33sun33

Thanks TOH! Im still holding onto my basketball past, though getting older and slower isnt helping things. I know I probably wont be as quick or vertical as I used to be, but hopefully I still have some gas left in my tank even at 33.

Thats a good question as to Front squats. At 8-12 reps, I suspect I would be around 185lbs. Ive done that weight in the past for a decent number of reps. For some reason, Im a lot better at front squats than back squats. Front squats just seem like a much more natural movement. I also hold the bar cross-armed, but havent experienced shoulder fatigue yet. Sometimes the bar starts to hurt my shoulders, but usually its because I dont have the bar close enough to my neck.

Ive heard of hoopfest, but didnt know it was a spokane thing. I love 3 on 3 though - a lot less tiring than full court 5 on 5!

Stats: 6"3, 216lbs, 15%-ish bodyfat??, cutting

33sun33

Daaammmmmmm.... I am way fatter than I thought!!!! Granted, my body fat caliper measurements may be off or inaccurate, plus I have been bulking, but here are the results from my Accumeasure caliper readings and calculations:

Weight: 225
Current BodyFat Percentage: 19.2%!!! (kinda guessed it was this high, but dam!)
Pounds of Fat in my Body: 43.2lbs!!! Thats just gross
Lean Body Mass: 181.8lbs... thats it???
Body Fat Percentage Goal: 9%
Weight Goal that will reflect 9% BF, assuming little loss in muscle: 199.9.... Not too terrible... at least Ill still be around 200lbs at a lowish bodyfat.
Weight Loss Goal: 25 freakin pounds!!!! Dang thats a lot to cut!!!

So with a 40/40/20 protein, carb, fat split, and gradually decreasing my calories from around 3500 right now to 2000 or so towards the end of my cut; and assuming a safe weight loss target of 2lbs a week.... Im going to have to be cutting for 3 months??? Man that sucks . I REALLY hate to cut.

Im slowly learning that this whole sculpting your body thang is really an art - and a difficult one to master at that. I have a ton of respect for you folks that count calories and build awesome, low fat, high muscle bodies. I think Im getting there though!

My overall long term goal is to top out at around 225-230 pounds at 8% bodyfat. I dont think I really want to get much larger than that (though my perspective may change with time!) Right now if my cut goes well, Ill be at 195lbs at 8% or 200lbs at 9%.

Stats: 6"3, 216lbs, 15%-ish bodyfat??, cutting

33sun33

Hit the gym for my first workout after a 2 week rest. I changed up my workout quite a bit to a push-legs-pull program, and my goals are to slim down to about 8-9% bodyfat while maintaining as much muscle as possible.

today's workout was brutal! Maybe it was the 2 week layoff, maybe it was the new program focusing on high reps and short rest intervals, but I am thrashed.

Incline Bench Press- 2x8-12 reps

135x12; 155x10

DB Flat Press- 3x6-10

60x10; 65x8; 70x6

My triceps were killing me by the last two sets.

Push Press- 3x6-10

95x10; 95x8; 95x8

Damn, these were harder than I thought they would be.

Standing Alternating DB Shoulder Press- 2x8-12

20x12; 25x10

French Press - 2x8-12

Darnit. I forgot to do these today.

Planks/Birddogs

Planks- 45 seconds x 2; Birddogs - 15-30seconds per side x 8

HIIT Cardio

Recumbent bike - HIIT x 20 minutes

Stats: 6"3, 216lbs, 15%-ish bodyfat??, cutting

the other half

welcome back, good workout for starting a new program.

we do incline db bench first also. and i am starting to hate it. my db flat bench seems to have gone down alot since we started.

sorry to hear about the bf%. i hate having them done. i did a challenge a couple of years ago. and started at 202, lost 18 pounds. but i felt like a stick figure. and then on top of that i lost 8 lb. of muscle mass. not enough protien and to hard of cardio. so be careful no to lose more than 2 lb. a week.
i still dont think i have gained all the muscle back.

