Because I'm Still Stupid...

LongSlowBurn

Well-known member
Pirate from Washington State, USA
Posts: 119
"My most important classes in college were Kung Fu, Judo, and Beginning Gym Tumbling: those are the classes that taught me how to fly through the air and land on my head without dying."
Saturday through Sunday - July 6th through 14th, 2024

Vacation!

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Crater Lake is... technically exactly what it says on the label, but that rim in the distance is around 6 miles (9.6 km) away. The crater in question was, about 7700 years ago, a 14,000 foot (4,300 meter) volcanic mountain. Over a couple of hundred years, volcanic activity started to pick up, with small-ish eruptions here and there, but then things went big. An eruption started at about the half-way mark on the mountainside, then a ring around the mountain unzipped and blew straight up into the sky. Rock and ash that moved away from the upward force of the volcano came down in pyroclastic flows, killing everything in a 30 mile (50 km) radius and completely filling in glacial and river cut valleys around the countryside, which rivers and streams had to spend nearly 8000 years carving back out.
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It's been a while, but I seem to recall seeing a layer of ash from this eruption uncovered about 300 miles (480 km) away about 10 years ago. Twelve cubic kilometers of rock simply went everywhere. The entire magma chamber beneath the mountain emptied in a caldera eruption over the course of a week or two before things got worse. As with the chamber empty and the eruption running its course, the parts of the mountain that were now in the sky decided to come straight down. The remains of the mountain collapsed into the chamber and left a massive hole in the ground where a mountain peak used to stand. Over the next few hundred years, follow-up smaller eruptions went off and slowly melted the bottom of the crater into solid rock. Rain and snowfall did the rest, creating the lake you see above.

Makes for good hiking and camping, though!
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I'd planned on a workout program that would work with my vacation, but that didn't exactly work. ...Work. Anyway, things were mostly okay until Tuesday came along and I tripped over a boulder. Result: multiple scrapes on my right ankle, multiple scrapes and bruises on my right knee, a scrape on my left wrist, and I jammed my right wrist. I also took said boulder straight to the intestines...
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but fortunately, I came away bruiseless and without internal injuries. But, the jammed wrist made it difficult to impossible to continue the push up challenge. I got plenty of walking in, but none of the Part 2 sections of 60 Days of Walking. I did sneak in a few Better Core Challenges, but it wasn't steady. As a result, I settled for my hiking (combined 16 miles and around 7 hours of time) and getting eaten alive by mosquitos.

Monday through Wednesday - July 15th - 17th, 2024

New plan! I'm switching out walking for punching things! Also, the push up challenge is out. It's the 17th and my wrist still hurts. But I should be able to catch up on Better Core Challenge.

Fireheart Program. Days 1, 2, and 3. Completed at Level 3 on Day 1 and 2, and at Level 1 on Day 3. The 17th is just dragging on. I really gotta get to bed...

Better Core Challenge. Days 10 through 15. Side Bridges and Balance Swings. Complete. I'm doing two days at a time until I catch up. Three more days of this and I should be good.

Okay, bed time. I was going to do dinner, but I just want sleep. Night!
 

LongSlowBurn

Well-known member
Pirate from Washington State, USA
Posts: 119
"My most important classes in college were Kung Fu, Judo, and Beginning Gym Tumbling: those are the classes that taught me how to fly through the air and land on my head without dying."
@MadamMeow Yeah, there were problems, but overall it was great!

Thursday through Sunday - July 18th - 21st, 2024

Another week gone by. I do want to get back to doing these check ins every night, but timing just isn't working out for me. Work could have been a fantasticly huge problem on Friday, as I'm sure everyone remembers. (Un?)Fortunately for me, I don't deal with computers at work. Fire extinguishers don't fail when a Microsoft contractor pushes out an update that crashes the world's techological infrastructure. They fail when it's too hot outside and the temperature causes the gas pressure inside the canister to increase and the fire marshal doesn't like the gauge reading. Plenty for me to do, even as the white collar world falls apart around me. And that means, it's time to destress with combat-based workout routines!

Fireheart Program. Days 4 through 7. Completed at Level 2 on days 4 and 5, and Level 3 on days 6 and 7. The only memorable problem was the Lunge-Cross combo on day 7, and it was the usual problem. My legs don't like lunges unless its a constant thing so I can build the muscles and tendons up.

