Minty Fresh

(Title Note: Recently recovered my preference for Linux, on the Ubuntu-based Mint distro. All it really took was having my graphics card driver work NEARLY out-of-the-box for me to come back. Ubuntu was a good run, and Windows 7 went as I expected: nice at first, barely-passable pig-disgusting towards the end. Ah, Windows. Predictable user experience.)

So, I’ve yo-yo’d back once again to pursue strength goals in favor over physique.

There won’t be any dirty-bulking, this time around, however.

According to a trusted source, my present weight at a lower body fat percentage is my genetic muscular potential. This seems to suggest a call for a recomposition: lose fat AND gain muscle.

So because I seem to be behaviorally disinclined to cooperate with my own “lose fat as fast as fucking possible” regimens, I’ve decided instead to focus on increasing my bench and deadlift scores while maintaining vaguely the same amount of weight. I’ll still be keeping composition scores… but I won’t be expecting any radical changes any time soon.

I’m also considering changing my routine more than will be described in this post, but some of the changes will be apparent here and is mostly the reason I’m even logging this workout. I also slightly edged past my 1RM tested earlier, even though this wasn’t a true test for that purpose. Just a failed 10lbs. jump, really.

The biggest change to my routine (meaning the one that will stick even if all the other changes I’m considering do not) is that I’ve moved my incline benching and chinning to the shoulder day I tend to do between deadlift workouts when I have that much time to work out. I actually have a job now, so I get to make excuses.

On to the workout for 5/11/11:

Deadlift

1. 135lbs. x 5 (double-overhand)
2. 155 x 3 (d-o)
3. 220 x 2 (d-o)
4. 260 x miss (straps+left hand over)
5. 260 x miss (s+lhu)
6. 250 x 2 (s+lho)
7. 215 x 1 (s+lhu)

I considered making a third 260lbs. attempt, but I kind of wanted to maintain my hand-switching for top sets… kind of dumb, but not as dumb as throwing out my back. My form was pretty terrible. I could just tell it was. I wasn’t “all there,” due to poor sleep quality. I’m going to try to make the jump to 260 next session, but if I miss it again I’m moving down to 5lbs. jumps.

Bench Press

1. 45lbs. x 5
2. 45 x 5
3. 55 x 5
4. 80 x 3
5. 100 x 2
6. 115 x 2 (no change)
7. 105 x 5 (bottom of range)
8. 90 x 2 (stopped because weight felt weird, as though I’d misloaded. I had not.)
9. 90 x 7 (wanted to get at least 8 reps at this weight)

Because of the slightly-pinchy shoulder issue on my first warm-up last time I benched, I possibly over-warmed for this: doing dynamic stretching before most sets, especially the first. Spent five minutes warming up before my first set. The should-have-been-last set caused me to consider doing the dumbbell variation of this exercise to balance out my strength on both sides. It’s something I’ll have to look into: how much total weight ought I drop down to, how to kick up the dumbbells properly, and so on.

Low Cable Rows (narrow grips)

1. 45lbs. x 5
2. 45 x 5
3. 60 x 5
4. 75 x 3
5. 105 x 2
6. 120 x 5
7. 120 x 5
8. 120 x 5

I was ready to call it a day by the time I started these, some combination of CNS and “I DINT SLEP SO GUD” fatigue. Going by my last row session (in my notebooks, I’ve been lax about updating on here) I should have ramped up to 150lbs. for a top set of 3. I’m very glad I did not. I’ll just be doing simple straight sets of five here to support my benching efforts, so I’ll be bumping this to 135lbs. x 5 next session. I don’t expect to make all the reps next time, but I’ll just stay at that weight and try to get at least 2 more reps per workout until I get my 3×5 before bumping again.

START: 9AM
STOP: 11:25AM

WEIGHT: 165.5lbs. – 168lbs.*

*I weigh myself before and after my workout.

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Sick Lifts

Been sick since Thursday of last week; was really surprised to get all my lifts yesterday. I’m starting a new notebook today though (old one is getting unwieldy, and I want to tool around in sci-fi land rather than fantasy and would rather not get my streams crossed.)

Here’s Wednesday:

Another Workout – 4/13/11

START: 10AM
Body Weight: 161.5lbs.

