Had a very good workout last night. Normally Sunday nights are light gym nights with me riding the recumbent bike watching TV. But I took a day off from the gym this past week, and that day was a CrossFit day. So I did that instead of my normal recovery workout.
I decided to push things a bit - I was feeling really quite good.
I continued on with my variant on the "Linda" workout (AKA 3 bars of death).
135lbs. on the bar for push press & hang cleans.
225lbs on the bar for dead lift.
Total workout time was on par with my previous workout - which in reality is a big improvement because I did 8/7/6/5 as my workout last night. Considering I had been doing 8/6/4 for a while (with some variance) that was a sizable move up in reps. 26 of each movement last night compared to 18. I'm definitely feeling it in some stiffness in my back and hamstrings today. Not pain - I didn't injure myself - but a clear reminder of the fact that my workout is moving to a new level.
We will see if/how that impacts my bench workout tonight. I haven not previous done a CrossFit workout followed up by lifting. It has always been lifting day followed by CrossFit.
And tonight's workout isn't going to be helped by the fact that we stayed up WAY too late last night dreaming about tropical vacation destination and Google Mapping driving distances between all sorts of places in the USA.
Keeps on coming back
Upper body again tonight. Making more progress in recovering my bench strength, which is always encouraging.
Bench:
135x8 warmup
225x8
255x8
275x5 - surprised how well these went up.
295x2 - needed help on the second one.
On Monday when I last benched I did 275x2 and didn't have a third one in me. So the progress is keeping up at a pretty good clip.
Also did curls, triceps dips, shoulder extensions, & lat pull downs. Some time on the recumbent bike as well.
I did upper body on Monday of this week, my CrossFit workout on Tuesday. Was able to move up to 225lbs on my deadlifts during CrossFit, and added a couple of reps to all three movements, all the while keeping the same time as my previous workout. Finished after CrossFit with some recumbent cycle. Thursday was a mix of treadmill and recumbent.
Bench:
135x8 warmup
225x8
255x8
275x5 - surprised how well these went up.
295x2 - needed help on the second one.
On Monday when I last benched I did 275x2 and didn't have a third one in me. So the progress is keeping up at a pretty good clip.
Also did curls, triceps dips, shoulder extensions, & lat pull downs. Some time on the recumbent bike as well.
I did upper body on Monday of this week, my CrossFit workout on Tuesday. Was able to move up to 225lbs on my deadlifts during CrossFit, and added a couple of reps to all three movements, all the while keeping the same time as my previous workout. Finished after CrossFit with some recumbent cycle. Thursday was a mix of treadmill and recumbent.
Sore today - but deadlift is improving!
CrossFit again last night. 3 Bars modified once again. I did it a bit differently by going 8-6-6 rather than my 8-6-4-2 on Push Press & Hang Cleans. I was able to do this because I am improving. Previously I wouldn't have been able to do a second 6 without a lengthy rest period. I cut 2 minutes off of my total workout time, while simultaneously adding a fair amount to my dead lifts.
Push Press - 135lbs
Hang Clean - 135lbs
Dead Lift - 185lbs/205lbs/215lbs + 2-20lb chains (so top of lift was 255lbs!)/185 (8-6-6-6)
I am definitely feeling the added weight of the dead lifts today in my back. Quite tight, a bit stiff, but no pain thankfully.
Monday night I did chest & arms & recumbent bike. My bench is starting to come back a bit thankfully.
Bench:
135x10 warm up
225x8
245x6
275x2 - got both up, but didn't have a third in me
225x5 wide grip
225x4 narrow grip
The other thing I'm noticing is that my pants are getting quite loose and I've had to go down a belt notch to keep them on. I'm not fully a notch smaller yet, but if I don't go to that one I'll be mooning the world walking around. Another couple of pounds lighter and that notch will become perfect. Long term I'd really like to get my waist down to 42 inches. I think it is unrealistic to expect to get smaller than that given my frame size. When I graduated from High School at 215lbs I was a size 38, so 42 really seems like it'll be my bottom end as an adult.
Making progress is definitely encouraging. Though I do wish it happened faster.
