Stairs

Just did the whole building, up to the roof, in the Five Fingers. I can't remember what floor that is, forty something. Felt pretty good, only had to stop and catch my breath a couple of times and then not for a particularly long time. I haven't gone back through the archives to look at how I handled this sort of climb around this time last year, but this felt easy.

Some stair sprints are in my future. I want to do Rock Center at a run this year.

More Circuits

4 x

 

10 pullups

10 30# thrusters

10 pushups

 

10 OH squats

 

10 60# goblet squats

 

10 dips

 

As promised, I tried to mix in a lot more grip-out pullups, to my detriment.  I need to do some sessions of sets of 2-3 of those fuckers.  The pullups were awful - lots of breaks and shaky form after round 2 if not earlier.  I don't know why they've gotten so hard. 

BF run

Ran .7 miles, at a good quick pace.  Weather was 28 degrees and windy.  Got some looks from passerby. 

I didn't feel particularly cold, but the second and third toes on my left foot went numb

Fran Less Lite

21 - 17 (should have been 15) - 9 of

pullups (various grips, 50% underhand, 35% parallel, 15% overhand)

thrusters (40#)

 

19 minutes

 

Compare to last time.  While I did go up on weight on the thrusters (supposed to be 95#), and I did do an extra two reps on the middle set, I also went up in time, probably because I haven't been doing a lot of pullups lately.  I also came closer to blacking out than I usually do, which was kind of fun, and got a heavy HGH flush. 

 

I need to do way more overhand pullups.  They are really slipping. 

 

40# on the thrusters is hard enough.  My form is shitty, so I should master that weight before going up.

 

Geniunely distracted today.  I didn't get anything done, and I was totally compulsive about procrastinating.  Not a good feeling at all.  I do feel pretty good after the workout though. 

BF run

0.7 miles. 

The ground is wet, and it's just under 50 degrees (10 pm).  My feet felt a little rough, and right now I'm getting a feeling on my soles like my hands feel after clapping for too long at the hockey game.  I kind of like it.  Off to the shower!

Unhungover Circuits

6 x:

6 pushups

10 straight-leg deadlifts (40#)

4 pullups

10 squats (alternating 40# goblet and 20# overhead)

5 40# swings / side

 

27 minutes

 

Steam, hot shower, long and very cold cold shower

 

For some reason, this felt a lot harder than when I did it hung over. 

 

OH squats are fucking killing me.  I need to look for tips on YouTube. 

BBS, back on the wagon

It's been a while.

 

Warmup was three nice, slow parallel grip pullups, 5 20# swings per side, and 10 40# goblet squats. 

 

pulldown 140# 13

overhead press 80# 8

leg press 300# 5

seated row 90# 9

chest press 100# 13

 

steam, hot shower, cold rinse

 

I got sick as shit over Thanksgiving.  It's good to be back.  Pulldowns at the new, higher weight were a snap.  I wrote down the wrong weight for OHP and ended up doing the same amount of reps at a weight that was 20# higher.  Leg press was a "fail".  I am almost there with chest press, maybe I'll get 15 one of these days. 

 

I am pretty spent now but I feel fantastic.  Really nice to get some good hard exercise in. 

Not Swimming

Planned to swim (which I did once last week - forgot to type it in) but forgot my suit (pattern?).  So I did 5 rounds of:

 

10 pushups (10, 10, 10, 5 5, 5 5)

3 pullups

2 dips

10 40# goblet squats

 

then steam, cold shower

 

The pushups were easy - in fact the whole thing was pretty easy.  Dips are hard on the wrist that I've broken twice, but that will pass in time.  I'm psyched that I did 50 pushups, maybe someday it'll be sets of 50?

Weekend Running

Not much to report, I'm afraid.  Made a whole mile barefoot on Saturday morning.  In general, it felt really good, except that my second and third toes on my right foot were acting up a bit, and the spot in the middle of my left where I had a splinter / shard was aching.  By last night, it had really started to hurt, so I soaked it for 20 minutes in Epsom salts and then started looking for another shard.  I didn't find one, but I did manage to express about half a cubic cm of pus!  Sick!  I put on some antibiotic and it feels fine now. 

 

That was it for running.  I drank and smoked a bunch.  Still, I feel pretty good today.  Thinking about a swim but not sure if I'm going to be able to schedule it. 

Fran Lite

21 - 15 - 9 of

pullups (various grips, mostly underhand)

thrusters (30#)

 

17 minutes

 

I took it easy on myself on this a bit, with breaks and water.  BG was there too and we had a nice chat.  The pullups were the limiting factor.  My sets were between 5 and 2 reps each, and I took enough time off that my form remained solid throughout.  The thrusters were easier than anticipated and I can definitely move up on the weight on those.  In the true Fran it's 95#.  Maybe someday?

Another Round

4 rounds of

 

2 dips

5 pullups

10 pushups

5 per side one-handed OH squats (15#)

 

steam, hot shower

 

The pushups were really pitiful, and proved to be the limiting factor.  Should I go back down to sets of eight?  The OHOH squats are courtesy of DM and they were incredibly hard.  I did the first round with 20# and thought I was going to die. 

the weekend

Ran barefoot 0.7 miles, felt great, could have kept going.

 

Did 13 pullups (5, 5, 3). 

BBS

warmup 10 40# goblet squats, 10 25# swings/side, hang to ten count

 

seated row 90# 13

chest press 100# 13

leg press 300# 10

pulldown 130# 15

overhead press 60# 8

 

dips 6, 3, 4

hang to ten count

 

steam, hot shower

 

Not a great workout, although I did enough on the pulldown to go up to 140.  In general I felt like my stamina was poor.  The chest press felt hard from the very beginning, and while the pulldown felt easy at first (as it should, since I am used to doing pullups at this point) by number ten I was suffering. 

 

Dips were easier than I remember them.  Hanging is fun and surprisingly hard.  Hard to hang on and hard to take a breath. 

CrossFittish Rowing

10 x 250m row, 2 minute rest (erg set at 3-4)

 

hot shower, cold shower, steam, cold shower

 

I didn't bring a stopwatch unfortunately, but each 250m was under one minute, #s 2-8 were under 50 seconds, and I was at the limit both physically and in terms of skill.  In fact on one pull I exploded with the legs a little bit too much and launched my ass right off the seat of the machine. 

 

I still felt a little sick this morning but I feel pretty fucking good right now. 

Timed Workout

Inspired by a look at my archives, I decided to see what I could do in ten minutes.  In just over (about 11 minutes) I managed 4 x:

 

1 dip

5 pullups (chinups actually)

10 pushups

20 bosu squats

 

steam, hot shower

 

recovery food: 16 oz. milk, one apple, some cooked puer

 

Quite the progress from last year at this time, if I do say so myself.  I would have thought that the pushups would have been the limiting factor, and they were, but by round 4 I was starting to falter on the chinups too. 

 

So, total numbers for this week so far: 28 chinups, 40 pushups. 

 

Mark Sisson's latest post raised an interesting question for me.  Going to quote the whole passage that I found thought-provoking:

The best thing you can do to make the transition easier on yourself is to stick to your guns when it comes to diet (possibly why some people find it easier to give up sugar/grain carbs cold turkey) and take top-notch care of yourself otherwise. It can be tempting to tackle one thing at a time in taking on a Primal lifestyle (e.g. first the diet, then add exercise, then go to bed earlier for more sleep and finally work on decreasing stress). If you're really having trouble getting over the sugar/carb hump, that kind of pure sequential approach might not be the best choice for you. In truth, all the lifestyle elements influence physiological balance. Think about improving your lifestyle on other fronts first and/or while you simultaneously switch over your diet. Exercise, in particular, has been shown to both encourage dopamine release and increase dopamine receptors. Of course, it's important to do the right types and amounts.

Finally, once you've hit your groove, I'd suggest staying the course. You might think a short-term break from the Primal diet might not have an impact, but for some people (especially early on in the transition) even a brief interlude (e.g. holiday weekend) is enough to derail the train. As much as we do talk about the 80/20 Rule, try to keep your eating as Primal as possible during this time. Resist momentary temptation, and you might save yourself a week's worth of efforts regaining lost ground. Keep Primal snacks handy to get you through moments of temptation. Maybe have an extra piece of turkey rather than dessert!

I don't, at least at this stage, have a junk food problem, but then for the last couple of years at least I haven't had much of a sweet tooth at all.  I also agree that it's best to attack on all fronts simultaneously, but I am having a hard time talking my dad into doing this, so for him, and for me to a lesser extent, I am following the 80/20 rule pretty literally.  For myself, the demands of convenience plus a wife who is not at all interested in Primal (although is a very good sport about my weird cooking) means that I take a "good enough" approach in all areas.  I focus on eating the right macronutrients, but don't worry about the source of the stuff that I eat.  I eat a lot of stuff at work that is probably cooked in really nasty oils.  The meat is not grass-fed.  I eat pasta and pizza or a sandwich maybe once or twice a week.  I even have a brownie or a pain au chocolat from time to time.  I don't let it trouble me.  Not sure what to do about my dad though.

Running (Sunday); Slightly Sick

Ran 2 miles with SM and pushing the Monstermobile, and did 8 pullups, yesterday.  Felt great.  One of those runs where I could have kept going forever, but couldn't, as the Little Dictator was commanding me to take her to the playground. 

 

After the run, while drinking beer with SM, I started to get the telltale bitter taste in my throat that presages a head cold and generally means that I will be experiencing one of those lovely false ear infections within about 8-12 hours.  I sprang into action by irrigating with NeilMed and taking a hot shower.  When I woke up, I still had some pretty uncomfortable ear pressure but I irrigated again and seem to be fine now.  I hate to say it but this could have something to do with the Bolivar Royal Corona I had on Saturday night. 

