April 2, 2019, Tuesday - LIIFT4, wk8, d3: Shoulders and Arms Circuit + Shoulder Care Yoga + TCF + Push/Pull-Up Challenges.
I was excited to do this routine because it is the last weighted routine of the LIIFT4 program. I was a little wary at the same time because it was on this routine two weeks ago that I injured my left lat on the Upright Rows. So, with that in mind, I decided to go a little lighter on that move, but I kept the same weight on the other moves as last time. So here is the rundown of the routine:
Block 1
Shoulder Press - 17x2 kgs
Hammer Curls - 10x2 kgs
Upright Rows - 10x2 kgs
Skull Crushers - 10x2 kgs
Round one went by like a breeze. I was feeling good and I could really feel the target muscles activating. Round two started... I did the Shoulder Presses and right after I finished, I felt myself and my body literally crash. I started to shake and I felt winded and weak. I had a protein bar on hand, so I quickly got it and ate it. When I thought about it, I hadn't eaten for about 7 hours so I guess it was bound to happen. I'll have to keep a watch on that from now on. Anyway, after about 10 minutes, I felt my strength come back and I resumed the workout. After the second round finished, I felt incredibly pumped in my arms. I mean popping pumped like my muscles would rip out of my skin, pumped. I don't remember feeling that pumped in a long time. I hit failure on the last rep of each move of round three. Looks like the weights were just right.
Block 2
Front Raise - 5x2 kgs
Wide Curls - 8.75x2 kgs/ 7.5x2 kgs/ 7.5x2 kgs
Lateral Raise - 5x2 kgs
Triceps Kickbacks - 8.75x2 kgs/ 7.5x2 kgs/ 7.5x2 kgs
This block went a lot smoother, but I knew that 10 kgs would be too much for my biceps so I went down in weight. After the first round, I knew I had to go down a bit more, so I ended up at 7.5 kgs. The lowering of the weight was to accommodate my biceps, I think my triceps could have handled the heavier weight, but I didn't want to take the time of switching the plates every time. With this block, I felt more of the burn than the pump.
Burnout
Swimmers - 4x2 kgs/ 4x2 kgs/ 5x2 kgs
Full Biceps Curls - 7.5x2 kgs
Triceps Push-Ups - All on my toes
No set rep count for the burnout, but 30-second moves and 15-second transition breaks, with 30-second breaks between rounds. For the Swimmers, I felt the burn with the 4 kgs, and I got in about 7-8 reps. For the third round, I went up a kg and got only 6 reps. But I had to mostly drop my arms instead of controlling them down like I was doing with the 4 kgs. For the Curls, I was seriously considering dropping to 6.25 kgs but didn't because I decided to work on eccentric movement so I was going to slow the pace down and lower the reps. The rhythm was 1-3. But a little faster on the last reps to get to 10 total. That BURNED! I was happy to do all the Push-Ups on my toes. I really thought I was too fried to do them on my toes and was completely prepared to go to my knees, but I was surprised that I had the strength to stay on my toes. Here too, I worked on the eccentric movement at the same pace as the curls. PUMP and BURN!
Core Block
Side Reachers - 20 reps
Dumbbell Extensions - 7.5 kgs, 7 reps
I was able to maintain a good pace on the first move for all three rounds, but the weighted move, I had to tap out (put my feet on the ground) pretty quickly in the first two rounds. But somehow, in the third round, I was able to crush it and go continuously for the whole 30 seconds. I surprised myself.
This routine totally fried my arms and shoulders. I could barely reach up and grab my water bottle to drink. But I felt that I accomplished a good work today. I did the Shoulder Care Yoga and the Flows, and then I did the two challenges. I was supposed to do three sets of 10 situps in the Pull-Up challenge, but instead of that, I just did day 1 again. Day 1 was three sets of 1 pull-up. Sounds like nothing, but for me, today, it was a big something. From a dead hang and after frying my arms and shoulders, it was something. I was thinking that since I already did a bunch of Triceps Push-Ups, I would just say "done" and be done. But I decided to keep the challenge schedules separate from the main workouts. Luckily day 2 only required 7 push-ups. Easy, but NOT easy.
