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.

Popularity: 2% [?]

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…

Popularity: 2% [?]

260 fail

I was under the impression that this workout was a failure while I was performing it.

I don’t feel so bad about it at the moment.

Workout for Monday, November 29, 2010

Weight: 167lbs.
Bodyfat Percentage: 16%

START: 9:23AM

Deadlift

1. 135lbs. x 3 (double-overhand)
2. 155 x 3 (d-o)
3. 220 x 1 (left-over; goal was 2, felt TOO WEAK)
4. 260 = miss (left-under; rested 7 minutes, felt like I could have gotten it but my grip slipped; need chalk)
5. 260 = worse miss, barely off the floor (l-o)
6. 250 x 1 (l-u; good; fell through after lockout rather than lowering it controlled: my left hip! Fuck!)

No drop set performed. My left hip felt like something was pinching and I didn’t want to push the issue.

Incline Bench

1. 45lbs. x 5
2. 50 x 5
3. 70 x 3
4. 90 x 2
5. 100 x 5 (goal was 6)
6. 90 x 7
7. 80 x 7 (goal was 8)

Not really sure what I want to do with this.

Only one set met my rep goal so I should really only increase that one. Unless I decide at the last minute otherwise,  I think that’s all I will do.

Chin Assist

1. 113lbs. x 2
2. 133 x 2 (goal was 3; GRIP! ugh!)
3. 113 x 4
4. 98 x 6 (goal was 5, but I decided to go for failure just to see)

I almost want to wear gloves.

No I don’t. I need to stop pansy palm-sweating.

Lateral Raise Machine

1. 45lbs. x 5
2. 60 x 3
3. 75 x 2
4. 90 x 2 (goal was 4-6)
5. 80 x 6 (goal was 6-7)
6. 75 x 5 (goal was 8)

I’m not going to change the load on any set, here.

Crunch Machine

1. 45lbs. x 5
2. 65 x 5
3. 90 x 3
4. 115 x 2
5. 115 x 3 (unintentional, forgot to change the weight)
6. 130 x 3
7. 120 x 3

Wanted to work on form with this exercise. It was definitely better this time. I’m going to keep this weight for one more workout, I feel like I should be getting a fuller contraction and I want to get that before I bump the load again.

Time Check: 2:16PM (the exercises below are strictly optional, I check time after the “requisite” maneuvers in case I have to plan for… brevity.)

Reverse Concentration Curl

1. 20lbs. x 5
2. 20 x 5
3. 20 x 5

I’m going to increase the load here, as well as include a warm-up set. I suspect that I should cut forearm work from one of the other workouts, but I have not yet decided which: to deplete them and not have them on tension would possibly increase the amount of glycogen storage; to not deplete them and have them on tension might not be enough recovery time but, if workable, would have me training them with a greater load which is necessary as well.

Will try them both and see.

Unilateral Cable Extension

1. 7.5lbs. x 8
2. 12.5 x 8

This was intended to be an 8 rep test, but after the second set it felt as though my left tricep was going to rip out. So I stopped.

The reason I even did this was suspecting that my arms are too involved with my benching and holding me back. It is also the reason for the next exercise.

Fly Machine – 8 rep test

1. 45lbs.
2. 50
3. 60
4. 70
5. 85 (7)
6. 75 (5; had to stop because my elbows hurt)

FINISH: 3:23PM

Popularity: 2% [?]

Waste of a Workout

Workout for Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Deadlift

1. 135lbs. x 3 (hook-grip)
2. 185 x 1 (left hand over)
3. 205 x 1 (left under)
4. 240 x 1 (left over)
5. 215 x 2 (left under; nearly blacked-out)

Lateral Raise Machine

1. 45lbs. x 5
2. 70 x 3
3. 100 x2
4. 120 x 3

Crunch

1. 45lbs x 5
2. 70 x 3
3. 100 x 2
4. 120 x 3

Body Weight: 167lbs
BF%: 20.1%
LBM: 133.4lbs.

