Prefect's 6-Week Challenge

[prefect42]

Maybe it was a self-fulfilling prophecy, but that run on 6/14 was the last planned exercise I got. I should say, I walked around Seattle a TON (3, 4, 5 miles a day?) and that city is HILLY. Not particularly happy the lack of strength training and "serious" exercise. I could throw out some excuses, but frankly it's not worth the time. Now to focus on redoubling my efforts in the remaining weeks of the challenge.

Day 22: 6/21

Lifting Day

Warmup

Squats

5 x 45lbs

5 x 65lbs

3 x 95lbs

5 x 115lbs

5 x 115lbs

5 x 115lbs

5 x 115lbs

5 x 115lbs

I know I've said this elsewhere in my thread, but my squats this go around have been much deeper than before, not far off from ATG. Still need to watch my form, especially coming out of the bottom of the squat when it's that low, but today felt pretty good.

Push Press

5 x 70lbs

5 x 70lbs

5 x 70lbs

5 x 70lbs

5 x 70lbs

Deadlifts

5 x 135lbs

5 x 155lbs

5 x 175lbs

5 x 175lbs

These felt pretty good for the most part, but this was the first time I really started feeling my grip slip. A friend recommended trying out a hook grip, so I'll give that a shot next time.

Chinups

1

2

3

3

3

2

1

Pretty close to a 4 rep chin-up pyramid here. Glad I decided to switch back to this training method as I did more chins this way.

[prefect42]

Day 23: 6/22

Cardio and Conditioning

Warm up, then:

2 mile run, barefoot -- 9 minute mile avg.

I hope to get some pilates in later this afternoon as well.

I like to think that my diet has been pretty good since getting back into my routine as of Monday. Most days start with a protein shake (almond or 2% milk, half a frozen banana, protein powder, little bit of cocoa powder). Yesterday I had leftover picadillo (lean ground beef, some veggies, olives, raisins, crushed tomatoes, hot sauce) for lunch and a couple of burgers (just beef, thyme, worcestershire, onion, and an egg) with a spinach salad and balsamic vinaigrette for dinner. Today will pretty much be the reverse (burgers and salad for lunch, picadillo leftovers for dinner). With the exception of a cup of coffee at work, pretty much just been drinking water.

That being said, I'm sure I'm still doing something (many things?) "wrong."

[theanne]

Your protein shake sounds almost exactly like mine although I like to throw in some almond butter and/or organic peanut butter for texture and flavor on some days.

[prefect42]

ha, i do that too! not all the time, but sometimes you just need that chocolate peanut butter goodness. i tend to make it more in the evening. for some reason, adding the peanut butter makes it seem more dessert-y to me.

got in about 20 minutes or so of pilates after work. either my core has gotten ridiculously weak or....no, that's probably just it. i used to be able to get through this whole routine without stopping and now, there are more than a few movements where i can last through maybe 20% of them. craaaap. the solution? MORE PILATES.

dinner = the deliciousness. 3 eggs, scrambled with sauteed onion, spinach, and fresh tomato. a couple of basil and sun dried tomato chicken sausages. and another small protein shake, this time with frozen strawberries and a mix of OJ and milk.

my schedule has me back at the gym tomorrow for a lifting day, but my legs are outrageously sore which is frustrating. going to try to push through that, but we'll see how feasible it is.

[prefect42]

Week 2 Summary

Goal 1: 1 day of lifting at the gym -- FAIL

Goal 2: 2 days of conditioning (2 running days) -- PASS

Goal 3: Still making my way through Secret Historian, about 245 pages read out of 400. Technically not on "pace" to finish my goal, but I think I will still be able to do it as my next book is a bit shorter.

Goal 4: Spent a good amount of time posting (read: intruding into people's threads ) and trying to reach out to some new rebels. Still more that I could do!

Overall Grade, Week 2: C-

[prefect42]

Week 3 Summary

Goal 1: No lifting -- TOTAL FAIL

Goal 2: 1 days of conditioning (1 running day) -- FAIL

Goal 3: Stalled out a little bit on my reading as I was really busy that week. I'm still determined to pull this goal out, though!

