Steel Dragon

Day 8 of 20

35lb KB swings
(x10, x15, x25, x50) 5x

Time: 22:50

Emily came down to the basement with me tonight to keep me company while I was swinging. She enlightened me as to all types of dragons in one of the games that she plays and we tried to decide who would be which kind of dragon. She decided she would be a night fury. She decided, after many explanations , that I would be a steel dragon. I thought that was fitting. After being named as such an imposing creature how could I fail to complete my challenge?
Day 9 tomorrow.

Spiritual Help

Day 7 of 20

35lb KB swings:
(x10, x15, x25, x50) 5x

Time 20:54

Tonight was weird, very weird. Let's just say that I'm pretty sure I had someone helping me out. I'm just gonna leave it at that; except to say "thanks". 

Sucky Six

Day 6 of 20

35lb KB swings:
(x10, x15, x25, x50) 5x

Time: 23:19

A little slower than last night. I expected that though - I feel like shit and I'm sore. I knew tonight would kind of suck. I'm still pleased with that time though. I got on the scale this morning and I was down 4 pounds since starting this. Not as much as I would ultimately like to lose, but I'll take it. 14 more days to go.

That Escalated Quickly

Day 5 of 20.

35lb KB swings:
(x10, x15, x25, x50) 5x

Time: 22:57

I have no idea how I shaved 6 minutes off of yesterday's time. I truly thought that I would be slower. I guess I just got into a good rhythm, found my zone and stayed there.  Everything feels pretty good. I was feeling slightly more fatigue in my grip and my shoulders tonight. I was going to foam roll before I came up from the basement, but I forgot to. Maybe I'll go back down or maybe just get in some stretching before bed. Right now, it's dinner time.

It's A Good Thing

Day 4 of 20

35lb KB swings:
(x10, x15, x25, x50) 5x

Time: 29 minutes

Just about the same time as last night, I'm not splitting milliseconds here. I know I can push myself a little more to be faster. We'll see what tomorrow brings. 
I questioned Frank today as to whether or not this was a good thing that I was doing. I was very sore this morning and wondering if it was worth it. He seems to think that it is a good thing and right now I find myself agreeing with him. People have said that quitting is never an option. That's a lie. Quitting is always an option. Quitting is always sitting there on the table, just waiting for you to pick it up and run with it. I don't want to be a quitter. I would much rather wind up being a failure because at least I know I gave it a shot and gave it my all. Failures try and sometimes get knocked down. Quitters never start. So me attempting this, of trying even though I may fail, is a GOOD THING.

Unstoppable Machine

Day 3 of 20

35lb KB swings:
(x10, x15, x25, x50) 5x

Time: 29 minutes

I am dragging tonight. I definitely wasn't feeling it, and was very close to saying "screw it" tonight. I knew though, that if I didn't drag myself down to that frickin' basement that I would let myself down and I've done that way to much lately. I'm tired of disappointing myself. All that does is piss me off and depress me and then I"m no good to myself or anyone else. So no excuses.
I had an episode today that made me focus on timing tonight. My bonehead dog, Jambeau, broke loose from his collar twice today and went booking off down the road after another dog. I ran as fast as I could, but that little cannonball of a dog wore me out. It was humbling. I know I need work on my cardio & conditioning, that's one of the reasons why I'm doing this particular challenge to begin with. Bearing that in mind, I tried to shorten the rest periods in between each set. It worked. I completed tonight's challenge in 29 minutes. 9 minutes faster than last night. 
Tonight's music was a mix of old favorites and new. Two songs that always seem to drive me are "Machine" by Imagine Dragons, and "Unstoppable" by The Score.

Fostering A Better Attitude

Tonight's 500 swings brought to you by Foster The People and their album "Torches".
It took me the entire album to complete the swings plus about an extra 10-20 seconds. So just a smidge over 38 minutes.

35lb KB swings:
(x10, x15, x25, x50) 5x

I'm trying to really focus on keeping my knees and shins in line when I'm doing these. My legs have a tendency to bow out and I think that's due to weak balancing and auxiliary muscles. All those muscles that weaken quickly (for me) and cause my low back and knee issues. My swings are by no means perfect and I certainly wouldn't qualify as a KB expert, but I'm fairly competent. 
I'm also trying to focus on a better attitude. I have a mirror that I workout in front of. I find it very helpful to make sure my form is correct. However, it can also be the perfect tool for me to beat myself up with over the weight that I've gained. I found my mind wandering to that bullying place but I was able to redirect it to staying in the moment and focusing on the set at hand. 

