Random Reflections

 Comment: I am well aware that the body fat measurements are not accurate to 1 decimal place. I only list all the digits for comparision.

 

I was planning to be done this diet by today, but it looks like 2-3 more weeks to reach my goal of <10%bf, ~205lbs.

 

Date:            30/12/2007                    
         02/03/2008       Change

 

Weight               222.6lbs                  
               209.8lbs     (-)12.8lbs

Body Fat:

Parillo 9-site          16.7%                   Â
 Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  11.4%      (-) 5.3%

Jackson 7-site        16.5%                   Â
 Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  10.8%      (-) 5.7%

Lean Body Mass      185lbs                   
                187lbs     (+) 2lbs

[B]Fat Weight            37lbs                   Â
 Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  23lbs      (-) 14lbs   [/B]     

 

 

Skin Folds (/mm):     30/12/2007                    
         02/03/2008   Change

       Chest                10                     
                    6.8            (-)3.2

   Bicep                   Â
  5                                            1             (-)4

Abdominal                  35.4                    
                   25            (-)10.4

Supraliac                 Â
  17.4                                      8.8            (-) 8.6

Thigh                   Â
 Â Â  20                                         12.4           (-) 7.6

Subscapular              12.2                    
                   8.2            (-) 4

Tricep                   
   4.4                                        2.5             (-) 1.9

Lower Back              17.6                    
                   12.4            (-) 5.2

Calf                    
    15.6                                       11.7            (-) 3.9

Midaxilla                 Â
  16.2                                      12               (-) 4.2

 

Measurements (inches) 30/12/2007                    
     02/03/2008

 

Chest                   Â
 Â Â Â Â  42.9"                                    40.5"        (-) 2.4"

Waist                   Â
 Â Â Â Â  41.0"                                     38.6"        (-) 2.4"

Hips (ass)                   43.5"                 
                   42.4          (-) 1.1"

Arm (L)                    Â
 Â  15.8"                                    15.3          (-) 0.5"

Arm (R)                    Â
  15.8"                                    15.4          (-) 0.4"

Thigh (L)                     26.0"                 
                  25.6"        (-) 0.4"

Thigh (R)                    26.0"                 
                  25.7"         (-) 0.3"

Calf (R)                    Â
 Â  17.6"                                   17.4"         (-) 0.2"

Calf (L)                    Â
 Â  17.2"                                   17.0"         (-) 0.2"

Forearms (L)             12.7"                 
                  12.3           (-) 0.4"

Forearms (R)            13.0"                 
                   12.7           (-) 0.3"

Shoulders                 51.5"                 
                   51.25"       (-) 0.2"

Neck                    
     15.6"                                    15.1            (-) 0.5"

 

The neck measurement really surprised me! I really have gotten a lot skinnier!. Its almost impossible to do a neck measurement wrong. 

We all know the type. They spend 10 hours/week or more in the gym but couldn’t bother to spend 30min/week doing their research. Now if they are to pathetic and hopeless to do a little research every week you know they are nowhere near the type to log calories and keep a training journal…e.c.t. So its the most idiotic situation imaginable….waste 100’s of hours in the gym because you couldn’t bother to spend 1hr doing your research.

So of course they go nowhere and many quit.

But there is this special tragic idiocy that actually drives me a little mad. Its the type who blame their body type. We’ve all heard it…"I’m an ectomorph, I can’t gain weight," I’m a "hard gainer," ect. ect. "I’m and endomorph..I’ll always be chubby"

So these individuals can go on for years spinning their wheels and making no or very little progress but they never actually admit to themselves that they are hopeless and that they need to go back to the drawing board. Rather they just keep repeating the same old paradigm to themselves…"I’m a hard gainer, I’m an ectomorph," "I can’t get a six-pack, I’m an endomorph," ect.

One other situation that bugs me at least as much…..The old "look how big he is…he must be on steroids" line. I really hate that one. Just because you’re too inept to get it done properly does not mean that everybody else is just as inept and therefore the only explanation for their success must be the roids. This seems to be the favorite alternate excuse..but it’s all the same mindset.

