Sat 9/22 - Cardio

Cardio:

• Walked 6.5 miles in 1:48 (15:47, 16:05, 16:40, 16:38, 16:25, 16:57, 9:16).   I walked into old town Leesburg, on the W&OD trail for a while and then back home.  Beautiful morning for a walk.
• Note: tonight at 9:30PM my feet are killing me!  Maybe that long walk wasn't such a good idea right when my feet were just starting to feel a little bit better.  Damnit!

Nutrition:
I weighed 167.4 this morning.  Pretty good nutrition day.  I fasted until 4PM today so I ate quite a bit considering I put it into a 5-hour window.Calories were OK, but protein a little low and carbs a little high (2 apples and 2 servings of oatmeal).  Refeed planned for tomorrow, but going to try to keep it under control.

Sat	Time	Item	Size	Prot	Carb	Fat	Cal
9/22/2012	7AM	BCAA	10g
	9AM	Walked 6.5 miles
	12:45PM	BCAA	10g
	4PM	Chicken	8.2oz	57	0	2	246
	4PM	Broccoli	5.5oz	4	11	0	55
	4PM	Apple	1 med	0	25	0	95
	4:30PM	Oatmeal	1/2 cup	5	27	3	150
	7:30PM	Tuna (7oz can)	5.5oz	44	0	2	193
	7:30PM	Broccoli	5oz	4	10	0	50
	7:30PM	Oatmeal	3/4 cup	8	41	5	225
	7:30PM	Milk	1/2cup	5	7	0	45
	7:30PM	Apple	1 med	0	25	0	95
	9PM	Jerky (Walmart)	1oz	14	3	1	80
	9PM	Casein Protein C2	1 scoop	24	3	1	120
		TOTALS:	Grams	164	151	13	1,354
			Calories	655	604	119	1,378
			Percent	48%	44%	9%	100%

Fri 9/21 - Back/Shoulders/Bi's

I was going to walk this morning, but my feet were a little tender after the run yesterday and I don't want to take a step back, so I didn't do any cardio.

Workout (Myo-reps):

• (195#RevGripPull)10/+3,3,3,2,2,2 (7) 25
• (120#Military)19/+3,3,3,3,3 (6) 34
• (150#CloseGripPull)10/+3,3,3,3,3 (6) 25
• (15#LateralDelsts)19/+4,4,4,4,4 (6) 39
• (25#HammerCurls)15/+3,3,3,3,3 (6) 30
• (70#RearDelt)17/+4,4,4,4 (5) 33
• (90#WideGripSeatedRow)10/+4,4,4,4,4 (6) 30
• (35#Crunch)17/+4,4,4,4,4 (6)

38 mins
Back: 19 (80)
Shoulders: 17 (106)
Bi's: 6 (30)
Abs: 6 (37)
Total: 48 (activation + mini-sets) (216 reps)

Reverse grip pulldowns were pretty good. Felt pretty heavy and on the 4th mini set I only got 2 reps, so I did 2 more sets of 2. Last week I got sets of 3. Could really feel it in my lats, but not quite as well as last week.

Military was really good again, but I think I went probably 1-2 too many reps on the activation set (I wanted to do more reps than last WO).  Last 2 mini sets I didn't quite get last rep up.  Shoulders felt really good though.  I need to do dumbbell military soon to see where I stand compared to before myo-reps.  Heavy dumbbell military press would just be too difficult/awkward to get them down and then back up ready to go again w/ only a 10-15 second rest.  I might try them, but don't see it going well, so will have to just do straight sets sometime soon.

Close grip pulldowns were great today.  Tried to really squeeze and take it slow, moving weight w/o using momentum.  Lats/mid back felt really good.

Lateral delts were great with 4 reps on the mini sets again and higher rep activation set than last WO.

I did hammer curls today and they were really good. I'm wondering if I should do more than one bicep exercise.  Probably not.  They get worked pretty well during back.

Rear delts were good.  Really squeezed at contraction and kept tension on the entire movement.  As usual, this starts out feeling really light, but gets tough quickly during mini-sets.