BF Running (Saturday)

Ran 0.4 miles barefoot.  An unillustrious beginning to the "Run Barefoot One Mile Per Week" project!  It was quite cold (low 50's, I think) and early in the morning, and two toes on my left foot went a little numb.  Whether this was from the cold or from some kind of neuralgia (I originally typed "neurasthenia" - suppose it could be that too) I can't say.  I also got a little pain right in the middle of my right foot.  This felt like Morton's Toe acting up, but I now think I may have stepped on something that was sharp enough to break the skin. 

BBS progress

pulldown 130# 16

overhead press 60# 15

leg press 280# 19

seated row 80# 16

chest press 100# 14

 

hot shower, cold shower, hot tub, cold shower

 

Next time, up on the leg press and seated row.  And, I should be able to go over 15 on the pulldown on the next round.  I was very close on the chest press, but failed at 14 1/2, just not enough ATP left.  The leg press was a real accomplishment.  I set the seat at 5, which lets my legs bend past 90 but not too much.  I am not really worried about using the leg press to build up the full range since I do so many of the other kinds of squats. 

 

Now, for some Korean food. 

Fun at the Gym

6 x

6 pushups

10 SL deadlifts 45#

4 pullups

5 OH press 20#

10 OH squats 20#

 

8 x 6 40# dumbbell swings, 10 sec rest (alternating sides)

 

Hot shower, cold shower, steam room, cold shower

 

Compare to this. 

 

Fun fun fun.  The OH squats are, like, total misery.  Misery in a really amazing and unique way.  Not hard, and not painful so much, but they give me this feeling like I can't breathe.  I saw a tutorial a while ago about how to do them, need to look at it again. 

 

The dumbbell swings were really great.  Left me feeling like my heart was two sizes bigger.  I think next time I'd like to drop down to 30# and do ten or twelve swings. 

BBS; I am getting weaker

No doubt about it.  Metabolically, at least.

 

Warmup:

5 snap pushups

5 push-down pullups

10 40# goblet squats

10 20# OH squats

 

seated row 80# 20

chest press 100# 14

pulldown 130# 9

overhead press 60# 9

leg press 280# 9 (to true failure)

 

Kind of embarassing, but it felt nice, so whatever, I guess.  Also might have had something to do with the janjaweed and cigar that I smoked yesterday.  I have also gained weight, getting close to 190# again.  Time to get hardcore about the diet again. 

 

The OH squats are *killing* me.  My arms look like weak scaffolding under a heavy load in a high wind.  My hips are like "FUCK YOU" every time I do them.  With the goblet squats, in contrast, I feel like Skeletor and I can get my ass about four inches from the ground with my back completely straight. 

 

Tabata etc.

20 pushups

7 pullups

 

Tabata 8 at 9:22

 

hot / cold shower

 

In a rush tonight but two full days of office sloth left me in a real burn for some exercise.  Kind of odd that I only managed 20, 7 but no warmup and not enough caffeine so there you have it.  The tabata gave me a nice HGH flush but didn't cripple me and didn't give me that old puky feeling so next time it's either 10 or a faster pace. 

How Did That Happen?

3 x:

4 pullups

10 goblet squats

6 pushups

5 swings / side

 

8 pullups

 

20 pushups

 

I did the first sets with no breaks.  Wow does that ever make a difference.  After that I had planned to do a rowing machine tabata, but having forgotten my shoes I was unable to get my feet to stick in the little foot-holder things.  Then I remembered that it was Thursday, when I would normally do BBS, not Tuesday, which is what it felt like because I was out Monday and Tuesday.  So, I then did pullups and pushups to failure.  I am surprised and delighted to learn that I can do 20 pushups *after* my little workout. 

 

Should do some OH presses too at some point - I would like to be able to do thrusters. 

Back from Vacation

I didn't do a hell of a lot exercise-wise on vacation, and I did a lot of drinking and smoking, so there you have it.  Pretty fun and a nice break.  I did manage to hit the Cal gym the first morning there and do this:

 

6 x:

6 pushups

10 straight-leg deadlifts (45#)

4 pullups

10 squats (alternating 40# goblet and 20# overhead)

5 40# swings / side

 

I took plenty of breaks, but still left there feeling great.  Got very sore in the middle of my back, on either side of my spine, and backs of legs. 

 

Trying to think of something fun to do today.  I was planning a Tabata session but I forgot my iPod.  I might do one anyway and just keep an eye on the timer. 

BBS

Warmup:

5 snap pushups

5 push-down pullups

10 40# goblet squats

10 20# OH squats

 

pulldown 130# 17

overhead press 60# 13

leg press 280# 13

seated row 80# 12

chest press 100# 10

 

Not much in the way of athletics has been going on lately.  I've been on the scooter a fair amount lately, probably three nights since last Thursday, and even had my first wipeout (very minor).

 

Seated row was very disappointing.  I just felt like I had no snap.  Also had the persistent feeling that I am not really progressing in general, and compared to my last version of this sequence, I'm not, really.  I was kind of undercaffeinated, and it was at lunchtime.  Lame. 

BBS

Warmup:

5 snap pushups (rest at bottom)

5 push-down pullups (form faltered on fifth)

10 40# goblet squats

10 20# OH squats

 

seated row 80# 19

chest press 100# 13

leg press 280# 11

pulldown 130# 9

overhead press 60# 8

 

I was in an incredible rush, so this was a true BBS workout, with no rests to speak of.  Doing it this way is both harder and more satisfying, and, considering that endurance is a perennial problem for me, I may do it this way in the future. 

 

OH squats were a nightmare.  I was leaning forward 15 degrees by number 7.

Fascia and Tabata

Eating:  nothing

Drinking:  some nice old pu'er

Listening:  Give Me Power

 

2 x (5 push-down pullups; 10 goblet squats, 20#; 10 OH squats, 30#? (lightest bar))

 

Tabata incline 15, 9:22 pace

 

Amusingly, as I suspected earlier, the Tabata mp3 I have is in fact 9 reps, not 8. 

 

I read an interesting article by the guy who wrote Born to Run today, thanks to a post on Matt Metzgar's blog.  It resonated, especially considering that my neck and shoulders were almost totally frozen on I think it was Thursday or Friday night.  I have to admit I am totally intrigued by the whole process and I even went ahead and bought Ming Chew's book, which was recommended by one of Matt's commentors.  Really looking forward to trying some of the stretches. 

 

Some notes on the exercises themselves:

• Push-down pullups: grip out, thumbs out, quick up, push down, bounce back up.  On the second set, I put my hands a little wider apart than shoulder width.  Certainly these are at least a little bit easier than ordinary dead hang pullups.  I suppose they helped with shoulder mobility a bit.  I hung before and after each set.  To be honest I don't really understand what this was supposed to accomplish or why it was better for me than normal pullups.
• Goblet squats: dumbbell held vertically to the throat, fairly explosive.  Much like normal squats, although I think it was easier to get deeper.  I should do this with a much, much heavier weight.  A very enjoyable exercise, fun to concentrate on the form and feel the springiness in my legs.
• Overhead squats: I think the bar was 30#, and I held it over my head.  Still very, very hard to keep level and to do a full set.  I kept trying to tip forward (although only at my waist and above; my feet stayed flat on the ground) and my back was very engaged trying to keep the thing over my head.  It seemed like I should be "sitting" more. 
• Tabata: undeniably easier than usual, possibly thanks to the warmups.  I need to pick up the pace a little.  Really noticed how asymmetrical my stride is.  Each of the soles of my feet seems to have a totally different way of striking the ground. 

VT

meaning volume training.  Sort of. 

 

Eating: nothing

Drinking: baozhong

Listening: The Strokes and Love Will Tear Us Apart

 

8 x (6 pushups, 1 dip, 4 pullups)

 

The nice thing about this workout is that I got out of my fucking office and did the whole thing.  I rested a lot in between, but I knew I was going to do that going in.  My pullup form was kind of weak on the last two sets, so I don't think I could have done more.  Good feeling.  Next time maybe I'll try to do 10. 

 

The path to sets (even a single set) of 10 pullups and 20 pushups remains unclear, but at least I am doing something to keep busy while I figure it out. 

BBS

Eating: for some reason I just had some cookies

Drinking: semi-wild baozhong - delicious

Listening:  Gamelan of Central Java 4

 

pulldown 130# 16

overhead press 60# 14

leg press 280# 10

seated row 80# 14

chest press 100# 12

 

hot / cold shower

 

Not a bad workout.  Four hours of sleep left me feeling a little tired, and I had a rough morning and a heavy lunch.  The exercises in general felt better as I went on.  I got a really nice burn out of the seated row, for once, although it was mainly in my arms so it's possible that I'm doing something wrong there.  The lack of upward progress is a little annoying.  I can rationalize it though, as I recall reading somewhere that one should "master the weight" before moving up, so that's what I'm saying to myself that I'm doing.

 

For once, the cold water at the gym was really fucking cold, and it woke me up completely. 

 

I'm going to get out on the scooter and do some laps tonight.  Each lap is .4 miles and has a 45-foot elevation gain.  Macho. 

 

 

Fasting

I (uncharacteristically) fasted for YK and (even more uncharacteristically) had a really easy time with it.  In the past, I've found fasting to be an unbearable hell, with every single second spent thinking about food.  Not this time.  I prepped by eating a bacon double cheeseburger, a bowl of chili and a huge milkshake (made with Vermont ice cream, how was I going to pass that up?) around 2 pm and then a package of prosciutto and a banana (going primal at Duke's sucks) around 5:30.  I then didn't eat until around 8 the next day.  Sure, I was hungry as hell when I actually sat down to eat, and I did take a nap, but otherwise I felt great.  I meditated for about half an hour and scooted (?) a mile and a half, and actually considered going for a little run, although I ran out of time.  The bottom line: it felt good.  This morning, I had planned to take it a step further, not eating until lunch (so like 18 hrs without food) and working out on an empty stomach.  Unfortunately, I was in the office until 2 AM, so I was so dazed when I got in this morning that I wasn't able to motivate to the gym before people started giving me stuff to do. 

