SixZebra’s Workouts

Got the results back from my MRI.  All appears good.  Well at least better than I expected.  Seems with all the wear and tear I’ve got some arthritis in my knee.  Meniscus is ok.   Stilll a bit of pain behind the knee up into the hammie but everyday it improves so I’ll be going back to work in a few days.  At least I don’t have to give up on my plans to do some comps this fall.

I’m into contest prep season but it appears I might have to put that on hold.  Unfortunately I screwed up my knee while working.  I really thought it would get better after a week but the doctor ordered an MRI.  Hmmm.  I guess I really should wait and see the results from that before I give up on contest prep and go out and eat a pizza. 

I got my entry form for the Mid-Atlantic Grand Prix show in September.   Still not committed to doing that show or any other show.  I think I finally just got a little burned out on competing or rather on dieting.  The last two weeks were supposed to be a pre-contest diet but that all went to hell rather quickly.  After two days of fish and chicken I was doomed to failure. 

Summer is NOT a good time to diet.  I’ve been on a pre-contest diet over the summer for the last 4 years and it really sucks.  No festivals; I miss all the family outings (although work has more to do with that than anything).  No funnel cakes or brats.  No big huge tubs of beer and pretzels.  I’ve lost some friends over the years to contest dieting.  Obsession comes at a price.  Dedication is the word some people use.   Use whatever word makes you feel better. 

I think I’ll take my mom to Starbucks for a cup of coffee and a blueberry scone and discuss this further. 

So yesterday there were two group of us at the gym that did a run through of the memorial day challenge.  We ran through it just like we would that day.  I have to say, it wasn’t quite as difficult as I thought it would be.  The hardest part was the pullups.  We basically ran in 4-person teams, two on/two off.  So for pullups we ran 15 sets of 5 each.  That gave us about 5-10 sec rest between each set.  It was pretty easy the first 5-6 sets. 

Next up was pushups, 10 sets of 10 each.  Same as pullups, the first few sets were easy then muscle failure played into it.

Situps were for me the easiest part.  I think we did 7 sets of 15 and 1 set of 20.  And lastly, squats.  These are bodyweight squats, 10 sets of 15. 

Our team time was 22:58; the team next to us was 22:05 I think.  So next Monday’s goal will be to beat both times.  Although I"m not sure that I’ll be working out with the same team members. 

Just seems like I just got over one contest diet - now it’s already time to start again!  Time flies when you’re stuffing your face with pizza and beer!

My contest date is September 13th.  The Mid-Atlantic Grand Prix.  I did this show last year and placed 3rd; I have every intention of improving this year starting with going into pre-contest diet mode a few weeks earlier. 

This will give me 16 weeks which seems to work out best for me.  I tried doing a show with 12 weeks diet; it turned out to be a disaster!    Happy Days!

I don’t get to excited about a supplement, except for my Beverly Proteins of course.  But a month ago I went and tried out a sample of ALRI’s Venom Hyperdrive. http://www.bodybuilding.com/store/alri/hyper.html The motivation being that this supplement supposedly curbed cravings/appetite.  The sample contained two doses.  Ignorning the directions (that’s bad mmmkay), I took one pre-workout and one again at around 5pm.  My cravings came to a screeching halt! 

So, I’m currently in off-season mode and have been snacking more than usual.  So I went ahead and bought a bottle from bb.com.  Started yesterday with the same doseage (worked for me the first time).   It difinitely did its job.  Not only did it curb my cravings (still got in all my good meals), but I had a killer workout!  I’m a serious cake/pastry addict!  I mean, the type where if its the day before a show and you put it in front of me, I’m going to at least take a bite!    So when a product comes along that literally makes this craving disappear - well I get excited!

I put on some serious fattage during vacation so I’m back into my crossfit workouts and with the help of venom, in a couple of weeks I should be back to much trimmer me. 

I can honestly say, its good to be home. Having spent the past 9 days in Cayman Brac, diving, caving and rock climbing, it’s still nice to be back.  Its a beautiful island.  Very little in the way of sandy beaches; more iron shore.  Wicked, sharp, jagged, death-is-a-step away iron shore.    Caves everywhere.  We did quite a bit of exploring and found caves where there were no footprints inside except ours. 

