Tuesday

A mile, almost.

Morning Run
Walked 220 yds to loosen up.

Ran 1100 yds (2.5 laps)
Walked 220 yds
Ran 440

Done in 13:19.
(My workout partner, Rich< did the full mile in 12:00, right on pace).

The trick was that we maintained a 12-minute pace, instead of an 8-minute pace.
I felt as good jogging as I have in years.
Next week I will do three laps non-stop, at least.

A full mile will happen soon.

Monday

Summer Workout #1

First Morning Workout of the Summer
 - I chose exercises that varied from Thursday, but still hit the major groups.
- Brought back the SLR Deadlift because it made more our hamstrings & glutes hurt more than anything else.
- Ditto for the Bicycle Crunch & abs - the research is borne out by the stomach muscle cramp I had this afternoon.
- We are building on the Swings, and combined with the SLRDL, our lower backs got a workout. I'm pleased that the Kettlebell Swings are becoming routine.
- The Cat Vomits seem so static and somewhat silly, but they clearly work.
- It has been a while since we did Thrusters, so I worked them back in with the Med-Ball Throw. Felt almost nothing in the thighs, but my shoulders feel heavy this afternoon.

Monday Workout
Single-Leg Romanian Dead Lift x 10/10 @ 10#
Bicycle Crunch x 10/10
Two-Arm Kettlebell Swings x 15
Ab Contractions (Cat Vomit) x 5 @ 10sec
Medicine Ball Thrusters (Wall Ball) x 10 @ 10#

Single-Leg Romanian Dead Lift x 10/10 @ 10#
Bicycle Crunch x 10/10
Two-Arm Kettlebell Swings x 15
Ab Contractions (Cat Vomit) x 5 @ 10sec
Medicine Ball Thrusters (Wall Ball) x 10 @ 10#

Single-Leg Romanian Dead Lift x 10/10 @ 10#
Bicycle Crunch x 10/10
Two-Arm Kettlebell Swings x 15
Ab Contractions (Cat Vomit) x 5 @ 10sec
Medicine Ball Thrusters (Wall Ball) x 10 @ 10#

Single-Leg Romanian Dead Lift x 10/10 @ 10#
Bicycle Crunch x 10/10
Two-Arm Kettlebell Swings x 15
Ab Contractions (Cat Vomit) x 5 @ 10sec
Medicine Ball Thrusters (Wall Ball) x 10 @ 10#

It is amazing how the simplest thing, bending over on one straight leg with a light weight and standing back up is the hardest thing we do. I would have liked to be more exhausted at the end, but another round of the Single-Leg Romanian Dead Lift and I wouldn't be able to walk right now.

Wall Balls

Friday

Farmer's Walk?

I wanted to completely change from Monday. I wanted Burpees with a vengeance. More pullup improvement. Different, but solid ab exercises, including our 'parade wave' or 'warrior' - high plank and alternate twisting each hand to sky. And something new, but functional - the Farmer's Walk. We grabbed a 45# plate in each hand and walked around the perimeter of the room, which we estimate to be a little over 50 yards. Taken together, these were an excellent combination.

Warmup: 220 yd run

Thursday's Workout
Burpees x 16
Machine Pullups x 5 @ -130
High Plank Warrior x 5/5
Farmers Walk: 50 yds @ 45#/45# (plate in each hand)
Knee Ups (Captain's Chair) x 16

Burpees x 12
Machine Pullups x 5 @ -130
High Plank Warrior x 5/5
Farmers Walk: 50 yds @ 45#/45#
Knee Ups (Captain's Chair) x 12

Burpees x 8
Machine Pullups x 5 @ -140
High Plank Warrior x 5/5
Farmers Walk: 50 yds @ 45#/45#
Knee Ups (Captain's Chair) x 8

Burpees x 4
Machine Pullups x 5 @ -150
High Plank Warrior x 5/5
Farmers Walk: 50 yds @ 45#/45#
Knee Ups (Captain's Chair) x 4


We appear to have adapted well to the 'warrior' twist. The pullups still hurt 36 hours later. I love that we carried 90 pounds fifty yards four times without much problem. Kind of like helping someone move.

My eating/drinking has been a little to sweet/malty this past week, so I will go very clean this week. Which is the first week of summer vacation. I have a couple of workshops and a lot of planning to do, but the next time I clock-in is August 13. Which means: morning workouts!

Farmer's Walk

Monday

A Basic Five x Five

Five circuits of Five exercises.

