mmmc 
"I'm competing in the 2008 BB.com Recomposition Contest. I'd like to gain muscle and lose fat."
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Archive for the 'Training' Category
Friday, April 18th, 2008
I’ve been carb cycling for a little over a week now. I have lost a pound, and some off of my rear and thighs. It must be working! Also, I don’t feel stuffed all of the time anymore. Actually, I think my metabolism must be roaring, because I am HUNGRY by the time my next meal rolls around. So, I think that this will work for me! I have heard people complain about a lack of energy on the low or no carb days, but I haven’t noticed this. Maybe that is because I naturally gravitate toward a low carb diet, and I’ve been more focused on pushing the carbs on my high carb days. Maybe it is the Purple Wraath before my workouts. In any event, things seem to be going well. I reached quite a few personal bests with my workouts this week. I’m not doing any cardio right now, as I want to see what happens with just the carb cycling. I’ll add cardio as needed next month.
Posted in Training
Friday, April 11th, 2008
I’m in my third day of carb cycling, and so far, so good. I had a no carb day on Wednesday, a high carb day yesterday, and I’m in the middle of a no carb day today. Here is my basic program…
Here are the articles off of which I’m basing my diet. There are others, but this seems easiest (no counting calories.)
http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/par30.htm
http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/par32.htm
http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/par49.htm
Here’s my diet split:
Sunday, Thursday–High carb days
Monday, Wednesday, Friday–No carb days (YIKES:O)
Tuesday, Saturday–Low carb days
This program is nice because I really only need to count protein macros and carb macros on the low carb days. Here are my goals for each of the day types:
EVERY DAY
*Five meals
*Minimum of 150 grams of protein per day
*Five meals–at least 30 grms of protein at each meal
*Three meals must contain lean protein (10% or less calories from fat;see list in first article)
*Two meals must contain a fatty protein
*10 grams of fish oil daily–five in the morning, five at night
HIGH CARB DAYS
Meal one-Lotsa carbs/protein requirement/small piece of fruit
*Workout*
Meal two-Lotsa carbs/protein requirement/small piece of fruit
Meal three-(three, four, and five can be interchanged) protein requirement only, 1 cup+ green veggies
Meal four-Lotsa carbs/protein/small fruit/1 cup+ green veggies
Meal five-Protein only/1 cup+ green veggies
LOW CARB DAYS
Meal one-protein requirement/50 grams of carbs(see list in article one)/small fruit
*workout*
Meal two-protein requirement/50 grams of carbs/small fruit
Meal three-30+ grams of protein-1 cup veg
Meal four-30+ grams of protein-1 cup veg
Meal five-30+ grams of protein-1 cup veg
NO CARB DAYS
Meal one-five–protein requirement+/3 meals must have 1 cup of fibrous veggies
I will also start supplementing again with the BCAAs pre,during, and post-workout as well as continue taking Purple Wraath pre-workout. I’m going to decrease my cardio a bit (the article guy recommends it:) )to see how it really works. I’ll up cardio next month like I was originally planning if my fat loss stalls.
My high carb day yesterday left me feeling stuffed and wondering how in the world I could possibly lose fat with this program. Any thoughts or experiences with carb cycling (this program, in particular.)
Thanks!
__________________
Posted in Training
Thursday, April 3rd, 2008
I’ve decided to try carb cycling when I really begin my cut. I’ve read some good articles on bodybuilding.com and other places on the internet. I guess, according to some, it is even good for keeping hormone levels optimal as one ages and has other perks unrelated to fat loss goals for a bodybuilder. I’ll start that next month and continue to read up on it in the meantime.
This weekend is going to be a difficult one, at least as far as keeping a clean diet. My husband’s grandmother is turning 90, so there will be a big party. Also, we will be staying there all weekend, so we will either have to eat the food that they have there, or have to go out. These types of situations still have me baffled.
