Squats

Last night I took my camera to the gym. There aren't any mirrors near the squat rack, and even with mirrors, it's hard to check your own form. It's easier to fix your form when you're just starting - it's like learning to drive...if you never develop bad habits it's a lot better. Here's what I did last night. Remember, if you're a trainer and you're watching this, it's only my fourth time doing weighted barbell squats. Ever. I usually use dumbbells or do Bulgarian split squats. Back in my college days I used a smith machine because my gym didn't have a squat rack. Anyway, I digress.

I'm following the Practical Programming for Novices progression (by Rippetoe). Last night I did 2x5 45lb (warm up), 1x3 60lb, 1x2 80lb, 1x3 90lb (this was supposed to be 3x5 but my left knee felt wonky on the 3rd rep so I quit and lowered the weight), and 3x5 75lb. The video is of the first set. I want to try to work on getting lower, and hinging more from the hips.

I've been following Mark Rippetoe's YouTube videos on weight training. He teaches form, including a all the  mechanics of WHY you should do something a certain way (like I showed in my post on deadlifts). I watched his videos to decide whether to do low- or high-back squat, and what kind of form to use. I'm such a geek, I know. He discusses the merits of a low-bar squat and talks about angles and power and how those two things are related.

Deadlifts

I love my new gym. It's clean, bright, well-equipped, and has great staff. I've been there for a week now, and am totally glad I signed up. So far I've done all three days of Nia Shanks' workout and one running session. I really should be running more but I've been busy with work and writing and haven't figured out how to work the running in with my weight training. Tonight I'll be going after work, I think I'll be doing Day 1 again (focusing on deadlifts) but I might run, too. We'll see.

If you're wondering what deadlifts are, and want to see the strongest man on the planet (as of 2009, anyway) deadlift 1,008 lb (about 3 minutes in), watch THIS:

If you're a nerd like me and want to know the physics of how things work in addition to doing things with perfect form, watch THIS:

The deadlift works the posterior chain: the low back, the glutes, and the hamstrings. Of course, I'll never be anywhere close to deadlifting (you lift a dead weight from the floor, hence the name), but I'm gonna do my best to eventually get to a place where I can lift twice my weight - that's a 1 rep max, of course. For now,I'll stick with the lighter weights and make sure my form is perfect.

Low Volume Training

I've been yearning for a gym membership for a couple months now. I had to get a few things straightened out with my budgeting before I could do so, which sucked. Finally, on Sunday I went to have a tour at a local fitness & racquetball club that just opened in January. I went to make sure they had all the stuff I need and want, like sufficient barbells, weight plates, enough dumbbells, area to work, leg press machine, squat rack, chinup bar, etc. I loved the place - it's so clean, and it's not corporate at all - it's run by the two owners, and the staff are very nice and helpful. Last night I took my void cheque and went to sign up for a 1-year membership.

Now that I'm past that whole "low-carb" performance killer period of time - it lasted about a month - I can focus on getting some good results in the gym. I did a bit of research and decided that Nia Shanks' "Minimum Training For Maximum Results" training program will suit me perfectly. I might add in a couple things as time goes on if I feel I need improvement in certain areas, but yeah - I did Day 1 last night and it took me about half as much time as my at-home workouts have been taking. Which totally rocks, because I don't want to spend 5 hours in the gym every week.

So, you ask, what did I do?

I did deadlifts, shoulder press, chin ups, and farmer walks. Since I haven't been to the gym to lift heavy in well over 5 years, I took it somewhat easy and just focused on form. I wasn't sure about deadlift weight because I've never done them with a barbell, only as 1-legged deads with dumbbells. I will definitely go heavier next time after I get a form check by one of the trainers there.

Another reason I went light on the deads is that I ended up doing some unplanned cardio and stair work yesterday for work - I ended up delivering about 300 flyers to homes in my neighbourhood. Over 150 of those were townhomes, each with 4 steps up to the mailbox. Plus, all the stairs at each of the houses...you get my point. My lower back was killing me by the time I got done and went to work. Today it's fine, though, so I'm happy.

I'm considering going to the gym tonight to do some running on the treadmill to
a) burn some extra fat and
b) start training the 5km run I signed up for - it happens at the end of May and I haven't run farther than 2km in a very, very long time. These days I mostly do sprints or walk to get my cardio. So I have a lot of work to do, methinks.

Pledges raised for the race go to buy equipment for the new local hospital. If any of my friends want to donate, I can take money by cheque, PayPal, cash, or email money transfer. Please leave a message with your contact details so I can get in touch with you. I might set up a little widget in the sidebar to make it easy to donate through paypal - is that best?

End of Week One of BBB

It's Sunday evening, which marks the 7th day of Brutal Beauty Bootcamp. I've completed all three training workouts now - a three-day split, as per my preference. I'm feeling pretty good.

