Daily Exercise Log September 2026
Welcome to September 2026. The weather is humid, as we approach the End of Summer Season.
Links to prior 2026 months in June version.
The 6 day cycle: 1) Weights A, 2)walk, 3)row, 4)Weights B, 5)walk, 6)row. Then, do it again.
The 8 cycle cycle: repeat the 6 day cycle 8 times. Then, a deload - no weights. Then, do it again.
September exercise, in one picture
You did 30 straight days, broken down almost perfectly into the structure you've been building:
8 weight sessions: 4 A / 4 B
11 rows
11 walks
The first week was your deload, then you restarted Sept. 8 with the 4×4 rowing experiment, followed by three complete 6-day cycles and the first five days of cycle 4 by month-end. (hobbytreat.blogspot.com)
The month had three distinct phases
1. Deload / reset.
Sept. 1–7 was nominally a no-weights deload, but you still moved every day because you feel better moving than sitting around. The standout was Sept. 5: you deliberately pushed rowing from ~40–41 W to 44–45 W for six minutes. HR rose substantially, then settled back down after you returned to baseline. You treated that as a successful perturbation rather than a new training target. (hobbytreat.blogspot.com)
2. Restart and re-establish the machine.
Sept. 8–25 is where the routine really became settled again. The 4×4 on Sept. 8 was hard but didn't wreck you as badly as in the past. The next day you were able to walk normally. Weight sessions increasingly felt like something that loosened you up rather than punished you, particularly when sleep and fueling cooperated. Conversely, low intake, poor sleep and very low BG showed up as obvious contributors to lousy lifting days. (hobbytreat.blogspot.com)
3. Cycle 4: modest progression, not escalation.
Sept. 26–30 is almost a miniature demonstration of your current philosophy. A was heavier, B stayed lighter, recovery days remained recovery days. Sept. 28 was the classic “felt like shit, did an intentionally easy row, still got past 40 minutes” day. Sept. 29 B felt solid/Goldilocks after that. (hobbytreat.blogspot.com)
The biggest change isn't a number
It's your relationship to the work.
Early in the month you were still worrying about running out of gas, whether 40 minutes was “hard enough,” whether your HR response was adequate, whether the 4×4 had damaged something, whether a mediocre day meant something had gone wrong.
By the end, the log increasingly says:
Do the scheduled thing. Adjust to today's condition. Preserve tomorrow. Move on.
That's a much more mature training model than “extract maximum performance from every session.” (hobbytreat.blogspot.com)
There is one new physical wrinkle
The left upper-groin problem is now the thing to watch. Your own attribution is the jump from 3 to 4 plates on the Pallof press; you backed it off and are expecting a potentially long recovery. That's the only item in the end-of-month log that sounds like an actual cost of progression rather than ordinary stiffness/fatigue. (hobbytreat.blogspot.com)
My read of September
You aren't getting stronger faster. You're getting better at managing the cost of getting older.
And that's probably the most important thing in the whole month's log.
You finished September still doing the full A/B/row/walk machine, still adding load selectively, still using movement to recover, and increasingly willing to call “I did it and didn't kill myself” a successful training day. (hobbytreat.blogspot.com)
September 27, 2026
Day 2, walk
Day 2, walk, is a recovery day. Just walk. Didn't have a plan, other than to work thru being still and old. Did that, and decided against any further self improvement. Cooked legs ...
September 26, 2026
Day 1, weights A
Day 1, weights A, is the heavier of the A/B split. Also the start of cycle 4 of eight. Moving on ...01_ and 02_ felt easy enuf to consider another plate. 08_ might want another plate. All else was good. I felt slightly stiff when I arrived, certainly not lively and alert. 5 minutes warmup on the rower. 43 minutes later, it's so over.
September 25, 2026
Day 6, row
Day 6, row, is a recovery / setup for tomorrow day. plus 2x20 bench crunches. Done. My concern is that my stroke rates stronger than my power output decline. So, I'm very efficiently training not hard enuf? I dunno. Regardless, tomorrow is day 1 of cycle 4 of 8.
September 24, 2026
Day 5, walk
Day 5, walk, is a recovery day. And, if you let the tracker run long enuf, you get these images. Tomorrow is another day, and today was just fine as well. I'll invent numbers for the daily log.
Day 4, weights B
September 23, 2026
Day 4, weights B, is the lighter of the A/B split. Today, that was a very good thing.
Not much appetite yesterday, reasonable sleep, and awoke stiff and sore. Go figure. Very low BG number, way underfed. That explains some of it, as does being my age. Crawl from the wreckage one more time ...
5 minutes warmup on the rower. Do the exercise weights B set. 02_ FAILED in set 3. Not at all happy about how ungrooved my set up for this cable set. Long time to find it, felt heavy, wanted me to damage myself. Pass. All the rest felt comfortable > not overly too f'in heavy. Duration was slightly slow, which I attribute to form/cable positions seeking. Helps piss me off a bit more, so that's good.
