Starting Down the Home Stretch
MOTIVATIONAL QUOTE OF THE DAY
"You've had a long day at work...You don't have time...You will undeniably rise above it...No excuses!!!"
For the complete Motivational, review
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TRAINING
Still sick, and training not exactly as I WANTED it to be, but, it WAS done, and done to a HIGH degree re effectiveness.
Training completed this week:
Monday
Shoulders/Hamstrings (1 min recovery between sets):
1. Behind-the-neck BB Military Press 4 x 15, 7, 6, 6
2. BB Military Press 4 x 6
3. Single-Arm DB Lateral Raises 4 x 10 per side
4. Stiff-Legged BB Deadlift (BB to touch ground) 4 x 10, 10, 8, 8
Barely slept at all on Sunday night, so woke up with only enough time to have a brief shower and get ready for work. Had to wait until AFTER work to do my training, and even then, work went well into overtime, which meant that to do a resistance session, I had to cut out all cardio pre and post-weights, as well as shorten my resistance session considerably - which I was NOT happy about (and very disappointed in myself for not getting up in the morning, no matter how I felt), but at least my RESISTANCE training got DONE, even if it was shorter (and I was feeling weak after ~12 hours almost non-stop of taking people through training sessions).
Tuesday
Run 10 min
Arms/Abs (30 sec recovery between alternate sets):
Alternate Set A -
1. Hanging Straight-Leg Raises (feet to touch bar) 4 x 10
2. Rope Crunches 4 x 10
Alternate Set B -
3. Close-Grip BB Bicep Curls 4 x 8
4. Dips 4 x 8
Alternate Set C -
5. Incline DB Bicep Curls 4 x 8
6. V-Bar Tricep Push-Downs 4 x 8
Alternate Set D -
7. Alternate DB hammer Bicep Curls 4 x 12 per side
8. Rope Crunches 4 x 15
Post-Weights Cardio:
Recline Bike 20 min @ 100-103 rpm
Up nice and early as I wanted to be, getting training done and out of the way, starting my day to PERFECTION
Wednesday
Session 1
HIIT Run:
a. 4 min jogging
b. 12 x 10 min sprint/10 sec easy
c. 10 min jogging
Session 2
Recline Bike 20 min @ 105-107 rpm
Nothing beats an early morning run (well, almost nothing; weights would be better - AFTER the run!), especially when it's nice and cool like it was. Did HIIT on the main road going into town, up and down the dips and rises, my lungs actually able to breathe and gasp in the air, compared to running in the midday heat of a few weeks ago, when I felt like I was going to suffocate. After work, since I felt so good, I decided to do a little more cardio, withOUT the intensity - and to help my legs recover from the sprinting.
Thursday
Session 1
Recline Bike 20 min @ 108-112 rpm
Session 2
Run 5 min @ 8 miles per hours
Full-Body (30 sec recovery between alternate sets/supersets):
Alternate Set A -
1. Hanging Straight-Leg Raises (feet to touch bar) 4 x 15, 10, 8, 8
2. Rope Crunches 4 x 15
SuperSet A -
3. DB Bicep Curls 4 x 21s
4. Dips 4 x 8
SuperSet B -
5. Alternate DB Hammer Bicep Curls 4 x 12 per side
6. DB Lateral Raises 4 x 10
Alternate Set B -
7. Rear Delt Flyes 4 x 10
8. Plate Hammer Raises 4 x 8
SuperSet C -
9. Push-Ups (feet on floor, hands on fists) 4 x 10
10. Supinated Lat Pull-Down 4 x 8
Post-Weights Cardio:
Recline Bike 10 min @ 100-106 rpm
I decided that if I don't get up as I want at 0400-0500 (to go training at 0500-0600), I am going to do a brief 20 minutes of cardio when I can get a half-hour break at work early afternoon, which is what I did today. It was nice and easy - figured out how to use the Recline Bike withOUT it leaving a huge burn mark on my back and rubbing me raw - and gave me time to "gather" myself and prepare for the rest of my work day. I was pretty exhausted by the end of work, which is why my cardio pre and post-weights was half as long as usual, but to me weights are FAR more IMPORTANT - and make the MOST DIFFERENCE re fitness and physique - than cardio, so it didn't bother me [as much], especially given that I pushed my body to the limit during my Full-Body resistance session. So relieved by the end of training, that I was ready to wolf down enough for an entire ARMY (and pretty much DID, LOL)!
