Workout Update: Lift-4/645 Corrective and Foam Rolling- Round 2 -Day 39

Day 39 was shoulders invervals from Lift 4. This means each block at two shoulder resistance exercises and one 30-second HIIT exercise. I am almost back to feeling 100% so I could lift heavy again and did not have to modify as much when doing the HIIT. I again took a bit of a break from the foam rolling but will start that up again next week. 

Blu-Ray/Movies Box Set Review: Alfred Hitchcock: The Masterpiece Collection

 

This is a set that contains some but does not contain all, of Hitchcock's movies Depending on what you consider his best movies to be, this may not contain your favorites. Nor do each of the movies have perfect video and audio. The 15 movies included in this collection (each on separate discs) are Saboteur, Shadow of a Doubt, Rope, Rear Window, The Trouble With Harry, The Man Who Knew Too Much, Vertigo, North by Northwest, Psycho, The Birds, Marnie, Torn Curtain, Topaz, Frenzy, and Family Plot. 

There are a lot of reviewers on Amazon pissed at Universal for not restoring all of them. I am never one who expects movies that old to look as good as something made today, so the grain and glitches in the video that you occasionally see do not bother me all that much. In fact, some movie purists enjoy seeing grain and imperfections that are common to movies that were shot on film. That said, some movies have a wonderful restoration (e.g., Sabotuer), others have a good to very good restorations (e.g., The Birds, Rear Window, and Psycho), while others (e.g., Family Plot) have a very bad transfer. The films that have been restored like Rear Window do look great, however. 

I also think the extras that you get on each movie are very good. The documentaries which have interviews with the remaining stars, filmmakers, and Hitchcock family members are very good. I don't really know how this compares to the DVDs that are already out there. You probably want to research whether this will be that much of an upgrade to what you already have if you own any of the movies included here. That said I do like the collection and am very happy with it.

Workout Update: Lift-4/645 Corrective and Foam Rolling- Round 2 -Day 38

For Day 38 I just did the two Lift 4 recovery workouts. Both went fine and I feel like my flexibility has (somehow) improved from last week. 

Workout Update: Lift-4/645 Corrective and Foam Rolling- Round 2 -Day 37

For Day 37 I just did the back and biceps workout from Lift 4, and did not do any morning foam rolling. The back and biceps workout is another 50/50 workout. Since I am still recovering from COVID, I modified the hell out of the cardio portion, even swapping out a couple of the regular exercises for easier exercises because I knew that I would not be able to breathe much during wide mountain climbers and catcher jumps. 

Workout Update: Lift-4/645 Corrective and Foam Rolling- Round 2 -Day 36

Day 36 was corrective shoulders from 645 and the start of week 6 in Lift 4, which was the chest and triceps workout. This one was a circuit workout, so the two quad blocks were followed by three sets of push-up burnout and then three sets of core. Thankfully, I am almost back to normal today and mostly recovered from COVID. So, I was able to lift much heavier weights than I did for shoulders and legs last week. There were a couple of exercises that I used weights that were a little lighter than I would have if I had never been sick, but for the most part, I was back to lifting heavy. 

Workout Update: Lift-4/645 Corrective and Foam Rolling- Round 2 -Day 35

Day 35 was the two recovery workouts from Lift 4. I was definitely feeling better than I had the past couple of days but I was still a bit weak and coughing so it was nice to just have the low-impact routines. 

Workout Update: Lift-4/645 Corrective and Foam Rolling- Round 2 -Day 34

For day 34 I did the Legs workout from Lift 4, but again did it using much lighter weights than I would normally use and modifying what I could of the HIIT moves and skipping the ones I could not do. I again feel a little better than I did yesterday, so hopefully by Monday, I will be back to normal (or close to it).

Workout Update: Lift-4/645 Corrective and Foam Rolling- Round 2 -Day 33

For Day 33 I just did the lower body foam rolling from 645 and did not even attempt to do the Lift 4 legs workout. I had a horrible night overnight but did start feeling a little better throughout the day. But not well enough that I felt like I could do even a modified workout. 

