Today began the third week of Cycle 31 and of the Transformation Challenge, which is in Day 15. I feel pretty good about where I am overall. There are still 10 weeks left in the challenge and a lot can change. I am going to have to tell myself to be patient with my progress. Diet has been very good, but I found myself UP .2 pound this week. MUSCLE or FAT? LOL! I am hoping it is muscle given how I ate this week. That being said, I took two week progress pictures today and was happy with what I saw with the exception of my back. My abs are "cleaning up," but my back barely looks changed from 2 weeks ago. There is change, but it is slow. We all hold our "extra" fat in very specific places. I happen to hold most of mine in my back. The back relaxed picture reveals this fact. My big decision is how to deal with it. During the second half of Cycle 31, I am contemplating increasing reps for pull-ups and other bar exercises to 25, which is my pre-injury level. I did 2 sets of 25 during my 300 workout last Friday, so another set is doable. The other thing that I will do is to pick up those 30 pound dumbbells during Cycle 32. This will necessitate my reducing my reps for some exercises to accommodate the increased weight, but I believe this will help to spur muscular growth. If I make the change, I will blog it---too much trouble changing the formal workout! LOL Finally, the diet will have to be spot on to target that body fat. More cardio will be the LAST option I consider! Even then, it would be some high intensity work added to my running days.

Overall, the I feel good. My arm and shoulder feel great, so I don't think any of what I am proposing to do, especially with the very refined stretching regimen, will impact them. It is a matter, mostly, of execution and discipline. If I don't see discernible change in the back with the next progress pictures, I KNOW what to do! LOL!

The workout went well today. I integrated the extra push-ups right into the workout. I probably need to go to higher reps with them as well, come to think about it. I may be "under challenging" myself. That painful and nagging injury probably has me a bit afraid to really go all out. I definitely don't want to experience that pain again. By the way, the 1-mile run was the fastest of the cycle at 6:10. I suspect I will be able to go under 6:00 by next week.

Tomorrow, I go after the arms and shoulders again. We have an 80% chance of rain and my course still has not quite recovered from the rains of last week. Hopefully, I can get out there and get the cardio done.

Everyone, have a great remainder of the weekend and a very good start to the work week!

Here is what I did today:

• Stretching regimen
  
  
• 3 x 50 quasi sit-ups
  
  
• 3 x 50 push-ups
  
  
• 3 x 50 reverse crunches
  
  
• 3 x 50 crunches
  
  
• 3 x (2 x 30 sec.) side planks
  
  
• 3 x 30 sec. front planks
  
  
• 3 x 30 sec. evacuations
  
  
• 3 x 15 hanging leg raises (chin-up grip, straight leg, 5-lb ankle weights)
  
  
• 1-mile walk
  
  
• 1-mile run (6:10)
  

TRANSFORMATION CHALLENGE DAY 15:

Goals:

1. To build more muscle in my chest.
   
   
2. To build more muscle in my legs (quads).
   
   
3. To build more muscle in my back.
   
   
4. To continue strengthen my core in preparation for resumption of planche push-up training in 2013.
   
   
5. To obtain a 5-6% body fat percentage while adding approximately 2-5 pounds of muscle during the next 12 weeks.
   
   
6. To work on consistently running at or below a 6:15 mile pace on all of my runs.
   
   
7. To continue to strengthen my arm and shoulders and prevent a recurrence of
   impingement syndrome.
   
   
8. To continue integrate my full body stretching regimen into my daily workouts
   
   
   

• A=100-95% Clean
  
  
• B=94-90% Clean
  
  
• C=89-85% Clean
  
  
• D=84-80% Clean
  
  
• F=79% and below Clean
  

• Got in 2 sets of 50 regular push-ups, inclined push-ups, and 2 sets of 25 triangle push-ups for a total of 250 extra push-ups!
  
  
• Week 2 weigh in 149.6 (up .2 pound).
  
  
• Week 2 progress pictures taken. They take forever to "post." Be patient and please give me some ideas about the back.
  
  
• Week 2 profile pictures taken. Hopefully, they show some progress!