An Effing Ton of Relocated Log Posts
Workout B, Part I:
Finally
starting to feel better, I was about to throw up. Again, I did two
thirds of the workout before feeling woozy. My theory is this: I don’t
eat many carbs during the day, but right before and after my workouts I
have shakes made with whey protein and Gatorade powder that has a ton
of sugar in it (that whole insulin-spike thing that delivers the
nutrients, or whatever). I think this is shooting my blood sugar
through the roof during this time which is making me feel ill. I’ll
have to cut down on the Gatorade powder and I’m sure it will be fine in
the future. I still need to drink a shake in a few minutes to get
something during that post-workout period. I’ll have Wednesday to make
up the rest of this workout and do some intervals and extra ab work.
I’m going to go rest, that was really hard.
1A) Snatch deadlifts: 185×12x3
1B) T-pushups: 12×3
2A) Bulgarians split squats: bwx12×2, 10×12
2B) Underhand lat pulldowns: 120×12; 140×10
2C) One-arm dumbbell shoulder press: 30×12x3
Posted by
Patrick
at
Sunday, November 18, 2007
“We’re here to win again! Harvard’s team may fight to the end, but Yale win win!”
Got
back from New Haven today after attending the Harvard/Yale football
game yesterday with some friends. While this portion of the fight song
predicts a Yale victory, they actually got demolished yesterday. A very
good time, but I got home later than expected, therefore no gym today.
I also ate pretty poorly, starting with a sausage/cheese calzone Friday
night at Amici’s and ending with pancakes, hash browns, and bacon this
morning, not to mention a decent amount of booze throughout. Not
exactly according to plan, but weekends like that don’t come along very
often. It’s always good to see friends and if that means indulging more
than I want to, so be it. As long as it’s limited to once every few
months.
Posted by
Patrick
at
Friday, November 16, 2007
Workout B…
No time for Part B today, I have appointments and I’ll be away till Sunday. I’ll do it then.
Posted by
Patrick
at
Fat Loss II A:
1A) squats: hack squats again (tried dumbbells, way off balance) 45×15x3, i’ll give it a better shot next week
1B) bentover rows: 135×15x3
2A) ham curls on ball: bwx12×3
2B) push press: 85×12x3
3A) lunges: 25sx12×3
3B) russian twist in chair: 25×12x3
very
beat today. felt like i had to puke, but a really good workout. stuck
with the same weights, got all 12-15 reps in each time. part B
tomorrow. only 2 more weeks of this commute, so everything will settle
down after that and i’ll be able to get probably 3 workouts a week,
maybe 4 depending on soreness. diet was really good too. i haven’t
weighed myself but i feel skinny.
Posted by
Patrick
at
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
Workout A…
Skipped
Monday’s Fat Loss II Workout part A yesterday due to scheduling
conflicts and laziness after work. I’ll get the two this week in
Thursday and Friday. Just ate pizza with Jaylynn but we had a good
excuse. I’ll just cut a cheat meal out of the weekend.
Posted by
Patrick
at
Saturday, November 10, 2007
Fat Loss Workout(s) B
I split Workout B into two days, I was so sleepy yesterday and didn’t want to completely push it. Friday I did:
1A) Deadlifts: 225×12; 185×12x2 (cut down on the weight, hit the reps, no pain, a-ok with me)
1B) T pushups: bwx12×2; bwx10 (those are harder than they look, i can’t quite figure out why)
**here’s
where i didn’t want to push it. i was afraid of doing the bulgarians
without looking at some diagrams/videos just to make sure, so i just
did the underhand lat pulldowns with very little rest
100×12x2; 110×12
Then today (Saturday) I did:
-bulgarian split squats: 10×12x2; bwx12
3A) romanian deadlifts w/ bent over row (i did these with dumbbells, i can keep the form easier: 45×12x3
3B) russian twist in chair: 25×12x3
to
get a little extra in, i threw in some giant sets of standing Arnold
presses/side delt raises/front delt raises/Roman chair leg raises.
i
guess it’s two hard workouts instead of one REALLY hard workout. i
definitely understand how hard these Fat Loss workouts are now. I’m so
winded after every one, which is great. i was also 209 this morning, my
lowest in a while. It’s not as hard as I thought cutting out so many
carbs. I definitely feel tired a lot more, but I’m sure it will just
take a little longer to really get used to. I haven’t exactly been
compliant to my 90% standard but I’m doing well. Sometimes I’ll get
back to Kathe’s after a day in Ashland and just make a peanut butter
sandwich on whole wheat bread. I cannot resist. In any case, the fact
that the numbers on the scale keep moving to the left will keep me
going.
