Sat 7/14 - Cardio

Cardio:

• 67 min walk at 1PM while fasted.  Broke fast at 2:30 after walk.  When possible, I'm going to try to continue walking toward the end of my fast period.  Quads still pretty sore.  I didn't mention that I did quad extensions (3 sets of 20-25 reps to failure) on Thursday after my walk at work.  The second day is always the worst soreness.  Gave the left knee another day's rest (and the quads).  Hoping to run tomorrow.

Nutrition:
Fairly low carb day today and pretty boring, yet effective meals.  I wanted to eat my last "meal" earlier than 10:30PM, but I didn't get home until 10:15.  I was going to skip it all together, but last meal before that was 6:30 and didn't want to go that long w/o food.  Much the same for tomorrow, but going to try to finish last meal earlier and maybe even lower carbs by 10-15g by cutting out the 2nd whopping 2oz serving of brown rice.

Sat	Time	Item	Size	Prot	Carb	Fat	Cal
7/14/2012	6:30AM	Fast
	1PM	Walked for 67 mins
	2:30PM	Creatine	5g
	2:30PM	Whey Shake	1 scoop	30	4	1	140
	2:30PM	Tuna (7oz can)	5.5oz	44	0	2	193
	2:30PM	Broccoli/Snap Peas	5oz	4	10	0	50
	2:30PM	Brown Rice	2oz	1	13	1	63
	6:30PM	Brown Rice	2oz	1	13	1	63
	6:30PM	Chicken	5oz	38	0	5	205
	6:30PM	Broccoli/Beans	5oz	4	10	0	50
	6:30PM	Chobani Yogurt	6oz	18	7	0	100
	10:30PM	Cottage Cheese	1/2cup	14	5	1	90
	10:30PM	Carrots	2oz	1	5	0	24
	10:30PM	Casein Shake	1 scoop	24	3	1	130
	All Day	Almonds	1oz	6	6	15	165
		TOTALS:	Grams	184	77	26	1,272
			Calories	734.4	308	231	1,273
			Percent	58%	24%	18%	100%

Fri 7/13 - Chest/Tri's

No morning cardio again.  I'm missing this, whether it be a run or a walk.  Work is super busy, and left knee still bothering me, so decided it would be best not to walk this morning and hope to get a run in tomorrow morning.

Workout:

• (195#Guillotine/HangingLegRaises)5, Guillotine reps were 8,6,5,6,5
• (50#Bench/Core)4, Bench also felt really good. Reps were 8,7,7,6
• (Dips/30#InclineFlys)4, Dips were good - 12,8,7,6
• (50#OverheadTriExtensions4/CableCross2/100#PeckDeck2). Last 2 sets of tri extensions were drop sets
• (110#TriPushdowns/Kickbacks)4

61mins
Chest: 17
Tri's: 16
Core: 9
Total:  42 sets

Comments:
Another great WO today! I'm not finding any lack of energy from IF.  Working out fasted hasn't been a problem at all and my workouts have not suffered a bit as I thought they might.  If anything, they've been better.  This might be due to taking some BCAA's pre-WO, or maybe it just aligns with what others find their bodies doing on IF after a short adjustment period.  Regardless of what it is, my WO's have been great.

Guillotine was really good today.  Reps were 8,6,5,6,5.  If I can get reps like that or higher again I'll bump up the weight.  Last two sets were excellent. REALLY felt these last 2 sets deep in my chest like I haven't before (hope that was good and I wasn't close to pulling/tearing anything).  I don't think I've done it the last 2 chest workouts because I was working out in different gyms (Ironbound and Fitness First) and didn't do them, or at least not on a similar machine.  Hanging leg raises were OK.  These were better at Fitness First with using those arm loops. Sometimes hard to tell if these are really working lower abs or hip flexors.  Probably both, but that's not the intent. Did sets of 20,20,15,15,15

Bench was really good as well.  Reps with 50#'s of 8,7,7,6.  Last time I did this WO, I had to drop to 45#'s, so this is really good. Considered doing a 5th set, but I think chest was well worked already.  Core was leg raises/reverse crunch/hip thrust to ceiling.  These were hard.  Did sets of 20,20,20,15.

Dips were good with reps of 12,8,7,6.  I really seem to hit a wall after repping out the first set fairly easily (though still going to failure).  Incline flys felt really good today too. Reps were right about the same as dips, with first set being "easy".  I was thinking about bumping up for next sets, but just like last WO, the starting weight turned out to be more than enough.

