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Exercise and Fitness: Keep On Keepin' On


Xray the Enforcer

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Had a pretty light week exercise-wise, so stepped it up over the weekend.  Got ~6 hours in from Friday - Sunday.  My wife and I are also doing the Whole30 for the month of march, so I've been eating a lot of meat, nuts, and veggies.  She's not giving up beans, since she's a vegetarian, but will be doing everything else the same.  I'm also weighing myself and have already see dramatic numbers, ~3lbs of water weight in 5 days, but regardless of why, it's nice seeing the scale at sub 200 lbs again.  

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I've had pretty good exercise in the ten days since my last post, despite lots of travel in that period.

Thursday 10 days ago, I did another legs session, only 48 hours after my prior one.  It went great.  My only concession to the long flight the following day & night was to omit leg curls so that my hamstrings wouldn't feel tight while stuck in an airplane seat for so long.

Friday-Saturday of that week was lost to travel back home from vacation, but that Sunday I hit the gym for bench press, cable rows, etc and had a great day.  I was pleasantly surprised that the travel and jet lag didn't take a toll.

Wednesday last week I went to the gym late in the evening, even though I knew I would suffer the next day as I got up early to fly for business travel.  Shoulder press, pull downs (14, 13, 12, 12, 11, 10), etc all went very well but, sure enough, I took a long time to fall asleep that night and I was exhausted when my alarm rang at 5am.

Saturday just past was legs again with squats and dead lifts going especially well.  I'll have to increase weights for those next time.  

Yesterday I was back to bench press, cable rows, etc.  My bench press went so well that I added a third set at my heaviest weight.  I got sets of 7, 7 & 6 instead of the more usual 7 & 5.  My pecs are already stiff and sore today after that.

This week I'm traveling on Wednesday so I'll try to get to the gym on Thursday evening.  It could be tough to fit it in.  I'll be very tired from a long day on Wednesday: I'll wake at 5am and get home at 9pm, having spent most of the day stuck in a sitting position on airplanes, in taxis and in meetings.

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Another solid week in the gym.  After work travel on Wednesday, I found time to exercise on:

- Thursday: shoulder press, pull-ups, etc

- Saturday: squats, deadlifts, etc

- Sunday: bench press, cable row, etc

Thursday wasn’t as strong as my prior session of same.  I’ll put that down to arriving in the gym at 7pm with only a light lunch inside me from several hours earlier.  I increased my squats from 220lbs to 250lbs and deadlift from 250lbs to 290lbs.  On bench press I sustained the new PB level I reached last week.  It would help to have a spotter to try for a heavier weight. 

Feeling good but I need a couple of rest days now.  More work travel ahead plus some family commitments will make it very hard to get a midweek exercise this week but I’ll see what I squeeze in.

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I've been a lot better about getting to the gym this quarter. But I had a week or so of big eating due to some events and just general depression and now I'm feeling chubby. Of course I'm going to Mexico in a week. Got to be super on top of my game this week so I can bikini lounge in peace!

(To be clear, I think everyone of every size has a "swimsuit body" and should be welcome on the beach! I just have a personal comfort level with my own body and how I want to look in order to feel my best.)

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Had another good workout week this last week and have been able to stick to my diet.  It's actually not all that hard to do and the cravings for carbs are subsiding.  Down to 198 now with a goal of getting below 195 by the first week in April and down to 190 by mid-May.  So far so good.

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@lessthanluke,

Random question. I saw that last week the guy who plays The Mountain set the deadlifting world record and I noticed he was wearing what looked like really long socks without shoes. I recall seeing a video you posted here and you had the same getup on. What is it exactly, and what kind of purpose does it serve? It looks like it would make it more likely for you to slip.

Also, here's a less successful deadlifting video:

https://deadspin.com/strongmans-face-starts-gushing-blood-during-deadlift-1823523030

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10 hours ago, Tywin et al. said:

@lessthanluke,

Random question. I saw that last week the guy who plays The Mountain set the deadlifting world record and I noticed he was wearing what looked like really long socks without shoes. I recall seeing a video you posted here and you had the same getup on. What is it exactly, and what kind of purpose does it serve? It looks like it would make it more likely for you to slip.

Also, here's a less successful deadlifting video:

https://deadspin.com/strongmans-face-starts-gushing-blood-during-deadlift-1823523030

No shoes reduces the range of motion and also is a more stable base as shoes tend to be too soft and rob you of power. The long socks are just to protect the shins a bit. In Powerlifting competitions long socks are actually mandatory (to stop peoples shins bleeding on the bar)

You have to try pretty hard to slip on a deadlift or be on a really shitty floor.

The video you linked is awesome AND successful. He got the lift, looked like a badass and apologised for bleeding on the bar afterwards. What is not to love?

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Unfortunately, there was no opportunity for a midweek workout.  So on Saturday I did shoulder press, pull-ups, etc and then today was squats, deadlifts, etc.  Both sessions went really well.  I had only a narrow window of opportunity this morning so I had to hit the gym only 30 minutes after breakfast (I couldn’t face squats with zero fuel in my system).  Fortunately it went pretty well aside from some acid reflux and general discomfort that didn’t actually impair my lifts.  

I’m so much stronger on a weekend afternoon than a midweek evening or early morning.  Nevertheless, I still want to include a midweek workout whenever possible.  But the week ahead looks challenging again with work travel and family commitments after work. 

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A week of snowboarding in Austria wasn't as enjoyable as I hoped. It was pretty warm and snow was pretty wet which was a bummer. Also, I messed up my ankle a bit on the fourth day and had to take a day off from the slopes until it felt a bit better.

I think I won't be going snowboarding in March anymore since this is the third time I've had the same issues with warm weather and wet snow in the Alps.

