NIraq2TransForm’s BodyBlog

So I decided to change up my workout routine somewhat.  I’m a nite owl, and thus 11pm bed time, albeit still early, is more conducive to my choices.  I also hate mornings.  Therefore, lunch seems PERFECT time to workout.  A quick walk from work - to my base housing dorm- to gym is a short diatnce and time.  Additionally, I find I’m more energized after having a proprtional breakfast and oatmeal as a late afternoon snack that ebergizes me before a lunch workout.  Todays’ workout, as always, was quite CrossFit friendly.

10 minute warm up on treadmill at 6.3

Stretch

3 mins interval sprints -  no rhyme or reason, just anywhere from 6.3, 9.0 for various time periouds until I get to 3 minutes, then:

15 X push presses @ 70 lbs

15 X push ups

6 rounds = 23 minutes

Holy workout fitness folks! I STILL feel my body burning calories and its almost 6 hours later.  So what is fitness? This is my central question, and the best answer I have heard comes from Greg Glassman, ‘Fitness is for an athlete an increased work capacity (loads, weights, reps) across broad times (short, medium, and long ranges) and modal domains (multiple activities - deadlifts, box jumps, jump rope, pull ups, etc).’ 

What I want is a great physique but not at the expense of suffering fitness.  Why look like Arnie if I can’t sprint fast for 800 meters and immediately do 50 push ups?  What does it matter if I can deadlift 400 pounds but not be able to run 3 miles in under 27 minutes?  Why swim 1200 meters but be able to squat more than 150 pounds?  Is a an IronMan winner really that fit when he cna not even perform 20 push ups or deadlift 150 pounds?  Maybe he has great endurance- but where is his agility, speed, power, and strength? Are these also not pathways of fitness?  If an Olympic weighlifter can deadlift 850 pounds but not even finish a 4 mile run, is he fit? It would seem he lacks endurance and stamina?

So who is REALLY fit?  I look at gymnats and they are FIT! Awesome physiques, stunning flexibility and speed, massive power and strength, combined with ample stamina, endurance, and stamina. 

Therefore, what training will most likely imitate my every day life in a functional manner? A tria-thlete? Hardly.  An Olympic weightlifter? Not so much.  A gymnast? Much closer to what I’m seeking.  I still don’t know the answer, I think I may have found it, but I still need to test and re test this CrossFit methodology.  How is it possible for the fitness indistry to have mismanaged my perception of fitness for so long? grrrr, I thought I was smart..

Anyone ever walk down the street rubbing their belly like its a lil Bhudda because they feel it shrinking/tightening? If so, me too, we are not alone, haha.  I caught a woman looking at me as I was apssing her on the street and her facial expression deffitiely was wondering why a grown man was rubbing his tummy while walking hehe

Nevertheless, THIS is why: Yesterday’s killah workout had me gasping for oxygen like no one’s biz. It felt like God himself was sucking the air from the Earth and depriving me of much needed oxygen.  Additionaly, at lunch there was a rather fine female runnign behind me on another treadmill, and thus I could not make my workout seem whimpy.  Plus a colleague wanted to see this CrossFit workout for himself (he ran on a nearby treadmill and watch me suffer):

3 rounds of:

400 meter sprint

21 air squats

21 push ups

400 meter sprint

15 air squats

15 push ups

400 meter sprint

9 air squats

9 push ups

7 mins and 34 seconds.  My heart rate did not return to normal for nearly 15 minutes after this workout. Oxygen never felt so good.  

Ok, so today was another Deadlift workout coupled with some other lifts in a fast circuit.  Here is it:

7 rounds of the following exercises with no rest in between (well, haardly any rest):

30 jomp ropes

7 X 135lb Deadlift

7 X 27 inch box jump

5 X ring dip - no asisst @ bodyweight

7 X jumping pull ups

7 rounds, time of: 15:07 minutes

Ugghhhh, that workout sucked!! I immediately collapsed to the floor for about two minutes of deep panting…Nonetheless, I got up and all the "bodybuilders" looking at me, hahaha.. Damn, it so sucked but within 5-10 minutes afterwards its THE best feeling because I know in my heart of hearts I just pushed my limits and physical athletic capability to the max.  Functional fitness workouts are more and more appeling to me after each one I complete.  The idea of "practical application of force" has so hit home to me now.  The way my body is changing is just a byproduct of becoming fit, and the real goal is overall fitness, not about physical appearance.  Why physically look good is that "llok" cna not be productively applied???

