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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My Shoulders Are Weird

You know you’re developing your shoulders (or perhaps neglecting your upper arms, which I am also doing) when someone points out the glaring slope differential of the peak of your lateral deltoid to the insertion point of your triceps.

(cue snorty geek laughter) Nyaahhawwhaw!

Anyway.

Body Weight: 181.5lbs.
Body Fat Percentage: 20.3%

I feel awful about the above. There are maybe three excuses for that, none of them I like.

So I decided that, if I was as carb-heavied as I hope I was, that I ought to be strong enough to make decent progress on deadlifts. I pretended that I didn’t have any other lifting to do today and just balls-out deadlifted.

Deadlift

1. 135lbs. x 3 ~ double-overhand
2. 155 x 3 ~ d-o
3. 220 x 1 ~ d-o (should have been mixed grip, but I lifted it anyway. This is a good sign.)
4. 260 x miss ~ left-under (pissed off)
5. 260 x 1 ~ left-over (at this point I am solid on my decision to keep adding weight to the bar until it doesn’t budge.)
6. 270 x 1 ~ l-u
7. 275 x 1 ~ l-o
8. 285 x miss ~ l-u; I didn’t retry this. I was starting to feel lightheaded.

I added fifteen pounds to my deadlift, which I would be doing consistently anyway if I hadn’t been dieting. Another nail in the coffin.

Incline Bench

1. 45lbs. x 5
2. 45 x 5
3. 50 x 5
4. 70 x 3
5. 90 x 2
6. 100 x 6
7. 105 x 3 (the floor on this exercise is 6 reps)
8. 95 x 7 (prescribed drop set)
9. 90 x 12 (prescribed, though I went to failure.)

I’m still feeling this in my triceps. My chest doesn’t hurt nearly as much, but its barely getting taxed either… when I flex it it hurts, so I’m not going to worry about my form too much.

Chin Assist

1. 116lbs. x 3
2. 146 x 1

I didn’t like my lat activation here. I don’t think I had too much arm involvement (like I usually think I do) but my forearms were starting to cry from all the pulling and my triceps were on fire from the benching. So, thinking my lats weren’t firing properly (and shit, maybe they weren’t after all the DL) I decided to switch to pulldowns. I decided to do a five-rep test and reconfigure my workout from here on to have straight sets. I’m already starting to lag synaptically.

Pulldown 5-rep

• 45
• 70
• 90
• 115 (got five, but form struggled)
• 105
• 105
• 105

I want to work this up to 155 or so.

Lateral Raise

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

I kind of want to cut the last set from these. If I don’t, though, I’m going to count this as strike 1 of my 3 misses.

Posterior Delt Fly

1. 30lbs. x 6
2. 60 x 8
3. 60 x none

Just felt fried. Had to leave. Didn’t finish the rest of the prescribed workout.

START: 9:09AM

STOP: 1:02PM

I kind of want to go back to the basic Deadlift + Press variation workout and just forget everything else.

I’m not going to enjoy the winter holidays at all. I’m already back to where I started, fatass-wise, I don’t want to make it worse.

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Depletion Bump

This workout made me consider the wisdom of increasing the weight on my volume workout.

Even more so now, two days later, with raped hamstrings.

Workout for Thursday, December 2, 2010

Body Weight: 169lbs.
Body Fat Percentage: 16.7%

NOTE: Constipated…

START: 10:08AM
STOP: 1:19PM

Pre-Workout: EC1 (50/200mg) @ 8:15AM

3 x 15, no weight changes between sets but I’ll note what the increase was from previous workouts, as well as changes in rest periods throughout the workout.

• Leg Press (55lbs.; +5) ~ 1 minute rest
• Leg Curl (35lbs.; +5)
• Calf Raise (45lbs.; +15) ~ 1.5 min rest
• Leg Press
• Leg Curl
• Calf Raise ~ 2 min rest
• Leg Press
• Leg Curl
• Leg Press
• Leg Curl
• Calf Raise ~ 2.5 min rest

10 minute break.

