Darwin's Training Log

Training Training Logs
21

[quote]goochadamg wrote:
When you stall (multiple workouts where no progression was made). You’ll really just “reset” your lifts back a week or twos worth of weight increases then keep going. :slight_smile:

[/quote]

Good to know. Is this what “deloading” is, or is that something else? I should probably just do a search for it, lol.

So, onto my lifts for this morning. Once I again, I was able to progress in my lifts, for the most part. The gym put in a dip station over the weekend (either that, or I missed it completely last week), and I was able to do real dips (rather than between two benches), and let me say that it was a disaster. I had gotten false positives from the bench dips. Oh, well, more fuel for the motivation!!

LIFTS:

SQUAT:
95 1x5
105 1x5
115 1x5
–working set–
135 3x5

DEADLIFT:
95 1x5
115 1x5
–working set–
135 3x5

BENCH:
55 1x5
65 1x5
75 1x5
–working set–
95 3x5 (almost no difficulty on the last set, so I will be upping the weight on Friday’s workout).

DIPS:
BWx4
BWx3
BWx1
→ These were a disaster. I used the dip station, rather than dipping between benches, and had a very hard time with it. I guess it’s one of those things that I just need to suck it up, and the 5-8 reps will build over time.

It was cool to lift this morning, too, because a couple of the regulars greeted me. I had figured it would take me a little longer to be accepted (considering the gym is full of Navy guys, and I’m an out-of-shape former Marine), but people there are pretty cool. There are a couple of amateur powerlifters there, too, getting ready for a base-wide competition. Watching them is pretty damn inspiring!

My weekend carb-up went well - for the first time, I didn’t feel like puking, so I think my body is beginning to accept this cycle. I did have a small cheat - some friends brought some Tiramasu (sp?) over for dessert on Saturday night, and I, sadly, couldn’t resist. But I didn’t get a statistically significant increase on the scale, so I’m not going to worry about it. I think of it more as a sanity check!

22

I’m going to take pics on Friday, since it will have been close enough to the month mark on this diet. With my pants and shirts feeling looser, and my wife and others remarking on my beginning to look trimmer, I’m curious to see a comparison.

23

Cardio went badly today… I was only on the elliptical for about 5 minutes when I felt a massive twinge in my leg (upper thigh), and then sharp, shooting pain which made it impossible to continue. I stretched plenty before hand. I’m going to apply ice and heat throughout the day, and hopefully be back as good as new by tomorrow’s workout.

What a crappy way to start the day, though.

24

Here’s a pic, and there are a couple more following below this post.

I have a couple question:

  1. Would anyone be kind enough to estimate my body fat percentage?

  2. I’m currently on the Anabolic Diet, in a deficit, to lose the extra fat before I start eating more and gaining good, lean mass (as best I can). Would it be more beneficial for me to just start eating more now?

Thanks!

25

Side shot, relaxed.

26

Back shot, relaxed

27

Front shot, posing (any info on how to pose better would be much appreciated)

28


Back shot, posing (again, any info to help pose better would be much appreciated)

29

To reiterate my questions from above:

  1. Should I continue eating at a deficit, or should I start eating at a surplus? Which do you think might be more beneficial?
  2. Would anyone care to estimate my body fat %?
  3. Any posing tips?

Thanks.

So, I woke up hating myself this morning. I felt grimy, and washed up, and just wasn’t pleased with anything to do with myself. So, I got out of bed, had breakfast, got my things together for the day, and drove to the gym to kick my own ass.

Self-loathing is a very powerful motivational tool. I kept telling myself I was not meant to be a weakling, and to shut the f*ck up and just DO IT. It worked, and every lift today went up.

BACK SQUAT:
(warmup): 95 1x5, 115 1x5, 135 1x5
(working): 145 2x5, 155 1x5
→ I upped my last set because the second set at 145 felt too easy. It was. And 155 felt about right for today. I’m going heavier on Friday.

MILITARY PRESS:
(warmup): 45 2x5, 55 1x5
(working): 65 2x5, 70 1x5
→ I’m pleased with this, as well. While 70 was tough, it was doable. Next workout out I’ll warmup to 45, 55, 65, and try my working set with 75.

DB ROWS:
(warmup): 45 1x5, 50 1x5, 55 1x5
(working): 60 3x5
→ Moving up to 60 kicked my ass, and I felt like my form was slipping on the last set. I’m going to keep this one the same for my Monday workout, and see if I can control my form better. If not, I’ll drop back to 55, where I know I have good form.

PULL-UPS:
1xBW, 1xBW
→ I hate hate hate pull-ups. I sucked at them in the Marine Corps, and I’m even worse at them now. But, I decided to stop doing negatives, and just work on true pull-ups.

