RE: Jheft's Heftorium (for all your hefting needs)
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RE: Jheft's Heftorium (for all your hefting needs) - 1/27/2007 8:46:08 PM
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jheft
Posts: 3021
Joined: 1/3/2007
Status: offline
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Thursday, 2007-01-25:
Weight: 188.0 lbs
That tired sick feeling I've felt sneaking up on me finally caught up to me today. Could hardly get out of bed and stayed home from work. Couldn't bring myself to do any cardio.
Food: 3458 calories, 180 g protein, 22% of calories from fat
Friday, 2007-01-26:
Weight: 188.6 lbs
Felt better today, but eating was a real chore.
Food: 3472 calories, 203 g protein, 21% of calories from fat
Saturday, 2007-01-27:
Weight: 188.0 lbs
My dry malt extract and maltodextrin arrived this week, so I got to experiment with those as a carb source for my workout shakes. A combination of the two seems to work better than other things I've tried so far in terms of not making the shake sickeningly sweet. The malt is tasty.
Workout was OK. I didn't increase weight, but I pumped out a couple more reps with the heavier sets in my chest workout. My left triceps again let me down, though I guess it wasn't as bad as last week. It seems like it gets worn out by chest exercies. I think I improved my form and pacing, particularly toward the beginning of the workout, but my concentration really fades toward the end. And I still really hate doing abs.
Felt very ill suddenly in the evening after feeling good all day.
Food: 3447 calories, 192 g protein, 27% of calories from fat
< Message edited by jheft -- 1/27/2007 9:35:17 PM >
_____________________________
Journal: Jheft's Heftorium, Progress Photos (new as of 2008-03-08), My Stack
Current stats: 5'11", 196.0 lbs - starting cut
2008 Results: +22.8 lbs, 2nd Place Discussbodybuilding.com Transformation Contest
"Give me a woman who loves beer and I will conquer the world."
-- Kaiser Wilhelm II
(in reply to David1991)
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RE: Jheft's Heftorium (for all your hefting needs) - 1/27/2007 9:34:37 PM
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jheft
Posts: 3021
Joined: 1/3/2007
Status: offline
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Week 3 Summary:
Start of Week Stats (Saturday, 2007-01-20):
5'11", 184.8 lbs, ~22% body fat.
I gained a lot of weight this week, but I think it's mostly food in my gut, and retained water. My fat seems roughly stable. I did definately gain some muscle in my legs, but I don't think much in my upper body.
End of Week Stats (Saturday, 2007-01-27):
5'11", 188.0 lbs, ~22% body fat.
Skin folds:
I averaged three measurements to get most these values. The fractional values are probably below the accuracy of my measuring, but I'm recording them anyway.
bisceps: .... 8.83mm
chest: ..... 18.83mm
abdomen: ... 33.50mm
thigh: ..... 18.66mm
Body fat: 20.85% (Jackson, A.S., Pollock, M.L., 1978, 3 site formula)
Measurements:
My leg measurements (esp. thigh) increased more than seems plausible, but they do look bigger and my quads look more defined when I flex them.
L calf: ...... 14 1/2" ↑
R calf: ...... 14 7/8" ⇑
L thigh: ..... 23 1/2" ⇑
R thigh: ..... 23 1/4" ⇑
waist: ....... 37 7/8" ↑
chest: ....... 39 1/8" ↑
neck: ........ 15 7/8" ↔
L forearm: ... 10 7/8" ↑
R forearm: ... 11" ... ↑
L bisceps: ... 11 1/2" ↓
R bisceps: ... 12 1/4" ↔
Body fat: 22.55% (Hodgdon, J. and Beckett, M., 1984)
< Message edited by jheft -- 1/27/2007 10:04:38 PM >
_____________________________
Journal: Jheft's Heftorium, Progress Photos (new as of 2008-03-08), My Stack
Current stats: 5'11", 196.0 lbs - starting cut
2008 Results: +22.8 lbs, 2nd Place Discussbodybuilding.com Transformation Contest
"Give me a woman who loves beer and I will conquer the world."
-- Kaiser Wilhelm II
(in reply to jheft)
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RE: Jheft's Heftorium (for all your hefting needs) - 1/29/2007 8:47:42 PM
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jheft
Posts: 3021
Joined: 1/3/2007
Status: offline
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Sunday, 2007-01-28:
Weight: 187.8 lbs
Slept in really, really late, but woke up feeling pretty good. Sleeping in kept me from hitting my calorie goals though.
Food: 3301 calories, 197 g protein, 24% of calories from fat
Monday, 2007-01-29:
Weight: 188.6 lbs
Workout went long somehow, so by the time I got to abs, I was too spent to do them well. The strength increase in my back since I started has to be the most remarkable change I've seen so far. Every week when doing bent over rows, it seems like I'm suddenly able to casually toss around weights that were challenging the previous week. I didn't intend to scale up the weight in anything this week, but I couldn't help it.
My arms also showed improvement, though not to the point of increasing my working weight. The pumps my biceps got were surreal. I thought I had injured my elbows because they weren't bending as far as I'm used to. Then I looked at how pumped my arms were and realized that it was my muscles getting in my way. I had to adjust my form a tad to work around "the problem."
