Archives: April 2009

Preparation

by James Martini
Categories: Journal
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Published on: April 30, 2009

“To every man there comes in his lifetime that special moment when he is tapped on the shoulder and offered the chance to do a very special thing.

What a tragedy if that moment finds him unprepared or unqualified for the work which would be his finest hour.”

—Sir Winston Churchill

“Fortune favors the prepared.”

— My Physics 101 Professor

Strength Training – Day 23

by James Martini
Categories: fitness
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Published on: April 30, 2009

Strength training goals for the next 67 days:

  • Squat my body weight: 68%
  • Bench press 3/4 my body weight: 90%
  • Overhead press half my body weight: 75%
  • Lose the love handles: they’re still there

Day 23
Squats: 135  5×5
Overhead Press: 75  5×5
Deadlift: 115 1×5
Pullups: (60 pounds offset) 7,5,3
Planks: 3×30 seconds

I probably could have gone up in weight with the squats today. The deadlifts are still pretty easy so I’ll add another 20 pounds next time. I’m starting to feel the weight of the overhead press but haven’t gotten to the point where I’m struggling with the last set.

Strength Training – Day 19

by James Martini
Categories: fitness
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Published on: April 28, 2009

Weightlifting goals for the next 71 days:

  • Squat my body weight: 68%
  • Bench press 3/4 my body weight: 90%
  • Overhead press half my body weight: 65%
  • Lose the love handles: still there

Day 19
Squats: 135  5×5
Bench Press: 130  5×5
Rows: 65  3×5
Crunches: 3×12

Strength Training – Day 12

by James Martini
Categories: fitness
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Published on: April 21, 2009

Weightlifting goals for the next 78 days:

  • Squat my body weight (whatever that turns out to be at the end)
  • Bench press 3/4 my body weight
  • Overhead press half my body weight
  • Lose the love handles

Day 12
Squats: 125  5×5
Bench Press: 125  5×5
Rows: 55  3×5
Inverted Rows: 2xF
Crunches: 3×12

Oh God my arms are killing me. I have no idea why but the area where my biceps socket into the elbows hurts on both sides like someone has taken a hacksaw to them. Oh the up side, I’m only 25 pounds away from my bench press goal.

So the actual exercise log for the day goes like this:

  1. 1hr at the gym in the am
  2. Pull weeds in the yard for 45 minutes at lunch
  3. Rake up sticks and sweetgum balls in yard after dinner
  4. Push around my reel mower in the front yard

Day 7

by James Martini
Categories: fitness
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Published on: April 16, 2009

Weightlifting goals for the next 83 days:

  • Squat my body weight (whatever that turns out to be at the end)
  • Bench press 3/4 my body weight
  • Overhead press half my body weight
  • Lose the love handles

Day 7
Squats: 120  5×5
Overhead Press: 45  5×5
Deadlifts: 45  1×5
Pull ups: None, did 12, 7, 5 on the machine with 60 pound of my weight removed
Planks: 3×30s

I can’t do a single damned pull up. Of course I console myself with the fact that at 25 I probably couldn’t have done one with an extra fifty pounds of weight attached to my belt. I’m using the machine of offset some of my body weight while I do pull ups and will decrease that amount each time until I can do them unassisted.

The deadlifts are trivial but I want to start with nothing and build up while ensuring my form is correct. No point in blowing my spine out of my torso just so I can look like a bad ass. Similarly, the overhead presses were trivial and I was primarily showing the wife how to do them. I’ll probably increase them 10 pounds a session until I find out what I can actually lift.

