Making_A_Change’s BodyBlog

I’ve been training consistently for the past two years. I have increased my overall strength and endurance. I have more confidence in my athletic ability. And I even consider myself an athlete. And that hike kicked my butt. It was very similar to the incline walking that I did last night. My hip flexors, thighs, and glutes were on their way to being sore and today just sealed the deal. I came home and went straight to sleep. Now, I am walking like a zombie. I was planning on adding an additional cardio day this week, so this just kicked it off. Tuesday and Wednesday are going to be recovery days. I did make today a high carb day. I was really flat yesterday and it should be interesting to see if I feel out tomorrow or Thursday.

This was a fanstastic morning for working abs and biceps! I was so pleased with the weight that I used and the workout itself. My abs were well rested and I really focused on contracting and stretching. As for biceps, I did different curls: bb curls (30# db), incline curls, hammer curls (under the chin). I am going in for evening cardio. Tomorrow at work we are going on a hike. So, I am thinking that I may have to include some carbs in one of my later meals. AND I can skip evening cardio! I’m so tired. I am trying to convince my daughter that she is tired and needs a nap.

This morning I hit the chest and triceps, nothing new. Tonight, I did 45 minutes on the stairmill and got a great sweat going. Tomorrow may Maybe abs, biceps. It’s an odd split but my back is crazy sore. If my quads will let me I may squeeze in a few extensions. But, the focus is going to be on abs. Also, My definition is gone BUT I noticed that my skin is very loose everywhere. My bodyfat has gone down a bit. Now, I have to wait for everything to tighten up, again. No complaints here, though. It’s time for me to eat, again and I’m not hungry. I have two more chicken loins to eat. I would much rather have a warm bowl of oatmeal, but I have to wait until tomorrow morning. I am also going to back some more carrot/raisin loaves. I really like those. On my low carb days, I can eat 1/2 a loaf and feel full.

I am running up against a few deadlines and feeling a bit of stress at home. The result? My period is still here and relatively heavy. My carb cravings are tremendous. Thank goodness the ‘worse’ of my cravings are crackers and I’ve had plenty over the past few days. If I craved chocolate, I’d be in trouble. But this is all a mind game and I have to refocus. I have no intention on not competiting and I remain on schedule physically and with my workouts. I think training is one of the few things that keeps me disciplined and on course. I took Monday and Tuesday morning off. I did cardio Tuesday morning to clear my head. I did legs, quads, and hamstrings on Wednesday and 45 minutes of cardio that evening on the upright bike. Thursday through Friday morning was a recover day. And that brings us to Friday evening.

Tonight, Billy kicks off our ‘extra session’. I will be with him from 6-7:30 or so, on Fridays up until the competition. He actually ‘donates’ this time to ensure that I am ready. He really believes in my potential. The training that he is coming with is completely different than anything we’ve done. Now, we can focus on the muscle-building, he says. Oh man. This man is trying to kill me! He is also trying to get my glutes lifted and of course get my hamstrings to tie-in.

I did:

• 10 minute warm-up on upright bike
• flye + crunch/ db deadlifts (straight legs, hips pushed back)
• squat machine (reversed)-legs straight, hold onto handles, bend forward; standing hamstring curl-feet forward on platform
• one-legged leg press; legs press (toe press)
• lying single leg press
• sissy squats; seated calf raise (toes out)
• cable lateral raise; pull ups
• reverse lying lat pull down
• lateral raise; lateral riase (wrists curled down, hands to glutes); plate raise (give plate to the mirror)

The weight was low/moderate but felt like a ton! Alot of the moves are so subtle, but make a huge impact. Now, I am thinking that I am going to switch my high carb days to Fridays for training and Saturdays for recovery. I’ll keep Monday through Thursdays low.

I am 6 weeks out and feel good. I have kept workouts/cardio to 4x per week for a total of 8 workouts for the past few weeks. I am going to increase the duration a bit to 35 minutes post workout and 45 minutes for evening sessions. Which means no more snoozing for me I have to get up at 4 a.m. The month of April is when it all comes together.  And I should be getting my suit very soon… I can’t wait!

I am going to lay out my workouts on the calendar. I am beat! Form was one, volume was down, and weight was moderate. My evening plans are yet to be decided. I did decide to increase my carbs today and my water intake.

