Hey Chad...I was reading the very beginning of your log and saw that you said you are financially limited....have you tried P90X?? I know it's not dirt cheap, but it's cheap compared to having to buy actual gym equipment! I've tried P90X with my fiance and it kicks my butt to this day! I bought it for him as a gift and paid 3 payments of $39.95 over 3 months...which was not bad at all! Hope this helps
p.s. I work retail also...have been for the past 3 years...it sucks!
__________________ "Create like a God, Command like a King, and Work like a Slave"-Constantin Brancusi
My sister got married this weekend. That was fun. All the family was in town. But, on the downside, my wife was sick most of the weekend. We did the best we could to let her sleep. I kept the kids by myself as much as I could. You know what that means; lots of running around outside! We stayed outside tons this weekend. I pulled weeds, mowed the lawn, took the kids to a birthday party, taught the kids all about "Hill Sprints," and spent a good deal of time playing Ring Around the Rosie, and Tag!
I tried to get my workout in this weekend, but it just wasn't happening. I couldn't get the session in on Friday. We came back from the restaurant after 10:30pm. I figured that I'd make it up on Saturday. It didn't happen. I did manage to do some work over the weekend and I'll detail that work below.
I ate like a buffoon over the weekend. I did try to keep it reasonable. I didn't track calories, but I basically know what I ate. I ate at a small surplus on Friday, and at a small deficit on Saturday. So, those two likely cancel each other out. But, on Sunday I suspect that I ate between 3,500-4,000 calories. That puts me at about a 1,000-1,500 calorie surplus for the weekend. Thankfully, even though I didn't get a full training session in, I was very active so I think that mitigated some of the disaster.
I weighed 178 this morning. So, I'm back to where I started last week. I know that I didn't gain 5 legitimate pounds over the weekend so I expect to see a lot, or all, of this to come off thoughout the week.
However, I think I might be coming down with something. I'm feeling awful. It's likely the same thing that my wife had. It wasn't all that bad or long of an illness. I'm sure her lack of sleep made it worse, so we'll see how it treats me. I have intended to do a lower body session tonight, but we'll see how I feel this evening.
Exercises:
Chin ups at Body Weight: Sets of 8. 6, 5, 5, 4, and 4.
One Arm Pushups: 4 sets of 2 on each side.
Pushups with 60lbs. (the combined weight of my two older kids): Sets of 7, and 6
Regular Pushups: 2x15
Inverted Rows with Body Weight: 5x10
One Arm Vertical Press at 25lbs.: Sets of 10, 10, and 6 for each side. I noticed that the left shoulder seems to be noticeably weaker. Vertical pushing has been a weakness in general, but I wonder if its the left side that is holding me back?
Hanging Leg Raise: 2x25
So, no lower body. If I'm not getting sick, then I'll try to get to that tonight.
Cals: 1732
Pro: 153
Carb: 162
Fat: 61
Water: 1.5 liters....but I'll be drinking some more later.
Exercise
Back Squats: Sets of 10, 9, and 8 reps at 185lbs.
Conventional Deadlift: 4x6 at 265lbs.
Notes
God, I really didn't want to train tonight. I'm feeling a little run down. But, not so much that I couldn't workout. I know I'm not over training so I'm not too concerned about that. But, I have to try to get more sleep.
185lbs. is the first weight that I've been unable to get 3x10 with. But, I got alot closer than I expected. I'll train with that weight again later in the week and see if I can't get ten reps through every set.
Doing the conventional deadlifts from the floor is actually improving my form. On RDL's even though I can do heavy loads the form suffers. I think I may keep doing the conventional DL's for now.
Awesome videos by LisaS! I used to do that with my boys all the time, too, until they got so long and heavy my arms were too short (and weak; this was before I started real strength training ) to hold them off me upside down!
Sounds like you're doing fine on your workouts on limited budget, space, etc. with all else you have going on in your life! Keep on trucking.
