Sat & Sun, 9/8 & 9/9 - Weekly Recap

Sat:
Walked 47 mins in the morning.  Ran around with the kids all day.  Hayden and I went to the Air and Space Museum.

Sun:
Walked 45 mins in the afternoon after dropping kids off.  Took a week off running and feet still killing me.  I think I need to see a foot doc to try to get this under control.

I didn't track nutrition Sat or Sun.  Ate a lot of carbs (cereal), took the kids to IHOP Sunday morning, etc.  I weighed 183 Sunday morning.

Week ending 9/9 recap:

 3 WO's, 2 doubles (with walks), 0 runs.  Took the week off running, but that didn't seem to help my feet feel better.  Worked out at Fitness First on Labor Day and had a good WO.  Wednesday's WO was inconsistent with some really good lifts, some mediocre.  Friday's back WO was great.  Overall, a pretty good week.  Nutrition was good during the week, but overdid it again on the re-feed.  I went from 169 on Friday to 183 on Sunday.  I should have got right back on track on Sunday, but took the kids to IHOP Sunday morning, and that kind of blew it.  It wasn't too bad for having the kids, but definitely need to do better, especially when they aren't with me on the weekend.

Fri 9/7 - Back/Shoulders/Bi's & Cardio

Cardio:

•  51 min morning walk before work.  Jogged a little in the beginning to get the HR up a little bit.

Workout:

• (180#RevGripPull) 10/+3,3,3,3,3,2 (7) 27
•  (120#Military) 15/+3,3,3,3,3,3 (7) 33
• (150#CloseGripPull) 12/+3,3,3,3,3,3 (7) 30
• (60#RearDelts) 15/+4,4,4,4,4 (6) 35
• (120#SeatedRow) 9/+3,3,3,3,3 (6) 27
• (80#Curls) 15/+4,4,4,4,4 (6) 35
• (20#LateralDelsts) 10/+3,3,3,3,3, 15#/+8,6 (8) 39
• (35#Crunch) 13/+4,3,3,3,2 (6) 28
• (45#BentOverRows) 12/+4,4,4,4, (5) 28
• (45#Shrugs) 20/+5,5,5,5,5,8 (7) 53
• (25#FrontDelt) 15/+4,4,4,4,4,4,3 (8) 42

50 mins
Back: 25 (112)
Shoulders: 36 (202)
Bi's: 6 (35)
Abs: 6 (28)
Total: 73 (activation + mini-sets) (377 reps)

 
Reverse grip pulldowns were great today. I used a heavier weight and today I could really feel it working my lats (which is more important than the heavier weight).

Military was really good again for the 3rd or 4th WO in a row.  Is it translating into size? Not sure.  Last WO I did 4 reps, but this still felt really good.

I forgot how much I like close grip pulldowns.  Really glad I did these today.  They felt really good in my back.  Weight was right.  Failed on last rep.

Rear delts were good and 4 reps felt really good (did 3's last WO).  Failed on last rep.  Focused on not letting tri's get into the movement too much.

Seated rows were OK.  Back was already fatigued from heavy pulldowns and didn't get quite the squeeze I wanted.  This bothers my left elbow pretty bad.

Curls were really good again, though I got less reps than last WO. Probably because I'd done more back already before this than last WO.

Lateral raises were about the same as last week.  Like last week, I dropped to 15#s for last to sets to get some more reps.  Again, maybe I should have started lighter, but want to go heavy on these to build mass. Hopefully that's the right call.

I did weighted crunches on the decline again.  I did a practice set on the ball during warmup and it didn't feel like it was doing anything.  I did another set at the end of the WO and even after doing these on decline to failure, I still didn't feel it.  It's awkward and I must not be doing something right.  I even watched some form videos on youtube for this to help.  It didn't.

Bent over rows were OK.  Back was dead, so couldn't feel these in my back as well as last WO.  Probably should have used 40#s today.

