Haven't Died Yet

SEATED OVERHEAD PRESS:
Rear/front
Bar x10 / x10 
50lb x10 / x10 
55lb x8 / x6, x2
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STANDING OH PUSH PRESS:
55lb x5
[55lb x10] 4x 
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LAT PULL DOWNS / REAR PULLDOWNS:
40lb x20 / x20
50lb x20 / x20
60lb x10 / x10
70lb x10 / x10
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Man, it's been a bit since I've posted, but I'm still around; still hanging in there and plugging along! I've been aiming, this month for at least 30 minutes per day of exercise and so far, it's going well. Not every day has seen 30 minutes, but most have. I've also kept a food diary. I'm not eating enough. I mean, I'm not eating enough of the right things. I've cut down on junk, but my protein has slipped. I've found my Appetite just isn't there, so I don't eat. That, of course, leads to a loss of energy. It's disheartening. Not impossible to overcome, by any means, but disheartening nonetheless. Ah well, I'm not dead yet, so there's still time to improve!

Pressed For Time, LITERALLY

(All overhead presses were seated)
••••••••••
REAR/FRONT PRESS / FRONT/REAR PULL DOWNS:
Bar x10 ea. / 40lb x10 ea.
50lb x10/x5, x5 / 50lb x10 ea
55lb x5 ea. / 60lb x10 ea.
bar x10/x7, x3 / 70lb x10 ea.
••••••••••
BB ROWS:
Bar x10
55lb x10
65lb x10
••••••••••
PLATE PULLOVERS:
25lb x15
35lb x10
45lb x5
••••••••••
So this week has been super short on time because I get home and only have a little bit of time before I need to leave again and pick my daughter up from camp. So the sessions have been speed sessions, to be sure. I can't get everything done that I want, but I don't want to skip it entirely. So the sets are short and they feel incomplete in some sense, but complete enough to feel them. 
Next week should be back to my regular, only slightly pressed for time routine! lol

Can't Keep A Good Otter Down

It's been a couple of months since I instituted my "no frills" policy in the basement. I have to say, it seems to be working. I can go down there and lift. Period. Frank spots me when I need it, he trains with me when the mood strikes him and so far, my daughter has played by the rules. Fingers crossed we keep up the positive vibes!

Training sessions are usually short and sweet, but I've been good at mostly sticking to a 4 day a week schedule. Monday - bench, Tuesday - deads, Wednesday - press, Thursday - squat. I missed a couple of days this week, but I'm not beating myself up over it. I've changed my eating slightly to back when I was making good progress - more protein at breakfast, small lunch, protein at dinner after training. 

I've seen my number rising, slowly, but they're going in the right direction so that's good. Plus I'm still learning about myself and what works and doesn't work with motivation, discipline, strategies, etc. A weird thing was the mirror. We put a mirror behind the squat rack. I thought that would be great - I could see my form and correct as needed. I forgot about my neurotic tendencies though. The first night I tried to press in front of it, my gut was so distracting that I had to cover the mirror. I've gotten better though. I had to tell myself to watch my form. Don't look at my body. It actually worked lol. I was able to press in front of it a couple night ago and noticed my core was nowhere near tight enough. Correction made. I also used it during squats and noticed my depth is actually pretty damn good most times - despite what some naysayers had to say. 

With all that being said, I am still striving for "more". I believe I always will be. So I'm trying to obtain a treadmill to go back to  running a couple of days a week. When the weather finally breaks around here, I'll head back outside on the weekends and start some heavy pulls and probably go back to heavy carries. You know, just to keep the variety there. 
Over the years I have slowed to a crawl at times, slid backwards, gotten pissed and fed up. But one thing I have never done is quit, and I never will. You just can't keep a good Otter down!

Quiet, Please!

