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Post by Iroc-z on Feb 15, 2020 14:48:44 GMT
Good, solid, relatively short session. Upped the weight on the additional sets of the main lifts. Will continue upping the reps, then split into three sets and up the weight again so as to increase overall volume over time. Scale weight is the lowest recorded since 26th November. Bodyfat reading fluctuates wildly due to recording method but the low recording are consistently moving lower. Sclae Weight 14/02/2020 184.4lbs @ 24.7%bf Nice job on moving the scale in a positive direction. Unfortunately, my weight went the opposite direction after having two large helpings of a wonderful homemade pasta dish consisting of penne shells, shrimp, spinach, and salsa rosa sauce.
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Post by Graham on Feb 17, 2020 21:04:56 GMT
Good, solid, relatively short session. Upped the weight on the additional sets of the main lifts. Will continue upping the reps, then split into three sets and up the weight again so as to increase overall volume over time. Scale weight is the lowest recorded since 26th November. Bodyfat reading fluctuates wildly due to recording method but the low recording are consistently moving lower. Sclae Weight 14/02/2020 184.4lbs @ 24.7%bf Nice job on moving the scale in a positive direction. Unfortunately, my weight went the opposite direction after having two large helpings of a wonderful homemade pasta dish consisting of penne shells, shrimp, spinach, and salsa rosa sauce. Note though that this was my weight on Friday morning. Edged up a little since.
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Post by Graham on Feb 17, 2020 21:44:21 GMT
2020 Session 18: A Press 48kg/105.6lbs x 5, 5, 5 Press 30.5kg x 12, 9 B Deadlift 135kg/297lbs x 5 Deadlift 75kg x 12, 9 D1 Chin-up x 10, 8, 8.5 D2 Suitcase Carry 6 circuits 20kg x 2 16 minutes on Treadmill Good session. Pleased to see the Deadlift approaching 300lb again. Increased weight and/or reps again. Scale weight has increased a little this weekend. Valentine's dinner, a few Dark and Stormy Rum cocktails on Saturday evening and some more wine with dinner on Sunday. Spend a fair bit of time over the weekend looking at hotels and/or apartments for an upcoming trip to Albania and North Macedonia in June. Booked an apartment for a stay in Ohrid in North Macedonia and a hotel for our stay in Tirana, Albania. Thought I'd found a hotel I fancied staying at in Durres, Albania only to find out it had collapsed in an earthquake last November
Scale weight 185.2lbs @ 26.1%bf
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Post by macdiver on Feb 19, 2020 12:47:32 GMT
2020 Session 18: A Press 48kg/105.6lbs x 5, 5, 5 Press 30.5kg x 12, 9 B Deadlift 135kg/297lbs x 5 Deadlift 75kg x 12, 9 D1 Chin-up x 10, 8, 8.5 D2 Suitcase Carry 6 circuits 20kg x 2 16 minutes on Treadmill Good session. Pleased to see the Deadlift approaching 300lb again. Increased weight and/or reps again. Scale weight has increased a little this weekend. Valentine's dinner, a few Dark and Stormy Rum cocktails on Saturday evening and some more wine with dinner on Sunday. Spend a fair bit of time over the weekend looking at hotels and/or apartments for an upcoming trip to Albania and North Macedonia in June. Booked an apartment for a stay in Ohrid in North Macedonia and a hotel for our stay in Tirana, Albania. Thought I'd found a hotel I fancied staying at in Durres, Albania only to find out it had collapsed in an earthquake last November
Scale weight 185.2lbs @ 26.1%bf Nice deadlift.
Is this a vacation or business trip? Just curious as an American these are not the usual tourist places but they may be common tourist destinations for Europeans.
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Post by M@ on Feb 19, 2020 15:33:36 GMT
Is this a vacation or business trip? Just curious as an American these are not the usual tourist places but they may be common tourist destinations for Europeans. I was wondering the same thing.
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Post by Graham on Feb 19, 2020 20:25:58 GMT
Spend a fair bit of time over the weekend looking at hotels and/or apartments for an upcoming trip to Albania and North Macedonia in June. Booked an apartment for a stay in Ohrid in North Macedonia and a hotel for our stay in Tirana, Albania. Thought I'd found a hotel I fancied staying at in Durres, Albania only to find out it had collapsed in an earthquake last November
Scale weight 185.2lbs @ 26.1%bf Nice deadlift.
Is this a vacation or business trip? Just curious as an American these are not the usual tourist places but they may be common tourist destinations for Europeans.
