Go with the flow!

[SpacecityPaula]

Keep up the terrific work Espi. I'm glad to see you simplifying your workouts!

[Espi]

A week's worth of testing

blood sugar values vs 3d avg carb intake
Sat : 86/4,8 (102g thru Fri, not counting CU)
Sun: 91/5,1 (181g thru Sat; lifted on Sat)
Mon: 96/5,3 (200g thru Sun, not counting CU)
Tues: 105/5,8 (275g thru Mon ; lifted on Mon)
Wed: 93/5,2 (165g thru Tues)
Thurs: 101/5,6 (157g thru Wed)
Fri: 91/5,1 (94g thru Thurs ; lifted on Thurs)
Sat: 102/5,7 (107g thru Fri, not counting CU; 182 including last night's CU)
Sun: 88/4,9 (212g thru Sat ; lifted on Sat)

And the OGTT that I just finished. Not the new standard (see: Glucose tolerance test - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia ) where they use 75g of glucose, but one with 100g glucose as this is what I did the previous 2 times as well. The protocol came out of an older Atkins book.

Since the Atkins book also gives some neat details over interpreting data, I'll repeat them here again:

PEAK VALUE
- for a healthy person <160
- for a diabetic: >200

FINAL VALUE after 2-4 HRS
- for a healthy person: 60-90

DIFFERENCE HIGH-LOW
- for a healthy person: 30-80
- for impaired function: 80-100
- for a diabetic : >100

And finally something that allows you to do something with the various values.
SUM 0 - 30 - 60 - 120 min
- for a healthy person: <500
- for impaired function: 500- 800
- for a diabetic : >800

Sofar:
0 (9am): 89 / 4,9 [previous test 0 : 103]
15 (915): 153 / 8,5 [20: 176]
30 (930): 148 / 8,2 [40: 195]
60 (10): 121 / 6,7 [60: 181]
90 (1030): 111/6,2 --- almost normal again [80: 158]
120 (11): 107 / 5,9 [120: 164]

SUM values 0-30-60-120 = 465 [previous test gave sum of 624]

Puts me only slightly under the upper limit of a normal blood sugar response.
I'd hoped for a lower final value, but nonetheless am quite pleased since 109/6,1 after 2 hrs is a quite decent blood sugar response.

It does make me aware of it that I have to 'work' for my carbs: only eat more when I work out w weights or do cardio (either SS or HIIT). Otherwise blood sugar levels will creep up too much.
It seems that the amt of carbs ingested on previous days is not as influential than whether or not I lifted the previous day.

ETA: am going to test one more time at 11:30 (150min) and then go for a short (5min) walk and will test another time immediately thereafter...

ETA2:
That's been done.. at the 150min mark I tested 100/5,6 and then went out for a 5 min walk (400 steps) and did 5 supine rows in the nearby playing ground.
Came back and tested 12 points lower at 160 min: 88 /4,9 and finally at 180 min: 72/4,0
Woot!

[Espi]

Monday June 23
Undulating Reps 1-C3 (C = power/strength , 1-6/7 rep range)

all weights in kilograms

DYNAMIC STRETCHING
The usual 10 exercises

As (VERY slow) supersets!

A1 weighted chins , same wt
(BW+6)x2-2-2-2
First set felt as if a 3 rep set is very close.

A2 hang clean , + 0,5kg
25x1 – 28x1 – 30x1 – 38x1

B1 front squat , + 2,5kg
WU: 50x4
60x4
Last rep wasn’t completely w good form/depth

B2 DL , +2,5kg
WU : 70x5
85x6
OK.

B3 db press , + 2kg
WU: (2x18)x5
(2x22)x5


B4 bb bent over Yates row (UH) , +2,5kg
WU: 50x5
62,5x5

C1 military press , same wt
30 x6 (PR!)
One more rep than last time, which was another PR.

C2 biceps curl (BB) , +2,5kg
25x2
This needs to get better


C3 pull through
36,3x8
Tie w previous best. It’s all about bracing yourself properly

C4 triceps rope pushdown , same wt
23,8x5
Tie w previous best.

