Thursday Oct 31

Tonight's going to be crazy - and tomorrow is a rest day... I was pretty sore waking up today. I didn't want to train today, but got it done anyway. The facepalm moment for today was when I didn't have a t-shirt for training and had to borrow a Lakehead University sweat shirt from the gym owner. What ever it takes, right?

I got this done for five rounds before having to go and be a grown up:

da bells

10 double kb clean and presses (35lb bells used)
10 kb rows (50 lb bells used)
50 feet farmers walk, 50 lb bells used
20 step ups with knee hike

It doesn't read like much, but I'm pretty sore after that work out. It might just be the build up from the week, or it might be just that workout. Not sure.

I also had some difficulty falling asleep last night - which isn't like me when I'm training like this. Meh - After I go out with my kids tonight, I'm going to bed.

Wed Oct 30

Pic not from today's workout; 

I miss this gym

Yeah, I was pretty sore after drudging up that session from the barnacles of my Macbook yesterday. Seriously ... who knew my gastrocs could get sore after how many years of rugby ...

In any case, I really hadn't planned on doing anything major today, so I did this for 8 rounds, timed by my Gymboss timer ... first time really using it outside of my garage ... so I had to think about the safty of the thing.

Eight rounds of:
20 minutes of punching -jabs mostly with some hooks and uppercuts. I even got some kicks in, too.
40 seconds of pushing a yoga ball into the wall with my chest

after I was done that I got this done for three rounds:
20 two handed kb swings
10 kb cleans each side

A nice no prep workout.

Tuesday Oct 29

Had to get this one done early to take my wife out for dinner ....

And so, I went back to an old school session, I brought back from the depths of my hard drive:

10 TRX bodyweight rows
20 feet up push ups
20 kb swings (50 lb bell used)
40 feet of lunges
20 step ups
10 hanging knee tucks -with some straight leg lifts tried out.
10 bicep curls
10 triceps extensions

Saturday, Sunday and Monday Oct 28

So ... Saturday and Sunday were washouts.

Saturday was crappy and rainy and I was run off my feet in taking four 11 year olds to go and see Quidditch being played at McMaster. Yes, the made up game in Happy Potter. I got home and crashed for the night, although I cleaned my house a little before bed.

It's amazing how quickly your day fills when you have nothing ont he schedule, then suddenly someone finds out that you're available. That was my Sunday. Five hours of fiddling with someone's computer to get something to work ... in the end, I ran out of time.

Monday, at least I got my training done after meetings.

Tried out a new treadmill - one which didn't quite work for me the way it was intended, but still my legs were hurting a few hours afterwards.

Walkign uphill on this treadmill for 20 minutes with various levels of resistance was pretty cool.

Then, two rounds of:
20 kb swings
10 cleans each side
10 snatches each side

Then I had to go and be a grown up.

Thursday and Friday Oct 25

Ok ... Thursday ... let me think back to yesterday ...

That carpet and that paint do not match ...

I was at Totally Fit and I lifted stuff ... I'm just kdding ... I got this done four rounds before having to go be a grown up

20 kb swings with 50 lb bell
10 kb cleans with 35 kb bell
10 kb snatches with the 35 lb bell
50 feet farmers walk with 50 lb kb bell in each hand
20 feet up push ups
25 seated knee tucks

Not a bad little workout ... I felt a good sore afterwards.

On Friday I was back at Totally Fit ... and this time I think I got an unreal thing done...

...but that's not why I'm training there.

6-8 deadlifts ... maxed out at 230 lbs ... again ... a max deadlift for me ... let's see how my stomach reacts to that ...
20 kb swings with a 50 lb bell
20 feet up push ups
10 kb one arm rows with the 50 lb bell

A really good after training effect with the endorphins, man ... I felt as if I were floating as I walked around later. Seriously good stuff.

I'm almost ashamed to admit that those deadlifts were a PR for me. It's a fairly light weight, but my training bars at home literally aren't long enough for me to put anymore of the cement filled vinyl 25 pound discs I own. Meh, as I mentioned, I felt freaking awesome after the workout.

Sunday, Monday and Tuesday Oct 22

Sunday was a rest day - well, a "rest" day, shall we say. I was running all over the place with children and trying not to feel like living death. I did stretch a little, but felt a crap load better after a shower.

Monday was a work day, although I did manage to get this done for three rounds before going to bed almost on time:

20 kb swings
10 kb cleans each side
10 kb snatches
10 bodyweight Split squats with the back leg up - each side
20 step ups
10 seated knee tucks

After work, I also got to my SurfFit class, too. That was an awesome cardio/bodyweight class.