Goal 4: Was MIA for most of the week while traveling, so I've got some catching up to do.

Overall Grade, Week 3: D-

Yeesh. I need to get in some makeout workouts like nobody's business over the next few weeks to recover from this week.

[Crooked]

Is all your traveling behind you? It might help you to try to come up with a schedule of workouts going forward if you haven't already. That way you won't get to the end of a week and go, "Whoops, didn't fit ____ in." Also, please stay positive and keep looking forward instead of back!

[Wolfman]

Week 3 Summary

Goal 1: No lifting -- TOTAL FAIL

Goal 2: 1 days of conditioning (1 running day) -- FAIL

Goal 3: Stalled out a little bit on my reading as I was really busy that week. I'm still determined to pull this goal out, though!

Goal 4: Was MIA for most of the week while traveling, so I've got some catching up to do.

Overall Grade, Week 3: D-

Yeesh. I need to get in some makeout workouts like nobody's business over the next few weeks to recover from this week.

Your Week 3 sounds like my Week 3! I totally let a business trip be my excuse to completely slack on EVERYTHING. Added a reward element to the challenge, got some encouragement from my fellow Rebels, and am trying to put it behind me this week (and use it as motivation). Good luck to you on Week 4!

[prefect42]

@Crooked: thanks, and yes, the travel is mostly all done. Starting next weekend (7/2), I will be away from home again for 9 days. Thankfully, I'll be able to use a guest pass to go to an actual gym once or twice during that period. The rest of the time will be on vacation in San Francisco, where I predict it will be hard for me to stay on a strict diet and get planned exercise other than walking around a lot. What can I say? Food is easily one of my favorite things in the world, and going to new places always entails eating my way through them.

I'd be smart to pre-plan workout days for when I'm on vacation and try to stick to that. Otherwise, while I am home, my schedule is like this: lift heavy every other day; on the inbetween days, do cardio/conditioning of some kind; make sure there's a rest day somewhere in the week. Of course, it never works out perfectly, but that's the general plan.

@wolfman: yeah, no matter how much you plan or try to motivate, it's just really tough once you're on the road, right? I think the business element of it makes it worse than vacation. On vacation, I know I've given myself a pass to be sort of lazy and gluttonous, so usually a guilt instinct kicks in and I make it a point to workout. On business, you spend the whole day working, and then when you're done, you're in an unfamiliar place and out of your regular routine so it's easier to say, "well, I'm just going to go to the hotel bar, have a burger and a couple of beers for dinner and relax." Don't get me wrong--I love that--but it runs a little counter to my goals.

Good luck to you in Week 4, too!

[prefect42]

Blerg. Woke up at 5:30 as per usual, dead tired and dead sore. I even got out of bed and did a couple of squats to see if my hamstrings could go through with a full set of weighted ones. No dice.

DOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMS!

After not sleeping well, I decided my body needed the extra rest so I called off the gym for this morning. Should be able to bounce back with some yoga or something after work, which I'm hoping will have the additional effect of relieving some muscle soreness. I think it's high past time that I invested in a foam roller.

[Wolfman]

Foam rollers are the bomb diggity.

[Crooked]

I'm planning on buying one this weekend! I love/hate foam rollers

[prefect42]

I might need to get one this weekend too!

Okay, sliiiiight recovery from this morning:

Day 22: 6/23

Conditioning: 35 minutes of yoga

My dinner plan was a fail. I was going to make turkey meatloaf with a side of mushrooms, and brussels sprouts and bacon. Unfortunately, I am notoriously bad at timing my defrost rates, so the turkey was still a little frozen. With no other meat/protein ready to cook with, I opted to be a little bit bad and get Indian takeout.