D1 kneeling cable crunch , same wt
26,25x12


E1 cable exo rotation ,same wt
3,8 x 11

METABOLIC WORK & Cardio
None.

General: awful workout. Started pretty good, but I was feeling how I tanked quickly, so I cut everything down to the bare essentials, viz. only 1 yes ONE work set each, figuring I’d feel better doing every exercise rather than only the main ones. Reason for the poor performance was a massive case of the runs (no clue what exactly caused it, but I’m suspecting it was the lf lc ice cream.. and I didn’t even eat that much of it.). Hopefully things will go better in the next workout.

Training statistics
Volume: 7910 (-3809)
# of sets: 28 (-13) # of reps: 165 (-68) - avg reps/set : 5,9 (+0,2)- kg/rep : 47,9 (-2,4)

[stingo]

I've done that - had something different before my workout, even something as simple as seafood salad instead of chicken salad, and my stomach was not liking it all. Still, you did get a workout in, so congrats on that.

[Espi]

I'd planned to do another workout on Wednesday. Not the Endurance/depletion workout but another tension WO.
Alas, the stomach bug is still with me, and worse yet than on Monday. I might give it a try tomorrow and may also see the doctor about it. But I'm not really expecting much out of it.. plus I'm popping probiotics (Bifidus & Jarrodophilus) already and am eating sensibly.

Now I just still don't know if it was the 100g of dextrose powder that made me feel so bad or the 100g of low-carb/fat ice cream. Probably mostly the IC but my SO insists it's also the dextrose that I gulped down within 5 seconds in a concentrated solution (for the OGTT).

[SpacecityPaula]

Get better soon Espi!

[Espi]

Better again.. after many little helper pills (Bifidus Balance, Jarrodophilus) and the first 2 letters of the B.R.A.T. diet = bananas & rice. I'd already started eating rice spontaneously as in rice noodle soup as I craved more carbs than usual but then got pointed towards the BRAT diet.. and bought a bunch of bananas. Only had one but I think it helped as well.

Seems that when ill one automatically needs a ton more carbs. I got as high as 55% carbs just a few days ago and feel fine on that much.. protein fell down to the lowest in a long time (65g or so) as I just didn't feel like eating more.
Was craving SALT soo much though yesterday but since 1. my favourite potato crisps aren't on sale anymore (thickly cut dill crisps/chips) and 2. salted popcorn is too hard on the intestines with the corn shells I just had plain chicken soup w basmati rice... very yummy and salty enough as I'd simmered it for long enough so there was less liquid.

So now I'm leaving for my first workout again... no depletion WO but a tension/hypertrophy WO .. 1. I'd not even planned one since I'm supposedly in a mini-bulk and 2. it'd be dumb to do this after having been ill.
I'm going to cut down the volume though, just to be on the safe side.

[SpacecityPaula]

Glad you are feeling better Espi.

[Espi]

Friday June 27
Undulating Reps 1-B4 (B = tension/hypertrophy, 7-12 rep range)

all weights in kilograms

DYNAMIC STRETCHING
The usual 10 exercises (no real pushups)

As (slow) superset w increasing rest periods

A1a chins
BWx5
Managed the 5 reps again.. and not even struggling (much) for the last rep (viz. no fetal chin but keeping legs straight)

A1b wide grip lat pull down , (+2kg)
51x6-7 , PR for 2nd set

A2 hang clean , (-2,5kg)

25x1 – 28x1 – 30x1 – 37,5x1
Feeling weaker here…

B1 front squat (+2,5kg)
WU: 45x4
52,5x6-4
After the first set HR went up so high I had to rest for several minutes..so much so that I talked myself into doing just 1 more set rather than stop it right there. I’m still strong but quite deconditioned in just a few days time.

B2 stiff-legged DL , (+2,5kg)
WU: 50x5
67,5x8- 9 , PR for 2nd set
Despite wobbly legs, still a PR for both. But I started feeling my back afterwards.. something didn’t go right with 2nd set.