Posted by
Patrick
at
Monday, November 5, 2007
Fat Loss II, Workout A
So
I’ve had another one of my trademark changes of heart. I weighed myself
today and I was 211. I thought that my last week of poor eating and no
working out would have lead to a gain of at least a couple of pounds. I
was discouraged by that that I was going to scrap my plan and start
over. However, the 211 I weighed today means I only maintained what I
had lost before, which is awesome. I decided to stick to the plan and
here’s how it went today:
Today’s numbers for Workout A FLII:
1A)
Front squats: 95×15; 105×12; 115×8 (i am having a hell of a time with
this form, or any squat form for that matter. my wrists really hurt on
these again)
1B) Wide BB rows: 125×15; 135×15; 145×12
**since i
wasn’t pleased about the squats, i threw a couple of sets of…wait for
it…the hack squat machine (i know, i know…), 45s on the machine,
2×15 to really fatigue my legs. felt pretty jiggly after those.
2A) Leg curls on ball: bwx15; bwx12; bwx12 (i think i have the form right, now, those were pretty hard)
2B) bb push press: 85×12; 85×12; 95×10
3A) lunges: bwx15×3 (my legs were really fatigued thanks to the extra sets of hack squats, so not what i did before)
3B) russian twists (in low back chair, backwards) 25lb plate x15×3
no
intervals, felt extremely tired. adjusting to the time change? anyway,
i feel pretty good. we’ll see how Workout B goes on Friday. hopefully i
don’t mess up my back again!
Sunday, November 4, 2007
Sunday Evening
It’s
5:35, I’m watching the Pats and Colts, currently a 7-6 Patriot lead. I
feel nervousness in the pit of my stomach….and as I type this, Joe
Addai goes 73 yards for a touchdown. I am bullshit right now. 13-7
Colts.
In any case, I’ve decided to forget my shitty week and
re-focus starting tomorrow. I think I’m going to change up the order of
the programs and do a hypertrophy program starting tomorrow. For the
layperson, hypertrophy means “get wicked jacked.” So the rep ranges
change and I get to eat a bit more. That means I don’t have to feel so
bad about eating Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years, and Superbowl
food. I know those things are going to come up far more during this
part of the year, and as evidenced by my mood this past week after
indulging on my some Halloween candy, I’m not very pleased about it.
I’m going to go easier on myself in that respect.
While I do
need to lose some fat, I also need to add some serious size. I just
think adding muscle at this time of year makes more sense. I’m not
going to the beach any time soon, and I’ll really need to cut down
starting in the spring and summer, especially heading into the fall for
the big day.
So, I’m not going to weigh myself. I’m going to
take some measurements of arms, chest, legs, etc. I think that I will
feel better about this whole process. I like hypertrophy rep ranges,
the fat loss ones are too high and I didn’t really enjoy those workouts
two weeks ago. I still think I’ll lose some fat at the same time, as
long as I’m eating within reason.
So there you have it. A couple
of days and I feel back to normal…minus Joseph-Fucking-Addai’s
touchdown run RIGHT BEFORE THE HALF!!! I am so fucking BULLSHIT right
now!!!
Look for the log update tomorrow.
Posted by
Patrick
at
Friday, November 2, 2007
Shitty Week
Lousy
week and a half. I tweaked my lower back again during deadlifts, this
time on the snatches. Never doing that grip before, I thought I could
lift the same amount. I packed it in after that and took Monday off to
rest rather than re-injure. Really discouraging.
Since then I’ve
felt very off, physically and mentally. I told myself I would get my
workouts in Thu/Fri of this week but I’ve bailed on those, too. I have
a ton of work to do for this weekend and next week, but I know those
are excuses. I’ve felt like shit all week. I’ve had no sleep, I’m
drinking coffee like water, I’m battling a wicked cold, and I’ve eaten
more than a few Halloween mini Reeses and Snickers from the kids at
school where I’m doing my internship. I think I ingested approximately
0 vegetables, and I skipped a couple meals when I was late for work
(again, no sleep). I was still relatively low-carb, but certainly not
much.
