If sweat was money, I’d be a millionaire

Over the past few weeks I have been hard at work adjusting and refining my workouts. I have also been extraordinarily busy at work putting in extra time on various tasks. It’s been awesome and exciting and super busy.

I modified my workouts to go into deeper strength training mode so my daily workouts look a little different now. Here is what my week entails:

Monday: Chest and Triceps
Tuesday: Back and Biceps
Wednesday: Abs and Legs
Thursday: Shoulder and Chest
Friday: Back and Biceps
Saturday: Shoulders and Triceps

The workouts have been good and I am feeling stronger. I have found that it is good to vary workouts and this particular variation is intensely focused on building strength. I will write blog posts about each workout to provide some insight.

Today’s workout was Chest and Triceps. It’s very interesting that according to my Garmin watch I burned 859 calories with 120 Intensity minutes. That is incredible as compared to the previous workouts where I was getting around 500 calories and 60 -70 intensity minutes. If I do strength training well, by all measures the intensity is increasing.

My warmup consisted up a 500 meter row and a series of chest stretches with bands.

I started with Bench press working from 135 pounds up to 265 pounds and back down. I feel as though I will be hitting 275 pounds very soon on my way to 300 pounds. As before, I take about 2 minutes in between sets.

I followed this up with Skull crushers using the 12-10-8-6-24 method I discussed previously. Very little break in between sets. At this point my heart rate was hitting 170 at times.

I then moved to incline bench press working from 95 to 135 pounds and back down. Pyramid style. Next was dumbbell kickbacks using the 12-10-8-6-24 method followed by 3 sets of dumbbell flys with 40 pounds on each dumbbell.

I then performed 3 sets of 10 dips on the dip station followed by 34 straight pushups using my pushup handles focusing on good form and getting deep into the pushup. Next I did 2 minutes of sit ups using the ab mat Navy seal style.

Overall the workout was about 1 hour and 5 minutes with high paced walking in between each set to keep my heart rate high. There is no stagnant rest during my workout as I try to keep the intensity up.

These workouts are a nice change of pace and I really feel like I am burning calories throughout the day with a great feeling that I accomplished something. I do get sore and have to watch for cramps so I drink pickle juice and eat bananas and apples throughout the day. I am slowly working myself into better nutritional habits. I do not believe in drastic change too fast as I haven’t found that to be sustainable for me. I try to focus on 1% better every day and not do too much at one time. This seems to work better for me with a focus on consistency, discipline, and mindset.

Have a good day everyone!

Fantastic Friday! PULL

Today is pull Friday. Every week incorporates push movements and pull movements as well as legs and cardio. The focus today are on exercises that require pulling motion.

I started with a 500M row to warm-up my body. Rowing does a good job with warmup because the entire body is engaged. After that I did some walking to get energized and get in the rate state of mind. I often have to deliberately work on my mind to get in the proper mindset for have a good workout. I visualize my workout. I also have a board where I write the movements for the day so I can progress and glance up and see what is next.

I started with a deadlift working from 120 – 280 pounds with my trap bar (I refer to it as a hex bar also). This is a pyramid style. Next is hex bar shoulder shrugs for 4 sets of 12 at 170 pounds. Next I moved to hex bar rows with 140 pounds for 4 sets.

After that, I do a superset between good mornings and farmers carry. A superset is when I do the exercises back-to-back with no break. I did a total of 4 rounds. Good mornings is for the lower back and I used 185 pounds. I use the hex bar for farmers carry and I used 140 pounds this morning. For farmers carry I had a path I use in my driveway and it comes to about 70 steps. This one gets my heart rate up pretty good.

Next I did 12-10-8-6-24 reps dumbbell curl working from 50 pounds up to 80 pounds. After that I did upright row for shoulders with the dumbbells using 60 pounds. This is followed by 21’s which is where I do a half curl and hold with my left arm and curl 7 times with my right arm and switch to where I hold my right arm half way and curl 7 times with my left. I repeat this 3 times for a total of 21 reps on each arm. My biceps burn pretty good for this one.

