LOL!!! I still cannot move without feeling the legs today. Mostly I am hurting in the hammies 'cause he made me do the lunges really wide.
Here are my rolling stats. I think I will graph it later (I am such a geek). Today I seemed to have had a big drop so will keep an eye on that to make sure I am not dropping too quickly. More likely a bit of water or something like that so this is not a big deal for me yet. This chart is for the past 2.5 weeks. Again just for fun.
Total lbs
Total bf
Total bf in lbs
Cummulative Total
2.4
1.9%
2.50
4.90
Date
lbs
bf%
weekly avg cals
weekly avg protein in g
weekly avg carbs in g
weekly avg fat in g
weekly avg macro % (P, C, F)
delta lbs
delta bf%
Delta in lbs bf
Total DELTA in lbs weight lost/gain
4-May-08
133.8
19.5%
2656
263
266
69.4
38,39,23
-133.8
NA
NA
NA
12-May-08
131.8
18.7%
1923
218
190
40.3
44,38,18
2
0.8%
1.05
3.0544
15-May-08
132.8
18.4%
1913
215
191
39.7
43,39,18
-1
0.3%
0.40
-0.6016
16-May-08
132.8
18.2%
1927
216
192
41
43,38,18
0
0.2%
0.27
0.2656
21-May-08
132.5
18.4%
1775
204
171
37.5
44,37,18
0.3
-0.2%
-0.27
0.035
22-May-08
131.4
17.6%
1.1
0.8%
1.05
2.1512
Today was trainer day. We talked a LOT about my diet and how I am feeling. He kept asking me over and over if I had high energy still and was okay mentally and all that. He decided to allow me to stay at the calorie range I am at now since I feel great and since I am still doing things like 255lb rack pulls even though I am dropping pretty quickly now. We again went through the macros and he said that I need to bring up my fat and I could steal from protein if I needed. We will check next week to see if that makes me too sluggish.
On the subject of 255lb lifts I again was chastised and had to promise him that I would not do that again without his supervision. He was doing some of his own deadlifting and was feeling again how heavy 185lb was and that is what triggered the conversation.
Today we worked on pecs and shoulders. I will do tris and abs over the weekend. He said I am surprisingly weak in the pecs given my ability to lift so much with back, traps and glute. He said that we will begin to focus in on that area and really build up the pecs and upper arms.
Warm up superset
bench cable pec flyes
1x15(24lb), 1x10 (48lb), 1x15 (24lb)
Alt db flyes (front and side)
3x10 (10lb)
During this set we spent an inordinate amount of time working on form and making sure that I was not pulling from my traps rather from my pecs and even lats. It took a long time to get thorough it.
bb press on bosu (3 SETS)
this done on bosu ball to make me push from the core more (I had to support my hips at parallel while my back and shoulders were supported) and also to keep me from using traps so much. He alternated a loaded 65lb and 45lb bar. For one set I would do 10 reps with the 65lb bar and then (without rest) I would get the 45lb bar and do 15 more reps.
Bosu ball (wide grip) push ups
to failure... I can't say how many I did 'cause long after my arms gave out he was barking for me to do more and was supporting me. OMG I about died....
He laughed when I was done sitting at the desk rubbing my pecs. He said he wants to hear about how I feel in the next day or two and wants me to message him. He is a sick puppy.....
But hey, I am losing weight and staying strong and beautiful so I think I'll keep him for a little while longer.....
Here are my rolling stats. I think I will graph it later (I am such a geek). Today I seemed to have had a big drop so will keep an eye on that to make sure I am not dropping too quickly. More likely a bit of water or something like that so this is not a big deal for me yet. This chart is for the past 2.5 weeks. Again just for fun.
Being a bit of a numbers geek myself, can I ask about the rolling stats? Since these aren't daily entries, are you doing any kind of averaging? I'm asking since I now have access to a (likely inaccurate) Tanita body fat scale. I was thinking of doing some kind of rolling average and I wondered what others did.
By the way, your workouts impress (and scare) me. I feel funny saying good job - but, great job.
