Topic: Extimes' escapades

[Extimes]

So, I'm hoping that by publicly stating my intentions and committing to keeping this updated as close to daily as possible, I will actually stick by my routines and get myself into the best shape of my life.

So let's start with the end in mind:
My long term goal is to become the most fit I have been in my life, which I will measure both through physical ability (rep/set counts and durations) as well as qualitatively ("I feel great today!")

How I'll get there: I will commit to some work out period every day as well as eating a decent diet.

Stats:
Weight - 176
Height - 5'10"

Today I woke up feeling like a Mack truck hit me.  I had 1 beer last night, which probably didn't help any, on top of the fact that I've been feeling slightly dehydrated lately.  I've been drinking 2+ Nalgene bottles of water a day, so I'm wondering if it's due to my electrolites being out of wack?  I took some B "super complex" and Calcium/Magnesium/Zinc supplements this AM and after a grande coffee and a bottle of water I was feeling fine.

Food today went like: 3oz pomegranite juice (the last bit) within a half hour of waking up. 1 Banana at work as soon as I showed up.  I had a ton of sushi (sashimi) for lunch as well as a seaweed salad and miso soup (I'm making up for not eating as much as I should have for the jam yesterday).  For snacks I had an apple and about 2-3 oz trail-mix.  Dinner will be sausage (about 4 oz) and cauliflower-nut salad.

I'm leaving shortly for my run: 1.3 miles to the park, my goal is to make it in less than 10 minutes today.  Stretch well as I'm sore all over and start in on the 5BX program I keep starting over on.  I'm gonna follow the instructions and only advance 1 level every 2 days.  I'm also going to start in on the APK warmup; the pullups kill me and I'm gonna get the samson stretches down sometime this week - for some reason my stomach always complains when I stretch back like that.

*******************************************

Made 1.2 miles in 9:53; the last .3 miles are a 15 degree slope, half down then half up.  I made it to my "cool-down loop" in 12:23.  Stretched and did the D- on chart 1 of 5BX (ok, most of us could do that in our sleep).  Then I did 15 squats and 5 samson stretches.  I think you could say I did about .5 pullups, maybe 1.5 negative pullups and no pushups (I could do more, but by that time I was spending more time swatting mosquitoes than working out).  I walked down the hill and made myself do 30-ish feet of QM on a jersey barrier on the way back up the hill (the whole barrier is about 250 feet long, I'll do that before it gets too cold out).

No cauliflower-nut salad, it had gone bad, so I sliced up a green pepper and grabbed 2 pickle spears.

[colin jensen]

what is the 5BX program?

[Extimes]

It's wicked oldschool, but explicit enough and simple enough that I feel really comfortable starting it.

zipped pdf: http://www.adam.com.au/wedesign/5bx_plan.zip

[Extimes]

Looking back on it, today was a rough day, but it doesn't feel like it, so that's a good thing.  I got up at 7, but dilly-dallied and had to skip the bacon and eggs I had planned for breakfast.  Got to work and finished a my bottle of water and a coffee before I had anything to eat.  1st snack was an apple.  Then I grabbed a greek salad with chicken from Octane (http://www.octanecafe.com/, great place, really healthy food) for lunch and an I had an apple as a 2nd snack.

I stayed at work about 15 minutes later than I planned, so I got stuck in traffic and couldn't hit up the market like I wanted to because I had to get home to prepare for an interview at 6.  The interview ran later than expected this evening, so I didn't get home until it was dusk out so I did 45 min of moderate/brisk walk and ran around the block for 10 minutes.  I'll do the 5BX workout (Chart 1, level D- still as prescribed; one level every 2 days for a 25yo) and whatever I can of the APK warmup as soon as I post this.

Dinner was sausage and I'll grab 1/2 a cucumber and a handfull of nuts shortly; I'm running short on veges and really wanted to get to the market :-(

I also should get going as I've been having issues waking up and think I need more than 6 hours of sleep a night.

Until then...

P.S.  I finished with Chart 1 D- (W00t!) and made it through the squats, samson stretch (though my form was lacking) and 4 or 5 more pushups.

[Extimes]

Got up at 6:45 today and was feeling fine!  I got 2 pieces of thick amish bacon and 2 eggs for breakfast.  Finished a nalgene bottle of water by lunchtime and had a banana for snack.  For lunch I grabbed the sausage omlet supreme and coffee from Dunkin Donuts (blah, but I was heading out to another interview). 

