Workout Catch Up

Thursday Feb. 16th
A) Built to 195# High Bar Oly Back Squats 3 x 8 reps
+ 20 Reps @ 145# Just working on high volume low weight sets

B) Back Extensions w/ Iso Holds for 3 seconds at the top for 3 x 10

C) Depth Jumps from 20" Box to a 43" Box - 5x5

Friday Feb. 17th
A) Clean Grip Halting Deadlifts 5 x 3 - 295 x 3/305/310

B1) BB Bent Rows 3 x 8 @ 135#
B2) GHD Situps 3 x 15

C) Sled Pulls - Slow and consistent steps w/ 230# sled 4x40-50m

Monday Feb. 20th
Day 1 Week 1/9 Olympic Lifting with a 10 x 3 Squat Cycle - Emphasis here is to improve my Oly Lifts and Leg Strength

First week is very light and moderate
A) Snacth + Hang Power Snatch + Hang Snatch - 50 - 60% x 5 (95#)
B) Clean + Hang Power Clean + Jerk - 50 - 60% x 5 (135#)
C1) GHD Sit Ups x 15
C2) GH Raises x15 x 3

Wrist felt good here.. First time testing it in about a week. Also hit some golf balls today pain free which is very nice to see. Seems like it should be fine as long as I don't do anything stupid with it early. Still need to watch it and not load it up to heavy just yet.

Update Training Post

Back from a little Blogging Break.

After hearing I won the Paleo Challenge, I went out with Kristen and her friend and had a couple of pints of ice cream to celebrate.. That turned into a few more pints, chocolate bars and other junk food over the next 4 days.. Whatever.. not to upset about it.. Trying to learn moderation.. Not very successful just yet, but I'm working at it.

Training as sort of been all over the place right now..Took about a week off after a brutal leg workout left me hurting for days. Getting some good stuff done just need to find a goal. This got my thinking about my current situation and the situation I'll be faced with in NJ.. I will not be able to train at a crossfit gym in NJ, so I've decided to do an Olympic Lifting Cycle for the next 5 weeks.. I found this program off of www.cathletics.com and it looks to be just what I need.. Lots of Olympic Lifting and skill transfer moves like clean and snatch pulls, halting deadlifts etc..  A big squatting/leg strength emphasis (which I believe is a weak point for me)  - high bar back, front, overhead - some assistance work as well as pulling strength,core etc.  Looking to get stronger with my legs in this cycle and get as much Oly Lifting in as I can before the move. Then I'll reevaluate where I'm at and decided whether or not to do one more cycle or switch back over to crossfit football training. Once I'm up in NJ, I'll start my 5/3/1 strength cycle with a hypertrophy goal. I want to put on as much muscle as possible and then come back to Naples and really get back into Oly Lifts.. I just really enjoy it. I love how technical it is and how precise you need be with your form. Plus, I feel it has great transferability to my sport.

My last few days of training, like I said, have been all over the place. Lightweight Snatch and Clean n Jerk doubles, High bar back squats for 8-10 reps + 20 rep Back Squat finisher, some GHD work, sled pulls etc. Just doing some fun stuff really.. no focus, just wanted to get back in the gym after some time off and have fun. Trying to get ready for the Open.. I had a little mishap during a clean and the weight crashed down on my wrist while my elbow was caught on my knee.. So my arm had no where to go and my wrist just absorbed all that weight.. Hurt Like Hell. Its been sore for almost a week now. Haven't been able to do any pressing movements. Range of motion is getting a lot better, been icing it every day multiple times a day in an ice bucket. Going to run it through some easy tests this afternoon.. Front rack position, push ups, pull ups and some other light weight movements with a wrist flexion emphasis. We'll see what happens.. Today is the best its felt so I hope this is a sign of a quick recovery and not a lingering problem. Haven't been able to swing a golf club in a week which is a bigger problem than me not competing in the Open.

The Boy is Back in Town + Playing Catch Up

Back in Naples!!
It was a good summer up north in New Jersey.. I had some set backs with diet but managed to stay consistent with my training and eventually found a groove with my life. I had a bit of break through mentally. The past few weeks I haven't weighing and measuring anything, just eating good proportions and eating til full. I'm now a lot less neurotic about my food and feel like a big weight has been lifted off my shoulders!

Spent all of last week in Altoona at home, relaxing with family and friends. Stress levels were at an all time low and it felt great to just not worry about work or anything for that matter.. No schedule, No timeline, I could wake up and take my time, head to the gym whenever I felt like and stay as long as I wanted to. I was training at a Planet Fitness.. If you've never been to a Planet Fitness, they have no free Bar Bells and they have a Lunk Alarm. It goes off anytime you drop a weight or grunt/breath heavy.. That's all you need to now about this place. I hated it!! But I made the best of a bad situation and got some work in. Body Building stuff mostly.

