What are your health / fitness goals? Accountability

Yesterday was an active rest day and today is a full rest day. I'm going to do some deep cleaning of the house and see if I can fix my other headphone. Only one wants to charge.

 

Gyms now have a machine for dips where you can add weight to counter your own a bit. At home one can use their own legs to assist slightly as to not injure your shoulders or to just build strength slowly.

 

@Meat I'll definitely need both legs for starters. I'm glad you suggested dips. It actually happens to be my all-time most dreaded exercise, but it's probably all the more reason for me to work on it ... In fact, instead of tricep kickbacks tomorrow which I was doing with one arm at a time; I'll do dips instead.

 

I managed to do my push/pull workout today! Yesterday it rained all day long and I felt super unmotivated... Remember how I was praying for rain for nearly 3 solid months? Well, those prayers have been answered and it's currently torrentially raining right now.
This morning the rain stopped and I decided to do my workout.
Push / Pull: Complete 5 rounds of the following

• 30 Chest Presses
• 30 Bent over Rows
• 30 Bicep Curls (supinated)
• 30 Dips
• 30 Weighted Sit-ups
• 30 Reverse Crunches

I decided to trade the tricep extensions for dips after @Meat talked about dips. They are the exercise I love to avoid because my triceps are not very strong so it's good for me to work on them. I was able to do 20 without stopping, rest, then finish the last 10. This afternoon my bench promptly crumbled because it got left out in the rain one night and I'm so thankful that it didn't crumble beneath me. I want to rebuild it with some marine treated wood.
Tomorrow is supposed to be my lower body push / squats day and I'll have to find an alternate exercise for hip thrusts since the bench is mush until we can rebuild it. I was thinking of doing curtsy lunges, but I think that 5 sets of 30 would be a lot so I'm going to do step ups on my stairs.
I hope you will all have a wonderful week!

 

Tuesday was leg day, yesterday was rest day, and today was upper body / Overhead press. I worked out in the pouring down rain. The good news is that my rain water catchment is overflowing for the first time ever! Flood conditions.

I've_got_a_hat_for_that by Alanaana posted Mar 7, 2024 at 20:37

Tomorrow is supposed to be hinge / back day. I still haven't had a chance to get a new bench and if it rains this hard tomorrow, I may need to bring my weights and workout indoors or find a gym.

 

Good pic. You look as healthy as can be.

 

Mahalo! I'm feeling a lot better.

 

I've been keeping up with my workouts! Yesterday was an upper body workout with overhead press and today was hinge day. I survived a mild disaster then came home and went to work. It felt good and I feel so thankful for my life!

https://www.survivalmonkey.com/threads/my-car-blew-up-this-morning.71252/

I have also read a lot of books. I'll post some of those soon. I hope you will all have a wonderful weekend!

 

I’m glad you’re both ok, geez!

 

Thank you! Me too.

 

Today is another rest day. I just finished the 2nd week of this program I designed for myself (including dips now .) 4 days of strength training with Wednesday, Saturday, and Sunday as active rest days.
I thought that I would just laze around all day with a pot of hot tea and read books, but the outside called to me. I feel thankful to live in a botanical garden of sorts.
I hope you are all enjoying your weekend!

 

I felt super unmotivated and was procrastinating like crazy. I even torched my Calliandra stumps before I finally got down to business. I moved my weights indoors because it is so rainy and muddy outside. Working out is a lot more entertaining outside, but it was nice to not smother myself with sunscreen and insect repellent.
I did my push/pull workout including the dips! I discovered that I have a dip face. LOL.

 

I did them yesterday myself. 5 sets of 16 to be exact. I used to add weight but those days are over, I now add reps if I can. In other news I’m signed up for the Revolution 51 as of yesterday. This will be my 3rd time at this particular BJJ tournament. My goal is to smash of course. Lol.

 

@Meat great job! I think they are very challenging and effective even without weight. I'm doing them with a chair. I like that both arms get done at the same time. I bet you'll do great at this next tournament.

 

Today is squat day and I'm taking it outside. I really appreciate the fresh air and the moral support of the chickens.

Let's_get_coffee! by Alanaana posted Mar 12, 2024 at 14:49

I like to do my workouts in circuit style so 30 repetitions of each exercise 5 times.

• 30 Step Ups
• 30 Goblet Squats
• 30 Bulgarian Squats
• 30 DB Sumo Squats
• 30 Reverse Lunges
• 30 Heel Lifted Squats
• 30 calf raises.

This could take awhile... Wish me luck!

Barbarella_is_the_boss by Alanaana posted Mar 12, 2024 at 14:49

 

The workout went really well, but felt like it took forever. Those Bulgarian Split squats get me every time and by the last set I usually go down to bodyweight to maintain good form.
So far I've read 31 books this year, but I've fallen behind on posting them here and I don't want to bore all of you so I'll just share what I'm currently reading:

• "Trail of the Lost: The Relentless Search to Bring Home the Missing Hikers of the Pacific Crest Trail" by Andrea Lankford. This is really well written and I'm enjoying it. Lankford takes an investigative journalistic approach and her experience in the field really shows, but these stories are very sad. I'm thinking big cats, murder, or hypothermia. What do you think?
• "Paradise Lot: Two Plant Geeks, One-Tenth of an Acre, and the Making of An Edible Garden Oasis in the City" by Eric Tonesmeirer and Jonathan Bates I just started this and am enjoying it. I've been spending a lot of time outside in the gardens these days and I love reading about other people's garden and permaculture adventures.

I have to brag a little on behalf of one of my best friends. She hiked the Pacific Crest Trail a few years ago. Mica Did NOLS in New Zealand and I did NOLS in Wyoming back in 2007. We reunited at the ungodly hour of 5 am masters' swimming practice in 2010. We've done a few Mt. Rainier day hikes together, but it's been too long since the last time I've spent dedicated quality time in the backcountry. My most recent backcountry trip was in a cold and snowy January in Wyoming. I'm still trying to warm up from that one... Hence the tropical location. Lol.
Here's Mica's story:
Mica Marquez Follows A Dream And Hikes The Pacific Crest Trail - ThurstonTalk
Nowadays I think she has a state job and a newborn.

 

Wednesday was rest day, Thursday was upperbody / Overhead press, I rested on Friday and today was Hinge / back.
Today I really felt good about this format (5x30) of each exercise. It's more time consuming than what I used to do, but I feel like I'm actually getting better at the exercises themselves rather than just going through the motions.
Overall, I feel a lot better. I was feeling a bit sad, unmotivated, and exhausted especially yesterday. Not having personal transportation isn't "fun," but other than that things are good. We get Uber out here. When we first moved here there was no Uber.
I hope you all had a wonderful week!

 

This is week four of my program and I'm feeling good. The dips are still challenging, but I'm feeling stronger than I did last week! Next week I think I'll switch up my exercises, but I'll keep staples like squats, bench press, weighted sit ups, deadlifts. What are some of your favorite dumbbell exercises? I still don't have a bench so I'll have to do things on the floor or with a chair. Hope you will all have a wonderful week!

 

In the past I used dumbbells for tricep extensions, behind the head. These days I don’t lift weights but do other things including dips as mentioned. When my kids were small I’d ask them “what’s this lump behind my arm” after my round of dips. They’d roll their eyes like they still do today. Lol.

 

I'm down 29 pounds now. I'm meditating a couple of times a day and doing a lot of stretching.

I'm reading The Secret History of the World by Mark Booth. Its a concise description of secret societies, alchemy, and the human development of spirituality. There is a lot in there. Read lightly, there is something inside to challenge every belief system or lack thereof.