Tallcall's journal

[tallcall]

Great work on the HIIT. 60/60 is usually what I do. 60 all out (12-14 mph), and 60 jogging (6-8 mph). Incline at 2-3. You only need 10-12 minutes at it because it's so hard. Means that instead of 30 minutes cardio, you only do 10. Less is more. (in my lazy world anyway....)

I like your way of thinking!

My trainer likes to see me do 15-20 minute sessions 2 or 3 times a week. I feel very light on my feet after doing them.

 

[tallcall]

9/23/07

Sunday:

Abs/Shoulders:

Abs:
Superset:
Ab Rollout/Planks/Side Bends: No Rest Between Sets

BWx10/BWx:120/25x15
BWx10/BWx:90/25x15
BWx10/BWx:60/25x15

Superset 1:
Smith Hises/Front Raises: No Rest between sets

70x20/10x12
90x20/10x12
100x20/10x12

Superset 2:
Smith Shoulder Press/Side Raises: No Rest Between Sets

50x12/10x12
55x10/10x12
60x10x10x12

Superset 3:
DB Rear Delt Row/Cable Upright Row: RI - 30

10x15/Machine #4x10
10x15/#5x10
10x15/#5x10

Superset 4:
DB Shrugs/Farmers Walk: RI - 45

50'sx20/50'sx140 feet
50'sx20/50'sx140 feet
*I set it up so that I had to deadlift the weight, shrug it 20 times, then walk quickly up and down the length of the gym twice (140 steps total). If/when I did drop the weight, I waited 15 seconds and picked it back up and continued.

Cardio - 15 minutes HIIT

5 minutes rowing (level 8 starting at 95 bpm, maxing at 165 bpm).

10 minutes HIIT on a treadmill. 20/120 all out sprints @8.0-8/.1 mph (175bpm), rests at 3.5-4.0 mph (139bpm) - 4 sets total. The last two minutes were solid state with an incline of 5.0 and a speed of 3.5mph.

I had a lot of fun with those supersets and I got kind of creative at the end with a sort of deadlift/shrug/walk combo (didn't put those weights down until I returned to my starting position - unless I lost my grip, then I waited 15 sec and continued). I got that idea (of continuously holding the weights through as many exercises as possible) from one of Frank Shamrock's videos:

Frank Shamrock on Nutrition and Resistance Training

I decided to skip almost all the rests today and get things done as quickly as possible. I think I was done with the weights in about 30 minutes and cardio only took 15 more. Very good/light session.

 

[tallcall]

9/25/07 Weigh in

9/25/07 Weigh in
Weight: 289.0 ??? down 2.5 pounds from last time

Waist: 37 inches - no change
Stomach: 38 inches ??? no change from last time
Chest: 51 inches ??? up 1 inch from last week
Shoulders: 60.5 inches ??? no change from last time
Neck: 20.0 inches ??? no changefrom last time
Bi's: 18 inches - no change
Calves: 19.5 inches - no change

Lean Body Mass: 265.98 - down from last week's 267.53 (-1.55 pounds)
Body Fat Weight: 23.02 pounds - down from last week's 23.97 (-0.95 pounds)

Caliper readings - 4 point test:
Abs ??? 7.5 mm ??? no change from last week
Suprailiac ??? 11.5 mm ??? down 0.5 mm from last week
Thigh ??? 9.5 mm ??? no change from last week
Triceps ??? 7 mm ??? down 0.5 mm from last week

Estimated body fat % is ~15% (I raised it 8% to account for any errors I have introduced ??? my trainer will not accept much lower than this right now ??? there is no way I am as low as the computer is saying I am). I just use the caliper to track mm changes and will just add 8% to everything I see.

 

[goob]

Great job TC. Your trainer: "Honey,...... I shrunk Tallcall".

 

[tallcall]

Great job TC. Your trainer: "Honey,...... I shrunk Tallcall".

Someone called me "the shrinking man" at work last week. It was a lottle embarrassing, but I guess everyone has noticed.

 

[tallcall]

Yay, I'm below 290 pounds!

 

[fufu]

congrats

 

[tallcall]

Thank you!

 

[tallcall]

9/25/07

Tuesday:

Legs:

Seated Leg Curls: RI - 30

70x12
90x10
100x10

Superset 1:
Deadlift/Burpees/pushups/crunches: RI - 15

**We only did two or three, but we mixed them all up

(Deadlifts) 135x10/(burpees) BWx8
(Deadlifts) 135x10/(crunches) BWx10
(Deadlifts) 135x10/(burpees) BWx10
(Deadlifts) 135x10/(burpees) BWx10
(Deadlifts) 135x10/(burpees) BWx10

*Took a 2 minute rest before starting the second set of supersets.

