lpf's honeycomb of experiments, challenges, programs and other things for science

[lpf]

Don't blame me, I like that title...
okay, here we go... I mean... I will go somewhere, someday...
Today is Monday, that means, upper body... Push-Up and Pull-Up challenge is still ongoing...
so guess what's happening today?

 

[lpf]

okay, before we begin.... some personal notes about me and what's going on in lpf's little universe
(for the ones who are new here, the ones that are interested and the ones that are curious)
lpf, an old guy, espèce de grand Teuton cinglé (@Redline ), Legofan (which is pretty obvious), Handballcoach (well, more the athletic part)
working out for science (and to outtrain a more or less bad diet ), some kind of nerd and a loving father (at least I hope my kids think the same)

 

[lpf]

okay, here we go...
yesterday I did day 1 of week 7 of the 100 push-ups and day 1 of week 6 of the 20 pull-ups thingy...
I mixed it up with the Tomboy workout and added the microshred workout to finish the day.

oh and as I was riding my on Sunday, I thought about mixing up my workout schedule a bit, when I finished the push-ups and pull-ups thing
I will stay with the upper-lower regime, but I thought about changing the order...
at the moment, I do upper-lower-upper-lower-upper-lower-bike (like 3 to 4 hours) but I think it would be better to go for lower-upper-lower-upper-lower-upper-bike
to have a better performance on the bike...
meaning, Monday leg days would be kind of easy... at least this seems to be better to plan than a leg day on Saturdays that has to be easy for a good performance on the bike...

on the other hand... if my leg complain, they are to weak!
just kidding...


Edit: for the push-ups and pull-ups thingy...
I don't know, if I will get to the 100 respectively the 20 in the and, but for the push-ups, being able to go for 50 and more reps in the last set after already having done over 100 feels crazy...
and doing 5 sets of 8 to 10 pull-ups feels also crazy at the moment

 

[lpf]

Leg Day....

so, yesterday was leg day and I did the Tyr workout with some extra credit.
after this, lower body tendons stuff and that's it.

 

[Redline]

I did the Tyr workout with some extra credit.

This one had slipped under my radar but it looks interesting. And today is leg day for me... mmm...

 

[lpf]

This one had slipped under my radar but it looks interesting. And today is leg day for me... mmm...

grab yourself as 24kg kettlebell or two (for the calves raises and lunges, not the side lunges) and have fun....

 

[Redline]

grab yourself as 24kg kettlebell or two

Not all of us have legs like steel treetrunks, but I'll do my best.
(I do own a pair of 20kg kettlebells, mind you... )

 

[lpf]

Not all of us have legs like steel treetrunks,...

I am Groot

just kidding...
I have pretty normal legs... I would even say they are not really big and muscular...

 

[lpf]

DOMS....
yes... evil DOMS... in my legs... well, not all parts, but almost every single muscle of my legs is DOMSing around...

but that didn't stop me from doing my upper body day yesterday...
push-ups went well...
20-20-25-25-20-20-23-56 (at least 55 had to be done in the last set) so, 20 days done one day to go and then next week,
the maximum reps test.

the pull-ups didn't went that good...
the plan said 8-9-10-11-12.... I ended up with 8-9-10-8-8... so what does that mean? I will take a little break,
then do a maximum reps test for pull-ups and repeat the challenge with that result...

after this, I did upper-body tendon strenght plus with a small kettlebell and the strong core workout to finish that day.

 

[lpf]

as my actual plan reaches it's end, I started planning the next weeks...
yes, there are still push-ups that have to be done and pull-ups that have to be done and one week of full body workouts in my old plan, but why not start planning new stuff
well... more or less new... I will stay with the actual regime, just change little things and move things around a bit...

so, coming up next is... (yes, 12 weeks are planned.... planned, this doesn't mean, everything will exactly happen this way)

 

[GentleOx]

Wow! That looks like a serious program!

 

[lpf]

Wow! That looks like a serious program!

I would say more a fun program, but yes...

