Andrew’s (Spring85sigma) BodyBlog

Today I did planche push-up training. It continues to go well. The first four tuck-planches are held in very good form. After that the arms get tired and less straight. Nevertheless, the times continue to get better. I will continue to work the position for approximately the next month. Right now, I feel that I am on track to reach my June goal!

Here is what I did today:

Had a great workout! I tweaked my push-ups! I cut the number in half and used a 20 lb backpack. Wore my old but out! LOL! I can actually feel it in my chest. The planche training continues to go well. The times are inching up! !

After the workout, I got a meal and had to drive down to Newport News to pick up my aunt from the Newport News-Williamsburg Airport. The traffic was horrible!  The customer service at the airport was beyond bad. My aunt’s flight out of Boston had been delayed for an hour. This is understandable because of the weather. What was not, however, was the fact everyone’s luggage arrived 90 minutes LATE! The parking shuttle driver decided to ignore people needing rides to their vehicles! AND there were a cohort of whiny college students whose flights had been delayed or cancelled. I felt for them but got tired of the whining After this, we fought the traffic back home to Waverly. A round-trip normally taking a couple of hours took 5 1/2! The old car did a good job. LOL!

So, my butt is feeling TIRED! Have a great weekend everyone!

I will be sleeping!

Here is what I did today:

I’m just getting around to writing my bodyblog for today. I’ve been unusually busy. The highlight of my workout was the planche training. It seems that I had a breakthrough on yesterday that continued into today. The arms felt much stronger, were much straighter, and I was able to hold the tuck planche position consistently for 10 seconds! I’m kind of shocked, but happy. Hopefully, I can get a good progress picture up within the next week or so.

Other than that I worked abs. This is the "tough" workout with a lot of static holds. I believe that this workout has helped to strengthen my core.

Here is what I did today:

I had my best workout of the week. I worked very hard on my legs today.  I also had what I consider to be a breakthrough on my planche training today. The arms continue to get straighter and the time in holding the tuck planche continue to creep up. I guess I became aware of how my body "feels" in the position. This helped me to adjust myself in the position and to begin working on pushing up on my arms. Hopefully, in two weeks my arms will be straight as I continue to gain strength.

It was cool and drizzly outside, but I enjoyed my cardio! All in all just a good workout. I hope everyone else had good "hump day" workouts!

This is what I did today:

There was a 27 degree change in temperature between yesterday and today! I ran in shirt sleeves and no hat on yesterday, but had to bundle up and run in the cold and rain today.  I’ve been having a tough time getting started this week.I am glad to say, however, that I have not missed any workouts.

Today was a planche training and ab day.  The arms continue to get straighter and overall the position is getting better with the tuck planche. My times holding the position are also creeping up.

I found out about the car…$211.00 after paying $314.00 two weeks ago! Hopefully, it will run for a while. It still could have been worse, so I have to be grateful.

Here is what I did today:

Got off to a VERY late start today. I had some paperwork to complete and the kid I’m working with was having a BAD DAY at school. So, I had to talk to his teacher and to HIM. He seems to have gotten through the day without getting sent to the office! I’m also waiting to see hear about the repairs to my ragged old car! Hopefully, the repairs aren’t too expensive.

I worked arms and shoulders today. The number of reps for all exercises went up for this week’s workout and I believe that it helped to challenge me. Things got a little tough which means GOOD! The run was really interesting. The first half of the three miles was murder. I haven’t a clue why, but something kicked in during the last mile or so of the run and I was flying! In spite of the slow start, I was able to complete the 3 miles in 24:00. I’m glad that I was able to run the second part of the run faster than the first. That, for me, is encouraging.

Planche push-up training resumes on tomorrow. I’m looking forward to it! I received some encouragement from the times I posted on yesterday as they relate to holding the Tuck planche position. I’m looking to gain another 2 seconds this week. As mentioned, once I get up to about 10 seconds, I will post a new picture in the position.

As an aside, I’d like to thank all of the members (many of you anonymous) for coming by my page and those of you who leave encouraging remarks. The "old man’s" page seems to do pretty good for hits on a daily basis. I would love to have contact with more of you all. Neverhtheless, thanks everyone!

Here is what I did today:

Today was simply planche push-up training. I have been working on achieving the tuck planche position. The time in hold is VERY SLOWLY improving . I know I need to have patience here and I do have until JUNE! LOL! I am now becoming able to push my arms up slightly which is allowing me to begin to straighten them. The back is flatter also. So progress is being made.

I took some progress pictures today. I went to the woods! I’m out here in the country so I might as well use the scenery. Anyway, I’m still learning the new camera, but think the quality is getting better. As far as the body is concerned, there are subtle changes. Some of you who read my comments know I’m concerned about my chest. I believe I need to lose some more bodyfat. It appears to me that most of my residual fat is hanging around the chest area. I also continue to research variations on push-ups and other bodyweight exercises that could help with chest development (I want a little more size). If there are any suggestions, please leave an IM or comment! Thanks!

I hope everyone has a great week and as always even greater workouts! Keep at it! 

