Resilience

Week of 01/22/2019

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Didn’t do any training yesterday, the warden was in an absolutely miserable, foul mood. Up my butt all day long, just pissed off about everything, looking for any and every problem or mistake she could find, even made up a couple of mistakes that were not legit. When I pointed out that they were correct, she said “well change the way it looks! I don’t like it!” Anyway, I could go on, but what’s the point? It just reminds me of the premise of this journal: to keep me focused on escaping prison, not making it pleasant or tolerable.

01/22/2019 Tuesday

10/15 – BCAA + NOX

10:25 – 100 Pushups App x 15, 13, 15, 17, 16, 16, 14, 14, 50; 2 min rest in between. 170 totals reps. Total failure on last rep, not sure how I completed it. I barely locked out on rep 49, but did lock out on 50. I think I would have injured myself if I’d tried to lower myself back down.

I may have to stop doing these at work because the rest period is turning this into a 20 minute workout. I’ll see after the next one because it is going to be fewer total reps, so I’m guessing it will be more reps per set with fewer sets, which translates into fewer rest periods and less overall time.

01/23/2019 Wednesday

9:40 – BCAA + NOX

– Neck Mobility Drills

10:00 – Handstand Press x 7, 3, 2; 2 min rest; total failure on each, did eccentric phase after each last rep, o final set got back off the ground part way before giving out.

– Sphynx Tricep Extension x 18; failure, intense burn, maybe had 2 more but couldn’t dig deep enough to find out.

– Yoga Pushups x 75; not quite failure, but close enough. I was roasting and my elbows and chest were on fire.

10:40 – Sphynx Tricep Extension x 25; failure; elbows very close to body and near bottom of rib cage

Have a Great Day!

Lubimûr

Random Just do SOMETHING Movements

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Here are some things to do when you have absolutely no energy, feel like hell, are too dang tried to find any motivation whatsoever, are practically falling asleep at your desk, or have had an intense week of training and just need something to stay active.

Pick as many or as few as you want; do them at any intensity level you want. These are simple movements that can be used just to stay mobile and don’t have to take hardly any time at all. It’s better to go easy than to be sedentary. Just get some blood flowing, you’ll get back to training for your escape tomorrow. It’s ok.

Calf Raises

Arm Circles

Neck Mobility Drills

Seated Scapular Dips

Hip Mobility Drill

Touch the Floor While Seated

Torso Twist – seated or standing

No Weight Delt Raises (like flapping your wings)

Isometric Chest Squeeze

Up Dog, or Partial Up Dog with hands on Desk

Biceps Flex

Rear Pec Deck Motion

Triceps Flex

Seated Knee Ups

Glute Flex

Iso-Seated Row pressing elbows into chair back

Have a Great Day!

Lubimûr

Prison Cubicle Workout Week of 1/14/2019

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I’m not going to be as consistent recording my activity level this week, it is truly the week from hell.

01/14/2019

10:30 – Neck Mobility Drills

10:47 – BCAAs + Protein Powder + NOS + ACV

10:55 – Handstand Press x 6, x 2; 90 second rest; total failure on both, couldn’t lock out on rep 6, made it up past ½ way though, and kept trying to push higher for about 4 seconds; touched head to floor on rep 2 of 2nd set and couldn’t budge an inch; had to stop for blood sugar, 61 mg/dl.

11:05 – Lunch: Brussel Sprouts, onions and sausage;

01/15/2019 Tuesday Payday!

Payday! Been here since 6:55, worked 7:25 – 5:45 yesterday, no lunch. F this, I’m taking some pump time!

8:25 – BCAAs + NOS Preworkout + ACV + protein powder

8:35 – 100 Pushups App x 14, 14, 15, 15, 14, 14, 10, 10, 50; failure, was only supposed to do 44, and wasn’t sure I’d be able to. Before I started it I thought to myself “I can do as many as I can and then pause to finish out the reps.” No need. I almost couldn’t lock out on #50, and did not go back down after that either.

01/16/2019 Wednesday

10:20 – BCAAs + Protein Powder + NOS + ACV

10:30 – Yoga Pushups x 150!; failure, really focused on keeping glutes and lower back relaxed so they didn’t assist, except the

– Sphynx Tricep Extension x 10; close to fail, maybe 12 or maybe maybe 15, not likely though. Elbows in line with mid-ribs; no rest after pushups

Warden keeps coming by my desk, something’s changed in her attitude, not good. Very uptight, she came by while I was typing the above; going to have to keep typing to a minimum.

12:30 – BCAAs + NOS;

12:40 – Sphynx Tricep Extensions x 25; had to stop several times but total reps was my goal, try not to flex lower back or glutes

– Stiff Leg Dead Lifts – 92; not full ROM, torso to parallel, arch in back, not returning to fully upright

Have a Great Day!

Lubimûr

Revisiting My Why

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01/04/2019 Friday

Once sanity returned I reminded myself that the whole Prison Cube Workout was never intended to make me a fitness model or a crossfit athlete. It was to prevent the inevitable that occurs with the overly sedentary cube life. This was more about how you can stay (more) healthy and mobile, reduce the risk of heart attacks, and get people thinking more about holding companies that promote “a culture of health” accountable. I.E. the more people doing it, the greater the voice in favor of it, and therefore the greater the movement (HA! No pun intended), and the less power the slave drivers have to keep them from leaving their chair or working out for lunch for fear of being fired. We are always made to feel as if we aren’t working hard enough, no matter how hard you actually do work.

