Tue 9/18 - Day Off

Another day off today.  I've taken more days off (~6) in the last 3-4 weeks than I have in the last 6 months.  Really trying to give my feet/knees time to heal, so I've even toned down the walking.  This means diet needs to be tight though.

My back is still sore today (which is another reason I didn't do cardio), but certainly no worse than yesterday.  I see the PT tomorrow morning.  I may cancel that appt depending on how I feel in the morning.

Nutrition:
Good nutrition day.  No almonds today.  That takes about 200cals off the day, but I do miss not eating any.  Plus, having such low fat isn't good long term.  I was 172.6 this morning.  Thought I might be about a pound lower, but pretty close to what I suspected.  Should be below 170 by Thursday.

Tue	Time	Item	Size	Prot	Carb	Fat	Cal
9/18/2012	6:30AM	BCAA	10g
	1:30PM	Creatine	0g
	1:30PM	Whey Shake W1	1 scoop	30	4	1	140
	2:45PM	Chicken	5oz	35	0	1.3	150
	2:45PM	Salad	12oz	6.514	15.9	0	85.714
	2:45PM	Egg Whites	3whites	10.8	0.6	0	51
	4:45PM	Apple	1 med	0	25	0	95
	5PM	Oatmeal	1/2 cup	5	27	3	150
	7:30PM	Chicken	5oz	35	0	1.3	150
	7:30PM	Zucchini	9oz	2.7	8.1	0	45
	7:30PM	Egg Beaters	5servings	25	5	0	125
	7:30PM	Mushroom	3oz	2.7	2.7	0	18
	7:30PM	Casein Protein C2	1 scoop	24	3	1	120
	All Day	Almonds	1/2oz	0	0	0	0
		TOTALS:	Grams	177	91	8	1,130
			Calories	707	365	68	1,140
			Percent	62%	32%	6%	100%

Mon 9/17 - Back/Shoulders/Bi's

Workout:

• (195#RevGripPull)10/+3,3,3,3,3 (6) 25 
• (120#Military) 15/+3,3,3,3,3 (6) 30
• (150#CloseGripPull) 12/+3,3,3,3,3 (6) 27
• (15#LateralDelsts) 17/+4,4,4,4,4 (6) 37
• (25#Curls) 13/+3,3,3,3,3 (6) 28
• (70#RearDelt) 15/+4,4,4,4 (5) 31
• (120#SeatedRow) 8/+3,3,3,3,3 (6) 23

30 mins
Back: 18 (75)
Shoulders: 17 (98)
Bi's: 6 (28)
Total: 41 (activation + mini-sets) (201 reps)

OK, so I'm an idiot.  My back is killing me today.  Not sure what I did to it over the weekend, but it started aching last night, woke me up in the middle of the night and kept me up for a couple of hours until I could fall back to sleep.  I'm hoping its muscle related and not my kidneys.  So, my back feels a little better this morning, but I almost didn't bring my gym bag to work for a WO because I'm thinking it might be a good day to take off, given how effed up my back felt.  What do I do?  Bump up the weight to the heaviest I've done on my first exercise.  Brilliant.  I warmed up well for the first exercise, and despite the tenderness in my back, my heavy warmup set felt relatively good, hence the bump up in weight.

Reverse grip pulldowns were really good, heavier than I've done before.  They were a little painful where my back was hurting last night (and still today) but not bad enough to make me feel like I had to stop.  Mad at myself for doing this, and happy with the weight/reps at the same time.

Military was good, but lying back where my back met the incline bench really hurt my back badly, so I had to arch a little to get that part of my back off the cushion and couldn't press as hard. 

Close grip pulldowns were really good.  This exercise hits the muscle about where all the pain is, so I was expecting this to be bad.  It wasn't.  To be honest I'm starting to get scared that it's not more painful.  Starting to think it could be something (kidneys?) not muscle related.

Lateral delts were really good again with lighter weight and more reps (4) on the mini sets.  Oddly enough, this and military press bothered my back more than actual back work.

I did dumbbell curls again and they felt good, again.

This WO was the same as my last back WO, but here I traded out shrugs and did rear delts.  These felt good, bumped the weight 10#s and worked it pretty hard.  These always feel so light starting out and get heavy fast.

Bumped up weight on seated rows from last WO to 120#'s (I'm asking for trouble, aren't I?) and it felt pretty good.  I probably should have stayed with the same weight as last WO, because I can get a better squeeze at contraction going just a bit lighter, and I think that's more important than slinging more weight.  But, this was still good.  It wasn't overly heavy.

I couldn't even begin to do crunches.  That hurt my back WAAAYYYY too much.

