Friday and Saturday Dec 17

From the archives... I miss this, but I don't miss this.

Friday was a typical Friday. Tons of stuff I was trying to get done at work instead of making the effort to get to a workout.

At least Friday night a storm hit and I had the gym's pool all to myself. A half hour walk and a hot tub after was pretty cool. Sorry, no pics of my feet in the hot tub at this time.

Saturday was a typical Saturday around here. Up early and working from home. Then running around after my kids for the day. I got this done for four rounds with heavier kettlebells each time:

20 H2H swings
20 kb cleans
20 kb clean and presses
20 snatches
20 step ups
20 bicep curls
20 bodyweight squats
20 push ups

Don't need a lot of stuff to get that workout done. I did weigh in Saturday morning, but it was so light and I had so many difficulties with getting the actual number that I don't think it was a right number. If it is ... whoa, that was cool. But it was so good, that I wonder about the scale.

Yup, it's that kind of week. Even if I get awesome news, I wonder if it's true.

Wednesday and Thursday Dec 15

Wednesday I was trying to catch up on my work. I'm behind. I'll have to just burn through what I got inside my head to make sure I get things done before the break.

I got a stretching session done in the morning with my coffee in hand. Kinda nice, gives me time to get things organized inside my head as to what is pressing for the day.

This is my hot tub. There are many like it, but this one is mine.

The evening, I was supposed to get a training session done, but I was needed at home. I had to chase a little boy around until he fell asleep.

Thursday I knew I had to do something, so I got this done as quickly as I could for four rounds:

20 h2h kb swings
20 kb cleans
20 kb clean and presses
20 kb snatches
10 body weight bicep curls
15 push ups
20 bw squats

After that I got to get into the pool for a half hour water walk. It was nice and peaceful with only one other person in the pool area. Caaaaaaaaaaalllllllllllmmmmmmmmm.

Monday and Tuesday Dec 13

Monday was a good start to the week.

A nice stiff walk in the pool with a good stretching session in the morning. It's starting to get rather chilly in there in the morning, but so far I'm ok. Had a little help getting into the lower stretches with my stretching buddy, too. My youngest is always ready to try and use his weight to "help me" get into a lower stretch in the morning.

Tuesday was a train at home day.

I had to get this done as soon as I got home from work, as I had about fifty other things to do, including fighting off this ... infection? ... whatever it is that is settling into my lungs.

I got this done five rounds and then nearly hacked up a lung

20 H2H kb swings
20 kb cleans
20 kb clean and presses
20 kb snatches
20 step ups
20 bicep curls
15 push ups

Not a bad workout; I did the heart rate monitoring thing too. It's kinda cool to watch that HR go up as I start to lose my breath.

Sunday Dec 11

So ... I'm going to begin again.

Not because I want to do something cool, like wrestle in the 2017 GR Nationals. Not because I want my rugby club to win promotion - although either of those things would be awesome ... no, this time I'm training because I need to get myself ready for some surgery.

Not too many details, here, but I need to cut about 50 more pounds off of my body.

Yeah, that's not going to happen with just walking. You and I both know that.

To that end, I did some meal prep for the week today - got some chicken for dinners and vegetables all chopped up for my lunches ready to go.

Made sure that I shared my vision for nutrition with my wife and she's on board. We actually went by ourselves to do the grocery shopping yesterday. That hasn't happened in 15 years. I like the growing independence of my children. We got the start of the week handled so far.

On Sunday, I got a chance to train with my son in the room. We were safe, although watching the lawn get covered in snow was a drag. I knew it was coming, it's just sad it's here.

Got this done for five rounds

20 hand 2 hand kb switches
20 kb cleans
20 kb cleans and presses
20 snatches
20 step ups
20 bicep curls
15 push ups

Not a bad workout. At this point, I'm just happy to be training. I need to step this up and get this taken care of. I want to get this done and get back to rugby as quickly as I can.

I can't run; at least not yet. Until then I'm going to be doing these CrossFit type sessions most days.

Saturday Dec 10

Well, I got back at it today. Kind of regretting wasting all that time in November, to be frank.

I got this done for 26 minutes:

1:50 of throwing punches at my WaveMaster stand
1 minute of 16 kilo kettlebell cleans

It was not a bad workout. Kind of a shame it took me this long to get back into training in my own piece of heaven.

Wednesday, Thursday and Friday Dec 9

I fought a cold these three days and I won. Sore throat, lots of goo in the nose ... but I now have access to a sauna/steam bath and so I have something to poke the bugs with now.

Clearly, this was Thursday night

Wednesday I got to do my usual session at EPC. Seriously, once a week training, and I actually wonder why I'm not cutting as much weight off of my body as I should.

I'm an idiot.

At least the session was a good one; I like the training there. Afterwards, my wife and I got into the pool and went for a walk. Then .... steeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaammmmmmm.

