Day Three, Week Two: Bench Press

Monday bench presses.

Bench Press Day
Exercise	3/21 2011	3/28 2011	Week Three	Week Four
Bench Press	260x5	300x5
	260x5	300x5
	260x5	300x5
	260x5
	260x5
Incline Bench Press	185x15	185x15
	205x11	205x12
	225x4	225x6
Bent-over Row	165x15	165x15
	185x10	185x11
	185x9	185x10

Day 26 Weigh-In: 285.2

Well, the excitement from a couple of days ago has worn off; the next day I was 2 pounds heavier, and today I'm 2 pounds lighter again, but still slightly heavier than 2 days ago. It's quite the emotional roller coaster.

I've come to a conclusion that is disappointing but brings me a certain amount of relief: I probably won't make 242 by June 25th. It's disappointing because I've been trying so hard, and early on was so encouraged, only to have that work apparently not pay off as much as it ought to, and to have that encouragement disappear.

But it's relieving because, although I'm not going to try any less hard, accepting that I probably won't make it means my heart isn't going to drop as painfully as the blue line in the chart below creeps above the green one. And I've added the red line representing the weight loss necessary to make 275, the weight class I've been competing in, and I'm at least a little encouraged by the fact that it seems likely I'll make that weight by a mile.

Day Two, Week Two: Squats

Friday squats. You know, at 420 pounds per rep, 3 sets of 5 means I squatted over 3 tons!

Squat Day
Exercise	3/18 2011	3/25 2011	Week Three	Week Four
Squat	365x5	420x5
	365x5	420x5
	365x5	420x5
	365x5
	365x5
Straight Leg Deadlift	290x13	290x15
	290x10	290x12
	290x10	290x10
Incline Twisting Situps	0x12*	0x12*
	0x12**	0x12**
	0x10**	0x10**
* Steepest incline ** Second steepest incline

Day 24 Weigh-In: 285.0

Well, the scale FINALLY gave me reason to be encouraged this morning, telling me that at 285.0 I'm 1.6 pounds lighter than yesterday, and the lightest I've weighed since I started tracking again a little over 3 weeks ago. I'm not certain why I'm seeing results this morning, but I've got a suspicion.

During the first ten days I lost nearly 8 pounds, focusing only on the number of calories I was consuming each day. Then I started cutting back on carbohydrates as a result of a movie I had seen. That first day of low-carb I lost 2.4 pounds, and over the next week lost another 4.6 pounds. But then I plateaued and even gained weight, going from 285.6 to 286.6 over the course of 4 days. I began to wonder if, although low-carb diets certainly seem to work for many people, perhaps it isn't for me.

So yesterday I went back to eating a "normal" amount of carbs, and sure enough, I wake up this morning 1.6 pounds lighter than yesterday, and lighter than I've been since competing back in December. Of course one day isn't enough to be certain, so I'll go a few more days eating a normal amount of carbs before making up my mind, but boy I tell you, it feels good to be seemingly on-track again.

Day 23 Weigh-In: 286.6

I haven't posted my weight in a few days because I've been so very frustrated by what I've seen on the scale. Despite eating very healthfully and exercising vigorously, Monday morning I weighed in at 2 pounds heavier than the morning before, and yesterday I weighed in slightly lighter, but resulting in only a loss of 0.6 pounds in a week. And this morning I weighed in at 0.2 pounds heavier than that!

The first two weeks went so incredibly well, but the third week and this first day of week four has left me so terribly discouraged. Please keep me in your prayers. I'm not sure what's going on.

Day One, Week Two: Military Press

Wednesday military presses.

Military Press Day
Exercise	3/16 2011	3/23 2011	Week Three	Week Four
Military Press	145x5	165x5
	145x5	165x5
	145x5	165x5
	145x5
	145x5
Dumbbell Triceps Extension	45x13*	45x15*
	45x10*	50x10*
	45x8*	50x7*
Wide Overhand Pulldown	170x15 (P)	170x15 (P)
	180x12 (P)	180x13 (P)
	190x8 (P)	190x9 (P)
* Weight per arm (P) Machine used at the PRO Club

Day Four, Week One: Deadlifts

Tuesday deadlifts.

