jstanlick: Lean Mass Quest Part 1

[jstanlick]

Workout fail this morning. Work, insomnia and a dog with a full bladder all conspired against my sleep from 12:30 -3:45 this morning. Then, said canine woke me up at 7:15 cuz the dude with the vislas was letting them run through the yards while he biked. I went an hour long walk with him and he's quiet now

Then came the workout. My sons both asking me why I'm not lifting the lighter weights cuz it's be easier and I'm thinking, these are light weights. BP 10x10 at 150# should not feel that heavy. Nor should the 8x12 175# DL. I finished the whole thing, but I think I need a nap or something.

Workout details later. BTW - I'm up to page 60 in 4 hour WW.

[cline]

Ugh that lack of sleep is terrible!!!! Booooo

Take a nap!!!!

[jstanlick]

I thought those numbers were off. My progress was progressing too quickly. I fixed a problem with my formula in my Excel spreadsheet. So, despite getting more done, my progress bar went backwards. D'oh!

[AgentsSka]

How are you calculating your progress for the bar?  Mine is easy to calculate as it is simply - complete a leg of the Trifecta increase by 33.33%.  Or in the case of this Saturday, since it is my second sprint, I will only increase it to 33.33% - as I will consider the Sprint leg complete at that point.

[jstanlick]

Week 1 update:

 

Workouts: Got all 4 of them in. Sunday was better than Saturday. I'm still trying to decide if I like them or not. Here's the just of it, 2 workouts per bodypart per week. One of those workouts includes heavy weight low rep, moderate weight/higher reps, and low weight/high reps, while the other workout exists of 1 exercise, lots of sets low weight. And they're laid out to give not only that body part, but the assistance muscles need rest as well. So, what's not to like? I don't like the amount of time each one takes and I don't like sitting on my ass 3 days a week. Kinda feels like I should do less each day, but do something more days. Now, on the other hand, my muscles are sore all over without maxing out weights. Which seems a lot safer since I workout without a spotter. And, even without maxing out the weights, finishing the workouts isn't easy. I'm going to stay with it and see what happens over the course of the challenge, 'cuz it's only fair to give a workout strategy at least a month to see if it's working for you.

 

Diet: It got better as the week wore on. But, consuming more protein and less carbs was a lot harder than I thought it would be. Protein has proven to be elusive despite a freezer full of beef. The 24 hour fast got hard around hour 20, but then work happened to distract me. For once, getting attacked by the work monster worked in my favor. And then there was yesterday. If I believed in cheat days, yesterday would have been perfect! But, I don't, so it sucked. Why? Poor planning. I offered to take all the kids to pick up a new outdoor couch for that patio I put together back in May to give my wife some peace and quiet in her gardens and the dog. As we waited in line, their computers went down. The kids were hungry and kept pestering me for all that candy they're always kind enough to put next to the registers. I managed to stay strong and tell them no, cuz otherwise I was going to grab a Snickers bar for myself. But, I was freaking starving myself. I thought we'd drive there, pick up and come back home. We'd be gone an hour and come back and get some lunch. We walked outside and they started harassing me to stop at the McDonald's next door. I rationalized there's got to be something there I could eat. I stared at the menu trying to find something remotely healthy and decided on the grilled Chicken & Bacon wrap and some water. Then I flipped over the nutrition information and discovered it was still a fail. I don't know what they coat that chicken in but the amount of carbs was staggering. I would have been better off with a bunch of McNuggets like more boys or the deep fried fish fillet my daughter got. Sigh.

 

Life: Read some more in the book. I'm currently at page 72 of 4 Hour Workweek, putting me on pace to finish it somewhere in the middle of week 6. But, with vacation next week, I envision sitting on the beach reading. So, hopefully I'll finish that sooner. Good book though. I've already picked up tidbits to help things at work. Or at least, it seems like they should help.

[cline]

I thought those numbers were off. My progress was progressing too quickly. I fixed a problem with my formula in my Excel spreadsheet. So, despite getting more done, my progress bar went backwards. D'oh!

 

I would blame Excel and math.  Math is hard.  Excel is hard.  Stupid math and excel. 

 

Then I'd go pout and get coffee.  Then the world would be magically brighter. 

