I Will Not Fail my City...

[Vidd]

**Major Update to Goals on Page 4**

 

Hey all, I decided to start logging my training after many years of lurking Nerd Fitness articles. My real name is David, but I chose the alias Vidd as the final syllable of my name. It's a simple alias and one that I hope to give meaning to through my actions and journey. I owe Steve a lot for motivating me to workout way back in 2011 in a way that spoke to me, and so I hope if anyone decides to follow this log of mine will find some inspiration within it. My origins were me at 6ft 1, 145 lbs wanting desperately to bulk up to a Thor physique so that no longer would I be the target of bullies, or seen as weak. After many long years, I made it to 190lbs at my very peak and felt incredibly strong in the gym...

 

However, something was missing. I'd gotten the body, and even the respect and recognition from those around me... and it wasn't until this lockdown where I was forced out of the gym that I had the time to think about my inner motivations. Growing up, I'd always admired those who had immense strength for their size. Altair from Assassin's Creed, and as you guessed by the title, Oliver Queen from Arrow. I realized that my warrior aspirations were in part to quell an insecurity I had, and that it's ok to branch out from pure muscle building. I started rewatching the first season of Arrow, and his training in isolation, spurred me on to stay strong during my own isolation. Here's a montage that really inspired me, I hope it's alright to post:

 

My first step during lock down was to become aware of my surroundings. What could I use in my immediate environment to workout with? I was able to find a pull up bar, some old perfect pushup stands for some greater range of motion, and some ledges to practice my vertical jump. Later on, I was even able to find a package of heavy duty resistance bands at a store during one of my grocery runs.

 

The first thing I noticed from the start was my entire body was extremely tight! I had truly neglected my flexibility and balance during all of my gym training. On top of that, my day job, when I'm not out fighting crime, happens to be me in a cubicle as an accountant for 8-10 hours a day.  So flexibility remains a big focus area for me.

 

Anyway if I were to envision myself as a super hero much like Arrow, I believe my purpose is to 1. Inspire others and 2. Become strong enough to protect my loved ones and those that cannot protect themselves. With that said, here are my current achievements and goals:

 

Achievements:

- Complete a one-armed pushup

- Complete a set of 5 reps pistol squats each leg

- L-sit for 15 seconds

- Assisted one arm chinup

 

Goals:

- Improve flexibility and balance Done! But this one is an ongoing goal

- One-armed pushup for reps Done!

- Do a handstand against a wall and hold it for 30 seconds (I -really- have a mental block being upside down and I need to improve on this) Done!

- Do a muscleup Done!

 

New Long-Term Goals:

- Pass the CPA Accounting Exam

- Rebuild my cardio endurance. Currently using the bicycle would like to make the elliptical or stairmaster my main cardio without my heart rate going up too high

 

That's it for now. Bit of a long post but I'm excited to share my workouts as I complete them. I workout 3-4 times a week full body. If anyone has any questions, has any tips, or even wants advice from me, shoot me a message. I really can't say it enough that this time we have alone is the perfect time especially for we as assassins to improve our fitness.

 

Challenge Archive:

Challenge #1 Muscleup https://rebellion.nerdfitness.com/index.php?/topic/116791-vidds-journey-to-the-top-of-the-bar/

Challenge #2 Front Lever https://rebellion.nerdfitness.com/index.php?/topic/117098-vidd-clears-his-name-and-learns-the-front-lever/

Challenge #3 Taking care of business https://rebellion.nerdfitness.com/index.php?/topic/117312-vidd-becomes-agile-like-arrow/&tab=comments#comment-2626376

Challenge #4 No Excuses https://rebellion.nerdfitness.com/index.php?/topic/117640-vidd-makes-no-excuses/

Challenge #5 Vidd Remembers Who He Is https://rebellion.nerdfitness.com/index.php?/topic/121911-vidd-remembers-who-he-is/

 

[Vidd]

Another day in rain city (I live in WA). As I pulled up to the park to get my workout in, the rain began to pour but I'd made it this far - at this point I was committed. I threw on my beanie and got to work. Today the goal was to really try to solidify the one-armed pushup as a movement. I did 10 minutes of dynamic stretching under the canopy of some nearby trees in hope the rain would calm down some. Unfortunately it kept pouring and I knew I'd just have to tough it out. I try not to let the elements get in the way of my training if I can help it. The benefit is I had the park all to myself.

