Intensity and Consistency

[Christman]

Train with intensity, eat with consistency.

This is my first journey and my first real attempt to sculpt who I want to be both on the inside and the outside. I say first real attempt because I have added muscle and dropped body fat in the past but I never been truly focused and willing to completely change my lifestyle and my bad habits to reach my goals. It will be different this time, this time I will succeed; I am willing to do whatever is necessary. If stay true to the title of my journey, it will happen.

Right now I am 195 lbs. and around 18-20% BF. I am doing solo HRT through the end of December and will be starting a serious cutting nutrition and workout plan the first week of January. During that week I have a Bod Pod screening scheduled; this will give me an accurate gauge of where I am at with LBM and BF.

My plan is to follow Rage's diet and workouts that he prescribed for the red team in Iron Contest II. I have read through that thread multiple times and I am amazed on what everyone was able to achieve. I'll be posting my workouts and my diet as I go along, so feel free to chime in if you think there is something I should change up for better results or if you just want to encourage me along the way.

A few more things about me… I am no stranger to hard work and having the odds stacked against me (I'm sure I will talk about this as time goes on). I have a wonderful wife and son who are very supportive. Within the last year I have made big changes in my diet and I am now eating cleanly and taking in about 1.5 gal of water per day. Also, I train at the Metro Fitness in Worthington, OH mainly after work during the week.

[Christman]

Hit the gym last night, chest & bi's. This is usually my Thursday workout but it got pushed back a day due to my work's holiday party on Thursday evening. I'll be doing back today (usually on Friday) after a get a few good meals in me.

10 mins on elliptical (warm up)

Solo HRT
Chest:
Incline DB Press - 55's x 8(6), 55's x 8(6)
Bench Press - 145 x 8(6), 145 x 8(6)
Pec Deck - 90 x 8(6), 90 x 8(6)

Biceps:
Bruiser's Bicep Blowout (modified: all 4 sets one side before switching arms)
10 x 20, 15 x15, 20 x 10, 25 x 5 - twice each arm
Standing Concentration Curls - 15 x 8(6)

PWO shake - 50g protein
5 mins on elliptical to cool down

Slept really good last night but didn't get to sleep as early as I wanted. My son had a handful of friends over which made it impossible get any sleep until they left. Let me tell you what, 16 y/o girls are very loud and giggly. But ya know, I was ok with them being loud... if they were being quiet then I would start to worry what was going on.

[Christman]

Got to the gym at noon, I wish I would have gotten up a bit earlier so I could've had another meal in me.

Pre - Rage
10 mins on elliptical (warm up)

Solo HRT
Back:
Wide Grip Pull Down - 120 x 8(5), 110 x 8(6)
DB Row - 65 x 8(5), 60 x 8(6)
Close Grip Pull Down - 110 x 8(5), 100 x 8(6)
Wide Grip Pull Down - 60 x 20 just to get a good pump to finish

PWO shake - 50g protein
5 mins on elliptical to cool down

My arms were still weak from the bi's workout last night which is why I kept dropping weight on the second set of everything. I usually have at least 24 hours and a full day's worth of meals in me before doing back.

I won't be back in the gym until Monday evening(Shoulders & Triceps), so I should be good and rested by then. Also have a family xmas party tomorrow, it'll be nice to see the family and relax.

[Christman]

I know to check the ego at the door and go with what I feel gives me the most work and I can complete my sets. Sometimes I feel that I just can't pull the iron I should.

[Christman]

I didn't go to work today. I have a condition that sometimes causes me to have an accident (yes, a number two) while I sleep. On the nights where something like that happens it just defeats me to where I kinda slip back in to depression and I can't get up and face the day when the alarm goes off. It's really the worst when it has not happened for the longest time and then it then it does for no apparent reason. So I stayed home today, slept in and tried to relax.

I did make it to the gym in the evening once my motivation to go workout had returned. It was a shoulders and tri's day.

Pre - Rage
10 mins on elliptical (warm up)

Solo HRT
Shoulders:
Smith Machine Press - 90 x 8(6), 95 x 8(6)
DB Rear Flys - 15's x 8(5), 10's x 8(6)
Front Plate Raises - 25 x 8(6), 25 x 8(6)
Side Raises Machine - 55 x 8(6), 60 x 8(6)

Triceps
Rope Push Downs - 80 x 8(6), 90 x 8(6)
Upright Bench Press Machine Close Grip - 120 x 8(6), 130 x 8(6)
One Arm Push Down - 30 x 8(5), 25 x 8(6)

PWO shake - 50g protein
no cool down, just some light stretching. I was ready to get home.

