Week 5 Progress Pics

 This round of progress pics is going to showcase abdominal development. Again, for reference, here is the original picture on the left. The picture on the right was taken on Saturday evening. Progress is quite clear, but the lighting definitely helps (new bulbs!) Perhaps a better comparison would be between the last ab shot I took and this week's, but I think the contrast is much more stark when I put the original next to my current status. 


Also, I have no idea what is going on with my thumb in the picture on the right...

 My left bicep (shown on the right) has been developing so much more quickly than my right (left) for some reason. I perform my movements with good balance and do a lot of dumbbell exercises. I think the imbalance is purely genetic. My entire left side is just more developed. The upper trapezius, anterior deltoid, forearms, and bicep group are all more defined on the left side of the body.

My uneven leg development is absolutely hilarious. I have no idea where this came from or why it is. I tend to use both legs equally when I mountain bike and I alternate starting legs for sprints. Very strange indeed. The picture on the left looks like I don't even do legs and the picture on the right looks like I've been doing them twice a week.

   

Fun fact: My left side has a total of 5 "abs" and my right side has 4 for a total of 9. My abs are uneven and this is purely genetic. There is really no way to even them out since my tendinous intersections are organized straggly and cannot be moved through exercise.

Arms+Abs

     Hit arms and abs yesterday. Once again I placed the emphasis on my triceps rather than my biceps. I was hoping to get in some cardio but had too much work to do so I left the gym early. Lately I've been playing around with higher-intensity workouts. From what I've experienced, I really enjoy total body workouts and short rest breaks. I'm going to try out intermittent fasting and fasted cardio again when I begin the serious cut. These first five weeks were primarily back to get into athletic shape and add on a small amount of size. The cut comes next. Anyway, here is the workout:

Workout:
1) Close-Grip Bench
-1x20 w/ 135
-5x10 w/ 185

2) Single-Arm Overhead Cable Extensions
-5x12 w/ 35 lbs.

3) EZ-Curls
-4x6 w/ 115 lbs.

4) Skullcrushers
*I cannot perform this movement in the same way that most people do. I have to move the entire system (consisting of my arms) back in order to not feel pain in my elbows. By essentially performing the movement behind (or above, depending on how you look at it) my head, I feel no pain. Give it a try.
-3x10 w/ 85
-1x8 w/ 95

5) Tricep Pushdowns
-5x15 w/ 100 lbs.

6) Hanging Leg Raises
-4x10

7) Cable Crunchces
-2x10 w/ 62.5 lbs.
-4x10 w/ 75 lbs.

8) GHD situps
-3x12

Rest Day

Woke up super stiff this morning. I don't know what I ate or inhaled but I have been fighting this terrible cold all day. Didn't get a chance to get in the gym but abided by the same diet. Progress pics were taken yesterday and will be up tomorrow.

Diet:

Meal 1:
-27g whey protein shake w/ almond milk
-Raspberry, blueberry, strawberry, and celery smoothie
-5 egg whites
-3 Aidell's chicken teriyaki meatballs

Meal 2:
-8oz grilled chicken breast
-2 cups sautéed carrots
-1 cup raspberries

Meal 3:
-5oz grilled chicken breast
-0.25 avocado
-0.5 cup wild rice
-Lemon quest bar

Meal 4:
-10oz grilled salmon
-2 cups sauteed carrots
-2 cups sauteed green beans

Back Day

     Had a long and busy day but still had the chance to workout! I ended up doing a lot of volume overall and thought doing abs at the end was a good idea. It really wasn't since I didn't have the energy left over to do a good ab routine.

Workout:

1) Lat Pulldowns (wide-grip)
-1x15 w/ 120 lbs.
-2x15 w/ 160 lbs.
-3x10 w/ 180 lbs.
-1x8 w/ 190 lbs.
-4x5 w/ 210 lbs.

2) Single-Arm Cable Rows
-5x15 w/ 60 lbs. (on each arm)

3) Hammer Strength Row Machine
-5x10 w/ 3 plates (on each side)

4) [superset] Wide-Grip Pullups + Lat Pulldowns
(5 supersets)
-10 reps + 12 reps w/ 70 lbs.