Overall this was another great WO in just a whisper over 30 mins.  Short and intense.  I'm still not sure what to think of my back.  It hurts sitting here as I write this 1/2 hour after the WO, but nothing worse than how it felt before the WO.  Of course, yesterday during the day it didn't hurt AT ALL, and was killing me in the evening.  I'm praying it's nothing serious.  Heading down to the doc now.

Back from the doc.  She doesn't think it's kidneys and prescribed me extra strength advil and some muscle relaxers.  I hope I can sleep tonight.

Nutrition:I weighed 174.6 this morning.  My muscles felt and looked full, but not the bloating like from longer (less controlled) re-feeds of late.  I'm happy about this.  Didn't put on too much weight, mostly water which will be gone in a day or two but gave my body a diet break.  Got back on the diet today, though it wasn't too strict.  I wanted to make sure I got some carbs in after a heavy back WO.

Mon	Time	Item	Size	Prot	Carb	Fat	Cal
9/17/2012	1:15PM	BCAA	10g
	1:15PM	WO
	NA	Creatine	0g
	2PM	Whey Shake W1	1 scoop	30	4	1	140
	3PM	Chicken	5oz	35	0	1	150
	3PM	Salad	12oz	7	16	0	86
	3PM	Egg Whites	3whites	11	1	0	51
	3PM	Banana	1small (5.7)	1	23	0	90
	5PM	Oatmeal	1/2 cup	5	27	3	150
	5PM	Chicken	5oz	35	0	1	150
	7PM	Chili	1serving	39	23	7	313
	7PM	Apple	1 med	0	25	0	95
	7PM	Casein Protein C2	1 scoop	24	3	1	120
	7:30PM	Oatmeal	1/2 cup	5	27	3	150
	All Day	Almonds	1/2oz	3	3	8	93
		TOTALS:	Grams	195	152	26	1,587
			Calories	779	608	230	1,616
			Percent	48%	38%	14%	100%

Sat & Sun 9/15 & 9/16 & Week Recap

Sat:
Weighed 169.0.  Was active all day, cut the yard, walked around downtown Leesburg at the art festival, etc., but didn't do anything exercise specific.

TOTALS:	Grams	170	116	33	1,421
	Calories	679	464	301	1,444
	Percent	47%	32%	21%	100%

Sun:
Weighed 169.6. Hiked Bull Run mountain with Joe (~2 hours).  Fasted until 1:30 after the hike, then did a re-feed the rest of the day.  This was a good partial day re-feed.  Better than what's been the norm lately that's lasted several days.  Probably too much cereal, but hey, it's a cheat day.

Sun	Time	Item	Size	Prot	Carb	Fat	Cal
9/16/2012	10AM	BCAA	10g
	13:30AM	Bull Run MTN Hike ~5 miles
	1:30PM	Chicken	8oz	56	0	2	240
	1:30PM	Broccoli	6oz	4.2	12	0	60
	1:30PM	Kix	2servings	4	50	2	220
	1:30PM	Milk (Fat Free)	1 Cup	9	13	0	90
	1:30PM	Apple	1 med	0	25	0	95
	2PM	Frosted flakes	3servings	6	75	3	330
	2PM	Milk (Fat Free)	1 Cup	9	13	0	90
	3PM	Banana	1small (5.7)	1.1	23	0.3	90
	6PM	Chili	1serving	39	23	7	313
	6PM	Apple	1 med	0	25	0	95
	6:30PM	Kix	3servings	6	75	3	330
	6:30PM	Milk (Fat Free)	1 Cup	9	13	0	90
	9PM	FROYO (No Sugar)	1cup	6	30	6	200
	9PM	Casein Protein C2	1 scoop	24	3	1	120
	9:30PM	Oatmeal	1/2 cup	5	27	3	150
	9:30PM	Kix	2servings	4	50	2	220
	9:30PM	Milk (Fat Free)	1 Cup	9	13	0	90
	9:30PM	Apple	1 med	0	25	0	95
	All Day	Almonds	1/2oz	3	3	8	93
		TOTALS:	Grams	195	498	37	3,010
			Calories	778	1994	333	3,105
			Percent	25%	64%	11%	100%

Week ending 9/16 Recap:
3 WO's, 1 Run, 2 Doubles.  Two of the three WO's were really good.  The one on Monday was just decent.  Good re-feed this week on Sunday.  Definitely got lots of carbs, but kept fat low and didn't let re-feed linger for more time than planned.  Enjoyed eating 3 pieces of fruit.  Ended week under 170#'s.  I'm sure weight will spike somewhat after all the carbs on Sunday, but nothing crazy that I'm going to have to kill myself over this week.  All that extra water will be gone in a day or two.

