Unleashing The Beast :: FitBob

Weight: 212

Pigged out on carbs last night and saw the expected weight jump on the scale this morning. Busy day today, energy levels almost back to normal. Went to the club for a body composition assessment at 5pm, came in at 19%* body fat. Not great, but already improving. Wish I had comp assessed Jan 1 so I could put this number in a more positive perspective. Regardless, I have a starting point. My target is to get to 10% by July 31.

Historically, I can drop .5 to 1 percent a week – more when I’m doing a lot of outdoor cycling. So let’s say 20 weeks to transform 20 pounds of fat to 20 pounds of muscle and energy. Throw in an extra week or so and that’s five months, ergo my cutting phase must begin on March 1.

Until then, I am primarily working on building strength with the weights and low intensity (LI) zone cardio to prepare the body for the training loads that will be thrust upon it come March. With two weeks’ training under my belt, hopefully the bod’s adapted and recovered enough to start moving more serious iron this week.

I sleep 8-9 hours a night now and struggle to stay awake until 11pm, not used to hitting the bed before 2am. Nice.

Feeling good about the first two weeks’ training – a great start to 2012, let’s keep it going!

*3-fold pinch + estimated weight + late in the day + food = inaccurate test, take results with a large grain of salt, and use number as a guideline rather than absolute. Pinch tests generally have a 3-5% margin of error to begin with. The results stated 20%, 209 was input for weight when I was actually 214. That 2% difference in weight input changes the calculations to a lesser result, so I’m going with 19% math++!

March 3 – April 6, 2011

Timeframe: 35 days
On Plan: 26 days
Missed: 9 days

Exercise Time: 19 hours
Total Calories: -13465
BodyFat Equivalent: 3.74 pounds!

All in all, a good month. I missed more training days than I would have preferred, but life has a way of happening. The important takeaway for me is that I accomplished a solid month of base training and can now move on to the training I like better.

By charting my training, I am now able to look back and see a distinctive pattern/flaw: Rest days. In March, they were momentum killers – most of my missed days occurred after a scheduled rest day. Methinks I need to change the program and add a bit more structure.

So for April I’m switching to a different routine – the old standby that has served me well for years: Train Mon-Fri, with weekends “off.” Since month two is the strenght phase of my plan, I’ll lift one body part a day Monday-Friday, followed by some core work and at least :30 min cardio. Typically:

Monday: Chest
Tuesday: Back
Wednesday: Shoulders
Thursday: Arms
Friday: Legs

Training legs on Friday gives me two off days over the weekend to recover from blasting them, so I’ve got that going for me. Which is nice.

And while weekends are technically non-training days, I’ll still do rides for fun or with friends. Now those rides become “bonus” workouts – a key mental distinction.

Diet remains the same: eat healthy six days a week, with one cheat day to eat whatever I want.

(BTW – Cheat days are great! No only do they give you a mental break from restriction, they provide a short term, achievable goal. I usually put them on Sundays so I have a week-end target: “I can’t eat that today, but I can have as much as I want on Sunday!” And by putting it at the end of my week, I can choose to enjoy it earlier in the week and just eat healthy on Sunday instead.)

My weight has remained pretty constant over the month, but I can see the changes in the mirror and feel it in my clothes. Don’t get hung up on the scale – this past month my body has burned off fat and replaced it with muscle. So, while I may weigh the same, I look and feel different. THAT’s the important thing, not the pounds.

Weight: 211
10:15 am

Assisted pull-up & dip Supersets: 5
Bent-knee raises: 3×15
Plank: 2x1min

Steam/Hottub: 5 min

Total calories: -400

Low energy day so just hit chest and back to balance out the cycling a bit

Weight: 204.4
9:45am

DIdn’t train yesterday due to family/holiday stuff. Took advantage of the extra recovery day to go heavy today.

Warmup: elliptical, 11min

Deadlifts: 135×10, 225×4/6/6, 135×10
Smith Squats: 135×8, 226×6, 315×6 (half), 135×12
Barbell Shrug: 135×10/10/10/10

Spinning: 36min – was going to stop at :30, but kept going to hit -1000 cals =)
Stretch: ~8min
Steam: 5min

Total calories: -1080
Total weight: 6300 deads + 5940 squats + 6750 shrugs = 18990 pounds

Forearms limited deads/shrugs weight until switched to mixed grip, need to get straps

Weight: 203.6
10:00am

Woke up with DOMS in lats and tris. Definitely feeling the effects of the negative chins yesterday… hello growth!

