swimriderundave’s BodyBlog

So here’s a summary of what’s been going on with my body transformation challenge:

Strength: Since I started this challenge in late April, I’ve made a ton of progress with my strength; I wasn’t able to bench press 185 when I started.  On my last chest workout, I did a stripping (drop set) set where I was able to crank out 6 reps at 185, immediately pull the 25’s off and crank out 8 reps of 135.  And this was after doing 135 for 21 reps.  After I attended a kettlebell clinic with Pavel Tsatsouline, I was barely able to snatch a 16kg bell.  Last Friday, I snatched a 20kg bell for 10 reps on each arm with no rest between arms.  I’ve built my squats (full squats) up to 4×10 of 185 lbs. and I’ve increased my pull-up count from 6 when I started to 12 the other day.  For the first time in my life, I’m using the 50 lb dumbbells for my shoulder presses.  Back in high school, I’d do heavy shoulder presses with 135 on the bar but never had the stability use heavy dumbbells.

Endurance:  As some of you may know, I’m an endurance athlete, just a fat one,…for now.  My swims have been consistent,…consistently slower.  I think it’s because my shoulder musculature is tightening up.  It’s like I’m fighting myself in the water.  I’ve gotta do a better job at stretching.  My biking’s been pretty much the same.  Not much improvement but I’m curious to see how my climbing improves once I get down to my goal weight of 155.  My running’s getting better; I’ve really been working on firing my glutes with each stride.  I’ve become more efficient but am still dealing with a case of plantar fasciitis in my left foot.  I have a sprint triathlon in July after the end of my transformation.  My goal is to go sub-7 minute pace for the 5k run after the bike.  The last time I did a sprint (years ago…before I discovered Ironman), I averaged like 7:05 per mile so I’m looking for an improvement even though I’m 6 years older.  I’ve got a grueling 50 mile run in August and its supposed to be a tough one.  I’m looking to break 10 hours for it but it seems to be much harder than the 50 miler I did 2 years ago (american river 50 miler).  The following link is the elevation chart to the first 50K of the race. (http://www.mtdisappointment50k.com/course.shtml)  The remaining 19 miles is through the same type of terrian so it’s really important for me to get down to 155 to increase my strength to weight ratio for the hills.

Physique:  O.K.  here’s the important stuff.  My shirts are tighter, even though I’ve lost weight.  I’ve plateaued at 172 but I look leaner and like I said, I’m getting bigger.  Some stranger approached me at the gym the other night and said that I look like I’ve gained at least 10 lbs of muscle (I hope that’s the case!).  It must have been the lighting and the mirrors.

 So here’s my plan for the last 21 days:

-     I plan on eating my largest meal during breakfast.  I’ve been doing this since the start of the contest but I plan continuing it.  This is when I’ll take in all my starchy carbs for the day (the brain still needs glucose).  The rest of the meals will consist of fruits, vegetables, lean meats, and protein powders.  It will be a high protein low carb diet.

-     I will increase my intake of fruits and veggies.  My mandatory intake will be 5 apples, 5 oranges, and at least 1/2 a pound of vegetables each day.  I feel that this will contribute to my satiety and allow me to ultimately take in less calories throughout the day.

-    Lastly, I plan on not eating anything after 7 pm.  I might drink tea or water, but nothing of significant caloric value.  I’m normally asleep by 930 so this shouldn’t be too hard.

I’ll be making some Youtube videos for these last 21 days so stay tuned and wish me luck.

DAVE