September 22, 2026
Day 3, row
Day 3, row, is a recovery day and a prep for tomorrow's weights B day.
40 minutes of fun. I felt strong, no distress, easily thru the 40 minutes. then, 2x20 bench crunches.
I still worry about running out gas next weights day. And, I'm clearly overly paranoid about that. When was the last time I couldn't complete a set?
September 21, 2026
Day 2, walk
Day 2, walk, is a recovery day, after weights A. Today, I needed it.
The usual stiff and achy after weights A. With, a long side of cool damp maybe wanna rain weather. Out, thru the former construction now apartment site. Out on new sidewalk on Paul Rd. Up the hill to Chili/Paul. Reverse down hill, back to The Father's House, back to the apartment site, to home. Never did that before. Numbers look reasonable, and I'm pleased to be sitting at my desk.
September 20, 2026
Day 1, weights A
Day 1, weights A, is the heavier of the A/B split. I find myself welcoming it, because it actually loosen up my muscles et al, and makes me feel better. Go figure.
5 minutes warmup on the rower. Go thru all the sets. A few things: 1) 04_, set 2, I could not find a balance point to start. Which is annoying. So, drop the handles, go for a short walk, center my head, pick up the handles, and start again. WTF? Then, someplace just before the last set, my glove pressed the stop/go button on the tracker, so it's like 5 minutes short. IDGAF. Duration is 39 minutes, which is quick. I either hit the marks for pulley position, properly on all the sets, or I just failed to count to 4 properly. Who knows? and for that matter ...
September 19, 2026
Day 6, row
Day 6, row, is a recovery and prep day. Tomorrow is Day 1, weights A. Took like 10-15 minutes to feel warmed up. I rowed like I had 40 minutes and then 2x20 bench crunches to get thru. I set no records, other than seeming slower than usual. I have all my usual physiologic excuses in play.
September 18, 2026
Day 5, walk
Day 5, walk, is a recovery day from weights B. Underfed, tired from being up too late watching the Bills beat the Lions. Worth it ...
September 17, 2026
Day 4, weights B
Day 4, weights B, is the lighter of the A/B split. Good thing. 43 minutes duration. Nothing seemed easy or too light, mostly. Took some to get comfy on the shoulder press. My sleep patterns are not regular. I'm close to having beaten my BG numbers into the floor. Neither of which helps me lift.
September 16, 2026
Day 3, row
September 15, 2026
Day 2, walk
September 14, 2026
Day 1, weights A
I'm still recovering, as it were, from a medication swap. These things take time. Today's BG fun was I was low. Like, low enuf to go eat. Now. Then, loaded and settled, go lift. But first, 5 minutes on the rower. I felt awesome. I don't like the word 'easy', but man, some of these could have used more weight. So, magic trick #1: sleep properly, fuel properly, go lift. File under 'TTD w/ a time machine'.
September 13, 2026
Day 6, row
Day 6, row, is a recovery day and a prep day for Day 1, weights A.
September 12, 2026
Day 5, walk
Day 5, walk, is a recovery day. And after the first weights session post-deload, I needed a recovery. All that stiff, sore, and weary feeling. Walk it off. Go some way you haven't gone (take the uphill on the new sidewalk on Wegmans side of the road), try to stay in the sun (52 degF at start), don't press too hard. Done. Lower back feels annoyed. TFB ...
chatGPT is of the opinion the hr 'lump' at the beginning is basically 'warmup', with different responses on different days. sayeth the AI:
So HR can initially do more of the work of increasing cardiac output. Then, as the peripheral system “gets going,” stroke volume and oxygen extraction can contribute more efficiently, allowing HR to fall even though you're actually rowing slightly faster.
September 11, 2026
Day 4, weights B
Day 4, weights B is the lighter of the A/B split. It's a good place to restart after the deload.
Started the tracker, worked the rower for 5 minutes, did the sets and reps, had the tracker run long. Only issue was finding a comfortable REMEMBERED handle height for 02_. It's hell getting old.
But, other than that, done and done.
September 10, 2026
Day 3, row
Day 3, row, is a recovery day thing, as well as prep for tomorrow's weights session.
One thing I've learned from riding a bike for a decade or two, is that there's a lot of prepwork that needs to be done. I almost, but have not, picked up and created a checklist before takeoff. Here too. Just, no.
It took about 10 minutes before I had my ship together, and could stop screwing around. Got the power into the upper 40s, the spm to 25/27, and the pace sub 3:10 a lot. One more proof that high bg numbers makes me a power rower.
September 9, 2026
Day 2, walk
Day 2, walk, is supposed to be a recovery day. So, I felt great and attacked the course. The 4x4 didn't wreck me?!?!
