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

Day 168 - Catch up

Yesterday I ended my current strength program and am switching to following the CrossFit WOD's. I figured the best way to end my strength program was to do the CFT!

Squat:
Warmup - 45x10, 135x6, 185x3, 205x2
-----
3 tries: 225, 255 (+30 PR), 265 (f)

Press:
Warmup - 45x8, 65x6, 95x3
-----
3 tries: 120, 130 (+15 PR), 135 (f)

Deadlift:
Warmup - 135x7, 185x3, 225x2
-----
3 tries: 295, 305 (+30 PR), 315 (f)

Total: 690

Notes: The 135 press was going up slowly, but it was so uneven and wonky that I just dumped it given it was so ugly looking. I think I could have gotten the 315 deadlift up if I took a few less warmup sets. The total amount of time I was taking was really long and I think I just gassed myself. I wanted those "3 wheels" so bad! Definitely topping 700 next time.

Today, well, the day I decide to come off a strength program and start following the WOD's, a strength workout is posted. Since I maxed on the press yesterday, I didn't think it was too wise to do a big workout of presses, push presses, and push jerks.

Thought I'd do a light day and work on my POSE running.

CFWUx3 (The modified CrossFit WarmUp is 10 reps each of Good Mornings, Overhead Squats, Pull-ups, Dips, Pushups, and Knees to Elbows)

7 min warmup run/walk
Tabata Treadmill Run 11.5, 11.5, 11.5, 11.5, 11, 11, 11.5, 11.5 (km/h @ 7 incline)
5 min cooldown run/walk

Had a bit of time to kill so I thought a couple push jerks @ 115 wouldn't hurt. Wasn't really feeling it, dropped down to 95, banged out a set of 5 and called it a day.

Here's this weeks stats:
M2 Week 7: 2008-02-18 to 2008-02-25
Weight: 140.29 (+0.62)
Suprailiac: 10 mm -> 11.6% (no change)
Jackson/Pollock chest/ab/thigh: 7/15/10 -> 9.13% (-0.31)
Avg BF: 10.4% (-0.1%)
Lean Mass: 125.70 (+0.70)
Fat Mass: 14.59 (-0.08)

Get your game face on!

Cheers,
Raiden

M2 Day 50

Day 164 - First time to CrossFit

Tonight I used up my freebie visit at my local CrossFit affiliate. A common saying among the CrossFit community is "Your workout is our warm-up". Well, I thought I had been doing reasonably well following the CrossFit warm-up on my own, but I had been leaving out the pull-ups and dips since I do weighted ones of those as part of my strength program. They also had us do ring dips which are waaaaay harder, chest to deck push-ups, and "knees to elbows" instead of crunches/sit-ups. That made a world of difference. I was already feeling it by the end of that. I only had enough courage to attempt a very scaled down version of the workout of the day that they did, and it was plenty.

I was planning on doing my CrossFit total (1RM testing of Squat, Press, Deadlift) again tomorrow, but I think after today's workout I'm going to have to push that to Saturday to give me proper rest. Today's workout was like a bonus workout anyway, so I don't feel bad about moving tomorrow's planned workout back. I just know I'm going to be sore tomorrow!

Anyway, I think the workouts are great and I want to jump right in. So I'm changing my plan and I'm going to start doing (scaled versions of) the CrossFit workouts starting next Monday.

Get your game face on!

Cheers,
Raiden

M2 Day 46

Day 163 - Pics

Quick post, just pics today.

Get your game face on!

Cheers,
Raiden

M2 Day 45

Day 161 - Oops

Well, it looks like I let the blogging slack off a bit. My workouts have stayed on schedule though, so I haven't missed out on any exercise yet, except for the last Wednesday weight session that was replaced with a CrossFit style workout.

My nutrition feels like its been a bit off, as Valentine's day added in an extra reward meal. My relaxed schedule on the weekend led to a few too many snacks. Healthy snacks, but a bit too much. I think my measurements show that I went a little bit past the gains that I was making before and ended up picking up a bit more fat. Overall though, I'm still satisfied with my progress, but I'm starting to feel like I might want to stop my bulk a little early. Oh, but a few more pounds of muscle won't hurt me :D

M2 Week 6: 2008-02-11 to 2008-02-18
Weight: 139.67 (+0.95)
Suprailiac: 10 mm -> 11.6% (no change)
Jackson/Pollock chest/ab/thigh: 7/15/11 -> 9.44% (+0.31)
Avg BF: 10.5% (+0.1%)
Lean Mass: 125.00 (+0.71)
Fat Mass: 14.67 (+0.24)

Get your game face on!

