I will say without a doubt that the old saying from Henry Ford is true
"Chop your own Wood, and it will warm you twice"
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I will say without a doubt that the old saying from Henry Ford is true
"Chop your own Wood, and it will warm you twice"
Neighbors would think I have gone bonkersmsince I have gas FP
Hard to explain last night's workout but it involved a lot of painful joint locks being applied to & by my training partner.
Sort of an exercise in efficiency & not bypassing opportunities rather than attempting to apply a favourite technique.
I have a 2 hour private lesson to look forward to today where my student is half my age but twice as strong & I'm sure he will be keen to repeat last nights' stuff.
I won't lose much weight or get real strong but I will feel like Gumby afterwards. :)
I mixed three Manhattans and flushed the toilet twice. Whew!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Oh my goodness Ed, you to to enrol in Carl's School of Beer.
On a serious note, today was a rest day. Two coffees from hand ground beans, an avocado, and two 125 gram cans of sardines in tomato sauce is all I've had as at 19:45. Oh. Plus four German beers and five cigarettes. Tea is chicken patties and a rocket and avocado and chili salad.
Sometimes the contrast between my 'healthy' attitude and my 'vices' astonishes even myself; it's a Ying Yang thing...
Today's Workout:
Superset 1
35 pushups, touching nose to ground
(2 minute rest)
Bench Press, 40 x 10, 60 x 7, 7, 7
Lat Pulldown 110 x 10, 180 x 7, 7, 7
Leg Press 105 x 20, 125 x 10, 10, 10
Leg curl 50 x 10, 70 x 7, 7, 7,
(two minute rest between supersets, no rest between exercises)
Superset 2
(two minute rest between supersets, no rest between exercises)
Medium Grip Overhand Chin ups with 7.5 kilos hung from weight belt, 6, 6, 6
Dips with 7.5 kilos hung around waist, 8, 8, 8,
Close Grip under Hand Chin ups, 7.5 kilos, 6 reps.
I have increased the reps on all exercises apart from the last.
Today's workout was two hours indoor bouldering WITH a massive hangover from last night's army re-union. Here's a short video of me working on a problem. I don't know how to rotate it, sorry. :p
http://www.flickr.com/photos/9040380@N08/10880701615/
Today I ran 5km, at a comfortable pace of 6'/km.
Today's workout, fueled by only 1/2 a packet of mixed raw nuts, a banana and a Kiwi fruit:
Bench presses, 40 x 10, 10, 50 x 8, 8, 60 x 7, 5
Leg Presses 95 x 20, 20, 105 x 15, 15, 115 x 15, 15
(no rest between exercises (i.e. Bench presses and leg presses), two minutes rest between supersets.
Bench presses, 50 x 8
(two minutes rest)
Body weight dips, 15, 13, 13
This took only 32 minutes.
I'm finding lately on the first set of bench presses I'm really able to 'throw' the bar up in a forceful motion, I probably need to go to 50 kilos for the warm up set. I did one more rep on the bench presses (the set of 7) however that resulted in only 5 for the next set (I don't use a spotter). I also increased reps on the last two sets of leg presses and dips.
I weighed myself at the gym and the scales said 68. I used to weigh myself every morning (before the scales stuffed up) and i was hovering around 72; that was a few weeks ago. I HAVE lost fat, but also some size, though i'm not sure if the loss in size is just the fat that was on top of my muscles or muscle mass it self. What I DO know is I've increased strength, as i time and record all workouts; so I know I'm not resting longer between sets.
I also found I was feeling strong bouldering on Saturday, but that may have more to do with moving less body weight around.
Post workout meal was a 200 gm can of herrings and scrambled eggs made with three eggs.
I've got a new job in town I need to start soon, so lunchtime workouts won't be a possibility. Therefore, I'll go bouldering three times a week instead of two. I DO need to work the opposing muscles, though (pecs, triceps, etc) so may have to resort to pushups with a pack on my back containing weight plates and triceps EZ Bar extensions as a last resort.
How come everyone's stopped working out all of a sudden?
Last night's workout was over two hours of bouldering. I re-worked a problem to get a 'cross over' where one hand crosses over the other to catch the next hold. It was a difficult powerful move. After that, a group of climbers were trying to do the same (and failing) so I showed them how. They made comments about how easy it looked when I did it ;)
I also re-did another problem to be able to complete it better with more fluidity and then tried a harder 'orange' problem (the one in the video above) but still couldn't do it. :(
The rest of the night was spent 'campussing', which is climbing without using your feet, like a monkey.
Today my fingers are very sore but it was a really good workout...
I haven't stopped.working out.......... I never started :)
Today I did some Back presses, like bench presses except more comfortable, done on the lounge chair and while watching television. I did some fork raises and also maintained my remote control at the same time. I did some step exercises, which took me to the kitchen for coffee and extra sustenance to maintain my high levels of energy output caused by lugging around 150+kgs at any given time, and back to the start of my circuit training which commenced with back presses once again... ;)
Mick
Sugar IS the enemy. Simple carbs and refined grains are, essentially, instant sugar in the blood. They are the path to stored body fat and diabetes for the less-than-very-active. (Unless you ride a bike into the wind for for four or five hours/day then you can eat all the doughnuts you want.)
