getripped5h1’s BodyBlog

Well, today was leg day and I obviously had a good workout since I could barely walk to my car afterward. Luckily there were no cops around to try to get me for public intoxication with the way I was stumbling around. I have gotten back up to over 600 lbs on the leg press (4×12) and calf press (4×10) and that really smoked me. Wasn’t sure if I would be able to finish my squats but managed. I had trouble though with the weighted lunges, seemed to be a shortage of oxygen in the gym for some reason at that time?

   Still doing well on the eating but beginning to wonder if the lower calorie intake is/will hurt any muscle/strength gains. I am supposed to be allowed 1828 calories per day and have been averaging only around 1500. I don’t really want to up that as I am trying to drop the fat now but trying to think ahead as well as I do want to get bigger (musclewise anyway). Guess I will have to give it a little more time.

   I have been reading alot of peoples blogs and have noticed a huge difference in how they are written. Some write and simply state their exercises, some write great stories and still others (like me I guess) just put down a few comments and call it good. Is there a right and wrong way or what??? I do not use any of those online blog things like myspace or anything so not sure what an actual blog should look like. Oh well, noone has critizised it yet so I will try to continue to learn as I go. 

Well, I finally got my progress pictures posted. I didn’t get to the gym today due to work but will be making it up by skipping my off day this week and getting the make up workout done then. I always feel kind of low on energy when I miss a workout and right now I feel like I am running on fumes, just feel tired so I am looking forward to tomorrow to get back on schedule and hopefully have more energy afterward.

   I have been doing pretty good with my eating showing a deficit average of calories about 2,000 per week for the past three weeks so hopefully it will soon start showing it in my measurements. Guess I just have to give it time so I will be patient (maybe) and see how it goes.

   I am late in writing since my work computer doesn’t like the blogs very much. I did a really good chest, shoulders and Tri workout on Wednesday and pretty much smoked myself But I am feeling really good with the good type of DOMs instead of that pain I had from Monday. I have my regular Friday workout today which is abs and a few other compound moves thrown in. I am really syched right now and am looking forward to gettting busy.

   I will be going through a job change next week so have alot of uncertainty coming up both in my life as well as getting to the gym regularly but I will find a way to get in and keep up the work in progress I have begun. Fortunately (I guess) I am used to drastic changes in my life after 20+ years in the Army with moves every few years and five combat tours so hey, whats a little job change? It will be a new challenge and I am looking forward to getting started on learning it.

   I will let you all know how my workout went later. I also still remember that I said I will be posting some progress pictures this weekend so I have to get that done as well.

Well, I finished legs today and now am feeling totally drained. I dropped off a little from my normal weight as I wanted to be able to walk tomorrow. I still had a pretty good workout even with the lower weight though I didn’t get close to muscle failure on any of them. I will finish off this week breaking myself back in and get on it hard next week again. I will try to get a few progress pictures posted this weekend so I will then have to be more accountable for my actions since it will be apparent when I slack off.

I noticed that I had put down back and tri’s yesterday as my workout, guess I was still low on oxygen as I had done back and Bi’s. I know this now because my arms are so sore I have trouble straightening them out today. Guess that a two week break from lifting was a little to long to start back up so hard. Well today is legs so at least it will give my arms a little break.

   I got in my workout today and felt great. Worked Back and tri’s and really hit them hard. I was glad to get back to llifting after my trips and cardio time so I am really motivated this week to tear myself up. Once I get this initial "pain" phase over I plan on continueing for the next couple of weeks on the high rep plan then shift back over to low rep/high weight and try to build up a little more mass. I just have to trim down this layer of fat covering the abs and I think I would be doing pretty good.

   I have been working on the diet hard and had a little over a 2,500 calorie deficit for last week. I think I will do even better this week as I have gotten my slurging under control again. I checked my weight and measurements this weekend and showed some improvement so will be updating those stats after this.

   I think I will try to get the workout log on this site figured out and try to see if it helps me track my workouts better. I currently use a workout log I keep all my exercises, sets, reps and weights in plus the time of day and length of workout so I can remember how I felt each time. It has been working pretty well but once I fill up a book I seem to misplace it and can’t keep track of my older workouts for comparison.

Got in my 45 minutes of Cardio on the elliptical trainer today and even though I have been really hydrating myself this morning my last 5 or so minutes felt like I was dehydrated as could be. I am really glad that I will be starting my new workout on Monday and will start lifting again. I just hope that this plan to cut some BF will work as I hope. I am pleased that I have managed this entire week of pretty hard cardio with hurting my knee any so that is a big achievement for me. I have also managed to keep my diet pretty clean so far this week with about a 2200 calorie deficite so getting a good start. I have noticed that I have got to seriously work on my protien/carbohydrate percentages. I am taking in to many carbs and not enough protien so I am working on changing this around. I think that I will be trying that injection method of Herm’s on some chicken breast this weekend so I’ll see how that goes.

Well, some things can be good and bad. I fortunately have a carpool for work (it is 40 miles each way which in my truck is about 350.00 monthly for fuel by myself) unfortunately the lady I go to the gym with is off today so I guess instead of going to the gym and running on the elliptical I will go on a good walk instead. I know it isn’t the same but at least I will get in some kind of cardio. Plus the fact that it is now around 95 degrees will help burn off something. I have one more day of cardio this week then Monday I will hit the weights again. I have been really happy with the fact that with all the cardio this week my knees have held up pretty good so far. I hope that I will be able to continue some cardio once I start lifting again as I really want to meet my goal of losing 1% BF my the end of the month.

Well, another day of cardio down and still feeling pretty good so far. Knees are not bothering me as much as I thought they would be so that is a good thing. I just have to make sure that I don’t get cocky and try to overdo it and mess them up again. With cardio I doubt that will happen though! I have been doing much better with my eating the last few days and have about gotten into the proper mindset to keep it up. The wind has finally died down a little here so am looking forward to this weekend so I can get out and get some sun. That is one of the few things that actually lets me relax and recharge so this will be a great weekend. I am now looking forward to next Monday when I start my new workout program. I have been working my core pretty hard and think that I will be ready to start sqats and deadlifts again by Monday as well.

   Finished my workout today and felt really good. I have been slacking alot on my cardio so focused on that today and did 45 minutes on the elliptical and really burnt myself on it. That last three minutes I know the timer must have stopped a few times as long as it took to wind down.    I have gotten my eating a little more under control after last week where I ate whatever I had time for. Still have to crack down a little more though as I really want to drop another percent of BF by the end of the month which I think is doable. My last couple of months was alot of mass building which we all know includes the belly as well so now is my shred phase so hopefully I will get the results I was hoping for soon.    On Monday I plan of starting some high rep moderate weight lifting through the end of the month at which time I am going to go really heavy again. Try to get down to 3 sets of 3-5 reps and see what that will do for me.