Quik's Workout Log

[Quiksilver]

If DC doesn't have a problem with fats then why would he waste 5 egg yolks?

I'll dig up the articles tomorrow, but I remember on many occasions reading articles by poliquin and wesley where they suggest 'lean' meats, and refer to "healthy fats" quite a bit.

The only thing I can think of is that to eat animal fats, you have to cook the meat. When you cook fat at high temperatures, the chemical bonds can break and you can actually create trans fats.. I'm sure someone else here knows what I'm talking about, that is the only explanation I have. So while they might not object to eating red meats, perhaps they don't suggest building a diet around it. And you mention that olive oil has a good saturated fat content, it's one of the few sources of satty fats that you don't have to cook to make edible.

The only other reason could be wanting to limit calorie intake, though why DC would want to do that...

I'll get the articles for you tomorrow.

Just to satisfy your curiosity, here's one of the times DC indicates a dislike of saturated fats, in his diet he posted in this article.

breakfast: oatmeal(5) with soy grits and ground flaxseeds on top (23) a little bit of milk(2) in the oatmeal and a protein drink (55)=85grams

afterworkout snack-two potatoes(7) and a double serving protein drink in cranberry grape juice (110) =117grams

lunch (quick one cuz of my work)-can of ravioli (11) and protein drink(65) (cup of water cup of milk in there) =76grams

snack--two 99cent bigmacs(54) and 2 cups of milk (20)=74 grams (hey I could lie and say a turkey on wheat but im being truthfull here)

dinner -1lb of hamburger (100) cooked drained and then washed off with water thoroughly (to remove as much fat as possible)with condiments and noodles (4) =104grams

I keep reasonably lean by taking in zero to trace amounts of carbs (found in vegetables) after 6-7pm

nitetime meal-six eggwhite omelet with peppers or peas(20) or roast beef cold cuts with half water-half milk protein drink (65) =85 grams

Thats 541 protein grams on average and with me usually eating larger portions than measured I probaly venture toward 600 grams alot. If you look at the food I eat its pretty cheap, specially the way I buy it in bulk.

 

[simon]

The only thing I can think of is that to eat animal fats, you have to cook the meat. When you cook fat at high temperatures, the chemical bonds can break and you can actually create trans fats..

At 150°C and in the presence of hydrogen gas and a nickel/palladium/platinum catalyst, yeah. Otherwise, you're not gonna be hydrogenating fats by frying unless you somehow heat your pan up to 480°C in a hydrogen atmosphere. Oxidation of fats is the issue with frying.

 

[Quagmire911]

"dinner -1lb of hamburger (100) cooked drained and then washed off with water thoroughly (to remove as much fat as possible)with condiments and noodles (4) =104grams"

It would make sense to wash of the fat if he was having noodles with the meal. As you know fat+carbs=fat gain.

As for having egg whites later on, a lot of calories late at night can affect sleep quality.

He doesn't actually say he is against saturated fat. If he was that concerned about it you wouldn't think he would throw down the two big macs as a snack.

He does seem to use the term "good fats" an awful lot. This doesn't neccasarily mean that he thinks satuarated fat is a "bad fat". It would be interesting to see Alex's thoughts on this.

I look forward to the Poliquin articles. I may search a bit tonight and see if I can find them.

 

[Quiksilver]

Monday, September 22, 2008

Modifying my morning cardio schedule. For now its Tues-Sat, possibly sunday as well in the near future. I keep hearing about not doing cardio on leg day, so that's the reasoning.

I'm getting over a cold I developed on Friday. Every time I hang out with this one kid I know, he gives me a cold. So I've been taking it easy all weekend and popping the vitamin C(apparenty mine has gluten in it..) like candy and doubled my dose of glutamine.

Anyways, determined not to lose strength and against better judgment, I went in for the workout today. I knew it wasn't going to be a great workout, but I can feel I'm at the tail end of the cold, probably over it even, except for the coughing and congestion.

