Bushido: Living honorably physically, mentally, spiritually

S

samurai1331

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I suppose I can start off with my current stats...

Age: 26
Sex: Male
Ht: 5'7"
Wt: 179 (I use the google 15 to get weighted averages)

I've always had a decent general level of fitness, but my weight nearly skyrocketed when I got out of the military (was a Seabee). So now almost two years later I'm going to get back to the fitness level I had.

Current goal:
Maintain muscle mass (if not improve) while cutting down to about 160

Current workout regimen:
----------------------------
M - W - F: Full Body Workout
----------------------------
3 sets barbell squats
3 sets pull-ups
3 sets bench presses
3 sets barbell military presses
3 sets horizontal row (lying if available, seated if need be)
3 sets rotator cuff exercise (the exercise alternates)

----------------------------
T - TH - SA: Core and Cardio
----------------------------
4 sets decline crunches
4 sets back extensions
20-25 minutes endurance run/HIIT

----------------------
SU: Complete rest day
----------------------

Current diet:

Using various calculators, I've figured my maintenance calorie level to be approximately 2600. I've only be eating about 1800, and as long as things seem to keep going well I'll probably stay with that. I know it's better generally to only use about a 500 deficit, but hey, can't argue with results yet and I find it's hard to reach up to 2000+ without indulging what got me heavier in the first place (soda, alcohol, sweets, etc.) So I'll sacrifice the slightly higher burning metabolism to maintain a clean diet and see how things go. I started this process about 2 1/2 weeks ago at 183ish (I'd been running for months though, just no weights), and I'm now down about 4 pounds.

I've read up on most of the sticky's here and other places on the nutrition side of things, I was already pretty familiar with typical workout methodologies. Anyways, feel free to post any comments.
 
I love the title of your journal. It flat rocks!!!!!!!!! :)

You're calorie requirements are close kin to my own (we are the same hgt, but I weigh about 18 pounds less). So I can relate to your calorie approximations, which seem very accurate.

I wish you the best with your journal and success with your fitness goals.


Best wishes


Chillen
 
Good workout today, lowered my weight on most exercises a bit to focus on proper form. I think my form must have been rusty, because I really aggravated my right rotator cuff last Friday and it's been popping ever since (quite annoying). So as aforementioned, I've lowered the weight, and used very strict form. I don't feel as if I worked out quite as well, I was doing supersets with 4 sets on each exercise but now I'm doing 3 sets for each exercise, non supersetting to ensure proper technique. I know I probably got as vigorous a muscular workout, just not the cardiovascular effects.... we'll see.

Wednesdays are my weight check/waist measurement check day.. so I'll start noting that here. Decent loss since last week, so no complaints here. My waist measurements are done at the belly button level, not real sure if this is the right place to do that or not? I doubt it really matters as long as I'm measuring the same spot everytime:

Progress Tracking (weights are using Google 15 averages)
7/30/2008 Wt: 183.7 Waist: 41.00"
8/06/2008 Wt: 180.7 Waist: 40.25"
8/13/2008 Wt: 179 Waist: 40.00"
 
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welcome to the forum.

Keep working and people will pitch in as you go along. Lots of peeps come and go. As you stay and log daily, you will gain attention.

Sweat Daily
FF
 
Thanks flyinfree, I like your motto of "Sweat daily". I'm working on trying to spread my meals out more during the day. I usually have breakfast about 6:30, then lunch at 11:00, then dinner about 5:30. There's way too much time in there, inducing hunger, cravings, and general feeling of "starvation" for the body I'm certain, which will lead to more fat storage. Today my plan is (which I've accomplished so far), is to have the following breakdown:

0630 Breakfast
1030 Lunch 1
1300 Lunch 2
1730 Dinner

This is only splitting up my lunch session for now, but I believe in making smaller changes spread over time rather than radical up front changes if possible. I believe smaller changes lead to a greater overall success rate, as they're less "shocking" to the body and mind and easier to maintain.

After a week or several of this, then I'll probably spread out my breakfast a bit. Dinner is pretty much a given as it is right now, as I like to have a sit down dinner in a family fashion with my fiancee and my daughter. That doesn't mean I couldn't eat a smaller dinner, and throw another "meal" in there somewhere. We'll see.... gradual changes.
 
Sounds like you've an excellent plan as well as a great way of approaching it. And of course, kudos on your log title.
 