[Christman]

I took forever to make it to the gym tonight, had so much to do right after work but I got there. Only about an hour off. Also has a solid meal an hour prior, grilled chicken and brown rice.

Pre - Rage
10 mins on elliptical (warm up)

Solo HRT
Wheels:
Seated Calves - 75 x 8(6), 85 x 8(6)
Standing Calves - 225 x 8(6), 275 x 8(6)

Leg Press - 450 x 8(6), 450 x 8(6)
Leg Extension - 150 x 8(6), 150 x 8(6)

Seated Leg Curl - 100 x 8(6), 100 x 8(6)
Prone Leg Curl - 95 x 8(6), 95 x 8(6)

5 min cooldown on the elliptical.
PWO - more chicken and brown rice + 2 Uni-Liver and 2 digestive enzymes

*****
Cardio in the morning on empty stomach and the rest of the day off.

[Christman]

I got cardio in Wednesday (treadmill) and Thursday (recumbent bike) mornings each for 45 mins. Kept the heartrate at 110-120 bpm. This was good practice for getting up and knocking it out since I will be doing this 6 days a week come January.

Chest and biceps tonight.

[Solid Dreams]

I got cardio in Wednesday (treadmill) and Thursday (recumbent bike) mornings each for 45 mins. Kept the heartrate at 110-120 bpm. This was good practice for getting up and knocking it out since I will be doing this 6 days a week come January.

Chest and biceps tonight.

Make sure you ramp up the cardio gradually man. Dont dive into it headfirst because you can plateau.


Great work!

[Christman]

Make sure you ramp up the cardio gradually man. Dont dive into it headfirst because you can plateau.


Great work!

Thanks. I think I will scale back the cardio next week, I plan to do some between xmas and new years just not 6 days of 45 mins, more like 3-4 days at 20-30 mins. I was really just testing to see what time best time would be to wake up, get the cardio in, and get home to eat and shower before dashing off to work. The first week of January is when it will get serious.

No excuses.

[Christman]

Had to take the week off of everything due to being sick, I was already off work for the week so I used the time to get feeling better. It sucked but I needed the rest to get better. I'm using this week to get everything together and my journey will begin 1/9/2012. Stay tuned...

[Christman]

Since I was out of the gym for a week being sick, I decided to do a full body workout today and will do another on Friday to finish my prep for next Monday. I'm also spending this time on making sure I have everything I need to get started... food, containers, meal plan, supplements, work out plans, etc. My plan was to do all of that last week while I was off work but being ill kept me from doing anything... besides I think the time off was good.

1/9/2012 - no turning back.

[Christman]

Had my Bodpod screening yesterday and lets just say that I am not exactly happy with the results and I am not 100% convineced that the reading was accurate.

BF 25%
Weight 195.6 lbs.
LBM 146.6
Fat 49 lbs.

I question this becuase my body is missing a big part of what would be included in my LBM. In 2003 I had my entire large intestine removed and I know that is not considered in my Bodpod screening. I'm thinking that missing internal body part would be at least another 5-10 lbs of LBM. Perhaps I will check at my gym to see if they can do a calliper reading for me just to see if there is a difference.

Since I was out of the gym for an entire week, I did a full body workout on Tuesday and will be doing another tonight. Being sick took a lot out of me, had a hard time eating and sleeping all last week but the time off of the gym was needed. Monday is go-time! No excuses.

Just popped some Rage and heading to the gym now.

[Christman]

Meal plan and supplements - Check
All meals pre-packed - Check
All systems go - Check

Let's do this!
Details will follow tomorrow on day 1.

[Christman]

This morning was 45 mins on the dreadmill at a medium pace. I'm planning on doing a total of 45 mins a day for at least the first two weeks on everyday except Tuesday (leg day). Sometimes it will be all 45 mins at once and other days I'll split it into two sessions, one in the a.m. and one after weight training.

Also, so far today I have gotten two meals in on schedule - I will post the details on my nutrition plan later. Eventhough it's only Day 1, I have to make a change to my schedule due to an appointment I have after work during the time I normally train. I'll be doing chest/bi's during lunch instead of in the evening. This means that I am changing my meal-timing up to adjust for this bump in the road. At least I knew this was coming and I could prepare and plan for it. If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail.

