Starting Again and with My Wife!

Finished a workout. Checked my email and twitter and found someone had sent me the following quote! Right on time , noolmusic!

Pain is temporary. Quitting lasts forever. Lance Armstrong

And wonder of wonders my wife worked out with me. This is a wonder because I’ve asked her numerous times to work out with me in our near 20 year relationship and it has been a rare thing. Also, she actually asked me if she could work out with me about a week or so ago, maybe even two weeks ago and we just got to it. I’m looking forward to continuing this journey together. We started out with the introductory Turbulence Training workout for sedentary people.

 

Intro Level Workout Week 1 Day 1 Workout A
All of the exercises are done in superset or circuit fashion.
Warmup A) Lying Hip Extension 2×5
Warmup B) Kneeling Pushup 2×5
Warmup C) Stability Ball Leg Curl 2×5

1A) Lying Hip Extension 2×5
1B) Plank 2X15 secs

2A) Bodyweight Squat 2×10
2B) Bird Dog 2×5/side

3A) Kneeling Pushups 2×8
3B) Side Plank 2×5 secs / side

4A) Stick-ups 2×10
4B) Ab Curl-up 2×6

She did everything the same as me except the kneeling push-ups where she did 2×5. She did great! We followed this with Beginner Interval Workout A on our stationary bike w/ arm-pump handles.

Minute by Minute     Type     Perceived Intensity Level

1                                     Warm up                    3 out of 10

2                                     Warm up                   4 out of 10

3                                     Warm up                   4 out of 10

4                                     Warm up                   5 out of 10

5                                     Warm up                   5 out of 10

6                                        Hard                       8out of 10

7                                        East                       3 out of 10

8                                        Easy                        3 out of 10

9                                        Hard                         8 out of 10

10                                     Easy                           3 out of 10

11                                     Easy                           3 out of 10

12                                     Hard                           8 out of 10

13                                     Easy                           3 out of 10

14                                     Easy                           3 out of 10

15                                     Hard                           8 out of 10

16                                Cool Down                   3 out of 10

17                                Cool Down                    3 out of 10

18                                 Cool Down                   3 out of 10

19                                 Cool Down                  3 out of 10

20                                 Cool Down                  3 out of 10

Next workout is on Monday. Tomorrow and Sunday we’ll do some light exercise like walking for 30 minutes or so.

Informal Exercise

Spent the better part of an hour throwing the football w/ youngest sound while his older brother was at flag football practice. Then came home and cooked dinner. After that, I went for a 45 minute walk and stretched for about 15 minutes. My back and hamstrings were tight while walking. Took about 30-35 minutes to get loose. I took a long hot shower to loosen up my back. Just finished dinner, so I’m going to ice my knees and read.

Back on the Trail to Lose a Sixth Grader

Well after a three and a half month hiatus I finally worked out today. Back in July when I Finished Phase 1 of the Turbulence Training 6 Month Body Weight Workout, my knees were hurting something terrible. Just after finishing we went on vacation to the beach for a week and I did TT Hotel Room workouts while we were there even so. Going up and down the stairs in the house we rented was agony. Walking in the sand was tough. Walking in the surf was tougher. So I decided to take a week or two off and it turned into 3.5 months

I’ve also been battling a very funky mood. Well, let’s be honest, depression. I went to the doctor a couple of weeks ago. for a year I had been losing weight. This last time I had gained weight. But it took me another couple weeks to get up off the couch and do something. Exercise always makes me feel better mentally and physically. I don’t know why I would do next to nothing for months.

Anyway, I’m back to square one, at least as far as workouts go. I’m going to weigh myself tomorrow and take some new pictures to see how I’m doing on that front.

