My name is Mark Penix(yes you read that last name right)… and I’ve been around T-Nation for not too long as a member, but I’ve been reading for about 6-7 months now trying to muster up the courage to defeat my worst enemy (fat, laziness, and addictions to mt. dew and cigarettes).
I’m not new to training, I played soccer for the better part of 13 years, did track in high school for 3 years, joined the Air Force the day after I graduated high school (May 18th, 2000)… and now I’m a civilian working for a fortune 500 company. I’m a system administrator (lazy desk job) and have noticed my former abs disappear before my very eyes over the past 4-5 years.
Stats at time of pictures (4 weeks ago). Age: 26 Height: 71 inches Weight: 171 lbs Body fat: 17% (guesstimate)
Goals:
To reach 180-190 pounds by December 20th (27th birthday) of this year while losing some bodyfat (hopefully get near 9-10% mark or better).
I started to keep a training log to track my progress in weight progression. I also took measurements at the time of the photos that I’ll get up very soon.
June 5th:
As per my post on the 23rd of last month I’ve been doing that exact workout… sans the bike on most days due to inclimate weather as well as the chinups (no bar (yet)).
May 23rd - Workout
May 25th - Workout
May 27th - no workout (sore).
May 29th - Workout
May 31st - (no workout) big party (gotta live).
June 2nd - Workout
June 4th - Workout
On the 3rd I tried to curl a 55lb dumbell with each arm, the right I got all the way one time without momentum or cheating and the left needs a lot more work.
I’ll be sticking to barbell movements until my left arm catches up to my right.
I’ve also seen a moderate gain in definition and size in my arms, chest, and back. Arms up 1/2 inch, probably beginner gains.
I haven’t gained much mass yet, but I’m getting stronger and a bit leaner (3rd row of abs starting to play peak-a-boo with me).
I’m a little worried about my fat accumulation in my midsection (lower abs) love handles aren’t really there it’s just in the front around the “v” area. It’s going down slowly but it might take some special attention to caloric intake and possibly additional cardio.
I’ve cut down soda in my diet, I know the sugars/carbs are so bad for you but just like any other addiction I have to break it. I stopped counting calories and protein and fat… I just know that I’m getting what I need (that food journal I kept has done wonders for my awareness).
Diet wise the past week or so I’ve had
instant oatmeal, pineapple slices, peanut butter, chicken, tilapia (fish) with asparagus, almonds, turkey chili (sooo good), healthy omelets, Surge during and after workout, creatine, l-glutamine
I had a few snacks here and there but overall I’ve increased my workout and reduced my calories while upping my protein so I think I should be okay.
As far as my goal goes, I’m losing fat and so far maintaining muscle while gaining strength… I didn’t want a dirty bulk and I’m still going to shoot for 180-190 this december.
Next week I’ll be taking update photos… stay tuned.
Today sucked. Went to the base gym to get going… my gf and i finished our warmup ab routine, she got her 3 sets done of benching, then I was setting up to go.
Intercom attention all gym patrons the gym is closing due to inclimate weather…
AWESOME… so we drive to her apartment’s sparse gym and all they have are a few ellipticals, treadmills, dumbbells up to 50lbs and a flat bench here incline bench there. There were 2 people there when we got there, then people started piling in from the storm (Tornado warnings/watchs)… we just kept working out.
Might as well die while looking good and sweating right?
Needless to say, I didn’t get to push myself as hard as I wanted to today. I guess this will leave me a bit loose and ready to go next session. I’m going to try and establish some PR’s and work squatting back into my routine. Not sure of the impact of double working legs (squat with deadlift) but I’m looking forward to the burn.
Side note: A tornado or two did hit and i think 4 lives were lost. My best wishes are with their families.
It’s been 6 days since I started this log and 21 days or so since I started seriously kicking ass at the gym. Overall, my lifts have gone up and my weight has gone down.
I woke up this morning and took my morning bathroom visit… weighed myself and now I’m 166lbs flat. We’ll see if it fluctuates but I’ve been steadily going down about a 1-2lbs or so per week.
Still anxious to take pictures and look at the difference. Alas, I’ll wait till I said I would.
Bend DB Row
1x8 @ 80lbs (40 each hand)
1x8 @ 80lbs (40 each hand)
1x8 @ 100lbs (50 each hand)
Alt. Dumbell Curls
1x8 @ 20lbs
1x8 @ 25lbs
1x8 @ 20lbs (i need some arm strength dammit)
Tricep Ext. (no bar for skullies)
1x8 @ 30lbs
1x8 @ 40lbs
1x8 @ 45lbs
DB Squats
1x10 @ 80lbs
1x10 @ 90lbs
1x10 @ 100lbs
I wasn’t really tired at all after that workout… mainly because I was limited by weights and want to stick to this basic routine for awhile (at least 2-3 weeks) before I switch it up. Hopefully today I can really push myself.
I’ve been taking HOT-ROX and yesterday I just didn’t feel well… sore all over (FINALLY!) but I played tennis for about 45 mins or so with the gf instead of the gym. I’m about to get off work and go to sleep… hopefully I feel good enough to workout at the base gym today.
Still wanting to try to establish some workable max’s for different workouts (so I can do as close to 80% workload as possible.
I know deadlift can probably be closer to 200 due to the “5 sets of deadlifts @ 60,80,80,130,130lbs - 10 reps each” Should I try for more than 200 or just stick to 200 for a week or two until I feel comfy upping it?
I’m a little disappointed with myself lately. I haven’t trained since the 11th. That’s about 7-8 days of no weights. I gained back some weight due to alcohol intake and poor choices when eating out. I plan on getting back into the swing of things now that I’m back on my work schedule. Maybe not every other day because my body doesn’t seem to respond well to that type of full body torture. Perhaps 1 on 2 off full body to failure.
Diet is the hardest thing for me… I can go to the gym or go downstairs and workout but I find it hard without a structured diet.
Back is a little sore, I think my lifting form was a little off today with the deads so next time i’m gonna reduce the weight down starting at 135lbs and move up.
I didn’t supplement today and didn’t have Surge either… I feel kinda sluggish and sore all over. It’s been a week or so since my last workout and I definately am paying for it.
I lost the mojo of working out for a week… really dissappointed in myself that way but I’m back in the game. The PR on the DL was just because I attempted it (i’ve never deadlifted that heavy of a weight before and have only been dl’ing for about 2 months.
I’ll try to get some update pics this weekend, my weight has gone down but I’m hoping that’s fat. Still having trouble with the diet :-P. Damn beer.
I didn’t do my normal routine today since my back was still a bit sore from the deadlifts last time. This gave me an opportunity to do some things that I normally don’t work on.
I started with my ab workout as usual… then moved over to the:
