Right now I am just going to keep with my workout until I stall. I think I am close to that already from what I was doing in December. I am currently reading up on Advanced Novice/Intermediate type workouts and will see how I do on them once I can no longer do SS. I may end up just needing to cut down on how many sets I do (maybe 3 ->2). Not really sure yet.

Diet: Right now just cutting out (down) the crap I eat (donuts, baked goods, etc.). Seems to be helping me lose the water weight right now. I am thinking of doing this for January to get in the habit of eating the right foods, with maybe 1 meal or day a week for cheats. At the end of January I will re-evaluate where I am at. If it seems like my BF issues aren't improving (probably won't be since I am not a special snowflake) I will probably start at a 500 deficit and see how it goes from there. This is when I will start tracking food religiously, which I hate doing. I would like to be ~20% or so for weigh ins in April without doing a dehydration routine. For these BF% measurements it is just waist - neck measurements and go to a chart (good old CG). To get to 20% I will need to lose about 2" in my waist. Not sure if this is doable w/out a big deficit/dehydration, but will see how it goes. This is my last weigh in unless I decide to go into the reserves, so I'm not too sure what my end goals WRT weight/BF% are. I know I posted a goal of 15% BF in the 2011 goals, but right now it is just a # to me that I will change as I see fit.

As you can see I'm not really sure and tend to change my mind too much (overthink things?). All I really want right now is to lose enough around my middle so I don't have to stress about my daily fluctuations come April without losing too much of the little bit of strength I have gained. This is probably the first time I am planning out ~4 months in advance instead of waiting to the week before I weigh in and just dehydrate myself. I am looking through other weight loss logs here and trying to gather what works for them and then try to apply it to me. I figure the next 3 weeks will give me enough time to try and decide what to do to get down 2" in the waist. I have had good results by cutting carbs out (except veggies and fruit) to get my weight down. Unfortunately I just didn't have the drive/will power to stick with it. I may go this route when I re-evaluate my future at the end of January. And yes, I have read the bodyrecomp website and will refer to it at the end of January.

Could be tendonosis, tendonitis or muscle adhesions pulling on it. A lot of times you'll find muscle adhesions causing pain in areas other than right where the adhesions are, and they frequently cause irritation in tendons.

fyi - Tendonitis & tendonosis are two very different things and should be treated differently.

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/drryan13.htm

Drink more water imo. I think for the dizziness to happen once in a while is not a big deal, but I'm guessing if its happening frequently, you're dehydrated.

skeletor,

you can probably try your approach for the dieting first and evaluate after a while and up the deficit if neeed. If worst comes to worst you can do a PSMF if you're too close to the BF measurement date and too far away from your goals.

I think the program I laid out in my log would be a very nice fit for you.

Cha: Possibly it is dehydration. I drank way more water today than I have any other workout. I usually am not thirsty until the end of a workout, but today I needed it from the beginning. I am still thirsty/drinking now and not sure why. I am not intentionally doing it and haven't drank alcohol since New Years. I will make sure I drink more water before working out on Monday and see how that goes.

SM: I saw your log after I posted here. I may end up stealing it, as I posted over there.

Monday's workout
Squat: 320 x 5 x 3
Press: 155 x 5 x 3
Row: 170 x 5 x 3
Box Jumps

Ended up working out at the local gym. Workout was after dinner, which was weird for me. Messed up my sleep since I didn't want to fall asleep after the workout, which is making me tired today.

Not sure what was going on but my workout went really quick yesterday. Squats were good, press was tough again, and rows were fine. Finished my workout and had some time to kill (wife and BIL were still attacking the cardio machines) so I decided to mess around with some box jumps. Not sure how tall the box is, but was at the top of my kneecap (roughly). I will try and get a measurement next time I go there. Did 10 x 1 bodyweight, then 5 x 1 + 25lbs, and finally 5 x 1 bodyweight single leg - 1 set each leg. Didn't want to push it too much on the jumps so my ankle wouldn't kill me today. Actually have 0 issues today with my ankle. All jumps went well, except for single leg right leg jumps. That is the ankle that had surgery a few years ago (08?) and isn't in the best condition. I am also used to single leg jumping with my left from playing basketball. First 3 reps were ugly and I barely got my foot onto the box. Last 2 were fine and I got up without any issues. I think I will try to do these more often to improve my jumping ability. May need to look into getting a vest since it was awkward trying to jump holding a 25lb weight.

