March 3, Tennis Rained Out, doing LIIFT4

March 3, 2019, Sunday - LIIFT4, wk6, d2: Back and Biceps HIIT 50/50 + Shoulder Care Yoga + TCF.

As the title states, tennis was rained out today.  I was pretty sedentary today along with my family.  A nice long "Blaaaah" day.  Watching TV, playing games, eating, just lazing around and napping.  But around 6 pm, I started to feel like I needed to do something active.  I was a bit sleepy, but I decided, instead of napping, to get my but off the floor... or couch, and get my workout done and dusted.  So, I got up, changed and came up stairs for some LIIFT4.  I suspected today's calorie burn would be higher because of the HIIT at the end, so I was looking forward to that.

So here is the rundown of the routine.  As usual, each set was done in 3 rounds with 30 second breaks between each round.  For the Core Block, 15 second breaks between each move.  Let's Go:

Block 1

1. Full Rows - 19.5x2 kgs
2. Hammer Curls - 10x2 kgs

I was fresh, so I wanted to go heavier that 17kgs.  I was happy to keep this weight for the whole Block.  10 kgs was ambitious for the Hammer Curls, but I got through it.  My left started to fail at the end.  Right got pumped.

Block 2

1. Reverse Flys - 6.25x2 kgs
2. Full Curls - R1: 10x2 kgs, R2, 3: 8.75x2 kgs

I went up only a little with the flys because I wanted to keep good form and range of motion.  Burned out good.  I tried 10 kgs on the curls in the first set, but it was too much so from the second round, I lowered the weight.  Still almost too heavy, but I got through it.

Block 3

1. Dumbbell Pullovers - 22 kgs
2. Wide Curls - 7.5x2 kgs

I love doing Pullovers.  But I am a little worried that I am able to do 22 kgs when the guys on the crew were using a much lighter weight.  I also did this move on a Swiss Ball to get more range of motion.  My biceps were fried so I had to go down to 7.5 kgs from the first round.  I felt the burn on the last few reps in each round.

HIIT Block

1. Catchers Jump – 60 seconds
2. Wide Mountain Climbers – 45 seconds
3. 180 Squat Jumps – 30 seconds

Catcher Jumps are a good move, but 60 seconds is brutal.  The toughest move for me was the Wide MCs.  I was doing them at a slower pace, but I was toast.  I had to tap out on all three rounds.  The 180's are the easiest move, so I was able to increase my speed and rep count each round by 2 reps, 24-26-28.  I wanted to finish with a blast.

Core Block

1. Dumbell Toe Reachers– 30 seconds (7.5 kgs)
2. Straight Leg Bicycle Twists – 30 seconds

This Block rocked my core.  I did 10 reps the first round, but didn't make it on the second, only 9 reps.  Then I went over time to get to 10 reps on the final round.  I had to take a mid-set break in the second and third rounds.  The last move was also brutal, I had to put my legs down on the last two rounds as well.  Feel the BURN!

I finished off with the Shoulder Care Yoga and the Flow series.

In the end, I burned a big 935 kcals.  Good combo of resistance and cardio for a big burn.

Feb. 28, Starting LIIFT4, Week 6.

February 28, 2019, Thursday - LIIFT4, Week 6, Day 1: Chest and Triceps Circuit + Shoulder Care Yoga + TCF.

Week 6 is up and this is the last week of the "Build It" phase of the program.  After this, there are two weeks of the "Shred It" phase and that is it, FINE'!  So let's get it on.

As always, the Circuit workout is two Quad-Set Blocks.  No HIIT today, just lifting hard.  So here is the rundown.  Remember, each block was done in three rounds after a 30 second rest:

Block 1
Rotating Chest Press - 17x2 kgs
Skull Crushers - 22 kgs
Chest Flys - 14.5x2 kgs
Single Side Cursher (L/R) - 6.25 kgs

There wasn't any pain or discomfort in my hands or wrists today with the heavy weights, so I was happy about that.  I could really feel the muscles activate on the triceps moves.  I'm still having to really focus to activate my chest muscles on the chest moves and not allow my shoulders to bare too much of the weight.  I had to have a little extra break time to arrange the weight plates on my dumbbell.  Also, I think I've said this before, but just in case, on the lifting from the floor moves, I am not on the floor.  I do those moves on a Swiss Ball so I can get more range of motion.

