Justicio's Battle Log: Slaying the demon

[JusticioProfundo]

About six weeks ago, I squared up and began fighting a demon that goes by many names.

 

Laziness.

 

Excuses.

 

Self-doubt.

 

Weakness.

 

In that six week stretch, victories have been won. I am stronger, my resting  heart rate is lower, my blood pressure is lower, I am down a notch on the belt, I spend less money on food overall, especially the poison that passes itself off as food. But the fight is far from over. Thus begins the battle log.

 

Vital stats:

 

DOB: 29-Mar-86

Height: 6'2"

Weight: 215lbs

Resting heart rate: 72bpm

Primary class: Ranger

Secondary classes: Warrior, Druid, Adventurer

Tertiary classes: Scout, Assassin

 

Goals:

 

Change overall body composition (weight is unimportant to me)

Become a competent human overlander

*Indoor/outdoor climbing/rappelling

*Parkour

*Running

*Cycling

*Skiing

*Kayaking/Canoeing

 

Some of these skills are already in my tool shed, but one can always get better.

 

This log will simply include notable stats about workouts, food and skill improvement. I won't bore the world with "nothing new to report".

[JusticioProfundo]

Update numero uno...

 

I've been doing Dumbbell Division lvl 2 since the start, and as of next week will bump to lvl 3 for more variety and increased difficulty.

 

One change I am going to be making (and have just made in lvl 2 routine A) is swapping pushups out for various rows. Per my RMT, my chest is increasing in strength faster than my back is, causing my already-pronounced forward rolling of the shoulders to become worse.

 

I am also trying to find a workout tracker that is easy to use both in and out of the gym. I'm trying Jefit right now, but I'm not totally impressed. It takes a long time to build a custom workout, and the controls aren't entirely intuitive. We'll see how it goes.

 

Diet-wise, some fairly significant changes are coming. My wife and I have been using EatThisMuch to help plan and track food. Like many planners, it feels like we have to work around it too much to actually make it work for us. We have decided to use its ability to balance macros while generating meals to cherry pick 3 weeks' worth of food and create our own rotating plan. For the record, we are both set to consume 2000 calories a day on a zone diet macro plan (30/40/30). For her being a small lady and a competitive CrossFit athlete, that is a maintenance plan. For me being a large 3-times-a-week-body-composition-changer, that's a 700 calorie deficit. Because we have a myriad of Apple/Android/Windows devices in the house, it has actually been frustrating looking at the meal plan on one device and not being able to manipulate it similarly on another. Combined with slow syncing of changes, we often find ourselves working against each other. Time to just put something down on paper.

[JusticioProfundo]

Numero dos,

 

Tried out the BodySpace app last night and more or less liked it. I am looking forward to the weekly updates, which is really what I got it for as far as longer term tracking. Usage during the workout was easy enough. I still hate having to go to my phone between every set, but it was either than or a notebook.

 

It proved to be good motivation, though. Because it was expecting a certain number of sets and reps from me, it encouraged me to go a little farther on some movements.

 

I'll be adding in some basic rotator cuff exercises on my off days as I focus on more pulling movements and getting my shoulder strength and positioning up to scratch.

 

Lastly, in my longstanding quest to get a pull-up, I did a personal best of 7 negatives last night. Focused on keeping my chest up, and sure enough, the final two reps were where I finally felt my lats doing something.

[GymlessRanger]

Nice job with the pullup negatives! It's a tough exercise to work up to, but keep working at it and you'll get there. 

[JusticioProfundo]

Thanks! I think they will start to come fairly quickly with the extra focus on the back. Throughout the week I'll be hitting inverted rows, upright rows and pull-up negatives...basically as much as my back can handle. Combined with posture cues and reducing chest work, I'll hopefully make some real meaningful progress on my rolled shoulders and pull-ups in short order.

[JusticioProfundo]

Another day, another post.

 

Food first. We have finally put together some semblance of a mega schedule and meal plan. The schedule has a resolution of 10 minutes and so far only really needs a few tweaks. Even when we aren't strictly on schedule, it has helped us to be more aware of the time we have in the day and not to waste it. I'll count that as mission accomplished.

 

Hand in hand is our meal plan, whose prep schedule is built into the aforementioned mega version. That has been the hardest part so far. We keep defaulting to prepping and finishing at the same time, which is eating up more time than we'd like. All the same, we are mostly able to stick to the plan. The trick is finding ways to stay on track when events or gatherings come along that disrupt the schedule and leave us without a prepped meal. Baby steps, right? At least we are eating stupid healthy.

 

Lifting.

 

Dumbbell 3 has been fun so far, with a few added movements. I admit I've been tinkering with it though. I am making progress with my rounded shoulders, largely because I've made sure that the chest-to-back exercise ratio is roughly 1:2. I've substituted pushups for seated cable rows specifically to try and draw my shoulder blades closer together. This is where I am glad that dips are in the plan, because my triceps weren't getting much love outside of the dumbbell bench press.

 

Speaking of that movement, I am planning on alternating it with the dumbbell fly. The benefits are greater lung capacity, wider chest (helps in pushing back those damn shoulders!) and greater isolation of the pecs. Normally, I am all over the compound movement...I much prefer them from a practicality standpoint. In this case though, where I have a deficiency in a particular area, it makes sense to put in a little time doing something more targeted.

 

Lastly, I am also noticing a distinct size and strength difference between my dominant and non-dominant biceps. Grip strength is roughly equal, ditto push strength. The pull is severely lacking. Might toss in a few hammer curls or something as accessory work.

 

Lastly, mobility.

 

My focus is not to be awesome in the gym. I want the gym to support me in doing the stuff I WANT to be doing, like parkour, rock climbing, sprinting, swimming, cycling, etc. Expect more to that end in future updates. Time to let loose my inner all-terrain scout!

Until next time, rebels...

[JusticioProfundo]

Reporting in.

 

Change is afoot, friends. I said last time that my all terrain scout update was coming, and here it is. 

 

I've pretty much overhauled my weekly fitness plan to meet the challenges I actually set out to face. I've signed up for rock climbing...in fact I took my belayer's course and have the belayer's test in two days. After that I'll be getting some form of pass (either monthly or annually) and be going at least once a week. That's on Thursdays. I get the idea that I'm about to be putting some money into equipment...but that's just a hunch.

 

Later in the day on Thursday will be a punishing HIIT/dynamic workout that focuses on endurance and explosiveness. Right outside my door is a 10km loop around an airport. Though the airport grounds are obviously flat, the trail around it consists of multiple grades, long flat stretches and some excellent views. Not that the last bit matters, since I'll be there after midnight. Using this trail, my running shoes, my bicycle, a 35lb kettlebell and a 20lb slam ball, I imagine this is going to scorch some fat. Especially since there is enough time between rock climbing and this that my body will be in full recovery mode. Feel. The. Burn.

 

After a 2 day rest, I'll be in the gym on Sunday night. Same philosophy as before. Heavy, compound movements, utilizing super sets and drop sets to maximize the time there. This will be the only gym night.

 

Fast forward another 2 days to Wednesday night, which is Parkour time. A local park and field will be ideal for starting out. I have 3.5 hours set aside for this. The first portion will be learning foundational movements like the quadrupedal gallop, proper landings, shoulder rolls and precisions. As I progress, the early portion of this time will still be dedicated to skill building and not so much breaking a sweat.

 

After the skills portion, it's on to a full blown bodyweight workout in the park. Focus on balance and momentum will be the name of the game. Single leg squats, broad jumps, pullups/rows, challenging planks, etc.

 

So there it is. Shall we begin?