Start: 9AM
Stop: 11AM

1.25 hours preworkout was 1 scoop of Purple Wraath BCAAs, and an apple four hours before that.

Last Friday was a pain in the ass.

I was called in to reshoot a commercial I’d already done, because some novice twat wore the biggest fucking logo nobody saw. But Thursday I’m all stringy and flat and all the other semi-depleted looking-like-shit details you might think of, so I decided to do a modest tension workout the day of the shoot (shoot being in the evening) and then carb-load up to the show.

Which worked, my arms/shoulders looked great in the sleeveless pink tank I wore at the previous shoot. I was slightly irritated for the dual-prong of breaking my diet and the flood of activated hormones, but whatever.

And then the shoot was canceled.

Motherfucker.

Lesson learned: don’t bother being a carbfag because it leads to looking for any excuse to eat and furthermore SHATTERING DISAPPOINTMENT IN YOURSELF.

Workout for Friday, October 22, 2010

Pulldown

1. 45lbs. x 5
2. 60 x 3
3. 85 x 2
4. 100 x 7
5. 85 x 7
6. 85 x 7
7. 85 x 7

Incline DB Bench

1. 40lbs. x 5
2. 50 x 3
3. 70 x 2
4. 80 x 7
5. 80 x 5
6. 70 x 7
7. 70 x 7

Incline DB Curl

1. 5lbs. x 5
2. 10 x 3
3. 15 x 7
4. 15 x 7
5. 10 x 7
6. 10 x 7

Pushdown

1. 22.5lbs. x 5
2. 32.5 x 7
3. 27.5 x 7
4. 27.5 x 7
5. 27.5 x 7

Lateral Raise

1. 35lbs. x 5
2. 45 x 3
3. 55 x 2
4. 70 x 7
5. 70 x 7
6. 60 x 6

Body Weight: 167.5lbs
BF%: 18.3%

Start: 9:15AM
Stop: 12:25PM

I had a carby meal three hours prior to this workout. (5 cups Multigrain Cheerios, 1 cup craisins, 4 cups 1% milk)

My shoulders are still a little tweaky, but I think by tomorrow I ought to be read for another max-effort DL/shoulder-something workout.

Popularity: 1% [?]

Back to Shoulders

I am going to have to either stop chinning or lateral raising.

Chinning: Compound movement that has realistic utilitarian purpose.

Laterals: Makes my shoulders bigger and I like that.

Tough call.

Workout for September 26, 2010

Body Weight: 172lbs.
Body Fat Percentage: 20%

Fed/Fasted: Fed. Fasted ten hours before working out, but the day prior I ate a LOT.

Pre-workout EC taken at 9:15AM.

ChinAss

1. 42lbs. x 5
2. 42 x 5
3. 82 x 5
4. 117 x 3
5. Bodyweight (172) – 4 negatives.

Did some lat activation stuff from a dead hang that I didn’t count, after.

Lateral Raise

1. 45lbs. x 5
2. 55 x 5
3. 70 x 3
4. 85 x 2
5. 105 x NOTHING. Got a fourth of the way up and wouldn’t budge.
6. 95 x 1 – and ow, man.

In retrospect, pretty foolish thinking I could handle post-deadlift poundages after doing something already stressful to the shoulders.

Crunch Machine

1. 45lbs. x 5
2. 70 x 3
3. 100 x 2
4. 120 x 3 – increase.

Finally getting somewhere.

I really shouldn’t have done any vanity training and just got to the cardio that I wound up too sapped to do at all, but whatever. My caloric deficit hasn’t been that great (in more ways than one) so while that is definitely an argument for increased cardio… it also meant I felt capable of DOING the lifting.

If I can lift, I’m going to lift. End of story.

Twist

1. 40lbs. x 5
2. 50 x 3
3. 70 x 2
4. 90 x 5 (increase! Grunted like a boar though…)

Calf Raise

1. 45lbs. x 5
2. 75 x 5
3. 75 x 5
4. 75 x 15 – increase

Dumbbell Curl

1. 15lbs x 5
2. 15 x 5
3. 15 x 9 – increase

I just alternated arms, was starting to feel tired and I wanted to finish up. No idle rest.