In the end, I burned 789 kcals. That is a big burn for an upper body workout. About my legs after yesterdays workout, all day I didn't feel much soreness, but after work, I started to feel my legs tightening up and then getting sore. So any stretching I did tonight felt good. I had more issues with my left ankle and right knee today than soreness. And that came from decending stairs. Going up stairs was fine, but coming down got painful after like three steps. I'll get treatment tonight.
Tuesday, April 2, 2019
Monday, April 1, 2019
April 1, Starting a new month so I'm starting some new challenges!
April 1, 2019, Monday - LIIFT4, wk8, d2: Legs HIIT 50/50 + Shoulder Care Yoga + TCF + Pull-Up Challenge + Push-Up Challenge.
April 1! I wasn't able to achieve my goal of finishing LIIFT4 in March because of my sickness, but I'll get it done this week, most likely because I have only two routines left. But the big thing is that I am starting two challenges, a Pull-Up Challenge, and a Push-Up Challenge. I have to lay off the Pull-Ups because of a Lat injury back in I believe it was late December or early January, so I haven't done anything on my bar for a few months. So I was itching to get back on the bar. Push-Ups is a move I love but have been feeling really sluggish with during the Yoga routines, so I want to get Push-Up strong again. But I started today's workout with LIIFT4's Legs and HIIT 50/50. So here is the rundown, all done the regular way:
Block 1
Alternating Side Lunges - 4x2 kgs
Pulsing Squats - 7.5 kgs
Bridge Ups - 22 kgs
To protect my knee and my ankle, which I have had issues with recently, I went down in weight more than 60%. But I started feeling the burn early on in the second round. I also reduced my range of motion on the Reverse Lunges for more protection and caution.
Block 2
Front Loaded Squats - 7.5x2 kgs
Deadlifts - 7.5x2 kgs
Calf Raises - 7.5x2 kgs
I did these a little slower than Joel was doing them. I was also doing more of an eccentric move with a 3-1 pace. Again, the burn was coming on fast.
Block 3
Goblet Sumo Squat - 10 kgs
Single Leg Reverse Lunge (R) - 4x2 kgs
Single Leg Reverse Lunge (L) - 4x2 kgs
I was feeling pretty good, so I upped the weight a bit for the squat but kept it low for the lunges. The knee was feeling gimpy at bad angles.
HIIT Block (30 seconds each with a 15-second break between all moves.)
Sumo Jumps
Triple Bear
Full Catcher's Jumps
My legs were pretty fried, but this HIIT fried them even more. But I did the whole Block with no breaks and no rewinds. Straight through!
Core Block
Flutter Kicks
Low Plank Alternating Leg Lifts
I didn't get the burny burn from this block as I get usually, but I felt it coming on. Even though I was using lighter weights, I still got a good hot burn all the way through the routine. I wonder how it will be with regard to the soreness tomorrow.
After the yoga and the Flow, I started two challenges, a Pull-Up Challenge, and a Push-Up Challenge. Those two moves I want to regain again. Today was just day one so not a big load. I tried doing Chin-Ups as well, but there was just too much strain on my forearms, so I just will stick to the Pull-Ups and Push-Ups.
In the end, I burned a good 700 kcals. I probably would have burned closer to 900 if I used my limit weight. But I have to protect my joints.
Here are the two graphics for my two Challenges:
April 1! I wasn't able to achieve my goal of finishing LIIFT4 in March because of my sickness, but I'll get it done this week, most likely because I have only two routines left. But the big thing is that I am starting two challenges, a Pull-Up Challenge, and a Push-Up Challenge. I have to lay off the Pull-Ups because of a Lat injury back in I believe it was late December or early January, so I haven't done anything on my bar for a few months. So I was itching to get back on the bar. Push-Ups is a move I love but have been feeling really sluggish with during the Yoga routines, so I want to get Push-Up strong again. But I started today's workout with LIIFT4's Legs and HIIT 50/50. So here is the rundown, all done the regular way:
Block 1
Alternating Side Lunges - 4x2 kgs
Pulsing Squats - 7.5 kgs
Bridge Ups - 22 kgs
To protect my knee and my ankle, which I have had issues with recently, I went down in weight more than 60%. But I started feeling the burn early on in the second round. I also reduced my range of motion on the Reverse Lunges for more protection and caution.
