Still here

I’ve been hovering up and down the 250lb mark for the past two months. Exercise has been virtually non existent.

My wife, on the other hand, has been a workout machine. She puts in a good 5 or 6 days of working out every single week. I honestly feel that if she wasn’t so into the fitness thing right now I would probably weigh 280 or something. The good folks at McDonalds and Burger King still haven’t had my business for over 3 years now and they can thank her for that.

This is all to say that I have not fallen into some pit of dispair and gained back all the weight. I’ve got a partner who helps me stay accountable even when I’ve lost all my motivation to do any physical activity whatsoever.

Sunday weigh in

247.2 (-0.8 lbs)

Started off the week really good with a lift on Monday a run on Tuesday and another lift on Wednesday. The problem was that this was it for the week.

I’ve noticed that I usually eat a lot more on the days that I do workout so the whole thing is pretty counter productive.

If nothing else, I’ve learned that I’m pretty good at maintaining. No matter how much or little I workout I’m usually good at staying around 250 pounds.

Sunday weigh in

248.0 (-0.8 lbs)

I just checked out my little dashboard here and it turns out this is my 1000th post. I really should have been done with this by now.

Didn’t accomplish much of anything this week. I only went for one lift and that was half hearted at best.

I’m thinking about getting back into running. Maybe a 5k or two. Something that will motivate me to actually put in a full week of working out.

Sunday weigh in

248.8 (-0.2 lbs)

Zero exercise of any kind this week.

My weight was really weird this time. For some reason I weighed 245 almost every day and even hit 244 on Thursday. On Friday I went out of town for 24 hours. After eating out three times this is the result.

In the end I guess I got what I deserved.

Sunday weigh in

249.0 (+1.2 lbs)

This week I lifted two days as usual. In addition I spent two days playing tennis.

Even with the extra workouts I still managed to gain weight. I guess that proves that I eat more than I need when I workout more.

I had no idea how hard this would be at this point. Losing these last 50 pounds is going to be MUCH harder then losing the first 100. It’s been well over a year since I first lost 100 pounds. The fact that I’ve kept that off is something that I’m proud of. The fact that haven’t lost any additional weight is still frustrating though. There’s not much joy in maintaining when I’ve still got so far to go.

It’s pretty obvious that I’ve got to either get back to six days of working out a week or clamp down hard on my diet. Or some combination of the two. Otherwise, I’m going to continue to be frustrated every Sunday.

Sunday weigh in

247.8 (+3.0 lbs)

That sucked.

The streak is over. I gained 3 pounds this week.

Workouts were the same as always. Two lifts and no cardio. My wife is trying hard to get me to get back to doing cardio on Tuesdays and Thursdays. I really should.

Other then eating more then I should I think the big problem this week was lack of sleep. All month I’ve been getting 8 or 9 hours. This week I got 5 or 6. If I get back to a normal schedule I think I’ll get back to where I was pretty soon.

Sunday weigh in

244.8 (-1.4 lbs)

Two lifts and no cardio this week.

I haven’t done a full 6 day workout week all month. Even so I lost five months along the way.

Sunday weigh in

246.2  (-1.2 lb)

Workouts were still rare this week. Two lifts and zero cardio. Mondays lift involved 20 rep sets of squats. I was extremely sore until Thursday when I gritted my teeth and hit the weights again.

I guess this is proof that you can still lose weight with basically diet alone.

Hard to be disappointed with anything really. I’ve been consistently losing weight for a while now. I am at the lowest weight I’ve been at since October. Maybe my days in the 250’s are over? We’ll see. If I can get into the low 240’s sometime soon I’ll be really happy.

Sunday weigh in

247.4 (-2.8lbs)

Workouts are still hit or miss. I lifted twice and went swimming once.

It’s extremely difficult to get motivated to go to the gym. I’m at the point now where I feel pretty good about how I look. I realize that I can still afford to lose at least 30 pounds but it’s just not enough to fire me up.

