PhxSwimGuy’s BodyBlog

I haven’t written in a while. I still don’t feel like writing, but I’m doing it. I found something I really like in the Super Target the other day. Congratulations to Green Giant on making something healthy and easy to eat. It is called Simply Steam Green Beans & Almonds. Here’s the kicker… Ingredients: Green beans, water, almonds roasted in canola or safflower oil, salt, baking soda. That is it. There is no sauce. It comes in a bag in a box, and the bag is the steamer. All you do is pop it into the microwave. It is easy to make and it tastes good. Enjoy.

I do not like week 7. On Friday, I finished week 6. It was a good week, but have I mentioned I don’t like week 7. I started week 7 this morning of iwant6packabs. It’s not that it is bad or poorly designed–oh no, on the contrary, it is designed to perfectly attack my weakness. I don’t like feeling weak nor failing to hit 30 reps. Well, my emotions do not matter. This is a matter of will. I look forward to Wednesday and doing better than I did today.

Week 7 is an introduction to Arnel’s Spartan 300 series stuck in the middle of his ab series. Mostly it is a bunch of (forgive the spelling) polymetrics. There was one explosive move after another. Jump Squats, staggered pushups, lunges where you switch feet in the air, more pushups where your hands leave the ground and burpees these plus other exercised proved tough. Those jumping moves are very rough for me. The regular series starts again next week but there still, thankfully, some strength building exercises in week 7 as well. I think I can’t post this week’s video since it is on MetaCafe and not Youtube. The other weeks are posted on my page if anyone wants to check them out.

I am so sore today. My glutes are just feeling it big time. I’ve been doing iwantsixpackabs and I just returned to week 6. I did not expect to be sore. Last week I took a break from the series just to swim and get ready for my race. I guess the workout targeted areas I just haven’t been hitting. Also, I know jumping was in the routine and explosive moves usually tire me out. Yesterday had jumps and weighted step-ups and weighted walking lunges. There were upper body workouts too. Overall it was an intense workout.

I did it! I competed in the Grand Canyon State Games yesterday and reached my goal. On top of that, I scored two gold medals for both the events I swam. I’ve been swimming getting ready for the meet but have not been going to masters swimming. I’ve just been hitting the pool at LA Fitness. It’s kind of cool, I’m feeling jazzed.

I swam a 50 yard freestyle in 26.21 which wasn’t too bad. I was touched out by another swimmer, but he was in a younger age group. In the 100 yard freestyle I was the fastest out of all heats that day. I swam a 56.66. That is where I wanted to reach but didn’t know if I could do it. It brings me full circle after my crash. My time was about the same as I swam about 4 years ago.

I’m sore today and my back definitely feels it. Other than that I feel good. Now to keep working on getting into top shape.

I finished Week 4 of iwantsixpackabs. Overall, I it was a good week. I had to modify the core exercise at the end called superman. It’s where you lay face down and arch your back so your feet and arms come off the ground. That’s a no, no, for me. I tried it during the ripped series, and it’s just something I cannot do. I really liked the stability ball push-ups and the seated band row. My gym has stability balls and a ton of free-weights. In addition, I’ve been substituting the Cybex cable machine whenever bands were used.

This week my eating was not the best. Eating clean is going to be my challenge and area of improvement. I’m still doing ok, but I know it will make a big difference and take me to the next level. I’ll have to get a tape measure and check my progress. I’m down to 189lbs but I wonder what my body fat percentage and waist measurements are.

Oh, and an update from my last blog. My back is doing better. I didn’t get in to my doctor–instead I slipped hiking and wham things are ok again. I was headed down Lookout Mountain and slipped and caught myself before falling. That quick movement seemed to put things right again. Next time I think I’ll go to the osteopath right away instead of living with it for weeks. A friend told me the sooner the better and if it is an alignment issue they should be able to fix that quickly. Live and learn.

Oh man, I’m hurt again. What did I do? I pointed my right finger, extended my arm, and rotated my torso. That was it. I knew right then and there it was a bad one. The same spot that always bothers me was tweaked once again. In the recent past I’ve been able to work things out and fix things, but not this time. It has been a couple of weeks. I usually swim drills slowly and stretch. I usually do dumbbell bench presses. This time, however, it is not helping. In fact dumbbell bench presses seem to aggravate the spot. Did I let that stop me… no.

I’ve been modifying my workouts. Week 2 of iwantsixpackabs had dive bomber pushups that had to be done carefully. This week I finished week 3 and really went light on the trunk twists. (I went too heavy on Monday and paid for it, I was a bit sore but not too bad. Then, I went light the rest of the week and was fine.) I’ve learned I can take a little discomfort if it doesn’t linger too long. In fact it is a price I’m willing to pay if it means that I’ll be pain free in the end. Thus, I’ve kept working out–just being watchful.  

