D125: 11.27.21

Workout: Cardio
Equipment Used: Schwinn AirDyne
Duration: ~10mi/~44min
Driver: Graham Bonnet Band: Live At Daryl's House
Calories: ???

Quality Level: N/A
Observations/Intel: Legs quite a lot better today, but still not enough to really push Air. Given that I've added more upper body training, Arms are not able to pick up to drive quite enough, either. So...I'm thinking instead that I'm going to need to prioritize what I want to actually do. If I want to drive Cardio, probably will need to back off torso training somewhat. To that end, everything there was fine today, so I'm thinking the planking will be more of a test than actual training, which isometric types are really at their best. I really want Fridays to go back to being off entirely, so I'm thinking I will be doing the following, going forward:

Mon - Torso
Tues - Cardio (duration)
Wed - Torso
Thurs - Cardio (duration)
Friday - OFF
Saturday - Cardio (intensity)
Sunday - Cardio (duration) or OFF

I'm also within 10 workouts left to hit 100 since resuming this year, which, barring any sort of injury or illness, should be well within reach, if not accomplished outright in early December. I do need to get around to doing some sort of weigh-in again, maybe tomorrow.

D124: 11.26.21

Workout: Strength
Equipment Used: Bodyweight
Duration: ~10 min
Driver: N/A
Calories: ???

Quality Level: N/A
Observations/Intel: I've been looking into some core exercises, given that mine is not great currently and while I'm not usually too interested in isometric stuff, the idea of planking seemed an interesting one. So, I decided to take a shot at a few sets to see how it would go. 

Straight/full plank X 30 sec
Forearm plank X 15 sec
Straight/full plank X 20 sec
Forearm plank X 10 sec
Straight/full plank X 20 sec
Forearm plank X 10 sec

Some interesting things here...I seem to have some sort of muscle pull in my right upper pectoral or possibly (again) the shoulder capsule, though it seems to be more chest-related. Quite annoying. The Forearm plank is supposedly the easier of the two, though clearly not for me. I don't think the impingement was necessarily the issue (though obviously probably a factor), so this might have to do with centers of gravity and abdominal recruitment. Will be interesting to see how the core is tomorrow vs. the crunches from earlier in the week...I also want to maybe add in single-leg or side planks at some future point, as well.

D123: 11.25.21

Workout: Cardio
Equipment Used: Schwinn AirDyne
Duration: ~8mi/~41min
Driver: Graham Bonnet Band: Live At Daryl's House
Calories: ???

Quality Level: N/A
Observations/Intel: Tuesday took me too long to get back and I didn't wind up having time until towards evening, but I was too wiped by then. Part of this was due to some spicy food filming I had done on Monday after posting the entry and it hit a lot harder than expected, partially because it was also somewhat delayed. Yesterday, I was still not quite back, but did move closer to completing the ongoing project. 

Today, Left Hamstring was super-tight when I woke up. I have no idea why that was the case, but I was able to stretch it enough to get back in the saddle, but intensity was fairly low. It was good for around 6 miles or so and then started to wear, so I cut it short after that. Air was obviously not tested at all for this.

D122: 11.21.21

Workout: Strength
Equipment Used: Bodyweight
Duration: ~20 min
Driver: N/A
Calories: ???

Quality Level: N/A
Observations/Intel: After spending some time thinking about how much I do not want to have free weights around cluttering up my newfound space, I decided that working biceps in isolation was out, which meant working triceps in isolation was similarly out. I elected then to go with a compound exercise that works everything from the waist up, namely the push-ups. I moved a bunch of boxes around this morning, as warm-up, and I still retain a good degree of natural strength, but...the exploratory push-ups went like this:

Incline push-ups, BWX14, BWX16
Flat push-ups, BWX4, BWX6
Decline push-ups, BWX2

So, pretty much trash. I was hoping for at least 25 rep count, but part of this was finding a good place to actually do these in. I used the couch for the Inclines, which was...not great. I tried various places before settling on my bedroom floor for the Flats and Declines (using my bed). That seemed to work alright, so I will probably use my bed for the Inclines as well. 

