This is one set. If one of your kidneys flies out your ass and smacks a personal trainer in the head, discontinue the set but give yourself ten points for accuracy.
I'm realizing that I did that particular exercise way too slow. Next time: read the manual superfast and no rest period in between for noting amt of reps.
I'm behind w posting my workouts. So here's Thursday's , done on a very gloomy day. Not just the weather, but also the mood, since a good internet acquaintaince was cremated that day. Since he wasn't really a good friend I didn't go, but thought about him all day.. actually for several days. Such a waste of wonderful writing talent. He had a true gift w words and managed to make us laugh out loud OFTEN.
Thursday May15
Funky Times 2-2C all weights in kilograms
DYNAMIC STRETCHING
The usual 10 exercises.
A1 weighted chins
BW+12xF – BW+10x1 - BW+8x1 - BW+6x2
First time I tried the 12kg. No go. May want to do the same here as I did for db presses, viz. use my 1kg ankle (2 lbs actually, but I pretend they are 1kg) weights to bridge the gap when the jump gets too big. Next time if I fail again, I’ll jump up and do a slow negative .
B1 db bench press
WU: (2x17)x5
(2x19)x5
(2x21) x4
(2x23; 6RM) x4
No drop set this time (felt tired)
as superset w
B2 bb bent over row w UH grip
WU: 47,5x5
52,5 x7
57,5x5
62,5 (6RM)x3
Same here, no desire to do a drop set at the end.
C1 military press
25 (10RM)x10
24 x8
23x8
Gave my best effort to all sets but the strength was gone after 1 set.
As superset w
C2 single arm lat pull down (with pulley tied to both lines
21x8-7-7
Finally the right weight for this exercise. Bummer only to get the same amt of reps as with 7kg more
D1 triceps rope push down
18,8x10
16,3x12
D2 pec deck
40 x12
38x12
METABOLIC STUFF
E1-2-3 Goblet squat + db swing + renegade row
7x7-7-7 times 2
Damn.. I’m weak as a kitten after not having done this one in weeks on end! Got to start all over again.
CARDIO
500m on Concept 2 rower @ dragfactor 1
aveW: 89. ave kcal/hr : 592
Starting at decent pace, but accelerated too fast and got fatigued quickly.
General: reasonable workout, but am feeling lack of food.
Training statistics
Volume: 10826
# of sets: 36 # of reps: 277 - avg reps/set : 7,7 - kg/rep : 39,1
Saturday May 17
Funky Times 2-2B – lower body all weights in kilograms
DYNAMIC STRETCHING
Skipped the dynamic exercises for lack of time, except for the windmill & dynamic squats (using arms for more momentum)
A1 hang cleans
25-28-30-35x1 to move bb out of the way &
35-30x1 & 28x5 + 25x1 on the way back after finishing w front squats
Wanted to exercise more w the hang cleans so did more than just a single for 28kg.
B1 front squat
WU:42,5x5
52,5x6
57,5x5
62,5x2, had wanted to do 4 but was afraid I’d lose it at the 3rd rep since I was already struggling to get 5 reps out of 57,5kg. Obviously: no drop sets
B2 stiff legged DL off a bench, to replace the sumo DL that gave rise to knee pain
WU: 50x5
50x10 (too light)
60x10
70x8
Underestimated the amt of reps I could do at the weights.. had thought go up to 60kg but that was a joke. Seems like my lower back & hips are ‘f*king’ strong but my hams have gone the ways of the dodo.
C1 chins (neutral grip)
BWx2
Damn weak.. too weak for multiple reps
D1 1-leg press
26 x6
19x10
Piss poor weak and hips hurting like mad. Swore like a sailor.
Am contemplating to start really really low , perhaps 12kg and build up weights gradually. Am not aiming for low reps here.
