Lifting

Today hurt because I have been slacking in my lifting. I started with a mile warmup then abs and stretching. Then I did 3 sets of 10 @ 55 pound dumbbells flat bench press, then 2 sets of as many pull ups I could do ( 7 and 5), then 2 sets of 10 @ 35 pound dumbbells military shoulder press, 2 sets of 10 @ 65 pound barbbell bicep curls, 2 sets of 10 @ 125 pounds and 1 set of 10 @ 115 pounds tricep pull downs, and finally 1 set of 10 @ 50 pound dumbbell one armed flat bench rows.

Raquetball

I played cutthroat raquetball with Tom Wendel and Tommy Lecklider today. They are both very good and much better with a raquet than me. I got a really good leg workout and was pretty tired when we finished.

Lifting, lifting, lifting

I got up early to meet Pete to go running but he never showed so I went to the gym and lifted. Then when I got home I made myself 2 egg and cheese sandwiches with ketchup and it was good :). I did 3 sets of 10 @ 55 pound dumbbells flat bench press, then 2 sets of as many pull ups I could do ( 7 and 5), then 2 sets of 10 @ 35 pound dumbbells military shoulder press, 2 sets of 10 @ 65 pound barbell bicep curls, 2 sets of 10 @ 125 pounds and 1 set of 10 @ 115 pounds tricep pull downs, and 2 sets of 10 @ 145 pounds sitting rows, and finally 1 set of 10 @ 20 pound dumbbells side lateral raises.

Lifting

Nothing exciting here, just another quick workout. I did 3 sets of 10 @ 55 pound dumbbells flat bench press, then 2 sets of as many pull ups I could do ( 7 and 5), then 2 sets of 10 @ 35 pound dumbbells military shoulder press, 2 sets of 10 @ 65 pound barbbell bicep curls, 2 sets of 10 @ 125 pounds and 1 set of 10 @ 115 pounds tricep pull downs, and 2 sets of 10 @ 145 pounds sitting rows, and finally 1 set of 10 @ 20 pound dumbbells side lateral raises.

stupid sore throat/cold

Well I went to the gym to lift today and was really fatigued and felt terrible my whole workout. This sore throat and cold completely sapped all my energy today. I warmed up with abs work then did 1 set of 10 and two sets of 8 @ 55 pound dumbbells flat bench press, 2 sets of as many pull ups I could do(7 and 5), 2 sets of 10 @ 35 pound dumbbells military shoulder press, 2 sets of 10 @ 65 pounds barbbell bicep curls, 3 sets of 10 @ 115 pounds tricep pull downs, and 1 set of 10 @ 140 pound seated rows.

Its too stinking hot.

I went running with Pete this morning. We ran a slightly different route that was about 3.76 miles long and had some good hills in the middle. It was about 50 degrees and I was dressed for 25-30 so I was way too hot. This winter has been pretty crazy and it feels like spring already. Hopefully my link will work, I had errors when I tried to upload the picture directly so I will have to work on that.

Lifting

Well, I wasn't able to increase those sets of two to sets of three because of time constraints but I did feel a lot stronger doing the excersises tonight then on monday. It must have been because I ate one of nate's energy bars right before I lifted. First,I ran a quick warmup, then did abs and finally lifted. I did 3 sets of 10 @ 55 pound dumbbells flat bench press, then 2 sets of as many pull ups I could do ( 7 and 5), then 2 sets of 10 @ 35 pound dumbbells military shoulder press, 2 sets of 10 @ 65 pound barbbell bicep curls, 3 sets of 10 @ 115 pounds tricep pull downs, and 2 sets of 10 @ 125 pounds sitting rows.

Running

Today I ran with my buddy Pete on the same 3.67 mile route that we did before. He has drastically improved and we took 4 minutes off our previous time 2 weeks ago. My breathing was a little hard cause I am dealing with a pretty bad sore throat but my legs felt great. I hope to get to the ymca tonight to lift.

Lifting

I ran a quick warmup then did abs and lifted. I did 3 sets of 10 @ 55 pound dumbbells flat bench press, then 2 sets of as many pull ups I could do ( 6 and 5), then 2 sets of 10 @ 35 pound dumbbells military shoulder press, 2 sets of 10 @ 65 pound barbbell bicep curls, 3 sets of 10 @ 115 pounds tricep pull downs, and 1 set of 10 @ 125 pounds sitting rows. It sure felt good to get back into lifting and I hope to increase some of those 2 set excercises to 3 sets as I get more endurance.

Shoveling

Well, we got over a foot of snow and I am my households snow blower so I had my work cut out for me. We have a pretty long driveway too so when all was said and done I spent about 3 hours shoveling today.