Food: 3639 calories, 240 g protein, 17% of calories from fat
Right now, I work chest, triceps and abs on Saturday, back, biceps, abs and forearms on Monday, legs and shoulders on Wednesday with the rest of the days off/cardio. I'm gonna have to add a fourth workout day, though I'll probably keep the same split (giving each muscle 5-6 days rest instead of a full 7). I find that by the time Thursday rolls around, my biceps and back are waving their little arms saying "hey, we could go again", and my chest is asking my triceps "hey, did he forget about us or something?", to which they respond "he never really loved us, it was all a charade!" If that works, I'll probably add a fifth day in a month or two.
_____________________________
Journal: Jheft's Heftorium, Progress Photos (new as of 2008-03-08), My Stack
Current stats: 5'11", 196.0 lbs - starting cut
2008 Results: +22.8 lbs, 2nd Place Discussbodybuilding.com Transformation Contest
"Give me a woman who loves beer and I will conquer the world."
-- Kaiser Wilhelm II
(in reply to jheft)
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RE: Jheft's Heftorium (for all your hefting needs) - 2/4/2007 8:03:12 PM
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Wannabe_Draper
Posts: 551
Joined: 10/30/2006
From: Australia
Status: offline
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quote:
Well, I guess I'd better start keeping one of these so you guys can harangue me if I start losing my motivation and disappear.
Consider this your first haranguing, you are almost a week behind in your journal! There will be more diatribes to follow if we dont get some updates soon.
(in reply to David1991)
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RE: Jheft's Heftorium (for all your hefting needs) - 2/4/2007 8:29:25 PM
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jheft
Posts: 3021
Joined: 1/3/2007
Status: offline
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I've been behaving myself! Honest! Mostly... I just haven't had time to update the journal. I've got a little time, I'll see if I can get it caught up.
Tuesday, 2007-01-30:
Weight: 190.0 lbs
Kinda fell of the wagon today and had Taco Bell. I also was exhausted of stuffing myself, and fell short on my calorie goals.
Food: 3073 calories, 194 g protein, 29% of calories from fat
Wednesday, 2007-01-31:
Weight: 189.4 lbs
Bought some heavier dumbbells! They're getting expensive, so I guess that's a good sign.
Workout (legs and shoulders) was a little on the long side, though I have no idea why. Still stepping up weights on squats and SL deadlifts. After having that pain in my legs, I've been nervous about putting too much weight on with squats, so I've been inching up very carefully, but the pain has not returned. I know I can handle a lot more, but don't want an injury. Likewise, with deadlifts, I can lift more than I'm doing now, but I want to acclimate my back carefully.
Food: 3484 calories, 253 g protein, 22% of calories from fat
Thursday, 2007-02-01:
Weight: 190.2 lbs
Food: 3375 calories, 200 g protein, 20% of calories from fat
Friday, 2007-02-02:
Weight: 191.0 lbs
Accursed off days! I hate thee! My diet's been a little all over the place this week, but has been all really healthy stuff except for the one cheat.
Food: 3476 calories, 159 g protein, 29% of calories from fat
_____________________________
Journal: Jheft's Heftorium, Progress Photos (new as of 2008-03-08), My Stack
Current stats: 5'11", 196.0 lbs - starting cut
2008 Results: +22.8 lbs, 2nd Place Discussbodybuilding.com Transformation Contest
"Give me a woman who loves beer and I will conquer the world."
-- Kaiser Wilhelm II
(in reply to Wannabe_Draper)
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RE: Jheft's Heftorium (for all your hefting needs) - 2/4/2007 8:52:40 PM
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jheft
Posts: 3021
Joined: 1/3/2007
Status: offline
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Week 4 Summary:
Start of Week Stats (Saturday, 2007-01-27):
5'11", 188.0 lbs, ~22% body fat.
I think I may be gaining weight a little too fast now... I wasn't gaining any at 3000 calories, and now I'm gaining too much at 3500. It's fluctuating more day-to-day than it was before, so it's hard to tell what's going on. I'm gonna give it another week before I try to make an adjustment in calorie intake.
The fat estimates from body measurements and from skin pinches are moving in different directions. I have to assume the skin pinch is more accurate, but I don't know enough about what's going on to have much trust in either one... I worry that I'm not doing any of this with any accuracy. I have no idea if I'm gaining or losing fat or muscle.
I posted some pictures, but 4 weeks is a pretty short span to expect to see progress. Nevertheless, I have definitely increased in strength, and I think there is a visible difference at least in my legs.
Starting next week, I'm going to do four workouts per week (adding Thursday as a workout day), though I'm gonna keep the same split. That give each muscle group 5-6 days of rest instead of 7. I know rest is important, but there's always some part of me that is dying to get back to the weights on these off days.
End of Week Stats (Saturday, 2007-02-03):
5'11", 190.6 lbs, ~21% body fat.
