Andrew’s (Spring85sigma) BodyBlog

This ends a very busy week. I’m proud that I was able to get in all of my workouts in spite of being tired. My biggest accomplishment for the week is that in spite of being very tired I ran my 3 miles in 26:14. I felt really slow and was surprised at the time.

I continued with my planche push-up training. The "frog stand" is getting easier to hold. Once again, I was able to hold the position for 30 seconds, six times with roughly two minutes rest in between. Next week I will try holding it for 45 seconds.

Progress pictures will have to go up tomorrow. I was out doing yet another set of errands for someone else and returned too late to take any photos.

Everybody, have a wonderful weekend! For those who rest get some rest. For those who lift and/or workout have great workouts! Take care!

What I did today:

Still tired from yesterday. I did my workout late, but was able to push myself. The end of the workout was better than the beginning. Tomorrow is the day for progress pictures. I hope that I see some. Been hanging in with the diet. I will look forward to feedback on tomorrow! Take care!

What I did today:

I am too exhausted to write much today. Suffice it to say that it is imperative that those of us who are trying to get and remain fit make this OUR priority and that the time required to do so is jealously guarded. Had I not set this time aside, I would have had absolutely none for myself. I have been doing something for someone else since about 10:00 this morning. It is now around midnight and I have just arrived home—exhausted. Nevertheless the workout was completed. 

Until tomorrow, I sleepily bid everyone goodnight!

Here is what I did today:

It’s about 10:51 pm here in Virginia and I’m just getting around to posting my little bodyblog for today. I did some paperwork for one of my clients and attended a staff meeting at my agency and just finished my Bible Study for the night.

Tomorrow will be just as busy, however. It is my day out with my 91 year old Grandmother. We go for her weekly procrit shot and screening and then she wants to go shopping! I hope I have her genes. She has stage 4 kidney disease (which is the stage before dialysis begins and has been doing wonderfully. She is still full of life and energy and her mind is as sharp as ever!  

Perhaps due to my newfound inspiration, I’ve been pushing myself a little harder. Yesterday I worked arms and shoulders hard and today I worked abs and I might as well say chest as well. I always do push-ups on my ab days. I miscounted my laps and ran an over my two miles for today.

For the first time in a while, I am SORE! This has to be a sign that, although fit, I was not pushing myself. The soreness does give me a strange sense of feeling revitalized (alive?)and this is starting to carry over to some other areas of my life. There are things I want to tackle like the book I’ve had outlined for months and haven’t begun to write. As a therapist, I know that good habits have a tendency to carry within themselves life lessons which can be applied to other aspects of life.

I continued with my planche push-up quest by continuing to work on my "frog stand." Today I was able to perform the move six times. The first three times I held the position for 20 seconds, decided to push myself and on the last three times held it for 30 seconds. I am hoping to do the entire 60 seconds six time by the end of next week and then on to the next progression. If the weather permits (it has been chilly here in Virginia) I will try to post a progress picture holding the position. I annotated my two previous blogs to note that the member, who I mentioned who had not contacted me concerning the exercise, did contact me and was extremely courteous and helpful (I do believe in giving credit where it is due–Thank you again kind sir!). He supplied a video link which I will be posting to my page.

Thanks to my new friends. It is great to be challenged and encouraged by people who share some of your goals and passions. I hope I am being as good a friend. Until tomorrow, take care of yourself and "good night." LOL!

What I did today:

My Goal is six months from now I will be able to perform at least five of these most difficult push-ups. Can a 44 year old do it? We’ll see! Hopefully some of you all will join me in the challenge.  Below is a bit of information about Planche push-ups and a description and picture of the “frog stand,” the first exercise in the progression towards the planche push-up. For more information visit the website.

Excerpts from

“Building an Olympic Body through Bodyweight Conditioning”

By

Christopher Sommer
 
Emphasis and underlines are mine. For the complete article see:
http://www.dragondoor.com/articler/mode3/229
 
“Success at these exercises requires consistent incremental improvements. Do not seek improvement quickly or become frustrated after only a few weeks. You would not poke a seed into the ground and then jump back waiting for the plant to explode out instantly. You must be patient with physical conditioning also. While you may become more skillful or feel more powerful while performing a new exercise relatively quickly, this is due to becoming more neurologically efficient (“greasing the grove”), rather than experiencing an absolute gain in strength. It takes approximately 6 weeks to establish the first concrete strength gains. In other words, make haste - slowly.”Be prepared to spend at least six months at these exercises to work through the various progressions. What?! Six months?! Yes, that’s right, at least six months. Some people may need to spend a year or more. You wouldn’t expect to bench press 300 lbs. right away. Nor should you expect to build high-level bodyweight strength instantly either. Be consistent, be patient and soon you too can be enjoying the benefits of greatly increased strength and athletic ability.”
 
