Oh, Karla, I feel for ya! I hurt my ankle running a few years ago and it took FOREVER to heal. Mostly because I wouldn't keep off of it. And, now, this damn wrist! It's been weeks and I know if I would just LAY OFF it would heal, but I keep pushing it and it just keeps hurting.
I'm very sorry though... these injuries can take a while to heal I'm afraid to say.
Dogs on the loose can do weird things. Cats too, but then it's always your own cat. This morning I once again nearly tripped over her.. do they always need to sit right where you are going to walk?
Quote:
Originally Posted by realcdn
Yes
Or Better yet.... the cat stops to check and see if you are following Him because he apparently has something to show you (usually an empty food bowl) and you trip over him.
__________________ It all starts with the mind, but the thoughts, the intention aren't enough. Action needs to come next. Dream it, believe it, plan it, execute it, celebrate it. - Wendy
I am sorry about your ankle. I know your pain, our male weim went spastic on me when I opened the door and took out my knee. Knocked my knee cap out of joint for a sec. It was the day after my 1/2 marathon. If he did it the morning of, he may not have made it through that one.
Actually guys it is already significantly better! Thanks for the well wishes. Your energy is making it heal. LOL!!
Today I did a 30 min walk in the AM and in the PM a 30 min bike ride (trainer actually). I would ride outside but we still have winter here in the PNW. 50% days with rain. Freakishly cold. A very late summer it seems this year.
Actually guys it is already significantly better! Thanks for the well wishes. Your energy is making it heal. LOL!!
Today I did a 30 min walk in the AM and in the PM a 30 min bike ride (trainer actually). I would ride outside but we still have winter here in the PNW. 50% days with rain. Freakishly cold. A very late summer it seems this year.
Glad to hear your ankle is healing up. I twisted my ankle couple of weeks back playing bball with my Gs. Ah well, thats life.
And yes, weather has been very weird over here as well. Very chilly for this time of the year.
Hmmmm.... Apparently the ankle is not as good as I thought. I am just back from visiting the trainer. He asked about the swelling and bruising and where it hurt. I showed him the bruises and told him it did not really hurt anymore. My plan (in fact) was to start running again tonight. Some easy 30 min or so thing. So he takes me to the stairs and has me do some ankle flexing 10 times on my non-injured leg. Then I tried to do this on my injured leg and I could not really do even one without making a face. He said he had seen enough at that time and gave me strict orders to not run. I complained (of course) and asked when I could run again and he said we will reasses on Thrs when he sees me again. So there ya have it. If I was on my own I totally would be running tonight.
The injury also further demonstrates how high my pain tolerance is to normal people. He was standing there when his dog clipped me so he saw how I took it. I barely flinched and then I made sure to walk on it right away to walk out the little twist I got. Then I walked around with him some more after that. I did not really feel any serious pain until I took my shoe off and the compression released. That is when the swelling and all started. Anyway he is well aware of this weirdness about me now and I am now more aware of how dangerous I am as a judge of when I am okay or not. Dooop.
So no running for me for a little while longer. I hate that but I know it is best. Thank God I have my bikes.
Today was bi and tri day again. We are working the snot out of my upper body lately because it is lagging my legs and lower body. I am actually very blessed in the calf muscle department and the quads and hammies are looking pretty good too so he is fixating on the upper for awhile.
So it was during the dips that I wretched my shoulder a tiny bit. It was my right one which always seems to get wretched. He told me that he doesn't like me to do regular dips because I am always compromising my shoulders too. I then remembered that back in the USMC I had torn my rotator cuff. This torqued him off a bit 'cause this is the sort of thing you are supposed to tell the trainer BEFORE you start a training program. I also neglected to tell him about all the HW in my ankle btw.... Anyway.... We took a break here and he showed me how to do rotator cuff rehab exercises. He told me that between today and Friday I am to do these on both arms, both ways 3x15. They are boring and take a long time so I was not very happy about this. But he made me promise and re-iterate that promise on the way out as well as the promise to not run.... Does the man know me or what???