 

I'm surprised you aren't at 80%.... it's Excel's fault.

[jstanlick]

How are you calculating your progress for the bar?  Mine is easy to calculate as it is simply - complete a leg of the Trifecta increase by 33.33%.  Or in the case of this Saturday, since it is my second sprint, I will only increase it to 33.33% - as I will consider the Sprint leg complete at that point.

 

It's a simple average of my four mini-quests this challenge. Except, my life quest is a combination of two items. I wasn't treating them as 1 item and added them both in and then divided the total by 4. So, I could actually get to 125% at the end.

[cline]

Your workouts sound pretty awesome.  Toss in a run on one of the other days and you do all that dog walking - make your walks just a tad longer and that all still counts.  Long slow walks are really good for you (and the pup!). 

 

Too bad about the McDonald's fail but you must have score massive "Awesome Dad" points!  Heh. 

 

It's hard to get the protein in, isn't it?  Are you adding in whey?  Are you doing dairy?  Toss whey into your yogurt. 

 

My saddest discovery with protein was oysters - what a friggin waste those things are.  I figured they'd be little protein bombs. Nope.  Almost no protein. 

 

Food conspires against me....

[cline]

It's a simple average of my four mini-quests this challenge. Except, my life quest is a combination of two items. I wasn't treating them as 1 item and added them both in and then divided the total by 4. So, I could actually get to 125% at the end.

 

Extra credit!

[jstanlick]

I would blame Excel and math.  Math is hard.  Excel is hard.  Stupid math and excel. 

 

Then I'd go pout and get coffee.  Then the world would be magically brighter. 

 

I'm surprised you aren't at 80%.... it's Excel's fault.

 

Math isn't hard. Concentrating enough to get it right is the hard part. Heck, Excel has the formulas to use and it works just fine when you get the data in it correctly. I don't even need to do the math. But, alas, I had a data entry fail.

 

*The DBA hangs his head in shame*

[jstanlick]

Your workouts sound pretty awesome.  Toss in a run on one of the other days and you do all that dog walking - make your walks just a tad longer and that all still counts.  Long slow walks are really good for you (and the pup!). 

 

Too bad about the McDonald's fail but you must have score massive "Awesome Dad" points!  Heh. 

 

It's hard to get the protein in, isn't it?  Are you adding in whey?  Are you doing dairy?  Toss whey into your yogurt. 

 

My saddest discovery with protein was oysters - what a friggin waste those things are.  I figured they'd be little protein bombs. Nope.  Almost no protein. 

 

Food conspires against me....

 

There were a couple of days I had to resort to protein shakes. Bah! Silly manufactured food. Plus, it comes with 9 grams of carbs too. At least none of it was sugar, but I'd rather have real food.

 

McDonalds was depressing. And, I was hungry a couple of hours later. But last night's dinner was amazing! My wife took 8 roma tomoates, a green pepper and cliantro from our garden, combined that with 2 avocadoes and the juice from half a lime (hard to grow either of those in Wisconsin), some cumin, some black pepper and a little salt. All diced up in a bowl. The kids thought we were nuts deciding to munch on their carrots instead, but the two of us polished off the whole bowl. Probably a little high on the portion side, but it tasted amazing! I also grilled a chuck roast that she had been marianating for a week. Most tender chuck roast I ever had. What was a 3 pound roast, ended up with just about .5 pound left after the 5 of us tore into it.

[AgentsSka]

MMMMMMmmmmm....  meat!

[cline]

There were a couple of days I had to resort to protein shakes. Bah! Silly manufactured food. Plus, it comes with 9 grams of carbs too. At least none of it was sugar, but I'd rather have real food.

 

McDonalds was depressing. And, I was hungry a couple of hours later. But last night's dinner was amazing! My wife took 8 roma tomoates, a green pepper and cliantro from our garden, combined that with 2 avocadoes and the juice from half a lime (hard to grow either of those in Wisconsin), some cumin, some black pepper and a little salt. All diced up in a bowl. The kids thought we were nuts deciding to munch on their carrots instead, but the two of us polished off the whole bowl. Probably a little high on the portion side, but it tasted amazing! I also grilled a chuck roast that she had been marianating for a week. Most tender chuck roast I ever had. What was a 3 pound roast, ended up with just about .5 pound left after the 5 of us tore into it.