Meals:
Breakfast:
2 cups of Cottage Cheese
1 cup of pumpkin
1/2 cup of sliced strawberries
1 tbsp of Flax Meal
Lunch:
2 apples
2 servings of Peanut Butter
1.5 oz. Beef Jerky
Dinner:
9oz. Salmon
1/2 cup Wheat cous cous
1 cup brussel sprouts
Exercise
23 minutes on the treadmill at 2.5 mph while reading Dos Remedios "Power Training"
Some stretching......not nearly enough.
Notes
This was a fairly typical diet day. A bit more calories than usual, but those extra calories came from the salmon. I underestimated the calories from salmon.
I still feel a little under the weather, but I think its getting better. I feel like I'm at the edge of getting sick, but thankfully I see to be avoiding it.
I still feel a little under the weather, but I think its getting better. I feel like I'm at the edge of getting sick, but thankfully I see to be avoiding it.
That's what'll happen to me, too. I'll be really tired for a week (or two) then it passes, while everyone else around that time just gets sick. Go constitution!
Weight: 175.4
Cals: 1938
Pro: 179
Carbs: 200
Fats: 50
Water: 3 liters. A PR for Water!
Exercise
None, not even taking the kids out to play.
Notes
I'm still not feeling well. I decided to not do any training this evening. I figure that I'd just increase my cortisol production....thats what I'm telling myself anyway. It could be a cop out, but I've had a headache for 72 straight hours. I'm resting. I'll hit it hard on Friday.
It feels good to have my breakfast, and lunch all made and packed away in the fridge. I know that I'll be eating just over 1,200 calories, and over 130 grams of protein tomorrow before dinner.
If I feel well enough I may make Friday and really low calorie day. I'll eat very light for breakfast and lunch, and eat a big dinner about an hour or two before working out. My average deficit is decreasing. I may try to make some of that up on Friday. If I can keep to a light dinner tomorrow I can rack up a good bit of deficit prior to July 4th, but still supply plenty of calories around my training. Or maybe I'll push training until Saturday before going to the big July 4th bash. Then I'll use the BBQ as my post workout meal.
I'm making myself a little breakfast treat. It's my super protein pudding sundae!
I take a box of sugar free fat free chocolate fudge pudding mix, 1 cup of skim milk, 2 cups of cottage cheese, one banana, and a healthy dose of light whipped cream, and mix it all together in a bowl.
Cals: 824
Pro: 72
Carbs: 97
Fat: 14
It's not amazingly healthy, but its good for satisfying a sweet tooth without compromising your diet. And its very filling. For those of you eating smaller meals, or just lower overall calories you can easily cut the recipe in half.
None, just some soft tissue work with tennis and lacrosse balls
Notes
Not a great diet day, but great results on the weigh-in. 171lbs.! Thats fantastic!
We were supposed to have steak last night for dinner but we forgot to defrost them! My wife decided to make strawberry pancakes and eggs instead. It was delicious, but not exactly what I had in mind.
I didn't work out on Friday as planned. I'm actually getting ready to workout now....well, as soon as I can get my 2 year old to nap. Then, after I work out and he gets up from his nap we will head to a 4th of July picnic where I proceed to consume the worlds largest post workout meal. I figure if you have to eat burgers and hotdogs, you might as well tear your body up before hand and give those dogs something useful to do.
So, I'm off to tear it up! Right after I sing my boy to sleep.
So, I had my training session prior to the big July 4th party. Here's how it went.
Deadlifts: Going for Max Strength!
3x205 (supinated grip)
2x255 (supinated grip)
1x295 (right hand supinated, the weaker version)
1x325 (left hand supinated, my strongest grip) This is a PR! But, I still felt strong. The lift was pretty fast, so I put all of my plates that I had left (only 15lbs.) on the bar for an attempt at 340lbs. Thats nearly twice my weight at 171.4lbs.
340x3!!! left hand supinated. This is a huge new PR for me!
