2.5 miles- 1m hilly, .75miles uphill, .75 miles down hill. Hardcore cardio. Still not in shape but getting closer. Doing 50, 30, 20 pushups and situps...

Running mileage

Ran two miles with no side stiches. I did not time it because I wanted to go out slow and warm up due to the extreme cold (31 degrees) but the first mile was smooth and I picked up the pace considerably the second mile. I could have done a third but had to get home to prepare for Xmas Eve. In any event, my legs are feeling much stronger and I am close to getting to the point where I can push workouts. What I am going to do from here on out is when I lift, I will do interval cardio 3x a week and do mileage a fourth day. Saturday is going to be a two hour day where I will do shoulders, back, biceps and legs and plyometrics/interval cardio. I am feeling this workout stuff...

I am back up to 225lbs in bench 3 reps (2 assisted). Should be up to 10 reps in a month. Nice to show gains...

A week of moderate gains

I havent posted in a while, but here is the lowdown...
Last week, Fri and Sat I did back/arms and legs/abs on Saturday. I took Sunday and Monday off and hit it hard on Tuesday in the AM. I was in a hotel gym, so I had to be creative given the fact that the heaviest weight they had was a 50lb dumbbell, so I supersetted. I did dumbell bench with a superset of pushups 3x10 reps and 10 pushups. I did incline bench the same way with a super set and then hit the machine. I was so spent that the weight on the machine is not worth mentioning. My arms were so spent that I did a half ass attempt at tricep (prison curls)... I ended with 20 minutes of cardio.

The next day, I worked shoulders, biceps, abs and did sprint/interval training. My shoulders are the weakest part and it hurts my bench. The craziest part of this was not the weight workout but the interval workout. I ran 9mph on the treadmill for a minute and a half and jogged in between. I did 4 sets of this an my legs were sore the next day. I took a break Thursday and Friday and on Saturday, I could only get in a back workout (chin ups, lat pull downs, overhead lat pull downs and 15 minutes of cardio). It wasnt my best showing as I was under the gun.

On Sunday, I did shoulders and biceps that started with clean and jerks overhead 95lbs 115lbs and 135lbs 5-8 reps(could not get this overhead). Military press, 90 lbs, 140lbs, 160 lbs and dumbell extensions. I then did curls (75lbs, 95lbs, 75lbs)...Arm extensions on the cable (50lbs), dumbell curls 30lbs each, 50lbs each arm max and ended on the machine 50lbs, 30lbs, 10lbs max of 20 reps each to failure. This ended with sprint cardio (1 mins) 10-11mph. My sides hurt.

Tomorrow, its bench and tris with mileage for cardio. I am close to hitting the 145 mark with more than 6 reps on the clean and jerk.

Tuesday will be legs to failure and I will take Weds and Thurs off and hit it hard on Friday morning. Gains are a coming, albeit slower than I would like. The week of the 21st will be a test to compare where I was when I started.

Ran 1.5 miles, did 2 plates - squats 3x6, one leg ham curls. Right ham is 3x stronger than left...3 plates leg press and ham "ball curls". Will be soh tmrw..

Cardio first then legs. This is what I did today. I need to go back to the sprint workout next week to get over the wall.

Two Day Hiatus, back in the jimmie jim

I thought I'd get to the gym everyday this week, but unfortunately, work and end of the year planning got in the way. I took two days off and on Friday 12.4.09, I found a 24 Hour Fitness that I hit up around 1030pm. I knew that I needed to focus on biceps, back and abs. I started off with 10 pullups, which surprised me that I could do that many. I was struggling with four. I used the front grip where you focus on biceps. When I tried to use my lats and back shoulder muscles, I coulld barely do two, but I continued with 8 and 6 more for a set of three and went to the assisted machine to focus on lats and back shoulders. After 3 sets of that, I followed with

a) Let Pulldown (new machine that uses free weights) 3x10x100, 120, 145
b) Rows 2x6x150,135
c) bent over rows (balancing on one leg) 3x10x45,25,25

My biceps were spent at this point, but I did 3 sets of 10 rep preachers with 60lbs (hurt like heck)supersetted with dumbell curls (45 and 25)

I ended at the curl machine and at 30lbs I was doing eccentric contractions to failure.

