tenaciousglee reverses the trend

[tenaciousglee]

You never know until you check! 

 

I checked.  Not much change.  Within 1/4-1/2 on all measurements.  Belly and waist going down is good; chest and neck going down not so good.

 

Did you take before pics to go with the after pics?  

 

I did.  I've been taking pics for 2 years and I am disheartened by the lack of changes I see.  I need to get back to my home PC and put some of the early pics on the Before/During/After Gallery.  Then I need to go eat and lift some more.

[Phayze]

Sounds like a good plan to me. Not there yet? Keep going!

Even half an inch is something to be happy about, especially for skinny dudes like us. Still, I can relate. My gains have been less than I hoped for, too.

[tenaciousglee]

Sounds like a good plan to me. Not there yet? Keep going!

Even half an inch is something to be happy about, especially for skinny dudes like us. Still, I can relate. My gains have been less than I hoped for, too.

 Thanks, Phayze.

 

I went back and looked at my progress pic from a month ago and really didn't see any difference.  Then I went back and looked at June 2012, when I started the NF challenges.  BIG difference.  I would hope so, since I've been at it for 2 years.  Still not a ton of muscle, at least from the front view.  I'm going to put in some extra effort on my chest next challenge.

 

Again, when I get some free time at home, I'll add pics to the Gallery.

[Librarian of Doom]

Glad you're able to see some progress, even if it's not as fast as you would wish.

[Mikroftt]

I was looking at my recent photo vs the one I took after my first challenge and there really wasn't much difference.  I am only 7lbs lighter now so I guess it is not surprising that visually there is not much difference.  The biggest thing for me though is how I feel, which is 100x better than I did last year.  Yeah I have a bit of work to go physically before swimsuit season but mentally I feel as if I was ready.  

[tenaciousglee]

I was looking at my recent photo vs the one I took after my first challenge and there really wasn't much difference.  I am only 7lbs lighter now so I guess it is not surprising that visually there is not much difference.  The biggest thing for me though is how I feel, which is 100x better than I did last year.  Yeah I have a bit of work to go physically before swimsuit season but mentally I feel as if I was ready.  

 

I'm with you on feeling a bigger change than I may be seeing.  I can definitely tell that I've gotten stronger when I go to scoop up my kids and don't have to grunt and strain.  I am pretty intent on getting some "show" muscles as a tangible result of all my effort.  Not that I'll ever be a bodybuilder, but when I don't see much difference after 2 years, it makes me question if I've been wasting my time or taking it too easy on myself.

 

That being said, here's my workout from yesterday:

 

A1 - Alpha Press (Javelin Press with dumbbell) 8x35#

A2 - Alpha Deadlift 6x100#

A3 - Bent Over Row 8x100#

A4 - Hanging Knee Raise x10

 

B1 - 45sec KB swing w/ 50# KB

 

C1 - 15 Push-ups

C2 - 10 Jump Squats

C3 - 30 sec Plank

 

So, I was supposed to do 5 sets of Circuit A, 3 sets of KB swings, and 2 sets of Circuit C, but due to oversleeping and then dragging my feet, I cut my workout short and only did 2 sets of A and 1 each of B and C.  Still, I like this workout and plan to go the distance next time it comes up in the rotation.

[tenaciousglee]

Speaking of sleep, I feel like I need to put in some effort on catching up on my sleep.  For the last couple of months, I've been working out 4 days a week at 5-5:30 AM.  I usually get to bed between 10 and 11, so I'm getting 6-7 hours of sleep most nights.  I've been considering just taking a week off from the early mornings and trying to get a solid 8 hours 7 days in a row.  I am in Week 1 of the last 4 week phase of Engineering the Alpha, due to finish up in the week between challenges.  I don't want to skip a week, but mainly because I want to be able to say I actually stuck to a program for 4 full months!  So, that may mean taking off (the early AM workouts) the first week of the next challenge to catch up on sleep.  I could potentially still do some exercise between the kids' bedtime and my own.  Another option would be compressing my 3 workouts in the last week of EtA into the 1st 3 days of the week M-W, then taking off Thursday-Wednesday and not completely miss Week 1 of the next challenge.  Thoughts?

[Librarian of Doom]

You can totally take Week 1 "off" from working out and still be doing the challenge! If your goal is to get solid sleep during that time, you're still working on leveling up!!! Don't sweat it too much; make your goals fit what you need to do, instead of contorting yourself to meet some standard that only you are holding yourself to.

