BROOTAL's Log

Training Training Logs
21

Otep,

Thanks for the reply. To answer your questions:

I don’t know ANYONE in my family that is strong, or in shape for that matter.

I have been doing squats barefoot. When I start to get tired toward the end of the 6 sets I feel the weight shift towards my toe area. My knees never actually hurt, they just ache and this carries over to the next day.

I don’t know if it will make a difference but I will mention that until last year, I skateboarded almost every day for the past 9 years. This is the first time (3 1/2 Months ago)that I have done any kind of heavy type leg exercise.

Thanks

22

4/12/08

Meals:

Breakfast 630am: 1 cup egg beaters, 1 whole egg, 3 strips turkey bacon, crystal light, fish oil cap

Shake: 930am: Peanut Butter shake, fish cap

Lunch: 1230: Homemade Turkey burger.

Shake: 330pm: Shake, fish cap, 1 apple

Dinner: 630pm: Chicken, Mixed veggies, small serving of baked beans

Pre bed snack: 830-900pm: 1/2 cup cottage cheese, 1 scoop whey.

Totals for today using fit-day: 2787 cal, 307Pro, 87Carb, 135fats

4/13/08

Meals:

Breakfast 630am: 1 cup egg beaters, 1 whole egg, 3 strips turkey bacon, crystal light, fish oil cap

Shake: 930am: Peanut Butter shake, fish cap

Lunch: 1230: Two hamburgers at a buddys BBQ, 2 glasses of water. (I know this sucked, my fault for being unprepared, and also for eating both buns, the 10 habits says no starchy carbs without workout.)

Shake: 330pm: Shake, fish cap

Dinner: 630pm: Steamed chicken and broccoli from a local china resturant. (The family got takeout and this was the best choice to stick with the plan.)

Pre bed snack: 830pm: 1/2 cup cottage cheese, 1 scoop whey.

Totals for today using fit-day: 2624 cal, 233Pro, 141Carb, 130 fats

As you can see I stayed pretty consistent. So far according to the scale from the Sunday I started two weeks ago until today, I have lost three pounds. It also says my bodys fat is down 5 % which I know is bullshit for accuracy but at least it moved. Is this good for where I am at or should I be doing better? I dont feel like I look any different.

My goal was to continue this for at least a month to build solid eating habits before I do anything else. After two more weeks what should my next step be? I want to get down to a lean healthy look, then start a nice steady clean bulk.

23

It’s good progress. It may seem slow, but it adds up over the weeks.

Contrary to most, I really like those electrical impedence BF% thingers. Unless you’re sub 10%, they should do a halfway decent job of letting you know how well you’re progressing. And they save you the hassle of paying for a PT to do it for you.

That said, they do mess up, so don’t trust them too much. But if the scale agrees with everything else (mirror, friends opinions, your level of effort), it does add confirmation.

I’m guessing you dropped more than 3 lbs of fat, and gained a bit of muscle. Very good for a beginner, especially for two weeks of work.

Continueing this for two weeks is good. It’ll establish a good base of eating habits. Good call.

After that, if it’s working, STICK WITH IT! If you feel like you want to switch to another diet, try the T-dawg 2.0 or the Anabolic diet (put entries into search function, I’m not going to find it for you). If you want to switch programs, Waterbury’s Summer Project is a good one, or you can search for for another one.

However, it seems to me that you’re getting great results just doing the basics. Keep doing what you’re doing until your progress slows down, and then think about changing.

Oh, and I wouldn’t worry about your knees. Mine got the same way after adding HIIT into my regimen, and after a week or so they’re fine again. Your connective tissue will adapt. Don’t worry about it.

Unless it gets worse. At which point, tinker.

24

4/14/08

Pretty much had leftovers from Saturday. I have been cooking 2 days worth of food at a time, so alot of my meals are the same:

Meals:

Breakfast 630am: 1 cup egg beaters, 1 whole egg, 3 strips turkey bacon, crystal light, fish oil cap

Shake: 930am: Peanut Butter shake, fish cap, apple

Lunch: 1230: Homemade Turkey burger, mixed veggies.

Shake: 330pm: Shake, fish cap

Dinner: 630pm: Chicken Breast, large Salad with light Sun dried tomato Vingarette.

Workout: 800-900pm: Surge

Totals for today using fit-day: 2887 cal, 306Pro, 125Carb, 131fats

Lifts:

Squat: 1: 95lbs 2: 115lbs 3: 135lbs 4-6: 175lbs (PR) felt good and under control!!)

