21.3 & 21.4
DIY Rack/Band Pegs
Titan Fitness hasn’t had their band pegs in stock for months. This is what they look like.
I got sick of waiting, so I bought a four foot length of 5/8″ steel round rod from Home Depot for $15 and made my own.
- Cut the rod down to four 12″ pieces with a cutoff wheel on an angle grinder
- Taper an end of each piece and clean up the other end on a belt sander
- Drill a hole near the non-tapered end, using a drill press and vise
- Insert a nail and cut it so about 1/4″ is left sticking out
- Flatten and/or bend the piece of nail so it can’t escape
- Soften any remaining sharp edges on the sander
- Spray one coat of primer, two coats of black, and two coats of matte clear
They turned out great and I really like how the matte clear finish feels. It’s already getting scuffed up from moving the pegs around a few times though, which I figured would happen. In reality they’re too long and buying a three foot rod would have been better.
So what are these used for? Pegs are the proper way to use bands and things like Crossover Symmetry on a rack/rig. People tend to wrap bands around the J-cups, but that ends up cutting through the bands over time. Nobody like taking a snapped band in the groin! Pegs are round, so they play nice with bands.
DP Ultra Gympac Commercial
I’m the new owner of an amazing piece of fitness equipment. If this commercial from the 80s doesn’t get you fired up to exercise, I don’t know what will.
I’ll post more once it’s set in place and I make some modifications.
30 Muscle-ups
I’ve been craving some muscle-ups during quarantine after going over two months without doing any. I loaded a ladder and my rings in the truck this afternoon and headed over to a playground.
My head was smacking the bar when I set the rings up, got on them, and pressed out, so give me a break on some of the lockouts. I didn’t want a concussion so I made the best of the situation. 😉
| Date | Time for 30 Muscle-ups |
|---|---|
| Jan 31, 2019 | 6:55 |
| Dec 19, 2019 | 5:55 |
| May 16, 2020 | 4:48 |
I think my days of knocking a minute off my time are officially over.
Muscle Beach South Beach
20.5
Finished 20.5 with a time of 18:57.
I’ll probably do 20.3 in a couple of weeks since I had to skip it.
Heart Rate Variability (HRV)
Heart rate variability (HRV) is the physiological phenomenon of variation in the time interval between heartbeats.
Wikipedia
What does that mean? Our hearts don’t beat at regular intervals. There may be a heart beat 1 second after the previous beat, the next beat might be 1.2 seconds later, and another may be 0.75 seconds after. It varies and that variance changes all day long depending on what we’re doing, what we’re thinking, how we’re feeling, how much we eat, how hydrated we are, etc.
I learned about HRV five or six years ago and used the iOS app ithelete paired with a chest strap to track my HRV each morning. It was a pain in the ass and it was really tough to get any meaningful results. Fast forward to 2019 and I wear a WHOOP band, which automatically handles all of the HRV readings and data. It has become a very valuable tool for my exercise and recovery.
If you’d like to learn more about HRV, I highly recommend the latest episode of the WHOOP podcast, Podcast No. 29: Heart Rate Variability (HRV), with Kristen Holmes and Emily Capodilupo. They did an amazing job explaining what HRV is, why it’s important, how it can be used, how WHOOP uses it, and strategies for improving your own HRV. I learned a ton from listening to this episode.
Saturday Workouts
I’m dealing with a calf strain as well as babying my back after a couple of tweaks, so I’m exercising in the garage more than normal. I don’t usually put workouts on this site, but what I came up with today was fun, so I thought I’d share.
The first workout was a pyramid of single arm dumbbell shoulder presses. Start at 5# and do 5 reps on each arm. Add 5# each set, continuing to do 5 reps per arm. Repeat all the way up to 50#. Do a second set with the 50# dumbbell for each arm and then decrease by 5# each set back down to 5#. It ends up being 20 sets for 100 total reps on each arm.
The second workout I did was:
20-15-10-5
- Burpees
- Dumbbell Box Step Overs (24″, 35# DBs)
Give these a try and let me know what you think.
WHOOP 3.0
I’ve been wearing a WHOOP for almost four months and got the new 3.0 yesterday. The quality of everything is a huge improvement over the 2.0. If you want to track heart rate, sleep, and fitness activity (not steps) I highly recommend getting one.
Outdoor Rowing
