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The Plant Powered Tank Training Log


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So I caved under peer pressure (haha) and decided to make a training log. I figured this will keep me consistent with my training though I'm still not sure what I am training for exactly. Awesome thing happened today, one of the apartment managers at my complex gave me a gym key for free (it's usually $25), because she thinks my wife, my dog and myself are "awesome." (Personally I think it's just the dog). This means 24/7 gym access. It's a small apt size gym, only a few weight machines, dumbbells and a couple of cardio machines (two spinner bikes, two treadmills, one elliptical and one recumbant bike) there's also some resistance bands, medicine balls and those bouncy body swiss yoga balls, plus an adjustable bench. I'm really sure I can make due with it though. The weight machines are shoulder press, chest press, lat pull down, and leg extension/hamstring curl, though due to my knees and my need to walk I don't do the leg machine. Last night I worked a 6 hour shift, and got home a little after 9pm, this morning I had to open at work and got up at 6am and did a 7.5 hour shift. I'm surprised I even wanted to train but I think my diet is really rounded out nicely to where I have an almost annoying amount of energy, considering last night I was awake until midnight and this morning was ready to go after a shower, tea and a banana. Prior to being vegan, I'd be hitting the snooze button about 3 times before getting up. With the 24/7 access I can actually hit the gym whenever I want to instead of just during the office hours since it's hard to juggle that around a work schedule that isn't set daily hours. Without further ado, here's what I did today:

 

Shoulder Press:

 

3 sets of 5 @ 80lbs

3 sets of 5 @ 60lbs

3 sets of 5 @ 40 lbs

 

Lat Pulldown

 

3 sets of 5 @100lbs

3 sets of 5 @ 80lbs

3 sets of 5 @ 60lbs

 

Chest Press

 

3 sets of 5 @ 100lbs

3 sets of 5 @ 80lbs

3 sets of 5 @ 60lbs

 

This was after a back to back shift with only 6 hrs of sleep in between so I'm pretty pleased. The rest between sets was minimal, only long enough to tell wifey which lift to do next (I train her) and the rest between moves was only the time it took to move from one machine to the other.

 

Here's the after pump results:

http://i57.tinypic.com/23ljrpz.jpg

 

http://i59.tinypic.com/10rk583.jpg

 

I really like these first two pictures because I think they make me look lighter than 205lbs.

 

http://i59.tinypic.com/28hzzpk.jpg

 

I like my back, the love handles are less than lovely though. It's an improvement though, they used to take up my entire top-ass-hip area.

 

http://i58.tinypic.com/2v2d1c9.jpg

 

Wifey had issue trying to get my legs in without my crotch showing, and more issue with my posting it on the forum so proper censorship was needed. These wheels are plant fueled! Seriously, dark chocolate almond milk is amazing. It tastes like liquefied brownie batter.

Edited by TankOnTwoLegs
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Lots of cardio today. Went grocery shopping with the missus. We walk (well I walk, she wheels) and load up all our groceries into a hiking backpack and walk back, it's about a half mile distance but with the added weight it has to count for something. After that, we took the dog for a walk. Then we hit the gym, I was going to train wifey and hit the pool but there were too many kids in it so I trained her and hit the treadmill. I'm sure all humans with ambulatory movement were "born to run" but I'm really sure noone was born to run on a treadmill. I haven't ran in ever, the last time was in 2013 and I did it for a minute and a half then gassed out. So I wanted to see where I was at. I did ten minutes with 2 minutes running and 1 minute walking. By minute 7 I felt so off balance that I just walked the last three minutes. Are treadmills supposed to feel that awkward? To note, I didn't gas out or feel tired so I could have ran longer if I didn't feel like I was going to fall. To top it off, I brought along my mp3 player and didn't realize it was dead until I was already at the gym and setting up. Meh. But by the time I finished that, the kids were out of the pool so I did a 15 minute swim doing straight laps and actually feel like I worked out. I love to swim but I think I'll stick with the elliptical for cardio because I want to feel like I trained, with sweat and grime and all that good stuff. I dont know where to really run outside because I have no way of tracking mileage.

