Workout Log

I'm not sure how this will work but I'm going to try to update my workout log here.

Pushups
Date	Step	Set 1	Set 2	Set 3
3/4	2 - Incline Pushups	40	40	40
3/7	2 - Incline Pushups	30	30	30
3/11	2 - Incline Pushups	40	40	40
3/14	2 - Incline Pushups	40	40	40
3/25	3 - Kneeling Pushups	30	30	30
3/28	3 - Kneeling Pushups	30	30	30
4/1	3 - Kneeling Pushups	30	30	30

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Leg Raise
Date	Step	Set 1	Set 2	Set 3
3/5	1 - Knee Tucks	40	40	40
3/7	2 - Flat Knee Raises	30	30	30
3/11	2 - Flat Knee Raises	35	35	35
3/14	2 - Flat Knee Raises	40	40	40
3/25	3 - Flat Bent Leg Raises	30	30	30
3/28	3 - Flat Bent Leg Raises	30	30	30
4/1	3 - Flat Bent Leg Raises	30	30	30

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Squat
Date	Step	Set 1	Set 2	Set 3
3/5	2 - Jackknife Squats	40	40	40
3/10	2 - Jackknife Squats	40	40	40
3/12	2 - Jackknife Squats	40	40	40
3/16	2 - Jackknife Squats	40	40	40
3/26	2 - Jackknife Squats	40	40	40
3/29	2 - Jackknife Squats	40	40	40
4/2	2 - Jackknife Squats	40	40	40

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Pullups
Date	Step	Set 1	Set 2	Set 3
3/5	2 - Horizontal Pulls	20	20	20
3/10	2 - Horizontal Pulls	20	20	20
3/12	2 - Horizontal Pulls	25	25	20
3/16	2 - Horizontal Pulls	30	25	25
3/25	5 - Full PullUps	12	10	-
3/26	2 - Horizontal Pulls	25	25	25
3/29	2 - Horizontal Pulls	30	30	30
4/2	2 - Horizontal Pulls	30	30	30

Start of Spring

Hopefully winter is behind us and spring is here, right now the temperatures aren't showing it but the sun is shining and there is no snow, so I take that as a good sign.  Since it has been two weeks or so since the last update I figured I'd bring you up to speed with what I have been doing.

If you have been reading this you will know that I love baseball and play as much as I can, which still isn't enough... All the workouts I do, I do for my personal benefit as well as to improve my game. Also the wife likes the improving body and that is always an added plus!!

Well I have been trying to include the elliptical into my workouts to improve my cardio and have been steadily improving. Every time I hop on, which I try to do at least three times a week, if not more, I have been doing anywhere from two to two and a half miles. This week I plan to do at least two miles everyday.

As for my Convict Conditioning progressions, I have improved to step three on the pushups and leg lifts. I'm still on step two for the squats and pullups. I have met the requirements on all four exercises to move to the next level however I'm making sure to go slowly and to be able to hit each progression level to my liking before moving on.

Pushup Progression:

I mentioned that I'm on step three, which is the kneeling pushups. I have been able to do 3 sets of 30 every time without too much effort. However, I'm staying at this step for a little longer as I work to make sure my elbows stay in close to the body as I do each of the 120 pushups. I'm not too far away from moving to the next level here.

Leg Lift Progression:

I'm on step three here as well. I was able to do 3 sets of 30 the first time I tried but I'm trying to improve the form and get a lift the lower body vertically off the ground at the end of each lift. It is still difficult to do so I will stay at this level for the next couple of weeks.

Squats Progression:

I'm still on level two as I was working on making sure to be able to get deeper into the squat and get my butt closer to my heels. I'm getting better each time as I have been able to get the 3 set of 40 for quite awhile but I'm still not as close to my heels as I think I need to be to be able to move on. So I will keep working at that and stay here a little more. This will allow me to get deeper and loosen the muscles, tendons and ligaments to afford me the flexibility to reach my goal. It will also continue to strengthen my legs.

Pullup Progression:

I was finally able to hit the progression standard of 3x30 last time out but it wasn't easy. And in this mornings workout I was able to match the standard with a little bit more ease. I'm still going to stay at step two for at least another week if not two. I would like to be able to bust out the 3 sets of 30 with less effort.

So that's where I stand on this 2nd of April. I'm improving and getting stronger the numbers and ease of the workouts are showing me that. I'm also able to see slight improvements in the way my body is looking. A few things that I need to improve upon is the food that I'm eating and make sure that it is healthy and not just junk. That is often the toughest part for me as I often eat out for lunch. I don't always eat a ton of stuff but it's just not healthy stuff. So if I can work on actually packing my lunches I will be doing a lot better!

Well until next update, keep working on improving yourself. And make today better than yesterday!

Welcome Back to Me

It has been quite awhile that I've posted anything! Well I haven't back off on my training, I've gone through P90X a couple more times, and performed much better on both my softball teams and my vintage base ball team. The hard work definitely paid off. I even had my first over-the-fence home run in softball last summer! That was quite a thrill and highlight!

I also got married this winter and I couldn't be happier! My wife and I have gotten up many an early morning to workout together. During the last round of P90X my wife and I both sort of cooled to the idea of the program, not because it wasn't working, but more in just that it wasn't as much fun as it started out as. I think some of it was that I had been through it a few other times and it was almost getting routine. My numbers were still improving so it wasn't physically not working it was a mental thing.

I started looking at some other ways of staying in shape and improving my strength, at the same time not spending lots of money on equipment. I was researching body weight exercises and came across a few books, Convict Conditioning, You Are Your Own Gym, and Naked Warrior. They all discuss own to improve your strength with only using your own body weight to get stronger, as the strongmen of old times did before all the fancy weight machines.

Sole E35 Elliptical Machine

Well, these books will be great for my training but my wife wasn't nearly as interested in that sort of training for her! So we had to look elsewhere. Before we were married she would go to the YMCA and train on an elliptical machine and had great success with it! So we ordered one and got it setup this past weekend.

The wife has used it a few times as have I. It's the first time I have ever used one and I'm enjoying it. My goal from it is just to help with improving my cardio. Wednesday I did a mile, yesterday improved to one and a half miles and today was just shy of three miles in forty five minutes. I did take a couple of breaks but I know that will improve as I continue to use the elliptical machine.

As for my strength training, I'm going through the progressions that are laid out in the Convict Conditioning book. There are six areas of the body that are focused upon and there are ten types of exercises for each area. The types of exercises are pushups, pullups, squats, leg lifts, shoulder stands and bridging. As I read the book and saw the steps I know that I could jump to certain progressions since I've been able to do, for example, 3 sets of 20 pushups. But I want to start at the beginning and gain the strength needed for the final step as well as condition my tendons and ligaments for the more strenuous steps.

I am currently on step two of four of them, the book suggests to get to step six before starting bridging and the shoulder stands, so that is what I'm doing. I'm taking my time progressing through them to make sure I have proper form as well as so when I jump to the next step I will be able to continue without much strain.

I have been doing pushups and leg lifts on Mondays and Thursdays and squats and pullups on Tuesdays and Fridays with weekends and Wednesdays as my rest days. Once I get to step six on each I will then either move each exercise to its own day or add shoulder stands and bridges to Wednesdays and Saturdays. These exercises aren't always easy but they also don't usually take long to complete three sets. And if I move each exercise to it's own day then it shouldn't take me more than 15-20 minutes per day to complete which I can always find that much time to workout!

Well that should have caught you up to where I am now. I hope to do a better job of adding to this blog here in the future. Hope you keep reading and continue in your improvement in your struggle against yourself!