September 18, 2012 - I'm giving up... on my blog.

I'm not writing anything interesting here.  This is just a glorified workout log.  I am ceasing as of today.

Bye!

September 12, 2012 - COOOOOORE.

I've come to realize that the left side of my core is not engaging nearly as strongly as my right.  I realized it when I tried a pistol squat on my left side and I had to lean over really far to keep balance.  No such thing occurred on my right side.  Today I decided to start doing something about it and did all of my work with the tightest core I could muster.  It seems to be working because I'm sore as hell.

To help with this core thing, I tried a new exercise today: overhead dumbbell squats.  WHOA.  You need to keep everything tight or you fall over.  Hilarious.

I worked out today:
10 minutes warmup + handstands
4x15s Tuck Front Lever
6x8s Band Assisted Tuck Planche - I'm finally starting to understand what I need to do in this move.  It's not any easier or anything, but at least I understand it.
10,10,8 Ring Rows (feet & rings @ 47") - After the first two or three reps, I wasn't getting full lift.  I'm going to stick with this setup for a while longer until I can pull myself up for all 10 reps on all 3 sets.
10,10,8 Ring Pushups (feet & rings @ 47) - I'm now focusing on making sure my forearms don't rest on the rings.  It makes everything MUCH harder.
3x10x30lbs Dumbbell Overhead Squats
12,12,8x15lbs. Dumbbell Step Up (23")
2x5 Chin-ups.  I plan on doing at least 4 more sets when I get home from work.  GTG is hard.

September 10th, 2012 - It's working (me too hard.)

New routine is still going well.  As of today, I've put on 10 lbs total since May and just barely missed my self-imposed goal of +10 lbs by September 6th.  It wasn't pure muscle like I hoped, but I'm almost back to the lean weight I had when I weighed 220.  Craziness.

And most importantly, Mrs. Wife said I looked hot.  That's really all I wanted out of this crazy experiment.

This workout was suboptimal because I only got 5 hours of sleep.  I will not let this happen again.

I worked out today:

• 10m warmup + handstands - Finally starting to get the right feeling on handstands.   
• 5x15s Tuck Back Lever 
• 2x30+s Tuck L-sit - It's time to do a max length test on this.  30 seconds barely stresses me now.
• 8, 7+1, 4+4 Chin-ups - I think my newly increased chubbiness is causing me issues with pulling.  At this point, I'm just trying to get a solid 3x8 every workout.  We'll see what happens next time.
• 3x2 10+s eccentric HSPUs on cinder blocks - I don't seem to be improving at all on these, so next session, I'll be replacing the cinder blocks with some 1.5" thick bricks I have laying around. After I can do 3x8 at that depth, then I'll add more blocks.  Repeat this process until I'm at full depth.
• 3x12 Jumping Squats w/30lbs. - Cardio for the day!
• 1x12 23" Step Ups w/20lbs. - Picked up the wrong DBs by mistake.  This was ROUGH.
• 2x12 23" Step Ups w/13lbs. - This was the right weight and it felt much better.
• 8 Chin-ups - done later in the day.  I want to start doing GTG training, but I can't seem to remember to get out to the garage often enough.  I really need to find a place to do pullups at work...  Any ideas?

August 31st, 2012 - It's working!

The new routine is officially going well.  I've put on at least 2 lbs this week.  Maybe more.  I'm the highest I've weighed since March.  Woot!  And no noticeable increase in bodyfat.  Feels awesomeness.  I should break 180 in a week or two.

I'm hoping to start working on "greasing the groove" with my pullups.  GTG is when you do 50-70% of your max reps of pullups several times throughout the day.  My current max is 9, so I am doing sets of 5 throughout the day.  I'm trying to get at least 6 sets in over the day with a goal of 10 sets.  It's a lot of volume so I'm a bit scared.