Thursday I was at the lowest against this cold, but I persevered. I did get another water walk in, almost a regular thing now. Not quite enough to get the weight off, but enough to keep it from getting worse.

Friday .... same thing. Except there were a lot more people in the pool area, and a real couple of pieces of work. Little kids without supervision reflect the true nature of humanity. We are a bunch of self-centered idiots. And parents ... who sit at the side of the pool while their kids are complete idiots in the pool ... are not my favourite thing on the planet after this night.

We usually sit in the hot tub after a nice walk in the pool; yeah, not tonight. We got out of there as quickly as we could.

Sunday, Monday and Tuesday Dec 6

Sunday was a wash - literally. Spent the day cleaning and doing laundry in a five person house. Ugh, not great, but it got done. I did go for a swim later on in the day, and that went ok.

Monday was a bit better; got a walk in around my neighbourhood and saw the lights. Not too cold, either.

Tuesday was a wash, but a different type of wash. I went and got myself elected to my rugby club's Board of Directors again. Had to get up and make a speech. No training, not even an early morning roll. Eesh, not good.

Friday and Saturday Dec 3

Friday I had to get a fair amount of work done before leaving, so I did not get a training session in at work. I will be aiming for two training sessions a week at work and at least two more during the week during the evenings.

In speaking to my wife, she'd also like us to be able to include a focus on breakfast between now and the new year. So ... I'm adding that to what I do in for week prep for lunches and dinner. I am that busy, it's so sad.

Friday I did get a water walk in, with my wife. Was awesome. Nice date night, too. A good decent session in the pool together where we get to talk and think about stuff together without a certain six-year-old making a scramble of the conversation.

Saturday was me chasing the boy around the house. I did get some swinging in during the day, but cleaning for most of it.

Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday Dec 1

Here's a photo of the All Blacks unpacking nearly 3 tons of their own gear to check-in at the airport in Rome. They do it themselves, just like they sweep the shed after every game themselves. Humble and proud. We love rugby 🏉✊🏼

A photo posted by Big Hit Rugby (@bighitrugby) on Nov 13, 2016 at 6:07pm PST

Yeah, yeah ... I know I know. I'm supposed to be posting here more often, I get it.

In any case I did a training session on Tuesday and Thursday in the school weight room.

20 H2H kb swings
20 kb cleans
20 kb clean and presses
20 kb snatches
15 push ups
15 bw squats

All three days I got either a walk done outside or a walk done at the pool.

The pool walks ... man. Sweet.

Sunday and Monday Nov 28

Sunday was a double walking day.

I still haven't hit my recommended steps, haven't hit that number for as long as I've gotten the NikeFuel app on my iPhone. Yet. Man, this sucks.

In any case, my knees were not doing so well, but I got the walks in - one by myself and the other with my wife late at night.

Both were nice.

Monday ... Monday I was just disappointed in myself. I guess I have to take a look at what I am not logging here - food and apathy are more apparent.

It's a training blog without any training. How awful is that?

I'm sore. I'm trying to do "Prehab" ... that is get my body ready for some surgery ... and I'm just not doing a good enough job.

I have to do better. I have to get myself better.

 

Thursday, Friday and Saturday Nov 26

Thursday and Friday were weird days for me.

Thursday was the better of the two, as I had a fairly regular schedule; people around me were just off the wall. Meh, all good. I did get a walk in the pool in later on in the day.

Friday was weirder in that I had to go and be a student for the day - and there is always way too much coffee for everyone. My kids got dropped off to me and there was no food in the house. It was not a good scene. I made it through a generous use of my freezer and an incredible imagination.

I did also get a walk in the pool later on in the day, too. And yam fries.

Saturday ... ugh, Saturday. I cleaned the house; did laundry and did everything but vacuum. Even got Christmas lights up. Just nothing "athletic". It's kinda sad, really.

Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday Nov 23

All of these days are blending into one another.

Seriously.

I'm glad they come with numbers, as I just don't recall very much of the individual days. In any case, Each day I got to start off with a stretching session in my garage gym. Usually, about ten to fifteen minutes, as I'm having a real problem getting to bed on time and waking up after two or more pushes of the snooze button.

Yeah, I think that is the real issue these days.

In any case, I'm also walking in the evenings. Monday and Tuesday I did a walk in my neighbourhood, Wednesday I got to walk in the pool. I love walking in the pool.

Friday, Saturday and Sunday Nov 20

Ironman for 2016!

Friday I got my usual date night in with my wife - a pool walk to end the week.

Friday morning was a bit rough, so I skipped the stretching and just got to work.

Saturday was a bit of a cool thing all around. I had a big fancy AGM for the region I attended as I'm on the Board there. My position wasn't up for election, so I reported and just kinda sat there for the day. Which I'm totally cool with. I also got a chance to chat with people and make some inroads for my club. I also got a chance to think and figure out what I want to do next year, too.

