Paladin: A Knight's Log

[Paladin]

Having joined the Rebel cause a few days ago, I figured I should go ahead and generate my Battle Log. I've been tracking my workouts at home since Sunday morning, and I imagine tomorrow will include those along with what I complete today. For now, I brief summary of objectives because every serious adventurer knows that you need to define objectives in order to measure success.

 

And there will be a glaring absence of weight-related goals. I have come to hate my scale the past few weeks of working out because it fails to reflect the results I can physically see and feel. So its opinion is nullified in this journey.

 

SHORT TERM OBJECTIVES:

 

- Do an unassisted pull up

- Run a 10k race

- Deadlift 200#

- Complete 50 consecutive push-ups

- Complete 50 consecutive Bosu Ball sit-ups

- Run a 9:00 mile

 

LONG TERM OBJECTIVES:

 

- Do 10 consecutive pull ups

- Run a 20k race

- Bench press my weight (which will decrease if my scale ever decides to keep up)

- Complete 100 consecutive push-ups

- Complete 100 consecutive Bosu Ball sit-ups

- Run a 7:30 mile

 

This is a good place to start, I think. Of course these may change over time, and things will get added as I progress along this quest for better health. But for now it is time to take my sword and shield and go LEVEL UP!

[honeysuckle]

You have good clear goal and long term objectives.  Ditching the scale is brave and smart.  You seem to be starting at a pretty strong starting point, which helps with progress, too.

Enjoy

[Paladin]

Having put in my workout already this morning, the time has come to log my last few days of training. Thoughts, comments, and suggestions are definitely recommended. Just a note that for the next four weeks I have personal training on Wednesday and Friday mornings. Since I'm at the halfway point in the program we actually took a weight and a few measurements, so I'm including those at the end to track my starting point from when I began here at Nerd Fitness!

 

Sunday, March 31:

 

Chest Press - 5 Sets of 5 Reps: 25#, 30#, 35#, 45#, 3 reps @ 50#

One-Arm Dumbbell Row - 5 Sets of 5 Reps: 20#, 25#, 30#, 35#, 45#, 50# (Felt the urge to try and "max out" with a sixth set and ended up doing all five with both arms!)

Russian Twist - 3 Sets of 10 Reps: 8# Medicine Ball (Highest they had at the gym )

Deadlift - 5 Sets of 5 Reps: 94#, 114#, 124#, 134#, 144#

 

Monday, April 1:

 

Circuit Training, 3 Rounds @ 50 seconds each exercise with 10 second rest between

Jump Rope

Bosu Ball Sit-Ups

Medicine Ball Slams with 8# Medicine Ball (again, highest weight they had)

Goblet Squats with 20# dumbbell

 

Tuesday, April 2:

 

31 minutes running outdoors. Chilly and breezy outside, but exhilarating!

 

Wednesday, April 3:

 

Lat Pull - 5 sets of 5 reps: 100#, 120#, 140#, 160#, 160# (Tried 180# and was too heavy to complete)

Dumbbell Thruster - 5 Sets of 5 reps: 20#, 25#, 30#, 35#, 2 reps @ 40#

 

Circuit Training, 4 Rounds with set# of reps on each exercise plus finisher after 4 rounds are done:

23 Medicine Ball Slams with 16# Medicine Ball

23 Bosu Ball Sit-Ups

46 Jump Ropes

23 Jabs or Hooks with each arm on punching bag

FINISHER: 23 Goblet Squats with 16# Medicine Ball

 

Weight: 210#

Waist: 42"

Hip: 43"

[Paladin]

I've fallen behind on my log here, but I've faithfully tracked it all in my journal at home. Here is an update on the workouts since my last post:

 

Thursday, April 4:

 

Day of Rest to allow recovery

 

Friday, April 5:

 

Sumo High Pull - 5 sets of 5 reps: 49#, 54#, 66#, 76#, 94#

Bench Press - 5 Sets of 5 reps: 54#, 66#, 94#, 106#, 126#, 2 reps @ 136#

 

Timed run through set number of reps: Completed in 8:53

 