Superset 2:
Same as above: RI - 15
(Deadlifts) 135x10/(pushups) BWx10
(Deadlifts) 135x10/(burpees) BWx10
(Deadlifts) 135x10/(pushups) BWx10
(Deadlifts) 135x10/(air squats with over head extension) BW+25x12
(Deadlifts) 145x10/(air squats with over head extension) BW+25x12

Walking Lunges: RI - 30

12'sx10 steps forward and 10 steps back
12'sx10 steps forward and 10 steps back

Superset:

Hip Rotations - outward (knee bar kicking knee in front)/Hip Rotations - Inward (knee bar under leg and kicking behind): RI - 30

37.5x10 (per leg)/Same
50x10 (per leg)/Same
62.5x10 (per leg)/Same

Cardio - 20 minutes SS

8 minutes on a stair mill (starting hr - 70, max hr - 145, level 7).

12 minutes on a treadmill (starting hr - 123, max hr - 150, functional range - 140-145, 0 incline, 3.9mph speed).

Total time - 60 minutes including the cardio time (20 minutes for cardio, 30 minutes for strength training, 10 minutes screwing around - not bad)!

Wow, now that was some fun! 5 sets of deadlifts/burpees/pushups/crunches/air squats X2! Hows that for adding in some volume ! And remember, this is still a deloading week for me (that was a whole lot of stuff)

My trainer asked me to try to up my calories to 3800-4000 on my leg days and drop them 200 calories on my off days (to be in the 3200 calorie range). He'd also like to see me cancel the paid sessions and go on my own for a little while (he really doesn't want to, but he knows I know how to get everything done safely - besides, he's planning on opening his own place in a little while and I know I'll move over there with him for sure!). Oh well, It'll be sad to stop seeing him (I still have a little while with him yet).

 

[tallcall]

9/27/07

Thursday:

Chest/Triceps:

Superset 1:
Dips/Bench Dips: RI - 30

BW-112x10/BWx6
BW-112x10/BWx5
BW-112x10/BWx4
**All the dips were with perfect form all the way!
Superset 2:
BB Flat Bench Press/DB Serrates Pull (with pulses): Ri - 30

75x10/30x8 (one pulse)
85x10/40x10 (3 pulses)
95x8/40x8 (1 pulse)
95x5/30x10

Superset 3:
Cable Flys/Pushups/Pulses (Crossovers): RI - 30

(Flys)25x15/(Pulses)30x4/(Pushups)BWx5 Perfect form!
(Flys)45x12/(Pulses)45x6 PR for weight and reps

EZ Bar Skull Crushers: RI - 30

20x15
20x15
20x15 PR for Reps

Reverse Rope Pressdowns (Negatives): RI - 15

Maxhine #4x10 (6 second negatives)
Maxhine #4x10 (6 second negatives)

Cardio: 20 minutes SS

5 minutes rowing (starting hr - 75, max hr - 200, level 8 - Kept it at 43 RPM the whole time!)

15 minutes on a Elliptical Trainer (starting hr - 72, max hr - 152, functional hr range - 140-150, level 5 the entire time).

Again, we upped the volume and lowered the intensity. I'm a little sore in my wrist flexors from all the pushups, dips, and benching, but all is well. We even took some time to get some new records and some things that were worth mention - like how I finally did a set of full pushups with perfect form and how all my dips were in perfect form!

Cardio was fine too, My legs are still sore from last Tuesday's leg workout (holy crap those 10 sets of deadlifts were awesome!).

 

[goob]

Fucking hell! These superset workouts look evil. I like it.

That's a bit like these non-stop no rest workouts i've been doing. Killer stuff.

Great job TC.

 

[tallcall]

Yeah, I'm probably going to up the weights starting tomorrow and get off this deload week (everything except for shoulders - they do not need to be heavy and they are feeling great).

 

[tallcall]

9/28/07

Friday:

Abs/Cardio

Superset:
Ab Rollout/Planks: RI - 30

BWx10/BW+25x:90
BWx15/BW+25x:60
BWx15/BW+25x:60

Side Bends: RI - 20

3x45x20

Cardio - 20 Minutes SS

5 minutes on an Stair Mill (starting hr -78, max hr - 145, level 5-7-9).