Back in the day I was miserable about my appearance and that really got me out of bed in the morning. Now, well, not so much. Three years of obsessing about something will do that to you. Now it just feels like nitpicking. If my current weight is as low as it goes then I’ll be OK.

I’ve accomplished the vast majority of what I want. I can walk into any department store in America and know that my size will be sitting on the rack. I can walk outside in the summer and know that my shirt won’t be drenched with sweat. I can sit in my chair and know that my breathing won’t be labored. I don’t feel self conscious when I’m in a group of people. I’ve stopped the annoying habit of readjusting my shirt every five minutes. I could go on and on but you get the point. Losing 100 pounds eliminated 99% of the problems I had associated with my weight.

I’m not sure how to snap out of this. I’d like to get back to lifting three days a week with some cardio in between. Now that it’s warming up I might get back into running. Maybe another race would give me a reason to stick to a schedule. I’m not going to quit this thing altogether so I’ve got to figure something out.

Sunday weigh in

250.2 (-5.4 lbs)

Absolutely no workouts since I got home. I had one of my wisdom teeth taken out two days ago. Because of all the pills I had to take the dentist expressly forbid me from working out.

I hope to get back to the gym this week and get back into the 240’s by next Sunday.

I’m still around

Been a while since we talked….. I’ve got a couple of things to say.

1) April 1st was my three year anniversary of trying to lose weight. When I started this blog I really thought I would be done with it by now. The intention was to blog my way to 200 or whatever and let this thing die. Unfortunately that hasn’t happened yet. I got a little sick of blogging after my last post so I just took some time off. In retrospect it was a good idea. I’m much more negative in my writing here then I am in real life.

2)  I went to the gym the same as usual the past two months. I made another attempt at Starting Strength which once again failed miserably. It turns out that the only time I’m actually able to get serious about cutting calories is when that’s the worst possible idea. Like an idiot, I tried to get stronger and eat less. I don’t know if I’ll ever actually give that program a fair shake. Eventually I went back to HIAH.

3) I’m actually a little lighter since my last post.I weighed 251 this morning but that’s immediately after getting back from a week long vacation. I should be back in the 240’s like I was last week pretty soon.

4) About that vacation. I went skiing in Colorado! I’m actually the kind of person who goes on those kind of vacations now. Three years ago I would have thought that was the dumbest idea ever but now I’m fit enough to enjoy it. I spent most of my time learning to snowboard. It was incredibly difficult but still a lot of fun. My wife and I are committed to going back next winter.

……………………….

I don’t know what I’m going to do about this blog from this point on. I know that I spend too much time going into too much detail on each individual workout. It makes me miserable to think about having to post something sometimes. It was starting to feel like work.

I think I’ll definitely get back to the weekly weigh ins and at least a summary of what I did fitness wise. As for the rest of it … who knows.

HIAH, Get Ready, workout 2A

I feel like I just got beat up.

My legs and shoulders were really sore from the last two days of lifting and swimming before I even walked into the gym yesterday. I’m even worse for wear today. There is no question that I need to take the weekend off.

Even with the soreness, I still feel like I gave my all on this one.

Here are the numbers.

Cable Standing Mid-Pulley Row (130×7, 175×6, 205×7, 220×5)

I found a pulley with a bigger weight stack. The first two were still pretty easy. The last two sets gave me some balance issues. I can move the weight but I can’t stand perfectly still. I have to rock back to keep from going forward. I wonder if I’m doing these right. Maybe I should go back down to 200 lbs or so.

Dips (2, 3, 1, 1, 2, 1, 1, 2, 2, 1, 2, 1, 1, 2, 2, 1)

This might have been the toughest lift ever. I still can’t believe I managed to do 25 dips. I remember back in high school I couldn’t even do one. That was back when I weighed 235. I guess I’m a lot fitter now then I ever was.

I had to do a little grunting and even some screaming to get some of those two reps sets. That second one was ALWAYS tough.

The toughest part was doing these with 45 second rest periods. Even with that it still took me damn near 30 minutes. Nevertheless, I did it and I’m pretty damn proud of that.

