Begin Phase V
Phase V begins literally in the middle of my vacation/tour. I haven’t had many opportunities to train as I’m used to, however I have kept to some of my regular practices, such as walking. Whenever I can get into a pool I do so, but not to swim, aqua-cises, just trying to come up with new stuff and to experience the old stuff. So here we go…
81212 (Sunday #55) Chula Vista – Good time with Family. No training.
81312 (Monday #56) AM in Miami, no training today.
81412 (Tuesday #57) Miami – Aqua workout.. good cardio session maybe 35-40 minutes:
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| This is my new inspiration pic. Reminding me how far I am away from my goals, and what I need to do to get there. I should post this on my wall in case I ever not feel like training! UGH! |
Awesome workout in the apt gym, cardio + yoga stretch, about 90 mins or more.
81512 (Wednesday #58) Miami – Slept too long, didn’t eat soon enough, body sluggish. Must stop this!!! Filling up on carbs for wake up meal.
Awesome training in apt gym, moving some weight, legs, shoulders, kbox workout, stretch. 60 mins + 15 for stretching.
Bowling with the fam-bam…
81612 (Thursday #59) Miami Airport… travel day. No training today.
81712 (Friday #60) Road trip from Newark, NJ (airport) to Montreal… drive all night in by sunrise. Walked around the city, drank and ate at night. Did we discover the dark & story spot tonight?
81812 (Saturday #61) Montreal, Quebec, Canada – 9 hrs sleep. I’m being very decadent in terms of not training. I’m looking forward to getting back to it. I haven’t made any fitness videos this whole trip. We climbed Mt Royal today. That was a great workout, plus we walked around the city. Walking is great exercise. I feel so much better. Going up those steps winded me, but I made it. I need to add steps exercises to the park work.
81912 (Sunday #62) Montreal – It’s time to step up my fitness lifestyle. If I can start my day with 20-40 mins of cardio that would probably help. I also want to do a fitness vacation once a year. MAKE THIS HAPPEN!!
82012 (Monday #63) Leaving Canada today, Brooklyn then Philly. Spent the day in Brooklyn and went out drinking with Po.
82112 (Tuesday #64) Philadelphia… 184.5 15.5BF 59 H2O – No weight gain?!? How amazing is that?! I feel like I have a head start. I thought I’d have vacation weight to lose.
82212 (Wednesday #65) – Work
I returned to Philly yesterday and to my amazement, after about 14 days of no supplements, an on-the-road diet, sporadic exercise, more alcohol consumption that usual – in short being completely out of my routine, the scale records no increase in weight. I was 184.5 when I left, and when I came back. I’d allowed myself, what was it? 4-6 lbs, I think… that I’d hoped I didn’t have to use. At one point I thought I was up by 8 lbs., maybe I was, I wasn’t weighing myself on the road. I have since discovered that this no weight gain was a hoax. Even if I didn't actually get heavier certain pants are tighter and I look fatter. Two of the 5 ways I evaluate myself - warning signs...
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| "Before" pix should look miserable. So here's grumpy fat man after doing insanity wake ups for 3 days. I think the fitness fall back is the diet. Most people (I think) don't follow the prescribed fitness plan to the letter, which is why their results vary. Insanity is my wake up session, I usually do something later in the day. Let's see what happens. |
Anyway, by the time you read this I will have filled in all or most of the days I was on the road.
I did get one shock – despite seeing some definition in my belly, it’s still freekin big!! Yeah there is less flab than before and the BF% is lower, but I’m still very far from my six-pack fantasy (goal). So I’m going to have to get solid with the diet thing. I may just have to try the paleo strategy, force myself to open my day with 30-40 minutes of cardio, a la my version of Insanity, park workout and Zombie Combat Training… I may even have to go so far as writing down what I eat from minute to minute, planning meals – which probably won’t be so bad once I get used to it.
One thing that’s held me back I think is worrying about over-training. That stays in the back of my mind and I think I may use it as an excuse. I believe I can push myself a bit harder. When I do I get a rush – I want to condition myself to go for that rush, and make the rush tougher to reach.
Age, is that “dinosaur in the room” (ha ha) – quite a few of my friends keep bringing it up… theirs not mine. Nonetheless that kind of talk has a way of seeping into the psyche (mine) and I may have to reluctantly admit that my years are a tough hurdle to clear. This, to me is almost like giving up, and now that I think about it, I think of Frank (heading towards 62) and he’s still doing his thing, just differently than he did it in the past. Whew – so there – it’s been approached, dealt with and vanquished!! Good thing for mentors, even unofficial ones.
Today (early AM) I broke out the straps and the dumbbells. It’s my first night back on the graveyard shift so I may have trouble re-acclimating to being up all night, but I think the exercise will help with that. Later today, lifting at the Y, shopping for fruit and meat and getting back into the routine.
Did a bit of work at work, nothing too major, focused more on stretching out this body especially the upper back and neck.
Wake 185 19.5 56% 6hrs 80`
Insanity Plyo Training 25 of 43 mins – yeah that shish is tough. Stretch – Goal move fast & accurately.
Faux Meta (works better) b4 bed: Turkey burgers & blueberries, not much food in the house yet.
