What Was Your Work Out Today?

AnnPT77

Grumpy. Weird symptoms today, not severe but a change. Called primary care, don't need to go to ER unless symptoms multiply/worsen, but I'm skipping biking today, hoping tomorrow feels more normal (using the recent definition of "normal"). Frustrated.

Thanks for the permission to vent, @DiscusTank5. I hope your CT tomorrow brings you good news!

I don't walk much because of trash knees these days, but I think the longest intentional walk I did in recent times (i.e., during weight loss and maintenance) was around 8 miles on the paved trail system here. Couple of summers ago I was walking 5 miles on other paved trails (all mostly flat) 2-3 times a week after rowing in summer. I'm for sure not conditioned to that now, and not sure that I could do it within a tolerable pain range, because I think my knees have worsened some. PCP and I had plans for me to try knee PT again before referral to an orthopedist again, but that's on hold for the moment for obvious reasons.

This is another area in which @drmwc outpaces us all (pun intended).

drmwc

@AnnPT77 I hope the symptoms ease.

I gave up my Fitbit about a year ago; I started to find it too intrusive. I'm pretty sure walking doesn't count unless it is tracked by expensive electronics; God knows how our ancestors coped. (My replacement watch is a £10 Casio digital. It is superb; almost indestructible and if I do somehow kill it, I don't cry at the cost of replacement.)

I went climbing on Monday. I wasn't very good.

I lifted on Tuesday.

We had our work team lunch yesterday. There was no expectation of going back to the office afterwards, so the others stayed at the restaurant drinking. I don't really drink any more, so I got bored and decided to go for a climb instead. It was really good, I was in form. So I stayed just over 3 hours. I got three v4s, and close on a v5. We had another team do in the evening, and I mis-judged the walking distance from the gym to the venue; my estimate is that I probably got around 30,000 steps in (which would be around 15 miles).

nossmf

Upper Body - Hypertrophy

Incline Bench Press 4x10
DB Bench Press 3x10
BB Row 4x10
Pulldown 3x10 (1 set each hands over, under, neutral-grip)
Machine Reverse Fly 3x10
Machine Lat Raise 3x10
DB Shrugs 3x10
Preacher Curl 3x10 (3-second negatives)
Cable Pushdown 3x10 (5-second negatives)
Perloff Press 3x10, 20, 30sec

nicsflyingcircus

I was going to go do leg day but then I got distracted with a task that, while it needed doing, was not urgent, which ballooned into cleaning out my whole closet and an old armoire that we replaced with a dresser and wall mounted TV 6(!) years ago, but which has remained. I discarded ruthlessly, and made a large haul to goodwill. This applied also to the upstairs bonus room and closet. I also did 4 loads of laundry, including switching to winter flannel sheets. I dusted several ceiling fan (bedroom and living room), the bedroom and closet and the living room too. I organized my pantry and food cabinet. I broke down boxes and took them out. I vacuumed the rooms I dusted. None of these things were on my plan for the day. I also ran some errands after going to goodwill at 6pm, including making several returns. I did not end up going to the gym. Or taking the final two chemistry tests I need to do by Monday night to finish this semester.

My son, diagnosed with ADD, got home from work at 5:00pm or so, chatted with me briefly about our days, then said "It's genetic, you know." lol

AnnPT77

@nicsflyingcircus: Oh, that I should be that productive! Sounds kinda exercise-y at least in spots, too.

Me, I got back on the bike for another sloooow ride of just under an hour with 55W average, 114bpm average HR. HR did peak up at 127 briefly, way beyond my current intended max of 120, when I stupidly grabbed my landline phone that rang, and got one of those supposedly-medicare-help fake-interactive robo-call things . . . at 9:44PM, besides.

I didn't try for any make-up meters today after skipping exercise totally yesterday. The other stuff I needed to do today mostly blew out my current low energy budget, so just convincing myself to get on the bike had to be good enough. I'm about 1/3 day behind where I'd prefer to be for the Holiday Challenge, but it should be easy to catch up as long as I don't need to take any more unplanned days off. We'll see.

I won't get the results of today's CT scan until next week sometime. I do have the disk with the images on it, but (of course) I don't know how to read a CT scan. 🤷

nossmf

Lower Body

Squat 4x10
BB Hip Thrust 4x10
Leg Press <<superset> Leg Press Calf Raise 4x10, 15, 20, 25
Seated Leg Curl 4x10
Cable Crunch 4x10, 15, 20, 25

Gym was incredibly busy today for a Saturday. Normally I walk in to see maybe a dozen or so regulars; today there were at least 50 people lifting, including using all 8 squat racks, the leg press machine and the hip thrust machine. No BB curls or OHP either; all squats, deadlifts and Olympic cleans. Had to wait 15 minutes before a station opened and I could begin.

AnnPT77

Another not-quite-hour of ultra-slow stationary bike again, as it will continue to be for a while longer at least.