 

So to clear it up, my actual training session was a 10 minute run/walk and a 15 minute straight lap swim. I rounded it out with a set of 10 bicep dumbbell curls @25lbs per arm.

 

P.S. I've discovered Daiya! I bought a container of Daiya cream cheese, it was delicious, kinda sweet. I mixed it with salsa and heated it for a few seconds to dip with tortilla chips, so good. But at $6 a container, it's probably going to just be a once a month delicacy. I've also discovered a brand of cereal called "Mom's Best Cereal" it was basically cocoa pebbles only not as a sweet and tasted actually like cocoa instead of processed chocolate, plus it's gluten free and delicious. At half the price of Chex, I'm sold.

 

Since being Vegan and gluten free, my digestive tract feels like it's healing up. I don't know if that makes sense to anyone but I used to have intestinal distress over 4 times a week. On particularly bad days those 4 times a week would turn into 4 times in one day. It just feels really good to be able to eat, and enjoy, without worrying about where the nearest bathroom is or if I should even eat because of my stomach issues.

 

P.P.S Doesn't outer pectoral DOMS feel amazing? (That wasn't sarcasm btw)

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Took the day off training today. Two days on, one day off seems like a good schedule to start on. I was going to do another day of cardio on the elliptical but wanted to chill out today and let my muscles recover. I'm was ambivalent most of the day on it because I haven't adjusted my mindset to being full =/= unhealthy. I had a good bit to eat today and I keep thinking I overate but I didn't because none of it was unhealthy. I had pasta, cereal, fruit, seeds and a pb& banana sandwich. I may have overdone it on the carbs but then again, that could just be the old mindset. Disordered eating doesn't actually go away, you just suppress it best you can with logic, knowledge and growth. Even if I did OD on the carbs today, they were actual food carbs, not junk so like I said, still adjusting and apparently overthinking. Tomorrow morning I'll get some training in before work.

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Figured out my body fat percentage is 25%. Two years ago it was 32-34%. This is the lowest BF% I've been since probably puberty lol. I'm the same weight I was when my wife and I first met and that was back when I was 18 and had almost no muscle mass. I don't know how accurate this all is, but I took several measurements so, I'm hoping it's at least close. According to this lean body mass calculator, if I'm 205lbs now, with 25% body fat, my lean body mass is 155lbs. If I got down to 10% body fat, it'll put me at 170lbs, which was my high school prom weight. With my goal weight of 175lbs, I wasn't that far off.

 

At 5'6, this sounds much better than the typical 135lbs that BMI calculators give me. I like being stocky and physically big boned.

 

I'm not obsessing over the numbers, it's just nice to see such an improvement with only the effort of doing a 180 on eating.

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What do you use to measure your body fat percentage dude? I've got a caliber thingy which I measure against a sheet... Doesn't seem very accurate but it's all I got haha

 

Also, walking is absolutely fine for cardio, I totally swear by low intensity high volume (long walks/cycles) of course I throw in HiIT from time to time but nothing beats a long walk with a lifting session.

 

Ps outer pectoral DOMS are not awesome!! Haha

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I used bodybuilding.com's calculator, I don't know if it is reputable but if pros are using the site, I guess there's something legit to it. It has you measure you waist, forearms, hips, and wrists, along with your height, weight and gender. Like I said it's not something I'm going to obsess over, even if it's off by a few numbers, I'm still the lowest I've been in a decade.

 

I enjoy walking, thing is, it's my mode of transportation so I don't feel like I'm getting a work out in because I walk everywhere I need to go. Low intensity cardio is something that I have bonded with for years, I've been working out on and off since I was 16 and for my stocky self, low long cardio seems to work best for me. I guess I want to do something more mainstream than just the elliptical but..eh. Guess I'm not mainstream. For HITT I like to do weight circuits, which I'll be doing tomorrow.

 

Outer pectoral DOMS is WAY better than DOMS in your quads. Nothing worse than whimpering when you're trying to get off the toilet.