Anyways..

1. Squats 2x5
2x105
2x105
1x110

I knew from the warmup sets it wasn't going to be good. I didn't really have the stamina after the first rep or two. My first reps were always fine and felt strong, so I decided to put up 1x110. I did a pretty good job at staying relaxed and keeping my CNS out of the lifts too. Did slow reps so I wasn't really taxing the CNS, and as you can see by the volume, didn't come close to failure. Hopefully this'll keep the feel of 105-110 in my legs for next week while not prolonging this cold.

Spent 10 minutes afterwards with just the bar, a box, and the mirror practicing my form.

2. Squats 1x20
Scratched, of course There was no way in hell I was going to do this.

3. Walking Lunges 2x10
10x40 (+5)
10x40 (+5)

4. Stiff-Leg Deadlifts 2x10
10x50 (+10)
10x50 (+10)

5. Standing BB Bicep curls 2x5
5x38 (+2.5)
5x38 (+2.5)

---
Tried to keep relaxed all workout, didn't really overexert myself on anything, all reps were at pretty close to 4040 tempo. I suppose we'll see tomorrow whether I made a mistake going in for the workout or not. I just can't stand missing workouts.
---
Diet:

M1 - shake(4 eggs, 30g whey, 300mL green tea)
M2 - 250g beef + veggies
M3 - shake(4 eggs, 30g whey, 300mL green tea, 20mL OO) + banana
workout
M4 - shake(4 eggs, 30g whey, 300mL green tea) + banana
M5 - footlong turkey/bacon sub @ subway + a coke. Maybe the extra calories will help, and its my one cheat meal of the week.

It's been over a year since I took a Zinc supplement, so I bought a good quality one today to start taking. Also bought some good vit. E again, so that'll go back into the mix.

 

[Quiksilver]

Alright.

I took tuesday, wednesday, and thursday off, no workouts or cardio. I tried to keep some semblance of a diet but I wasn't really feeling it. I tried to keep the calories higher than usual to get rid of the cold faster. It looks like I'm over it. Last night as I was going to bed I could feel everything getting better and this morning I woke up and all that's left is a nice hacking cough and a little congestion

With any luck the cough will go away tomorrow so I can sneak in a deadlift session and some cardio.. Gonna take it easy on the weekend either way, will get some low intensity cardio in and clean up the diet.

So yeah, that's the last time I make the mistake of going in for a workout when sick. It doesn't really make it worse, but it surely doesn't make you better either.

Just bought 2kgs of lean ground beef and 2kgs of Y bone steaks, so that should keep me busy for a little while.

 

[Quiksilver]

Friday, September 26, 2008

1. Deadlifts 2x5

After I finished my warmups sets I took a 2 minute break. My body told me it didn't want to lift that bar again. A few muscles in my lower back felt sore and had a little twinge, so decided to call it a day before I got hurt. Form was good so I don't know what irritated my back, might be just fatigued from the illness...

Gonna start back with cardio tomorrow to get things moving again.

Diet:

M1 - shake(4 eggs, 30g whey, 500ml green tea)
M2 - 250g steak
M3 - 250g steak
workout
M4 - shake(4 eggs, 60g whey, 500ml milk)

Missed a few things, but its getting there.

 

[Quagmire911]

How do you know form was good Did you take a video?

I in no way mean offence Quik, but if my back was getting sore all the time I'd be damned well checking my form with some evidence.

Good call on not "solidering" on.

 

[Quiksilver]

How do you know form was good

Of course until I find a video camera to take to the gym, you'll never know for certain.

I've lifted with some pretty strong guys in the past and they never had a complaint with my form. After awhile of deadlifting you develop a feel for where everything should be and how your body moves in the lift.

The only thing I've changed with my form from awhile ago is the width of the stance, from just wider than shoulder width to just under.

I'm still making efforts to find someone with a HD camcorder who'll let me borrow it for a couple hours.

