jc228's endless ab search logs

[jc228]

Monday - Original TTFL - Workout A

I've come to the conclusion that Craig is EVIL!! Evil Evil Evil!!! I thought that today was going to be a fun workout. I was wrong. Fun? Hardly. Agonizing is more like it. And that's just the first day. "Highlights":
- Bench: 3x8@175 - squeaked 8 out on the last set. No way I'd be able to get 9 up, though.
- Romanian Deadlifts: 3x8@140 - I know I can do more weight with these, I just wasn't sure. I'll add some next time.
- Reverse Lunges: 3x12!! 12 reps! I did them, with 50 pounds. I was cursing Craig by the time they were over, though. Evil I say! [img]smile.gif[/img]

HIIT went okay, but I was struggling by the end. My wife upped the angle a little, and I didn't realize it. Got the heart pumping good, though. 1.77 miles.

Hockey tonight. That will be fun. It's been almost 2 weeks since the last game, so it'll be good to get back out on the ice.

~jc228

[Lost Dog]

Originally posted by jc228:
Monday - Original TTFL - Workout A

I've come to the conclusion that Craig is EVIL!! Evil Evil Evil!!! I thought that today was going to be a fun workout. I was wrong. Fun? Hardly. Agonizing is more like it. And that's just the first day. "Highlights":
- Bench: 3x8@175 - squeaked 8 out on the last set. No way I'd be able to get 9 up, though.
- Romanian Deadlifts: 3x8@140 - I know I can do more weight with these, I just wasn't sure. I'll add some next time.
- Reverse Lunges: 3x12!! 12 reps! I did them, with 50 pounds. I was cursing Craig by the time they were over, though. Evil I say! [img]smile.gif[/img]

It ain't evil yet! Wait till you get a few more routines in and find squats, lunges and reverse lunges on the same day...

[Lost Dog]

Originally posted by jc228:
* My protein intake is horrible. I am going to pick up some Muscle Milk on Monday, and have an afternoon shake to add a little extra protein. Maybe I can gain muscle mass AND lose copious amounts of fat at the same time! [img]smile.gif[/img]

When I first started out, getting all the protein was hard to do. But now it's second nature. It's not uncommon to find that I've got my days supply of P ingested with a whole snack or two to go still waiting to be eaten.

You might try picking up the TAP book to see the types and amounts that you might eat. It's not that far from what "normal" people eat, as far as the amount of food, but a little here and there and you've got that extra P down.

When I'm trying to lose fat, the last thing I want is a shake. It's like I didn't have anything at all and 10 minutes later I'm starving again. I stick to drinks around workouts only. Whole foods fill you up and keep you there for a lot longer.

[jc228]

Originally posted by Lost_Dog:
It ain't evil yet! Wait till you get a few more routines in and find squats, lunges and reverse lunges on the same day...

!! Really? Fantastic. I can't wait. I wonder if Craig's ears burn all day long, from people cursing him while they're doing his program? [img]smile.gif[/img]

[jc228]

Originally posted by Lost_Dog:
When I first started out, getting all the protein was hard to do. But now it's second nature. It's not uncommon to find that I've got my days supply of P ingested with a whole snack or two to go still waiting to be eaten.

I am definitely having trouble getting my protein in. This past Monday I started logging my food on www.fitday.com, to see how it measures up. I've only got two full days in, but in those two days, I took in 134 and 119 grams of protein (and that included a shake!). I definitely would like to up that number. I'm cutting, so I don't want to get too high, though.

Originally posted by Lost_Dog:
You might try picking up the TAP book to see the types and amounts that you might eat. It's not that far from what "normal" people eat, as far as the amount of food, but a little here and there and you've got that extra P down.

That's not a bad idea. I may do that. Thanks for the suggestion. Another Lou Schuler book to read is a good thing. [img]smile.gif[/img]

Originally posted by Lost_Dog:
When I'm trying to lose fat, the last thing I want is a shake. It's like I didn't have anything at all and 10 minutes later I'm starving again. I stick to drinks around workouts only. Whole foods fill you up and keep you there for a lot longer.

