Choronodon's Battle Log

[Choronodon]

Got my scale yesterday (EatSmart Precision GetFit) and tried it out. I picked this scale because it had good reviews on Amazon, was on sale right now, and measure body fat in addition to weight. The instructions say to measure body weight first thing in the morning and body fat before the last meal of the day. Of course, as soon as I got home and opened it up I had to give it a whirl.

 

I had guesstimated my weight around 140 - 145 pounds, with no idea about my fat percentage. First numbers from the scale, 137 pounds and 4.5% body fat. Holy cow! Not what I expected at all, especially the fat percentage.

 

Got up this morning and measured my weight at the 'correct' time, and came in at 133 pounds and change. Will check the numbers morning and night to make sure they are consistent.

 

At any rate, I have numbers now! So setting my goals. Right now goal is to bulk up to 140 pounds and maintain <10% body fat. Punched the target weight up in My Fitness Pal and it recommends 2500 calories a day.

[Choronodon]

Started my first NF challenge! W00T!!   Thread here http://nerdfitnessrebellion.com/index.php?/topic/24899-choronodons-1st-challenge-bulking-up/. Yesterday was my first day, and things went well! Changing my workout stuff around for the challenge. Dumping any attempts to go to martial arts, and just concentrating on weight lifting, resting and eating. My workout schedule for the next 6 weeks will be MWF - Barbell Battalion. I'll continue to run Sat / Sun, just for fun.

 

So yesterday knocked out the weight lifting workout, 50 pounds on push press & squats. Noticed when doing the push press that several of the lifts as I was returning from the leg dip part I went all the way to tip toes. Pretty sure that's not good. Need to work on staying back on my heels. Might have to switch out shoes, I've been wearing my running shoes but maybe they have too much heel padding for this kinda work.

 

Still working on getting enough to eat in order to make my 2500 calorie goal. Right now my meal plan looks like this:

 

Post-workout

(412 cal) EAS Protein shake w/ banana added

 

Breakfast

(110 cal) Glass of Orange Juice

(168 cal) 4 slices bacon

(304 cal) 3 eggs, scrambled

 

Snacks

(880 cal) 2 peanut butter sandwiches & 2 glasses milk

 

Lunch & dinner vary, lunch is typically meat and a small salad. Dinner can be a number of things, I've established a set menu so it'll be easier to get calorie counting information entered into MFP so I can track that as well.

[Choronodon]

So, with my first challenge wrapped up, this week is resting & eating. No workouts planned, except for perhaps doing some warm ups and cool downs just to keep limber. Big focus will be on eating, since that will be another goal in the next challenge.

 

Knocked out my first "race" this weekend, doing a zombie run in Gulfport. It was a blast! I'm going to keep looking for events like that to participate in.

[Choronodon]

Stats from yesterday's workout:

 

Squat - 115lb (failed 1 rep)

OHP - 60lb

DL - 115lb

 

This is the second session that I've failed one rep in my 5x5 for squats. I don't think that technically qualifies as a stall. I'm just letting my concentration flag or something, and get too deep in the hole. Will continue to try to complete a full 5x5 @ 115# until I fail multiple reps or complete them all. On the upside, squats are finally getting hard. It takes work to complete each rep. In addition to focusing more, I still need to eat more. Picked up a rotisserie chicken today, going to make chicken salad and use that to help pad my daily calorie intake. Also, this pause in increasing squat weight is letting my DL weight get ahead of my squat weight.

[Choronodon]

Today's workout:

 

Squat - 5x5 @ 115# (completed!)

OHP - 5x5 @ 65#

DL - 1x5 @ 120#

 

Yay, completed my 5x5 squats today! Moving up to 120# next time. OHP is getting hard. I was doing Push Press before, and got up to 80# before stalling out with multiple rep failures. This will probably happen with OHP in the next couple of workouts. Need to order some fractional plates.

[Choronodon]

Just a quick update of current lifting stats:

 

Squats - shifted to high back per recommendations from a form check, currently 105#

OHP - started using fractional plates to go up 2# per session, currently 67#

BP - 65#

DL - 125#

 

Wow... is that all? Disappointing progress. Moving on though. Not taking any sort of break between challenges this time, will just continue lifting & eating.

[Choronodon]

Today's workout:

 

110# 5x5 squat

70# 5x5 bench

130# 5x5 deadlift

 

Update on my running. The problems w/ my IT band have lessened, and I've been able to work back up to running 2 miles before it starts to act up. I'm working on stretching a little before running, not sure if that's helping or not. Have been looking online for info about what to do about the pain. Some of it was expected, stretches to try and such, but also found some info that basically says IT band pain is a symptom of mobility issues, gait problems, or strength imbalances. So what I'm working on is mobility, keep working out, and paying attention to how I'm running.

[Choronodon]

Current progress:

 

Weight: 145lb (w00t)

 

Squat - 120# 5x5 (still need to complete all reps on this)

OHP - 70# 5x5 (still need to complete all reps on this)

Bench - 75# 5x5

Deadlift - 140# 1x5

 

Running is still at 2 miles. Last time I tried doing it 'cold' w/ no stretching before, and my knee pain started up around the 1 mile mark. The previous two times, I'd stretched a lot before starting, or walked a mile first and I didn't start getting pain until the 2 miles were almost up. Next time I'm going to try a mile walk to warm up, do some light stretching, and then run. See how that affects things.

