January 13, Sunday - Tennis.
Another Sunday, and another slow start. I myself got to the courts about 10 minutes late, but when I got there, there were no basket of balls and only 6 people. So, me getting there was a good thing because I had one of four baskets of balls. The warm-up, again, was a little longer than usual because we were sort of waiting for more people to come, and they did after some time. The weather was beautiful. Sunny and some occasional cloud cover, but overall a nice warm day. We started off with a full rotation of Stroke/Volley drills which didn't quite go through a full rotation, then we switched to Service/Return. But this set of Drills was split by the court. One and a half courts had Service/Return, and the other cross position was just stroke drills with an older member feeding balls to a weaker member. After a few rotations, we moved on to Matches. As of today, I was 0-3 in matches and 1-4 for service games. I really wanted to turn that around, and I thought I would get an easy win in my first match because the first opponent was an older guy and a bigger less mobile guy. My partner was one of the better players, but not in that top tier. We ended up all losing our first service game for a 2-2 tie. Then the next two players held serve. 3-3. My serve. I finally got a good game in and we won the first match 4-3. I was fully prepared not to win the second match because my partner was a guy who just doesn't win with other people. But it seems that he can win with me. The last time we were paired up, we went down 0-3 but came back to win 4-3 against two good players. Today, we were up against two good players again, and the match started off with my team holding serve and then we got one break so we went up 3-1. Then we got the break and held. We held serve again and won 4-1 against a supposed much better team. So I was happy, very happy to get two good wins today.
Then, in the afternoon, I had to ride my daughter's bike to the shop which was about 4 miles away, so that added some exercise for my legs. I could feel a good sweat coming, but I opened my coat to cool off and so I didn't sweat too much. I didn't wear my HRM for the little ride, but it was a good little burn.
In the end, after the tennis, I burned 2037 kcals. A little below average for a Sunday, but I was glad to break the two grand mark.
Tuesday, January 15, 2019
Jan. 10, LIIFT 4 plus some Yoga for my tight shoulders.
January 10, Thursday, HY: LIIFT4 - Week 3 - Back and Biceps Circuit + Yoga: Shoulder Care.
2/4 of the week 3 schedule, Back and Biceps. But today, no cardio, just three Quad-Sets done in three rounds each. And of course the Ab component. For all the sets, I thought I was starting out with a light weight, but I could feel stress and heaviness getting to me by the second round. My biceps especially are weaker than they should be. What made it harder was the fact that my triceps were really burning still from the Tuesday workout. Not as much my chest, but I did feel it, but my triceps were really getting those contractions. Since I'm not as concerned about size now, I'm focusing on my form and pace. I'm doing more of an eccentric move, exploding the positive side of each move and slow on the negative side. Trying to get those gains still. I missed the cardio, but it felt like a little vacation.
Something I have been noticing for the past few months is that my flexibility in my shoulders has gone way down. The last time I did X3 Yoga, I felt like I pinched a muscle in my back on the "Wrap" move. So, I went through the yoga catalog and found a routine called "Shoulder Care" and it was only 14 minutes, so I figured it would be good as a workout capper. It really made my stiffness in my shoulders stand out. So, I decided to do this whenever I could fit it in and open up my shoulder again so I can crush that Wrap move when I do Tony's yoga routine again. I felt much looser at the end. So the results were immediate.
In the end, I burned a slight 495 kcals. Only upper body and no cardio, I pretty much expected a sub-500 burn.
2/4 of the week 3 schedule, Back and Biceps. But today, no cardio, just three Quad-Sets done in three rounds each. And of course the Ab component. For all the sets, I thought I was starting out with a light weight, but I could feel stress and heaviness getting to me by the second round. My biceps especially are weaker than they should be. What made it harder was the fact that my triceps were really burning still from the Tuesday workout. Not as much my chest, but I did feel it, but my triceps were really getting those contractions. Since I'm not as concerned about size now, I'm focusing on my form and pace. I'm doing more of an eccentric move, exploding the positive side of each move and slow on the negative side. Trying to get those gains still. I missed the cardio, but it felt like a little vacation.
