Even the WSJ knows

Gluten is bad, bacon is rad.

Okay, they don't say anything about bacon, but you know in your heart that it's true.

H/T Robb Wolf.

Posted by: leoncaruthers at 10:26 AM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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Workout Log, PPNP, week 3

Monday (3-21-2011)
squat 255 lb 3x5
bench 190 lb 3x5
chin-ups 10, 8, 6, 6

Wednesday
squat 260 lb 5, 5, 1, 2
press 115 lb 5, 5, 4
deadlift 285 1x5

Friday
squat 260 lb 3x5
bench 195 lb 3x5
pull-ups 9, 7, 5

Weight (Sunday): 190 lb
Update: Weight (Monday): 186 lb
That's the power of water retention, folks.  All I did was skip breakfast and eat in for lunch.

Notes: I felt less than fully recovered on Wednesday, and it showed in the number of failed reps.  Anyhow, after that I went on a bit of a consumption bender (gained 4lb in 9 days, there's pretty much no way that's all muscle).  I was more than recovered by Friday, and my second attempt at 260 lb on squat went far better than the first.  Benching 195 lb also went easier than I was expecting, didn't even need a spotter (okay, okay, I probably should have had one, but I'm not dead).  Essentially, I went on a quick bulk and replenish for the tail end of the week.  At this point, I think I've just about put off a real cutting cycle for as long as I can.  So, one more week of trying to raise my lifts and eating as needed, then I focus on fat loss, and let the weights stay more-or-less static for as long as it takes.

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I'm pretty sure I know the woman in this video

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PPNP, Week 2

Monday (3-14-2011)
squat 240 lb 3x5
press 105 lb 3x5
chin-ups 12, 8, 6

Wednesday
squat 245 lb 3x5
bench 185 lb 3x5
deadlift 280 1x5
hanging leg raise 3x20

Friday
squat 250 lb 3x5
press 110 lb 3x5
pull-ups 10, 7, 6

Weight (Friday): 186 lb

Notes:  Pretty good week, made all my lifting targets.  Weight is stable week-over-week without any attempt at AM IF (even without coffee), so I'm planning to start my morning fasting again Monday.  I'd really like to drop some weight now that the weather's warming up, so cutting back on my total intake has got to happen one way or another.  That or I start biking to work (7 miles through Ypsi and across I-94, no thanks).

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I have dissappointed myself

But God probably knew this was coming.  I desperately needed a glass of milk when I got home from the gym today, so I went ahead and had... several.  I wanted to just eat my beef and sweet potato curry, but I'm so damn burnt out on crockpotted food that I couldn't bear it.  This is going to be a problem.

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In which I link to Kirk Sorensen...

Who lays out the alchemy for you. Yes, alchemy. Transmutations of elements are literally occurring.  That's how radioactivity works, people.

Bottom line: this isn't Chernobyl.  It's not even Three Mile Island.  Also, LFTRs would be even safer -- far safer than natural gas, which would have outright exploded like a bomb.

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PPNP, Week 1

Monday (3-7-2011)
Squat 225 lb 3x5
Bench 175 lb 3x5
Chin-ups: 12, 7, 5

Wednesday
Squat 230 lb 3x5
Press 100 lb 3x5
Deadlift 275 lb 1x5
Hanging leg raise 3x15

Friday
Squat 235 lb 3x5
Bench 180 lb 3x5
Pull-ups: 10, 7, 5

Weight (Sunday): 186 lb

Notes: This was not a hard week, as I'd expect from taking a de-load and cutting down on volume (from ~175 to 200 reps a week down to ~90 reps, at least on the barbell work).  My squat form is better at these weights now than it was the first time around, and I've got to strive to maintain that as I add weight.  There's no sense in turning them into Good Mornings just so I can put more weight on the bar.

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Lent

I'm badly lapsed, but I've tried to give up something each of the last few years for the Lenten season.  It seems a little silly in context, because I already adhere to a pretty austere diet (by SAD standards, anyhow), but I try to give up something that I still consider a vice.  So this season:

• Coffee
• Liquid food
• Wheat

I basically get no wheat 90% of the time,  but that last 10% is frequent enough that I'm never really giving my gut a chance to rest and recover.  Coffee I knew was a problem, as I'd been abusing it to maintain my 16 hour daily fasts.  Basically, I'd wake up, drink 64 oz of coffee, lift if it was a lifting day, and then eat a massive lunch.  That'll work for a while, but it's also a good recipe for excessive cortisol and subsequent adrenal fatigue.  So for Lent, no coffee, and until I can maintain or lose weight while eating breakfast, no early-morning fasting either.  Right now I've gained a little bit, so it'll be awhile before I start that again.  Liquid food is on the list because as a non-infant I really shouldn't be drinking any calories anyway, and I was pretty sure I was over-reliant on milk and protein shakes.  Yes, the category includes alcohol.

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Rest Week, PPNP

Took the last week off, starting Mark Rippetoe's novice program from Practical Programming for Strength Training today.  It's not terribly different from StrongLifts:

Monday
3x5 Squat
3x5 Bench Press / Press (Alternating)
Chin-ups: 3 sets to failure or add weight if completing more than 15 reps

Wednesday
3x5 Squat
3x5 Press / Bench Press (Alternating)
1x5 Deadlift

Friday
3x5 Squat
3x5 Bench Press / Press (Alternating)
Pull-ups: 3 sets to failure or add weight if completing more than 15 reps

So barbell rows are deleted, deadlifts are once per week only (Wednesdays) and chin-ups/pull-ups are done twice every week.  I'd do the original Starting Strength routine but power cleans aren't permitted at my gym (yes, my gym sucks like that; no chalk either, but it's really convenient to get to, and cheap), and I don't have a coach to teach them to me.  They'll have to wait until I build my home gym and can spend the time learning to do them properly.

Weight (Monday): 186 lb

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