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Did a backpacked grocery trip today with the wifey. There were some really nice deals going on, like buy one get one free strawberries and salads. Bought strawberries (already have bagged salads in the fridge) and bananas, sunflower seeds, Lara bars, prep for vegan nachos and a few other things that somehow equaled out to like $65 lol. One really nice thing about being vegan, the grocery bill is so much less (I understand this shouldn't be a prime point of going vegan but when you're on a tight food budget with mouths to feed and everyone's on a different way of eating, it's a nice plus.) Just got in from today's training and enjoying a key lime pie Lara bar and sunflower seeds. Here's what I did:

 

Magic 50

 

5 dumbbell swings per arm (20lbs) I'll go heavier next session, was trying to find form and balance first.

5 dumbbell snatches per arm (20lbs)

10 lat pulldowns (50lbs)

 

Repeat circuit 5x. -This originally had 10 burpees instead of pulldowns but because I was planning to do cardio afterwards, I modified it.

 

Cardio

 

5K on the elliptical. Resistance level 3. Kept my heartrate at 160-170. Took 36 minutes. It may have been less had the program not turned off at 30mins. I caught a runner's high at mile one, felt awesome. When I was fatter and using the elliptical, my heartrate used to hit 200 and my body was at a standstill while my legs pedaled, being so much lighter now, my body actually rocks in rhythm with my legs and the machine. Caught me off guard at first like holy crap my legs can actually support my weight now!

 

Side note: Wifey finished her work out about 15mins before me and waited patiently, then told me that my butt looked really good on the elliptical. Today is just full of positives!

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After yesterday's workout, plus last night's shift, my knees and hamstrings are cursing me out. We were so dead at work there wasn't much movement so I stood in one position for too long a few times and my knees kept locking on me. So felt like today would be a good day off since I have another night shift tonight, but tomorrow I'm off work so I'll be training again then. I still don't know what I'm training for, but I really like the idea of a long term goal. Other than just being able to pull off my jeans without unbuttoning or unzipping them. Though that is fun.

 

I decided to do a one week update progress picture, I don't see me doing this weekly but it's kinda neat to see the progress after such a short amount of time. The ones on the left were taken on the 7th, the ones on the right were taken today (the 15th)

 

http://i61.tinypic.com/9fmdr9.png

 

http://i60.tinypic.com/200td2t.png

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Of course when you have DOMS in your lower body from your last workout, it only makes sense to give yourself upper body DOMS to even it out. Walked outside for a bit with the missus and the dog, then went on some errand running. After an amazing dinner of angel hair aioli (angel hair pasta with olive oil and garlic) with baked beans on top (wifey had fish instead of beans) we hit the gym for some night time training.

 

Lat Pulldown

 

3 sets of 5 reps @100lbs

3 sets of 5 reps @ 80lbs

3 sets of 5 reps @ 60lbs

 

Shoulder Press

 

3 sets of 5 reps @ 100lbs

3 sets of 5 reps @ 80lbs

3 sets of 5 reps @ 60lbs

 

Chest Press

 

3 sets of 5 reps @ 80lbs

3 sets of 5 reps @ 60lbs

3 sets of 5 reps @ 40lbs

 

http://i59.tinypic.com/167349t.jpg

 

It wasn't a bad workout, by any means. But I am wondering if machines are doing more harm than good. It feels awkward for me to use them, like the depth is too deep or something, I don't know. I may switch to free weights. I wish this gym had barbells but I'll make do. I may just stick with full body strength training instead of the isolated machines.

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Really long day at work today. 8 hour shift, with only a 15 minute break. Working nonstop, that counts as working out right? Sure feels like it with how beat I am. No gym tonight.

 

The raw til 4 thing went great today though, since I wasn't able to take an actual lunch break, I only had a banana at work, and seeds with raisins before work. Needless to say, I was starving when I came home a little after 4pm and ate a peanut butter sandwich, vegan nachos, and a "bowl" (bowl shaped tupperware container so like 3 bowls worth) of gluten free cocoa pebbles with almond milk. I feel better now.

 

Plus side: I don't have DOMS. I'm just exhausted lol.

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Today was one of those days I actually didn't want to train. It was my day off and I just wanted to chill and so did wifey. But around mid afternoon we hit the gym anyway after we walked the pooch. I did the Magic 50 workout (but only 3 sets because my energy was down and I was training wifey as well) Plus did medicine ball tosses with her for a total of 20 throws. Afterwards I saw that the pool was empty due to the kids being back in school and the sky looking almost black so I did laps for 10 minutes.