 

The funny thing is that I don't really remember why fasting is supposed to be good for you.  At this point it just feels liberating to not be tied to food intake. 

Successful TM Tabata

Eating:  smorgasbord from Duke's

Drinking:  2002 Fu Cha Ju Ailuo (?) cooked

Listening:  How to be Clear

 

5 chinups

Tabata 9:22 pace, 15 incline

5 pullups

 

hot shower, cold shower

 

Close to barfing, but not as close to death as the last one, which I note en passant was over two months ago.  I am working very late (again) and really felt like taking a shower.  I was away from my desk for a grand total of 45 minutes, and that included buying food and watching part of Top Gun at the gym.  ANOTHER GOOD DECISION. 

BBS

Eating: had some cheese and some foul-ass turkey potstickers

Drinking:  the XZH 8582 stuff.  It's good and I'm thinking about buying some.

Listening:  some Satie, something really peppy. 

 

seated row 80# 18

chest press 100# 14

pulldown 130# 9

overhead press 60# 8

leg press 260# 16

 

On the balance, this was not a good one.  Work has really been getting on my nerves lately and I just don't feel that awesome in general.  Not that I'm depressed, just not a lot of energy.  The SR and CP went well, but I think I should have taken a little break at that point, because I totally flailed on the PD and OHP.  At that point I recognized my former minion AK and we had a chat, so I hit the LP rested and did better than expected.  Definitely got some glucose out there, and I will be going up to 280 next week. 

 

I continue to look for entertaining stuff to do in my free time.  I got one of those little 3-wheel scooters for the Monster, because I want her to be able to ski someday, and ended up getting a grownup version for myself too.  It arrived yesterday and I took it for a spin around the block.  I look fucking stupid riding around on it, but I see the thing as a skateboard with training wheels.  As a little kid I always wanted to be able to skateboard, but under the old-model A Feng life approach that meant that I spent lots of time reading skate magazines and almost no time trying to stand up on a skateboard.  Maybe not that much has changed, but I had fun blasting down the hill last night and I look forward to another round tonight, so perhaps someday I'll be able to get around the park on a skateboard without breaking my wrist. 

Quick Trip to the Gym

Facing a long night at the office, and annoyed at myself for not having exercised enough this weekend (although I did do 7 miles with the Monster on the bike!), I ducked out for a short workout and a long shower.

 

6 x (3 pullups, 6 pushups, 5 overhead squats)

5 stepups per side with 60# weight

 

I don't know why I stopped at 6 - felt like I could have done twenty.  Maybe even more if I took breaks.  Got back to the office (where I am still) feeling like a million bucks. 

BBS

eating: nothing yet; had a bunch of sandwiches for lunch because that's what was free

drinking: YSLLC samples

listening: Gamelan of Central Java 9

 

pulldown 130# 16

overhead press 60# 12

leg press 240# 19

seated row 80# 13

chest press 100# 12

 

This was an excellent experience.  Absolutely raged out on the pulldown and the leg press.  Others were all a good effort too.  Could have done better on the seated row but fatigue was setting in at that point. 

 

This is a good example of a totally rested BBS workout.  I have been too busy lately to get anything else in.  Kind of a shame but what can you do.  I am not complaining.

BBS

Eating: just had a Chop't cobb, with spinach, and just olive oil for the dressing - give myself a gold star

Drinking: 1994 Menghai 8582

Listening: We Are Wolves

 

seated row 80# 16

chest press 100# 10

leg press 240# 14

pulldown 120# 15

overhead press 50# 15

 

That was a five-star workout.  I don't know if I've ever had a better BBS session.  I went up on every exercise, and kept it totally smooth and under control.  On the leg press and pulldown in particular I really felt like I gave it everything I had. 

 

Weights up on pulldown and OH press next time. 

 

Warmed up with very light free weights, cooled down with hot/cold shower, nice and long.

 

I've also been thinking a lot about the bigger picture.  I have been keeping this journal / blog for a full year (as of four days ago).  As far as experiments go, it has been incredibly successful.  I have never felt better in my life.  The blog has been a real encouragement to keep exercising, and to keep exploring different ways to exercise and be healthy.  It's amazing to think that a year ago I had never heard of Mark Sisson, didn't have five fingers, didn't know what HIT was, etc. etc.  It hasn't turned into a real blog, but I think that's fine.  I am cooking one up for translation and tea anyway. 

Sick Circuits

Sick as in unhealthy, not as in awesome, therefore a lighter workout.

 

5 x (3 pullups, 5 front squats, 5 OH presses, 5 OH squats, 4 pushups, 5 deadlifts)

 

Used a 20# bar for everything.  Kept my heels on the ground througout.  Fun.  Starting to feel better. 

Invalid BBS

pulldown 120# 14 (last week's 190 was a typo, should have been 130)

overhead press 50# 15

leg press 220# 14

seated row 80# 12

chest press 100# 8

 

steam (longer than usual), hot shower

 

The idea here was to take it easy on my sick ass, knock down each weight by 10#, and do maybe 15 or more easy reps of each, still until failure but more from exhaustion than from inability to push farther.  Well, I should have dropped the weights more.  In terms of effort, it was probably 90% of last week, and in some cases (probably leg press and seated row) it actually felt harder.  Being sick really (to put it Victorianly) seems to have sapped my strength. 

 

This experiment did, however, make me think that there could be space in my routine for a different kind of exercise to failure - many reps, or very slow reps, of maybe half the weight that I am capable of cranking out 10 normal-speed reps.  Slow, of course, would be much in the original spirit of Body By Science, but I also like the idea of doing 25 reps and then collapsing - kind of like German volume training, maybe. 

Running b/w Sick as a Dog

Just ran 1.5 miles in the Five Fingers.  Felt great.  A little tightness / spazziness in the left ankle but nothing to complain about. 

I have also just missed two days of work thanks to my friend Mr. Flu.  I think it's probably six months to the day since I was laid out for 48 hours in BC, so I guess I was due.  The first signs were on Friday, when I couldn't tolerate the cold portion of my shower, but I didn't pay them any mind and went out normally.  Actually, it's a bit misleading to say normally, because I don't really go out at all since I became a father.  We went over to HS's, had some weed and some cigarettes, and lots of beer and Italian food.  I woke up feeling very achy which I attributed to the pushups etc on Friday.  Saturday afternoon WJ and co had a roof party, and I spent lots of time outside in the kind of shitty windy weather drinking beer and eating gross hotdogs, with the buns.  Now that I think about it, that was some of the worst food I've ever had at a BBQ.  By that time the sour taste in my mouth was kicking in.  That should, in the future, be the signal that it's time to cancel all plans, take a 20-minute hot shower, and drink 100 cups of ginger tea.  But no - I smoked more weed and had some more beer (HS came over).  Despite gargling with GSE and rinsing out my nose, I slept like shit Saturday night (cold sweats, couldn't breathe).  This gave me a lot of sympathy for people who are trapped in the medical system, as well as the epiphany that 19th century invalid literature - for instance, the Magic Mountain - makes sense as descriptions of altered states of consciousness.  Sunday was a wash, but I have been feeling progressively better since then.  Some lessons:

• Drink your vinegar (I have not been drinking vinegar lately)
  
• Listen to the signs
• Listen to the Wife
  

More Violence

Drinking: 1996 water blue label 7542

 

Hit the bag, then sparred, with BK for about 25-30 minutes

 

5 x (4 pullups (grips different each time), 6 pushups (looking to alternating sides), 10 straight-leg deadlifts

 

Boxing is so much better with someone else.  We went for a much longer time and higher intensity than I usually do.  The bag is so old and crappy that I actually broke the metal ring that it hangs from, causing it to thud to the ground.  The sparring was fun, but because BK a) is shorter than I am (although not by much) and b) ducks down about six inches every time he throws his lead hand, I couldn't really get any openings other than his face, and that was off limits, with good reason.  We are going to get face protectors.  Really fun and a really good workout.

 

The exercises were good too.  On the last two sets of pullups I stopped after 3, rested about 30 seconds, and did the final one.  It made sense at the time because my form was going and I didn't want to go to failure.  The looking to alternate sides thing for the pushups is a nice twist and it lets me check my form (which is perfect, by the way, but then I am doing sets of six, so it fucking better be) on every second rep.  This is a tip from DM via BK. 

Not much to report

Tea comments are going to be a part of this blog again.  So: drinking XZH 2007 8582 replica - very nice, thinking about buying a cake - and testing the 2008 Mengku Zen label competition style, 1.5 gm for 5 minutes.  Very strong qi. 

 

I just went down for a quick swim - 12'.  I felt pretty tired and clumsy after the BBS workout and then working until midnight yesterday.  I did manage a couple laps of crawl, quite the departure from my usual plodding breast stroke.  Hit the steam room (for longer than usual) and took a cold shower after that.

 

I read this today (4. Train Arms With High Frequency).  Found this particularly interesting:

 

Being a relatively small muscle group, arms recover fast and can take it. Performing a full arm day once or twice a week gives them too much recovery for optimal growth. This method keeps the arms more full and vascular all week long, and let's face it…that's pretty much what we're all after anyway.

