Chapter I: [Summer] Session II

Session II   70614 – 71914

70614 [Sunday #18] – woke well & cool 191 E – Dreamt but can’t remember. Is Cipriana, Sabina? Hmmm… Took an extra 31 mins. El steps = 6. Hopped 3 steps 4 x on the landings. Morning exercise, pushups, bridges, run-in-place, crescent back bends, child’s pose stretches, feel pretty good today.

Stir fry with egg-whites for bkft, (lentils, scallions, tomatoes, shrooms, cheese) so good start.

Give today a 6: early AM work, not very tough, but I did it 60 – 70 mins at the YMCA, upper body, pull day.

Bent BB row 7 close grip pull ups, 4 rounds. Bb shrugs, bent flies (40s) 4 rounds. Standing row w/ EZ bar 7 db curls (40 was too much, went to 30s.)

Upstairs:

Front shoulder raises 15s

Neutral pull ups

Lat pull downs – 3 rounds maxxed 8 on pull ups.

Stretches – back bend swiss ball crescents.. sort of. Modified crescents w/ twist, cobras, runners lunge w/ twist. Done, good steady, not overly strong or energetic. Practice holding one squat. Both sides, continue opening the lower back w/ bends & twists.

Is this a new session?? It is…

70714 [Monday #19] – Wake 189 30/50 – Returning. Woken by the alarm, 4AM opted to sleep til nearly 7am; bkft, beans, lentils, et al. Not in the mood for meat, (lamb burger yesterday at Milk Boy – I won’t be back anytime soon.) Coming back strong. The body, esp upper body, looks good. Better definition in the belly, something’s working.

Some AM work:

Pushups 2 x 20 – roller foam, bridge ups, floor touch, loosening up. Left knee stiff, headed to the Y for modified special forces & other work. Maybe get some leg extensions in and some pull ups. Maybe I should add pull ups to the ‘must’ category.

Give El steps a 6; got some 3s.

Youth is more than a number measured by vitality and energy. Measure age by experience & wisdom and understand the experiences as well.

Dropped two so far. 

I figure the wiser we become the less ‘smart” we realize we are.

YMCA

Special Forces: Dead lift [Romanian] & Dips 160 lbs, 10 – 1: 1 – 10 34 minutes. Pulled something left serratus anterior area, maybe? Geeze.

Dumbbell pull overs & shin flex 65 lbs. 3 x 10: 3 x 20+

Lateral shoulder raises. 20 lbs. 3 x 10

Back stretch, swiss ball, standing back bends, [getting better] 80 minutes & out.

Pre-spin:

Leg extensions – Hi & Low, 4 – 5 sets, racked the last set!!

Spin Class was awesome bot Hot 78 degrees, 14/15 93% full. And, I am energetic afterwards. I like people, I just don’t want to be around too many of them too often. Let’s give this day a 7, especially because I got coconut water for 99 cents woo hoo!!

Worked at breathing at night, 8:32:16 x 10, I can probably do 10:40:20, 8’s were very easy.

70814 [Tuesday #20] – 187.5  30/50 tough time getting to sleep last night. Woke up sore, left side front & back from dips. Got TGX today so I’ll be up for that and the pain will subside for that… those two hours.

Beans & lentils bkft, feel like I should eat but it’s hot. I don’t record the temp anymore. I’m happier just knowing 32 C is hot. And that’s okay with me. Got dishes done. Almost time for a new notebook.

Dropped 2. 6 Up the El steps, got 2 double 3s – out of breath but not enough to drop it to a five. TGX next.

Pretty strong and energetic @ TGX & aqua Box. 860 cals in the first hour. 3400 calories in 3.5 hours. Give this day a “6”. Yeah it was that good!

70914 [Wednesday #21] – WAKE 187.5 24/53 – Good wake, did some movement exercises, shadow box & stretch. Left shoulder, chest back still sore from Monday. Temple legs today?

Temple Legs

Leg press sled, very light but deep, knees close to shoulders. (and calf presses b/w sets)

Calf raises (seated) + 1 legged. Deep front squats.

Static holds – not much pain on the left hip area.

Shin Flex 70 lbs.

Incline chest machine – (cable) not bad.

Leg extensions.

Back bands, crescents, child’s pose stretch – like that. Felt the calves during the ride home. Oh yeah, walked a mile or two looking for the baseball diamond, bet that burned. It was hot!! A solid 6 day. No records or PBs, but solid work.

