Today was a fun day.  I started out doing the 300 workout with my trainer.  That was a tough workout for sure, but I enjoyed the change of pace alot.  I can see how that workout is building endurance and strength (see log below). 

In the middle of the day I taught my chess class.  I brought the new chess sets with me and the kids were extremely excited.  I'm happy because when I started the class (there are 40 kids), 30 of them didn't know the moves.  As of yesterday, only 10 still don't know all the moves and most of them are in Kindergarten or First Grade, so this is a good thing. 

I watched two awesome hockey games today.  Pittsburgh vs. New York was very exciting, with Pittsburgh coming back from a 3 goal deficit to win with just a bit more than a minute remaining in regulation.  Dallas vs. San Jose was also exciting, with San Jose tying the game with 3 minutes left to force overtime.  Dallas won the game a few minutes into overtime to take Game 1.

My workouts are starting to show some results in the area of muscle gain.  I am certain that those of you who have been watching my progress will be happy to know that I have definitely lost alot of fat this week and gained some muscle.  I have switched up how I am calculating my body fat percentage.  I am now using 3 methods and getting the average of those 3 methods.  This has brought my body fat percentage back up to a higher level, but I feel it is honestly more realistic.  What is interesting is how consistent each of the numbers has been all week long.  I guess I'm getting better at doing those types of measurements.

Please note my ratios today are different than the rest of the week. This part if the big secret to my experiment and I am really interested in how it affects my results for the entire week.  This day is where I made some major modifications to some other popular nutritional approaches to come up with something I think is spot on correct.

Accountability Log:

I'm amazed that I've managed to be 97.8% compliant during Mission 2 despite being sick for 2 weeks and missing alot of my marks during that time.

Nutrition Log:

NOTE:  Please do not think that I am playing games by keeping my nutritional information a secret during this time period.  I assure you that I've got everything logged and will be revealing what I did at the end of the experiment.  I just don't feel comfortable doing something as extreme as I am doing and revealing it to others UNTIL I can comment on how I would change things or do them differently.  I don't want others trying this until I'm sure of what I did.

Workout Log:

This 300 workout was tough.  It involves (obviously) 300 reps and you do these with no rest between exercises.  Lilla's buddy, Craig Ballantyne demonstrates this here.

Thought for the Day:

There are many factors that can be changed up to make a workout better.  Don't just stick to a few, try them all.

Until tomorrow…GET BACK TO LIFTING!

Related Posts:

• No Related Posts

Day 4 of The Experiment is done and over with.  The results so far are amazing.  I'm down alot of weight and fat all in just 4 days.  Sunday's Stats should be awesome.  I'm looking forward to it. 

All I can reveal at this point is that I've made a major adjustment to my protein and carb intake along with my fat intake.  You can see this if you look carefully at my Accountability Log and the macronutrient ratios I'm currently running.  I've borrowed ideas from several different places to come up with this approach and so far I'm happy with it.

My workout today was fun and a tough one.  I'm enjoying the mix of working with the trainer and doing the strength training.  It seems to be a good mix for my body.

I don't have alot to report on today.

Accountability Log:

Nutrition Log:

Workout Log:

Thought for the Day:

Time is something you never have enough of, so never waste it.

Until tomorrow…GET BACK TO LIFTING!

Related Posts:

• No Related Posts

Today I had a cardio only day.  It felt good to just get on the treadmill and go for 24 mniutes.  I'm amazed that I've lost 4 pounds so far since Sunday.  I've also slowed the LBM meltdown that was happening with my previous approach.  I still have some work to do in that area and so I'm slightly changing up my experiment–nothing major, just a move to keep the LBM intact.

I had a fitness test today.  First they did a ton of measurements and took blood.  Next they had me do push ups.  They had a bubble thing they put under your chest area and asked you to hit that with your chest for one complete push up.  I hit 63 push ups (amazed myself actually).  The woman said this was an all time record for them.  Next they put me on a treadmill at 3.0 mph and a 10.0 incline.  They had me walk for 3 minutes.  As I was walking she explained that at 3 minutes I had two options:  (1) get off the treadmill and be done with the test; or (2) up the speed to 6.0 mph and run another 3 minutes.  When she explained that not a single person had ever done the running part, I had to try it.  I completed the entire 6 minutes and ended up with a heart rate of 159.