September 8, 2026
Day 1, row 4x4
Day 1, row 4x4. AKA Tabata Classic. 10min warmup, 4 cycles of (4min sprint + 4min easy row). Looks easier than it is. And, no, I did not do the 2x20 bench crunches. Sometimes, enuf's enuf.
4x4's usually wrecked me in the past. I don't feel that bad right now. Maybe later :-) The objective is to drive my old body as hard as I will, while still having enuf to complete the 4x4. Power hung in the low 50s to low 60s. Stroke rate was usually 24-29. Both a lot for me.
September 7, 2026
Day 6, deload row
Day 6, deload row. I'm supposed to take it easy. This isn't quite that.
Today is the end of the deload part of my work plan. I'm certain I didn't rest a lot, but I feel better when I move. Especially if I don't lift weight. World's more complicated stretching plan, maybe.
So, tomorrow, the grind thru 6 day cycles starts anew. As I hope is becoming habitual, first 'weights A' day becomes a 4x4 day. One more discovery.
September 6, 2026
Day 5, deload walk
Day 5, deload walk. I'll quote chatGPT again. It's easier than typing ! 😂 You went for a walk and accidentally did a fairly serious cardio session.
My opinion is that there's a lot going on, and it involves insulin, my basal insulin type switch, how my hr reacts when I'm under fed, or worse, when my muscles need to awake from work. More hr, more 'good stuff' to all parties, and everybody quiets down. It's plausible that my basal 'median activity' time is later now than it has been, so for now, the assumption is there's more insulin available when I exercise. Who knows ...
September 5, 2026
Day 4, deload row
Day 4, deload row. Yeah, I cheated. chatGPT and I wanted me to run the experiment: start the tracker. at 12 minutes into the rowing session, elevate my power output, and see what happens. So, at 12, up from 40-41 watts, to 44-45 watts. Hold that for 6 minutes. Back to normal pace. Finish session with 2x20 bench crunches. Stop the tracker.
I'll let chatGPT write the next part.
The interesting part
The 10% power increase was enough to produce a disproportionate-looking HR response, but it didn't wreck the rest of the session.
That's what I'd call a successful perturbation.
You went:
40–41 W → 44–45 W for 6 min → 40–41 W
and the machine/HR trace says:
higher power → HR climbs to ~130 → return to baseline power → HR settles around ~100.
No progressive cardiac drift to 115–120 for the remaining 30 minutes. No collapse. No need to reduce power. You simply absorbed the perturbation and continued.
And there's a particularly useful comparison hiding here: the 44–45 W interval seems to have been enough to expose where your current intensity boundary is. You're doing 40–41 W as your sustainable 40-minute workload; 44–45 W is still manageable for six minutes, but it pushes HR into a substantially different regime.
That's much more informative than chasing VO₂max.
Also: 46:25, 950 strokes, 24 spm, 360 calories, avg HR 103. That's a damn respectable 40-minute rowing session.
September 4, 2026
Day 3, deload walk
Day 3, deload walk. I own a walk/row/walk/row ... pattern, and I like it. Today's walk was backwards in places (opposite direction to walk, NOT walking backwards), and as such, all along that path looked different. A distraction trick I learned a long time ago. I also walked the new sidewalk 'down' Paul Rd from Chili Ave. It is right on the edge of Paul Rd (1 full curb width from pavement), and on top of the ridge the Wegman's Plaza sits in the bottom of. Quite the spectator spots. I was hoping for something more terrifying. Man can dream...
So, just an otherwise easy walk.
September 3, 2026
Day 2, deload row
Day 2, deload row, is the random 'easy' session for today. When I go a day or 3 w/o heavier work, my body obligingly feels stiff. So, today, it was a stretch session, using the rowing machine. Just a middling easy half the usual. and then, 2x20 bench crunches. Time to get on with the day ...
September 2, 2026
Day 1, deload walk
Day 1, deload walk, isn't exactly programmed. But, it's "do whatever I please, but no weights" day, is just too much to type. More entertaining, the weather was supposed to turn to severe thunderstorms, w/ serious light and sound effects, around 8am. Which it did. So, I went out early - check out the time stamp on the map - w/o either of coffee or pills, and mos' def' underfed. I'm a wild thing.
September 1, 2026
Day 6, row
Day 6, row is usually a recovery / prep for weights next day. Today was just cause I wanted to, to close out the 8 cycle cycle. Now, 6 days de-loading - no weights, don't do much, or hard, anything. Next 6 day cycle starts w/ a 4x4 Tabata session.
So, sit down and go 40 minutes. I felt great, and better by the minute. Get up, stretch, go lie down on the bench, and do 2x20 bench crunches. Go home, kinda surprised.
Comments