 

3x5 reps Speed Pullups

10, 6, 5 reps Feet Elevated Assisted One-Arm Pushups

1x1 reps One-arm Pushup

Pistol Squats to low ledge 10, 6, 5 reps

Inverted Row 20, 15, 10 reps

Band Pull Aparts: 20, 15 reps

 

Notes on workout: 1. Goal with the speed pullups is to build up the explosive strength needed to eventually do a muscle up. Due to the rain the bar was really slick causing my grip to have to work a little harder. I'm going to keep throwing this in as a progression until I'm happier with my pulling speed. 2. The assisted one arm push up is one of my favorites. One arm is off to the side resting on a high ledge or on a basketball, while 90% of the work is being done by the opposite arm. 3. This is a brand new movement for me that I can still only do one rep on.  4. These kicked my butt. I'm able to do freestanding pistols but I find having a low box to sit on lets me go to failure without fear of eating some pavement. 5 & 6. Since I work in an office environment, I try to give myself some extra pulling work when I can, and rear delt work.

 

Life improvement: I'm going to throw in this non-fitness category with 1-3 things I did to level up my life. My sleep hasn't been great lately so tonight I'm going to bed at 10:30 PM instead of past midnight like I normally do. That's all for today it was a lazy Monday in this category.

 

Overall I'm pleased with the workout despite getting soaked out there. Tomorrow is going to be an abdominal circuit, and some stretching.

[Vidd]

Evening everyone, I hope everyone is staying safe and healthy. Today was an abdominal circuit, static stretching, and some steady state exercise.

 

Ab Circuit 10 exercises with 15 sec rest between

1. Toe touches 20x

2. Leg raises (single leg) 10x each

3. Alternating star crunches 20x

4. Bicycles 30 secs

5. Russian twists 30 secs

6. Mountain climbers 30 secs

7. Jackknife 10x

8. Side plank up and down 15x each

9. Seated in and outs 20x

10. L-sit 20 secs

 

That tenth exercise is crossed out because...you guessed it, couldn't do it by the end of all that lol. On top of that, the video I learned the circuit from said ideally this should be performed for 3-4 rounds so I've got my work cut out for me. I recently ordered some sturdy parallettes that should make doing the L-sit easier but I'm not at the point that I can do it off the ground.

 

Static stretching consisted of working on the butterfly, some hamstring exercises, and some shoulder mobility work to prep for handstands.

 

Afterwards, I walked around the track at the park and behind me was this older man with a long white beard booking it at an unexpectedly quick pace. Instead of stepping off the track and just having him lap me I decided to pick up the pace and I truly have no idea how he walks so fast but it encouraged me to move a little quicker even if all I'm doing is some low intensity cardio. I did this for about 20 minutes.

 

Life Improvement - Heading to bed early again tonight. If I can do this for 30 days it becomes habit right? I'm also adding in some canned fish such as sardines and anchovies to up my omega-3s.

 

Tomorrow is another resistance day which is another chance to do something I've never done before. Have a good night or morning - whenever it is this is being read!

[Vidd]

What's up Rebels, I hope you're all having a good day. Today was all about facing fears. I've been wanting to conquer this handstand thing for awhile and I think I made some great strides in that direction. My usual park only has gates in the basketball court as a potential 'wall' and due to the sun being out the b-ball court was filled with people. This led me to walking to my old elementary school only to find it a little torn apart due to construction but I still found a spot... I just don't think I'll return because it's a little isolated and I can't imagine anyone at the school during construction to be up to any good.

 

Wall-walk into Handstand 5 sec hold, 10 sec, 15 sec, 10 sec, 5 sec

Archer Pullups 12, 10, 10 reps

Feet elevated Pike Pushups 15, 12, 10 reps

Chinups 15, 12, 8 reps

Overhead Tricep Band Extension 50lbs for 20, 17, 15 reps

Band Bicep Curls 80lbs for 12, 10, 8 reps

Band Squats 80lbs for 15, 15 reps

 

Notes on workout: 1. Big win here, this was five total holds of varying durations. I'm still not comfortable upside down but the more I do it the better and longer I'll be able to do the hold. 2. Great pull up exercise for when regular pull ups become too easy. Wide grip, and alternate sides, one side is doing 80-90% of the work while the other is supporting. 3. Progression exercise for handstand pushups. 4. More pulling work and also great for bicep development 5, 6. Some general arm work. I found a low standing sign post that I attach a band to and do overhead tricep extensions just as you would with a cable/pulley system at the gym. 7. Meant to do 3 sets here but had to get home early due to dinner.

