StrongerGeek’s BodyBlog

Saturday: Abs and Legs

Sunday: Back and Biceps

I got back from NYC on Friday and got too workouts in this weekend.  Saturday was legs which was fine, if not terribly exciting.  I did squat 135 lbs, which is the most I’ve put on my back in a long time.  I also did some much needed abs work.  Sunday was back and biceps day.  I got 12 pullups (one off my record of 13).  I’m also continuing to hit the biceps a little harder, which felt good.

Nothing else major to report.  I’ve got a cardio and abs day coming up today.  I’ll let you know how it goes.

Upper Body

I’m leaving for NYC in 1/2 an hour, but I managed to squeeze one more workout in!  I decided since I will take at least two (and likely 3) days off from the gym, to combine my chest and back workouts back into a single upper body workout.

Some of the numbers were a little off today, but I had very little sleep last night so that’s understandable.  I only got 11 pullups (my record is 13).  My best bench was 185 lbs x 7.  I was happy with my DB curls today.  I’m still using the lighter weights to keep my elbow happy, but I did seated, alternating dumbbell curls at 32.5 lbs x 12 and I did them agonizing slow.  Man that’s one way to make a light weight seem heavy.

My back is a little sore today because we played a kids vs adults soccer game at Thing #2’s practice.  That was a hell of a lot of fun, but I got knocked down (by a 9 year old!) and my old body doesn’t take that as well as it once did…  I never was a soccer player as a kid, but Things 1 and 2 love it, and they’re teaching me how to play.  (I missed Thing #2’s game last week, but everyone, adults and kids, were talking about this amazing corner kick he did.  Apparently he bent the ball and scored a goal directly from the kick.  I guess that’s not a normal thing for a 10 year old to be able to do…  Okay, proud parent stopping now…)

I’m off to the city.  Be good while I’m gone and don’t eat too much ice-cream…

Legs

Solid leg workout.  I upped the weight on my walking lunges to 45 lbs.  Now they are getting a little difficult.  I also upped the weight on leg-curls today and did an extra set more than usual.  My PT said I could put mild weights on my back now if I was very conscious of form, especially making sure my abs were tight.  So, I threw caution to the wind and squatted… wait for it… 95 lbs today.  Hah!  Well… you do what you can do…  Someday I will squat 250 lbs again.  But not today…

Actually the back hasn’t been to bad.  It’s not great, mind you, but I no longer wake up in agony.  [It used to be I would wake up with a lot of pain and not be able to move much and then within an hour or two things were a lot better.]  So I’m stiff a lot, but it’s not debilitating.  The price I pay for this improvement is about an hour of stretching a day.  I stretch in the morning, at the gym after the workout, and before bed.  It’s boring and a pain in the rear, but it does help.

Sunday: Abs and Cardio

Took Saturday off (had no choice in the matter… my Saturday was booked solid with stuff for the 3 Things). Sunday I had a very good core workout followed by 20 minutes of kick ass HIIT on the elliptical.  Today is leg day.  My legs are sore from yesterday though, so it should be interesting.  I’ll tell you how it goes shortly…

I leave tomorrow for NYC for 4 days of schmoozing.  Ugh.  Last year I was sick as a dog at this conference.  At least this year I seem to be healthy.  I’m hoping at least one day I can get to the hotel gym, although I’m not holding my breath.  As far as diet goes, I’m not too worried about eating.  Usually I can find reasonably healthy choices at these things.  I am, however, worried about the drinking.  I basically gave up drinking when I started this lifestyle (coming up on two years now…) but it is hard for me to say no when everyone around me is drinking.  I will be strong.  I will be strong.
I need new music for my workouts, I’m getting sick and tired of my old playlists.  The SG challenge for today is : send me your favorite workout song.

Damn it.  I just ate an entire bag of trail mix.  What the hell was I thinking?  It just was there and I wanted it so bad.
Here’s the damage:

• 840 Calories
• 54 g of Fat
• 78 g of Carbs
• 18 g of Protein

That was not in the diet plan, people.

Chest, Shoulders, Tris

Mediocre workout today.  My right elbow is hurting a bit, exacerbated by the cable crossovers I did at the end of the workout.  Sigh.  It’s always something.  I’ll just back off those for a while and stick to exercises that don’t irritate it.  The only thing of note today was the bench where I hit 185 lbs x 7.  Still waaaay off my record, but climbing back out of the hole.

I was talking to a friend I’ve made at the gym and we were both talking about our aches and pains and successes and setbacks as we were getting ready to leave to go back to work.  He was lamenting the fact that neither of us would ever be hugely built (we are about the same age, have similar builds, but I’m a bit taller) and I said something to the effect of why do we bother working so hard at this, then?  And he said, "You know I get frustrated with this while I’m here and I look at the crowd of people working out at this gym.  Here we’re below average.  But when we go out into the real world…  we are pretty damn awesome man…"

Now I know it isn’t supposed to be all about how we are in comparison to other people that matters…  I know, I know… Call me a bad person, but it does help motivate me.

This morning my wife decided to make me some "real" oatmeal.  That is not-instant oatmeal.  That is oatmeal that needs to be cooked for 1/2 hour before eating.  She’s been reading about glycemic loads, etc, and learned that quick cook oatmeal causes quick spikes of insulin while slow cook is much better.  Now, I’m not a huge oatmeal eater, but Things #1 and #3 are…  But she decided I was going to be the guinea pig for this experiment because she wanted to get it right before springing it on the kids…

So I eat my oatmeal and BANG!  My mouth was on fire!  It turns out she added cayenne pepper instead of nutmeg to the oatmeal by mistake.  Now, I don’t think I can say I liked my oatmeal this way but it certainly woke me up!

Back and Bis

Kept the back and bis / chest and tri split going today.  Today I tied my record again at 13 pullups.  Everything else was fairly consistent too with the last workout.  My biceps are coming back finally after having layed off them for a while.  Diet has been strong lately too.  Slogging onward and forward.

I’m trying to decide what my goals for the year end should be.  Clearly I’m not going to make any of the one’s I set at the beginning of the year.  But that doesn’t bother me.  Better to aim high and miss than to aim too low and strike.  That being said, what would a realistic goal for year’s end be…?

Maybe to drop to 12% bodyfat by year’s end.  I’m at around 13% right now.  If you are going to tell me that doesn’t sound too hard, let’s no forget that Thanksgiving, Christmas, and my wedding anniversary are all coming up before you can say carb overload.

Another possibility is to hit 15 pullups.

Any other ideas out there?  If you think of something cool, let me know.  Until next time, be strong.
Be strong.

Abs, Cardio

Did some good core work and then hit the elliptical for 20 minutes of HIIT.  Yawn.  I was thinking about ditching the workout today because I tweaked my back last night doing work around the house.  But I went anyway and I’m glad I did.  I’m going away for work for 4 days next week, and its doubtful I’ll have time to workout while I’m there, so I figure I can rest then…

Be Strong.

Sunday: Chest

Today: Legs
<strong />Nothing too exciting today.  I ramped up some weight on the walking lunges.  Everything else was about the same as last time.  This weekend was my Thing #3’s 6th birthday.  I did partake in some of her birthday food, I must admit, but otherwise the weekend was healthy.

Not much else to report.  Be strong.