Sat 7/29 - Upper

Workout: Snap Fitness
(80#DBInc)11,8+65x8
(175#PullDn)2x10
(65#DBInc)2x8
(220#SeatRow)2x10
(55#DBShldr)2x8
(80#DBRow)2x8
(80#OHTri)10,9
(35#Inc/HCurl)10/10,8/8
(BandPull)3x15
(160#Fly)2x10
(CrunchTwist)3x15
(RevCrunch)20,15,15

61 + 12 = 73 mins

Early morning WO. Warmed up and did reverse crunches during w/u. Started with incline and pulldowns. Went about to failure on 1st set for the 11th rep and then got 8. Did a drop set at 65#’s. Then we raised angle of incline and did 2 more sets with seated rows.  Then raised angle again for shoulder press with DB rows. Good work.

Then we did accessory work.  Good WO.

Nutrition/Weight:
I weighed 167.0 this morning. Weight went up the last 2 days despite being in a fairly large deficit.  Weird.

Thu 7/27 - Pull Day

Workout: Golds
(35#Pullups)9,9,7
(60#Crunch)3x10
(145#BOR)2x8
(CrunchTwist)2x12
(35#Inc/HCurl)10/10,30x10/10
(15#RDelt)2x12

32 + 4 = 36 mins

Quick Pull WO over lunch. Started weighted pull-ups with a 35#DB between my legs. My hamstrings started cramping up from holding it in place. Luckily, there was a weight belt hanging around so I used that for the next 2 sets. Much better.  Pull-ups were very good. Supersetted with weighted crunches.  Then I did BOR and crunch twist for 2 sets each. I’d planned on 135#’s, but there was a bar with 145#’s on it, so I just used it. Finished up with incline/hammer curl combo, supersetted with rear delt fly’s. Very nice WO.

Nutrition/Weight:
I weighed 165.8 this morning. Still having issues with cramping. Diet for a couple more days, then a maintenance/recovery/growth period for a couple weeks (at least).

Wed 7/26 - Push Day

Workout: Golds
(75#DBInc)10,8
(ButtRaise)2x20
(50#DBShldr)2x9
(ButtRaise)2x15
(85#OHTri)9,75x10
(Crunch)2x10
(130#Fly)10,115x10

22 + 6 = 28 mins

Quick push WO with short rests. In and out in under 20 mins. Nice.

Nutrition/Weight:
I weighed 167.2 this morning. Getting back down nicely after vacation.

Mon 7/24 - Upper

Workout: Golds
(80#DBInc)10,9,6
(180#PullDn)3x8
(DBShldr)60x8,55x8,50x9
(160#SeatRow)3x8
(73#Rope)11,10
(80#EZCurl)2x10
(35#RDelt)2x10
(55#Crunch)2x10
(20#ChestRaise)2x12
(Crunch)2x15
(RevCrunch)3x15

48 = 10 = 58 mins

Warmed up chest, back, shoulders and did 3x15 reverse crunches. Started with incline and pulldowns. First set of incline felt really good, thought I might get another 10 reps on 2nd set. Instead, I had to work really hard for 9th rep. 3rd set was a struggle and had to work really hard for 6 reps.  Good work though. Pulldowns were good. Then I did shoulder press/very steep incline. Started with 60#DB’s and dropped from there. Pleased with these. Seated rows were OK.

Next I did rope extensions with EZ bar curls. Then rear delts with weighted crunches. Finished up with chest raises and more crunches.  Good WO.

Nutrition/Weight:
I weighed 171.0 this morning. Not bad for a Monday morning.  I’ll be dieting through this week, Myrtle beach this weekend and then taking a diet break for a couple of weeks.

Sat 7/22 - Grayson Highlands hike

We drove to Grayson Highlands state park and parked in the overnight backpackers parking lot. We hiked from there to Thomas Knob shelter to fill up on water and then make our way back to some good campsites we passed on the way up.  We found what we thought was going to be a great place to set up our hammocks when a bunch of cows decided to pay us a visit.  There was a black and white one that seemed fairly aggressive and wouldn't leave us alone.

We moved away for a while and had lunch, then found a new campsite to hang our hammocks.  We got unpacked and Sarah realized she'd left her hammock at home so we packed up, hiked back out to the car and just made a day trip of it.  Some great camp spots around where we were close to great places to watch the sunset and sunrise. We'll plan a trip back again soon in a couple of weeks.

Long day, and not exactly as planned, but still a great hike and good time together in the mountains. I love having a partner and wife that enjoys backpacking and hiking together.  Feel very lucky and grateful.

Hiked about 12-13 miles in total.

