Dec 1-6

 

I have to watch this before "tis the Season" begins. 

Ok, that was weird. Had to delete the first try at this post for the first time in a really, really long time. NOTE TO SELF: stop playing with the buttons on the top of the WYSISTG screen, Sir. 

Anyway, I'll put the summary of the week this way: Mornings were perfect, nights were occupied by the needs of being a dad or a husband ... or the needs of my employer to be a better worker bee. 

Morning sessions as follows

8-10 minutes mobility - cat/cow, baby pose, push ups, downward dog to cobra pose, WGS, 90/90, thread the needle and pigeon stretch. I'm just moving, just getting the body moving here. 

10-12 minutes of ab work - Swimming kicks, BJJ leg pummelling, putting on socks stretches and rotations, scorpion stretch, dead bugs, hydrant stretches, hollow ab hold, clamshell and reverse clamshell stretches ... and push ups. 

10-12 minutes of 50 lb db floor presses, banded bicep curls, banded overhead presses, standing hip CARS, 8-10 bodyweight squats

Nov 24 to 30

 

This constant thrum of medium is getting to me, but at least it is medium and not stop. Got morning sessions done every day this week, as well as three or four evening sessions as well. I closed my rings three times and got awfully close at least two more times this week.

Just kept moving at work, had to stand a lot at work and then Sunday ... slept the whole day, except for driving to a small gathering where I had to be a dad. I did get the morning stretch in, just later in the day.

Shut down a few things in the Apple Watch in order to preserve the battery and that seemed to help the battery get it's groove back. I had to use the Polar system for a morning session this week as the watch died overnight 

Ankle and hip are back working as before November had it's way with them. It's all good and I'm going to be changing up my lunches this December to try and get my nutrition working for me. What's that line about being unable to out train a bad diet ... something like that. 

Morning sessions as follows

8-10 minutes mobility - cat/cow, baby pose, push ups, downward dog to cobra pose, WGS, 90/90, thread the needle and pigeon stretch. I'm just moving, just keeping the body moving here. 

10-12 minutes of ab work - Swimming kicks, BJJ leg pummelling, putting on socks stretches and rotations, scorpion stretch, dead bugs, hydrant stretches, hollow ab hold, clamshell and reverse clamshell stretches ... and push ups. 

10-12 minutes of 35 lb db floor presses, banded bicep curls, banded overhead presses, standing hip CARS

The swims in the evening were both 35 minute plus epic sagas, I must tell you. They were both the usual brest stroke and arms only front crawl for the most part. I did get back to using the fins on Saturday. always a bit of silly fun when we take those out. 

Nov 17 to 23

 

A week like the others, with a bit more of a "Ohmylawd" kind of twist. The ankle kept taking the fun out of everything, so I went to get it looked at. Got two ideas back, followed up with strong anti-inflammatories. That did the trick. Yeah, I know what that means. 

As a result, not a lot of walking this week, no hiking, just two swims. I enjoyed the swims, but need to make them more often. Also got some really stupid news from the tax people here in Canada. Why they keep looking back at tax returns from years ago, I'll never be sure. So it goes. Money still makes me blue.

I got two swims in this week, needed a third, but did a garage stretch instead. Also, why did I put my hand up to help with PD at the end of the month? I'm sitting here, just a shaking my head, dude.

Anyway, I've got that, marking and prepping two new things going on at the moment. Lots of grunt work and lots of brain sucking at the moment. I know what I need to get done and we will do it. 

At least the morning schedule is staying the pace:

8-10 minutes mobility - cat/cow, baby pose, push ups, downward dog to cobra pose, WGS, 90/90, thread the needle and pigeon stretch. Push ups. Doing this as a "flow", find it a good way to start this.

10-12 minutes of ab work - Swimming kicks, BJJ leg pummelling, putting on socks stretches and rotations, scorpion stretch, dead bugs, hydrant stretches, hollow ab hold, clamshell and reverse clamshell stretches ... and push ups. 

10-12 minutes of 35 lb db floor presses, banded bicep curls, banded overhead presses, standing hip CARS

I have the 50 lb dbs just out of reach on the garage floor, but might be shifting to those shortly. 

Nov 3 to 16

 

Wasn't watching this one this week. Just a good intro

I'm sorry loyal readers - a week got away from me there. Shrug. I'm here now, so let's catch up.

I'll start with the good - morning sessions continue without interruption. I'll say that it varies between 20 and 40 minutes of the workout below. 

The bad is that in the evenings, not sure what is happening, but only a few evening training session and that was a 30 minute swim. A persistent cough and working in a petri dish maybe. A bit of snow interfered with hiking, biking and kayaking, but I should have gotten into the garage more. I did do some evening stretching/mobility, but not a lot. 

And the weird is that I have had a few troubles breathing these days and a lot of oddly timed naps. I got home one afternoon from being a driver at 4:30pm, laying down for a nap. I woke up at 9 pm - a four hour nap. I did manage to get back to sleep for an night at 11, to sleep in almost to 7 am the next day.  I actually injured my ankle the other day while sleeping - went to bed feeling fine after a day of work, woke up with an inflamed ankle and trouble putting weight on it. A sprain from sleeping. Like I said, weird. 

A lot of rest, not a lot of physical exercise. I've taken to drinking a lot more water and Advil when needed.

