Wed Nov 17

Last night, I went to be early .. which means I was up and at them at about 5:45 am. I checked my email, unsubscribed to a few "Healthy Living" e-newsletters that were really just looking to take my money, and I also read a few really good articles about lifting.

I did not consume a smoothie as I drove my kids in to school today - which left me rather uninspired to do my workout. My stomach actually growled through a round of planks this morning.

I did this workout:

Day 2: UPPER BODY
1A) 40 lb SB Push Ups (mix hand positions each set) 4 x 10 reps (last set drop sets)
1B) tire flips (12 flips per round x 4)
2A) Double KB Military Press Variation 4 x 5-8 reps (30 lb KBs)
2B) 1 Arm DB row 4 x 8-12 reps (50 lb DB)
3) KB Farmer Walk x 200 meters non stop (two 50 lb DB used)
4A) TRX face pulls 3 x 15
4B) abs: 3 x roll outs on green ball, 10 "mountain climbers" then 10 sec front planks.

My grip was spent after this workout. I was cranky and hungry.

I ate this:
Breakfast (After workout) roast beef with poached eggs. OJ and coffee to drink.

Snack: water to drink

Lunch: the usual tuna (tomato and basil) on lettuce greens. Almonds, prunes. Carrots and spinach dip today. (Not sure about the spinach dip, but it's gone, so w/e)

Dinner:turkey and veggies. Raw carrots and hummus. OJ to drink. Smoothie for dessert.


On my drive in, thought about why I didn't workout like this in HS and University. In the time I have been doing this, I have made some real progress on my shoulders and my overall fitness. Why didn't I do this when I was 20? I projected for a bit, blamed my coaches, my buddies.... but I know why I didn't do this training: I didn't know about it. The first time I was training like this was the Iranians at the Cabbagetown WC back in 1995. I saw them dancing on the mat before most wrestling sessions, and thought it was stupid. Then they handed my ass to me, repeatedly. All it was was bodyweight training. I found out this month, they were doing a "House of Strength" training, the Zoorkaneh type of stuff that has been working for eons in the Middle East.

I just didn't know.

I did a lot of running, but very little weight training. I think, as I look back, I used to do a lot of push ups at Mac and a lot more while at UNB after every training session, but that was it. I recall doing a lot more training as a part of sessions at UNB, but only running outside of that. Never training with weights.

Why not as much at Mac? Because I was a lot more interested in my social life than anything else. I was more interested in my friends (who also happened to be wrestlers, thank goodness) than just about anything else. Training was something we did at Wrestling practice, not really anywhere else. Such a lot of time, wasted. A shame, really.

Shrug my shoulders. Move on, man. Let's not turn this post into a pity party.

I feel awesome, today. I feel as if I am in good health, strong and able-bodied. Very few injuries plague me at the moment, and things are just going my way. My wife, my kids are healthy and happy, doing what they can to stay healthy and safe. Life is good. Taxes and bills are being paid on time, too. What else do you want?

What got me thinking about this was an interview between Craig Ballentyne and a nutritional doctor, of all things. A lot of talk about motivation and how trainers just shouldn't harass people into doing work they know they need to do. I'm like that. I knew I had to work out - at least I did rugby - through my 30's. I kinda am pissed that I let myself go as heavy as I did. I was struggling with a lot, though. The two hours I spent in the car every day on the commute was a big thing. But I'm pretty sure I'm doing with being unfit. Looking forward, I put together a to do list for the next month or so; lots of reading, lots of listening to interviews on my iPod, lots of "me centred" learning. What will the final outcome be? Dunno.

Oh, and a former flame has launched her blog to lose 100 pounds by the time she reaches 40. This will be her second time losing a significant amount of weight like that. Like me, she stopped workouts and went back to old habits after losing it all. Meh, I'm pretty sure that I'll keep this going for as long as I last; like 40 years, right?

During my time to research, watched this video on doing a roll out on an ball:



A few things learned here and there - which makes this an even better day.

I watched this one, too, but kinda not liking the "crunch" aspect of this one, althogh I can see the benefit of 'working da core, yo!"