7/15

I normally work out at night, but I fell asleep before I went and went early morning, so it's really 7/14. Eating decent (except for a large bag of chili&cheese flavored chips). Sleep sorta ok.

Decided to put arm work before squats from now on because of the elbow discomfort.

Press: 100x5, 100x6, 100x9 Vid: Set 3
- ridiculously easy without elbow pain and unfatigued core.

Squat: 285x5x3 Vid: Set 2, Set 3
- felt pretty tough
- concentrated on not holding the bar with my arms ever, but I had to really press down hard or the bar would slide back (not swole enough for a solid shelf ). Had some sore forearms from that.
- had mild elbow discomfort after, but nothing big

Tried to warm up for cleans, but I was way too tired at 115x3 and couldn't even move the plates around. So I had to interject with...

Lying Tricep Extensions: 35x5x3 (ez bar + 10s) Vid: Set 5
- felt easy, but wanted to start off light. Also was feeling some mild elbow discomfort from squats. Plus I know there will be DOMS.

Hang Cleans: 155x5x3, 155x5x2, 155x5x3
- felt much better after the LTE interjection
- failed backwards on the 4th set :O I knew the bar couldn't crush me though, so it was actually pretty fun.

Finished with supersetting 72.5lb wrist rollers, 55x12 db rows, 80x10 db side leans.

This took over 2 hours I think, which is pretty ridiculous. I'm going to drop rows/leans and just add "general metcon bull****" workout days when I hit 300lbs on the squat.

7/19

Back hasn't been feeling very good the past 2 days. Foam rolled before gym.

Bench Press: 165x5x3
- last rep very slow, microloading

Squat: 290x5x3

Lying Tricep Extensions: 40x5x2, 40x12
- jumping by 10 next, way too easy

Deadlift: 285x2 warmup, 325x0, 290x0
- deloading to 290 next

Gonna go take an ice bath.

http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/sh...postcount=1236

re: the clean bar path

I think deadlifting was a bad idea that day, my back felt pretty ****ty all last week. Not debilitatingly bad, but definitely not normal. And definitely not just muscle pain. But I have no insurance or money for a doctor, so just hoping it'll go away because the weights weren't really that big.

Ended up just ****ing off the whole week and didn't go to the gym at all, just did some backpack-pullups here and there.

7/28:

Back felt better, so I figured I'll go and just not do deadlifts.

Parallel Grip Pull-ups: bwx3, x7, bw+17.5x5x3
- did these before leaving

Press: 102.5x5x2, x7
- pretty much progress as usual.

Squat: 245x2, 295x1
- the press felt fine, so I was hoping to salvage my squat and still hit 300 this month
- back muscle kinda spazzed out and I knew trying to squat more was gonna be a bad idea

LTE: 45x5, x8, x15
- easy

Tried front squatting, but I could feel the back muscle even with the bar, so I stopped.

Then I did random machine isolation bull**** to get get some leg work in without involving the back:
Leg Curls: 120x5x2, x7
Leg Extensions: 180x12x2, 195x12
Hip Abductor: 220x10x2, x15
Hip Adductor: 190x12x2, x18

Supersetted them to try and mimic the squat somewhat. I had no idea what weights to use, but I probably should have moved up on all of them. Except the Adductor is 190 max for some reason.

So basically pretty ****ty.

Foam rolled after the workout, iced the back, then a hot soak (wasn't in the mood for an ice bath).

Couldn't sleep, so I decided to time a mile run. 6:47 which I think is surprising given I haven't done any serious cardio in over a year now. Had to lay down after though, but no nausea or faint feeling. The gym was right there, so:

Inverted Row: bw x5, x7x3
- looking for an exercise to add in since I won't be DLing for some time
- feet on a bench, which was surprisingly difficult. Mostly the last half inch, which felt like my back was already as tight as I could go, but I think that was mostly a form issue.

Seated Calf Raise: 135x12x3
- forgot to hit those yesterday, so why not.

Nice run. I kinda wanna know what I'd get now since I am the same with the no-cardio and for much longer than a year. I do random conditioning every now and then though.

re: inverted row. I do them with various grips and pull to different locations on my chest/upper abs, but I think it's a good move to try and mimic your bench press.

Severe groin doms, couldn't even walk with full stride. Went to the gym to bench and whatever else.

