I got out of the habit of posting my workouts as I shifted focus to my book publishing project with most of my online activity taking place on my new Redwood Press site. That is going well and although I’m still focused on it, I think it is best that I get back into the habit of posting my weekly workout log. I like working out a lot so I still train even when I’m not keeping records, but if I don’t have a plan then I tend to do the fun stuff and not do the stuff that isn’t as much fun. As is often the case with many things in life, it is the “not fun” stuff that seems to align most closely with my current goals.*
Sun, July 11th
Afternoon Walk: 6.07 miles. Calories: 2810, Protein: 171 g.
We’ve seen this book perched up in a tree for the last three weeks now, when we do one of our usual hikes. The second week I told my husband, “I’m going to take that book if it is still here next week,” and sure enough it was. So I grabbed it and put it in my pack.
I flipped through it later, when we were having a water break, and noticed that someone had torn various pages out, seemingly randomly, which was too bad because I was looking forward to reading the book.** Like my husband said, “It is a shame, but when you gotta go, you gotta go.” I ended up putting the book back where we found it a few days later.
Mon, July 12th
- Morning Walk: 3.26 miles.
- Warmed up for afternoon workout with the 1 lb. indian clubs and dynamic stretching.
- Ring Rows: 45° x 4 sets x 8 reps
- Lat Pull Downs (hog bar): 60 lbs. x 4 sets x 8 reps
- Sandbag (100 lbs.) and Fitness Rock:
- (Set One) Picked up bag from 16″ platform and walked it outside (40 steps) to the tailgate of our Land Cruiser.
- (Set Two) Picked up bag from tailgate (~31″) and held in bear hug hold for 30 seconds.
- (Set Three) Picked fitness rock up from ground and threw it up and back, over my shoulder in an explosive manner. I did this for 8 repetitions.
- (Set Four): Sandbag Bear Hug Hold: 30 seconds.
- (Set Five): Threw fitness rock over shoulder x 8 reps
- (Set Six): Picked up bag from tailgate and walked it 45 steps back to where it lives inside of our basement.
- DB Curls: 20 lbs. x 4 sets x 12 reps
- Ended the workout with some static stretching.
Calories: 1974, Protein: 158 g.
Tues, July 13th
Recumbent Bike: 30 Minutes, Hill Program, Level 10. RPM’s: 70 – 80. Did some dynamic and static stretching afterward.
Calories: 2203, Protein: 144 g.
A shot up through some young redwoods during a water and peanut break on the trail at Henry Cowell State Park, Felton, California (USA).
Wed, July 14th
- Morning Walk: 3.26 miles.
- Afternoon workout. I warmed up with some dynamic stretching.
- Landmine Squats: Bar x 4 sets x 15 reps
- Romanian Dead Lifts: 75 lbs. x 4 sets x 12 reps
- Finished the workout with some static stretching.
Thur, July 15th
- Morning Walk: 3.26 miles.
- Afternoon Workout: warmed up with 1 lb. indian clubs and dynamic stretching.
- Arnold Press: 30 lbs. x 4 sets x 8 reps
- Lateral Raises: 12 lbs. x 4 sets x 8 reps
- BB Bench Press: 65 lbs. x 8 reps, 75 lbs. x 8 reps, 85 lbs. x 8 reps, 95 lbs. x 8 reps
- (Superset): Tricep Pushdowns (rope): 25 lbs. x 4 sets x 8 reps +
- Set #1: Dead Bugs (2-ct): 12 reps
- Set #2: Standing Side Crunches (2-ct): 12 reps
- Set #3: Light Spring Bar: Hands Pronated x 12 reps + Hands Supinated x 12 reps
- Set #4: Face Pulls: 15 lbs. x 12 reps
Ended the workout with some static stretching. Calories: 2213, Protein: 124 g.
Fri, July 16th
Morning Walk: 3.26 miles.
- (Morning) Captains of Crush Gripper (Trainer, 100 lbs.):
- (Set 1): Left = 4 mm x 4 + 1 reps, Right = 4mm x 5 reps
- (Set 2): Left = 4 mm x 3 + 2 reps, Right = 4mm x 5 reps
- (Set 3): Left = 4 mm x 3 + 2 reps, Right = 4mm x 5 reps
- (Set 4): Left = 4 mm x 1 + 4 reps, Right = 4mm x 5 reps
- (Set 5): Left/Right (Guide Gripper, 50 lbs.) = kept fully closed holding piece of paper for 20/40 seconds
Calories: 2019, Protein: 137 g.
Sat, July 17th
- Recumbent Bike: 30 Minutes, Hill Program, Level 10. RPM’s: 70 – 85. For the last couple of minutes I pedaled as fast as I safely could at times; I think I peaked around 146 rpm’s. I could have probably beaten that if I still had the foot clips that came with the bike, but those are long lost since most of the time I don’t like using them.