I started my pullups/chinups regimen this past week. The chinups weren’t too bad, but the pullups were impossible and the negatives and one’s with my feet on a bench made me so sore! I found it difficult to push down on a soap dispenser and pull on my pants. I almost had to go to work in sweats! Yeah, pretty bad:( The good news is that I feel fine now and my back looks different already.
I’m getting antsy to start my cut for the recomposition contest, but I know it wouldn’t really do me any good to start now. I think cutting through June and July will be plenty. I don’t think I have more than about five lbs of fat to lose. I am thinking about getting my bf% tested, though. We’ll see.
Have a good weekend (even tough it’s only Thursday!)
Posted in Training
Friday, March 28th, 2008
I feel as though this entire week has pretty much been a wash as far as my recomposition goals go. However, as far as the rest of my goals go, it’s been great! I found out last Wednesday that I was chosen to interview for a full tuition+stipend scholarship at the law school that I’ll be attending this fall. The interview was scheduled for this Wednesday (March 26th), so I went off of my creatine to eliminate any sort of bloat. And yes, the creatine helped me soooo much, because now my lifts are miserable. I found out yesterday that I did get the scholarship, yea!!!!  Sooo, I had to celebrate. And, I had to celebrate with vodka and cranberry juice with pizza on the side. I hadn’t had alcohol for quite awhile; I thought I’d have no tolerance, but I surprised myself. Maybe alcohol just affects a person differently as they age. 
So now, back on the creatine for me. In order to keep from getting a headache while I’m on it, I have to drink over two gallons of water a day. I feel like I’m going to float away and I have to pee constantly. But it works so well! I am planning on posting my pictures/stats updates for the contest on Sunday night.
My goals for April include tracking my nutrition and working on chin-ups and pull-ups. I have no idea how many calories I consume now. However many it is, though, have been perfect for maintenence because I haven’t lost or gained a pound since starting training for the recomp contest. So, I’ll figure out how much it is so that I can tweak the amount when I really start working on cutting fat through June and July.
I want to be able to do 3 chin-ups and pull-ups. Right now I can do one medium grip chin-up from a full hang, and I can’t do any wide grip pull-ups. As I did my one chin up this morning, it surprised me how much the abs are used. It had been awhile since I had tried those. I’m going to work on the chin-ups and pull-ups by first doing what I can without help, and then doing as many as I can with a bench in front of me for my feet to help. I’m going to do chin-ups on Fridays (arm day) and pull-ups on Mondays (back day). Have a great weekend!
Posted in Training
Friday, March 14th, 2008
I’ve been taking Kre-Alkalyn for one week now, and I know there is a huge difference in recovery time for me. I blasted the hell out of my legs on Wednesday and followed my workout up with a one mile jog/walk (I was really tired and kept hacking because of lingering flu symptoms. Gross.) I didn’t think I’d be able to walk yesterday, but my muscles didn’t even really feel sore. They still felt TIRED, but not sore. Today I’m a little sore, but they don’t feel tired. I feel like I normally would if I had done a light to medium intensity workout two days ago. I think that was the hardest leg workout I’ve done for awhile, though. I raised the weight on almost everything, I added sets, and I finished it with the jog. I feel great now! So, I’m a believer.
