Zach's new journal- I'm back baby

[PhiSigPhi]

What up everyone? Well I'm glad to be back! I feel I need this sort of accountability to get any results and to keep me on track. As always, I enjoy any feedback, advice, criticism, and questions...Just don't be rude .

Ok so for the new people or the people who forgot who I am, a little background. I started posting here when I was in Iraq. I took advantage of that time to get into amazing shape especially with the help of my PT, Craig Ballintyne (this is spelt wrong), and the amazing support from the fine group of people. When I got home, it was booze city, horrible eating habits, and complete laziness...ooops. Somehow I maintained a bodyweight of about 195, which is what I started out at when I was in Iraq, but I feel I have a better fitness basis as I have been working out on and off throughout the past 2 and half years since I fell off the wagon. My first month plan is very simple...eat right and workout hard. Below is my program:

Diet
Non-weight days
1800 calories (about a 45/35/25 (protein/fat/carbs) split) of nothing but whole foods... No processed foods. Fresh veggies, fruits, meats (chick breasts, lean pork cuts, fish when I feel like it, and of course steak-my guilty pleasure). I live by the 90% rule so I might have a beer or 2 throughout the adventure...I'm only human.
Weight lifting days
2000 calories b/c of a post-workout shake which will consist of 1 cup of milk and whey as of right now. I amy change that if I don't feel its working out to well.

Workout
Now, I already know I'm probably going to get some advice as this is too much working out, BUT I have evidence that this is the perfect amount of working out for a short time period (1 month).

Weight lifting days
3 full body workouts consisting of compound movements and a set/rep scheme of 3x8.

Squat, Bench press, Deadlift, standing ez-curls and lying ex-tricep presses-or any variation of these exercises. I will only be using free-weights except I might add in an ab workout on top of this.

Running days
4 days of running. Right now I plan on doing 3 days of 20-30 min. steady state cardio and 1 day of HIIT (i think I'm going to eithe do 1 min on 2 min off or 30 sec on 1 min off for 6 sessions).

So what is it that I'm thinking? Well I am a firm believer that the body remembers how it used to be, therefore, I feel my body will adapt quickly. I also recover quickly. Why do I think this? I have 2 shinning examples in my life where I worked out hardcore for 1-4 months and continually made gains...football 2 a days and Basic training/AIT. Now granted, I ate like a horse during both these programs(I was ALWAYS hungry in Basic Training), hence this is why I am keeping this down to 1 month (not to mention I am a CPA so I sit around 90% of my day).

I have no specific goals for this program except to get myself back into general shape and to shed a few pounds while I'm at it. Although I feel I might be doing a little to much cardio, being a "beginner" again and lifting like I will be will force my body to preserve my muscle and use fat as it's main, emergency energy source.

I feel overall, this program will accelerate my body back into training mode and I can get back into more traditional training and building back all that muscle I wasted.

[PhiSigPhi]

So my diet was perfect today. Actually, more than perfect. I used to drink a diet cola at lunch, but after a lot of research and much arguing with myself, I have decided to cut this out of my diet...for now . I didn't feel good this morning so I ran outside after work for about 22 mins. I'm adding 2 mins every week until I get to 30 mins. I would say I averages 8:30 miles, which is slow compared to what I used to do, but not bad for not being able to run 7 MPH for 15 minutes on a treadmill 3 weeks ago. I forgot how much I loved running outside.

[PhiSigPhi]

Well I got my ass up this morning at 6:30 for a run. It was cold, like 50 degree this morning, but I am not going to have any excuses this month. I only ran 20 minutes though, but I'm happy with it. Tonight I'm playing some co-ed flag football and then hitting the gym for my first workout. The only thing I'm dreading is the squats...I hate doing more than 6 reps of squats but you gotta do what you gotta do.

Now I had another suprise this morning. I've actually been eating my diet for about 2-3 weeks now with no real luck. I've been stuck at the 195.2lb mark, even after I ran (I was probably running 2-3 days week) while eating 1800 cals a day. Now, I know its not all about the weight, but my waist measurement was not changing at all. Well I'm happy to say that this morning, I was 192.4lbs. Now, the only thing I did differently was not drink any diet soda, and I probably sucked down an addition half gallon of H2O on top of my 1 gallon. I thought for sure I'd be bloated, full of water this morning but I actually feel a little dehydrated and my piss tells me I am too (a bit darker than I'm used to for so much water). My body must just need a lot of water right now to flush out all the toxins that my fat cells are probably releasing. And my waist was about .75" smaller too. Good day and very motivating to keep me going. Update tonight for my weight lifting workout.