5) Dragonflags + Hanging Leg Raises
-5x (6 dragonflags and 10 leg raises)

6) Captain's Chair Leg Raises
-5x20

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Diet of the Day:

Meal 1:
-3 Aidell's chicken teriyaki meatballs
-6 eggs' whites-27g whey protein shake w/ 2% milk-Raspberry, blueberry, and banana smoothie

Meal 2:-4 homemade meatballs (ground New York steak) + homemade tomato sauce w/garlic

Meal 3:
-27g whey protein shake w/ almond milk
-Chocolate quest bar

Meal 4:
-8oz grilled chicken breast sliced into..
-1 cup wild rice
-0.5 avocado
-2 tbsp homemade lemon and garlic sauce
-1 cup sautéed green beans
-1 cup carrots

Meal 5:
-1 cup blueberries
-Lemon quest bar

Chest+Tris Day

     Hit chest and tris today. I've been trying to develop my triceps more and so I threw in a few exercises after the chest workout.

Workout:
1) Incline DB Press
-3x10 w/ 60 lb.
-5x6   w/ 105 lb.

2) Flat Bench Press
-5x6 w/ 245 lbs.

3) [superset] Atomic Pushups + Cable Flyes
(6 supersets)
-15 on each exercise w/ 60 lbs. on cable flye machine

4) Close-Grip Bench Press
* I put my hands a little inside of shoulder width and not at the absolute center since it aggravates my wrists.

-1x10 w/ 135 lbs.
-5x10 w/ 185 lbs.

5) Tricep Pushdowns
-3x10 w/ 100 lbs.

6) Single Arm Overhead Tricep Cable Extensions
-4x12 w/ 30 lbs.

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Diet of the Day:

Meal 1:
-3 Aidell's chicken teriyaki meatballs
-6 eggs' whites
-27g whey protein shake w/ 2% milk
-Raspberry, blueberry, and 2 banana smoothie

Meal 2:
-8oz grilled chicken breast
-3 cups broccoli, carrots, cauliflower

Meal 3:
-27g whey protein shake w/ chocolate almond milk
-Banana slices w/ natural peanut butter, semisweet chocolate morsels, and honey
-Chocolate quest bar

Meal 4:
-6oz grilled chicken breast
-4 cups broccoli

Meal 5:
-4oz grilled chicken breast
-1 cup broccoli, carrots, cauliflower

Boxing

QUICK UPDATE: Progress pics will be delayed so I'll make them week 5 progress pics rather than week 4. I've been super busy with my three summer school classes, my satellite project for school, and trying to find the time to sleep and see friends. I have been making gains but don't have the extra time to go take bathroom mirror selfies at the moment.

   Today Jordan F. and I did another garage boxing workout. We're going to gradually incorporate more exercises into the rotation as we acquire more home gym equipment. We started with just heavy bag workouts and began to transition into heavy bag and explosive cardio hybrids. As of late we've been doing pushups and jumping rope in between rounds. Next time we're also going to integrate resistance bands. A homemade TRX is next.
     I broke down the workout numerically based on the order of things I did. Jordan's workout was slightly different since his HIIT ability is much greater than mine at the moment. He's able to go for longer rounds with more power. I can't sustain my speed and power for much longer than two minutes per round.

Workout:

1) 3 min. Power + Speed Round
2) 50 hops jump rope
3) 20 lateral raises
4) 50 pushups
6) 2 min. Speed Round
7) 30 hops jump rope
8) 50 pushups
9) Speed + Reaction Drill*
10) 20 lateral raises
11) 50 pushups
12) 30 hops jump rope

*We used each other's gloves as targets, creating and altering scenarios in which we picked a point of attack and performed the movements. We often started with jabs and worked our way into hooks. This drill also included the partner holding to attack every here and there to work on reaction time and improve reflexes.

Diet of the Day:

Meal 1:
-27g whey protein shake w/2% milk
-2 cup raspberry + blueberry smoothie
-5 egg whites
-3 Aidell's chicken teriyaki meatballs

Meal 2:
-5 homemade meatballs (Ground New York steak + homemade garlic tomato sauce)
-2 cups corn

Meal 3:
-Apple
-Lemon Quest bar

Meal 4:
-27g whey protein shake w/ dark chocolate almond milk
-1 cup raspberries

Meal 5*:
-12oz flank steak
-3 cups sautéed carrots
-1 cup brown rice

*I'm not the biggest fan of having large dinners but I was absolutely famished after the workout and needed food. I don't know what it is about steak but if I only eat a small amount I will not feel full. It is for this reason that I prefer chicken and salmon over steak. I added in a small amount of extra carbs with the brown rice.

