A blog about my personal fitness journey and how I might help you with yours!
Week 1, Day 4:
Okay, first workout was a 3.5-mile walk. Challenge 100 was squats. 2nd workout was 25-minute HIIT cardio. Eating wasn’t as clean as I’d prefer, but water goal was met, photo was taken, and reading was done.
Gotta get more sleep or get a nap in the middle of the day. I sleep really well, but need to adjust my bedtime. Getting up at six is harder when you go to sleep at 1. 
Okay, both workouts on Monday and Tuesday were 3.5-mile walks (with some jogging thrown in). Challenge 100 was abs (300) Monday and Triceps Tuesday. Eating was clean, water goals were met, and reading was done.
Photos were also taken!
Today is Week 1, Day 3. Hour walk with audio book this AM. Challenging 100 is Biceps. Tonight’s workout was a blast from the past, with BODi’s Power 90 Sweat A (HIIT cardio). The great Tony Horton can pretty much always get you going, motivation-wise, to get a workout done! 😃🥊 I can’t imagine him ever NOT being a part of my overall workout plans.
I’ve noticed that “Hard 75” is making the rounds on FB again. In case you haven’t seen it and don’t know what that is, Hard 75 is a program that calls for two 45-minute workouts every single day (one must be outside), reading 10 pages of a personal development book (audio doesn’t count), drinking a gallon of water, taking a progress picture, and following a diet with no deviations and no alcohol. If you miss any part at any time, you start back at Day 1.
I’ve decided to do my own version. I’ll call it “The Fairly Challenging 60”!!
Here it is, below!
So there ya go. We’ll work on this for a bit, see how it goes, then reevaluate!
Howdy peoples of the workout persuasion!
Okay, so LIIFT4 is a four-days-a-week workout program. Those other three days should involve no strenuous muscle work, but they do not have to be inactive. I use those days for walking, jogging, yard work, swimming, maybe a bike ride, etc., but nothing too crazy.
This past weekend, Saturday I swam a quarter-mile and walked eight miles (I walked four, thinking my wife would get home late and not be interested, but then she was, so we walked four more!). Sunday, I was struck by the motivation to clean The Pain Cave (my workout space in the garage), so I jumped on it. This turned out to be kind of a workout, because it involved unracking all of my dumbbells, moving the racks, cleaning the garage, repositioning the rack, re-racking the weights, etc. So I actually moved a LOT of weight!!
Ended up the day with the usual four mile walk.
At today’s weigh-in, I hit 220.5, for a loss of four pounds since last week, and nine pounds overall. Body Fat percentage is kinda lagging, but I expect it will gradually start coming down, especially as I get further into these LIIFT4 workouts and more swimming as the weather gets hotter.
Okay, that’s it. Good week of work – ready to start Week 2 tonight, with Chest and Triceps Circuit!
Peace and blessings to everyone! Jim B.
Hello hello hello!! Greetings from workout land!
Tonight’s butt-kicking was LIIFT4 Legs 50/50, which is a lovely bunch of killer leg burners, followed by a HIIT component, followed by some Ab destruction!! It was a thrasher, for sure!! I had back surgery a few years ago, to repair a blown disc. By the time of the surgery, a certain level of nerve damage was already done. I am SUPER thankful that the surgery was successful, but since that time, my legs have never been quite as strong as before. So leg work is necessary, but brutal!!
Leg moves included front loaded squats, dumbbell dead lifts, sumo squats, step-back lunges, bridges, and calf-raises. The HIIT involved high knee runs, these little triple bear jumps (brutal), and squat jacks.
Followed up the workout with the standard four mile walk. Nutrition is still a work in progress, but I’m doing fairly well.
That’s it for LIIFT4 for the week – will still be exercising on the weekend though!
Peace and blessings, workout warriors! Jim B.
Hey Hey Hey!!
Last night was a scheduled Off Day from LIIFT4. Jog/walked four miles, followed by a 300 yard swim.
Tonight’s workout was Shoulders/Intervals, which involved a lot of shoulder work, mixed with a HIIT component, and ending with the usual Core work. I usually very much enjoy shoulder work, but even so, some of the moves were a beating, especially towards the end!! Visual evidence below!!
Followed up the workout with my usual four mile walk. Nutrition is still in need of some tweaking, but I will get there soon.
Peace and blessings all. Jim B.
Howdy all!!
Tonight’s workout was LIIFT4 Back/Biceps circuit. It was hard, but I tend to enjoy back work and bicep work MUCH more than the chestal regions or triceps. Of course, that strongly suggests that I need to work on those areas and change my attitude!
Followed up the workout with the standard four mile walk. Nutrition was fine!
That’s it for today! Peace and blessings to you all. Jim B.
Howdy peoples!
Started Phase 2 tonight with LIIFT4, Chest/Triceps 50/50. I used light-ish weights and made some modest modifications, but good work was done. I’m glad I already built a base, because starting this right out of the gate would have been even harder!
Followed up the workout with a four mile walk. Nutrition was good.
Here’s my half-baked attempt at “soccer run”. This will be a lot easier in a few weeks, LOL!
Okay, that’s it for today! Good start – looking forward to some big results in this eight weeks of Phase 2!!
Peace and blessings folks! Jim B.
Howdy peoples!
Well, the first four weeks kinda flew by for me – hard to believe that “Phase 1” is already over. I think that although I “could have” accomplished more, I actually did meet my primary goals: 1) build a fitness base upon which to start REAL workouts!!; 2) work on eliminating the simple sugar (Pepsi and lattes); 3) get in the habit of drinking enough water; and 4) improve nutrition by adding more veggies and fruit every day.
So it was mostly a success. Total weight loss was only five pounds, but body fat percentage went down a bit and my clothes started fitting more loosely here and there. I did 27 days of “some exercise”, with the minimum being a 4-mile walk, and including bodyweight exercises, cardio routines (P90 Sweat), weight routines (P90X, The 300, KB Squat presses, Total Gym), and yoga/stretching. Overall, it was a really good start.
I thought about it quite a bit – what to do next – and I decided on a 60-day Beachbody Program called LIIFT4. It’s four days a week, which I find very workable, even with the daily 4-mile walk and with lap-swimming season starting up.
So onwards and upwards – Rip 60, Phase 2, here we come!! Peace and blessings to you all! Coach Jimbo
Hey hey hey!
Well, the weigh-in yesterday showed another two pound drop and a small decrease in body fat percentage.
Tonight’s workout was a repeat of a previous workout. 12 Kettlebell squat presses and 6 pull-ups, six rounds. Still modifying most of the pull-ups – I’m a long way from my personal best of 17 straight, but hope to recapture that by the end of the year. Here’s a snippet of today’s workout.
Nutrition continues to be fine, and although my weight isn’t changing much, I’m feeling the old familiar “loose pants” feeling, so there IS progress!
That’s it for today! Peace and blessings to you all. Coach Jimbo