BT2k9

Ok, I lied - I didn’t get around to updating my workout tracker like I said I would. I’m gonna make a point to do it sometime this weekend, though, either tonight or tomorrow.

Just got back from the gym and tonight’s workout was good. Feel good right now and got a nice pump going.

Nothing much to report, just gonna hop in the shower then find something to eat.

That’s all.

Great workout last night. I never found that rubber piece for my headphones, but luckily I had a backup pair. I just hope I don’t lose one of these!

I got home and did my long stretch session, then headed over to the gym for leg night. I really felt like I could have maybe pushed it a bit more on squat, but I really don’t want to take a chance on injuring myself, especially with my hip and my knee the way they are, but my strength has really gone up again.

That was pretty much the theme for the whole night - I could have pushed the poundage up for all the exercises, but I want to do it gradually. Leg press was the only one where I actually felt like I’d hit close to my max for this rep cycle. I’ve got one more notch before I’m lifting the whole stack on the calf raise (312.5 pounds); I’m already reducing the rest between sets on those in order to try and get them fatigued. I may have to start doing them in the squat rack again so that I can get some more weight on there. The danger with that is my legs are kinda wobbly after I’ve blasted them with 3 different exercises (squat, leg press, leg curls for the hams).

We’ll see how it goes next time, but again, the stretches make a world of difference for my workout on leg night, and the next day I’ve got minimal / no hip pain.

Nothing bad to report on the diet front; chugging right along. Today’s reduced calorie day since no weight workout. I’m actually glad I have the night off; I’m gonna go home and play on the computer all night - and three-day weekend to boot! I’m so damn happy about this holiday coming up I can hardly stand it. Speaking of holidays, just a few short weeks now until my birthday - I took that week off for my vacation; I’m so happy to be getting some time off. I can hardly believe it’s been 2 years since I started working at this place.

Anyhow - tonight I’ll catch up on my workout tracker and tomorrow will be front upper body at the gym. I think I’ll head over in the evening.

Oh, what a night!

It’s really hot here today and I was stuck on a train car with no AC on the ride home, so I was REALLY grumpy coming home. Luckily I was able to snag a ride from a friend and didn’t have to wait a half hour in the heat for the next bus, so that put me in a better mood. Unfortunately, somewhere between the train and the car, one of the rubber pieces to my headphones got lost, which I only noticed after I was already at the gym. These headphones were given to me as a birthday present (EARLY present!) and I’m sure weren’t cheap (they’re Bose), so I’m very upset about it. I was even MORE upset that I had to listen to the god-awful garbage they play at the gym, but it motivated me to hurry up and finish so I could escape.

I hurried, all right… I was going so quickly that I got all the way done with my flat bench sets when I realized that I WAS DOING THE WRONG WORKOUT! I couldn’t help but laugh at that point; so I headed over to the Lat pull-downs and commenced with the correct workout. And if all that wasn’t enough, I forgot to bring my lifting straps, so my grip was an issue on my deadlifts.

Whew!

Crappy starts notwithstanding, it was actually a very good workout. The ‘music’ turned out to be a non-issue as I was pretty focused on my workout. I ended up skipping triceps workouts and cardio tonight because honestly I’m just exhausted. I had to work early today and I had stayed up well past when I should have last night, so that’s my fault and I’m paying the price now. I’m gonna have to watch that because rest is just as important a factor as everything else in this.

Tomorrow is leg day and long stretches.

Nothing bad to report on the diet front.

I’m gonna have Friday night off due to the car being used for a previous engagement, so the weekend workouts will be pushed back a day.

Ok, with last night’s workout completed, week 2 is in the bag. Unfortunately the scale has gone back up to 310 pounds and is 10 pounds lighter than when I started last December; I’m bummed that I gained back so much, but I know that I can still reach my goal with persistence and consistency. Lose 40 pounds of fat by my birthday is still the goal.

Tonight I’m gonna do my stretches and see if I can squeeze in a cardio session at the gym. I’ve got a few errands so time will be very limited.

Week 3 begins tomorrow, the 2nd 3 set week and back night. I dread those deadlifts…

Awesome, awesome workout last night. I can’t believe after all this time I’m not doing this longer stretching program more often when the results are just astounding; my legs feel great today and my hip isn’t bothering me at all, despite blasting them to hell last night. My strength level is pretty much back where it was at before my layoff, and I feel like I actually held back a bit on the weight.