Friday
Session 1
Recline Bike 20 min @ 104-107 rpm
Session 2
HIIT Run:
a. 4 min jogging
b. 12 x 20 sec sprint/10 sec easy
c. 10 min jogging
Shoulders/Arms/Abs (30 sec recovery between trisets):
TriSet A -
1. Behind-the-neck BB Military Press 3 x 10
2. DB Clean and Press 3 x 10
3. DB Lateral Raises 3 x 10
TriSet B -
4. DB Zottoman Curls 3 x 10
5. V-Bar Tricep Push-Down 3 x 10
6. Alternate DB Hammer Curls 3 x 10 per side
TriSet C -
7. Rope Crunches 3 x 10, 15, 10
8. V-Sits (on floor) 3 x 10, 10, 15
9. Swissball Crunches (feet on wall, knees at 90 degree angle) 3 x 15, 10, 10
Post-Weights Cardio:
Recline Bike 20 min @ 110-114 rpm
Since I didn't manage to get up early this morning, did 20 minutes of cardio when I managed to get a short break at work, completing my planned (and primary) training session for the day once work was over later at night. Surprisingly, my sprints felt effortless, like I had all the energy in the world. But, my resistance session hurt like hell - likely from all the training sessions I had done during the day (~8 hours and then some), inclusive of repetitive demonstration of resistance (and other) exercises. Left deltoid in particular, and right biceps tendons SCREAMING by the end of it, not to mention my abs, and I was glad to be finished, but happy to have done it.
Saturday
HIIT Run:
a. 4 min jogging
b. 12 x 20 sec sprint/10 sec easy
c. 10 min jogging
Did the third of my HIIT sessions today, since I did not get it done on Monday - and I REALLY want to do THREE HIIT sessions a week, since it is the type of cardio my body responds BEST to! Was pretty shattered today though, noticing the difference from yesterday, when I felt like I had all the energy in the world!
Sunday
OFF
A little different than what I had planned. Also changed days re Full-Body and Shoulders/Arms/Abs sessions, which turned out BETTER than what I had, so that was ok. Added in three days of double cardio - separating it from my resistance session and/or HIIT session. The second cardio session - albeit only 20 minutes (I rarely do longer than 20 minutes when doing cardio) - definitely made a difference in my progress ad results this week. So did doing my cardio session FIRST, with my resistance session post-work at night (on the days that I did double cardio), which was interesting. So, not what I had planned, but BETTER!
So, my "reset" training schedule:
Monday - HIIT Cardio + Shoulders/Hamstrings
Tuesday - 10 min Cardio + Arms/Abs
Wednesday - HIIT Cardio
Thursday - 10 min Cardio + Full-Body
Friday - HIIT Cardio + Shoulders/Arms/Abs
Saturday - 20 min Cardio
Sunday - Day OFF
Now working on setting up my training re days for next week, because I want to follow a similar pattern as this week, since I got such great results with it!
OTHER NOTES
Body Composition DEcreased down to 8.3% bodyfat over the last six days, body mass also decreasing to 108 pounds. So, a 0.6% bodyfat loss, which I am very pleased with - makes me feel far more confident that I will get down to (or BELOW - which is what I AM aiming for!) 8% bodyfat by next Wednesday (I have FOUR days to do it!). Girths have decreased where it matters, although I still want them to go down even FURTHER. That said, if I am honest with myself, my deltoids and arms look even BETTER NOW than they did BEFORE I was forced to take time out because of injury (unable to train much, if at all, for weeks), which just goes to show that if you work HARD at it when you come back, you CAN DEFINITELY SURPASS where you were!
Started back on Alpha-T2 on Wednesday (also finished the last of my RecoverPRO on Saturday, and will be using something else in its place for a few days until I get some more - changes reflected in post #1), which was also incidentally the day I did the first of my double cardio sessions - despite that, I notice that it makes a difference using Alpha-T2 again after a while without it.
Wrists have been ok for the most part this week. Still fighting off the last vestiges of whatever it was that I had re sore throat, feeling nauseous, coughing up blood, and barely being able to speak, so I am ok and hoping it will all be gone by the time I leave for Miami.
FOUR DAYS left to get UNDER 8% bodyfat! Despite all that, though my mind (and I KNOW I SHOULD) keeps telling me I need to "start dieting seriously", I have yet to do it, my nutrition as "normal" for me, which, considering my results, says something about my training, and proves a point that for some (albeit NOT most!) nutrition is NOT the key factor in their success (or lack of it) re fat loss (I know that many will not agree with this, and yes, it IS a very INDIVIDUAL thing; nor might they believe me unless they were there to see it for themselves, but it can definitely be attested to, LOL). I wouldn't say it was "luck" or "genetics", because there is no such thing as luck, IMO, and I have hereditary health issues that say I should NOT be able to do what I do, so it just proves that in the end, the mind IS stronger than anything else, and if you have a burning desire to achieve something, against all odds and obstacles and others (and even yourself sometimes, because yes, you ARE your own worst enemy) having doubts about it, you CAN definitely get there! Could I do better if I DID "diet"? Maybe, albeit when I have "tried" to do it before, my progress was actually far LESS than what it is the way my nutrition is now. That said, whilst I may not be in my BEST condition ever next week, I WILL likely be the best that I have been to date, which counts for something, and I will only continue to work on it and get BETTER!
I'm very excited about and looking forward to next week - it's going to be some GREAT times
God Bless!
WORLD PHYSIQUE MAGAZINE FALL 2011 ISSUE
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See my "Motivation" column (one piece below) now running in
World Physique Magazine, with more to come in
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damn i have some catching up to do!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