Dumbbell split squat (50×6, 50×4, 50×6, 50×4, 50×3, 50×2)

I actually did these right this time. They were tough. I think the hardest part is figuring out when to stop. At some points I almost fall over. When I’m doing my second leg I know I have to match the previous leg and that can be quite an adventure.

Swim workout

24 laps

We are kicking ass in the pool.

Today we did 100 yard swims four times! That’s two full laps without stopping – four times! Yeah, I’m pretty impressed.

It’s still super hard but I feel a lot better knowing it’s possible. My swim plan calls for four 100 yd swims but with only a few seconds of rest in between. Unfortunately, it took about a minute to rest between each one of these. I’ll stick to this plan until I can get those rest periods down.

After those 8 laps I did 7 single laps. Then I did 10 lengths going as fast as I could on each one. Finished up with 4 cool down laps.

HIAH, Get Ready, workout 1C

The weather was bad so we went to the gym that’s closer to our house. It’s certainly not as nice as our gym in the suburbs but it’s still a nice change of pace.

When I first looked at this workout I thought it would be the quickest. In theory I could finish all three  lifts in two and a half sets. My wife is doing NROL for women so she had five lifts. I thought I’d be waiting for her to finish. It didn’t turn out that way. She ended up having to wait a good ten minutes for me. This was the longest lift of the week. I spent at least an hour in the gym.

Here are the numbers.

Cable standing low pulley row with rope attachment (100 x 23, 110 x 12, 110 x 12, 110 x 3)

I suck at finding things in the gym. I tore the gym apart looking for that rope attachment. Went through every box and stalked around every machine. I ended up using some straps that serve basically the same function. As you might expect, as soon as I finished I found the rope hanging at eye level from a pulley machine.

Pushup (20, 4, 6, 8, 6, 6)

Twenty pushups is still no joke to me. Once I got that first set I felt like my arms were done. The rest period seemed like it flew by. I pretty much had to just tough it out from there. It took me five sets to get the last 30 but I’m pretty happy that I got it done.

Squats (135 x6, 135 x 10, 135 x 10, 135 x8, 135 x 8, 135 x4, 135 x 4)

I didn’t do this right the first time and I ended up paying the price. You’re supposed to do 20 in your first set. I don’t know why I stopped at 6. I guess I had visions of past back pain in my head. I got two sets of 10 immediately afterwards so I know I could at least do that much. It’s just mental. I’m gonna have to get past this.

Since I didn’t do 20 I ended up having to figure out a way to get 44 more reps in. I soldiered on even when my legs felt like jelly. To add insult to injury, the locker room in my gym is upstairs so I had to do the old man walk up there to get changed.

Swim workout

24 laps

I just realized that my swimming plan only calls for 14 laps in week 1. Oops. I guess I’ll be really prepared.

Today I managed to do TWO 100 yd swims! Two whole laps without stopping! Pretty damn sweet if you ask me. I couldn’t get four which is my current goal so I guess I’ll just have to keep chugging along. Once I hit that mark I’ll start my plan in earnest.

After the first four laps I did 10 single laps. Then I did twelve 25 yd sprints as fast as I could. I finished up with 4 cool down laps.

HIAH, Get Ready, workout 1B

Today I got lucky with picking weights. Had to pick a weight that I could lift 10 to 12 times. Every single one of them was right on the money.

There’s really not much to say about anything else…

Here are the numbers.

Underhand grip lat pulldown (135 x 10, 135 x 8, 135 x 6, 135 x 6, 135 x 5)

Dumbbell standing shoulder press (35 x 12, 35 x 8, 35 x 6, 35 x 5, 35 x 4)

Deadlift (185 x10, 185 x 8, 185 x 6, 185 x 6, 185 x 5)

Sunday weigh in

255.6 (+1.6 pounds)

I gained almost two pounds. Some weeks I just stare at the scale in disbelief and wonder what the hell went wrong. This isn’t one of those weeks. I haven’t been to the gym since Wednesdays. Since then I’ve eaten out almost every night.

