Tue 7/31 - Cardio

Cardio:

• Ran 4 miles at work at 10AM, plus short c/d.  44mins.

Had to be in work early for an 8AM meeting and lots of meetings all day.  I had a 1 hour window from 10-11AM where I didn't have a meeting.  Ran 4 miles in ~38 mins and walked for 6 mins to cool down.  Grabbed a real quick shower, got dressed and made it to my 11AM meeting at 11:01.

Nutrition:
Lots of meetings today.  Didn't get to eat until 2:15 after a round table meeting with our VP who was in town.  Busy day, diet was pretty good.  Small eating window.  Got some new BCAA's this evening I'll try before my WO tomorrow (Modern BCAA - Ultra Micronized).  White Blue Raspberry flavor, whatever the hell that is!

Tue	Time	Item	Size	Prot	Carb	Fat	Cal
7/31/2012	6:30AM	BCAA	5g
	10AM	Ran 4 miles, + c/d = 44 mins.
	2:15PM	Creatine	5g
	2:15PM	Whey Shake W1	1 scoop	30	4	1	140
	2:15PM	Chicken	5oz	35	0	1.3	150
	2:15PM	Salad	8oz	4	11	0	57
	5PM	Tuna (7oz can)	5.5oz	44	0	2	193
	5PM	Broccoli/Snap Peas	4oz	3	8	0	40
	6:30PM	Steak Strips (Costco)	3oz	19	2	6	130
	6:30PM	Carrots	2oz	1	5	0	24
	8PM	Chobani Yogurt	6oz	18	7	0	100
	8PM	Casein Shake C2	1 scoop	24	3	1	130
	8PM	Casein Shake C2	1 scoop	24	3	1	130
	All Day	Almonds	.5oz	3	3	8	83
		TOTALS:	Grams	205	46	19	1,176
			Calories	819	184	175	1,178
			Percent	70%	16%	15%	100%

Mon 7/30 - Upper Body

Decided to go forward with a full upper body workout today.  I did this for two main reasons:
1. I feel my chest needs more work than back right now.  I was going to do 2 chest/tri WO's this week (following same routine as last week so I'd hit chest twice, but decided on this instead)
2. I wanted to just change things up so thought I'd do a couple of full upper body WO's for at least this week.
What I learned today is that this WO is HARD.  It's no more sets than my normal WO's, but a larger percentage of them are heavy compound movements using large muscle groups.  In other words, less "fluff".  Not that my workouts are packed with fluff, because they aren't and are quite taxing.  But, this one was draining.  Really draining.  Lately by my 3rd meal in my feeding window, I'm almost forcing myself to get calories in on WO days.  Today I definitely didn't have that problem.  I'll attribute that to 2 things - 1) my body really needed calories after today's workout, and 2) last week was a pretty hard cut, so my body probably just really needed more nutrients.

Workout:

• (210#Guillotine/210#RevGripPulldowns)5, Guillotine reps were 7,6,5,5,5
• (45#Military/150#Pulldowns)3
• (50#Bench/120#SeatedRows)4, Bench reps were 8,7,6,6
• (Dips/120#MilitaryPress)3, dips were 11,8,7
• (25#Flys/80#Curls)4
• (50#OverheadTriExtension/130#TriPusdowns)3
• (110#PeckDeck)2

58 mins
Chest: 15
Back: 12
Shoulders: 6
Tri's: 9
Bi's: 4
Total: 46 sets

Comments:
It was a brutal WO and a nice change up in routine.  A lot of heavy compound movements today.  No room/time for core today.  Gotta figure out how I'll work that in if I keep up these workouts.  Probably going to have to do it on cardio days.  This workout was really taxing.

Guillotine press was good today.  I think about the same as last WO.  Reverse grip pulldowns were good but I had to drop the weight to 180#s after two sets.  Both these heavy loads took a lot of effort.

I used 45#s for military today, where I normally use 50#s. On my normal scheduel, Military press is my first pressing move, so tri's were already a bit worked from Guillotine.  Pulldowns were good and controlled.  Lighter weight, but still good.  Did these instead of pullups because of heavy pulldowns in first exercise.

I had Incline Press penciled in here, but did dumbbell bench with 50#s instead.  Reps were 8,7,6,6. Nice and slow on the negative.  Really worked these hard.  Seated rows were good with 8-10 reps each set.  Probably could have gone a little heavier, but wanted to control these and squeeze back on contraction.  This was the right weight looking back on it.

At this point I had already done a lot of work on tri's and didn't think dips were going to happen.  They were better than I thought with reps of 11,8,7.  I had the rear/front/lateral delt triple penciled in here, but that wasn't happening today.  I did 120# military press.  Last set was a double drop set (120/90/45).  Shoulders done. 45#s felt like a ton and I only got about 5 reps with that.

Incline fly's were OK, curls were really tough.  Drop set on last set of curls.

