Alternative method of fitness

Sorry to have been such a slacker with lifting lately. I haven't lifted in well over eight months. My weight has remained the same, even though I'm sure I'm much weaker. Cathi has really stepped up her own weight loss plan and has encouraged me to do the same and has offered me $1000 to reach a reasonable goal which I set.

I figured that getting down to 200 would be the goal that I would like. We purchased a family membership to Layton surf and swim and have been swimming every Mon - Thur Night. Starting out at just over 1000 yards. The first two days were a little tough, but already its getting easier. Hoping to be up to about 1800 yards (1 mile) in about two weeks.

If you feel like checking on our progress you can check out my old school swimming log which I started many years ago. But I definitely don't have plans to hit the weights again until well after the new year. I have the U.S. National Open Tournament in December and am dedicating my lunch periods to training for that. I spend on average about 12-15 hours a week to table tennis. Weight lifting while training for table tennis hurts my game because I'm usually sore and that either affects my ability to move or hit the ball properly. Swimming doesn't leave me overly sore or stiff. That's probably in large part because I'm terrible at doing stretches which would probably minimize this, but another reason I like swimming is because I have a dedicated partner and I also get to go on a date with my wife every night. That's a huge perk.

Rather lift weights than play doubles

Today there were quite a few peeps waiting to play table tennis (9 people and 2 tables). The suggestion was made to play doubles. I hate playing doubles! You don't learn how to play better with doubles, alot of it is teamwork. That's why I like individual sports better. Nobody to blame but yourself. So I opted to lift during the crazy 15 minutes when everyone and their dog wanted to play.

Shoulders - Lateral DB Raises/DB Shrugs: 5 x 8 x 35

Haven't done shoulders in months so I'm hoping this is enough to generate some soreness and some liking for the gym. Afterwards 4 people left and we went back to singles. Played well against everyone except Bala.

Very small bench

Bench: 18 x 165, 16 x 185, 10 x 205, 6 x 225, 2 x 255, 10 x 115 (speed press)

Knowing how weak I am, I bet I'll be sore tomorrow. That should be enough. Any more and I probably wouldn't be able to move the next couple days.

Light Bench

Flat Bench: 15 x 185, 12 x 195, 10 x 195, 8 x 205, 15 x 135
Wide Grip Cable Pulldowns: 8 x 130, 8 x 140, 8 x 150, 8 x 160

Considering how terribly sore my biceps were from the wimpy workout, I didn't want to push it today. Hopefully I'll be sore. Felt tight afterwards.

Man have I turned into a marshmallow!

Yesterday I went into the weight room with Tim and did a few exercises:

Alternating DB Curls: 15 x 35, 12 x 35, 2 x 8 x 35
Straight Bar Curls: 3 x 6 x 95
Dips: 3 x 6 x bw

That's all I did, not cause I thought I would be sore, but cause it was boring! I forgotten how it is to be in a gym. Tim did his own exercises, and I did mine. Wasn't much interaction. I was hoping for a collaboration, but he rushed through his exercises (He did one arm DB Tricep Rows). I didn't have fun, it was hot (the table tennis guys moved the fan in their room), and wasn't what I envisioned, so I don't think I'll continue.

Table Tennis is so much more fun than lifting! However today my arms are completely sore! I can't even straighten my arms. I wouldn't have thought in a million years that that amount of work, and amount of weight would have caused me this much grief. I guess taking this much time off has really turned me into a marshmallow!

If I'm going to get back into it, I'm going to have rely on my own motivation rather than try to leech off somebody else's who doesn't really understand the point of group lifting.

My quest to 200

For the past 10 years I have loomed around 240 pounds. Well the time has come to lower that to 220. Then once that milestone has been reached, go for 200. So in order for this to happen I have resolved to do the following:

1. No more Mountain Dew (or any soda for that matter)


2. Eat breakfast, medium lunch, light dinner (no eating after dinner)


3. No deserts


4. More fruit


5. Drink lots of water


6. Bike with Cathi in the evenings (5 days a week)


7. Play more intense table tennis


8. I will add more techniques to this list as time goes on

I'm hoping that I can be down to 220 by September, and then 200 by Christmas. I'll update how things go.

Mixing things up with Chest workout

Incline Bench: 3 x 8 x 135, 2 x 8 x 155
DB Flys: 6 x 65
Static Hold Pushups: 5 x 3 @10 seconds, rest 5 seconds between reps

Today I had a major lack of motivation and decided to at least mix things up so I'm not killing myself, yet doing something different to trigger different muscles. The Static Hold Pushups were great. I was shaking all over and I was holding my body just a couple inches off the ground so that my arms were at 90 Degree angles. Hold that for 10 seconds and then drop for 5. Doing that three times.

