Paul_2_Oh’s BodyBlog

The summer of 2008 has held many titles in my mind - Summer of REAL gas prices, liver problems and economy troubles.  Other than that, I have had a very successful summer in terms of my fitness goals.  I started the summer around 192lbs with 17-18%bf and decided to do a cut.  I started the diet Mid-May and began a 6-day a week training split looking like this:

Mon: 30 min Run.  Chest/Back (Usually heavy from rest and carbs on Sunday) & Abs
Tues: 20 min HIIT.  Arms/Calves

Wed: Shoulders/Thighs/Glutes/Abs

Thurs: 45 min Run.  Chest/Back (Iso Work)

Fri: 20 min HIIT.  Arms/Calves/Abs

Sat: Shoulders/Thighs/Glutes

Then I would usually rest on Sunday unless I endulged too much on Saturday or something, I would go on a 20 min jog to clear my head of bad food thoughts.  My diet did not change a ton, but it did become more consistent without the awkward class schedules and wing nights/beer that accompanied time with peers.

Breakfast: 1 egg, 3 egg whites & oatmeal/Go Lean cereal.

Pre-WO: Orange & 25g Whey

Post-WO: 45g Whey & 1 cup Rice Krispies

Lunch: Whole-Wheat wrap w/ Turkey and carrots.

Mid-Afternoon: 1 packet Almonds (160kcal) and Casein

Supper: Chicken and Vegetables

Night: Cottage Cheese with 1/4 cup blueberries

Of course, some of this changed as I did carb cycling for the first few weeks.  It worked wonders on the weight loss but I was battling bouts of severe fatigue on the low-low carb days so I had to go to less extremes.  By mid-July I made it down to 173 and 11-12% bf.  I put a halt to the diet at that point because my ALT liver enzyme was 4x normal for reasons now discovered to be unrelated, but I had to cease some of the program for a week.  I am now back to the routine with a little more room for error (ice cream!) but I still want to shed another 1-2% before the end of the month.  We’ll see how it goes.

For reference, current supps as follows:

ON Whey/Casein

1200mg Fish Oil (x3 day)

GNC Sport Multi (Was on Pak but had to cut for liver to recoop)

Animal Flex

Occasional White Flood to get me going for morning workouts

I am now on cycle with SizeOn from Gaspari and it is working incredible.  I have been on for 2 1/2 weeks and I have gained 30lbs on my Deadlift in that time as well as other increases and noticeable aesthetics.

I will update once I am returned to school and no longer have access to barbells (!!!!).  Thanks for reading and happy training.

Re-focus of My Training

I re-focused my training towards muscle growth and speed.  Sure, the goal all along has been fat loss, but what I have left to lose is going to get torched either way so there is no need for long distance running right now.  25-30 minutes of high intensity cardio and some calisthenics following my workouts is enough to aid my fat loss.  I also revamped my weight training schedule, dropping the 3-day split of Chest/Superior Back, Shoulders/Arms and Legs/Inferior back, which focused on moderate weights and 2-3 sets per body part to optimize fat burning.  It did its job in that respect, but I had made minimal gains in size and strength.  So, I split my training into the following program:

Monday- Chest x5, Abs, 20-30 minute solid jog.

Tuesday- Arms x7 (3 Bicep, 3 Tricep, 1 Forearm), 20 minute high intensity intervals.

Wednesday- Legs x6 (2 Quad,  3 Hams/Glute, 1 Calf), Abs, 20 minute bike or elliptical.

Thursday- Back x6 (2 traps, 2 lats, 2 erectors), 20 minute high intensity intervals.

Friday- Shoulders x5 (2 front, 2 rear, 1 middle), Heavy Abs, no cardio.

Saturday- 30-40 minute cardio session and stretching.

Sunday- Off.

Supplements

I continue to use whey protein for pre-workout shakes and the occasional snack, but I also enlisted the help of an old friend, creatine monohydrate that I picked up.  I take it with grape juice following my workouts.  I also take a multivitamin and fish oil supplements daily, usually right after breakfast.

Diet

With the new focused hardcore training program, my protein needs increased heavily and I buy lean beef, chicken tenderloins and turkey sausage that I cook on my George Foreman grill (blessing in the winter).  I estimate my protein intake around 150g per day.
I just started this program last week, and I will continue it through winter break and into the beginning of next semester in late January, so I will update how it has worked or working.  Until then, thanks for reading and train hard!