Waterbury END of Summer Project

[Rise]

After thinking long and hard about what my goals were, I finally decided (as of this morning) what I wanted to do. As Michael (digitalnebula) put it, in one of the last posts of my old journal, I'm looking to "shred up" just in time for the end of summer! My bulking/cutting cycles never seem to follow ideal times where you would want to be cut up or bulking up... so why start now? I guess I do whatever I feel like doing rather than trying to look good for others at specific times of the year when you might do the most "showing off" at the beach or wherever which is odd since I'm self-conscious about how I look. Anyway, enough of "finding myself" mid-post, on to the program!

In order to shred up, I was looking through programs upon programs (nowhereman gave me a 34 page Waterbury encyclopedia) and I wasn't getting anywhere. All I was seeing was numbers and exercises and reps and percentages. I couldn't figure out what the heck would work best for me until I got to page 22 and found "Lift big get big" or something like that. Well, I went to go read the original article to see if it was inline with what I wanted to do - and I never found it. Instead, I stumbled upon something I had thought about doing a looooooong time ago - The Waterbury Summer Project. After reading through that article, I realized that that program was exactly what I was looking to do. Not just from my overall goal's standpoint, but because I have been wanting to get cardio back into my routine. This includes a LOT of HIIT and I'm excited about it! I know for a fact that when I lift weights & do cardio, the fat melts off me. It's what works for me, yet I haven't done it in so long since I've been following the "all you need to do is lift weights" school of thought. While some folks thrive off this, I felt something was lacking, and so I've decided to work it back in the loop.

Of course, the work out routine alone won't do you much good unless you have the nutrition plan to back it up. I've decided to try and follow the recommended diet plan for this workout routine - T-Dawg 2.0. While the name of the diet is lame as hell, the plan itself is pretty good, IMO. I may substitute some things here and there, but I plan to stick pretty close to the format of it. Everyone is different and it's up to you to notice positive and negative effects of whatever it is you do, diet included. So using T-dawg as a baseline, I should be pretty well dialed into a diet by the end of the first week/early 2nd week.

For supplements, I'll be continuing the whey protein shakes but cutting out the creatine for now. I'll also be taking my standard multi-vitamin every morning as well as working in fish oils more consistently than ever before (those capsules are just so damn big!). I'm looking to get a BCAA supplement going as well, but until I either get some recommendations or spend some time to do the research myself I won't be taking them.

Lastly, I need to put up some starting measurements. Since I'm starting the plan today - I should have them sometime this afternoon. I should mention that I've pretty much let myself go for the past 2-3 weeks and so I've probably put on a couple of pounds here or there and lost a bit of strength. But I don't really expect it to take that long to get back into the swing of things.

Here goes everything!

[digitalnebula]

All right!

I'll be following along!

[Seltzer]

I hope you exceed your expectation! I'll be following along.

[LoneStarChick]

Wow. That workout looks awesome. I should browse that site and find something for myself. I am so lost when it comes to weight lifting. I need someone to hold my hand. Maybe they have a "Weight Lifting for Dummies" on there somewhere. Good luck, man! I can't wait to watch your journey!

[xingcat]

Go for it! I'll be checking in to see how it goes.

[Rise]

Originally Posted by digitalnebula

All right!

I'll be following along!

Originally Posted by Seltzer

I hope you exceed your expectation! I'll be following along.

Originally Posted by xingcat

Go for it! I'll be checking in to see how it goes.

Awesome, thanks guys! I hope I don't let you all down

Originally Posted by LoneStarChick

Wow. That workout looks awesome. I should browse that site and find something for myself. I am so lost when it comes to weight lifting. I need someone to hold my hand. Maybe they have a "Weight Lifting for Dummies" on there somewhere. Good luck, man! I can't wait to watch your journey!

yeah it's a great site for stuff like that. just beware of the forums, especially being a woman. They don't call it testosterone nation for nothing... And thanks!

[Rise]

Day 1 - The program begins, begin war...

Sets: 4
Reps: 6
Load: 8RM
Rest: 60s between pairings
Note: Don't rest between arms or legs with single limb exercises. Start with your weakest side first.

A1 Hang Cleans or Front Squats
A2 Reverse Crunches on Slant Board (or floor)

B1 Standing Alternating DB Shoulder Press
B2 1-Arm DB Row

C1 Bulgarian Split Squats
C2 Single Leg DB Deadlift

D1 Dips or Decline DB Bench Press
D2 DB External Rotation

Stretch

Results: (italicized items are warm up sets)
A1 - 45#x6, 95x6, 135x6, 115x6, 115x6, 115x6
A2 - 6xbwx6 to match warmups

B1 - 10#x6, 15x6, 20x6, 25x6, 30x6
B2 - 30#x6, 40x6, 50x6, 65x6, 65x6

C1 - bwx6, 60x6, 60x6, 60x6, 60x6
C2 - bwx6, 60x6, 60x6, 60x6, 60x6

D1 - Dips: 4xbwx6
D2 - 4x10#x6

Weigh in: 159# (all time high!)

Notes: (for myself, mostly)
A1 - 45 and 95 felt easy. 135 was NOT and my form sucked ass. I had to drop it down to 115 or I wouldn't have made it to the end. Try 125# next time.
A2 - easy, I'll do these on a decline bench next time.
B1 - I took these real slow because of my shoulder problems and rehab. It was a good idea, I could feel the twinge but it never got worse as I slowly went up in weight which was very good! Make the 2nd set another warm-up next time and add 5# to a final set. Not 8RM, but for this exercise, I don't care. Gotta stay healthy.
B2 - felt good, 65s felt pretty heavy but definitely not my max. Increase this by 5# next time.
C1 - easy, add 5# per DB next time.
C2 - painful. My form was pretty bad and I've never done these before. Try to go up 5# next week to stay with bulgarians.
D1 - easy, need to get a weighted dip belt or do the db between the legs.
D2 - good, light weight for this exercise. Stay as is.