Most wheat product we see are highly refined; they turn into sugar very quickly after being consumed - better than soda (barely) and worse than whole wheat products (slightly). Avoiding that range of sugar and quick-to-sugar foods stopped my steady weight gain over time, constant yawning and the feeling of being hungry all the time.Quote:
I read about a diet that simply cuts out wheat from the foods that you eat everyday. No bread, no crackers or snacks that are made with wheat. No pasta etc.... Full speed ahead. 16 lbs. so far.
Great results! Stick with it!
I agree. I eat no wheat products at all anymore; no bread, nothing made with flour, no pasta etc. I also eat no carbs really, I eat only meat, fish, dairy products and fruit and vegetables plus nuts and seeds. When my wife makes spaghetti bolognese I have the meat sauce over vegetables such as sweet potato, pumpkin and brussels sprouts. I do have sugar in my coffee, two tea spoons a day. I NEVER drink soft drinks (sodas) but I do drink beer so have carbs from that ;)
I've lost almost all the 'visible' fat on my body, i.e. fat that I can 'pinch' such as around my pecs, stomach and 'love handles', though I still need to lose maybe a kilo more fat until I'm as lean as I want to be. I've lost around 10 kilos in the last year and gone from 79 to 68 kilos. During that time I've actually gained strength although I HAVE lost some size. However, I feel most of the size I've lost has been from the fat sitting on top of my muscles.
Good on you Mick! All in steps mate. But yeah, diet + exercise is the ticket. Even just a quiet 1/2 hour walk in the early am or late pm is a good thing. It's all about building a habit, and building habits is just about regular repetition.
Yesterdays workout:
AM:
45 minutes on the elliptical cross-trainer. Katas (forms) in pool.
In the pm:
25 minutes of interval training: Pushups: 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30 with a 30m sprint up the driveway and back between, no rest; Same for crunches, then squats (10, 20, ..., 60), then back to 5, 10, ..., 30 for burpees. Repeat from pushups until 25 minutes reached.
Kicks on bag: 25 each side of: turning for power, triple turning, side for power, front (toes back!) for power, reverse punch for power, jump spinning back kick (power), jump spinning outside crescent (these last two I do in sets of 10, 10, 5 alternating sides so I don't get too dizzy), front leg outside crescent into spinning rear leg hook, flying side kick for power.
Finish with kata (forms) and hand drills X 2.
Evening:
MA training.
I'm trying to build up stamina and mental conditioning for my second dan grading. I don't do this all the time - I ain't getting any younger and overtraining is an issue. Usually I only do elliptical in the mornings of MA training, and when I don't have training I'll do the intervals and bag work. But I just felt like pushing it to see how I'd recover yesterday.
James.
Today's workout:
15min eliptical "warm up" - 2.5mi at slight incline
2 supersets:
5 seated shoulder press @ 150#
8 pull-downs @190#
15 crunches (some sort of crunch machine of unknown weight)
5 tricep extension (each arm) @35#
5 concentration curl @50#
Not my best, by far, but considering I haven't seriously worked out for over a year?
And tonight I do a 3mi jog in the freezing air with my girl
Are you sure you aren't actually me, come back from my future and moved to thr other side of oz. I actively dislike most exercise, but do enjoy riding my bike but that is rare.
Recently I have been going for an evening walk whilst away for work, I go with a friend called Mick (no not an imaginary you, that would be odd) and we will Salk for between 45 mins and 1.5 hours. The longer walks involve stopping for a pint halfway round.
We graded one of my private students on Tuesday night to San Kyu. That's 4th level up for students. He is so keen we practiced 2 hours Monday morn then 2 hours Tuesday arvo before the 2 hour night class. At least I got to sit & watch for 45 mins while we graded him. The humidity is high everyday here atm so that you sweat just sitting still so I'm calling it 6 hours exercise in 24 hours. :p
If the imaginary me is the same as the real me, he wouldn't go for a walk with you, because he would rather go for a ride, hit the weights or the bag or a sparring/fencing partner...Anything, but not a walk. Him hating walking as much as the real me does.
I don't doubt you are odd though, Ed :).
Mick
24 miles on a stationary bike in 1 hour.
Heart rate 138.
Season 1 episode 5 of SOA on Netflix.
Hi Mick,
Exercise is important, esp to build muscle and strength, however, from what I've read of late, diet IS the most important aspect of losing weight. I may have posted it above somewhere, but I read that one needs to run something in the vicinity of 80 kilometres in a month to lose 1 kilo of fat in a month.
Or drop two or three a week on the soup diet :) In reality, I just need to hit the sack earlier, get up earlier and go for a ride before my wife leaves for work at 0630.Then I can incorporate exercise with diet. OR I can just forgo the evening session of SRP ;).
