Ruggedness May: 52012 - 52612

52012 Sunday - (still in Tucson) Hike the road sit in the sun, maybe pool (#337). Think about the next phase of fitness.

52112 (#338) Monday back to Philly.. not happy about it. Mixed feelings I guess. I liked Arizona.

52212 (#339) 182 lbs - (Tuesday) back in Philly. gained no weight, actually dropped 1.5 lbs. The AZ weather dried me out. I could see it in my eyes. Didn't drink nearly enough H2O, but drank a lot.
Woke up and started Insanity, lasted 5 mins and realized I need proper support for this stuff. Then did bench crunches and atomic crunches.
Taught PUMPED, hi intensity then Aqua Box. I was worn out, then out to dinner with the homies; has steak & shrimp w/ double veggie order. This worked well in the digestive system. ACV at wake and lots of H2O!

52312 - 181 (#340) Wednesday: No time to exercise, visit my sister, had an intellectual workout. Maybe some sus-training tonight.Need to ask "acu" about tight hands, perhaps result of tight grips on weights.

52412 (#341) Thursday - AM work; sus-training. Just a few sets, stronger angles. YMCA GX-FF Today, maybe some @home work.
Wake Up: 182 woke up pretty good hydrated. I think the phusk knock off works better than the Metam.. Lite warm ups ab work. Probably could have gone harder but the usual distractions.
YMCA - FF Intense!! Hard for me, just how I Need it!!
Discovered something unusual in the pack  - may hv to ask the doc about it. Let's see if anything comes of it.
180.5 after GX & Dp. Let's drop 9 - 12 in 3 weeks?? All full cardio for the rest of Ruggedness.

52512 (#341) 182.5 could not believe the scale did not change at all. Oh well!
Friday Ruggedness - 1.5 laps thru woods, up hill (had to walk the last half) to the field (saw a deer) kickboxing 80 punches 80 front kicks (each leg) very slow, tired from run. 1/2 squats + 1/2 squats up hill... (walked)
Stretch session
Bench jumps (38) + push ups (60) super sets in 4 sets. (goal 100 ea.)
Pull ups + hi incline push ups
Climb pole, up and down 1x
Stretch 2 sessions
Hot legs 6-5-4-3-2-1 each. (Honey and H2O during workout)
Apple, brewer's yeast post
Far from where I imagined I'd be. No numbers count until I get to 100, maybe by the end of this tour.
HR was 102 2 hours after training.

52612 (#342) 181.5 - Saturday: the hydration is staying with me.. knock wood) no error messages on the scale in a week. Been drinking H2O over night and eating more fruit. Yesterday too a LOT outta me and i gave myself an extra 2 hours rest. Didn't hurt that it's cloudy and humid out. May do some light cardio at home today and some suspension training at the gig. Thinking about getting duck for dinner. Other than that some admin work, house cleaning and laundry. Ho-hum!

40 mins home cardio. Damn it was rough. Basically my cardio class w/o the strength component.
HR 89 bpm climbed El steps. 2 hrs post cardio wrk, still feel tried. Monitor this for improvement.

HR Targets:
65%.............130...........11 (10 sec. count)
75%..............141...........23
85%.............152...........25
95%..............163..........27

It's sometimes necessary to exceed target to make heart muscle stronger.

Ruggedness May: 51312 - 51912

51312 (Sunday) #330
Suspension training arms and shoulders actually feel okay, props to acupuncture. Chest and back sore from friday and I LOVE IT!!
--recovery shake after run
--duck overnight - gas, why?? trail mix maybe? chocolate?
184 good hydration. I think my wake up wt has been inaccurate... well, maybe not.
HOME Workout
Bench crunches; rev crunches; french fries - try to get 100 fries.
Chest/Shoulders/Tris
db press 3x15 prog to 25  lbs.
db shoulder lats 3x15 12s rough
db 1 arm lying extensions 3x15 15 lbs
inc. db flies 20s 3x15
seated db shoulder press 3x15 12s - 20s
inc. db pull over 3x15 30
slow easy like it's the first time.

