esqinchi

Tuesday, March 30, 2015: GBC + HIIT 1. Decline Chest Fly - 3 x 12 @ 70lbs; 3030 2. Deadlift - 3 x 12 @ 175lbs; 1010 3. Reverse Lunge Kick - 3 x 15* - 4. Shoulder Press - 3 x 12* @ 85lbs; 2020 5. Reverse Lunge - 3 x 12* @ 70lbs; 2020 6. Squat Jumps - 3 x 15 And then I felt so nauseous, I just had to stop. This is so incredibly annoying, I cannot even begin to describe how pissed I am for having to pack it in when I planned to get through an additional giant set. F that. Even this was nearly impossible to get through. I ate a banana and a handful or three of cereal about 30 minutes before training, so I figured I'd be fine. If that's not the reason, there's gotta be another explanation. I even slept well last night. Seems like once I lose focus, I tend to fall apart (which isn't surprising, really). Anyhow, maybe I'll have to re-think doing 3 giant sets each training day, and just try for two but add another day to my weekly routine. I will say that now that I'm done with today, I feel tired as fuck. I tried the sugar under the tongue trick today, actually it was a vegan honey I found (made from apples), but that didn't seem to work. Perhaps the consistency was not the best choice. Anyhow, I'll give it some more thought through the rest of the night, and come back tomorrow with a different plan. Thoughts welcome!

Saturday, March 28, 2015: Still Tired GBC + HIIT 1. Standing Press Ups - 3 x 15 @ 50lbs 2. Single Leg Squat - 3 x 12* @ 70lbs 3. Mountain Climbers - 3 x 50 - (Failed Sets) 4. Delt Fly - 3 x 15 @ 70lbs 5. Single Leg Deadlift - 3 x 15* @ 60lbs 6. Long Jumps - 3 x 16 - 7. Front Raise - 3 x 15 @ 35lbs 8. Bulgarian Split Squat - 3 x 15* @ 70lbs 9. High Knees - 3 x 50 UGHHHH Still exhausted. Woke up at 1:30am today, and then stayed up until about 4, then slept til 8. I hate it when that happens. Barely got through the first section above, even dropped part of a 35lb db on my big toe, and then just realized that I'm tired as fuck, and getting in here and killing it is going to do nothing good for me long-term. So, I packed it in, came upstairs and made a huge salad, and some plans to do nothing for the rest of the day.... Maybe I'll watch some TV, or maybe I'll go back to bed. My little pup has the right idea, as seen here....

Thursday, March 26, 2015: Day of Rest Felt really tired when I got home, and just not interested in training at all. Gave it some more thought after an hour or so, and nope, still not interested. Was up since 4 anyhow, and I think all the poor sleep and training caught up to me today. So, I'll take the day off. Won't be able to get back in the saddle until Saturday afternoon so I'll try to behave until then. Doesn't help that my wife left me a cupcake on the counter when I got home. It was delicious.

Wednesday, March 25, 2015: GBC + HIIT 1. Incline Bench - 3 x 12 @ 170lbs; 2020 2. Walking Lunge - 3 x 12* @ 70lbs; 2020 3. Hurdle Jumps - 3 x 12 - 4. Deadlift - 3 x 12 @ 170lbs; 1010 5. Pullups - 3 x 12; 2020 6. Sprint Lunges - 3 x 6 - 7. Skullcrusher - 3 x 12 @ 55lbs; 4040 8. Lateral Step-Up - 3 x 12* @ 70lbs; 2020 9. Football Drills - 3 x 4 Another day of solid training. Trained much earlier than posting today, because I got carried away applying for jobs. Not much else to say really, and need to get on putting things together for tomorrow. Back tomorrow to do something... probably cardio as I plan on being sore as fuck.

Ugh, I had an entire post, but then it disappeared. Anyhow, BNB, I haven't tried/seen any BCBS here, likely because there's just too many assholes here that obsess over that stuff, so it's never available. Lucky for me, I love sour beers, and all other odd brewing styles - so my taste is always in stock!

Yeah man, that analogy with carbs and fat makes sense. When I did the 80/10/10 diet last year, I could physically feel myself start to burn the carbs. It was like jet fuel, fast and hot, and then nothing. When I did permit myself some fat, it was like sprinting on wet sand. I still try to keep fats low, and don't really cook with them ever. I actually have a pretty bland cooking style, apparently. People say "this is really good, and I love the flavor, but you just don't cook with salt." And it's true. So, yeah we have coconut oil here for various things, but I don't really reach for it often. I'd love to eat more avocados, but they tend to be of shit quality here unless one is in the midst of summer. When I do eat fats though I have to be very careful. I could eat a whole jar of peanut butter with just a spoon in one sitting. Must be something I picked up as a kid. Salsa on salad is the way to go! Who needs dressing after that? I just ate a whole head of green leaf myself!