500 CLUB!!!

I'm back in the 500 club baby!!! Tonight's work:

35lb KB swings:

(x10, x15, x25, x50) 5x

It's so easy to type and much more difficult to accomplish. I didn't time myself, but I really am not concerned with the time. I'm just proud of myself for doing it. Tonight's music was a combination of AWOL Nation & Kanye. Again, music that got me started and music that's kicked my ass and mindset back into a gear that I had forgotten that I had. Now, I will come clean and say I had to wear my knee sleeves because there was a small amount of pain (not discomfort). Once I put them on, I was fine. I'm hoping that once I get some of this extra weight gone, and strngthen myself up a bit, some of this will correct itself. However, I'm not sure all of it is attributable to weight gain and muscle loss. At some point age and wear and tear does come into play. I found out shortly after high school that the cartilage under my knee caps was poor. I can't imagine it's miraculously healed and regenerated. I'm not going to give in to that just yet though. We'll see where my knees stand after a few weeks of this.

So over the past three days I have completed 1100 swings. That's a whopping 38,500lbs that I've moved over those 3 days! 

I called on my gods more than once and I know they were there with me, so thank you to them. I'm proud of myself. I know they are as well...XXX

Kanye Gets Me Through It

I've been in pain, been lazy, unmotivated, and undisciplined. Last night, Emily told me we needed to workout. I tried weaseling my way out of it, but the child just wasn't having it. So she trotted on the treadmill and I did swings, then switched with her and did a mile on the treadmill. It wasn't much but it was enough to spark something. She had started talking about how as she was walking, she already felt like a twig. Then she kind of patted her stomach. I realized right then and there that I was modeling some unhealthy behaviors. I stopped and told her that it's not about being a twig, or just losing weight and looking a certain way. I said it was about being healthy and strong. Period. She agreed and said "if you're healthy, you look good anyhow." My child is so much smarter than I'll ever be. Tonight, I went downstairs and put on the album that got me started all those years ago; almost 10 years now. Shortly after Emily was born, I grew a pair of balls and told my now ex that I didn't think it was unreasonable for him to watch Emily for an hour while I worked out. He wasn't happy about it. But I didn't care. That album, among others, was "Graduation" by Kanye West. Here's last night's work and tonight's.

TUESDAY NIGHT:
35lb KB swings:
25 x8
••••••••••
15 minutes 3.5-4.0 mph

WEDNESDAY NIGHT:
35lb KB swings:
25 x4
(x10, x15, x25, x50) 2x
25 x4
400 swings total

Kinda Sorta High Steppin

Day 2 of my 30 challenge. Only one modification because of my shoulder: the app called for push up with rotation, and I did try it, but it was a no-go. So I substituted 20 regular push ups.
Here's what I did, and my time (including 30 second pre-programmed rests between movements)
Push ups x12
Jump squats x30
Push ups x12
Straight leg sit ups x35
High Steps x30 seconds
Side lunge x8 ea side
Push ups x20
Plank x60 seconds
Side lunge x7 ea side
Reverse lunge w/kick x17 ea side
Plank x35 seconds
Bridge x35 seconds
Time:  15:39

The only real pain I had today (besides nasty acid reflux) was pain in my knees due to the extra weight on my body. That pain will go away as soon as the weight starts to drop and I regain some strength. The high steps were not as high as maybe they could or should be, but I'm not worried about it.