I’m really pissed at myself. I know a week off isn’t the
worst, but I had such great momentum. I weighed 211 last Friday, my
lowest since probably February.
I feel like this final push of
grad school is getting the best of me, fitness-wise. My head is killing
me, I’m on no sleep, and the constant packing/unpacking/preparing 3
days of meals thing is wearing on me so bad.
I bet this just
sounds like I’m rattling off excuses, but that’s what I feel like doing
right now. I’ll start again Monday with Fat Loss II as if this week
never happened.
The good news is I was offered a job last Friday
after my interview, and I think that’s where my head has been. I walked
into the gym after that interview to start the workout, and all I could
think about was the job. I’m overwhelmed with the end of school and a
new venture, but once these final 4 weeks are over, it will calm down.
Maybe not smooth sailing, but at least I’ll be in one place and not
have to worry about a lot of those things. I’m sure I can get into a
groove then. After all, I took about 6 months off from health and
fitness, a week isn’t going to kill me.
But please, somebody give me a kick in the ass, I need it.
Posted by
Patrick
at
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
Here’s a couple weeks worth of posts:
I
keep forgetting to update this thing. I log everything at JP Fitness so
here’s a couple weeks worth of posts. This is just copied/pasted, so no
editing or spelling correction, plus it starts in reverse order:
10/8
Final week of Break-Ins
Break-In A:
Superset:
Front squats 65×15; 95×12 (my wrists hurt, i was holding the bar like a clean, but it hurt, i’ll have to find a different grip)
static lunges: 25s x 15; 10x 15 (went down because i knew i wouldn’t get close to 15 on the second set)
Superset:
one-arm 2pt. db rows: 40×15x2
pushups: 30; 25
Cable crunches: 150×25; 150×20
all
numbers went up. not as tired, so that’s good. definitely too much food
this weekend, 5 cheat meals instead of 4. it’s hard watching the
patriots and red sox at 99 without eating gold fever wings (what can i say, i rationalize the protein). must be better this week. i’ll try some intervals or bodyweight circuits (i found one of ballantyne’s) tomorrow or wednesday. definitely elliptical intervals next saturday, too. this week will be good because i have much less to do now that my graduate portfolio is done. i’m just job-searching and playing madden the rest of my days. anyway, felt good today.
10/12
final Break-In B:
Superset:
-Deadlifts: 205×15; 245×12
-step-ups: 35×12x2
Superset:
-Close-grip lat pulldowns: 130×11; 130×9
-Single arm standing dumbbell press (neutral grip): 40×15x2
everything goes up again. i guess i get next week off from lifting, but i’ll do intervals and some abs on my regular days
i can’t wait till i’m
done with these 15-rep sets. i haven’t looked at the Fat Loss I
workouts so I don’t know what the rep ranges are on that. some of these
i could probably get more reps but the burn sucks. doing step-ups is
the worst because they take forever with each leg at that rep range.
heavy sets were always my favorite in the old days.
10/14
Abs and intervals today.Tri-sets of planks/side planks: 3×30s
Supersets of reverse crunches and med. ball throws on bench 2×6 of each
5-min treadmill walk
10-min 30s/60s elliptical intervals
5-min treadmill walk cool down
tired.
eating Protein Pumpkin Pudding recipe from Mike Roussell,
getting ready for the Pats to destroy the Cowboys today. It’s good, I
guess. I’ve never so much as eaten pumpkin pie but this is okay.
10/15
5m treadmill warm-up
10m 60/30 elliptical intervals
5m treadmill cool-downFat Loss starts next week, figure I might as well get a head start.
10/18
off-week workout 2:
abs superset:
reverse crunches 2×10; med. ball throws from decline bench 2×8
planks/side planks 30s x 2
-5-minute treadmill warmup
-10-minute stationary bike intervals (i hate the bike, the ellipticals were full)
-5-minute treadmill cooldown
i’ve had better interval workouts. but i was 213 this morning, down 4 pounds since i started NROL
last month. i expect that to accelerate during the next several weeks
of Fat Loss I. My diet has improved, especially in the last few days.
I’m cutting out more carbs after reading about Adam’s Diet and a little of the TNT Diet book and even in the last couple days i’ve noticed a difference. I think I’ve got a good pre-and-post workout nutrition thing set up with whey and gatorade, so we’ll see how that goes. Going to have cheat meal #1 tonight.
