Food Journal 8-29-12

Today I didn't work out, so all I had to be disciplined about was diet. Wound up eating less food overall, but it was all rice dishes, so the calories were pretty high and I ate more fat than usual. Still got plenty of protein, though.

Check it out:

Workout and Diet Log 8-28-12

My Diet 

I was pretty good again yesterday. I ate under my caloric threshold, but there were a couple of things I'd take back if I could, namely the hash browns and extra lasagna. At lunch, I was really hungry. Still, I opted for a an 8oz portion of lasagna, knowing it was the most unhealthful part of my diet this week. When I was still hungry 20 minutes later, however, I decided to go back for more and doubled up.

At dinner I just had a bit of everything and tried to make sure I didn't overdo it on any dish, which worked as it turned out, since I ended the day with about 300 calories remaining.  I really don't need to go hungry if I'm responsible and continue eating healthful, low calorie, protein-rich foods throughout the day. One or two food items doesn't make or break my diet so long as I am portion-conscious.

For a breakdown of my diet yesterday, see below:

The Workout

6-Minute Warmup On Treadmill

Lifting

Pullover Machine (Log says to do DB, but in the video Dorian Yates suggests that it isn't as good as the machine because the range of motion is shorter): 2 warmup sets (12 reps at 95lbs, 12 reps at 125lbs) and one working set (11 reps at 170lbs)
      Note: I can increase weight significantly on this workout next time

Close-Grip Pulldown: 1 warmup set (12 reps at 145lbs) and 1 working set (8 reps at 175lbs, rest-pause, then 4 more reps)
     Note: I may be able to increase weight on this next time, but it'll depend how I feel

One-Arm Row: 1 warmup set (12 reps at 40lbs) and 1 working set (15 reps at 55lbs)
     Notes: My right arm felt much stronger on this and I clearly need to increase the weight to get into the 8-10 rep range for my working set. I worked hard on this, but I didn't follow the program because I didn't choose an appropriate weight. Next time I'll go up to 70s I think.

Wide-Grip Cable Row: 1 warmup set (10 reps at 135lbs) and 1 working set (8 reps at 165)

Deadlifts: 1 warmup set (10 reps at 135) and 1 working set (10 reps at 205)
     Note: I can increase weight a bit next time to get to exhaustion

Cardio

Today's cardio was done in the PM after work. I did 30 minutes of stair-stepping on level 5 and burned just over 300 calories. I also kept my heart rate up above 150 the whole time. Felt good, biggest issue was foot pain, which I'm hoping improves with time.

Workout and Diet Log: 8-27-2012

Diet Log

I keep my food journal on MyNetDiary.com, a free online food diary that I can access anywhere. It keeps track of my macronutrients (protein, fat, carbs) and also my caloric intake. You can also set a weight loss goal on there and it will give you a suggested daily calorie amount to achieve that goal. I mostly try to eat clean and oftentimes fall under my calorie amount on those days, as in the case below. If I drink or have a cheat meal, sometimes I exceed my calorie amount. Fortunately, I'm a big guy and work out a lot, so my diet is more about eating healthful things than eating less.

Workout Log

Yesterday's workout was really exciting because it was the first day in my new phase. I worked out in the evening, although I'm going to start working out more in the mornings, like I did today. It makes my days feel longer and I have more flexibility in the evenings if I need it. Otherwise, I can do my other workouts like yoga and cardio away from my lifting, as Dorian Yates suggests.

The Workout

10-Minute Warmup on Treadmill

Rotator Cuff Flexion (stabilized): 2x12 at 15lbs

Decline Bench Press: 2 warmup sets (12 reps at 155, 10 reps at 155), 1 working set (7 reps at 205)

Incline Dumbbell Press: 1 warmup set (11 reps with 40s), 1 working set (8 reps with 60s)
      Note: I need to increase weight by 5lbs on my working set next time, it was a bit too easy.

Flat Bench Dumbbell Flies: 1 warmup set (10 reps with 30s), 1 working set (11 reps with 40s)
     Note: I need to increase the weight by 10lbs next time, it was way too easy.

Dumbbell Concentration Curls: 1 warmup set (10 reps with 20s), 1 working set (8 reps with 30s)
     Note: I need to increase weight by 5lbs next time, it was a bit too easy.

Straight Bar Curl: 1 working set (8 reps at 75lbs)
     Note: I need to increase weight by 10lbs next time, it was a bit too easy.

Cardio: 6.5 minutes rowing (30 seconds max force, 60 seconds easy), 10 minutes treadmill (1 min at 13-degree incline at 4mph, 1 min 4-degree incline at 3mph).

