Keeping the tenacious in tenaciousglee

[tenaciousglee]

September of Strong - Day 6

 

Mustered up my berzerker mode and agreed to join a friend at a clinic/tryout for an ultimate frisbee league, despite not having played competitive ultimate in 15 years.  Didn't totally embarrass myself, but found out I couldn't hang with the guys who play pickup 3x a week.  I was gassed after about an hour and I think they continued for another hour after I left.  Unfortunately, my Saturday's are booked for the next month, so I won't be able to join the league, but it was fun to get out there again.

 

September of Strong - Day 8

 

Bodyweight 333 (lazy cousin of Bodyweight 666)

Incline OAP (back of folding chair) - 6,6,4

Weighted Pull-ups (+5#) - 6,6,6

Partial ROM Pistol Squats - 1/1, 1/1, 2/2

Hanging Leg Raise - 6 sec, 3 sec, 5 sec

[tenaciousglee]

September of Strong - Day 10

 

Handstand Push-ups (partial ROM with 5 Bourne books under my head) - 2,4,2

Pull-ups with 10# backpack - 6,6,6

Hanging Leg Raise - 3 x 6 sec hold

 

September of Strong - Day 15

 

Uneven Push-ups - 3x10

Chair Pistol Squats - 3x3

Pull-ups with 15# backpack - 4,4,4

Hanging Leg Raise - 3 x 6 sec hold

[tenaciousglee]

September of Strong - Day 19

 

Uneven Push-ups - 2x12

Pull-ups with 15# backpack - 5, 2

[tenaciousglee]

September of Strong - Day 22

 

Uneven Push-ups - 16 R / 12 L

Pull-ups - 2x5x15#

Handstand Push-ups (partial ROM) - 2 w/ 5 Bourne books

Pseudo Planche Push-ups - 6x6

 

I didn't quite know what I was doing with the Pseudo Planche Push-ups.  I looked them up afterward and realized I was doing them incorrectly.

[tenaciousglee]

September of Strong - Day 24

 

Suspended Push-ups - 5, 6, 4

Push-ups with arms tight against sides - 3x6

Push-ups with arms flared - 3x6

Pull-ups with 15# backpack - 5, 4, 2

Pistol Squat (partial ROM) - 3x1

[tenaciousglee]

September of Strong - Day 29

 

Uneven push-ups - 2x10 (1 each arm)

Military Press - 5x5x50#

Pull-ups - 5x5

Sandbag Back Squat - 5x5x75#

[tenaciousglee]

Summer of Strong is over...

September of Strong is over...

But there's still more strength to be had!

There are roughly 90 days until the end of 2014 and I would love to knock out a 90-day body transformation, or at least put some visible muscle on my bony frame.

 

So now it's time for:

 

GLEE90X

 

I haven't completely thought this out yet, but as I understand it, P90X has 3 phases, so that's what I'll try too.  Phase 1 will focus on burning some fat while continuing to build strength.  I'll be moving away from strict bodyweight exercises and re-incorporating dumbbells, kettlebells, and sandbags.  I want to continue to work on some of those BW skills, though, so I'll keep working on one each phase.

 

Phase 1 - Burn Fat and work on One Arm Push-ups

Phase 2 - Build Strength and work on Handstand Push-ups

Phase 3 - Add Mass and work on L-Sits

 

Here we go!

[tenaciousglee]

GLEE 90X - Day 1

Uneven Push-ups - 15/15

Sandbag Floor Press - 3x8x75#

Kettlebell One Arm Bent Over Row - 3x8x40#

Sandbag Deadlift - 3x8x120#

Weight: 155 lbs

Belly: 34.5"

[tenaciousglee]

GLEE 90X - Day 3

 

Chest Dips - 3x5x10#

Incline DB Bench Press - 5,3,3 x 100#

Wall Sit - 60 sec

Push-ups - 15 + hold to failure

Pull-ups - 6 + hold to failure

 

Got the idea for the wall sits, push-ups, and pull-ups to failure from CriticalMAS.

[tenaciousglee]

GLEE 90X - Day 6

 

Trying some Slow Motion/TUT training.  Aimed for 10 sec up/down at a weight that I could only manage 4-6 reps.

 

Incline Bench Press - 5x50#

Front Squat - 4x50#

Lateral Raise - 4x5#

Lying Pullover - 6x10#

Dumbbell Curl - 4x30#

Arnold Press - 4x30#

DB Shrugs - 4x50#

DB Row - 6x25#

Crunch - 6x10#

 

I'll increase the weight on all the ones I could hit 6 reps on.

[Phayze]

I think I've been nerd sniped... o0

Just spent about 70% of my phone's battery archive binging on criticalMAS, and it's some pretty interesting stuff. I like his approach to figuring things out.

How far down the HIT rabbit hole are you thinking of going? Sounds like a good fit for your goals.

[tenaciousglee]

How far down the HIT rabbit hole are you thinking of going? Sounds like a good fit for your goals.

 

Well, I initially saw that he was head over heels for Body By Science, so I looked into buying that, even though it promotes "Getting Results in 12 minutes a week".  Sounded a little 6-minute-abs-y to me.

