Wednesday, March 29, 2017

Wed 3/29 - Upper

Workout: Golds
(80#DBInc)10,9,8
(180#SeatRow)3x8
(50#DBShldr)2x8
(160#PullDn)2x8
(73#RopeExt)11,10
(35#Inc/HCurl)10,10
(CaptChair)2x11
(25#Crunch)3x10
(40#RDelt)2x10

40 + 10 = 50 mins

Early morning WO at Golds before work. Started with incline/seated row superset. Incline really good even though R shoulder was painful getting DB’s into place to start pressing. Pulled/tweaked something in my R lat during rows, but wasn’t too bad.  Next I did shoulder press with pulldowns. Next I did rope extension, incline/hammer curl combo and leg raises in the captain chair. Finished up with some rear delt work and weighted crunches.  Solid WO.

Weight: 
I weighed 174.8 this morning.

Monday, March 27, 2017

Sun 3/26 - Upper - Power

Workout: Snap Fitness
(80#DBInc)9,8,7,75x8
(210#PullDn)4x6
(55#DBShldr)8,7,7
(190#SeatRow)3x8
(85#OHTriExt)9,8,8
(Curl)35x10,Hx12,60#EZx10
(30#ChestRaise)2x10
(40#RDelt)2x10
(160#Fly)2x10
(30#Crunch)4x10

72 + 10 = 82 mins

Started with DB Incline and pulldowns. Incline was pretty good, but the bench at snap fitness is narrow and at a fairly steep angle so I have a hard time getting heavy DB’s into place. The bench at Golds in much better. Got 3 good sets and dropped to 75#’s because my R shoulder wasn’t feeling very happy. Pulldowns were heavy! I went heavier on shoulder press than normal and got good reps. Combined these with seated rows.  Then we did overhead triceps extensions with curls. I bumped the weight on triceps; heavy but good. For biceps, I did a set of incline curls, hammer curls and ez bar curls. Liked this combo.  Next I did chest raises (heavier than normal), rear delt DB raises and chest fly’s. Finished up with 4 sets of weighted crunches.

Good WO and I didn’t feel too fatigued from yesterday’s WO, which means I didn’t over do it yesterday.

Weight: 
I weighed 177.2 this morning after refeed yesterday.

Sat 3/25 - Full Body - Tension

Workout: Snap Fitness
(60#DBInc)2x12
(160#SeatRow)2x12
(45#DBShldr)2x10
(150#PullDn)2x10
(205#LegPress)2x12
(70#SLDL)2x12
(CaptChair)2x10
(120#RopeExt)2x15
(30#Curl)2x10
(Crunch)2x10
(115#RDFly)2x15
(115#Fly)15

38 + 6 = 44 mins

Tension type WO this morning followed by refeed weekend and power WO tomorrow morning. Tension WO is moderate weight, controlled reps, fairly short rests, nothing to failure. Calling this full body, but very little leg work. Knees just don't handle it well.

Started with incline and seated row superset. Next was shoulder press with pulldowns. Then leg press, SLDL and Capt Chair leg raises. Next was rope extensions, curls and crunches.  Finished up with rear delt fly’s and a set of chest fly’s.  Felt good. Primed the pump for refeed and a heavy WO tomorrow.  Ideally, would like more than 24-hours before between these 2 WO’s, but doing best I can with available schedule.

Weight: 
I weighed 174.0 this morning.

Thursday, March 23, 2017

Thu 3/23 - Upper

Workout: Golds
(60#DBShldr)3x8
(180#PullDn)3x8
(65#DBInc)2x9
(140#SeatRow)2x8
(25#ChestRaise)2x10
(80#OHTri)12,11
(70#EZCurl)12
(CableCrunch)2x10
(15#RDelt)2x10
(35#Crunch)2x12

40 + 7 = 47 mins

Started WO today with shoulder press instead of incline today to change the movement pattern focus a bit. Planned on doing 50#DB’s on shoulder press, but I’ve been doing that after incline, so I bumped up to 60#DB’s. Good weight, 65#DB’s would’ve been too heavy. Supersetted shoulder press with heavy pulldowns. Then I did incline, seated row and chest raise combination. Incline was controlled, paused reps. Felt good. 8-9 reps here was definitely work. I did seated rows with a straight bar with underhand grip. I wanted to do chest raises because I hadn’t done them in a while. Next I did overhead DB triceps extensions with cable crunches and a set of EZ bar curls. Finished up with some more crunches and rear delt work. Solid WO.

