TGIF

Ah, the weekend is almost upon us - looking forward to some relaxing and family time!

I've been doing some fitness equipment review articles lately - everything from adjustable dumbbells to whole home gyms, but the main focus has been on cardio equipment. That inspired me to do some intervals on my Precor stair climber last night as part of my workout.

I've been on plenty of different machines lately, but that was the first time I'd been on my own in a little while - I forgot how good of a workout you can get on that thing.

In addition to the intervals I did some block weights, some grippers and a good bit of mobility work and even after limited sleep last night I'm feeling great right now. Tonight will consist of taking it easy (maybe a few gripper closes here and there, but nothing to serious).

Still increasing daily Workload

I've continued to increase my daily workload (even though I haven't been posting about it every day) and I'm still pleased by the short term results that I've seen. I feel like I have more energy when I get up in the morning and that energy seems to be lasting me longer during the day.

In terms of recovery I'm not exactly sure, I did push the envelope a bit last night with 200+ kettlebell swings and a spirited set of sledge hammer swings after that and I am feeling it some today - no pain though, just some mild soreness that seems to be waning as the day progresses. I'll get through tonight and then have my training "weekend" as Friday and Saturday are customarily my off days.

I imagine I'll have a good idea if this experiment holds any real validity in the very near future as I push through a few more scheduled heavy workouts.

Busy, busy, busy

The weekend was packed with family fun: movies, birthdays and shopping - good stuff, especially considering the fact that everyone was recovered enough to actually enjoy it!

Sunday's workout consisted of Squats and Swings - the squats were of the barbell variety in the 20 rep format and the swings were performed with a 24k kettlebell.

Last night I took the 16k kettlebell and performed 250 swings without a break (I did switch hands a few times, but without breaking rhythm in the swings).

Two pretty good, but very different feeling workouts, even though both had one large element in common. I'm feeling one (or maybe both) workouts in my legs, lower and upper back - but in a good way.

Regular Training Day

On my normal "weight training" days I'm not going to be out with the hammer as I was every night this week - I've decided that I'll get down into the dungeon after the kids are in bed and move some iron.

Tonight consisted of squats (3 sets of fifteen w/ manageable weight) and v-bar (working sets up to singles with hold - 171 each hand until failure)

Following the moving iron I decided to bend some steel: about half a dozen or so easy 60d's followed by some 1/4 X 6 SteelWorks CRS.

Finished up the evening with some gripper overcrushes working up to the HG250 for holds until failure. Everything felt good, though I think that my strength may still be down a bit from flu recovery - all in all it was a good night.

Lack of Video

It's been a while since I've put together any kind of grip/feat video, I've got some thoughts for a few in the not too distant future but for those of you jonesin' for some footage here's something from Grip-Master Paul Knight and his pals - grippers, blocks and a bit of humor thrown in for good measure...



In all of the videos that I've seen from Paul, I can't remember any that I haven't been tremendously impressed by. They always seem to be joking and having a good time but the feats performed are nothing short of incredible.

Early Evening Movement and more Hammerin'

Most of the family was all but immobilized for the duration of last week with the dreaded illness, so the kids and I decided that an after dinner walk was in order. Of course we picked the coldest and dreariest day of the week to get out and get moving, but nothing a jacket couldn't solve.

We walked around a local park for a total distance of 1-1/4 miles, which I think is a pretty good distance for a two year old who is practically still recovering from the flu.

Once the kids were in bed I attacked tire with hammer again; upped the reppage by another five swings from last night. Everything still feels good and I actually woke up this morning with what seemed to be even more energy than normal - hopefully that isn't just a coincidence.

Implementation of Increased Workload

I decided to physically expound on the thoughts of my earlier post and begin my experimentation of daily increased workload tonight. Once the kids were off to bed I jumped out back and went to town with the sledgehammer. A quick but intense session that consisted of five more total swings than last evenings session. I felt as though I had plenty of swings left in the tank, but I didn't want to move too fast too soon - I'll be back out there tomorrow after all.

As a secondary thought to my increased physical workload, I've also decided to up my daily protein intake. I'm very aware of what I consume but being a vegetarian I feel like sometimes I'm not quite meeting my body's daily requirements of protein for my activity level, I feel an automatic increase of 15 grams a day should suffice for the extra demands that I'm putting on myself.