At 6:20 I took off for a 4-mile brisk walk and ended at 7:10; it was brisk in that there was a lot of uphills, almost 1.5 miles worth.  I moved up to the Chart 1 level D of 5BX, still no problem, finished in about 2:30.  Dinner was the other half of the cuke from last night, about 3oz nuts, half can of baked beans and I'll finish with an apple. 

I'm gonna time myself in a run around the block tonight and see how I can improve on that in the next few weeks. 

After that I'm going to tackle what I can of the APK warmup.  I "completed" the samsons last night, but wicked poor form.  I'm gonna work on getting deeper into the lunge tonight and see if I can do 6 of them.  I'm looking to hit 15 squats with good to excellent form tonight.  If I can do that I'm gonna bump my goal up to 20.  I'm also going to finish 10 pushups (Excluding the 3 from 5BX) tonight.  I've gotta find a place to work on my pullups, my goal for tonight is to find that and complete 30 sec hanging, contiguous or not.

P.S.  I made 3:30 exactly around the block.  5 pushups, nigh perfect form. 30 seconds of near straight arm hang; I made 22 seconds and a 2nd attempt went 8 seconds; my arms were bent, though if you weren't looking closely, you might disagree with that.  5 samson stretches both sides, I think I need to get deeper into the lunge, hold for longer and work on balance both in the stretch and while returning to standing position.

[Extimes]

Got up at 6:45 today. 

I now know that every time I eat "crap" food, like that sandwich from DD yesterday, it's not going to have the best effect on me the next day.  Today wasn't bad at all (not like the time I decided hotdogs for lunch and dinner was a good idea...), but my stomach let me know it wasn't 100% happy with me after having digested it.

I also realized that I'm probably missing out on quite a bit in the evenings, so I'm going to work toward getting up with enough time to make it to the park and get a decent workout in before heading to work.  Not working 10.5 hours a day would also help, but for now I've gotta be there.

Breakfast was granola and raisins in soy milk.  At work I had the rest of the beans from last night, the rest of the trail mix, an apple, a banana and an orange.

I made it to the park today, all the way up the hill in about 9:40 or so.  I should have kept running for that last 20 seconds but my goal was only to make it to the park and in less time than Tues.  Walked home while talking to fam about recent interviews. 

I've gotta do Chart 1 level D of the 5BX workout, and make further progress on the APK warmup.  I came across Jesse/gear's "modifications" to exercises last night and I think I'm gonna try out a more kinetic version of the pullups, just to get them done and to start building the core strength to do them in good form.

I'm not sure what's for dinner, but I'll be broke for the next few days so something tells me it's not going to be great :-( (I have a lot of easy-mac just sitting around; seemingly from a previous life)

**************************

P.S.  I didn't get any pullups in and I had easymac for dinner :-(

[Extimes]

Got up at 8 this AM even though I was pretty much up at 7:15.  Coffee for breakfast.  A bowl of granola in soymilk for lunch.  I took an easy 1.5 hour walk today, "running" errands.  Then a "protein plus" powerbar.

I did 5BX Chart 1 level D+ today, this is the furthest I've made it in the program (yay!). Then my attempt at the APK warmup: 20 squats, 5 decent samson stretches (still need a little balance work, most definitely improved!), 8 pushups and 1 full-fledged pullup (although, with a little momentum helping out) with a 10 sec decent followed by a 10 sec hang. (Maybe I should find my old pullup bar... the underside of steps suck!)

Dinner is prolly going to be sardines and a can of spinach as I've got those sitting around.

Until then...

[Extimes]

Got up at 8 again today, no breakfast to speak of.  Lunch 1 at 11, spinach and a hotdog; burned the shit out of the beans I was gonna eat.  Lunch 2 at 3, Chipotle steak burrito bol.  I suppose you could say I'm in a bit of a funk today, wasted most of it trolling the net. 

Realizing that I had to do something, I decided today would be a good day for me to learn how to kong.  I walked to this elementary school not too far away (20-ish minute walk) and started by warming up with the 5BX; (Chart 1 level D+).  I did 20 squats and 5 samson stretches (hold for 3 seconds).  (I suppose I gotta start really pushing myself to improve my pushups and really working at my pullups if I'm ever going to get through this warmup!)

I started to kong like  Skipper describes here.  After about 15-20 runs at it, I was comfortable enough to give it a go.  Result: two hand vault.  After a few more tries as above and a few more vaults I finally nailed a kong.  After nailing 2 or 3 more, I was literally scratching my head wondering why I was having problems doing them in the 1st place, the movement seemed so natural.  I kept going, maybe did about 75 or so up to approx. belly-button height, it was all good (followed a few up with rolls for good measure).  Then I tried it with the wall at about nipple height and maybe I was a little scared or tired but I ended up bashing my knee hard enough to get me to stop.  All in all, I'm happy; I can kong :-) 

Blueberry smoothie, apple and sardines for dinner tonight.  Early bedtime too.