D2 Smith squat lunge
20x8-12
Didn’t push myelf
D3 step up
(2x10)x8
(2x9)x8
Decent focus
D4 seated leg curl
40x10-13
SMALL STUFF
E1 Saxon side bend
6x11 for each side
G1 cable exo rotation
3,8x10
ODD EXERCISES
Not one from the T-Nation series this time but one that got discussed recently and I wanted to copy it. It was done right after the Saxon side bend as it is a bit similar, since this one also targets the oblique ab muscles.
Description: Put an Olympic bb (with or w/o added weight) in a corner and move it from left to right with both arms above you, making an arc.
[b]Practice: just the bb x 6 reps for each side. Heavier than I imagined. Very similar to Saxon side bends, but also reminds me of a wood chop. Feels good, perhaps even better than a Saxon side bend. The only real problem was that there’s only 1 corner in the entire gym suited for this exercise and even then , the bench press station is in the way and it’s not possible to make the ROM as large as I’d have liked.
Opinion: positive. Not entirely sure if this can substitute Saxon side bends but it’s an interesting alternative.
CARDIO
None today as I started reeking after ammonia during the leg press exercise.
General: very bummed about lack of strength and even protein breakdown in the gym. Reason: no carb-up the night before. Won’t make this mistake (ever?) again! Otherwise, reasonably pleased since I figured out a better order for next workout, viz. do step ups & Smith lunges first and then alternate leg press & leg curl, but keep these very very light and go for the ‘metabolic high rep range!’ .
At home I took 3 tabs of Stamina which stopped the gluconeogenesis right away as well as the fatigue. I then realized how much of an impact Endure has been having on my workouts. Citrulline malate is a major ingredient of it and prevents both fatigue and muscle breakdown. The Stamina tabs are similar (not as good as the Endure, nor as handy since Endure was a powder, turning into concrete actually since the betaine drew too much moisture to it) and using another handful of tabs is less appealing to take to the gym. Considering the huge difference in fatigue, I'm NOT going to make that mistake next time.. so will not forget either the carb up or the extra tabs!
At home I also decided against PWO carbs , since Stamina took better care of the fatigue and I will be saving up the carbs/calories for tomorrow night's pre-WO day's night meal carbs. Duh!
Training statistics
Volume: 11025
# of sets: 29 # of reps: 183 - avg reps/set : 6,3 - kg/rep : 60,2
Reeking after ammonia is a true sign of protein being used to convert into a carb intermediate. I'd rather see it use glucose as a fuel. Since I'd already finished the bottle of sports drink and still started to smell, I thought it was better to not go on. Drinking the carbs during a workout is good for preventing a blood sugar crash and also suppresses cortisol, but it works better to already have fueled up on carbs the night before, since these carbs get stored into the muscle.
One of the major reasons I'm not just calorie/carb cycling but also protein/fat cycling is that I want to not give my body the impression it can use protein for fuel by overfeeding it with protein on every single day.
Instead, I just give it TONS of protein before and after workouts, hoping this will be anabolic, or at least anti-catabolic.
The Stamina I took post-workout, doesn't actually stop gluconeogenesis (conversion of protein to a carb-product) but it stops the use of muscle protein for that breakdown.
This product (containing citrulline malate) as well as BCAAs and MCT oil/coconut oil are all tools that can help in reducing the amount of carbs to use during a cutting phase. But then you've got to use them!
For me, after having been on a very low carb diet for a long time, going too low in carbs no longer works well. I'm blaming excess cortisol here. Cortisol drives up carb requirements and is involved in the conversion of protein into carbs. When stress goes up, carb requirements go through the roof. When not properly fueled with carbs (or protein), the body will break down muscle.
Seems my cortisol production goes in overdrive too often = severe muscle breakdown. You won't believe how happy I was in March when I managed to increase LBM while losing fat.