Feet and knees still really bothering me, so only the one small run.  Really trying to give them a rest, but not sure it's doing any good.  Probably time to see a foot doc.  Cramping in calves and feet is still bad.  I'm wondering if it's because of cutting + caffeine, or something related.

Fri 9/14 - Chest/Tri's & Cardio

Cardio:

• 41 mins.  Ran for 10, walked for 31.  It was never going to be a "run" today.  I just wanted to get my HR up, but even for that 10 mins my knees and feet were a problem.  I'm going to have to see a doc.  I'm still having major cramping in my calves and feet, especially at night.  I've been supplementing potassium and calcium.  No idea what's going on.  Caffeine?  Don't think it's dehydration.

Workout:

• (210#Bench)6,5,5,4 (4) 20 
• (50#Incline)6,6,5,4 (4) 21
• (Dips)16/+4,4,4,3 (5) 31
• (50#OHTriExt)10/+3,3,3,3,3 (6) 25
• (40#Crunch)17/+4,4,4,4 (5)
• (LyingLegRaise)15/+5,5,5,5 (5)
• (120#Pushdown)12/+4,4,4,3 (5) 27

36 mins
Chest: 13 (72)
Tri: 11 (52)
Core: 10
Total: 34 Sets (activation + mini-sets)

Bench was good.  I wanted to go "heavy" today because I've been doing myo-reps with lighter weight (per protocol) for a while so I wanted to see where I stood. I was pleased with this effort.  It felt heavy, but I was able to get plenty of reps.  I'll need to look back and compare the number of weight/reps to an older WO, but I believe I was doing same weight with similar reps when playing with 5X5.  So, it's good I haven't lost anything, not so great that it appears I haven't gained a bunch either.  Regardless, good bench work today. About 1 min rest between sets, so not a ton.

I was pleased with incline as well.  Again, I'll have to check against a previous WO, but I think this is an improvement.  1 min rests.

Dips were much better than the last 2 WO's so I was happy with that.  BUT, before doing dips I had to run up to my desk to check my phone to see if my boss had called or txt'd so I had some extra rest (only a couple mins).  Regardless, I was happy I did 16, twice what I did last WO on the activation set.

Overhead tri extensions were OK.  Bothered my left elbow a little, but solid work.

Really good core/abs today.  I upped the weight on crunches from 35-40#s.  These are hard, and still not sure I'm getting the most I could out of them.  Can sure feel them working though.  Then I did lying leg raise to hip raise.  I could REALLY feel these after doing weighted crunches.  I liked this double up on abs a lot.  It was also good because lying leg raises were starting to take pretty long time because I could do so many, so this was a little quicker because my abs were pre-fatigued from crunches.

Pushdowns were good.  Really worked them and tried not to cheat at all.

Overall a great WO in 36 mins.  I'm reading "Bigger, Leaner, Stronger" by Michael Matthews and gleaning some useful stuff out of that book.  It's really a great no nonsense approach to lifting and building muscle condensed into an easy to read and implementable approach.  Reading this is why I did heavy bench and incline today instead of myo reps.  It was a nice change up, but still like the myo reps a lot too and they can live together.  Again, I need to get to the other gym for heavy barbell work though.  Anyway, awesome WO with right amount of time and what I think is narrowing in on a
better amount of volume.  I've got to quit doing 25-30 sets per muscle group and just annihilating them.  I need to remember that they need to be stimulated and overloaded, not destroyed, in order to grow. 

Nutrition:
Another good nutrition day.  I weighed 170.0 this morning.  I think this will be one last cut before it gets cold, then maintenance/bulk...generally eating more normally & not tracking so meticulously.  Tomorrow I'm planning on basically the same as the last 3 days (~1,400 cals), then a re-feed on Sun, but nothing out of control like recent re-feeds.  Doing it on Sunday will also be better because I'll be loading for a heavy WO on Monday.  When I do them on Friday, I have a couple days before another hard WO.  BUT, it's also good to have a re-feed after a big WO.  Who knows...

