Go with the flow! - Page 5 - JP Fitness Forums

ljk · 02-07-2007, 07:23 PM

Bill Hartman

Espi · 02-08-2007, 07:54 AM

Tuesday Feb 6
TRAINING TAK cycle 1
all weights in kilograms

pullups
BWx2-2

db press– wave loading
(2x14) x 6
Wave 1 – 2
(2x16) x 7 – (2x17) x6
(2x18) x 5 – (2x19) x 4
(2x20) x 3 – (2x21) x 3
Didn’t feel much stronger for the 2nd wave.

goblet squat for speed
Dropped it because of hip.

bb front squat
27,5 x 8
25x 8
22,5 x 9
Technique is still a bitch, or actually I can’t make the bb rest on my clavicle, there’s not much space so I just end up holding the weight with my arms, which is tiresome. Got to find back the straps.

EZ-bar skull crusher
20 x 8
17,5 x 10
15 x 12
Still searching for the best way to do extension: to the neck (French press), to the skull (skull crusher or behind the head (lying triceps extension) and I don’t know for sure.

As SS with

standing military press
22,5 x 10
20 x 12
17,5 x 13
Not all that easy. Have to ‘clean’ the weight to get it up properly. Once up it’s not too difficult.

kneeling cable crunch
16,25 x 30 – 35
Still too easy

seated leg curl
40x 15-17
Seated is so much easier than lying leg curl when calves cramp up.

Cardio
None, only a slow & careful walk to/from the gym as it started snowing .. I loathe this kind of weather as far as cycling/walking/driving in it is concerned. The gov’t warned people to not venture outdoors if not necessary. Funny, it’s not even all that much snow but we’re totally unprepared for these conditions.

General: feeling tired. Decided to skip Saturday’s workout if the weather is still atrocious by then and hip still hurts. I’ll just cut down on calories then (it’s my free meal(s) day) .

Training statistics
Rep index: 270 reps/hr (50min)
Volume: 7283kg
Total gym time: 50 mins.
# of sets: 22 - # of reps 225 - avg reps/set : 10,2 - kg/rep 32,4 kg

galya · 02-08-2007, 10:53 AM

Good that you've decided to take a day off. You are smart about that as usual

Espi · 02-08-2007, 03:53 PM

Not so sure here. It took several years before I could recognize overtraining.
Physiotherapist told me to take it easy. With screaming hips it's not so difficult to make that decision.

Seems the problem really was the overtight hamstrings that made bending over a problem.

galya · 02-09-2007, 12:26 PM

Huh, so what are you doing about it? Did they suggest foam rolling maybe?

Espi · 02-09-2007, 02:25 PM

Nothing.. it was just a free advice for 10 mins. They aren't very good in giving DIY suggestions . I'll have to wait till early March to get an appointment with the manual therapist.
I should look into foam rolling. Have heard about it so often and still have no clue how it works and how I can make my own.

I also finally made that phone call to the endocrinologist and made an appointment there too.. late March (another 7 weeks!) They all have tremendous waiting lists.

I've got so many things pointing towards an auto-immune disease according to my friends over at Beyond Low Carb that they finally convinced me that I might have a thyroid problem too. The gut problem with all of the allergies, the B12 deficiency, the early greying of hair, excess hair loss, the brittle/soft nails, scaly skin (not anymore, but used to be), tendency to drop body temperature fast when dropping calories, the very low HR (32 is RR). Also the memory problems and the joint pain. Apparently the symptoms for auto-immune disorders are all very similar.

And the final straw that broke the camel's back: the tingling/numb fingers that would appear after low-carb days and disappear after a high carb day and then finally bother me all day long which has now been diagnosed as carpal tunnel syndrome.

I will have to look into the foam rollers myself. I'm sure you're an expert?

galya · 02-09-2007, 09:35 PM

Haha, no. I just roll. We made one, then cappy sent me one, then Jonas bought one from the US and brought it back. The homemade version is just a 6 inch PVC pipe covered with soft bathroom flooring (the non-slip rubbery type thing). It was easy I am sure your man can do it in no time. Then there are many articles (on t-nation by Tony Gentilcore and Mike Robertson especially that show you how to use it + a tennis ball and combination of tennis balls). Since you live in civilized Europe maybe you have them at the store?