Better Core Challenge. Days 16 through 21, complete. Two days at a time on the first two days, and I'm finally caught up. My wrist is still sore from my fun with boulders, but it's still not bad on the Balance Swings if I stand on my knuckles with that hand.

Exercise of the Day, July 20th and 22nd. Leg Raises and Backfists. The Youtube shorts make these really easy to get done. It's a nice addition to the resource, guys, thanks!

Calories: Not counting them at the moment, due mostly to getting out of the habit while camping. Time to start again.
 

LongSlowBurn

Well-known member
Pirate from Washington State, USA
Posts: 119
"My most important classes in college were Kung Fu, Judo, and Beginning Gym Tumbling: those are the classes that taught me how to fly through the air and land on my head without dying."
Monday - July 22nd, 2024

Just another day at work, handling things either too boring or too gross to mention. When I check fire extinguishers at my job, I try to add in lunges. Put the tools in a bucket on the ground, then kneel in a lunge position to get something from the bucket. Doing that today reminded me that I need to work on my leg tendons again.

Fireheart Program. Day 8. Completed at Level 1. The push up and plank positions were rough on my arms and shoulders, so I only finished at level 1.

Better Core Challenge. Day 22. Side Bridges. Completed, no problem.
 

LongSlowBurn

Well-known member
Pirate from Washington State, USA
Posts: 119
"My most important classes in college were Kung Fu, Judo, and Beginning Gym Tumbling: those are the classes that taught me how to fly through the air and land on my head without dying."
Tuesday through Sunday - July 23rd through 28th, 2024

Garmin says my sleeping and my VO2 Max are a problem. Yeah, I don't see either of those getting fixed in the immediate future. I've moved the needle on VO2 Max, but I'm pretty sure I'm going to need to take up jogging or running to get real cardio improvement. Maybe in the future, but not right this second. And Sleeping is just an issue of bad habits. I'm in the process of breaking some bad food habits, so I don't want to stree out too much. Sleep will have to come down the road, unles I find out that it's more important than the horrible amount of salt and fat I'm eating.

Fireheart Program.
  • Day 8. Completed at Level 1. The push up and plank positions were rough on my arms and shoulders, so I only finished at level 1.
  • Day 9. Completed at Level 3. Core exercises. The V-extensions were a bit rough, but mostly just becuase I didn't have room to do them.
  • Day 10. Completed at Level 2. Strikes. The week's beginning to drag pretty hard, but it's progressing. My kicks started to get pretty sloppy at the end.
  • Day 11. Completed at Level 1. Upper body. This one almost did me in. Between work and the workouts, my upper body was feeling pretty done.
  • Day 12. Completed at Level 3. Core. Skipped a day and did this on Saturday. Friday was just a no go. Also went out and saw Deadpool and Wolverine! Hugh "Jacked"-man's workout results may have contributed to my catching up. :LOL:
  • Day 13. Completed at Level 3. My kicks remain sloppy. Kinda wish I had a heavy bag to hit to make sure my form was right, but I work with what I have.
Better Core Challenge. Days 23 through 28, all completed. Days 26 and 27 were on the same day, due to my skip day, but it worked out fine because of Wolverine.

Exercise of the Day. Completed the 24th through the 28th. The 23rd was jumping lunges and my knees won't handle that. I kind of completed the 29th, but my lunges are weak enough that I'm not counting it.
 

LongSlowBurn

Well-known member
Pirate from Washington State, USA
Posts: 119
"My most important classes in college were Kung Fu, Judo, and Beginning Gym Tumbling: those are the classes that taught me how to fly through the air and land on my head without dying."
Monday through Thursday - July 29th through August 1st, 2024

I skipped a day in there. Not sure which one. I think it was the 30th, letting me finish Better Core on the 31st.

Fireheart Program.
  • Day 14. Completed at Level 2. Upper Body and Push-Ups/Planks. My wrist still isn't 100%? Dang, joint problems are the worst...
  • Day 15. Completed at Level 2. Core Exercises. Finished Level 2, and felt it in the core
  • Day 16. Completed at Level 2. Strike and Kick Combos. Good Lord, it's warm out. Level 2 was enough to get the sweat rolling.
Better Core Challenge. Days 29 and 30, challenge complete! :completed:

Exercise of the Day. Completed the 29th, 30th, and the 1st.