Workout Notes

So it turns out I'm much stronger than I thought. Switching from high volume to high intensity workouts is a bit of a shock. I did more than I thought I could on every workout and most were still too easy. I had to go slower to add intensity to certain lifts because it was just not going to get me to exhaustion and I also added extra reps to a couple of lifts for the same reason. Next Monday when I get back in the gym I'll have a better idea of how much I should be lifting to do this program correctly.

During cardio, I got my heart rate up over 150 about 8 or 9 times. A little bit pathetic right now. I have gone so long without doing anything but basketball for cardio that I felt like a wimp. I would have stuck with rowing, but knew that I had back this morning and didn't want to sacrifice my lifts too much, so I used it to get my heart rate elevated before stepping on the treadmill, where I was able to maintain that intensity pretty easily.

Look to see a lot more rowing as I get into this program, as I think it's the best cardio machine in the gym. I'll also be making a post explaining proper rowing form for anyone interested in giving it a try.

The other cardio I'm going to be hitting a lot is the stair stepper. It's relatively easy on my joints and it's great for calve development, which is important because it's difficult to get them to exhaustion by lifting alone.

Come Back Untouchable: Dick's Sporting Good Commercial

I loved this commercial and wanted to share it with you. I found it inspiring.

By, Marcus Krieg

Starting A New Workout Program

Overview of Program: Dorian Yates' Blood & Guts 6-Week Trainer

As I stated in a previous post, I'm going to be starting Dorian Yates' Blood & Guts 6-Week Trainer today. I'll also be doing cardio 3-4 times each week and yoga 2-4 times as well. My goals are three-fold: to cut body fat, increase muscle mass, and heal my injuries to the extent possible.

Monday Workouts: 

On Mondays I'll be doing the Chest & Biceps workout in the program in addition to some HIIT cardio. Not sure what my weight will be or which type of cardio I'll be doing, so check back tomorrow for a complete rundown and a copy of my diet plan for today.

The Workout: 

10 Minute Warmup on Treadmill

Decline Bench Press: 2 warmup sets at moderate intensity, 10-12 reps. 1 Working set at maximum intensity, 6-8 reps to failure. (1 min rest between sets)

Incline Dumbbell Press: 1 warmup set at moderate intensity, 10-12 reps. 1 Working set at maximum intensity, 6-8 reps to failure. (1 min rest between sets)

Flat Bench Dumbbell Flies: 1 warmup set at moderate intensity, 10-12 reps. 1 Working set at maximum intensity, 6-8 reps to failure. (1 min rest between sets)

5 Minutes Rest

Dumbbell Concentration Curls: 1 warmup set at moderate intensity, 10-12 reps. 1 Working set at maximum intensity, 6-8 reps to failure. (1 min rest between sets)

Straight Bar Curl: No Warmup. 1 Working set at maximum intensity, 6-8 reps to failure.

Notes: 

I may or may not have a workout partner for this program. I workout with someone, but I'm unsure if he's willing to take on this challenge with me. Because it's difficult to work to complete exhaustion without a spotter, I may do some rest-pauses to increase the intensity, if necessary. If a rest-pause is infeasible, I may try to find a suitable machine to finish out sets (i.e. a Decline Hammer Strength machine to finish off Decline Bench, etc).

Workout 8/21/12

The Workout

This workout was all arms and cardio. I wasn't technically supposed to do cardio, but I was working out with a friend and decided to do a cardio circuit at the end of my workout so we could get some work in together. 

Arms

Superset 1: 

Barbell Curls: 5x15, 60lbs first 3 sets, 55lbs last 2 sets

Bench Dips: 5x12 (don't know why they ask me to do so few in this superset...)

Superset 2: 

Incline Alternating DB Curls: 8 reps each arm, 5-second twist at bottom, 4 more reps each, 5 sets

Bench Dips: 5x30

Superset 3: 

Preacher Curls: 5x12, 50lbs

French Press (couldn't get a cable station for pushdowns): 5x20, 50lbs

Superset 4: 

Forearm Curls: 3x20, 20lbs

Forearm Extensions: 3x20, 5lbs (I am a big believer in balance, so I added extensions because it wasn't in the program)

Cardio Circuit

4 Sets: Row 250meters => 15 25-lb plate swings (like a kettlebell swing) => 1 minute of front plank variations (Spiderman planks, 4-corner planks, stretch planks)

The Result

In all, this was a good workout. My arms were super pumped by the end and are still shaking even now (nearly 20 hours later). I pushed myself to the limit, especially my forearms. Adding the row really added difficulty for them more than I expected. 

