DaveGetsFit

My website/blog server was inaccessible Friday afternoon so I was unable to post. I just wanted to do a quick update. Friday afternoon I did a quick workout in the front yard. I did kettlebell clean and press ladders, and some swings. Saturday I went to the gym (while my wife was a few hundred yard away grocery shopping) and did pullups on the Gravitron, and some pushups. Saturday I also walked for an hour around the hood.

Today was a do nuthin day—a lot of time in front of the tube watching golf. But I did manage to cook a rather primal meal. I made a stew from javelina meat. I came out quite well.

After a long layoff due to the foot problems, I’m back on the bike for the commute tomorrow.

I went to the gym at lunch today for a quick workout.

Pushups (four rounds)

• 10
• 10
• 7
• 6

Pullups (Gavitron at 120)

• 10
• 10
• 10

I was going to do dips but I decided against it.  The position of the hands on the bar puts a lot of pressure on the same point that caused my nerve injury from cycling.  I need to get some gel gloves or figure out some way to do them without putting pressure on that nerve.  I’m glad that I can do pushups again without pain—I don’t need to reinjure my hands.

Morning weight: 206lbs

I mentioned in an comment on Marc’s blog that I couldn’t do a pull up.  He suggested a program on the Gravitron (a device that gives you weight assist to do pull ups and dips) where I start at a point where I can do three sets of 10.  I put the pin in the 120 lb slot thinking that if that was too much, I would adjust on the fly.  But by the time I got to the third set, it struggled to do the last two.  So this looks like a good starting point for me.  I dropped it to 100lbs to do thee sets of dips.  It’s another testament to the weekness of my upper body but I’ll keep working at it.

Neal couldn’t play racquetball today but we’re scheduled for tomorrow.  The foot feels good now–hope that’s true this time tomorrow.

Morning weight: 206lbs

I’ve already made it clear that my main influence in my life style change that will hopefully end up in a much more fit me, has been reading Mark Sisson’s blog.  Another site that was influential in the beginning was Art Devany’s blog.  I don’t read it now because he made it subscription based, but there was a lot of good info there when I was reading it.  One of the things Art suggests is doing what he calls “hierarchal sets” which call for doing reps of approximately 15, 8, and 4 reps with an increasing load.  The other details are that the only rest in the set comes while adding plates or grabbing bigger dumbbells, and that you should do all lifts with good form and avoid going to failure.  This most likely is not the way to go if you want to maximize strength gain or muscle size, but after reading Devany’s take, I believe it’s a good, SAFE way to build some practical strength.  And that’s what I want out of my program—knowing that as I age I will be able to keep doing things I want to do rather than waste away.

A couple things to consider.  Sunday I did not do what I wrote above.  I attempted to do lifts AFTER my form had deteriorated—that’s a good way to get injured so it’s something I’m going to be sure to avoid.  Also, as I have noted in the past, my athletic background is based on running and cycling.  My upper body is extremely weak compared to my legs.  So the weights I’m lifting are puny but it’s where I have to start.   Today’s program:

Barbell Overhead Press

• 15 x 40lbs
• 7 x 45lbs
• 3 x 45lbs

Dumbbell Bench Press (weights per arm)

• 15 x 25lbs
• 8 x 30lbs
• 5 x 35lbs

Seated Machine Rows (weights per arm)

• 15 x 55lbs
• 8 x 80lbs
• 4 x 90lbs

Notes:

• From past experience, I know I can start the overhead press with the olympic bar—lifting that 15 times is just too much.  So today I started with  a smaller barbell for the first set.  I did the last two sets with the 45 pound olympic bar, and I quit when I knew I was go to have to break form (like leaning back) to get the next lift.  I’ll use the same weights next time out.
• The rows were done on the Body Masters CPX machine.  It’s a device where each arm acts separately—much closer to doing free weights than a lot of machines.

Not much to report on for Friday and Saturday, but today I took my grandson to the gym for a workout.  Normally this would have been a nice day for our weekly bike ride, but my foot is still bothering me so I passed.  At the gym I did a 30 minute ride on a Lifecycle recumbent, and then headed over to the weights for the following:

Barbell Overhead Press

• 5 x 65lbs
• 5 x 70lbs
• 4 x 75lbs

Dumbbell Bench Press

• 15 x 25lbs
• 8 x 30lbs
• 4 x 35lbs

Dumbell Single Rows (L& R)

• 15 x 35lbs
• 8 x 40lbs
• 4 x 45lbs

Notes:  I don’t know what made me decide to go up in weight on those overhead presses.  One principle I’ve tried to adhere to in weight training is to keep good form and not go to failure.  I did neither on that last set of overhead presses and I paid a price.  I strained the right trap near my neck, and now I have a hard time turning my head—especially to the right.  So now I have two strikes against my in my quest to get back on the racquetball court.  This sucks!

