Thursday, April 27, 2006

The Mission - Today's Workout

DB Split Squats

5 reps @ 45 lbs. 2 sets 180 sec rest
5 reps @ 42.5 lbs. 180 sec rest
5 reps @ 42.5 lbs. 90 sec rest
5 reps @ 40 lbs. 2 sets 90 sec rest
5 reps @ 37.5 lbs. 2 sets 90 sec rest
5 reps @ 35 lbs. 2 sets 90 sec rest

Seated Rows

5 reps @ 150 lbs. 180 sec rest
5 reps @ 145 lbs. 180 sec rest
5 reps @ 140 lbs. 180 sec rest
5 reps @ 135 lbs. 2 sets 90 sec rest
5 reps @ 130 lbs. 90 sec rest
5 reps @ 125 lbs. 2 sets 90 sec rest
5 reps @ 120 lbs. 2 sets 90 sec rest

This workout was good. I went up in work on both lifts. I'll be off from these workouts until Sunday. I do plan on going to the gym for front squat practice on Saturday. I'm a terrible squater and need the practice.

Wednesday, April 26, 2006

So Chris goes for his physical tomorrow and to sign the final papers and get sworn in. After that he's property of the U.S. Army. His plan is to become a tanker and request to start basic training the first or second week of June. So the time here is short. 16 weeks of basic and tank training and then he can come home for a few weeks. And then he'll be deployed. He'll be requesting deployment in Germany.

I have a friend whose son-in-law is a tanker stationed in Germany. He's been there for a year and a half training and in June will be heading to Iraq for a year. He wasn't always a good kid, got in to quite a bit of trouble, but has turned out fine from his army experience. I'll pray hard for this kid as he has a beautiful 4 year old daughter, one of my favorite friends. A real great child. Hopefully his experience there will not be a bad one, both physically and mentally.

And maybe this will help out Chris. He has been directionless for the last few years so maybe the structure of the army will help him out. Although I've tried what I felt was my best to help him, I wonder - did I?

Tuesday, April 25, 2006

The Mission - Today's Workout

Deadlifts

5 reps @ 160 lbs. 180 sec rest
5 reps @ 154 lbs. 180 sec rest
5 reps @ 147 lbs. 180 sec rest
5 reps @ 142 lbs. 2 sets 90 sec rest
5 reps @ 138 lbs. 90 sec rest
5 reps @ 134 lbs. 2 sets 90 sec rest
5 reps @ 129 lbs. 2 sets 90 sec rest

DB Bench

5 reps @ 50 lbs. 2 sets 180 sec rest
5 reps @ 45 lbs. 180 sec rest
5 reps @ 45 lbs. 2 sets 90 sec rest
5 reps @ 40 lbs. 3 sets 90 sec rest
5 reps @ 35 lbs. 2 sets 90 se rest

I kept the weights the same as the last workout and I handled it much better this time. I'm liking this workout. The last sets in both lift it is a struggle to make the 5th rep.

Sunday, April 23, 2006

The Mission - Today's Workout

DB Split Squats

5 reps @ 45 lbs. 3 sets 180 sec rest
5 reps @ 40 lbs. 3 sets 90 sec rest
5 reps @ 35 lbs. 2 sets 90 sec rest
5 reps @ 35 ;bs. 2 sets 120 sec rest

Had to increase the rest time on the last 2 sets - my legs were fried. My right leg is stronger than my left leg. Hmmm.....

Seated Rows

5 reps @ 135 lbs. 180 sec rest
5 reps @ 130 lbs. 180 sec rest
5 reps @ 125 lbs. 180 sec rest
5 reps @ 120 lbs. 2 sets 90 sec rest
5 reps @ 115 lbs. 3 sets 90 sec rest
5 reps @ 110 lbs. 2 sets 90 sec rest

I can go higher on these. The last few sets were not challenging enough.

All in all a good workout. It's pouring rain here and at 5 am I had the gym all to myself. Workout took about 35 minutes.

Saturday, April 22, 2006

Spent a lot of time in the car the last two days, about 7 hours worth. Many miles passed under me, many thoughts going through my head during that time. And now I'm back at where I started. And while it's good to be home there are other places I would like to be, opportunities I would like to try. Someday, someday.....

Chris and I had a good talk. He's still signing up for the Army but we cleared the air about some things. The biggest of all was communication. He keeps a lot bottled up inside from me, almost out of fear. I can't think of any reason for him to fear me, and he admits it is unfounded. In the last two day we have talked about a lot of things, much more than we have in a long time. I hope that what we have started just hasn't come too late.

Thursday, April 20, 2006

Why does listening to the blues always make me feel better?

Wednesday, April 19, 2006

I should have known today was going to be bad right from the start. Someone BB'd my side view mirror overnight. Now I see 8 cars approaching on the left instead of the usual one. Not much of a difference really, I usually just go over when I want to anyway.

And the workout (see below) left me out of sorts. Not the worst but not good either.

So along about 11 am my son Chris calls me. He has been working over at the house where we will be moving shortly so I expected some questions about what he was doing. Ha, silly me.

"Dad, I just wanted to tell you I'm taking the apptitude test for the Army tomorrow".
Huh
"Yeah, it's something I've been wanting to do far a while now".
HUH
"You know, Chris, now may not be a good time to join. There's a lot of fighting going on".
"Yeah, I know, I'm signing up for a combat division".
WTF!!!

