robrus’s BodyBlog

I took along my 3 lb. dumbbells on this evening’s walk. They were a bit awkward at first, getting a good arm motion in synch with the legs, but managed to get it going. I like the heavier weight, they will give more upper body work and help burn more calories. Time tonight was 20:16.
I’ve been reading articles on the monkeybargym.com site. Jon Hines has a real whole body philosophy in fitness I’m interested in, which is primarily body weight exercises, eischens yoga, which I know nothing about but will check it out, and kettle bells. There is an article on Indian clubs also that is interesting.

I’ve always liked changing workouts around, and between Jon Hines, Shin Otake and some others I’m seeing my approach isn’t much different than theirs. I haven’t had the schooling or other trainers to learn from like they had.  I was mixing some body weight and resistance tube exercises for a while, but I really seem to have hit on a good routine with the chest expanders, bodylastics and TNT cables. I’m in an "if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it " mode right now. However I like the compound, exercises and I’m thinking about looking at the Joe Bonomo cable course again. He would have you do things like a chest pull while doing sit ups, or something, so more muscle groups are being used. I’m seeing the benefits of that with some of the exercises in the TNT workout. But right now I really do like my workouts as they are, I can experiment with the Bonomo exercises later.

I added some resistance to the TNT workout. It will take some hard work to get to 3×15 with all 3 cables, but that is one of my new goals. The other is to consistently come in under 20 min. on the power walk. This evening’s walk was 20:04.

Doing 15-20 reps with the chest expander is going well. I get a great burn doing higher reps with the lighter cables. I will be adding some resistance to a few exercises next week.

This morning was the TNT workout. The more I do it the smoother the transition goes from one exercise to another. I should be able to increase some resistances next week.

I managed to get in a walk between rain. Time wise it was 20:13.

I belong to a small business networking group and we had our breakfast meeting at the Carnegie Library of Homestead. Carnegie had a guilty conscience after the famous Homestead strike and built the Library building. It simply wasn’t a library but a community center. There is also a swimming pool, theater, and gym. The gym has one of the best kept secrets in the Steel Valley. With all the renovating they have been doing, besides the basketball court and weight room they converted a room into a complete gym with all kinds of machines to rival any commercial gym. They also made an aerobics room. I couldn’t believe it. Membership is very reasonable too. I think I may have found my spot if the winter gets too bad for the outdoor power walks.

A great walk tonight, 19:59.  I have to savor that. The last time I got under 20 min. I got a flu shot and my time dropped to 20:30. But I will keep at it no matter what. It would be great to be consistently  under 20, and I’ll persist to do that.

I did the TNT basic workout this morning. I think it’s the better workout for the power walking days. I’m getting the movements down, and did 20 reps on just about everything. Next week I might be able to add a cable on a few movements.  The main thing is doing the exercises right. Tomorrow is my regular workout with 15-20 reps on everything but squats where it’s 25-30. I’m going to follow this routine until my body says it’s time to change.

This morning was my regular workout done on a different day and 15-20 reps on everything but the squats where I’ll be doing 25-30. Tomorrow will be the TNT basic again. Both are good workouts with little to no rest between exercises. It’s strength and endurance time. It should help keep the winter weight down, I already got back to 215 so I want to maintain that or drop a pound or more.

It was a cold night for a walk with some fairly strong wind. My time was 20:01.

This morning I dropped the resistance and did sets of 15-20 reps with the chest expander and bodylastics. It felt great. I did the same workout I’ve been doing with them but with higher reps. Tomorrow I’ll do the TNT basic workout again.

No dog or car problems tonight, time wise 20:08. I was at 9:58 at the half mile. I’m losing time on the last half. I checked the half mile distance I walk with my car’s mileage counter & it’s .7 miles, so if it’s right  I actually walk .4 more than a mile.  My cheapo pedometer has the mile at .987 or something like that. For all intents and purposes it’s a mile. I walk the same route every time so that is consistent. I’ve been using the hand weights. One of these evenings I have to go to the high school’s track and check my time on a measured mile. Only it’s level, and I’m walking on hills.

