The Speculist

No weigh-in this week, so as far as I know I'm still holding steady at 232 for a total weight loss of 65 pounds!!!

I haven't written much about exercise lately, so I thought I would give an update on the sledgehammer-and-two-chairs workout. It has actually evolved into three workouts, two of which I do regularly and one of which I plan to start incorporating more frequently. So here are the three workouts.

1. For Intensity

I do fives sets of the following exercises:

Elevated push-ups (using the chairs)

Elevated yoga push-ups (going from the upward dog to downward dog position and back)

Step up on stairs while swinging hammer overhand -- beginning with right arm and leg

Step up on stairs while swinging hammer overhand -- beginning with left arm and leg

Seated hacky-sack kick, sitting in one chair, facing the other and kicking my leg up and inward over the other chair

This past week I did 55 repititions of each exercise per set. Next week I will go to 60, which means -- if nothing else -- I'll be doing 300 push-ups per workout! I try to focus on speed with each set. The point is to get through each set as quickly as possible while maintaining correct form for the exercise. Although only the stair-step exercise involves anything like running, I think of each of these exercises as running a sprint. The point is to raise my heartbeat and get winded. And let me tell you something: it works.

This routine takes about an hour and I do it MWF.

2. For Endurance / Aerobic Fitness

I do 15 sets of the following exercises:

Lying on my back, raise the hammer with my right arm from the floor with my arm fully extended and the hammer head centered over my chest

Same exercise with my left arm

One-legged squats with left leg while pumping hammer from vertical to paralell with the floor using right arm

Same exercise, only now squatting with right leg and pumping hammer with left arm

One-legged calf raises (i.e., standing on tip-toes) with left leg while pumping hammer overhand with right arm

Same exercise, only now doing raises with right leg while pumping hammer with left arm

Full overhead hammer swing, beginning with legs straight and back arched back, ending with knees bent and hammer head touching the floor, with right hand near top of handle

Same exercise with left hand near top of handle

I do five reps of each exercise per set. That last one is an absolute killer. Unlike with the intensity program, I take no breathers between sets or reps in this program. I'm trying to fit 15 sets into 25 minutes. Yesterday I did it in about 28, so I'm getting there. I do this on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Sometimes Saturdays.

3. For Balance / Flexibility

I'm still working out the details of this routine, but basically it involves much slower hammer swings with an emphasis on breathing. One of the moves is an ovherhead swing and lunge. Another is a side-to-side torso swing. This is kind of the Tai Chi / Yoga portion of the workout. I will probably add it to every day as a kind of warm-up before doing the more demanding workouts, or possibly as a cool-down phase. Or both.

Stay tuned.