Yesterday was my final workout on Mass Made Simple.  Sometimes I feel like I’m too hard on myself…I didn’t get to 50 reps with #205 but I did get to 30 and finished with 20.  Three weeks ago my first try at 50 reps at #205 ended up with 17, 15, 13, and 5.  So my 2nd set was better than my first set Dec 30 vs Dec 10.  And I completed it in half the number of sets.  Overall, not bad. 

I also set a PR in bench press with a relatively easy single at #265 with very solid form.  The spotter felt like I could have gone for another one but I was happy with the PR and I knew I still needed to finish my squats. 

It feels good to finish all this up before the New Year.  I’m also a little proud of the fact that while I may not have completed all the workouts as written, I managed to complete the 6 week program thru the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays with 3 business trips in there.  That’s not too shabby. 

Overall I started the Velocity diet @ #213.1 and got down to #194.7 and then went up to 206.5 as of this morning(I’ve got the digits in there because I’ve been weighing myself using kilos but I know most people reading this will relate to pounds)  while being stronger at least in the bench and squat before I started.  I know my quads and hamstrings feel bigger.  I’m going to do another dexa scan and hopefully I’ll have at least maintained my body fat percentage.  We’ll see. 

Things I learned

1) Protein and fish oil at night before bed time can work wonders with your recovery.  I have completed workouts that have wrecked me.  A shake with fish oil and protein powder helps me not feel wrecked the day after.  Not part of the program but helpful with recovery is magnesium oil. 

2) Peanut butter & jelly sandwiches contain a ton of calories and are very easy to eat (at least for me).  I went thru about 3 jars of peanut butter, 7-8 jars of jelly (strawberry), and countless loaves of bread.  I feel like if I need to diet back down and lean out a little bit all I need to do is cut out peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, replace with some fruit or some such and that’s like a 1500 calorie deficit right there. 

3) I seem to work out better with a two day a week program with an option to go to 3-4 rather than start with a 3-4 day workout and do 2.  Even though I may end up doing the same thing, psychologically I seem to feel better about planning for two and adding an extra workout when my schedule permits. 

4) I seem to have a 4 week attention span in terms of blocks with week 5 the hardest but week 6 gets better mentally because it is the last week. 

5) High rep squats and complexes can really boost your metabolism.  I measured my heart rate in order to get an idea on how many calories I burned during a session and it measured in at 1000 calories for a session lasting about 80 min.  Which sounds like a lot but that’s like 4 pb&j sandwiches. 

Physical Goals for 2013

Squat – 450

Deadlift 540

Bench – 315

MP – 225

Weigh in at 181 (vs. 206 as of Dec 31)

Behaviors to focus on in order – make my own breakfast.  Do short walk each day, preferably with weight vest but any walk is ok.  Use 531 to progress up on 2 day template.  Add a weekend conditioning session with football teammates. 

Happy New Year everyone!

I’m still progressing on my program.  Just completed training day 9 yesterday of Mass Made Simple.

I’ve been looking online for logs and I notice that quite a few people start on it but then you don’t hear from them again… or make tweaks to it and then it becomes some other program. 

The program is simple.  Just follow it.  It’s only six weeks.  I was doing this program just before Thanksgiving and it will run thru Christmas and I will complete it just before the New Years.  I am not athletic or genetically gifted.  In fact, I’m sort of lazy.  Part of me thinks that a bunch of people on my dragon boat team did the marathon after I finished it because if someone like me can finish a marathon, hey… so can they. 

Here’s something to consider… you’re doing a massive amount of full body work throughout each workout.  The bench press is a full body exercise if you’re doing it correctly.  You need to keep your whole body tight as you bench.  The one arm press is a full body exercise.  Your whole body needs to lock down tight in order to press.  The complexes hit the whole body. Nuff said.  The squat are a full body exercise.  Yea, maybe your ears aren’t getting pumped but that’s up for discussion after you do a set of 50.  If you are doing all of these exercises then there’s no need to tweak.  And if you’re going to tweak it… do it after you do the program as written.  Then tweak all you want. 

However, what I think you may find is that it is so challenging near the end of the program that all you should think about it completing it as written instead of wasting any time on thinking of ways to make it better.  For example I felt pretty messed up after training day 4 when I had to do 3 sets of 115 for 30 reps each.  That would seem like a day off to me now.  I would LOVE to do that workout now.  Which is another thing to think about… Coach Dan John designed it in such a way that it is tough but doable from workout to workout.  Training day 8 called for as many sets as it took to get to 50 reps but max out on each set.  I.e. don’t do 10 sets of 5.  The first set I did 17 @ 205# then a set of 15, 13 and 5 to get to a total of 50.  My legs were not happy campers.  Training day 9 called for as many reps on the last set up to 20.  I really wanted to do 20 and I felt like I could because I did 17 on Monday.  An extra 3 reps… do-able.  Much of this is a mental grind but it’s also mentally enabling.  I’ve done it before and I can do just a little more.  That’s a pretty valuable lesson you can take and apply it to anything!

