I Could Lift These

Seriously? Digging parts of it up? Doesn't make much sense. Oh well. They do their own thing over on that little island.

Today's lifting regiment was fun-filled. I added my usual ab workout and back excercise to the list. I don't like that this program doesn't have ab and back work everyday. I suppose I have a bit of a different idea of what needs more focus. As per usual, I did 3 sets of each excercise. This time I decided to push my body to make sure that I did at least up to 12. I pushed myself way too hard on some of them, but they were mostly all machines, so the chance of injuring myself wasn't too great.
Dumbbell Inclined Bench
Chest Press
Pec Deck
Shoulder Press
Rear Deltoid Flye
Overhead Tricep Extensions


The overhead tricep extensions nearly broke me. Luckily it was the last thing to do.

For Whom to Vote

It is an election year. I present you the poster of the candidate for whom I am voting. Really, why choose the lesser evil? Why not choose the most evil you possibly could?

Since I have been taking the weekend off from lifting weights, I have allowed myself a few indulgences. One of these was some split-pea soup (it had a ham base and tiny little bits of ham) and another was a large amount of rum. Well, it wasn't really that large, but it had been a while since I had any. During the rumification, my sister (who remains sober) decided we need to write haiku. So there we sat at a concert, writing haiku. The following haiku were written by either my sister or myself.
Jackson Hole,
And breaking my neck
Brought me God.

Midnight beer
On the Missouri.
Perfection.

Cowboy hats
Upon their blonde hair:
True women.

Dakota Snow
So white and fluffy.
Forgiveness.

Tic-Tac-Toe
On chilly barstools
Is pointless.

Dead leaves
Revealed by melted snow.
North Dakota spring.

Sadness is
A tree in Brooklyn
Not growing.

Old Alice
Has no looking glass
Anymore.

To shimmer
And be happy is
The true path.

Thinking about
Tyler can bring a
Smile to me.

Outside wind
Fouling up my hair
Brings true joy.

Whips, handcuffs
And other dark arts
Are skanky.

Changing hair
Is a reflection
Of one's self.

Swedish boy
Sitting at the bar
Much too young.

Happy sad
Girl looking at me
In mirror.

Snubbed by you
In the parking lot
Is fucked up.

Happiness
Unattainable
Out of reach.

Before My Time

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. Then, looking upon His creation and seeing its imperfection, God decided to improve upon it by creating the greatest sandwhich in all eternity: the Monte Cristo. Nothing can compare with its excellence. The question, "Can God create a sandwhich so fattening that even His arteries will clog," is answered in this sandwhich. It's an indulgence only to be truly enjoyed when you have attained enlightenment. Only then can a person truly understand the bodhi-mind that is the Monte Cristo.

Today is going to be a bit of a cheat day. The recommended workout for my weight program is being skipped. It consists of abs and leg work. I don't feel as though this is good enough though. I will work on my shoulders a little, my back, and my biceps. I'll do the recommended abs and leg work, but I feel as though it's cheating too much. I'm taking the weekend off, isn't that good enough for the routine?

Cherry Tree Caroline

I really have no reason for posting this picture. I just felt like it'd be fun. Little remembrance of Glasgow. It was a grand ole time for Hannah's birthday. I belive this was actually for Steve's birthday though. Anyway, having our own huge room in a hostel for a party was a lot of fun. It was a great idea and the skittles vodka was well worth the gut-rot.

But that was a different time. Today's workout was grand. It was a step-up from what I normally do. I RARELY do supersets, but today I did.
Supersets combine two or more exercises with similar motions to maximize the amount of work of an individual muscle or group of muscles. The exercises are performed with no rest period between the exercises.
The supersets I performed today were as follows:
Incline press with bent-over row. I moved immediately from the incline press to the bent-over row. I didn't even take a break between sets, but did all 3 sets in a row.
Dip and pull-up. This was really hard doing supersets. Once again, I didn't take a break between the sets at all. It was rough. I normally only do sets of 10 for the dips, and sets of 10 for the pull-ups. Instead, today I pushed myself as hard as possible and did 15 reps for each set. I get the feeling tomorrow is going to lead to my body being broken.
The rest of my workout was pretty chill. After my supersets, I did my ab routine and lower back routine. This time I used a 25lb weight for the lower back. Then I finished it off with the following:
Military Press
Dumbbell Kickback.

In the end, it was a great work-out today. Not sure about climbing tonight. It would be good, but I'm not feeling like going all the way out to the university tonight.

No Conquest Can Ever Be Complete

Today's workout seemed quite easy. It focused mainly on legs, and didn't even feel challenging to somebody like myself. It was supposed to be an even easier ab routine today, but I stuck to yesterday's ab routine instead. As per usual, 3 sets of 8-15.
Wednesday's Routine
Ab Routine: for more info, see yesterday's post.
Back sit-ups Just for fun
Leg Extensions
Leg Curls
Pull-ups3 sets of 5. I wasn't supposed to do this today.
Upright Row
Body Weight Squats
Standing Calf Raises

It was a pretty easy day today. After all this, I went for a 6 mile run with my sister. It wasn't too fast, but it still took us less than an hour.

For anyone and everyone that missed it, there was an amazing claymation version of Peter and the Wolf on PBS this evening. It was wonderful. I need to find it somewhere.