Skin folds:
I averaged three measurements to get most these values. The fractional values are probably below the accuracy of my measuring, but I'm recording them anyway.
biceps: ..... 9.00mm
chest: ..... 17.33mm
abdomen: ... 33.33mm
thigh: ..... 17.00mm
Body fat: 19.95% (Jackson, A.S., Pollock, M.L., 1978, 3 site formula)
Measurements:
These seem to change too much week-to-week to make any sense.
L calf: ...... 14 1/2" ↔
R calf: ...... 14 3/4" ↓
L thigh: ..... 23 3/8" ↓
R thigh: ..... 23 1/4" ↔
waist: ....... 38 1/4" ⇑
chest: ....... 39 5/8" ⇑
neck: ........ 16" ... ↑
L forearm: ... 10 7/8" ↔
R forearm: ... 11 1/4" ⇑
L biceps: .... 11 3/4" ⇑
R biceps: .... 12 3/4" ⇑
Body fat: 22.97% (Hodgdon, J. and Beckett, M., 1984)
< Message edited by jheft -- 2/4/2007 9:05:00 PM >
_____________________________
Journal: Jheft's Heftorium, Progress Photos (new as of 2008-03-08), My Stack
Current stats: 5'11", 196.0 lbs - starting cut
2008 Results: +22.8 lbs, 2nd Place Discussbodybuilding.com Transformation Contest
"Give me a woman who loves beer and I will conquer the world."
-- Kaiser Wilhelm II
(in reply to jheft)
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RE: Jheft's Heftorium (for all your hefting needs) - 2/8/2007 9:31:32 PM
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jheft
Posts: 3021
Joined: 1/3/2007
Status: offline
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Saturday, 2007-02-03:
Weight: 190.6 lbs
Chest, triceps and abs day. My triceps seem to be lagging, at least in strength, so I let them go first, at least today, because I think they're getting too tired during my chest work to get a good workout of their own. I seemed to be able to do quite a bit more with them as a result, and I don't think my chest routine suffered significantly. I'll probably only do this on occasion, because bench is such a big important compound exercise, I want to normally give it the maximum amount of attention.
Food: 3505 calories, 208 g protein, 21% of calories from fat
Sunday, 2007-02-04:
Weight: 191.0 lbs
Off.
Food: 3495 calories, 211 g protein, 25% of calories from fat
Monday, 2007-02-05:
Weight: 190.2 lbs
Back, biceps and abs... Workout was pretty much the best ever. Increased weight everywhere. Increased a lot for bent-over rows again. Easily my favorite exercise - weights that were tough a couple weeks ago feel like helium balloons now. Back pump was crazy, I thought I was going to go Lou Ferrigno, turn green and rip out of my shirt. Left arm got a big pump too. I felt very aggressive. I was shouting and barking and trash talking at my friggin' weights, then I kicked their asses while foaming at the mouth. STOMP! STOMP! STOMP!
Food: 3473 calories, 229 g protein, 19% of calories from fat
Tuesday, 2007-02-06:
Weight: 190.2 lbs
Tuesday seems to always be the day I fall over on the diet. I just couldn't get much of anything down. I even tried to eat some pizza in the evening to see if I could stimulate my appetite, but I couldn't even eat that much of that. Actually, I think I really have trouble eating when I don't get enough fat the previous day. I have a really hard time getting stuff to go down if either a) I get very little fat in the morning, or b) I got less than 20-22% of my calories from fat the day before. I'm really shooting for 20-30% of my calories from fat, and I never go over 30, and usually am in the low 20s (sometimes below 20), so I can probably add a few more healthy sources of fat to my diet.
Food: 2833 calories, 153 g protein, 21% of calories from fat
Wednesday, 2007-02-07:
Weight: 190.8 lbs
Legs and shoulders... I really felt like just doing squats completely wore me out (I upped the weight a fair amount), and I felt weak and tired the rest of the workout... But I must not really have been, because I increased my weights for every single exercise! I didn't really struggle much at all, and my pumps were quite nice. I was just persistently out of breath. I was sure whooped afterwards, but I felt like I really got the most out of it.
Food: 3514 calories, 235 g protein, 23% of calories from fat
Thursday, 2007-02-08:
Weight: 191.0 lbs
New workout day, chest, triceps and abs this week. The whole workout went fairly quickly. I seem to be getting into the rhythm. Saturday's swap seems to kick-started my triceps a bit, as I was able to do better with them even though I switched back to my regular order. Chest went well too, and I increased my max bench. Chest pump was nice. I may rethink having chest/triceps the day after shoulders though, as my shoulders seemed to take a fair amount of punishment.
For the first time, I noticed a significant increase in the strength of my abs. Quite significant actually. I was able to complete my sets without them making me feel ill, and during one set I realized I was accidentally doing full sit-ups instead of crunches. I was able to be more controlled and deliberate even though I was quite tired by the time I got to them.
Was incredibly thirsty all morning through the afternoon. I felt like I drank 50 gallons of water and couldn't get enough. There was a persistent dryness in my throat - maybe a sore throat coming on...?
Food: 3506 calories, 247 g protein, 28% of calories from fat
I seem to be getting good, regular increases in strength (though it's not like I started with much), so I hope that translates into some visible changes...