Oh, I was able to up my time in Band Assisted Tuck Planche from 5x8s to 6x12s!  The 6th set was a mistake.  Thanks to a rather fun playlist on Songza, I wasn't paying attention well enough.  :)

I worked out today:
10m warmup + handstand work
6x12s Band Assisted Tuck Planch
4x15s Tuck Front Lever
3x8 Dips (+ 5lbs)
8,10,12 BW Curls (rings @ 47", legs bent)
12,12,10 Goblet Squats (43 lbs.)
3x12 High Step Ups (23" + 5 lbs.)

SIDE NOTE: Mrs. Wife lost another 3 lbs. this week.  She's withering away before my eyes!

August 28th, 2012 - Still Here.

I haven't been blogging recently for two reasons:

1. I took a week off between August 20th and 27th.  I got sick in the afternoon of the 20th and it threw me out of rhythm for the whole week.  
2. The time I normally would spend blogging has been spent designing workout routine for a few friends.  I'm basically acting as their long distance personal trainer.

But I'm back at it as of yesterday.  I think I've settled into a good routine.

• Warmup (mobility work + handstands)
• Hold 1 (Back Lever M,R, Front Lever T,F)
• Hold 2 (L-sit M,R, Planche T,F)
• Superset:
• Pullups/HSPUs (M,R)
• Rows/Pushups (T)
• Dips/BW Curls (F)
• Leg Superset High Step Ups/Squats (M,T,R,F)

Cutting down to two strength exercises per workout seems to helping me give better quality reps.

Anyway, I don't feel like writing more, so here's my workout today:

Warmup (including 7 clapping pushups. HARD)

5x8s Band Assisted Tuck Planche

5x12s(ish) Tuck Front Lever

8,8,7 Ring Pushups (0" differential, FINALLY)

8,7,7 Ring Rows (0" differential)

3x12 Step Ups (23")

3x12 Goblet Squats (43lbs)

August 16th & 17th, 2012 -

The new routine is going well, but I've definitely got some adjustments to make to the programming.  The A routine feels good, though a bit heavy on pushing, but the B routine has far too much pulling.  I've been failing hard on pullups as a result.  To fix these imbalances, I'm doing the following:

• Swapping A and B routines.  So B on Monday and Thursday, A on Tuesday and Friday
• Swapping L-sit work and Planche work
• Dropping down to 2 strength exercises/day

I may drop the Ring pushups too.  Still thinking about that one...  I feel strongest in my chest, so I think it may be beneficial to use that energy towards other weaker areas. 

No matter what changes I make, it's crazy how much better everything feels in my upper back even with so few days put in.  My muscles are working together.  I'm almost standing up straight! And not too much DOMS. 

August 14th, 2012 - Routine B

Things I have learned from this new routine after 2 days:

• I need to eat more.
• I think I need to cut down strength exercises per routine from 3 to 2.  Doing pullups in a circuit with BW curls = me failing at pullups.
• I need to eat more.
• I shouldn't put L-sit work and dips on the same day.  My triceps are on fire.
• I need to eat more.

All this extra eating is going to be a pain tonight; I have to fast for 12 hours tonight in preparation for a cholesterol screening tomorrow.   No bacon in the morning?  What will I do?  I am looking forward to a day of rest, though.  These past two workouts have been killer.

I worked out today:

5 minutes general warmup

5 minutes handstand work - I had about 4 seconds of freestanding today!

5x12s Tuck Back Lever

3x20s Tuck L-Sit

8,7,3 Pullups

6 Ring Dips

2x8 Regular Dips - felt REALLY unstable on the rings, so I switched to chairs.

3x8 BW Curls - Rings @ 50", but legs straight.  Seems to be a valid step up from the way I was doing them previously: Rings @ 37", legs bent.

6x10s GHR eccentrics 

6,8,8 Pistols

August 13th, 2012 - New Routine!

I feel good right now, but I foresee some major DOMS in my mid and upper back.  Holding static positions for 8-10 seconds doesn't seem that long when I'm not working, but time seems to slow down about 400% when I'm hanging from the rings.