Fri	Time	Item	Size	Prot	Carb	Fat	Cal
9/14/2012	7:30AM	41 min walk
	8:30AM	BCAA	10g
	1:30PM	Creatine	5g
	1:30PM	Whey Shake W1	1 scoop	30	4	1	140
	2:30PM	Oatmeal	1/2 cup	5	27	3	150
	2:30PM	Chicken	4.5oz	32	0	1	135
	2:30PM	Salad	12oz	7	16	0	86
	2:30PM	Egg Whites	2whites	7	0	0	34
	5PM	Chicken	4.5oz	32	0	1	135
	5PM	Banana	1small (5.7)	1	23	0	90
	7:30PM	Chicken	7oz	49	0	2	210
	7:30PM	Broccoli	4oz	3	8	0	40
	9PM	Oatmeal	1/2 cup	5	27	3	150
	9PM	Casein Protein C2	1 scoop	24	3	1	120
	All Day	Almonds	1oz	6	6	15	185
		TOTALS:	Grams	200	114	27	1,475
			Calories	798	457	246	1,502
			Percent	53%	30%	16%	100%

Wed & Thu, 9/12&13 - Cardio

Wed:

• Played 9 holes of golf.  Was planning on 18, but played so poorly I stopped at the turn and went to work.  Beautiful morning with new friends at a pretty course (Raspberry Falls).

Nutrition:  Good nutrition day.  Weighed 173.8

TOTALS:	Grams	176	88	32	1,334
	Calories	703	350	292	1,345
	Percent	52%	26%	22%	100%

Thu:

• 51 min walk before work.  Nice cool morning.  Needed a light jacket again.  Feet still a major problem.  Still no running.  This is getting OLD.

Nutrition:  Another good day.  Weighed 170.8

TOTALS:	Grams	198	78	26	1,340
	Calories	794	313	233	1,340
	Percent	59%	23%	17%	100%

Tue 9/11 - Back/Shoulders/Bi's & Cardio

Cardio:

• 48 min walk in the morning before work.  Had to wear a light jacket this morning!  Great weather!

Workout:
My chest is really sore today after yesterday's "mediocre" WO.  I think doing bench press "properly" hit my chest better and in a different way than usual.  I'll have to keep practicing proper technique.  Still lots to learn, even with a movement as "simple and basic" as the bench press.

I normally don't hit the gym on back to back days, but I'll be busy and OOO on Wednesday, so I doubled up...and it felt GREAT!  Had an awesome workout.  Short, but intense.  Some great lifts.  That said, with the aches and pains I've been having, it probably would have been wise to just take the day off. 

• (180#RevGripPull) 12/+3,3,3,3,3 (6) 27
• (120#Military) 15/+3,3,3,3,3 (6) 30
• (150#CloseGripPull) 12/+3,3,3,3,3 (6) 27
• (15#LateralDelsts) 20/+4,4,4,4,4 (6) 40
• (25#Curls) 12/+3,3,3,3,3 (6) 27
• (50#Shrugs) 13/+5,5,5,5 (5) 33
• (105#SeatedRow) 10/+3,3,3,3,3,3 (7) 28

Reverse grip pulldowns were really good.  I could really feel them in my lats and the weight was good.

Military was great with the last rep on the last 2 sets REALLY working.  Shoulders were pumped & veins were popping.

Close grip pulldowns were really good.  I failed on the last rep of the last set, really worked these and squeezed at contraction.  Tried to keep body at 45 degree angle and not get pulled vertical to work different part of back than reverse grip pulldowns.

Lateral delts were probably the best they've ever been.  Used a lighter weight and higher reps (which I've been saying I should be doing).  Worked great and I could really feel these burning.  Veins in shoulders were popping big time!

I did dumbbell curls today and they felt great.  Good change up from barbell today.

Shrugs were good.  Nothing special, but good.

Workout as written was done here, but decided to do seated rows.  I started with 120#'s for the activation set, but dropped to 105#s for the mini sets.  I probably should have started there today because back and bi's were already worked.  I was able to get a good squeeze with the lighter weight.  Great!

Overall this was an absolutely great WO after a mediocre WO yesterday.  It was quick and intense.  Awesome!  (NOTE: I'm adjusting my feelings on the "mediocre" WO yesterday based on how chest feels today.  I think I worked it a lot harder than I thought using better technique and that *might* explain why dips were so low.  Still have to keep an eye on that though because it was two WO's in a row with low reps on dips).

28 mins (this was a GREAT WO in under a 1/2 hour!)
Back: 19 (82)
Shoulders: 17 (103)
Bi's: 6 (27)
Total: 42 (activation + mini-sets) (212 reps)

Nutrition:
I weighed 176.0 this morning.  Good nutrition day today.

