Day 494: Finding a New Fitness Challenge to Start

Well, I didn’t sleep through the night without waking up but I did hit my sleep goal so I’ll take it. 

Today was a blur. I only had a couple of meetings but had a number of contracts to process, budget updates to make and expense reports to submit. 

We brought the day to a close watching "Star Wars VI: Return of the Jedi” as a lead up to our team going to see the new Star Wars movie on Friday for our holiday party. 

My shoulders were feeling good so I decided not to skip my lifting session this week as I had originally planned. Here’s what my workout looked like: 

• Standing Dumbbell Shoulder Press - 1 x 12 reps (25 lb dumbbells), 1 x 10 reps (35 lb dumbbells), 2 x 6 reps (35 lb dumbbells)
• Barbell Upright Row - 4 x 10 reps (80 lbs)
• Dumbbell Lateral Raise - 3 x 15 reps (20 lbs)
• Kettlebell swings - 4 x 20 reps (20 kg)
• Hammer Strength Standing Shrug - 1 x 10 reps (135 lbs per side), 1 x 5 reps (180 lbs per side), 1 x 10 reps (135 lbs per side)
• Dumbbell Standing Shrugs - 3 x 10 reps (80 lb, 85 lb, 90 lb dumbbells)

I was able to increase the weights on the standing shoulder press and the upright rows. I also added an additional set on the kettlebell swings. Doing that zapped my strength by the time I got to the standing shrugs so I wasn’t able to go as heavy as I did last week which was ok. 

When I was driving to the gym I listened to this week’s episode of TheFitCast. During the interview, Dan John talked about the importance of doing challenges a few times per year. 

One such challenge that he likes is the 10,000 kettlebell swing challenge. The challenge sounded interesting to me and I planned on researching it when I got home tonight. 

Then, while watching the Warriors game, my buddy, Joe Sorge, sent me a message with a link to the article, asking if I wanted to join him in doing the challenge. He had no idea that I had just listened to the podcast episode earlier this evening - too crazy. Of course, me being me, I jumped right in. 

It will be a hard challenge and will include me stopping everything else that I’m doing for the next 4-5 weeks but I’m looking forward to it.