CD's Training Log

[cdkrug]

Yes, it's a boring name.

Background

I've been training NROL for about nine months now. I've been through FLI, FLII, HI, and HII. That brought me through to December. I spent the first half of December doing Oly lifts, which were a new revelation in pain

Last year, I swore off weighing and measuring for the year on account of several metric tons of external stress–relocating in the Midwest, new job with lots of hours, house sale stress, yadayadayada. I was content to hear kind words from my wife–she wouldn't lie, right? Back in NJ for the holidays, I can't say how I'm unhappy to hear friends and family ask, "Have you lost weight?" and being able honestly to answer, "I've NO idea, I've not weighed myself in over a year."

This Years Goals

Time to move from "Generally eating more or less clean" to "Paying attention to WTF I'm eating."

I'd like to get my behind into Sub-200 territory. I respond well to low carb, so I guess I'm off beer and on whiskey.

I've been thin, and I've had muscles, but never at the same time. After I get down sub-200, I'll reevaluate my size and see where I'd like to go from there.

First Six Months of 2007

1. Adam's Diet — I've always responded well to lo-carb diets, but I didn't have great energy for workouts. So this is a no-brainer.
2. NROL Fat Loss I-III — Again, something I did well on last year. 3-days a week (S-T-Th) with martial arts on alternate days (M-W). Metabolic Overdrive on lifting days. OUCH!
3. Weigh no more than once a week. Experience tells me that, generally speaking, my weight has the least noise if I consistently weight myself Sunday morning after *COUGHS* and before breakfast. For me, weekly is the best plan.
4. No measurements until June. Too many things going on, too much to worry about.

Where I'm at Today

I'm 5' 9-1/2" (176.5cm)
247lb (112kg)
Waist 46" (116.8cm)
Chest 46" (116.8cm)
Wrist 7" (17.8cm)

I don't know where I came from, but my NJ dojo put me in a size 5 gi, whereas I was a 6 last year, so I'm at least "thinner" if not lighter.

[cdkrug]

January 1, 2007

I'm at my folks in Jersey today, playing with a pair of 8" concrete blocks and a hill.

1. 2-block deadlift (blocks stacked). 3x12.

2. Alternating sets:
a. Step-ups (unweighted) 3x12 (each leg)
b. Bulgarian Split Squats (Unweighted) 3x12 (each leg)

3. Complex: Three sets as follows
Start on the downhill end of the house:
a. Pick up the blocks and farmer's walk up the hill past the end of the house
b. Lower the blocks slowly and lay them on their sides.
c. Fifteen pushups, using the blocks as stands
e. Pick up the blocks and farmer's walk down the hill.
f. Lower the blocks slowly.

4. Side Planks

All rest periods are "around a minute" but not sweating it too much, this is my fun week before getting serious with NROL and intervals next week.

[cdkrug]

Originally Posted by cdkrug

January 1, 2007

I'm at my folks in Jersey today, playing with a pair of 8" concrete blocks and a hill.

1. 2-block deadlift (blocks stacked). 3x12.

2. Alternating sets:
a. Step-ups (unweighted) 3x12 (each leg)
b. Bulgarian Split Squats (Unweighted) 3x12 (each leg)

3. Complex: Three sets as follows
Start on the downhill end of the house:
a. Pick up the blocks and farmer's walk up the hill past the end of the house
b. Lower the blocks slowly and lay them on their sides.
c. Fifteen pushups, using the blocks as stands
e. Pick up the blocks and farmer's walk down the hill.
f. Lower the blocks slowly.

4. Side Planks

All rest periods are "around a minute" but not sweating it too much, this is my fun week before getting serious with NROL and intervals next week.

Just a quick note: I took the carbs (glass of OJ) post-workout in addition to half of an MRP. I did NOT get the expected sugar rush. So maybe there's something to this whole Nutrient Timing thingy.

[cdkrug]

Jan 2 2007

Today and tomorrow are strictly the "Family" walk (about a mile and a half brisk with Mom and Dad) plus my kata. Naihanchin Shodan and Pinan Shodan for those interested.

My wife made pea soup for lunch. I therefore will have a bit more carbs than I'm planning, though I think I'll still be in the "one slice of bread, one meal" zone permitted by Adam.

Energy level is Just Spiffy. We'll see how I deal with all the air travel nonsense later in the week.

[cdkrug]

January 3 2007

Travel Day today. Quick summary of where we are:

Adam's Diet

I have that "Where are my CARBS???" feeling that I've gotten in the past when low-carbing. I'm drinking more cold water, but I'm missing my L-Glutamine that's helped in the past. In any event, I should be over this feeling by tomorrow, so no biggie. Since I didn't really "work out" I didn't have any extra carbs.