Somehow, now I've changed routines, I may have tipped the balance, as right now my LBM loss is much larger than fat loss. Even for the 30d average, never mind 14d avg. I'm blaming my change of routine with too many new exercises and needing tons of time to even find the proper weights in my new gym. I've nearly finished the book "Why zebras don't get ulcers" which deals w cortisol. I'm one of the typical persons who get an ulcer even from trivial stuff. Cortisol is your worst enemy if you want to gain LBM or lose fat.
Hence why I'm extremely aware of 'reeking after ammonia'.
Another example: driving stresses me a LOT. After I got my car 2 years ago, I'd literally get blurry eye vision when driving coz' of the stress and subsequent too low blood glucose levels in the brain (eyes are extremely glucose-dependent and can't use ketones). I still keep candy in my car to help out when this happens. Fortunately I now only need 1 pc of candy every hour rather than every 15 minutes to keep my brain happy.
Much longer than you wanted to read , but it's something I'm extremely interested about. Especially since it explains why some even very lean people thrive on a very low carb diet, and some others, even not so lean people, can't. When you have time, read that book "Why Zebras Don't Get Ulcers' from Sapolski. Explains a lot.
And besides, after having thought interval cardio was the best thing after sliced bread for a cut, it seems that the EPOC (afterburn) you get from it, is only modest at best and doesn't always beat SS cardio.
I've done lots of interval cardio in the past but noticed I'd finally gain some LBM in the months I ditched indoor cardio altogether.
Another side-effect of too strenuous cardio is that it makes me (and others) incredibly hungry, so the effect can be that you eat way more than the exercise really burns. Actually, the immediate effect would be to completely suppress appetite for several hours. Especially when I wouldn't drink/eat sufficiently during a workout.
Simple functional cardio like walking can be as effective since it doesn't generally make me hungry and doesn't burn through a lot of glycogen either. Yesterday I figured to not really need much indoor cardio as I'd be walking home with groceries a few times. Alas, my SO took over the heavy bag with the 60 eggs .. farmer's walks
No not too much information at all. This is all fascinating to me right now as well. Like you I do not do well on too low carbs and like you I am an apple with not a lot of weight to lose. I just want to shift around a bit what I have. I do not seem to get hungry after interval training though which is a good thing. Still I do it much less than ss cardio. It just isn't as much fun but there are great benefits in it for me on my ss runs. Since I have started hill sprints I have much better endurance on my longer distance runs. Still don't fully understand how this all ties into me personally and how my body burns and uses fuel but the journey of the learning isi quite fun.
Your intake of 40% carbs re to total intake is well within the range of what is considered to be 'low' carb. Same for my intake which is more or less around 30-35% . The main difference between us is that I chose to keep protein relatively low at around 25-30%, so that there's more space for yummy fats.
I'm starting to feel that the fats are no longer as much needed for fuel as they used to be. But just are a way to make a diet more pleasant and have more choices. Quite weird after having thought to be a permanent low-carber. Even though 40% carbs isn't strictly normal intake, it feels like a lot after all those years. Everything is relative I guess.
But now my workout.. brought to you and powered by.... marshmallows
.............................. ..
Monday May 19
Funky Times 2-3A1 @ NoNonsense Gym all weights in kilograms
DYNAMIC STRETCHING
The usual exercises, except the ones w a ball, since there isn’t any in this gym.
And a few skips of the rope, as I found a jumprope in the gym. Will see if I can find time to do a bit of it.. asked gym owner about it, and he said the trick was to be already in the air before you hear the rope hit the floor.
B1 T-bar row w a narrow grip V-handle
32,5x10 – 35x10 (+3)
37,5x8 (+2) – 40x7 (+2)
42,5x6 (+2) – 45x6
Needed body-English to get the last rep up . T-bar rows are way harder than BB BORs.
Should have used higher weights, but then again, last time I got to 4r for 42.5kg, so this is just a fast progression.
