Day 35 - Feel the burn... in your eyes when watching 8 Minute Abs

Today
That searing feeling? My retinas self-detatched seeing the 8 minute abs video. Actually, I'm just jealous that I wouldn't look nearly as good in that much spandex. A new fitness goal, perhaps? Still, a decent workout. Didn't really feel it much until the end, but Kim says do it for a few days in a row and it will burn.


Workout
Need to figure out a good time to do the abs... I would do it immediately after jumps, but on every day other than the end of the week we have our regular workouts so that wouldn't jive really well. I'm thinking maybe in the evening so its a muscle workout and leave the fat burning to the morning routines. Anyway, its a known weak point so it will be nice to turn the corner there and get some definition for the first time in my life. Jumps were so-so today. Maxed at 236. Have yet to manage 300 in a go again since Detroit. Although we head down to San Diego tomorrow to visit a cousin so we'll see what affect being at sea level has again!

Day 34 - Morning workouts are officially more difficult

Today
Back on the morning routine and I think its fair to say that while I have no intention of quitting the morning workouts, they are without a doubt far more difficult in almost every respect than the afternoon or evening workouts. I'm far less energetic in the morning and far less limber. It shows in the skips especially. Still, more flexible than I've been in quite a while...


Workout
As mentioned, not a ton of energy at first, so the jumps suffered... Still, feeling strong overall. Left shoulder issue feels like it is definitely on the mend.

1. Jumprope: Meh. I did manage 263 in one go and most of the routine was made up of 100 and 150 jumps again but I wasn't able to get 200 in a go again. As before, it doesn't feel quite so much that my energy is what is holding me back from longer clean sets but my skills (or lack thereof). And I appear to trip quite a bit more in the morning than in afternoon sessions.
2. Floorjump: Freakin' a. So I went a little higher in the jumps based on my notes from the last floorjumps and it definitely worked. Total jelly leg by the time I was done.
3. Curls: Nice and slow... almost more of a steady burn in the last two sets than the searing heat of some of the other workouts.
4. One-arm Curls: Definitely hits harder following on the heels of the previous curl session.
5. Elevated Triceps Dip: Did this nice and slow all the way through... still, the real bur didn't come on until the last few reps
6. Double Katana: Maybe the late burn on the last was OK because it certainly made these that much more difficult all the way through
7. Leg-ups: quite hard as always... but as before the burn appears to plateau in the third set and just stay through the end. Not getting more difficult but just a sustained difficulty.
8. Plank: Very weird. As before the last 10 seconds of each set are quite hard. And again, I am catching myself holding my breath unconsciously so that is certainly not helping.

Day 33 - That's damn skippy...

Today
Relatively lazy day... mowed the lawn, weeded the garden and planted another patch of arugula. Had a great lunch meal of whole wheat and garlic fresh pasta with fresh tomatoes, onion, parsley and steamed shrimp. The shrimp taste slightly salty. I think that may be their natural flavor but I honestly had never noticed until now if that's the case.


We also swung by the Apple store and Kim got me an early birthday present of an iPod nano so I can listen to the radio or workout mix without disturbing her if she's not getting up early on a given morning. Keen to try making a playlist with a good skipping bpm to see if I can improve my pace and numbers.


Workout
I admitted to Kim today that I am starting to dread the exercises less. Actually, I have started looking forward to the skips, but there are the inevitable legs or abs workouts that are still brutal. But all in all, a less adversarial relationship with the exercises seems to be on the horizon... That mindset certainly helps the workouts fly by much more quickly too.