Push Press - 135lbs
Hang Clean - 135lbs
Dead Lift - 185lbs/205lbs/215lbs + 2-20lb chains (so top of lift was 255lbs!)/185 (8-6-6-6)
I am definitely feeling the added weight of the dead lifts today in my back. Quite tight, a bit stiff, but no pain thankfully.
Monday night I did chest & arms & recumbent bike. My bench is starting to come back a bit thankfully.
Bench:
135x10 warm up
225x8
245x6
275x2 - got both up, but didn't have a third in me
225x5 wide grip
225x4 narrow grip
The other thing I'm noticing is that my pants are getting quite loose and I've had to go down a belt notch to keep them on. I'm not fully a notch smaller yet, but if I don't go to that one I'll be mooning the world walking around. Another couple of pounds lighter and that notch will become perfect. Long term I'd really like to get my waist down to 42 inches. I think it is unrealistic to expect to get smaller than that given my frame size. When I graduated from High School at 215lbs I was a size 38, so 42 really seems like it'll be my bottom end as an adult.
Making progress is definitely encouraging. Though I do wish it happened faster.
Improving on my CrossFit
Making progress, but it is still trying to kill me. Did my variation on the 3 bars of death tonight again. 27 minutes total, with about a 3 minute break to talk to another guy in the gym in the middle.
I did the 8, 6, 4, 2 tonight.
Pushpress - 135lbs
Hang Clean - 135lbs
Dead Lift - 205lbs
I raised my dead lift amount. In a week or so I'll put that at the full two plates weight of 225lbs.
The early Pushpress were really hard. And each round of Dead Lift tries to make me pass out. Hang Clean just makes me want to puke, so all in all a very enjoyable workout. :-)
I ended the night with 15 minutes on the treadmill keeping my heart rate above 150bpm throughout. Definitely will sleep well tonight. Thinking my hamstrings will be sore again tomorrow.
And I've been losing weight this week! I'm lighter than I have been since starting the journey (barely) so that is at least encouraging. By the gym scale I'm down 20lbs as of today!!
I did the 8, 6, 4, 2 tonight.
Pushpress - 135lbs
Hang Clean - 135lbs
Dead Lift - 205lbs
I raised my dead lift amount. In a week or so I'll put that at the full two plates weight of 225lbs.
The early Pushpress were really hard. And each round of Dead Lift tries to make me pass out. Hang Clean just makes me want to puke, so all in all a very enjoyable workout. :-)
I ended the night with 15 minutes on the treadmill keeping my heart rate above 150bpm throughout. Definitely will sleep well tonight. Thinking my hamstrings will be sore again tomorrow.
And I've been losing weight this week! I'm lighter than I have been since starting the journey (barely) so that is at least encouraging. By the gym scale I'm down 20lbs as of today!!
CrossFit is trying to kill me
That or I'm trying to kill myself.
Did my modified 3 Bars of Death last night (Linda) with Push Press, Hang Clean and Deadlift. Same bar for PP & HC with 135lbs on it, and 185 on a second bar for DL's. Did 10, 8, 6, 4 then quit. Probably a bit tired on PP from my bench/arms workout the day before. Felt the DL's in my hamstrings something fierce. But it is the Hang Cleans that are pure evil in my book. By the end of my 4 rep cycle I was sure I was going to pass out, puke, or both.
Remind me to not eat Buffalo Wild Wings on CrossFit days.
I had a rolling sweat going, so bad that I'm going to order some headbands. I couldn't see between the sweat running in my eyes, dripping on my glasses, and my glasses constantly trying to fall off my head.
Tonight will be a light cardio night. No lifting. I'm hoping I've turned the corner on my sore elbow. There is still a bit of soreness present, but it no longer feels like it is giving me a warning, rather it feels like each day it is getting better and healing. Certainly giving praise for that.
Did my modified 3 Bars of Death last night (Linda) with Push Press, Hang Clean and Deadlift. Same bar for PP & HC with 135lbs on it, and 185 on a second bar for DL's. Did 10, 8, 6, 4 then quit. Probably a bit tired on PP from my bench/arms workout the day before. Felt the DL's in my hamstrings something fierce. But it is the Hang Cleans that are pure evil in my book. By the end of my 4 rep cycle I was sure I was going to pass out, puke, or both.
Remind me to not eat Buffalo Wild Wings on CrossFit days.