Deadlift

1. 135lbs. x 3 (double-overhand)
2. 195 x 2 (d-o)
3. 230 x 2 (third rep failed at half; left hand under, straps)
4. 205 x 2 (left hand over, felt form weakening so didn’t go for a third rep)

I was incredibly surprised on the top set here just flying up at me.

Incline Bench

1. 45lbs. x 5
2. 45 x 5
3. 50 x 5
4. 70 x 3
5. 90 x 2
6. 105 x 4
7. 95 x 6
8. 85 x 7
9. 75 x 8

This required a lot more “GRAHH!” on the last rep of everything, but it felt good to hit the top of the rep range on all the sets.

Chin Assist

1. 33lbs. x 5
2. 33 x 5
3. 53 x 5
4. 73 x 3
5. 93 x 2
6. 113 x 5
7. 83 x 5

The thing I like about pulldowns is that the weight being lifted is a little easier to negotiate. I had the workout prescribed at 125lbs. for the top set and I somehow managed to mess up the math between sets. Oh well.

STOP: 12:33PM
BW: 164.5lbs.

I didn’t really eat anywhere near enough post-workout, as I still was feeling pretty appetite-less from illness. I had a giant smoothie and went to bed immediately when I got home.

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B Variant

My back is still a little tingly-tender from deadlifts, so I skipped the squats I was initially planning to front-load. I considered doing leg presses or calf raises, but when I got to cardio I was much relieved to have not done any of those three. I thought my back was going to be irritated by the rows, but I must have actually activated the correct muscles for once, because no such problem was had.

B Workout

START: 11AM
Weight: 167lbs.

Flat Bench

1. 45lbs. x 5
2. 45 x 5
3. 50 x 5
4. 70 x 3
5. 90 x 2
6. 100 x 8 (+)
7. 90 x 9 (+)
8. 80 x 10 (+)

The (+) is going to be my shorthand that these sets need to be increased next workout. The rep range, respectively, for these sets are: 5-8; 6-9; 7-10

Row

1. 45lbs. x 5
2. 45 x 5
3. 60 x 5
4. 75 x 3
5. 105 x 2
6. 120 x 8 (+)
7. 105 x 9 (+)
8. 90 x 10 (+)

Same rep set-up as the bench. I used a different sort of handle today: close-grip, smooth handles. Black. Didn’t agitate my calluses any, will be using it again.

Lateral Raise

1. 35lbs. x 5
2. 45 x 3
3. 55 x 2
4. 65 x 10 (+)
5. 55 x 11 (+)
6. 50 x 12 (+)

Rep set-up: 8-10; 9-11; 10-12

STOP: 1:30PM
Weight: 173.5lbs.

Cardio

1. Treadmill warm-up: 5 minutes of 2.0 mph/ 2.0 incline for the first two minutes, then 3.0 for the rest.
2. Treadmill intervals: 1′ walk / 1′ run, so that I got off the treadmill immediately after a run. 3.0 incline.
   1. x2 @ 2.0mph/6.0mph
   2. x3 @ 2.0mph/4.0mph
3. 6 minute rest in the locker room.
4. Stationary cycle: 5.52 miles in 37 minutes

Notes:

• I want to replace at least one of the 4.0mph runs with a 6.0, until they’re all 2.0/6.0mph. Then I’ll work on increasing the sprinting speed.
• The slow-and-steady cycling at the end will be increased in terms of duration only.
  • I don’t really have any idea as to how much to increase cardio duration by. I’m tentatively just saying “anything that is more, even just one minute.”
  • Another idea is mileage: I’d like to log 42 miles a week, as in real life I tend to have gone distances of about 20 miles and back.

Diet

Stuff I have to remember:

Maintenance Intake

At Body Weight 169lbs. = 2800kcal.

I’d really like my weigh-ins to be three consecutive days, but that probably isn’t going to happen.

I’m going to recalculate maintenance (for proper deficit purposes) weekly.

I would like to achieve a 1000kcal deficit on rest days, training days are allowed to be at maintenance/slightly over.

Fasting Period

Fast starts: 8-10PM
Feeding begins: 1PM on rest days; as soon as I can after training otherwise.

