ssmoimo’s BodyBlog

I’m not really training for anything as far as running, just trying to push myself to make cardio interesting, but I have a brand new accomplishment today.

 Every once in a while I do the Army PFT test on the treadmill.  Which is basically how fast can you run 2 miles.  Today I was able to run the 2 miles in 13:20.  This equates to about a 97 score on the test!  My personal best so far!

 I thought I was going to fall over when I was done.  I was zig zagging on the treadmill hitting the back of it and sides, pretty funny sight I am sure.

Well… I decided to make a slight modification to my diet.  I think this will help with keeping and building more muscle as the diet goes on.  I have started adding some fast digesting carbohydrates to my post workout shake.  Basically what I was doing before, was taking 1 scoop of protien before lifting in the morning and 2 after.  Now with the 2 after I am also adding either a banana or baked potato, or other source of fast digesting carbs.

  The idea here is to spike insulin levels to help deliver the protien and carbohydrates straight to the muscles, since they will be receptive right after a workout.  This should help get more glycogen in the muscles and also slow down cortisol which should result in a more anabolic state with less muscle break down.

 I have to admit any excuse to eat a baked potato or banana is GREAT!

Yesterday, for the first time ever I ran a sub 6 minute mile!

 I hadn’t really planned this or been training for it, but I thought I would give it a shot yesterday just to see if I could do it.  I had been doing interval cardio, and 2 mile runs, so I thought why not try. 

I cranked the treadmill up to 10 mph and ran the enite 6 minutes, with a sprint at the end.  Guess my cardio is improving!

Alot of people have been asking me lately what my secret is to my shoulders…

Here is basically what I do:

 On shoulder day I always start with either Seated Military Press, dumbell or barbell.  I feel I get a better shoulder workout with barbells.  I ramp up my sets to make sure that I can get max reps on the last set, which is most important.  So I will typically do something like this… 65lbs x 10 Reps, 70lbs x 8 Reps, 85lbs x  6-9 Reps (till can’t do anymore).  My goal is always to go extremely heavy on this core exercise.  

  Next I’ll usually hit free weight Side Lateral Raises.  The first set or so I will do them with good strict form and lower weight, but by the last set I am basically just swining up those weights any way I can get them up there and getting as many reps as possible.  I know that I am getting some front delt involved but I am certainly getting max benefit from the negatives this causes.  I’ll usually do something around 30 x 12, 45 x 10, 60 x 8-14 (till can’t do anymore). 

  Then I’ll hit up the shoulder shrugs.  Either barbell or dumbell.  Same type of thing, except you really can’t cheat much on these.  I end up with 315 for barbells. 

   Finally, I’ll end with either some kind of side lateral machine or cable, or front raises, depending on where I feel needs work.

   My basic philosophy is to treat the first 2 sets as warm up sets and do them in very strict form.   The final set I push it to the hilt and I try to keep decent form, but I’ll cheat or do whatever is required to get those heavy weights up there and then just rep it out till I can’t do anymore.

Well there you have it, not sure how much of a secret it is, but I hope this can help someone.

Ok, Well some good news this weekend.  Checked my bodyfat and it is now down to 15%!  Thats pretty close to my all time low.  It turns out that I must have gained a decent amount of lean mass while losing fat, since my weight did not change much, but my bodyfat went down 2%.

I did decide to crank it up a notch though.  I shaved my head this weekend as a dedication to my cause.  Now when I look in the mirror, I’ll remember to work my butt off.  I am going to be hitting up the extra cardio and trying to burn at least 3700 calories a day now, preferrably upwards for 4000.  I am also cutting down carbs.  I am going to leave protein the same amount, so that I can continue to gain lean mass.

One of my goals for this 12 week period is to be able to do 20 pull-ups or chin-ups without stopping.

This goal is definitely harder than I thought, but I am pretty sure I can get there.  Right now I am at about 13 pull-ups.  So I have a bit of a way to go.  I am trying to figure out the best way to train for this.  My current plan of attack is just to do pull-ups and chin-ups and often as possible.  If I do a biceps workout in the morning, I always add chin-ups.  If I do a back workout in the morning I always add chin-ups, and on my second work-out (cardio), I’ll do pull-ups or chin-ups for about 4 sets to failure, pretty close to every day.  My thinking here is that the muscle will adapt, just like our legs do to walking and I should be able to do pull-ups like its nothing, eventually. 

I did have another idea for increasing pull-ups, which I got from a benchpress tactic.  I might try decreasing the amount of time between sets gradually, so that basically there is no time between sets and I can do 20 total.  I better invest in a stopwatch if I am going to do this.

Just got my Bodybugg today.  It is extremely cool!

Basically it works like this.  You wear the thing on your arm all day, and with various sensors it will record your calorie burn.  You upload the data to the website and it tracks how many calories you burned all day long!  You can also track your nutrition and workouts.  The coolest thing is that you can set a goal to reach, like bodyfat %, and it will come up with a plan for you to reach that goal.  It will even make the menu for you if you want.  It calculates how many calories you need to burn and eat each day and you can see where you stand each day.  This this will revolutionize weight loss and personal training.  I keep uploading data, because its so fun.  It was a little expensive at $360 on Ebay, but I am pretty sure its going to end up being worth it.  No more questions about how many calories did I burn, or am I in calorie deficit.  This thing is sweet.

   Today I did my workout of shoulders and triceps in the morning.  One of my long standing favorite, but feared triceps exercises is the seated triceps press. (http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/exercises.php?Name=Seated+Triceps+Press).  I was able to get 135lbs today for about 6 reps.  I might have been able to get 2 more, but I didn’t have a spot today, so I didn’t risk it.  I felt like I could go up even more, but I am a little catious, because it is already seeming to be a dangerous weight.  This exercise will always leave my triceps sore the next day.  In my opinion it is the best tricep mass building exercise.  I do them with elbows flared, which reduces the joint stress.

  I also managed to put up 185lbs for 4 reps on the behind the next press for shoulders.  I finally started keeping tracking of workouts and writing down each workout last week, so my plan is now to start adding on small amounts of weight each time.  I am going to try to gain muscle mass while cutting, so far I have been successful, but I am not sure if that can continue.

  Also busted my butt on cardio today.  I did intervals at 2 min 6mph, 1 min 10 mph and finished off with a minute of 12 mph for a minute.  Total time was 18 minutes.  I will start adding in more cardio and probably a second session as weight loss decreases towards the end of the 12 challenge.