10/22Today
began Fat Loss II. Since I’m on the 2-day-a-week plan, I guess I skip
Fat Loss I. I don’t know how it went, it didn’t feel great. I felt that
it wasn’t as hard as the Break-In workouts, though I rested a little
bit longer than 60 seconds. I felt I had a lot of trouble with some of
the lifts, especially the push press and the supine hamstring curls. I
definitely need to practice those more. The push press wasn’t bad but
with the little toe raise at the end my timing was off. My hamstrings
did feel worked after doing the sets of curls on the ball, but I felt
like I was moving nothing. I’m not going to do the Russian Twists on
the ball yet, those were too awkward. I did them on the lower back
extension chair. I sit in it backwards with a 25 and do the movement.
That move on the ball will also take some practice. The cable machines
are as far away as possible from the squat rack, so I substituted wide
grip bent-over barbell rows. Here are the numbers:
Superset:
-front squat: 95×15; 95×12; 105×10
-wide grip bb rows: 95×15 (easy); 115×15 (easy); 120×15 (pretty much easy)
Superset:
-supine hamstring curls: bwx15×2; bwx25 (felt like i was moving nothing, yet they felt swelled up after the sets, so who knows. i think the ball was too big.)
-push press: 65×15 (easy); 85×12x2 (again, not great form. will take some practice)
Superset:
-dynamic lunge: 25×12x2; bw to failure
-russian twist: bwx15; 25×10; 25×9
Since
the workout itself wasn’t great, I followed it up with intervals on the
elliptical for 10 minutes. I have jelly legs. Of course, I get home,
check my blogs and I see a Ballantyne article about how ellipticals suck. Yea, well, whatever. I’m using it for now.
Friday
is Workout B. It will take a couple weeks to get used to these lifts,
but I’m still sweating and pretty tired so all in all an adequate
workout.
Diet has been very good. Only 3 cheat meals last week (though they were AWESOME, my fiance made fillet mignon with blue cheese sauce and apple pie) I like the gatorade/whey pre and post workout shakes. Pretty much my only sugary carbs for the day.
—————————————-
that’s it for the past couple of weeks.
I
weighed 214 this morning 10/23. So, down 3 pounds since I started this
program, 16 since the start of summer. I think it’s more than 3 pounds
of fat, though, because I’m taking creatine and lifting, so there’s
going to be some water retention and muscle gain which would account
for the scale numbers not moving where I’d like them to be. I’d like to
be 212 by the time I get home Friday. I feel that my clothes are
fitting better (my 36W jeans are really loose, haven’t tried the ol’
34s yet) and I think my face looks thinner. Going low-carb this past
week has been kind of hard, I start dragging around mid-afternoon, but
I’m not that tempted. I read that it takes time for your body to really
burn fat for energy instead of carbs, so this is expected. I feel very
dedicated to this program right now and I think it’s only going to get
better as I keep reducing the startchy carbs. Thank god for coffee and
green tea. I immediately feel my blood sugar spike after I have a PWO
shake with gatorade/whey, but I get that’s the idea. Something about
nutrient timing or something, I don’t know I’m not a fucking
biochemist…Do “biochemists” exist or did I just invent that
profession? It doesn’t sound right. Anyway, I’ll update this again
Friday.
Posted by
Patrick
at
Tuesday, October 9, 2007
Last Week of Break-Ins
Tuesday:
Not
much activity today. Maybe some simple stretching and mobility work
later tonight, but probably not. Resumes are in the mail, I’m getting
headhunter recruiters calling me like all damn day. I suppose constant
job opportunities are a good problem to have. Better than none.
Monday:
Break-In A:
Superset:
Front
squats 65×15; 95×12 (my wrists hurt, i was holding the bar like a
clean, but it hurt, i figured i would have to find a different grip but
a guy on the forums said it just requires more stretching. I’ll get to
135 again in a couple more weeks. Having a big plate on the squat bar
is much less embarrassing)
static lunges: 25s x 15; 10x 15 (went down because i knew i wouldn’t get close to 15 on the second set)
Superset:
one-arm 2pt. db rows: 40×15x2
pushups: 30; 25
Cable crunches: 150×25; 150×20
All
my numbers went up and I’m not as tired, so that’s good. Definitely too
much food this weekend, 5 cheat meals instead of 4. I was 215 a couple
days ago but probably not now. It’s hard watching the Patriots and Red
Sox at 99 without eating gold fever wings (what can i say, i
rationalize the protein). I must be better this week. I’ll try some
intervals or bodyweight circuits (i found one of Ballantyne’s)
Wednesday. Definitely elliptical intervals next Saturday, too. This
week will be good because I have much less to do now that my graduate
portfolio is done. I’m just job-searching and playing Madden the rest
of my days. Anyway, felt good today.
