Three up and three down

In my bodyweight exercise training journey, like others, I’ve been seduced into volume training for reps and sets of an exercise. For pull-ups and bar dips, for example, I’ve had a fascination with 100-rep workouts. Many of these workouts were timed; how fast could I complete 100 reps. I’ve always liked the game “Beat the Clock” but, truth be told, often it was the clock beating me. But I’ve always had fun trying.

 

Another variation of training with these two exercises has been adding weight and seeing how heavy of an added weight I could use to perform a single rep. Or how many reps of, for example a five-set effort, I could complete with a given weight, with progress measured by adding weight or trying to complete more reps with a given weight. Progressive resistance has always been the name of the game in my fitness training department.

 

Lately, I’ve been toning done the volume and doing something different that is currently a joyful change from my past training efforts. I’m doing a single set workout when doing pull-ups and bar dips. Yes, a single set for the day, no more and no less. To make it a beneficial single set, I’ve incorporated pause holds during the reps. My current variety of this is to hold a three-count at the top and bottom range of the exercise. Here are two recent videos of me doing this for pull-ups and bar dips:

Pull-ups with 3-count pauses

Bar dips with 3-count pauses

Add fitness training variety to your bodyweight training by incorporating pause holds with your reps like how I’m doing, three up and three down.

Pax Domini sit semper vobiscum

Can't do the gym thing any more

"Me and my parks are one."

I may have shared this before that once turning age 65 and becoming a Medicare Man a few months ago, I got a free gym membership with my health insurance plan.  I hadn’t belonged to a gym in probably five or more years so the thought of getting something “free” caught my attention.

It wasn’t as if not belonging to a gym was compromising my middle-age man fitness.  I’m fit right now by my middle-age man historical standards.  Since quitting the gym, I had used various public parks as my training landscape.  There are about five that I regularly frequent depending on what I’m doing.   

I have a favorite park for running, a favorite park for doing pull-ups and a preferred park for doing burpees and kettlebell workouts.  I enjoy my outdoors workouts at these parks.  I’ve found little nooks and crannies at these parks where I can pitch my fitness tent and get a good workout without calling too much attention to myself.  Trees abound at these training sweet spots that have become my training oasis. 

Nonetheless, the free gym membership thing enticed me so after exploring the various gyms that I could join for free, I chose a 24 Hour Fitness gym located downtown about one mile from my office.  It’s one of their bigger gyms that they’ve coined as a super-sport gym because it’s huge and loaded with every exercise equipment you can imagine, plus it has many other amenities like a swimming pool, basketball court, you name it; it has it. 

After joining, I decided that it would be a supplement to how I was currently training because all was going well doing it that way.  Pull-ups, bar dips, kettlebell complexes, burpees and running had been doing me good and I saw no reason to change anything.  As the saying goes, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”

I’d say during the first month of membership, I visited only four times.  This gym frequency was unlike my past when I would go to the gym five days a week.  I found that my new gym was densely populated with people exercising and it was noisy with loud music.  I also learned that, unbeknownst to me, I had become a reclusive middle-age man fitness dude from several years training in the park solo style.

I tried my best to work around this gym density and noise by reminding myself how endowed it was with every imaginable fitness exercise equipment and weights under the sun.  Still, as time passed, I was continually dodging my new gym, taking a hike, instead, to one of my favorite parks.

Then, Coronavirus struck, and all gyms closed and remain closed to this day.

It was during this gym lockdown that I decided I wouldn’t be going back.  I cancelled my free membership about a week ago.  It felt good doing this because it got a monkey off my back that I wasn’t using my free gym membership.

It was a paradigm shift – a stepping over the line in the sand to the other side – and a realization that I can’t do the gym thing anymore.

Pax Domini sit semper vobiscum

Cafeteria-style fitness training menu

I describe my fitness training as intuitive fitness training because I don’t follow a specific workout program that’s spelled out for me with specific exercises, weights, sets, reps or times that I follow to the “T”.  My approach, rather, has me never knowing exactly what I’m going to do until I step into the batter’s box ready to swing.

