Calisthenics At Work

Because I've been keener to run and bike lately, I haven't made time for P90X. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but I have started to feel a little nostalgic for my P90X physique. I also follow Indian actor/former model/fitness ambassador Milind Soman on social media, and he is always doing some kind of calisthenics exercise. His fitness is readily apparent when you see his physique, too.

I'm in a really good place with my running and cycling right now, and I don't want to stop. It took me a good six months to get to where I am, and I don't want that to wither away as I change moods, switch gears, and go on another P90X binge. Now is not the time to get bored and start something new.

Instead, now is the time to learn from what I have done in the past and successfully incorporate it into my current training. This, after all, is the key to moving forward, rather than endlessly "beginning." P90X isn't the final word in fitness; after all, Tony Horton himself has come up with several programs since releasing P90X, and judging by his social media posts, it's unlikely that he follows any of his programs on a daily basis. Instead, he applies his knowledge to his own particular situation, and works progressively toward something based on that. This is also something that I've learned by reading Meb Keflizighi's book, 26 Marathons. After each major race, Keflizighi took a little time off to rest, and then jumped into a training again; not the same old thing, right where he left off, and certainly not something brand new. In fact, he cautions against completely revamping one's training regimen and suggests instead to stick to what works.

So, in the spirit of those examples and that advice, it's time to keep doing what's working for me in terms of running and cycling, while incorporating knowledge that I've acquired elsewhere. I've settled on what I think will be an interesting "fitness experiment."

I'm going to dedicate each weekday to a particular kind of calisthenic exercise. I started on Wednesday with "pushups day." I set a one-hour timer on my computer at work, and every time it gave me a notification, I dropped and did a set of pushups. It was great. I got a good pump and landed on something discreet and repeatable that will help me build muscle without taking too much of my time. Thursday is "wall press day," Friday is "pull-ups day" (I don't have a pull-up bar in the office, of course, but I can do pull-ups underneath a table. Ash Ravens suggested I dedicate a day to squats, so Monday is "squat day."

The only day I don't have something for is Tuesday. I don't want to have three leg days, so I'm looking for an arm or ab-based day. I suppose I could make it a plank day, but to be perfectly honest, running is such good ab exercise that it's almost unnecessary for me to do dedicated ab work, especially considering that push-ups are basically a plank combined with a chest-and-arms workout. One option is for Tuesday to be an anything-goes calisthenics day, where I mix it up and do as I feel. Wildcard day, perhaps. Arm circles day would be nice, but it's not very strenuous.

We shall see. 

Update: I Feel Like A Superhero

I think it’s time I provided an update on my exercise situation. As you know, I have undertaken to run one hundred days in a row while simultaneously working my way through the famous P90X home exercise program. I had originally described this as “ambitious,” and perhaps it is, but as the days pass it becomes clear to me that I will actually do this.

That’s assuming I don’t fall victim to some sort of bad luck or act of nature. Let me just pause here to note that the flu is running rampant through my household, but between twin practices of quarantine and running the UV air purifier any- and every-where a flu victim may have been, I’ve managed to avoid catching anything myself. I also have just enough vanity to suppose that perhaps all the exercise I’ve been getting has boosted my immune system enough to ward off a lot of what’s out there. Fingers are crossed, though it’s looking good for me.

So how has it actually been going?

Yesterday I finished my fortieth consecutive run. When I first had the idea of running one hundred days in a row, I actually never dreamed I’d make it this far. To have run forty days in a row already feels like an accomplishment to me. It’s a long time without a true break. Still, I’m trying not to let my guard down here because, when I think about it, I’m still ten days away from the mere half-way point. I feel comfortable running every day now, I never feel like “today is the day I’m not going to make it” (although a day after seriously bruising my foot a couple weeks back, I sure came close). I pack my gym bag every day with confidence, knowing that I’ll be able to get a good run in, no matter how I feel.

That sentiment, I must emphasize, is a big change for me. No matter how much I ran before, I always felt as though I could just take a day off if I wasn’t feeling strong. Now I know that I can keep running even when I don’t feel strong. It’s a big mental shift to go from always having a day off in the back of my head to always completely knowing (in the back of my head), with surety, that I’m capable of running today. It’s as though the motivation to run and the notion of ability are no longer questions. I take it as given that this is possible, and the only matter left to consider is how hard I’ll choose to run. This is beneficial, to say the least.