Tris

Tricep Cable Pulldowns: 2 x 8 x 70, 2 x 15 x 50, 2 x 15 x 60
Cross Face Tricep Press: 6 x 8 x 30
Dips: 2 x 10 x bw, 2 x 10 x bw +25
50 Crunches

Table Tennis Drills with David To.

Here is video sample of today's dips.

Back

Cable Pulldowns: 20 x 60, 15 x 100, 8 x 140, 6 x 180, 4 x 200
Midrack Pulls: 12 x 135, 8 x 225, 8 x 315, 6 x 405, 4 x 480

Had to leave early to keep my break short. Need to leave early today from work to work on the Playland. Which is also why you see no lifting on Monday. I honestly thought I was going to be extremely sore on Tuesday as a result of tilling the garden and working on the playland, but I wasn't. The top parts of my forearms are a little, but not much. That was it. Very surprising.

Here is video sample of the two last sets of midrack pulls.

Bench

Today I didn't want to mess my shoulders up again, but wanted something a little more heavy. Put in the "spotter" hooks a little too high. It was just above my chest so it was touching the spot instead of my chest which was annoying.

Bench: 8 x 225, 1 x 315 (shirted), 4 x 315 (shirted), 2 x 335 (shirted), 3 x 335 (shirted), 12 x 225 (3 x 2 high and 3 x 2 low alternating), 12 x 225 pinky inside ring, 12 x 135 slow
Cable Press Machine (Outside part of press only): 50 x 60, 25 x 120, 13 x 240
Inside half: 13 x 240, 25 x 120, 50 x 60
DB Flys: 4 x 8 x 45

Here is a sample video.

Felt OK about this workout, but wish I could have another 30 minutes or so. Only can do so much during lunch.

Upper back workout

My forearm is sore still from Monday's Biceps workout. According to this page it is the Pronator Teres Muscle to be specific. It is sore in the muscle on the inside of my forearm just as it comes from the tendon from the inside of my elbow. It doesn't hurt, its a good sore.

Today's workout went better than expected. I went in late, without a real plan and didn't have a whole lot of motivation.

Deadlifts: 5 x 225, 4 x 275, 4 x 315, 3 x 335, 1 x 355
Crunches: 6 x 50
Bent Over DB Rows: 5 x 8 x 65

Here is a video sample.

Decent Biceps burn

Today I was lacking motivation, but did manage to get my lazy butt into the gym. I did light/high reps biceps:

Armblaster Curls: 5 x 12 x 75
Preacher Curls: 5 x 12 x 75
Alternating DB Curls: 5 x 12 x 35

Heavy Bench with Blocks

Need to take my six block and turn it into three. Four blocks is too much and two is not enough. Got an email from Critical Bench that discusses the difference between what I call "White meat" and "Dark meat". Need more white meat in the chest. Don't care about appearance, just strength. I wouldn't really consider myself a powerlifter. Kind of a mix between strength and looks. Would like better slow twitch in biceps and fast twitch in chest. Anyhow here is today's workout:

Bench (4 blocks): 8 x 225, 5 x 275, 4 x 315, 4 x 335, 4 x 355
Incline DB Press: 10 x 65, 10 x 65 (with chains), 15 x 65
DB Flys: 3 x 4 x 65
Captains Chairs: 7 x 15

Need heavier DB's. 65 is as heavy as we have. Too light for doing low reps. Too cheap to buy heavier ones. Need to check out the new Rec center in Bountiful.

Here is a sample of today's lifts.

Deadlift

Today I wanted to do some heavy sets of dead, but didn't feel my form was good enough so I went lighter and tried to focus on form.

Deadlifts: 6 x 276, 3 x 315, 9 x 225, 10 x 135
Seated Cable Pulls: 8 x 170, 3 x 8 x 200
Front Cable Pulldowns: 8 x 120, 8 x 160, 2 x 8 x 170

Here is a sample of today's workout.

Played Table Tennis afterwards for a few minutes. Played pretty well.