Mrs. Wife told me that my posts aren't narrative enough.  I don't know how to write a good narrative, though, so I will use this space to tell her I love her.  Because I do.  Also, SUPER HIGH FIVES TO HER!  She ran 3 miles Sunday!  This is from the lady who never wanted to be a runner and never ran a complete mile as of 6 weeks ago.  Craziness!

I worked out today:
5m Warmup (Hollow Holds, Jumping Jacks, Wrist Stretches, Shoulder Stretches)
5m Handstand Work (Wall Handstands trying to pull feet away from the wall)
5x8s Band Assisted Tuck Planche
5x10s Tuck Front Lever
8,7,7 Half HeSPUs
3x8 Ring rows (Rings@50",Feet@47")
3x8 Ring Pushups (Rings@50",Feet@47")
3x8 Pistols (Mostly FS)
3x8 Step Ups (~18" stool)

August 10th, 2012 - Static Hold Training Begins Today!

I finally created a new routine.  As mentioned earlier, I've been feeling a bit blah about my workouts, so it was time to change something.  After several weeks of research and two or three days of hard thinking, this is my new routine: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AkrBrLnIsz1zdEkzSWx3ZlNDQ3dGREZ1Mm5UMUFjcGc

Part of training static holds is that you need to measure the maximum amount of time you can hold each position.  I'd never done this before and it was freaking me out.

Yesterday, I decided to just bite the bullet and get started.  I realized I was becoming a victim of paralysis by analysis caused by fear of the unknown.  That shit ain't cool.

Despite my awkwardness and fear, I decided to just go for it this morning.  And record it.  And show it to other people on the internets!  So, I guess I'll show you too.  Here ya go...


Band Assisted Tuck Planche http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P1yN_AGiXXg Awful. I spent the most time on this, but I can't feel what I'm supposed to be doing with any part of my body.  Halp!

Tuck Front Lever http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=POCxBb5B5Oc I thought I was holding my hips too high in the first half, so thats why I dropped down a bit.  Watching the video now, I was wrong.

Tuck Back Lever http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=08NFbvfsaZU This was my second attempt. I watched the video of my first attempt and realized I was holding my hips too high, so I tried again... And still held my hips too high.  Damn.  I need to keep my head up too.

Low Tuck L-sit http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7dJEttRCjf0 Not bad, I think?

All in all... OK.  I'm very unhappy with my planche attempts, but everything else seems to be acceptable for someone just starting out.  Expect more less awkwardness in the future.

I worked out today:
3x50 Jumping Jacks
3x120s Wall Handstand Work
Band Assisted Straddle Tuck Planche for Max Time  (4 sec max)
Tuck Front Lever for Max Time (~20 sec max)
Tuck Back Lever for Max Time (~20 sec max)
Low Tuck L-sit for Max Time (~25 sec max)

August 6th, 2012 - Evening Workouts Are Weird

I overslept this morning.  Not intentionally.  I've got a dual alarm clock; I set Alarm 1 (6a) instead of Alarm 2 (5a).  So no morning workout for me.  Bah.

Luckily, my boss was totally cool and let me go home early yesterday.  I asked to go home early because I needed to spend some time tidying up the house before Mrs. Wife returned from visiting friends in Chicago.  Tidying took less time than expected, so I was able to fit in a makeup workout in the evening before dinner.

The workout was odd.

1. I normally get through my entire warmup before I've really woken up.  It's a lot easier to do planks when your brain doesn't really realize what's going on.  
2. Different lighting in my garage makes me feel differently.  There's something about working out when it's dark out that keeps me focused.  Last night, I kept getting distracted by the world outside.
3. The PWO meal after an evening workout can be way more awesome than plain ol' bacon and eggs.  I had a 21 oz. pan-seared ribeye, a sweet potato, some grapes, and a glass of Macallan.  I felt like a king.
4. Sleeping after a workout was surprisingly difficult.  I generally get REALLY tired about 2 hours after completing my workout, but 2.5 hours after completing a workout, I get a second wind that lasts 1-2 hours.  That second wind coincided with me laying my head down to sleep.  Whoops.

