Hate & War

DEADLIFT DELOAD DAY

Deadlifts

135x5

135x5

155x5

155x5

185x5

185x5

Reverse Hyper

Red Band x 10 x 5

This proved to be sufficient tension, especially on a deload week. I couldn't even get my legs to parallel using the orange band we've got. We'll have to play around with ways to increase the tension in smaller increments. Otherwise, I liked this.

We then came up with a way to use it to do leg lifts where we laid on our backs, hooked the band up so there was no tension at the bottom, and then raised our legs til they were perpendicular to the ground.

Leg Lifts

Red Band x 10 x 3

Ab Wheel

10

15

15

I also ran 3 miles in 27 minutes this morning about three hours before we lifted.

-------

I am at the midway point of my fat loss attempts. If you recall, I started at 191 and 22% bf. My goal was to lose twelve pounds in 6 weeks. This morning I weighed in at 183 and 19.2% bf. That is obviously good progress, but I'm not going to take anything for granted and keep pushing as hard as I can to make sure I meet my goals, and hopefully exceed them. I have included some midpoint pictures for your viewing pleasure. Hopefully you can tell which are the beginning and which are the current ones. I have blocked out my face because for the beginning pictures, I thought it would be funny if I made a stupid face for the picture. However, this only made my look like I had real mental problems, so I made the executive decision that no one would get to see those.

My poor posture really stands out in the side view. I should fix that.

I'm So Bored With The USA

MILITARY PRESS DAY

I chose our deload week to get back on the ball with regular updates. Fuck you, I don't care.

Military Press

65x5

65x5

75x5

75x5

75x5

Dips

10

10

10

7

5

8

Interspersed throughout these sets, I did 13 sets of 4 Neutral Grip Chins. I didn't really have a great way to deload the assistance work on this day, nor did I have much desire to. The only concession I made was switching to an easier grip for chins and not really trying to get either the 50 dips or 50 chins that I shoot for on this day done in any fewer sets than I previously had done them.

Sean and I then drove to Ault Park, and I ran hills. I went for 15 minutes, as many reps as possible. Had a goal of 30, got 31. I will do this again on Friday and go for 33.

DIY

THE WEEK IN REVIEW

I'm going to try to update more frequently. We'll see how that goes.

My lifting this week:

Mon: Deadlifts, 295x8

Wed: Bench, 175x8

Thurs: Squat, 270x5

This was our 5/3/1 week of 5/3/1. I felt good about everything here except my squat, which sucks absolute balls. I know I need to be stretching out my hips a bit more and just generally get a bit more mobile. On a recent EFS Q&A, Marc Bartley talked about this book which I downloaded. I'm gonna try and do some of these stretches twice a week before bed, as well as being more diligent about my warm ups and foam rolling, and hopefully I can work some of this out.

Next week is our deload week. I probably need it, but I'm not sure how easy I'll be able to take it. When I'm in the gym, I usually feel like killing it, not taking it easy - otherwise, why else am I there? So this will be a new thing for me.

Cardio:

Monday: sprints in my backyard, 30 yd sprint, touch, sprint back, touch, etc. Do this for 15 secs, rest 30, repeat. Did these for 10 min after deadlifts and tried to get 90 yd each time.

Tuesday: Walked 9 holes of golf, met Sean at Xavier afterwards. We took turns running with the sandbag up the stairs between O'Connor and the Armory. We went left shoulder, right shoulder, Zercher carry, repeat. Best time was Sean at 25.6 secs. We went up and down 6 times. After Sean's 6th trip, he vomited for about 2 minutes straight. It appeared to be a gallon of liquid. I felt pretty nauseous too, so we turned it in for the night.

Wednesday: no cardio, besides yard work, but we supersetted our bench accessory work, and that kept my heart rate pretty well elevated

Thursday: Ran 2 miles in 19 minutes. Running is boring, but I'm gonna keep it in the mix. It's a nice feeling of accomplishment when I force myself to get through it.

Friday and Saturday: No cardio. Lots of sleep. 18 holes of golf on Saturday. Then Sean and I built the platform in the video below. It's pretty awesome.