 

[lpf]

okay, so as yesterday was a bit... well chaotic... I skipped everything and put my last day of push-ups (well, not exactly the last, as there is still the final test to do...) on today..
so I know, you all don't want to be bored with the long version, me telling how every single push-up felt and how I moved and when and why and whatever.... so I will shorten it...
the plan said do the following, 24-24-31-31-26-26-24 and in the last set at least 60...
so, the first sets went pretty well... the last set of 26 was harder than expected and the 24 were also pretty hard... so I took a longer rest (3 minutes instead of 1 to 1:30)
and did... 45... yes... it wasn't possible to do more than those...
am I said? well... not exactly, as it is still cool to do almost 50 after so much push-ups done before... but I hoped that at least 50 were possible...
so, the final test will be done next week, to see, how much I can do.... and then?
I don't really know by know, but at the moment I tend to not restart this, because I want the pull-ups to be better... so.... and regarding the plan I made, there are plenty of push-ups in it

 

[lpf]

nothing to see here today, move along...

no sports today, as I got a migraine yesterday and I still feel a bit dizzy today

 

[Redline]

Here's to getting better soon!

 

[mavie]

…healing vibes!

 

[Froud]

Migraines are not the nicest.
Enjoy your rest (should you manage)

 

[lpf]

Thanks for the healing vibes... so migraine is gone... the headaches weren't that bad... but it was all annoying...
It started with blurry vision on the left eye and ended with headaches and dizziness... headaches on the right side... especially around the right eye,
a feeling like someones tries to move the eye around in directions that are not pleasent...
The other day, after sleeping a lot of hours, I still felt dizzy in the head... but the rest was gone. So, everything is fine by now...
Well, in fact, yesterday it was already fine again, which led me to do a little bit of exercising...
I didn't want to do too much, so I just tried to do the final tests for the pull-ups and push-ups thing I had been doing.
okay, to shorten it: 7 weeks ago I did 8 pull-ups and 37 push-ups in a row... yesterday I did 15 pull-ups and 80 push-ups in a row.
These are not the 20 or 100 as the plans works for, but doubling the amount of reps in 7 weeks is pretty cool. So I am fine with this.
And as my upcoming plan has a lot of days with push and pull to failure, I will not repeat these challenges in the next weeks..
which doesn't mean, I won't do any other challenge...
but I am not sure what I want to do next

 

[Redline]

Wow. Awesome numbers!

 

[Sevalys]

Glad you feel better !
Wow too for numbers

 

[lpf]

okay, here we go... new month, new plan... or maybe the plan I already posted...

I started on Monday with the Hardy workout, which was way harder than expected.... maybe because of the biking on Sunday or maybe I am getting weak... don't know...
so, 3 sets... with 14, 10, 7 pull-ups, 15, 15, 11 knee-ins and 61, 35, 28 push-ups... after this, the 2-minute abs workout and that's it...

Tuesday, which was yesterday by the way, my new favourite leg workout Tyr. And as it was deadlift day and Tyr has some single leg deadlifts in it,
I spiced these up a bit.
I mean, I had a long discussion going on with myself, if I should at weight or reps or sets, or all of this... but hey... I am crazy but not that crazy,
so I decided to go with the 24k kettlebell and did 6 sets of 15 instead of 5 sets of 12 reps for the deadlift. The rest stayed as it was...
for the lunges I kept one kettlebell and not two... as I wanted the focus to be on the deadlifts...

So, a bit of DOMS, but not that hard as the first time... so everything is fine.
Oh, by the way, I think about replaning things... I mean... a long ride by bike and the next day the upper work to failure is harder than expected...
so maybe I will change Fridays and Mondays...

 

[lpf]

okay, back to business...
As I said, I changed Mondays and Fridays... so Monday was push/pull day... means, I did the follwoing
5 sets each (EMOM) 6 reps of overhead press, 6 reps of pull-ups, 10 reps of bench press and 10 reps of bent over rows.
All with 45kg barbell, which is roundabout 99lbs,
except for the pull-ups of course, they were "just" bodyweight

Tuesday... this one here and as this day was squat focused, I did all exercises with 24kg kettlebell and
added extra reps and one extra set to the squats...
which leads to a nice feeling in the quads today... let's see, how it will feel tomorrow...

