ok so i’ve alluded to this already, but today i’m going to shift gears on this blog a bit. not a complete restructuring, but definitely a refocusing. photo posts no longer count as dailies. dailies are about life, what happens in between. the me moments.
we knew this weekend was going to be packed, so we made an extra push last weekend to make sure we didn’t miss meal preps and workouts. yesterday, shanima went to brunch with two of her friends and i went for a fresh haircut with my guys over at skillman barber shop. they always do a good job and the price is definitely better than a high-end salon, if a little higher than you are going to get at your local buzz shop. trust, me, it’s worth it, though.
after the haircut, i met up with stock henry and we had a nice hang, talking about life, goals, and a fix for his glidecam problem. see his blog for deets.
even before heading out, though, we hit the gym for an hour and 45 minutes for leg day and cardio. my leg day included deadlifts, reverse lunges, leg presses and calf presses, and bar squats. for the deadlifts, i kept it light this week with 45s on either end of the bar. for the lunges, i used 40 pound dumbbells. leg and calf press was at 320 pounds with 20 reps per set of each. and for the bar squats, i used the cable pull machine with 140 pounds of resistance. each exercise was done for a minimum of three sets and with some exercises including five sets. then it was on to cardio, and for this session i stayed on the elliptical machine for the duration, with the course set to interval training. on this settings the resistance changes between about half power for one minute and full power for a minute, back and forth for 45 minutes. the machine told me that i completed a 4.7 mile equivalent, but i am skeptical about those calculations.
so that was saturday. this morning, we got an early start at 7:30 and sorted out our pre-made meals for the week into our to-go boxes. by putting everything into the containers that we will take with us in advance, it removes the stress of last-minute morning packing, as well as the excuse that there wasn’t time to do it. making the prepared meal the easiest option at the time when it matters most is crucial to success on that front. maybe i’ll talk more about that in a future post.
once we wrapped that up, we washed up the leftover dishes, made a batch of rice for the week for dinners, and then did a 40-minute hasfit video that was absolutely brutal. it was a hiit cardio workout that crushed pretty much the whole body. we did the video this morning because we’re going out to brunch for my birthday today and i never workout after drinking, so it was either get the whole thing in first thing in the morning or skip it. obviously skipping is not an option, so we had to start early. our gym opens at 10am, so sometimes getting started at home is the only way. once we finished the video, we got ready and headed downstairs, because sunday is upper body day.
for my upper body workout today, i focused on arms and chest. i found a workout routine on muscle and fitness and gave it a try. it started out with three sets of incline bench presses, followed by the barbell bench press, bent-over one and a quarter cable flies, dips and decline bench press. each exercise included three sets of 8-10 reps. for the incline press, i started with 10 pounds on each side, added 10 more for the second set, and then added five pounds for the third set. these incline presses really work the shoulders, and as i get into doing them i am realizing how weak my shoulders have gotten through lack of use, so this one is killer for me. for the bench press and the decline bench press, i used 40-pound dumbbells. for the cable flies, i set each side to 70 pounds of resistance, and obviously for the dips i just used my overweight body for resistance and that was definitely enough.
min each exercise, i did enough reps to bring myself just to the brink of muscle failure. i am always hesitant to push it too far since i don’t have a spotter, but the more i go to the gym the more confident i become.
so that is my weekend so far. i think i should start including photos of the workout and such here but for now, i will leave you with this photo of the meal prep for the week. you’ll see salmon alfredo pasta with oven-roasted beans and broccoli, chicken noodle soup, homemade greek yogurt cinnamon rolls, and egg cups, which are made of baked hashbrowns, egg and turkey bacon bits.
we also have curries from shanima’s mom to eat for dinners, so essentially we have zero fresh cooking to do this week. with everything coming up, that is essential for us because without meal prep, we would either have to eat out - expensive and unhealthy - or cook at night, and we would have to skip a workout or go to sleep late, neither of which are acceptable options.
todays post is super long since i had to walk through yesterday, too, but i think worth it.
