Just worked out, it was good. Not much else to say. Onto the comparisons!
Day 1 - Beginning of Month Two
- Bicep Curls - 3 X 6 - 35 lbs.
- Hammer Curls - 3 X 8 - 30 lbs.
- Bicep Superset Thingy - 2 X 10 (for each exercise) - 15 lbs
- Tricep Extensions - 3 X 10 - 45 lbs.
- Tricep Dips - 3 X 15
Day 1 - Current
-Bicep Curls - 3 X 6 - 35 lbs.
- Hammer Curls - 3 X 8 - 30 lbs.
- Bicep Superset Thingy - 2 X 10 (for each exercise) - 17.5 lbs
- Tricep Extensions - 3 X 10 - 50 lbs.
- Tricep Dips - 3 X 15 - no weight
- Diamond Push-ups - 3 X 10 - no weight
Notes: Alright, so you can see a slight improvement here. This is what I did today, so it is the most current. At one point, I was doing Tricep Kickbacks but it wasn't really doing anything for me, so I started doing Diamond Pushups instead; I like 'em. At one point, I could do 3 sets of 7 Bicep Curls, and I could do 3 sets of the Bicep Superset, but that week-long hiatus sort of put a damper on that. I should be able to do 'em soon. Overall, not a huge improvement, but an improvement nonetheless.
Day 2 - Beginning of Month Two
- Dumbbell Press - 3 X 10 - 30 lbs
- Incline Dumbbell Press - 3 X 10 - 30 lbs.
- Dumbbell Fly - 3 X 10 - 20 lbs.
- Crunches - 3 X 25
- Bicycle Exercise - 3 X 12
- Leg Lifts - 3 X 12
Day 2 - Current
- Dumbbell Press - 3 X 10 - 35 lbs
- Incline Dumbbell Press - 3 X 10 - 35 lbs.
- Dumbbell Fly - 3 X 10 - 20 lbs.
- Crunches - 3 X 25
- Bicycle Exercise - 3 X 15
Notes: I moved up 5 lbs for most of my chest stuff, so that's nice. Halfway through the month, I decided to stop doing Leg Lifts, because they also feel....weird. Sometimes, I would get this pain in my thighs when lifting them, like my body was just telling me not to do it. And even when I could do them, my legs would click when they lowered. The whole thing just gave me a bad vibe, so I stopped doing the exercise. I need another ab workout to fill that in though. Suggestions?
Day 3 - Beginning of Month Two
- Shoulder Shrugs - 3 X 15 - 35 lbs.
- Dumbbell Overhead Press - 3 X 12 - lbs.
- TVOs - 2 X 10 - 7.5 lbs.
- Ref Calls - 2 X 10 of each section - 7.5 lbs.
- One-Armed Rows - 3 X 15 (each arm) - 15 lbs.
- Dumbbell Lying Rows - 3 X 15 - 15 lbs.
Day 3 - Current
- Shoulder Shrugs - 3 X 10 - 45 lbs.
- Dumbbell Overhead Press - 3 X 10 - 25 lbs.
- TVOs - 3 X 8 - 10 lbs.
- Ref Calls - 3 X 10 of each exercise - 10 lbs.
- One-Armed Rows - 3 X 15 (each arm) - 25 lbs.
- Dumbbell Lying Rows - 3 X 15 - 25 lbs.
- Pull-Up Negatives - As many sets as possible (up to 10) X 8 (I can do 5 as of right now) - no weight
Notes: Looks like I've seen the most improvement here. It's not quite as much as it looks like - I amped up the weight for the two rows pretty early on in the month - but it's still quite good. Note the extra TVO and Ref Call sets. I haven't been able to try the pull-up negatives along with the other back stuff in the same day yet, so I've gotta do that. I've flirted with the idea of switching the order of workouts a bit, making Day 2 Back and Shoulders and Day 3 Chest and Abs, so that I can use my rest day as "pull-up day" instead. Thoughts? Help me out!
Soooo, that's it! If you've got any suggestions for me, please comment! Any and all advice will be much appreciated!
-Daniel
P.S: in regards to Cardio.....well, I've basically stopped doing it. My bike ride to and from work's got me covered, for the most part. I do it when I can, but it's not too often.
P.P.S: according to my scale, I'm anywhere from 182.5 to 186.5 lbs. So I haven't really lost any weight, but I'm working on it. My girlfriend and my mom both think I've gotten thinner, so that's gotta count for something......right?
Showing posts with label shoulders. Show all posts
Showing posts with label shoulders. Show all posts
Monday, June 7, 2010
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
Day 48: Elementary, Dear Watson!
Hi! I haven't worked out yet today (more on that later), but I felt the need to update, because it's been a while since I've updated on either of my blogs. Busy busy busy!
