I had a good week of workouts. I’m hoping to add more pulling work soon, though my latissimus dorsi have been getting fairly sore doing the current workouts. (I suspect is it because I’m making a point of doing the incline push-ups through a full range of motion as well as emphasizing the eccentric portion of the movement.) Also, I am noticing less soreness from just doing the Romanian Dead Lifts as a range of motion exercise. I’ll probably slowly start adding some weight using dumbbells.

I mentioned the “Land of the Messed Up Trees” during last week’s workout post. I didn’t get a chance to take new pictures but I did happen upon some pictures I took a couple of weeks ago, which I forgot about.

The funny thing about these formations of many trunks is they are localized phenomenon in the park and I only see them in quantity in this one area, not too far from the Fence Made of Branches.

Sun, October 4th

Rest day. I worked on putting together a box of wraiths I’ve had sitting around for quite awhile now. Calories: 2178, Protein: 80 g.

Mon, October 5th

• Morning Walk: 2.14 miles. My husband’s schedule continues to be tight so we’ll probably have to continue with the abbreviated walks and hikes for awhile longer yet.
• Afternoon Training
  • Stationary Recumbent Bike: 30 Minutes, Manual Program, ~ 70 rpm’s, Level 8
  • Superset: [CoC Gripper (S): 3 sets x 5 reps; (T): 1 set x 5 reps. I was very near to closing the Trainer grip with my right hand for the first couple of reps.] +
    • (Set 1) Full Squats: 21 reps
    • (Set 2) Dead Bugs (2-ct): 21 reps
    • (Set 3) Face Pulls: 10 lbs. x 15 reps (increase weight next time)
    • (Set 4) Twist Yo’ Wrist: 5 lbs. x (down and up twice; increase weight next time)
  • Stretched for 20 minutes following a video, “Stretching for the Splits (Taekwondo),” on the Global Martial Arts University Challenge.
• Evening Model Assembly: Finished putting together the last of the mob of ten wraiths I started on Monday.

Calories: 1735, Protein: 82 g.

Tues, October 6th

Rest Day. Worked some on Frank’s Pig Demon. Concentrated mostly on the trident and tidying up the basecoat on its clothing. Calories: 2084, Protein: 114 g.

Wed, October 7th

• Morning Walk: 2.02 miles.
• Afternoon Training
  • Superset: 4 Sets [Standing Pushups using basement counter: 12 reps] + [Standing Cable Flies: 10 lbs. x 12 reps]
  • Superset: 3 Sets [Twenty-One’s: 10 lb. DB’s for lateral and front raises, 5 lbs. for rear delt rows] + [Arnold Presses: 20 lbs. x 10 reps]
    • Rested for 90 seconds between each set.
    • To perform Twenty-One’s, you perform a set of Lateral Raises, then Front Raises, then Rear Delt Rows with no rest between exercises, only between sets. You do 7 reps of each exercise, hence the name “Twenty-One’s.”
  • Super Set: 4 Sets [Tricep Cable Pushdowns (tri bar): 35 lbs. x 12 reps] + [Bend Spring Bar: 3 sets x 8 reps with lighter bar and 1 set x 5 reps with heavier bar.]
  • Super Set: [CoC Gripper (S): 2 sets x 5 reps; CoC Gripper (T) or Trainer: 2 sets x 5 reps] +
    • (Set 1) Crunches: 30 reps
    • (Set 2) Dead Bugs (2-ct): 20 reps (had to grind out the last few)
    • (Set 3) Alternating One-Handed American Kettlebell Swing: 15 lbs. x 12 reps
    • (Set 4) Jumping Jacks (2-ct): 12 reps
  • Walked one loop of my driveway holding my workout rock over my head.
  • Stretched for about 12 minutes. While I was stretching I did a couple of sets of finger extensions with my 8 lb. bands in help balance out all of the hand flexion training I’ve been doing.

Calories: 1868, Protein: 115 g.

I love my workout rock. It is neither too light nor too heavy for what I want to do with it. I decided to weigh the rock after posting this and my husband asking about it and it is 36 pounds. It was originally part of a bunch of rocks piled up, with some bungled attempt at mortar work, forming the makeshift corner foundation of our house. A few years ago we jacked up the corner and put in a proper foundation.

Many of the rocks ended up forming the circle in an area I dedicated to our friend, The King of the Good People, and this rock ended up neglected out in back of my yard for a few years. (I’ll post a picture of the Circle next time.) After everything closed down but before my home gym, I started working out with this rock. The rock was my home gym and even now, despite having a bunch of equipment, I like to keep working the rock in because it feels like an old friend, who was there when I needed her.

Thurs, October 8th

Morning Walk: 3.36 miles. Calories: 2584, Protein: 152 g.

Fri, October 9th

• Morning Walk: 3.31 miles.
  • Standing DB Bicep Curls: 15 lbs. x 4 sets x 12 reps
  • Superset: Four Sets [Wrist Rolling: 8 lbs., rolling up and down twice while standing on 16″ platform] + [Finger Extensions (band): 8 lbs. x 12 reps]
  • Leg Complex: Four Sets [Romanian Dead Lift (broom handle): 12 reps] + [Full Squats: 13 reps] + [Walking Lunges: 6 reps] + Side Kick Stretch: 12 reps] Rested 90 seconds between sets.
  • Face Pulls: 12.5 lbs. x 12 reps
  • Dead Bugs (2-ct): 20 reps
  • Stretched for about 15 minutes.

Calories: 2143, Protein: 115 g.

Sat, October 10th

Rest Day. Calories: 1980, Protein: 120 g. (Lost 1 pound this week for a total of 16.2 lbs. so far.)