I don’t have much to share with you today, because, for me, today only started a few hours ago. I had trouble sleeping last night, in the house, down in the basement, outside in my truck… I was very, very hot. Uncomfortably so, in the house. Even down in the basement, where it is fairly cool, I felt too warm. Finally I went out to my truck and tried to sleep there.
The coolness was a relief, but I really didn’t get a lot of sleep. Finally (after midnight, sometime), I realized that it’s the first of the month, which means I have a little money, so I went down to the Wawa and got some cigarettes, and an iced coffee (with milk) at the Dunkin’ Donuts.
It’s nice that I can live in the middle of nowhere, but still get coffee and smokes in the middle of the night, when I feel like crap, with no more than a 5 minute drive.
So, I got a few winks in just before daybreak, and woke up shortly after Dawn. I decided to go inside and see about some breakfast. I was a little surprised I hadn’t eaten anything the night before, but I guess I just didn’t feel very hungry. I tried making myself some egg whites, and ate them, but I didn’t feel up to doing anything else. Oddly enough, I felt like sleeping. Of course, I’d basically been up all night. I guess morning is the time when a pseudo-insomniac is finally able to fulfill the need of sleep.
And I didn’t wake up until damm near three in the afternoon.
The good news is that I followed my waking up with a workout! I want that karaoke night at Bennigan’s next month, dammit!
Other than that, like I said above, I don’t have much else to tell you. I ended up making myself a second breakfast after the full half hour workout and my cooldown. Make sure to keep reading, though, because I am going to dissect my workout for you, and there are some GREAT resources for you in Today’s Special. And naturally, there’s Something Beautiful as well, to help keep this blog classy.
Ciao
MY WORKOUT
So, I promised, above, that I’d break down my workout for you, today, so you can get an idea of how it’s evolved, so far. I’ll point out how recent most of the additions are, from the simple warmup that I was originally doing.
The warmup itself hasn’t changed much. I don’t time it anymore, I just put on the music and start stretching. That takes between five and ten minutes. I will be putting up videos of that, but first I need help with that – I’ll let you know when it happens.
Once the stretching is done, I go to work on the joints, loosening them up (and you funny folk out there, {like me}, I don’t need your help “smokin’ the joints”!), top to bottom. That also takes at least 5 minutes, probably not much more than 10. I would say overall, my total warmup, including the stretches, is taking around 15-20 minutes. Also, I sometimes do this multiple times a day, though the secondary and especially third time doing it are a bit shorter.
From there, I look at the clock. While I’m doing that, I put my hands on the counter and start pumping my legs up and down, to get ready, and relieve my back a little bit. When the clock reaches a 5 or 10 (let’s say 9:15 – that’s the clock reaching a 5, 10:50 – that’s a 10), I figure out what time it will be in a half hour and start my workout by walking around the house 6 times. It’s actually supposed to be 5 times, but I want to add on to it, and I’m doing so slowly, by adding a sixth lap on at the end.
The first set of laps around the house is uneventful. I start at whatever pace I feel like and pick it up by the end of the sixth lap. That’s where I start doing low blocks. Now, originally, I would do a combination of blocks and punches in place. 10 low blocks, 10 punches, 10 high blocks, etc… Then I added on, doing just ten of one type of block, and ten punches/double punches/ triple punches, chops, etc… and then I would walk around the house again, coming back to the counter for more blocks and punches.
It evolved into doing a set of 20 blocks and a set of 20 punches, followed by more laps around the house. Then, I started doing a set of blocks, a set of punches, and a set of blocks, 20 each set, before doing another set of laps around the house.
Eventually, I started working on the laps. I got up to doing 5 laps per set of laps. Then I made the first lap just a walking lap, and on the second I would do walking blocks. The third lap is just walking, and the fourth would be blocks or punches, and I recently change it so that the 4th lap (punches) is actually going up and down the stairs once. That means no punching lap, but I get more out of it. And the 5th lap is just walking again.
Once I get back to the counter, my upper back is usually a little sore, so I put my elbows and forearms on the counter, resting my upper body weight, while pumping my legs. When my upper back is relieved, I change the position so that my hands are on the counter and I keep an eye on the clock. When the minute changes, I start with whatever block I’m on (lower, upper, inner or outer block).
Very recently I’ve made more changes to this section. Once I got up to a set of blocks, set of punches, and a set of blocks, I started doing just one set of blocks, in place, followed by doing those blocks in motion, back and forth across the house. Then I do a block of in place punches (this means the feet don’t move), followed by a block of moving punches (meaning the feet move one step per punch).
This turned into three – 1 set in place blocks, 1 set moving blocks; 1 set in place punches, 1 set moving; 1 set in place blocks, 1 set moving. (This is dull, isn’t it?)
Today, I upped it again, by bumping the number up to four – alternating with blocks first (1 set in place, 1 set moving) then punches, then blocks again, and punches at the end.
What’s interesting is that I’m still pretty ready to stop after 30 minutes, so, I do. I take Buddha, our mascot, out for our cooldown walk, and then sit down on the porch for a bit, relaxing, and sometimes throwing the ball for Buddha (who, for new readers, is our puppy).
Part of the reason I wrote all this down is for me, as well as for you. As for what you get out of it – you get to see what I mean by making small changes. Also, there’s a lot I’ve left out, like what I initially tried with certain additions – instead I’ve just told you what I settled on for each change. An example – I originally decided I’d do two runs up and down the stairs, back to back, at the end of each set of walking laps. That means 5 laps around the house, then up and down the stairs twice. Yeah, right. I can just hear Bill Cosby doing Moses now – riiiiiiiiiight! So, I played with it and tweaked it, during that workout, and over the past few days, to the point where I am satisfied with the change I’ve made.
TODAY’S SPECIAL
First two links: We all have those moments, when we had no intention of making complete asses of ourselves, but somehow or another, we managed to push that “ass” button, and we’ve suddenly grown long gray ears and a tail, and are suffering from severe depression, just like Eeyore, the first emo. But it’s not so bad, and if we’re not too self-centered, we can sit back and laugh.
Speaking of depression, one thing that can trigger if, when we suffer, is disappointment. You expected something great, you’d built yourself up for it, and suddenly, everything falls apart. You did your part, but it turns out that wasn’t good enough. It can be enough to turn a person self-destructive, but it doesn’t have to be. Here’s the story of one lady that wouldn’t let it bring her down.
Finally, March 1st is National Peanut Butter day! Nothing like delicious protein! Just make sure you measure it out, my fellow Dammers, if you are hoping to lose weight.
SOMETHING BEAUTIFUL
Today’s image comes from Ahmad Budiman and is titled “Children at Play”.
