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Today was my fist day on my new program and it went smoothly. It is, indeed, a lot of food and I still have one more meal to go! What I need to do to be successful at eating this much fat and protein is space my meals accordingly. Start early and eat one meal every 4 hrs. - hungry or not, my workouts are extreme and my muscles require this amount of food to grow.
My lifting was great tonight. I had two full days rest and was primed and ready to go.
I did Workout A - Up 5lbs. on all weighted lifts and extended reps on exercises to failure.
Squats
Bench Press
Inverted Rows
Push Ups
Reverse Crunches
Tomorrow I'll be hitting the trail on my mtn bike and see how many laps I can do. The loop is 5 miles and I'd like to hit it 4x with my sprints on the flat portions of the loop.
Monday, April 12, 2010
Sunday, April 11, 2010
My New 7 Week Mission
All right!
I have a whole new 7 week plan that I've put together for myself. This is serious, repetitive (possibly to the point of boring), provides me with a massive amount of protein - and exactly "what I think" is going to take me to my next level.
Starting tomorrow, April 12th (which is my 38th birthday!) through May 31st, I'm starting on a 7 week mission.
I am going to eat exactly the same foods every day, heavy lift on M/W/F, cardio & sprints on T/Th and rest on Sat. & Sun.
I've entered all my foods into FitDay and have come up with the following results:
Protein: 232g
Fat: 179g
Carbs: 6g
Cals: 2500
Fat: 63%
Protein: 36%
Carbs: 1%
My daily foods are:
1. 6 cage free organic eggs scrambled in 2T of organic ghee
2. 12oz. free range chicken breast sauteed in 2T of organic virgin coconut oil
GYM
3. 12oz. grass fed ground beef or steak
4. 12oz. free range chicken breast sauteed in 2T of organic virgin coconut oil
This will NOT change, nor will I be posting daily menus.
My workouts will remain on the same schedule with my 5X5 lifting program and by the end of the 7 weeks this will add a total of 52.5 lbs. to every one of my lifts.
My cardio and sprints will be out in the woods alternating between mtn. biking and hiking - rain or shine!
I will still continue to post on my workouts, how my day went and other assorted things that come to mind - but this is it. This should, without a doubt, bring me to a whole new fitness level and mindset. I will not be weighing myself again until the end of this 7 week mission... The morning of June 1st.
It will not be easy, but I'm well prepared and pumped!
I have a whole new 7 week plan that I've put together for myself. This is serious, repetitive (possibly to the point of boring), provides me with a massive amount of protein - and exactly "what I think" is going to take me to my next level.
Starting tomorrow, April 12th (which is my 38th birthday!) through May 31st, I'm starting on a 7 week mission.
I am going to eat exactly the same foods every day, heavy lift on M/W/F, cardio & sprints on T/Th and rest on Sat. & Sun.
I've entered all my foods into FitDay and have come up with the following results:
Protein: 232g
Fat: 179g
Carbs: 6g
Cals: 2500
Fat: 63%
Protein: 36%
Carbs: 1%
My daily foods are:
1. 6 cage free organic eggs scrambled in 2T of organic ghee
2. 12oz. free range chicken breast sauteed in 2T of organic virgin coconut oil
GYM
3. 12oz. grass fed ground beef or steak
4. 12oz. free range chicken breast sauteed in 2T of organic virgin coconut oil
This will NOT change, nor will I be posting daily menus.
My workouts will remain on the same schedule with my 5X5 lifting program and by the end of the 7 weeks this will add a total of 52.5 lbs. to every one of my lifts.
My cardio and sprints will be out in the woods alternating between mtn. biking and hiking - rain or shine!
I will still continue to post on my workouts, how my day went and other assorted things that come to mind - but this is it. This should, without a doubt, bring me to a whole new fitness level and mindset. I will not be weighing myself again until the end of this 7 week mission... The morning of June 1st.
It will not be easy, but I'm well prepared and pumped!
Friday, April 9, 2010
Working hard at upping my protein
I had a great workout tonight... up 5lbs. on all lifts and right on schedule! My body is absolutely beat to a bloody pulp at this point. This week has been, hands down, the toughest and most rigorous workout week I have ever done in my life. I am very much looking forward to resting the next couple of days. No weights, no sprints... nada - maybe a casual ride on my bike if I'm feeling up to it.
