Daily Ramblings – Bonus Content

Tags

Article Link, Intermittent Fasting, LifeHack, Weight Loss

Hello, all!

I read quite a bit during the day and from time-to-time will find great articles that I share here. Here is one I found today. As you know, I have a goal to lose 11% bodyfat by January 24, 2017. There is a three-fold strategy for this.

1. Reduce carb intake to about 20 grams of carbs per day from natural food sources.
2. Strength and 20-minute cardio workouts daily.
3. Intermittent fasting.

Intermittent fasting is on fire right now on the Internet and has some amazing benefits, provided you can work this into your schedule. Typically you select a 16-hour window to begin your fasting period. Obviously, it is easier if you sleep for most of it. For me, 8 pm to 12 pm is my window. I tend to stay up late to write and read (typically until 2 am) and then sleep until 9:30 am or so. Then I take care of my morning ritual until around 12 pm, take my pre-workout and hit the gym.

Here’s the article link below. I think you’ll enjoy reading about this terrific technique for weight loss:

https://www.lifehack.org/articles/lifestyle/intermittent-fasting-the-ultimate-weight-loss-hack.html?ref=header-menu-dropdown-essential-read-health

I hope you enjoy this read and also hope you begin using this for your weight loss goals. I’ll keep you posted on my progress starting next week.

Dave

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Daily Ramblings – Workout Log – Shoulders

Tags

Bent Over Rear Delt Raises, Facepulls, Lateral Raises, Military Press, Shoulders, Shrugs

Happy Friday!

I hope everyone is having a great end of the work week.

Today my workout hit the shoulders. I added some exercises to last week’s exercises. Initially, hit the Military Press, then Lateral raises, and bent over rear delt raises. I added Dumbbell Shrugs and Face pulls. I used two strategies today—drop sets and no rest sets. It was a great workout.

I wrote an article a while back on what is called the instinctive principle. This principle allows us to alter our work out to take advantage of peaks and valleys in energy. Some days you’re going to be on fire and you’ll want to take advantage of this by adding sets, adding weight, doing whatever you need to, to achieve a good workout. On the low days, you may lighten weights, you may reduce the number of sets and all the rest. Get it?

I enjoy this because it keeps my workout fresh and it allows me some freedom to push myself beyond what I would normally do on good days in the gym. The whole key to progression in the gym is to increase reps, lower rest times, increase weights, or any combination of the above. You can also increase intensity by doing supersets, compound sets, giant sets, drop sets, or rest-pause sets. I also enjoy using pyramids, when I really want to blast a muscle group. These really kick your tail if you do them right.

Anyway, that’s it for today. My workout today is below:

 Military press

Warm up: 70×12; 90×12; 110×12

Working sets: 130×6; 150×6; 160×5

Side lateral: 30×6; 35×6; 40×5

Bent over rear delt raise: 30×6; 35×6; 40×6

Dumbbell Shrugs: 65×10; 70×10; 75×7 (no rest between sets)

Face pulls: 50×10; 57.5×10; 65×10; 72.5×10; Drop-sets (no rest between sets) 65×10; 57.5×10; 50×10; 42.5×10

Ab circuit:

Ab-x: x12; x12; x12

Crunch machine: 110×12; 130×12; 150×12

Ab Coaster: 3 sets to failure (60; 50; 49)

Cardio

Cardio Hill Level 4 20 minutes

Tomorrow is Leg Day!

See you then.

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Daily Quote – Yoda

Tags

Habit examples, How to track Habits, Incremental Progression, Minihabits, Setting Attainable Goals, Yoda

Today’s quote:

“Do. Or do not. There is no try.” – Yoda

I love this quote. It is all about confidence and commitment. If you attempt to do something and you believe that you will fail–you will. This has much to do with the way we set goals. Set a goal that is too easy and you won’t benefit from it. Set a goal too high and you will be frustrated.

Incremental progression and mini-habits are the keys to making progress. Incremental progression is exactly as it sounds–adding a “little more” than you previously did. This could be more weight on your exercises in the gym, it could be reducing a little more of your food intake, it could be saving an extra 10 dollars a month.

Mini-habits are something I learned a while back. Mini-habits are simple. Whatever you would like to turn into a habit, start at such a small level that it is impossible to NOT do it. The best example is an exercise habit. Start with 1 pushup a day. I know this seems stupid, but think about how easy it is to do one pushup. Can you imagine any scenario that would prevent you from doing one pushup a day?

So set goals that stretch you but are attainable. You’ll get a rush every time you hit one of these goals. Once you’ve completed a few goals, your confidence will increase and you will be able to attain more. Start simple and measure your progress.

