Posts

Senior Project Update #4

 I think my senior project has been quite successful both in the weight room and learning to read and write in Russian. On average, I worked out 4.5 times a week and I am practically done learning all the vowels in Russian which would conclude learning all the symbols and mean I would just need to practice to get faster at reading. Cooking was definitely harder. It was tough to consistently cook every day as well as find new recipes to try. Especially this last week with baseball starting I would get home around 8 and not have time to cook.  I think I have met most of my goals from the start of the project. While I don't think I can be totally independent in the weight room yet, I have definitely made serious strides to get there. My form has improved drastically and I'm starting to understand the routines. I have gotten better at cooking but I haven't gotten to the place where I don't need the recipe. And with reading Russian, although I can technically read (but not w...

Senior Project Update #3

Image
 Nothing exceptionally interesting happened this week. I was able to work out five of the seven days which is a new record for this project. I worked out on Saturday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. My form has improved drastically, mainly due to me lowering the weight on the bar to focus on the path of the bar. My arms felt much better after chest day this week than last week even though I ended up lifting more weight.  One thing I learned this week is how to tell if grilled fish is ready. I had a talk with Peter where he asked me how I knew a fish was ready. That's when I realized, I never really knew. Usually, half the fish would be ready (the pieces in the center of the grill) and the other half would need to stay on a little while longer. I searched on the internet how to tell when fish is ready to found that the interior of the fish should be between 140-145 degrees and about a nifty fork trick to cut into the fish to see if it breaks at an angle. The fish I ma...

Senior Project Update #2

Image
One of my favorite stories from senior projects happened this past week when I was doing decline bench presses. I forgot to put my feet under the handles which meant I had lost a substantial amount of leverage. I picked up the bar and did one rep. As soon as I lowered the bar again I knew it wasn't going back up. My friend was looking away at that moment and didn't see me struggling. The bar somehow ended up on my neck so naturally I started making screeching noises. My friend quickly came over and took the bar off my neck as we were both laughing hysterically about the noise that had just come out of my mouth. I wasn't hurt and was able to complete the set later but nonetheless it was a very memorable experience. I have learned that form is the most important part of lifting, not how strong you are. My friend has been doing his best teaching me form but sometimes I just can't get it quite right so we need to find a different exercise for me to do. This is most apparent...

Senior Project Update #1

Image
 My senior project is to simply build good habits that will help me in college and later in life. I am building a workout plan and learning new recipes daily to help accomplish this feat. Since I am more of a beginner when it comes to weight lifting I employed the help of one of my friends. He has monthly workout plans that he has fine tuned over quarantine and we're at a similar body build and strength so the partnership works well.  I chose this project because during Covid I found it hard to get exercise with gyms being closed down and sports not happening. As things start to open up, and people getting vaccinated this seems like the perfect time to get back into the gym. Using Milo's gym is an improvement over more public gyms because we can work at our own pace and not feel pressured to increase weight, etc. Most days after basketball and one day on the weekend Milo and I meet at his house to lift, hitting different muscle groups each time. After that I usually get home a...