Overhead tri extensions started out easy.  Did 12 reps first set.  Tri's hit a wall with this combo and overhead extensions went quickly to 6/5 reps.  Same with pushdowns.  Started with 1303s and had to drop the weight to 110#s.

Did 2 sets of peck deck, called it a day and headed to see the Physical Therapist about left shoulder and knee.

Physical Therapy:
He gave me some exercises to do and I'll see him again in a week to see where things stand.  Essentially I have 2 main muscle imbalances.  One in my shoulder, one in my legs which are causing the pains.  He spent about an hour with me.  I love the clinic at my office!

I have an impingement in left shoulder from front of shoulder being stronger than rear.  Not uncommon and not necessarily from working out at all.  It's just how we humans use our bodies more.  Exercises here are to strengthen back of shoulders and muscles around shoulder blades.  Also stretching of pecs several times a day.

For the knee he wants me to stretch my quads real well 2-3/day.  Gave me some better stretches than what I was doing.  Also wants me to stretch my hamstrings to further correct muscle imbalance.

Nutrition:
Med carb day.  I think I could have eaten all night but kept things in check.

Mon	Time	Item	Size	Prot	Carb	Fat	Cal
7/30/2012	10AM	BLOX	10g
	10AM	WO - Chest/Tri's
	1PM	Creatine	5g
	1PM	Whey Shake W1	1 scoop	30	4	1	140
	2:45PM	Brown Rice	5oz	3	33	1	156
	2:45PM	Tuna (7oz can)	5.5oz	44	0	2	193
	2:45PM	Broccoli	4.5oz	3.5	10	0	50
	2:45PM	Banana	1 Xsmall	0.9	18.5	0.3	72
	2:45PM	Sweet Potato	4.5oz	2.7	26.6	0	117
	5PM	Jerky	1oz	11	4	1	70
	6:30PM	Beans	2oz	3	8.2	0.4	46
	6:30PM	Chicken	8oz	56	0	2	240
	6:30PM	Salad	12oz	7	16	0	86
	7:45PM	Apple	1 med	0	25	0	95
	7:45PM	Blue Tortilla Chips	10Chips	1	10	2	65
	9PM	Oatmeal	1/4cup+	4	19	2	110
	9PM	Whey Protein W2	1 scoop	25	3	3	140
	9PM	Casein Shake C2	1 scoop	24	3	1	130
	All Day	Almonds	.5oz	3	3	8	83
		TOTALS:	Grams	218	183	23	1,792
			Calories	871	733	208	1,812
			Percent	48%	40%	11%	100%

Sun 7/29 - Cardio & Week Recap

Cardio:

• Walked 41 mins at 2PM before breaking fast

Not much else to report other than went to the gun show again today, but took Joe F. along with me.  We had fun.

Nutrition:
Another pretty good day.  Didn't mean to break fast so late, but went to gun show and then ran some errands.  Wanted to walk before eating to take advantage of that fat burning time late in the fast (if that actually makes a difference is questionable in my mind, at least the size of the difference).

Sun	Time	Item	Size	Prot	Carb	Fat	Cal
7/29/2012	6AM	BCAA	5g
	2PM	40 min walk.
	2:30PM	Whey Shake W1	1 scoop	30	4	1	140
	2:30PM	Creatine	5g
	2:30PM	Steak Strips (Costco)	3oz	19	2	6	130
	2:30PM	Tuna (7oz can)	5.5oz	44	0	2	193
	2:30PM	Brown Rice	3.5oz	2	23	1	109
	4:30PM	Carrots	2oz	0.6	5.4	0	24
	6PM	Broccoli	4oz	2.8	8	0	40
	6PM	Tuna (7oz can)	5.5oz	44	0	2	193
	6PM	Banana	1 Xsmall	1	19	0	72
	9PM	Whey Protein W2	1 scoop	25	3	3	140
	9PM	Casein Shake C2	1 scoop	24	3	1	130
	All Day	Almonds	.5oz	3	3	8	83
		TOTALS:	Grams	195	70	23	1,253
			Calories	782	280	207	1,269
			Percent	62%	22%	16%	100%

Week Ending 7/15/12:
Another really good week.  2 runs, 3 WO's, 1 double.  I only did one double and 2 runs this week because I'm trying to give my knees (especially left) one a break.  All three workouts were excellent and had the best week of chest WO's yet I think.  That's mainly because I did lost of sets of incline one day (10) and lots of sets of barbell bench (8) after heavy guillotine the other day.  I focused on those core movements instead of mixing up a lot of ancillary movements.  I should keep doing this.  Perhaps work that in for back as well, though I do like to hit the back fairly evenly with several core movements.