Posted by
Patrick
at
Saturday, October 6, 2007
Saturday Session
Quick interval/abs session at PF today.
-3 plank/side plank supersets of 30s or more
-Decline
bench medicine ball throws…first attempt at those. My lower back is
sore from deadlifts yesterday, as is the one spot where I tweaked it,
so couldn’t go all out on those.
-Elliptical intervals for 10
min: (30s high intensity, 60s moderate…more or less). Seriously, try
these if you haven’t before. Jogging on the treadmill or leisurely
pedaling the elliptical for 45 minutes is nothing compared to interval
training. I turn the resistance up all the way and just go balls out
for 30 seconds, then rest and repeat. Done in 10 minutes, legs swell up
big time. Then 5 minutes on the treadmill (incline) walking to cool
down.
Now outside for a nice walk while the weather is still nice. Too bad my iPod is in the shop.
Anybody else heard the 300
soundtrack, or at least remember any of the music from the movie? Very
good for the gym. There is an instrumental by Nine Inch Nails called
“Just Like You Imagined” which is pretty awesome for lifting/cardio.
I’m gonna listen to that now to get it in my head.
Posted by
Patrick
at
Week 2: Break-In B
From Friday Oct. 5:
Superset:
a) deadlifts 185×15; 225×12 (a little overzealous today, felt a small twinge in my lower back)
b) step ups: 30×15; 30×10
Superset:
a) single arm dumbbell shoulder press: 35×15x2
b) close grip lat pulldowns: 130×9; 130×7 (way too hard)
reverse crunches: 10×2
Totally
beat after this. had the burning feeling in my lungs like after a long
run. Supersets using your whole body for medium rep ranges are fucking
brutal.
I did eat pizza last night as a cheat meal, so that’s
one marked off. I’m considering the middle of the week as one cheat
meal. While nothing really qualified as one, it wasn’t quite good
enough that I’ll let myself get away with it.
Posted by
Patrick
at
Thursday, October 4, 2007
Middle-of-the-Week Downers
I
stay at my aunt’s house in Franklin for 3 days during the middle of the
week until the end of Novemeber, and so far I haven’t done a lot of
working out while I’m here. I did some sprints last week, but that gave
me shin splints. I don’t imagine that I will as much as I plan each
Tuesday before I head up here: I don’t have a gym, I don’t like
bodyweight exercises, I’ve got a bit of work to do each evening. Of
course it’s possible, but honestly I’m not likely to really do anything
consistently here.
Therefore, my diet is the most important
thing while I’m here. I’ve been relatively out of sorts this week, at
least compared to what my plans were. I make and pack 3 days worth of
my own food so I can stick to my goal. This week was different. With
late pre-cana class in Auburn the other night, I didn’t get home until
10PM. My shakes and the like were in a cooler all day in my car, but I
was out so long (6:30AM-10:00PM) that everything got too warm. Two
large shaker bottles down the drain. I probably could have drank them
as meal replacements, but the cottage cheese scared me (last thing I
need in a school office full of women is stomach discomfort).
So,
I’ve been eating what is available at my aunt’s that comes close to my
diet. That means a lot of eggs, wheat toast (not the carbs I was
planning on, but not terrible), yogurt, a couple Fiber 1 bars, peanut
butter, etc. I haven’t fallen off the wagon because those foods are all
still pretty good, but it wasn’t what I had planned on so mentally I
don’t feel right.
In a way, this is good because even straying
from my plans this little bit has upset me. I haven’t eaten pizza,
cookies, banana bread, or anything else I could have yet I feel that I
have cheated in some way. This is motivation to get back on it and
continue to be dedicated when I go home tomorrow and hit the gym. Also
motivation to pick up a couple more ice packs.
