cheapo's log

[cheapo]

Week 14

• Monday, June 23, 2008
  D1L5:
  • 24 rounds (+2 cf. previous D1L5)
    
    I alternate between pull- & chin-ups on each set,
    until the pull-ups get too hard, then it's chin-ups only.
    Didn't quite nail all pull/chin-ups.
  Wednesday, June 25, 2008
  D2L5:
  • Untimed
    
    Not too bad.
    On D5 I alternate between sets done with pull-ups and sets done with chin-ups.
    (Always doing pull-ups on sets 1, 3, 5.)
    I am getting stronger on pull-ups, but they are still MUCH harder than chin-ups!
  Saturday, June 28
  D3L5:
  • 6'45" (-0'6" cf. previous D3L5)
    Pull-ups: 26 (14, 4, 3, 3, 2)
    Push-ups: 51 (28, 6, 7, 5, 5)
    Squats: 51 (22, 13, 7, 6)
    
    A teensy bit faster than last week.
    Better than the other way around!

[cheapo]

Per Norman's suggestion earlier in the thread, I had a Body Composition Analysis done. Full Details Over Here!

[cheapo]

Week 15

• Sunday, June 29, 2008
  Weigh-In:
  • 93kg (205 lbs)
  Tuesday, July 1, 2008
  D1L5:
  • 23 rounds (-1 cf. previous D1L5)
    
    Today was our first day working out in the morning.
    I knew my body was more capable of work than it felt like before starting...but it really didn't feel capable of much!
    
    I set my interval timer for 48 seconds, which would have yielded 25 sets had I been able to maintain that pace,
    but in the last 2 or 3 minutes I had to slow down.
  Wednesday, July 2, 2008
  D2L5:
  • Untimed
    
    Took my son to soccer and did D2 at the field.
    I used a football goal for the first two sets of pull-ups and a soccer goal for the last three.
    The football crossbar was 3-3.5" in diameter.
    It was tricky to hang on, but very satisfying to do so!
  Skipped D3
  D3L5:
  • Skipped it!
    Crumbs!

[cheapo]

Week 16

• Monday, July 7, 2008
  D1L5:
  • 22 rounds (-1 cf. previous D1L5)
    
    Did the workout at my son's soccer field again.
    Nice to do it in the open air.
    My wife joined me this time.
    We used a soccer goal for the pullups.
  Wednesday, July 9, 2008
  D2L5:
  • Untimed
    
    At the soccer field again.
    It is wonderful to do it outside.
    Also, using a soccer goal for the pull-ups means
    my wife and I can workout at the same time,
    meaning it gets done faster
    and we motivate each other.
  Friday, July 11
  D3L5:
  • 5'55" (-0'50" cf. previous D3L5)
    Pull-ups: 26 (15, 3, 3, 2, 2, 1)
    Push-ups: 51 (27, 6, 6, 6, 6)
    Squats: 51 (31, 15, 5)
    
    Shaved 50 seconds. Pretty good.
    
    I have a question:
    Where I cannot complete all the pull-ups in one set, I do sets of as many reps as I can.
    This usually results in a first set of considerably more reps than any of the others.
    Would it be better to break it down into one set of 6 and 4 sets of 5?

[davidmk]

Hey Cheapo

Your number and times are awesome! Keep it up.
I imagine the large diameter bar for pull ups is much more difficult. Good idea changing things up.

[cheapo]

Week 17

• Monday, July 14, 2008
  D1L5:
  • 26 rounds (+4 cf. previous D1L5)
    
    Raining (finally) so had to exercise indoors.
    It seemed to work out well for me (and my wife!):
    I got a PR 26 and she got a PR 31 on L2 (body rows x2 for pull-ups)
  Wednesday, July 16, 2008
  D2L5:
  • Skipped
    
    Gave blood today, so did not work out to avoid bruising.
  Friday, July 18
  D3L5:
  • 5'45" (-0'10" cf. previous D3L5)
    Pull-ups: 26 (8, 7, 4, 2, 2, 2, 1)
    Push-ups: 51 (20, 10, 10, 6, 5)
    Squats: 51 (24, 11, 11, 5)
    
    My plan was to do pull-up in sets of 8-7-6-5, but I couldn't manage the third set.

Next week we will do tabatas...3 tabatas (1 for each of the 3 exercises) 3x a week.

[cheapo]

Week 18 - Tabatas
Scores in BOLD

• Monday, July 21, 2008
  Tabatas:
  • Push-Ups: (23-15-8-7-7-5-6-8)
    Pull-Ups: (6-5-5-3-3-2-2-3)
    Squats: (19-16-16-16-16-12-12-14)
    
    First tabatas ever!
    They were challenging to the point of hilarity.
    5 on the push-ups and 2 on the pull-ups are very humbling numbers.
  Wednesday, July 23, 2008
  100 Burpee Challenge:
  • 13:22
    
    I have not done burpees since high school (Thank you, Mr. Hutton!).
    They're are tough!

[cheapo]

Week 19 - Tabatas
Scores in BOLD

• Wednesday, July 30, 2008
  Tabatas:
  • Push-Ups: (13-13-13-13-13-12-9-7) (+2 cf. previous)
    I thought 13 would be easy!
    
    Pull-Ups: (5-5-4-4-2-2-2-2-2) (±0 cf. previous)
    Yeargh! Did only pull-ups, no chin-ups, on a Ø2.5" bar, which was difficult.
    On several reps I only got my nose to the bar,
    or I got as high as my chin, but didn't get it over the bar.
    