Total Body

     Today (Saturday) I played around a bit with a total body workout. I added in a little arms, shoulders, chest, and core into the routine. I started off with a run and then went straight into the workout. I still prefer isolating specific groups on certain days but this was an effective workout and I could definitely feel it testing my athleticism. I'm going to start incorporating more of these into my split as I try to shed off more fat. The emphasis will be placed on practical movements that bring much more core and flexibility into play. I will not be doing anything with heavy olympic lifts and maxreps (crossfit.)
     For organization's sake, I've put the workout into sections. I performed the exercises in the same order as shown below. Rest breaks should be 25 seconds max in between sets. You'll notice that there is an emphasis on supersets. I love these and try to incorporate them as much as possible since I love pushing my respiratory system as far as I can. I have exercise induced asthma, but I've worked to virtually eliminate its presence in my life by slowly training my respiratory system using an integrated cardio and superset approach.

Workout
1) 1.5 mile run @ 6:45 pace

2) [superset] Cable Crunches + Lateral Raises
-5x10 (on each exercise) w/ 80 lbs. on cable crunches and 15 lb. DBs for raises

3) [superset] Hammer Curls + Wide-Grip Pullups
-5x10 (5 on each arm) curls w/ 65 lb. DBs
-5x10 pullups

4) [superset] Pushups on Exercise Ball* + Cable Crunches
-5x10 (on each exercise) w/ 80 lbs. on cable crunches

*For this, take a small or medium sized exercise ball and the lightest pre-weighted barbell available. Place the barbell on the point of the sphere closest to your body when leaning over it in pushup position. This movement requires a lot of shoulder and core stabilization so take the reps very slowly. The position would look like this but with a bar in place of the hands:

5) [superset] Atomic Pushups (TRX + perfect pushup grips) + Medicine Ball Slams*
-5x15 (on each exercise)

*Use the 18 lb. med ball for these. Below is a video of a guy performing this movement. I'd say it's a better idea to find a ball that bounces slightly as using a ball like the one shown will ruin the equipment. The goal of this movement is not immediately to slam the ball down as hard as possible but to engage primarily the core, hips, lats, and triceps in that order. Get your power from the core and not your arms.

6) Dragonflags*
-5x8

*This is an extremely advanced workout that requires a well-developed core. It's also my favorite ab exercise. It will push your core to its limit. The most important thing is to avoid activating too many stabilizers in the back and the hips. The emphasis should be on the rectus abdominis throughout the movement. If you feel the stress move toward your hips or back, stop immediately and rest before performing the movement again. If you have to go one rep per set, that's fine as long as the reps are controlled. Below is a tutorial on this exercise:

Diet of the Day

Meal 1:
-27g whey protein shake w/ 2% milk
-3 Aidell's chicken meatballs
-5 eggs worth of egg whites
-Raspberry, blackberry, blueberry, and banana smoothie w/ 2% milk and orange juice (2 cups total)

Meal 2:
-6oz grilled chicken breast
-0.5 cup brown rice
-0.25 avocado

Meal 3:
-8oz grilled chicken breast
-1 cup brown rice

Meal 4 (post-workout):
-35g whey protein shake w/2% milk
-Banana with peanut butter
-1 cup raspberries

Meal 5:
-Two 6oz grilled chickens
-4oz grilled chicken chopped into rice and avocado bowl
-0.25 avocado
-0.75 cup brown rice

Rest and Recovery Day

I think I came down with a pretty nasty cold. I've been sneezing and blowing my nose all day. I stayed out of the gym today and got a lot done at home. I'm hoping to be able to make it into the gym tomorrow. Diet was a repeat of yesterday's but with two 8oz grilled salmons for dinner.

Shoulders + Boxing

     I had such high hopes for today; I was going to kill my midterm, kill my shoulder workout, and kill the cardio session. All of these goals were accomplished. Then I managed to slip onto a piece of gardening equipment and slice my shin open. The cut is about 0.4-0.5" deep and I was able to see my bone if I moved it around. I've since cleaned it out and glued it shut. Hopefully it heals quickly. I generally don't have a problem with infections since I do a thorough initial cleaning with isopropyl alcohol. I find that alcohol does a better job at preventing infection than peroxide. The two used in tandem do not seem to produce any noticeable benefits.
     Anyway, today's shoulder workout was fast-paced and intense. My shoulders have really had it as of late so I didn't want to stress the rotator cuff too much. I took it relatively easy on dumbbell press and did not go about 135 lbs. on military press. Today's workouts are separated into two chunks below.

Workout 1 (shoulders):
-Always warm up your rotator cuffs with either cable movements or light plates/dumbbells. I prefer to use 5 lb. plates in order to do rotational warmups.