< Message edited by jheft -- 2/8/2007 9:34:43 PM >
_____________________________
Journal: Jheft's Heftorium, Progress Photos (new as of 2008-03-08), My Stack
Current stats: 5'11", 196.0 lbs - starting cut
2008 Results: +22.8 lbs, 2nd Place Discussbodybuilding.com Transformation Contest
"Give me a woman who loves beer and I will conquer the world."
-- Kaiser Wilhelm II
(in reply to jheft)
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RE: Jheft's Heftorium (for all your hefting needs) - 2/10/2007 10:54:51 PM
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jheft
Posts: 3021
Joined: 1/3/2007
Status: offline
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Friday, 2007-02-09:
Weight: 191.6 lbs
I blew it again on food today. My big mistake was attempting to make homemade meal replacement bars from a recipe I got off the web. I was convince they were gonna be delicious because they had all good stuff - protein powder, peanut butter, some sunflower seeds, dried cranberries, oatmeal, and they smelled great. But they came out tasting more like 100% Wood Pulp Standard, Extreme Kitchen Sponge Flavor. I tried to eat one and it hit my stomach so hard I couldn't even finish it or each much of anything else the rest of the day. I also found myself eating some greasy stuff that I didn't even want and wasn't really that tasty, and I broke the 30% mark on fat for the first time since I started. 
Food: 3216 calories, 173 g protein, 32% of calories from fat
Saturday, 2007-02-10:
Weight: 192.0 lbs
As of today, I'm scaling back the calories a tad to a goal of 3300 per day. 3500 seems to be putting weight on a tad fast, and it's really taxing me to eat that much every day. I think at 3300, I won't feel quite so sick of food all the time, so it will be easier to stay on the wagon.
Today was back, biceps and abs. I did biceps first instead of back, to see if I could jump-start them a bit as I did when I switched chest and triceps. I did seem to get a better workout for them as a result. Strength improvement in my back was more modest than previous workouts, probably because of the switch, but I still felt stronger. Abs were a bit sore from the previous workout, so I took away a couple sets. Even though they were sore, they felt even stronger than a couple days ago.
Food: 3310 calories, 190 g protein, 22% of calories from fat
_____________________________
Journal: Jheft's Heftorium, Progress Photos (new as of 2008-03-08), My Stack
Current stats: 5'11", 196.0 lbs - starting cut
2008 Results: +22.8 lbs, 2nd Place Discussbodybuilding.com Transformation Contest
"Give me a woman who loves beer and I will conquer the world."
-- Kaiser Wilhelm II
(in reply to jheft)
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RE: Jheft's Heftorium (for all your hefting needs) - 2/10/2007 11:11:50 PM
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jheft
Posts: 3021
Joined: 1/3/2007
Status: offline
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Week 5 Summary:
Start of Week Stats (Saturday, 2007-02-03):
5'11", 190.6 lbs, ~21% body fat.
The extra workout day seems to be OK so far. It seemed like there was an increased amount of soreness from having two consecutive workout days, even though they weren't working the same muscles. But the soreness varies so much, I think it's not meaningful. Previous weeks my legs had been very sore after their workout, but even though I increased weight, they were hardly sore at all this week.
I also seemed to gain a more reasonable amount of weight this week, but that could be because I fell pretty far short of my calorie goals on a couple days. I will be scaling back to 3300 calories.
According to my calipers, I have lost some body fat this week even though I've gained scale weight. The changes in the pinch measurements don't seem reasonable, but I am certain that I have less fat on my gut. The "poke test" (where I flex my abs then poke at them to see how thick the fat feels) seems the most accurate.  I don't know where that new muscle is hiding. Some of it appears to be in my neck, since it's unambiguously thicker.
End of Week Stats (Saturday, 2007-02-10):
5'11", 192.0 lbs, ~21% body fat.
Skin folds:
I averaged three measurements to get most these values. The fractional values are probably below the accuracy of my measuring, but I'm recording them anyway.
biceps: .... 10.33mm
chest: ..... 15.00mm
abdomen: ... 32.67mm
thigh: ..... 15.67mm
Body fat: 18.85% (Jackson, A.S., Pollock, M.L., 1978, 3 site formula)
Measurements:
L calf: ...... 14 1/2" ↔
R calf: ...... 14 3/4" ↔
L thigh: ..... 23 1/2" ↑
R thigh: ..... 23 3/8" ↑
waist: ....... 38" ... ↓
chest: ....... 39 3/4" ↑
neck: ........ 16 1/8" ↑
L forearm: ... 10 7/8" ↔
R forearm: ... 11 1/8" ↓
L biceps: .... 11 7/8" ↑
R biceps: .... 12 3/4" ↔
Body fat: 22.49% (Hodgdon, J. and Beckett, M., 1984)
_____________________________
Journal: Jheft's Heftorium, Progress Photos (new as of 2008-03-08), My Stack
Current stats: 5'11", 196.0 lbs - starting cut
2008 Results: +22.8 lbs, 2nd Place Discussbodybuilding.com Transformation Contest
"Give me a woman who loves beer and I will conquer the world."