Here is today’s workout:

Intro Level Workout Week 1 Day 1 Workout A
All of the exercises are done in superset or circuit fashion.
Warmup A) Lying Hip Extension 2×5
Warmup B) Kneeling Pushup 2×5
Warmup C) Stability Ball Leg Curl 2×5

1A) Lying Hip Extension 2×5
1B) Plank 2X15 secs

2A) Bodyweight Squat 2×10
2B) Bird Dog 2×5/side

3A) Kneeling Pushups 2×8
3B) Side Plank 2×5 secs / side

4A) Stick-ups 2×10
4B) Ab Curl-up 2×6

Beginner Interval Workout A, full 20 minutes on stationary bike with arm pump handles. Total workout time was 45 minutes, 18 minutes on the Turbulence Training bodyweight exercises with a short break to move my stationary bike into position and get some H2O. Now I’m icing my knees like I did after every physical therapy session last fall after my arthroscopic knee surgery

The End of Phase One

HOORAY!!! I finished Phase 1!!! Now it’s time for the beach and a week of Turbulence Training hotel room workouts, stretching, maybe a little Combat Conditioning, walking on the beach and ocean swimming!!! I wasn’t even very sore from my last workout. Yesterday, I must admit that my knees felt swollen and as if someone had poured sand into my joints. Arthritis, old age, heavy weights and football make for touchy knees.

Y-Squat 3×10 reps
Close-grip Push-up 3×8 reps
Cross Crawl 3×10 reps per side
Stability Ball Hip Extension 3×12 reps
Stability Ball Jackknife 3×10 reps
Mountain Climber 3×10 reps per side
Wall Squat Hold 3×60 secs
Beginner Inverted Row 3×12 reps
Elevated Push-up 3×8 reps per side

I don’t have time for a lot of detail today. Suffice it say that I had a great workout. I feel good. Strength portion done in 23.5 minutes followed by 25 minutes on the stationary bike. Five minute warmup: 1 minute at 3/10, 2 minutes at 4/10, 2 minutes at 5/10 perceived intensity. Fifteen minutes of high intensity. I think I improved my pace but I’m pretty sure it was not 7/10 for the entire fifteen minutes more like 6.5/10. Cool down was five minutes at 3/10 intensity. Total workout time including a 3 minute break between strength and high intensity cardio 51.5 minutes. that’s 1.5 minutes off last time’s strength portion and a 2.5 minute reduction in time overall!!!!

Fitness on the Rise

I am so STOKED!!!! I’m almost done with Phase 1 of this plan! Workout B is no longer super dreadful! My cardiovascular system has caught up with this Turbulence Training workout. What a great feeling! I can feel deeper muscular activation and burn on the leg exercises especially. And I stuck to my schedule. I only took one day off since my last workout.

Step-up 3×12 per leg
Siff Squat 3×20
Off-set Push-ups 3×8 per side
Split Squat w/ Front Foot Elevated 3×10 per leg
Plank Arms on Stability Ball 3×20 seconds
Reverse Lunge 3×10 per leg
Assisted Chin-up 3×8
Stability Ball Roll-out 3×10
Stick-up 3×12
Bird Dog 3×5 per side

It was nice and cool outside where I do my first four exercises, 72°F. That’s really unusual for South Carolina in July. Steps ups used to have me huffing and puffing. I can get through them at a good pace much more easily now. Next time they are on my agenda it might be time to go to a higher step. Worth a try anyway.

I got a good rhythm going with my Siff squats. Good deep breathing, too. By the third circuit my calves were burning like mad. Off-set push-ups are just hard. I sprayed my elbows down with Biofreeze again before the workout. That helped. I did get a good pump in my chest and arms.

I got really deep with the split squats, lots of deep breathing. I was breathing hard after these but not nearly as breathless as when I started this program. By the second set of these of I was dripping wet with sweat despite the cool temperatures. The humidity is rather high, 71%, which might have prevented my sweat from evaporating. I got much deeper on these, too. My quads were really burning and my glutes were begging for mercy.