Pushdown

1. 27.5lbs x 5
2. 32.5 x 5
3. 32.5 x 5
4. 32.5 x 5 – could have done more, but stopped short. Increase.

I don’t want to risk over-fatiguing my triceps, even though the rest before my next incline bench session is probably sufficient.

TIME: 10AM – 12:22PM

Popularity: 2% [?]

Not Pylo-Ready (P4C6B)

Workout B for Saturday, July 24, 2010

Start: 9:05AM

Deadlift

1. 135lbs x 5 ~ hg
2. 140 x 3 ~ L/R
3. 180 x 2 (mis-loaded, wanted to do 160 here) ~ R/L
4. 200 x 3 ~ R/L

Today is the first day I really felt like I got the form nailed on deadlifts. I watched the Starting Strength instructional DVD and, wow. Highly recommended.

Lateral Raise Machine

1. 50lbs x 5
2. 70 x 3
3. 90 x 2
4. 100 x 1

Lost a rep. Shit.

Pulldown

1. 65 x 5

I’m cutting pulldowns from B workouts. I don’t want to do two pulls anymore.

Crunch

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

Went rather well.

DB Curl

1. 8lbs x 5
2. 10 x 3
3. 15 x 1
4. 15 x 8

Going to try increasing this.

Wrist Curl

1. 10lbs x 5
2. 15 x 3
3. 20 x 2
4. 25 x 8

Hurt. Going to keep it here.

Weight: 169lbs.
Body Fat %: 18.8% (Had a rack of ribs for dinner that didn’t finish digesting, along with some cottage cheese, etc….)

Finish: 11:05AM

Aside from watching the DVD, I also read the Vertical Jump Training Bible by Kelly Baggett. I wanted to start incorporating beginner-level plyometric drills but after doing 2 x 50 ankle hops I was spend. I kept toppling over doing the 4-star drill.

I’m going to start the plyo work this week, since I don’t think I’ll be getting to the gym.

Popularity: 1% [?]

Hey Deady (P4C5B)

Man. I think this workout was the nearest to my 1RM in good form on deadlifts. I’m STILL feeling it, three days later. Tomorrow’s another workout, though, so I gotta stick this one up.

I’m simplifying the workout to A and B days only, essentially just alternating push/pull days.

Workout for Friday, July 16, 2010

Deadlift

1. 135lbs x 5 left / right
2. 140 x 3 left / right
3. 160 x 2 right / left
4. 200 x 2 left / right ~ STAY
5. 165 x 4 right / left ~ INCREASE

The first time I attempted 200 this workout it didn’t budge. I think I was just scared of it though. I got pissed off at my inability to lift, grit my teeth, and pulled. I set up for a third rep and got light-headed, so I stopped. I’m happy being only one rep away from bumping the top set again. It’s a good compromise between getting exactly what I want and utter failure.

I don’t remember how that drop set wound up so much lighter than it should really be. Ah well. Up it goes!

It took my forty-five minutes to get through this lift alone. I took as much rest as I needed, which turned out to be a lot.

Lateral Raise Machine

1. 35lbs x 5
2. 55 x 3
3. 75 x 2
4. 95 x 3 ~ INCREASE
5. 85 x 4 ~ INCREASE

These two lifts have a 3-5 rep range top set, once I hit three reps the weight gets bumped.

Leg Curl

I did one set of 30lbs for 5 reps, and one set of 45 with 3 reps, and decided that direct leg work is not only redundant but painful after deadlifting and I’m not at all interested.

Pulldown

1. 50lbs x 5
2. 75 x 3
3. 100 x 2
4. 130 x 3 ~ STAY
5. 115 x 6 ~ INCREASE

Top set is the same rep range, but because I’m going to work lats (the real ones) every workout, the frequency is greater, and I’m only going to add weight when I hit the top of the range.

