Just to add, had a lovely day at Thorpe Park. Rest day, officially, but spent all day on my feet (and on rides) so pretty damned tired. Eats were about as good as I could manage at a park:
8.30am: 2 scoops whey, 2g fish oils
2pm: Chicken salad (Piri Piri chicken breast, salad, some sort of dressing)
4pm: Iced coffee. Very sweet, guess it had a lot of sugar in it. Not so great but could have been worse.
9.15pm: 2 scoops whey, 2g fish oils
I hate that Lazy Song too.
You had PB for sprints on a bad sleep night - that’s good stuff right there!
I woke up feeling groggy. I fell into bed and passed out at 10.30pm last night but once again I woke up in the small hours and lay awake for a while before I got back to sleep again. I did remember my ZMAs.
I realised I didn’t feel up to training. Although yesterday was a rest day, I was on my feet for most of it, and despite being at a theme park I didn’t consume much in the way of calories. So instead of trying to swim or gym, I sucked down a protein shake and waited for a while. Still didn’t feel brilliant when 11am rolled around so took a caffeine pill and some beta alanine and headed for the gym. Holy crap, the beta makes me itch. I haven’t taken it in a while and I remembered the itching but not how bad it was. Mostly the face and hands, then my ears. WTF.
Usual warm-up:
20 hypers
20 reverse hypers with V at top
20 clams (per leg)
20 single leg hip thrusters (foot on high bench) (per leg)
20 overhead split squats using a 5kg body bar (per leg)
20 bosu ball squat/sit up combo
Gave my groin a good stretch. Hip has not felt right for weeks - perhaps it actually hates the stretching and mobility. Hmm.
Got in the power rack and did my step overs:
10 x pin 8
10 x pin 10
Bar x 20
30kg x 15
40kg x 12
45kg x 8
50kg x 5
55kg x 1
60kg - fail and bail
I got very hot doing the squats - probably the beta - and had to take my shirt off. At least my midriff isn’t horrific now. However, I did get some sunburn yesterday and squatting with a sunburn is not fun.
I wasn’t feeling particularly good either - almost nauseous. Trying to equal my PB was probably a silly thing to do because my head wasn’t in the game. Fortuantely I’d left the safety pins high so I just leaned forward and dumped the barbell there.
Bar x 10
30kg x 10
40kg x 10
45kg x 8 (new weight, sans box)
40kg x 10
50kg x 10
60kg x 10
65kg x 8 (new weight)
35kg x 10 (R), 10 (L) (+2 reps per leg)
37.5kg x 6 (R), 8 (L) (new weight)
Left leg is quite a bit stronger on these, which is odd as that’s the one I’ve had the sciatic/piriformis problem with. But the right leg has its own set of issues. They’re like an old married couple, bitching and moaning constantly. Bah.
120kg x 10
160kg x 10
Didn’t feel like doing more. Went and did some stretching then left the gym.
Oh and PS, jumped on the scale to see if last time was a fluke. It wasn’t. Still 11 st 1 (155lbs). Hmph.
8.45am 2 scoops whey, 2g fish oils
3pm Bacon-wrapped chicken breast, broccoli florets, seaweed salad, white rice (yeah, I decided I needed the carbs).
Will likely have another shake later.
I’m wondering if I should up my carbs for a few days. I’m not dropping any more weight even on the relatively small amount of food I’m eating, but I don’t want to cut back any more. Maybe doing the opposite will give my metabolism a kick in the nuts. Opinions?
I wouldn’t take that stuff anymore.
Sounds similar to an allergic reaction???
Also sounds like you could use a diet break OR a bigger more planned out refeed. Not, just ‘some rice.’ Really work to up the calories like twice of what you are eating, but more than half the cals from carbs.
So if your eating 1200, go up to 1400 cals on a refeedx 0.7% from carbs. Thats 980cals from carbs(lets say roughly 250 grams of carbs…)
Is the math right? 4 cals per carb gram…etc. the remaining cals are for protein. Keep fats low…
Nah it’s not an allergic reaction - this happens to almost everyone who takes it.