Okay, so first off, yesterday I upped my shoulder weights a little bit. Now I'm at 50 lbs for shrugs, 8 for TVOs, 10 for Ref Calls and 25 for Overhead Presses. I also increased my back weights a bit to 25 lbs for both One-Armed Rows and Lying Rows. I've also mustered up the courage to try my hand at Bent-Over Rows; I'm not quite sure about them yet, but they felt good yesterday overall. I'm doing it with a barbell at 50 lbs (I think; I don't know how heavy my actual barbell is, but I'm preeetttyyyy sure it's 20 lbs). And I was able to get to a park and do some Pull-Up negatives. Nice, fulfilling workout.
In other news, I'm still biking every day to and from work, and thanks to the splendiferous weather here in Toronto, it's been a pleasure. I've noticed that while my bike ride isn't necessarily EASIER, I'm able to do it FASTER - it used to take me half an hour to get to and from work, but now it only takes me about 20 minutes. Not too shabby.
Now I'm at a bit of a dilemma. I got a bit lazy over the long weekend (though to be fair, I was quite busy - on Saturday my band The Stems (www.myspace.com/stemsnoseeds) started recording, so that ate up my whole day), so I shouldn't have a break day today, as I would normally. However, due to the negatives yesterday, most of my muscles are in a slight bit of pain; my chest and abs still hurt from two days ago, and my biceps, back and shoulders hurt from yesterday. So I'm not sure whether I should work out today. Unfortunately, I'm also going to Ottawa on Friday until Monday, so that means I'm going to miss an entire cycle this weekend. My intuition says that if I'm still in pain, I should probably refrain from working out, but my determination tells me suck it up and stop being such a pussy. I suppose I'll try it, and if it hurts too much, I'll just stop.
That's all for now. Update soon!
-Daniel
Okay, so first off, yesterday I upped my shoulder weights a little bit. Now I'm at 50 lbs for shrugs, 8 for TVOs, 10 for Ref Calls and 25 for Overhead Presses. I also increased my back weights a bit to 25 lbs for both One-Armed Rows and Lying Rows. I've also mustered up the courage to try my hand at Bent-Over Rows; I'm not quite sure about them yet, but they felt good yesterday overall. I'm doing it with a barbell at 50 lbs (I think; I don't know how heavy my actual barbell is, but I'm preeetttyyyy sure it's 20 lbs). And I was able to get to a park and do some Pull-Up negatives. Nice, fulfilling workout.
In other news, I'm still biking every day to and from work, and thanks to the splendiferous weather here in Toronto, it's been a pleasure. I've noticed that while my bike ride isn't necessarily EASIER, I'm able to do it FASTER - it used to take me half an hour to get to and from work, but now it only takes me about 20 minutes. Not too shabby.
Now I'm at a bit of a dilemma. I got a bit lazy over the long weekend (though to be fair, I was quite busy - on Saturday my band The Stems (www.myspace.com/stemsnoseeds) started recording, so that ate up my whole day), so I shouldn't have a break day today, as I would normally. However, due to the negatives yesterday, most of my muscles are in a slight bit of pain; my chest and abs still hurt from two days ago, and my biceps, back and shoulders hurt from yesterday. So I'm not sure whether I should work out today. Unfortunately, I'm also going to Ottawa on Friday until Monday, so that means I'm going to miss an entire cycle this weekend. My intuition says that if I'm still in pain, I should probably refrain from working out, but my determination tells me suck it up and stop being such a pussy. I suppose I'll try it, and if it hurts too much, I'll just stop.
That's all for now. Update soon!
-Daniel
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Day 41: Boooooorring
Hello everybody! Today is my break day so I'm gonna talk about yesterday.
Once again, I didn't do cardio; HOWEVER, I rode my bike for roughly 2 hours yesterday (give or take), so I'm gonna say that's good enough.
In regards to weightwork, next time I do shoulders and back, it's going to be a weight-increasing EXTRAVAGANZA!!!!! I've recently upped my weights for both TVOs and Ref Calls, and next time I'll be increasing my weights for overhead presses as well as shrugs. You don't wanna be messin' with these shoulder muscles, son.
Also, I think the reason that my back exercises haven't really done too much over the past month or so is because I was using weights that were much too low; this was to get the form for the exercises down. Yesterday, I upped the weight a bit and realized it wasn't doing anything. So I'll be increasing the weight even more!
Is anyone else feeling like these posts are getting increasingly irrelevant? Comment and let me know!
-Daniel
Once again, I didn't do cardio; HOWEVER, I rode my bike for roughly 2 hours yesterday (give or take), so I'm gonna say that's good enough.
In regards to weightwork, next time I do shoulders and back, it's going to be a weight-increasing EXTRAVAGANZA!!!!! I've recently upped my weights for both TVOs and Ref Calls, and next time I'll be increasing my weights for overhead presses as well as shrugs. You don't wanna be messin' with these shoulder muscles, son.