Pendlay Rows: 1: 45lbs 2: 65lbs 3: 95lbs 4-6: 115lbs

Military Press: 1: 45lbs 2: 55lbs 3: 65lbs 4-6 95lbs (PR) (had to pump with the legs the last 2 reps of last set. Will stick with this weight next week)

Decline Sit-ups: 6X5 holding 12.5lbs plate.

Pumped for Wednesdays 200lb deadlift.

25

4/15/08

Off day from lifting

Meals:

Breakfast 630am: 1 cup egg beaters, 1 whole egg, 3 strips turkey bacon, green tea, fish oil cap

Shake: 930am: Peanut Butter shake, fish cap

Lunch: 1230:Large Salad with grilled chicken

Shake: 330pm: Shake, fish cap

Dinner: 630pm: Homemade meatballs in small amount of tomato sauce, crystal light.

Pre bed snack: 930pm: 1/2 cup cottage cheese, 1 scoop whey.

Totals for today using fit-day: 2444cal, 254 Pro, 99 carbs, 116 fats.

Went for an hour long walk down to the store and then back home which is up a gigantic hill. I feel like I have been sleeping MUCH better lately and as a I mentioned in a previous post my back is feeling awesome.

26

Random Reminder :

Make sure each rep is your 200% and you feel it being stimulated. A reason why you’ll hear form and technique nazis rant on threads is because if you don’t get that down you’ll end up recruiting other muscles along the way and not get the best quality rep. Also you risk injury depending on exercise, weight used, and your ability to maintain control.

Quality rep refers to the amount of stimulation induced in the muscle or muscles worked from start to finish.

The sooner you become an expert at making that mind-muscle connection the easier it will be to progress forward.

This takes focus, concentration, and discipline. Not sure if you’ve heard this before but thought it would be a good reminder. Keep up the good work.

27

Thanks for the reminder. I will think about this in future workouts and make sure I am doing each rep properly rather than just “getting it done”. Also could you comment on my progress so far. I want to be sure that I am not wasting time in the gym or with my eating habits. I feel a bit skinnier but not much. Should i keep following my current path or drop some calories. I may be being too eager to see results. Please let me know if this is the case.

28

If you want to get skinnier cut your calories by 3-500, extend those walks to a full hour and make sure you walk everyday. Regardless of how hard it may seem and sore, tired, achey you feel.

Some competitive athletes will run 4 miles a day just as good cardiovascular exercise and then practice for their sport for 3-4 hours.

Keeping that in perspective, it seems getting in shape and really getting it right is a priority to you. A very high priority based on your continuing commitment and dedication. So you can do more, you just have to be able to operate outside of your comfort zone.

Imagine that you and your fitness and longterm health represent this bubble that extends 2 feet in all directions.

Can you step an inch outside of this comfort zone? How about a foot? A mile? I’m not saying injure yourself but consciously force yourself to be a little better. It is good you are paying attention to your changes. It makes it easier to tell you straight out what you need to hear. Also are you doing any post-workout cardio?

How much rest are you getting consistently day to day? Also if you have lost a few pounds feel free to cut your calories a little bit based on that weight loss.

For example Me at 260 lbs my caloric deficit vs Me at 190 lbs. Should I be using the same deficit to lose more fat? No. What my body needs as maintenance at both weights are different thus the deficit requirements are also different.

One thing to note is there is a different level of fitness for both weight classes and the ability to do certain types and levels of cardio are different. Which is why you will hear heavier bodybuilder, lifters employing the use of a cycle because your knees can take a pounding.

Everyday make it your best. It is not a entry level 9-5 job 365 days a year where the bar is always at the same spot.

Conversely if you were getting promoted in a top corporation every 3 months would you put out the same type of work or expect to be successful if you weren’t improving yourself in some way.

You are your own Boss. Can you achieve more in the limited time you are allotted in this journey for yourself, against yourself, and with yourself?

It may be cliche but only time will tell. Grit your teeth, hunker down, and keep pumping your legs. (football quote)

*** If you are feeling extremely exhausted, and know you cannot accomplish anything then take a day or two for absolute rest ***

Rest is just as important.

29

Haha just lie in bed and if someone calls you to get out of bed tell them you cannot. " You are training ".

Bear in mind one of your main priorities should be the building of muscle mass. If you are losing FAT gradually while building muscle mass tinker and tweak as earlier suggested by another poster by cutting calories a little more. Do that for a week and see how you feel - in the gym and out of the gym.

If you see it slowing down your progress, time to up the protein intake a tad while trying to keep calories controlled.

Not all meals are calorically equivalent. A KFC 2 piece chicken meal vs 2 scoops of Grow Whey are not equal.