Cheers,
Raiden

M2 Day 43

Day 156 - 3/4 Tabata Something Else

University gym was closed due to the snow storm, so I had to miss my scheduled strength workout. Decided to do an abbreviated "Tabata Something Else" without pull-ups within the comforts of the living room since it requires no equipment as our first CrossFit styled workout. "Tabata" is a specific type of high intensity interval training using a strict 20s/10s work/rest scheme. Each exercise was completed for 8 rounds with no rest between exercises. The official CrossFit "Tabata Something Else" calls for 8 rounds of pull ups before the push ups.

Pushups 21/17/15/14/10/8/8/7 = 100
Situps 8/11/11/12/10/10/9/7 = 78
Squats 18/18/18/17/17/17/16/18 = 139
Total: 317

This works out to an incredible amount of work done in only 12 minutes. I ran out of gas on the pushups due to working them hard last night I think. The squats felt pretty good until the last 2 rounds. My quads were burning by the end and I collapsed on the floor. Had to force myself to get up off the floor to stretch them out and walk it off! I can't imagine adding 8 rounds of pull ups ahead of that workout.

Oh, I thought I would throw in a comparison pic to show how much snow came in the last 24 hours.



It just keeps piling on. It almost makes me want to go out and do a Rocky training montage running in the knee deep snow.



Get your game face on!

Cheers,
Raiden

M2 Day 38

Day 155 - Feeling Lazy

Feeling pretty lazy today. Don't feel so much like writing. But thought I would get today's pic up anyway. Today is an off day, but I might do my push-up training later on tonight rather than tomorrow morning.

Get your game face on!

Cheers,
Raiden

M2 Day 37

Day 154 - Numbers and Pushups

Went for the "all out, as many pushups as possible, with rest, but not breaking form in one set" count. I'll use this new counting scheme as my measuring stick from now on.



M2 Week 5: 2008-02-04 to 2008-02-11
Weight: 138.72 (+0.74)
Suprailiac: 10 mm -> 11.6% (no change)
Jackson/Pollock chest/ab/thigh: 7/14/11 -> 9.13% (no change)
Avg BF: 10.4% (no change)
Lean Mass: 124.29 (+0.66)
Fat Mass: 14.43 (+0.08)

Still slowly putting on muscle. Hasn't seemed to slow down yet. How much longer can I go?

Oh, and here's a pic (not my car) for Adam showing off the snowfall we got over the weekend. It wasn't as much as was expected though, but it's been blowing around a lot.



Get your game face on!

Cheers,
Raiden

M2 Day 36

Day 153 - Quiet Weekend

Well, I missed a few days of blogging, but I don't really have too much to report. Had a decent workout on Friday. Got my regular workout in and then did some "skill" work. I'm trying to get my "kipping" pull-up technique down as well as doing some other work towards developing a muscle-up. The rest of the weekend was quiet.

Today I did however buy myself a workout watch on eBay in preparation for CrossFit workouts. It's the Timex Ironman OVA, which is worn on the side of the wrist, not the top. In this position, it's easy to see the face at all times without having to turn your wrist over. Also in this position, you can avoid inadvertent button presses from a flexed wrist (important when doing certain barbell lifts). It's highly recommended among the CrossFit crowd because it has all the timing functions one needs. The best feature is you can set work/rest intervals on it to do a Tabatas (20/10 work/rest interval training) and has a counter for rounds (I tend to lose track of these things).

I'm also thinking of starting some trail running once the snow melts around here. That might be a while though, but I'm going to try again to build up my running. I haven't had much success in the past due to my back pain, but I've been researching some stuff on technique and am going to try to build up and develop the POSE method. I think this might be the answer for me. I've always done well running on grass in soccer cleats, but could never run on pavement with regular runners. I was probably more likely to heel strike on pavement than I was on grass in cleats. The POSE method is more or less concentrating on landing on the balls of your feet and pulling yourself through the stride rather than heel-striking and trying to push your feet forward. At least that's what I've got out of it so far. They say it can take a while to really build up your calf and feet muscles to handle it, but once you do, the impact on your knees and lower back is significantly reduced.

Get your game face on!

Cheers,
Raiden

M2 Day 35

Day 150 - Strong enough? Big enough?

I did a lot of thinking today, and wondered if my current mission goals/plan aren't quite moving me towards my ultimate goals in the best way possible. I might just dive right into CrossFit. My strength and muscle gains might slow down, but every other aspect of my fitness should increase. We are making lifestyle changes, and CrossFit is a lifestyle that just seems like the perfect fit for me. As I mentioned, boredom is starting to settle in on my current program, and CrossFit is a different workout everyday, so it's always fresh and new.