[Choronodon]

Progress update:

 

No significant progress (need to weigh myself again)

 

Lifts haven't really progressed. Without deliberately trying to I completed squats @ 125lb for 5x5, but ever since doing the warrior squat ladder my hip discomfort has been hanging around. I've noticed that it clears up when I'm squatting lower weights (ie, when warming up it disappears somewhere in the 65lb - 105lb range). I'm pausing working on progressing my squats any further and I'm going to see if I can work this discomfort out by sticking to lower-weight squats, possibly with more reps. For the next week of workouts, no squats above 115lb. If I can banish this discomfort, then I'm going to work on progressing back up by micro-loading, at least until I reach 125lb. Then I'll reassess. If I can't banish the discomfort, then it will be doctor time.

 

Went running... Saturday I think. Did not go well. Tried the whole walk a mile, stretch, run. Knee & hip discomfort anyways. Whatever. This weekend will be interesting though, have a zombie 5k Sunday.

[Choronodon]

Workout today, squats 5x5 @ 85lb & BP 5x5 @ 85lb as well. *sigh* bummed about squat progress, but it's for the best if it leads to discomfort-free squats.

 

Had been curious about 'good' numbers to be able to lift, finally found the article I was thinking of here http://www.t-nation.com/free_online_article/most_recent/conditioning_is_a_sham&cr=, referencing that a good baseline for strength (for a 6', 200lb male) was a 200% bw DL, 175% bw squat, and 75% bw OHP. Wanted to save that.

 

Squats were pretty darn close to ATG today, if not actually ATG. That's cool. Looks like my flexibility has improved enough to eliminate 'butt-wink'. Down 20lb from my last workout, mostly because I've felt like no energy lately. Even at 85lb it's weird, some reps practically fly up, others have to be fought for. Adjusted squat plan is to cut back on weight progression, down to 5lb/week. May start squatting 5x/week as well... just for the time under the bar working on form. We'll see if that's possible. Instructor dude at the community center & I sometimes 'fight' over the power rack. Thinking of changing gyms. Found another one that'll be cheaper, has better hours (opens earlier), and is more 'lifting'-oriented (from their website at least). Point isn't really to get any stronger at this point, it's to nail down whatever niggling details may be escaping me, and then go back to working on strength. The possibly does not escape me that my weird lower legs are contributing somewhat, but only thing to do is figure out how to work around them.

 

Also need to revamp my diet. Like I said in my latest challenge post, half of what I am eating when I make my calories is protein supplementing stuff. Shakes, bars, stuff like that. Not sustainable, and not really food. Going to step back and figure out how to eat at maintenance sustainably (meaning real food). I think once that's accomplished, bulking will be easier. I'll have an established caloric baseline and I'll just need to tack on a couple hundred calories, which is like a protein bar & some ice cream.

[Choronodon]

Skipped breakfast yesterday, just Mtn Dew. Lunch was half a shrimp po-boy. Dinner was awesome, pork chop, chicken rice & veggies. Twice! And ice cream Add breakfast back in, tweak lunch a bit and just keep eating like that!

[Choronodon]

Wow, no updates since July

 

Think it's time to get back to recording workouts & notes here.

 

Today:

 

Squats - 5x5 @ 55lb

OHP - 5x5 @ 50lb

DL - 1x5 @ 150lb -> BW+? RAWR!!

 

Hip didn't feel too bad after workout, but felt a little tight after stretching. Took two advil once I got to work, Dr's advice. Hip popped later, just standing kinda rocking side to side. Feels a lot better now, tightness is gone. Will monitor.

[Choronodon]

Squats - 5x5 @ 60lb

BP - 5x5 @ 50lb

DL - 1x5 @ 155lb

 

Reviewing parts of Supple Leopard; tried to "organize" more in my squats & DL today. Definitely felt a different in my squats, more glute engagement. Not sure about DL. Lower back / hips felt sloppier. May be close to time for a form check.

[Choronodon]

Squats - 5x5 @ 65lb

OHP - 5x5 @ 55lb

DL - 1x5 @ 160lb

Squats felt pretty good. OHP was surprisingly hard to finish up. DL felt better than last time. When setting up for the DL, pulled my shoulders back. Helped a lot I think.

Sent from my Z10 using Tapatalk 2

[Choronodon]

Squats - 5x5 @ 70lb

BP - 5x5 @ 55lb

DL - 1x5 @ 165lb

[Jimbo]

Good to see you back on track.

 

BTW, missing even one rep is a stall. Are you doing StrongLifts 5x5?

[Choronodon]

Good to see you back on track.

 

BTW, missing even one rep is a stall. Are you doing StrongLifts 5x5?

 

Hey Jimbo! I'm doing the Starting Strength program, I think they count stalls the same though.

