Sunday February 17, 2013

Tried to sleep in as much as possible. I tried to embrace the rest day, but had too much energy too early. Did some laundry and cleaning. We had a 10:30 hockey game and brunch with my family afterwards. Snow was piling up fast, and it was terribly cold and windy, so we just hunkered down when we got home. I was on the couch for about 10 minutes before I fell asleep. Slept for about a hour, got up for about 20 minutes, then went upstairs to take a two hour nap. Gotta love rest days during a blizzard.

Workout: Rest

Saturday February 16, 2013

Last night we went to celebrate Valentine’s Day and our friend Ky’s birthday. Four couples at a restaurant we have never been to with a pre-set Valentine’s Day menu. I kept it simple, salad, grilled tuna and crème brulee. For drinks I ordered bourbon, neat. We had a very good time.

Workout Saturday rocked. I love bis and tris. After the gym I cleaned up and met my buddy Dan Coffey at the Kettle Bell gym to watch a kettle bell challenge/tournament. I had trained briefly at their old location, but the new gym was really nice. Saw some people from when I trained before, saw some people from my current gym.

The rest of the day was chores around the house and working on Lori’s car. I hate wiring. I got tired and frustrated and called it a day as it was getting dark. Parts are on order.

Workout: Biceps, Triceps, High Intensity Cardiovascular

5 Minute Warm up - Run

EZ - Bar Bicep Curl                                                            50+bar x 2 x 15, 60+bar x 12, 70+bar x 10

Standing Alternating Dumbbell Bicep Curl             55 x 15, 60 x 12, 65 x 10

EZ Bar Preacher Curl (Closed Grip)                            50+bar x 2 x 12, 50+bar x 10 - fail

Lying EZ Bar Triceps French Press                              40+bar x 2 x 15, 45+bar x 2 x 12, 50+bar x 10, 55+bar x 8

Triceps Push Downs (Angled Bar)                             67.5 x 15, 72.5 x 15, 77.5 x 12

Triceps Pull Downs (Ropes)                                         67.5 x 12, 72.5 x 12, 77.5 x 12

Cardio- 25 Min. @ 146 BPM (treadmill intervals, run 3, walk 2)

Friday February 15, 2013

Last night Lori and I were enjoying our Valentine’s Day (she was finishing a glass of wine as we sat at the kitchen table after dinner) and chatting. We talked about our days, and I began to share with her my experience at yoga, as I’ve been complaining  lately about how there isn’t decent yoga gear for guys and most gym clothing causes some problems in different poses. So I explain how I wore a tank top, but was really self conscious, as I never wear them.

“It’s the middle of winter. No one is tan. Don’t sweat it,” Lori replied.

“Well, that wasn’t necessarily it honey. I just kind of felt like a mook. To make it worse, class was pretty busy, and I got there just as it started, so I was up at the front, next to the teacher, right by the mirrored wall. Through class I had a view of my reflection. As we were going through the vinyasas the cuts in my biceps and triceps were popping and you could clearly see the definition in my upper chest. I was like…WOW.”

“See, “ she said, “you’re finally starting to get it.”

Maybe I am finally starting to get it. I mean, I should be getting it. Nobody at the gym has second guessed my decision to train up and people are encouraging me. That being said, it’s still a secret to the rest of my life.

Just before bed last night the phone rang. We were watching TV and the called ID popped up on the screen. There were a shit ton of numbers, which could only mean it was my brother Phil calling from India. He and his wife have been there for two years now, and they’re finishing up the paperwork to move back to the states. We chatted for a bit and he asked me for some advice. He wanted my opinion on if he should come back two weeks before his wife. Seems he’s done with India and very homesick. I suggested that he tough it out and comeback as a family. It will be a big deal for everyone, and he should be there.
After we talked business, we chatted a bit. He’s anxious to get home, get access to “real food” again (guess he’s living on lentils and sick of them). He wants to resume his yoga practice and start working out again. I hope I can convince him to train up with me when he can and also teach me some yoga India style.

Woke up around 3:00 am today. Tossed and turned a bit and felt a twinge in my right hip flexor. It was mildly irritated the other morning, but warmed up quickly once I started moving around. I tried to position myself so I could stretch it out a bit in bed. It was bothering me after I got up as well, and I was worried it may wipe out my workout today. I babied it. Hit it with some Ben-gay before the gym, and tried to take it easy. No issues during my warm-up run. No issues during my lifts. No issues during my abs. Throughout the day I have been trying to get up and move around as often as possible.

Workout rocked today. Was intimidated by the Smith Machine High Incline Shoulder Press, as I’d never done anything like that before. Loaded up the plates and went to town. Love that lift now. Military presses kicked my ass as I tried to pyramid. Couldn’t break 60 lbs today. Laterals also humbled me. I had gotten really used to doing L-laterals. Crushed the rear delts. Crushed them good. Forgot how much I liked those. Ab work is so much less of a chore than it used to be.