I have high hopes for the coming two months. My wife joined a Biggest Loser competition at our gym. She’s the most competitive person I know so the days of eating out 3-5 times a week are likely over for a while. I also think she’ll help me get back to the six day a week workout schedule.

HIAH, Get Ready, workout 1A

Weight lifting never ceases to amaze me.

I spent a grand total of 30 minutes in the gym. That includes a half mile warm up jog and a half mile cool down jog. Even so, I’m about as sore as I can be right now. I walked out of that gym completely spent.

Today was the first lift of Huge in a Hurry. For the next three weeks I’m going to do the introductory phase  called “Get Ready.”

The whole point of this program is to lift fast and stick to specified rest breaks. Doing that shaves a lot of time. We’ll see how it works.

Here are the numbers.

Cable Standing Mid-Pulley Row (35×7, 42.5×7, 95×7, 95×4)

The machine I used doesn’t have enough weight. 95 pounds is the max and it’s simply not enough. I exceeded the load number every time. I probably could have done sets of 20 if I wanted. You’re supposed to stop immediately after you exceed the load, though, because that’s a sign that it’s time to add weight.

I looked around and saw another one that goes up to 140 (I think). I’m gonna try it next time. My new gym hides the pulley stuff over with the rest of “the machines.” I have no idea what’s going on in that area. From day one I’ve done all I could to avoid it. I might have to spend some more time over there.

Dumbbell decline bench with neutral grip (50×7, 60×7, 65×7, 65×4)

You have two choices with this lift. Either do dips or the decline bench. I figured that there’s no way I could do a dip so I opted for the bench. After going through this ordeal it’s clear to me that I’d better figure out a way to do dips.

I ended up maxing out with 65 pound dumbbells but I don’t think that’s my max. That’s the amount that I was able to get in position. The whole thing is very awkward and I still don’t know how to pick up the weights and get in position. Those last two sets probably took me 5 minutes each. Maybe I’m dumb but I figured the only way was to put my legs in the things, pick up the weights and then lay down. This was VERY difficult for me to do. Once I got them up there, though, I had no trouble getting the reps.

After my workout I found the dip station and tried to do one. I was actually able to do a half decent rep even with tired arms. I’m gonna give real dips a try next week. If that doesn’t work I”ll use the dip assist machine. If I stay with this decline bench thing I’m bound to take a dumbbell to the head sometime soon.

Dumbbell split squat (50×4, 50×4, 50×4, 50×4, 50×3, 50×4, 50×2)

I just figured out that I did these wrong. I did lunges. I stuck my leg out, went down and then came back. In this exercise you’re supposed to keep your feet on the ground and then go down and up. Since these sets are basically of no use for determining my future progress I’ll just say that they were very hard and forced me to grunt like a weirdo at times.

My future workout plans

It’s time to start a new fitness plan.

On the weight lifting front I’m going with Chad Waterbury’s “Huge in a Hurry” I’ll admit that the title might sound counter productive to what I’m trying to accomplish. In his book even he doubts that anyone trying to lose weight would pick up a book with that title. What can I say? I’ve always been a maverick.

I don’t care. I’m at the point now where I realize that any weight lifting plan will work for fat loss. The biggest factor is diet. If you don’t eat enough then you won’t get huge. If you eat too much, though, you definitely will.

I chose this book mainly because I wanted to buy a weight lifting book. There’s just something about having one of those sitting on my table beside my couch. It’s a constant reminder that I need to stay in the gym. I looked around at all the ones that are currently out there, saw his name, recognized it and bought it.

The book is pretty much a mirror of the NROL plan in that it starts with a break in phase and you follow it with either a strength, hypertrophy or weight loss phase.

There is a difference in the rep scheme, though. Instead of a set number for each set this book calls for something called “loads.” In my other plans I might have three sets of 10 for example. Here I’ll have a day where the load is 10-12. I have to pick a weight that I can only lift that much. The entire lift will have a designated rep number. Say, 25 for example. In this case I might do 10, 10, 5 or I could even end up doing 10, 7, 5, 3. The sets after the first one aren’t really important. What’s important is that I do the total number of reps.

