Day 3746

ᎣᏏᏲ. ᏙᎯᏧ? Hey, welcome back!

96 days ago I started on the journey of a lifetime. While it did end about a month ago I’ve managed to keep up with my studies. I completed two certifications, bringing the total to 6. I bought gear to train with. I’ve purchased additional exercise equipment to keep on track. And I’ve upped my cardio a bit going from about 2 miles a day to an average this week of 5.25 – next week I will start a couch-to-10k.

My workouts are generally the same each day something like this:
warmup
M/Th Upper
Tu/F Lower
W/Sa Core
whatever the couch-to-10k run portion is
2 miles walking (minimum)

My warmups are always the same:
Dynamic warmup
Roxanne
Sally Up
AMRAP or cards
medicine ball throw
hanging leg raise
deadlifts
carry wt -> sandbag 300#
Stairs up and down

I get a good stretch; some upper, lower, and core workout; and some functional workout items for specific target areas I know I’ll need (I’ll go over this later). The items that change are rope pull and tire smash vs weighted crunches vs weighted lunges. I do this because I also have a course set up in my basement to my yard that does a functional test that will train me for all aspects I need – many of these are covered below but the purpose may not be understood.

Let’s go over each part of the warmup.
Dynamic warmup – this is the basic body warm-up before the workout begins. It’s quick, simple, and works well.
· prone W-T x10
· ½ moon thoracic rotation x3 Left
· ½ moon thoracic rotation x3 Right
· Sidelying bridges x6 Right
· Bridges x10
· Sidelying bridges x6 Left
· 90/90 hip rotation raises x3 Bilateral
· Runner’s lunge x3 Bilaterally, jog to end
· Reverse lunge, side to side stretch x3 Bilaterally, jog to end
· Lateral hops x10, jog to end Bilaterally
Roxanne – pushup drill. Play the song, Roxanne. Hold a plank. Every time Sting says “Roxanne” you do a pushup.
Sally Ups – play the song Bring Sally Up. Start in the squat position. Every time the singer says “bring Sally up” you stand. When the singer says “bring Sally down” you squat
AMRAP or Cards – If it’s AMRAP day I have 30 minutes and I’ll do a variation of different exercises in a couple different orders.
10 Burpees
20 Drop Squats
30 Seal Jacks
40 Skater Hops
50 Mountain Climbers
40 Lateral Lunges
30 pushups
20 inchworms
10 plank to pushup
or I’ll choose a couple different exercises and then they progress in a decrement over 10 reps. So I’ll have an exercise that starts at 20 like mountain climbers followed by 10 situps and 8 more exercises that move down the next would be 18 and 9 and so on. When the next round starts I’d do 18 mountain climbers and 9 situps. the next round 16 and 8 and so on.
If I do cards then I pick something for each suit and run the numbers. So 2-K is 2 to 13. Aces are 10 burpees. Jokers always repeat the last exercise. So I’ll have like Hearts are pushups, Clubs are situps, Diamonds are air squats, and spades are jumping jacks – or other exercises. I try to keep them balanced like an upper, lower, cardio, core – so situps could be crunches or planks or Russian twists. I flip over one card at a time and continue through the deck.
Medicine Ball Throw – I have a 20# slamball that I do three exercises 20x – I hold the ball overhead and throw it against the ground. I then use one hand and push the ball throwing it against the wall (right and left side). Then I hold it with both hands and squat then stand throwing the ball up against the wall.
Hanging Leg Raise – I hang from the bar with a weight vest and raise my legs. Sometimes I use a 5# ball and lift it between my feet or wear my leg weights and lift
Deadlifts – I have 30# kettlebells in each hand and I do a deadlift. Sometimes I’ll use the heavier sandbag.
Carry Weight – Sandbag up to 300#. I carry it with a bear hug as if I were dragging a patient.
Stairs Up and Down – I go upstairs using a sounding technique with my left foot then step and sit on the stairs advancing up. Then I’ll go down sounding all the way. Then I go up the steps in reverse as if pulling out of a below grade. I then do the same with my right foot. It’s awkward but I do it so I get the symmetrical training. I also go up and down the stairs (I have 12) 10x. I will work up to 2000 steps carrying 150 pounds. The 2000 steps will be done twice a week and not each day.

Upper Body Workout:
Rope Pull – I have 200′ of rope. I double up the rope so it’s 100′ and I attach all of the weight I have including a sandbag to one end. I take the end without the weight and run out 100′ then kneel and pull the rope dragging the 100#+ of weight towards me hand-over-hand. When the weight gets to my spot I grab the loose end and do it again. I usually do this 10 down and back so a total of 20 times.
Tire Smash – Sledgehammer to a tire flat on the ground 10x then sledgehammer on a vertical tire 10x

Lower Body Workout:
Weighted Lunges – I wear a weighted vest and carry 30# kettlebells when I do lunges. I do 12 per leg 4 times.

Core Body Workout:
Weighted Crunches – I hold 20-50# of weight and do 12 crunches 4 times.

Couch to 10k:
Each day I have some running to do. I follow this training plan https://www.runtothefinish.com/couch-to-10k/ for the most part. I’ve modified it to include sprints up hills. I once ran for 5 months following something similar and ended up running 5-minute miles. I’m not looking for 5-minute miles I’m just looking to be able to run the mileage to keep the VO2 max up.

I have other things I practice at different times such as a hose drag as the heel or search and rescue slides, bilaterally for both.

This is my workout program for the next 4 months. My eating plan is upping calories. I don’t eat enough. I’ve never eaten a lot when working out. I need to up my calories to more than 2000. I currently eat less than 1000.
Breakfast:
oatmeal with some butter and sugar, 2 bananas, 2-4 eggs – 800 calories
Lunch and Dinner:
chicken, red beans, rice – 500 calories
Midmorning and Midafternoon:
Protein shake – 100 calories
Totals:
Calories – 2050
Protein – 174
Fat – 67
Carbs – 221

I feel pretty good at the end of the day. I don’t lose energy when working out. I don’t eat a lot of veggies right now. But when I do it’s in the form of a salad, carrots, or cooked peppers.

This isn’t a firmly set program. It is hard and adaptable. As you get stronger then the AMRAP adds more reps automatically. You can also evaluate after each workout to plan the next one. If you can do more or less then you can adjust the plan. The goal isn’t to adjust it down but adapt to it. So the minimum is what I do. As I improve I add more weight to get stronger.

I’m really happy with this plan. It does take a lot out of me but it has also helped me get stronger. I walked up and down hills for 8+ miles a day through Boston and was barely winded going up steep hills.

I’m tracking everything I do – workouts, times, distances, weights, and capacity. I do biweekly testing of pushups, situps, planks, and a 1.5-mile run to see how I’m progressing.

Until next time. Dodadagohvi. ᏙᏓᏓᎪᎲᎢ.