Mad Sci

My friend! How's it going?

Thanks for the advice guys!

I decided to go with the muscle milk powder because it was cheap and convenient at my grocery store.

For an update on my workouts, Today I Squatted 5x5@185, OHP 5x5@85, and DL 1x5@215.

I worry about my bench press for the challenge because I failed on my fifth set @ 125. Last f-ing rep too, just couldn't get it up.

I need to run, I just hate it. That challenge is gonna be f-ed if I don't start working on it.

I also paid $400 towards my Credit Card. I need to start working some overtime so I can make some larger payments... but I hate my job so I don't really want to.

Anyway, that's my quick and dirty update.

*cyber high five*

Excellent work, my friend! Mad props for being able to fit in all of your fitness goals!

On the life goal, a guy just started working at my jail that used to work for a P.I. corporation. He says it was pretty shady because they were technically "independent contractors". They didn't paid for travel time or any time trying to locate the suspect (which could turn an 8 hour day into a 14 hour day). So my advice, if the company seems shady, get out of it.

That being said, if you can find a good, reputable company it would be a good way to get some experience and some contacts.

I know it's frustrating when you can't seem to find the time to do everything you want to do. It helps to remember that even if you don't hit your ten miles ran or 8 hours on the dissertation, any work that you do is better then none. If you run 5 miles, it's a hell of a lot closer to ten then 0.

Take small steps, remember why you're doing this and you'll be fine.

You can do this, I believe in you.

Progress?

LIFT:

The other day I was able to DL 200 lbs. 2 sets of 5 @ 200 felt great. I'm very confident that I will meet my deadlifting goal.

I also did 5x5 170 in the Squat rack which mean I would probably be able to do 180 or 185 for 1 set. Again, confident.

BP 5x5 @ 120. I'm less certain of this goal but I just need to keep at it and keep working.

OHP 5x5 @ 80. Same boat as my bench. Not confident but keep on trucking.

RUN:

My running goal isn't going anywhere. But I feel stronger and I feel a little leaner. This should help when I finally get some time to run.

Squish:

I took a tape measure body fat reading and it said I was sitting at a little over 20%. That's good considering where I thought I was at but I don't really trust this method. I'm going to need my brother to pull out his calipers and take a better reading.

Money:

Sucks. I feel so broke all the time. I really need to start pulling in some double shifts to get the cash flow moving. I get paid tomorrow and, hopefully, will be able to drop 500 on the debt.

SO yeah, that's what's up.

I think I need to add more protein to my diet (which is awful). I think an efficient way of doing this would be a protein powder/shake. Any suggestions? Something that doesn't take bad and isn't chunky would be preferable.

Looks good, man. Keep me updated on how the Stronglifts + 100 pushups combo works for you. I'd like to start the pushup program but I don't want to shoot myself in the foot.

Life:

• Go on at least 6 dates with my wife DEX: +2 Good - Had two dates this week. We had our dorky t-shirt/movie date yesterday. Meaning we went and bought the nerdiest shirts we could find (ET for me and Muppets for her) then wore them to Paranorman 3D.
  

That sounds like an awesome date and one I might have to steal/use with my wife. Thanks for the idea!

Please tell me you yelled "It's CLOBBERIN TIME!" before you lifted! Please Please Please!

Good Job, Shortstuff! Keep at it and you'll be amazed at the results!

Thanks my friend. How's your squats doing?

They are going well. I've been trying for every other day but that is far more then I usually do them.

Keep me updated!

I would probably change the money goal, it's better to have less debt (especially CC). You have my vote of confidence.

Couch to 5k program. A beginner's running program that's set up for someone of any level.

Welcome, Porkins! Good luck on the goals!

Great job on your week one!

Paying down the debt is never a bad decision. From all of the money "experts" I've heard, it's better to pay off debt then put money in savings. Something about interest rates being higher on credit cards then savings accounts.

