my workouts

3/25/14 Workout

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The big news today is that I got out on the real bike, wheels and all. I wasn’t sure how the knee would feel clipping in and out of the pedals but all is well. I also lifted today. Here’s how it went.

  • Rower (first time on a rower since the knee): 1000m

  • Warm-up circuit x 3

    • Band walk
    • Halos in 1/2 kneeling position: 40 lbs. x 3 each direction; What’s a halo? Watch and learn.

    • variations on the anti-rotation cable press
    • Barbell press: 80 lbs. x 5 – 95 lbs. x 5 – 105 lbs. x 8
    • Good morning (video below): 105 lbs. x 15 – 115 lbs. x 15 – 135 lbs. x 12

  • Super-set x 3
    • 1-leg bench hip thrust x 10 each leg
    • hanging knee-ups x 10 each leg
  • Next week I’ll add reps (not weight) to the hip thrust, knee-ups and I’ll see if I can get 15 reps w/135 lbs. on the good morning.
  • Bike ride: 14 miles, about 1 hr.: VERY happy to be outdoors. Biking indoors is a slow death.
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3/24/14 Workout

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I managed six miles on the exercise bike today which felt pretty good. Less than a week ago I could barely turn the crank at all. I plan to add 2 minutes each time

  • Bike: 13 min./3 mi. mostly at level 5
  • Super set 1
    • Pull-ups x 2 reps
    • Push-ups x 2 reps
    • Repeated 2 and 2 for 5 sets as fast as possible then took a brief rest
    • Repeated this whole pattern for 10 minutes
    • accumulated 40 reps of each exercise
  • Super set 2
    • Stability ball leg curl: 10 reps x 4 sets
    • Face Pull: 40 lbs. x 15 – 55 lbs. x 12 – 90 lbs. x 10 x 2 sets
  • Super set 3
    • Tall kneeling lift: 20 lbs. x 10 reps x 2 sets then switched to 1/2 kneeling lift x 10 reps x 2 sets
    • split squat x 10 reps x 2 sets then switched to step up on left leg x 10 reps x 2 sets
  • Bike: 15 min./4 mi. 104 watts; mostly at level 5

I intend to add reps to the leg exercises and time to the bike. I will track time, mileage, resistance level and watts on the bike. I am pleased to be progressing!

 

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3/21/14 Workout

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The knee is moving a little better. It’s still tight and I’m not ready to pogo or hopscotch yet but I’ll take what I can get. Here’s what I did today.

  • Circuit 1: 3 rounds
    • Press: 105 x 3 reps
    • Band walk
    • Terminal knee extension (TKE): 20 reps
  • Circuit 2: 3 rounds
      • Bent barbell row: 105 x 10 reps
      • Romanian Deadlift (RDL): 105 x 10 reps
      • 1-leg bench hip thrust: This is a helluva glute/ham developer. At some point I’d like to do it with a weight vest. A demo is below but I did it with my back on the ground instead of on the bench. Probably not yet a good idea for me to try and get in the position shown in the video.

  • Circuit 3: 3 rounds
    • TRX row x 10-15
    • TRX ab fallout x 10 reps with a 3 second hold

This is all still fairly miniscule

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3/19/14 Workout

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Happy happy joy joy!! Grins all around, etc!  I got in a workout and it wasn’t half-bad.  (Maybe just 1/4 bad since one limb is offline.) Prior to the workout though I did some range-of-motion (ROM) work yesterday simply to expand the amount of movement available to my knee.  Essentially all I did was bend and straighten my knee back and forth working into the tightness I felt. I am definitely moving better today. Here’s what it looked like:

  • Barbell press: 95 lbs x 5 x 5
  • Good morning: 95 lbs x 3 x 10
  • Pushups (did a bunch of these yesterday too.): 3 x 10
  • Pull-ups: 5 x 5
  • 1/2 kneeling twist: 2 x 10 twists
    • kneeling is actually OK on the knee
    • hands across the chest
    • rotate from left to right
    • keep base as narrow as possible w/o losing balance
  • Pistol squat to bench, left leg only: 3 x 6
  • Bird dog: 2 x 10 w/3 sec. hold
  • 1-leg balance on right leg: Worked for about 5 x 30 sec
  • Terminal knee extension w/band.  Here’s a video:

Overall, I’m very pleased with today’s activity. I felt like I did something and my knee is working fairly well all things considered. I have two main goals here: 1) Keep my healthy parts strong and mobile and,  2) maintain as much mobility and muscular activity as I can on the hurt leg. Very likely I’ll be getting surgery (When?  I have NO IDEA!!!  ARRRRGH!) and there will be quite a bit of muscular atrophy and weakness. I’m trying to front-load all the strength I can. I may get on a recumbent exercise bike today or tomorrow.

 

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3/11/14 Workout

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For no particular reason, I thought I’d post my workout for the day.  Going to try and post this every day.

  • 6 am barbell/kettlebell class:
    • Squats: up to 235 x 3.
      • I’m still looking for a 1RM with my new deep squat technique.
      • I LOVE deep squats.
      • Is that an odd thing to say?
    • Push press behind the neck: 105 x 3 sets x 5 reps.
      • Haven’t done this before.
      • Probably could’ve gone heavier but this was good.
    • kettlebell half-snatch: 40 kg x 20 rep sets for 100 reps each arm.
      • HELLO BLISTERS!  Gotta do some more snatching throughout the week to build up some callouses on the palms.
  • 9 am track workout: 6 x 800m @ 3:50.
    • Cold weather blew in early and it got frosty and very windy out there but I got ‘er done.
  • Tomorrow: Rest day
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