Sparrows Experiment

Wednesday: legs/abs
leg press 3x15
one leg alternate press 3x8
ham curl 3x10 increase each set
calf raises 3x20
swim 1 hr or 3200 yds

what is the weight on these I was wondering. Cuz you put on your arms what the #'s was and didn't on these!

Welp, glad you're feeling human! Get yourself some of those healthy-type cookbooks they got some real interesting ideas in there. I just got this ' Buns of Steel' ..lol...cookbook! No it doesn't cook any runp roast! LOL !

Butt...haha...there might be some in ther don't know .
 
Leg press is 135# and I use the same weight for the single leg press but I just don't go down as far. With the 135-2 leg I bend until my heals are about at my butt. I should probably increase it. hams I start with 40 and go up by 20s so I finish at 80. calf raises I do on the leg press so 135..just to save time.
I have swam my whole life so I swim at a brisk pace all of the strokes plus some conditioning exercises like skulling in the water or pulling with paddles.
 
man, I feel so lonely that nobody but jaymie ever responds to my posts! :( poor me...

ok I'm over it...

anyway, today was fine. TGIF. I swear, these weeks can sometimes take EONS. Thankfully its not a thousand degrees this week like it was last week. That was terrible. I'm not quite ready for the Sacramento heat. I used to be a swim coach and would be out there on the hot deck in 110 degree weather! Can you say skin cancer??? sheesh. This is one of the first years that I'm not around the pool very much. its a nice shift.

heres the 411

Break-
1/2 cup oat bran hot cereal
1 egg
4 egg whites

*workout* back, bis and tris, 60 min cardio. Today I upped all my weights so I'm feeling it now.

lunch-k this was the grossest lunch ever. I thought it would be OK but I had to try not to gag
1/2 cup black beans
1/2 cup brown rice
4 oz tuna
2 cups broccoli
I should have eaten everything separately or atleast separated the tuna and broccoli. that was NOT ok.

Snack: fit n light yogurt (dannon), 2 scoops soy protein (out of my whey) haha get it "out of my WAY"? hahaha. ok ok

Dinner: 1 cup chicken, 1 large lc whole wheat tortilla ( I can't get away from these things Sarah!), 1/2 cup bell pepper, 1 roma tomato, 1/4 c rice or 1/4 c black beans

snack: 1 T peanut butter...whatever else if I'm not to full at this point.

I've stayed at 129.8 for like 4 days in a row so I'm upping my cals after this weekend. I'll have my cheat tomorrow because its my son's birthday party, and then head up to 1400 for next week.

someone talk to me! :D
 
Hi Sparrow,
I notice that you do 1 hour of aerobics (cardio). I am assuming that it is low to moderate intensity ?? I feel that is a bit long for cardio. 45 minutes is plenty for low to medium impact cardio. Hate to see you burning off muscle rather than fat. Have you ever tried HIIT ? Yeah that lunch you ate did look interesting :rolleyes: At least it was all good stuff !! :) Keep up the good work :D
 
yeah its moderate. Its so hard for me to back off on cardio since I'm so used to doing so much. Before this I was running 5-8 miles a day. Some of that HIIT even when it was 5 miles. I am an endurance athlete and always have been. Doing HIIT for 5 miles (3 min moderate 6.5mph/3 min hard 8mph) isn't difficult for me. I do long distance swims in lakes and triathlons and stuff too. Even an hour of moderate intensity never seems like I've done anything. I'm having a hard time backing off.
 
You're an endurance athlete. Okay then normally you will have longer cardio periods. Sorry I wasn't trying to be misinformative.
 
but since my body is used to more cardio will it still spare muscle if i do more than "the normal bear"? how much do you think should be max?
 
today is my son's birthday and my cheat day. I biffed it last night a little because we had family in town and was up a water weighted pound today...

break: 1 cup soy milk, 1/2 donut (yuck, so not worth it)
lunch: handful sunchips and cheetos, 1 fat hamburger with potato bun, lettuce, tomato, etc. asparagus, olives, avacado
2 bites birthday cake, 1/4 cup ice cream

dinner: another hamburger, few chips, cookie/ice cream

barf. these are the times I really appreciate the clean eating...

back on the wagon tomorrow after I suffer the consequences of "the morning after"
 
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sparrow said:
but since my body is used to more cardio will it still spare muscle if i do more than "the normal bear"? how much do you think should be max?
Click to expand...

Sparrow .. if you're pleased with the shape you're in, then by all means keep doing what you are doing. :) If you want to change your physique somewhat, then you can tinker with your routine and diet a bit. Do you feel like you are losing muscle ? Your body, I believe, has become accustomed to your "longer" cardio sesions, and therefore, you may just be maintaining the muscle you have, with help of course from your diet. Maybe someone else can chip in here a bit also. Add on with more advice, or correct me if I am mistaken here. But I really think it all comes down to how you feel. If you feel good, have energy, etc. then you're doing the right things !! :)
 