Bean - Getting any debt paid down is worth celebrating but seeing all that money leave your account sucks. Gotta do what you gotta do, right?

Jabba - I'm pretty sure I started with too much weight for my stronglifts program. I'm totally expecting to stall out pretty quickly. At this point I really just want to see what I'm truly capable of and, at the very least, this program is getting me to the gym consistently. I had a strong tendency to wonder around the gym and just do whatever with a fairly random amount of weight. Now I have a plan, and I'm a lot more efficient.

Goal #1 update: Deadlifted 5x195 last night. It felt good. Heavy, but good.

I really want to thank you guys for the encouragement you've given. I don't think I would be able to do this without your words.

Good work buddy! Keep working on those squats and you'll get there.

Great job, Jabba! Mad props on getting a great start to your challenge!

Alright so about one week down and here's how I'm doing:

Goal #1: LIFT MORE! Increase each of the 4 above lifts by 20%. (BP: 150, DL:215, SQ: 200, OHP: 105) - 5 points STR

I lifted on 4 days this week and it felt good. However, I feel as though I need a good solid plan moving forward. I'm going to try the stronglifts 5x5 routine but I'm not going to start with an empty bar. I'm still fairly confident that I'll be able to accomplish this goal.

Goal #2: RUN FASTER! Reduce my 5k time to sub 30 min. - 4 points DEX

I only ran once this week. My normal running day was taken over by nephew's birthday party. On that day, I de-prioritized working out for family. I'll try to make it up this week.

Goal #3: LESS SQUISHY! Reduce my BF% to under 19% - 3 points CON

Ate like crap this week, no excuses, just bad decision making. Sorry.

Goal #4: OWE LESS! Reduce my credit card debt by $1000 (currently sitting at $2450, would like to get it under $1400) - 3 points WIS

This might be harder then I thought. Apparently some of my charges hadn't gone through before my setting up this goal (car repairs and buying gas) so my debt is sitting at 2550 instead of 2450 like I thought. I paid $200 from my last check towards it and with the next check I should be able to make a larger payment but I don't know how this challenge is gonna shake out...

Those all sound great!

Welcome to the Boards!

Today at the gym:

Rowed 1050m in 5 min as a warmup.

Barbell Shoulder Press: 10@45lbs, 5@65, 5@70, 5@75, 5@80, 4@90 (I almost had my 5, just couldn't get it up.)

Deadlift: 10@135, 5@155, 5@185, 10@135.

Then I took a few minutes and, since the pool of sweat at my feet wasn't big enough, I ran an 8:30 mile.

I'm thinking I need to do more weight on the deadlifts then I previously thought I was able. Although I'm not sure my grip can handle it.

I'm also looking at the stronglifts plan. Anybody have any experience with it? The website feels like it's just trying to take all my money and it's throwing me off.

Softball game last night went about as expected. We were playing shorthanded and then at the beginning of our second game one of our guys got ejected without a warning from the ump. We were a little pissed. So we ended up losing both games which is no real surprise, it's our first year and half our guys have never played.

However, I feel like a played like a beast. Left Field was on lockdown, I was all over the place and making some catches I had no business making.

This did set me up for a long term goal though. Next year, I want to be able to put the ball over the fence. Nobody on our team is a power hitter so the other team will play their outfield really shallow (almost to the infield). It would be really insulting if it weren't totally justified. So, I'm going to try to change my safe strategy of hitting a grounder and beating out the throw to putting the ball over the outfielders head. This will probably have to do more with form/practice then weights but lifting will not hurt my chances.

Congrats on your (assumed) recent nuptials!

Best of luck on your goals!

That is a sweet chart! I'm immensely jealous of it.

Congrats on your deadlift and the run!

Thanks man you too! We're still PvP'ing by the way haha!

Oh, don't worry Sir, I haven't forgotten.

Congrats on no running death!

If you're worried about shin pain make sure you stretch and ice them. Eventually it will get better but for now Tylenol.