At this point I had to end the conversation. It's not something you want to hear over the phone.

And I started to think back. Ten years ago when the kids mother decided she no longer wanted that job I stood by them, knowing that they would be best staying with me. I've always been open with them and include them in any plans I would be making as they would also affect them. So to hear that he had been making these plans for some time completely blindsided me. I'm still stunned sitting here some 9 hours later.

I want to take him and say "THIS ISN'T FUCKING COUNTER-STRIKE, OR RAINBOW SIX. A HEAD SHOT REALLY DOES SOMETHING IN THE REAL WORLD". But he's 20, capable of making his own decisions, no matter how bizarre they may seem to me. Maybe I've been Mom too long.

Fuck, this is going to blow.

The Mission - Today's Workout

Deadlifts

5 reps @ 160 1 set 180 sec rest
5 reps @ 155 1 set 180 sec rest
5 reps @ 143 1 set 180 sec rest 1 set 90 sec rest
5 reps @ 136 2 sets 90 sec rest
5 reps @ 132 2 sets 90 sec rest
5 reps @ 123 2 sets 90 sec rest

DB Bench Press

5 reps @ 50 1 set 180 sec rest
4 reps @ 50 1 set 180 sec rest (failure on 5th rep)
5 reps @ 45 1 set 180 sec rest 2 sets 90 sec rest
5 reps @ 40 3 sets 90 sec rest
5 reps @ 35 2 sets 90 sec rest

This workout was a rough one. From the first set of DL's it was a struggle. In analyzing it I think it's because of a couple of reasons. First, it was a bad sleeping night. Too much on my mind and not enough mind to deal with it. I tried to get to bed early but ended up tossing around for 2 hours before finally relaxing enough to sleep. Second, this workout is pretty damn tough. On those last sets of both exercises the weight feels as heavy as the first. Couple that with not being in the gym for about 6 months it's been a while since I worked that heavy. So I'm taking the next couple of days off and will get back in there on Sunday morning.

Tuesday, April 18, 2006

No workout today. In fact I slept in a little. Although I did wake up briefly at 4 am. I must be getting used to these early morning workouts.

And no travelling. It will probably be put off until next week. This week would have been good as the kids are not here. Oh well, looks like they'll have to spend a couple of days with Mom. Poor kids.

It was a beautiful day here in NYC, so I took a walk outside at lunchtime. Temps in the low 70's, sun shining. No jacket required. Apparently a lot of the ladies haven't read that memo yet. I took the walk to stretch out the glutes. The DL's and split squats have added a little bit of DOMS to them.

So after listening to the the Fitcast and getting Bill Hartman's golf newsletter I decided to try his core routine. I'll definitely need to work on this. I was able to get 1 minute on the planks but only 30 seconds on the side bridges. So these will be added twice a week as recommended by Bill until I bring them up to snuff.

Monday, April 17, 2006

The Mission - Today's Workout

DB Split Squats (weights are in each hand)

5 reps @ 40 lbs 3 sets 180 second rest
5 reps @ 35 lbs 3 sets 90 second rest
5 reps @ 30 lbs 2 sets 90 second rest
5 reps @ 25 lbs 2 sets 90 second rest


Seated Cable Rows (using V-grip)

5 reps @ 130 lbs 2 sets 180 second rest
5 reps @ 125 lbs 180 second rest
5 reps @ 120 lbs 90 second rest
5 reps @ 115 lbs 2 sets 90 second rest
5 reps @ 110 lbs 90 second rest
5 reps @ 105 lbs 2 sets 90 second rest
5 reps @ 100 lbs

A good workout, especially legs. I love a good legs workout, walking out of the gym with jelly legs. I'm going to be ordering some PlateMates today so I can get the in-between weights when using DB's. It will give me a better progression in line with the Spider Stamina principals.

Travelling tomorrow and Wednesday so the next gym day will be Thursday or Friday, workout A.

Sunday, April 16, 2006

No workout today. My plan is to do the workouts in an ABA fashion on Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday. Although this week will be different as I'll be traveling for work mid week. On the in-between days I'll do a bodyweight circuit and a core routine. I'll leave Saturday as my completely off day.

Starting weight 178 BF% 19. The weight I'm not so concerned about, the body fat I am.

I'll do these exercises for 4 weeks, test for new maxes for one week with different exercises and then 4 weeks for those.

Tomorrow - DB Split Squats and Seated Rows.

Saturday, April 15, 2006

The Mission - Today's Workout

Started Spider Stamina V2 today, a workout designed by Milko Georgiev of Sofia, Bulgaria. He posts over at JP Fitness. Holy crap, what a workout. I can tell there will be some serious DOMS tomorrow.

Deadlifts
5 reps @ 155 180 sec rest
5 reps @ 147 180 sec rest
5 reps @ 138 180 sec rest
5 reps @ 133 2 sets 90 sec rest
5 reps @ 129 90 sec rest
5 reps @ 126 2 sets 90 sec rest
5 resp @ 121 2 sets 90 sec rest

DB Bench Press
5 reps @ 45 2 sets 180 sec rest5 reps @ 45 2 sets 180 sec rest
5 reps @ 40 4 sets 90 sec rest
5 resp @ 35 4 sets 90 sec rest

I'm going to go pass out now.