Tonight it's renegade time...

 

[lpf]

oh, by the way... I start to like bench press... I don't know, if this is good or bad... as I really hated them a long time...

 

[lpf]

Renegade is done...
I did the push-ups with my hands on a balance board...
used 24kg Kettlebells for the renegade rows (did I mention, I love this exercise?)
used an SZ barbell for the curls (which made them none alternating....)
and last but not least, I did the deadlifts pretty easy with one of the 24kg Kettlebells...

after this, I did some stuff for the core....

*sing*
keep the plank...
keep the plank...
keep the plank....
Lord, we've gotta keep the plank!!

 

[lpf]

On Thursday, I did the Still Standing workout, just as it is meant to be, and some stretching... so nothing special on this day

 

[lpf]

On Friday, I did the achievement unlocked workout... And just for your personal information, I made a picture of the printed workout and my comments in it...
So, take a look...

 

[lpf]

okay, Monday was day 1 of the new week... the full body week.... three full body workouts...
the other days will be mobility, stretching, yoga stuff.... so active rest days....
okay, what did I do on day 1?
I visited an old friend of mine, called Cindy.... well... old friend, newer friend, whatever... Cindy is one of the crossfit girls... a benchmark workout.
It follows the following scheme:
5 pull-ups, 10 push-ups, 15 squats is one round and you do as many rounds as possible during 20 minutes...
or in short 20 minutes AMRAP.
my personal best was 17 rounds, which happened last year, I think, when I just did Cindy for 5 times a week for 4 weeks.... (just for fun, you know)
so, yesterday I did 16 rounds and it felt great...

 

[lpf]

day 2 of the full body week happened yesterday.... Bear Complex, which is a barbell complex,
basically a combination of a power clean to front squat to push press to back squat to push press...
that's one rep and you do 7 reps unbroken for one set.... and 5 sets in total... you can increase the weight each set or not, just how you like it...
I tried adding weight each set and did it the following way, set 1 10kg, set 2 20kg, set 3 30kg, set 4 40kg and set 5 50kg....
every set went well, the 40kg got a bit harder than expected and set 5 were just 2 reps and I had to drop the bar....
well... I don't know, if I every did 50kg, as it is a long time, since I last did this... so...
for the next time, I willl try to add another rep to set 5 or maybe 2... let's see, what will happen...

 

[lpf]

and as always, noothing works out, like it is planed.... so... I had to rearrange my workoutplan to better fit in my schedule...
I adjusted it to my shifts at work and to the days I am giving training... and ended up in reducing some days.... to get more rest...
but I will not start this new schedule this week... I will take this week completely off and then start again next week...

 

[lpf]

okay, here we go....

Monday - Upper Body... 20 minutes EMOM push and pull...
I did 5 minutes of dips, 5 minutes of body rows, 5 minutes of bench press and 5 minutes of bent over rows.
a little bit of active rest, meaning some abs exercises in between each 5 minute block.
Used 50kg and 8 reps for bench press and rows.... next time, I will go up with the reps...

Tuesday - Leg Day
Tyr with kettlebell... 24kg for the single leg deadlifts, 18kg for the rest (just one KB...) except for calf raises, both 24kg kettlebells
DOMS are there.... like planned.

 

[lpf]

It's been seven hours and 15 days (almost)
since my last entry (this doens't really rhyme, but you can pronounce it like it should rhyme...)
I've worked out and didn't sleep all day (well, this was pretty obvious)
since my last entry

okay, now it get's too difficult for me to put all the workouts in that song
(oh, I hope you got that, meaning, that this is a song I used to start my report...)

well... 15 days, meaning, I am in week 3 of my changed schedule...
what did I learn? Rest is good.... I really need rest days....
yeah, again pretty obvious....
so here we go, you want to know, what I did, right? If not, skip the next paragraph....

the following workouts happended...
(in the order of appaerence)
Hardy
Simple&Sinister
Raising the Bar
Cindy
Arrow
Bag Work
push/pull
Muscle Factory lowerbody

everything is working fine so far and I start to enjoy the bench press on my push/pull days, which is weird, as I really hated that exercise,
but hey, I am a weird old man... so, that's okay


Maybe the next entries will be a bit more detailed... or maybe not... we will see..
Have a great day and enjoy your time!