Block 2
Chest Press - 19.5x2 kgs
Triceps Press - 7.5x2 kgs
Decline Press - 17x2 kgs
Triceps Kickbacks - 7.5x2 kgs

I felt good, so I went up in weight for the Chest presses, but came back down for the Decline Presses.  Also, I did the Decline Presses on the floor so I could get my butt up and active (as much as possible) my lower chest area.  I'm still not really that bridge move qualifies as a decline if compared to being on the declined bench.  7.5 kgs for the Triceps Press looks light, but it was killer in the later rounds.

Burnout
Wide Push-ups - 30 seconds
Triceps Push-ups - 30 seconds

For the first moved, I averaged 10 reps.  I started on my feet, but had to sink to my knees part way through.  I dropped to my knees half way through the second round, and third round was all knees.  As for the second move, it was all on my knees.  I averaged 9 reps for this one.  My body was thrashed, thoroughly.  I'm just wondering how sore I'm going to be in the following days.

I finished out the workout in normal fashion, with my Shoulder Care Yoga.  I was a little tight today since I hadn't done it for about a week.  And finally The Flow series.  I Still got it.

In the end, I burned a good 675 kcals.  Good for a resistance routine.

Feb. 27, Regular Tennis night

February 27, 2019, Wednesday - Tennis.

My son came with me to this practice because we thought the we would be able to play more matches.  He has one more tournament with another guy in March before he leaves for school.  Luckily, the club had reserved 3 courts in the second hour so we would be able to play matches.  With three courts we thought that two courts would be drill courts and one would be for matches, but this time, because the numbers were low, we got two courts for matches.  So the match call went out, "Anyone who wants to play matches come to this side."  There just happened to be 8 people.  I thought I could pair with my son, but we went with "Rock-Paper-Scissors" to decide partners.  My son got a strong partner, I got an okay partner, and the strongest player got the weakest girl and the strongest girl got a consistent but not powerful guy.

My team played the top guy and weak girl first.  In this match, I was feeling I needed to pull back on my serve for the girl so I did, but I ended up double faulting too much and lost my serve.  But we eventually won the match 4-1.  My son and his partner won their match so we were up against them next.  I honestly thought we didn't have a chance, so I decided to just hit out but with as much control as possible.  We lost the first game right off with my partner serving.  My son was serving next, but miracle of miracles, we actually were able to break his serve to tie it at 1-1.  My serve just happened to turn on and I easily won my game.  Game count 2-1.  When my son served again, he aced me hard.  All his aces he hit since we've been playing were down the "T".  I didn't want to get aced so I was crowding the "T".  But he got his wide serve going and aced me out wide.  I was shocked.  Everyone held their serve after that to 3-3.  It was my serve and the match was on my racket.  We played several good points to Deuce.  The deciding point and our opponent gets to choose the side I serve to.  Of course they chose my son to receive my serve.  Classic one point wins all scenario.  I made the toss, racket back, swing... I aced my son to win the match!!!  What did I do?  I figured my son would be expecting me to go for the ace so he was back and kind of waiting for a wide serve.  I went through my normal service motion, but I actually hit a dink serve.  I just barely made it over the net.  My son was obviously taken by surprise because his reaction was delayed by just a moment.  When I started to move forward, it was too late and the ball had bounced twice.  ACE!!!  Oh, it felt good to get that win!  We played one more match but we were pumped and we weren't going to lose anything tonight.  We took the last match 4-0.  This is the first "All Victory" practice for me in a long time, so I was very happy.

In the end, I burned a good 1689 kcals.  I little higher than average for a Wednesday.

Feb. 24, Tennis Tournament Day

February 24, 2019, Sunday - Tennis Tournament day.

Meteorologists fail us again.  It was forecast to be sunny with a few clouds with cool to warm temperatures and no rain.  However, it ended up being cool to cold to chilled, and when from a drizzle to light rain, to heavy rain all in a matter of a couple hours.  Conditions went from tolerable to bad to downright sucky.  And my game was affected greatly.  I know, I know, everyone has to play in the same conditions, but the conditions affect everyone differently.  Since I am between 20-25 years older than the average, it is difficult for me to adapt to adverse conditions.  If I were still in my 20's, I could (and have) do(ne) it.  Anyway, to the matches.

