This weekend our clocks spring ahead, eventually winter will surrender its icy grip on Michigan (another winter weather advisory starts this evening) and spring will come. When those changes happen my daily routine will likely adjust. However, it’s been awhile since I’ve done any sort of fitness update. Taking care of my body is as important to me as what I read, write, and watch, so it doesn’t seem inappropriate to discuss it here.
Disclaimer: I’m not saying this is what you should do. I’m not saying this is what I should do. It’s just what I’m doing.
I usually wake up around 7am, depending on how I slept and what the cats think. One of them cries if she can see the bottom of the food dish, and the other likes to have my bed all to himself. It’s a struggle. But usually I can stay under the covers until I’m ready to get going. The first thing I do is drink a pint of water with a pinch of sea salt and a tablespoon of raw apple cider vinegar.
Is the ACV magic? No idea. But all that water sits better first thing with it than without.
The sea salt replenishes any minerals I sweat out overnight, so it really helps in the summer. I just feel more refreshed when I’m able to add that little bit of salt. Then I brew 12oz of coffee in my french press. I know, a lot of fitness gurus say to wait 90min before having any caffeine, and maybe you should.
Me? I like to get started early.
While the coffee brews, cools, and is consumed I pray, read my Bible, and journal. Even more than my “work,” those three things are my top priority. Doing them first thing, before Mom is up, or the phone starts ringing, or various projects demand my attention, ensures that they get done. I actually get pretty cranky if Mom wakes up early or the cats start throwing up and my routine is interrupted.
This all takes about an hour.
Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday are my training days. Sometimes I have to cut my Friday workout short and make up for it on the weekend. First I mix up a shaker bottle of pre-workout, which is probably terrible for me. Yes, it’s more caffeine and various supplements that probably don’t do anything beneficial. I just like something cool, sweet, caffeinated and noncarbonated to sip on between sets. And I know, it’s “pre-workout,” not “intra-workout.”
Moving on.
For the last 10 weeks I’ve been following Mark Lauren’s 90 Challenge intermediate workouts. In the past I’ve done the advanced program, but I realized (accepted?) that, while I have the strength, I simply don’t have the flexibility in my legs to do all the movements. The workouts are full body routines that take about half an hour by the time you account for warmup, cooldown, and tutorials. You probably noticed that I haven’t mentioned breakfast yet. Some of these calisthenics workouts involve rolling or jumping. I don’t want to wait for food to digest, and I certainly don’t want it banging around down there while I work.
Fasted workouts work for me.
As soon as I’m done with the calisthenics, but before I do the cooldown, I pick up some dumbbells. Mondays I do chest/triceps, Tuesdays back/biceps, Thursdays shoulders/triceps, Fridays legs/biceps. Between sets I’ve been using battle ropes for 20 seconds to keep my heart rate up. I was doing kettlebell swings for that, but since I hurt myself I’ve been a little gun shy about those. This is the time when I listen to podcasts, sip my pre-workout, and really hope to build muscle mass. I also look at my phone way too much.
This takes about another hour, give or take, and I finish with the cooldown.
Then I come upstairs (I train in the basement, not the garage, because it’s warmer and I can hear what’s happening in the rest of the house). Depending on the time, I’ll either fix breakfast or start writing my Locals post. I like to do a 16hr fast, but it’s not always possible. Training does blunt my appetite for a few hours, often to the degree that I can’t eat right away. I don’t think there’s a metabolic window or that I’m losing gainz as long as I eat enough later.
But breakfast is my favorite meal.
Lately I’ve been eating four to six eggs, scrambled. I also have a glass of raw milk, and a slice of organic Irish soda bread with local raw honey. If we’re out of bread I’ll have oatmeal. This is my biggest meal of the day. Lunch (if I eat it) is usually a lean protein and vegetables, and maybe some avocado if I have it. For dinner I’ll eat a more balanced meal with meat, rice or potatoes, and a cooked vegetable (usually broccoli).
And a protein shake for dessert.
Depending on what I need to meet my goals for the day, I’ll use a scoop of 60% soy free whey isolate and 40% casein protein, some frozen banana, 85g yogurt, maca root with either cacao or beetroot powder, and maybe some honey and/or cacao nibs. If I’m really hungry I’ll throw some oatmeal in there too. It doesn’t keep me awake, and I’ve found that I train better fasted than I do sleep fasted.
Finally, about an hour before bed, I have some EAAs with taurine, and some magnesium glycinate.
Despite all this food, my weight has remained pretty constant all winter. I’m not as shredded as I’ve been in the past. My abs aren’t as defined. But I’m stronger, sleeping better, and feeling better than ever. Maybe in a few weeks I’ll start cutting so that I look amazing on my 40th birthday, we’ll see. Since I’m not a fitness influencer, though, who cares?
If you’d like more information about what I’m up to when I’m not eating or training, all the supplements I take, or anything else, just let me know.