I've had a shake each of the past three days. It fills me up pretty well, actually. I don't get hungry for a while. I think that I've also started to reduce my cravings for junk, and if I'm hungry between meals I'll grab a few peanuts or something like that. I'm not substituting my shake for anything, I'm adding it as either a mid-morning or mid-afternoon snack. I think that I needed to up my caloric intake a little, but I'll know more by the end of the week (even with a shake, and a bottle of Gatorade at the hockey game Monday, I've averaged 1800 calories per day).

[jc228]

Wednesday - Original TTFL Workout B

More evilness from Craig. Squats supersetted with chin-ups!! !! Admit it, Craig, you designed that program while you were really, really pissed off at someone, didn't you? [img]smile.gif[/img]

It was hard (and was also the longest TTFL workout I've done so far), but I got through it. Highlights:
- Squats: 3x8 @ 225. Not bad by themselves, but when supersetted with
- Chin-ups: 3x8. I was ready to be done after I got through those. 6/2, 4/4, 3/5 on the good/negative reps. I'm definitely getting stronger with the chins. I can't wait for the day when I can do 8 straight!
- Split squats - these suck too, but they're not as bad as a full lunge. Although after heavy squats, I could only do the 50 pounds with them (sorry, OldGuy, I'm putting the skirt on for a bit [img]tongue.gif[/img] ).
- As I mentioned above, this was the longest TTFL workout I've done so far, so I didn't get a chance to get my HIIT in. I have a hockey game tonight, though, so I'm going to substitute that for my bout on the treadmill.
- One more workout until I get an extra day of rest! I need it, but I want to wait until the weekend to get the extra day. It's just an anal thing with me, I think, but I like the MWF workout pattern.
- I am waiting until next week to start the Core workout. Not sure if I will do intervals on those days yet. It'll most likely depend on how much time I have, and how I feel.
- I think that my arms, chest, and quads are looking a little bigger, although I won't measure until Friday. I think that it may just be an illusion, though. As the gut gets smaller, my muscles look more defined and bigger. I like it.

I see that Craig posted a link in his newsletter to my log, so I'd like to welcome anyone who stopped by. I'd also like to say that, so far, Craig's workout plan has been extremely productive for me, and I've only just finished the beginner routine. It's worth every penny. In fact, it's worth a whole lot more, so if you're still undecided whether this program is the right one for you, either PM me here, or send an email to Craig - I'm sure he would be more than happy to answer your questions.

Okay, brown-nosing over. [img]smile.gif[/img]

~jc228

[jc228]

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I started logging my food intake at fitday.com. I only started on Monday, so it's too early to tell (I don't think I changed any of my eating habits, but I suppose it's possible), but it is showing my average daily caloric intake to be ~1,800 calories.

Also, using the Harris-Benedict formula, and selecting "Lightly Active", it tells me that I am burning 3,059 calories per day. So, if I wanted to lose 1 pound per week, I should take in 2,559 calories? That sure seems like a lot - 1,800 calories fills me up for the entire day (although, if I need to up my calories some more, I could always get some more protein in then, right?).

I'm not sure if "Lightly Active" is applicable to me, or if I need to go with "Moderately Active". If I go with "Moderately Active", that means that I'm actually burning 3,448 calories? That's crazy - there's no way I could eat 2,900 calories and still lose weight.

Any thoughts? Do those numbers sound right to you? If the calculations are correct, am I starving myself then?

~jc228

[jc228]

Hey kids, me again. It's Friday, so you know what that means... it's weigh-in day.

Another week of Turbulence Training, another week of positive results. This morning I weighed in at 227.5, two pounds lighter than last week. My BF% also dropped nicely to 20.59%. So the score so far in 5 weeks of training is that I have lost 5 pounds (+ .3 pounds LBM, -5.3 pounds of nasty FAT), and reduced my BF% by 1.87%!!