Block 2
Front Loaded Squats - 7.5x2 kgs
Deadlifts - 7.5x2 kgs
Calf Raises - 7.5x2 kgs
I did these a little slower than Joel was doing them. I was also doing more of an eccentric move with a 3-1 pace. Again, the burn was coming on fast.
Block 3
Goblet Sumo Squat - 10 kgs
Single Leg Reverse Lunge (R) - 4x2 kgs
Single Leg Reverse Lunge (L) - 4x2 kgs
I was feeling pretty good, so I upped the weight a bit for the squat but kept it low for the lunges. The knee was feeling gimpy at bad angles.
HIIT Block (30 seconds each with a 15-second break between all moves.)
Sumo Jumps
Triple Bear
Full Catcher's Jumps
My legs were pretty fried, but this HIIT fried them even more. But I did the whole Block with no breaks and no rewinds. Straight through!
Core Block
Flutter Kicks
Low Plank Alternating Leg Lifts
I didn't get the burny burn from this block as I get usually, but I felt it coming on. Even though I was using lighter weights, I still got a good hot burn all the way through the routine. I wonder how it will be with regard to the soreness tomorrow.
After the yoga and the Flow, I started two challenges, a Pull-Up Challenge, and a Push-Up Challenge. Those two moves I want to regain again. Today was just day one so not a big load. I tried doing Chin-Ups as well, but there was just too much strain on my forearms, so I just will stick to the Pull-Ups and Push-Ups.
In the end, I burned a good 700 kcals. I probably would have burned closer to 900 if I used my limit weight. But I have to protect my joints.
Here are the two graphics for my two Challenges:
Sunday, March 31, 2019
March 31, Finishing off the month with tennis... as it should be.
March 31, 2019, Sunday - Tennis.
Today was a beautiful day. The weather was sunny with a little cloud cover, but it was cold and windy. Not like two Sundays ago, but windy enough to stop play a bit. Only 14 people today, so a lot of matches after some regular drills and some feed drills for volleying.
I played two and a half matches today. I won both matches and we were tied 2-2 in the third match before time forced the end.
In the first match, I was paired with a former partner. And we crushed the opponent, 4-1. Not a lot of flashy shots, but a lot of solid strokes and net play. In my second match, I was paired with a guy who worked in the US for a few years so we could communicate in English. Here again, we crushed our opponents 4-0. In the third match, Everyone lost their serve so we tied at 2-2.
Although it was windy, I could play well. The funny thing is that if it wasn't windy, a lot of the awesome lobs I hit may very well have gone out. Today, my lob was ON!!! I hit like 8 lobs in the three matches and they were high and close to the line, and all in, and all for points. Another shot that was really working was the backhand service return slice drop shot. I was able to get some good spin and drop them into the middle of the tram lines about a meter to two meters from the net. I felt on in a lot of ways. But the one way that I wish I would have felt more "on" was with my basic stroke. I just didn't feel it on my forehand today. I didn't feel confident about it. All in all, it was a good practice.
In the end, I burned a good 2084 kcals. Anything over two grand is a good Sunday.
Today was a beautiful day. The weather was sunny with a little cloud cover, but it was cold and windy. Not like two Sundays ago, but windy enough to stop play a bit. Only 14 people today, so a lot of matches after some regular drills and some feed drills for volleying.
I played two and a half matches today. I won both matches and we were tied 2-2 in the third match before time forced the end.
In the first match, I was paired with a former partner. And we crushed the opponent, 4-1. Not a lot of flashy shots, but a lot of solid strokes and net play. In my second match, I was paired with a guy who worked in the US for a few years so we could communicate in English. Here again, we crushed our opponents 4-0. In the third match, Everyone lost their serve so we tied at 2-2.
Although it was windy, I could play well. The funny thing is that if it wasn't windy, a lot of the awesome lobs I hit may very well have gone out. Today, my lob was ON!!! I hit like 8 lobs in the three matches and they were high and close to the line, and all in, and all for points. Another shot that was really working was the backhand service return slice drop shot. I was able to get some good spin and drop them into the middle of the tram lines about a meter to two meters from the net. I felt on in a lot of ways. But the one way that I wish I would have felt more "on" was with my basic stroke. I just didn't feel it on my forehand today. I didn't feel confident about it. All in all, it was a good practice.
