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!
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Gifted SmartAss Master Class Graduate
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!
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Gifted SmartAss Master Class Graduate
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.
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Gifted SmartAss Master Class Graduate
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
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.
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Take care of your lawn
and
the grass will be greener on your side of the fence
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!
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Gifted SmartAss Master Class Graduate
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.
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!
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!!!
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Gifted SmartAss Master Class Graduate
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.
__________________ The trick is in what one emphasizes. We either make ourselves miserable, or we make ourselves happy. The amount of work is the same. -- Carlos Castaneda
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.
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Gifted SmartAss Master Class Graduate
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!!!
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Gifted SmartAss Master Class Graduate
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.
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.
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 NEED SOME SERIOUS NARCOTICS!!!
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Gifted SmartAss Master Class Graduate
Quick update: I wound up taking all of last week off partly due to the migraine attack, which unfortunately only subsided for Wednesday & Thursday and mounted a serious flanking manuever on Friday. But, also because it was a short week as well. Jacki and I went up to Branson, MO for a long weekend getaway and some serious spa treatments.
Anyway, after much R&R, I am back this week and changing up my routine. I did skip Monday's workout which has put me back an entire day this week, but I have gotten in 2 out of my 4 workouts so far. I'll post my results log later today.
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Gifted SmartAss Master Class Graduate
I restarted my workouts on Tuesday this week as I also changed up my routine. Craig has this setup in a kind of modified superset whereby I'm doing 2 exercises in each group with 60 seconds rest between A1 & A2 and 90 seconds rest between each modified superset. I'm also now on a 4-day split rather than the 3-day split I was used to. I'm also still keeping up my TKD on T&Th. Here's Tuesday's results:
A1: 2-Board Bench 3x6 (3-0-1) with 170. My last set I only got 4 reps instead of 6. I was feeling just a little tired and this was a much deeper lift for me than what I've been used to.
A2: Rear-delt Raise 2x12 (4-0-1) with 15 db's. This actually felt pretty good. I used the same weight as I was using in my previous workout plan mostly because I didn't know what to expect with the higher reps and the longer tempo. I'm definitely going to up this weight next week.
B1: Close-grip DB Press 4x8 (3-0-1) with 50 db's. Hmmmmm, now that I'm looking at this I realized that I actually did these as declines instead of flat bench. Gotta fix that next week. Plus, I need to increase the weight.
B2: Underhand Row 4x8 (2-0-1) with 110. Actually, I started out in my first set with 100, but it felt too light. 110 was still far too easy, so I'll be upping this to 120 for next week.
C1: DB Row 3x12 (2-0-1) with 50. I made a 10-pound jump in weight from my last workout regimen for this same exercise and the 50's still felt on the light side. Another weight I'm thinking about increasing next week.
C2: Decline DB Tri Extension 3x8 (3-0-1) with 25's. I stuck with the same weight as I used in my last regimen, but in this case it was still a little too light. I'm definitely gonna up this to 30's next week.
Hmmmmmm......that's an awful lot of increases for next week. But, I'm thinking that I'll be a little more rested come Monday and a little better adjusted to this new routine.
Now, on to Wednesday's workout. If I thought I wasn't motivated for Tuesday's workout, I felt even less motivated for Wednesday's leg day. But, I'd also ready GR's training log just before leaving for the gym last night and I decided to push whatever what I could and be somewhat happy that I at least went to the gym. Here goes:
A1: Squat 3x6 (3-0-1) with 150. I did full squats, which I haven't done in months it felt like. 150 was really too light, but I honestly didn't have a good feel for a reference as to where to start this exercise. Definitely need to increase this weight next week.
No A2. I did get a 2-minute rest between each set of squats.
B1: DB Split Squat Front Foot Elevated 6" 3x8 (2-0-1) with 25 db's. This was a little tricky to get used to, so I went light. About mid-way through the exercise I got the hang of the balance thing and "odd" feeling. This will also see an increase next week.
B2: BB RDL 3x12 (3-0-1) with 135. Yeah, I realize that Romanian deads are VERY similar to the hex-bar deads I was doing in my last routine, but my massage therapist really got my low back pretty good last Friday and I was still feeling a bit tender, so I dropped the weight so I could still work through the exercise. I'm hoping for some pretty increases in weight on this exercise once my low back recovers more fully.
C1: Kneeling Cable Crunch 3x8 (3-0-1). Well, I started out with 60 pounds -- WAY TOO LIGHT. So, I increased it to 80 for the 2nd set -- FAR TOO LIGHT. I increased it again for the 3rd set to 100 -- Better, but still on the light side. Next week, I'm planning on starting with 120 just to see how I do.
C2: Bicycle Crunch 3x40 (1-0-1) well, well, well, did I ever meet my match here. I was only able to get 20 reps on each set before my abs started to spasm and just plain gave out. Finally, some serious work.
All in all, it's an "OK" start to my new routine. I wish I was more into it mentally, but hey, that happens sometimes. I'm just working through it for now and hoping that tomorrow & Saturday will be better. Although, I am considering doing workout C tonight. Just for kicks, here's workout C:
A1: DB Press 3x12 (2-0-1)
A2: BB Row 3x10 (2-0-1)
B1: 4-board or Pin Press 3x8 (3-0-1)
B2: Barbell Shrug 3x10 (2-0-1)
C1: DB External Rotation 3x10 (3-0-1)
C2: DB Preacher Curl 3x8 (2-0-1)
My concerns about working out tonight:
1) my shoulders may not have recooped enough from Tuesday's workout to begin stressing them again so soon.
2) I didn't get really good sleep last night because of my leg workout.
3) motivation is still kind of in the tubes.
