LifesHarlequin

Alrighty!

Its time I started noting progress and getting some good feedback!

the Focus: Fat loss followed by Strength Gains and Eventually Bulk!

Currently: 5'11", 185 lbs, 15%+ BF (Mostly ugly chest fat.. the embarrasing kind)

the Program: Starting Strength (as posted by Matta114 and researched in Starting Strength by Mark Riptoe).

the Routine:

Workout A:

3x5 Barbell Squats
3x5 Barbell Flat Benchpresses
1x5 Barbell Deadlifts
3x8 Dips
3x15 Declined Situps + 45lbs
20 Min HIIT Cardio on Treadmill

Workout B:

3x5 Barbell Squats
3x5 Barbell Overhead Military Press
3x5 Barbell Bentrows (Soon to be Powercleans after technique is perfected)
3x8 Chinups
3x25 Leg Hangs

Workouts are switched every other weight training day (i.e. Mon- A, Wed- B, Fri- A, Mon- B, etc.) Also, I add in Isolation Arm Work, as my upperbody is weak still, and Core work on Saturday with my cardio.

Cardio

Days between weight training I do 2 types of cardio:

Type 1: 30 min jog @ 6mph (3 miles), followed by a short cooldown and stretch. Then, sprint for 12mph for as long as possible (goal 10 minutes, currently at 2 minutes).
- Purpose: To simulate PFA (Military Physical Fitness Assessment and Increase run speed (as run as at the end) to a 7:30 min 1.5 mile.

Type 2: 8 mile run @ 6-8 mph
-Purpose: To return my cardio to soccer level, as average professional soccer player runs 6-8 miles per game.

Cardio days are Tues, Thur, and Saturday, which combined with weight training leaves Sunday as a day off for rest and laundry!

Current Diet: Whatever the galley feeds me that day, but generally a 6-10 oz meat with 6 oz. starchy vegetable (usually potatoes) and hopefully some type of green vegetable. I drink whole milk (about .5 Litres per meal) with orange or pink grapefruit juice. Targeting 2500 calories for fatloss, but open to suggestions on a different number considering next section.

My Day Job: Aircraft Electrician's Mate with nonstop movement on the flightline (8 hours/day on my feet minimum, which is rather light for most naval aviation). Therefore, I get my energy from juice during working hours. Approximately 1 juice box per 2 hours or so.

Please give input, as much as possible! I've got 4 months to get this right before I head home from deployment, and I have the motivation to get this done before that deadline. Im not expecting huge bulk gains, but I do press hard each training session, and am determined to come home in a much better shape to my wife!

Das nur ein wer Wahrheit sieht, kann wirklich aussergewöhnliche kunst bilden.

yellowmoomba

Good luck with your goals. Since you asked for some input....I think squating three times a week plus three days of running will be brutal on your legs (and recovery). Hell........squating three days a week without running would be brutal for me. I would drop the deads from Workout A and replace the Squats in Workout B with the Deads. Also - I would first focus on your bulk then do your cut. It is EXTREMELY hard to add muscle while cutting.

I do like your exercise selection. Compound movements are the way to go.

My Journal

"You are born small and weak... you die small and weak... how you look in between is up to you."

LifesHarlequin

Thanks for the input!

The legs are unfortunately punished in this workout, but luckily, in the 2 starting weeks, I've seen no ill effects other than slight knee stress, which is easily cared for with good compression knee braces, which I've had to wear since I was 12 for stress on my tendons from soccer.

The routine, I still need to fully research in Mr. Riptoe's book when if finally arrives from amazon.com (Snailmail is just that when overseas) but several people (including Matta114, Madcow, and Bill Star) say do not mess with this routine, so I'll see how accurate it is after I read the book personally.

You are the second person so far to say bulk, so I'll probably up the calorie intake, which I can probably still handle and easily burn any excess with my running, thus builking and hopefully maybe kinda burn that mythical newb weight that I hear about.

Das nur ein wer Wahrheit sieht, kann wirklich aussergewöhnliche kunst bilden.

Trouble

What is the average (ambient) temperature when you run, given you location?

LifesHarlequin

As of current, it is simply too hot to run outside as Im currently in the Kuwait Desert. However, in a month or so, the temp should drop down into the steady 80 deg F, in preparation for the fall (the temperature drop very quickly here, and I can't wait till the winter!). Its just now getting cool enough that when I turn on the "cold" water tap, only slightly warm water comes out instead of scalding water.

Das nur ein wer Wahrheit sieht, kann wirklich aussergewöhnliche kunst bilden.