That night was the banquet for my club. Seriously, I was just happy to be going and to be out without my kids making themselves very busy. I had a nice meal, ran the slide show ... which was a panic in and of itself... and then I won the Ironman Award for being basically most consistent at training and games this season.

I .... I was pretty honoured with the award, let me tell you. This was something unexpected, to be frank.

Sunday I had to chase my kid around and did get a chance to stretch a little at the end of the day.

Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday Nov 17

Tuesday and Wednesdays were copies of each other. Light stretching in the morning and then a decent walk in the pool at night.

Of course, Wednesday I got my own training/mobility session done. Seriously ... man.

I know this wasn't going to last.... and Thursday it didn't.

It takes a fair amount of time to drive to the gym to walk in the pool, and I had a crap tonne of stuff to do. So we walked at home in the evenings.

All good.

Monday Nov 14

Meh, Mondays

I used to think that having the Mondays was an excuse to just eat badly. I'm working on that, as I am working on the whole fitness/wellness thing.

I did not get up early and stretch today. I did get a walk in later on in the day, though. I got home and had intended to go and shave and relax in a sauna, but did not.

Instead, I got home from the walk and got into my kettlebells and did four rounds of this:

20 hand to hand swings
10 cleans
10 clean and presses
20 step ups
10 push ups

In the first round was with the 30, second round with the 40 last round with the 50 lb bell. Oh, I also did 2 minutes of double KB cleans and presses with the 12-kilo bells. That was pretty cool

Man, it was nice to use the HR monitor again. Pretty sweet to watch it go up and down during the session.

After, I did some stretching and rolling. Not much, though.

Friday, Saturday and Sunday Nov 13

Thank you kindly

Friday was a real disruption to my week, but it was something that we as Canadians need to remember about.

I did get a walk on dry land and in the water at the pool at my club. It was a nice sauna and shave after. I really need to make sure i have a sharp razor in my bag. Eesh, it was like shaving with a spoon.

Saturday I'm getting up early to do some work and didn't get time to train. It's habit. It is a habit that I need to change.

Sunday was the same. Up early, following my regular routine and didn't get a training session in. I did get a walk completed in the evening.

Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday Nov 10

So ... Tuesday. Tuesday was the same as Monday.

Honestly, I like being able to say that. It's habits that get us, get us to where we need to be.

Tuesday I was able to get myself out of bed and do a light session with my kettlebells before 7am. I got to work, did everything there to the best of my ability and came home and held my son and daughters for as long as they would let me.

At the end of the day, I took my wife on a nice easy walk for about 25 minutes.

Wednesday was a disruptive day and I did my best. I did get a pretty good session done in the evening at EPC. In addition, I got my wife out for a short walk.

Thursday was back to the light kettlebell training in the morning then off to a walk in the evening.

Saturday and Sunday and Monday Nov 7th

Saturday ... was a working day. I also got a chance to chase my kid around the world. I did also earn 1291 Nike+ Fuel ... I have no idea what that actually means, but I won them.

I got the app working on my iPhone. Woo to me.

The 50. She heavy.

Sunday was a double walking day for me. Walked with my middle kid in the afternoon, just around the neighbourhood for a short time. Later on I walked with my wife, too. Lots of stretching, I think.

Yeah, I tried.

Monday I did something in the morning ... I got this done for three rounds:

20 kb swings
10 kb cleans
10 kb cleans and presses

First round was with the 30 lb bell, second round with the 40 and the last round was with the 50 lb bell.

Coffee was had between rounds.

Yummy.

Wednesday, Thursday and Friday Nov 4

Wednesday was the usual stretch in the morning and a lifting session in the evening. I'm glad I'm making those a priority. These days, I seem to be coming last a lot.

Thursday and Friday were both stretch in the mornings and walk at night kind of nights. Thursday was in the pool at Cedar Springs ... what a nice little evening that was.

Sunday and Monday and Tuesday Nov 2

These were ok days.

I had to care for my youngest all day Saturday and Sunday - which is totally ok, man.

Monday I got a rolling session done in the morning and a walk in the evening.

Tuesday ... I got a light kettlebell session done in the morning and I did a walk by myself at night. My eldest was going with her aunt to the Take Your Kids to Work Day thing.

Seems no one wants to go to a school on that day....

Thursday, Friday and Saturday Oct 29

All three of these days I got a stretching and rolling session done in the morning.

Friday I even got a light kettlebell session done in the early morning.

Nothing too fancy, like 10 minutes of just keeping the bell in my hands.

 All three of these days I also got a walk done in the evening.

 Woot

 

Monday and Tuesday and Wednesday Oct 26

I tried really hard for these days to get up just a smidge earlier than I have been. I've been thinking that the early morning is getting to be the choice of training time by default. I just have no other time of the day to work on my own stuff.