I really like this idea. Basically, you stop when you do your first bad rep. In the past, if I couldn’t get all the reps in a set I would just stop and call it a day. In this plan I’ll stop, rest a little and go back to work.

On the cardio front, I’m going to stick with swimming. I’m not ready to begin yet but I’m going to try “Zero to 1650.” The plan is to swim a “swimmer’s” mile.

It’s a six week plan but there’s no way I can do this in six weeks. The first week calls for four 100 yd swims. I just celebrated my first 50 yd swims the other day so I’m not even ready to start yet. I’m going to keep at it, though, until I’m able to do those 100 yarders.  I hope I’m ready to go in a few weeks but I’m in no hurry to rush. I’ll get there and I’ll get this one done just like I got all the other ones done.

Swim workout

24 laps.

Big progress today. I did 24 LAPS. Still can’t believe it.

I swam to the wall, tapped it and turned around.

I hope to get to the point where I can do two laps at once. That’s when I’ll be prepared to start my new swim program.

Sunday weigh in

254.0 (-1.2 lbs)

This one is pretty shocking. The in-laws were in town this weekend so eating wasn’t exactly top notch. I still lost a pound somehow.

I’ve got a good streak going. Haven’t gained weight all year.

Swim workout

24 laps (700 yds)

Big milestone today. I got 24 laps in. That’s big because I’m gonna start a program soon that should help me swim a “swimmers” mile. It’s basically gonna be a Couch to 5K in the water.

The first week calls for a grand total of 24 laps. Unfortunately, it also calls for quite a few 100 yd swims and I’m still a 25 yd kind of guy. I got 24 laps, though, so I’m getting there. I’m gonna stay at this length for a while and try to get to the point where I’m able to tap the wall and immediately turn around.

As for today, I’m not gonna lie. It was crazy hard. It ended up taking me a solid hour. The idea that I’ll be able to swim for a mile (33 laps) seems impossible right now but it’s really something I want to focus on. I see other people in the pool go lap after lap without stopping and I want to be like that.

I’ve accomplished so much over the past few years that I really believe that even something as crazy as this is possible. It’s just a matter of time. I know that if I put in the time and effort I can get it done.

Belly Off 2008, week 8, Saturday challenge

Belly Off 2008 is done!

Unfortunately, I still have a belly so the project wasn’t as successful as you would imagine if you just read the title. Nevertheless, I”m OK with the progress I made.

I actually gained five pounds over the course of the program but I had two holidays thrown in there. That’s almost exactly what I gained over the same period of time last year. (You can take that for what it’s worth).

Today I did things a little different. I ran a half mile warm up lap and then did my bike intervals. After that I did the Power of 10 workouts twice for 30 seconds each. Then I finished with another half mile jog.

My final push up total was two sets of 15 each.

I made a lot of progress. On the first Saturday I did the Power of 10 once for 30 seconds and then managed a grand total of 5 pushups. I thought I was gonna die. If I went back and tried that workout today I bet I wouldn’t even break a sweat.

Swim workout

20 laps

I’m getting a lot better.  I’m at the point where I can get all the way through a length without much trouble. I’ve still got problems figuring out the breathing part right but everything else is coming along nicely.

Today was the first day that the pool was full of people. My wife and I had to share a lane.  I swam across the pool and waited for her. When she got to me I went back. My breaks were a lot shorter as a result so I feel like I got a much better workout.

Belly Off 2008, week 8, day 3

The final lift of Belly Off 2008 is officially in the books. Just one Saturday challenge to go and then I’m done.

I made an effort to give this one as much as I had. I feel like I did. I spent most of the time struggling for air.

Here are the numbers.

Hang Clean/Front Squat/ Push Press (8×95, 8×95, 8×95)

This is the same weight as last week but this time I did all 8 on each set. I wasn’t sure I’d be able to do that on the last set but I just gritted my teeth and struggled to get it done.