On one of my last workouts in NJ, I was doing my deadlifts and felt a nervy pinch just about my right glute. It hurt like hell for about 4 day... even to sit down. Then I went for a 5 RM Squat in Altoona and felt that same nerve pinch again and then just yesterday in Naples I tried to squat again and I felt it in my warm ups. Not sure whats going on here but I don't think I'll be squatting or deadlifting for a while until this heals!

Yesterday
A1) Back Squat 5x5 - 135/155/175 pinch
A2) Shoulder Press 5x5 - 125/130/130/135/135
B1) KBS 1.5pd 21 x 3
B2) OH Plate Lunges 20 x 3 with 45# Plate
C) Slow GH Raises 3 x 15

Today
A1) Wtd Chin Ups Sup Grip 5x6-8
A2) Wtd Bar Dips 5x6-8
B1) Plyo Push Ups 4 x 12
B2) Unbroken Dbl Unders 4 x 25
C1) Anch. Wall Ball Toss Situps 4 x10
C2) FLR 4 x 30 seconds

Results
A1) 30# x 6/6/6/7/6
A2) 30# x 7/7/7/7/8
B1) Complete
B2) Complete
C1) 20# Ball Complete
C2) Complete Unbroken

Interesting Observation

So I had a very nice surprise waiting for me in the bathroom this morning. Not what your thinking!!! When I woke up and went to the mirror this morning I looked more lean and tighter than I've looked in the past 2 weeks. When I jumped on the scale another nice surprise.. Over night I had dropped 5 pounds, Like That! How, Why?

So I looked back and thought about everything I've been doing the past 15 days or so.. Low Carb, Low Calorie, Same training protocol, same meal schedule, same blocks.. and nothing. No change in mirror or on the scale.. And then after my training session on Tuesday I decided, with the OK from coach Anthony, to start to introduce a small amount or Post Workout Carbs. So I ate some sweet potato and whey protein right after my workout (about 30g of Carbs and Protein). That was it!! That's what my body needed. I just spoke to coach and told him what happened.. I said "I lost 5 lbs last night" and came right back with "I bet you looked leaner and tighter too!" Like he knew all along what was going to happen :) He went on to explain that I took in just the right amount of carbs that my muscles need to replenish glycogen and draw myself out. If I had done to much I would have looked puffy and bloated. Another nice thing was my recovery was 10 times better than it has been!

So I will just repeat the exact same thing for the next 15 days and see how I look and feel and then either increase or decrease if needed.

Back From the Dead

I've been on my death bed for the last 5 days or so.. Came down with a really nasty cold that sidelined me from any type of physical activity. However, it didn't seem to effect my appetite.. I ate all kinds of junk food... It's really all I wanted to eat - Peanut Butter and Jelly, Gluten Free Pizza, Ravioli's, Ice Cream, you name it and I ate it..I'm not proud of myself for letting go like that, but I did it for whatever reason and I don't want to do it again for a very long time.
I'm feeling a lot better today. I was able to get outside today and go for a little walk and soak up some sun. On my walk I came across this giant log so I flipped it end over end for about 100 yards or so.. Felt nice to move something around after being stuck in my bed for 120 hours. I will obviously play it by ear but I hope to try to get to the gym again tomorrow and move some light weight around.. at the very least, go on another walk or jog and try to get the heart rate up and break a little sweat..

Back on my regular meal plan

Meal 1 (12:30am)
5 Eggs Scrambled in Coconut Oil

Meal 2 (2:30am)
5oz Bison with Collard Greens and Garlic Ginger Vinaigrette

Meal 3 (5:30pm)
Tuna Steak with Asparagus and Avocado Slices

Macro Nutrient Breakdown based on Fitday.com
Calories: 1,482
Protein: 138g
Fat: 71g
Net Carbs: 18g

Times They are a Changing... again

OK Sorry folks...
You're all probably sick of these updates... Every week I'm trying something new with my diet.. For those of you who know me, you know I have the attention span of Oh hey look, a Butterfly!! Wait.. what was I talking about??

Anyways, after some thought and discussion with some friends, I've decided to just go back to what I know works for me! Nothing special here, no super loading carbs one day and then fasting for 12 days or anything like that. Its just simple Zone proportions (well, modified zone) meals. I'll probably throw some IF in there as well, but for the next 3 - 4 weeks, my diet will look like this. (this is strictly a leaning out process, I don't expect to get huge and grow muscle like crazy. I expect to shed weight!)