Bench: 167.5x3, very tough to even hold at the top
160x5, 160x4
- left oblique cramped on the 4th rep of last set, which messed up the 5th rep.

DB Bench: 40x7, 55x3, 70x3
- 70 was way harder than I expected.

Nobody at the gym, so I took the opportunity to learn to jump rope. Got up to 64 consecutive jumps. Did a few double unders. Failed a few triple unders attempts. Then felt like getting stupid.

Tried bosu ball jump rope, but couldn't commit to a real jump. Tried to resonate the ball and do a bosu-under, but couldn't time it right.

The groin doms subsided, so I tried med ball throw squats, with decent success. Then had to progress to bosu a few times. Then got stupid again:

Low-Bar Bosu Squats. Success with the bar. Tried to do 135, but self-preservation kicked in and I couldn't get my second foot on the bosu. Then I realized I can probably get seriously injured from this, so I gave up. I left the bosu in the squat rack though as a challenge for the next guy.

15x3 hyperextensions and went home. Forgot to do wrist rolls, oh well.

PS, googled "bosu jump rope" and that video is improper form. Obviously you gotta bosu with the ball side down on the ground, otherwise that just defeats the whole purpose of having the bosu.

Same with squats. ball-down is proper form.

I'm gonna stop SS and diet down to 10% bf. I'll lift heavy once a week (once my back feels fine), and do circuit training twice a week.

26
5'10"
178.5lbs
bf% ~15% (calipers, sheet says 14.6%)

Maintenance is ~3000 cal per day. I'm aiming for 2430 calories per day, and will adjust it as I lose weight. Keeping protein intake the same as maintenance, so 225g protein, 85g fat, 192g carbs. Tracking on livestrong and using a foodscale.

I've been on this for 2 days so far, and I'm about 100 cal per day over. I've definitely been feeling the deficit. I'll have to spread the meals out throughout the day instead of just eating 3 big meals.

Diet: managing to hit the calories, but undereating protein by about 40g/day. I just reupped on protein powder though, so hopefully won't be a problem.

New exercise routine also, to prep for the fencing season. Tuesday/Saturday circuits, Thursday strength day. Once I feel more comfortable with my back, I'll add cleans on Tuesday before the circuits.

	Week 1
med ball squat throws	30 sec
oblique crunches	20
fencing leg exercise	30 sec
med ball twists	24
jump rope	30 sec
db bench	30 sec
hyprextensions	20
db lunges	30 sec

Up to 30 sec rest between exercises. 2 circuits with 2 min breaks in between.

Tuesday started with 8lb squat throw, 10lb twists, 40lb db bench, 20lb db lunges (2 dumbbells). I'm doing fencing lunges, which are odd with dumbbells, and I might switch it up to not break the arm extension habit (supposed to lunge+arm extend in fencing, which is hard to do with a 20lb db).

I tried to keep the breaks short, especially going legs->core. I thought I could do a 3rd circuit, until the last few exercises. Then I kinda got nauseous and decided to stop after 2. It's nice to finish in 20 minutes for a change though.

8/04:

Diet ok. My sleep schedule before was like 10am-6pm, but tonight I took the opportunity to sleep at 12am and gonna try to parlay that into a normal 12-8am. Only got 4-5 hours tonight, and this kind of messed up my calorie tracking, so I'm 700 calories below target for Wednesday. But that's not actually the case, so overall the diet is fine. And I'll no longer have to track my breakfast at 7pm, lunch at 12am and dinner at 5am.

Thursday is strength day:
Press: 105x5x3, pretty tough
Front Squat: 215x5x2, x6
- I think I'm gonna keep doing these as they're lighter than low-bar and keep the back in better position
- I'm leaning forward a little on the way up, so I'm gonna switch hand positions to not mess up my wrists
Bench: 162.5x5x2, x4
- blah, felt pretty hard. Could be because of the press, I don't know
RDL: 185x5x2, 205x5
- afraid to go too heavy because of my back and unfamiliar exercise
- I think I'll stick to RDLs for now because I made DLs too quad-dominant imo

Wrist roller: 70x3, Pullups 10x2, elliptical 20min

Left elbow is fine, but left shoulder is acting up. It's been mildly bothering me for a week or so now, but nothing painful and isn't getting worse. Gonna roll and ice that bitch. Bitch doesn't get filtered. Bitch. (****? blah)

About to sleep. The first few days on the diet were tough, but in the past two days days I actually underate by like 1200 cals (that is ignoring the sleep adjustment) Obviously underate protein as well. I'll eat more pre-workout tomorrow and I'll just eat whenever I get hungry, even if that means going over a bit on the daily calories, as long as the running average per day is ok.