 

Life improvement: Early bed time again, aiming for 10:30, and wake up at 7:30. I want to add more into this category soon but because I've neglected sleep for so long my energy levels beyond going hard at work, and in my workouts, is all I've been able to muster lately. I'm hoping getting 8-9 hours instead of 4-6 is going to give me more energy after a week or so.

 

Tomorrow is some stretching, abs, and light cardio. I'm going to be doing the wrist warmup/mobility drill on the NF youtube channel. I noticed today my wrists hurting doing the handstands, so I need to work on their mobility a bit more.

[Vidd]

Evening everyone, today will be a briefer entry. I got in about 20 minutes of brisk walking, and some static stretching. The focus on my stretching was on my leg mobility and as I mentioned from yesterday, some wrist mobility work. For abs I did a plank for as long as I could.

 

Very light day. I had some issues sleeping last night and wasn't on my A-game. Tomorrow I'm really eager for another resistance workout. In case anyone is wondering, I am resistance training every other day, and the off days are active rest days. So I'll typically just go for a walk, do some abs/stretching, or try a new fun skill. Once I feel more limber I've been considering picking up some parkour...but one step at a time Til next time...

[Vidd]

Alright time for another update. This one has some wins, and some losses... It was perfect weather outside, resulting in the park swarming with people. Every pull up bar was taken by children and while there were times I could walk over and work out, I tend to let the kids have their equipment as I don't want to intrude. I'm also still trying to avoid close contact with people.

 

I went back to my old school despite it being under construction. I was going to attempt something I'd been excited for all day ever since my new parallette bars came in. These are heavy duty made of steel and aren't ideal for doing the wall walks so the plan was to kick myself up into handstand position with my back to the wall. If I felt strong up there, maybe try my first handstand push up... I positioned the bars, I took hold, got into my stance... and I could not do it. I spent a good 15 minutes maybe even longer trying to psyche myself into it. I took out my phone, watched videos of people do it, I repeatedly got into the stance and chickened out each. and. every. time.

 

I did something I rarely ever do. I walked away from the wall. I gave up and that hurts. I've got this mental block because I feel like I need to get it right the first time. I don't have the luxury of padded flooring all I've got is the unforgiving concrete and a lot of things ran through my head. I weigh 181-183lbs...in the gym my best ever overhead press was 155x4. I keep envisioning myself getting absolutely buried trying to lift 180+ lbs overhead. I set high standards for myself and I'm never a quitter I always do my best, but this time I did...and yeah, it sucks, and I gotta be honest in this log because this is all about accountability...

 

Okay, now that that is off my chest the win of today was I walked back to the park and saw it had cleared up some. Here was my workout:

 

Archer Pullups 12, 12, 12

Chinups 10, 8, 7

Feet elevated Archer Pushups 16, 14, 12

Close-grip Tricep Pushups: 12, 10, 10

 

Notes on workout: 1. This is a big personal record. 12 reps on all 3 sets, that's 6 per side. I made one change in my pullup form and man was it drastic. I actually felt myself flying up the bar. Ordinarily I'd bend my knees backwards, and cross my ankles, but this time I straightened my legs and raised them in front of me some, engaging the core, legs, glutes...basically plugging any 'leaks' and I just felt powerful. Ordinarily I'd be swaying around but each rep just felt crisp and controlled. 2. Same thing here, it wasn't a personal record for chin ups but I think my range of motion was higher. 3,4: The parallettes have made these even more effective I'm really enjoying the increased ROM on these pushing movements.

 

So because I dallied around so much trying to do the handstand I ran out of time for legs so instead of tomorrow just being my active rest day I'm throwing in a full legs-only workout so that should be fun I'll be back tomorrow with all the details. Have a good night and thanks for reading this extra long update.

[Vidd]

Hey Rebels, another brief one this time around. My leg workout ended up getting pushed back a day as my friends dragged me out for some boba tea and walking. By the time I got home it was late and so to avoid getting my heart rate up and losing out on sleep I spent an hour stretching. I suppose that'll teach me to get my workouts done early so that if something unforeseen does come up I'm not left having to improvise.

