MainPain Challenge – Day 9 | Measurements

I finally got my hands on a flexible measuring tape thanks to my awesome next door neighbor. I got all the important measurements for both flexed and un-flexed, then when I originally started this posted, I found out my Evernote didn’t save, so I thought I’d lost all that information. Turns out, I had put my flexed measurements into my FitBit account. Whoo Hoo! I don’t have the un-flexed measurements, but in the end, those don’t really matter to me too much for this challenge.

I took all my measurements myself, so there’s a good possibility I did some wrong. I checked and re-checked several times, so I don’t think they’re all that inaccurate, but we’ll see I guess.

Here it is folks. My starting baseline body measurements.

• Neck – 15″
• Bicep – 14″
• Forearm – 11.7″
• Chest – 41.5″
• Waist – 38.3″
• Hips – 40.5″
• Thigh – 24.3″
• Calf – 16″

There it is everyone. That is what I’m starting with. I don’t have any goals set regarding these measurements. I’m not sure if 1/4″ would be realistic or not or too simple for a 100 day challenge so for now, my goal is that most of these numbers simply will increase (except for the waist).

Do you do regular body measurements? How do you keep track of the results? Do you have goals related to your body measurements?

Day 3 Workout

It was close, but I got this post published before midnight, so it’s still day 3. Today’s workout got moved to about 9:00pm because of my 3 year olds 4 year olds birthday party. What a crazy ball of insanity that was. Five preschoolers and a whole bunch of older brothers and sisters in our little house. I was in charge of keeping the older kids occupied, and out of the way. (I did an ok job). I only mention all of this because, A. It’s my daughters birthday and why wouldn’t I? and B. Because I wound up with just under 20,000 steps today because of it. Not too bad considering I don’t usually crack 10,000 anymore.

On to the good stuff. Here’s my workout for today. I’ll just say, this workout was intense. Really intense. On paper, it doesn’t seem as intense, but trust me, it was. I’ll explain at the end.

• Cardio From Hell – Duration 41:17
  • Rowing
    • 2521 meters @ 10 minutes
  • Jogging
    • 0.25 miles
  • Elliptical
    • 1.34 miles @ 10 minutes
  • Jogging
    • 0.25 miles
  • Rowing
    • 2362 meters @ 10 minutes
• Ab Wheel
  • 12
  • 12
  • 6
• Stretch
• Perfect Pushup (It’s a piece of equipment, I’m not a complete A-Hole 😉
  • 17
  • 12
  • 9

As promised, I need to explain the Cardio From Hell section. I decided before I got to the gym that I needed to have a really intense workout, since I wasn’t going to be doing any real weight lifting (Wednesdays are going to be one of my OFF days from lifting, but I still needed to do something days). This workout is basically a no rest workout. Balls to the walls, go go go. So, starting with a short row, I tried to keep my strokes per minute at or above 34 for the entire 10 minutes. Needless to say, that wasn’t accomplished. Immediately after finishing (and wiping the machine), I jogged a quarter mile, then quickly it’s down the stairs to the water fountain for a quick sip. Then on to the elliptical. No, I didn’t run to the machine, but I thought about it. Same thing with the elliptical. Tried to keep the pace up as fast as I could for the entire 10 minutes. This one I had a little more success with. Quick sip at the fountain and another quarter mile jog and back to the rower for my final 10 minutes.

My hope with this workout is to baseline this one and by the end of this challenge, I want to compare my results from the first time to the last to see if I am in better shape or not. This is why I have a Duration of 41 minutes 17 seconds. That’s how long it took from start to finish of that particular workout. I didn’t time the quarter mile jogs, so I don’t know how much actual time I spent drinking water or moving from workout to workout, but I think that’s fine.

For now, I’m calling this the Cardio From Hell workout because I can’t think of anything better, and because it was not fun. Not fun at all. During the jogs, I had horrible side aches like you wouldn’t believe. I’m glad for that though. That’s why this challenge is called the MainPain Challenge. I’m working to maintain the weight loss I achieved in the Weight Loss Challenge, and now the No Pain No Gain body transformation goals I have.

My final thought of the day is this. Of all the stuff I did today in my workout. By far, the worst and most unpleasant had to be the Ab Wheel. That thing is horrible. Namely because I am not very strong, and I hate not being good at something. This gives me motivation though. By the end of this challenge, I’ll be loving this thing (or I’ll have stopped using it).

Day 2 Workout

Today’s workout included legs, abs, and back. I really need to figure out how to get out of my comfort level with the leg portion of my workout. I’ve not done any squats or other typical lifts since high school football, so I’ve been pretty intimidated to even try it. Today, I did break out of my comfort zone a little and did the back extension and glute extension exercises. I’ve got a bad lower back so I’ve been wanting to strengthen my back. I watched the below video which helped me learn what I need to be doing to do the exercise right and get the results I’m looking for.

Check out today’s workout. I’m tagging these first workouts as “Baseline” workouts so at the end of this challenge I can look back and see, did I increase my overall weight levels I’m lifting. That’ll help me determine success.

Tuesday | Legs/Abs/Back

• Leg Extension
  • 12 @ 80 lbs
  • 12 @ 100 lbs
  • 10 @ 120 lbs
• Leg Curl
  • 12 @ 70 lbs
  • 12 @ 90 lbs
  • 8 @ 100 lbs
• Leg Press
  • 12 @ 120 lbs
  • 12 @ 160 lbs
  • 12 @ 220 lbs
• Total Abdominal Machine
  • 12 @ 70 lbs
  • 12 @ 100 lbs
  • 9 @ 120 lbs
• Back Extensions
  • 12 @ Base*
  • 12 @ Base*
  • 12 @ Base*
• Gluteus Extension
  • 12 @ Base*
  • 12 @ Base*
  • 12 @ Base*
• Calf Dips
  • 12 @ Base* (Feet Together)
  • 12 @ Base* (Feet Together)
  • 12 @ Base* (Feet Together)

*Without added weights. Just the weight of my body.

Day 1 Workout

I’ve hit the ground running today. As I noted in the introduction of the MainPain Challenge, I hope to post my workouts. I don’t know the point, specifically of posting them other than for some accountability. Most of the time when I post, I’m guessing I’m just going to post the exercises without a whole lot of commentary. We’ll see as these next 100 days unfold.

Monday | Arms/Upper Body

• Biceps (Dumbell)
  • 12 @ 30 lbs
  • 12 @ 35 lbs
  • 5 @ 40 lbs
• Triceps (Dumbell)
  • 12 @ 30 lbs
  • 12 @ 45 lbs
  • 6 @ 50 lbs
• Lat Pull Down
  • 12 @ 95 lbs
  • 12 @ 105 lbs
  • 6 @ 115 lbs
• Bench Press
  • 12 @ 65 lbs (10’s)*
  • 12 @ 115 lbs (35’s)*
  • 7 @ 135 lbs (45’s)*
• Incline Press
  • 12 @ 65 lbs (10’s)*
  • 12 @ 85 lbs (10’s x 2)*
  • 6 @ 95 lbs (25’s)*
• Decline Press
  • 12 @ 65 lbs (10’s)*
  • 12 @ 95 lbs (10’s)*
  • 8 @ 115 lbs (35’s)*

*I’m assuming the weight bar is 45 lbs, thus adding the weight of the plates and the estimated bar. (I really need to ask the staff how much the bars weigh)