I had no horse.

It honor of Big Brown’s loss at the Belmont, I officially ran out of steam.

I started out with Norwegian Man Makers – 20 Swings at the top of the minute, followed by a minute on the ski machine. I had intended to do 15 sets of this. At the third set I realized that yesterday’s workout was a pretty good one and my arms were fairly fatigued. At the sixth set I was feeling a tightness in my back. I took a minute off to roll around to stretch my back and crack just about every vertebrae in my back. I finished out four more sets of swings without the ski machine and hopped on the bike for the remainder of my time. It was grueling, but I finished it out soaking wet – unloading a UPS truck in summer type soaking (Speaking of Big Brown).

Today’s workout:

Swings, Ski and Bike

24kg 6x 10/10, alternating with a minute on the Ski machine
24kg 4x 10/10
Bike @35 minutes

51:23 - Duration
701 - Calories
30% - Fat
167 bpm - Max heart rate
96% - % of max
141 bpm - Average heart rate
81% - % of max:

11:04 - Hard Zone
35:50 - Medium Zone
4:29 - Light Zone
161 - Heart Zone Training Points

24 - 60 second recovery

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The Busy Man’s Workout.

I tried something like this last week and I loved it. It’s not your fat burn zone or cardio workouts. In fact it is not intense at all. But by its very nature I actually spend less time huffing and puffing in the gym/basement. I managed what I consider an incredible work load last week, and even today I can tell that my muscles have been adequately fatigued. What did I do?
I did a new set every hour on the hour. Today it was about 2.5 minutes for every set. Five sets took me a total of 12.5 minutes. I did 5 ladders of 4 rungs, long cycle clean and presses (lccp), which means a clean before every press. That’s 24kg; 1 x 1/1, 2/2, 3/3, 4/4 at the top of every hour for five hours.

Last weekend I did five sets of:
53kg 5/5 push presses,
24kg 5/5 clean and press,
16 kg clean and press, and
24kg 5/5 rows.

Each set on the top of the hour.

Something a little different.

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Decisions, Decisions

I had two great and hard (though undocumented) workouts so far this week. Yesterday I was wondering where was I sore and which workout was it from. Today’s emphasis should have been a grind, but I decided to go with a ballistic to flush out my legs. Monday I did 32 Kg swings for the first time and I was still feeling the after burn.

Today’s workout:

Swings and Bike

24kg 5x 10/10
Bike 5 minutes
24kg 5x 10/10
Bike 5 minutes
24kg 4x 10/10; feeling fatigued
Bike 5 minutes
16kg 1x 10/10/10/10/10/10/10/10 (The equivalent of 4 straight sets continuous, not top of the minute.) Wow. I can remember when I started and three sets of double swings made me want to hurl.
Bike 5 minutes


0:41:49 - Duration
615 - Calories
40% - Fat
176 bpm - Max heart rate
101% - % of max (Hooorah)
147 bpm - Average heart rate
84% - % of max

16:48 - Hard Zone
24:03 - Medium Zone
00:58 - Light Zone
141 - Heart Zone Training Points

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Slaying the Dragon.

I don’t know about slaying, but I definitely battled one of my dragons today – Kaitlyn’s school district. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX It’s very trying. Very draining.

The point is, though, that we all have our ‘Dragons.’ Galen with his rehab. Swami with his ‘motivational issues.’ Whatever. These demons are enough to bowl us under and they have many names: complacency, immediate gratification, fatigue, time constraints, denial, gluttony, ambivalence, physical limitations, the Green Bay Packers, and Lite Beer. I could go on and on.

What I’m trying to get at is this: We are each of us a Hero. That’s what the banner says anyway. And I like being a Hero, a Hero for Kaitlyn. (If you knew the whole story, you’d say, “Wow. She’s come a long way.” And she has. There’s still a slew of ‘Dragon’s yet to slay. But I’m going to keep at it. I’ve got time, a little meanness, and a whole lot of stubborn on my side.) But as Heroes, we’ve got to watch each other’s backs too. Prop each other up and cheer each other on. I’m talking about commitment and accountability brother. (The crowd roars.)