I also realize
that despite the title of this blog, I haven’t been thinking about
getting in shape for the wedding: I’m doing it because I want to get in
the best shape that I can possibly achieve. This is great because it
shows that I’m not doing this for outside reasons and that I’m doing it
for myself.
Monday, October 1, 2007
Week 2
Week 2: Break-In A:
Superset:
front squats: 2×15xbar (much better form than last time. easier, too)
static lunges: body x 10; body x 6 (seemed harder than last time)
Superset:
One-Arm 2 pt. DB rows: 2×35
Pushups: 2×20
Cable crunches:
140lbs x 20; 140lbs x 16
About
35-40 minutes. My squat form is getting much better. Front squats feel
very comfortable. I’ll throw a few more pounds on next week to get my
morale up. It’s also feels weird to be done with a workout in a little
over a half hour. Walking out of the gym I feel like I’m leaving too
early. Not lifting long and heavy is mentally difficult right now, but
I’ll get there…
Next to Planet Fitness is a (sort of) new
protein shake bar, I think called Body Control. I had the Peanut Butter
Mocha shake and it was very good. $5.25 is pretty expensive, but you
figure a medium coffee drink from Starbucks is pretty comparable, and
this was pretty healthy. I had to pound it in my car before getting my
haircut right after my workout, so a little bit of an ice cream
headache. I definitely think my shakes are missing ice, that thickens
them up and gives them a good milkshake-like texture.
In other
shake-related news, I’ve figured out a way around the Soylent Green
veggie shakes: A couple strawberries and some sugar-free raspberry
Jell-O packets. I can’t even taste the vegetables at all, and that
means I can put more in. Frankly, I don’t care how weird it looks or
what my mom thinks about it. If I’m going to get healthy again, this is
how. I’ve solved the problem through ingenuity.
Gonna up the
deadlifts on Friday. With my portfolio passed in by Friday (!), I’ll
have less to do this fall, at least in the short-term. That gives me
more time to focus on these goals. Onward.
Posted by
Patrick
at
Saturday, September 29, 2007
Goals
Any
good training program (or anything in life, I guess) needs goals. I
forgot to write them at the beginning of this new blog concept, so I’ll
write them now:
Overall:
1) Train every day that I’ve scheduled (Shouldn’t be too hard, I’m only doing 2x per week right now.)
2)
Comply with diet 90% OTT. (Also, shouldn’t be too hard. I’ll be fine
during the week and that allows me 4 cheat meals during the weekend if
I choose. Only 2 so far this week and it’s Saturday).
3) Post my
workouts on this blog and on the JP fitness forums. Even after a week
of posting and getting feedback from people on JP I feel a sense of
accountability and honesty.
I’m almost hesitant to list any
more because if I follow through correctly the results I want should
come along. I really trust this program based on everything I’ve heard
from it. But anyway:
2-4 Weeks:
-Fit
into my jeans and shorts (Sounds like a chick goal, but that was pretty
discouraging when I realized my clothes didn’t fit anymore.)
2 Months:
-Weigh
200 lbs. Weighing myself Monday I was 217. I’m probably 215-216 now,
and I won’t weigh myself for a couple weeks. 200 lbs is probably my
normal weight given my muscle mass with some “normal” fat. When I was
last in “presentable” shape in summer 2006 I was about 205, so 200
sounds about right. That’s realistic in about 6 weeks, I think.
4 Months:
-Weigh
190. Maybe 11% body fat? I haven’t had my body fat measured in a couple
years, so I don’t know where I am now. But that would seem about right.
I’ll have added a good deal of muscle mass by then, and since I’ll be
long done with my outplacement and living at home full-time (and a real
job with lots of money for lots of supplements), I’ll be at the end of
my hypertrophy phase and into my strength phase. I’ll have lost a lot
of fat by sticking to the diet.
6 Months:
-Weigh
180-185. 9% body fat. I figure I’d be in pretty damn good shape with
those numbers, and after that it might be maintenance or trying to add
more muscle. I think if I were to be really ripped, I’d be 175. I should save that phase for the summer.
These
numbers are pretty much just thrown out there based on the kind of
shape I used to be in along with what my memory tells me those numbers
are. I feel like 200 pounds is baseline, just before it all went wrong
this winter. I’m not going to worry about how much I bench, squat, or
deadlift, just that I’m doing the workouts properly and I’m eating
right most of the time. As time goes on, we’ll see what happens.