Trying to avoid simple carbs altogether today the better to avoid Airplane Bloat.

Light Days

Yesterday I did ~3 miles in two "brisk walk" sessions, plus an hour and a half of karate practice (kihon and kata) at "light film of sweat" intensity.

Today I did a mile and a half moderate walk. Later, I'll do the Carry My Wife's Idea of Packing Light Through Two Airports and Up Two Flights Of Stairs (tm) workout.


Tomorrow I start doing Human Inferno intervals.

[cdkrug]

Good news is I'm over the "Carbo Deprivation" stage. Wheee!

Today I had some meal timing issues, but I managed to stay the course with my nutrition otherwise. I think a bigger breakfast is in order.

Metabolic Overdrive aka Human Inferno

I did the "Beginner" level of Metabolic Overdrive from NROL. New to me is doing it running flat versus walking incline last year.

Summary:
5min Warmup ~3MPH
3x(1+3) intervals. (6.6MPH 1min, 3.8MPH 2min)
5min Cooldown.

Feelings?

I generally felt good, alert and energetic. Other than my meal timing issues, today was good.

[cdkrug]

Jan 5, 2007

Another good day. I think I have the AM feeding schedule worked out, but I still need to do some tweaking PM. Happily, my wife is On Board for Adam's Diet, thinking she can work it out with her eating habits as well as the kids. She of course is perfect in every way.

A bit of tightness in the hams from the intervals yesterday. I may toss in a session tommorrow before I get serious with the lifting on Sunday, mainly to work on my balance. A couple times I needed to grab the treadmill rails when I thought I shouldn't have to.

Light Day

Today I did the After Lunch Mile with my work buddies. This evening I plan to work on kata then stretch out my tight hams and legs.

Coming Attractions

On Sunday, I begin NROL-FLI 3x/wk with 3x/week intervals (3 repeats). This is my second time through the FL sequence. Maybe This time I'll choose weights that allow me to complete the workout. Maybe.

[duffeymt]

Hey Krug....have fun with FL1. The one thing about FL in NROL I have just realized is that the weight used is not important. I was always pushing myself to increase and use what I thought was as high if not higher than I 'wanted' to be using. In Fat Loss, it's better to complete the workout using less weight since the point of these workouts in this rep range is intensity and getting your heart rate pumping...even low weight will do that to you in these killer workouts. I look forward to seeing your logs for FL. Enjoy!

[cdkrug]

Originally Posted by duffeymt

Hey Krug....have fun with FL1. The one thing about FL in NROL I have just realized is that the weight used is not important. I was always pushing myself to increase and use what I thought was as high if not higher than I 'wanted' to be using. In Fat Loss, it's better to complete the workout using less weight since the point of these workouts in this rep range is intensity and getting your heart rate pumping...even low weight will do that to you in these killer workouts. I look forward to seeing your logs for FL. Enjoy!

Thanks! This is my second round, but my diets quite a bit different this time 'round.

[cdkrug]

Jan 6 2007

Last "rest day" and I'm anxious to get back in the gym, which as Lou says, is far better than dreading it. Doing "slow" kata—every move as perfect as you can make it, except for the inevitable KIAI!! step, which scares the bejesus out of my wife no matter how many times she sees me do it.


Food, Glorious Food

Sandwich for breakfast for my bread allowance. That's a whole two slices of bread more than I normally eat.

No real "lunch" but nibbled legal snacks off and on. Roast chicken for dinner.

Did all my hydration today. My body's still acclaimating to that much water, which I suppose is better than sparing it.

Putting together pre- and post-workout packs according to the Adam's Diet recipie.

The Real Work starts tomorrow.

One note: My starting weight was on my Mom's scale in NJ, whereas I'll be weighing myself on a new scale here in Michigan. Given that they're both Walmart-grade scales, I don't expect a perfect correlation. I'm telling myself that in advance of tomorrow's weigh-in that a no-loss or a slight gain is OK.

OTOH, I've been doing some "noise" measurements, and everything seems ontrack, so we'll see.

[cdkrug]

Sunday in the Gym with Lou and Alwyn

This is my second time through an NROL Fat Loss Cycle.