Next I did pullups. I did a band assist today so I can get more reps. Sometimes I’ll go without band assist and sometimes I will use band assist. I can only do 3 – 5 pull ups without band assist and it has taken a long time to get there. Eventually I will get to 10 or more but will take some time and hard work. After that, I finish with 60 hammer curls with dumbbells. In between exercises and sets I do a combination of rowing and/or walking to keep my heart rate up throughout. There is no sitting to recover. Everything I do is active recovery.

Overall, it was a good workout that took an hour and thirteen minutes total. Have a good weekend everyone.

Sprint Thursday

Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday are my cardio days. Recently I have been reading about the benefits of sprinting vs. jogging longer distances. Honestly, my neighbor inspired me as well as I see him doing sprinting workouts in the morning. I haven’t really done these types of workouts before so I thought I would give it a try.

I warmed up with a 1/2 mile jog to get the blood flowing and get my muscles warmed up. Sprinting with cold muscles is not good with a risk of injury so a good warmup is needed. Next I started to perform sprints for about 30 – 45 seconds and about a minute or little more of rest. I repeated this for a total of 25 minutes. I think around 20 minutes is probably adequate but this time counted my warmup.

I will say that I really feel it. I’ve read that you activate your fast twitch muscles and sprinting is much better than jogging for building muscle and burning fat. In face, I’ve read that you will burn fat longer throughout the day with a sprinting workout because of the high level of recovery needed.

After my sprint workout I performed some leg stretches with bands. Then I did 2 rounds of 100 triceps presses and 60 hammer curls with 15 pound dumbbells. I then did two minutes of sit ups with an ab mat.

Overall I think I really liked this workout. I feel I can accomplish more in a shorter amount of time. It is a high intensity workout and I got pretty winded at times. I plan to do sprinting workouts primarily on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday each week and may incorporate a fast pace walk after sprinting in the future. I will see how it goes and if it helps my running ability over time. Stay Tunded!

Leg Day

Today (Wednesday) is leg day. I performed my full hip routine with bands first. You can search for my previous blog posts describing this if you would like to learn more.

I next performed squats working up to 225 pounds followed by Romanian Deadlifts for hamstrings. Next I did 4 rounds of hamstring curls. I then did a superset of 24 walking lunges and 45 calf raises for 3 rounds.

Once that was done, about 57 minutes, I walked 1.10 miles with a 20 pound weight vest at a fast pace. Good overall workout, nothing special to report.

Tuesday – Cardio – Row

Instead of a run today I decided to row. I have a Concept 2 rower and receive an email with a workout so on days I row I usually follow the workout they send me. Today it was a tabata routine on the rower. Interesting workout.

If you are not familiar with Tabata, it is a Japanese developed workout claiming to provide maximum gains in short amount of time. It is a High Intensity Interval Training method. I will do this periodically with strength training. Here is a link if you would like to understand it a little better: https://www.sportportactive.com/blogs/blog/the-origin-of-tabata-a-revolutionary-training-method

Today was 8 sets of 20 seconds on and 10 seconds off. During the 20 seconds I must go as hard as possible. On a rower it’s not about speed it’s about power as you will learn if you study rowing techniques. After a complete 8 sets there is a 4 minute break which I rowed at a slow pace. I repeated this for a total of 3 full rounds. Total workout time was 20 minutes but I was feeling it. Good workout.

Monday Push

Monday was a push day and I did my normal routine. I started with a 500 meter row to warm up. I worked bench press up to 255 pounds again. I think it will be a while before I am ready to go to 265 although I am probably getting close. Patience is a virtue and I have to remind myself that it is not a race.