Espi · 02-10-2007, 01:51 AM

I wouldn't think so as the concept of foam rolling is new here. Haven't even seen it discussed in any of the fitness forums I belong to.

galya · 02-10-2007, 07:29 AM

I thought we were the only ones living in the soft tissue stone age...damn. Make your own, no biggie

Espi · 02-10-2007, 08:10 AM

Nah.. wouldn't think so. Bah, I'm in a funk.

I'd put so much effort into planning my new program and then over at another forum they just laughed at my over-complicated design. Just lift big weights!

Point is.. I feel like being in between a rock and a hard place (is that the right word?)
If I do high reps, my joints love me, but I start bingeing because this is where I always overdo it with too much volume.

If I do low reps, my joints hate, me but it's when I can stick to my diet the best of all.

Instead of feeling totally depressed I'd probably do better to change my program
- db shoulder press instead of military press so I won't need to clean the weight
- lat pull down instead of pullups so I can do lighter weights

Not sure what do to with the pull throughs and the RDL-style good mornings re the hip problem.

UConnJulie · 02-11-2007, 09:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Espi

Nah.. wouldn't think so. Bah, I'm in a funk.

I'd put so much effort into planning my new program and then over at another forum they just laughed at my over-complicated design. Just lift big weights!

Point is.. I feel like being in between a rock and a hard place (is that the right word?)
If I do high reps, my joints love me, but I start bingeing because this is where I always overdo it with too much volume.

If I do low reps, my joints hate, me but it's when I can stick to my diet the best of all.

That stinks that people on the other forum weren't supportive or helpful .. bah! More reason to hang out here!!

Maybe you would benefit from an undulating periodization program where you are doing low reps/high weights one day and medium/medium the next, and high/low the next. It might help to keep all aspects happy without causing overtraining ...

Espi · 02-11-2007, 11:42 AM

Quote:

Maybe you would benefit from an undulating periodization program where you are doing low reps/high weights one day and medium/medium the next, and high/low the next. It might help to keep all aspects happy without causing overtraining ...

It's something which I'd thought to put in this program or rather which was in my last 'anti-KISS' program, but for this one I was stimulated to try for lower reps.
I still think that mixing up all rep ranges in 1 workout and hence be able to emphasize 1 body part more with the lowest reps/highest weight/more sets and then do less weight for the other parts that were trained before was a good idea.
It just looks very complicated. As long as I have my sheets with me, it's not a problem. But apparently I overestimated how much thought other people are willing to put into a program.

In that sense people at JP are more like me. I mean.. that forum was focused on how you look very much, which you can manage with 90% diet and 10% routine and any routine is good
PL-ers work much different but they focus on very low reps.

I'm originally an endurance cyclist and very good at doing very high rep stuff.It doesn't really matter to me whether I get strong in very high rep routines or in very low rep routines, as long as I advance.

I focused on very high reps for too long. Which brought me too much carb cravings, exhaustion and ... no body recomp. From that extreme I went too fast to the other extreme. The high rep workouts are wonderful for blood flow, joint health and burn tons of calories too.

My joints, which are very tiny and fragile, just won't handle all that weight that my muscles CAN and DO handle. This is why I suddenly have that bum hip, shoulder and wrists.. they just aren't strong enough. And never were.

Espi · 02-13-2007, 06:17 AM

Just in case you were wondering: I thought to rest my joints some more.
And overthink my routine once again.

- will try to avoid hurting my hip & shoulder more than necessary: replace the pullups with lat pulldown and pullover so that leaves only 1 pullup exercise/week!
- will look at diminishing # of sets a tidbit more to around 20 sets

While I rest the joints and fiddle with the routine, I can also watch what happens to my brain when I'm taking a prolonged rest periods with NO cardio !