The cardio was more fun than usual because I made a circuit of it, so my heart rate and breathing were very high for about 15 minutes total. It's exhausting doing HIIT, but I like it because it doesn't take so long and I can mix it up to prevent over-stressing any of the muscle groups I lift with. 

The french press was also much more difficult than tricep pushdowns typically are, so that added another layer of difficulty to this workout. I probably could have chosen a more similar workout, but it was convenient for my superset with preacher curls. 

Diet While Living At Home

The Challenge

Living at home is a necessary evil for so many in my generation. Burdened with student debt and depressed wages from the recession, living on our own is infeasible. One of the biggest challenges I've been dealing with since I've moved to Phoenix is eating healthfully at home.

Eating right throughout the work week is no problem. I simply pack my meals and bring them all to work with me on Monday. Then the only challenge is saying "no" when I'm asked if I want to go somewhere for lunch. That's another thing I'm working on.

In the evenings and on the weekends, however, eating right is difficult. My grandmother, who I live with, is an excellent cook and makes epic meals all the time. Controlling myself at these times is difficult. What's worse, though, is that even ordinary meals that she prepares are very traditionally prepared, with lots of fats on everything, including the vegetables. She has tried to accommodate my diet, which I appreciate a lot, but she prepares the healthful food she makes in ways that she will enjoy eating it. Unfortunately, that means that she smothers it in butter or oils.

In short, eating at home is killing my diet, so I am either faced with the challenge of eating very early before I get home or choosing to eat very small portions that will leave me hungry all evening. I'm going to try something else and see how it works, however.

The Solution

My plan is risky. I may offend my grandmother, which is certainly not my intent, but I need to do something to take control of my diet. I can maintain weight the way I've been eating, so this is a short-term (maybe a couple months) plan that I can use when cutting. Once I'm happy with my body fat %, I can switch back and be disciplined 80% of the time like I am now.

What I'm going to do is go shopping every Sunday and prepare even my dinners in advance. I'll grill chicken and fish, put it into proper portions and seal it. Then I'll make sweet potato hash and lace that with veggies like bell peppers and onions. I'll also cook up some green vegetables like snap peas and broccoli and portion that out as well.

I spend a lot of time at a friend's house in the evenings after work, so maybe he'll let me stash that food there so it doesn't upset my grandmother. If not, I'll just have to risk it. What I can't do is nothing.

By, Marcus Krieg

Workout 8/20/2012

Chest, Back, and Abs

Today's workout is a chest, back, and abs workout. You can find it under Phase 4 of MusclePharm's Get Swole program.

The workout consists of some supersets and one "rotating triset." A superset is just two workouts performed back-to-back without rest. After you complete both workouts, you rest and repeat the superset. A triset is simply three exercises performed without rest.

I actually mixed up the order this week for two reasons. First, I didn't want to wait in line for the bench before getting started and Monday's at my gym have terrible lines for the bench around 5:30. And second, I wanted to put a little more focus on my front delts by spending more energy on incline bench. Use it when you got it! Otherwise I pretty much stuck to the program.

Superset 1: 

Incline Bench Press: 5x12, 3-count up and down, 85lbs
Chin-ups: 5x12, 120lbs assistance

Superset 2: 

Flat Bench Press: 5x12, 3-count up and down, 95lbs
Wide-Grip Pull-ups: 5x15, 150lbs assistance

Triset 3: 

Flat Bench Dumbbell Flies: 4x15, 30s first set, 25s final three sets
Dips: 4x12, 160lbs first set, 180lbs final three sets
(rotation of one of the three exercises below)
     Decline Hammer Strength Press: 2x15, 90lbs
     Cable Crossovers: 1x20, 50lbs each cable
     Dumbbell Pullovers: 1x15, 45lbs

Abs

Front-Plank Variation: 3x1min (Start in front plank position, move right arm out to side at 45-degree angle, then left arm, then right leg, then left leg. Pause as long as possible, then "walk in" in the same order.)
Decline Bench Situps: 3x12 with 25lb plate (lifted up towards ceiling)

Takeaways

All in all, it felt pretty good. I have enjoyed lowering the weight on presses and focusing on control. It always gives me a wicked burn without stressing out my shoulders too much. I felt much more in control of the weight this week in spite of increasing weight on almost every lift.