Last Friday, I completed my thirtieth day of P90X, which marks the end of “Phase 1.” They recommend taking a set of “before” photos, and the a series of progress photos at days 30, 60, and 90, which I faithfully did. To my slight chagrin, my body has experienced almost no visible changes after 30 days. My abdominal muscles are noticeably larger, which is nice, but no one who doesn’t know me well would notice the change. As for my other muscle groups, I don’t think there has been much change to speak of.

At first, I was quite disappointed to see my 30-day photos. I had been working so hard, getting up early in the morning and “bringing it” during the workouts, that I felt like I deserved some gains. When I thought about it, though, I realized that I hadn’t been lifting heavy enough weights to have warranted a major physical change. After all, I am not starting from “zero;” I was already a physically fit person before I started. Many of the big 30-day gains seen in the many P90X before/after shots involve people who are starting from nothing or next to nothing. But even setting that aside, the first phase of the program focuses on bodyweight exercises and calisthenics – great exercise, but not exactly famous for helping a guy get “shredded.” Seen in that light, I realized that it was my expectations, not the program itself, that were out of line.

Still, there have been some major changes going on with my body. First of all, I think I am more flexible now than I have been in years – maybe ever. I can’t stress how important this is. Many of my muscle and joint pains, which were caused by tight muscles, have disappeared. My calf muscles are typically so tight that I cannot even feel when someone squeezes them, no matter how hard they squeeze. Now, they feel loose enough that I can use a foam roller and feel relief. My whole body feels more limber and agile thanks to my newfound flexibility, and it’s been a real positive change. Furthermore, the wrist pain I’ve been enduring for months now, which I attributed to the combination of desk work and holding my daughter in my arms all the time, has dissipated significantly as a direct result of the Stretch X workout video. It’s remarkable.

Another important change, which can be partially attributed to flexibility and partially to new muscle strength, is an improvement in my posture. Whether I’m sitting, standing, or lying down, my limbs and spine align into healthy positions. As someone who has always struggled with bad posture, this has been great. For one thing, a lot of people don’t realize how much better clothing fits when you have good posture; so I look a little better. (Vanity again, but alas, that’s part of working out.) It also makes long drives and long hours of desk work much more tolerable. My core and back muscles stay engaged and insulate my spine from the kinds of stress that’s common of people who spend many hours sitting.

Perhaps my favorite “result” so far has been the increase in my sleep quality. While I’m not getting any more sleep in terms of total hours, I now get as much as two hours more deep sleep per night. My head hits the pillow and I’m gone, asleep until I wake up to my alarm the next morning. As a lifelong light sleeper, I’ve been really pleased by this change.

What happens next? Well, I started Phase 2 of P90X on Saturday. Phase 2 seems to place more emphasis on actual weight training, so if I’m going to see any gains to my physical size, I imagine they will come during Phase 2 for the most part. Over the weekend, I was also able to go for an eight-mile run – my furthest-distance run in at least two years. So I’m ramping up on both sides of my exercise regimen. That’s encouraging. I feel really fit. It’s a nice feeling, especially for someone in his late thirties. This is some of the best shape I’ve ever been in.

Another thing I’d like to try is making some additional improvements to my diet. I don’t have too many bad habits left, but my body is asking me to get rid of the few I do have. When I have so little room for improvement, it’s hard to give up on my one or two remaining “treats.” Still, it’s tough to imagine going on like this for months on end while still putting less-than-perfect fuel in my body. I don’t want to make too big a deal about this, because I know myself and I know I might not be able to do this. But it’s starting to be the last remaining voice in the back of my mind, the one thing keeping me from feeling as close to perfect as I’ve ever felt. I’m curious about that feeling, and I’d like to see what it’s all about. So, here I go…

Feeling Ambitious

As January comes to a close I thought I might provide a fitness update.

After reviewing my 2016 stats on Smashrun.com, I decided that, since I came in under 1,000 total miles last year, I ought to try for over 1,000 miles of running this year. That works out to be about 2.75 miles per day, which feels pretty reasonable to me. If nothing else, I need only have a year similar to last year, but without a big gaping break in June.

Reasonable goals are nice and provide good satisfaction when you reach them, but ambitious goals are even more fun.

