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This isn’t the longest run (it’s really a 3 mile walk) that I’ve done, but it may be the most important.  As a semi-participant in Larry’s 6-pack Challenge and taking this summer to work out and eat healthier, I’ve started to realize how important my health is to both my happiness, confidence and really, my future.  Yes, I want to be able to enjoy the nice things in life, and great food is definitely one of them…but at the same time, to be a good husband and father, I need to be able to live a healthy life. So I’m trying to raise at least $250 for this week’s SF Heart Walk, which is (bonus!) locally sponsored by Del Monte.  The proceeds go to the American Heart Association.  Click here to pledge me! I realize it’s short notice, so don’t make this one of those “I’ll decide on it later” things…we all know we’ll forget!  Make a small donation now! In a twist of fate, I also learned that my uncle (my mom’s older brother) had a stroke last week and fell off his scooter.  He’s currently in the ICU.  Thankfully, he come out of his coma and can now answer simple questions, but he still fades in and out and has trouble staying awake.  We’re hoping that he hasn’t suffered much permanent damage to his brain.  So I’ll be thinking of him on race day and wishing him a speedy and full recovery. Do you have loved ones who have been affected by stroke or heart disease?

This isn’t the longest run (it’s really a 3 mile walk) that I’ve done, but it may be the most important.  As a semi-participant in Larry’s 6-pack Challenge and taking this summer to work out and eat healthier, I’ve started to realize how important my health is to both my happiness, confidence and really, my future.  Yes, I want to be able to enjoy the nice things in life, and great food is definitely one of them…but at the same time, to be a good husband and father, I need to be able to live a healthy life.

So I’m trying to raise at least $250 for this week’s SF Heart Walk, which is (bonus!) locally sponsored by Del Monte.  The proceeds go to the American Heart Association.  Click here to pledge me! I realize it’s short notice, so don’t make this one of those “I’ll decide on it later” things…we all know we’ll forget!  Make a small donation now!

In a twist of fate, I also learned that my uncle (my mom’s older brother) had a stroke last week and fell off his scooter.  He’s currently in the ICU.  Thankfully, he come out of his coma and can now answer simple questions, but he still fades in and out and has trouble staying awake.  We’re hoping that he hasn’t suffered much permanent damage to his brain.  So I’ll be thinking of him on race day and wishing him a speedy and full recovery.

Do you have loved ones who have been affected by stroke or heart disease?

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30-Minute Power Abs Workout

Chuck’s post on cardio calisthenics reminded me that I wanted to share a core workout that I’ve been doing for the last month or so. It’s based on a 30-Min Abs workout in this month’s Men’s Fitness magazine, with some modifications.

One of the biggest mistakes people make is trying to build abs and core muscles through crunches and sit-ups. The abs muscles are designed to keep your midsection stable — so exercises that keep your core taut against weight and body resistance are the most effective.

I’ll save you the gory details, and get right down to it:

Hanging Side-to-Side Leg Raise
Note: I don’t have a pull-up bar, so I do 10 negatives on the Captain’s Chair using a 10-lb weight, followed by 20 raises. Do 3-4 sets. The BEST exercise for lower abs I’ve ever done though is lying on your back and doing slow leg raises using 2 10-lb. ankle weights.

Swiss-ball dumbbell rotation, 3-4 sets of 30
with a 20-lb weight

Renegade Rows, 3-4 sets of 25
with 15-lb. dumbbells

Saxon Side-Bends, 3-4 sets of 25
with 15-20 lb. weight

T Pushups, 3-4 sets of 25
No weights
Note: The part I dread…absolutely killer. Not prescribed by the 30-min abs program, but they’re about as hard as the dumbbell Turkish get-up that they want you to do.

Crunches, 3-4 sets of 20

Seated Russian Twist, 3-4 sets of 30
20-lb. weight

Swiss-ball Side Crunch, 3-4 sets of 12 on each side

Try to keep your rest between sets at about 30-60 seconds. The whole circuit will take you about 40-45 minutes, and will be a cardio workout in addition to a core workout. If you’re ambitious, you can add some other things like planks (60 sec), side planks (30-60 seconds) or planks off of the Swiss ball.

