FitnessDave’s BodyBlog

Getting through this weekend was slightly difficult, but honestly not too bad. A huge part has to do with the fact that luckily my wife isn’t a drinker, yet even if she was she is pregnant… so obviously she can’t have anything anyway. It’s not that I want to get drunk, I just love a cold beer, some corn on the cob, and some grilled chicken/steak & veggie skewers. Or sitting around a fire at night and cracking open a couple.

I love the challenge in it though, I mean… I know I will succeed, because I’m not weak, but there is still some difficulty in it.

My lifting last night was wonderful. And yesterday we went to the Frederik Meijer Gardens, I got in lots of walking and I also pushed my grandma around in her wheelchair up some hills - it was decent cardio, nothing like the HIIT I’ve been craving, but better than sitting around doing nothing. On Saturday we hit up the lake shore and I did some swimming - it felt great.

I want to get out and do some intervals, although I’ll probably wait until later tonight as it’s been pretty hot the past couple days. On second thought, I might just run several miles instead.

Well, it’s been awhile since I’ve posted an update. Life has been super busy, I’ve been working on a big web project that was unveiled two days ago and everyone seems really happy with it… it has been a lot of work. In addition, we just got done moving! So it has been an exhausting couple weeks.

In regards to my health/body/diet things have been awesome! I hopped on the scale this morning after not weighing myself since (I think) June 11th, and I discovered that I’m 186.2 (I weighed myself about 10-15 times in a row to make sure it was right). I got readings from 185.8 to 188.2 (my body stats reflect the highest number I registered).

To make sure, I called my wife and asked her to try it out by putting some weights on it and weighing herself too, it seemed accurate that way, so I guess I’ve lost 13-15 pounds in the past several weeks. The thing is I haven’t been starving myself, I’ve been eating really good. I’ve also been trying to eat breakfast every morning, which clearly seems to be helping.

I’ve been doing 100+ pushups a day, lifting, and doing cardio at least 3 days a week (hardcore HIIT). I’m not too far from my 180lb goal!

I’ve gotta keep this brief because I’m at work, but I came up with a goal for the month of July. It is to be alcohol-free all month! It is definitely going to suck, because there is nothing more I love than a nice cold ale while grilling out during a beautiful summer day - but it will help with my continued effort to get to 180, as well as make that beer on August 1st taste absolutely delicious!

Yesterday’s interval training was strictly time oriented, as opposed to distance. I started off with some stretching, a 5 minute warmup, and some additional stretching before getting underway. I did 7 intervals, which consisted of 30 seconds of sprinting and 90 seconds of jogging. The last two intervals I found myself struggling - not as much on the sprinting (although tough as hell), but the continuing to jog in between. I managed to push through!

I stretched before doing my cool down, and before I knew it I was finished. I like the ability to get a great workout in, in less time than performing the steady state running.

Also, I weighed in at 201 this morning. Getting close to being under the big 200! The great thing is I think I’m putting some muscle on at the same time (this has been long debated by the fitness community to lose fat and gain muscle at the same time, as it appears to be a contradiction… essentially to lose weight you need to burn more calories than you consume, and to gain muscles you need enough calories (protein) to build/regrow the muscle).

Regardless, I’m toning up, and slimming down. I’m happy that I’ve been sticking to it, however, I do know I need to incorporate WAY more lifting than just my bar/dumb bells.

I got out for two miles tonight after a helluva run yesterday. I have been running here and there with my brother (especially for the steady state stuff), but tonight he wasn’t there so I had to push myself on my own. I started off quick, and eased into a pretty sluggish pace. I ended up picking it up with about 3/4 left to go and finished at 16:44, an 8:22 pace - which is better than my previous 17:24, so I was happy.

My brother and I are looking into joining a gym for better weight machines then just the bench and dumbbells. Hopefully I can find something relatively inexpensive, and close too!

I really kicked my own ass today with HIIT. It has become my cardio method of choice at least twice a week, but planning to up it to three times a week.

This morning the heat was brutal, yet for some reason after all was said and done, I actually loved the fact that my insides felt like they were burning up.

I started off with a 5:00 minute warmup, which was pretty slow… partly because it was so hot and partly because I had a feeling of what was to come.

After the warmup I went to work, sprinting for 30 seconds, then jogging for 30 seconds. Clearly, I could tell the jogging for 30 seconds was going to need to be extended. (Last HIIT I did 30sec sprinting, 90sec jogging.)
So, after two intervals of 30/30, I slowed down to 30 seconds sprinting (which was consistently about 200m) and then I decided I would jog for 200m as well, and not worry about what that time was, just so long as I didn’t stop running. I initially felt disappointed that I altered the routine so quickly, but it was still a "balls to the wall" run. After six intervals, I had some water and stretched out and did my 5:00 minute cool down - which felt like I was running through water.

