Getting fit with SwordsMaster

[SwordsMaster]

And today again:

Slept for about 14 hours. Just finished a stressful project and I guess my brain needs to disconnect.
After I woke:

3 whites+1 yolk scrambled with spinach, 3 wholewheat crackers with butter and kaviar (swedish fish-eggs in a tube... It's not very good for you),
two hours later did my usual circuit:

All bodyweight unless indicated otherwise.
1-Squats x15
2-Pushups x25
3-Plank x45sec
4-Jumping Jacks/Burpees x20
5-Reverse lunges x11 each leg
6-Lying hip raise x15

Did 5 circuits, 45 sec break between circuits, no break between exercises.

Breaks between circuits were very uneven, so I believe only twice i managed it to be 45 sec, the rest were more like a min. Oh well.

After that, 50g whey, 1.5% milk, raspberry and strawberry shake, 3 hours later:

9 sets of 6 pullups, with 60 sec between sets.

After that, about 400g of chicken stir fry. Not sure the ingredients are all on the level, but then i didn't have to cook. Gift horse, mouth, all that.

[Vladimir]

Stressful project? Was it an assassination? I bet it was an assassination.

[SwordsMaster]

That's a common problem. The first post in this thread is about breakfast. It's likely the most important meal of the day.

The lack of updates for the past few days is due to recurrent travel, and a bit of an unravelling of the exercise plan. And I've been out every night for the past 5, which doesn't help. August is always a messy month. Too many birthdays, weddings, and other social stuff.

[SwordsMaster]

We're back! New updates tomorrow!

[SoFarSoGood]

All cured by a good malt whiskey.

[Strike For The South]

All cured by 10 good malt whiskeys.

ahem

[SwordsMaster]

And so we're back!

Most of yesterday was spent running errands which pile up after almost a 2 month absence, but I managed to get in a half a mile run and a pull-up ladder (1 to 7, not impressive).

Have come to the decision I'm dropping drinking until christmas holidays because I need to save some cash, and I'm actually tired of most drinks. (It's been a tough 2 months!) Occasinal wine with a meal will be tolerated, but you all know what I mean by 'drinking'.

Been getting my diet straight today, and so the day so far looks like this:

Wake-up:
Roll off the bed, do a set of 51 pushups, then proceed with morning grooming, do a set of 35, shave, drink some water, turn on laptop, do another 40 (all max effort), shower, and start my day.

Breakfast:
spinach, cherry tomatoes, 150g of mixed beans, 1 egg+3 whites scramble, green tea, 100g of smoked salmon, double espresso.

Lunch:

300g of soya veggie meat, pasta, and 300g of banana/chocolate cake (I know, I know - the girlfriend made it, what was I supposed to do?)

Then:
half a mile jog, then 45 pullups in 9 sets with 60 sec breaks.

Dinner:
300g of chicken with tomatoes, coconut/peanut sauce, and another 200g of that cake i had for lunch. (it's finished now...)

More tomorrow!

Will update as day progresses

[Vladimir]

I really need to start doing pushups right after I get out of bed. I finally have the energy to do them after I've had my breakfast shake. Not the best combination.

That looks like an excellent breakfast.

[SwordsMaster]

Weird day today - woke up around 2 pm, had a 50g of whey+ berries shake, and my next meal was around 9pm - 300g of steak with kidney beans and a tomato, onion and garlic sauce.

Screwed up the low carb rule - woman was baking... Ah well.

Exercise:
5x max rep pull ups (total - 44) with 90s between sets
3x max rep pushups with 5-10 min break between sets.

An important consideration is i gave up drinking for a few weeks, feeling it already.

[Major Robert Dump]

I gotta change over to 5 small meals a day.

I am watching what I eat, I am spending 2.5 hours a day in the gym, and I am not losing any weight at all.

I realize my sleep and health issues do not help, but in the past I have had a system of being able to easily burn 20 pounds in a month with a drastic change of routine. Now, this is suddenly not working. I hate being old.

[SwordsMaster]

I gotta change over to 5 small meals a day.

I am watching what I eat, I am spending 2.5 hours a day in the gym, and I am not losing any weight at all.

I realize my sleep and health issues do not help, but in the past I have had a system of being able to easily burn 20 pounds in a month with a drastic change of routine. Now, this is suddenly not working. I hate being old.

A few points - and as an army man I'm sure you're aware of them (btw, like your PI adventures, reminds me of some old times in west africa).

It isn't necessarily up to 5 small meals, but a couple of rules of thumb:
1 - have a protein heavy breakfast EARLY. As in within an hour of waking up, even better if it's a half hour.
2 - have your last big meal of the day 3 hours before sleep. The only thing you can have between then and sleep if you must have something is easily digestible protein (cottage cheese, tuna, lean chicken, you know the drill)

A little bodybuilding pro-tip: Have 2 double espressos just after waking up, before breakfast or any morning exercise.

