As some of you might know, our general region was subject to a bunch of lightning strikes in late August, which resulted in a bunch of fires that were collectively named the CZU Lightning Complex Fires. I found this picture on my phone, which I took back on September 9th of the orange skies caused by the fires in our neck of the woods and other areas.

Sun, October 18th

Morning Walk: 3.15 miles. Calories: 2051, Protein: 106 g.

Mon, October 19th

• Morning Walk: 3.10 miles.
• Afternoon Training
  • Captains of Crush Gripper (T): X + N reps means I close the gripper successfully to the target measure X times and then do N more reps where I don’t fully close to the target measure.
    • (Set 1): Right = 8mm x 5 reps, Left = 19mm x 5 reps
    • (Set 2): Right = 8mm x 5 reps, Left = 19mm x 5 reps
    • (Set 3): Right = 8mm x 5 reps, Left = 16mm x 3 + 2 reps
    • (Set 4): Right = 8mm x 3 +2 reps, Left = 16mm x 4 + 1 reps
  • Super Set: [Twist Yo’ Wrist (up and down twice): 8 lbs. x 4 sets, 10 lbs. x 1 set] +
    • (Set 1) Dead Bugs (2-ct): 25 reps
    • (Sets 2-3) Cable Wood Chops (one side): 15 lbs. x 20 reps
    • (Set 4) Crunches: 35 reps
    • (Set 5) Cat Litter Fitness Bag Dead Lifts: 30 reps
  • Worked on my Side-Lunge Stretch, which is one of my current goals.

This little gubbin is the latest acquisition for our home gym. It is called a Captains of Crush Key and I obtained it from Ironmind, which is the same company we bought the grippers from. This is what allows me to introduce millimeter measurements on how far I am from closing the Trainer gripper in today’s and future grip work.

The idea of the key is to provide (hopefully) encouraging or at least more precise feedback metrics for closing a gripper when you can’t close it all the way. The little protuberances vary from 2mm to 16mm, going up in 2mm increments with a final 3mm gap from 16mm to 19mm. If you use the key length-wise it is 54mm.

Based on today’s workout I can introduce a micro goal of being able to close the Trainer gripper to 14mm for 4 sets of 5 repetitions with my left hand. I will put this on my goal page.

Calories: 2039, Protein: 124 g.

Tues, October 20th

Morning Walk: 3.27 miles. Calories: 2081, Protein: 109 g.

Wed, October 21st

September 9th was not only quite orange at my house but also pretty dark for around 3:30 pm. So dark in fact the crickets started singing and the bats came out from their box on my neighbor’s tree and started flying around! I think the little anomalous-looking white bit in the picture is light from the neighbor’s window.

I went outside with my phone and made a very short video. I uploaded it to Youtube. I’ve provided a link below for anyone who might be interested.

• Morning Walk: 3.10 miles.
• Afternoon Workout
  • Shoulder Complex: THREE SETS { [Twenty-One’s: 10 lb. DB’s for lateral, front raises, and rear delt rows] + [Arnold Presses: 20 lbs. x 12 reps] }
    • I’m thinking it is time to go up to 12 lbs. on the laterals and rear delt rows.
  • Standing Push-ups using cellar stairs: 4 sets x 10 reps
  • Super Set: Did each set as detailed:
    • (Sets #1-2) Wood Chops: 17.5 lbs. x 15 reps (one side each set)
    • (Sets #3-4) Face Pulls: 10 lbs. x 15 reps
    • and then an accompanying set of Tricep Cable Pushdowns (tri-bar): 35 lbs. x 4 sets x 12 reps
  • Super Set: Did each set as detailed:
    • (Sets #1-2) Wrist Rolling: 10 lbs. x up and down twice from 16″ platform
    • (Set #3) Dead Bugs (2-ct): 25 reps
    • (Set 4) Body Weight Dead Lifts: 15 reps
    • and then an accompanying set of One-Handed Reverse Grip Tricep Pushdowns (d-handle): 10 lbs. x 4 sets x 12 reps
  • Super Set: Did each set as detailed below:
    • (Set #1) Crunches: 30 reps
    • (Set #2) Body Weight Dead Lifts: 12 reps
    • (Set #3) Jumping Jacks (4-ct): 12 reps
    • (Set #4) Sumo Dead Lifts (cat litter fitness bag): 15 reps
    • and then an accompanying set of Standing Cable Flies: 10 lbs. x 4 sets x 12 reps
  • Walked my hands, using a pinch grip, up and down the handle (twice) of a 8″ x 8″ dirt tamper.
  • Hand Opening: 8 lb. band x 2 sets x 12 reps
  • Worked on the side-lunge stretch and did a little general stretching to end the workout.

Calories: 2046, Protein: 116 g.

Thurs, October 22nd

• Morning Walk: 3.24 miles, and afternoon walk: 3.32 miles. Total mileage for the day is 6.56 miles. Calories: 1902, Protein: 113 g.

We went for a hike in the woods right around the Time of the Orange Skies and as these pictures show there was little bits of ash everywhere, even though the area we hiked in hadn’t burnt. Even the hitching bar on the horse trail, that I use sometimes for rows and such, had ash on it.

Fri, October 22nd

• Morning Walk: 3.17 miles.
• Afternoon Workout
  • Standing Cable Rows (d-handles): 40 lbs. x 12 reps, 45 lbs. x 2 sets x 12 reps, 50 lbs. x 12 reps
  • Cable Pull Downs (d-handles): 50 lbs. x 4 sets x 12 reps
  • Standing Bicep Curls (cat litter fitness bag as barbell) : 4 sets x 12 reps
  • Exercise Complex: Dead Bugs (2-ct): 20 reps, Two-Handed American KB Swings: 15 lbs. x 15 reps, Face Pulls: 12.5 lbs. x 15 reps, Cable Wood Chops (ea. side): 25 lbs. x 12 reps, Full Squats: 20 reps
    • Thought I was doing 20 lbs. on the wood chops and thought, “Wow these are kind of hard. I only noticed my oversight when I was done.
  • Spring Bar [alternated sets of hands supinated and pronated]: Light Bar: 2 sets x 8 reps, Heavy Bar: 2 sets x 5 reps
  • Over Head Press with Workout Rock: 20 reps
• Late Afternoon Walk: 3.28 miles. Total mileage for the day was 6.45 miles.

Calories: 2188, Protein: 122 g.

This is my Cat Litter Fitness Bag. I’ve had it for some time now. Usually they are filled with sand, but I didn’t have any clean, dry sand on hand but I did have plenty of unscented clay cat litter so I used that.

You can do a lot with a fitness bag and I was able to get a pretty full workout, once the lockdown began, between this and my Workout Rock. My husband enjoys the gym we’ve built up so far though and wouldn’t be content with a bag and a rock, and I must confess after years of having memberships at commercial gyms I probably wouldn’t be either for the long term.

One thing I’ve learned about the bags is if you are going to buy one, get a good, sturdy one and not a cheaply made one because if you can’t be rough with your bag then it is no good. You should be able to drag, heft, toss, slam and otherwise abuse the thing to your heart’s content!

Sat, October 23rd

Morning Walk: 3.26 miles. We had some pretty nice take-away for dinner, so I’m not sure what my intake was for the day though I think it was reasonable. (I was up 3.2 pound for the week so my total is 13 lbs. so far.)