Wolfie, What Have You Done? [A Wolfpool Chapter]

[Wild Wolf]

 

I need a place to log what I've been doing. What better place then NF?? 

 

 

To say that life has been busy would be an understatement. On 03/23 of this year, my daughter, Beatrix "Trixie" Viola, was born 8 weeks early. Thank the Lord that she didn't deal with any issues besides just being a tiny little princess. She was in the NICU for 5 weeks and 1 day. Or 36 days for you mathlete's out there. We were able to bring her home on 04/28 and life has been SO MUCH better since that day. My wife, @PrincessMononoke (aka Heather) and I spent a crap ton of time up at the hospital when Trixie was still in the NICU. On most days, I would head straight to the hospital after work and spend a couple hours up there, head home to spend time with Heather and our boys, then start the process all over. Heather and I basically had no life because our already limited free time was spent with baby girl. 

 

It was a trying and challenging time in our life, but the Good Lord brought us through the fire and smoke. Life has resumed its "normalcy". I'm back to working out consistently, which is nice. I missed it. I need the accountability...which isn't new and I knew that NF was the place to go. Even if I can't devote a lot of time to my challenge, I need a place to track my progress. I need a place that can support my weirdness, lol. 

 

Even though this challenge is about to end, I would like to use the rest of this week to set up my NEXT challenge. I have one theme right now. And it's not based off Anthem lol. Honestly, I haven't been playing a lot of games lately. Especially since Trixie was born. My theme is: John Wick.

 

 

I've become obsessed with the semi-retired master assassin. Heather and I rented John Wick and John Wick: Chapter 2 about a month ago because she hadn't seen the movies before. I had seen the first movie but only bits and pieces of Chapter 2. IMO, the John Wick movies are the best action movies of my generation. You could probably argue a lot of other movies in there, but for what they are, John Wick 1 & 2 are amazing. And then, this weekend, John Wick 3: Parabellum hits theaters!! Heather and I are more than likely going to see it Saturday morning if there are still seats available for the early AM showing.

 

Why am I obsessed with John Wick? Many reasons. He's a badass, for starters. But there are qualities of John that I love as a character. He's:

• Relentless
• Focused
• Calm under pressure

 

Those 3 qualities are qualities I want to harness. I believe I have them already, but they are raw and unrefined. In order to become the master assassin that John Wick is, I need to sharpen those qualities and use them to my advantage. 

 

How will I do this?

 

The John Wick Master Assassin Plan for Badassdom

 

 

Plan A: Workout Consistency - Relentless

 

 

This has been an issue of mine for some time now. I get going on workouts, go for about a week, then fall off the wagon. I credit a lot of this to my laziness and unwillingness to get up early. Because of my work schedule, 4 am is my wake-up call for days I workout and over the last 6-8 months, morning workouts just don't sit well with me. Not that I can't get up and workout. I can. But, more so, I have trouble going to bed early enough, and to get the quality sleep I need on a daily basis, I would need to be in bed by 9pm...which isn't feasible. Not with having to get the kiddos in bed and still have quality time to spend with Heather. So, I'm trying evening workouts. So far it's been an adjustment, but I think it'll workout in the long run.

 

Goal:

• 4x a week. M/Tu/W/F.
• Focus on PPLFB (Push, Pull, Legs and Full Body) 
• Structure workouts based off "Powerbuilding"- the combination of power lifting and body building
• Leave my ego at the door

 

A typical workout will be structured (loosely) as follows:

• Overcoming (including grip)
• Compound (pure power output)
• Compound control (bodyweight and old-time strength that relies on technique)
• Work capacity (high rep, full body)
• Isolation endurance (high rep, isolation)
• Cardio finishers (HIIT, punch bag, battle ropes)
• LISS (Low Intensity Steady state)
• Stretching

Stat Points Available: +3 STR, +2 END, +1 DEX

 

 Plan B: Play hard. Rest hard - Focus

 

 

It's no secret that success in the gym starts with a healthy body and healthy mind. Especially when you play hard.  Sleep, active recovery, and meditation are key to kicking ass in and out of the gym and I want to focus on these things as much as I do my workouts. 

