Lol's New HST Log

Fri 20/08/10

Brief update: my body is all but healed after my quad bike escapades. (At the time, I also managed to break the bike, two fence posts and split a helmet down the back.)

My gym is still mothballed as I go into the fourth week of house remodelling. I am over 14lb lighter than I was a month ago. Not good but I am looking leaner so, true to my understanding of p-ratios and with no heavy lifting, I am probably losing muscle and fat in roughly equal proportions. Doing 15 pull-ups with my still slightly sore back was much easier than I recall for a long time. I can pretty much hold myself up with one arm now but am still a way away from a one-arm pull-up - I'd need to shrink my legs further still to manage that.

I've been thinking about buying a C2 rower for a good while now. I'm still thinking about it but, in the meantime, my brother and I have just purchased one of these babies (which should arrive next week):

View attachment 1948

I did a continuous 5-mile row out at sea the other day in a less-than-ideal dinghy. It was good fun and great exercise but, with no sliding seat, power output is limited. This new boat can be set up for one or two rowers and has proper sliding seats and nice long oars for powerful strokes. It was more expensive than a C2 but should be a whole load more fun - I'll actually be moving! Now I have to plan a long-distance row or two and improve my time for my regular rows. I'll probably end up getting a C2 rower anyway for CV training in the winter months.

As far as my melanoma situation goes: I'm off to The Royal Marsden in London again next week so the docs can check me over. I'm pleased to report that the tumour on my right elbow has now completely gone. My immune system and my dear little T-cells and other lymphocytes seem to be doing just fine. As far as I can tell, the other tumours haven't grown. I've increased the number of apricot kernels I take per day to around 25-30. What I'm doing, diet wise, seems to be helping so I will continue in the same vein.

All the best with your training.
 
As already mentioned, my time and space for training is limited right now. I'm still able to get to a pull-up bar so I've been doing those everyday. They've been helping my back to recover from my bruising following my quad bike escapades.

As I've dropped a good 14lb in body weight, I now find I can almost hold myself up with either arm at the top of a chin. I can manage it for about a second and then I start to lower. Last night I did seven assisted negs with each arm. I raise myself up with both arms to the top of a chin and then shift the load onto either the right or the left arm until I can't hold the position and have to start to lower. I did seven for the left, took a short rest and then did the same for the right. Felt pretty good. Today, I am nicely sore in all the right places. I can feel that my top level strength has been hit a bit as a set of 10 chins seemed just as tough as the set of 15 I did yesterday.

On the reading front, I have been looking for a good reference on Paleo dieting.

Robb Wolf has a new book out soon entitled "The Paleo Solution." Can't order it in the UK yet. I have listened to some of Robb's podcasts and some seminar material. Think it would be good for me to read what he has to say in view of my situation.

Any one read Prof. Loren Cordain's book "The Paleo Diet"? I can get hold of that. She's done one for athletes too entitled (unsurprisingly!) "The Paleo Diet for Athletes."

I think my diet is tending towards Paleo but with very little red meat. Any thoughts and comments welcome.
 
Hey Twin,

Cheers TwinD & thanks for the link. I think I checked this site out a while back so it was good to be reminded of it. Bookmarked!

==================================

Re training: still having to do mainly bw stuff. Chins/pull-ups, air squats, push-ups and some wide dips (between kitchen worktops). Must try to make some space for a jump-rope session.

Almost managed 20 strict pull-ups today. Not far to go now. Body weight still falling, but not as fast. I was 191 this morning. Dug out my weight belt and managed a set of 10 pull-ups with bw + 25lb yesterday. They were hard but I had already done a fair amount of bw stuff beforehand.

My visit to The Royal Marsden last Thursday was instructive. Prof was rather surprised that the tumour on my right elbow had, to all intents and purposes, disappeared. "That shouldn't happen!" he said.

So I'm taking that as a good sign even though my other lumps haven't really changed. My lungs aren't feeling any better either and are noticeably sucky during and following any activity. If it gets worse, I'll be CT scanned again.
 
Mon 30/08/10 (Bank Hol.)

Finally took delivery of my new row boat yesterday and was able to take it out today. It's a proper sliding-seat jobby that can be adapted for one or two rowers. Sea was calm today, with a pleasant off-shore breeze so, after some try-out sessions and set-up adjustments, went for a 4-5 mile blast with my brother. We both pushed it fairly hard and, considering it was our first time out together, made some respectable times.

After a break, I set the boat up for a single rower and took it out again for a further 2.5 mile row; some of the session I pushed hard and upped the stroke rate and then dropped the rate back down for some recovery before pushing hard again. Lungs held out okay.

The toughest thing to deal with today was my grip stamina; my forearms were toasted! Hands also got sore but, amazingly, remained unblistered. I put that down to all the pull-ups and chins which have toughened up my hands nicely (by contrast, my brother's hands were wrecked; he now has multiple blisters).

It must be the rotational forces on the oar handles that causes the forearm strain. I've never had this from rowing before so it must be down to the extra force produced through leg drive.