71014 [Thursday #22] – 187.5 21/55 – I woke up fine with the alarm, but I’m not ready to get out of bed. Seems AM exercise is unnecessary since I’ve been training every day – still, I get up and shadow box and work on standing back-bends. Honestly, my back doesn’t bend that much, but I’m working on stabilizing my core as I do t his. It’s getting better too, I felt it in my walk yesterday.

Happy 22 X-Man

The El Steps were a challenge on the way to YGX. Give the double a 5 + made the train. YGX was strong and energetic and well attended. My cardio participation was low, the second part is strong. [I realize I can do it, but not talk & watch the clock at the same time.]

No tea in the AM and no problems. Had tea, but no meal between the gig & YGX. Salad for lunch, protein and veggies. Good day. A solid 6 – no arguments! Need a good wind down. Practice Moon salutation. Tidy up a bit.

71114 [Friday #23] – wake 187.5  24/53 – still not believing I’m 24% body fat, but whatever. Temple after work? Squats & Vanity, maybe bench press?

Temple Squats

Special Forces, squat ladders: (Maybe a chart for this)

Weight	Reps	Subtot
135	10	10
145	9	19
155	8	27
165	7	34
175	6	40
185	5	45
195	4	49
205	3	52
225	2	54
235	1	55
235	1	56
225	2	58
215	3	61
205	4	65
195	5	70
185	6	76
175	7	83
165	8	91
155	9	100
135	10	110

So this is the idea. You can vary this if you are feeling more or less of a challenge. Choose your starting weight, do 10 reps, then add 10 lbs. [remember, by the end of the first ½ you’ve added 100 lbs at this rate.]  This took about 35 minutes, including changing the plates. Afterwards I was too tired to do much else, except wrist curls and a few close grip bench presses. Legs came close to giving out in the second half and I had to lessen the range of motion [ROM] on a 6 &/or 7 set.

Today is a 6.

71214 [Saturday #24] – wake 187.5  40/46. I was sleeping good until the alarm went off .Added 25 minutes and another 25, but eventually made it out of bed.

Beans, lentils, shrooms, tomatoes and cheese for bkft – it’s about time to get some more lamb. I’ve had turkey with the salads and in wraps, but not at home. Maybe time to add some. [too hot to eat meat, I think.]

Dropped two – odd day. BBQ, so food & drink; Fram time. A 4 day. Cheat day, no exercise.

71314 [Sunday #25] – wake 31/49  189.5 – better than expected considering yesterday. Metabolism kicked in, dropped 2 early. Woke dehydrated, but got up right away… no snooze.

Upper body movement, shoulders, trapz, neck, scapula… need this. Often feel tight up here especially when dehydrated. Running late despite waking early – go figure.

Bkft: beans, lentils mix ate meat at the BBQ yesterday and drank rum punch.

Homer 2+2 – body purge. Post cheat day pattern?? Expecting to go to the park and train with Elise after work.

Park Session – Class stuff, about 30 minutes. I can make it through my class if I didn’t have to talk people through it.

Fitness-wise today is a 5, social-wise, it’s a 6, so maybe social life will increase my frequency. We shall see.

71414 [Monday #26] – wake 189.5  26/52. Actually slept well. May have awoken at 4 am but didn’t stay up and didn’t check the time. If I can get some chores done I can get to the Y by noon then back for spin at 6. New note book next week. As usual, I don’t know what session this is.

YMCA – 6 day!! Good work, details later.

Tried some new moves today and in some new ways. Applied patterns from Spec Forces to bench press. Tried low flies, which fells like a cable raise sort of… maybe film this demo.

YMCA Work

Bench Press ladders: 150 x 10* [I can advance to 160 to start, woo hoo!]

160 x 8; 165 x 4; 170 x 2 [2 sets] – then I worked down  but never got back to 10 reps. Not bad for the first time. I think this method may help get me more jacked quicker. Do better!!

Front squats 100 lbs. 4 sets 1 x 3 then 3 sets of 6. Thinking perhaps hold the squat deep as I get stronger.

Incline press 110 lbs. 3-4-3-3. This was a poor showing, but considering the first two stations I’m not mad.

Thrusters bar x 10; 70 lbs – 5x, 7x, 5x.

Flat flies [wide out] 30s 10x-10x-8x

Triceps EZ bar extensions; bar 15x; +20 lbs x 12; +30 lbs 2 x 8.

