esqinchi

Tuesday, August, 25, 2015: AM Session Row - 2500m, 10:27. Did this HIIT style, with 10 moderate strokes, followed by 10 as quickly and with as much force as possible. Really focused on driving with legs, as opposed to relying on upper body to draw. After my legs were like spaghetti. Consequently, doing legs this afternoon lol. Hopefully I'm not totally spent!

Sunday, August 23, 2015: Rower - 2500 meters, 10:42 time. Love this thing. Totally kicked my ass.

Ahha! I thought you'd like to posing lol. Dude this thing really kicked my ass today. If you can convince your lady, I think it's totally worth the money. If you can't, come for a visit and use mine! That's funny rowing was on today. No idea how they manage to race in those things. 2 minutes in and I was dying! Love my Adidas shorts mate, practically live in them on weekends. Reminds me of my soccer days!

Saturday, August 22, 2015: TRX Day 0. Rower - 2302m, 10:00 minutes TRX Circuit (2 Rounds, Rest 2 Minutes) 1. Chest Fly x 15 2. Split Squat x 15 3. T's x 15 4. Side Lunge x 15* 5. Curls x 15 6. Hamstring Curls x 15 7. Tricep Ext. x 15 8. Ring Dips x 15 First attempt at full on training with the rower, and I have to say, that thing is no joke! After even a couple minutes I was winded, so I had to slow my strokes down and focus more on form. I ended up just trying to keep an even rhythm, and making sure I exhaled through each pass. Either way, this thing is awesome! I was pretty well spent after the 10 minutes on, and didn't feel like lugging about a bunch of weights, so I just set up the TRX for a quick circuit. Still sore from Thursday's training, and a little tired this morning. Resting through the weekend, though I might hop on the rower in the morning. Back on Tuesday for legs.

Hey there! Thanks for sharing your story. I checked out your instagram account, and you have awesome food pictures! Also, are those Whippet pups, or Greyhounds? They look really cool. Have you thought about starting a training log? It's one of my favorite parts of the day. Welcome!

ROWING MACHINE

Sounds heavenly man, I'm really jealous! I'd love to see fields of green and mountains, especially trees, when I open my windows. Unfortunately, it's just other homes, exactly like ours, and power lines. Someday soon though buddy. Have a good weekend!

Thursday, August 20, 2015: Back / Shoulders 1. Deadlift - 3 x 10 @ 210lbs 2. Lat Raise - 3 x 12 @ 30lbs - 3. Row - 3 x 10 @ 170lbs 4. Circus Press - 3 x 15 @ 35lbs - 5. Wide Pistol Grip Pullup - 3 x 12 6. Plate Front Raise - 3 x 12 @ 45lbs Deadlifts were killer today. They almost put me out of commission after the third set. I rested up a bit between those and the rest, and managed to power through. - - - 4 Hours Later: Forgot about this page. I can update more tomorrow.

Of course man! I'm often told I am a lot like Mac, whether that's good or bad haha. I'll post up a pic as soon as I put it together, which will certainly be before the end of the weekend. As for carbs, I did the 80/10/10 thing last summer, and probably took in over 100g of fiber each day - still gained like 12lbs. Whether that was rebound from my two years of living off of 1600cals per day I don't know, but yeah, I don't really do starches or grains other than the oats. I'm sure my main problem is weekend indulgence

Damn dude that's lean! I wish I could get that low. Maybe I need to cut my oats in the morning?

Yeah man, you might be onto something. It's definitely in my love-handles - the fuckers. The rowing machine arrived! I'll set it up and post a picture either tonight or tomorrow. You can tell her it stands upright, and has a footprint of less than 4' squared! I'll try to get more fats than carbs man. Carbs are just so damn delicious! I'm good buddy. Hope you are well too!

Wednesday, August 19, 2015: Chest / Arms 0. Warmup - 8 Minutes HIIT 1. Bench - 3 x 10 @ 205lbs 2. Tricep Kickback - 3 x 12* @ 35lbs - 3. Incline Fly - 3 x 15 @ 70lbs 4. Curls - 3 x 12 @ 85lbs - 5. Bar Dips - 3 x 20 6. Seated Curl Trio - 3 x 12 @ 50 (Hammer, Supinated, Concentration) Good training today. Really can't wait for my rowing machine to show up. I'm sick of my warmup. Really want to get started having regular dedicated cardio sessions. I'm having a real hard time losing fat. In fact, it seems like my waist is growing - even though I'm trying to cut calories. Can't get rid of my little spare tire, and it's really pissing me off. I seem to hold fat on my hips, especially on my back. I don't really understand why my diet is so slow to show results. Maybe someone could comment on my daily intake? My average protein is around 100 - 130g per day, carbs around 200g, fat around 50g or maybe less. Total calories around 1800. Meals: 1. Oatmeal, Scoop Protein Powder 2. 2 Apples 3. Quinoa, Zucchini, Beyond Meat Crumbles (pea based mock meat) 4. Protein Shake w/ Banana 5. Pre-W/O Fruit - today was 2 small peaches (usually an apple or a banana or handful of grapes) 6. Mixed Greens Salad with Tempeh, Broccoli, Kale, Carrots, Salsa 7. Spoonful of peanut butter and another protein shake Any thoughts? I'd really appreciate some direction. More protein? Less carbs? Another shake instead of the apples? Shoulders / Back tomorrow.