Regarding my weight, I ended the week this morning at 164.6.  This is the lowest I've been.  Intermittent Fasting (IF) is really working for me.  I dropped 12 pounds this week (after adding as many in 4 days in Williamsburg).  When I was there, I was ~165 on my Mom's scale, but it's one of the twisting dial one's so I'm not sure how reliable it was...though when there before bulking up, I was noticeably lean.  Now I'm noticeably leaner.  Veins really coming out in abdomen.

All that said, I don't know if IF is what's really working or if it's a matter of my diet being VERY clean and keeping carbs/cals low and cycling them on WO/non-WO days.  Maybe I'd be doing just as well with 6 small meals a day with same food spread differently.  Maybe...but this is working for me so I'm sticking with it for a while longer.  It's also nice to be able to eat a good sized meal and feel pretty good and full during a couple of meals rather than wanting for more after every meal.  My body has adjusted to the eating window and I only have brief periods of hunger (mid-morning and sometimes late evening).  Those periods pass rather quickly.  I do need to keep an eye on my caffeine intake.  It suppresses my appetite and fills me up, but not good for me.  My IF protocol has moved from 16/8 (16-hour fast/8-hour eating window) to more like 18/6 this week.  

The question I need to address in the next couple of weeks is how much longer I cut.  If I continue to cut, I'll lose muscle.  The re-feed last week in Williamsburg was great and it tells me I can do that as a break and get back down quickly.  I was afraid the 12 pounds I put on would take me several weeks to take off.  I think I'll plan on 2 more weeks of IF and strict/clean diet, see where I am and then another re-feed.  I'm planning on going to PA on August 17 which is almost 3 weeks away.  That might be a good time for a re-feed.

Up this week is similar to this past week with hopefully an extra run or two and/or maybe some more doubles with walking.  My WO schedule would have me doing 2 back/shoulder/bi workouts and 1 chest/tri WO, but I feel like my chest is lagging behind back, so I might do same split as this week (2 chest/tri WO's).  OR, I've been toying with the idea of doing a week or two of full upper body WO's.  Just stick to core exercises and see how that goes for a change of pace and a bit of shock to the body.  I guess I'll decide tomorrow morning.

I've babbled on far too long and it's getting late.  Goodnight Mom! :)  Love you.

Sat 7/28 - Cardio

Cardio:

• Ran 5 miles in 36:33 (9:38,9:07,9:19,9:29,8:53), 9:18 pace, c/d 22 min walk.  Left knee sore in beginning, started feeling better, then started to bother me again last 1.5 miles. 

Felt good to get a run in even though it wasn't a great one.

Nutrition:
I took the boys to the Gun Show at the Dulles Expo today.  Ran in the morning and didn't eat until after the gun show at almost 3PM.  Got 3 "meals" in between 3PM and 7:30PM.  I'll admit it took some commitment.  I took food with me in a cooler to the Expo so when we stopped at Chick Filet for the boys to eat I pulled out my can of tuna I'd mixed up with hot peppers and at some jerky too.  I also ate part of a grilled chicken salad w/ no dressing.  No one said it would be easy. 
A good low carb/cal day.  Gives me a little more room for tomorrow with 1,900 cals to stay under weekly goal of 10,500.

Sat	Time	Item	Size	Prot	Carb	Fat	Cal
7/28/2012	6AM	BCAA	8g
	10AM	5 mile run, 22 min walk (68 min total)
	11AM	BCAA	5g
	2:45PM	Tuna (7oz can)	5.5oz	44	0	2	193
	2:45PM	Jerkey	56g	23	3	2	120
	2:45PM	Chicken	3oz	21	0	0.8	90
	5:30PM	Tuna (7oz can)	5.5oz	44	0	1.7	192.5
	5:30PM	Broccoli	4oz	2.8	8	0	40
	5:30PM	Carrots	2oz	0.6	5.4	0	24
	7:30PM	Whey Protein W2	1 scoop	25	3	3	140
	7:30PM	Casein Shake C2	1 scoop	24	3	1	130
	All Day	Almonds	.5oz	3	3	8	83
		TOTALS:	Grams	187	25	18	1,012
			Calories	749.6	102	158	1,009
			Percent	74%	10%	16%	100%

Fri 7/27 - Chest/Tri's

Well, I did it.  In the last 4 days in Williamsburg I put on 12 pounds.  In 4 days back I dropped 11.2.  I weighed 166.8 this morning.  I was at 178 on Sunday.  Abdomen veins are coming back out.  This is the easy visual sign telling me how lean I am.  When they aren't showing, I know I've put on a few.  When they are coming out, I know I'm really leaning out.  If I can be strict for another couple of weeks I think I can get to about 160#'s and close to single digit body fat %.

No cardio today.  Hoping to be able to run tomorrow morning.  No cardio has meant my diet has needed to be pretty darn strict.

