Al–1961’s BodyBlog

Yes, I indulged in some Thanksgiving desserts.  No remorse here!  Had a slice of pumpkin pie, and a slice of "out of this world" pumpkin cheesecake.  Mmmmmm.    

I did make it to the gym this morning at 5:05am.  Lifted heavy on biceps & triceps, followed by 40 min’s of varying intervals on the elliptical.  Finished up with 4 rapid sets each for biceps & triceps again.  (30 sec’s rest & supersets)  Burned off some of those dessert calories & I can feel that I’ll be sore tomorrow.  I like it!  

JUST GETTING TO THE GYM IS A SUCCESSFUL WORKOUT.      

Sore glutes!       

On Sunday, I did 2 cardio workouts.  40 min’s of hard interval runs on the treadmill in the AM before church.  And 25 min’s of intervals on the elliptical in the PM.  Then yesterday, I worked legs with weights.  So I’ve got a sore butt today. 
Today’s workout:  Lats.  Lifted heavy.  For cardio I did 50 min’s of varying intervals on the elliptical.  Dropped a boatload of sweat……..feelin’ the endorphins!  Yeah baby.    

I’m grateful for God’s many blessings.  Health & fitness are definitely part of them.  Here’s to not taking that for granted…….

JUST GETTING TO THE GYM IS A SUCCESSFUL WORKOUT.    

2-FER:  Yesterday, for perhaps the 2nd time ever, I hit the gym twice.  With the family out of town over the weekend, I had some flexibility.  I went early, before church, and did 40 min’s of hard interval runs on the treadmill.  In the afternoon, I hit the gym again, to work biceps & triceps, followed by another 25 min’s cardio, doing intervals on the elliptical. 

AA:  The sermon message at church was good for an attitude adjustment.  The sermon, "coincidentally", was on giving thanks.  Our pastor is going through the book of Luke, and Sunday’s message was queued up for Luke 17.  Very timely, not so much for the Thanksgiving holiday, but because I needed to be hear this message.  Stress over work, stress over family finances, and frustration over sabotaging my efforts to drop BF by having junkfood munchouts had been taking a toll.  I was reminded of the many things I should be thankful for:  I have a job.  I have good relationships with my wife & kiddies.  We’re all healthy.  (And despite my moments of poor eating, I’m actually fairly fit for a guy turning 47 next month)  God is good………and I’m better than I deserve.      

Have an awesome day, and don’t forget:  

JUST GETTING TO THE GYM IS A SUCCESSFUL WORKOUT.      

Finally got some sleep last night after 4 days of insomnia.  After having a terrible workout yesterday, the workout this morning was AWESOME.  Sleep, it’s a wonderful thing……        

WEIGHTS:  Worked shoulders this morning.  Lifting heavy again, this time rotating exercises (working delts, but a different exercise each set).  A couple supersets/dropsets at the end.   CARDIO:  45 min’s of intense intervals on the elliptical.  Dropped a bucketload of sweat.  Very cool.  Or maybe hot.    

It’s Friday!  Encourage someone & make their day.  

JUST GETTING TO THE GYM IS A SUCCESSFUL WORKOUT.          

Day 4.  Last night, 3 to 3.5 hrs sleep.  Finally caught up with me in the gym.  This morning was leg day, and I can’t remember when I’ve had such a lousy workout.  NO ENERGY.  Nada.  Zip.  Zilcho.  After struggling through a short workout, I decided to do a little cardio (which I don’t normally do on leg days).  At least get some blood pumping.  Did 25 min’s of intervals on the elliptical, which helped some.  Then I did a few more sets on quads & calves, and called it a day. 

Today I’m living it: 

JUST GETTING TO THE GYM IS A SUCCESSFUL WORKOUT.      

This is the 3rd day in a row I was awake before my 4:30am alarm.  And I had a terrible time sleeping last night/this morning.  I’m guessing I am running on approx 3 hrs sleep.  Still, I hit the gym at 5am.  Have to stick with that habit, even when the motivation is lacking. 