LifesHarlequin

Every exercise I do increases in strength and endurance over my last 2 weeks, except bench press.

I finally have Mr. Riptoe's book, and am already avidly studying it for correct form and focus each exercise, but despite putting into play the techniques advocated in his book, my benchpress strength is increasing at a negligible rate.

Im struggling at a sissy weight for a guy, and although I don't judge myself in comparison to the weight others lift, its still becoming frustrating when the skinniest guy in our group is now repping higher benchpress weight than me.

Any suggestions?

Das nur ein wer Wahrheit sieht, kann wirklich aussergewöhnliche kunst bilden.

yellowmoomba

Where is your sticking point? Down by your chest or near lockout ?

My Journal

"You are born small and weak... you die small and weak... how you look in between is up to you."

LifesHarlequin

Final rep, bar touches my chest, I push, it goes about 4 inches up.. a struggle, and it gets 5-6, and stays there. This is using all the strength I can summon to push that bar.

Das nur ein wer Wahrheit sieht, kann wirklich aussergewöhnliche kunst bilden.

yellowmoomba

It sounds like you need to work on your tris a bit. That final push engages your triceps. I would work-in some Close Grip Presses into your "B" workout. You'll be stimulating the same pressing motion but will be putting more stress on your tris.

My Journal

"You are born small and weak... you die small and weak... how you look in between is up to you."

LifesHarlequin

Alright, that shouldn't be a problem.

Thanks!

Das nur ein wer Wahrheit sieht, kann wirklich aussergewöhnliche kunst bilden.

LifesHarlequin

Today I noted that the declined situps were starting to lose their challenge. I'm currently using a 45lbs barbell plate while doing 3x20, and another endurance set with no weight for 40 reps (about 10 reps from failure). All reps are done on the highest level of the situp frame, which leaves my feet elevated 3-4 feet above head while at rest.

I haven't tried a 100lbs plate yet, but am a little apprehensive about jumping to this weight. Are there any ways to use something like an EZ Bar or anything that will offer 70-75 lbs of resistance without comprimising the exercise?

Das nur ein wer Wahrheit sieht, kann wirklich aussergewöhnliche kunst bilden.

LifesHarlequin

I don't know if this is entirely normal, and Im not sure, though I have a good clue as to why, but I go to the gym, workout, losing whatever food weight I have in my stomach from breakfast, then I go do my 20-30 minutes of, if 20 min, HIIT cardio, or, if 30, 6mph slowly increased to 9 mph run; but here's the odd part - I know I weight myself too much.. "Once a week is enough"... said someone on some forum at sometime - I weigh myself after the weights, and I'll be around 183 and dropping, and then I'll weigh myself after the run, and I'll be 8 lbs lighter.

Am I just dropping water weight or what?

Das nur ein wer Wahrheit sieht, kann wirklich aussergewöhnliche kunst bilden.

LifesHarlequin

I have some BSN Cellmass and Highpower Chromium Picolinate on order and should be here in about a week. Particular company has been taking about 6 days to get deliveries to my desert location, so hopefully, before I go through my next week, I'll have some grape tasting Esterfied Creatine to drink down and help recover my muscles, which I think is what is really holding me back from building up as quick as advertised. I do the required workout in the required schedule with the required warmups and rest periods, but I believe my cardio in the off days is slowing down my progress. Also, the fact that the food here is not very nutritious doesn't help matters.

I see the results from two friends of mine here, and one of them used to the be the scrawniest guy in the group, but is now able to bench, military press, and bi curl more than me, and he's been on Cellmass for only a month, making a 25 lbs gain on all his weights.

Its too cheap not to try, as the whole package set me back only $50, and the Chromium is a 3 month supply at only $5 a bottle.

Striving to be stronger and leaner as always,

-Josh

Das nur ein wer Wahrheit sieht, kann wirklich aussergewöhnliche kunst bilden.

yellowmoomba

8 lbs!!!!!!!!!!!!!

My Journal

"You are born small and weak... you die small and weak... how you look in between is up to you."

LifesHarlequin

Episode 1: Amazing Running Weight Loss!!!

Yeah, 8 lbs. Its nice to revel in the moment of being back in the 170's again, but by the next day, I'm back to the low 180's, usually 1/2lb lighter than the previous day. Its been a bit unsteady lately however, and I'm hoping episode 2 will help this.

Episode 2: Suppliments to be taken!!!

I was surpassed by my friend while we were working out when he used to be the scrawniest of the group. I had the strongest back and biceps, but now he can do 10lbs heavier than me on a couple exercises. However, he's been taking Cellmass and Optimum Nutrition 100% Whey Protein. So, to counter attack, Im doing the same, but, to help in the weight loss department, I have Chromium Picolinate on the way as well.