I pretty much weigh and measure every single day so no real rolling average. I only put it in my chart when I remember the numbers. That said, I think in terms of rolling average which prevents me from freaking out if there is a weight flux for some reason
You can see by my chart that the Ormon is pretty consistent. It may be off a bit but I tend to believe it is close to right for this sort of application. I stay hydrated equally and I measure at thes same time every morning when I wake up.
Thanks. I suspect I'll do a rolling average, but compare on a Sunday, or perhaps Sat evening to Sat evening, as I may post it on my blog with the change in weight (since that's kind of what I do for the weight now). I still think I'll do it at night, for no specific reason (well, there are, but it's likely TMI). I also know that I'll still likely lose LBM no matter what I do*, but it will be interesting to see what the trends show.
(I say this because according to today's number it's 144lbs, which I'm sure will not be that as I lose weight.)
Anyway, thanks for your answer, sorry for the hijack. Back to your quite impressive (and still scary) workouts.
My workouts are sometimes scary to me too. I still am sore in my legs but so far the pecs are fine.
Not hijacking at all. This place is the learning place and all are welcome to learn as I learn. If you notice in my spreadsheet I dropped my cals from 1900(ish) a day to 1700(ish) a day and the result of that was that I dropped weight at a higher rate than bf%. This tells me that my magic cal range is probably around 1800 or even the original 1900 at my current activity and macro level. At least that is my theory. I LOVE this dialing in stuff.
I am back to log a 1.5 hour bike ride. HR stayed mostly around 140 HR. Ahhhh.....
nice workouts. I have the same weakness in my pecs as you do. So these workouts are very interesting to me. I wonder if those of us that run tend to be like this?
Yep that is it. It is crazy and torture and he was pretty much laughing about how much it sucks even before I started. Then he had to get pretty serious with me to talk me through finishing. I soooooo wanted to stop.
But you didn't, did you?
__________________ In Fitness & Friendship, MAHLER
______________________________ __________________________ There is no light at the end of the tunnel. You carry the light with you.
nice workouts. I have the same weakness in my pecs as you do. So these workouts are very interesting to me. I wonder if those of us that run tend to be like this?
I suspect so. I have the added benefit of having a farm so I throw 100 lb bales of hay around all the time and that sort of work. My back is freakishly strong. I remember being reallly strong in the deadlift though even before the farm. When I was in the USMC I could outlift the guys many times. I remember just hauling around these 120lb batteries. I weigh 113lbs at the time. So it is partly my lifestyle but partly genetics I think. Now for me to work up the shoulders and pecs.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mahler
But you didn't, did you?
Heck no. Dude was barking in my ear to not quit. He also had me by the waist for the last 3 and nearly lifted me up all the way with his arms. Mine were shot. Funny thing though is that I have no pec soreness today. Hmmmmm....
Gotta ask: what's the difference between front and side DB flys? Guess I could seek out an answer on the internet, but maybe someone else wants to know, too?
I'm guessing you'll be feeling those Bosu push-ups anytime now...
__________________
Laugh a lot, and when you're older, all your wrinkles will be in the right places.
The DB flyes are a shoulder exercise. On the fronts, you lift the db straight out to the front of you and then you drop them and raise the db straight out to your side for the side flyes.
Never did get any sort of pec pain. Cool.
Friday was a rest day and I actually rested the whole day with very little movement. Then on Saturday I ended up spending the whole day hanging with a friend and we got in a one hour nice walk (avg HR was 131). Other than that nothing and I am pretty sure I over-ate at this restaraunt we went out to. If I did it was close but I know I got too much fat in because I could not eat again for another 12 hours and I felt really poorly like a slug. It was great food though.....
This morning I work up to find out that I am below 130 lbs. My lowest weight so far has been 126. I hope I don't get that far down before I hit 10% bf. The rate I am going though I don't see much hope for it to stay higher.
Today I did an AT HOME workout. I love it when I don't have to go off the farm. I also made up this crazy workout. The trainer said I was to do tri, bi and abs today. So I created these supersets that included 1 tri, 1 bi, 1 traverses, and 1 oblique exercise. So they were long supersets. I had no rests between the exercises but at the end of each superset I did a 120 sec rest. I did each superset 2 times. Then when I had completed them all, I turned around and did all 12 exercises in a circuit to failure. Whew.... Sometimes I hate what I do to myself. I am an asshole of a trainer.