I am hoping that I can continue to progress this way - averaging 1 pound loss per week! That should put me ~210 in time for summer. Sweet! Not that I'm going anywhere to show off my effort, but still - it'd be nice to know that I could if I wanted to. [img]smile.gif[/img]

Anyway, I slacked off a little bit on the weights today. I tweaked an old groin injury sometime this week (squats, maybe, or hockey? Dunno), so I wanted to take it light today before my two days off. I also decided against doing my intervals today for the same reason - I don't want to aggravate it even more and be completely out of commission. I may do my intervals tomorrow morning, we'll see how it feels when I get out of bed.

Also, I decided to use fitday this week to gauge my food intake. I am taking in, on average, ~1,750 calories per day, with 122 grams of protein (29% of total calories), 208 grams of carbs (44%), and 51 grams of fat (27%). At this point I don't see a dramatic reason to change my eating patterns. That said, I have this bad tendency to slack off my discipline on the weekend - I will try to continue using fitday over the weekend. Again, being held accountable certainly helps me stick to my guns. [img]smile.gif[/img]

I hope everyone has a great weekend. See you back here soon.

~jc228

[jc228]

Okay, so it's been a week since my last update, I know. Mostly it's because work has just been crazy. But it's also partly because I just haven't had anything to report. [img]smile.gif[/img]

Sunday night I had a hockey game (scored my third goal of the season), and Monday morning I decided to try to complete my intervals. I did, but regretted it for the rest of the day. So I decided that I would take a week off to let my groin heal, then start again next week. So since Monday, I've been laying off, and I'm happy to report that it's definitely feeling better. I feel confident that I will be able to resume my workouts on Monday.

That said, today was still weigh-in day. Down another half-pound, to 227. BF reduced to 20.36%, down from 22.46% 6 weeks ago. In 6 weeks, I'm up .5 pounds of LBM, and down 6 pounds of fat (what does 6 pounds of fat look like, anyway?).

I'm pleased that I was able to take off a little weight, even without completing my workouts this week. Next week should be fun. Lifting and HIIT on MWF, and hockey on Monday and Wednesday nights. I'll try not to overdo it, though - I don't want to take another week off for a while. And I'd like to take a week off because I WANT to, not because I'm unable to complete my workout. *sigh* Oh, well. Taking this week off probably kept me from making things worse, and being off for an extended period of time. That's how I'm justifying it, anyway. [img]smile.gif[/img]

Talk to you all next week.

~Jeff

[jc228]

Monday. I got through my workout today without aggravating my groin again, which is good. I went seriously light on the lower-body exercises, and felt like a wuss. But I want to take it easy this week, and ease back into it. No sense injuring myself more, and getting put back on the shelf for a really long time.

No HIIT today, ran out of time. I have a hockey game tonight, if it doesn't get cancelled due to the wonderful weather we're having. If I play, I'll count that as my HIIT. If not, then I'll jump on the treadmill in the morning.

I hope everyone had a good weekend. Talk to you soon.

~jc228

[jc228]

Well, they decided to cancel the hockey game last night. I was very disappointed, but there's another game Wednesday night, so I'll get to skate then, I guess.

Instead, I got up this morning and did my intervals that I didn't do yesterday. And, since I screwed up because I wasn't paying attention to the time, I ended up going 1.82 miles in 25 minutes. That's a 13:44 pace. Not even close to Cappy's, but I'll take it nonetheless. [img]smile.gif[/img]

Tomorrow, it's Workout B. Should be fun. I'll let you know.

~jc228

[jc228]

Today's workout went well. By well, I mean that I didn't hurt myself. [img]smile.gif[/img]

I went extra light on the squats and split squats again, just in case. I'm going to do that once more through the rotation as well, then ramp up one cycle, then back to normal.

Not much to report, actually, other than this: I'm pretty sure that my biceps are getting bigger, despite the fact that I haven't done an arm exercise in almost two months! It's amazing how effective chin-ups are at working most of the muscles in my body. I did 3 sets of 8 this morning. I got 8 sloppy but complete reps on the first set. 5 reps on the second set, and 3 reps on the third set. The rest of the reps were negatives. I say sloppy because I keep wanting to curl my legs up. I try not to, but my form goes to shit pretty quickly. I have a long way to go before I can do 8 perfect chinups.