Also, I think the reason that my back exercises haven't really done too much over the past month or so is because I was using weights that were much too low; this was to get the form for the exercises down. Yesterday, I upped the weight a bit and realized it wasn't doing anything. So I'll be increasing the weight even more!
Is anyone else feeling like these posts are getting increasingly irrelevant? Comment and let me know!
-Daniel
Friday, May 14, 2010
Day 38: Whoopsie
K, so I couldn't update yesterday. DOUBLE POST TODAY WHAAAAA!!!
I didn't do cardio yesterday because I rode my bike to work. While yes, I should be doing as much cardio as possible, my bike ride definitely covers my necessary cardio - the interval training is just extra. I'm aware that I should still be doing it, but if I'm strapped for time on any given day, I can take the cardio away from my workout and still be good.
Shoulders were good yesterday - I've upped my Ref Calls to 10lbs., and everything's feeling good. I've got pretty broad shoulders and they're starting to look pretty jacked - however, I'm a little worried that down the line, I might get a big, scary neck, and I don't really want that (and trust me, neither does my girlfriend).
Back stuff was sucky as per usual - I didn't have time to go do pull-ups, but my next back workout is going to be on Sunday, so I'll have time then.
Not much else to report. Check back later for another post.
-Daniel
I didn't do cardio yesterday because I rode my bike to work. While yes, I should be doing as much cardio as possible, my bike ride definitely covers my necessary cardio - the interval training is just extra. I'm aware that I should still be doing it, but if I'm strapped for time on any given day, I can take the cardio away from my workout and still be good.
Shoulders were good yesterday - I've upped my Ref Calls to 10lbs., and everything's feeling good. I've got pretty broad shoulders and they're starting to look pretty jacked - however, I'm a little worried that down the line, I might get a big, scary neck, and I don't really want that (and trust me, neither does my girlfriend).
Back stuff was sucky as per usual - I didn't have time to go do pull-ups, but my next back workout is going to be on Sunday, so I'll have time then.
Not much else to report. Check back later for another post.
-Daniel
Sunday, May 9, 2010
Day 34: More Results
Today's going to be the end of my slight hiatus. Surprisingly, I can STILL feel a bit of muscle ache around my back, but it's nothing intense enough to stop me from doing my workout. There should be another post later today about getting back on track, but before that, I thought I'd do a little comparison between my workouts when I first started and my workouts now:
Day 1 - Triceps and Biceps **original**
- Bicep Curls - 3 sets of 12 reps - 22.5 pounds
- Hammer Curls - 3 X 10 - 22.5 pounds
- Tricep Extensions - 3 X 12 - 35 pounds
- Tricep Dips - 3 X 15 - no weights
Day 1 - Current
- Bicep Curls - 3 X 6 - 35 lbs.
- Hammer Curls - 3 X 8 - 30 lbs.
- Bicep Superset Thingy - 2 X 10 (for each exercise) - 15 lbs (I used to do this at 10 lbs. I think)
- Tricep Extensions - 3 X 10 - 45 lbs.
- Tricep Dips - 3 X 15
Note: A definite improvement here. I started lowering my reps a few weeks ago as recommended by a couple friends and some internet research, and it's really benefited me (as you can see above; remember, this is a mere MONTH from when I started!). In terms of how I actually look, the arms have definitely seen the most improvement.
Day 2: Chest and Abs **original**
- Dumbbell Press - 3 X 12 - 22.5 pounds
- Incline Dumbbell Press - 3 X 12 - 22.5 pounds
- Dumbbell Fly - 3 X 15 - 12.5 pounds
- Crunches - 3 X 25 - no weights
- Bicycle Exercise - 2 X 12 (each side) - no weights
- Leg Lifts - 3 X 12 - no weights
Day 2 - Current
- Dumbbell Press - 3 X 10 - 30 lbs
- Incline Dumbbell Press - 3 X 10 - 30 lbs.
- Dumbbell Fly - 3 X 10 - 20 lbs.
- Crunches - 3 X 25
- Bicycle Exercise - 3 X 12
- Leg Lifts - 3 X 12
Note: Looking at this, I realize that I haven't really increased my ab workout too much. In fact, the only thing I've done is add on an extra set of the bicycle exercise. That being said, I can still feel my improvement i the ab department by the fact that I can now do the Bicycle exercise without having to take short breaks. Still, I think I need some new ab workouts, or I need to increase my reps - without a medicine ball, it's really the only way to increase my ab workout. I'm happy with my chest improvement, though I still wish I had the means to do a decline.