 

[Quiksilver]

Monday, September 29, 2008

1. Squats 2x5
5x105kg
5x105kg

Not easy at all.

2. Squats 1x20
16x80kg

As soon as I racked the bar I regretted it, might have been able to hit 20.

3. Walking Lunges 2x10
10x45kg
10x45kg

4. BB Bicep Curls 2x5
5x40.5kg
5x40.5kg

5. Stiff-Leg Deadlift 2x10
10x55kg
10x55kg

My lower back didn't like the stiff-legs at all

---
---
Diet:

A couple of my shakes and 2 servings of red meat, missed 1 shake and veggies. Had some oats post-workout. Gotta go shopping again.

Hopefully I'll be 100% in a few days.. I've had this cold for 2 weeks now and I've been unable to do cardio for the most part, and gym work is still tough(I cough every time I breathe heavy). The kid who gave me this cold needs to have his head clubbed in for wasting 2 weeks of my life. Apparently he made like 8 people sick.
Well, it's almost over and I'm starting more intense cardio today regardless.

 

[Quiksilver]

Wednesday, October 1, 2008

1. Incline Bench 2x5
5x70kg
5x70kg

2. Flat Bench 2x8
8x55kg
8x55kg

3. Dips 5x5
5x6kg
5x8kg
5x10kg
5x12.5kg
5x15kg

4. Overhead Press 2x8
8x35kg
8x35kg

5. Lat. Raises 2x12
12x10kg
8x10kg (f)

6. Tricep Pushdowns 2x15
15x40kg
15x40kg

7. Postworkout Cardio
treadmill, 30 minutes, intervals

---
---

Good!

Didn't lose any strength while I was sick. Also did my first decent session of cardio in awhile. Wasn't easy since I STILL cough every time I breathe hard. I'm done letting this cold dictate my life though, so cardio/workouts/food is back to normal. I've been keeping carbs higher than normal for the past week hoping it would help get this sickness out of the way. I'm fine now, except for the cough and congestion of course.

 

[Quiksilver]

Thursday, October 2, 2008

1. Ab work

Tried out side bends for the first time. Awkward exercise, and after around 12 or 13 reps I feel something weird in the center of my back. It's probably just knotted muscle or something. Did Side bends at 2x15x10kgs. Gonna keep the reps at 12-15 for a few weeks while I get used to the movement and keep bumping the weight up.

Did bridging as well. 2x1minute. Gonna start piling weight on my back for these next week.

Did side bridging too, 1 minute per side. Will add weight next week.

Hanging Leg Raises 2x12xbodyweight

I've been doing hanging knee raises for awhile just building some hip strength, now I'm moving up to full leg raises. It's a lot harder and adding weight is gonna be torturous.

2. Cardio
treadmill, 30 minutes, intervals

---

I'm gonna start alternating morning cardio every 2nd week. So itll look like this now:

Week 1 - 5x postworkout cardio, 30 minutes
Week 2 - 5x morning cardio, 60 minutes. 3x afternoon cardio(30 min) on off-days. tuesday, thursday, saturday.
Week 1 - repeats.

I know I'm ramping up cardio, this isn't gonna be long term, probably 6-8 weeks. I've experienced great bodyfat results doing 5xpostworkout cardio in the past so I'll experiment with that again for a little while. I find morning cardio actually fatigues me over the long term, so that's why it's getting rotated in and out weekly.

---

Diet:

M1 - 250g beef
M2 - 250g beef
M3 - 250g beef
workout
cardio
M4 - shake(4 eggs, 30g whey, water)
M5 - 4 eggs + 2xveggies

"Forgot" to eat my veggies during the day and decided to finish off extra serving of beef I had from a couple days ago. Forced the veggies down before bed.

Supps are still the usual:

15g glutamine with every shake, 5g taurine with every shake, 15g fish oil, vitamin E(1000IU), 6g vitamin C, ZMA before bed, Zinc tablet, 2xMultivitamin.