Measuring progress is simple. Just document every day. I use the BestSelf Journal. It as a section where you track 7 habits. My daily habits are Writing, Reading, Meditation, Exercise, and Journaling. I track these every day with a check mark. At the end of the week, I tally my results. If I hit every day–I win. If I miss a day, I re-examine my calendar on that day and look for what stopped me from doing this.

Here is how I measure whether a habit has been hit:

Writing (500 words a day)

Reading (1 chapter a day minimum)

Meditate daily (at least once)

Exercise every day (cardio, strength, or both)

Journaling (keep up my daily planner and document my dreams from the previous evening daily).

Simple right? If you aren’t at this point yet, it’s ok. Pick one or two things that would benefit your life. I typically do some internet searches on things to do that will improve your life to get a starting list. Select 2 or 3 that you’d like to start with. These should be habits that will impact your life the most. If you don’t have an exercise habit, that is one I would start today. Next in order is the meditation habit. Meditation is not spiritual. It is for me, but it doesn’t have to be. I would recommend starting with the Headspace app or the Calm app. Both have daily programs set up and will help you track your progress. Exercise will make you feel terrific and meditation will relax and focus you like you wouldn’t believe.

Well, that’s it for today folks. I’m off to the gym for a shoulder and cardio workout.

Until next time…

Dave

 

Daily Ramblings – Daily Quote

Tags

Aldous Huxley, Keto diet, Making Adjustments, Measuring Progress

Happy Thursday!

Today’s quote:

“Every ceiling, when reached, becomes a floor, upon which one walks as a matter of course and prescriptive right.” – Aldous Huxley

When we set goals and achieve them, we have improved. Then we set a new goal to stretch a little further. I use 13 weeks as a time-frame for achieving my goals, with the dream of achieving a certain end state.

Each time you achieve something, you own it. If you read 9 books during a 90-day period, who says you can’t push to 10 the next 90 days? The same follows for exercise. If you lift a certain amount of weight for an exercise after 90 days, push to the next amount of weight to work toward. Right now, for example, I’m at 180lbs on the bench. I want to hit 300lbs at some point. The key is tiny increments. Next time I bench, I’ll push to 185 or 190. Once I’m comfortable with these weights I’ll own them. The ceiling becomes the floor.

The key to pushing ourselves and stretching beyond our current limits is to track what we want to improve. Tracking our progress is the only way to really understand where we are and how we are progressing. If we hit a block, we have to get creative to overcome that obstacle.

Here’s one of my challenges. Losing weight is a big issue for me. First, because less body fat is healthy. Second, less body fat is more attractive.

I’ve been struggling with weight loss for the last year because I’m stubborn. I know how to lose weight, it’s just I don’t want to give up certain things I enjoy doing, like eating bread, pasta, and rice. Here’s the thing. My physiology doesn’t do well with carbs. When I avoid carbs or minimize them, the weight falls off. That being said, my adjustment to my diet will occur on November 1, 2017.

One of my goals is to reduce my body fat by 11%. I’m at 26% now but want to be at 115%. So, that’s 11% over the next 90 days, ending on January 24, 2018. I’m going to start a KETO diet on the 1st of November. This diet focuses on protein and fats as the primary food sources, with carbs coming from “above the ground” vegetables, like broccoli, green leafy vegetables, and cauliflower. I’ll keep you posted, starting on the 1st of November, with a diet progress report, separate of this workout. Wish me luck!

That’s it for today folks.

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Workout Log

Tags

Back, Calves, Cardio, Circuits, Compound Sets, Injury, Sickness

Hey all!

I was under the weather yesterday and took a day off from lifting and blogging. I’m glad I did. Whatever I was coming down with didn’t sustain itself. Felt like a million bucks this morning and hit the gym.

Today I hit back, calves, and did some cardio. Here is the workout:

T-bar does: warm up: 50×12; 70×12; 90×12

Working: 110×6; 130×6; 150×6

Circuit:

Wide grip pull down 100×10; 100×10; 100×10

Seated row 100×10; 100×10; 100×10

Close grip pull down 100×10; 100×10; 100×10

Compound set:

Standing cable row: 100×10; 100×10; 100×10

Straight arm pull downs 50×10; 50×10; 50×10

Calf Presses: 70×30; 90×30; 110×20

Cardio 20 minutes, Hill program level 3

Let’s talk about getting sick and injuries. First, see a doctor. If you twist something, tear something, or otherwise injure yourself, get to a doctor immediately. Waiting around and trying out home remedies is not recommended when you injure yourself. Your doctor can give you the bottom line on what’s up and give you the right advice on how to recover quickly. Same goes when you are sick. Luckily, I have not experienced either one of these things, but if I get sick, I head to the doc.

I will tell you that about 25 years ago I was in the gym and wrenched my back. I immediately stopped the workout and headed to the emergency room where they explained I had strained a muscle in my lower back. The doc gave me painkillers and an anti-inflammatory, and also some advice about getting some ice on it for the first day to keep down the swelling. I was also put on a “profile” so the Army would not require me to exercise for a week. Nothing heals like inactivity.