Day 3: Shoulders and Back **original**
- Shoulder Shrugs - 3 X 15 - 35 pounds
- Dumbbell Overhead Press - 3 X 12 - 17.5 pounds
- TVOs - 2 X 10 - 7.5 pounds
- Ref Calls - 2 X 10 of each section - 7.5 pounds
- One-Armed Rows - 3 X 15 (each arm) - 15 pounds
- Dumbbell Lying Rows - 3 X 15 - 15 pounds (I wasn't too sure about this one - I feel like my form is off.)
Day 3: Current
- Shoulder Shrugs - 3 X 10 - 45 lbs.
- Dumbbell Overhead Press - 3 X 10 - 20 lbs.
- TVOs - 3 X 8 - 10 lbs.
- Ref Calls - 3 X 10 - 7.5 lbs.
- One-Armed Rows - 3 X 10 - 20 lbs.
- Dumbbell Lying Rows - 3 X 10 - 20 lbs.
- Pull-up "negatives" - basically however many I can do
Note: For my back stuff, this was sort of an awkward time to do this results update, because I was going to move up my weights at next workout. Oh well. I'm still experimenting with negatives, so I don't have a set amount that I do quite yet - I'll update when I know. In terms of shoulders, the only reason I haven't improved more with my Overhead Presses is because I removed them from the workout after a few weeks (because they were hurting my back), and added on an extra set of Ref Calls AND TVOs to compensate. I literally just put the Overhead Presses back into the workout, as I've gotten strong enough that I can do a full set without messing up my form, plus I'm keeping the same amount of TVO and Ref Call sets. So it's actually a pretty vast improvement. Still, I clearly need to work on my back more - it's the only reason I somewhat feel the need to go to an actual gym (I'm still not going to, though). Hopefully, my quest for pull-ups will whip me into shape.
In terms of cardio, I started off doing half-hour runs on my elliptical. I originally was only able to run 2.1 miles, but am now able to do 2.4 (and ALMOST 2.5). However, I've given up doing regular cardio; it's all interval training for me now, baby! As I just started doing it, I was doing 20 minutes, alternating between 30 second sprints and 90 second light jogs. I think I'm going to change it to sets of 30 second sprints and only 60 seconds of light jogging though, as even though I'm getting quite sweaty, I don't feel like I'm DYING when I do interval training, and I feel like I should. Doesn't help that doing interval training on an elliptical doesn't work as well as a treadmill.
Okay, so that's it! Thoughts? Suggestions? Comment!
Day 1 - Triceps and Biceps **original**
- Bicep Curls - 3 sets of 12 reps - 22.5 pounds
- Hammer Curls - 3 X 10 - 22.5 pounds
- Tricep Extensions - 3 X 12 - 35 pounds
- Tricep Dips - 3 X 15 - no weights
Day 1 - Current
- Bicep Curls - 3 X 6 - 35 lbs.
- Hammer Curls - 3 X 8 - 30 lbs.
- Bicep Superset Thingy - 2 X 10 (for each exercise) - 15 lbs (I used to do this at 10 lbs. I think)
- Tricep Extensions - 3 X 10 - 45 lbs.
- Tricep Dips - 3 X 15
Note: A definite improvement here. I started lowering my reps a few weeks ago as recommended by a couple friends and some internet research, and it's really benefited me (as you can see above; remember, this is a mere MONTH from when I started!). In terms of how I actually look, the arms have definitely seen the most improvement.
Day 2: Chest and Abs **original**
- Dumbbell Press - 3 X 12 - 22.5 pounds
- Incline Dumbbell Press - 3 X 12 - 22.5 pounds
- Dumbbell Fly - 3 X 15 - 12.5 pounds
- Crunches - 3 X 25 - no weights
- Bicycle Exercise - 2 X 12 (each side) - no weights
- Leg Lifts - 3 X 12 - no weights
Day 2 - Current
- Dumbbell Press - 3 X 10 - 30 lbs
- Incline Dumbbell Press - 3 X 10 - 30 lbs.
- Dumbbell Fly - 3 X 10 - 20 lbs.
- Crunches - 3 X 25
- Bicycle Exercise - 3 X 12
- Leg Lifts - 3 X 12
Note: Looking at this, I realize that I haven't really increased my ab workout too much. In fact, the only thing I've done is add on an extra set of the bicycle exercise. That being said, I can still feel my improvement i the ab department by the fact that I can now do the Bicycle exercise without having to take short breaks. Still, I think I need some new ab workouts, or I need to increase my reps - without a medicine ball, it's really the only way to increase my ab workout. I'm happy with my chest improvement, though I still wish I had the means to do a decline.
Day 3: Shoulders and Back **original**
- Shoulder Shrugs - 3 X 15 - 35 pounds
- Dumbbell Overhead Press - 3 X 12 - 17.5 pounds
- TVOs - 2 X 10 - 7.5 pounds
- Ref Calls - 2 X 10 of each section - 7.5 pounds
- One-Armed Rows - 3 X 15 (each arm) - 15 pounds
- Dumbbell Lying Rows - 3 X 15 - 15 pounds (I wasn't too sure about this one - I feel like my form is off.)