Workout B
Squats
Overhead Press
Deadlifts
Pull ups
Planks
Grub for the day:
1. 6 soft boiled cage free organic eggs with 2T melted ghee
2. 6 oz. grass fed burger patty and a salad with mixed organic veggies w/ evoo and fresh squeezed lemon juice
3. 3 scrambled cage free organic eggs cooked in 1T of ghee (pre workout)
Workout
4. 2 grass fed broiled lamb chops and a side of organic squash and wild mushrooms sauteed in ghee with some sea salt and fresh ground pepper
As always, a ton of water throughout the day.
So here I am, physically eating as much whole food as my body can handle while trying desperately to get my protein intake up to 200g per day. It's so hard to do with whole foods alone. My protein intake today was just under 150g. My body can't fit much more food. I'm going to try and do it slowly by adding an extra egg to my meals or an extra ounce or two of meat when I can. I think spreading my meals out further will help too. I am not going to reach the muscle gains I'm looking for if I can't get my protein up over at least 1g. per pound of body weight.
It's tough being a natural bodybuilder. Those guys who cheat and use performance enhancing drugs are doing serious damage to themselves in the years to come.
Workout B
Squats
Overhead Press
Deadlifts
Pull ups
Planks
Grub for the day:
1. 6 soft boiled cage free organic eggs with 2T melted ghee
2. 6 oz. grass fed burger patty and a salad with mixed organic veggies w/ evoo and fresh squeezed lemon juice
3. 3 scrambled cage free organic eggs cooked in 1T of ghee (pre workout)
Workout
4. 2 grass fed broiled lamb chops and a side of organic squash and wild mushrooms sauteed in ghee with some sea salt and fresh ground pepper
As always, a ton of water throughout the day.
So here I am, physically eating as much whole food as my body can handle while trying desperately to get my protein intake up to 200g per day. It's so hard to do with whole foods alone. My protein intake today was just under 150g. My body can't fit much more food. I'm going to try and do it slowly by adding an extra egg to my meals or an extra ounce or two of meat when I can. I think spreading my meals out further will help too. I am not going to reach the muscle gains I'm looking for if I can't get my protein up over at least 1g. per pound of body weight.
It's tough being a natural bodybuilder. Those guys who cheat and use performance enhancing drugs are doing serious damage to themselves in the years to come.
Growing my blog
Well I'd like to welcome all 3 of my blog followers - Thank you for checking out what I've got to say and appreciating it enough to stick around for more!
And... to the two people who dropped by to leave comments on a couple of my posts.
I'm new at blogging and as much as I'd like to write daily, sometimes life and it's responsibilities prevent that from happening. However, the more people dig it, the more I want to write. So... I am going to put more effort into it as I had originally intended. I also need to add tags to all my posts so people can find me and I can attract more visitors.
Thanks again, guys... Hope you all are having a good day and living life to it's fullest!
Greg :-)
And... to the two people who dropped by to leave comments on a couple of my posts.
I'm new at blogging and as much as I'd like to write daily, sometimes life and it's responsibilities prevent that from happening. However, the more people dig it, the more I want to write. So... I am going to put more effort into it as I had originally intended. I also need to add tags to all my posts so people can find me and I can attract more visitors.
Thanks again, guys... Hope you all are having a good day and living life to it's fullest!
Greg :-)
Thursday, April 8, 2010
Inflation can be deadly!
Here we are in the 2nd week of April and we're having some beautiful weather in NY. As I mentioned, I've been looking forward to taking my cardio and sprint days outdoors once it warmed up and today seemed like the perfect day to start. So, I'm thinking to myself, what do I want to do?? Ah ha! I'll go get my Mtn. bike that's been sitting in my parent's shed for the past 3 yrs. (I know, shame on me) and I'll hit the trails for a nice long ride and some all out sprints.
