Day 325: Back to Normal

Quote of the Day

"You can't change what happened to you, but you can see to it that your life isn't destroyed by it." - Tempest, Dark Fire (Christine Feehan)

Training

HIIT Run:
a. 4 min jogging
b. 24 x 20 sec effort/10 sec easy
c. 4 min jogging

Gym - Shoulders (1 min recovery between supersets/trisets):
Superset A -
1. Behind-the-neck BB Military Press 4 x 12, 10, 8, 6
2. Lateral Raises 4 x 12, 10, 8, 6
Superset B -
3. Seated BB Military Press 4 x 8, 7, 6, 5
4. Hammer Raises 4 x 8, 7, 6, 5
Triset -
5. Clean and Press 4 x 10
6. Single-Arm Lateral Raises 4 x 10 per arm
7. Seated Bent Over Rear Raises 4 x 10

Stretch 23 min.

Comments

Sleep - Time and Quality: Back to an all-over-the-place sleeping schedule (sigh).

Mood/Aggression: Better, now that I have had my first training session in a week.

Energy: It's back.

Mental Focus and Clarity: Blinkers are on and I am FOCUSED.

Stress: As long as training happens DAILY, I will be ok.

Libido: This has been an untameable beast.

Joints: A few clicks in left elbow during Behind-the-neck BB Military Presses, but nothing else.

Endurance: Good.

Strength: The week off didn't do any damage re strength.

Pump: In anterior and lateral deltoids.

Vascularity: Good.

Quality of Training: HIIT Run was interesting. Tasting blood from the 4-minute mark, continuing to the end of the run. Efforts were fast and slow at the same time. The cold made it better for me to run in . . . Resistance training was fine. Bit of pain, especially in left anterior deltoid, but nothing major. Felt good to be doing something again . . .

Recovery: Fine.

Body Composition and Look: Maintaining at ~10% bodyfat - on the higher end of the range I want to be in, so going to have to do something about that.

Other Notes: I started back on Alpha-T2, BLACK CATS, and Neovar Recomped today, adding back in Lipotrophin-PM, and just using LipoBURN re topicals.

Question of the Day

Can a simple hug wipe away the pain, hide the extent of the despair for a moment, and make us believe and hope in the core of our soul that we are not as alone as we think we are?

Day 321: I truly am an Addict!

Quote of the Day

"All the breaks you need in life wait within your imagination. Imagination is the workshop of your mind, capable of turning mind energy into accomplishment and wealth." - Napoleon Hill

Training

None.

The funny thing is, this would have been my week OFF training if I had competed as originally planned last weekend. Weird how things turn out.

Comments

Sleep - Time and Quality: I've spent the last few days doing not a lot else but sleeping - and now I know WHY . . .

Mood/Aggression: NOT good.

Energy: I have none.

Mental Focus and Clarity: I have not a lot of this either.

Stress: It's a small stress off knowing why I am feeling like this.

Libido: Demands upon demands here.

Recovery: It's not about what I've been doing or not doing, but about what I have not been having.

Other Notes: It's not the higher dose of Erase. It's not the lack of water that I've had over the past few days. It's not the highly upsetting and stressful events of the last week. It's my body going through STIMULANT WITHDRAWAL - and FAST. Didn't take long at all - barely a day withOUT BLACK CATS and I may as well have had someone sounding a battering ram in my head. I KNOW I have a serious problem - I'm NOT functional withOUT stimulants, and LOTS of them, which is nothing good, to say the least. I HAVE to get more, and STRONG ones at that, tomorrow, so that I can start LIVING again! . . . On that note, I used the last of my NeoVar Recomped today, so will be starting CreaPure again tomorrow . . . May also add in Recompadrol as my nutrient repartitioner, since I don't do well without one of those either . . . I am DEFINITELY going to have to learn to TAKE CARE of my HEALTH and STOP DESTROYING myself!

Question of the Day

Is the night ever truly black? Is it as dark as we sometimes think it is, or no, because there is never ever really a true absence of light?

Day 300: Keep going

Quote of the Day

"The difference between a successful person and others is not a lack of strength, not a lack of knowledge, but rather a lack of will." - Vince Lombardi

Music Video of the Day

Theory of a Deadman - Sacrifice

Training

HIIT Cardio:
a. 4 min jogging
b. 24 x 20 sec effort/10 sec easy
c. 4 min jogging

Gym - Full-Body (30 sec recovery between sets/supersets):
1. EZ-Bar Bicep Curls 2 x 20
2. Incline Dips 2 x 10
3. Clean and Press 2 x 20
4. Push-Ups (feet and hands on floor) 2 x 10
5. Supinated BB Bent Over Rows 2 x 20
6. Split Squata 2 x 10
Superset A -
7. Deadbugs 2 x 10
8. Bicycle 2 x 20
Superset B -
9. Plank x 1 min
10. Side Plank x 1 min

Post-Weights Cardio 20 min.

