Over two months since my last update.
It was during Thanksgiving weekend shopping that I managed to get a huge home gym for a total of $130 including 250lbs of olympic standard weight plates. With another $30 barbell added to the mix for deadlift and squat, there were no excuses so I hit the weights.
For my first effort, bench press at 110lbs total. Yeah. I only managed six reps so I dropped back to 70lbs just to get used to it. Way too easy, though 90lbs was starting to become a proper challenge to grow on. Last I checked my max, I could do 205. I'm sure it's higher now, but I won't be trying a max for a while, in favor of staying consistent with what I can do for ten reps straight. At the moment, that's 170lbs.
I elected to try burnout where you see how many reps at a lower weight you can do before you can't go any further. I did that with 120lbs. I was shocked how light that felt and thought I could go almost forever. No. I burned out after 17 reps. With a quick rest, I managed to get another ten before burnout.
Deadlift started at 115lbs (two 45lb plates on a 25lb bar). I tested my one rep max on January 9 to the extent that I had weight plates for and 270lbs was "easy" enough I did two reps. At that point in time, my normal deadlift workout weight was 215. Right now, my deadlift workout has me at 255lbs. I'm sure my actual max is into the 300 range quite safely. I just don't have the plates to test it. With deadlift, my weak point had always been my ability to maintain grip on the bar. I use lifting straps now. I'll train my grip in time.
Squat I kind of got out of. It's dangerous to do without a spotter. I'll have to get a curl bar in the near future and those come with a set of dumbbells so I can use my 25lb and 10lb plates to get 70lb plus the bar on each side during a safer form of squat.
Cardio wasn't a big thing during the past two months. I've been told many times that you can't really do much fat burn while building muscle. Taking this to heart, the only real way I got my heart rate up was during heavy lifts.
With the start of February, I'm calling my first bulk phase done and I'm focusing on fat reduction while doing enough lifting (every three days instead of every two) to keep what muscle I have. I have managed two hours of cardio a day and it looks like the pattern of 50 minutes in the morning and 70 minutes after work is ideal.
I still do the same amount of cardio on lifting days since my new standard has me resting a maximum of three minutes between sets. This part is significant because there were times I'd have ten minutes or more between sets because I would do my lifting while cooking or doing chores, not keeping track of time. With less rest, my ability to complete the set is reduced so I'm forced to adapt once again.
While I was increasing my weights by 10lbs per week, I'm switching to 5lbs per week during the next two months, with the aim to stay at 265/270lbs (free bar weighs 5lb more than machine bar) once I reach those levels and focus on building speed and endurance.
I all but neglected my biceps during these past two months because of a misunderstanding of how they work. I've started doing dumbbell curls but I'm sure I won't get much development until my next bulk phase.
Having said all of this, the natural question is how long this cut phase will last. Shooting from the hip, it's meant to last until April 1 since that will be another two months to mirror the bulk phase. At that point, I will evaluate my progress and adjust accordingly.
Looking further ahead, the major deadline is May 29th when the Biggest Loser type contest at work ends and final weigh-in is due. Depending on my progress, I may have another short bulk phase followed by another cut phase.
I think the best goal would be to run body fat cut until the deadline, with the aim to get my body fat so far down that the next bulk phase won't really need a cut phase.
That's where I stand right now.
Thursday, February 2, 2012
Friday, November 18, 2011
2011 - The Story So Far
My last update, as you might be able to see, was all the way back in January. A lot has changed and even more has been learned.
Launch.
In February, my wife of seven years decided to divorce me. The usual beating myself up over it ensued and got worse when I found out she had left me for the only friend (more like a frenemy whom I kept at arm's length after he broke my nose back in 2001) I was allowed to have during our relationship. In hindsight, that should have raised red flags. What should have raised more red flags was her reaction after a female coworker/friend of mine hugged me when our respective groups crossed paths at a store over a year beforehand. The younger generation exchanges hugs as a greeting. The ex didn't understand this.
Launch.
