The Chances

How a 250+ Pound Couch Potato Got Healthy

Wednesday, July 25, 2007

Today's workout:

Warmup, 30 seconds of each in a circuit, 3 sets
* Jumping jack
* Split jack
* Prisoner squat
* Alternating lunge
* Mountain climber

Workout, supersets
* Dumbbell Squat, 45lb dumbbells, 4 sets of 12
* Swiss-ball Reverse Hyperextension, 4 sets of 12
* Pushup, 2 sets of 20
* Underhand-grip Inverted Row, 1 set of 20, 1 set of 10, 1 set of 5
* Neutral-grip Shoulder Press, 20lb dumbbells, 2 sets of 20
* Inline Reverse Crunch, 2 sets of 20
* Dumbbell Curl, 1 set of 20 @ 25lbs, 1 set of 20 @ 20lbs
* Triceps Kickback, 1 set of 20 @ 25lbs, 1 set of 20 @ 20lbs

Tuesday, July 24, 2007

It's a cardio day, was supposed to have been SEVEN 60-second sprints with 3 minutes between. I ended up doing 4. So that's:

4 60-second sprints
30 min. jog

Monday, July 23, 2007

Today's workout:

Warmup, 3 sets of 5 w/45lb bar
* Overhead squat
* Squat
* Good morning
* Lunge
* Romanian deadlift
* Bent-over row

Workout, alternating sets
* Dumbbell Alternating Lunge, 45lb dumbbells, 3 sets of 6
* Squat, 165lbs, 3 sets of 6
* Incline Dumbbell Fly, 35lb dumbbells, 3 sets of 6
* Incline Dumbbell Bench Press, 35lb dumbbells, 3 sets of 6
* Rear Lateral Raise, 30lb dumbbells, 3 sets of 6
* Bent-Over Row, 90lbs on bar, 3 sets of 6

Friday, July 20, 2007

Today's workout:

Warmup, 3 sets of 5 w/45lb bar
* Overhead squat
* Squat
* Good morning
* Lunge
* Romanian deadlift
* Bent-over row

Workout, supersets
* Wide-stance Squat, 145lbs, 4 sets of 12
* Dumbbell Bench Press, 35lb dumbbells, 4 sets of 12
* Wide-grip Chin-up, 2 sets of 2, 2 sets of 1
* Push Press, 1 set of 10 @ 85lbs, 3 sets of 12 @ 80lbs

Thursday, July 19, 2007

Cardio day...

* 30 minute jog to park & back for sprints
* 11 30-second sprints, 90-second breaks in between

Oh, and btw, the toenail on my right big toe finally popped off. The new one's developing nicely, although people think it looks disgusting. It looks better than the black toenail, to be sure.

Wednesday, July 18, 2007

Today's workout:

Warmup, 30 seconds of each in a circuit, 3 sets
* Jumping jack
* Split jack
* Prisoner squat
* Alternating lunge
* Mountain climber

Workout, supersets
* Dumbbell Squat, 40lb dumbbells, 2 sets of 20
* Swiss-ball Reverse Hyperextension, 2 sets of 20
* Pushup, 2 sets of 20
* Underhand-grip Inverted Row, 1 set of 20, 1 set of 12
* Neutral-grip Shoulder Press, 2 sets of 20, 1 set of 15 @ 20lbs, 1 set of 5 @ 15lbs
* Inline Reverse Crunch, 2 sets of 20
* Dumbbell Curl, 20lb dumbbells, 2 sets of 20
* Triceps Kickback, 20lb dumbbells, 2 sets of 20

Monday, July 16, 2007

This weekend was the Tahoe Rim Trail #3 hike, 22.5 miles, Kingsbury Grade South to Big Meadow. I was going to take lots of pictures, but left the battery charging in my car. Because of that, I refused to lug the camera and saved about 10 pounds of weight. It took about 12 hours, and the GPS worked it out to 8.5 hours of steady hiking. My Palm software estimated about 4000 calories burned, and I think I consumed about 3000 along the way. While I didn't take any pictures, here's one that a guy named Felipe took.


The views were awesome. We could see the entire Carson Valley from the top. Pictures don't do it justice, but here's one that Sheelagh took.


It was a neat day.

