Today: Lots of Calisthenics, Escalating Density Training (Push Ups), Fewest Sets to 100 (Pull Ups), Legs Pre-Exhaust - 473 Reps Total

206 push ups in 11 minutes and 55 seconds.  This beats my prior record of 193.

Chin Ups:  How few sets to get 100?:  15 sets.

Legs:  Pre-exhaust.  The idea here is to mimic the bodybuilder's pre-exhaust, to fatigue the legs before squats.  They will usually do some kind of isolation move for quads and hamstrings (leg extensions and leg curls) and then get to squats.  I am trying to model this with sissy squats, glute raises and then squats.  As little rest as possible:

Sissy squats:  15 x 3 (very short rest)
Glute raises (one leg at a time):  15 x 3 each leg, no rest
Squats:  15 x 3, very short rest
Side Steps with Resistance Band:  15 x 3  = 180 reps total

On Drinking Alcohol: Chapter 2 - What It Appears To Be

I've read at least a half-dozen books about drinking and quitting.  They've either been memoirs by people who quit or self-help books on how to quit.  For the most part I have really enjoyed the memoirs and have found the self-help books to be rubbish.  Of the memoirs, I most enjoyed "The Tender Bar" and "Drinking, A Love Story".  But the impact of the latter was diminished when I learned that the author, Caroline Knapp, died not long after the book's publication, of lung cancer.  She was a smoker.  I was disappointed when I realized that as good as the book was, she may have picked the wrong vice to quit.  I oversimplify that which I do not completely understand and mean no disrespect.  I'm just stuck on the simple thought that if she'd quit smoking and not drinking she might still be with us.  But we wouldn't have the book, so it's not helpful, really.

Of the self-help books, the only one that had any kind of impact at all on me was "This Naked Mind", which was given for free in PDF format to participants in the reddit "stop drinking" forum.  The exercise in this book that I find most useful and revealing is the first one, which asks you to pay attention to the messaging that you receive about alcohol.  That messaging can come from the media, advertisements, entertainment, social settings, health care, science, "experts", etc.  You are asked to pay attention to or identify what alcohol appears to be in the message.  Good, bad, cool, healthy, unhealthy, required, evil, smart, dumb.....?????

This is a useful exercise and I have held on to it.  I like to scrutinize what I perceive and understand if maybe there might be an ulterior motive.  Of course, the messaging on alcohol is overwhelmingly positive.  Drinking is required for night life, sports fandom, social situations, summer outdoor activities, vacation, dinner, and being a badass in movies.  Even the warnings are more positive than negative.  "Please drink responsibly."  Notice that this is a warning about the dangers of alcohol wherein the first two words are "please drink".  Medical literature and coverage of health and alcohol almost always tout the health benefits of moderate drinking.  They always point out daily limits and suggest (via correlation) that at or under these limits (but more than none) daily intake of alcohol is good for you.  It is associated with longer life and less disease.

I'm starting to suspect that moderate drinkers enjoy health and longevity despite alcohol consumption rather than because of it.  And maybe it's the moderation thing in general rather than in specific that is the key here.  And maybe, just maybe, the reason for the overwhelmingly positive messaging regarding alcohol has more to do with a strong desire to sell it regularly and in largely quantities than anything else.

I like strong beer (regularly) and Irish Whisky (sometimes).  That's it.  Can't stand wine, wouldn't come near a mixed drink, have enjoyed other liquors (straight) before but nothing to write home about.  Beer and whisky.  IPA and Irish.  I assume I like the taste (I tell people I do), and I seem to like the assault on the senses and the kick in the teeth.  I like feeling tough?  I like to think I'm a badass?  Yes, I think that's part of it.  Do I like to read stories about native South American runners who drink beer and run around all day long?  Yes I sure do.  Do I like stories about athletes who drink (drank) a lot and still performed well?  Yes.  Do I Google "how to drink beer and stay strong / thin / etc.?"  Yup.

Do I need to get over this?  Oh yeah.

(Primarily) Push Session

Warmup:  two sets of pull ups, dips, push ups, squats and lunges.

