Confession #5...Fractured Rib??

So just when I get rolling good, I do something stupid and have now possibly fractured a rib.  I was playing broomball (similar to hockey, expect you wear shoes on the ice instead of skates and hit a ball around with brooms or things that resemble brooms)

with some of the high school youth on their winter retreat this past weekend. I took a pretty nasty fall right on my left arm and back. It knocked the wind right out of me and I needed a few seconds to get back up (at least it wasn't my head).  I knew the fall was hard, but in that moment and for a few hours after I think my adrenaline was pumping high so I didn't really feel too much pain...until now. It hurts to move, lift anything, change positions, put on a coat, take a deep breath, cough, and sneezing is the worst.  For a fractured rib to heal you just need to give it time, sometimes a lot of time for it to heal on its own.  And this is all happening right in the middle of my training.  This is a huge obstacle that I'm not sure how to overcome.  I know for a fact I can't lift near what I was lifting last week. However, maybe this does come at somewhat of a good time as I was researching and planning to change up my workout routine.  I guess I'll just have to take it slow, one day at a time, and see how things go.  

In regards to the pop...I'm happy to report that I have still stayed true to that goal.  The withdrawals are gone.  Every once and a while I'll get a pretty intense craving, but I have been able to not succumb to the desire!

Confession #4....I think I'm in love!

I do believe that I'm in love...with sandbag training! I've started this sandbag training after reading about it and thinking it would be an awesome idea to help me have more flexibility with time and being home.  It's perfect for me to be able to do sandbag workouts while Gerrit is napping. So what in the word is sandbag training your probably thinking? Well its basically just like it sounds.  Training with sandbags.  Its used a lot for endurance and power training in sports like football, but can also be used as weight training.  Here are a couple pictures of the one that I got so you get a better idea:

It comes with 4 of these yellow smaller 10 lb bags.

You fill each one with sand to close to the top and seal it with the double velcro.

You then put the smaller bags in the heavy duty bigger bag and zip it up.

The bag has several different handles so you can grip from several different positions and find what works best to lift and grip.

Besides giving me more flexibility with time and working out from home, here are few other reasons why I am loving sandbag weight training:
1. When you live in Michigan and have blizzard like conditions you don't have to worry about getting to the gym but still have something to use for weight training without needing all the big equipment at home.
2. I still have to go to the gym to do some of my lifts because I don't have the needed equipment at home, but I can do over half of my lifts in my workout routines with the sandbag.
3.  I've been finding that as I workout I am engaging my core muscles so much more to keep the bag in balance and that it awesome!
4.  As the weight (sand) shifts in the bag as I am doing lifts, I am not only using the main primary muscle for the lift but several other secondary muscles to maintain form.
5. I can easily change the amount of weight in the bag.

Just take a look- two simple weight training exercises done with the sandbag!

Bicep Curl (this would be similar to using the dumbbell, you can do another bicep curl using both hands with different grips that is similar to the barbell curl):

Lying Tricep Extensions: 

 

Another confession...I don't eat enough

It's the truth, and I knew it was the truth, but I still struggle with this so much. I don't eat enough. Since my first post I wanted to give myself a couple of days to do a "reality check" to see really where I was at with my calorie intake.  By doing this I could start this week off strong knowing where I needed to be with calories. Are you wondering how in the world I even figure this out?  Well check this out! When I first starting trying to gain weight a couple of years ago I found a really good workout/nutrition program with a very specific sub program exactly for people trying to do what I'm attempting to do...gain muscle mass weight without becoming out of shape or just 'bulking' up. (Don't worry I did some research about the program because I'm pretty leery about stuff like that). Each week I have the ability to enter in specific body metrics and my exercise level and it spits out exactly what my target nutrition levels should be each day for the week (like calories, fat, carbs, protein). So when I tested out where I was at, the program told me my maintenance calorie number was 2700 and my calorie intake goal was 3400.  So I spent a couple days seeing if I was hitting these numbers. The hardest part of figuring this all out is tracking everything you eat. Seems weird because you really aren't on a diet but you have to see where you are coming in at. Truth be told I was barely even hitting my maintenance calorie number.  The other number I have to watch closely is the protein number because protein aids in building muscle and recovery, and of course I wasn't getting enough of that either. So it goes to show that gaining healthy weight isn't just about being in the gym all the time, the other half of it is your nutrition.  

Speaking about being in the gym.  The program also gives you a 12 week workout routine which is extremely intense.  You need to be in the gym five times a week and workouts can last up to two hours.  With the busy life I have now this is extremely difficult to do. I've been trying to figure out a way where I can still complete the workouts (at least partially) without having to go to the gym everyday or at least limiting my time in the gym.  Well I came across a fascinating idea while reading a magazine.  It's call sandbag workouts. It is just what it sounds like. You work out with a sandbag.  Of course I needed to test this out because if all you do is workout with a sandbag this something I could easily do while Gerrit is napping.  So I went and got one (it's a sandbag designed especially for workout training) and I have found that I am absolutely loving it.  There are still things that I need to go to the gym for because I don't have the right equipment at home, but I can do a lot of the workout routine of my program right at home using the sandbag in a similar manner as a dumbbell! Watch for another post soon in which I'll specifically go into more details about sandbag workouts!

If you have been following my blog I'm sure you readers are wondering about how it's going with cutting the pop out of my life cold turkey.  It has been extremely challenging.  The first couple of days I was having some major headaches that would continue throughout the day.  I'm still having some, but the thing that is really getting at me now is the craving for it.  I'm craving just that soda pop fizzy carbonation taste in mouth and oh I want it so badly.  I also didn't realize I was using pop as a reliever when I was stressed. But I'm committed to no more pop and know it is better in the long run. The headaches are dissipating and I know eventually the cravings will too.

If you're reading this and wondering what this all about, you need to go back to my first blog post and catch up there...don't worry this is only my third post so you don't need to do too much reading to catch up! Just some confessions of a skinny guy.