Current Stats and Pics, M2 over!

Well, I lost track of days and overshot my deadline by a little bit, but to be honest, my physique hasn't changed all that much in the last couple weeks as I've stopped my "bulk" diet.

The final numbers for my Mission 2 are as follows:

Weight: 143.3 (+8.1 from 135.2) lbs

BF pinches:
Suprailiac: 10 (+0 from 10 mm)
Chest: 7 (+0 from 7 mm)
Abdomen: 14 (+0 from 14 mm)
Thigh: 11 (+0 from 11 mm)

Bodyfat %:
AccuMeausure 1 site (suprailiac): 11.6% (+0 from 11.6%
Jackson/Pollock 3 site (chest/ab/thigh): 9.13% (+0 from 9.13%)
Avg: 10.4%

Fat Mass: 14.9 (+0.8 from 14.1 lbs)
Lean Mass: 128.4 (+7.3 from 121.1 lbs)

Tape Measure (in.):
Neck: 13.75 (+0.5 from 13.25)
Chest: 35 (+1.25 from 33.75)
L Bicep: 13 (+0.5 from 12.5)
R Bicep: 13 (+0.5 from 12.5)
L forearm: 11 (+0.25 from 10.75)
R forearm: 11 (+0.25 from 10.75)
Waist: 28.5 (-0.25 from 28.75)
Hips: 30.5 (+0.5 from 30)
Butt: 35 (+0 from 35)
L thigh: 20.5 (+0.25 from 20.25)
R thigh: 20.5 (+0.5 from 20)
L calf: 13.5 (+0 from 13.5)
R calf: 13.5 (+0 from 13.5)

I was actually surprised that my bf pinches came out to be EXACTLY the same as when I started. So I managed to put on about 8 lbs while maintaining the same bodyfat levels, which amounts to a little over 7 lbs of lean mass gain. I added to my neck, biceps, forearms, hips and thighs, while somehow simultaneously dropping 0.25in on my waist. Of course, some of this could be measurement error, but the engineer in me tells me that the overall trend indicates increases, so there must be some validity in them.

I think that I have to declare my M2 an overall success in that I continually saw strength gains and managed to increase my lean mass while keeping my bodyfat down. Eating clean foods and avoiding sugary processed foods has become such an everyday habit now that I don't even have to think about it. It's now just my new way of life. It really doesn't seem that hard anymore. I know my body and it's nutritional needs. I guess being good with numbers has helped me in that I've gotten really good at eyeballing and ballparking my meals.

I don't know if I'll make an official M3 at this point as I'm still re-evaluating what I want to do with this blog. For all of you out there still chasing your goals, Shred on!

Get your game face on!

Cheers,
Raiden

M2 Final

Small Update

Hey folks, I've really let the blogging slack off, but that doesn't mean I've slacked off on shredding hard! I'm really loving following CrossFit and have worked my way up to the recommended 5-6 times per week. I've since stopped my "bulking" diet and levelled off on a sort of maintenance diet. Over the time that I was putting on weight, I "feel" like I've gotten leaner, especially since I started CrossFit. I'll get around to doing pictures and measurements tomorrow. I promise this time! Unfortunately, I think the pushups will have to wait. I tweaked my shoulder and it hasn't quite felt right for a while, and pushups seem to stress it the most.

Anyway, I think my plan over the next little while is to not be too strict on my intake levels, mostly just keeping starchy carb intake down and see what a steady diet of CrossFit does for my body. "Eat meat and vegetables, nuts and seeds, some fruit, little starch and NO sugar. Keep intake to levels that will support exercise but not body fat". To be honest, I'm confident that I'll be ripping out a six pack soon enough.

My real goal now is to just increase my performance in all the CrossFit workouts. Faster times, heavier weights, more reps, etc.

Since my last post, I've seen even more improvements. Most noteably, I managed to string 5 muscle ups together in a row and I also deadlifted 325 lbs fairly easily.

Another Goal Accomplished!

Ok, so this one was just outside of the window of my mission, but after I started looking more into CrossFit, one of the goals I made for myself was to be able to perform a "muscle up". This is almost a rite of passage in the CrossFit community. Well, last night, after my workout at the local affiliate, I was staring at the rings. Someone else was trying out muscle ups, so I thought I would give it a go.