I’m staying higher up off the stability ball for the planks and getting good body extension which makes my abs work hard. This is a really great exercise. Your core muscles have to work extra hard to keep the ball from rolling all over the place. Reverse lunges are still tough, perhaps the toughest of the four leg exercises in this program for me. I got my knee all the way to the floor for all reps though. Talk about a burn, man oh man.

On my first set of chin-ups I did 4 full and 4 assisted. On the last two sets I only did 3 and 5. Still good work. I could feel my lats and biceps working over time. Even my hands and forearms ache a bit after this workout. Ache in that I can tell they were working in a good way, not bad pain. Rollouts are tough but they feel so good now. I really like this exercise. I’ll miss it in the next phase, but I’m sure it will come around again at some point.

Stick-ups and bird dogs. What can I say. By the time I get to these last two exercise my body is crying out for a break. But I focused hard and kept the energy pouring into my movements. I kept my arms and upper back tight to the wall for the full range of motion in the stick-ups. On the bird dogs, I focused on slow concentrated movement and holding for a few seconds at the top. I know this last exercise is really good for my back, it was prescribed to me by a physical therapist way back in 1997 when I tore my right glute deadlifting. If I had been doing it consistently all these years, my back problems would probably be substantially less than they are. Total time 39.5 minutes. That’s 30 seconds more than last time through this workout but not bad at all.

I followed the strength stuff up with Interval Workout B on the stationary bike. Started with a 5 minute warm up: 1 minute at 3/10 intensity, 2 minutes at 4/10 intensity, 2 minutes at 5/10 intensity. Then the real intervals 1 minute at 8.5/10 intensity followed by 1.5 minutes at 3/10 intensity. I did a total of 6 sprints with 5 active rest periods in between. Finished up with 5 minute cool down at 3/10 intensity. Total bike time 23.5 minutes. I had a 3.5 minute break in between the strength segment and the interval segment. Total workout time 66.5 minutes. I chopped about 1 minute off of last time. One more Phase 1 workout and then off to the beach and some Hotel Room style workouts

What Would Lance Armstrong Do?

I did the following Turbulence Training workout today, 20090707. I’m keeping to my schedule! I’ll have done 12 full workouts at 3 circuits each by Saturday 20090711. I’ll do some hotel room workouts the following week while at the beach.

Prisoner Squat 3×15 reps
Jumping Jacks 3×40 reps
Plank 3×45 seconds
Stability Ball Leg Curl 3×15 reps
Push-up 3×12 reps
Side plank 3×20 seconds per side
Sumo Squat 3×15 reps
Beginner Inverted Row 3×8 reps

As usual my knees were cranky on the first set of prisoner squats, but they felt better in the latter two circuits. Jumping jacks actually felt pretty good today. My fitness level is increasing and they didn’t feel to tough on my knees either.

I did my planks in the kneeling push-up position to make sure I got in the whole 45 seconds. The leg curls felt good and really got my hams burning. Push-ups were good. I sprayed my elbows w/ Biofreeze before I began my workout. I’m going to ice my elbows and knees once I’m done with this write up to ease the tendinitis I believe is flaring up in my elbows. I’m going to do my knees because I’ve been climbing the stairs at work more often than usual going between my floor and the lab on the next floor up.

I did the side planks on my knees. My core muscles are still feeling tight and thoroughly worked even now. I paid closer attention to foot position on my sumo squats and didn’t allow my knees to collapse inwards. I kept my knees tracking over my feet. I did my rows outside and focused on getting all the way up to the bar and extending down to a full hang. I need to focus more on squeezing at the top. Total time for strength portion 25 minutes. This was 5 minutes shorter than last time.

I did a 5 minute warm up: 1 minute at 3/10 intensity, 2 minutes at 4/10 intensity, 2 minutes at 5/10 intensity. Then the real intervals 2 minutes at 8/10 intensity followed by 2 minutes at 3/10 intensity. Repeated the sprints 4 more times with 3 low intensity sets in between. Total 10 minutes hard. Ended with 5 minute cool down at 3/10 intensity. Total interval time 28 minutes. Total workout time 53 minutes. This is much better than last time with th e14 minute break and 72 minutes total.