 

I don't know that keeping my arms full and vascular is what I'm after personally - getting stronger arms is more of my goal - but the point is a good one, and fits with my limited experience.  I've been thinking for a while that BBS is ideal for the legs, less so for the arms, and now the internets are confirming that, so good.  I am going to throw lots of short sets of pushups and pullups into the rotation, making sure that I don't go to failure and that I have at least a full day to recover in between. 

 

 

BBS

seated row 90# 12

chest press 110# 11

leg press 260# 13

pulldown 190# 9

overhead press 60# 7

 

Progress on all fronts!  I feel like Superman.  I did a full no-weight warmup again, including sumo squats.  The OHP felt really easy, so I think I'll progress quickly on that one.  I think the hardest exercise - qualitatively - is now the seated row.  This is kind of weird because I don't recall feeling that way two months ago. 

Sprint Sprint Barf Barf

Ran 1 mile
Tabata sprints in the park

I need to listen to my Tabata mp3 under controlled conditions and count how many work periods it has, because I counted 8 tonight and there was another one left. Despite the title of the post, I am out of practice completely for sprinting and didn't manage the effort that is needed to get the puky feeling. I was very fast on the first two and slow / stumbling thereafter. I was kind of in a weird distracting area of the park too.

Still, it felt good to actually do some sprints.

Success

5 x
 
10 60# deadlifts
8 30# overhead squats
6 pushups
4 pullups
2 dips
 
Steam, hot shower, cold shower.
 
This is the routine for me.  Hard enough to be interesting, easy enough to complete with good form (I think - not sure about lifting heels on the squats).  I certainly stopped to catch my breath a lot (probably after every third set?) but I didn't need to lower weights or reps and I didn't pause during the sets once.  A very good feeling. 
 
One tweak for next time: I should lower weights on the deadlifts to almost nothing until I am sure about my form.  30# or less, I think. 
 
Off to the caf for some food. 

BBS plus

pulldown 120# 15

overhead press 50# 15

seated row 90# 10

chest press 110# 8

leg press 260# 12

 

As a warm-up, I did very light weights, 10 reps of each of the upper body plus ten very wide stance squats with the bar; another change is that I rested slightly longer (about one minute) between exercises.  Both are definitely going to be part of the plan going forward.  It felt like they made a big difference in terms of how panicked I got during the actual workout - I was calmer throughout.  Very disappointed with the chest press, but that may be a result of accidentally going to failure on pushups last week.  I am not going to drop the pushups, maybe just do one set of ten and then sets of five next time, or something like 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1.  As for weights, I don't see how I can't go up on PD and OHP, even if they were done first.  LP was a pleasant surprise - I can smell 300.  Next week, LP should go between the two groups of upper body exercises. 

 

I NEED TO DO SOME SPRINTS.  Fuck.  I feel like I'm taking crazy pills. 

Some Kind of Cross-Fit Type Thing

only easier.  I wanted to spar today, but BK has actually had to seek medical attention because of his last sparring experience, so he nixed it.  So I thought: some repetitive, low-weight lifting plus a swim is in order.

 

This was the plan:

 

5 x 4 pullups (different grip each time), 5 OH squats (20#), 10 pushups, 10 deadlifts (50#), 5 dips, swim

 

The reality: on round 3, I realized that I wasn't going to be able to do another set of 10 pushups, so I dropped to 5.  I also realized that I wasn't going to be able to do 5 dips, so I dropped to 1.  Man, do I suck at dips.  I did a penalty set of 5 pushups, 1 dip at the end and I could barely do it - I actually tried to do an extra dip and totally failed.

 

The pullups were surprisingly easy.  I did one set each of pullups, switched grip left, switched grip right, parallel grip, and chinups.  The OH squats were fun too, although i can't even remotely do them without my heels coming up.  The deadlifts were not straight-leg but true deadlifts, also fun. 

 

As for the swim, on lap two I could feel the tape that holds my toenail to my toe starting to detach.  I got some kind of soft tape by mistake.  I suspended the swimming and did 5 rounds of holding my breath underwater for a count of 10.  I got the panic reaction twice but on the final round I stayed under to a count of 16.  Then I spent 5 minutes in the hot tub. 

 

It was liberating lifting weights even though it's a violation of BBS.  I completely get off on doing pullups (makes me want to rock climb, then I remember that rock climbing scares the living shit out of me) and I feel all-around great now.

Back to BBS

Compare to this.

 

seated row 90# 9

chest press 110# 10

pulldown 120# 11

overhead press 50# 8

leg press 240# 14

 

steam, hot shower, cold shower

 

Purchase of BBS for my little sister, plus Matt Metzgar's timely observations, plus the fact that I worked very intensely today, planned to work out earlier in the day, and had half an hour before I had to leave for the ball game, inspired me to give the formal BBS workout another try.  It was a fantastic workout and I am so glad that I made the time.  My impressions vis-a-vis EF, discussed previously I think, were borne out - I feel that very pleasant "drained" feeling much more acutely than with EF.  I am considering a stretch of BBS intermixed with "easier" lifting, like circuits, kind of like what Mark Sisson just proposed - 5 x 5s on Friday or something like that.  I need to get back into sprinting, particularly Tabata sprinting.

 

So, back to the actual workout.  My numbers dropped by one on the SR and CP and were up by one on the others.  I am frankly very surprised by the consistency.  In this workout, however, I made a point of breathing through the nose, and my motions were much smoother and slower than they were a month ago, so I think the EF interlude had the desired effect of increasing "control".  In fact, I think the drops on the first two exercises are probably due to lack of warmup alone - a month ago, I led off with three minutes on the rower.  Next time, I plan to do a full circuit of 10-12 reps at a much, much lower weight as a warmup. 

boxing again

Ran into BK in the gym.  The two of us spent about 40 minutes alternately hitting the heavy bag, while listening to music.  Fun.  I kept gloves on the whole time.  Hitting really hard (for me) is getting more and more effortless.

 

I'm tired and very spacy now. 

EF again

pulldown 90/15 110/8 130/6
overhead press 20/15 40/8 60/6
seated row 60/15 80/8 100/2
chest press 70/15 90/7 110/2
leg press 200/15 240/8 280/5

 hot shower, cold shower

 An interesting little experiment on the effect of order.  I went up on everything except the seated row, that and I kind of choked on the chest press.  Subjectively, SR and PD feel the closest to one another - they have a similar effect on forearms and biceps, I think.  The only other things I did differently today were 1) smoke approximately ten cigarettes over the weekend and 2) deliberately breathed through my nose (per Matt Metzgar, also here) for at least the first two sets of each exercise.  Again, subjectively, the sets felt MUCH easier, way less panicked spazzing at the end of each set. 

 Almost blacked out (browned out?) at 3pt on Friday, but that is a tale for another time.

Bags Don't Hit Back

Boxing 6 x 3:00

 

Third and sixth rounds were bare knuckles. 

 

Felt pretty good to get out there and hit something, I have to say.  I didn't do anything fancy at all, just my standard jabs (l and r), jab-straight, block-hook, and a couple multi-hook combos.  I didn't do any body blows because there were other people in the room and I didn't want to scare them ... more.  The bare-knuckle hitting seemed a little easier, although it's still a little dicey, and I did cut one knuckle on my left hand.  I've asked the folks at the gym to replace that bag.  It is such a piece of shit. 

EF #3 (yesterday)

exercise   weight/reps   weight/reps   weight/reps

seated row 60/15 80/8 100/3
chest press 70/15 90/8 110/1
pulldown 90/15 110/8 130/5
overhead press 20/15 40/8 60/2
leg press 200/15 240/8 280/5 (chair should be set on 4)
 
Steam, cold rinse, hot shower, cold shower

 

Slightly better in the leg press (due no doubt to all that hiking), slightly worse in the chest and overhead press.  My wrist/grip in the pulldown felt very shaky, but I still managed the 15 and 8.  My legs didn't feel as wiped as they should have, and I had an easy time walking downstairs after the workout, a sure sign that I didn't go hard enough.  On the positive side, though, I feel like my form on the leg press is better.  I focused on keeping my back very straight, like I would on a squat, and felt like my butt and lower back got more work than usual.  My shoulders really feel like they got a good workout too.

 

One interesting general observation is that I was able, on all the exercises, to hold against failure for longer than usual, i.e. while reps went down time under load probably went up.  Is this because, while I got lots of exercise over the past two weeks, I didn't go all the way to failure?

 

I think in general I am going too quickly, so I'm not going to go up on the weight anywhere until I really feel in control.

 

Found this very inspiring and considering doing more of this stuff too.  The link to squatting hunter gatherers in the comments was particularly interesting.  I spent more time than I usually do squatting yesterday (playing with the Little Monster and picking up toys) and I found it easier than I remember, probably because I haven't been spending that much time in a chair lately. 

Vacation Update

We got back from the rocky North yesterday.  It was wonderful not being in New York, although I spent an inordinate amount of time working on the translation and there were some serious interpersonal tensions.  In terms of health and fitness, it was a real step back in terms of diet but great for activities. 

 

For diet, I was without my main allies, the meat-filled cafeteria here at work and the nearby Chopt, and back on my parents' diet, and that meant I ate far more bread than normal.  I also ended up eating a lot more dessert than usual.  In fact, usually I eat no dessert at all.  It turns out I have some serious psychological problems with refusing food offered to me by my parents.  On top of that, I developed this idea that every sticky bun that I ate would be one less sticky bun that my dad ate.  He is not totally healthy and I really worry about his weight.  They also hardly ever eat fresh vegetables in any kind of quantity.  I felt maybe a little more tired than usual, and somewhat bloated from time to time, but in general not so bad.  I didn't have large amounts of work to focus on so it wasn't a problem.  Almost forgot - I drank vast quantities of beer, like two at lunch.  This definitely makes me feel fat, and more importantly it makes me tend to be meaner to my family than I otherwise would be.  It turns me into Al Bundy.  My muscle definition is currently less than it was when I left, although I feel strong enough. 