Nevertheless, it was a good run for me and showed me that I’m not quite ready to go 30/30. I think I’ll stick to alternating distances or 30/60 - 30/90.

Yesterday was another day of HIIT and a little more intense this time as well. I remember HIIT from the ol’ track running days, and I remember it was/is pretty hard core, but obviously I didn’t remember that well. It totally wiped me out… I feel really good today though (I thought I’d be more sore/tired).

I did (6) 30 second/90% intervals, with a 90 seconds of jogging in between…. by the last one I was noticeably slowing down a bit. My first 4 were nearly 200m each time, and the last two dropped from 150m to 100m…. ouch! Haha.

Regardless, it was fun to do some HIIT (High-intensity Interval Training) as opposed to the LISS (Low-Intensity Steady State) that I always do. Everything I’ve read about it and just from experience in the past proves that it can be a crucial training method to really "zap" the fat and reduce muscle loss. I like both methods and will probably do HIIT three days a week and LISS on the off days.

Lifting tonight! Finally!

I think I’m getting an Everlast Multi-function (pull-up) bar for Father’s Day! I hope so anyway!

Got out for some high-intensity interval training on Saturday morning…. and it proved to be an ass-kicker. Warmed up with a mile, and then did four 100m sprints (with a 300m walk in between). Sounds like a pretty easy workout and I plan to intensify them as we continue - but we were "testing the waters" per se… as it has been a very long time since I’ve done any interval training at all. 00:00:14:23 was my best time, which pales in comparison to "old me" - but I should stop comparing old times anyway… that was years ago.

Nevertheless, it is a starting point and one to hopefully improve on. I’m working on some more HIIT routines for future runs.

Last minute thing on Friday I decided to try and rally some guys together to play some ball on Saturday morning, as it turns out… it didn’t turn out. However, this coming Saturday several of us are planning on getting together to play - I’m looking forward to it.

So, my brother and I ended up playing several games of one-on-one, then I ran two miles. I was really happy to get out and do something, because I feared if I didn’t get out that I’d just work all day Saturday… my wife had a baby shower, so I was considering just staying in and cleaning up a bit, and doing some web work, I still managed to do that, but was glad to get out.

I’ll be running more this week as I feel ready to "turn it up a notch" per se. I’m still eating really healthy, although yesterday was my cheat day. I indulged in some Nantucket Bakery Company pizza, the pesto chicken pizza. It was absolutely delicious - one of, if not the, best I’ve ever had. The scale dropped to 206.2 on Saturday, but this morning it ready 208.2 - I know a fluctuation of +/- 5 lbs isn’t really a bad deal… but it still sucks to see. My main goal right now is just getting under 200. Should be able to do that in the next week or two. What’s most important is the BF% though.

I got out yesterday for what I thought was a great run, but time wise it’s still a bit discouraging (I keep comparing times I’m running now, to times I’ve run in the past). However, it was the first time in quite awhile that I’ve run three miles (two of them consecutively) in a day.

I ran 17:24 for the two miles, that’s an 8:42 pace, which to me seems terrible. But hey, it’s a start. I have to keep reminding myself that I haven’t done this in a long time and instead of feeling down about it, that I’ll just continue to improve my times. After that, I ran another mile about 10 minutes later and that was a bit quicker, 7:40.

My legs are just barely sore today, which is definitely a good thing - because I pushed it hard yesterday - I thought I might be limping around, ha.

I’m going to get out tomorrow for a longer run day, maybe do two separate runs. See if I can get in 5-6 miles. Also, I think we’re really getting the bench and weights this weekend… just a matter of coordination.

No cardio yesterday… more excuses. I think I’m going to see if I can pull off morning runs… it’s just a matter of getting up two or three times in a row in the morning and getting into the routine… once I have a routine I do a pretty good job of sticking with it, it is the evening variables that are throwing me off. Regardless, I’m still running (and I’m for sure running tonight).

Yesterday I did some more basic lifting with the dumbbell. Some curls, and tricep extensions… I know a lot of people alternate different parts of the arms different days, but sometimes I like to work both the bi’s and tri’s on the same day and see how fully inflated I can make my arms, haha.

I’m a bit disappointed that I’m not sore this morning, because last time I lifted I was ravaged with DOMS. Although, my chest is feeling a little sore - likely due to all the push ups yesterday.

I’d like to try and make room in the office for some more weights and at least a bench…. but we may be moving soon so we’ll see. Above all else I just want to try and strive for some consistency with workouts and runs. That’s my main initiative.