[Jimbo]

Yah, the two programs are very similar, with the one major exception being the power clean v. barbell row. I've gotten a lot out of the Starting Strength book. I'm not sure how Starting Strength handles stalls and deloads and related programming changes, but this is how Stronglifts does it:

 

• a stall is any failure to make a rep

• when you stall, do not increase the weight for that lift the next workout

• deload 10% after you stall 3 times on a lift

• switch from 5x5 to 3x5 when you have deloaded twice and stalled three more times on a lift

• switch from 3x5 to 1x5 when you have deloaded twice and stalled three more times on a lift

• You can be 5x5 on some lifts, 3x5 on another, and 1x5 on another.

These guidelines are not carved in stone, of course. Try going up in smaller increments if you stall quickly after a deload. If you switch to smaller increments, you might consider "resetting" the number of your stalls and deloads to zero, just to give yourself a realistic chance to progress with the smaller increments before you move from 5x5 to 3x5 to 1x5, if that's how you chose to program. Generally, StrongLifts says to switch to an intermediate program (e.g. madcow), increasing the weight once a week rather than every workout, when you have deloaded twice and stalled three more times on each lift.

 

Keep going!

[Choronodon]

Squats - 5x5 @ 75lb

OHP - 5x5 @ 60lb

DL - 1x5 @ 170lb

 

OHP was exhausting. Finished, but the last rep was UGLY. Busting out the micro-plates next time, don't think I'll make another 5lb jump in that lift.

[Choronodon]

Tracking a couple of things:

 

Hip discomfort has slowly crept back, it's there but not problematic. Bursitis maybe came back? Keeping squat stance a little wider than I naturally default to and letting my feet point out has kept squats good. Noticed that deadlifts seemed to really pound my hip, so in addition to incorporating form feedback have been working on letting feet point out a little more. Hip feels better, but have noticed it feels / looks like my knees are trying to buckle internally.

 

Started doing leg raises randomly during the day, try to raise my knee as high / tight to my chest as possible and hold. Up to 20 seconds hold time. This seems to be helping the hip discomfort. I want to start doing lunges / planks on not-lifting days, maybe a light bodyweight routine. Something step-son, wife can participate in if they want.

 

Some hip / low back twinge has come back. Not lifting related, I get this regularly. A kink develops in my low back / hips. Feels like if I can contort just so it will crack and unkink things. Really irritating b/c it causes parts of my right calf to feel weird, like it needs to be stretched out. 

[Choronodon]

Squats - 5x5 @ 80lb

BP - 5x5 @ 60lb

DL - 1x2 @ 175lb, ?? @ 135lb

 

Squats felt hard, until I started psyching myself up for them. Then BOOM.

BP not bad. Can feel the weight now, but no issues.

DL sucked. Trying to incorporate feedback and spent too long worrying about that. Third rep went nowhere. Screw it, dumped the extra plates & did a couple reps at 135lb (sure feels light now) for form. Try to get into the gym during the weekend for a few more form sessions @ that weight or less. Power rack at the gym is adjustable enough I think I could easily use just the bar if I wanted.

[Choronodon]

Squats - 5x5 @ 85lb

OHP - 5x5 @ 61lb (HARD)

DL - 1x5 @ 145lb (dropped weight to address form)

 

OHP continues to be brutal. Towards the end there's a noticeable difference between left / right sides. 

[Choronodon]

Squats - 5x5 @ 90lb 

BP - 5x5 @ 65lb

DL - 1x5 @ 155lb (working back up)

 

On squats feels like my ass is leading on the ascent. Next time will shoot a video to check how form looks.

[Broba Fett]

If you don't mind me asking, are you still putting on weight? 

 

I'm doing basically the same workouts but with the goal of slimming down while building strength so I'll be following your progress.  Very interesting to see someone doing the same workout with the opposite goal as far as bw goes.

[Choronodon]

If you don't mind me asking, are you still putting on weight? 

 

I'm doing basically the same workouts but with the goal of slimming down while building strength so I'll be following your progress.  Very interesting to see someone doing the same workout with the opposite goal as far as bw goes.

 

I haven't hopped on a scale in a while. Pretty sure I've stabilized somewhere around 142lb or so, with not much gain or loss My experience so far has validated the adage that weight gain / loss is 80% diet. I don't eat nearly enough to support the muscle growth I want.

 

For my $0.02, your weight loss won't come from the lifting program, but from diet. Diet will give the weight loss, weight training will fill you out so instead of being all flabby / skinny-fat after the weight loss, you'll have muscle instead.

 

Other folks on the forum can probably speak better towards what kind of a diet you should aim for with your goals. Weight loss will primarily be driven by a caloric deficit, but on the other hand you need calories for muscle. If I had your goals, I would start out by figuring out what my caloric goal is (there are a bunch of calculators out there that let you punch in weight / height / activity level / how much you want to gain / lose per week and will give you a number), and try to meet that calorie goal while making sure your diet contains about 1g of protein per lb of body weight. I think that would give you a good start, and then you can play it by ear and adjust your intake according to how your weight is adjusting.

 

Also, the scale is tricky to rely on for this type of stuff, because you can see fat loss in conjunction with muscle growth, so your weight may not look like it is changing much. You may want to use body measurements or fat percentage in addition to (or instead of) the scale.