I worked back and biceps on Tuesday, legs on Thursday, and chest/shoulders/triceps on Saturday. I did not get a chance to do sprints, mostly because my legs and arse are so damned sore from Thursday's workout! The crappy snowy weather doesn't help, either. I've asked Gemma for some ideas for some in-house sprint workouts.

I've been within calories for the week - 1200 on rest days, 1500 on training days (plus or minus 200 on a couple days, it all evened out in the end, so I'm all good). I'm working at a deficit because I'm cutting. I'm not aiming to gain a lot of muscle, because you can't bulk and cut at the same time - science doesn't work like that, yo. In any case, I'm aiming to improve my protein intake in the next two weeks to keep it over 100g a day. I'm also going to try to keep my fat below 50g on training days, and carbs below 50 on rest days. The carbs restriction is part of my plan, but the limit on fat grams is my idea. If I lower my fat intake, that'll leave me more room for protein whilst staying within my macros.

So - how am I feeling about the restricted calories? I'm doing pretty well, all things considered. I get occasional cravings, mostly for sweet stuff. Or potato chips. Or bread. But really - it's all the same, right? Carbs = sugar. So I bought some red seedless grapes and froze them, I'll enjoy them on training days. Sweet and crunchy! I also made almond flour crackers, but they're wildly addictive. I might need to be careful with those! Here's a pic of one:

They were super simple to make. 1 cup almond flour, 1 egg white, and a pinch of salt. I sprinkled a bit of salt on top before I put them in the oven. I'll post the recipe later.

I actually seem to feel fuller on rest days, likely because of the higher fat and lower carbs. Did you know that carbs actually activate your hunger pangs? Ridiculous. I'm reading Robb Wolf's The Paleo Solution: The Original Human Diet and it's fully of cool geeky science stuff about food and the human body. It's written in a manner that non-geeks will enjoy (or you can skip those parts) as much as people like me (ok, I'm totally a geek when it comes to nutrition and stuff).

I'm losing weight, too. On Friday, I was down 3.5 pounds since my "before' weigh-in. I had actually dropped down 4 pounds but it went up half a pound Friday, probably because my legs sucked water in to repair the damage I caused them on Thursday. Yowza! It will be interesting to see if these incredible losses continue into  the second week.

I'm really enjoying the interaction and support from the other BBB participants and Gemma, the personal trainer in charge of us all. She gave me some tips and suggestions on Friday during my FB Chat check-in.

Are you wondering what a typical meal looks like on a rest day? Here's a photo of my dinner from tonight:

That yellowish/cream blob that looks like mashed potatoes is actually an equal mix of rutabaga and cauliflower with butter and pepper. I love it - it's probably my most favourite side veg! The beef patty is made from pastured beef, a splash of ketchup, and some mustard. It wasn't quite 5oz after I cooked, it, so the calories are probably counted a bit high here. Oh well. Here's a cut and paste from MyFatSecret.com for this meal (beside the items, the first number is fat grams, the second number is carbs, third numbers is protein, and last number is calories):

1 baby carrot, sliced:  0   1.32   0.33   5

¼ C broccoli              0.10  1.73  0.57  8

1 T butter   11.52  0.01  0.12  102

1/3 C cauliflower   1.41  1.72  0.76  21

5 oz ground beef    21.26  0  26.35  305

1/3 T ketchup  0.02  1.24  0.09  5

½ C sliced mushrooms 0.09  1.79  0.29  8

1/3 C rutabaga  0.09  3.76  0.55  17

Totals: 

34.61g fat   

12.72g carbs   

30.14g protein   

479 calories

I am so full, I have no need to eat anything more tonight, so I'll be a little under my cals for the day, which is fine (only by about 65, so nothing serious). I'm boiling water for a tea right now, and will drink a couple more glasses of water before bed.

So - there you have it! One full week done, 11 to go!

Stay tuned for that almond flour cracker recipe (with directions)!

Countdown to Boot Camp

Today was my last day of "free" eating before boot camp starts. To be honest, I've been eating pretty clean - no processed foods, and very little grain. I've seen a two-pound weight loss since going back onto my "mostly" primal diet last week, with three workouts in there for good measure.

Yesterday (Saturday) I went out with friends to an all-you-can-eat sushi restaurant and I gorged on salmon sashimi, salmon and crab sushi, crispy spicy salmon rolls, and California rolls. I figured my total dinner calories (plus three large beers) was 2218, with carbs: 254g, fat: 44g and protein: 79g. Wowza.

Tomorrow marks the first day of my bootcamp program. My goals are to lose fat (cut) and gain strength. I've been provided with a nutritional plan, a workout plan, and will chat one-on-one with my trainer once a week and will have access to a private FB group where all the members can provide each other with support and encouragement.