During those two minute sprints I really pushed myself. I kept thinking to myself “Lance Armstrong is nearly as old as I am and he’s riding the freaking Tour de France! Ride hard!” My other thought was of the epic Wimbledon final between Federer and Roddick in which they played 30 games in the fifth set! I can’t imagine playing tennis for four hours and eighteen minutes straight. And riding 3500 kilometers over a 23 day stretch is just crazy!

Oh, btw, I’m starting another 24 hour fast. I know some of my pitfalls for fasting now. I’ll avoid them and complete this fast. You can’t out train a bad diet!I also took two walking breaks today while at work.

Bad News Good News

This is a bad news good news type workout. I was standing up talking on the phone with my brother that is closest to me in age. I had earlier commented to my wife how good my back had been feeling, how good I was feeling in general. As I was talking to my brother I kinda’ bent at the waist a bit and got an immediate sharp pain in my lower back.

I have two herniated disks and a cracked vertebra in my lumbar region. I tried to keep moving yesterday, but the flare up of pain and tightness persisted. I didn’t even go to watch fireworks with the family. I took extra anti-inflammatory medicines and spent a good bit of time in my zero gravity chair.

This morning my back still didn’t feel right. I was scheduled to do a Turbulence Training bodyweight workout. I took things easy until this afternoon and took some anti-inflammatory medicine in the morning which I normally don’t do. My inclination was to not workout. But not working out will in the long run lead to decreased flexibility and core strength that I need. Plus I realized that this workout is focused on core strength and not the most strenuous of my 3 workouts. So I bucked up and got it done today 20090705. I’m finally on schedule this week to finish 4 weeks of Phase 1 workouts at the full 3 circuits per workout. We’ll be at the beach starting 7/11 so I’ll do hotel room workouts since I won’t have any of my equipment with me.

Y-Squat 3×10 reps
Close-grip Push-up 3×8 reps
Cross Crawl 3×10 reps per side
Stability Ball Hip Extension 3×12 reps
Stability Ball Jackknife 3×10 reps
Mountain Climber 3×10 reps per side
Wall Squat Hold 3×60 secs
Beginner Inverted Row 3×12 reps
Elevated Push-up 3×8 reps per side

You’re probably tired of hearing this by now, but my knees were creaky on my first set of y-squats. The close-grip push-ups are one of my favorite exercises. I had a little discomfort in my right should on the 3rd circuit though. I tried to squeeze my abs on the cross crawls w/o rounding my low back any.

I did really well with the hip extensions. I had my feet planted flat and solid on the ball and got good extension. I really focused on squeezing my abs while exhaling strongly when I pulled my knees in on the jackknifes. I kept my abs tight on the extensions. I braced my abs tightly for the mountain climbers, too. Got to protect that low back!

Wall squats were easier this time than last. I chalk it up to better overall conditioning. I really cranked through my rows and elevated push-ups. Serious upper body pump! I completed the strength section of my workout in 25 minutes. I shaved two minutes off last weeks time!

I followed that with high intensity cardio on our stationary bike. Again I think my fitness level is increasing as I seem to be riding at a faster pace. Five minute warmup: 1 minute at 3/10, 2 minutes at 4/10, 2 minutes at 5/10 perceived intensity. Fifteen minutes of high intensity. I think I improved my pace but I’m pretty sure it was not 7/10 for the entire fifteen minutes more like 6.5/10. Cool down was five minutes at 3/10 intensity. Total bike time 25 minutes. Total workout time 54 minutes.

That’s 5 minutes off last time! With the 2 minute reduction on the strength portion of the workout, this means that I took 3 minutes less in rest and changeover from between the strength and cardio portion! Great job if I do say so myself.