Never done reverse hypers for real before, so it's hard to say how closely this approximates the real thing, but I think it's pretty rad. I felt like Matt Hoffman working out in a polo shirt.

Up Up and Away Away

RUNNING HILLS

Is not fun.

I was driving through my new neighborhood the other day and noticed that there was a giant, and I'm assuming shut down, steel plant about a mile from my house. Across the street from this plant was a giant vacant lot, with a huge mound of dirt sitting in it. Perfect.

This mound or hill, or whatever it is, is in the north side of Columbus, at the intersection of Grant and 5th Ave. It's in a run down neighborhood, no surprise considering its proximity to a busted factory. I ran there, which is about a mile, not knowing if I could park near it. Next time I'll likely drive and park somewhere. I'm not as much worried about running through a crappy neighborhood as I am of being worn down by the noontime summer heat.

The hill is trapezoidal. I would guess that its about 50 feet tall, or somewhere around there, with a 30 yard plateau. I'm not going to guess the grade of the incline on either side, but the southernmost side is steeper. When I say the hill is trapezoidal, I mean it. The North and South sides have runnable slopes, but the East and West sides are basically cliffs. They seem to be composed of dirt for 90% of the way, but the top 10-20% of the sides are basically loose shale. If I were to try and run the East and West ends I'd basically end up cut up, broken, and tumbling down the mound.

I ran up and down the South end to start, which is the worn dirt path on the right side of the above picture. I ran up, down, up, and down again for 1 set. I did that 5 times.

Then I decided to run up the South side, across the plateau, down the North, and then up the North, across the plateau, and down the South. I did that 5 times.

That was plenty. I felt like garbage going into it, as the GHR the other day has left my hams in ruins. Also, running to the hill in 90 degree heat is a dumb idea. I can get warm enough by stretching outside. No need to tire myself before I'm doing the real work.

I jogged/walked back home afterwards. Not a bad day.

The view from the top:

614

Random story. I'm probably not supposed to be using this hill. It's likely owned by the steel company, and the surrounding lot may be used for parking construction equipment. Anyway, as soon as I got there and climbed to the top to assess everything I saw a cop car coming down the street towards the hill. When I got to the bottom, though, I had yet to see it pass the hill, so I turned and looked up the street. The cop had parked in an empty lot caddy corner to me, with his car facing me. I figured that if he had a problem with me being there, he could just say something. I've been yelled at before, and the worst he could do would be to tell me to leave. Big deal.

The weird thing was that he sat in that spot the entire time I was running, 30 minutes or so. The moment I grabbed my bag, threw on my shirt, and started my way home, though, he pulled out of his spot and flew past me. Made no sense. Maybe he was a perv. Or the fitness police.

Cleveland is the Reason

ATHLETIC DAY

Joe was absent today, so we basically stuck to what we did last week.

Kettle Bell Work:

Figure 8s:

3 sets of 24kg x 8

Alternating 1 Handed Swings:

3 sets of 24kg x 8 (each hand)

Snatch Swings (2 Handed):

3 sets of 16kg x 8

Tire Work:

Sledge Hits: 10 each side

Tire Flip: 10 flips

I felt much quicker, stronger, and less inclined to throw up this week. I'm likely just in better shape now, due to increased cardio and a better diet. I'm pleased with my progress.

Cambered Bar Good Mornings:

Bar x 10

95 x 10

135 x 10

185 x 10

Once again, the weights are listed as if the bar is 45. Its heavier. Doing GMs with the Cambered Bar was a trip, just like using them for squats. Its harder to stabilize, and forces you to take it a bit slower. Though I'm not ready to say I prefer them to straight bar GMs, due to its tendency to slide down your back, it was a fun exercise.

Glute - Ham Raise:

8

8

4

Fuck. These were brutal. Read the EFS Exercise Index I've linked to, it does a better job than I can in describing how hard these blow. I'm going to be doing more of them, though. Big hams!

Ab Circuit:

Cable Crunch: 90 x 15

Oblique Raise: 55 x 10 each

Ab Wheel: 15

3 sets, no rest in between exercises or sets.

