Guff’s BodyBlog

I’ve done well the last few months on my 4-day split since adding carbs to my diet.  I’ve put on a bit of size and I’ve seen some strength gains.  My body fat hasn’t dropped any however despite me stepping up the cardio.

A new routine comes in.  Starting today I’m following a routine written by ‘all pro’ from this site.  He lists it as a ‘beginner’s program but I find it very interesting and think I will benefit from it.  It’s a fully body workout to be performed 3 days a week.  I will step up my cardio a bit more on off-days.

Squats
Bench Presses
Bent-Over Rows
Overhead Barbell Presses
Stiff-Legged Deadlifts
Barbell Curls
Calf Raises

You will be running this program on a five week cycle as follows:
The first week do all 4 sets for 8 reps.
The second week do all 4 sets for 9 reps.
The third week do all 4 sets for 10 reps.
The fourth week do all 4 sets for 11 reps.
The fifth week do all 4 sets for 12 reps.
If you got all of the required reps on the fifth week then increase the weight by 10% and repeat the cycle.

Friday was a trial run for this new routine, and today was my first true workout following it.  I found it to be pretty intense, it’s a bit longer — it takes me 1.5 hours to complete and pretty much wipes me out.  This is a bit long in the gym IMHO but it’s a day less per week (3 days vs 4) so it kind of balances out.

I’m expecting good things from this!

So for the last few days I cut calories back drastically, eating around 1300 one day, then 1500 the next, staying low carbs.  Yesterday was leg day and it went about how I expected.  My lifts were up to par, but it seemed to take way more out of me then usual.  By the end of the day I was flat exhausted.  The scale this morning read exactly what it did yesterday (165.8) which tells me that starving myself is NOT the answer.  Big surprise there right?  So today I’m altering route, changing course, developing a new heading…you get the point.  I’m upping my calories to 2500 a day, also going to try to up carbs to 2g per lbs of body weight.  This means 330g of carbs a day.  I’m not sure how I’m going to do that yet, still planning the diet on Fitday.  My abs are STARTING to show, just the tops however, still a tad of fat around the bottom.  It seems that the low calorie thing didn’t work so let me try something else.

My weight has been kind of yo-yo’ing, but I’m not sure what that means.  I think I’m leaner, it’s hard to tell.  My newest pics look a tad leaner.  I’m seeing more definition in my traps and quads for sure.  Maybe I’ve found the sweet spot for calorie intake.  I’m sticking between 2000-2200 cals, a bit of cheats on the weekends (no alcohol though) and lifting heavy 4 days a week.  I feel good, feel real good.  My diet is good, my workout is strong and my motivation level high.  I’m just bummed that today is an ‘off day’ from the gym, I can’t wait to get back in tomorrow morning!

So I’ve been hovering around the high 160’s for about 2 weeks now. I don’t seem to be getting any leaner either.  I’ve dropped my caloric intake to 2000 (from 2200) a day but I have concerns if this was the right move or not.  Doing the simple math it looks like on gym days I burn around 3200 cals, non-gym days from 2700-3000 depending on how much cardio I do.  This means that even on sedentary days I’m still at a 700 calorie deficit at worst.  Do I up the cardio and create an even LARGER caloric deficit?  Surely eating less is not the right choice.

So today I step on the scale and BAM…166 lbs.  I can’t remember the last time I was this light.  My stomach is coming along nicely.  I’m focusing on ab and oblique work to try to get them to pop.  I’m watching my diet strictly, staying around 2200 calories a day.

My workout is as follows

Sunday - Chest/tri’s
Monday - Legs
Tueseday - rest
Wednesday - back/biceps
Thursday - rest
Friday - shoulders/traps
Saturday - rest

I do ab work every day, and for cardio I’m doing laps in the pool which also works the mid section.  I’ve vowed to give up the "hamster on a wheel" thing in the gym.  No more of that mess.

My left forearm is still giving me a hard time when it comes to curls, it is getting better but now I’m seriously wondering if I should see a doctor.  I hate those guys though, they only want to bilk money from you and in the end will only tell me to rest and not use it.  Fk that.  So I continue to do my light weight curls, but I must confess..it agrivates me to see nice development everywhere except my arms.  Who doesn’t want big guns?  I certainly do!

Been a bit stagnant on my weight loss for the last 2 weeks.  I think due to weekend binging and my lack of desire to do cardio.  After an hour or more of lifting I just can’t bring myself to do more then 10 or 15 minutes of the "hamster on a wheel" thing in the gym.  I had given up the early-morning cardio sessions so I’ve brougt them back, and I’m making it a point to do 30 laps in my pool every day after work.  This should be much more enjoyable then the endless treadmill.

Another week another pound lost.  I think this tells me that I’m close on my numbers.  I’ll keep down this path for another month or so, I think my target is about 160..we’ll see what my bodyfat looks like around that weight.  Then I’ll up the calls by about 500 and see what happens then.  Currently my daily calories are 2400-2500 and I’m keeping my protein high, 230ish and my carbs >100.  I feel great.  My workouts are strong, although my left arm is still giving me some discomfort.  Any lift that causes pain I go very lightly on such as curls…although it does seem to be getting better.

Another day, another pound.  My diet is working well, I’m down another 3 lbs today to 171.  I can’t remember the last time my stomach was this flat. I should be seeing lower ab definition within the next couple of weeks.  The diet isn’t hard to be honest, the hard part is resisting the urge to ‘bulk’.  I see the ‘big’ guys and feel the urge to stop the cut and start with a mass building program….but nooooo, I’m not going to do that.  My plan is to keep on with the fat loss, may for another 10 lbs or so, I guess I’ll know it when I see it in my stomach, and then add calories back until I find that magic number for myself.  I’ve been reading about DOGGCRAPP training and it sounds interesting and rather fun, so I think I’ll create a log and start that routine in a month or so.

I’ve done something to my left arm.  It’s given me fits for a while now, but it’s gotten to the point that I don’t want to use it anymore.  I think I’ve pulled a muscle or inflamed a tendon in my forearm.  My curling strength is seriously affected.  Since I’m so hell bent on losing body fat these days (and have dropped nicely even if I do say so myself) I think I’ll take the next few days off from any heavy lifting and instead only do cardio.  I’ll pick up again Sunday evening with legs which should give my forearm 3 good days of rest, we’ll see what happens from there.

I picked up 3 new books to read while on the bike, the first one I’ll start is The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. Noooo..I’ve never read it.  I did see the movie but I guess I want to see what the hubbub is all about by reading the book.

So I’m still working on reducing the body fat.  I hate to use the word ‘cut’, to me that’s something that a competitor does for a show and I’m certainly no competitor therefore, I’m simply trying to trim down.  Sadly my arms have lost some size, however I do feel some of that loss was due to fat and not muscle loss.  I haven’t lost any strength as I’m still doing the same lifts I’ve done for months, although I certainly haven’t gotten any stronger.  My stomach has shrunken considerably, I’m thinking I’m very close to seeing some abs pop through which will be a first for me.  I was 174lbs last week and had the cheat from hell Friday for the office "pot luck" (mmmmm..fried cheesecake!!) so I was actually afraid to step on the scale today, 175 lbs…I’ve actually went up one.  At least I know why the gain verses a loss.  Live and learn…I won’t make that mistake for next week!    I’m keeping cals low, around 2000 and carbs as low as possible.  Cardio for 40 minutes first thing in the morning on an empty stomach, then an hour of weights in the after noon followed up with another half hour of cardio.  I keep expecting fatigue to kick my ass at some point but so far so good!  I can’t wait till next Wednesday (my "weigh day") to watch that scale move down a bit more.