PhxSwimGuy’s BodyBlog

I won’t be working out tomorrow. Yuck, I hate getting a cold. Yesterday, I had a scratchy throat and I thought it could have been because of the wind and pollen in the air. Then, this morning I woke up with a sore throat and all the fun stuff that goes along with a cold.

This is my 2nd winter hitting the gym, and it’s definitely tougher this time of year. It’s dark. It’s cold. My gym is around the corner so I have to get dressed for both stepping out the door and then for stepping into the gym. Even with these challenges, I’ve come to the conclusion that I have it easy. Working out in Phoenix has some distinct advantages. Getting ready for the trip to the gym includes pulling sweats over my shorts for the drive and throwing on a windbreaker. I don’t need to put on snow boots. There have been two days this winter where I have had to clear the frost/condensation from my windshield. I just step into my truck and drive. For me it is cold outside when it drops below 65 degrees. (It hit 80 yesterday during the day.)

I want to salute all of you who deal with winter and still keep hitting the gym.

All Hallows Eve gave me a surprise this year. I have a new sensitivity to the sweetness of sugar–it seems too sweet. I’ve been avoiding sodas and sweets and eating cleaner. For example, I rarely have soda and now notice when I do–I don’t like it anymore. I remember liking it. I miss it sometimes, but now just give me a good unsweetened ice tea. I guess it hit home when I ate candy corn this Halloween. I know I liked them, but I can’t remember them ever being that sweet. A few were just too much. I think our taste buds and bodies get acclimated to all the sugar our modern diets contain. I still like a good quality chocolate; I still love a frozen custard. I just can’t eat too much or else I just can’t enjoy it.

I guess this new sugar sensitivity signals internal changes that are going along with the external changes. For all those fighting a sweet tooth, I hope this gives you a little boost to keep at it. Your tastes can and do change.

Oh man, I’m sick. Usually I’m able to fight the bug–I felt it on Saturday. I knew I was sick on Sunday afternoon, and now yuck. No work outs for me.

Well, this week I failed the challenge. The iwantsixpackabs routine I’ve been following has been going well. I have been modifying the rest times and certain movements but mostly I’ve been successful at doing the program. In the last few weeks, they have been doing weighted push-ups. I haven’t done the backpack with weights but have been doing higher reps or more difficult hand placements. Now I’ve hit a brick wall. This week I was supposed to do one handed, Push-ups. I can’t do them. I warmed up–tried and failed. Man, I hate that. I’m going to try off the workout pads and I’m going to look at youtube for some technique help.  Perhaps though, I’m just not strong enough. If that is the case, I’ll have to try the weighted backpack to get me ready to do the one handed push-ups in the next few weeks.

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.