In any case, I've kept this morning routine:

8-10 minutes mobility - cat/cow, baby pose, push ups, downward dog, WGS, 90/90, thread the needle and pigeon stretch 

10-12 minutes of ab work - Swimming kicks, BJJ leg pummelling, putting on socks stretches and rotations, scorpion stretch, dead bugs, hydrant stretches hollow ab hold, clamshell and reverse clamshell stretches ... and push ups. 

10-12 minutes of 35 lb db floor presses, banded bicep curls, banded overhead presses, standing hip CARS 

Oct 27 to Nov 2

 

I want to say congrats to the Toronto Blue Jays on winning their last game, but that would be false. They lost Game Seven of the World Series last night and ...I was both happy and sad for the end of the baseball season. This last week or so, I had to stay home in the evenings to be able to watch the games, not even considering that I should be training the garage. I did rearrange the garage and now have a more helpful space, just cluttered until the bulk pick up.

With this more open concept, I'm hoping that I can train a bit more and do some wrestling with Chuck, my BJJ dummy. I want to point out that the Hip People said I could wrestle as long as "I wasn't dumb" and I intend to at least put that to a pain free test. Or at least that is the plan. 

I also got informed by my iPhone that my VO2 Max was 18. Man, that is awful and it is also my fault. I need to put fixes to that quickly. 

Anyway, I got the morning sessions done every day this week. Here are the sessions:

8-10 minutes mobility - cat/cow, baby pose, push ups, downward dog, WGS, 90/90, thread the needle and pigeon stretch 

10-12 minutes of ab work - Swimming kicks, BJJ leg pummelling, putting on socks stretches and rotations, scorpion stretch, dead bugs, hydrant stretches hollow ab hold, clamshell and reverse clamshell stretches ... and push ups. 

15-20 minutes of cobra bicep curls, lateral DB raises, banded bicep curls, banded overhead presses, KB swings, standing hip CARS 

If I won't do anything that actually stresses my heart and lungs, for whatever stupid reason, at least I can get my mobility work done every morning. 

Oct 20 to 26

 

Buddy just sent this to me. All good. 

Nothing much here, some old, same old. Like copy and paste, but with a bit more sweat.

The week was crazy in the evenings - PD and stuff I need to do to stay married was the priority. All good. I got the PD done and I'm still married. More of that this week coming up. At least the Blue Jays are in the Series and are tied at 1 as I write this. 

8-10 minutes mobility - cat/cow, baby pose, push ups, downward dog, WGS, 90/90, thread the needle and pigeon stretch 

10-12 minutes of ab work - Swimming kicks, BJJ leg pummelling, putting on socks stretches and rotations, scorpion stretch, dead bugs, hydrant stretches hollow ab hold, clamshell and reverse clamshell stretches ... and push ups. 

15-20 minutes of cobra bicep curls, lateral DB raises, banded bicep curls, banded overhead presses, KB swings, standing hip CARS 

Oct 12 to 19

 

IYKYK

Not a bad week - completed the rings three times so far and had a good week at work as well. I got within 100 of whatever units the red ring is measured in of closing all the rings on another day as well. I mean for fitness, it was kind of boring - yoga and swimming only, but at least the sessions got done. 

I did have the hip appointment and they stated that if I told them I was going back to play rugby, they wouldn't do the hip replacement. I am paraphrasing, but they also said that Wrestling/BJJ was ok, just don't be stupid. I also posed a risk for infection as I was a bigger person and needed to lose weight. 

I think that is their go-to response to everything, but I digress.

Yeah, so swims in the evenings were boring, so I try to keep them under 35 minutes and try to not think while I'm there in the pool. Enjoying the feelings of water and the counting of tile. Its funny that I am also reading Age is Just a Number by Dara Torres this week. She's a 40+ year old Olympic swimmer for the US. Of course it's the US, but whatever. I'm glad I have my life and her life was hers. Still she is a good swimmer. Said something that I recall typing on this very blog about swimming in a 50 m pool. I usually do my swim sessions in a 25 m pool and there are real differences between those two types of pools. I feel like I am flying in a 25 m pool and in a 50 m pool I am barely able to move. Swimming in the longer pools is like swimming in the Walmart parking lot. 

Yeah, that's about right. 

Anyway, here is the pool workout I did three times this week:

100 m breststroke

300 m. arms only freestyle

100 m. breststroke

200 - 500 m freestyle

That last set is me working on my cardio and trying to just get my Move Ring closed. I didn't want any injury, nor did I want anything to pop, crunch or crinkle. Head-in, steady and straight on until the Apple Watch let's me know to stop. 

The morning sessions have had some added KB, as the mean hip people need me to lose weight:

8-10 minutes mobility - cat/cow, baby pose, push ups, downward dog, WGS, 90/90, thread the needle and pigeon stretch 

10-12 minutes of ab work - Swimming kicks, BJJ leg pummelling, putting on socks stretches and rotations, scorpion stretch, dead bugs, hydrant stretches hollow ab hold, clamshell and reverse clamshell stretches ... and push ups. 

15-20 minutes of cobra bicep curls, lateral DB raises, banded bicep curls, banded overhead presses, KB swings, standing hip CARS with Jeremy, the PVC pipe.