Beards, Barbells, and Beer

Thurs March 1, 2018

Conditioning

Warmed up on the elliptical and C2 then did 2000m on the C2 in 8:33. Better than last time. Finished with 10 minutes of easy jogging on the treadmill.
 
Fri March 2, 2018

Conditioning

Walked for 5 minutes and then did 20 minutes of intervals, 1 minute run (7.5), 1 minute walk (3.1) and then a few minutes of walking to cooldown. HR alternated between 145-150 and 120-125, average HR was 128 including warm-up and cooldown. I don't usually include the warm-up when I run the 5k so I get a more accurate measurement of average HR during the 5k.
 
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Mon March 5, 2018

Conditioning

25 minutes on the treadmill, 10 minutes on the C2. Fitbit says my average HR was 117 but it always reads too low when I'm on the C2, I think it was more like 125. Anyway, today I just wanted to get my HR up for 35 minutes. No specific distance goal on the treadmill or anything.
 
Tues March 6, 2018

Conditioning

Warmed up on the elliptical and C2 then did 10 intervals on the C2, 1 minute on, 1 minute off. Aimed for over 250m per interval (and succeeded). My plan is to do this at least once/week and decrease the rest periods.

My weight was up a bit on Monday (206.5) due to a bunch of junk food over the weekend but it was back down to 204.1 this morning.
 
Thanks AS! I feel and look a lot better and honestly it hasn't been too hard. We were getting into the habit of planning our weekly meals so our son has good food to eat so we just extended that to us and went low carb.

This is the longest break I've taken from lifting since starting seriously in 2008 so I expect some massive DOMS when I start back up. I might start a week early (last week of March instead of first week of April) so I have the Easter long weekend to recover. Jesus died for your gains!
 
Thurs March 8, 2018

Conditioning

5 minutes of walking and then ran 5k in 32:52, broke 33 minutes! Average HR was 131. I cruised along for a while around 135. Peaked at 157 during the final minute when I turned up the speed.

Weight was back under 205 this morning.
 
Mon March 12, 2018

Conditioning

20 minutes treadmill, 15 minutes elliptical. Average HR 130, Weight this morning was 202.3, getting close to 200.
 
Wed March 14, 2018

Conditoning

Did some dynamic stretching and a light 5 minutes on the C2 then 2000m. Took 8:11, a big improvement. I think I did a better job of keeping good posture and pacing myself. Finished with 12 minutes on the treadmill to get a bit more work in .
 
Thurs March 15, 2018

Conditioning

Did my weekly 5k today in 32:28. Getting closer to 32:00 but I don't think I'll break 32 minutes before the end of March. My FitBit doesn't seem to want to sync with my phone so not sure what my HR was but I think it was a bit higher than last time. My legs felt a bit more tired this time which usually means higher HR. Regardless I'm quite happy with my progress on the treadmill.
 
Mon March 19, 2018

Conditioning

20 minutes on the treadmill, 17 minutes on the elliptical. Average HR was127.

Weight this morning was 199.7! The first time under 200 since my honeymoon in September 2010. My weight loss has slowed but that is expected given how quickly I lost weight in January plus my diet has been as strict. I'm happy if I now lose 2-4 lb/month for the next few months, ending up around 180-190.
 
Fri March 23, 2018

Conditioning

Did intervals on the treadmill. 5 minutes warm-up, 22 minutes of intervals. HR alternating between ~125 and ~150. Average 127. Weight is hovering around 200-202 this week. After Easter (which is next weekend) I'm gonna try to go really clean in April and hopefully get down to 195ish so when my weight goes up a bit it's still under 200.

Next week I'm really busy so I'll probably only make it to the gym on Thursday. I'm thinking I'll do some light lifting since I'll have the long weekend to recover from the DOMS that I will surely have.
 
2018 New Year Check-in

From a training standpoint last year was a write-off. I gained weight, lost strength, and lost or maybe barely maintained my cardio (but being heavier makes me feel worse). In 2018 my plan is to continue with conditioning and loss 8-10 in Q1. After that I want to switch back to lifting. My tentative plan is to start light in April, progress until June and then test my maxes so I can set proper goals for the end of 2018.

Goals for Q1 (Jan-March)

* Run 5k in under 34 minutes with average HR < 145 BPM (recent best is 37:10) DONE!
* Row 2000m in under 8:00 minutes (recent best was 8:33) ALMOST!
* Weight under 215 lb (currently 223) CRUSHED IT

Normally I do Mid-year and then end of year goals but I'm trying shorter term goals this year. I hope that will make it easier to stay on track, especially with the weight loss. The 5k goal is based on a site that gave average 5K pace by age group. For 35-40 year old men the pace would result in a 5k time of 33:45 so under 34 minutes puts me at average.

End of Q1 Check-in!