I'm contemplating doing 2 more weeks of Stronglifts Beginner 5x5 setting up for a max effort at the end. Then I'll jump into the CrossFit workout of the day.

I can still eat my way to muscle gain, but it might be slower with CrossFit, but it should definitely be lean the way those workouts tax your entire system!

Did pushups training tonight instead of tomorrow morning. Didn't want to put it too close to my regular workout tomorrow which I have to move forward to the afternoon since my girlfriend and I have plans for the evening. They felt good and I'm sure I can bang out a bunch now. I actually did some "youtube" pushup standard searching for what constitutes a set, and the consensus seems to be that you are allowed to rest and crank out more, as long as you don't break your plank form i.e. no resting on knees or bending of the body or you know, collapsing in a heap. If you count that way, my goal is to crank out 65 with a max effort on Sunday night.

Get your game face on!

Cheers,
Raiden

M2 Day 32

Day 149 - Foolin' Around

Today I switched out my regular back squats for some overhead squats with much lighter weight to give my legs some "active" rest and really to just work on the overhead squat as I slowly learn many of the other lifts that are used in CrossFit workouts. The overhead squat is a great exercise for increasing your stability and it also has skill transfer in that it will "clean up" your other squats. With the weight overhead, any glitch in your form is emphasized as your core has to try a lot harder to stabilize it.

Anyway, going lighter on the overhead squats got me through my regular workout quicker. My girlfriend wasn't quite done her workout, so it gave me some extra time to fool around with some other exercises from the CrossFit repotoire. I did a few one armed dumbbell snatches, and then some dumbbell swings. Then I tried a few dumbbell pushup rows. I don't know how to explain these well, but you take a set of dumbbells (hex) in your hands, set them on the ground, then do a push up. Then you pick up one of the dumbbells while in a plank position and then rotate your torso and raise the dumbbell up in the air. My girlfriend said I got a few funny looks when I was doing all of these! I think she thought I was going to hurt someone with my dumbbell swings.

Then I finished up with some "Durka Durka's", more commonly known as Turkish Get-ups.

I think boredom might be starting to settle in on my current strength training program as evidenced by my bipolar workout today. I almost want to just dive into the CrossFit workouts immediately but it kind of goes against my current muscle building and strength focus at the moment. CrossFit is definitely the better overall program as far as general fitness is concerned, and I know it's the program I want to follow in the end, but it might take longer for me to hit the muscle and strength goals that I set out if I were to start it tomorrow.

Get your game face on!

Cheers,
Raiden

M2 Day 31

Day 148 - Bring the Pain

Today I had a wicked case of the DOMS, especially in my legs. What did I do to give myself this world of hurt? Believe it or not, I lowered the weight on my squat in yesterday's workout, and still followed the same set-rep scheme.

So how did lifting 30lbs less weight than last week give me a greater stimulus?

Quite simple. I wasn't squatting deep enough.

As I increased my weight each session lately, I've been also slowly reducing my range of motion. I figured rather than cheat myself out of the whole movement, I'd lower the weight and really get an ATA (arse to ankle) squat.

I now have confidence that I can go that low without hurting myself. So from now on, I'm squatting deep into the pocket!

Get your game face on!

Cheers,
Raiden

M2 Day 30

Day 147 - Feeling the Push

4 weeks down. Sorry for the abscence over the weekend. The ideas I mentioned in my last post are going to have to wait again. Today I'm focusing on my progress again with my weekly stat update.

M2 Week 4: 2008-01-28 to 2008-02-04
Weight: 137.98 (+0.75)
Suprailiac: 10 mm -> 11.6% (no change)
Jackson/Pollock chest/ab/thigh: 7/14/11 -> 9.13% (-0.31%)
Avg BF: 10.4% (-0.12%)
Lean Mass: 123.63 (+0.84)
Fat Mass: 14.35 (-0.09)

So it seems as though my BF isn't really moving too much (actually went back down this week), and my weight is slowly creeping up. I wonder how long I can keep this up?

Anyway, I also tested my pushups today and thought I would up the accountability and put my progress up on YouTube instead of just the blogger video.



I decided that the proper way to count is the number of pushups that can be done continuously, without pausing. That would put my first effort at 47. Therefore, I've made little progress, but have not been doing any real formal pushup training since it seemed to interfere with my other training. In order to build up my endurance rather than strength, I'm going to have to train for it if I want to hit my goal. From now on, I'm committing to doing the formal 100pushups training first thing in the morning, since it really doesn't take long, and then gives me enough time over the rest of the day to rest up for my normal workout which I do in the evening.