I had a rolling sweat going, so bad that I'm going to order some headbands. I couldn't see between the sweat running in my eyes, dripping on my glasses, and my glasses constantly trying to fall off my head.
Tonight will be a light cardio night. No lifting. I'm hoping I've turned the corner on my sore elbow. There is still a bit of soreness present, but it no longer feels like it is giving me a warning, rather it feels like each day it is getting better and healing. Certainly giving praise for that.
Back to being sore again
Upper body workout last night, and some soreness today from it. Not severe soreness, but enough to know that I am sore for sure. Tired too.
Bench was really tough and discouraging for me. 3 weeks ago I was at 340lbs bench. Now I'm about 80lbs below that I think. Frustrating.
Bench:
10x135 warm up
10x225
8x225
6x225
5x225 - and I barely got the last ones up on the 6 and 5 sets.
Incline bench machine - 180lbs 3x8
Arms (biceps & triceps) and shoulders in machines 3x10 each. Shrugs with 90lb dumbbells 3x12.
15 minutes on the treadmill gradually increasing speed to 3.5 made me sweat hard. Kept my heart rate above 145 throughout.
After the workout I did take my first dose of creatine. I used to use this before seminary with some really good results. I will load this week slowly and see how it goes. In the past it has definitely helped in gaining strength and having quicker recover times. I don't eat much red meat (almost never!) so I think it will help me once again.
I'm going to have to purchase some lifting gloves fairly soon. Mine are starting to come apart in a couple of places. I like the ones with integrated wrist wraps like the Valeo Ocelot with wristwraps.
Bench was really tough and discouraging for me. 3 weeks ago I was at 340lbs bench. Now I'm about 80lbs below that I think. Frustrating.
Bench:
10x135 warm up
10x225
8x225
6x225
5x225 - and I barely got the last ones up on the 6 and 5 sets.
Incline bench machine - 180lbs 3x8
Arms (biceps & triceps) and shoulders in machines 3x10 each. Shrugs with 90lb dumbbells 3x12.
15 minutes on the treadmill gradually increasing speed to 3.5 made me sweat hard. Kept my heart rate above 145 throughout.
After the workout I did take my first dose of creatine. I used to use this before seminary with some really good results. I will load this week slowly and see how it goes. In the past it has definitely helped in gaining strength and having quicker recover times. I don't eat much red meat (almost never!) so I think it will help me once again.
I'm going to have to purchase some lifting gloves fairly soon. Mine are starting to come apart in a couple of places. I like the ones with integrated wrist wraps like the Valeo Ocelot with wristwraps.
First post-sickness workout
Made it to the gym last night (finally!) and could really feel the time off and loss of strength. Especially in bench press. Good news is that I'm sure I can recover much of that fairly quickly compared to my initial growth, or at least I hope I can.
Bench:
135x10
225x10
245x7
Incline Press machine:
180x10x3
I did arms - curls and triceps extensions 3x10 - on a machine as well. Finished with some delts 3x10 doing shoulder raises in a machine. I think I'm going to continue doing arms on the machines for a while rather than dips and curls like I was before. Prior to getting sick I was trying to manage some pain in my left elbow that I'm quite certain was repetitive stress related. Rather than aggravate that I'll try to give it a bit of a break and hit my muscles in some different ways for a while. No pain today, and truthfully the prior pain was never bad, just enough that I knew it was time to let it rest or it would actually be painful & cause problems.
Finished the night with 20 minutes in the recumbent exercise bike. Of everything I did last night, the biking is what I'm feeling the most. A bit of soreness in the hips from it. Managed to work most of that out while mowing the lawn earlier today, but I can certainly tell I took two weeks off from going to the gym.
Bench:
135x10
225x10
245x7
Incline Press machine:
180x10x3
I did arms - curls and triceps extensions 3x10 - on a machine as well. Finished with some delts 3x10 doing shoulder raises in a machine. I think I'm going to continue doing arms on the machines for a while rather than dips and curls like I was before. Prior to getting sick I was trying to manage some pain in my left elbow that I'm quite certain was repetitive stress related. Rather than aggravate that I'll try to give it a bit of a break and hit my muscles in some different ways for a while. No pain today, and truthfully the prior pain was never bad, just enough that I knew it was time to let it rest or it would actually be painful & cause problems.