Just checked my log. That shoulder press with 60# DB’s was a lot better than I thought, especially since I haven’t done that as a main heavy movement for several months. Very nice!

Weight: 
I weighed 174.6. Feeling pretty good.

Calories are 1,200-1,400 a day with ~245g protein.  Do the math. There's not a whole lot else besides protein. Some fish oil, broccoli and spinach. My one comfort food I can't give up for the duration of the diet is fat free greek yogurt with 30g of fiber1 every night. That's under 25g carbs though.

Tuesday, March 21, 2017

Tue 3/21 - Upper

Workout: Golds
(80#DBInc)10,9,8
(180#SeatRow)3x8
(50#DBShldr)2x8
(160#PullDn)2x9
(73#RopeExt)12,11
(35#Curl)2x11
(CaptChair/20#Crunch)2x10/10
(15#RDelt)2x10

35 + 10 = 45 mins

Wanted to work out yesterday to take advantage of energy from eating a lot over the weekend, but just didn’t have time, and to be honest, just wasn’t feeling motivated at all to hit the gym.  I only ate about 1,200 calories yesterday, so I was hoping I’d still be able to have a good WO today.  It turned out to be very good. Short, but sweet.

Started with DB incline and seated row superset. I was surprised I got 10 reps first set. 2nd set I’m pretty sure I could’ve gotten another 10 reps, but it might have turned into more of a grind on the last rep, so I stopped at 9. Got a solid 8 on the last set. Very pleased. Rows felt good.  Next I did shoulder press with pulldowns. Finished up with a combination of triceps, biceps, abs and rear delt work. Solid work in 45 mins.

Weight: 
I weighed 177.2 this morning, down from 182.6 yesterday. Big spike in weight after hiking/carbing weekend :)

Sat/Sun 3/18-19 - Hiking

Went to Pisgah National Forest this weekend and stayed at the Davidson River Campground. Saturday we hiked the Black Mountain Trail - 10 miles.
Sunday we hiked Looking Glass Rock Trail - 6 miles.

Nice campground. Not quite as nice as Cades Cove, but it was close to town which was convenient.

Friday, March 17, 2017

Fri 3/17 - Upper

Workout: Snap Fitness
(75#DBInc)3x10
(175#SeatRow)8,8,10
(50#DBInc)2x8
(175#PullDn)2x10
(130#RopeExt)2x11
(35#Curl)2x11
(25#Crunch)3x10
(130#RDelt)2x12

32 + 6 = 38 mins

Stuck to diet well the last 3 days. Feeling good this morning. I got in a quick WO after work today. Started with incline and seated row superset. Both felt good. I was expecting this to be harder since i’m not used to dieting at all. Still had very good strength. Next I did shoulder press with pulldowns. Finished up with a combination of rope extensions, curls, weighted crunches and rear delt fly’s. Pleased. In and out in under 40 mins including warmup. Kept volume right where it should be.

Weight: 
I weighed 174.4 this morning, down from 183.2 on Monday.  Hiking this weekend and a lot more food on the agenda. Weight will spike big time.

Wednesday, March 15, 2017

Wed 3/15 - Upper (and diet starts)

Workout: Golds
(80#DBInc)9,9,8
(180#PullDn)3x9
(50#DBShldr)9,8
(160#SeatRow)2x8
(25#Crunch)3x10
(80#OHTri)11,10
(35#IncCurl)11
(CaptChair)2x10
(15#RDelt)2x10

36 = 9 = 45 mins

Started RFL-like diet on yesterday. Yesterday macros were protein:214 (too low), carb:58, fat: 17, calories: 1,245.  This diet will have more diet breaks for backpacking trips, but diet days will break down something like the following:
Protein: 250+g
Carbs: 50-60g
Fat: 20g
Calories: 1,500

Maintenance calories for me right now is about 2,700, so I’ll be in a 1,200+ calorie daily deficit.