Got to see a bunch of bro workouts yesterday. Looked like a bunch of high schoolers in the weight section. I got lucky and the kid doing shrugs in the only squat rack finished right when I finished my warmup. Got to see 2 kids doing massive bicep curl negatives with 30lb dumbbells. It was funny to see. They setup an incline bench so they could check themselves out in the mirror, grabbed a 30lb dumbbell and went to town. They didn't even try to curl it up, they would use the non-working arm to help get the weight up and then slowly let it down, and in between sets they flexed in the mirror. Finished my workout to have another guy ask me if I was done with the rack. Thought we was going to squat after seeing him do a bunch of pullups only to see him use it for barbell curls.

Question: When doing kettlebell swings, is it normal to stop the kettlebell with arms at a 90 angle? I haven't done much with kettlebells since CF, but from what I remember the swing would end with arms straight up. There were 3 guys doing them yesterday at the gym but were stopping with arms straight out not straight up. Is that useful? For clarification, this is a 2 arm KB swing. Seemed to do about 10 reps and then take a break. Unknown weights, but they weren't very big (16lbs?).

Tonight is going to suck. I was looking forward to having a small birthday celebration for my now 11 year old daughter (middle of 3 and today is her birthday). Just going to be our family and our closest family/friends here, her party with friends is in a couple weekends. That family/friend is a friend of our oldest daughter, they have 2 kids a daughter 13 yrs old and a son that is ~17. They have been like a 2nd (maybe 3rd since she has a biological father/family) family for our oldest daughter.

Just got a call from my wife that the father, Kenny, died last night of a heart attack. He was in his mid 40s. He was my closest friend down here in VA and was one of the best guys I have ever known. Our 11 year old was looking forward to him coming by for dinner tonight, but that isn't going to happen. Wife is heading to the middle school to pick up our oldest to bring her over and be with their daughter. Unfortunately my wife will be the one breaking the news to the younger 2 girls when they get home from school today (I won't be home until after they get home).

In short, tonight is going to suck and will probably be the worst birthday for our 11 year old.

Words from stangers on the internet don't really matter too much, but condolences and hope you guys all come through this ordeal ok. So early to go

Very sorry to hear.

Thanks guys.

Just got back from the wake/viewing and am going to the funeral tomorrow. My wife is still in the hospital from her surgery yesterday and we're not sure when she will come home.

Time for a confession/appology (TLDR, cliffs at bottom): No, this isn't a fake log nor have I been trolling on another account. But I have failed all of you H&F members. Backtrack to Tuesday the 4th. My brother-in-law came into town, with his daughter, from Kodiak, AK. We had some free passes for our gym and he was going with my wife last week. He went up to PA Friday morning to Monday afternoon.

He went to the gym with my wife and I on Monday night. I stayed in a corner of the freeweight area where the squat rack is, so I didn't get to see much of his workout. He just wanted to "tone" and quickly loose fat, so his plan was to do cardio. From what he said later he did some chest work. I didn't see him over in the freeweight area so maybe on the machines. I talked to him about my workouts (SS) and he saw the book at the house. Tried to explain to him about the thought process behind it and what it does for your body. He didn't really listen and wanted to just keep going.

While I was at work on Tuesday my wife dropped him off at the gym, where he worked out for 2 hours. Talking to him that night he said he did cardio. We were planning on going to the gym Wednesday night together, but it kept getting pushed back due to a bunch of things (wife's surgery, oldest daughter getting braces, SIB*, etc.). We got back from him saying bye to Sarah (he flew out this morning) about 2030. He asked if I wanted to go to the gym, but I said I wanted to check on the kids. I wanted to make sure my youngest 2 were in bed and that his kid (3) was still asleep. I didn't want to go to the gym 1.5-2 hours, leaving my oldest to take care of the 3 year old when she needs to get some sleep.

She was awake, so I told him I would drop him off and I would stay with his daughter so he could workout. He declined saying he was way too sore from working out on Tuesday and was just gonna go so I didn't have to go by myself (I was just going for his benefit since I had a rough day and just didn't have the WIM to go). He started saying his hips were really sore from his leg workout on Tuesday. I thought it was just cardio, but he said he did some leg work as well. I know it was just machines and couldn't figure out how he got his hips worked out that bad. He finally confessed that he used the yes/no machines in his leg workout.

