Old Man Skinny's Journal

Face the Fact and Act

OldManSkinny — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 22:57:35 +0000

Okay, I’ll have to admit, things are not going well. For nearly a week I’ve been in double digit body fat. I’ve had a workout every day since returning from CA. Of course it’s what I’m eating. In the back of my mind I’ve been remembering past advice–”Skinny, you’ve got to eat more if you want to grow” etc. So I’ve upped the protein to about 40g per meal–6 meals. Carbs have increased a little but not much. Yesterday I was in a push-up position by the pool, doing some bridge crunches between laps and noticed my belly–there was this bag of FAT hanging down, swaying back and forth!

Back to a more restricted nutrition plan for me, boy. I’m just NOT going to go to the same place I was a year ago. And I’m going to toss in some extra cardio until things get under control. I’m all for muscle growth, but not at the expense of a lean physique. I’m just 6 weeks away from needing a beach bod for Brazil.

A Creature of Habit?

OldManSkinny — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 03:34:49 +0000

From 2001 to 2008 I was doing weights M,W,F with cardio T,Th,S. That got me fit and healthy. Then I decided I wanted to do a competition. A trainer got me doing a 6-day program, one muscle group a day. Any cardio I did was as a second workout in the evening. I’ve been doing that since the first of 2008. Now the daily weight workout is a habit and I like it. I love being in the gym pumping the iron every morning. But I’m wondering if I’d get just as much from the old 3-day split, or maybe a 4-day plan. My goal is to stay in single digit body fat and to maintain my current muscle mass, although I wouldn’t object to gradually adding some lean muscle

What’s your take on it?

Repairing the Damage

OldManSkinny — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 03:24:33 +0000

I moved my regular posts over to the forum (Help Old Man Skinny Prepare For A Show) , so that’s why there have been no blogs since July. I passed on the contest, but still got contest ready a couple of weeks later for a photo shoot. Then it was "off the wagon" for a 2-week vacation/cruise. I didn’t lose it entirely, but did have "repair" work to do after getting home.

That’s going well. I’ve managed to keep the body fat (according to the questionable Tanita scale system) in singe digits for over a week. The interesting thing is that my weight has gone up a little as the fat has gone down. We’ll see how long that will keep up. Maybe it’s the modified carb rotation, or maybe the extra high protein I’ve been packing in, or maybe the daily cardio. Or a combination. Who knows. I’ll keep the plan working as long as I’m seeing progress.

Blog Entry

OldManSkinny — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 03:24:16 +0000

Camping & Keeping Up With Workouts

OldManSkinny — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 22:46:16 +0000

I’m heading to the mountains Wednesday-Saturday for a few days camping with kids and grandkids. Fresh, cool air will of course be healthy, as will lifting grandkids, setting up camp, hauling firewood, etc. But a real workout?

Cardio, of course, will be easy–hiking, jogging trails, etc. I’m taking lifting straps and a PVC pipe to rig up a chinning bar. I’m taking resistance bands. And there will be picnic benches to do step-ups, etc. I think I can make it work–maybe not for "heavy" lifting goals, but for a total-body workout. Mon-Wed. I’m doing heavy, targeted workouts for each muscle group, so they’ll have it hit for the week anyway.

The big challenge will be eating. I’m taking lots of veggies, protein powder, cottage cheese, chicken breasts, etc. so that no matter what the "family meal" is, I can adjust it to suit my needs. They know I’m strange, anyway. My kids were discussing ice cream on our family web page a couple of days ago. Here was my reply:

"I had a great Sundae last night! Instead of chocolate topping I used blended apricot skins. Instead of nuts I used ground flax seed. Instead of whipped cream I used homemade plain yogurt. Instead of ice cream I used fat-free cottage cheese. Yummmm. "

Camping & Keeping Up With Workouts

OldManSkinny — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 22:45:56 +0000

The big challenge will be eating. I’m taking lots of veggies, protein powder, cottage cheese, chicken breasts, etc. so that no matter what the "family meal" is, I can adjust it to suit my needs. They know I’m weird, anyway. My kids were discussing ice cream on our family web page a couple of days ago. Here was my reply:

Chime in with some suggestions

OldManSkinny — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 10:53:44 +0000

You’d think that since this was my 3rd show I’d have the routine down pat. Just the opposite. Now I know 2 ways that DON’T work. I’ve got more questions than answers. I’ve started a thread on the "over 35 advanced" forum thinking there’d be more traffic over there and that it would be easier for people to give there 2 bits about my show prep. Come on over and "Help OMS Prepare for a Show"

7 Weeks Out

OldManSkinny — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 00:14:22 +0000

ABA changed the date. It’s now Sept. 5. I’m beginning to wonder if this is a half-cocked organization.

I’ve had diarehea for 3 days–no energy. I tried a workout Thursday, but bagged it Friday and today. That hasn’t happened in months!

Nine Weeks to ABA Show

OldManSkinny — Sun, 12 Jul 2009 11:10:20 +0000

Nine weeks out from an ABA show here in Utah. Sept. 12. “Why not do it?” I ask myself. I want to get back down in body fat. I’m going to be tanning to get ready for a 2 week vacation/cruise the next week. It sounds like a good idea.

I’m 164 @ 9% (that was this morning, before the big family picnic tonight with homemade ice cream and cookies). I would want to be 5% on stage. That’s down 1% every 2 weeks. Sounds do-able and not too painful. The plan?

Cardio–30 minutes Tuesday, Thurs, Sat.

Weights–60 minutes 6 days a week, med. to heavy weights, concentrating on major muscles (so I don’t lose muscle mass).

Nutrition–Cut back on total calories. Cut out carbs on cardio days.

I’ll re-assess the plan in a week when I see what this has done.

Last Lap–and a Visit to iSatori

OldManSkinny — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 21:17:40 +0000

I’m on my way home–a day-long bus ride from Denver to Salt Lake City. The tour has been successful–we’ve played for over 50,000 people in 10 days. Last night’s concert in the famous Red Rocks Amphitheater west of Denver was standing-room-only for nearly 10,000 people and it was video taped for future release.

While in Denver, I spent an hour at iSatori’s headquarters. What great people, particularly Stephen Adele’, the CEO. He practices what he preaches–he is in top shape. I overheard him ordering in lunch–no hamburger and fries for him, but a chicken wrap with veggies. We spent most of the time talking about his family, his desires to rear his two girls to be good people. You can trust the integrity of a company when the CEO is a man of high moral values.

I was interested to hear how successful iSatori’s new Liquid Morph has been. I’ve used it for the fantastic pre-workout supp the Morph matrix is, having had great success with the tablet form. Mathias Horn, the fellow over all the product distribution, says that most guys are buying the liquid version because of the added 45g of protein. Quite the stack!

I had concerns about keeping up my fitness regimen–diet and workouts–while on tour. It turned out to be fine. Most of the hotels had adequate gyms. There were a couple of nice pools and some good outdoor trails/paths to run. I got in a workout every day except one (Sunday’s off) and actually did 2 workouts a couple of times.

Meals could have been a problem had I not been forced into passing up all the desserts due to their gluten content. We’ll see tomorrow morning how successful I’ve been maintaining weight and muscle mass. I really think it’s going to be fine.