Lifting for 5-26-9

Spending a lot of time with Candi, of course.

I recall getting in a jog Sunday after work, but I got a cramp either in my abs or my diaphragm, and only got in somewhere over a mile. There was no hint of self-criticism in myself. These things happen, going out and doing something is better than nothing.

Candi and I wanted to do something special yesterday, as we haven’t had a full day to ourselves in a while. Then we realized, “Oh shit, it’s memorial day. People are everywhere.” It was too cold for the beach, anyway. We had breakfast at a diner. We had an early dinner at Outback Steakhouse. She had coupons, otherwise I probably wouldn’t have been up for it. It’s still not a forty dollar steak, but it was okay. I even splurged on dessert. Man, I’m so glad I lost that extra weight I was carrying. I felt full, sated, but not bloated at all.

Though, for the price, it still doesn’t quite match the overall satisfaction. I mean. It’s cheaper to go to On The Border, and I’d be orgasming over the food. Yeah, I’m weird, I like mexican food.

NROL, Fat Loss III
Day A, Workout I

Rest: 60 sec after each quad – no rest between exercises

Quad A
Deadlift: 12, 11, 10, 10 @ 155 lbs
Not-so-explosive Push-up: 9, 7, 6, 3 @ BW
Bulgarian Split Squat: 4×10 @ BW
DB Two-point Row: 12, 12, 10, 7 @ 35 lbs

Quad B
Deficit Deadlift: 2×20 @ 90 lbs
DB Bench Press: 2×20 @ 25 lbs
Plain Old-fashioned Lunges: 2×20 @ BW
BB Wide-grip Row: 20, 17 @ 60 lbs

Cardio: 15 minutes walking @ 3.1 mph, 3% incline + warm-up and cooldown

Now, I’ve done HGM Phase I Advanced before. That workout has a similar set-up of quads with 90 seconds rest in between the quads. But. That’s 30 more seconds of rest, and one less set in the first quad. It’s hard to describe the feeling doing that forth set. I’ve done nothing more than three sets through the Fat Loss series so far, so it’s as if my body was all ready to recover and rest, and then I threw another set at it. Holy shit.

I originally had 185 lbs written down for deadlifts, but looking over the workout, I realized that was way too much. If it was just three sets, I could grind it out, but I realized I needed to knock some weight down. Moreover, I knew fatiguing myself too much initially would be setting myself up for disaster in the successive exercises. The second exercise is supposed to be explosive push-ups, but jesus, I quickly lost my explosiveness after the first set. I think I’ll try just normal push-ups trying to get actually IN the rep range, rather than falling short. Ugh, that was so freaking hard.

I originally had 20 lb dumbbells written down for bulgarian split squats. Then I remembered that my legs would be burned from deadlifts. So. Bodyweight. I knew in the first set I wouldn’t be able to hit 4×12, so I just hit ten reps.

The ‘two-point’ two-point rows just means that I’m standing, and not touching a bench. I used a single dumbbell. I’m not sure whether that worked in my favor or not. It meant doubling the amount of time I was rowing. But it also meant that I had more time to accomplish the work, rather than grinding both arms at the same time.

It took a couple minutes to get my breath back before I took a look at the second quad. I originally had 115 lbs written down for deficit deadlifts. I dropped it down to 90 lbs and grabbed a preloaded bar which was actually pretty close to the ground. Next workout I’m just using 95 lbs with the olympic bar – it’ll actually be slightly higher up, and closer to where a true “deficit” deadlift would be. I was probably lower than I needed to be.

And goddamn, that was hard. I had to tell myself to not go to fast. Pace myself, otherwise I’ll run out of gas quickly.

I thought maybe I’d hit a wall with the bench press, but I was actually stronger than I anticipated, and both sets went up just fine for bench. I’ll increase the weight next time.

The lunges should actually be “walking lunge with side bend”, but decided to keep it simple. It felt like cardio. Well, like when you’re jogging and you want to stop because you feel like death. Lunges will do that to you.

Rows didn’t feel that bad during, and I was able to knock out the reps without much straining. I just wanted to pass out after the second set. I don’t think I got my breath back for a good five minutes, not to mention my hearing. I haven’t been taxed like that in a long time.

I went upstairs to do some HIIT, but the ellipticals I usually use were taken. I was blasted and destroyed, so I figured some non-intensive cardio would help with my recovery. (It did.)

It was only after I began stretching that I realized I must have missed something in the workout. I must have forgotten to write it down on Sunday when I jotted down my workouts on my notecard. I think it’s leg raises and swiss ball crunches, nothing fancy or metabolic. I was already ready to pass out on the floor, so I decided I’d just add them next workout, no big deal.

Post-workout weight was 150.0. Which means I actually have dropped 20 lbs since I started this two months ago. Fascinating. I’ve pretty much leaned out – I’m absolutely curious what will happen if I continue to drop bodyfat. I wonder if I’ll hit a wall. I’m okay with that, I really am, I’m just curious where that wall is. I’ve never tried to lose weight before. It’s only one more month. And I haven’t been in the 140’s since I started lifting.

Erik and Liz happened to drop by work last Sunday right as I was leaving, so I gave them free food. As we were chatting, I mentioned my quest to get ‘shredded’. Liz found this interesting, as I was previously trying to get HYUGE. I said simply that in my quest to gain muscle, I got too goddamn fat. I said that I’m a skinny person, and maybe I should just be a skinny bastard. I’m not goddamn Ronnie Coleman.

Sure, I still want to get stronger. Sure, I’d like some more muscle. But I’d like to think I’m being more realistic. Gaining weight for the sake of gaining weight is retarded. The entire concept of “bulking”, even a “slow bulk” never made sense to me. I’ve tried at least three winters in a row, and it has not yielded a noticable hypertrophy of muscle mass. The whole bulk/cut cycle resembles a yo-yo dieter at times.

Hrm. I think my current goal is to get skinny the way I used to be, maintain my weight, lift, and eat whatever the fuck I feel like it. Because left to my own devices, I tend to undereat. Seriously. I’m done bulking and getting fat just to have to unfat myself.

:: puts foot down ::