• Bench Press (50lbs.; +5) ~ 2 min rest
• Cable Row (45lbs.; +0)
• Bench Press
• Cable Row

EC2 (25/200mg) @ 12:15PM

• DB Incline Press (30lbs.; +0) ~ 2 min rest
• Pulldown (35lbs.; +5)
• Machine Lateral Raise (20lbs.; +0)
• DB Incline Press
• Pulldown
• Machine Lateral Raise

I finish up here. I had to cut things short (heh) because I’d gotten a call from my dad, who wanted to take me out to lunch. Not about to refuse a free ride home,  y’know?

So I just decided to not sweat skipping the arms/abs/cardio on this day.

I did take some time to think about how to increase the poundages for this workout, however.

What I decided on was this:

1. Determine the tonnage for the bottom of the rep range at the new weight. (For example: Cable Rows can only be increased in jumps of 15lbs. The next jump up for me would be 60lbs. 60 x 12 = 720lbs.)
2. Divide the determined tonnage by the present weight. (720lbs./45lbs.)
3. The result is the top of the rep range to work towards (16)

HOWEVER.

The only time I will increase the weight on depletion exercises when I am returning from a diet break. If I hit the ceiling on all my lifts here and I still have three cycles (meaning three more depletion workouts) to go: DEAL WITH IT.

The weight stays the same and I won’t likely go for more reps unless it’s really, mind-numbingly easy to perform them.

I may progress slower even still, such as if I hit the ceiling on ONLY the workout before the break, I may retry at this same weight when I come back from the break. My reasoning is that this was the first break I’ve “come back” from, and there’s a remarkable regression of recoverability. A final-cycle depletion performance bump might just be indicative of a good day or excitement or what-have-you.

This is all conjecture for the moment, but I wasn’t happy with the thought of just leaving one of my workouts exactly the same intensity until MARCH.

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Working Myself Sick

Eh, fucking meme. I don’t like blogging every day.

Especially when I’m sick.

I gotta update the workout log. I can’t believe working out four days in a row made me sick. FML.

10.2.10

Squat

1. 45lbs. x 10
2. 65 x 10
3. 95 x 10
4. 95 x 7
5. 95 x 7
6. 95 x 7

Increase.

Calf Raise

1. 45lbs. x 10
2. 60 x 10
3. 75 x 10
4. 75 x 7
5. 75 x 7
6. 75 x 7

Increase.

Weight: 173lbs.

BF%: 16.9%

10.3.10

Pulldown

1. 40lbs. x 5
2. 55 x 3
3. 80 x 2
4. 95 x 7
5. 95 x 7
6. 95 x 7
7. 95 x 7

Increase.

Pushdown

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

Cardio

2 minute walk, 2 cycles of 1 minute walk/jog/run, and got halfway through the jog part of the third cycle before giving up miserably. I’m just going to try to add a cycle every time or something. I dunno.

Grr… feel like craaaap.

Favorite Marvel Team: Great Lakes Avengers. I don’t have any scans :(

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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.

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Standard Strength

Much like I did here, I’m going to post what my poundages are for some lifts.

These are the lifts I’m going to struggle to maintain as I diet down. I will not be increasing weight much, if at all, until next year. Most likely.

Workout A

• Bench Press: 110lbs x 2 reps
• Incline Bench: 95lbs x 5 reps
  • Drop set: 85lbs x 8 reps
• Close-grip Bench: 80lbs x 5 reps
  • Drop set: 70lbs x 8 reps

Workout B

• Deadlift: 200lbs x 2 reps
  • Drop set: 165lbs x 4 reps
• Lateral Raise Machine: 95lbs x 3 reps
  • Drop set: 85lbs x 4 reps
• Pulldown: 130lbs x 3 reps
  • 115lbs x 6 reps

I’m probably going to still do Chins (assisted) on A days, but they won’t be a part of the central workout whose numbers I want to maintain. It’s almost a push/pull routine!

Probably going to fill this in with more goal-talk at some point, but I wanted to post up my numbers for my own reference. It’s surprising how useful this blog is when I have a phone with internet access.

God, I am so weak.

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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.

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REFEED ME (P3C4T1)

My computer has been down for a while.