Today, 57W average, average HR 113bpm, peak 118, so on target there. No make-up meters yet, but as of today only 315m behind if I assumed steady daily progress on the Holiday Challenge. However, I will take a regular rest day tomorrow.

I actually think I have enough S.L.O.P. built into the plan that if I do all future planned days (and planned rest days), I don't need extra catch-up meters. I wish I could row some instead of all biking, but I know myself well enough to know it would annoy me to row slowly enough to keep my heart rate down sufficiently.

J72FIT

AM
Yoga

PM
Kettlebell swings
10x5x32k
Kettlebell Get Ups
20x1x16k
Ab Wheel
1x10
Loaded Carries
2x60s (32k)

nossmf

Upper Body - Power

Bench Press 5x8
Cable Row 5x5
Mac Decline Press 5x5
Machine High Row 5x12, 10, 8, 6, 4
Seated BB OHP 3x12
Preacher Curl 3x8
Cable Pushdown 3x10
Cable Woodchoppers 3x10

nicsflyingcircus

Chest press 1x12, 1x10, 1x8 (65 lbs)
Pectoral fly 1x12 (60lbs), 2 x12 (55lbs)
High row 1x10 (100lbs), 2x12 (90lbs)
Row 3x12 (80lbs)
Shoulder press 1x8 (70lbs), 2x12 (60lbs)
Lateral raise 3x12 (30lbs)
Triceps press 3x12 (105lbs)
Bicep curl 3x12 (55lbs)
Abdominal crunch 3x12 (125lbs)

DiscusTank5

Good news: my CT scan was clear. Next one in six months.

Workout today: rowing machine, 14.5 min; free weights and calisthenics, 15-20 min. Walks: 15 min., maybe a little more.

AnnPT77

@DiscusTank5 - Such good news about the CT! Hooray, and congratulations! It feels really, really good IME to be boring to an oncologist.

Today's workout, guess what, more ultra-slow stationary bike, the usual recent deal; a leisurely 57W average, average heart rate 113 (!), peak 120.

It seems like my resting heart rate might be coming down a little. Of course it jumped way up right after the fall when I was first in the hospital, dropped to around normal at the end of the hospital stay and a few days after, then climbed up to around 9-10bpm higher than usual, which kind of ticked me off. The last couple of days, it's dropped at least a few bpm again. I hope this means some semblance of normal is on its way. Soon would be nice.

drmwc

Friday
Lifting. Squat (70 kgs); bench (50 kgs); deadlift (100 kgs). All 3 sets of fahve. I also hangboarded; my fingers are strong at the moment.

Body weight: 64 kgs.

Saturday
Climbing, 3.5 hours. Good fun; although I only got a couple of v4s I got loads of V3.

Sunday
13 mile hike

Monday
Climbing, just over 2 hours. Decent, I got a v5.

J72FIT

am
Yoga

pm
Strength
KB Press
5x123/123x24k (30L30R)
Squat
5x235x2x16k (50)
Wheel - 1x10
Carry - 2x30-60x32k

nossmf

Treadmill - 1 hr, 3.0 mph, 12% incline

nicsflyingcircus

@drmwc maybe an ignorant question, but I've been wondering what the terms v3, v4, v5 mean. I could Google, but that doesn't lead to discourse, lol. I figure something difficulty related?

AnnPT77

Bikey, bikey, bikey. 60W average (still soo loow), average HR 111 (jeez), peak 120. I guess I could feel good that that's a couple more watts for a couple fewer bpm average? SMH.

drmwc

nicsflyingcircus wrote: »

@drmwc maybe an ignorant question, but I've been wondering what the terms v3, v4, v5 mean. I could Google, but that doesn't lead to discourse, lol. I figure something difficulty related?

It is indeed a difficulty scale. There are two main scales used for bouldering in the UK, the v (for "vermin", I think) scale and the Font scale. There are other scales around; and roped climbing has a number of different versions again. This link explains bouldering:
https://topbouldering.com/bouldering-grades/

v grades start at vB, increaing to v0, v1 etc. The hardest boulders in the world are v17; there is only a handful of people that can climb that hard.

The difficulty does vary, from gym to gym, from gym to outside, from country to country etc. Most London gyms seem relatively consistent these days.

I've got about seven v5s in my life, and no v6. I get most (but by no means all) v3s.

I lifted yesterday, doing squat, bench, deadlift and finger curls. I moved up to 110kgs for deadlift, for 3 sets of 5; which is getting close to 2*bodyweight.

nossmf

nicsflyingcircus wrote: »

@drmwc maybe an ignorant question, but I've been wondering what the terms v3, v4, v5 mean. I could Google, but that doesn't lead to discourse, lol. I figure something difficulty related?

I figured the same thing, but since nobody else was asking, figured the question had already been asked and answered before I ever joined the thread, so left well enough alone, lol.

nossmf

drmwc wrote: »

I moved up to 110kgs for deadlift, for 3 sets of 5; which is getting close to 2*bodyweight.

