The tropical weakling goes for aesthetics - fat loss and bodybuilding

[limace31]

Isn't that what I wrote?...

Also, I am not complaining: I am taking full responsibility for it.

Are we having reading comprehension issues buddy?

[ludwig23]

Yep, it seems that I have a reading comprehension issue. Big sorry.

I can explain, it sounded to me as if you know it's your mistake but then go on to blame the program/how it's done.

[limace31]

No worries ;-)

I write about my mistakes. I never blame others for my poor decisions and I want to be honest about it. :-)

Your comment made me realize how much English is a subtle language in a socio-cultural way. Bear in mind that I am French and that English is my third language and, as such, is totally unauthentic. You may not be the only guy who thinks I am complaining.

[limace31]

Again, I apologize for the delay. Here is a two-week worth of workouts and random thoughts.

WEEK 1 (deload week)

Monday 1 February

Bench 80 x 4 x 4
Press 50 x 6 x 3
Dips BW x 8 x 3

Tuesday 2 February

Squat 120 x 4 x 4
Chins for a total of 30 reps 8-4-4-4-4-4-2 ---> completed in 7 sets
One-arm DB rows 30 x 10 x 4

Wednesday 3 February
40 min light cardio on elliptical.

Thursday 4 February

Press 55 x 4 x 4
Bench 75 x 6 x 4
LTE 25 x 15 x 3

Friday 5 February

Squat 100 x 6 x 3
Deadlift 145 x 4 x 1
SLDL 125 x 6 x 2
DB curls 10 x 10 x 4

Saturday 6 February
No cardio: had a gig in the evening so no time for cardio.

Easy week despite AC joint pain.

WEEK 2

Dinner with the whole family on Monday so I had to move the workouts back one day.

Tuesday 9 February

Bench 84,5 x 6 x 4 (had to take a bigger jump than 2 kgs because the gym doesn't have plates smaller that 5 lbs)
Press 54,5 x 6 x 4
Dips BW x 9 x 3

Wednesday 10 February
I brought my 1kg chains to the gym.

Squat 122 x 6 x 4 — First set high-bar (been doing this ever since I started Andy's program to give my shoulders a rest) then switched to low-bar for the subsequent sets to test the damn shoulders' flexibility. What I found: high-bar is less tiring and stressing for the system (cause, ya know...less muscles involved and stuff). It gassed me.

Pendlay Rows 60 x 10 x 4

The guy from the front desk walked by as I was doing P. rows and told me to make less noise while putting the bar down. I told him I could not help it as I controlled the descent as hard as I could but the "clank" was the result of the gap between the diameters of the bar and the plates. He tried, he figured it out and did not bother me any further.

Pulldowns: 60 x 10 x 4. What I actually did: 65 x 10; 60 x 10; 55 x 10; 50 x 7.

That workout was GRUELING !!!

Friday 12 February

Press 57 x 6 x 4
Bench 77 x 6 x 3
Pressdowns 60 x 12 x 3 [12-12-10]. The only EZ-bar was taken so I did this instead of LTE. It is just not the same.

There is still today's workout to log. I will edit my post this evening as soon as I am back from the gym.

A math problem for you:
Take the five fingers of one hand. Each finger is worth 4 so that it makes a total of 20. Remove the thumb out of the equation. How can you make 20 with only 4 fingers?

[limace31]

Saturday 13 February

Squat 105 x 6 x 3
Deadlift 150 x 6
SLDL 125 x 6 x 3
Incline DB curls 12 x 10 x 4 [10-8-8-6] (1'30" rest)

[limace31]

Monday 15 February 2016

Bench 85 x 6 x 4
Press 55 x 6 x 3
Dips BW x 10 x 3

Tuesday 16 2 February

Squat 125 x 6 x 4 (high bar)
Pendlay rows 62 x 10 x 4
Lat pulldowns 60 X 10 X 1 then 50 x 10 x 3

Thursday 18 February

Press 60 x 6 x 4
Bench 77 x 6 x 3
LTE 30 x 10 x 3

Note: a bro kept on bothering my girlfriend about "how the way she does skull crushers does not work any muscle at all". She told him that she was not doing skull crushers but he insisted. She said "ok" and continued the triceps extensions. The guy then told all his friends about it in front of her. This display of bro-science at its stupidest amused her quite a lot.
I don't mind—and even appreciate—unsolicited advice as long as it is really helpful and that you show that you know your stuff.

Friday 19 February

Squat 100 x 6 x 3 (hard)
Deadlift 155 x 6
SLDL 125 x 6 x 3
DB curls 12 x 10 x 4 [10-8-6] --> 8 x 10 x 1

We have been eating nothing except chicken breasts and veggies since Jan 1st. I decided that it would be easier to organize as regards to food choices. We usually have 2 to 3 cheat meals per week (usually after heavy squat and heavy deadlift, the last one being Sunday lunch with the family). We lost a little fat. Felt good about it. But we started to put on a little fat again around week 2. So, back to square one.

