Woke-up and did a fasted circuit comprised of some Muay Thai warm-up drills we used to do in class like high-knee skips and bear crawls, the exercise bike, and 20 push-up/squat burpees. Total time was roughly 5 minutes. Breakfast at the office during the work meeting is bison, quinoa, and veggies (turned down the crappy bagel sandwiches from Noah's, but accepted the coffee). These days my breakfast is usually either bison or a weightgainer.
Even if it's no more than a few minutes I'm going to make some kind of workout a staple in the morning everyday before work. It really gets my head and body in the right place.
Ordered a Cerberus strongman belt from Kalle's website Starting Strongman. Had my eye on it for awhile.
Was going to squat in the rainy weather last night but work and chores had me running very late. I could have still done A squat workout, but spontaneously decided to do some circuit training with a 50 lb pair of dumbbells. Movements included Arnold presses, curls, upright rows, push-ups, and chin-ups. Also did the reverse-hyper with just the 45s on each end because my back had been hurting for 3 sets of 10 and then took the keg out for a walk.
Total workout time was 30 minutes.
I actually took the time to go to Home Depot during my work break the other day to buy 2 tarps to cover my equipment. Want to protect the reverse-hyper as much as possible, but I also covered up my weight tree. Going to buy a couple more and make this a habit so I can cover my bars and strongman log.
Hit the heavy bag with some bare knuckle MT rounds. All 4 pieces that held onto the chain have torn-off, so now the bag cannot be mounted without some modification. That's OK though, I have it propped up against a tree. The nice thing about this set-up is I can kick it better without the bag stands impeding my footwork. I can also angle it so I can practice low kicks that mimic a partner holding a kick shield. Just need to get some rope to secure it, but my rounds on it so far have already been fun.
Need to get some batteries for my scale, have no idea what I'm walking around at but I'm feeling the extra bodybuilding work I've been doing. Chest has been sore for days and can't remember the last time that's happened. As expected, eating, meal prep, and dishwashing is an absolute slog, but there's something delightfully nostalgic about this misery, especially as I sit here at the office drinking my homemade weightgainer shake.
Woke-up and did 3 minutes on the bike and 40 straight burpees. About 5 minutes total before going to work.
Back is more or less recovered from the injured state and back to its everyday levels of discomfort and pain. Just did a bunch of stretches and yoga poses at the office, which always helps.
My schedule is getting a bit tighter. My boss wants me in the office more hours. There's a lot of fat in my normal schedule to trim that will afford me time to hit the goals I need. An obvious one is to not eat and chill at home before training; that will be done at the office and I'll train when I get home. I also don't take proper breaks at work; I eat at my desk and stand-up or stretch as needed, but actually walking away and coming back makes a big difference.
Working with my client remotely at 7:00 today, so will train after work and before then.
I haven't taken the time to jot down the measures I'm taking during this weight gain phase that differ from how I've approached gaining before, but I think it's worth noting.
* Goal is to no longer stuff myself with reckless abandon on anything and everything. It's fine to not be on the verge of puking after every meal. I'm no longer a lanky 18-year-old and don't NEED that approach to put on weight, it's easy enough falling short of that.
* Making more of an effort to increase food quality. Grass-fed beef, bison, grass-fed lamb, organic veggies. In fact, I eat bison now much more than I eat beef. Less junk like greasy pizza or burgers.
*Still allow for dessert here and there but not every meal.
* I don't make an effort to eat carbs late in the day. If they're already in what I'm eating then fine but the trend is lower carbs at night. This is something I'd like to be more strict about actually.
On that note, I recently discovered that the Safeway by my house has good deals on grass-fed lamb, and is competitive with other stores like Costco for bison and beef. I don't usually shop at Safeway so this was a nice find.