 

that sounds AWESOME.  I'd eat the whole bowl and smack spousal unit's hand away.  (but tonight he's making pork loin so I have to be nice).

 

Look into ISOPURE - they make a carb free version that is pretty good.  You can get at GNC or Amazon.  A natural body builder I used to know swore by it.

[jstanlick]

that sounds AWESOME.  I'd eat the whole bowl and smack spousal unit's hand away.  (but tonight he's making pork loin so I have to be nice).

 

Look into ISOPURE - they make a carb free version that is pretty good.  You can get at GNC or Amazon.  A natural body builder I used to know swore by it.

 

MMMMMMmmmmm....  meat!

 

The best part about last night's dinner was that I ate a shit ton of food and didn't feel stuffed and bloated afterwards. I still don't feel hungry this morning. And, I even did hill sprints this morning! More on that when I figure out why my picture uploads to my gallery aren't working.

[jstanlick]

Alright, I don't know why I'm not getting the upload buttons for my gallery, so this pic will have to be an attachment (and very tiny and less impressive looking as a result )

 

Today I decided to go for a run before the predicted rain arrived.

 

[NOTE: the rain never arrived despite the 60% chance of rain. From my statistics class, I know a percentage of 60% is a veritable lock that will happen. Stupid computer models.]

 

Anywho, the plan was to run up the lake shore about 2 miles to my favorite hills, run those 6x and run back. Just before I got to the hills I noticed some boot campers doing jump squats followed by KB snatches. What troubled me was some of them had awful form and the guy running the camp did nothing to help them with it. That's when it happened. I wasn't watching where I was going, stepped in a hole and gave my knee a nice little twist. Not a bad one, as I could keep going but I was starting to limp on it. So, I got to my hills:

 

and debated whether or not to run them. Deciding I had all day to sit at my desk and rest the knee, I tackled the hills. I finished my planned 6 sprints and the knee was feeling pretty good just as the boot campers made it over there. I couldn't just stop there, could I? So, I ran more sprints with them. Some really tall, lanky dude kept beating me up the hill. After 4 more sprints with them I headed back to the showers. My pace out there was 8:00/mile. My pace back was 9:24/mile. And, my knee was getting achy by the time I made it back. Now, it's pretty stiff and sore. But, the hills were worth it. I love hill sprints by the lake.

 

[jstanlick]

I take that back, once you open the picture, it looks much better. 

[AgentsSka]

Boo to knee tweaks.  Take care of those things.  They are rather vital.

 

That hill looks like it gets it's fair share of traffic!  10 hills instead of 6 on a tweaked knee.  Awesome!

 

Did you flat-tire the tall lanky dude on the way up the last time?  (It's totally legal.)  

[cline]

Did you flat-tire the tall lanky dude on the way up the last time?  (It's totally legal.)  

 

Agree.  Totally legit.  Another good reason to learn to throw elbows.

 

When we were still doing boot camp, a SEAL camp started around the same time but about 30 mins later.  Spousal unit and I wanted to take them out OR dance around like Westside Story.  We never did approach our boot camp members with either idea as they would have thought us idiotic.  We continue to laugh about the possibilities.

 

I say go back and beat the boot camp. Make it a goal!

[cline]

That looks like an awesome hill.

 

Stupid boot camp distraction.  Boooooo! 

 

Also, 60% = 100%.  Yup.

[jstanlick]

Boo to knee tweaks.  Take care of those things.  They are rather vital.

 

That hill looks like it gets it's fair share of traffic!  10 hills instead of 6 on a tweaked knee.  Awesome!

 

Did you flat-tire the tall lanky dude on the way up the last time?  (It's totally legal.)  

 

The knee was weird. One of those, "What the hell was that?!?!" Kind of moments. Then, the more hills I climbed the better it felt. But, the 2 miles back started to annoy it. Maybe it's the difference between pavement and dirt.

 

Its the perfect hill for running. It's steep and the right distance. Much longer and you're really slowing down. If it were shorter it'd be too easy.

 

Agree.  Totally legit.  Another good reason to learn to throw elbows.