My ultimate goal for this 12-week session is to lose 20 pounds. Theoretically, I could lose more, but I'll be very happy with 20 pounds in three months. I'll keep going, of course - because I think I could go down a bit more; but as long as my old clothes fit, I'll be singing with joy. Obviously, I will make enormous strength gains, and I hope that by the end of three months, I'll be able to do at least one unassisted chin up. We'll see.

I've taken my "before" photo (shudder) and will post it alongside my "after" photo when this is all over.

And now...I must go to bed before I decide to eat something, like a handful of oreo cookies. ;)

Bootcamp!!!

I am very excited to have been chosen to be part of my friend's 12-week inaugural Bootcamp program. She will design a workout plan, make suggestions re changes in my diet, and will monitor my progress via a private FB page and 1x weekly Skype chat. There are a total of 11 participants, although not all have forwarded their info to her so at this point it might only be 8 of us doing the bootcamp.

Officially, the BBB (I will tell you the name of the program once I get permission) starts Monday. Until then, I have started easing back into Primal-ish eating - I totally gave up for Christmas - and have picked up my workouts again, which I had paused due to knee and elbow pain. I've stepped it up a bit, and am incorporating some non-compound moves in there, because I don't have access to a barbell to do chest presses or deadlifts.

Goals:
-lose at least 15 pounds (although I am not stuck on this, I am sure it is possible. As long as I go down at least 3 sizes I'll be happy)
-build muscle
-gain strength (I would love to be able to do an unassisted pullup)
-improve flexibility

My biggest challenge will be the cessation of all alcohol consumed in the 12 week period. For the first 3-4 weeks of my original Primal lifestyle back in November, I didn't drink anything, and lost an average of 2 lb per week. As soon as I started enjoying a drink every now and again, my weight loss plateaued. So I know it is detrimental to fat loss and will totally cut it out until I am at my goal weight. Once there, I will imbibe only occasionally, and only vodka and club soda (low cal, low carb).

Because I don't have a lot of fitness equipment, my entire workout plan will involve 2-3 days of training a week using body weight, a chinup bar, and 10-lb dumbbells, unless I am able to buy some kettlebells in the interim. I will likely continue to do sprints once a week.

As part of my deal with the personal trainer, I will provide before and after photos, weekly blog posts, and a testimonial for her website. She is starting a new business and finishing her personal training certification. I will also be posting on here for friends and family to follow, if they wish. I will link any new blog posts to my FB page.

I anticipate the next 12 weeks will be difficult and challenging. I look forward to the challenge, and I really think the motivation of a personal trainer and the support from the other participants will help me keep on-track for success.

P90X!

Sorry to all my readers - I've been super busy with writing, parenting, and life!  I've had a major change in my workload so pretty much everything has been put aside so that I can keep on top of  my writing commitments.  Having said that, I've also made a monumental decision...I'm going to apply to the Toronto Police Service and get back into policing.   I was born to be a cop.  I went to school for it, I worked as one for 4 years, then circumstances made me leave the career I loved.  Now I'm ready to go back....but it's gonna take a ton of work!  I need to dial up my fitness level!  So who's with me????

I started P90X yesterday.  I'm doing the Lean version, which means more cardio (so I can get into good cardio shape) and less strength compared to the regular version.  I'll still be doing pushups and pullups, so I'll be building strength and whittling myself down to my top shape.  I'm looking forward to the challenge!

Yesterday was my first day with the program. We started with Core Synergistics.  It's not quite what I expected, since there was a lot more arm and leg work than I would have thought, but boy oh boy did my glutes ever hurt when I was done!  They hurt just sitting down!

And today was Cardio X day.  Seemed kind of tame while I was doing it (even though I hated it almost all the way through)...there were a lot of kenpo moves, and I don't really have a lot of room for kicking, but whatever.  I did it all.  There are some plyo moves, some kenpo/kickboxing moves, some core moves, some yoga, and that's pretty much it.  It doesn't seem very extreme to me, but I don't have a heart rate monitor since mine broke.  It's hard to tell how hard you're working, without a heart rate monitor.  I recommend anyone who is doing a workout plan like this should have a heart rate monitor, just so you know if you're hitting your target zone.

The only drawback to doing a program like this is the fact that, if you're training for something specific (like policing, for example), and you have to be able to pass certain tests (like running a 1.5 mile run in under so many minutes), then you have to consider that this program will not make you a better runner.  Sure, it might increase your endurance, cardio-wise, but the only way to get better/faster at running is to RUN.  So add in a couple of days worth of running into this program just to stay on your game.

Is there anyone doing (or has done) the P90X program? What do you think of it?