[PhiSigPhi]

So Day 3 ended pretty damn well. It was a weight lifting day and I performed the following: 2 warm up sets for the first three exercises and a 5 min slow bike ride to get warmed up.

Squats (3x8): 185x8; 185x8; 185x8
Bench Press (3x8): 175x8; 175x8; 175x5
Deadlift (3x8): 185x8; 185x8; 185x8
Standing DB Shoulder Press (3x8): 40x8; 40x8;40x8
Standing Dumbell Curls (3x8): 20x8; 25x8; 25x12
Tricep Rope Pressdown (3x8):40x8; 45x8; 45x8

I'm on a 3 day full body work out and I think I'm going to do to ABA BAB workout. This will be my A and my B workout will be Front Squats, Dumbbell incline press, DB Romanian Deadlift, Military Press, ez-bar curl, close grip dumbbell press.

Overall I am happy with these #'s as I have not worked out regularly for 2 and half years. My diet for the day was really good. Ate 2 rolls of sushi though after workout with brown rice instead of white rice. I'm ok with that since it was after a weight lifting workout.

[PhiSigPhi]

Diet was perfect. Ran again today for 22 mins. I think I could have ran more, but my legs are hurting from the squats and deadlifts. I'll be at 30 min cardio sessions in no time. I would guess I was keeping 8:00-8:30 min miles the entire time.

[PhiSigPhi]

Weight lifting day. Diet has been good so far and went to the gym to lift. I went with my gf and she was ready to leave after 30 mins. I was kind of annoyed by it, but we had some miscommunicaiton prior, so I only got half my work out in, but all the big ones.

Front Squat (3x8): 115x8; 135x8; 135x8. I'm happy with this since I havent done front squats in 2 years.
Inclined Dumbell Press (3x8): 50x8;50x8;50x12. Going up weight next time.
Bent-over BB rows (3x8): 135x8;135x8;135x8. Very happy with these. Going up weight. I was going to do Rom. Deadlifts but I think with all the squats and deadlifts, that would be to much on my lower back.

Going to finish up the rest tomorrow with probably some HIIT.

[PhiSigPhi]

I took Saturday off. I was feeling a bit tired, but I felt great today. I hit up the gym for some weight lifting.

^=Increased weight or reps depending on what its next too


Squats (3x8): 195^x8; 195x8; 195x8
Bench Press (3x8): 175x8; 175x8; 175x7^
Deadlift (3x8): 195^x8; 195x8; 195x8
Standing DB Shoulder Press (3x8): 45^x8; 45x8;45x7
Standing Dumbell Curls (3x8): 30^x8; 30x8; 30x9
Tricep Rope Pressdown (3x8):45^x8; 45x8; 45x8

I'm happy with my increases as it's just been one week and I feel better overall. Weigh-in and waist measuring is tomorrow. At the end of the month, I'm going to get a fitness assessment done as it's free at my gym and compare it to my last one. My last one I think was in December. I'm convinced though, at least 80-90% of the changes will be a result of my work in June.

Peace out and Go Wings on Tuesday

[PhiSigPhi]

After doing some reading, I think I'm going to add 2 HIITS and 1 longer cardio session to the end of my weight lifting workouts for the rest of the month. I think my body composition is changing, but I think I want to accelerate that a bit for the month. We'll see how this works out. Running tonight after work, although we are supposed to have thunderstorms and tornado warnings so that may change by that time.

Update for run results

Ran for 24 minutes today, 2 minutes longer than last week. I actually had to walk 1 minute twice at aruond 15 mins and 18 mins. My legs just felt like they weighed a million pounds. Cardio wise, I feel like I could have ran for miles more so I guess I just need to get my legs into working order. Even still, I ran further in 22 mins compared to my last run and ran 2 more minutes. I'm happy

[PhiSigPhi]

Weight Training Day

I didn't weight train yesterday b/c I got home late and the Wings were on, but no matter. I hit up the gym today and had a great workout. Diet has been amazing lately and I am very happy.

