Waldo Challenge 9.0

[Vector]

Excellent progress. Positive forward movement is good!

[Wolverine]

A new number for the false grip pulls, but not a new number overall on the doorframe.

 

I can't remember off the top of my head how high I've gone with weighted chins, I wanna say +75, but I'm not quite sure.

 

I was tempted to go to +100 on the weighted chins last night, just to do one single rep.  Just so I can say that I've done a +0.5x BW Chin.  Figured it was probably a better idea to wait until the next time I cycle through weighted chins, no need to push the load that high, even though I'm confident I can do it.

 

My doorframe is coming off.  Stupid chintzy doorframe.  I'm thinking about upgrading anyway.  My muscle-up goal is going to be taking priority soon, me thinks, and I need something that will take the beating (and gives me room to swing!).

[Waldo]

Took a Dragon Flag video today:

 

http://youtu.be/LEaBfmMf4KE

 

Workout Log - 5/9

Leg Day B

Run 1/4 mile @ 6.0 mph
Lunge Matrix x5
Kick Circuit x5
BW RDL - 10 reps
BW Squat - 10 reps
Standing One Leg L - 10/10 sec

 

BW Pistol Squat - 5e++/5e++ reps

Full ROM BW Skater Squat - 5x+/5x++, 5x+/5e++, 5x+/5e++ reps

 

Assisted Natural Hamstring Curl - 5e reps

Natural Hamstring Curl - 5x-, 5x-, 5y- reps

 

Side Pistol Squat - 2y-/2y+ reps (done side to side, not straight sets)

 

Dragon Flag - 5y++ reps

 

- Big toe on my right foot has been bothering me.  I think its all the arch/foot work I've been doing.  Chillin on it for a bit.

 

- Going to start adding standing one leg L's, starting out easy.  Good flexor exercise.

 

- Getting better and better at the skaters.  Has translated into the ability to do shrimp squats finally on the left.

 

- Side pistols have notably improved on the left.  Might actually be able to do a full clean circuit of the flow video I posted.

 

 

[empeg9000]

Awesome dragon flag dude! Nice work!

[Church]

That looks like a damn solid dragon flag man. Good goin'!

[Vector]

Nice!

[aj_rock]

Damn. Very nice on the d flags there.

[Wolverine]

Thoughts on the Skaters now that you've been doing them for awhile?  Pistol replacement worthy?  I'm guessing not.  A good addition to the Shrimp/Pistol combo?  Maybe a Shrimp/Pistol/Skater combo or switch-off?  Or are you just going to stop doing them post-challenge?

 

Great DF!  You've cleaned up your form a lot just from the last video you posted!

[Waldo]

Thoughts on the Skaters now that you've been doing them for awhile?  Pistol replacement worthy?  I'm guessing not.  A good addition to the Shrimp/Pistol combo?  Maybe a Shrimp/Pistol/Skater combo or switch-off?  Or are you just going to stop doing them post-challenge?

 

Great DF!  You've cleaned up your form a lot just from the last video you posted!

 

Replacement, no.  But I never intended that anyway.  I was always looking at them as a compliment, kinda like dips and pushups.  They are very closely related to shrimp squats, and I see them as a replacement for shrimps.  The ROM issue is really what clinches it.

 

I am going to continue with them for a while past this challenge.  Once back in a surplus I plan on going back to a intensity-volume-form periodization, I like pistols for volume days, but will probably stick to skaters for intensity days.

 

They are really hitting my weak spots.  The progress my left leg has made has been pretty awesome, and that has translated into pistol performance as well.  I start out each leg day with a set of 5 good pistols each leg, I've really noticed improvement in them.  I'm pretty confident once I cycle back to high load pistols, I'll blow away my PR pretty quickly.  I honestly haven't seen progress like this in my legs in a long, long time.  I'm also really confident that once in a surplus, my left calf will be a strong responder (both really).  Without a doubt they hit the calves much better than a pistol does.

[Waldo]

Workout Log - 5/10

Static Upper Body

 

Standard Warmup, Mobility, Cooldown

 

Handstand Wall Walking - 44 reps

 

Planche Lean - 20 sec

Tuck Planche (floor) - 10, 6, 4 sec

Tuck Planche (PB's) - 4, 5, 4 sec

Middle Split Hold - 7, 7, 6, 7, 6, 5 sec

 

Tuck Front Lever - 20 sec

Advanced Tuck Front Lever - 15, 11 sec

One Leg Front Lever - 1/1 sec

Advanced Tuck Back Lever - 20 sec

Half Lay Back Lever - 12 sec

Back Lever - 6, 6 sec

 

- Used makeshift wraps on my wrists on the PB's.  Seemed to make a difference.  Either way I made pretty good progress week to week.  I feel like I'm right on the cusp of major progress in the tuck planche.