I crushed two of my goals and almost hit the third. I hit my weight loss goal by the middle of January and set a new goal of 210 which I quickly blew passed. On Monday I weighed 197.3 in the morning and have been floating around 198-201 most days. It's ridiclous how quickly it has come off.

I also crushed the 5k goal. I broke 34 minutes sometime in February and got down to 32:28 a few weeks back. I feel so much better.

I didnt do a lot of rowing on the C2 but still managed to do 2000m in 8:11. My muscle endurance is a bit lacking so that will be a focus over the next 3 months.

I now have a 4 day weekend (hurray for Easter!) and after that I'm going to start lifting. I'm thinking 2 days/week to start with 1 or 2 days of cardio. I'm going to be so sore and so weak at the start!
 
Me too!

I was out of the office two days last week plus Friday was a holiday so the two days I was in the office were crazy busy so no gym time. Then I got sick over the weekend and today is the first day back. I still feel like ass so I'll probably leave early rather than hit the gym. Hopefully I'm feeling better by Monday so I can get back to the gym.

Also, my hockey team is in the semi-finals on Sunday but I'm missing the game due to a birthday party for my cousin's son. Kinda sucks but I think it's important for my son to be there because this kid is the closest in age to my son out of all of the counsins/second cousins. Hopefully we win and then we'll be in the finals next week. If that is the case I'll probably do more conditioning next week since I've been off and then start lifting the week after (April 16). If not, lifting will commence April 9th!

In other news, after all of this weight loss I had to buy new jeans on the weekend. Dropped from a 36 inch waist to a 33 inch waist! the old jeans were also a more relaxed fit so I was swimming in them. The new jeans are also an athletic fit so the hips/thighs are relaxed but they taper below the knee to still have a bit of style. This morning at work everyone commented that I look so much skinnier because now you can actually see it. Woot.

Still floating around 198--201 lb these days. Now that Easter is over I need to clean up my diet and hopefully get down to 195 so I can be safely under 200 even with a few days of junk.
 
Mon April 9, 2018

Conditioning

Warmed up for 5 minutes on the treadmill and then did a 5k. Finished in 32:25 which was waaaaay better than I expected and basically the same as my recent best. Weight was down to 196.5 this morning. Being sick probably helped with that...

I'm doing one more week of conditioning because my hockey team made the championship game this coming Sunday. Since I've been off two weeks (work being busy plus being sick) I want to get a bit of cardio in so I have some legs for the game. Then under the bar the following Monday!
 
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CAUTION: Weights sighting!
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Wed April 11, 2018

C2 rower, dynamic stretching

- Squats
45x5
45x5
75x5
95x5
115x5
135x5
135x5

Man it's been a while. By the sets of 135 my form felt not completely garbage. My shoulders didn't love it. Not that I was ever huge but I've lost some muscle so the shelf for the bar is a bit less sturdy now.

- Bench
45x8
45x8
65x8
75x6
85x5
95x5
95x5

This felt alright but the benches suck. They are the adjustable kind that don't go completely flat so I probably won't be able to go too heavy on barbell bench (cue "what was your excuse before? jokes)

- DB Rows
20x10
40x10
60x10
60x10

And there we go. I wonder how bad DOMS will be tomorrow. At least I took the day off for my son's 18 month check-up.
 
Bro.
Can I suggest my program if you're getting back into it?

Start ridiculously light on all three lifts, do 3x12 add 10lb for lower body and 5lbs for upper and just push for 3x12 every session.

Squat
Bench
Dead (I do one set of 12+)

Front squat
Press
BOR

alternate these workouts when you can. builds work capacity and get's that muscle memory working. Right now I'm doing 3x10 on some exercises and 3x12 on others. eventually I'll do 3x8, 3x6, 3x4, etc... until I hit a 1RM. Once I'm there I'll think about my next goal.
 
Bro.
Can I suggest my program if you're getting back into it?

Start ridiculously light on all three lifts, do 3x12 add 10lb for lower body and 5lbs for upper and just push for 3x12 every session.

Squat
Bench
Dead (I do one set of 12+)

Front squat
Press
BOR

alternate these workouts when you can. builds work capacity and get's that muscle memory working. Right now I'm doing 3x10 on some exercises and 3x12 on others. eventually I'll do 3x8, 3x6, 3x4, etc... until I hit a 1RM. Once I'm there I'll think about my next goal.

Seems like a good program for getting back into it. My schedule isn't reliable because I have a lot more meetings at my new job (it's been a year so I guess it's.not new anymore...) so I was thinking a full body workout would be the best choice. I was thinking of doing the two day split from the FAQ but then I'd be squatting less.

How do you decide to drop the number of reps?
 
Seems like a good program for getting back into it. My schedule isn't reliable because I have a lot more meetings at my new job (it's been a year so I guess it's.not new anymore...) so I was thinking a full body workout would be the best choice. I was thinking of doing the two day split from the FAQ but then I'd be squatting less.

How do you decide to drop the number of reps?
When I can't make it.
 
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