Day 3: Current
- Shoulder Shrugs - 3 X 10 - 45 lbs.
- Dumbbell Overhead Press - 3 X 10 - 20 lbs.
- TVOs - 3 X 8 - 10 lbs.
- Ref Calls - 3 X 10 - 7.5 lbs.
- One-Armed Rows - 3 X 10 - 20 lbs.
- Dumbbell Lying Rows - 3 X 10 - 20 lbs.
- Pull-up "negatives" - basically however many I can do
Note: For my back stuff, this was sort of an awkward time to do this results update, because I was going to move up my weights at next workout. Oh well. I'm still experimenting with negatives, so I don't have a set amount that I do quite yet - I'll update when I know. In terms of shoulders, the only reason I haven't improved more with my Overhead Presses is because I removed them from the workout after a few weeks (because they were hurting my back), and added on an extra set of Ref Calls AND TVOs to compensate. I literally just put the Overhead Presses back into the workout, as I've gotten strong enough that I can do a full set without messing up my form, plus I'm keeping the same amount of TVO and Ref Call sets. So it's actually a pretty vast improvement. Still, I clearly need to work on my back more - it's the only reason I somewhat feel the need to go to an actual gym (I'm still not going to, though). Hopefully, my quest for pull-ups will whip me into shape.
In terms of cardio, I started off doing half-hour runs on my elliptical. I originally was only able to run 2.1 miles, but am now able to do 2.4 (and ALMOST 2.5). However, I've given up doing regular cardio; it's all interval training for me now, baby! As I just started doing it, I was doing 20 minutes, alternating between 30 second sprints and 90 second light jogs. I think I'm going to change it to sets of 30 second sprints and only 60 seconds of light jogging though, as even though I'm getting quite sweaty, I don't feel like I'm DYING when I do interval training, and I feel like I should. Doesn't help that doing interval training on an elliptical doesn't work as well as a treadmill.
Okay, so that's it! Thoughts? Suggestions? Comment!
Saturday, May 1, 2010
Day 26: Lazy Shmuck
Okay, so I ended up not working out yesterday because I just didn't have time. So today I worked out, but also was rather low on time; in short, I didn't do any cardio. This was probably a bad idea, considering that I went out for Korean BBQ for lunch and will be drinking heavily tonight. D'oh. Luckily, I have no way to get to my friend's house other than to walk, which should take roughly 40 minutes, possibly more; that's gotta count for something right? RIGHT?!
That being said, what I did do was quite good. I can tell that my shoulders are getting stronger because I'm able to do full sets of TVOs without having to take short, 5-second breaks. I'll try moving weight up again next week (I tried last week but I wasn't quite ready).
Back stuff was the usual; I still haven't had time to do go to the park and do pull-ups yet. I will on Tuesday though.
Not much else to say really - kind of a short post. Sorry 'bout that.
-Daniel
That being said, what I did do was quite good. I can tell that my shoulders are getting stronger because I'm able to do full sets of TVOs without having to take short, 5-second breaks. I'll try moving weight up again next week (I tried last week but I wasn't quite ready).
Back stuff was the usual; I still haven't had time to do go to the park and do pull-ups yet. I will on Tuesday though.
Not much else to say really - kind of a short post. Sorry 'bout that.
-Daniel
Sunday, April 25, 2010
Day 19: Weak
Shitty workout today. Cardio was the same situation as yesterday - almost at 2.5 but not quite. It was pretty bad actually; partly due to people calling me, and partly due to my own disillusionment with cardio and lack of motivation I took a bunch of short breaks. Don't get me wrong: they WERE short, but still. I feel like my cardio just hasn't really improved too much over the past little bit - I'm still struggling to push through the half hour somewhat. I feel like part of this is due to me running a bit more intensely over the past few days and challenging myself, but I just haven't felt any actual improvement. Worse, I'm just plain getting BORED. It's not like it's not challenging enough, because it is, but I just get bored running for a half hour straight, and after doing that for 6 days a week, it can get pretty taxing.
Which is why I think it's time to start some High Intensity Interval Training. For those who don't know, Interval Training is basically when you do a certain amount of time running at your hardest/fastest ("Work"), followed by an (usually longer) amount of time at a normal pace ("Rest") - you alternate this Work/Rest "set" a number of times (usually from 6-12, depending on your level of fitness). It's a shorter, more interesting cardio workout, and it's supposed to do wonders for your cardio skills and fat burning. You're not supposed to do it every day though, so I think I'm going to alternate doing it and regular cardio each workout day.
