July 23 to 30

 

The morning stretching continued this week. It is my last week of work and I gave it my all to just get up and stretch and close my exercise ring. Got that one closed every day except today. Meh, whatever, at least my hips are moving and not hurting. I set up a standing spot for work in my office so that I can have the option of sitting or standing while working.

Swimming was my workout of choice this week - at least my swimming technique is getting better. I got a butterfly leg kick working for a bit, but it is mainly front crawl along with breaststroke I'm getting done. 

Cleaned the garage gym today, too - really needed it as I've just been dumping stuff in there for the last month. Just a mess. But at least now it will be easier to start back in there when the temperatures start to change. There is still stuff to do in there, but at least I've got some floor space to work with if needed. I really do need to finish this project tomorrow and get on with the more fun part of being on the journey to fitness.  Seems I've taken swimming on as a catch-all for my rings and fitness. 

Also, I know I'm going to have to re-think my Working from Home skills and assumptions, too. I was stuck online for a lot longer than I thought I wanted to be this July. Not enough fun, not enough stretching. Too much time in a seat while teaching too. 

July 18 to 22

This is from 2010.

This was a weird week - I got back from a working vacation and have been doing everything positive ...almost everything positive habits tell me to do.

The negative is my sleep - I just need more sleep. To be fair, I was watching the Canadian Women's Soccer team play until after 1am one day this week. And the Blue Jays are on a west coast trip so I've been trying to watch those games. I love watching the Jays play in Seattle - it is hilarious. 

Right, got back on ... I dunno let's say Wednesday and every day since then I've done my morning yoga routine and gone for a swim in the evening. 

Morning routine:

5-8 minutes downward dog, single and double legs variations, prone planks, 90 - 90 stretch, world's greatest stretch, elbow on the mat planks, hip mobility runner's stretches and push-ups.

I flip over then do 8-10 minutes of ab work - dead bugs, swimmer's legs, BJJ legs, "grabbing the knee and pulling in" stretch, make no eye contact stretch, one leg hip extension, on the ball squats, big ball chopper stretch, big ball ab rollouts, big ball prone dumbbell rear delt flys and straight arm presses. I also take some time to do some quad rolling along with some hip flexor rolling.

Then on to shoulders for 8-10 minutes - starting with dumbbell lateral raises, dumbbell arc casts, then onto banded shoulder pulls and chest pulls. The on to banded biceps curls banded deadlifts and overhead presses. I do this until I get to at least 30 minutes, sometimes longer. 

It's not a bad way to start the day, even if it really isn't yoga - it is at least a gentle way of getting myself up and running for the day. At least my hips like this routine. 

Of course, generally speaking, it is off for a coffee and breakfast these days, then onto sitting in front of my desktop for a few hours, working. Since I'm working from home, I get some leeway about breaks until about 3pm. Then it's time for the family and then ending the day by going for a swim. 

I am intending to get both a weight bench and some sort of elliptical machine for the winter months. The garage gym is a complete mess right now - it's on the list To Do list for this week to get it cleaned up. The Fire Drill I'm planning for in August is going to be a necessity. I'm hoping to train to a much higher level this winter and see better results in my doctor appointments. 

July 9 to July 17

Not a bad office, not a good gym ... yet

 I have been on vacation.

Well, not really. I'm working remotely inside the new-to-me RV. We are out in a provincial park and I'm working from there. I'm working off an expensive cell phone mifi device that is acceptable, but not really. Ah well, we are almost done. I'm home tomorrow or the day after.

I'm up-to-date on my marking, but my fitness journey is just off. No swimming, no running only minimal stretching and only one kettlebell. I did some sessions, but nothing is really being done.  

To be fair, I'm more worried about keeping my position than training at the moment. There are so many things not in my favour for my fitness journey here. Of course, this is also my first time trying something like this and I'm in the middle of a steep learning curve. Honestly, I know what to bring now and will keep looking at just how to keep my fitness and mobility up during times like these.

We are home soon and I'll go back to old habits and have all of my things conveniently close by. I'm hoping that new good habits will continue and I can go back to other good habits. 

In short, I've been standing perfectly still, but trying things to get my transition to retirement less rough.

July 3 to July 9

 

The woods are lovely, dark and deep...

Man, I'm doing this a smidgen late - meh, excuses are wonderful, but at least I know I was away in an RV yesterday without wifi. It was wonderful and terrifying at the same time. I hate big brother watching everything I do, but I do like being inside some sort of safety net. 

Anyway, got 5 out of 7 days' rings closed. Yoga and swimming throughout. Pic above is the Sunday morning version of "yoga" in the woods. The bugs weren't too bad, but they weren't attacking me as severely as the others I was with there. Being hairy and smelly has perks.

Did this:

Ground stretching for ten minutes - frog and dog stretching downwards and otherwise. Hip opening and shoulder stretching. QL stretching as well. Then into abs - flat legs up swimming kicking and then dead bigs and prone hand lifting. Was good.

Kettlebells and band work. Swings and presses of all types along with body weight and banded exercises for twenty minutes. In the middle of this workout, I keep recalling Supple Leopard stuff I should be doing and looking up. 

Anyway, Swimming is going well - I'm happy with the fitness and the joint health aspects of it for the moment. I know that September is a long way away, but I'm wondering what I can continue and what the cards have up their sleeves. Probably the cards are cheating, but I'll never know.

June 26 to July 2

 

I just liked this one

Monday and Tuesday were just so stressful - and didn't close all the rings. Whatever. Ugh, just too much to do and fitness was the victim. Wednesday to Sunday I made sure that all the rings got closed.

Anyway, Saturday was not quite stupidly hot, merely gosh darn hot and I went out to relive my running around in the heat days. I got a HIIT workout done on the turf with a new kit bag that I have not yet gotten a pic of. Obviously, I will rectify that tomorrow.

May or may not be my home office

Anyway, I got a HIIT workout done by 1 pm ... and then spent about 30 more minutes sitting in the chilly pool inside. I got home and napped for like three hours. Bands, kettlebells and sprints all in one workout; but it was dumb to sweat like that in the heat.

I've done five days in a row going to the gym. Mostly swimming. Stretching in the mornings and swimming at night. It's been pretty good - of course between the early morning stretching and the evening swimming is a basic letdown of civilization. But ... I read yesterday that I will be working remotely for July. 

Yup, that is a nice piece of news: working remotely for July. Hashtag awesome!