Tuesday I needed to keep it light ... but I didn't. I go this done four rounds before I had to go and be responsible:

6-8 deadlifts - I think I maxed out at 110 lbs ... basically nothing on the bar.
20 kb swings -40 lb bell used
10 kb cleans each side

quick and straight forward. I liked it.

Thursday, Friday and Saturday Oct 19

Thursday was supposed to be a rugby day ... but I started fighting something inside my lungs. That, and I fell asleep on my mats in my garage at about 7:45pm. It was so quiet and dark. I couldn't hear my kids crying or anything ... and I seriously nodded off.

I did get to training after it was done to pay for my banquet ticket and purchase a club tie, though.

Friday was a nutso day, but at least I got some stretching done after the kids were in bed and I had a chance to clear my mind while on some mats. I also did some work on my Nanowrimo novel, too.

Saturday might have been a rugby day, but everyone in my family is suffering though the hacking cough that is going through Burlington at the moment. I stayed home from that and from a boxing clinic I signed up for a while ago. Instead I took my kids to a health food store and got stuff to clean out the lungs and to promote healthy breathing. I felt a lot better in the afternoon, though.

I got this done after the kids went to bed for three rounds:

20 kb two handed swings
10 kb cleans each side
10 kb snatches each side
20 step ups to high knee each side
4-8 sand bag cleans (new sand bag is about 80 pounds!)
20 seated knee tucks

Not a bad little work out - felt awesome afterwards. I even got a chance to watch Canada Rugby lose to Argentina in an ARC Championship game legally streamed online tonight. Way cool.

Wed Oct 16

Today was a weird one ... at least I got my workout in at Totally Fit.

Got this done four rounds before having to go back to the grindstone:

20 two handed kb swings (varied KB weight, finished with 35-40 lb bells)
10 kb cleans
10 kb snatches
20 feet up push ups
50 foot farmers walk (60 lb bells)
10 hanging knee tucks

All in all, not a bad workout - was kind of put down that the gym will be closed for a week while the only guy who works there goes away. Kind of impressed with my choice, too. I mean at LA Fitness, they wouldn't shut down if a hurricane came by and swooped me away. At least here I know the guy who owns it and can talk to him.

Tuesday Oct 15

Well, today was a new beginning ... or rather me attempting to bend the rules to my advantage.

Yeah, I think the second of those is closer to the truth.

I'm taking the time allotted to me and using it to improve myself and going to a local gym "Totally Fit" and doing some training. I need to find and print off a few of my workouts that I used to have in my garage and get them ready to take with me, but I got this done in time to get back to work today:

Warm up with a roller ... a real roller, not a medicine ball ... it was nice to have that done. The some warm up drills with a light kettlebell, just to get the heart pumping.

three rounds of:
10 double kb clean and jerks (35 kb used)
15 bench flies (35 lb used)
8-10 sand bag clean and squat ... it felt like 40 lb
15 hanging knee tucks (alternating with hanging L sits)

I got that done and then did two rounds of:
10 one legged lunges
15 feet up push ups

then ... got back to it.

Saturday, Sunday and Monday Oct 15

Saturday was a driving day ... also a clean up day. Got rid of most of my kids and took the youngest to gymnastics ... which didn't last too long. Then drove for three hours. Yeah, needed some mobility stretches after that one.

Sunday was a move canoes day. Which ... sounds easier than it was. Lifting those suckers up a hill was a drag. Oh, and the oars, too. Then, another drive.

Monday was a hosting my family at my house day. I did get to show off my gym, which was nice. I did not get a chance to use it. My job was to keep the kids out of the house for four hours while my wife finished the preparations. Still, I did get some nice walks and got to play with my kids. They are a fun bunch of munchkins. I'm blessed.

Wed - Friday Oct 11

Wednesday was a rest day - I should have taken it, but I did.

Thursday should have been a training day, but I forgot it was a birthday - my eldest turned 11. It is an idea that is just hitting me. Strange to think that I am a responsible adult.

Friday was a "sit around and mope day" - I had a presentation to do at work and I wasn't really ready for it. Meh - there was lots of "help" from the crowd and I knew my stuff. Too bad one or two just kept asking the boss questions about my presentation.

However, after I got my son off to bed and everyone else occupied, I felt like playing in the gym. I couldn't bring in my tunes, nor use anything that would make noise. Kettlebells, barbells and body weight training it was.