So the tragedy is that if they simply never got those pathetic excuses in their heads, they could have saved themselves years of training and just done something useful with their time. Or maybe the ones with strong character and some brains would finally have started doing their research and logging their efforts. 

Me, I’m an endomorph, but I will have a six pack, I will reach single digit body fat, and I’ll get it done this year!

 

Yesterday was my first day on a full body 10X3 (30 rep/set range) Chad Waterbury workout. I’ve believed strongly in frequency principle for awhile now. Over a year ago I noticed my chin-ups never went up faster than the time I just did a few sets 3 X per week. Then I noticed an article on T-nation showing that if one does the same volume over the week but split into 2-3 session/week rather than all in one (i.e. 5 sets bench press, 5 sets incline dumbbell, 5 sets dips in three separate days rather than 1 day) they grow 2-3 times faster in strength and size.

This reasoning led me to believe in DC training style, which I have been avidly educating myself in for several months now. My results have been mediocre and I know why (1) I’m still on a calorie deficit more often than not as I’m trying to get below 10% bf. (2) I’ve only been training for 1 year and all the reading on DC I’ve done has indicated DC is only for those with multiple years of full time training under their belt and who have reached a plateau. Still I stick with it for 3 whole months because as a rule that is the MINIMUM time to be on any one program….frequent shifting is a recipe for disaster.

Then I come across Chad’s training routines and principles and I see the truth in it right away. The fact that he’s worked out the optimal set/rep range, load, rest period, frequency for maximal strength gain, hypertrophy, fat loss by working with countless clients is invaluable information. Also like DC very little emphasis on isolation moves and nearly 100% compound exercises.

But the full body routine is the perfect solution to allow up to 4 training sessions per muscle per week. Theoretically this means 4 stimulation’s for growth per week rather than 1/week (with high volume) or 1-2/week with a DC 2-way split. I can see how I will plateau eventually with this training and I think by then I will be perfectly prepared for another round of DC style training.

Right now I’m restricting my calories more than ever and so will strictly adhere to Chad’s 10 X 3 for fat loss. 30 set/rep range, at 75% 1RM load, 45-75s breaks, 2X weekly. I will stick to this for 8 weeks hopefully dropping 5%bf. Then I will use his max hypertrophy (24-50 set/rep range, 60-90s breaks, 80-90% 1RM, 3-4X week)!!!! I think I will grow muscle like never before when I start this around mid February.

When I think back on the volume training I was doing for the first 8 months of this year (15 sets for chest …all to failure with forced reps, drop setting, negatives…e.c.t.) it makes me sick to think of how over trained I was.

The most important message….knowledge is power. Bodybuilder who do not constantly read are doomed to failure. I always take 100% responsibility. This combined with detailed logging of workouts, diet, and results and success is guaranteed.

I finally got in the mail my fat caliper. Did the Jackson & Pollock 7-point formula (chest, midaxilla, abdomen, suprailiac, thigh, subscapular, tricep) measuring each spot three times to ensure precision and accuracy.

Got my body fat to be 17.27% which is lower than I thought. Only 7.28% body fat to lose to reach my goal.

I’m excessively overdue for a rest period of about 3 weeks where I will do only maintenance lifting. Every expert I’ve read (Bompa, Dante, you name it…..) suggest a rest period every 10-12 weeks to avoid a plateau and allow joing and ligament recovery.

I’m at 6 months now without missing a single workout and going balls to the wall high volume and intensity (since my two weeks off when I had the flu in February). I’ve reached the point now where my "newbie gains" are finished and I can’t expect to keep growing with this ultra high volume each muscle once per week type routine unless I took steroids which I would never even consider.

Instead I will replace my high volume routine (which always included at least 5-8 sets with high intensity techniques like forced reps, drop setting and a total of 20sets for back, chest, legs, shoulders (10-12 for arms)).

It will be replaced with much lower volume, but a large focus on intensity using rest-pause and even better techniques that I just learned about today. The higher intensity will allow me to substantially reduce the volume and fit an entire upper-body workout into one session. So my frequency will increase by 2-3 times despite actually working out 1 day less per week. My specific training routine will be my own personal adaptation of DC type training.

