Tue 10/27 - Upper

Workout: Work Gym
(35#Pullups)8,7,BWx12,10
(75#Inc)9,8,7,65x8
(155#BOR)3x10
(30#Crunch)3x12
(75#OHTri)14,10
(30#IncCurl)2x12
(15#RDelt)2x10

46 + 10 = 56 mins

Hit the gym at lunch today. Started out with weighted pullups during incline warm-up. I did 2 weighted sets and two body weight sets. I hadn't done weighted pullups in a while, but last time I did them I think I did 4x8, so I dropped off from that a bit. Still good pullups. Body weight one's felt great. Incline was OK. I should've gone lighter since I pushed fairly hard on Sunday and am not used to higher frequency/volume yet. I was going to superset incline fly's with BOR, but I stopped fly's a couple reps into the first set. They really bothered my R shoulder. So instead, I supersetted weighted crunches with BOR. Both were good.

I finished up with a triple set of overhead triceps extensions, incline curls and rear delt work. I hadn't done overhead triceps extensions in months and thought I should change things up from skull crushers occasionally. They were good. Good WO in under an hour.

Nutrition:
I weighed 169.6 this morning, down from 172.6 yesterday after a fairly big eating weekend.

Sun 10/25 - Upper

Workout: LA Fitness
(75#Inc)9,8,8,7,50x8
(80#SeatRow)4x9
(165#VbarPull)2x9,150x10,10
(15#RevCrunchTwist)4x10
(90#Skulls)10,7,80x8,60x12
(30#IncCurl)12,10,10
(30#RDelt)10,10,10x10,10

70 + 13 = 83 mins

Went to LA Fitness today for the first time in what seemed like forever. Started with incline and seated row superset. Incline was good. Time off and shoulder issues has cost me strength here, but good work. 4 good sets followed by a drop set. Seated rows were good. Then we supersetted v-bar pulldowns with decline crunch twists. Dropped the weight after 2 sets of pulldowns. Crunches were brutal. Hadn't done these in a while.

Skull crushers were great. 2 heavy sets, 1 medium set and one "burn-out" drop set. Tri's on fire.  Then we supersetted incline curls with rear delt work.

Nutrition:
I weighed 169.8 this morning. Went out for dinner and had a big meal, followed by cake and ice cream. Two servings. :)

Thu 10/22 - Upper

Workout: Work Gym
(75#DBRow)3x10
(65#Inc)3x10P
(138#VBarPull)3x11
(45#DBShldr)1x8
(80#Skulls)3x10
(35#HCurl)2x10
(15#Crunch)3x12
(15#RDelt)3x10
(58#Rope)2x12

63 + 5 = 68mins

My chest was fairly sore/stiff from WO on Tuesday. Not surprising given that was only 2nd WO in 2 weeks and I pushed fairly hard on incline. So today I decided to not go very heavy on incline, but do strict paused reps. I started with working sets of DB rows while warming up on incline. 3 good sets squeezing at contraction and controlling the weight down. Then I supersetted incline with v-bar pulldowns. Incline felt great. Paused reps, with an extended pause on last rep of each set. Pulldowns were good at this weight today, again squeezing at contraction. Since my shoulder is feeling pretty good, I decided to give some shoulder presses a shot. I figured 45# DB's would be a fairly light test. They didn't feel very light, nor very good on my left shoulder. I stopped at 8 reps and 1 set. I need to start lighter and EASE back into these slowly.

Then I supersetted 3 sets of skull crushers with 2 sets of hammer curls and 3 sets of crunches. My LOWER abs were really sore from ab work on Tuesday. Finished up with some seated rear delt fly's and rope pushdowns.

Nutrition:
I weighed 169.6 this morning. Need to SLOWLY gain some weight back.