Front Squat (3x8): 140x8; 140x8; 140x8. Up 5lbs from last time. Going up 5 more next time
Inclined Dumbell Press (3x8): 55x8;55x8;55x12. Went up from last night and I'm going to go up again next time.
Bent-over BB rows (3x8): 140x8;140x8;140x8. Barely knocked these out, Going up in weight next time
Seated Military Press 95x8; 105x8;105x7
EZ-bar curl60x8;60x8;60x10
Close grip dumbbell press50x8;55x8;55x9

Good day. Keep going up in strength. Can't argue with those results. Also, I've am down a notch in my belt...comfortably

[PhiSigPhi]

Run day and it was raining. I made myself go right when I got home b/c I knew if I sat on the coch and turned the tv on, I was done for.

Ran 24 minutes again, but this time a bit further. I reached Tuesdays 24 min run in 22:15, so I had an extra 1:45 for distance. I can't believe how fast my run is returning to me.

Overall, I am improving strength and speed so I'm happy about that, but overall, I felt like i'd be dropping fat a lot faster since I had been immobile and on a horrible diet for so long. I'm still stickin with it, but sometimes its just discouraging.

Peace

[PhiSigPhi]

Weight lifting day today.

Squats (3x8): 205x8; 205x8; 205x6
Bench Press (3x8): 175x8; 175x8; 175x7
Deadlift (3x8): 205^x8; 205x8; 205x8
Standing DB Shoulder Press (3x8): 50^x8; 50x8;50x6
Standing Dumbell Curls (3x8): 35^x8; 35x8; 35x6
Tricep Rope Pressdown (3x8):50^x8; 50x8; 50x7

Felt good about my lifts, especially deadlifts. I think I could have cranked out 10 pounds more but I'm not trying to rush into things...no injuries here. My left knee has been kind of weird and I am not sure if it's b/c I'm putting to much on it, but I'm going to continue going as is as it is by no mean painful nor does it last all the time.

[PhiSigPhi]

I'm in Orlando for the week for work. We are at the Mariott at Sea World so it's really nice and has a decent gym. There's not big weight so I'm just running and using the heaviest weights I can get (50lbs dumbbells) and just doing my best. Certainly better than nothing.

I've kept pretty much spot on with my diet which is quite surprising to me. I guess I'm just really committed to my diet!

Won't see me post any of my workouts this week, but next week starting again for sure.

Peace

[PhiSigPhi]

I don't know who, if anyone, reads my journal, so i may have to post this in the diet section in a few days to get some responses

So I'm finally back from Orlando. I was pretty sick down there and I don't know why so I didn't work out Thursday thru Sat (today). My diet stayed relatively sane though so I'm ok with that. One week from today I'm heading down to Jamaica so I'm pumped about that, although I do not look that good for the beach, I don't care...I need a vacation from work.

I'm set on doing Madcow's Intermediate 5x5. I decided I would start it this week even though I'll be in Jamaica the week after. If I decide to, I could continue to work out in Jamaica, the place I'll be at has a ncie gym; but, I mainly want to try it out this week as a basis for my chosen starting weights. I used the excel template and kind of want to get a feel if it chose appropriate weights for me.

EDIT: I may also take some creatine on top of my protein powder, but I haven't decided.

I'm also tryin to figure out a diet that might work for me. I get a physical assessment (mainly what I'm lookin at is bf% and VO2) on Wednesday so I'll nail down the diet after that, but I'm thinking probably a 40/35/25 split (protein/carbs/fat) for a clean bulk.

Right now I'm taking in about 2000 kcals, 230g protein, 140g of carbs, 65g of fat (all rounded) which is about a 50/25/25.

I'm going to add 1/2 cup black beans, 1 cup of cooked brown rice, 2 slices of whole wheat bread, and 1 oz cheese to my diet every day which will get me to about 2600 kcal, 262g prot, 232g carbs, 79g of fat. On workout days, I will probably eat an extra piece of fruit after I lift for some more carbs after the workout. Does this sound reasonable as a fairly clean bulking diet? All my other foods are whole foods (chicken breasts, fresh veggies, fresh fruits, etc.).