Since the Kre-Alkalyn works so well, I’m going to start training legs twice a week now. I’ve done some research into what works for women with my body type, and that’s the general consensus. I don’t think I would have been able to do leg training twice a week before, but now that I have super regenerative powers (at least it feels like it:) ) I don’t think it will be a problem. Here’s my new split:
Sunday-quads/calves
forward barbell lunges x3
narrow stance squats x3
one-legged barbell squat x3
standing calf raises x3
leg extension x2
one mile
Monday-chest/back/abs
bench press x3
incline bench press x2
barbell row x3
one arm dumbell row x3
seated flat leg pull in x3
dumbell side bend x2
Tuesday-cardio
Wednesday-hammies/glutes/calves
backwards barbell lunges x3
deadlifts x3
medium stance squats x3
bench step ups x3
straight legged dead lifts x3
seated calf raises
one mile
Thurday-abs
Decline crunch-x3
seated bench flat leg pull-in x3
barbell twist x3
dumbell side bend x3
cardio
Friday-shoulders/arms
military press x3
palms in dumbell raise x3
side lat raise x3
curls x3
hammer curls x3
dips x3
triceps dumbell extension x3
Saturday-rest
__________________
Posted in Training
Tuesday, March 11th, 2008
I started the Kre-Alkalyn (that IS how to spell it) on Friday. I did have a really good workout yesterday, but that could also have been because of the good night’s sleep I had or even placebo effect. I am actually pretty sore today, which I normally am not after a chest/back day. So, I must have done something right! I haven’t noticed an subcutaneous water retention, so that’s good. I have been thirstier than normal, though. I’m just taking one capsule right now (750mg) because I’m pretty small. I’m going to see how that goes. The bottle recommends up to three capsules per day, but that’s for a full-grown man. I’m just keeping my workout the same this week.
Posted in Training
Monday, March 3rd, 2008
I’m going to change a few things about my workout this month. I’m going to add another set to most of my exercises. I am not going to change my back or chest routine because I gain muscle so fast in those areas and I want to be even in development. I also will sprint after my leg workout on Wednesdays. Even though I won’t be able to sprint well, that’s the best day for me to do them. If I do it on Monday or Tuesday, I won’t be able to recover fully enough by my Wednesday workout to have a good workout. If I do them on Thursday or Friday, I would probably just hurt myself, because I will have just done my Wednesday workout. I can’t on Saturday because I work all day long, and Sunday is my real rest from everything day. So hopefully that works. I’m also going to try taking creatine. Last time I tried it I hated it. I looked like a bloated puffy little pig. This is Kre-Alkylin (sp?) and it isn’t supposed to bloat you. So I’m starting that this week.
Posted in Training
Thursday, February 28th, 2008
Everyone has good points. I guess I should clarify…I know that having goals are important. I just don’t know whether weight loss is a healthy or realistic goal. If I’m gaining muscle, I may very well gain weight and still lose fat and look better (which is the goal of the recomp contest). A lot of women have a weight loss goal, but they don’t anything about where that weight loss is supposed to come from. Being as though I don’t know my bodyfat percentage, I can’t make a clear goal about what I want to accomplish. Weight loss should only be a goal if the amount of fat you need to lose weighs more than the amount of muscle you want to gain. That’s what I’m unsure of. I’d like to see what my bodyfat percentage is, but I workout at home (thus, not belonging to a gym) and it’s so expensive to get it done. I don’t want to spend $70 to satisfiy my curiosity, you know? I have one of those caliper things, but I just don’t know how accurate it is. As far as not knowing what to do with my diet–I already eat clean, I just don’t know if I should maybe toy around with carb cycling or what. So, it’s not that I don’t have goals; I just don’t know how to make a goal about something that I can’t monitor properly right now. Any ideas?
Posted in Training
Thursday, February 28th, 2008
Well, I actually meant to date the last post for yesterday, but I can’t figure out how to shange the date and time. Basically, things are going well. I can see big differences between my first pictures and my new ones. This month I will focus on eating very clean. I didn’t gain any weight this month, but I think I would have had I not come down with the flu for a week. I don’t even know really whether I want to lose weight, gain weight, or stay the same. I don’t know what my body fat percentage is, so I can’t really make a good decision. I guess I’ll go by pictures and stats.
Posted in Training
Friday, February 1st, 2008
Well, this is basically one month into the Recomposition contest, and so far I think it has been a good experience. Other than not being able to lift for a week because of the flu, I’ve been making good strides and I’ve been getting stronger. Now if I can only stay well…
Posted in Training
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