Beards, Barbells, and Beer

I won't be able to make it to the gym today but will fit in a quick walk. I have some mild DOMS in my legs today so it will be good to get the blood flowing. Weight this morning was 196.5.
 
Sun April 15, 2018

Hockey - Championship Game!

The final game of the season and we were playing the team that we beat in the round robin, however we were 1-2-1 against them this season so we knew it was going to be a tough game. We got off to a good start, scoring early to take the 1-0 lead and controlling a lot of the play in the first period. In the second period we traded goals to leave it 2-1 for us.

In the third period our opponents started to get some momentum. Our goalie was playing well but we started being sloppy in our own end and started giving away the puck. With under 5 minutes left in the game they scored to make it 2-2. A few minutes later their top player had a partial breakaway and I dove to try to and stop him but tripped him and took a penalty instead. It probably saved a goal but they scored on the powerplay to make it 3-2.

With one minute left in the game we pulled our goalie and managed to sustain pressure for almost the entire minute. We had some good chances but couldn't convert so ended up losing 3-2.

Overall it was a good season and a good final game. Previous games against this team were pretty chippy but this game was more amicable. We can't feel too bad about losing by a single goal after finishing 2nd in the regular season. It will be interesting to see which division we are put in for the Summer. The winning team will definitely be bumped up a division but we might not be, which could mean we're a good team in a weak division. The Summer season starts May 6 so we won't have to wait long to find out.
 
Mon April 16, 2018

C2 rower, dynamic stretching

- Squats
45x8
75x8
95x8
115x8
135x8
135x8
135x8

Woo billy, these were tougher than they should have been. My form started to feel more natural but everything was burning afterward My spinal erectors and abs were really feeling it and by the time I got back to my desk my legs felt totally dead. I've obviously lost a lot of strength but hopefully that means NOOB GAINS!

- Push-ups: 8/8/8/4/5/5
- Pull-ups: 2/3/2/3/2/3 (alternated overhand and underhand)

- Facepulls: 2x15

Since the benches suck at this gym I figured I might as well do push-ups. And I'm weak so I have plenty of room to improve.

I expect some good DOMS tomorrow.
 
Wed April 18, 2018

C2 rower, dynamic stretching

- Squats
45x8
75x8
95x10
115x10
135x10
135x10
135x10

These felt better than Monday's sets of 8. I think I'll stick with 3x10.

- DB Press
10x10
15x10
20x10
15x10
15x10

So weak.

- DB Rows
20x10
40x10
60x10
60x10
 
Thurs April 19, 2018

Conditioning

5 minute warm-up then ran 5k in 32:26. I won't be doing as much conditioning now but will try to fit in at least one session/week. On the days where I have a lot of meetings I'll probably squeeze in 30 minute HIIT sessions
 
Fri April 20, 2018

C2 rower, dynamic stretching

- Deadlifts

45x8
135x5
165x3
195x3
225x3x 6 sets

As expected, kinda weak. Form felt good though.

That was all since I had to run to a lunch and learn, though now that I'm here I think I should have stayed at the gym, lol. Oh well, at least I get free pizza.
 
Last edited:
Pizza always makes things better!

Good work though, deadlifting! I did my 15 reps yesterday. Pretty brutal.
 
Wed April 25, 2018

C2 rower, dynamic stretching

- Squats
45x10
75x10
95x10
115x10
140x10
140x10
140x10

And that's all. My week is ridiculously busy with 26 meetings! I had an interview at noon yesterday but it was cancelled last minute. if I had known earlier I would have made it to the gym. The next two days are a no-go for any gym time so I'll have to do push-ups and back work at home.
 
Mon April 30, 2018

Treadmill, dynamic stretching


- Squats
45x10
75x10
95x10
120x10
145x10
145x10
145x10

Felt good today.

- Push-ups: 8/8/8/5/4
- Pull-ups: 6 sets of 3 (various grips)

- Facepulls: 3x15, 14 lb

Summer hockey starts this Sunday and I will be able to play 4 or 5 out of the first 5 games which is awesome. I'll do cardio tomorrow and hopefully again later in the week. Weight is stable at 196 lately. I'm doing the "Shred10" with my wife which is basically a vegetarian paleo diet but is actually more a scheme to sucker people into buying JuicePlus which are bullshit "high quality" vitamins. Of course my wife and her mom got sucked into it *eyeroll*. I'm just doing this Shred10 thing because we've been eating more junk lately and my weight has been around 196-197 for all of April.