 

Either way mobility remains a big issue for me. My hamstrings, quads, and shoulders are all extremely tight. I remember flexibility used to come much easier for me as a teen. I'm 29 now and I don't remember it being this hard haha. Well, I'll keep at it. I'll be back tomorrow with a resistance workout. Good night all.

[Jupiter]

Hey there, I love the Arrow theme! Maybe adding some yoga to your routine would help with flexibility/mobility?

[Vidd]

Hey everybody, very successful workout today and I took advantage of it being a day off to get it done early. @jupiter I think you're absolutely right on that suggestion. These bodyweight workouts have been very good at pinpointing weaknesses in my body I was not aware of before. I think with this hero training, I'm going to have to pull from a lot of different disciplines, yoga being one of them... further down the line I want to get into parkour, and maybe even some form of self defense. Batman is another motivation. I think what I like about Arrow and Batman is they aren't as reliant on super powers so it's more motivating because it seems somehow achievable with enough work put in :D Thanks for the feedback and suggestion!

 

Wall walks into handstand practice

One Arm Pushups 3, 2, 1

Assisted One Arm pushups 10, 10

Speed Pullups 5, 5, 5

Inverted Rows 15 + restpause 5, 5, 5, 4

Pistol Squats to low box 10, 10

Bulgarian Split Squats 12, 10

Band Bicep Curls 80lbs 12, 10

Single Arm Band Tricep Extensions 30lb 12, 12

 

Notes on workout: 1. I checked my ego at the door and decided I'm going to be training belly to wall handstands for a long time until I'm comfortable to do kick offs. I was able to even do these with my paralletes although it was awkward walking in with them at first. 2. Big personal record! I've only ever done 1 rep at a time so to do 3 in a row in my top set has me super hyped 3, 4. Explosivity training plus some volume with the inverted rows. Rest pause training is I do one big activator set of 15 reps, then I spend 10-15 sec pausing, before pumping out another 3-5 reps, for 4-5 additional sets. 5,6. Legs are feeling strong on these no complaints here :) 7,8. Just some general arm work I tossed in to finish it off.

 

I feel great after todays workout. Life improvement was cleaning my room which is a monumentous task so you may see that finding its way into the log frequently til its all in order. Tomorrow is a day of stretching, abs, and some yoga research. I think my situation right now is I want to do too much stuff all at once, but if I can focus on the basics and build a good, strong foundation of flexibility, strength, and mobility, it's going to spill over into any other athletic thing I want to try later on. Have a great night everyone

 

 

[Jupiter]

2 hours ago, Vidd said:

I think what I like about Arrow and Batman is they aren't as reliant on super powers so it's more motivating because it seems somehow achievable with enough work put in Thanks for the feedback and suggestion!

 

Yeah true, they are pretty badass...You're welcome!  

[Vidd]

How is it going Rebels. I hope you're all staying safe out there.

 

I made it to the park again this time for what I'll call skills training. I practiced lightly swinging on the bar and doing just the starting portion of a muscle up. Just swinging forward and making a stomping motion with my feet to give me a little 'hop' but not a lot of pulling. The idea is to train skills but not tire the body for tomorrow's resistance workout. Then I did some bar hangs with only one arm and found I could only do sets of 5 seconds with each hand.

 

Afterwards I got in 15 min of brisk walking. I went home, stretched, and then went through the abdominal circuit I did last Tuesday. I did a modified version of the L sit where I pushed myself up on the parlletes but I only raised one leg and the other stayed on the ground. This is vastly easier than the real L-sit but as of now I can only do the L sit hanging from a bar with a not-so-great posture so...gotta start where you're at :)

 

I then spent 30 minutes stretching and really felt a calmness that I needed today.

 

Life improvement: I reached out to my sister, knowing she recommended yoga to me ages ago, and she was able to point me in the right direction of some maneuvers that really helped her, plus a recommendation for what's called 'Hatha yoga' for my goals for flexibility and mobility. I've found two 30 min routines on youtube designed for beginners, and plan to alternate between those two during my non-resistance days.

 

I'll be back tomorrow with another update on how my resistance day went.

[HomeLifter]

Looks like a great routine without equipment. 

[Vidd]

Alright time for another update! I've been pretty consistent with these and I have to say already it's helped keep me on track because I know that if I don't do anything I'm going to have to put that on the log for you all to see haha.

