Monday rowing, the dog was still recovering from the ParkRun, so just a walk around the block and then because it was still early I decided to do a half marathon and watched the first half of the Battlestar Galactica mini-series finish time was 1:38:44.4, followed by a 2.2km cool down and then some stretching.
Tuesday calisthenics, repeated last Tuesday’s workout, but increased some of the reps and times a bit more.
- Straight Arm Plank – 3 x 1:30
- Inverse Bent Knee Row – 3 x 8
- Reverse Plank – 3 x 1:30
- Bent Knee Row – 3 x 8
- Close Squat – 3 x 20
- Scapular Pull – 3 x 0:25
- Band Assisted Pull Up (Green) – 3 x 6
- Band Assisted Chin Up (Green) – 3 x 6
- Knee to Floor Lunge – 3 x 20
- Asian Squat – 3 x 3:00
One large superset running down the list 3 times, added in the lunges this week.
Tuesday Evening Archery. bad weather meant shooting inside again, so I took my flat bows and longbows and alternated between them.
Wednesday rowing, watched the second half of the Battlestar Galactica mini-series whilst doing another half marathon, finish time was 1:36:30.2, woke up at normal time, so having walked the dog this morning as well, I ran out of time for a cool down, so just stretches before heading off for a shower.
Thursday calisthenics, repeated last Thursday’s workout, but increased some of the reps and times a bit more.
- Incline Push Ups – 3 x 10 – parallettes and knees
- Close Squat – 3 x 25
- Bent Knee L Sit – 3 x 0:25 – dip station
- Hip Bridge – 3 x 3:00
- Frog Stand – 3 x 0:10
- Lying Knee Tuck – 3 x 35
- Bar Support Hold – 3 x 0:45
- Lying Alternate Knee Tuck – 3 x 50
- Band Assisted Dip (Green) – 3 x 10
- Straight Bridges – 3 x 25
- Leg Raises 9cm – 90 degrees 3 x 25
One large superset running down the list 3 times.
I had been trying to but a second hand Gravity Fitness pull up bar from someone on Facebook Marketplace, for about a week and a half but was just being messed about and they were not replying, so gave up with that seller and contacted someone else who was selling one for a slightly higher price, but this one was new, unused and came with all of the fixings.
I contacted the seller and asked if it was available and if I could collect today and received a response in minutes that yes it was available and also that I could collect that day.
After a two and a half hour round trip to Basingstoke to collect from a really nice guy named Dan, whith whom I had a good conversation about calisthenics,, I now had a brand new wall mounted pull up bar for £75.00 (£99.00 new and currently unavailable).
The main reason for wanting this particular pull up bar is because the bar sits 900mm (just under 3′) from the wall which allows plenty of space to use it from inside the bar for levers, etc, whereas most other wall mounted bars only place the bar at about 650mm (just over 2′) which is too close to the wall.
Friday rowing, Dark Horse June Challenge involves rowing for distance on 3 different timed pieces. A: 0:45, B: 3:00 and C: 17:00. I decided to set baselines for all 3 after an initial 2K warm up.
I managed 242m for 45 seconds (1:32.9 split), I was not overly happy with my technique on this one as I was only doing half strokes at 47spm, I believe I can improve on this with better technique and maybe a higher damper setting.
I had a rest for about 5 minutes, then managed 868m for the 3 minute piece (1:43.6 split at 34spm), I started to feel some fatigue on this one, but I know I can do over 900m as I can do 1000m in 3:24 (1:42.4 split).
After a rest of about 10-15 minutes to recover from the last piece I managed 4481m for the 17 minute piece, I was really feeling the fatigue on this one, but maintained 1:53.8 as a split at 29spm, which if continued to 5K would have achieved a sub 19 minute time and a new PB by about 20 seconds. I am sure I can push this one over 4500m if done on its own.
Friday afternoon I spent some time putting up the new pull up bar on the outside of my house.
The bar is at a height of 2.55m (8′ 4.5″) which is about 4-5 ” above my fingertips if I stand under it with arms raised, but close enough to jump and catch. I wanted it at about this height so I can use rings on it without having to compromise the height too much.
The bench that is almost out of shot used to be in that corner, hence the mess on the wall, plus the patio has not been cleared in a while, a job for Saturday maybe?
Saturday, weather was not great, I managed to walk the dog without getting too wet, 4 laps of the park, but decided against a ParkRun as I am not sufficiently dedicated that I want to run in the rain.
The weather eventually cleared up, so in the afternoon I mowed the lawn and strimed the edges and anywhere else that could easily be attacked with a strimmer (like the area under the pull up bar on the patio).
Sunday was largely a rest day, even the dog walk was not very long as he appeared to be limping again after just a single lap of the park.
During the month of May I managed a total of 95 hours of exercise, walked 417km climbed 163 flights of stairs, cycled 21km, ran 15km and rowed 220km.
By the end of the month my weight was 14 Stone 9lb (205lb/93kg), no loss.