Mick
I re-started weight training about 6 months ago, after a 10 year break. :gaah:
I only have time to work out with weights at the gym 1/wk. So I decided on a full body routine of super-sets. Isolating muscle groups in each super set.
When I joined the gym they had a muscle bulk-up campaign running. Aiming for 500g of additional muscle in 2 months.
Well with my routine I crushed that target with a result of 3.8Kg of additional lean muscle mass. My overall weight had not changed, even with the gains. Bye bye fat!
So I have kept to the once per week full body routine I created and have seen excellent results.
Last Sunday afternoon I did:
Set 1: Legs (4 sets of 8 reps. | 30 second break between set)
Quad extensions 50kg
Hamstring curls 50Kg
Hack Squats (heel raised) 70Kg
Calf raises 120 Kg
Set 2: Chest (4 sets of 8 reps. | 30 second break between set)
Wide grip bench press to throat 30kg
Gironda reverse grip dips (adapted cable version) 40Kg
Set 3: Back (4 sets of 8 reps. | 30 second break between set)
Close grip lat pull, torso at 45 degrees, elbows in, bar to touch the lower peck 40Kg
Wide grip lat pull to touch clavicle 40Kg
Set 4: Shoulders (4 sets of 8 reps. | 30 second break between set)
Lateral Raises 6Kg
Gironda Swing (bow & arrow) 6Kg
Seated Arnold Press 6Kg
Set 5: Bicep (4 sets of 8 reps. | 30 second break between set)
Incline seated curls 10Kg
Standing barbell curls 17.5Kg
Set 6: Tricep (4 sets of 8 reps. | 30 second break between set)
Cable Rope extensions 17.5Kg
Standing Dumbell kickbacks 6Kg
Set 7: Forearm (4 sets of 8 reps. | 30 second break between set)
Seated wrist curl (barbell) 22.5Kg
Seated reverse wrist curl (bent barbell) 12.5Kg
Cool Down:
X-trainer 10 minutes
Done in 90 minutes.
Wow. Just goes to show there's no 'one' answer. You've gained the muscle and lost the fat, so the proof's in the pudding (or lack thereof :D).
I see that is quite a number of isolation exercises and for too long a period. I like to complete a workout in under 40 mins, currently it's 31 mins.
I like the idea of supersets; I use them all the time, I like the fact I'm working one muscle by resting the other; as I superset legs and upper body.
If it were me I'd actually get rid of all the isolation exercises and concentrate on big muscles. I believe you could cut your workout to three quarters of an hour or less and create more of a whole body anabolic response. I don't even do biceps curls anymore, though I do like doing them.
However, as your response shows, it's working for you which shows there's many methods to get the same result.
Yes I know I could cut it down and I may in the future, so I can include some more cardio but at this stage in the game I needed the extra strength before I could do the rest. The 90 minutes is not an issue for me and just about how much I want to do.
The routine is a version of the Vince Gironda 8 sets of 8.
For now I like it and that is all that matters, I think.
Today's Workout:
Superset 1
35 pushups, touching nose to ground
(2 minute rest)
Bench Press, 40 x 10, 60 x 7, 7, 7
Lat Pulldown 110 x 10, 180 x 7, 7, 7
Leg Press 105 x 20, 125 x 10, 10, 11
Leg curl 50 x 10, 70 x 7, 7, 7,
(two minute rest between supersets, no rest between exercises)
Superset 2
(two minute rest between supersets, no rest between exercises)
Medium Grip Overhand Chin ups with 7.5 kilos hung from weight belt, 6, 6, 6
Dips with 7.5 kilos hung around waist, 8, 8, 8,
Close Grip under Hand Chin ups, 7.5 kilos, 5 reps.
The same workout as each Thursday. One LESS rep on the last set!
After the last set, though, I did chinups where I took a Close Width Under Hand Grip, did a forceful vigorous chin up so I could let go of the bar and then, in mid air, reverse my grip and grab the chin up bar as I came down in a Medium Width Overhand Grip. I then immediately did another forceful chin up, let go of the bar and caught the bar in an underhand close grip. I could only do three of these until I slipped and it became dangerous, but it was fun!!
Yeah exactly, I agree. There's no secret to why there are so many fitness magazines. I feel that too many people look for that 'best' routine, you know, the one that gives you massive 'guns' in a month.
I really think one should do what you do, analyse your body and work out what works for you. Others may offer other solutions, but if what you do works - it works, and there's no arguing with that! ;)
Today was an early morning half hour walk, as a bonus I got to stop off at bunnings :)
They have a BBQ department manager there you could carry up/down the stairs (2 sets of 6 reps) four times per week. You know, take more advantage of the walk - get a lemon, make lemonade sort of thing.
(Proraso preshave, Fitjar's Bay Rum soap/Semogue boar, Dubl Duck Special #1)