a_welch503 WORKOUT JOURNAL

[.V.]

08-11-2005

CDL.............270x6x3
BOR.............175x6x3
P/U.....17,14,14,7=52

Cardio - off from this today, I'm not even trying to get it on my backup day anymore - something always happens. Two out of four days should be enough anyway.

Diet
M1.....2 whole eggs, 3 oz sausage
M2.....Proten shake
M3.....PWO protein, dextrose, creatine shake
M4.....Two protein bars in place of a whole food meal (on the road here/no time to eat)
M5.....6 oz lean steak, green beans
M6.....Will be a bedtime protien shake

Totals: P-226g, C-63g, F-81g, Cal-1885
Water: >1 gallon

Comments
Lifting went well today. Last night while carrying a heavy patient on the stretcher down some steps I missed a step and had to really pull hard to keep the stretcher level and keep her safe. This caused my back to really hurt in the lower back muscles. This morning, they were totally stiff and I was worried about doing back day, but I just never know how it's going to go, sometimes the DL can hurt, sometimes it helps. I warmed up, and did my 6x3 DL thing - 275 the weight that hurt me last week was so easy, I'll be increasing next week for sure. Unless I decide to do 305 or 310 singles instead. I've been putting a great deal of thought about what Dave said about working the weakness one weak and working heavy the next. Since my weakness is in my legs and the pull from the floor - just doing deadlifts is working my weakness. So I may do the heavy singles next week. I'm going to heed the warnings from everyone that heavy singles followed by a regular DL session on the same day is pushing it too far. BOR was suprisingly easy today - another scheduled increase next week. Pullups - same old thing, except I forgot to pay attention and smacked my face against the ceiling on the 2nd pull of the first set.

Diet - staying on plan yesterday was similar to today except with 3 whole food meals and two protein shakes with no spike since there was no workout. Today I only had one dextrose spike since I only lifted and didn't do cardio. I've added whole eggs to M1 to get a bit more fat into my diet and see how it goes. I don't want to go too far with the extra fat to boost fat loss since I'm not cutting my carbs nearly as much as last time. The two together might not work out too well. If need be, I'll change back to egg whites and 1 yolk.

Progress on the cut - 183.8 lb today (I'll call it 184) that means 6lb in 11 days. Hopefully it is just fat loss. Abs looking a little better, shoulders looking a little better too. I was told yesterday that my butt looked good, but that was while wearing pants and we won't go there - it was a little embarassing. I'm just weighing occasionally for now, I'll do a body comp at the end of the month and re-evaluate my cutting plan.

I'm still a little unsure about the whole creatine thing - is creatine without dextrose even worth bothering with? Is the 2nd spike on a non-cardio workout going to cause fat storage or just help move creatine to the right place? I guess until I find out for sure, I'll just keep doing what I'm doing - a Protein-40g/Dextrose-32g/Creatine 5g after each time muscles are worked, be that once or twice a day.

That's about it for my day of fitness except to rest up tonight since tomorrow I've got to hit the weights early. A full day of yard work has piled up, grass to mow, trimming to do, firewood to cut for winter, then an 8 mile walk tomorrow evening. Resting is more important now than usual.

[threenorns]

damn - a full day for sure!

good news about the deadlift - you're picking up pdq!

maybe you should wear a hockey mask for pullups

[.V.]

Originally Posted by threenorns

maybe you should wear a hockey mask for pullups

Thanks - or just learn from my mistake and PAY ATTENTION next time.

I've got a nice reminder on my face to keep that from happening again.

[.V.]

08-12-2005

Chest
Flat Bench Press.....165x3x2
.....................160x2x3
.......................160x2

Cardio
Run................2.5 miles
Walk...............2.5 miles
The 8 mile walk plan was scrapped in favor of running.

Diet
M1.....Steak, 2 whole eggs
M2.....PWO shake (whey/dextrose/creatine)
M3.....Chicken breast, lettuce, tomato
M4.....Angus steakburger, lettuce, tomato
M5.....PWO shake (protein/dextrose/creatine)

Totals: P-202g, C-90g, F-60g, Cal-1708
Water: >1 gallon

Comments
Today was the worst chest day ever. Just totally not motivated or able. I was supposed to press 190 and got pinned, dropped to 185 and could only do one. The 6x3 at 165 didn't work out too well either, it turned into sets of 2 then dropped the weight to get triples, then could only get a double on the last set. I was so disgusted with myself that I just quit for the day. Today was worse than 2 years ago when I could only do 40lb for 3x10 and got pinned under 50. After such a terrible workout I don't quite understand why my chest is so sore.

Punishment - tonight when I went to walk, I forced running far beyond what I've ever been able to do before. I actually ran more than 2 miles - I've never been able to do more than one before. It wasn't fast, (probably slower than I walk) but it was still running. Likely since tomorrow is leg day, this wasn't the best idea.

Diet - pretty decent I guess, just not enough calories. Here I go again, missing feeding times. I don't have too much trouble maintaining dietary dicipline - I can say no to the cheesecake and stuff like that - I just have a hard time eating when I'm not actually hungry. I'll have to eat more (sounds weird saying that about a cut) to support good workouts.

On a slightly happy note, I can see more of the quads and there is visible vascularity all across the front of them (barely, but there).

I know from reading your posts how you struggle with cardio, so your cardio today is outstanding, for you.

Keep up the good work in that department. It will only get easier.

[maverick]

We all have tough days in the gym. Don't let it get you down. You got some serious cardio in, so be rpoud of that. Take all the frustration and take it out on the squat rack tomorrow!