Pre/During workout, a scant scoop of protein with 3-1/2T of Gatorade. That should give me ~15g Protein and 45 Carbs

Last year, I couldn't do lunges, so the thought of extras for warmups was just . . bad. But THIS year:

Warmup ala NROL

1. Walking lunge with upper-body twist. 10/leg, bodyweight. I could barely do this last year. So Yea ME!!

2. Lateral Lunge with opposite-hand reach and touch, 5/leg. Did these deliberatly, concentrating on range of motion

3. Ball Bridge/Russian Twist. Not bad for my first attempt. 5/side

4. Modified inchworm . . can't quite get palms flat and feet flat . . . 5. Working on it.

5. T-Pushups 5/side. I love doing these

Fat Loss I, A1 (Modified for Dumbbells)

I'm at a corporate gym with no barbells and a max DB weight of 50lb. Fortunately, I can't quite rep out with that weight, so it's all good.


All reps are at 311 tempo.
1:15 between all sets.

db Squats alternating with Cable Seated Rows.
db Squat (2x35)x15x3
Cable Seated Rows (D-handles) 175x15, 162.5x15, 162.5x13

Grip seemed to be more of a limiting factor than previously on squats.

Surpine Hip Extensions alternating with Dumbbell push press
Surpine Hip Extensions 15x3, Bodyweight
Db Push Press 40x15, 15x15x2

For some reason I had trouble staying on the ball today

Rotational Lunge alternating with Swiss-ball crunch

Last year, I didn't realize the book says to count combined reps, rather then per-leg reps. MUCH easier . . .Right.

Rotational Lunge 10x16x2, 8x16.

I'm going to drop this to 8 for next time. I had decent form and range of motion with the tens, but this movement is a weak spot for me in general.

Swiss Ball Crunch 3x15, Bodyweight.

It's been awhile since I did high-rep crunches on the ball. I probably could add a 5lb plate, but I wanted to concentrate on keeping to my 311 tempo.

Metabolic Overdrive Week 1, Session 1

This year, I'm doing my treadmill intervals running flat, versus walking uphill. My shins seem happier running than climbing, go fig.

1min acclaimation ~3.5MPH. No need for warmup after those weights
3 rounds, 1min running ~6.5MPH, 2min walking ~3.8MPH
5min cooldown

Felt a bit bonky toward the end of the last round, which is probably just fine.

Post Workout

1 scoop protein (20g Protein)
2T Gatorade (26g Carb)

That's on the low-side of what Adam recommends. But I generally feel better on fewer carbs. Open to tweaking.

The Dreaded Weigh-in

245 this morning, but I don't trust this scale to be in agreement with the scale I used last week. So figure I lost between -1 and 2 pounds, so I'm 0% of the way to my goal.

[cdkrug]

Back to the Dojo

The best news today was that I seem to have my nutrition timing problems worked out.

Warmups:
I did the NROL warmup sequence, skipping the ball bridge (no ball), before kicking the makiwara post (Old school heavy bag, only it's just a stick). That worked very well today. Group warmups are heavy on static stretches, so I'm thinking it'll help to get more early dynamic work in.

Good energy for the drills, and I think I FINALLY am getting the hang of the check circle block, which in our style is used everywhere. Yea me.

Post training, I'm sore in odd places—Not the usual "I was hit here" spots. Odd.

[cdkrug]

NROL Fat Loss I B1

This is the workout that shows up ALL my lower body weaknesses on one neat painful package. Ugh. Here's my challenges, one-by-one.

Deads: Last time I did these for high reps, I had pain. This time, I limited my pull to a pair of 35lb Dumbs, concentrating on my back alignment. This seems to be working. I'll try to raise the weight for B-2

Bulgarians: UGH . . . I had to pause multiple times, even in the first sets. I'm certain that core stability plays a role, as I'm rather a klutz, but it's a frustrating exercise for me.

Romanians: Biggest problem here is keeping my back arched. I stuck to conservative weights, even for me.

Swiss Ball Lateral Roll: Does ANYONE find this easy? Core stability works. All I need is to find some.

Warmups
Walking Lunge w/ Twist 6/side
Side Lunge w/ Opposite Hand Touch 5/side
Ball Bridge w/ Russian Twist 10/side
Inchworn–Sortof 5 to all the range of motion I could muster
T-pushups 5/side

All worksets at 311 Tempo
1:15 between

Deadlifts alternating with Dumbbell Incline Bench Press
Deadlift: (2x35)x15x3
Db Incline Bench Press: (2x30)x15, (2x25)x15x2

Bulgarian Split Squats alternating with Mixed-grip lat Pulldown
Bulgarion Split Squats: Bodyweightx15x3
Mixed-grip Lat Pulldown: 125x15x3

Romanian Deadlift alternating with Swiss-ball Lateral Roll
Romanian Deadlift: (2x25)x15x3
Swiss Ball Lateral Roll: Bodyweightx15x3

Stats
Total Volume 270
Total Load 10125

Notes

I think I finally have the feeding schedule dialed in. Hope springs eternal.

