Today was a cardio only day.  I am off my lifting until next Sunday as prescribed by the New Rules of Lifting plan.  I did a 5 minute warm up followed by 4 intervals and then a 5 minute cool down.  The intervals consisted of 1 minute at 85% maximum heart rate and then 2 minutes of 80% maximum heart rate, for a 3 minute interval.

I felt the metabolic boost for hours afterwards.  It lasted so long that I started to wonder why I felt the way I felt and then I realized it was due to the cardio I had done hours earlier.

I must admit that it is hard to avoid my weight workout at the present time, but I am determined to stick to the plan.

Here are the pictures I promised yesterday:

Previous front:

October 14, 2007 front:

Previous right side view:

October 14, 2007 right side view:

Previous left side view:

October 14, 2007 left side view:

Previous back view:

October 14, 2007 back view:

Check back to see what my change in cardio and nutrition will do for my body.

I started the New Rules of Lifting workouts on July 29, 2007.  I just finished the Fat Loss II workouts and did my measurements.  Here are the results:

Category	7/29/2007	7/10/2007	+/-
Weight (lbs)	237	234	-3
Body Fat %	22.7	19.6	-3.1
LBM (lbs)	183.2	188.14	+4.94
Chest (in)	44.5	44.5	No change
Left Bicep (in)	13.75	14.5	+0.75
Right Bicep (in)	14	15	+1
Abs (in)	44	42.5	-1.5
Left thigh (in)	25.25	26.5	+1.25
Right thigh (in)	25.25	26.5	+1.25
Left Calf (in)	17.25	17.25	No change
Right Calf (in)	17.25	17.5	+0.25

The amazing thing to me is that I did nothing to directly work my biceps durng the Breakin and Fat Loss II workouts (the two workouts I completed during this time period) and yet my biceps grew more than ever before.  I can also state that the “fat loss” workout definitely torched fat off my body, dropping 3.1% over the time period and losing 1.5 inches in my stomach area.  Pictures to follow later today.

Today was my final Fat Loss II A workout.  I have one more Fat Loss II B workout and I'm done with the Fat Loss II program.  I will then move on to Fat Loss III (which has 2 Giant Sets of 4 exercises with no rest).

I've really been working hard on my squats and today I felt very strong as I did my front squats.  It took me a little while before I had the form down correctly for holding the bar as I did these, but now that I have that down, I was able to up my weight quite alot from the last workout:

Front Squats (ss)
155×8; 155×8; 155×8
Wide grip seated cable row (ss)
140×8; 140×8; 140×8

I made sure to do the cable rows with a slow rhythm and full range of motion.  I found that I immediately felt the muscles working harder than my last workout.  The extra 5 pounds didn't hurt either.

Barbell push press (ss)
105×8; 105×8; 105×8
Supine hip extension with leg curl (ss)
18; 18; 18

My hamstrings burned after the supine hip extensions.  Those are great for the hamstrings!

Dynamic Lunges (ss)
35×8; 35×8; 35×8
Upper Body Russian Twist (ss)
10; 10; 10

Yet another great heart pumping and muscle pumping workout.  I've managed to up my weights alot and for that, I'm extremely proud.

Today I was pretty tempted to eat some sausage for lunch.  I examined the package and when I read “15 g. of fat per serving” I decided to skip it and eat some lean ground turkey instead.  What a wake up call!  At the same time, I was proud of myself for not giving in to the temptation because the sausage sure sounded yummy!

I'm going to be upping my frequency of cardio exercise starting on Sunday.  After my Sunday workout, I will be done with Fat Loss II.  I am supposed to take the rest of the week off, but I plan to do some extra cardio. 

In doing some soul searching, I've realized that my weight workouts for the past few months have been awesome, but the results I've seen from a fat loss standpoint haven't been what I want.  This is because I have not been strict enough about nutrition and I haven't done enough cardio.  The nutrition is under control this week and it is now time to focus on the cardio.  Those two simple adjustments should help me to see some amazing gains.  I have a positive attitude and that is probably a big part of the battle I am facing. 

Tomorrow I will take some pictures and post them here. I will then do my best to take weekly photos.  Thanks for reading!