Until then...

P.S. Before the last wall, I practiced topping out, and actually nailed a few *W00t!*  My legs are still bruised from my attempts at topping out last Mon at the jam. NOTE TO ALL: don't use your shin to top out, not only does it hurt and bruise, but it looks bad too ;-)

[Extimes]

Got up at 7 today and I was definately dragging.  No breakfast.  2 large cups of coffee at work then an apple. 

Lunch was good had the greek salad from Octane again, man is that stuff good.  Grabbed a banana for mid afternoon snack and a few little cupcakes that my boss's wife baked.

After work I did laundry and had a training run with my new part-time job; I bullshitted with my trainer until after 10:30, pretty much ruining any hope for a serious workout.  I had a can of crab meat, spinach and a Tina's vegetable barley soup for dinner.  I gotta get back to 6 square meals a day...

I'm gonna finish off the 5BX Chart 1 level C- and do my usual squats and samson stretch and head to bed.  Tomorrow I need to do some running; maybe try to better my time to the park, and I'm gonna 10 pushups and 3 negative pullups (maybe tack on 2 pullups with some momentum behind them).

Until then...

P.S. I did 5 Samson stretches for 5 seconds, finished 7 pushups as well.

[Extimes]

Arg, this part-time job is sucking my evenings away!

I got up at 7:22, late.  No breakfast.  2 cups of coffee and an apple for snack.  Salad from Octane again for lunch.  Grabbed an orange and banana for afternoon snack, plus 2 cookies from a party at work.

Just finished dinner, chicken (chicken piquant) and field green salad.  Gotta finish a nalgene bottle of water before going to sleep; that'll be 3 for the day (~100 oz H2O).

I'm gonna do basically the same workout as last night.  Still working on my balance in the samson stretches, hold for a long 5 seconds (to "six-one-thousand").  Going for 8 pushups tonight.

Until then...

[Extimes]

Woke up today at 7:07, feeling great.

No breakfast as I was running behind.  I know skipping breakfast's not a great idea, or even a good one, but after years of doing it I'm really good at ignoring the "I'm HUNGRY!" signals my body is sending me.  Anyone out there have any advice for breaking that habbit?

Grande coffee from Starbucks.  Chicken, roasted red pepper, olives and apple for lunch.  About 2.5 oz nuts and an orange for snack.  Dinner was bacon and eggs and a field green salad w/ balsamic vinegar.

I graduate to 5BX Chart 1 level C today.  I'm also going to make 10 pushups for the APK warmup.

I just bought a pullup bar off Amazon, here's to hoping it shows up before the weekend (most likely won't).

[Jumpin Jiminy]

Cookies and coffee and how much sugar is in those breakfasts?  Try paleo diet - meats, vegies, seed, nuts, some dairy and fruits.
If I get hungry before my first meal at noon then I snack on almonds or pecans.
Last meal around 6pm.

[Extimes]

The coffee is black.  I started paleo about 7 weeks ago, though, as the cookies &c. show, it's only about 75% commitment.  I think it's workable, as I've lost 25# in that time and (as my recent spate with being broke and not eating well shows) I feel so much better when I follow the diet.  I think I may eat more nuts than I should at a time, and may not be working out as much as I could, but the results are still very pleasing. 

I just need to get in the habbit of eating breakfast every day.  Something tells me it's just gotta be like brushing my teeth, or maybe even a part of it... (can't brush before breakfast...)

[Jumpin Jiminy]

I've found that it doesn't really matter what time my first meal is anymore as long as it is chock full of good meats and vegies.
And I don't think you can overdo the nuts.
I ocassionally have pizza, spaghetti, icecream and homemade dark chocolate - rumballs, etc.
As long as you are trying, and it looks like you really are with great results, just don't be down on yourself about not eating breakfast.
Just imagine that your first meal is breakfast, no matter what time of day it ends up being as long as it is a healthy meal.

[Extimes]

Feeling great today.  Got up at 6:49.  It's amazing how much difference that 10 min makes.

Breakfast was a strawberry/banana shake.  2 cups of coffee; I gotta start making less...  Lunch was chicken and field green salad with an orange.  Had 2.5-ish oz trail mix and 4oz grapes for snacks.  2 beers at a charity thing after work.  Dinner was zucchini/buffalo stuffed peppers and some dark chocolate (1/2 "serving").