 

When we were still doing boot camp, a SEAL camp started around the same time but about 30 mins later.  Spousal unit and I wanted to take them out OR dance around like Westside Story.  We never did approach our boot camp members with either idea as they would have thought us idiotic.  We continue to laugh about the possibilities.

 

I say go back and beat the boot camp. Make it a goal!

 

I left the boot campers alone. Besides, there was one woman there who won my respect. She was older and obviously out of shape, but there to get into shape. She struggled through a few climbs, and then put on a 60# weight vest (the blue object in the picture) and started back up the hill. She was determined and she worked harder than any of the college-ish aged people in the boot camp. How can you not respect that?

 

That looks like an awesome hill.

 

Stupid boot camp distraction.  Boooooo! 

 

Also, 60% = 100%.  Yup.

 

As someone who spent some time getting my KB Snatch form down, I could understand why some folks might be struggling with it. But I couldn't figure out why the trainer wasn't helping them get it right. I'm not a certified trainer and I could tell it was wrong. Whatever they're paying that guy, it's too much.

 

The view from the top of the hill is better. But, I can't figure out why I'm not getting the actual upload button in the gallery to upload that one. And since I took it with the camera sideways this morning, attaching it to the post would look weird. But, you turn around at the top and look out over Bradford beach on the western shore of Lake Michigan. It was cloudy today, but it looks awesome most mornings when the sun is coming up over the lake. Here's Google's version of it. You can see someone walking over to the steps for the return trip to the bottom of the hill.

 

http://goo.gl/maps/9wej0

[jstanlick]

So, yesterday's diet. I'm not sure what happened. I ended up with a calorie deficit, with just the right amount of carbs, fat was just a tad high and not enough protein. In fact, it was the best day I've had with regards to reducing the carb intake. Unfortunately, it was my worst day for protein intake. Probably not the best thing on a day that included a 4 mile run, hill sprints and a tweaked knee. But, I'm taking the calories and carbs as a win and sticking with that

 

Speaking of the knee, it's a little swollen and very stiff this morning. BW squats were hard to get a full RoM with when I got up this morning. So, I crawled back into bed for another hour and replanned my workout for tonight. I'm hoping as the day progresses it will loosen up a bit. At least the pain's gone, so 'tis a minor injury.

[Knightwatch]

Sounds like you're doing great!  Glad the knee is pain-free, here's hoping for full ROM asap!

[AgentsSka]

Good to hear about the knee.  Nothing wrong with giving it a day to recover if it needs it.

[cline]

knee recovery days all around!

 

NOW you understand my calorie issues!!!! It's hard isn't it?  It's surprising too!  I think if more people really tracked this they'd be surprised.

 

That area you run in is amazing.  Totally jealous.

[jstanlick]

Sounds like you're doing great!  Glad the knee is pain-free, here's hoping for full ROM asap!

 

Thanks! I'm sitting here at my desk trying to keep it moving while I type. ROM is slowly getting better. 

 

Good to hear about the knee.  Nothing wrong with giving it a day to recover if it needs it.

 

I know, but I do resting for recovery poorly. I'm way too impatient. I can tell cline to be patient, but I suck at listening to myself

 

I'm hoping I can still get in some squats tonight, but if I have to focus on upper body only, so be it. Wait, what if no DL's?!?!? That would suck!

 

knee recovery days all around!

 

NOW you understand my calorie issues!!!! It's hard isn't it?  It's surprising too!  I think if more people really tracked this they'd be surprised.

 

That area you run in is amazing.  Totally jealous.

 

I'm beginning to understand. Tracking this shit is hard. Well, tracking it is easy enough, course correcting and planning it out in the first place is hard. Who knew eating more grams of protein would be so difficult? I mean, its waaaaaayyy too easy (for me anyway) to get more carbs. Protein I've really got to work at. I'm constantly surrounded by bread stuffs. Even when I grab something for protein, I read the label and find all kinds of carbs coming along for the ride (thank you very much Greek yogurt). 

 

The lakefront is one of my most favorite places to run. Milwaukee actually does a nice job with their parks system and the northern shore is all one big park with my office building and locker room is near the southern edge of the park. Damn convenient. But, it's not such a nice place to run in the winter. The wind off the lake gets positively bone-chilling especially when the spray from the waves reaches the running paths. Icy too!