Neck Harness:

25 x 20

25 x 20

35 x 15

Hour and a half workout.

Ran 2 miles the previous day, two times. No running today.

Roll Call

BENCH DAY

Neck Harness:

35lbs x 20

Pinch Grip:

15lbs x 30

Gripper:

2 plates x 40

Did those 3 things as a circuit, 4 times through, no real rest from one set to the other.

I, T, Y Band Pull-aparts

Bamboo Bar Bench:

w/ 16kg KBs x 10

24kg x 10

24kg + 10lb plates x 10

24kg x 10

24kg x 10

This was pretty insane. The bamboo bar is very unstable, its very bendable and as a result forces you to stabilize the bar. You load the bar by hanging KBs or plates from the ends with bands, which further destabilizes the bar. You don't push the weight like you would a standard bar either, there is no moment of "explosion." The weight is light enough, the max load on the bar is 200lbs, that there is no need to explode, but the real challenge is to simply stabilize the weight. You'll notice the weight I used went up, and then back down. Thats because I couldn't stabilize the bar, it shot up and down and back and forth. Its a really strange feeling, because the weight is something you can easily press, but its all you can do to just push it in a straight line.

Alternating DB Bench from a foam Block:

55 x 10 (each arm)

55 x 10

55 x 10

We used a giant foam block as a bench, which was marginally unstable. The pressing action required us to lift the shoulder of the pressing arm off the foam/bench, basically replicating a punching motion. It helps work the shoulder and the stabilizers more within the press.

Low Cable Row (with a monster mini band):

2 plates x 10

2 plates x 10

2 plates x 10

Rope Pull:

2 plates x 3

2 plates x 3

2 plates x 3

There is a long, thick rope looped around a large pulley stuck to the ceiling at Lexen, which is about 20ft up. The rope is attached to a metal plate which you can add weight to. You pull the rope, hand over hand, until the weight reaches the top, and then you lower it, hand over hand, until it touches the floor. 3 trips up and down is one set. Difficulty: you aren't allowed to use your thumbs. Destroys your hands and forearms.

Armbar:

24kg KB, each arm, 30 second hold.

3 sets

Cable Crunches:

90 x 15

90 x 15

90 x 15

Took 2 hours or so.

Then I drove home and ran.

Roadwork: 2 miles.

Pursuit of Happiness

Cardio (AM): 2 Miles on the street.

Cardio (PM): 2 Miles on the street.

I'm trying to get my conditioning in check. Also, I hate running, mostly because I'm awful. I'd like to get better, hence twice a day.

FOOD REVIEW

I've been on a low carb diet, and as a result, I've been looking to find ways to make this diet a bit more fun.

Tilapia and chicken breast are two staples of my diet, but pan frying them in some olive oil or baking them gets old pretty fast. I really wanted some breading on these, especially the bland tilapia, but obviously that doesn't work with the low carb aspect of the low carb diet. What does, though is homemade nut "flour".

I simply went to the store and bought a box of almonds and a box of pecans, ground them up until they were as close to a powder as I could, and hey presto! Low carb flour.

Don't shy away from making it as fine a "flour" as you can. You want as much coverage on the meat as you can get, and smaller particles will work better in that regard.

For tilapia, just toss the filet in a egg bath, throw on the flour and pan fry it. Simple.

For chicken. Same basic idea. Bathe it in the egg, cover it in nuts, and give it a light fry. The idea here is to give it a nice crispiness before it hits the oven. Then bake it until its basically done. Pan fry it quickly once again to maintain that crispy outer coating.

It does a great job in adding some healthy fats, a few extra good calories, and breaking the monotony in a low carb diet.

Hard Times

Since last update:

Wed PM: Bench 165x11, DB Bench, DB Rows, DB Complex

Thurs PM: Squat 255x7, Front Squats, Suspended Leg Curls, 16 min jump rope

Out of everything, my squat has been most affected by my attempts to drop fat. The weights just feel really heavy everytime I get under the bar. I think this is because I'm so carb depleted, but also because most of my cardio involves me using my legs. Eventually, I hope, my body will adjust to this, but for now, they are just going to feel tired all the time I guess.

