Month of Recovery - CARDIO MANIA

I mentioned it last week that I'm entering a month of no lifting as I try to let me elbows recover.

SO while I'm doing that, I'll be doing a lot of Cardio on the Elliptical.

So here's the link to my March Workout tracker if you're curious.

I did 32 minutes today using the MMA setting. I plan on adding 2 minutes to my daily session through Thursday. Rest Friday/Saturday. Then start the new week on Sunday with the same time I did on Thursday. This will add 8 minutes per week to the amount I'm doing.

Here's today's summary:

	Monday
	3/3/2014
Type	MMA L8
Time	32
Distance	3.51
HR (avg)	138
HR (Max)	167
METS	4
Weigh-in	229

So little time

Well the last 5 weeks have been trying for my workout regime.

10 days out with a flu hitting in the middle of my workout schedule. Next week I'm back working out, and as I hadn't worked my legs in about 2 weeks, I had a bit of a pull in my right quad while doing my starting weight for abductions.

That put me out for another week.

Therefore, for the next month I will be hitting the gym with only 1 thing in mind, letting my injuries heal. I will be doing only cardio. I'm hoping to push toward doing 1 hour of cardio by the end of the month.

So from now until April I will only be doing Cardio at the gym, abs at home from my hanging straps, and I'm going to try to being my flexibility up and start doing some Yoga.

Wow....long time no update.

OK It's been forever since I last posted my workout...Trust me even with all kinds of stuff going on I've still been getting at least 2 days in per week.

Here's My January workout log...it's on view only.

I've been dealing with the elbow issue, it's getting better, not 100% yet, but better.
Here's last weeks Cardio

I decided to up my time to 25 minutes to get a little more burn in hopefully cut some more fat off my frame...

date	type	time	HR (AVG/MAX)	distance	METS
1/12/2014	MMA L6	12	138/156	1.36		Sunday
1/13/2014	MMA L8	22	134/166	2.49	5.2	Monday
1/14/2014	vet visit					tuesday
1/15/2014	make-up time					Wednesday
1/16/2014	MMA L8	25	134/168	2.66	3.8	Thursday
1/17/2014	MMA L8	25	137/162	2.81	3.9	Friday

LEVEL UP! New Stats

Well after 10 weeks of working out, I think it's time to update my stats.

My self-diagnosed stats from 7/23/13 (Strength 12, Dexterity 12, Constitution 7).

My new Stats:
Strength 13/50 
     I'm benching 225# real bench. I can do 3 actual pull-ups now without an assist. My leg Strength is

Dexterity 12/50 
     I'm going to say my Dex hasn't improved too much, yet. A little bit, but not a massive amount.

Constitution 10/01
     This is where I've really improved over the last 10 weeks. I would put myself at low average for endurance. I don't get majorly winded anymore, I have to really push myself on the elliptical to get my heart rate up to 80%.

I will continue to push myself weekly. Loving working out again. I have actually started cardio days on my off-lift days. So Thursdays and Fridays, (and Saturdays we can't make Kung Fu), I will be rocking some extra cardio. Today I actually hit the treadmill...way harder than the elliptical, I did nearly a mile before my ankle demanded I switch to something lower impact.

My current supplements are Met-RX protein powder (from Trader Joe's) and Con-CRET creatine. (From CostCo)

If you are a nutritional supplement provider and wish to sponsor me, email me at epicrpgblog@gmail.com
I refuse to use or support an supplements with Aspartame.

Lessons for others

So since I've been going to Crunch, my daily weight has only fluctuated within a few pounds. I started at 238 1/2 pounds. This entire week I've been weighing in at 235-238. Thus after 2 weeks, I've lost fat but I haven't lost any weight whatsoever. My clothing fits better, I feel better; that's what matters.

1. When you start working out, you have to burn the fat out of your muscles first.

2. You lose fat from the last place you put fat on last.

3. Being healthy is more important than appearance.

2 MORE WEEKS and a NEW gym

It's been a busy  two weeks.

I changed gyms, now I'm a Crunch Fitness member, as it is on the way home rather than all the way across Escondido. The equipment is different, so I'm trying to adjust, the biggest change is the ellipticals, none of them is the same as the ones I was using at CHUZE. Now I'm trying to adjust, in the end it doesn't really matter as long as I do my 15 minutes and break a good sweat.

There's some new equipment at Crunch, but I do kind of like that I have actual free barbell benches now. I bench pressed 205 yesterday, and I know it was really 205; it was all me. I probably could have done 225, but I didn't have a spotter. It was a Sunday morning after all.

I'm now trying out Creatine. My legs are just now feeling normal after my creatine induced 720# power sled set on Thursday!!! Yes, 720#...I worked up sets from 180#, adding 90# until I couldn't do at least 8. I did FIVE at 720#...