 

Goals:

• Sleep, nap, and rest as much as I can. Not shirking my adult responsibilities, but utilize my "off" days like a boss.
• Cold showers (because @Mr_Willes loves them)  
• Bible study/Sermons and Devotionals every morning. Utilize my commute to work and spend time in the Word. Continue my Bible App streak daily. 
• Use "stand up desk" option at work at least 3x a day. Keep sneakers in my car so I can go on daily walks at lunch/breaks.

 

Stat Points Available: +4 CON

 

Plan C: Continue to Develop my speaking/leadership skills in Toastmasters - Calm under pressure

 

 

I officially joined Toastmasters at my job and completed my "ice breaker" speech a couple weeks ago. My focus aka pathway is Presentation Mastery. I love the community here and have become good friends with all the members. Toastmasters happens every Wednesday during lunch time and I want to make sure that I'm constantly filling roles needed for each meeting and working on my pathway. Public speaking is not something I'm great at and any opportunity I get to work on my weaknesses is welcomed with open arms.

 

Goals:

• Finish Level 2 before the NEXT challenge ends
• Fill a role 4 separate times
• Bring in 1 new member before the NEXT challenge ends

 

Stat Points Available: +4 CHA, +1 WIS

 

Bonus Goal: Keep growing hair out. 

 

 

Yep! You read that correctly. I'm growing my hair back out. Heather convinced me to do so (as well as this tying into my John Wick obsession). It's gonna be annoying to go through the "awkward" stages again, but, I got this! 

 

That's all the word vomit I have for now. Thanks for making it through the challenge write-up and as always, thank you for the support!  

 

 

Wolf

[Elastigirl]

Welcome back! I've been following your family and all the adorbs baby pictures on Facebook. She is so sweet. Glad your life is getting into bit more of a routine. Happy that you are still depending on God and keeping up the scripture reading. I find when I have that as a priority, everything else falls into place

[Wild Wolf]

22 hours ago, Elastigirl said:

Welcome back! I've been following your family and all the adorbs baby pictures on Facebook. She is so sweet. Glad your life is getting into bit more of a routine. Happy that you are still depending on God and keeping up the scripture reading. I find when I have that as a priority, everything else falls into place

 

Thank you, EG! Let's hope that I can "stay back" and not fall off for like the umphteen time. Thank you for the compliments  Trixie is my little princess! And yes, I can't do anything without God backing me and you're 100% right-when you make God a priority, you see how the puzzle pieces begin to fit together. One thing I struggle with is praising Him during tough times. The 36 days that Trixie was in the NICU was a test for me, and I think I passed. It was hard for Heather and I both, but I knew (and know) that all things work in God's perfect timing. It's good to see you old friend  

 

05/14 WOD: Pull Day

 

5 min foam rolling w/ dynamic stretching

 

KB deadlifts

• 1x8 35's
• 1x6 45's
• 3x4 53's

2x TF (till failure) pull-ups > TRX rows (> = super set)

• 7/7
• 5/5

1x TF chin-ups - rest pause-  TF chin-ups

• 3/3

Cable Curls drop set: 10x > 10x > 10x

• 50#
• 25#
• 10#

20x t-bar row @ 80#

5 min row machine

 

Stretch/foam roll/cooldown

 

05/15 WOD: Leg Day

 

5 min foam rolling w/ dynamic stretching & jump rope

 

8x 36" box jump

1 min rest

 

2x5 KB Goblet Squat

• 1x10 35#
• 1x8 40#
• 1x6 53#
• 2x5 70#

2 min rest

 

2x 30 second leg press

• 180# x 15 reps
• 200# x 16 reps

1 min rest

 

1x8 one legged leg press (each side)