[gcs118]

Your carbs are at 90g for the whole day. Did you have ANY before the workout? At least have a glass of juice to give you energy.

[.V.]

No, I've found that if I have them before the workout I just get too tired about 30 minutes in to do much of anything. Seems like when I have preworkout carbs I get some insulin in there that burns them right up. If I wait until after - they help more for recovery. I think yesterday was just a weak muscle day. Those are bound to happen sometimes with 1000 calories less each day. I looked back too, it has been 14 or 15 weeks since I've taken real time off. I thought since I was taking every 4th day off I wouldn't have to take the week off every 8-12 weeks. Apparently I was wrong. I'm definitely taking a week off after the cut to get totally rested up before I jack the calories way up to start the bulking over the winter.

I'm a little worried about squatting today - after last week, but I'm definitely going out there with intentions of giving it hell today.

[.V.]

08-13-2005

Legs
Squat..........220x6x3
SLDL...........255x6x3
Calf Raise.....355x3x6

Cardio
Walk...........4 miles

Diet
M1.....Steak, 2 whole eggs
M2.....Protein Shake
M3.....Protein Shake
M4.....PWO Protein/Dextrose/Creatine Shake
M5.....2 protein bars, Dextrose/Creatine Shake
M6.....Steak, Broccoli


Totals: P-252g, C-95g, F-74g, Cal-2054
Water: >1 gallon

Comments
Leg work was good today, I guess yesterday's chest failure was just a bad day. I was concerned about squatting after last weeks episode, so I didn't push it as far - I'm going to just squat 6x3 for as long as it works (or until I finish cutting).

I've improved by a little on each lift so that is good. I like the 6x3 routine - it seems to increase the strength for now. I'm going to keep the 3x6 with calf raises for now though, becuase it is still working - I'm adding some weight every time. It is starting to get pretty heavy though, when I can't progress on it anymore, I'll change it too.

Cardio wasn't really cardio today, just some mild fat burning (or at least calorie burning). I walked 4 miles in just under 1 hour. My HR never got over 112, that doesn't count for real cardiovascular exercise, but after getting a very late leg workout today, running the most ever in my life yesterday, I didn't want to run again or walk too much. But I had to get out there and do SOMETHING.

I only got two whole food meals today and had to exist on shakes and bars. They are just too convenient during a busy day when it is too hot to fix real food. Not good, but better than skipping meals.

[tim_mcf]

Your diet is kind of scary. If it works for you, then fine...but maybe you should take some vitamins or something?

[gcs118]

lol Tim you're right, only two real meals Andy. tsk tsk tsk. And is your calf raise number a typo? 155 lbs?

[.V.]

Hey tim and greg, nope that definitely wasn't my best diet day. Just didn't feel much like eating a whole lot. Usually I try to get in at least 3 whole food meals.

And yes that was a typo - it should have said 355 not 155. Although next cut, it will likely be 155x3x15. I'm thinking of after I finish this cut and start bulking through the winter switching between some PL stuff and Max OT when one stops making gains, switch to the other. Then for the cut a more traditional BB approach with more reps, more sets, and less weight. Seems that getting heavier every time during a cut when I don't have enough body fat to burn to support it takes a lot out of me. The first time around, I had 160 lb of it - heck I could have probably gained muscle without eating anything for 2 or 3 months (exaggeration). I'll have to do more reading on the PL threads and the regular BB threads to fine tune it though - but I've got plenty of time to figure it all out. Right now, I just want to finish my cut, get a little stronger, and look forward to a week off when it is done.

And thanks for reminding me the diet was crap yesterday - I knew that already, but don't want to get into too much of a habit of having days like that.

[ajarvis]

Adding an additional 1.5miles to your best ever run is great improvement!

[.V.]

Thanks, although I'm not really much of a runner - I'm looking forward to next time out. I would like to go today, but with my schedule it won't happen. Today is my "on call" day so getting out too far from a vehicle isn't happening. I try to let my work day be "off", on call day be lifting, my next 2 days are off from work so I lift and try to get cardio done on both of those days. Tomorrow, I plan to go early so I can get it done before I have to go teach tomorrow night. Hopefully a good run wasn't just a fluke.

[.V.]

08-15-2005

Arms
BB Curls.......................130x6x3
Skull Crushers.................110x6x3
Alternating DB Curls............60x6x3
Tricep Cable Pressdown.........115x6x3
Concentration Curls.............55x6x3
Lying One Arm Tri Extension.....35x6x3

Cardio
None - non cardio day.

Diet
M1.....2 whole eggs, 2 whites, 2oz sausage
M2.....PWO protien/dextrose/creatine shake
M3.....Chicken breast on salad
M4.....Tuna on salad
M5.....Tuna on salad
M6.....Bedtime protein shake

Totals: P-205g, C-59g, F-100g, Cal-2056
Water: > 1 gallon

Comments - good workout today. Didn't feel too good after the 3rd set of curls, but I got some motivation and it was great after that. Felt strong, improving on everything this week. I think the cut is still going on schedule, I haven't weighed but can see more striations in the deltoids and today there are bigger deltoid veins running over into the chest. I even managed to get in a couple of hours out by the pool to relax and let the sun heat up those achey muscles after lifting (ok the first hour was cleaning and vacuuming it, but at least I got to cool off while vacuuming). Then it was busy, busy - off to work again. Planning to get to bed early tonight so I can workout early tomorrow. Very busy day planned so hopefully I'll get to sleep and not get called in to work too much.