Workout Recap - Week of April 29, 2018
And so ends another trip. With the multiple hotel switches, canceled/delayed flights, and the inevitable annoyances with business at the destination along the way (plus some personal matters to deal with, as seems to be a trend on these work trips of late), I was feeling pretty worn out by the end of this week, so I took things a little easy and dialed it back to just four workouts. On the plus side, when the topic of my exercise habits came up with a former Army Ranger who I've become friends with, I learned that my performance at calisthenics is actually up there with what some of the best military personnel can do. I'm not saying that I should be a super elite SEAL or anything like that (they have plenty of other training, obviously, plus I'm sure their fitness programs also involve plenty of free weight work on top of just moving themselves around and are just generally far more rigorous than about forty-five to sixty minutes of exercise per week), but I can't deny that it felt pretty cool to impress someone with that sort of background.
In other exciting news, I should have a big announcement for tomorrow, if not later tonight, that I've been working towards for a long time. Stay tuned!
Sunday
Type: Pass/Fail
Stand-to-Stand Bridges, one wall touch on the way up - 3 sets of 6 (pass)
Pistols Squats, both hands behind me - 3 sets of 4, each side (pass)
Bonus: 4 sets of 3 two-way suicide jumps, 20 straight leg raises
After the last couple of workouts, I needed a little break for my upper body as a whole and my shoulders in particular. This accomplished that quite nicely without any loss in overall intensity
Tuesday
Type: Pass/Fail
One-armed Push Ups, feet together - 3 sets of 4, each side (pass)
Overhand Horizontal Rows - 3 sets of 12 (pass)
Bonus: 2 sets of 6 Superman push ups
Having given my shoulder their chance to recover, it was time to brutalize them again, naturally. Well, that's unfair. This wasn't as bad as combining handstand push ups with horizontal rows.
Wednesday
Type: As Fast As Possible
4 sets of:
10 Handstand Push Ups
10 Hindu Push Ups
15 Straight Leg Raises
15 Prisoner Squats
Time = 12:00
Bonus: 11 overhand horizontal rows
On their own, Hindu push ups are pretty chill and work on mobility more than they do on strength or endurance. In the context of a timed workout, though, and coming on the heels of something like handstand push ups, they become a significant grind. I think I took more time with them than with any other part of this routine, which is surprising, given that it includes some fucking handstand push ups.
Saturday
Type: As Fast As Possible
5 sets of:
5 Towel Pull Ups
10 Push Ups
15 Prisoner Squats
Time = 4:45
Bonus: 6 pull ups
Being back home meant that I could go back to doing some bar work. This was a break from my usual weekend challenges, since I had some company over that put a squeeze on my time, but I'm happy with the end result. Sure, it was a little slower than what I've done before for 5 pull ups/10 push ups/15 prisoner squats, but I'd ramped things up by doing towel pull ups instead of regular ones, so I was expecting a slightly slower time anyway. All in all, I'll take this as a sign that I managed to keep my arm flexors in decent shape this time around, which is a good sign for the future (as I'll likely have another lengthy trip or two coming up). I can always make up for the skipped challenge by doing more than one of those next week, anyway.