I have always acted with extreme caution when I’m sick or injured. Injuries are no fun but can be dealt with when provided with the appropriate guidance. Don’t guess. Get to the doc and get an understanding of what you did and how to heal as quickly as possible.

Well, that’s it for today. I hope each of you has a great Thursday!

See you tomorrow.

Dave

 

 

Daily Ramblings – Daily Quote – Albert Einstein

Tags

Goals, My Goals, People, Things

Today’s quote:

“If you want to live a happy life, tie it to a goal, not to people or things.” – Albert Einstein

Boy, is this on the spot. People are unpredictable, even loved ones. We all have our own preferences, pet peeves, and interests. People change. Their priorities change. Folks come into our lives and some exit our lives. The same thing with things. Material objects wear out, they lose their usefulness. Goals stretch us.

Goals are dependable. You set them. You pursue them. You accomplish them. The goal, if set right, will help you learn and improve your capability. Things won’t help you stretch. Things won’t help you grow. People are only interested in your growth when it helps them.

I know this may seem cynical, but here is a prime example. If you’ve been following my blog, you know I enjoy exercising. I am driven to go to the gym, eat right, and push myself physically. My brother is the exact opposite. He tries, but the motivation to consistently go to the gym and exercise is just not there. I love him, but he just doesn’t see the benefit of it over the long-term. I tried to get him to go to the gym with me and this lasted about a month when he fizzled out. Don’t get me wrong, his life is totally different from mine. His job requires him to travel a great deal. For instance, he is in Australia right now, doing some technology work for his employer there. This is one of many trips this year. Working out on the road is hard.

Even a loved one will be presented with different challenges even if they want to exercise. So stick with something you are in control of. Setting a goal is all you. You choose what that is. You decide when you’ve met the goal. You decide if the goal is no longer worth your time. The point I’m making here is that goals are yours, no one else’s. Depending on other people or things will typically bring about disappointment.

So set bold and tough goals. Commit to pursuing them.

Oh! Here are my goals starting today and running to January 24, 2018:

• Read 9 books
• Grow my Blog by 100 followers
• Lose 11% body fat

Habits I’m going to refine:

• Read daily
• Meditate daily
• Write daily
• Exercise daily
• Dream Journal daily
• Review of my progress weekly
• Body fat and body measurements weekly

That’s it for today!

I hope all of you achieve your goals. I wish you luck in all of your endeavors.

Until next time…

Dave

 

Daily Ramblings – Workout Log – Chest & Ab – Machines

Tags

Abs, chest, Pyramid Technique

Happy Tuesday!!

My sister was in town for a few days, so I took some time off from the gym to hang out. I hope everyone’s weekend was awesome!

Workout below:

Chest press machine: 70×20; 90×15; 110×10; 130×6; 150×6; 170×6; 190×6; 210×5; 190×6; 170×6; 150×13; 130×20; 110×20;

Crunch machine: 70×20; 90×20; 110×20; 130×18; 110×20;  90×20; 70×20

Peck deck: 70×6; 90×6; 110×6; 130×6; 150×6; 170×6; 190×6; 170×6; 150×6; 130×6; 110×6; 90×6; 70×50

Today was a pyramid day using the machines. Machines make it pretty easy to utilize a pyramid technique because it is so quick to move a pin. Each set was separated by a 1-minute rest. I took 2-3 minutes of rest between sets.

Tomorrow I’ll be adding a 20-minute cardio session. This will continue daily to help me achieve my 15% body fat goal by January 24, 2018.

See you tomorrow!!

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Daily Quote – John F. Kennedy – Taking Action

Tags

Taking action, Vascular Dementia, What is your "why"?

Today’s quote:

“Things do not happen. Things are made to happen.” – John F. Kennedy

Whenever you get stuck, it is due to inaction. Why does this occur? Well, sometimes it occurs because we don’t know where to go from where we are. At other times we are crippled by fear. Sometimes we discover that we’ve lost interest in a particular goal and just stop pursuing it.

This is why I tend to set goals for 13 weeks. One, it aligns with the BestSelf Journal I use. Two, it allows me to dedicate some time toward something and make a decision after 13 weeks whether I want to continue this or move on to something else. This all boils down to “YOUR WHY”.

I am driven to exercise. Why? My Dad is currently suffering from vascular dementia. This is typical of people who smoke. Tobacco does a lot of damage over time. My Dad smoked into his sixties and his dementia was caused by two things, according to his doctor–lack of exercise and a degradation of his circulatory system caused by this lack of exercise combined with his smoking (up to two packs a day by the time he finally quit).

