[Wk22] Improving in Fitness, Gaming & Music

About this blog/diary:+ Show Spoiler +

I'm a professional musician and (very) amateur gamer.
Blogging about improving and sticking to a program is very effective for my overall progress!
Having been inspired by Haulvern, I hope this humble blog can motivate another someone in need of positive change.
Thanks for checking this out and feel free to leave any comments or suggestions!

Week preview: Last week of prep for the premiere on Sunday! This week will be devoted to a positive mental approach to the week's stressors.

Goals for the Week

Fitness Goals:
4 Weight-lifting sessions (log)(program): [image loading]

(opt.) Running/Hills/Weighted walk sessions (log):
Be <185b by Dec 20: + Show Spoiler +

            Gaming Goals:
                  Log write-ups of my team's OCC Blood Bowl games (Current Standings):
                  Log write-ups and session prep for my DND 5E Campaign (wiki):
                  Prep new TL and Fever Clan 5e Campaign:
                  Log games/practice for CSGO:

            Personal Goals:
                  Daily Mental Discipline sessions: ( [image loading]

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Log daily food intake: (log) ( [image loading]

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Quality challenge-seeking practice session: (

)(

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Weigh-in regularly (log): ( [image loading]

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Previous Weeks: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21.

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Monday 12/1: [image loading]

Speaking of stressors, the bad news is in from Puerto Rico and Turkey Day. I weighed in heavier than expected so I have some space to make up. That's ok though. Back onto the program and everything will even out.

The exercise program is going well though! My homemade Glute Ham Raise is an absolute killer! On top of the first GHR workout, I absolutely rocked Squat Day and am enjoying the after-effects today. It makes me appreciate stairs and getting out of chairs, but that's all the better!

Work this morning was full of sight-reading while playing on a new horn. It was a bit stressful, but I was happy with the effort. Several sessions at home were also quite good!

I'm becoming frustrated with my CSGO progress... My aim isn't coming together like I would like. My brother is beginning to leave me behind in progression, and I'm really feeling the pressure to get my act together. Earlier today I played a rather depressing Win on the alt account. I just couldn't hit the shots... Found myself missing higher than expected... Tonight I'll play at least one game on the main account, but I'm going to do some stutter step practice for sure beforehand.

Tuesday 12/2: [image loading]

Today's Press Day workout was good, but not great. I nailed the 3+ set with a 5 rep effort but there was a hiccup in form on the last set. Since the extended audition/tour reprieve my chinups have regressed slightly. I'm trying to bring them back while getting full range of motion. My current garage gym setup doesn't allow for true full ROM because I hit my head on the ceiling a bit after my chin breaks the bar plane. Oh well, good stuff generally.

To supplement my CSGO efforts I've been learning the situational grenade throws! I can now nail the mirage sniper nest throw and all the A-site approach grenades. On dust 2 I'm hitting all the Long throws, the mid-ct smoke and some B-take pops for now. They're pretty fun to learn!! I'm not taking note of this as practice time however. This is just an off-hour pastime. Fun stuff though!

Wednesday 12/3: [image loading]

Relatively busy day full of dog vet visits and other such timesinks. Nailed a good set of sessions and played well in rehearsal this morning.

My CSGO aim practice was particularly good today in that I picked up a part of my routine that had been sorely lacking. I've started tracking drills where I keep my reticule on a moving target for as long as I can. When I started I was shaky at best, but it's getting much better! Upped my sens slightly from 1.0/800 to 1.05/800 and it was just enough of a difference. In the matched I played today, I was super nervous but contributed at multiple points throughout the match. I even had the chance to clutch the last round and was literally one bullet away from doing so (it would've been my fourth consecutive kill in the round...)!! Oh well. super tense and I was happy with the tie. The mirage sniper smoke opened up our midgame nicely!

Thursday 12/4: [image loading]

Dead Day was pretty good. No big complaints. It's getting hard to grip the bar consistently when it's 35-45 degrees in my garage. Chalk helps a little bit, and I warm up my hands in between sets, but still it's painful.

Today's big event was the dress rehearsal for the premiere of the piece on Sunday. Despite feeling nervous about it, it went quite well. The three of us were much more comfortable today than the previous (and first) rehearsal. Not too shabby.

Tomorrow and the next day will likely have sparse updates. I'll be on the road with a couple of travel-heavy Christmas gigs. I'm particularly enthused for the gig tomorrow as it's a principal gig for a show at a casino. Those not familiar with the music business might not know the difference between that and a standard orchestra gig. Basically you're completely amplified playing into a mic and often you play along with a click-track rather than listening to your coworkers or looking at the conductor. It's a bit of a different challenge, but I'm looking forward to it.

Friday 12/5: [image loading]

Saturday 12/6: [image loading]

Darn it all nuts... Yesterday's gig didn't go as well as I had hoped. I was pretty nervous about it going into the day, and I totally nailed the only rehearsal. I felt really comfortable in the moment and played to the best of my abilities. However, the interim time was squandered with some over-eating at the free dinner and not enough relaxation. A buddy of mine walked around the casino to hunt down an arcade. I did end up getting some downtime before the concert but not as much as I had hoped. During the concert, I fatigued more than expected and didn't play up to my potential. There were more misses than in rehearsal.... I was super frustrated by it but stayed in the moment and kept battling. Mindset from the outset was a bit behind the ball... Kept focusing on note-perfection rather than staying in the moment and the process. Oh well...
I did pick up more work for the weekend yesterday though! The concertmaster asked me to fill in with his college orchestra for a Tuesday concert. The dress rehearsal falls after the premiere tomorrow so the only loser in this situation is my wife. She won't see me at all this weekend basically.... And my Blood Bowl game will have to be rescheduled for Monday. hopefully that will work...

In a related note, yesterday was a prime example of my stress-eating tendencies. Twice I let myself use foods as a drug for the endorphine rush of feeling overly full: once during the free dinner and then at home after the fact with some trail mix... Ugh.... To accommodate for this behavior and my odd travel requirements, I'll be incorporating a new marking system for the diet portion. Green clock means everything was logged correctly, while blue means only a partial log or a day in which I ate responsibly, but didn't log everything correctly. The red time marker will denote days in which I overeat by a wide margin to keep a log of this particular habit of mine.

Today's gig will be ez-mode so I'm hoping to get some practice in for tomorrow's premiere. I'll be keeping a better eye on the diet today, but won't be able to input everything. Bench Day this morning (first thing in the morning!) kicked some butt. Lifting in near freezing temps feels pretty hardcore.

Sunday 12/7: [image loading]

Ugh... well the premiere was well received but wasn't played up to the standard we had rehearsed... Grr... We're hoping to play it again later this year in a duo recital. Hopefully that will work! I was happy with the third movement and sections of the second, but the first just felt really really slippery and scattered. Ugh. Oh well.

The evening rehearsal was alot of fun! The group is terrible but the music is fun. Ez paycheck ftw.

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CS:GO Reference Section: Loot Timer:

Original Nova 1 Account:

Nova 2 Alt Account: Weapon

12/1: 20min aim practice, W on Alt, T on Main (fucking wallers!!!!)

12/2: 10min aim practice.

12/3: 50min aim practice. T on Main.

12/4: 25min aim practice. W on Main. W on Alt.

[Wk22] Improving in Fitness, Gaming & Music

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