Posted by
Patrick
at
Friday, September 28, 2007
Break-In B
1) Superset:
-Deadlifts 135×15; 185×12 (these were great, I can’t wait to do deadlifts again, I’ll be back to 315 in no time)
-Step-Ups 25’s x 15; 25’s x 10
2) Superset:
-One-Arm Dumbbell Press (standing) 30×15x2
-Close Grip Lat Pulldowns 120×15; 120×13
3) Reverse Crunches 2×8 (really hard because my legs were so fatigued)
Done
in about 30 minutes. I know this program is going to be great because
these two workouts were probably the two most intense I’ve ever done in
terms of lack of rest time between sets and proper form.
Diet:
Been good. Only 1 cheat meal (unexpected pizza last night from mom). Onward.
Posted by
Patrick
at
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger…
The blogging front has grown stagnant lately, and several of you have reported dissatisfaction looking at Billy Corgan every time you check my page. Well, I’m sorry. I’ve been busy, I write in a private livejournal now, and I can’t think of anything to write about. Until now.
Jaylynn
and I are getting married in 13 months at St. John’s in Clinton and the
reception is at Harrington Farm in Princeton. We are both trying very
hard to get in shape for that big day, and for many days after. Grad
school has made it difficult for both of us to stay as fit as we’d
like. We’ve had various setbacks from injuries and schedules, and for
two people who value health so much, it’s been hard on the psyche,
particularly mine. I’ve gained quite a bit of weight since I moved to
Worcester, something I never thought would happen after I lost 60
pounds my senior year of high school. I’m currently 217, reaching a
high of 230 this past May. To my knowledge, I was roughly 190 upon
moving to Worcester, and I was pretty lean. It all seemed to go wrong
last spring. I started letting myself go and eating Price Chopper
muffins two at a time for lunch, and eating Fruschetta
pizzas for dinner every night. Having a part-time desk job instead of
speed-walking behind a lawnmower every morning decreased my activity
more than I realized, and costochondritis in my sternum made it painful to lift weights.
I
had been going back and forth with different workout ideas throughout
the summer, all with no results or dedication of more than a week or
two. With an ever-changing schedule, I found it very hard to stick to
anything. I figured my “jacked” days were long gone.
However, the upcoming wedding has given me a pretty substantial drive to really make this happen, and I’m not attempting to use Hydroxycut or SlimFast this time, either. For the first time ever, I’m following a set 52-week training program called The New Rules of Lifting by Lou Schuler and Alwyn Cosgrove, and focusing my diet on a few simple principles from Dr. John Berardi’s Precision Nutrition and Men’s Health’s The Abs Diet.
I’m already a big fan of the New Rules book because it goes through a
number of phases, including fat loss, hypertrophy, and strength. These
are pretty reputable authors in the fitness world, and I discovered
them through The Fitcast and Max-Out Radio on iTunes, a couple of great podcasts
on health and fitness. I’ve joined the forums over at JP Fitness
(www.jpfitness.com) and I’m going to write my workouts and diet there
and get feedback from the trainers, nutritionists, and other members.
I’ve
decided to keep myself accountable through this blog. I’m going to use
this to write down my workouts and my diet for the next 13 months,
along with my progress.
So, that’s the deal. Here’s what I’ve done so far:
The Wedding Workout:
Current weight: 217 lbs
Monday 9/24:
Break-In: A
1) squat: 2×15xbodyweight & static lunges 2×10xbodyweight (BRUTAL superset, could barely finish it)
2) single-arm 2-point dumbell rows: 2×15x30 (easy, but awkward) & pushups: 2×20 (another very hard superset, funny because I used to do 60 pushups…)
3) planks: 2×30 seconds
That
was supposed to be a “break-in” workout part 1 of 2. I figured it would
be easy, but it was incredibly hard. I was surprised how tiring it was.
It goes to show how ineffective my old workouts used to be. My legs are
killing me today. Even though I’ve lifted weights for a while, this
made me feel like a true beginner. I tried to load up the bar with 135
for a “warm-up” squat I used to do 20 reps with just to loosen up and
could barely do 4. Shows how bad my form was, too. I’ll stick with
bodyweight for a while.
Tuesday 9/25:
Intervals:
I just sprinted up my aunt’s driveway and then walked back, repeating 6
times. I walked around for a little bit to cool down. All in all about
15 minutes.