I decided to do wide grip seated rows today, 1)to change things up just a tad, and 2)close grip rows have really been hurting my left elbow.  I used the lat pulldown bar and used a wide grip.  Not sure how I felt about this.  I had to use a lighter weight (90#s) and really tried to squeeze at contraction, but had a bit of a hard time making the connection to what it was actually working.  Too much arms in this movement for me maybe.  Regardless, it didn't hurt my elbow, so that's good.  Maybe I should do bent over rows instead until my elbow gets better.

Because of my back hurting since Sunday I haven't done any core/ab work this week and really wanted to today.  I did weighted crunches with 35#'s, but this hurt my back when I went close to flat.  These ended up just being OK.  I'm still getting used to these in the first place, so to not be able to do full ROM didn't help.  After crunches I tried to do lying leg raises.  Not happening.  This hurt my back too much to be worth trying sets of them.

Really good WO.  Some things better than others.  Close grip pull downs and lateral delts were probably the best two movements of the day.

Nutrition:
I weighed 168.2 this morning.  On track and heading down!  Another good nutrition day.  I added just a little chocolate whey protein to my oatmeal tonight.  It was really good and I wanted to eat some more.  This evening was kind of difficult.  I really wanted to carb load this afternoon/evening after my WO....meaning I was bowls and bowls of cereal.  I've got to get over this!  I was good though and didn't give in.  Plan is to eat over maintenance on Sunday.  Tomorrow is probably going to pretty difficult.  Today was 4 straight days with no almonds and fat has been super low during that time (less than 10% of daily calories).

Fri	Time	Item	Size	Prot	Carb	Fat	Cal
9/21/2012	12:45PM	BCAA	10g
	1PM	WO - Back/Shoulder
	2PM	Creatine	5g
	2PM	Whey Shake W1	1 scoop	30	4	1	140
	2:30PM	Chicken	6oz	42	0	1.5	180
	2:30PM	Salad	16oz	9	21	0	114
	2:30PM	Banana	1small (5.7)	1.1	23	0.3	90
	5:15PM	Egg Whites	3whites	11	1	0	51
	5:15PM	Chobani Yogurt	6oz	18	7	0	100
	7PM	Tuna (7oz can)	5.5oz	44	0	2	193
	7PM	Broccoli	5oz	4	10	0	50
	7PM	Apple	1 med	0	25	0	95
	9PM	Oatmeal	3/4 cup	8	41	5	225
	9PM	Casein Protein C2	1 scoop	24	3	1	120
		TOTALS:	Grams	190	134	10	1,358
			Calories	758	537	90	1,385
			Percent	55%	39%	6%	100%

Thu 9/20 - Cardio - Yes, I did cardio!

Cardio:
Ran 40 minutes (4.4miles) and walked c/d 10 mins.  I started out for a walk this morning and my feet were feeling OK.  I figured it was worth a try to run and see how the feet/calves/knees did after some extended time off (I haven't really run in almost 2 weeks and even limited walks).  They felt OK.  Not great, but OK.  My calves weren't cramping up and/or feeling dead like they have been.  I guess some actual rest helped.  My left knee hurt a little, but not bad.  It wasn't a great run, but I'll take it!  Gotta be careful not to ramp back up too quickly.

Nutrition:
Another good nutrition day.  I weighed 170.0 this morning.  On Monday I thought I'd be just below 170 by Thursday.  I was pretty close to spot on even though I didn't dip below.  I'm getting to know my body and where my weight stands real well in the 170 - 180 range and how long it takes to cut back down to the 170 range after a re-feed or cheat weekend. 

I feel good and lean at 170.  I struggle getting much below 169.  I've been down to 163.8 two months ago and goal is to get below that during this cut.  It's a piece of cake (relatively speaking) for me to get from 175 to 170 with a real clean diet.  170 to below 165 is a whole different story.  I was really lean (for me anyway) when I hit 163. Veins were showing all over my abdomen and even in my back.  I've put on mass since that time, so if I can get below 163, it's going to be an accomplishment.  And I mean below a "real" 163#s.  Not after a run in the morning where I've sweated off a couple pounds.