Push up/pull up ladder (2/1, 4/2, 6/3, 8/4, 10/5)

The first four sets weren’t too much trouble. I was determined to finish all the reps on that last set so I did it in reps of 5-1-4. The pullups on that last one were pretty pathetic but I was happy to try them. I sometimes think about what it would be like to do a real pull up. Then I wonder if what I’ve been doing is going to get me any closer to that.

I’m gonna be honest and say that if the day ever comes where I can do just one pull up from a dead hang I’m gonna consider myself super fit.

X Chop (8×16, 8×16, 8×16)

I think these would help somebody with their golf game since it’s pretty much the same motion as a swing. Unfortunately, that doesn’t do much for me right now. Maybe I should buy some clubs.

Thrusters (10xBW, 10xBW, 10xBW)

I made a note that the second set was done consecutively. That’s huge for me. I’m was sucking wind for almost every rep so getting 10 in a row was an exercise in stubbornness.

Medicine Ball Bicycle (20×4, 20×4, 20×4)

Each time I broke it down into sets of 5. That was surprisingly hard. Even harder to breath then the thrusters.

Belly Off 2008, week 8, day 2

One more lift to go!

I’ve gotten in to the habit of doing a little pre lift cardio. I run two laps around my gym which is equal to a quarter mile. The problem is that I do this in my lifting shoes. I’m not sure if that’s a good idea at all. Probably not. It seems to be working though. No back problems yet again.

For some reason the gym was packed out today. I wasn’t able to do any circuits. I did all my lifts in straight sets.

Here are today’s numbers.

Dumbbell Snatch (8×40, 8×40, 8×40)

Last week I only managed to do one set of these so I stuck with the same weight to get them all. I’m gettting better here.

Ranging Squat (10×140, 10×145, 10×145)

I added 10 pounds at the end and that’s about as much as I felt comfortable going up in one lift. I’m still getting used to doing these without any back pain. It’s crazy. I keep waiting for it to happen and it never does. Love it!

I wasn’t as tired as I normally am on these. Thinking back, I really could have gone up another five or ten pounds on that last set. Oh well, slow and steady…..

One Arm Dumbbell Press (10×50, 10×50, 10×50)

My left arm was much weaker then my right. Towards the end I struggled with the left but had no issues at all with the right.

Dumbbell RDL w/row (10×32.5, 10×32.5, 10×32.5)

I don’t know if I’m ever going to have these included in any future plans. I know I won’t miss them if I don’t.

I feel good about my form but the row part makes me pretty miserable.

Sunday weigh in

255.2 (-1.4 lbs)

I lost a pound which is positive but I’m still feeling frustrated.

I’m looking forward to getting back to my pre Thanksgiving weight in the 240’s. Hopefully I can get there before my birthday next month.

Belly Off 2008, week 8, day 1

Ehhh, I guess this lift was OK.

I added some weight in the deadlift and bench but I wasn’t able to finish the rest of the workout. I gave up on the lunges and I simply couldn’t do the intervals. I don’t know how anyone could do the HIIT after they’re really struggled with the deadlift.

Here are the numbers.

Deadlift (15×155, 12×165, 10×175)

I ended up starting too low. I thought I was doing 165 to start but after recaculating (after the set) I figured out that I was wrong. Even with the mistake I was still able to add 10 pounds to the end.

It might have been a good thing I didn’t figure out the weight right. The whole thing was tough. My legs were really beat down afterwards.

Bench (10×145, 10×150, 10×150)

I managed to add 10 pounds by the end. That’s pretty good. I didn’t have too much trouble until the last rep of the last set. Maybe all those pushups I’ve been doing are making a difference here.

Reverse lunge (5×25)

I did five reps and then my knees started hurting. I bailed after that.

Intervals

I managed to do the five minute warm up and about 15 seconds in the first round before I stopped. Just didn’t feel like I could go on.

Belly Off 2008, week 7, Saturday challenge

Good workout.

The Men’s Health site has already flipped over to a new workout for 2009 so I’m gonna have to finish these last two challenges on memory. I’m sure that I did it right this time.

The intervals were the same as last time. To be honest, they didn’t seem as tough. I don’t know why. My legs weren’t burning as much as last week. I don’t know if that’s because I took an extra day off or if I’m just in better shape.

