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%

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%