I am icing my shoulder. Right now. I think it is sore from doing two strenuous military workouts last week. Maybe even from the increased bench press weight. It’s not painful, just sore. I’ve been taking Motrin and ice. The soreness is when I do a shrugging motion and lateral raise, but that’s it. It’s like I need to pop it back into the socket.
I’m considering taking a week off after week 8 to let my body rest. Anybody agree?
Naw, keep pushing until it breaks. 
Taking a week off after 8 weeks will let your whole body have a rest it probably needs.
you’ve made some really good progress…keep at it
[quote]stuward wrote:
Naw, keep pushing until it breaks. Taking a week off after 8 weeks will let your whole body have a rest it probably needs.[/quote]
LOL I’ve considered doing just that. I like seeing how far I can take things. A scheduled break would be nice though. I might time it during Spring Break which would be a little bit longer of a wait.
[quote]deuce2 wrote:
you’ve made some really good progress…keep at it[/quote]
Why thank you!
[quote]TheDudeAbides wrote:
stuward wrote:
Naw, keep pushing until it breaks. Taking a week off after 8 weeks will let your whole body have a rest it probably needs.
LOL I’ve considered doing just that. I like seeing how far I can take things. A scheduled break would be nice though. I might time it during Spring Break which would be a little bit longer of a wait.[/quote]
It’s better to take a planned break than an unplanned one due to an injury.
Spring Break… do you have kids? I thought it was supposed to be a break?
Did you experience any joint soreness during the program, especially the knees. I tried out Rippetoe for only 3 weeks (I couldn’t work out anymore due to other things) and my knees felt very sore especially when standing up and crouching. Maybe it’s just because I’m skinny with small joints but wanted to hear what you had to say about that. Thanks!
No joint problem so far. Unless you count my shoulder, but that doesn’t feel so much like joint pain. I do take 6 fish oil pills a day. Maybe that helps more than I thought.
[quote]stuward wrote:
It’s better to take a planned break than an unplanned one due to an injury.
Spring Break… do you have kids? I thought it was supposed to be a break?[/quote]
Yeah I know. I was just trying to sound tougher than I really am.
Yup, three of them. The break becomes more from my wife than for me. Plus, I get soooo bored after three days.
[quote]TheDudeAbides wrote:
In other news, I had to wear a tie today. Too bad I couldn’t button the top button on my shirt. Evidently my neck grew. Without checking it is either 17" or 17.5".[/quote]
Yeah my neck went up from 16" to 17-17.5 on me last spring, right in time for my public speaking competitions 
I really hope that doesn’t happen to me again… I just finished getting shirts that fit in the collar! The worst is my sports jacked that I got last spring… it fits the shoulders just tight but is waaaaay to loose around the midsection. Maybe after a certain amount of progress we should get the right to just go around naked? Or at least half naked?
And Dude, it’s worth waiting till spring break! Just a little longer, but so much more rewarding!
And great progress on your deadlift… I hope I can add over a hundred pounds to my DL in a few weeks like that! I was so jealous when I was in the gym today… I saw this big guy deadlifting like 565 raw. I’ve never seen that kind of a lift in person before… now I just know I have to have it.
Happy training!
I weighed in at 243 this morning. Here is my fitday log for those interested enough in giving advice/criticism to help me improve my situation.
http://www.fitday.com/WebFit/PublicJournals.html?Owner=drjoseph
I find it hard to believe I’m gaining that much muscle. Of course I thought I looked pretty good this morning, minus the baggage.
I just checked out your diet journal. It seems as if you carb intake is very low, while your fat intake is a bit high. Is there any reason behind this? I would have thought that even when cutting, your carb intake would have been a bit higher…
No. No, there’s a simple reason. I know how to lift but I don’t know how to diet properly. I thought my carb intake is high.
Yesterday
Cals Fat Carb Pro
2626 132 113 244
Day before
Cals Fat Carb Pro
2585 122 115 253
Thanks Tonino. This is why I’m asking for help and clarification. This is one area in my training that could use a tweak.
Read these two articles. The first I came across here on T-Nation, and the second was given to me by Stu. But I think both hit at the same point, which is carb cycling.
But one thing that I’ve learned in setting dieting goals for myself is that what works for one person may not necessarily work for someone else. So once you’ve found a system that you want to try, make sure you monitor yourself on a weekly basis, and if you’re not getting the results you’re looking for from the diet, then modify it as you go along.
Hope these help:
Today’s Workout
front squat - 3x5x290
military - 3x5x170
barbell rows - 3x5x245
chin-ups - 1x12xbw
1x8xbw
bw = 243
Front Squats - The weight felt lighter than last time. That’s always encouraging. I almost lost the bar at the end of set 2 and 3. It started to roll.
Military - Finally got it. The bar felt manageable as well. It’s that feeling when you grab the bar and lift the weight - it doesn’t feel heavy. I’m definitely going for 175 next week.
Barbell Rows - Nothing spectacular here. I wouldn’t say challenging either. I might start increasing this past my bench weight.
Chin-ups - These are never easy. I think I’m going to slow the reps down next time instead of cranking them out. Make sure I go all the down. I expect to get much less.
Today’s Workout
CANCELLED
I want to rest my shoulders. My left shoulder has been sore, but now my right shoulder feels tight. I think that is the problem - I have tight muscles/tendons. To fix it I will OD on Vicadin and some other painkillers. jk
Dude,
I’m attaching the link to my FitDay journal, just so you can take a look at what I’m doing (though I haven’t been good at tracking my food EVERY day). For the most part, the days that are available in my journal are a good indicator of how I set up my nutrition plan. By no means am I saying that this is the magic formula. As a matter of fact, I’m thinking of posting this in the Nutrition forum to get some feedback. But just to give you some quick details, I am around 152 lbs, I’m aiming for a 50/30/20 split for Carbs/Protein/Fat (I got that split from John Berardi’s “From Scrawny 2 Brawny”). Also, the # of calories that I shoot for on a daily basis are also a result of a formula I got from the aforementioned book. Take a look…
http://www.fitday.com/WebFit/PublicJournals.html?Owner=atesta
Dude,
You’ve inspired me to start rippetoe.
[quote]Tonino wrote:
Dude,
I’m attaching the link to my FitDay journal, just so you can take a look at what I’m doing (though I haven’t been good at tracking my food EVERY day). For the most part, the days that are available in my journal are a good indicator of how I set up my nutrition plan. By no means am I saying that this is the magic formula. As a matter of fact, I’m thinking of posting this in the Nutrition forum to get some feedback. But just to give you some quick details, I am around 152 lbs, I’m aiming for a 50/30/20 split for Carbs/Protein/Fat (I got that split from John Berardi’s “From Scrawny 2 Brawny”). Also, the # of calories that I shoot for on a daily basis are also a result of a formula I got from the aforementioned book. Take a look…
http://www.fitday.com/WebFit/PublicJournals.html?Owner=atesta
[/quote]
Thank you! Any help is appreciated.
[quote]H.E. Pennypacker wrote:
Dude,
You’ve inspired me to start rippetoe. [/quote]
HA! Just when I started to feel burned out, you go and do something like this.