I bought this bike, oh about 13 yrs ago lol. It's a Trek and it was a pretty good bike back in the day... I bought it the same summer I bought a brand new Jeep Wrangler because it looked hip hanging off the back of my new Jeep! Nah, I really wanted to get into riding - and I did for a while - but then... well you know how it goes. It sat for a while, then I got into it again, then parked 3 yrs ago - and haven't touched it since.
So I go to get the bike and the tires were low and needed some air but they seemed to be holding some so I thought a quick trip to the gas station down the road for air and I'd be good to go! I also needed to dust some of the cobwebs off and lube the chain.
Anyway, here I am down at the station, filling up the back tire and BAM!!! IT EXPLODED! Sounded like a gun shot and my ear seriously rang for a good minute or two. The tires had dry rotted and just blew apart on me.
So, I head down to the bike shop to get some new tires and tubes put on and unfortunately they only had one in stock so I'll have to wait until tomorrow when the shipment comes in and my bike will be ready in the afternoon (too bad it's supposed to rain tomorrow!). While I was there, I picked up a new helmet (never had a bicycle helmet but I should be wearing one), a pair of riding gloves and a water bottle to attach to the bike frame. We are looking at a nice weekend though, so I'll go and hit the trails then for my first ride of the season.
In the meantime, it's now after 5pm and getting chilly so I'm not going to start a two hour hike in the woods... I'm going to go to the gym and maybe I'll do my savage bear crawl mountain climbing routine I did the other day. Or maybe I'll try something else... I'll figure it out when I get there.
I bought this bike, oh about 13 yrs ago lol. It's a Trek and it was a pretty good bike back in the day... I bought it the same summer I bought a brand new Jeep Wrangler because it looked hip hanging off the back of my new Jeep! Nah, I really wanted to get into riding - and I did for a while - but then... well you know how it goes. It sat for a while, then I got into it again, then parked 3 yrs ago - and haven't touched it since.
So I go to get the bike and the tires were low and needed some air but they seemed to be holding some so I thought a quick trip to the gas station down the road for air and I'd be good to go! I also needed to dust some of the cobwebs off and lube the chain.
Anyway, here I am down at the station, filling up the back tire and BAM!!! IT EXPLODED! Sounded like a gun shot and my ear seriously rang for a good minute or two. The tires had dry rotted and just blew apart on me.
So, I head down to the bike shop to get some new tires and tubes put on and unfortunately they only had one in stock so I'll have to wait until tomorrow when the shipment comes in and my bike will be ready in the afternoon (too bad it's supposed to rain tomorrow!). While I was there, I picked up a new helmet (never had a bicycle helmet but I should be wearing one), a pair of riding gloves and a water bottle to attach to the bike frame. We are looking at a nice weekend though, so I'll go and hit the trails then for my first ride of the season.
In the meantime, it's now after 5pm and getting chilly so I'm not going to start a two hour hike in the woods... I'm going to go to the gym and maybe I'll do my savage bear crawl mountain climbing routine I did the other day. Or maybe I'll try something else... I'll figure it out when I get there.
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
Bear Crawl Sprints!
We've got the Cybex Arc Trainer at my gym and I love this thing. It's kind of like an elliptical machine but with longer strides and even lower impact - you can use the arm bars for a full body workout or just balance yourself and do legs. I go for the full monty!
At it's lowest incline it simulates x-country skiing, then elliptical, then stair stepping, then hiking, and finally mountain climbing.
Of course, I max it out and put it on 10 (mountain climbing mode) and the resistance up to 100 (also max) and grab the handles on the heart rate sensors and slowly climb the mountain while maintaining my HR at 120bpm (fat burning zone).
I set the timer for 60 mins - and every 5 minutes, i reach forward and grab the front handles and I do a 40 second all out sprint. This raises my HR to about 173bpm at the end of the sprint. The sprints are insane though - It's similar to a bear crawl sprint up a mountain. In 60 mins, it said I burned 1365 calories but I'm not sure how accurate that is... all I know is my legs are shaking and feel like they left my body when I'm done. It's an absolutely insane workout.
Now that the weather is starting to get reasonably warm, I'm going to take my cardio out in the hilly woods and play... I can't wait!