I moved on to shoulder press with dumbbells in a 12-10-8-6-24 routine. This is a routine I learned a long time ago in a book called Body for Life. It basically works off of levels. Level 1 is the easiest and level 10 is barely being able to do a rep. The idea is to find your individual levels. It starts for 12 reps at level 5, 10 reps at level 6, 8 reps at level 7, 6 reps at level 5, and 12 reps at level 6 followed by 12 reps again at level 5. The idea is that by the time you are done you should be feeling pretty depleted. I started at 50 pounds level 5, 60 pounds level 6, 70 pounds level 7, and 80 pounds level 8 followed by 24 consecutive reps at 50 pounds. Very little rest in between sets, no more than 30 seconds. If you are not use to it you may need to rest longer in between sets until you build muscle endurance. If I can still go a few more reps I should do that. It’s a good way to see where you are and adjust accordingly.

Next I did skull crushers with a 12-10-8-6-24 routine using the bar and my bench. I then did 4 sets of incline bench press. Incline is weaker for me so I did 135 pounds. Next I performed Dumbbell kickbacks with a 12-10-8-6-24 routine. After that I did a superset routine of 20 pushups, 10 dips on dip station, and 40 cable crunches. I completed 3 rounds of this.

In between every set I walk on my driveway when there are rest periods and in between every exercise I performed a 200 meter row pushing pretty good.

Overall not a bad workout, no HiiT routines this week.

Back it at – Pull Day

I took a rest day yesterday. I do this when my body tells me too and it was so worth it. I saw a podcast a while back with Danica Patrick. She is big time into fitness and she talked about how she has learned the importance of rest days. At one point she was working out so much that her progress was suffering. The body adapts and needs time to strengthen and build. Anyway, I do take 2 or 3 rest days a week and try not to overwork fitness.

I also listen to my body during workouts. I am 60 years old so I do want to make sure I am being careful not to get injured. I push but really try and tune in to my body to see how hard I can go.

Today I did a 500M row warmup followed by deadlifts with a hex bar also known as a trap bar. I have one similar to this https://amzn.to/3N3dgSw. This has helped my be in a better position with deadlifts. I also use it for shoulder shrugs and bent over row after deadlifts. Both are pulling exercises. I then moved to good mornings upping my weight again this week followed by farmers carry. I am working up farmers carry to be my bodyweight so will be uppin gthe weight over the next few weeks. I am a believer in farmers carry as a great strength tool. By the way, I use the hex bar for that as well.

Today I did not do a HiiT routine like the past few weeks and I focused on strength. I did a routine for dumbbell curls, pull ups, 21’s, reverse fly with heavy dumbbells and 70 hammer curls. The workout overall was about 1 hour and 10 minutes. It was good and I am continuing to feel stronger.

Discipline keeps me going! Have a great day everyone!

Searching for Positivity

This morning was challenging. I cannot explain it but felt down and tired. It was difficult to get moving. I completed my normal Wednesday leg routine. Positive moment: I actually did it which is better than not doing it.

I started by rowing 500 meters to warm up. I then moved to hip work with bands. The bands I use are here: https://amzn.to/47IeA6D. The first set is to tie the bands just above both knees. I use two bands and try and tie it pretty tight. I then perform 100 reps opening my legs against the resistance. It takes just about 2 minutes in total as I try and do them slow. I next remove the bands and place a ball between my knees. The ball I use is here: https://amzn.to/3XUXmzP. I then perform 100 reps pressing my knees against the ball. Again it takes about 2 minutes total. I target 2 minutes as this is slow enough to get a good rep.

After that, I move to my exercise bike and site backwards. The seat is high enough to get my feet off the floor which is needed for this exercise. I tie the same two bands across my ankles and place the ball between my knees. I perform 100 reps pulling my ankles apart which takes about 2 minutes total.

I then use a resistance band attached to the bottom of my weight bench. These are the bands I have: https://amzn.to/3TJ7xF0. I use the purple one for this particular exercise. I put my left in the band and swing my leg out against the resistance for 100 reps. I repeat the same with my right leg. I then do the same thing with left and right legs only this time I swing from front to back for 100 reps each.

I thank attach an ankle stripe band like the one here: https://amzn.to/3XBM02l. I bend my knees so that I am close to a sitting position and walk side-to-side for 7 steps to the right and 7 steps to the left for a total of 14. I repeat this 7 times giving me 98 total reps. My legs are burning pretty good from this.

