Strick-I am guessing you are on sabatical for the holidays! So just saving your spot at the table and wishing you a great 2011!
Stricky-baby!!!
Happy New Year!
'Sup cuz?
Hey Strick, where ya at?
Late to the party as usual:
Monstrous rows!
ok, needs more exclamation points…
!!!
Hello !!! Anyone home.
OG, SteelyD, Joe, Null and Bulldog,
Thanks for checking in on me. I am still around and check in every now and then. I am still working out, just with a change from before.
Sorry I have been negligent at keeping up with everyone. It has been a month. Truth be told, I just haven’t been feeling very sociable and haven’t had anything worth note to report. Between the holiday chaos, post holiday letdown, bipolar mother going through severe depression, my wife having severe anxiety/depression issues, wife and daughter constantly at each other, work, my lower back still aching constantly, my left shoulder still tweaking like hell and my loss of strength (due to sliding into another down cycle and exasperated by trying to lose weight), I have just kind of closed off for a while. I am not depressed or anything like that. I just don’t have much energy outside of what I have to do and have deal with. Hell, I don’t even want to workout, but I am forcing myself to get in there and do something.
Weight loss kind of jumped to the forefront because I was starting to feel all of the weight. I weighed in at 298# on the 1st Sunday of the year and weighed in at 288# today. The goal is to try to sustain a 2-3# per week loss…to, hopefully, minimize my strength/muscle loss. My strength is definitely down, though. But it was before I started trying to lose weight.
I have changed my workouts to increase the cardio aspect of it, but am still keeping a primary exercise each workout to try to hold on to some degree of strength. As an example, today I did the following…
Bench
barx20x2
95x10
135x10
185x5
225x5
255x3
285x3
315x4
345x1 - I had 350# in me, but nothing more. 20# below max.
Supersets!!
Supersetted CGB and Facepulls - 4 supersets - 30 seconds between supersets
CGB
155x10x4
Face Pulls
110x10x4
5 minutes to setup and return to normal
Supersetted Wide Grip Bench and Tricep Pushdowns - 4 supersets - 30 seconds between supersets
WGB
135x10x4
Pushdowns
70x10x3
60x10
My triceps hurt like hell for at least 5 minutes. Not just a burn or tightness, but hurt.
All workouts are pretty much like this. Normal main exercise followed by 2 supersets of 3-4 sets each, with 30 sec between supersets. Really leaves me in pain and sucking wind.
I have also started treadmilling Sunday through Friday, in the mornings…20 minutes at a leisurely pace. And also on Monday and Wednesday afternoon.
Diet is pretty basic…
High protein
Moderate/High fat
No refined sugar (except what is in ketchup or glaze)
Very limited potatoes, breads and pasta
Lots of veggies
Sorry this got so long. That’s what’s going on. Thanks again for checking in. Hopefully things will normalize soon enough, and I will get back into the swing of things.
Good to hear from you LS!
Sometimes you get the dragon and sometimes the dragon gets you.
We’re here for ya cuz.
Glad to hear you’re OK.
Good luck with the weight loss.
And a slightly weaker you is still bloody strong!
Life is relentless. We can only do our best.
It’s good to keep the weight under control. But I say a resounding “HORSESHIT!” to the idea that a person always loses strength when they diet. They don’t have to go together. Sure, it’s tough to get a bunch stronger when you’re in a deficit, but I believe pretty strongly that if a person gets enough NUTRIENTS (notice I didn’t say calories) you can at least hold the line.
Like Brett said already, your strength is already pretty spectacular.
Thanks, Steely. That’s one of the great things about this crew…always ready with an ear, advice or just comiseration.
Brett, the weight loss will happen. I just have to be careful. I have a tendency to get gung ho and, if I don’t watch myself, I could easily get down to very low calories. But that would be counterproductive.
C_K, you are spot on. In fact, I don’t know if my calories are really below maintenance. I’m not counting them. Obviously they are reduced, though. Without the sugar, and with limited bread and pasta, the pounds are dropping at an acceptable rate. I think the weight loss (carb reduction) is just aggravating a down cycle in strength. I get a couple a year and they last for 2 - 3 months. It will come back around.