1) DB Shoulder Press
-1x15 w/ 50 lb.
-1x10 w/ 65 lb.
-2x10 w/ 70 lb.
-3x8   w/ 80 lb.

2) Military Press
*I do not perform a full ROM on this exercise as it aggravates my entire shoulder group. Instead, I come down to a little below 90 and lift almost to lock out. I do not lock out on this movement.

-4x10 w/ 135 lbs.

3) Cable Raises
*Perform both a front raise set and a lateral raise set for each superset shown below

-2x12 w/ 20 lbs.
-2x10 w/ 30 lbs.
-3x10 w/ 20 lbs.

Workout 2 (boxing):
-My buddy Jordan F. and I did a boxing workout centered around the heavy bag (80 lbs.) We added in the ab wheel and jump rope in between rounds. We alternated between doing power rounds and speed rounds. For the latter, we used each other as moving targets and concentrated on speed, agility, and reaction time.

Round 1:
-1.5 min power combos
-1 min speed combos
-Ab wheel to failure

Round 2: 
-2 min power+speed combos
-25 reps ab wheel
-40 reps jump rope

Round 3:
-1.5 min speed and reaction drills
-1 min power combos

Round 4:
-3.5 min power combos

     Somehow Jordan had the energy to do the equivalent of two round 4's. I don't know where he mustered the energy to go at it, but it was impressive. Boxing is an incredible workout that involves the use of the entire body. I definitely felt some lactic acid buildup in the shoulders since we concentrated on that muscle group earlier. It was not too detrimental and the workout was still great. Toward the end I was really feeling it in my core as I tried to concentrate on bringing my legs and core into various movements.
     If you find some cool music and have the right environment boxing can be very entertaining. Despite the fact that I enjoy running, I find it boring on occasion and stop for this very reason. This is not so with boxing. I'm into it the whole time. Give it a try!

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Diet of the Day:

Meal 1:
-3 Aidell's chicken teriyaki meatballs
-6 eggs' whites
-27g whey protein shake w/ 2% milk
-Raspberry, blueberry, and banana smoothie

Meal 2:
-8oz grilled chicken breast
-3 cups broccoli, carrots, cauliflower

Meal 3:
-27g whey protein shake w/ chocolate almond milk
-Banana slices w/ natural peanut butter, semisweet chocolate morsels, and honey
-Chocolate quest bar

Meal 4:
-6oz grilled chicken breast
-4 cups broccoli

Meal 5:
-4oz grilled chicken breast
-1 cup broccoli, carrots, cauliflower

Chest Day

Yet another chest day. My schedule constrains me to only a certain amount of workouts each week so lately it's been chest, back, chest, back, etc. Well, I promise that tomorrow will be something different! I'm going to go for a 5-6 mile uphill climb and then do some abs. I will upload the information for this day tomorrow.

Back Day

     Absolutely demolished back day today. I am not a big fan of supplements but I decided to try a couple samples that I got from the Fitness Expo. I used a combination of ON BCAA 5000 and EVP plus. I had clean energy and a phenomenal pump throughout the entire workout and enough energy left over to do a boxing workout after the gym. A single serving of EVP plus has 150mg of caffeine. One cup of coffee has 95 mg of caffeine. Check out the ingredient profile below to the right:

     I wanted to concentrate a bit more on lat development rather than overall back thickness. My absolute favorite exercise on back day is the lat pulldown, so I just upped the volume.

Workout 1 (weights):

1) Lat Pulldowns (wide-grip)
-1x15 w/ 100 lbs.
-1x15 w/ 160 lbs.
-1x10 w/ 180 lbs.
-1x8   w/ 190 lbs.
-5x5   w/ 210 lbs.

2) Hammer Strength Row
-1x15 w/ 2 plates
-1x15 w/ 2 plates + 25 plates
-5x8   w/ 3 plates
-1x5   w/ 4 plates

3) Lat Pulldowns (standard-grip)
*Use full range of motion and refrain from allowing the back to rest at the top of the movement. There should be no pause in the entire movement.

-5x10 w/ 180 lbs.

4) Single-Arm Cable Rows
*Alternate between right and left arms

-5x10 w/ 60 lbs.

5) Hammer Strength Shrugs
-5x15 w/ 3 plates


Workout 2 (cardio):
-I did three 2 minute rounds of boxing combined with a half mile jog in between each round for a total of 6 minutes of boxing and 1 mile. I also threw in 20 reps of the ab wheel in between each round.