Protein Multiplier

• Lean Body Mass x 0.9 = Protein on rest days
• LBM x 1.1 = Protein on cardio-only days (not sure if I’m going to have these or not, yet)
• LBM x 1.5 = Protein on weight-training days (if cardio is done after weight training, still use this number)

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First Day Fast

The first two weeks of dieting always suck.

The first day doesn’t, but it’ll never be perfect. Can’t let it get to me. Gotta stay loose.

At exactly the same time yesterday as I’m writing this, I took the photos for this:

I didn’t have all the data yet (weight and lifts were measured the same day, just five hours later) but I made a flattened version just to get an idea of what the final image might look like. Then my .psd got corrupted ¹ so I just filled in the information on top of it. That’s why there’s a discrepancy in the font even though the font is technically the same.

Cool story, I know.

My goal is to be doing daily fasts, from 9PM to 1PM the following day. This was fucked by a hypoglycemic episode (80mg/dL), so I had a bagel around 7:20AM and took 50mg/200mg ephedrine/caffeine at 8AM. Both pre-workout.

I tested immediately pre-workout at 219mg/dL, and I stayed pretty high (I’m talking 400 range) until just an hour before I began my fast.

Pre-workout: Bagel with peanut butter

Post-workout: Cup of tea at Teavana (Zingiber Ginger + Strawberry Lemonade + 4tsp German Rock Sugar); followed immediately by a Strawberry Hulk from Smoothie King (made skinny, sub ice cream with fat free yogurt.)

Dinner: Bowl of chicken with rice. It was crap. I was disappoint.

Last Meal: 238g 2% expired cottage cheese (I actually weigh everything I eat at home, but this was specific to make up my protein requirement for today); 5 Babe Ruth minis (just had a taste for it.)

After the fast started I took some psyllium husk fiber. I wanna poop.

A Workout

All sets are singles unless noted; I’m testing rough 1RM to set up the rest of the workout. Pretty much just adding 5lbs. to the top sets and calculating downward from there.

Body Weight: 169lbs.

Start: 9:08AM

Deadlift

1. 150lbs. (double-overhand)
2. 175 (d-o)
3. 195 (d-o)
4. 220 (d-o)
5. 245 (left hand-over; started using straps)
6. 250 (l-u)
7. 255 – FAILED, passed ankles (l-o)
8. 225 (l-u)

Time Check: 10AM

Incline Bench

1. 50lbs. x 3
2. 60 x 2
3. 75
4. 85
5. 100
6. 110
7. 115
8. 120
9. 105 x 3

Chin Assist (total weight: 180lbs.)

1. 30lbs. x 5
2. 40 x 3
3. 50 x 3
4. 60
5. 70
6. 80
7. 90
8. 95
9. 100
10. 105
11. 110
12. 125
13. 140
14. 155 – FAILED

Time Check: Noon

Lateral Raise

1. 20lbs. x 2
2. 25
3. 30
4. 35
5. 40
6. 45
7. 50
8. 55 (5 minute rest after this, started doing tri-sets)
9. 60
10. 65
11. 70 (rest)
12. 75
13. 80
14. 85 (rest)
15. 90
16. 95 – FAILED (about half-way)

Stop: 12:53PM

For the next ‘A Workout’:

Deadlift: estimate 3RM based on 1RM = 255lbs.
Incline Bench:  estimate 5RM based on 1RM = 125lbs.
Chin Assist: estimate 5RM based on 1RM = 145
Lateral Raise: estimate 8RM based on 1RM = 90

Rep ranges for each exercise, respectively: 1-3; 3-5; 3-5; 5-8

Just going to do a basic progressive overload style workout for the next eight weeks, at which point I’ll test 1RM based on estimates from the most recent relevant workout. I don’t know if I will include drop sets in future workouts, it might just be a feel thing: today it was easy to include them due to lack of fatigue and sufficient, em, “fed-ness,” having been eating at maintenance and such.

So I’m probably looking at, for next time:

Deadlift (1-3) @ 230lbs.
Incline Bench (3-5) @ 105lbs.
Chin Assist (3-5) @  125lbs.
Lateral Raise (5-8) @ 70lbs.

If I get to the top of the rep range, bump it five pounds next workout. Fairly basic.

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Aprun

While I have been keeping a log of my meals and general intake, today I’ve actually plugged those figures into a proper calorie count to see where I stand.