Workout:

• (210#Guillotine/Core)5, Reps 6,5,5,5,4
• (50#Bench8/Core5)8
• (Dips/30#InclineFlys)4, Dips 10,8,6,6
• (50#OverheadTriExtensions/CableCross)4
• (130#TriPushdown4/SeatedDips2/Kickbacks2)4
• (120#PeckDeck)2

64 mins
Chest: 23
Tri's: 16
Core: 10
Total: 49 sets

Comments: Great chest/tri WO!  Chests better than tri's today.  I know it seems like I normally write that my WO's are great, or really good, or excellent, etc.  That's simply because that's the honest truth in how I feel about them.  I admit when they aren't great, or when I'm ducking an exercise, or something particular wasn't good.  I guess eating well, taking care of myself, etc., has just lent itself to having really good WO's for a while.  I'm getting stronger, by evidence of my lifts and getting leaner and "bigger".  It's a lot of work, and not easy, but the plan is working and I'm really happy about that.

Bumped up weight on guillotine, which is good.  Reps were 6,5,5,5,4.  Two warmup sets.  First 2 sets no assistance, 3rd set just a touch of help on last rep, 4th set help on last rep, 5th set help on 4th rep.  Done.  Core was lying leg raises to hip thrust with reps of 25,25,25,20,20.  Abs really got a WO from those.

Was going to do incline dumbbells, but decided to do flat bench dumbbells.  Decided to do sets until I could only get 5 reps.  Ended up doing 8 sets (8,7,6,6,6,6,5,5).  I could have done more reps through sets 4-5, but did them nice and slow on the negative.  Really controlled them slowly on all sets to make it harder.  Definitely getting stronger.  If I hadn't done "heavy" bench/guillotine first this would have been a lot of reps/sets until I got to where I could only do 5.  Getting stronger.  Need heavier dumbbells in this gym. Core was torture twists.  Haven't been doing these because don't want to increase size of obliques.

Dips were 10,8,6,6. Hit wall pretty hard on these due to all the chest (&tri work already done).  Incline flys were just OK. Had to drop to 25's after first set because I only got 8 reps and knew it was going to be downhill fast from there.

Overhead tri extensions were good.  Did drop sets to 25's on last 2 sets.  Cable crossovers were really good today for whatever reason.  Really felt them in the chest.

Tri pushdowns were really good.  Started at my normal 110#'s and it felt light so I bumped up the weight to 130#s.  More than I've ever done and reps were still good.  This could have been in part to not being able to really push dips.  Chest was more dead during dips than tri's were.  I did 2 sets of seated dips as superset.  Really liked these and will do them again.  Tri's were already really baked, so couldn't do a lot of them.  2 sets of kickbacks, one of them a drop set from 15s to 10s and tri's are done.

Threw in 2 sets of peck deck at end.  Wouldn't have mentioned them but sometimes I'll do a set or two of them at the end of chest WO and use 90-100#'s to burn out chest.  Started that today with 90's and it was way too light.  Bumped up to 120's and pushed out reps fairly easily.  Getting stronger.

Nutrition:
Med carb day, but still strict and right where I wanted to be ~1,700 cals, and just about a 500 swing from yesterday.  I had my 2nd meal later than I wanted, which put me eating my last meal at 9PM.  Would have rather this been at 7-7:30 and wasn't really "hungry" for the last meal, but needed to eat some more after a hard WO today.

This weekend is going to be tough to keep weekly calories at 10,500.  10,500 = ideal weight X 10 cals/#.  (150lbs X 10cals) = 1,500 cals.  1,500cals X 7days =  10,500.  I'm only left with about 3,000 cals for the weekend, so no splurging allowed.
General target/goal has been and will be:

Day	Cals	Type	WO
Mon	1,700	Med Carb	Gym
Tue	1,200	Low Carb	Cardio
Wed	1,700	Med Carb	Gym
Thu	1,200	Low Carb	Cardio
Fri	1,700	Med Carb	Gym
Sat	1,700	Med Carb	Cardio
Sun	1,200	Low Carb	Cardio/Rest
Total:	10,400

Daily:

Fri	Time	Item	Size	Prot	Carb	Fat	Cal
7/27/2012	12:30PM	BLOX	10g
	12:30PM	WO - Chest/Tri's
	2:30PM	Creatine	5g
	2:30PM	Whey Shake W1	1 scoop	30	4	1	140
	2:30PM	Brown Rice	5oz	3	33	1	156
	2:30PM	Tuna (7oz can)	5.5oz	44	0	2	193
	2:30PM	Broccoli	4oz	3	8	0	40
	2:30PM	Sweet Potato	4.5oz	3	27	0	117
	7PM	Beans	2oz	3	8	0	46
	7PM	Chicken	8oz	56	0	2	240
	7PM	Salad	12oz	7	16	0	86
	7:45PM	Banana	1 Xsmall	1	19	0	72
	7:45PM	Oatmeal	1/4cup	3	14	2	75
	9PM	Apple	1 med	0	25	0	95
	9PM	Tuna (7oz can)	5.5oz	44	0	2	193
	9PM	Casein Shake C1	1 scoop	25	11	1.5	160
	All Day	Almonds	.5oz	3	3	8	83
		TOTALS:	Grams	224	167	19	1,694
			Calories	896	669	169	1,734
			Percent	52%	39%	10%	100%

Thu 7/26 - Cardio

Saw the doc today.  Nothing immediately found wrong with shoulder, knee or feet.  Follow up appointment on Monday with PT.  Should have been a run today, but two walks had to be it to try to rest the knee.  Should probably just do complete rest, but need to do something active more for the mind than the body.

