QT's Battle Log

[quiktekk]

LEVEL 0: Inaugural Battle Log Entry achieved!  We need badges for this stuff, lol.

 

Started the Angry Birds workout after a 15-minute warm up walk/jog earlier this morning (around 12-midnight) at 24-hour fitness.  Though I've read Steve's email articles about being able to do all natural, gym-free workouts at the park, it just doesn't sound like a good idea after getting off of work at 1AM.  I also have to be courteous about any Zumba/kinect/P90X workouts at night since I live in a small apartment complex.  I may consider morning workouts, but I am nocturnal and usually don't go to bed until 5AM.  This is open for alteration in time too... I did happen to see a list of morning classes, which would give me motivation to get out and lock into "zombie" mode since all I'd have to do is get out of the car and follow whatever the instructor is saying in class.

 

EXCUSES, EXCUSES:  If I get these out here, then someone will be able to chime in on how to make it so they're not excuses.  I'm currently on a swing shift (M-F, 3PM-11:30PM) and have a lot of new hires, so training is amounting to overtime past midnight.  Thursdays, I clock in at work at 9:30AM because I do choir stuff with the spouse at 7PM.  Every other month, I'm also interning at the lab in the effort to earn my CA MLT licensure (so in October and December, I will be doing 16-hour shifts... I do not how how to fit working out without short circuiting myself during these months).

 

The plan: continue the every-other-day Angry Birds Workout.  In between, do light cardio/swim/something at the gym to get the most out of the membership.  Just being able to set a routine will be good enough for now.  I don't want to mention any more on the plans, other than to log what I did every day. 

 

In conclusion, the objectives are:

1. Continue the every-other-day Angry Birds Workout until I 3-star the last levels.  I am using the spreadsheet listed on Steve's blog entry.
2. Go to the gym on a daily basis, even if it's only for 30-minutes. My form of keeping on track is to use the Yelp check-in: quiktekk.yelp.com

They say it takes 40 days to change a habit.  Once I'm able to perform these two goals successfully for 40 days, I will move onto Level 1 and update the objectives (if necessary).  For all I know, I might still be struggling to complete these in October (especially with the internship).

[quiktekk]

Day 2 at the gym completed!  Tried the following:

 

1.) Rock Hard Abs in 12 Minutes.  This was at the request of my hubcap, who had bookmarked this off Imgur.  I've read the uselessness of the "x-minute-a-day" workouts and was already skeptical, but I didn't want to shoot down his input.  The Toe Touches and V-Ups were horrendous and hurt my neck; the directions/visuals demonstrated that you needed to be on your butt/glutes, but I either wasn't sitting right or have no butt and was on the crests of pelvic bone.  The discomfort made me opt out of the second circuit completely; the movements didn't feel natural.  However, I told him I wouldn't mind doing three rounds of the Russian Twists, Prone Swimmer, Oblique Crunch, and the modified V-Up Hold (the W- Hold) to make up for the lack of the first two.

 

2.) Bench Press 101.  Straight off of legendary body builder Arnold Schwarzenegger's website, I really wanted to see what all the fuss was about in regards to the ultimate testosterone testing question: "How much can you bench?"  After reading the article and watching the video, I asked the other half to spot me as I tried this out... experimenting with the 45-lbs. bar and the following weights, I was able to do the following and finally answer the question for myself:

 

55-lbs at 6 reps

65-lbs at 3 reps

75-lbs at 2 reps

85-lbs for the 1 rep MAX

 

I have no clue if a 85-lbs bench press is good or bad, but it is nice to know my baseline.  Definitely want to do this test again, maybe on a weekly basis.  Slight sadness: based on this Bench Press Standards table, I fall in the "untrained" category weighing between 165-181 lbs for women.  I do not know the validity of this site/table, but I now have a mini side quest to reach the 95-110 lbs. bench press range by the end of the 40 days.  

 

3.) Best Swimming Workout.  Gurgling "swim routine for weight loss" brought up Women's Health Magazine's article about the best swimming workout:

 

Try this starter workout: Swim four lengths of the pool at an easy effort (catch your breath at the wall between lengths if you need to). Rest for 30 seconds. Repeat five to 10 times. Try that two or three times a week for the first two weeks.

