ASYLUM VOLUME ONE: Days 2 and 3 (Speed and Agility-Strength)

The schedule for this may seem a bit off because the fit test didn’t count as day 1 as far as the Asylum calendar is concerned, but I counted it that way.

Day 2 was really something. I never realized how uncoordinated I was until I did this workout. You have to put this “agility ladder” on the floor and do lots of exercises where you are going in and out of it…without hitting it, of course. I’d say I hit it at least 60% of the time, and that is being generous. Still, I did what I could. And I know from the past that I will get beter.

Strength was an AWESOME workout, and I’m glad to see Shaun T included some weightlifting exercises into this program. (One of my biggest concerns with Insanity was losing any muscle I had built up during P90X. This time around, it’s not as much of a problem.) I forget the name of my favorite move, but there was one exercise where you did a bicep curl, squatted, went down to plank and did a push-up. That was round one. After that you would take turns bringing both feet up to your hands. Then, in the third round, you added in eight mountain climbers.

Oh, and in a HUGE fitness development (which I forgot to mention here), my Power Blocks finally arrived…and I was able to put them to the test with this workout.

I can’t wait to see what the other workouts are like.

ASYLUM VOLUME ONE: Day 1 (Fit Test)

This isn’t really “day one,” but I labelled it as such because…I felt like it. At any rate, these fit test results might look bad, but you have to consider a couple things: (1) I haven’t worked out in a while, (2) for certain moves you counted the number of cycles you did, NOT the number of reps, and (3) I did the assessment too soon after eating, so I felt nauseous toward the end. (My mistake; I learned for next time.) At any rate, here are the results:

Agility Heisman: 8 cycles
In and Out Ab Progression: 35 reps
Lat Push-Ups: 18 reps
Mountain Climber Switch Kicks: 60 reps
Agility Shoulder Taps: 3 cycles
X Jumps: 23 reps
Moving Push-Ups: 2
Agility Lateral Shuffle: 12 cycles
Agility Bear Crawl: 4 cycles

They may not be the best right now…but they WILL get better over time.

The New Start

Today I will be jumping into Insanity: the Asylum, Volume One. Not only that, but I will be also following the nutrition guide…sort of. I went through the book with my wife Diana; she has to follow a nutritional guide that is a little more restricted on carbohydrates. So what we did was come up with the best meals for the both of us by using the nutrition guides from Asylum, P90X and P90X 2. As I put this meal plan together, I kept Asylum’s structure in mind: five meals per day, with the first two being 500 and 400 calories respectively, and the other three adding up to about 300 calories each.

I had to fudge the calorie numbers a little bit because here is the deal: I am currently 206 lbs. The nutrition guide told me I would need 2400 calories per day to maintain my weight. Well, I don’t WANT to maintain this weight. My goal is to get down to a point where I actually look like I have some kind of business announcing myself as a health/fitness coach, because right now I don’t look anywhere near the part.

A review of my first day of Asylum will come later. In the meantime, here are my “before” photos. For those of you who have seen other pictures of me, you will notice that being an over-the-road truck driver surprisingly didn’t take too much of a toll on my weight. However, I am still far off from where I want to be. That all changes, starting today!!!

News from the Road

Ironically, I’m writing this from the same place where I wrote my last in-depth blog. (I DID write a very quick one a few weeks ago, but it was so short that it hardly counts as a blog.)

I have been on the road with my co-driver John for about a month now. We are due to have home time next Thursday. We’ll see if we get back on time. The money has been coming in good…much better than it did with the state…but I miss my family. Tonight I was so choked up on the phone that I could barely talk to my wife and kids.

I have a few feelers out for jobs back home: there are some trucking companies willing to take people with my level of experience, plus there is my old state job, AND a state exam I will be taking on June 2.

A few weeks ago I stayed in a hotel room and started to fiddle around with my guitar. To my surprise, I came up with an arrangement that sounded pretty good (and NEW) to me. I wrote down a basic song structure, but I have yet to come up with the lyrics.

There have also been some advances with my comic book life. Two stories of mine will be featured in an anthology: a short story called “The Bite” and the first 12-15 pages or so of THE REDEMPTION PROJECT. I will have copies for sale. When I know more, so will you!

Over the Road

I haven’t had a real killer week in terms of pay yet, but we are getting there. The hardest part is figuring out how to get my workouts in as a team because here is the catch: as a solo guy, I would have my 10 hour break to do my workout…but as a team, my co-driver starts driving while I rest. It isn’t easy, but I am going to pull it off…somehow.

I didn’t have much time to write anything, but I wanted to write SOME kind of update because I haven’t been on in ages.

Decisions, Decisions…about Employment

156 hours down, 84 more to go. I’m looking at approximately one more week of training here with Swift. After that,. I don’t know what will happen. My friend John wanted to team drive with me when our training is over, but there is one major snag: the benefits here are awful.

My wife has an ongoing neurlogical problem that no doctor has been able to solve. I asked the Swift benefits department what the cost is for her to see a neurologist. There is a deductible of $2,000 that we have to pay OUT OF POCKET before the insurance covers anything…AND that is per year, so on January 1st the amount we have paid out reverts to zero.

The salary for a grade 6 state worker is certainly not enough to support a family of six like mine, but I pose this question: what difference does it make to earn more…if you have to pay out all that extra money for doctor visits?

I’d have no choice but to get a second job. So even though I wouldn’t be over the road, I would still hardly be home. Then again, even if I get in at midnight, at least I’m going home every day.

The way things are now makes me feel like I made the dumbest mistake of my life coming here. Then again, reviewing history shows I had no choice: I worked in an office full of vicious, heartless assholes who had no problem with flat out making up stories to supervisors about things I didn’t do…and since the supervisors liked the snitches more than an artsy weirdo like me, THEIR stories were always believed. Not only that, but the hours were garbage; 12:30-8:30pm meant the only job I could get with hours that fit into my schedule was an overnight shift, and I HATED overnights.

So, long story short, this is my verdict: I will keep working with Swift for now…but if the state takes me back (even as a grade 6), I’m going back to that and getting a part-time evening job.

Swift…so far

This is something I wrote in my notebook the other day…

*****
I don’t know when I will get to post this, but as of this writing I have 96 hours of driving time done for my training. The goal is 240 hours, as well as 40 backing maneuvers. (My current total for that is 10.) After 240 and 40, I have to go back to the Syracuse, NY terminal and do a road test to see if I can be solo.

The training program is better than Trans Am in some ways, worse in others. Better: I’m actually getting backing experience this time. Worse: my coach isn’t as laid back or easy to talk to. He is much older than me (56), whereas my Trans Am trainer Juan was closer to my age. Plus he has been driving for over 20 years; Juan had been at it for only four.

I’ve been trying to pinpoint if the time of day corresponds to the lowering of this guy’s interpersonal skills. (For example, maybe he isn’t a morning person.) It doesn’t seem to relate to that though. He is capable of being a dick at any time of day, and it could even be right after he was being super friendly. The only conclusion I can reach is that there is no pattern; he is friendly or a douche whenever the mood strikes him. Dealing with that kind of unpredictability sucks, but I try to keep reminding myself, “It’s only for two more weeks.”

Other Swift drivers have advised me: just take your mentor’s shit and get off their truck. Another guy I met added this advice to that: “Whenever he gets an attitude, just think of something YOU excel at. He is better at truck driving than you, but YOU are better at writing, martial arts, working out, playing guitar, and so on. Then you will realize you may be inexperienced at driving, but there are some things you do better than him.”

I like that advice…more than words can say.