I correctly predicted that this blog was dead. Summer’s starting to show its ugly (and busy) mug, and I’d rather be grilling than typing at a computer. Well, it’s time to beat this horse some more. I’m not sure what’s going to help Swami motivate. (Maybe if he started posting some of those great articles he e-mails.) Galan is ready to start a new 5x5 program once he gets the doctors approval. Me? I’ve gained a ton and am close to my original weight. It’s a combination of lack of accountability, gluttony, and weight training without the added cardio work that keeps me in the dreaded ‘Fat Burn Zone.’

What d’ ya say boys? (One cricket chirps softly in the background.)

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Road Warrior

I was in Milwaukee the past two days for work. I usually drive since it would probably be the same amount of time as flying with the additional hassle factors. So, I packed my gym. I brought Svetlana the 16Kg kettlebell. I don’t usually like to use the hamster equipment that hotels usually stock. But I liked this. It was like having the breakfast of Champions Monday and Tuesday mornings...IRON.

Monday:
10 minutes of single handed swings at the top of the minute: 10 x 10/10

Tuesday

5 minutes of snatches 15:15 (15 seconds of work, 15 seconds of rest): 5 x 7/7
Rows 3 x 10/10
Military Presses 3 x 5/5

Not my most intense workouts but sufficient. Enough to get the heart pumping.

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2 weeks out

Well I'm two weeks out now and I think I'm doing pretty good. I can walk mostly normal. In the morning, things are a little stiffer all around, but the swelling from the previous day is gone and its not long before I'm loose.

Workouts and PT are going well. I'll try to be good about posting, but it feels like I'm posting the same workout over and over. I really don't plan to change much either until I think my right leg is nearly as strong as my left. Everything else can wait and take a back seat right now, and I don't have the time to extend my workouts beyond an hour, nor do I really want to. Its spring outside, I don't want to be locked up in a gym.

I really gave myself a good test this weekend. Saturday I did my normal routine at Snap:

1 Legged Raises @ 12 lbs. * 20
1 Legged Raises @ 17 lbs. * 20
1 Legged Hamstring Curls @ 45 lbs. * 20
1 Legged Sitting Squats @ 80 lbs. * 20
Full Squats @ 90 lbs. of weight plus bar on the Smith Machine * 20
Calf Raises @ 70 lbs. * 20
30 Minutes on the bike at Level 10, 8 miles, 300 calories (round figures)

After the workout I fertilized the yard with the push spreader. Even did the hills from the front of the house to the back without any real difficulty. I did have to watch my step a little more carefully though.

Sunday I really worked myself. I was in the garage almost all day cleaning, sweeping, installing another shelf for more totes, up and down the ladder a bunch of times. It felt great. I was soo tempted to take the cover off the bike, but I resisted. I actually took the advice of my PT Sunday and iced my knee Sunday night. It did swell quite of bit from all the activity, but there was never any pain and the swelling was gone the next morning.

I've gained back some of my muscle in the right leg, I think I have more than ever in the left, and put back most of the weight I lost after the injury. The home scale in the birthday suit reads 177 lbs (182 at Snap with my gear). 19% body fat (Don't know how accurate, but consistent with this scale before/after surgery). I am usually about 17% body fat on this scale. My BMI ranges between 20-22 which is the low normal range. The body fat reading is in the high normal to low obese range on my scale.

I do have more bodyfat than before I broke my leg, I can see/feel that. With the weight loss, I didn't really care as much what I ate, probably more comfort foods. Now that I'm getting close to my target weight of 185 lbs again, I'll start watching my diet closer again. At some point, I'm going to want to get back into lifting with my upper body again and doing situps, etc. I enjoy that more than legs, but I'm resisting those urges for now, because I really want to stay focused on my legs. I know once I start, my legs won't get the same attention. I also know the closer to full strength my leg gets, the less attention I will think it needs, so I'm staying focused for now. There is still a lot of healing going on, evidensed by the swelling and fluid that continues to build each day.

I might get one more post in this week, we'll see.

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