In February, my wife of seven years decided to divorce me. The usual beating myself up over it ensued and got worse when I found out she had left me for the only friend (more like a frenemy whom I kept at arm's length after he broke my nose back in 2001) I was allowed to have during our relationship. In hindsight, that should have raised red flags. What should have raised more red flags was her reaction after a female coworker/friend of mine hugged me when our respective groups crossed paths at a store over a year beforehand. The younger generation exchanges hugs as a greeting. The ex didn't understand this.
It didn't help that, yes, the hugger is rather attractive (and married as of August).
After the ex left, I went through the usual divorce diet. During this stage, you either gain or lose 15 pounds. I lost 15lbs and ended up at 190, but it was starvation through just not being able to eat so I lost muscle so it came back with a vengeance. My daughter saw the whole process.
The divorce was finalized on April Fools Day. A few days after that, some friends took me to a sushi place I had never been to. I needed to get out so I was all for it. This would open a chapter of hope for me because one of the women who joined us was there with her husband and we ended up chatting up a storm. I figured if women that awesome did, in fact, exist, it was only a matter of time before I met one who wasn't married. I just didn't know what to do to prepare for such an eventuality.
Life carried forward and I made things work. My 31st birthday passed in May without disaster, as I had hoped. I had noticed an unusual pattern after my own split, however. A lot of other couples were divorcing as well, including, as I found out in mid-June, the awesome girl from the sushi place and her husband. He had kicked her out at the start of June. Seeing her going through what I had already endured was just devastating, but I didn't know how to help her.
The divorce was finalized on April Fools Day. A few days after that, some friends took me to a sushi place I had never been to. I needed to get out so I was all for it. This would open a chapter of hope for me because one of the women who joined us was there with her husband and we ended up chatting up a storm. I figured if women that awesome did, in fact, exist, it was only a matter of time before I met one who wasn't married. I just didn't know what to do to prepare for such an eventuality.
And it didn't help that I was stuck living in the trailer house my now ex and I had shared.
Life carried forward and I made things work. My 31st birthday passed in May without disaster, as I had hoped. I had noticed an unusual pattern after my own split, however. A lot of other couples were divorcing as well, including, as I found out in mid-June, the awesome girl from the sushi place and her husband. He had kicked her out at the start of June. Seeing her going through what I had already endured was just devastating, but I didn't know how to help her.
I would about a week later.
The woman in question needed help moving an AC unit from her old apartment and I was volunteered for the task by a mutual friend who knew how highly I thought of her. After loading the AC unit in her car, we went to the same sushi place as we had almost three months prior, discussing anything and everything over many varieties of sushi. A funny thing happened. We kept talking after the sushi had been paid for. And then we went outside and kept talking for about another three hours through bugs and a dusty rainstorm. And then, after we planned a tentative movie night and said our goodbyes, she hugged me.
Days later, she texted me, saying that day would have been her fourth anniversary. I asked if she wanted to have movie night that night. We did. It was fun. And she hugged me again.
Awkwardness of dating a coworker be damned, we were almost inseparable and became an item over the next two weeks. I took care of her on the 4th of July after she hurt her shoulder that morning. Life and stress caught up with both of us later on. Part of it stemming from the fact I was basically renting the trailer house from my ex and, being the jealous type, she started unloading drama on me immediately after seeing my new girlfriend and her amazing body (she was, in terms of mass, half the woman my ex was) though, and the new girlfriend terminated the relationship in September, short of the three month point, having become someone totally different from the woman she was when we started dating. Figuring out who she is, I guess.
Two months later I still get strange vibes from her and I'm not the only one.
In the days prior to the breakup, I had been strongly considering buying a motorcycle and even looked at one in particular. Ultimately, I had thought saving the money and playing the waiting game would be a wise decision. This is half-true. Motorcycle prices drop sharply during fall and winter because the season is about to end. I was expecting to get a scratched up bike that I wouldn't feel too bad about dropping while learning to ride. Anything in decent running condition was outside my price range. Until the breakup, that is.
I had saved money to buy a laptop for my girlfriend. With no girlfriend, I didn't need to buy a laptop. That was about half the money for a bike right there. Opportunity knocks but it doesn't beg. An hour or so after the breakup, I bought the bike I had looked at, a 2001 Suzuki Bandit 1200S. It was easily worth far more than the asking price.
