jc228's endless ab search logs

[jc228]

Welcome to my log! Here I hope to keep you all up to date with my progress as I work to reduce my bodyfat, build muscle, and generally feel a whole lot better.

First, some starting information about myself (as of 1/14/05):
Age: 34
Weight: 232.5
Height: 76 inches (6' 4" for those keeping score at home [img]smile.gif[/img] )
BF %: 22.46 (according to mybodycomp.com)

Goals. You have to have goals. So do I. Prior to now, I never bothered to write down my goals. I suppose it's no wonder, then that I didn't hit any of them. So my goals, for the first half of 2005, are as follows:

1/31/05: 230 lbs.
2/28/05: 225 lbs.
3/31/05: 220 lbs.
4/30/05: 217 lbs.
5/31/05: 215 lbs.

I would like, obviously, for my body fat % to drop during all of this. However, since I really don't have a clue as to what a realistic goal should be for me is, I'm not going to declare a short-term goal. Long term, I plan on reaching 12% bodyfat sometime by the end of the year. Is that realistic? Or am I delusional?

I plan to achieve these goals using Craig Ballantyne's Turbulence Training, which I started this morning (had been using Chad Westbury's Total Body Training, but I think the extra cardio in TT will help to accelerate the fat loss). In addition, I need to make some serious adjustments to my diet. Too much junk, too many sweets, not enough protein, not enough veggies - it's a complete mess. I would rather not start counting calories, although I will if it comes to that. Instead, I'd rather just start making better decisions as to what I put in my mouth (insert funny joke here ).

I truly hope that these logs will be beneficial and informative to all who read them. I know that they will be invaluable to me - keeping a public record of my progress only increases my level of accountability, and will hopefully get me out of bed each morning to get my workout in before the daily grind.

Lastly, please feel free to offer criticism, praise, motivation, comments, suggestions, quirky anecdotes, or anything else that may prove helpful or entertaining. [img]smile.gif[/img] I hope to be able to share my success with you all.

Happy reading (and lifting, and running, and... well, you get the idea),

~jc228

[jc228]

Okay. So, with the formalities out of the way, let's get started. Day One.

I wasn't at all sure what I was getting into, so I basically followed the manual to the letter today. No weight with squats and lunges at all, and I took it pretty easy with the weight on the other exercises, too, until I can get a handle on the correct weight. It looks like workout B will be a little more challenging - we'll find out Wednesday, eh? [img]smile.gif[/img]

Question. TT uses primarily dumbbells for all of the exercises that require weights. Why is this? Safety? I can understand using dumbbells for the DB Bench Press, since that utilizes more of the stabilizing muscles, right? But dumbbells for squats? Is there benefit to using DBs for squats instead of a bar?

Anyway, afterwards, I jumped on the treadmill for my required HIIT. I don't know that anyone else would agree with the "HI" part, but I certainly worked up a sweat doing it.

Hockey season starts tonight, too. 10:15pm they drop the puck. Which means I'll have a lot of fun, but won't be able to fall asleep until 1:30 or 2:00 in the morning. Hockey is great cardio, though - especially if only a few people show up, and I end up on the ice for the entire game. [img]smile.gif[/img]

Until next time...

~jc228

[Craig]

DB's for home workout guys (as most have DB's, not always BB's), and for safety. If you are a proper squatter, you can use the barbell.

List your treadmill speeds, thanks man. and good luck.

Craig

[jc228]

Hi Craig,

Today my treadmill went like this:

5 minutes: warmup @ 3.5 mph
HIIT: 30 seconds @ 6.0 mph (x 3)
Rest: 90 seconds @ 3.8 mph (x 3)
10 minutes: cooldown @ 4.0 mph

All together, I went 1.36 miles in 21 minutes. Not quite 4 mph average. I'm pretty sure I'll be increasing all of those numbers before long - I just didn't want to overdo it and screw something up (or fall off the treadmill ).

Any suggestions?

~jc228

[Craig]

Sounds good. I'd go right to 3.5 on the recovery. Walking slowly as recovery is best.

Craig

[cappuccino]

Howdy JC! Great to see you posting your log! So far it looks like you're having fun.

Looking forward to checking out your progress [img]smile.gif[/img]

[jc228]

Craig, are you referring to going to 3.5 for the 90 second rest between sprints, or 3.5 for the last 10 minutes?

Hey Cap, nice to see you over here. Thanks for the encouragement. It is fun. I'm not typically one to be overly conversive online, but keeping this log may open me up a little (that oughta be downright scary! ).

So, tonight started the "Rec" league hockey season for those of us crazy enough to play hockey at all hours of the night. I had forgotten how taxing hockey is - I felt like I was 84 years old instead of 34! But it's fun, and it's wonderful exercise. Craig, do you have any hockey-specific exercises that I can work into my TT program? We play 3 23-minute periods, and tonight I was on the ice for probably 40 - 45 minutes total. And, strangely enough, I am our teams leading scorer (we lost 5-1 ). Hopefully that will change, because if our team needs to rely on me to score a bunch of goals, it's going to be a long season (I'm a defenseman usually, but tonight I played left wing for most of the game).