Stretch 20 min.

Comments

Sleep - Time and Quality: Normal for me.

Mood/Aggression: Let's not go there!

Energy: Energizer bunny.

Mental Focus and Clarity: Lots of things to do today.

Stress: High.

Endurance: Fine.

Strength: Good.

Pump: From the first set - it actually started during my HIIT run!

Vascularity: Not very strong in the morning, picking up later in the day.

Quality of Training: More HIIT running outside. Nice and cool weather - I don't understand how people here can think 40-50 degrees Farenheit is COLD and be wearing huge jackets and winter gear! Had lots of energy for my efforts, and actually finished the loop a couple of minutes FASTER than I did on either Monday or Wednesday . . . Resistance session was fine. Short and sweet at ~20 minutes . . .

Recovery: My anterior delts were feeling it during resistance training.

Other Notes: Have more NeoVar Recomped again - although I use it for its nutrient repartitioning/insulin mimicking effects, because it contains creatine, I will be using it interchangeably with CreaPure, depending on my nutrition for that day and the one before.

The Next Four Weeks: Sometimes you have to Adapt

DISCUSSION

It's been three weeks since my competition. Leading up to the competition was 19 weeks being back at training.

The week after competition I had an "easy" week - well, easy for me, with only two resistance sessions and five cardio sessions. I DID consider it my "week off", determined never to have another COMPLETE week off ALL training after everything I've been through the last year.

The second week post-competition I trained as usual re Maintenance training - even if the training was done backwards through the week re days.

The third week post-competition saw only THREE training days (two resistance sessions and three cardio sessions), and counts even more as a "week off" than the first week post-competition.

The last three days have been NO training at all for me - this is the longest I have been without at least doing SOME training for the last 22 weeks! Three days' break from training is definitely NOT fun on my body, hitting home more than ever the importance of DAILY, INTENSE training for me, with at least 2-3 days of training before taking a one day break.

My primary goal for this period was "one month maximum to lose 1% bodyfat . . . and ~2 inches from each my hips, and thighs". Over the last three weeks, progress towards this goal has NOT happened, going backwards instead, and my body composition has actually INcreased due to the lack of dieting and training, as well as stress.

It seems that NOT taking time off from training has been detrimental to my body, and it has forced some off (no excuse, I know, but it has contributed towards my "regression"). However, the good thing about this is that the damage is not as bad as it could have been, and from NOW, the "one month maximum" CAN STILL be used to reach my initially set body composition goal of getting as lean as possible.

BODY STATISTICS

Now:
* Body Composition of 10.1% bodyfat
* Body Mass of 122.2 pounds (although this is irrelevant next to body composition)
* Resting Pulse of 32 beats per minute

I feel like I am back to square one, especially with the bodyfat and weight gain - just goes to show how such a little time can make such a difference. It probably doesn't help that I was getting pretty lean when it happened, making it almost "rebound", and not well. Trust me when I say that an extra 15 pounds on someone of my height is NOT a good thing (and my body certainly HATES me for it!) - every pound may as well be 10 pounds, because that's how it makes me feel, not to mention that now anything over 9.5-10% bodyfat makes me feel obese (yes, I know I have issues).

The first thing to do is to get back below 9% bodyfat, then 8% bodyfat, and then LEANER, with the eventual focus to maintain 8-9% bodyfat once I achieve the lowest level of leanness I possibly can.

TRAINING

Because a week-pre-competition is meant to be followed for 7-10 days pre-competition/photoshoot only and not for prolonged periods of time, I am returning to a more manageable Maintenance training schedule.

Monday: HIIT Cardio + Stretch 20-30 minutes + Shoulders

Tuesday: 20 min Cardio + Stretch 20-30 minutes + Arms

Wednesday: HIIT Cardio + Stretch 20-30 minutes + Full-Body

Thursday: 20 min Cardio + Stretch 20-30 minutes

Friday: HIIT Cardio + Stretch 20-30 minutes + Full-Body

Saturday: 20 min Cardio + Stretch 20-30 minutes + Upper Body

Sunday: Day Off

My training does not stay the same re exercises, order, sets, reps, or weight used, each week, but varies. I always lift as heavy as I can for the reps I set out to do each session, and I use 30 seconds to 1 minute recovery between sets/supersets/trisets/giant sets.

