DoTheEvolution.Me

While many things in my life may be either in, or headed towards, the shitter, I’ve at least got my training.  Part of me is really starting to love sprints.  There.  I said it.  Every moment of every sprint rep has been hard since I started, and 12 weeks later that’s still almost exactly the same case, except for 2 things: For one,  I’m running harder, faster, and more powerfully in each rep, and two, in-between reps I recover a LOT faster.  And in my mind, that’s how I want all growth in my life to be.  Enlightenment is an edge to be surfed, not a thing to be achieved. With practice it can be lived more fully, deeply, and powerfully in each moment, but its never suddenly going to be “easy”.  Like sets of sprinting, some moments will be great, others will feel like shit, but recovery from those moments gets quicker and easier…or something like that.

Abs were also pretty solid today, Swiss balls and reverse crunches were solid today, I was present, engaged, and pushed myself.  So much so I was actually a little worm out by the time I got to crossovers, but that’s ok.

Sluggish today.  No particular reason, got an okay amount of sleep, woke up on time, ate fairly well this weekend….but when I pushed things didn’t move as fast or as powerfully as I wanted them to be.  One of the great things I’ve had the pleasure of experiencing with my strength traininng, though I think it applies to any practice, is the joy of highs and lows.  Often they come for no particular reason, days I intend on having the best workout ever turn out ho-hum, while other days where i feel like I’ve barely been able to get out of bed turn out to be the best.  Learning to enjoy the ride, whether its up or down, has been a great practice for me.  States come and go, as do good and bad workout sessions, moods, the weather, and so much else.

174.2 on the scale this morning.  My goals to have the lovely number 173 flash up on that scale by a week from friday.    Make it so.

OMG.  I did NOT want to get up this morning.  I was up WAY too late rocking with good dudes playing rockband.  The good news?  WE TORE IT UP, Foreplay/Long Time has NOTHING was destroyed by our mad skillz.  The bad news?  I didn’t get to bed until 3am….so getting up at 9 was a bit hard.  Slept in till 9:30 and decided I’d just take a nap this afternoon.  Trudged over to the gym and dove right in, 1st cardio weight circuit was weak sauce, but the next two were fantastic.  Sweat dripping down my brow, grunts of power exherting from my lungs, burning muscles, good times were had, and the hot tub afterwards was MOST pleasurable.

For the second friday in a row, my damned alarm didn’t go off.  Not sure why, but luckily my internal alarm clock yet again went off and I woke up exactly at 6am.  So I was about a half hour late getting started, which kinda sucked.

I was achey this morning, which felt strange.  I wasn’t sore in the way I’m used to being: tons of lactic acid in the muscles for super intense workouts.  Instead it was a bit more gentle, and felt more like I had just used my body quite a bit this week, which I did.  The after effects of wednesday’s leg routine were definitely felt this am.

Sprints were madness today, on my 7th set I sprinted as hard as I think I have in 10 years and my  lungs just about exploded.  The good news is it felt awesome and powerful, the bad news is it made me realize that a 100% full out sprint for me is much more than I thought it was, and that I’m not going as hard as I need to be overall during my sprints.

Abs were good today as well, couldn’t find a free bench to do reverse crunches on, so I hit up the roman chair instead, and good god are leg lifts one hell of an exercise.  I was failing at about 11 reps, and failing gloriously.

And its officially 2 weeks from today that we’ll be having our Boulder Theater premiere of Sex, God, Rock ‘n Roll, which I’ve timed to not only be a celebration of the launch of a national TV production I helped create, but will also be the official end of my focused training (and with that sobriety).

Gotta say, I’m damn excited.  Though I’m pretty sure I’m going to continue with a similar routine and schedule in the weeks after, much more loosely.  Right now I’m about back to the my  normal “fit” state, which for me is pretty lean.  However, I’m also at th epoint where any additional losses in fat and gains in muscle will literally be taking me into the realm of experiencing my body in a way I never have before in life.  So I’m prety into shooting for that, end of routine or not.

It was a hard waking up this morning, went to bed a little later than usual last night after a really bonding men’s group/after-hang at the Hungry Toad.  Anyways, consequently I was in a deep sleep state when the ‘ol Alarm went off, and the first thought in my head was “nooooooo……..it feels sooo good to be sleeping right now!!”.

Sprang out of bed 5 minutes later and was off for some shoulder action.  The workout itself was good, but not great.   I really dropped into dips quite well today, and shoulder shrugs were also spot on.  The other exercises were a bit more foggy, I struggle with bringing the same intensity to my back and shoulder muscles.

2 more weeks!

Here’s to legs, those wonderful appendages that get us where we need to go day after day without complaint.

Smashed um this morning. Lunges, Leg Press, Leg Curls, Sumo Squats, and calf raises.  I was in, present, and pushing, then out.  It was swift and brutal, and felt great.  My dropset on the legpress was particularly deadly today, went a good 4 reps beyond my normal.  Excrutiating, but felt good.

Back in action, woke up on time, got to bed on time last night, and slaughtered my sprints.  Felt faster and stronger than usual, more powerful in each stride.  Abs also went pretty well, I sometimes have trouble keeping proper form on the swiss ab ball, but otherwise it was a tough, engagning, satisfying morning.

I’m in week 12 of my self-chosen 14 week cycle, and feeling strong.  I’m definitely going to be ready for a little break/recharge at the end, but am pretty sure I’ll be able to hang through the remainder.

One thing I have completely failed at is writing my screenplay, so far I’ve just been lazy and been avoiding it.

Routine was a bit different today, didn’t workout till 8am as I stayed up late last night along with fellow crew to watch the premiere of the television show I helped create….So slept in a bit this morning and decided to workout a little later.  I definitely ate off diet quite a bit this weekend, both friday at a gathering at a friends and last night at our little premiere shindig.  While it was nice to splurge on some junk food and whatnot, I’m definiitely feeling the effects in my body.  I feel a bit sluggish, tired, and more congested than usual.  Looking forward to getting back to cleaner foods for the week!

Wasn’t my strongest chest workout this morning, partly because of the lack of sleep and poor eating this weekend.  Definitely didn’t feel as strong as normal.  So begins week 12!

Stats this morning: 37″ and 20 on the calipers.

Forgot to post on saturday, but i most certainly worked out….I mostly remember how good it felt to sit in the hot tub afterwards..

My alarm didn’t go off this morning.  Luckily, after a dozen or so weeks of waking up early 6 days of the week, my body had me covered.  I woke up at 6am, the time I’m usually arriving to the gym.  Scrambled, got my shit together, and headed over by 6:15.  Consequently, I felt “behind” my whole workout, even though I had no hard deadline…

Physically I was achey as hell this morning, which actually pleases me quite a bit after 10 weeks of training.  I was pretty sluggish in my sprints, though there were a few specific sets where I felt more powerful than I ever have before.

Abs were pretty good, not great.  Part of me really still feels like I don’t really know how to do a true crunch, I was so indoctrinated by situps in my youth that its really hard for me to limit my range of motion.  Definitely feels more intense when I do though.  One thing I have come to truly love about Strength Training, which is like any true artform, is that its not something than can ever really be ‘mastered’, but is instead a lifetime of exploration.