Something I have been noticing for the past few months is that my flexibility in my shoulders has gone way down. The last time I did X3 Yoga, I felt like I pinched a muscle in my back on the "Wrap" move. So, I went through the yoga catalog and found a routine called "Shoulder Care" and it was only 14 minutes, so I figured it would be good as a workout capper. It really made my stiffness in my shoulders stand out. So, I decided to do this whenever I could fit it in and open up my shoulder again so I can crush that Wrap move when I do Tony's yoga routine again. I felt much looser at the end. So the results were immediate.
In the end, I burned a slight 495 kcals. Only upper body and no cardio, I pretty much expected a sub-500 burn.
Monday, January 14, 2019
Jan. 9, Night Tennis.
January 9, Wednesday - Tennis.
Tonight was again a slow start with regard to the number of members. So the on-time people were able to get a good warm-up done. The drill menu was as usual, but with a small number of members, there was zero rest time. It was a constant rush of hitting on both sides of the net. What I mean is that, for example, when we do Stroke/Volley drills, the stroke people have to take turns while the volley people are set and usually don't have a break. But today, even the stroke people didn't have any break because everyone was moving quickly and there was always an open position. We did a little Service/Return practice as well. However, we only did one round because the time was short. I was on the return side, so I had to go up against a lot of good servers. Unlike Sunday, I was really feeling my contact point tonight a lot more. I was striking the ball really well, and my timing was much better than Sunday. Then we did Game-Sims, and I was able to hold off the better players and snag several points from them as well. I was able to control the ball with the weaker players to extend rallies which was a good cardio workout for me. It was a good night.
In the end, I burned a higher than average 1711 kcals. I wish I could keep this contact feel or at least call upon it at will during matches and tournaments.
Tonight was again a slow start with regard to the number of members. So the on-time people were able to get a good warm-up done. The drill menu was as usual, but with a small number of members, there was zero rest time. It was a constant rush of hitting on both sides of the net. What I mean is that, for example, when we do Stroke/Volley drills, the stroke people have to take turns while the volley people are set and usually don't have a break. But today, even the stroke people didn't have any break because everyone was moving quickly and there was always an open position. We did a little Service/Return practice as well. However, we only did one round because the time was short. I was on the return side, so I had to go up against a lot of good servers. Unlike Sunday, I was really feeling my contact point tonight a lot more. I was striking the ball really well, and my timing was much better than Sunday. Then we did Game-Sims, and I was able to hold off the better players and snag several points from them as well. I was able to control the ball with the weaker players to extend rallies which was a good cardio workout for me. It was a good night.
In the end, I burned a higher than average 1711 kcals. I wish I could keep this contact feel or at least call upon it at will during matches and tournaments.
Jan. 8, Starting LIIFT4 Week 3.
January 8, Tuesday - LIIFT4 - Week 3 - Chest & Triceps 50/50 + TCF.
I'm finally getting back to a regular workout from today and it starts with LIIFT4 Week 3's routine for Chest and Triceps with HIIT for the second half. It boils down to three Supersets, two chest moves, a chest and triceps move, and finally two triceps moves. All three rounds each. Joel said to go up in weight for week three, but since I have been away from resistance for almost two weeks, I am keeping it close to my previous weight which is pretty much all I could handle at this point. The chest moves were standard moves as well as the triceps moves, but the third round on all the sets, I was really feeling the target muscles strain and I know I'm going to feel it tomorrow. The HIIT today was the killer. Just three moves over three rounds, but the moves were brutal. Especially the 60-second move, 180-degree Squat-Jumps. That is usually a 30-second move, so doing for 60 seconds was exhausting. Then a speed move for 45 seconds, Soccer Run. Again, seems harmless, but after the Squat-Jumps, keeping the speed up is very tough. The capper move is Lunge Jumps, always a brutal move. By the time the third round rolled up, I was breathing really heavy, but I pushed it so I wouldn't drop my rep count. It was a great workout, and I love the resistance/cardio combo so the calorie burn was at a good level for the short duration of the workout. The Ab work was also short, but for some reason, I'm always dead after the third round and I really felt the burn.
Of course, I finished off with a good Flow Series.