Fri PM: 5 sets of 50 yd 270 lbs farmers walk, "sprint" back, 50 yd 80 lbs sandbag carry, minimal rest in between

We got done with this just in time for it to pour down rain. My garage flooded, so that's pretty awesome. We're gonna have to get the rust off of the weights and repaint them one of these days soon.

Sat PM: Refeed - 16 oz ny strip, big pile of mac and cheese, chocolate cake with ice cream and hot fudge. I also would have really loved to have eaten the bread that everyone else in the restaurant got before their meals, but our waitress never brought it out, and I'm certainly not one to cause trouble, so we never got it. I should be less of a pussy.

Sun AM: 10 min jump rope, burpeee/mt climber tabata, 5 60 yd sprints, feel like puking

Sun PM: MP 135x7

Monday morning, I weighed in at 186.0 and 20.8% bf. This has been pretty much where the scale has been for the last few days, so I'm going to drop off 50 calories for a few days, and then maybe 50 more, depending on how things go. Lost another inch off my waist, and a little bit off my skinfold measurements, though I still don't completely trust Teresa to do this correctly.

Lemonade

SQUAT DAY

Warm Up:

Static and dynamic stretching.

I, T, Y Band Pull aparts.

Buffalo Bar Free Squat:

(Like the Cambered Bar, I'm not sure how much this weighs. Its definitely heavier than the standard 45lb bar, but I'm going to write everything as if they're the same.)

Bar x 10

Bar x 10

95 x 10

135 x 8

185 x 6

225 x 5

275 x 4

275 x 3

225 x 5

225 x 5

I had to drop the weight because I couldn't hit 275 to Joe's liking. I was bending too far forward on the way down and basically putting myself into a position where I has to Good Morning the weight back up. I knew I did this beforehand, but I guess I wasn't aware how big of a problem it was. When I dropped the weight Joe gave me plenty of verbal cues to "arch hard", harder in the hole than I do at the top. He said, and I definitely agree, that it isn't something I'm going to be able to correct in one workout.

We used the Buffalo Bar for the same reason that we used the Cambered Bar last week, Joe is recovering from shoulder issues he's developed as a result of powerlifting, and hasn't used a straight bar to squat in over a year. He was able to get his hands on the Buffalo Bar, though, which is a big improvement. I felt that the Buffalo Bar functioned similarly to a straight bar, as it basically is one, though it is thicker and seemed harder to hold on my back at times.

Speed Pulls:

We planned on doing them with a doubled up monster mini, but this was scrapped after we each did 135 x 1 and it proved to be a bit harder than was needed. So we went to straight weight.

135 x 1

225 x 1

315 x 1

405 x 1

455 x F x 2

Couldn't hit the 455, which is my PR. The 405 flew off the floor, but I think I may have been a little too worn out to get that PR again.

Reverse Hypers:

(We use 35lb plates because 45s are too large in size and will smash into your shins.)

Three 35s on each side x 8

x 8

x8

First time doing these. They were pretty rough and basically smashed my abs to the point where I wanted to throw up.

Circuit:

Gripper w/ 2 plates x 20

Cable Crunches @ 80/90/100lbs x 20

Decline Sit Ups w/ 16kg KB x 10

Ab Wheel x 20

3x through, no rest.

Neck Harness:

16kg KB x 30, 30

All in all this took about 2 hours. Then I drove home and immediately hit the streets.

Running:

2miles.

I felt incredibly weak after this run. Jell-o legs, a bit dizzy, and in need of a serious nap. I've been on a low carb diet all week, and decided that now was a good time for a refeed.

REFEEEEEEED

Chipotle Burrito Bowl w/

Rice and Black Beans

Double Steak

Corn Salsa

Green Tomatillo Salsa

Cheese and Lettuce

And two cup fulls of Mr. Pibb.

Felt like my stomach was going to asplode, I can't eat much right after I workout. Awesome.