Push

Chest elevated push ups:  40
Chest elevated (lower) push ups:  25
Regular push ups (elbows in:  20
Diamond push ups:  15
Dips:  12
Feet elevated push ups:  10
Pike push ups:  8
Dive bomber push ups:  5
(Assisted) one arm push ups:  3
Drop set close grip push against progressively higher surface:  50

Sets:  10
Reps:  188

Leaky Gut Lifestyle and Behavioral (Mostly Diet) Modifications: Experiment 1

I've been down this road many times.  It seems most of my days are spent in mental yo-yo games regarding what (mostly) dietary/behavioral shift I can make that will help me feel better quickly and potentially get rid of my leaky gut / possible SIBO AND be something I can do most of the time.  Something I can live with.  NOW, I understand and admit freely that feeling better in and of itself must be sustainable, no matter what it takes to get there.  But right now I'm in a delicate place, as everything has come to a head with me and I know I must do this, but I'm in so much discomfort and physical and emotional pain that I somehow am less able to make a shift.  It's like I've become a professional at enduring pain.  That's not good.

So I make half-assed or temporary changes and then drop them and wake up the next day on the same hamster wheel.  Might as well keep track of it.  Maybe something will arise.

Yesterday I decided it might be worth giving OMAD a try.   One Meal a Day, or another way to look at it would be to extend the fasting window another few hours from 16 to 20 or more.  Many people do this for weight control and to manage problems.  Many also want to (myself included) eat (and drink!) whatever they feel like eating during the 2-4 hours of eating.  The idea here is that I know I can handle the fast and I know I will be healing during the fast and I know I can push it longer.  I feel great when I'm doing it.  Hardly any symptoms at all.  And maybe, just MAYBE, it will be enough to get me on a healing track even though I will eat garbage (grains, sugar, beer, junk food) during the short eating window.  Maybe that will do less damage and overall I'll be doing more healing than hurting.  The "I can eat whatever I want during the feeding window" idea is what keeps it from being a painful emotional burden.

Will it work?  I know one day won't tell, but I also know that for something to seem like a good long term plan it will need to make me feel better right away and if something I do makes me feel bad or worse, it's probably not a good long term plan.

So, yesterday I tried it.  I basically refrained from bringing food to work and didn't buy or eat anything.  So by the time I got home at about 6:00 PM, I had been without calories for about 20 hours.  I felt great.  Paradoxically, when I do this I actually feel like I have MORE energy, I don't get tired during the day, and most surprisingly of all, my 15 miles hilly bike ride home actually feels BETTER to me.

So when I got home I commenced eating whatever I wanted.  Which basically entailed some good things (olives, pickles) and some bad (burger with white bun, sandwich with Lebanon balogna and cheese, corn chips).

Result?  I felt TERRIBLE.  HORRIBLE.  Bad stomach cramps, huge bloating, an overall increase in symptoms.  I think the fast helped and then smashing it over the head with two hours of eating garbage just made it all come roaring back with a vengeance.  Not good.

FAIL.

The next experiment will be with a day of very low carb.  Depending on how that goes it will be interesting then to combine it with the long fast.

Stay tuned.

A Fairly Exhaustive Guide of All the Body Weight Calisthenics Exercises I Like to Do

The purpose in doing this is to remember them all and to come up with some interesting pairings that will add variety and still allow me to work the whole body every day.  These are things I've actually done regularly.

Push
"Russian" Push Ups  -- I call them "Russian" but I don't think they are, technically.  The point here is that I like to keep my elbows in next to my sides rather than flared out.
Diamond Push Ups
Pike Push Ups
Dive Bomber Push Ups
Incline Push Ups
Decline Push Ups
Archer Push Ups
One Hand on Ball Push Ups
Incline One Arm Push Ups
Dips
Push Against Wall or High Bar

Pull
Heels on Floor Row
Knees Bent Feet on Floor Row
Feet Elevated Row
Full Body Weight Row
Cheat Pull Up / Chin Up
Pull Up / Chin Up
Neutral Grip Pull Up
Skull Crushers
Close Grip Pull / Chin Up
Body Weight Bicep Curl
Archer Pull / Chin Up
Body Weight Pull Over

Legs
Body Weight Squat
Feet Together Body Weight Squat
Archer Squat
Bulgarian Split Squat
Hover Squat
Shrimp Squat
Assisted Pistol Squat
Sissy Squat
Good Mornings
Drinking Bird
Lunge
Toe Raise
Tippy Toe Walk
Jump Squat

Core
Hanging Knee Raise
Hanging Toe Raise
L Sit
Sit Up
Crunch
Leg Raise

On Drinking Alcohol: Chapter 1 - Introduction

This is the first of what I hope to be a long, brutally-honest continuing series on alcohol and drinking.