Overhead tri extensions were good as always.  Did drop sets to 25#'s the last 2 sets. Felt great, tri's REALLY starting to feel it. Cable crossovers and peck deck felt good too (though I think I normally do 110#s). I'm liking doing 2&2 of these rather than just 4 of one or the other.  I was considering doing skull crushers today by putting the bench in the pully setup and doing them with a pully because my gym doesn't have free weights besides barbells, but I was pressed for time and that would have taken some setup and experimentation.  Want to do that soon though.

Tri pushdowns were good.  First set of 110#s felt good and did 12 or 13 reps, but tri's hit a wall after that and I got about 7-8 the last 3 sets. I did 2 sets of tri pully extensions and 2 sets of kickbacks.  When I do tri isoated exercises on one arm, my left arm does better/more reps.  I've noticed this before, but really noticed it today.  I'm assuming this means that while I'm doing bench/dips/overhead extensions that
my right tri is pushing more of the weight than my left.  Not sure what to do about that, other than do more reps with my left when I do isolation movements like I did today.

Cardio:

• Walked in evening at 8:30.  Just wanted to stretch the legs and feeling too lazy not doing cardio even though I had a great WO today.  Glad I got out.  It was a nice evening for a walk.

Nutrition:

Fri	Time	Item	Size	Prot	Carb	Fat	Cal
7/13/2012	9:45AM	BLOX	5g	5			20
	10AM	WO - Chest/Tri's
	11AM	BLOX	5g	5			20
	Noon	Creatine	5g
	Noon	Whey Shake	1 scoop	30	4	1	140
	1:30PM	Brown Rice	5oz	3	33	1	156
	1:30PM	Tuna (7oz can)	5.5oz	44	0	2	193
	1:30PM	Broccoli/Snap Peas	5oz	3.5	10	0	50
	1:30PM	Apple	1 med	0	25	0	95
	4PM	Sweet Potato	6oz	3.6	35.4	0	156
	4PM	Chobani Yogurt	6oz	18	7	0	100
	5PM	Casein Shake T1	1 scoop	25	11	1.5	160
	7PM	Salad	12oz	6.514	15.9	0	85.714
	7PM	Chicken	6oz	42	0	1.5	180
	7PM	Beans	2oz	3	8.2	0.4	46
	7PM	Cottage Cheese	1/2cup	14	5	1	90
	9:15PM	Oatmeal	1/4cup	3	14	1.5	75
	9:15PM	Casein Shake T2	1 scoop	24	3	1	130
	All Day	Almonds	1oz	6	6	15	165
		TOTALS:	Grams	236	178	26	1,861
			Calories	943	711	232	1,886
			Percent	50%	38%	12%	100%

Thu 7/12 - Cardio

• Walked for 60 mins at work.  Walked outside and did last 15-20 mins on treadmill inside at 9.5% incline 3.5 speed.

Decided to give my knee  another day rest, so I didn't run today and just took stuff to work to walk at lunch at end of fast.

Nutrition:
Low carb day.  Feeding window from 2PM-9:30PM.

7/12/2012	6:30AM	Fast
	7:30AM	BCAA	5g
	Noon	Walked for 60 mins
	2PM	Creatine	5g
	2PM	Whey Shake	1 scoop	30	4	1	140
	2PM	Tuna (Large Can)	9oz	72	0	2.7	315
	2PM	Broccoli/Snap Peas	5oz	4	10	0	50
	3:30PM	Jerky	1vension	6	2	0	35
	4:45PM	Chobani Yogurt	6oz	18	7	0	100
	4:45PM	Casein Shake	1 scoop	24	3	1	130
	7PM	Chicken	5oz	38	0	5	205
	7PM	Salad	12oz	7	16	0	86
	7PM	Cottage Cheese	1/2cup	14	5	1	90
	7PM	Carrots	2oz	1	5	0	24
	9:30PM	Casein Shake	1 scoop	24	3	1	130
	All Day	Almonds	.5oz	6	6	15	165
		TOTALS:	Grams	242	61	27	1,470
			Calories	968.5	245	240	1,454
			Percent	67%	17%	17%	100%

Wed 7/11 - Back/Shoulders/Bi's

A lot going on at work today, so I went into work real early to get a few things done and get my WO in before the day got out of hand.  No cardio this morning because of that.  Probably a good thing to give the knee a rest day anyway.