B2 1-legged leg press
45x13
40x15 for each leg
C1 seated cable row
35x10 (-2)
40x13 (+4)
48x8
C2 lying leg curl
7x14 (+2) – 13 (+1)
D1 lat pull down
30x13
40x7
E1 good moning machine
15x11
20x12
Last time I tried the 5 & 10kg settings. Both were easy. From those 2, only the 20kg felt harder, but only because of the painful stretching of the hammies.
Description: Here's a core/trunk drill that's an oldie but a goodie. Get into a push-up position on the ground. Keeping the body totally flat, raise one arm up. Ideally raise it to parallel to the ground in front of you, taking five seconds from take-off to landing. Bring the first arm down, then do the same with the other arm. Now try five second holds with one leg up, then the other. Lastly, raise the opposite arm and leg at the same time.
By the end of the sequence, you'll have performed a total of six 5-second reps. You may want to repeat this cycle one or more times. Remember to keep the body flat, not allowing the hips to sag down.
Practice: just got to 1 miserable rep for each one, viz. 1 for each arm and 1 for each leg and then the one for left arm + right leg and vice versa. This is so much harder than it looks.
Opinion: good drill for balance & abs. Just a boring one (at least for me, most ab exercises are boring).
General: feeling good. Very happy with decision to eat a ton of carbs the night before, even though it felt like ‘cheating’ .. well it was actually. The quinoa I’d planned to eat, got ditched as I made chicken liver with it and that tasted so yucky I threw it away and couldn’t be bothered eating quinoa again, but instead dived into the marshmallows and dried fruit.. feel great on it and had a good workout . Wasn’t tired also thanks to taking Stamina with me, just sore (from previous leg WO) at the end.
Training statistics
Volume: 8706 (+1082)
# of sets: 25 (+3) # of reps: 229 (+50) - avg reps/set : 9,2 (+1,1) - kg/rep : 38,0 (-4,6)
Your intake of 40% carbs re to total intake is well within the range of what is considered to be 'low' carb. Same for my intake which is more or less around 30-35%
What is considered "normal" carbs? Funny, that's something I've never even wondered until just now.
Quote:
But now my workout.. brought to you and powered by.... marshmallows
I was told by a researcher into nutrition that the average Dutch population eats
45% carbs
15% protein
40% fats
I'm not exactly sure what the recommendations of the national nutritionists are, but they are higher in carbs & lower in fats, more like
55% carbs
15% protein
30% fats
It's very odd to see people defend 'clean' eating styles and the only thing they have in common is a high protein intake and avoidance of junkfood.
Then they either go very low in carbs and manage to make me feel bad about eating over 30% carbs..
Or they go very low in fats and make me feel like a glutton, since they eat something like 20-25% fats re total.
%s aren't making much sense in a cutting/bulking diet or when you're extremely active, since obviously fuel requirements go up by a lot.
Many say %s are a retarded way to express your diet in.. and I generally don't plan by %s. But I do keep a close eye on it, as it's so much easier to refer to your intake by %s rather than actual grams or g/kg BW. Just like you folks are clutching to the miles , ounces and gallons and Fahrenheit instead of embracing the kilometer, grams and liters and Celsius (which should be Kelvin).
The mix of fats & carbs on which YOU thrive is so fascinating to watch, it's a source of constant merriment & wonder. It's like being a hybrid car that switches the fuel source constantly. And if you do it right, you manage to insert the right fuel at the right time. I'm really very much into the carb timing.
Taking the carbs during a workout helps with steady blood sugar levels, so I don't produce too much cortisol. But it doesn't do wonders for strength. Especially not if I've dropped carbs waaaaaay low the day before and will drop them again after a WO.
When I only eat the carbs post-WO it is like driving a car on empty. Once the workout is over, there's tons of fatigue, too much cortisol, too much muscle breakdown due to gluconeogenesis and most of the time I'll be diving head first into the food and over compensate. While the glycogen would be filled up again, there's a good chance it will have been used up before the next workout comes around, leaving me without enough energy to finish it.