As if ramping up all my working weights wasn’t enough, I was pissed about the pull-up issue, so I decided to beat myself up even more with my first HIIT Session. Maybe not the best idea, but it felt right at the time.

I used one of the stationary bikes, set it to manual level 10 (halfway), and did 1 MIN slow 30 SEC fast. And I mean fast and hard and heavy. People were giving me funny looks, and I felt like the machine was going to break.

I managed to last 10 minutes through sheer willpower alone. When I was done, I could barely move and I really wanted to puke. I think that means I did HIIT correctly.

In the end, I’m feeling much better now. I know I’m gonna be sore tomorrow, but that doesn’t bother me. I now know that I wasn’t as intense as I could be in my prior workouts, so it’s a whole new ballgame from here on out.

30

Not to be pushy, but does anyone feel like chipping in some ideas on my questions? Or are they so basic that I should be ashamed of asking?

Just curious. Thanks.

31

[quote]darwin420 wrote:
To reiterate my questions from above:

  1. Should I continue eating at a deficit, or should I start eating at a surplus? Which do you think might be more beneficial?
    [/quote]

Try to eat to maintain. Cut out the junk food - no candy bars, no fast acting carbs, no calories from drinks except protein shakes. Keep carbs on the lower side. :slight_smile:

[quote]darwin420 wrote:
2) Would anyone care to estimate my body fat %?
3) Any posing tips?
[/quote]

High, and get so big you don’t need to pose. :slight_smile:

32

[quote]goochadamg wrote:
darwin420 wrote:
To reiterate my questions from above:

  1. Should I continue eating at a deficit, or should I start eating at a surplus? Which do you think might be more beneficial?

Try to eat to maintain. Cut out the junk food - no candy bars, no fast acting carbs, no calories from drinks except protein shakes. Keep carbs on the lower side. :slight_smile:

darwin420 wrote:
2) Would anyone care to estimate my body fat %?
3) Any posing tips?

High, and get so big you don’t need to pose. :slight_smile:
[/quote]

THANK YOU!

I don’t eat candy bars, and I’m on the AD, so my carb intake is limited anyway ('cept for the refuel on the weekends). I only drink water and tea, and the very VERY rare coke zero, if I have a glass of rum on the weekend.

I figured my body fat was high. It’s really pissing me off, because I’ve NEVER been this out of shape in my life, even when I was a dorito-munching young punk. :slight_smile: Ah, well, every starts from somewhere, and if the FFBs can do it, I have NO EXCUSE.

Update for today (and yesterday):

My wife had surgery yesterday, so I wasn’t able to get to my gym (it’s 45 minutes away, where I work). But, after she came home and was sleeping from her medications, I took a sledgehammer to a nasty brick structure that I haven’t like since I bought my house. Let me tell you, in the 2 hours that it took for me to dismantle the damn thing, I think I got one hell of a full body workout!! So, I don’t feel too bad about missing my cardio day.

The cool thing is, just 2 months ago if I had tried to do it, I wouldn’t have lasted more than an hour, and would’ve done the job in multiple sittings. My stamina and strength have definitely increased, although I have a long, long way to go.

I had to drop the kids off at daycare this morning, so I will be hitting the gym around noon. This morning’s weigh in was: 195 pounds! That would be 20 pounds gone in just under a month, although I’d say half of it was water retention from my first week or so on the AD. :slight_smile:

I think I’m going to start eating at maintenance now, and not worry about a deficit. I’m definitely liking the idea of just building my muscles, and letting the fat loss take its own course while I do that. One goal at a time.

I’ll be posting my food log all next week, since it will be a more calorically intense version of what is in my original post.

33

Nice work on the 20lbs so far, keep the good work up. Remember to give it 500% when lifting. Its amazing what happens when you up your calories and lift heavy weights. Good luck on your transformation.

34

[quote]jdarkraget wrote:
Nice work on the 20lbs so far, keep the good work up. Remember to give it 500% when lifting. Its amazing what happens when you up your calories and lift heavy weights. Good luck on your transformation.[/quote]

Thanks! I’m sure that I’ve had my “beginner loss” though, and that from here on out it will be much slower progress.

It’s funny, for my first few weeks, I thought I had been lifting with intensity, and really giving it my all. Then I woke up in a horrid mood on Wednesday, and really pounded the shit out of my session, and learned what intensity REALLY is. I was surprised at what I could really do.

My current workout mantra is: “I am not a weakling.” A corrolary (sp?) is “Just fuckin’ do it” … they work well, lol

35

Okay, fat-ass that I am, I pushed pushed pushed in the gym. I felt weak, though, but at least weights went up. Then again, this is the day farthest from my carb-up period, and from what I read, feeling weak is pretty normal.

First up, to reiterate, this morning’s weigh-in was 195 lbs! That marks 20 pounds lost in 4 weeks. No doubt weight loss will be slowed from here on out.