B3 db press (+2kg)
WU: (2x16)x5
(2x19)x11-9 PR for 1st set
Wow.. I just can’t believe how smooth the db presses are going nowadays. Strength faded fast!

B4 bb bent over Yates row (UH) , (+2,5kg)
52,5x11-9
First set was a ‘normal’ PR as my ‘normal’ RM is 9 reps for this wt, but by means of 1-x trickery once got to 16 reps

C1 military press (+1kg)
25x12
Another PR! It even went relatively easy.

C2 seated leg curl (same wt)
47x14
Same as last time..

C3 biceps curl (EZ-bar) (+2,5kg)
20x14 PR !!
3 reps more than last RM

C4 triceps rope pushdown (same wt)
18,8 x15 (+2)
Coming closer to the 20RM.

D1 kneeling cable crunch , (same wt)
26,3 x23 PR again

E1 cable exo rotation (same wt)
3,8 x 14

CARDIO
None, just walking/to from the gym

Opinion : I’d expected a miserable workout and in a sense it was as my HR went to the roof and I was fading really fast. But what I did.. whoah! Awesome.. I must say that it was one of my slowest workouts .. viz. tons of rest in between. NO stressing! Lots of talking to a forum friend.
Only negative part was that I got a bit of a lower back strain from the SLDLs.. need to keep a very tight arch when doing it (no side-to-side wobbling when trying to do most of the pulling from the legs)

Oh, and this morning I measured the lowest bf% ever on the Omron. Could be because I was ill (the stomach bug): metabolism always goes up when you're ill and coz' of low appetite you're burning more fats than you normally do. In any case I'm pretty elated

Training statistics
Volume: 11481 (-2963)
# of sets: 30 (incl. WUs, -6) , # of reps: 261 (-70) - avg reps/set : 8,7 (-0,5) - kg/rep : 44,0 (+0,4)

[Espi]

Sunday June 27
Undulating Reps 1-C4 (C = power/strength , 1-6/7 rep range)
Last one of this cycle, hence the highest weights used.

all weights in kilograms

DYNAMIC STRETCHING
The usual 10 exercises

As (VERY slow) supersets!

A1 weighted chins (+1kg)
(BW+7)x2-2
Just 2 sets. Tie with PR but first time I did 2 sets with 7kgx2 reps.

A2 hang clean , (+2kg)
25x1 – 28x1 – 30x1 – 40x1
Hadn’t planned to do a 40kg hang clean but someone had used it and since I’d put another (empty) bb in the top rack, he left it on the floor for me , so I thought WTH and.. managed to clean it after all.

B1 front squat , (+ 2,5kg )
WU: 50x4
62,5x3
Tie with best effort. But I felt so fatigued after doing it that I was afraid to drop it if I’d try for another set. Still NOT feeling better.

B2 DL , (+2,5kg)
WU : 70x5
87,5x5-7
Current RM was for 5 reps, but I once got 6 reps for 90kg and 8 for 85kg, so this new 7RM is right in line with these.

B3 db press , (+ 2kg)
WU: (2x18)x4
(2x23)x4-6
Tie with current PR (6RM)

B4 bb bent over Yates row (UH) , (+2,5kg)
WU: 50x6
65x4-4.
Once again, close to my ‘cheater’ BOR –PR but now while fixed in same position.

C1 military press , (+1kg)
31 x6 (PR!)
Automatic PR, since I’ve never MP’d anything heavier than 30kg before. Same amt of reps as for 30kg.

D1 EZ-bar biceps curl , (same wt)
25x6 (+4)
Amazingly easy to curl an EZ-bar compared to straight barbell. No PR though.

E1 pull through , (same wt)
36,3x9 (+1), PR
One more ….

F1 triceps rope pushdown , (same wt)
23,8x4 (-1)
One less.

G1 kneeling cable crunch , (+2,5kg)
28,75x9
OK. 2 reps short of PR.

H1 cable exo rotation , (same wt)
3,8 x 17 (+3)

I1 (neutral grip) chins
BWx3 (+1)
Three easy chins.. didn’t want to struggle for a 4th one.