[Christman]

Macros for today:
Protein - 271g
Carbs - 246g

The carbs will be coming down another 100g over the week followed by a loading day. I'll be sure to post my full meal plan soon as well.

WHEELS TOMORROW!

[Christman]

Hit legs hard last night and did 45 mins on the treadmill this morning helped work out some soreness. Diet was 100% on track yesterday and I am done in the gym for the day. Just need to get all meals in and do a little cooking to get me through the rest of the week.

Tuesday's macros:
Protein - 266g
Carbs - 200g
Fats - 70g

Slowly bringing down the carbs, should be at 150g all next week.

[Christman]

The first week was good, down 6 lbs to 190. I'm not overly hungry by the time for my next meal but I am always ready to eat. I've done very well preping all of my meals ahead of time and that has been what has kept me on track the most.

My typical day of macros/meals for the first week:

Protein - 266g
Carbs - 200g (I want to bring this down to 150g this week and do a 200g spike on Wednesdays starting the 25th)
Fats - 70g

Meal 1
6 whole eggs
1 cup oats

Meal 2
6 oz. chicken breast
1/3 cup brown rice

Meal 3
6 oz. chicken breast
1/3 cup brown rice

Meal 4
6 oz. chicken breast
5 oz. sour kraut or romaine lettuce or brocolli

Pre and Post WO
Rage
40 g protien shake

Meal 5
6 oz. chicken breast
5 oz. sour kraut or romaine lettuce or brocolli

Liquids:
1.5 gal water
black coffee

Also supplementing with:
Pak
creatine + BCAA's
digestive enzymes
fish oil
fenugreek
green tea extract

Also plan to start a cycle of Cuts either next week or the following week.

[Christman]

I'm still on track and sticking to my meal plan and workouts/cardio; down 8lbs overall so far. Not bad for 11 days in, it should even out to about 1-3lbs/week now that the shock to the system is out of the way.

I have a cheat meal scheduled for this Saturday night which I am both looking forward to and kind of dreading at the same time. I'm looking forward to it because we are going out for my buddy's birthday and it is always a good time; I'm dreading it becuase there will be temptations to drink. In order to remove that temptation I have volunteered to be the DD so my wife, my buddy, and his wife can get as crazy as they want. Up until now I'd always come up with some lame excuse not to DD or just not care and get hammered but my goals now go further than just having a night out, getting thrashed, and wasting lots of cash on over-priced cheap beer. I'm past that now. One cheat meal (nothing crazy, probably a big burger or something) and then back on the plan.

[Christman]

Have not had much time to update lately but it is still going well, hopefully can put a full update tomorrow. Real quick update... stuck to my plan Saturday night while we were out, my cheat meal was Shepard's Pie, not the best one I have ever had but it was nice to eat something for enjoyment. I also cut out of the bar to have a meal in the car. Bars are boring as shit when you're the sober one, at least I was able to watch some OSU hoops while my friends were getting shit-faced.

[Christman]

I have been sticking to the meal plan to very last detail. The biggest thing that has gotten me this far without getting off track is that I prep all my meals the night before, all meals except my Pre/PWO and dinner. I make those two feedings right before I head to the gym and dinner while I get the meals ready for the following day. This is day 16 of the journey and I'm down to 188lbs this morning, started at 196lbs.

For the first two weeks, I have been following Rage's workouts for the sets and reps. Yesterday I want back to the solo-HRT reps (2 x 8+6) and will be continuing this for at least the next ten weeks. I was doing solo-HRT in Nov and Dec so I wanted to change it up for a couple of weeks at the start just so I was not doing solo-HRT for a straight 5-6 months. I love the pump from the HRT training!

I've been really good with cardio, 45 mins a day except Tuesdays, no cardio on leg day. Some days I do all 45 in the am, which is right after taking my morning supplements and eating 6 eggs. Some days I split it up to 25 mins in the morning and 20 in the evening. Sundays are another exception... I now have soccer sometime after 4pm on Sundays. If we have a game before 6pm, I'll get in at last 20 mins of cardio in the AM otherwise I will consider soccer as my cardio, it's a real ass-kicker.

Today I cycled my carbs down to 100g for the day, will be carb-loading tomorrow with about 450g (oats in the am, brown rice up until mid-afternoon). Not feeling too bad today so far, we'll see how I feel in the gym during legs.