I'm beginning research to majorly overhaul my workout.  I feel like I'm getting bored with basic strength calisthenics and not working towards any of my gymnastics goals.  So, over the next month or so, I'm going to come up with a mostly new program that will allow me to focus on the fundamental static positions: front lever, back lever, planche, and handstands.  As my first change, I'm going to replace ring pushups with the planche progression and replace ring rows with the front lever progression.  All I've really learned about my new program style is that programming with static holds is more difficult and more time consuming.

I worked out today:
8 Toes to Bar
2x10 Hanging Fron Raise
3x75s RKC Planks
3x8 Ring Rows (rings@38", feet@35")
3x8 Ring Pushups (rings@38", feet@35")
3x8 Bodyweight curls (rings@38", legs bent)
2x5,2x4 Ring Dips
3x8 Pistols (all freestanding with very minor support out of bottom position with hands)
2x8 Modified GHRs
1x3 GHR eccentrics
4 Chin-ups
4 Wide Ring Pushups (awesome!)

August 3rd,2012 - I don't remember.

I forgot to blog after this workout, so the details are a bit fuzzy.

I remember a few things:

- I got down to a 3" differential between my hands and feet on both ring pushups and ring rows.  I finally  reached a point where I couldn't do 3x8 in either the pushups or rows.  Felt weird.

- I'm almost there with Half-HeSPUs.   I call them half, but they're much lower than half in reality.  I sit a 1.5" thick cardboard box between my hands and then lower myself until my head lightly touches the box before pushing back up.  I should hit 3x8 on my next session on August 8th.  Then I'll pull out the box and try to go for full HeSPUs.  I assume I will get 3x8 pretty quickly which means it's time to build some parallettes.

- Toes-to-Bars are still hard.

- Fitocracy sometimes scores things strangely.  I did the same max number of pullups today as I did on August 1st, yet the scoring was MUCH lower today.  I don't know.

- I tried doing High Step Ups instead of Pistols for one set.  They're supposed to be a little more taxing on the glutes and hams, but it didn't feel like it to me.  I'll try them again soon.

- GHRs are becoming stagnant.  I need to build something to hold my feet properly, or just move on to another exercise.  :/

I worked out today:
8 Toes to Bar
2x10 Hanging Frog Raise
3x75s RKC Plank
9,8,8 Pull-Up
8,8,7 Half-HeSPUs
6,7,8 Ring Rows (Rings@38", feet@35")
8,8,7 Ring Pushups (Rings@38", feet@35")
1x10 High Step Ups
2x8 Pistols (only last two reps were ring assisted)
8,8,7 Modified GHRs

August 1st, 2012 - Over 1000 Points? That can't be right.

I didn't think I was doing anything extra-ordinary this morning.  It certainly felt like a normal workout.  But somehow I ended up with over 1000 points (on Fitocracy) for this morning's routine and I didn't even try for it.  It looks like the point values for pull-ups have been bumped up a bit.  Or maybe they haven't changed at all and I've just never seen the point values assigned to nine pullups.

Oh yeah.... I got my NINTH pullup this morning.  I've been stuck at 8 since mid-June.  Unfortunately, I could only get over the bar 9 times on my very first set, but it felt phenomenal.

In addition to my ninth pullup, I was also able to get two sets of 7 Half-HeSPUs.  Previous best: 6. Records are being broken all over this place!  PROGRESS.

So, enough gloating and shit...  here's where I'm having issues: leg raises.  I do not feel comfortable holding my legs in front of me.  So, I've started doing toes-to-bars in order to get my abs stronger through the full abs range of motion.  Once I can get 3x10 on TtB, I'll start working on straight leg raises again.  I will defeat you, abs.

I worked out today:
1x7 Toes-to-Bar
2x10 Hanging Frog Raises
3x60s RKC Plank
9,7,8,4 Pull-ups
7,7,6.5 Half HeSPUs
3x8 BW Curls (rings @ 34", legs bent)
5x5 Ring Dips
3x8 Pistols (Set 1: 8 FS, Set 2: 6 FS, Set 3: 2 FS)
3x8 Modified GHRs  (I need to build a true GHR box.)