Cardio:

• Walked 40 mins in the AM before work.
• Walked 30 mins at lunch at work before breaking fast.

Nutrition:
Low carb day and weight is dropping quickly...maybe too quickly.  Calories a little higher than wanted today, but only by about 50-100, so not bad.  But today was only a 400 cal swing and I want that to be 500-600 (from low carb to med carb days).  Busy day with lots of driving around after work, so had to rely on shakes for dinner.  Not nearly as satisfying as a meal.  It's now 10PM and I'm getting hungry.  Going to go to bed "early" and sleep through the hunger.  On a down note, I've become a caffeine junkie.  Lots of iced coffee and diet mountain dew's.  Helps suppress appetite, but not good for me.  Gotta curb that.

Thu	Time	Item	Size	Prot	Carb	Fat	Cal
7/26/2012	6:30AM	Fast
	7:30AM	BCAA	5g
	8AM	40 min walk.
	Noon	30 min walk
	1PM	Whey Shake	1 scoop	30	4	1	140
	1PM	Creatine	5g
	1PM	Chicken	8oz	56	0	2	240
	1PM	Salad	12oz	7	16	0	86
	3PM	Jerkey	1oz	10	0	1	50
	4:30PM	Tuna (7oz can)	5.5oz	44	0	2	193
	4:30PM	Brown Rice	2oz	1	13	1	63
	4:30PM	Broccoli	4oz	2.8	8	0	40
	4:30PM	Carrots	2oz	0.6	5.4	0	24
	8PM	Whey Shake W2	1 scoop	25	3	3	140
	8PM	Casein Shake	1 scoop	24	3	1	130
	All Day	Almonds	1oz	6	6	15	165
		TOTALS:	Grams	206	59	25	1,270
			Calories	824.7	234	226	1,285
			Percent	64%	18%	18%	100%

Wed 7/25 - Back/Shoulders/Bi's

No cardio again today.  Knees are too iffy to work them every day, especially the left one.  Left shoulder is giving me a hard time too.  I have a doc appt tomorrow at 2PM to have them (and my feet) looked at.  I'm falling apart! ;)

Workout:

• (210#RevGripPulldown/50#Military/CChair)4, Good pulldowns 
• (150#CloseGripPulldown/120#Military/Core)4
• (120#SeatedRows/80#Curls)4, Drop sets on rows and curls.
• (Lateral/Rear/Front Delts)3
• (130#45DegreeLatPulldowns/25#Curls)3
• (50#Shrugs)3

67 mins
Back: 15
Shoulders: 20
Bi's: 7
Core: 8
Total: 50

Comments:
Good reverse grip pulldowns with a pretty heavy weight for me.  Reps were about 8,7,6,6. Military was good and did drop sets to 25#s the last set.  Left shoulder bothering me, and the Captain Chair bothers it, so I did one set of hanging leg raises, but then grip is dead when going back to pulldowns, so went back to chair and on last set said "F-it" after 12 reps shoulder hurt so bad.  Not good.

Dropped weight for close grip pulldowns and made sure to use good form and really squeeze on contraction.  In other words, more controlled and slower than the heavier reverse grip pulldowns.  Did military on the press machine.  I was going to do more sets of dumbbells, but left shoulder really bothering me so switched to the machine hoping it would be less stress on the shoulder.  Core was lying leg raises to hip thrust.

Seated rows were good and controlled also and concentrated on squeezing shoulder blades together on contraction. Did double drop set on last set.  Curls were great and brutal. I did 4 sets of 80#s.  Last two sets I did double drop sets of 80/60/40 all to failure.  Bi's were knots (in a good way) when contracted. Yowza!

Lateral/Rear/Front delts were good, but only did 3 sets.  My shoulders were really beat.  I did a lot of military, but less than last week so not sure what was up there.  Good triple set regardless.

I did 45 degree pull downs again today and think I'm getting the hang of them.  I went heavier than last time and they felt pretty good.  Curls were tough here after the drop sets with straight bar above.

Had planned on the bent over row/shrugs combination I liked, but WO was already longer than I wanted and I could feel my back was beat, so I just did 3 sets of shrugs.  Last set I dropped to 40's and did shrug further back rather than straight up. Last two sets I could barely hold the left dumbbell any longer.  Was going to get my straps (had them with me), but decided not to mess with them and called it a day.