I’m literally dragging my ass as I walk today. Yesterday’s workout took every nan-effort I had to complete with as much as possible intensitry as I could muster.  As Coach Glassman says, gaining an increased work capacity over broad times and modal domains is the point of functional fitness, and CrossFit. 

While the gym on the base is top notch, it is not well set up for CrossFit workouts.  Back extension/glut-ham developer- is tucked away in a far off corner, no pull up bars in the baseketbal court, etc.  Thus, I create a great deal of my own WODs, all modeled after a similar CF workout.  Yesterdays killah:

400m sprint

20 bodyweight squats

20 dumb bell swings @ 45lbs.

Repeated for 5 rounds = 14 min 49 seconds of NEAR DEATH!! 

As I walked back to my room some co-workers passed me by and later told me I looked like a Zombie, haha.  LITERALLY, every ounce I could muster went into that workout.  Since there were other persons on treadmills and ellipticals, I could not give CrossFit a bad name and look like a wussy.  Its funny how some people are sooo curious about what I’m doing yet are afraid to ask.  A couple people have inquired, but apprently these workouts have not hit the Air Force as much as the other services.

As I’m doing these, I committed myself to 21 days straight of clean eating, at apprx 2,000 calories a day, with a good mix of protein, carbs, and fiber.  Getting used to a whole wheat sandwhich with turkey, tomatoes, pickles, and lettuce is not as tough as I believed it would be.  However, these CF workouts JACK my metablosim so dang high that my stomach is asking to be fed ALL the time, haha.  So I feed it just a lil every 2-3 hours. 

When I visit home in late August I wanna be shredded!!

Needless to say, this CrossFit stuff kicks my ass and leaves me smoked.  Luckily, I have a workout partner (until Tuesday and she re-deploys) who pushes me.  My ability to increase the number of reps in the below workout has increased significantly.  After a 10 minute slow run, I did the following workout:

5 mins continous max reps of:

wall ball shots - 20 lb ball

sumo dead lift high pull - 60 lb

push press 60 lb

box jumps - 24in height

Sprints on basebetball court

1 min rest - REPEAT ABOVE

1 min rest- REPEAT ABOVE

I was smooooked!! Each day and week after these CF workouts I feel my ability to functionally move increasing significantly.  However, the byproduct of this workout is there is definitely tightening and toning in my legs going on AND my shoulders are for sure firming up as well. 

Since I’m eating approx 2000 calories a day - trying for fat loss- AND doing CrossFit which si so dman intense, it makes me wonder how I’ll be feeling over the course of the next few months.  At the end of a day I’m literally exhausted, but it feels GREAT! 

Per normal routine, I’m constantly varying my weightlifting efforts in combo with high intensity work to make it cardiovascular as well, aka CrossFit.  Todays workout was the following, 7 :

135lb deadlift X 7 reps

5  X gymnastic rings dips

5 X assisted weighted pull ups

Repeated above sequence 7 times (7 rounds)

Time = 11 minutes 8 seconds

Needless to say my arms, chest, and tris are fried wiht the ring dips.  Its still amazing the stares I receive from unconventional workouts like CrossFit.  Tonight, five co-workers are meeting me at the gym to try ring dips, I’m going to laugh my ass off when a couple of these "fit" guys can’t even do 1 ring dip.  Functional fitness Baby!!