A week after the breakup, I moved out of the trailer and into a house of my own in another town. It was just after the move that I realized, while setting up the medical scale I brought with me, that I had dropped ten pounds somehow. I was eating enough and I wasn't doing anything new. I just figured I'd keep the status quo.
Two weeks later, mid-October, I rode my motorcycle over the mountain to visit my family. That was an easy, if uneventful, ride. It did teach me that riding a motorcycle is actually a pretty good workout for the upper body, as well as the lower body in terms of just hanging on. Let's put it this way. Outside of the "Ride to Eat. Eat to Ride." Goldwing crowd, have you ever seen a lady biker who didn't have strong, shapely legs? It's the same as with cowgirls.
The next day, a Sunday, I got more adventurous and decided to take another canyon that had more turns to it. That was a bad idea. There was one curve where the guardrail had seen a lot of action. I wondered about this as I entered the turn. Milliseconds later, I had my answer as the road dropped and the lean for my turn was gone, leaving me headed straight for the guard rail in question. With gravel under me, I couldn't stop. My only choice was to lay the bike down and use my skillset earned from years upon year of falling off of BMX and mountain bikes like a pro.
It's a little different switching from a 25lb bicycle to a 500lb engine with wheels. My left foot got the engine dropped right on it. I slid and rolled to a stop while the bike slid another hundred feet, owing to riding on three small contact points, one of which was a piece of the fairing that was being sanded down by the asphalt roadway.
I felt like I had rolled my ankle pretty badly and I had. While the bike was able to be driven back home without trouble and only needed a $20 set of turn signals to replace the one that broke off (and signing the death certificate for a battery I knew wouldn't make it through the off-season), I needed some recovery time. It would be two weeks before I could get around without limping. I didn't go to a doctor because I knew nothing was broken. The paramedics agreed on that front because I was able to walk.
That whole thing screwed up my fitness plan that involved a lot of miles being put on my bike before the weather got bad. I still ended up taking first place in the Biggest Loser-type competition at work. $160 in my pocket for dropping 16 pounds in twelve weeks.
There's overlap in that competition, though. At the start of October, a new round was started that will run until the end of May. That's part of why I'm posting this update for the archives. It's a long enough stretch of time to allow for a real, solid fitness technique instead of the usual mad dash that has gotten so many people in trouble and gaining the weight back.
I have my tried and true recumbent exercise bike (which I'm going to try to wear out), my dumbbells and a pull-up/chin-up bar at the moment. I'm almost at the end of my two week ramp-up and my injuries from the crash are all but healed.
I won't be providing daily updates or anything close to that. I will probably do a redux of some sort at each arbitrary milestone. I can either make history or write it down, which requires focusing on the past. I would rather write about it after I'm done with the task.
As for life in general, I figured out why I dropped the weight I already dropped. It's simply a matter of the fact that I'm happy now. My daughter can see it, my friends can see it. It took some time to realize it, but not having a mate who browbeats me every time I attempt to stave off an early death while she plays World of Warcraft and eats has had quite the effect.
As baseline, I'm actually happier than I was when my recent girlfriend and I started out because I handled the stress that was hanging over my head, left a toxic environment and took back control of my life and existence. In addition, my ex-wife married the guy she left me for earlier this month (after a four week engagement) and I haven't heard any vitriol from her since. Either she got a rare storybook ending or he's become the target.
As for relationships, well, I would never restrict myself from the perfect girl even if she did happen to be a coworker. Love can come from anywhere and it tends to strike like a snake when you least expect it. It tends to find you sooner if you look good because, like it or not, the outside reflects the inside.
And this is, even if nothing changes in the next month-plus, the first year in six years where I will begin a new year in better shape than the new year that came before it. My downward spiral is over. The next few months will determine whether my upward journey is a spiral or a launch.
Days later, she texted me, saying that day would have been her fourth anniversary. I asked if she wanted to have movie night that night. We did. It was fun. And she hugged me again.