Nimble As A Turtle

I finally dragged my undisciplined ass down to the basement to do my first of 30 days of bodyweight training. I'm kind of starting from the beginning here. Again. I can't say that I've been sitting around doing nothing during this quarantine time. I've actually been quite busy keeping my house in order and getting caught up on half finished craft projects. Plus starting some new ones and now getting my garden geared up for the coming season. I refuse to say I've been lazy, but I will admit that I've neglected my physical training (as I've said before). So I was admittedly humbled when this 15 minute bodyweight routine kicked my backside. 
I had downloaded this 30 day fitness challenge to keep me accountable to myself. It's supposed to track your progress (I think) but I may have screwed up this first day. I'll just make note from day 2 on. I also had to modify some of the movements. It called for planks on each side. I did try the left side plank, but my shoulder was having none of it. So I just did regular planks instead. I was able to squeak out the push ups, but nowhere  near as deep as I used to. However, they called for knee push ups and I refuse to fall THAT far back, so I did standard.The bench dips, however, felt OK. Go figure. I also did straight leg sit ups instead of regular crunches, and I didn't like their version of a reverse crunch, so I used the ones that I like instead. Lastly, it called for a reverse lunge with a left kick. But it didn't call for anything on the right. So I split it and did half and half. So without further ado, here's what I did (if I remember correctly lol):
Push ups x12 
High steps x30 seconds
Jumping Jack x30 seconds
Plank x35 seconds
Bench dips x12
Straight Leg Sit ups x35
Steps Ups (bench height) x17 ea leg
Reverse Lunge w/Kick x25 ea leg
Reverse Crunch x35
Plank x35 seconds
I want to say there was something else, but I can't remember and I can't go back and look because it screws with the stats on the app. I'm not entirely tech savvy here!
This is a nothing workout. Nothing. I hate even going "public" with this. But it's honest and if I am never anything else, I am honest. I moved as swiftly and as nimbly as a turtle with polio. So read my notes, laugh, snicker, it's OK. You can do all that, but I ask one thing. Don't count me out. I will grind my way back up to where I was and and then some. I've been down more than once in my life and I suppose I'll be down a few more times before I finally leave Midgaard and travel to the realms of Hel or Aasgard or wherever the Norns have decided. Each knockdown brings new lessons and each new lesson brings the knowledge to get a little further than where I was before. A chubby Heathen is still a Heathen and we don't quit.

Cold Hard Truth

SEATED OVERHEAD PRESS:
(Bar x10) 5x
(15lb DB x10 / 40lb triceps pulldown) 3x
••••••••••
25lb plate situps x 10
25lb plate overhead situps x10
leg raises x10
••••••••••
Treadmill 1 mile, 4-6mph
••••••••••
Still rehabbing the shoulder so I kept the weight extremely low. I also went a little narrower on my grip for the press and that helped ease the discomfort as well. I know it's healing because it's getting tight and I'm noticing issues with mobility and range of motion. That means more stretching required as well.
On a flip side though, it's time to be brutally honest with myself - I am an embarrassment to the ideals that I try to hold myself to. For a variety of reasons, I have let myself slide so far back that it's disgusting to see what I'm not capable of. I tried to do some core work that used to be routine and I struggled to complete 30 seconds of it. Why the fuck did I do this to myself? I started working out after my daughter was born because what I saw myself becoming was the type of person that I dreaded becoming. And I know, I know, people are all about loving your body and your curves are beautiful, blah, blah, blah. Bullshit. There isn't one thing good, to me, about being fat and out of shape and that's what I'm on the fast track to. 
I began getting in shape to be able to fight alongside my gods. Not to look good in a bikini, not to impress men, not to be aesthetically pleasing. I began to be a fighter and right now the only thing I could fight is my way to the fridge. For fuck's sake, this is pathetic. The gods are disappointed. Plain and simple, they are not looking on me favorably right now and I need to, have to change that! Maybe this is my wakeup call and my kick in the ass. I have some apologizing to do at my alter and some ground to make up. 

My general feelings on tonight

Get A Grip

DEADS:
135lb x10
160lb x5
185lb x5
205lb x3 (left grp started to go.)
(205lb x2) 2x
205lb x1 (grip gave out)
••••••••••
Farmer's Carries (on treadmill)
35lb kb ea. hand - 3 minutes @ 2mph
45lb plate single carry 1 minute ea @ 3mph
(50lb kb single carry 30 sec. ea. hand @ 3mph) 2x
35lb kb single carry 1 minute ea. hand @ 3mph

20lb kb medley @ 3mph: 
     left suitcase 1 minute
     right suitcase 1 minute
     goblet hold 1 minute
     lft rack 1 minute
     right rack 1 minute
20lb kb goblet hold 1 minute @ 4mph
••••••••••
My grip is lacking; on deads and on life in general (ha ha). I figured I'd throw in some carries with the deadlifts. I haven't done carries in FOREVER and also, I don't like to add too many accessories with deads becaus it really tweaks my SI joint. So I saw my old treadmill and thought I"d give it a go. I have to say that it all worked well except for trying to carry both kettlebells. It wasn't because the weight was too much, it was because with both hands occupied with bells, it was slightly difficult to work the controls. Let's just say that my treadmill can withstand a 35lb weight being dropped on it. Aaaahhhh....good times, good times. Anyhoo.....when the weather starts to cooperate a little, I can get outside and do my carries, but in the meantime, this isn't too bad of an option.