Managed to get up at 04:00 and so was able to make it on time to spin class at the City Centre Lifetime Fitness. Here is a shot of the parking garage when I got there this morning:
And this is what it looked like outside as I left the gym:
Beautiful, no? And with a temperature somewhere in the 70′s, still pleasant outside. But not for long my friends. Remember, today is the first day of summer!
Here is a pic I took the other day in the parking garage by Lifetime Fitness, City Centre in Houston. My pal Tracy (who is up in PA) is really fond of these and so this one’s for you Tracy!
This morning had an excellent spinning class at the Houston City Center Lifetime Fitness. Nice place.
Well this has been a very hectic 11 days, as you can probably surmise from my lack of daily updates. One of the biggest shows for our company to attend is TCEA (Texas Computer Education Association). We needed to have the new version of our flagship product ready to show, so I spent most of my waking moments (extending far into the night) getting it ready for the show. And I actually went to Austin and worked in the booth during the show. That is something I’ve not had the opportunity to do for many years.
Anyway I missed a bunch of scheduled workouts and my diet was not as strict as it should of been, but all in all things held up pretty well and today (2/16) I’m back on track.
Strength Training
This morning I started a new routine, taken from Men’s Health Big Book of Exercises, by Adam Campbell:
I just picked up this book recently and it has the best exercise illustrations I’ve ever seen. It’s packed full of information and includes easy to follow dietary advice on top of all of the great workouts. The routine I started this morning (which really kicked my ass by the way) is the Spartacus routine, designed by the personal trainer for the gladiators on the Startz program by the same name.
This is a circuit routine with 10 stations, or exercises. You do as many reps of each exercise as you can in 1 minute. Then you take 15 seconds to transition to the next station and so on until you finish all 10 stations. Then you rest for 2 minutes and start over. Do a total of 3 sets per exercise.
Details
Note that the sets reported are only for 1 side (or arm or leg). So if I record 10 reps for a T push up, that means 10 per side. Any weights recorded for dumbbells are for 1 of the dumbbells only.
Warm Up x 00:11 Work Out x 00:51 Sets: 1. goblet squat: 15/30, 18/30, 16/30 2. mountain climber: 16, 19, 18 3. single arm DB swing: 15/30, 12/30, 14/30 4. T push up: 15/15, 6/10, 5/5 5. split jump: 8/15, 11/10, 20/10 6. DB row: 20/30, 29/20, 20/20 7. DB side lunge & touch: 8/20, 7/20, 6/15 8. pushup position row: 8/20, 9/20, 9/15 9. DB lunge & rotation: 11/20, 8/20, 8/20 10. DB push press: 16/25, 14/25, 18/20
This was a fairly light day. The only thing on my schedule was a Masters Swim class at Lifetime Fitness. Details
Duration: 01:30 Distance: 3300 m
NROL Strength 1/A (#6) Did this workout very early over at Lifetime Fitness. Details
WU x 00:10 Elliptical WT x 00:48 ST x 00:13 Sets: 1. squat: 8/255, 2/275, 8/255, 3/275, 12/225, 20/225 2. SS1-Bulgarian split squat: 15/40, 15/40, 15/25 3. SS1-step up: 15/70, 15/70, 15/70 4. AS1-back extension: 10/10, 10/15 5. AS1-Swiss ball crunch: 10/10, 10/15
Masters Swim Class Did this in the evening at LTF. Details
Duration: 01:32 Distance: 3700 m
NROL Strength 1/D (#5) Did this workout fairly early over at Lifetime Fitness. Details
Duration: 01:02 WU x 00:10 elliptical WT x 00:48 ST x 00:05 Sets: 1. AS1-chin up: 6, 3, 6, 1, 7 2. AS1-BB shoulder press: 6/75, 2/95, 7/75, 1/95, 1/65 3. AS2-DB bench press: 8/50, 10/50 4. AS2-wide grip cable seated row: 8/90, 9/90 5. SS1-lower body Russian twist: 10, 10 6. SS1-DB curl (left arm): 10/25, 10/25 7. SS1-DB tri extension (left arm): 10/25, 10/25 BRICK Bike Details
Duration: 01:48 Distance: 30.56 mi
Run Details
Duration: 00:29 Distance: 3.02 mi
I was so cold when I got off the bike I fell over in the front yard. I couldn’t get my fingers to close and so had a hell of a time getting the bike shoes off and the running shoes on and then tying shoe laces!
| time | distance | YTD time | YTD distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| swimming | 02:35 | 4.26 mi | 13:05 | 21.04 mi |
| cycling | 02:48 | 50.56 mi | 04:20 | 76.01 mi |
| running | 03:13 | 18.38 mi | 23:25 | 138.44 mi |
| strength | 02:02 | n/a | 07:50 | n/a |
| total | 10:38 | 73:20 mi | 48:40 | 235.49 mi |
Masters Swim Class This was the usual class at Lifetime Fitness. Details
Duration: 01:20 Distance: 3450 m
I read an article in the NY Times called Too Much Sitting Shortens Lives, Study Suggests. Let’s face it, people were designed to move. I already have a timer set on my work computer that reminds me to get up and walk around for a bit every hour. But then I saw something even better!
There is a device called a Trekmill Desk from a company called TrekDesk. This thing looks great! You can set the generous workspace height to whatever is comfortable for you. You will also need to get a treadmill. I did some searching on Amazon and found several very highly rated models in the $800-$1000 price range.
So figure about $1500 for the entire setup.
Cycling – Spinning Class at LTF Details
Duration: 01:00 Distance: 20 mi (estimated)
Strength Training – NROL Strength 1/C (#5) Did this workout early in the morning at Lifetime Fitness in Atascocita. Details
Warm Up: Elliptical x 00:10 Work Out: 01:02 1. deadlift: 6/200, 1/225, 6/205, 1/235, 10/185, 15/155 2. SS1-Romanian deadlift: 10/120, 10/120, 10/120 3. SS1-static lunge: 10/120, 10/120, 10/120 4. AS1-good morning: 10/115, 10/115 5. AS1-incline reverse crunch: 10/BW, 10/BW Stretch: 00:05
Comments I really need to get some lifting gloves to use with certain exercises. Deadlifts, in particular, tear up my hands. It really hurts on my left hand. The bar presses my wedding ring very hard into my finger.
Masters Swim Class Did this in the evening at LTF. Details
Duration: 01:15 Distance: 3400 m