Shrugs were good today.  I really tried to squeeze and hold at contraction.  I thought about doing these behind the back using the same pully setup as for curls.  Behind the back on the Smith machine felt really good. I'll have to give this a shot next time.

I had front delts penciled in earlier in the WO, but wanted to keep the WO shorter and shoulders had gotten a good WO from military and the other movements so I crossed it off.  After shrugs, I was going to stop, but figured what the hell.  It's only about 3-4 more minutes.  I've got to quit doing that and trust I'm getting enough volume with less exercises.

Overall, a really great WO!  I was getting lazy-itis Friday afternoon and was just going to get a good stimulation, but for whatever reason, I felt energized when I got in the gym and nearly every exercise felt good.  I was really getting good mind-muscle connection (except for when back started to really fatigue, such as for bent over rows).  WO was 5 or 10 minutes longer than I wanted today, but not far off.  Very happy with how back went and really glad I did close grip pulldowns.  I hadn't done them in a while.

Nutrition:

I weighed 169.6 this morning.  Cardio + big WO + kids this weekend = Friday night refeed.

Fri	Time	Item	Size	Prot	Carb	Fat	Cal
9/7/2012	7AM	51 min walk
	8AM	BCAA	10g
	1PM	BCAA	10g
	1PM	WO - Back/Shoulders
	2PM	Creatine	5g
	2PM	Whey Shake W1	1 scoop	30	4	1	140
	2:15PM	Milk (Fat Free)	1 Cup	9	13	0	90
	2:30PM	Salad	12oz	7	16	0	86
	2:30PM	Chicken	4oz	28	0	1	120
	2:30PM	Banana	1 small	1	23	0	90
	2:30PM	Egg Whites	3whites	11	1	0	51
	5:30PM	Chicken	4oz	28	0	1	120
	5:30PM	Kix	1serving	2	25	1	110
	5:30PM	Milk (Fat Free)	1/2cup	5	7	0	45
	7PM	Chicken	4oz	28	0	1	120
	7PM	Salad	6oz	3	8	0	43
	9PM	Sweet Frog	12oz	12	66	3	340
	9:30PM	Casein Protein C1	1 scoop	25	11	2	160
	10PM	Kix	4servings	8	100	2	440
	10PM	Milk (Fat Free)	1.5cups	14	20	0	135
	All Day	Almonds	1oz	6	6	15	165
		TOTALS:	Grams	216	299	26	2,255
			Calories	863	1194	237	2,293
			Percent	38%	52%	10%	100%

Thu 9/6 - "Cardio"

Cardio:

• 47 min walk before work.  

I think I'll take the week off running.  Trying to listen to my body.  Knees, calves, feet, shoulder, elbow.  I think 3 WO's, 3 runs and a bunch of walks each week while dieting pretty hard caught up to me.  I need some time to heal.  I miss running, but it wasn't any fun with the shape my lower legs were in anyway.

Nutrition:
Pretty good nutrition day.  I've come to the conclusion that even if I'm cutting, it's not good to go extremely low carbs as I'd been doing until I get down to 10% again and then make a final hard push.  I've got to do it more moderately.  It'll take longer, but healthier in the long run.  So, for example, today was a "low carb" day, but it was about 100g, where before I was doing under 50g.  That's just not good for me physically or mentally for too long.  That was OK to bounce back from a gorging in PA, but not for weeks on end.