[tenaciousglee]

Week 4 wrap-up = an absolute blur.  I couldn't even remember what week I was on.  Seriously, I had to look it up.  My weight came up a little, but I'm afraid my waist did, too.  I've completely dropped the ball on my Pilates/core goal.  Not going to sweat it.  The iPhone challenge is going okay, but I forgot to track my hours/points last week.  I think I'll call it 50% and start fresh this week.

 

Week 5, Day 1!

 

Engineering the Alpha, Phase IV, Workout 4

This was my kind of workout:

 

Front Squat - 5x5x60#

Chin-ups - 4 sets of 5 chin-ups with 20#, 1 set of 2 reps

Bench Press - 5x5x100#

Deadlift - 5x5x150#

 

I'll need to up the weight on all lifts except chin-ups next time.

[Librarian of Doom]

Nice workout!!! Nice to know you'll need to up the weights; getting some strength going there!

[Eilyd]

There may come a challenge when we don't all fall off the cart at week 4...but it is not this challenge lol! I didn't fail at anything really, but I forgot to track everything as well.

 

I second what LoD said. Sleep is important and doing that as part of the next challenge is a good thing.

[Mikroftt]

Like others have said, I am fine with you taking the week "off" and following the program.  They have it designed that way for a reason.  Consequently after reading about your success, I am back on the waiting list to get a copy of the book from my library.  

 

Keep up the good stuff!

[tenaciousglee]

Like others have said, I am fine with you taking the week "off" and following the program.  They have it designed that way for a reason.  Consequently after reading about your success, I am back on the waiting list to get a copy of the book from my library.  

 

Keep up the good stuff!

 

Thanks!  And good luck if you go back through EtA.  I definitely can't argue with the results it got me regarding inches dropped off my waist.  I have not put on as much muscle as I would have hoped, but I also don't have barbells and had to modify some of the exercises accordingly.  Going forward, I will probably try to follow a LeanGains style of eating in order to keep adding mass without as much fat.  While the low-carb diet helped me lose my belly, I think it did have some negative effects on my energy.  My wife noticed this a lot.  I would basically zonk at 9, if not earlier.  I'm sure getting up at 5 didn't help...

 

Speaking of sleep, I skipped this morning's workout in favor of more sleep.  I got up and everything, but just decided I needed more rest.  Didn't help that both kids were up in the middle of the night on separate occasions.

[Librarian of Doom]

Oh, yeah. Kids and sleep interruptions make me something something

 

[tenaciousglee]

Oh, yeah. Kids and sleep interruptions make me something something

Go crazy?

"Don't mind if I do!"

One of my all-time favorite Simpsons moments.

[Mikroftt]

I had to skip sketching yesterday because I needed some more sleep.  It did wonders and I feel a ton better today.  I highly recommend sleep

[Eilyd]

Sleep is the best thing, in my opinion. I have sort of adopted a biphasic schedule on my new work days, because I couldn't get myself to go to bed at 8:00 or whenever I would need to in order to get up at 4. So now I sleep for 4 hours after my shift is over so that I can still get my necessary 9 hours.

[tenaciousglee]

So, we're all in agreement?  Sleep is good?  Duly noted!  I skipped Wednesday and Friday's workouts in favor of sleep.  No regrets, except the whole "you don't get stronger by skipping workouts" thing.

 

Week 5 Wrap-up

 

Mission 1 - Weigh more - Still below where I started, but trending up

Mission 2 - Less fat - My belly looks bigger, which translates to higher BF%.  I need to figure out a way to put on weight without it all going to my waist!

Mission 3 - Focus on lagging features - Big Fat Zero for the week, but I've been planning ahead for next challenge on how to incorporate it into my AM workouts so I don't have to try and add more workouts to my week.  Clearly, I'm not good at sticking with the extra workouts.

Life Mission - iPhone addiction - Was doing good this week until I had to stay home from work on Friday with a sick toddler.  Spent all day on the couch, which meant lots of time to play on my phone.  If I stay strict for Week 6, I can still pull out a C for this goal.

[Librarian of Doom]

Sorry you're having trouble upping the weight without upping the BF%. Wish I had advice, but I'm trying to bring my weight down while also bringing down my BF%

[Mikroftt]

Last week of the challenge! You can make it!