The only issue, of course, is the fact that stupid me needs to know all about Mean Obama Tweets at 11:30 pm. I kid you not, I caught myself watching Obama recite tweets about himself at a stupidly late hour this week.

Twice.

Ugh.

I did get a very quick rolling session in both Monday and Tuesday. I also did get a long walk done on Monday as well as a walk with my wife both days, too.

Wednesday I finally got back to mobility sessions with an awesome dude at EPC. Seriously it's been like a month and my everything was healed but needed to work on them.

After that, my wife texted me to take her to the pool for a nice long half hour walk. We got that done and then a nice sit in the hot tub to recover. Not a bad session, if I do say so myself.

Saturday and Sunday Oct 23

Saturday ... which should have been taking it easy time ... well, I had to go and do some work. And not the fun kind.

Ah well, I did get a lot of steps in when I got home and saw the place. I also got some of my own work done. Finally, I did get a walk done on Saturday night. A 1.5 km walk.

Sunday was the take it easy day. I did also get a stretching session in, along with a walk in.

Friday Oct 21

Frankly, I'd rather be playing rugby these days, but life is just not letting me.

It was an early stretch, followed up with an hour-long walk in the pool later on. I had a nice sit in the hot tub, too. Even got to shave. I did actually check weight, too. 255

Which, considering I had to get into the emergency department for this thing on my neck late Thursday, was quite a thing.

Ah, man.

I'd also like to say that I wanted to watch the Jays be playing in the World Series. Ah, man.

Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday Oct 20

All three days started with stretching for about ten minutes in the morning. I'd like to say that even though it's only ten minutes, I'm trying to think of times during the day that I can get more done. Early in the morning might look like it's the time for me moving forward.

 In any case, Tuesday I got home from a walk with my wife and did another 2.5 kilometres as a run / walk.

 Wednesday was unreal. I got home from work about 9 pm, but at least got a short walk in with my wife.

 Thursday was another gong show, but at least I got a kilometre walk in.

Pic from here

Monday Oct 17

Starting these weeks off properly is always key. I got a stretching and rolling session done in the early morning, then got off to work.

in the evening, I got a nice walk in with my wife. At the end of it, I sat and was stretching in my garage when I realised I felt awesome and needed to do something. So, I went for a walk/jog by myself.

Nothing fancy, but a nice session. Started with walking, then jogged for about 20 minutes, after a nice walk.

Friday, Saturday and Sunday Oct 16

Friday was date night. I'm enjoying these days. A nice chance to get out of the house with my wife and get some swimming done. We usually walk for about 30 minutes in the pool, then sit and watch the Jays game from the hot tub.

Seriously, how awesome is THAT?

Saturday I had to garden and take my youngest out for the afternoon. I chased and ran and lifted him for about 5 hours. I was just exhausted by Saturday night.

Sunday was not bad. I got a chance to sit, get a haircut and get some work done for myself.

All good.

Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday Oct 13

I'm coming down with something. Ugh.

In any case, I continued to miss training sessions this week, both my own and those of the rugby club. I just need to commit to my own fitness and health.

The stomach is getting a smidgen worse, by the way. Not fun.

At least I kept up my rolling and stretching in the morning. I'm also walking in the evenings, too. I might not be losing that much weight at the moment, but at least I'm not putting any back on.

Saturday and Sunday and Monday Oct 10

Both days, lots of cleaning and gardening to be done.

Saturday was the outside of the house, mowing and getting the outside of my house ready for winter. Seriously ... when I grow up and get my own place, I'm going to let someone else do this. Decent exercise, but aggravating when trying to get that done and looking after an opera singer like my 5-year-old.

Ah well, I got a nice meal out of my parents on Sunday and a nice meal out of my inlaws on Monday.

I did get a swim in on Saturday - but it was marred by kids screaming ... kids that we not my own, mind you. Ah well, life does go on.

Sunday and Monday I got a stretch in before getting an evening walk in. I have to keep that going, even though there was a chill in the air on Monday night.

On Sunday ... I did discover how to put audiobooks on the hard drive of my new vehicle. Oh my ... so now I don't have to have the novels on my iPhone at all. WOOOOOO!

Wed, Thursday and Friday

Wednesday should have been a training night at EPC, but I had to cancel and do another walk and rolling session.

It's not that I wanted to cancel, but I had to be a dad. At least I got to see how good my kids can swim, compared to other kids their ages.

Smooth.

At least I got home and got a walk in with my wife.

Thursday, same thing. No training, but a focus on eating better and keeping up a simple routine.

Friday was a break. A training session before the holiday weekend in Canada. Meh, I had a real interesting pot of coffee and lots of water. It actually did not help my stomach feel better, but at least the rest of my body appreciated the hydration.

Thursday and Friday I also got into the hot tub at Cedar Springs. That was totally cool.

Sunday, Monday and Tuesday Oct 4th

Yeah, not much going on other than morning stretching and rolling sessions. It was too rainy on Sunday to train outside, so I got a swim in with my family.