The rest of the day was pretty routine stuff.  I had ordered 20 chess sets for the chess class I'm teaching and those arrived tonight.  I had to go through the box and confirm everything was there.  Tomorrow I will sort out the pieces into complete sets to deliver to the kids on Friday.  I also got a large demonstration board to help with the teaching.

Accountability Log:

Nutrition Log:

Workout Log:

Thought for the Day:

Trying new things is an effective way to burn more fat.  Keep trying new things!

Until tomorrow…GET BACK TO LIFTING!

Related Posts:

• No Related Posts

I just finished Day 2 of my nutritional experiment.  Mike Groom asked if I was taking uncovered photos during this experiment.  The answer is yes, I am taking uncovered photos, but that's not all.  I am tracking my weight and body fat percentage daily during this time period to see exactly what changes are affected by my approach.

I found Day 1 to be extremely diffficult to get through, but Day 2 was alot easier and I'm sure Day 3 and beyond will get a little easier each day as well.  Jay Cutler inspired me to really take this on during his speech at the competition I attended. He commented about how all the family and friends were to be commended for helping the competitors get through their tough nutritional programs in order to compete.  It made me think of how dedication they required to reach their goals.  I realized that I needed to start with that same dedication.  Bodybuilders do extreme things to get to their desired body fat percentage so why should I approach it any differently?

Work has been hectic and this new system has actually helped me to be sure I'm eating every 3 hours without any stress.  I'm quite religious about eating every 3 hours already, but this all just makes that even easier to pull off.  That's all I can say.

Accountability Log:

Nutrition Log:

Workout Log:

Started working through Rippetoe's strength training program today.

Thought for the Day:

Extreme circumstances require extreme measures be taken.

Until tomorrow…GET BACK TO LIFTING!

Related Posts:

• No Related Posts

I met my personal trainer at 5 a.m. and got started warming up on the treadmill.  After a good 5 minute warm up, we got down to business.  He knows my current goal is to lose fat, so he designed a workout plan that would do just that.  He has modified my schedule as follows:

Monday – Fat burning workout assisted by trainer
Tuesday – Strength training (Mark Rippetoe method)
Wednesday – Cardio
Thursday – Strength training (Mark Rippetoe method)
Friday – Fat burning workout assisted by trainer
Saturday – Strength training (Mark Rippetoe method)/Cardio
Sunday – Cardio

The workout today was done in two cycles.  They got my heart rate up high and I could feel the burn in my muscles as well.  At times I was really out of breath and had to slow down.  It was a pretty intense workout.

This was also the first day of my nutritional experiment.  For those interested, it does not involve fasting, but I know that by the end of the experiment I will be even more disciplined with my nutrition than I already was.  What I'm doing is extreme and not for everyone.  At the same time, it is so simple.  So far I feel good about it, but of course, it is the first day.

Accountability Log:

Nutrition Log:

Workout Log:

While you are used to seeing me post very high weights, this workout practically killed me.  It is the kind of fat burning workouts I was doing in the early stages of the New Rules of Lifting.  My heart rate was between 80 and 90% the entire time.  Just when you think you are about to die, you are told to do step ups very fast or static lunges. 

As discussed, I'm going to be doing Rippetoe's Strength routine as follows:

This means I will be doing 2 fat burning workouts and 3 strength training workouts each week.  I will do cardio 3 days a week as well.  I will continue to stick with the PACE cardio that I've been working on as it seems to help me keep my LBM numbers.

Thought for the Day:

When you are on the edge and you think you will die if you do one more rep, you likely have several more in you, so stop whining and just get it done!

Until tomorrow…GET BACK TO LIFTING!

Related Posts:

• No Related Posts