TO THE Y for POWER DAY!!
* Deadlifts to 315 lbs. str8 legs lo-reps.
* Leg press/calf press 450 tops.
* Shin flex 2 short sets, shoes too thin.
* Leg curls 210 max 2 sets of 3!! Yeah getting stronger hammies!! Need those forpower.
* Leg X singles took a while to warm up.. started light (90) then repped up to 135. Would be nice to hit 200 lbs single leg extensions.
First day of “new” diet is actually a previous eating style, which I thought would gain me weight, but the opposite happened, so this diet won’t be so “new”.
2 protein drinks (40g: 160 kcal) Turkey burger (19g 76 kcal) plus whatever else. Mainly protein fat, little carbs but they sneak in. No starch tho. I’m not gonna go crazy with it. Whatever carbs are in the trail mix and fruit I’ll deal with.
82312 (Thursday #66) AM Work
Not much energy to do much. Feeling the results of Power Leg Day. A deadlift feel I haven’t had in a while. I pushed it!! Got more range of motion (ROM) in the leg press. Hips, groin opening and getting more flexibility (stretches working, finally!) Elim – good adjusting…
When I wake up Insanity & Park work…
Wake: 185.5 27 of 43 mins Insanity Plyo. Protein drink, chicken thighs etc. I’m sore! Wondering if I should go to the park. It’s getting late. Maybe just a walk.
43 mins in the park.. good but not strong. Ropes. Getting better with assisted pistols. Crab push ups are better, less pain in the forearms (not acupuncture but rest). Didn’t have much energy but I think I can change that – JUST DON’T STOP!!!
82412 (Friday #67) AM – work.
Just going to do some shoulder and arm w/ 10 lb dbs. Maybe stretch and slow move. Then lift at the Y – wonder how the legs will feel later.
Squats – Chest – Maybe arms…
In – 188… wake up 186 – final tally 184.5. 28 of 43 mins Insanity. Just slightly further, but I felt stronger. The body made me do it… I was going to skip it today. Day 3. I may have gone further if I knew what was coming. Have a take a look at the whole thing again.
To the Y for upper body lift day. Squats, Incline bench first, if possible, then declines and flat. Back – pull and row, shrugs, whatever’s left.
Actual:
* Squats – maxed 225 (sets of 5 reps, deep as possible)
* Incline Bench: very lite 105-110 max. The upper bod is weak.
* Decline (smith) no cable also lite 3 sets, hi- to the top of the chest.
* Close grip bb press flat – 125 lbs 3 x 5s: Anabolic Part 45 mins
Insanity drained my strength. 3 days straight of doing that. I don’t want to take a break b/c cardio breaks usually mean quits for me… I feel like I am getting a handle on it. I’m still modifying tho. I will have to grow beyond the drain – over the hump – how long will this take?
Finish: Shoulder work. Lying rotator cuff work, bent str8 arm laterals. Stretch. 60 mins done. Walk home.
Protein drink after. Big dinner. 2 chicken thighs, mushrooms, tomatoes, spinach. Go to work. Relax. Nothing but stretching, maybe pull out the ankle weights.
82512 (Saturday #68) Final Day of Phase V.
I came as close to doing nothing at the job as ever. Almost had to force myself, but did get a few push ups in here and there. I’m supposed to be on a break.
Wake 185.5 – it didn’t seem important to add the rest. However I will note that my Body Fat is up and hydration is down, (they are related in the way the scale calculates both) from before vacation. UGH!
I managed NOT to do a 4th day in a row of Insanity. I hope I don’t fall off like I did with running through the woods. I figure I can do my wake up Insanity two days on, one or two days off, and split them up with running and park workouts. I must admit I get a better cardio workout when I’m trying to keep up with someone, whether it’s cross fit or insanity and even when I’m modifying the moves. This should be enough to keep me into it. I just can’t skip too many days.
Easy warm ups today. I didn’t eat as much as usual and I didn’t wig out on carbs as suggested in the instructions – I did give myself a guilty pleasure carrot cake treat in the morning after work.
Leg lift rotation, just like GX sessions only with ankle weights: Two rounds; first round 25 reps, second round 40 reps. I think I can eventually get 3 progressive rounds. The weights are 5 lbs each. (I can double up maybe later to measure progress.)
* Side lateral raises:
* Lying straight leg raises (it’s harder seated and that’s an option for later):
* Inner thing Raises:
* Kneeling butt raises: (Glute lift)
I keep returning to legs and I think the upper body has suffered for it… or maybe that’s just in my mind. Next major lifting day will involve back work including shrugs and pulls… pulls I can always do in the park with the ropes or on the playground.
I’m REALLY expecting this Insanity stuff to ramp up my energy level and combined with the “diet” to significantly cut down the belly fat. I took some eval pix to keep me honest.
End of Phase V
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| I like the way this chart makes 1/2 a pound seem very dramatic! It works on the psyche. I keep returning to this 180-185 plateau and lately I've been over it at the end of the day. Measurement day comes again around day 90, that will put me about 30 days into insane wake up sessions as well as the hi-pro/lo-carb eating. We'll see the results together. |
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