If you’re interested as to why, read this: http://supplementyourlife.blogspot.com/2007/05/that-itchy-feeling.html
Thanks for your input on the food issue - I agree that I need to eat more for a while. It is odd that I haven’t lost (much) weight but I am definitely recomping - there’s more definition around the arms, chest, shoulders and rib/upper ab area. Below that is stubborn but doesn’t look as bad as it did. It’s even possible I could have gained muscle because I am eating more protein. But I don’t want my body getting too used to a low food intake because I certainly don’t want to be stuck with it.
glad ya’all quit with all that shite talk.
cool vids, Cal - next time talk while you’re hitting it so we can hear your accent.
who else is with me on that?
Cal: Training and diet look solid. Sorry the scale is not cooperating. But your seeing results–so that’s what matters.
With respect to diet, I’m hardly and expert, but I agree you don’t want to keep those cals too low for too long. What about carb cycling or more generally mixing up your caloric intake on a regular basis. Keep your body guessing. Have 1 or 2 “high calorie days” ideally on days you train; 1-2 med, and the rest “low.”
So, I’ve decided to up my carbs for a few days and see what happens. When I’m back to school I plan to carb cycle. Low carb on the three school days, higher carb on the weekend and medium carbs on the Monday and Tuesday.
20 hypers
20 reverse hypers with V at top
10 YWTL (2kg dumbells for all below)
20 lateral raises (2kg dumbells for all below)
20 front raises
20 overhead presses
20 curls
20 hammer curls
20 L raises
20 bent over raises
Someone was using the squat rack so I had to clean these.
Bar x 10
25kg x 10
3 x 30kg x 5
Rear flyes (on an incline bench): 4kg x 15; 6kg x 12; 8kg x 10
Push-ups (hands below shoulders): 15; 12; 10
Skull Crushers: Bar +10kg x 10; Bar +12.4kg x 8
Hammer Curls: 8kg x 10; 10kg x 8
Was short on time because I booked the spinning class and couldn’t much around, so just did the two heavier sets.
11, 8, 6
(Last two time I did 10, 7, 6, so PROGRESS).
Rope Pushdowns: 15kg x 8; 12.5kg x 8; 10kg x 8
Dumbell Curls: 10kg x 8; 8kg x 8; 6kg x 8
Went from one exercise to the other without stopping. Ouch.
Spin class, 45 minutes. Sweated like a mule.
I did my grocery shopping today. Bought oats for the first time in ages. I’ve had issues with oats in the past, as in I tend to overeat them or even binge, so I was wary of these, but thought I would give them a go.
12pm (post training): 2 scoops oats, 1 scoop whey, a splash of skimmed milk, blueberries, chopped walnuts, sprinkle of cinnamon, 2g fish oils
The scoop I use is the one I use to measure my whey. The 2:1 ratio seemed to work well. Usually I mix whey with tap water and ice cubes but used milk because it was cold. No other reason.
3-4pm 4 carrots, 5 cocktail beetroots
I had the munchies! I’m not sure if this was because of the oats or because Flo is due in about 5-6 days. Hmm.
6pm Baked potato with butter, smoked salmon offcuts, large salad (mostly leaves, a few cherry tomatoes and cucumber), seaweed. I LOVE seaweed!
Very yummy.
Drank several mugs of tea with skimmed milk, as per usual.
Hope I have lots of energy tomorrow!
Glad you’re enjoying spinning. I luvs it.
I put cinnamon in my whey for the first time in a while the other day and it was delicious. That whole shake sound nommy.
hmm…
increased weight (not water weight)…
looking leaner…
increased protein…
increased strength…
why Cal, I do believe you have gained some muscle 
maybe it is the protein??
Dips look strong!
I love oatmeal for breakfast. With a scoop of whey protein, blueberries and some slivered almonds. Mmmm.
Oh it wasn’t a shake, Patch - it was a bowl of food. It was delicious, btw.
Alexus, I really hope so!
Carb cycling sounds like a good plan!!
I may try something like this as well. Thanks Nadia for the reminder!