I ended with a set of abs where I used the high chair and lifted my legs at a 90 degree angle I alterneated 20 reps of this with 30 seconds of the plank three times.

I am getting stronger. I need more creatine however as I am supplementing with Amino's, but the creatine helps me in recovery. Nevertheless, I am going to run up the hill tomorrow and do legs. Wish me luck.

Dont want to workout but I am going to anyway

Man, today I got up early for a meeting (5am) and I got about 5 hours of sleep last night. I dont want to workout now as it is 9:30 and it is cold outside, but I am going to do it anyway. My workout will be to try to run up a hill 3/4s of a mile and run back down. It is going to be tough, but I feel like if I can do this, then I will be on my way to getting into shape. Get out the ipod and lets roll...

I can and will do it. Taking aminos and need to get back on the creatine. This week I am going to try to hit the gym everyday...

and mileage. Workout quality is starting to improve and I need to keep up the frequency and intensity of my workouts. Its tough getting back in shape, but I c

Ran for 20 mins got up to 6mph for the last 4 mins. I feel like I am going to break thru the wall and get to a 7 min mile in a month. Need to alternate hills an

Monday - Bench 135, 145, 185 spotted @ 225.(6 reps) incline bench 95, 115, 135 and dumbells press 45, 35, 30. Ended with prison curls (tris) 50lbs and cables..

On Sunday I did lat pull downs 3x10x130, 140, 150 and cable rows (3x10x150), Military press 3x90 and one arm rows 3x5x25 (each arm) and ran hills (5x200 @ 25^)

Ran 2.5 miles today. OK, it was 10mins, rest, 10 mins, walk, 5 mins run all out. Improving, but not where I need to be. Yesterday - nothing. Thurs - nothing.

I ate one Krispy Kreme Donut. Bad for the diet. My wife brought them in. I am on the road again...hopefully I'll exercise. I need the gains.

Mileage - sort of

My legs were extremely sore, but I knew I had to jog some mileage to get the lactic acid out of my legs and to test my progress. How did I do? Not bad. I slowly warmed up at 4mph and got up to 6mph for 20 minutes (I did the last 3 minutes at 6mph). I figured out that my core needs to get stronger for me to run better. Nothing hurt except for my abs while I was running (I used to get side stitches when I was working out and I know why now). In any event, if I can keep this workout pace up for the next month, I should be running 7 minute miles no prob.

After running, I decided to do chest and triceps and I dont know if the cardio before hand tired me out or what, but the weight I could lift was so lackluster, it should not be admitted. Just to say that there is this machine and I was at 140lbs and struggling. Disappointing to say the least, but I worked 3 sets to failure. I also did dumbell presses, and the highest weight at this apt gym was 25lbs, so I did 10+ reps 3 sets to failure.

Surprisingly, my triceps were a bit more stronger, but I didnt work this as hard as I could. I did cable pulldowns 40,50,60lbs and overhead cable pulls and "prison curls" 25lbs. I finished with kickbacks.

Finally, to get the abs going, I did a plank (didnt time it, just went to failure) and two sets of bicycle crunches. I was spent.

Afterwards, my legs were not sore anymore (so the mileage worked) but my upper body was spent, so I bought some Muscle Milk to replenish.

I still have a lot of work to do, but I am seeing progress. I did jump on the scale and noticed that I gained two lbs, but I believe it to be water retention as I havent been drinking enough water.

Before I go to bed tonite, I am going drink 16-20oz of H2O.

I am getting there.