"katt's spotter"
" its not how much u can benchpress. its how much other people think u can." bob chicherillo

33sun33

Yeah, I lost a ton of muscle last summer when trying to cut down. I was running around the country the whole summer and didnt eat nearly enough. Ive just about made back the muscle I lost, but of course now Im starting another cut. Hopefully this time I will lose minimal muscle.

Stats: 6"3, 216lbs, 15%-ish bodyfat??, cutting

33sun33

Had a decent legs workout today.

Sumo Deadlifts

135x6; 225x6; 275x6; 275x6

Romanian Deadlifts

135x12; 225x10; 225x8

1 Leg Box Jumps

4 sets of 6 reps per leg

Front Squats

95x10; 95x12; 135x10

Stats: 6"3, 216lbs, 15%-ish bodyfat??, cutting

33sun33

Had a pretty good workout today, though by the end I was so tired that it was probably dangerous for me to drive home (felt faint and a little disoriented).
Perhaps it wasnt the workout that made me feel so out of it at the end, but rather taking Superpump for a preworkout boost? Maybe I should just stop with the preworkout caffeine supps for awhile.

DB Rows - 3x6-10

40x10; 60x10; 70x10; 80x8

Wasnt sure which weight to start my working sets, since I havent done DB rows in a while. Pleasantly surprised at how easy the 70s and 80s felt. Next week I will start at 75 or even 80 for the working sets.

Pull Ups - 2xfail

bwx4; bwx5

wow - I really sucked on these today. Had hoped to get in 6 reps, but 4 and 5 was hard enough!

Cable Rows- 2x8-12

100x12; 120x10

Was starting to feel pretty tired and faint by this point, so kept the weight down

Pulldowns - 2x6-10

180x10; 270x6

Chin ups - 2xfail

skipped this one.

Preacher DB curls- 2x8-12

25lbx10l 25lb x10

Cardio HIIT

Bike x 20 minutes

Stats: 6"3, 216lbs, 15%-ish bodyfat??, cutting

33sun33

Had an OK workout today. Missed monday's workout due to a sore throat. I felt about 95% fine today, so hit the gym. I was a little disappointed that I still weighed in a 225, even though Ive played basketball (with a few suicide thrown in there) about 3 times last week, and also have been doing hiit cardio after my workouts. My diets been pretty solid too.

But Ill give it time - Ive only just started to cut after all.

DB Incline Press - 2x6-10

50x10; 65x10; 75x7

Incline BB Bench- 3x8-12

135x12; 165x5 (wtf!??); 135x10; 135x10; 135x10

Kinda pissed that I started to fail on the 7th rep at 165. So I did the remaining sets at 135 just to make sure Id get the reps in. Really need to work on higher rep sets apparently.

Push Press - 3x6-10

95x10; 95x10; 95x10

These felt good. Probably should up the weight.

DB Alternating Standing Shoulder Press- 2x8-12

20lb dbx x 12; 30lb dbs x10

Weight was fine, but damn these are draining!

Cable Push Down- 2x8-12

40x10; 60x10

Cardio

Elliptical - 5 minutes
Treadmill HIIT - 16 minutes -- I sounded like an elephant on that dam treadmill with my loud pounding stomps!

Stats: 6"3, 216lbs, 15%-ish bodyfat??, cutting

the other half

im feelin your pain.
we are doing sets of 10 reps. they just seem to take forever. i get bored if i cant do both arms at the same time.

i cant seem to get below 200 lbs. right now. same as you been eating better, doing cardio, went from 208 down to 201, but have been there for about a week. but i have 2 more months to lose 10 lbs. so im not in a rush.

anyways- good workout.

"katt's spotter"
" its not how much u can benchpress. its how much other people think u can." bob chicherillo

33sun33

Uggghhh.... Just got back from the gym, and Im not a happy camper. Im not sure if Im in a rut, if i just need time to get used to a higher rep scheme (Coming off of 2 months of bill starr), or if my cutting diet is hurting my workouts. But in any event, I feel a lot weaker than I should be.