This morning everything was sore. I made today abs and cardio. I played with foot and body positions until I deactivated my quads and was working my glutes. I did that for a full 30 minutes. I was sweating by the end, even though it was slow and steady. I am going to whip these glutes into submission. The good news is that while practicing the rear pose I noticed that the line under my glutes isn’t as deep and my hamstrings are making an appearance. Yes. I am so excited! And with six week to go (approximately 25-30 workouts) I am sure that I can continue to make improvements. It is also my TOM. It is getting lighter and lighter. I think I won’t see it while prepping for the July competition. I have to do cardio tonight. I have a workout scheduled for Sunday AM/PM.

 I didn’t get to the gym for evening cardio and my eating was a bit off in terms of time. I got to about 20 minutes and started feeling a bit shaky. I stopped nibbled on my protein loaf and did 20 minutes of posing. I guess that was my first taste of ‘fasted cardio’. I have to admit I am a little afraid of doing fasted cardio. I am so used to having my carbs beforehand. And I have to admit I am a little weary of the way I will feel. But I am going to try it and have oatmeal at the ready–just not tomorrow.

I wasn’t sure if I got the calves on Wednesday. Today, it was official–I got them and I got them good. My hamstrings and calves are so, so sore. Today’s session was grueling. And the scary part is, Billy only had me do two sets of everything (10-20 reps) to give me idea of what to add to the routine this week. Man, I had ingest a few carbs today. I felt run down in a big way. I must have depleted. We did the:

back extensions; db squat to shoulder press/calf raise

t-bar; seating squat apparatus (thrust hips forward)

standing t-bar (?); bicep curls (palms in; under chin)

reverse lat pull down (lay back)

bb tricep press; standing incline hammer curl

cable bicep curl; tricep press down

ab twist with stick (squeeze bench with knees, lean back slightly, twist body to opposite sides) 30 seconds

I felt a little woozy, so I drank my protein shake towards the end. It was great though. I know ’something’ is going to happen with this change in routine. I am beat up and will definitely be going to sleep early tonight–before 10. Tonight, I have cardio scheduled. It will be short and sweet. I’m beat!

Yesterday’s hamstring work was successful; I feel it today. My calves aren’t sore, so I know I need to work on that move. The platform on the ‘old school’s’ calf raise machine is alot lower allowing me to get in the right position. But I am going to make it work for. I moved my body forward so that I could pushed my hips back. I think I just need to work on locking out my knees and I get the same deep burn. Today is my recovery day and tomorrow is my session with Billy. I always look forward to them, especially now that I commit to the day off before. I use his session as a way to ‘kick off’ my 3 day cycle.

I had just ONE Dialene this morning–it was much better. I think I’ll do two for training days and one for non-training days. You are supposed to cycle for 8 weeks and this works out perfectly. I am going to take the Dialene 2x per day and the Seasamine 3x per day. I have discontinued The 369 Oil and instead will get the remainder of my fats from my foods. I noticed that I am getting alot more vascular. My arms and abs looked a bit leaner last night. It is only a matter of time before the glutes and hamstrings follow suit. Last night, I played with my body positioning on the stepmill I leaned my upper body forward (not rested–really tight with strict form), stuck my hips outs, and pushed through my heels. I felt that in my glutes and the tie in. I also felt it in my obliques a little bit. I am going to work on that. What is that saying? Necessity is the mother of invention. I need better glutes, so I am going to figure out a way to get them!

Prep is going well. I feel like I am on schedule and, most importantly, healthy. I think there is a misconception that you  have to feel like crap. I am not saying that they whole process should be peachy. There is alot of sacrifice, lifting, and eating. But, the key is learning your body. And I am coming into the belief that if you find what works for your body, your body will work for you. It sounds elementary, but it has been my experience. For example, I tried carb cycling. It seemed like: (1)  something that would work for my lifestyle, (2) something that would work for my body, and (3) something that I could sustain over a long period of time. I LOVE carbs. However, too many leave me feeling bloated. So, limited them over a few days then refeeding (because your body does need them to build, recover, and function) made sense to me. It took 2-3 cycles to see anything. I used a few formulas to figure out where to begin and blogged about my body’s reaction. For the firs competion my low days were at around 100 grams. I started there and quickly realized that that would not work this time. I dropped my low days to 50-70 grams that that worked. I think that sometimes people are quick to go from plan to plan, but what about different iterations of that plan? I am still cycling but there are so many variables to play with:

• cycling frequency-I currently do 3:1 high, but what about 4 or low days? or refeeding once per week?
• training-what if I cycled training full body or large body parts on the final low day?
• diet-what if I cycled with processed carbs instead of yams or oats? or mixed the two? Does the protein source make a difference? What if I increased the grams on the high day to x? Decreased the low days to x? What if I had ‘no carb days’? What fat sources have I tried? How much fat is too much for me?