Wednesday, July 11, 2007

Today's workout:

Warmup, 30 seconds of each in a circuit, 3 sets
* Jumping jack
* Split jack
* Prisoner squat
* Alternating lunge
* Mountain climber

Workout, supersets
* Dumbbell Squat, 35lb dumbbells, 2 sets of 20
* Swiss-ball Reverse Hyperextension, 2 sets of 20
* Pushup, 2 sets of 20
* Underhand-grip Inverted Row, 1 set of 20, 1 set of 10, 1 set of 5
* Neutral-grip Shoulder Press, 20lb dumbbells, 2 sets of 15
* Inline Reverse Crunch, 2 sets of 20
* Dumbbell Curl, 20lb dumbbells, 2 sets of 10
* Triceps Kickback, 20lb dumbbells, 2 sets of 10

Monday, July 09, 2007

It's workout time. Because of last week's missed sessions, I'm starting this phase again. So this is Week 7.

Warmup, 3 sets of 5 w/45lb bar
* Overhead squat
* Squat
* Good morning
* Lunge
* Romanian deadlift
* Bent-over row

Workout, supersets
* Dumbbell Alternating Lunge, 35lb dumbbells, 3 sets of 6
* Squat, 145lbs, 3 sets of 6
* Incline Dumbbell Fly, 30lb dumbbells, 3 sets of 6
* Incline Dumbbell Press, 35lb dumbbells, 2 sets of 6, 1 set of 4
* Rear Lateral Raise, 25lb dumbbells, 3 sets of 6
* Bent Over Row, 70lbs on bar, 3 sets of 6
Wow, the holiday combined with busyness at work, and I didn't post an entry all week. Shame on me!

Saturday was supposed to be the makeup hike for the 2nd leg of the Tahoe Rim Trail. I got up early and made it to Roseville at 5:45am, but only one person was there. Luckily there was another hike meeting in Folsom, so me and the other guy drove over. This one was to Hawkins Peak.

The trailhead was at Grover Hot Springs, just outside the small town of Markleeville.


Overall it was a nice little hike. STEEP! It wasn't too bad until it hit the scree, then it was not only hiking uphill, but like hiking through sand. Uphill through sand, yup. The views were wonderful.


There were actually two portions of the hike. The first part was from Grover Hot Springs to Burnside Lake, which is accessible by car. From there, the second part is up a jeep trail to the foot of Hawkins Peak, which is a Class 2 scramble up some rocks. Only part of the group took the second leg, so we ate a late lunch at Burnside Lake.

Since I had planned on hiking on the TRT, I had the Tahoe Basin map with me. We found out that it actually had Hawkins Peak on it, so we were using it quite a bit.


The jeep trail was pretty steep. Once we got to the scrambling portion though, the fun really started.


It really is that steep. Climbing up the rocks is part climb, part hold, part pull yourself up by your hands.


In the end though, we made it to the top. Hawkins Peak is 10,024 feet high.


The views were pretty far-reaching.


We knew we would end up hiking back in the dark, so prior to the summit, we had them finish hiking back the other way. They picked all the cars but one due to it being a rental car with only one person able to drive(an important detail). They got the cars and met up with us at the beginning of the jeep trail.

When it was over, we ate at the Kirkwood Inn, a nice little place. After dinner, we drove back to Markleeville to pick up the one car at 10:15pm. The parking lot was locked. It closed at 8pm. This was not good, so we drove around looking for a ranger. No dice.

Back in Markleeville, there was a bar that was pretty busy. Two of the guys went in to see if anyone knew who we could contact to get the car. One guy who was pretty drunk said he had a key back at his house, so two of the guys (one of which rented the car) went back with him to get the key, while we went to meet them at the gate.

Back at the gate, who did we run into, but the ranger! We told him what had happened, and he wasn't happy about the situation. He gave us the lecture about how we should have thought ahead, what were we thinking, the whole drill. In the end though, he said he would open the gate. On the way, I commented that even though he opened the gate, we couldn't drive the car out without the keys, which were with one of the other guys.

The ranger actually stuck around long enough for them to arrive. Drunk-guy came and knew the ranger, so we were able to get the car and leave. It was at least 11:30pm before we were driving back. I got back to Folsom at 1:30am, and headed home from there.

Big fun that night! Oh yeah, my toes are doing pretty good, although they were bleeding a bit. It was still worth it. Here's one final picture that Marko (the rental car guy) took. That's my backside and camera to the right.