Anyone here live in the Omaha area?
Oh, and while asking questions…does the PM feature no longer work?
PM hasn’t worked for quite a while now. Not sure why they haven’t disabled it as it doesn’t seem like there is any plan to make it functional again.
Thanks Dave.
Bench Day
Sticking with my new plan, at least for one workout. Cut the last 3 sets short out of concern of not getting a rep and getting stuck.
Bench - MP Grip
barx15
95x10
135x10
185x5
225x10
245x8
245x6 - Normal bench grip…felt weaker than the MP grip, for some reason.
225x8 - MP Grip
DB Bent Rows
105x10x3
Mechanical Flyes
230x12
230x8
210x10
Face Pulls
150x15
160x12
160x10x2
Narrow Grip Seated Row Machine Thangy
170x10
150x10
Rear Delt Machine
110x10x2
Nothing spectacular. No great work load, but I am working on that.
Looks like solid stuff to me !
[quote]OldGoat wrote:
Looks like solid stuff to me ![/quote]
Well…hopefully the MP grip bench carries over. If not… I won’t say I am pissing in the wind, since work will still be getting done and work capacity increasing. But it will seem rather inane, at best.
Have you ever read Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand? Strong work by the way.
GV, I have. To show hold old this log is, and how long I was absent, I started this log when the movie came out.
Thanks…just trying to get back to where I was. It is taking longer than I thought it would.
Military Press
Still nothing earth shattering, but it is forward movement. I threw in an extra set on the MP. Still trying to find my pop off the bottom. Once I clear my head, I have plenty of strength.
Military Press
barx15
95x10
135x10
165x5
195x10 - carried fatigue after this one
215x5
205x5x2
BB Shruggs
225x12
275x10
325x10
325x12 - 3 sec pause at the top of the last three
Lat Pulls
130x10 - palms in
150x10 - palms in
170x10 - palms in
150x10 - close, neutral grip
150x10 - palms out
DB Laterals
40x10x2
35x10
Rear Delt Raises
40x10x2
35x10
Down 24# from the beginning of May. Weight loss has slowed, as I am eating a little more. It is showing in the workouts…which is good.
solid work my friend, forward movement is always good…maybe some smelling salts to clear your head…hahaha
Have a great weekend,
Paul
[quote]OldGoat wrote:
solid work my friend, forward movement is always good…maybe some smelling salts to clear your head…hahaha
Have a great weekend,
Paul
[/quote]
Lol…I think it would take more than smelling salts to clear this noggin.
Leg Press and Arms
Really had no desire to be in the gym today. The extra sets, yesterday, then taking the kids out, with my brother, for a few hours of tubing, left me aching and feeling beat up. In fact, I am feeling more beat up now. Of course, that is to be expected.
Leg Press
260x15
440x15
620x15
710x15
800x15
530x15 - wide as possible on the sled
530x10 - narrow stance - about 15 seconds after the previous set
Incline DB Curls
30x10
40x10
40x8
40x7
Tricep Pushdowns - V-bar
160x15
205x10
220x10
250x7
Preacher Curl Machine Thangy
90x10
90x8
OH Cable Tricep Ext.
160x10
205x10
205x8
205x6
Standing DB Curls
40x10
45x7
Now for ribs and recovery…
That’s a lot of work for one weekend. Nice job.
I read Atlas Shrugged so many years ago I can’t recall too much about it but that’s a cool title and I like the work ethic in here, getting it in even when the motivation is waning.
Thanks gents.
GV - keeping going is usually not an issue. I don’t fall off the wagon. I have fallen over the cliff a couple of times, though. It started with an injury and that rolled into our planning to move and the breakdown and pack up of my workout room. I am regretting it now.
Atlas shrugged is an interesting book. I see a lot of parallels between it and our current course. Hopefully that is all just in my head.
Bench Day
Well, again, it wasn’t anything earth shattering. It does appear that my work capacity is increasing, though.
On a side note, I spent part of the day going through my log, from before my absence. My bench workout is nearly an exact duplicate of an MP workout I had back then. My how I have fallen.
Bench
barx15
95x10
135x10
185x5
225x5
235x5
245x5
255x5
265x5
275x5
I played with three different grips on the sets…ring finger on ring, middle finger on ring and index finger on ring. I think middle finger on ring is the winner. Index finger made my shoulders hurt. Ring finger caused my elbows to flare. So, I will work with the middle finger for a while. How fitting…
DB Rows
110x10x2
110x12 - used straps on this one. The DBs are slippery and I didn’t want grip to be the issue.
Face Pulls
175x12
190x10
drop set
205x8, 160x6, 100x8
175x10
175x12
Mechanical Flyes
210x10
230x10x2
Seated Row Machine Thangy
150x10x2
Contemplating maxing on MP this Saturday. Want to get a current max that I can use in a program.
Also, I think I am going to start adding rep MPs in on bench day. Maybe 3 sets of 10…just to get the movement in twice a week. Also, getting the volume in on bench day, I am free to go heavier, with fewer reps, on MP day.
[quote]LittleStrick wrote:
On a side note, I spent part of the day going through my log, from before my absence. My bench workout is nearly an exact duplicate of an MP workout I had back then. My how I have fallen.[/quote]
Losing 24 lbs and setting PRs in the gym just don’t happen. (At least in my world.) Also, when you see abs and monster veins in your biceps it’ll be much better than a MP PR. Right? Well that’s what I keep telling myself.