Monday, same thing. Stretch and rolling the morning, walk in the evening.

Tuesday .... was a photocopy. Stretch/ Roll and a walk.

Saturday October 1 ... and a pause for a shout out Zee Float

I haven't done a shout out for a while, nor have I gone for a float in a while. Since I got to a milestone number on my scale, so I had a chance to reward myself ... but not with food. After all, I'm not a dog, so I don't reward myself with food. Besides, I'm still on the journey to a goal weight and lots of fatty fast food would kind of get in the way.

So, I rewarded myself with a floating session at Zee Float on York St in Hamiton. I booked online and paid by credit card; that could not have been easier. Seriously.

My car would say "The door is ajar"

I book for 9pm on a Saturday night, mainly because I knew everyone in my house would be asleep or pretty close. It was a long week; heck, it was a long day and I knew this was going to relax the stress out of me.

I got there about 8:45 ... typically me. There was no one else in the place that I could see, except for Zach, He was a pretty cool dude, gave me the tour and let me go in a smidgen early. The room was ready to go - showers and a clean towel. Everything right in the same room that I could lock. Pretty standard stuff, but it really showed attention to detail. The shower was in the corner with the floor feeling like a fine grain sandpaper underfoot, excellent for not slipping.

I grabbed the pair of ear protectors and got in a closed the door behind me. When I opened my eyes I could see a trace of light around the door, but it disappeared in a few minutes. It was as dark as it needed to be - couldn't see my hand in front of my face. So quiet, so dark. Peaceful.

The last time I floated, I wrote about all this freaky stuff that I thought I saw. Well, I'm in a much darker headspace these days, so that really didn't happen in there this time. I did have about 50 conversations with my current issues and problems while in there. Gracefully I came to think of a few solutions. I did also stretch out and go through some range of motion stuff, especially with my hips, ankles, and shoulders.

Eventually, the voices in my head silenced themselves one by one and there I was, all alone in the dark. I'm pretty sure I fell asleep at that point, but it was what my body needed.

As Jean Vanier said, "Care for the body and the spirit arises". Well, then when I was done, I knelt and pushed the door open and heard the cool little musical number playing. I stood up and stepped onto the sandpaper-like floor and smiled. My hamstrings, shoulders, and ankles were pain free. My quads, which had twitched a little in the water, felt like goo when I got into the shower. The shampoo smelled like oranges and was there to help my skin recover from the salty goodness.

On my life, I've never even thought of drinking anything called kabushka before tonight. It was on offer after the float in a cool little post-float room, and it was tasty. It helped the drive home be a little more pleasant.

All in all, I'll say with confidence that I'll be going back for another floating experience at Zee Float. I can't say I figured out all the issues I'm ever going to have tonight, but my legs feel better and I gained some clarity on some issues. And if I can gain clarity doing anything, whatever that is, keep doing it.

Friday Sept 30

I was back at it again ... but without the "White Vans" ... damn, man... ;)

I got into the high school weight room and did this four four rounds and then had to clean up:

20 H2H kb
20 kb cleans
20 KB double clean and presses
20 kb snatch
20 BW squats

The first round was done with a set of 25's, the second set with the 30's and the last two sets I used the 40lbers. Not a deadly workout, clearly not as deadly as the last time I was in the same gym, but at least I was sweaty by the end.

Friday night was the usual walking in a pool, then into the hot tub while watching the Blue Jays play. I'm telling you, I get a bit of exercise, my legs get to chill and I get some mental health benefits, too.

In the end, though, I wasn't as strict as I need to be on my diet this week. Ah well, I will try again tomorrow.

Wednesday and Thursday Sept 28 and 29

Wednesday was a throwback day.

I lost the opportunity this week to get a cool session in at an outside gym. Meh, the problems with being a married father. I was needed at home. By 8pm, though, I was able to sneak into my garage and get this session done five times:

A TBW pic from years ago ... 

10 deadlifts
15 Push ups
20 Kb Swings
20 lunges
20 weighted step ups
20 triceps extensions

It's a workout I did years ago. Years ago. Still a nice quiet session.

After I got that done, I got a 20-minute walk in, too. A little chilly out, but worth the effort.

Thursday was a rest day. I did get a walk in, though. Simple pleasures for sore legs.

Monday and Tuesday Sept 27

Monday was basically a "rest"day. I did get the usual morning stretching and rolling in. I'm really liking that recovery type work. I keep catching my ankle on stuff. Not twisting it, but rolling in on something, missing a step on a set of stairs or having something land on it. Weird, unlucky stuff.

At least my knees, hips, and feet have stopped waking me up in the night.

