Thursday, 3rd January

03 January 2008

Strength Training

Weights

Lower Body Workout

Cat Pose

Warmup

0 kg x 20

Ok.

Vertical Woodchop with Dumbbell

Warmup

21/2 kg x 20

Ok.

Reverse Woodchop with Dumbbell

Warmup

21/2 kg x 20

Ok.

Dru Twist with Dumbbell

Warmup

21/2 kg x 20

Ok.

Sagital Plane Leg Swings

Warmup

0 kg x 20

Ok.

Frontal Plane Leg Swings

Warmup

0 kg x 20

Ok.

Bodyweight Squat

Work Set

0 kg x 15 [+15]

Ok.

Super set (no resting) with…

Hover on Toes

Work Set

0 kg x 30 [-100] secs

Ok.

Bodyweight Squat

Work Set

0 kg x 15

Ok.

Hover on Toes

Work Set

0 kg x 30 secs

Ok.

Bodyweight Squat

Work Set

0 kg x 15

Ok.

By the fifth or sixth rep, my left shoulder was grumping about the arm position. I finished the set with the hands crossed in front, right arm supporting some of the weight of the left arm.

The other issue here is that my legs simply didn’t notice that they were doing any work. When you’ve been squatting with close to bodyweight sitting on your shoulders for 20 reps, this feels like a holiday.

Hover on Toes

Work Set

0 kg x 30 secs

Ok.

Took a 30 second rest here.

Alternating Forward Lunges

Work Set

0 kg x 15 [+15]

Ok.

Super set (no resting) with…

Bench Dips

Tim’s workout calls for incline pushups at this point. There is no way my left shoulder will tolerate that particular exercise at this point in time. Since bench dips are an upper body pushing exercise, I have substituted them.

Form is with legs straight in front, lowering until the elbows are a 90° angle.

Work Set

0 kg x 15 [+15]

Ok.

Alternating Forward Lunges

Work Set

0 kg x 15

Ok.

Bench Dips

Work Set

0 kg x 15

Ok.

Alternating Forward Lunges

Work Set

0 kg x 15

Ok.

Again, the legs didn’t really notice these too much—they knew they had been doing some work, but not enough to really notice.

I may have made an error with the rep count here. Tim specified 16 reps, which I took as a typo, but I’m thinking he may have meant eight per side. I need to clarify this.

Bench Dips

Work Set

0 kg x 15

Ok.

Took a 30 second rest here.

Snatch with Dumbbell

Tim calls this a dumbbell raise (by which name I know a completely different exercise). The exercise demonstrated on the video is basically an Olympic snatch. Because the weight is very light, it’s done as a controlled pull rather than an explosive movement, and omits the dip to get under the weight at the top. Also it uses a dumbbell instead of a barbell (so much more convenient for doing the exercise in your living room :-).

Work Set

5 [+5] kg x 15

Ok.

Pronated Reverse Fly

Tim calls this a flutter (again, I know as a completely different exercise by that name).

There are three variations of this exercise (pronated, neutral, and supinated hand position), with six reps of each done back to back six reps each.

Work Set

0 kg x 6 [+6]

Ok.

Neutral-Hand Reverse Fly

Work Set

0 kg x 6 [+6]

Ok.

Supinated Reverse Fly

Work Set

0 kg x 6 [+6]

Ok.

Snatch with Dumbbell

Work Set

5 kg x 15

Ok.

Pronated Reverse Fly

Work Set

0 kg x 6

Ok.

Neutral-Hand Reverse Fly

Work Set

0 kg x 6

Ok.

Supinated Reverse Fly

Work Set

0 kg x 6

Ok.

Snatch with Dumbbell

Work Set

5 kg x 15

Ok.

I have a tendency to cut the pull phase short, drop the elbows early, and push the weight from the upper chest. I need to concentrate on keeping the elbows up and pulling all the way to chin (or at least neck) height.

This was the heaviest fixed weight dumbbell I own, and it really wasn’t heavy enough. I need to load up the plate loader—I’ll try 7.5 kg next time.

Pronated Reverse Fly

Work Set

0 kg x 6

Ok.

This pronated hand position is causing some grumps out of the left shoulder.

Neutral-Hand Reverse Fly

Work Set

0 kg x 6

Ok.