I’ve also decided that I’m going to eat more, and make the gambit for gaining muscle mass, rather than worry about losing fat.

I am 26, 195 lbs, on the Anabolic Diet, doing Starting Strength, and do HIIT for cardio (usually after my lifting). I am currently consuming ~2000 kcals/day. How much should I up my intake? 200? 400?

Onto the LIFTS:

BACK SQUAT:
(warmup) 115 1x5, 135 1x5, 155 1x5
(working) 165 3x5
→ 165 was tough, especially the last set, but I did it. I’ll try for 175 on Monday.

DEADLIFT:
(warmup) 115 1x5, 135 1x5
(working) 155 3x5
→ 155 felt a bit easy, which is weird, because on Monday I was struggling with 135.

BENCH:
(warmup) 65 1x5, 75 1x5, 85 1x5
(working) 105 3x5
→ The last set of 105 was shaky, but I got it without sacrificing form (I think). I feel like I could do more, but without a spotter the thought makes me uncomfortable. Still, I’m benching more than half my bodyweight. I’m okay with that progress!

DIPS:
BWx3, BWx3
→ These were really tough today, and I don’t know why. Maybe because I’m forcing myself lower? How far down should I go, anyway?

Well, aside from the dips, I feel like I’ve made some good progress. As long as my lifts are progressing, it must mean I’m doing something right. Right?

Ahhh, I can’t wait for my carb up this weekend. It’s gonna taste sooo good!

36

2500 sounds good. See where that takes you for the next two weeks.

And yes, if your lifts are progressing you’re doing shit right. That’s the whole goal.

Here’s a good dip video.
http://www.uwlax.edu/strengthcenter/videos/JimTrav/Bodyweight%20Dips.mpg

Go down that far. :slight_smile: When you get to 10, or maybe 8, add weight with a DB between your feet! :slight_smile: You’ll get there faster than you think. :slight_smile:

37

[quote]goochadamg wrote:
2500 sounds good. See where that takes you for the next two weeks.

And yes, if your lifts are progressing you’re doing shit right. That’s the whole goal.

Here’s a good dip video.
http://www.uwlax.edu/strengthcenter/videos/JimTrav/Bodyweight%20Dips.mpg

Go down that far. :slight_smile: When you get to 10, or maybe 8, add weight with a DB between your feet! :slight_smile: You’ll get there faster than you think. :slight_smile:

[/quote]

Thanks for the link. That’s about as far down as I can get right now. I’ll work on it. Thanks!

38

WEEK 5, Monday 4-28-2008

My entire family is sick, including myself, and it has not been a pleasant weekend, for the most part. Personally, I feel like I want to die.

But, NO WEAKNESS. I was able to drag myself out of bed, I was strong enough to go to the gym. NO MORE EXCUSES.

Feeling weak as hell, I did my lifts. I’m surprised I was able to keep my lifts at the point they were last weak, although every final set was a struggle. Today was not a good day.

LIFTS:

BACK SQUAT:
(warmup) 115 1x5, 135 1x5, 155 1x5
(working) 165 3x5
→ I could barely do the last set. It set a bad tone for the rest of the workout.

MILITARY PRESS:
(warmup) 45 1x5, 55 1x5, 65 1x5
(working) 75 2x5, 75 1x4
→ I realized after I had failed the final rep that this lift went up 5 lbs. Maybe not such a bad day, after all (even though I failed the last rep).

DB ROWS:
(warmup) 45 1x5, 50 1x5, 55 1x5
(working) 60 3x5
→ I was wiped throughout this set. No energy. My left side felt like it was struggling for dear life.

PULL-UPS:
Try as I might, I couldn’t get a single one. It was all I could do to jump up to the grips.

HIIT:
3 intervals of 30/60. I was dry heaving at that point, which probably didn’t give me any popularity points in the gym.

so much for breakfast.

AFTERTHOUGHTS:

I was hoping that the workout would maybe burn out some of the illness. Instead, I’m sitting at status quo - weak, tired, and feeling like death.

On a more positive note, the old Me wouldn’t have gotten out of bed this morning to do the workout… Progress is progress, I guess.

Also, given the temperament of my stomach the past few days, I will not be starting my food log today. Maybe tomorrow, if I can actually keep food down.

39

I think your warmups are a bit much. There is very little difference between 165 and 155. Especially for a set of 5! Why don’t you lower the warmup weight a bit, so the last warmup set is 80%-85% of your workset. Then try doing only 2 reps for the last warmup set.

40

So, maybe do something like this:

(warmup) 115 1x5, 125 1x4, 135 1x2
(working) 165 3x5

That might explain my difficulty on the working sets. Although, I blame part of yesterday on being sick.

I’ll try this out tomorrow, though, and see where it takes me. Thanks!!