• 1x8 @ 90#

1 min rest

 

2x5 assisted pistol squat (using smith machine for support)

1 min rest

 

2x BB lunges -rest pause- BB lunges

• 2x8 -rest- x6 @ 25#

1 min rest

 

10x light good mornings @ 25# BB

1 min rest

 

EMOM 3 min HIIT KB swings@ 25# KB

• 15/20/20

1 min rest

 

2x5 (gentle) Jefferson curls w 5# KB

 

5 min stretch/cooldown/foam roll (more like 7-8 min cooldown)

 

Yesterdays workout, while seeming more intense, wasn't as bad as Tuesdays. I'm feeling the DOMS more from the Pull day then anything, lol. 

 

Tonight marks the first day of Men's Summit!! I'm so excited! I convinced my brother to go this year and I know God is gonna show up in a big way for him . I'm not sure who the speaker is tonight, but I'm guessing Craig Groeschel, like he did last year. Mike Todd has a main stage this year (yeah boi!) and Jeremy Foster is back!! David Crowder is the musical guest, so that's exciting! I'm going to take a lot of pictures and videos. WOOT WOOT!

 

I'm off tomorrow for day 2 and then if plans go right for the weekend, Heather and I are going to see John Wick 3: Parabellum Saturday morning! If plans don't go according to plan, then we'll move the movie to Tuesday, when tickets are half price . I'm so stoked for these next 3 days! Also...

 

 

The series finale is Sunday night! I'm excited about that too!

 

 

Wolf

 

[Terra]

So happy to see you back here!!!  

 

John Wick movies are so much fun now that I know all the BJJ  (love that Keanu Reeves does the BJJ in real life too!) 

 

And my GoT costume is almost ready and I will be making scotch eggs for the party on Saturday night!!!  

(I hope we see Yara again)

[Tanktimus the Encourager]

Welcome back little buddy!

[Elastigirl]

6 hours ago, SheriffWolfpool said:

 

Thank you, EG! Let's hope that I can "stay back" and not fall off for like the umphteen time. Thank you for the compliments  Trixie is my little princess! And yes, I can't do anything without God backing me and you're 100% right-when you make God a priority, you see how the puzzle pieces begin to fit together. One thing I struggle with is praising Him during tough times. The 36 days that Trixie was in the NICU was a test for me, and I think I passed. It was hard for Heather and I both, but I knew (and know) that all things work in God's perfect timing. It's good to see you old friend  

 

0

I think we all struggle with praising God in the tough times, and having your baby in the NICU  has got to be one of the toughest. One thing my pastor said that stuck with me is that thanking and praising God is like a muscle. If we practice doing it in the everyday times, it will be much easier in the hard time. Glad God helped you through- I know I and all your friends were praying for you

[WhiteGhost]

Oh hey, look who showed up  

 

I still have not seen John Wick.  I should probably remedy that soon

[Ann of Owlshire]

Welcome back! 

[Salinger]

Welcome back WOLFIE xx

[Rinna]

On 5/15/2019 at 9:09 AM, SheriffWolfpool said:

He's a badass,

 

 

I LOVE JOHN WICK!!!!!!!!!!!   They are awesome movies, and I can’t wait for #3.  But it’ll be a while, I used up my movie theater movie on Endgame.......

[Wild Wolf]

On 5/16/2019 at 4:24 PM, Terra said:

So happy to see you back here!!!  

 

John Wick movies are so much fun now that I know all the BJJ  (love that Keanu Reeves does the BJJ in real life too!) 

 

And my GoT costume is almost ready and I will be making scotch eggs for the party on Saturday night!!!  

(I hope we see Yara again)

 

Terra!!  

 

I also love that Keanu Reeves does his own stunts. He's a very talented BJJ and Judo practitioner and it always shows in the John Wick movies. Especiallt #3. My goodness that's a crazy good movie! What GoT costume are you making???? And I bet the scotch eggs were awesome! Way more awesome then the series finale....