In the group round, our first match started off great then dropped to junk, but we were able to pull it out, winning 6-4.  We actually rattled off 5 quick games and were up 5-0.  The final game, or what should have been the final game was on my son's racket.  When, miracle of miracles, my son was broken.  Needless to say, he was not happy.  He threw his racket and displayed a lot of anger.  That is a problem we have talked to him about before, but today, I was not going to take it.  So right there, I leveled a "Dad Speech" right on the court and after that, he kept it under control.  Back to the match.  In my son's service game, there was one point that turned everything around.  We were in a rally and both of us were at the net.  They lobbed the ball and my son ran back to get it.  It was a perfect lob for what my son has wanted to do in a match forever, hit a "TWEENER".  He hit it very well and it was a beauty of a shot.  Unfortunately, our opponents weren't phased and were positioned to put it away.  But my son was very happy to have been able to hit it.  The atmosphere at that point in the game was very loose.  Unfortunately, it was too loose and we ended up losing the game, and the next three games after that.  It was 5-4, and we finally took the last game.  Even though we won, it felt like a loss.  We should have been able to close it out, but we let them get 4 games in a row.  Not good.

The next match was better, winning 6-0.  We were totally dominant and no messing around, all business, but stayed loose, but not too loose.  In the first match, it was drizzling with a few raindrops.  In the second match, the rain started to come down.  In the third match, it was raining.  The balls were heavy and weren't reacting to the spin as they had been.  Things were about to change.

Our third match started as the rain started to come down and the temperature had noticeably dropped a few degrees.  The balls were new, but they were heavy with water which made them less reactive to spin.  That is a condition that I was unable to adapt to.  Since I use a lot of spin, my shots were going out a lot more as well as my sons.  I dropped my service game and that was all they needed.  We couldn't break through on their serve and we lost 4-6.  There were a few good shots, but overall it was a miserable match.  It was a match that I know we could have won in normal weather conditions.  The rainy conditions fit well with our opponents style of play since they didn't use a lot of spin and normally hit flat shots.  But with the heavy balls, their shots died a lot quicker and stayed lower.  I really wanted to win this match because out opponent had one guy that was on a team that I lost to in my previous tournament when I was teamed with another guy.  No revenge this time around.

Now the rain was one step from a downpour when we broke for lunch and it got worse with a mist/fog rolling in, and temperatures dropping.  Since we were expecting warmer weather, I didn't bring clothes to keep warm, so I started to shiver.  Everyone was thinking that the afternoon matches would be postponed to the reserve day, but they weren't.  I warmed up a bit with my Curry Cup-a-Ramen, but it didn't last.

We had reached the Quarter-Finals and our next opponent was a team that had been playing together since high school.  They were also the same age as my son so the conditions didn't seem to affect their play as much as it did me.  Their strategy was to hit the ball to me as much as possible and keep the ball away from my son.  Here, it was just a matter of hitting more bad shots than good ones.  It was just a matter of time.  We ended up losing 1-6.  The lone game that prevented us from getting bagled was my son's second service game.  But here again, it was not as bad as the score would lead one to believe.  There were no love games, and out of the 7 games played, 4 of them went to the deciding point.  They just got more key points than we did.

It was a miserable day, but fun at the same time.  This was our second trip to the main draw and our first trip to the Quarter-Finals.  This also marked the last time for me to team up with my son.  I could sense frustration on my son's part playing with me and it was not fun from that standpoint.  I had much more fun playing in my previous tournament with a guy that plays to be competitive and to have fun.  My son plays to win and he is on a different level than me now so it can't be fun for us anymore playing together.  So, it was fun while is lasted but that era is over.

In the end, I burned a whopping 3253 kcals.  I probably would have been more if the conditions were better.

Feb 23, the night before the big tournament.

February 23, 2019, Saturday - Tennis Match Practice.

It was a beautiful day today.  Temperatures were on the cool side as opposed to the cold side along with a good dose of warmth for most of the daylight hours.  In the evening, it did get quite cool and chilly but not freezingly so. 