 

Sure enough according to the newbie evaluation, by during the fourth length, I lost coordination of the legs and hands, inhaled water, and was grabbing onto the side of the pool.  I did 10 lengths (250 yards, or a 1/8 of a mile) with some success.  For the first four lengths, I did the freestyle and backstroke.  By the fifth length, I was doing pretty much anything to stay afloat; the six through ten lengths were this weird combination of walking the length of the pool, then swimming at the point where I couldn't touch the floor... swam back to that point, then did the walk/jog again.

 

Spent about two minutes in the jacuzzi, rinsed off, and left slightly more relaxed after the cruddy toe touches from earlier.

 

Some modifications to the daily MTWRFSU workout routine are the following:

 

1.) The Angry Birds workout every other day (so, for this week, MWFU).  On non-Angry Bird Workout Days, we'll try doing a workout suggested by him or a previous circuit training we've tried/liked/found challenging.

2.) Do something with the free weights; I have the Men's Health and Fitness Gym Bible from a purchase awhile back.  If I somehow cannot find material online (harhar), I will pull from this.

3.) 25-30 minutes of cardio in one of the following activities: Run. Swim. Bike. Rest.  Run. Swim. Bike.  Repeat!

 

Thursdays will be "light" days.  It will only be #1 and #2 from the above and maybe some fun activity that we don't need to track since we acknowledge there does need to be a day of rest.  Again, I want to develop a habit, so I will show up to the gym, even if it means I'm going for the yoga class... in... gasp... the morning.

[JessFit]

Congrats, sounds great! As someone who just finished a year long postgrad program, along with an office job, sometimes a second job, and an internship I can sympathize. Sometimes Work started at 6am and class ended at 10pm but I did everything I could to get those workouts in. My advice: DONT GO HOME FIRST! Because then the couch's gravitational pull will get you and you won't go back to the gym. Stick that workout bag in your car and just go. Trust me. Also on days (ok weeks) when the gym just won't fit in the schedule try small at home bodyweight workouts right after you wakeup or before you shower. Or walks (jogs if you don't get too sweaty) at lunch at work (if you're like me and can eat all day at work and don't need lunch). Also make a chart with workouts on them, what you're going to do on which days and preferably what time. Then make a plan to reinforce this: some punishment for not going (have to give your wife $5 or put $5 in a jar to donate or something so you're doing good even when you don't go) or a reward like $1 in a jar every workout for something you really want. Or get your wife to help so rewards are dates or so she can keep you accountable. You will know what will work best for you, but keep in mind that burning yourself out is worse than not working out and be nice to yourself. Good luck.

[quiktekk]

 ... on days (ok weeks) when the gym just won't fit in the schedule try small at home bodyweight workouts right after you wakeup or before you shower. Or walks (jogs if you don't get too sweaty) at lunch at work (if you're like me and can eat all day at work and don't need lunch). Also make a chart with workouts on them, what you're going to do on which days and preferably what time. 

 

Thanks for the input, Jess!  With the variation in the workout, the fact fact I'm not doing only one kind of cardio, and the fact that the husband is bringing some added motivation by going with me to the gym, I'm probably good for now without the schedule.  BUT WITHIN ONE WEEK OF THE INTERNSHIP this October, a schedule seems almost mandatory, so I'm definitely going to take your chart advice.  Lunch walks are a good idea too, especially since lunch for me falls right around sunset.

[CactusWren]

We need badges for this stuff, lol.

 

This!!!

[quiktekk]

Day 3 at the gym completed!  

 

DOMS (Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness) hasn't been this prevalent in awhile.  The supersets with the bench press from yesterday definitely caught up to me; I have no pain in my legs or torso past being slightly worn, but the tricep area is noticeably sore with every overhead arm movement.  In other words, adjusting your pony tail or flattening the backend of your labcoat is an exercise/stretch in itself. (>_<)

 

However, after spending 3PM-1:50AM at work, it was nice to kick off the flat lab shoes and get into some barefoots!  About shoes; I've figured out that taking care of your feet is probably the #1 thing to keep the workouts going strong when dealing with cardio.  If my feet are happy, the rest of me doesn't seem to complain nearly as much.  So far, the last half dozen pairs of shoes I've bought have all been from Merrell.  Being 5' 1", I still fit into the kids section and can get away with wearing the following:

 

Merrell Reach Glove for Kids (except in the color brown) and...

 

Merrell Trail Glove for Kids in Lavender (pictured above) every workout/outside.

