Sore already?

I lifted half an hour ago, and I'm already sore. That does not bode well for my mobility tomorrow. On the up side, bench is up to 185/10. That places my estimated one-rep max at 246 pounds. Not too shabby. My goal of 300 suddenly seems a lot more attainable.

Gotta admit, my gym clothes need replacing. The shirts pre-date the beginning of my diet and have become incredibly loose. Considering that they're 4XLTs, I guess that's no surprise. My normal shirts are all 3XLs these days. The difference in size between them is quite encouraging, really - it's nice to be reminded of my progress every time I head to the gym. However, it just looks bad to wear clothes that old in public. :P

Weight update. LOL IT RYMEZ! v27

Despite the fact that this update is coming late, I actually weighed in on Saturday morning this week. I knew I'd be drinking and eating sugary, delightful things at Brandi's party. It seemed wise to avoid having that show up on my weekly results. Tish's deserts may be heavenly, but they're not exactly conducive to weight loss. ;)

I maintained exactly the same weight, with a loss score of 2.5. The reason's pretty simple. I went to Genghis Grill on Thursday night and not only did I overeat, I also had three bowls made with very sugary sauces. I now know what to avoid, so it's not a big deal. As it turns out, only the asian chilli sauce contains very little carbohydrate.

On the up side, bench press, lat pull down, and squat all went up ten pounds again this last week, and they're about to go up another ten with the start of this week's workout cycle. Go me. *flex* Bench press will be going up to 185, pull down and squat 130. Not incredible numbers, but they're going up every week, which still amazes me.

Weight update. LOL IT RYMEZ! v26

This is the best week I've had in quite some time. I'm down 3.6 pounds, with a loss score of 10.6. Considering last week's mistake means I lost that much in six days instead of seven, I think it's pretty damned impressive. Even more impressive is that I lost 3.6 pounds while adding 10 pounds to my bench press, squat, and lat pull down.

Bench is now sitting at 175/10 (weight/reps), with squat and lat pull down both at 110/12. That places my estimated one rep max on bench at 232.75. Not bad at all, and only 68 pounds from my goal of 300.

With any luck, I'll see similar numbers next week. :)

Weight update. LOL IT RYMEZ! v25

Measuring the day after I torpedo my caloric restrictions isn't good. :P I gained a pound, and had a loss score of -7. Needless to say, I won't be missing my weigh in day again. It's interesting, though, that one day would have such a dramatic effect on my performance. Perhaps I gained a little from eating chinese food on Friday. Something to avoid in the future, if at all possible. I'm pretty sure their teriyaki chicken is soaked in sugar.

It probably also doesn't help that I missed a workout this week. Why, you ask? Because I pulled a muscle in my back. I lift weights three days a week, do cardio six days a week, and I pulled a muscle in my back...Sneezing. Yeah. Pretty epic, huh?

Weight update. LOL IT RYMEZ! v24

Finally, some good news to report. I'm down 2.6 pounds. Loss score is meaningless at the moment because I didn't track any of my measurements the last few weeks except for weight and waist size. Waist size has held steady, so I guess you could say I have a loss score of 2.6. *shrug*

My weight training has also taken a turn for the better. I changed things up quite a bit over the last few weeks. I've dropped shoulder press and calf raise, leaving me with three exercises - bench press, wide grip lat pull down, and squat. These three exercises work large muscle groups instead of smaller ones, giving me more fat-burning bang for my buck than I'd get from targeting smaller muscle groups. This also allows for more steady increases in those three lifts because I'm no longer working the muscles in other exercises. I'm starting to think that I stalled because I was overtraining my shoulders. Oh well, that's in the past.

I've also started doing cardio on my off nights again. It's probably not necessary, but it helps me sleep better, and I don't seem to be sore anymore as a result. Perhaps that's because I've become used to my new program, but it seems more likely that the additional cardio is helping to clean the junk that causes soreness out of my muscles. Worst case, it's more calories burned, so it's not exactly a bad thing.

Weight update. LOL IT RYMEZ! v23

Note to self: dramatically changing the amount you eat, adding two new food items, and skipping two workouts isn't smart. No, not at all. Knee pain or no knee pain. Oh, and don't drink heavily the night before a weigh-in. That's just plain stupid.

I'm up 7.4 pounds for the week with a loss score of -16.4. Yeah, one week just killed the progress of three weeks. All aboard the failboat! ;)

Not a whole lot to say on the subject. I increased my caloric intake to help my weight training, then I didn't lift for most of the week because I've been having some knee pain troubles. Well, not last night...I just drank too much to be bothered last night, which is another problem.

I'd also added oatmeal to breakfast to replace my apple, and some pinto beans to my lunch to add some extra protein and low GI carbs. Not sure how those two changes worked out because the week was such an overwhelming failure, but I'm guessing they didn't exactly help. Perhaps I'll try them again this week just to see how they turn out when I exercise regularly and don't eat a lot more than I need, plus drink like a fool before my weigh-in. That, or perhaps I should stop fucking with something that's working and just go back to the way I was eating before. ;)

Weight update. LOL IT RYMEZ! v22

This one's coming a bit late because I've been busy. Oh, and lazy. Well, okay, mostly just lazy.

I'm down 2.8 pounds for the week. Not much else to report because I'm not really counting loss score this week. The reason? Well, I was tempted to subtitle this post "Loosening the Tape Edition," but didn't want to be bothered. Basically, I've been pulling the tape too tight when I do my loss score measurements, and I'm fixing that. As a result, my loss score for the week was -15. Hopefully the coming weeks won't deliver similar numbers. ;)

In other news, I'm no longer making fast gains on the weight training front. It's probably due to my lowish protein/carbohydrate intake, but it might also be due to lack of sleep, or the fact that I'm pushing myself too hard. Hopefully it'll improve after I increase my overall intake in another week or two. We'll see. Maybe I'll bump up the time table on that...I'd planned to wait until after I dropped below 300 to jack up my intake, but this sudden stop in gains has me a little concerned, and more than a little frustrated.