Special Post - Big Congrats to Mrs. Wife!

On Saturday, Mrs. Wife (of http://awkwardworkout.blogspot.com fame) ran two miles for the first time in her life.  Oh yeah, and she just started running a month ago and ran her first file mile only 3 weeks ago.  At this pace, she'll be running marathons in like a year and a half.  KEEP IT UP, LADY!  I love you!

July 30th, 2012 - Feeling awesome.

I think I'm finally completely through my transition from feeling awful to feeling great.

Mrs. Wife and I tried a new recipe last night: Filipino sisig!  (http://www.filipinocooking.net/recipe/pork-sisig/) Chopped pork belly, shank, and liver grilled till crispy, sautéed with onions, garlic, ginger, and chilis, then drenched in lemon juice.  Holy crap it was awesome.  Unfortunately, most of the meat cooked away in the preparation process so it wasn't very filling, but it was VERY tasty.  At the very least, it allowed the wife and me to eat some organ meats without getting totally grossed out.  I'll be doing the whole recipe again later this week with a bit more shank, a bit less belly, some soy sauce and maybe more lemon.  If anyone knows where to find calamansi, let me know.

This morning's workout felt REALLY good.  I was able to get 3x5 ring dips for the first time.   Ring pushups didn't feel (too) awkward.  And I've confirmed that doing pullups in between my leg sets is really helping me get my reps up; I'm coming for you, 3x10.  I was able to do a full set of 8 pistols without using any assistance from my rings.  I had to tap the ground with my off-foot occasionally to maintain balance or get out of the bottom, but progress is progress!  Getting stronger is awesome.

Gotta admit... even with all these good feelings, I'm a bit down.  No new motions today with no plans to add new motions.  I feel like I'm hitting a plateau with my basic moves.  I could start adding weight via weight vest, but those things are effing expensive.  I may start working on front/back/elbow levers, L-sits, handstands, and planches exclusively.  Still debating this.  All of those motions are on my goal list, but they seem so damn unattainable right now.  And I don't understand the programming as much when it comes to static holds.  I guess it's back to reading the Bodyweight Bible aka Overcoming Gravity.

I worked out today:
3x8 Hanging Frog Raise (Actually did toes-to-bar for the first few reps of each set.)
3x60s Plank (This is getting too easy.  It's time to start cranking up the time.)
3x8 Ring Row (Rings@42", Feet@34")
3x8 Ring Pushups (Rings@42", Feet@34")
3x8 BW Curls (Rings@42", Legs bent)
3x5 Ring Dips
3x8 Pistols (Sets 1&3: 4 freestanding. Set 2: 8 freestanding!)
3x8 Glute Ham Raises (Sets 1&2: Modified, Set 3: Eccentrics only)

July 28th, 2012 - Actually Back in the Saddle

My last workout was craptastic so I decided to take my time and really focus on this one.

Since I had the time available (unlike my normal weekday workouts), I started with 20 minutes of dynamic stretching and mobility work based off Molding Mobility (http://phraktured.net/molding-mobility.html).  I also decided to stop worrying about strict 1 minute rests between sets.  Adding in the mobility work and slowing down allowed me to really focus on the movements I was doing.  And because of that, I was able to get my pull-ups and freestanding pistols back into respectable numbers.  And I got 6 half-HeSPUs for the first time ever!  Woot!  Unfortunately, all this warming up and waiting around stretched my workout to 1hr 40m.  Much too long for a normal weekday workout.

I worked out today:

20m Stretching/Mobility

3x8 Hanging Bent Leg Raises

3x60s RKC Plank

7,8,6 Pull-ups 

6,5,5 Half Headstand Pushups

3x8 Ring Rows (Feet @ 34", rings @ 42")

3x8 Ring Pushups (Feet @ 34", rings @ 42")

3x8 Pistols (1st Set: 4 freestanding, 2nd Set: 2 freestanding, 3rd set: performed on stool with very light bottom assist only)

3x8 Modified GHRs

July 26th, 2012 - Back in the Saddle

Worked out this morning for the first time in 9 days.  It was awful.