There are so many versions of a single plan. Right now, I am having a ball with manipulating the plan. And it continues to changes as my physique changes. I like the science behind it. At this point, I also can’t imagine giving this job to someone else. I am getting to know my body is ways that no one knows. I plan to do this for a long time and I can imagine, eventually, being able to time my peaks better, maximize by fat loss, or muscle gains with increased accuracy. The questions and investigation make this sport fascinating and unique. There are so many things to try, ways to train, ways to eat–it’s infinite in its approach. That should keep me busy.

I started with my usual 10 minute warm-up. The first thing I did was one-legged presses (only 50#) focusing on fully extending and contracting. I also tried to make sure I pushed through my heels. I supersetted with db deadlifts, again, straight legs, hips pushed back, and pressing through my heels. That is going to take some practice. I did 4 x 15. Next, I did leg presses with my feet close together and focused on using my glutes and extending my legs. I did 5 sets of calf raises with the ‘new’ positioning. Then, I did hamstring curls on the machine where you are standing but bent over. Instead of bending over, I stayed upright. The 24 hour gym doesn’t have the leg extension machine that would allow me to do the ’stretched’ position. I supersetted with good mornings. I used a 40# bb, but should have gone lighter until I master the modified movement. I ended everything with leg extensions. I was determined to hit 150# to check and see if my strength is holding. I was able to do 165# so at least I know I am not losing muscle, but getting leaner.

Evening cardio was 35 minutes on the stairmill. I have been keeping cardio at around 20-45 minutes. I play with intensity or the type of cardio. I am going to wait until around 4-5 weeks out before determining if I am going to increase it. I have also started Scivation’s Dialene and Seasamin. I started with two Dialene’s. About 30 minutes later I swear it felt like someone had socked me in the chest and knocked the wind out of me! It was intense. I was teaching when it happened and had to sit. The sensation lasted for about 3 minutes, then subsided. I was left feeling like I needed to get to the gym. The bottle says you can use it as a pre-workout supplement and I see why. I am pretty much using a Scivation stack: Xtend, Dialene, Seasamin, and Vasocharge.

I am off to sleep. I will actually be able to get 7.5 hours!

My 48 hour recover periods are passing faster than they used to. It used to be so painful to not be in the gym. Now, I can focus on other things around the house or at work. Additionally, I use those days as low carb days because I am not lifting. Tomorrow is going to be a leg day with the emphasis on glutes and hamstrings. I am going to do the moves that I did last Friday with Billy. I’m going to review my notes before bed. I would like to be at the ‘old school gym’, but I can’t afford the $10 day fee, right now. When I get paid I am going to get the 3 month pass. The equipment may be old but I have a better appreciation for it now. There are moves that you can’t do on ‘newer’ machines. I have been immersing myself–watching MD clips, reading about bodybuilding’s icons. It is fascinating! I have one more meal to eat and then it will be time for bed. I LOVE the zuchinni and carrot bread that I made. I didn’t think I could find anything better than my oatmeal. Now, I have something that is more portable.

My 6th grade students are coming over to the dark side. Most of the student toss their milk. I had some Mighty Milk, children’s protein powder, in Oreo Cookie flavor. My daughter didn’t like it and it had been sitting in the cabinet for a while. I decided to take it to work. I had my students open up their milk, drink a bit, and I added a bit of the powder. They have gone nuts and love it. I was especially glad to see the girl who rarely eats get a few more calories in her. They are now interested in trying the bread. I told them what was in it. After every ingredient I listed–they moaned. But one of the girls said–Ms. Harper-Cotton, if you eat it. I’ll try it.  That’s all I can ask!