Great workout! I like your trainer more all the time - NO RUNNING!!!
My DH twisted his ankle in karate about 10 days ago (he was doing grappling and somehow sprained it while he wasn't even standing - he was on his knees / on the ground!). Anyway... he's run a few times since and it's not healing - keeps re-swelling every time he runs... DUH!!! Take care of your ankle and you'll be back at it soon...
Thanks guys. I like my trainer too even if he does make me slow down.
It has been awhile since I posted my results so far and my calorie/macro intake and exercise schedule. I seem to be moving downward still and I am really not hungry at all. I could stay in this sort of deficit for the rest of my life. In fact it is still somewhat of a struggle to get down all the food I am eating. So far not having to do anything weird (fancy) like carb cycling or anything like that.
The daily scale results have been up and down during this time period. I even stalled out for a few days here and there. The trend is showing a nice downward curve though in both bf and lbs.
Karla, you're showing nice progress in your cut, and the numbers are only half the story; you're looking great.
As for your stats from week four and currently, there's more there than is obvious from the numbers. You've gained strength, and the calorie supply from the bulking fed that. In addition, you took a long time to get on board the bulking mindset, and your calories may not have been high enough for long enough to sustain a real mass increase.
Brent you are absolutely correct on all counts. In the 3.5 months that I did my bulk, I did not even get to where I gained even an oz for a whole month. So in reality my bulking time period was more like 2.5 months. In that time I pushed myself up to a 2800 kcal a day diet. So it took another 4 or so weeks to get into the right amount of cals. Now I am down to 1 months of real bulk. During that time I ran way TOO much. LOL!!!
So I have learned a LOT in doing both the bulk and now the cut. With this learning I have new future goals and more realistic expectations of these goals.
First I want to outline my learnings from the bulk
1. It is REALLY, REALLY, REALLY hard to put on weight eating cleanly (40,40,20 macro range) This learning was significant in that it makes me unafraid of eating as I have been in the past. Doing this bulk is the key thing that fixed my metabolism. I was blown away at how I simply could not out-eat how fast my body was burning. There is nothing more empowering than a healthy metabolism.
2. Bulking makes you REALLY, REALLY strong. I cannot even put into words how very cool it was to lift so heavy and hard during the bulk period. I just felt awesome and like a monster the whole time. It was so much fun to PR all the time. This learning makes me excited to do another bulk even though eating so much is painful in a lot of other ways.
3. Eating 3K cals a day is possible. This is a very important learning for me and one that will come in very handy for my next bulk. I'll be able to eat up to 3K within one month of starting next time and I won't waste so much time getting to that point again.
4. Cardio is harmful to the bulk. I really shot myself in the foot by doing so much cardio during my bulk. I will not do this again to the same extent. I have learned that lifting keeps me in very good shape in and of itself so that when I did go back to running after some time off, it came back pretty quickly.
5. I LOVE my body since lifting heavy and bulking. I want to scream this one from the mountain tops so that all the skinny fat chicks will hear it. CARDIO and UNDEREATING ARE NOT THE ANSWER!!! Sure you will lose weight if you are dilligent enough but will you love the results afterwards. I have these AMAZING pictures of me last year when I weighed almost the same but was skinny fat. It wasn't until I did this bulk and really was able to put all my energies into INCREASING my muscle that I was able to see muscles start to reshape my body. The stubborn fat around my middle started to go away during this time period. I felt sexy and confident and for that alone th bulk was worth it.
Next I want to outline my learnings from the cut
1. Losing the fat that you gain during a bulk is REALLY, REALLY easy. There is nothing more empowering than a healthy metabolism and a great understanding of how to eat. I can have the body I want!
