Old Man Skinny’s Journal

Weight 177 @ 12.5% body fat.

I took the muscle relaxant pill and woke up feeling fine, so got dressed and went to the gym for a delt workout.  I warmed up on a couple of seated bb presses and then leaned over to move a 10 lb plate.  I felt my back give and I was on my knees immobalized.  I worked my way slowly up, thinking maybe I could do some lat work since pull downs didn’t involve lifting.  I did a couple of sets, but it just wasn’t working.  I can’t remember EVER having to give up on a workout.

I took another pill, and even though the day has been a hectic one–a 3 hour rehearsal and 2 hour concert–I’m feeling vulnerable but okay.  Sunday’s a day off from exercise, so I bet I’ll be ready to hit it again Monday morning.

Crazy day for eating, too.

8:30 after the short trip to the gym–6 eggs (1 yolk) and Metamucil in a shake

11:30 Chinese dinner with my inlaws–2 plates of veggies and meat and a little rice (and then a dozen peanut clusters

5:30 4 oz ground beef and 1 1/2 black beans, quinoa, and peppers—then start a fast (I won’t eat or drink even water until after our church services tomorrow afternoon) Do I get to count THAT as a no-carb day :0

Weight 176.5 @ 12.5% body fat  Roll with the punches.  There are going to be days that won’t let me manipulate everything just the way I want.  Face it.

8:30 (slept in again, but they say sleep is good for the muscle growth) normal supps

9:00 Biceps workout–trying to target more peak.  Also the calves workout I didn’t get in Wed.

10:15 Protein shake 30g along with supps

Bought a month of tanning and did my first 20-minute bake.  We go to Mexico for the first week in March and I want to be ready to live on the beach.  Besides, it will make for good progress pics.

11:30 6 eggs (1 yolk) 1 C yams and Metamucil–blended in a shake (not bad)

12:30 Senior Citizens luncheon–all I could have was the rice and veggies–gluten in the meatballs in gravy, so no protein and the rice was white.  3 C of good veggies, though (and a small serving of ice cream–opps)

Got up from the table and realized my back wasn’t right–I’ve pulled a muscle somehow, probably doing a new exercise this morning (prone DB curls bent over an incline bench–I felt a funny pull as I was getting in position for one of the sets).  So much for my planned cardio run this afternoon.
2:30 8oz of turkey

4:45 a mile walk with my wife.  I was stretching out the muscles the whole time.  Feels like it’s going to have to be a muscle-relaxant pill for me tonight.

6:00 8oz salmon, 1 slice of bread, 1 tb of pb, 1 C spinach

9:00 1 C ff cottage cheese, 1/2 C plain ff yogurt, 2 tbl ground flax

Go to bed early to give this back some healing time.

Weight 178 @ 12%.  Now that makes more sense.  With the workouts, I’d like to think that I could lose body fat and even add a little muscle mass–wishful thinking, I know, but maybe.

Remember that today’s a no-carb day.
7:45 Growth+, BCAAs, glutamine, ISA-Test GH
8:10 Workout–triceps with abs and forearms

9:10 Protein shake 35g, with BCAAs, gluatimine, and 3-XL creatine

10:30 6 eggs (1 yolk) 1/2 onion, 1 green pepper, 2 Tbl salsa

1:15 7oz salmon, 1 C steamed broccoli, 1 C cabbag

4:00 40g protein shake, 1 Tb NatPB

7:15 7oz chicken, 1 C green beans, 1 C carrots (raw), 1/2 Tb ground flax

9:30 1 C ff cottage cheese, 15g whey protein, 2 Tb almonds

Weight 176 body fat 13%  I’m still withholding judgment on where this is going.  My goal is to lose 2 pounds and 1% each week.  Since Monday I’ve lost 4 pounds and ADDED 1%.  But the official results of the week will be an average of each day’s weigh-in, so not until next Monday will I make any change in workout or nutrition plan.

Today’s a carb day–leg workout, and 30min. HIIT

8:15 Growth+, ISA-Test GH, BCAAs and Glutamine

8:50 Leg workout–squats, bulgarian squats, seated calves, thigh abduction and adduction, ham curls, supinated and pronated single-leg extensions

9:50 BCAAs, glutamine, 3-XL creatine, 12oz fruit juice, 30g whey protein

10:30 6 eggs (2 yolks), cup of carb (rice and sorghum flour, 1/2 apple), 1/2 cup ff cottage cheese, Metamucil

1:00 Chicken 6oz curry, 1 C steamed spinach, 1 C brown rice

3:45 2 mile run–Kept heart rate at 85% MHR despite stopping several times to walk–man, do I have to get back my cardio strength!  It didn’t help that my legs were rubber after this morning’s workout

4:30  Shake–50g chocolate whey protein, 1/2 cup milk, 1 1/2 Tbl nat.PB

7:15  6oz steak, broccoli, cabbage, onion, carrot, garlic, 1/2 chopped peanuts–stir fry

10:00 1 C ff cottage cheese, 1/2 cup plain ff yogurt (I make my own), 2 Tb. ground flax

Weight–177 Bodyfat–14%  (Don’t trust Tanita scales or any other contraption that measures body fat by the electrical resistance method.  This is only an indication.  I’ll wait until next Monday and then average the daily bf readings to see where I’m really at.)

8:30 (yup, slept in.  Don’t you wish YOU were retired and could set your own schedule) Growth +, BCAAs, Glutamine, and ISA-Test GH.