Workout: Shoulders & Abdominals

5 Minute Warm up - run

Smith Machine High Incline Shoulder Press          85 x 2 x 15, 115 x 12, 130 x10, 155 x 8

Seated Dumbbell Military Press                                                 55 x 12, 60 x 10, 60 x 8

Barbell Upright Row                                                        95 x 12, 115 x 10, 125 x 12

Standing Dumbbell Side Lateral Raises                    25 x 10, 20 x 12, 20 x 10

Bent-Over Dumbbell Reverse Flys (Rear Delt)     45 x 12, 47.5 x 12, 50 x 12

Decline Sit-Ups (Roman Chair)                                   3 x 25

Seated Knee Tucks (Bench)                                         3 x 25

Stability Ball Crunches                                                    3 x 25

Lying Leg Raises (Floor)                                                                 3 x 25

Thursday February 14, 2013

“Free your mind and your ass will follow.” – George Clinton

Sean gave me some advice last night that resonated with me:
“Try not to over exert, we’re trying to create lean mass, but don’t get obsessive with the numbers either or the scale. Try not to weigh yourself for the next four weeks. Scales don’t mean shit!”

I thought about it. He is right. Getting wound around the axle with numbers at this point won’t help me at this point of my journey, and it won’t serve me any good in terms of sorting my head and perceptions out either.  So while I’m a complete junkie when it comes to tracking progress, metrics, goals and etc., I’ll have to take a step back, and that will be hard to justify.

Reasons why I should be ok with ditching the scale:

• My weight fluctuates more based upon my level of hydration and what is sitting in my gut then my caloric intake and the amount of work I do.
• In an ideal state my body would be “recomping” over the next 16 weeks (turning fat into muscle without gaining fat losing muscle). I reached that point at the end of the Physique Challenge. If this were to happen during BAB, I’d spend 16 weeks staring at 190 every day and probably lose my mind.
• Not that I’m a vain person, but I’m at the point where I look as good naked as I do in clothes. Do numbers matter when you hit that point?
• If I follow the plan, the scale is not necessary.

For the next four weeks the only weight I’m going to focus on is the amount of weight I crush each time I enter the gym. I have the blueprint, I just need to stop thinking and follow it.

In other news-
Lately I seem to be entering REM sleep quite rapidly. A few times in the last week I have woken up within two hours of having gone to sleep and have experienced quite vivid dreams in the rather short amount of time. I feel as though I’m experiencing deeper sleep in shorted cycles. On top of this I have received some subtle internal suggestions that my testosterone levels are normal or better than normal. I’m also back to waking roughly a half hour before my alarm is scheduled to go off.

Yoga rocked today. I really needed to loosen up, both physically and mentally. Lots of core work and I was feeling strong. Its funny, I never really embraced ab work until recently, and now that I do it regularly, its getting much easier. The instructor brought up a good point after class. She paraphrased a quote from Buddah. “Holding onto anger is like drinking poison and expecting someone else to die.”

If something (an action, behavior, feeling, emotion, response, anything) doesn’t serve you positively, let it go and move on.

Workout: Yoga

Wednesday February 13, 2013

191.0

Was completely cranky last night. More in a bad mood than tired and not at all happy. Probably an indicator that I was pushing my CNS. The girls hit the gym, so I ate some leftovers, cleaned up, and worked to have dinner ready for them when they got home. I was in bed before 9:00.

Feeling stiff and sore this morning (and the rest of the day for that matter). Really solid workout. Didn’t hit rep fails like I did yesterday, but pushed myself. I hadn’t used the cable machines in a while, but I was confident that I have continued to build since using them, so I jumped back to 14 for lat pull downs for my warm up set and used 15/16/17 for my working pyramids for lats and rows. 16 and 17 exceed my body weight, and it made me chuckle to have to wiggle my legs under the t-bar and pull myself into starting position using my legs.

HIIT cardio on a treadmill was a first for me. It was hard to shift down to walking after starting the run, as I’m so used to just running. 146 was also a weird heart rate for me. I’m used to either below or way above. Either way, it was a good workout for 25 mins (and that’s coming from a guy who considers that runs begin at six miles).

Now I’m pretty used to grinding out solid workouts on a regular basis (doubles, triples, even a few quad workout days) and I’m also used to working out seven days a week, but I have never, ever looked forward to a rest day like I’m looking forward to tomorrow. And as much as it is supposed to be purely “rest”, I think I need some yoga to loosen up.

Back & High Intensity Cardiovascular

5 Minute Warm up - run

Lat Pull Down     14x 2 x 15, 15 x 12, 16 x 10, 17 x 8

Bent-Over Barbell Row     45 x 15, 95 x 12, 115 x 10, 125 x 8

Seated Row (V-Bar)     15 x 12, 16 x 10, 17 x 8

BOSA Dumbbell Row    75 x 3 x 12

Lower-Back Hyperextensions     BW x 3 x 12

Cardio- 25 Min. @ 146 BPM (treadmill intervals, run 3, walk 2)