In the end, I burned a good 2084 kcals. Anything over two grand is a good Sunday.
March 28-29, Two days of Yoga.
March 28 - 29, 2019, Thursday and Friday - P90X3: X3 Yoga + TCF.
I have really been feeling not good these past few days with the only respite being when I played tennis. In this condition, I wasn't sure how I would be able to handle the weights with the next today days in LIIFT4 being Legs/HIIT then Shoulders and Arms. Plus, my legs have been extremely gimpy as of late. After tennis on Wednesday, my left ankle has felt extremely sore and I have been limping around on it in the mornings and especially going up and down stairs. So I decided to hold off on the weights and do a recovery session period. So, on Thursday and Friday, I just did, as my main routine, X3 Yoga. It felt good to get back into some flexibility training since I have all but quit for a long time. On the first day, I was able to do the Wrap move on both sides relatively quickly, but on the second day, I wasn't able to get the right Wrap hooked in quickly to hold the pose for the full time, but I did eventually get it. The Left side was fine. But I definitely need to work on flexibility more.
I was glad to get this work in and take it easy on myself because of my condition.
In the end, on Thursday I burned 317 kcals, and on Friday I burned 309 kcals. Nice little burn for a recovery set.
I have really been feeling not good these past few days with the only respite being when I played tennis. In this condition, I wasn't sure how I would be able to handle the weights with the next today days in LIIFT4 being Legs/HIIT then Shoulders and Arms. Plus, my legs have been extremely gimpy as of late. After tennis on Wednesday, my left ankle has felt extremely sore and I have been limping around on it in the mornings and especially going up and down stairs. So I decided to hold off on the weights and do a recovery session period. So, on Thursday and Friday, I just did, as my main routine, X3 Yoga. It felt good to get back into some flexibility training since I have all but quit for a long time. On the first day, I was able to do the Wrap move on both sides relatively quickly, but on the second day, I wasn't able to get the right Wrap hooked in quickly to hold the pose for the full time, but I did eventually get it. The Left side was fine. But I definitely need to work on flexibility more.
I was glad to get this work in and take it easy on myself because of my condition.
In the end, on Thursday I burned 317 kcals, and on Friday I burned 309 kcals. Nice little burn for a recovery set.
March 27, Tennis Day.
March 27, 2019, Wednesday - Tennis.
It was another very odd evening practice session. I was announced that we had reserved THREE courts for the entire practice. Usually, it is just two, but since so many people came the last week, I think that they wanted to accommodate everyone and have everyone play. When I got to the courts, there were only six people there. Then a few more came a little later, but there ended up being only 12 people who came to the practice. Again, after about thirty minutes of warming up, (I had a really good warm-up. I hit with a member who is sort of a hacker type and we like to just crush the ball. So we were really going back and forth with a lot of power) we got into matches.
Anyway, the one big difference was that instead of playing to four games, we played a full set to six games. I've always wanted to do that so I was looking forward to the matches.
My first match was mixed doubles. Me and another good guy player each paired with an advanced beginner female. I have a complex when playing with beginners in that I can't bring myself to hit hard or away from them. And in that effort, I often hit too weak and the ball goes into the net. On top of that, my girl was the weaker of the two so that wasn't good. Anyway, we got crushed 1-6.
In my second match, I paired with the guy I had just played against. We played another pair of good members. We ended up losing 4-6, but it was a good match. Below is a video of my first service game. Kind of a mess, but I was able to close it out.
It was a good practice with match play on a Wednesday night. That almost never happens, but I hope it happens again!
In the end, I burned a good 1557 kcals. For these few hours, I was able to get my body strong with adrenaline and feel no ill effects from my cold. But when I got home, the tiredness and exhaustion soon set in.
It was another very odd evening practice session. I was announced that we had reserved THREE courts for the entire practice. Usually, it is just two, but since so many people came the last week, I think that they wanted to accommodate everyone and have everyone play. When I got to the courts, there were only six people there. Then a few more came a little later, but there ended up being only 12 people who came to the practice. Again, after about thirty minutes of warming up, (I had a really good warm-up. I hit with a member who is sort of a hacker type and we like to just crush the ball. So we were really going back and forth with a lot of power) we got into matches.