Workout:

• (210#CloseLatPulldown/50#Military)4
• (120#SeatedRow/120#MilPress/80#Curl)4
• (15#RearDelt/LateralDelt/25#FrontDelt)4
• (150#RevGripPullown/25#HammerCurls)2
• (135#LatPulldown/20#HammerCurls)2
• (40#BentOverRows/40#Shrugs)4

60mins
Back: 16
Shoulders: 24
Bi's: 8
Core: 0
Total: 48 sets

 WOW, great workout today! Warmed up with 2 sets of lat pulldowns. Even without pullups, this may have been my best back/shoulder workout yet.  For whatever reason, I could really feel my back muscles fatigue and work. Normally, my back does fail (obviously), but it felt different in a really good way today.

Close grip lat pulldowns were really good.  I like doing these heavy.  I used straps today and liked them, but wasted time messing with them until I got comfortable with them.  Did a good drop set on last set of pulldowns. I got a really good burn from military dumbbells today even with low reps (5-8).  I was going to do drop sets on military, but didn't feel I needed it after the burn I was already getting.  This is a tough superset with both being heavy and working a lot of muscles.

I did seated rows with the rope and really squeezed shoulders together.  Did double drop set on rows to 90#s & 60#s - really feeling a pump in my back for the first time.  Did straight bar curls with pully & did drop set to 50#s last set.  This really works bi's differently than dumbbell curls and I liked it a lot. Tough superset.

I switched up the order again on shoulders, starting with rear delts and will keep doing that to hit different heads first.  Brutal as always.

Started reverse grip pulldowns and back REALLY feeling it.  Was planning on doing 4 sets of this, but switched it up to 2&2 (regular pulldowns) because 2 was enough.  I would've had to drop the weight too much to get any reps with more sets.  Bi's are struggling with 25#s hammer curls (good thing).

Did 2 sets of lat pulldowns with a double drop set to 105#s & 90#s. Dropped to 20#'s on curls.  Bi's were fried.

Did bent over rows with dumbells and used straps.  Good thing because forearms and grip dead with this combo. Couldn't have held the weight during last reps of shrugs otherwise. I liked these rows and this combination. Was always kind of looking for what to superset with shrugs and I may have found it.

Nutrition:
About right on target.  Problem is, I've been right about on target for a while and weight has basically remained the same.  It means one of or a combination of a couple of things:

• I've plateaued and body is fighting dropping further
• I'm miscalculating (under-calculating) calories/macros
• I've over-estimated my maintenance calorie requirements
• I'm adding muscle and still losing fat (ie. looking/feeling leaner, scale just isn't moving)
• My plan just isn't working

Regardless, I'm keeping with IF for a while and sticking to my plan and cycling carbs/calories.  I'm feeling great and eating very healthy (and eating plenty of food).  I'll give it more time before I really restrict calories further.
 

TOTALS:	Grams	207	174	29	1,764
	Calories	830	694	265	1,789
	Percent	46%	39%	15%	100%

Tue 7/10 - Cardio

Cardio:

• 50 mins - Ran 4 in 38:03 (10:14, 9:18, 9:34, 8:52), 9:30 pace, 12 c/d.  Left knee really bothering me.
• Walked for 35 mins at 1:15PM at work before ending fast at 2PM.

Nutrition:
Right where I wanted to be today with nutrition, and stopped eating at 9:30.  So, eating window was 2PM-9:30PM.

TOTALS:	Grams	203	51	23	1,257
	Calories	813.3	204	203	1,220
	Percent	67%	17%	17%	100%

 

Mon 7/9 - Chest/Tri's

Left knee was really bothering me  today so I didn't do any cardio.  I felt "lazy" even though I had a really good WO.

Workout:

• (60#Bench)4
• (InclinePressMachine/TortureTwist)5
• (Dips/30#IncFlys)4, really good dips (12,9,8,8)
• (55#TriExt/CableCross)4
• (CloseGripBench/HangingLegRaise)4
• (TriPushDn4/Core4/KickBack2)

Mins: 76
Chest: 17
Tri's: 18
Core: 13
Total: 48 sets

Comments:
Overall a really good workout, just too long.  That seems to always happen when I'm in a new gym.  Incline press was the best exercise of the day.

Warmed up with 2 sets of barbell bench and then did 4 working sets.  First set was with 55#s, next three sets were with 60#s.  Reps were about 11,7,5,4.
 
I did incline on an Iso Incline Press Machine, similar to this one.  I started with 25# plates and added a 10# plate each set to failure.  The last set I did triple drop set, taking off a 10# plate each set and getting quickly back at it.  Really liked this and it really worked upper chest.  I did Torture Twists today which I haven’t done in a while because I don’t want to over-work the obliques and get that “boxy” waist look.