METABOLIC WORK & Cardio
None.

General: A repeat of what I’ve experienced Mon & Fri. More than OK strength but terrible cardiovascular condition. Today it was a bit better : HR didn’t go through the roof, but I wasn’t expecting this for heavy wts, low reps. But I was sweating like crazy nonetheless so once again did far less than I’d normally do. Still got decent results though …


Training statistics
Volume: 8127 (+409)
# of sets: 30 (+2) # of reps: 173 (+8) - avg reps/set : 5,8 (-0,1)- kg/rep : 47,8 (+0,2)

[Espi]

Today is July 1, hence time for a monthly update. Interestingly it almost completely coincides with finishing my first Undulating Reps program ( a watered down version of UD2.0).

30d weight etc. averages July1/June1
July 1, 2008
62,2kg = -0,6kg
25,5bf% = -0,6%
F: 15,9kg=-0,5kg
= 1,8kg F to go to 60,5kg @ 23,5% = good bf% for my age bracket!

LBM: 46,3kg=-0,1kg
P-ratio: 5% LBM loss re to 30d avg wt loss . IOW, barely any LBM lost at all. If I hadn’t been ill I’d even have gained LBM, but due to a stomach bug I lost the gained LBM again.

June 1, 2008
62,8kg = -0,2kg
26,1bf% = +0,1%
F: 16,4kg=0,0kg
= 0,1kg F to go to 62,7kg @ 26% = normal bf%! Grrr… I’ve regressed, rather than progressed in bf%
= 1,2kg F to go to 61,5kg @ 23.5% = good bf%!

LBM: 46,4kg=-0,2kg
P-ratio: 103% LBM loss re to 30d avg wt loss . IOW, I lost more LBM than I’ve lost total BW.

30 day average intake, maintenance & predicted expenditure
In June I was eating 1911kcal, which was 7,5% less than my actual maintenance of 2066 kcal, which led to 515g fat loss.
By using my own formulas, I had estimated to have a maintenance of 2156 kcal, so that’s 90kcal more than the actual maintenance. Still more than the actual mtn like last month, but this time I was prepared and just ate less again to the tune of a 150 kcal decrease.

In May I was eating 2148kcal, which was 0,1% more than my actual maintenance of 2146 kcal, which led to 7g fat gain.
By using my own formulas, I had estimated to have a maintenance of 2218 kcal, so that’s 72kcal more than the actual maintenance. After having had a couple of months in which I burnt more than predicted, I now burnt less than predicted. I ate 100kcal less than last month but maintenance dropped by 200kcal , so intake matched output.

30 day average macronutrient breakdown
June
carbs: 174g (-13) | 36% (+1) | 2,8g/kg BW (-0,2)
protein: 134g (-12) | 28% (+1) | 2,2g/kg BW (-0,1) = 2,9g/kg LBM (-0,2)
fat: 76g (-15) | 36% (-2) | 1,2g/kg BW (-0,3)
sat. fat : 35% (-1)
fiber: 28g (+2)

May
carbs: 187g (-12) | 35% (-1) | 3,0g/kg BW (-0,1)
protein: 146g (+2) | 27% (+1) | 2,3g/kg BW (0,0) = 3,1g/kg LBM (0,0)
fat: 91g (-4) | 38% (0) | 1,5g/kg BW (0,0)
sat. fat : 36% (-3)
fiber: 26g (-4)

Cut way back on fats, also some on carbs and even on protein.. and yet, rather than losing LBM than on the too strenuous routine, I didn’t lose any LBM. Quality trumps quantity.

……………………………………………………………………………… …………

30d avg activity
June 2008
Amt of rest-WO-days: 19r-11T (+2/-2)
kg lifted : 5729 (-198)
activity: 73 min/day (-15): worked out less and ditched all indoor cardio but kept volume fairly high.

