Beards, Barbells, and Beer

[DrBdan]

Thurs Nov 8, 2018

Treadmill, dynamic stretching

- Squats
45x8
65x5
85x5
105x5
125x5
150x5
150x5
150x5

Accidentally jumped to 150 instead of 145. Oh well, felt good.

Chins: 8 sets of 4, then two sets of 3. 36 reps total

 

[DrBdan]

Fri Nov 9, 2018

Conditioning
Warmed up for 5 minutes and then ran 5k in 31:31, average HR was 127.

Dips: 6 sets of 5 then 4/3/4/4. 45 total.

Tough Mudder released a teaser for their 2019 course yesterday, it looks awesome. They got complaints this year that the course was repetitive (you actually ran the same course twice, just detouring for different obstacles if you did the Full Mudder) and that the obstacles were too easy. So it looks like they are revamping old obstacles and adding some new ones. I'm super pumped but it's still 10 months away, lol. My friends and I are thinking of doing Polar Rush, a race that takes place at a ski resort the first week of March. It's only 5k but being in the snow will be fun. And it's only $50.

Also I'm starting to get promo emails for the 2019 Spartan races so I'll probably sign up for the Spartan Sprint in June once I see a good discount.

 

[DrBdan]

Nov 11, 2018

Hockey
We played like shit tonight. Our goalie let in a few weak goals early and we lost all confidence. It was 3-1 late in the first period when I banged home a rebound but no, the goalie knocked the net off so the ref called No Goal. Completely bullshit called and totally killed any momentum we we're building.

The second our goalie let in another two bad goals to make it 5-1 and you could tell most people gave up. A few of is kept pushing and came close to scoring but we had no luck. They scored a couple more and it was just embarrassing.

After the game peopep were complaining about our goalie which is a legit complaint but also the entirw team played like crap. If we don't improve we might get bumped down again which might be for the best but also sucks because we should be competitive in our current division.

At least my line scored the lone goal (and the phantom No Goal) and was only on the ice for a couple goals against.

 

[Prokofievian]

Nov 11, 2018
Our goalie let in a few weak goals early and we lost all confidence.

It must have been an amazing experience to get to play with Carey Price, tho...

 

[DrBdan]

It must have been an amazing experience to get to play with Carey Price, tho...

lol

We actually dumped our goalie this week. We got blown out again this past Sunday (Nov 18) after our goalie let in two weak goals on the first two shorts. I think the final score was something like 10-1. Everyone was pretty frustrated so we took a vote and the majority of the team agreed that we need to get a new goalie. He was understandably not happy but it's for the best for everyone. We didn't want to let it go for so long that it became personal, though I'm sure our goalie feels that it's personal anyway.

He tried to argue that has GAA isn't any worse than the other goalies in the division but that doens't take into account the mercy rule. His GAA is above 5 but without the mercy rule it would probably be like 8 or 10.

So yeha

Nov 18, 2018

Hockey
Goalie let in two weak goals to start the game and the other team outplayed us. By the second our goalie had let in a few more weak goals and our forwards just gave up. I had actually dropped back to D and I'm a decent D-man but you can tell that I'm better used as a center because their team constantly had odd-man rushes and unchecked entrance to our zone.

Anyway, we took a vote and decided to get a new goalie. We don't charge the goalie to play so we felt it was fair to get at least an average goalie since everyone else pays and doens't want to get blown out every week.

Wed Nov 21, 2018

treadmill, dynamic strethcing

- Deadlifts
45x10
135x5
135x5
165x3
195x3
225x3
245x3
255x3
255x3
255x3
255x3
255x3
255x3

- Strict OHP
25x10
35x8
45x8
45x8
45x8
45x8
45x8

Fukc yeah empty bar! Reps felt good though

Chins: 6 sets of 4 then 3/3/2/2

 

[Prokofievian]

lol

We actually dumped our goalie this week. We got blown out again this past Sunday (Nov 18) after our goalie let in two weak goals on the first two shorts. I think the final score was something like 10-1. Everyone was pretty frustrated so we took a vote and the majority of the team agreed that we need to get a new goalie. He was understandably not happy but it's for the best for everyone. We didn't want to let it go for so long that it became personal, though I'm sure our goalie feels that it's personal anyway.

He tried to argue that has GAA isn't any worse than the other goalies in the division but that doens't take into account the mercy rule. His GAA is above 5 but without the mercy rule it would probably be like 8 or 10.

 

[DrBdan]

Yeah he's not too happy about being dumped.

Nov 25, 2018

Hockey
First game with a new goalie and it made a huge difference. We were playing at a different rink which had much smoother ice and was a bit bigger so it made for a much more wide open game. There were lots of chances on both ends and both goalies made some big saves. With our old goalie it probably would have been 5-1 by the end of the first period but instead we were up 1-0. We traded goals at the start of the 2nd period to make it 2-1 and then there was a flurry of goals at the end of the period and we came out up 5-3. In the third our opponents made it 5-4 but after that we shut them down and that was the final score.