-- Kaiser Wilhelm II
(in reply to jheft)
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RE: Jheft's Heftorium (for all your hefting needs) - 2/12/2007 9:47:25 PM
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jheft
Posts: 3021
Joined: 1/3/2007
Status: offline
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Sunday, 2007-02-11:
Weight: 192.0 lbs
Food: 3286 calories, 185 g protein, 25% of calories from fat
Monday, 2007-02-12:
Weight: 191.6 lbs
Legs and shoulders... My leg routine is making me so tired... Nothing else makes me breathe so hard and sweat so profusely as squats. I still showed improvement over last week in both legs and shoulders, but my focus is not there to the end of the routine. I think my next cycle, I might make a four day split, giving hams, quads and lower back their own day with more focus, and have some sort of shoulder, forearm, calves and abs day. That would give my shoulders some front and center attention on a day with some smaller parts, and also tighten up my back/biceps day. I might have to move some other stuff around for it to make sense... I definitely think I could make a whole workout that was just squats, dead lifts and related exercises.
My forearms got kinda a weird (and big) pump during my shoulder exercise... Seemed to be in my flexors?
I think I might set up a box for squats. I'm afraid I'm going too low, overcompensating for the fear of doing partials, but I know too deep can be dangerous (though probably not at the pathetic weight I'm working at.) I'm still using dumbbells for everything, and it's starting to limit me at this point. I don't know if I should just break down and get a gym membership soon (they're probably still a nightmare from New Year's), or if I should invest in more home equipment. Space is an issue more than anything, but I absolutely want to be able to have a quality workout at home. I haven't skipped a workout yet, and having the extra burden of getting to the gym is the exact sort of excuse I don't need.
Food: 3300 calories, 217 g protein, 21% of calories from fat
_____________________________
Journal: Jheft's Heftorium, Progress Photos (new as of 2008-03-08), My Stack
Current stats: 5'11", 196.0 lbs - starting cut
2008 Results: +22.8 lbs, 2nd Place Discussbodybuilding.com Transformation Contest
"Give me a woman who loves beer and I will conquer the world."
-- Kaiser Wilhelm II
(in reply to jheft)
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RE: Jheft's Heftorium (for all your hefting needs) - 2/18/2007 7:20:04 PM
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jheft
Posts: 3021
Joined: 1/3/2007
Status: offline
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Tuesday, 2007-02-13:
Weight: 191.6 lbs
Was away from healthy food for quite a while and ended up having a cheat day. I figured it was better to eat a little unhealthy than it was to go hungry.
Food: Who knows?
Wednesday, 2007-02-14:
Weight: 193.4 lbs
After yesterday, was turned off by fatty food, which never happens to me. Workout (chest, triceps, abs) went a bit quicker than usual, but showed little improvement over last week. Triceps got really pumped though.
Food: 3347 calories, 200 g protein, 14% of calories from fat
Thursday, 2007-02-15:
Weight: 193.0 lbs
Didn't get much fat again, somehow. Workout was back, biceps and forearms. Normally I do abs in this workout, but I did them yesterday. Had small improvements in strength.
Food: 3310 calories, 237 g protein, 17% of calories from fat
Friday, 2007-02-16:
Weight: 192.4 lbs
Off.
Food: 3386 calories, 167 g protein, 27% of calories from fat
Saturday, 2007-02-17:
Weight: 191.8 lbs
Computer blew up today, so I had to run around getting that fixed. My diet collapsed because I was so busy and unable to eat. It was all healthy stuff, but fell way short on my calories, and I'm starting to think 3300 is low for me now to begin with. Had to put off workout till tomorrow.
Food: 2814 calories, 145 g protein, 23% of calories from fat
Sunday, 2007-02-18:
Weight: 191.8 lbs
Workout (legs, shoulders) was punishing. Improved nicely in strength but squats are so exhausting. The sad part is that it's not my quads that are my limiting factor. It's the whole rest of me. My grip, my lungs, my heart, my goddamn sweat gland are all screaming "STOP!", but my quads are barking back "You p@$%!es!" Also, I am limited by my equipment. I've gotta make some decisions before my next cycle where I want to go in that department.
Food: 3329 calories, 199 g protein, 16% of calories from fat
_____________________________
Journal: Jheft's Heftorium, Progress Photos (new as of 2008-03-08), My Stack
Current stats: 5'11", 196.0 lbs - starting cut
2008 Results: +22.8 lbs, 2nd Place Discussbodybuilding.com Transformation Contest
"Give me a woman who loves beer and I will conquer the world."
-- Kaiser Wilhelm II
(in reply to jheft)
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RE: Jheft's Heftorium (for all your hefting needs) - 2/18/2007 8:10:24 PM
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jheft
Posts: 3021
Joined: 1/3/2007
Status: offline
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Week 6 Summary:
Start of Week Stats (Saturday, 2007-02-10):
5'11", 192.0 lbs, ~21% body fat.
Didn't gain weight this week. I think a combination of my added muscle, plus the extra workout means that 3300 calories isn't enough. I've only been on that one week though. I'll give it one more before I bump it back up.