Awkwardness of dating a coworker be damned, we were almost inseparable and became an item over the next two weeks. I took care of her on the 4th of July after she hurt her shoulder that morning. Life and stress caught up with both of us later on. Part of it stemming from the fact I was basically renting the trailer house from my ex and, being the jealous type, she started unloading drama on me immediately after seeing my new girlfriend and her amazing body (she was, in terms of mass, half the woman my ex was) though, and the new girlfriend terminated the relationship in September, short of the three month point, having become someone totally different from the woman she was when we started dating. Figuring out who she is, I guess.
Two months later I still get strange vibes from her and I'm not the only one.
In the days prior to the breakup, I had been strongly considering buying a motorcycle and even looked at one in particular. Ultimately, I had thought saving the money and playing the waiting game would be a wise decision. This is half-true. Motorcycle prices drop sharply during fall and winter because the season is about to end. I was expecting to get a scratched up bike that I wouldn't feel too bad about dropping while learning to ride. Anything in decent running condition was outside my price range. Until the breakup, that is.
I had saved money to buy a laptop for my girlfriend. With no girlfriend, I didn't need to buy a laptop. That was about half the money for a bike right there. Opportunity knocks but it doesn't beg. An hour or so after the breakup, I bought the bike I had looked at, a 2001 Suzuki Bandit 1200S. It was easily worth far more than the asking price.
A week after the breakup, I moved out of the trailer and into a house of my own in another town. It was just after the move that I realized, while setting up the medical scale I brought with me, that I had dropped ten pounds somehow. I was eating enough and I wasn't doing anything new. I just figured I'd keep the status quo.
Two weeks later, mid-October, I rode my motorcycle over the mountain to visit my family. That was an easy, if uneventful, ride. It did teach me that riding a motorcycle is actually a pretty good workout for the upper body, as well as the lower body in terms of just hanging on. Let's put it this way. Outside of the "Ride to Eat. Eat to Ride." Goldwing crowd, have you ever seen a lady biker who didn't have strong, shapely legs? It's the same as with cowgirls.
The next day, a Sunday, I got more adventurous and decided to take another canyon that had more turns to it. That was a bad idea. There was one curve where the guardrail had seen a lot of action. I wondered about this as I entered the turn. Milliseconds later, I had my answer as the road dropped and the lean for my turn was gone, leaving me headed straight for the guard rail in question. With gravel under me, I couldn't stop. My only choice was to lay the bike down and use my skillset earned from years upon year of falling off of BMX and mountain bikes like a pro.
It's a little different switching from a 25lb bicycle to a 500lb engine with wheels. My left foot got the engine dropped right on it. I slid and rolled to a stop while the bike slid another hundred feet, owing to riding on three small contact points, one of which was a piece of the fairing that was being sanded down by the asphalt roadway.
I felt like I had rolled my ankle pretty badly and I had. While the bike was able to be driven back home without trouble and only needed a $20 set of turn signals to replace the one that broke off (and signing the death certificate for a battery I knew wouldn't make it through the off-season), I needed some recovery time. It would be two weeks before I could get around without limping. I didn't go to a doctor because I knew nothing was broken. The paramedics agreed on that front because I was able to walk.
That whole thing screwed up my fitness plan that involved a lot of miles being put on my bike before the weather got bad. I still ended up taking first place in the Biggest Loser-type competition at work. $160 in my pocket for dropping 16 pounds in twelve weeks.
There's overlap in that competition, though. At the start of October, a new round was started that will run until the end of May. That's part of why I'm posting this update for the archives. It's a long enough stretch of time to allow for a real, solid fitness technique instead of the usual mad dash that has gotten so many people in trouble and gaining the weight back.
I have my tried and true recumbent exercise bike (which I'm going to try to wear out), my dumbbells and a pull-up/chin-up bar at the moment. I'm almost at the end of my two week ramp-up and my injuries from the crash are all but healed.
I won't be providing daily updates or anything close to that. I will probably do a redux of some sort at each arbitrary milestone. I can either make history or write it down, which requires focusing on the past. I would rather write about it after I'm done with the task.
As for life in general, I figured out why I dropped the weight I already dropped. It's simply a matter of the fact that I'm happy now. My daughter can see it, my friends can see it. It took some time to realize it, but not having a mate who browbeats me every time I attempt to stave off an early death while she plays World of Warcraft and eats has had quite the effect.