At it's lowest incline it simulates x-country skiing, then elliptical, then stair stepping, then hiking, and finally mountain climbing.
Of course, I max it out and put it on 10 (mountain climbing mode) and the resistance up to 100 (also max) and grab the handles on the heart rate sensors and slowly climb the mountain while maintaining my HR at 120bpm (fat burning zone).
I set the timer for 60 mins - and every 5 minutes, i reach forward and grab the front handles and I do a 40 second all out sprint. This raises my HR to about 173bpm at the end of the sprint. The sprints are insane though - It's similar to a bear crawl sprint up a mountain. In 60 mins, it said I burned 1365 calories but I'm not sure how accurate that is... all I know is my legs are shaking and feel like they left my body when I'm done. It's an absolutely insane workout.
Now that the weather is starting to get reasonably warm, I'm going to take my cardio out in the hilly woods and play... I can't wait!
Thursday, April 1, 2010
Old school is still the best!
As I get more involved in my lifting program (and lifting heavier weight), I've noticed the difference between the types of shoes I wear and what their purposes are. For my cardio and sprinting, the running sneakers I've been wearing fit the bill perfectly. However, these are not for lifting heavy weights! Especially when doing squats and deadlifts.
This is from the website of the lifting program I'm doing:
"Lifting shoes: Shoes with air or gel filling are compressible, impairing power transfer & stability. Wear shoes with hard soles. Chuck Taylor’s, weightlifting shoes, socks or barefoot are better than running shoes."
So... I went ahead and bought myself a pair of old school Converse Chuck Taylor's - Black, of course!
These things bring back some memories from various phases of my life. When I was a kid, in the 70's, that's all I wore - then in the later 80's - mid 90's, when I got into the Grateful Dead scene, I went back to the Chucks again - I still have that pair that I wore to all those shows (about 100 GD shows and a dozen or so Jerry Garcia Band shows) and they have many miles on them. They're beat to hell because I wore them for 6 or 7 years straight - from Boston to Florida and as far west as Chicago... and many other cities and venues in between. Unfortunately, I never had the chance to see the boys out on the west coast!
Now, here I am again, with a brand new pair in 2010, used for a more specific reason then the style or comfort (which they're really not all that comfortable for an every day shoe). Although, in my opinion, they still style in a simplistic, retro sort of way. Most importantly, they'll allow me to have the stability to lift heavier and not get injured!
When I reach the point of passing my body weight in squats as a full 5X5 set not just a one time max (which shouldn't be too far off in the distance!), I'm going to treat myself to a real pair of weightlifting shoes. Adidas makes a sweet pair called the Adistar Olympic Lifting Shoes. Only $199.00 but I'm worth every cent of it :D
This is from the website of the lifting program I'm doing:
"Lifting shoes: Shoes with air or gel filling are compressible, impairing power transfer & stability. Wear shoes with hard soles. Chuck Taylor’s, weightlifting shoes, socks or barefoot are better than running shoes."
So... I went ahead and bought myself a pair of old school Converse Chuck Taylor's - Black, of course!
These things bring back some memories from various phases of my life. When I was a kid, in the 70's, that's all I wore - then in the later 80's - mid 90's, when I got into the Grateful Dead scene, I went back to the Chucks again - I still have that pair that I wore to all those shows (about 100 GD shows and a dozen or so Jerry Garcia Band shows) and they have many miles on them. They're beat to hell because I wore them for 6 or 7 years straight - from Boston to Florida and as far west as Chicago... and many other cities and venues in between. Unfortunately, I never had the chance to see the boys out on the west coast!
Now, here I am again, with a brand new pair in 2010, used for a more specific reason then the style or comfort (which they're really not all that comfortable for an every day shoe). Although, in my opinion, they still style in a simplistic, retro sort of way. Most importantly, they'll allow me to have the stability to lift heavier and not get injured!
When I reach the point of passing my body weight in squats as a full 5X5 set not just a one time max (which shouldn't be too far off in the distance!), I'm going to treat myself to a real pair of weightlifting shoes. Adidas makes a sweet pair called the Adistar Olympic Lifting Shoes. Only $199.00 but I'm worth every cent of it :D
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