BUT: before picking it up, I cooked a couple of heads of broccoli, and I used the crowns instead of rice. DO YOU HEAR THAT, PALEO GODS? I just passed on greedily devouring A PINT OF DELICIOUS BASMATI RICE. (Okay, I might have crushed some papadums into the mix for texture and crunch, but those are mostly lentil/chickpea flour, right? )

[theanne]

Very good on the broccoli You have more self-control than me! I'd have been like "Well, I'll at least have a few bi-om·nom·omnomnom"

[prefect42]

It was really hard to resist, but I managed. Also, there was a party at work today and while I did have a beer, I avoided the cake, baked brie, and delicious fried pita chips. Then again, dinner tonight was turkey meatloaf, sauteed mushrooms, and brussels sprouts and bacon so why wouldn't I want an empty stomach for all that? omnomnomnomnom.

Day 25: 6/24

Lifting

Warmup

Squats

5 x 45lbs

5 x 65lbs

5 x 95lbs

5 x 120lbs

5 x 120lbs

5 x 120lbs

5 x 120lbs

5 x 120lbs

Bench Press

Not even going to list the few reps I got in today. I decided to try to set up the power rack so I could bench safely by myself in it. After spending what seemed like 10 minutes setting everything up as though it were some Rube Goldberg machine, I settled in for a few reps. Basically, the whole setup just sucked. The bar rests were okay, but just slightly too high so it was kind of a pain to get the bar back in after a set. The bigger problem was the safety bars. At one setting, they were too low to prevent my chest from getting crushed. The next notch up was too high to get a full range of motion with the rep.

At any rate, having wasted so much time on this, I just tried to get through the rest of my workout.

Bent-over Row

5 x 85lbs

5 x 85lbs

5 x 85lbs

5 x 85lbs

5 x 85lbs

Apparently, I should've just stopped with my failed bench press, because though I did fine getting through these sets, my lower back has been freaking killing me the rest of the day. I'm about 99% sure it's from these. Form is definitely off...this'll be enough to scare me away from these for a good few weeks. Here's hoping for no serious injuries. Bleh.

Pushups

15

15

15

Now for some relaxing and a glass of wine...

[Wolfman]

Equipment FAIL. I hate when that happens.

As for your lower back, I had a similar experience two weeks ago. Decided it would be a great idea to power clean as a warm-up for the deadlift. My back was tired by the time I got to the deadlifts and I had compromised form and promptly tweaked my lower back. Suck. I just took it easy, avoided low back exercises, and focused on bodyweight stuff. Appears to have done the trick! Needless to say, I will not be power clean/deadlifting together again!

Also, I hear a relaxing glass of wine is the best medicine for a frustrating workout.

[prefect42]

Also, I hear a relaxing glass of wine is the best medicine for a frustrating workout.

How about two? Sorry to hear about your tale of back pain woe. Mine feels better today but still a little tweaky. Hoping it's better by Monday so I can deadlift, but I am not going to risk it if it's still feeling tender.

Day 26: 6/25

Conditioning

Warm-up, then:

2.75 pull-ups (so close to a 3 rep set)

1,000m ERG, level 5 resistance (about 10 minutes?)

15 minutes on elliptical: 2 min. warm-up, 30 sec. sprint/90 sec. rest for 5 intervals, 3 min. cool down

Bench Press

5 x 65lbs

5 x 95lbs

5 x 105lbs

4 x 115lbs

4 x 115lbs

3 x 115lbs

3 x 115lbs

3 x 115lbs

Yeah, didn't mean to have that extra 105lbs warm-up set in there. Did that no problem and thought, "Wow, I just dominated that 115lbs set. Wait--how many plates did I put on there?" MATH FAIL. Anyway, this was my make-up bench press from yesterday.

Pull-ups: 2 more in a set, then 1 final one to finish the workout

[spezzy]

BUT: before picking it up, I cooked a couple of heads of broccoli, and I used the crowns instead of rice. DO YOU HEAR THAT, PALEO GODS? I just passed on greedily devouring A PINT OF DELICIOUS BASMATI RICE. (Okay, I might have crushed some papadums into the mix for texture and crunch, but those are mostly lentil/chickpea flour, right? )

hahaha well rice = gross, broccoli = delicious.