When I tried my CoC No2. gripper the other day, which I haven't used in a while, I closed it quite easily and thought I must have picked up the wrong one. So, my forearms haven't weakened much at all since I haven't deadlifted any heavy stuff for a while nopw. Hopefully, the rowing will add a new dimension to my grip strength.

Anyway, total distance rowed today was about 7 miles. I feel nicely tired all over but with significant extra soreness in my forearms and hands.

Should be back at it on Thursday or Friday for another blast.
 
Holy crap, looks like you've been through a bit since I last visited. It is interesting to see how you've branched out to a lot of other things besides just straight HST.
 
Hey Totz, yeah, the $••• hit the proverbial fan. Still here though. New training room not too far away now. Phase 1 of building work almost done.

Weighed myself this morning and am now 188lb! I expect a lot of my loss has been leg mass. I haven't squatted with any load in ages now. Air squatting is all I'm doing - 50 reps at a time. I am def getting a lot leaner though so I'm hoping that a fair amount of my bw loss is fat. Will do a calliper check at some point.

Still doing heaps of chins and pull-ups and inverted rows but not enough push-ups or handstand push-ups.

Thought these two vids were inspiring:

http://media.crossfit.com/cf-video/CrossFit_100909_Miranda_Fran.mov (mac)
http://media.crossfit.com/cf-video/CrossFit_100909_Miranda_Fran.wmv (win)

http://media.crossfit.com/cf-video/Graham_100909Fran.mov (mac)
http://media.crossfit.com/cf-video/Graham_100909Fran.wmv (win)

Done a Fran yet Tim?
 
Lol said:
Done a Fran yet Tim?
Click to expand...

I hate to even admit this - but no, Lol. I haven't been able to do Kippings since the new gym opened. I'm looking at buying my own home-based version so I can start doing 'em again, but there is a bit of a wrinkle there that may delay that for a bit... I'm getting divorced and will be moving likely into an apartment sometime in the next 3 months. I may be switching gyms, based on wherever I settle - so time will tell.

I sure hope you are feeling great and enjoying life, my friend!
 
Chins:

23 x bw - strict PR

Plus lots more!

Wanted 20 but got 23. I ought to be pleased but as this is mainly due to my bw now being only 188lb I don't feel it's that much of an achievement. Still, I'll take it. Next stop, 25.

Legs are melting faster than a wax-work in the Sahara. That will be redressed soon.
 
Sun 19/09/10

Just a few weighted pull-up and chins.

Pull-ups:
10 x bw+15kg (33lb)
6 x bw+25kg (55lb)

Chins:
6 + 4,2,2,1 x bw+25kg (55lb)

Plus a quick set of 40 x push-ups

Push-ups with a deload at the bottom (ie. hands lifted off floor while resting on chest) are a great way to reduce stretch reflex and to ensure each rep is consistent. Makes them harder too. Def worth a try.
 
Mon 28/09/10

O frabjous day! I have, at long last, got my C2 rower. Finally found one for sale locally on Ebay. Gave it a good cleanup and service and now it's ready for action.

SA Chin practice then...

Parallel-grip Pull-ups:
15 x bw
7+1,1,1 x bw+25kg (55lb)

Push-ups: 50 continuous - last few required a pause between reps at the top of the movement.

2k Row on C2: 7:45.6

Started off nice and slow but then picked it up to a 1:45/500m pace. First 1km in 3:44 which was a bit quick for a warmup so I slowed it down for the second km.

I didn't want to push myself hard as it's my first bit of aerobic work in ages. Not out of breath at the end and didn't even break into a sweat which was a good sign that my aerobic fitness hasn't completely disappeared over the past couple of months.
 
Tue 28/09/10

2k Row on C2: 8:09 - damper set to 5

Fairly steady ~2:05/500 splits; last 500 was a bit quicker.

Slower row but it was interesting that this actually felt harder than yesterday. All my traps were sore and my lower body was still carrying some fatigue. Good leg pump by the end.

Also tried a peak power test: set damper on 10 and then pulled as hard as possible for about 10 strokes. Best pull was 699 Watts on the PM2 readout. Elite rowers can get > 1,000 watts!! I find it hard to stay on the seat when trying this so I need to improve my technique/foot position.
 
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Wed 29/09/10

Intervals on C2: damper set to 5; drag factor 152

Brief warmup.

Row 500m: 1:36 (6:24 2k-pace)

Rest 5 mins

Row 1km: 1st 500m/1:51, 2nd 500m/1:48, Total: 3:39

Rest 90 seconds

Row 1km: 1st 500m/1:53, 2nd 500m/1:49, Total: 3:42


Parallel-grip Pull-ups:

15 x bw

Did these to see how tired my back was after the rowing. Evidently, not too bad.


I think I could currently maintain a sub 1:50/500 pace for a 2km row. That's a 7:20 2k. So not up to my previous best yet. Need to get back to a 1:45/500 split for a 7:00 2k.

Recovery was pretty good for all intervals. What fun.
 
Thu 30/09/10

Tried some quick sprints today. Just getting a feel for how to do these on the C2.

Best effort today for 100m:
Damper on 10
Time: 15.8s
Watts: 711.7
Average 500m split: 1:18.9

I'm feeling a bit shaky now. Amazingly intense 15 or so seconds. I'd love to knock a second off that time. Need to improve technique and efficiency. Good starting technique becomes even more important over short distances, so I need to work on that too.

