PathBeast’s BodyBlog

…cough, cough… Wow, it’s been a long time since I’ve been here.  My membership was postponed at my gym, due to payment issues.  I’m still trying to get that straightened out.  And I’ve been working a  lot, and studying a ridiculous amount.  Anyways, I lifted at the local clubhouse gym on Tuesday, and went for a jog (gasp) yesterday.  So hopefully I can get back to some sort of schedule soon…

GOJoFit kindly reminded me that I forgot to blog on a very important physical excursion I undertook — obviously, it must have been embarassing to me, otherwise she wouldn’t have bothered mentioning it! 

So, I went down and visited  GoJo, and undertook the formidable task of working out with her on her obstacle course day. It was actually mad fun.  I thought the guy who ran it was going to be some creepy dude, but he was actually a hard working guy who was pretty cool.  I did most of the exercises, except for climbing the cargo net, as one of the taped joints came apart just before I went and it was shut down for repairs.

My experience changed my workout routine a bit, though.  This was when I added dumbbell step ups, due to my performance on the box jumps… OK, lack of performance would be more accurate.

Overall it was a great time.  Special thanks to GoJoFit and Al.  I need to go back though, to perfect myself for Ninja Warrior and REAL ULTIMATE POWER…

So remember my prior quote about not feeling sore after doing some recent volume overload training?  I take it back.  I hurt almost everywhere after this weekend’s workouts, which were with pretty light weight, considering the heaviest dumbbell was 50 lbs.  But i did triple sets (supersetting 3 exercises together, with no rest) and it seemed to punch my ticket pretty good.  Yesterday the focus exercises were DB squats, standing leg curls, and DB bicep curls.  10 sets total of the squats, with other supporting exercises worked in appropriately.  Today, Iz hurtz.

So I’m still doing this  volume overload training deal as suggested by a loyal reader (aka trixter747 — no I don’t know how loyal a reader he is but is does have a nice ring to it). And I was quite sore.  But I suppose my muscles are getting used to it, because I’m finding I can walk around and not be in constant pain anymore.  Maybe I need to push a little harder with more weight.

My gym membership got rescinded so I’m having trouble getting in the gym.  Some technicality about who is actually paying for my membership (I’m not, but I’m hoping work will continue to do so, since they don’t pay me a very reasonable salary).  So I’ve been using the neighborhood clubhouse gym, which isn’t too bad (i.e. it’s not too good, either).  Hopefully I can get this resolved soon.  But most of these V.O.T. regimens seem pretty adaptable to dumbbell use, anyways, so it shouldn’t be too big a deal.  Tomorrow I’ll do arms, at least that’s the plan…

30 hours in the car, 15 each way.  So I didn’t get too many workouts in over the weekend.  Yesterday I did get a short one in, so I knocked out 8 sets of incline DB press supersetted with incline DB flyes, with 2 sets of hammer curls and two sets of lateral shoulder raises.  AND, this morning, I managed to get up about 45 min early and went for a jog.  It was just 20 minutes running and 5 walking ,but I’ve been trying to do that for about a year.  Let the trumpets sound!

Work spilled over into MY TIME yesterday, and then I had to run home and babysit while Rocker Chick Mom went to rock out with her band.  So, no workout, other than the pushups I did to amuse Rex Stryker…  but the volume overload soreness from my leg workout did catch up to me, and it hurts to walk, sit, or especially go up stairs…

…overloaded and in pain?  Started on Monday with chest and back, and I hurt on both the front and back of my upper torso, and kept cramping when I looked through the scope yesterday.  The focus was on 10 sets of DB flat press, with 10 sets of DB flyes supersetted.  For back I did 5 sets of 5 reps of Chin-ups with 5 sets of 10 reps upright rows, followed by 5 sets of T-bar rows supersetted with barbell pullovers. Last night I followed up with legs, but couldn’t destroy myself as much as I wanted to due to lack of time (had to work late, again). Thanks for the suggestions, fellow iron heads.  Today I’ll take a break from the weights and hopefully get off from work in time to do some cardio, aka Wednesday’s tennis workout.  The thought of me playing tennis still seems laughable, for some reason….

Reviewing my max lifts reveals a disturbing trend.  They have been stagnant for a year, and in some cases (like the overhead barbell press and incline dumbbell press) have gone down significantly.  I’m not happy about that at all, but my workout schedule did get pretty fragmented over the last couple of months.  Hopefully I can keep this schedule a little more religiously and get my lifting prowess back to its former Herculean levels (I may be overstating my case a bit, there…).

Anyways did chest on Thursday, and it went ok see above).  I was sore all weekend.  One thing I’ve added are box dumbbell stepups to my workouts a couple of times a week.  Yes, I know it’s not a chest exercise.  But although I’ve got a lot of mobility back in my leg, I’m not happy with my diminished leaping ability and slowed down sprinting.  So I’m working on overall leg strength on amore regular basis, and I need to get back to running and sprinting on a scheduled basis.

Played tennis yesterday, but I was 30 minutes late to my class due to having to stay late at work.  Anyways, I played out of mind (which really isn’t that good, but compared to the usual…).  I suppose coming in on fresh legs and and air conditioned office helps when everyone else has been playing in 100 degree heat….

Monday I returned and did a relatively log worthy back workout.  I did find my pull up strength vastly decreased, much to my chagrin.  My ninja warrior chances are slipping away.  Also did 15 minutes on the bike and 15 minutes on the rowing machine — I couldn’t believe how crowded the cardio room was!  Unbelievable. I guess it’s beach season and the new residents are in the hospital so everyone is trying out the gym and checking out the talent. I don’t notice such things, of course. Tuesday I got slammed at work and had to run home to baby sit while the wife went to practice her rockstar-mom act.  She is actually an extremely talented singer, in all seriousness.

Yesterday was a pretty day, so I did cardio tennis and then hung around and played for about an hour.  It was a good time.