I had to remind myself that my movement rebellion began to seriously take shape once I started reading about things like “Sitting is the new Smoking”, and “Standing is the New Sitting”, reading how research is showing just 2 minutes of exercise every 30 minutes can stave off and even reverse so many issue of sedentariness. So that was my initial purpose, just to give myself hope and perhaps even attract others to the cause. Let the corporate overlords know that we may be shackled to our cubes, sacrificing our hobbies and home life – but we aren’t going down without a fight. We don’t have to sacrifice our health any longer, we can fight off the ravages of sedentariness even if we are chained to our monitors. Then as the movement grows, people may demand options to address the other areas of life that are being place on the corporate alter for sacrifice.

I don’t suppose any of this really addresses why I am so compelled to get in really good shape. I thought about it more over the weekend, and while I was afraid my true underlying purpose was pure vanity (just so I could have a great body because I want to look hot), it turns out that’s not the case. I thought it through, and I am just as motivated – more so even – by watching videos of people working out hard as I am people with great aesthetics. I realized that I am not willing to sacrifice performance or function for aesthetics, but at the same time I don’t want to sacrifice aesthetics for performance. I want a balance of the two. I realize that means I will never achieve an elite level of other, but who cares? I have no delusions of being a pro in either arena.

1/10/2019 Thursday

I believe I have come up with at least one of the answers to “why?”. It is because I want success being the norm, I want to rise above the mundane, I want to see just how much I can achieve, and this is something I have almost complete control over. I don’t hae to depend on anyone else to achieve it, and I am not at the mercy of others – with the exception of my current situation and the demands placed on my time.

Have a Great Day!

Lubimûr

Cubicle Prison Training week of 1/2/2019

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I did do some workouts over the break, some of them pretty freaking intense. I did a personal best breakthrough on the handstand pushups: 1 x 5, 1 x 3, 1 x 2. All were to failure. I was about 20 inches from the wall, and discovered I need to have my hands slightly further than shoulder width apart.

1/2/2019 Wednesday

1:00 – BCAAs (1/2 serving)

1:05 – 200 Squat App x 15, 18, 26, 18, 1 min rest; standard width, below parallel; walked down two floors, did squats, then back up.

01/03/2019 Thursday

10:00 – calf stretches, twisting torso stretches

10:35 – Neck Mobility Drills

– BCAAs

11:00 – Shoulder Mobility Drills, Shoulder stretch

– Handstand Pushups 1 x 4, 1 x 3, 1 x 2, 1 x 1; I set a goal of 10 total; 1st set failed coming up on 5, so technically hit 4.5, 60 sec rest; 2nd set failed at bottom of 3rd rep, 90 sec rest; 3rd set failed coming up on #3, 30 sec rest; barely got 1 out, made it up but couldn’t come back down.

o All sets hair touched floor, hands about 18 inches from wall, struggled on all failed reps, held for at least 3 seconds before admitting failure.

11:44 – Pushups, wide grip x 55; I was very close to failure, having to dig deeep and really want it and then I lost my focus, sort of like running before I caught the ball. I started thinking about the reps in front of me.

5 min rest

Sphynx Stretch x 30 sec, Updog Stretch x 30 sec, UpDog triceps extension x 28; failed on 29, couldn’t budge an inch; elbows slightly lower than nipples

11:55 – Lunch – polish sausage and Brussel sprouts

4:20 – Chair Dips x 50; short ROM, feet on floor.

1/4/2019 Friday

Working my ass off today, hell weeks are in full swing, all the data is available, plus the additional work of Quarter end and Year end, Plus the project of building returns for the subsidiary I’ll be filing for now.

I am really physically fatigued. Just tried to do a few chair dips just to get the juices flowing, and it was pretty much a no go. I’m going to have to BCAA and pre-workout up just to do some basic mobility movements. Yikes! I haven’t gotten up before 6:30 since starting back to work either, and I could take a nap right now. The warden brought in some chik-fil-a breakfast this morning, and that isn’t helping either.

Creatine, Glutamine, Beta Alanine, & aminos is Mat Frazier’s pre-workout shake. Post workout – milk, spinach, whey protein. He is fairly sensitive to stimulants (like me).

12:40 – Neck Mobility; Shoulder Mobility

– BCAAs + Body Fortress NOS Blast; note: I use a tiny amount of the NOS, like 1/10 of a scoop;

12:50 – Yoga Pushups x 150!!; Oh 5h1t, that was nuts, 1st time ever I’ve hit that number! That wasn’t failure either. Form was great, but wasn’t bad or sloppy either. I think it may have to do with the hand positioning, Hands were at least directly under my elbows, maybe a hair wider. This really seem to focus on my upper pecs. I also stopped at the top of every 20 reps or so to experiment with hand position.

5 min rest (to type the above)

1:00 – Chair Dips x 65; not failure, but close; good burn; short ROM, feet on floor;

10 min rest

– Calf Raises, Single Leg x 50; took 3 sets for left leg, 2 for right; just pushed to failure each time;

– Chair Dips x 50; great burn

Lunch: ham and yellow squash

01/05/2019 Saturday

Got in a kickin workout

10:00 – 20 Pullups App x 2, 1, 3, 3; I did chin-ups, not pullups, I alternate;

– Dumbbell Curls 15lbs x 56; good mental focus, failure; I imagined being in a competition and the person in 1st place did 50 reps;

– Dumbbell rows – 15lbs x 51; same as above, but not to failure;

Have a Great Day!

Lubimûr