These three exercises mark the composition of the formal workout. Movements after this aren’t really expected to be repeated on a consistent basis.

Crunch

1. 45lbs x 5
2. 50 x 3
3. 70 x 2
4. 90 x 5 – INCREASE

Not doing a drop set here. Just want to strengthen my core in opposition to the deadlift working my lower back.

Dumbbell Bicep Curl

1. 8lbs x 5
2. 10 x 3
3. 15 x 2
4. 20 x nope
5. 15 x 7 – STAY

Biceps are going to have to be ranged at 5-8. Failure is not an option here, my biceps would probably just pop out of my arms and run away. If I work them, I’ll work this slightly higher range.

Wrist Curl

1. 5lbs x 5
2. 10 x 5
3. 15 x 5
4. 20 x 5
5. 25 x 5 (only barely managed this)
6. 20 x 8 ~ INCREASE!

5-8 on the forearm work too. These suckers need to grow a little!

I tried to do a set of 5 with 5lbs on a reverse wrist curl, but my arms were spent and I couldn’t ramp up the weight any.

Workout span: 9AM – 11:40AM

Weight: 171lbs.
Body Fat Percentage: 17.2%

Fat Weight: 29.241lbs
Lean Body Mass: 141.759lbs

Very slightly surprised by the gain in lean mass. Not expecting it to stick around, but after watching non-essential weight creep up and LBM sticking around 140, this was pretty nice.

Fast was initiated a little later than I would have liked (midnight), and broken a bit too soon (noon.) I ate quite a bit this day. A decently-sized post-workout meal from Panda Express (note to self: Kung Pao Chicken is fucking AWFUL and you will WAIT for a double-serving of Mandarin Chicken…) Then had a massive(ly awesome) dinner at my aunt’s following that.

I’ve been faithfully cramming at least a cup of cottage cheese down my throat every day as well, so far.

I have another workout coming on Monday and I’ll reflect on my so-far in that post.

Popularity: 1% [?]

Deceptive Backfire (P2C3A1)

So, drying out for every single progress pic? Not going to happen.

I fumbled my depletion attempt horribly. Though I’m sure a lot of the weight I put on was water and food in the belly, I can’t help but be bothered by the fact that I still WEIGH less and my body fat percentage went up. It feels like I dropped all the water out of my muscles, and my fat was carb-and-water loaded. The fat I do have is waaay more jiggly than it ordinarily would be so I know I’m holding onto water, and I know I’m not going to drop it by tomorrow for a proper reading. If I’m going to do a diet-only depletion I’ll have to save the reload for after the reading.

It’s just really frustrating. I should have just kept going along as I had been and not done anything differently to manipulate for a ‘better’ reading. That shit should be saved for the end, haha!

But, excuses don’t change the numbers. I’m just going to roll with what I’ve got and accept it as truth even though in the back of my mind I know it’s a little off.

(Being depleted made this workout hell. My BRAIN felt hot, some kind of weird fever or allergies [I don't actually know if I have allergies yet] made focusing really difficult. I still made some decent progress.)

Workout A1 for Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Bench Press

1. 45lbs x 5
2. 65 x 3 (brain is REALLY not working, should have loaded 55)
3. 75 x 2
4. 95 x 4
5. 90 x 5

That second warm-up set really threw me but I pushed on anyway. I probably could have only gotten one more rep on each working set if I had ramped properly, which still wouldn’t have put me in the range range that calls for an increase. Kind of off-putting because I wanted to start benching triple digits finally, but, oh well. It was difficult so I’m not going to add five pounds and wind up with a single where I wretch my neck or something trying to get it off my chest.

I’m trying to get in the habit of pausing longer at the bottom.

I actually didn’t try for a specific amount of reps on the drop-set but I was very slightly amused by the fact that it wound up as +1 anyway.