51412 Monday #331 - Work
Suspension training, pretty good, stronger;
been eating heavier at work the last several nites. wt gain. 2 stax creatine, OxyE & Guarana, between meals, fruit, & salad also except duck nite.
Wake 183.5
Acupuncture #5 Good: did 90 mins this time, probably too long, dry mouth, dehydrated felt like I was gonna cramp in the legs.
TODAY WAS A 10 DAY!!!
YMCA
Many Squats Hi-lo Max 275 not an all time pb, but for this round.
Leg press max: 8 (45 plates) + 2 (35s) 430 + the bar.
Calf presses & shin flexes
Leg extensions 150, 200, rack!
4L (leg lacerators) 10s, brutal, lost balance and got winded.
Anatomy of a "10 Day"
Didn't sleep well. Cloudy monday. PBH Cin sandwich, Acupuncture, Almonds. blueberries, honey brkfst. Maximize pre workout drink. Pre-workout stack. Trained the whole weekend. I imagined my workout during acupuncture. Mind energy??
Can I get it like this every day? Probably not. I want more 10 days!!

51512 182.5 E Tuesday #332
Zona bound, bench crunches atomic crunches, wake stack. Up thighs n glutes sore from wk/o yesterday. Baymont Inn, Houston - due to a maintenance issue the plane was late. Missed connection. Hotel room. Too late to train or eat.. took a walk.

51612 No wt. Tucson, AZ - Wednesday #333.
Biking and walking around Tucson with Xave.

51712 - no. wt. Thursday #334.. Tucson, AZ. walked around DT Tucson, carrying backpack. Got a leg centric workout at the rec center... quick recap:
Squats - of course, with some CF style 25lb plate swings between sets, 60s.. made it!
Leg press - maxed at 12 plates (45s)

This could catch on....

Leg extension (plates)
Seated calf raises... shot some hoops, nothing serious.
No records but a strong wk/o was feeling slow, tight and week from not doing cardio.
51812 Friday #335.. walked down town, explored 4th Ave, like South St. Late nite hike for Mexican food. we've been walking a lot... made this walk both ways.

51912 Saturday #336 11th Month of ruggedness. I suppose I'm a bit more rugged, the measurements tell the story, but I'm still flabby around the midsection. I really need to step up the cardio, I have a few ideas in mind. I still want to lift, but i think I can find time to do everything I want/need to do, including teach sessions and rest within the week.
Editor's Note: I did an audit of this journal and found that I was about 6 days off. A couple hours of edit/audting cleared that up. I've got 30 days left until I switch from Ruggedness to Zombie Emergency Apocalypse Survival Training (ZEAST), my next year of training. It should be fun and inspiring. I have some ideas on how to make it "better" than this one, but I don't want to make any promises just yet.


51812 Friday #335.. walked down town, explored 4th Ave, like South St. Late nite hike for Mexican food. we've been walking a lot... made this walk both ways.

51912 Saturday #336 11th Month of ruggedness. I suppose I'm a bit more rugged, the measurements tell the story, but I'm still flabby around the midsection. I really need to step up the cardio, I have a few ideas in mind. I still want to lift, but i think I can find time to do everything I want/need to do, including teach sessions and rest within the week. Oh yeah, demo'd some exercises for "The Shack" nothing too elaborate, film later, I guess..

Editor's Note: I did an audit of this journal and found that I was about 6 days off. A couple hours of edit/audting cleared that up. I've got 30 days left until I switch from Ruggedness to Zombie Emergency Apocalypse Survival Training (ZEAST), my next year of training. It should be fun and inspiring. I have some ideas on how to make it "better" than this one, but I don't want to make any promises just yet.

Ruggedness May: 50612 - 51212

50612 – Sunday (Race Day) #323 180.5 wt fluctuated as expected, anyway the news is 10 mile run with breaks and a walking moment which seemed to affect my legs. Ankle didn’t swell up, light cramping mostly below the knees. Made me nervous, but they rubbed out. Legs did not seize up this year. There were some moments, honey & sugar along the way. Coconut H2O at the end and H2O and the snacks provided, no pretzels tho. This was the easiest, most leisurely 10 miles ever (out of 3) and the slowest. Speed was scarificed for comfort and health… wake 183; pre-race 180.5, post race 183, final before bed 181.  Looking forward to hitting the Y Monday.
Looking to conquer 3 Cardio sessions this summer.
1. Insanity; 2. Body Combat 3. Tae Bo Boot Camp

50712 – Monday #324  181 – Sore from yesterday; legs early legwork and abs, squats, acupuncture – very different technique.. 4th visit (Iliana).
YMCA: 2 hrs lackadaisical leg work to make the gams feel normal again.
3 sets of squats, leg press (smith), leg extensions, leg curls, leg presses (slide), leg raises, no wt.
No records today, just maintenance.

