Splattered Angst

For those that have been reading my blog may have noticed the past couple of weeks, I have discovered Mike Mentzer’s book "High Intensity Training" and was pretty blown away by it. I also had BeffyEMT loan me his video too which was also quite helpful. When I was watching the video, I noticed the guy that Mentzer was training, Markus Reinhardt. I knew that Mike had tragically passed shortly after making the video and I had a lot of questions and gaps to fill in after reading the book and watching the video. So I looked Markus up and found his site and did something crazy - I called the guy. I’m glad I did. He recommended some things and gave some good perspective and additional information on not only Mentzer’s training methods, but some insights into the bodybuilding culture in general that were quite interesting and entertaining. He recommended some changes to my diet that I am working to plug in as well. After talking with him, I sat down with a calculator and tallied my calories, grams of protein and carbs, etc. [never done something like that before] and I am quite amazed that my eye brows have not grown together and my eye sockets spread apart. I was slamming way too much protein and too little carbs. In my journey to date, I have believed carbs and fats to be stuff to stay away from, but I am realizing now that my zeal in cutting them back as far as I have may not have been the best idea. So I am following the advice that Markus passed on and we’ll see where it goes in the weeks ahead. Here is Markus’ web site: www.markusreinhardt.com

Awoke to find this morning that my reputation has plummeted. How can this be that I went from a "diamond in the rough" +500 to -2000 "nearly skum" …Can I take that seriously - Hardly! I laughed so hard when I seen that this morning I nearly woke others in the house! The entertainment value in inadvertently twisting someone else’s nose is mighty high, I must say!

Finished up this week’s workout and I will be staying clear of weights this whole next week. The workout partner is going to be out of town and it seems wise to just take that time before beginning the next routine to allow for some adaptation and to restore energy reserves. I’ll will do a few sessions of moderate aerobics and keep the metabolism rocking. I used a new gizmo [Myotape] this morning to measure myself and there were some changes. Some that were good and some that had me a tad concerned. My thighs, shoulders and calves were all incrementally larger; chest was a tad smaller, although the recent pics say something different there … the variations that may have to do with my use of a different measuring device. My hip and waist measurements are up [drat!]. Gotta be the new measuring tape. Not going to stress about it. I’ll measure again in a couple of weeks and see how it is then. This new tape was a freebee from Bodybuilding.com and it will provide for some more consistent measurements in the future, I’m sure. Better than the sewing tape I have been using. My weight is up too - at 210. The goal I was shooting for by the end of March, but I am not going to reset that goal until I test body fat in a week or so and see if the weight gain is as I hope: Muscle.

The Push-Pull session this morning was intense. I have been working in the slower reps, as prescribed in the HIT routine, to find a rhythm. It certainly gets the heart pounding and really takes the strain off the tendons and joints. They have not been bugging me at all lately as they have in the past, but doing two heavy movements for back this morning in a bent over position, Dead Lifts and Bent Over Olympic Bar Rows [like a T-Bar Row] may have taken things over the edge … lower back is really tight right now - YEOW! Nothing that might qualify as injurious, just tight.

So below is the workout I am looking forward to. It is outlined in "High Intensity Training the Mark Mentzer Way." A book I have been greatly impressed with as I have been reading it off and on the last couple of weeks. I also borrowed the video from BeffyEMT [thanks bro!]. Given my inclination to over train in the past, this should be something good to try, although the "pump junkie" side of me is really taking it hard [waaa!] with the prospect of only being at the weight racks twice a week. But I am sure if thing work as outlined, there will be measurable gains after a couple cycles of this training the "pump junkie" in me will find some new things to be excited about other than "SWOOOOLL" …

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HIT Training: Guidelines/Principles

1. Only perform one set per exercise [after warm-ups]
2. Warm ups: Do only that which is minimally required to limber muscles and get blood flowing to the area to be worked. On pre-exhaust cycles, do the second exercise as the Warm up
3. Exercises are to be done in strict form: 4 seconds to lift, 2 second hold, 4 seconds to lower.
4. When there is a per-exhaust cycle go directly to the next exercise – no rest. When there is no pre-exhaust, rest as needed.
5. Sets must be taken to momentary muscular failure.
6. Each time you reach the upper end of allotted number of reps, increase weight by 10%.
7. The only way to gage the success of your workout is by the standard of strength increases. Keep a good record.  [Increases in size follow increases in strength.]
8. A lack of progress is almost never due to too little exercise, but too much.