TDK and Strength Training – Day 5

by James Martini
Categories: family, fitness, Taekwondo
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Published on: April 14, 2009

Weightlifting goals for the next 85 days:

  • Squat my body weight (whatever that turns out to be at the end)
  • Bench press 3/4 my body weight
  • Overhead press half my body weight
  • Lose the love handles

Day 5
Squats: 115  5×5
Bench Press: 120  5×5
Rows: 50  5×5
Push ups: skipped
Reverse Crunches: 12, 12, 12

We got a late start so the aerobics class had grabbed the floor area where we could do push ups in relative privacy. We were both pretty sore over the weekend even though we hadn’t changed how we worked out much at all. I guess that’s a good thing.
Emily had her last belt test in Little Dragons and graduated up to the Jrs class with the older kids. Ms Cole-Eckman asked if she wanted to do the Jrs class which immediately followed the Little Dragons and Emily jumped in with both feet. She was so exchited and proud I thought her head was going to explode.
In less positive news, my belt test was yesterday and I ended up skipping it. I’d missed enough classes that even trying to cram over the weekend I couldn’t do both song song and yong gom reliably. I’m going tonight and need to commit to being in every class if I’m going to finish this out.

Stronglifts Day 0

by James Martini
Categories: fitness, Life
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Published on: April 9, 2009

Weightlifting goals for the next 90 days:

  • Squat my body weight (whatever that turns out to be at the end)
  • Bench press 3/4 my body weight
  • Overhead press half my body weight
  • Lose the love handles

Day 0
Squats: 115  5×5
Bench Press: 115  5×5
Rows: 45  5×5
Push ups: 20, 10, 5  (but seriously, this was after bench presses)
Reverse Crunches: 12, 12, 12

I have a cracked rib so the rows and especially crunches can be moderately painful. If the previously cracked ribs are any indication, this should go away in a couple of weeks.

It’s a lot of fun going to the gym with Jyllian. Previously it was easy to skip since going alone wasn’t that enjoyable experience but having someone that you love do it with you makes the pain and effort less of an obstacle.

I owe Ms Davis 75 crunches

by James Martini
Categories: fitness, Taekwondo
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Published on: April 8, 2009

Well now that my spine is relatively close to being lined up and the cracked rib is back to being just a constant nuisance I went back to TKD to try to catch up in time to make this current test cycle.  I’m testing for my senior green belt on Monday and I’m still getting the Song Song and Yong Gom forms mixed together about halfway through each. I skipped sparring and worked on the forms for about 45 minutes in total before doing Muy Thai drills for another 40.

By this time you’d think I’d have learned that I can’t cram for a martial arts test the way I do for just about every other exam I’ve ever taken.  I need to do something about a hundred time before my body begins to have any idea what it’s supposed to be doing. What this means is that I’m going to be doing the Song Song and Yong Gom patterns about a hundred times each.

The one thing in favor of a sedentary lifestyle is that you don’t get hurt much. In the ten years between when I stopped going out to clubs and dancing and walking everywhere I went and looking at the scale as my 40th birthday approached and wondering just how the hell I’d gained fifty pounds I didn’t break a single bone or have a single debilitating injury. In the last year I’ve broken two ribs, cracked a similar number, broken two toes, done something to my back that required a trip to the chiropractor, gotten shin splints and effectively crippled myself with sore muscles more times than I can count. On the up side, my wife tells me that I’ve lost a lot of weight and look better.

I don’t mind the occasional visit from pain but he’s pretty much living in the guest room these days.

Not being content with a body that isn’t absolutely crippled the day after TKD training I’ve added in weight training on the off days. In some ways I’m not as strong as I used to be but I was surprised that I wasn’t as weak as I expected. I’ve been doing free weights fairly randomly with the wife on Tuesdays and Thursdays and I’m about to start the Stronglifts 5×5 program and try it for about 9 weeks.

Now all I need to do is add in skipping rope.

Exercise.
Eat fiber.
Die anyway.

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/emote
  1. monkeyhousezen - Just created my #swtor guild (Luminous Beings) and feel a little like the Merovingian: very well, let us see where this goes.
  2. monkeyhousezen - @realdarthhater What would I add to #swtor at release? Color matching gear to the chest piece. I hate wearing the clown suit.
  3. monkeyhousezen - Em is finally asking me about #buddhism in earnest. Time to prepare Buddhism 101 for 9 year olds. #fb
  4. monkeyhousezen - Looks like @MMOdesign and #swtor opted for the clown suits in order to make the game feel from "rewarding". Disappointing to say the least.
  5. monkeyhousezen - @wilw Okay I need one each of the following tapes...

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