May 2008
Amt of rest-WO-days: 17r-13T (+1/-1)
kg lifted : 5927 +1094)
activity: 88min/day (+9): did less inside the gym, but moved more outside

Comparison rest vs training days
June 2008
Calories eaten: rest 1489 (-360) =70% (-15) of mtn | lifting 2641 (+101) = 127% (+8) of mtn
Carbs: rest 110g (-32) | training 285g (+39)
Protein: rest 114g (-13) | training 168g (-2)
Fat : rest 66g (-21) | training 93 (-5)g

May 2008
Calories eaten: rest 1849 (+203) =85% (+13) of mtn | lifting 2540 (-442) =119% (-15) of mtn
Carbs: rest 142 (+33) g | training 246 (-69) g
Protein: rest 127 (+9) g | training 170 (-8)g
Fat : rest 87 (+4)g | training 98 (-13)g

Diminished calories on rest days, even cut way back on protein. On workout days I kept proteins & fats the same but increased carbs.
This, together with my new training program, viz. a very watered down version of UD2.0 , viz. more calories & not as many sets as well as just 1 single depletion workout.

If I hadn’t been ill, I couldn’t have been happier as else I’d have gained LBM this month.
Let’s continue the culking game!

[Espi]

Thursday July 3
Undulating Reps 2-A1 (A = endurance, 12+ rep range)
all weights in kilograms

DYNAMIC STRETCHING
Three of them: ‘windmills’ , quick calf & ham stretching & Frankensteins.

Also tried to get back to doing real pushups that were once part of my dynamic warm-up but took too much energy. This time around I wanted to do pushups instead of db presses to ‘deplete’.
Boy was that ever a disappointment

A1 push up
8-6-4-2
Just couldn’t believe how weak I’d become! I’d fully expected to be able to do 2-3 sets of like 8 reps as I was able to do 1 set of 10-12 reps easily in the past.. need-to-work-on-this!

As superset w/o rest

B1 leg press (you’re also pressing up your own BW)
WU: 26x10
45x20-22-25-23
Next time : 47kg

B2 lat pull down
WU: 28x10
38,5 x15-15-15-13
Next time : 40kg

C1 leg extension
35,5x13-13-14
Next time: same wt

C2 seated leg curl
40 x12-14-11
Next time: same wt

D1 pec deck
38x16-15
Next time : 40kg

D2 standing gluteus
45 x22/22-20/20
Next time: 47,5kg

E1 preacher curl
20x19-16
Next time: 22,5kg

E2 standing db shoulder press
(2x9) x16 - 13
Next time: same wt

F1 wide cable seated seated row
28,8 x25-18
Next time: 31,3kg

F2a triceps rope pushdown
13,8 x18
Next time: 16,3kg

F2b triceps overhead cable press ????
8,75x16
Next time : same wt

First time I ever tried this exercise. Seems I chose the wt well. I’d read that for triceps you need a ‘kickback’ version as well as a pushdown version, so as of today I’ll incorporate both of them.. wanna get rid of the batwings that are slowly developing now I’m aging. (well yeah, no spot reduction yada yada, but still)

F3 cable crunch
23,8x7
Next time: same wt

By now I’d totally had it.. about half way the workout I started fading away and reeking after ammonia. This already showed in the much lesser amount of reps I was able to pull off but I soldiered on till the final exercise that always makes me almost puke, so I gave up when things got harder..

Opinion : amazing how much I was sweating during the entire WO. Could be I’m early in my period (the time when women are weaker) but I suspect it was also the high humidity. It’s been superhot for several days in a row and then started to rain yesterday while temp still is moderately high.

Training statistics
Volume: 23053 (+3139)
# of sets: 33 (+10) # of reps: 486 (+64) - avg reps/set : 14,7 (-3,6) - kg/rep : 47,4 (+0,2)

[stingo]

Sounds like doing push-ups was a good call. Amazing how specialized our bodies train, and how quickly they lose it if not used.

[kfisherx]

Wow Epsi.... Something isn't adding up here. You are supposedly in a mini-bulk and yet you seem to be weak like you are in a deficit. It just sesms to me that you should have more energy when in a bulk.

Congrats btw on the new low bf%. Have you been able to maintain it?