Woke up at usual gym time, 4:45 AM, and my body ached. Right shoulder is really touchy, particularly in the rotator cuff area (though not as bad as it was after last weights day). I think this is remnants of bad form from before, so instead of doing cardio/core today I just soaked in the hot tub at the gym for a half hour. I'm going to take an extra rest day from both weights/cardio and let my body truly heal itself.

So tomorrow will be a cardio day, and then saturday/sunday will just be rest days (probably throw in some pool swimming and walking though)... and then Monday back to the grind. I hate taking days off because I'm such a schedule freak... I hate skipping workouts. But when the body is hurting, and not sore, I mean hurting... then you have to listen or you could knock yourself out of the game for a while. So I'll heed the warnings with the understanding that on Monday... we're going back hardcore and with renewed vigor! No days off on the diet though... that remains strict.
 
Sounds like a good plan, Samurai--love your log title. It is best to preserve your future ability to work out and skip a session than to miss several weeks cuz you do somethin' stupid!!
 
I don't know what the deal is with my shoulders, they just pop when I roll my arm around and lift my arm above horizontal. No real pain when I do that I guess, just tightness from working out I think, so I'm hoping it's just weak rotator cuffs and not torn? Anyone else have that before?
 
My left shoulder pops when I do lat raises, I have no idea why but it doesn't hurt and has the same range of motion as my other shoulder. I put on weight after the military. I was 185 at my leanest while in the Second Infantry, but realistically I was best at around 200. When I started this journey towards health in April I was 325 lbs. My trouble is I hide weight well and I while I knew I was a fatty I didnt know how bad it was. As of this morn I am 281 so I am making headway. You seem to be confident in what you need to do to meet your own goals and I wish you all the luck to couple with your drive.
 
Felt guilty and lazy...

So went to the gym and did my daily cardio workout. I realized that even though my shoulder was bothering me, that shouldn't necessarily affect my core/cardio day. So after work I went to the gym and did my workout for the day. It felt good to get the workout done, and my shoulder seems to be loosening a tad. It still pops, but there isn't any real pain, just an uncomfortable feeling. We'll see how the weights go tomorrow, I'm going to try and hope it doesn't bother me too much...

Workout
Deep Decline Crunches (~75 degree decline)
1x10, 3x15

Back Extensions
3x10, 1x9

5:00 warmup walk on treadmill & stretched

Treadmill HIIT
(I do 90 sec. at 5mph, then 45 sec. at 9 mph. Since it takes about 15 seconds for the speeds to change I think it roughly works out to a 60s / 30s split. This is done on a 2% incline)
11:15 (5 sets) <-- This is very hard by the way

5mph jog for 1:15 then realized I was too tired to continue on treadmill

2:30 cooldown on elliptical & stretched
 
Definitely the military presses...

... that are bothering my rotator cuffs. I moved very slowly on the exercise, and my shoulders popped right after my arms moved below a 90 degree angle. Doesn't hurt, but definitely annoying. Today was the first day I did Deadlifts in my workout, decided to add them since they seem to be a staple in a solid strength routine. So... right now my shoulders aren't hurting, I tried to stretch them really good before and after the workout. Hopefully the pain isn't just delayed... Here's my daily workout entry. I feel like the weights are low, but since I'm trying to improve my form I guess it's ok. I just can't wait to be stronger! This is the order I've been doing my workout also, does it seem to be about right?

Barbell Squats
10x75, 10x80, 8x85

Deadlifts
8x75, 8x80, 8x80

Assisted Pull-Ups
8x80, 8x80, 8x80 (80 lbs. assistance that is)

Lying Row
10x25, 8x30, 8x35

Barbell Bench Press
8x135, 8x135, 8x135

Dumbbell Military Presses (Went lighter than usual due to shoulder popping)
8x25s, 10x25s, 10x25s

Cuban Rotators w/ EZ Bar (to strengthen vertical rotator cuff rotation)
10x20, 10x30, 10x30
 
Just got back from a nice 2.2 mile run... there's a lake right down my street and I ran around it. That's been something I wish I'd been able to do since I got out of the military. We used to regularly run 3-5 miles in formation a couple times a week, but ever since I got out I've been so off and on with fitness that I never even ran more than 2 miles straight. Surpisingly though... today's run went extremely well. 2.2 miles no problem.

So... exercise entry:

2.2 mile outdoor run
20:08:03 in MM:SS:mm

My shoulder is still bothering me, clicking and popping when my arm gets to shoulder length. I figure I'll cut out the military presses for a week, and see if it goes away. If so, then I know that's the only exercise causing the problem. I found three exercises for rotator cuffs to strengthen all three small muscles comprising that area. So if after a week the shoulder isn't bothering me any longer, I'll keep doing my regular workout minus the military presses, and substitute in those three exercises to strengthen the rotator cuff for about 6 weeks and see if that solves the problem.

