EPTAbout 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!
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: Clearance gained for the Fort Worth from the job! Game time! Time also to correct some inefficiencies/form breaks in my lifts.
Goals for the Week
“Remember that underlying all our fears is a lack of trust in ourselves.” --Susan Jeffers
Fitness Goals: + Show Spoiler [Long Term Goals] +
Join the Big 3 1000lb club. + Show Spoiler [Progress] +
Hit 5x10 Pull-ups and graduate to weighted pull-ups. + Show Spoiler [Progress] +
Weigh 175 and/or hit 15% Body Fat. + Show Spoiler [Progress] +
830lb. Currently up to 970 on the Big 4. Wilk's Score:253.79
Hit 5x10 Pull-ups and graduate to weighted pull-ups. + Show Spoiler [Progress] +
Currently at 7 a set.
Weigh 175 and/or hit 15% Body Fat. + Show Spoiler [Progress] +
4 Weight-lifting sessions (program)(rep log):
![[image loading]](http://wiki.teamliquid.net/starcraft/images2/6/66/GreenCheck.png)
2 Rowing HIIT or LISS sessions (log):
(opt) Running/Hills/Weighted walk sessions (log):
Weight Loss (slow 2k/cal cut): (food log)(chart) + Show Spoiler [Up-to-date Progress] +
![[image loading]](http://tickers.myfitnesspal.com/ticker/show/1040/9942/10409942.png)
Log daily food intake: (log)
Weigh-in daily: (log)
Music Goals: + Show Spoiler [Long Term Goals] +
Win a major symphony orchestra audition. + Show Spoiler [Progress/How to?] +
Be comfortable and confident playing each orchestral position. + Show Spoiler [How to?] +
I've made finals at major symphony auditions in recent months. I'm going to play well and compete in both Fort Worth or San Francisco by committing to daily mental prep, running mock auditions with fellow musicians, and seeking out lessons with top teachers.
Be comfortable and confident playing each orchestral position. + Show Spoiler [How to?] +
Seek out and play duets with my co-workers whenever possible. Request to play as many different positions in local orchestras as possible.
Compete in the Fort Worth Symphony Audition: (repertoire), (prep log)
Compete in the San Francisco Opera Audition: (repertoire), (prep log)
Daily Self-Hypnosis or Affirmation sessions: (
![[image loading]](http://wiki.teamliquid.net/starcraft/images2/5/5e/Icon_Armor.png){kind=icon}
) Daily Meditation sessions: (
![[image loading]](http://www.teamliquid.net/tlpd/images/maps/ob.gif)
)Quality challenge-seeking practice session: (
![[image loading]](http://wiki.teamliquid.net/starcraft/images/1/10/Gold.png)
![[image loading]](http://wiki.teamliquid.net/starcraft/images/0/0b/Silver.png)
![[image loading]](http://wiki.teamliquid.net/starcraft/images/f/f2/Bronze.png)
)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):
Previous Weeks: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36.
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Monday 4/13:
(![[image loading]](http://www.teamliquid.net/staff/R1CH/LadderDown.png)
); (); (It's a trend for me that the first things to go when I am thrown stressful situations are the objects of my most recent focus. Take this previous weekend's work with the orchestra. While I centered and played very well in the moment, I didn't remember to do my mental prep work during the day. Of any of my activities, one would think those would be the last things to be tossed aside.
On the flip side, the habits I've solidified are still going strong. Workouts aren't missed on account of stressful situations. I don't over-eat or fail to log my food anymore to cope with stressful situations. Those are definitely worth celebrating, but I have to remember to focus on the new stuff when the fan flings the shit.
Practice on this day was good! Did a good deal of processing work for the new San Francisco list. It was a lot of slow high practice... hot diggity darn. The face is holding up nicely throughout the practice schedule! Focusing on flow and efficiency is paying dividends.