Did the power of 10 twice again. First round was 30 seconds and the second round was 20 seconds. I’m still unable to do the iso squat holds for the entire time. I did the first round with two 15 second sets. The second one was two 10 second sets.

I did 9 push ups in the first round and 10 in the second. That’s an increase of one overall but the first round was a lot lower then last time. I guess this is still good. I’ve had more energy in the end so I got a lot better on the second try.

Swim workout

15 laps.

One lap less then last time. I guess I just forgot.

I did these as fast as I could. It ended up taking me 40 minutes. That’s got to be at least 5 minutes faster then last time.

I ended up thinking of these in laps instead of lengths. I swam a length, took a few breaths, swam the rest of the lap and then took a rest. It was tough and by the time I got to the last lap my legs were done.

I feel like I made a lot of progress. Doing these laps quicker is definitely the way to go.

Belly Off 2008, week 7, day 3

I’m really happy with today’s workout.

I don’t think I had any more to give. I also don’t think I could be any more sore right now.

FYI – I’ve gotten into the habit recently of running a few laps around the facility before I lift and I think that’s a good idea. I basically stole it from my wife. She started doing it and I tagged along.

Here are the numbers.

Hang Clean/Front Squat/ Push Press (8×95, 8×95, 8×95)

Added 15 pounds. I’ve never had any worries about the clean or squat part. I guess the push press was holding me back. Today I just went for it and threw the 25’s on the bar.

I couldn’t do them all at times so I did something I should have been doing all along. I took a quick rest and finished the set. In the first set I did 6 and then followed with the last two. In the second set I got all 8. In the final set I had to do 4 then 2 then 2.

Push up/pull up ladder (2/1, 4/2, 6/3, 8/4, 2.x)

Miracle of miracles. I got through the fourth set. This was the first time that I’ve ever attempted the fourth set of pull ups. I still can’t do a real pull up but I do my best to get as much as I can without jumping and then go down as slow as possible. The last one I did wasn’t anything. I jumped the entire way and fell down immediately.

Couldn’t get all 10 pushups on the final set. I regret not regrouping and banging them out no matter how many times it took. I think I’m gonna do that next week for my final lift.

Very happy with my push up form today.

X Chop (8×16, 8×16, 8×16)

Nothing to say about these.

Thrusters (10xBW, 10xBW, 10xBW)

No back pain so that’s good. I did a pretty good job of doing a lot of these consecutively. Never got ten in a row but I had a few good stretches of five in a row.

Medicine Ball Bicycle (20×4, 20×4, 20×4)

I think I did these right for the first time. I ended up doing 40 reps for each set. Twenty for each leg. I’ve always done 20 total. I thought about it and there’s no way that can be right.

A little bit of back pain caused me to take breaks in the early parts. Towards the end fatigue was the biggest factor stopping me.

Random thoughts

Three things I wanted to post before I forgot about them.

1) I think I’ve finally figured out how to curb my overeating. It took me forever to figure this out but I’m gonna try it for a while. I still believe in the 4-6 meals a day thing for no other reason then if I do it right then I don’t overeat as much. The problem comes when I wait until I’m really hungry and then I go crazy. When I do it right and eat every 3-4 hours I’m able to eat a smaller meal and not feel the need to keep going.

Example. I really like peanut butter sandwiches and a glass of milk. If I eat one like 4 hours after my last meal then I’ll just eat one and be done. That’s about 400ish calories. If I wait 5 or 6 hours then I’m really hungry and I eat my PB&J with my milk and then I’ll eat some yogurt or some almonds or some other “healthy” food and then I’m sitting at 600-700 calories! Do that enough times and then I’m eating like 500-1000 calories more then I intended every day.

2) I think I made it clear that I need to increase my intensity while I lift. Doing what I did over the last six months is simply not going to get it done. I’ve got to work HARD in the gym or I’m wasting my time. It’s a little scary worrying about my back  all the time but I’ve got to be tough and get it done. There is simply no excuse for me not squatting AT LEAST 225 and deadlifting 315 by this time next year. NONE.