1. Jumprope: Seriously... finally hitting a stride here (although this is not the first time I've said that). Knocking them out in increasing larger sets. Still stuck in the 100 to 150 area for the majority of jumps but got a solid 247 in without tripping too.
2. Squat: These are possibly getting too easy. Not getting near the burn I was before even though I am going super deep (too deep?). Might have to start adding reps.
3. Creep: Likewise, still extremely difficult especially in the last set but not nearly as completely destructive as when we first did these only a week or so ago. Quite surprised at that, actually... considering I was flopping on the ground like a fish after them then...
4. Chest dip: I was admittedly a little wary on these since it felt like it would be too easy to slip the motion into the back accidentally. So I went shallower on these than when I first did them. Still difficult and I think I'm clenching my neck a bit.
5. Standing Ovation: Again, a bit wary here, but these were much stronger. Really enjoy these but feel like I could (should?) tack on more reps because even though I am slow in and out and pinching at the front, its not quite burning like it used to.
6. Forward Shoulder Raise: On the other hand...
7. Leg-up: Marked improvement from earlier. Still very difficult on the last two sets but at least I can complete them all with form now and without relying on cheating on the between set intervals.
8. V-sit: On the other hand... actually, this shows improvement too. Was able to complete a set and a half with good form before things went south. Although, not as precipitously as before...

So, I'm actually really feeling improvement not just in the jumps but in the exercises too. I anticipate that just as I'm on the cusp of mastering a given exercise it will whipped out of rotation.

Day 33 - Sweeeeeeeet

Had to use the hobo hole on my belt for the first time in ages!

Day 32 - If I could bottle my own methane

Today
We've been grilling so much it shouldn't have surprised me as much as it did when the propane tank started running out while grilling portabello mushrooms this evening. Might have to invest in an extra tank so that doesn't happen again, considering how much grilling we've been doing (at least once a day and sometimes more). Been particularly flatulent today so it got me wondering just how I might go about bottling it and offset the cost of grilling. A real circle of life thing, you know?


By the way, portabellos with a little black pepper, garlic and onion... fantastic. Its the red meat of the mushroom world.


Cycled down to the farmer's market again this morning as is the Saturday morning ritual. The primary stall always has a roaster set up and today they had roasted chili peppers instead of poblanos... absolutely fantastic. Bruce, you would appreciate!


Also scooted down to Boulder to check out the larger farmers market there to pick up a few more veggies, find gluten free bread for Kim as well as look at and start designing our wedding bands... An admittedly odd mix of activities.


Workout
As I mentioned yesterday, I decided to do the workout in the evening again to let the shoulder and back have the full day to rest and limber up. Still giving me random pain, like when I pull the hand brake up on the car. Really unexpected movements seem to affect it, but thankfully as the day progresses the pain definitely falls off fairly precipitously in contrast to the morning. And this evening its far better than it was last night, so I have high hopes.


Oh, and one more thing... kind of big in my book: a huge leap in flexibility during stretching before working out. I don't know if this is related to working out in the evening and having the whole day to limber up or what, but much much more flexible than usual. This is big for me because I am notoriously stiff, especially in my back and I'm sure its contributed to no small share of pain and general fitness issues in the past.

1. Jump ropes: didn't set any records but I destroyed these! Really fast, very little pause between the inevitable trip ups, tons and tons of energy. Managed a respectable 217 sans trip up and a lot of 150+ groups without tripping. Felt awesome!
2. Lunge: not too shabby... not a ton of burn, though my left butt cheek is a little sore. Should we be burning much on these? If so perhaps I should be going deeper.
3. Floorjump: so perhaps I over-moderated myself on my own recommendation from yesterday or I really was at an extremely high energy level because these, while still very difficult and leaving me wobbly standing up at the end, weren't the soul crushing experience of yesterday.
4. Back exercises: sooooooo... I skipped these today. Decided that while I really wanted to do them (I actually enjoy the back exercises), I would be better off letting the back rest for a while longer rather than risk re-injuring myself or simply prolonging the existing problem. So, I admit I feel a little guilty about it, but am confident I can get "back" up to speed soon.
5. Davinci: freakin' hard as always... I really can't elaborate on these any more than I have already. Just really really really difficult. Probably the one, most consistently difficult workout area has been shoulders. It has really come as a surprise to me as I thought I actually was starting from a pretty solid base, relatively speaking. But no, these are just excruciatingly hard every single time.
6. Sit-ups: I think my form and stamina (or at least my ability to do the full sets with the 15 second intervals) is definitely improving. Again, not certain if this is right or not but I seem to plateau in terms of the pain and burn during the 3rd set and the remainder while extremely difficult are a manageable constant burn. Hope I'm not cheating or compensating somehow and not realizing it.
7. Plank: OK, today these were really difficult. For whatever reason just past that threshold of 30 seconds and it became quite a bit harder. I'm also fairly certain I keep forgetting to breathe during these. I don't know why I do it, but I keep catching myself holding my breath during the planks.

