Workout Recap - Week of November 24, 2019
Flax seed eggs turned out to be a lie, at least in so far as using them as a direct substitute for regular eggs. Yes, the flax seed meal does react in a roughly 1:3 mix with water to turn into a goopy sludge, but that sludge is really only responsible for replacing the filler aspect of eggs without making up for the binding or leavening characteristics. I can only assume that most people supporting the use of flax seed eggs are using them with ingredients likes standard flour or processed sugar which are able to cover for those other characteristics.
Fortunately, they were not a total loss. Mixing in about half a tablespoon of yucca flour per flax seed egg helped improve binding significantly. I haven't yet experimented with adding in other leavening agents (e.g. cream of tartar), but I see no reason why that can't also be successful. The issue I have with all that, though, is that it seems to approach a situation where I might as well use just use the flax seed meal by itself to add volume rather than thinking of it as an egg replacement. Maybe that's fine, but it's a letdown from the claims that cooks can just swap one for the other without any further headaches.
Sunday
Type: Pass/Fail
Close Handstand Push Ups - 2 sets of 9 (pass)
Stand-to-stand Bridges, one wall touch on the way up - 2 sets of 8 (pass)
L-Hang - 2 sets of 20 breath isometric holds (pass)
Bonus: 7 bridge kips, 2 sets of 10 breath isometric towel dead hangs
I'm liking going with isometric L-hangs in place of other hanging leg raises. Aside from the obvious benefit of sneaking in slightly more work on my grip endurance compared to going for reps, I find that the offset load from holding my legs extended outward more than makes up for the reduced hip flexor contraction compared to V-raises or V-hangs. The latter require more flexibility, sure, and that's something I could benefit from since I think my posterior chain is tighter than my anterior chain overall. However, that interests me less at the moment than developing strength and endurance.
Tuesday
Type: As Fast As Possible
7 sets of:
7 Burpees
7 Bridges
Time = 7:30
Bonus: 1 burpee, 1 bridge
Hitting my personal record on the hardest of my 7x7 challenge workouts felt nice. Onwards and upwards.
Wednesday
Type: Pass/Fail
Uneven Pull Ups - 1 set of 10, each side (pass)
Close Handstand Push Ups - 1 set of 12 (pass)
L-Hang - 1 set of 25 breath isometric holds (pass)
Bonus: 20 breath isometric dead hang
Feeling pretty good about where my lower body is at in general, I tried to put a focus on my hands, forearms, and shoulders here. I can see that I'm making progress with them, so I try to take heart in that rather than getting frustrated about the pace.
Thursday
Type: As Fast As Possible
5 sets of:
5 Pull Ups
10 Push Ups
15 Prisoner Squats
Time = 3:45
Bonus: 10 burpees
This was an amazing step forward in my completion time for this routine. At this point, I need to step up the difficulty aside from the occasional instances of using this as a quickie workout in a busy day.
Saturday
Type: As Fast As Possible
7 sets of:
7 Pull Ups
7 Burpees
Time = 7:00
Bonus: 1 pull up, 1 burpee
Not quite as impressive as the last workout, but this does mark the second 7x7 challenge this week where I tied my personal record. Honestly, though, it was a little disappointing that I couldn't beat it, because I felt like I had a great pace going. Ah well, it'd be boring if it was easy to excel.