  • Here is something to note at the gym, when you see a chubby person really training hard, albeit with weights or on the treadmill and day in day out they are always puttin away like a golfer it isn’t that they aren’t sweating enough and can’t get results. It is more then likely what they are putting in their mouths when you don’t see them. Or what they are NOT putting in their mouths. Just something to think about.

All 3 pieces are key : Nutrition at the forefront - Rest - Exercise. None should be diminished all are essential cogs to your success. This 3 pieces stuff I’ll beat to death til the cows come home.

30

4/16/08

Your post could not have come at a better time man. I just looked at some pictures of a 2 week difference, and was quite disapointed. Time to up the ante. It looks like my chest area has slimmed down a bit and the 2 top most abs are just peaking through when I do a double bicep style pose. I will post pics here on a monthly basis. So that means 2 more weeks to show you all what I have been doing.

I do not do any post workout cardio because I have to workout so close to the time I go to sleep. I will have to add in more morning cardio. As you can see from my log I have not be doing cardio as hardcore or religiously as I have been weight training. That means 5:30 am cardio every weekday is now a must.

Since I have seen at least SMALL results with the current diet, I will leave it alone and see what the added cardio does for me over the next 2 weeks. This will also make me stick to my goal of 1 month solid eating habits. This “diet” at the very least has put pounds on the bar and given me a better feeling (energy, don’t feel as fat)

My bench press is lacking compared to my other lifts. Is there something I can do to improve this at this stage or am I being impatient. All other lifts have gone up dramatically except bench.

Workout today:

Squat: 1: 95lbs 2: 115lbs 3:135lbs 4-6: 175lbs

Bench: 1: 95lbs 2: 115lbs 3:135lbs 4: 155lbs 5+6: 150lbs (felt like I just wasn’t going make it with 155)

Deadlift: 1: 135lbs 2: 155lbs 3: 165lbs 4: 200lbs !!! (PR)

Nutrition:
Breakfast 630am: 1 cup egg beaters, 1 whole egg, 3 strips turkey bacon, green tea, fish oil cap

Shake: 930am: Peanut Butter shake, fish cap

Lunch: 1230: Large Chicken salad from local resturant, large glass of water (had the dressing on the side so I could add a healthy amount).

Shake: 3:30: Peanut Butter shake, fish cap

Dinner: Salmon crusted in pecans (homemade), large serving of cauliflower.

8-9pm(workout): Surge

estimated totals for today using fitday:
2624 cal 233pro 141 carbs 129.5 fats

31
  • Since it looks like you’ve got a beginner bench issue try this.

3 sets of 135lbs x 10-12

  • No less then 8
    Then rack it up to 155 x 6-8
  • Get a spotter
    Then rack it up to 175 x 2-6
  • Spotter again
    Then Drop it back down to 135 and go for as many reps quality reps as possible.
  • make sure you control it slowly down and explode smoothly upwards, at no time should the tension on your chest slack off from start to finish.

This is one method to build up foundational bench strength.

If you do this for a month you should see good results, when 135lbs becomes easy, then use it as your warmup weight.

There are 2 main methods for benching tho.

One is for strength and power if you want to push more weight.

The other is for bodybuilding and then some use a point in between. It is about wether or not your elbows are tucked in closer to your body or flared outwards.

Since you need to build foundational strength and initial base mass, stick to keeping your elbows closer to your body throughout the lift.

*Pre Lift -

  1. Grasp Bar

  • Pull your chest toward the bar and tuck your shoulder blades together and lie down with them tucked.

  • Take 1-3 deep breathes and maintain an expanded rib cage ( puff yourself up )

  • It is best to have someone do the liftoff so you can maintain the expansion and the tuck as you’ll notice you have to release it a little if you liftoff solo.

As you lower the bar toward your chest, deep inhalation through your nose, You basically stop inhaling when the bar is at the bottom point.

Then the push portion breathe out through your mouth as you squeeze your chest and blow that wait the opposite direction. It is not necessarily speed per se as much as suddenly that weight is moving from dead zero to up up and away.

Post Chest workouts

  • Try to do some standard pushups. 50.
    Remember face toward the ground, back straight and make sure your ass is not arched up into the air. If you are unable to do some standard pushups, try girly pushups. As many as you can. Try to beat your pushup Prs by at least +1 each time.

If you can’t even do a pushup after your chest workout then static pushup position and hold as long as you can.

Disclaimer ::
Note * do not smash face into ground *
[ I am not liable for any injury you may cause to yourself by losing focus ] ;p

Other things to note :

Some people find more gains doing DB presses.

Don’t forget to work on your incline press if you notice your chest not fully developing towards your clavicle.