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     I am quite positive that there is some validity to the studies regarding raspberry ketones. Ever since I started making raspberry smoothies I've started to notice more results from my cardio workouts. Studies have only been done on animals, but scientists concluded that raspberry ketone prevents and improves obesity and fatty liver in certain animals. The success appears to stem from the alteration of the metabolism (specifically lipids, specifically norepinephrine-induced lipolysis in fat cells.)

Diet of the Day:
Meal 1:
-27g whey protein shake w/2% milk
-4 Aidell's chicken teriyaki meatballs
-Raspberry, blueberry, and banana smoothie

Meal 2:
-8 oz New York steak
-4 cups of mixed vegetables (broccoli, carrots, cauliflower)

Meal 3:
-27g whey protein shake w/2% milk
-1.5 cups of blueberries

Meal 4:
-Rotisserie chicken (did not eat the skin)
-3 cups of mixed vegetables (broccoli, carrots, cauliflower)
-1.5 cups of brown rice

Fit Expo and Rest Day

Took another rest day today and went to the Fitness Expo with Chad H. I've been super busy so I'll update this and the last two posts tomorrow.

     Took today off. My shoulders were really taking a beating from the last few workouts so they needed a rest. I started taking fish-oils again. I take 6 a day (2 with each major meal.) My diet was a little bit out of whack:

Diet of the Day:
Meal 1:
-27g whey protein shake w/2% milk
-5 eggs worth of egg whites
-3 Aidell's chicken teriyaki meatballs
-1 plum and 1 peach
-Raspberry and blueberry smoothie (2 cups)

Meal 2:
-Chipotle burrito bowl: 50% rice, 50% lettuce, chicken, fajita vegetables, 4 scoops of corn

Meal 3:
-1 quest bar
-1 Apple

Meal 4:
-8oz New York steak
-4 cups of broccoli
-1 cup of carrots

Week 3 Progress Pics

Check out the gains. This week's set of progress pics will showcase strength and some size gains rather than progress in the area of definition. My abs have not improved because I haven't been doing cardio so I will not be showing them here today.

Note: The arrows above each text segment designate the picture that I am talking about with respect to the location of the text.

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To the right is a shot of my bicep and deltoids. I haven't been able to achieve total separation between my anterior and medial heads in the deltoid region but the definition is not bad.











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This one shows the peak development of my left bicep. I think it's purely genetic, but my left arm has this "baseball" peak whereas my right arm has nothing of the sort. Both arms are equal in strength. This is the best peak that I have ever had in my life. I attribute it mostly to a variety of bicep exercises rather than a select view. I've started to vary my bicep exercises as much as possible as of late.

This left arm measured in at 17" full pump. I do not think I could reproduce this number in a deflated state.



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These two images show my forearm development. I've managed to strengthen and define my forearms through very controlled hammer curl movements as well as very controlled movements on back day. I do not use wrist straps because I value the forearm development that comes along standard grips. My left (picture on the right) forearm is larger than my right since it is my dominant hand, however, my right hand's grip is stronger.


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I really like this image since it shows overall bicep, forearm, all deltoid groups, superior trapezius, chest, rhomboid, lat, and a tiny bit of tricep development.

My trap development isn't that great because I almost never do shrugs. I do not think that the next-day neck stiffness caused by shrugs is worth any sort of muscular development in that area. Genetically I have average traps and I'm ok with that. The areas that I want to develop more include the entire trapezius group and the rhomboid group.

Chest striations were achieved by reincorporating plyometric-based chest exercises such as the explosive bosu ball pushups as well as TRX-based exercises. Atomic pushups are magical.

Author's note: I think it's pretty artsy for a progress pic selfie considering the fact that the placement of my head with respect to the camera blocks the toilet perfectly. If only I were wearing a Gold's Gym tank...










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Ever since I started working out with my friend Jeremy W. at UCLA, I began to incorporate a wider range of lat exercises not limited to lat pulldown variations. Different types of bodyweight exercises are all fair game as well. I've started getting into obstacle courses and using climbing ropes as a method of lat training. In this image you can see I've developed good but not great lats.

For ease of comparison I will use the lat pulldown as a measurement tool to gauge progress. I was stuck at 160 lbs. (8-10 reps) on lat pulldown when I entered college. Since then I've probably done an average of 1 back day a week and managed to increase that weight by 50 lbs. I mean to say that I can now rep 210 lbs. for 8 reps on lat pulldowns. For me the key was intensity and a spotter. Just because an exercise uses mechanical assistance of some sort doesn't immediately designate it as one that would not benefit from a spotter. The only way that my back responds and grows is through heavy weight and high volume. I hit my lats hard and heavy for many sets, but what got me out of the plateau was changing my entire exercise scheme. I transitioned to incorporating T-Bar rows into my workout and broke through my plateau, despite the fact that T-Bar rows emphasize lower trapezius and rhomboid muscle groups.



