Now, where were we?

The past several weeks I have not been weightlifting so much, but I have maintained a pretty satisfying, nearly daily, regiment (except the week I lost to eating and relaxing during Chinese New Year!).

I'm improving at skip rope, and do it almost every day.

I do/have been doing a modified "battling ropes" routine every few days.

Hula hooping is a frequent exercise.

Lots of flail and some good mace drills.

Lots of neck-leash training.

Ab wheel.

Jogging.

Rope pullups.

Also, the past week or two, I was teaching soccer and basketball for a winter camp at my wife's other branch school, so I've done stretching and warmups every morning. Playing with the kids freestyle was so much fun: I felt my old love for and instinct in soccer surge back! Hope to start playing soccer now and then. Great game!

I will begin a new job this Wednesday and on the way home, I pass what will be my new gym. That's right, chilluns, I'm going back to the gym for weightlifting! I'll return to my twice-a-week "Even Keel" routine, with which I saw the best results even in just the month before I left my previous gym.

The Even Keel is all about personal awareness, mindful recovery (i.e. rest as the most important exercise), and the Big Three.

On off-days, I'll do my usual antics: skip rope, soccer, hula hoop, ab wheel, neck training, etc.

My goal is to bulk up to at least 100kg, which I failed to do last year, and to get PRs on all main lifts by the end of 2012.

One thing I'd like to get back to is a morning calisthenic of Hindu squats and pushups, but with a baby on the way, I have a feeling the gym and some off-day fitness will be hard enough to maintain.

One thing I surely must resurrect is my grip training!

In any event, so I can restore the habit of keeping a fitness log, here is what I did yesterday:

Flail: 30 sec, each way, L & R

Hula hoop: 2 min x 3 (half at gut, half at hips)

Neck leash: (10–12 sec deep iso x 3) x 3

1" roller: flex x 2 / extend x 2 @ 2kg (arms propped on top of fridge)

TNT roller: flex x 2 / extend x 2 @ 2kg (")

2" roller: flex x 2 / extend x 2 @ 2kg (")

1" roller: flex x 2 / extend x 2 @ 2kg (")

+ + +

For my neck leash, I usually do small jerking contractions, but today I leaned deeper and held the iso for 10–12 seconds. Higher intensity, lower volume: good. For the rollers, I began by extending up and flex-uncurling –– as one rep –– and then flexed up to extend-uncurl –– as one rep. I did two such reps per set.

For my Even Keel regimen, I'll train every Saturday and then on Tuesday or Wednesday, depending how my body feels. My first day of work is Wednesday, so I'll hit the gym right after work.

(In the future, I will need to go pick up our daughter, wait for my wife to get home, and then get to the gym by 8PM or so. Then again, if I keep my workout to an hour, I can make it in time. Either way, I'm hoping it won't be too crowded at those times!)

Tomorrow will basically be a diagnostic workout, to see how I can maximize the available equipment for my Even Keel, and, especially, to gauge where I am after half a year outside a gym.

CIRCUIT A:

Squat 9, 6, 3 @ kg

Pullup 10+, 10+, 10+ (weighted)

Bench press 9, 6, 3 @ kg

Snatch DL 9, 6, 3 @ kg

Standing military press 9, 6, 3 @ kg

Bench/Spider curl 9, 6, 3 @ kg


CIRCUIT B:

Front squat 9, 6, 3 @ kg

Incline bench press 9, 6, 3 @ kg

Seated hyper-supinated DB curl 9, 6, 3 @ kg

Deadlift 9, 6, 3 @ kg

Pushdowns/Pullovers 9, 6, 3 @ kg

Row 9, 6, 3 @ kg

I have tweaked the rep scheme (9-6-3) in order to focus on the intensity of each rep and to keep the workout short.

Stay tuned.