Workout Update: Lift-4/645 Corrective and Foam Rolling- Round 2 -Day 32

 Day 32 was a shit show of a day. I started doing upper body foam rolling but felt progressively worse throughout the day. I think I actually had COVID for the first time. I had enough energy at night to do the Lift 4 shoulders workout using VERY light weights and modifying the HIIT moves like crazy (sometimes skipping a set if I needed to).

Workout Update: Lift-4/645 Corrective and Foam Rolling- Round 2 -Day 31

Day 32 was corrective ankles from 645 and the two recovery workouts from Lift 4. I was not feeling all that well so it was nice to have a slower day.

Workout Update: Lift-4/645 Corrective and Foam Rolling- Round 2 -Day 30

Day 30 was corrective hips from 645 and week 5's back and biceps workout from Lift 4. The back and biceps workout is a circuit workout, so it does not have any HIIT. But, you are doing two quad blocks, lifting very heavy weight in each block, and doing each of the four exercises back-to-back without any rest and just 30 seconds of rest between sets. So, you really don't need to do any extra cardio. I did have to drop the amount of weight I was using for a couple of the biceps exercises on the second and third sets in the quad blocks, and during the burnout round for the full curls. It was a beast of a workout, but I got through it.

Book Review: Takedown (Scot Harvath Series #5)

 

Takedown, published in 2006, is the fifth book in the now long-running series of action-adventure thriller novels set around the character of Scot Harvath written by author, Brad Thor. As he has in the prior novels in the series, Thor continues to blend real-world elements with his fictional storylines in this novel. The main storyline in this book involves a terrorist attack on New York City by fictional Al-Qeada members. Harvath essentially becomes trapped in the city and follows a group of terrorists who are hitting what appears to be random targets while seemingly looking for something or someone. The other main storyline in the book involves political fighting and maneuvering and brings the real-world enhanced interrogation technique controversy (which was just coming to light around the time Thor was writing the book) into the story. The book ends on a fairly large cliffhanger that will almost certainly affect one or more subsequent books in the series. 

The hardcover version of the book is just under 400 pages. The book has a good blend of action and suspense. There are a couple of side stories here and there, especially early on. But the main storylines are the focus. If you like the first four novels in the series you will probably like this one. If you are a fan of the genre but have not yet read the other books in the series, it is a good idea to start with the first book because the main characters are fairly established by this point and the author only does minimal character development on a couple of characters that are newly introduced in this book. It is absolutely worth the time to read.

Workout Update: Lift-4/645 Corrective and Foam Rolling- Round 2 -Day 29

Day 29 was the start of week 5 in Lift 4, which was chest and triceps 50/50. The lifting portion of the workout was not bad. I did have to drop the amount of weight I was using on the triceps kickbacks in the third block after the first set (I did 25 for the first set, 20 for the second, and 15 for the third), but otherwise I was able to go up in weight and stay with the increased weight for all of the other exercises. The HIIT portion of the workout was tough, and I had to modify and take breaks a lot. This morning, I did corrective shoulders from 645.  

Workout Update: Lift-4/645 Corrective and Foam Rolling- Round 2 -Day 28

Day 28 was again the two recovery routines from Lift 4. I got them out of the way early in the day and then enjoyed a nice family get-together in the evening. I hope everyone who celebrates it has a very Merry Christmas and a great New Year. 

Workout Update: Lift-4/645 Corrective and Foam Rolling- Round 2 -Day 27

Day 27 was the two recovery routines from Lift 4. Given that I was doing last-minute Christmas preparation, I got the routines out of the way early in the day, which was nice. This past week I have just been using the regular foam roller to give myself a break from the rumble roller. I definitely do not feel it as much, but I can put more pressure on the regular roller and work the muscles a bit better. 

Workout Update: Lift-4/645 Corrective and Foam Rolling- Round 2 -Day 26

 Day 26 was legs in Lift 4 and lower body foam rolling in 645. 

The Lift 4 legs workout was another HIIT workout. That meant no lifting, which was kind of nice, but the HIIT was pretty brutal. I definitely did not have the best workout, but I managed to get through it.

