Jaer's Fitness Journey

Congratulations!



Just take your arm measurement in centimeters and if anybody asks, drop a double-biceps pose on 'em and be like, "97.5 baby, BOOM!"

Well, this past week has played havoc with my workouts. My gym closed on Tuesday, which resulted in me having no place to pick things up and put them down...until yesterday. I mentioned, I believe, how my Dad and I had been doing a home renovation project for the past year and a half. We invaded my garage and turned half of it into an interior space. Doing construction in the garage meant all the things I was storing in the garage moved to the basement...which in turn meant my basement had way too much stuff just crammed into it.

Adding to that chaos was that we had to chop holes through the block in the basement to garage to run pipes and wires and duct work...and then work on pipes and wires and duct work, the basement was a wreck for a long time. Mostly just a path from the stairs to the washing machine to the dryer. It was almost hoarders level bad.

I've been slowly sorting it out since the renovation project was done, moving things back to what's left of the garage and reorganizing. I sped that project up this week and completely cleaned the basement during the week.

Yesterday, I set up the old basement gym and in better condition than ever. I put up hooks to hang things on the walls and just took time to really consider the space. The old set-up had been built around what equipment I had when I started, and I never really re-organized as I brought more and more stuff into the house.

I couldn't quite do my same workout because I don't yet have a BOSU ball (it was supposed to be delivered Thursday, but it's been delayed until this Wednesday; I guess Amazon has more important things to deliver. And I'm OK with that.) nor do I have a box I can comfortable jump onto...nor the head room to jump up onto something...but I got in my balance stability workout! I have one more week of this before switching to strength program.

First home workout
Warm-up cardio: Ran 1-mile loop around neighborhood with +23 pounds strapped across very regions of my frame

Low-to-high plank with shoulder touch (+13 lbs): 16, 16
Single-leg DB chop (+13 lbs): 15x 16, 16
Squat jumps )+13 lbs): 16, 16
~3:30 rounds, 1:00 rest between rounds


Single-leg DB Romanian DL to Curl to OHP: 20x 15, 15, 15
TRX push-ups: 15, 15, 15
TRX inverted rows: 15, 15, 15
DB OHP on stability ball: 15sx 15, 15, 15
Single-leg DB Curl: 15x 10, 10 10
Supine DB Tri Extension on Stability Ball: 15sx 15, 15, 15
Single Leg Pistol Squat: 10, 10, 10

Cool-down cardio: hooping for 10 minutes


For my run, I had a weighted vest (+5lbs), ankle weights (+4 lbs each), and a "belt" I juryrigged from more ankle weights and bungee cords (+10 lbs). This brought me back to running at 220. Obviously adding 23 lbs to a run is going to be hard, but given in my last decade of running, 95% of that time I weighted more than 220, I was surprised how different it felt. Yeah, I know the weight was distributed differently...but there were times I was running at 235. And doing weighted runs back then.

For the post-run circuit, I kept the vest and ankle weights on (hence the +13 lbs). I don't think ankle weights did much to make the planks harder, but the vest would. I'm not sure how much the vest would make standing on leg harder, but having an ankle weight on that lifted leg did.

My gym workout had progressed last week. Progress not being an increase in reps or weight but making the balance aspect more challenging. I had switched from doing single-leg moves to standing on a BOSU ball (ball side down) and doing BOSU push-ups, but like I said, I don't yet possess a BOSU ball, so I regressed back to one-leg work and switched the BOSU push-ups to TRX push-ups (which I think are harder, actually) and changed the renegade rows to TRX inverted rows. Still a really good workout. Felt good getting back to it.

I now have room to get back to my hula hooping. This was my first hooping in probably over two years. On my very first attempt, I went for over 10 minutes straight, no hoop drops--which is probably a new record! I did need to do some quick recovers, but I managed them. I didn't expect that to go so well. I wonder what in my training/work has me in a better spot for hooping now back when I was actually practicing it regularly. Most likely either the reduced weight/flatter stomach or all this balance stability work improving my core.

My plan today is to go running at the track at the local high school. I'll run over as my warm-up and then do a sort-of Tabata circuit (I'm not assuming a 20 second on, 10 second off timing):

1: Right side shuffle down the straight, slow around the curve
2: High skip down the straight, slow around the curve
3: Left side shuffle down the straight, slow around the curve
4: Butt-kick run down the straight, slow around the curve
5: Right side carioca down the straight, slow around the curve
6: High-knee run down the straight, slow around the curve
7: Left side carico down the straight, slow around the curve
8: Whatever-I-have-left-in-me sprint down the straight, slow around the curve

Rest and evaluate how tire, sore, and/or silly I feel, and from that assessment maybe I'll do another round or two before a cool-down run home.

Jaer
and H are still healthy and in full-on social distancing mode and both 100% remote. Stay safe, fitness friends!