kentcowgill.org/blog

So I've also finally gotten around to collecting all my pictures and videos and posting them to my various websites (including flickr of course). The funnest and funniest of which I'll post here as well.

Full size video is here. Be sure to check out the rest of my recently posted video on my youtube channel.

He was just having a great time on the Baby Einstein Activity gym, and so were Lisa and I :)

July 13th:
Push ups, initial test: I did 20. I could've probably squeezed out a few more, but 20 is where I stopped. The program at hundredpushups.com doesn't really have you do anything different if you can do more than 10, and I'm planning on starting in with the program on Monday (the next day), so I figured I wouldn't kill myself eking out the last few. But man, that's a long way from the 300 I used to be able to do, albeit in pyramid sets.

Chin ups, initial test: I did 3. There is a very slim chance that with an appropriate amount of grunting, kicking, and facial contortions I could have possibly gotten close to doing another one, but my wife was in the room next to my chin up bar trying to get some work done, so I left it at 3, and left her a little less disturbed than she could have been. But man, that's a long way from the 100 I used to be able to do, albeit in pyramid sets.

So I'll be starting this program on the highest level for push ups, and the lowest level for chin ups. Sounds about right, since chin ups have always been a lot harder for me anyhow.

Which takes me to the next day...

July 14th:
Push ups: 10 then 10 then 8 then 6 then maxed out at 9. Resting about 60 seconds between sets. Total of 43 within about 5 minutes. The start of the second ten, the eight, and the six seemed a little tough. I think I'm a little sore from my initial chin up test yesterday, and it is surprisingly interfering with the push ups a bit. I'm dreading Wednesday a little, I'll have to do 11 more push ups than I did today. But I guess on the bright side, today I did 23 more than I did yesterday.

Chin ups: 2 then 2 then 2 then 2 then ... two and a half. And then another half. Resting about 60 seconds between sets (except I tried that last half chin up within a few seconds after the previous half). So that's three on the last set, right? Well, no - I guess it doesn't count unless I get my chin over the bar. Or at least near. Total of (let's call it just) 10 within about 5 minutes. Man, I can't believe I used to do 100 of these things within 40-50 minutes or so. I really had to strain for the 6th and 8th chin ups. I was really kicking to get the 10th, and I completely ran out of steam on what would've been the 11th. I'm not sure how I'll be able to do any more than these on Wednesday. But today was 7 more than yesterday, and Wednesday is only 5 more than I did today. That ought to be doable, no?

Since Matthew was born (and even before) I had been severely lacking in my personal fitness. I recall a time where I used to do a pyramid workout consisting of 100 chin ups, 300 push ups, and 500 sit ups. I'd start with 1 chin up, 3 push ups, and 5 sit ups. Then multiply everything by two; 2 chin ups, 6 push ups, 10 sit ups. And so on up to 10; 10 chin ups, 30 push ups, and 50 sit ups. And then back down the pyramid levels, so that by the time I was all finished I had completed 100, 300, and 500 of chin ups, push ups, and sit ups respectively.

Naturally, it took me a long time to work my way up to that level, and even then I ended up doing short sets during the chin ups and push ups because it was so hard to do so many, especially so close to each other. By the time I was in the 7+ chin ups/20+ push ups per pyramid level, I could only do maybe 4-5 chin ups or 10-15 push ups in a row, so I'd take a lot of short rests and complete the required number for the pyramid level.

Regardless, this was years ago back when I was really working out a lot. I've really let myself go in the interim. I don't think I was weighing myself much back then, but I'm pretty sure I'm about 15 lbs heavier today. I felt like I had to keep up with my wife's caloric intake as she was pregnant with our little bundle of joy. You know. For support. Well, that's not entirely true, but that's pretty much what happened.

So around July 13th I stumbled across a site called hundredpushups.com and was immediately smitten by the idea - which is to work your way up to being able to do 100 consecutive push ups, over the course of about 6 weeks. It sounded awesome to me. The plan is to do about 5 sets of push ups (more sets in later weeks), each set being fewer repetitions than your all out maximum for each set, and rest for a length of time between each set.

I also decided to follow the same routine for chin ups. I'll be posting a narrative about my misadventures and missteps along the way of pursuing these goals.

Twitter updates:

• hundredpushups.com, (slightly adapted to a hundred chinups), kettlebells, and bikes! OH MY! @ 10:29 pm

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So we had Matthew in his Bumbo seat after we started noticing that the little guy was getting better at sitting up and holding his head somewhat steady. It was great weather out on the Fourth of July, so we brought him out with us. He was doing all sorts of talking, so I got my camera :)

Full size video is here.

Twitter updates:

• @zrusilla No, but smoked pork butt makes my tummy say yummy! @ 1:48 pm

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Twitter updates:

• First time smoking pork butt. Interrupted by rain. Switched to oven, too cold. Went back to the smoker. Smells great - letting it rest. Yum! @ 5:04 pm

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Twitter updates:

• Been a long time since I posted. But I've been busy. With what? See here: http://icanhaz.com/virtual_grandparent @ 10:53 pm

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Lisa and I have been hard at work raising our son, Matthew. It's about all we can do to keep some sense of sanity while continuing to be productive at our respective employers while doing our best to make sure we do everything we're supposed to do to foster the positive development of our budding progeny.

So forgive us if we're tickled pink when we can get some positive feedback of our own, in the form of the cutest little coos and squeals from our son.

On cue, even.

As if he's actually enjoying his time with us.

Amazing.

The full size video is here

Twitter updates:

• Matthew helping me wish my mom a happy Mothers' day, and smiling while doing so: http://icanhaz.com/happy-mothers-day @ 2:18 pm

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