 

There's a Merrell Outlet store along the coast; I was able to snag the above for ~$50 each --  a steal considering that the same size shoe in women's is $80-$160.  I would have purchased a pair of the black leathers above if they were in my size and not discontinued.  For now, I wear the brown ones every other day to let them air out & keep the freshness.  Meanwhile, I've put the above Trail Gloves through hell and back... they've been through the washer and survived gloriously (usually, the insert of my past washed shoes get deformed or just don't have that same fit, but these look and feel brand new).

 

Anyways, I highly recommend giving Vibrams of any brand a shot... taking the advice after lurking on NF was the best thing I did for getting back into shape.  No shin splints.  No back aches.  No bad ankle rolls.  It takes a couple of days to adjust to these and will definitely feel the burn in the tendons near your ankles, but that's just the muscles waking up.  Afterwards, any padding on any shoe just feels awkward.

 

Back to the workout!  Here's what happened...

 

Daryl is sick, but was still a trooper and went with me to the gym.  Day 2 of the Angry Birds Stats (after 3-starring all of level 1 on the first day) rendered the following results:

 

Exercise / Goal / Set 1 / Set 2 / Set ... // Total # // Grade

Squats / 50 / 51 // 51 // * * *

Push Ups / 20 / 3 / 10 / 7 // 20 // * * [Honestly, this is part and partial of the tricep issue; I know I can do more!]

Inv. Rows / 20 / 5 / 5 / 1 / 1 / 1 // 13 // No stars

Planks / 120s / 61s / 12s / 22s / 25s //  *

 

The inverted rows and the planks will be my weakness.  My core and back could always use the improvement, and I feel like I could have made more quality inverted rows... I fixated on the number, rather than the workout =[

 

I also knocked out 15 minutes of cycling, which was a lot more of an exercise than I expected.  The fact that I have no padding around the glute/inner thigh area made the ride a bit hard.  Anyways, I powered through it, but there's definitely a need for more investigation on proper cycling technique... it's not as easy as just hopping on and going for a spin, since you're changing the resistance and adjusting your body during the ride.  It was a bit much for me to follow the on screen instructions, so I just rode and kept in the suggested cadence range for now.

 

Anyways, tomorrow is a "rest" day... we're still trying to figure out what counts as resting, but still allows us to be in the gym.  Sauna or Jacuzzi, maybe?  For now, I'm getting distracted by Paranormal Witness on SyFy/DVR.

[quiktekk]

Day 4: REST Day - STUCK AT HOME!

 

So much for the "rest" part of rest day... worked from 2:30PM-1:30AM since the lab tech that usually does the restocking of the bulk reagents at work (same weight as two 2-Gal. milk jugs) was off today, so I did quite a bit of lifting, reaching, bending, tossing, etc around the department.  I didn't sweat as much as I usually would have, so that's a good sign, but the triceps and muscles under my arms are still extremely sore.

 

Anyways, by the time I got to the house at 2AM, the husband was sound asleep, which is abnormal, since we're usually awake at this time... this killed the timing for us to go to the gym, since I've got to be at work again at 9:30AM (in an effort to get out by 6PM and make it to the first choir practice)!  However, I didn't let this setback stop me.  I want to make workouts second nature and part of my daily life sooo bad... no one tells you to shower or brush your teeth; you just do it everyday!  Since I couldn't go to the gym, and it was a rest day, I settled for the following:

 

Stretch your way into a more muscular body routine off of BodyBuilding.com

 

The static stretching routines pictured are very familiar... they look like my old army stretches or the ones you'd do in high school during P.E. class.  To offset for the lack of the gym and its freestanding equipment, I had to settle for... the laundry room!  The entryway from the living room to the laundry area helped perform the chest/shoulder/bicep stretch while the washer/dryer played a huge part in streching the lats, delts, and hamstrings.  I guess the back of a couch could have been used, but you get the idea; find something and make it work!

 

This took all of 10-15 minutes, and I was sad that it was sooo short.  I'm really excited to go to the gym tomorrow... rather than thinking of it as a place of obligatory torture, I'm drawing from the times I was in elementary school and couldn't wait for the bell to ring for recess.  Imagining the gym as a large playground with lots of cool toys for everyone makes the experience a bit more enjoyable.

 

(If only for the endorphin rush!)

 

Can't wait until choir gets out!

[CactusWren]

I'm really excited to go to the gym tomorrow... rather than thinking of it as a place of obligatory torture, I'm drawing from the times I was in elementary school and couldn't wait for the bell to ring for recess.  Imagining the gym as a large playground with lots of cool toys for everyone makes the experience a bit more enjoyable.