First WO on the diet has always been really good, and today was no exception. Heavy steep DB incline and heavy pulldowns were both very good for 3 sets. Next I supersetted shoulder
press, seated rows and weighted crunches. Shoulder press was good as well. Next I did 2 sets overhead triceps extension (good) and 1 set incline curls. Finished up with some leg
raises in the captain’s chair and some rear delt work.  Very solid WO.

WO’s while on the diet will be less frequent, less volume, and I’ll try to keep things at least moderately heavy. In the past, I’ve felt good when starting a diet and pushed things
really hard with too much volume and frequency because I was feeling good. This time, I’m going to try to stick to the lower frequency and volume while trying to maintain weights used.
This diet will be different because I’m also going to be doing some backpacking during it, so I’ll need to take diet breaks on those days and eat a lot more so I don’t crash on a
mountain somewhere and have Sarah carry me out :-D

Weight: 
I weighed 177.2 this morning, down from 183.2 on Monday.

Monday, March 13, 2017

Sun 3/12 - Pull

Workout: Snap Fitness
(Pullups)4x10
(130#Pulldn)1x10
(InvertRow)3x10
(CircleCrunch)3x10
(75#SLDL)3x10
(RevCrunch)3x10
(40#RDelt)3x10
(35#IncCurl)10,7,Hx10
(200#CableRow)2x10
(115#RDeltFly)2x10

60 + 5 = 65 mins

Started with pull-ups and did 4x10. None of them felt easy, so I was a bit surprised I got 4x10. Followed it up with a set of pulldowns. Next we did inverted rows with circle crunches. Up next was DB SLDL and reverse crunches.  Then I did rear delt raises with curls. Curls were 2 sets incline curls, 1 set hammer curls. Finished up with standing cable rows and rear delt fly’s.

Weight: 
I weighed 182.0 this morning.

Sat 3/11 - Push

Workout: Snap Fitness
(80#DBInc)9,8,70x10,9
(210#LegPress)3x10
(CaptChair/Crunch)3x10/10
(50#DBShldr)3x8
(50#Pullover)3x8
(80#Skulls)3x10
(100#LegExt)2x15
(65#OHTri)2x10
(20#ChestRaise)2x10

66 + 10 = 76 mins

Started with steep angle incline. The bench at Snap Fitness is steeper than at golds, so same weight is harder.  First set was good. Very controlled reps with slow negatives. 2nd set I had a bit of a hard time getting the R DB in place and strained shoulder a bit. Another good controlled set though. 3rd set, R shoulder wasn’t having any bit of getting DB up and I got stuck. Startedover after a rest and dropped to 70#DB’s. Good controlled reps for 2 more sets. Disappointed I couldn’t get more sets with 80’s, but still very good work.

Next we did leg press with abs. Then shoulder press with pullovers. Pullovers felt heavy supersetted with shoulder press.  Then we did skull crushers with leg extensions. Finished up with some overhead triceps extensions and chest raise. Triceps extensions hard after skull crushes.  Good push day.

Weight:
I weighed 178.2 this morning.

Wednesday, March 8, 2017

Wed 3/8 - Upper

Workout: Golds
(80#DBInc)10,9
(180#PullDn)2x10
(65#DBInc)2x9
(160#VBarPull)2x10
(45#DBShldr)2x10
(80#DBRow)2x8
(RevCrunch)2x15
(80#OHTri)11,9
(35#Curl)2x11
(Crunch)2x12
(15#RDeltFly)2x10

43 + 9 = 52 mins

Started with fairly heavy steep angle incline and heavy pulldown superset. Great incline reps and paused the last rep in each set. Very controlled. Great for this weight. Then I raised the angle of incline even further and did 2 sets combined with close grip pulldowns. Having the angle this steep was hard on my R shoulder getting the DB’s in place and moving on the first rep, but after that felt pretty good. Next I raised the angle of the bench to 90 degrees and did shoulder press with DB rows and reverse crunches. These first movements were a great WO. Then I finished up with a combination of overhead triceps extensions, curls (1 set incline curls, 1 set hammer curls), crunches and rear delt fly’s.  Very good WO. Moved at a quick pace. I was huffing and puffing and had to take a few longer rests during this WO.  Don’t think I’m in very good cardio shape despite a lot of hiking.