Yeah i am happy with the shape I am in. I get frustrated sometimes when it takes me way more cardio to get the same effects. My resting heart rate is 43-45 and my max (all out sprint) is 160 so it can be a struggle to get in the intensity I need to get my heart rate up. I have spent the past month really cutting back and focussing more on weights and shorter cardio sessions as well as cleaning up my diet and increasing calories. So far my body is not rebelling but it feels like I hardly do anything at the gym. I like feeling that good tired when I leave the gym... I hardly feel that with the routine I have going. I have dropped 3% body fat in 6 weeks though just doing what I just mentioned. I chalk that up to better nutrition and greater muscle mass. I want to lose my last 5 pounds of baby weight ( I have 3 kids) and ditch the small layer of fat over my muscles so they cut through. Mostly on upper thighs and lower tummy. frequent complains of women I am noticing.
If I lose nothing and get to 13% body fat I'd be very cool with that.
Maybe they are unrealistic goals. i dunno. I am having a hard time tweaking things since I still feel very ignorant of this new routine (my weight sessions) and my new fat loss diet. I feel like I am doing eveything right but I'm not sure how fast I should be expecting results. it all feels so so slow. I also am not compltely sure I'm doing my diet right. I am able to eat very clean. i have no problem with will power or being committed to an eating plan, no matter how strict...as long as I can have a cheat day once a week :) I just need to knwo I'm doign it right.
 
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Well today is another off day. Its weird for me to take 2 days off in a row, especially after a massive cheat DAY but its ok. Today is our family day and church so I yield to that. I was 130.8 today (day after my cheat) after being 131.2 yesterday morning before my cheat. so weird. I'm not complaining!

Today is lower carb.
breakfast
8 egg whites with sf syrup on top
1/4 whole wheat bagel
lunch: 2 low carb tortillas
1 cup chicken
1/2 green bell pepper
1 med. roma tomato
romaine lettuce
snack ?
dinner:?
snack?
 
Sparrow, can you explain by what you mean when you say "you feel very ignorant of this new routine" ? And I am sure you know this, but the closer you get to your goals the slower your progress seems to get. It's always seems to be difficult getting of that last 5 or so pounds or that last 1 or 2 % bodyfat. You mentioned losing 3% bodyfat in six weeks, that is good work there.
 
well I've never hit weights so hard core before. Well, mabye once but it wasn't for an extended time like I'd like this to be. I'm not 100% sure I am doing it all right and I don't want to just be ineffecient and do things wrong for a long time and then kick myself in the butt if someone later tells me I've only been spinning my wheels. I want to use my time wisely. so I guess I just mean that I'm not sure I'm being smart about how I'm doing things or if i'm even doing them right. if you look back to my other posts you'll see the routine I'm doing. maybe you can offer me some advice? You're right. 3% is good and I'm glad for it. i'm just impatient ! :) I guess I just wish I had a built in trainer each day to say "DO THIS" now "DO THIS" and "EAT THIS" and poof. I'd do great with that :) but alas....$$ for now I SO value this website and all the great advice everyone is willing to give!
 
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Sparrow, let me know if this site helps you. Click on the man, to see exercises for that bodypart and how to perform them.
 
WOW thats a fantastic site! I get in a rut with my weights since I exercise alone and do what I know is familiar to keep from looking like a fool in front of the macho people. hahaha. I need some diversity, I know. I hit all the body parts but I need to change it up. thank you for that site!
 
Today is memorial day. Not much of a different day for me except that my 7 yr old is home. Nice not to have to rush her away to school. I think we're just hanging out and having a bbq later. probably what 99% of YOU are all doing too! I do wish I had a boat though! The lake sounds nice

I was up to 131.8 today. water water water. i know but I hate the number and theres no reason. i was so low carb yesteday. I guess I am days away from monthly torture. sucks.

I haven't done breakfast but I want to go to the gym to run today. I can't run very far on a full tummy so I'm being naughty and going without eating. I know I know....we'll see how that goes. I've been so tried and true with eating when I should...and lots of it....especially before the gym. it used to be standard for me to go there hungry. I seem to have better workouts. strange.

anyway, I'm tried. 3yr old was up a TON. I'll post later what I finally ate and stuff...
 
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Ok here is what today looks like

am gym
40 min running:
10 min warm up 6.0
2 min 7.5/2 min 6.0-repeat 8 times with a 5 min easy jog after 4 sets
10 min cool down
15 min precor machine level 10
10 minutes moving stairs interval training level 10

break-few sips of a smoothie I made my kids
lunch-2 lc tortillas, 1 can tuna, tomato, lettuce, onion, 1/2 c black beans
snack-cottage cheese and strawberries
dinner-bbq chicken, garden salad, deviled egg, 1/2 cup kidney beans

my workout today was lame. I haven't run regularly since the end of April and my last half marathon so I found myself well winded very quickly. I usually do 3 minutes each of the intervals and I do it a total of 36 minutes excluding warm up and cool down and thats usually pretty easy. not today. I was sweating like a maniac.
It was kinda nice to have a breather from weights and only do cardio, although I can say I missed weights. I enjoy doing them! I'm doing heavy cardio days m/w/f this week and my weights will be broken up over t/w/th/s. it just works better for the schedule. we'll see how i react to the increased cardio on top of weights and this new eating plan.
I did my bf today. It was exactly the same. no gain, no loss. its all good. JPC is right, its going to take a little bit of doing to lose the last pounds and body percentages.
 
Yes Sparrow, that last bit of fat can be a pain in the a**. But you're gonna achieve your goal. you are quite determined to do so. Just takes a little patience :eek: Not sure if that word is in your vocabulary though ;) j/k You're doing great. Keep it up !!!
 
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