Wheeeew…just finished a yummy protein shake + glutamine after a kick butt workout at the embassy gym (in the good old green zone here in Baghdad, Iraq!)…. This trainer said he had the "PERFECT" workout for me to help me lose the last 12-15 pounds that I need to lose to get to 10% bodyfat. Goes like this;

8 reps of the following, total of 8 sets, with 60 seconds rest between sets:

Bent Over Row

Upright Row

Military Press

Good Mornings

Right Side Lunge

Left Side Lunge

Jump Squat

Roamnian Deadlift

Uh huh, I know what some of your thinking….EASY!!! HAHAHAHAHA…..puhhhleeease, just try that workout, ONCE! I’m sweting like a ho in church! Yea, so finished it off with an easy 10 minute run. I barely finished the last set. I soooo did not feel like hitting the gym tonight, but I dragged my booty there, and per usual, glad I did about 10 minutes into the workout.

Last, I found a yummy new food that I PRAY that chow hall serves more. Cold chicken cubelets, covered with low fat yougurt, mixed with almonds, raisins, and cubed apples!! YUMMMMMM…..

Tomorrow morning is High Iensity Interval Training. Treadmill or Elliptical?? hmm……E is easier on knees, but the T is more difficult…hmm…Lata peeps, I know I’ll have a HUGE fan base soon…Riiiiiiight, muhahahaha…

Well, tonight I had a trainer at the base gym show me a HIIT all body workout. The nice compliment I received was that I did 6 sets of HIIT on the workout, wheres he said most ‘big’ bodybuilders can not finish even 4!!! Therefore, I know my cardio conditioning (thanks to HIIT cardio) is paying off quite well.

I wont weigh myself or have my body fat % taken until may 1st. I do hope to weight in at 175, three weeks ago I was 180. My goal is 160 and 10% bf by July 1st!!! On July 1st I will fly from Baghdad to Minnesota for 20 days of vacation, six of which will be on a cruise!! whoo hooo!!! Booo-yah! haha

The best part of being over here is that I can SO concentrate on working out! I mean, I work so much in he Green Zone here in baghdad, that off duty hours there just isnt much to do…watch DVDs, workout, more DVDs or go to the small coffee shop, or the PX (which is the size of a large convenience store)…I guess some people booze it up pretty good here, but I dont even go down that road. Therefore, working out is how I fill up my "down time"! Ok, the money as  civilian contractor is good as well, but health wise, being here is as good as it gets, I dont evne prepare my meals! HHAHAHA…

Alright, I’m sitting at 180 pounds, 20% bodyfat. I’m lifting 3-4 times/week, and usually doing a circuit all body workout which elevates my heart rate.. PLUS, I do 2-3 HIIT cardio sessions of 20-30 mns per week. My question: Should I do steady state cardio another 2-3 times per week as well? IAM VERY motivated to get lean by July 1st when I go home for vacation to Minnesota for 20 days (I’m a civilian contarctor in Iraq)… How much cardio and can I do HIIT AFTER a lifting workout (normally wouldnt feel like it, but is it possible, beneficial?)….

 Plus, how many calories shoudl I be eating/day?? haha… I ask a lot. I have lost 42 pounds in the last 13 months, 18 or so in the last 10 weeks, but only lost 3 pounds in last 3 weeks (mayeb gained some muscle???)… I RARELY eat more than 2400 calories in a day, and usually it is 2000-2200, and easily do 180-200g of protein per day. Its clean eating (except on wednesdays! Guess what tomorrow is?? heheh WENDSDAY!)

Ok, so tonight I tried a "new" approach to my workouts, because Iam no satisfied with my progress pics and weight loss in the last three weeks. So rather than do another "all body" lifting workout, I did a Giant Supeset on my legs, because my chest is still sore form my all body workout two days ago. I figured why not split up 2 giant superset workouts between upper and lwoer body, so I do both upper/lower two times/week?!! Hey, sometimes I think I’m smart.

So anyway, here it went tonight:

smithsquats, to:

stiff legged deadlift, to:

reverse leg curls  (imediately back to top)…rest 1 minute, to:

Weighted barbell on abck one leg lunges, to:

step ups (no wight), to:

one legged lunge (no weight)…..*repeat for three sets*  to:

leg extensions, to:

one legged lunge with toe on bench (repeat once more)

DONE!!! My ass, thighs and quads feel TIGHT!!!!  hhmm…..will I feel this tomorrow?? haha…I did take 5g glutamine and HMB afterwards wiht gatorade and creatine! Will that help? time will tell??