15 minutes on a treadmill (starting hr - 78, max hr - 151, functional range - 140-145, Incline - 0.0-15.0, Speed - 3.0-4.0mph).

Abs were real good today - very tight, I really wanted to get back to the more intense ab workouts, they just good!

Cardio sucked . I was going for a HIIT session, but my legs were still a little sore from Tuesday, and the belt on the treadmill slipped and nearly threw me off mad: )! When that happened, I decided to just do a solid state session and try HIIT again tomorrow - legs just felt too weak and the stair mills are def out of the question when my legs feel sore (my cardiovascular system can handle it, my legs just burn out very quickly).

Oh well, I got to talk to one of my trainer friends (a different trainer, not mine), he's always cool to talk to, so it wasn't all bad.

 

[tallcall]

9/29/07

Saturday:

Abs/Back/Biceps/Cardio:

Superset:
Crunches/Leg Raises: RI - 30

BWx12/BWx10
BWx12/BWx10
BWx12/BWx10

Pulldowns: RI - 45

135x8
150x8
180x6
195x3 PR - Weight

Seated Cable Row: RI - 60

165x8
195x8
210x6

Machine Hyper Extensions: RI - 30

130x12
170x12
250x10

Hammer Strength High Rows: RI - 30

40(per arm)x15 - way too easy, it's been a while since I've done these
90(per arm)x8(+2 forced reps) PR - Weight
80(per arm)x8 - Negatives (6 sec negatives)

Superset:
Cable Curls/Cable Crunches: RI - 60

170x8/200x15
180x6/225x12
190x4/250x10
200x1 PR - Weight

Farmers Walk: RI - 60

100 pound dumbbells @ 60 steps, 43 steps, 20 steps, 40 steps, and 30 steps - 193 steps total - PR for Weight

Cardio - 50 minutes HIIT

Rowing for 5 minutes at level 10 (starting hr - 100, max hr - 160).

10 minutes on a stair mill HIIT. Starting hr - 120, max hr - 160, 6 sets of 60/60 @ level 12-13 and hr = 160, rest hr = 139 at level 5.

10 minutes on an arch trainer HIIT. Starting hr - 141, max hr - 170, incline = 5-7, resistance = 15-20, 7 minutes straight @170bpm.

25 minutes on a treadmill. Starting hr - 144, max hr - 170, 1 interval at 6.5mph and 170bpm for 60 seconds, normal hr range - 130-140, incline = 0.0-5.0, speed = 3.0mph-6.5mph, most of the time spent on 4.0mph.

There, I feel better now!

After a week of relative rest, I came back for a few weight personal records! I'm happy I got those curls up to 200 pounds, I've been kind of stuck at 190@4-5 reps for a month or so now.

I love how those high rows have improved so much, I can almost lift both of the stacks (I think they went up to 150 or 200 pounds - I'm half way there).

The pulldowns were also awesome - got 195 pounds with good form for the first time today.

I still have a hard time on the stair mills - my legs burn out so fast on those, my heart can go on and on just fine, but my legs just won't have it (I just have to keep going at it, I'll get it someday!)

I kind of decided to go all out for power today and achieved all my goals - a very good (fun) day

 

[tallcall]

9/30/07

Sunday:

Shoulders: - Kept it lighter than normal (except for the shoulder presses )

Superset 1:
Smith Shrugs/Front Raises: No Rest

100x20/12x12
130x20/12x12
150x20/12x12

Superset 2:
Smith Shoulder Press/Side Raises: No Rest

50x10/12x12
60x10/12x12
70x7(+3 forced)/12x12

Superset 3:
DB Rear Delt Row/Cable Upright Row: RI - 30

20x15/Machine #4x10
20x15/#6x10
20x15/#7x10 PR for Weight

Superset 4:
DB Shrugs/Farmer Walk: RI - 30

65'sx20 PR for Weight I think /65'sx106 feet
65'sx20/65'sx115 feet
**Deadlifted, shrugged 20 times, then walked 106-115 steps and dropped the weight. Lather, rinse, repeat.

Cardio - 35 minutes HIIT

5 minutes rowing (starting hr - 85, max hr - 175, level 10).

30 minutes on a treadmill. The first 15 minutes were approx. 6 sets of 60/60@ 6.5mph - 170bpm, 2 sets of 40/60@8.0mph - 171bpm, and 2 sets of 60/60@3.5-4.0mph and an incline of 10-15. The rest of the time was solid state.