5-Day Average

Calories: 2826
Fat: 98g
CHO: 390g
Protein: 120g

The craziest thing to me: if I were to reduce my average carbohydrate intake by 250g (so, down to 140g) I’d lose 2lbs. of fat that week.

I really just wanted a relevant snapshot to see how much of a fuck-up I’ve been since I’ve stopped being incredibly anal as to what goes into my mouth. I’m just assuming that this is my maintenance intake. If I come in somewhere around 167-173lbs. at tomorrow’s pre-workout weigh-in, then it definitely is. ¹

A pretty fabulous fuck-up, it looks like! I even managed to get weaker, way to go!

I’m pretty much at my last-call to looking good for this summer. I have a convention to attend in June to look my best for. Odds are, if I can’t manage to look cut and inspire envy in the otaku of Texas, I’m going to give up on this venture entirely and fully focus on strength gains for a few years. ²

I’m not entirely sure how I want to set up my workout, though. I’m fairly convinced I want to do “Deadlift + Incline Bench” ONLY, but I want a little more frequency than what that would demand.

I want to work out roughly every four days, but also wouldn’t mind making the “B” workout optional/droppable in the event of a suddenly-busy schedule. I can usually find ONE day a week to exercise, and if I have only that one day I’ll deadlift it.

Initially considering something along the lines of:

A
Deadlift – 1 x 1-3
Incline Bench – 1 x 3-5
[Chin Assist - 1 x 3-5]
[Lateral Raise - 1 x 5-8]

B
Squat – 1 x 3-5
Flat Bench – 1 x 5-8
[Low Row - 1 x 5-8]
[Lateral Raise - 1 x 8-10]

Deadlift + some kind of press is pretty much a full-body workout. If I didn’t have any benches to work with I’d just do a basic military press.

I suspect someday I’ll have such a situation ³ as the incline bench is a vertical push, I feel it has enough synergistic benefit to be applicable. It’s also easy to “save” myself from it if I fail, using my legs.

The bracketed movements are “optional for this workout,” and I chose chin assist as it’s another vertical pull. It’s also something I want to get stronger at, which is the theme here anyway.

The second workout is a little trickier for me. I wanted it to be a lighter workout, one that didn’t demand as much of a strain on CNS but would still force me to focus (this has been a problem for me with the high-rep routines I’ve been trolling myself with lately.)

For the first two movements, I simply threw in the remainder of the Big Three. I’m sure RDLs or power cleans would be more supportive of my deadlifting, but I feel that performing RDLs degrades my DL TECHNIQUE, which I sweat, and that power cleans are too technical for me if I’m to be dieting. If I could achieve passable form of complex moves, I’d be doing Olympic lifts.

And I’m sure it’s weird to be lifting less on Flat Bench than on Incline Bench, but it’ll probably catch-up/exceed it eventually anyway. I don’t mind.

The rows are the plane-opposite of flat benching, so there that is.

I saw no reason to replace Lateral Raises. They’re already optional. If I’m too burnt-out to do lateral raises it’s not as though I’m going to be able/willing to do much anything else. Abs? Curls? Fuck that noise.

Maybe calf raises.

MAYBE.

Probably not.

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Strength Test 2

Roughly 17 days ago I tested my Deadlift 1-rep max and my Incline Bench 3-rep max.

03.04.2011
Bodyweight: 173.5lbs.

Deadlift: 245 x 1
Incline Bench: 110 x 3

03.21.2011
Bodyweight: 165.5lbs.

Deadlift: 245 x 1 (used straps for the first time)
Incline Bench: 110 x 3

Not going to bother filling in the warm-up sets. There were far less today than there were the first time, because I wasn’t blindly feeling for a benchmark.

Also, today I did 30+60 minutes on the stationary cycle for a “distance” of 14.92 miles. My goal is to do roughly 21 miles each workout; I simply did not have the time today as I was being picked up earlier.

First day of shooting for Mediocracy tomorrow! Can’t wait!

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Countdown to 21: Second Workout

Posting the whole thing all at once this time since I have the time to kill.

Also to show how much better it is to cut it up…

New notebook is the first one that isn't just a generic solid color. 89 cents from Wal-Mart.

