Old Man Skinny’s Journal

I guess I haven’t been keeping up on the journal entries.  I HAVE been keeping up on the exercise and nutrition, though–5-6 weight workouts a week and a cardio session tossed in for good measure.  Results?  Not like I’d hoped.  At first my goal was to stay at 7% no matter what.  Then it went to 8%.  This week has been 9%!  So I’ve got to get things under control.  I could see this trend moving me right back to 12% or worse.  The line is drawn–I’m getting back to 8% and STAYING THERE!

But how–eat fewer calories?  Cut carbs?  Do more cardio?  Liposuction (just kidding)?

I’m getting a little growth in the lats and quads, and I think my calves are finally showing a some promise.

There was a local show last week, but I opted not to do it–an NGA show with just an over-40 class.  Five guys in that class with the oldest at 53 and looking good but not as good as the 40-year olds.  Heck, I could be their dad and I’m supposed to compete against them!  Yesterday in Reno there were two shows–an ABA and an NPC, both with an over-60 class.  Maybe I’ll shoot for one in the fall.

I’ve tried the bulk/cut cycle twice now and it just isn’t my thing.  Sure, I enjoyed the more relaxed eating during the 2 or 3 months of bulking.  I’m not a guy who eats "bad" stuff anyway, but I did enjoy the carbs that I could include in my bulking plan.  Yes, the muscle mass increased and I enjoyed feeling stronger, but I DID NOT like the extra layer of fat I saw around my middle at 13%!

Cutting wasn’t bad, but I did get a little depressed thinking about all the things I couldn’t eat, and it was HARD WORK planning carb-less meals and going out for runs every afternoon just to get rid of the body fat.  And all to no avail.  Both times I ended up right back where I’d started as far as muscle mass.

Now I admit that there were "tricks" I just may not have known about that could have saved the lost muscle, but I followed my trainer’s dietary and workout advice to the letter.  If he, a previous Mr. America, couldn’t help me keep the muscle, then maybe I’d better try something that is tailored more to my goals, lifestyle, and specific body.  And I’m sure you’d include my AGE as a factor .

So here’s the plan.

objective:  Gradually gain muscle while maintaining a lean physique.  This will at least keep me feeling positive about myself, keep my clothes fitting right, while staying fit and healthy and enjoying good, clean food–all the pluses of the bodybuilding lifestyle.
Monitoring:  Body weight and Tanita Scale body fat measurement every morning.  Sure, Tanita scales are not the truest indication, but it will at least be a quick and easy way to monitor some kind of change.  It isn’t ideal, but it will fit my needs.
Workouts: 4-day cycle–1) Chest, delts, upper arms; 2) Back, rear delts, traps, forearms; 3) legs, upper arms, rotator cuff; 4) Cardio and abs.  The workouts will use a multitude of different exercises, hand positions, high/low rep. variations, and set designs (drop, super, to fatigue) etc. to target the muscles from every possible direction.  Sunday will always be a rest day, no matter where it falls in the 4-day cycle.

Nutrition:  40/45/15 Protein/carb/fat daily nutrient ratio, getting most of the carbs earlier in the day around the workout.  The goal will be to eat as much as I can without tipping the body fat over 8%.

Supplementation:  BCAAs and Glutamine before and after workouts.  ISA-Test and Morph before workouts.  3-XL after workouts.  3g fish oil 3 times a day.  Multi-vitamin.
Intervention:  When the daily weigh-in is in the high 7% body fat range, that day will be a no- or low-carb day and include a cardio workout in the afternoon.  This intervention will continue until the body fat is back to the low 7% range.

I’m open to suggestions.

I’m reporting in after 3 weeks.  We spent a week in Mexico.  Vacation?  The week was more like a biggest loser episode than a hedonistic "spring break."  But it was a change to be in such nice weather.
7:30 up for a half hour run on the beach at 85-90% MHR
8:15 to the fitness center for an hour of weight lifting:  M=Chest, T=Back, W=Legs, Th=Tris, F=Bis, S=Delts (throwing in traps, forearms, and other secondary muscles in supersets)
9:30 eggs and avocado (I’m on a no-carb diet with almost no exceptions)
10:30 to 12:00 work on tan (not casually–I’ve got a comp in a month, so this is building the base tan)
12:30 chicken breast and almonds
1:30 an hour of horn practice using a silencing practice mute (big concert with OTS in a couple of weeks
3:00 RELAX with a protein shake, some peanuts, and a good book
5:00 45 minutes of sprints in the pool–laps superset with ab exercises on the pool deck
6:00 more meat
7:00 watch the sun set, catch a movie on TV
9:00 another shake and fall in bed

I’d hoped to come home all lean and cut–8% anyway.  Not even close.  It was 166@10%.  I’d lost 2 pounds, but not fat.