I had a rather ambitious idea shortly after coming up with my 1,000-mile goal: What if I were able to run for 100 consecutive days, without taking any formal rest days. If I needed a rest day, I could just run very slowly or very low mileage, or both. Given how much I run, the challenge for 100 consecutive days of running is not physical, per se. I won’t find it physically daunting to go out for a run every day for one hundred days. On the other hand, ensuring that my schedule remains free and open such that I always have time to go for a run is quite another story. Keeping my will power attuned to a goal like that is also a major challenge since people like to take days off every once in a while. On a nice and sunny day, or a cold and stormy one, it’s easy to let the workout slide and go do something else. In short, running one hundred days in a row is a challenge that is more mental than physical.

It’s been going well. By the time most of you read this, I will have run twenty consecutive days, a fifth of the way to my endpoint.

Ten days into my project, however, there was another development. My wife because a Beachbody coach and subscribed us to Beachbody On Demand, the company’s streaming video service. It is essentially “Netflix for exercise videos,” if you will, and it comes with the ability to stream the world-famous P90X program. This is something I have always wanted to try, and having it “on tap” in my own home proved to be too great a temptation to resist.

As a result, I am now waking up at four o’clock every morning and working my way through a 60-to-90-minute P90X workout. And that’s in addition to my continued progress toward a hundred days of running.

Today I’m ten days into P90X and twenty days into my running goal. If all goes well, I’ll finish both initiatives on exactly the same day and I will have accomplished two reasonably difficult fitness goals at exactly the same time.

Ambitious? Yes. Will I be able to do it? I’m not sure. But if I do, it might be the most difficult physical undertaking I’ve ever managed. Wish me luck!

Fitness Endeavors

Let's zoom-out a bit on the Fitness Experiments blog posts long enough to consider a bit more of the bigger picture.

I have originally explained that the general idea governing the creation of these workouts is to use body-building workouts as a framework with which to create calisthenics workouts. Now that I'm six or seven weeks into these experiments, I realize that this is no longer an appropriate way to describe what's happening. I haven't been looking for new and different body-building workouts that I can convert into calisthenics, but rather I did so initially, and have spent the rest of the time attempting to improve upon my ability to perform calisthenics. So what started out as a hybrid workout approach has slowly become a calisthenics-only approach.

The reason this happened is because I experienced such significant strength gains that I came to realize that calisthenics is all I really need to achieve my goals. Let's reiterate: I am not really a body-builder, I'm a distance runner (fundamentally). Diabetes makes it challenging or impossible to eat the way a body-builder eats, anyway, so it's not something within my practical reach. I don't want to be a hulk, I want to do cool calisthenics.

The other thing I discovered is that calisthenics offers a seemingly limitless way to improve upon prior gains. Sick of push-ups? Do handstand push-ups. Sick of handstand push-ups? Do clapping push-ups. Sick of clapping push-ups? Do Aztec push-ups. The fun never ends.

Well, the fun never ends, so long as it actually begins. There are a great many calisthenics exercises that I'm not currently able to perform. I just don't have enough strength, or balance, or both. The fact that I can't do some of the things I'd like to do is, in fact, a blessing in disguise. If I could do absolutely everything that I want to do, then I'd have very little motivation to work out. It would be a matter of putting together combinations of exercises in various sets of various reps, for no discernible reason, and without experiencing any sort of improvement. Perhaps that's even what some of these workouts look like from the blog-reader's perspective.

So, I'd like to clear things up a little bit. There are a few exercises that I'm currently trying to perform, unsuccessfully. There will come a day when I'll have built up enough strength and balance to pull them off; then, I can make them a regular part of my workouts. Until that point, though, they're really just movements I'm trying to figure out and master. I know I'll eventually pull them off because I've done this before with other exercises.

Here's a short list of exercises I could never do, until I gradually built up enough strength and coordination to do them properly:

·         Dips – Let's face it, these are difficult for most people.

·         One-arm push-ups – Again, most people don't really do these, perhaps because they have a bad rap as a "showing off" exercise. So, they've become a skill that few actually have.

·         Lateral raises – Maybe it's just me, but I always started out with too much weight. Consequently, I never really figured out how to do them until I pulled back and started with the basics.

·         Hanging leg raises / Hanging torso-twists – I never would have even attempted these, had it not been for a personal trainer I worked with briefly. Stick with them; it's worth it to learn how to do them.

The reason I bring up the past is that, over the course of the existence of this blog, I've learned how to do a great many exercises I couldn't do before. Maybe I've given the impression that I'm just building workouts out of movements I already know how to do. Truth is, I'm learning as I go.

