hSingh - Training Journal

I might as well start logging a little something as well. Don't have much these days in terms of goals, only thing is to improve my cardiovascular system immensely and getting rid of the L4-L5 disc pain.

Last month I found out the hard way (when I passed out) doing circuit style training how bad things were. I have increased my carb and salt intake since then and things are finally starting to look up! Today was the first workout where I did not feel like I was getting dizzy at all even though heart rate was as high as 185 at times. So I have hope that things are in the clear again

Disc injury will take some time to heal, it's already been 2 months and much progress has been made. But I find that it's still quite delicate and can get aggravated rather easily. So I will continue to incorporate lots of core work in my training, let's see how it goes. I hope it can be close to a 100% with in the next couple of months.

Awesome, glad to have you over

Had a training session last night, circuit style training, lots of getting out of breath

Since I started eating daal + roti and increased my salt intake, I have noticed a steady increase in my cardiovascular fitness level. Not now or ever will be be doing strength training any more, but that is okay, I can still get an intense workout using circuits or cross fit style of training.

Some of the things I did:
warmup: bw lunges + TRX bw rows

Stairs: 5 flights, will aim for 6 tomorrow
Wall Sits: 45 seconds
Pushups on balance board with 1 foot in air
Standing dumbbell shoulder press

Due to the disc issue, these days things are quite simple and high emphasis on form to ensure no further damage is done and body is given plenty of time for recovery. I did push myself to the point where I started feeling light headed again, but this time it happened toward end of the workout. This used to happen with in the first 20 minutes before. Things are improving and I do feel better.

A couple of new numbers to report today, felt stronger than usual.

- 10 bw chin ups with strict form (all the way down, all the way up)
- 24 bw dips
- Hammer curls with 30lb dumb bells -> x10, x8

Did you purchase a TRX system?

Do you feel you will ever get back into weight training?

How are things with health?

Did you purchase a TRX system?
- No I did not, the gym I am getting training sessions at has them.

Do you feel you will ever get back into weight training?
- Yes, although heavy lifting is gone for good. I am still allowed to squat and dead lift 135lbs pending the disc heals first. I do work with weights even now, but being extra careful to avoid straining the back at all, mostly using machines or if I do free weights they are quite light.

How are things with health?
- Generally things are good these days, except for the disc injury which is going to take at least a few months to heal. I have made quite a bit of progress toward my cardiovascular fitness which is always nice.

Pelvic adjustments that I have been getting at a chiropractor are holding quite good. I'm seeing him every 3 weeks now, started off seeing him 3 times/week, then it moved to once a week, then once every 2 weeks, now we are confident once every 3 weeks is all that is needed. Back certainly feels a lot better So all in all, things are not looking too shabby.

Btw, I was thinking I should send you another set of pics, to compare them from the ones you already have. I hope that you will see some progress in terms of imbalances etc. Or should we do this another way? I would like to get back at fixing the imbalances asap.

Btw, I was thinking I should send you another set of pics, to compare them from the ones you already have. I hope that you will see some progress in terms of imbalances etc. Or should we do this another way? I would like to get back at fixing the imbalances asap.

We can do that shortly. However, I must ask if you even continued with the previous exercises provided.

I am glad the CHiro has worked for you. It is important to ease off of it, so i am glad that you only go every once in a while, and maintain important muscle balance on your own in the gym,.

Some progress to report
- added 1 additional flight of stairs, went from 5 to 6
- heart rate seem to peak out at 185 these days even when I'm pushing hard as I can. This is good news, lower the better I say.

We have found an exceptionally weak area in my glutes. Last Thursday trainer made me do single arm single leg dead lift using cables, 10reps with light weight. Outer area of both my glutes were quite sore for 2 days! Left glute was sore for 4 days actually, says a lot about the imbalance. So I will be incorporating these on a regular basis.

I must ask if you even continued with the previous exercises provided.

