vs.
Speaking of Saiyans, I am putting my weekly DBZ spoof first because this is a long post, and I'd rather have you watch this spoof than read this entry, haha. It is amazingly funny, more so if you have seen the TV show:
EDIT: Booo, embedded disabled. CLICK THIS LINK INSTEAD
Anyways, things are going pretty well so far. I am down to 220lbs from 240lbs in the course of a month. My weight loss has sort of halted at 220lbs, and that could be from several reasons. I did start lifting again, two weeks before I said I would (I can't stay away from the weights), so I may be gaining muscle on top in place of the fat. I also have been FOOD BINGING on weekends, because I am supposed to on CKD. I bet if I ate clean on weekends, it would aid my weight loss much more.
I am already noticing some differences in my body. When I lose fat, I tend to lose it FIRST from places where I don't have a lot to begin with -- my arms, shoulders, upper back, and face. My thighs and stomach, the places where I would LIKE to lose fat, almost lose it last. However, my obliques (side abs) are showing again. I would estimate I am around 17% Body fat at 220lbs from 19/20% BF at 240lbs only a month ago.
In addition to diet, walking, and lifting, I have become addicted to rock climbing. Thanks to my awesome friend Mr. Duffy who works at EMS, I was able to get all the gear I needed for 50% off normal price. Schwing! I have been going 3 times a week. Unfortunately, I think I did too much too quick -- my elbow is starting to really bother me, so I am going to have to stop lifting (at least upper body stuff), until it recovers.
I love rock climbing for many of the reasons I love lifting. It is only you against yourself, it is a willpower game, it is INTENSE, it's a workout, and it gets your blood pumping and your endorphins flowing. I am lucky to have (i think) the biggest rock gym in new england 5 minutes from school.
I have a very hard time going to the gym, and NOT pushing myself, so it is the hardest thing for me to lift easy, less, and lighter. The same thing in climbing, I want to try to do the hardest one I can, and if I fail I will keep at it until I get it. It's hard to break this habit, because it never got me in trouble before. Even when I hurt my shoulder, it wasn't because of this attitude -- I hurt my shoulder just doing a bad lift, jerking the weight wrong - it was only 75lbs or so that did it. I guess I am getting old enough now, that when something begins to hurt, I can't just power through it, I have to fix it first. No climbing, or lifting (that involves my elbow) for at least a week, maybe two.
I had intended to start the INSANITY program this week for High Intensity Interval Training, but I want to give it one more week before I do that. I'd like to lose 5 more lbs if possible before I start that. I'm also going to be snowboarding on saturday, and I know from starting this program before that my legs will be JELLY on saturday if I try to snowboard after doing insanity for the first week.
For those of you not familiar with it, Insanity is a DVD workout program by Beachbody -- the people who make P90x. While P90x definitely is not for me, insanity is. Just like P90x is mostly for people who have no idea how to build a workout plan, or probably haven't lifted weights before, or in a long time, Insanity is like that with cardio. I would have no idea how to build a proper cardio workout that focuses on weight loss, and also increases my endurance. With Insanity, all I have to do is pop in a DVD and follow instructions. It is easy, convienient, and effective, especially for those who don't know what to do. I am clueless with cardio.
Anyways, back in the gym, it is discouraging. As I mentioned before, I WANT to push myself, and I want, right now, to be able to lift what I did before, but I know it is going to be a long process, and I have to ease into it. The three solid weeks of shoulder PT have left me supremely confident that my shoulder is 100% better, and (the ligaments/tendons/etc, are) maybe even stronger than it was before. I think that all the shoulder PT, along with the plunge into rock climbing may have agitated my elbow though. Here's my routine for the last week or so. I didn't keep track of what I was doing before this, I just kind of messed around on the weights.
2/28/11
Flat Dumbbell Bench
1 75lbs x 10
2 100lbs x 10
3 105lbs x 6
4 110lbs x 4
--- This may seem like a lot, but back in my prime I was doing sets of 120lbs for 15 easily. The only reason I wasn't doing more, is because those were the heaviest dumbbells in the gym.
Incline Bench Press
1 185 x 10
2 205 x 7
3 225 x 4
Pec-Dec Flys
1 140 x 10
2 150 x 7
3 150 x 7
4 170 x 4
1 hour walk
3/1/11
Shoulder PT -- Lots of stuff I don't feel like listing. Did it for an hour or so, and also did some scapula work.
Leaning Preacher Curls
Most people know what a preacher curl is -- you sit down on the preacher seat, and curl the weight. I do this laying down at an angle on the seat, this puts ALL of the weight in your biceps, and does not allow you to use your back at all. Most people who do curls are more so doing some crazy back/upper cut exercise and not working on their biceps.