		Prot	Carb	Fat	Cal
TOTALS:	Grams	219	370	52	2,848
	Calories	876	1481	472	2,829
	Percent	31%	52%	17%	`

Tue 10/20 - Upper

Workout: Work Gym
(175#VbarPull)3x8,138x10
(75#Inc)10,8,6,65x8
(135#BOR)3x10
(80#Skulls)8,70x9,9,9
(30#IncCurl)2x10
(30#RDelt)3x10
(25#Crunch)3x12

49 + 5 = 54mins

I've only lifted once in the last 13 days and I was having a bit of a hard time finding the motivation to go to the gym. Once I got there and started warming up, I got over that. I started with pulldowns during incline warmup. 3 heavy sets + 1 backoff set. Then I supersetted incline with BOR. 10 good reps on the first set was good, then I dropped reps from there. I don't think I've lost all that much strength, but muscle endurance is sorely lacking due to the lack of WO frequency lately. 3 "heavy" sets and one backoff set that ended up being fairly heavy (based on # of reps I was able to do).

Then I supersetted the final 4 exercises. I did 2 sets of skull crushers with 2 sets incline curls. Then 2 more sets skull crushers with rear delt and crunches.  Good WO in not a lot of time. Gotta get frequency back up now that my big hiking trip is over.

Nutrition:
I weighed 168.8 this morning. Still fairly lean, but don't look as lean as my weight would suggest. I think that's a combination of lack of working out combined with fairly large carb intake lately that's leaving me a little bloated and "soft" looking.  Feeling good though.

Sun 10/18 - 18 miles on the Appalachian Trail

18 miles on the AT, I-70 footbridge/US-40 to Wolfsville Rd/MD17 and back in ~6.5 hours. We were moving today. Easier without 35-40# packs.

Thu 10/15 - Upper

Workout: Work Gym
(155#BOR) 4x10
(75#Inc)3x8P
(138#VBarPull)3x10
(80#Skulls)10,7,70x10
(30#IncCurl)3x10
(50#RDeltFly)2x11
(15#Crunch)2x10/10

60 mins

I did 4 good working sets of BOR while warming up on incline. Then I supersetted incline with v-bar pulldowns. Incline felt kinda heavy today, but got 3 fairly good sets of paused reps.  Then I supersetted skull crushers with incline curls (2 sets) and a set of hammer curls. Finished up with rear delt fly's and some ab work.  Good first WO back after backpacking trip.

Nutrition:
I weighed 167.6 this morning. Feeling good. Weight is low after backpacking trip in the Great Smoky Mountains. A fairly good WO for not lifting in over a week and having a taxing trip on the Appalachian Trail.

Fri 10/9 - Tue 10/13 - Appalachian Trail Hike in the Great Smoky Mountains

Hiked for 5 days on the Appalachian Trail in the Great Smoky Mountains.  Incredible trip and experience.  I packed and carried everything I needed for those 5 days, including food, water, shelter and clothes. For food, I carried about 2 pounds of food per day, totaling around 3,500 calories. I ate basically the same thing every day.  Macro breakdown was for a day was:

		Prot	Carb	Fat	Cal
TOTALS:	Grams	171	434	116	3,464
	Calories	682	1734	1042	3,458
	Percent	20%	50%	30%	`

The 5 section hikes were as follows:
Day1 Newfound Gap to Double Spring Gap Shelter. 10.8 miles in ~8 hours.
Day2 Double Spring Gap Shelter to Derrick Knob Shelter. 11.1 miles in ~7 hours.
Day3 Derrick Knob Shelter to Mollies Ridge Shelter. 12 miles in ~8.5 hours.
Day4 Mollies Ridge Shelter to Fontanna Dam Shelter. 11.1 miles in ~7.5 hours.
Day5 Fontanna Dam Shelter to Yellow Creek Mountain Road. 7.5 miles in ~6 hours.

We drove to Newfound Gap and parked the car. Then we hiked for 5 days to Yellow Creek mountain Road and had a shuttle pick us up and drive us back to Newfound Gap to get the car and drive home.