 

Today to follow up on the skill training of yesterday I decided to make a focused effort to try to apply what I've been learning. The timing was a little off here as I didn't get a lot of sleep. There was a health scare in my family and until she was back home and doing better, my mind was racing, and so I woke up both emotionally drained and physically drained...regardless, here we go:

 

20 min of muscle-up attempts

2x10 pull ups

Vertical Jumps on to Ledge 20, 15 reps

Wall walks

Pushups 25 reps

 

Notes on workout: 1. A lot of attempts here. Not one of them came close, but it's my first day trying seriously for it. I know I have the strength but my technique and explosivity isn't there. The take away though...Due to the explosive nature, this is something I'll need to attempt a couple times a workout, cause once you're gased(as I was) it was like beating my head against a steel wall. 2. Basic old pull ups to give me back some confidence after the first exercise. 3. My leg training of the day, working on exploding up and trying to hop on to progressively higher ledges. 4,5: Pushing movements of the workout. The pushups were very deep and controlled, using my paralletes just as a finisher, after all the wall walk practice.

 

Tomorrow is my first 30 minute yoga session. Will I somehow find myself tied into a square knot unable to free myself? Stay tuned...

[Vidd]

Back again with another report!

 

Today was an active rest day per my usual scheduling but I decided to throw in some more skills training. I did some wall walks just to continuously get more comfortable upside down.

 

Today was unlike yesterday. I slept well. And I was feeling strong up there. So much so that I couldnt pass up the opportunity... I breathed in bracing my body like a pencil and I lowered myself til my head just grazed the pavement before pushing back up. The upward motion was a little jerky as I was scared I wouldn't get up but i did it! First handstand pushup :)

 

a lot went into this prior to me logging here. I did a lot of feet elevated pike pushups and I recommend mastering that progression before even trying this. I just want to make sure anyone reading this knows... I like to imagine a skill tree in an rpg where you need to unlock lesser versions of the skill before finally getting to put your points into the flashy hard hitting end game abilities.

 

Anyway afterwards I got home and did my first 30 min session of beginner yoga. I gave it my best But some moves I could barely get my body into. The start of another journey, for sure. I'm going to keep throwing this in. I do feel very calm and relaxed afterwards.

 

That's all for today. Tomorrow is a resistance day that I'm pretty excited about.

[Vidd]

As the sun begins to replace the rain, finding my own little spot to workout is not as easy as it once was. Thankfully, today I managed, but I'm having to continuously get used to bigger audiences and not feel self conscious. Perhaps I need to scout out some new areas.

 

Today I worked on some incredibly difficult movements and day by day I'm starting to feel more like Oliver Queen. I'll just need to get myself a green hoodie haha :D I actually found an old Green Arrow workout Steve posted up on Nerd Fitness a few years back. Since this log draws inspiration from this I think at some point I should challenge myself to do that workout. The parkour rolls look really cool. Alright enough rambling:

 

Handstand Pushups: 3, 2, 1 reps

Dips: 15, 12, 10 reps

Assisted One-arm Chins: 2, 1, 1 reps

Chin-ups: 15, 12, 10

Superset: Band Curls/Tricep Extensions for 2 rounds

Burnout set: As many lunges as possible, followed by as many air squats as possible

 

Notes on workout: 1. 3 on my top set has me incredibly excited. But it does feel very tough up there and reviewing the video I took on my phone, I can do with going down just a little bit lower. Next time I attempt these I want a form 'personal record', before attempting a higher rep count. 2. Great source of some volume, found a set of parallel bars that worked great. 3. These are the assisted where you hang a towel on to the bar and one hand grabs the bottom of the towel just to stabilize and maybe help a little bit, while one arm does 95% of the pulling. Very difficult for me... 4. Some volume work to match the pushing I did with dips. 5&6. Pure volume here, no new attempts at personal records.

 

I'll be back tomorrow with day 2 of yoga, and another ab workout. As for a little update on my State's status, the gyms won't be opening until Phase 3, and we are still in Phase 1 so I'll have some time before I return. When this all begun I missed the gym so much, but I'm really having a blast and while I still miss it, this whole experience has been a growing experience.

 

[Vidd]

Hey rebels almost fell asleep before getting this in

 

Today I did 40 minutes of brisk walking followed by my second session of 30 min yoga. So far I'm just as bad at yoga as before but this'll take time.

 

For life improvement I spent about a half hour continuing to clean my room.

 

I'll check in again tomorrow for some strength work.

[Vidd]

Hello all... a lot has been on my mind lately.