[tenaciousglee]

Week 6, Day 3

 

Front Squat - 5x5x70#

Chin-Ups - 5x5x20#

Bench Press - 5x5x110#

Deadlift - 5x5x110#

 

Interesting experience during this morning's workout, stemming from frustration with Monday's workout.  I was doing a density workout involving deadlifts on Monday - set the timer for 5 minutes and see how many 6-rep sets I could do.  I struggled to do 3 sets (while alternating with dumbbell high pulls).  I was frustrated that I was having so much trouble with a 100# sandbag.  I got so discouraged that I was ready to just drop deadlifts from my routine all together.  When I saw DL pop-up on today's workout, I considered just not doing them.  For whatever reason, I decided to open up the shell bag and pull out some of the filler bags.  The first filler bag I pulled out was a 10 pounder that I forgot I had put in there.  I was like "oh, that explains why Monday was harder than expected".  Then I pulled all of the filler bags out and realized I had 150 # in the bag, not 100!  I still don't love deadlifts, but at least that explains why they were so much harder on Monday than they should have been.  I was still mad at my sandbags, so I did today's DL with 50# dumbbells and 5# ankle weights wrapped around my wrists.  

[Mikroftt]

Hey it is more impressive that you were able to lift a lot more than you were expecting.  So congrats on making it through despite the heavier load!

[tenaciousglee]

Week 6, Day 5 - over it.

 

I got up this AM like I was supposed to, but wasn't feeling motivated and dragged my feet.  I'm supposed to be on Week 3 (of 4) of Phase 4 of the EtA program.  I did the first 2 workouts planned for this week, but just wasn't feeling motivated to do #3.  I had already gotten dressed and gone to my man cave, so rather than scrapping the workout, I did a preview of one of the workouts I'm planning to use next challenge.  I didn't do multiple sets, so it only took 15 minutes, but I think it will be a good one.

 

Sandbag Clean and Press - 5 reps with 50# sandbag

Pull-Ups - 10 reps

Front Squat - 10x35#

Knees-to-Elbows - 5 reps

Turkish Get-Ups - 3 reps each arm with 25# KB

 

Ready for the weekend and ready to start the next challenge!

[Librarian of Doom]

Sometimes you just have to do what works for you! Good job on this challenge; looking forward to your wrap-up!

[tenaciousglee]

Challenge Wrap-Up - The numbers never lie (unless they do)

 

Mission 1 - Weigh more at the end of the challenge than I did at the beginning - Ironically, I weighed the same on Monday, February 24th, as I did on Sunday, April 6th.  So you could say it's a wash.  However, my 7-day average weight from yesterday is up 1.11 pounds from what it was on 2/24, so I'm calling that a B. +3 CON

 

Mission 2 - Have a lower body fat percentage at the end of the challenge than I did at the beginning - Here's where the weight gain works against me.  Using the Navy method, I went from 17.68% BF to 18.15%, which would result in an F.  Now, after reading Waldo's blog post about measuring body fat percentage at home, I decided to go back and use 4 different calculations and average them.  By that method, I went from 19.90% down to 19.75%, which would result in a C.  I don't think the result of either method is what I was after, so I'm not going to reward myself any points.  But the blog post did give me a new perspective on what to take away from my body measurements, so that's a win.

 

Mission 3 - Focus on my lagging features 3 times a week - No gray area here.  Only did 3 sessions during Week One.  F  I need to stop trying to add extra workouts to my week.  Going to stick with 3 days a week next challenge.

 

Life Mission - Break my iPhone addiction - I made some good strides here.  I set a passcode on my phone to provide a small break when I pick it up so I have to be conscious of what I'm about to use it for.  I set up a schedule for each day of when I could use it and when I couldn't.  That schedule worked very well on weekdays and pretty poorly on weekends.  Starting in Week 2, I awarded myself 1 point for every hour I stayed off my phone, up to 11 points a day.  I wound up with 285 points out of a possible 385, so that's a C.  I had +2 CHA and +1 WIS riding on this, and I think I am wiser and more fun to be around, but since I didn't get full credit, I'll award myself +1 CHA and + 1 WIS. (I don't do half points.)  I'm going to stick with the "IF" schedule going forward, but I need to re-evaluate my weekend hours.

 

So, a B, a fuzzy D, a solid F, and a C.  I'll call this a C overall.  On to the next challenge!!