Dosage considered:

Wake: Cellmass followed 30 minutes later by Protein Shake
Pre Workout: Protein Shake
Post Workout: Cellmass
Before Bed: Protein Shake

The Chromium Picolinate will be worked in once I receive the bottle and exact directions for usage, but one bottle contains a 2 month supply.

-Always getting stronger

Josh

Das nur ein wer Wahrheit sieht, kann wirklich aussergewöhnliche kunst bilden.

Double D

You are trying to lose weight. I would drop the whole milk for sure.

www.crossfit.com

Trouble

You are becoming dehydrated from "losing whatever food I had in my stomach from breakfast".

You need whey, probably about 2-30g, plus a little olive oil and oat bran if you can find it in your location. The oil is necessary to stop you from heaving, so is the fiber. Gum arabica should be a food staple in that part of the world and might be a quick alternative to bran. In a pinch, use oats, for fiber to help slow down transit and keep the aminos in the food from hitting your sensitive CNS system. You can't tank up on food that has a fast transit time, its overstimulating your nervous system and causing the heaving. This is really, really bad for you.

I'll withhold comments on the Cellmass until we see how it affects you (the glutamine-AKG product).

LifesHarlequin

double D, you're definately right about the milk, and I had just recently started to go down to Reduced Fat... I'll never drink Skim... I can't.. I've tried.. its nasty.. nasty nasty nasty stuff. White Water at best, and reminds me of the time when the water company came out and replaced a section of our PVC pipeline and we had white shower water for a day... *shiver*

Also, Trouble is right. I really don't have much fiber in my diet, so I need to concentrate on getting some breads and definately oat bran. I don't know how easy this will be considering my source of food, but if nothing else I can make sure I get a good serving of Total Raisan Bran (suitable alternative?) everyday.

Good greens are still hard to come by, and I stomach as much as I can, but when they prepare the vegtables, they usually use so much butter I can barely taste the food. Especially in collard greens.. its like a butter sauce.. would be nice if they would just steam them and let me have some vinegar, but oh well.

The Whey is on the way, and I'm really counting the days before I can get this stuff in my system. Especially the CEE and Chromium. Im anxious to see how I react.

As always thanks for all your advice. When all this works, I'll owe a lot to you guys and gals.

Das nur ein wer Wahrheit sieht, kann wirklich aussergewöhnliche kunst bilden.

LifesHarlequin

2 weeks has come to an end, and Im on the Wed of the 3rd week.

I've been re reading Starting Strength, and found flaws in my techniques which are constantly being worked on. Immediate benefits were finally seeing an increase in my benchpress and continuing an increase in my squats, but most importantly, a HUGE increase in deadlift.

Dietary Changes: I've reduced to lowfat milk instead of whole milk. I've actually started to make breakfast a controlled meal, or as controlled as possible, and I've been getting a good post workout meal.

Breakfast: Preworkout (~1 hour prior to workout)
Omelette w/ Ham,Cheese,Mushrooms,Tomatos, Green Peppers, Onions
Grapefruit (if available, and if not, 100% Unsweetened Grapefruit Juice)
1 cup serving of Total Raisin Bran (Only real source of bran I can get)
.5 Litre 2% Milk

Post Workout (~45 Min After Cellmass Shake and just before Whey Shake)
Salad (Iceberg, Cheddar, Mushrooms, Cruttons*sp*, Honey Mustard {lowest fat dressing we have here})
6-8oz Serving of Tunasalad
1 cup Pasta
1/2 cup- 1cup serving green vegetable (lately brocolli or cauliflower*sp*)
.5 Litre 2% Milk
Grapefruit Juice (Unsweetened/ 100% from Concentrate)

Question here though... I've read that drinking citric acid juice, such as grapefruit juice, is not recommended with Creatine. However, I've never specifically heard it mentioned with CEE or exactly how long you must wait before being able to drink a citric acid juice after taking Creatine? I don't want to take my Cellmass, then suddenly, it just breakdown in my system (even if I do, and will, wait the required half hour before consuming any food) because of the grapefruit or grapefruit juice.

Update on doing Powercleans: I've read the form by Mr. Riptoe, and am just looking for someone or a mirror for me to watch me/myself practice the manuevre. I really hate doing bent rows as I feel like it puts unnecessary strain on my back, and the atheletic benefit of powercleans over bent rows is what I really want.

Das nur ein wer Wahrheit sieht, kann wirklich aussergewöhnliche kunst bilden.