Low flies 20s. 6x; 8x – develop the muscles these use.

Back stretches, crescents, cobra, up dog, etx. Hip openers, stretches, of course swiss ball back bend.

Spin Class was good, not that big a deal. AC worked and it was much cooler than last week.

Sometimes after class I feel like I want to lift again when I get home, but I don’t. the feel subsides when I get off the train and make that 8 minute walk home, then all I want to do is sit or lie down.

Feel stronger today, maybe because of Elise??

71514 [Tuesday #27] – wake 187 27/56 – yesterday was beneficial. One today, (so far). TGX was good, changed it up a bit. Aqua was fun too.

Up the El steps – 5 – pretty normal. I think that the time my chest feels tight when exerting energy is a dehydration issue. Drink more before running & measure.

Gonna stamp this day with a 5. Required exercise. Sambuca shot before bed, just because.

71614 [Wednesday #28] – wake 187 27/56: The weight is inching down. It seems to creep down about an ½ pound a week. Well, not even that as I started this year at 188 and I’m 187 today. The bright side to perceive this is to think of every pound gained as muscle and every one lost as fat.  I no longer make the body fat/H2O content in half measures anymore, but both of these are ½ point lower than yesterday. Just noting they are not exactly the same.

Not sure how well I slept. I remember “re-adjusting” rather than tossing and turning, but, is there a difference? Woke with the alarm + 26 minutes… just didn’t feel like getting up. First day back to work. I don’t mind being there.

My peas/lima beans combo is good. Had this with TCB, et al for bkft. Should pack cherries for work too.

Oh, left side lower abs/groin area is sore – again. Always something, and left shoulder is playing up. I wonder what I did yesterday or Monday … maybe deep squats???

Got men on first & second.

At the gig – trying to get back to the reverse pushups: 22+13+17 [so far]

71714 [Thursday #29] – WAKE  30/50 189.5: 2.5 phantom lbs. I’m not going to spend too much time on it. I am wondering if it’s part of a cycle. I was sleeping well too – woke by the alarm and tried to steal another 26 mins.

Turkey burger and lentils, cheese, shrooms, pepper for bkft. It was a very cool and pleasant morning. 5 up the el steps, only because I didn’t rush. I need more activity at work aside from the comics.

The Gig: 25 normal pushups on bars [+16+22+16+22] I thought I lost a set in there, but maybe not.  WOW, 101, didn’t realize I broke 100.. ha ha nice surprise.

YGX – very strong & energetic, even though the double El steps was a 4 – a low 4. Super power. Remember to stretch at home.

Back stretches, swiss ball b4 bed. Shoulder work on ball (lateral raises.)

71814 [Friday #30] – wake 189 28/55 Mental health Day.

Lamb & fixins for bkft. To the doc’s to p/u med info. El Steps = 5 – feeling low energy, but thinking this is my energy level this time of day anyway @ work.

Lots of sleep – long afternoon nap. Some home work [ movement]. A lazy day of rest, give it a 4. Energy was low, body demanded rest. Of course things may have been different had I gone to work. I must acknowledge this possibility. If I have nothing I have to do I may just vegge – I’ve been conditioned.

Got medical records, Chol is on the border and that’s up from the last time I had it checked. What was I eating? Red yeast rice is on the way. That seemed to help and while this is not scientifically conclusive, my cholesterol dropped when I took that stuff.

71914 [Saturday #31] – wake 189 31/52: woke well & showered. What will today bring? Last day for this book [my carry-around notebook]. I think this session ends today.

Strong run up the EL steps 5, got some 3s [triple steps].

Left hip/groin sore @ wake up, but gets better with movement?? Hmmm, had this before in the back.

Gig – pull ups/chin ups @ work. Not gonna count reps, [but I might]. We’ll see if I get to the Y today. First base

Low energy… opted out of the Y today. I may get some home work. I think it’s just time for a break.

Home work: Lunges & shoulder/back work with bands. I hate lunges so I HAVE to do them.

It’s taking me longer than I thought to lose this weight. However, I’m strong, albeit in a different kind of way than in 2004, and to my eye, leaner than the last time I was in the low 180s. I’ll keep dealin’

Session	I	II
Gain	9	4
Loss	6	6.5
Net	3	-2.5
Tot.	3	0.5

End of Session 2