Contrast this to eating the carbs (even junkfoody marshmallows) the night before a workout. I get a good zzz (carbs increase insulin and insulin shifts the tryptophan/tyrosin balance so that more tryptophan gets into the brain putting you asleep) , glycogen gets refilled BEFORE a workout.
Right before a workout the carbs will make me too sleepy because of forementioned reasons. A small amt of carbs (25g or so) will work great though!
Espi, as always it's an education to come into your log!! Thanks for that! It's like getting all the BR knowledge condensed into understandable format without the name calling!!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Espi
And besides, after having thought interval cardio was the best thing after sliced bread for a cut, it seems that the EPOC (afterburn) you get from it, is only modest at best and doesn't always beat SS cardio.
I've done lots of interval cardio in the past but noticed I'd finally gain some LBM in the months I ditched indoor cardio altogether.
Another side-effect of too strenuous cardio is that it makes me (and others) incredibly hungry, so the effect can be that you eat way more than the exercise really burns. Actually, the immediate effect would be to completely suppress appetite for several hours. Especially when I wouldn't drink/eat sufficiently during a workout.
Simple functional cardio like walking can be as effective since it doesn't generally make me hungry and doesn't burn through a lot of glycogen either. Yesterday I figured to not really need much indoor cardio as I'd be walking home with groceries a few times. Alas, my SO took over the heavy bag with the 60 eggs .. farmer's walks
I found this to be true for me when wearing the BodyBugg ... what I burned in a 45 minute easy walk was nearly the same as what I burned during a rather strenuous 30 minute weight training session!!! CRAZY!! I find for me with my stress that the lower intensity is giving good results without making me exhausted. Those with less stress can probably tolerate more intensity and still recover. My recovery is hampered by the stress.
Exactly. It took me a very long time to find out, as generally I was so winded/excited in the gym that I'd just blow through an entire workout w/o a problem and even get good results (performance-wise). Never mind I'd be fully wiped out at home and non-functional.
I'm nearly certain one very simple thing I changed mid-2006 (or so) attributed a lot to losing a lil' more weight: replacing the quick darts by bicycle to town by walking to shops & post office or gym whenever the distance was less than 2 miles. And carrying my groceries home in the backpack & shopping bag.
But now my workout..
Wednesday May 21
Funky Times 2-3B – lower body all weights in kilograms
DYNAMIC STRETCHING
The usual 10 suspects. This time I thought about doing a few scaption pushups.
A1 hang cleans
25-28-30-36x1 and failed on 40kg to move bb out of the way &
35-28-25x1 on the way back after finishing w front squats (the 30kg was used by someone else)
Though I’d only planned to do a 36kg max, I wanted to see if I could manage a 40kg.. not anymore.
I’d thought to do better this time now I was well fed. Uh oh.. no! For 1 the SLDLs are kicking my ass (the DL is for over 90% a back exercise for me, while SLDLs murders the hams.. and for 2 , I was feeling too … relaxed. Even yawning! Got to be angry to work out!
B2 stiff legged DL off a bench
WU: 40x4
60x7 (-3) – 65x8
65x6 – 70x7 (-1)
70x5 (-3) – 75x6 (PR, never did a SLDL w 75kg before)
Wasn’t bad, but form-wise it could’ve been better. A disaster though to do this one paired with the technically so much more demanding front squat
C1 step up
(2x9)x8 -7
Was already pretty beat by now.
C2 Smith squat lunge
25x10
Used 5kg more.. going through the movements rather than pushing myself.
D1 1-leg press
19x10 – 10 (0)
Fortunately no hip pain by now, but still not better than last time.
D2 seated leg curl
40x10 (0)-12 (-1)
Same amt of reps.
SMALL STUFF
E1 wood chop
16,3x12 for each side and
F1 sword pull AKA reverse wood chop
8,8x10
Never tried this one before… hmm much harder than the downward movements! Perhaps a keeper?
Description: Stuck without a rack and need to train legs? Try this doozy of an exercise we picked up from Coach Allen Hedrick.