No intervals today, due to a Kid Related Kommitment.

[cdkrug]

Karate Day

Lots of drilling on kicks. Big muscle movements. Joy. Bonked a bit after training. If it keeps up, I'll look at adding some pre-karate carbs, but I'd like to avoid that.

Had a piece of fruit and some whey after.

For Comparison: After Karate (no pre-feed) I felt as I usually do after a Weights-Plus-Intervals day (With pre-feed). Perhaps the same recovery recipe?

Feeding was good, though I thought I had a lighter lunch than usual. If that keeps my energy up, I'll keep doing it.

Hydration was a bit off. After karate I felt a bit dryer than usual. I'll watch how I feel my next training day. It may be that it's finally gotten cold and I'm just reacting to the lower indoor humidity. My body is certainly efficient at sweating. Always has been. Again Joy.

[cdkrug]

NROL Fat Loss I A2

Pre/During workout, a scant scoop of protein with 3-1/2T of Gatorade. That should give me ~15g Protein and 45 Carbs


Warmup

1. Walking lunge with upper-body twist. 10/leg, bodyweight.
2. Lateral Lunge with opposite-hand reach and touch, 5/leg.
3. Ball Bridge/Russian Twist, 10/side
4. Inchworm 5.
5. T-Pushups 5/side.

Fat Loss I, A1 (Modified for Dumbbells)

All reps are at 311 tempo.
1:15 between all sets.

db Squats alternating with Cable Seated Rows.
db Squat (2x40)x15x3
Cable Seated Rows (D-handles) 187.5x15, 175x15, 162.5x15

Surpine Hip Extensions alternating with Dumbbell push press
Surpine Hip Extensions Bodyweightx15x3
Db Push Press (2x25)x15x3

Rotational Lunge alternating with Swiss-ball crunch
Rotational Lunge 8x16x2, 10x16.
Swiss Ball Crunch 3x15, Bodyweight.

Metabolic Overdrive Week 1, Session 2
1min acclaimation ~3.5MPH.
3 rounds, 1min running ~6.6MPH, 2min walking ~3.8MPH
5min cooldown

Post Workout

1 scoop protein (20g Protein)
2T Gatorade (26g Carb)

Felt very good today. I think I finally have the nutrient timing thing down. Records on Squats and Push Press. Better technique on lunges. A bit of shin ache on the intervals. I'll try different shoes and see what's up.

[cdkrug]

Extra Interval Day

MO, Week 1, Session 3.
Wore different shoes on the same treadmill. That seems to have fixed my shin issues.
5min Warmup ~3.5MPH
2 rounds, 1min running 6.6MPH, 2min walking 3.8MPH
1 round, 1min running at 6.8MPH, 2min walking 3.MPH
5min cooldown

I'm going to keep ramping up the intensity on these, give or take FL1-B...

[cdkrug]

1/14/2007 – NROL Fatloss I B2

Weigh-in 244, using the same scale, so a good pound lost. Yea Me!

Warmup
Walking Lunge with Trunk Rotation: 10/side
Side Lunge with Opposite Hand Touch: 5/side
Body Bridge/Russian Twise: 30seconds, 10/side
Inchworm: 5
T-Pushups: 5/side

Deadlift alternating with Dumbbell Incline Bench Press
Deadlift: (2x35)x15x3
Db Incline Bench Press: (2x30)x15x3, (2x25)x15x1

Bulagarian Split Squats alternating with Mixed-grip Lat Pulldowns
Bulgarian Split Squats: (Bodyweight)x(15/15)x3
Mixed-grip Lat Pulldown 162.5x15x3

Romanian Deadlift alternating with Swiss-ball Lateral Roll
Romanian Deadlift: (2x30)x15, (2x25)x15x3
Swiss Ball lateral roll (Bodyweight)x15x3

Ramped up the intensity on Bench, pulldown, and Romanian. I'm surprised how well I'm doing on Romanians, frankly.
Bulgarians and Lateral rolls are Pure Evil

Metabolic Overdrive, Week 2 Session 1
5min warmup 3.5MPH
Three rounds at 7.0MPH/3.8MPH.
5min cooldown 3.0MPH

That's an intensity ramp up, which felt just ducky. Going to keep it the same next session because I had some balance issues at the start of each work interval.

[cdkrug]

1/15/2007

Karate Day

Feeling generally good.