Next I get on the squat rack and work up from 135 pounds to 255 pounds and back down. I go as deep as I can. I use an old school squat belt for back stability like this: https://amzn.to/3XBM02l.

Once squats were done, I performed a 20 minute AMRAP (as many rounds as possible) of 400M run, 10 Romanian Deadlift for hamstrings with 135 pounds, 24 walking lunges with no weight, and 45 calf raises on a step with no weight. For the calf raises, I do 15 with toes pointed in almost touch each other, 15 with toes pointed straight, and 15 with toes pointed out. This hits all part of my calf muscles. I was able to perform 3 total rounds.

After that, I put on a 20 pound weight vest and walked for 1.10 miles at a fast pace. Overall, I got the workout done but had a very difficult time getting through it and my intensity was really lacking. I had 72 intensity minutes which is lower than normal.

The positive of all of this is that I did it. Way better for both my physical and mental health than not doing it. I always encourage people to do the best they can even if circumstances are not ideal. I had to take my own advice today and am glad I got it done. Have a great day everyone.

I hear a Train

I love Johnny Cash. One of my favorite movies is “Walk the Line”. My son and I use to watch it a lot. I still watch it again from time to time. Johnny Cash has a great story. He had many obstacles to overcome and got some help along the way.

This morning I was listening to a remade version of the song “Folsom Prison Blues” by Cody Parks and the Dirty South. I really like the work of Cody and his team. What he does is mix metal, rock, and country and it turns out great. The name if the song by Cody is “Thunder Cash 69” and it mixes some Rob Zombie in there. It’s worth a listen.

Today is Tuesday and I am going to recap both Monday and Tuesday. I didn’t get a chance to write a post yesterday (translation – I forgot). The workout yesterday started with a 500M row to warm-up and did some chest stretches with bands. Next I did bench press pyramid style. I worked up from 135 pounds to 255 pounds and back down.

Next I did shoulder press with dumbbells working up from 25 each to 40 each. This was a 12-10-8-6-24 routine. I then used the same pattern for skull crushers working from 55 pounds to 85 pounds on the straight bar. I then did 4 sets of DB fly from the ground with 35 pound dumbbells. Next I did dumbbell kickbacks starting at 25 working to 40 pounds in a 12-10-8-6-24 routine.

I then did three rounds of 200M row followed by 20 push ups, 10 dips, and 50 cable crunch. Overall very good workout with 107 intensity minutes.

Today I did a run/walk workout for about 45 minutes followed by leg stretching, 2 rounds of 100 DB triceps press and 60 DB hammer curls. I finished with 2 minutes of sit ups and I was able to complete 70. Today was 100 intensity minutes so I am at 207 intensity minutes for the week by Tuesday morning which is great. Remember that Garmin sets my weekly goal to 150 by default but I modified it and now my weekly goal is 300 intensity minutes.

Short post today but will be adding more this week. Have a great day everyone!

Friday – Pull

Another rough night of sleep. Challenging this morning but got after it. It started with a 500M row. I next moved to deadlifts pyramid style. I worked up from 120 pounds to 330 pounds and back down. I had to dig deep on this one. Pretty soon I need to get those skinny 45 pounds weight plates I’ve been talking about so I can go after 400+ pounds. I will get there.

Next I did four sets of hex bar shoulder shrugs with 170 pounds followed by four sets of hex bar rows with 140 pounds. Increased weight on the hex bar row from 120 to 140 pounds this week. Getting some aggression out.

I moved on to supersets of good mornings for lower back with 185 pounds and farmers carry with 140 pounds. Both are increases of weight. I did four sets of these and I won’t lie, there were times I was yelling in the garage pushing through.

I then moved to a 20 minute AMRAP of 400M run followed by max pull ups and 60 reps of hammer curls with 15 pounds. On the pull ups I focused on looking up to get my chest to the bar. I completed three full rounds. Overall a good workout and really allowed me to refocus on mental fitness. Have a great day!