To make what I do legitimate, I’m guessing that 80 to 90 percent of the time what I do will be done with intensity. 

Otherwise, I risk the chance of being a sandbagger playing or working out below my potential.  Sort of like a B-level racquetball player who plays the D-level competition ladder at his local racquetball club.

Intuitive training works for me because I never know how my body is going to feel on any given day.  How my body feels depends on what I may have done the previous day.  For example, as I peck away on my keyboard composing this blog post, I’m very sore in my wheels because yesterday I ran six miles.  If I had some very specific plan to do this or that today, I’d probably not do this or that today because I wouldn’t feel like it.

Therefore, intuitively, today is a rest day but tomorrow will probably be an intense workout day.

This works for me.

So, the way I do things is like going into a cafeteria to have a meal.  As I walk down a cafeteria aisle, there are several foods to choose from: main dishes, side dishes, desserts, and beverages.  I might have a little of this and a little of that. As I approach the end of the aisle, chances are my plate is full and I’m about to begin having what’ll hopefully be a good meal.

This is how my workouts are put together on any given day.  I chose from a menu of fitness activities and exercise selections from my cafeteria-style fitness training menu.

Here are the exercises and activities currently on my menu, in no order of preference or training frequency:  

Pull-ups and chin-ups – Lately, a typical workout consists of about 100 repetitions done greasing the groove style.  I like doing this while at work where I have a pull-up bar.

For example, I might perform 10 sets of 10 repetitions during the morning or throughout my workday depending on how busy I am.  Last summer, I did more weighted pull-ups and chin-ups; lower rep volume of course with a 20kg or 24kg KB hanging from my waist using a lifting belt.

Bar dips – I have a bar dip unit in a spare room in my office and do most of my bar dip work while at work just like pull-ups and chin-ups.  I generally shoot for about 100 bar dips when I do them.  I’ve also done weighted bar dips but not lately.

Slam ball work – A couple months ago, I purchased my first slam ball; it weighs 15 lbs. and I’ve used it for about four workouts.  Honestly, I thought I would have used it more than I have thus far.  Also, honestly, the slam ball workouts I’ve done have spanked me big time in a short amount of time.  I’m looking forward to more slam ball work in the months ahead.

Burpees – I hate and love burpees in the same breath of air, just like everyone else.  I hate how they make me feel and how they keep me humble whenever my head swells thinking what great fitness conditioning shape I’m in, but I love the fitness conditioning results they deliver.  

Lately, I’ve been doing burpees a couple times a week and am chasing a goal of completing 100 of them in ten minutes or less.

Running – I don’t know how many times in the last ten years I’ve retired as a fun runner only to come back out of retirement.  I’m currently out of retirement again and have been so for almost two years.  It was tough coming back and I swear I’m not going to retire again but, rather, ramp up or taper the running I do depending on what else I’m doing.  

Lately, I’ve been running at a slower and steady-state pace only once a week for between 30 and 60 minutes.  During this summer, I’d like to do some more speed work and see how fast I can fun a one-mile distance on a high school all-weather track.

Kettlebell work – I really like kettlebell training and the stuff I do tends to be kettlebell complexes or chains.  I have a limited inventory of kettlebells that I own but enough to get awesome workouts.  I have a couple favorite routines or complexes I like to do so progress doing them comes from completing a certain number of rounds faster than the last time.

Other items that have been on my fitness training menu in the past – Certain menu items in a cafeteria menu might be seasonal and not always available.  This is also the case with my fitness training menu selections.  Things that I enjoy doing, have done in the past but am not now doing include pull-up hang and handstand against the wall holds for time, Heavy Hands workouts using a pair of 5-lbs. dumbbells and higher-repetition step-ups using a 12-inch step.  

I’ll add these exercises to my training when they come "into season" according to my whim.  I may also add new selections to my menu.

As a middle-age man fitness training warrior trying to achieve age-adjusted upper-percentile cardiovascular-respiratory and strength endurance conditioning, I do best with my intuitive fitness training approach and having a diverse selection of activities and exercises to chose from in my cafeteria-style fitness training menu.

