Archives for May 2008

It is Sunday and that means more stats for the week:

In less than a month I've dropped 6 pounds of body weight, 3.8% of body fat, 8.9 pounds of fat and I've increased 2.9 pounds of LBM.  In the past week alone I've gained 0.8 pounds of LBM.  My body obviously loves high protein and low carbs and that's why my entire plan for M3 involves this type of nutritional setup.  I believe the closest I come to higher carbs is the ratio (carbs/protein/fat) of 30/50/20 and that's only during the bulking phase.

I start my bulking phase in 2 weeks and I'm excited because all I've ever done is cut.

Until later…GET BACK TO LIFTING!

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Today I finished the entire detailed, day by day plan for M3.  I now have in writing every single day of this mission and what I will be doing in the following categories:

Training
Stretching
Cardio
Nutrition Ratios (along with the exact breakdown of carbs, protein and fat)
Nutrition Calories

Everything I am doing is now planned until August 20, 2008.

I also came to a realization today.  I apologize, but I must stop posting my actual workout logs.  I realized today that the workouts I am doing are copyrighted material and I don't want to violate that copyright by posting the workouts here.  Therefore, I will replace my workout logs with a textual journal of my workout experience for that day.  This way I am still being accountable for my workouts, but I am not revealing the copyrighted secrets of Vince Del Monte.

Plan for Next Week:

Accountability Log:

Workout Log:

Today was a bodyweight workout.  This is part of the Upside Down Training plan from the No Nonsense Muscle Building Program by Vince Del Monte.  The idea of this phase of the plan is to minimize personal muscle weaknesses and ensure that both sides of your limbs are performing equally.  The purpose of the bodyweight training portion of UDT is to improve functional strength and conditioning.  Vince quotes Alwyn Cosgrove who states that “you have no freaking business using a load if you can't stabilize, control and move efficiently using only your body weight.” 

This phase is tough because you do as much as you can in 20 seconds, rest for 20 seconds, then move on to the next exercise and repeat the process until one circuit is completed.  You start out doing 1 set the first workout, 2 sets the second workout and 3 sets from the 3rd workout onward.  Today I had to do 3 sets for the first time.  I can feel myself slowing down as the exercises progress.  It is an extremely tough workout that is really paying dividends already.  I can feel it afterwards.

Thought for the Day:

Take the time to focus on your goals becuase you set them for a reason.

Question of the Day:

Why do you (or not) plan your workouts ahead of time?  Comment this entry with your answer.

Mission 1, Day 5: The Shredding Continues…

Until tomorrow…GET BACK TO LIFTING!

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Focus is the key element to the successes I've had lately.  I have attempted to raise my focus to a new level and I am finding it hard to get there now.  I have been focused on getting my meals in every 3 hours and on hitting the gym at the same time every single day.  While this happens pretty consistently, the meals are a difficult issue for me to deal with.  I give myself credit for hitting a slot as long as I get to it within 30 minutes of the planned time.  I would like to be more focused in this area.

I have always been a very focused person.  I have been a chess player most of my life and that requires a great deal of mental focus.  I've gotten myself to a very high level of play and attribute that to my focus.  I want to do the same with fitness.  I want to be so focused that people are in awe of my focus.  I want to live and breathe my plan. 

I mentioned that I am going to stick to my plan no matter what this time.  As a follow up, I am deadly serious.  I will not veer from the plan.  I am going to hit every workout hard.  I am going to eat the way I planned it.  I am going to do my cardio per the plan–no more, no less.  I am not going to panic.  If the results aren't exactly what I expected, I am going to ride it out.  I learned a lesson with my nutritional experiment that is invaluable.

During the experiment I tracked my weight and body fat percentage on a daily basis.  In my spreadsheet I had a listing for LBM and fat pounds.  What I learned is that I could start the week at 210 and eat nothing but protein shakes for an entire day and find myself at 213 the next morning (same exact weigh in time).  Without panic setting in, I would stick to the plan, doing my workouts as planned and eating as planned and by the end of the week, my results would show that I had lost pounds and body fat.  Over the long haul I managed to drop alot of fat.  My point is that I didn't overreact to the feedback my body was giving me.  I stuck with the plan because the plan was based on evidence I had gathered over time.  My normal reaction would have been to tweak the plan.

Now tweaking is fine as long as you are tweaking for the right reasons.  Perhaps you find that your high carb days are just too high in carbs.  You can always tweak the carb number down a bit.  It is still a high carb day so the plan isn't really changed.  My advice is to really think through your plans before you begin executing them.  If you've given them alot of careful thought, stick to them.  Don't let panic make you vary.

Accountability Log:

Workout Log:

PACE Cardio on elipptical for 24 minutes with resistance set to 10.

Thought for the Day:

Plans are supposed to be well thought out and thoroughly documented.  Without both aspects it wouldn't be much of a plan.

Question of the Day:

Read the article:  4 Stages of Mental Mastery and then tell me what stage you are at.  Comment this article to give me your answer. 

Mission 1, Day 4: Even when life continues to happen…

Until tomorrow…GET BACK TO LIFTING!

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Today was my upper body workout.  The No Nonesense Muscle Building plan has me doing supersets of various exercises with just 60 seconds rest between supersets.  It is pretty intense and a very fun and difficult workout to do.  I managed to complete the entire workout in about 45 minutes.  Later in the afternoon I had a nice cardio session.  I did PACE for 24 minutes on the treadmill, but upped the incline to 4.0 for this workout to increase the intensity.

What about today's subject–stupidity?  I am a very impatient person when it comes to stupidity.  I should start out by saying that it isn't about a person being stupid, it is about stupid actions.  I hate when people look at you, admit they know something should be a certain way and then decide to do it completely a different way.  I get so irritated with stupidity and the effects of stupidity.  I just have no patience for it.

Accountability Log:

Workout Log:

Thought for the Day:

The workout in the gym is only a part of the work you do for your physique.

Question of the Day:

What's your favorite exercise in the gym?  Comment this article to answer.

Mission 1, Day 3: Back at it?

Until tomorrow…GET BACK TO LIFTING!

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Today was a cardio only day.  I didn't feel like doing anothe PACE workout, so I ran 2 miles on the treadmill as fast as I could go.  I managed to hit the 2 mile mark at 17:48.  My heart was racing and sweat was pouring off of me.  It was an awesome cardio session that got my metabolism kick started for the day.

I had yet another long meeting today, but it was extremely productive.  I enjoyed the time with my staff and we really worked hard on their new goals for the rest of the year.  I like the coaching aspect of my job alot. 

I stuck to my plan today.  I believe that I need to stick to the plan very closely.  I know I will be tempted to not bulk when the time comes because I know it will increase my body fat percentage, but I'm going to trust my instincts and do the plan the way it is laid out.

Accountability Log:

Workout Log:

2 mile run on the treadmill.  Time:  17:48

Thought for the Day:

Work the plan or the plan will work you!

Question of the Day:

How much time do you spend each week planning your meals?  Comment this article with your answer.

Mission 1, Day 2: What's so hard anyway?

Until tomorrow…GET BACK TO LIFTING!

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