 

- One leg front lever didn't go so good, and it fried me.  Went back to the advanced tuck.

 

- Kinda hit a wall at the end of this workout.  Hasn't happened to me in a long time.

[Vector]

The wall is always there for you to find, man. Know the feeling.

[Waldo]

Ran my usual Saturday run yesterday, 5 miles.  In about 56 min, eh, not a great time.  Didn't try very hard.

 

Skipped yoga today.  Spent all afternoon rebuilding my back door.  Board rotted below the jamb, which makes for a very long and involved repair, needed a full dismantiling and rebuild.  Not done yet, but at least I've got the door hanging and functional.  I'm way sore from that work.

 

Progress Photos:

 

Full size:

http://i726.photobucket.com/albums/ww269/Waldo56/Self/CutCollage5big_zpsfeb77774.jpg~original

Did a better job flexing the lats this week.  Especially in the back double biceps.  Unflexed photos aren't really changing much.

 

Tape measure moved good this week though.  10.9% BF by the modified Y formula currently.

[Waldo]

Odd thing I've noticed...

 

The really thin skin of my forearms is moving up my arms.  I can flex the tiny little muscles by the elbow by themselves, without flexing any other arm muscles, and have them come out really sharp.  Its almost freaky.  Flex a little harder and my tricep flexes and they go away.

 

Today was a really soft day.  Really, really soft.  And a new low on the scale, 197.8.  Started the challenge at 202.9, so I'm down more than 5 lbs now just starting week 4. 

 

While the pictures have been 'eh, lately I'm starting to notice a lot of things.  My biceps "feel" different.  The details in my leg muscles is getting more prominent.

 

Workout Log - 5/13

Leg Day A

 

Run 1/4 mile @ 6.0 mph

Lunge Matrix x5

Kick Circuit x5

BW RDL - 10 reps

BW Squat - 10 reps

One Leg Standing L - 15/15 sec

 

BW Pistol Squat - 5e++/5e++ reps

 

Full ROM BW Skater Squats - 5x+/5x+ reps

Full ROM DB Skater Squats (+30) - 4y+/4x+, 3x+/3x++, 3x+/3x++, 3y-/3y++ reps

 

Shrimp Squats - 10y-/10x+ reps

 

Run 1/4 mile @ 6.0 mph

 

- Workout started late due to continued door carpentry, so no sprining tonight.  Did a couple extra sets.

 

- Went for it with DB's again.  The reps felt really good.  They really work the posterior chain.

 

- I think I figured out what is making my right big toe sore.  It is something I'm doing with the skater squats, putting too much load on the toe.  Hopefully being mindful of this will help make the problem go away.

 

- I feel like my left leg has made amazing progress these last few weeks.

 

- Did some standard shrimp squats as a finisher.  Real brutal.  First couple reps had good form, then my knee started coming forward before finally I needed to toe tap on the last couple reps.  At that point, my legs were toast.

[sammiejune29]

Looking good!! Keep up the great work! How are your left toes doing?

[Church]

I still can't believe your workouts dude! It's inhuman! In the awesome way.

[Waldo]

sammiejune29, on 14 May 2013 - 01:28, said:

Looking good!! Keep up the great work! How are your left toes doing?

Haven't been as aggressive with it lately. I thought it was contributing to my sore right big toe. Try to spend a couple minutes each day moving it. I can flare my arch now pretty reliably, my foot bones, which will move it and separate it from the other toes. But moving just the toe by itself without other moving is still elusive. It'll move in little bits here and there, but I can't yet really control it.

Baby steps. Just using my left arch more has been a huge success though. Really makes a difference in leg workouts.

Church, on 14 May 2013 - 07:44, said:

I still can't believe your workouts dude! It's inhuman! In the awesome way.

Thanks!

[Waldo]

Been a bit in bummer mode now for a bit. Spent all morning trying to figure out when it will end...

Since about early April of last year I've been in roughly the same state of BF% definition. Sure as I've built muscle mass and leaned out a bit things have changed, but not really all that much. Since then I've been able to flex and see my abs and had hints of them unflexed, and thats about it. A relatively flat stomach when standing or laying down, and a roll when sitting.

Yet my waist measurements have dropped from ~36" to a hair under 32" flexed and 36" to a hair under 29" unflexed/cheated. Via the mY formula this corresponds to roughly 15 lbs of fat loss and about 7% body fat loss.

On the scale of leanness I'm in and have been in the hard stage the whole time. It is noted for being an extremely wide plateau of little to no visible changes.

Most people that have come out the other side note a fairly dramatic shift. Months and months of constant sameness then virtually overnight (1-2 weeks) a radical change in appearance.