In the end, I burned a good 713 kcals. For the shorter workout, the main routine was listed at 37 minutes, but I need to take a little extra time between some of the moves because I have to switch plates on my dumbbells and I can't finish in 30 seconds allotted for rest time.
I'm finally getting back to a regular workout from today and it starts with LIIFT4 Week 3's routine for Chest and Triceps with HIIT for the second half. It boils down to three Supersets, two chest moves, a chest and triceps move, and finally two triceps moves. All three rounds each. Joel said to go up in weight for week three, but since I have been away from resistance for almost two weeks, I am keeping it close to my previous weight which is pretty much all I could handle at this point. The chest moves were standard moves as well as the triceps moves, but the third round on all the sets, I was really feeling the target muscles strain and I know I'm going to feel it tomorrow. The HIIT today was the killer. Just three moves over three rounds, but the moves were brutal. Especially the 60-second move, 180-degree Squat-Jumps. That is usually a 30-second move, so doing for 60 seconds was exhausting. Then a speed move for 45 seconds, Soccer Run. Again, seems harmless, but after the Squat-Jumps, keeping the speed up is very tough. The capper move is Lunge Jumps, always a brutal move. By the time the third round rolled up, I was breathing really heavy, but I pushed it so I wouldn't drop my rep count. It was a great workout, and I love the resistance/cardio combo so the calorie burn was at a good level for the short duration of the workout. The Ab work was also short, but for some reason, I'm always dead after the third round and I really felt the burn.
Of course, I finished off with a good Flow Series.
In the end, I burned a good 713 kcals. For the shorter workout, the main routine was listed at 37 minutes, but I need to take a little extra time between some of the moves because I have to switch plates on my dumbbells and I can't finish in 30 seconds allotted for rest time.
Jan. 6, Tennis Sunday
January 6, Sunday - Tennis.
This is the first regular tennis practice of the year, and the first practice after that disastrous January 2 tennis tournament. It started off slowly because there weren't many people there. Only about 6 to start, but people started slowly dribbling in as the day wore on. We ended up with about 15 people in all at the end. But the drill menu was as usual, but we started to play matches earlier that usual because of the low numbers and we all got to play about three matches. The first two matches I was not playing well. I was playing with virtually zero confidence in my strokes and serve. I just wasn't feeling my contact point today. I just felt off and it showed in my play. My partner and I lost that first match 2-4. Then, because we lost, we played the next match as well. Same partner, we did a little worse, and I still couldn't win a service game. I was falling behind early and I just couldn't come back. We eventually lost 1-4. My partner is a good player, but for some reason, whenever we pair up, we can't seem to win. This has been going on since I entered this tennis club. Last year, we paired up a few times, but lost each time. For my third match, I paired with another good player. Again, I lost my first service game, but the other team also wasn't doing any better, so we were able to break back. Eventually, we were down 2-3 and I was up to serve. The pressure was on. Twice on the day, my service games were taken to Deuce/Game Point, and I had lost it. This time as well, I was taken to Game Point and this was to be the final game because of time. Thankfully, I was able to pull it off and we took that game, my first service game with of the year. However, it ended 3-3 so I still didn't have a win this year.
In the end, I burned a good 2247 kcals. I was moving a lot in the warm-ups and drills because of the small number so I was very happy.
This is the first regular tennis practice of the year, and the first practice after that disastrous January 2 tennis tournament. It started off slowly because there weren't many people there. Only about 6 to start, but people started slowly dribbling in as the day wore on. We ended up with about 15 people in all at the end. But the drill menu was as usual, but we started to play matches earlier that usual because of the low numbers and we all got to play about three matches. The first two matches I was not playing well. I was playing with virtually zero confidence in my strokes and serve. I just wasn't feeling my contact point today. I just felt off and it showed in my play. My partner and I lost that first match 2-4. Then, because we lost, we played the next match as well. Same partner, we did a little worse, and I still couldn't win a service game. I was falling behind early and I just couldn't come back. We eventually lost 1-4. My partner is a good player, but for some reason, whenever we pair up, we can't seem to win. This has been going on since I entered this tennis club. Last year, we paired up a few times, but lost each time. For my third match, I paired with another good player. Again, I lost my first service game, but the other team also wasn't doing any better, so we were able to break back. Eventually, we were down 2-3 and I was up to serve. The pressure was on. Twice on the day, my service games were taken to Deuce/Game Point, and I had lost it. This time as well, I was taken to Game Point and this was to be the final game because of time. Thankfully, I was able to pull it off and we took that game, my first service game with of the year. However, it ended 3-3 so I still didn't have a win this year.