2. Losing LMB that you thought you had gained is REALLY, REALLY easy. Or perhaps better stated as... I don't have as much LBM as I thought I had. (GRIN) This one was the most shocking and humbling learning. When the cut started, the fat and lbs started to come down way faster than I thought. I thought I had gained 10lbs and 7lbs of that in LBM. In reality I probably did upwards of 2 lbs of LBM in the 2 months that I was gaining weight. I am okay with this now and have a better undrstanding of how hard it is to gain and maintain LBM and have big plans for my future due to this learning.
3. Slower is better.... I am in the process of learning this one still but already seeing great results by putting my faith in these two concepts. I am eating at such an insignificant deficit that I am not hungry at all really and still my trends over 4 weeks show pretty amazing results. By keeping my calories fairly high I still have pretty nice energy for workouts though I am not doing many PRs lately.
4. Trends are the way to go... Taking daily measurements served me well for data purposes but is really a bad thing to do if you have any inclination at all to stress over the numbers. The scale and bf% jump around enough during the month that it can take you out emotionally even if you are just a numbers freak. Stay focused on the 2 or even 4 week results and keep the faith in what you are doing. Keeping the faith is the hardest part for me. I want to change things up anytime I don't see the numbers go down.
I still have a TON to learn as I haven't even got into the hard part of this (15% and down of bf) but this is what I have so far and even if the bulk was not so great wrt actual numbers it still served a great purpose for me on many other levels....
And since I am writing a book
Future goals
1. Get down to 10% or therhe about (competition level) and see what the looks and feels like
2. Do a year long bulk with the purpose of gaining strength - I will be able to draw on my first learnings and really make this happen
3. Repeat steps 1 and 2
Yes, unfortunately most of what you gain as LBM is just water.. easy come, easy go. However, you just don't really KNOW how much of the lost LBM is actually water or real muscle. So, since I've seen about 30% LBM loss re total loss in general during all the years I have dieted to current wt.. I'm now trying for the impossible. Gain or maintain LBM (even when most of the gain is water) while losing fat.. it may look like 2 steps ahead, 1 step back but this is not entirely true. (now I think at Julie's log).
BTW, you stay OFF that foot.. or we'll come chase you and hold you down!
Cardio can & DOES help to burn extra calories, but you are better served to do hard & short cardio or else very very slow & mild (functional) cardio rather than more intensive and longer runs.
Now you can't move much.. how about using a rowing cycle? I thought rowing, but then you are actually using legs quite a bit.
Great post Karla... I hope I can take some of your hard-fought knowledge and apply it to myself... can't wait to keep seeing progress pics as you move along in your journey!
Yes, unfortunately most of what you gain as LBM is just water.. easy come, easy go. However, you just don't really KNOW how much of the lost LBM is actually water or real muscle. So, since I've seen about 30% LBM loss re total loss in general during all the years I have dieted to current wt.. I'm now trying for the impossible. Gain or maintain LBM (even when most of the gain is water) while losing fat.. it may look like 2 steps ahead, 1 step back but this is not entirely true. (now I think at Julie's log).
BTW, you stay OFF that foot.. or we'll come chase you and hold you down!
Cardio can & DOES help to burn extra calories, but you are better served to do hard & short cardio or else very very slow & mild (functional) cardio rather than more intensive and longer runs.
Now you can't move much.. how about using a rowing cycle? I thought rowing, but then you are actually using legs quite a bit.
I am more and more thinking along your lines only perhaps not in culking cycles rather in LONGER bulk cycles and LONGER cut cycles... more to follow as I learn more...
I am staying off the foot. I promised the trainer. I did a 30 min bike ride this morning and will do another tonight. I have my bike sitting on a trainer in my house so it is easy to do.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bytsi
Great post Karla... I hope I can take some of your hard-fought knowledge and apply it to myself... can't wait to keep seeing progress pics as you move along in your journey!
I hope you can too. It would be great if something I learned helped anyone else.