LifesHarlequin

This was intended for the last post, but something rushed me and I simply forgot to add it in.

However!!!

Changes to my Cardio routine:

It has become apparent that the amount of cardio I was previously engaged in was not allowing my body sufficient rest, nor was it entirely efficient. I find with the new routine that my legs are now able to take more squats and deadlifts, and Im still losing weight at the same rate.

My assumption on this is that the only weight I was losing while doing long distance running after my workout was water weight, which I would gain back easily. If I do my weight training with correct timing, it pumps up my heart rate just as easily as running, and I can sustain it for the duration of the workout if I keep my rest periods down to 1 minute max.

The plan now is to finish the weight training session with 20-30 HIIT via running, ab/core calisthenics, or upperbody calisthenics (This is largely dependant on the workout I just completed, a or b). On off days, I will cut my long distance runs down to more managable 25-30 minute runs @ low speeds followed by 10 minutes of row-machine, just to appetize my boredom.

Quick recap of routine:
Week 1:

Sun: Rest
Mon: Workout A, Upper body calisthenics
Tue: Run 3 miles, 10 min Row-Machine
Wed: Workout B, Core Calisthenics
Thu: Run 3 miles, 10 min Row-Machine
Fri: Workout A, HIIT run
Saturday: 20 min Run, Core Calisthenics, 20 min run

Week2:

Sun: Rest
Mon: Workout B, HIIT run
Tue: Run 3 miles, 10 min Row-Machine
Wed: Workout A, Upper body calisthenics
Thu: Run 3 miles, 10 min Row-Machine
Fri: Workout B, Core Calisthenics
Sat: 20 min Run, Upper body calisthenics, 20 min run

Das nur ein wer Wahrheit sieht, kann wirklich aussergewöhnliche kunst bilden.

LifesHarlequin

Its only been 3 days since I've been on both Creatine and Whey Protein, but there have been no adverse effects. Im fighting to control my diet still, and relish days like today when the galley serves Omletes and Grapefruit and Total. It becomes even better when lunch serves chicken, pasta, and has the potato bar open so I can get some brocolli.

In any case, Im scheduled to start finally seeing effects of Creatine after the first week, so Im being patient and continuing to make gains in everything but Standing Military Press now.

A setback: There is nothing quite like getting industrial aircraft soap solution in the eyes! Despite 3 sessions of washing my eyes out, I still received a chemical burn on the "skin" of my left eye. Luckily, its nothing permanent, but it still caused quite enough discomfort that on Monday (Week 2) I had barely the attention to put up my squat weight for my working set from the previous Friday. After 2 sets, I realized I had completed maybe 2 squats in correct form out of the 10 reps I had done so far, and had to abandon the workout. I simply couldn't concentrate on form with my eye freshly burned. Luckily, the doctors gave me some antibiotic ointment to apply to the ball directly, and now, 2 days later, the eye has only some residual redness.

Workout A here I come, and Im pissed as hell for missing 2 days of PT.

Das nur ein wer Wahrheit sieht, kann wirklich aussergewöhnliche kunst bilden.

LifesHarlequin

I hadn't posted in a week or so, and I didn't want anyone thinking I'd given up.

My current progress is steady. I usually increase by 5lbs a week on every exercise, except Standing Military Press, which hasn't gone up at all, and it supposedly is the slowest to build, but is becoming frustrating. The calisthenics after the workouts seems to be the best method of "burning" the muscles, but not destroying them so that the next weight training day is screwed. It also burns as many calories as running, but involves far less water loss (Granted I sweat from the 2nd working set of Squats on, which is really odd, because until bootcamp, I rarely sweated during physical exercise.. they changed more than my mind.. *conspiritorial wink*).

Weight wise I seem to be staying around 180-185, and perhaps its just not having a good reference starting point, but I don't see much fat loss as of yet. The most loss I see is around my face, where my jaw has become far more defined. Then again, I am eating to strengthen, not to lose, which I've decided to concentrate on in the last month of my deployment. 20lbs should be nothing to lose by then when my muscle mass has increased and I switch to just cardio for 45 min/day 6 days a week. I'll of course still do calisthenics at that point to keep all my muscles active. I expect a small drop in strength at this point, but I see the ends justifying the means.. the ends being a new sexy toned and much stronger Josh for the wife to slather over, and for me to feel proud to look at in the mirror.

Again, thanks for all the support and input.

Getting stronger by the day,

Josh

Das nur ein wer Wahrheit sieht, kann wirklich aussergewöhnliche kunst bilden.

kenwood

loooks like a good journal . goodluck on your goals

LifesHarlequin

Haha! Standing press final