Tue	Time	Item	Size	Prot	Carb	Fat	Cal
9/11/2012	7AM	BCAA	10g
	8AM	48 min walk
	Noon	WO - Back/Shoulder/Bi's
	1PM	Milk (Fat Free)	1 Cup	9	13	0	90
	1PM	Chicken	8oz	56	0	2	240
	1PM	Salad	12oz	7	16	0	86
	1PM	Egg Whites	3whites	11	1	0	51
	4PM	Oatmeal	1/2 cup	5	27	3	150
	5PM	Tuna (7oz can)	5.5oz	44	0	1.7	192.5
	5PM	Yellow Squash	7oz	2.1	6.3	0	35
	8:30PM	Cottage Cheese (FF)	1/2 C (113g)	13	6	0	80
	8:30PM	Casein Protein C2	1 scoop	24	3	1	120
	8:30PM	Peanut Butter	1tbs (16g)	4	4	8	90
	8:30PM	Oatmeal	3/4cup	8	41	5	225
	All Day	Almonds	1oz	6	6	15	185
		TOTALS:	Grams	187	122	35	1,544
			Calories	750	489	316	1,555
			Percent	48%	31%	20%	100%

Mon 9/10 - Chest/Tri

Workout:

• (50#Bench)13/+3,3,3,3,3,3,3 (8)
• (120#Guillotine)10/+3,3,3,3,3,3,3 (8)
• (Dips)8/+2,2,2,2,2,2 (7)
• (50#OHTriExt)13/+3,3,3,3,3,3 (7)
• (90#PeckDeck)15/+4,4,4,4,4 (6)
• (35#Crunch)20/+5,5,5,5 (5)
• (120#Pushdown)15/+4,4,3,3 (5)
• (10#Kickback)2 24

35 mins
Chest: 22 (34)
Tri: 21 (94)
Core: 5 (40)
Total: 48 Sets (activation + mini-sets)

Bench felt pretty good.  Really worked on keeping shoulders pinned back and using my chest muscles (less tri and shoulders).  Although this felt pretty good, it's not a long term chest building solution.  Myo-reps are too awkward to get down and set back up for 10-15 second rests.  This didn't seem like a lot of reps on activation set.  I went back and checked my logs, but I haven't done dumbell bench first in a long time to compare.  I think I should have been getting a lot more reps on first set with 50#s.

Guillotine was good, but thought I'd get more than 10 reps with this weight.  Again, really kept shoulders pinned back and tried to use chest as much as possible.  Last couple of sets were really taxing.

What's going on with dips?  Another day with only 8 reps on first set.  Chest was worked well, but it always is before dips.  Mini-sets were really hard too and the last 2 sets I didn't even get the second rep all the way up.  Kind of pissed off after these.

Overhead tri extensions were decent, but was also surprised I didn't get more reps.

Since my left elbow is still really bothering me, I did the peck deck machine that takes lower arm out of it.  These didn't feel as good as the last workout.  Just couldn't feel it in my chest as much.

Crunches were good, but still like lying leg raises better.  Maybe I should have done them also.

Pushdowns were good with 120#'s which is heavier than last time I think.  wish I could have gotten 4 reps on all mini sets though.

Ended WO with 2 quick sets of tri kickbacks.

Overall, I'm not sure what I feel about this WO.  It was short like I wanted, but I really wasn't happy with dips again.  That's shedding a negative light on an otherwise really good workout.  It makes me think I'm regressing, but I don't believe that to be the case.  Unfortunately, I don't have a real good baseline chest lift that I can compare with my current WO's.  I might have to do a heavy 5X5 bench day that I did a few weeks ago and compare to see where I am after doing myo-reps for a couple of weeks.  It also highlights that I need to get to the bigger gym and do some barbell bench workouts soon.

Nutrition:
I weighed 182 this morning.  Good nutrition day today.  Eating window was 2:30-7:30.

Mon	Time	Item	Size	Prot	Carb	Fat	Cal
9/10/2012	12:45pm	BCAA	10g
	1PM	WO - Chest/Tri's
	2PM	Creatine	5g
	2PM	Whey Shake W1	1 scoop	30	4	1	140
	2:45PM	Milk (Fat Free)	1 Cup	9	13	0	90
	2:45PM	Chicken	4oz	28	0	1	120
	2:45PM	Salad	12oz	7	16	0	86
	2:45PM	Egg Whites	3whites	11	1	0	51
	2:45PM	Sweet Potato	6.5oz	4	38	0	169
	5PM	Chicken	4oz	28	0	1	120
	7:30PM	Banana	1small (5.7)	1	23	0	90
	7:30PM	Casein Protein C2	2scoop	48	6	2	240
	7:30PM	Oatmeal	3/4cup	8	41	5	225
	7:30PM	Peanut Butter	1tbs (16g)	4	4	8	90
	All Day	Almonds	1oz	6	6	15	185
		TOTALS:	Grams	182	151	33	1,606
			Calories	729	606	295	1,630
			Percent	45%	37%	18%	100%