Remarks: Damn I feel like a weak bastard again I can barely walk and I can't remember the last time I sweat so much. It was AWESOME! Man it feels good to be back in the gym! by the end of today, my grip was toast, my legs were peanut butter, and my back was jelly. This is exciting stuff. One legged deadlifts are a beast to be reckoned with. I can DL 350# with 2 legs so 1 leg I should be able to do 175#, right? HAHA, no. 1/6th of that actually.

I should mention that I didn't follow the nutritional plan very well today. I woke up late, I didn't have time for first breakfast, and my in-laws wanted to celebrate my birthday (sept 7th) today since they are leaving to go back to Florida tomorrow and I won't see them again until November. I had to eat a piece of cake to avoid offending them... /lies. But tomorrow is a new day and the 1st week of nutrition is supposed to be a break-in week according to the t-dawg diet, so I'm not concerned.

AWESOME!

[MannishBoy]

You'll hate some day of WSP in a loving kind of way

[cnjlakes]

Good luck, Rise! Looks like you have all your ducks in a row. You can do it!

[Rise]

Originally Posted by MannishBoy

You'll hate some day of WSP in a loving kind of way

yeah, I can see that already I'm a bit sore today... and looking at the circuit on Day 5 is starting to scare me should be fun!

Originally Posted by cnjlakes

Good luck, Rise! Looks like you have all your ducks in a row. You can do it!

Thanks man, I plan to!


I'm pretty tired this morning but I did manage to have breakfast, so I've started the day (nutritionally) off on the right foot. HIIT today, we'll see how that goes...

man, the guy that sits in the cube next to me is especially smelly today

[Rise]

DAY 2 - time to make the donuts...

HIIT — 16 minutes (90s walk/30s sprint)
Stretching

I was draggin yesterday. When it came time to do HIIT, I figured jumping rope was an OK alternative. Well, it wasn't for a few reasons. First, jumping rope is pretty intense from the get go. Second, the only way to increase the intensity (that I could think of) with a jump rope is to do consecutive double unders for the 30s sprint duration. Third, I could barely jump after 5 minutes. And lastly, you can't whip yourself with a leather rope when running.

Next time, I'm going to do the running at a track. I just was too lazy to drive to a track to do it, so I settled for jumping rope which, in itself, is a good work out but it just wasn't what the program prescribes. Lesson learned!

I'm super sore today and I need a haircut badly. I'm so tired.

[Jedi]

Originally Posted by Rise

Well, it wasn't for a few reasons. First, jumping rope is pretty intense from the get go. Second, the only way to increase the intensity (that I could think of) with a jump rope is to do consecutive double unders for the 30s sprint duration. Third, I could barely jump after 5 minutes. And lastly, you can't whip yourself with a leather rope when running.

Next time, I'm going to do the running at a track. I just was too lazy to drive to a track to do it, so I settled for jumping rope which, in itself, is a good work out but it just wasn't what the program prescribes. Lesson learned!

what about hills I do hill repeats (actually steps!) for HIIT?

[Rise]

Originally Posted by Jedi

what about hills I do hill repeats (actually steps!) for HIIT?

Actually, that's a good idea especially since I have a 30ft STEEP hill in my backyard. I was looking for a picture of it but I guess I never took one, I'll do that later... thanks for the suggestion

[IROC-Z]

Looks like a really nice program you will be following. I look forward to watching your progress!

[LoneStarChick]

Originally Posted by Rise

First, jumping rope is pretty intense from the get go. Second, the only way to increase the intensity (that I could think of) with a jump rope is to do consecutive double unders for the 30s sprint duration. Third, I could barely jump after 5 minutes. And lastly, you can't whip yourself with a leather rope when running.

Jumping rope is HARD!!! I don't think I could make it 5 minutes.

[Rise]

Originally Posted by IROC-Z

Looks like a really nice program you will be following. I look forward to watching your progress!

Yeah, I'm hoping for some good results. at the very least it will be a good change of pace from what I've been doing. Thanks for reading!

Originally Posted by LoneStarChick

Jumping rope is HARD!!! I don't think I could make it 5 minutes.

It's gotta be one of the hardest cardio exercises out there.

Update
Day 3 was postponed by 1 day because of unforeseen crap that I had to do yesterday. I was going to go to the gym at night but I realized, after it was too late, that I had some other obligations that couldn't be missed - doggy obedience school I'll be making day 3 up today. This slip up won't happen again!

[Big_D]

I wouldn't drop the creatine until close to the end of the cut. Regardless,

[Rise]

Originally Posted by Big_D

I wouldn't drop the creatine until close to the end of the cut. Regardless,

now that you say that...

good suggestion I'm going to start taking it again today. that's easy water weight to cut anyway.

[Big_D]

Yeah considering that program and the way creatine works, it sounded good to me to keep it. It isn't like it makes it any harder to lose fat, anyway.

[MannishBoy]

Originally Posted by Rise

now that you say that...

good suggestion I'm going to start taking it again today. that's easy water weight to cut anyway.

Potential water weight drops from cutting creatine isn't fat loss, so what's the point? I still can't figure out why everybody is scared of creatine on a cut.