Morning weight: 208

My foot is still hurting so I’m somewhat limited in my exercise choices.  Racquetball and cycling are out.  So yesterday I headed to the gym at lunch to get in a workout.  After a warm up with some real light dumbbells, I  grabbed a barbell and…

Overhead Press

• 5 x 65lbs
• 3 sets

Dumbbell Bench Press

• 8 x 40lbs
• 3 sets

Concept2 Rowing Intervals

• 30 sec work
• 30 sec rest
• 8 reps

Notes:

• I remembered the lesson learned from a few months ago when I was doing the barbell press.  I can’t do a hierarchal set starting with a 45 pound bar.  I’ll stick to 5rep sets until I get a little more strength.
• I couldn’t put any pressure on the ball of my right foot, so I had to place me foot high up on the C2.  It was a little awkward, and I couldn’t get the full force of my legs into the pull, but it was still a good exercise.

I went in at lunch today and did a “vanity” workout.  A quick set of tricep extensions and curls.

Good news!  Although my foot isn’t showing any sign of improvement, my hands finally are!  I gave them a test drive today but trying a couple pushups.  I felt just the smallest amount of discomfort in my left wrist.  I think I’ll give it another week, and then I’ll start doing pushups again.  I have an appointment in a couple of weeks to see my doctor (hard to come by–lots of military medical people are deployed) about the hands.  The way things are going, I’ll end up having to use it find some help for my foot.

Morning weight: 208

I had every intention of writing a post last night that would detail my lunch time workout, and my ride home from work; however, there was a slight glitch that upset those plans.  For the last month, my granddaughter has been looking forward to going to see a band with some friends.  At the last moment, the parent of the friend that was supposed to take her bailed out, and it was up to grandpa to come to the rescue.  I left the house thinking that I really didn’t want to shell out $15, nor subject my ears to the sounds of Forever The Sickest Kids (what a name, eh?).  Fortunately the club had a setup that enabled me to sit at a bar (without paying) and watch basketball on TV while she was enjoying the show.  The bad news was that there were four acts so I ended up spending four hours in a smokey bar–nothing Grok ever had to endure I’m sure. 

So back to yesterday.  I had a short window to work out so I got in a quick workout on my notoriously weak upper body.  A couple hierarchal sets with dumbbells.  My memory is a little foggy on the exact weights and reps but I do remember that I started too high on one and had to modify the reps.

The ride home was really fun.  I left with the intention of taking it real easy because the kids are on spring break and I didn’t have to rush home to play taxi driver or homework monitor.  But after the first right turn, I realized I had a rare ENE breeze which meant a rear quartering wind for the ride home.  No time to take it easy!  I didn’t reset my computer so I don’t know what my average speed was, but everytime I looked down I was doing 18mph.  It was fun moving like that for a change.

No ride today.  I didn’t get to bed until after midnight after my evening at the House of Rock–I was in no mood for getting up early to ride the bike.  It’s taken me four cups of coffee to get rolling this morning!

Thursday mornng weight:  205lbs

Friday morning weight: 206lbs

I made it to the gym with my grandson today.  After a 10 minute warm-up walk on the treadmill, I got going:

Thrusters

• 3 x 15 with 40lbs
• 30 second break between sets

Seated Rows

• 15 x 90lbs
• 6 x 170lbs
• 3 x 170lbs

Tabata on C2 Rower

• 8 x 20sec
• 10 sec recovery

NOTES:

• 40lb thrusters don’t tax my legs but it was tough getting the weight fully extended at the end of the second two sets
• It wasn’t a very good performance on the Tabata.  I was pretty shot after the first four intervals.
• The rows were on a machine.  Not sure what the weight is in addition to the plates.  I bit off a little more than I could chew for the second set.

Not a stellar workout but better than spending a dreary Saturday on the couch!

I walked over to the gym today to get in a quick workout.  It went something like this:

Overhead Press (Barbell)

• 12 x 45lbs
• 6 x 55lbs
• 3 x 60lbs

Hex Bar Deadlift

• 15 x 140lbs
• 8 x 190lbs
• 4 x 210lbs

Dumbbell Bench Press

• 15 x 30lbs
• 8 x 35lbs

NOTES

• I can’t believe how weak my performance was in the overhead press.  I started with just the bar figuring I’d be able to do a 15×45, 8×55, 4×65 set.  No way!  Even the ones I did got sloppy toward the end (leaning back).  This will be a project!
• Doing deadlifts with a hexbar is really just a different way to do squats.  My grip is more a limiting factor than my legs.
• I was planning on doing a 15-8-4 set with the dumbbells, but the 40 lbs didn’t want to go up at all!

I attempted to play racquetball yesterday but a complaining hip flexor convinced me to do to otherwise.  So it was back to the dumbell rack.  All exercises are both arms at the same time except for the row.

Incline Press

• 15 x 15lbs
• 12 x 20lbs
• 8 x 25lbs
• 4 x 30lbs

Bench Press

• 15 x 20lbs
• 8 x 25lbs
• 4 x 30lbs

Single Arm Row

• 15 x 30lbs
• 8 x 35lbs
• 4 x 40lbs

Pull-ups

• 2 sets of 5 with Gravitron set to 90lbs

Pretty decent workout.  I’m going to try real hard to do this at least once a week.  Pushups are still out of the question due to my wrist pain.  I have a doctor’s appointment on the 18th for that.

Morning Weight:  208lbs