As baseline, I'm actually happier than I was when my recent girlfriend and I started out because I handled the stress that was hanging over my head, left a toxic environment and took back control of my life and existence. In addition, my ex-wife married the guy she left me for earlier this month (after a four week engagement) and I haven't heard any vitriol from her since. Either she got a rare storybook ending or he's become the target.
As for relationships, well, I would never restrict myself from the perfect girl even if she did happen to be a coworker. Love can come from anywhere and it tends to strike like a snake when you least expect it. It tends to find you sooner if you look good because, like it or not, the outside reflects the inside.
And this is, even if nothing changes in the next month-plus, the first year in six years where I will begin a new year in better shape than the new year that came before it. My downward spiral is over. The next few months will determine whether my upward journey is a spiral or a launch.
Monday, January 3, 2011
Prelude - Week 1 Day 1 - Of Mice And Men
I've found I get sidetracked when I have a lot of irons in the fire. That's no surprise. What surprised me was the realization I came to just last week.
I'll use hygiene as an example. A homeless hippie can slack on shaving and bathing for weeks or months at a time only to have the situation completely reversed when reintroduced to a razor, a shower and a stick of deodorant. This is an extreme example I bring up to prove a point. In my own life, I sometimes go three or four days without shaving, though I make it a point to shower every day because I feel dirty if I don't. While I may look scruffy after four days without a shave, I can reverse that completely the next time I take a razor to my face.
Fitness, on the other hand, requires persistent effort. Missing a day in your routine puts you that day behind.
With the cold months upon us again, there isn't much I can do outdoors so it's probably just best to be bored doing something beneficial as opposed to merely vegetating and being a mess when the weather finally improves.
I'll use hygiene as an example. A homeless hippie can slack on shaving and bathing for weeks or months at a time only to have the situation completely reversed when reintroduced to a razor, a shower and a stick of deodorant. This is an extreme example I bring up to prove a point. In my own life, I sometimes go three or four days without shaving, though I make it a point to shower every day because I feel dirty if I don't. While I may look scruffy after four days without a shave, I can reverse that completely the next time I take a razor to my face.
Fitness, on the other hand, requires persistent effort. Missing a day in your routine puts you that day behind.
With the cold months upon us again, there isn't much I can do outdoors so it's probably just best to be bored doing something beneficial as opposed to merely vegetating and being a mess when the weather finally improves.
Monday, May 10, 2010
It's BACON!!
Biggest Loser Round Two has started at work. It took some time for the dedicated scale to arrive and it's medical-grade. I've got a lot of competition during a time of year when there's less of the candy thing going on.
I am going to bust my ass without slacking on my hobbies. It's on.
I am going to bust my ass without slacking on my hobbies. It's on.
Sunday, March 21, 2010
Week 12: Day 1 - Final Countdown
2:30:35, 30.2 miles, 1596 kcal, held 130bpm
Last week to go and I've been slacking. Bad call. Gotta give it my all this next week.
Last week to go and I've been slacking. Bad call. Gotta give it my all this next week.
Thursday, March 11, 2010
Week 10: Day 5 - Get UP!
2:40:00, 37.61 miles, 2003 kcal, Res 5, 170bpm
I weighed in this morning at 200lbs. Tonight, my goal was 2000 kcal. I did it--hard.
I weighed in this morning at 200lbs. Tonight, my goal was 2000 kcal. I did it--hard.
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Week 10: Day 4 - Thoroughly Nuked
2:00:05, 28.85 miles, 1541 kcal, Res 5, HR: 180+BPM
ouch, ouch, ouch, ouch, ouch...
I felt myself sort of bonking 90 minutes in. It's a strange feeling. My mind wasn't as clear and I felt like I was reverting to age 5, mentally whining to myself.
I kicked my ass so hard tonight. I've earned my sleep.
ouch, ouch, ouch, ouch, ouch...
I felt myself sort of bonking 90 minutes in. It's a strange feeling. My mind wasn't as clear and I felt like I was reverting to age 5, mentally whining to myself.
I kicked my ass so hard tonight. I've earned my sleep.
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