Along the way there…

Well, I’ll be damned!  I got my diet and exercise back on track and my body just sorta went back to ‘last known good’.  I’m very pleased.  Of course, it helps that there’s a lot of trial and error I didn’t have to go through this time and obviously I did not pack on 3 pounds of beef in a week but still, it’s nice to look in the mirror and see a body that looks healthy.

My workouts have been good, maintaining a good level of intensity and decent focus.  It slipped a few times but overall performance in the gym has been good.  My diet has not been perfect by any means but it has cleaned up alot.

All in all, I’m pleasesd….now, looking forward I have a 10 day exercise coming up during which time I don’t believe I will have a gym.  Needless to say the progam will need adjusting and I will need to get creative.  Following that, I’m going to start a new program.  Additionally, I have a few left over supps that are still good that I’ve made a mini-stack of.  I need to order a better protein too bc the crap they sell out here at the px is like whey enriched sugar!

My gym’s not much to speak of but It’s got what I need (when jack-tard the stupendous is not using my squat rack-yes there’s only one- for bb curls). 

uh oh, here comes a tangent…….

So I’m doing traps and arms for my wild-card/make-up day yesterday right… I’d like to do a few bb shrugs but sadly, one of my fellow fitness enthusiasts seems to be doing squats. 

No worries. 

I mill around with other exercises and alas, as I come back from a refreshing trip to the water fountain, yet another bb-er has slipped in on the squat rack. 

Still no worries.

Enter Jack-Tard the stupendous!  As the guy finishes his last set, I make my was toward the squat rack only to have it intercepted by jack-tard as he tosses his towel over it then walks back to the other side of the gym, sits down in front of the - no joke - four or five sets of dumbells laid out in front of him and proceeds to do curls. 

Um….ok….

"Sir, are you going to use the squat rack?"

"Yeah, right after this"

uh-huh

Now this guy probably outranks me so I’ll wait and step over here to work out next to the squat rack and wait till he’s done.  After five minutes, he abandons his dumbells and swaggers over to do BB curls!!!!!  I shouldn’t even need to say any more…..you get the idea….

Anyways….where was I?  Oh yes!

Not sure what kind of program I’m gonna go to but I’ll do a little homework and come up with something.  I’m thinking about changing it to a three day split twice a week since I’m basically working out six days a week anyways.

Keep ya updated

Take it easy!

-Dave

Couldn’t sleep so I’m up early waiting for the gym to open (it opens at 5….it’s quarter till here).  Despite a desire to do otherwise, I had a crappy day at the gym yesterday.  By the time I got off work, I was in such a piss poor mood, that I cut my workout short by several sets.

Probably as some sort of sub-conscious compensating method, I can’t sleep now and am eager to have a better day.  Back and Bi’s.  Nothing terribly spectacular.

Let’s go.

-Dave

Getting my diet on track and lifting regularly again has yeilded that initial gain in muscle fullness and weight which is nice.  It’s been tough to keep to my schedual because of things at work but it’s also been easy enough adjusting which days I workout (weekends are always free)

 When I started lifting last year, rest was a major component of my plan because of my body type and goal.  One thing I had not considered, however, is recovery rate for individual muscles/muscle groups. 

Anyone have any good info on this?  I’m specifically looking at shoulders and calves.  I’ll hit the bench Mon. and my chest will still be b!tching about it mid-week but shoulders and calves seem to barely notice the next day despite the fact that I’m exhausted at the end of the workout.

So, any input?

-Later,

Dave

WHAT ARE THE ODDS!?!?

 I took an APFT (Army Physica Fitness Test for the non-military types out there) this morning. 

Now, prior to leaving my last statiopn, our brilliant PT instructor (not here to drop dimes) put us on a plan that literally consisted of pushups, situps, scissor kicks and a 3-5 mi run 5 days a week.  No varriation  (variety is the spice of bad!) for For 12 weeks straight!

Needless to say, all my scores dropped as in, I was running my 2 miles coming in around 15 mins!  (that’s bad for me BTW)

Fast forward….

Since I’ve been in Germany, I’ve done NO cardio, all weights (I know, I know…).  I knew my score would not be great having fallen off the bandwagon, working out irregularly and eating crap until a few weeks ago.  What I did not expect was a 13:08 on my run

you read it right.

wtf!?!?!?

