Sessions 4 and 5

Didn't have time to blog Friday since the plan was to reunite with Mark on Friday evening for a semi-weekend filled festivities.

Session 4: I'm trying to remember what we did....
10 minute warmup on elliptical, resistance 9

-Single Leg in Air (up and down) while one leg is down - alternating, 3 sets of 10
-Pushup Position, touch elbow with one hand, alternating, 3 sets of 20
-Sit down/stand up from low platform with two five pound weights, 3 sets of 10
-Rope pull (increasing weights, dont know what they were, but this was easy) 3 sets of 10
-Sumo squat - dead lift stance -- couldn't do this, so we had to make less weight, and platform higher off the floor - 3 sets of 10
-Hip Flexor stretch in between (both legs)

Then, new cardio machine...."VersaClimber" (www.versaclimber.com)....thought it was easy at first, its basically like you are climbing a ladder. Needed to "climb" 200 feet while maintaining a stride length of 5-6 feet, which was harder than I thought. But, it was interesting that he said people usually collapse after a 100feet. Just 1 set. Took a water break of 10 seconds at 100 feet. When I got off, I was so out of breath, I could barely stand.

-Finished session with 3 sets of 10 inclined pushups on a bar.

_______________________________________________

Saturday, played Basketball with Mark. Mark basically taught me from scratch how to play in the post since I have an affinity for outside jumpers, particularly from beyond the arc. I learned 3 good moves and hopefully can execute them in the future in an actual pick up game. My biggest annoyance/problem is that when I'm in the post, I can't back down guys my own size, and when I have a player that's way smaller/shorter than me, I panic and turn the ball over. At least now, I know what I need to do, footwork wise to score some easy buckets.

I don't think that really counted as a workout because I was pretty tired just running to get the ball back and forth, but I think it was more a workout for Mark haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa.

Then both Saturday and Sunday nights, I think I was in caloric gain from binge eating at restaurants. But, I was pretty solid all week, so I didn't feel that guilty about it. Salads suck, but its all for a BIGGER PURPOSE!

Session 5:
Warm up on Elliptical, 7 minutes, resistance of 9

Reviewed Food logs. Week 1 was worse than week 2. Week 2, IMO, was the best I've eaten in months. Definitely in deficit each day. However, biggest criticism (George didn't even bother looking a week 2) was the lack of protein in Week 1. He said I've gotta go wayyy up in Protein throughout the day. The rule of thumb, he said was, a 1g protein per pound of body weight. This is something I'm going to have to wrestle with.

-Stairs: 10 stairs, run up, single step at a time, jog down - 10 times

--
Based on my huge issues with hip flexibility, George brought in the facilities movement expert / physical therapist to check out my issues. So he examined how I squat and did a couple of different tests -- one where I try and squat while pushing down on his extended arms (as balance, I guess). Then another one where I lay on my stomach and rotates both legs to gage flexibility. The long story short -- I apparently have retroverted pelvic joints...something I have to brush up on my anatomy. And the bottom line, as he told George is just to deal with it. I can squat with my legs closer together, so he said work to my strengths and see how it goes.
--

Split Squats, 2 sets, 10 reps each leg. First set was with arm support on the bars
Lateral Squats, 2 sets, 10 reps each leg. (Alternated with Split Squats)

My feet were throbbing from the stairs (need to get new shoes -- George suggested the Nike Flex Trainer (http://www.zappos.com/nike-flex-trainer-black-metallic-silver-white) and he brought over another guy at the gym (random client I guess who is ALWAYS at the gym and in solid shape) who was wearing them,.

We switched over to chest/upper body:
-Dumbell Bent-over-row. 35lbs. 3 sets, 10 reps, each arm.
-Dumbell Chess Press. 30lbs each arm. 3 sets, 8 reps. My right hand has a tendency to cramp, so I have to hold weights with just four fingers now...super weird (and unstable). 3rd set on this was gruesome. Tough
-Barbell Curl (15+30lbs). 3 sets, 10 reps.
-Diagonal Toss with 7lb medicine balll. 3 sets, 10 reps each side.

I was pretty exhausted all around. George warned me that I might not be able to walk tomorrow because of the split squats. Tomorrow's plan is Cardio. Probably the versaclimber since I was drenched after using it.

*thought of widsom 2* -- one thing thing that helps me focus on eating less and also less temptations is the fact that during each workout, I go in pumped like I can kill it, but pretty much after whatever first sets of exercises we do, I'm dead. Soooo my logic is, eat less and it will be easier (because less weight to impede progress). So anytime I look at something like a snack (cookie or cake or ice cream), I say....if I eat that, my ass will get kicked harder when I see George. Hopefully this carries me far.

Also, I told George my target weight of 165. He kinda snarked and said NOOOOO way! He is around 5'7 or 5'6 and he said he is 163 and that for my height (as Mark has told me for years...as well as several friends...and my dad), a good weight for me would be 210, 220 with mad muscle. But, I really want to get to under 200, just for a light frame. and then i can #ATTACKFASTANDSTRONG. I'll have to work to prove my doubters wrong. Besides, 6'0, 165 is attainable. See: Franchise Player from 2001.

Cheers!