I've done some spreadsheet stuff on my measurements, etc. According to my calculations based on my skin fold measurements, while I've a gained little over 6 lbs in scale weight, it's actually 10 pounds of lean gained and 4 pounds of fat lost in just 6 weeks. I don't think that's possible, so either my measurements were wrong at the beginning, or they're wrong now, or I'm doing a lot better than I should be. I would think that if I had gained 10 pounds of muscle it would be more visible.
I've started to put some thought into what I'm doing next... I'm gonna go two more weeks with what I've got going now (with the possible adjustment of calories during that time). Then I'll take a week off, then go for another probably 8 weeks of bulking. I'm gonna readjust my routine so that it's a full four day split. In particular, my workouts almost always go over the recommended 40-45 minutes, so I want to get that down. I also want to split up some muscle groups because one or the other isn't getting a fair shake because I get too worn out by whichever one comes first. I'm thinking something like this:
Sunday - off
Monday - chest, triceps
Tuesday - off
Wednesday - thighs, lower back (squats, lunges, SL dead-lifts, etc.)
Thursday - upper back, biceps
Friday - off
Saturday - shoulders, forearms, calves, abs
That gets my shoulders, which I think need better attention, away from the exhausting leg workouts. They'll share a day with "quick" parts that I only do a couple exercises with. No more abs with my back+biceps or chest+triceps day, so those will be quicker. Then I've got hump-day for the big mean leg stuff.
I'll start cutting after that cycle. I want to get down to a sub-10% body fat, or at least something fairly healthy before I try to put on much more weight.
I also need to think about where I want to go in terms of equipment. I need to at least get a barbell and some plates at some point, and some way to rack them. I have to decide what's cost effective, works in the space I have, and will provide the most benefit in the long term. I'm thinking power-rack because it seems to offer the most potential, and they offer attachments for various cable things and whatnot. But they can be pretty expensive, esp. since I'll need to get a new bench (I really want to add incline/decline exercises to my routine, and my 40 dollar flat bench won't cut it). Then again, perhaps I really should just break down and get a gym membership. If anyone is reading this, I could use some advice in this area.
End of Week Stats (Saturday, 2007-02-17):
5'11", 191.8 lbs, ~21% body fat.
Skin folds:
I averaged three measurements to get most these values. The fractional values are probably below the accuracy of my measuring, but I'm recording them anyway.
biceps: ..... 8.83mm
chest: ..... 15.67mm
abdomen: ... 32.00mm
thigh: ..... 16.00mm
Body fat: 18.95% (Jackson, A.S., Pollock, M.L., 1978, 3 site formula)
Measurements:
L calf: ...... 14 3/8" ↓
R calf: ...... 14 7/8" ↑
L thigh: ..... 23 5/8" ↑
R thigh: ..... 23 5/8" ⇑
waist: ....... 38 1/8" ↑
chest: ....... 39 7/8" ↑
neck: ........ 16 1/8" ↔
L forearm: ... 11" ... ↑
R forearm: ... 11 1/8" ↔
L biceps: .... 12 1/4" ⇑
R biceps: .... 12 5/8" ↓
Shoulders: ... 47" ... ↔
Body fat: 22.49% (Hodgdon, J. and Beckett, M., 1984)
_____________________________
Journal: Jheft's Heftorium, Progress Photos (new as of 2008-03-08), My Stack
Current stats: 5'11", 196.0 lbs - starting cut
2008 Results: +22.8 lbs, 2nd Place Discussbodybuilding.com Transformation Contest
"Give me a woman who loves beer and I will conquer the world."
-- Kaiser Wilhelm II
(in reply to jheft)
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RE: Jheft's Heftorium (for all your hefting needs) - 2/19/2007 8:31:46 PM
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jheft
Posts: 3021
Joined: 1/3/2007
Status: offline
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Monday, 2007-02-19:
Weight: 193.6 lbs
Workout (chest, triceps, abs) went quite quickly, but didn't feel that fulfilling, even though I did work to positive failure. Triceps got nice pump.
Food: 3416 calories, 196 g protein, 25% of calories from fat
< Message edited by jheft -- 2/19/2007 8:33:02 PM >
_____________________________
Journal: Jheft's Heftorium, Progress Photos (new as of 2008-03-08), My Stack
Current stats: 5'11", 196.0 lbs - starting cut
2008 Results: +22.8 lbs, 2nd Place Discussbodybuilding.com Transformation Contest
"Give me a woman who loves beer and I will conquer the world."
-- Kaiser Wilhelm II
(in reply to jheft)
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RE: Jheft's Heftorium (for all your hefting needs) - 2/26/2007 9:06:09 PM
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jheft
Posts: 3021
Joined: 1/3/2007
Status: offline
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Tuesday, 2007-02-20:
Weight: 194.0 lbs
Food: 3144 calories, 215 g protein, 31% of calories from fat
Wednesday, 2007-02-21:
Weight: 194.0 lbs
Workout (back, biceps, abs) felt really good. Better strength increases all-around compared to previous workouts. I got kinda distracted by other things during the middle, so it ran close to an hour, but otherwise, went really well.