5 Thrusters with 44# Barbell

10 Shoulder Press with 44# Barbell

15 Squats

20 Push-ups

25 Bosu Sit-Ups

30 Deadlifts at 94#

25 Bosu Sit-Ups

20 Push-ups

15 Squats

10 Shoulder Press with 54# Barbell

5 Thrusters with 44# Barbell

 

Saturday, April 6

 

30 Minutes Running - 11:10 mile clocked

 

Sunday, April 7

 

40 minute walk/hike outdoors

 

Monday, April 8

 

One-Arm Dumbbell Row - 5 sets of 5 reps: 30#, 35#, 40#, 45#, 50#, 3 left & 5 right @ 65# (New P.R.)

Chest Press - 5 sets of 5 reps: 30#, 35#, 40#, 45#, 50# (New P.R.)

Deadlift - 5 sets of 5 reps: 94#, 114#, 124#, 134#, 154# (New P.R.)

 

Tuesday, April 9

 

Day of rest to allow recovery

[sumdawgtwigg]

Love the 10k goal! Look forward to seeing your progress up to it. 

[Paladin]

Last year's goal was to run a 5k for the first time and I ended up running two of them, finishing both around 33 minutes. It only makes sense to progress to a 10k this year!

 

Wednesday, April 10

 

Weigh-In: 206# (-4# from last week)

 

Lunge with Dumbbell Curl - 3 sets of 12 reps: 12#, 15#, 20#

Dumbbell Thrusters - 3 sets of 12 reps: 15#, 20#, 25#

Lat Pulls - 3 sets of 12 reps: 140#, 160#, 6 reps @ 160#

 

Circuit training, 4 rounds, 45 seconds + 15 second rest

 

Mountain Climbers

Medicine Ball Slams @ 16#

Jump Rope

Sumo High Pull @ 44#

Russian Twists @ 16#

 

Yeah, today's circuit was exhausting. Tomorrow will be another run day, followed by another day of personal training on Friday. A few more weeks of the training and that program will be done, leaving me to continue on my own (well, at least the two days that I've been doing the training each week)

[Paladin]

So I thought today would be a running day...and I was wrong. Over lunch I went to the Anytime Fitness by my work and did a few workouts on their excellent equipment. It was a much better location than the one by my house!

 

But, to salvage my "running" day I did run a mile outside after my workout. Just to feel better about my running progress.

 

Thursday, April 11

 

3 sets of 10 reps: Inverted Row (First time trying these, and was doing great until the last 2-3 reps on the final set. Pull-ups aren't such a distant dream!)

3 sets of 25 reps: Bosu ball sit-ups

3 sets of 12 reps: Kettlebell swings @ 30#

3 sets of 10 reps: Box Jumps @ 18"

1 set to fail: Pull-Ups (Felt bold and tried one. Made it about 2/3 of the way to a rep, which is an improvement. I have a feeling that I'll be trying more often until I can claim a success and make a lot of noise about that accomplishment)

Run 1 mile - untimed

 

Tomorrow is a training day, which might make me regret doing an actual workout instead of letting my body somewhat rest.

[Paladin]

Friday, April 12

 

This morning was my personal training session and I absolutely KILLED it this morning. With two weeks to go of my eight week training, I'm looking forward to seeing the continued progress. I set a few new P.R.s today, as well as hit an ultra-beast mode in there:

 

Thrusters - 3 sets of 3 reps: 25, 30, 35 (Thought that would be a P.R. but looked back and saw I did some at 40 a while ago. Boo, I would have started heavier and at least matched that!)

Lat Pull - 3 sets of 3 reps: 140, 160, 180 P.R. +20

Bench Press - 3 sets of 3 reps: 110, 132, 142 P.R. +10

 

12 Minute AMRAP Workout - 5 Rounds + 30 completed. This is where I hit Beast Mode, earning the entire +30 in the final 1:20 of this. Five more seconds and I might have had a full round in there!