For this I have failed you in many ways. I failed by not getting through to him about a better workout (granted, I didn't have much time to work with). I have failed you by not seeing his workout on Monday to add to the general gym observations thread. And I have really failed you in that I did not get video of him using the yes/no machines. Seriously I have never seen a dude use them, so this would have made my day. I did not fail you in the fact that I didn't let him off the hook for using the yes/no machines. I am sorry for my failures and will be more prepared next time he comes into town.

Cliffs: Brother-in-law in town, used our gym, confessed to using yes/no machines, and I failed in getting video of such an event.

In workout news: I don't know when I will get back to the gym. Was going to go tomorrow while the kids are at school, but that is not going to happen. Going to see the wife after kids go to school and then getting their clothes ready for the funeral which is at 1400. My wife won't be able to take care of the kids for a while and my oldest is going to her father's for the weekend (she usually babysits while I go to the gym). Hopefully I will be able to get in this weekend, but I have no clue if it is feasible or not yet. My goals for January are shot, but I will keep trying to get stronger as my schedule permits.

*Sand In Box

Doing KB swings like that is fine - thats how I do them as a matter of fact. 16 lbs, lol though....

+1


Regarding your last post - the only thing you failed on was getting video imo. The rest - people are going to do what they are going to do, no matter how right you are. Dont sweat it.

And take care of life for the time being. Get back to working out when your schedule permits. It sounds like you have some serious stuff to take care of.

I'm hoping to hit the local gym tomorrow. Wife seems to be recovering well and has an appointment to get the staples removed (guessing 25-30 staples, will find out real count tomorrow). Since the kids should be at school tomorrow (dependent on wx) I am hoping to hit the gym in the afternoon prior to the kids getting home. Plan is to redo last 2 workouts this week and add weight starting next week.

Looking forward to working out tomorrow. Temp is supposed to get up to 49 tomorrow. Will reward my workout with a cigar and some steaks on the grill.

No workout today. As always in cases concerning surgeries, my wife's DR appointment did not go as planned. Yes, it was 30 staples. Unfortunately as they were removing the last few, it opened and started bleeding causing a lot of pain. Was busy today just making sure she was OK. Still had my cigar and steaks though. Thinking of sending her off to bed tonight in my Driveline T to aid in recovery. Not sure if she will buy into it, so I may just need to drape it over her when she falls asleep.

:/

Hope all goes well. Should have ordered another hoodie to send you.

Thanks, not sure if it would have helped.

Haven't been to the gym yet, too much going on at home still. Went to change out the dressing today (first time I was going to do it) and almost threw up. It is a lot worse than the last surgery. We have home health care coming in from now on and possibly going to see wound care specialist in the near future. That is the recommendation from the nurse who is doing the wound care now. I hope none of you guys have to go through this crap either. It is not fun.

Possibly (hopefully) hit the gym next week.

As you can tell, that didn't happen. Getting up at 0500 tomorrow and going to the gym before the kids get up. Sick of not getting to the gym.

Wife is doing ok, but isn't out of the woods yet. Looks like it will take another few weeks to get it all healed up. Good thing is she should be able to take care of herself starting next week (no daily dressing changes), so I will be back at work and on a good workout schedule while there. I have been telecommuting the past few weeks and need to get back into the office. I'm lucky my boss is cool like that though.

Not going to wear the driveline T until I get up to my previous PRs, which will probably be the time I switch up my programming.

Today's workout
Squat: 265 x 5 x 3
Bench: 210 x 5 x 3
DL: 355 x 5 x 1

Got to the gym at 0530 and back home by 0700. Picked a fairly conservative squat # to see how things are going. Weight was super easy, but I'm glad I picked a low weight. My right ankle seems to have gotten tight since I have been off for about a month. Kind of hurt at the bottom the first work set. Decided to do "pause reps" (not sure if that is the right term) and paused for a couple seconds at the bottom to let it stretch it out for the last 2 sets. Bench was tough, but doable. Should be able to get up to 230 fairly easily with 5 lb increases. DL sucked. I felt weak doing them, mostly in my grip. Guessing it is just due to not working out for a while. We'll see on Monday, my next DL day. Overall the workout went well and am glad I got up early for this.