Tuesday, March 24, 2015: GBC + HIIT 1. Single Arm Row - 3 x 12 @ 85lbs; 2020 2. Front Squat - 3 x 12 @ 120lbs; 2020 3. Burpee + Jump - 3 x 12 - 4. Standing Bar Press - 3 x 12* @ 85lbs; 2020 5. Side Lunge - 3 x 12* @ 85lbs; 2020 6. High Knees - 3 x 50 - 7. Curls - 3 x 12 @ 75lbs; 2020 8. Scissor Hip Extension - 3 x 12* @ 35lbs; 2020 9. Skate Jumps - 3 x 12* Solid training today. Felt nice to change it up from the typical bench press Tuesdays as well. Fell asleep on the train ride home, so I thought I would be short on energy today, but I put down a banana and some strawberries beforehand, which suited me well throughout the session. I guess I have been sleeping poorly as of late, but I don't really notice until the end of the day. Perhaps that's me crashing from my caffeine dose in the morning. I should really work on that; but there's not much better than hot coffee on a cold day. Been feeling all around better lately. I guess I just kind of let the things I cannot change/control be, and just focus on living. By the way, I found the scissor hip extension exercise here: http://www.t-nation.com/free_online_article/sports_body_training_performance/the_painful_seven. They were pretty brutal, so I'd recommend. Just put the weight you want to use on your hips, just like if you were doing hamstring curls. Alright, I'm tired, and fed, and ready to get off the computer. Back tomorrow with more, depending on how sore!

Well, I bought a 750ml bottle of some local lager, but didn't drink it . . . a habit of mine. Felt pretty nice to wake up on Sunday with no hangover of any sort. Seems to really rip into me these days. Must be getting older. Last few times I put some beers down I could barely make it past 4 bottles before wanting to crawl in bed.

That's interesting what you say about other peoples' experience. I cut down to 1600 calories/day for a couple years, and ended up losing 96lbs. However, when I went on an unrestricted raw diet, that climbed back up about 14lbs. Now, I'm finding it difficult to drop pounds, even on a cut. I think I'm pretty sensitive to insulin, as I tend to get very hungry out of nowhere; and sometimes find it difficult to achieve satiety. For example, most days I'll put down about 400 calories of lentils/beans/vegetable, but then almost immediately feel hungry for some kind of fat (i.e. peanut butter). It's almost like I can taste the peanut butter just thinking about it. Perhaps that indicates an increase in fat is necessary? Stress? I have that in spades: mortgage, enormous student loans, low pay yet promising job, little prospects due to the market. yeah, stress is a definite factor.

Maybe low in energy, yeah. More hungry all the time. Hungry prior to, during, and obviously after training. Hungry almost right after I eat lunch too. I'm restricting to approx 2000 calories per day, where maintenance is around 2600. So, if I'm cutting for long periods of time, and I just on a constant plateau and not really building muscle, or am I making slow gains?

Oh man if I did ab crunches to failure I'd probably have a hard time getting along the next day if you know what I mean. How are you going to split things up going to failure every other day? Or are you? I wish I could get a good grip on my bf%. I started cutting again for the most part a few weeks ago, but it seems like I might still be eating too little.

HAHA! Well, maybe no beers The missus is sick this weekend, and it just wouldn't be fair... Or, perhaps I should double down and make up for her loss?

Saturday, March 21, 2015: Full Body Quickset 1. Decline Chest Fly - 3 x 12 @ 70lbs; 3030 2. ChinUps - 3 x 12; 1030 3. Squat + Shoulder Press - 3 x 12 @ 50lbs - 4. Single Leg Deadlift - 3 x 12 @ 70lbs; 2020 5. Walking Lunge - 3 x 12* @ 70lbs; 2020 6. Long Jumps - 3 x 16 Not much time to train today as I am giving a mock interview to a first year law student this afternoon, and needed to cram in preparation. I'm going to grill this kid on so many things, just to make sure he's more than prepared. Otherwise, it's a beautiful day out, and I'm in a great mood. Training was fun too, and I managed to keep rest periods to about 30 seconds. Negatives on the chin-ups are killer, and I had to take a 10 second pause between every 6 reps. Also, I love combining lifting with explosive moves. Haven't done the squat/press in a long time, if ever, and really enjoyed that move. Pizza tonight, but no beers. Looking forward to relaxing for the rest of the day. Have a good weekend all!

I must have been tired/hangry when I read that article, because I took another look and it's pretty simple. I think the website could use some work though, spatially speaking. Anyhow, glad you are enjoying the training. I have been working under German Body Composition training lately, which seems to be producing good results. Haven't really been tracking my lifts all that closely though. I really should work on that. What I have noticed is that things that were once difficult, I am able to get through with ease. So that tells me there's been progress, and maybe that's good enough for me at the end of the day.