To be honest, my diet last week sort of sucked since I wasnt eating enough (even on a cut!!!) due to some travelling (I travel almost every week unfortunately).

DB Flat Bench Press - 2x6-10

60x10; 70x10; 70x8

Maybe this is "ok", but it still is hard as heck to get reps number 7-10 on the flat bench, almost without regard to the weight. Wierd. It seems my triceps start giving out before my chest.

Push Press: 3x6-10

95x10; 95x10; 115x8

I suppose this went well enough. 95 was a cinch... 115 was a little harder, but it should be easier if I tackled this weight on the second rep.

Incline BB Press- 3x8-12

135x12; 135x10; 135x7 (failed on 8)

OMG- what is up with me being stuck at 135 on this??? I even failed on the 8th rep on the 3rd set!! A couple of years ago when all I did was BB bench and BB incline, I was doing 185x8 pretty easily. Oh well, hopefully my strength will come back soon. once again, it seemed my arms/tris were failing well before my chest.

Standing Alternating DB Shoulder Press - 2x8-12

25x10; 20x12

Cable Tricep Kickbacks - 2x8-12

20x12; 25x8 (dropset to 15x4)

Cardio

HIIT bike for 20 minutes


Anyways, Im still a little frustrated with my cut and this new workout. My ego has definitely taken a hit. But I am really committed to cutting my bodyfat and hopefully retaining as much strength as possible.

To that end, Im going to experiment with posting my diet each day, just to have a reality check in case Im not being as clean as I think.

Today's Diet

(1) Kashi Go Lean Cereal and Lowfat Milk (I teach early on Monday and Wednesday mornings, and thus usually resort to some half ass breakfast like this on those days); Large Coffee with a shot of expresso and cream [[guess i should cut back on the cream]]

(2) Mixed Greens salad with grilled chicken (approx 6oz worth), cucumbers, garbanzo beans, red onions, carrots and tomatoes; balsamic dressing

(3) Small beef chili (6 oz or so): yeah, this was dumb but I was mad hungry and this was convenient. Need to plan my meals better to avoid this.

(4) Small (1 cup?) Kashi go lean/barbara's shredded wheat mixed cereal with lowfat milk: Not the greatest meal, but I was getting ready to workout and had no energy.

(5) PWO Protein shake - 600 cals, 50 protein, 70 carbs, 3 fat

(6) [[Planned dinner tonight -- grilled swordfish and salad]]]

Stats: 6"3, 216lbs, 15%-ish bodyfat??, cutting

lucifuge

that seems like rather low calories for 225#, even on a cut... have you figured out your maintenance level?

Destiny dressed you this morning my friend, and now Fear is trying to pull off your pants. If you give up, if you give in, you're gonna end up naked with Fear just standing there laughing at your dangling unmentionables!

-The Tick

33sun33

I cant believe its been three months since I last posted!!! The last three months have been very busy for me - I finished up my semester and graded exams at end of may, sold my sweet audi s4 and got a vw gti, subletted my apartment out and moved to Chicago for the summer to be with my fiance. And then attended professional conferences in ohio, miami, and milan. Plus, I just found out that my fiance is pregnant and Im going to be a daddy!!


Surprise surprise, I havent kept up with my lifting at all. So far Ive been lifting very sporadically - maybe 1-2 times a week if Im in town at all.

but Im trying to get back on track, now that my summer traveling should be at an end. While I have certainly lost some strength and muscle (based on my performance at the gym today ), I havent lost all of the body fat I wanted to either. So I think Im still going to cut, but increase my cals a bit (my diet has been shite).

Here is what I am thinking of for the next month or two.

Diet

I am horrible at counting calories, but I will try to model my diet to match the one posted by emma in the stickies of the diet section as closely as possible. No beer, no liquor, maybe a little red wine here and there, fresh veggies, clean complex carbs, lean sources of protein, no sugar, etc...