Food: 3319 calories, 197 g protein, 25% of calories from fat
Thursday, 2007-02-22:
Weight: 194.0 lbs
Workout (legs, shoulders), was OK. Feeling improvement in lower back when doing dead-lifts. I've been very careful to increase weight very slowly with dead-lifts to avoid injury (though I don't have a history of serious back problems), and now I'm starting to really notice a difference in the strength of the supportive muscles in my back. Heavier weight is feeling much less dangerous now.
My hamstrings and back were really inflexible when I first started. I've never been able to reach my toes, even back as a kid in gym class, and years of sitting at a computer haven't made it any better. But I've taking extra time stretching my hams before and after workouts and when I get in or out of bed, and it's paying off. I can actually reach my toes now while keeping my legs straight if I really stretch. That's like a six inch improvement!
Food: 3311 calories, 211 g protein, 22% of calories from fat
Friday, 2007-02-23:
Weight: 194.0 lbs
Food: 3375 calories, 196 g protein, 26% of calories from fat
_____________________________
Journal: Jheft's Heftorium, Progress Photos (new as of 2008-03-08), My Stack
Current stats: 5'11", 196.0 lbs - starting cut
2008 Results: +22.8 lbs, 2nd Place Discussbodybuilding.com Transformation Contest
"Give me a woman who loves beer and I will conquer the world."
-- Kaiser Wilhelm II
(in reply to jheft)
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RE: Jheft's Heftorium (for all your hefting needs) - 2/26/2007 9:23:15 PM
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jheft
Posts: 3021
Joined: 1/3/2007
Status: offline
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Week 7 Summary:
Start of Week Stats (Saturday, 2007-02-17):
5'11", 191.8 lbs, ~21% body fat.
Weight seemed to jump at the beginning of the week, then stay really stable. Whole week went by really fast. Workouts seemed pretty good compared to past couple weeks, in terms of strength.
I'm wondering if the usual body fat formulas might be wrong for me... I have so much muscle concentrated in my legs, and so little in my upper body compared to what would be considered an average or proportionate build, that I might lie outside the "typical" range to which they apply. For example, my calves are almost 15" now, and my biceps are barely 12". In a normally muscled physique, they would be about the same. Not to say that my legs are big by some sort of objective standard, just that they are quite out of proportion with my upper body.
End of Week Stats (Saturday, 2007-02-24):
5'11", 193.0 lbs, ~21% body fat.
Skin folds:
I averaged three measurements to get most these values. The fractional values are probably below the accuracy of my measuring, but I'm recording them anyway.
biceps: ..... 9.17mm
chest: ..... 16.00mm
abdomen: ... 31.50mm
thigh: ..... 16.17mm
Body fat: 18.95% (Jackson, A.S., Pollock, M.L., 1978, 3 site formula)
Measurements:
L calf: ...... 14 3/4" ⇑
R calf: ...... 14 7/8" ↔
L thigh: ..... 23 7/8" ⇑
R thigh: ..... 23 1/2" ↓
waist: ....... 38" ... ↓
chest: ....... 39 7/8" ↔
neck: ........ 16 1/8" ↔
L forearm: ... 11 1/8" ↑
R forearm: ... 11 1/8" ↔
L biceps: .... 12 1/4" ↔
R biceps: .... 12 3/4" ↑
Shoulders: ... 46 5/8" ↔
Body fat: 22.34% (Hodgdon, J. and Beckett, M., 1984)
_____________________________
Journal: Jheft's Heftorium, Progress Photos (new as of 2008-03-08), My Stack
Current stats: 5'11", 196.0 lbs - starting cut
2008 Results: +22.8 lbs, 2nd Place Discussbodybuilding.com Transformation Contest
"Give me a woman who loves beer and I will conquer the world."
-- Kaiser Wilhelm II
(in reply to jheft)
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RE: Jheft's Heftorium (for all your hefting needs) - 3/1/2007 8:47:01 PM
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jheft
Posts: 3021
Joined: 1/3/2007
Status: offline
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Saturday, 2007-02-24:
Weight: 193.0 lbs
Chest, triceps and abs day. Workout felt good, but not exhausting.
Food: 3524 calories, 180 g protein, 22% of calories from fat
Sunday 2007-02-25:
Weight: 193.8 lbs
Food: 3410 calories, 203 g protein, 23% of calories from fat
Monday, 2007-02-26:
Weight: 194.0 lbs
Seem to be getting sick. Did workout (back, biceps, forearms, abs), but should probably have skipped it. At first, it felt good, and I felt like maybe I wasn't getting sick after all, once I got into it. Forearms got a really good pump before I even got to them. Toward the end, though, I faded badly and it really started to suck. Had to skip abs at the end. It is a Bad Idea to workout when I'm getting sick.
Food: 3217 calories, 211 g protein, 21% of calories from fat
Tuesday, 2007-02-27:
Weight: 194.0 lbs
Felt pretty bad in the morning. Tried going to work but had to go home at lunch. Didn't want to eat, but forced myself to. It's one of those colds where you want to cut off your own head and mail it to an enemy as a biological weapon.