 

In terms of exercise, I walked a ton, did some strength training, and some running and sprinting.  I also went kayaking but not as much as I have in years past.  The walking was easy because that is all there is to do up there.  On top of the normal walking routine, the Wife and I spent two nights at the Gite Mont-Albert, and did a four-hour hike the first day and an eight-hour hike (17km) the next, both in Five Fingers.  Both of the trails were pretty bad, with a lot of sharp, loose rocks, and I wasn't able to cruise like one does in hiking boots, but I enjoyed myself thoroughly and didn't regret my shoe choice.  I am a bit of a masochist, as it turns out.  I did four (I think) three-mile runs and two (maybe three) sets of sprints.  It is beyond me why I didn't do more.  My form feels great right now, which might be related to not wearing office shoes for two whole weeks.  My feet were not happy to be back in those things.  They feel like a vise.  For strength training, I did 5 x 4s, pushups, chinups, overhead lifts, wife squats.  I liked our host's chinup bar so much that I bought one myself.  I also had a much easier time getting into the freezing water than in years past, and was able to do fun things like jump off the rocks and stand-up paddle the kayak without stressing about falling in. 

 

One point that really stands out as a measure of how far I've come is that I did a single one-hand pullup, something I never, ever could have done before.  I couldn't get one with my left hand, but who knows, the day may come. 

5 x 5, sort of

On vacation - finally.  Our absent host has a great chin-up bar, no brackets or anything, just tensioned into the door frame.  I did 5 x (5 pushups with feet on chair, 5 chinups*, 5 bag from floor to over head, 5 squats with wife on back).  The squats were the easiest - I'll do 10 of those next time and maybe 8 pushups.  For the chinups, I actually did 5 chinups, 3 pullups, 3 chinups, 2 pullups, 2 chinups - not at all bad.  This was a lot more arm work than I'm used to though, or it felt that way for some reason. 

Treadmill Tabata and swim

5' running just below, and just above, 9 minutes per mile

 

8 x 20" run, 10" rest at 9 minute mile, 15 incline

 

swim 5 laps

 

hot shower / cold shower

 

Finally, I got the right pace.  The warmup run felt great.  I would say that it felt sustainable.  I could run at that pace for a while.  When I paused pre-tabata, my left calf felt a little firm, but that was all.  My forward lean was also getting better after about two minutes.  It's a very distinct feeling. 

 

The Tabata was ugly.  I actually didn't complete - skipped the last 4 or 5 seconds.  No shame in that, because it was literally 10 or 15 minutes before I was sure I wasn't going to puke.  My face was purple.  I had to lock myself in the bathroom and splash cold water on my temples and wrists.  I am patting myself on the back for two reasons.  One, the HGH flush.  Whether or not it's for real, it feels so good.  Two, power law, and the idea that subjecting the body to intense stress leads to a strong adaptive response. 

 

The swim was whatever.  I felt pretty strong.  Burping up little bits of vomit didn't make me go any faster.  The cold showers don't faze me at all anymore.  My shower at home is much, much colder. 

EF #2

Exercise   weight/reps   weight/reps   weight/reps

seated row 60/15 80/8 100/3

chest press 70/15 90/8 110/3

pulldown 90/15 110/8 130/5

overhead press 20/15 40/8 60/3

leg press 200/15 240/8 280/3

 

Steam, hot shower, cold shower

 

Glad I was able to make it out for this, it felt really good.  I moved up on the weights on everything except chest press, and I think I'm going to leave them as is for the next round, which will either be on Friday or in three weeks. 

 

I have been in a really shitty, distracted mood.  I have a ton of stuff that I need to get done by Friday and it's not looking good.  I am hating my job and really feeling the lack of time I get to spend with family and friends.  At the same time, no alternatives are really presenting themselves.  I feel like it's pretty grim. 

 

I had an ok weekend - spent too much time working on this fucking translation but other than that it was nice.  I haven't been running at all. 

work work work work work run work work work work

Ran about 30 minutes

 

40# squats x 30

40# deadlifts x 30

20# overhead press x 30

3 pullups from full hang

 

Cold rinse - steam - cold shower

 

The running did not feel great, although it was feeling better by the end.  Pounding, slapping, ankles moving in weird ways.  It occured to me in the steam room that it's a matter of coordination more than anything at this point.  Just as I'd have to get in a certain groove if I were chopping vegetables, I need to get in a groove while running.  Pace, form, speed and power all need to come together.  The only way to get to this point is to keep running.  The sprints are all well and good, but the form is totally different - up on the toes - and what I really need to do is get the "hang" of medium paced running. 

A Quick Swim

Swam 5 laps breast stroke, then 1 length fast crawl, rest 1 minute x 4, total about 15 minutes

 

hot shower, cold rinse, quick sauna, steam, cold rinse

 

I am getting seriously strung out about this translation, so I took a short break.  I feel much better as a result.  The crawl session was an attempt to apply Tabata or periodic training to swimming, not really because I want to be a fast swimmer, although now that I think about it, why not, but for general metabolic conditioning.  It was surprisingly fun.  A length of fast crawl knocks the wind out of me, but a minute is long enough for a good recovery, and I would have done a couple more lengths if the translation hadn't been on my brain. 

 

I have fallen off of the running wagon, and I need to get back on.  I particularly miss the sprints, although I've also been wanting to do another long run with a focus on midfoot landing.  The problem is that mornings are monster time and I'll be working until late for the foreseeable future. 

EF workout

I broke away from orthodox BBS and did a fusion BBS / Art Devany workout - Big 5, but 3 sets, aiming for 15 reps, 8 reps, to failure.  In each case the max weight was my last BBS weight and the other weights were minus 2 plates and minus 4 plates.  Speed is normal, some coasting on the third set, but not much.

 

Exercise   weight/reps   weight/reps   weight/reps

seated row 50/15 70/8 90/5

chest press 70/15 90/8 110/2

pulldown 80/15 100/8 120/5

overhead press 10/20 30/8 50/4

leg press 180/15 220/8 260/5

 

hot/cold shower

 

On a purely subjective level, I feel great, possibly better than after a BBS workout.  This way was not quite as intense as BBS.  Next time I'll go up one plate on SR, PD and LP.  Maybe OHP too.  My hope is that this method will be better for my weaker muscles, which really is everything except my legs, and I do feel like they did more work than usual today.

Weekend Report

Missed doing BBS on Friday.  On each of Friday night and Saturday morning I did one round only of this.  It's not easy.  I had a really, really hard time with the pushups, only did 15 each time and was totally out of gas.  I find that weird.  Anyway.  On Saturday night I got completely hosed and was super hung over on Sunday.  I probably had 4 or 5 cigarettes.  Sunday night was E&E's wedding and I had a great time but again didn't get much rest. 

Treadmill Tabata

 Or rather treadmill half-Tabata. 

 

5' at 7 minute mile

 

4 x 20" run, 10" rest at 8 minute mile, 15 incline

 

swim 5 laps

 

Running at a 7' pace is hard.  It feels really fast.  I had originally planned to just kick up the pace for the Tabata and keep the thing level, but I think I would have lost control of my limbs, so I inclined it.  As for bailing, I probably would have died of a heart attack if I had continued at that pace.  No thanks.  

 

It might make sense, if circumstances force me to run on a treadmill again, to do 4 x 5' run, 3' rest or something like that. 

 

Found this article by Danny Dreyer which sheds a lot of light on what I have been doing wrong on my longer runs and why my calves have been feeling so torched afterwards.  Today I think I did a good job of midfoot landing but of course the treadmill is a different game.

400m "Sprints"

(yesterday)

4 x trail 400m

 

Times:

1:34

1:25

1:54

1:44

 

I started at the parking lot end.  Clearly running the other way is faster for some reason, maybe because it starts with a nice gentle flat piece.  I didn't feel as puky as I do after a tabata, but it was a good workout nonetheless.  I guess the plan is to cycle through tabata / 30/60 / 400m, although I think I should probably throw in a mile or two of normal running with each sprint session for good measure. 

 

I've been talking to BK about his own marathon preparations.  He's running with Team in Training, and they are setting up courses so that pace can be measured.  I looked on the gmaps pedometer and amazingly it is exactly one mile from the 9th Street crosswalk to the last tree on the right at the Park Circle corner of the park.  So, I can pace a mile there, although I'll have to do it in both directions and average, as it's downhill.  Also, it's exactly half a mile from the middle of the 6th / 7th block to the curb at GAP. 

Punch Punch

deadlift bar x 25

squat bar x 25

 

box Welcome to the Jungle - WWIII - Stanley Kubrick

bare knuckle first half of Slip It In

 

steam - hot shower - cold shower

 

So, 11 minutes of boxing plus maybe 3 of bare knuckle.  Pretty weak.  Not totally sure why I took the gloves off so early.  Bare knuckle is pretty unpleasant - my range is thrown off, and every punch is like cold water in the face, surprisingly painful and disorienting.  I watched parts of two videos over lunch and so I was being a little more creative than usual. 

 

My calves and hamstrings are still pretty torched from yesterday's run, so I did some stretchweightlifting to loosen up my legs.  I think it worked.  I feel a lot more comfortable sitting at my desk than I did before I went down there. 

 

Had a weird dream last night about events in a winter hybrid of Nelson and Montpelier, a bear attack at the back door, reunion with a seven- or eight-year-old son ... it was very confusing and I had a really hard time getting out of bed. 