 

This hero training has been a great motivator to me, and allows me to nerd out and turn my training into a roleplay. But I'm feeling a sense of urgency to my training, and it's starting to become a little too real with all that's going on... I sense difficult times are coming and I need to be strong for me and my family. I hope all of you are staying safe out there, and if I could give one piece of advice, it'd be to question everything, and try not to see your fellow human as the enemy.

 

Now, with that out of the way - here was the workout of today:

 

Handstand Pushups 3, 2, 1 reps

Archer Pushups 12, 10, 10 reps

Band-resisted Bulgarian Split Squats 12, 12, 10BW reps

Archer Pullups 12, 12 reps + Pullups 10 reps

Inverted row: 15, 12, 12

 

Notes on workout: I'm going to start only noting exercises that I've made progress on, or a new movement I've added in. Today the highlight was on the handstand pushups which I ended up getting that full range of motion on. So I consider that a big win even though the reps remain the same. I'm going to try to throw in one armed pushups for next session but I'm obviously a little biased to the handstands cause I think it looks so cool and I'm excited I can do them now lol.

 

Life improvement: I treated myself to a burrito bowl at Chipotle added some guacamole too I don't get take out often and that's what makes it even more enjoyable when I reward myself with it. I also cleaned out my car of a lot of trash I had lying around.

 

Tomorrow is yoga, walking, and abs. I think with all I'm packing in to my 'active rest' day I don't know how much longer I can call it rest lol. Til next time...

 

 

[Vidd]

Evening all.

 

Today I took a break from routine and walked a few trails by a lake with two of my closest friends. It was a much needed mental break to get out further into nature and it was sort of fun navigating some of the more difficult paths where I had to hop from boulder to boulder to continue on. The rain began to pour but we continued on despite the mud accumulating. Eventually we found an area with some cover, and took out some snacks, and a deck of Uno, and had some fun playing the simple game, and chatting about life...

 

Afterwards I found my energy levels very low, and didn't do much the rest of the day. I played some Command and Conquer which is an old real time strategy that just got rereleased as a remastered remake. It really brought back memories of when I was a little kid. I did some stretching before bed, but took a day off from the yoga today. If I have anything in me after my resistance day tomorrow, I'll make up for it then.

 

Have a good night or morning if that's when this is being read

[Vidd]

How's it going Rebels, I've got an interesting update tonight.

 

Despite it being a Monday I was feeling strong and energized so I'd say overall the workout went great. A group of teens to young adults gathered at the park and were playing games, and chatting about what colleges they're going off to. One of them I noticed kept glancing over. Eventually he walked over and was like 'Hey man...can you teach me how to do what you're doing?' He seemed really genuine, told me his name was Amrit, and that his main goal was to lose weight first. It was a brief exchange, we nearly shook eachothers hands but then did an elbow bump due to covid which was kind of awkward lol.

 

Anyway it felt good to help out. That was one of my initial purposes I wrote in the very first post for this log was to inspire others. And I hope I gave him at least something he can take from that conversation, and apply in his own life. Truthfully it caught me off guard and I stammered a bit as I quickly tried to think of the best advice I could... maybe I'll give more thought to what I can tell newbie's to fitness. I have a bit of a stutter as is so knowing what I'm saying at least gives me a chance to sound fluent haha.

 

Here was the workout of the day:

 

Handstand Pushups 3, 3, 2 reps

One-arm Pushups, 3, 1 reps

Assisted one-arm chinups 3, 2, 2

Chinups 20, 19, 10 reps

Assisted one arm pushups 10, 10

Feet & Hand elevated closegrip pushups 15, 10, 10

50lb Band Single Arm Hammer Curls 15, 15, 10

Walking Lunges to failure

 

Notes on workout: 1. Ok I just can't stay away from this exercise I love it. Another big personal record. An extra rep on the 2nd and 3rd set! 2. Surprised I pulled these off after exercise #1, but they weren't as pretty as I'd like the reps to be. 3. This might look like a PR, but I was grabbing the band higher up than usual to help me get a few more reps.

 

I'm back to playing some more of that Command and Conquer game. if I can tear myself away from it before it gets too late, I'll do either abs or yoga before bed.

[Hazard]

11 hours ago, Vidd said:

I'm back to playing some more of that Command and Conquer game

 

A roommate and I were addicted to C&C: Red Alert for a month after it came out.   Good game series.

