The Interrogation Room

New Year, New Log.

I had been keeping a log over in the Indigo Project section for a while, but decided it was time to relocate.

At some point, somebody commented that my basement looks like an interrogation room (pics to come, you’ll see). I thought it was fitting, so that’s the name I went with for this log.

A little background: I’m 38, I’ve been lifting on-and-off for about fifteen years. Last summer through spring of 2012, I put together a nice stretch of consistent training and ended up getting bigger and leaner than ever. Then I took the summer off to feed my addictions to tennis, golf, and beer. I started lifting again around October of 2012 and have been kicking some serious ass since then.

I’ve never really had a huge passion for lifting or getting huge, but I do it because it has proven to be the most efficient and enjoyable way of maintaining my desired level of fitness.

On the other hand, I don’t really do anything halfway, so when I do get into a groove with my lifting, I tend to go balls-out. I’m always happiest when I’m fit, so over time I’ve tried to spend more time in the zone and less time out of it.

Lately, I’ve been getting these fleeting glimpses of pending disillusionment again. I don’t know if it’s boredom or what, but instead of sitting back and watching it happen I figured I’d try to get ahead of it and make some preemptive changes.

Moving my log is one of those changes. Another change is to unapologetically pursue my goal of getting even leaner than I am right now. I admit that I’ve often been overly susceptible to peer-pressure and group think, and it’s time I did a better job of “swimming my own race”, to borrow from another log title somewhere on this site.

I welcome visitors, encouragement, and interaction, so feel free to drop in anytime. I’ve spent some time going through a bunch of logs in this section already and I look forward to keeping up and contributing wherever I can.

Here’s a few shots to show my current condition.

That lower-back fat has pissed me off forever, so I’m finally saying “fuck it” and doing whatever it takes to get rid of it.

Current wake-up weight is 183. I’m about 5’11".

[photo]38065[/photo] [photo]38063[/photo]

Tuesday

No training - woke up feeling a bit run-down…I think I’ve been fighting off a cold, so I figured some rest was in order.

Intake - not a typical day, but here it was:

Cappucino with 1/4 cup 2% milk
4 eggs
1/2 tbsp butter
1 serving light sour cream
1 serving pistachios
1 serving fiber chews

6 oz fage fat-free yogurt
1 scoop Metabolic Drive Low Carb
1 serving pistachios
1 bag frozen steamable brussel sprouts
4 dried figs

8 ounces lean ground turkey with fat-free refried beans
1 cup microwave white rice

2 scoops Metabolic Drive Low Carb
1/2 cup milk

2140 calories
162g C
187g P
84g F

I use the Lose It! app to track everything.

Over the last month or so, I’ve been averaging 3100 calories. I’ve only very recently started dropping that to around 2800 while VERY gradually adding in a bit more total activity (via longer lifting sessions, cardio, and some tennis).

Macros are usually in the neighborhood of 45% carbs, 35% protein, and 20% fat.

I try to keep my sodium intake under 3,000 mg but it’s not always easy because I travel for work and end up eating lots of restaurant meals. Good meals at nice restaurants, but it’s still tough to keep the sodium low. I also try to keep lots of potassium in my diet through things like figs, raisins, avocados, pistachios, etc. (I have a history of benign PVC’s, and it seems that if I keep my sodium to potassium ratio in-check, those little bastards stay away)

Double Post.

I’ll replace it with a quick outline of how my training is organized.

I usually focus on one body part each day and try to lift 7 days per week. Work travel gets in the way, so I miss a day here and there.

I don’t do much direct leg work, as I have always had big legs and don’t really have a need for bigger legs. My legs get lots of low-intensity work through cardio and tennis. I do tend to throw in some sets of extensions, goblet squats, or leg press here and there. I also do a decent amount of DB snatches, usually between sets of other stuff.

I don’t count reps or sets these days, I just keep working a movement until I feel the mind-muscle connection or contraction quality diminish. Then I switch to another movement.

A typical week looks like this. AR is active rest…movement done between sets of the work for the main focus that day.

Monday - Upper back and traps with triceps AR
Tuesday - Chest with lats AR
Wednesday - Arms with abs AR
Thursday - Front delts with lats AR
Friday - Upper back and traps with triceps AR
Saturday - Lateral and rear delts with lats AR
Sunday - Chest with biceps AR

That’s just how it might play out. Sometimes, I start my session by testing out different body parts to feel where the best contractions are, and I go with that. So if front delts are feeling great, I’ll train them even if I trained them two days ago.

I have some bread-and-butter movements, but they’re not your typical compound movements. I tend to save the big movements for later in the session after I’ve pre-exhausted with isolation work.

Sometimes I’ll do dedicated cardio sessions, but that’s pretty rare. Usually I just throw in about 15 minutes of interval work on the stepper, where I’ll average something in the neighborhood of 130 BPM on my HR monitor, maxing out at 160 or 170. I listen to super cheesy dance music and step to the beat of the music. I don’t think anyone notices that there’s a dance party going on in my head. Or maybe they do. Anyway, I let the music dictate the intervals and I mess around with the resistance and my hand position as the songs go through their peaks and valleys. It works for me.

Wednesday AM - “Like a lapdance from a dirty stripper”

Woke up feeling run-down but better, so I decided to hit the gym.

Started with a plan to do a 10-minute warmup on the stepper.

But some good music (Pandora dance cardio radio) came on right at the end of the ten minutes. In fact, every time I was about to get off, a song would end and a better one would come on. That damn Pandora, she just kept on teasing me until the next thing I knew, I’d been on there for 30 minutes. Avg HR 120, Max 161. 280 calories. At least I’m not paying $30 a song!

Shoulders and Tris - 30 minutes

  1. 1-arm DB standing shoulder press 5x5 @ 50lbs
  2. Leaning-forward cable front-raises with low-cable tricep kickbacks AR - 5x15
  3. DB leaning-forward front raises 5x15 with DB kickbacks AR
  4. low cable external rotations 5x15

Avg HR for lifting - 120, max 140 (This is how I know I’m not 100% healthy…this number is way high)

Total calories over 60-minutes = 570

My target total calorie burn is 600 per day, which is an increase of about 150 over what I was doing prior to deciding to slash the lower back fat. Cutting about 300 with diet and burning an extra 150 each day.

Weight = 182.0, waist = 32" (that’s the lowest it’s been in forever.)

You’re already pretty fucking shredded bro. That lower back fat is all that is left, pretty jealous.

Anyways, good luck to you and your goals. You sound a lot like me, when it’s time to train, it’s an all out affair, when I fall of track it’s booze and fucking around and I get out of shape.

Anyways, I too feel so much better physically and mentally when in shape and I’m hoping I just never fall far off track again.

Not sure what “dance cardio” station on pandora plays, but I enjoy doing my cardio to the station “above and beyond,” good trance music.

I’ll be following this log.