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And for reference, here is the original pic:

Chest and Cardio

     Started with cardio again today and found that it once again supercharged my workout. I ran a 6:30 mile and did a total of 1.5 miles. I did not pause and went straight into my chest workout. I went heavy on this workout. The diet was a carbon copy of the diet from July 8, 2014.

Workout:

*1.5 miles @ 6:30 

1) Flat Bench Press

*Upped the weight for the working sets from 245 to 250. This wasn't hard either. I'm going to bump it to 255 next workout.

-1x15 w/ 135

-1x5   w/ 155

-1x5   w/ 185

-2x8   w/ 225

-3x5   w/ 250

2) [dropset] Incline Dumbbell Press 

*Incline was 40 degrees. 

(Repeat 3 times)

i) 8 reps w/ 100 lb. DBs

ii) 8-10 reps w/ 65 lb. DBs

iii) 10-15 reps w/ 40 lb. DBs

3) [superset] Decline Dumbbell Press + Single-Arm Flye

*End the flye movement by crossing your arm over your chest. The way to visualize this to think of moving your hand to your opposite shoulder. Concentrate on the squeeze and try to move the shoulder blade using the chest rather than the rotator cuff and anterior deltoids.

(Repeat 4 times)

i) 10 reps w/ 185 lbs.

ii) 8 reps on each arm w/ 110 lbs.

4) Atomic pushups

*Each set includes 10 reps of pushups and 10 reps of crunches. The video below shows you how to properly do the exercise. Skip to about 15-20 seconds in.

-4x10 

Diet of the Day:

Meal 1:
-27g whey protein shake w/ 2% milk
-3 Aidell's chicken meatballs
-5 eggs worth of egg whites
-Raspberry, blackberry, blueberry, and banana smoothie w/ 2% milk and orange juice (2 cups total)

Meal 2:
-6oz grilled chicken breast
-0.5 cup brown rice
-0.25 avocado

Meal 3:
-8oz grilled chicken breast
-1 cup brown rice

Meal 4 (post-workout):
-35g whey protein shake w/2% milk
-Banana with peanut butter
-1 cup raspberries

Meal 5:
-Two 6oz grilled salmons
-4oz grilled chicken chopped into rice and avocado bowl
-0.25 avocado
-0.75 cup brown rice

Back Day

     Back day and back on track. Diet was on point today and I figured out how to have effective workouts after having slept 7 hours or less. The answer is the pre-workout nap. I napped for an hour before my workout and went to go lift. I felt as if I had slept 8 or more hours. The tiredness returned mid-way through my workout since this is an imperfect solution. It wasn't unbearable and I'd give the workout quality a B+.
     The workout consisted of primarily back with a little bit of deltoid work and some biceps. After the gym I boxed and ran for cardio. My row movements are my weakest and need a lot of work but I absolutely love lat pulldowns and do them for fun.

Workout (part 1-weights):

1) Hammer-Strength Rows
-Note: when I say 2 plates I mean 2 plates on each side

-1x15 w/ 2 plates
-5x10 w/ 3 plates

2) Lat Pulldowns
-1x10 w/ 160
-1x10 w/ 180
-2x10 w/ 190
-3x8   w/ 200
-2x5   w/ 210

3) [superset] Arnold Press + Lateral Raises
1) 6x10 w/ 60 lb. dumbbells
2) 6x15 w/ 15 lb. dumbbells

4) T-Bar Row
-3x10 w/ 2 plates
-2x5   w/ 3 plates

5) Seated Cable Row
Note: I used the straight bar attachment and held at the peak contraction of the movement. My tempo was very slow and controlled.

4x8 w/ 140 lbs.

6) Dumbbell Hammer Curls
-3x10 (5 on each arm) w/ 60 lb. dumbbells

7) Hammer Strength Shrugs
-3x15 w/ 3 plates on each side


Workout (part 2-cardio):
I did a total of three 2 minute rounds of free boxing and ran a total of 1.5 miles. After each round, I'd run 0.5 mile in my neighborhood.