Tuesday was another photocopy of a day. Stretching and rolling in the morning. I had help in the form of my son jumping on me both days. I had a nice protein shake followed by a coffee or two for breakfast. They seem to be doing the trick. Lunch has been a constant thing: I'm avoiding going anywhere near the cafeteria. I bring celery, carrots and tuna for lunch. I eat that quietly and alone, getting work done in my office. After I feel full, I'll go run errands and I'll be able to resist the lure of the cafeteria.

So, stretching and rolling in the morning, on my feet most of the day, then tonight was a quick kettlebell session:


20 H2H KB
20 kb cleans
20 KB clean and presses
20 kb snatches
20 step ups with 20 lb dumb bells
20 bicep curls

I used the 12 and 16 kilo bell, and then also reached into my bag of tricks and pulled out the 20 kilo bell and the 50 lb Kb, too.

I do need to get pushups back into this plain Jane session. And BW squats, too. I do plan on a bit of a shifting inside my garage gym in the next few days in order to help me get some deadlifts into a session, too.

In any case, after my kettlebell session, I got a nice walk in with my wife. I'm enjoying those walks, even though I'm usually just listening to my wife share her day. After we finished, I went for a nice steam room experience and a shave. I did check my weight at the club and at home on my Bluetooth enabled device. 261

It's time to book my float at Zee Float!

Saturday and Sunday Sept 25

Saturday was a rugby day. Well, at least it was for a few of the guys at my club. Some played Rugby Union at home, some played Rugby League down at Lamport Stadium. Some even played both Saturday and Sunday, as the Old Boys at my club played an All Comers game.

Me? I took Saturday and got a massage. Later on, took my son for a swim and did some extra recovery. There was just no time for me to get a set of something done for myself other than that massage.

Sunday ... was a return to Wrestling. Seems a rugby/wrestling buddy has got himself an MMA fight in November. I'm pretty sure I won't travel to see it, but I can at least help him train for it. So, I got a chance to be a part of the training session in a local park. I di a bit of boxing, learning how to react to a thrown jab.

There was a fair amount of drilling of that one skill. But I kept screwing it up anyways. Ah, man. We took a break and then did a shark tank with the guy with the fight in the middle. Two minutes of boxing, two minutes of MMA, two minutes of wrestling then two minutes of boxing.

Still, it was good to wrestle again.

Thursday and Friday Sept 23

Thursday night

Thursday I had a quick session in my garage gym, followed by a nice walk with my wife. Both were very helpful for legs and mental health.

Friday was this session in a high school gym. I used the 30lb bell for the first round, the 40 lb bell for the second round and the 50 lb bell for the last two rounds.

Needless to say, I had to clean up a sweat pool of goo after I was done:

20 kb h2h
20 kb cleans
20 kb clean and press
20 kb snatches
20 DB bicep curls

It was a good day.

After the day was done, we got a date night in the pool and hot tub at the club. Man, we were in the pool for about a half hour and about the same length of time in the hot tub. We sat in the water and were able to watch the Jays beat the Yankees. Hashtag awesome.

Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday Sept 21

Monday normally was a day that I get a really good session in. I'm sorry to say I had to not train. I had to be a dad. I still got a decent stretching and rolling session done in the early morning. I also got a walk in before bed.

Tuesday ... well, ditto. Stretching in the morning, walking at night.

Wednesday was my good session. Lots of band and kettlebell work. Also sleds.

Did not use the HR monitor. Will be sore the next day.

Saturday and Sunday Sept 18

Yeah, I like weekends when I have nothing to do but chase my son around the house ... well, sort of. I'm told I'm going to miss these days some day. But not today.

He didn't sleep well Friday night, or Saturday night for that matter. Up at midnight and stayed up until about 2am. Cranky McKranerpants the next day.

Saturday I did get a heavy bag session in my garage done. So cool to have my own music running while watching my heart rate on a computer screen go at the same time. At least the guess work about whether I'm training hard enough is gone. I know how hard the session is while I'm doing it. Pretty cool. After this session, I checked weight and I was 266.

I had a chance to eat well on Saturday and hang out with my family. My youngest didn't like the rain, so he stayed inside.

Sunday was a nice early rise ... in fact, I watched the sunrise with my son today. He wasn't too impressed, but at least he was out of the house so that everyone else could sleep in a little.

I did get a kettlebell session in today, but literally as I put the weights down from my last set, I was told to take my youngest out of the house for a few hours. I got this done for five rounds:

20 hand to hand kb swings
20 kb cleans
20 kb clean and presses
20 kb snatches
20 step ups
20 bicep curls

At the end of this session, I did also test my heart rate recovery and I got from 168 to 109 in about 90 seconds. It was just after I wrote the results up on the walls of my garage that I left for a shower then out for a few hours. Nothing too exciting to report. The nice thing was that ankle and hamstrings are still recovering nicely.

Wed, Thurs and Friday Sept 16

Wednesday was a rest day - I did get a fix on my nutrition and got to roll and stretch in the early morning before work.