Nice post. Makes me think of my work so far during NROL. I think I did not eat enough. On a normal day I would get between 2600 -2700 calories. So I think I could have gained more. So far my gains have only been around 10 pounds, but probably more like 5-8 pounds. Like you the running kills weight gain, but it never really effected my strength. I just keep getting stronger. Now I am thinking of cutting for my marathon, so do you have any advice as to how many calories a day I should shoot for? I will be doing Hyp III three times a week I think and run 4 to 5 times a week.
Brent you are absolutely correct on all counts. In the 3.5 months that I did my bulk, I did not even get to where I gained even an oz for a whole month. So in reality my bulking time period was more like 2.5 months. In that time I pushed myself up to a 2800 kcal a day diet. So it took another 4 or so weeks to get into the right amount of cals. Now I am down to 1 months of real bulk. During that time I ran way TOO much. LOL!!!
So I have learned a LOT in doing both the bulk and now the cut. With this learning I have new future goals and more realistic expectations of these goals.
First I want to outline my learnings from the bulk
1. It is REALLY, REALLY, REALLY hard to put on weight eating cleanly (40,40,20 macro range) This learning was significant in that it makes me unafraid of eating as I have been in the past. Doing this bulk is the key thing that fixed my metabolism. I was blown away at how I simply could not out-eat how fast my body was burning. There is nothing more empowering than a healthy metabolism.
2. Bulking makes you REALLY, REALLY strong. I cannot even put into words how very cool it was to lift so heavy and hard during the bulk period. I just felt awesome and like a monster the whole time. It was so much fun to PR all the time. This learning makes me excited to do another bulk even though eating so much is painful in a lot of other ways.
3. Eating 3K cals a day is possible. This is a very important learning for me and one that will come in very handy for my next bulk. I'll be able to eat up to 3K within one month of starting next time and I won't waste so much time getting to that point again.
4. Cardio is harmful to the bulk. I really shot myself in the foot by doing so much cardio during my bulk. I will not do this again to the same extent. I have learned that lifting keeps me in very good shape in and of itself so that when I did go back to running after some time off, it came back pretty quickly.
5. I LOVE my body since lifting heavy and bulking. I want to scream this one from the mountain tops so that all the skinny fat chicks will hear it. CARDIO and UNDEREATING ARE NOT THE ANSWER!!! Sure you will lose weight if you are dilligent enough but will you love the results afterwards. I have these AMAZING pictures of me last year when I weighed almost the same but was skinny fat. It wasn't until I did this bulk and really was able to put all my energies into INCREASING my muscle that I was able to see muscles start to reshape my body. The stubborn fat around my middle started to go away during this time period. I felt sexy and confident and for that alone th bulk was worth it.
Next I want to outline my learnings from the cut
1. Losing the fat that you gain during a bulk is REALLY, REALLY easy. There is nothing more empowering than a healthy metabolism and a great understanding of how to eat. I can have the body I want!
2. Losing LMB that you thought you had gained is REALLY, REALLY easy. Or perhaps better stated as... I don't have as much LBM as I thought I had. (GRIN) This one was the most shocking and humbling learning. When the cut started, the fat and lbs started to come down way faster than I thought. I thought I had gained 10lbs and 7lbs of that in LBM. In reality I probably did upwards of 2 lbs of LBM in the 2 months that I was gaining weight. I am okay with this now and have a better undrstanding of how hard it is to gain and maintain LBM and have big plans for my future due to this learning.
3. Slower is better.... I am in the process of learning this one still but already seeing great results by putting my faith in these two concepts. I am eating at such an insignificant deficit that I am not hungry at all really and still my trends over 4 weeks show pretty amazing results. By keeping my calories fairly high I still have pretty nice energy for workouts though I am not doing many PRs lately.