Really good workout.  I didn't do pullups and wanted to work in regular lat pulldowns, but wasn't sure where to fit them in and I wanted to do all the other back exercises I did.  Not sure why I'm shying away from pullups other than the fact that they are tough, but they've been pretty good lately.  <EXCUSE ALERT: I don't want my back to get too wide.  I'd rather it get thick, so I'm focusing on other back exercises.>  Didn't even get bent over rows in.  This workout is just getting too long.  I've either got to split it up or just hope I'm doing enough back work and rotate exercises.  I shouldn't worry so much because I feel like my back has progressed more than my chest (which needs work).


Nutrition:
Really solid nutrition day.  Right where I wanted it to be macro-wise, and feeding window was 2:30PM-7PM.  Perfect!  I get a little hungry in the morning and late at night, but not too bad.  I need to do a post about Intermittent Fasting.  I'm really doing well on it.  I've dropped 8 of the 11-12 pounds I put on last week already.  Tomorrow will be just about like Tuesday - low carbs, 1,100-1,200 cals.  Want to get the belly veins back!

Wed	Time	Item	Size	Prot	Carb	Fat	Cal
7/25/2012	12:30PM	BLOX	10g
	12:30PM	WO - Chest/Tri's
	2:30PM	Creatine	5g
	2:30PM	Whey Shake W2	1 scoop	25	3	3	140
	2:30PM	Brown Rice	5oz	3	33	1	156
	2:30PM	Tuna (7oz can)	5.5oz	44	0	2	193
	2:30PM	Broccoli	4oz	2.8	8	0	40
	2:30PM	Banana	1 small	1.3	27	0	105
	5PM	Apple	1 med	0	25	0	95
	5PM	Sweet Potato	4.5oz	2.7	26.6	0	117
	5PM	Casein Shake C1	1 scoop	25	11	1.5	160
	5PM	Whey Shake W1	1 scoop	28	4	1	140
	7PM	Lite Mayo	1tbs	0	1	3.5	35
	7PM	Tuna (7oz can)	5.5oz	44	0	2	193
	7PM	Casein Shake C2	1 scoop	24	3	1	130
	7PM	Blue Tortilla Chips	5Chips	0.5	5	1	32
	7PM	Banana	1 Xsmall	0.9	18.5	0.3	72
	All Day	Almonds	.5oz	3	3	8	83
		TOTALS:	Grams	204	168	23	1,690
			Calories	817	673	210	1,700
			Percent	48%	40%	12%	100%

Tue 7/24 - Cardio

This adventure started exactly 1 year ago today.  Here's something I posted on FB today.

A year ago I made a decision. That decision led to a positive change, which, in turn led to more decisions and more change. Little by little - small decisions, small changes. Things didn't happen overnight and there were setbacks and mistakes, but the cumulative effect was positive and significant.

Make a change today. Keep a positive attitude. Life is short and precious and there are no promises for tomorrow. Life is what we make it. Today, life is good and I feel blessed.

Cardio:

• 1 mile w/u walk
• 8 X 2 min hill repeats (2 min up, ~3min walk down)
• 1.75 mile c/d run
• 20 min c/d walk 
• 91 mins total

Interesting cardio WO.  I liked it a lot as a change of pace.  Knees hurting, so I didn't want to fun 5-7 miles, but wanted a decent cardio WO.  This did the job.  Should have run for 20+ mins after the hills, but this was good.  Will do something like this again soon.  Need to see a doc about knees and feet before they get out of control.

Nutrition:
Good low carb day today with narrow feed window.  I wonder if I'm getting enough fat.  I don't know if you can really have too little fat in the diet, but I've been in the teens for % of total calories for a while.  Need to research that.  I could cut some protein and carbs and add some fat and keep total cals about the same if research proves that macro split better.  Dunno...

Tue	Time	Item	Size	Prot	Carb	Fat	Cal
7/24/2012	6:30AM	Fast
	7:30AM	BCAA	10g
	10AM	Walk 1, 8Xhill, ran 1.5, walk 1. 91 mins
	1:30PM	Whey Shake	1 scoop	30	4	1	140
	1:30PM	Creatine	5g
	1:30PM	Chicken	7oz	49	0	1.8	210
	1:30PM	Salad	12oz	7	16	0	86
	3PM	Carrots	2oz	1	5	0	24
	5PM	Tuna (7oz can)	5.5oz	44	0	2	193
	7PM	Lite Mayo	1tbs	0	1	4	35
	7PM	Tuna (7oz can)	5.5oz	44	0	2	193
	7PM	Casein Shake	1 scoop	24	3	1	130
	11PM	BCAA	5g
	All Day	Almonds	1oz	6	6	15	165
		TOTALS:	Grams	204	35	26	1,175
			Calories	816.5	141	230	1,188
			Percent	69%	12%	19%	100%

