Daily Exercise Log February 2026

Welcome to February 2026. It's cold ...

February 21, 2026

Day 6, walk

Day 6, walk is a recovery day, from the 4x4 yesterday. No one told the weather peeps that I do not prefer windy (10 + mph), cold (33 degF), massively damp relative humidity (92%) weather.

By the time I got home, I was chilled. Nasty day.

Almost no PAI points. I think it may have been the scarf ...

February 20, 2026

Day 5, row 4x4

I remember when I first started doing 4 x 4s occasionally. It was awful, not well done. Now, it's still awful, but my form is better, and I go faster. It's over quicker if i get into flow. else, it's just suffer for 4 minutes at a pop, watching that damned timer.

Note that PAI bump of 5 points isn't much. Also note that my hr pattern is pretty ....

February 19, 2026

Day 4 of 6, walk

Day 4, walk. Had to wait until the ice coating melted. When out for Freddie's early walk, it was ice as far as I could see.

Eventually, I went outside. Walking was on wet no-ice surfaces, except for 2 places, where my choice was either mud and water, or ice and water. I chose ice. Started to press more halfway thru, and look what happened.

Tomorrow is row, 4 x 4. Welcome, to tomorrow.

February 18, 2026

Day 3 of 6, row

The objective of this work is to stretch, do it rhythmically, breath well, and blast Ozzy Radio on Pandora. Mission accomplished.

Tomorrow, ground should continue clear and wet. I may, or may not, push for PAI points. For now, just recovery from weights. I mean, f'k, I'm old ...

February 17, 2026

Day 2 of 6, walk.

When i went with Freddie on his early walk, it was wet outside - snow melt, the air, the uncovered surfaces. Decided to wear my Xero walking shoes. Good choice, too. Almost entire path I took was clear. 

My legs feel used from yesterday. Other than that, I made it. before the threatened fog shows up ...

Not a lot of PAI points, but I did it.

February 16, 2026

Day 1 of 6, weights.

Nothing out of the ordinary. Perfection is the ordinary done the ordinary way, without issue. Even lit up my heart rate a bit. Bingo...

My head was in an alternative space, for reasons I cannot know. I was worried about damage - that shit's heavy. Nope. The ever faithful hand of one arm bent over rows sheds the fog, lights up the muscles. I love the exercise.

February 15, 2026

Day 1, kinda, but really Day 6.

Day 1, weights, didn't happen. Day 5, row 4x4, left me needing a recovery day. Since I'd rather work on my VO2Max, I need 'another day' to do the HIIT 4 x 4, rather than overworking. So, Day 6, rest/walk.

A few things, all together. First, every 12 weeks I'd like to change my exercise pattern/details. The current 12 week stuff started December 8, 2025 (week 22 ADRS after damage to my right shoulder, in July), and 12 weeks later is week 34 (roughly February 24, 2026). I'm due for a change, and this 5>6 thing is the first manifestation. Second, I'll fool w/ changing sets/reps/weight on Day 1 for the next week or two.

Here's where I am with grok: day 5 row s/b 4x4 hiit

Got it, rich—adjusting the cycle so Day 5 becomes your 4×4 HIIT row session (instead of steady-state row), and keeping everything else exactly as-is from your log and constraints.

Updated 6-Day Cycle (Repeat Every 6 Days)

Day 1 – Lift

Your full current session (single-arm DB row, DB chest press, DB squats, DB flies, seated cable row, cable RDLs, standing cable crunch, Pallof press, facepull, cable pull-thrus, acc/ecc neutral grip lat pulldown).

Sets/reps/weights/notes unchanged. ~50–55 min total.

Day 2 – Walk

30–60 min easy pace (active recovery).

Day 3 – Row

Steady-state moderate row (30–45 min at conversational pace, ~60–70% effort).

Under 60 min.

Day 4 – Walk 

Same as Day 2—easy 30–60 min.

Day 5 – 4×4 HIIT (Row)

Warm-up: 5–10 min easy row

Main: 4 rounds  4 min hard row (80–90% max sustainable effort—push hard but don't redline to failure)  

4 min easy/active recovery row (very light spin, ~40–50% effort)

Cool-down: 5 min easy row + light stretch

Total time: ~35–45 min (fits under 60 min easily).

Do this once per week on Day 5—it's your high-intensity day.

Day 6 – Rest

True off or very light walk if you feel like moving. Full recovery focus.

February 14, 2026

Day 5, row. Happy St. Valentine's Day. Temps started in the teens, up to 30s by the time I got back and checked. 4 x 4 on the rower. Felt much stronger going in than coming out, but i was surprised. 

Finally, managed to hit 150 bpm. Much of this was about 30-40 seconds faster per 500m split than my usual. Surprise #2. i wasn't sure i could do the 4th cycle. I did. sweating like a soaker hose. It's all good.

For those you you following my medical travails, i row much better - form, focus, pull - when my blood glucose numbers are higher (normies would get side eye from the Doc, I get applause from my Endo).