 

Love this!

[quiktekk]

Day 5: Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily, life is but a dream!

 

Having never been through a choir seating arrangement placement (-ent), the process of getting paired with someone who vocally matches you is quite an experience... basically, everyone is grouped according to what part they sing (soprano, alto, tenor or bass), and within those parts, people are teamed up together to have them blend well/brighten the color and sound of the choir.  However, this required us all of us to constantly sing (individually) "Row Row Row Your Boat" as the tune of choice.

 

These guys are professionals.  We've never made that song sound so beautiful before.

 

More on choir later... for now, IT'S GYM TIME!

 

The stretches from yesterday were a HUGE benefit to me.  It was pretty evident the difference between stretching and not streching; Daryl was struggling with each Angry Bird Workout, but I was able to power through at a marginally better rate with these scores:

 

Exercise / Goal / Set 1 / Set 2 / Set ... // Total # // Grade

Squats / 70 / 45 / 25 // 70 // * * *

Push Ups / 20 / 10 / 10 //  20 // * * * [i did another 10 / 10 just because Daryl was all like, "Your butt was up in the air."]

Inv. Rows / 20 / 4 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 2 // 15 // No stars [Two more than last time, but still...]

Planks / 120s / 65 / 57 // 122 // * * *

 

All in all, moving on up a level with the exception of those darn inverted rows.  I don't know what it's going to take to lift the 173 lbs of me twenty times other than a mini forklift with a trigger happy joystick operator.  I figure it has to do with side dominance (as a south paw, my left hand/leg/eye coordination seems to be far superior to the right).  This was confirmed during the mini strength training exercise I did with the free weights.  Performing a concentration curl was so incredibly uneven.  I'm able to successfully do 5 reps, 3 sets of a 25-lbs. dumbbell with my left arm, but had to get the next lowest weight (a 17.5-lbs.) for the right arm.  I performed 5 sets, 4 reps using this.  Too bad I hadn't watched the link above prior to doing it so I could get most quality out of the workout... but, there's always tomorrow!  That being said, there's a lot of development that needs to occur on the right side if I ever want to complete quality inverted rows, and eventually, pull ups.  

 

Topped it off with a 20-min run/jog on the treadmill.  After doing treadmills twice in this week, I'm honestly more wanting to take this run outside and truly be in control of my speed.  It's frustrating on a treadmill, since soccer players don't typically keep running at a constant rate.  More often than not, we take a steady jog, sprint, ease back into a steady jog, and torpedo again when we get a second wind -- all within a matter of seconds.  So PreCor TreadyMill 5000 only staying at 1.0 incline at 3.5 mph for 6 minutes is a major "no go."  If I move these workouts to the REAL morning (5AM), I might just have to take this to the beach or go on night runs around the neighborhood.

 

So, game plan for tomorrow: some core exercises, work on that right arm with some concentration, whatever circuit the big D wants us to do, and playing in the pool again!  Definitely raising that threshold for pain!

 

Note to self:  Check out more of the LiveStrong videos with Michelle Trapp (Cert. Personal Trainer c Gold's Gym)... she has the most amazing borderline-masculine girl arms I've ever seen and is my new inspiration for having toned/defined upper body.  Watch the "How to Get Bigger Biceps" video for proper form and not showing off.  Yes, it might sound like a mini girl crush, but the musculature looks natural (unlike the inflated, steroid pumped women as the one pictured here).

[JessFit]

Inverted rows are icky! That being said, you're doing great, really great considering how hard those are. As a right arm dominant person (who carries her very lerge cat around with her right arm a lot) it seems like I can't get my left strong enough. My right arm is making great progress, my left is a whining kid who won't do anything you ask. So I'm struggling too, but I have noticed improvement. I'm not sure I'll ever be "even" unless I get another 20 pound cat to lug around in my left arm!

[quiktekk]

Day 6: "IS THAT A CHALLENGE?!"

 

So Daryl never quite found a workout, which stalled us from getting out of here.  Poor guy seemed really... moody... for working out since he couldn't quite find a circuit he liked.  So instead, we pulled out the Men's Health and Fitness Gym Bible:

 

 

Note, I don't know if this link/page is valid, but check out this link to get a free PDF copy.  "Mens gym bible pdf" was suggested by the google awesome bar, so I had to see what that was all about.