Oh man, I'm so jealous! I would give anything to be able to live way out in the woods.

Tuesday, August 18, 2015: LEGS 0. Warmup - 6 Minutes HIIT 1. Squat - 3 x 10 @ 285lbs 2. Weighted Squat Jumps - 3 x 12 @ 25lbs - 3. Side Lunge - 3 x 12* @ 110lbs 4. Front StepUp - 3 x 12* @ 70lbs - 5. Hamstring Curl - 3 x 25 @ 45lbs 6. Calf Raise - 3 x 25 @ 110lbs Strong training today. This felt so good! Took my BCAAs before, during and now after training. I'll say, I'm ashamed I haven't been taking these all along. They were like a little bit of jet fuel in the middle of training, as the single step ups can be a real bitch to get through. Today though, I came out on top. Getting closer to my last day at my job! I'm excited and a little scared of the next step. At least it's not totally unchartered territory. It's not really the work I'm concerned about, but more the impact on my free time. Speaking of . . . . I went ahead and bought myself a present in celebration - a Waterrower! I'm super pumped for it to arrive! I'm getting really sick of doing high impact HIIT cardio, and want something easier on my joints but still challenging. I'm planning on getting up super early and doing fasted cardio, hiit style. I know some people on here don't think this stuff would be necessary, but I've always been my leanest when consistently doing cardio. Either way, I can't wait for it to arrive. Chest/Arms tomorrow.

Nice dude! Did it work? Do you feel like you accomplished less because you went straight into the heavy weights instead of more volume by warming up with deadlifts before? Nice work on the carbs mate. Sounds delicious!

Saturday, August 15, 2015: Back / Shoulders 1. Deadlift - 3 x 10 @ 205lbs 2. Delt Fly - 3 x 15 @ 70lbs - 3. Single Arm Row - 3 x 12* @ 100lbs 4. Single Arm Shoulder Press - 3 x 12* @ 100lbs - 5. Pullup Trio (Wide/Narrow/Chin) - 3 x 12 6. Delt Raise - 3 x 12 @ 45lbs Solid training today. Deadlifts felt really good, as did the rows; though they were hard as fuck with all that weight. I'm super proud of my single arm rows. I remember when I could barely use 40lb dumbbells, and now I'm yanking up 100 on each side - fuck yeah! BCAA's are really kicking ass as well, and helping me with not only energy for training but also recovery. Am only taking them before and after training right now, mainly because I forget during training. Also, I don't really like chugging a bunch of water during training, and these kinda taste like crap so I have to slam them down with about 8oz water. It's just a little too much during high activity, and would give me some nausea before it's absorbed. That tends to throw my focus off entirely. Slept horribly last night as my dog kept waking up all night. Got up at 2 and stayed up til 3 with her. She's been having short focal seizures today, which sucks, but at least they are not full blown grand mal. I'm sure she'll be ok, but they are just so frustrating. To think that some people out there would prefer to keep certain medicines (marijuana) illegal simply because of their individual points of view when that deprives millions of something beneficial is maddening. Here in the States I've come to the conclusion that prohibition on the federal level stems predominantly from ensuring the continued operation of the privatized prison system. Marijuana possession and use is a relatively victimless crime, but yet so many people engage in possession and use that it makes imprisonment easy; as compared to violent crime, it's far more prevalent. That obviously keeps the prisons operating at capacity (note: many (all?) private prisons possess contracts with the government stipulating that the prison remain at capacity throughout the pendency of the contract itself, subject to pecuniary penalty upon breach). Thus, marijuana remains illegal on a federal level simply due to the Government's placating to corporate interests, and likely has nothing to do with the tacit acknowledgement of it's medicinal purpose; which directly contradicts the Schedule 1 Narcotic treatment (aligning Cannabis with Heroin). I obviously support full scale legalization, especially in the context of alcohol, which serves little to no medicinal purpose, causes thousands of direct and collateral deaths on an annual basis, is addictive, and exploited and marketed at an embarrassing rate. That's my point of view. I'd invite any thoughts in support or contradiction. Resting for the remainder of the weekend. Back on Tuesday.