(Another thing, I’ve simplified my workout playlist,
too. For everybody who thinks the iPod is the greatest thing ever
created (and I’m one of those people), something that is lost is the
fact that it turns people into musical schizophrenics. I can’t count
how many times I flip through my music at the gym because there is so
much to choose from. It takes away focus and it ends up being less help
than a CD player. I’ve got 6 songs on my list this time on repeat, and
all are spine-crushing: 3 by the Smashing Pumpkins, 2 by Eminem, and 1
by the Deftones.)
I’ll post more as the days go by.
The Wedding Diet:
I won’t write down everything I’m eating, but here are the guidelines I’m using:
1) small meals every 2-3 hours (about 6 per day)
2) lean protein with each meal (eggs, chicken, turkey, cottage cheese, whey, etc.)
3) green vegetables (spinach, broccoli, green beans…and that’s about it)
4) fruits, but pretty much only after my workouts (bananas, apples, grapes…again, that’s about it)
5) healthy fats (olive oil, almonds)
6) getting most of my daily carbs from fruits/vegetables and saving any grain-based carbs for after my workouts (presumably in a post-workout shake)
7) lots of water
only 1 cup of coffee per day, followed by green tea
I’m not counting calories or macronutrients, just trying to stick to the above. My staples are two-egg omelets
with turkey and low-fat cheese, baked chicken breast with green beans,
low-fat string cheese, peanut butter spoons, handfuls of
almonds/raisins, and a bunch of shakes. I need to comply to this diet
90% of the time. So 42 meals in a week means I can cheat 4 times at
most. That’s not too hard.
In order to get the vegetables in my
diet, I’ve had to become very creative. I’ve always hated vegetables (I
blame my parents), so I throw them in a blender. The shakes I make have
always grossed people out to some degree (I’ve never understood how
what essentially breaks down to a chocolate/peanut butter milkshake
turns people off), but the vegetable shakes I’ve included can be pretty
appalling to people, myself included. For that reason, I’m going to
call the big one “Soylent Green.” Here’s the recipe:
“Soylent Green” Shake:
-1 package of frozen spinach, defrosted
-1 package frozen broccoli, defrosted
-1 tomato
-1/2 apple
-1/2 cup cottage cheese
-people
-water
I
blend the hell out of it, put it in big shaker bottle, and have two or
three swigs during the day at meal times. This gets me about 2 servings
of fruits/vegetables at every meal, especially vegetables. The apple
makes it a little easier to stomach, but it’s still like taking
medicine. I’ll get more creative as time goes on, including sugar-free
Jell-O, lime juice, and other flavors depending on what I’m going for.
My protein and post-workout shakes are based around low-fat cottage cheese, whey protein, peanut butter, oatmeal, and a banana.
I’ve
got a few desert-type shakes I’ve used regularly, including the
aforementioned Peanut Butter Cup (chocolate whey, peanut butter,
cottage cheese, etc.), Cinnamon Roll (vanilla whey, cinnamon, nutmeg,
banana, peanut butter, cottage cheese, etc…tastes awesome),
Strawberry Banana (self-explanatory), and various combinations of
tropical shakes (good for the summer, using mango, pineapple,
coconut shavings, strawberry whey, etc.). There are tons of recipes
online and from my books that I can use. I’ve made shakes that aren’t
particularly healthy despite the scoops of protein (the Cookies-N-Cream
with vanilla whey and Oreos
comes to mind), so I’ll try to avoid those as much as possible. I’ve
got ideas for a nice autumn shake (something with canned pumpkin,
nutmeg, vanilla whey, probably some other crap) and an eggnog shake for
Christmas (vanilla whey, fat-free eggnog, nutmeg, etc.) I’ve got this
shit for all seasons, son.
My supplements include:
1) whey protein, obviously
2) multivitamin
3) fish oil
4) CLA
5) BCAAs
That’s
about it. Nothing too complicated, other than my shakes with I try to
drink throughout the day and take some preparation beforehand.
So,
there you have it. The detailed plan for becoming an Adonis in time for
October 12, 2008. I’m using this blog as a tool to stay accountable.
Please get on me if you don’t hear from me regularly. Wish me luck,
here we go…
—————-
Now playing: Jay-Z – I Know
via FoxyTunes
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