Dufisthenics

I had some tough exercises mixed in today with one arm wall handstand holds and heavy T-bar rows topping the list.  It feels good to be ramping up numbers at the gym recently instead of the steady tail spin I have been accustomed to the past year or so.  The HGH must be kicking in.  Just kidding.

Speaking of HGH, I used to do a lot of consistent supplementation to go along with my exercise program.  It all started with me using creatine in the late 90’s which added 15-20 pounds of bodyweight and impressive amounts of power, strength and endurance.  Unfortunately it also was part of the reason I damaged my knee, requiring two knee scopes since.

I then remember popping my Hydroxycut prior to my workouts to give me that extra energy to help push me to new personal bests.  After every work out I would follow up with a Lean Body protein shake which packed over 40 grams of protein into a relatively low calorie shake.  Of course in addition to the whey protein the shake contained a bunch of other stuff that is not good for you.

Once I became hardcore interested in calisthenics I pretty much cut all of that out as being lean and mean was the key to maximizing performance with bodyweight exercises.  When I was supplementing my weight got as high as 210 pounds.  When I was hardcore calisthenics my weight dropped as low as 170 pounds.  I also had my best days as a runner at low bodyweight level which again is not surprising.

Nowadays I use calisthenics as a supplement to my fitness instead of the main focus and my running has tapered back dramatically.  I still don’t do any supplementation and my weight has normalized between 180-185 pounds.  I still have the urge to drop maybe five pounds to lean out a bit more but for the most part I am ok where I am right now.  Avoiding serious injury has taken center stage when it comes to my exercise program.

Today’s Workout

5 minutes cardio/stretching

Wall handstand x 60 seconds

T-bar row – 135 pounds x 10

One arm wall hand stand – 20 seconds each hand

T-bar row – 160 pounds x 10

One arm wall hand stand – 20 seconds each hand

T-bar row – 185 pounds x 8

One arm wall hand stand – 20 seconds each hand

T-bar row – 210 pounds x 5

Cybex plate loaded alternating one arm lat pull down – 200lbx x 10

Seated dumbbell lateral raise – 20lbs x 10

Cybex plate loaded alternating one arm lat pull down – 250lbx x 6

Seated dumbbell lateral raise – 25lbs x 8

One minute pull up – 30 secs high – 15 sec head to bar – 15 sec dead hang