 

Side note on the swimming: I used to only be able to swim for about 2 minutes straight when I was bigger. Now I can do it for 10.

 

 

To be really honest, I don't know how to eat. I tried being Vegan twice before, the first time was an epic fail because I was younger and living with my mother who didn't want to buy different foods for me and so I wound up just living on burritos and hearing her crap about my weight loss because basically she was jealous she wasn't losing weight, so I stopped. The last time I tried, was about 7 years back, and I didn't eat enough. So now it's like...I almost feel like I'm eating too much lol. I don't know guys. Today I ate half a pound of strawberries, plate of homemade spanish rice and beans (amazingness), a peanut butter sandwich, a big ass sweet potato and baby carrots. Seeing it typed up it actually doesn't look like I ate a lot. Again, I don't know. Sometimes the whole ED thing sneaks up and I second guess what goes in my mouth, then other days I couldn't give two turds about what goes into my mouth. I enjoy doing the raw til four thing, but when I'm at work from 7am to 2-3pm, I come home and eat the whole fridge at 4. The other day I swear when 4pm hit I hit my calories in the first hour and a half, I was so hungry. I haven't figured out balance. Or something. I don't know. Anyway, that's my day.

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Didn't train yesterday. Wifey got injured doing weights so I stayed home with her. Today we ran errands around town on foot, altogether probably hiked a mile and a half with bags and what not. Had a nice vegetarian lunch at this Mexican restaurant about 4 blocks from home. Was our first date since we moved here. I wanted to go swimming but there was this strange guy who constantly kept staring at my wife, like gawking. I shrugged it off thinking he's more so mentally challenged and not as perverted as he was coming off as, to prevent me from drowning him. Needless to say, the swim didn't happen. Worked six hours closing the dept, counts for something given I'm beat.

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Of course when you have DOMS in your lower body from your last workout, it only makes sense to give yourself upper body DOMS to even it out. Walked outside for a bit with the missus and the dog, then went on some errand running. After an amazing dinner of angel hair aioli (angel hair pasta with olive oil and garlic) with baked beans on top (wifey had fish instead of beans) we hit the gym for some night time training.

 

Lat Pulldown

 

3 sets of 5 reps @100lbs

3 sets of 5 reps @ 80lbs

3 sets of 5 reps @ 60lbs

 

Shoulder Press

6

3 sets of 5 reps @ 100lbs

3 sets of 5 reps @ 80lbs

3 sets of 5 reps @ 60lbs

 

Chest Press

 

3 sets of 5 reps @ 80lbs

3 sets of 5 reps @ 60lbs

3 sets of 5 reps @ 40lbs

 

http://i59.tinypic.com/167349t.jpg

 

It wasn't a bad workout, by any means. But I am wondering if machines are doing more harm than good. It feels awkward for me to use them, like the depth is too deep or something, I don't know. I may switch to free weights. I wish this gym had barbells but I'll make do. I may just stick with full body strength training instead of the isolated machines.

 

Hi T,

 

Just want to touch on something you mentioned withs regards to machines. Im a firm believer in using machines, ive found them to be more producive than free weights. That being said, ill be the first to say theres nothing worse for your joints and connective tissues than a poorly designed machine (and theres a lot of poor designs). Looking at the machine your using, even I would hit the free weights. (Cable pulldown is fine though).

 

if a machine doesnt feel right, dont do it.

 

best

Rob

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Thanks for confirming my thoughts on that. The apartment has these machines attached to each other, and they all feel that awkward so I'm thinking it's the model itself. The only one that doesn't is the lat pulldown. I've been training in gyms on and off for 12 years now and I've been fine with machines til now. I'm glad it's not just me seeing the flaw.

 

 

Edit: The cable pulldown above the machine I'm using is relatively useless since it's using the same space as the machine itself. It's not adjustable, so I'm not thinking I'll get much use from it. Maybe I'll just stick with lifting 80lb trashcans at work!