Sunday Run

Ran (according to my calculations) about 5.7 miles in the five fingers, running for 3 minutes at a time and walking until I felt like running again.  Total time 56 minutes.  I did the loop (3.28 miles) in 34 minutes, so with the stopping factored in that means that my pace was respectable.  Some people passed me, and I passed some people.  Biomechanically, I felt a little shaky (l shin splint, l calf pain) but not as bad as last time, and I was able to keep a relatively high cadence.  The wife saw me running through the window and said I looked "stiff" - not sure if that's bad, need to videotape. 

Right now my calves are fucking killing me and my left big toenail has blood under it - oh well.  Otherwise I feel pretty good about the whole exercise. 

HIIT sprints

ran 9 x (30" sprint, 60" rest)

I think I got this protocol from the Life Spotlight guys.  Not sure.  Anyway I ran down to 1st St, into the park there, and over to my sprinting trail.  Thirty seconds is just about one length of the part that is complete forested. 

I read something on Running Barefoot while I was procrastinating on running (after sleeping in) about cadence and so my warmup run was a little quicker and I think much less painful than my last experiences with non-sprint running.  160 steps per minute is pretty fast, but I found that if I deliberately sped up and did short kind of bouncy steps, other aspects of form such as pelvic tilt and bent knees fell into place a little more easily. 

The protocol actually calls for 10 sprints, but after 9 I had completely lost the ability to accelerate (actually I think that happened towards the end of 7) and I was right next to my house.  Note for the future, start from the house end to avoid moral hazard.  I didn't feel as barfy as I did after the Tabata on Tuesday, but I had to rest several times coming up the stairs and I looked like a dying tomato when I got back.  So far the only thing I've had the stomach to do is pour myself a glass of water and eat a handful of grapes.  My head actually kind of hurts.

One thing that I keep completely forgetting to do is tighten the inner corset while sprinting.  Oh well, next time. 

Tomorrow's run will again feature the three-minute run/walk cycles, but I'll try to keep pace up a bit higher. 

BBS and some thoughts

Eating: nothing but I'll get something upstairs when I'm done typing

Drinking: making some tea, a high mountain oolong from 2006

Listening: Anti-Matter

forgot my watch

 

seated row 90# 10

chest press 110# 11

pulldown 120# 10

overhead press 50# 70

leg press 240# 13

 

Slight progress for everything except the OHP, and I think that was because I moved very quickly between exercises.  Obviously I didn't time anything, but the reps, pulldowns aside for some reason, were slow and smooth.  The pulldowns were very tough and I lurched on the last two reps.  I feel a lot stronger than I did when I started this program, but I think right now it needs tweaking.  It's really becoming clear (to me, anyway) that my legs are up to this but my arms are not.  I just don't feel like these weights are getting any easier, and I leave my workout with my arms feeling like I haven't worked them enough.  On my scoresheet I wrote, in a fucked up scrawl because I had just finished the leg press, NEXT TIME TRIPLES!  So, next time I am going to do sets of 10, 8, fail at the following weights:

 

seated row 70# 80# 90#

chest press 90# 100# 110#

pulldown 100# 110# 120#

overhead press 30# 40# 50#

leg press 220# 240# 260#

 

I'll do this for at least a month and then return to the strict BBS protocol and see how I've fared.  I think this is from Art Devany.  Drew Baye does not advocate multiple sets, but he is a lot more flexible than BBS - for instance he says multiple sets per week at first. 

Boxing

Boxed Stop Biting - All Caps - Guerillas in the Mist - Master of Puppets - Bow Down (bare knuckle)

 

Had a great little boxing session just now.  All told probably 20 minutes.  I felt a bit shaky at first, but quickly warmed up and got into it.  I took my gloves off for Bow Down and the difference was very interesting - kind of like between running shoes and barefoot.  It was almost scary at first.  I felt kind of naked.  I can't hit nearly as hard, and the feedback is totally unfiltered.  Also my left thumb sticks out, I think because I dislocated it once in Montreal, and kind of scrapes on the bag.  Not a good feeling.  I can hold it in with effort.  Future sessions may include more than one song of bare knuckle.

Sprint Tabata

Well, I got 'er done.  Sprints back and forth on the little trail in front of my house, using that Tabata timer again.  Next time I think I'll try the plain beeps so I can get more out of the tree sounds.  Anyway.  I read this excellent article on the way home, and it put me in the mood to go all out.  I warmed up with a little jog, maybe three minutes.  Felt pretty good except my left big toe, which is kind of a bloody mess in general, didn't feel great before starting.  My first sprint was at mach 10, branches all flying past, stormtroopers right on my tail.  The second one was pretty good too, but they did not get faster after that.  By maybe the fifth I was in pure survival mode, trying to not take a digger or get a broken ankle.  I have been trying to not clockwatch lately, but eventually I folded and looked at the timer and was pleasantly surprised to find that I only had one left.  I really turned it on and burned everything I had left.  Getting back up the stairs was agony.  Scratchy throat puky wanting to die.  It took about ten minutes, plus some water and vinegar, olives, prosciutto, and cherry tomatoes before I felt like a person again. 

Last night I ended up totally failing on the fast.  I got home and the wife had made delicious salmon.  Oh well.

Yet Another Swim

I've worked my way up to a reasonably painless 25 minutes. Not at all boring and I felt great getting out. Did breaststroke the whole time except for one length of crawl, which felt fine in terms of technique but left me pretty winded. Also, I just had an apple from the gym, but I feel inspired - going to skip dinner tonight and see what happens. That will give me a good 16 hours with no food. If it's as I imagine, the barrier is more psychological than anything.

Tomorrow, Tabata sprints!

running (yesterday)

Ran 4.25 miles, hard surface, in the Five Fingers.  It took about 52 minutes.  Very slow and very much a slog.  I set a timer for 3 minutes and walked for a bit every time it went off.  I guess I would feel a little more optimistic about this experience if I had done five miles in 35 minutes, but the truth is I feel pretty good about it.  Runs like this are half of the equation, the other half being two sets of sprints per week (which for now will be Tabatas on grass or uneven surfaces). 

 

As for stride, I certainly had to keep focus on landing underneath my hips.  In general my stride seems short and limpy, possibly because I'm running at below the optimum pace (Metzgar: 7 minute miles).  My stride seems a lot better when I sprint.  Hoping the two poles will kind of converge into a fast, smooth distance pace.

 

Minor annoyances included a sore left shin and a hard cramp in my right calf, which I ran out.  It's still a little sore today. 

Tabata sprint

Last night I hit the park. Ran one mile at around a 9 minute pace then
did 6 / 8 tabata session. Sad to stop early but I was pretty winded
and nearing the puke zone. I feel great this morning. So far no
shinsplints.

--
Sent from Gmail for mobile | mobile.google.com

Soccer

Played soccer for about 45 minutes this morning.  Scored two goals.  I was kind of a dick to some of the players on the other team though.  Need to take it easier - JB is a good role model, he never says anything critical about anyone ever. 

 

I also mashed up my right big toe even worse.  My sock was all bloody when I took my shoe off. 

 

In terms of how this fits in with my exercise plans in general, I am treating it as a sprint workout, Tuesday on the Furman plan.  That means I have to run this Thursday (toe permitting).  Not sure what I'll do - a fast two miler might be fun, but I may not be there yet with my Five Fingers running technique.  Also, I'm moving weights to Fridays, maybe effective as of this Friday, if I make it to the gym. 

Wish List

Here are some things that I would like to work on:

• Drink less coffee and more tea.  I love tea, it's better for you, and it's cheaper. 
• Eat lean meat at every meal.  I am not ready for full paleo, especially as I like dairy too much, but this practice could offset quite a bit of grain.
• Only eat grain when someone else has prepared it for me.  I have been treating myself way too often.  There is no need to have a scone or croissants for breakfast.  Yes, standing in Zibetto and having breakfast there is pleasant, and yes, the corner restaurant has incredibly good scones and they are convenient, but I just don't feel as good later in the day when I eat these things. 
• Limit tobacco consumption to two products in two sessions every seven days.  Drinking and smoking cigarettes mutually encourage one another, and I've been doing too much of both lately.  An occasional cigarette is fine, and I think two per week is "occasional" enough. 
• Drink less.  I don't have a rule for this.  I was thinking of taking seven days off, but my inclination is just to be a little more mindful about it.
• Try skipping dinner.  Not going to do it tonight, because tomorrow is soccer, but I hope to actually do this once this week. 
• When I find myself spacing, get away from the desk for five minutes.  Get up and drink some water.  Go talk to someone.  I still spend far too much time ignoring what I have to do and looking at a computer screen. 
• Meditate.  It's OK to use caffeine as a crutch. 

BBS

Eating: just had a Chopt cobb, EVOO and pepper - had two croissants for breakfast though

Drinking: water, making some oolong

Listening: nothing because I left my iPod at home

 

no warmup

 

seated row 90* 9 1.24

chest press 110* 9 1.26

pulldown 120* 10 1.14

overhead press 50* 8 56

leg press 15 did not time, did not go to failure

 

5 minute steam, cold rinse, 3 minute hot shower, 3 minute cold shoer

 

So, slight improvement on the first three, sort of.  I did this in the morning instead of after lunch, which I prefer.  I can't decide if I should be worried about the lack of improvement or just be glad that I am going to failure ... in fact, I have gone from one position to the other at least three times since the actual workout.  The fact is that I feel pretty good, and pretty strong, and last week I was able to play an hour of soccer without dying.  I don't think my improvement is great, but I am chipping away, and I'm undeniably stronger than I was a month ago.  Maybe I should change my up rule to 15 reps and two minutes - I guess I can cross that bridge when I get over 12/90 on the current weights. 

 

 

BBS

Eating: had an apple

Drinking: making some dongding

Listening: Neu!