Also, Crunch actually has a scale in the locker room...a medical scale so know it's accurate...last Sunday 238 1/2 pounds...wow...I know I've lost a few pounds around the middle, but I've also been putting on weight, it will be interesting to see what my weight does as I continue to lose fat...if it's a 1:1 conversion, I'll be going as Logan to comic Con one day....'You talkin' to me Bub?"

I'll be posting the pages of my book later, no time to copy all the info.

Week 7 (9 Sept to 12 Sept)

This was the week of letting my leg fully heal, I'm missing not doing the elliptical amazingly enough. So I concentrated on my Chest...and WOW.

9 Sept
Incline bench (I could tell I had lots of energy)
111# 20Wide+12N
201# 10W
251# 6 W
161# 12N
161# 12N

Supine Bench (But I didn't think I had this much!!)
110# 20N+12W
200# 12W
250# 12W (as I was able to do 12, I just kept going....)
270# 8W
290# 6N (TWO NINETY!!!)
200# 12W
110# 30W

Flies Matrix
27.5es 10
32.5es 10
37.5es 6

Abs
Hanging LL 4
LL x10
LL x10
HLL x4
LL x10
BKL x12 2sets
LLBKL 6/6

Dips
7 fail on 8
8
8

10 September
Ab machine
2 sets 110# 10 reps
1 sets 80# 16 reps

Pull-ups
First actual pull-up!!
2 Full chin-ups

Rotary Torso
1 set 80# 16r es
1 set 100# 16r es
1 set 120# 16r es

Pull-Up Assist
20# 4 fail on 5
20# 5 fail on 6
20# 4

Lat Pulldowns
100# Burnout 20 reps
130# rear 8 r
180# f/r 4/4
130# rear 8r

Rows
100# 16r
130# 12r
160# 8r
175# 6r

Rear Delt matrix Machine
70# 12r
85# 12r
100# 8r

11 September
Cardio I wasn't able to stand not doing any Cardio...so I did the circuit without leg exercises..in other words I did the rest of it twice.) Quick Day, had to help with math homework

Back Raises with arm raise
16/12/16

Seated Delts + Seated Military Press
17.5# 12+12
27.5# 10+12
30# 10+20 Accelerating

Seated Front Delts
30# 8+8
30# 7+7
30# 10+10

12 September
No Cardio/Legs, so Second Chest Workout!!!
Supine Bells
27.5# DB warmup set 20reps
50# DB 12r
60# DB 12r
70# DB 8r
75# DB 7r fail

Incline Bells
55# 8r
55# 16r
60# 6r

Matrix Decline flies
47.5# es 10r
47.5# es 10r
37.5# es 12r

Core Flies
27.5# 12r
22.5# 12r
27.5# 12r
27.5# 12r with GUSTO!

Week 6 The Injury!

Well after 5 days off because of Gateway 2013, I came back well-rested on the 3rd.

3 September
Cardio: not my best time, but 9:53 is only 6 seconds off...and 1.27 miles isn't too shabby.

Leg day (which may be why I ended up injured)

Chins/Dips
Chin assist
30# assist 6 reps
20# assist 5 reps
10# assist 2 reps+15# assist 3 reps.

Dips
3 sets 8/6/8!!!

Hip Adduction
3 sets
100# 12 reps
100# 20 reps
130# 10 reps

Hip Abduction
115# 15 reps
130# 12 reps
145# 12 reps

Seated Squats
240# 12 reps
270# 16 reps
300# 16 reps

Sled
467# - 16 calf raises
         - 12 narrow squats
547# - 12 calf raises
         - 12 narrow squats
637# - 10 calf raises
         - 10 narrow squats

Decline Abs
1 set of 10
2 sets of 10 w/punches at top

Hanging Abs
1 set 12 BKLL/LL
1 set 12 LL
1 set 10 OLL

the two sets of ab exercises KILLED me...lower abs hurt like crazy all day of the 4th)

4 September was a bad day, I was doing simple hops during the circuit cardio and pop my calf muscle or tendon went screwy...extremely painful, so obviously I immediately stopped the circuit, and it looks like my elliptical times are going to have to wait...I'll be doing some cardio weight training instead until healed...

It didn't stop me from working out however.(upper body)..and won't continue, I'll just have to avoid using my legs until healed.

Incline Bench
1@111# 15 reps Narrow
1@201# 10 reps Wide
1@201# 10 reps Narrow
1@161# 8 reps Wide
1@161# 10 reps Narrow

Supine Bench
1@110# 24 reps Wide
1@200# 12 reps Narrow
1@200# 12 reps Wide
1@160# 20 reps Narrow
1@160# 20 reps Wide

Matrix Flies
1 @ 17.5 20 reps
1 @ 22.5 12 reps
1 @ 32.5 10 reps
1 @ 27.5 16 reps

Matrix Core Flies
1 @ 17.5 20 reps
1 @ 27.5 8 reps
1 @ 22.5 12 reps
1 @ 17.5 16 reps

And that was it for the 4th...injury made it rough to do stuff.

