The Chairman's Fitness Challenge Blog

Tonight, I stopped by the gym to get in a lower-body RT.  It miggt not hav ebeen a great idea, since my glutes and thighs are feeling pretty stiff today (maybe from running yesterday?  Or from spin class overload?)  I'm not really that strong on the "big" exercises, but the weight is still going up so that's been real encouraging.  Similar to the upper body, I warm up for 5-7 minutes on a cardio machine beforehand, and take about a minute between sets.

Tonight included:
1.  Front Squat - 3 sets of 10 or to failure.  Tonight was 115 lbs/10 reps, 135 /8, 135/7
2.  Barbell lunge, 95/10, 115/8, 115/8

3a.  Cable leg extension, 2x80 lbs/10 reps, 2x90/10, 2x95/8
3b.  Cable leg curl, 150/10, 165/10, 172/8
(3a and 3b done as a superset) 

4a.  Incline bench crunch, 30 reps and 25 reps
4b.  Back extension w/10lb plate, 25 reps and 20 reps
(4a and 4b done as superset)

It was a bit of a lazy night since I usually throw in another exercise or two - maybe another ab/core exercise, or something like a Bulgarian split squat to supplement the lunges and squats.  But given the way my legs were quivering before I even started, this seemed like an appropriate level of work.


Thought for the day - packaging up crappy junk food in ridiculously small bags and putting "less than 100 calories per bag!!!" on the outside does not change the underlying fact that it is still crappy junk food.    

Saturday got off to a pretty good start.  I got to the gym early enough to do an upper body training session, before getting into a 45-minute spin class to chalk up a cardio session as well.

I was a little discouraged by the weight I was pushing today, but a quick glance back through my log shows noticeable progress even from a few weeks ago so I guess there's nothing to get bummed about.  In case anyone is interested, my upper body routine lately goes something like this, completed in 40 minutes or so if I'm really humping:

1A  Bench press.  Three sets of ten (or to failure) at 115/135/135
1B  Cable row.  Three sets of ten (or to failure) at 135/150/150
(Superset 1A and 1B with no rest; ~ 1min rest between supersets)

2A  Dumbbell Flye.  Three sets of ten at 2 x 35/2 x 35/2 x 35.  Usually don't go to failure, instead focus on holding form
2B  Cable pulldown. Three sets of ten (or to failure) at 105/120/120
(Superset 2A and 2B with no rest; ~ 1min rest between supersets)

3A  Dumbell shoulder press.  Two sets today, ten reps (or to failure) at 2x35/2x35
3B  Bent-over lat raise. Two sets today, ten reps (or to failure) at 2x20/2x20.  Focus on form
(Superset 3A and 3B with no rest; ~ 1min rest between supersets)

Threw in some swiss ball crunches at the end as well - 35 reps)

I've come to the conclusion that my triceps are weak and limiting my other compound moves, so I usually try to add some tricep-specific stuff like pullovers.  Not today though due to time constraints.  I bounce between cable and free weights depending on my mood and the availability of equipment, and throw in dips and pull-ups once in a while as well, but this is the general form of my upper-body work.  Gotta work on my bench press - I just started doing BP's again over the past few weeks and I'd like to add some significant weight to it.

I've mentioned Alex Hutchinson's blog before - Sweat Science has some great information explaining, describing, and debunking various aspects of athletics and fitness.  This post - Why weight loss isn’t just “calories in minus calories out”, fleshes out (no pun intended) a lot of the less obvious factors that come into play besides just counting calories.  A few takeaways:  adrenaline dumps fatty acids into the blood stream, promoting the burning of fat; an extra cookie or five minutes extra on the treadmill will have negligible effect in the long term; and simple carbs raise insulin levels and prevent the body from consuming fat cells.

Interesting.  I finally have a scientific explanation for why one lousy 150-calorie beer seems to make me gain weight.  

Two days into the 52DC and I'm off to a good start, I think.  My daughter is visiting the grandparents for a few days so this is a good opportunity to get a jump on things.  I've booked two RT's and a CT already - a semi-spontaneous spin class on day one, along with an upper body workout, and then a lower body/core workout tonight for day two.  Might shift my hours ahead at work tomorrow to get in the evening spin class for another CT.

Tonight's clean eating was my first real hurdle - we went out to a great pub with a huge collection of micro-brews (including their house beer, which is AWESOME.  If anyone is in the area, I highly recommend the Golden Kiwi in Cambridge for good, fresh food, a unique menu, and a nice atmosphere.)  I behaved, skipped the fries with dinner and limited myself to a glass and a half of wine instead of two pints of beer.  Overall, my afternoon passed muster for a CE  so I'm 4 for 4.  Cool.

I've been missing form the 52DC community for a while but I haven't given up the fitness routine.  I have been hitting the gym fairly regularly 3-4 times a week, sometimes more, with my usual mix of spin classes and weight training.  As part of this challenge, I'm focusing on heavier free weights rather than some of the lower-weight, higher-rep stuff I was doing as part of a circuit training routine.

The three keys to succeeding in this challenge, for me, will be:

1)  hitting the weights.  As mentioned above, strength training is a priority - I want to get back to 3-4 times a week, split upper/lower body, and a focus on the "big" exercises like squats and bench press.

2)  higher protein, lower carbs.  No white bread, limited beer (1-2/week), and raw veggies instead of simple sugars/starches will all be part of my clean eating agenda.  I've found a local source for small all-natural corn tortillas, only 55 calories each along with protein and fibre - they have replaced bread in a lot of my meals already.

3)  high-intensity cardio, primarily on the bike, though I might start hitting the dreadmill and local outdoor running paths again.  My new running shoes have been festering in my trunk all winter, and it's time to break them out.

The prize at the end of this will be finally throwing out the ten-year-old Nikes I've been wearing for cycling and weight training, replaced with a good pair of lifting shoes and a pair of cycling shoes.  My hatred for those old shoes has become quite personal, they symbolize a whole lot of sloth that will finally be vanquished when I finally reach my 52DC weight goal of 199 lbs.