Give it a try and let me know what I can improve, or if you have a workout that you think works better.

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Hurricane Training

If you keep up with my exercise log, you’ll see that I’ve taken up “hurricane training” as part of my cardio routine.  Was immediately attracted to hurricane when I read it in Men’s Fitness because it’s a conditioning tool that a lot of MMA athletes use, and because it’s based of the HIIT routine that Larry initially described on his blog.

Read the article for the full description.  I’ve only done Category 1 (Category II sounds too beast, and too hard to get on and off the cardio machine).

I do my sets on the elliptical trainer, and I try for 30-second sprints, instead of 15-sec, for a total of 10 sprints.  It takes about 25-30 minutes, depending on how much rest I’m taking. 
It’s a little tough to measure my heart rate when I’m up on the elliptical, but usually 60 to 90 secs of rest between sprints is good.

After my first Hurricane session since coming back from NY, I dropped in weight AND body fat % for the first time (usually only 1 will decrease, while the other increases)….for 2 days in a row!

Give it a shot!

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August Workout Plan

I want to make sure I stick to my workout regimen once I start work on Monday. Wait, I start work on Monday?! Holy f*cking sh*t!!!!!!!! Anyways, I was thinking of the following as a weekly schedule:

Monday/Wednesday
Cardio (outdoor run or indoor elliptical, ~30min)
Abs/Core (45-min)
Triceps
Back (Lat, row)

Tuesday/Thursday
25-30 min Hurricane Training on Elliptical (a version of HIIT)
Chest
Biceps
Shoulders

Friday
Rest

Saturday
Weights circuit (focusing on exercises I don’t do during the week, i.e. squats/lunges, dips, etc.)

Sunday
Long(er) Run

I’d welcome any suggestions on how I can make this more effective? It’s not the best thing to do shoulders on the same day I do chest, but at the same time, I’d rather not do them when I do core, b/c T-pushups kill my shoulders. Also, should I do my harder cardio on M/W or T/TH?

The other problem is that these workouts take way too long. I did the M/W workout today, and it took me almost an hour and a half. The T/TH took me about 1 h 15 min. That’s not really gonna fly once work starts. What I might have to end up doing is have 2 weekdays where I do cardio + weights, and another 2 weekdays where I do cardio only.

Either that, or alternate cardio and weight days during the week.

Help!

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I ran the Wharf-to-Wharf 10K from Santa Cruz to Capitola yesterday. It was a mixed bag of fun. Getting up at 6am to drive to Santa Cruz, not so fun. Goofing off to warm-up calisthenics, fun! Trying to weave through a horde of 15,000 runners, not fun. Running with Eugene, Winnie, Andy, Grace, Dawn, Elvis and a banana, among others, fun! Waiting an hour to grab brunch afterwards was not a lot of fun. But speeding through the last 3 miles and limping around on jello-y legs afterwards was surprisingly a lot of fun. Next decision is whether or not to run the San Jose Rock ‘n’ Roll Half-Marathon in October…

I ran the Wharf-to-Wharf 10K from Santa Cruz to Capitola yesterday. It was a mixed bag of fun. Getting up at 6am to drive to Santa Cruz, not so fun. Goofing off to warm-up calisthenics, fun! Trying to weave through a horde of 15,000 runners, not fun. Running with Eugene, Winnie, Andy, Grace, Dawn, Elvis and a banana, among others, fun! Waiting an hour to grab brunch afterwards was not a lot of fun. But speeding through the last 3 miles and limping around on jello-y legs afterwards was surprisingly a lot of fun.

Next decision is whether or not to run the San Jose Rock ‘n’ Roll Half-Marathon in October…

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New York City, Day 3

Break day! No big activities today. I signed up for a 2-week trial at a Bally Total Fitness near where we’re staying. It’s a little cramped b/c it’s underground, but it’ll do for the time that I’m here. The good: a bench, treadmills built after 2000, medicine balls, a cord pulley station and new weight machines (lots of back row machines)…none of which I have in my gym back home. The bad: No dumbbells between 15 and 35 lbs (makes it really hard to do bicep curls) and no tricep-extension grip for the cord station. A basketball hoop would have been wishful thinking too!

