Day 443: Abs, Rowing and Farmer’s Walk

I barely did it but I managed to hit a 5-day streak with just over 7 hours of sleep last night. 

As I have mentioned before, sleep is extremely important for a variety of reasons and that is why I put such a premium on it. 

I know that at different points in life the ability to control how much sleep I get will adjust but, while I can, I try my hardest to get 7-8 hours per night.  

It was a busy day at work even though it wasn’t packed with meetings - that comes tomorrow with 4 hours of back-to-back meetings in addition to other meetings on either side. 

Today was my first day hitting the gym on my way home from work instead of going home, taking care of Sasha and Darren then going to the gym. It worked out well and only really flipped the order of my post-work routine. 

My workout focused on cardio and core: 

Abs

• Decline Sit-Ups - 3 x 15 reps
• Hanging Knee Raises - 3 x 15 reps
• Standing Oblique Crunches - 3 x 15 reps (45 lb plate)

Cardio

• 2,000 meter row - 9:01 minutes
• Farmer’s Walk - 2:30 minutes (45 lb plates per hand)

When I was doing the standing oblique crunches I felt a pinch in my left shoulder but after stretching it out it seemed to go away. Again, something that I’ll have to keep closely monitoring. 

It was my first time doing a serious row. I have done them a few times in the past but not as the primary means of cardio. The 2,000 meters was hard and I had to pause a few times throughout it to gather myself. 

I was happy that on my first time doing it in well over a year that I was able to hit 9:00 minutes. A good baseline for the 2,000 meter row is 7:00. 

Though shaving 2:00 minutes off will be hard, I was still satisfied with how I performed and am excited by retesting in a few weeks. 

I decided to finish off the cardio session with 2:30 minutes of a farmer’s walk using a 45 lb plate in both hands. 

The only issue with the farmer’s walk was that I’m not sure how far I went in the 2:30 minutes but it was really difficult. 

The farmer’s walk and suitcase carry are difficult and effective workouts while varying weights, distance and time. 

I’m looking forward to attacking my legs tomorrow which means that by Wednesday I will be limping around.