As to exercise - most here know i'm a proponent of full body workouts as opposed to isolated exercises (think pull-ups vs bicep curls), but no matter what the approach, if you want to lose weight it is key to keep rest intervals between exercises short. In the 10-30 sec range.

Also, and I'm not sure whether this is an option - invest in a kettlebell. There are few things which are such a sure burner as 50 pre-breakfast KB deadlifts.

To help you sleep: include some cholesterol in your last meal of the day. Fat helps you sleep, plus cholesterol is needed to synthetise testosterone (which helps with your muscle development) and that also happens during your sleep.

So make your last meal of the day porkchops or not-so-lean steak.

And yes, giving up drinking for 3 months will definitely help. But hey, all it took was some pretty eyes and berry pie and my diet cave in, so I ain't judging.

[naut]

1 - have a protein heavy breakfast EARLY. As in within an hour of waking up, even better if it's a half hour.

This is the biggest problem I have, not being able to get a meal in early. I get super gassy in the morning and anything too substantial makes me gag and occasionally puke.

A little bodybuilding pro-tip: Have 2 double espressos just after waking up, before breakfast or any morning exercise.

Yeah, why's that?

[SwordsMaster]

It doesn't need to be BIG, just high on protein. Think about 40g of protein (take into account that, for example, chicken is about 15% protein, so you'd need jus tunder 300g of chicken to fit the bill, egg whites, however are higher, so you'd only need the equivalent of 3-4 egg whites, much lower volume).

I had a similar problem - not because I can't eat in the morning, but because i maximise sleep time usually in the detriment of cooking time, but I now stock up on frozen berries and protein shake, and find that with a bit of oatmeal and skim milk, all blended together it makes a good breakfast that is not too heavy.

Coffee speeds up your metabolism, so by the time you're done with the morning pushups, shower, and are having breakfast your body is already at full speed to digest it. Have another coffee after breakfast to ensure it goes on for half an hour longer.

[Strike For The South]

Yup

Coffee before workout
Breakfeast, sex, and alcohol after.
Then Lunch

[SwordsMaster]

Well, today:

Up at noon - for some reason can't go to bed early, so wake up at weird times,
then:
set pushups max effort
coffee
set pushups max effort
make breakfast
set pushups max effort
eat breakfast:

Total 130 pushups

Breakfast was the remains of yesterday's pie, more coffee, and 3 egg whites and a can of tuna.

3 hours later, pull-up pyramid, starting at 1 to 8 (total 36) with rest 10 sec per rep in the previous set.
then 1 set max effort dips (24)

Lunch: 4 chicken burgers (16% fat), salad, spinach, tomatoes, onion and garlic.

Then another coffee, and I got on a flight.

Dinner likely to be a burrito.

[Vladimir]

I don't know how you stay so motivated.

[Strike For The South]

I figure I will give a serious reply

After dropping down to 196lbs and graduating college, I promptly moved back home and blew up to about 220. I went into the gym yesterday and was able to work myself up to a 405 single on the dead lift, but it gassed me. Sadly, I think my days of competition are behind me. The lower back pain which plagued me before I lost the weight is starting to rear its ugly head again as I begin to creep back up the scale. I would love to drop down to about 160 and work my way back up to around 205.

I signed up to do a tough mudder in March and would love to be down to 170 by then.

Yesterdays workout

2 mile run 11:38

BB Rows

135X3X10

Lawnmowers
80X3X10

The lawnmowers are single handed

Deadlift
135X10
225X8
315X8
335X4
365x3
385x1
405x1
415x1 (fail)

[Vladimir]

2 miles in <12 minutes? You mean km, right?

[Strike For The South]

2 miles in <12 minutes? You mean km, right?

No, I mean miles.

[Major Robert Dump]

If I ran that fast, My heart would explode, and my right knee cap would pop off and break someones car window

On a somewhat related note

I like ZUMA class because of all the butts in front of me, but feel slightly womanly for dancing

[Vladimir]

No, I mean miles.

Should that statement be followed by "in my MIND!" ? Well, alcohol is a very powerful fuel. I get by on canned beans.

I like ZUMA class because of all the butts in front of me, but feel slightly womanly for dancing

Embrace it, like you would those butts in front of you.

[SwordsMaster]

I don't know how you stay so motivated.

I look at myself in the mirror, and ask myself if i look and feel they way i want. Willpower can be an issue, but if you realise that you work out for 1 h a day including showering, and realise that is 5% of your day, you really cannot justify not doing it.

Well done, Strike! That's some respectable deadlifting.

