The elusive pull up

Just when I thought I was making some progress with my pull up goal, I lose it all. I was maxing out at 6 continuous pulls up. But I noticed my form wasn’t all that great with the last two reps, so I decided to do sets of 2 with perfect form. That seemed to work, but now I’m maxing out at 3 good pulls ups. I have to admit, this goal I set for myself is pretty intense. Sunday I hope to hit the gym and do a slow back workout. I will not give up on my pull up goal.

Explosive push-up

I gave up push-ups for about a month and now I’m bringing them back with a vengeance. Today I started practicing “explosive push-ups.” You perform them the same way you would a normal push-up. The difference is, I hold my body weight for 2 full seconds when I’m closest to the floor and then I “explode” up. I push my body up as fast and with as much strength as I can. Unfortunately, I don’t have the strength to actually clap my hands (I only lift off the ground a little bit), but hopefully with more practice I’ll get there soon. They look crazy easy, but it’s tougher than it looks. I did 6 sets with 12 reps each and then later lowered that to 8 reps. I incorporated them into my shoulders/biceps workout today.

The Bonk — Runner’s Wall

Here’s an interesting story I came upon today on NPR Health. It’s about runners and how they can avoid hitting their “wall.” (That’s marathon runner talk for running out of energy.) A Harvard med student has figured out a formula that elite runners can use to 1)find out how much carbs they need to eat to avoid hitting their wall and 2)what their best marathon time could potentially be if they were to carbo load properly. There are a lot of other factors that I think are left out of this formula (namely your mental state), but it’s an interesting read.

West Side Highway Run #11

My first run as a 32-year old has been my strongest of the entire summer. Today I ran 7.28 miles in 1 hour and 17 minutes. I burned 1,412 calories. I ran from Battery Park to 42nd street and back. My body feels great right now. (Great in a sore kinda way.) The run up to 42nd was very easy, but the run back to Battery Park was arduous. The wind was blowing very strong and even though I was wearing a sweater, the cold was really kicking in. But I made it, and I felt like a million bucks upon finishing.

Tonight I had black bean quesadilla and steamed broccoli for dinner. The broccoli was delish, I made it myself. (That may not sound like a big deal, but I’m not much of a cook, so to me it is!) So overall, I had a strong workout and a very nutritious dinner. Now to relax and watch some TV. Recuperate a little. Ahhh!

32

Wednesday was my 32nd birthday. While most people would joke and say something along the lines of “I feel older,” I have to admit that I don’t. In fact, I feel stronger today than I did when I turned 22. My goal every year is to be stronger, faster, and healthier than the year before. This past year I took my diet a lot more serious than before. I slowed down with the cheese, I gave up artificial juices, I ditched canola oil and used olive oil, I juiced pretty much every day. Combined with my workouts, this has left me feeling amazing. Here’s hoping that 32 will indeed be a strong and healthy year.

Birthday workouts

I’m on vacation this week so I’m going to hit the gym extra hard. On top of that, Wednesday is my birthday and I always make the last few workouts before a birthday extra intense. I like to end the year off intense, and start the year off even more intense. It feeds into my philosophy — each year I will grow stronger than the year before.

That said, Monday I ran on the treadmill for 45 minutes. I sprinted at 6.6 speed with 4.5 incline. I sprinted 4x back-to-back. I was beat when I was done, but it felt so good. Tuesday I hope to hit my shoulders. Maybe back. We’ll see. Either way, it will be a good workout week.

Super slow chest routine

This was the chest workout I did yesterday. For each rep, I took about 7 seconds to raise the weight, and another 8 or so seconds to lower it. I took about a 45-second break in between sets. Today, my chest is insanely sore. (For the dumbbell workouts, that’s the weight I use on each side. So 45-lb. dumbbell on my left, and 45-lb. dumbbell on my right.) I highly recommend something similar to this if you’re looking to try something new.

1) Four sets of (flat) dumbbell bench press
*8 reps at 45 lbs.
*8 reps at 45 lbs.
*6 reps at 45 lbs.
*5 reps at 50 lbs.

2)Four sets of decline barbell bench press
*8 reps at 135 lbs.
*8 reps at 135 lbs.
*6 reps at 135 lbs.
*4 reps at 135 lbs.

3)Four sets of incline dumbbell bench press
*8 reps at 45 lbs.
*6 reps at 50 lbs.
*6 reps at 50 lbs.
*4 reps at 50 lbs.

4)Seated fly machine
*10 reps a 100 lbs.
*8 reps at 115 lbs.
*8 reps at 115 lbs.
*5 reps at 115 lbs.

Gym dues

My gym membership is going up $3 to $142 this month. That’s a lot of dough for a gym membership. Earlier I was toying with the idea of dropping my gym (Equinox) and using the gym here in my building. The problem is that the gym in my building is limited. No barbells, dummbells top off at 50 lbs., etc. I think I will stick with Equinox for a few months more. Although I hate paying $142/mo., it’s an investment in my health. And that’s something that’s priceless.

Men’s Health free workouts

Men’s Health is currently offering two free training videos. 15 Minute Workout: Four for Your Core is a quick video with four workouts designed to hit your core area. Outdoor Workout is another quick video demonstrating a few outdoor exercises you can do to get your heart rate up. I personally liked the latter more. But they’re free and provide some decent tips. Worth checking out if you ask me.

Plateau breaker

I’m in love with my workouts. Ever since I started doing my super slow routine, I feel like I’ve rediscovered what it means to workout. Take today for instance. I did shoulders and biceps. While doing front raises, I could literally feel the muscle in my shoulder agonize as I bought the dumbbell up and slowly down. It’s so intense that it makes you visually focus on and feel each muscle in your body. I highly recommend trying a super slow workout, at least for one month. I’m about two or three weeks into mine and I admit that I do feel leaner. I’m not saying this is the ultimate workout, but if you’ve been stuck in a plateau — this is certainly a great way to break it.