Haven't decided yet whether to do an evening workout again tomorrow or try to get back to the morning schedule. Can't decide whether the chest exercises are going to be problematic or not... I'm definitely going to try them, but I might do the evening workout again just to allow for the full day to continue repairing the shoulder and get back to mornings on Monday.

Day 31 - Evening - Workout

Today
Back ached all day, but with a few exceptions, it wasn't a sharp pain so it was pretty manageable. Tried to keep good posture, rotate the arms around a bit, and ice every once and a while. Hopefully I'm not being overly optimistic but I think this is going to be a short lived malady.


Also, it has to be said, Kim has made an awesome re-discovery in acorn squash. She grilled a big one up a couple of days ago, and not only is it quite dense, grams-wise, it tastes absolutely phenomenal off the grill. Very highly recommend... and grind up a little black pepper. Mmmmmm, deeelish!


Workout
Thankfully, and partially by design, there weren't any shoulder or back exercises today so I was actually able to complete the whole workout without too much trouble.

1. Jump rope: similar issue from yesterday where I had a lot of trouble linking up clean groups of jumps. I had Kim stand in front of me to look at my form and apparently I have one arm in close to my body, one arm out, and my feet are turning slightly to my right. Yuck. So my form is very asymmetric. Probably part of the problem, but the thing is that I feel like I am even, despite the reality. Unfortunately we don't have any floor length mirrors in a place where I can jump in the house so I'll just try to compensate and hopefully get Kim to check my form every once and a while...
2. Floorjump: these are murderous... the first 10 or so are very deceptive. Too easy. And then by the latter 3 sets its all I can do to be ready by the time the 15 second interval is up. And standing up after collapsing on the last one is an ordeal in itself. Wobbly.
3. Curl: not too bad, good burn on the last set.
4. One arm curl: much more difficult, but I feel like there was a burn plateau midway through the second set
5. Elevated triceps dip: this was the one of the exercises I was really wary of vis-a-vis the back/shoulder blade but that turned out to be unfounded worry as they were surprisingly clean and strong with a solid, but not too bad burn on the last set. Could get really deep into these.
6. Double Katana: I think these are OK... kind of hard towards the end but I always wonder if I've got the form right.
7. Leg up: extremely difficult... and for the first time I am actually feeling them not only in my legs, but in my lower abdomen. Definitely cheating a little on the 15 second rest period as I am totally winded in the last two sets and can't keep good form.
8. Plank: felt nice and strong. As usual, no burn, but a little shake. Not as bad as last time... Noticed that it looks like my belly is jutting way out, pot-belly style when I do these. Not very glamorous.

So, that was a relief. I was truly worried that there were going to be more issues on the workouts due to the back thing. I'll probably do my workout in the evening again tomorrow (although I typically like the morning workouts more since I could use the extra fat burning edge) just to give the back a little more time to heal since it appears to be more intensely back and shoulder tomorrow.

Day 31 - Morning - Uh oh... back trouble

This actually started yesterday evening... I have no idea what its from, or if I strained myself working out in the morning and it took the day to manifest, or if it was poor posture sitting or what, but the muscles surrounding my left shoulder blade are in some serious pain. To the point where it kept waking me up last night when my body would roll over and get a jolt of pain. I know its not recommended in the the program but I had to take some ibuprofen to knock back the pain just to get a little sleep, even in fits. Did some yoga back stretches this morning but I'm finding it very difficult to isolate the problem area. Its most painful if I rotate my torso and reach with one hand or the other. But the pain is roughly isolated to the area around and maybe behind the shoulder blade (not the shoulder itself). Very weird, a new trouble area for me... anyway, it meant I've put off the jumps and workout this morning to this evening in the hopes that I can alleviate the pain or it works its own way out.

Kim has given me the aforementioned yoga stretches (cow, maybe?), but if anyone has further suggestions to try out I would be grateful!