I got set in the proper position, grabbed the rings, and violently pulled myself up and spread out the rings to my side. The next thing I knew, I was through the transition and pushing myself up to fully lockout the dip portion. I was shocked! I had just done my first muscle up! I stayed in that top position for a little while with a big goofy face.

A couple minutes later, just to make sure it wasn't a fluke, I tried it again and got another one!

If you don't know what a muscle up is, just check out this video:

Mission 2 Goals

Yesterday I did my strength testing, going for 1RM on my squat, press, and deadlift as a bookend to my Mission 2. I still have to test my pushups and I'll have to admit that I didn't really work my bench press as much over the mission. I viewed it as more of a supplemental exercise to help my overhead press, which is viewed as a more functional measure of pressing strength.

So these are a bit late, but my lifts were as follows:

Squat: 265 lbs (+40)
Overhead Press: 140 lbs (+25)
Deadlift: 315 lbs (+40)

So I didn't quite reach my goals for the Squat and Deadlift, but I did add 40 lbs to both of those lifts. I also exceeded my goal for the overhead press.

As for the rest of my goals, I know that I have easily added more than 5lbs of lean mass and I have managed to stay below 12.5% BF. In fact, my fat pinches have changed very little. I'll have exact measurements tomorrow along with my final "reveal" pics if I can find my camera. It's gone missing for the past little while since my gf and I got back from a trip.

As for the pushups, I want to test them on a day when I'm fresh, so I don't know when that will be, but sometime this week hopefully. So technically, I will have gone past the deadline on this challenge, but I haven't maxed out on them in a while, so I don't have all that great an idea of where I am.

Over the next few days I'll try and get back into posting a bit more about what I'm doing and some overall reflections on this mission, and what I plan on doing next.

Happy Easter

Hey folks. Just a quick post to say that I'm still around. I haven't fallen off the wagon, just haven't posted in a while. CrossFit is a whole different animal and has consumed my life. My strength goals and pushup goals have kind of taken a back seat to it. CrossFit will still have me working towards those goals, just at a slower rate since I'm working on my improving my overall fitness. This means working harder at what I'm not good at. From doing CrossFit so far, I found that my areas that I was working to improve before CrossFit are my strongest points, so there's other things that need catching up.

Tomorrow I should have a final body composition analysis as well as my final pics. I guess you could say my lack of photos in the past few weeks is going to be more like a "big reveal". I'm also going to do a CrossFit Total tomorrow and get numbers for my squat, press, and deadlift. I know I won't be able to hit the numbers I set as goals back in January, but I have definitely improved.

Day 170 - Committed to CrossFit

Well, today, I signed off on the cheques that'll have me going to my local CrossFit affiliate 2x/week. The rest of the time will be spent at my University gym. It'll be nice to have that bit of coaching, as well as a facility that is specifically geared to being able to do the crazy workouts.

Here's today's workout (it's a CrossFit.com rest day, but not a rest day for me!)
CFWUx3

5RM Back Squat:
45, 95, 135, 165, 195

mini G.I. Jane (L'il G.I. Janie?):
for time
50 Burpee Pullups
6:16

Get your game face on!

Cheers,
Raiden

M2 Day 52

Day 169 - Caveman

The workout posted on CrossFit.com today was:
Five rounds for time of:
400 meter Run
50 Squats
30 Back extensions

The treadmill and back extension machine apparatus are in separate areas, so to save running back and forth, I substituted dumbbell swings. I also scaled it back since I'm just starting at this.

So I did:

CFWUx3

4 rounds for time:
25 db swings (30#)
25 squats
15 back extensions

10:04

Probably would have been faster, but a guy stopped me in the middle of my last set of squats to ask me if I was doing CrossFit. He must have noticed my crazy non-stop db swings and huge puddle of sweat developing on the floor. He said he knew some people on his rugby team that did it (he was wearing a University Rugby team shirt). He asked me how it was, what I thought of it, and how I was finding it. I could only come back with winded caveman answers.

".....yeah.....just starting.....good......hard.....crazy"

I had originally planned for 5 rounds, but my form was suffering really bad on the last set of db swings, so I figured it was time to stop. Not too bad for my first WOD with a bit of weight.

Splits were:

db swings: 25, 15/10, 15/10, 10/10/5
squats: 25, 20/5, 15/10, 15/10
back extensions: 15, 9/6, 10/5, 15

Get your game face on!

Cheers,
Raiden

M2 Day 51