I wish I could have done my full hour of cardio like I normally do, but I really have a hard time doing two days of it back to back, so maybe next week when I can do one on Friday and one on Sunday it will all flow better.

The weights went pretty smooth, I did my normal warm-ups and rotator cuff work (it feels like I'm the only one doing that stuff, but I really don't want a shoulder injury). Anyways, I'm keeping the weights light on shoulder day for another week or two at the request of my trainer.

I'm still impressed with yesterday's workout, wow that felt good!

 

[tallcall]

10/2/07 Weigh in

10/2/07 Weigh in
Weight: 288.5 ??? down .5 pounds from last time

Waist: 37 inches - no change
Stomach: 37 inches ??? down 1 inch from last time
Chest: 51 inches ??? no change from last week
Shoulders: 60.5 inches ??? no change from last time
Neck: 20.0 inches ??? no changefrom last time
Bi's: 18 inches - no change
Calves: 19.5 inches - no change

Lean Body Mass: 265.52 - down from last week's 265.98 (-0.46 pounds)
Body Fat Weight: 22.98 pounds - down from last week's 23.02 (-0.04 pounds)

Caliper readings - 4 point test:
Abs ??? 7.5 mm ??? no change from last week
Suprailiac ??? 11.5 mm ??? no change from last week
Thigh ??? 9.5 mm ??? no change from last week
Triceps ??? 7 mm ??? no change from last week

Estimated body fat % is still ~15%. Since last week was a rest week, I kind of expected to just hover in place like that, but I???m happy that I lost a half pound on the scale, and an inch on my stomach without much lean mass loss.

 

[katt]

Nice workouts TC.. looks like you're making steady progress..

I hear ya on the cardio.. I have a hard time doing that two days in a row also, along with our morning workouts.. it's just brutal!

 

[tallcall]

Nice workouts TC.. looks like you're making steady progress..

I hear ya on the cardio.. I have a hard time doing that two days in a row also, along with our morning workouts.. it's just brutal!

Yeah, I hope to be back into the swing of things this week!

 

[tallcall]

10/2/07

Tuesday:

Legs:

Calorie total for today is 3974, bringing it down to 3000 for tomorrow, 3600 for Thursday, 3200 for Friday, 3400 for Saturday and Sunday, then 3000 plus a cheat meal for Monday - sort of a new arrangement of my diet to change things up some - still losing about 1.5-2 pounds a week on average, just trying to tighten down on it a little.

DB Static Lunges: RI - 30

BWx10
20'sx10, BWx1 with a 10 sec hold
25'sx10, BWx1 with a 10 sec hold PR for Weight

Leg Press - Emphasizing Ham-Glute: RI - 45
270x10
360x10
410x8

Leg Press - Emphasizing Adductiors Dropset

Starting at 360 - ending at 180
1st 2 plates off at 12 reps, 2nd 2 plates off at 20 reps, 25 reps total

Wide Stance Deadlift with double overhand grip: RI - 60

135x10
185x10
225x10
255x9 PR for Reps at this weight

Leg Raises - Dropsets: RI - 60

Set 1 -
Double Leg - 190x10
DS to Single Right Leg - 70x6
DS 2 to Single Left Leg - 70x6

Set 2 -
Double Leg - 190x10
DS to Single Right Leg - 70x6
DS 2 to Single Left Leg - 70x6

Set 3 -
Double Leg - 190x10
DS to Single Left Leg - 70x6
DS 2 to Single Right Leg - 70x6

Cardio - 21 minutes SS

Stairs for 6 minutes (starting hr - 84, max hr - 140, level 5-7).

Stairs for 15 minutes (starting hr - 106, max hr - 156, level 3-5).

That felt great. I really got that Deadlift form down, I can't wait to try for 305 pounds - I think I'm going for it next week. Starting to do weighted Lunges now - Awesome.

My trainer and I have decided to do some calorie cycling. I'm going to try to hit 4000-4200 on leg day, 3000 on my off days (except for my cheat day), 3400 on my cardio only day, and 3600 on my Chest/Tri, Back/Bi, and Shoulders days. We hope this will spur a greater caloric deficit.

My legs felt like jello, so the stairs were very challenging after the workout. It's nice to be back to more heavy lifting again (heavy for me at least).

 

[DOMS]

A very worthy workout, man!

And you've done a helluva job since you joined!

 

[tallcall]

A very worthy workout, man!

And you've done a helluva job since you joined!

It's nice that you guys think so, I wish I could convince myself of that sometimes.