Rollin' Like a Bigshot

ATHLETIC DAY

Today was Athletic Day at Lexen. Which means "this is going to suck and if you're a little bitch [and I am] you're going to vomit." Basically we do all the goofy shit you see on the Ultimate Fighter or HBO 24/7 shows. Its hard.

Kettle Bells:

Figure 8s:

24kg for 3 x 8

Alternating 1 Hand Swings:

24kg for 3 x 8 each

Swing Snatches (2 Hands):

16kg x 8 each

Sledge / Tire:

I think the sledge is a 10lb hammer. Not sure. Don't care. Ben thinks the tire is about 300lbs. Again, though, I'm not sure. But if it is, the 600lb tire Mike Johnston threatened to buy is going to be pure hell.

10 Sledge swings, each side, onto the small tire.

Then 10 flips of the big tire, as soon as possible following your sledge work.

Did 3 sets. I didn't vomit. I got close, but I surprisingly kept it down.

Seated Box Jumps:

If you've ever watched video of Joe DeFranco's gym, you've seen these. Here's a video of a recently shamed Brian Cushing doing them with a 2olb vest.

We don't have plyo boxes, Lexen isn't exactly a place for those. What we do have, and what we used, are lots of foam pads used for box squatting.

So we got one of the two giant blocks of foam, which I guess are used for squatting, and loaded smaller, more sturdy pads on top of it. Then we threw a wooden box, with a grippy surface, on top of all that. Joe said we were going to end up playing "Murderball" if we used it. He's probably right.

I have no idea how high it was at any point. It was high though. We added two smaller pads to the pile after each set, I'd bet they're an inch or 1.5 inches thick each.

10

10

10

7 (Was going for 8, but rushed the last rep and skinned my shin down the side of the box.)

5

1 (This was at the same level as my top ab.)

F (This was at nipple level. Skinned my shin again. I feel I could hit this when I'm more fresh.)

All in all it was a fun day. I found out that I can actually jump fairly well. I can jump higher than Cushing did in the video, actually. Granted, I wasn't wearing a 20lb vest, but I'm not on steroids either, so BAM! (Ignore the related videos where he jumps higher.)

Ben said Georges St. Pierre jumps at nipple level in some UFC video. So I'm pretty much on par with GSP, which I've suspected all along!

Little from the World

Quick update, since getting 8 hrs of sleep a day has really cut into my free time. On Monday morning, weighed in at 187.0 lbs and 21.4%. I'm happy with this, even though much of it is likely water weight from reducing carbs. I'm not too concerned with the scale's bf% only dropping a slight amount. I don't trust it in the least, and thus, only want to see it trending downwards - I don't really care about the numbers. Pictures looked good, but I haven't had time to figure out how to paste them together in a format that makes sense to compare, so you'll have to trust me on that. Skinfold measurements didn't move at all, and I'm not sure if this is because I'm failing to lose fat, or if Teresa is not very good at taking those measurements. I'm leaning towards the latter, but who knows. Lost an inch on my stomach.

Training

Sunday AM: 20 minutes of KB work, 30 secs work, 30 secs rest, various exercises

Sunday PM: MP day, 130x7, dips and chins

Monday AM: Bike sprints, abbreviated b/c the gym at work closed earlier than I expected

Monday PM: DL day, 280x11, gms and weighted ab work, closed with a KB swing tabata to make up for the cardio I missed in the morning

Tuesday PM: 100 yd farmer's walk w/only implements (~100 lbs total?) + 100 yd sandbag carry for 8 sets. For 7 of those sets I carried the sandbag on my shoulders, but for the last one I carried it in front of me like a zercher squat. This was miserable, made it hard to breathe, and made my abs want to collapse. I will def use this method way more next time.

Now I'm late for work.

The Sky Might Fall

BENCH DAY

Ben and I got into Lexen a half hour before the scheduled start time in order to get some neck and grip work in.

Neck Harness:

25lbs x 20, 30, 30

Grip Machine:

Similar to this except with just two spots for your hands.

Two 45s x 50, 50, 50

Pinch Grip Machine:

Basically this. It allows you to get your thumbs involved.