Warmup
Jump-rope (5 min)
1 arm db snatch (each arm)
1x15 (10)
1x15 (20)
1x15 (30)
Rest between sets = 120 seconds
SuperSet # 1 (2 times through @ 15 reps for each)
a.) close grip bb bench press (65lb, 75lb)
b.) bb twenty ones (30lb)
c.) reverse crunch (bw)
d.) bicycle (15 each leg)
SuperSet #2 (2 times through @ 15 reps for each)
e.) close grip bench pu (bw)
f.) db arnolds (15)e
g.) v-ups (bw)
h. ) cable horizontal woodchop (with 3 bands)
SuperSet #3 (2 times through @ 15 reps for each)
i.) bb pullover (30lb)
j.) db cross over curls (15) e
k.) v-ups (obliques)
l. ) swiss ball crunch (+25lbs)
1 time through to failure no rests Curcuit Run numbers
a.) 18 @ 65lb
b.) 1 @ 30lb
c.) 23
d.) 24
e.) 12 @ bw
f. ) 7 @ 15lb e
g.) 13 @ bw
h.) 21 each side
i.) 19 @ 30lb
j.) 12 @ 15lb 3
k.) 17 @ bw
l.) 21 @ +25
This was pretty intense workout. I rested a few hours and cooked my food for the week. OMG did I do a good job this week. I made pizza (I love this food), a really good chili, chicken with sauteed peppers and onions, a nice waldorf salad with a yogurt dressing and a new cottage cheese ice cream of the week (orange dreamsicle) I blended a fresh orange in the cottage cheese until is was runny and added stevia and vanilla and a dash of cinamon. It will be runny because of the orange juices. This makes it freeze really nicely. It is SOOOOOO good.
When all the cooking was done I did a 1 hour bike ride with HR at or around 135ish.
My calories are a bit low today but that is okay since I am sure I went over a bit yesterday. It will all even out for the week. I am starting to see more veins when I workout and more muscles are starting to pop out too. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the cut.
I am starting to see more veins when I workout and more muscles are starting to pop out too. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the cut.
Good for you my friend! I remember your PT was saying you'd hate the cutting phase because you'd be shrinking but apparently you're doing too awesome of a job! I was surprised though that you want to go down to 10% BF- that's pretty d@rn low!..but I'm still curious to see the final pics
With apologies to said trainer who explicidly forbade longer runs, I am loggging my 2 hour and 20 min run with average 158 HR. Doooooop. I am such a bad girl. I just sometimes push through the wall and into that high and then there is no real stopping me. If I didn't have the sissy schauzer with me I might have done another hour or so. I was not keeping mileage but it must be somewhere between 11 and 12 miles. Okay now I have to really eat like crazy in order to make sure I do the least amount of damage as possible.
Thanks everyone for stopping by. The cut is so much nicer for me than bulking was. It feels good to not be over-eating all the time. My head is clearer and my grocery bills are down too. It is also nice to see some of the muscles pop out that I had built in the bulk. This is really fun stuff all the way around. Of course I am in the "honey-moon" phase of the cut where things are going exactly as planned. I expect to see a stall in the next week or two and then we will have to get ugly.
I just want to post this week's exercise, nutrition and results. I see the trainer in a few hours and will update then. Today is back day so I am sure I will be doing pull ups.
When I look at this in log form I note that I am way over-doing cardio. Hmmmmm.... There is a shocker. I am sure I'll hear a little bit about that. (sigh...)