Incline Bench

1. 50lbs x 3
2. 65 x 2
3. 85 x 6

I really dig doing less warm-ups for things that are probably warmed-up a bit anyhow. I do the two warm-up sets that I do just to get in the groove of the motion. I’ll probably wind up adding more warm-up sets as I lift heavier weight but, for now, it’s good.

Oh, and I made the rep range. Increase!

Hammer-Grip Horizontal Press

1. 55lbs x 3
2. 75 x 2
3. 95 x 6

This is starting to feel weird on my thumbs. I may be moving to free-weight close-grip benching soon after all. I made reps, though, so increasing for next workout.

Pushdown

1. 37.5lbs x 3
2. 42.5 x 2
3. 47.5 x 4

Haha, not even close to the range here. Looks like the lessened warm-ups doesn’t ALWAYS save me :)

Pulldown

1. 45lbs x 5
2. 75 x 3
3. 95 x 2
4. 120 x 2

I’m going to have to change this to pull-ups, I think! This is starting to pull me out of the chair. Not expecting that to happen threw off my set, so I let it go.

Next time I’ll be doing the pull-up assist machine, offsetting whatever to simulate 120lbs.

Crunch Machine

1. 45lbs x 3
2. 65 x 2
3. 40 x 35 (contest!)
4. 80 x 5
5. 85 x 5

I was going to skip this because the rest of my workout went so horribly. Then I decided to do them BECAUSE of that.

There was this girl there (Suzie) with her friend, their first day at the gym, apparently here seeking the magic of spot reduction. She stole the machine I was using and asked me to help her with her form.

Sigh.

Eventually this led to her realizing there’s another, identical machine directly next to the one I was using. I had just left the machine (I leave my notebook on the machine though) for a drink of water, so, yeah, that’s pretty typical. Anyway, she wanted to do a contest with me to see how many crunches we could do at 40lbs. I agreed, and just kept crunching until she failed-out at 30. Then I did five more. Then I rested for about five minutes because BURNING.

In all, I did way too many crunches.

Body Weight: 159.5lbs

Body Fat Percentage: 16.6%

I didn’t even bother with pictures. I should just be happy with minor progress from week-to-week rather than trying for monthly milestones.

I was going to continue dieting if my bodyfat was above 13%, but I think I might have done something screwy to my metabolism. I’m going to be a little more lenient with my calorie intake (meaning more) and I’m going to TRY to adhere to a 16-8 fasting-feeding window ala LeanGains rather than the 24-hours-when-convenient of Eat Stop Eat.

ESE is great and I love it, but I feel like I’m eating too much when I do eat, which mandates more fasting, which… runs ideologically against the selling point of flexbility of ESE. ESE seems like something I’ll be using once I’m at the weight I want to be at, and looking to maintain. There are days where “I ate more than I should” is a gross understatement, and I think twice-weekly 24 hour fasts should be able to cover it while eating whenever I want will cover the inevitable social prestige of looking awesome. Snort.

Plus, if I’m fasting more, hopefully that will encourage me to consume more protein. It’s definitely been lacking.

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Progress Excites Me (P1C2WA1)

I just realized I started my second workout cycle yesterday. Awwriiight~

It was a highly unexpected result, my measures, as I still feel like I’m vastly overeating. I’m still recording on paper when and how much of whatever I’m eating, but I’m not tracking the calories on The Daily Plate.

I’m not as anal about how much I’m eating as I used to be. Granted, it has to be less than enough, but what I’m doing now can be best-described as eating until I’m full once a day. If I mysteriously put on weight, I can easily backtrack into my records and tabulate the calories. If the numbers make sense, then I know I ate too much and I’ll have to back off. If they don’t quite, or there’s a lot of carbs in there, well! Water weight.

I’m slowly introducing a little more cardio, here-and-there. I don’t really have a set plan with it. I’m tentatively looking at days that I do yohimbine (fasted-cardio style), or post-workout. Something about fat being released into the bloodstream from the Y or the high-intensity activity, that makes me want to include cardio at those times. More on this in another post. I haven’t been as tenacious in my physiological studies as I used to be.