First: woke up with a mild headache and nearly said "eff it" to the whole thing.  But then I heard Ronnie Coleman in my head saying "everybody wanna be a bodybuilder, but don't nobody wanna lift this heavy ass weight."  For some reason that stupid-ass quote motivates me every single time I hear it.

After my first plank, my headache bloomed into a full-blown brain splitter.  After the second plank, I had to bend over with my eyes shut to handle the pain.  But from there on out, everything was fine.

Except it wasn't fine because I've somehow become about half as strong as I used to be.  I blame it on the remnants of the keto flu.  Only 4 pull-ups per set?  A max of 4 ring dips?  Zero freestanding pistols?  WEAK.

Get it together, Hildreth.

I worked out today:
2x8 Hanging Bent Leg Raises from Rings
2x60s RKC Planks
3x8 Bodyweight Curls
1x3,2x4,1x3 Ring Dips
2x6 Regular Dips
7x4 Pull-ups
3x8 Pistols (ring supported)
3x8 Modified GHRs

July 25th, 2012 - Back from Vacation

I've been back from vacation for a few days now and have not yet worked out.  You see, for the last 4 days, I have felt completely and utterly awful.  I was going through what I believe to be the keto/induction flu.  I've dealt with chills, hot flashes, nausea, throbbing headaches, blinding headaches, muscle weakness, stiff joints, and the worst brain fog ever.  Pie, bread, donuts, and cheese are not worth the discomfort I have endured. 


But today, I feel great!  No soreness.  No headache.  I was able to press up my chickens' run without a problem.  I was able to sumo deadlift the chickens' coop without a problem either, despite all of the chickens still being inside.  (Usually this is a test of my strength.)


I'm going to get back at it tomorrow.   No sleeping in for this moi.  I've got about 6 weeks before my self imposed goal of gaining ten pounds and I'm still about eight pounds away from my goal.  I really need to start busting ass.  No more slackin', mister!


Oh, and I worked out once more in VT (July 17th) but forgot to record it:

3x8 Hanging Bent Leg Raise (from ring support, not hanging)
3x60s Plank
3x8 Body Weight Ring Row (rings@27", feet@16")
3x8 Ring Pushups (rings@27", feet@16"  REALLY digging these.)
3x8 Bodyweight Curls
2x4,1x3.5 Ring Dips (These are SO hard, but so rewarding.)
3x8 Single Leg Squats (About half freestanding.)

I can't wait to start doing GHRs again.  I can't wait to do pull-ups on an actual bar, rather than a bastardized ring version.  I can't wait to listen to metal very loudly while working out.

It's going to be wonderful and painful.

July 15th, 2012 - Vacation Day 5

It doesn't feel like we've been here in Vermont for 5 days, but I guess we have.  And we're at the halfway point now.  Fatty foods continue to enter my body.  I continue to not care.

I've been doing some YA dystopian fiction reading.  It's my favorite type of light reading.  It's one of the few literary styles my wife and me agree upon.

I woke up sort of late today and thought about skipping my workout.  But as soon as the L-Leucine hit my tongue, I knew what needed to be done.

I worked out today:
3x8 Hanging Bent Leg Raise (from ring support, not hanging)
3x60s Plank
1x7.5,1x7,1x6.5 Wide Grip Ring Pullups
1x5.5,1x4.5,1x4 Half Handstand Pushups
3x8 Body Weight Ring Row (rings@27", feet@16")
3x8 Ring Pushups (rings@27", feet@16".  This was AWESOME.) 
2x8 Single Leg Squats (first 3 of each set freestanding.)

July 13th, 2012 - Vacation Day 3

Mrs. Wife and I arrived in Vermont Wednesday evening and were greeted with smiles, hugs, and a fabulous paleo dinner.  Mrs. Wife's aunt and cousins were ending their vacation as we began ours.  They decided to be awesome and cook us dinner.  And awesome it was.