Abs are getting stronger

I was too sore on Sunday to do anything. I could barely walk. So I decided to work on abs and do planks. Most fitness instructors will tell you that you need to hold a plank for two minutes. I am not there yet. I was able to hold it for 1 minute and do another rep for 45 seconds and 35 seconds. I then did v ups, side planks (2) and scissor kicks. I am getting better each week and today's test will be to see how much I can run – I may just do treadmill work for 20 minutes. Each day I see progress and it is motivating.

Today I did a little cardio and ab workout. Now that everyone on my staff knows I am trying to get myself in shape, I must say, I am making some progress. I got that 16 minute horrendous mile time down to 10 minutes in a week and a half. Now the hard part is coming…I got get that bad boy down to 7:30, 7:00 minutes for 3 miles. (I don't run any longer than 3 miles). In order to do this, I am going to have to do the dreaded mileage and I will reserve it for weekends. I will mix in my faux sprints during the week. I love doing sprints and I do want to get some speed back so I can smoke some fools during the upcoming softball season. What I am thinking is to do it on weekends whereby I can workout in the morning doing weights, rest and do mileage in the afternoon evening.

On a different note, the creatine supplementation has been working wonders as I am recovering rather quickly and I notice another trick to help me recover is old school. Sleep. I have been going to bed like normal people at or around 10 to 11pm and getting up pretty early. Its coming along and I need to be patient. I figure around six months into this thing, I should be back into fighting shape. A year? Well, all I gotta say is if I can keep this up for a year then I will be a changed man.

Wish me luck. Now that I know that nosey people are reading this, I can't quit now, can I?

Old School Workouts and Rest

I havent posted in a while, but the regimen is going strong. I had to go up to Boston for a day and the plan was to arrive about 8pm, hit the gym, go to bed and workout in the morning. Well, things didn't fully go according to plan. I got in at 10:00pm to find the gym closed, so I did an old school workout that consisted of the following

a) Mountain Climbers
b) Full body push ups 3x10
c) Leg/Scissor kicks 2x10
d) One legged raises
e) 3 x 30, 20,20 pushups
f) lunges
g) Plyometrics
h) Tricep dips

I had to exercise in the hotel room, but I got it done. I could not sleep that night due to me travelling from the West Coast to the East Coast, but I happened to get my butt up at 5:30 to hit the gym. Here was the workout

10 minute jog warm up 4mph pace (was not winded and I was feeling good)
3x10 power clean and jerks with 110 lbs. I found out that my shoulders are incredibly weak
3x 8 25, 35, 40 dumbbell shoulder press
3x10 90lbs shoulder shrugs
3x8 50, 30, 10 military press. The front of my shoulders are weak and I remember feeling strain when I tried to bench over 225 last year, and now I have the culprit.

3x10 pullups (weight assisted as I was focusing on biceps)
3x10 curls with 50 and 40lb bar supersetted with dumbell curls (20lbs)

I am missing something, but oh well. I then decided to hit the treadmill to see if I would see any gains from my sprint/jog workouts. Not today. I believe the lack of rest hurt me as I was dying after 1.5 minutes at an 7.0 mph pace.

Memo to Terrence - run more.

I am now back in New York and I plan to jog tomorrow to get the lactic acid out and hit the weights hard (legs) on Friday.

I am feeling a lot better and I am very sore, which means I growing, not retreating. I did not overtrain, thank goodness.

Sunday Workout - Monday Rest - Travel

On Sunday, I decided to work on running/cardio. As you know, my goal is to run a 7:30 mile and to do that, I have decided to train up, rather than run a bunch of mileage and drop down. In that vein, I go all out until fatigue sets in. Last week, I did it for 2 minutes before keeling over, this week I got up to 2:30 so I am thinkin that on Tues or Weds I will hit the 3:00, 3:30 or 3:45 mark. (If I hit the 3:45 mark, that is a half a mile, so the rest *should* come easy.

I am traveling now and I hope to be able to workout when I travel. Stupid me,I forgot to bring workout clothes, so I am going to be scouring Hoboken, NJ looking for gear. (I am not from here, by the way).

On a lark, I decided to take tribulus, which is supposed help your body produce more testosterone. I will see if it works.