Thursday, March 19, 2015: GBC (No HIIT) 1. Row - 3 x 12 @ 140lbs; 2020 2. Reverse Lunge - 3 x 12 @ 70lbs; 2020 - 3. Neutral Grip Pullups - 3 x 12; 1030 4. Sumo Squat - 3 x 12 @ 190lbs; 2020 - 5. Tricep Press on Bench - 3 x 12; 4040 6. Hamstring Curl - 3 x 12 @ 35lbs; 3030 No HIIT today because I am sore as hell from yesterday's training, and tired too after having to get up in the middle of the night again. Increased calories prior to training today, which seemed to help. Maybe I should try a higher glycemic load food as a pre-w/o... So I just checked and found that apples are a 38 GCI, whereas bananas are more like 62. That could explain why I felt better today, plus the date roll I consumed in addition (42 GCI). After the session I came upstairs and planned to make a huge salad, but my wife bought us organic greens this week, and I noticed they were crawling (well, not really crawling) with tiny bugs. That sucks. It's a shame pesticides are so terrible, but I'm not interested in eating bugs; and I'm too hungry to patiently wash them all away. Substituted the idea for a can of garbanzos on top of some kale and zucchini, topped with salsa verde, and this hot sauce I made earlier in the week. Here's the recipe: Ingredients: - 4 fresno chili peppers - 1 bulb garlic - 1 shallot - 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar - 1 pinch salt - 1 pinch paprika - 3 dashes liquid smoke Directions: - Heat oven to 420* - Cut the tip end of the garlic off with a knife - not the little hat - place on tin foil and drizzle with olive oil; seal up into the foil - Cut the stems off of the chilis and discard - Roast chilis and garlic in the oven for about 20 minutes or until chilis are soft and blackened - Remove chilis and garlic from the oven, unwrap the garlic. - Place all ingredients except for the vinegar into food processor, process until very smooth while slowly adding in the vinegar. - Store in fridge, will probably last a couple weeks (if you can make it that far, I wanted to drink the stuff). Here's a pic of the result . . .

Wednesday, March 18, 2015: Pre-W/O - 1 apple GBC + HIIT 1. Pushup Trio - 3 x 50 (Incline, Staggered, Diamond); 1010 2. Lateral StepUp - 3 x 12* @ 70lbs; 2020 3. Sprint Lunges - 3 x 6 Rounds - Snack Break - 1 coconut/date roll 4. Deadlift - 3 x 12 @ 165lbs; 2020 5. Military Press - 3 x 12 @ 70lbs; 3010 6. Belt Kicks - 3 x 24 - 7. Curls - 3 x 12 @ 75lbs; 2020 8. Bulgarian Split Squat - 3 x 12* @ 70lbs; 2020 9. Hurdle Sprints - 3 x 12 Pretty decent training today. Got SUPER hungry after that first giant set, so I had to run up to the kitchen and get some quick energy. That date roll helped me finish the rest, but I was starving again by the end of the final set. I like training like this, but it does require quite a bit of focus training full body and then HIIT. I tried to keep my rest periods to 2 minutes, but sometimes they crept as high as 4. Really tired now, and kind of mentally spent. Slept horribly last night after the pup was just totally wired from her seizure meds (sometimes they have the opposite effect). I discovered that it's low pressure systems that cause her to have episode (all her seizures are weather related). Low pressure systems give me pretty awful headaches as well. I really need to start drinking more water. I've been having a lot of . . . gas lately. I think the water would help. Plus, I just need to stay away from peas. Back tomorrow with more of the same.

Tuesday, March 17, 2015: Short Run 1. Incline Bench - 3 x 20 @ 155lbs 2. Walking Lunge - 3 x 15* @ 70lbs 3. Squat Jumps - 3 x 15 Had a work related phone call I was supposed to take at 4, then 4:30, then 5:00, which made getting a session in a bit difficult. When the call was done, I thought about going back to training, but I was too hungry and lacked focus. Sorry for the shit posts as of late... I'm going through some stuff that's been pretty difficult professionally speaking. In turn, that's really jarred my focus, and made me lose a lot of motivation. Anyhow, I plan to come back tomorrow and finish what I started today, and then some...

Saturday, March 14, 2015: GBC + HIIT, Giant Sized 1. Decline Fly - 3 x 15 @ 70lbs; 2020 2. Front Squat - 3 x 15 @ 110lbs; 2020 3. Football Drills - 3 x 6 - 4. DB Pullover - 3 x 15 @ 50lbs; 2020 5. Single Leg Deadlift - 3 x 15 @ 60lbs; 2020 6. Spring Lunges - 3 x 6 Awesome training today, after taking a few days' rest. I think I'll start incorporating HIIT into my daily training from now on. I think it's a great way to get in some conditioning while also building strength. It's such a beautiful day outside, so I won't waste any more time here on the computer. Get outside if you can!!!

