PastorMan’s BodyBlog

Like many of you I am using the New Year to start some new things in my life. I don’t believe in making resolutions, but am all about implementing new processes that will help me achieve my goals. I plan on reading a new leadership book each month; listening to a growth CD each Thursday (and passing on my notes to my staff); and continue writing the book I started. In addition to these I am starting a new 12 week training regimen that is very different from what I’ve done in the past. It also includes a new eating plan.  Many of my staff are joining me. I roll that all out today for them. Very exciting.

 Good luck to each of you and your goals for this year.

Still tired from our snowshoe backpacking trip but wanted to get in a workout anyway…I was bored. So I did a quick 30 min HIIT workout. 11 different stations at 2 min each with a 30 sec rest between each station. Here are the stations. I did several multiple times.

Jumprope (2x)…Heavy Bag (2x)…Box Steps…Russian Decline Twist (2x)…IThinkFit’s Ab Crunch (2x)…Jumping Jacks…Stairmaster

Feels Good!

Just returned from our annual snow cave trip on Mt. Rainier. Due to avalanche danger we weren’t able to get onto the mountain as planned so had to snowshoe to a lower elevation and sleep in tents rather than snow caves. Had a blast any way. Got up onto the upper slopes yesterday and did some intense snowshoeing. Great group of people and overall great trip.

Glad to be home though. Hot shower was nice.

Well Christmas is over and it has been another great year. The day after Christmas can only mean one thing. I am taking another group onto the foothills at the base of mighty Mt. Rainier to build and sleep in snow caves for the next 3 days. This is an annual event for myself and the others crazies (8 this year) in my church. We hike about a mile uphill in snowshoes w/ 50 lb packs and then dig out several snow caves (takes about 5 hours). Then we hike, play, and just admire the beauty and majesty of God’s wintry wonderland for the next 2 days. I love it!

You know when you work hard and try to make gains, but just don’t seem to get there. That’s how I feel tonight. I took several end of the year progress pics and measurements to see where I am.  So disappointing. I know I have not eaten well this holiday season, but the pics revealed I am worse off than I thought. Dang it! My abs are less cut and overall I look worse than 4 months ago.  Well, I guess there are two options…give up or work harder & eat smarter. Obviously I will choose the latter!

What an awesome arm workout. If interested check out my workout tracker for today’s lifts. What it doesn’t tell you is HOW. We did "4 blocks" of arm exercises. Each "block" was a superset of Tris/Bis/Abs. We did each block 3x with rep mix of 6/8/10. After completing each "block" we then did 2 min of HIIT.  At the completion of the 4 blocks we finished with a super pump superset of Bodyweight Dips (I got a PR of 67) and Standing Dumbbell Curls…running the rack (4 different weights to failure).  My arms feel like they are pumped full of lead. So hard to even type right now. Great day:)

I feel like a woman:) In the last 2 days I have gained 5.4 lbs at the same weigh in time. My fingers feel like little sausages. I know I am retaining water but don’t know why. Have eaten pretty clean and very little sodium that I know of. All I can think of is that I am not drinking enough water. Any ideas anyone?

One of the things I’ve learned about lifting in the last year is the use of weights to develop power (strength + speed). So I have incorporated more power type lifting into my regimen. Tonight, wanted to get in some extra lifts so I did some power cleans along with BB bench press. In addition I did 20 min of HIIT interspersed throughout the lifting. It was a good night. Always have more energy at night. Wish I could do all my lifting at night.

I really enjoy using the workout tracker. Helps me monitor lifts, set/reps & amount. What it doesn’t do well is allow you to describe HOW a particular workout was done. As most of us know HOW is just as important as WHAT.  Today’s workout was a leg/shoulder day. I did each leg/shoulder combo as a superset then threw in a set of abs and 1 min of HIIT. So we had 5 blocks of exercises. Each with a Leg/Shoulder/Ab/HIIT combo and each block done 3x. Very intense! Oh and we started the day w 12 min of HIIT. 2 min each at 6 different stations.

Well, today was my first day back in the gym after my rib injury. The rib is still broken, but nothing can be done so just have to monitor the pain as I lift. Today was chest/back (see workout tracker) and overall I felt pretty good. The only lift I had to skip was incline dumbbell flyes (too much pain). Everything else went well. Good to be back in the gym!