 

I was a little disappointed to say the least. This last season felt so rushed.

 

On 5/16/2019 at 7:31 PM, Tanktimus the Encourager said:

Welcome back little buddy!

 

Good to see ya, Chrome Dome  

 

 

On 5/16/2019 at 9:49 PM, Elastigirl said:

I think we all struggle with praising God in the tough times, and having your baby in the NICU  has got to be one of the toughest. One thing my pastor said that stuck with me is that thanking and praising God is like a muscle. If we practice doing it in the everyday times, it will be much easier in the hard time. Glad God helped you through- I know I and all your friends were praying for you

 

The prayers were 1000% felt and I'm so blessed by you guys and the friendships we have . That's a cool thing your pastor said and I whole heatedly agree. I will definitely be more purposeful about flexing my "God" muscle. Our NICU journey seemed to take FOREVER...but God was with Trixie the whole time. And we ended up with some great nurses. There were lots of God-centered woman that were helping take care of her and still keep in contact with Heather and I since we've brought her home 3 weeks ago.

 

On 5/17/2019 at 10:04 AM, WhiteGhost said:

Oh hey, look who showed up  

 

I still have not seen John Wick.  I should probably remedy that soon

 

Lol...I've been so flaky lately bro. I'm glad to see you, though! If you haven't seen any of the John Wicks, you're in for a treat. They are incredible films IMO . The gun-fu and fight scenes are dope!

 

On 5/17/2019 at 10:16 AM, Ann of Vries said:

Welcome back! 

 

Thank you. Ann! It's always good to be back  

 

On 5/17/2019 at 10:18 AM, Salinger said:

Welcome back WOLFIE xx

 

SAL!! Good to see ya, girlfriend  

 

On 5/17/2019 at 6:11 PM, Rinna said:

 

 

I LOVE JOHN WICK!!!!!!!!!!!   They are awesome movies, and I can’t wait for #3.  But it’ll be a while, I used up my movie theater movie on Endgame.......

 

RIIIIGHT?! John Wick is my spirit animal after Deadpool, lol. Honestly, if I had one movie to go to in the last 3 weeks, it would of been Endgame for me too. When do you get another theater day?? John Wick 3 is pretty damn awesome! It's basically non stop action from beginning to end. I thoroughly enjoyed myself!

 

Today's been busy, so, I haven't been able to update like I wanted too. In short: Men's Summit was AMAZING!! It was better than last year. John Wick 3 was amazing! What a joy to see! I had a great weekend and I'm about to get off work and head to the gym for a gnarly chest day  

 

@Rurik Harrgath, brother, would you mind moving this thread over to the new challenge? Thank you, my friend.

 

 

Wolf

[Sylvaa]

34 minutes ago, SheriffWolfpool said:

@Rurik Harrgath, brother, would you mind moving this thread over to the new challenge? Thank you, my friend.

 

Where has he been - I've lost him in the shuffle?

 

PS - you're welcome  

[starpuck]

Posting to follow, will catch up in a bit more proper. 

We can be returnsies together.

 

[Rinna]

2 hours ago, SheriffWolfpool said:

When do you get another theater day??

 

Dunno.  Not like I can’t go, I just don’t go to the theater often. 

[jonfirestar]

Hey Wolfie, Following along  

[Wild Wolf]

23 hours ago, Sylvaa said:

 

Where has he been - I've lost him in the shuffle?

 

PS - you're welcome  

 

Oh no! Rurik is MIA too? Maybe his beard consumed the rest of his body and he's now became the Beard Beast of the North. I hear they hibernate during this time of year... LOL.

 

Thank you for moving this over, Sylvaa . You're my hero!

 

 

22 hours ago, Starpuck said:

Posting to follow, will catch up in a bit more proper. 

We can be returnsies together.

 

 

Yusss!! We shall be returnsies togethah!!

 

 

21 hours ago, Rinna said:

 

Dunno.  Not like I can’t go, I just don’t go to the theater often. 