Hey, so I did a bit of reading on Indigo training, and it has me a bit puzzled. Did you find a concise resource on the training style? I'm looking for something new, as I'm starting to plateau again and need something to shake things up as I go into the summer (finally!) months. This is what I found, apparently by the "creator" of the training style: http://www.t-nation.com/workouts/indigo-project. However, not only is this an unclear drafting of training instructions, it seems needlessly complex. Maybe you found something a little more clear cut?

Thursday, March 12, 2015: Rest Day So, I trained yesterday (3/11) for about 20 minutes of cardio, and then packed it in. I was pooped, and hungry. Today, our company went home. But, I only got about 3 hours of sleep last night, which means I really have no business training today. Anyhow, I'll be back at it on Saturday after I get some rest, and finish out the week. Kind of a brutal week work-wise as well. Hope all are well!

Tuesday, March 10, 2015: GBC 1. Incline Bench - 3 x 12 @ 175lbs; 2020 2. Angle Lunge - 3 x 12* @ 70lbs; 3030 - 3. Circus Press - 3 x 12* @ 35lbs; 3030 4. Deadlift - 3 x 12 @ 175lbs; 1010 - 5. Aussie Pullups - 3 x 12 @ 25lbs; 1110 6. Hamstring Curl - 3 x 12 @ 25lbs; 3030 Strong training today. Tried out traditional deadlifts as opposed to the Romanian style, which is typically my go to. These, were way more difficult. Still have company in town, so there's not much time to post up here. Anyhow, that's what I did today. Came upstairs and had some lentils/beans/broccoli, and a huge salad. Cardio tomorrow.

Can't wait for summer to hit so I can make myself some decent salsa verde. Mind posting up some recipes for the energy balls?

Yes mate I love it! Salsa belongs on everything! Well, most everything.

Saturday, March 7, 2015: Short GBC 1. Flat Bench - 3 x 12 @ 185lbs;1010 2. Walking Lunges - 3 x 12* @ 70lbs - 3. Aussie Pullups - 3 x 12; 2020 4. Single Leg StepUps - 3 x 12 @ 70lbs; 2020 Have company in this weekend, and was busy with them earlier today so I didn't get a chance to train until this afternoon. Even then, only had a few minutes to squeeze some sets in, so I went with what appeared as least time consuming. Next time I'm strapped for time, I'll focus on high volume body weight exercises, combined with HIIT training. I think that would be the most effective use of a short period of time; though I am sure some would beg to differ . . . Perhaps a few sets of low reps and very heavy weights, but that's not really my style of training, and it doesn't factor in preparation in setting up for training, nor transition time. Pushups can be done in a moment's notice, etc. Actually had time to get in a third superset, but cut things short because my little dog had a seizure and needed help. No worries, she's better now. Had a dream last night that we had a little baby, who was sitting on one of those baby carrier seats on the counter. When I approached the baby seat, inside was our little dog (as in, she was the baby). I just remember feeling nothing but pure happiness. I love that little pup so much. Rest for the remainder of the weekend, then back on Tuesday to crush last week's lifts!

Thursday, March 5, 2015: GBC 1. Decline Row - 3 x 12 @ 70lbs; 3010 2. Front Squat - 3 x 12 @ 110lbs; 3030 - 3. Curls - 3 x 12 @ 80lbs; 2020 4. Walking Lunge - 3 x 12* @ 70lbs; 2020 - 5. Tricep Extension - 3 x 12* @ 25lbs; 2020 6. Hamstring Curls - 3 x 12 @ 35lbs; 3030 Solid training today. Really happy with the arm progression, and all my lifts felt so clean today. No bullshit nausea or hunger either. Ordered some new training gloves, as my current pair is worn down way beyond usefulness. I think I got them about 2 years ago haha. Tried a few sips of this Garden of Life Raw protein powder, and, to be honest, it was just ok. I don't really go to the powders all that often, but this was sitting around the house for a few weeks. I guess I'd just rather eat real food than consume something processed like that; even if it is "raw." What does that even mean, anyhow? How can something in powder form be raw, as compared to a banana, or an orange. Seems suspect. Anyhow, I took a couple swigs, then set it aside to put down this fucking huge salad I made. I felt a bit guilty ditching the protein shake, so I added some more beans in a small bowl. That brought my dinner macros to: 647.3 cals; 5.66g fat; 95.32g carb; 31.39g protein. Resting tomorrow, then back in action on Saturday! Also, temps hit 50*F next week!!!