6/07:

Went over 400 cals yesterday, which partially makes up for the previous deficit. Will weigh in tomorrow morning. Today will be on target.

Circuit day:

	Week 1
med ball squat throws	30 sec
oblique crunches	20
fencing leg exercise	30 sec
med ball twists	24
jump rope	30 sec
db bench	30 sec
hyprextensions	20
db lunges	30 sec

Mostly going over a little on all of these, so it's closer to 40-45 seconds. Went for 3 circuits today. 15lb squat throws and twists, 50lb db bench, 30lb db lunges. 2 minute break before 2nd circuit with 10-15sec between exercises, 3 minute break before 3rd closer to 25-30sec between exercises.

Then 1 hour light elliptical while watching a show on my cellphone.

8/8: did 1 hour on elliptical watching a show again, going for 140bpm. Foam rolled and stretched.

8/9: down to 177lbs. Calipers somehow show 12% bf, which makes no sense since it's only been like 1.5 weeks and i only lost 2lbs. I'm guessing I'm just not measuring consistently. A bit under the target calories and protein, but not a whole lot.

Circuit training again, 3 circuits of the same routine and weights, but it felt a lot harder this time. I end up going for set reps rater than looking at the clock all the time, which ends up going closer to 40-45sec on the exercises.

Then wanted to do 1 hour on elliptical, but my phone died half way through, so I cut it short. 30 minutes, average 130bpm.

I wonder if I can do like 2-3 hours a day at 130bpm. I have maybe 20 hours worth of shows to get through, and this feels more productive than laying around in bed or on the couch.

8/10: 1 hour elliptical, 130bpm. Felt pretty hungry going to bed, even though I was 400 cals over (still on target globally from small previous undereatings).

8/11:

I think I'll need to do 2 strength days and 2 circuit days because my lifts all suck balls. I can then do Press and Bench on different days. My camera didn't charge properly and died right away, so no vids.

Press: 107.5x4, 105x5x2
- 105 felt pretty tough, so no progress

Front Squat: 220x5, 215x5x2
- I did the arms-cross to not put pressure on the wrists. On the 220, the bar went between my shoulder and bicep and I got pain in some weird bicep muscle I didn't know existed. It feels fine now, but hopefully I won't wake up to no arms tomorrow.
- final 215 was the best

Bench: 165x5, 165x2, 160x5
- again, form detriment + eating at deficit means I can't do crap

RDL: 205x5x2, 225x5
- these were super easy, so I jumped 20lbs on the final. Still super easy, but I'm kinda scared to go up any more without videos and previous back issues.

Glute Bridge: 135x12x3
- not sure where to start on these, so I kept jumping by 20 up to 135. Didn't feel that hard

Pull-ups: 25x5x3
- super-set with GBs, and I did some BWx10 throughout the day. 45x1

Pull-throughs: 7(?)x25, 8(?)x25, 9(?)x25
- the cable machine didn't actually have the bricks labeled, just numbers 1-20. The first 4 are smaller than the rest, so my guess is they're 10lbs, and the others 15lbs. There is a half-plate that's 6.5lbs, so that's how I'm gauging. I'll do online research on the machine.
- that would make the final set 115x25

ab wheel on knees: 10x3
- not full rom (can't go horizontal to ground), superset with pullthroughs to save time

The reason I started all the last stuff is I measured my pelvic tilt, and it's around 12-14°, which is pretty ridiculous and needs to be fixed. That at least explains the back pain. So now I propped up the home laptop on a box and going to use it standing up.

I went by these articles:
http://www.t-nation.com/free_online_..._force_couples
http://www.t-nation.com/free_online_...the_glute_myth
- phase 1 felt really easy, so I jumped to phase 2

I'll start doing the recommended stretches tomorrow.

I used this video for the guide, marked the two bones with a sharpie (had to extend the back one), took a photo, measured the angle in photoshop using back wall as horizontal reference.

Spoiler'd because it's probably pretty weird for work. Here is my anterior pelvic tilt if I just stand relaxed:


And here is if I consciously try to correct it:

So even that is pretty crappy