Monday:
squat 175 lb 5x5
bench 135 lb 5x5
inverted row 18, 12, 11
dips 27, 14, 12
hanging leg raise 15, 15, 15

Wednesday:
squat 180 lb 5x5
overhead press 90 lb 5x5
deadlift 195 lb 1x5
pull-ups 10, 6, 5, 8
prone bridges 45s, 45s, 45s

Friday:
squat 185 lb 5x5
bench 140 lb 5x5
inverted row 17, 12, 10
push-ups 32, 24, 12
hanging leg raise 15, 15, 15

Friday weigh-in: 191 lb, 24.3% body fat.

Notes: My squats are hard enough now to require a full 2 minute minimum rest between sets, same for most of the assistance exercises.  This means that even without cardio I'm up to a full hour for each workout, so I haven't been able to tack a cardio session onto the end.  While this should have meant I hit the treadmill or elliptical on my off days, I found myself time constrained.  I'm pretty close to stalling on my squats and overhead presses.  The barbell work is also getting hard enough that my sets to failure on assistance exercises are ending a little sooner.  I'm also trying to be more strict with myself on what constitutes failure.  Prior to this past week I was likely being much too lenient on poor-form reps at the end of some of the sets.

Since I've now been in the gym for 7 weeks since my last rest week, I'm considering taking this next week off.  It'll have to depend on how my knees feel tomorrow morning.

Posted by: leoncaruthers at 08:04 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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190 lb today, 24.3% body fat.  Today's the final entry in this category.  I managed to lose somewhere between 30 and 35 lb.  20-25 of that was in the first 3 months, and 5 of that was in the past five months.  I've been in the gym very consistently in those 5 months, and I've had a considerable amount of re-composition, so it's not all bad news.

Anyhow, I didn't hit my original goal (140), and I didn't hit my revised goal (160), but I ultimately didn't do too badly, either.  My legs are made of iron these days, my arms and shoulders are a lot stronger than they were, I can at least see the hint of some abs with my shirt off, and what little is left of my gut doesn't have dunlap disease any more.

My motivation has changed a lot, too.  Training for strength these past 4 weeks and counting has really made me start to shift my priority to that, to just getting stronger.  My weight loss or lack thereof has become a lot less important to me than how much iron I can push, pull, and press.  I suspect that's a good thing.  If I lose more weight while I pursue that goal, great.  If I get stronger, that's even better.

Posted by: leoncaruthers at 01:18 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Monday:
squat 160 lb 5x5
overhead press 80 lb 5x5
deadlift 165 lb 1x5
pull-ups 10, 6, 5, 7
prone bridges 45s, 45s, 45s
elliptical 23m

Wednesday:
squat 165 lb 5x5
bench 130 5x5
inverted row 18, 12, 10, 8
push-ups 38, 20, 16
reverse crunch 12
hanging leg raise 15, 12, 12
elliptical 24m

Friday:
squat 170 lb 5x5
overhead press 85 lb 5x5
deadlift 185 lb 1x5
chin-ups 11, 6, 6, 8
prone bridges 45s, 45s, 45s
no cardio (time constraint)

Saturday:
15 min walk, slow-paced.

Friday weigh-in: 191 lb, 27% body fat (didn't shower first; I lose 3% body fat if I shower, crapass instrumentation).

Notes:  Planning cardio for Saturday with a post update.  Tried reverse crunches on Wednesday and decided I get more out of hanging leg raises.

Posted by: leoncaruthers at 12:22 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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191 lb, 24.2% body fat. I'm reading Lyle McDonald's The Ketogenic Diet and he mentions -- with citation -- that bioelectric impedance generally works poorly for people in or near ketosis.  The electrical properties exploited to measure body fat are different enough when you're low-carbing that the results can't really be trusted.  I'm not about to spring for DEXA or immersion testing, so I might have to break down and get some calipers eventually.

Or just keep looking in the mirror and pinching.

Posted by: leoncaruthers at 09:29 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Monday:
squat 145 lb 5x5
bench 120 lb 5x5
inverted row 17, 14, 10
push-ups 33, 16, 12
hanging leg raise 15, 15, 12
elliptical 20m

Wednesday:
squat 150 lb 5x5
overhead press 75 lb 5x5
deadlift 160 lb 1x5
chin-ups 10, 6, 5, 7
prone bridges 40s, 40s, 40s
elliptical 21m

Friday:
squat 155 lb 5x5
bench 125 lb 5x5
inverted row 17, 14, 10
dips 24, 18, 14
hanging leg raise 15, 15, 12
elliptical 22m

Friday weigh-in: 191 lb, 24.% body fat.

Notes:  Back up a little bit in weight, maybe down in fat, hard to say.  My legs are a lot more defined, and my abdominal fat pinches a lot thinner than it did a few weeks ago.  Some lingering pain in my right shoulder; I'll need to watch that.

Posted by: leoncaruthers at 03:12 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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190 lb, 24% body fat yesterday (didn't weigh in before work this morning).  So I'm up a pound from Friday, but no worse off than last week at this time.  We'll see what next week brings, I guess.

Posted by: leoncaruthers at 09:22 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Monday:
squat 120 lb 5x5
overhead press 60 lb 5x5
deadlift 130 lb 1x5
chin-ups 10, 6, 5, 6
prone bridges 40s, 40s, 40s
elliptical 18m

Wednesday:
squat 135 lb 5x5
bench 115 5x5
inverted row 14, 10, 8
push-ups 30, 16, 12
hanging leg raise 15, 15, 12
recumbent bike 19m

Friday:
squat 140 lb 5x5
overhead press 70 lb 5x5
deadlift 155 lb 1x5
pull-ups 8, 5, 5, 7
prone bridges 40s, 40s, 40s
no cardio (knees were bugging me)

Saturday*:
elliptical 40m

Friday weigh-in: 189 lb, 24.6% body fat

Notes:  Knees were bugging me on Friday, and I needed to get back to work, so I cut that workout short with the intention of doing some long cardio on Saturday.  I'm pleased to see I've dropped to the 180s finally.  My diet is finally fully dialed in, and I seem to be losing fat slowly again, even with the poor quality of sleep I've experienced lately.

*Updated later.

Posted by: leoncaruthers at 03:47 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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190 lb, 24% body fat today.  I'm sleeping badly due to some work-related stress, so I might have lost more otherwise.  Hard to say.  My diet has stayed clean despite the stress, so that's something.  I'll have another training log on Friday.

Posted by: leoncaruthers at 09:00 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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