Tonight's practice was with one of the other teams playing in the tournament tomorrow.  There were supposed to be only four of us there, but one guy, without his partner, wanted to come and practice so there ended up being five of us.  After a good warmup, the two full teams started a match.  I was thinking we would crush the other team, but it ended up being a pretty close match.  We won 6-4, but we had a lot of good rallies and points.  Since the other team likes to play a form of granny tennis, it was good practice for me for tomorrow.  What is Granny tennis?  Well, it is the style of tennis that is played by a lot of teams down where I am, and I hate it.  Another name for it is "Moonball" tennis.  Basically, it is just lobbing back and forth.  That isn't really tennis for me.  I like a more aggressive style of play.  I can handle pace and power, but I tend to overhit the wimpy balls because they just sit up.  After I hit a few balls out or into the net, I get conservative and I start to lob as well.  When that happens, it is just not any fun.  So it was a good practice.

Then, to get the odd man out, I bowed out and let him partner with my son.  My son and he won 6-2.  Then I came back and partnered with my son and a guy from the other team bowed out and let the odd man out play.  My son and I won 6-2.  I started to feel my stroke coming back and I was striking moonballs with power and depth. 

The odd man out left and then we had time for a final match.  It was a good match that my son and I won 6-3.  I am feeling good and confident about our chances tomorrow.  The weather is forecast to be just like today, so conditions are primed for a good tournament for us.

In the end, I burned a good 1682 kcals.  It was a good burn.

Feb. 20, Regular Wednesday tennis.

February 20, 2019, Wednesday - Tennis.

Today was my regular tennis day with my club.  My son came with me and we were able to match play practice.  The drills were regular, so I'll talk about the matches.

We actually only were able to play two matches.  The first match, we played the team that we barely beat almost two years ago at a regular tournament, which resulted in them inviting me to join this club.  The pair play together a lot and are considered to be the top mixed doubles team in the club.  When we played them, we beat them in a tiebreaker in the first match of our day.  Today, we, my son and I, were a lot better and we crushed them, 6-0.  I was happy that we could show our growth in just two short years.  Everything was just clicking, we were moving well and our serves and strokes were sharp.  It felt good... No, it felt great!

Then we moved back to the drill courts to give a few others a chance to play a match, but we went back to try it again when that match was finished.  The second time around, things seemed to have switched off.  All our serves were way off and all the guys were broken.  With time short, the one female served and held, so they went up 1-3.  I wish we had the time to finish that out.  I would have liked to see what would have happened.  As for my service game, the main point was my serving,  too many double faults.  If we want to win, I have to at least give us a chance to play a point.

In the end, I burned a good 1458 kcals.  I was pushing it as hard as I could.

Beginning of Tennis Week

February 19, 2019, Tuesday - Tennis with my son

Today was the beginning of a week of only tennis for my workouts in preparation for the upcoming tournament on the 24th of February.  I'm playing doubles with my son so I wanted to focus on that and not have any extra physical soreness or pain from resistance workouts that I would normally have.

Today, I went to the local courts with my son and played just to get a feel for each other's game.  We intended to just rally, but about 15 minutes in, my son said let's play a game.  So, I went ahead and accepted the challenge.  I knew I couldn't beat him, but my goal was to just not get bagled.  The conditions were fine, the temperature was not too cold, but it was quite humid since it was raining earlier in the day.  So there was a slight fog or a mist around the courts.  Also, it is very difficult for me to see the ball at night especially when serving and I toss the ball, my depth perception with regards to the ball against a pitch black sky is just terrible.  I promptly lost the first two games, but miraculously I was able to hold my next service game and in another miracle of miracles, I broke my son to draw even at 2-2.  After that, my game got all shot up and my serve went south.  Too many double faults.  But there were flashes of brilliance, but I was not able to string enough of them together.  I ended up losing the next four games.  The score was 2-6, but the actual game was better than the score would reveal.  Neither of us won less than two points in a game, so no LOVE games, and there was sufficient pressure in each game.  I just need to gain control of my shots better and I will have a better chance.  I'd like to play in the day when the light conditions are better.

In the end, I burned a good 779 kcals.  Not bad for under two hours of tennis.