Im not sure if I should use any supps beyond a multivitamin or not. Ive been tempted to buy some whey protein and creatine - is this a good idea?

Workout

I think I will go back to a full body workout, based on the cowpimp sticky (just changing out some exercises here and there).

2-4 sets each exercise, 6-12 rep range, 2-3 days a week

Workout A

Incline Press
Front Squats
Bent Over Rows
Shldr Prehab
DB Curls
Planks
Swiss Ball Crunch

Workout B
OH Press
Lunges
Romanian Deadlifts
WG Pull Ups
Turkish Get Ups
Birddogs
OH DB Ext

Stats: 6"3, 216lbs, 15%-ish bodyfat??, cutting

33sun33

So Ive been pretty vigilant about my diet, workouts, and cardio the last week (even if I havent posted until now).

Im 216lbs right now at 6"3, and hope to be close to 210 by the end of July. By end of August, my goal is to get down to 195-200lbs. Before my cut started, that would have put me at 8% BF. But Im pretty sure Ive lost a little muscle based on my decreasing strength, so maybe 195-200 is only about 10% BF. My ultimate goal is to get below 10% bf whatever the weight.

So after missing many workouts and meals and eating badly at the beginning of the summer due to constant travelling, etc..., this is my current plan to reach my goals.

Diet

Im following the "low carb male cut" plan outlined in the Sticky by jodi in the Diet section. Basically it amounts to 2000 cals, something like 250 g protein, 80-90 g carbs, and good fats.

Breakfast: 5 egg whites, 1 whole egg; 4 oz lean meat; 1/2 cup oatmeal. I also often throw in some mushrooms into the omelet to mix things up. I take a multivitamin, 6 efa caps, and glucosamine at this time as well.

Snack: Protein shake

Lunch: 8 oz lean meat (eg chicken mostly, sometimes fish); small sweet potato; salad

Snack: Protein shake

Dinner: 8-10oz lean meat; veggies/salad

Bedtime: Cottage cheese

Ive been following this pretty well the past week, but Im getting sick of eggs.

Workouts

My workouts have been decent this past week, but not stellar. i have lost a lot of strength! Im basically following a full body plan outlined by cowpimp in a sticky in the training thread.

Sunday: Workout B

Push Press: 95x8; 105x8; 135x8 (felt strong.. need to up the weight)
DB Rows: 70x10; 80x8; 90x7 (felt good, but grip is too weak! im going to buy some gloves)
Romanian Deadlifts: 135x10; 185x10; 225x8 (felt pretty good)
Standing DB Curls: 40x8; 25x12
Shoulder Prehab: 10lb x10 x 2 sets

Tuesday: Workout A

Incline Press: 60x10; 65x8; 65 x 9 (felt weak on this)
Front Squats: 95x10; 115x10; 135x10 (legs felt fine on this, but for some reason the weight of the bar was really bothering my right shoulder. Shoulder joint was just sore and felt grisly while holding the bar in my usual cross armed way. I switched to the alternate front squat hold (using both hands to hold the bar in a narrow grip), and it didnt bother my shoulder anymore.
Neutral Grip Pullups: bwx4; bwx5; bwx4; bwx4 (these actually felt pretty good, and I should have strived for more reps but I was just dead tired)
Tricep Cable Pushdown: 120x10; 130x8
Cable Ab Crunch: 120x12; 150x10; 190 x8

Cardio

For the last week, Ive run 3 miles on three different days, played basketball one day, and used the bike at the gym once. Im not going to keep close track of my cardio - just try to run in the mornings when I can, and play basket ball when I can. Diet is obviously most important to my plan.

Stats: 6"3, 216lbs, 15%-ish bodyfat??, cutting

lucifuge

everyone has setbacks...
the good thing is that you're 'back on the horse' so to speak...
keep hammering, you'll get there

Destiny dressed you this morning my friend, and now Fear is trying to pull off your pants. If you give up, if you give in, you're gonna end up naked with Fear just standing there laughing at your dangling unmentionables!

-The Tick