Things haven’t changed much in the week since–Just today I saw the scales register 9% for the first time in several months.  I hope it is an indication of things to come.

Yesterday I met with my trainer and he’s changed things up, hoping to shake the fat up and off.  First, he said to start taking Hydroxycut.  Good thing, since I’d already ordered it for the MuscleTech Transformation contest.

Here’s the plan now:

7:00 Up and drink lots of water first thing (2 Hydrox., IsaTest, Morph)
7:30 Cereal (he said oatmeal, but because of my GlutenFree requirements I’ll go with a mix of millet and quinoa) with on whole egg.  Juice with BCAAs and glutamine.
8:00 Workout

9:00 3XL, BCAAs and glutamine– Protein shake

9:45 Citric fruit

10:45 Fruit

12:00 Hydroxycut

12:45 Full meal–4oz protein, complex carb, green veggie

2:45 Fat snack (nuts, avocado, flax, fish oil, etc.) BCAAs and glutamine

4:45 Simple carb

5:15 Cardio (30-45 minutes)

6:30 Hydroxycut
7:00 Dinner–veggie first, then 4oz. protein

9:00 Posing practice

9:45 Protein shake

10:00 Bed

5% HERE I COME!

Weight 171@12%  I had a very killing leg workout this morning.  I drank 4oz of juice with my pre-workout shake, and more protein and slight carb during the workout.  It kept me going.  I definitely DON’T want smooth legs that look like sticks up on that posing stage.  Well, I was SO exhausted after the workout, I just could NOT see myself going out for a 45-minute run.  So I went back to the gym in the afternoon and swam laps.  It killed my arms, since I haven’t swum since starting my 6-day-a-week weight sessions, but it felt good, and my legs got to just dangle along in the water.

My pool session was 50 minutes, broken up into intervals every 4 lengths with a set of abs out on the pool deck.  That kept my heart rate up, but gave my upperbody the rest it needed.

No carbs today, except for the little pre-workout juice, a sliced broccoli stem for lunch (like carrot sticks only more nutritious–just peel it with a carrot peeler to get off the outside tough stuff.  I hope YOU don’t throw the stems away like the rest of the world.), and a dolop of yogurt on my curried pork tonight.

Check out my recipe forum for the description of my maplenut ice cream shake this afternoon.

Weight 172@11% So the carb day yesterday didn’t goof things up too bad and it sure tasted good.  Today was just protein and fat, except for 4oz of juice with my pre-workout shake.  That little bit of carb gave me great energy for the first part of an hour of back exercises, a little ab and trap thrown in.

10:00 2 egg whites, 1 whole egg, 20g whey protein, Metamucil all in a shake

1:00 1 1/3 cans of tuna with mustard, 1/2 large avacado, and some celery–I know, I know, that’s breaking the rules, but it’s no caleries and plenty of fiber.  I’m concerned about my digestive system getting plugged up without my normal fiber intake.

3:00 Greens+, BCCAs, glutamine.

45 minutes of running.  Well, let’s put it this way–5 minutes of a good warm up, 10 min. of HIIT (45 sec sprints w/ 30 sec slow jogs), and then 10 minutes of trying to get my wooden legs to move!  I just had NO energy.  I went home, got my wife, and we did a slow jog for another 20 minutes.  And then I was good for nothing!

4:30 35g whey protein, 1Tbl psyllium hust (fiber), 1 Tbl nat.pb in a shake

7:30 6oz of grilled chicken, 1/2 large avacado

11:15 30g whey protein, 2Tb milled flax seed

Weight 171 @ 12%  That’s down 2 pounds from yesterday.  I’m sure today’s carb eating will put it back up, but still, it’s fun to see what happens with changing the nutrition like that.