Deadlift Day
Exercise	3/22 2011	Week Two	Week Three	Week Four
Deadlift	400x5
	400x5
	400x5
	400x5
	400x5
Dumbbell Step-ups	55x14 (7)
	55x14 (7)
	55x14 (7)
Lying Hamstring Curl	40x15
	45x12
	47.5x8
(#) Weight per arm, step-ups per leg

Day Three, Week One: Bench Press

Monday bench presses.

Bench Press Day
Exercise	3/21 2011	Week Two	Week Three	Week Four
Bench Press	260x5
	260x5
	260x5
	260x5
	260x5
Incline Bench Press	185x15
	205x11
	225x4
Bent-over Row	165x15
	185x10
	185x9

Day 20 Weigh-In: 285.4

A whole 0.2 pounds lost since yesterday :(

Day 19 Weigh-In: 285.6

I'm down 0.8 pounds from yesterday, but only 0.4 pounds down from the day before; not quite the results I was hoping for.

Lap Swimming: 36 Lengths in 30 Minutes

The last two times I swam laps this week, I would swim two 25-yard lengths in a minute, and then I'd need to rest for a minute, for a total of 30 lengths in 30 minutes. Today I swam a little bit more slowly, and by pacing myself was able to swim six lengths in 3:40 before resting for 1:20, for a total of 36 lengths in 30 minutes. Must have burned somewhere between 375 and 425 calories.

Day 18 Weigh-In: 286.4

Slightly heavier than yesterday morning, 0.4 pounds heavier to be precise. Again, I expect minor fluctuations, and I ate a bit much last night, so I'm not bothered. Tomorrow morning should be better.

Day Two, Week One: Squats

Day two of my new workout has me doing 5 sets of 5 squats at about 70% of my one rep max weight, which I've treated as being 5% heavier than last workout, followed by two supplemental exercises:

Squat Day
Exercise	3/18 2011	Week Two	Week Three	Week Four
Squat	365x5
	365x5
	365x5
	365x5
	365x5
Straight Leg Deadlift	290x13
	290x10
	290x10
Incline Twisting Situps	0x12*
	0x12**
	0x10**
* Steepest incline ** Second steepest incline

St. Patty's Day Weigh-In: 286.0

After a day of weightlifting, stair climbing, brisk walking and lap swimming, this morning I weighed in at 286.0 lbs., 1.6 pounds lighter than yesterday. Boy I'm dreading the day that this weight loss slows down to a crawl...

3.1 Mile Walk in 0:48:24

Walked 3.1 miles today in 48 minutes and 24 seconds, for an average of 3.8 mph and around 500 calories burned.

Day 16 Weigh-In: 287.6

A weight gain of 0.6 pounds this morning, but I ate a big dinner last night and I know I ought to expect the occasional fluctuation, so I'm not worried.

Day One, Week One: Military Press

Started a new workout today, same idea as last time but using a 5% greater one-rep max and with new supplemental exercises. Day one has me doing 5 sets of 5 military presses at 70% of my one-rep max.

Also, when I got to work I climbed the 31+ flights of stairs in my building, but as I've done a time or two in the past, I did more than that: after every two flights of stairs I went down one. The end result was 62+ flights of stairs actually climbed.

Military Press Day
Exercise	3/16 2011	Week Two	Week Three	Week Four
Military Press	145x5
	145x5
	145x5
	145x5
	145x5
Dumbbell Triceps Extension	45x13*
	45x10*
	45x8*
Wide Overhand Pulldown	170x15 (P)
	180x12 (P)
	190x8 (P)
* Weight per arm (P) Machine used at the PRO Club

1.91 mile walk in 0:30:10

Well I had intended to walk longer and farther than this, but about 15 minutes in it started raining pretty heavily, so I turned back early. Still, I managed a 1.91 mile walk in about 30 minutes, which translates to an average of 3.8mph and about 300 calories burned.