Cooking

Well I know that cooking isn't technically a "workout" activity but I was exhausted after I finished making those cookie bars that nate gave me the recipe for. I learned a lot about myself and I would like to think that the tougher mentality and perserverance that I gained from this experience will help my running. I also discovered a few key points that I would like to share with my fellow less experienced cookers.

- The most dangerous utensil you use cooking isn't the knife, its the potato peeler. That thing is sharp and you don't expect it to slice you up.

-Cutting things like carrots in your hands to save dishes isn't worth it, bite the bullet and get out a cutting board.

-The salad shooter could be man's greatest invention, why didn't anyone show me this thing before?

-Finally, all cooking should be performed in old cloths that you can throw out afterwards, kind of like when you paint, because it can get pretty messy very quickly.

Raquetball

I got up really early today to meet a guy from work at 7 at the ymca to play raquetball. We played 4 games and both won 2 so it was a lot of fun cause we were pretty evenly matched. Since I have been running my lungs and quads were ok but all the muscles on the inner and side parts of my legs started to get pretty tired by the end. I will have to make sure I do exercises for these muscles next time I lift legs. I finished by stretching and doing abs. I am excited to get back to lifting on monday.

Skiing Redux

I went skiing today for the second time this season and it was so much fun again. I am a little better but still spent a lot of time on my back. At one point I over turned on a pretty steep hill and started going straight down the mountain backwards! I bailled and rolled down the mountain for a ways but atleast I didn't die. My Legs got a really good workout, I just wish it didn't cost so much money.

Legs

I decided to take this week off from lifting my upper body and will begin my 4 weeks of endurance lifting next week. Today I lifted legs and then stretched them. I did 3 sets of 10 @ 135 pound squats, 1 set of 20(10 per leg) @ 25 pound dumbbells alternating lunges, 2 sets of 15 @ 100 pounds standing calf raises, and 1 set of 10 @ 140 pound hamstring curls. I wanted to do 3 sets of all those but was short on time. I am still feeling it and hope I can walk tomorrow :)

Running and Lifting

I didn't get into contact with Pete to see if we were meeting so I just went to ymca and ran 5k again, this time in 23:20. Then I stretched and did abs. I don't know if it was because i pushed myself so hard running or if I was dehydrated or what but I felt terrible after my run. I was very light headed and felt like I was going to throw up. As a result my lifting stunk. I only did 2 sets of 10 @ 55 pound dumbbells flat bench press and 3 sets of 10 @ 65 pound barbbell curls.

End Power Lifting /// Begin Endurance Lifting

Today marks the start of 4 weeks of endurance lifting. Over the past 4 weeks while I have been powerlifting I got a lot stronger and bigger then I thought I would. I went up in pretty much every weight and muscle group and gained about 3 pounds. I really gained more muscle mass though because I have lost some fat from my midsection. I am not at the status of stud master yet but my improvement is encouraging.

Chest

Today pretty much stunk as far as lifting goes. I tweaked my back yesterday and re-aggravated it today during my workout. Oh well, I lifted chest with 3 sets of 6 @ 65 pound dumbbell flat bench press, 3 sets of 5 @ 50 pound dumbbells incline bench press, 2 sets of 8 @ 30 pound dumbbells flat bench flys, 2 sets of 6 @ 10 extra pounds dips.

Running and Back

It was raining pretty hard today so I just went running at ymca. I did 5k in 23:35 which was encouraging and shows that I am getting faster. I want to try to run a 5k atleast once a week so that I can gauge my improvement. After my run I stretched and did some abs. My legs were really tight and I don't know if this was from running on the treadmill or what. Then I lifted back, 2 sets of as many pullups that I could do(8 and 5), 3 sets of 6 @ 60 pound dumbbells one-armed flat bench rows, 3 sets of 8 @ 85 pound dumbbell shrugs, and 2 sets of 6 @ 165 seated rows.

Running, Shoulders, and Triceps

Today I got up early to meet my buddy Pete Correia to go running at DWC, we ended up running 3.67 miles in a pretty bad time, but atleast we were out there. Then I went to the ymca and lifted shoulders and triceps. I did 3 sets of 6 @ 95 pounds barbbell military shoulder press, 3 sets of 5 @ 40 pound dumbbells military shoulder press, 2 sets of 6 @ 25 pound dumbbell side lateral raises, 2 sets of 6 @ 75 pounds barbell flat bench tricep extensions, 2 sets of 6 @ 135 pounds standing tricep pull downs, and 2 sets of 6 per arm @ 25 pound dumbbell single arm tricep extensions.