![stock-photo-young-sporty-karate-man-breaking-three-bricks-on-gray-background-5224519[1]](https://dufisthenics.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/stock-photo-young-sporty-karate-man-breaking-three-bricks-on-gray-background-52245191.jpg)
So I was able to do a conventional running/riding brick today at lunch. I was unsure if running would feel ok but I got through the 20 minutes without feeling major irritation. The 10 minutes on the bike that followed was perspiration filled.
Today’s Workout
Run/Bike brick
20 minutes on treadmill – 2.24 miles covered
10 minutes stationary bike – 2.65 miles covered
![functional-stupid[1]](https://dufisthenics.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/functional-stupid1.png)
Today at the gym I witnessed one of those guys that took exercise creativity a bit too far ,where it crosses over into the kingdom of sillyness. He was in front of a cable machine with a handle grip on it. In front of the machine he placed a bosu ball, round part down. He then stood on top of the bosu ball, found his balance, reached back and grabbed the cable handle which was attached to a very light stack of weight. He then starting doing what you guess would call one arm standing fly reps while balanced on the bosu ball. It looked totally ridiculous and I can assure you it did very little to strengthen any portion of his body.
It was sort of like eating spaghetti while riding a skateboard. Sure you can do it but what is the point?
My lower body workouts have been scaled back in intensity the last few weeks because of ancillary problems that keep popping up. Instead of squatting I substituted some reps on the 40 degree leg sled. After doing leg extensions, curls and calf work I wrapped up the session with 10 minutes on the rower. Doing the rower after a lower body leg work makes it even more challenging.
Today’s Workout
5 minutes cardio/stretching
Leg press – 225lbs x 10, 315lbs x 10, 405lbs x 8
Iso lateral leg extension – 60lbs x 10, 80lbs x 8 (each leg)
Kneeling leg curl – 60lbs x 10, 80lbs x 10 (each leg)
Rotary calf extension – 120lbs x 10
Rowing – 10 minutes – 2365 meters covered – 500 meter avg pace 2:00-2:10
![PHE1352[1]](https://dufisthenics.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/PHE13521.jpg)
So I am still having pain in my right shoulder doing pushing movements which I source to my foray into decline bench press last week. I think I did something relatively serious which for now I am going to just address by abstaining from anything that hurts. Luckily pull ups fits that “doesn’t hurt” category.
I did a repetitive yet old school workout today, nothing but pull ups. In total I racked up 140 pull ups during my session which was broken into one set of 20 followed by lots of sets of 5. It was the most pull ups I have racked up in one session in a very long time. As is often the case when I do high reps I actually got a second wind after 50 or so pull ups, my reps were more explosive. I think my back will be screaming tomorrow.
Today’s Workout
5 minutes cardio/stretching
140 pull ups – broken into initial set of 20 reps followed by 24 sets of 5 reps
![70_1[1]](https://dufisthenics.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/70_11.jpg)
So I wanted to start my workout with a set of 50 push ups, something I haven’t done in quite awhile. Well as soon as I started I was getting a shooting pain down my right shoulder so I bailed after rep 5. I can only assume the pain is related to Monday, specifically the decline bench pressing. When you take the weight off the rack in that configuration you wind up awkwardly bringing the bar from around your eyeballs down to the point where it is centered over your chest. When I did that with 215 I recall feeling a tweak that was not normal. So I guess pushing movements were off the menu.
I filled in with various exercise but overall it didn’t feel like a very cohesive workout. I did get 50 pull ups across only 3 sets which is not bad.
Today’s Workout
5 minutes cardio/stretching
5 push ups
20 pull ups
20 hanging knee raises
15 pull ups
20 dowel rod rotary torso twists
20 straight leg raises (on elbows)
500 foot VMX rope pull in 3:25 – avg pace 145 ft a minute
Single arm extended plank hold – 20 seconds each arm
15 pull ups
20 hanging knee raises
So to give my nether regions a break I decided to do a totally different brick at the gym today, row/ride. Bill, a friend of mine from the running club swears by rowers. He can knock out 15,000 meter sessions on a rower like nothing. I, on the other hand, have not been on a rower since the 90’s so I really had no idea what to expect. I decided it to model it after my normal treadmill segment, 20 minutes.
Rowing is a much different activity from running obviously. The movement builds endurance and power at the same time and in a more complete way than running ever can. It took me a little while to figure out what pace I could reasonably maintain 20 minutes at. The dial on the side fan vent was set to 10, I assume this somehow correlates to resistance level.
Early on I was considering cutting down my time to 10 minutes as it was feeling quite uncomfortable. I rode through the discomfort and made it to the 20 minute mark. The rower really hit every major muscle group. During my 20 minutes I covered roughly 4350 meters with a stroke rate of around 30 per minute. I have no idea how good or bad that is since I have nothing to compare it to.
It was a good mix up of the routine and made the 10 minutes on the bike afterward a bit more difficult because of the increased demand rowing puts on the pedaling muscles in your legs.
Today’s Workout
Row/Ride brick
20 minutes Concept 2 rower – 4335 meter covered – 33 stroke per minute pace
10 minutes stationary bike – level 6 – 2.45 miles covered