WEIGHTS:  Heavy lifts on lats & traps, with supersets/dropsets.  CARDIO:  40 min’s intervals on elliptical.  Heartrate > 160.  That’ll keep me going this morning with the good ole endorphins coursing through the veins.     Of course, I will need toothpicks to prop up my eyelids this afternoon………

I was testing my motto today: 

JUST GETTING TO THE GYM IS A SUCCESSFUL WORKOUT.         

We don’t usually eat at the Golden Corral, with it’s buffet full of foods laden with carbs & fat.  And the temptation to overeat & leave the restaurant stuffed like a whale.  However, last night the local restaurant was having a Military Appreciation Day.  All vets & active duty ate for free.  How cool is that, a company showing appreciation for the troops?  Especially active duty folks who’ve borne quite a burden the past 5 yrs.    

And…….I limited myself to a big salad with fresh veggies (and oil & vinegar dressing).  Then, I had some chicken (sans the skin) & a sirlion filet.  Tasty AND healthy dinner.  

WORKOUT THIS MORNING:  Lifting heavy again, working bi’s & tri’s.  Followed by 35 min’s of interval runs on the treadmill.  So, clean eating & having hard workouts so far this week.  I’m ready to have an awesome day. 

Don’t forget……

JUST GETTING TO THE GYM IS A SUCCESSFUL WORKOUT.           

This weekend was clean as a whistle for clean eating.  No cheats, no munchies, no nighttime snacking.  Whew! 

This morning’s w/o was a great start to the week.  WEIGHTS:  Still going heavy on lifting.  Today, worked chest:  Decline bench, flat bench flyes, incline bench w/ dumbbell’s, flat bench flyes again, then decline bench flyes.  The last 2 sets per exercise were with superset/dropsets, except for decline flyes.  CARDIO:  40 min’s of varying intervals on the elliptical.  Heartrate:  150-170. 

 Remember…..

JUST GETTING TO THE GYM IS A SUCCESSFUL WORKOUT.     

I’m relieved after taking progress pics this morning.  Today’s pics seem to be the same as my Oct 23 pics.  My eating has not been very good the last couple of weeks.  Fortunately, I’ve had great workouts, and I’ve been stepping up the cardio to compensate for not eating as clean as I’d like. 

It’s hard to tell from today’s pics, but I think I’ve made some small gains in lats & triceps, and maybe a little in chest.  I’ll take that, but I’d rather drop a couple BF % points around the mid-section. 

Today’s workout:  Lat’s and traps on weights (heavier weights this week, in the 5-8 rep range, followed by superset/dropset on the last 2 sets per exercise).  Cardio was 50 min’s of intervals on the elliptical.  I’ve run twice this week on the treadmill, which is a help, since on intervals I go pretty fast on the running part.  That really gets my heartrate up, above 150-160. 

Have an awesome weekend.  Encourage someone today.  And…….

JUST GETTING TO THE GYM IS A SUCCESSFUL WORKOUT.        

My back is sore today.  It must be from my scoliosis (curvature of the spine), since I haven’t strained any muscles that I know of.  On Tuesday I jogged for 3 mi’s on the treadmill, followed by 10 min’s of interval running.  I had a low back ache during the jogging, so that might be it.  When I jog on a regular basis, I get this intense low back ache that prevents me from jogging more than 1/2 mile (feels like my lower back muscles are getting twisted), hence jogging is not a primary cardio exercise for me.  I was fortunate not to have this problem when I first joined the Navy, while going through Office Candidate School and the daily running.  Since I don’t enjoy running, that works out fine now.  I do other exercises for cardio, and throw in a jog, here & there, to mix things up. 

This week I’m going heavier with the weights (generally 5-8 reps), with a superset/drop set on the last 2 sets per exercise.  Today I did triceps. 

Have a great day, and encourage someone.  

JUST GETTING TO THE GYM IS A SUCCESSFUL WORKOUT.