I'm really happy with the quality of the ZMA and zinc tablets. I've definitely noticed an overall energy boost from them and I was surprised to find out the Zinc tab I take has some other goodies too. This is how the label reads:

125mg Zinc amino acid chelate(zinc 25mg)
122mg Magnesium phosphate(magnesium 25mg)
20mg Manganese amino acid chelate(manganese 2mg)
2500 IU Vitamin A(Retinyl acetate 860ug)
50mg Vitamin B6(Pyridoxine Hydrochloride)

So it's pretty much another ZMA tab. For any readers in Australia, it's BIO ZINC made by BLACKMORES.
---

Weighed myself today for the first time in a couple weeks. 84kgs. That's after the high'ish carb week while I was sick last week, and in the middle of the day after 750g of beef down the hatch.

Regardless...

August 4 = 87kgs
October 2 = 84kgs

Looking forward to Deads tomorrow :box:

 

[Quagmire911]

Check these articles out:

http://www.t-nation.com/free_online...erformance/high_performance_core_training&cr=

http://www.t-nation.com/free_online_article/sex_news_sports_funny/my_5_ahha_moments&cr=

On the second article, No.5 is the one I am referring to.

I thought side bends might be a good idea, now I am thinking not. Especially after last week when I decided to increase the range of motion.

Tell me what you think.

 

[Quiksilver]

Poliquin seems to like side bends so thats why I threw them into my Ab day. This article seems to conflict by saying that side bends are a function that the body was never meant to do, atleast with heavy weights...

It's hard to say. I'm gonna check on proper form and keep at it for now, with 2 sets per week on thursday. It just feels like I'm going to crack a rib or something, and I feel most of the load(atleast with the form I used) was just on the spinal erectors around back.

We could improvise a different way of doing them, using the Reverse Hyper machine. I used to do those actually now that I think of it, back in January-April 2007. Get into the Reverse Hyper machine sideways and do side bends like that. You ever done those?

The side bends I was doing yesterday were just standing, and a DB in one hand. The technique and motion just felt weird and wrong. Who knows... time to check form for that exercise and give it another shot.

--

 

[Quiksilver]

Friday, October 3, 2008

1. Deadlifts 2x5
5x115kg (+5)
5x115kg (+5)

2. Bent over Rows 2x8
8x45kg (+2.5)
8x45kg (+2.5)

3. Pullups
wide: 7xbw (+2)
hammer: 6xbw (+1)
classic: 5xbw
chin: 5xbw (+1)

4. BB Bicep curls 2x12
12x26kg
12x26kg

5. DB static holds 2xfailure
20kgsx1:26
20kgsx1:02

I'm gonna keep bumping the weight till I can't grip for longer than 20-30 seconds. Doing plate pinches doesn't work with the plates we have at my gym, and DB holds can facilitate more weight.

6. Postworkout cardio
treadmill, 30 minutes, intervals
---

Good workout! Reclaimed 250lbs on the deadlift and 100lbs on BORs. Gotta bring my squat up now, and put some more effort into pullups.

===
Diet:

M1 - 250g steak
M2 - shake(4 eggs, 30g whey, green tea)
M3 - 1/2 shake(4 eggs, 30g whey, green tea) + banana
workout
M4 - 1/2 shake + banana + oats
M5 - 250g steak + 2xveggies
M6 - shake(4 eggs, 30g whey, green tea) + tbsp OO

 

[Quagmire911]

Never used a reverse hyper.

I was doing saxon side bends which is two dumbbells overhead and bending to the side.

Hard to know what to do when the top guys are unsure of it themselves!

 

[Quiksilver]

Well, I couldn't believe you haven't used a reverse hyper. Turns out I got the terminology wrong. I mean this.

Set up in that facing sideways and clutch a plate to your chest. Let gravity take you down sideways till it's uncomfortable then return to center.