 

Then I saw his post on HillFit 2.0, touting it as a zero budget approach to HIT.  The e-book was NOT zero budget, but I dutifully plunked down the $16 for it.  Turned out to be a bunch of stuff I already knew or didn't apply to me.  (I really don't care to become a better hiker.)  Here's the useful takeaway - The Hillfit Strength Routine consists of a lower body push (wall sit), an upper body push (push-up), an upper body pull (rows), and hip extensions.  Needless to say, I was disappointed.  He does give some non-bodyweight options if you have dumbbells or machines at the gym, but again, nothing groundbreaking.

 

I went to Amazon to get Body By Science and saw Slow Motion Weight Training.  It was available for free if I tried out the Kindle Unlimited program for 30 days, so I got that.  Glad I didn't pay $4 for it, because the meat of it wasn't worth that.  He recommends lower weights with extended time under tension (10 seconds up, 10 seconds down) and 9 exercises - the same ones you'll see from my 10/7 post above.  I haven't blown off this approach yet, but my problems with the e-book were that about half it is was used to promote his other e-books and he claims to have put on a bunch of muscle even though he started at 59, but he doesn't include a single picture!  A written testimony doesn't provide much weight without a visual to back it up.

 

So, I wound up buying Body By Science.  Ironically, one of the introductory sections was about not putting any stock in testimonials.  Still getting into this one.  I imagine I will fall somewhere between 12 minutes a week at high intensity and 3 workouts a week focusing on TUT.  Probably a mix.

[tenaciousglee]

GLEE 90X - Day 8

 

Incline OAP - 5/5, 2/2

Push-ups - 20 + hold to failure

Wall Sit - 55 sec

[Phayze]

This is exactly why I'm super hesitant to spend any money on fitness books (okay, so I'm just super cheap in general, but gimme a break, I'm a public servant...). Too much of the content is just fluff designed to brainwash you into following the program like it's a religion.

I think you've got the right idea; hybridizing the best parts of several approaches seems like the best way to get what you need. It's a lot harder than just drinking some fitness guru's kool aid, but worth the effort, I think.

[tenaciousglee]

This is exactly why I'm super hesitant to spend any money on fitness books (okay, so I'm just super cheap in general, but gimme a break, I'm a public servant...). Too much of the content is just fluff designed to brainwash you into following the program like it's a religion.

I think you've got the right idea; hybridizing the best parts of several approaches seems like the best way to get what you need. It's a lot harder than just drinking some fitness guru's kool aid, but worth the effort, I think.

As a fitness book junkie (and fellow public servant), I can affirm your instinct to save your money. You seem to have found a good routine for yourself. If it ain't broke, don't fix it, right?

[Phayze]

Good to have independent verification on that one.

Yeah, I consider myself in the "fine tuning" stage of program design, but I think I've self-experimented myself onto a generally good path for my goals. Only took a year, too! ^^

[tenaciousglee]

GLEE 90X - Day 10

 

Dips - 3x5x15#

Incline Bench Press x 100# - 5,4,4

Wall Sit - 60 sec

Pull-ups - 9 + hold to failure

Push-ups - 10 + hold to failure

[tenaciousglee]

GLEE 90X - Day 15

 

Incline Bench Press - 5x70#

Front Squat - 6x70#

Lateral Raise - 4x10#

Lying Pullover - 6x15#

Dumbbell Curl - 4x50#

Arnold Press - 4x50#

DB Shrugs - 6x50#

DB Row - 4x50#

Crunch - 6x15#

[tenaciousglee]

GLEE 90X - Day 17

 

Uneven Push-ups - 12/12

Shrimp Squats - 3/3 + 20#

Handstand Push-ups - 1, 3 (partial ROM with 5 Bourne books)

KB Swing - 30x40#

[tenaciousglee]

GLEE 90X - Day 20

 

Incline OAP - 3/3, 3/3

Front Arm Raise - 6/6x10#, 6/6x15#

DB Curl - 2x6x50#

HSPU - 3 (partial ROM with 4 Bourne books)

[tenaciousglee]

GLEE 90X - Day 27

 

The Big Five (from Body By Science)

Incline Bench Press - 5x70#

Bent Over Row - 6x70#

Overhead Press - 5x50#

Deadlift - 5x100#

Squat - 5x70#

 

Added for a little extra chest work - 

Front Raises - 4x15#

 

All lifts done with 10s up, 10s down tempo.

[tenaciousglee]

GLEE 90X - Day 34

 

The Big Five (from Body By Science)

Incline Bench Press - 5x80#

Bent Over Row - 5x70#

Overhead Press - 3x60#

Deadlift - 5x100#

Squat - 5x80#

 

Added for a little extra chest work - 

Front Raises - 3x15#

 

 

All lifts done with 10s up, 10s down tempo.

[tenaciousglee]

GLEE 90X - Day 41

Body By Science Big Five

Bent Over Row - 6x70#

Overhead Press - 3x60#

Deadlift - 6x100#

Incline Bench Press - 3x80#

Squat - 6x80#

All lifts done with 10s up, 10s down tempo. Held for 10 seconds after the last rep.

Total time 13 minutes.

[tenaciousglee]

GLEE 90X - Day 45

 

5 minutes of handstand practice

35 second wall handstand

 

DB Curls - 3x50# w/ 10s up/down timing

Pull-ups - 4

Dips - 6

Hanging Leg Raise - 7 seconds

Handstand Push-up (partial ROM) - 1

[tenaciousglee]

GLEE 90X - Day 48 (11/17/14)

Bent Over Row - 5x80#
OHP - 4x60#
Deadlift - 4x110#
Incline Bench Press - 4x80#
Squat - 8x80#

Suspended Push-ups - 4