I have personally found doing decline or flat flies for 10-12 reps x 2 pre-bench to be a great way to get some blood moving through my chest and my warmups are more effective.

Though as always make sure you take 5-10 minutes and check out other posts and keep in mind there are lots of other philosophies, methods, and techniques that can be just as effective if you know how to implement them.

The search function of course is golden on this site.

32

Desire is the key to motivation, but it’s the determination and commitment to an unrelenting pursuit of your goal - a commitment to excellence - that will enable you to attain the success you seek.

Mario Andretti

33

Nutrition:
Breakfast 630am: 1 cup egg beaters, 1 whole egg, 3 strips turkey bacon, crystal light fish oil cap

Shake: 930am: Peanut Butter shake, fish cap

Lunch: 1230: Can of tuna fish mixed with light salad dressing, 1 apple. (didn’t have much in the house to take to work today)

Shake: 3:30: Peanut Butter shake, fish cap

Dinner: Homemade taco salad: (1/2 lean ground beef, taco season packet, mexican cheese blend, lettuce, tomato all chopped and mixed together. (again we are running out of food for the week and this didn’t seem like all that bad of a meal.)

before bed: protein shake and cottage cheese, Chamomile tea.

Estimated totals for today using fitday:
2289cal 258.5pro 65 carbs 110.5 fats

Went for an 1hr 15 min hike on a local trail. Its pretty much all a slight incline with some killer uphill sections. I want to start incorporating this walk into my life more often. It was a good time and my legs felt awesome afterwards.

I’m really interested in trying out that bench “program” that you shared. Is this something that I can just substitute into Rippetoes instead of the regular bench parameters?

Also wanted to say thanks again for all the help, it’s not going by unappreciated!

34

Swapping out the Rippetoe method and trying what I suggested for 1 chest workout wouldn’t do anything negative. Just make sure to pay attention to how you feel before and after your workout and see if you feel like you stimulated the muscle.

Or you can just log it in a journal somewhere scratch down what you did and put a rating and effectiveness.

I gave you a simplified version tho describing one lift and not the whole slew of :

do -

incline decline pecdec cable fly seated cable flye etc blah blah

Reason -

I have no idea when your muscles will fatigue and then exhaust.

A person on a day to day basis will not always be able to lift the same weight, volume, and perform exactly as the week before.

You have to be prepared to adjust due to your immediate physical condition andmaximize your gains and work done, the most bang for your buck.

35

I am a bit confused then. I feel like I am stimulating my chest because I am almost always sore the next day after a chest workout. I have read this is not a good indicator however. It just seems that I am not progressing with bench like I am on the other lifts. Is it just taking much longer to get stronger? Or do I really have a sticking point? If so I am going to give the bench thing a try for a few workouts.

Also with my diet: After looking at the pictures it appears that I have lost weight in my chest area only. Since I have never done this before I cant tell if this progress sucks or if it is good for the amount of time I have been eating correctly (3 weeks now).

It looks like I have not made much progress anywhere else. Would you suggest the extra carido instead of cutting cals at this point? I know everyone is different and that you can not give me an exact answer, but your opinion is a good one. I want to preserve, if not build muscle but get rid of this fat before I do a clean bulk.

I’m feeling a bit frustrated by my “appearence progress” as compared to my lifting progress.

Much thanks Kinein, you have been a tremendous help so far.

36

It takes time for more noticeable changes in appearance. This is where you have to start applying patience. Generally whenever I go on a hard training cycle for 3 months I’ll only expect to notice something every 2-3 weeks. It can get quite maddening if you over-analyze.

Just think of it like this in your book of fitness or bodybuilding since you have a body and physique you want to build or establish. You have just turned to page 2. You are writing the book to your life!

If you are always sore the next day doing the Rippetoe method then you are doing fine.

I would suggest implementing cardio 20-30 minutes of it after your weight sessions on the elliptical after weight training as it has been found to be more effective at burning fat then cardio at other times. If your pretty much beat after your workouts then try 5-10 minutes instead of 20-30.

If your wondering why morning walks are suggested its because walking at a faster pace (not power walking) won’t have as much an impact on your nervous system and will burn off at least a double scoops worth of protein ( if your not taking a gainer ). Not sure if I am repeating myself or stating something you already know.

You can tighten your nutrition or do cardio or do both. Be patient and realize everything takes time. You have to look at it like this for those much larger changes (past noticeable) 2-3 months.

Which is why you’ll generally see a lot of those advertised before and after pics at those time periods because if you train hard and do everything right thats the average time it takes. Bear in mind a lot of the more commercial advertisements vs say the body-4-life pictures are done by people who know how to cut effectively and supplement just to get paid for their before and after pictures.