Saturday Cardio

1. 6:45AM: 15mg Yohimbine HCL + 200mg Caffeine (since I haven’t been posting on this as much, in the future this will be referred to as YC much like the ephedrine+caffeine stack is referred to as EC.)
2. 7:23AM: Slow warm-up. Easy-walking for about 12 minutes.
3. 7:35AM: Speed walking. Just walking quickly enough for it to be uncomfortable, for about 40 minutes.
4. 8:15AM: I didn’t plan my route, so when time was up I had to walk back home. Another 12 minutes.

Something I noted was that I had a really high blood sugar. I should have tested much, much earlier (on the order of around midnight, I’d say) but since I had only just realized it a couple of minutes after taking my YC, I just tested right then, at 380mg/dL. Insulin counteracts the effects of yohimbine, so I just went and did my cardio anyway.

A few minutes after I got home (around 8:30AM) I tested again at 292mg/dL. Still really high, but an 88-point drop is pretty significant. I don’t know if that would have worked from 188 to 100 (I don’t know why it wouldn’t but I’m not going to make that claim), but I think doing cardio with an untested threshold made the higher level of sugar a decent “safety net” though I wouldn’t ordinarily like to be anywhere near that high.

Workout for Sunday, June 6, 2010

Before leaving for the gym: EC1 @ 9:45AM

Bench Press

1. 45lbs. x 5
2. 50 x 3
3. 70 x 2
4. 90 x 7 (felt 50/50 on making the 8th rep; I decided not to risk it.)
5. 85 x 9

I’m going to increase this next workout.

Incline Press Machine

1. 45lbs. x 5
2. 75 x 3
3. 90 x 2
4. 120 x 4

Okay. Screw this machine. I can’t find a suitable place to set the lever (it’s either too-high to be useful or too low to not be damaging to my shoulders) so I’ll be moving back to the free-weight version.

Hammer-grip Horizontal Press Machine

1. 55lbs. x 3
2. 70 x 2
3. 90 x 8

Shoulders are bugging me now.

Pushdown

1. 32.5lbs. x 5
2. 37.5 x 2
3. 42.5 x 9

I cheated a tenth rep so I’m not counting it, making this fall below my desired range for increase. Next workout I’m dropping the first warm-up set to 3 reps, but keeping everything else. If I make 10 reps on A2 then I can increase the weight.

Pulldown

1. 45lbs. x 5
2. 70 x 3
3. 90 x 2
4. 115 x 6

I very nearly almost skipped doing these. I was hearing all sorts of excuses in my head during the tricep exercises. I switched on autopilot and let the excuses fly, hammering out possibly the best-form round of pulldowns I’ve ever done in my life. FUCK YEAH. Increasing the weight next workout.

Weighted Crunch Machine

1. 30lbs. x 5
2. 45 x 3
3. 60 x 2
4. 75 x 5

This isn’t, probably, going to be a regular exercise, but I thought in an effort to combat staleness in my routine I’d stick in a ‘reward’ exercise at the end. I chose crunches over calf raises because I’ve got something nasty happening on my left big toe joint and I’d like to establish that it’s not an infection before I harass it much more than I have.

Body Weight: 160.5lbs

Body Fat Percentage: 13.7% ~ I totally didn’t believe a lick of this, though before I saw it I mistook my BMI for my bodyfat percentage and had a mini-heart attack (23.7!?) I redid this reading multiple times and 13.7 was the first one to show up three times so I took it down. It was also the second-highest in the range (13.8 beat it) so it panders to my inner-pessimist.

Condition: B. ~ I very BARELY made it to the gym today. Had to roll off the couch and run down the parking lot in my underwear to make the ride to the gym, but I DID. So, yeah. I’m probably disproportionately proud of myself for having done that. Screw it.

Time in: 10AM
Time out: 12:35PM

I finished the workout at 12:20 but I sat in the locker room debating cardio for 15 minutes before I decided to leave and, if I started to regret it later… just do it later!