 

[goob]

A very worthy workout, man!

And you've done a helluva job since you joined!

Agreed. Your workolad just seems to get larger and larger..........

Damn good job.

 

[tallcall]

Today is a calorie restricted day - 3000, I Hate These Days. But it does give me an excuse to be a total ass!

 

[tallcall]

10/04/07

Thursday:

Shoulders - Learning Day:

Superset A: RI - 30
A1 - Rear Delt Fly | Machine #4x3 sets x10-12 reps

A2 - Front Raise | 15/10/10x5 reps

A3 - Side Raise Hold | 15 second, 20 second hold

Power Press (Looked sort of like Arnolds): RI - 30 | 20/20/25x8-10 reps

Shoulder Press: RI - 30 | 30x 2 sets x8 reps

Superset B: RI - 30
B1 - Smith Upright Rows | Bar + 50/20/30x 12 reps

B2 - DB Shrugs | 55's/80's/80'sx 15 reps (first set had 5 fast reps and 2 negatives - 5 seconds, the second and third sets only had the 2 negatives)

Side Raises: RI - 15 | 12x3 sets x12 reps

Cardio - 27 minutes HIIT

5 minutes rowing (min hr - 71, max hr - 165, level 10, kept it above 41 rpms at all times).

22 minutes on a treadmill HIIT. Min hr - 102, max hr - 175-180, speed - 3-7mph, incline - 0-15. I couldn't hold a high speed for more than 20 seconds, so I decided to play with the incline today to keep my heart rate up there. I ended up with 5 minutes up and 2 minutes down for about 3 sets (~300/120 !) - This is a new PR for me. My average heart rate was between 165 and 175bpm the whole time.

I had some fun today, I got to learn a lot from my trainer, threw in something new for me - Power Presses (I think they are like Arnolds, all the rotation stayed near and above the shoulders).

He was impressed with the way I handled the 80 pound dumbbells with no straps (all those farmers walks I do to build grip strength). I told him I was just going to Deadlift them and do my thing without any straps or a back belt (I usually don't have one for anything under 200 pounds, but either way I just forgot to bring mine today - oops ).

Todays calorie total was 3400. I'm so tired, going to bed soon!

 

[katt]

Nice job on the PR on cardio!!

Gawd,, 3400 calories.... how I wish I could have that right now.. todays could was barely 1500.... I'M STARVING!!!

 

[tallcall]

Nice job on the PR on cardio!!

Gawd,, 3400 calories.... how I wish I could have that right now.. todays could was barely 1500.... I'M STARVING!!!

I really felt like I was going to start ripping people's heads off on Wednesday when I was on 3000 calories.

It didn't help that we were also under a lot of pressure at work. They have my friend and I (we work on separate days) putting on a 4 hour long live show from Master Control. This is the first time in our history that my station has attempted this so both of us are a part of a huge experiment (everyone else bitches and complains, but none of them has any right to now - I can't leave the room for 5 minutes to use the bathroom unless it's pre-planned).

Then, after the show, I get to work with another idiot (ranked higher than me) who comes in and complains about absolutely everything. I wonder if his constant complaining is a form of harassment?

 

[tallcall]

10/05/07

Friday:

Abs/Cardio:

Superset A: RI - 30

A1 - Ab Rollout | 3 sets x12 reps

A2 - Brid-Dogs | 3 sets x10 reps

A3 - Planks | 3 x:60 seconds

A4 - Side Bends | 45x3 sets x15 reps

Cardio - 50 minutes SS

5 minutes on the Arch Trainer (starting hr - 100, max hr - 145, incline - 7-10, resistance - 15-25).

45 minutes on a treadmill (min hr - 113, max hr - 165, functional hr range - 140-160, incline - 0-15, speed - 3.0-6.5mph).

Felt great. I'm trying to be able to do those ab rollouts standing up, but I think that's a while down the road. Definitely wore me out.

Today was a 3200 calorie day. Damn these restrictions!

 

[fufu]

good job

 

[DOMS]

Great workout, man! That's a type of workout that many who do weight training will never be smart enough to do.

Which reminds me, I need to do something like that...

 

[tallcall]

Yeah, it usually kills me because I have to try to do 3-3.5 hours of cardio a week. This week I'm at about 2 hours so far, probably 30 minutes tomorrow HIIT, and maybe an hour Sunday SS. My trainer definitely likes to see me doing these sessions, sometimes we run together, just depends on when his next client is scheduled to come in.