Weight Loss Progress: Week Two

Whereas week one started out great but then frustrated me with virtually no weight loss for 5 days in a row, week two has been consistently encouraging throughout. I lost 6.2 pounds in that first week, going from 300.2 to 294. This week I went from 294 to 287, a loss of 7 pounds, for a two-week total of 13.2 pounds lost.

This puts me well ahead of where I'd hoped I would be, as the chart below shows. If I lost about 0.5 pounds each day, beginning two weeks ago, I'd hit exactly 242 on June 25th, the day of competition (green line). But I've been losing on average almost twice that (red line), and today I'm 6.2 pounds ahead; I could lose no weight at all for nearly 2 weeks and still be on track. Of course, I don't want that to happen, but it definitely takes some of the pressure off.

I can't wait to see how week three goes!

Day Four, Week Four: Deadlifts

The last workout of recovery week #4, day four has me doing 5 sets of 8 deadlifts at 60% of my one-rep max (by the way, even at only 60% of my one-rep max, 5 sets of 8 deadlifts is excruciatingly exhausting), followed by two supplemental exercises. And I still HATE lunges! Fortunately I begin a new workout tomorrow which doesn't include them.

Deadlift Day
Exercise	2/22 2011	3/1 2011	3/8 2011	3/15 2011
Deadlift	135x10	135x10	135x10	135x10
	225x8	225x8	225x8	225x8
	380x5	435x5	380x5	325x8
	380x5	435x5	435x5	325x8
	380x5	435x5	460x6**	325x8
	380x5			325x8
	380x5			325x8
Dumbbell Walking Lunge	35x10*	45x10*	55x10*	55x10*
	35x10*	45x10*	55x10*	55x10*
	35x10*	55x10*	55x10*	55x10*
Kneeling Hamstring Curl	35x15†	45x15†	55x15†	55x15†
	45x15†	55x15†	65x15†	65x15†
	55x15†	65x15†	75x15†	75x15†
* Weight per arm, and steps per leg † Weight per leg ** Reps until near failure

Lap Swimming: 30 Lengths in 30 Minutes

I haven't been swimming in a long time, so I decided today to get back into it in an attempt to burn a few more calories during the day without getting bored with doing the same ol' same ol'. For 30 minutes I swam laps crawl stroke, 50 yards in a minute followed by a minute of rest, and repeating, for a total of 30 lengths, or 1,500 yards. All told I gather I burned between 350 and 400 calories.

3.4 mile walk in 0:54:43

I took a brisk walk today, 3.4 miles in 54 minutes and 43 seconds. Without factoring out stops at crosswalks, this is an average of about 3.73 mph, burning about 485 calories. Combined with the weightlifting and 31+ flights of stairs climbed this morning, another great day of exercise.

Day Three, Week Four: Bench Press

Week four is a recovery week, and day three has me doing 5 sets of 8 bench presses at 60% of my one-rep max, followed by two supplemental exercises.

Bench Press Day
Exercise	2/21 2011	2/28 2011	3/7 2011	3/14 2011
Bench Press	245x5	280x5	245x5	210x8
	245x5	280x5	280x5	210x8
	245x5	280x5	295x7†	210x8
	245x5			210x8
	245x5			210x8
Dumbbell Press	90x15*	90x15*	90x15*	95x15*
	100x9*	100x12*	100x13*	105x12*
	100x7*	100x7*	100x7*	105x8*
Seated Row	165x15 (P)	175x15 (P)	175x15 (P)	175x15 (P)
	180x15 (P)	185x15 (P)	185x15 (P)	185x15 (P)
	195x9 (P)	195x9 (P)	195x10 (P)	195x10 (P)
* Weight per arm (P) Machine used at the PRO Club † Number of reps until near failure

Day 14 Weigh-In: 288.6

One more day 'til I've been at this for two weeks, and having lost 1.8 pounds since yesterday, at 288.6 I'm now 11.6 pounds lighter than when I began. I'm really encouraged by the feeling that I've actually got a good chance of making 242 by June 25th, the YMCA Seattle Summer Classic, whereas two weeks ago it was a feat I wasn't confident I could accomplish.