50812 – Tuesday #325  181 feels like a lull. I don’t really like breaks. Some squats at wake.
100 atomic crunches, crunches, side crunches (each side)
Chest Day YMCA (shoulders and arms) & vanity: try to get back to old school vanity work:
Bench Press: 135 x 15; 155 x 10; 165 x ??; 170 x 4 (2 sets maybe) 145 x 10 50 reps tot.
Incline Bench 115 4 x 8s
Decline db press 3 sets 8 – 12
Peck deck, 3 sets… tired out!
Shoulder lateral raises 20s 3 x 12, + db shoulder presses
Bent laterals 3 x 10s (20 lbs)

50912 – Wednesday #326  180.5 with hydration, no error message
100s atomic crunches, crunches, knees up crunches, rev. crunches. Chest & shoulders are sore.

51012 – Thursday (AM-work) #327:
Back to work. I’ve decided the way I’m eating is wrong. I have gas every night. I think I’m going over board on the protein supplements and not eating enough real green food . Got to get back to fruit, salads at home etc.
Been indulging in PB Honey and cinnamon sandwiches which means more bread, whole wheat – yum. Wt fluctuates as usual, hopefully warm weather will arrive soon and be consistent. It’s the last month and a half of Ruggedness which may end up being Ruggedness I, unless I call next year ZEST; Zombie Emergency Survival Training, which sounds and seems more fun.
So far tonight I’m doing some light suspension training, chest and shoulders are sore from Tuesday!
Later today, Functional Fitness at the YMCA.
Wake up 183: dp, phusk B4 bed, atomic crunches - 100, 50 hard shoulders off-the-floor crunches; 50 hips-off-the-floor rev crunches. FFGX YMCA, think I went EZ.
Home Chest - db press 20s & pull over 30s
Inc db press 20s, front raises 12s.

51112 (Friday) #328.. Wake 184, woke well hydrated; abs work, felt sluggish tho, mind is thinking of how i can change eating again. Go back to heavier more protein rich meals. Thinking of easing off supps for a month, maybe July. Can I eat like I did in 2004 and gain muscle? Why is ankle playing up again.
YMCA: Largely improve today
Romanian deadlifts: Just get it off the floor, many sets low reps
Low NRG most of the workout
Shin flex & bb bends (across back)
BB shrugs - heavy.
db pull overs 60 lbs 50 reps in 4 sets
Random, upright row, EZ curl bar
Single leg extensions 5 sets or 6??

51212 (saturday) wake 182.5 #329; better hydration, seems the protein OD was the culprit. Should probably go with one drink per day. Maybe I need to count calories again. Next food discipline - plan meals and write them down, recipes maybe.
Back to the woods, jog, no time, no distance (just over 1/2 the course) fulfilled two promises today. 1, train outside, 2 run the woods. Did a lap walking and took time for pix.
Realized or understood, by way of Rich G. video I don't have to rep heavy to make muscles big, so after all this time maybe I can FINALLY put my ego away. Rep moderate wt & use body wt. training for strength and power, use aerobics for burn and endurance.
200 bench crunches and 10 wheel extensions.

Ruggedness April/May: 42912-50512

42912 Sunday (#316) Acupuncture, massage, no vitamins or supps today and tomorrow. Yoga, leg raises. (didn’t get to this.)

43012 Monday (#317) no vitamins, no exercise, it’s hard!! G&B today at Temple, guess that counts. Wake 185!!! Wow 2 days w/o supps adds – lbs? Could this be the real reason I return from Brooklyn heavier? May have to do this experiment again. Wt, no size.
When I don’t work out my body hurts. Strange, maybe the exercise and supps are keeping me healthy and in tact?? Gues I better not stop.