In the end, I burned a good 2247 kcals. I was moving a lot in the warm-ups and drills because of the small number so I was very happy.
January 2, New Year's Singles Tennis Tournament
January 2, New Year's Singles Tennis Tournament
Well, I joined it again, the year's first tennis tournament. I was feeling pretty confident to at least get one win in the Round-Robin Group Stage. The day started off pretty well. My son and I both were entered so we got ready and headed off for the tennis facility. I didn't have a first round match, so after warming up, I had to wait about 35-40 minutes. That pretty much iced me and I was feeling cold because the location of the facility is at a higher elevation than my home, so I got a chill. Needless to say, it affected my play in my first match. I was stiff and wasn't moving well. My opponent was already warm from playing in a first round match so he was pretty hot, not to mention a lot younger than me. I barely eked out a game and was destroyed 1-6. I was feeling a little better for my second match, and was feeling pretty good, going to 3-3 holding serve. But once I was broken, that was it. My mental game crashed and I couldn't get it back. I ended up losing 3-6. I was put into the consolation tournament, and again, I was iced with no first round match. And it was even colder in the afternoon that it was in the morning, so I was actually feeling that full body shiver and chill. I had to wait for over an hour in the cold. Same scenario, but this time, I wasn't even able to get a game and was bagled. Going into the tournament, I was feeling all kinds of confidence, but this tournament just knocked it all out of me. I began to question whether or not it was worth continuing tennis if I played like that crap. It also gave me new motivation for getting Pickleball started up and going here in my area. But for the sake of my fitness and exercise, I will continue Tennis until I get Pickleball up and running.
Here are a few pictures from the disaster of a day. This is a bit exciting because this will be the first video that I am uploading to this BLOG! Hope it works.
Well, I joined it again, the year's first tennis tournament. I was feeling pretty confident to at least get one win in the Round-Robin Group Stage. The day started off pretty well. My son and I both were entered so we got ready and headed off for the tennis facility. I didn't have a first round match, so after warming up, I had to wait about 35-40 minutes. That pretty much iced me and I was feeling cold because the location of the facility is at a higher elevation than my home, so I got a chill. Needless to say, it affected my play in my first match. I was stiff and wasn't moving well. My opponent was already warm from playing in a first round match so he was pretty hot, not to mention a lot younger than me. I barely eked out a game and was destroyed 1-6. I was feeling a little better for my second match, and was feeling pretty good, going to 3-3 holding serve. But once I was broken, that was it. My mental game crashed and I couldn't get it back. I ended up losing 3-6. I was put into the consolation tournament, and again, I was iced with no first round match. And it was even colder in the afternoon that it was in the morning, so I was actually feeling that full body shiver and chill. I had to wait for over an hour in the cold. Same scenario, but this time, I wasn't even able to get a game and was bagled. Going into the tournament, I was feeling all kinds of confidence, but this tournament just knocked it all out of me. I began to question whether or not it was worth continuing tennis if I played like that crap. It also gave me new motivation for getting Pickleball started up and going here in my area. But for the sake of my fitness and exercise, I will continue Tennis until I get Pickleball up and running.
Here are a few pictures from the disaster of a day. This is a bit exciting because this will be the first video that I am uploading to this BLOG! Hope it works.
2019 Happy New Year! A new plan.
2019 Happy New Year!
The new year has begun but unlike years past, I am not planning an over zealous workout regime to start my year off. I am actually planning on reducing my resistance days and increase my yoga and flexibility days. Over the past few months, I have noticed a very large dip in my flexibility and in my mobility due to the lack of flexibility. Also, gaining muscle has not really seemed to help in my quest to burn my belly fat, so I am taking a different approach this year.
