Daily Ramblings – Thankful/Thinking Thursday – Consistent Reading, Writing, and Learning

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Consistency, Exercise, huge results, Learning, Reading, small actions, Udemy, Writing

Photo credit: CallofDuty.com

Over the last few years, as more of my schedule has come under my control, I have found that doing a little each day compounds into huge results. A little exercise, a little reading, a little writing, and a few minutes watching, listening, or reading some educational material can go a long way.

Some of you are working from home. The beauty of working from home is you can get a lot of things done in a more efficient way. You are not forced to work only for your boss and then look at that pile of laundry, dirty dishes, or snow-filled driveway on your own time. Now you can work on both sets of priorities simultaneously, other than those ZOOM conference calls that eat up a good portion of the workday. Why not take an hour a day and knock out a little in each area: reading, writing, exercise, and learning? It doesn’t take long.

The average length of a session on Udemy is roughly 5-6 minutes long. If you take a few courses, you’re looking at 20-30 minutes each day. You’ll get your graduation certificates in no time, and if you take the right courses, you’ll be adding some critical skills to your toolbox. If you select the 4+ star-rated courses on Udemy, you’ll also be entertained by popular instructors that make the material fun and interesting. 30 minutes a day for 6 days (assuming you subscribe to my “do nothing day” policy) is 3 hours of learning!

If you take the time to analyze what you do each day, I think you’ll be amazed at how much time you spend watching television or streaming videos, and other activities, that although entertaining, don’t build anything. I’m a huge video game fan. My current favorite is Call of Duty, Black Ops, Cold War. It’s a great game and very popular (over 100 million players worldwide). I could play that game for 10+hours a day and still have more energy to play even more. Balance is the key. We all need our downtime to relax, recharge, and rejuvenate. Watch those shows, play those games, get some of that “me” time, but balance this out with some productive activities that will keep your mind working. It is really exciting to me when I pick up some new skill that I can apply immediately to what I do every day.

That’s all I got today, folks. Have a great Thursday!

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Thankful Thursdays – Winter

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cocoa, Coffee, December, Exercise, family, Reading, reflecting, tea, Winter, Writing

Many people cringe when the snow comes. Not me. I love the cold, the snow, and the comfort of looking at all of that while I drink a cup of coffee. The winter in Michigan is a long one. We typically do not get moderate weather until late April.

What do I do? Pretty much the same thing I do every day — Read, Write, Learn, Socialize on this site and others, stick with my religious disciplines, exercise, and squeeze in some leisure time. My favorite things to do for fun are to read a good fiction book, non-fiction book, watch a show or a series, and play video games. Now that most games are networked, my brother and I can play in and around his work schedule. It’s great fun.

So today, I’m thankful for the Winter season. The holidays are terrific, the in-house time is relaxing and rejuvenating, and it’s a great time to reflect on the past year, and get ready for the next.

I hope each of you has a terrific Thursday!

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Workout Routine – Week of November 15, 2020.

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50/50 workout, Biceps, Discipline, Exercise, healthy living, Jim Stoppani, Workout Routine

This week, we’re going to change things up again. I’m going to kick into a 50/50 workout to work on my biceps.

Monday – Sunday: 2 sessions 50 reps bicep curls.

See you at the finish line!

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Workout Routine – Week of November 9, 2020

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Consistency, Dedication, Discipline, Exercise, Exercise Bands, Routine, Tabata routine, workout

Welcome to my Workout Routine for the week of November 9, 2020. As we approach the harsh winter in Michigan, I am much more prepared than last year. Each year, we get some big snows. This makes driving really difficult and treacherous. To avoid that risk, I purchased some exercise bands from Bodylastic, and I am very pleased.

I’ve also been studying some of Jim Stoppani’s work. One of Jim’s biggest insights is that sitting is the new smoking. I couldn’t agree more. My life is very sedentary, now that I’m retired. I exercise daily, but discovered through Jim’s website (jimstoppani.com) that he follows a rule where he is doing an activity above his daily workout routine. This week, I’m going to incorporate that. This will add some variety to my workout and let me focus on one body-part each day.