Edit: supplements are JuicePlus not Juice4Life. That's a sandwich chain oddly
 
Last edited:
Tues May 1, 2018

Warmed up on the treadmill and then 30 minutes of freestyle workout, mostly calisthenics. Did 2 minutes on , 1 minute rest for 10 rounds. Did things like walking lunges, jump squats, box jumps, barbell press, burpees, mountain climbers, high knees etc The sorta muscle-endurance type stuff I did at Muay Thai back in the day. Did 3 pull-ups between sets so 3x9=27 total.

At the end I spent 5 minutes hanging on the chin-up station. It has various handles so I tried moving between the various grips without going into a dead hang.

All of this is in aid of building some muscle endurance for the Spartan Sprint that my friend and I signed up for. It is June 23 so I have 8 weeks to train for it. I watched a video on YouTube this morning of someone doing the Sprint in the southern U.S. and it had A LOT of climbing over walls and climbing up and down things so I think improving my upper body strength and endurance is a priority.

I think my plan going forward is to do 2 LISS sessions, one lifting session, and one freestyle workout per week. I'll probably do pull-ups every time I'm at the gym, or maybe do something easier like low cable rows or facepulls so I don't burn my shoulders out.
 
Fri May 4, 2018

- Treadmill
5 minute warm-up then did 5k in 32:04. So close to breaking 32 minutes! Average HR was 133.

- Fun with Chin-up bars
Spent 8 minutes on the chin-up bars. I would do a chin-up with one grip, switch each hand to a second grip, then to a third grip, then lower back down and do a second full chin-up. At first it was pretty easy but by the end the second chin-up was a struggle. Took maybe 30-45 seconds rest between attempts.

This morning my weight was 194.7
 
Sun May 6, 2018

Hockey

First game of the summer and we were short a handful of skaters, most defensemen. We are actually without two of our regular d-men for the summer and have a bunch of new skaters so this was a real feeling-out type of game. Since we were short I dropped back and played D. I was really sketchy for the first few shifts but I felt pretty good by the second period. As a center I'm used to being able to skate forward and chase people so it took a handful of shifts to get back into the swing of skating backwards. It also didn't help that our opponents came out flying so they had us on our heels, luckily they didn't have anyone who was a real threat to score so while they kept pressure on they didn't get many good chances.

I scored the first goal of the game off of a turnover at our blueline. The other team gave the puck away and I quickly turned up ice with the puck. Their defense was caught flat-footed so I was able to drive to the outside and get around them, cutting back to the net on my backhand and then fiipping the puck over the goalie's shoulder. I joked afterward that it makes up for the big defensive error that I''d inevitably make in the second period. And I totally did goof up in the second, leaving one of their guys wide open in front of the net. Luckily when the pass came to the guy he totally missed it, otherwise he would have had an easy backdoor tap in.

Anyway, we scored another goal in the first to go up 2-0. In the second period we seemed to have shaken the rust off and controlled more of the game. This continued into the middle of the third when the other team picked up the pace, trying to make the comeback. They scored to make it 2-1 but that woke us and we locked things down to end the game, winning 2-1.

Overall I think this was what could be expected for our first game. We have 4 new players on the team so it will take a game or two for us to gel. Add in having only one regular center (because I dropped back) and no regular D and it makes sense that we came out kinda flat. We definitely got better as the game went on. I think we might have a bit of a dip in scoring power this season but it will probably be offset by being in a slightly weaker division.
 
Mon May 7, 2018

Conditioning

Walked and jogged on the treadmill for 15 minutes. I was going to switch to the elliptical to give my knees a break but I was a bit late getting to the gym so the lunch rush had arrived and taken them all. Instead I did 20 more minutes of intervals on the treadmill, 1 minute on (7.5 mph), 1 minute off (3.1 mph). HR bounced between 120 and 150 BPM. I think this is the same run speed that I've used the last few times so I should bump it up a few points. I'm breathing harder by the end of the minute but don't feel like I'm going all out.