Our vacation spot is a cabin on one of the Champlain Islands.  Quiet and solitude and relaxation are the words that best describe it here.  There's not a lot to do if you don't want to do much.  If you'd like to visit things and see places and do stuff, there's plenty of that too, but we tend to just sit and read and eat delicious food.

This year's food situation has been a little different because Mrs. Wife is losing weight.  In years past we would eat... well... everything.  Lots of beers.  Sausage gravy + biscuits.  McDonald's for breakfast  when starting the trip to Vermont.  McDonald's for breakfast when starting the trip home.  Lots of chips and dips and ice creams and pies and donuts.

This year, we brought most of our own food.  Not only has this saved us a ton of money, but it's also saved the calories we've eaten.  Sure, we've broken down and purchased a 6 pack of beer, but it's Magic Hat's Summer seasonal!  And we bought some donuts, but only half as many as normal.  And every dinner has been paleo-friendly.  Except for those sandwiches we bought today.  Damn.

Anyway, since I'm trying to gain weight, I've completely given up on tracking anything while I'm here.   I assume I'll be hitting my calorie goals pretty easily since my wife has been going over her golas pretty consistently, and I need 5-700 more daily calories than she does.  I'm still inputting my workouts into Fitocracy, but MyFitnessPal has not seen me in days.

I worked out today:
3x8 Hanging Knee Raises (done from rings support position instead of hanging from bar)
3x60s Plank (Not RKC like normal because I didn't have good padding for my elbows)
3x8 Bodyweight Curls (Rings@48")
3x5 Ring Dips (Holy crap these are hard!)
3x6 Ring Pullups (Haven't worked pullups in a while... Harder than I remember!)
3x5 Half Handstand Pushups (Last rep of sets 2&3 were negatives)
3x8 (each side) Single Leg Squats (first 4 of each set were freestanding!)
10 minutes casual kayaking

July 10th, 2012

I don't know what has caused this, but I am completely worn out from this morning's workout.  It wasn't much different from the normal C routine other than the addition of bodyweight curls (see July 8th for info) and VERY slow negative close-grip chin-ups.  I seriously feel like the walking dead.

I'm not sure how I'll be able to stay awake tonight to finish packing for our drive to Vermont tomorrow.  And I'm extra unsure about how I'll be able to wake up at 4am in order to be on the road by 5am.  Working out today was probably a dumb idea.  It's okay, though, coffee will get me through the day.

I worked out today:
3x8 Hanging Bent Leg Raises (Semi-frog Raises, but I still don't have the flexibility/strength required to full extend my legs.)
3x60s RKC Plank (These are getting easier!)
3x8 Bodyweight Curls (rings@48", legs bent, going to try legs extended on Thursday.)
3x8 Dips w/8lb Weight
3x4 Close-Grip Chinups (my arms were WASTED after the BW curls and I just couldn't get myself above the bar.)
1x5.5,2x4 Half Wall Handstand Pushups (Still lacking a lot of strength here.)
3x8 Single Leg Squats (1 finger/1 ring assist. Should have done these freestanding, but I'm saving that insanity for Vermont.)
3x8 Modified Glute Ham Raise (Really worked on getting my lean tight.  My ass is sore.)
3x30s Negative Close-Grip Chinups

On a related note: I am working on building a bodyweight-based strength routine that anyone can do at home with a pull-up bar and rings.  If you're interested in being one of my beta testers, contact me:   jakehildreth at gmail dot com.  (Remove the spaces and replace the "at" with "@" and the "dot" with ".")

July 8th, 2012

I intended to workout on the morning of July 5th, but due to an incredibly fun July 4th, I ended up staying in bed until noon.  All motivation was shot at that point, so I bummed around and generally felt crappy.  That crappy feeling continued through Friday.