[quote]NHLFTR wrote:
[quote]LittleStrick wrote:
On a side note, I spent part of the day going through my log, from before my absence. My bench workout is nearly an exact duplicate of an MP workout I had back then. My how I have fallen.[/quote]
Losing 24 lbs and setting PRs in the gym just don’t happen. (At least in my world.) Also, when you see abs and monster veins in your biceps it’ll be much better than a MP PR. Right? Well that’s what I keep telling myself.[/quote]
Better than a MP PR? I am required to say yes, but that is not what I think or feel. You know better than that.
I am losing the weight because I have to. I will never see my abs. So, there is no motivation there. I can already tell that there are veins in my biceps, even though they are only faint lines, instead of bulging pathways. Don’t much care about being ripped. I do care about living to see my grand-kids…and actually being able to do something with them.
You are right, though, losing weight and gaining strength seem nigh impossible…at least at the rate that I am losing weight. 27# in 42 days. I am still trying to slow the weight loss, though. That is too fast. If I can get that down to 1 - 1 1/2# a week, I think I have a much better chance of at least regaining some of the strength I had.
What is your diet like? I would like to lose a few pounds too, but I want to take it real slow.
I tend to take dieting incrementally. Going with the philosophy that our bodies are going to adapt to whatever we through at them, I don’t want to break out the full arsenal from the git go. Otherwise, I have no modifications to make.
In my case, I was drinking 24-36 oz. of Coke a day. My snacks during the day included granola bars and Doritos. And I usually had a dessert after supper. Weekends could be a free for all.
So, I cut out sugar, except Friday nights. No more Coke, dessert or sugary snacks (unless I was crashing and that was all I had). Getting the sugar out of my system was worth several lbs. by itself. Not just from the calorie reduction, but because I wasn’t holding as much water, in the absence of sugar.
I ran at that for 10 - 14 days.
I left the dessert on Friday nights because we always order pizza and watch movies…movie night for the family. I still eat pizza on Friday nights. I think of it as throwing my body a curve ball. Six relatively clean days and whap! Nope, don’t adjust…we are still eating junk…lol.
My wife had gotten a Fitbit for herself. She thought I might like one. Once I got it, I started journaling my food, for the first time. I was eating a shit ton of calories.
I set the Fitbit to a 7000 calorie a week deficit and tried to stay in range. Once I cut out extraneous breads and pasta, since I was already without sugar, staying on goal was much easier. Mind you, I didn’t abandon breads, but it was more inline with the occasional sandwich, burger (yeah, I know, naughty me) and an occasional roll, if we ate out. I stopped eating croissants for snacks and eating bread with every meal. That led to feeling like crap, part of the time, but the pounds were dropping.
In fact, the pounds were, still are kind of, dropping too fast. I was eating, according to Fitbit, for a 1.5 - 2# loss and was losing about 4.5# a week. I couldn’t figure out where I was burning the extra calories. Then it hit me. The Fitbit tells you your BMI amd BMR. But that is based on an arbitrary, or average person, baseline. I am not an average build. None of us here are an average build. So, while still sporting a gut, I have more muscle than it is crediting me. That muscle is burning calories that it is not giving me credit for.
Anyway, a typical day for me, at this point is…
Breakfast - Jimmy Dean bacon, egg and cheese biscuit (how’s that for diet food!)
Morning snacks - 3oz of grapes, 2oz of cherries, 2 oz of cashews and sometimes 1.5oz of jerky (good jerky).
Lunch - on non-workout days - 5-7oz of meat (steak, chicken, whatever) and 1 - 1.5 cups of veggies
Lunch - on one workday workout - Might be the same, with a cup of rice thrown in. Might be a damned double cheeseburger with bacon. I started eating more because I was tired of feeling…well…tired, in my workouts.
Afternoon snack - whatever was not eaten from my morning snack or a 2nd 2oz of cashews
Supper - meat and veggies
On the weekends, I try to eat an egg and a few pieces of bacon before hitting the gym, just to have something to run on.
After every workout I do a protein shake of 20oz of skim or 2% milk (protein shakes made with water are nasty), 1 scoop of Surge and 1 scoop of another brand. (Surge is expensive, need to stretch it out)
On the weekends my eating gets kind of wonky. We often go out for steak late Saturday afternoon. So, I have the small breakfast, a protein shake post workout and then don’t eat until we go out. I usually get a steak, baked potato, and veggies. Since my wife never eats much of her steak, I have that the next day.
Sorry, way too detailed.
Basically…
Phase 1 - cut out extraneous sugar (soda, dessert, sugary cereals (which I love), etc…)
Phase 2 - start limiting breads and pasta (Don’t make life miserable, but limit them until you feel the need.) Also, allow for a cheat day (I know, blasphemy…but I think it keeps my body guessing). But I have cut out dessert except for maybe once every 3 weeks.
Phase 3 - Tighten it down even more if needed, but make sure to feed before working out and getting the protein afterwards.
That is all I have done so far. Of course, I had, and have, plenty of weight to lose. But I am just shy of half-way to goal.
Official weigh in this morning. Down exactly 27# from the start and 3# from last week.
Obviously, I don’t have this thing completely dialed in yet. Still want that to drop to 1 - 2#.
I took today and Monday off, hoping to take the kids camping. Looks like rain through Monday night, though. Figures…
Lunch with a friend today (Pad Thai) and Pizza tonight. I should have plenty of fuel for tomorrow.
Still contemplating, but leaning towards maxing on MP, to have that number to program with.