Afterward I messed around on the chin-up grips for 8 minutes. This time I tried to do more transfers between the grips and also had the idea to try to move from side to side. If anyone is wondering this is what I'm doing this on...
LFCABLEMOT-2T.jpg
 
Wed May 9, 2018

C2 rower, dynamic stretching

- Squats
45x10
75x10
95x10
120x10
150x10
150x10
150x10

Then I moved onto the chin-up bar and dip station. For chins I did up, switch grip, down, up, switch grip, down. For dips I actually needed to use a bit of assistance and did sets of 3 . 8 sets each of chins and dips.
 
Fri May 11, 2018

Conditioning

17 minutes on the treadmill, 15 minutes on the elliptical. Average HR was 118 as I was taking it easy. I've got a bit of a cold and don't want to wear myself out.

- Chins: 8 sets of 3
- Push-ups: 8 sets of 6

Chins are feeling easier, push-ups still suck. I've been doing some push-ups at home but haven't been consistent enough.
 
Last edited:
Sun May 13, 2018

Hockey

Another week, another win! And another goal for me :) The team we played was a division above us in the winter season but didn't show it. They had a few good players but overall they weren't that tough. They came out pretty aggressive at the beginning of the game and put pressure on us but didn't really get any good scoring chances. Eventually we got going and scored to make it 1-0. Right before the end of the period they scored to tie it 1-1.

In the second period we picked up a few penalties but I ended up scoring a shorthanded goal to make it 2-1. I grabbed a loose puck, skated around their D, and put a backhand stick side. After this we took control of the game, scoring again a few minutes later to make it 3-1.

In the third period our opponents got more aggressive but ended up taking some penalties that killed any momentum they were trying to build. With a few minutes left they pulled their goalie but then got a too-many-men penalty for having 7 skaters on the ice, lol. That ended any chance of a comeback.
 
Mon May 14, 2018

Got to the gym just before the lunch rush so I went straight to the squat rack instead of the C2. Did a dynamic stretching, jumping jacks, running with high knee etc to get warmed up. Started to work up and my right knee was aching so I stopped after 95x10.

- Chins: Did a few chins with a short rest in between to warm-up then did a max set, got 8 using underhand grip. I think my best is 12. After that did 8 more sets of switching grips, moving side to side on the grips etc.
- Push-ups: 10 sets of 5.

Finished with some TKEs and some foam rolling/stretching for my lower body.
 
Thurs May 17, 2018

C2 rower, dynamic stretching

- Deadlifts
45x10
135x5
135x5
165x3
195x3
225x3
235x3x6 (six triples)

Felt alright. Grip is weak.

- Burpees: Did 10 sets of 5 burpees with 20-30 seconds between sets. I realized burpees are the punishment for failing obstacles in the Spartan Sprint so I should try to get a bit better at them.

- Pull-ups: 9 sets of 3. Did them on the minute so roughly 45 seconds between sets.
 
No hockey this weekend because it was a long weekend (Victoria Day). I took Friday and Tuesday off for an extra-long weekend so no gym. Tomorrow I have a bunch of meetings and Friday we are going to see Solo in the morning so I won't make it to the gym Friday either. So today is the only day this week, booooo

Wed May 23, 2018

C2 rower, dynamic stretching

- Squats
45x10
75x10
105x10
135x10
155x10
155x10
155x10

Felt pretty good until the last couple reps. I was getting tired and they got a bit GM'ish but not too terrible.

- Chins: 5 sets of 4, 3 sets of 3. (was aiming fro 8 sets of 4)
- Dips: 8 sets of 2

Dips were obviously much better than last time where I had to use assistance.

Weight this morning was 191.1. It's been around 192 the last few days so I'm officially down 30 lb for the year. I have exactly one more until the Spartan Sprint so I think I can hit 185 if I'm a bit more disciplined with my eating. My snacking has been a lot better lately (nuts or fruit instead of ice cream and chips) and consequently I've dropped a few more pounds this month after staying even in April.
 
Back
Top