The ankle should be fine now so training should resume starting tomorrow.

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On 3/16/2018 at 4:58 AM, lessthanluke said:

 

The video you linked is awesome AND successful. He got the lift, looked like a badass and apologised for bleeding on the bar afterwards. What is not to love?

Nothing. 

I've been watching your gym come together, Luke. Great stuff! So happy for you.

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2 hours ago, Stego said:

Nothing. 

I've been watching your gym come together, Luke. Great stuff! So happy for you.

Thank you man! Life long goal of mine as I am sure you know. I mean I am so tired I could sleep for a week but apart from that it is going great.

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On 3/16/2018 at 3:58 AM, lessthanluke said:

No shoes reduces the range of motion and also is a more stable base as shoes tend to be too soft and rob you of power. The long socks are just to protect the shins a bit. In Powerlifting competitions long socks are actually mandatory (to stop peoples shins bleeding on the bar)

You have to try pretty hard to slip on a deadlift or be on a really shitty floor.

The video you linked is awesome AND successful. He got the lift, looked like a badass and apologised for bleeding on the bar afterwards. What is not to love?

I gave it a try over the weekend and I see what you mean. Assuming the floor isn't this slippery wood crap they've got at my gym, it does work a lot better.

Also, did you start a gym? 

11 hours ago, baxus said:

A week of snowboarding in Austria wasn't as enjoyable as I hoped. It was pretty warm and snow was pretty wet which was a bummer. Also, I messed up my ankle a bit on the fourth day and had to take a day off from the slopes until it felt a bit better.

I think I won't be going snowboarding in March anymore since this is the third time I've had the same issues with warm weather and wet snow in the Alps.

The ankle should be fine now so training should resume starting tomorrow.

I know the feeling. My buddies and I were hoping to get another run in this weekend , but it was too warm and all the snow was melting so it would have been a combination of slosh and the terrible fake snow. 

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10 hours ago, Tywin et al. said:

I gave it a try over the weekend and I see what you mean. Assuming the floor isn't this slippery wood crap they've got at my gym, it does work a lot better.

Also, did you start a gym? 

I know the feeling. My buddies and I were hoping to get another run in this weekend , but it was too warm and all the snow was melting so it would have been a combination of slosh and the terrible fake snow. 

Try chalking your feet if your gym allows it if you have to use slippery wood. Or get some deadlift slippers (basically a very thin rubber type material)

I did :) my partner and I opened a gym on March 3rd. Been a lifelong goal of mine to run a gym so now we just have to be successful hah

www.facebook.com/kaosstrengthgym

If you wanna have a nose at videos/pictures

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11 hours ago, Tywin et al. said:

I know the feeling. My buddies and I were hoping to get another run in this weekend , but it was too warm and all the snow was melting so it would have been a combination of slosh and the terrible fake snow. 

It was completely weird. One moment it's sunshine and 15ºC and 15 minutes later it would snow.

In the morning the slopes would be hard packed (too hard for my liking and I'm pretty sure most snowboarders would agree), only to turn into slosh at some point later in the day. You'd get an hour max of decent snow while it transitioned from one to another. I mean, a bad day of snowboarding is still a pretty good day but still.

@lessthanluke

Congrats, man! I hope your gym is a huge success!

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On 3/20/2018 at 4:07 AM, lessthanluke said:

Try chalking your feet if your gym allows it if you have to use slippery wood. Or get some deadlift slippers (basically a very thin rubber type material)

I did :) my partner and I opened a gym on March 3rd. Been a lifelong goal of mine to run a gym so now we just have to be successful hah

www.facebook.com/kaosstrengthgym

If you wanna have a nose at videos/pictures

Nice dude! Good luck with it!

On 3/20/2018 at 4:47 AM, baxus said:

It was completely weird. One moment it's sunshine and 15ºC and 15 minutes later it would snow.

In the morning the slopes would be hard packed (too hard for my liking and I'm pretty sure most snowboarders would agree), only to turn into slosh at some point later in the day. You'd get an hour max of decent snow while it transitioned from one to another. I mean, a bad day of snowboarding is still a pretty good day but still.

Yeah I get what you're saying. Here it was more like at 9 PM there was plenty of snow on the ground, but by 10 am the next morning it had more or less melted. We could have probably had a couple hours of decent conditions, but I'm not paying $90 for that. 

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On 19/03/2018 at 10:34 AM, baxus said:

A week of snowboarding in Austria wasn't as enjoyable as I hoped. It was pretty warm and snow was pretty wet which was a bummer. Also, I messed up my ankle a bit on the fourth day and had to take a day off from the slopes until it felt a bit better.

I think I won't be going snowboarding in March anymore since this is the third time I've had the same issues with warm weather and wet snow in the Alps.

The ankle should be fine now so training should resume starting tomorrow.

Austrian resorts tend to be low don't they?  I ski every March, first week and always have great conditions, tend to favour the 3 valleys, as if its cold you can stay lower down in courchevel/meribel, if its warm you can ski in val thorens which is much higher.

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My goodness skiing in Austria must be so nice, you guys are very fortunate to have that opportunity.

My workouts for the past year have been primarily swimming 5-6 days weekly. As the grip of winter weather loosens, I will increase my biking as well.

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Hit my goal weight for the month today, 6 days early!  Sitting at 195 now and started at 215 at the end of October.  I'm really liking the diet overall, just hard with the no alcohol rule.  I think for the next month I'll stick to it, but allow myself one day where I can consume alcohol, and also slowly add back some of the things I've cut out like sauces w/ sugar and rice.  Wife has also lost almost 10 lbs since the beginning of the month on Whole30 too.  We both thought it would be terrible, but it's actually not all that hard.

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