You Are Here

TLDR: Leftovers, Lights, Lifting

Too Long Dad Recap

Thanksgiving week was a microcosm of 2020 overall. Did you get something done with your time off? Did you get outside and soak up some vitamin D? Or did you sit on your ass and scroll through social media while watching football?

I did all of the above, just most of my scrolling was done while taking laps around the block in the sun and in between sessions of trampoline jumping, baseball throwing and rock climbing. You really can have it all.

Still got it!

I’ve been busy this week. I posted another YouTube video, filmed another one for next week, and wrote a few posts already, including:

Things I Watched This Week

Thanksgiving week has traditionally been one of the best weeks for movie marathons on cable TV. In the past, I’ve enjoyed Planet of the Apes films, James Bond films, Star Wars, Godfather, etc. But my wife and kids commandeered the main TV with a marathon of the Harry Potter films, which pair well with Christmas decorating, for whatever reason.

  • YouTube consumption was down a bit this week, but caught up on some of my favorite fitness creators, like MattDoesFitness, Will Tennyson and newcomer Jesse James West.
  • I hear the Tyson vs. Roy Jones Jr. fight was a thing on Saturday. I didn’t order it, but Twitter kept me really informed on that fight and the undercard with Nate Robinson that stole the show.

I am like 9 hours into a 5 podcast series on the War in the Pacific as told by podcaster Dan Carlin (Hardcore History). My grandfather was a PT boat captain in the Pacific during the war, supplying ships closer to the action.

I don’t know what it is about World War II that fascinates men of a certain age, but I am definitely at that age. A few years ago, I listened to the 40 or so hours of audio book “The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich” by William Shirer. Can’t seem to get enough. Is that the case for any of you?

You guys watching anything good?

Things I Ate This Week: Pie, Turkey, More Pie

I was strict all week leading up to Thanksgiving, then went all-in on Turkey, ham, pork, sweet potatoes, and plenty of pie. I tried to keep it relatively clean, but I also tried to relax a bit. It was a pretty good balance.

  • Using a recipe from Ethan Harold, as noted last week, I made my first ever apple pie. The recipe included plenty of whey protein, plenty of Splenda and plenty of real apples.
    • The whey I used wasn’t the best for cooking and it came out a bit grainy, but I ate the whole thing.
    • While, it didn’t compare to the full traditional pecan pie we had, but it helped me not go too crazy with the good stuff.
  • Over the weekend, I still had a hankering for pie, and I had an extra pie crust calling my name from the pantry. So, I made a chocolate cream pie, with just 3 ingredients: chocolate protein powder, Greek yogurt and sugar free chocolate pudding mix.
    • The second pie hit the spot, even if it meant I didn’t hit my calorie target for the day.
    • Sunday morning I woke up at 158lbs, my lowest ever, again. That’s lower than I need to be, which gave me a chance to eat this second pie with no guilt.

Eat Like TB12

For my next YouTube video going live next week, I ate like Tom Brady for a day and did all the NFL Combine events. That was Wednesday, which was a great way to stave off getting into Thanksgiving food mode early.

If you haven’t heard, Tom Brady’s diet is a little nuts. He reportedly avoids sugar, oil, caffeine, dairy, tomatoes. He drinks a ton of water with electrolytes.

This is a diet that I could not maintain for longer than a few days. But it could be a good tool to have in the nutrition bag to de-tox or pre de-tox ahead of a bit cheat day. So, on that day, I ate lots of vegetables, fish, chicken, fruits and some nuts.

Things I Lifted This Week: High Volume Peak

The last 4-5 weeks have been very high rep sets, ramping to a peak of volume and intensity this week. No new PRs or anything exciting like that, just trying to build as I enter maintenance mode. The pumps have been great, the hypertrophy feels like its working.

Thanksgiving is always a little screwy when it comes to the weekly routine. Friday feels like a Sunday, Wednesday feels like a Friday. I got all 5 weight session in, with a break on Thanksgiving. The top sets are listed below, so many reps!

  • Overhead press: 10 reps at 115lbs for 1 set, then 5 sets of 10 at 110lbs
  • Pull-downs: 135lbs for 10 reps, then 5 sets of 10 at 120lbs
    • Upper back is my focus right now, lots of pull downs, pullups, barbell rows, etc.
  • Squat: 225lbs for 5 sets of 10 reps
  • Good Mornings: 10 reps at 205lbs, then 5 sets of 10 reps at 185lbs
    • This was tough to recover from, but back was fine by Friday
  • Deadlifts: 285lbs for 6 sets of 8 reps each
  • Tempo Deadlifts: 285lbs for 1 set of 6, then 255lbs for an additional 6 sets of 6

My lunge streak continues, weather is really cooperating lately. 7 days of lunging outdoors. Today was the 150th day in a row of 400 walking lunges. I cannot endorse this protocol enough, the results have been incredible.

Also, I did a few treadmill cardio sessions, and one day where I did some agility/sprinting for the NFL combine video. Very active week, which is what you look for when you know you’re going to eat a ton of calories.

  • Before Thanksgiving Lunch
  • Sunday After Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving accountability pics above. I think I came through it ok. After all these topless photos, I commit to go the next 2 weeks of posts without a topless photo.

The upcoming week is a transition / de-load week. Then the next block will see some slightly lower rep schemes.

Dad Report: Hero’s Duty…Move!

Good fathers (and husbands) generally need to know how to fix things, how big things are based on online descriptions how big things are and where we keep all the extension cords. All of those skills were on display this week, which can be frustrating at times, but comes with the job.

We decorated the house with Christmas decorations, which meant a few trips to the store for lights, digging in the basement and attic for ornaments and knick knacks.

We procured and packed presents to deliver to the local fire department so they can deliver them back to us next week dressed as Santa on a fire truck. That meant knowing what presents would meet the specific size specifications.

Sometimes, it can feel like I’m the IT guy played by Jimmy Fallon on SNL. The one where the IT guy is super condescending and annoyed that no one else besides him can figure these basic things out.

Also, the wifi-enabled family printer just suddenly stopped connecting to the network. I was called on to handle that too. I am looking forward to the rest of my Sunday where I can finally be left alone before duty calls again.

Related Posts