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving. I don’t pig out like I could when I was younger. I have always liked this holiday, and I am thankful for all that God has given me. I have good health, I’m in decent shape and my work is going well. I have a good family and friends. Plenty to be thankful for.

I had my preliminary workout with the TNT cables Saturday morning. I used the warmup exercises and basic workout. The exercises are combined compound exercises. The warmups are 15-20 reps. The workout exercises are 2×15, done in a circuit,  starting with 1 or 2 cables and you build up to to 3 cables and 3×15.  It should be a good workout to build strength and muscle, plus burn some fat. I’ll do the TNT workout on T-Th-S. I may do the chest expander workout on M-W-F, with less resistance and 15-20 reps. I’m in functional strength mode now, not bodybuilding.

Outside of a goofy dog that backed off when I yelled at it, my walk was pretty good. I would have come in under 20 min. if it wasn’t for the dog. I am not a dog lover. Had it been more aggressive it would have had 2 1 lb. dumbbells thrown at it, or worse  it would meet Mr. Beretta, who always accompanies me on my night walks. A person I work with was attacked by a dog when she was jogging. She loves dogs, but I guess this one didn’t realize that and bit her so bad on the wrist that there was tendon and muscle damage. My time was 20:03, with the distraction.

Susan Wagner, a Pittsburgh based sculptor, is using me to model for a statue of Bill Mazeroski to be placed at PNC Park. I’m really excited about this. I just turned 9 when the Pirates beat the Yankees in game 7 of the ‘60 World Series with Maz’s home run. He was our hero. My dad used to chide guys about Pitsburgh teams all the time for kicks, deep down he’s a fan. He’s watched the Steelers as long as I can remember, even when they stank in the 60’s. I was coming home from school and the neighbor from across the street yells at me and says, " you tell your dad the Pirates beat those Yankees!"  I remember watching the film of Maz hitting the homer over Yogi Berra and rounding the bases, with people running out onto the field on the news.  It was really something.

All that said, tonight’s walk was better. Done in 20:04. I didn’t think it would be that good. I had a minor ache in my abs all day and thought I still haven’t rebounded from the latest liver thing. Looking at my calendar I saw that the day before I had my big strength drop was the day after I got a flu shot. From what I read about this syndrome on the Mayo Clinic’s site viruses will trigger it, along with stress, over exertion and fasting. So that answered that question. It’s just taking time to recover.

Tuesday’s resistance workout was on the down side, I could get out 8 reps instead of the 12 or 13 I was doing. I’ll see how it goes tomorrow. If this evening is an indicator I should get out more than 8 reps.

I didn’t take the hand weights, whether they’re a factor or not,  but my time  was 20:23 this evening.  Seven seconds under Friday’s.  I’ll just keep at it. I should keep a diary of some kind to see if I can pinpoint what triggers this stuff.

I ordered the TNT cables from Lifelineusa today. They are a foot longer than bodylastics and I can use them in exercises like the squat/ press, and standing shoulder presses. I’m mainly interested in their workouts. I ordered the deluxe set to get the DVD with beginner, intermediate, and advanced exercises. Because they are more geared towards functional fitness I’m hoping the exercises are more compound movements. I want to shift to a strength and endurance workout next month. I’m going to be putting on winter weight and an aggressive compound exercise routine may be the ticket to fight it.

An uneventful night. Condition wise it was great. Slightly cool and starry. Time wise it was a disaster, 20:30. I was tired before I went out, with some abdominal discomfort, two of my liver thing acting up signs. Which it may be. I’m also thinking about the hand weights. I started them a bit sooner than I should have, but I rationalized that they are only 1 lb. each. The directions are to add them when you are consistently at or under 20 min. I added them as soon as I hit it. I don’t doubt more energy is used up using them. I definitely sweat more. Monday is another day. I’ll have 2 days off to rest. I’ll not use the hand weights and see what happens.

With the strength band and expander workouts I really worked to hit my present rep range in the last workout. This all could be my liver thing. I’m more determined to not let it get to me and press on with everything. I’ll keep at it, and take my progress as it comes. Next month I’m going to make the workout more strength and endurance driven. I’ll do 20 reps for everything but legs where I’ll do 25-30 reps. I may have hit a plateau too and need a change.