ViseGrip’s BodyBlog

I missed one lifting workout this week because I had a lot of work due (since its the last full week of class).  I made all my judo training sessions this week, including my brown belt test.  I’m pretty sure I passed.

The workouts I did make were good.  I enjoy switching it up every day, but changing exercises makes it hard to pick a weight that’s as high as possible.  As a result, I’m not not sure I’m challenging my muscles as much as possible.  On the other hand, this program includes explosive exercises like cleans and high pulls.  Those are fun, and I noticed a big jump in my deadlift as a result of training similar movements explosively.

On the body-composition front, more lack of progress.  You can see for yourself in the progress pics, which show no visible change in the last 4 weeks.   I ate a lot better this week, but I need to do more cardio, which I didn’t do this week like I said I would.

I should be able to train a lot over the next two weeks.  I have a very spread out finals schedule, and working out will make a good study break.  I will add morning HIIT and afternoon swimming on non-lifting days starting Monday.

The good news is that I worked out really hard this week.  I did my full-body lifting routine Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday morning, and judo practice Monday, Wednesday, and Friday night.  I felt good during all my workouts, and I’m glad that I managed my time well enough this week to go work out every day.  I’m really enjoying my new lifting routine, which is pretty challenging since it is different every day I go in to the gym.
The bad news is that even though I felt like I ate pretty healthy over the week, I gained a couple pounds.  This on top of a couple pounds from Thanksgiving means that I’m definitely moving in the wrong direction in terms of my weight goals.

So, first of all, I obviously need to re-evaluate my eating.  I did a pretty good job this week, but there were a few meals that I definitely ate too much, and I also had a few too many cheat foods like cookies.  This will only get worse as the holidays get closer, so I need to get a handle on it now.

Second, I’m going to add some HIIT on my non-lifting days.  I did this during the summer, and it helped my lose 10 pounds over two months, along with judo, lifting, and swimming.  I don’t have quite as much free time now, but I will do at least 20 minutes of interval cardio on Mon/Wed/Fri mornings.  I’d also like to throw in a few swimming workouts in over the next few weeks, since nothing burns calories like hitting the pool.

Best of all, all this working out should help me control my stress levels with finals coming up.