- Cossack Squats (4-point using bench): 10 reps
- Dead Bugs (2-ct): 20 reps
- Walking Lunges: 10 reps
- Taekwondo Snap Kick/Leg Extension Exercise (ea. leg): 10 reps
- Hindu Squats: 20 reps
- Sumo Squats with Leg Abduction (4-ct): 10 reps
- Pinch Grip Lift (Hub): 12 lbs. x 4 sets x 10 secs
- Concluded with some dynamic and static stretching. Worked some on the Tree Pose.
Calories: 2250, Protein: 106 g. (I am up 3.6 lbs. since I stopped tracking my workouts in mid-April. My total loss thus far is 29.4 lbs.)
* Case in point are the Captains of Crush grippers. I don’t particularly enjoy training with these (my husband loves them) but I do enjoy the results I get from using them. I achieved one of my gripper goals back in February but have been very spotty in my CoC training since I stopped recording my workouts. Now I can’t do what I did back in February. I’ve still been working on my grip—mainly through using the steel mace and some other things, which I do enjoy—and while those fun things are good for building strong hands, they aren’t a replacement for the specific benefit one gets from the grippers.
** Not enough to see if I could get the book from the library or buy it.
Ann's Immaterium 
15 responses to “Work Outs: July 11 – 17, 2021 (Book in the Forest)”
[…] talented painter, Dave Stone, gave me the idea for this writing prompt with a comment he made on my personal blog about the Book in a Tree. Thanks, […]
LikeLike
Inquiring minds want to know, what was the title of the book? Its good to see that California (at least where you live anyway) is still looking beautiful as well. I’d take a lot more walks if I was surrounded by that kind of natural beauty!
LikeLiked by 2 people
The title of the book is “The Lost Librarian’s Grave” and it is an anthology of horror and weird fiction. I’m planning for an October release. I’m in the middle of editing the stories now. Spent most of May and June acquiring stories from various authors from, as it turns, from far and wide. I started a new website for my publishing efforts at http://www.redwood-press.com.
Yes, the natural beauty was one of the reasons we moved here some years ago. We were living up north of San Jose before that, and while it had its advantages, we both missed living around trees and we liked the houses down here better than what was available up that way a few years ago.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks for the info! I’ll keep my eye out for your book’s release in Oct. That happens to be my birthday month as it turns out so that is convenient 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
I hope you have a nice October birthday. When I was a child I always thought it would be fun to be born on Halloween, but one of my older relatives smartened me up–Christmas birthday–and told me all of the disadvantages of sharing a birthday with a holiday. Since then, I’ve been glad my birthday is in June!
I’ll certainly keep everyone posted about the book, both here and on the RP site. 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
I wish I had to he discipline to work out at home ,I have failed in the past so it’s back to the gym when we are able to . I have seen strange things on our hikes but never a book , interesting, but having pages removed is weird🤔.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Yes, I agree. Some of the pages being removed was a bit strange. There is my husband’s hypothesis, of course, but it was a children’s book, so I’m wondering if some of the pages were removed by a young child; still, that doesn’t really explain what the book was doing sitting in the branches of a tree for three weeks until I came along and removed it.
I hope you can get back to the gym soon. I miss and like the gym too, particularly the energy of the place. Still, I’m finding the convenience hard to beat. Still might get a punch pass or something so I can drop in to the gym maybe once a month for fun.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yes I felt kids might have been involved 🤔🤓
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yes, me too. The book was stuck up pretty high for a small child. I wonder if a child lost it and then someone came along and put the book in the tree on the off chance the person who lost it would find it again if they took the same route back or something?
LikeLiked by 1 person
That’s a point 🤔we are always finding hats and scarfs etc on our walk and like you said we hang the in trees just in case as were we go it would generally be locals .
LikeLiked by 1 person
Hehe, yeah, I think we are of the same mind, Pat. 🙂 We do the same thing with stuff we find, oftentimes.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Good to see you are keeping up with your workouts Ann, and if keeping a record helps keep you focused then it’s a great thing you’ve started posting them again, and hopefully will get you doing the important not fun things again.
Great photograph up through the young redwoods, and the book in a tree, sounds like a title for a spooky story if you ask me !
LikeLiked by 2 people
Thank you, Dave. I’m doing better again now that I’ve imposed some structure again. You are right, that does sound like it might made a good seed for a story. I’ve been periodically doing writing prompts on the other site, so I think I’m going to make that one my next writing prompt!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Who tears a book to pieces? Heresy!
LikeLiked by 3 people
Yeah, I agree! 😦
LikeLiked by 3 people