Exertion of Energy

Today's workout came out with plenty of results. It started out with my ab routine (eased a little bit).
Here's the list of the easier ab routine:
Leg throws 17 (Middle-left-middle-right-middle, etc.)
Leg-ups 10 seconds
Side sit-ups 10 on each side
Opposite arm-opposite knee 30 (15 each side)
Bicycle arm-opposite knee 30 (15 each side)
Flutter kicks 10 seconds
The reason I did the easier ab routine is that I had to do abs three times instead of my usual 1 long session. It might be worth my while to switch to something like that. Once again, everything was 3 sets of 10-15 reps. So here's the routine for my Tuesday:
Abs 3 sets of the aforementioned routine.
Let Pulldown
Seated Row
Lower back aka: reverse sit-ups
Preacher Curls
EZ-bar curls

I'm not much for bicep curls in any way, shape, or form. I'm not against them, but I normally just use a bar and do 3 sets of 15. I don't do multiple excercises for them, unless pull-ups are considered bicep work. Most of the time I do pull-ups for my back, not my biceps.

I'm starting to get slightly bored with some of my workouts. I need to switch it up or watch some kind of inspirational sports-related movie. Yeah, I'm a sucker like that.

A New Era

Here are the excercises I did for today. I started a new weight-lifting program, today. I did 3 sets of 8-15 reps for each excercise.
Chest
Bench press
Incline dumbbell press
Recline chest flye
Shoulder
Shoulder press
Dumbbell lateral raise
Barbell upright row
Tricep
Cable pushdown
Lying dumbbell extension

The barbell upright row was absolutely incredible. It helped relieve a know I had in my shoulder. I also realized that it was that excercise that I've needed all along. That's what's been holding back my progress with my shoulders.

This train don't carry no jokers.

The Leatherwing Bat

Not many people are strong enough to support two full grown adults on their body at the same time. I am amazing though. I walked around the room and even did a little trott with both of them on me.

Today I learned that it is easier for me to carry 70lbs for 10ft than just to lift it up to a shelf at the height of my shoulders. Strange. I didn't get much for weights today though. Quite sad. However, tomorrow I will make up for it. Then on Monday I will begin my new three week training plan. I will post every day's workout.

Last Great Ski of the Season

I got back to Bismarck to warm weather. No snow is left in the city. It's sad. It's heart-breaking. I got my last great ski of the season up north of Duluth. One day was all downhill for probably 4k and uphill for 6k. Then, downhill skiing that 6k was absolute heaven. I've never felt so good xc-skiing.

The next day we did a 10k loop around Pincushion Mountain. It was so much fun. It was uphill enough to really wear a person down, but not enough to make one lose hope. Classic skiing is such a glorious workout. I think I can stalk a deer and kill it while I'm skiing. My new year's goal will come true.

Back in the gym lifting weights again. It feels nice to be actively using my body again. Even a month of inactivity just made me feel terrible. And the food...why must everything be so exhausting to eat? It's time to make a serious change in my eating habits.

Well Deserved and Well Drained

A couple of days ago, I just didn't feel like eating meat. "Going vegetarian" would be a poor choice of wording for it. It's moreso just having had a meat overdose the last however-long. I never used to eat meat for more than three or four days a week. It used to be something that was a bit of an indulgence for me. Suddenly, every dinner has meat as the main dish. It's just getting boring.

So I'm going no-meat for a while. No health reasons. No moral reasons. Just need to let my body and mind desire the taste again. A major issue I have currently is everyone saying "How are you going to get your protein?!" Umm, the same way I always do. From the multitude of other sources besides meat. I can still eat eggs (that taste hasn't disappeared). I can still eat grains, peanut butter, nuts, legumes, etc. What is it with people? If there's ANYTHING that I need more of, it's carbohydrates (and fruits...mmm...I could always use more of that).

Snowshoe Dance of the Chippewa

For some stupid reason, I can't find any good information on how to do the snowshoe dance. I may have to go to the library and do some real research. I believe that this is why global climate change is happening. We haven't been holding up the traditions that the Great Spirit wanted. We haven't been appeasing them. I've given up on Chione. I think she has forsaken North America. Instead, I shall petition the gods of this country.

I want to go cross country skiing. I want to go snowshoeing. I want to play in the snow. I hold onto the dreary hope that North Dakota will hold its own tradition. More snow in March and April than any other months.

It looks like the marathon may not happen for me this year. I feel betrayed because of it. But that just gives me more time to be ready for the next one. Perhaps Grandma's. Perhaps I shall destroy it.

50 Blocks to the Square

I'm getting back into the swing of things. Rocked my yoga. The last few weeks I've been skipping the breathing excercises and the relaxation phase. This was a poor choice. Now that I've gotten back into the full yoga session, I'm feeling a lot better.

Went for a half-an-hour run with my sister right before brunch. It's shaping up to be a beautiful day. The run was amazing, even though I destroyed my right calf yesterday. Eventually it will even itself out again. I'm in no rush otherwise.

Tomorrow I am going to start weight-lifting again. I'm really excited for it. It's going to be grand to be building muscle again.

Picking Up Hitchhikers

Back home in good ole Bismarck. Colorado was great and Texas was a blast. Got in some good runs there. My neck and back are slightly destroyed from too much traveling. It's getting to be a bit of a pain having to be too tall for the 95th percentile.

Long discussion on yoga last night. I need to improve my yoga more and more. So many positions so much to do.