Get your game face on!

Cheers,
Raiden

M2 Day 29

Day 144 - Gross!

Gross! Yup, that's a dozen dozen, 144. Post is late since last night was Friday night and my gf and I entertained a friend. Just thought I would get yesterday's pic up.

Had a good workout yesterday, mixing things up a bit. I did the full CrossFit Warmup 3x which included 10 kipping pull-ups and 10 dips each round. This replaced my scheduled weighted dips. I conentrated on speed this since I didn't have any weight slowing me down. I also substitued some power clean work instead of the scheduled bent over barbell rows.

I'll make a longer post later today with today's pic and hopefully if I have time, it'll be a nice article type post. I've got a couple things in my mind that I want to talk about, I just have to get enough time to devote to them to do justice.

Get your game face on!

Cheers,
Raiden

M2 Day 26

Day 143 - Big Reward

..and now back to our regularly scheduled program.

Tonight was a big reward meal for myself and my girlfried. We celebrated the 4th anniversay of our first date by going out for supper. I'll spare the details and just say that it was a feast. But as of right now, I'm feeling totally guilt free. I love my girlfriend more than anything in the world and it was nice to get out and celebrate.

But I'm right back on track after that meal, so no worries. It almost renews the excitement of eating healthy again!

Get your game face on!

Cheers,
Raiden

M2 Day 25

Happy Birthday Adam!

Here's to our master shredder! The inspiration for myself and many more:

Day 142 - 2 steps forward, 1 step back

Today's workout was pretty good, but I think I almost could have used another days rest. I didn't quite feel as strong as I did on Monday. I just didn't quite have enough gas in me and my form started to suffer a little. I don't know if it was my nutrition or just that I haven't slept well the past couple nights. I'm going to see how things go on Friday, but if I can't pull the weight that I want to, I'm going to do a short "intensity cycle" where I will back off on my weights to 80-90% of what they are right now, and then slowly work my way back up, and then exceed!

Get your game face on!

Cheers,
Raiden

M2 Day 24

Day 141 - Impressive bar skills

Who knew that a playground was still so much fun even when you grow up? Check out the following video, especially the first move that the guy does. They're called "elevators", and you'll see why. It's mind boggling.



After stumbling upon this impressive display of pull-ups, chin-ups, muscle-ups, I am now determined to be able to do a muscle up. I'm adding it to my list of goals. I can already do pull-ups and dips, so now I just have to string them together.

CrossFitters usually do these on rings, and I'm guessing most of you are like me and don't have rings at your gym. I'll have to settle for trying to do them on a pull-up bar like these guys.

Get your game face on!

Cheers,
Raiden

M2 Day 23

Day 140 - A bit of fat

Today was another fat pinch day, so here are the results:

M2 Week 3: 2008-01-21 to 2008-01-28
Weight: 137.23 (+0.90)
Suprailiac: 10 mm -> 11.6% (no change)
Jackson/Pollock chest/ab/thigh: 8/14/11 -> 9.44% (+0.31%)
Avg BF: 10.52% (+0.12%)
Lean Mass: 122.79 (+0.64)
Fat Mass: 14.44 (+0.26)

Well, this week showed some bigger gains, both in the lean mass and fat gains. Although I think the fat gain has more to do with the "jump" from the caliper measurement due to it's limited precision. I think it's been more of a slow fat gain so I think it's safe to say that the fat gain has been more a result of the past 3 weeks in total rather than just the past week. Unless I see a similar fat gain in 2 consecutive weeks, I won't change anything up.

The lean mass gains look promising though, although I'm skeptical about how much is actual muscle. The latest protein powder (Nitro-Tech Hardcore) I got has some creatine in it. I wasn't looking for creatine specifically, it was just that this particular protein powder was on sale, so it was a good deal at the time. The amount of creatine in it is no more than 2 g per serving (probably really closer to 1 g). This is smaller than what they recommmend people usually take (I think anywhere from 3-10 g/day is recommended), so people specifically wanting to use creatine wouldn't get enough from this protein powder, but I think it is enough for me to see some of the increased water retention that is associated with it. I probably won't know for sure until after I go through the two tubs (they're 4 lbs each and it was buy one, get one 50% off) and then flush all the excess creatine out of my system. That might take a while though. Until then, I'm making sure I drink a lot of water, even more than I was before!

Get your game face on!

Cheers,
Raiden

M2 Day 22

Day 139 - Q & A

Today I thought I would answer Lilla's questions in my post since they were some really good ones that I kind of wanted to talk about at some point anyway.

I'm curious about stronglifts - when you start, you don't chose weights for failure on each set 5 x 5?