Thanks for checking in…
Just don’t go so long without checking in big guy.
Bulldog, I will do my best!
Tuesday’s fun…
Seated Rows - close neutral
100x10
160x10
210x10
255x10x3
Supersets!
Supersetted Lat Pulls (wide neutral) with Krocs (65# is my heaviest DB)…30 seconds between supersets
Lat Pulls - wide neutral
160x10x2
160x8
Krocs
65x10x2
65x8
5 minute break
Supersetted Lat Pulls (close neutral) with Seated Rows (wide neutral)…30 seconds between supersets
Lat Pulls (close neutral)
140x10
140x8
140x7
Seated Rows (wide neutral)
140x10
140x8
140x7
Did 20 minutes on the treadmill in the morning.
Nothing of note. Just a lot of sucking wind and burn in the forearms, especially.
I will be going back on creatine this weekend. I have been off of it since Christmas.
Do you get anything out of creatine?
I tried it once, years ago when it first came out, but I didn’t notice any gains strength wise or on the scales. I was vegetarian at the time too, so I probably wasn’t getting much in my diet.
I suppose it might be worth another go.
Thirty seconds between sets is not much. Are you enjoying all that lactic acid?
I think when it warms up, you need to break out the tire again, and race around your yard with your son on it. (with video please)
Now, that’s entertaining cardio, for you and us!
[quote]FarmerBrett wrote:
Do you get anything out of creatine?
I tried it once, years ago when it first came out, but I didn’t notice any gains strength wise or on the scales. I was vegetarian at the time too, so I probably wasn’t getting much in my diet.
I suppose it might be worth another go.
Thirty seconds between sets is not much. Are you enjoying all that lactic acid?[/quote]
Brett, 30 seconds is a killer. I never realized how short a time it actually is. Usually, it takes a good 5 - 10 minutes for me to regain normal function of my arms/shoulders. It’s good stuff. I am even, God forbid, thinking of trying to do some BB type stuff, along with my main exercise, during this weight loss phase. It is a great time to increase work capacity as well as burn calories.
As for the creatine, I think it depends on the person and the quality of the product. It DEFINITELY helps me. It can’t assign a pound increase to it. I can, however, tell the difference in how the weight feels in my hands (how heavy, stability, my power level) and the number of reps I can generate.
It is worth a try. It is cheap and even if it doesn’t make a significant physical difference, the mental aspect garnered from what I feel make it worth it to me.
[quote]punnyguy wrote:
I think when it warms up, you need to break out the tire again, and race around your yard with your son on it. (with video please)
Now, that’s entertaining cardio, for you and us![/quote]
Lol…that is a good idea. I need more grass, though. The tire doesn’t like to move over the clay, stick and dead grass. Or I am just getting wussier. Likely the latter.
I do need something for the outside, though.
I am phasing my workload for weight loss. I have found that, at least for me, it is better to increase the workload in phases…like every 3 weeks, so that I can keep increasing as the weight loss slows. If I start going all out, my body adjusts and I have nowhere to go.
Very, VERY smart plan.
Thursday Fun…
Shoulders
Military Press - longer rest between these sets
barx10
95x10
135x10
175x5
205x5
225x4 - still have no sustained energy when under “heavy” weight
225x3
3 minutes rest
Behind the Neck Press - 45 seconds between sets - these were to failure
155x8
155x5
155x3
1 minute rest
BB Shrugs - 45 seconds between sets
225x10
315x10x4
1 minute rest
Supersets of DB Laterals and DB Front Raises - 45 seconds between supersets
Laterals
25x10x2
25x8
Front Raises
25x10x2
25x8
1 minute rest
Supersets of DB Laterals and DB Rear Delt Raises - 45 seconds between supersets
Laterals
20x10
20x8x2
Rear Delt Raises
25x8
20x8x2
1 minute rest
BB Shrugs
315x10
1 minute rest
Seated DB Presses - 45 seconds between sets
50x10x2
Dismount, cry, find protein source…
In and out in 45 minutes.
Nice work Skipper. I hope the weight falls off easily and you’re all cut up for this summer.