Through my research, it seems like a good ratio for a beginner is 3:1. This means that I'm going to do 30 seconds of Work, followed by 90 seconds of Rest. Some videos have shown the Rest phase being like everyday walking, while the Work phase is a light jog. This seems a little bit TOO easy, so to start I'm going to do a minimum of 6 sets alternating between 90 seconds of light jogging and 30 of sprinting. I'm also going to be warming up and cooling down before and after the cardio session. Obviously these numbers are subject to change once I actually start doing it.
Weightwork was....pretty bad too. I had a slight ache in my back on the right side (probably from lifting so much at work yesterday - need to remember good form!) which made my shoulder workouts pretty uncomfortable. It wasn't a big thing, just a weird annoyance. I tried upping my weight for TVOs (from 7.5 to 10) and lowering my reps (from 10 to 8), but it just didn't work; I either have to go back to 7.5 or lower my reps to 6 (which I think is what I need to do). Everything else was okay though - in particular, my back exercises were actually feeling good for once! I feel like I've got the form down a lot better. A friend of mine suggested a rather brilliant idea to me the other day: he said to go to the park and use the monkey bars as a pull-up bar. DOI! Why didn't I think of that? I didn't get a chance to do it today, but hopefully I will for my next back workout.
Okay, so, Ottawa tomorrow. I may do some short updates just stating what I did to keep myself from completely slacking off. Realistically, it'll probably just be crunches and push-ups. Well, actually, my ab workout can remain the same, which is nice. So, yeah, check back tomorrow (probably - if not, Monday) for an On The Road post.
-Daniel
Which is why I think it's time to start some High Intensity Interval Training. For those who don't know, Interval Training is basically when you do a certain amount of time running at your hardest/fastest ("Work"), followed by an (usually longer) amount of time at a normal pace ("Rest") - you alternate this Work/Rest "set" a number of times (usually from 6-12, depending on your level of fitness). It's a shorter, more interesting cardio workout, and it's supposed to do wonders for your cardio skills and fat burning. You're not supposed to do it every day though, so I think I'm going to alternate doing it and regular cardio each workout day.
Through my research, it seems like a good ratio for a beginner is 3:1. This means that I'm going to do 30 seconds of Work, followed by 90 seconds of Rest. Some videos have shown the Rest phase being like everyday walking, while the Work phase is a light jog. This seems a little bit TOO easy, so to start I'm going to do a minimum of 6 sets alternating between 90 seconds of light jogging and 30 of sprinting. I'm also going to be warming up and cooling down before and after the cardio session. Obviously these numbers are subject to change once I actually start doing it.
Weightwork was....pretty bad too. I had a slight ache in my back on the right side (probably from lifting so much at work yesterday - need to remember good form!) which made my shoulder workouts pretty uncomfortable. It wasn't a big thing, just a weird annoyance. I tried upping my weight for TVOs (from 7.5 to 10) and lowering my reps (from 10 to 8), but it just didn't work; I either have to go back to 7.5 or lower my reps to 6 (which I think is what I need to do). Everything else was okay though - in particular, my back exercises were actually feeling good for once! I feel like I've got the form down a lot better. A friend of mine suggested a rather brilliant idea to me the other day: he said to go to the park and use the monkey bars as a pull-up bar. DOI! Why didn't I think of that? I didn't get a chance to do it today, but hopefully I will for my next back workout.
Okay, so, Ottawa tomorrow. I may do some short updates just stating what I did to keep myself from completely slacking off. Realistically, it'll probably just be crunches and push-ups. Well, actually, my ab workout can remain the same, which is nice. So, yeah, check back tomorrow (probably - if not, Monday) for an On The Road post.
-Daniel
Monday, April 19, 2010
Day 15: Up the Cuts
Alright, second post for today.
Cardio was good today - I wasn't feeling overly fatigued like I was yesterday. I think I may have just started out too hard yesterday and it messed me up for the duration of the run. I'm still rockin' 2.4 miles, but I feel like I'm getting more consistent and faster, as I had 30 seconds to go when I hit the 2.4 mark. 2.5 should happen sometime soon. Tenacious D concert was a good motivator.
Question about cardio: I'm not thinking about moving up quite yet, but when I do, should I be increasing the resistance on my elliptical, or running for longer? Keep in mind that I'm not really trying to make my legs stronger, just my cardio.
Workout today was good. Upped my Shrugs to 10 reps of 45lbs, and next workout I'm going to increase my TVOs to 8 reps of 10lbs. I also upped my back exercise weight a bit, and may need to increase it more next time as well.
Also, I noticed today that I've developed some pretty nice cuts on my arms (muscle definition, I mean, not, ya know, the bloody kind). Granted, I was under some pretty forgiving lighting, but still! Nice to be seeing some results! I'm hoping to see more soon! EXCLAMATIONS!!!!!