6 Month Bodyweight Plan Take 2 Phase 1 Day 17 Workout B

This was a great Turbulence Training workout! Much better than yesterday. Even the outdoor portion was good. It’s cool today, only 75°F and feels like 75°F due to the low dew point of 53°F and humidity of 46%. I actually felt good doing this work out which has been the bane of my Phase 1 workouts.

Step-up 3×12 per leg
Siff Squat 3×20
Off-set Push-ups 3×8 per side
Split Squat w/ Front Foot Elevated 3×10 per leg
Plank Arms on Stability Ball 3×20 seconds
Reverse Lunge 3×10 per leg
Assisted Chin-up 3×8
Stability Ball Roll-out 3×10
Stick-up 3×12
Bird Dog 3×5 per side

As usual my knees were a little creaky to begin with, but the step-ups quickly warmed them up. After the first few reps I was able to get in a good rhythm on the Siff squats. I really get in some good deep breathing on these, too. Those deep breaths continue with the push-ups. My chest and arms still feel pumped.

I was able to get a little deeper with my split squats than last time. Felt stronger than last time, too. Of course deep breathing continued. I really focused on the balance and being fully extended and straight on the plans with my arms on the ball. Really had my abs contracting strongly. I was able to get my knees all the way to the ground on almost all reps of my reverse lunges. That’s an improvement in strength and flexibility.

I started out all three sets of chin-ups by doing 3 full chins. I ‘m going to go for 4 reps next time. These were followed immediately with 5 assisted chins. I contracted my core strongly on the roll-outs. This is a much tougher exercise than it appears to be at first glance.

I watched a Craig Ballantyne video on shoulder mobility exercises. I’m glad I can do stick-ups through the full range of motion with everything properly pressed against the wall unlike some of his clients. The bird dogs felt better, too. I know they are really helping my low back stability. Total time for this portion of the workout 39 minutes. That’s two minutes better than last time!

I followed the strength stuff up with Interval Workout B on the stationary bike. Started with a 5 minute warm up: 1 minute at 3/10 intensity, 2 minutes at 4/10 intensity, 2 minutes at 5/10 intensity. Then the real intervals 1 minute at 8.5/10 intensity followed by 1.5 minutes at 3/10 intensity. I did a total of 6 sprints with 5 active rest periods in between. Finished up with 5 minute cool down at 3/10 intensity. Total workout time including the breaks 69 minutes. Last week was 67.5 minutes. I know my break in between the strength portion and intervals was too long, 6.3 minutes. I put away some of my equipment, got an H2O refill but then I stopped at the computer. BAD move. I’ll do better next time.

One bad note. I gave up my 24 hour fast last night. I ate dinner really late at night. I should not stay up late when fasting, it just increases my level of temptation. Also, it’s tough when the rest of the family has eaten and the food hasn’t been put away.

Exercising Discipline Pun Intended

I did the following Turbulence Training workout today 20090702 as three circuits. This was not such a good workout. I had to force myself to workout. It had been two days since my previous workout and I knew I needed to get it done. I just felt really sluggish. The thing that got me up and going was a commercial about bariatric surgery. I said to myself I’ll be damned if I lay around and get so obese that I have to have surgery.

I wonder how many people elect to have surgery when they could get it off with exercise and changes in eating habits? After the last season of The Biggest Loser, I believe anyone can do it with diet and exercise. Anyway, I was finally getting in a groove by the time the strength portion was over, then I had to wait for some rice to finish cooking before getting on the bike for intervals as my wife had to go out on an errand.

Prisoner Squat 3×15 reps
Jumping Jacks 3×40 reps
Plank 3×45 seconds
Stability Ball Leg Curl 3×15 reps
Push-up 3×12 reps
Side plank 3×20 seconds per side
Sumo Squat 3×15 reps
Beginner Inverted Row 3×8 reps

At first my knees were cranky with the prisoner squats, but they felt better in the latter two circuits. Jumping jacks are just the bane of my existence. I wonder why? They aren’t that hard, they do get my heart rate up though, which is a good thing.