Anyway, the one big difference was that instead of playing to four games, we played a full set to six games. I've always wanted to do that so I was looking forward to the matches.
My first match was mixed doubles. Me and another good guy player each paired with an advanced beginner female. I have a complex when playing with beginners in that I can't bring myself to hit hard or away from them. And in that effort, I often hit too weak and the ball goes into the net. On top of that, my girl was the weaker of the two so that wasn't good. Anyway, we got crushed 1-6.
In my second match, I paired with the guy I had just played against. We played another pair of good members. We ended up losing 4-6, but it was a good match. Below is a video of my first service game. Kind of a mess, but I was able to close it out.
It was a good practice with match play on a Wednesday night. That almost never happens, but I hope it happens again!
In the end, I burned a good 1557 kcals. For these few hours, I was able to get my body strong with adrenaline and feel no ill effects from my cold. But when I got home, the tiredness and exhaustion soon set in.
March 26, Still feeling weak and tired from my cold.
March 26, 2019, Tuesday - Yard Work.
I was feeling pretty weak still today so I decided to take it a little easy and just do some yard work. The yard hadn't been manicured in almost 4 months and the weeds/grass was at "Bush" status. Plus, the weather was beautiful and I wanted to take advantage of that and be outside for a while. My wife tried to stop me because since my issues were coming from my lungs, mowing the lawn probably wasn't the best thing to do. But, I changed her mind. So, I wore my protective goggles and a surgical mask to keep out as many airborne particles from entering my lungs as possible and I got to it. It took me about 90 minutes and I was getting a good sweat on as well. And while I was doing the yard work, my quads were feeling a good burn from all the squatting and what not.
I didn't wear my HRM so I'm don't know how many calories I burned, but I would guess it was close to 350-400. It was a good nature workout and my lawn looks beautiful!
I was feeling pretty weak still today so I decided to take it a little easy and just do some yard work. The yard hadn't been manicured in almost 4 months and the weeds/grass was at "Bush" status. Plus, the weather was beautiful and I wanted to take advantage of that and be outside for a while. My wife tried to stop me because since my issues were coming from my lungs, mowing the lawn probably wasn't the best thing to do. But, I changed her mind. So, I wore my protective goggles and a surgical mask to keep out as many airborne particles from entering my lungs as possible and I got to it. It took me about 90 minutes and I was getting a good sweat on as well. And while I was doing the yard work, my quads were feeling a good burn from all the squatting and what not.
I didn't wear my HRM so I'm don't know how many calories I burned, but I would guess it was close to 350-400. It was a good nature workout and my lawn looks beautiful!
March 24, Sunday Tennis.
March 24, 2019, Sunday - Tennis.
Today, there were very few people. So, after doing a good warm up, we did a few quick drills, the regulars, and then played matches for almost two hours.
I don't remember all the details of the matches, but It was nice to get a lot of match play in. I played a total of four matches and my record on the day was 2-2. If I'm playing with a good player or someone at my level, we can usually win, but if I am clearly the superior player on the team, I have trouble leading the team to victory. This is somewhere that I need to improve on.
The wind was really blowing really hard all over the courts today so keeping the ball in play was rather tricky. We also had to stop play a few times because big billows of dust were being kicked up by the wind. I'm pretty sure I breathed in a lot of dust and ash and whatever else was in that wind. When I got home, I was feeling a little sick and I couldn't take a deep breath without coughing. So I ended up just taking short quick breaths. Not a good sign.
In the end, I burned a good 2343 kcals.
Today, there were very few people. So, after doing a good warm up, we did a few quick drills, the regulars, and then played matches for almost two hours.
I don't remember all the details of the matches, but It was nice to get a lot of match play in. I played a total of four matches and my record on the day was 2-2. If I'm playing with a good player or someone at my level, we can usually win, but if I am clearly the superior player on the team, I have trouble leading the team to victory. This is somewhere that I need to improve on.
The wind was really blowing really hard all over the courts today so keeping the ball in play was rather tricky. We also had to stop play a few times because big billows of dust were being kicked up by the wind. I'm pretty sure I breathed in a lot of dust and ash and whatever else was in that wind. When I got home, I was feeling a little sick and I couldn't take a deep breath without coughing. So I ended up just taking short quick breaths. Not a good sign.
In the end, I burned a good 2343 kcals.
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