Pax Domini sit semper vobiscum

Busy at work early morning 2-minute office workout

This is the time of year I'm extra busy with work so getting my middle-age man fitness training workouts in is more challenging. 

Knowing that something is better than nothing, this morning I did a quick 2-minute workout at my office where I have a pull-up bar and bar dip unit. First minute was a single set of 14 pull-ups.

Second minute was a single set of 25 bar dips.

Two minutes later, my early morning workout was done; I was ready to begin working.

Viewing the video, I'll admit my bottom range of my pull-ups could have had better extension. I'll do better next time but am satisfied with my 14-rep performance done cold with no warm-up.

Honest disclosure, I had a performance-enhancing beverage before my quick 2-minute workout - a strong homemade cup of Italian Roast coffee with no crème or sugar added, just the way I like it.

Later today, God willing, I'll do 100 burpees for time. This will be my workout for today.

Again, something is better than nothing.

I’ll be busy for the next month so being creative and time efficient with my fitness training is how I’ll get my job done, like this busy at work early morning 2-minute office workout.

Pax Domini sit semper vobiscum

Fall 2019 fitness goals results

Pierini Fitness doing a Sprint 8 burpees 
workout on a recent Fall 2019 day.

Good day Pierini Fitness sports fans.  Have you been wondering where I’ve been?  It’s been a while and I’ve been known to go AWOL every now and then for various reasons.  This time, I was gone for slightly over one month.  What was going on?  I hit a creative dry spot, something I’ve done before.  But I also got busy helping Mrs. Pierini Fitness help her 91-year old father who has become increasingly frail and needing more assistance.  It’s a reminder that we’re all going to, sooner or later, get our turn.

Despite my absence, I’ve managed to continue with my fitness training which, as of today, is for the most part significantly done for 2019. Mrs. Pierini Fitness and I are leaving for a two-week vacation in Arizona to visit our four little grandsons.  It’ll be a breath of fresh air that I’m looking forward to beginning, and it will on Saturday.

I’ve made and uploaded several YouTube videos sharing snapshots of my fitness training. Most of them showcase my pursuits of pull-ups, bar dips and burpees performance goals.  As a soon-to-be Medicare Man, I’m proud of my current conditioning yet grateful and humble, realizing that it could all be taken away from me in heartbeat.

The remainder of this post will give an accountability report of how I did in achieving, or not, various Fall 2019 fitness goals that I previously shared.

Fall 2019 Fitness Goals

1 - complete 100 reps of alternating pull-ups and chin-ups in 20:00 or less. Accomplished on 11/29/2019 - 100 reps in 19:38.

2 - complete single set max reps of 18 pull-ups. Did not achieve, best this Fall 2019 is 16 pull-ups on 12/14/2019.

3 - complete single set max reps of 25 bar dips. Accomplished on 12/3/2019 with 30 bar dips. 

4 - run mile in 7:00. Did not achieve, basically abandoned training effort due to demands of chasing burpees goal. Will achieve by Summer 2020.

5 - complete 100 burpees in 12 minutes. Accomplished on 12/14/2019 completing 100 burpees in 11:54.  

6 - morning weigh-in of 170-175 lbs. 100 percent. Accomplished, did not weigh more than 175 lbs. at any time but did dip below 170 lbs. for a streak.

7 - pull-up hang hold of 1:50. Accomplished with 2:02 on 10/19/2019. 

8 - handstand hold against wall of 1:15. Did not achieve but did do 1:14 on 12/10/2019. 

9 - body fat of 16 percent (currently 18.6 percent.) Did not achieve but measured 17.4 percent on 12/18/2019.

To all my Pierini Fitness sports fan, Merry Christmas 2019 and Happy New Year 2020, and may all your dreams and desires for 2020 be realized in the new year.  I’ll be away until the first week of January 2020 and it may take another week before I return to Pierini Fitness with fresh new content of my middle-aged man reflections about living and dying, gracefully aging and trying to live a good and honest life.