 

Mon 7/23 - Chest/Tri's

I have some catching up to do on posting WO's for the last week while I was away with my kids in Williamsburg.  Quick summary on the week was I had 3 really good WO's, some good runs including a 9+ miler and my diet was good the first part of the week.  I put on about 10 pounds the last 4 days of the trip.  This obviously isn't all fat.  Most of it is water weight from all the carbs and muscles filling back up with glycogen from a couple days re-feeding.  Anyway, on to today's WO:

Workout:

• (50#Incline/Core)10, 10 sets of incline is brutal.  Reps were 15,8,7,7,6,6,6,6,6,5. 
• (180#Bench/Crunches)5, reps were 8,7,6,5,5
• (OverheadTriExt/30#InclineFlys)4
• (90#Pushdowns/Kickbacks)4
• (90#PeckDeck)2

61 mins
Chest: 21
Tri's: 12
Core: 15
Total: 48 sets

Comments:
Holy shit, was that a good chest workout.  REALLY HARD!  I normally do 15-18 sets of chest.  I found out today that doing that is a hell of a lot different than doing 15 sets of bench (incline & flat) before moving to chest "shaping" movements (e.g flys, etc.).  I'll do this type of WO again, but man it was pretty brutal. It will be interesting to see how much I feel it in my chest the next 2 days. 

Ten sets of incline was really good and was able to keep going with 50's.  Reps were 15,8,7,7,6,6,6,6,6,5. The huge drop off from set 1-2 did surprise me.  First set I really pushed through the last 2-3 reps, so set #1 was a real hard working set (I did a warmup set).  I think after 8 sets of incline my form suffered and I probably wasn't getting as much out of them, so I'll keep that in mind next time I do this type WO.  Core was hanging leg raises (6sets) and lying leg raises to hip thrust (4sets).

Bench was good, but had to go comparatively light after incline.  Every set the first 2-3 reps felt really easy, but then all of a sudden it would just feel like a thousand pounds.  Reps were 8,7,6,5,5 Crunches weren't great.  Needed something better there, or just shorter rest time (but chest needed some rest!).  Tri's were already on fire and I hadn't done a "tri exercise" yet.

Normally I'd do dips here, but decided no freaking way today.  Plus, my left shoulder has been bothering me, so decided for both reasons to skip dips.  Overhead tri extensions were good.  Three of the four sets were drop sets to 25#s.  30# incline flys were really hard.  Had to drop to 25's and then 20's.  Chest is done. Tri's had a huge pump today.  Must be the combination of lots of carbs/glycogen in the muscles and heavy bench work.

Tri pushdowns were good, but couldn't go as heavy as normal.  Kickbacks were good and tri's on fire here.

Did 2 sets of peck deck before calling it a day.  Really good workout.

Nutrition:
As I said above, the diet for first part of last week was really clean.  I weighed in at 165#'s on Wednesday.  By Saturday/Sunday, I was over 175#'s.  I continued with IF, but really ate a LOT of carbs at night.  I just couldn't get enough.  BOWLS of cereal; Cracklin' Oat Bran is awesome! Froyo, fruit, etc.  It was a good re-feed after being real strict for a while.  The veins in my abs were really showing Mon-Wed, which is kind of cool, but really not all that attractive.  I want them back though, so back to strict diet for a while.
Today was a med carb day, and I kept my eating window narrow (2:30-7:30).  As I write this at 10:30, I sure could go for a bowl of Cracklin Oat Bran :), but that will pass.  Knees are bothering me, so I didn't walk today.  Hopefully a run tomorrow and around 1,100 calories, low carbs.

Mon	Time	Item	Size	Prot	Carb	Fat	Cal
7/23/2012	12:30PM	BLOX	10g
	12:30PM	WO - Chest/Tri's
	2:30PM	Creatine	5g
	2:30PM	Whey Shake	1 scoop	30	4	1	140
	3PM	Brown Rice	5oz	3	33	1	156
	3PM	Tuna (7oz can)	5.5oz	44	0	2	193
	3PM	Broccoli/Snap Peas	5oz	3.5	10	0	50
	3PM	Apple	1 med	0	25	0	95
	5PM	Sweet Potato	4.5oz	2.7	26.6	0	117
	5PM	Casein Shake C2	1 scoop	24	3	1	130
	7:30PM	Egg Whites	5	18	1	0	85
	7:30PM	Whole Egg	1	6.3	0.6	5.3	78
	7:30PM	Salmon	2oz	13	0	2.5	70
	7:30PM	Cracklin Oat Bran	75grams	6	52.5	11	300
	7:30PM	Milk	1cup	9	13	0	90
	7:30PM	Casein Shake C1	1 scoop	25	11	1.5	160
	All Day	Almonds	.5oz	3	3	8	83
		TOTALS:	Grams	188	183	32	1,746
			Calories	751	731	290	1,771
			Percent	42%	41%	16%	100%