 

We weren't sure what "circuit" to do, so why do a circuit at all?  I mentioned core workouts last log, so we fit to the body weight workouts: alternating side planks (x3) and russian twists (x3).  The catch?!  It's a burn out session!  Daryl and I mirrored each other, counted to three, and held the side planks until one of us dropped.  This turned out to be fun way to pass the time, which is usually excruciating when you stare at the stopwatch. 

 

In place of JessFit's 20-lbs. cat, I used the 20-lbs. dumbbell and did 6 sets, 3 reps of the bicep curls for each arm.  Again, I can do 25-lbs., but I'm going for quality and evenness... my left arm is going to have to slow down for the right side.  I also did a couple of overhead tricep stretches; however, I'm not counting those.

 

Lastly, my cardio for the day was the swim.  I completed 10 lengths of the pool (1/8 of a mile) in 17 minutes... I didn't die or stop other than to clear the occasional inhalation of chlorine water.  This was a major accomplishment and improvement from last time & it makes me hopefully that I'll be able to swim more efficiently and quickly.  Regulating breathing is the hardest part of the swim.

 

As for tomorrow, we've got the angry birds workout, another attempt at a circuit, and cycling! 

[quiktekk]

Day 7:  Happy Monday Everyone!

 

Saturday night/Sunday morning was filled with a ridiculous amount of food and night life walking; my baby brohanosaurus came down from LA and spent the weekend with us.  We had the most delicious set of Stoned Smoked Porter Braised Beef Ribs and a Framboise.  The ribs came with a side of mac & cheese, which got subbed for potato fries.  The indulgence was walked off around the Gaslamp District of San Diego.  No additional alcohol was consumed; we did a lot of bar window shopping, introducing the young man to Wet Willie's, the Double Deuce, did a pit stop at Ghirardelli's, and tittered through all three floors of Hustler.

 

This counted as my workout and food consumption for the day.

 

Completely changing gears, Sunday morning topped off with choir/church time.  I failed to mention that prior to going to the Gaslamp, I purchased the Jawbone Up Wristband and activated it before going to bed:

 

I must say, this thing is pretty awesome; I wrote it to church and it was able to track all the steps, the idle time (i.e., sitting for the 1.5 hr at church), active time, resting vs. active burn & lets you free-text log your activity... there's also the sleep tracker, which was able to map my deep/light sleep cycles, and a place where you can enter in your food (we ate at Smashburger and I was able to find everyone else's burger... except mine, since I ordered the smashchicken - it is possible to add custom food).  It survived the gym and even the shower; the wristband successfully synced using the 3.5mm jack located underneath the silver cap and is rather accurate for something that you just wear around your wrist (when it said I only slept for 3 hours, I really did only sleep for 3 hours, but I only felt like I got an hour and a half worth of sleep... interestingly, the deep sleep was 50% of the time!).  Other impressively notable attributes is the ability to log how you're feeling via the smiley face; the day started off horribly due to either indigestion or PMS, so with the 8 different phases of "Happy Face," I could log not only numbers, but the physical morale behind it!

 

Though it costs a pretty penny ($129 + the $19.99 2-year unlimited replacement for any reason warranty from Best Buy), since it stays around my wrist 24/7, there's less of a chance I'll lose it and therefore will use it more than a FitBit clip-on... I spend waay too much money at BB, so I was able to get the warranty for a little cheaper ($17 and change) and used $20 in reward zone points to bring the total with tax to $138.  Note: I am aware Fitbit has the Flex wristband, but the battery life on the Up is too good to pass up: 10 days in between charges v. 5 days.  I'm still open to trying the Flex in the future.

 

It'll take a couple of weeks to justify the amount, but I'd like to think of this as an investment in tracking my health.

 

For the actual gym log:

 

Exercise / Goal / Set 1 / Set 2 / Set ... // Total # // Grade

Squats / 100 / 101 // * * * [Don't ask me how I did this; I just zone out until I heard "Good Job!"]

Push Ups / 50 / 25 / 15 / 10 //  50 // * * 

Inv. Rows / 20 / 11 / 9 / 2 // 22 // * * * [see below]

Planks / 180s / 90 / 90 // 180 // * * * [The utter pain when coupled with cramping of a feminine nature]

 

About those inverted rows: two things... No. 1 - the proper height of the bar makes a big difference: too low and you're virtually horizontal.  Too high and you're barely able to touch it with your arms.  No. 2 - probably most importantly - doing those bicep curls for the right arm TREMENDOUSLY helped.  Since my left arm wasn't doing the majority of the previous 70/30 split, I knocked out quite a few quality rows the first shot.