Your starting point is lack of muscle and added bodyfat just from inconsistent diet and exercise. So you are going to have to work hard toward your goal.

Be relentless ~ Give your muscles a reason to grow and keep at it. Sometimes you just have to stop looking @ yourself and channel that frustration into the gym.

Negative energy is best used at the gym. No where else ;p

Another thing to note is everyone has areas that store more fat then others and your initial fat-loss will be the easiest.

Generally what is harder to lose is the fat on the lower back,obliques, lower abdominals, and underneath the abdominals between the organs.

37

No real post for this weekend. I have decided to take off for this weekend from the normal training/eating to reevaluate myself and where I am going. Friday I was tired as hell and my knees/legs were beat from the the extra cardio and from the squats. I got in the gym and just felt crappy.

I tried to half ass it but decided that I was wasting my time and that I needed a rest.

I did some more searching around on here, most importantly on dieting. I was thinking about cutting down my calories to around 2300-2400 for the next “phase” of my nutrition.

After looking around and playing with different ideas, it came to my conclusion that this calorie guideline is exactly where I would be if I was following the t-dawg 2.0 diet.

It seems like a good beginner diet. Pretty straight forward, and will teach me the basics of managing macro breakdowns. This will also serve as my next “challenge” so to speak. It is a step more difficult than the “plan” I’ve been following and will force me to be a little more creative with food choices to meet the requirements.

I decided to toss the food log for the weekend. Im watching what im putting in my mouth (not eating a bunch of garbage) but not writing it down for 2 days. On Sunday I will pick back up and start the t-dawg 2.0 diet.

My lifting will continue on the same path. I love this program and Im gonna milk it for all its worth. I also want to try the bench routine that Kinein mentioned for a couple weeks to see what I can improve.

I also want to get some knee wraps. I have read mixed things about them, but seem to think that the extra support may be worth it. I would like to hear any thoughts on this.

Cardio will be everyday in the morning, sometimes twice a day to include the evening hikes, walks.

Thank you all for checking this out and good luck to everyone with a goal of their own! I encourage you to come along for the ride. I will be where I want to be someday, just gotta learn how to get there.

38

Nutrition:

Breakfast
630am: 1 cup egg beaters, 1 whole egg, 3 strips turkey bacon, green tea, fish oil cap

Shake: 930am: Peanut Butter shake, fish cap

Lunch: 1230: McDonalds Chicken Salad

Shake: 3:30: Peanut Butter shake, fish cap

Dinner: Homemade hamburger (no bun)

8-9pm(workout): Surge

estimated totals for today using fitday:
2544 cal 253pro 137 carbs 115.5 fats

Lifting:

Bench Press: 3X8: 135lbs, 1X5 155lbs (failure at 5 reps couldn’t make all 6) 1x1: 175lbs with spot.

50 pushups 5x10

Squats: 1: 95lbs 2: 115lbs 3: 135lbs 4-6 180lbs (PR) felt like freakin GOLD in the gym today!!

Deadlift: 1: 135lbs 2: 155lbs 3: 165lbs 4-6: 205lbs!! (HUGE PR)

Today felt like the best workout of my life.

Note to Kinein: When I first read your suggestion for the chest workout I laughed at your disclaimer. Then while actually doing it I felt myself thinking “I really am gonna smash my face into the ground”. Luckily I did not. However The pump I got in my chest today was INSANE.

Thanks!

39

Meals:
Nutrition:

Breakfast 630am: 1 cup egg beaters, 1 whole egg, 3 strips turkey bacon, green tea, fish oil cap

Shake: 930am: Peanut Butter shake, fish cap

Lunch: 1230: Steak, Mixed vegetables, water, fish cap

Shake: 330pm: Shake, fish cap, carrot sticks

Dinner: 630pm: Baked salmon Vegetables (mixed) Crystal light iced tea.

Pre bed snack: 830pm: 1/2 cup cottage cheese, 1 scoop whey.

Totals for today using fit-day: 2631cal, 254 Pro, 77 carbs, 171 fats.

45 Min morning cardio after 1 scoop of whey protein. Had to skip the evening cardio today due to visitors from overseas at work.

Feeling really good lately. Noticing more energy and starting to see the veins popping through in my arms. Felt a bit of soreness in my chest as well as legs. Just enough to let me know that yesterday was a good workout.

40

Oh and a quick questions about going on the T-dawg diet. Do I need to count carbs from green veggies? So far I have been under the recomended allowance of carbs but feel like I’m not getting the right amount of veggies.

Thanks