Edited by TankOnTwoLegs
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Currently shoveling peanut butter in my face straight out of the jar with a spoon so I figured it's good time to jot down my work out.

 

I worked from 8am to 4pm so really nothing spectacular with this training sesh:

 

Lat pulldown pyramids @20lbs. From 1 to 10 then back to 1.

Mile and a half walk with my wifey.

 

I'd like to actually put the spotlight of this entry on my wife for a minute. You've all met her, she's that beautiful woman in my avatar.

 

My wife has a birth defect known as Spina Bifida. For anyone who doesn't know, that's basically when the spinal sac forms outside the body and there are three stages of severity. My wife has the 3rd stage, which is the most severe and comes with some heady side effects. She's paralyzed from the waist down and uses a manual wheelchair. Outside of this she's as "normal" (whatever that means) as anyone else. But that isn't why I'm posting this.

 

8 years ago my wife was diagnosed with adult onset type 1 diabetes. Positively type 1. Insulin dependent. When she was diagnosed, we didn't know prior to that and it was during a very traumatic medical event that caused her to be hospitalized for 3 weeks then put into a nursing home for 1 week. She was only 27 years old when this was all happening. I was 20. With tooth and nail being fought and only 2 hours of sleep a night, I convinced the medical staff to release her into my care after the 1 week nursing home stay and we turned our living room into a hospital room for the next 6 months (even though the medical staff said she'd be back in the ER within 72 hours being under my care, didn't happen.)

 

She was 24/7 bedridden for a year and a half. She lost most muscle strength and gained a decent amount of weight. Eventually she hit 240lbs, and she's only 4'10 with half body mobility. Slowly but surely as she got better, she got stronger. We started with those resistance bands and little 3lb weights. As time went on, she graduated to being able to transfer on and off from her wheelchair to the bed and back with only my help for balance. Over the course of 2.5 yrs, she lost 80lbs, resulting in her weighing 160lbs. There is so much she can't eat and can't process, not just due to the diabetes but due also to the limited mobility. I put her on a pesectarian diet and she's thrived. It took years to figure out what her little body could and couldn't utilize and anything it can't utilize..well...lets just say it doesn't stick around very long. With the 80lb weight loss came of course, some saggy skin that she's not too thrilled about but she's very thrilled with going from a 3x to an XL.

 

After 10 yrs of being together, I've seen her at her worst, and her best. I've seen her literally almost die. (The doctors said another 48 hours and she'd be gone). I've watched her heal, I've watched her overcome massive depression and win her battle with diabetes. While she's still insulin dependent and always will be, her numbers her so tight that her A1C is close to that of a non-diabetic. And after so long of watching her deteriorate and rebuild...I watched this happen today....

 

Cable tricep extensions@ 40lbs.

 

Guys....FORTY POUNDS. For 10 reps!!

 

She pumped out 20 reps at 5lbs like nothing. Told her "Okay this is getting easy for you, lets try 10lbs" Her response "Oh crap." She pumped out 10 reps at 10lbs. Jumped her to 20lbs, pumped out 10 reps. "Wanna try 30lbs?" "Yeah!!" She pumped out 10 reps. Said "Okay, let's see how many you can do with 40lbs." Her response "Um....oh..kay" She did 10 reps. The ONLY help I gave her was keeping her back straightened while she was doing it because she's got scoliosis so her form is fickle. After that, I figured she was done, and deservedly so. Nah. we went on a mile and a half stroll around town (She wheeled, I pushed)

 

So many people expected her to stay in a nursing home forever.

So many people expected her to stay bed bound forever.

So many people expected her to just accept what happened.

So many people give us the "bless her heart" look, along with "awhhh"

 

There's a difference between surviving and thriving. Between being alive and living.

 

This woman was my college love. (I was 17 when we met) My first kiss, my first everything. And my last. To watch her have enough spirit and heart (and attitude) to defy everything every "professional" told her and make the weight plates cry...Makes me want to.

 

When life gives you lemons, just ask "Yo bro, is that all you got?"

 

My peanut butter jar is empty, so I'll end this here. Have a good day/night everyone.

