I’m going to start sharing interesting links I come across but don’t want to comment on further at the time. It could end up being weekly or every few weeks depending on how many links I save up. A Simple Route to a Plug Top Pi Is getting ripped worth it? A Few Notes on […]
This is why I don’t buy pop for the house. In less than 24 hours I finished off 1/4 of the case. I can’t stop myself because it’s so Dee-licious! Areas of the country where you can’t get Faygo are really missing out.
I made some updates to the Garage Temperature Sensor & Monitor. I didn’t like how the desired temperature was set via the app’s configuration file, so I moved it to a slider control in Home Assistant and updated the LCD to always show the value. Only being able to enable/disable monitoring via the device’s button also wasn’t great. I converted the binary sensor I was using to flag monitor mode in HA to a switch control and moved the actual monitoring logic from the Python app to HA automation. Everyhing is updated on GitHub.
Info and controls in Home AssistantCustom temperature and humidity monitor
I just finished my second go-round of the Thruster Attack program I created almost 2 years ago. I didn’t remember it hurting so much. I started on November 12th and had to stretch out this final week so today actually marks 71 days.
Basically you do thruster intervals twice a week. The days start on opposite ends of the energy pathway spectrum, aerobic and anaerobic, and meet in the middle during week 10. For specifics, read the original post (linked above). I’m really happy with how well the program holds up. I’ve seen solid improvements in my fitness both times I’ve done it and several friends who just finished or are in various weeks of the program are also seeing fitness gains.
Many of us who enjoy fitness say we’d pick a heavy squat if we could only do one movement for the rest of our life, but a thruster might be the better choice.
While I think the program as originally written is solid, I tried out some changes on myself this time:
During the first 3 weeks, I did 2 extra sets on the heavy days.
For the first 3 weeks of Tabata work I kept the rep count at 8 for every set.
In weeks 4-5 I started to increase the reps during later Tabata rounds.
For weeks 6-10 I did 9 reps for every set of Tabata work.
After the first week or two, I rarely did any other exercising on thruster days.
Until the last few weeks, I was only doing CrossFit 1-2 other days per week.
All of those changes worked well for me, but may not work for others. The rep counts were low enough in those initial weeks where I could recover fast enough to add in the extra sets on heavy days. During weeks 4-5 the heavy days were the worst and I had to break up some sets. When I originally wrote this program and was testing it out, I’m pretty sure I skipped one of those weeks due to a work trip. In week 4 I had to do the last set of 10 as sets of 6 and 4. Then in week 5 I had to go 6-4 and 4-3-3 on the final two sets. While some of the Tabata work gets boring and turns into a grind, I was never in danger of failing any reps.
How about some numbers? Over the course of 20 sessions, I completed 2,309 thrusters and moved 146,890 pounds! Warm-ups would push those over 2,400 and 150k.
Thruster movement chart from Beyond the Whiteboard
Is it overkill doing so many thrusters? Maybe. Did I want to quit? Almost every workout. Does it work? Definitely.
Who remembers this show? I don’t know why, but my family used to watch it all the time when I was growing up. The intro music still creeps me out and gave me goosebumps when I found this video. Makes me wonder if watching shows like this has an effect on us later in life? Am I […]
When I picked up the new Nano 7 I could immediately sense the improvements in the quality of materials over the previous versions of the shoe. Not to say they were bad, but the weave they used feels so much different on the 7. Overall the shoe seems to be a good mix of the best parts […]
My sleep routine has been poor for a couple of months. When I find a new hobby (like all of this electronics stuff I’ve been tinkering with), especially around computers, I enjoy it the most at night when I’m done with everything else for the day. My addictive personality has a hard time knowing when to stop, so I’ve been getting to bed around 2am almost every night. It’s time to get back into a better routine, and I’ve been to bed my midnight two nights in a row now. Baby steps.
Sleep might be the one thing almost everyone can improve, which would have a significant impact on their life. Here are some of my favorite tips:
Keep the room cool.
Keep the bedroom reserved for bedroom “activities.” It helps your brain realize when it’s time to go to sleep. No TV or web surfing.
If you wake up in the middle of the night, don’t look at the clock. Ever!
Keep a notepad on your nightstand so you can jot down any ideas you need to get out of your head.
Turn off your phone or set it to Do Not Disturb. It can wait until the morning.
Don’t set an alarm. If you have to set an alarm, find a wearable device that can wake you during light sleep by your assigned time. Waking up during deep sleep causes you to be groggy and tired.
What are your favorite tips or rituals?
I use Sense by Hello to track my sleep. It monitors all kinds of conditions in my room. Here is the summary from last night.
These are my sleep scores over the last month.
These are scores and other data over the last quarter.