Now, what does all this mean? It means that the more I try to recruit my core (abdominal muscles), the harder the exercise becomes. My core is frankly pathetically not great, so I added in the following also:

Flat crunches, BWX25, BWX25

This is the bodyweight workout I will be sticking to until I get to 25 reps in all of the various push-up positions AND 4 sets of the crunches X 50 reps each. If I can figure out a good place to do it, I might try to move to hanging crunches, but the exercise ball that was formerly here (and that I never used) is gone now and I do not have wish for exercise equipment beyond the Air Dyne here. 

I am going to go move boxes around some more for a while, though, not for exercise, just more to wrap up that project...

Before I forget, I also got in a weigh-in this morning, which was 240, no change from last time. Not really surprised to see a stall and definitely need to clean things up a bit more. Part of the challenge there is when I'm doing spicy video content for a YouTube channel I do, which is infrequent, but can often throw a wrench into the rhythm of things, which is probably the cause of the stall this time.

D121: 11.20.21

Workout: Cardio
Equipment Used: Schwinn AirDyne
Duration: ~10mi/~43min
Driver: Hammerfall Dominion + Random Metal YouTube videos
Calories: ???

Quality Level: N/A
Observations/Intel: Way earlier than usual for me, which has to do with my sleep rhythm getting entirely trashed and not resetting prior to the Daylight bullshit, so I decided just to roll with it this morning. Legs were a little on the funky side, but once I got into it, they were good to sustain a 3+ load for a good portion of the workout. Time would have been better if my batteries hadn't run out in the CD player about a third of the way in and I slowed down to try to figure out what I could do to keep the workout and at least some of the intensity intact. Air was also kind of not hot early this morning, but an allergy tab later and good to go. I realistically could start doing sprints now as I really felt like I could have gone again yesterday (after 10 miles the day before), which is exactly the stage I want to get to. Now, that makes a bit of a problem as I don't want to do back to back Cardio over and over, as there are some associated issues with that, so I don't think I will be doing another Cardio workout tomorrow, unless I'm really feeling it, but will instead start doing some bodyweight exercising, focusing on the torso. Moving all that shit recently reminded me of how much I like being and feeling strong and I may as well start ramping that up now if I'm going to try to resume the gym in February 2022...

I keep forgetting to do weigh-ins, which is always a bit funky in winter, since I tend to sleep in some clothing to be comfortable enough to sleep uninterrupted. It's chilly and I have no desire to strip off the clothing to do my normal morning weigh-ins, post constitutional, so I space it a lot more. Definitely need to get one in. Eating has been...decidedly not great lately, but not too far off the mark, aside from yesterday, where I just kind of let most of it slide.

D120: 11.18.21

Workout: Cardio
Equipment Used: Schwinn AirDyne
Duration: ~10mi/~47min
Driver: Rainbow - Black Masquerade
Calories: ???

Quality Level: N/A
Observations/Intel: Mid-afternoon workout was kind of interesting. Wasn't really up for it and didn't caloric-load correctly, so pacing was definitely off, but getting back into the groove for the more extended workouts. Legs were not great, but Air (not pressed particularly) was fine.

D119: 11.16.21

Workout: Cardio
Equipment Used: Schwinn AirDyne
Duration: ~9mi/~42min
Driver: Rainbow - Black Masquerade
Calories: ???