Fairly good table tennis day at lunch

This morning I got up at 4:40 am so I didn't plan on lifting cause last Tuesday when I got up early and then tried to lift it wasn't great. I plan on lifting at the very least MWF but preferrably MWTHF. Today I played table tennis. I lost twice to Gyan(@6W/2L) and three times to Bala(3W/3L). My problem with the majority of shots that I missed was that I hit too early. Same mistake that Austin often makes. Need to wait for the ball to come to me. If the ball is too high, I need to scoot back and hit it at the lower end of the arch and where it's closer to my natural swing. Looking forward to this Friday.

Tomorrow Deads and Back.

Shoulders

Today I had good motivation so I had a good workout:

Lateral Raises: 8 x 40, 6 x 45, 4 x 50, 4 x 55, 2 x 60
Crunches: 10 x 25
Overhead Presses: 4 x 8 x 135
Upright Rows: 10 x 95, 8 x 115, 8 x 125, 6 x 135
Pull Ups: 2 x 3 x bw
Stretching: 2 minutes
Jason Paris' Overhead One-arm Press: 2 x 8 x 45

The Overhead Presses (not the correct name) are done by alternating between in front and behind the neck for each repetition and you lift up enough to clear the head. I saw these on Kris' Behind the Bar blog (which is down now). I was researching what the proper name of that exercise is when I found this interesting article. No wonder I had that shoulder injury a long time ago when I was doing bench press. I should have read this article a while ago! He makes several good points about how to aboid injuries by doing these exercises right!

I was relieved to see the correct description of Lateral Raises. When I do them in the mirror, I'm afraid I'm not doing them right when I bend my elbows, but that appears to be the correct way. I must admit though that I did too much weight today as I cheated quite a bit and used momentum on a few sets.

Today was a great workout considering the lack of motivation and strength lately. Goal is to do Deads/Back on Wednesday.

Bench

Bench: 4 x 8 x 225
Bench with Chains: 2 x 8 x 255 (w @ 30 pounds of chains)
Crunches: 2 x 25
4 count Flutter Kicks: 2 x 25

I had planned on much more, but I started on some Stump Hanging Presses and the weight (@295) was way too heavy and I wasn't feeling very motivated so I stopped. Got up this morning at 4:50 and didn't have much energy at all. Need to have Tuesdays as an off day if I continue to get up on Tuesdays this early.

Deadlift Week 2

Fashioned after Jon's Deadlift Week 2 workout:

Deadlifts: 5 x 10 x 225
Bent over Rows: 5 x 5 x 160
Hammer Grip Rope Cable Pulldowns: 8 x 60, 8 x 70, 8 x 80
DB Lateral Raises: 8 x 40, 6 x 45, 6 x 50
Captain's Chairs: 5 x 10
Crunches: 5 x 50

Was getting light headed after each of the Deadlift sets. I was making sure to breathe each rep, maybe I was breathing too much and hyperventilating. Wasn't fun getting dizzy. Ab work felt good - burn. Didn't plan on Lateral Raises, but was feeling good at the end.

Week 1 Legs

Light Squats: 8 x 135, 155, 185
Cable Leg Press: 20 x 140, 2 x 8 x 220

I knew this would be all it would take to make me sore so I quit there. Legs have been grossly neglected. Hoping to change that.

Mirroring Jon's Bench 1 w/ near beheading

Today I tried to do everything Jon did in his Bench 1 workout:

Bench: 5 x 5 x 265
4 Board: 5 x 275 (nearly lost my head here), 5 x 295 (only have 2,4,6 boards)
Incline: 4 x 215, 2 x 8 x 175
DB Press: 6 x 65, 2 x 8 x 65 (+ 25 DB hanging)
Abs: 7 x 25 crunches

The fives of 265 were tough. My Rhomboid's are sore (had to look that up) from yesterday's pulling.

What happened though today that has never happened to me before which completely freaked me out is that I nearly took my head off with a careless attitude with the weight. On the first set of 4 boards the five @ 275 was easy (thanks to the four boards) and when I went to rack the weight I hooked the left side and didn't on the right and the right side started to come down on me. The bar was above my board so it was coming down fast and would have missed the boards. My adrenaline kicked in like lightning I think and I was able to stop the weight and then take it back up. It only came down about halfway. Scared the crud out of me. I've got to be more respectful of the weight and take the racking seriously! Al qaeda could have posted a link to my blog had I taken video of my own beheading!

I totally respect Jon for his Inclines. I wasn't able to get the 215's. I moved the weight down to 175 and did 8 instead. I also do not have 85# DB in the Tomax gym so I strapped the 65 and the 25 DB's together with some old knee wraps which made it so that at full extension on the press the 25 barely came off the ground.

Good workout today.