Husky Again!!!

[PDCA]

I agree. If you are not even wanting to workout, you need a new plan. Get excited about something else...a new goal. Put that one on the back burner. You will do it someday, I know you will!

[BJ]

OK... so I decided to stop the 5x5 for a while. But I did hit the gym today at lunch so I could have a good stopping point... did 150 on the bench and 250 on the deadlifts... in combo with the 200 squat yesterday, I made it to 600. Still a ways away from the 750 goal, but I'll come back to it later this fall

As for now, I'm going to keep eating a little heavy (not starting to cut yet) and do a couple rounds of some of the specialized HIT routines. Thinking chest & arms... then I'll start cutting in about 4 weeks.

[Seltzer]

Another one here who thinks you made the right decision. Having to drag yourself to the gym to muddle through a workout that you're not enjoying usually leads to eventually not going to the gym. There are many routines that will effectively get you to your fitness goals so I don't think it's imperative to just stay with one approach. Personally, I tweak and change what I do in the gym many times during the year. It keeps my body guessing and my mind engaged.

Good luck.

[RTE]

Originally Posted by BJ

OK... so I decided to stop the 5x5 for a while. But I did hit the gym today at lunch so I could have a good stopping point... did 150 on the bench and 250 on the deadlifts... in combo with the 200 squat yesterday, I made it to 600. Still a ways away from the 750 goal, but I'll come back to it later this fall

As for now, I'm going to keep eating a little heavy (not starting to cut yet) and do a couple rounds of some of the specialized HIT routines. Thinking chest & arms... then I'll start cutting in about 4 weeks.

The amount of weight you lift is not important. As long as it is much as you can do in a 8-12 rep range. I would imagine that your max body weight that you should be 175 +or-5 lbs. Keep your eye on the prize, but make sure you have the right prize in mind. BTW: If you have to move away from HIT for some unknown reason, try super sets.

RTE

[BJ]

Originally Posted by rtestes

The amount of weight you lift is not important. As long as it is much as you can do in a 8-12 rep range. I would imagine that your max body weight that you should be 175 +or-5 lbs. Keep your eye on the prize, but make sure you have the right prize in mind. BTW: If you have to move away from HIT for some unknown reason, try super sets.

RTE

HEY RTE!!!!! how you doin'? Long time no talk... how's the ticker? Back to HIT... and I'll look at supersets.

[RTE]

Originally Posted by BJ

HEY RTE!!!!! how you doin'? Long time no talk... how's the ticker? Back to HIT... and I'll look at supersets.

No problems doing fine. I haven't started lifting again, no reason, just staying busy.

RTE

[BJ]

Holy $*&@...

I just tried to do the double pre-exhaustion cycle workout from the HIT book (p173) It calls for...

Extremely slow chinup (30s up / 30s down) immediately followed by...
Barbell curl immediately followed by...
Chinups, negative only

Then

Extremely slow dip (30s up / 30s down) immediately followed by...
Tricep extension immediately followed by...
Dips, negative only


That whole "extremely slow" thing is a hell of a lot harder than it sounds! I was able to do the chinup... shaking like crazy! But then my barbell curls... I could only do 37# for 9 reps (did 1 rep at 57# and realized there was no way I could do any more)... then when it came time for the negative chins, I could only do 2! I wanted to do more, but was concerned at the rate I would come crashing to the ground!

The extremely slow dip didn't go as well... I did 15s up and 15s down... then did tricep push downs (with a rope)... 10reps at 50#... then was only able to do 3 negative dips.

WOW... that was HARD!

[BJ]

This week's plan... continue eating like it's going out of style... and do chest M & Th and Arms Tu & F.

Next week's plan... start the cut! And switch back to the basic all-around HIT routine. Cut to last 3 weeks...

[BJ]

Did arms today... my muscles get so pumped that it feels like the skin on my upper arm is stretched as tight as it will go

Tired of getting fat though... clothes are getting tighter. Definitely ready for the coming cut!

[BJ]

Chest and arms for the last time today... back to the all-around HIT workout on Monday. Eager to see what the difference will be from where I left it at (last workout following that plan was May 5th). There should be significant strength gains.

Today and tomorrow are my last 2 days to pig out ... going to start the cut on Sunday. I have a 3 week plan (similar to what I did at the first of the year). Figuring on dropping at least 10 lbs over that 3 week window. Last weigh in had me at 180. I want to cut back down to 165. I anticipate that I will look significantly different from the last time I was at 165 because I've put on a bunch of muscle since then.

[BJ]

Oh yeah... almost forgot... chainsawing tomorrow one of my favorite pastimes (and a hell of a workout)

[PDCA]

Originally Posted by BJ

I anticipate that I will look significantly different from the last time I was at 165 because I've put on a bunch of muscle since then.

Can't wait to see what that looks like!

[BJ]

Originally Posted by PDCA

Can't wait to see what that looks like!

oh... behave (said in the best Austin Powers voice I can muster)

[BJ]

And so begins my cut...


I am not taking starting stats today because in typical last-day-before-a-cut fashion... I pigged out yesterday! I don't want to include that 1st day water weight loss in my numbers.

Maybe I'll even take some pics later... it's been a long time!

[BJ]

Oh... heck with it... the 1st week huge loss is always the most fun

starting point = 182.4
waist measurement = 37.75"

interestingly enough... the last time my weight was up this much (beginning of 2010), my waist was 3/4" bigger than it is right now... obviously there's been some lean mass added! Actually, the more I think about it, last time I was this heavy I was upset that I had let myself slip that much. This time I have no emotion either way... kind of like it was just something that I needed to do and that the upcoming cut is the next step. Weird - and sorry for my rambling - I guess that I've officially been doing this long enough to understand that the whole thing is just a process and I don't need to see huge results next week or next month. I know that over the long haul if I keep doing what I'm doing, I will have awesome results

[BJ]

Originally Posted by BJ

starting point = 182.4
waist measurement = 37.75"

Went back through my journal and found that I was 174 with this same waist measurement in January... guess that means that I've added ~8 lbs of lean mass!

[BJ]

day 2 of the 1st week of the cut... not so much hungry... but feel kinda funny (going low carb)

Anyway, I know that this is only temporary.

Did an all-around HIT workout today. Made it through the workout, but am definitely feeling the lack of calories (and carbs) right now.

[BJ]

Yeah... so the feeling funny proceeded and got worse throughout the day

There is no way that I can keep this up any more past today... so, change of plans!

Going to cycle carbs and calories. The base is 1200 calories, no carbs (that's what I did the past 2 days)... Day 2 is 1500 (1 cup oats added)... Day 3 is 1800 (2 cups oats added)... repeat this cycle 2x then have an off day each week. Will keep this up for at least 3 weeks.

[BJ]

I felt much better yesterday after eating the carbs... today is again a no carb day. Lifting today went OK... ran out of gas towards the end (no big surprise) Right now I feel like I could fall out of my chair.

Down to 174 flat this morning... the initial huge weight drop was a bit bigger than I expected! So... now the goal is to drop 10 more lbs... no problem

[badgolfer]

Originally Posted by BJ

Down to 174 flat this morning... the initial huge weight drop was a bit bigger than I expected! So... now the goal is to drop 10 more lbs... no problem

Way to go!