Good Morning, World Challenge. Day 1. New month, new challenge, all jumping jacks! Hopefully, this one gets me out of bed a little earlier in the morning. Day 1 complete.

Dead Hang Challenge. Day 1. This one just looked interesting. I've also always wanted to work on my lats, but never focused for long on them. I don't have a pull up bar, but I do have an exposed staircase outside my apartment that works almost as well. Day 1 complete.
 

LongSlowBurn

Well-known member
Pirate from Washington State, USA
Posts: 119
"My most important classes in college were Kung Fu, Judo, and Beginning Gym Tumbling: those are the classes that taught me how to fly through the air and land on my head without dying."
Friday - August 2nd, 2024

Wow! Garmin thinks I need 30 hours of recovery. Honestly... that feels about right. Besides the workout, work required lifting a bundle of wood around, moving big fans, and crawling through bushes in order to cut out blackberry vines...

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...which are just the worst. All this on maybe 4 hours of sleep in 80 degrees F ( 25-27 degrees C ) temperatures. Probably not gonna get the full 30 hours, though. Work calls tomorrow.

Fireheart Program.
  • Day 17. Completed at Level 2. Push-Ups and Strikes. Did the push-ups on my knuckles, though I think my wrists are getting better. The interwebs claim that knuckle push ups improve your punch strength, so I guess I can stick with them.
Exercise of the Day. August 2nd complete. Knees-to-elbows: I actually really like these. Good cardio and core work.

Good Morning, World Challenge. Day 2 complete. Mornings are still working!

Dead Hang Challenge. Day 2. Doing a dead hang for 20 seconds straight is tougher than it looks...

Okay... off to bed, I think.
 

LongSlowBurn

Well-known member
Pirate from Washington State, USA
Posts: 119
"My most important classes in college were Kung Fu, Judo, and Beginning Gym Tumbling: those are the classes that taught me how to fly through the air and land on my head without dying."
Thank you, @graoumia, @HellYeah, and @Fremen!

Saturday - August 3rd, 2024

Today marks the first day of another cycle of over time at work, something that always interferes with my workout schedule. Fortunately, I was kind of expecting two weeks of no program this month, as I started Fireheart in the middle of July. I can skip a day of full workouts here and there if work really gets in the way, or if I need a recovery day. Like today.

Exercise of the Day. August 2nd, 20 push-ups. I had to split it into two sets of 10, with about 40 seconds rest, but made it through. Complete!

Good Morning, World Challenge. Day 3. Complete, though I started a bit later than

Dead Hang Challenge. Day 3. Okay, its a 10 second hang repeat cycle. That's doesn't seem as tough as it did at first glance, though I'll probably find out different as I go along. I'm finding it difficult not to swing back and forth, though.
 

LongSlowBurn

Well-known member
Pirate from Washington State, USA
Posts: 119
"My most important classes in college were Kung Fu, Judo, and Beginning Gym Tumbling: those are the classes that taught me how to fly through the air and land on my head without dying."
Thank you, @MadamMeow and @Mamatigerj ! I was actually thinking about doing another trip this year to another volcanic park, Lassen. But then I found out the whole thing is on fire. :sad:

Sunday - August 4th, 2024

It's mostly a standard weekend day here, the only exception being a call-in to work to do an emergency resupply at the local fair. Lovely OT! The downshot of that is that I was woken up by the call and that wound up throwing off my Good Morning challenge for the day. Otherwise, a pretty easy day!

Fireheart Program. Day 18. Core workout. This one was pretty easy, not gonna lie. After the first set, I cut the rest time down to 1 minute instead of 2 and finished up at Level 3. Complete.

Exercise of the Day. August 4th, Elbow Clicks. Did I miss August 3rd? I don't think so. I think I just wrote it down wrong last time. Oh well, it's definitely the 4th today. Complete.

Good Morning, World Challenge. Day 4. And I messed up yesterday's report! Yesterday was an hour or two after waking up. Today, I just flat out waited until nightfall. I guess complete?

Dead Hang Challenge. Day 4. 25 seconds starts to feel pretty long when you can't see the clock... Complete.
 