I need to be smart about it. Need to go up slowly. Still I need to go up. If I don’t then I’m wasting my time and I’ll be sitting here next year complaining about not losing weight.

3) I’m gonna be roped in to more running. I can already see it happening. My wife wants to run, my family wants to run, my friends want to run. Everyone is on a running kick. My facebook page has degenerated to nothing but people trying to pick a race.

I vaguely remember  posting entry after entry about how much I hated running. As time goes by, though, I seem to only remember the good runs. I still think about some of the really special ones from time to time. I guess that’s how things go.

The odds of me running a 10K in this calendar year are probably 99%. The odds of a half marathon are probably 95%. The odds of a full marathon, though,  are still negative one billion percent.

Sunday weigh in

256.6 (0 lbs lost)

Same exact weight as last week.

Belly Off 2008, week 7, day 2

This was an abbreviated lift. I forgot that my gym closes early on Friday. I ended up having a grand total of 15 minutes before they kicked us out.

My main mission today was to increase my squat numbers so I did just that. I ended up doing one circuit of all the lifts and then the final two sets of squats.

Here are today’s numbers.

Dumbbell Snatch (8×40)

Went up 5 pounds. I didn’t feel too comfortable with my form. I’m not sure that you can really do these wrong though. I guess my reps were just slower then I think they should be.

Ranging Squat (10×135, 10×135, 10×135)

I added 35 pounds from last time. I’m embarrassed that it took me this long to do it. I’m also embarrassed that I was really nervous before I got under the bar. My back felt fine. Maybe the time crunch helped. I didn’t have time to think about it. I knew I didn’t have long so I just went at it as soon as I caught my breath.

I’m very happy with my depth. I think my decision to do these with my feet at a 45 degree angle has made all the difference. It’s just a different feeling then when they’re parallel.

One Arm Dumbbell Press (10×50)

I used the 50 on my last set last time so I started with it this time. Not too much trouble.

Dumbbell RDL w/row (10×32.5)

I was incredibly nervous about adding any weight on this exercise but I did it anyway without any problems.

Swim workout

16 laps (+3 laps)

I’ve made a lot of progress but I’ve still got a long way to go.

I’ve got to get dowm the correct swimming terminology if I’m gonna keep writing about my swimming. I think a lap is when you go down and back to where you first started. A half lap is called a length. At least that’s what I think it is and that’s what I’m gonna call it from now on.

Today I did what I always do. Swim a length, rest a while and then swim another, rest, etc. I was again able to go the whole way without touching the bottom. I’m still having trouble swimming the whole way though. Sometimes I’m so tired that I just end up floating toward the end. I’m just strong enough now to get going again from a full stop.

I never knew swimming was so complicated. There’s basically three things you have to get right.

First is the arm motion. I’ve read that you’re supposed to get your elbow high out of the water. Then you swing your forearm and hand over. I’ve got the pull through under water down but I still forget to do the elbow part sometimes when I’m tired.  When that happens my stroke is pretty weak and I don’t go very far.

Second is the leg motion. I simply don’t have the ability to keep them going constantly throughout the workout. I get too tired. That’s the first problem. The other is that I’m still not getting the kick right. Lots of times I’m just kicking with my ankles and not really using my whole leg. The funny thing is if I did it right every time I’d be even more tired and that would cause more problems. I guess the only solution is to keep swimming and get better endurance.

Third is breathing. Currently I’m basically holding my breath for the first half of the length. This allows me to keep my head under water so I can go faster. Once I have to breath all hell breaks loose. I end up pulling my head up and swinging it around from left to right at least two times. I guess I should be able to just turn my face to the ceiling on one of my strokes but I just can’t get the hang of that yet. Sometimes I do it but I feel like I have to take another breath on the very next stroke so it kind of defeats the whole purpose.

All that being said, today was a pretty good workout and I made a lot of progress. I feel like I have a good idea of what I need to be doing and I made steps in that direction. That’s really all I can do.