5 September
Matrix Abs
90# 25 reps
120# 20 reps
150# 15reps

Pull-up Assist 
20# Assist 5-7/8 reps
20# Assist 5 reps
30# Assist 5 reps
40# assist 6 reps

Dips 6/8/6

Leg lifts 
10/10/12

Delts Front to Rear (slow)
15# DB 10r
15# DB 10r
20# DB 5r

Preacher Curls (Horizontal)
3 sets 25# DBs 12/12

Preacher Curls (Vert)
2 sets 25# DBs 12/12
1 set 25# DBs 10/10

August 18th to August 21st

Another week and more gains!!!

Rolled my ankle during our yard sale, so that cost me a little for Cardio, since I needed to leave out cardio for a couple of days. Now today, I made a major gain on my Elliptical mile, I attribute this not to 1 month back at the gym, I attribute it to the 2 years of kung fu classes. I did the mile on the elliptical in 9:57 today. I broke 10 minutes, which for a 42 year old 225# guy, is pretty amazing I think.

18 August 2013 (With Sean...morning workout)
Chin/Dip Assist
Chins
6@40# Assist OZ (OZ the great and powerful)
4@30#+1@40# Assist to failure
3@40# Assist +2@60# Assist
Dips
12@40#Assist
10@30Assist
7@20# Assist
These dip totals are better than my end of week results, I think this is due to the 3 days off, my muscles really recovered nicely.

Supine Bench
20@110#
12@200#
12@200# (narrow)
6@220# to failure)
8 burst @ 160# (wide) + 8 burst @ 160# (narrow)
12 burst @ 110# (wide) + 12 burst @ 110# (narrow)

Incline Bench
12+12 @ 111#
6@201#
6@161# to failure (burned it out with the supine bench.)

Abs
6 Suspended Leg Raises
12 Leg Raises
6+6 Raises/Bent Knee raises
12 Leg Raises

19 August 2013
Chin/Dip Assist

Dips
12@40#Assist OZ
10@30Assist OZ
6@20# Assist
Chins
2@20#+4@40# Assist OZ
5@50# Assist to failure
4@50# Assist TF

Deltoids
Military Dumbbell Press (Military press is straight above the head)
10@25#, 10@ 25#, 12@20#

Side lift Deltoid Raises
10@25#,
6@40#,
10@30#+10@15#

Shoulder/Back
Shrugs, Dumbbell (Shrugs build the upper Trapezius muscle)
45# dumbbells 12 reps
50# Dumbbells 16 reps (8 front/8 rear) Rolling it from front to back and back to front
50# Dumbbells 20 reps (10 front/10 rear)

Abs
6 Suspended Leg Raises
12 Leg Raises
12 (6+6) Raises/Bent Knee raises
17 (9+8) Raises/Bent Knee raises

20 August 
Ankle has recovered enough to do Circuit Training
Cardio: 20 minutes circuit training.

Back on Legs, even with the ankle still slightly on the mend, I decided to do my legs today, as the ankle was feeling 95%, since it was a compression roll rather than a stretch rolled ankle, I knew the exercising it was needed.

Power Sled
30 reps @ 257# (this is my starting weight, slightly heavier than me) + calf x16
20 reps @ 347# + calf x20
20 reps @ 347# + 12 narrow width
12 reps @ 437# + 12 narrow width
12 reps @ 437#+ 20 calf

Hip Adduction
70# 3 sets of 16/20/12
85# 1 set of 12
100# 1 set of 8

Hip Abduction
70# 3 sets of 12

Leg Extensions
115# 3 sets of 12

Leg Curls
70# 3 sets of 12

21 August
Cardio: Elliptical 15 minutes total 1.27 miles - 1 miles in 9:57!!! I broke the 10 minute mile.

Chin/Dip Assist
Pull-ups
6@40# Assist
6@40#
3@30# Assist +2@50# Assist
Dips
8@20#Assist
6@30Assist
5@30# Assist

Abs - Rotary Torso 
100# 3 sets of 10

Core - Fly curls
1 set of 12 @ 17.5#
1 set of 12 @ 22.5#
1 set of  9 @ 27.5#  (failure)
1 set of 4 @ 32.5# (failure)
1 set of 14 @ 17.5# (failure)

Abs
3 Suspended Leg Raises
12 Leg Lifts
12 (6+6) Raises/Bent Knee raises
12 Bent Knee raises
12 Leg Lifts
12 Leg Lifts