5BX Chart 1 level C and my usual APK warmup attempt, then bed.

Until then...

[Extimes]

Got up at 6:58 today, feeling great.  Breakfast was an orange.  Grande coffee from Starbucks.  Lunch was chicken, field greens salad, 1 serving chocolate and about 4 oz grapes.  Snickers bar for snack.  Dinner was store bought rotisserie chicken, 2 greek stuffed portabella mushrooms.  Finished 2 nalgene bottles of water so far today.  12 oz glass of o.j. too.

Not feeling too terribly motivated today, but I want to make some improvement, so I'm gonna do the 5BX as prescribed (graduate to Chart 1 level C+) and split the APK warm-up into 2 sets, try to make the whole 30 squats and 10 samson stretches.  I should be able to do the 1st set of pushups, we'll see about the 2nd.

Until then...

P.S. I made squats and samson stretch (3 sec count) for both sets, 10 pushups in the 1st set and 6 in the 2nd.

[Extimes]

Got up at 8:38 today; I have to find something to motivate me to get my ass out of bed on the weekends!  Just coffee for breakfast.  Snacked on 2oz of trail mix and an apple.  Had 2 more greek mushrooms at about 4.  Definately didn't drink as much water as my body was looking for. :-(

Dinner was a chicken burrito bol from Chipotle.  Then another handful of nuts.

Workout was 5BX Chart1 level C+.  Then 2 sets of 15 squats, 5x3 sec samson stretch, 8 pushups.  Finished in less than 12 min.

Until then...

[Extimes]

Got up at 9:20A, way later than I'd like, but I was up much later than I should have been.  This has been a weekend of rest for the most part.  I wanted to get out and do some PK, but I have a cleaning service starting tomorrow and had some tidying to do (hiding the evidence...) and that consumed most of the day, plus filing the last 7 years of my life (that had been accumulating in 3 tall kitchen bags) as well as studying for the new job.

No breakfast, coffee around noon, then a pear, 1 serving dark chocolate, the rest of the rotisserie chicken (~8oz white meat), another cup of coffee and 1/2 serving chocolate.  I'm gonna grab a handful of nuts before heading to bed.

As promised, I'm gonna do 5BX C1lC+ and 2 sets of the APK warmup similar to last night.  Trying to make it in less than 11 min.

I'm headed to Buffalo, NY tomorrow night to see the Dalai Llama speak, so I may or may not post, but I'll make additional posts when I return if I miss any.  I plan on doing some PK with my dad on the UB campus Tues before and maybe after the talk; if anyone would like to join, PM me and I'll give you my cell number.

Until then...

P.S.  Finished in 9:45; I think the person downstairs isn't too happy with me though, as evidenced by the pounding... Don't blame me, it's the creeky floors; that's the landlord's fault.

[Extimes]

Maybe it's post-whoring, but I'm gonna do 1 per day:

Got up at 7:08, stayed up way too late the night before.  Had 2 asian pears, didn't know that I wasn't a big fan of them, so it's a good thing I only bought 2.  Octane salad for lunch.  Dinner was a bag of Jerky, bottle of Pom and 1/3 bag of terra "greek" flavored chips.  I ate that on the drive up to Buffalo. 

Grabbed a beer with dad once I was there and persuaded him to run home with me.  As I'm about 8 feet away from a wall (not thinking of jumping on/over/&c. it), he asks if we're gonna "jump on stuff" so... I konged the wall.  It wasn't much, but the fact that I made the decision, had about 2 steps to prepare for it and still nailed it, was huge.  Dad vaulted it pretty well; good fun talking a bit on the short jog home (not even .2 mi).

Finished the night with 5BX C1lB- 15 squats, 5x3sec samson stretch and 10 pushups.

[Extimes]

Got up at 6:30 to make the 8A meditation; very cleansing.  Lots of walking around, really interesting lectures/demonstrations and the Dalai Lama's talk was awesome.  Just before he showed up, Phillip Glass played a few pieces, which was very nice as well.

Had coffee for breakfast, nuts & coffee for 10A snack, and an "italian" spinach wrap and apple for lunch and more trail mix as a snack.  Dinner was vietnamese Pho, vietnamese spring rolls, 4 dumplings and green tea bubble tea.

I grabbed a cup of coffee for the trip home.  It was 1A when I got home, so I just did the 5BX C1lB- and crashed.