 

warmup easy 3 minute row

 

sitting row 90* 7 1.10

chest press 110* 8 1.30

pulldown 120* 8 1.30

overhead press 50* 8 1.10

leg press 200* 15 1.30

 

5 minute steam, 3 minute hot shower, 2 minute cold shower.

 

The times are kind of approximate.  I set my watch's timer for 1.35 and notice when I dropped. 

 

Not a great performance.  A couple factors may account for (but not excuse) this.  For one thing, an exhausting soccer game yesterday.  I dropped the leg press weight to account for that, which I think was a good idea, but it may be that I was just a little off metabolically.  Also, I drank a ton this weekend.  Getting kind of tired of that, actually.  Another is that I didn't do a true BBS workout last week, so those numbers (the reps) are kind of inflated.  I had momentum on my side, which is not at all how it's supposed to work.  Slowed down is much, much harder. 

 

Another kind of odd thing is that I feel like I can "max out" at any point by stopping, and straining against the stopped weight.  Momentum again.  That's why the times are all the same, I think.  I start clockwatching around a minute and fail soon after. 

 

Recovery did not include a cold rinse because I felt weak, and the shower times were shorter because I am a very impatient person. 

 

So now I kind of have a dilemma.  What should I do next week?  I'm inclined to not drop weight, but to give myself less time to recover.  I typically start feeling like it's time to get the muscles moving again after about five days.  I think I'll do another BBS Monday, again taking it easy on my legs if my new shoes are here and if it looks like my bruised nail is going to be in shape for soccer on Tuesday. 

Soccer

I got talked into playing soccer yesterday.  Some of the people I work with have a Tuesday morning thing going.  I couldn't find my old running shoes, so I played in aquasocks.  Not a good choice.  Still, I was much better than I remembered from high school, probably because I had my mind in the game (thank you zen) instead of on how much I suck.  I even scored a goal!  That combined with hearing from the FF that I passed their translation test made yesterday the best day I've had in a while.  I did totally crunch my feet though.  My left big toenail has one of those deep bruises.  Not to fear though, I have ordered some size 13 indoor soccer shoes. 

Sprint

On Monday I went down with N for some sprints and managed only about 4-5 minutes at a pretty fast pace. Practice practice practice.

Another Swim

Eating: had a nice lunch at Milos

Drinking: nothing, should have some water I suppose

Listening: In Fiction again and again and again

 

Swam for a full 20 minutes!  All breast stroke.  I went before lunch, for a change.  It is a good workout, surprisingly fatiguing, and good for the breath too I think.  Steamed and cold showered afterwards. 

 

I found a training program for first time marathon runners.  It is a shit load of running.  Not really my style, but we'll see how it goes.  I'll have to start in three or four weeks to get in the 18 weeks before November. 

 

Today was a reasonably productive day, and I got some stuff off of my desk that has really been hanging over my head. 

 

 

who speaks does not know

Eating: chocolate

Drinking: water

Listening: Metronomic Underground

 

Boxed Master of Puppets - No More Blood - Ace of Spades.  Above average intensity.

 

Rowed 5:00 / 1140m. 

 

Great little mini workout.  The boxing was intense and I felt drained afterwards.  Using the new gloves so not much wrist pain or thumb jamming, and I was able to really unwind on the bag quite a bit.  I would have done another song or two but a woman who had prior rights to the boxing area was graciously letting me go first and I wanted to bow out without her telling me to.  After rowing (kind of out of left field, that) I spent over 5 in the steam room, then cold rinse, about 3 minutes hot shower, then 3 or 4 minutes cold shower.  Needless to say, I feel incredibly good right now.  Going to head out to the welcome new meat party shortly.

 

Had lunch with RP today.  She's reading Rapt, this book about attention that was reviewed lately.  The conversation reminded me of the importance of taking time out to focus on breathing, every day.  There's no reason to not do it (rather than read internet nonsense) several times per day at work. 

BBS

Eating: nothing

Drinking: TGY

Listening: nothing

 

seated row 90# 11 0:56

chest press 110# 10 1:10

pulldown 120# 11 1:18

OH press 50# 11 0:54

leg press 240# 12 0:54

 

I spent the entire day prior to my workout trying to not look at the internet, then looking at the internet.  I might as well admit that I am depressed.  Coming in to work and not having anything at all to do is depressing.  I need some stimulation.  I don't even really feel like listening to music. 

 

Anyway, the workout.  I suppose it qualifies as stimulation.  I deliberately did not slow down at all.  I'll do that next time.  I'm sure I was 'coasting' particularly as I got in to the higher reps, because if I did slow down I died on that rep.  The times are all very short.  Next time I think the goal will be to be over 90" for each exercise. 

 

After the workout, I did 5' in the steam room, cold rinse, 4' very hot shower, 4' cold shower.  I feel great now. 

 

My diet this weekend was garbage.  Tons of refined grains, tons of sugar, lots and lots of alcohol, a bunch of cigarettes, and poor sleep.  I hope I can keep a little cleaner this week (tomorrow is yakitori day) and we'll see how that affects the workout.  Not sure if I should go back to Monday or maybe make Monday a swimming day or something. 

Weekend Running

Got some running in up in the motherland this weekend.  On Friday the Wife and I ran around the neighborhood, including a few trails.  Probably about 2 miles.  On Sunday we all drove up Mount M, and I ran along the ridge and back.  Probably closer to 3 miles.  The group was incredibly uneven, and there was an 800' elevation gain, so "ran" is kind of a stretch - I ran where I could, and when I wasn't totally out of breath.  The experience took me back to BC.  Run a bit, stop and stare at the scenery, run a bit more.  It was very, very hard to get a rhythm going (because of poor conditioning).  Much closer to a stair run than a regular run. 

Out for Blood

Eating: apple and Fage full fat

Drinking: I'll get some water shortly

Listening: Bablyon Sisters, for some reason

 

Boxed: Stop Biting - Ace of Spades - Second Round K.O. - ALL CAPS

 

A nice little session, reasonably intense.  Second Round K.O. was very motivating.  Afterwards steam-cold-hot tub-cold. 

 

I have been totally idle at work lately and it's really getting on my nerves.  I was in a complete tizzy yesterday afternoon after talking to LP, who apparently has tons of work.  When I got home the BH put me in a good mood almost immediately, so that was nice.

 

I've been eating a lot more cleanly lately.  I had a a big glass of milk, a croissant and an espresso for breakfast and a huge salad for lunch. 

 

Maybe swim tomorrow?

 

 

Corset

Just saw this.  Something to think about for my next run. 

Big 5

Eating:  just had an apple

Drinking:  lots of water

Listening:  a colleague on the phone

 

seated row 90# 6

chest press 110# 6

pulldown 120# 8

OH press 50# 7

leg press 240# 10

 

AM bran

 

Form was OK.  Kind of felt like a weak workout but improved as it went on.  Maybe I should reinstate a warm-up?  I think the overarching problem is that I have no muscle mass in my upper body.  When I get to my legs I finally feel like I am under control.  BBS does have an example of someone who should work out 2x per week in the beginning - maybe that's my situation.  I could do pushups and pullups to failure on Thursdays or something. 

 

The bran probably didn't help, and I have not been eating totally clean, either.  I've been having a lot of grains, including two sessions of red velvet cake this weekend.  I also had three or four cigarettes on Friday night. 

 

The plan for next week (I will have an extra day to recover) is to push hard for 12 on all the exercises. 

Weekend Running

Ran twice this weekend.  Both runs about 2 miles.  Form was, I think, pretty good.  I kept it nice and slow.  Second run was the orthodox two-mile loop with the Wife and the Monstermobile. 

Two Thoughts

1. I should do something more targeted to strengthen my wrists.

2. I should do a fast-punch Tabata session. 

Take a Look to the Sky Just Before You Die

E:  apple

D:  water

L:  wife on phone

 

BOXING.  Slip It In - For Whom the Bell Tolls - Welcome to the Jungle.

 

Great session.  Some straight lefts and switch hit straight rights, some body hits, tons of one-twos, and a couple two-handed fast hits.  I think my jab is pretty good right now, and I am getting some good fireworks with the right, although it's a lot flukier.  I got really into it and kept the fight-or-flight intensity up for a lot of the workout. 

 

I hit the steam room and took a short cold shower afterwards.  After my run last night, I tried the Twight "recovery shower" - five minutes as hot as you can take, five minutes as cold as it goes.  I lasted a minute and a half under the cold, but it felt amazing.  Good to actually time it too - I stayed in much longer than I usually do. 

Running Again

Eating: will be getting into some sauerbraten shortly
Drinking: water is on the agenda
Listening: wife's pilates DVD

Ran approx. 2 miles

What a great run.  Nice evening light, beautiful warm air.  I went clockwise on my 2 mile loop.  On the first PPW stretch I ran on the retaining wall for a bit.  As I came around into the actual forest part, I started shutting my eyes for a count of ten steps.  It helped me focus on footfall a bit, but also really made me feel the air and hear the birds and the wind in the trees.  As I came up to the picnic house, I could hear music.  Really good music.  Kind of GD-ish music with thoughtful solos and a kind of plaintive lead vocalist.  It was a band of Jewish hippies playing to a picnic.  I ran up to an older Haredi man to ask the name of the band (Bruce Parnes) and the grass felt so good that I kept running across the Long Meadow and then down it to the tunnel.  Perfect freedom.  Before I got to GAP, I ran up a little trail to the left and down a sharp drop to the sidewalk.  A wonderful run.  Legs and ankles felt good and I am back to believing in the five fingers. 

BSS breakthrough

Eating:  just had a Mr. Softee shake

Drinking:  as above

Listening:  nothing

 

Forgot my watch, so no times.