Date
lbs
bf%
weekly avg cals
weekly avg protein in g
weekly avg carbs in g
weekly avg fat in g
weekly avg macro % (P, C, F)
4-May-08
133.8
19.5%
2656
263
266
69.4
38,39,23
27-May-08
130.2
17.4%
1696
193
163
37.1
44,37,19
Date
Exercise
Cardio Duration in hours
Avg HR
Total lbs
Total bf
22-May-08
Workout with David - pecs/shoulders (40 Min)
Bike ride = 1.5 hours
The cut is so much nicer for me than bulking was. It feels good to not be over-eating all the time. My head is clearer and my grocery bills are down too. It is also nice to see some of the muscles pop out that I had built in the bulk. This is really fun stuff all the way around. Of course I am in the "honey-moon" phase of the cut where things are going exactly as planned. I expect to see a stall in the next week or two and then we will have to get ugly.
I can't imagine enjoying a cut more than a bulk !! I guess the results make it worth it... but since I've never TRIED to stuff myself (I used to do it all the time when I was fat, but it wasn't an effort ).
Glad to see it's going so well - and remember what you told me - REST is important too!
I can't imagine enjoying a cut more than a bulk !! I guess the results make it worth it... but since I've never TRIED to stuff myself (I used to do it all the time when I was fat, but it wasn't an effort ).
Glad to see it's going so well - and remember what you told me - REST is important too!
What people generally seem to not get on this board is what is a clean bulk. I can promise you that when you were overeating it was not clean or you would have hated it and you would not have just accidentally got fat. It is deadly hard to get 3K of calories into your body at a 40,40,20 ratio. It is SUPER easy if you do it with a high fat or higher carb ratio. That isn't bulking. At best that is unintentionally bulking or eating like a pig. (if you will) Big difference... I am not casting stones here. I did the same thing before I went off to discover the concept of clean bulking.
This is why I think everyone should do an intentional clean bulk at least one month of the year. That way they can feel what that difference is and also understand very closely how to avoid getting fat. They can also feel the power that all that clean food does to the muscles. It is way cool on many levels emotionally as well as physically.
I distinguish between cutting and losing fat in the same way. If I was a person with more than 20lbs to lose I would try less hard to protect my muscle and get the fat off my body ASAP by the quickest sustainable means possible. A person with 10lbs or less needs to do a very calculated cut program that is designed to protect the muscle.
Now alll that said I totally blew my own cut this week with my 12-mile run and I heard about it time and again during my session today. Holy cow I think if I had eaten an entire greasy pizza I would not have been in as much trouble. My new restrictions are to do no more than 45-60 min of cardio at a time. HR has to be in the 130s. I can do this more than 1 time a day but I have to rest and fuel between any glycogen depletion. I knew the cardio was out of control once I wrote it down..... Beh...
BTW: Thanks for the reminder RE the rest. I def overdid the cardio.
Workout today was fun otherwise. Mostly supersets. It targeted back
warmup
5 min job on tready (4.5 at 5.0% incline)
alternate wide toe touches
calf raises (bw)
SuperSet #1
cable row (2 point high to low)
2x20 (7 plates)
1x15 (8 plates)
1x10 (9 plates)
cable bar pull up
2x20 (4 plates)
2x15 (5 plates)
SuperSet #2
Incline bench should flye db
3x15 (10lb) e
Cable Ab crunch (13 plates)
Wide grip lat pull down
3x20 (12 plates)
Pull the trainer
3x15 (varies)
For the last exercise he used a cable and my job was to pull into my chest (like a horizontal row) and release slowly while he provide the appropriate tension. We did this until I failed for each set.
It is deadly hard to get 3K of calories into your body at a 40,40,20 ratio. It is SUPER easy if you do it with a high fat or higher carb ratio.
I agree with this. Even trying to hit higher calories with 30p, 30f, 40c can be very hard some days. I could probably do the 40% protein, but would have a hard time hitting only 20% fat.
Quote:
Originally Posted by kfisherx
If I was a person with more than 20lbs to lose I would try less hard to protect my muscle and get the fat off my body ASAP by the quickest sustainable means possible.
Knowing how to do that is the key though. Although I do know that if I lose muscle with the fat at the moment that I'm okay with that. Having said that I feel better eating more losing (roughly) the same amount while lifting weights. I feel better than I would eating a lot less and doing nothing. That in itself makes it more sustainable.