-Daniel
Cardio was good today - I wasn't feeling overly fatigued like I was yesterday. I think I may have just started out too hard yesterday and it messed me up for the duration of the run. I'm still rockin' 2.4 miles, but I feel like I'm getting more consistent and faster, as I had 30 seconds to go when I hit the 2.4 mark. 2.5 should happen sometime soon. Tenacious D concert was a good motivator.
Question about cardio: I'm not thinking about moving up quite yet, but when I do, should I be increasing the resistance on my elliptical, or running for longer? Keep in mind that I'm not really trying to make my legs stronger, just my cardio.
Workout today was good. Upped my Shrugs to 10 reps of 45lbs, and next workout I'm going to increase my TVOs to 8 reps of 10lbs. I also upped my back exercise weight a bit, and may need to increase it more next time as well.
Also, I noticed today that I've developed some pretty nice cuts on my arms (muscle definition, I mean, not, ya know, the bloody kind). Granted, I was under some pretty forgiving lighting, but still! Nice to be seeing some results! I'm hoping to see more soon! EXCLAMATIONS!!!!!
-Daniel
Monday, April 12, 2010
Day 7: A Goal Accomplished
Yo! I forgot to update yesterday, and today is a break day, so I'll write about it now.
I DID IT! I got up to 2.4 miles for cardio! It didn't even feel like too much of a push. So, either I was slacking off too much when I was running before, or my cardio has already gotten better. I'm gonna say it's probably the first one, but whatever. Muppet Treasure Island was on TV; I love that fucking movie.
Weights were meh, unfortunately. Because my bench can't go 90 degrees, I've decided not to do shoulder presses, because I feel like it's really messing up my back when I do it standing/sitting with no back support. I did three sets of Ref Calls instead of two to make up for it. From now on, I'll do 3 of ref calls, and 3 of TVOs. Luckily, however, I think I can already move up my weight for shrugs. Huzzah!
I'm still having problems with the back workout. The two exercises I've got are fine (I found a third, but I can't do it on my shitty bench; luckily, I'll be looking for new benches on craigslist in the coming days), but I feel like they're just working my shoulders. Again, any help here would be appreciated (remember, I don't have a pull-up bar, so stick to bar/dumbbells). You can check out what I've got already here.
Oh, and about the break day; I realized that I might as well just take a break day after every three day cycle; this means that each week my break day(s) will be different.
That's all for now,
Daniel
I DID IT! I got up to 2.4 miles for cardio! It didn't even feel like too much of a push. So, either I was slacking off too much when I was running before, or my cardio has already gotten better. I'm gonna say it's probably the first one, but whatever. Muppet Treasure Island was on TV; I love that fucking movie.
Weights were meh, unfortunately. Because my bench can't go 90 degrees, I've decided not to do shoulder presses, because I feel like it's really messing up my back when I do it standing/sitting with no back support. I did three sets of Ref Calls instead of two to make up for it. From now on, I'll do 3 of ref calls, and 3 of TVOs. Luckily, however, I think I can already move up my weight for shrugs. Huzzah!
I'm still having problems with the back workout. The two exercises I've got are fine (I found a third, but I can't do it on my shitty bench; luckily, I'll be looking for new benches on craigslist in the coming days), but I feel like they're just working my shoulders. Again, any help here would be appreciated (remember, I don't have a pull-up bar, so stick to bar/dumbbells). You can check out what I've got already here.
Oh, and about the break day; I realized that I might as well just take a break day after every three day cycle; this means that each week my break day(s) will be different.
That's all for now,
Daniel
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
Day 3: Sick and Sad Again
Props if you get the lyrical reference in the title.
So, woke up this morning, still sick. Little bit worse than yesterday actually. It certainly didn't help that I only got like 6 hours of sleep - see, for school this entire year I had to wake up at 6:45/7 AM from Monday to Thursday because all of my classes were at 8:30 and I had to eat breakfast, catch the bus, etc. Because of this, I basically slept 7 or 8 hours every night; the side effect to this is that my body is now programmed to not sleep any longer than 8 hours, and on weekdays I usually wake up at least once around 7 - it's a little creepy really.
Anyways, despite my increasing sickness, I still worked out today. Cardio was fine; popped in the second disc of Evening with Kevin Smith 3 and I was on my way. I find that when I'm watching something entertaining it makes doing cardio a lot easier and less mind-numbing. Unfortunately, while I have tons of TV shows and stuff that I haven't gotten to watching yet, I'm running out of things that will make good "exercise viewing"; something tells me that Samurai Jack's atmospheric, often mostly silent episodes won't make very good workout watching. We'll see.
