Day 1: I feel Great!

Well, day one is half way through and I feel excellent.  My workout went well this morning and I still feel energized and ready to conquer the world. 

I split my routine between resistance training and intervals this morning.  Starting with weights I tackled squats, clean and Press, Chin-ups, shoulder press, Bench Press, and sit-ups.  I even managed to increase my bench press to 215 lbs.  That was a big boost for me.

Then I got on the treadmill and was able to get into my intervals.  I did four cycles (7, 6.5, 7.5, and 8 mph) of 2 minutes walking and 1 minute sprinting.  By the time I go to the last two I smiled a diabolical grin to myself, thinking, “If only you knew what was coming next body.”  I pushed my heart rate from 140 to 179 and back down to 140, over and over again. 

And when all was done I was able to run up two flights of stairs with as much pep in my step as when I first entered the gym. 

What Can be Accomplished within Two Weeks…

How far can two weeks of perfect meal plans and just the right amount of exercise- given that I don’t deviate in even the slightest manner into unhealthy (but all too well charted) waters?

Why don’t I (we) find out?! This is going to be the two-week transformation to end all two weeks transformations. Here are the simple to understand (but admittedly super hard to follow) rules.

1. 6 meals a day w/ lots of protein. (Easy enough)

2. I am cutting out almost ALL non-fruit/non-veggie/ non-whole wheat carbs from all my meals EXCEPT for breakfast. This means that when I stop by Chick-fil-A I will buy the grilled chicken, ditch the bun, and eat it over a salad. That is just ONE example of MANY I no doubt will be frustrated by over the next few weeks. (Very Hard)

3. Resistance training and Cardio go together! This is similar to what I’ve been doing off and on for about a month now, but I will stick to it much more consistently this time and with a higher level of intensity. (Hard)

4. Perseverance, perseverance, perseverance!

And here are three “before” pictures today. This is my starting point. Let’s see how far I can take this, together.

    

Photo Evidence: Progress? You Decide.

The picture on top is my February to May collage, the picture below it is from today (October 7th).  Any progress?  Well you guys decide and let me know.  I am a bit disappointed and expected more progress by now.

So what do you think?

Friday’s Workout: Heavy Weights

I feel invigorated and refreshed, like I could take on the world! I began by jogging to the gym at a brisk pace. The distance from the parking garage to the gym is about a little less than half a mile. Today the gym has far fewer people then usual, and none of the usual clowns who spend entirely too long on the same piece of equipment.

Squats: 270lbs for 12 reps (3,240 lbs)

Chin-ups: 10 (1,660 lbs)

Bench Press: 210lbs for 6 reps (1,260 lbs)

Shoulder Press: 160lbs for 10 reps (1,600 lbs)

Sit-ups: 15 reps (900 lbs)

Superset of flyes and reverse flyes: 35lbs each hand, 12 reps each (1,680 lbs)

Explosive Push-ups: 15 (2,100 lbs)

Crunches: 20 (Zero)

Tricep Pushdown: 50 lbs each hand for 10 reps (1,000lbs)

Bicep Curl: 95 lbs for 11 reps (1,045 lbs)

Wood-choppers: 40 lbs for 12 reps each side (960 lbs)

Tricep Press: 15 reps (1,800 lbs)

Total Pounds Pushed and Pulled: 17, 245 lbs

And be sure to stay tuned as some time this weekend I will be posting a few healthy and cheap alternatives to protein and exercise bars.

Next Week: The Return of Intensity (Part Deux)

So my workouts are more intense and it is working great, now what?  Well, how about taking a step back and looking at my diet.  Wow!  Much room for improvement remains.

So in addition to a workout schedule similar to last week I will be clamping down on my food intake and ending the snacks that often sneak into my mouth.  Darn clever little critters aren’t they?  This means no more bites of my daughter’s cookies, no more ice pops, no more pointless white flour I sometimes consume, and even no more buns on my Chick-fil-a grilled sandwiches.

Now let me emphasize this next point.  THIS KIND OF THING ISN’T NECESSARY for those of you just trying to lose some weight.  My goal is more than just dropping a few pounds- I’ve dropped 40 already.  My new goal is to see my abs and turn my body into a fitness machine capable of short bursts of incredible strength and speed and long periods of serious physical exertion.  This is the NEXT LEVEL!

Results: 165.6 lbs, 32 3/4 inch waist

Well I finally broke the 166lb barrier for the first time in a LONG time!  In addition I am getting stronger, feeling healthier, and my stamina has increased by leaps and bounds.