Upcoming workouts-
Abs (daily)
Chest/Tris/Plyos (Tuesday)
Bis/Shoulders/Back/Running (Weds)
Legs (Thurs)
Friday (rest)

Saturday Morning Workoug

Last nite I spent a bunch of time on YouTube looking up new workout methods- plyometrics and ball training, so I decided to give it a whirl. I only had an hour, so this is what I did

* 5 minute warmup on the ellipitcal trainer
* 3x10 dumbell curls 22.5, 30 and 40 lbs. I was surprised that I could do 40lbs, given my soreness and weakness.

Plyometric Cycling

* In between the curl sets, I did plyometrics on the bench where I jumped on the bench and jumped off 10 times each way, then I did 4-6 jumps over the bench in succession. This was pretty cool. I got tired, but I was surprised at the spring I had given the relative sorness.

*In between plyos, I did the nordic hamstring curls on the leg curl bench. My knees were sweaty but I was able to do the exercise. I really felt the pull in my glutes and upper hams.

^I finished the curl routine with barbell curls of 40-50 and 60 lbs.

* Shoulder press 20, 50 and 70 lbs. This hurt given the soreness of my triceps, but I got through it.

* I ended the routine on the ball where I stretched for 5 minutes and did the plank for 30 seconds. 3 times and hamstring pulls on the ball 3 sets of 12, 14 and 10.

I wanted to throw up after the planks. I want to get up to 45 seconds next week and take this to 1 minute at the end of the month and 2 minutes in 3 months.

After the workout, I drank a muscle milk and 20 oz of water.

All in all, I felt that I got a lot in and I really like cycling in plyos with weight training.

Discovery of an area I need to train

17 years ago, I tore my hamstring breakdancing and was misdiagnosed by the Navy doctor. I suffer from knee pain and did not know why but after doing research, I think it is because I have weak hamstrings. I believe this is why I can sprint easier than I can run distance because I can lift my knees high, but this places abnormal pressure on my hip flexors and core and I am dragging the rest of my leg through the stride. It is equivalent of doing "high knees". I found some great exercises that I can do to blow out my hams and glutes and today, I am going to stretch (I might do arms and shoulders) and on Saturday, focus on blowing out my hams and getting them strong enough to where I can start running again with a purpose. This exercise looks like it does the trick and I have never done it before.

The myth about muscle memory

Today I decided to lift and do light cardio, given the leg workout I had yesterday. I wanted to chest and triceps. In 2007/2008, I was working out with 225 and would go up to 255 on bench press rather frequently. I quit working out religously in October 2008, so it has been a one year layoff. When I got back to the bench rack, I did 3 reps of 10 at 135 and I was struggling. I decided not to add weight because I realized my shoulders were weak. Here was my workout

Chest
Bench 3x10 145
Dumbells 3x10 25, 30, 35 (note I used to grab 60s)
Cable Rows - 3x10 40, 50 (2)

Triceps -
Pull Downs 3x8 35
Dumbell kick backs 3x10 20
Bar Press - 3x8 30, 40 (2)

Situps
Incline situps 25


I also tried to do clean and jerk at 95 lbs ending with a standing military press. Did not happen as my shoulders are very weak. I had to do the bar, and add 10lbs twice.

I ended with light cardio where I skipped for 5 minutes at 3mph and ran for 10 at 4mph

Here is what I noticed

My legs were not as sore as I thought they would be. I drank a lot of water througout the day and took an amino supplement before I went to bed. I am going to continue to drink massive amounts of water.

I feel like once I get over the shock of exercising, I can begin to push the limits. Tomorrow will consist of stretching, pushups and situps. This is a lot tougher than I thought.

On a positive note, I did eat a lot better as I started off my day with chicken and rice for breakfast, a salsd for lunch and a chicken wrap/burrito (large) for dinner. I did eat several tortilla chips, however.

Tomorrow is a new day.