Zone Blocks
Protein: 20 - 21
Fat: 60
Carbs: less than 3 net
Calories: 1,650 - 1,700 a day

This Rx is from Robb Wolf's "47 Ways to Skin the Zone" piece. I did this way back when I first start Crossfitting and I was very lean. In fact, I was the lightest I had been since Jr. High School and yet stronger than ever! I took what Zone Rx'd me, which was 18 Blocks a day, and modified it... I increased protein, cut out 15 blocks of carbs and for every carb block I took out I added 3 blocks of fat. I will let this run its course until I hit my desired level of leanness, or until I start seeing noticeable drop offs in energy and workout performance.. After this I will increase to more Maintenance Levels of Calories and Macro nutrients (2,000/day, 1g protein/lb LBM, and start adding in more Carbs post workout only.)

To help keep me on track I will be taking pics every week. I think mirrors lie and I don't trust scales!! Then when I get back to Naples, I hope to have Anthony take some skin fold measurements just to add to the data. We have numbers from when I left and I don't think they have change much, if anything a few of them went the wrong way. Don't get me wrong, I'm definitely stronger now than I was when I left, but to be honest I would rather be lean.

So in the words of OPT.. Nothing Tastes as Good as Lean Feels!!
Onward

New Workouts

Here are the Three New Workouts that Coach Anthony has programmed for me for the next 3 Weeks.

Coaching notes: Plenty of volume here, play around with loads and try not to hit failure. Lactate production, but not failure. The key to success here is time under tension

Workout A

A1: DB Step Ups @ 20X1; 4 X 10-12; rest 60 sec.
A2: Pull Ups @ 3111; 4 X 10; rest 60 sec.

B1: Lunges  3 X 12 Fast; rest 45 sec.
B2: Inc. DB Bench @ 4111; 3 X 10-12; rest 45 sec.

C1: Straight leg Dead lift @ 4010; 3 x 10; rest 45 sec.
C2: BB Shldr. press @ 3111; 3 X 10-12; rest 45 sec.

D1: seated DB Hammer Curl @ 4111; 2 X 10-12; rest 30 sec.
D2: Standing French press @ 4222; 2 X 10-12 ; rest 30 sec.

Workout B

A1: Good Morn. @ 3111; 4 X 10-12; rest 60 sec.
A2: Clap Push Up; 4 X 10; rest 45 sec.

B1: Leg Press @ 4010; 3 X 12-15; rest 60 sec.
B2: seated cable row to belly @ 30X2; 3 X 10-12; rest 45 sec.

C1: BB Curl @ 31X1; 2 X 10-12; rest 45 sec.
C2: Lying DB tricep ext. @ 41X1; 2 X 10-12; rest 30 sec.


Workout C
A1: Front Squat @ 40X1; 4 X 10-12; rest 60 sec.
A2: Bench press @ 40X1; 4 X 10-12; rest 60 sec.

B1: Lunge; 4 X 12-15; rest 60 sec.
B2: BB Row @ 3111; 3 X 10-12; rest 60 sec.

C2:Reverse BB Curl @ 2121; 2 X 12-15; rest 30 sec.
C2: Tricep press down supinated @ 3121; 2 X 12-15; rest 30 sec.

Just a few Updates

So some observations I've been making since going really LOW Carb.. First couple days were nothing.. I usually eat low carb as it is and like to think I am burning fat as my primary fuel.. So I didn't expect a rough transition to 30g of Carbs or less.. It was pretty seamless. Had great energy in my workouts.. Was up and ready for the entire day, never got tired near the end of my work day and sleep was great. Fast forward to today.. Sleep the last few nights have been rough.. waking up 3 or 4 times in the middle of the night, but I when I woke up for my workouts I felt rested.. maybe a little sleepy. But once I got that C4 in my body I was up and ready to go.. Today was the first day I noticed a lack of energy near the end of my day.. Tired, grumpy, no patience.. took everything in me to stay positive and focused in my lesson this afternoon. This was to be expected though so I'm not really that surprised.

Now for the fun stuff!!

-My Modified Ultimate Diet 2.0-

This diet plan is based off of Lyle McDonald's book the Ultimate Diet 2.0
Great read!
I outlined this in a previous post but we had to make some small modifications to match up with my current training program. Not to sure what Day I will actually start this diet, the book calls for the carb load to be on Saturday since you will be tired and groggy.. but the weekend is where I need to ON. So I will most likely carb load on Sunday and Monday.
The Schedule would something like this:

WEEK 1 & 3
Day 1

Diet: Low Carb (around 10% lower than maintenance cals) 

Workout: A

Day 2 

Diet: Low Carb (around 10% lower than maintenance cals) 

Workout B

Day 3

Rest or long easy aerobic base (30-60m below 125bpm) 

Day 4 

Diet: AM Low Carb, PM (after workout) 150-200g Carbs post until bedtime (Pre workout do 30-50g Cho with 30-50g PRO)

Workout: A (modified - increase reps by 20% at lighter weights to achieve complete glycogen depletion)

Day 5 

Diet: High Carb (around 800-1000g) with about bodyweight grams in protein, and around 40g of fat total

Workout: Rest

Day 6 

Diet: bodyweight grams in protein and carbs, about 10% above maintenance cals. To get there, fat as needed

Workout: A

Day 7

 Diet: Same as Saturday during the day. Around 5 pm back to low carb

Workout: Rest

WEEK 2 & 4

Exactly the same except the switch all the workouts up (so for A sub B and vice versa). This gives me the chance when I'm fully Glycogen replenished to train both A and B workouts.