The Planche Progressions

”Obviously, for those of us who are mere mortals, it is not possible to simply remove the legs from the floor and go directly to the planche. However with the proper progressions and patience, this position is attainable by a reasonably fit, hard working athlete. While working the various planches, strive to hold the hips level with the shoulders. Make sure that the elbows are straight. Bending the elbows greatly lessens the intensity of these exercises and will greatly slow your progress. Almost straight is still bent; so be diligent and keep them straight.”One final general note on planches; hand positions on the planche series exercises are completely optional. Some prefer fingers forward, others to the side. Some swear by support on fingertips (my favorite) and others completely flat. Just experiment and find the grip that you prefer. If you find that a flat hand support on the floor is too uncomfortable for your wrists, these progressions can also be performed on a set of push-up bars”.Frog Stand

”Begin this position by assuming a full squat and placing your hands on the ground directly in front of your feet. By directly, I mean right next to your toes. Arrange yourself so that your knees are resting against your bent elbows. Now gradually lean forward taking your weight both unto your hands and also unto your knees by leaning them on your elbows. Using your knees on your elbows will allow your legs to help your shoulders bear the load of your bodyweight. As you continue leaning forward you will eventually be able to remove your feet completely from the floor and hold yourself up with only your hands on the floor and your knees on your elbows for support.”Balance is also a key to this exercise. As you first begin to learn how to lean forward in this position, you will often probably overextend and fall forward. Don’t worry have fun with it and enjoy some new training. Some pillows placed in front of you will help to cushion any crash landings.”Notice that this is the only static position in our progressions with bent elbows. Continue holding sets of this position until you have reached your one-minute total time.”
 
 

Here is what the frog stand is supposed to look like.

  
 
(LOL! This is a kid!)
 
I was surprised to find I was able to hold the position. I developed a progression leading to the 60-second total time to hold the postion before moving to the next progression. Based on my reading of the article I worked out the following progression to be used each week (vary according to your strength and needs):
 

Week              Time-5 days                    
        Sets

1                      6 x 10 seconds                        6
2                      5 x 12 seconds                        6
3                      4 x 15 seconds                        6
4                      3 x 20 seconds                  �
�     6
5                      2 x 30 seconds                        6
6                      1 x 60 seconds                        6
 
I found that I could do 3 x 20 seconds and will work up to being able to hold the position 6 times for 60 seconds each time before moving to the next progression. I worked this exercise into the end of my workout this morning. It is not an exercise to be done to exhaustion. My initial reaction was “fear of falling” The balancing of the body required is enormous. I could feel the effort in every part of my body. I will post the next progression next week.
 
If you decide to take this challenge, write a comment on this blog or on my page to let me know how you are progressing. I will highlight my progress in my body blog.
 
Let’s do this!
 

Today I was very excited about my workout! I finally had two straight days to rest and recover after having to change my workout schedule for the past two weeks. I worked arms and shoulders. I concentrated very much using correct form for all of the movements I performed. I can tell hours after the workout that I did a pretty good job. The arms and shoulders are getting a little sore.

I also added a new dimension to my workout. In my Sunday blog I mentioned Planche push-ups (See blog entitled "Planche Push-Ups" to be put up momentarily). I worked in the first exercise in the progression towards mastery of the movement at the end of my workout. I discovered the exercise while perusing pages to see what others are doing in their workouts. To quote from my last blog:

"I found a challenging bodyweight exercise that I had NEVER heard of—Planche Push-ups. One site calls them the "gold standard of push-ups." One has to work up to doing these. Eventually, one should be able to do pushups with ones entire body off the floor balancing on ones hands. This exercise was demonstrated brilliantly on a video by one of the members of this site. In his introduction to the video he wrote that anyone who has any questions should post a comment on his page. I was so excited I posted a message to his page AND he was online. Alas, I have yet to hear from the brother*. Nevertheless, I’m a Ph.D. student and very good at research, I found all the information needed online about how to work oneself into shape to be able to do the push-ups." 

I wonder if the lack of response was due to my age? It doesn’t matter. I have taken it as a challenge to be able to do them within 6 months. Are there any over 35 colleagues who wish to undertake the challenge with me? If so, I am writing a separate blog which includes the first exercise in the progression towards performing planche push-ups. I am going to do this anyway, but it would nice to have some others along for the ride.

My run also went well. I did three miles today in 25:14. I didn’t feel like I was pushing and was surprised at the time. This was probably due to the two days off. Anyway, friends and visitors, I hope all is well with you and yours and that your are progressing towards your fitness and life goals. Take care!

What I did today:

* Tuesday-October 27, 2008 Note—The Member did contact me and was extremely polite and helpful.