Workout Update: Lift-4/645 Corrective and Foam Rolling- Round 2 -Day 25

Day 25 was upper body foam rolling from 645 and shoulders from Lift 4. Shoulders was an interval workout so each block has two shoulder lifting exercises and then a 30-second HIIT move. The HIIT moves were not as tough as they could have been. The hardest of the bunch were the squat jumps, but the soccer sprints and speed skaters were not bad at all.

Workout Update: Lift-4/645 Corrective and Foam Rolling- Round 2 -Day 24

Day 24 was corrective ankles from 645 and the two recovery routines from Lift 4. All of the foam rolling went well, although I did switch from the rumble roller to the regular foam roller for the lift 4 foam rolling just to give myself a break.

Workout Update: Lift-4/645 Corrective and Foam Rolling- Round 2 -Day 23

Day 23 was corrective hips from 645 and the week 4 back and biceps workout which is a 50/50 workout. The HIIT portion of the workout was tougher than the lifting, especially the wide mountain climbers and the squats. I was able to use the increased about of weight from the prior week for all of the lifting exercises, however, which was nice.

Book Review: Star Wars: Crimson Climb

 

Crimson Climb is a young-adult novel centered on the character of Qi'ra (who was the character played by Emilia Clarke in the movie Solo: A Star Wars Story). The book begins immediately after the events of the beginning of Solo (still a very underrated movie) when Han escapes Corellia and Qi'ra is captured. It tells the story of what happened after Qi'ra returned to Lady Proxima and how she ended up in and worked her way up through, the Crimson Dawn crime syndicate to become a major player under Dryden Voss. The story also helps explain why she made the choice she did at the end of the movie.

The hardcover version of the book is just over 350 pages. The book includes new and unfamiliar characters, which may make it a bit slower to read than the novels involving more established characters. It has a good blend of action and suspense and definitely adheres to the "no honor among thieves" saying. Since the chances of a sequel movie to Solo are pretty much shot, if the story of the characters is going to be continued it will be in the novels. This is absolutely worth the time to read.

Workout Update: Lift-4/645 Corrective and Foam Rolling- Round 2 -Day 22

Day 22 was the corrective shoulder routine from 645 and the start of week 4 in Lift 4. The Lift 4 workout was Chest and Triceps and this week it is a circuit workout, doing the two quad sets and then the burnout round. I was able to stick with the increased weight for most of the resistance exercises, but I did have to reduce the amount of weight I was using for a couple of them on the second and third sets. By the time I got to the burnout round my arms were already like limp noodles and I could barely do the push-ups.

Workout Update: Lift-4/645 Corrective and Foam Rolling- Round 2 -Day 21

Day 21 was again the two recovery workouts from Lift 4. I again used the rumble roller for the foam rolling routine and then went right into the stretching routine. They went fine. There was no real difference between this one and the previous day.  

Workout Update: Lift-4/645 Corrective and Foam Rolling- Round 2 -Day 20

Day 20 was the two recovery routines from Lift 4. I was not very flexible or mobile today, and I had a large lunch so I was not exactly feeling limber. But, I got through it and got it over with.  

Workout Update: Lift-4/645 Corrective and Foam Rolling- Round 2 -Day 19

Day 19 was lower body foam rolling from 645 and Legs 50/50 in Lift 4. 

I again used the rumble roller for the foam rolling which really helps during the lower body foam rolling routine since you are generally spending 60 seconds foam rolling each area. The legs workout was tough because you are using extremely heavy weight for the entire lifting portion and then doing the three sets of HIIT after that. The only good thing is that the core portion is just one exercise, side planks holding for 30 seconds on each side.

Workout Update: Lift-4/645 Corrective and Foam Rolling- Round 2 -Day 18

Day 18 was upper body foam rolling and shoulders. The shoulders workout was an interval workout. So you do two resistance exercises followed by a 30-second HIIT exercise. Then, of course, finishing with three sets of core. The upper body foam rolling in the morning definitely helped prepare for the shoulder workout, but it was still very tough. The HIIT portion, however, was not too bad.