Clean the dumbbells to the shoulders. Assume a shoulder-width stance, arch the back, and keep the head up. Reach back with the hips and sit back into a squat position, keeping the heels on the floor and the knees behind the toes. Return to the start position and repeat.
Practice: did this one with 10kg dumbbells and just 5 reps as I’d done 8 sets of bb front squats before. Felt easier than I’d thought.. but then again, didn’t try the heavier dumbbells which would have been really tough to clean.
Opinion: neutral. Cleaning them one at the time and then trying to position them there where they’d hurt the least was the hardest part. Other than that, the front squat itself isn’t difficult..
If you really don’t have a rack, but do have barbells, I’d suggest to just clean the barbell from the floor and go on to do a regular bb front squat. Unless you have a problem with flexibility of the elbows, a bb front squat wil be a lot easier to balance. So, I won’t do them like this.. unless I’d do them off balance as single db front squats after single db cleans or even snatches.
CARDIO
Almost wanted to quit but told myself to just do 15 min of easy TM walking.. so I did. Bummer that I accidentally tore off the emergency stop cord and had to start over again.. so could only record total calories from memory & not the distance.
Total time: 15+3 min, 4 to 7 km/hr @ 15% grade : nearly 200kcal
General: am longing for the end of my cut.. which actually will be … tomorrow. I’d thought my overfeeding on carbs a few days ago would’ve kicked me out of the rut, but apparently not. This month I’ve lowered calories on WO days to just below maintenance. Yes, I’m dropping weight nicely, but I’m also dropping strength faster while I was able to get stronger in the previous cycles before I switched routines.. (last month I even had to take 1 week off as I overreached).
Or… perhaps this is just too much volume.. would it, could it? I guess it is.. at least for a cut. Will know more in a few days when calories will go UP again!
Training statistics
Volume: 16168 (+5143)
# of sets: 41 (+11) # of reps: 276 (+93) - avg reps/set : 6,7 (+0,4) - kg/rep : 58,6 (-1,6)
Friday May23
Funky Times 2-3C all weights in kilograms
DYNAMIC STRETCHING
The usual 10 exercises.
A1 weighted chins
BW+11x1 – BW+9x1 - BW+7x1 - BW+5x2
After failing on 12k last week, this time the 10kg db was used plus a 1kg ankle weight wrapped around the ankle. Heaviest wt used sofar!
B1 db bench press
WU: (2x17)x5 (0)
(2x19)x5 (0) – …. (forgot the 20kg)
(2x21) x4 (0) – (2x22)x5 (erroneously took the 22kg and did 5 reps)
(2x23; 6RM) x3 (-1) – (2x24; 3RM)x2 .. too exhausted to do 3 reps here. Was happy w 2!
as superset w
B2 bb bent over row w UH grip
WU: 47,5x5
52,5 x6 (-1) -55x6
57,5x5 (0) - 60x5
62,5 (6RM)x4 (+1) – 65 (5RM)x4
C1 military press
26 (8RM) x8
25x7 (-3)
24 x8 (0)
As superset w
C2 single arm lat pull down (with pulley tied to both lines
21x10 (+2)-8 (+1)
D1 triceps rope push down
18,8x9 (-1)
16,3x13 (+1)
D2 pec deck
38x12 (0) – 10 (-2)
METABOLIC STUFF
None today, gym was about to close in 20 mins and I preferred to burn off the excess carbs.
General: decent workout, never faltered but wasn’t feeling like doing more than I’d already planned.. very happy to be in maintenance/bulking phase again!
Training statistics
Volume: 9046 (-1780)
# of sets: 34 (-2) # of reps: 218 (-59) - avg reps/set : 6,4 (-1,3) - kg/rep : 41,5 (+2,4)
.. farmer's walks
. Wasn’t tired also thanks to taking Stamina with me, just sore (from previous leg WO) at the end. 
LOL!!