I had back problems since very young, hence my compulsive pullup obsession. Found that mid-weight higher reps and slow weight progressions really help. I used to warm up with 90kg, then (my 1rep max was around 180kg at 84kg bodyweight) stay in the 120-130kg range for most of the workout doing 10-12 rep sets instead of the usual 6-8 rep ones.

Also, lots of core stuff. Weighted windshield wipers, renegade man-makers, human flag approximations, planks, all that stuff. Good running for a guy your weight. How are your knees?

MRD: yep, joined a few yoga classes for similar reasons. Then realised i actually enjoyed it! Now i'm just staying away from membership-requiring activities, or organised exercise. Mostly because I'm flaky and don't know in advance whether i will be able to work out or not, and most gyms don't offer 'pay monthly' schemes, only long contracts.

[SwordsMaster]

Up at noon - for some reason can't go to bed early, so wake up at weird times,
then:
set pushups max effort
coffee
set pushups max effort
make breakfast
set pushups max effort
eat breakfast:

Total 130 pushups

Breakfast: shake with 50g of whey, 1 banana, 200g of frozen berries.

Terrible food habits today, for some reason ate half a kilogram of gorgonzola.

Had 5x max effort pullups with 90sec breaks
then 3x max effort dips with 90 sec breaks

2x200m sprints, then 1.2 km run.

Dinner:
chicken and asparagus

[tibilicus]

Currently taking my annual 2 weeks off from the weight room, will post up my logs when I'm back working out again.

Part of the reason my 2 week break has come early is due to a weight accident mind. Was basically squatting about 380lbs. Fourth rep in crash mat slipped beneath me, weight fell off back bending back in horrible motion. Was very lucky not to be crushed to death. Pain felt mild so continued workout considering all I had left to do was bench (none back exercise). Anyway first couple of days mobility sucked in my lower back. I went to the doctors and they said because I was in no serious pain and still had pretty good mobility to only go back if it really hurt or didn't get better

Well, one week later it seems to be healing up nicely. Couldn't resist seeing how my body would handle squats so went down to the basement to check on the old power rack. yes, any self respecting man should have a weight room in his house. I've had mine now for 3 years, it's like my best friend. I focssed my eyes on the damaged bar, it bent on one side as one side hit the power rack pins before the other. Tried squatting the bar, it was fine. Loaded 60kg, was fine. Cranked it up to 100kg (220lbs) and my back felt a little tweaked, and there was a concerning sort of feeling of weakness. Did about 8 reps on that weight and decided to rack up, not due to any immediate pain, well nothing more than you would feel in your lower back from squats but because I didn't want to push it.

Normally I would squat 310lbs for working sets and work a 5x 5 program at around 380lbs. I doubt I'll dive straight back into that. This week is all light rehab as I feel around 80%, not quite 100% yet. That means no lifting but 20 minutes core work a day to tighten up the abs, glutes and work on hip flexibility which is key for strength training. Anyway, I'm not sure if I should bother paying to see a physio or the like as my pain is getting better and I'm only a student so cant afford that. My accident was pretty nasty and it caused me to initially collapse to the floor although I felt fine after a second. My main worry is the potential for it to be something serious like a slipped disc but again, the doc said I should be fine. As some of you may know, a slipped disc is pretty much game over for weight lifting. Has anyone here had a disc bulge or herniation. If so, can you describe the sensation? I also don't have scatia, only pain is a tight pain in my hamstring I've had form months but that's a recuring problem.

I'm also aware heavy compounds compress the spine naturally. I try to do 15 minutes spinal decompression work a day to compensate for this.

[SwordsMaster]

Hmmm. Generally I concur with the doctor, if there is no weird colours (blue or pale or red areas), or bulging, or pain, then you should be ok. Maybe use the time out to work on some flexibility for your back, will keep the muscles working and unloaded. Bring some bloodflow to the area, help it heal.

How are your shoulders/neck? Any tightness? Pain? the hamstring and back issues could be related - the nerves going in and through your leg might be getting pinched in your lower back. An easy way to see what is what is like this:

sit on edge of bed in a way that will allow you to both extend 1 leg straight (1 at a time) and bend to tough your toes without falling off the bed.
Now roll your neck forward, straight, and tuck your chin into your throat as much as possible.
Then continue rolling forward your upper back, then lower back, and then, just before you start bending forward as part of the rolling motion point the toes on your extended leg towards you and then continue tolling forward.

your looking to feel in your leg, neck, and back that as you near the end of the motion you feel a weird tightening feeling all the way up. that means the nerve is not pinched anywhere. If the feeling stops somewhere along the back, then compare with the other leg (it's very rare that both get pinched in the exact same way) and if one side feels significantly different you might want to get a second opinion. Again, with no pain, I wouldn't be worried about discs and such, but it might be a matter of getting a good massage to make sure everything is at the right places.