Some of the caves have been and still are used by islanders during hurricanes.  We went into one called Peter’s Cave that was probably the coolest cave we went into.  We were suprised to see it stocked with a few items.  We quickly got out our flashlights and took off.  I don’t know how deep it went because we kept finding little crannies that opened up into bigger rooms; on and on. 

Another interesting thing about the Brac.  Welll, first off, there’s something like 1200 residents.  There were days where we would be on a beach looking for more caves in the bluff and see no one.  Ok, either there’s something funny going on with the currents there or something.  On the beaches, hundreds, maybe thousands of shoes litter the shoreline.  All flip-flop style shoes.  I do not exaggerate when I say you could probably walk one particular stretch of beach (iron shore) for 1/2 mile and step on a flip-flop all the way.  We contemplated this over several beers one evening and decided they were killing the tourists and all that was left was their shoes. 

Night life.  Forget it.  We did find one little local bar in a place called Spot Bay.  We pulled up to get a beer but after surveying the area decided they’d probably had enough of tourists as their high season just ended.  So we left.  There were a couple other lively places, Edd’s place.  We drove past it numerous times; loud music thumping; and dominoes being the attraction.  We rented a house on the north shore in a place called the Bight but spent a lot of time at a Reef Diver’s Resort.  Not only because they run a great dive, Thanks to Chris and BJ!  But the food there is no less than phenomenal.  The absolute best bar food I’ve ever eaten!  They also served meals buffet style; for $12-25 you could eat like a king!    I don’t think I ate one disatisfying dish there.  And trust me, I tried it all!

We met a lot of great people.  Bruno and Sophie from France.  Steve from Florida.  Too many others to name.  Diving was spectacular.  Although we did not do as much as we had planned (tanqueray not good mmmkay), we still got some exceptional dives in.  We all agreed we loved the place, no droves of tourists, very well run dive boats, great food.  But we already decided we are going back to Honduras for the next trip.   Roatan here we come - again.

For the love of God, I thought the end of my work day would never come!  How the hell can a 10 hour shift seem like an eternity?  Well, it can when you know that there’s a place in the sand and a beer with my name waiting for me. 

So I’m taking a little break from the weights and storing the chicken and broccoli in the freezer for a week.  I still have a full day tomorrow as I’m working at a local bodybuilding show.  Namely the Cincinnati show.  Great show!  This is one of my favorites as it is not only in my hometown, but the winner gets the title Mr or Ms Cincinnati.  At one time I wanted that title more than life itself.  After having competed in it twice, the third time was the charm!   Now I help out with the judging.  I think I enjoy that as much as actually competing. 

Now getting back to the beer thing.  Its been a while since I’ve actually consumed a considerable quantity of beer so I need to rekindle my love for the brew.  Yes, this is a bodybuilding site; all about fitness and health.  Well a healthy mind goes with it!  And I think my mind will be healthier once I’ve imbibed in vast quantities of local brew for a few days.  And indulged in the local carib cuisine. 

Cheers!

About the only time I really pig out and enjoy food  is during Christmas and vacation.  This waiting for vacation to start is just as cruel as waiting for a show to be over.  I want some good food dammit!  I’m still planning on packing some protein powder with me as we get to our destination on a Sunday.  Where we are going, we might have a hard time finding a decent meal on a late Sunday night. 

I’m guessing I should, while in the airport,   buy some cinnabon roles, sub sandwiches and a bottle of good liquor.  Cause you never know. 

I’ve been so busy past several weeks I haven’t put much thought into my upcoming dive vacation in Cayman Brac.  Everything seems to have settled down now.  I’m done competing for a while.  My current diet is very enjoyable and I’m able to maintain a single digit bf.  Of course once we get to our destination I don’t believe that single digit will be around for very long. 

I have no intention of trying to eat a strict healthy diet.  If its healthy and its in front of me and I’m hungry, I’ll eat it.  But other than that, worrying about calories, fats, protein and all that crap - ain’t gonna happen.  I’m a big chicken eater so I’ll not have a problem getting the protein in.   I love to cook, so we’ll be cooking a lot of our own meals, it just won’t be healthy   But it will be good.  PLus the more beer you drink, the better food tastes.  That’s a plus.