My reasons FOR working out tonight:
1) it's arms and shoulders and I LOVE ARMS & SHOULDERS!!! This might just what I need to regain some of that waning motivation.
2) I'm not very consistent when it comes to hitting the gym on Saturdays, and I really don't want to blow off one whole day my first week out just because it happens to fall on a Saturday.
Now, if you made it this far, anyone have any suggestions? I'm leaning more and more towards working out tonight and getting it done and over with. I even packed my meals today as if it were a workout day. Ahhhhhh, what a quandary!
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Gifted SmartAss Master Class Graduate
get off your duff, Jamie!!! you helps some kids yesterday, now go help yourself by working out. Take it easy on the shoulders, but put all you've got into the rest of the workout.
i'm expecting noticable improvement in your end of the month measurments. Don't let me down.
HEY!!! Gimme a break! I ultimately did workout right after my TKD class, I just typically don't log on at home. That's my time with my family.
Anyway, here's yesterday's workout:
TKD -- I got to the dojang early and ended up getting roped into helping out with the "Tiny Tigers". Man, talk about excellent birth control! 16 kids all between the ages of maybe 4 & 7. All given the chance to run around and kick and hit for an hour. UGH! Anyway, my class started a few minutes late, but our substitute instructor seriously kicked our asses to make up for starting late. We did several different kinds of stretch kicks, then went on to some speed agility drills. That took the first 40 minutes of class. Then, we got about 10 minutes to practice our form and went right into 7 speed sparring matches. I was EXHAUSTED! But, determined to get my weight lifting in that night.
Now, on to the weights:
A1: DB Press 3x12 (2-0-1) with 40's. I should have gone heavier, but my shoulders were bothering me a tad and I didn't want to push it. I'm also wondering if I did this right. I did a flat bench DB Press, and I didn't realize that I wasn't quite sure what Craig meant by that description until I got to the gym.
A2: BB Row 3x10 (2-0-1) with 120. The same weight as I was doing in my last routine, but at 3x12. I left the weight the same since I didn't get all 12 on the last set 2 weeks ago. THis weight felt pretty good, but I'm positive that I can up this slightly next week.
B1: 4-board or Pin Press 3x8 (3-0-1) with 145,155,155. The 145 was where I was in my last routine with this exercise, but I soon discovered that while it felt awfully heavy before, it wasn't quite heavy enough this time. I'm thinking that I can increase this one even more next week.
B2: Barbell Shrug 3x10 (2-0-1) with 135,185,185. I can usually pull pretty decent weight with shrugs, but since I hadn't done this exercise in a long time, I started conservatively -- TOO CONSERVATIVELY. Actually, even the 185 was too light, but I didn't want to "monkey" with it too much more.
C1: DB External Rotation 3x10 (3-0-1) with 10's. I've been doing these off and on for the last several years, but hadn't done them in far too long. I just started out with the 10's, but I'm thinking I could up that easily to 12.5's or perhaps even 15's next week.
C2: DB Preacher Curl 3x8 (2-0-1) with 20's. This was WAY TOO LIGHT, but it was also 6:30 pm and I'd been at the dojang/gym since 4:15 pm and I was exhausted. Next week, I'll be upping this weight because my scheduling WILL be better!!!
All in all, I'm glad that I hit the weights. I wasn't expecting such an exhausting TKD workout, so that did prove to be detrimental to my weight training last night. Plus, as soon as I realized that I wasn't quite sure about Craig meant by plain ol' "DB Press", I let that doubt and concern I'd done it wrong cloud my judgement in subsequent exercises.
Thanks for the encouragement, guys! I really do appreciate it!
Tonight's workout is:
A1: Front Squat 3x12 (3-0-1)
A2: Cable-Pull Through 3x10 (2-0-1)
B1: Hamstring Curl 3x8 (4-0-1)
B2: 1-Leg Calf Raise 3x10 (3-0-1)
C1: Back Extension 3x10 (3-0-1)
C2: Plank 3x40 seconds
Oh, and no HIIT this week or next, well other than what I get in TKD. I'm gonna sleep like a baby tonight after all this exercise this week!!!!
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Gifted SmartAss Master Class Graduate
I still lurk around here.. taking in some of the energy vibes.. just don't want to hog your log always saying "good going.. nice work" but well, maybe once in a while..
Ok, I've gotten some clarification from Craig and I did do the DB Press correctly. Now, I'm finding that I'm still bummed because I didn't push near as much weight as I did in my last routine with the same exercise. I was using 70's for DB Chest Press, but come to think of it, I was also doing fewer reps. In this case I was doing 12 reps as opposed to 8, and I didn't even complete all 8 in my third set with the 70's. Oh well, I suppose next week, I'll just have to up the numbers fairly substantially.
Also, in further discussions with Craig, I'm gonna be subbing out cable-pull throughs for good mornings, which is an exercise I really prefer for several reasons. GM's require more stability on my part, the cable stack is limited with regards to weight, no pressure on my shoulders, AND that damn cable goes NO WHERE NEAR MY CROTCH!! (That last reason may actually be the best!!!)
Anyway, I'm psyched for tonight's workout!!!
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Gifted SmartAss Master Class Graduate
Seriously, though, I am psyched for tonight's workout. I was for last night's, too, but TKD wiped me out more than I expected it to. Our substitute instructor also teaches the "Cardio Kick Class" so our TKD sessions are typically more geared towards an hour of HIIT whenever she teaches it. Oh well!! These things happen!!!
So, there was that, plus I'd just done close-grip db presses on Tuesday and this was only Thursday and my pecs, tris and shoulders were still a little on the weak side from that routine.
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Gifted SmartAss Master Class Graduate
It started yesterday, gonna try and workout later.
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