A few pictures:

Wed 10/7 - Upper & Doc Appt

Workout: Work Gym
(75#Inc)3x8 Paused
(175#VbarPull)3x8
(80#SkullS)10,9
(30#IncCurl)2x10

30 mins

Went to the doc first thing in the morning. Not good news right before a 5-day hike on the AT. Fluid in ears, glands swollen, sinus infection and lungs are rattling. Hiking up to, and at, 6,000 feet may not be very fun. Anyway, had a small window after doc appointment and before a team meeting at work, so I stopped into the gym in my work clothes (jeans and a sweater today). Just worked out in jeans and t-shirt.

This was actually a good little WO in under 30 mins in and out the door. Supersetted incline and pulldowns. Incline was real controlled paused reps. Then I supersetted skull crushers and incline curl. I was going to add some ab work to this superset, but I was starting to get sweaty and didn't want to get wet and chilled.

Nutrition:
I weighed 169.6 this morning.

Sun 10/4 - Upper

Workout: LA Fitness
(80#Inc)8,7,6,65x9P
(80#SeatRow)4x10
(175#VbarPull)8,8,160x8,120x12
(25#Crunch)3x12
(LegRaise)3x10
(90#Skulls)10,7,7,70x9
(IncCurl)35x10,30x10,10
(RDelt)35x10,30x10,10

64 + 10 = 74mins

Incline was fairly good. 3 good heavy sets and a long paused back-off set. Supersetted incline with seated rows. Then we supersetted v-bar pulldowns with abs (crunch+legraise combo). Next we did 3 heavy sets of skull crushers + 1 backoff set. Finished up with some biceps and rear delt work. Very good WO, especially with reduced volume lately due to shoulder, and how lean I still am. I'm surprised my weight is this low, this late in the year and I'm still
maintaining strength fairly well.

Nutrition:
I weighed 168.0 this morning. Weight dropping more than I want. Going to be a refeed day today. I ate ~5,000 cals today. Weight will spike fairly high tomorrow.

Sat 10/3 - Cardio + PT

Cardio:
The weather has been terrible with a ton of rain lately. Wanted to get out for a hike, but treadmill had to do today. Walked at a STEEP incline for an hour. Finished WO with about 20 mins of shoulder PT and stretching. Felt GREAT walking out of the gym. Super relaxed.

Nutrition:
I weighed 168.8 this morning. Trying to up the cals a bit and keep weight from dropping to much further.

		Prot	Carb	Fat	Cal
TOTALS:	Grams	240	362	70	3,064
	Calories	958	1446	632	3,036
	Percent	32%	48%	21%	`

Thu 10/1 - Upper + PT

Workout: Work Gym
(135#BOR)4x12
(65#Inc)10,9,9,8P
(VbarPull)175x8,150x8,8,125x12
(Skulls)90x7,70x10,10
(30#IncCurl)3x10
(50#RDeltFly)12,10,10
(15#Crunch)15,12,12
(53#Rope)12
PT
Stretching

62 + 10 = 72mins

Today I decided that while warming up my shoulders, I'd go ahead and superset my warmup sets of incline with bent over rows. I liked this setup and it let me get some good work in while warming up my body parts that need the attention most. 4 sets of BOR, 2 underhand grip, 2 overhand. Then I did 4 working sets of incline supersetted with v-bar pulldowns. I didn't want to go heavy on incline today, and did long paused reps, but 65#DB's felt heavier than they should've. Good work though.  V-bar pulldowns had to be lighter after 4 sets BOR, but they were good.

Next I did skull crushers supersetted with incline curls. Skull crushers first set felt real heavy (normally get 9-10 reps here) so I dropped after 1st set. Incline curls were OK. 2 sets, then a set of hammer curls. Then I did rear delt fly machine with crunches. I did one set of rope pushdowns and that bothered my shoulder, so I stopped w/ 1 set. Finished up with shoulder PT and stretching for shoulder/bicep and legs. Legs are quite sore after my leg WO on Tues.

Nutrition:
I weighed 170.0 this morning.