I feel G-R-E-A-T!  Not to mention, I am looking forward to tomorrow’s workout.  Despite the fact that I hate waking up at 4:30 a.m., the workout is worth it.  Not to mention it is worth it to beat the muscle heads to the gym.

Off Day and Tomorrow’s Plans…

Due to my academic workload I skipped my sprints today.  I could have fit them in, I just got lazy.

But tomorrow I will be changing up my routine a little.

Phase 1: Bike- Goal, 2 miles.

Phase 2: Resistance Training– A focus on shoulders and lats with Chin-ups, lat pull downs, shoulder press, cable side raise, and upside down push-ups (Do a handstand with your back against the wall and push your body up).

Phase 3:  Run- Intervals. Goal, 6 cycles

Friday’s Workout: I am Worn Out!

I pushed past a mile on the treadmill alternating between 5.5 miles/hour and 7.5 miles/hour.  I felt spent after that but the weight stacks were still sending our their sirens call. 

I started by pushing my legs to the limit by alternating prisoner jumping squats with 240 lbs squats.  You’ve never seen how high you can jump until you’ve jumped after a set of squats at full intensity.   Then I tried a new exercise, a combination of chin-ups and knee ups.  It is a regualr chin-up except for that when you reach the top of the range of motion you do a knee-up, then let your knees down and return to the starting position.  They were WICKED hard!  After a set of pull-downs, side planks, and leg lifts my shoulders, lats, and abs were not happy.  I closed out with some arm and shoulder movements and beat feet to the stationary bike.

I pedaled fast enough to be challenged, but slow enough so my heart rate could drop from 168.  After about two minutes I was down to 135 bpm.  I finished out a half a mile and hit the steam room.

All in all I feel pretty good.  My body really needs this weekend to rest, because I have diabolical plans for Monday.  HA!

Wednesday’s Workout: A Different World of Intensity…

I have a long way to go, but today was light years better than I’ve been doing over the last couple months.  How much better?  Well, I don’t have the time to post all the details right now (stay tuned for updates), but here is the general outline.

Warm-up Cardiovascular Training: One mile run in intervals [2 min.  jogging, 1 min. sprinting , repeat four times]

Resistance Training:  A long workout- about 35-40 minutes.  I started out with a superset of jumping prisoner squats (don’t use that as a search term, you might not like what you find).  BTW a prisoner squat is a regular squat (no weights) where you hold your hands interlocked behind your head.  I did about 15 of those with a full extension and jump for each one.  Then I took two steps back and went right into my 200lb squats.  That number is so embarrassing- I should be able to do about 300+ lbs.  My upper and lower body are totally out of balance, which is something that I will need to correct.

I followed that with a combination of push-ups, reverse rows, and pull-ups.  Here is a PIECE of USEFUL ADVICE.  If you want to work on your grip strength try substituting your workout towel for actually gripping the bar- KEEP SAFETY IN MIND!  Reverse rows and pulls up are great exercises where substituting your towel for the bar (just wrap it around the bar and hold a few inches up from the ends of the towel) will build grip strength and give you a TREMENDOUS burn in your forearms.  And that kind of strength is the kind you need everyday for everything from giving a firm powerful handshake to lifting all sorts of objects.

I closed by doing supersets of tricep and bicep exercises.  Overhead extension mixed with Cable curls and then tricep pushdowns mixed with dumbbell Zottman curls.

Post Resistance Cardiovascular Training:  At this point my beating around 160 BPM.  So I hit the recumbent bike and did a nice relaxed pace mile in about 7 minutes.

Reflections: A sit in the steam room and a shower later I felt great.  My glutes and quads felt pushed to their limit and my upper arms were at one point swollen like the Goodyear blimp.  As if to reinforce the point I must share that the sweat stains my clothing were worse than they’ve ever been.  Guess I did something right.

The Return of Intensity…

I’ve really slacked off in the last month of two. I have had a lot on my mind and it has been quite easy to eat a little extra here and there, not to mention ignore my cardio. But part of any fitness journey is wandering off the path every now and again. The biggest question is what you are going to do about it, how will you get on track!

Well first thing I did was go out and buy a compression shirt. In case you don’t know what one is, here is a picture.

These shirts are ENTIRELY UNFORGIVING when it comes to revealing flaws in the physic. Especially those flaws that you can hide under a regular T-shirt. So here’s the deal. I have TWO MONTHS to lose this excess baggage around my waist or I WILL wear this shirt in public! Scary, huh?!