Mon 7/16 - Back/Shoulders/Bi's

Workout:

• (Pullups/Military/CaptChair4)3, 10,10, 7
• (195CloseLatPulldown/50#Military)3
• (120#SeatedRows/80#Curls/Core)4
• (Lateral/Rear/Front Delts)3
• (45DegreeLatPulls5/HammerCurls3/Shrugs3)
• (150#ReverseGripPulldown3/IsoCurls2)

68 mins
Back: 18
Shoulders: 18
Bi's: 9
Core: 8
Total: 53 sets

Comments:
Pullups were good today.  Reps were 10,10,7.  I wasn't going to do pullups today, just warm up the back with a set of them, but the first set felt good so I did 3.  I've never gotten 10 on my second set.  This is good! Military was really good.  Did 3 sets of 50#s, last set drop set to 25#s. These felt like they were working so well, I did them again in next set of exercises.

I started with 195#s on pulldowns and wanted to go heaver, but couldn't after pullups. Last set did a drop set to 150#s.  These 3 sets of military were 45#'s with drop sets to 20/25#s.  Shoulders on fire.  I decided to do 6 sets of dumbbell military with 5 being drop sets instead of doing some of these and some sets of shoulder press on the military machine.  This REALLY worked the shoulders.  Great work, but I don't know if I can (or want to) do it every shoulder workout.

Seated rows were pretty good.  Really tried to set the shoulders and then squeeze.  Curls were tough today after already doing 3 back exercises, but they felt good.  Did a drop set to 50#s on last set which really burned.  Core was leg lifts to hip thrust to ceiling. 25-20 reps each of 4 sets.

Lateral/Rear/Front delt combo was really hard today after all the military.  I only did 3 sets where I normally do 4.  Shoulders are done.

110# 45 degree lat pulls.  Did 5 sets of these.  I saw this back exercise on a site I was reading and tried it today. It was a little awkward at first, but think I got the hang of it enough to feel it really working my back.  I liked it enough to do it again, but I did it at the expense of bent over rows.  Struggled with hammer curls.  I hadn't even done many bi's yet, but they were beat.  Was planning on 4 sets of this superset, but bi's and shoulders were pretty much done so only did 3 of them and did 5 of the pull downs.  After 3rd set of shrugs I thought about  a 4th, but nope.  Not happening.

At this point I think I was done, but really wanted to have done reverse grip pulldowns so thought I'd just do 1 set.  Ended up doing 3 and threw in 2 sets of 20# isolation curls during rest period.  Not sure how effective these 2 exercises were, because I was SPENT.

Great workout!  I changed it up a bit from what I had planned by throwing in pullups which kind of skewed some other things around, but that's OK.  Really good back and shoulder work.  6 sets of military, with 5 of them being drop sets was brutal.  Loved it.

Nutrition:
Travel with kids to Williamsburg for the week this evening made eating schedule a little difficult.  Took a plain chicken breast and apple to eat for dinner in the car.  Then kind of chowed down on yogurt, oatmeal and smoked salmon later than I would have liked.  Other than that, good day.  I was 167.0#s this morning and veins are really starting to show on side and lower abdomen, shoulders and bi's, lats and I think even in the back a little bit. Leaning out well, but still work to do.  Diet has been really clean and I really think IF is helping.

Mon	Time	Item	Size	Prot	Carb	Fat	Cal
7/16/2012	11AM	BLOX	10g
	11:15AM	WO - Back/Shoulders/Bi's
	1PM	BLOX	5g
	1:30PM	Creatine	5g
	1:30PM	Whey Shake	1 scoop	30	4	1	140
	2:30PM	Brown Rice	5oz	3	33	1	156
	2:30PM	Tuna (7oz can)	5.5oz	44	0	2	193
	2:30PM	Broccoli/Snap Peas	5oz	3.5	10	0	50
	3PM	Apple	1 med	0	25	0	95
	5PM	Sweet Potato	6oz	3.6	35.4	0	156
	7:30PM	Chicken	4.7oz	32.9	0	1.2	141
	7:30PM	Apple	1 med	0	25	0	95
	9PM	Casein Shake C1	1 scoop	25	11	1.5	160
	10PM	Oatmeal	1/4cup	3	14	1.5	75
	10PM	Chobani Yogurt	6oz	18	7	0	100
	10PM	Blueberries	2oz	0	8	0	32
	10PM	Salmon	1oz	13	0	2.5	70
	10:30PM	Casein Shake C2	1 scoop	24	3	1	130
	All Day	Almonds	.5oz	3	3	8	83
		TOTALS:	Grams	203	179	19	1,675
			Calories	813	714	172	1,698
			Percent	48%	42%	10%	100%