My Dad retired when he was 64-65. What did Dad do? He began watching the news daily for about 12-13 hours a day. Unfortunately, this caused his body to become even worse over time since his dementia kicked in about 4-5 years ago. I do not want to be where my Dad is right now. His short-term memory is gone. If my Mom asks him to go downstairs to put away groceries, by the time he is down the stairs, he can’t remember what she told him to do. This occurs throughout the day and causes her a lot of frustration.

He is also tired all of the time. He gets up around 9 am and is tired. He is falling asleep within an hour and naps throughout the afternoon. He is also a “sugarholic”. He has a full supply of Little Debby cookies, cupcakes, and other junk food in the basement. This is what he eats all night while watching TV.

This is my WHY. I do not want to become like this. I want to be healthy and have a good quality of life, for the rest of my life. Don’t get me wrong. I like the occasional sweet now and then. I enjoy a beer every once in a while. These things are ok as long as they are occasional.

My Dad’s situation is horrible. I retired early to help my Mom out with him. What is so horrible is that all of it could have been avoided, had he taken better care of himself. Vascular dementia is totally preventable with a good diet, plenty of sleep, and a regular exercise routine, regardless of age.

Well. That’s it for today folks. You now know my “why” for exercise. What is yours?

Reply here! I’d like to know what “why” drives you to the goals you have set.

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Workout Log – Upper Body

Tags

Bodybuilding, healthy living, Progression, Upper-Body, When to increase

Happy Saturday!

Today, I finally hit a peak on the Incline bench. I also started feeling some degradation of my form so some of my exercises will stay where they are next workout. I hope everyone is having a great Saturday! My sister is coming over to visit, so Netflix is turned on and ready.

Today’s workout:

Incline Barbell Bench Press warmup: 110×18; 130×12; 150×10

Working sets: 160×6; 180×6; 200×1 (need to back this down a bit next workout)

Barbell Curls: 65×6; 75×6; 85×6 (still strong increase)

Close Grip Bench Press: 135×6; 145×6; 155×6 (still strong increase)

Alternating Dumbbell Curl: 30×6; 35×6; 40×6 (started to feel it at 40×6, one more increase)

Triceps Pushdown: 72.5×6; 80×6; 87.5×6 (still strong increase)

Ab Circuit (All exercises are done once without rest, then the circuit starts again)

Crunch Machine 10-12 reps: 130×12; 140×12; 150×12 (still strong increase)

Ab Bench: x12; x12; x12 (same)

Hanging Leg Raise:  x12; x12; x12 (same)

I included notes on this workout so you can see how I progress and make decisions about what to do next workout. I hope this is helpful to some of you.

See you tomorrow!

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Daily Quote – Karen Casey – Incremental Progress

Tags

Daily Focus, Goal Setting, Incremental Progression

Today’s quote:

“One part at a time, one day at a time, we can accomplish any goal we set for ourselves.” – Karen Casey

I like using weightlifting metaphors when discussing quotes like this. If you go to the gym and increase the weight you lift each time by 5-10 lbs, you can see how much weight you’ll be pushing by the end of the year. Realistically, this would be a difficult thing to do, as our bodies adjust to the increased stress and will plateau at various points.

Karen’s point is that if we just do a little bit of work towards our goals, we will achieve them. Some will take longer than others, but the results will be the same, provided you are taking the “right” actions to achieve your goals. Working out and then going home and drinking, smoking, and shoving your face full of junk food is counter-productive. You are literally working against yourself. This is just an example. I think you get the point.

I tend to set and work toward goals that are roughly 13 weeks. In 13 weeks I can read 3-4 books. In 13 weeks I can lose 13lbs or gain 13lbs. In 13 weeks I can write 91 pages. This is what incremental progression looks like and can produce as long as you carve out a little bit of time to achieve those daily goals that contribute to the weekly, quarterly and annual goals you set for yourself.

Take any goal you set. Break it down into easily accomplished tasks that will take roughly 13 weeks to accomplish and then figure out what you need to do each day to accomplish it. Here’s a quick walkthrough.

Let’s say I want to finish 3 books in 13 weeks. I figure out there are 40 chapters in all of the books I’ve identified. That’s roughly 1 chapter in each book per week. Now I take three days (Saturday, Sunday, and Thursday) and will read one book’s chapter on Saturday, another book’s chapter on Sunday, and another book’s chapter on Thursday. Easy right? After seeing how this exercise worked, is there any doubt in your mind that you would not be able to knock out all three books by the end of your 13-week goal period? No, as long as you stick to the plan, you’ll get there without any doubt.

You can do this with anything you are looking to accomplish. One piece of advice. There are some goals that will take you longer than 13 weeks obviously. In this case, you’ll have to break that goal down into smaller chunks, so that your “piece” of that goal can be accomplished in 13 weeks.

If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to reach out. I can help you with one of your goals if you need assistance.

Until next time…

Dave