The NEW and IMPROVED Bond007 - Page 2 - JP Fitness Forums

Bond007 · 10-27-2005, 10:35 PM

Today's workout (Thursday 10/27):

I went to TKD from 4:30-5:15, and man did we get worked out tonight! Our workout was 100 round kicks followed by 10 tension sidekicks with EACH leg. And, that was after we'd just done 5 sets of combo kicks going back and forth down the mat. Man, are my legs SORE right now.

Of course, I followed that up with 14 minutes of 30:90 HIIT on the treadmill.

I AM BEAT!

Bond007 · 10-28-2005, 10:35 AM

Time for another update. I didn't mention this when I started posting this training log, but not only were my shoulders bothering me, but I was also wavering in my decision to stay in the gym or remain on a diet of any kind. It had been so long since I'd seen any kind of progress either in strength gains or fat loss that I was just getting discouraged with the whole fitness as a lifestyle bullcrap. I was starting to descend into depression, which is kinda normal for me anyway. I had begun pondering starting my anti-depression meds again. Not to mention that I was needing to take a sleeping pill every night just to get some rest. My weight was remaining fairly consistent at right around 180. Not much was changing, and I was becoming more and more complacent.

Like I said in my first post here, I made a conscious decision to contact Craig and try to get my fitness life back in order. Seriously, folks, this was my last ditch effort. I was truly at the end of my rope. I'd decided to give Craig and his plan 8 weeks to see if he could help me improve my quality of life. If he couldn't, I was ready to resort to a life of drugs to keep me up during the day and more drugs to bring me down at night. (I've been there before, and I didn't like it one bit!)

Well, today marks the end of the first 4 weeks of working with CB and eating within the parameters of his nutrition plan. And, I wish something more could come to mind other than "WOW"! I'm truly at a loss for words. In 4 weeks, I've dropped down to just under 175 pounds, my bf% has been declining all along (even though I've suffered a few setbacks with my nutrition plan along the way), my mood has improved, I've gradually been weaning myself off the sleep meds, and as you can tell by my training log, my strength is returning in leaps and bounds! Next week, I'll be taking some measurements to see if I'm truly seeing some muscle size return as well. I'm actually looking forward to taking those measurements this time. I couldn't be happier!

Tin Man · 10-28-2005, 11:27 AM

Seasonally affected??...my wife goes through similar seasonal mood shifts..excercise has been her salvation from the winter blues and post partum

Bond007 · 10-28-2005, 12:09 PM

Actually, no I'm not seasonally affected. But, I have suffered from severe bouts with depression in my past. It's now become a part of my day-to-day fight.

TrainingGirl · 10-28-2005, 12:35 PM

I'm so happy to hear things are going great for you Jamie. I'm glad you are back into the swing of things and are feeling better. Craig is awesome! And so are you for sticking to it

Tin Man · 10-28-2005, 03:29 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Bond007:
Actually, no I'm not seasonally affected. But, I have suffered from severe bouts with depression in my past. It's now become a part of my day-to-day fight.

Keep fighting as one great poet wrote

Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Bond007 · 10-28-2005, 03:54 PM

"old age"

OMG!!! There goes my weekend!!!

j/k, bro!!!

Bond007 · 10-28-2005, 04:30 PM

I went to the gym today @ noon to get in my Friday workout. I was REALLY not into it today. I've had some great workouts early in the week and now I'm starting to feel the effects of pushing myself through a head cold and still demanding substantial gains in my workouts and TKD class. So, neither mind nor body was in my workout today. I did my first superset, trying to up the weights, and I didn't get all my reps. I moved on to the second superset and just did the weight I pushed last week, and I SERIOUSLY worked for each and every rep. The same thing happened with my 3rd superset. This was my workout today:

Superset A:
DB Chest Press: 3x8 (2-0-1) w/ 70 db's (I only got 6 reps on the last set, but I did increase the weight 10 lbs. from last week)
Snatch-grip BB Row: 3x12 (2-0-1) w/ 120 (Just 5 lbs more than last week and I only got 8 reps on the last set)

Superset B:
Close-grip Pin Press: 3x8 (2-1-1) w/ 135 (Same weight as last week and I struggled)
Leaning-back V-grip Pulldown: 3x8 (2-0-1) w/ 110 (once again same weight as last week)

Superset C:
DB Curl: 4x8 (2-0-1) w/ 25's
Lying Tri Extension: 4x8 w/ 25's

I almost threw in the towel BEFORE I got to that last superset, but I starting thinking "what would my fitness buds think of me?", so I pushed out all 4 sets and BARELY got all my reps. I was feeling pretty down after knowing how much progress I'd made earlier in the week. So, I thought that perhaps I might see results in a different manner. This is the last week of the month, so I decided to take my measurements a little bit ago. Here's my results:

Weight: last month = 175, this month = 174.8; not much of a change
Chest: last month = 43, this month = 43; no change in the month
Biceps: last month = 14.75, this month = 16; incredible change!
Forearms: last month = 12.5, this month = 12.5; no change
Waist: last month = 33, this month = 33; no change
Abdomen: last month = 34.5, this month = 34; nice appreciable change
Hips: last month = 39, this month = 38; nice change!
Thighs: last month = 25, this month = 25.5; nice change
Calves: last month = 15.5, this month = 15.5; no change

I'm starting to see some improvements in my physique. I'm also noticing that my pants aren't feeling as tight as they were just a month ago. In fact, I put on a pair of 32's yesterday and they didn't hurt! That really made me feel good! It also forced me to come back down to earth and realize that I'm not going to see incredible gains every week in strength. But, that gains (read improvements) can come in many different shapes and colors. I'm still extremely pleased with myself, albeit EXTREMELY tired!!