The ab work wasn't a part of the program, but I got bored doing ab wheel rollouts and weighted crunches, so I decided to mix it up a bit. The plank variation was EPIC. Not only was it much harder on my ab muscles, but it was easier on my shoulders and minimized the mental fatigue that I feel always accompany planks. Something about freezing in plank position for a long time is tedious and mentally I have a difficult time sustaining effort for 2+ minutes. Simply adding motion (and difficulty) made planks INFINITELY more enjoyable. I think I'll  continue playing with variations of the plank.

Just one more chest and back day in this phase before I move on to HIT (high-intensity training). I'm going to really focus on the working muscles on Thursday when I get back in the gym for Chest & Back, try to squeeze out quality reps and get the most out of this last bit of Hypertrophy volume training.

Tonight's workout is arms, by far the easiest of this phases workouts. I'll have that workout posted tomorrow.

Free Workout Log Tool

While looking for a way to easily input my workout data into this blog, I stumbled upon a free workout log tool that I think is share-worthy. It had a positive review from Empowher.com, a company I trust because my CEO helped found it.

The log is located at www.freeworkoutlog.com and it was one of the things I was looking for, albeit not what I was looking for when I found it. What you do is input your workout and body stats each day/week/etc and it tracks your progress. You can track progress on lifts, body weight, body fat %, and measurements; pretty much anything you need to determine which workouts are bringing you the best results.

I'm going to start using it today so that I can use my body for experiments and find out what types of workouts bring me the best results over time. There are some things I still need, which I'll buy as soon as I get my next paycheck, including a camera, measurement tape, and a body fat calculator. I will try to buy as many of these things as possible on Sunday so that I can have baselines ready to go for the first day of my new program.

The nerd in me just leaped for joy at the thought of actively using science to improve my workout results. 

Planning My Next Phase

Catch-Up

I battle with my perfectionist nature by writing my first blog post before I have most of the nuts and bolts of my page set up, but I need to get some of my thoughts out there.

Today is the first day in the last week of MusclePharm's Get Swole program. In retrospect, I have gotten quite a bit bigger and much stronger during this 16-week program, but I'm excited to transition into a higher-intensity, lower-volume program for awhile. I've been feeling the fatigue both mentally and physically and I think it's hurt my discipline somewhat, especially on the weekends.

My diet hasn't been great, probably 75% effective; or every three days I'm responsible, one day I'm irresponsible.

I also haven't been great about doing cardio or stretching. And very little focus has been applied to my problem areas (hip flexibility, foot pain, rotator cuffs, lower-back, etc). 

So while I've gotten great results with this program, I know my behavior overall hasn't been a recipe for success, so I'm going to do some things differently in the next phase.

My Next Phase

First, I'm going to select a lower-volume workout program that won't overstress my central nervous system. I figure that will help a lot with my discipline because I won't have to push through so many hard reps each day. Also, because the intensity will be high, I will only have to work each muscle group once per week.

Coupled with the fact that I'll be adding morning workouts into the mix, I should be able to include cardio and yoga into my routine without having to stack this "extra" work after a 90-minute lifting session, which there is a 0% chance of happening consistently.

I think my workout is going to be Dorian Yates' Blood & Guts 6-Week Trainer, which I found on BodyBuilding.com's website. It consists of a 4-day split routine. The first day is Chest & Biceps. The second is Back. The third day is Rest. The fourth is Deltoids and Triceps and the fifth is Legs.

What's elegant about this program is that it is super High Intensity Training (HIT), so I won't be performing 5 sets of several exercises. Rather, I'll have one to two warmup sets followed by one set to complete exhaustion, using rest-pauses if necessary to brutalize the working muscle in one all-out set.

Because the workouts are shorter, I can work out in the mornings and increase availability in my evenings for additional work when appropriate. It also comes with 3 scheduled non-lifting days. Between these two factors, I should be able to incorporate more cardio and yoga into my routine.

So this is what I think my schedule will look like:

Sunday: Yoga and HIIT (High-Intensity Interval Training) Cardio
Monday:  Fasted SSC (Steady State Cardio) and Chest & Biceps
Tuesday: Back and Yoga
Wednesday: HIIT Cardio
Thursday: Delts & Traps and Yoga
Friday: Legs
Saturday: Yoga and SSC

I'll be doing Yoga at LA Fitness for now, but will probably switch to a more flexible (yes, that's a pun) studio down the road, when my "skills" improve.

Side Notes 

It's funny how my knowledge base has evolved over the past 7 months. I always did research before starting a program because I believe knowledge is power, but now I'm more strategic when I choose a program. Now that I know what works for me and what doesn't, I can try mixing things up to find what works best for me. I can always come back to volume training later...