Big setback today, food-wise. The oat experiment was a failure. Breakfast was the same as yesterday, lunch was chicken and bacon with salad, veggies and buckwheat, and then I had another bowl of oats and protein. And then another. And then another. I couldn’t stop eating the fucking stuff. Bloody hell, I thought all that was behind me. Clearly, I cannot have oats in the house. I threw the rest in the bin.
At least the swimming was good.
Swim: 70 lengths (1750 meters)
1-10 Breaststroke
11-20 Crawl up, breaststroke back
21-30 Backstroke up, breaststroke back
31-60 Crawl up, breaststroke back
61-70 Breaststroke (cool down, effectively)
Points of note: my backstroke sucked today. I don’t know why, it just didn’t feel right. The pool was also too busy and I’m not very good at staying in a straight line so I just did the one set.
Crawl still sucks but I’m trying.
The last 10 lengths was the most enjoyable. I find breaststroke relaxing - I don’t have trouble breathing, like I do with the crawl.
I had thought about going to the gym later but my body felt trashed. I had energy, but my muscles were sore. Played computer games instead.
Today: not my finest hour. I suppose at least I know what I can’t eat. I will still do a bit of carb cycling but will keep it to rice and potatoes etc, plus the odd cheat meal if circumstances call for one (ie, meal out, or if my chocolate club tasting selection arrives. I’m not giving those up!)
Now I just have to train hard tomorrow, cut carbs for a few days and get back on track.
wow, I don’t like oatmeal that much!
What about oat bran instead? It’s much blander and you would be less likely to eat as much I would think. Not to mention, it’s better for you.
I’m not even doing rice or potatos anymore. Just squashes/yams/quinoa.
The white stuff makes me blah…and hypo-t people don’t do well with sugars so I’ve read. Not sure how that relates to hypo-t people that train with weights are well optimized on there meds though. For now, I am doing my best to stay away. I <3 rice…
It’s not oatmeal - I don’t like that mushy stuff. This is just porridge oats.
I’m not keen on bran. I think I’ll just skip it.
It is so interesting what foods are your crack. Oats, nuts and dried fruit…
I like hearing about the swimming. I was on the swim team in high school. In the slow lane where the coaches had great pity on me.
I have a problem with cereal in general. I used to binge on muesli, granola, Fruit & Fibre and those little cinnamon toast things that are about 99% sugar. Obviously, these are still a danger!
Carb hangover today - not pleasant but serves me right. Felt a bit weak and shaky but my workout went well enough.
20 hypers
20 reverse hypers with V at top
20 clams (per leg)
20 single leg hip thrusters (foot on high bench) (per leg)
20 good mornings with 5kg body bar
Hip stretch
YWTLs (with 2kg dumbells). I lost count - I guess it was around 10.
Band assisted pull-ups: 5, 5, 5, 4
Push-ups (hands under shoulders): 10, 10, 10, 10
Bar x 10
50kg x 10 (C)
50kg x 10 (S)
60kg x 8 (C)
60kg x 8 (S)
70kg x 6 (C)
70kg x 6 (S)
80kg x 4 (C)
80kg x 4 (S)
C = conventional
S = sumo
These weren’t supersets - rested between. Didn’t go so heavy today and tried to concentrate on pulling back and using my legs more. I still tend to roundback when I get tired, though.
Bar x 10
30kg x 8
40kg x 10
50kg x 8
55kg x 6
Reverse Grip Pulldowns: 40kg x 10, 30kg x 10, 20kg x 10
Straight Arm Pulldowns: 20kg x 10, 15kg x 10, 10kg x 10
No rest at all - went straight from one to the other. These really seemed to burn my rear delts.
45 minute spin class. Friday’s class is an advanced class - hard work and no silly stuff like push-ups on the handlebars. Too bad I usually work Fridays because this was much better than the other classes I’ve done. Legs felt nicely fried after.
I’ll record my eats later - just wanted to get the workout down while I remembered it.
I remember reading something by Alan Aragon where he says that for reason not scientifically proven, bike sprints appeared to be superior in helping women blast lower body fat, even if they did nothing else as far as strictly changing there diet and by keeping there training the same.
you seem to be on the right track…
Cal: Sucks about the oats. Good job getting right back on track. That carb up probably did you good anyway. No need to worry about it.