I am going to really try and control my diet and lose as much belly fat and fat in general before I start back to heavy duty resistance training. I will be doing resistance to maintain muscle mass, not to increase it. Also, due to my work schedule, there are days which I am unable to workout at all, so instead of feeling guilty about that or, pushing myself to do something that I really don't feel like doing, which is waking up at an ungodly hour to workout (I couldn't do that anyway because of my "would-still-be-sleeping" family), I just decided to incorporate it into my workout schedule and so I will be working out 4-5 days a week as opposed to the previous 6 days a week.
As for set days, Sunday and Wednesday are already set for Tennis. I average a 1500-2300 calorie burn on those days, plus two resistance days most likely on Tuesday and whenever I can fit it in, on days that I don't have night classes. The worst news regarding my workout is the loss of my Pickle-ball partner. Due to severe arthritis, he has decided to stop the activities with heavy and aggressive movements and instead to more low-impact workouts like walking or stretching. I hope that he will come back some day, but for now, he is out indefinitely, maybe for good.
I will also be doing body-weight moves a lot more as maintenance. Something like 30-50 push-ups a day 5-days a week, and some core moves. I also want to get back to doing Pull-Ups as well. Later in the Spring, I plan on getting a set of parallel bars to so I can do Triceps Dips. I am also toying with the idea of getting into suspension training, using something like that TRX system or some knock off of it. I have held off on doing it till now because I don't really have space to do it, but I figure if I just be careful with my pull-up bar, I should be able to use that to suspend from. Or, I can work something else out.
On the days where I can't workout, I plan to walk around my campus for at least 30 minutes. I put out the money to buy those "Reflexology" insoles so I want to test that Eastern method out and see if pressure points on my feet really do have any influence on my health. That is how my 2019 is shaping up, so I'll keep this BLOG updated on what and how I am doing with this different take on my fitness journey.
The new year has begun but unlike years past, I am not planning an over zealous workout regime to start my year off. I am actually planning on reducing my resistance days and increase my yoga and flexibility days. Over the past few months, I have noticed a very large dip in my flexibility and in my mobility due to the lack of flexibility. Also, gaining muscle has not really seemed to help in my quest to burn my belly fat, so I am taking a different approach this year.
I am going to really try and control my diet and lose as much belly fat and fat in general before I start back to heavy duty resistance training. I will be doing resistance to maintain muscle mass, not to increase it. Also, due to my work schedule, there are days which I am unable to workout at all, so instead of feeling guilty about that or, pushing myself to do something that I really don't feel like doing, which is waking up at an ungodly hour to workout (I couldn't do that anyway because of my "would-still-be-sleeping" family), I just decided to incorporate it into my workout schedule and so I will be working out 4-5 days a week as opposed to the previous 6 days a week.
As for set days, Sunday and Wednesday are already set for Tennis. I average a 1500-2300 calorie burn on those days, plus two resistance days most likely on Tuesday and whenever I can fit it in, on days that I don't have night classes. The worst news regarding my workout is the loss of my Pickle-ball partner. Due to severe arthritis, he has decided to stop the activities with heavy and aggressive movements and instead to more low-impact workouts like walking or stretching. I hope that he will come back some day, but for now, he is out indefinitely, maybe for good.
I will also be doing body-weight moves a lot more as maintenance. Something like 30-50 push-ups a day 5-days a week, and some core moves. I also want to get back to doing Pull-Ups as well. Later in the Spring, I plan on getting a set of parallel bars to so I can do Triceps Dips. I am also toying with the idea of getting into suspension training, using something like that TRX system or some knock off of it. I have held off on doing it till now because I don't really have space to do it, but I figure if I just be careful with my pull-up bar, I should be able to use that to suspend from. Or, I can work something else out.
On the days where I can't workout, I plan to walk around my campus for at least 30 minutes. I put out the money to buy those "Reflexology" insoles so I want to test that Eastern method out and see if pressure points on my feet really do have any influence on my health. That is how my 2019 is shaping up, so I'll keep this BLOG updated on what and how I am doing with this different take on my fitness journey.
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