I do not do any specific work for my legs as my lower body overwhelms my upper body. If I train legs, I gain muscle mass despite what I do and more muscle in my legs is NOT what I want or need.

I train first thing in the morning, since this is the most effective for me.

For any given week training can be changed and adapted, based on how my body is feeling, recovery, etc.

NUTRITION

As I have mentioned, I am NOT a "dieter". Dieting does NOT work for me.

It's about listening to my body on a daily basis and adjusting my nutrition (as I do my training) as required. Over the last few months, it has also been about NOT consuming foods that I am sensitive and intolerant to - as I get older, the list gets longer - and for my HEALTH and fitness, I now have to take this more seriously and stick to it.

I still have 5-6 meals daily, 2-3 hours apart.

I also drink 1-2 UK galleons (a UK galleon is 4.54 litres) of water a day, with the only other liquid that I consume re drinks being herbal or green tea.

SUPPLEMENTS

Three products that make it so much easier to maintain relative leanness:

I'm starting Alpha-T2 back up today.

Also adding Shred Matrix back in from now.

CreaPure has still not arrived, and my NeoVar Recomped is likely to get here before it, so I am just going to go back to using NeoVar Recomped - especially since I have come to realize how valuable it has been in maintaining my leanness.

I apologize for the last three weeks - they have certainly not been anywhere near my best and very uncharacteristic of my usual drive and passion - and from now on, it's time to get back on my feet, renew my determination and discipline, and JUST DO IT!

Day 290: A Nutrient Repartitioner really IS Magic for Me

Training

Cardio 20 min.

Stretch 21 min.

Gym - Full-Body (30 sec recovery between supersets):
Superset A -
1. Stiff-Legged BB Deadlifts 8 x 12-15
2. Single-Leg Deadlifts 8 x 12 per leg
Superset B -
3. Flat BB Bench Press 6 x 12
4. Supinated Lat Pull-Downs 6 x 12
Superset C -
5. Clean and Press 8 x 12
6. Bent Over Rearl Raises 8 x 12
Superset D -
7. EZ-Bar Bicep Curls 6 x 15
8. Overhead Rope Tricep Extensions 6 x 12-15

Post-Weights Cardio 20 min.

Comments

Mood/Aggression: All over the place.

Energy: There.

Mental Focus and Clarity: Need to start cracking down on the STUDY!!!

Stress: Unbelievably HIGH!

Endurance: Fine.

Pump: Strong.

Vascularity: Blue lines and knots.

Quality of Training: It was ok. Still feeling like I did yesterday - hence the supersets and shorter session. Didn't really want to do Post-Weights Cardio at all.

Recovery: Lower body feeling it a little.

Other Notes: After training I looked back through my progress spreadsheets and training journal to see where I have made the most progress re body composition over the last ~21 weeks. You're going to be surprised: The weeks when I lost the MOST bodyfat was when I was eating whatever I wanted (i.e. cheating) and only doing ~40-90 minutes of training (resistance sessions only 15-30 minutes!) daily for those weeks. The OTHER thing I noted was that this was also when I was using and dosing NeoVar Recomped at 12-16 caps daily (4 caps first thing, 2 caps pre-training, 2 caps immediately post-training, 4 caps pre-bed, and sometimes another 4 caps post a high carbohydrate meal - yes, I noted that dosing immediately AFTER the meal instead of 15-20 minutes before it made it more effective for me), stacked with Shred Matrix immediately post-training and pm (ironic thing is, only the other day at my night work, one of my colleagues was like, "That's not fair; you can take pills and get away with it", referring to my eating habits, and I was like, "No, I still have to train hard and do everything else right to see results", when in reality, they were technically right, going off the evidence in my training journal and progress over the last 21 weeks). Other interesting things I noticed was that the weeks when my training volume was excessive and extreme and my nutrition was pretty much perfect, I only lost ~0.5% bodyfat, compared to the 0.1% bodyfat per day in the lower training volume weeks with every day a 'cheat' day re nutrition. So, yes, whilst my body may love the higher volume of training, it's not necessarily what's going to get me the best results. I am considering going back to a similar training schedule as I was when I WAS getting the 0.1% bodyfat loss per week - it's a huge step down from what I'm doing now, but this week is really only intended for 7-10 days of overreaching before a photoshoot or competition and not to be followed for long periods of time. I'll finish this week out as initially planned and make adjustments on Sunday. Also think I'm going to stack in NeoVar Recomped and Shred Matrix again as soon as I can . . . Started using PerformaStrips VB-12 today, taken immediately pre-training . . .