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Diet of the Day:

Meal 1:
-27g whey protein shake w/ 2% milk
-3 Aidell's chicken meatballs
-5 eggs worth of egg whites
-Raspberry, blackberry, blueberry, and banana smoothie w/ 2% milk and orange juice (2 cups total)

Meal 2:
-6oz grilled chicken breast
-0.5 cup brown rice
-0.25 avocado

Meal 3:
-8oz grilled chicken breast
-1 cup brown rice

Meal 4 (post-workout):
-35g whey protein shake w/2% milk
-Banana with peanut butter
-1 cup raspberries

Meal 5:
-Two 6oz grilled salmons
-4oz grilled chicken chopped into rice and avocado bowl
-0.25 avocado
-0.75 cup brown rice

Dessert:
-Quest bar, chocolate brownie flavor

Quick update: Pushing the transformation time duration forward by a week. I have no progress pics from last week since no progress was made. I think I've figured out a good way of dealing with the time issue (community college classes + other projects) and will update you all on how it goes. I guess this is a lesson for everyone in time management.

Sidenote: I ate a ton of pizza yesterday. Working that off is going to be a pain...

     I didn't work out today since I had a lot of homework and needed to help a friend set up something. Tomorrow I will be doing back as well as some cardio. I think I'll probably do a combination of boxing and running in order to create a HIIT session.

Diet of the Day:
Meal 1:
-5 eggs worth of egg whites
-4 Aidell's chicken meatballs
-27g whey protein shake w/ 2% milk
-1 cup strawberries

Meal 2:
-8oz balsamic chicken
-1 cup corn

Meal 3:
-Quest bar (lemon pie flavor)
-2 cups mixed blueberries and raspberries

Meal 4:
-6oz steak + several chicken thighs
-1.5 cup sautéed green beans
-1.5 cup sautéed carrots

No, that is not a hobbit meal. That is a large steak knife and a large fork.

Chest Day

     Chest day today. Was not feeling super energized so I decided to hop on the treadmill. I used to never do any sort of cardio before a lift because I was under the impression that it would hinder my ability to lift heavy weights due to energy expenditure. I can happily say that this was an invalid concern and that I had a great workout after running a mile. Oh, let me also mention that I ran it in 6 minutes and 15 seconds. I haven't been able to do that since 7th grade.
     Anyway, it wasn't hard and got my blood flowing. I felt more energized and ended up doing the workout below. It was fast-paced since I needed to get in and out of the gym quickly.

Workout:
~Run 1 mile (6:15 pace)~

1) Flat Bench
1x10 w/ 135
1x5 w/ 155
1x5 w/ 185
1x5 w/ 225
4x5 w/ 245 (Too easy. Going to move this up next time.)

2) Incline Dumbbell Press
5x8 w/ 100 lb. dumbbells

3) [superset] Incline Bench Press + Plyometric Bosu Pushups*
*Refer to an earlier chest workout for a description of what these are

(5 rounds)
10 reps w/ 205 lbs. + 10 plyo push-ups

4) Cable Flyes
7x12 w/ 50 lbs. (20 seconds rest in between each set)

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Diet:
1) Meal 1
-5 eggs worth of egg whites
-3 Aidell's chicken meatballs
-27g whey protein shake w/ 2% milk
-2 cups raspberries

2) Meal 2
-8oz grilled salmon
-3 cups broccoli

3) Meal 3
-6oz grilled chicken
-2 cups mixed vegetables
-1 cup brown rice
-0.5 avocado

*Apple pre-workout*

4) Meal 4 (post-workout)
-35g whey protein shake w/ chocolate milk
-1 cup blueberries

5) Meal 5
-8oz grilled chicken
-2 cups sautéed green beans

Back Day

     Back day today. My friend from high school Garrett G. had a break from his football training at CU Boulder and came back home! It was awesome to see him and it's always a good time. We went to Gold's Gym and absolutely killed it. Since heavy dumbbell rows on the flat bench tend to aggravate my lower back irrespective of how much torsion occurs, I opted to concentrate on T-bar rows and hammer strength equipment. Gold's has a plethora of hammer strength equipment to hit every area of your upper back without putting much strain on the lower back. I'm really considering a membership there for next summer. 24hr just isn't that great.
     After finishing a great back workout I really wanted to hit some biceps. I find that sometimes I just don't have the time for an arm day in the week and it's convenient for me to do it on the same day as back. The downside is that if you had a really great back workout, chances are your bicep workout will be sub-par since you essentially pre-exhausted the muscle group. The opposite is true if you start with biceps and try to do back. However, I managed to squeeze out a few sets on straight bar curls. Curling in the bench rack for the win.