This is going to be a continuous bulk from when I get back from Jamaica until at leaset the end of March 2010. That is 9 months and I'm expecting to put on at least 30 lbs of LBM. I think this is reasonable and can be done .

[PhiSigPhi]

So since I'm going to Jamaica next week, I decided to test out the Madcow's 5x5 routine to see if I judged my "test weights" that are used to calculate my weight progression. I think I did a pretty good job.

Squat. All were done full squats, a$$ to calves. I actually found this easier then stopping at paralell(sp?)
5x115
5x140
5x170
5x195
5x225. I havent done 225 in a while. It actually wasnt that bad but when I went down on the last rep, one side hit the power rack and knocked me off balance. I got it still, but I think I could have gotten 1 or 2 more if it wasn't for that.

Bench Press
5x95
5x120
5x145
5x170
7x195. Felt real good with this.

Bentover Row
5x75
5x95
5x110
5x130
7x150. Felt good again.

2 sets of weight hypers
4 sets of weighted decline sit ups

I liked this workout overall. It felt weird not destroying myself on each exercise, but I convinced myself of 2 things: I still have to work these muscles 2 more times this week and many other people have done this workout and have seen great results. I just have to remind myself I'm in this for the long haul.

[JayFive]

Your weights seem about the same as mine. Looking forward to observing your progress.

[BiggerGuns=LongerDrives]

Originally Posted by PhiSigPhi

It felt weird not destroying myself on each exercise

This is where the term really applies "Stimulate, dont Annihalate"

[PhiSigPhi]

Originally Posted by BiggerGuns=LongerDrives

This is where the term really applies "Stimulate, dont Annihalate"

I totally agree. I'm beginning to understand this type of workout really is for the long term.

Hit up my fitness assessment. Was kind of disapointed but not surprised by anything. Here is my starting stats:

5'11"
195lbs
23.6% bf
149.0 lbs LBM

So, I am not happy. I'm fat. I hate myself for ever stopping working out, but now I have a clear, long term goal and that is to focus on putting on 30-40lbs of muscle. I know it will take me at least a year, but it will be well worth it. I'll probably do 9 months of muscle gaining workout, and cut for the summer and then do 9 months again, but we'll see how I do on my diet. I think I can eat good enough to put on LBM and little fat, but we'll see.

On the bright side, my Bicep strength increased as well as my flexibility.

Workout

Squat
5x115
5x140
5x170
5x170<-----is this a mess up in the worksheet? I would have thought it would be more, but if not thats fine. I guess I will have to look at the basics again.


Incline Bench
5x95
5x110
5x130
5x150

These were all easy, but I'm taking it slow.

Deadlift
5x145
5x175
5x200
5x230

Felt real good. I might be a little high on the deadlifts, but thats ok. I should increase weights quickly. Its annoying doing these with the weights at my gym b/c they are the ones that have flat edges and it always rolls away. I guess it makes me stop and reset, which I feel like is the more appropriate way to deadlift.

Also did 3 sets of workout ball crunches.

[BiggerGuns=LongerDrives]

Originally Posted by PhiSigPhi

So, I am not happy. I'm fat. I hate myself for ever stopping working out
.

Use it as fuel dude. I always take before pics when I am coming back to lifting and then I tape it to my Bench and I look at that sad pic when I work out and it pisses me off and it makes me bring out the beast.

I have made my way up the ladder to only get knocked down more than a few times in my journey. Getting up off the floor and getting back on the ladder is the hardest part, so you have conquered this phase already.

I have been up and down so much that this is precisely why when I make progress I dont get too hyped now, dont get too proud or anything and the same goes for when I am down and out, like during an injury, because I know at any given time I can either progress right back to the top or if I lapse and stop lifting, I can lose it all in a blink of an eye. As a lifter, it's hard to humble yourself!

[PhiSigPhi]

I definitely am using it as fuel. And if it wasn't for my working out a little bit and eating pretty good, I'd be even fatter.

Thanks for the back up

[PhiSigPhi]

No workout today, but I have been absolutely starving every day. I can't believe how much energy I expend in that short amount of time. I'm excited to eat more than a rabbit in the coming months.