Tomorrow is definitely going to be a recovery day for me. [img]smile.gif[/img]

~jc228

[Iceztiq]

Wow, the training log forum's getting full of the TT family. I myself's doing TT4M starting today. This TT is from the latest edition of Men's Fitness, though, so it may not be as good as the original one on Craig's website. But still, i'm gonna do it for the next 4 weeks since it's also created by Craig, haha .

[Craig]

Ice - That TT is a great one, don't worry. It's not a fat loss version though, unless you use intervals with it.

JC -yes, i mean 3.5 for the recovery period. Don't keep the recovery too high.

Craig

[Iceztiq]

U bet i'll do it, Craig . I've already created my log of TT4M for 4 weeks. So it's ok to do the program with intervals too? It won't interfere with the mass building?

[Craig]

It will interfere with the mass building. I wasn't sure which one you were referring to on my website...I thought you were referring to a fat loss one.

Craig

[Iceztiq]

Oh, i was referring the original TT4M program that u're selling on ur web . Anyway, i have a question. Pullups today really killed me, & i couldn't complete all 4 sets of 8, so i ended up doing negative by jumping on the concentric part. Can i just substitute it to Pulldown? Also, can i substitute Swiss-ball Jackknife to other abs workout like Decline Leg Raise? No Swiss-ball in the Sports Club. They actually even prevent me from doing BB Rollout. The dilema of working out in a Sports Club .

[jc228]

Originally posted by Iceztiq:
Wow, the training log forum's getting full of the TT family.

Well, I decided to jump on board the TT Bandwagon after reading what Cap and Z had to say about it, and reading about it. My problem, diet aside, is my strong reluctance to do HIIT on a regular basis. Since TT uses HIIT as one of the central parts of the program, and since the weight portion isn't too time-demanding, I know I'll be doing alot of HIIT in the coming months.

It also took me until quite recently to realize that getting in shape is a marathon, not a sprint. It is a marathon that requires a concerted, focused effort to hit the weights, do the cardio, and fix the diet. Do those things on a regular basis for the long term, and the results can (and will) be dramatic.

I'm not sure why it took so long for me to see that. Too many before/after pictures in the magazines, with unrealisticly short time frames ("I lost 28 pounds in 4 weeks!" ).

It's amazing, actually, how much my attitude towards "working out" and "getting in shape" have changed in the last few years. I'm not going to get into it now, but I'm sure I'll be covering most of it throughout this log (see, something to look forward to! [img]smile.gif[/img] ).

As I posted earlier, today is most definitely a rest day. Hockey until midnight, didn't fall asleep until 1:30, up again at 6:30 (with a short break at 4:20 to put my son back to bed). I'm grumpy today.

~jc228

[Iceztiq]

TT by CB has been proven to be great [img]smile.gif[/img] . Many people have used it & achieved their goals. Cap here is one best example to see (as u can see her progress right on our screens here ). I myself started buying MF magazine ever since i saw CB's article on TTFL last October. Now that he also writes TT4M, i right away jump on the program . Too bad i have the inability to buy anything online here in my country, otherwise i would've bought his complete TT program. Anyway, i'll be joining u, Cap, & Z for the next 4 weeks with the TT plan .

[jc228]

Today's workout was alot of fun, actually. I was pleasantly surprised to discover how difficult the kneeling elevated pushups were. Of course, it was after the DB bench press, so I'll use that as an excuse. [img]smile.gif[/img]

I have also decided that lunges are evil. I haven't even done them with weight yet, and already I cringe when it's lunge time. Between the reverse lunges I do for the warmup (per Craig's recommended warmup routine), and the front lunges I did this morning, yikes!

Added a fourth interval to my HIIT session, too. 1.53 miles in 23 minutes. Went to 3.5 for the 90 second recovery, per Craig's recommendations. Felt pretty good, too - may add a fifth on Friday, we'll see.

The ab stuff is fun, too, although challenging. The 45 second plank for the warmup sure makes the belly burn. [img]smile.gif[/img]

So far I'm really enjoying this program. Today I did everything - lifting and HIIT - in 50 minutes! And how completely cool is it, that I can keep a record of my progress, and not only have people make suggestions and comments, but the guy who created the program in the first place is helping out too! I lift at home, and have never belonged to a gym (unless you count the YMCA when I was in college), so this level of assistance is just astounding (not sure what level of assistance you get at a gym, but I do know it'd cost extra)! Thank you all!

Criag, I would like to start posting more detail about my workouts (specific exercises, sets, etc.), but wanted to check with you first to make sure it was okay (don't want to publicize all of your secrets [img]tongue.gif[/img] ). Let me know.

Feeling pretty good. Friday is typically my official weigh-in day, although I am addicted to climbing on the scale every day anyway. But so far things look pretty positive. You'll have to wait until Friday to find out, though.

~jc228

[jc228]

Originally posted by Iceztiq:
Anyway, i'll be joining u, Cap, & Z for the next 4 weeks with the TT plan .

Cool! I'm hoping to stay on the TT program for at least 12 weeks. After that, I'm hoping that it'll be necessary to try out the TT4M program. [img]smile.gif[/img] Let me know your results with it.

~jc228