Thu	Time	Item	Size	Prot	Carb	Fat	Cal
9/6/2012	7AM	BCAA	10g
	8AM	47 min walk
	11AM	BCAA	10g
	2PM	Chicken	9.5oz	67	0	2	285
	2PM	Salad	12oz	7	16	0	86
	2PM	Egg Whites	2whites	7.2	0.4	0	34
	7PM	Tuna (7oz can)	5.5oz	44	0	1.7	192.5
	7PM	Yellow Squash	11oz	3.3	9.9	0	55
	8PM	Kix	2servings	4	50	2	220
	8PM	Milk (Fat Free)	1 Cup	9	13	0	90
	8PM	Casein Protein C2	1 scoop	24	3	1	120
	8PM	Cottage Cheese	1/2 Cup	14	5	1	90
	All Day	Almonds	1oz	6	6	15	165
		TOTALS:	Grams	185	103	23	1,337
			Calories	738	413	207	1,358
			Percent	54%	30%	15%	100%

Wed 9/5 - Chest/Tri/Core

Took the day off Tuesday.  Had tough WO's and Cardio Sunday and Monday, so decided to give the feet a rest.  Plus, it was just a busy day.  Weight was 173.0.  Tuesday nutrition was:

TOTALS:	Grams	173	98	16	1,206
	Calories	691	391	145	1,228
	Percent	56%	32%	12%	100%

Wednesday
Workout:

• (45#Incline) 12/+4,3,3,3,3 (6) 28 
• (150#Bench) 12/+3,3,3,3,3,3,3 (8) 33
• (Dips) 8/+2,2,2,2,2,2,2 (8) 22
• (90#PeckDeckc) 15/+4,4,4,4,4,4 (7) 39
• (50#OHTriExt) 15/+3,3,3,3,3 (6) 30
• (35#WeightCrunch) 11,6,4,4,4 (5) 29
• (110#PushDown) 15/+4,4,4,4,4 (6) 35
• (15#KickBacks) 2

39 mins
Chest: 21 (100reps)
Tri's: 22 (89reps)
Core: 5 (29reps)
Total: 48 sets (activation + mini-sets)

Incline was tough.  Last WO I did 18 reps on the activation set and then reps of 4 and thought maybe I should bump the weight up.  Wow, not happening today.  Not sure what happened here.  That said, really worked chest well even though less reps than last WO. 

150# felt like the righ weight again today even though incline was a drop off.  Really worked to get 3 reps the last couple of mini-sets. Chest was really worked.

Last week I did 15 dips on the activation set.  Today I got 8!  And that wasn't getting to 8 and leaving some in the gas tank for the mini-sets. That was a struggle to get the 8th rep.  What the heck?

I did one set of 30# incline fly's and quit.  It's too much strain on my left elbow and really hurt.  I went to the peck deck machine that takes lower arms out of the movement and did them.  I did a few sets on this machine last week and didn't really like it.  Today was better and I really felt it in my chest.  I really squeezed at contraction, but still don't like this as well as the other machine or flys.

Overhead tri extensions were pretty good, but I wish I could have gotten 4 reps on the mini-sets.  Still good.

For core I did decline weighted crunches with a 35# dumbbell on my chest.  I did these with very little rest between sets and to failure.  Felt good.  I'm liking the weighted crunches more than I thought I would.  I think that's because I can really feel them the next day (or two). I wanted to get some lying leg raises and/or hip thrusts in too, but time was running short so this was enough for today on abs.

I did tri pushdowns w/ 110#s which was 10# heavier than last WO and still got good reps.

I wanted to hit my outer tri's a little bit better, so I did 2 sets of kickbacks.  12 reps w/ 15#s and 15 reps w/10#s, no rest.

Weird WO.  Some things were a struggle (incline/dips) and other things I did as well or better than last week.  Incline and dips are perplexing.  Could I have had the weight recorded wrong from last weeks' incline and only used 40#s?  I don't think so, but not sure how I went from 18 to barely getting 12 on the activation set today.

Overall a good WO though.  Didn't have a lot of time, which is good as I tend to add things in (that probably are overkill) when I have more time and then the WO just gets too long with too much volume.  I've got to trust that if I work hard during the sets I'm doing, more volume isn't always better and can actually be counter productive.

Nutrition:
Pretty good nutrition day.  Weight was 173.0 again this morning.  That's 3 days in a row at 173.0.  That's never happened before.