I played wing for the first time in a while and had a great game. I setup the first goal and then scored the second and third goals, both with wrist shots through the 5 hole coming down the wing. There was also a huge shift in the attitude of our team. With a more solid goalie we had so much more jump and when the other team scored we didn't lose confidence. It really drives home that, while awkward, switching goalies was the right move.

 

[DrBdan]

Haven't done anything active since the last hockey game. My wife was at a conference Sunday/Monday this week so I had to miss hockey. And work is stupid busy so it's hard to find time to make it to the gym. I want organize my basement a bit better so I can at least squeeze in a quick upper body workout in the evening.

Wed Dec 5, 2018

Conditioning
5 minute warm-up then ran 5k in 31:27, a new personal best. Average HR was 133. That's all for today but at least I made it to the gym.

 

[DrBdan]

Thurs Nov 6, 2018

C2 rower, dynamic stretching

- Squats
45x8
75x5
95x5
115x5
135x5
155x5
155x5
155x5

Felt pretty good.

- Machine rows
30x10
45x10
60x10
75x10
90x10
105x10
105x10

Woo.

My weight is currently hovering around 196-198. I'm still down about 25 lb on the year but in January I would like to tighten up my diet again and get under 190. I definitely don't want to be over 200 again. At my strength level there is no reason to be that heavy.

 

[auger38]

Good job losing the weight man. You’ll be flying around the rink at sub 190

 

[DrBdan]

Good job losing the weight man. You’ll be flying around the rink at sub 190

Thanks! Getting back under 200 lb made a huge difference to my game. The next step is getting my strength back up, I used to have pretty good straight line speed but I can't outskate as many guys as I used to.

Fri Dec 7, 2018

Treadmill, dynamic stretching

- Strict Barbell Press
10x10
25x10
35x10
45x8
50x6
50x6
50x6
50x6
50x6

My plan is to do 5 working sets, progressing from 6 to 8 reps and then adding 5 lb and dropping back to 6 reps.

- Chins: 4/4/4/4/4/4/4/3/3/2 (36 total). Better than I expected given that I hadn't done chins for a few weeks.

Sun Dec 9, 2018

Hockey
First game with our new permanent goalie and boy did he impress us. He said he hadn't played for a few months so I thought maybe he'd look rusty but he made a few nice saves early and we were impressed. The other team was missing a handful of players so we controlled a lot of the play and slowly built up a lead. It wasn't a blowout until the third period when they got tired and we ended up winning 9-4.

I played wing again and am enjoying it. In the past I felt awkward playing wing after mostly playing center but it has felt naturally lately. It helps that one of the centers we were missing over the summer season is back and he plays a good two-way game. So he comes back on defense and helps out and I just need to get into position for breakouts. I ended up with 1 goal and 1 assist.

Overall everyone played well last night. We were missing a couple of our weaker skaters so all of the forwards were able to maintain a decent pace. And having a reliable goalie makes everyone better on defense because they can play better positionally without worrying that the goalie will let in a weak goal behind them.

 

[DrBdan]

Sun Dec 16, 2018

Hockey
We got destroyed by the first place team. They are head and shoulders above every other team in the division but won't be moved because the league has already reorganized divisions twice this season. They have two defensemen who simply shouldn't be in our division and overall they are a solid team who skate and pass well and basically controlled the entire game. We kept up in the first period but couldn't keep up the pace and they scored a bunch in the second to run away with the game.

In the third period one of their ringers continued to showboat and got upset when I slashed his stick and he started trash talking. Eventually I ended up knocking him on his ass and stealing the puck so he chased me down and tried to start a fight. He's a small guy though so I knocked him down again and he continued to trash talk about how he could skate circles around my entire team (true but also not much to brag about, this is is D-level beer league....).

Anyway, we lost something like 10-1 but at least I scored the lone goal.

Sun Dec 23, 2018

Hockey
We had a late game right before Christmas but most of both teams showed up. We were short defensemen though so I dropped back. We played a pretty solid game and honestly having a few forwards on defense helped with getting the puck out of own zone so we were able to control more of the play. Our opponents were missing their top scorer so they didn't really have anyone who could badly burn our defense.

It was a pretty close game goal-wise as both goalie's played well until we scored a couple in the third period and won 4-1 I had a couple assists.

In gym news... there is no news as December was incredibly busy and I barely made it to the gym. Then I was off for 11 days over the holidays.

 

[DrBdan]

2018 Recap

Weight Loss
I started the year at 223 lb. My wife and I did a keto/paleo style diet again and the big difference was meal planning. Since my son is a pretty good eater we realized we needed to plan better so we had good food for him, which meant good food for us. The weight came off easily, here are some sample weights:

• Jan 2 - 223.3
• Jan 30 - 211.9
• Feb 28 - 204.1
• Mar 30 - 199.8
• April 27 - 196.0
• May 23 - 191.1

The lowest I saw on the scale was 187.3 but that was the morning after hockey so I was probably dehydrated. I basically settled in around 192-193 for most of the Summer. I went up a few pounds in the Fall around all of our birthdays and my wedding anniversary (too many reason to eat junk) and then a few more pounds over the recent holidays so I'm sitting around 198 right now.