Day 1 ~ Tuesday
Chest
Dumb Bell Flys [6-10 Reps] – pre-exhaust for:
Smith Incline Press [3-5 Reps]

Back
Straight Arm Pull down, shoulder with grip; pause at the bottom [6-10 Reps] pre-exhaust to Palms Up Pull Down [6-10 Reps]
Dead Lifts [6-10 Reps]

Day 2 ~ Friday
Legs
Leg Extensions [12-20 Reps]
Pre-Exhaust to Squats [12-20 Reps]
Standing Calve Raises [12-20 Reps]

Abs
Weighted Hanging Leg Raises [12-20 Reps]

Day 3  ~  Tuesday
Shoulders
Dumb Bell Lateral Raises [6-10 Reps]
Bent Over Dumb Bell Laterals [6-10 Reps]

Arms
Palms-up Pull Downs [6-10 Reps]
Triceps press downs [6-10 Reps] Pre-exhaust for Dips [3-5 Reps]

Day 4  ~  Friday
Legs
Leg Extensions [12-20 Reps]
Pre-Exhaust to Squats [12-20 Reps]
Standing Calve Raises [12-20 Reps]

Abs
Weighted Hanging Leg Raises [12-20 Reps]

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One cycle last two weeks … Dave, the workout partner, and I are planning on sticking with this for four cycles and evaluating then whether to keep at it or switch it up.

Cool!

Brian

"… Growth never comes easy; it must be forced…"

"… If you are able  to talk between sets and feel the desire to add more sets to your workouts, then  you are not training with maximum intensity. If you are training with maximum  intensity, you won’t be able to talk between sets because you will be breathing  too hard. And instead of thinking about doing more sets, you’ll be looking for  excuses to shorten your workouts…"

"… I can assure you that the  principle of intensity refers almost exclusively to the human will and the  ability to command your muscles to contract against the only real resistance -  your own mind."

This week I am going to work to find this kind of  intensity.

Cool!
Brian

Below is the workout for the coming week. It is for the most part like the previous with a few minor changes. I am backing off abs and calves every day. Bad idea… I am going to do them on Tuesday only - and do them with fury.

The Push-Pull day, Back and Chest, is edging out Legs as the most challenging day of the week. Slowing down the repetitions really tears you up. I was doing what looked to be a paltry amount on the bench press, 135 lbs, but if you slow the speed of your repetitions way down on the decent - 15 reps causes screaming damage! The muscle soreness lasted a couple of days. Gesh!

The Gladiator moves are pretty cool … I may have to get a digital camera with a movie feature so that I can post a video showing how those work. We were working these exercises with some pretty light weight this past week being our first go at those, but even with 20-30 lbs dumb bells you end up moving some serious wind getting through them. It will be interesting this week to do them with a bit more weight and slower repetition speed.
It has been amazing too taking three days off in a row Friday, Saturday and Sunday! I must admit, it felt a bit weird not going in to the gym on Friday, but I bet the extra confidence I am sensing now holding back will make for some great workouts this coming week. NICE!
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Monday
Gladiator Workout:  2 Sets - 15 Reps [all]

• DB Squat + Ovrhead Press [DB Start/Return to Shoulders]
• DB Pushup + Row [Push up Position with DB, then Row]
• DB Dead Lift + Upright Row [DB Outside knees, then upright row]
• DB Pull Over + Press [On bench: 2 DBs, Pull Over, then Bench Press]
• DB V Set up [Single DB raising simultaneously with legs]
• DB Standing Clean-up

Tuesday
Abs/Core Strengthening
Minimum 3 sets per movement

• Hanging crunch vs Flat Plank
• 100 Flat/Ball crunches vs  Russian Twist
• Oblique Plank vs Ab Roller
• Calves: 3 sets x 15

Wednesday
Legs: Hit 2 - 15 Reps [all]

• Leg Extensions
• Squat
• Leg Press
• Hack Squat Machine
• Weighted Stationary Lunges

Thursday
Push-Pull HIT [Back and Forth]
2 Sets - 15 Reps [all]

• Pull ups or Chin Ups vs. Dips: Weighted
• Regular Dead Lift vs. Bench Press
• DB or Olympic Bar Rows vs. Incline DB Press

Friday -Sunday: OFF

Contemplate hugeness… EAT - ADAPT.
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I have really been consumed with reading books about weight training lately. I have mentioned previously a book I picked up by Mike Mentzer called “High-Intensity Training the Mike Mentzer Way” and I am increasingly surprised by it. While there is some pretty dated diet information, the principles and logic outlined about training are quite relevant. In fact, I actually made a couple of dramatic changes to the routine with my workout partner mid stream this week based on some of what I was coming across.

The one chapter that really got me thinking was called “Adaptation.” Discussed are the three different stages the human body goes through when it is stressed by something in its environment:

• A General Alarm Reaction
• A Stage of Resistance
• A Stage of Exhaustion [if the stress persists]

No matter what form the stress takes, the body’s general response is to adapt. Stress is present during all three of the above listed stages, but its symptoms change.

