Welcome

Welcome to my ever-evolving blog. It started out as a blog on Beachbody workouts and products, mainly when I was a Beachbody coach. I no longer coach, not because I don't believe in Beachbody's programs (I subscribe to Beachbody on Demand and use their workouts every day), I am just not a salesperson and hated that aspect of it. I am more than willing to answer questions about my experiences with their products and the various workouts, and I feel freer to do so without the appearance of giving a biased review of something.

I have also started adding reviews for various things I have purchased like movies, books, CDs, and other products. This was brought about by a fight with Amazon in which all of my reviews were removed over a completely bullshit allegation that I posted a review that violated their terms of service. After going back and forth with the morons in the community-reviews department (even after they admitted that my posts did not violate their guidelines) they restored my account (which took them six months to do), but I have been posting my reviews on my blog to have them preserved in case something like that happens again. And here, I will post uncensored reviews so I will swear from time to time and post reviews that may be longer than Amazon's character limit. Everything I post here on any topic or product is my personal opinion, and I take no compensation for any product reviews I post. I am a member of Amazon's vine program and because I get those products for free, I keep those reviews on Amazon only, but everything I have purchased with my own money, whether from Amazon or some other store/website/outlet, I will post here.  

I also plan to do some longer blog posts on various topics, such as how to learn physics, how to get through calculus, and longer reviews of workout programs as I do them. Basically, whatever strikes me as interesting at the time.  As you can see if you navigate around the blog, I had many years in between postings. During that time I was going back to school to get an engineering degree, and learning material that I avoided my first time through college was a different experience and one that gave me a lot of insight into how to do well in those classes, which I will try to impart here for those who are looking to get a science or engineering degree. 

Showing posts with label working out. Show all posts
Showing posts with label working out. Show all posts

Tuesday, December 10, 2024

Workout Update: 654 Cardio/Lift 4 Hybrid: Day 30

On Day 30, I did not work out in the morning, so in the evening, I did the 645 cardio routine followed by Lift 4 back and biceps. The back and biceps this week is a circuit workout, and it is one of the hardest lifting routines in the program because of the fact that you are lifting heavier weights and have no rest between the exercises in the sets and minimal rest between sets and blocks. I had to drop the amount of weight I was using on several of the exercises to be able to maintain proper form.

Monday, December 9, 2024

Workout Update: 654 Cardio/Lift 4 Hybrid: Day 29

Day 29 was the start of week 5 in Lift 4. So, in the morning, I did the 645 cardio routine, and in the evening, I did the Chest and Triceps workout from Lift 4, which was a 50/50 workout. I did not raise the weight from the past couple of weeks because the weight I was using for the exercises was still very hard last week. And I had to drop the amount of weight I was using for the chest press in block three during the third set because I could barely get the 10th rep in with 35 lb dumbbells in the second set. Even with using the same amount of weight the workout was still very challenging.

Workout Update: 654 Cardio/Lift 4 Hybrid: Day 28

On day 28, I did the same thing as yesterday. Just the 645 cardio routine in the evening. I was still moving stuff from my basement to the top level of my townhouse so I was getting extra cardio in.  

Workout Update: 654 Cardio/Lift 4 Hybrid: Day 27

On Day 27, I did the 645 cardio routine in the evening. I was also moving things around my townhouse, running up and down multiple floors, so I was getting extra cardio work going from the basement to my top level. I did not do either of the Lift 4 recovery routines, however.

Saturday, December 7, 2024

Workout Update: 654 Cardio/Lift 4 Hybrid: Day 26

Day 26 was a HIIT day with 645 cardio in the morning and Lift 4 legs (which was a HIIT only routine) in the evening. Both went well. The only modification I made in the Lift 4 routine was to swap out triple bear with speed skaters. That way, I could do all 45 seconds and not have to modify. Even with that swap, the routine was challenging. 

Thursday, December 5, 2024

Workout Update: 654 Cardio/Lift 4 Hybrid: Day 25

Day 25 was the 645 Cardio routine in the morning and Lift intervals in the evening. Both workouts went fine. I could use the increased amount of weight for all of the exercises. I found that the second set of each exercise was easier than the first, but then the weights got heavy again by the end of the third set. I liked all of the HIIT exercises in this workout because none of them were triple bear, catchers, or mountain climbers. 

Workout Update: 654 Cardio/Lift 4 Hybrid: Day 24

On Day 24, I just did the 645 Cardio routine. I did not do either of the Lift 4 recovery workouts because I had a longer day than I had originally anticipated.

Tuesday, December 3, 2024

Workout Update: 654 Cardio/Lift 4 Hybrid: Day 23

Day 23 was the 645 cardio routine in the morning and Lift 4's back and biceps workout in the evening. The back and biceps workout was a 50/50 workout with the lifting first and the HIIT after. I was able to start each round with the increased weight, but had to drop the amount of weight for some exercises in the second and third sets of each block.  