I had stopped doing those a while ago. Did you want to start the same program again? I'm guessing I need to do it for about a month before reassessing? I was just thinking with the chiro and personal trainer, perhaps I have already made progress. But I guess what you had provided earlier was the basic setup (building block) before moving onto more challenging and tailored work.

Did the following circuit today consisting of 5 exercises, done back to back. Breaks taken were no more than 20 seconds

1. quarter mile jog at 6mph
2. bw lunges
3. sumo dead lift high pull with 25lb dumbbell
4. bw pushups
5. Stability ball tuck
6. standing single arm shoulder press with 25lb dumbbell

Here's how the reps went
set 1: quarter mile jog at 5mph, x20, x21, x21, x10, x10
set 2: quarter mile jog at 6mph, x20, x19, x19, x10, x8
set 3: same as above, x20, x15, x15, x10, x6
set 4: same as above, x20, x12, x12, x10, x6
set 5: same as above, x20, x9, x9, x10, x6

Some stats to report, courtesy of my heart rate monitor.
Duration = 35mins
Avg. HR = 158
Max HR = 182
Calories burnt = 470

As you can see by the amount of calories burnt, it was an intense workout. I would aim to beat these numbers later on in the week when I do the same workout again. Interestingly, 25lb single arm shoulder press felt challenging.

nice circuit,

maybe u can shoot a video with rocky music to it one time

nice set of exercises, but i dont understand the running reps scheme

To clarify, each set consisted of the 6 exercises done in a circuit. The reps listed match the order listed previously.

For example:

Set 1: quarter mile jog at 5mph, x20, x21, x21, x10, x10

means that I did:

quarter mile jog at 5mph +
20 bw lunges +
21 sumo dead lift high pull with 25lb dumbbell +
21 bw pushups +
10 Stability ball tuck +
10 standing single arm shoulder press with 25lb dumbbell

Hope that clears it up.

maybe u can shoot a video with rocky music to it one time

Halfway through the workout I am so out of breath that I zone out and don't listen or hear anything but my own laboured breathing Having rock music or any other music for that matter would be irrelevant.

Did same circuit as last time, very similar numbers and time this time as before. As I took less breaks I was expecting to burn a few extra calories than last time, but it did not happen. Some stats:

Duration = 35mins
Avg. HR = 157
Max HR = 187
Calories burnt = 470

Session with trainer yesterday evening.

Circuit consisting of the following:
- stairs x8, x7, x5
- sumo dead lift with high pull (x30/set x 3 sets)
- push ups (x30/set x 3 sets)
- bridge ~1min/set
- can't remember it's name. but it was using cables, motion was kinda like what you do in archery


Duration: 50mins
Calories burnt: 600
Max HR: 190

As I was pushing hardest I ever have, had to take a break as I started feeling a little light headed. Hopefully next time there will be no need for a break.

Session with trainer earlier this evening.

Circuit consisted of the following
- stairs
- bar bench press
- bike
- incline dumbbell bench press
- push ups (till failure)

Pleased to say that I didn't get light headed, but the circuit was quite intense so I had to take a few short breaks to catch my breath and relieve my hurting diaphragm.

Stats:
Duration: 45mins
Max HR: 187
Avg HR: 168
Calories burnt: 650

Interestingly it was the bench press and dumbbell press that I found the least enjoyable! Oh how things have taken a new turn...I am really enjoying doing hard circuits these days just using body weight.

Another rather high intensity training session last night.