Finished the night with 20 minutes in the recumbent exercise bike. Of everything I did last night, the biking is what I'm feeling the most. A bit of soreness in the hips from it. Managed to work most of that out while mowing the lawn earlier today, but I can certainly tell I took two weeks off from going to the gym.
The unexpected effect of time off
As I mentioned, I had some planned time off. A week for national conference and then a week of vacation. Sounds good right? Our denom meeting was indeed good - historic in fact. Made some new friends, got to hang out with Ed Stetzer for 3 days, and overall ate pretty healthy save for the 18oz. Prime Rib that Ed suggested I get (he's on Atkin's...I'm not...).
Left for vacation last Thursday. Had started feeling ill on Wednesday evening, and really quite poor on Thursday afternoon. Made it to Sioux Falls where my parents live with the idea to over night here and then on to Colorado!
Woke up Friday feeling worse yet, so decided to stay the day rather than press on. The rest of the family went and did fun things while I lounged around the house. In fact, I missed my brother proposing to his girlfriend at her surprise birthday party because I felt so bad (she said yes!). When the family got home I asked that someone take me to the hospital ER.
After being admitted and some nasty stuff I'll skip I got a CT scan of my abdomen. Shortly later and I'm diagnosed with a blocked small intestine. That leads to the most torturous 10 minutes of my life with a nurse trying to put a tube up my nose & down my throat. Imagine someone poking your gag reflex for 10 minutes. I could only get so empty. I think I saw bubble gum from 4th grade leave my body.
So I spent the weekend in the hospital, getting out Monday mid-afternoon. No solid food from Friday until Monday morning. Sunday they let me have a few cups of chicken broth. IV in my right elbow the whole time giving me a steady drip of sugar water to keep me going.
IV antibiotics (and now oral) seemed to remove whatever infection that had gotten into my bowels and shut everything down. Thankfully I didn't have to have surgery.
Only today (Wednesday) am I starting to feel good again. But it feels as if I have lost a lot of muscle and strength. Afraid of what my lifts are going to look like when I get back to the gym in a few day. Add to that a persistent cough from laying in a hospital bed for a few days and I know I'm going to really feel the pain.
But I'll get it all back and then some. I'm not giving up. I need to quit being so fat.
One side benefit of the whole medical nightmare is that my stomach shrunk considerably. I can only eat about 60% of what I could eat a week ago. So if I can make good choices, and not push that part back out I might start to make some real progress!
Left for vacation last Thursday. Had started feeling ill on Wednesday evening, and really quite poor on Thursday afternoon. Made it to Sioux Falls where my parents live with the idea to over night here and then on to Colorado!
Woke up Friday feeling worse yet, so decided to stay the day rather than press on. The rest of the family went and did fun things while I lounged around the house. In fact, I missed my brother proposing to his girlfriend at her surprise birthday party because I felt so bad (she said yes!). When the family got home I asked that someone take me to the hospital ER.
After being admitted and some nasty stuff I'll skip I got a CT scan of my abdomen. Shortly later and I'm diagnosed with a blocked small intestine. That leads to the most torturous 10 minutes of my life with a nurse trying to put a tube up my nose & down my throat. Imagine someone poking your gag reflex for 10 minutes. I could only get so empty. I think I saw bubble gum from 4th grade leave my body.
So I spent the weekend in the hospital, getting out Monday mid-afternoon. No solid food from Friday until Monday morning. Sunday they let me have a few cups of chicken broth. IV in my right elbow the whole time giving me a steady drip of sugar water to keep me going.
IV antibiotics (and now oral) seemed to remove whatever infection that had gotten into my bowels and shut everything down. Thankfully I didn't have to have surgery.
Only today (Wednesday) am I starting to feel good again. But it feels as if I have lost a lot of muscle and strength. Afraid of what my lifts are going to look like when I get back to the gym in a few day. Add to that a persistent cough from laying in a hospital bed for a few days and I know I'm going to really feel the pain.
But I'll get it all back and then some. I'm not giving up. I need to quit being so fat.
One side benefit of the whole medical nightmare is that my stomach shrunk considerably. I can only eat about 60% of what I could eat a week ago. So if I can make good choices, and not push that part back out I might start to make some real progress!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)