Getting fit in Morocco

[allenkt]

On Saturday, January 5th I will arrive in Morocco and will be there for 7 months. See this post for details of my plan. I will post here as soon as I start (in about a week).

[allenkt]

Wow, my first day back in the gym was Thursday, Jan 10th. We ran to the gym (maybe 1/2 mile away so not far) and that was the first time I've ran in about 7 months (considering I used to run 3 times/week before I started school). It was also my first time back in the gym in at least 5 months. So here I go, starting with the break-in workout from NROL.

Squat 2 x 15 @ 95lbs

Static Lunge 2 x 15 @ 60lbs (2 30lb DB's)
Supersetted with
2-pt DB Row 2 x 15 @ 30lbs

Push-up 1 x 15
Crunch 1 x 20

A couple of things happened here. First, I was appalled by the weights I was able to lift. About 13 months ago I was in the best shape of my life benching 225, deadlifting 375 for reps, and squatting about 300. But I haven't lifted consistently since then (and not at all in the past 5 months) and I've put on about 20lbs which certainly isn't muscle. So I have a ways to go.

The second thing I noticed is that I was about to die....haha. Granted I didn't eat very much before working out so I was pretty much working on an empty stomach (this was in the morning) but I felt like I was going to puke after doing those squats. And by the time I was done with my first superset I didn't know if I was going to make it through my workout. So lets just say it was an ugly workout, but it was a start. The good thing is that I can only get better from here

Karl

[allenkt]

Today was my second day of lifting, so doing workout B of the break-in routine. I have done some bike riding and a lot of walking over the weekend so I haven't been completely sedentary.

Deadlift 2 x 15 @ 115 lbs

Step-up 2 x 15 @ 40 lbs
DB 1-arm shoulder press 2 x 15 @ 40 lbs (20 lbs each arm)

Close-grip lat pulldown 2 x 15 @ 6 (it was the plate numbered 6)
Reverse crunch 2 x 20

All-in-all a much better workout. I was in and out and feel great.

[Lost Dog]

You'll be back to your old weights in no time!

[allenkt]

I've been a little lax in updating this so here are 3 updates:

16 Jan

Squat 2 x 15 @115

Static Lunge 2 x 15 @ 60
2-pt DB Row 2 x 15 @ 20

Push-up 2 x 15
Decline crunch 2 x 20

Note, I'm doing decline crunches because the gym only has relatively small swiss balls and they are all underinflated.

[allenkt]

18 Jan

Deadlift 2 x 15 @ 125 lbs

Step-up 1 x 15 @ 50 lbs
DB 1-arm shoulder press 1 x 15 @ 25 lbs

Step-up 1 x 15 @ 60 lbs
DB 1-arm shoulder press 1 x 15 @ 30 lbs

Close-grip lat pulldown 2 x 15 @ 7
Reverse crunch 2 x 20

[allenkt]

And finally today's workout. I felt pretty good but I think my form was bad on the squat and I twisted my knee a little bit. I was able to finish the next set and I can get around fine but if I twist it a little bit it hurts pretty good.

Squat 2 x 15 @ 125

Static Lunge 2 x 15 @ 65
2-pt DB Row 2 x 15 @ 25/30 (30 lbs for the 2nd set)

Push-up 2 x 20
Decline Crunch 2 x 20


Then afterwards the guy to go to the gym with (but he is training for a triathlon so isn't doing NROL with me) wanted to test his 1RM on the bench press and I couldn't resist the temptation to see where I'm at. A year ago my 1RM was 225 lbs. Today I did the following on the bench press:

1 x 8 @ 95 lbs
1 x 5 @ 135 lbs
1 x 3 @ 165
1 x 5 @ 135

So I figure my 1RM is probably somewhere around 170 to 175. Not great but not nearly as bad as I thought it would be. I probably weigh around 175 right now (the only scale is in the women's locker room) so I'm happy with where I'm starting out.

[allenkt]

Oh, and I forgot to mention, I was happy with today's workout even more so because on Saturday we climbed a "mountain" and I was pretty sore in my hips and upper glutes Sunday and today. Not sure it really qualifies as a mountain (I'm from northern Idaho) but they call it one and it's the highest point around except for the snow-capped Atlas Mountains in the distance. If anyone is interested, I have pictures from the climb linked from my blog at Karl Allen - My journey to an IMBA

[Lost Dog]

Looks like a good workout. I'm glad your plan's working out for you over there.

Morocco sounds cool. Exotic and all. Is it?

Do you get to wear a fez around town? That would so cool. With a cummerbund, like in Casablanca! Stylin'

[allenkt]

haha....well Morocco is pretty nice. It's a little cold but starting to warm up. And it's not terribly cold but when you figure in the fact that they don't have insulation or heaters and the walls are just concrete or stone it just makes it hard to warm up.

