Jettisoned Ponderings

Legs tonight. Didn’t do quite as much volume as I’ve written out since I’m still getting back into the higher volume and last leg workout really didn’t go so well… Just did 2 sets of everything tonight instead of 3, but after a little warm up I went all out on deadlifts to get a benchmark. Only thing I hate about deads are that I have long legs, so I need to lean forward a little bit to clear my knees. I saw a video of Layne Norton with a "bar" that where stood in the middle of a frame to do deads. Really wish I had one of those! Anyhow… My goal was a projected max of 400. After a light set on 135×12, then 225×12, it was time to just shoot for a nice round 300. Got it up for all 12 reps only having to rest-pause once (with the weight lifted, not on the floor). So that puts my projected max at 432lbs! I’m quite happy with that number, I didn’t expect to get all 12 reps tonight, and I was sure done after the 12th! The rest of the night was a bit lighter to get through everything. So I’ve got a couple more goals left to try and hit by the end of next month… Always stayin’ optimistic!

7 hours and 19 minutes from now I’ll turn 24. I suppose I should be excited…  :\

So given that work has settled down a little bit, this has been my typical weekday schedule. Weekends, only difference is that I get up a little later to shoot for an early workout around 6:30am. (Also, once the MX-LS7 is gone, I’ll be switching to Dren for 1 capsule in the AM)

AM/Wake-Up (4:45am M-F, 6:30am Sa/Su)
A-Bomb x 4
MX-LS7 x 3
Kre-Alkalyn x 2
Fish Oil x 1
Vibe x 1.5oz
Pro Complex Gainer w/water
1 cup (before cooking) oats if I have time

Breakfast (8:00am)

Lunch (11:00am)
Fish Oil x 1
Flax Oil x 1
Kre-Alkalyn x 2

Early Afternoon (1:30pm)
Pro Complex Gainer w/water

Mid-Afternoon Meal (3:30pm)

[Sleep/Nap if needed before dinner]

Evening/Pre-Dinner (6:00pm)
MX-LS7 x 3
Kre-Alkalyn
Fish Oil x 1

Pre-Workout (Typically around 7:30-8:00pm)
NO Overdrive x 4
A-Bomb x 4

Bedtime/Post-Workout
Cyclin-GF x 4
6-oxo x 4
Pro Complex Gainer w/water

A few years ago my friend introduced me to Pho (No idea how to type the proper accent over the "o", but it’s not the same as in "phone". Bah, anyhow…) It’s a traditional Vietnamese dish and extremely healthy. Maybe a bit high in sodium, but really that’s only if you down all the broth. It’s a beef dish, my personal favorite is using any combination of rare steak, well-done brisket/flank, and meatball. For those of you questioning the rare meat, lemme explain. The soup is assembled with rice noodles and the meat on top. Add a couple garnishes, such as thin sliced onion, and the broth. The broth is served hot enough that it actually cooks the meat (also thin sliced) in about 15 seconds or less. Add the remaining garnishes (in my case a lot of bean sprouts!) to flavor, like lime, basil, etc. So nothing is fried, breaded, etc. You get all good carbs from the rice noodes and the meat’s fresh and typically very lean, aside from maybe a little fat on the brisket depending on the quality of the cut. The sodium also stays low if you don’t consume all the broth, too. Plus, the best part, is you can usually get it for $6-$8 for a plenty large portion! Most recipes online will say to use beef broth, unless you have an asian market to go to and get the actual ingredients needed to make the broth. So if you have a Pho shop around and have never tried it, I highly suggest it! If you don’t, here’s a good recipe that I found that’s about as close as you’ll probably get to the real thing. Just make sure to use good rice noodles, not cheap Maruchan ramen ones! It always hits the spot and gives you some good fuel to run on before the gym.
http://www.metrokc.gov/health/nutrition/recipes/pho.htm

Last couple weeks I’ve been really frustrated with my numbers. The backslide on bench and overall lack of results from training changes, constant battle with the scale/caliper, just plain overall stuck in a rut. I realized today that I hadn’t updated the numbers for a couple weeks, so figured what the heck… My folks have a nice electric Omron BF% caliper (actually recommended on bb.com, I need my own…) and I always get my weight prior to using it to make sure my settings are current and accurate. I’ve been stuck right around ~176ish and it’s irritated me to no end. I knew I wasn’t eating enough or getting enough water, so I’ve been trying to up my intake as cleanly as possible. Namely, switching all my protein shakes to Pro Complex Gainer to get the extra calories and minimal sugar. I’ve still been bad about getting enough water, but I’ve never been dehydrated and I’ve backed off the coffee this past week. Anyhow… So I hop on the scale: 182.6lbs! This after the typical morning routine we all go through and before breakfast. Just to make sure, I reset the scale and tried again: 182.6lbs. Sweet! Wait, how much of that is good mass? So I change the calipers up, last time I’d used them I was 177.5 at 9.5% BF, so I upped it to 182.5. Result: 10.4% Skeptical, again I reset the caliper: 10.4% So, I’m up 5lbs and only 0.5% BF? Sure, I’ll take those numbers!