When I started stronglifts, there were a few exercises that I hadn't done ever or in a while. Mainly, the deadlift and barbell squats, which are also ones in which you can injure yourself more easily if you have poor form and lift heavy. I started out with an empty bar and worked my way up in weight while concentrating on form. Since you squat 3x a week on this program, if you add 10 lbs each session, it doesn't take long to build up to a decent weight. If you're comfortable in the exercises, you would go to a slightly different program and use weights closer to your maximum. Most programs of this type recommend a basic 2-3 week strengthening phase using sub-maximal loads before you hit a maximal workload.

How did you up your calories %wise per macro? Do you eat differently on workout days vs. non-workout days?

My calories pecentage wise changed a little bit. Before, when I was on my initial fat loss stage, I aimed for about a 30/15/55 protein/fat/carb split. In order to get enough calories in for a bulking plan, the main thing that I did was allow myself more fats, since it is a good way to get the calories in. Also, some saturated fat is good because it stimulates your testosterone levels, which is anabolic. I also didn't increase my carb intake as much as the others. I think that my ratios are somewhere around 30/25/45, but it's hard to say exactly as I no longer log my food or count calories. I just try to eat a lot! If I overeat on anything, it's meat. I figure I need all the protein I can get.

I eat slightly differently on workout days to account for my workout nutrition. On non-workout days, I eat 6 meals, and incorporate meal tapering. My last meal is more of a bed-time snack which is a casein protein shake with a serving of fat, which has lately been either Udo's mixed in the shake or almond butter on celery sticks. I try to have minimal carbs in this snack. My pre and post-workout nutrition on workout days is strictly protein and carbs. I try to have as little fat as possible in these, and they are smaller. There might be 2-4 grams that sneak in, but I don't conciously add a fat source. These are usually meals 4 and 5 for me, then I'll have meal 6 about an hour or so later, and then finish with my bedtime snack (meal 7). Because of this, my workout days might be lower in fat content and might be more like a 35/15/50 split. The total calories per day probably don't vary much because I feel it is just as important to feed the muscle the day after a workout.

There is a good chance that I'm not making the leanest gains possible, but I am now fully accepting that some fat is going to be put on. What I'm doing is giving me results that I am happy with, so until I see large fat gains and little muscle gains, I'll continue on.

Thanks Lilla for the great questions!

Get your game face on!

Cheers,
Raiden

M2 Day 21

Day 137 - Maximum Effort

Today was probably the hardest I worked out in the gym in a long time. On my current program, the goal is to increase the weight on all exercises each and every time I go in. I'm almost at the point where I've worked my way up from using an empty bar concentrating on form, to putting in a maximum effort and nearing failure on all my exercises. I was able to finish my prescribed reps for all of my exercises, except for my last set of weighted pull-ups. This might have to do with a slightly more intense warm-up. I usually only do a cardio warm-up on a machine, but today I tried a modified "CrossFit" warm-up. 3 sets of 10 reps of squats (instead of broomstick overhead squats), sit-ups, back extensions, push-ups (instead of pull-ups, which I do later), and dips. Now I know what they mean when they say, "Your work-out is our warm-up".

I think next week I might incorporate the "flip" method, where I invert the order that I do my exercises in. So, instead of ending with my weighted chin-ups or pull-ups, I'll start my workout with them. I think this will help me push my weights up another notch.

Get your game face on!

Cheers,
Raiden

M2 Day 19

Day 136 - New muscle?

Although my stats are showing a small increase in lean mass, I've mostly been battling with feeling like I've either just put on water weight or fat. But today was different. Today was the first day where I really felt like I could feel new muscle on me. Well, maybe my muscles are just filling up with more water. It's really hard to say, but it's just one of those things where mentally, I felt it. It could just be in my head, but hey, it all starts with the vision. Just gotta stay clean, keep on the program, and have confidence.

Get your game face on!

Cheers,
Raiden

M2 Day 18

Day 135 - Sweetness

Yesterday I picked up some stevia from the local health food store. Following Lilla's advice, I added a bit of it to the BFFM pancakes this morning. I think that was the secret missing ingredient. It made them much more enjoyable. Now I think the BFFM pancakes can be a real regular on my menu.

Today's workout was great. I was a little sore from Monday's workout earlier in the day, but the pain subsided once I got into the gym. My squats felt a lot stronger and I know I can keep pushing the weight up each session. Snuck in some push up work at the end of my workout, but my bench press and tricep dip had already taxed me. But it made for a great workout! By the end of it, I could barely move.

Get your game face on!

Cheers,
Raiden

M2 Day 17