Because I have an Apple Watch, I am reminded to stand up every hour. I’ll use this as my cue to do some exercise. Here’s my schedule for the week:

Monday – Legs

Tuesday – Back

Wednesday – Chest

Thursday – Shoulders

Friday – Arms

Saturday – Abs and Calves

Sunday – Off

I’ll be mixing in some Tabata work in as well. My Tabata format will be:

8 minutes of exercise (20 seconds exercise, 20 seconds rest)

That’s it, folks! Have a great week!

See you at the finish line!

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Workout Routine – Week of November 2, 2020.

Tags

Beginner to Advanced, Exercise, healthy living, Jim Stoppani, Weight Routine

Here’s my workout routine for the week:

Monday – Saturday: Jim Stoppani’s Beginning to Advanced Routine (details at http://jimstoppani.com)

Sunday: Off day

I enjoy changing things up. I like a huge variety of workout routines, different types of workouts, and also love adding variety to the places I exercise. The differences in workouts, routines, and locations keep my exercise fresh, without sacrificing results.

For the rest of this year and for upcoming 2021, I’m going to be using the many workouts offered by Jim Stoppani. He’s a substantial source of information and his supplements are great.

Have a great week, folks!

See you at the finish line!

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Workout Routine – Week of Sep 28, 2020.

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Consistency, dig in, Discipline, Drive, Exercise, Keep going, Music, Push, videos, workout

One of the tricks I use to get pumped up for the gym is to watch a great motivational video or listen to some inspiring music. Attack the week, folks!

My routine this week:

Monday – Saturday:

20 minutes cardio

Upper Body (weights) Lower Body (weights) alternating every day.

Have a great week! Get at it, folks! You got this!

See you at the finish line!

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Workout Routine – Gym Time!

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Barbells, Bodybuilding, Dumbbells, Exercise, fitness, Gym time, Weightroom, Weights

Our gyms in Michigan are finally open! I’m so stoked. I’ll be starting up again tomorrow. I hope everyone is having a great Monday!

Workout Schedule:

Monday – off

Tuesday – Cardio

Wednesday – Full Body Circuit

Thursday – Cardio

Friday – Full Body Circuit

Saturday – Cardio

Sunday – Full Body Circuit

Have a great week!!

See you at the finish line!

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Workout Routine – Week of Sep 7, 2020

Tags

Adapt, Bicycle, Cardio, Exercise, Exercise Bands, healthy living, Improvise, Overcome, Workout Routine

Gyms are still closed in Michigan and we are making do. This week, because of inclement weather, we’ll be doing cardio on the home cycle and exercising with exercise bands.

Here’s my workout schedule for the week:

Mon-Thu: Cardio 20 minutes, exercise bands (full-body)

Friday: Off

Saturday-Sunday: Cardio 20-minutes, exercise bands (full-body)

Have a great week, folks!

See you at the finish line!

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Motivation Monday – Labor Day

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Consistency, Determination, Discipline, Exercise, Labor Day, motivation, Reading, Social, Spiritual, Writing

Today, I’m relaxing and enjoying Labor Day! So today’s posts will be shorter than normal. Here’s my week!

• Writing (Journaling, Book Writing, Blogging) daily
• Learning (History of Maths on Curiosity.com, Codecademy, Sociology on Study.com, Writing Class on Master Class) daily
• Exercise (20 minutes cardio, exercise bands) daily
• Spiritual (Reading Bible, Spiritual Exercise) daily
• Reading (Fiction, Non-fiction) daily
• Social (posting helpful quotes, connecting with friends, supporting people with pleasant things to say) daily

Have a great week, folks!

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Workout Routine – Week of August 31, 2020

Tags

Cardio, Exercise, Healthy, Home Exercise, Oxygen Uptake, supine bicycle, VO2 Max

Hey there! I hope your weekend was terrific! Mine was outstanding! 

This week’s workout routine will continue with cardio. 

Monday – Saturday: Cardio, Supine Bicycle

I’m sticking with cardio, because I’ve been feeling a little lethargic, and the cardio will help improve my oxygen uptake, which may be a little down, because of a lack of access to the cardio equipment at the gym I’m accustomed to. 

Have a great week, everyone!

See you at the finish line!

Dave