So then I hit the gym. It’s back/shoulders today. Since I have a goal for overhead press, I changed these out dumbell presses. Sure, I’m hitting more front delt, but eh, I’m hitting rear a lot in other exercises. Last set was 135×13. My projected goal is 200. None of the calculators here go higher than 12 reps, unfortunately, but even 12 reps puts the projected max at 195. I’d need to do 140×12 to hit a 200lb goal. So now knowing this I can’t wait to come back to this workout in a couple weeks and exceed that goal! Still leaves a few others to shoot for, but I’m still glad that I’m seeing these results. I feel a lot better training with sets of 12, and the results encourage me to stick with it. Still got a little over a month to hit the goals… Good to have a renewed sense of determination!

Part of the reason I’m really glad I got into fitness is looking through my family history I see a lot of issues that I don’t want to deal with as I get older. My mom and some others on her side have multiple sclerosis. Testicular and prostate cancer on both sides. My dad has gone back and fourth on the border of being diabetic. So many health issues these days are caused by poor diet (or just way too much sugar) and we really don’t keep ourselves in shape. Sometimes genetics doesn’t really help either. A few months ago I had some tests done for work and was very glad to find my cholesterol to be good and low. It helped further motivate my dad in particular to keep up his workouts I got him into last year. Recently he’d been getting tired easily and didn’t have quite the endurance. He went in for a stress test yesterday and found he’ll need bypass surgery as two arteries are 50% blocked and the third is 70% blocked. On the upside, at least it was caught now and not after a heart attack. Sadly, but also fortunately, the procedure is more common these days as well. His consultation to find out how extensive the surgery will be is next week and we’ll all have a better idea from there. For now, he can’t lift more than 10lbs, no workouts, etc. I know he’ll feel a lot better when it’s all done. I love him and am so proud of him at his age of 68 to get into things and make the progress he has. Most likely this is just a life of things catching up to him, but we’re all in good spirits. For me, it’s all the more reason to keep up a healthy lifestyle and do my best to encourage my friends and family to do the same.

After yesterday’s workout I officially confirmed my drop in bench press. Granted my previous 1 rep max wasn’t the best form, but it wasn’t blatant cheating. Now doing more reps to project toward a max I can do lighter weight more reps with better form. So last night I was only able to do 3×12 at 155/160/165. Wasn’t feeling quite at my best, but bottom line this is less than I used to do. Stats show a -13.5% change in my max. So I’ve got a ways to go to get back where I was and an even longer ways to go to hit my goal. At least the rest of my stats so far don’t seem to have been ill affected much by the last couple training method experiments. My supplement order arrived today, so I know I’ll feel better getting back on Kre-Alkalyn. Can’t wait to see my dad’s face when he’s greeted by a 10lb bag of gainer on the counter top in the morning! I’m also giving 6-oxo a shot, so I’m hoping for the best with that having heard mixed reviews. Guess time will tell as always…

I officially hate the stuff. Too many workouts I’ve gotten nausea and on legs a couple days ago it really expedited me getting sick. "Squat till you puke" became manifest, but I wasn’t ill until about half way through my bottle of PW. I’ve been ok, stomach wise, using only 1 rounded scoop. Not really enough to be an effective dose though. Any time I try using at least 2 scoops things always turn worse. I tried to build more of a tolerance, but beta-alanine just doesn’t like me. I used to be ok taking Millenium Sport’s Carnage and I’m fine with LG Science’s Cold Fusion EX. Maybe it’s just that the Purple Wraath tastes like chewable grape tylenol, there is absolutely nothing "juicy" about it. So I threw out the rest of what I had left and am going back to good ‘ol water and waxy maize starch to get me through my workouts. I’ll just go buy some bulk EAAs to mix in if I need.

Since I’ve gone back to doing sets of 12, my goal weights for my max rep sets have changed versus just going heavy. I already beat my row goal, so that one’s set. For the rest, since doing 12 reps is roughly 70% of a 1 rep max, that puts me at the following goals for weights to do 12 reps at:

Bench: 210 (Goal 300)
Squat: 245 (Goal 350)
Deadlift: 280 (Goal 400)
Barbell Curl: 94.5 (Goal 135)
Overhead Press: 140 (Goal 200)

Currently I can lift all these weights, but I can’t get them for 12 reps. Knowing I can at least do the weight and training toward reps versus weight is a bit easier since I should be able to see better progress in endurance at the very least between workouts. Still got a ways to go, but at least now it seems within reach!

Today I woke up to the first snow of the season. Growing up, snow always meant my birthday was coming up soon, much like it is now. Or that fall break was coming up for school. This year, and for those to come, it has a bit of a different meaning. Last year’s blizzard changed my life in a way that I never expected. My now fiance (GeminiJedi) was snowed in at my family’s home four days, during which she and I grew very close very fast. It was that winter she started training with me and we really developed the foundation of our existing relationship. I’ve heard a lot of ideas for how to meet one’s soul mate, but I never would’ve imagined getting her car buried under 3′ of snow in your driveway to be the way to do it! The bottom line though is that through it all I’ve been blessed and lucky enough to find the most amazing girl I’ve known as well as come to love my best friend.

Courtney, thank you for bringing so much joy to my life every day. I can’t wait for these next two months to pass so that I can spend the rest of this life and the next with you as my wife. Thank you for being my "life spotter" and helping me to re-discover what’s important in this world. I love ya, darlin.