Posts Tagged ‘Personal’

Training for the Week of 6/30 – 7/06

Friday, July 11th, 2008

During the week I managed to get in 2 kickboxing classes and then the dojo was closed on July 4th. On my own I hit up some kickboxing on the heavy bag for about 2 hours and some bike riding for about 2 hours. Nothing serious went on this week.

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Training for the Week of 6/23 – 6/29

Monday, June 30th, 2008

This week was a very healthy week for kickboxing and for eating. I am really starting to fall into the zone, eating healthy protein rich foods, and avoid untimely carbs and unnecessary high-fat snacks at night.

Diet

I am frequently eating eggs, cheese, protein bars, tuna, and chicken. Occasionally I have a McSkillet Burrito for breakfast, ramen noodles for lunch, and a couple cheese balls for a snack. For the most part I believe I am eating well. If I had more money, I would definitely buy more chicken and other healthier food to eat during the day, but for now I have to suffice with a can of tuna and a bowl of ramen during the week when I’m in the office.

Training

Thai Kickboxing: 3 days, 1 hour per session.
Mountain Biking: about 3 total hours spread throughout the week.
Weightlifting: 2 sessions with the Powerblocks for a total of about 45 minutes.

Next Weeks Goals

Maintain kickboxing sessions, although there will be no kickboxing on the 4th of July. Add in two legit weightlifting workouts. I want to actually go to the gym and do some full body training. They will be light workouts so I can get back into the swing of lifting.

I plan to maintain the same general dietary strategy, which is to say “no” to 90% of the unhealthy food I encounter. Ramen will still be consumed, as will McSkillet Burritos for breakfast. When I decide to go hardcore, these two foods will be phased out.

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Back to Kickboxing and Back to Weights

Monday, April 28th, 2008

Whew, I have been in a major slump due to income worries, work hours, family problems, and basically being WAY too stressed out. Well today I am taking a step forward by getting back into kickboxing after about 2 weeks off. It should be great!

I plan to be very tight and very slow. My lungs will probably feel close to bursting. Lactic acid just might shut my body down, especially if Roger has us doing duck walks. Oh, and my wrist hurts a bit from lugging around a 200 lb air conditioner whilst cleaning out my garage this weekend, so hitting the pads should be sweet!

Basically though, I have to get back into it. Once I go tonight, I will be psyched, and I will look forward to going back on Wednesday too.

How to Get a Workout and a Clean Garage at the Same Time

Follow these five simple rules to turn garage clean-out into the best workout of the month.

  1. Stock your garage with 5 ft long boxes filled with books and clothes.
  2. Keep several 40+ inch TVs in your garage.
  3. Put a 200 lb air conditioner all the way in the back of the garage, knowing full well you will need to hook it up this summer.
  4. Decide to clean the garage out 100% then reorganize everything and put it back.
  5. Don’t ask for help lifting anything! Do it all yourself.

Just remember that no matter how heavy anything is, you must lift with your legs, not with your back. This is key to being able to move the next day. My garage clean-out took all of Saturday and half of Sunday, and when I was finished I still had enough energy to scratch up 3 inches of dirt and lay down seed and fertilizer in half of my back yard and half of my front yard. So how do I feel today? A little sore, but my back, legs, and abs are perfectly healthy.
Steve circa July 2006

Back to Weights?

I dug out my Powerblocks, my ez curl bar, and all my nasty plastic weights during the garage clean-out. The bar is a bit rusty, but the Powerblocks are still nice. I intend to use them, and the rusty free weights, to ease myself back into weightlifting since I am so busy that I can’t really make time for kickboxing and going to the gym. Every time I attempt I do pull-ups lately I am able to add 1 rep. This weekend I knocked off a set of 8, which is up from 6 two weeks ago.

Man, if I could just get serious about the lifting and the dieting, it I could end up looking like I did in summer of 2006. This type of mindset is what Project Swole is all about; if I could just start making more money than I spend on bills every month, I would have much more free time in the morning and the night… I’d be golden.

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Building a Home Gym with Used Exercise Equipment

Monday, July 9th, 2007

There’s nothing better than to be able to walk outside, or go down stairs, and lift some weights. Sometimes it is expensive to build a full home gym set up. This is why I am starting to build my arsenal of used exercise equipment for extra workouts around the house. Clearly I will need more, newer, and better equipment that I currently have, but this is a start.

To date I have the following equipment:

  • two 45 lb Powerblocks
  • two ab rollers
  • springs
  • one rusty 45 lb olympic bar
  • one rusty 20 lb e-z curl bar
  • 200 lbs of old plastic weights that only fit on the e-z curl bar
  • one big ass heavy bag hanging from a hook in the shed + gloves
  • two pullup bars, neither of which are currently up
  • one grassy park with a river across the street from my house, which I will use for sprinting, doing pull-ups in the trees, tree climbing, boat rowing, and a variety of other activities
  • one piece of really awkward driftwood that is useful for lifting and carrying in various ways

I shall take some pictures and post them shortly. It is only July, so Project Swole is still in effect for the next two months. This will be my first week of being 100% my own boss and I anticipate weight training to resume in a 3-workouts-per-week schedule.

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