We've covered a broad range of exercises in our workouts recently, so today the plan was to hit some basics and see if we've improved. Everything went more smoothly than I expected.

Monday's Workout
Five Circuits of:
Air Squats x 10
Feet-up Pushups x 10 (small ball)
Myotatic Crunch x 20 (Bosu)
2-Arm Kettlebell Swing x 10 @ 35#
Bicycle Crunch x 20

The air squats have gotten much easier. It's time for some thrusters and wall balls.
The feet up pushups went smoothly. This will lead to more pushup variations.
The crunch on the Bosu Ball is harder, and still effective.
Sets of 10 at one pood on the swing are easier, leading to longer timed sets.
The bicycle is a revelation. It is definitely bearing out the research.

25 sets was not too exhuating either which demonstrates some improved endurance as well.

This one showed we are moving in the right direction.


Friday

Completely Exhausted

It seemed simple. A handful of full-body exercises. It seemed like it would be almost nothing. Somehow, the combination of these exercises wiped us out completely. After the third circuit we were breathless, light-headed, and nauseous. Exactly what one shoots for, but wholly unexpected.

We worked through each circuit with minimal rest between exercises, and about two minutes between every circuit.

Thursday Workout
Turkish Get-Up x 3/3 @ 10#
2-Arm Kettlebell Swing x 15 @ 35#
Plank x 60 secs
Lunge x 10/10
Pushups x 20

Turkish Get-Up x 3/3 @ 10#
2-Arm Kettlebell Swing x 15 @ 35#
Plank x 60 secs
Lunge x 10/10
Pushups x 20

Turkish Get-Up x 3/3 @ 10#
2-Arm Kettlebell Swing x 15 @ 35#
Plank x 60 secs
Lunge Walk x 10/10
Pushups x 20

I think the limited breaks and continual full-body exercises are what made this so effective in wearing us out.  After we finished, we were almost unable to move - completely exhausted. We sat there for a while until we were able to straighten up and stagger out.

The Turkish Getup


Wednesday

Basketball & Sprints

We played a few minutes in the faculty-student basketball game. Just enough to sweat, but not enough rationalize not running.

We returned to completing a mile by sprinting the straights and walking the curves.
Run: 8 x 100 yd. sprints

The mile took 14:29, which is only a minute longer than when we jogged 880, walked 440, ran 440.

We will get the full mile soon.

Tuesday

Abs Research and Leg Recovery

I read a study of abdominal exercises and was pleased to see our usual ab exercises were high on the list. One that stuck out, that we have not done, was the bicycle crunch. We tried it on Monday. I can see how it 'activated' so much of the test subjects' abdominals. Knee raises were also high on the list, so we went back to them.

Our legs were still pretty worn from Friday, so we just ran 220's and did Burpees that called on them.

Our continuing quest to eventually do unassisted pullups and dips led to machine versions at just the right weight for us to barely make it through. 


Monday's Workout  (with breaks only in transition)
Treadmill: Ran 220 yards @ 7.5mph (1:04)
Burpees x 5
Bicycle Crunches x 20
Machine Pullups x 5 @ -130#
Knee Raise (Captain's Chair) x 10
Machine Dips x 5 @ -90#

Treadmill: Ran 220 yards @ 7.5mph (1:04)
Burpees x 5
Bicycle Crunches x 20
Machine Pullups x 5 @ -130#
Knee Raise (Captain's Chair) x 10
Machine Dips x 5 @ -90#


Treadmill: Ran 220 yards @ 7.5mph (1:04)
Burpees x 5
Bicycle Crunches x 20
Machine Pullups x 5 @ -130#
Knee Raise (Captain's Chair) x 10
Machine Dips x 5 @ -90#

Late Tuesday and I'm still quite sore in my chest, shoulders, lats, forearms, and triceps. Definitely achieved the desired effect.

Bicycle Crunch


Friday

Good Grief - the Single-Leg Romanian Deadlift.

The central purpose behind our workouts is so that we could recover our ability to move around and do things.

Along those lines, this article from livestrong.com, Never Grow Old, encourages working out hard with weights as you age to maintain fitness - exactly what we've been doing. 

The article suggests a set of five movements: squat, push, hinge, pull, and lunge. We've been doing all of these in various ways, but not much in the way of hinge.