Wed	Time	Item	Size	Prot	Carb	Fat	Cal
9/5/2012	11:30AM	BCAA	10g
	11:30AM	WO - Chest/tri/core
	1:30PM	Creatine	5g
	1:30PM	Whey Shake W1	1 scoop	30	4	1	140
	1:30PM	Milk (Fat Free)	1 Cup	9	13	0	90
	2:30PM	Tuna (7oz can)	5.5oz	44	0	2	193
	2:30PM	Yellow Squash	11oz	3	10	0	55
	2:30PM	Sweet Potato	6.5oz	4	38	0	169
	5PM	Sweet Frog	12oz	12	66	3	340
	6PM	Chicken	8oz	56	0	2	240
	7:30PM	Oatmeal	1/2 cup	5	27	3	150
	7:30PM	Casein Protein C1	1 scoop	25	11	2	160
	11PM	BCAA	10g
	All Day	Almonds	.5oz	3	3	8	83
		TOTALS:	Grams	191	172	20	1,619
			Calories	765	689	177	1,631
			Percent	47%	42%	11%	100%

 

Mon 9/2 - Back/Shoulders/Bi's & Cardio

Cardio:

• 32 mins on treadmill after my WO at 3.5/3.6 speed at 11-12% incline.  Kept HR between 145-150. 

Workout:
Worked out at Fitness First in Leesburg because Sprint was closed today for Labor Day holiday.

• (Pullups)10/+3,3,2,2,3
• (150#RevGripPull)8/+3,3,2,2,2,2,2
• (Military)20/+4,4,4,4,4,4,3
• (T-BarRow)20/+5,5,5,5,5,5,5
• (35#WeightedCrunch)10,8,6,5
• (135#SeatRow)10/+3,3,3,3,3
• (20#LatDelt)15/+3,3,3,3,3,3
• (45#Curl)20/+5,5,5,5,5,5
• (60#RDelt)12/+4,4,4,4,4,4,4
• (LegRaise)30/+10,10,10
• (HipThrust)20,20,20,20
• (Shrug)15/+7,7,7,7
• (35#FDelt)12/+4,4,4,4,4

60mins
Back: 28
Shoulders: 34
Bi: 7
Core: 12
Total: 81 sets (activation + mini-sets) Whoa! Lots of volume today

I was just going to warm up my back muscles with a few pullups, but did 10 and decided to make that my first exercise.  Faded quickly.

Reverse grip pulldowns felt a little awkward on the machine because the bar was connected by 2 cables rather than 1.  Felt decent though.

I did military on an iso-press machine with 35#'s.  This felt really good.  Military has been really good the last couple of WO's.  I haven't been using dumbbells because that seems to be a bit harder on my troubling shoulder.

I had close grip pulldowns penciled in, but the gym had a T-bar row so I took advantage of using that.  I didn't go real heavy, but concentrated on control and squeezing at the contraction.  Really good.

I did weighted crunches on a decline.  These were good, but hard and I need to check my form here so I don't mess up my back.

Seated rows were decent.  I think my back was already pretty fatigued. I had a hard time really squeezing at the contraction.  Perhaps too heavy.

Lateral delts were good today and shoulders were on fire after good military and then this.

I used just the bar for curls and did higher reps.  I started with a wide grip and this was pretty tough on my left elbow, so I narrowed the grip a bit after the first set.  Felt better and these were really good. 

Rear delts were good.  Four reps on mini-sets better than 3.

Weighted crunches were good, but wanted to hit lower abs better so I did lying leg raises to hip thrust, followed by just sets of hip thrust.  Really good.

The WO was done as I had written it at this point, but they had a smith machine so I did behind the back grip shrugs and then front raises with 35#'s.  Both were really good.  Shrugs weren't that heavy, but high reps and really got a good burn.  I only have 25# disks at the work gym and used a 35# plate
today and was able to handle that well even after already hitting shoulders pretty hard.  Felt really good.