Here’s what I did today:

A lot of my colleagues on here are fighting food cravings. They crave certain foods during certain times, for example. They often feel guilty about having "fallen off the wagon." As a therapist, I must say that when one is working toward a goal, that is changing behavior, often there are times when we may have setbacks. The important thing to do when these setbacks occur is to find out WHAT triggered the setback, assess the setting, your emotional state (e.g. lonely, bored, sad, depressed, etc.), any "activating events," (e.g. trauma, argument, celebration, etc.), who were you with, etc. After this is done make sure that you remove barriers, develop "safeguards" and or preventive strategies, and/or change settings to minimize the chance for the setback occurring again. With food cravings, it is often best to not have "tempting" foods in the environment. Once a craving occurs, if one can distract onself for about 5-10 minutes the craving will usually subside. Another strategy is to plan when you are going to eat something that is less than healthy. Have some of the food and then get back to your healthy diet.  Also make sure that there are family, friends, and other supportive people who understand your struggle who will encourage you to stick to your eating plan and NOT sabotage it. Remember, it takes about 21 days to change or acquire a new habit. Be patient with yourself.

I found an article by Jeff Anderson, "The Muscle Nerd" which summarizes some of what I’ve mentioned above. I hope this assists those of you who are continually fighting food cravings. The URL for the article is as follows:

http://www.undergroundbodybuildingtips.com/article_details.php?aid=38

Here is the text of the article:

How To Conquer Food Cravings!
By: - The Muscle Nerd - Jeff Anderson Mmmmmmm!  My wife is baking cookies as I write this article! 

Do YOU have insatiable food cravings? Everyone does, right? 

Maybe for you it’s CHOCOLATE…or POTATO CHIPS…or LIME JELL-O! Whatever it is for YOU, food cravings are one of the reasons so many diets FAIL. 

After a few weeks of depriving yourself, you mindlessly scarf down your “secret sin” food and then wallow around in self-guilt. Sound familiar? 

Well, here are 4 TIPS TO CONQUER YOUR FOOD CRAVINGS… Food Craving Tip #1:  Time Your Indulgence 

The best time to eat your “guilt foods” are shortly after training. This is when your body can actually USE the common insulin spike from eating sugary foods to help your muscles recover from your workout. 

That helps you build or maintain muscle which will in turn help you burn more fat. Food Craving Tip #2:  Find Healthier Alternatives 

Eating the WRONG foods isn’t an “all or nothing” ordeal. So many people say, “If I’m gonna blow my diet, I may as well blow it BIG!” 

Wrong answer! Choose low-fat eggnog over full fat 

…dark chocolate over milk chocolate …bake without the lard, full fat butters, or hydrogenated oils that recipes call for and use “healthy” oils instead. 

One of my favorite “desserts” is sugar-free vanilla pudding mixed with vanilla protein powder! Mmmmm…muscle-building goodness for late-night cravings! 

Food Craving Tip #3:  Cheat, Cheat, Cheat! When you’re trying to lose weight, a “cheat day” can actually HELP you achieve better results! 

If you’ve been programming your body to deal with reduced calorie intake, it can adapt and try to hold on to body fat because it feel it needs to conserve that valuable fuel source. But by adding a “cheat day” in (no more than once a week!), you can jolt your sleepy metabolism into letting go of more body fat. 

Food Craving Tip #4:  Plan Your “Make Up” Too often when falling off the wagon, people see it as “failure” and just give up. 

Instead, when you know you’re going to be “cheating”, PLAN for how you’re going to compensate.  So if you find yourself at a party and the voices in your head are screaming for chips and dip, mentally COMMIT to hitting the gym the very next day with the intention of burning off those extra calories! 

Today ends a very difficult week. I am, however, thankful that I was able to persevere. I had a pretty good workout and feel that I’ve really ramped up the intensity. I ran 4 miles on yesterday which is more than my usual run. I feel pretty good. I also think I’m starting to move the last of the most stubborn fat that has been hanging around the chest and midsection. Next week marks the last two weeks of my current two week cycle. I think it has been one of my more intense cycles. I plan only slight modifications for the next cycle of workouts. After the completion of the next cycle I will take one week off.

I worked chest and back. The back workout included pull-ups today ! I also did my planche training. I am slowly but surely gaining strength in the tuck planche position. The arms continue to straighten as I gain strength. I hope to post a GOOD picture in the next few weeks. That is, once I’m able to hold the position for 10 or more seconds with relatively straight arms.

Have a great weekend and even better workouts!

Here is what I did today:

Today was tough. The car died again on me last night. Ironically, I had just finished with my client and the car suddenly cut off! I was stuck in Petersburg which is about 22 miles from home and had to find a ride back home.  Sometimes these things tend to sap your energy and such was the case today. I struggled to get through my planche training and ab workout. However, I COULD NOT see myself skipping the workout. Once I decided to put the car out of my mind things went better toward the end of the workout.

 Today was also extremely rainy and wet and I could not do my scheduled cardio. I had to do "road work." I actually ran 4 miles in 32 minutes. Tomorrow I will do the cardio I scheduled for today since it will be dryer.

Long story short, I sucked it up and got it done and feel better for having done it. Tomorrow is Friday and I look forward to getting a break and recovering. Life happens and sometimes we have to keep moving! Hang in there everybody!

Here is what I finally got done today :