Pushups and situps dropped but my run (the thing I’ve not been working on…) improved.

Correct me if I’m wrong guys, but aren’t we supposed to improve with training?

Anyhow…my weeks been alright but I adjusted my program (slightly) based on today’s test.  BTW: it was a 277 out of 300.  Not bad by any means but before I fell off, I was maxing it.     Add that to the list of short term goals!

MON:   CHEST AND TRICEPS

            Flat Bench press, Incline Bench press, Decline Bench Press, DB Flyes, DB Pullover
            Close-hand Bench press
            Abs: Janda situp/cardio 3-5 mi tempo run
 

TUES:   BACK AND BICEPS
            Deadlift, T-bar row, Lat pulldown, Straight-arm lat pulldown, Good morning
            Barbell curl
           
WED:   DISTANCE RUN  (5+ mi)

THURS:   LEGS

            Squat, Barbell Lunge, Romanian deadlift, Seated calf raise
           
 

FRI:   SHOULDERS

          Seated overhead BB press, Arnold press, I-Y-T’s, Seated lateral raise, DB shrug, external rc rotation
           Abs: Cable crunch, weighted leg raise/Cardio interval training (track)
 

Well, that’s all I got for today…..Take it easy!

-Dave

Not much to note today.  I’ve been strickly monitoring calorie intake and making sure to eat before bed and pre-workout (these adjustments made a HUGE difference last year in Iraq)

 Think I screwed up recording my weight though…took it on 2 separate scales at the gym, 147.5 is the most accurate current reading.

 I’ve been recording my workouts manually in a book so, unless something stellar happened, I’m just gonna give an ‘over-all’

Deads, T-bar rows, Straight arm and regular lat pull-downs and Good mornings for back.  BB curls and Hammer curls for Bi’s.  Nothing too impressive.  Moderate energy level.

Not much else goin on out this way.  Later,

Dave

What’s worse than looking at the workout journal and realizing you’re pushing sissy weight?  Doing it for the second time!!!!

Ok, I make no exuses for having backslid and I know everyone’s got to start somewhere but damn!  I managed to find said somewhere twice! 

The only real advantage I have is knowing what has worked best for me in the past.  I know that when I built chest day around benches and focused on shorter more intense workouts I saw the best improvement so, that’s where I’ll start know.

I also need to remember to eat pre-workout….my energy levels were suckin today too.  anyhow, if I get time later I’ll copy today’s workout onto the blog

 Later!

-Dave

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Ok, so
 The new plan is as follows:
Mon: chest/Tri’s
Flat bench, Incline bench, Decline bench, Cable crossover, DB pullover, Narrow grip bench
 
Tues: Back/Bi’s
Deadlift, T-bar row, Pulldown, Good morning, BB curl
 

Thurs:  Legs

            Squat, RDL’s, Seated calf raise, Leg press
 

Fri:  Shoulders

            Overhead BB press, Arnold press, I-Y-T’s, Seated lateral raise, External db rotation
 

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I may adjust fire slightly after the first week but based on what I learned last year, this looks like a good place to start.  I don’t get onlie as mush as I used to but I will try and keep this updated.

-Dave

Workouts have been few and far between when they have been at all.  Personal life and work went to crap….I moved to Germany, and it’s time to start over.  I’ll get the new stats up as well as pics ASAP.

BOHICA!

Dave

Workouts have been few and far between when they have been at all.  Personal life and work went to crap….I moved to Germany, and it’s time to start over.  I’ll get the new stats up as well as pics ASAP.

BOHICA!

Dave

Well, let’s see here….where did I leave off last?  Ah yes!  the homecoming!  Well, Iraq was every bit as lovely as it always is.  I met 38.4 new people, 4 scorpions, 2 camel spiders a praying mantis and a snake with NO sense of humor.  lol

Got back and was bombarded by one thing after another and so of course (you guessed it) backslid like oprah winfrey 4 weeks into a new diet.  I will say this though, just feeling like crap is reason enough to get back on the band wagon.  I’ve been going from the field to some damn school or another so much, I feel like I’ve been run over by a freight train! 

My latest adventure has me in New Mexico for two week….let’s see if my body remembers how to do this! LOL

Hope everyone’s summer is going well

Take it easy

Dave