Weight: 
I weighed 177.8 this morning, down 7 pounds from the bloated Monday.

Mon 3/6 - Upper

Workout: Golds
(75#DBInc)11,10,10
(160#SeatRow)3x10
(50#DBShldr)2x8
(23#ChestRaise)2x10
(160#PullDn)2x8
(73#RopeExt)2x12
(40#RDelt)2x10
(CaptChair/Crunch)2x10/10

34 + 8 = 42 mins

A lot going on at work so quick WO’s this week. Started with steep incline and seated row superset. Fairly short rests. Paused reps on incline. Next I did shoulder press, pulldown and chest raise combo. Finished up with rope extensions (very good today), rear delt and good ab combo.

Weight: 
I weighed 184.8 this morning. Really bloated after a weekend camping, hiking, eating lots of carbs.

Sat & Sun 3/4-3/5 - Camping and Hiking

Saturday, 3/4 - Woke up and drove from Pigeon Forge to cades cove, drove a loop around the cove, set up camp and then went on a hike to Rocky Top.  We started off on the wrong trail and added 3.5 miles to our hike. Ended up being 6.5 hours and between 15-16 mile.  The last 1.5 miles up to Rocky Top were steep, and hard after climbing for about 4 hours.  Had the top to ourselves for a while and had lunch overlooking the mountains, Fontana Lake and Cades Cove.  Beautiful day.  Hike down was 2:15 (much faster), but all down hill and my knees were barking by the end.

Sunday, 3/5 - Camped at Cades cove Saturday night and cooked an awesome beef/broccoli/rice dish over the campfire.  It got down into the 20's, but we were plenty warm with the fire and in our tent.  Sunday we made eggs and grilled flatbread for breakfast, packed up camp and drove to Elkmont in the Smoky's.  There was a resort there in the 1920's with vacation homes/cabins.  They've fallen into disrepair and the park service is beginning to tear most of them down starting tomorrow, 3/6.  So, it was our last chance to ever see them.  We took lots of pictures.  It was once a place of millionaire's mountain retreat homes. It's neat and must have been a wonderful place many years ago.  When the GSMNP was formed, the homeowners were given a lease on the properties until 2001, then had to vacate.  Some of the cabins will be restored and kept, most will be bulldozed.

We hiked Jakes Creek trail to Cucumber Gap trail to Little River trial to make a loop of about 7 miles.

Friday, March 3, 2017

Fri 3/3 - Upper

Workout: Golds
(70#DBInc)3x10
(160#PullDn)3x10
(45#DBShldr)3x10
(160#SeatRow)3x10
(20#ChestRaise)2x10
(80#OHTri)11,10
(30#Inc/HCurl)1x12/12
(CircleCrunch)2x10/10
(13#RDeltFly)2x10

31 + 7 =  38 mins

Very little time for WO today. Started with steep incline and pulldown superset. 2 min rests between sets. Started fairly comfortable, got hard by the end with short rests. Next I did shoulder press with seated rows and chest raise. Short rests again. I finished up with a combination of overhead triceps extensions, incline/hammer curl combo, circle crunches and rear delt flys.  I was huffing and puffing moving through these exercises fairly quickly.  Good work in short time.

Weight:
I weighed 178.0 this morning.

Wednesday, March 1, 2017

Wed 3/1 - Upper

Workout: Golds
(75#DBInc)3x10
(180#SeatRow)3x8
(50#DBShldr)9,9,7
(160#PullDn)3x8
(55#Pullover)2x10
(35#DBCurl)10,8
(73#RopeExt)11,9
(40#RDelt)2x10
(CaptChair)3x10

44 + 10 = 54 mins

Started with steep angle incline at a moderate weight for three good sets. Worked hard for these. Supersetted with heavy seated rows. Then I did shoulder press with pulldowns. Rests were just over 2 mins and by 3rd set the shoulder press felt really heavy. Next I did pullovers (bumped up weight) with incline DB curls. Curls felt heavy, most likely from heavy rows. Finished up with rope extensions, rear delt raises and captain chair leg raises.  Solid.


Weight: 
I weighed 179.2 this morning.