Spring Training

[ZenLefty]

Every 8-12 weeks I like to see where I'm at and how much I've accomplished on my fitness goals and decide what to do for the next 8-12 weeks. Well, now's that time.

Self Assessment

My winter fitness goals were to increase lower body strength, pack on some more muscle and improve my run time. I did well, but I accomplished none of that. I had a really nasty flu for 2 weeks and I am just now feeling like I'm finally over it. I lost quite a bit of ground in the gym. I'll get it back, I'm sure.

Run time: 1 minute mile improved from 9:30 ish to 8:27. That's great, but the 8 minute mile still eludes me.
Squat: 1 rep max 365. I can go heavier but not without cheating. Word to the wise: don't cheat with 365+ pounds on your shoulders.
Diet: Average of 3,000 calories per day
Weight: Lost 2 pounds.
Body fat: About the same.

New Goals

Over the next 12 weeks, I'm going to be ridiculously busy. Probably too busy to really accomplish much in the gym. I have to get my house ready to put on the market, sell it, and move to another house which I will gut to the studs and renovate. Most of this work I will do myself. Oh, and I have a full time job. While that's going to be very active and time consuming, I still think it'll be important to make time for the gym while I can. But my goals right now are to just survive. Maybe work on my run time a bit more.

New Plan

Monday: Rest
Tuesday: Weights, some cardio
Wednesday: Weights, some cardio
Thursday: Yoga
Friday: Weights, some cardio
Saturday: Optional day (maybe punching bag)
Sunday: Weights, some cardio

Weights: Cycle through Push (chest, shoulder, triceps), Pull (back, biceps), Legs (legs). Do 'push' one day, 'pull' the next day, and 'legs' on the next weightlifting day. Cycle repeats.
Some Cardio: 20-30 minutes, depends on how much time I have that day

With all that I have to do I'll probably be forced to skip days or even weeks. But lifting is important to me. I don't do it so I can be a certain weight or look a certain way. I just like lifting heavy things off the ground. It makes me happy. The heavier, the happier.


That's my spring training.

[noamnety]

1. I'm back for another 3 months

of tracking and self-assessment. Thank you for starting this!

My old goals from Jan -March:
~ Be able to lift myself a little on the chinup bar. I can now do a full chinup with a slight jump to get started.
~ Be able to do 70 kettlebell swings (25lb) in a set (10 seconds rest time after each 20 swings or so). I can now do 75 consecutive swings, no rests, with a 30 lb bell.
~ Hold a normal and side plank for a full minute. done!
~ I also dropped 6 pounds (from 135 to 129, I was closer to 170 a year ago.)

Newer goals for Apr - Jun (was hoping to have these in March, but got sidetracked doing set construction for a show and didn't work out for 2 weeks):
~ Do a complete unassisted chinup
~ See ab muscles without have to stand next to a waist high light source from the side. I'd like to see them in a normal overhead lighting situation!
~ Do a dozen slow hanging leg raises with slightly bent legs
~ Hold a normal and side plank for two minutes each.


Keeping the workout plan I put together for the Jan thread:
Saturday, Wednesday - Kettlebell routine 1 (lifts and swings) and "cat vomits"
Sunday, Thursday - balance ball routine 1 (back, thighs, pushups)
Monday - kettlebell routine 2 (curls, triceps and swings)
Tuesday - balance ball routine 2 (upper arms and crunches) bu
Friday - rest

Keeping the original diet plan:
No calorie counting, 6 days a week no grains, spuds, sweeteners (real or artificial), fruit or dairy - except whole cream in coffee.
Drink 96 ounces of water a day. If I drop to 130, add in one bowl of plain yogurt and fresh fruit during the week to see if I can keep that and maintain my weight.

Hmmm, I'm at 129, but instead of adding yogurt last week I accidentally added 1/3 pound of peanut m&m's per day. Oops! I'm attributing that to theatre stress. Maintaining my weight okay though, and the bag of M&Ms is gone now.

[ZenLefty]

2. I saw my abs once in an MRI

Not exactly a "normal overhead lighting situation", but at least I know I have them! Actually, mine are starting to emerge, despite my best efforts to eat every gram of protein in a 4 block radius.

Here's a variation of a plank pose for you, one of my favorites. My yoga instructor always calls me a show off when I do this one. I prefer it with knuckles on the mat because with palms down, it's kind of hard on the wrists.

http://www.yogajournal.com/poses/469

Keep up the good work noamnety!