Dips were really good today with reps of 12,9,7,6.  Incline flys were good too.  I almost bumped up the weight from 30#s, but wanted to make sure I got about 10 reps and turns out 30’s were plenty.

Overhead tri extensions were good and bumped up the weight to 55#s.  Last two sets I did drop sets to 30#’s.  Cable crossovers were good too.  Not sure about the weight, but got 8-10 reps each set.

I did close grip bench on smith machine to take advantage of it. Went to failure on each set and then did a couple of partial reps to really push the tris past failure.  Did hanging leg raises with the loops you put your arms through and did twisting raises rather than straight up. Liked this a lot.  Wish we had these at my gym.

Last I did 4 sets of tri pushdowns @110#s with drop set from 110#s to 70#s on last 2 sets. Core was lying leg raises to reverse crunch/push hips to ceiling on a flat bench.  This really worked core after other core exercises.

Nutrition:
Good nutrition today.  Only posting macros.

TOTALS:	Grams	223	149	21	1,672
	Calories	890	597	186	1,673
	Percent	53%	36%	11%	100%

Sun 7/8 - Cardion & Week Recap

Cardio:

• Morning walk with Mom before getting on the road to head home.  51 minutes with three 1min hill repeats hard at end. Hill repeats felt great.  Ran them pretty hard.  Should do this more often.
• 53 min walk in the afternoon when I got home from Williamsburg while still fasted.  REALLY hot. AC on the fritz.  85 degrees in the house.  Not good.

Week Ending 7/8/12:
AWESOME WEEK!  3 runs, 3WO's, 5 doubles, 2 triples.  16 "workouts" for the week, nutrition was really good, especially for being away from home and at Mom's house with lots of food available.  Went to Ironbound Gym for my 2 workouts while in Williamsburg and they were really good.  Had an incredible workout on Monday.  Great couple of days with family over the 4th to make it an overall incredible week.  Came home to my A/C not working, so that put a slight damper on things.

I continued with core workouts after 2 of my runs this week which were really good and also did some core work in each of my 3 workouts.

This was by far my heaviest load week so far.  This coming week will be lighter in regards to number of doubles.  The plan is to continue Intermittent Fasting (IF), cycling carbs on WO/cardio days and hit my 3 key WO's.  This week will be two chest/tri and one back/shoulder/bi workouts.  My weight was 169#s today and I'm feeling fairly lean.  Veins in my sides and abdomen are coming out.  Nice!

Nutrition notes:  Creatine loading (20g/day) finished up today and I'll continue w/ a maintenance amount of 5g/day for a few weeks.  I'll take it post-workout on WO days, and with first meal on cardio days.  I'll also be using BCAA's during fasting periods in the morning and at night before bed.  Not sold on the BCAA's, but research says it might help.  I'll try it for a couple of weeks and determine if I feel any effects.

Sunday Nutrition:

Sun	Time	Item	Size	Prot	Carb	Fat	Cal
7/8/2012	6:30AM	BCAA
	8:30AM walked 52mins w/ 3 hill repeats
	10:30AM	BCAA	5g
	12:45PM	BCAA	5g
	2:30PM 53 min walk.
	3:30PM	Casein Shake	1 scoop	24	3	1	130
	3:30PM	Creatine	5g
	3:30PM	Chicken	7oz	50	0	2	231
	3:30PM	Snap Peas/Broccoli	4oz	2.8	8	0	40
	3:30PM	Brown Rice	4oz	3	27	1	125
	3:30PM	Blue Tortilla Chips	10Chips	1	10	2	63
	5:15PM	Cottage Cheese	1/2cup	14	5	1	90
	5:15PM	Carrots	2oz	0.6	5.4	0	24
	5:15PM	Jerky	1oz	14	3	1	80
	5:15PM	Creatine	10g
	5:15PM	Grapes	1oz	0	5	0	20
	7PM	Whey Shake	1 scoop	30	4	1	140
	9:30PM	Smoked Salmon	2oz	13	0	2.5	70
	9:30PM	Chobani Yogurt	6oz	18	7	0	100
	9:30PM	Blueberries	1oz	0	4	0	16
	9:30PM	Apple	1 med	0	25	0	95
	10:30PM	Creatine	5g
	Midnight	BCAA	5g
	All Day	Almonds	.5oz	3	3	7.5	82.5
	TOTALS:		Grams	173	109	19	1,307
			Calories	691.6	436	171	1,298
			Percent	53%	34%	13%	100%