I also got a walk in later on after all the things were done during the day.  After the walk, went for a hot tub/ steam room session to try to get my ankles, hips, and knees to stop aching.

Thursday I got to stretch and roll, then to work. Ate strictly to the diet and then right from picking up my son from school, took him for a swim. It was a pretty good day ... until I got to my Physiotherapy session and then it was awesome. I went for a walk with my wife, too.

Friday was determined to be a date night. I did get a rolling and stretching session in before work and continued to eat well while at work. After work, it was a busy time for family and then, after the youngest was asleep it was off for a walk. After the walk, I got to take my wife out on a date.

We spent the better part of an hour in a hot tub at the club. I'm telling you the legs felt incredible after that session. Hot water just seems to melt away adhesions and sore spots. It was ... awesome.

Best. Date. Ever.

Monday and Tuesday Sept 13

Monday is my awesome day. I did manage to start the week off right with a rolling session in my garage gym before work.

The training session I had later on in the day was just what I needed:

I had time for a decent warm up,  then deadlifts, ropes, kettlebell circuits and  some other lifts. I should have had my heart rate monitor on, but I didn't. Ah well. Later on, I got a walk in with my wife.

I also got in a hot tub session with some steam room time, too. That really did help soreness and the like.

Tuesday I got the rolling and stretching done in the early morning with an evening walk with my wife. My ankle was bugging me a bit.

Still planning on a longer run or at least a walk this week in order to start to take it back to the next level with my fitness.

Saturday and Sunday Sept 11

I pause on days like this.

Yeah, fifteen years ago. Like yesterday. A single event that had a profound impact on my life.

Saturday I got a boxing session done ... still not sure I should be calling it a "boxing" session, as I'm not really sure what I'm doing, other than working up a sweat. I was at home for this one and had my son in the garage with me for "help" ... yeah, that's what we'll call it.

In any case, it was 7 rounds of this:

1:40 throwing punches at a stand-up bag
1:40 of kettlebell snatches

after that was done, I did three rounds of step ups and seated knee tucks to take the session to just over a half hour.

I was pretty stoked after this session; the garage door was open and the heat was pretty decent at that time of day. I checked weight after and I was 267.

Sunday I was all ready to start my training session and I was called away to be a dad for the day. I did end up going for a swim and two walks with my family. It seems that I'm just going to have to get my workouts done earlier in the day on the weekends from now on.

I did decide that on what a reward should be when I get to 20 or 25 pounds of weight loss. I'm going to book myself a session at a new floating place called Zee Float in Hamilton.

Wednesday, Thursday and Friday Sept 9

Yeah, starting a new schedule is killer to my fitness.

At least I'm getting some stretching and walking in the evenings done.

Meh, I'm healing and recovering from the rugby season.

I also did evening recovery sessions at my club each of these nights, too.

Thursday I had a physio session and it was very helpful.

Friday I spent about an hour in the evening working on getting my legs back in gear. It all seems to be working.

Sunday, Monday and Tuesday September 6

Sunday and Monday were stretching in the morning, then water stretch in the afternoon days. I'm walking with my wife in the evenings, too.

I mean, I'm trying to help my body recover from the rugby season. I'm good with just trying to get through these days without complicating things.

Tuesday I went to a new job. I had a lot of coffee during the day and didn't eat very much. I got home and ate like an idiot.

After I got the youngest down for his sleep, I got this done for six rounds:

1:50 hitting a heavy bag
1:50 dumb bell swings (used either a 25 or a 35 lb)

I should have gone a bit longer, but I chose to cut it short so that I could go for a walk with my wife before it got too dark. I got comfortable after that and had a decent quiet evening.

Thursday, Friday and Saturday Sept 3

Thursday was a rugby day. Last game of the regular season and I was selected to play first team rugby. Not a big deal as most of the other props are either away or injured. Regardless, I played another season of up and down with the first team and second team at prop.

Really, I'm not too happy with this season, but at least I got out there and stayed playing this summer. I really do need to prepare for the rugby season from now onwards. I didn't think about what shape I was in this past spring. I wasn't ready to play come May and I certainly paid the price.

My body is really sore. Ankles and knees are just not happy at all. My stomach is not liking it when I eat crap and act stupid. I need to fix a number of issues with my head space and my legs.

I had intended to transfer clubs and keep playing until Halloween this year. But, I'm just going to forget that noise and focus on that which needs solving around me this fall. Work and daycare and fitness and health are all on the list of items which need my attention.

I did an icing day on Friday and Saturday. Also got stretching, both on land and in water, done too.

Stretching in the water let me focus on that which is truly hurting. I'm pretty sure I can continue to stretch and roll muscles but it is the joints that need to heal these days.

Saturday I got signed up for the same club that I joined for the summer - which means I have access to a pretty good gym for the winter. No kettlebells, regretfully, but I can manage. At least I can get into a hot tub until 10:30pm most days. Which may mean nothing to my readers, but at least I can melt my mental health back with hot water rather than cold beer.

nowhatimsayin?