Well, now it's about time to sign off and head to my monthly bonus class of TKD. Tonight we have Black Belt Club followed immediately by Friday Night Fights -- it's basically competition style sparring matches. I'm not sure that I've got the energy for the "fights", but I'll definitely go to watch and perhaps start to learn about judging matches.

I hope y'all have a great weekend! I think I'm gonna go to bed tonight and hopefully wake up some time Monday morning!!! Yeah, this week has worn me out that much!

Craig · 10-28-2005, 06:14 PM

Looks great. dont worry, you can't make records every exercise of every workout. Get some good recovery so you can start your next workout in top shape.

CB

Terry Monk · 10-29-2005, 08:08 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Bond007:
Actually, no I'm not seasonally affected. But, I have suffered from severe bouts with depression in my past. It's now become a part of my day-to-day fight.

You're still not alone Jamie. I'm right there with you day after day after day. I know of at least a couple other people on here that are too. We can do it by sticking together.

Don't be too hard on yourself with not increasing all the weights like you wanted. You had a hard week where you pushed yourself. That's what it's about, but like Craig said, you can't expect to increase every week. Especially fighting a head cold, which btw I now have also. ha!

Bond007 · 10-31-2005, 10:14 AM

Thanks for the comments and props, guys! I got some great recovery in this weekend, unfortunately that recovery also involved some "comfort food". YIKES!

Anyway, I did participate in both Black Belt Club and Friday Night Fights last Friday. Basically, I was having too much fun in BBC that I just didn't want to call it quits just yet. I was actually feeling somewhat energized, if that makes any sense. . . .

GR -- sorry to hear about your head cold. That shit sucks big time. I'm just now starting to get over mine. Thank heavens this is a short week for me. I'm taking off Thursday & Friday to go to a spa with my wife and indulge in massages and what not for 2 whole days! Rest & Relaxation, here I come!!!

RacerBill · 10-31-2005, 08:44 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Bond007:
But, I have suffered from severe bouts with depression in my past. It's now become a part of my day-to-day fight.

I've been contemplating what to write since you added that long post several days ago... but I realize I'll never write something as eloquent and encouraging as I'd like. So I'll just say it.

I've been there: I live with the same type of struggle. I'm glad that you went through with the decision to NOT give up, to contact Craig and give TT a chance.

laxcdn · 11-01-2005, 12:42 PM

Bastard, you gave it to me

It started yesterday, gonna try and workout later.

Bond007 · 11-01-2005, 04:48 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by RacerBill:

quote:
Originally posted by Bond007:
But, I have suffered from severe bouts with depression in my past. It's now become a part of my day-to-day fight.

I've been contemplating what to write since you added that long post several days ago... but I realize I'll never write something as eloquent and encouraging as I'd like. So I'll just say it.

I've been there: I live with the same type of struggle. I'm glad that you went through with the decision to NOT give up, to contact Craig and give TT a chance. [/quote]Thanks for the support and props, bro! It really does help.

Bond007 · 11-01-2005, 04:52 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by laxcdn:
Bastard, you gave it to me It started yesterday, gonna try and workout later.

I feel for ya, brutha! I really, really do. Hey, if it makes you feel any better I got hit with a migraine yesterday morning (Monday) and I'm still struggling with it today. The damn thing forced me out of the gym yesterday and there's no way I'll make TKD today. Also, with my little weekend getaway planned for Thurs/Fri this week, I've simply decided to take this week as a rest week before I start my muscle-building portion of the workout CB designed for me. I'll tell ya it's been a VERY long time since I've had a migraine that's lasted more than several hours. This is one is now going on 30 hours -- AND IT SUCKS!!!

Terry Monk · 11-01-2005, 09:16 PM

Holy shit! Those migraines are nothing to mess with. I haven't had ..... Nope. I'm not gonna say it. I don't want to temp fate. Let's just say that I used to get them quite often and OMG it's like a knife in the head. I wanted to die.
I assume from your post in my thread that you've learned to work through them. That's some Rambo style toughness bro. They wiped me OUT when I got 'em.
I sincerely hope that by the time you read this you're doing better.

laxcdn · 11-02-2005, 09:36 AM

No it doesn't

My TTfM is going well I have gained 12lbs in 2 months and about 7-8 is muscle, says mybodycomp. SO the bulking part of CB's routine should work great for you.

Bond007 · 11-02-2005, 11:03 AM

Thanks guys. 48 hours later and I'm still dealing with the pain. Fortunately, it has subsided enough for me to at least get back to work for a little while.

GR, I'm not so sure that it's Rambo-style toughness or just an overwhelming desire to redirect the pain elsewhere. I can more easily justify and understand muscle pain, but sheer headache pain is something else!!! Of course, I've found that I get some relief by banging my head against a wall.

DAMN!!! I NEE