It’s taken me 9 months to earn the right to train like this. If I tried this back in December it would never have worked simply because I wouldn’t be at the level needed to output the kind of intensity required to lower my volume by that much. Now I’m ready I’m sure.

Finally from now on I take 10days of maintenance training every 3 month to reset my system and allow full recup.

Will of course post the results and effects of this in the months to come. My holiday starts August 1st. And full tilt training will begin again Aug. 21st.

 

Well I haven’t actually lost any strength yet, but I’ve definitely reached a plateau on my strength gains. So even though I still have much fat to lose I’m switching to a bulk for the next 30 days.

 

This will also have a strategic place in my fat loss goals. I will be 1500Cal/day above my maintenance level. So I could gain up to 3lbs per week, 12lbs total. Up to 8lbs of this could easily be muscle.

 

8lbs of extra muscle will increase my maintenance level substantially and give me accelerated fat loss when I go back on the cut in 30 days.

 

Of course bulking must be done properly with planning and control. My Macros will be typical for a bulking phase (50:30:20).

 

BULKING Workout Day (Photos, measurements updated pre-bulk (June. 16^th)
 

Non-Workout day replace pre/post workout shakes with Ion-Exch whey isolate/maize shakes of equal calories/macros.
 

Bulking 5500Cal/Day (50:30:20) (688g Carbs, 413g protein, 122g fat)
 

Each Meal (76g Carbs, 46g protein, 14g fat)

 

+ 284Cal 123g extra protein from 40gBCAA/day, 30g glut, 26g No Holds NO, 20g hydro whey during workout, 7g arg. From na NOx9, 24 grams extra maize post workout.

-76g carbs meal 9.

 

Actual 5784Cal/Day (636Carbs, 536prot., 122fat) (44:37:19) on workout days
 

Meal 1: 52g Hydro Whey (40g prot.),

             7g micellar casein (6g prot.),

             76g maize,

             13 grams no holds NO,

             1g vit C,

              10g BCAA,

              10g Glut

 

Meal 2 (covers meal 1 fat deficit): 114g whole oats (76 carbs, 7.6g fat, 15.2g prot.), 1 Can Sockeye Salmon (36g prot. 22g fat).

(excess 5g protein, 1.6g fat)

 

Meal 3: (Pre-Workout): Granny Smith Apples 350g (50g carbs), 117g Bannana (26g carbs, 0.5g fat, 1g prot.), 51g Ion-Exchange Isolate (45g prot.), 2.6g HMB, 3g Creatine

 

During workout: 26g Hydro Whey (20g prot.), 20g BCAA, 10g Glut.

 

 

 

Meal 4: (Post-Workout): 100g Maize,

                      
                   14g hydro cas.,

                      
                   15g hydro whey,

                      
                  14g mic cas.,

                      
                  12g Ion-Exch whey (46g prot. Total),

                      
                 10g BCAA,

                      
                 10g glut.

                      
                 2.6g HMB,

                                      
 3g creatine,

                      
                 2.7g vit. C

 

Meal 5: 268g Cooked Long grain brown rice (76g carbs, 5.6g prot., 0.6g fat), 10g olive oil, 200g Lean Pepper Steak (46g protein, 4g carbs, 6 grams fat), 45g Almonds (spread out over next 3 meals to cover fat deficit (24g fat, 9g prot., 9g carbs).

 

Total 14g prot. extra 9gcarbs extra. Including Meal 2

 

Meal 5:  327g Sweet Potato (67g carbs, 6.5g prot., 0g fat), 83g chicken breast (26g prot., 3g fat, 0g carbs), 17g walnuts (11g fat, 2g carbs, 2.5g prot.)

 

Meal 6:  80% of can of Cedar 6 Bean Blend (76g carbs, 26g prot., 3.4g fat), 4g flax oil, 7g olive oil. 85g tuna (20g prot.,).