But on Saturday morning, I woke up bright and early with the intention of doing STUFF around the house in preparation for our upcoming vacation.  Lawn needed mowed, chicken coop needed some repairs, recycling needed to be transported to the recycling center.  Ya know, standard homeowner crap.


Since I was up early (read: before the sun turned our land into an unbearably humid swamp), I decided to try running again.  Ya see, Mrs. Wife has taken up running recently and it's making me feel kind of lazy despite working out on my rings and bar for 60 minutes 3x/week!


I decided to give the "barefoot" running thing a chance.  I did a Couch to 5K-style walk/run the trail on our woods in just my sandals.  I cut down the running to only 4 one-minute intervals, rather than the 8 intervals that C25K calls for in its first week because I've heard barefooting will kill your calves the first  few times.


I got in a mile over 20 minutes.  And it felt awesome.  No pain in the calves at all.  A little bit the next day, but all in all, a good experience.  I'm going to get myself some better shoes to run in since the sandals felt a bit unstable.  Probably some water shoes.


I worked out yesterday:
20 minute "barefoot" walk/run.


I woke up today at 6:45 raring to go.  I knew I had to head into work for a while, but I wanted to get a quick workout in.  While not rushing, I certainly didn't dawdle like I tend to do during weekend workouts.  I was able to actually get in my entire workout!


I was also able to try out a new exercise: the bodyweight curl.  It replaced the inverted pull-up as my "arms at the sides" pulling exercise.  See an example here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p-8izkNkcBw HOLY CRAP it's hard, but my biceps felt huge all day.  Twelve inches of power, baby.


I worked out today:
3x8 Hanging Bent Leg Raises
3x60s RKC Planks
3x8 Ring Rows (rings@29", feet@18")
3x8 Ring Push-ups (rings@29")
3x8 Bodyweight Curls (rings@48", knees bent)
1x8 Weighted Dips (8lb)
1x7,1x8 Unweighted Dips (forgot about the weight... whoops)
3x8 Single Leg Squats (1 ring/1 finger assist)
3x8 Modified Glute Ham Raise
3x4 Close-Grip Chin-ups
2x3 Wide-Grip Pull-ups

Some notes: I was able to do a freestanding Pistol Squat later in the day on my right leg.  My right leg has been the weaker leg all this time, so I think it's time for me to stop using rings for assistance.  Also, my ass hurts.  GHRs need to be modified to be harder somehow.  I'm getting too used to the motion.  Any ideas?

July 3rd, 2012

My wife recently started working out and calorie counting in order to lose some weight so we can start pushing out little bearded babies. I, on the other hand, am trying to gain weight. This creates an interesting home/mealtime dynamic, so I decided it's time to begin documenting it.

I ate some food today:
5 pieces of bacon
3 eggs
sausage/egg scramble (about 1/4 sausage, 1.5 eggs)
1.5 cups of grapes
16 almonds
1 scoop protein powder
1 pork chop w/roasted grapes and onions
1 salad w/red wine vinaigrette
1 apple
2 small carrots
6 cherry tomatoes
1/2 lb of thai coconut lime shrimp
1/2 lb of sweet potato & zucchini hash

I worked out today:
3x8 Hanging Bent Leg Raises
3x60s RKC Planks
2x6,1x5.5,2x4 Close Grip Chinups
2x5,1x4 Half Wall Headstand Pushups
3x8 Ring Rows (rings@32",feet@18")
3x8 Ring Pushups (rings@32")
3x8 (each side) Single Leg Squats (using 1 finger on 1 ring for balance/bottom assist)
3x8 Modified Glute Ham Raise

This is my A routine. I'm focusing on "arms above the head" push/pull, horizontal push/pull, and legs.

B routine focuses on "arms at sides" push/pull, horizontal push/pull, and legs.

C routine focuses on "arms as sides" push/pull and "arms above the head" push/pull.  And legs.  Never forget the legs.

If I'm feeling saucy (read: not sore), I do a skills-based routine on the weekend that includes front lever, back lever, elbow lever, and L-sit work.  I'd like to start working on freestanding handstands too, but I'm scared!