And you know, I still haven't seen anyone wearing a fez here. Kind of disappointing

[RobLL]

I'll be over to Morocco in about two months. If we are in the same city at the same time it would be fun to meet for a lunch or dinner, and you could give us some inside dope about what might be an otherwise unknown tourist treasure. I'll be traveling with a long time friend.

[allenkt]

Sounds good, Rob, just let me know. I'll be in Fez until July.

Karl

[allenkt]

Had a pretty good workout last night. I worked on my form for the deadlift before going and I think it helped. Of course I don't think it hurt that just as I was getting ready to start my deadlifts one of the girls that works in the gym came and sat on a bench right next to me watching me. That was good motivation....lol Now if only I were lifting heavier weights....

Deadlift 2 x 15 @ 130

Step-up 2 x 15 @ 70
DB 1-arm shoulder press 2 x 15 @ 30 (each arm)

Close-grip lat pulldown 2 x 15 @ 7
Reverse crunch 2 x 20

[allenkt]

A fairly decent workout tonight. The only thing is that on my second set of squats I had to stop and rest for about 15 seconds after 10 reps before finishing the last 5.

Squats 2 x 15 @ 135

Static Lunge 2 x 15 @ 70
2-pt DB Row 2 x 15 @ 35

Push-up 2 x 20
Reverse Crunch 2 x 20

Then I had time to kill while waiting on the rest of my group so I decided to hit the bench and see if I could find my 1RM. I was pleasantly surprised as my all time 1RM is 225 lbs so I think that is an attainable goal over the next 6 months. Oh, and btw, I think my body weight is around 175lbs (no scale at the gym).

5 x 135
3 x 155
2 x 175
1 x 185

[allenkt]

Today was the first day of FL1 and I can feel it. I honestly didn't think I'd be that tired from this workout but I my muscles are definitely tired and I've been hungry all afternoon.

I may have cheated myself on the rotational lunge because I wasn't sure what constituted a set. So I did 3 x 15 when perhaps I should have done 3 x 30 to get 15 reps per leg.


Squat 3 x 15 @ 130
Cable seated row 3 x 15 @ 6, 7, 7

Supine hip extension 3 x 15
DB push-press 3 x 15 @ 25, 25, 30

Rotational lunge 3 x 15 @ 40, 50, 60
Swiss-ball crunch 3 x 20

Then I followed up the workout with the metabolic overdrive using a stationary bike and 3, 3-minute rounds (1 minute hard, 2 minutes moderate).

[allenkt]

Wow. Started workout B today. I knew it was going to be hard but I had no idea. One mistake I think I made was that I ate breakfast at 7:30 then went to the gym at 10:30 with nothing to eat in between. I think I might need some food maybe an hour or so before working out. So here is what I did with notes to follow:

Deadlift 3 x 15 @ 130
DB incline bench press 3 x 15 @ 80, 90, 90

Bulgarian split squat 3 x 15 (each leg) @ 40
Mixed grip lat pulldown 3 x 15 @ 6

Romanian deadlift -
Swiss-ball lateral roll -


I don't think I've sweated so much in a long time. On the deadlift I was having problems with my grip after first set. Granted I was pretty tired on the 2nd and 3rd sets but I had to use an alternating grip in order to not drop the bar. Not a huge deal but I usually don't use that grip until I get to heavier weights. But then again, I never used to do 3 sets of 15 either....

On the bench press I think I was right on track because I hit muscle failure on the last rep of the last set. I was maybe an inch or two from completely locking out my right arm on the last set when the dumbbell started going down instead of up

OMG, I thought I was going to die on the Bulgarian Split Squats. I have done them before so they aren't new to me but it really took it out of me today. I had to rest for 20-30 seconds between legs and it seemed like I never really did catch my breath.

Now the bad news.....as you can see I didn't do the Romanian deadlifts or the lateral roll. I thought I could do it but couldn't get past the warm-ups without throwing up So at that point I called it a day and went home to drink a shake, take a short nap and recover. I've tried to eat a lot of good quality food tonight and will be able to get at least 9 hours of sleep so hopefully I won't be too bad tomorrow. But I can tell that Fat Loss 1 is really going to get me. And that's a good thing

Karl

[allenkt]

On Friday (1 Feb) I did workout A again. This time I did the rotational lunges with 15 per leg and wow, what a difference. My quads were on fire by the time I was done with those things!


Squat 3 x 15 @ 135
Cable seated row 3 x 15 @ 7, 8, 8

Supine hip extension 3 x 15
DB push-press 3 x 15 @ 60, 60, 60 (30lb DB each arm)

Rotational lunge 3 x 15 @ 40 (20lb DB each arm)
Swiss-ball crunch 3 x 20