That is legit strength right there. Beginner lifters marvel at pure weight numbers; experienced lifters compare against bodyweight. For comparison purposes, my own deadlift PR is about 2.1*BW, and I've been lifting for 15+ years. Granted, my deadlift lags behind competition numbers, but in reading your posts you are more of a casual lifter looking to improve your other athletic pursuits, so reaching that level of strength is quite impressive IMHO.

nossmf

Treadmill - 1 hr, 3.0 mph, 12% incline

Lost my internet connection with about 20 minutes left in my workout, causing my streaming movie to halt abruptly. Long fifteen minutes of staring at a treadmill progress bar before the internet rebooted and I could resume my show, just in time for the cooldown, lol.

AnnPT77

Again? Yup. 59W average, 114bpm average heart rate, peaked at 121bpm for a second or two because of mere inattention . Neurosurgeon follow-up appointment tomorrow, hoping he'll say it's safe to go with at least a little more intensity sometimes, but we'll see.

On the good news front, without doing any intentional catch-up after one unplanned rest day in the mix, I'm over the half way mark in the C2 Holiday Challenge, 104,184 challenge meters (208,368 stationary bike meters), and a teensy fraction of a day ahead of schedule.

I have 2 more scheduled rest days, 11 more workout days. As long as I don't have any more unplanned rest days, I could keep going on this schedule and end up a bit past the 200k challenge meters goal by Christmas Eve. Here's hoping.

DiscusTank5

Yesterday: 30 min on treadmill with a 5 min jogging / 25 min. walking split (while talking to a friend! so fun!), then 10 min. body weight exercises and stretches.

Today: 22 min. stationary bike @ 12 mph pace. Then 15 min. free weights, lunges, sit-ups, then more lunges. 10 min. or so walking outside.

J72FIT

am
yoga

pm
Strength
Get Up
10x1x24k (5L5R)
Swing
20x5/5x24k (100L100R)
Chins
20x2 (40)
Wheel - 1x10
Carry - 2x30-60seconds (32k)

DiscusTank5

5 min. Helix trainer; 20 min. elliptical, then 12 min. body weight exercises (candlesticks, planks, chest taps, lunges). The usual 10 min. walk with the dog.

And 90 min. scrubbing carpets and using the vacuum / carpet cleaner.

nossmf

Those carpet shampoo machines are a workout! lol Especially when your wife asks you to move furniture around to clean under them. (Ask me how I know...)

drmwc

@nossmf I actually stared lifting in around 2010, and for a while it was my main form of exercise (although I never competed.) I think I am anthropomorphically suited to deadlift; I have long arms and a short torso; so it's always been my best lift.

I reached a BMI if 28-ish, which turned out to be way too. heavy. I was in the verge of diabetes, so I cut to a BMI if 21-ish, and have stayed there since 2019. That was when I took up climbing, and I loved it. So now I am very much just a casual lifter.

I climbed today. It was fun, I got a lot of new routes. I tried videoing myself, with partial success. The video doesn't seem to have uploaded, maybe I need to do it via YouTube.

AnnPT77

Good news from the neurosurgeon today: The aftermath of the brain bleed has healed enough that I can do whatever activities/intensities I wish, as long as doing so doesn't worsen remaining symptoms. In fact, he encouraged me to go back to normal activity. Skull fracture still isn't healed, and will take a while, but that's not as dangerous (as long as I don't whack my head again 😬).

I admit, I was a little scared to increase intensity - procrastinated the workout a while. I do intend to ramp up somewhat gradually, since de-training is real, and overdoing is not a great plan if wanting to repeat workouts 6 days/week.

Decided to do today's workout as half machine row, half bike; and just go at what felt like a comfortable-ish moderate pace.

Row was 2 x (2k on, 2' off), 500m on, 1' off. As usual, the "offs" are mostly easy-pace rowing, after grabbing a drink of water. Started at a lower pace than I usually would, but it felt OK so picked up a bit as I went along. Pieces averaged 2:39.2, 2:33.6, 2:28.3 (per 500m, the usual rowing split), but cost a higher heart rate than I'd usually see at those paces, 136bpm average, 154bpm (!) peak.

Bike was 9k + 3' CD, 76W average (still noticeably lower than normal), HR 127bpm average, 136 peak. I didn't think to increase the damper on the bike before starting: I'd backed it way down while HR limiting workouts, but will bump it up next time to maybe get higher watts at still-comfortable rpm.

5074 row meters + 10032 bike meters (counting as half) = 10090 challenge meters.

All of this felt OK. We'll see if I feel overtired or otherwise negative tomorrow or not before deciding what to do next.

J72FIT

am
Yoga

pm
Strength
Kettlebell Snatch
10x2/2x24k (20L20R)
Kettlebell Clean and Press
5x2-3-5x2x16k (50)
Ab Wheel - 1x10
Loaded Carries - 2x60 seconds (32k)

mtaratoot

I'm happy to read your good news @AnnPT77

I will be surprised if you don't bounce back pretty quick. I'm sure the cat is glad to hear the news too.