Workout Recap - Week of December 23, 2018
So, here we are, pretty much at the end of another year. 2018 had its ups and downs for me, but on the whole, I'd say it was one of my best years. I achieved one of my lifelong goals by publishing my books, experienced more of the world than I have in a long time thanks to the frequent travel for work, learned how to drive with a manual transmission (perhaps the most ignominious item on this list, but it is sadly worth noting in North America), got back into an old hobby which has been tons of fun, and provided a lot of support to help a good friend through some major transitions in her life. There were some low points as well (regressing with my fitness and lacking the time to do more reading/gaming because of all that travel, for instance), but the good was worth it.
I hope the year gone by was a good one for the rest of you, too, but more importantly, may 2019 be even better.
Sunday
Type: As Fast As Possible
5 sets of:
5 Pull Ups
10 Push Ups
15 Prisoner Squats
Time = 4:45
Bonus: 7 chin ups
Given that my right shoulder had felt a bit off last week, I thought it'd be in my best interests to flip my challenge workout back to Saturday for this week. As for what I actually did on this day, I feel good about it. It's always a good sign to average better than one set per minute with this routine, and I think I'm getting in the groove of it enough to start pushing up the regular number of sets.
Tuesday
Type: Pass/Fail
Shoulder-width Handstand Push Ups - 2 sets of 14 (pass)
Stand-to-stand Bridges, one wall touch on the way up - 2 sets of 6 (pass)
Hanging V-raises - 2 sets of 10 (pass)
Bonus: 4 sets of 3 two-way suicide jumps, 5 pull ups
Speaking of getting into a groove, I'm mostly settling on sticking with two sets of three movements for these pass/fail-type workouts. Single-set routines will happen for various reasons, but between two sets of three movements or three sets of two movements, the former just feels better to me.
Wednesday
Type: Pass/Fail
One-armed Push Ups, feet together - 2 sets of 6, each side (pass)
Uneven Pull Ups - 2 sets of 8, each side (pass)
Pistol Squats, both hands behind me - 2 sets of 5, each side (pass)
Bonus: 4 sets of 3 half-Aztec push ups, 10 bridges
I haven't been making too much noise about it, but a look over the past few weeks of these pass/fail-type workouts does show some gradual progression. That's the name of the game when it comes to calisthenics.
Friday
Type: As Fast As Possible
13/10/7 Pull Ups
13/10/7 Handstand Push Ups
13/10/7 Burpees
Time = 7:30
Bonus: 5 bridges
The presentation obfuscates this comparison at first glance, but this workout is quite similar to the 6 sets weekend challenge that I typically do following the 100 burpees challenge, save for swapping bridges out for handstand push ups (which I'd consider a lateral change). That being the case, this finish time looks pretty solid to me.
Saturday
Type: As Fast As Possible
7 sets of:
7 Pull Ups
7 Burpees
Time = 8:30
Bonus: 1 pull up, 1 burpee
And on the topic of weekend challenge workouts, here's a real one, complete with a 30 second improvement over my previous time. Very good, very good indeed!