Wow. Seems like ages since I blogged. I haven't been posting my training logs because they've been sporadic, at best, but I've still been keeping track in my notebooks. However pitiful it may be! Even shitty training is a teaching tool, after all.
If there's one thing that I've learned, it's that we never stop learning about what we're doing. I've learned I have almost no patience, that's for certain, least of all with myself. There are days when I'd like to smack myself to get myself going. I've learned I'm oftentimes too hard on myself and I've actually improved that a wee bit and learned to ease up and cut myself some slack. Right now, it's still a minute amount of slack, but it's there, I promise.
A bigger, more important epiphany I've had is that I do much better training either totally alone or with someone who doesn't want to talk. I detest distraction and breaks to my concentration. I hate them so much mainly because I know myself, and I know it's hard enough for me to concentrate period, let alone with people chit-chatting, or a 7 year old dancing around me, or a dog gnawing on his toenails. I enjoyed the gym and the comrade of people there, but it always bothered me how many people were there purely to socialize (or so it seemed). How you can be putting in 110% effort when you haven't stopped talking since you walked through the door? I haven't been able to figure that out yet. I enjoyed being in a room with a few other people who were straining, striving, sweating and exceeding. No talk needed aside from an occasional sentence or two. 
I started working out a couple of years after my daughter was born. I made a stand and decided that an hour in the basement, alone, was not too much to ask for myself. So every night, or most nights, anyhow, I'd saunter off to the cellar, put on my tunes and sweat. It was nothing fantastic, I had nothing but a pair of 10lb dumbbells and an elliptical trainer but it got me going and it worked! i could lose myself in the struggle and I could let the beat of the music carry me over the hurdles. It's near to impossible to be lifted beyond yourself if you can't concentrate on yourself. When weather permitted, I'd run hills in the cemetery - alone. Nothing but the sound of heavy, quick footsteps on the cracked asphalt and the pounding of my pulse in my ears. Even after I moved into my mom's house, most training was done outside in the garage or in my room. Most times alone. 
So now, now I train much better by myself. That's not to say that I don't watching my daughter mess around with weights or that I hate my dog. I love those things! What I'm saying is that for me, serious training where I push beyond my limits has to be done in a certain environment. No chit-chatting about the day. No dodging child and pet. NO MONKEY BUSINESS! Frank won't mind. He performs better that way as well. We can be there to spot and encourage each other in quiet fortitude. We're not the yelling and shouting type. 
That means strict house rules for our gym and you can bet your bippy I'm making a poster and putting it on the door. My training time is my daughter's homework time. Period. No exceptions. And If I have to, I'll lock the door to keep poor old Butch from sneaking in and licking my face while I bench. If I'm down there moving the bar and in my world, it's for your own safety that you remain quiet. Trust me. Sssshhhhhh, someone's making gains, people. My weight always moved better with a quiet resolve anyhow. 

Ups And Downs

Warm up:
RDL: Bar x10
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DEADS:
135lb x10
155lb x3  (belt)
185lb x3 
[205lb x3] 2x  (grip started giving out)
205lb x1
185lb x3 
135lb x10 
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GOOD MORNINGS:
Bar x10
65lb x10 
75lb x8
85lb x6
95lb x3 
85lb x6
75lb x8
65lb x10
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GLUTE BRIDGE:
B.W. x10, left leg x10, right leg x10
H.K.R.:
Left x10, center x10, right x10
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Dark horse military style leg workout:
One round  (about 5 minutes)
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Disappointed that I STILL can't make a 5x5 on the 205lb.  But I'm resigned to the fact that I'll just have to keep chipping away at it. My accessory work has been lacking, so my goal is to now add more of that stuff in. It may mean squeezing in a couple of more days per week, but it has to be done. I had seen a leg workout put to the music of Katy Perry before and I tried it, but it was way too "dancy". I'm definitely NOT a dancer.  But then I found this one that I like much, much better. If I can get my phone to cooperate,  I'll link the video. It was killer, and I'm keeping it in my repertoire!  

Moving On

SEATED OVERHEAD PRESS:
Bar x10
55lb x3
65lb x3
[70lb x5] 5x 
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FRONT RAISE/PULL:
(Using plates)
5lb x15 b
10lb x8
12.5lb x5 (left hand was weak and couldn't hold the plates level)
RENEGADE ROW/COMMANDO P.U.:
10lb x10 / x10
15lb x8 / x10
25lb x5 / x10
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BAND FACE PULLS:
50lb x20
40lb x25
10lb x30
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Tonight was good. I kept the weight at 70lb because last week I couldn't complete the entire 5x5. So with that done, I can move onto 75lb with the next session. 

There Once Was A Girl With A Bucket

Jumping jacks x65
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FRONT SQUATS:
Bar x10
BACK SQUATS:
Bar x10
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BUCKET SQUATS:
(5 gallon bucket)
65lb x10 
85lb x5
105lb x5 
125lb x5
[145lb x5] 5x 
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Glute bridge x10
Single leg gluten bridge x10 ea leg
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It was at this point that a vicious, blood thirsty pitbull came downstairs and attacked me and my daughter with sloppy kisses. It was a horrific attack. I'm not sure how we made it out alive. 
Seriously though, he totally interrupted our entire core session! The plan is to pick it up tomorrow night after she gets home from her visit with her dad.  
I thought I'd use tonight to do some heavyish box squats to help strenghen me a bit. I don't have a box bench, but I do have a five gallon pail of paint that worked out pretty damn well. I'm happy that I made the 145lb and I feel good so far; no real cramping or muscle spasms. I'm chalking tonight up as a win. I don't do that too often. 

My fancy - pants equipment