So much for my judgement. I’ve been adding shoulder workouts tagged onto the end of Arnel’s routines, and well, I did something I absolutely should not have done–I tried external shoulder rotations. Now, I’ve done them standing before with both arms at the same time and they actually seemed good for my back. This time, unfortunately I tried doing it lying on a bench with one arm. I went light but it did not matter. It tweaked that spot again. I’ve got to ice it and set up an appointment with my osteopath. I’m going to keep on going but very light, and I’m going to avoid single arm rotating motions. Right now it feels like I went camping and slept on a rock all night long, something I haven’t had daily in about 12 weeks.

I just finished week 2 of a routine called iwantsixpackabs. A few weeks ago I completed Arnel’s "How to be ripped" series. It has been a compromise lately because of my work load at this time of the year. I feel satisfied that I continued this week even though I was busy. The sacrifice was my cardio days and I only did a moderate job of good eating. Boy, the combination of stress and lack of time really was tough. It’s summer now, however, so I’m going to go all out for cut trim me.

This week there were 3 supersets. First there was dive bomber push-ups with jump squats. Second there was pull-ups combined with Alternating Split Squat Jump. Finally, there was a super set of double crunches followed with plank position with one foot in the air. I modified the push-ups since I could not do 3 sets of 20. All I did was ten each time. Also, for the double crunch I thought I had better form and felt it more if I rolled my heels on a stability ball while doing the double crunches. Oh, and I still have to modify my Pull-ups. I use an assisted pull-up machine to help me get 3 sets of 20. By the 2nd set my biceps were killing me, but I did not break the superset. I did add a bit of extra rest between sets because I could just feel my biceps pounding. I don’t know but it seemed like the jumping split squats seemed to be driving the blood into my arms after I was done with them.

Then, I did a small supplemental workout focusing on my shoulders. I did narrow grip seated rows and bent over t-bar rows. In addition I did seated shoulder 21’s and once or twice I did some lat pulldowns. Wide shoulders are my top priority right now so that’s my focus.

iPods will display text–I had forgotten this fact. I was loading workout videos and really wanted to keep track of the reps and weights. Then, I remembered it can be done. Whenever I need iPod help, I visit learninginhand.com. It really has useful information in an easy to read format. Anyway, all that is needed is to enable disk mode on the iPod. Copy text from your bodyspace pages or type it out and save it as a txt file. Later, just drag and drop the file into the notes folder on the iPod. It is not done through iTunes. The iPod is treated just like an external hard drive or thumb drive.

After copying the file, it is easy to see it. Just select extras on the iPod. Use the selector wheel to pick notes. Click the title of the note you want to see. You can then scroll and see your workout notes.  Now, it is true you can’t input data to make changes or adjustments on the iPod itself, but it is a way to travel light to the gym.

Here’s a more detailed link. http://www.learninginhand.com/ipod/notes.html

Well, I thought I’d write another post regarding a food discovery. I’ve been trying to avoid transfat in the things I buy. I’ve read the reports, the science is done; the stuff is not good for people to eat. Yet, they stick it in so many things. It has something going for it–it has a great shelf life. Anyway, I’m also trying to avoid high fructose corn syrup too. The info on this sweetener I don’t think is conclusive yet, but it is everywhere. With all that said, I was glad to find something with just roasted peanuts, sugar, palm oil, and salt. I really like Skippy Natural Super Chunk peanut butter. They are using palm oil so it does not separate into layers. I think it tastes really good, but palm oil has saturated fat, a strange thing for a vegetable source. So, it is a trade off. I don’t eat a lot of it but I wonder if most people notice the saturated fat information. It is true, I could buy a healthier version without the palm oil, but then I’d have to stir it or keep it in my fridge to keep it from separating. Oh well, now to find a jelly without corn syrup.

I think I noticed a pattern in my bodyspace line graph that tracks my weight. It seems like I have a slight rise before I drop a few pounds.  I’ve been really happy to reach 190 lbs. once again. I haven’t been there since just after the crash, and that has been close to three years. Thus, I am hopeful that my slight rise today will signal a big drop that is soon to come. I am looking at getting lean and reaching 178 lbs.

I think over the past 12 weeks I’ve not only lost weight but also fat. My pants and belt show the change the most. Yet, I know I’ve also gained muscle. My clothes are showing me that too–my shirts are are fitting differently–a very cool feeling.