 

6 Shoulder presses @ 25# dumbbells

12 Deadlifts @ 35# dumbbells

18 Lunges

 

Finishers:

 

1 Minute Russian Twists with 16# medicine ball

Plank for time: 54 seconds P.R. +20 seconds

[Paladin]

Saturday April 13

 

The nice weather has returned after a two-day cold front, so that meant I should get outside and run while it is warm. But I didn't want to do just any old easy run, I decided to test my mettle as a runner and give Hill Sprints a shot. For the first time trying them, it went rather well. I think next time I'll be able to do more rounds.

 

6 sets @ 30 second sprinting, 1:30-2:00 cool down walk between sets

1 mile jog total between geting to the hill and returning home.

 

I'm not sure if I'll be doing a workout tomorrow or resting. We'll see how tired I am after I help my friend do some remodeling in their house tonight.

[Paladin]

Sunday, April 14

 

I considered doing another run but, as the day progressed, it turned into a rest day. Probably not a bad thing, either. I'm still kicking my butt with workouts 5-6 days per week so I'm earning these rest days.

 

Monday, April 15

 

Lifting day for me, and I thought I'd start it off by trying to work toward one of my challenge goals: Deadlift 200#. Last week I lifted 154#, so I figured I could at least add 5-10# to that number this week. Since I didn't get up early like I planned, I was stuck with a limited variety of choices here at work. So I decided to try a dumbbell fly and to see if I could increase my max reps on the chest press.

 

Deadlift, 5 Sets of 5 reps: 124, 134, 144, 154, 164 (P.R. +10)

 

Dumbbell Chest Fly, 5 Sets of 5 reps: 15, 20, 25, 30, fail at 0 reps with 35#

 

Not going to lie, I felt bad about the failure to get a single rep with 35 here, but I know it is a very difficult range of motion to do a lot of weight with. Kind of like the shoulder press. At least now I know where my "max" is set so I can ding some P.R.s on this in the future!)

 

Chest Press, 4 sets of 5 reps + 1 set to max: 30, 35, 40, 45, 6 reps @ 50 (P.R. +1 rep)

 

Tomorrow will be a run day. I'm going to see if I can't bring that embarrassing mile time down by a minute or so.

[Paladin]

My plan today, when I woke up, was to go for a run during lunch at work. It was pretty much the only way I would get a workout in, since I am going straight to class tonight once I get off and will be home late. And then things came up that eliminated my ability to run on lunch.

 

But instead of giving up and counting it as a rest day, I did something different: I decided to commit to doing some body weight exercises when time permitted.

 

I'm about to leave work for the day and head to class, and I am proud to report my workout for the day:

 

Tuesday, April 16

 

50 Squats

50 Lunges

 

Considering that the alternative was a rest day, and that my legs are already feeling the burn from the workout, I'd say this was a successful salvage. I'm just glad I didn't have to try and do them all at once.

[Paladin]

Wednesday, April 17

 

Another morning of personal training. He ended up having us do two of the same lifts I did on my own on Monday. And, as you'll see, I made a new P.R. on them both! And I came SOOOOOO close to my first pull-up today!

 

Weigh-In: 205# (-1#)

 

Deadlift, 5 sets of 5 reps: 124, 134, 154, 164, 169  P.R.

Chest Fly, 5 sets of 5 reps: 15, 20, 25, 30, 35  P.R.

 

WOD: 20 Reps (or seconds) of each

 

Sprint

Thrusters @ 54

Push-Ups

Bosu Sit-Ups

Lunges

Shoulder Press @ 54

Sumo Pulls @ 54

Dumbbell Swing @ 25

Plank

 

Finish: 12:05

 

I'm utterly exhausted and now to go shower and get ready for my day at work. My shoulders are going to be aching all day, I think...

[sumdawgtwigg]

Good job so far! 

[Paladin]

Thursday, April 18

 

I finally ditched the excuses and ran this morning, even though I didn't have nearly as much time as I would have liked. But the times I recorded made me feel great! With my growing Scout education I managed to shave 10 seconds more than I was tracking off my mile by doing a negative split on my last 1/4 mile.