Supinated Reverse Fly

Work Set

0 kg x 6

Ok.

It’s quite noticable that the left arm won’t rotate into a fully supinated position—the thumb is pointing up at about a 60° angle. I think the joint between the radius and the ulnar is working fine, but there’s a bit of extenal shoulder rotation required as well, and that isn’t happening.

As an experiment, I tried doing this supination while standing up, with my arms somewhat in front on me. The angle between the elbow and wrist joints were much the same on both sides, but there was about 30° less rotation at the left elbow. This could be as a result of the grumpy shoulder, it could be due to the missing piece of clavicle, or it could be due to something else. I need to keep working on my shoulder flexibility.

This really ended up as more of a light cardio workout than a weights session—bodyweight squats and lunges don’t load the muscles any more. It certainly isn’t going to build any new muscle mass, and probably won’t even to maintain what I have—I need to add some weight to the squats and lunges.

Start:				6:43 pm
Finish:				7:01 pm
Time:		25 mins		18 mins

Summary.

The workout was supposed to take about 25 minutes. I didn’t take that long, partly because I didn’t need most of the rest pauses that were scheduled, partly because I was organized (everything to hand so no downtime between sets), and partly becaause it’s very hard to maintain a slow cadence when you’re not under load.

Flexibility Exercises

Yoga Exercises

Poses

• Jyasana (Goddess)
• Parsvottanasana (Pyramid)
• Natarajasana (Lord of the Dance)
• Agnistambhasana (Fire Log)
• Ardha Matsyendrasana (Half Lord of the Fishes)
• Hasta Gomukhasana (Cow Face Arms)
• Viparita Baddha Konasana II (Cobbler Up the Wall)
• Side Extension
• Supta Padangustasana (Reclining Hamstring)
• Ustrasana (Camel)
• Eka Pada Yoga Mudra (Animal)
• Bharadvajasana II (Rishi Twist II)
• Hasta Garudasana (Eagle Arms)

It was noticable that there’s some restriction in the movement of the left shoulder and the spine. Before the back damage, I could bind the Rishi Twist on both sides. Now I’m about five centimetres short on the right, and about 20 cm short on the left.

There’s also some obvious limitation to the forward bends (Fire Log with elbows on knees rather than the floor, that sort of thing), plus I’ve simply tightened up in a lot of the movements.

Duration:

30 minutes

The good news is that I’m finally able to do some Yoga without causing back pain. Now with some consistency and a great deal of patience, I’ll start to regain the flexibility that I’ve lost—it’s so hard remembering where I used to be and not trying to push to reach that point quickly, but that’s the road to more back pain.

Relaxation

Programme:		Discovery of Your Self
Duration:		30 mins

Spiritual Practices

Chant Discipline

Ganesh Mantra

Day 3 (of 40)

I did a long session of Yoga Nidra instead of meditating. This was a deliberate decision, and I think a valid one at this stage.

Diet

8:15 am		Breakfast
		Pear rolled oats		314 g		411 cal
		Rating		Good
9:15 am		Water		500 ml
11:15 am		Water		500 ml
11:45 am		Brunch
		Nectarine yoghurt		390 g		220 cal
		Rating		Good
1:45 pm		Lunch
		Grilled shark		268 g		348 cal
		Salad		290 g		66 cal
		Rating		Good
2:45 pm		Water		500 ml
4:45 pm		Water		500 ml
1:45 pm		Lunch
		Banana		238 g		211 cal
		Nuts and seeds		40 g		242 cal
		Rating		Good
7:15 pm		Dinner
		Chicken and vegetable curry		415 g		283 cal
		Rating		Good
10:00 pm		Water		500 ml
10:00 pm		Supper
		Nut and seed corn thins		78 g		431 cal
		Rating		Fair
0:15 am (+1)		Water		500 ml
Total Calories:		2212.0

Gratitude

• Python’s eval() function, which made the code to handle the diet-related entries so easy.
• Evanescence, particularly for Breathe No More, Bring Me to Life, and Call Me When You’re Sober. Also the duet lead singer Amy Lee did with Seether: Broken.
• Swami Janakananda’s Experience Yoga Nidra CD.
• Cotton blankets—warm without being hot—great for when you’re doing Yoga Nidra.
• The USDA Nutrient Database, for all those foods which don’t come with labels on them (basically any fresh produce).