50112 – Tuesday #318 – Restart the sups and vits at midnight. Work stack and OxyE. Still resting the body just doing some isometric muscle work with the chest (flex) and rt arm (squeeze fingers to thumb). Woke up feeling pretty good, 7 hrs sleep 182.5 lbs. did some crunches and leg/hip stretches … otherwise chilled.
Upcoming goal: Do at least ONE OUTSIDE workout per week

50212 - Wednesday #319 180.5   Did the shock-the-body advice/strategy work? A thrust up and plunge down 185 – 180.5 in a few days.. hmmm and no strenuous workouts, (well, Monday) anyway, woke up, 50 air squats, (going deeper) and leg/kick work. Finished with ankle wts and stretches, prep for BSR!

50312 – Thursday #320 – 181: EPA this AM 45 min, quickie, good group small room. 8 ppl. The room is probably made for about 10 to a dozen .. would be tight. Peanut Butter Hoey and cinnamon sandwich for breakfast, couldn’t wait. Got YMCA GX at 5p. Lottery Day, maybe some pretzels. Had good NRG for the class at EPA, walked a mile after acupuncture. ACV b4 bed and at wake.

50412 – Friday #321 BSR pick up day 181 No change from before bed, ACV & morning stack and ACV. No workout, resting for BSR. Some home ab work at home… work stack, tuna and PBH sammich, vits.

50512 – Saturday #322  183, I just chilled around the house, stretched, worked abs, did chores, prep’d for the run.

Ruggedness Training April 42212 - 42812

42212 Sunday (#309): 181.5 woke with set of push ups.
Today I completed, successfully, the Life Guard Certification course I gave myself for my birthday. The same that I thought I may not pass. The one that kicked my ass for the past 8 Sundays. I did some aqua kickboxing while I was in the pool. I was completely exhausted by the time I finished. Too tired to celebrate.


42312 Monday #310 – 184.5 Felt weak today, could be cold wet weather or backed up or over trained. Didn’t eat bad, just off schedule. ACV AM? Can’t remember.
YMCA:
Leg press (Inverted Smith) 270 x 16; 360 x 10ish; 410 x 10, + Calf presses.
Shin flex 55 3 x 20
CF did me in, not as strong as Friday. Body strength and endurance fluctuates.
Bench Press 135; 145; 155 remembered to bring elbows to 90 degrees, not to chest. Some pull ups, 1 set too tired.
Leg Extensions prog 150 to rack (255 I think) . 4 sets.
Left it at that.
Off to TU for G&B.

42412 Tuesday #311 182 PUMPED & Aqua Box, Both Fun weather sux, zapping energy, Tired after classes and (passed out?) on the floor.  I want to work legs tomorrow maybe acupuncture.

42512 Wednesday (#312) 182, 10 hrs sleep, still cold out. No dreams I can remember. Aqua Box, seems a purge is occurring.
Temple Legs
Working the slide with 800 (eased up, started with 500 and worked reps to 800)
No records today, many sets tho.
Leg extensions w/ plates, seated calf raises, Adductor, calf press (seated) Maybe acupuncture tomorrow.
White Dog Humbug, just not ready to be home yet. Tet showed up and we saw Jackie.

42612 Thursday (#313) 181.5 been working legs hard for the last several weeks, weights 3x a week.
In the water 1x a week (that’s over) walking, climbing steps everyday. Documented results tho. Should take a break GX break next week, but not really.
First professional acupuncture today. Start a practice I think. Have faith believe it will work, should do 2x a week and see what happens.
Last moments of the day got some serious thermogenic activity going on here, sweatin for no apparent reason, feeling energetic too, took the usual work stack, 3 helpings of protein today, AM – post GX, mass gainer & hemp pt w/ dinner.

42712 Friday (#314) Work: Lite sus-training maybe the supps at work are giving me gas? Or the mushrooms and quinoa n hemp protein?
YMCA Lift Therapy
Never a fail but the body says take a break.
Deadlifts came up hard, maxed at 315 went str8 to leg presses (cable) & leg curls, peck deck, shoulder press machine and shoulder therapy w/ cables… a very modified workout.
Rt forearm/elbow pain, left knee was oddly sore. Didn’t have much energy either despite goo breakfast proein, creatine and workout stack, maybe I took too much or maybe it’s break time.
Take a break from limbs and work core, wt less leg work.
Cheat day Pizza, p-shake later.

42812 Saturday (#315) 181.5 Holding steady, kicking workwt. Less legs.