When oh when is this finally going to occur. I have got to be damn close, right?

[lyranedara]

When I get in that mode, I have to think about all the other progress I've made as well. You've learned a lot in the last year. You've continued to progress your workouts. You've inspired your wife to make changes to her lifestyle. You set an incredible example for everyone on the forums. Your wisdom and advice has changed many lives. The numbers say you've lost fat and gained muscle. Maybe you're one of those unfortunate guys that has to be incredibly lean to have a lot of definition. Regardless of what the pics say, you're better now than you were then.

[Vector]

What Lex said above.

And

When in doubt, get stronger. And you are doing that very well. Unless you are in the mood for some radical dieting, I think you just have to keep on keeping on and knowing that you are better every day.

[Chaze]

I definitely agree with Lex here, so I won't reiterate it except to add that you are pretty much my go-to source for information that I can truly rely on.  You know -exactly- what I want to know when I cannot find that information -anywhere- else.  And that knowledge came from hard-earned experience.  I think it is possible that you have entered the arena where your fitness "peers" do this stuff for a living, which makes it easier for them to bridge that gap.

[Waldo]

lexphoenix, on 14 May 2013 - 12:56, said:

When I get in that mode, I have to think about all the other progress I've made as well. You've learned a lot in the last year. You've continued to progress your workouts. You've inspired your wife to make changes to her lifestyle. You set an incredible example for everyone on the forums. Your wisdom and advice has changed many lives. The numbers say you've lost fat and gained muscle. Maybe you're one of those unfortunate guys that has to be incredibly lean to have a lot of definition. Regardless of what the pics say, you're better now than you were then.

Vector, on 14 May 2013 - 13:10, said:

What Lex said above.

And

When in doubt, get stronger. And you are doing that very well. Unless you are in the mood for some radical dieting, I think you just have to keep on keeping on and knowing that you are better every day.

Chaze, on 14 May 2013 - 14:00, said:

I definitely agree with Lex here, so I won't reiterate it except to add that you are pretty much my go-to source for information that I can truly rely on. You know -exactly- what I want to know when I cannot find that information -anywhere- else. And that knowledge came from hard-earned experience. I think it is possible that you have entered the arena where your fitness "peers" do this stuff for a living, which makes it easier for them to bridge that gap.

The big thing is I've never cut to being this lean, and neither have most people.

It is a pretty constant refrain though by those that have that people are:

- Underestimating how much body fat they have

- Underestimating how long it takes

Wolverine went through this (and seems to be still) though now he's past the dramatic shift in appearance, I'm not there yet.

Even if you are doing your best to avoid underestimating how much fat you have, it really is unavoidable. I've now thought I was 12% BF numerous times, the first time, now in hindsight, I really was closer to 18-20%. This is especially tough because you never really are dropping in BF% currently, instead you continue to rework the past, meaning the present state really doesn't change.

Many though have written about the frustrations of the hard appearance plateau. Where despite all measureable quatities changing, even fairly majorly, physical appearance only moves a budge.

The flipside of this is also something to be very cautious of. If bulking from leaner than this into the hard stage, care must be taken to use measurements aside from just physical appearance as you can end up gaining way, way, way more fat than you think you are, since just like when cutting, a lot of fat makes for very little change in appearance.

Part of me just wants someone who has been there to tell me that just around the corner, in a week or two, things will rapidly change. My abs will sharpen considerably unflexed, my deltoid will separate from my biceps unflexed, my thighs will get dramatically more detailed.

Because that point will signal the end of the long hard appearance plateau. That point dramatically reduces the amount of uncertainty with BF% estimating. The point that signals the end of continuously revising the past instead of making progress in the present.

[Chaze]

It looks like you need to get you a Waldo -- someone to whom you can aspire to be like, who is available to help,  and who is particular enough to give the type of answers you crave. 

 

Good luck finding that )

[Aeryn]

It looks like you need to get you a Waldo -- someone to whom you can aspire to be like, who is available to help,  and who is particular enough to give the type of answers you crave. 

 

Good luck finding that )

I'm with Chaze - you need future!Waldo, here to tell you how close you are and share the wisdom that you'll gain in the next few months. Sadly, the only way to meet him is... to wait. But you are an awesomely persistent and focused person, and you'll get there. Sounds like a really frustrating phase, though!

[lyranedara]

You could try writing to Vince Del Monte, or some other bodybuilder that provides a lot of access to his fans. Send in your before, last year, and current photo. Detail your plan and what you track. Then ask whatever questions you have. Vince is really good about responding to people.

[Wolverine]

Welcome to my hell.  The ever-shifting "it's just around the corner, right?"  I don't have any answers all I can say is "I feel ya, bro."