Hitting the gym

Today I went to Klahanie Fitness, a place I have not been to in five months. I decided to do something different this time as far as my workouts go. I was always a sprinter and even though I am out of shape, I still have more speed than most folks my age, I just die after 200 meters. Given this, I want to play to my strenghts, which is the ability to sprint. The thing is, my legs are weak. So, in order to correct my deficiencies and get into shape I decided to shock my body into hyper growth.

I took a creatine tablet and a thermogenic metabolic boost to get going. When I got to the gym I did the following

a) Warm up 5 mins at 5.0mph pace on the treadmill (was not winded, btw)
b) Smith Machine Squats - 3x15 @ 145lbs. The purpose was not strength but reps
c) Leg curls 3x20 @ 40, 50 60 lbs. This hurt when I got to the 15th rep, but I immediately felt like my legs doubled in weight
d) Calf raises - 3x25 @ 50 lbs. I wanted to get more reps in than weight
e) Incline sit ups a set of 20, then 10, and 10
f) High paced jog - I did a 3 minute 5mph warm up, then cranked it up to 8mph (7:30 mile pace) for 2 minutes, walked for 3 minutes, cranked to 8mph for 1 minute, walked another 4 minutes and cranked to 8mph for another minute.

Limped home.

The good news about this is that I am building the strength to run at a fast pace and conditioning my body to run at a nice clip. Each week, I want to progressively add a minute until I can do a mile at 7:30 pace.

Tomorrow I am going to be sore, but I am thinking about doing chest, triceps and lats and swimming for cardio at the Y.

I took some aminos before I went to bed to help rebuild the torn down muscles.

Despite the pain I will be facing, I want to get back in that gym.

Soh- man. (Sore man)

Good plans, poor execution

Today I failed to workout in the morning or in the evening. All I did was stretch in the morning, do 20 pushups and 30 situps. Not good. I am going to try to get my butt up tomorrow morning and head to the gym and kill myself. I have to do it. More results to follow.

why i need to exercise

I knew the day of reckoning was coming. I am 39, travel alot, eat fast food and rarely workout. I have been getting by because over the last 7 years, I used to exercise rather frequently. The past two years- nada. I weigh 195 lbs and have a 5'10" frame. I can barely run a mile in 16 minutes, can barely do 34 push ups and 40 situps. It used to not be this way.

When I was 22 years old (17 years ago) coming out of Officer Candidate School, I was in the best shape of my life. Back then, I ran a mile and a half in 9 minutes, could do 100 push ups and 120 sit ups in two minutes. I think back to what changed then and now and back then, I worked out twice a day, six days a week for 16 weeks. We got up at 5:00 am to do morning PT, which consisted of calistenics and running two miles and came back at lunch and ran another four. On Saturday, it was "Sports Day" which was a mandatory two - three hours of basketball, sprint relays, tug o war. Oh I forgot, we mixed in swimming at lunches where we did not run four miles. After about 8 weeks, I got used to the routine and did not mind it, but the first few weeks were hell.

What the hell happened? Age, kids, laziness. I dont know, but it is going to stop and today is the day it stops. I have made a commitment to workout everyday, rain or shine for the next 30 days. On "rest days" I am going to swim. In 30 days, here is my goal:

a) Get that mile time down to 9 minutes
b) Be able to do 60 pushups in 2 minutes
c) Be able to do 80 situps in 2 minutes
d) 16 pullups

How do I make this work? I am getting up, every morning at 5am for treadmill runs, situps and light plyometrics. In the evening, I am going to run 2 miles.

The schedule does not change when I travel as I am going to have to fit this in. To make sure I do this, I set up this blog where I will document my progress and weight. To make things more interesting, I am taking photos.

For supplements, I am using creatine and amino acids. This is my last shot at glory. Wish me luck.

Today I did the following

10 lame pushups
30 situps
ran a mile

Tomorrow I will be up bright and early at 5am and I am going to hit the treadmill for interval work, followed by plyometrics, pull ups, light bench, leg press and dips.

Wish my fat arse luck!