February 13, 2026

Day 4, walk. Started out at 10 degF and overcast, ended at 15 degF and mostly blue sky. I'm hopeful it's the last of these days ...

Parka, boots, and scarf, along w/ all the rest. I felt good, so I tried to push my pace, until my back foot started to slip a bit. Walked on ice, snow, black ice, dry pavement, plow trails. I'd rather lift weights ...

My cardio conditioning is pretty good, which makes it more difficult to race my heart beat. 

February 12, 2026

Day 3, row. The intent is just to stretch out from Day 1's work. I do leave a good looking hr pattern, though. Go me ...

The temps were mildish, if low 20s is mild to you. Feels like summer to me ... except for the snow every day ...

February 11, 2026

Day 2, walk. Yesterday, i'd expected the o/n temps to be flattish, but dry. Well, I got the temps, but light snow part of the night, and more steady wind. less than an inch of mostly graupel. which turns out, like sand on ice. so far, so good. the snowpack, OTHfoot, was mostly like wet concrete, annoying to walk thru, but cold as it clumps on the bottoms of my boots. So, I didn't go far.

When I start out, i'm uncertain of how far I'll go. 5-10 minutes in, well, maybe 2 loops if the sidewalk's still deep. well, maybe just 1 loop ... sometimes, the bear wins.

February 10, 2020

Day 1, weights. temp was low 20s degF. No wind. But, snow? Hell Yes.

Tracker ran way long. the duration on setlist sheet is ok. Just goes to show, this isn't cardio. Need to walk distance && || cold. That should unfold as the weather loses it's grip.

All was well, except: 02_ feels heavy; 04_ my form still sucks, cause my chest strength does too; 10_ was difficult, holding my balance an issue. Either have the 165# throw me into the stack, or fall forward on my face -  like i said, difficult.

February 9, 2026

Day 5, row. the temp was all the way up to 12 degF when I left for the gym. just pulled enuf on the rower to make sure I'd likely be OK tomorrow, Day 1, weights.

February 8, 2026

yet again, Day 0 - don't go outside voluntarily. Gusty wind, snow, and near 3 degF. Screw it, i'm going to stay inside. rapid unscheduled NFW ...

February 7, 2026

Day 0 - don't go outside voluntarily. Gusty wind, snow, and near 0 degF. Screw it, i'm going to stay inside. rapid unscheduled NFW ...

February 6, 2026

Day 5, row. It's cold outside. 4x4 on the rower is difficult for me. I clearly need more work. Here's what I did. I was pulling pretty hard. My hr is in good condition. My muscles are iffy.

February 5, 2026

Day 4, walk. Today, mid-morning, was supposed to be my "Medicare Bribe to Keep Your Doctor Cash Flush", or "officially called the Annual Wellness Visit (often abbreviated as AWV)." I've done these before, and recall no useful outcome.. So, 8am sharp, the Doc's office calls, he's called in sick (!), can I reschedule? sure, when? Next Monday, 8:15am, with a PA. I feel so bad, I feel so numb, yeah.

So, i came home, and went for my Day 4 walk. Need to do something about my conditioning.

PAI is a useful metric to track, directionally, whether my cardiovascular conditioning is proper. if "my PAI number" is over 100, I'm improving. Otherwise, not.The number itself is presented (IIRC) as a 7 or 10 day moving average. I've had a solid week of terrible weather, and a low PAI score.

What to do about it is the problem. I'm already on a daily schedule, already on a good sized dose of l-arginine 1000mg and l-citrulline 750mg, twice daily (recommended - my breathing improved dramatically). Planning on trying a 4 x 4 cycles minutes w/ 3m rest. that'd be tomorrow.

February 4, 2026

Day 3, row. upper teens / lower 0s degF. not much wind. same few inches of light and fluffy.

This tracker failure came about because my wristband was worn loose, and should have been replaced a month ago when I got the new ones. Today, i met my forcing function.

Other than that, I felt stiff and non-lively. Couldn't stay in my flow. Such is my fate ...

February 3, 2026

Day 2, walk. overnight got a few inches of light fluffy, but it was warm-ish lower 20s degF. So, shirt Jac, not parka. no scarf. trail shoes not pull on boots. I wanted to be colder, not parka comfy. Mission accomplished, for a RECOVERY walk. It's a ride not a race - read that somewhere. Oh, it was on a g-string ... nevermind.

For the student paying attention, today is day 209 in recovery from the chest press drop in July. 12 weeks back is 209-(12 x  7) = 209 - 84 = 125 = 11/11/25. Started the current weights Lower set started on 12/8/25 (day 152 post damage). So, another month or so of this setlist / 5 day patetrn.

February 2, 2026

Day 1, weights. Some of the exercises felt 'heavy', but nothing special. Which translated into "add weight or reps". One more cycle of this, and I'll be near 12 weeks of this set. Then, a bit more.

February 1, 2026

Day 5, row. I need the stretch before I lift tomorrow. My strength seems higher/more of it, even though the numbers aren't showing heavy pounding work. Last two time with weights, I felt strong. Signs of non-death. I'm taking the win.