Now I'd like to write down a list of exercises I'm working toward, slowly but surely. If you can already do these, then congratulations – you're already way ahead of me. Good work! If you can't, then here's your opportunity to learn them as I learn them. We'll do it together.

All these calisthenics workouts I'm doing these days are created with the intent of being able to do:

·         Pistols, AKA "one-legged" squats. I could do these once, but no longer. Time to re-acquire the skill.

·         Muscle-ups – A pull-up, followed by shifting the weight of your shoulders over the bar and pushing up, as if climbing over a ledge. Currently working on proper form, but I might not have enough arm strength yet.

·         Aztec push-ups – Like a clapping push-up, but rather than just pushing your arms off the ground, push your arms and legs off the ground and do a "jack" in the air by making your body form an X. I can almost do these; I just need a little more plyometric power.

·         Planche Push-ups – Maybe this is the "ultimate" push-up. Get in push-up position, lean forward, shift your bodyweight over your hands, and balance so that your legs aren't touching the ground. Now do a push-up. I have major balance issues, so I'm a long way off from this.

These are the exercises that are on my current horizon. It will take time and effort. Know that when I list any of these in my daily workout routines, I am simply attempting to do them.

 

Fitness Experiments 1.2

It has been a little while since I injected some variation into my calisthenics routines. Having been walking this path for about five weeks now, I have a real need to start changing things up to avoid stagnation (before stagnation sets in).

I've had good success with my pushups routines, but I need some variety. Today, I'm hoping to get that variety by using super-sets and focused motions. I'm also applying plyometric techniques for an added blast.

The workout will be three sets of the following:

5 forward-lean dips
10 clapping pushups

5 forward-lean dips
10 incline pushups

5 forward-lean dips
5 alternating one-arm pushups

I plan to finish it off with a 5-mile run. Won't you join me?

Fitness Experiments #2.2

So two rather significant workouts in one day lead to multiple mild blood sugar lows today. If you're diabetic like me, you should remember to back off on the long-acting insulin when you make significant increases to your daily training regimen.

I'm no doctor, so make sure you consult with yours. What I can tell you about is my own personal experience, which is this: Mealtime insulin seems to behave more or less the same way. What's changed is the fact that I feel like I have too much long-acting insulin on board. If you end up in the same boat I'm in today, then watch yourself very carefully.

For example, I woke up on time and ready to work out this morning, but promptly went hypoglycemic (mildly). Going for a run this morning would have been pretty stupid, so I skipped it, ate a predictable breakfast, and went about my day as usual.

This afternoon, I plan on doing last week's back/bicep workout (see Fitness Experiments #2), only in reverse, similar to what I did yesterday. But the fact of the matter is that I've trained pretty hard the last few days and I'm not going to push myself ultra licitum just for the thrill of it. If I feel a little unwell, I'll half my workout and get some food.

I do intend to workout twice tomorrow, but I will reduce my Lantus dose accordingly.

Be safe out there.

Fitness Experiments #4 - Friday Killer

Everyone hates leg day. Everyone, that is, except me. I happen to love leg day, but this is probably because I don't have a strong incentive to bulk-up my leg muscles. So, for me, leg day involves a lot of movement that is just plain fun.

So today let's go out there and really enjoy the fun of it all. Here's my version of fun:

First, do three super-sets as follows:

• 15 pull-ups
• 15 hanging leg-raises
• 30 seconds rest

Then, do a ladder consisting of the following:

• Box Jump
• Burpee
• Side by Side Jump Over Box/Bench/Platform
• Lunge (one per leg)
• 30 seconds rest

First do one of each, then two of each, then three... Keep adding one repetition until you cannot do any additional sets.

Have fun!!!

Fitness Experiments #3

Today is intended to be a shoulder day. There is only one small problem with shoulder day: it is difficult to get a really good shoulder workout using only calisthenics. Thus, I am going to let creativity guide me here. This is what I have come up with:

• 4 sets of 10 front raises from push-up position. (10 per arm.)
• 4 sets of 20 decline push-ups. (Put your legs on bench or platform)
• 3 sets of 10 handstand push-ups.
• 3 sets of 6 dips w/ forward lean. (Courtesy Jason Altidor: Do a tricep dip as usual, but go slowly and lean forward as you dip.)
• 4 sets of side planks. (Four per side, maximum hold isometric.)
• 10 sets of jumping rope as follows: (a) Jump twice between each revolution of the rope for as long as you can until missing a jump; (b) Jump once between each revolution for as long as you can; (c) Jump twice on one foot, then the next, as though in a skipping motion, for as long as you can; (d) Jump once per foot per revolution, as though in a running motion, for as long as you can. [All of this should take you approximately 30 minutes to complete.]