[Martinpanduh]

Great job so far! Update us on your squats!

[Crooked]

Yeah, didn't mean to have that extra 105lbs warm-up set in there. Did that no problem and thought, "Wow, I just dominated that 115lbs set. Wait--how many plates did I put on there?" MATH FAIL. Anyway, this was my make-up bench press from yesterday.

This kind of thing happens to me all the time. I wind up taking super long breaks while I try to add very complicated numbers like 45 + 25 + 25 + 10 + 10. Great job on the bench press!

[prefect42]

hahaha well rice = gross, broccoli = delicious.

Yeah, I don't care what you paleo people say, I do not have fewer cravings for delicious, delicious grains than I used to. Does not compute.

@Martin: squats are at 5x5x120lbs until tomorrow morning, when I'll bump up to 125. That's around the weight where I stalled out on my first go around so I'm hoping to see some improvement.

@Crooked: thanks! Yeah, there was a conversation in someone's thread (maybe CapN's?) about the constant mathfail when dealing with bars/plates. No really, I am a nerd! I'm good at math! I blame the gym. It's like it has an anti-math forcefield.

[prefect42]

Day 28: 6/27

Conditioning

Today was a scheduled lifting day, but I wanted to give my back another day to rest rather than bombard it with more deadlifts. That being said, I'm really, really looking forward to those tomorrow.

20 minutes of pilates today, instead! Unfortunately, that means I won't have hit my 3x lifting goal for this week, but I prefer that to screwing up my back and having 0x lifting days for the rest of the challenge.

And now for dinner, chicken salad veronique! Giant chunks of roasted chicken, tarragon, celery, grapes, and some mayo. So good, and I made approximately 4 pounds of chicken for it.

[prefect42]

Day 29: 6/28

Lifting

Warm-up

Squats

5 x 45lbs

5 x 65lbs

3 x 95lbs

5 x 125lbs

5 x 125lbs

5 x 125lbs

5 x 125lbs

5 x 125lbs

Push Press

5 x 45lbs

5 x 75lbs

5 x 75lbs

5 x 75lbs

5 x 75lbs

5 x 75lbs

Deadlifts

5 x 135lbs

5 x 155lbs

5 x 180lbs

5 x 180lbs

Pullups

1

2

2

1

Advancing on all fronts! Except maybe the pullups, which I still struggle with a bit, but I'll take the 6. It felt great to move up in weight and clear all three main lifts, though.

[Crooked]

Congratulations! Very exciting progress.

[prefect42]

@Crooked: thanks! We'll see if I can keep it up tomorrow. (Hint: Prooooobably not, given how tough the last round of squats was yesterday.)

Day 30: 6/29

I'll be honest. I had a longish day at work (up at 5:30am, down to NYC and back to the office by 2:00pm, finally home around 6) and was pretty much consigned to just taking a rest day. Then I popped onto NF, read a few posts, and decided to get my ass into some gym shorts. Ended up doing 35 minutes of yoga. Also recorded myself doing it this time so I can check out some of my movements and poses and see how close I am.

Eating today was surprisingly good for being off my normal schedule. I fasted until just before noon. Grabbed some food on the way back to my train from a "healthy fast food" place. Essentially, I got a salad bowl with a couple of turkey patties and avocado. When the woman rang me up, I thought, "Wow, $7? In midtown? No way." And then I saw why: tiniest turkey burger patties EVER. Maybe 2 oz. of meat combined. Then I looked at my receipt: they individually list the calories for every item you add in to your meal and give you a total at the bottom. My salad was 255 calories. Effffffffffff.

Thankfully, I had a bag of almonds with me in my bag, as well as an apple and ANOTHER bag of almonds at work. I ate them all, came home, pounded a protein shake, and now am having eggs and chicken sausage.

All of this is a long way of saying that I am happy to have powered through today and did not just write it off like I might have in the past. (Though part of that may be that I know tomorrow will be a less than stellar diet day--pizza, beer/martinis, and video games with friends!)