 

Daryl still hasn't come up with the circuit, so we winded through the Hoist machines on the first floor of the gym.  I opted for 8 reps, 3 sets of the following (the resistance / pounds for a 150lbs user are listed... still being 173-176 lbs, I probably did a little more):

 

Mid Row (6 / 130) - Just right

Shoulder Press (6 / 76) - Too heavy; adjust down tremendously... might have pulled something!

Chest Press (3 / 75) - Next time, quality versus quantity.

Seated Dip (5 / 91) - Struggled through these; exceedingly weak upper body by comparison to the legs

Bicep Curl (6 / 70) - It was... "okay"

Leg Extension (6 / 91) - Just right

Leg Press (10 / 179) - Easy... too easy.  I bumped it up to 12 / 211 and that felt more challenging.  I'm able to do 6 / 106 with one leg no problem.

 

Topped the visit off w/ a 24 minute cycling session.  Adjusted the seat height AND the length between the handle bars/seat, and this made a difference between a painful versus comfortably challenging ride.

 

Can't wait until tomorrow!

[CactusWren]

I just justified a jumbo granny grocery cart so I could take in my whole load of groceries at once instead of 4+ trips, in a similar fashion. Though it was for mental health as opposed to physical...

 

Anyhoo, that looks very cool! Am looking forward to seeing more of your experience using it!

[JessFit]

That is one fancy wristband! I debated investing in one of those, or the fitbit one, keep us posted on how you like it and how it benefits everything you do long term.

[quiktekk]

Just wanted to be able to write a quick post to keep the workout days separate:

 

Day 8: Avoid new hires at all costs lest you want to get home at 4AM.

 

Did indeed go to the gym, but it was practically morning by the time we got there.  Went to the Oceanside 24-Hour Fitness.  Bad idea: all of the marines from Camp Pendleton where there, doing their morning flexing.     Couldn't help but feel pudgy.  We got done with some light lifting (since the 17.5 lbs weights were missing) & headed for the beach to do the cardio portion of today's exercise.

 

It was 5AM by the time we started walking/jogging... both Daryl and I used the Couch-to-5K (C25K) app to track the distance.  For the couple of dollars this app costs, it is definitely worth it.  It kept track of my GPS location quite well & was able to calculate the total distance, my mile walk/ mile jog times, and log how I felt after the 30 minutes.  1.98 miles for the first day using the app.

 

Ok, now that I posted about going to the gym, time to go to the gym (lol). 

[quiktekk]

I just justified a jumbo granny grocery cart so I could take in my whole load of groceries at once instead of 4+ trips, in a similar fashion. Though it was for mental health as opposed to physical...

 

Anyhoo, that looks very cool! Am looking forward to seeing more of your experience using it!

 

Haha, never underestimate the power of the granny grocery cart:

 

[quiktekk]

That is one fancy wristband! I debated investing in one of those, or the fitbit one, keep us posted on how you like it and how it benefits everything you do long term.

 

Thus far it's been enjoyable; I just swam a good hour in the pool with it & at the moment of truth in plugging it in...

 

... it still works!  Though I see more people walking around with the Fitbit Flex at work, I'm liking the Up (since the Flex seems to chafe on my friend's wrist... the skin looked like it was peeling right underneath the band).  He said he takes it off/has to switch wrists occasionally.

[CactusWren]

Haha, never underestimate the power of the granny grocery cart:

 

 

lol!

[quiktekk]

Short, but completely necessary hiatus... got "three" days worth of workouts to list, so I'll keep it short:

 

Day 9: Hitting a Brick Wall

 

So the other half and I hit the gym promptly after the 9/11 post on Wednesday mornings and noticed some major issues... we just weren't getting those returns we wanted.  The Angry Birds workout made Daryl legitimately angry because he wasn't able to progress to the next levels; I encountered similar problems in only 3-starring the squats:

 

<Insert Angry Birds Results from 9/11/13 here... his phone died & he left it in the car; will update ASAP>

 

He joined me for my laps in the pool, only to be further frustrated that he wasn't used to swimming.  I'm not sure why guys get so frustrated while working out.  As long as you're having fun and challenging yourself, that's all it should be about.  I know it's going to be A LONG time before I even master a single pull up, but I'm not going to cry about it (unless it's out of sheer pain or if I tore some ligament or ripped off a tendon).