20lbs x 10, 10, 10

Bench Warmup:

Kettle Bell Armbar:

16kg @ 30 second holds in each arm x 3

Band Pull Aparts:

T: Your standard pull apart, in front of the body, just below your pecs.

Y: A cut band. Wrap the middle around the bottom of a rack and grab an end with each hand. Stand so it is taught with your arms out in front of you parallel to the floor. Raise your arms above your head in a dynamic fashion.

I: Hold the band above your head, taught. Pull it apart by lowering your arms from this starting position (the Y in YMCA) to the finish, which is with your arms out like you were Jesus on the cross. Make sure the band goes behind your head.

Did each of those for 3 sets of 15-20.

Bench (With a doubled up red band):

Bar x 15

Bar x 15

95 x 10

135 x 5

135 x 5

135 x 4

135 x 4

135 x 5

Log Press:

The EFS log says its 81lbs. This log isn't the same, though I bet the weight is similar.

I found this to be a complete bitch of a workout. I had to bend pretty far back to allow space of the bar, which in turn threw my balance off. I initially tried it with a standard overhead press stance, and then attempted a split stance, which was what some of the other guys were doing. I actually preferred the conventional stance. It also seemed to kill my ability to breathe. I'm not sure if I was just forgetting, which I doubt, or if it just worked my abs to the point that I couldn't get in big enough of a breath. Also, I tried to be strict, no push pressing.

Log x 8, 8, 8

Chest Supported Rows (with a black band):

95 x 8

95 x 10

135 x 4

Lat Pulldowns:

I had it in my head that the way to activate the lats here was to lean back. Riddle told me otherwise, though. He told me to get my belly on the knee pad, sit up, and arch my back so my chest would stick out. It was much harder.

95 x 10

145 x 4

95 x 10

Decline Skullcrushers with KBs:

55lbs x 4 (Too heavy)

16kg x 10 (Probably too light)

16kg x 10

Ab Work:

Ball Crunches: 75, 50

Ab Wheel: 10, 10

Cable Crunches: 80 x 15

Kick Ups on a Bench: 10

Long day.

Over the Edge

Back in Columbus. Trying to get my shit together.

SQUAT DAY

Sunday is squat day for the Columbus MMA crew at Lexen Extreme. CMMA is located in the same low rent, small warehouse lot as Lexen, close enough to hit with a baseball. But for some reason the only people from CMMA who lift at Lexen, despite being offered a discount, are my brother, former powerlifter Joe Riddle, and one other fighter. I guess most kids into MMA these days are convinced that strength isn't really necessary for BJJ / MT / MMA. Whatever, they'll just get beat up.

So I jumped on board with what Ben was doing for the day, and I'm likely going to try and keep that going. With that, I'll likely be off 5/3/1 for a while, and on whatever Joe tells us to do. I'm more than fine with that for now.

Warm Up:

Walking sled drags:

3 plates, 5 trips back and forth across the parking lot.

Cambered Bar Box Squat:

(I asked Joe what the bar weighed, he said "I don't know, 55? 60?" I'm just going to write the weight as if it were 45 just to make it simple to digest.)

45 x 8

45 x 8

95 x 5

135 x 2

135 x 2

185 x 2

185 x 2

185 x 2

185 x 2

225 x 2

225 x 2

This was my first time doing just about all of these things. First time box squatting in about a year. First time box squatting on a box, and not a bench or some other DIY bullshit, since high school. First time on a monolift. First time on a cambered bar.

The monolift was cake. Obviously its not difficult to figure out, you just set up, stand up, and go. Although I've only used it this once, I prefer it to walking the weight out of a standard rack.

The cambered bar was a bit wild. At first I thought the box was messing me up, as I was used to free squatting and tended to slam into the box pretty hard. As it turns out, it was the bar. Since the bar sits high, while the weight is low, it felt like it was pulling me forward. Additionally, when I came to a stop on the box the weight would literally swing forward, pulling me along with it. This took some getting used to. Joe reminded me over and over again to put my hands lower on the bar and push slightly, in order to stabilize the weight.