I did my planks in the kneeling push-up position to make sure I got in the whole 45 seconds. The leg curls felt good and really got my hams burning. Push-ups were good. I got a good pump in my chest and triceps.

I did the side planks on my knees. I tried to start out both these and regular planks supporting my full body weight but my shoulders complained. So, I used the modified versions and got the full times on all. I could still feel my core muscles working like crazy and they are still tight now.

I need to really pay attention to foot position on my sumo squats. I also noticed my knees collapsing inwards which is really bad form and hard on the knees. I’ve got to keep my knees tracking over my feet. I did my rows outside and focused on getting all the way up to the bar and extending down to a full hang. I need to focus more on squeezing at the top. Total time for strength portion 30 minutes. This was 5 minutes longer than last time.

I did a 5 minute warm up: 1 minute at 3/10 intensity, 2 minutes at 4/10 intensity, 2 minutes at 5/10 intensity. Then the real intervals 2 minutes at 8/10 intensity followed by 2 minutes at 3/10 intensity. Repeated the sprints 4 more times with 3 low intensity sets in between. Total 10 minutes hard. Ended with 5 minute cool down at 3/10 intensity. Total interval time 28 minutes. BTW, 2 minute intervals are tough! I’ll take the shorter 1 minute intervals any day, which is why I guess Craig Ballantyne mixes it up in these programs.

Total workout time 72 minutes. Again, this is the wrong direction as far as time goes. I hope nothing interrupts me in between the strength portion and intervals again, my break today was a whopping 14 minutes. Also, I decided to do another 24 hour fast starting after lunch today.

Worked Out Despite Soreness and Tiredness

I did the following Turbulence Training workout today, 20090623, as three circuits. I was really sore from Saturday’s Workout B and swimming on Sunday. I thought the swimming and subsequent stretching would relieve my soreness. It did some in my upper body, but my thighs were still pretty sore.

Y-Squat 3×10 reps
Close-grip Push-up 3×8 reps
Cross Crawl 3×10 reps per side
Stability Ball Hip Extension 3×12 reps
Stability Ball Jackknife 3×10 reps
Mountain Climber 3×10 reps per side
Wall Squat Hold 3×60 secs
Beginner Inverted Row 3×12 reps
Elevated Push-up 3×8 reps per side

I got a little deeper in the Y-Squats. Also kept back straighter. I just love the close grip push-ups, I can crank ‘EM! The combo of Cross Crawls, SB Hip Ext., SB Jackknives and Mtn. Climbers really got my abs firing and tighenting up like crazy. They still feel tight even after my stationary bike session.

Wall squats were tough today! I guess the residual soreness from Saturday really made a difference on these which were easy for me when doing only 1 or 2 circuits. They were tough today even on the first circuit!

I did my rows and elevated push-ups outside. I did much better on my rows today than I did last Thursday in Workout A. The combination of the last two exercises gives me an awesome upper body pump. It’s like doing a super set of barbell rows and bench presses. Total time for strength portion of workout 27 minutes.

I took about an 8 minute break before doing high intensity cardio on the stationary bike. I got some water and a fan. I also went around and closed the blinds and turned on exterior lights, so I wasn’t just sitting on my butt relaxing. Five minute warmup: 1 minute at 3/10, 2 minutes at 4/10, 2 minutes at 5/10 perceived intensity. Fifteen minutes of high intensity. I think I improved my pace but I’m pretty sure it was not 7/10 for the entire fifteen minutes more like 6.5/10. Cool down was five minutes at 3/10 intensity. Total bike time 25 minutes. Total workout time 59 minutes.

Take away the extra 4 minutes in my break and that’s one minute over the time for my Workout C. That’s the wrong direction. I’m supposed to be going faster not slower!