This, too, should be a difficult workout. Try your best - you can do it!

Fitness Experiments #2

Yesterday's workout was heavy on the triceps and calves, but strictly adhered to the calisthenics principle I'm working with. Today's experiment is more of the same (calisthenics), but the emphasis is on back, bicep and abdominal muscle groups.

• 4 sets of 15 one-arm bicep rows from push-up position. (Get in push-up position with your hands holding dumbbells; raise one dumbbell into your chest, and return to starting position. Alternate arms.)
• 2 sets of 10 standard pull-ups.
• 2 sets of 10 reverse grip (underhanded) pull-ups.
• 1 set of 10 standard pull-ups - hold the "up" position and move first to one side, then the next.
• 4 sets of 15 hanging leg raises.
• 4 sets of 15 hanging oblique twists.
• 4-5 mile run.

Obviously, this will not be a very easy workout. I'm going to do what I can, aiming to finish.

Important Note:
If you're not used to doing a lot of bicep work, there is a risk that you will hurt your bicep or possibly develop some light tendonitis or "tennis elbow." So take it easy and use common sense. Remember a burning sensation in your muscles that subsides during recovery periods is "good pain." Burning that doesn't go away with rest, or sharp pain (pinching or stabbing) in your tendons or joints is "bad pain." If you start to feel some bad pain coming on, reduce the number or repetitions you do.

The goal here is to complete the workout; there is no shame in not being able to complete it. As long as you get a good workout, you've succeeded.

Fitness Experiments #1

Three and a half decades into life, and having been interested in fitness for most of those years, I feel like I have more or less "seen it all" when it comes to workout ideas. I've encountered every fad and every approach that's likely to come along - and when you've been doing it as long as I have, you come to realize that there really is nothing genuinely new out there in the fitness world. The fads ebb and flow throughout the years. You might think CrossFit and "total body training" is where it's at right now, but eventually that fad will be replaced by a rebooted version of the same old fitness fads that have been circulating the fitness world for at least a century.

All that is to say, it takes a lot to surprise me. So when I tell you that the workouts Jason Altidor posts on his YouTube channel are some of the most exciting and innovative exercises I have ever seen, I really mean it. Here's a slice:

Call it what you will. I'm calling it incredible.

Introducing Fitness Experiments

Now, when I see a video like that, it makes me want to do a little fitness innovation of my own. So I started thinking to myself, "What if I took a workout regimen designed for building muscle size, and then converted all the exercises into strength-building calisthenics workouts?"

Sounds crazy, but that's the project I intend to undertake, starting today. The general idea is simply this: I've located a solid, reliable online body-building trainer. Every day (or at least, every day that I am able to do so), I'll be applying that trainer's principles to the creation of a workout. But, where that regimen provides a daily send-up of weights workouts, I'm doing what I imagine to be the equivalent in calisthenics.

The result is something I'm calling "Fitness Experiments." I would caution against considering this a "workout regimen," because I'm not certain it will work. I want it to, but I don't really know. So, instead, consider it more like a "workout of the day," with an underlying guiding light hovering behind it.

Without further ado, here's today's workout:

• 4 sets of 15 standard push-ups*
• 3 sets of 15 incline push-ups*
• 4 sets of 15 rolling push-ups* (Hold dumbbells in each hand, in push-up position. Slowly roll your arms out, keeping them straight until they are fully extended. Then, push inward until you rise to starting position again.)
• 4 sets of 15 dips*
• 10 sets of jumping rope as follows: (a) Jump twice between each revolution of the rope for as long as you can until missing a jump; (b) Jump once between each revolution for as long as you can; (c) Jump twice on one foot, then the next, as though in a skipping motion, for as long as you can; (d) Jump once per foot per revolution, as though in a running motion, for as long as you can. [All of this should take you approximately 30 minutes to complete.]

Try it out, then let me know how it went in the comments section when you're finished.

____________________________________

* I may adjust the exact number of sets and/or repetitions as I go, based on how I feel.