Overall it was a fun experience, though I was understandably frustrated with my inability to "get" it on the first shot.

Kettle Bell Work.

Though it seemed to take an hour to get through the warm up and squat, we had plenty more to do in the day. Mike Johnston, a former Q&A contributor on EFS, came in to show us how to properly work the KBs. Mike is a current strongman competitor who has worked KBs and powerlifting with Donnie Thompson and Marc Bartley down in South Carolina. I'm not sure what he was doing up here, but I was more than willing to listen.

For what its worth, I attempted to fill in my KB weight from Riddle's blog entry, but I really am not sure what KBs I was using. I just did what Mike told me to do.

Alternating 1 Hand Swing:

3 x 12 @ 44lb

2 Handed Swing:

3 x 10 @ 44lb

2 Handed Swing Snatches:

3 x 6 @ 44lb

Alternating 1 Hand Snatch:

3 x 10 @ 44lb

1 Handed Clean and Press (Bottoms Up):

3 x 6 @ 44lb

One Hand Static Snatch:

@ 88lbs

This was basically a "try to do this" challenge.

I failed to snatch it. But I cleaned it twice, each time failing to press.

He also demonstrated Windmills, Armbars, and Turkish Get Ups, though we were pretty well torched at this point and didn't attempt them.

Rolled at CMMA:

45 minutes or so. I fared well against a completely worn out Riddle, but I got pretty well thrashed by some other big dude. To be expected. Felt good to be back, though.

Running:

1.5 - 2 miles, somewhere in there, to Grove City High School.

Ran stairs. 4 or 5 sets of 2x up and down the bleachers, and then one set of up and down 8 times straight.

Then we walked home, lungs burning and legs like Jell-0.

And Clayton "Fat Belly" Morris says I don't train.

Some Kinda Weight

So, in the past 6 months or so, I’ve managed to gain about 10 pounds and get my weight up to 190. Along with the muscle I’ve gained, I have also added a little bit of fat as well. This, combined with the fat I already had, has left me chubbier than I want to be. I would estimate that I am around 20% bodyfat at the moment. The time has therefore come for me to get a little bit leaner. My goal is 12 pounds in 6 weeks. I started working towards this on 5/10/10, so I just want to summarize what my plan is to accomplish my goal, and what I have done so far:

THE DIET

I have cut my calories by 20% from an approximately 3000 calories a day to a strict 2400 a day. I’m limiting carbs to 80-100 g, exclusively from vegetables and dairy. Protein has stayed pretty consistently around 300 g a day, which is probably a lot, but it’s the easiest way for me to get quality calories and stay full. Fat makes up whatever is left over.

Thus far, I have done fine in sticking to this. I have just tried to be consistent in planning ahead for the next day or two and making sure I always know what I’m eating and when. As expected, the low carb thing has left me a little more tired and flat than I normally am, but it’s nothing I can’t handle.

CARDIO

My plan is 6 days of cardio, up from about 0 previously. I want to keep it short and intense. Additionally, on days when I also lift, I have been trying to keep the two sessions separate so that I am able to give my best effort to both. This week, I have done:

Monday AM: 10 min jump rope, burpee tabata, 2 min rest, bw squat tabata

Tuesday PM: kettlebell complex

Wednesday PM: (after bench day) dumbbell complex

Thursday AM: 15 min steady state jump rope (felt exhausted, and decided to take it relatively easy and save myself for squats that night)

Friday PM: Ran hills - ~40 yd hill, 20 trips up, 9 minutes

WEIGHTS

Sean and I started 5/3/1 on Sunday. I thought that us doing so would make the blog even more boring, since us and Drew are now doing the same program. Luckily, Drew no longer lifts weights, so this won’t be an issue. I am so far loving 5/3/1. The last “go for broke” set is fun, and I enjoy keeping the assistance work simple and straightforward. I’ll summarize my final sets for the week:

Sunday: MP 125x10

Monday: DL 265x13

Wednesday: BP 155x11

Thursday: Squats 245x10 - a note on this workout - I felt absolutely beat, the weights felt heavy the whole day, but I knew I could get 10, and it was just a matter of mental toughness