 

Oh ok, lol. Well in that case, I highly recommend going to see it soon. It's so good, in fact, that they've already announced John Wick 4 will be released 05/21/2021 . Though, I'm pretty sure that Keanu cut his hair (which makes me sad) and will need to get on growing that out ASAP. John Wick without John Wick hair is just not as cool haha.

 

3 hours ago, jonfirestar said:

Hey Wolfie, Following along  

 

J-pool! Good to have ya brother  

 

 

Yesterday's Workout- 

 

05/20- PUSH day

 

5 min warm-up w/ foam rolling, light c&p and shoulder mobilization

 

2x6 DB Floor Press

• 1x12 w/ 25's
• 1x10 w/ 30's
• 1x8 w/ 35's
• 2x6 w/ 45's

1 min push-ups

• 13 total

2 min HS practice w/ wall

 

1-1-1 Dips

 

2 rounds: Triceps cable push down > OH triceps cable extension > triceps push down iso hold

• 15/12/10 seconds  w/ 40#
• 12/8/5 seconds

2 rounds: 10x kneeling DB OH press w/ 20# -rest pause- kneeling DB OH press TF (till failure)

• 10/12- R
• 10/11- L

2 rounds: 10x Arnold Press w/ 15's -rest pause- Arnold press TF

• 10/8
• 10/6

2 min Shadow Box

 

Stretch/cooldown for 10 min

 

My pushing power is WEAK. A lot of this is my lack of pushing exercises since I basically hurt my shoulder back in 2016. I tend to baby my left side. I will continue to take it easy(er) on push days compared to others and slowly work my way up.

 

I broke my streak on the bible app... *sigh* but I still did my morning routine of listening to a sermon and then some worship music on my commute to work yesterday. That's still a win in my book. So far, the challenge is going swell. I'm a little sore from DOMS, but nothing new there. I need to embrace and embody the spirit of John Wick and fight through the pain so I can continue my mission. Today marks a pull day and I'm going to get after it!  

 

Wolf

[starpuck]

1 hour ago, SheriffWolfpool said:

Yusss!! We shall be returnsies togethah!!

 

 

 

[Tanktimus the Encourager]

2 hours ago, SheriffWolfpool said:

My pushing power is WEAK. A lot of this is my lack of pushing exercises since I basically hurt my shoulder back in 2016. I tend to baby my left side. I will continue to take it easy(er) on push days compared to others and slowly work my way up.

Maybe make a conscious effort to hold the baby with the left arm most of the time? That way you can counter act babying the left arm by babying the left arm.

[Salinger]

Hey Wolf, have fun at the gym!!! xx

[Wild Wolf]

18 hours ago, Starpuck said:

 

 

 

17 hours ago, Tanktimus the Encourager said:

Maybe make a conscious effort to hold the baby with the left arm most of the time? That way you can counter act babying the left arm by babying the left arm.

 

LOL. Ohhhhhh, Tank. You're dad jokes were always stellar when you weren't a dad. The world better look out! You're about to go ham! HAHA! I actually tend to hold Trixie more with my left anyways, so it all works out.  

 

9 hours ago, Salinger said:

Hey Wolf, have fun at the gym!!! xx

 

The gym was fun, thanks Sal!  

 

05/21 PULL Day:

 

5 min foam rolling/dynamic warm-up + jump rope

 

2x4 trap bar deadlifts

• 1x12 empty bar (45#)
• 1x8 65#
• 1x6 85#
• 2x4 105#

1x lap on monkey bars/TRX station

 

2x: pull-ups x3-5 > inverted row on TRX TF

• 5/7
• 3/6

1x chin-ups x3-4 -rest pause- TF chin-ups

• 4/2

Deadhang TF

• 34 seconds

2x8 curls w/ 35# > 2x8 cross body hammer curls w/ 15# DB's

 

Cable curls drop set: 10x > 10x > 10x

• 55/45/25

20x light t-bar rows 70# > 10x face pulls w/ rope #25

 

Stretch/cooldown/foam rolling

 

*Every week I plan on increasing weight on the deadlifts. It's always been a weak area for me, and I think it's mainly form related. But, the trap bar is a nice way of doing deadlifts, so, I'll stick with that.