Workout for Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Body Weight: 163.5lbs. (-2lbs.)
BF%: 16.5% (-1.3%)

Skinfold
Belly Button: 31mm (-7mm, the goal is 4mm, long way to go; taken an inch to the right)

Pre-workout: 50mg ephedrine/200mg caffeine

START TIME: 9:00AM

I’ll be noting the rest periods before the set lists; the rest times are ONLY for work sets. Warm-ups don’t have a set amount of rest, I just go when I feel ready.

Deadlift

Rest: 5 min.

1. 135lbs. x 5 (double-overhand)
2. 145 x 2 (d-o; form was much better here, nearly perfect)
3. 155 x 10 (left-under)
4. 155 x 10 (left-over)
5. 155 x 10 (l-u)

I find myself having to reset my grip (due to failure) and needing to catch my breath by the 7th rep or so. Need to work out a proper tempo. Will be increasing the load next workout (this workout was a +20lbs. increase.)

Pulldown

Rest: 2 min.

1. 55lbs. x 3
2. 75 x 2
3. 85 x 8
4. 85 x 8
5. 85 x 8

Increasing.

DB Shrug

Rest: long; had to wait on grip recovery. 3-6 minutes.

1. 25lbs. x 3
2. 35 x 2
3. 40 x 8
4. 40 x 8
5. 40 x 8

Increasing. Weight is per-dumbbell, and it was far too easy despite my grip problems.

Narrow-Grip Cable Row

1. 75lbs. x 3
2. 90 x 3
3. 105 x 8
4. 105 x 7
5. 105 x 6

Stay.

10:45AM = Break to regroup concentration.

Back Extension

1. 55lbs. x 3
2. 80 x 2
3. 95 x 15
4. 95 x 15

Increasing. Felt really good, though.

Reverse Concentration Curl

1. 10lbs. x 5
2. 20 x 7
3. 20 x 6
4. 20 x 4

Stay. I tried to go straight into the 20s but it wouldn’t budge.

Squat

1. 105lbs. x 10

BREAK: 11:40AM

Incline Bench

Rest: 5 min.

1. 45lbs. x 6
2. 55 x 3
3. 75 x 2
4. 85 x 9
5. 85 x 8
6. 85 x 6

Increasing. I didn’t make rep goals for any of my work sets, but my next workout is the scheduled scheme-change, and I’ll be doing 4×6 instead of 3×10. I didn’t get less than six reps on any of my sets here so I’m confident I can make the leap.

Machine Fly

Rest: 2 min.

1. 75lbs. x 8
2. 75 x 8
3. 75 x 8

Increase. I almost thought I was going to have to do warm-up sets when I couldn’t get the weight to move… and then I realize the weight was set much higher from the last guy (120lbs.) Derp. I figured out a lot about the form for this, as well, this workout.

Lateral Raise

Rest: 3 min.

1. 50lbs. x 3
2. 65 x 11
3. 65 x 9

Stay. I really do not want to cut the warm-up set here, but I do need to make it lighter. Maybe 40-45lbs for that set, next time.

Tricep Extension

1. 12.5lbs. x 10
2. 12.5 x 4

Stay. My left arm is really crappy!

Crunch

1. 45lbs. x 5
2. 65 x 3
3. 85 x 2
4. 95 x 8
5. 95 x 8
6. 95 x 8

Increase. I was enormously surprised at how easy this actually was, after doing back extensions.

BREAK: 1:30PM

I didn’t plan the rest of this workout. I thought vaguely that I could maybe try something like I’d done last time, but, I don’t want that to be a “regular thing” and I don’t really care about my progression on it, so I allow myself to go into it blindly and “on feeling.”

I chose the same three exercises as last time, but this time I did it as a tri-set: no dedicated rest between individual exercises, and then 2 minutes of rest between each tri-set.

So:

• Pulldowns @ 25lbs x 20 reps
• DB Bench Press @ 20lbs. total x 20 reps
• Close-grip Cable Row @ 30lbs. x 20 reps

I did that for five tri-sets before stopping.

It was around 3PM, my blood sugar had skyrocketed (into the 400s), and I was pretty much beat. I probably could have done some more tri-sets, but I would have been really grinding them out.

Instead, I attempted cardio!