So I Regretted It and Came Back and This Is Treadmill

1. 1:42PM: EC2
2. 2:23PM: back in the gym. Warm-Up: 10 minutes at 2 incline/2mph. Heart Rate 102bpm
3. 2:35PM: HIIT: 5.5 minutes. Started and stopped with jog @ 4.5mph for 1.5min; run @ 6mph for 30sec. Incline set to 3 for both. Heart Rate 178bpm
4. 2:41PM: Rest. Talked to DJ in the locker room about cutting. He’s bulking, but cut for beach season.
5. 2:53PM: Steady State: 40 minutes at 3 incline/3mph. Heart Rate 135bpm
6. 3:35PM: Done.

I cut the HIIT short because I just am not fit enough for it. I was sweating and wheezing and my legs felt like they were going to fail out on me at any moment. (I wanted to total 10 minutes.)

So, then, while doing the steady state stuff I kept trying to convince myself to stop. But there weren’t any physical signs of needing to stop early, and any excuse I could come up with was quite easily squashed with “you’re not going to be burning any more fat than you are right now.”

But man, when 40 hit the clock I was off.

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Alterra Foundry (P1C1WB2)

Yesterday I had an interview for a possible role in a 7-minute film for a 48-hour festival.

After considering all the possible things that I could be doing this weekend (film, pirate festival, raunchy sex) I decided that “easy workout” would not fit on the itinerary. Especially given that my ride is non-existent on that day (Saturday) anyhow, I decided to work out before my interview.

I again did not get adequate rest. In fact, none at all, as I was fearful of the likelihood that mom might matriarch-mangle my machinations by hand-waving my desires and concluding “you need the sleep.”

So I stayed up through the night, had my first dose of EC at around 8AM and a banana a half hour after that, and got to the gym by around 9AM.

I finished much quicker than anticipated, mostly because I neglected to bring a towel and couldn’t attack the cardio as a result of… not wanting to be a sweaty bastard for my interview. So from 11a-3p I was stumbling around the mall trying to keep myself awake, watching the childrens play in the water geysers and perusing trail mixes I vaguely wanted but not as badly as a nap.

Workout B2, Wednesday June 3rd, 2010

Romanian Deadlift

1. 45lbs x 5
2. 65 x 3
3. 85 x 2
4. 110 x 3
5. 110 x 3
6. 110 x 3

I was supposed to de-load, but it just didn’t occur to me. I forgot to write it onto my program that way and I just did 3 straight sets.

Pulldown

1. 40lbs x 5
2. 55 x 3
3. 70 x 2
4. 90 x 6
5. 90 x 6
6. 90 x 6

Same excuse.

Lateral Raise

1. 30lbs x 5
2. 45 x 3
3. 55 x 2
4. 70 x 6

If I had stopped at 4 I could have probably done two more sets, but I decided instead to hit the top of my rep range… which felt at about one rep shy of failure. I didn’t bother with further sets, but I bet if I had remembered I was supposed to be de-loading… yeah, yeah.

Crunch

1. 25lbs x 5
2. 40 x 3 (…suddenly had emergency bathroom break)
3. 55 x 2
4. 70 x 5

I tacked the crunches onto this workout at the last minute before I left in the morning, feeling that I hadn’t been doing enough to maintain the muscle there and that it couldn’t hurt to work them a little bit now that the fat is starting to uncover them a little bit. I had stopped working them earlier because, when it’s just pushing a wall of fat out, it feels counter-intuitive to the goal.

I just picked up where I left off, increasing the work set from 65 to 70, with no problem at all. Aside from the shitz.

I didn’t measure myself this or the workout prior due to the binge I had. I may just measure at each Workout A1 to keep my sanity.

Condition: B. Though the wait between workout and interview is a hell I’d not like to return to any time soon, actually coming into the gym felt like I was walking into a dream where everybody loves me and I think they’re alright.

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