 

Today's leg day. That should be fun lol. So far the evening workouts are going well. I'm still not convinced I want to stick with them because I end up eating a lot later than I want to eat. I'll stick to it the next few weeks and then reassess my situation for whatever works best for myself and the Wolfpack.

 

Heather made keto bbq chicken pizza last night and it was DELISH! I brought a whole pizza with me today and plan on scarfing it ALL down . Not ironically, I've been famished since lifting more the last 2 weeks, lol.

 

Something I'm looking at doing is Judo. There's a gym near me that offers relatively cheap classes and I want to see how much they would charge for 1 class a week, something like Saturday afternoons. On their website they say it's $100 a month for a membership that gets you unlimited training, which they offer classes 5-6 days a week. It's really an awesome deal, but I wouldn't have the time (or energy) to attend Judo + my workouts right now. More on this later  

 

Wolf

[Terra]

On 5/20/2019 at 2:16 PM, SheriffWolfpool said:

What GoT costume are you making???? And I bet the scotch eggs were awesome! Way more awesome then the series finale....

 

I was a little disappointed to say the least. This last season felt so rushed.

 

 dressed as Yara (thus the photos!) and yeah it was really rushed to tell the story and wrap things up.  

 

Judo is pretty awesome, but all those throws can be hard on a body, so be careful.  You are young so go for it!!!  

[Wild Wolf]

3 hours ago, Terra said:

 dressed as Yara (thus the photos!) and yeah it was really rushed to tell the story and wrap things up.  

 

Judo is pretty awesome, but all those throws can be hard on a body, so be careful.  You are young so go for it!!!  

 

Ohhhhh, looking back at your first post, I guess I missed it. It doesn't look like the pics came through  

 

Judo can definitely be hard on the body, and I've thought about that too. They do offer a 7 day free trial that I want to utilize and we'll see how much I like it after spending a week getting tossed around lol. BJJ may be more my style since there's less impact, so, we shall see. I'm all for experimenting  

 

Wolf

 

 

[Sloth the Enduring]

I really like the trap bar. You’ve inspired me to dust mine off.

[Wild Wolf]

22 hours ago, Sloth the Enduring said:

I really like the trap bar. You’ve inspired me to dust mine off.

 

Woot woot!

 

 

05/22: LEG day

 

5 min foam rolling/leg swing/ dynamic warm-up with bw squats and lunges/jump rope

 

8x box jumps at 36in

 

2x5 goblet squat

• 35# x10
• 44# X8
• 53# x6
• 70# x5
• 70# x5

2x 30 seconds leg press

• 190# x16
• 210# x17

1x8 one leg press each side w/ 100#

 

2x5 bench pistol squats (each leg)

 

2x8 BB lunges -rest pause- BB lunges TF w/ 35# BB

• 8/24
• 8/10

10x light good mornings w/ 12#

 

5 min stationary bike (high resistance)- 2 x 2 min intervals (w/ 30 sec rest in between rounds)

 

1x5 Jefferson curl w/ 5# KB

 

Stretch/cooldown/foam roll for 10 min

 

By the time I was done with the stationary bike, I was SWEATING up a storm!

 

 

It was a fun workout, though. I went up in weight for all the exercises and feeling good about it . Today's a rest day (and I'm glad for it). Gonna take it easy when I get home and do some more stretching/yoga while I have the time. Later tonight, I'm going with my buddy Chad to go see Brightburn, the superhero horror film from the creative mind of James Gunn. It looks super interesting! 

 

 

Wolf

[Salinger]

Great job Wolfie! Enjoy the film xx