9:00 Back workout–focusing on upper lats with some abs and traps at the end

10:15 iSatori’s 3-XL creatine
10:30 post-workout shake–just straight 40g of whey protein with more BCAAs and glutamine.

11:45 7-egg omlete (one yolk) filled with 1/2 cup cottage, 1 oz grated chedder, 1 cup of veggies–green peppers, broccoli, onion, cabbage.  Metamucil fiber supplement

2:30 10oz of top sirloin, 2 cups of veggies–broccoli and carrot

5:00 Whey protein shake 46g (vanilla with a few drops of root beer flavoring–tastes just like a root beer float), 3 fish oil capsules, 2 oz of left over hamburger with mustard (no catchup–too heavy in sugars)
8:00 8 oz of chicken breast, wedge of raw cabbage

10:00 1 cup ff cottage cheese, 2 tbl ground flax, 15 g whey protein

It’s been years since I’ve weighed this much.  I feel sluggish and stocky.  My pants don’t fit.  I’m out o’ here!

So, at 179.8 and 13% body fat, I begin the cut, and call this the official begin to the MuscleTech transformation contest.  I’ll take pictures this afternoon.

Weight workouts will be about the same for a while–targeting one muscle group a day over a 6-day rotation, several exercises of 4-5 sets each and most sets in the 6-8 rep range.  I’m going to keep an eye on the weight/body fat ratio.  If it doesn’t stay where I want it, I might go for that Lactic Acid Training concept for a few weeks.
Cardio—yes, I’m going to do 3 30-min. HIIT sessions this week.  I’ll monitor the fat loss.  Maybe I’ll do more or less depending.
Nutrition–cut back to my pre-bulk portion sizes and cut out carbs on alternate days.

My goal is to maintain as much of the 158 pounds of muscle mass (bone, etc.) that I can.  Drop 2 pounds and 1% body fat each week until I’m down to 5%.  Hopefully I’ll weigh in at about 165 then.

This morning was a chest day, targeting the upper pecs where my trainer says I’m lacking.  It snowed several inches, so I hope the roads are a little clearer by tonight so I can go out and run.

5:30 Growth+, ISA-Test GH

6:00 Weight Workout–chest

7:30 Shake–40g whey protein, 2 pieces of GF toast, 1tbl pb

10:00 6 egg whites, 1 yolk, 1 piece of GF toast, nuts, fiber supplement

1:00 8 oz lean pork, 1 cup yams, 1 cup green beans

4:00 shake–40g whey protein, 1/2 cup skim milk, nuts

7:00 1 1/3 cans tuna, cabbage, spinach, carrots, onion, 1 Tbl. olive oil

9:45 2-mile run
10:00 1 cup FF cottage cheese 1/2 cup plain yogurt, 2 tbl ground flax, 2tbl nuts

Can you believe that I’ve weighed in at 179.8 for two days now!  Why is my goal just ounces away.  Well, tomorrow had better jump up to the 180 mark–it really might, since I’m not burning many calories today (Sunday, Day of Rest).  But then it may hop over the 12% body fat.

This is frustrating.

I’ve decided, though, that Monday’s the turning point, no matter what.  I’m going to document the height of my bulk with pics and stats and turn this whole plan up-side down.

Well, pushing through those extra kcal did the trick.  I’m 178 and crowding the 179 figure and still at 12%.  My stomach feels like it’s going to burst every minute of the day.  I’m hoping the trend keeps in this direction to my 180 goal.  Then it’s CUT, CUT, CUT.

I told dsegersmusicman that I’d blog my meals for today to give him an idea what it’s taken to gain weight as an ectomorph.  So here goes, David:

9:00 (slept in too late to get to the gym before the inaguration festivities, so I ate my big breakfast as a first meal) 10 eggs (with 3 yolks) fried in Tbl of olive oil, 3 whole-grain muffins (homemade), 8 oz. of appricott juice, Metamucil fiber supplement.

10:30 (after Pres. O’s speech) 5g glutamine, 10g BCAAs

11:00 Workout  Took 16 oz. of juice with 5g glutamine and 10g BCAAs in it to drink mid- and post-workout

12:30  Shake–50g of whey protein in 8 oz of pureed fruit with 3 more muffins

3:00 8oz of lean beef, tomatoes, shredded cabbage, 1 cup brown rice, grated cheese, a few corn chips, salsa (taco salad)

6:00 8oz of chicken breast, 1 cup of steamed spinach (with olive oil), 1 cup of steamed carrots.

9:00 1 cup FF cottage cheese, 20g whey, 2 tbl of milled flax seed, 2 tbl of chopped nuts

And this is one meal shorter than a normal day.  I’ve concentrated on increasing the good fats and getting plenty of carbs (except in the evening).  The whey powder is just the simple whey protein from EAS that I buy at Sams Club.  I also take 3 fish oil capsules between a couple of the meals.
I bet you could do it, David.  It just takes planning ahead and having the stuff on hand.

I can’t believe what focus this has taken.  Sure, the rest of life goes on and gets its share of my attention.  I’ve composed a song for my church’s local congregation choir to sing, I’ve kept up with the house work and practicing for OTS gigs.  But still, the fitness goals are always on my mind.

I’ve seemed to plateu at 176 pounds–been there for a week.  Then it dawned on me that I was still eating the same calories that I was back at 170.  I’m a bigger boy now, so my base metabolic needs would be up.  Okay.  So today I added another 350 calories.  We’ll see if that will get me nudged up a little.  The goal’s 180 by the end of the month.