to me Cathi!), and a $25 gift certificate to a metal craft shop.


Congratulations Cathi for not only doing so well and inspiring many people, but for ending up looking like a supermodel!  That was the best $50 she ever spent!

4.5 miles and feeling great

Tonight Cathi took me to the Syracuse Community Center where I ran for 45 minutes and felt great!  I was able to do a couple laps at a really fast pace, but my normal pace was pretty slow.  But I didn't care, I didn't walk and felt like I could keep going once I got to 25 minutes into it.  Before 25 minutes though I wasn't feeling so great.  It takes a while for my body to get past that rebellious stage I guess.


4.5 miles total

One small step

Today at noon I went down, stretched and had set a mental goal to go 4 miles.  That would be a new PR for this round of "runningness".  At mile 2 I couldn't believe I set that goal, I wanted to quit so bad!  But I kept plugging away, and taking sips from my water bottle but kept the same pace.

1.0 miles @ 6.0 mph
2.5 miles @ 6.2 mph
.25 miles @ 6.5 mph
.25 miles @ 7.0 mph

4.0 miles total

4 miles is wimpy, but it was a stepping stone to another day and a victory for today!

3 miles of torture

I promised my team I would run at least three times this week, so at 1pm I reluctantly went downstairs and ran:

1 mile at 6mph
0.125 miles at 4mph
1 miles at 6mph
0.5 miles at 6.5 mph
0.125 miles at 7 mph
0.125 miles at 3.5 mph (warm down)

3.125 miles total

Pure torture today.  Not a good attitude.  Need to work on that.

Keeping my mind busy while running

Today I tried a new strategy during my run.  I set the pace at 6.5 mph and counted every time my right leg touched the ground.  I found out that I do roughly 180 or so paces per quarter mile.  So I imagined that each pace was 1 yard.  Actually each pace comes to about 2.3 yards.  I kept telling myself only 1200 yards left (when actually it was 1.6 miles).  Today's run was a little less painful than last run and I went a little further.  Joanna was on the Eliptical and Sup was on the other treadmill.

2.75 miles in 25:03

Oh and every run starts and end with a good 5 minutes of stretching and also ends with 50 pushups without stopping.

2 miles in 18:30

Todays run was tough.  I started out at 6.8 mph and had to pull back cause I was just dying.  But I did end up doing it all the way without walking.  Felt great afterwards, but it was tough today!

Day 2

I really should have ran last Friday, but I didn't come in to work, so I didn't get access to a treadmill.  Today I ran at a faster pace:

13 minutes @ 6.5 mph
1 minute @ 7.0 mph
:30 @ 7.5 mph
:30 @ 8.0 mph

15 minutes total @ 1.66 miles

It was tough, I didn't like it, but it wasn't pure torture.  I'm honestly not looking forward to the days where I have to increase to 30 - 40 minutes.  But one day at a time right?

Day 1 - 1.5 miles in 15 minutes

So today I started Day 1 of my Beginner training plan for the Ragnar Relay this June.  It went really well.  I stretched out good before and after the run, and did 50 pushups afterwards too.

I did 14:30 @ 6mph, then :30 at 8mph.  then 1 minute at 4mph

Piece of cake.  Sweat a little bit, and didn't run out of breath.  Talk about starting out slow!  I like it!


Total distance: 1.5 miles in 15 minutes

More Pain relief

When I got in to work my back was still giving me crap so I went downstairs and lifted:

Feet up Bench press:
4 x 12 @ 135
@80 crunches

Pain was diminished significantly, but still annoying.

Another round of legs up bench

Did another round of legs up bench press:

4 x 12 @ 135 slow and deliberate

@ 100 crunches

Felt great!  I really like this lift!  It's much more deliberate and as a result provides more benefits and especially clears out the lower back pain.  After lifting today, my back is free of pain.  I don't get it.

Just what the Dr. didn't order - feet in the air bench press

So yesterday I went to see the Chiropractor since I was still having issues with my lower back. I woke up on Sunday morning with a very stiff and painful lower back on the right side. The Chiropractor moved my legs around and tried adjusting things (which seemed really rushed to me and almost completely ineffective). He did show me a couple cool stretches that he suggested I do.

Example of feet up bench press

When I left the office I felt nearly as crappy as when I walked in. This morning's swim was cut way short because of the pain intensity in my back. I did the stretches the Dr. suggested, but still felt pain and stiffness. Decided that in order to reduce the back strains I really should work on my core so I went down at lunchtime (which I haven't done in ages) and did some crunches:

100 crunches
Feet up Bench Press: 4 x 12 @ 135

I know that 135 is light, but given that I haven't lifted at all in the past couple years, plus that it was feet in the air 135 was just right. It forced me to go slow in order to balance the weight. The lift was more deliberate, controlled, and put the pressure all along my back rather than mainly on my shoulder blades. Why didn't I do this earlier? That lift all by itself was a million times more effective than the visit to the chiropractor. The pain is completely gone in my back. I can walk normal, bend over. Now I'm not going to go test it out, but I think feed up bench presses did the trick for me.

So if you have lower back pain, definitely give it a shot. Plus it's a good lift for really isolating the pecs in the bench press. Definitely won't get anywhere near the amount of weight for a normal bench lift, but it's a great drill.

10 Mile hike on Wheeler Creek

This afternoon I hiked 10 miles with Steve Ross and the scouts. Had a scary hour when five of the boys decided to take off ahead and they were so far ahead we were convinced they took a fork that took them somewhere else.

A biker was coming down and we asked her that if she caught up with five boys to tell them to STOP! Until we get there. So annoying! We finally did catch up to them and reviewed safety while hiking in groups.

Had fun and I took Max (our St. Bernard) who was slobbering all over and panting like crazy, but he did well.