Conditioning
I started jogging in January as well which definitely helped with the weight loss. When I did my first 5k it was over 37 minutes and now my best is just under 32 minutes. I had extra motivation as I signed up for the Spartan Sprint in June with a friend.

I also did some rowing and elliptical but mostly focused on running.

Weight Lifting
What's that? Did lots of chins and dips to help with the mud runs but not a lot of squats or deadlifts.

Mud Runs
I did the Spartan Sprint in June and it was awesome. My friend was hungover so we stuck to his pace and finished in just under 2 hours. I only failed one obstacle and never felt terribly tired. I did a full write-up here: http://forums.sherdog.com/threads/beards-barbells-and-beer.2645585/page-59

I also did the Tough Mudder Half in September. It was fun but different. Physically it was easier than the Spartan Sprint but had some cool obstacles that required a lot of team work. That is definitely the selling point over the Spartan Sprint. Write-up here: http://forums.sherdog.com/threads/beards-barbells-and-beer.2645585/page-60

Hockey
We lost the Winter championship by one goal, 3-2. I felt so much better by the end of the season due ot weight loss and all of the extra cardio. We went into the Summer with a new (much improved) goalie and dominated a lot of the short season, winning the championship 5-3. Again, I felt a lot better and felt liked I played more like more old pre-baby self. I'm weaker than I used to be since I'm barely lifting but my cardio is better so I'm able to keep up a stronger pace for the entire game.

So that was 2018. I had hoped to do more lifting but I'm happy that I did the mud runs because we've been talking about doing them for a few years. And the weight loss was fantastic. I looked and feel a lot better now.

 

[Aleks Sytsevich]

Nice weight loss, pal.

 

[DrBdan]

Thanks dude, it was surprisingly easy this time. Amazing what kids do for your motivation. Too bad I put some back on but that's what I get for baking the world's best shortbread cookies for Xmas!

Jan 3, 2019

Did 30 minutes on the treadmill: 5 minutes walking, 20 minutes jogging, 5 minutes of 7% incline walking. It felt a bit rough given my almost complete inactivity over the past three and a half weeks.

Also did 20 chins and 40 push-ups.

In other news, Spartan Race sent out a 40% off code at the end of the year so I signed up for the Sprint on June 15. My friend who ran it with me last year was also going to sign up but he is an idiot and didn't. Hopefully he signs up next time there is a decent discount. I also asked a friend from my old job but he is a big dude and getting older so he's not sure his already injury-prone body can handle it. I also asked some guys on my hockey team and the few responses were basically "hell no", lol. So maybe I'll end up running it myself, who knows. In that case I can go at my own pace and I'll know my time is the best I could do rather than matching someone else's pace.

 

[DrBdan]

Fri Jan 4, 2019

I skipped the treadmill/C2 because the gym was busy and I wanted to grab the one squat rack. I did lots of dynamic stretching and BW squats to get warmed up.

- Squats
45x8
45x8
65x5
65x5
85x5
95x5
105x5
115x5

- Strict OHP: Did 5 sets of 8 with the empty bar, lol. Gotta start somewhere.

- Chin medley: spent 8 minutes messing around on the muti-grip station. Regular chins, kipping chins, transferring between holds etc. I found this really helped prepare me for the climbing events in the last Spartan Sprint, since I don't have actual monkey bars, rope, rings etc to practice on. When the weather gets better maybe I can find time to jog to a playground near me and practice on the monkey bars like some weird old dude.

 

[DrBdan]

Goals for June 2019

Get my weight back under 190 (Went 223->190->195 last year)
Finish Spartan Sprint in under 1:45 (did 1:59 last year)
5k in <30 minutes
Chins/Dips: max set of 12 each
Squats: 185x5
Deads: 275x1
OHP: 115x1

My gym has no good flat benches so I don't have a goal for that. The #s are pretty conservative because my priority is the race so I really just want to make sure I squat or dead at least once/week to get some consistency back.

 

[DrBdan]

Sun Jan 6, 2019

Hockey
Once again we were short d-men so I dropped back, in fact we only had 1 actual d-man so 3 forwards dropped back. That definitely affected our offense as we had trouble sustaining any pressure. We had 2 full lines but usually we play with 3 sets of wings or 3 full forward lines. Honestly the team suffers when I don't play center because I'm good at slowing down their offense and also helping out on defense.

Anyway, it was a close game and while our opponents weren't better than us they definitely played harder and kept the pressure up. They were very aggressive and took a bunch of penalties but we couldn't score. They led 1-0 for the longest time before scoring a second goal with a few minutes to go in the game to win 2-0.

 

[DrBdan]

Mon Jan 7, 2019

C2 rower, dynamic stretching

- Squats
45x5
45x5
65x5
80x5
95x5
115x5
135x5
135x5
135x5

These felt good. Obviously they were pretty easy but form felt solid and knees/hips felt good.

- Chins: 1, 2, 9 sets of 3 (30 total).

 

[DrBdan]

Tues Jan 8, 2019

Conditioning
5 minutes walk/jog on the treadmill, then did 13 intervals at 3.1/8.0 mph. 1 minute on, 1 minute off. Peak HR was 161, average was 130.