Great WO!  I had fasted since Noon yesterday and this WO was from 10-11:30AM, so I didn't expect much from this WO and wasn't really planning on doing myo-reps today.  I was going to have a short
but sweet WO and just hit the major muscles with a couple of exercises with 3 sets each.  I was feeling better than I expected and had a great WO.  This was probably way too much volume for today, but it felt good so I went with it. WO was longer than I would like, but with this much volume, that's what's going to happen.  More core than normal added to the time as well.

After the WO I went to the treadmill and did 32 mins at 3.5 speed at 11% incline.  HR as measured by TM was 145-150 during the walk. I had a protein shake and then went to Giant and bought two 4oz chicken breasts and at them.  Not sure if I'll eat the rest of the day, or fast.  I should probably eat.
I'm really torn about what to do with my diet...to cut down, or take a break at maintenance for a while.  I keep going back and forth, but need to make a decision and stick with it.  If I cut, I've got to get MUCH better about my re-feeds.  2 steps forward, 1 back is good.  2 steps forward, 2 back is
not good.  It's too hard to cut all week to give it all back over 2 undisciplined days.

Nutrition:
Decided to eat.  Decided it would be counter productive to have a really hard WO, have one meal with zero carbs and then fast the rest of the day.  I want to get/stay lean, but after all I still want to grow.

Mon	Time	Item	Size	Prot	Carb	Fat	Cal
9/3/2012	7AM	BCAA	10g
	10AM	BCAA	10g
	10AM	WO & Cardio (90mins)
	Noon	Creatine	5g
	Noon	Whey Shake W1	1 scoop	30	4	1	140
	Noon	Chicken	8oz	56	0	2	240
	3:45PM	Tuna (7oz can)	5.5oz	44	0	2	193
	3:45PM	Yellow Squash	11oz	3	10	0	55
	4:15PM	Cereal	3servings	6	75	2	330
	4:15PM	Milk (FF)	2Cup	18	26	0	180
	4:15PM	Apple	1 med	0	25	0	95
	8PM	Casein Protein C2	1 scoop	24	3	1	120
	8PM	Kix	2servings	4	50	2	220
	8PM	Milk (Fat Free)	1 Cup	9	13	0	90
	8PM	Froyo (Sugar Free)	1/2cup	3	15	3	100
	8PM	Apple	1 med	0	25	0	95
	11PM	BCAA	10g
	All Day	Almonds	.5oz	0	0	0	0
		TOTALS:	Grams	197	246	12	1,858
			Calories	789	984	109	1,882
			Percent	42%	52%	6%	100%

Sat & Sun 9/1-2 - Cardio & Week Recap

Sat: Day off.  Nothing.  Didn't track nutrition today.  Day2 of re-feed.  Lots of cereal.

Sun:

Cardio:

• Walked 3.25 miles (53 mins) at 9AM into Old Town Leesburg
• Took an hour break
• Ran 3 miles home + 1.25 mile walk home from Old Town (51 mins)

Walked into town, took a break with some friends and ran home.  Ran/walked part of it on the W&OD trail.  Need to do this more often.  Starting running was difficult after walking and resting.  Calves/feet felt better than last time I ran, but still not great.  I feel like I've just started running again after MONTHS/Years of not running.  I know I'm in better cardio shape than this.  Still frustrated.

Nutrition:
I walked/ran fasted this morning and then was heading out to meet a friend.   I was going to fast a while longer, but decided I'd better eat something.  I then ended up fasting the rest of the day.  I'm getting hungry this evening (writing this at 10:45), but figure at this point I'll fast until tomorrow.  Not sure if I'm going to work out tomorrow or give my elbow another rest day.  It's still really bothering me, and back day is hardest on it (back would be tomorrow).  I weighed 180.6 this morning after 2 days of small re-feed.  I'm beginning to question how effective these re-feeds are.  I think I might be better off just doing a constant calorie deficit.  I seem to go overboard on the re-feeds.