 

seated row 90# 8

chest press 100# 12

pulldown 110# 13

OH press 40# 15!

leg press 220# 13

 

My reps were definitely faster this time around, though not so fast as to make momentum too much of a factor, I think.  Even if they were, it was very important for me psychologically to get some progress.  It feels really good to be moving up on 4 out of the 5 for next week.

 

After I finished, I did a mini-onsen, steam / cold shower / hot tub / cold shower.  As a result, I feel like a million bucks.

 

I was talking to BK today - he's been doing some road races.  I really need to start running again.  2 miles, twice a week, in the Five Fingers should not make undue demands on my time.  Maybe I can start tomorrow night. 

Swim Yesterday

Did another approximately 15 minutes of swimming yesterday, which added up to ten laps.  I felt pretty good afterwards, not as fatigued as last time. 

 

Parents are in town, so I am sleeping on the living room floor.  Odd dream last night about John Noise Manis - something about his name being on street signs. 

Onsen Style

Eating: I am about to go up to the summer kick-off cocktail party

Drinking: water; see above

Listening: Kyorei

Went to the gym to box, but forgot my iPod.  I was in kind of a sleepy out of it mood anyway.  I punched for ten minutes - a mix of left and right straights, one-twos, body blows, and one 70-punch free-for-all.  My arms felt kind of heavy and tired, and I have a little pain in my left hand (knuckle of my pinky), so it was kind of blah.  Afterwards I hit the steam room, then took a cold shower, then hit the whirlpool, then took another cold shower.  Now I feel like taking a nap more than anything. 

BBS Workout

Eating: nothing

Drinking: also nothing

Listening: Minglewood Blues

 

seated row 80# 12 1:38

chest press 100# 11 1:43

pulldown 110# 10 1:42

OH press 40# 11 1:42

leg press 200# 12 1:30

 

New rule - up if over 12 reps AND over 90 seconds.  More of a Drew Baye type protocol.  Here's the reasoning: I fucking HATE super slow.  I hate it.  I am willing to go slow enough that there isn't much momentum, but slower than that is too fucking brutal.  I can go to failure without making myself totally miserable. 

 

Right now I feel pretty buzzed.  Colors are looking pretty bright, and I'm getting mini tunnel vision.  Pretty nauseous too.  I had too much coffee this afternoon. 

 

I should also consider mixing up the order, like start with pulldown and OH press next time maybe. 

 

I miss deadlifting.  The really nice thing about it is that it really made me a lot more flexible in the waist.  I should try really wide stance leg press for hip flexibility. 

Friday Boxing

I made a little mix and went and boxed to it on Friday.  I listened to All Caps, Welcome to the Jungle, Simon Says, and Master of Puppets.  Maybe 20 minutes total.  It was great.  I started doing little drills, for instance: 10 left jabs, switch stance, 10 right jabs; go at the top of the bag full bore with both hands, forget technique; hug and do body shots.  Again, not the intensity of a ten-minute session, with lots of little breaks, but still very intense. 

Oof

Eating: Mr. Softee small vanilla cone with rainbow sprinkles
Drinking: not enough water
Listening: nothing

seated row 60# 15 3:00

chest press 100# 8 1:50

pulldown 100# 7 1:38

OH press 40# 6 1:31

leg press 180# 12 2:35

I think the seated row really hit me hard or something. Either my TUL or reps dropped for all except leg press and both dropped for the dread OH press. I had a lot to drink plus five cigarettes yesterday. Right now I feel kind of buzzed but completely wiped. I am having trouble typing.

Not seeing the progression I would like, but otherwise I feel good. Maybe I'm boxing too much?

Edit: it occurred to me last night that I actually did a couple of these exercises differently from how I've done them in the past. I had my palms out on the pulldown, and grips aligned (rather than parallel) on the chest press and OH press. That might be why I found them so god damned hard.

Natation

Eating: belonging to my gym is worth it for the free apples alone

Drinking: some water when I get around to it

Listening: album version of La Femme d'Argent

 

I did breaststroke for a continuous 15 minutes, which was the plan.  I feel fine, although actually swimming felt kind of sluggish and my hands fatigued.  The plan is to work the time up a bit and then start mixing in some crawl.  My form is ass so I am going to watch some Expert Village videos.  I have low expectations though, which is a nice feeling.  I am never going to do a swim race or a triathlon.  Swimming is strictly for the beach, the kid and not dying if I fall out of a boat.  And I suppose for conditioning on days when I don't feel like hitting something or running.

 

I had a bizarre dream last night about Hans Appelqvist and teenagers jumping off of really high structures, kind of like large radio towers, into really small, shallow tubs of water.  One missed and injured both his ankles. 

More Boxing

Eating: I had an apple an hour ago

Drinking:  tieguanyin

Listening:  shakuhachi

 

I hit the heavy bag while listening to "Mattress" by Fela Kuti, about 13 minutes.  More breaks / rests than last time.  I didn't have a lot of intensity, but it was still a good practice.  I worked on keeping my feet quiet, and practiced left jabs and straight rights in isolation, then some combos, and a couple punches from a hands-down start.  It felt like I was getting a pretty good rotation, and I was moving the bag quite a bit on the combos.  I should review the video for left jab alone.  There is no reason why I can't make this a 20-minute or half-hour workout; on the other hand the original idea was to have a very intense 10- to 15-minute session.  That will probably become easier as I get more skilled and can get a rhythm going. 

 

My shoulders feel pretty tight and sore, and did yesterday too.  My neck is pretty stiff too.  I don't know if this is from the machines or what.  I have been sleeping really well, 8 hours, so it's not that.  I hit the steam room and took a cold shower afterwards, which felt great.  I am most concerned about possible injury to my wrists or thumbs (I don't use real gloves, I just use the slip-on kickboxing ones; I don't think I should be hitting any harder than my hands can take unwrapped) but they seem fine. 

BBS 2

Eating: apple

Drinking: water

Listening: nothing

 

seated row 60# 17 2:18

chest press 100# 9 1:53

pulldown 100# 7 1:42

OH press 40# 7 1:47

leg press 180# 8 2:10

 

I was vaguely aware as I was doing the upper body exercises that I was not putting everything I had into the workout, but the leg press changed all that.  I could barely walk when I was done, and I feel totally buzzed now.  My reps were sped up slightly from last time.  TUL was about the same, with an extra rep or two on each exercise.  I need to go harder on the upper body stuff.  That might mean slowing it down again, as I did get to failure (maybe I could have tried harder) on most of the exercises.  Getting the right speed is kind of an art that I haven't mastered yet.  Keeping count is also really tricky.  I am really accustomed to counting once per breath. 

Neu!

Eating: apple

Drinking: water

Listening: nothing

 

Another quick visit to the gym for ten minutes of boxing.  Felt pretty good - a little weakness in my right wrist.  I watched some of these videos first.  Helped keep me thinking about technique when I was in there.  I definitely had some ok punches although I'm really way too weak to even move the bag that much. 

 

I tried some getups and the like last night, very half-heartedly.  They were significantly harder than I had anticipated - three minutes of lying down and getting back up is hard work.  Another kind of odd thing is I still feel a little sore, and I think it has to be from my workout three days ago.  I'm really looking forward to getting into this program and seeing how far it will go. 

Ideas

So, the BBS protocol is going to have me doing far fewer conventional gym workouts, and I have spent some time this morning trying to think of other stuff to do to keep active and motivated.  Group activities are mostly out because my schedule is totally unpredictable.  Otherwise, a martial art would be ideal.  I spent some time reading up on Movement Naturelle, and that is appealing but I'm not interested in the social stigma of climbing trees etc in the park.  However, it gave me some ideas I can use.  First, work on weaknesses.  I can barely swim, and I belong to a gym with a pool, so that is something I can do.  Also, I could do 20-minute sessions of bodyweight stuff - getups, jumps etc - in my apartment after work.  So here is some stuff I can do:

• Conventional runs with a focus on technique (I still want to be able to run long distances).
• Unconventional runs with built-in sprints, jumps, detours through the forest, pullups, etc.
• Swimming - set a time, like 20 or 25 minutes, and stay occupied in the pool for that length of time.  Do some laps, see how far I can go underwater, practice holding my breath, practice diving and surfacing, etc.
• Boxing.  The easiest.  Watch one of the hundreds of excellent instructional videos on YouTube and go hit the bag for the length of time it takes to listen to Fur Immer or Beat Bop or whatever. 
• Timed workouts in the apartment.  Spend 3 or 4 minutes doing each of the following: lying down and getting up (front and back), getting under the coffee table and out the other side (crawling or rolling), jumping on the stairs, up and down the ladder to the roof, burpees (with or without the jump), tuck squats, one-leg squats (no help for balance), walking hands out and then feet to hands, plank to side plank, crab walking, in and out window to balcony ... this is getting a little absurd. 

First BBS workout

Eating: lots of chocolate
Drinking: water
Listening: nothing

seated row 50# 15 3:00
chest press 100# 7 2:00
pulldown 100# 6 1:56
OH press 50# 4 1:15
leg press 180# 5 2:00

All the times are kind of approximate, because I am timing myself, and the rep counts got a little mangled too because I am not used to multiple breaths per rep.

So, this was my first go at a Body by Science workout. It was fucking tough. The impulse to give up after a couple reps was incredibly strong, and I think I really only got to true positive failure on the chest press and leg press. I feel amazing though, really buzzed. In terms of changing weights from workout to workout, I am going to go up in weight if I am at or over 3:00 and down if under 90".

I don't understand how this is going to work my hamstrings.

Also, what do you do if you want to empasize a certain group? My shoulders, for instance, are incredibly weak. The answer seems to be: nothing. In fairness, they weren't getting much stronger under my old regime, so maybe I should just give it a month and not worry about it.

Planning to re-read Body by Science over the next week.