Category Archives: Health and Physical

by | 2013/10/24 · 3:11 pm

Training log: 10/23/13

Hey, everyone else keeps a training log on a blog, why not me too?

Sumo Deadlift:

  • 135 x5
  • 185 x5
  • 225 x5
  • 275 x5
  • 315 x3
  • 345 x3
  • 375 x3 x5

Hyperextensions (bodyweight):

  • 10 x4

Standing Overhead Press:

  • 45 x5
  • 95 x5

Negative pullups

  • 2 reps

Notes:

I had planned to do a lot more of the presses but I had aggravated my shoulder on Monday so decided not to push it. Same reason for only doing two negatives, it started bothering me. Didn’t even try the barbell rows I’d planned. It’s stupid of me to not maintain my shoulder health so I’m keeping a resistance band at my desk at work to do pullaparts throughout the day.

On the up side, the deadlifts were a volume PR. They didn’t feel the smoothest so I’m going to repeat 375 next week but the PR stands.

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by | 2013/10/23 · 4:41 pm

Weak points

There are a lot of things I’m terrible at and I need to improve upon to keep moving forward. I started down that track before but got frustrated at how embarrassingly bad it was, then created excuses to not keep doing the things I knew needed done.

I need to pull more. I’m too heavy and weak to do a single pullup.

I need to do more kettlebell swings and snatches to improve my conditioning.

I need to do band pullaparts daily for healthier shoulders.

I need to do mobility work daily for healthier hips.

I need to do more glute bridges and hip thrusts to work on glute activation.

I need to stop making excuses to avoid doing the things I need to do.

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by | 2013/03/07 · 5:25 pm

Keto update 1

Yes, I know I haven’t been on this even a week yet but things are going pretty well thus far. I’ve dropped pretty much all excess water and the scale is still trending downward. Energy levels are good, strength isn’t suffering too badly, and I’m not as foggy as I have been when running PSMF. In all, it’s going well so far. We’ll see if that keeps up.

Something I’ve never done before one of these experiments is blood work. I didn’t do it before starting but it’s still early enough that I should be able to get a pretty solid baseline.  I’m getting:

  • CBC
  • CMP
  • TSH/FT4/FT3
  • Lipid Panel
  • Ferritin

I should have the results from LabCorp in a week(ish). I’m not expecting this first set to be great but I do expect to see improvement in subsequent tests. I’ll probably try to do a set every 6-8 weeks, at least for a while. Along with measurements, photos, and weight, the lab tests will give me a new dimension to the metrics I can track.

I’m excited as ever to see how this is going to all turn out.

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by | 2013/03/05 · 4:55 pm

Playing the keto game

I started a new experiment yesterday. I’m doing my first traditional cyclic ketogenic diet (CKD). Having done many stints of a PSMF over the years, problems with and benefits of ketosis aren’t new to me but have never done a regular CKD.

The basic idea of the CKD is to eat very low carb (what most people can relate to as Atkins induction) but then have a carbohydrate-based refeed every so often (usually 7-10 days, depending). There is a lot of hard science as well as a wide range of personal experiences that support the idea of keto as a healthy lifestyle, and that’s what it is: a lifestyle. The problems tend to happen when going off. Fortunately, there’s really no need to ever go off. Once the goal is reached, boost intake for maintenance. Pretty simple, really.

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by | 2012/11/14 · 8:53 pm

Life in the fast(ing) lane

For several years now, I’ve played with different dietary protocols that revolve around the idea of intermittent fasting. Simply put, IF is a period of eating followed by a longer period of not eating. This is the opposite of what a large portion of the Western world does, eating pretty much from waking up until going to bed. There is a growing body of evidence to support this as a valid dietary strategy for many people, demonstrating positive effects on insulin, leptin, and ghrelin (among other metabolic hormones) and should not be confused with either anorexia or bulimia. Continue reading →

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by | 2012/10/22 · 4:24 pm

Rise of the Dead(lift)

This past weekend, I went with Seven to Rise of the Deadlift at Progressive Sports Performance in Northbrook, IL. This was her first competition since the same meet last year, where she had a disappointing outing.

Now, for those who don’t follow powerlifting, the sport consists of three lifts: squat, bench press, and deadlift. This meet was push/pull, which means the only contested lifts were bench press and deadlift. These happen to be her shakiest and most solid lifts, respectively…but that didn’t seem to matter.
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by | 2012/10/03 · 8:29 pm

The past 21 days

Just a quick update/progress report.

In the past 21 days, I have:

That’s progress toward four of my goals. In about an hour, I’ll head to the gym to keep the trend alive. Today, I’ll be deadlifting over my body weight for my work set. Moving right along!

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by | 2012/09/17 · 3:06 pm

Progress is awesome!

So I don’t update this thing as often as I either mean to or want to, but I’ll make it a point to work on that.

I’ve been moving toward accomplishing some of the items from The List. Most notably, this past Saturday, I completed the Rebel Race and got to check off an item off my list. Well, sort of.

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by | 2012/06/21 · 11:22 am

Quick check-in

Obviously, it’s been a while since I wrote much. I’ve been doing things, just not writing about them. Plenty of baby steps toward several long term goals and discovery of new interests.

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by | 2012/01/05 · 4:22 pm

The importance of down time

When’s the last time you took some time for yourself? Hell, when’s the last time you got a good night’s sleep?

In December 2009, Science Magazine had an article about this, where it cited a study by two researchers from the Harvard Business School that showed that taking time off increased productivity, communication, job satisfaction, and a number of other benefits.

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