So I took the workout from the article, ramped it up a touch, and we did it Friday.
- If you don't know by now, Hand-Release Pushups are remarkably harder than regular pushups.
- The, literal, butt kicker was the new exercise - the Single-Leg Romanian Deadlift. Basically: stand on one leg, bend forward and touch a weight to the floor and stand back up. Oh my. My glutes and hamstring have been sore ever since. The reverse lunges didn't help matters.

Friday's Beatdown
Goblet Squat x 20 @ 25#
Hand-Release Pushups x 20
Single-Leg Romanian Deadlift x 10/10 @ 10#
Standing One-Arm Cable Row x 10/10 @ 50
Reverse Lunge x 10/10 @ 10/10#

Goblet Squat x 20 @ 25#
Hand-Release Pushups x 20
Single-Leg Romanian Deadlift x 10/10 @ 10#
Standing One-Arm Cable Row x 10/10 @ 50
Reverse Lunge x 10/10 @ 10/10#

Goblet Squat x 20 @ 25#
Hand-Release Pushups x 20
Single-Leg Romanian Deadlift x 10/10 @ 10#
Standing One-Arm Cable Row x 10/10 @ 50
Reverse Lunge x 10/10 @ 10/10#

We were definitely exhausted by the end.

I think the single-leg deadlift will do a lot for our balance and mobility, as well as our hams & glutes.


Tuesday

A good thing.

What looked to be an easier Tuesday workout on the heels of Monday's basketball, instead worked us just fine.

The idea was to work three pairs of similar exercises: abs/abs-legs, squat-twist-reach/lunge-twist, and squat-clean-shoulder/squat-upper back.

We wanted to revisit some of the motions from basketball on Monday night - twisting, reaching, lunging.

We worked with no rest between sets and very little between circuits. By the end of the third circuit were were sufficiently wiped out.

Tuesday's Workout
Plank x 30 secs.
Mountain Climbers x 20
Twisting Wood Chop x 5/5 @ 25# (plate)
Twisting Lunge x 5/5 @ 25# (plate)
Dumbbell Clean & Press x 5/5 @ 40#
Sumo Deadlift High Pull x 10 @ 65#

Plank x 30 secs.
Mountain Climbers x 20
Twisting Wood Chop x 5/5 @ 25# (plate)
Twisting Lunge x 5/5 @ 25# (plate)
Dumbbell Clean & Press x 5/5 @ 40#
Sumo Deadlift High Pull x 10 @ 65#

Plank x 30 secs.
Mountain Climbers x 20
Twisting Wood Chop x 5/5 @ 25# (plate)
Twisting Lunge x 5/5 @ 25# (plate)
Dumbbell Clean & Press x 5/5 @ 40#
Sumo Deadlift High Pull x 10 @ 65#

My legs are heavy as hell.  And I have more ribcage and lat soreness than I can remember in a long time. I will call this a good thing.

The Twisting Wood Chop

Basketball?

Played basketball on Monday, both full court & half court, with a wide range of people. For an hour and a half. I was soaked in sweat afterwards, but was able to play consistently (if poorly) without giving out. Used all our efforts to get in a little play. A successful venture.

Friday

A new 300

Thursday was very straight forward.

Back. Abs. Chest. Fast.

Three exercises. Ten sets of ten. Three hundred total reps.

Thursday Workout
Two-Arm Kettlebell Swings x 10 @ 35#
Myotatic Crunch x 10 (Bosu Ball)
Feet-Elevated Pushups x 10 (large Swiss Ball)
Two-Arm Kettlebell Swings x 10 @ 35#
Myotatic Crunch x 10 (Bosu Ball)
Feet-Elevated Pushups x 10 (large Swiss Ball)
1-minute break

and 4 more circuits of the same.

30 sets of 10.

Simple and effective.

The heavier kettlebell swing is working out well. We're familiar with it, but the true 'one pood' weight is definitely working our entire posterior chain without any lower back pain.

300 hundred reps in under 25 minutes did the trick. A proper workout.


Wednesday

Accomplishment Unlocked: 880

Moving forward with The Mile.

On Wednesday
Walked 220 yds
Ran 880 yds in 5:39
Walked 440 yds
Ran 440 yds under 3:00

This is the first 880 I've run on a track in, about, 20 years.

I did one on the road during the winter and it almost killed me. This one went much better.

I'll shrink the 440 walk until I can make a mile.

This is an irritating reminder that I still weigh over 265, am 46, and have never been able to run. I will make this Damn Mile however.