mbw2d1

planks: 2×45 sec
barbell curl: 60×8, 70×8, 80×9
single-arm cable curl: 3×10
negative barbell curl: 60×8 (8 sec)
hack squat: 90×16
leg press: 170×10, 260×20
hammer curl: 30×12
standing calf raise: 45×8, 95×12

July 13, 2009 | Filed Under lifting | Comments Off

mbw1d3

Not much sleep last night, so it was a tough workout this morning. I was able to hit/exceed all my goals, but I had to mental myself through each set and take longer breaks than usual. I should have just went in and done some cardio and done the lifting tomorrow.

chins: 3,3
javelin press: 45×10
barbell row: 135×6 (two sets), [165x10, 135x10] (strip set)
close-grip pulldown: 9×5, [11x10, 9x10] (strip set)
negative chins: 2×10 sec
close-grip cable row: 9×5, [13x9, 11x10] (strip set)
dumbbell bench: 70×6, 85×12
dumbbell front press: 45×12
overhead tricep extension: 55×12
single-arm side raise: 20×10
front plate raise: 25×10, 35×15

July 10, 2009 | Filed Under lifting | Comments Off

mbw1d2

Tough leg workout, really sore after leg extensions and the squat set left me pretty nauseated.

leg press: 150×8, 210×6, [270x15, 210x15, 150x15] (strip set)
leg extension: 45×12, [90x20, 70x12, 45x10] (strip set)
squat: 135×5, [185x10, 135x10, 45x10] (strip set)
barbell curl: 60×8, 70×15
zottman curl: 30×10

July 8, 2009 | Filed Under lifting | Comments Off

mbw1d1

First day of the muscle building cycle.

planks: 2x45sec
medicine ball rotation: 2×20
medicine ball situp: 2×15
incline flies: 30×12, 40×12
bench: 235×6, 185×5, 135×12 (strip set)
cable flies: 5×12
incline bench: 185×8
machine press: 130×10, 115×10, 100×8
negative dips: 5x5sec
push ups: 15
front press: 40×12
tricep press: 10×15

July 6, 2009 | Filed Under lifting | Comments Off

post-vacation-02

Last workout before starting the MB phase.

hip rotation: 12x
planks: 1×45 sec
dumbbell side raise: 20×8 (two sets)
dumbbell front raise: 20×6 (two sets)
dumbbell neutral press: 35×12, 55×8
dumbbell single-arm press: 40×6, 45×6
dumbbell shrug: 60×8, 70×8
zottman curl: 25×8, 30×6
close-grip bench: 135×8 (two sets)
front plate raise: 45×8 (two sets)
bike: 10 min [HIIT]

July 5, 2009 | Filed Under lifting | Comments Off

Vacation Photos 2009

Added a bunch of photos from the vacation trip.

July 4, 2009 | Filed Under personal | Comments Off

post-vacation-01

Getting in a couple low-impact workouts before starting the MB sequence on Monday. After having eight days off from the gym I was ready to get started, but I’m always really weak after time off. After about four days off from the gym, I was pain free, which is an odd feeling. During the next sequence I need to work in more cardio as well as soft-tissue work.

hip crossover: 12x
medicine ball rotation: 12x (two sets)
planks: 1×45 sec
cuff: ext [3x8], pull [4x8], hip [3x8] (two sets)
single-arm cable pull: 6×12, 7×12
front-squat: 95×7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 [ladder set]
barbell press: 95×3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 [ladder set]
single-leg barbell deadlift: 45×7

July 4, 2009 | Filed Under lifting | Comments Off

Vacation Day 8 – Jul 3, 2009

Made the trip from KC to Des Moines, IA with a fueling up stop at Cracker Barrel. DM was .. a less than thrilling stop. We hit the only bookstore we could find and grabbed some lunch at a really lousy mexican place in the capital district. We stopped at the busiest place we could find, but the food had almost no taste at all. I had a minor panic attack while walking around the area. The town felt miserable and lifeless. We were planning on catching the Iowa Cubs game that night, but the 90%+ change of rain plus the onset of my full-on panic and depression and the thought of trying to occupy another 4.5 hrs in DM before the game (that was likely to be rained out) we bailed on the town and headed home.

Almost immediately I felt better, the idea of spending 5.5 hrs driving after a previous 3 hrs of driving was better than staying in down. The trip home was an easy drive with an Anthony Bourdain audiobook keeping us occupied.

July 3, 2009 | Filed Under personal | Comments Off

Vacation Day 7 – Jul 2, 2009

Started the day by visiting the nearby Harley Davidson factory in Kansas City. I’m not a bike person, but I appreciate craftsmanship and HD’s ability to gardner customer loyalty.

- all workers who drive HDs park in the very front of the building, there is a lot of pride in showing off their personal machines

- HD managers and factor workers and undistinguishable, they all wear identical clothing (mostly HD gear but it is not required) the only tie I saw was worn by a visitor

- managers and workers use the same dining area and parking

- managers and union leaders share the same office space

- plant workers in different cells are responsible for self-organizing and prioritizing duties

- all workers in each cell are required to switch off every job, every worker knows every duty of the job

- robots are cool, lots of precision robot work is performed, but hand-checked by humans

kc_07
After the trip to HD, we hunted down a local bookstore (Prospero’s) where Jen found a couple of treasures and then walked around downtown KC. We found the library, which has a really impressive display of large books that decorate the outside of the library’s parking structure.
kc_06

We also found a neat little market and picked up some fruit.
kc_09

We headed back to the hotel and walked over to the crown center where we had a really unremarkable lunch. We took and hour or so out to check email and catch up with the outside world.
kc_14
We headed out to Kauffman Stadium to see the White Sox vs the Royals. It lives in a sport’s complex similar to Philadelphia where there is a baseball stadium next to a football stadium, etc .. It was really out in the middle of nowhere with nothing around it. It felt a lot more like a nice minor-league stadium. Burhle pitched a great game and we had great seats, nothing could have been better.

July 2, 2009 | Filed Under personal | Comments Off

Still on the Road

Pretty rare internet access, at least in terms of available time. Things are going well, we’re beating the tar out of the midwest and getting our travel on. Heading out of KC tomorrow morning and on to Des Moines. Shortly after that it’ll be back home to the land of Skokie. Vacations, they go by far too quickly.

I’ve got GBs of photos to clean up and upload and pages of text to copy-paste to the blog. Not likely to happen until returning homeward, unless we catch an ill night of baseball rain-out.