sunnyman’s BodyBlog

On Monday, I was beginning to think my goal of getting to 185 lbs. by the end of Feb was out of reach.  Last night I got on the scale and OMG, I was at at 182.  This was the first time I had to move the scale to the next notch…160 to 180.  I measured myself before swimming…182 and after showering and being in the sauna…181.  I was definately  smiling last night.

God I hate these, but I know they’re so good for me.  A couple weeks ago I watched video on bb.com on how to do proper chin-ups since then I’ve been trying to follow that form…but my reps suck.  I have worked my way up to 7 from about 4.  Anyway by the last set (of 3) I didn’t have any strength so went to an assisted pullup machine b/c I didn’t have a spotter.  Now I’m doing 7 reps, followed by 6, then I’ll do 8 with an assist of 40# (no. 4 weight on the stack).  Does anyone have any similiar experiences?  I want to work my way up to doing a 3×10-12 with no problem.

Somewhere I read that the drop between a guy’s chest measurement and his waist measurement defines that so-called "Adonis" body.  Does anyone know what that is?  I’m thinking it must be around 10"…43 inch chest with a 33 inch waistline.

About 4 weeks ago I thought I try getting some High Intensity Interval Training into my fitness activities.  So, I tried swimming.  This was a completely new adventure to me as I’ve never done anything except swim for fun in backyard pools.  My training is pretty simple.  I sprint swim free stroke for a 1/2 lap and then I return swimming on my back with a gentle kick stroke.  Sorry I don’t have all the correct swimming jargon down.  It takes me about :30 of a sprint, followed by a 1:00+ of a return.  I started out with a workout of about 8:00-10:00 and now I’m up to over 15:00.  I plan to continue building this up…not sure how long though.

I’m doing this because I just wanted some variety and also I wanted to give my shoulder, which I had strained in the Fall ‘07, some flexibility and exercise. 

In the past I had done some running (non-HIIT), but I’m finding I really like getting in the pool.  There seems to be a lot of benefit for the short amount of time it takes. 

Any others out there that are using swimming in an HIIT kind fo way?

I’ve been measuring my bodyfat %, but I’m wondering how accurate it is.  They have one at the gym which I use.  You enter you weight, height, age, and sex.  Press start and hold it.  It comes back with your %.  Regardless of how accurate it is, I like the idea of tracking a number using the same variables to see my progress.

 Thoughts????