During my rugby days I had a few hamstring issues, and one or two ended up being lower back issues due to terrible sitting posture.

Also, pullups are great for decompression, and aligning back whatever is needed.

[tibilicus]

I tried what you suggested, felt no unusual pain so it all seems good. To be honest I'm not even sure the accident itself caused the pain. I was reviewing my training videos from the past 2 months with one of the guys I train with and he pointed out something I'd been missing completely. As we went through the videos of our sets, we both scribbled down notes, nothing out the ordinary. At the end of it he turned to me and asked, "so, did you see it?". I had no idea what he was on about. So we took a video of me squatting from week 2 and compared it to one at week 8. He told me to check my back. I was focused purely on my upper back. Again, my training buddy corrected me. "Look at your lower back". Ok, I thought. Week 2, seemed fine. Watched the week 8 video again. I threw up a little. My pelvis was tucking horribly under my spine as I pushed towards and past parallel.

In summary me neglecting my hip mobility and hamstring mobility exercises this cycle has led to rubbish flexibility. My hamstrings and hips had been feeling tight for weeks but I had just lifted through it not really stretching as I assumed it was doing no harm. Basically as my hip flexors and hamstrings have tightened my back has been progressively rounding week after week. So this week I'm doing 20 minutes of flexibility work a day on top of my core stability work which adds up to around 40 minutes of basically undoing the knots and tightness in that area. Before I squat again I'm going to hit up the reverse hypers and do some box squats to make sure my mobility is back to normal before squatting properly again. We've not gone through the deadlift videos yet but considering hamstrings are a major part of the deadlift I expect my form has deteriorated on those too.

Moral of the story- If you're going to squat and deadlift heavy 5 x a week like I've been doing you need to do a minimum of 10 minutes worth of mobility stretches a day. Period. If not, you'll end up like me.

[SwordsMaster]

Great, glad you could pin it down, man. Sometimes it's the familiar stuff we overlook. I got myself some serious tears in my back trying to deadlift too much and not checking posture properly. I have now the utmost respect for deadlifts and don't do anything less than 100%. Not that I deadlift much these days. Damn sweden, half the gyms dont have olympic bars. And of those that do the biggest disk is 15kg. And no padding on the floor. I did some deadlifts and some clean&presses the first week I was in the gym in this country, and ended up denting the floor by dropping the bar from over a foot high. They asked me not to come again. In the immortal words of Arnie: Girly men.

Been attempting some human flags today. Damn! If you think you have a strong core give them a lash. do a youtube search for 'human flag barstars'. Then weep.

[tibilicus]

Tried some more squats earlier, only with the bar so i could position myself properly. The hip flexibility stretches have worked wonder, getting to parallel again with no significant rounding in the lower back. MY current core and stabalising work is as follows. I've done it every day this week but may give it a break tomorrow depending on how I feel:

5 minutes of mobility stretches. Flexing out the hips, glutes and hamstrings.
6 minutes plank, 2 minutes front, two minute either side and another 2 minutes front.
2 x 20 oblique raises either side.
50 bicycle kicks
15 v sit ups
2 x 20 oblique raises
50 hands to heels
20 leg raises
20 spiderman press ups
2 minutes front plank

The idea is to do all of that, no rest. It normally takes me about 15 minutes. Once I'm back in the gym lifting weights next week I plan on adding that onto every session. I work a 4 day weight week and plan to add another day in for a Pilates class.

Also I've tried human flags in the past. My core, despite the amount I dead and squat sucks however. That's the reason I'm radically overhauling my program with more stability and core work. It isn't necessarily a case of having neglected my core its more the fact I'm not aware of my core when lifting and so lack an important aspect in many of the big compounds.

[SwordsMaster]

Well, here's today:

Breakfast: 2 actimels, 2 bananas, 200g of cooked ham

Then 2x double espressos

Lunch: Caesar salad with no sauce or croutons, double espresso

Snack: salmon/cream cheese bagel, double espresso

Exercise:
pyramid pullups, starting at 1, resting 10s per rep in previous set. did 10 sets, 56 reps total - first time in a while i break 50. Must have been the bagel.
Dips: 5x max effort, 90 sec rest, 62 reps total

2x200m sprints, 1.2km jog.

[SwordsMaster]

today:

3x max effort pushups with 3-4 min breaks first thing in the morning - total 128.
afternoon: 10x one armed pushups with my feet on a 30in box. 10x each arm.
5x max effort dips, 90 sec breaks in between - total 58
5x max effort pull ups, 90 sec breaks - total 42 (really bad, probably because i didn't do it at the beginning of the set, and my eating habits today have been insufficient)

5km jog - 28min, not a great pace, but i'm quite satisfied with the workout today.