We are also more tired and hungrier although we fall sleep easily an hour or two sooner than usual. Moreover, our clothes feel uncomfortable again. Man, do I have a big ass!

So, we decided to keep two workouts with two bigs lifts each and do some cardio to really get into that calorie deficit. Lean out for good then eat to grow stronger. Andy's programming is great. I intend to go through these two phases again when (if?) I am lean enough and can eat to fuel my progress.

We made up our mind for something like Dan John's minimalist training: Minimalist Training | Dan John

Tuesday
Deadlift 1 x 5 or like DJ does it.
Bench 4 x 10 (last set AMRAP)

Friday
Squat 4 x 10 or 1 x 30
Bench 4 x 10 (last set AMRAP)

I will substitute the bench with the press if my right shoulder keeps on bothering me. I'd rather do power cleans and snatches but, for now, it would aggravate things. The rest of the week will be filled with LISS (elliptical, jogging, rower, etc.).

Again, it might not work at all. But, heh, let's just try and see what happens for the next 6-8 weeks.

[limace31]

So, about this first week...

Monday 23 February
45 min (30 min C2 rower + 15 min elliptical). I suddenly gassed-out and had to stop after a mere 15 min on the elliptical.

Tuesday 24 February
Deadlift 155 x 5
Bench 70 x 10 x 4 (last set AMRAP) [10-10-10-8]

Friday 26 February
Squat 100 x 10 x 4 (damn those were hard)
Bench 70 x 10 x 4

I felt tired the whole week. I did not do a lot of cardio and did not include the accessory exercises DJ advocates for bodybuilders. I will add them next week and see if I can recover. I will try to go like this cardio-wise:
Monday and Wednesday: 20-30 min of recovery cardio (very slow pace)
Saturday: 60 min cardio (again, low intensity).

When I feel better doing this and the accessories I will probably do 60 min on Monday and Wednesday. Again, the aim is fat loss while minimizing LBM loss.

We do not lose fat...something must be off with our diet.

[limace31]

Tuesday 1 March

Deadlift 155 x 5 x 1
Bench 70 x 10 x 4 (last set AMRAP) 10-10-10-16

I intended to throw some accessories in but I only had 10 min to complete my workout so I did farmer's walks instead --> 3 rounds with 40 kg dumbbells. The lane is about 25 m long. I had to put the DBs down 5 times at the last round.

I ate carbs at lunch so I felt full of energy. That would explain why I easily pushed 16 reps at the last set of bench press while I had such a hard time to complete 4 sets of 10s the previous week.

Friday 4 March

Squat 100 x 10 x 4 --> it felt hard.
Bench 72 x 10 x 4 (last set AMRAP) 10-10-10-12

Accessories (1'30" rest):

Leg curls 50 x 10 x 3
RDL 80 x 10 x 3
Seated calf raises 100 x 20 x 3 [16-13-12] (wow, I clearly overestimated my capacity here)

*EDIT: I forgot to mention that cardio was good this week. Eating carbs prior to lifting helped us a lot. We even lost a bit (fat? water?).

[limace31]

Tuesday 8 March

My girlfriend and I still have a lot of lesson-planning and paper-grading for tomorrow. We will have to train tomorrow evening.

[limace31]

Wednesday 9 March

Deadlift 160 x 5 x 1
Bench 75 x 10 x 4 [10-10-10-8]

Accessories (1'30" rest time):

Lat pulldowns 50 x 10 x 3 [10-10-8]
Incline DB curls 10 x 10 x 3 [10-10-8]
LTE 30 x 10 x 3 [10-8-7]

Farmer's walk: 3 rounds with 40 kg then 2 rounds with 30 kg. I think I will build up from 30 kg next time.

Thursday 10 March

30 min recovery cardio: 15 min C2 rower + 15 elliptical.

Saturday 12 March

Squat 105 x 10 x 4 [10-10-7-7]

Accessories (1'30" rest time):

Leg curls 50 x 10 x 3
RDL 85 x 10 x 3
Calf raises 60 x 10 x 1 --> 40 x 13 x 1, 40 x 10 x 1 (I might have mistaken last time I did calf raises. I must have put 60 kgs instead of 100.

Note: persistent pain and stiffness in my right trap and shoulder and in my neck. I am thinking of dropping all upper body movements for a while and see what happens. The last time I went to the PT's office I had a consultation with another PT and he told me it might actually be a neck position issue affecting my shoulder.