I forgot to weigh myself last night. I was pretty tired when the workout was done and was ready to get home and eat. Diet was good yesterday and I’m expecting good results on my next measuring day. I’ll see what the scale says tonight at the gym.

Tonight’s the last workout for week 2; back to front upper body. My shoulder hasn’t been giving me any trouble, so I’m very happy about that and I’m hoping that I don’t have any injuries this time around. I had a great cardio session last night (Return of the King was playing alongside the closing ceremony of the Olympics, so I had plenty to keep my mind occupied). Tonight I’m gonna get another cardio session in, and even see if I can squeeze one in tomorrow.

Ok, so I had good workouts on Friday and Saturday nights. The gym was a ghost town both nights, so that worked out great.

Today I finally updated my measurements - not bad all things considered, but I wasn’t able to find a scale so I’ll weigh myself later today when I’m at the gym… it won’t be accurate due to me weighing when I’m full of food, but it’s the best I can do for now.

Diet’s been good - nothing bad to report. I’m glad I’m keeping snacky type foods out of the house - I had a bit of a craving the other day but fought it off.

Today’s leg day. I’m about to head to the grocery store and after that, I think I’ll get this workout out of the way early. Gonna do my nice long stretch session, then head over and destroy the gym.

Oh yeah, I finally got a cardio session in last night, and tonight I’ll get another one done.

Shoomp! That’s the sound you hear when workouts get re-arranged. I had a hot date on Wednesday which facilitated said re-arrangement.

Last night was legs and it was a real good workout. The stretches really make a night-and-day difference in terms of my flexibility and the resilience of my legs - I have to be very very careful not to aggravate existing conditions (bad left knee, bad left hip, overall poor joint condition, tendency for my hams to clamp down).

Else, the day went pretty well. I ended up skipping cardio last night and will make it up on one of my other days. Tonight is front upper body.

Diet was ok - nothing bad to report. Gonna hit up the grocery store again this weekend and keep the pantries full of good stuff.

One thing I haven’t been doing is weighing myself or taking my measurements - so Sunday I will be doing that. The problem is, we don’t have a reliable scale at my house, and it’s a bit far to go all the way to the gym just to weigh myself. I’m gonna see if I can find a better scale this weekend that won’t set me back too much monetarily.

Ok, good workout last night, no more soreness (yay!) and that wraps up week 1.

On to the first 3 set week, and legs tonight. I’m gonna jet home, do my stretches then head over and tear it up. It was nice having that mix - I just set it to random and didn’t have to pull out my iPod except to adjust the volume level a couple times. I was really focused last night and I’d like to have another good night like that where I can bust out my sets with no wasted time.

Diet was good and I treated myself to a small brownie from a bakery near my job. The sugar cravings have been very minimal this time around, which surprises me.

1 week down, 5 more weeks left on this cycle, 7 more weeks until my birthday and my 40 pound weight loss goal…

Had a good workout last night, the gym was basically empty. I guess it’s official - the get-fit-for-summer race is over and there are pretty much only familiar faces there now. It’s pretty nice to be 100% comfortable and not have to worry about anything except my intensity, my rest times and my reps/sets.

Nothing special to report on the diet end. Just gotta keep chugging away…

Tonight is the last workout from Week 1, it’s back night. Ugh. I’m gonna get a good energizing playlist set up, do my stretches then hit the gym with a vengeance.

Leg night went well and my legs are pretty sore. I didn’t end up doing my stretches beforehand just to see how it would go - turned out ok, but I think I’m gonna need to do those or I’m gonna end up injuring myself.

It ended up being a really busy weekend, and I had to push my workouts by another day, so I’ve still got 2 more to finish up week 1, which I’ll do tonight and tomorrow, then onto week 2 and the first 3-set week.

I went over to a friend’s house for a birthday party and actually did really well all things considered. I had a bowl of ice cream after dinner which consisted primarily of protein in order to offset the expected carb overload from the party. (2 small glasses of wine, some bread, a bowl of ice cream — no cake.)

All in all, a pretty good weekend. I’m feeling pretty rested today, and the soreness is abating. (That ibuprofen I took this morning probably helped.) Looking forward to tearing it up tonight in the gym.