Thu	Time	Item	Size	Prot	Carb	Fat	Cal
9/20/2012	6:30AM	BCAA	10g
	8:30AM	Ran 4+ miles
	9:30AM	BCAA	10g
	2PM	Chicken	7.4oz	52	0	2	222
	2PM	Salad	12oz	7	16	0	86
	3PM	Egg Whites	3whites	11	1	0	51
	7PM	Chicken	6oz	42	0	2	180
	7PM	Zucchini	6oz	2	5	0	30
	7PM	Apple	1 med	0	25	0	95
	7:30PM	Oatmeal	3/4 cup	8	41	5	225
	9PM	Cottage Cheese	1Cup	28	10	2	180
	9PM	Casein Protein C2	1 scoop	24	3	1	120
		TOTALS:	Grams	172	100	11	1,189
			Calories	690	402	98	1,189
			Percent	58%	34%	8%	100%

Wed 9/19 - Chest/Tri's

Workout:

• (225#Bench)6,5,4,4 (4) 19
• (50#Incline)7,6,6,5 (4) 24
• (Dips)13/+3,3,3,3,3 (6) 28
• (50#OHTriExt)15/+3,3,3,3,3,3 (7) 33
• (130#Pushdown)10/+3,3,3,3,3 (6) 25 & 80#X10, 60#X12
• (110#PeckDeck)15/+4,4,4,4 (5) 31

38 mins
Chest: 19 (102)
Tri: 15 (80)
Total: 34 Sets (activation + mini-sets)

Bench was really good.  I warmed up and felt good so I bumped the weight to 225# (last week was 210#). I tried to make sure I kept my shoulders pinned back to work the pecs.  I was really pleased with this weight and # of reps.  I had to slightly touch the weight on the very last rep to get it pressed. Although this felt really good, it's still not barbell bench, which I need to be doing.

I was pleased with incline as well.  A couple more reps than last WO, so happy with that (especially while cutting).

Dips were pretty good.  Really worked last rep of last 2 sets barely getting them up.  I only mention because normally with dips when I fail, I only get half way up and just can't get higher.  Today those last 2 reps I was able to get up.

Overhead tri extensions were good and elbow felt OK during them.

I bumped the weight up on pushdowns because I was feeling good with the WO.  The weight was fine, but I think I should have stayed with 120#s just because I feel that 4 reps on mini-set is better than 3 for this exercise.  So, I added two sets at the end with the rope at a light weight and more reps.  Felt good.

The WO was done as written at this point, but I added peck deck.  I was just going to do 1 or 2 sets, but this wasn't bothering my left elbow like it has been lately, so I went ahead and did a full myo-rep "set".

I was very happy with this WO. Calories were pretty low yesterday (under 1200) and this WO was at the end of a 17-hour fast, so I was kind of surprised how well it went.  Pretty good time-wise, but I didn't do any core.  I couldn't do core because of my back.  I tried a few leg raises and it was painful, so I skipped it again.  I didn't take a lot of rest (1-1.5mins) on bench and incline (about 7mins per exercise), but definitely more rest than myo-reps.  I probably didn't need to do peck deck and still got a really good chest WO, but that's what I tend to do, unfortunately.  Very good WO, but gotta get some barbell work in soon.

Nutrition:
Good nutrition day.  I weighed 171.4 this morning.  Again, thought I'd be a bit lower, but I guess that's what not doing cardio will do.  I thought I'd be below 170 tomorrow, but that's probably going to be close.  Either way, I'm just about right on plan and as much as I'm missing running, it's good to be able to control my diet and still get down w/o cardio.  When I'm able to add it back in, it will make a big difference when I really need it for this last cut.

Wed	Time	Item	Size	Prot	Carb	Fat	Cal
9/19/2012	12:15PM	BCAA	10g
	12:30PM	WO
	1:30PM	Creatine	5g
	1:30PM	Whey Shake W1	1 scoop	30	4	1	140
	2PM	Chili	1serving	39	23	7	313
	2PM	Banana	1small (5.7)	1	23	0	90
	5:15PM	Cottage Cheese	1/2 Cup	14	5	1	90
	6:15PM	Chicken	4.5oz	32	0	1	135
	6:15PM	Salad	12oz	7	16	0	86
	6:15PM	Oatmeal	1/2 cup	5	27	3	150
	6:15PM	Apple	1 med	0	25	0	95
	8PM	Chicken	4oz	28	0	1	120
	8PM	Casein Protein C2	1 scoop	24	3	1	120
		TOTALS:	Grams	179	126	16	1,338
			Calories	718	505	141	1,364
			Percent	53%	37%	10%	100%

 

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.