I didn't know if I could even do 340lbs. but after the initial lift I felt so strong I decided to see how many reps I could get. A triple at 340lbs. is pretty awesome for me.
Because, I was still feeling strong and I wanted to get some more heavy work with the right hand supinated I did three more singles at 340 with the right hand supinated.
340x1, 1, and 1.
Hang Clean - 45lbs. 3, 85lbs. 3, 105lbs. 3, 115lbs. 3, 3, 3
Overhead Press - 45lbs. 6, 85lbs. 6, 105lbs. 4
Push Press - 115lbs. 2, 4, 2
*These were all complexed together; hang cleans to overhead press. Then when the overhead press was too heavy I did hang clean to push press
Pull ups - 4, 4, 3, 3
One Arm Pushups - 4x3 each side
*These were supersetted!
Chin ups - 4, 3
I wanted to do some inverted rows, but I ran out of time. This is 30 sets in about 90 mins. I was wiped!
Then I ate! And about an hour, and a pound of meat, later I got up and didn't stop moving for hours.
I packed, carried, pulled, setup kiddie pools, chased, etc. I played tag with the kids. My new brother-in-law and I and a few other guys played soccer for about an hour. It was a blast, and I don't think I've moved that much in a couple of years. Even with all the food I ate, I wouldn't be surprised if I was at a deficit for the day.
Big lifts, Chad. Nice work. Now you have to get some more plates.
Quote:
Originally Posted by lawyerjoke
What a GREAT workout! Congrats on all those PR's!!
Thanks Guys. I feel like this is actually a respectable lift after only having my bar for about 6 weeks. And, Yes, I'm going to have to come up with a way to get some more plates! I'll be souring craigslist and the used equipment shops!
I'm just wondering, now that you are really comfortable with going heavy in the DL, do you see how we thought the cable DL you were doing was not really like a DL at all? Just curious.
I'm just wondering, now that you are really comfortable with going heavy in the DL, do you see how we thought the cable DL you were doing was not really like a DL at all? Just curious.
Yes, I do. It is very different. I don't know what I would do if I were ever in a situation like that again. I'm not sure if its better to do that basterdized version, or to not even pull at all. Thankfully, I have no reason to ever be in that situation.
Hang Clean - Overhead Press Supersets
Hang Clean - 105lbs. x 5, 5, 5, 3
OH Press - 105lbs. x 5, 4, 3, 3
Squats
135x5
185x3
205x2
220x2*
235x0**
205x3
* Funny thing. This was supposed to be 225. But, somehow I grab a 10 and 5 pound weight instead of two 10's. So, the bar ended up unbalanced. I thought it felt funny. And afterwards I figured out why.
** I could have lifted this if I was willing to sacrifice form. I could tell that it was going to end up a Good Morning and I decided not to go there.
One Arm Bent Over Row
75x6 each side
85x6 each side
95x5 each side
105x4 each side
115x3 each side
125x2 each side
Pull Ups - 4, 2 Chin Ups - 5, 4 Pushups - 1x25
I decided that I would have a max squat day today to try to figure out what my 1RM for squats would be. But, I've also been reading Power Training by Dos Remedios and wanted to try out some of his stuff as well. I'd always stayed away from Olympic Lifts because I've never had anyone to show me how they are done. Power Training give a pretty good progression for working up to Oly lifts. So, I wanted to experiment with some of that as well.
But, perhaps it wasn't wise to do sets of hang cleans and overhead presses prior to doing max effort squats. Not to mention its probably not ideal to be attempting max squats just 48 hours from doing max effort deadlifts.
Not, the best planning I've ever done.