What people generally seem to not get on this board is what is a clean bulk. I can promise you that when you were overeating it was not clean or you would have hated it and you would not have just accidentally got fat. It is deadly hard to get 3K of calories into your body at a 40,40,20 ratio. It is SUPER easy if you do it with a high fat or higher carb ratio. That isn't bulking. At best that is unintentionally bulking or eating like a pig. (if you will) Big difference... I am not casting stones here. I did the same thing before I went off to discover the concept of clean bulking.
Ah yes, I definitely admit to having been a piggy before I became a super hamster . I'm sure my diet was around 50% fat... the miraculous thing is that my IBS which I was taking meds for cleared up once I stopped eating all that fatty fried crap. . Of course working out and moving my butt off the couch and pulling the car out of the drive-thru food lanes was a big help too!
Quote:
This is why I think everyone should do an intentional clean bulk at least one month of the year. That way they can feel what that difference is and also understand very closely how to avoid getting fat. They can also feel the power that all that clean food does to the muscles. It is way cool on many levels emotionally as well as physically.
I don't know if I can/will ever do a clean bulk... it seems so far off for me from where I'm at, ya know? I do know that it'd be a lot harder to get those calories from healthy sources - how would I bulk without McD's and chocolate? . Maybe once I get to my goal (and I WILL get there ), it won't seem to counterintuitive to consider a clean bulk... for now, I want to get the fat off!
FWIW, I'm kinda in the middle of what you wrote. I don't think I want to drop 20# of fat (although who knows, I wouldn't be underweight if I did) - my goal is to lose about 15# that have "crept" back on since my initial loss... so I do want and need to be careful and protect my lean mass even though I'm focusing on fat loss.
Knowing how to do that is the key though. Although I do know that if I lose muscle with the fat at the moment that I'm okay with that. Having said that I feel better eating more losing (roughly) the same amount while lifting weights. I feel better than I would eating a lot less and doing nothing. That in itself makes it more sustainable.
And this is what will make you succesful. I see way too much on this board people with more than 20lbs to lose who are worried about LBM loss. It's okay to be thinking about it but you have to be okay with losing some as well. Heck my goal is to cut right now and so a loss in LBM is going to happen. I am okay with that as I know how to get that back on now.
This is very true, Karla. For the past 5 months my focus has been on fat loss. I have tried VERY hard to minimize any lean mass loss and I think I've just about done it, BUT it's hard work. I can't see how people are reporting major fat loss (several percentage points) and major muscle gain (several pounds!) at the same time....I just don't see how that is physically possible. You can't shoot for two goals at the same time because the means to getting there are entirely different.
FWIW, I'm kinda in the middle of what you wrote. I don't think I want to drop 20# of fat (although who knows, I wouldn't be underweight if I did) - my goal is to lose about 15# that have "crept" back on since my initial loss... so I do want and need to be careful and protect my lean mass even though I'm focusing on fat loss.
You know perhaps this should be in bf% lbs not in actual lbs. If you would not be underweight even with a 15 lb loss I would be focusing very hard on fat loss and not LBM retention. The difference would be in the cals and/or the cardio that you do. You already do a buttload of cardio (I think I am remembering) but are you doing HIIT and ss cardio? Once you get the calories in order you are going to kick ass and lose a lot.
This is very true, Karla. For the past 5 months my focus has been on fat loss. I have tried VERY hard to minimize any lean mass loss and I think I've just about done it, BUT it's hard work. I can't see how people are reporting major fat loss (several percentage points) and major muscle gain (several pounds!) at the same time....I just don't see how that is physically possible. You can't shoot for two goals at the same time because the means to getting there are entirely different.
actually I think you can do this if you eat at or just below maintenance. It isn't major though. It happens really, really slowly that way and the chances of a gain are high.
That is why I don't recommend it and personally will not do it. I want to focus on one goal and hit it. Trying to hit both will only cause delays IMHO
It's okay to be thinking about it but you have to be okay with losing some as well.
I would hope to actually. I used the word if in my post but really should have used when. Assuming that my eventual goal of 125 is realistic (doubt I've been under 225 as an adult), I'm about 15lbs higher than that now with LBM. It will be nice to see trends eventually, hoping for more fat loss overall.
(And perhaps having a better understanding of my body by the time I'm done.)