Quality Level: N/A
Observations/Intel: I was not expecting a morning workout, so when I was suddenly freed from it, I had not done the usual mental or caloric prep. Still, I was pleased to be able to get it in where I could and went forward anyway, with the full intention of shooting for another lengthy weekend sort of workout. Because I did not do the usual prep, though, it did not go particularly smoothly (and yesterday was a not-great eating day). Legs were not up to it and I ran out of energy somewhere around the 7 mile mark. Air was atrocious today, thanks to allergies (I also may be fighting off something, as I've been a bit sluggish the last couple days), but held up pretty well throughout the workout, though it realistically did not get pushed too much. I'm not going to chase the fuller tilt ones until December and depending on how the night (afternoon?) workouts go during the week, I may have to re-shuffle everything and move those to weekends.

D118: 11.13.21

Workout: Cardio
Equipment Used: Schwinn AirDyne
Duration: ~10mi/~44min
Driver: Immortal - Northern Chaos Gods
Calories: ???

Quality Level: N/A
Observations/Intel: Today was a pretty hard push. I wanted to get a longer ride in (more like an hour) and hit double digit mileage and got at least one of those. Air was fine, but Legs were not finding the workout, particularly the latter part, too enjoyable, even with a longer than normal warm-up. Still going to take it casual for the rest of this month, though I want to start pushing weekend mileage higher.

Now, the problem coming up is that I probably won't be able to do mid-morning workouts during the weekdays, as I am doing now. So, switching to night workouts is going to be kind of interesting. I'm still intending on keeping the same day schedule as now, T/T, but given that I won't be home, I also will need to come up with a new plan for food. I might just go with protein shakes from a gas station or possibly protein bars, at least until my son is vaccinated AND I continue to lose weight until hitting my target, which I feel strongly needs to be sub-220. For weekends, I have to move my grocery shopping day, formerly mid-morning Friday, to Saturday mid-morning most likely, which means at least that day will also have to shift to either mid-afternoon or night. Conversely, I am strongly considering moving grocery shopping to Saturday night, which could leave weekends mid-morning open...still kicking that one around, but I will have to decide by next weekend, so won't be kicking around for too long.

D117: 11.11.21

Workout: Cardio
Equipment Used: Schwinn AirDyne
Duration: ~8mi/~38min
Driver: Hammerfall - The Templar Renegade Crusades
Calories: ???

Quality Level: N/A
Observations/Intel: Last night crashed super hard, super early, which wound up being a reset of sorts. I really don't want to skip any more workouts and there is just a fuckton of extraneous shit circulating around. I probably will need to move the workouts out of mid-morning, as they are now, more towards evening, which is fine, as that was my usual time. Legs were a bit stiff, thanks to me continuing to work on the project, but that thing is in the tedious phase now, which I'm hoping will allow for greater recovery time. Air was solid and I could have extended this workout quite a bit longer, if not for that extraneous shit, which I will not be listing out. 

Weigh-in today was 240, which is -2 from last time. It is definitely much easier to breathe now, so I just need to knock off at least another 20, if not 25 lbs., prior to moving to the gym phase...at least that's the goal.

D116: 11.09.21

Workout: Cardio
Equipment Used: Schwinn AirDyne
Duration: ~6mi/~31min
Driver: Hammerfall - The Templar Renegade Crusades
Calories: ???

Quality Level: N/A
Observations/Intel: Haven't had this short of a workout in a while, but I can't see to stop myself from the physically intensive part of the main project I was doing, so I finished most of it yesterday and wrapped more or less entire of that phase this morning, prior to the workout, of course...Legs were not great, Air was fine, but with the time change, back to having a disrupted rhythm, which still isn't settled from a lot of time in another time zone, so definitely, not planning anything intensive until December. Feeling a bit exhausted overall, which obviously also not helping, in addition to going into the cold season, which always does wonders for the old metabolism. Still, getting the workout in at all hopefully helps to re-establish the routine, which is more what I think I should be doing for things to start resolving...

D115: 11.07.21

Workout: Cardio
Equipment Used: Schwinn AirDyne
Duration: ~9mi/~42min
Driver: Hammerfall - The Templar Renegade Crusades
Calories: ???