There you have it, my Fall 2019 fitness goals results.

Pax Domini sit semper vobiscum

Pullups and bar dips test

Two staples in my fitness training rotation are pullups and bar dips.  I regularly perform them, both bodyweight-only and weight-added versions.  They’ve served me well, so I’ll continue to do them until further notice.

One way to measure progress is by how many repetitions of each exercise I can perform in a single set.  At this point in my middle-aged man fitness training journey, what I’m able to do is less than what I’ve done in the past.

Nonetheless, it’s still good to test myself occasionally, and recently I did so.

Here’s a recent effort with pullups:

And here’s a recent effort with bar dips:

My lifetime know best effort for a single set is 18 repetitions for pullups and 25 repetitions for bar dips.  This means where I’m currently at is a little less in relation to where I’ve been.  I’m OK with this and will keep marching forward in my fitness training.

And part of this fitness training will be to occasionally do a pullups and bar dips test.

  

Pax Domini sit semper vobiscum

Summer 2019 fitness goals

Welcome to the first day of Summer 2019! 

We’re going to have a great time here at Pierini Fitness chasing the latest round of our middle-aged man fitness, health and wellness goals.  If you read the previous post, you’ll learn of my previous goals and whether I achieved them.

Continuing with a season-timing theme of goals, Pierini Fitness will share his Summer 2019 fitness goals. He’ll train diligently to achieve them by the first day of Fall 2019.

Here they are:

Complete a 10k fun run at a 9:00 mile pace

As previously shared, Pierini Fitness will run the Wharf to Wharf 6-mile fun run next month, the last Sunday in July.  He’s training with his goal in mind and will share his results after the fun run.

Run one mile on a high school track in 7:30

An earlier attempt not that long ago at this fitness feat was clocked at 8:36. Pierini Fitness will concentrate his training for this goal after his fun run race. The goal time is much slower than when he would regularly run this distance at a 6-minute mile pace.

Complete 100 alternating pull-ups and chin-ups in 20 minutes

This is a carryover goal from Spring 2019 and one that was almost achieved but not quite.  His best time is 20:03 done earlier this week, close but not close enough.  This goal is now further refined to being able to complete the 100 count in sets of 5 rep minimums.  So, for example, 20 rounds of 5 reps would be the minimum getting the goal accomplished. 

Maintain bodyweight of 172-177 lbs. for 98 percent of Summer 2019 days

There are 94 days in Summer 2019 so to meet this goal, he needs to have a morning weigh-in weight in this range for at least 92 days.  Pierini Fitness weighed in at 172.1 lbs. yesterday, when this was composed.

Achieve 16 percent body fat

A recent DXA-Scan measured his body fat at 18.8 percent, so a 16 percent body fat is a challenging goal.  Keeping the same bodyweight of 172 lbs. will require gaining about four lbs. of muscle and losing the same in body fat.  Doing this while maintaining the same bodyweight is very challenging.  

A dozen plus years ago, last time at 16 percent?

Trim waist to 32 inches

This goal goes hand in hand with the 16 percent body fat goal.  Pierini Fitness has about 1.5 inches to taper.

My starting point a couple days ago

Bump VO2 Max to 46

Never a big tracker of his VO2 Max, Pierini Fitness now pays attention to it because his Garmin Forerunner 35 regularly calculates and updates it based on his fitness training activities.

VO2 Max (also maximal oxygen consumption, maximal oxygen uptake, peak oxygen uptake or maximal aerobic capacity) is the maximum rate of oxygen consumption measured during incremental exercise of increasing intensity.  The “V” is for volume, O2 is for “oxygen”.  VO2 Max is a measure of maximal oxygen consumption and, therefore, cardio-respiratory fitness and endurance capacity when exercising.

Pierini Fitness has a current VO2 Max reading that bounces back and forth between 43 and 44, ranking him in the top 10 percent for his age group.  The 46 goal means he has some work to do. 

There you go Pierini Fitness sports fans, my Summer 2019 fitness goals.

Pax Domini sit semper vobiscum