Just 6 more training days and 2.5 weeks to go. 

Woke up late today due to sleeping late (sort of). 

2 scoops of rice protein with half a teaspoon of cinnamon. 

50 grams of ground beef, 150 grams of veggies (onions, snap peas, bell peppers) 3 eggs. 

Now I know why people make you include veggies in your meals… they fill you up, they’re good for you, and they’re not high in calories.  100 grams of ground beef is 221 calories, 100 grams of broccoli is like 9 calories.  I also found out yesterday that the muffin I ate for breakfast every morning was about 400 calories.  Ouch. 

Tues – Woke up at 6ish, got 30 min of walking in with the 40lb vest.  Feel less sore today.  Two scoops rice protein.

Breakfast – 3 steamed eggs, ground beef, mozzarella, brussel sprouts

4 flameout, 3 vitamin d, 3 liver cleansing

Beef stew for lunch

3 pb&j sandwiches overall.

Two chicken burgers, just the patties.

Two scoops of metabolic drive with two teaspoons of fish oil. 

Wed – 2 scoops of rice protein/half teaspoon of cinnamon. 

100 grams of ground beef, 100 grams of broccoli.  3 eggs, some cheese.  How do I know it’s 100 grams?  Cuz I finally broke out the scale that we got from the supermarket for buying over a certain amount… which I got just before Chinese New Year.  Combine that with www.livestrong.com/myplate and I’m really starting to see how many calories I’m pounding down (it’s a decent amount but not over the top)  Now… I don’t want to get crazy with it but when I go back to losing weight after New Years this will be helpful. 

4 flameout, 3 vitamin d, 3 liver cleansing. 

Lunch – 7 dumplings

Snacks – 3 pb&j sandwiches

Dinner – one chicken patty

2 scoops surge recovery

2 scoops metabolic drive with 2 teapsoons of fish oil. 

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The high rep squats are definitely picking up steam. Last night’s session was a challenge.  Part of me wants to get the set over with as quickly as possible which is what I did on the first set and I was gassed but I slowed down on the 2nd and 3rd sets, took in a big breath on the descent and exhaled on the way up.  Seemed to give me more stability and my heart wasn’t racing out of control (tho it was still racing).  Still not getting enough rest…. last night we woke up in the middle of the night to kill a mosquito.  Had to stalk that bugger from 2am-3am until it buzzed around my ear and I killed it.  I hate mosquitoes. 

Monday Nov 26 – got up at 6.  Putzed around FB (need to stop that) but took 30 min walk with 40lb weight vest.

Breakfast – two eggs, some cucumber & mushrooms.  4 flameout, 3 vitamin D, 3 liver cleansing.

Cobb salad from blue frog with extra chicken and avocado.

Two pb&j sandwiches for the day.

4-6 slices of pomelo. 

2 liters red tea.

Overate at Mr. Willis.  Need to tone that down a bit.  A few slices of bread with butter, serving of arugula, foie gras, two pcs of smoke salmon, one chicken breast, 3 slices of pizza. 

Two scoops of protein.  3 zma.  

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Thoughts – doing a decent job so far.  Can probably get a bit more consistent on weeekends and definitely need to tweak my sleep “hygiene”.  Need to stick with eyemask and stop playing pocket planes.

Last night’s football game was pretty solid in terms of conditioning.  I’m not sure if it was carrying less weight (15 lbs lighter), the high rep squats and complexes, or the walking with the weight vest.  Probably the weight… I haven’t done enough of the other two to really make that big of a difference.  It was also very cool so I didn’t lose too much via sweating.  However a lot of my teammates were cramping which tells me they were either a bit out of shape and/or didn’t drink enough water with sodium.  Maybe I need to bring some of that to practices and games for teammates. 

Rest day on Friday – steamed eggs with peppers, mushrooms and ground beef. 

Lunch at roku – sushi X 6pcs and the rest of the lunch set.

Dinner at shintori

3 pb&j sandwiches for the day.

Recharge day – tried to make breakfast tortillas but they stuck together and I couldn’t get them separated.  Fail.  Had mushrooms, ground beef, peppers, eggs and some cheese instead. 

Two pb&j sandwiches.

One bottle of surge before/during the game.

Lost the game but felt good overall in terms of strength and stamina.  Might need to get better conditioned and play two ways.  Our defense needs to shored up.

Went to John and Dinah’s home, two large slices of turkey, some rice, mashed potatoes, one slice of pumpkin pie, slice of pound cake and probably a dozen grapes.

Workout 3

3 eggs with mushrooms, spinach, peppers, ground beef omelette courtesy of the wifey.

Lunch – 5 pcs of salmon with arugula, 6 pcs of sushi.  Tea.

One pb&j sandwich

Workout – was definitely not recovered from Saturday so had to dial the weight down on BP.  Focused on keeping my elbows in. 

2-3-5 @175#, then 155#, 155#.  Bat wings with 25#.

One arm press with 45#, 45#, 45#.  The 3rd set was actually easier than the 2nd. Focused on anchoring and keeping the left shoulder back.