No HIIT today, but I've got a hockey game tonight, which will definitely make up for it. If I'm crazy motivated, I'll get up tomorrow morning and do my intervals anyway. Don't count on it, though. [img]smile.gif[/img]

[jc228]

So ends another week. It's Friday, and it's weigh-in and measure day!

Mixed results this week, sort of. I ended up gaining a pound over last week, which means that I missed my end-of-February goal by 3 pounds! However, my BF% continued to drop (currently at 20.15%). Soon I'll be < 20%, I hope!

Today was also the only day this week that I got in both my lifting and my intervals. Between hockey, and lack of time management, I had to do my cardio on other days.

I moved up a bit on the deadlifts, although I'm still keeping them lighter than I would like. No sense getting hurt again, right? My bench was strong today - 3x8 @ 175 without too much trouble. I think I'll move to 180 or 185 next week.

1.79 miles on the treadmill again today. Nothing special. But the intervals are definitely effective.

I'd post more thoughts, but I'm late. So... see you next week.

~jc228

[jc228]

Wow. Funny how time flies. "Hi. I'm jc228, and it's been 24 days since my last post." [img]smile.gif[/img]

I have quite a bit of workout stuff to catch up on. But first, my confession.

I've been bad. Horrible bad. Giving-up-on-my-New-Year's-resolution bad. Not that I've given up. It just really felt that way. And here I am, sandwiched snuggly between apathy and excuses.

So what's my excuse? Hockey. Or, to be more accurate, hockey games that don't start until 10:00 or 10:30. Three weeks ago I had a hockey game on Sunday night, then another one on Monday night. I was shot for the week. I didn't get up once that week to work out.

The following week, I blew off working out again. Hockey Sunday night and Wednesday night. But still. I was too damn lazy to get out of bed.

To make matters worse, my diet went to shit, too. I ate pretty much anything I got my hands on. I caved with the candy basket that I walk past every day. I caved at home. I didn't even make an attempt to eat clean. And it showed. Eventually.

The first week, I climbed on the scale for Friday's weigh-in, and came in at 228, the same as the previous week. Same 20.15% BF as the prior week, too. No problem, I thought. No harm done, right?

The second week's weigh-in was quite a bit different. I gained 3 pounds, to 231, and went from 20.15% to 21.05% BF.

So I decided last week that it's time to get serious again. And, while I'm still having issues controlling my diet, I've gotten back on the horse with my workouts. I'll not drag you all through the details, but will instead give you a brief summary. Last week went like this:

Monday - TT and HIIT
Tuesday - Core and HIIT (sore)
Wednesday - TT and Hockey (very sore)
Thursday - Core and HIIT (very sore)
Friday - TT (not bad)

On Friday I weighed in at 229.5 pounds, but my BF% escalated again to 21.64%. I was very disappointed in seeing that number, but I'm hoping that it will go down again soon.

So anyway, that's where I am. This morning I got up and did workout B. It takes me quite a bit longer to get that workout in, and I haven't quite gotten the hang of how long it takes. So I missed my HIIT this morning. I will try to do it tonight. Tomorrow I want to do my Core workout, and more HIIT.

I've been AWOL for a while now, but I will be doing my best to make sure that doesn't happen again for a long time. Thanks go to all of you who believed in me. I will do my best not to let you down.

~jc228

[Craig]

Consistency is key in nutrition and training.

Stay consistent,
Craig

[BadDog]

jc - good to see you posting again. Looks like you had a good workout week .

Diet is my hardest problem - I'm lucky I have a wife who cooks fairly heathly...now if she could stop buying all that Easter candy. So far I've been pretty good - kind of convinced myself I don't like how I physically feel after eating it.

Anyway - good to see you posting and back on the train [img]smile.gif[/img] .