Sun	Time	Item	Size	Prot	Carb	Fat	Cal
9/2/2012	7AM	BCAA	5g
	9AM	53 min walk
	11AM	51 min (3 miles running)
	Noon	Chicken	5oz	35	0	1	150
	Noon	Kix	30grams	2	25	1	110
	Noon	Milk (FF)	1Cup	8	13	0	90
	8PM	BCAA	10g
	11PM	BCAA	10g
	All Day	Almonds	.5oz	0	0	0	0
		TOTALS:	Grams	45	38	2	350
			Calories	180	152	16	348
			Percent	52%	44%	5%	100%

Week ending 9/2 recap:
I'm tired and getting hungry so I think I'll go to bed and try to remember to fill this out tomorrow.  Bottom line is it was a decent week, but aches and pains are catching up with me and might be time for a forced break from both diet and training.    
 

Fri 8/31 - Chest/Tri's & Cardio

Cardio:

•  Walked on treadmill for 23 mins at 12%, then walked outside for 10.  Call it 33.

Workout:

• (50#Incline) 15/+3,3, dropped to 45# +3,3,3,2 (7)  Why do I do this to myself.  Should have started with 45#s
• (150#Bench) 9/+3,3,3,3,3,3 (7) Apparent at this point I was weak today.  Did 11 reps last time on Activation set
• (Dips) 8/+2,2,2,2,2,2,2,2 (8) Whoa! 15 last time.  This is going to be ugly
• (40#OHTriExt) 13/+4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4 (10) Used machine to try to save elbow.  I Actually liked it.
• (110#PeckDeck) 15/+5,5,5,5 (5) This really hurt my elbow.  I should have stopped after the first or second rep.]
• core) 17/+4,4,4,4,4,4 (8) Did one set of with the ab wheel.  No good.  Grabbed 25# plate and did crunches.  Very good.  Gotta keep doing these.  Can feel my abs burning as I sit writing this 1.5-2 hours after the WO.
• (100#PushDown) 13/+5,5,5,5,4 (6) Meh.  Just "there".
• (90#PeckDeckc) 12,9 Tried the other peck machine.  Didn't like it.
• (90#Bench) 20 reps to failure.

Nutrition:

Fri	Time	Item	Size	Prot	Carb	Fat	Cal
8/31/2012	7AM	BCAA	10g
	Noon	BCAA	10g
	Noon	WO - Chest/Tri's
	12:30PM	30 min walk 12% incline
	1:30PM	Creatine	5g
	1:30PM	Whey Shake W1	1 scoop	30	4	1	140
	2PM	Tuna (7oz can)	5.5oz	44	0	1.7	192.5
	2PM	Broccoli/Snap Peas	5oz	3.5	10	0	50
	2PM	Sweet Potato	6oz	3.6	35.4	0	156
	2PM	Banana	1 small	1.1	23	0.3	90
	4PM	FROYO	6oz	4.5	31.5	0	150
	4PM	Cereal	3 servings	3	75	1.5	300
	4PM	Milk	1.5cups	13.5	19.5	0	135
	5PM	Apple	1 med	0	25	0	95
	5PM	Cottage Cheese (FF)	1/2cup	13	6	0	80
	7PM	Cheeseburger	1/2 pound	30	46	26	540
	7PM	Sweet Potato Fries	6oz	5	72	22	500
	9PM	FROYO	12oz	9	63	0	300
	9PM	McDonalds Ice Cream	1cone	5	27	4.5	170
	10PM	Cereal	4bowls	4	100	2	400
	10PM	Milk	2cups	18	26	0	180
	All Day	Almonds	1oz	6	6	15	165
		TOTALS:	Grams	193	569	74	3,644
			Calories	773	2278	666	3,716
			Percent	21%	61%	18%	100%