IT AIN'T PRETTY!

Exercise = endorphins = better adherence to diet!
no exercise = lack of endorphins = self-medication with carbs I don't effing need

I can guarantee you: blood sugar swings have virtually NOTHING to do with the overeating.. it's all dopamine/serotonine related. Duh! It's really bad news that I also am fairly insulin-resistant so most of the excess carbs get stored into the fat cells as well! Though it does seem to not be as bad as it used to be.

So, last night I digged into a full bag of potato crisps. I wasn't feeling like I used to feel when I was eating the crisps. I used to feel totally 100% compelled to finish the bag. Now I just felt listless and could've thrown away the crisps if I'd decided to. But i didn't because I kinda felt 'bored' . Don't know how I can express it any better.
At least, I felt rather relieved that it wasn't like it used to be... I no longer really felt like 'a puppet on a string' that was controlled by mightier forces than myself. I could have regained control if I had wanted to and stopped halfway.

Saturday I'll be lifting again and having leg day.

UConnJulie · 02-13-2007, 09:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Espi

Exercise = endorphins = better adherence to diet!
no exercise = lack of endorphins = self-medication with carbs I don't effing need.

I find this too ... if I don't get up and exercise right away it is VERY hard for me to stick to my diet ... I need to figure out how to break it on the days I don't exercise ... any suggestions?

Espi · 02-13-2007, 10:58 AM

As far as exercise is concerned: the best way for me was to exercise every other day. 4x/wk was too much - over training which gives its' own problems.

And then, just keep carbs as low as possible, while still having plenty of choices re food items. Nowadays this is roughly 50-100g of carbs while it used to be 20-50g.
I just got extremely fed up with having to count carbs in veggies and limit fruit intake. Eating 50-100g of carbs on non-training days is low enough to keep me sane = curb appetite and high enough to still sneak in some 'naughty' foods like a couple of dates, or a small piece of chocolate or.. heaven forbid even a small piece of candy.

Also, I no longer try to cram in as much protein as possible. When I had to give up dairy, including dairy-based PP it made eating over 150g of protein too effing hard.

So, it's a carrot-and-stick system:
<100g of carbs vs >100g of carbs
<1500 kcal vs >2000 kcal
- eating only 2g P/kg of LBM (not BW!) vs 3g P/kg LBM
- leave some fun foods in moderation vs less moderation up to: let's have a party!

You can understand why the week between X-mas and Jan 1 freaks me out.. all gyms closed and all the celebratory foods to stuff your face with.

tkinsley · 02-13-2007, 03:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Espi

As far as exercise is concerned: the best way for me was to exercise every other day. 4x/wk was too much - over training which gives its' own problems.

And then, just keep carbs as low as possible, while still having plenty of choices re food items. Nowadays this is roughly 50-100g of carbs while it used to be 20-50g.
I just got extremely fed up with having to count carbs in veggies and limit fruit intake. Eating 50-100g of carbs on non-training days is low enough to keep me sane = curb appetite and high enough to still sneak in some 'naughty' foods like a couple of dates, or a small piece of chocolate or.. heaven forbid even a small piece of candy.

Also, I no longer try to cram in as much protein as possible. When I had to give up dairy, including dairy-based PP it made eating over 150g of protein too effing hard.

So, it's a carrot-and-stick system:
<100g of carbs vs >100g of carbs
<1500 kcal vs >2000 kcal
- eating only 2g P/kg of LBM (not BW!) vs 3g P/kg LBM
- leave some fun foods in moderation vs less moderation up to: let's have a party!

You can understand why the week between X-mas and Jan 1 freaks me out.. all gyms closed and all the celebratory foods to stuff your face with.

You've probably addressed this Espi, so forgive me if you have, but what is your body composition doing in response to your diet? Maybe more importantly, is there anything that you want it to be doing that it isn't? I like the IDEA of what you have above, but I find that I am still too neurotic to not be stricter; I do get my every 2 week day of food love at present and am making steady progress. But damn.... I miss fruit and protein waffles, LOL!

Tina