I suppose those are side bends and I did used to do them religiously, at around the same time that I thought I was performing powerlifting deadlifts, when in reality I was doing Stiffleg Deads. If I recall correctly, worked up to a significant weight on it too, standing on an aerobic step at that But that was a long time ago.

So yeah, give side bends a try in the hyperextension machine, it feels far better than standing.

When I injured myself in November 07, for weeks every time I attempted a motion like side bends I had pretty sharp pain in my spine so I suppose I've developed some bad habits and lost some strength in my core as a result. When I was doing them on thursday, every rep I was mentally expecting to feel that same sharp pain again, so it might just be me that thinks its an awkward motion.

--

Tragically my gym doesn't have a Hyper machine(I asked why not and in short the guy running it said it's "bad for the back"). I've seen someone jerry-rig a Hyper setup with a medicine ball near a wall, so I'll give that a try.

cheers Quag

 

[Quagmire911]

Don't even have access to a hyper.

I'm going to avoid anything that involves bending my spine at awkard angles.

Are your glutes firing now? I remember you may have had a problem with that. I've got a good psoa's and abs test from Mike Robertson articles if youre interested. I failed both .

 

[Quiksilver]

Monday, October 6, 2008

Yeah send em over for sure, thanks bro. I have to work on my form in coming weeks. On that note, I'm making a concerted effort to get hold of a video camera this week, to take to the gym.
===
0. Morning Cardio
treadmill, 30 minutes, low intensity

1. Squats 2x5
3x105kg
2x105kg

Stopped the rep before failure both times. The weight just feels heavier than it should... I've lifted far more than this in the past so I know what 105 should feel like. It feels like 145 right now

2. Squats 1x20
20x80kg (+4 reps)

Consolidated last week and hammered those last 4 reps home.

3. Walking DB Lunges 2x10
10x45kg (+5)
10x45kg (+5)

4. Stiff-Leg Deads 2x10
10x60kg (+5)
10x60kg (+5)

I could have loaded up another 2.5-5 but... progress is progress.
===

Diet:

morning cardio
M1 - Y-bone steak
M2 - shake
M3 - beef+lamb kebab @ a restaurant
workout
M4 - oats + honey
M5 - shake
M6 - homemade burger + chicken + 2xveggies
M7 - shake

We all know what nasty concoctions my shakes are, so there's no need for me to list the contents anymore.
===

I don't know what to say about the workout today.. It just isn't there on the 2x5 squats...

 

[Quiksilver]

Alright, here's my past 4 leg day workouts:

September 15:

1. Squats 2x5
5x105kg
3x105kg (f)

2. Squats 1x20
20x77.5kg

September 22: Had a very bad cold over this period.

1. Squats 2x5
2x105
2x105
1x110

2. Squats 1x20
SCRATCHED

September 29:

1. Squats 2x5
5x105kg
5x105kg (last rep was a little undercooked and shaky)

2. Squats 1x20
16x80kg

October 6: stayed at 105 because it didn't feel so hot the week before.

1. Squats 2x5
3x105kg
2x105kg

2. Squats 1x20
20x80kg

=====

One thing I've noticed between this year and last, is that this year my squat is much slower. I don't know if it's a form issue/strength issue/muscle imbalance/CNS related.. Last year I just had so much explosive speed off the bottom, this time around that speed and power just isn't there.

I'm not sure if it's a diet thing(low carb), training related(simply not as strong yet), or cardio related(i used to do heaps of sprints and CNS work).

=====

Since I was sick(I'm still not 100% over it I might add, still have a lingering cough), I'll give it another week... two at most. I carbed up when I was sick so that might account for the better performance last week than this... I suppose we'll see.

=====

I'm also thinking my glutes and hamstrings are relatively weak right now... The best thing to do is just to keep hammering away at Stiff-legs, deadlifts, and GMs?

 

[Warboss Alex]

Being slow off the bottom has nothing to do with low carbs or not being strong, it just means you're slow off the bottom and must get faster. Drop the weight until you're being explosive and then build up again.