4. Trends are the way to go... Taking daily measurements served me well for data purposes but is really a bad thing to do if you have any inclination at all to stress over the numbers. The scale and bf% jump around enough during the month that it can take you out emotionally even if you are just a numbers freak. Stay focused on the 2 or even 4 week results and keep the faith in what you are doing. Keeping the faith is the hardest part for me. I want to change things up anytime I don't see the numbers go down.
I still have a TON to learn as I haven't even got into the hard part of this (15% and down of bf) but this is what I have so far and even if the bulk was not so great wrt actual numbers it still served a great purpose for me on many other levels....
And since I am writing a book
Future goals
1. Get down to 10% or therhe about (competition level) and see what the looks and feels like
2. Do a year long bulk with the purpose of gaining strength - I will be able to draw on my first learnings and really make this happen
3. Repeat steps 1 and 2
Nice post. Makes me think of my work so far during NROL. I think I did not eat enough. On a normal day I would get between 2600 -2700 calories. So I think I could have gained more. So far my gains have only been around 10 pounds, but probably more like 5-8 pounds. Like you the running kills weight gain, but it never really effected my strength. I just keep getting stronger. Now I am thinking of cutting for my marathon, so do you have any advice as to how many calories a day I should shoot for? I will be doing Hyp III three times a week I think and run 4 to 5 times a week.
My buddy Brent is 6'1" (or possibly 2) and started out at 189 or some silly number like that. He is now eating just over 4K a day and is making the most amazing progress I have ever seen. I swear he is on the juice sometimes. So perhaps he can pipe in here with what he thinks.
As far as cutting goes I think slower is better. With all the running you are doing you will likely not have to cut outu too many calories at all. In fact if you can listen to your body that might be best and just eat whenever you are hungry during that time. I am thinking it would be hard to get fat with all the work you are doing if you eat good whole food.
Okay so here is my PM workout (AM was a 30 min bike ride HR = 135ish)
Just a general upper body and abs thing that I made up
Pull-ups
4x3 (bw)
1x2 (bw)
V-ups
3x15
bb bent over row
3x12 (95lb)
Swiss ball curl
2x25 (25lb)
1x15 (50lb)
Push ups
1x7
2x6
Hanging Leg Raises
3x15
ss cardio: Another 30 min slow bike ride HR=135. I was careful to allow my injured foot to stretch out in the pedels. I hope I can pass the test tomorrow so that I can return to running.
And how about those pull ups!!! I swear I have been stuck at being able to do just 2 of them FOREVER now. Tonight I did 3 and then just kept hitting it for 3. Hopefully I will continue to improve on these now.
Thanks for your insight. I am just as worried about the cut as I was the bulk. Like you said, you learned a lot and will do things differently next time and I think the same will hold true for me.
Going from 2 to 3 on pullups (or any exercise) is HUGE. It's so hard that a 5% improvement doesn't result in any more reps. You're up 150% on those. The jump from 3 to 4 is also big, but not as. Great job.
tcoy:
I think I remember from your log that you're about the same height and weight as I am. I've gone from 185 lbs and 14% body fat on Jan 5, 2008 to 204 lbs and 15% body fat today. My body fat dropped to about 11% in there somewhere and is back up. My caloric goals are 4425 for a workout day and 3700 for a rest day. My rest days are no workout, no cardio days. My workout days are a full NROL Hypertrophy workout, however long that takes, and that's it. The rest is important. I push myself in the workouts. The diet is most important if you're wanting to bulk. I have a friend at work who works out hard, and has the strength to prove it, but aside from being nicely fit and trim, does not exhibit any bulk to speak of. He eats in the low 2000's. Without the food, the body will not put on mass. If your goal is to put on mass, your 2600 calories won't likely do it.
As for cutting, I'm new at this and haven't done that yet, so I can't offer you any help other than what I have read: 300 to 500 calorie deficit each day, and continue your workouts.
If cardio is important to you, and it seems like it is, you may have trouble bulking. You'll certainly need to up your calories to account for the extra burn of running.
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