Workout:
1) Lat Pulldowns
warmup: 1x15 w/ 110 lbs.
1x10 w/ 130 lbs.
3x8 w/ 190 lbs.
2x6 w/ 210 lbs.
2x5 w/ 190 lbs. (hold at the bottom)

2) T-Bar rows
1x15 w/ 1 plate
2x10 w/ 2 plates
2x6 w/ 3 plates
1x10 w/ 2 plates + 25 plate
1x20 (burnout) w/ 2 plates

3) Hammer Strength Row

(when I say, for example, 2 plates, that means there were 2 on each side)

1x10 w/ 2 plates
1x10 w/ 3 plates
1x8 w/ 4 plates
1x10 w/ 3 plates
1x25 w/ 2 plates (got bored and just stopped doing reps)










4) Hammer Strength Mid-Row
-Did each arm at a time and mentally concentrated on using my lats and rhomboids to pull this weight rather than my biceps

5x8 w/ 2 plates

















5) Hammer Strength Low-Row
-Really enjoyed this one since I could feel my rhomboids working really hard. Again, I did this one arm at a time to avoid falling back to my biceps to pull the weight.

2x10 w/ 2 plates
3x8 w/ 2 plates + 25 plate

6) Straight Bar Curls*
2x10 w/ 95 lbs. (25 on each side)
2x6 w/ 105 lbs. (25 + 5 on each side)

*Forearms gave out and then decided to stop.

------------------------------------

Diet of the Day:
Meal 1:
-5 eggs worth of egg whites
-27g whey protein shake w/ 2% milk
-2 cups of blueberries

Meal 2:
-8oz grilled salmon with teriyaki marinade
-5 cups steamed broccoli

Meal 3 (pre-workout 45 min):
-Banana w/peanut butter
-Chocolate quest bar

Meal 4 (post-workout):
-Chipotle bowl (50% brown rice, 50% lettuce, double chicken, four scoops of corn, fajitas vegetables, guacamole)

Meal 5:
-8oz grilled salmon with teriyaki marinade
-6 cups mixed vegetables (broccoli, carrots, cauliflower)

Dessert:
-Bananas with peanut-butter and dark chocolate chips
-Greek yogurt (Oikos lemon meringue pie flavor)

Chest Day

  Still trying to figure out how to deal with this new schedule. I've been waking up at 6 a.m. everyday for summer school and coming back at 3:15 p.m. Two math classes in six weeks... It's a real pain and absolutely exhausting. It also means that I need to be in bed before 10:30 to feel good the next day. I attempted to do a quick chest workout after school but didn't have as much energy as I wish I had. Diet was on point today and I was so glad to have salmon for dinner!

Workout:
1) Incline Dumbbell Press (45 degree)
-2x10 w/ 60 lb. dumbbells (warmup)
-6x8 w/ 100 lb. dumbbells

2) Flat Bench Press
-2x10 w/ 225 lbs.
-3x5 w/ 245 lbs.

3) Incline Bench Press
-5x8 w/ 185 lbs.

4) Cable Flyes
-3x12 w/ 45 lbs.
-3x12 w/ 55 lbs.
-3x8 w/ 60 lbs.

5) Decline Bench Press
-5x8 w/ 185 (very slow and controlled movement)

6) Concentrated Single Arm Machine Flyes
*Sit on the flye machine and brace yourself. Movement should be done with a single arm and concentrate flexion on the center area of the chest.

-5x8 w/ 100 lbs. (15 reps on each arm per set)

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Diet of the Day:
Meal 1:
-5 eggs worth of egg whites + 1 whole egg
-27g whey protein shake w/2% milk
-4 Aidell's chicken teriyaki meatballs
-Apple, 1 cup of raspberries

Meal 2:
-6 oz pork chop
-15 oz mixed veggies (carrots, broccoli, cauliflower)
-Power Crunch Bar (peanut flavor)

Meal 3:
-5 slices of lean tri-tip
-2 cups roasted veggies

Meal 4:
-Grilled salmon
-Sautéed carrots and broccoli
-0.5 cup microwaved corn
-0.5 cup brown rice

I've heard some great things about Quest bars so I got some and I'm going to give them a try. The ingredient profile looks very promising and fitting for my goals. Low on the sugars, high protein from whey isolate, etc. Take a look at this link if you're interested: http://www.questnutrition.com/ingredients/

Apparently they taste pretty good too. I'll post an update when I try one! I do my best not to eat bars of any sort, but it's hard when I can't carry a bunch of meals around school. The occasional bar is required to keep me awake in class.