As such, I’ve totally blanked on all the flavor text I was going to post with this workout.

Tension Workout for Thursday, July 8, 2010

Superset: Leg Extension / Leg Curl

1. 30lbs x 5 / 25lbs x 5
2. 45 x 3 / 40 x 3
3. 60 x 2 / 55 x 2
4. 75 x 6 / 65 x 6
5. 70 x 7 / 60 x 7
6. 65 x 8 / 55 x 8
7. 60 x 9 / 50 x 9

Pretty straightforward superset. Throughout the workout I’d usually rest a minute, so that it would be two minutes of rest for the same exercise (Extension, rest a minute, Curl, rest a minute, Extension, etc.)

Superset: Chest Press Machine / Cable Row

1. 30lbs x 5 / 30lbs x 5
2. 45 x 3 / 45 x 3
3. 60 x 2 / 60 x 2
4. 75 x 6 / 75 x 7
5. 70 x 7 / 75 x 8

The cable row was in 15lbs. jumps so I just… didn’t do a drop set there. I should really look up better form on them as well. This was the first time in a LONG time… I fucking HATE rowing.

Superset: Incline Press Machine / Pulldowns

1. 45lbs x 2 / 50 x 3
2. 60 x 12 / 65 x 2
3. 60 x 6 / 85 x 8
4. NA / 70 x 11

Superset: Calf Raises / Lateral Raises

1. 15lbs x 5 / NA
2. 30 x 3 / NA
3. 45 x 2 / 40 x 3
4. 60 x 6 / 55 x 2
5. 60 x 7 / 65 x 6
6. 60 x 8 / 55 x 8
7. 60 x 9 / 45 x 10

I started the Lateral Raises a little later because my calves recover quickly and because I wanted to end the superset together rather than trailing off with increasing reps on calf raises…

I do a lot of thinking while I’m sitting in the Lateral Raise machine. I decided that if Depletion workouts are going to be against the clock (rather than increasing the weights on them), and the Power workouts are going to be the opposite of that (increasing the weights regardless of how long it takes me), what do I do to mark progress on the Tension workouts?

I’m just going to try to get 12 reps on every movement (the rep range is supposed to be 6-12.) I’m not going to be doing this workout plan for very long, but 12 is where I’m going to go “okay, time to increase the weight a little bit here.”

Training to failure isn’t the point of this workout anyway, it doesn’t NEED to be HEAVY, it just should be challenging.

Superset: Dumbbell Curl / Pushdown

1. 10lbs x 10 / 32.5 x 12
2. 10 x 12 / 32.5 x 12

So, for example, I’m going to bump both of those on my next tension workout and just try for about six reps.

Weight: 160.5lbs
BF%: 16.7%

Those measures were taken before this workout, and will count as my ‘depleted’ scores.

Start: 10AM
End: 11:30AM

OBSERVE THE CARB LOAD

1. Smoothie King’s Strawberry Hulk w/ Muscle Builder (or whatever the creatine+glutamine stuff is), used fat-free yogurt instead of pecan ice cream, sized @ 20oz
2. 3 chocoloate chip cookies from The Chocolate Factory
3. Chicken Chalupa w/ baja sauce + bacon club chalupa and an order of cinnamon crisps at Taco Bell
4. 59g Baby Ruth bar (grabbed it in the gas station when I was buying milk, $0.69!)
5. A gallon of milk and a box of raisin bran crunch, the 56oz box. Whichever one is the bigger one because that happened to be on sale at Sentry. (Didn’t finish the box until Friday’s breakfast, and finished the remaining cup or so of milk after I got home from Friday’s workout.)

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Ow, My Everything (P3C4D1)

Tuesday I decided to run a depletion workout to “make up” for the Independence Day Eat Like a Moronathon.

And, well… holy fucking ow.

The routine I’m following for this cycle is based off of Lyle McDonald’s Ultimate Diet 2. The nomenclature for the, uh, callsign stuff, is changed as follows:

• Phase and Cycle numbering will press on linearly. It’s a different diet set-up, and the workout is different, but it’s still “the next in line.”
• The workout LETTERING, however, will change. A and B will be reserved for when I return to a LeanGains-inspired routine. For Lyle, I’m using D, T, and P: Depletion, Tension, and Power workouts as inspired by him.