Part of the reason why I've never attempted to determine my 1RM on squats is because I don't have a squat rack. I lift the bar off of saw horse out of the bottom position. So, what I'm doing wouldn't quite qualify as a normal squat anyway. Just getting the bar off of the sawhorses from a deadstop is a challenge. But, it ensures that I have proper depth. It's very tempting to try to cheat with putting the bar lower on my back to increase the loading and get a little more leverage. But this basically ensures that I'm doing a Good Morning out of the hole, and I'm not trying to encourage that. So, I keep the weight up higher on my neck and really focus on keep the spine as straight and erect as possible. So, all of these factors limit the total load. That is why you'll see that I have a tendency to do higher rep squats.
My night training session was preceded by; mowing the lawn, weeding, removing all the furniture from the patio and sweeping it, replacing the furniture, taking out all of the trash and lawn waste, two grocery store trips with kids, ironing a few outfits, vacuuming the house, and splitting the meal prep and cleanup with my wife. I prefer morning sessions!
I'm just making excuses because this was a pretty soft workout. I didn't exactly "leave it all on the gym floor."
Congrats on the lower weight and the 3 litres of water. I think I hit 3 litres yesterday too!
Seems like you're doing good yourself Chad...hope you're getting some sleep with all the kids around the house! What's your weight goal again?
3L is a good number...I've been trying to go for 4/5L now (I think I see the bathroom more than I breathe in air)
__________________ "Create like a God, Command like a King, and Work like a Slave"-Constantin Brancusi
Seems like you're doing good yourself Chad...hope you're getting some sleep with all the kids around the house! What's your weight goal again?
3L is a good number...I've been trying to go for 4/5L now (I think I see the bathroom more than I breathe in air)
I'm happy if I get 2 liters. Anything above that is a bonus. I'm just trying to build the habit....and its one that I'm struggling with.
My goal is to be at 12% Body fat. But, since I don't have a reliable way of measuring body fat I'm shooting for a weight of 165lbs. Which according to the test I did back in February would put me right around 11% BF. I'm pretty confident that I didn't lose any muscle mass so that should be a safe number.
I've tried doing body fat tests with measurements, but I know that they aren't accurate. Those tests put me at 16% BF right now. That would mean that I would need to get to 160lbs. to reach 12%. But, those test rely so much on waist measurements that I doubt thier applicability to me. According to those tests I would need to have a 32inch waist to get to 12% body fat. And frankly, I think I'd have to have some bone cut away to ever see a 32" waist again!
I decided to do a workout from Dos Remedios Power Training today. I'm intending to do this program once I reach my goal weight of 165lbs. But, I wanted to get a taste of it today. I deviated from the rep scheme slightly. First, because Pull Throughs were the only hip dominant bi lateral exercise I could do in this gym (I wasn't in my basement) and you can't do Pull Throughs for 6 reps unless you can somehow anchor yourself. And second, because I wasn't sure of what weight to use on some of the exercises.
Here it is:
1A - DB Hang Clean to DB Shoulder Press*
4x5 each side with 45lbs.
* I don't think Dos's intent was to complex the power moves with one of the other lifts, but its such a time saver I couldn't resist. If anyone has any insight into what Dos would say about this let me know.
1B - Cable Pull Throughs
80lbs. x 20, 20, 14, and 18
2A - Single Leg Squat on Box*
BW x 4 each side, BW+15lbs. 3 sets of 4 each side.
* I was worried about my depth on these since I don't usually do them in front of a mirror. But, the ROM was great. Speed helps to complete the reps easier, but causes balance issues. I did topple over a few times....I didn't count those reps.
2B - One Arm Cable Row
50lbs. x 8 each side, 60lbs. x 6 each side, 70 x 2 sets of 4 each side.
3A - One Arm Cable Pull Down (Simulating One Arm Chin Up)
90lbs. x 2 each side...(a bit too heavy) 80lbs. x 3 sets of 4 each side.
3B - One Arm Push Ups
4 x 4 each side at BW. This is a PR!
4 - DB External Rotation
10lbs. 3 sets of 10 each side.
Where's the Core Exercises you might say. And you'd be right.........
) to hold them off me upside down! 
)
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