I will have a more detailed list later giving exact numbers that I look to hit on these days.. as well as a breakdown in the carbs I will be eating and when i.e. Fructose, Sucrose and Glucose. This is very important.. You would think this carb load is time when I get to eat any and everything, but its not that at all. I can only eat about 40g or less of fat for these days.. which means none of that good stuff like Almond Butter, Pizza, Ice Cream etc.. so food choices are very important to make sure I get the results I'm looking for here and don't just get fat!

Stay Tuned

Phase 2

So it's been 16 Days since I started Phase 1 of my Nutrition Experiment with Nathan. Some things I've started to notice.. I have been retaining a lot of water, It looks like I am holding onto some fat in my midsection, and I have actually gained about 8lbs in last few days.. So we have decided to switch it up a bit and make some changes to my Nutrient Timing and Macro Nutrient Values. For the next 2 weeks I will be cutting all starchy carbs from my diet unless I do some sort of Metcon Workout. I will looking to eat around 50 - 60g Net Carbs everyday, drop Protein down from 180g to 160g and supplement fat to reach my Daily Calorie maintenance number of 2,000kcals/day.

I will also be cutting out the Creatine Monohydrate and coffee from my daily routine. I will add in its place, Cellucor C4 Extreme. Just playing with some different forms of pre - workout  supplements and see how my body reacts.. In the past, when I was at my leanest, I was doing something similar with a different Cellucor Product. Hopefully this along with cutting carbs will help with the water retention problem.. And I mean it when I say it was a problem.. I would come home from work and take my socks off and there would be a 1/2" indent in my legs.

After this 2 week phase is up we are going to implement Depletion Phase where I will only consume around 30g of Net Carbs for about 10 Days. Then we will go right into a Modified Ultimate Diet 2 Program (Lyle McDonald) Just read his Ebook on the UD2 and it is very very interesting the way he has the week set up and the timing of certain foods. I actually can not wait to get started with this phase. I just know how horrible this depletion phase is going to suck! So the sooner I can get through that the better. Stay tuned for updates!!

Training and Diet Update

Changes are on the Horizon

 Anthony has been reading up on the Poliquin method of Hypertrophy. This is a Body Building style of training with the main goal to get cut! Lean Muscle Mass and Definition. Which is exactly what I'm looking for at the moment. As I said in a previous post, my goals aren't to go to the games.. Its to look and feel good. I've never been that muscle guy and I've never had a six pack. This style of training should help me get to these immediate goals much faster!

 I also decided to reach out for a little more help with my diet and lifestyle.. For this I got in touch with Nathan Holiday and he agreed to help guide me through this process. We spoke yesterday for about an hour or so; I went through my short history of training programs, lifestyle and diets and after some more background we came up with a plan.. Since I am doing this Body Building, Hypertrophy Training, we decided that a Body Building style of eating was in order. The goal is to take advantage of that post wod window and dump in some Carbs. Then the rest of my meals are going to be Proteins and Fat with some Greens on the side. When Nathan saw my food journal, he was shocked at the total number of calories I was eating on a daily basis.. He said it was enough to fuel a 5'5" Female. So he said first thing we are going to do is bump that up to 2,000 on Training days and around 1,600+ on rest days. He also said that I need to eat more frequently so I will try to split up my total calories into about 5 or 6 meals a day. My daily macro nutrient breakdown looks like this.. Training days - Protein - 180+, Carbs - 60-80g Post Wod Starch, 1 Hour later 30g Starch Carbs, the rest of the day Veggies only, Fat - supplement my fats as needed to hit my daily caloric recommendations. There is a reason that body builders look the way they do, Genetics, Steroids, and Diet.. and since I don't have the Genetics and I haven't decided to do steroids at the moment:).. It looks like Diet is the next best thing.. Even if you look at the Natural Body Builders, they eat just like this. So this stuff is proven.. It might not be very Paleo or in the Robb Wolf template, but if it works for me then that is all that matters!! One last thing that Nathan told me at the end of our conversation was not to worry about gaining fat.. This is an experiment and if I do start to put on body fat quickly, it can come off just as fast. That statement has really helped ease my mind because I gotta say, a lot of this stuff goes against everything I thought I knew about losing body fat and I was very hesitant about going this direction. But what I was doing wasn't working, and when I looked back at my OPT Big Dawg days, this is very similar to way I was eating then. So here we go!