Tuesday 4/14:
(![[image loading]](http://www.teamliquid.net/staff/R1CH/LadderUp.png)
); (); (Paying dividends double on days like this! The morning rehearsal was nothing to write home about: just another rote recording session of the usual drivel. The day picked up quickly after though! My plan was to come home and knock out quality high-excerpt practice work on the San Fran list but allowing myself time to recover for the night's rehearsal. What was on the docket for the night rehearsal you ask? A little known Bach Mass that is a nightmare for the first horn: (go to 3:08 for maybe 20-30s if the damn link doesn't work)
Yep... hear all those flutey high notes? That repeats for the whole damn piece.... At any rate, I wanted to test my efficiency and endurance and allow myself a nice 3-hour window of hydrated recovery time in between a challenging practice session and the first rehearsal for this piece (among others). What's worse is that the choir and its conductor are both old and very amateur so the tempo gradually became slower and slower as the piece continued. Oh my god... I thought was going to succumb to death by ritardando. Thankfully the Bach was first on the program.
At any rate, I learned more about my limitations and programming my practice time. I also nailed a pretty solid Bench Day!
Wednesday 4/15:
(); (); (I was very happy with today's Squat Day effort until I watched the tape.... Ugh, I'm not 100% positive but I fear I'm not getting deep enough on my squats. To my eyes, I'm just barely hitting parallel and definitely not getting near below parallel. My battles with butt wink seem to be largely resolved, but I do still want to hit at least parallel and have it be a reputable squat. We'll see...
Other than that I'm off to a pretty solid day! Some good sight-reading went down this morning in rehearsal and I'm feeling pumped to knock out some good practice and maybe a Fringe/Rowing session tonight! Keep you posted!
Thursday 4/16:
(); (); (It's official!!!! Yes, yes... that's right boy and girls! 179.8!!! Woooohooo! At long last, I've broken back into the 170s. I'm super happy this progress!!! Right now I'm trying to decide which Cheesecake recipe make in celebration! I'm learning towards Smores or Chocolate Explosion
.Sweeet! The day is shaping up nicely! The goals for the day are to do intake and categorization work on the majority of Fort Worth excerpts and break them into two separate practice groups for daily work. If I accomplish that in good time, I'll spend some energy ironing out the kinks in some of the crazy challenging SF Opera excerpts. All of this will be done before 4pm at which point I will break for a rowing session and the evening Bach rehearsal.
The wife invited me to go on her lunch time Couch to 5k so that should be fun as well! Today should be awesome :-)
P.S. Planescape:Torment thus far is super awesome! It's 2 dollars today so definitely pick it up if you haven't already.... I'm kinda salty that I spent 8 dollars combined on BG2 and it yesterday.... Whatever, I'm supporting GOG and, through GOG, Axiom I suppose. Tempted to request the refund because I'd love to spend that 4 dollars on the Icewind Dales.
The afternoon run with the wife was delightful! We'll definitely be doing more of that in the coming weeks! It's the perfect activity I can do with her basically on any day. She's much smaller than I am and is just getting back into shape, so I can do the run without consideration for any other exercise that may happen later in the day. I doubt my HR ever broke 130 on the run.
Friday 4/17:
(); (); (Just a quick update for today! The morning workday, through which I thought I'd be able to practice, was actually consumed with a sight-reading rehearsal of an interesting and very idiomatic piece by Malcolm Arnold! I'm really looking forward to working it up and performing it! After the morning rehearsal, my face just felt beat up all day so I finished off the intake work for Fort Worth. Mock auditions will begin in earnest next week after I get some process cues ironed out!
Nailed Press day! Got a PR of 135 up and over my head! Now time to reset the weight and focus on good form.
Saturday 4/18:
(); (); () Nailed 3 reps on the 1+ Deadlift work set today pulling 315lbs! Didn't record it but it felt good. My grip failed in the mid-200s which was disconcerting, but the alternate grip held up nicely. Full day of rehearsals and then an evening concert tonight! Busy busy! Also, I'm following up on a great Craigslist deal which will get me another weight tree and take my weight availability comfortably into the 500lb range. Hope it works out!
Sunday 4/19:
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+ Show Spoiler [Housekeeping] +
Sunday 4/12: (); (); ()
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