Food: 3217 (weird!) calories, 194 g protein, 24% of calories from fat
Wednesday, 2007-02-28:
Weight: 194.2 lbs
Couldn't get out of bed. Miserable. I made the mistake of thinking I was feeling better in the afternoon and headed into work. Regretted the decision about half-way there. The Sun is bad. Got in a few hours of work, but it was pretty rough. Could barely move after I got home, let alone work out. Could barely eat all day. Got some food in later, but a lot of it was junk. Fell probably 1000 calories short of my goal.
Food: Disaster
Thursday, 2007-03-01:
Weight: 194.0 lbs
Felt much better today. Still coughing up some remnants, but the cold has run it's course, and I slept well last night.
Workout (legs, shoulders) was good. Squats and straight-leg deadlifts didn't exhaust me as much as usual, even though I'm still upping weight in the DLs. My calf pump was really big again, so I measured it - they're about 1 1/4" bigger pumped than they are cold.
Toward the end of my shoulder routine, I really started losing energy fast, so I'm still a bit weak from the cold. I managed to squeeze out a couple more reps than last week on the top weights, but I was utterly blasted by the end. I kinda wished I had a giant baby bottle to drink my protein shake out of. I could curl up on the couch with and nuzzle at my shake while watching some Joss Whedon DVDs. Num!
Still had some trouble eating, but got pretty close to my calorie goals.
I'm gonna make up for my missed workout on Saturday, so I'll start my week off a day late. That'll be better anyway, so that my next cycle actually lines up with calendar weeks.
Food: 3260 calories, 211 g protein, 23% of calories from fat
_____________________________
Journal: Jheft's Heftorium, Progress Photos (new as of 2008-03-08), My Stack
Current stats: 5'11", 196.0 lbs - starting cut
2008 Results: +22.8 lbs, 2nd Place Discussbodybuilding.com Transformation Contest
"Give me a woman who loves beer and I will conquer the world."
-- Kaiser Wilhelm II
(in reply to jheft)
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RE: Jheft's Heftorium (for all your hefting needs) - 3/4/2007 4:07:55 PM
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jheft
Posts: 3021
Joined: 1/3/2007
Status: offline
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Friday, 2007-03-02:
Weight: 193.6 lbs
Food: 3318 calories, 192 g protein, 30% of calories from fat
Saturday 2007-03-03:
Weight: 194.0 lbs
Workout (chest, triceps, abs) was a little lackluster. I didn't think I was going to say this, but I'm actually looking forward to a week off. Being sick this last week really took it out of me.
Food: 3389 calories, 239 g protein, 21% of calories from fat
_____________________________
Journal: Jheft's Heftorium, Progress Photos (new as of 2008-03-08), My Stack
Current stats: 5'11", 196.0 lbs - starting cut
2008 Results: +22.8 lbs, 2nd Place Discussbodybuilding.com Transformation Contest
"Give me a woman who loves beer and I will conquer the world."
-- Kaiser Wilhelm II
(in reply to jheft)
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RE: Jheft's Heftorium (for all your hefting needs) - 3/4/2007 4:53:18 PM
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jheft
Posts: 3021
Joined: 1/3/2007
Status: offline
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Week 8 Summary:
Start of Week Stats (Saturday, 2007-02-24):
5'11", 193.0 lbs, ~21% body fat.
Well, that's the end of this cycle. I'll be taking a week off and formulating a game plan for the next 8 weeks. A couple weeks ago, I didn't feel like taking a week off, but now I'm pretty sure it's a good idea. My improvement seems to have started to fade a bit.
I'll scale back on the food intake during the week off, since I won't be burning so many calories without my workouts. Probably 3000 or so should be fine. I'll keep the protein where it's at, since my muscles should still be building from this week's efforts.
I took some more pictures, but I'm not going to bother posting them. There is virtually no visible difference from my week 1 pictures. According to my skin pinch calipers, I've gained 12.1 lbs of muscle and lost 3.7 lbs of fat. Surprisingly enough, that doesn't translate into a visible change. Based on that, I'm wondering if even 20 or 30 pounds of added muscle makes much of a visible difference in appearance.
End of Week Stats (Saturday, 2007-03-03):
5'11", 194.0 lbs, ~20% body fat.
Skin folds:
I averaged three measurements to get most these values. The fractional values are probably below the accuracy of my measuring, but I'm recording them anyway.
biceps: ..... 8.83mm
chest: ..... 16.50mm
abdomen: ... 31.00mm
thigh: ..... 15.83mm
Body fat: 18.86% (Jackson, A.S., Pollock, M.L., 1978, 3 site formula)
Measurements:
I'm not going to continue making shoulder measurements, since it's too hard to get correct and consistent values.
L calf: ...... 14 1/2" ⇓
R calf: ...... 14 7/8" ↔
L thigh: ..... 23 3/4" ↓
R thigh: ..... 23 1/2" ↔
waist: ....... 38" ... ↔
chest: ....... 39 5/8" ⇓
neck: ........ 16 1/4" ↑
L forearm: ... 11 1/8" ↔
R forearm: ... 11 | | |
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