Easter Sunday has been boring for me today with nothing to do… I wanted to challenge myself and try to up things and inspire the abs to say “Damn, we got flogged!” I decided to take a note from ExRx and do some remixed sit-ups from their list of waist exercises. I picked the crunch-up, the jack-knife sit-up and the v-ups for this round. They are pretty damn hard but did 2 sets of each in reps of 12. It’s got my abs tingling… but that’s what I need to keep me amped up. I need to find something to eat, cause the whey protein shake and Crea-Tech are losing caloric value already and my body is asking for food…
Today I took it a little easy on myself to allow my body some time to concentrate healing my arms and legs from how hard Friday was. I would keep to the natural concept of 8-12 reps and 6-9 sets for progressive overload and not tax my abs again that my body requires additional healing on another vector. Before my sit-ups, had a 1/2 dose of whey protein and a spoonful of L-Glutamine, did my sets, and finished with my Crea-Tech Extreme. I feel refreshed and vital again with working out and it’s just great that my body seems to lap-up the exercises I throw at it.
Pre-Workout
1/2 dose of Whey protein and 1 teaspoon of L-Glutamine – 200 Calories, 18 grams of protein
Workout
12 Crunches
12 Bicycle crunches
12 Cross crunches
12 Crunches
12 Bicycle crunches
12 Cross crunches
12 Crunches
12 Bicycle crunches
12 Cross crunches
Post-workout
Maintenance dose of Crea-Tech Extreme – 150 Calories, 10 grams of creatine
I may work in another set of crunches towards the middle of today and then another set towards the end. It seems that I am not challenged enough on it, but I should not push the intensity too high. I’ll log the rest of today’s eating and activities here as I get a chance.
I would end up taking Twitch’s advice and try out free weights today to see that as an avenue for progress. In addition to that… I would also try to do a warm-up and cool down sprint on the crossramp machines to see if the impact is a little better than just doing all my cardio in the beginning. I also decided to throw in a super-set of squats at the end to try to max out so my legs are throughly beat the hell up.
Warm-up Phase: Crossramp machine
Duration: 10 minutes + 5 minute cool down
Crossramp level 6
Resistance (initial/cooldown) level 8/6
157 Calories
1.36 miles
Max heart rate: 165 bpm
Average: 160bpm
Dumbbell Squats
40 lbs (20/side)
10 reps
3 sets
Dumbbell Lunges
30 lbs (15/side)
10 reps
3 sets
Lateral Cable Pulls
40 lbs (20/side)
10 reps
2 sets
Lateral Cable Pulls, second run
20 lbs (10/side)
5 reps
3 sets
Dumbbell Squats Super-Set
25 lbs (12.5/side)
5 reps
13 sets
Cool down phase: Crossramp Machine
Duration: 5 minutes + 5 minute cool down
Crossramp level 10
Resistance level 1
76 calories
0.73 miles
Crea-Tech Extreme drink – 300 Calories, 20 grams of creatine
Chocolate Whey Protein and L-Glutamine shake in Silk soy milk (160z) – 400 Calories, 36 grams of protein
I ended up catching my friend Twitch late this evening asking if he knew a site that had images of weight lifting techniques for free weights… and on browsing ExRx.net, I found the one thing I was needing… a work-out template. I am debating on doing the competitive 3-day cycle like the suggested recommendation:
Sunday – Off
Monday – A-set
Tuesday – B-set
Wednesday – C-set
Thursday – A-set
Friday – B-set
Saturday – Off
Then to continue cycling in to the next week with the following Monday as doing a C-set, et cetera. It’ll be a grueling set, but I am plenty excited to probably start this regimen as soon as next week. I plan to push hard and push to the extreme, because I am already seeing some results. However, there may be a kink in my plans. I may just start into a 2-day routine due to my IV and aseptic training course. I won’t say I want to be super cut-up by November, but I would like to have more definition than the slight definition I have now. The IV class only runs from 4/2 – 5/21 so it’s a month and a half of compromise… unless I am seriously insane enough to get up early and maximize my time from early morning until end of class to power through my 3-day training cycle. Not out of the question really…
Tomorrow, I plan to try to stick with free weights and take Twitch’s suggestion to do a 15 minute run on cardio before and after hitting the weights.
My friends, loyal readers, and those who are silently cheering… Thanks for your encouragement. It means more than you could imagine.
Twitch, my friend has advised me today that maybe my intensity is not high enough considering the fact that the fat on my target zones is not reducing from exercise. He did agree that I must be doing something right if my weight is just stabilized at 154 lbs for the past 2 months of just home exercise. He had suggested that maybe the concept of “working out until failure” may be something to consider as it challenges the body to push harder and basically “raise the bar”. He inquired about my ab attack plan that I have been using and he felt that I could probably push a lot harder to seek the gains I want. So I have taken the advice and put it to practice tonight.
I took Twitch’s example and tweaked it to his suggestion. I would take the crunch, the bicycle crunch, and cross crunch; do all of them in a straight cycle for 2 sets of each; take a 2 minute break and do another set. So, if you want a more visual form:
20 reps of crunches
20 reps of bicycle crunches
20 reps of cross crunches
20 reps of crunches
20 reps of bicycle crunches
20 reps of cross crunches
2 minute break
20 reps of crunches
20 reps of bicycle crunches
20 reps of cross crunches
20 reps of crunches
20 reps of bicycle crunches
20 reps of cross crunches
A grand total of 240 crunches and my abs felt the wonderful burn. It was a burn that after the last cross crunch… I felt the pain of my abs going “Have mercy on us!” I won’t be doing the “working out to failure” routine too much as it is a tad rough. I may keep that principle on my “off-days” when I wake late or just feel more apt to doing cardio at the gym and double up on the gut-buster routine.