    Squats: (15-15-15-15-15-15-15-15) (+3 cf. previous)
    OK.
  I have decided to do only pull-ups from here on out.
  No more chin-ups.
  I expect to post much worse numbers for the next while.
  Friday, August 1, 2008
  D3L5:
  • 7'05" (+1'30" cf. previous D3L5)
    Pull-ups: 26 (5-3-3-2-2-2-2-1-1-1-1-1-1-1)
    Push-ups: 51 (20-10-7-7-4-3)
    Squats: 51 (27-16-8)
    
    These were proper palm facing in pull-ups.
    Until now, I have mixed chin-ups and pull-ups willy-nilly.
    Mostly chin-ups, because they are considerably easier.
    As a result my time has increased to where it was about a month ago.

[volleyball_man]

Great numbers!

[cheapo]

Week 20

• Tuesday, August 6, 2008
  D1L5:
  • 23 rounds (-3 cf. previous D1L5)
    
    I knew when I switched to pull-ups (no chin-ups) that my numbers would get worse,
    but I was determined to minimize the deterioration.
    With this in mind, I really threw myself into this workout.
    As a result, my tally is only 3 less than last time,
    but I had to sacrifice form to do it.
    After the first dozen or so sets, I had very poor form on the third pull-up,
    sometimes only getting my elbows to about 90°.
    
    I also experienced some pain in my left elbow.
    I will have to be more careful.
  Wednesday, August 7, 2008
  D2L5:
  • Untimed
    
    Did good form exercises.
    Dead hangs on the pull-ups.
    Really focused on form, not speed.
  Friday, August 9, 2008
  D3L5:
  • 7'27" (+0'22" cf. previous D3L5)
    Pull-ups: 26 (5-4-3-2-2-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1)
    Push-ups: 51 (20-15-4-4-4-4)
    Squats: 51 (31-20)
    
    The switch to pull-ups continues to kick my ass.
    Look at all those singles!
    It is very discouraging.
    I guess it will pay off in the end.

[cheapo]

Week 21

• Monday, August 11, 2008
  D1L5:
  • 25 rounds (+2 cf. previous D1L5, -1 cf. PR)
    
    Good form pull-ups for 1st dozen sets, kipped the remainder.
  Wednesday, August 13, 2008
  D2L5:
  • Untimed
    
    Outdoors, on the soccer goal again. Good slow form.
    
    My wife did he first real push-ups. I am very proud of her!
  Saturday, August 16, 2008
  D3L5:
  • 6'55" (-32" cf. previous D3L5, +50" cf. PR)
    Pull-ups: 26 (10-4-3-3-3-3)
    Push-ups: 51 (26-10-7-4-4)
    Squats: 51 (31-20)
    
    Doing a good bunch of pull-ups in the 1st set seems to work better for me than lots of small sets.
    The switch to pull-ups still leaves me posting times equivalent to what I was doing with chin-ups 6 weeks ago.

[cheapo]

Week 22 & 23

• Sunday, August 17, 2008
  Weigh-In:
  • 91kg (201 lbs)

Skipped workouts for 2 weeks!

[cheapo]

Week 24

• Sunday, August 31, 2008
  Weigh-In:
  • 90.5 kg (199.5 lbs)
  Tuesday, September 2, 2008
  D1L5:
  • 21 rounds (-4 cf. previous D1L5, -5 cf. PR)
    
    I am back after a two week layoff.
    The 1st week, my parents were staying with us and I was off work to spend time with them.
    The 2nd week? No excuse.
    
    It has been hard starting up again.
    My son's soccer is done for the year,
    so my easy opportunity for an outdoor workout is gone.
    With Summer winding up, I see a long spell of indoor workouts.
    Sigh.
    
    The strange thing is that I seem to have gotten a bit more cut during the layoff.
    I also lost a pound-and-a-half, but that is likely muscle.
    I had my son snap a few photos.
    They're in my progress thread.
    
    I set my interval timer for 44 seconds which would have given me a PR 27 sets, but I only managed 21.
    I always tell myself I am going to focus on form, not big numbers and then I turn around and push for a PR at the expense of form!
    If I had set 21 as my goal, what would my form have been like?
    
    
  Wednesday, September 5, 2008
  D2L5:
  • Skipped
    
    ...
  Friday, September 7, 2008
  D3L5:
  • 7'23" (+28" cf. previous D3L5, +1'18" cf. PR)
    Pull-ups: 26 (9-4-3-3-3-3)
    Push-ups: 51 (20-10-5-6-7-3)
    Squats: 51 (31-14-6)
    
    Bleh.

[volleyball_man]

A good layoff generally does help.

[cheapo]

Week 25

• Tuesday, September 9, 2008
  D1L5:
  • 20 rounds (-1 cf. previous D1L5, -6 cf. PR)
    
    I thought I would try a more measured approach. I attempted to use good form throughout.
    On the pull-ups this means dead hang at the bottom, chest pushed into the bar and elbows back at the top.
    I did not use an interval timer, I just set the countdown for 20 minutes and did sets as I was able.
    
    For the 1st 10 sets, my form was good (not perfect).
    On the last 10 I struggled to get my chin above the bar on the 3rd rep.
  Wednesday, September 10, 2008
  D2L5:
  • Skipped
    
    ...
  Friday, September 14, 2008
  D3L5:
  • 6'40" (-43" cf. previous D3L5, +35" cf. PR)
    Pull-ups: 26 (14-4-3-3-2)
    Push-ups: 51 (20-10-5-7-5-4)
    Squats: 51 (37-14)
    
    Better. :p