Potato chips, french fries (chips, I know), macaroni and cheez, bread, fucking cereal!!!!

Interesting notes on the seitan recipe. I'll have to try adding in the different grain flours for texture. Never thought of that. I wish it were easy/safe to cycle here, but I think I'm going to get a water rower and stay inside for cardio. Cycling here (Chicago) can be really dangerous, and otherwise the atmosphere is just plan ugly; not to mention the poor air quality. Have a good weekend!

Thursday, August 13, 2015: No Training Mentally I'm elsewhere, my hand really hurts, and I only got about 3 hours of sleep last night. I have no business hitting the weights today, especially for deadlifts. I'm pretty annoyed that I'm not training, but I suppose in the long run a single day won't matter much if at all. Still, pissed. It may be somewhat of a relief that my schedule will change soon to prevent much training. It's been months or even approaching years since I've taken more than just a couple days off from training. Sometimes I just feel I'm losing interest, but then I get into a session and I remember how much I love the pump and sweat. Oh well, these feelings are probably temporary. Anyhow, having a hard time with appetite today; as in there's not much there. Maybe that's a good thing since I'm slacking off anyhow lol. I'll try to get some food down, which will most likely make me feel better. I'll hit up deadlifts and shoulders/back on Saturday.

Cross Curls man, basically instead of curling the hand to its corresponding shoulder (I.e. Right hand to right shoulder) you cross the body (right hand to left shoulder). And for time off, no man I'm going to lift more! Haha. New job will have considerably longer hours, so not sure how often I'll get to train then. Need to hit it up now!

Holy fuck you don't want that happening! Warm up away then man.

You're crazy man! I wouldn't get too down on yourself for failing on the 400+lb deadlift attempt. One, that's a shitload of weight. Two, you had probably already depleted your stamina from doing a bunch of warmups. Maybe instead of performing the related exercise as a warmup, just do some cardio to ensure proper blood flow, followed by some light stretching in a similar motion to weed out any potential issues before loading. Also, does it make much sense to hit up 8 reps of a decent weight, and then 2 of a significant weight prior to your attempt at 1RM? Seems like the goal would be better served by simply attacking the 1RM first. Then, if you have anything left, go for strength building at lower weight/higher reps. Just a thought. Can imagine you lifting in the rain dude - quite a sight!

Wednesday, August 12, 2015: Chest / Arms 0. Warmup - 8 Minutes HIIT 1. Bench - 3 x 12 @ 205lbs 2. Skullcrusher - 3 x 15 @ 70lbs - 3. Decline Fly - 3 x 15 @ 70lbs 4. EZ Curls - 3 x 15 @ 80lbs - 5. Angel Fly - 2 x 12 @ 30lbs 6. Cross Curls - 2 x 12* @ 50lbs Really annoyed at the start of training today. Got a late start, and my tunes weren't coming through, so I pissed away even more time messing with the stereo. Somewhat unfocused during the session as well. Left index finger which has been giving me some grief for a couple years now was being a real asshole. Otherwise, I'm tired lol. Long day, long week, ready for some time off. Only 7 more working days at my current post, then a cool 3 week vacation, then on to my new job! Oh yeah, cut things short today because my co-worker who's on maternity leave called to see how things were going. The call went on forever, and by the end I was too hungry/over training to finish the last set. Back/Shoulders tomorrow.

I'd fire him as well. But I'd first print out this picture, show it to him, explain that "this is Torre Washington, a vegan." Then I'd write "you're fired" on the back of the picture.

Thanks man. I'm trying to get back above 300 which is where I was around the time my old gym closed. Hard to believe I put off back squats for about two years! Like you, I woke up without a stitch of DOMS. Really weird. For protein powder I've been doing a soy isolate from truenutrition.com. You can mix your own there, and they have a bunch of vegan options. Cheap too $6/lb or so. Flavoring is natural too, chocolate peanut butter cup. However, it's been making me feel so shitty when consumed alone with water. I mix it in my morning oats, which goes down fine. Not sure why it's messing me up in the afternoon shake. I add about a teaspoon of cocoa powder, as the maltodextrin is a bit chemical in taste. I know what you mean about other powders. Pea powder really messes me up. Rice powder is fine, but it doesn't have the protein load that soy carries; also soy mixes a bit better. They also have alfalfa based powder, which I am curious about, but not brave enough to try.