It's a vacation. No, these are not usual tourist destinations for Europeans and certainly not for British Tourists. From some figures I found the most visited destination for British tourists is Spain where 15.6 million Brits visited in 2018. The 15th most visited destination for Brits was United Arab Emirates with 836,000 visits. By comparison approx 120,000 visited Albania and Wikipedia records 12,215 visits by Brits to North Macedonia in 2019. Both countries are so far down the lists of most visited European countries that there seems to be little information readily available for numbers of visits. The 15 most visited countries by UK tourists are Spain, France, Italy, USA, Republic of Ireland, Portugal, Germany, Netherlands, Poland, Greece, Belgium, Turkey, Romania, India and United Arab Emirates (UAE). I've visited all but Greece, Turkey, Romania, India and UAE from that list. My partner has visited all but Romania and UAE. I'd travelled a little before I met my partner but she loves to travel and it's a shared passion. We like to visit at least one new country each year. This year we'll visit four countries that neither of us have previously visited; Barbados, Albania, North Macedonia and Morocco. I'm also hoping to travel to California towards the end of the year to see the 49ers play in Santa Clara. Part of the appeal of Albania and North Macedonia other than that they are there to be visited is that with two long haul holidays back to back (Japan and Barbados) we were looking for some cheaper destinations. Albania and North Macedonia are the fouth and sixth poorest countries in Europe respectively. Accommodation, food/drink, internal travel are therefore relatively cheap. The Balkans is also a fascinating place in terms of history part of the Roman Empire, the Ottoman Empire and most recently the site of the Yugoslav Wars and the break-up of Yugoslavia. For Christmas just gone my sister bought me a map where the countries of the world are covered with foil and when you've visited them, you scratch off the foil to reveal the map beneath.
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Post by Graham on Feb 20, 2020 0:57:50 GMT
2020 Session 19:
A Squat 110kg/242lbs x 5, 5, 5
Squat 65kg x 12, 10
B Bench Press 72.5kg/154lbs x 5 - 70kg/154lbs x 5, 5
Bench 42.5kg x 12, 10
C1 Back Extension x 2.5kg x 10, 10, 10
C2 Dips x 12, 11, 12
Treadmill 22 minutes.
Another good workout. Adding reps or weight again on most lifts.
My gym has been very quiet lately. A new gym has opened locally and I believe a number of regulars have been tempted away by the introductory pricing at the other gym. Finding it nice to have almost no competition for equipment at the time that I am at the gym.
Weight and bodyfat readings dropping. I know the bodyfat scale method of recording bodyfat is rather unreliable but a visual check suggests to me that bodyfat is indeed dropping. The bodyfat reading this morning was the lowest since 28th August 2019.
Scale weight 183.4lbs @ 24.2%bf.
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Post by seltzer on Feb 20, 2020 13:49:38 GMT
The map idea of your sister's is wonderful! Wifey and I do more than our share of traveling, although most of it is domestic (USA) since the country is so large and diverse. About a year ago I took an online survey and the results were I've been to about (can't remember exactly) 35 USA states plus the Washington DC. At a minimum I know I'll add at least one more next year because we're planning a trip to Alaska.
Good news for you about the less equipment competition at your gym. If people continue to leave maybe your gym will lower their prices, which is what happened at my gym many years ago.
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Post by M@ on Feb 20, 2020 14:32:46 GMT
The Balkans is also a fascinating place in terms of history part of the Roman Empire, the Ottoman Empire and most recently the site of the Yugoslav Wars and the break-up of Yugoslavia. Indeed! The first thing I thought of was Alexander the Great and the Macedonian Empire. Sounds like an awesome trip and I love the rationale (and the calendar). Thanks for the explanation!
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Post by shamie on Feb 20, 2020 18:03:02 GMT
I would have guessed France as #1 for British tourists, since you can take the train there. UAE surprises being so high on the list.
I looked up the top 10 US overseas destinations for US citizens. No real surprises to me, except that Canada wasn't in the top 10. Mexico was #1, #4 was Dominican Republic which surprised me.
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Post by Graham on Feb 20, 2020 19:33:47 GMT
The map idea of your sister's is wonderful! Wifey and I do more than our share of traveling, although most of it is domestic (USA) since the country is so large and diverse. About a year ago I took an online survey and the results were I've been to about (can't remember exactly) 35 USA states plus the Washington DC. At a minimum I know I'll add at least one more next year because we're planning a trip to Alaska. Good news for you about the less equipment competition at your gym. If people continue to leave maybe your gym will lower their prices, which is what happened at my gym many years ago. I'm planning to visit more US states in the future. So far only visited two. A brief wander into New York state from Canada at Niagara in May 2017 and a visit to Chicago, Illinois in September 2018. If it has an NFL team, there is a good chance I'll make a future visit. My country count is currently 26, my partner has visited 33. I'd very much like to have visited all the countries in Europe at some point although the countries of Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia and Kazakhstan which by most definitions are in Europe might be harder to visit and a much harder sell to my partner. There are 51 sovereign states in Europe so I've got some way to go.