1 set consisting of 2 exercises; set was repeated without rest for 7 minutes. I managed to repeat each set 7 times with in the 7 minute time frame. This was followed with 3 minute rest period.

set 1:
TRX rows x15
+
Squat and Press with 20lb dumb bells

Set 2:
Sumo dead lift high pull with 12 kg kettle bell x15
+
bw pushups x10

set 3:
Push Press with 30lb dumb bells x10
+
bw standing lunges x14 (7 each side)

set 4:
Assisted chin up (60lbs was offset) x10
+
bw squat x15

Some stats to report:
Duration: 45mins
Max HR: 191
Avg HR: 166
Total calories burnt: 680

good stuff

My friend is actually coming to Calgary next week, he is going
to be working in FOrt Mc

Wow last Thursday's workout really took a toll. I could not straighten my arms all day Saturday; they were quite sore on Sunday as well. In addition to that my collar muscles got quite sore and stiff as well.
Today is 4th day and still not fully recovered! This is highly unexpected as I have been working out regularly for quite some time now. I would say the intensity level was much higher than what my body is used to.

Due to excessive soreness I skipped my Saturday workout.


A friend of mine was saying that now people at Fort Mac like employees to stay there for a few years at least.

Got killed during last night's session. The circuit was designed as follows.

2 laps on treadmill at 6mph with 1 degree incline
+
cross over bw lunges x30
+
bw push ups x20
+
sumo squat high pull with 25lb kettle bell x20
+
lunges holding 25lb plate on each side x30
+
bw rows (hanging upside down on the treadmill)


The aim was to do 4 sets of that in 50 minutes, but I only managed 3. The only way to do 4 is to not take any breaks but as the intensity was quite high I got light headed twice (each time after bw rows) so had to take a short break. Also took short breaks between each exercise to catch my breath. Regardless of the breaks, I still managed to the maximum amount of calories ever!

Duration: 50mins
Max HR: 188
Avg HR: 171
Calories burnt: 750

good stuff,

dood Im having trouble gathering members

any ideas? Should we hit up facebook?

Last session with the trainer last night. I woke up with intense pain in my stomach at 2am yesterday, likely something I ate caused all the trouble. I wasn't digesting much food throughout the day so we decided to take it easy to see how the body would hold up.

Circuit # 1: x3
------------------
stairs x6 24 steps per set)
+
pushups on rectangular balance board x10
+
bw squats on rectangular balance board x5
+
crunches on stability ball x20


After doing the above, I still felt quite good so we decided to turn it up a notch.

Circuit # 2: x4
---------------
squat high pull with 25lb kettle bell x20
+
TRX rows x20
+
bw squats x20
+
push ups x20

So there you have it, I had paid $2000 for 24 sessions with the trainer all of which have now been utilized. I have some serious progress in my cardio vascular fitness and now I can maintain a heart rate of 175+ for quite a while. I have also made significant progress in core + balance strength.
I think the best thing is that I have now shifted my focus away from pure strength training to more cross fit style circuit training (fit for life). Moving forward I would like to stick to this as due to my disc injury doing weights has become a big question mark.

Should we hit up facebook?

Facebook wouldn't be a bad idea, I think if we can make a group on there and start promoting it, that would be the good. May be I should reopen my fb account...

Forgot to update. Did some intense cardio work Saturday (the usual circuit) and some strength training on Sunday. I will switch things up a little bit next week for the strength workout as it's been 5-6 weeks since I have been following the same routine.

Was suppose to be a workout day today but back isn't feeling. Feels like I have slightly aggravated my disc again, so I took it easy and went for 1 hour walk instead.

Saturday May 15, 2009
@ 12:20pm for 51 mins

Circuit consisted of the following:
set of stairs x10
+
squat + press with 25lb dumb bells x15
+
bw push ups x20
+
Sit ups on stability ball x15
+
push press with 25 lb dumb bells x15


The entire scheme was repeated for 6 sets. After the 3rd set, as my shoulders were getting quite fatigued and left knee was acting up a little, I dropped number of reps on squat+press from 15 to 10.

Stats:
Duration: 51mins
Calories burnt: 725
Avg HR: 169
Max HR: 184

I would like to push the average HR to about 175, i.e. take less breaks. I have no doubt that if that if I can manage to do that then surely I will burn 800+ calories in 50mins. Also point to note that as the workout is quite intense I will be burning extra calories through out rest of the day as well.

wow thats a high HR