 

Day 10: Rest

 

Thursday 9/12/13 was a choir day.  Used the morning hour to complete some quizzes that I forgot to do during my internship (hopefully they'll honor it... I'm two months away from being able to apply for the Medical Lab Tech board exam in California... I've got this internship month in October and the last in December... with some divine assistance, I should have a licensure in hand by next year).  Rushed around like crazy at work (no breaks, skipped lunch) to make it to choir practice and was still late.   However, I made the capella choir's soprano section!  I was on Cloud 9 for a good three-four hours.  The workouts definitely have a huge roll to play: because I'm able to inhale more air due to the running/swimming/cycling, I'm able to sustain notes longer!

 

Day 11: DISNEYLAND!

 

Took the much needed 3-day vacation today, Friday the 13th.  Being in Southern California, I have the lucky privilege to be an annual passport holder and went to California Adventures & Disneyland.  The parks were packed by 4PM and didn't close until 1AM.  No official workout was done that day, but the Up wristband results speak themselves:

 

 

 

I'm counting that as my workout for the day... I'd like to think I could at least last a half marathon in the near future!   We were good about limiting the calorie intake too: I had pulled pork, baked beans, & a corn medley from Flo's V-8 cafe.  I'd like to think that's waaay better than getting a $5.00 churro or some random sugary item! 

 

Day 12-13: More rest!

 

After all the walking & not getting back to San Diego until 4AM, I was a lazy bum and slept most of the day.  I've been bad about turning on sleep mode on the Up wristband, but on the days I do track my sleep, it's been accurate.  We got up and ready in time for church since it was the choir's turn to sing for the Saturday 5PM mass.  Got back home & did more sleeping.

 

Yesterday was a repeat as well; slept most of the day, did the grocery shopping, & went back to bed.  I need more of these three day weekends!

 

Day 14: Back to the gym

 

Today was a big tell in the whole "your muscles need time to repair" idea: sure enough, the angry birds results were great in comparison to Day 9:

 

Exercise / Goal / Set 1 / Set 2 / Set ... // Total # // Grade

Level 5.2 (Overhead Squats) / 50 / 51 // * * *

Level 3 Push Ups / 50 / 25 / 25 //  50 // * * * [struggled on the last 5 of the last set; I'm willing to repeat this since it felt "sloppy"]

Level 3 Pull Ups / 10 / N/A //  [see below]

Planks / 240s / 91 / 87 / 65 // 242 // * * [i can live with these results]

 

I'm not quite sure how to attack the pull ups.  Inverted rows seemed to be a breeze... is there something fundamentally wrong with my technique?  There's a machine at the gym that gives assisted pullups (i.e., it has a set of weights that is pushing up on a wide bar that serves as a platform for your feet.  So, for example, I did 10 sets of pull ups with a 70 lbs assist, so 176-70 equals me pulling up 106 lbs ten times).  However, I'm not feeling much of any "back" exercise and mostly feel it all in my biceps.  I tried to move it up to 62 lbs, but 114 lbs caused me to only do 2 sets before tapping out.  I did 5 sets of dips (twice) on the same weight, but again, I don't feel like any of these should be counted towards a pull up since the goal is to go for a true, unassisted pull up.

 

If I get bold enough, I might post a video of me doing the assisted pull up to see if someone can help me correct my form.

 

Anyways, time to shower & get ready for bed... work's at 3PM and I'm wondering how the lab faired on Friday.

 

Lastly, we're on Week 1 Day 2 of Couch-to-5K; results here:

 

 

Definite improvement.  First Day (on 9/11), was 1.98 for total distance, walked 1.17 miles with the average of 19:19 min per mile.  The scores above also beat the previous run distance of 0.81 miles with the running pace of 9:52 minutes per mile.  Little to no pain other than the generic muscle burn in the calves despite adding a block to the workout.  I'm really enjoying the C25K pace; I'd like to speed up a little, but it's probably for the best that I take my time & make sure to keep my workout buddy motivated to come with me rather than blast off ahead of him only for him to not want to do it again... I want to win the habit changing race slow and steady with as many people as possible. 

[JessFit]

Congrats on choir and Disney! Sounds like a great weekend.

 

Have you tried jumping to above the pullup bar and then slowly controlled lowing yourself? It worls the same muscles you need to get up, just to come down. Plus gravity is like "Hey get down here" so by fighting to control it you're getting a heck of a workout that is good prep for a pullup!