One example that is given in the book that is easy to get a grip on is how your body reacts to the sun by tanning. If you think about how the body responds to the stress of the sun and draw a comparison to the way that the body deals with the stress of weight training, it gets interesting.

Where do you go if you want a tan – out into the hot sun! And the body initially goes through a stage of alarm, but if you give your body a bit of time between exposures, the skin darkens up [or in my case the freckles get larger] and the body builds a resistance to the stress by over adapting to prepare for the next exposure to the stress. We know what happens when you spend too much time in the sun … burns, blisters and if too long – you can even die out under the rays of the sun.

Likewise with weight training: If you want to pack on muscle you expose yourself to intense, brief and relatively infrequent, stress. The body will in turn over compensate and grow to make sure that it is capable of dealing with similar stress in the future. What I have been confronted with in my reading is my tendency to be a serious “pump junkie” that has not been giving my body the time and energy needed to adapt. I have been working out for extended sessions [hour and half or more at times] 5-6 days a week without giving my body time to rebound from the stress. I’ve made a change and I’m now taking Friday’s off - working out Monday - Thursday. Three “grow” days in a row each week. The goal now is to get the workout done in 40-50 minutes - and when I am there, to be intense and go heavy – like standing in the hot sun – and then get the hell out of there!

Another thing that I have changed after this bit of reading is slowing down the speed of the repetitions. In another part of the book he talks about the three different points of strength in a muscle. It is not all about “lifting,” but muscle is actually much stronger in lowering weight as well as holding it in a static position. When you slow the reps speed way down, you engage all three of these points of strength. That has been quite a discovery this week to walk away from workouts and not feel joints screaming at me as they have in the past and to sense in exchange a hell of a lot more muscle soreness – the good kind! The kind that makes me smile and say: NICE! I am sure as I get a few more weeks into this, what ever joint pain I have had from previous over training will be less and less of an issue.

One thing further that I’ll mention is energy – lifting and moving weight is not the only place that energy is used. Energy is also needed to adapt to the stress that I am putting it through. If I am in the gym doing set after set, day after day, I am not leaving my body the energy it needs to engage in the business of adapting. It is like insisting my skin tan by hanging out in the sun hour after hour, day after day without some time in the shade to recuperate. The body’s response to that is going to be complete exhaustion – over exposure and things other than a tan develop. If one can take the image of a really bad sun burn and apply it to over trained muscles, it is scary.

I imagine as I work to apply these principles workouts will be come less frequent and even briefer because as muscles get bigger [and they have been!] they will require more energy to move weight - it’s like I am growing horsepower… The “gas tank’s” capacity is somewhat fixed though. I can only use so much in a day. It will also take more energy for adaptation. I see workouts eventually getting down to just a couple of times a week and “grow days” going to 4 to 5 days a week!

Just the got meals together for the coming week. Trying something new this week: Lentils. Package says they have 10 grams of protein per serving … NICE! Made 6 containers each of everything on the list below. Everything fits into a 2 1/2 cup Ziplock.

• One Cup of nonfat Yogurt with scoop of protein powder, scoop of uncooked oatmeal and mixed fruit mixed in [post workout meal] - frozen.
• Heaping cup of egg whites [left a few yokes in there] with Sun Dried Tomatoes stirred in, hot sauce and Ketchup for seasoning.
• 2/3 Cup of Lentils with Chicken Portion - Thai Peanut Sauce to taste.
• 2/3 Cup Brown Rice with Chicken Portion - Jalapeño Salad Dressing [for flavor]
• Purple Cabbage chopped with a can of White Albacore over it - Vinegarette Salad Dressing to taste.
• Ground Beef: Salsa and Brown Rice mixed in - one portion is about a cup and a half

In my previous posts I have talked about my evening meal: Half Cup of Cottage Cheese and Half Cup of Goat Milk Yogurt with 1/4 cup of raw Almonds; scoop of protein powder mixed in and in the early morning before the workout I have a cup of yogurt with protein powder and a scoop of raw oatmeal mixed in. In addition to the above, if the spouse is fixing a protein of some sort for the kids, I’ll generally snag some of it for my containers and have that for an additional meal. It might be chili, turkey or fish of some sort. So that makes 8 to 9 meals a day.
Tip on cooking eggs in mass: Don’t do it on the stove top! Pour the eggs into a cast iron pan and throw them in the oven at 350 for about 30-40 minutes. Let the pan cool after you pull it out of the oven. When I make the egg meals there are roughly about 6 cups of egg whites and some yokes that I make all at once. About a cup of Sun dried tomatoes is stirred in before it is cooked. Baking it instead of doing it on the stove top was way easier as far as clean up.
The experiment in muscle gain continues … The battle is won in the kitchen!