I’m not actually running UD2, because I lack the autism for that. But a lot of the principles will be recognizable to those who have read it, and utter nonsense to those who have not.

If you haven’t read it, tough. I’m not going to go out of my way explaining what I’m doing beyond this: the depletion workout day(s) are exactly as it sounds. It’s high-volume, low-nutrition (specifically carbs), and murders my muscles. The tension workout primes me for a carb refeed, which in turn fuels me for a power (strength-retention) workout. I only plan for the poundages to go up on the power workouts and POSSIBLY tension (meaning: I’ll decide when I get there.)

The marker for improvement with the depletion workouts will be that I get them done faster.

I wasn’t used to such high volume, and I found myself winded and needing to rest way more than I would have liked with this type of workout. I had to drop poundages several times to be able to continue working. I’m going to use the lowest numbers that I found in this workout in the next depletion workout to be the weight across all sets in the next attempt at this workout. I was time-restricted to begin with, taking so long get through this workout had an exaggerated annoyance factor for this reason as well (I need to be done by 11:30AM to have time to shower and be on a bus to visit a friend an hour-and-a-half away, on time.)

So, not having time for the full four-hour workout I would have “liked,” I did two rounds, one of each depletion. The distinction between the two is purely hitting chest, back, and midsection from different angles. This will be obvious when you look at the routine itself.

Depletion Workout for July 6, 2010

Round One

• Leg Extension / Leg Curl Superset (no rest)
  • 65lbs x 15 / 55lbs x 15
  • 50 x 13 / 45 x 15
  • 30 x 15 / 25 x 15
• Chest Press / Row Superset (no rest, except *five minute break)
  • 75lbs x 12 / 75lbs x 12
  • 65 x 12 / 60 x 6*
  • 50 x 15 / 45 x 15
• Lateral Raise / Calf Raise Superset (no rest, except *five minute break)
  • 50lbs x 12 / 45lbs x 15
  • 35 x 15* / 45 x 15
  • 35 x 15 / 45 x 15
• Dumbbell Curl / Cable Pushdown Superset (no rest)
  • 10lbs x 15 / 27.5lbs x 15
  • 10 x 15 / 27.5 x 15
• Cable Torso Twist
  • 30lbs x 15
  • 30lbs x 15

Ten minute break, then on to the next round.

Round Two

• Leg Extension / Leg Curl Superset (no rest)
  • 30lbs x 15 / 25lbs x 15
  • 30 x 13 / 25 x 15
  • 30 x 15 / 25 x 15
• Incline Press / Pulldown Superset (no rest, except *five minute break)
  • 45lbs x 15 / 75lbs x 15
  • 45 x 15 / 75 x 12*
  • (should have done a third set, but I didn’t)
• Lateral Raise / Calf Raise Superset (no rest)
  • 35lbs x 15 / 45lbs x 15
  • 35 x 12 / 45 x 15
  • (only two sets on shoulders, did the third set of Calf Raises later)
• Dumbbell Curl / Cable Pushdown Superset (no rest)
  • 8lbs x 15 / 27.5lbs x 15
  • 8 x 15 / 27.5 x 15 ~ really had to push for the last couple reps on the left arm curls
• Crunch Machine
  • 30lbs x 15
• Calf Raise
  • 45lbs x 15
• Crunch Machine
  • 30lbs x 15
  • 30 x 15
  • 30 x 15

While I never sat around and ‘rested’ like I ordinarily would, I certainly didn’t make any effort to rush from one machine to the next. The extent of my rest periods would probably be the 20 seconds or so it takes walking from one machine to the next.

Workout Start: 9:05AM
Round 1 Finish: 10AM
Workout End: 11:20AM

Weight: 169.5lbs
Body Fat Percentage: 16.9%

I ate somewhere in the neighborhood of 175g protein since that workout. Presently fasting until pre-workout tomorrow barring any wonky blood sugar issues or free lean protein.

Seeya then!

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