Fri 7/21 - Upper

Workout: Snap Fitness
(DBInc)85X8,80x8,75x7,60x9
(Pullups)12,11,9
(120#Shldr)2x8
(InvertRow)2x10
(80#OHTri)11,10
(80#EZCurl)8,30Hx12
(Crunch)2x20
(15#RDelt)2x10
(160#Fly)11,10
(Crunch)2x15
(RevCrunch)3x15

45 = 10 = 55 mins

Sarah and I went to the gym Friday evening after work. I dieted fairly hard all week so I wasn’t all that surprised that performance suffered a bit during this WO. Started with incline and pullups combo. I started heavy on incline and dropped weight progressively. The 4th set we raised angle of incline. Pull-ups were OK, but harder than normal.  Next we did shoulder pressand inverted rows. Then triceps/biceps/abs combo. Finished up with rear delt, chest fly and more crunches.  Reverse crunches were done at the beginning of the WO during warmups.

Nutrition/Weight:
I weighed 166.4 this morning.

Wed 7/19 - Upper

Workout: Golds
(80#DBInc)10,9,60x9
(155#BOR)3x8
(50#DBShldr)2x8
(160#PullDn)2x10
(80#EZCurl)10,8
(73#RopeExt)12,11
(35#RDelt)2x10
(CrunchTwist)2x15
(60#Crunch)3x10

37 + 9 = 46 mins

Warmed up and did 3 sets of weighted crunches with a 60#DB.  Started with incline and BOR. 2 heavy sets of incline were really good, raised angle of incline and did a 3rd set. BOR felt fairly heavy. Then I did DB shoulder press with pulldowns, 2 sets each. Next I did EZ bar curls and rope extensions. Finished up with rear delts and rope extensions.

Nutrition/weight:
I weighed 167.8 this morning.

Sun 7/16 - Pull Day (weighted pullups)

Workout: Snap Fitness
(35#Pullups)8,8,6,BWx10
(60#Crunch)4x10
(80#DBRow)2x10
(CrunchTwist)2x12
(145#PullDn)2x10
(CrunchTwist)2x10
(210#SeatRow)
(80#EZCurl)8,60x10
(35#RDelt)2x10
(30#HCurl)2x10
(ButtRaise)2x10

56 + 4 = 60 mins

Pull day today. Started with pull-ups with 35 pounds strapped to a weight belt. First time I’ve used a weight belt with chain & weight attached. In the past, I’ve put a  dumbbell between my legs. This way was more awkward getting set up, but the actual pull-ups were less awkward. Anyway, liked it and had 3 good sets and then did a 4th set of body weight for 10 reps. Surprised I got 10 reps on the 4th set. Nice! Did weighted crunches with the pull-ups. Then we did dumbbell rows with crunch twists. Then 2 sets wide grip pulldowns with more crunch twists.

Then we did seated cable rows with EZ bar curls. Tough supersetting these. Had to drop the curl weight on 2nd set. Finished up with rear delt raises, hammer curls and  butt raises (ab work). Very good pull WO. Great pull-ups. Hadn’t done weighted pull-ups in quite a while.

Weight:
I weighed 169.4 this morning. Pretty low for a Sunday and a bit of a refeed yesterday.

Sat 7/15 - Push Day

Workout: Snap Fitness
(85#DBInc)9,7,80x7
(RevCrunch)20,18,15
(65#DBInc)8,8,60x8
(50#Crunch)3x10
(120#Shldr)2x8
(12#Russian)2x30
(160#Fly)10,8,145x8
(85#OHTri)10,6,70x13
(50#Pullover)2x10
(120#Rope)8,100x10

60 +  8 = 68 mins

Push day today. Warmup felt good so I went with 85# dumbbells to start. Got 2 very nice sets and then dropped to 80#’s for a 3rd heavy set. Last WO I used 85#DB’s, my R shoulder buckled on the 3rd set so I tried to play it safe/smart today. Worked out better than last time. We did reverse crunches with these 3 sets of incline. Then we raised the angle of  incline several settings and did 3 more sets of incline with weighted crunches.  Good. Hard work.

Next we did shoulder press machine with Russian Twists (w/ medicine ball). Next were chest fly’s with heavy OH Triceps extensions. Died on 2nd set, backed off for 3rd set. Finished up with pullovers and rope extensions.  Pullovers works chest and a lot of triceps, so rope extensions had to be lightened on 2nd set.  Very nice WO. Very pleased with heavy incline.

Weight: 
I weighed 166.8 this morning. Very nice. One downside of losing weight/water so quickly this week is that I’ve been having very bad leg cramps at night. Extremely painful. Going to eat a fair amount today and this weekend. Back to diet Monday AM.