More seriously, I have heard from other sources that you want to deplete your ready glycogen sources, so a shorter cardio cycle is good for that. Then, you let them build back up, and you deplete them again. If you try to take too much at once, the body starts to burn muscle (saving the fat for later), and your efforts are self-defeating. That's why (I think, I'm no expert here) several shorter cardio sessions are better than one long run.
You know perhaps this should be in bf% lbs not in actual lbs. If you would not be underweight even with a 15 lb loss I would be focusing very hard on fat loss and not LBM retention. The difference would be in the cals and/or the cardio that you do. You already do a buttload of cardio (I think I am remembering) but are you doing HIIT and ss cardio? Once you get the calories in order you are going to kick ass and lose a lot.
In bf% terms - my REAL goal (more than even the stupid scale numbers) is to get below 20% and then see how I feel. I'm around 25-26% right now... I don't do tons of cardio - I was doing only HIIT (1-2/week) and karate (hit or miss for type of workout it turns into), but recently added one or 2 SS sessions back in... I USED to do cardio 5-6 days/week (pre-NROLW).
I can't imagine going down to 10%, so I'll just live vicariously through you!
Again Bytsi with that much bf% to lose I would focus 100% on fat loss and not on LBM retention.
You and others will be happy to hear that I experienced hunger yesterday. I know you don't want to see me fail but it probably feels good to see that I have the same problems that you have now. It will also be cool to document how I get through this. I triggered this hunger thing on my 12-mile run. I totally depleted myself on that run and had chills for hours after it. I ate well that evening but not enough and the next day I ate about 400K more than designed but that still did not seem to stop the hungries and the chills. So yesterday even at 1600 or so kcals I was pretty hungry all through the day.
This is a very first for me that I can ever remember. I had over worked and under eaten my whole life and tanked my metabolism a long time ago which also destroyed my hunger. Now that my metabolism got repaired through my bulking cycle, it is telling me to feed! So good news for all of you who are hungry is that your metabolism is firing. LOL!!
Okay so now I have this new dilema and it is a big one to me. I cannot spend the whole day at work thinking about food. So I experimented a bit over the past days and have the following strategies to deal with this new problem.
1. I am now eating 8 or more times a day. I am taking my pre-planned meals and splittting them so that I am eating less per meal but eating more often. I love vegetables so keep fresh celery and peppers around for between meals snacking.
2. On days where this becomes over whelming to me, I will go out and do a 30 min jog or walk 2 or more times a day. I have found that moving at a nice easy pace (ss state) actually helps the hunger to go away for some time.
3. I am making sure my water/tea intake is at 1 gallon a day
4. I have enlisted the help of my little friends and started to take this stuff called "Hot Rocks" from the local body building store. I think caffeine would do the same thing for cheaper but this was easy to buy for me and so far very effective. The caffeine is causing me to have disrupted sleep a bit so I am having to manage when I take these.
5. I believe strongly that I have to adjust my macros a bit as I should not be too hungry at this point in time in my cut. Over the next weeks I will try to increase my fat a bit as that is where I am still quite low.
6. Am doing frequent shorter SS cardio sessions (45 min or so) and making sure I get HIIT in 1-2 times a week as well.
Also the scale seems to be stalled this week. I know it is not but it just seems like it is. This is the psycological game that happens when you are hungery I think. I want to drop calories again but I think I will not do that just yet. I will stay at my 1700 weekly avg for some more weeks and see what these other changes bring.
It is fixing to get ugly soon. I am right around 8lbs to go at this point.
It really doesn't take much to retain LBM ... eat plenty of protein, and lift weights a few times per week and you will lose very little of your lean mass. I believe it is important for those without a large muscle base to retain as much LBM as possible. Some of us can afford to lose LBM but not many women can.
__________________
Life's a Journey ... Enjoy the Ride!
He was doing some of his own deadlifting and was feeling again how heavy 185lb was and that is what triggered the conversation. 
!! I guess the results make it worth it... but since I've never TRIED to stuff myself (I used to do it all the time when I was fat, but it wasn't an effort 
Linear Mode