Day 13 Weigh-In: 290.4

I might be upset by a 0.2 pound weight gain were it not for how much I lost yesterday. As it is, I ate a bit more than I should have and expected worse, so I'm happy with basically remaining where I was yesterday.

Day 12 Weigh-In: 290.2

After watching the movie, "Fat Head," yesterday I decided to experiment and cut back on carbs and not worry about how much fat I'm eating (I was limiting myself to about 25-30% of calories from fat). To my amazement, even after eating a top sirloin steak last night I woke up this morning weighing 2.4 pounds lighter than I did yesterday morning! I'm going to keep this up for a few days and see what happens.

Day 11 Weigh-In: 292.6

Well, I suppose I shouldn't expect the scale to register weight loss every day. A tiny gain of 0.4 lbs is nothing to worry about, and can easily be chalked up to water retention or a little extra food in the digestive system. No biggie. As the chart below illustrates, I'm still on track; I don't have to worry until the red line comes close to the green one.

Day Two, Week Four: Squats

Week four is a recovery week, and day two has me doing 5 sets of 8 squats at 60% of my one-rep max, followed up by two additional supplementary exercises.

Squat Day
Exercise	2/18 2011	2/25 2011	3/4 2011	3/11 2011
Squat	350x5	400x5	350x5	300x8
	350x5	400x5	400x5	300x8
	350x5	400x5	425x6*	300x8
	350x5			300x8
	350x5			300x8
Back Extensions	100x15		110x15	130x15
	110x12		120x12	130x10
	110x10		130x10	130x10
Incline Situps	0x11 (P)	0x15 (G)	0x13 (P)	0x14 (P)
	0x7 (P)	0x11 (G)	0x9 (P)	0x9 (P)
	0x2 (P)	0x4 (G)	0x8 (P)	0x8 (P)
* Number of reps until near failure (P) Incline used at the PRO Club (G) Incline used friend's Gold's Gym

Day 10 Weigh-In

Another encouraging morning! Weighed in this morning at 292.2, 4/5 of a pound down from yesterday morning.

Day 9 Weigh-In

It's day 9 of 115 (counting from March 1st) on the way to the YMCA Seattle Summer Classic, and after 5 frustrating mornings without any meaningful progress, this morning I weighed in at 293.0, a pound lighter than I did yesterday. FINALLY some progress! Of course, I won't expect this every day, but it was nice to see an encouraging number on the scale, and I'm still well on-track (red line) to meet my goal by June 25th (green line).

Day One, Week Four: Military Press

Week four is a recovery week, and day one has me doing 5 sets of 8 military presses at 60% of my one-rep max, followed by two supplemental exercises. Were I not being as careful with my calories and exercising as much as I am, I probably would make more progress on the supplemental exercises, but as it is I'm thankful that I'm not regressing. Again climbed 31+ flights of stairs after my workout.

