<p>I’m trying to figure out what to do today. It’s too hot (and muddy after torrential downpours last night) for walk/jog. Too hot in the house for Airdyne intervals. So, I’m thinking the best bet is the cooler basement for some swings n’ burpees. I’m expecting it will be a rather unpleasant 20 minutes, but I’ve got leftover baby back ribs for dinner to keep me going!</p>
<p>Had the pulled pork BBQ last night (with a nice side of green beans). Awesome. I think it might have even been better than the baby back ribs.</p>
<p>I think I’ll have to go vegetarian tomorrow with some kind of big dinner salad.</p>
<p>Then stop until the heart rate falls to 60% of max and do another set. Three sets, 22 minutes start to finish.</p>
<p>Felt really strong. I’m starting to really feel the whole core on the swings – hip drive, and abs fully engaged stopping the weight at the top and pulling back down hard. It really helped me to back off on the weight a bit. I’m now controlling the swings instead of the swings controlling me. Burpees felt great. Good strong pushups, nose to the ground on all 54 of them. Still huffin’ and puffin’ like an ol’ (formerly) fat guy, but it is nice from time to time to feel real gains in strength and fitness.</p>
<p>Holidays are rough. That’s all I’m saying. I ate two s’mores Saturday that I almost didn’t recover from-- thought it would taste so good but it was way, way, way too much sugar. Also had a mojito that probably didn’t improve matters either. That said, H and I got some exercise in Saturday and Monday and have just returned from our loop around town which felt extremely tough tonight. High humidity is never fun to exercise in. Was at TJ Maxx with D on Sunday looking for a yoga mat and was amazed to discover kettlebells. I am giving serious consideration to purchasing some. If nothing else they might be good paperweights, or doorstops.</p>
<p>Perform Better has one of their regular free-freight promos thru midnight tonight. Definitely the time to buy kettlebells! Those things cost a fortune to ship:</p>
<p>Overall, I was pretty good this weekend on eating. I did have a beer. And I ate so much bar-b-q pork that I think I’m growing a curly tail. I did keep it below 2000 calories every day. No desserts. I didn’t even look at the eclairs my wife bought. Stuck to roasted peanuts, fresh strawberries, and granny smith apples – my snack foods of choice lately.</p>
<p>Hi All! Back from the Lake. Did some walking, yard work and swimming. You all have been busy and chatty! Happy birthday BB!!! Back to the gym tomorrow for me! Congrats to MOWC on your 5K!</p>
<p>I am coming to believe that high intensity exercise, a couple times a week, is the glue that holds it all together. I think it’s possible to lose weight without exercise, but probably almost impossible to keep it off just by trying to restrict calories.</p>
<p>BC:</p>
<p>That was actually a pretty well-researched article from the Wall Street Journal. They made a pretty good case that the chefs scrambling to replace HFCS with sugar aren’t really accomplishing anything.</p>
<p>This holiday was particularly bad. We did go to the gym on Sunday, but the food offerings sorely lacked real vegetables. I stepped on the scale this afternoon and did not like what it told me at all, but will reserve judgement till I see what it says in the morning.</p>
<p>When I was younger I was able to get rid of excess weight and keep it off from college and then grad school just by getting more exercise and making very, very modest cuts in my eating. (I still had dessert every night because our eating group made great desserts!)</p>
<p>Ah. I see that you got to the planks and side planks with elevated feet! Those really suck…</p>
<p>I started out doing them on a 10-inch Reebok step. I often think that NROL4ABS must be quite a shock to someone who had not been doing plank and side plank variations for months. The core workouts kicked my butt and I was reasonably advanced in the plank department.</p>
<p>The thing about planks: the harder they are, the more you need to do them and do them over an extended period of time.</p>
<p>How about those anti-rotation holds? I used to sweat buckets doing those things – literally just kneeling in one place without moving, sweat pouring down.</p>
<p>Oooh. You got the alternating dumbbell shoulder press, too. That shocked me at how hard it is.</p>
<p>Anti-rotation holds weren’t too bad. I may have to check those to make sure I was doing them right!</p>
<p>Shoulder Press wasn’t bad…</p>
<p>But again, planks SUCK! Didn’t help when one of my co-workers came over and started fixing my form And then she started doing them with me. She does Pilates and yoga daily… you think she’s good at planks!!! ;)</p>
<p>Just had a fb exchange with an old friend from high school. He just completed his first sprint tri. He was always naturally athletic, but never really pursued any sports consistently, despite his dad being a marathon runner, at a time in a place, where no one else’s dad even jogged. Anyway, this tri was very significant to him, and I asked him what was next?
His big goal now is giving up cigarettes (this is his umpteenth attempt) and curbing excessive amounts of beer.
So grateful, that I quit smoking in my twenties and I have never been more than a very occasional drinker. Puts the battling the extra lbs. in perspective and is a good reminder that we all have things we struggle with.</p>
<p>Are you holding one up while you do the 12 reps with one arm? And then holding that one up while doing 12 reps with the other arm? Man, those things just about killed me. I did them again a couple weeks ago and they killed me all over again.</p>
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<p>The thing about planks is that you can’t even really feel them until you’ve been doing them for a while and then, all the sudden, you feel the abs firing. Once that happens, all kinds of stuff falls into place – like pushup variations that are core dependent. Until that happens, you really just have to gut it out – literally. I have really been enjoying going back to square one with basic planks here lately. My core is so much stronger now that it’s like a completely different exercise. Plank on the stability ball felt great this week. Still just as challenging because I’m dong it “better”.</p>
<p>I think of the day I quit smoking (Feb 11, 2008) as the second best day of my life, only after the day my daughter was born. I only wish I had quit in my 20s. I pay the price for 38 years of smoking every day.</p>
And then she started doing them with me. She does Pilates and yoga daily… you think she’s good at planks!!! ;)</p>![http://i218.■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■/albums/cc14/hwc_1000/160-1.jpg]happy](http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc14/hwc_1000/160-1.jpg%5Dhappy){kind=link}