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I really need to buy a scale because watching myself shrink in my clothes is getting me really curious as to what my weight is.

 

http://i60.tinypic.com/5poto6.jpg

 

These are my size 40 jeans.

 

http://i60.tinypic.com/2wp2of9.jpg

 

These are my size 38 jeans.

 

I...think I need to get new jeans lol. I haven't been a 36 since college 9 years ago. I'm able to take off and put on each pair without unbuttoning or unzipping. My wife keeps asking me when I'm going to throw away my 40s..I don't know, I don't think I want to. Kind of a reminder. Same reason why I keep that 2X tee shirt that comes down to my mid thigh now.

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Looks like it's been 3 days since I last logged in. I'm currently without internet because my internet bill, electric bill and rent all decided to fall on us at the same time so priorities lol. I'm using the apartment complex's "clubhouse" to catch up so my updates won't be every day but they should still be fairly regular and I'll most likely post what I did each day on one post when I get the chance to come here. Been doing a lot of cardio it's been so beautiful out. in the 70s most of the week, it makes me worry because with how abnormal these summer temps have been I'm starting to cringe about the upcoming winter temps. Strength wise I'll be getting in form and balance with increasing the weight slowly. I do my usual back workout of lat pull downs and bent over rows and seated rows (I love rows, can you tell?) I've been really trying to fatigue the muscle with moderate weight and high reps. The DOMS don't hit as hard when I do it that way as opposed to heavier weight with lower reps, that way going to work doesn't hurt so bad.

 

Nutrition wise I've been decent with the exception of yesterday, wifey and I had an overdue celebration so we had beer and junk and it was delicious and my stomach paid dearly for it last night but it was well worth it.

 

I've made a really important decision…I'm going to be joining the local BJJ academy this coming spring. Why so important? I've come from a family of martial artists. My uncle is a 4th degree black belt in Karate, my brother made it to his purple belt, my aunt to her green belt and when I came along I got shot down because Ive had asthma since I was an infant. It's beyond under control now and since my parents have disowned me, I don't have anyone laughing in my ear about how I won't be able to make it a week without quitting. I'm going to be spending this fall and winter getting in shape for it to strengthen my work capacity and conditioning. I've been wanting to do this since I was young. I'm so excited. The academy offers the first month free so I can get the feel, then go from there. It's less than 3 miles from my place so I say spring that way I'll have money coming in more than now to afford the gi and tuition and possibly a bicycle if I can't get my hands on a vehicle by then. My goal weight is now official, 170lbs. If I go under that that's fine but I want to hit that. 170lbs will make it so my height (5'6) is conducive to my weight and I'll be able to buy a gi that actually fits me. Otherwise I'll have some heavy hemming to do. (I did TaeKwonDo for a month years ago and my gi was so long because I was 245lbs I had to hem off 5 inches on my sleeves and pant legs) I actually want a scale now lol. Guys you have no idea how excited I am for all this. I have the complete support of wifey and she wants to travel to tournaments with me too. I'm going to start training for this September 1st. I'll make sure to write down everything I can so that I can post it on here when I get the chance.

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September 1st started my pre-BJJ training, I did five miles of cardio (walking and biking). Yesterday (the 2nd) I didn't do anything because I've had 6 days straight of morning shift at work, waking up at 5:30am. My body needed to get adjusted to that. Today is Work Capacity 101 which consists of:

 

Pull Ups- 5 reps

Medicine Ball Slams- 10 reps

Burpees- 15 reps

Jumping Jacks- 20 reps.

 

Repeat circuit 10 times.

 

After that I'll be doing ab work that consists of V Ups, and reverse crunches, penguins, etc, basically sets that works your lower back, obliques and front abs so getting the whole range in there. (It's a set thing I just don't have the paper in front of me to type it up)

 

I keep looking ahead and I'm just so stoked for this. There isn't jack squat standing in my way of this either. Next payday I'll be getting a scale to keep myself honest.

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Keep it up Tank! I alway tell people, unsolicited advice..I know, that consistency is the key. it doesnt matter if you have a bad workout, bad day, a string of bad workouts, bad day etc.... Overall you keep moving forward to achieve your goal.

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