Complex @ 95#, 95# at 5 reps each.  Did 2 Military press on the first set instead of 5. Switched to push press on the second set.  Definitely a bit wobbly there.

Back sqauts 95# X 30.  Told myself that it was easy on Monday… just get this one set done and worry about the 2nd one later.

Back squats 115 X 30.  Felt good.  I thought I might need to split this up into 2 sets but I did it all in one shot.  Focused on filling my belly with air by inhaling before dropping down.  Exhaling on the way up.

Drank two bottles of surge during.

Dinner at Franck – 3 pcs of bread with butter, mozzarella with 6 cherry tomatoes, 4 scallops. 

Sleep overall was eh… went to bed before 10 but woke up at 1.  Slept most of the night thru. 

Started the day off well with two scoops of vanilla rice protein and 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon.  Used some leftover veggies, ground beef and eggs to steam up what I’m calling a Chinese fritata.

Pb&j sandwich.  4 flameout, 3 vitamin d, 3 liver cleansing. 

Today’s thanksgiving!  Need to earn that thanksgiving stuffing at the gym. 

2-3-5 bench press with 175#/175#.  Bat Wings.  10 X 5 sec holds.

45# one arm presses X 2 sets.  Left arm gave out on the 2nd set so only did 4 reps. 

Complexes 65#, 85#, 95#, 95#, 95# X 3 reps each. 

Did bird dogs to “cool down” before the squats. 

95# X 30, 95# X 30. Wiped but felt good.  Finished two bottles of surge.  Went home had a pb&j sandwich.  Went to church to meet up with some friends and had some turkey, a bit of stuffing, brussel sprouts, and a bit of pie.  Drank a starbucks iced lemon tea. 

Misread the workout journal in the book and did 7 sets of 5 instead of 5.  Ended at 5 reps at 175 for do-able reps.  Feel like I lost some bench strength but I’m not going to sweat it.

Bat wings with 25#.  One arm press with 45#.  Complexes with 65#, 85#, 95#.  30 back squats with 95#.  Surprisingly “easy”…. maybe it’s all the weighted vest walking I’ve been doing.  Then I took a look at workouts #5 and that was the end of the “fun”. 

Yes to more protein, fish oil and fiber.  Healthy solid meals.  More fruit.  3 Pb&j sandwiches.  If I get too hungry then I’ll adjust.  Morning shake with cinnamon.  Night time shake with multi and fish oil. 

Day 2 – rest and prep.  chopped up some veggies for salad.  Nutritionally was just ok.  Got some veggies and meat in but not entirely. 

Day 3 – recharge.  Didn’t really work out at all… did some foam rolling.  Still not getting solid sleep so need to change up some thing there. Got all the protein, pb&j, fiber and fish oil in though.  Got the flameout, vitamin d, and liver cleansing in the morning.  4 multivitamins at night with the fish oil.  Realized that my previous bottle was spoiled… I thought it was new but apparently it had been opened before.  No longer having stomach issues with this new bottle.  Keep plugging.  

I started my mass made simple phase on Monday.  Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches… yummmm. 

Results of my vdiet and transition – lost 8.4kg/18.5lbs in a little less than 6 weeks.  I’m sure there was some water weight in there but I also clipped 15 inches off my body measurements.  Still a long way to go though.  I did a Dexa scan in HK last week and confirmed what the mirror still shows, improvement but still chubby.  29.6% body fat.  I’m guessing I was about 38% body fat right before I started. Damn Gina! 

On a more positive note, the physiologist who did the scan told me I have strong bones. haha.  Very likely due to the powerlifting I have been doing.

I wasn’t 100% strict with vdiet with all the travel and stuff but I did learn that a slip in the diet didn’t have to become a full blown tumble and avalanche of eating.  However, I will also say that I did it before so I knew what was ok and what wasn’t.  I also think that if a person really want to lose body fat fast they should take a look at Lyle McDonald’s books, specifically Rapid Fat Loss.  I would probably follow that next time in liue of the vdiet.  I just picked the velocity diet because I’m familiar with it. 

Measurements -

Woke up late at 655 when I thought I was woke up “early” before the alarm went off…. annoying ipad alarm is linked to my volume which was muted so didn’t go off properly.  Prepped breakfast. 

Breakfast – Two eggs fried using coconut oil, serving of chili.  Made this last night and it is a huge amount of veggies. 

Scale was up about half a kilo but can’t sweat it.  Finish the program, finish the program, finish the program. 

I’m shoot for visible abs which is approx 10-12% body fat by end of next year while also hitting some of my strength goals.  Big words since it’s never happened in my life even at my “thinnest” which was 170ish in college.  People who know me should know that I’m not trying to brag about what may happen.  I’m simply putting something out there and letting the weight of expectations propel me to my goal. 

Lunch – two scoops protein, 4 flameout, 3 vitamin d, 3 liver cleansing.  I also ordered a bottle for my cousin.  2 fiber tablet.

Dinner – I can’t remember… at all.  haha  Some sort of solid food probably… I know I skipped my night shake just to see how I feel without it.