 

1 Mile Run - 10:29  P.R.  (-41 seconds)

2 sets of 30 second Strides, 1 minute rest between sets

Plank to fail - 1:20  P.R.  (+26 seconds)

[Paladin]

Yesterday's workout was even more exhausting than expected. I'm really feeling it this morning, but I need to be ready to run my first unofficial 10k in about two hours. I think tomorrow will definitely be a rest day.

 

Friday, April 19

 

Back Squats, 5 sets of 5 reps: 66, 114, 124, 134, 139  P.R. (+15)

Push-Ups, 5 sets to failure: 18, 14, 9, 7, 5  (WAY harder than you'd think. And I was already sore from the squatting so I was disappointed with the first set falling short of 20. Need to work on these more at home, I think!)

 

12 minute AMRAP workout  - 6 Rounds + 13 reps completed:

 

6 Dumbbell Snatches @ 25#

12 Wall Balls @ 12#

18 Bosu-Ball Sit-Ups

 

Saturday, April 20

 

I ran the Solidarity race this morning, which was an unoffical 10k sponsored by one of the local Running clubs. I managed to rope a friend of mine into joining me, which made it nice to have someone to talk to and encourage me. He is a much better runner than me right now, but he was nice enough to pace himself with me and walk the two times I needed to walk. I would have walked more if he hadn't been there, so I am grateful for his presence. We figured that we finished the 10k in just over an hour, which wasn't a bad pace at all in the end.

 

Afterwards I went to his house and spent the day helping him finish putting up his fence and then painting inside his house. So I am exhausted after a very long day. Time for bed and an earned day of rest tomorrow!

[Paladin]

Sunday, April 21

 

As mentioned above, this was a rest day. Still managed to get outside and go for a nice walk with my wife, which helped keep my legs semi-loose.

 

Monday, April 22

 

I decided to really push myself this morning since it is the final week of my Eight Weeks to Wellness program through my chiropractor. Plus it is now week two of our current challenge here on the boards, so why not go for broke and surpass one of my goals already? Technically I would have gained two, since I almost considered putting a goal of 1:30 plank on here. I sort of managed to surpass that as well this morning.

 

Inverted Row, 3 sets of 10 reps: Completed with minor difficulty. My arms may not have been warmed up enough prior to this, or else I had a little less incline on the bench than I did the last time. Either way, I used the Smith Machine for its one and only use.

 

Shoulder Press, 5 sets of 5 reps (Barbell): 54, 64, 74, 79, 84  P.R.  (+20)  It has been a while since I did this one for weight, so it felt good to push myself. That last set was brutal!

 

Deadlift, 2 sets of 3 reps, 3 sets of 1 rep: 114, 154, 174, 194, 204  P.R.  (+35)  Oh yes, I crushed my previous record on this by choosing to go lower reps at higher weights to push myself. Now I know I can lift this weight, and before long I'll be doing the 5 reps with the 204 and maxing with a pair of 45# plates on each side of the bar.

 

Plank for time: 1:41  P.R.  (+21 seconds)

 

I'm feeling good today, and this has me energized to get out and run again tomorrow. Let's keep on rocking!

[Paladin]

Tuesday, April 23

 

Went on an easy run for about twenty minutes, allowing my legs to ease back into running after my 10k this past weekend. I also threw in two minutes of barefoot running in the freezing cold grass and mud.

 

Wednesday, April 24

 

Personal training day! Weighed in at 203, which is down 2# from last week.

 

Bench Press, 7 sets of 1 rep: 84, 104, 114, 134, 144, 149, 149  P.R. (+5)

Assisted Pull-Up, 7 sets of 1 rep: 160, 140, 120, 100, 100, 100

 

WOD completed in 17:45

 

10 Burpees (Buy-in)

 

THEN 2 Rounds of:

 

20 Push-Ups

20 Squats

10 Lunges

20 Sumo Pulls (Rd1 with 40# DB, Rd2 with 64# BB)

20 Wall Balls @ 14#

20 Bosu Sit-Ups

10 Dumbbell Snatches @ 25#

 

I feel like I'm going to pass out...