Observations: Got there and saw 2 guys working out, both with straps on. They were at the front desk, so I thought I might have some competion getting the squat rack. Nope, they were doing work on the machines. Saw them doing mostly pulling machines and not really using the straps. Looked like the straps were there mostly being used as wraps. They would tighten them down prior to starting their set, leave the part you wrap around the bar dangling during the set, and then loosen them up. Got a laugh when they went to do pullups. Guy 1 did about 3 "reps" before he needed a help from his buddy who assisted him the rest of the way. Reps are in quotes here since the top position was top of head just under the bar. Guy 2 was a little better, with his reps about nose even with bar and did his unassisted although he did strap himself into the pullup bar. Guess his grip isn't that good. Sad things with these guys: both seem to be in good shape and Guy 1 worked at the gym. Not sure if he is a trainer, but he was manning the desk when I left. Didn't look like he was in trainer mode with this guy, more like workout partners.

During my bike warmup session I got to see a trainer run her client through the yes/no machines. First time I have seen anyone use them, but at least it was a girl unlike my brother in law.

Also got to see a dude doing power clean and push press workout. Form didn't look that great, but I don't do them so I can't really say. I will comment on what I know isn't good. First rep was power clean and push press from the ground. From then on he did it from the hang position. He would lower the bar to the hang position, catch his breath, then would do a touch and go power clean into a push press. Not sure how many reps or sets he did, but he did them while I did my DL warmups and worksets. Looked like he maxed at 135, but he did 135 for a while. First time I have seen some do any PCs or standing barbell presses there (and he was doing them in one exercise). Was also the first time I heard someone really grunt during a workout, which he did every rep.

Also seems like a fairly busy time. I have been there at 0900, 2100, and now at 0530. The only time I have seen more people in the gym was at the 0900 time due to a class being run then. If you remove the participants from the class from the gym population, there were more at 0530-0700 than at 0900.

I'm glad I workout in the morning becuase this spring I'm going to be busy after work. For those that don't know, I have 3 girls (13, 11, 8). My oldest 2 told me yesterday that they both would like to play soccer. My youngest told me she wants to play baseball. Hopefully they will have practices on different nights so I can help each of them out. There will probably be overlapping of games, so it will be hard to figure out which ones I go to and which ones my wife goes to.

Everything will be better once they're in their late teens.




Oh wait...

At least the oldest will be able to drive in a couple years (she turns 14 in May).

As for guys stopping by: I will hopefully be strong enough to intimidate all who stop by. For those I'm not intimidating enough I have a stock of guns to help me out!

The hallway seems like a good spot to keep your gun cabinets.

I was thinking of keeping one in a holster the whole time I am home, in plain view. I am thinking of it being my 44 mag.

I dated a girl once whose dad answered the door trying to look menacing. He was brandishing a flute.

Good plan ex-skeletor


...a flute? The thought process behind that one is rather...interesting.

Today's workout
Squat: 305 x 5 x 3
Press: 150 x 5 x 3
Row: 160 x 5 x 3


Is it bad that the squat workout felt more like a cardio workout than a weight workout? I guess I didn't give myself enough time between sets and just went all out on the sets. I was winded by the time I finished, but the weight felt light. Guess I didn't lose too much strength over the last month. Press was tough. I barely got up the last 2 reps. Think I picked too high of a weight on that one. Rows were easy.

No good observations today, just the typical bro-workouts.

BPS: Hopefully it wasn't a skin flute. Otherwise that might be the only thing the guy had to beat you with. Sad, but it is true that there are guys out there whose flute is the toughest thing they have.

Today's workout
Squat: 275 x 5 x 3
Bench: 215 x 5 x 3
DL: 365 x 5 x 1

Weight: 229.2

Squat was easy, as planned. Bench sucked. I barely got my last rep up. I think I need to start doing assistance work again. I didn't do any the last couple workouts since I am getting back into the groove, but that needs to stop so I don't feel weak. DL was great today. I like DLs in my work gym so much better than at the local gym. I think it is the bars that they have at the work gym.

Observations: Not really anthing going on today. 2 things though: Guy who never used to rack his weights actually did so today after his bench workout. I was surprised. A different guy (haven't seen him in the gym before) was doing bench while I was squatting. I kept my eye on him during his sets. Weight wasn't high (185) since he looked in good shape, but he was using suicide grip. I was close enough to get over there if I saw him struggling, but wouldn't have been any use if his grip slipped.

Thoughts: Damn I'm fat. I didn't keep to my restricted intake while at home. I think most of it was due to stress. Back to the grind now that I know my weight. Goal is to reduce my gut circumference. My weight is usually a good indicator of where I am at. I think down to about 215 would be good, but we'll see (weigh ins are in April).