Emily got a “tui-na” massage and got her nails did, while I hung out at Starbucks and read magazines. Then we shopped at the Time-Warner Whole Foods (CROWDED) and cooked spaghetti for dinner.

For lunch, I discovered a place called The Pump: A Physical Fitness Restaurant. Every thing they serve is without salt or oil and nothing is fried. Most of the foods are high in protein and the breads are all whole-grain. I ordered a chicken pita…it was kind of like a meatball sub with chicken instead of meatballs.

Tomorrow: The Natural History Museum!

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I’m on the Hampton Jitney bus to Montauk right now, to spend a few days at the Van Reepinghen summer home! Should be a really fun and relaxing time with an always-strong cast of characters: Em, Rufie, Ian, Yugi, Rob, Nancy, Jackson and Olivia, among others. I’m hoping for a lot of seafood and time in the sun! Today, I flew Virgin America for the first time. I must say that I had a very pleasant experience. The interior was sleek and stylish, and the stewards were very pleasant. The personal entertainment console was amazing, allowing you to order snacks and drinks, watch tv, create your own music playlist and play games (spent some time playing “stackable mahjong”). For the first time in a while, I paid attention to the safety video, because they made it funny and entertaining with cartoon characters. That said, it’s gonna be tough to stay on my exercise and diet plan for the next 3 weeks. I MUST STAY COMMITTED. Even if that means waking up an hour and half before eveyrone else and going for a run and doing a homemade workout. I also won’t be equipped with my usual arsenal of Clif Bars, egg whites, yogurt and cereal, so I’ll have to find some way to keep my calories up throughout the day to quell my appetite at meal time. Wish me luck!

I’m on the Hampton Jitney bus to Montauk right now, to spend a few days at the Van Reepinghen summer home! Should be a really fun and relaxing time with an always-strong cast of characters: Em, Rufie, Ian, Yugi, Rob, Nancy, Jackson and Olivia, among others. I’m hoping for a lot of seafood and time in the sun!

Today, I flew Virgin America for the first time. I must say that I had a very pleasant experience. The interior was sleek and stylish, and the stewards were very pleasant. The personal entertainment console was amazing, allowing you to order snacks and drinks, watch tv, create your own music playlist and play games (spent some time playing “stackable mahjong”). For the first time in a while, I paid attention to the safety video, because they made it funny and entertaining with cartoon characters.

That said, it’s gonna be tough to stay on my exercise and diet plan for the next 3 weeks. I MUST STAY COMMITTED. Even if that means waking up an hour and half before eveyrone else and going for a run and doing a homemade workout. I also won’t be equipped with my usual arsenal of Clif Bars, egg whites, yogurt and cereal, so I’ll have to find some way to keep my calories up throughout the day to quell my appetite at meal time. Wish me luck!

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My new toy is here! I paid $28.00 for this Omron HBF-306C Fat Loss Monitor, so I can track my progress. This is important, so that I know that the weight I’m losing is fat, and not muscle weight. The danger is, if you work out really hard (and don’t replenish your protein), your body needs an immediate source of protein and takes them from your muscles. I don’t feel like I’m losing muscle; actually I feel/look stronger. But that’s a problem too, because you can’t gain muscle without gaining fat. In any case, it’ll be good to be able to track this. June 26th - 160.8 lbs, 14.0% body fat I’ve been hovering around 162 for a few days, so it was weird to see another drop this morning. We’ll see if it was just a one-day thing.

My new toy is here! I paid $28.00 for this Omron HBF-306C Fat Loss Monitor, so I can track my progress. This is important, so that I know that the weight I’m losing is fat, and not muscle weight. The danger is, if you work out really hard (and don’t replenish your protein), your body needs an immediate source of protein and takes them from your muscles.

I don’t feel like I’m losing muscle; actually I feel/look stronger. But that’s a problem too, because you can’t gain muscle without gaining fat. In any case, it’ll be good to be able to track this.

June 26th - 160.8 lbs, 14.0% body fat

I’ve been hovering around 162 for a few days, so it was weird to see another drop this morning. We’ll see if it was just a one-day thing.

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