Cardio for two

Yesterday I took the dog for a jog. Nothng serious, that talking pace I hear so much about. About 1.5 miles. No HR info.

Today, Heart Rate Row – vent open
Time: 45:00
Dist: 10,125
Avg HR: 152
Max HR: 162

I had a moment at about thirty minutes where my energy just dropped like a rock. I don’t know what or why but after about five minutes it improved, I was still sluggish but better. I don’t know if it was because I had the vent open this time or if it was me but it took a lot longer to get to 150 than last time and I didn’t hold it nearly as well. Despite covering slightly more distance, I feel I got a “better” workout last time.

What kind of condition?

Concept II Vent closed
1,000 meters warmup

500 meters 1:50
2X16K KB front Squat X 10
six times
Time 22:44
Avg HR 170
Max HR 181

Concept II Vent open
1,000 meters cooldown

Those sprints and front squats SUCKED. I mean, they were hard, I couldn’t do much, they were difficult. They SUCKED.
So I might have to do that again sometime.

I was supposed to do some rows and presses and curls and junk, but I didn’t feel like it.
16K kb Bearcrawl 15yrd down then back
4K medicine ball wall throws, 12 feet X 10
Knee height (18″?) box jumps X 10
Ab Wheel from the knees X 10

I decided that the 16K’s were too light, so I guess that counts as a warm up. So I did it again with 24Ks, five times. The box jumps where the biggest challenge although the wall throws were doing their part.

train through play

I like these little “just move” workouts I have made up. It’s like playing….

Deck Squats 16K X 10
Burpees X 10
repeat

Then I played around with pistols. I did some doorway pistols, definitely a lot of work to do there. Then I did some wall assisted handstand presses, about 3.

Then I made dinner, mmmm.

Monday Morning Weigh in: 241.0

Dang it.

Why, I don’t know. My knee jerk reaction is the same as it always is. I really want to lock down my diet. That never works though, so after a few deep breathes I’ll dismiss that. Still, 241. I weighed in at 236.4 on Saturday. My guess is that this is the 5 lbs of variability that Stephen and Chris talked about. Still, 241, dang it. I was pretty good this weekend and all last week.

I guess I have to wait and see where  I steady out this week. Last week I did allow myself a little more to eat in the mornings, so if I’m up, I guess that goes away. Shame too, I was so hungry before it. We’ve even been eating healthier for dinner and stuff. I keep hoping this is that last big rise before a loss that I seem to get.

In better news. June of  ’06 I measured my waist and found it to be 47.5 inches (As I recall). A year later I measured it and was 46.5 or 46.25 inches or something like that. I measured it yesterday, 43.75. That’s some progress. Still driving towards 40.0.

This morning I got up early, like when I do a morning workout. Instead of doing a workout though, I just stretched. It felt pretty good. I still have a small amount of residual soreness but I think the rowing yesterday did me a lot of good. The stretching was a nice wake up.

I expect this week will look a lot like last. I’ll try to do a little something every night. Monday and Wednesday, I’ll do some bodyweight/light kettlebell. Tuesday and Thursday will be sprints and heartrate, respectively, on the rower. I’ll also lift a little. Friday is gym day. If Dan shows up, I’ll do whatever. Otherwise, I might do an hour of Oly and an hour of conditioning. We’ll see.

Oh, and I haven’t the slightest clue why comments are turned off on Sunday’s workout.

Rough

I tried to convince myself to get a workout in yesterday. Nothing special, just a light kettlebell workout. I couldn’t do it. Just too much discomfort. I didn’t want to do anything today either but I made myself go. I hope I am the better for it tomorrow.

Concept II Vent open
10,000 meters
Time 42:53
Avg 167
Max 174
I spent almost the entire time in the 160’s. Each time I went into the 170’s I seemed to naturally back down a bit. I wanted to quite at 5,000 and every meter after that. Muscle soreness set in towards the end. I don’t really feel like I was aerobically challenged, my muscles wanted to quit though.

Pull ups BW-50lbs 5,5,5
That’s it. I wanted to do some rows and stuff but not a chance.

Little Girl

Let me say congrats to Dan on his new girl.

Also, let me say, dude, you left the hospital for a HIT workout?

After putting him through that and sending him on his way:

Clean and Jerk 80K 5 X 5, roughly 20 -25 minutes, tried to keep it going
Squat 140K 5X5
Bench 135lbs X 10, 225 X 5, sorness in the left hand caused me to decide this was enough
Pullup (3,3,1)/Chin (4,5,5) alternated with Dips 5X5
Overhand Barbell Curl 65lbs 3X10
Hang for time (0:40,0:17,0:34) – pathetic I know, it was more discomfort than exhaustion that caused me to quit but I’m pretty sure even without that, I couldn’t go over a minute.

Heart Rate Row

This is an experiment. On Thursdays I’m gonna do what I am calling “Heart Rate Rows.” It’s based on several ideas, but first:

45 minutes
9,675 meters
Avg HR 155
Max HR 162

So, the basic idea here is that I want to keep my heart rate around 155 while covering as much distance as possible. Obviously this creates and interesting challenge. There are a couple things that can make that happen improved technique and improved cardiovascular fitness.

I’m wondering if these will work a bit like the 20 rep squat. I haven’t yet gotten into my thoughts on that, and I need to, but the basic idea here is that by training below my max, I can improve some of my less intense level of fitness as well. Basically, improve my aerobic threshold.

Additionally, my body is feeling a little bit beat up this week. I think it was the bodyweight work that took it out of me. So I’m using this low intensity workout to help me recover. The rower seems to be good for that kind of thing.

So, we’ll see how this goes.

Just Obese

I hate the BMI table, always have. That said, I have just discovered that I am no longer “Extremely Obese”. I am now merely “Obese”. I don’t think a sub 200lb bodyweight is in my immediate future but should I ever hit 197, I can proudly say I am merely “Overweight” and no longer “Obese”.

It’s odd that there is no differentiation between males and females on those tables. Scott Styles is going for 175, that seems light to normal, to me, for a guy. For a girl though, 175 is a lot. She better be buff.

btw, when proponents of the BMI charts get irritated that their terms are supposed to be scientific and calculable and people misuse them, maybe they should have considered not using phrases already in the lexicon with common meanings.

Now I’m just getting irritated at those bozos, again.

Mostly bodyweight

I wasn’t sure how to categorize this one

20 hindu squat
5 hindu pushups
X 5

10 2″ dumbell curl 20lbs
Wrist roller
X 2

10 medicine ball pushup
X 2

Man on fire

Yep, I’m Denzel

Concept II – Vent Closed
1,000 meters warmup
500 meters 1:50
10 16K Double Kettlebell Clean and Jerk
500 meters 1:50
9 16K Double Kettlebell Clean and Jerk
500 meters 1:50
8 16K Double Kettlebell Clean and Jerk
500 meters 1:50
7 16K Double Kettlebell Clean and Jerk
500 meters 1:50
6 16K Double Kettlebell Clean and Jerk
500 meters 1:50
5 16K Double Kettlebell Clean and Jerk
500 meters 1:50
4 16K Double Kettlebell Clean and Jerk
300 meters 1:50

I was no longer able to sustain my pace. I had wanted to quit a long time before. I had that feeling like you have spiked your core temp by 10 degrees and you are getting a sunburn from the inside. I believe this is the Cosgrove Afterburn Effect but I haven’t read his book yet to confirm.

Time 34:22
AVG HR 167
Max HR 184

I quickly got my HR into the mid 170’s. It was about 15 yards from my rower to where I had the bells. I used that walk to collect myself. I’m sure that walk got slower and slower as the workout went on. It was a great workout though.