If it doesn't fix the problem, I'll have to go see a doctor... but I'd probably postpone that until I'm down to about 155 and just not do military presses to aggravate the area. As long as I don't aggravate it... and it doesn't hinder any other exercises... I see no problem in waiting to get it treated as it's highly unlikely to get any worse. We'll see though, if it feels like it does a week from now without doing military presses, definitely going to hinder any weight lifting progress....
 
No shoulder pain yet....

... a little tightness, but leaving out the military presses so far seems to have helped. Here's how today's workout went:

Barbell Squats
10x95, 8x105, 7x115

Deadlifts
8x85, 8x85, 8x85

Assisted Pull-Ups
10x80, 8x70, 5x90

T-Bar Row
8x35, 8x40, 8x45

Bench Press
8x135, 8x135, 8x135

Hopefully the shoulder pain will stay away today... we'll see.
 
Core/Cardio day

Had a lot of shin pain this morning during cardio, I'm assuming that's from playing some basketball last night... Might have to substitute elliptical for the treadmill on Thursday, but we'll see. Shoulder seems to be less touchy, but still a tad sore.... Workout:

Back Extensions
bodyweight x 10, 9, 10, 10

Deep Decline Crunches
bodyweight x 20, 15, 15, 13

5 min. warm up on treadmill & stretches
HIIT 90/45, 2% incline, broken into: 5.0/9.0 mph for 9:00
3.0/9.0 mph for 3:30
5 min. cooldown & stretches
 
Wednesday Weights....

Deadlifts & Squats
Skipped, my legs were too sore after Monday, and then doing running yesterday. I think I'm going to not do both of these in the same workout anymore. I'm going to split these up as in
Week A: M - Squats, W- Deadlifts, F - Squats
Week B: M - Deadlifts, W - Squats, F - Deadlifts
and keep alternating weeks... does that seem right?

Assisted Pull-Ups
10x80, 6x70, 5x60

T-Bar Row
8x45, 6x50, 6x55

Bench Press
8x135, 6x140, 6x145

And then I did my first day of the rotator cuff strengthening exercises. Some of these weights were strange, as I'm still figuring out proper form and figuring out how much weight is appropriate. If anyone else is having rotator cuff issues, here is the link where I got this program from:
TESTOSTERONE NATION - Cracking the Rotator Cuff Conundrum

Barbell Cuban Press (used EZ bar instead)
6x40, 8x40, 8x40

L-Lateral Raise
12x10

Side Lying D-Bell Abduction to 45 degrees
10x10, 10x10

Low Pulley External Rotation
10x20, 10x25
 
Weekly Progress

Progress Tracking (weights are using Google 15 averages)
7/30/2008 Wt: 183.7 Waist: 41"
8/06/2008 Wt: 180.7 Waist: 40 1/4"
8/13/2008 Wt: 179.0 Waist: 40"
8/20/2008 Wt: 177.5 Waist: 39 3/4"
 
Devine, yea it's cool to see the waist change. That's at least the roundest part of my belly (right above the belly button), which is where they tape people in the Navy for bodyfat. I'm sure I should switch it to taping multiple areas of my body, but for now I'm going with that. As long as that keeps moving I'm content with the weight slowing down... And now, for today's workout! I intended to do HIIT today, but I had some killer shin splints from the other day so I decided to do some standard cardio instead. Plus, I don't want my endurance running (what little I have) to slack off:

Back Extensions
bwx10, bwx10, (bw + 10lbs)x8, (bw + 10lbs)x8

Deep Decline Crunches
bwx15, bwx15, (bw + 10lbs)x10, (bw + 10lbs)x12

5 min. warm up walk@3.0mph, 2% incline
Stretches
2 mile run, 2% incline, 20:05 <- Nearly 2 minutes off of last 2 mile on 8/5 so that's cool
5 min. cool down walk@3.0mph, 2% incline
Stretches
 
I remember in the Army I was taped at EVERY PT test. My bodyfat was always in the acceptable range. I weighed 200ish and that fall high on the chart. It was so annoying. I actually did drop down to 185 for one test and everyone said I looked to thin. The crazy part was I was still to heavy according to the chart .... that was the one time they didnt bother to tape me though as it was obvious I wasnt going to bust the tape test.
 
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