 

[NancyTree]

Thank you for the almost-rhyme

 

[lpf]

Thank you for the almost-rhyme

The pleasure was all mine
(Making some complicated gestures that might look like a mixture of curtey and taking a bow)

 

[lpf]

someone has to be the tank...

so why not me? I tried this workout... I mean... why not?
I used 25kg for the curls and 45kg for the clean and press (I wanted to go for more, but I am happy to not being me this time )

long story short.... I loved this one, it is pretty demanding and fun at the same time.... but I don't feel like a tank now

 

[lpf]

Cindy.... you know... 20 minutes AMRAP of 5 pull-ups, 10 push-ups and 15 squats...
I wanted to go faster than last time and do more rounds... which ended up in...
no, not what you think, no complete disaster (o;
In fact, I think I could have done one or two more rounds, if I hadn't started so fast....
but in the end, it had been 16 rounds, meaning
80 pull-ups, 160 push-ups and 240 squats in total in 20 minutes...
in the last 5 or 6 rounds I sounded like an old steam train climbing up a hill...
just to give you a picture...
but hey, that's what I wanted.... well not exactly that blowing and wheezing and begging for oxygen.... but the feeling of going full force...
keeping the intensity high.... as it should be in a HiiT workout

 

[lpf]

Last Friday... Goon Workout
for the split squats, one leg was put on a bench....
for the decline push-ups, I put the legs up to 30" which is roundabout 75cm...

the workout itself says do 3 sets of each exercise, but I felt like doing four would be better....
so, four sets of the squats with 20 reps each set
four sets of the decline push-ups which were 31-14-10-8
and four sets of pul-ups, which were 13-6-3-3

and that was all for the last week...

for this week I planned to go body parts again meaning upper-lower....
tonight will be upper body, with bench press...at least this is, what I want to do...

 

[lpf]

upper body.... 20 min EMOM (well, 4 times 5 minutes - yeah, I am going to explain this now, don't be so impatient)
4 exercises and each exercise was done for 5 minutes
5 minutes bench press (50kg 10 reps each minute)
5 minutes bench dips (12 reps each minute)
5 minutes gorilla rows (24kg each arm, 12 reps each minute)
5 minutes body rows (10 reps each minute)

after this I did the ab finisher workout and one other set of bench press, as I wasn't quiet happy with the last minute of bench press in the begining

 

[MissSmilla]

I found you again! The link to your thread on your profile doesn't work, but I found your thread again today.
I hope I'll be able to make time for more time here soon, but for now I'm happy you're still here. And thriving, it looks like. Very happy to see it.

 

[lpf]

I found you again! The link to your thread on your profile doesn't work, but I found your thread again today.
I hope I'll be able to make time for more time here soon, but for now I'm happy you're still here. And thriving, it looks like. Very happy to see it.

Smiiiiiillllllllaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!! jippie!!!!
now you can see me smile... like a "honigkuchenpferd"
I am really happy, you are here... and I really don't know, why the link doesn't work, but I am glad you found me....
I am doing a happy dance now!

 

[lpf]

okay, now that I was found by my dear Smilla.... I will continue posting my workout stuff

so.... yesterday was.... no... Tuesday is missing...
okay, Tuesday was leg day.... I did Glutes Sculpt workout.... yes, I also like to have a well formed butt....
and as the focus was deadlifts, I doubled the reps for the single leg deadlifts.
after this a litte bit extra stuff for the calves and shins and that's it.

Yesterday, I tried to train the younglings... well... in that special case, the handball team of my younger son...
And I have to tell you, that this is a bit more difficult than training the older ones....
but it worked, more or less....
so that was yesterday.... today is again upper body.... which will be done some time during this day... (it might happen in the evening....)