Decided to add two 500m intervals to today's training.

1st 500m: 1:39 (Damper on 10)

2nd 500m 1:40 (Damper on 3.5)

Faster stroke rate for 2nd 500.
 
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Lol said:
Mon 28/09/10

O frabjous day! I have, at long last, got my C2 rower. Finally found one for sale locally on Ebay. Gave it a good cleanup and service and now it's ready for action.
Click to expand...
O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!

Good deal! That rower ought to be able to provide all the aerobic "fun" you are ever gonna need. But yeah, your traps are gonna feel it.
 
Traps definitely feeling it TR!

Fri 01/10/10

5k on the C2 today. Never done one before so I had no idea how I would feel and what pace I should try to keep to.

Before I did the 5k I decided to do some 100m sprints. If I can improve my technique, I may get a half reasonable time.

Best 100m Sprint today:
Damper on 10
Time: 16.0s

This was the best of two attempts and even though it was 0.2s slower than yesterday, I felt I had better control until right near the end when I started to come off the seat. That def. lost me time.

5k Row on C2: (First ever)

Decided I needed to keep to under a 2:24 pace in order to finish in < 24 mins—which was the length of the program I put on the TV.

Splits:
2:10.8
2:15.3
2:12.8
2:13.3
2:10.9
2:08.2
2:08.2
2:04.1
2:00.1
1:55.0

Total time: 21:18.7
Ave. Watts: 167.4
Cals: 311

I kept my power output over 200W for the last 1k which picked up the average a bit. Last 100m power output was over 300W.

Felt pretty good after that. Nice steady row. Medium intensity.

Good steady breathing the whole time which is the whole point of my doing this. Need to give my lungs a good regular workout. I don't feel like they are getting any worse, they just don't feel great most of the time.

Goal is now to get a sub-20m 5k. That means <2:00m splits. I'll try to knock 30s to a minute off on my next attempt.
 
Sat 02/10/10

Push-ups:
50+15,15,15,15,10,10,10,10,10,10,10,10,5,5 — 200 total (a sort of mega-MyoRep set)

I was waiting for someone to get ready so set myself the challenge to get 200 total reps before they were done. Made it!


Sun 03/10/10

Sore as heck from yesterday's push-ups, particularly tris and pecs. Even my back got sore.

Warmup: Row 1k @ ~2:00 pace

2k Row on C2:
Splits:

0k-0.5k 1:42.5 @ 324.8W
0.5k-1k 1:45.0 @ 302.7W
1k-1.5k 1:49.1 @ 269.7W
1.5k-2k 1:48.3 @ 275.6W

Av. /500m 1:46.2 @ 292.1W

Time: 7:04.8 - damper set to 5; drag factor 148

I think my pace for the first 1k was about right to get a sub-7 min time. Fitness just not quite there yet for the second km. Power dropped off and lactic acid burn started to creep up—along with the intense desire to back off!

Lungs got blasted. Still itchy now. This is good for me (I hope).

Will take that as my first proper 2k attempt so I now have something to aim for—a sub-7 min 2k.
 
Lol said:
Sat 02/10/10

Push-ups:
50+15,15,15,15,10,10,10,10,10,10,10,10,5,5 — 200 total (a sort of mega-MyoRep set)

I was waiting for someone to get ready so set myself the challenge to get 200 total reps before they were done. Made it!
Click to expand...
Very impressive push-ups. Though not a very difficult exercise, at higher reps push-ups can be quite draining. The U.S. military often uses them as punishment exercises.

I seem to recall reading somewhere, many years ago (how's that for a citation...?) that, once you can do 50 push-ups without a lot of effort, they no longer tend to offer you much in terms of increasing strength. Endurance, of course, may be a worthwhile result in itself. But have you considered doing push-ups with weight added, or with bands, or between two chairs, or with feet raised?
 
Totentanz said:
Awesome pushups. I also wonder how you would fair adding resistance to them.
Click to expand...

Pushups were a bit of fun (and just something to do instead of thumb twiddling) compared to the 2k row, which was not fun. Tris and pecs are still sore though because 200 reps does take its toll.

I've been trying to sort out my temp gym today, so I may actually be able to bench and squat again soon. I am dreading finding out how weak my legs have become. I am at least 30lb lighter than when I trained last. I'm around 185 now. 365lb is very close to 2 x bw now, so to get back to doing that every day will be a tall order. However, I have to try, even if I don't manage it every day. I may have to add a bit of bw back on. Just got to be careful because of my health situation: I have to eat very clean, now and for the foreseeable future. Always makes it tougher to eat over maintenance on a consistent basis.

I looked up the Concept 2 online ranking stats for this year to date. My time is in the top 500 for ancient people such as me (ages 40-49).

http://www.concept2.com/sranking03/get_wrankings.asp?gotopage=10

That's kinda cool, esp. considering I've only had me rower a week and I haven't done any training for this. A sub-7 min 2k must be possible. I think I am up to it mentally. Just have to hope I can keep the power output high enough.
 
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