Diet

In a similar 'step up' fashion to my workouts, my diet is coming around as well. 3-4 feedings per day have consisted of the Nano products made by BioPharma Scientific , along with a breakfast and a dinner of whatever I feel like consuming as bookends around the Nano shakes. Without focusing on appearance, this has allowed room for pancakes and waffles in the morning, and pizza/beer/etc. at night. Certainly not every day has included these food choices, but perhaps half. And even though those aren't ideal food choices for health or appearance, the Nano products are so nutritious and low in calories that I haven't added as much body fat as in recent winters.

Because the meals between breakfast and dinner are ideal, there isn't much to focus on besides cleaning up those two feedings. Instead of going all out at first, I've removed some junk foods (beer, pizza), while still including some others (pancakes, pasta). One could look at this as though there are various 'grades' of food quality - carbs specifically - and I'm gradually bringing up my individual grades and subsequent GPA.

Keeping in mind this 'GPA' concept, one could look at each meal individually and say that pancakes 4 mornings per week would lead to a higher grade for meal #1 than eating them 7 days per week - all other meals being equal. Old fashioned oatmeal is certainly a better choice than the refined carbs in pancakes/waffles, so again this would bring my grade up. At the moment, oatmeal is probably ingested 3-4 days per week, while eventually it will be consumed most likely every day. I suppose this GPA concept is similar to Weight Watchers, where points are attached to individual food choices and the sum is then viewed as being ideal or not. However I have no experience with this method, so I cannot say for sure.

A note on carbs: they aren't all bad and if one wants to look one's best they need to be included in some manner - particularly those that take a while to digest (oatmeal, sweet potato). Bodybuilders seem to get this better than those low carb advocates that are simply focusing on weight loss. The quantity/quality of them, i.e., Whether carbs are included in the first one or two meals of each day and/or after an intense workout (I think this is absolutely necessary) is up to the individual to decide; not from a book, not from this blog, etc.

To quote Brian D. Johnston, president of the International Association of Resistance Trainers (IART): You will find, as a result of the Principle of Individualism, that few people will be able to direct you properly... if at all. This is what you want to consider when it comes to training or nutrition: take the idea of what is proposed and play around with it. Do NOT try to follow the idea specifically unless you want to do so for a short time. Manipulate it and watch how your body responds. Do NOT wait for someone to give you an answer as to how to manipulate it since that person cannot know your body and its reactions anywhere near what you can. (1)

Moving back on track, my progress has been noticeable, but nothing dramatic. More delineation in the upper and middle abdominal region, while the lower ab area and ring around my waist still allow me to pinch more than I would like to see in a bathing suit. That is always the last spot to go, and to reiterate my goals, I'm hoping I can work around it this year without looking too stringy - but to do so will take some ingenuity to 'trick' my body into dropping body fat and not muscle.


(1) http://discussionboard.teamhitonline.com/user/Discussion.aspx?id=158129

A little background on my workouts

For the past 2.5 months (since Xmas, really) I've been alternating one week consisting of one full body workout, with another week consisting of a three-way split. Part of this was due to the lack of desire to train hard around the holidays, while also seeing this as a way to back off the demands somewhat and ideally not lose much in the appearance department. So far so good, but there is absolutely a difference in fullness/hardness during the weekends following the higher volume weeks.

The single session usually occurs on Thursday simply due to scheduling ease, while the three weekly workouts are performed on Tues/Wed/Thurs. In years past I've always left a day between each session (i.e., Mon/Wed/Fri) for 'recovery', but in talking with a few others that have attempted training three days in a row, the metabolic effect seems to be better. That is, there's not an 'up-down-up-down' effect, instead a continual climb ('up-up-up') before dropping off. I'm still getting four days off each week - certainly enough for optimal recovery, and particularly with an 'easier' schedule every other week.

Moving toward my goals outlined in the previous post, total workout volume will increase - but not via more exercise during each session. Instead, two consecutive weeks of three workouts will be incoroporated for every week of one workout. This will last approximately 6 weeks (2 cycles of 2:1), followed by another increase to three consecutive weeks of three workouts for every week of one workout (2 cycles of 3:1). Unless something goes wrong, I expect that I will be able to then move to three workouts each week through mid-July (6+ continuous weeks).

The goal with each workout within the three-way split is maximum pump of the target area in minimal time. At this point I have a good idea of what that will entail, but of course things don't go as planned every time so adjustments can be made on the fly. For example, 3 exercises performed Zone Monster Set style for chest pump that area maximally 90% of the time. If during the other 10% something doesn't click, and an additional exercise needs to be added, so be it. But each body part of each workout needs to reach that goal before terminating the session. During full body workouts, one set per body part (9-10 exercises) will suffice.

Summer's not too far away...

So it's time to start thinking of bathing suit weather. And with that comes bathing suit appearance considerations. As was discussed in our newsletter (March '09), everybody starts this process at different points relative to 'peak condition'. I gauge three things:

1. Maximum abdominal delineation (i.e., six-pack)
   
2. Minimum love handle/skin pinch from bathing suit
3. Achievement of #'s 1 and 2 without too much of a loss of muscular hardness and fullness

Number 3 is the hardest for me to balance, while the first two are relatively easy to accomplish - particularly if paying no heed to number 3. What tends to happen is I become very lean, but then suddenly I seem to 'shrink' with regard to muscularity. This summer I'd like to be better prepared with regard to this aspect - in effect 'staying ahead' of the curve. More on this as the weeks mount and I come closer and closer to the appearance I want.

So this blog space will detail the steps taken during the next 3+ months leading up to my birthday (June 20th). Every few weeks - or more frequently if something pops up that's worth documenting - I'll note where I stand relative to my goals. I think I can upload some pics along the way as well, provided my ancient digital camera still works...