Stationary Cycle

Distance: 3.66 miles
Time: 30′ 17″

I probably could have kept going, my patience just biking is pretty high. However, it was immensely worn-down by the fact that I’d brought my phone and expected my Last.FM app to work. The frustration at it loading slowly, and only barely playing the beginning of one song (TEASE) just made me ragequit for the day.

Which turned out just fine because I bumped into a friend who was walking home, and got to chill out and watch Friday while I waited for my ride home (two hours later.)

…

TWO MORE DAYS.

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Countdown to 21: First Workout (Part Three)

This part of the workout started at 1:45PM.

During my break between sessions I talked to a fella who I’ve seen every day I’ve spent more than two hours at the gym. Easily the leanest motherfucker there year-round (probably to his detriment given his mass goals,) I finally introduced myself and asked him some questions about his methods. In that order, reversed.

Name’s Ryan, turns out he works in a town neighboring mine. Might try to get a job there myself this Spring.

Cool guy.

Leg Press

1. 70lbs. x 10
2. 70 x 10
3. 70 x 10

Leg Curl

1. 40lbs. x 12

Calf Raise

1. 60lbs. x 12
2. 60 x 12

Flat Bench

1. 55lbs. x 12
2. 55 x 12
3. 55 x 12

Wide-Grip Cable Row

1. 60lbs. x 10
2. 60 x 12
3. 60 x 12

Lateral Raise

1. 65lbs. x 10 (stay)

Pulldown

1. 70lbs. x 12
2. 70 x 12

Of note, I did this in a quasi-circuit fashion. There were long rest periods (but less than five minutes if possible) between sets, but I did all the “1″ sets, then all the “2″ sets (so the “2″ didn’t include leg curls or lateral raises, etc.)

BREAK TIME: 3:41PM

Still have a lot of time to kill. I take a twenty-minute break before deciding to work my chest and back with light weights to failure instead of doing cardio. Lol. Again, I’m cycling through the movments, with maybe 2 or 3 minutes of rest between sets. Somewhere in there I had to stop for 8 for a phone call that reminds me that one should never answer one’s phone at the gym under any circumstances.

Bench Press

1. 45lbs. x 20
2. 55 x 20 (slowing down already)
3. 45 x 10
4. 45 x 11
5. 45 x 10

Narrow-Grip Cable Row

1. 10 or 15lbs. x 20 (the lightest isn’t labeled.)
2. 30 x 20
3. 30 x 20
4. 45 x 20
5. 45 x 20

Pulldown

1. 25lbs. x 20 (started with 10 and it was so comically light I’m not going to count it)
2. 40 x 20
3. 55 x 20 (getting tough)
4. 55 x 15
5. 40 x 20
6. 40 x 14
7. 25 x 20
8. 25 x 20
9. 25 x 20
10. 25 x 50

FINISHED: 5:41PM

And that was that.

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Countdown to 21: First Workout (Part Two)

I realized two things:

1. I was going to be stuck here (not necessarily the gym, though I did decide on that) until 6PM.
2. I wouldn’t be able to come in tomorrow (no ride.) I felt that, going forward, it would be more likely for me to just train everything than risk not doing the upper half at all or with weakened intensity.

So, I decided to just keep on going.

Incline Bench

1. 45lbs. x 5
2. 55 x 3
3. 70 x 2
4. 80 x 10
5. 80 x 10
6. 80 x 10

3-5 minute rests between sets. Definitely increasing this next time around. Felt really good. I wanted to punch the shit out of something and this was the next best thing, in my opinion.

Machine Fly

1. 35lbs. x 5
2. 75 x 8
3. 75 x 8
4. 75 x 6

2-3 minute rests.

I don’t know if I want to increase this or not. I need the warm-up, I tell myself, to practice the form because I really am not used to relying on this and it’s activating more of my pecs, but at the same time I feel like I could have gotten those last two reps if I hadn’t bothered with it.

I’ll try to just move straight into the work sets next time with some added weight and see how I feel.

Lateral Raise

1. 50lbs. x 5
2. 65 x 12
3. 65 x 10

Staying this weight. I’m keeping the warm-up here though because I absolutely need to make sure the laterals are firing before I progress to the working weight.