Today was a carb day–nothing too excessive, mostly veggies.  I had a piece of toast and a little fruit at breakfast along with my eggs.  I had a 1/2 C of squash at lunch, and 1/2 C of br. rice at supper.  I ate more protein than I was supposed to, so that might goof up the plan.

A really good chest workout–3 sets of each of these:  incline press, decline press, smith incline press with bar lowered to neck (to work on upper outside pecs), fly machine, and cable flys, with light work on tris and rotator cuff.

I did my first 45-min. cardio.  20 minutes of it was HIIT, the rest just pluggin’ along.  I did 20 minutes of abs and posing.  Posing can sure wear you out.  I’ve got to get that up to 45 minutes and start getting a routine correographed.

This morning’s weigh-in–172 @ 11%.  Now we’ll see what today’s no-carb will do for tomorrow’s figures.  Try my best, I just could not get excited about the food today:

Sunday–no workout, but a full day in the service of the Lord.
9:00 breakfast shake–3XL, BCAAs, Glutamine, 2 egg whites, 1 whole egg, 20g whey protein, scoop of Metamucil.  Tasted fine, but sure wasn’t as rewarding to the tummy as an omelet with veggies.
12:00 Shake (guzzled down between church meetings)–30g whey protein, 2 tbl of milled flax seed
3:00 Beef soup–5oz of ground beef, 3 tbl of raw peanuts, olive oil, beef broth, garlic, and a LITTLE onion.  After dishing up my share, I added brown rice and spinach to my wife’s.  Spinach never looked so green and enticing.
4:30 BCAAs, Glutamine, Greens+ in water–This is what I drank while I watched my visiting grandkids eat strawberry ice cream with maraschino cherries.
6:00 5 oz chicken breast and 2 tbl of slivered almonds browned in olive oil, seasoned with ginger and nutmeg.  Garnished with a LITTLE dollop of yogurt and orange zest.  My wife’s had some pinapple, orange, and lime slices in it with some fruit juice to make a glaze.
9:00 shake–30g whey, 2 tbl of milled flax, maple flavoring

Friday weight–172 @ 12% Then I proceeded to have a CARB day–two meals with friends and family that included plenty of carb.  I still had a good cardio workout and did biceps.

Saturday weight–177@11% Just goes to show how much water the carbs carry into the muscles.  Remember that just before a photo shoot or competition.

I met with my trainer today–posed for over an hour.  He wants to see more in the middle ab area, so suggested more "bridge" work and "roll-out" motion things.  He’s pleased with the progress on the upper lats and biceps peaks.

But it is time to ramp up the fat loss–what were no-carb days before will now REALLY become NO CARB days–no veggies, no dairy–not even cottage cheese.  So I’m down to meat, eggs, and the good fats.  The schedule stays the same–2 days of no carbs followed by a carb day.  And even the protein and fats are going to be cut back in serving size–4-5 oz of meat, 4-5 eggs, 1 1/2 scoops of protein powder, etc.

I’m still going to fudge with juice in my pre-workout shake.  I just can’t get energy to move without it.

I’m to move to heavier sets, too–using weight heavy enough to put me in the 4-6 rep range.  And cardio is going to be EVERY DAY for 45 minutes.

I think I’m going to melt away before the week’s out using this plan.  We’ll see–contest date is 6 weeks out.

Stayed and did a delt workout after the posing session and then came back home for HIIT later in the afternoon–I ran in shorts and a t-shirt it was so nice today.  I did get a little chilly, but that would just increase the kcals burned, right?

Weight 173@12%–so the body weight is back down but not the bf.  Today I did heavy triceps, and superset abs, forearms, and some light chest with the triceps exercises.  Did HIIT this afternoon–45sec sprints followed by 30sec jogs.  Heart rate was 144 which is about 85-90% of my MHR.  I finished up with 20 minutes of posing–that’s as intense as the cardio was!  I’m finally seeing some definition in the abs.  I’m sure there’s some muscle under there just waiting to be visable as soon as I can thin out the skin.
I’ve done another no-carb day (except for 6oz of juice with some protein powder and my supps pre-workout), seeing if I can’t force the bodyfat to respond.  Protein and good fat have been normal with lots of fibrous veggies (I’m running out of ways to make broccoli interesting–but then, I can start over).