REST

Saturday is my day off, where I plan on sitting on my ass all day. Also, I have made a commitment to getting 7.5 - 8.5 hours of sleep a night, which I have never really done in the past. Hopefully this will help me recover better, especially since I am operating in a caloric deficit

PROGRESS

I have chosen 12 pounds as a goal since it is an easy thing to track. However, I am also going to be using several other methods as well to make sure that I am losing primarily fat. Every Sunday night, I will be making Teresa take pictures of me, so I can visually track my fat loss. I am also making her take skinfold measurements in a few places, and measure my stomach. Here are my starting stats:

Weight (monday AM): 191.0

Scale bf%: 22.0% (a note about this number - I think it is a bit too high, because I am dehydrated in the morning, but I will still be tracking it, because if I am doing things right, it should still trend down)

Skinfold:

Chest 14 mm

Abs 24 mm

Quads 22 mm

Stomach (measured at navel) 35”

Neck 15.6”

Biceps 15.6” <-- if you go to this site, you can plug the above numbers in and get some bodyfat estimates...except for the biceps, that’s just cause I wanna know how gunny I am

Instead of posting my starting pics today, I will wait until Monday night, so I can include a week of progress as well.

Also, I have made this 5/3/1 spreadsheet that I like much better than the other ones I have seen. If you want to, you can download it here. Input values are in blue.

You Gotta Get Into it, Growl Like a Bear

Yesterday we did 5/3/1 for deadlifts. So far I'm a pretty big fan of the new program, sticking to a couple core big movements and then getting out instead of a million sets like in WS4SB. I hit 315 for 13 on my last set, maybe could've hit one or two more but I'm planning on leaving a bit in the tank for the first couple weeks to acclimate to the new program before I go all-out.

After lifting I was going to hang out with Amanda but she wasn't out of school yet so I decided to go run hills for a while. Hill sprints were reasonably fun, but after a while I tried to play around and came up with some pretty killer variations.

Jumping up the hill - tried this one before, still look retarded doing it, but pretty awesome for conditioning

Running up the hill backwards - amazingly didn't fall over. Before trying it I was debating whether I'd feel it in my quads or hams. Quads. Definitely. Going down the hill backwards felt good though, got a good stretch.

Bear crawls up the hill - Pretty much the same as running up the hill, with some extra shoulder work

Bear crawls down the hill - Ooph. These were the hardest/best variation. Good shoulder stability work, good conditioning. Also probably looked dumbest in front of the 5 couples getting wedding pictures taken. Hope I'm in the background of their Save the Dates with my ass in the air.

Bear crawls up the hill sideways - A bit difficult to work my form out, ended up mostly pushing off the downhill foot, kinda awkward but not bad. Maybe you fruits would say it helps work mobility, before you drink a latte and go to yoga.

Also, some slutzzz were in a car at the park and offered me a beer, catcalled, and generally jocked my nuts.

End of an Era

Tested our maxes today. I got the numbers I thought I could hit, so I was happy with that. I've summarized the progress I've made since we started westside for skinny bastards on November 16th. The beginning numbers are estimated based on the first time we did the lift, using Wendler's formula. So, the bench and DL numbers are from mid November, but the squat is from early December, and the mp from early March.

	Begin (Mid Nov)	NYE	May 5, 2010
Squat	286*	300	315
Bench	176*	185	205
DL	303*	315	345
MP	138*	N/A	160*

I didn't actually hit a 1RM on the mp, because I was running late, and a woman was coming to pick up the washing machine I sold on craigslist, but I got 3 at 145 and called it quits. I was exhausted anyway. I believe Sean had a 315 squat, 245 bench, and 405 dl. We'll be basing our 5/3/1 maxes off these numbers.

It's the end of an era. We can project, we can fuck around, we can talk, talk. Shut the fuck up. We can't fucking do anything til we do it.

New Program

I think I'm going to give this a shot instead of 5/3/1.
Don't wanna hurt my knees squatting!