I joined this site on October 15, 2008. Almost immediately I made some friends and received encouraging feedback. I was somewhat shy about placing pictures of my body out there for others to see, critique, and perhaps comment on. I have, however, been deeply inspired by the messages and comments fromothers as well as my observations of the pages of other members. I have seen some amazing transformations on here. I also have had to reign in my "therapist" tendency to want to give positive reinforcement and feedback to ALL the members whose pages I’ve visited. I’m writing this because I cannot wait to get out there and get at it tomorrow. For the past two weeks I’ve had to start my workout week on Sunday to compensate for having to miss two Tuesdays in a row. My body was ready to workout today and I found that I have been "antsy" all day.

I’ve eaten clean the entire weekend and my metabolism has kicked into high gear and I can tell because I’ve had to eat something every three-four hours! Before getting onto this site, I paid some attention to my diet, but nothing like had in the past. I really started concentrating on diet last Monday and believe that my latest progress pictures reflect that effort to a slight degree. I can’t wait to see how I look this Friday.

I found a challenging bodyweight exercise that I had NEVER heard of—Planche Push-ups. One site calls them the "gold standard of push-ups." One has to work up to doing these. Eventually, one should be able to do pushups with ones entire body off the floor balancing on ones hands. This exercise was demonstrated brilliantly on a video by one of the members of this site. In his introduction to the video he wrote that anyone who has any questions should post a comment on his page. I was so excited I posted a message to his page AND he was online. Alas, I have yet to hear from the brother*. Nevertheless, I’m a Ph.D. student and very good at research, I found all the information needed online about how to work oneself into shape to be able to do the push-ups. I’ve even found that I’m strong enough to perform the first exercise in the progression of exercises (the "frog stand"). So, needless to say I will be working over the next few weeks or months to be able to perform this exercise. Then I will post my own video and I will respond if you have some question or comments. LOL!

Anyway, thanks to all of the people who have added me as a friend. I hope that I can prove to be as inspirational to you all as you all have already been to me! Please feel free to comment, critique, ask questions, etc. I’m going to practice my "frog stand." Until tomorrow, take care!

* Tuesday-October 27, 2008 Note—The Member did contact me and was extremely polite and helpful.

Today, I got to my workout late. It was, however, a pretty good workout. Overall, I believe that I made good progress towards my goals.  I paid much more attention to form when performing my workout. I added an additional mile to my Tuesday and Thursday runs. I also have been working harder on the diet. I cut out the bread (Hard for a Southern boy to do! LOL!) and cut back on sugar consumption. I think the new set of progress pictures, taken today, reflects some of the changes.  After seeing them I realize I will have to, at some point, invest in some heavy weights. Overall, I’m not disappointed and will continue to work harder. I finally get two days of rest after having very hectic weeks. As always, any feedback and/or hints will be appreciated. I hope everyone enjoys their weekend.

Here is what I did today:

Today was somewhat tough. Legs were sore from yesterday’s workout (I guess that was good). However, today I felt that I am getting stagnant in terms of the benefits from my current workout. I decided to add an extra mile to my cardio on Tuesday and Thursday and will also begin looking for new exercises to incorporate into my next six week cycle. Tomorrow I will have completed three weeks of the current cycle. I suppose consistency is the key. I’m planning progress pictures on tomorrow. Hopefully, they will reveal some progress. Take care and continue progressing everyone!

Here’s what I did today:

Today was tough. On Wednesdays I take my 91 year old Grandmother to her weekly doctor’s appointment. Afterwards, she usually goes shopping and has other errands (she is a very spry 91). Because I got a late start, I ended up splitting my workout. I did my leg workout and saved my cardio until after I returned home. Nevertheless, I got through another workout. The weather continues to be cool and sunny.

I’m still looking for ways to tweak my workouts and to make gains. I’ve been working to keep my diet clean this week and have drastically lowered the carbs. Last week I purchased a lot of tuna, chicken, spinach, greens, brown rice, sweet potatoes, etc.

Since being on this site is all about me taking chances, I made a "crude" video of some of my leg exercises. I found these on the web and in fitness magazines. The four exercises shown in this video are the ones I used in today’s workout. My second leg workout consists of bodyweight exercises. If this video doesn’t fair too poorly, I may try to videotape some of them. I need to get better lighting, but I think the exercises can be seen.

As always, I thank those who have reached out to me with their suggestions and words of encouragement! Any suggestions and/or feedback are always appreciated. Until tomorrow, take care.

What I did today:

All Exercises were performed using 30 pound dumbells. 

3 x 25 Squat Thrusts 

3 x 25 Calf raisers-Bricks 

3 x 25 Overhead Squats 

3 x 3.0 min. Walking Calf raisers  

Cardio:

3 Mile Interval/with weights (Ran odd laps and walked even laps carrying two twenty pound dumbells).