Unfortunately, I will have to delicately plan for the Easter holiday… The office has me doing “on-call” for Saturday from 10:30am – 6pm, but my gym is open from 8am – 7pm. Due to Easter Sunday, the gym is totally closed. I will probably make those 2 days my “failure” days and work hard on the abs to make up for the gym being closed.
For scaling back up to my hard workout from backing down to home workouts, I am surprised I performed well. My heart rate is just as strong as I had it last at the gym, dare I say possibly even stronger? I did take it easy on myself and I am really surprised at my results! My intensity is still there as well as my drive to push. It is really inspiring to see myself being able to keep a pretty good pace without exhausting the hell out of myself.
Crossramp Machine
Duration: 25 minutes + 5 minute cooldown
Crossramp level 6
Resistance (workout/cooldown): 6/5
Total caloric burn: 313 calories
Distance: 2.67 miles
Average heart rate: 165 beats per minute
Maximum heart rate: 185 beats per minute.
Torso Rotation
8 reps
2 sets
30 lbs resistance
Butterfly Machine – Rear Deltoid form
10 reps
2 sets
60 lbs resistance
Abdominal Machine
15 reps
3 sets
50 lbs resistance
Ab Crunch Bench
105 degree angle
15 reps
3 sets
On top of that all… I have also decided to hit up Vitamin Shoppe in West Plano to pick up some of my supplements and begin my hardcore regimen. I ended up picking up a 16oz jar of L-Glutamine powder and a 2 lbs Crea-Tech Extreme from Vitamin Shoppe’s BodyTech brand. My protein powder jar is running a bit low, so I will have to pick up a new jar soon. I have called up Ultimate Sports Nutrition out in Frisco about getting in some Activate Xtreme so I may swing by and get a bottle and watch myself amp up again. I am still in debate about the nitric oxide and a thermogenic, but probably may not go that route… Due to the loading dose recommendation on the Crea-Tech Xtreme, I will wait until next week when I can go seriously hardcore with the 5 day loading dosage and from there do my maintenance dosing.
To add a mix to things… I will also be logging my meals and snacks just so I can keep rough track of how many calories I take in for accountability . This is so I can try to stick with my goal intake of about 1,500 – 1,750 calories, as some of the BMI calculators online seem to say that 133 lbs is where I need to be for lean muscle. If there are fitness junkies or fellow “deathbeasts” out there who could better advise me, it would be appreciated.
With my $500+ in parts being shipped from Trussville Mazda, I will be doing 60,000 mile service soon. I figured that going too extreme may be a bit much on my system to go from home routines of jump rope, sit-ups, push ups, crunches, etc… So I will restart my efforts at the gym again with lots of cardio and some weights again. I hope to rise early and just begin my power regimen again.
I will probably order my supplements soon and pick up some of the “essentials” locally. Creatine, L-Glutamine, and possibly Nitric Oxide to help boost my results. I am debating on adding a thermogenic to the mix to amp the energy of my workout, but I am open to suggestions that any readers would like to give me. Keep in mind that I work and then also work on ZeroXR.com as my second “job” so if you have instant or more portable supplements, let me know!
Dead Sure Supplements
Whey protein (18 grams of protein per shake, post workout)
Clif Builder Bars (snack, 20 grams of protein per bar)
Multi-vitamin (One-a-Day Men’s Formula)
Creatine
L-Glutamine
Activate Xtreme testosterone booster (only for a 2 month duration and discontinuing)
Maybe Considering
Redline liquid thermogenic
Nitric Oxide (i.e. NOexplode)
My big issue right now is burning fat around my abs and chest to hopefully turn those target zones into muscle. I have exerted dietary control and a work out heavy on crunches and other ab exercises… yet nothing seems to be nixing the fat. I am not gaining any fat due to a control caloric intake so it has me perplexed. Anyone who’s a “gym freak” or “fitness junkie” who can offer tips would be appreciated. I would like to get more progress than the dead wall I am at and forge new territory.
For accountability sake… I will update my Twitter to show that I am at the gym. Feel free to encourage me or drop a motivational comment! I will give it all or nothing!
I took it easy on myself today. A short run on the stride machine, then a brisk set of strength training and that was it. I had did work on my arms, chest and lower back today to give my upper back and abs a break from Tuesday’s routine. Today wrung me out pretty good from the stride machine as my average heart rate is now about 165 beats a minute. It seems I am slowly strengthening my heart with my workouts and the higher rate of oxygen intake is definitely a big help. Proper breathing can do such wonders if used properly.
I am really impressed with tonight’s progress. It was a quick 1 hour session but it worked me through the ringer. I was glad to have taken in about 38 grams of protein from a Clif Builders Bar and a protein shake made with soy milk for snacks for today. Tore up my biceps, abs, and legs tonight so I feel great. Stretching before doing my routine has been great despite the “macho myth” that it does nothing… It just helps me unlock my blood flow and gets the blood a little warmed up before I do my run. My average heart rate is going up apparently… I was averaging at 170 beats per minute during my run after 5 minutes of warming up on the total body crossramp machine. That’s really amazing for me, considering that on the intense portions of my work out I was topping out at 177 beats per minute. I think I am finally reaching the stage of where I wish to be at and damn does it feel great!
My leg is still acting up, but it is recovering nicely. Today, I could feel some pain from walking or running, almost as if it felt like it was dislocated. So I just need to back off and let my body heal properly. My body is slowly returning to how I was at age 19, but with much more strength from properly feeding myself rather than the undernourishment business I was doing to myself. It’s amazing what proper eating and rest can do. Tomorrow, I should be hitting it the gym with another session. It should be more running for me, provided things go right with work at the office letting me out on a timely fashion.