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Post by Graham on Feb 20, 2020 19:40:19 GMT
The Balkans is also a fascinating place in terms of history part of the Roman Empire, the Ottoman Empire and most recently the site of the Yugoslav Wars and the break-up of Yugoslavia. Indeed! The first thing I thought of was Alexander the Great and the Macedonian Empire. Sounds like an awesome trip and I love the rationale (and the calendar). Thanks for the explanation! Interestingly, it was only in February 2019 that the Republic of Macedonia changed it's name to North Macedonia due to a dispute with Greece over the name 'Macedonia'. There is a Greek region of Macedonia and Greece felt that their northern neighbour was appropriating the name of Macedonia and symbols of Greek culture such as Alexander the Great.
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Post by Graham on Feb 20, 2020 19:52:15 GMT
I would have guessed France as #1 for British tourists, since you can take the train there. UAE surprises being so high on the list. I looked up the top 10 US overseas destinations for US citizens. No real surprises to me, except that Canada wasn't in the top 10. Mexico was #1, #4 was Dominican Republic which surprised me. The site I found the top UK citizen destinations on did show Canada as the 2nd most visited destination for US citizens. www.statista.com/chart/18742/most-popular-destinations-with-us-travelers/Mexico I would have guessed as no 1 and I would have guessed that the Caribbean was high on the list. My partner believes that she may have been on one of the earliest direct flights from the UK to the Dominican Republic in the early 90s. Paris is a very popular destination for Brits and of course has a direct connection by Eurostar from London. Spain has the holiday/package holiday market though. It's landmass is mostly south of France with much better weather, it has a huge coastline developed for tourism and is significantly cheaper to visit than France. The Canary Islands are also part of Spain. Being just off the coast of Morocco they are far enough south to have just about guaranteed all year round warm/hot sunny weather. The Canaries alone attract 5 million Brits per year. We took a winter holiday in the Canaries in both 2018 and 2019. I think the UAE is such a busy destination due to the Middle Eastern carriers Emirates and Etihad. They've got their hubs in Dubai and Abu Dhabi respectively. They heavily promote stopovers in the UAE for flights from Europe to the far-east (and on the return) as well as increasingly as a (luxury) destination in it's own right.
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Post by Graham on Feb 22, 2020 19:03:35 GMT
Quick work related rant. Had a one-to-one meeting with my manger yesterday. They're suppose to be monthly but I can't remember the last time one was conducted. Received feedback that three members of the team, myself included had been complained about as being a distraction for the rest of the team as we discuss our work too often, for too long and too loudly. I'll give the too loudly as my girlfriend often says my voice carries well. There was also the suggestion that we might not be completing a fair share of work due to the time spent in discussion. Was pretty unfazed during the meeting as my manager is pretty calm (he's of Jamaican heritage and is so relaxed that I often have to check that he's even in the office) although that might be an issue in itself. Only later when I got home did I really feel some annoyance. Didn't help that I'd forgotten a top to wear at the gym so explaining why I put off the gym visit to today. I thought about our team and how of the 11 members, 3 have attendance and timekeeping records so poor that their continued employment is somewhat of a mystery and another either accidentally or by design is working far below her contracted hours. Those four member of the team along with two others also have such a poor grasp of the work that we do that they either make unforgivable mistakes or are constantly relying on the 'three of us' for guidance. The three of us, along with three others are also consistently the only team members to take on additional work including training or other teams, advice and guidance to other parts of the business which by it's very nature then leads requests that might pull us away from our core duties. To have a complaint raised when a full half of the team seems lucky to have not found themselves dismissed due to conduct or competence was galling to say the least. This is to go some way to explaining why I was a bit agitated last night and indulged in a little comfort eating/drinking and ended up eating two large bags of crisps (potato) chips and drinking 3/4 of a bottle for dinner. I didn't feel bad today but I noticed I was de-hydrated at the gym. On a positive note, last night I set up my surround sound kit that I'd dug out of my mothers loft/attic. Late morning I put on X-Men on Blu-Ray. First movie I've watched on my new TV. It looked great and sounded great through the surround sound kit. I was reminded whilst watching that in May 2017 I'd visited the setting for the School for Gifted children (X-Men training school) from the film. This was filmed in Casa Loma in Toronto, Canada en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casa_Loma . There was a significant portion of the film shot in rooms that I'd walked around. Really reminded me of that holiday.
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Post by Graham on Feb 22, 2020 19:44:15 GMT
2020 Session 20:
A Press 48.5kg/106.7lbs x 5 48kg/105.6lbs x 5, 5
Press 30.5kg x 12, 10
B Deadlift 137.5kg/302.5lbs x 5
Deadlift 70kg x 12, 10
D1 Chin-up x 10, 9, 9
D2 Suitcase Carry 6 circuits 20kg x 2
No treadmill today as I was a little out of sorts (see above). Took things fairly easy with slightly extended rests between set although as it was quite quiet in the gym I managed to effectively super-set the Press and the Deadlift so the overall time spent wasn't excessive. Did manage to put too little weight on the bar for the additional Deadlift sets which I only noticed as I finished.
Scale Weight this morning 183.8lbs @ 24.1%bf.
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