LongSlowBurn

Well-known member
Pirate from Washington State, USA
Posts: 119
"My most important classes in college were Kung Fu, Judo, and Beginning Gym Tumbling: those are the classes that taught me how to fly through the air and land on my head without dying."
Tuesday - September 9th, 2024

Well, that was a while. It's been a busy month, and it's not looking to get tremendously better for a while yet. I've been trying to keep up with workouts. Days get missed, days get caught back up. And things just overall... could have been more focused. Fortunately or unfortunately, depending on POV, work required most of that focus. But here's where I sit from the last check-in.

Fireheart Program. Completed! :completed: I finished it yesterday, but I finished it! I was also only making it by doing level 1 difficulty, as my tendon strength and endurance seems to be degrading over the last few months. Something to work on, right? Still...

Exercise of the Day. Did them here and there. Will continue to add them in as I feel up to it. More on that later.

Good Morning, World Challenge. Completed! :completed: I had to skip days, then catch back up, but I finished this up on the 31st. 30 sets of 1 minute jumping jacks done!

Dead Hang Challenge. Complete-ish. While I did do every day's worth of hangs, I'm not comfortable calling it done. The longest I was able to hold was a minute, maybe a minute ten. My back and arms didn't give out, my grip did. And that was a combination of pinching skin (zero callouses on my digits!) and the grip strength basically topping out. I'll repeat this somewhere down the line after my weight drops and I see about getting some decent workout gloves.

And now, September.

1000 Squats Challenge. That's a lot of squats. Days 1 through 9 complete. I don't think I skipped and caught up any days, but I can't remember for sure. Maybe one. But I'm back on track now!

30 Days of Cardio Program. Completed Days 1 through 7. This is where that rough connective tissue was coming into play. Some of those butt kicks I had to do while hanging on to a table. My joints didn't like it, my feet didn't like it, my connective tissue didn't like it. The breaking point was when I tweaked an Achillies tendon on Day 7. I knew I was pushing my limits, and annoyingly it wasn't my cardio limits. I could probably bump up to 30 Days of Cardio Hard, just at level 1, if cardio was the only issue. But burpees would probably kill me. So... end of line.

30 Days of Cardio Light Program. Okay, this I think I can do. Late start, but here we go. Days 1 and 2 complete and level 3. For Day 2, I'm trying out reducing the rest time to 60 seconds to up the difficulty. Going good so far.

Power Up Program. Days 1 and 2 complete. Day 1 was the lower body section, and I felt that today. Plenty of stiffness in the legs to go with the sore Achilles tendon. I don't think Day 2 will be as bad, but tomorrow is another day.

And since my weight's back up:

Calories In: 2808
Calories Out: 2786
Deficit: +22.

Still not super sure how the targets work with Garmin. I'll have to dig into that. Still, not terrible. I made some bad food decisions today due to mood, so tomorrow should be better.
 

LongSlowBurn

Well-known member
Pirate from Washington State, USA
Posts: 119
"My most important classes in college were Kung Fu, Judo, and Beginning Gym Tumbling: those are the classes that taught me how to fly through the air and land on my head without dying."
Thank you, @MadamMeow and @Fremen !

Wednesday and Thursday - September 11th and 12th, 2024

Fun times at work! Nothing actually terrible, just lots of moving around, pushing things, walking up and down stairs... plus a tweaked Achilles tendon. Legs go ouchie!

1000 Squats Challenge. Days 11 and 12 complete. Not sure where Day 10 went. I guess I miscounted somewhere.

30 Days of Cardio Light Program. Days 3 and 4 complete, at Level 3, one minute rests. I was glad for the upper body on Day 3, but Day 4 was lower body. I'll see how that works out tomorrow at work.

Power Up Program. Days 3 and 4 complete. Both are lower body and may be contributing to my leg ouchies. But, no matter how much I whine, this is just part of the process of getting stronger. DOMS creates soreness, who'd have thunk it?

Calories In: 3366 (11th) and 2570 (12th)
Calories Out:
2928 (11th) and 2497 (12th)
Deficit:
+438 (11th) and +73 (12th)

My weight is dropping, despite what the calorie counts say. I'm pretty sure I'm just losing water weight, though. This happens after a round of spaghetti for dinner. Good news is that I kept my calorie intake down a bit on the 12th. And there are other areas I can cut back, so I'd still say the curve is arcing in the right direction.
 
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