Quality Level: N/A
Observations/Intel: Definitely pushed past the point of recovery both Thursday and then again even moreso Friday. I deliberately took off Saturday to try to heal up, as I was feeling entirely exhausted Friday and Legs were no go for Saturday, and happily note that the remaining boxes should both go faster and be far less physically intensive...I think. Legs were in good shape, air still a bit dinged due to allergies. It's funny...I gave myself the rest of 2021 to finish that part of the project, along with two other bits, and I'm nearly there now (given that I both overestimated how long it would take and how motivated I would be to go through every single box, especially those without necessity for that) for at least that part, but I find myself sort of in the same mode as towards the end of the homeward stretch of a road trip, wherein I just want it to be over and done. Anyway, definitely need to ramp up a bit more (and also be done with that project) before pushing too much again, but another one in the books for 2021.

D114: 11.04.21

Workout: Cardio
Equipment Used: Schwinn AirDyne
Duration: ~8mi/~36min
Driver: Immortal - Northern Chaos Gods
Calories: ???

Quality Level: N/A
Observations/Intel: I think I miscounted the time yesterday, as I ran a way hotter cadence for more of it. In any event, today was definitely more of a struggle...a lot more of a struggle. Air was dinged for allergies and Legs felt ok, until I started applying to work to them and then they definitely let me know they were feeling things. Nice to see that 30 minutes takes me easily to 7 miles, even in that state, however. I'm sure a lot of this is my grand moving project, which involves a lot of heavy lifting and not much resting, as it did before. Yesterday was not a great protein day, thanks to another of my projects, which is probably also not exactly helpful. 

I keep forgetting to do another weigh-in, but a lot of my clothes that I put away due to me being overly fat to wear them I find now are fitting, still not exactly right, but much closer to the mark, so actual weight is not a super concern at the moment. Not sure if I will be able to do back-to-backs this weekend, for a variety of reasons, but I definitely have it as at least a soft goal. Definitely will be back on for at least one of those days. From here, I need to hit another 19 workouts to make 100 for this year, which will be borderline amazing (kind of doubting I will hit 1K miles, tbh) given that 4 and 2/3 months were a total wash...definitely have that in sight, should be very do-able.

D113: 11.02.21

Workout: Cardio
Equipment Used: Schwinn AirDyne
Duration: ~8mi/~40min
Driver: Entombed A.D. - Bowels Of Earth
Calories: ???

Quality Level: N/A
Observations/Intel: Well...didn't expect it to be 2 months to the date of the last workout post, but here we are, I guess. Both Legs and Air were pretty good throughout. Last night, I was amped to finally get back in the seat, but this morning, woke up feeling kind of blasted. So, I meant to go in and kind of ease back into things, but found that, after a fairly lengthy warm-up period, that normal to slightly higher cadences felt pretty good and air was keeping up, so I extended it from the initial 7 miles to 8. I am still going to ease into things a bit more, though, as recovery was somewhat of a problem before and it wasn't exactly great during my time away.

The time away was definitely not spent loafing. Sure, there was a bit of booze, but I didn't stray off-diet and what I was doing tended to be very physical, so, in many ways, it was like a very extended workout. When I came back, resumed my own box-moving project for another week (basically I didn't take days off until I had re-filled my trash bins and couldn't go further until they were emptied) and felt I had things back at a level I could consider resuming workouts, once body healed a bit. Achilles seems fine, have not braced Left at all in months and Right only once in that time period, so that is also good news.

I did a couple weigh-ins last week, both at 242, but rather than continue to press my luck, I really want to get myself back on track, both with a somewhat cleaner diet and with the bike again to work Cardio. I presume a vax will be available to 5 - 12 this week and if so, that means my son can be potentially fully vaxxed by the end of the year. I do not wish to resume the gym in January with the resolutionists, so I'm looking more at a Feb 1 return date, if all works out. So...plan to keep trying to hit it as hard as I can for the next 3 months...