I have a drinking problem.

A lot of what I do in the name of health and a lot of what I suffer from, health-wise, are most likely related to my consumption of alcohol, mainly beer.  And I usually ignore, side-step, or cover up the issues.  Lately (over the last few years) I have tried to be more honest and to address it head-on, in some cases even in this blog.  I have a few earlier posts that are pretty honest.  Some examples of my side-stepping are as follows.  The first time I ever realized that I was getting out of shape was in the mid '90's and I decided to start eating less and running every day.  I remember at the time that I wanted to select behavioral changes that would allow me to leave my beer-consumption intact.  A few years ago when I tried my first Whole30 Challenge I couched it as overall health improvement but it really was an excuse to try to quit drinking for 30 days without calling it that.  Any time I've tried to strictly observe lent it's really been about not drinking for 40 days.

My health problems in no particular order are asthma, high blood pressure, persistent allergy symptoms and a host of digestive issues.  These come from leaky gut and possibly SIBO (will be testing for this soon).  These come largely from my decades-long daily drinking of beer and sometimes Irish Whisky.  I don't abuse much else.

I started drinking in college as a social lubricant which then became a way to overcome social anxiety (or mask it) which has now become a way to overcome or mask existential anxiety.  I live, I feel, I fear, I love, I am in pain, I blunt myself.  I routinely batter the edges.  This habit started with about two or three units a night and has gradually and consistently grown to five or more over the last 30 some years.  Hardly ever more than ten but seldom less than five.

Parts of this blog have been a gradual acceptance and growing honesty about this problem and THAT I need to do something about it and just what to do and how and how often and when and where and why.

Unlike pregnancy, I don't think alcoholism is on a Boolean scale.  Either you are or you aren't pregnant and I think conventional wisdom would say the same thing for alcoholism but I really think otherwise.  It's an infinite and analog thing.  Many would say either you are or you aren't and if you are you need to quit entirely by way of some 12 step program in which you surrender any notions that you have any control.  This has helped many but it does not resonate with me.  That said, I think a quest for moderation might also be doomed to fail.  AA gets all the press and is the default setting for most on the issue but I really think the truth is silent and is somewhere else.

I don't know if I'm an alcoholic but I am certainly dependent on alcohol.  I don't think I'm addicted because the times that I do take a break are not difficult for me other than mentally.  I don't get DUIs or make a fool of myself on social media or in public but that may just be because I don't use social media and don't go out and certainly don't drive to or from a drinking session.  Not useful to think of things in this way.

I do hide my consumption and I have blacked out.

What I'd like to do here is lay it all out and maybe come up with a strategy.  Or at least some clarity.

Last night I had 7 beers.  I did about the same the night before.  I also had a nip from a brandy bottle.

I think the most important first things for me would be to understand what alcohol appears to be to me and to understand my relationship with it.  Messaging is important.  Messaging coming into my brain and messaging leaving it.


I am a pretty good BS detector but I think alcohol got a free pass with me for a long time.  That is starting to change.  Whereas I used to think otherwise, I now think alcohol is mostly bad and damaging.  It is nearly universally understood that moderate drinking is healthy but I am now starting to question this and suspect that the health benefits are coming from something else and are enjoyed EVEN THOUGH moderate drinking occurs.  Put another way, it's easy for me to imagine a teetotaler who's very sick and a heavy drinker who's not because of other factors.

I'm not going to demonize alcohol and drinking.  It's my own behavior and understanding of it and the things around me that are of interest.  It's a behavior pattern and thinking pattern that are dangerous, not the drink per se.

I want to get at the behavior and thinking patterns.

Escalating Density Training: How Long to Do ....

The first time I tried this was about two weeks ago, so maybe 5/14/18, and I did 25 chin ups in 2 minutes and 22 seconds.

The second time I tried it, somewhere around 5/20/18, I did  25 chin ups (5 x 5) in 1 minute, 56 seconds.

Today (5/28/18), 25 chin-ups in various reps per set in 1 minute 34 seconds.  Let's see if we can get this down to a minute.

I wonder if this would be a good way to work up to a set of 20?