I warmed up rather well as I knew I was going to do something stupid.

I have six kettlebells between 20 and 50 pounds, so I did two circuits of five single sided clean and jerks for each bell.

5 clean and jerks 20lbs (both sides)
5 c&j 25lbs each side
5 c&j 30
you get the idea ... yeah, later on, I'm feeling both of these rounds in my shoulders

then I did five rounds of:
8-10 squats with 50, 100, 150 lbs on the bar depending on the round....
20 seated knee tucks between each set of squats.

Tuesday Oct 8

I will confess that I was sore today - legs were just a ball of pulled muscles, man.

I did this for three rounds before having to go be a father:

20 kb two handed swing and releases (50 lb bell used)
10 Kb cleans
10 kb snatches
20 feet up push ups
15 bench flies
10 hanging knee tucks

Monday Oct 7

Felt a lot better after going to bed early.

Monday night, I got back on the board despite being sore from Sunday's run.

Meh, it was a something I just had to do.

Warm up (I was sweating in less than ten minutes)
Two or three rounds of:

step ups to BW squats
crunches
prone to knee crunch to kick back
lunge squats

....four or five other body weight positions...

Warm down...

Awesome pic:

Wedneday Oct 3-Sun Oct 6

Well, I didn't get out for a run these days, even though I'm telling myself and others that I will be running this winter. I keep making promises to myself and not keeping them.

I did meet with two guys who run training businesses near my work so I can get some training in on my lunch hours until the end of January - I'll make a decision Monday at the latest.

I did get some training in on Thursday and one other day, but it's not enough. I'm doing the same sort of "pick five" training sessions. That is "Pick five exercises and do them for three or four rounds" ... but ... going through the motions and getting some results is not good enough.

How do I know this?

Well, Sunday was the Run for the Cure, a 5k event in Burlington. I ran with a bunch of my rugby clubmates ... and was shocked at my own poor level of physical preparedness. I will point out that it wasn't my cardio vascular fitness that was lacking - it was the rest of my body. That is to say my heart and lungs weren't the problem, it was a lot of everything else.

My hips and legs were hurting before the run - I got a free five minute massage and the student doing it even commented on the tightness in my hamstrings, ITB band and hip flexors. I mean, I knew they were bad - I just hadn't realized just how bad they were. Midway through the run, I wasn't gliding along as I'm used to - every stride was short and painful. I fought with my legs and hips to keep moving. To my dismay, I also discovered that the UnderArmor compression shorts I was wearing had holes and my thighs were going to be chafed to all hell.

You know, the morning after as I sit and write this, is the horrible realization of just how bad I've let things go. I'm going to be looking at what I've been doing - training wise, but diet too - and I'm pretty sure I know what went wrong. Not enough running, a diet that went off the rails a while ago and letting too much stress build up.

Now ... time for some solutions.

Tuesday Oct 1

Ugh. October.

Anyway, at least September is done. I heard today that my position at eLearning is ending in January. Meh - lots of exciting things coming at me.

I got home from work and decided that rather than taking a nap, I'd charge ahead and get a workout done.

I got this done for three rounds before having to pack it in to go and be a dad.

20 step ups with a leg left at the top
20 Kb two handed swings and releases (40 lb bell used throughout)
10 kb snatches each side
15 bench flies - 40 lb dbs used
10 hanging knee tucks

I felt pretty good afterwards.

Sept 30

Went back to SurfFit tonight.
 I was asked how I liked it, and I answered that I did.  I was looking for something so totally different from rugby at the moment and surfing for fitness is it.

 This night was the regular instructor and I liked elements of this week and elements of last week. The class went like this:
 warm ups
ab work

some pilates on the board
some yoga on the board cruches (which I could do with some modification)
step ups step ups to body weight squats
 close grip slooooow push ups - which my shoulders minded a lot.
pilates moves warm down / stretch

 Did I sweat? Oh yeah. I was wet by the end.

 I really do like the body weight ideas of this class.

I really do need to stretch a lot more when I get home after this, though. My hips and quads, my hips especially, were hurting after. Nothing to do with the class, more to do with the character that was playing rugby behind me last two weeks.

Tuesday Sept 24 to Sunday Sept 29

Nothing. I'm still adjusting to a lot of things, and am finding time to myself hard. I had to miss the Tough Mudder as I was still sore from what ever the hell is making me sore. At least I made up my mind to fix this situation with a different box of crayons.