So, as I said yesterday, I decided to switch around the muscle group combinations, so Day 3 is now Shoulders and Back. Here's the revised workout:
Day 3: Shoulders and Back ***revised***
- Shoulder Shrugs - 3 X 15 - 35 pounds
- Dumbbell Overhead Press - 3 X 12 - 17.5 pounds
- TVOs - 2 X 10 - 7.5 pounds
- Ref Calls - 2 X 10 of each section (this is a superset, so you use a low weight and basically do 40 reps in a row of various exercises. Ask for details if you want them. Sick exercise!) - 7.5 pounds
- One-Armed Rows - 3 X 15 (each arm) - 15 pounds
- Dumbbell Lying Rows - 3 X 15 - 15 pounds (I wasn't too sure about this one - I feel like my form is off.)
I lowered the weights for some of the shoulder exercises, but I think at least for the Shrugs I should be able to go up in weight by next week. Also, still looking for one or two more good back exercises. I didn't look up barbell stuff so I'm going to do that in the next few days.
I've decided that it makes way more sense for Thursday to be my break day, so that in-between each set of 3 days I'm able to just rest and let my body recover. I came to this conclusion because my entire body is aching today; my biceps and triceps still need some time to recover and my abs and chest are throbbing. Furthermore, tomorrow is the day of my jury. For those not in music (i.e. all of you), you do a jury when you take private lessons as a course - basically, you go into a room and there's a "jury" (hence the name, hardeeharhar) of 3 people on faculty, and you play the material you've been working on throughout the year for 5 minutes or so. It's worth 50% of your private lesson mark; I'm not worried as I've been prepared for about 2 weeks, but it'll be nice to just chill tomorrow. Anyways, the pain is fine; it's just the usual muscle recovery pain, as I've been taking all the necessary precautions and doing proper stretching. It'll recover faster once my body gets used to the routine.
That's all for today. I shall return on Thursday for Day 5 (or should it be Day 4? Does a rest day count as a day? Hurm....)!
-Daniel
So, woke up this morning, still sick. Little bit worse than yesterday actually. It certainly didn't help that I only got like 6 hours of sleep - see, for school this entire year I had to wake up at 6:45/7 AM from Monday to Thursday because all of my classes were at 8:30 and I had to eat breakfast, catch the bus, etc. Because of this, I basically slept 7 or 8 hours every night; the side effect to this is that my body is now programmed to not sleep any longer than 8 hours, and on weekdays I usually wake up at least once around 7 - it's a little creepy really.
Anyways, despite my increasing sickness, I still worked out today. Cardio was fine; popped in the second disc of Evening with Kevin Smith 3 and I was on my way. I find that when I'm watching something entertaining it makes doing cardio a lot easier and less mind-numbing. Unfortunately, while I have tons of TV shows and stuff that I haven't gotten to watching yet, I'm running out of things that will make good "exercise viewing"; something tells me that Samurai Jack's atmospheric, often mostly silent episodes won't make very good workout watching. We'll see.
So, as I said yesterday, I decided to switch around the muscle group combinations, so Day 3 is now Shoulders and Back. Here's the revised workout:
Day 3: Shoulders and Back ***revised***
- Shoulder Shrugs - 3 X 15 - 35 pounds
- Dumbbell Overhead Press - 3 X 12 - 17.5 pounds
- TVOs - 2 X 10 - 7.5 pounds
- Ref Calls - 2 X 10 of each section (this is a superset, so you use a low weight and basically do 40 reps in a row of various exercises. Ask for details if you want them. Sick exercise!) - 7.5 pounds
- One-Armed Rows - 3 X 15 (each arm) - 15 pounds
- Dumbbell Lying Rows - 3 X 15 - 15 pounds (I wasn't too sure about this one - I feel like my form is off.)
I lowered the weights for some of the shoulder exercises, but I think at least for the Shrugs I should be able to go up in weight by next week. Also, still looking for one or two more good back exercises. I didn't look up barbell stuff so I'm going to do that in the next few days.
I've decided that it makes way more sense for Thursday to be my break day, so that in-between each set of 3 days I'm able to just rest and let my body recover. I came to this conclusion because my entire body is aching today; my biceps and triceps still need some time to recover and my abs and chest are throbbing. Furthermore, tomorrow is the day of my jury. For those not in music (i.e. all of you), you do a jury when you take private lessons as a course - basically, you go into a room and there's a "jury" (hence the name, hardeeharhar) of 3 people on faculty, and you play the material you've been working on throughout the year for 5 minutes or so. It's worth 50% of your private lesson mark; I'm not worried as I've been prepared for about 2 weeks, but it'll be nice to just chill tomorrow. Anyways, the pain is fine; it's just the usual muscle recovery pain, as I've been taking all the necessary precautions and doing proper stretching. It'll recover faster once my body gets used to the routine.
That's all for today. I shall return on Thursday for Day 5 (or should it be Day 4? Does a rest day count as a day? Hurm....)!
-Daniel
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