Monday, December 2, 2024

Workout Update: 654 Cardio/Lift 4 Hybrid: Day 22

Day 22 was the start of week 4 in Lift 4. So, I did the 645 cardio workout in the morning and the chest and triceps workout from Lift 4 in the evening. The chest and triceps workout was a circuit workout, and it was hard. I started out with the increased weight, but by the third set in each block, I had to drop the amount of weight I was using for pretty much every exercise. 

Sunday, December 1, 2024

Workout Update: 654 Cardio/Lift 4 Hybrid: Day 21

On day 21, I did the 645 cardio routine followed by Lift 4 stretch. Both of them went fine and I did have a bit more flexibility in my hamstrings than I did in the legs workout on Friday. 

Saturday, November 30, 2024

Workout Update: 654 Cardio/Lift 4 Hybrid: Day 20

On Day 20, I did the 645 cardio routine, followed by the foam rolling routine from Lift 4. The foam rolling continues to help get the knots out of my quads and hamstrings. I am not back to where I was when I was foam rolling every day, but I am getting closer.

Friday, November 29, 2024

Workout Update: 654 Cardio/Lift 4 Hybrid: Day 19

Day 19 was 645 cardio in the morning (or early afternoon in this case) and Lift 4 legs in the evening. I did both workouts a bit later than usual, but got them done. The leg routine was absolutely challenging with the increased weight, but I was able to do all the reps in each set with the increased weight (although my front-loaded squats were shallower with 25 lbs than they were with 20 lbs, so I was at the limit on those).  

Workout Update: 654 Cardio/Lift 4 Hybrid: Day 18

Day 18 was the 645 cardio routine in the morning and the shoulders workout in Lift 4. This week's shoulder workout was an interval workout, so it was one of the quicker workouts, which was nice.  I was able to increase the amount of weight on the various exercises, which kind of surprised me, given that shoulders have been my weak point for the past few rounds of workouts. 

Thursday, November 28, 2024

Workout Update: 654 Cardio/Lift 4 Hybrid: Day 17

On day 17, I did the 645 cardio workout in the evening. I had to work out a bit later than I anticipated, so I just did the cardio workout and did not do either of the Lift 4 recovery workouts. 

Wednesday, November 27, 2024

Workout Update: 654 Cardio/Lift 4 Hybrid: Day 16

Day 16 was the back and biceps workout in Lift 4 and, of course, the 645 cardio routine in the morning. The Lift 4 workout was a circuit workout. Even though it had no cardio, it was tough. I did try to increase the amount of weight I was using for the exercises, but on some of them, I had to reduce the weight after the first set, especially in the second block.  

Monday, November 25, 2024

Workout Update: 654 Cardio/Lift 4 Hybrid: Day 15

Day 15 was the beginning of week 3 in Lift 4, which meant doing chest and triceps and increasing the amount of weight for each of the exercises. I was able to use increased weights on every exercise through the three sets except for the skull crushers. I did the first set with 20 lbs and the last set with 15 lbs. For the second set, I did about five reps with 20 lbs and the other five with 15 lbs. During the cardio portion (this was a 50-50 workout), I modified the 180 squat jumps and the jump lunges, but I did not modify the soccer runs. And, of course, I did the 645 cardio routine in the morning. So, ultimately it was a good, but tough, workout day.

Workout Update: 654 Cardio/Lift 4 Hybrid: Day 14

On Day 14, I did the 645 cardio routine, followed by the Lift 4 Roll and Recover routine. It again felt good to do the foam rolling routine because I still have a ton of knots in my legs.  

Sunday, November 24, 2024

Workout Update: 654 Cardio/Lift 4 Hybrid: Day 13

 On Day 13, I just did the 645 cardio routine in the late afternoon. I did not do either of the Lift 4 recovery routines, but I plan to do at least one of them tomorrow.

Friday, November 22, 2024

Workout Update: 654 Cardio/Lift 4 Hybrid: Day 12

On Day 12, I did the 645 cardio routine in the morning, followed by the Legs routine from Lift 4 (a HIIT routine without any lifting) in the evening. I was very sore and tired in the evening workout, so I swapped speed skaters for triple bear and squat jumps for catcher jumps. Even with those modifications, the workout was still challenging, and I tried not to modify any exercises until I absolutely had to. 

Thursday, November 21, 2024

Workout Update: 654 Cardio/Lift 4 Hybrid: Day 11

Day 11 was 645 cardio in the morning and the shoulders workout in Lift 4 in the evening. This week, shoulders is an interval workout, so you do two weighted exercises followed by a 30-second HIIT exercise in each block. Again, the resistance exercises were still very challenging even though I was still using the same amount of weight that I had ended the last round on. It will be interesting to see how next week goes when I increase the amount of weight for all the resistance exercises.