 

[MissSmilla]

Glad to read you're still training the boys. And I think I can imagine how it would be more difficult working with smaller children

 

[lpf]

Glad to read you're still training the boys. And I think I can imagine how it would be more difficult working with smaller children

well, the smaller ones are in the range of 10 to 12 years old, but they are a bit wilder, tend to talk during explanations and so on....
the older ones are way easier and they bring in ideas for the training....
but I like both.... even though, I know the older ones a bit longer (I started coaching them, when they were like 11 or 12.... )

 

[lpf]

Yesterday, upper body and I took one of my favorites.... Power Builder
before I will post the numbers, let's talk a bit about the workout itself....
you start with chin-ups, 5 sets and 20 seconds rest between the sets.... so biceps and back - check
then you go on with push-ups, 5 sets.... chest, shoulders and triceps - check
bench dips - again shoulders and triceps check
punches for 5 minutes straight... again shoulders, but you can use this to losen up a bit and add some sort of cardio.
and then 3 minutes straight of elbow plank... yeah, abs and shoulders and back and a bit of butt and legs and whatever.... nice finisher...

so this sounds like upper body, right? like the right workout for an upper body day.... so upper body done.

(yeah, the numbers, I know....)
for the chin-ups 14-4-3-3-3 (20 seconds rest between the sets, you know)
for the push-ups 55-8-8-8-8 (those 20 seconds really do their job)
for the dips 16-9-8-9-8 (I mentioned the 20 seconds already, right?)
5 minutes punches are 5 minutes punches.... nothing more, nothing less
and for the plank, I managed the 3 minutes straight... I think, this was the first time

 

[lpf]

Friday was leg day...
I like to do simple & sinister as a Leg workout.
The warm-up are goblet squats with lighter bells and bridges and halos with the same weight. After this, 100 swings. Yesterday I did them Tabata style, 20seconds of swings, 10seconds rest... For 8 rounds, which is 4 minutes and ended with 104 swings.
After this, TGU, 12 reps, 6 each side and to finish all, some lunges.
That was Friday.

 

[lpf]

Today we had referee exam for new handball referees... So we had to play a bit handball... Like roundabout 2hours... 15 minutes for each couple of referees.. with short breaks to drink something...
I feel like I am getting old

 

[lpf]

Today we had referee exam for new handball referees... So we had to play a bit handball... Like roundabout 2hours... 15 minutes for each couple of referees.. with short breaks to drink something...
I feel like I am getting old

"The old man then prepares
To die regretfully
That old man here is me" (Metallica - The Unforgiven)

at least, I have felt like this for 2 days after that handball thingy....
I mean, being quite fit, it helped my regeneration a bit and kept my DOMS mild, but I had to take a longer rest... like 3 days before I felt fit enough to workout again....

 

[lpf]

okay, back again.... the last two weeks for this year (yeah, I decided to to nothing between christmas eve and new years day)
so, yesterday, upper body.... like always, bench press, body rows, dips, bent over rows in 4 blocks of 5 min EMOM.
I really think about doing one of the exercises in a regular 5 set with 1-2 minutes rest style, just to see, how this works and if this changes something
so, nothing special here and nothing special happened...

oh, while writing this, I had a flash of inspiration.... my older son asked for something he could do to increase strength for shot-put and I think, I have found the right exercise...

 

[lpf]

Have yourself a merry little christmas y'all

 

[NancyTree]

Merry Christmas!

 

[lpf]

It's Tuesday, and I hope, all of you had a merry little Christmas.
I want to keep this week easy, even though, I feel like going crazy and full teal.... but no, I am an old man, I need rest days....

on Friday last week, my older one and I had a little challenge going on, a push-up challenge, we found online....
you do 5 regular, followed by 5 diamond, followed by 5 wide grip, follwed by 5 clapping, followed by 5 power push-ups and then you are done
so 25 push-ups and yours beloved lpf managed 23... so the last 2 power push-ups still want to be done... sometime...
but hey, I did more than my son, which feels cool
daddy's a beast,

okay, so for this week, just a bit of walking and some stretching.... nothing more....

and then? well.. I had two ideas going round in my head, first one: I will continue my actual training plan for the next 12 weeks and
then go crazy and do for 10 days every day the same workout...
Idea 2, I will start with the 10 days the same workout and then do my actual training...

to be honest, I feel more like doing the first idea and so it will be (until I chose something else... like always)