Warmup: elliptical, 11m/-100 cals

45deg. Incline DB Press: 30×12, 45×6/6, 35×9
45 deg. Incline DB Bent Arm Flye: 30×8/6/8/4 (const. tension)
Cable Crossover Low: 40×12, 50×10/8/8

Hanging back stretches: 4x30sec

Crunches: 25/25/25 (legs up)

Stretch
5 min steam
10 min hot tub soak

Total cals: -530

Good session, the boy kicked butt on pushups – 5 sets of 10, his PB. Good workout partner!

Weight: 204.0
9:45am

Warmup: elliptical, 11m/-110 cals

Parallel Grip Chins: 6/5/4 (negatives)
Wide Grip Front Pulldowns: 80×12, 120×6, 110×6, 100×9
Close Grip Low Cable Row: 120×6, 110×8/8/6+2

Low Cable Curl: 50×12, 100×3, 80×8/6 (constant tension)
Wide Grip Barbell Curl: 45×10/10/10 (constant tension)
Dumbell Hammer Curl: 20×6/6/6 (negatives)
DB Twisty Curl: 10×8 (flush/isolate)

Spinning: 21min with 10min backwards pedalling
Stretch
Steam: 10min superhot

Total cals: -790

Destroyed back and bis, great mind-muscle connection, really felt the fibers strain/stretch/rip. Finished shower with 30sec supercold hand rinse

Weight: 204
10:20am

Warmup: elliptical, 11m/-110cal

BB Upright Row: 45×15, 65×12/10/8, 45×15
BB Shrug: 135×12/10/10/10 (weak grip strength)
DB Front Raise: 10×10/10/10/10 (squeeze/focus on contraction)

Tricep Rope Pulldowns: 50×8/6/6
superset w/
1-arm Reverse Pulldowns: 30×10/6/6
Close Grip Cable Pressdowns: 40×15, 80×12/12/11

Bent Leg Ab Raise: 20/15/14
6# bar Twists: 50

Spin: 20m, easy/flush
Stretch
Steam: 5m superhot

-900 cals

Good workout, great pump! Still feel shoulders/arms stretching the skin an hour later. Back & Bis tomorrow!

One of the main differences between lifting and riding is the amount of recovery I need from workouts. As I’ve gotten older, it’s taking a bit longer to recover from hard lifting workouts than it used to. It’s probably too soon to tell, as I’m only two weeks into my new program, but after two days of hard lifting my body is fatigued to the point of demanding a day off. On cycling and other cardio days don’t seem to tax my system nearly as much. When I was cycling a lot in the beginning of the year I had to force myself to take a recovery days. Time will tell…

Weight: 202.8
9:30am

Up at 6:30, had a protein shake, extra scoop of Superpump 250 at 9ish. Hit legs pretty hard, got a bit light-headed at one point, likely due to low glucose levels – no carbs this morning, didn’t eat enough last night.

Slow lifts today: 1 second lift + 3 second negatives

Also had low BP/HR throughout workout – monitor to see if just a one-off event, or possibly overtraining.

Warmup: elliptical, 10min/-100cal

Cybex Leg Press Machine: 90×15, 210×10, 310×8/6, 150×15
Cybex Leg Extension: 50×10, 110×10/10/9
Cybex Seated Leg Curl: 70×12, 110×8/7/6
Cybex Seated Calf Raise: 210×10, 390×4, 310×6 (light headed)

Spin/flush: 30min

Stretched legs
5min steam

Total cals: -730

Weight: 204.0
7:00am

Went to bed about midnight, up at 6:30ish. Didn’t feel strong, so just did some spinning this morning. Going back later to lift if not too fatigued.

1 hour spin:
- 30m steady state
- 1:30 climbing interval
- 1:30 climbing interval
- 2:00 climbing interval
- 3:00 climbing interval
- 4:00 climbing interval
- 4:00 climbing interval
cooldown

5m steam

Total cals: -590