Thu 7/13 - Upper

Workout: Golds
(60#DBShldr)3x8
(160#SeatRow)3x8
(70#DBInc)2x8
(180#PullDn)2x8
(80#EZCurl)2x10
(55#Crunch)2x10
(80#OHTri)2x13
(CrunchTwist)2x15
(15#RDelt)2x12
(130#Fly)2x10

42 + 5 = 47mins

WO over lunch. Since I went heavy on incline on Tuesday, I started with shoulder press today, paired with seated rows. Both were good. Then I did incline and pulldowns. I had to work on incline more than I thought with this weight after shoulder press. Then I did EZ bar curls with weighted crunches.  Next were overhead dumbbell triceps extensions with crunch twists. Very good triceps work and I should have gone heavier. Normally I don’t get more than 10=11 reps with 80#DB’s.  Finished up with some rear delt and chest fly’s. Good WO.

Weight: 
I weighed 168.8 this morning. Coming back down nicely. And quickly.

Tue 7/11 - Upper

Workout: Snap Fitness
(80#DBInc)10,10,8
(190#PullDn)10,10,8
(55#DBShldr)2x8
(210#SeatRow)2x12
(140#VbarExt)2x14
(80#EZCurl)2x8
(50#Crunch)2x10
(35#RDelt)2x10
(160#Fly)2x10
(Crunch)2x15

44 + 6 = 50 mins

8PM WO Tuesday evening, which is very late for me. Not sure I’ve ever actually gone to the gym this late. Very busy day at work and I didn’t really feel like going, but wanted to work out some frustration. Warmup felt good. Started with Incline and pulldowns. Both were very good. Very pleased with incline especially. Then I did shoulder press with seated cable rows. I started doing shoulder press as very steep incline rather than sitting straight up perpendicular to the floor. Easier on shoulders. Then I did triceps extensions with EZ bar curls and weighted crunches. Finished up with rear delts, fly’s and crunches.  Very good WO.

Weight: 
I weighed 173.2 this morning. Good weight after weekend of hiking, lots of carbs and a ginormous sushi meal Sunday evening.

Sat/Sun 7/8-9 - Hiking - Roan Highlands

Saturday

Parked at Carvers Gap and hiked to Hump Mountain, then back to Bradley's Gap to hammock camp. First time hammock camping and it worked out well. Got a little chilly at night up near 6,000 feet. Bradley's Gap is between Little Hump and Hump Mountains in the Roan Highlands.  Absolutely spectacular views.  Possibly one of the prettiest places I've hiked. 10-11 miles and an all-day affair. Watched the sunset before clouds rolled in at Hump Mountain.

Sunday

Woke up and hiked from Bradley's Gap back to Carvers Gap where the car was waiting. Drove home and stopped for huge all-you-can-eat sushi meal in Matthews.  About 8 miles.

Fri 7/7 - Upper

Workout: Golds
(80#DBInc)10,10,8
(180#PullDn)3x8
(50#DBShldr)2x10
(155#BOR)2x8
(80#OHTri)11,10
(80#EZCurl)2x10
(55#Crunch)2x12
(15#RDelt)2x10
(Crunch)2x15

37 + 9 = 46 mins

WO over lunch today. Wanted to go fairly heavy because we’re hiking this weekend and won’t be able to work out.  Warmed up and felt OK, not great. Started with DB incline and pulldowns. Incline was GREAT with 10,10,8 and pulldowns were heavy. Very happy with incline since my R shoulder has been fairly tender, and that I’ve dropped 10 pounds (mostly water) since Monday which can sap strength. Then I did 2 sets shoulder press and BOR. Shoulder press was really good.  Rows felt really heavy after heavy pulldowns.

Then I did overhead triceps extensions which surprisingly didn’t bother my R elbow too much with heavy EZ bar curls and weighted crunches. 2x10 with 80#’s is very good for me on curls. Finished up with rear delt fly’s and crunches.  Very good WO in about 45 mins including warmup.

Weight: 
I weighed 170.6 this morning. Down from 180#’s on Monday!

Tue 7/4 - Push Day

Workout: Snap Fitness
(80#DBInc)10,9,8
(55#Crunch)3x12
(65#DBInc)2x10, 55x10,10
(ButtRaise)4x20
(120#Shldr)2x8
(RussianTwist)2x20
(160#Fly)10,10,9
(80#OHTri)2x10
(20#ChestRaise)10
(120#Rope)12,10
(RussianTwist)2x25

71 + 9 = 80 mins

Push day today. Similar format to yesterday… a push movement paired with abs. Started with DB incline and weighted crunches. I wasn’t sure how my shoulder would do after I hurt my shoulder on Saturday. Surprisingly, although it was a bit sore, it didn’t seem to limit me too much. I still wasn’t going to risk going any heavier today though. Anyway, incline was pretty good. Then we raised the angle of incline and did 2 sets with butt raises.  Raised the angle of incline again for 2 more sets with butt raises.