 

Meal 7: 40g ion-exchange isolate (37g prot.), 98g time-wize parboiled whole grain brown rice (76g carbs, 9g prot., 2.2g fat), 11g olive oil.

 

Meal 8: 350g yogurt ( 18g carbs, 18g prot. 7g fat), 219g 1% cottage cheese (12g carbs, 28g prot., 2.6g fat), 69g dry whole oats mixed in (46g carbs, 9g prot, 4g fat).  

 

Meal 9: 47g micellar casein (39g prot.) with water before bed along with 28g peanuts (14g fat, 7g prot, 6g carbs).

 

 

Down the road, in a gym far away
A young man was heard to say,
"No matter what I do, my legs won’t grow!"
He tried leg extensions, leg curls, leg presses too.
Trying to cheat, these sissy workouts he’d do!
From the corner of the gym where the big guys train,
Through a cloud of chalk and the midst of pain,
Where the big iron rides high, and threatin’ lives,
Where the noise is made with big forty-fives,
A deep voice bellowed as he wrapped his knees,
A very big man with legs like trees,
Laughing as he snatched another plate from the stack,
Chalked his hands and monstrous back,
Said, "Boy, stop lying and don’t say you’ve forgotten!
Trouble with you is you aint been SQUATIN’!!"

Warm-Up: Row 5:00 min, 30 pushups

Barbell Bench Press: 225 X 8, 275 X 2, 225 X 9, 225 X 5, [225 X 6 + 1 neg. + 135 X 3]

Dumbbell Decline Press (with 1 slow/isometric negative ending each set): 100lbs X 3, 85 X 5, 75 X 7, 70 X 8, 70 X 6-7

Incline Dumbbell Flies: 40 X 7, 40 X 8, 40 X 8, 40 X 6-7, [35 X 6 + 25 X 3]

Triceps:

Narrow Grip Bench Press (As narrow as possible/both hands touching each other): 178 X 3, 145 X 7, 145 X 7, 145 X 7, [145 X 7 + 95 X 4]

Weighted Dips: (213 + 33) X 6, (213 + 44) X 5, [(213 + 33) X 4 + 3 negs.], [(213 + 25) X 5 + 80lbs X 8 machine tricep extensions superset], [(213 + 25) X 4 + 80lbs X 8 machine tricep extensions superset] 

Reverse Grip One arm tricep pulldowns: 25 X 13, 25 X 13, 25 X 13, 25 X 13

ABS: Medicine Ball Throw Crunches: 12lbs X 100

        Medicine Ball Twist and throw: 12 Lbs X 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10

So I’m going on my second week now at 2200-2500Cal/day and my strength in the gym and stamina is only improving. Looks like my calculations were correct and the remaining 1000-1500Cal/day I need for maintenance is being supplied by my body fat and I’m dropping weight fast.

The workout:

Warm-Up: 5 minutes on bike + 135lbs X 12 squat

Squats: 405 X 1, 315 X 6, 291 X 8, 269 X 8, Triple Drop Set [315 X 4 + 225 X 4 + 135 X 10]

Leg Press: 810 X 4, 720 X 7, 720 X 7, Double Drop Set [630 X 8 + 450 X 6], Triple Drop Set [630 X 8, 540 X 2, 360 X 2]

Front Squats: 179 X 7, 225 X 1, 201 X 4, 157 X 7, 157 X 7

Slow Controlled 4 second Squeeze reps on Leg Extension: 80 X 8, [80 X 8 + 50 X 4], [80 X 8 + 35 X 3], [80 X 6 + 35 X 3], [65 X 8 + 35 X 3]

My legs are totally destroyed at this point, I’m sure I would have more power on deadlifts if I started them right after squats.

Deadlift: 406 X 1, 377 X 1, 311 X 4, 311 X 4

Leg Curls: 100 X 7, 100 X 8, 90 X 8, [90 X 7 + 60 X 3], 80 X 8, 70 X 8

Super set leg curls with seated Calf Raises: 180 X 12, 180 X 16, 180 X 15, [224 X 8 + 220 X 8 standing calf raises]