Yesterday, the end of week 4 of the Cycle 31 and Day 28 of the Transformation Challenge, was a GREAT diet day. I completed a 24.5 hour intermittent fast. I also got a LOT of rest and sleep. I decided not to do any extra push-ups or ab work on last night. Besides, I was cooking dinner for today and decided I would begin the extra ab work and push-ups for the week on Sunday night. 

I was up good and early this morning and pushed through my morning routine and was ready to get into the first workout of week 5 of Cycle 31 and Day 29 of the Transformation Challenge. I hit all of my exercises hard and had a great workout to begin the week. I completed a very good 1-mile run to conclude the workout, finishing it in 6:00. This was still faster than last week's 6:05 run. Overall, I am happy with my progress toward my goals.

I was surprised by my weigh-in, especially after completing an intermittent fast. I am back up to 150.0 pounds, which is 1.4 pounds higher than last week. I can only attribute the weight gain to what happened mid-week. That "B" diet day, was probably worse for me than I thought it would be. I also know that I ate quite a bit more bread last week than I should have. I was on the run and busy with errands and chores for my parents. I also know that I ate a few nights later than 7:30 pm, which is the time I decided I would stop eating.

In spite of the weight gain, I was still pleased at what I saw in my newest progress pictures with the very NOTABLE EXCEPTION of my back shot. There is so much fat on my back (Call me "Fatback." LOL! ), that I am wondering if using the last 3 weeks of this challenge to cut will be enough to eliminate it. I am considering starting the cut somewhat earlier than anticipated, perhaps even after completing week 6 of Cycle 31. My abs have always responded more rapidly to changes in diet than my back. There is still some fat over the abs, but nowhere near the amount that is on my back. I KNOW the muscle is under there, but a good squeaky clean diet needs to reveal them. I took my progress pictures without flexing. My profile and banner pictures are flexed and the muscle can be seen. My goals is to be able to stand without flexing and look very clean and ripped. I am still not ready to contemplate extra cardio yet, since I know I can clean the diet up even more. We will see what happens this week. I might take a week 5 set of progress pictures. If there is no notable change in the back, the diet goes EXTREME! LOL! Any feedback and suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

As mentioned above, I took new progress and profile pictures. During the session, I got in a really good shot of the left arm, which was the one that was injured during most of last year. I am VERY PLEASED with what I saw in the picture. It is my first (today's) profile picture for this week. I cannot believe the growth that has occurred. It is very nearly the same size as my right arm now. More work still to do.

I am looking forward to another tough but productive week of workouts. Diet will be key this week. I think the workouts are sufficient to help spur more muscle growth and development over the next few weeks and will not be making changes until the beginning of Cycle 32. I will let those of you who are interested know when I update the workout. It will be mostly changes to reps, time in hold, etc. I am tempted to change to the 30-lb dumbbells, but will wait until Cycle 33.

It turned out to be sunny and warm after a rainy day on yesterday. I am hoping that my course will get totally dried out at some point. I am having good runs, but they are not great. Tomorrow is arm and shoulder day and it is forecast to be near 60 degrees. I will get out there and have a great cardio session after the workout.

I hope everyone has had a great weekend thus far and that this Sunday is a great one for everyone.

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 (6:00)
  
  

TRANSFORMATION CHALLENGE DAYS 28 & 29:

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
  
  

• Saturday, I finished 24.5 hour intermittent fast Friday 6:00 pm-Saturday 6:00 pm Sunday.
  
  
• 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-up.!
  Week 5 weigh in 150.0 (up 1.4 pounds).
  
• End of Week 4 Progress pictures taken. Progress seen in my front and side shots. My back shows no discernible change.
  
  
• Week 5 profile pictures taken. They are decent since they are "flexed." They reveal the muscle that is underneath the fat that is still covering my body, especially my back. This is a DIET issue still. Cutting more carbs and the bread that I at last week.