Next we did shoulder press with Russian twists. Next were 3 great sets of fly’s with 2 sets of overhead DB extensions. Fly’s were done with a slow negative and felt great. We finished up with a set of chest raises, 2 sets of rope extensions (triceps) and more russian twists.  Great push day. Lots of good volume and hit chest with good variety of angles/movements.

Weight: 
I weighed 177.2 this morning.

Mon 7/3 - Pull Day

Workout: Snap Fitness
(Pullups)13,12
(RevCrunch)20,15
(75#DBRow)2x10
(50#Crunch)2x10
(175#PullDn)2x10
(CrunchTwist)2x15
(210#SeatRow)2x10
(Crunch)2x15
(35#RDelt)2x10
(Curl)80x10,60x10,30Hx12
(BandPull)2x20

45 mins

Pull day today. Setup of the workout was 2 sets of a pull/row paired with 2 sets abs.  We started with pull-ups and given I weighed 180#’s this morning, I was very happy with 13 and 12 reps on 2 sets. Supersetted with reverse crunches.  Then we did DB row with weighted crunches. Next were pulldowns with crunch twists. Then seated cable rows with crunches. Finished up with rear delts, curls and band pulls. Really great pull WO. Lots of ab work too.

Weight: 
I weighed 180.0 this morning. Wow! I weighed 164.2#’s the day before the wedding.

Sun 7/2 - Hiking in Dupont State Forest

Sarah and I went for a day hike in Dupont State Forest. There's a lot of really neat waterfalls in this park. We hit Hooker Falls, Triple Falls, Bridal Falls, and 1 or 2 others. Hiked from 9:30am to 4:30pm with some stops for exploring, pictures, etc.  Probably 10-12 miles of hiking.

Sat 7/1 - Upper (heavy)

Workout: Snap Fitness
(85#DBInc)9,6,75x9,8,65x9
(210#SeatRow)4x12
(130#Shldr)9,9,7
(175#Pulldn)3x8
(80#Skulls)11,10+40x12
(80#EZCurl)9,8,30Hx10
(50#Crunch)2x12
(80#FacePull)2x10
(160#Fly)2x10
(CrunchTwist)2x15

64 + 10 = 74 mins

Warmups felt pretty good and I decided to go with 85#DB’s. First set was great at 9 reps. 2nd set started well but I misgrooved a rep with my R arm and got pinned. Had to bail on the set. Right shoulder pretty painful. Dropped to 75#’s for 2 sets and 65#’s for a set. Paired incline with seated cable rows with the stack. Disappointed with the 2nd set of incline, but still good work. Then we did shoulder press and pulldowns.

Next we did skull crushers for 2 sets, plus a drop set with heavy curls for 2 sets, plus a set of hammer curls and weighted crunches. Finished up with face pulls, fly’s and crunch twists. Good WO despite
the 2nd set of incline.

Weight: 
I weighed 173.4 this morning.

Fri 6/30 - Upper (light)

Workout: Snap Fitness
(65#DBInc)2x10
(160#PullDn)2x10
(110#Shldr)2x10
(145#SeatRow)2x10
(70#OHTri)2x10
(60#EZCurl)2x10
(RevCrunch)2x15
(35#RDelt)2x10
(145#Fly)2x10
(Crunch)2x12

25 + 5 = 30 mins

Just a light-ish upper body WO to get a little work in. Tomorrow is bigger/heavier WO. Feeling beat up, worn out, tired from the week and a half of pre and post wedding activities.

Weight:
I weighed 178.4 this morning.

Tue - Thu, 6/27-6/29 - "Honeymoon" in the Great Smoky Mountains - Whitewater Rafting and Hiking (pic)

Sarah, the kids and I left for the Great Smoky Mountains early Tuesday morning. We went whitewater rafting Tuesday afternoon and had a BLAST.

Then Wednesday we went up to Clingman's Dome, hiked around up there and took in the views. Then we hiked out to Andrews Bald. Very pretty day. I think the kids enjoyed it?!?!?  Wednesday evening we took Elena to the airport to fly home.  The boys stayed with us until Friday.

Thursday we left the cabin and drove home to Charlotte. From GSMNP to Asheville, we took the Blue Ridge Parkway and stopped for short hikes at Devils Courthouse and Black Balsam Mountain. Great views all along the trip.