Tricep Extension

1. 7.5lbs. x 12
2. 7.5 x 12

Didn’t note down rest periods for this or the last set, and I’ve completely forgotten what they are. I will be increasing this lift.

BREAK TIME: 12:56PM

So at this point, I’ve completed both of the workouts that I need to accomplish at the beginning of a given cycle. Now it really comes down to how I want to waste my time: cardio, or continued light lifting.

I decided to rest, and keep lifting. At around 1:15PM I take my second EC dose (25mg/200mg respectively) and wait another half hour before beginning again.

That will be the focus of the next post.

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Countdown to 21: First Workout (Part One)

So I’ve set a goal to eat an entire cheesecake for my birthday. I didn’t just set it as I was writing this, I’ve known for quite a while now that this is something I have to do. It’s part of who I am, and it needs to be done.

I can fit a lot of the white stuff in my mouth, given the opportunity.

The event will occur on Friday, January 28. The first day of prep: January 16.

I may be parodying my over-drama tone here, but I am really fucking serious about this.

Workout for Sunday, January 16, 2011

Body Weight: 165.5lbs.
BF%: 17.8%

Pinches (skinfold measurements)
Chest: 12mm
Belly Button: 38mm (the goal is 4mm, long way to go; taken an inch to the right)
Thigh: 22mm

Pre-workout: 50mg ephedrine/200mg caffeine

START TIME: 9:00AM

Squats

I haven’t done squats in well over a year. I don’t think I’ve recorded a workout on this version of the blog containing an honest-to-god Squat-fronted (as opposed to front-Squatted, which is a different thing) workout. It’s been so long that I decided to set this up, as I often do when incorporating a new movement, by doing a rep test. I’ll be following a linear periodization scheme with this exercise as I move forward, so the reps performed reflect how many I’ll be doing at this phase.

I kept the rest periods to about 3-5 minutes. They were actually longer at the beginning, once I decided that 135lbs. was going to be my working weight I cut down to three minutes of rest.

1. 45lbs. x 10
2. 65 x 10
3. 85 x 10
4. 95 x 10
5. 115 x 10
6. 135 x 10 (starting to get heavy, and I don’t think if I increase it I’ll have the stamina to do another two sets)
7. 135 x 10
8. 135 x 6 (form was falling apart)

I will probably still increase this lift the next time around, as it’s going to be a few weeks before I squat again. I’m just not patient enough, but if I don’t make ten across after the jump, I will stick with THAT weight.

Leg Curl

1. 40lbs. x 5 (was intended to be a warm-up set of 25lbs, but I screwed up how I wrote it down.)
2. 40 x 8
3. 40 x 8
4. 40 x 8

Two minutes of rest. Definitely going to increase this next time around.

Calf Raise

1. 30lbs. x 15
2. 30 x 15
3. 30 x 15

Two minutes of rest. Increasing this as well.

I am probably going to not be including further warm-ups for leg exercises following squats. I only had one, on leg curls, and it wasn’t even necessary given that I screwed it up and still can bump the weight for next time.

Crunch Machine

1. 45lbs. x 5
2. 60 x 3
3. 80 x 4 (forgot it was warm-up, did two extra reps until I realized)
4. 90 x 10
5. 90 x 10
6. 90 x 10

Two minutes of rest. Increasing load.

Cable Low Row

1. 45lbs. x 6 (did one extra just for form’s sake)
2. 75 x 3
3. 90 x 2
4. 105 x 8
5. 105 x 8

Two minutes of rest. Workout’s going great so far. Increasing this as well. Two minutes of rest.

Concentration Curl

1. 5lbs. x 5
2. 10 x 10
3. 10 x 10

Another worthless warm-up set. Increasing. Two minutes of rest between sets (all of these have been for between sets, but I do also rest for two minutes before starting the next exercise.)

Romanian Deadlift

1. 60lbs. x 3
2. 85 x 2
3. 100 x 10

Because of how much I was supposed to de-load from my working Deadlift weight for this lift, it would have been impractical for me to do conventional deadlifts. So I didn’t.

I will be increasing this, I just am not sure by how much, yet. I might just keep it at a set percentage, so that if my conventional deadlift doesn’t go up, neither does this.

BREAK TIME: 11:11AM (I wished I could keep working out, HAH.)

More later, this workout hasn’t ended yet…

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