1 70lbs x 10
2 80lbs x 8
3 90lbs x 6
4 100lbs x4
I went to look for a youtube video of this so you could see what I mean, but I guess nobody else does this. Everyone sits on the thing. Maybe I will make one.
Drag Curls
3 sets of 10, 60lbs
Drag curls often get confused with forearm curls. They are completely different lifts. A forearm curl, or reverse curl, is when you curl the weight grabbing the bar from the top, and bring it out in front of you and to your forehead.
Reverse curl:
The drag curl is similar, except you have your elbows WAY behind you, and you "drag" the weight up your chest, so it is touching you the whole time. This works a different part of the biceps. Arnold Schwarzenegger used to do them, and I enjoy them very much.
Zottman / Twisting Curls
3 sets of 12 (each arm), 15lbs
In my years of lifting, I have found that people are the least creative with biceps. Almost everyone just does massive sets of straight bar/dumbbell, or EZ bar curls. This is another curl variant I have found and I enjoy. It again, works a different part of the biceps, as well as the forearms.
I perform these slowly in order to get a stretch out. After this workout, I did a 45 minute walk, and after class I rock climbed for 2 hours.
3/2/11
Today was a rock climbing day. Rock climbed for 3.5 hours after class.
3/3/11
Squats
1 135 x 10
2 225 x 10
3 275 x 7
4 315 x 4
Just a note here on squats, I suck at them, and my leg strength for some reason seems to disappear quicker than the other muscles. However, I do not PRETEND to be good at them. A squat is not a squat unless you go to 90 degrees with the legs. You want your thighs parallel with the ground. That is where the hard part of the lift comes in. There's a kid I always see at the gym, he huffs, and puffs, and makes a lot of noise making sure everyone is watching him do reps of 405 in the squat rack. The thing is, he barely bends his legs. He goes to MAYBE 45 degrees, if that. That's not a squat buddy. I bet he couldn't do ONE squat at 405 to 90 degrees. I always want to say something to him, but I'm not an ass, so I just let him think he is the man doing fake squats.
Bad Squat (horrible quality)
Good Squat (video from the 80's apparently, but it has narration also):
Hack Squats
1 1 Plat Per Side (PPS) x10
2 2 PPS x10
3 2.5PPS x7
Quad Extension
3 x 10 315lbs
1 hour walk
3/4/11
Triceps-bench
1 135 x 10
2 225 x 10
3 245 x 6
4 265 x 4
5 135 x 10
Dips
3 sets of 15, bodyweight
Drawbacks/kickbacks with a twist
I was just shown these by someone at the gym. He saw me doing regular drawbacks, and he showed me the twist at the end. WOW, You definitely feel a pinch right where the three muscles of the triceps meet. I love it. There's always new lifts and tricks to learn.
1 12lbs x 15
2 15lbs x 12
3 20lbs x 10
RACK PULLS
I fucking love deadlifting. The least amount of my strength of all my lifts was lost in the deadlift. However, my sciatic nerve started bothering me. I started doing rack pulls instead, which is a deadlift, but done from the knees instead of the ground. This allows you to focus entirely on the back, and not the legs/hamstrings. The deadlift also intensely uses the legs, which many people don't realize. Rack pulls also put a lot of tension on the trapeziums muscles for added bonus.
1 225 x 10
2 275 x 8
3 315 x 8
4 405 x 8
5 455 x 6
6 495 x 4
7 545 x 2
Back Extensions
3 sets of 10 with 25lbs
1 hour walk
3/5/11
ROCK CLIMBING -- 3 hours
3/8/11
It was after today I decided to stop doing lifts that use my elbow for a while. The reason for this was because in the past when I had elbow pain, if I avoided certain lifts, or alternated how I did them, the pain would go away. I alternated my grip (using a hammer grip, which is when you hold the weights so your palms face each other, essentially in a fist) on my biceps exercises today to see if it made a difference, and it did not.
Hammer Curls (with french bar)
That's a french bar for reference. Notice where you would grip.
1 70lbs x 10
2 90lbs x 8
3 100lbx x 7
Incline Bench Dumbbell Hammer Curls
1 25 x 12
2 30 x 10
3 35 x 8
Drag Curls
1 60lbs x 12
2 70 x 10
3 90 x 8
4 40 x 20
ABS Workout
1 hour walk.
That's it so far. Things are going relatively according to plan. Intending to begin insanity a week from today. My next post will include some half nekkid pictures of me, so be warned. I will use them to compare my before, and after insanity pictures.