Military Press Day
Exercise	2/16 2011	2/23 2011	3/2 2011	3/9 2011
Military Press	135x5	155x5	135x5	115x8
	135x5	155x5	155x5	115x8
	135x5	155x5	165x9*	115x8
	135x5			115x8
	135x5			115x8
16" Press	205x10	205x15	205x15	205x15
	205x10	225x12	225x10	225x11
	205x10	235x6	235x6	235x6
V-Bar Pulldown		180x15 (P)	180x15 (P)	180x15 (P)
		190x11 (P)	190x12 (P)	190x12 (P)
		195x8 (P)	195x9 (P)	195x9 (P)
* Number of reps until failure (P) Machine used at the PRO Club

Weight Loss Progress: Week One

A week ago today I began tracking my weight for the first time since my last competition in December, hoping to weigh in at under 242 on June 25th at the YMCA Seattle Summer Classic, one weight class lighter than the one I'm accustomed to competing in. It's been quite the roller coaster of a week. I was dismayed the first morning to see I had ballooned up to 300.2, and the morning after that I was further discouraged to see I was up to 301.4. The next morning I was thrilled to see I was down to 296.2, and was excited to see that I was down again to 294.4 the next morning. Since then, I've hovered near that weight with virtually no weight loss for 5 days, which has been incredibly frustrating.

Still, I'm 6 pounds lighter than I was a week ago today, about which I'm happy. And as long as I lose weight a little faster than I have the past 5 days, I'm on track to make weight. The graph below shows what steady weight loss would look like from here until the competition (green line), as well as my current progress (red line), and a mathematical prediction of future weight loss based on my current progress (blue line). I'll update this graph once a week, and as long as that red line stays under the green line, I'll not worry. Please keep me in your prayers.

Is This Thing On?

Comedians will sometimes ask after a joke which produces few laughs, "Is this thing on?" Well, this morning I'm asking myself the same question about my scale. Five days with no meaningful weight loss to report, despite faithfully counting my calories and hours of exercise, is becoming VERY frustrating.

Day Four, Week Three: Deadlifts

Day four of week three has me doing 1 set of 5 deadlifts at week one's weight, a set of 5 at week two's weight, followed by a final set of 5 until (near) failure at 85% of my one-rep max, all followed by two supplemental exercises. Can I just say, I HATE lunges!

Also, I followed it up by climbing 31+ flights of stairs when I arrived at my building from the gym.

Deadlift Day
Exercise	2/22 2011	3/1 2011	3/8 2011	Week Four
Deadlift	135x10	135x10	135x10
	225x8	225x8	225x8
	380x5	435x5	380x5
	380x5	435x5	435x5
	380x5	435x5	460x6**
	380x5
	380x5
Dumbbell Walking Lunge	35x10*	45x10*	55x10*
	35x10*	45x10*	55x10*
	35x10*	55x10*	55x10*
Kneeling Hamstring Curl	35x15†	45x15†	55x15†
	45x15†	55x15†	65x15†
	55x15†	65x15†	75x15†
* Weight per arm, and steps per leg † Weight per leg ** Reps until near failure

REALLY!?!

I'm finding myself perplexed. After 4 hours of grueling chainsawing and carrying heavy tree limbs both Saturday AND Sunday, the scale this morning registers a mere 1/5 of a pound, just like it the morning after Friday's weightlifting, stairclimbing, walking and Kinect Boxing. Frustrating >:(

Day Three, Week Three: Bench Press

Day three of week three has me doing 1 set of 5 bench presses at week one's weight, 1 set at week two's weight, followed by a final set at 85% of my one-rep max until (near) failure, all followed by two supplemental exercises. I felt very weak this morning, after spending the weekend exhausting myself sawing up the felled trees in my yard, so I'm thankful I was able to make any discernable progress.

Bench Press Day
Exercise	2/21 2011	2/28 2011	3/7 2011	Week Four
Bench Press	245x5	280x5	245x5
	245x5	280x5	280x5
	245x5	280x5	295x7†
	245x5
	245x5
Dumbbell Press	90x15*	90x15*	90x15*
	100x9*	100x12*	100x13*
	100x7*	100x7*	100x7*
Seated Row	165x15 (P)	175x15 (P)	175x15 (P)
	180x15 (P)	185x15 (P)	185x15 (P)
	195x9 (P)	195x9 (P)	195x10 (P)
* Weight per arm (P) Machine used at the PRO Club † Number of reps until near failure