 

[Vidd]

12 hours ago, Hazard said:

 

A roommate and I were addicted to C&C: Red Alert for a month after it came out.   Good game series.

 

I didn't know if anyone else here would know of the game. It was such a big part of my childhood and lots of good memories of me and my dad playing it together

 

Quick update for the day. It was raining hard but I went outside for some hanging leg raises anyway. The slick bar caused my grip to fail before my abs but I am a believer that you don't always need, or should train to failure every single time.

 

I walked for about 15 min before I drove home drenched lol. I changed and did some door face pulls that I am going to start implementing every day after watching a trainer named Jeff Cavaliere demoing them as a bodyweight alternative to the cable face pull. These hit the muscles in my back way better than expected.

 

To finish it all up I did 30 min of yoga. All in all another successful day. Life improvement of the day will be early bed time again. See you all tomorrow for another resistance work out update!

[Vidd]

Hey rebels quick update for the day as I'm just about to fall asleep. Here was the workout of the day:

 

Handstand pushups 3,3,2 reps

Archer pushups 16, 12, 12 reps

Assisted one arm chin 5, 3, 3 reps

Inverted row 12, 10, 10 reps

Band Bulgarian split squats 12, 10, 10 reps

 

Nothing to note other than I'm staying consistent. Abs yoga and walking tomorrow. Gyms are still closed but I'm in no rush anymore. :)

[Vidd]

Hey time for another update. I'm pretty proud of myself for not missing any days.

 

Today I knocked out every item on my active rest day schedule.

 

I performed my ab circuit which, while still challenging, I'm starting to see some improvement. Still no luck on the L-sit on my paralletes. In fact I feel so far from it, it feels gravitationally impossible haha.

 

30-40 min of walking. One thing I want to bring up about this is I really like to make calls to my friends and family during this time. My walks give me a chance to get in those daily steps, but also allow for me to always stay in touch so that my fitness doesn't have to come at the expense of my relationships. But there are some days that I just want to feel present and be left to my thoughts during those walks too.

 

Lastly, I got in 30 min of yoga. I think I'll enjoy this more when I feel more competent. The seated staff position which is really just straight legs in front of you, seated on the ground with a straight back is difficult to hold just to give you all an idea of how inflexible I let myself get. But what's keeping me going is I'm really excited to see how this all begins to improve my life. I can imagine feeling less pain, and possibly finding moves I once found nearly impossible (L-sit?) now unlocked due to diligent yoga training.

 

Alright that's all I have! Tomorrow should be a great day. Start of the weekend plus resistance training :)

[Vidd]

Hi all workout got a little mixed up tonight due to a combination of time constraints and overexerting myself possibly...

 

Here was the workout:

 

Handstand Pushups 4, 3, 3 reps

One Arm Pushups 3, 2 reps

Pistol Squats, 10, 10 reps

Nordic Hamstring Curl 10 reps

Pullups 10

Tricep extensions using rest-pause 15 reps, then 15-20 sec rest for 5, 5, 5, 5, 5 reps

 

Notes on workout: 1. I've never gone beyond 3 reps on the handstands this was huge 2. These felt pretty weak after the handstands 3. These absolutely killed my legs, very challenging. 4. New exercise, you basically hook your feet in something, and fall forward with a straight torso, resisting gravity with your hamstrings, before doing a pushup back up to avoid a faceplant haha. 5. This was intended to just be a warmup...more on this later. 6. Arm work once I'd realized I was gassed.

 

So once I got to my pulling movements and went to warm up for an advanced variation such as archer pullups, I found even regular pullups to be challenging. I had nothing left in me... I'm really conscious of trying not to develop muscular imbalances in my body so tomorrow will be another resistance day focusing only on back, biceps, abs, and low back. Anyway I think the intensity of those first 3 lifts just took too much out of me, and the level of strength it takes for the handstands taxed me to my limit...this was a failure in my programming and I need to remember to make consistent progress, I need to expend my resources wisely... One arm pushups should've been replaced with an easier push variation or better yet, my big pull movement to make sure I still had enough in the tank to progress.

 

Anyway on another note, the NF challenges end on the 13th. I've never done one before. I do really like the freedom of this battle log but I'm considering joining in on the next round. I'll provide an update on that soon once I think it over. For now, I need to get lots of much needed rest to recover from today. Until next time...

[HomeLifter]

Well done on the handstand push ups!

 

Hamstring exercises sounds like a glute ham raise.