Tuesday and Wednesday August 31

Tuesday I had to use my time more wisely. I got a nice sweet 30-minute session in on the heavy bag:

Eight rounds of punching and kettlebells. I tried to stay away from too many twists on my ankle, and for the most part was pretty solid. I tweaked it a little in the pool later, though.

Ice all around, man.

It was after this workout I checked my weight - 271.4. I'm still a fat pig, and a steady daily screaming at my reflection in the mirror usually helps me stay away from carbs. Also, my stomach hurts less when I don't eat crappy food all day.

Wednesday was a day I tried to put out as many fires as I could. Daycare isn't helping ... that is trying to find day care, even emergency day care in the last few minutes before school starts next week is a drag.

I took it off and got to bed early. No naps as I was too stressed to close my eyes.

Sunday and Monday Aug 29

Sunday was a rest day - ice on the ankle and stretching on a mat and in a pool.

Monday I got a good cardio session done - a 40-minute session of bodyweight and kettlebells.

Man I like my Polar HR monitor

It was a decent warm up and I liked the kettlebells. My ankle liked the fact that I didn't have to move or twist at all. It's amazing what you can do for cardio of your injured.

The highlight for me was the kettlebell ladder I did - 12 two handed swings, 11 push ups, 12 kb swings then 10 push ups .... 12 swings, 1 push up .... glory!

Later on did a stretching session in the hot tub, too. Perhaps not the best for the ankle, but everything else really thought that was a great idea.

Friday and Saturday Aug 27

This should be a happy time of year - things should be going right and I should be winding down vacation time and winding up work time.

Ain't happening - there are so many things up in the air at the moment.

Friday was a rest and stretching day. I rested, I stretched but things are just not stretched and rested.

Saturday was the last home game of the year. It was disappointing, to say the least. I wasn't starting, which is fine. This has not been a good season for me. I got on and promptly got someone stomping and twisting on my ankle. Scrums were ok - I firmed up the tight head spot, replacing one of the two loose head props we had on for the first half.

You really can't play an entire season at loose head or lock and then try to play a tight head position against quality opposition out of the blue. In any case, I lasted about 30 minutes before the hobbling around the pitch got to be too much.

I spent Saturday night on my couch with ice all over me - ankles, knees and hips.

Wed and Thursday Aug 25

Session one today

Wednesday was an off day. Some early morning stretching and rolling and then a mid morning swim. I'm glad to have access to a pool this summer, man. Honestly, I'm just grateful. My son enjoys the running around and I enjoy the stretching aspect of it.

There was some discussion about continuing the adult membership into the fall for my wife and I during an evening walk. Not sure if that would actually work, but I'm willing to try anything.

Thursday I did a kettlebell workout. Five rounds of this:

20 H2H
10 cleans
10 clean and presses
10 snatches
10 step ups
10 bicep curls


During the kettlebell part, I varied between the 12 and the 16 kilo bell. During the last round, I got the 20 kilo bell up and going. That was a struggle.

Session two today

I then went for a swim with my family. I did some stretching but didn't quite find the groove today. I got my legs loose enough to be happy to get to physio and let them get worked on there.

I then went to rugby training and got a sprint/hooker throw session done after a rather long session of sprinting and hitting rucks.

All in all, was all good.

Monday and Tuesday August 21 and 22

The only time I really like sweating on turf

Monday I finally got back to EPC for a session with my dude. Mostly body weight stuff, as this was the first session of August together. I know, I know ... Monday's have been rather odd this August.

In any case, it was a good session. Diet is still off, though. Need to do some more reading about what to eat and when.

Also looked around for a place to learn to do some boxing this summer. Although I know Wrestling/BJJ would really help me, I just don't want to risk something popping out of my stomach and rushing to the hospital this winter. If I can learn a bit of boxing, at least I can sweat and do something near to what I like to do.

Well, that and running.

I did go for a nice walk with my wife, too. Those help with mental health more than anything else.

Tuesday I was expecting a decent session after a player's meeting at the club. I have no reasonable explanation as to why I thought this, but it didn't happen. At least I got a walk in early in the morning to try and get my legs working properly.

Saturday and Sunday August 20 and 21

Actual picture of pitch

So, Saturday. Yeah. About that. Played a second team game. A complete second game within 72 hours of each other. Yeah. That wasn't good. Hot and horrible. My legs hurt after

I mean I'm glad I got it done, but it wasn't a lot of fun, man. At least we won this one. Afterwards, I watched The Hip concert in my basement and enjoyed the AC.  I also did a lot of icing.

Sunday was a lot of recovery work. I got to Lake Ontario's shores and did a stretching session while my son tore up the playground.

Later on in the day, I went for a water recovery session, too. Just so sore. Then still later, went for a walk with my wife. A good day, but a lot of Advil.