Dullard gets into Shape

[dullard]

Workout results are now updated as of Aug 27, 2007.

I added a graphical representation of my workouts. See the top of post #2 above. I had done workouts years ago, and a nice graph showing my progress was a good motivator. It is nice to see the graph going up, that way each day I can see improvements.

I can also see failures and/or areas that need improvement in the graph. I can see that my crunches aren't keeping pace with the rest of my workout. Thus, the next time I change to higher weights, I will add different types of crunches (side twisting to get the side abs as well).

The graphs aren't perfect measurements of strength, but they help focus my workout and keep me in line.

Pictures are now in, see the OP.

 

[dullard]

Another weekend coming up without access to weights. I'll be out of town the entire time. I will be certain to do pushups and whatever else I can somewhere on my trip. I have been so good during the week for the past 5-6 weeks, but these unusual weekends are messing up my plans.

I fell off the good food bandwagon. The last couple of nights I have devoured a bag of corn chips and tonight it'll be fast food followed by alcohol. But, overall I am still eating well. Far better than I was eating in the past. This morning, my weight was in the upper 140s. So I need to find a way to eat more to maintain my 150 lb ideal.

Finally, can someone help me with ideas for leg exercises with a bad knee. The squats can hurting too much on a bad knee. What else is there with only dumbbells to use? I've thought about sitting down and doing straight leg lifts. That should work the upper thighs and that muscle that runs into the abs. But what about the other leg muscles and buttocks?

 

[dullard]

This weekend was not the best food wise. I was out of town for the entire 3-day weekend. I had my brother's birthday and a family emergency (different cities). So, I did a lot of eating out. I tried to stick with deli style sandwhiches for the most part. But I did go for some ice cream and some rich pasta.

I couldn't lift weights, so instead I swam laps and tried to tread water for as long as I could. The treading water seemed to work the arms/pecs fairly well. I did pushups, crunches, and calf raises since those are doable without weights.

Last night, I got back on the normal weight-lifting program. I am beginning to be quite happy with the look of my biceps and triceps. With a pinch of the skin, I can't feel the fat on them any more and there are some good ripples in the muscle. Also, instead of being in between the 2nd and 3rd belt notch, I really need the 3rd notch for the pants to feel right.

 

[dullard]

This week I ate better. My diet consisted of cereals, bagels, vegetables, sandwhiches (mostly meat/lettuce but also one egg salad) one steak, two hot dogs, eggs, and half of a large Blizzard from Dairy Queen. I think that is the balance that I want to achieve my goals: lots of carbs, decent amounts of protein, veggies, and a bit of dairy.

As for workouts, I mostly did aerobics. Lots and lots and lots of dancing. Dancing to the point that I'm just drenched with sweat and can't move any more. I must have twisted my left knee a bit as it was quite sore, but today it feels just fine.

My weekly weigh in is tonight, but I expect my weight to stay right where it was at ~150 lbs. Tomorrow I plan to hit the weights again. It will be the last of that set of dumbbells.

Then, the workout after that will be my monthly move to heavier weights/fewer reps. I may also tweak the exercises a bit when that happens. I'm thinking of cutting the shoulder presses, since my left arm/shoulder can't take it. I'll probably replace it with an upright row dumbbell lift. And I'll cut back on the standard crunchs and add in twisting crunches (total number of crunches will still add up to my goal). The reason is to add in some oblique strength.

 

[dullard]

This last week I got 2.5 muscle workouts and one good aerobic workout. I say 2.5, since I lifted weights twice and once dug a large flower garden area. I figure digging counts as half a weight lifting exercise since it used my triceps, upper bag, and legs nearly to exhaustion. I pushed back my plan to increase weights by one workout, to make it align better with having one month of time pass.

My right shoulder is not feeling right after it popped during a shoulder press exercise. It do not think it is seriously injured, but it is a little annoying. The shoulder keeps popping whenever I move my arm up above shoulder height, with a tiny bit of pain.

Food wise, I had some unusual meals. I had a picnic with fried chicken, pasta salads and chocolate cake. I had a neighborhood block party with pork chops, maccaroni salads, crackers/cheese and fruit cakes. And I had muffins and deer sausages one day. I also added in a lot of yogurt (about one 8 oz cup a day). Other than that, it was my standard fare: cereals, pastas, and pizza. Ohh, I forgot, I did slip and buy a bag of Starburst candy. Starburst is the bane of my dietary existance, I can eat a large bag in two days. At least this time, I got the sour Starburst which prevents me from eating too much in a sitting. It'll take me at least a week to finish the bag.

Body wise, I am continuing to see small incremental increases in the arm muscles. My forearms are rock solid when flexing. My triceps are beginning to look like three muscles instead of one blob. All of my upper body is sore all the time. But I like that exhausted sore muscle feeling. It gives me a strong desire to work out more. Yesterday, I caught myself buckling my belt to the 4th hole. It was a bit too snug, and I moved it to the 3rd hole. But that is definately an improvement from when I was ideally at the 2nd/3rd hole. I now just need to take the tedius body measurements. I'll try to do those in about a week, to be ~2 months in from my last measurements.

 

[dullard]

This last week didn't see as much typical workouts. On two occasions (one date listed above in workouts), I dug a flower garden and didn't have enough energy after that to do my normal workout. But I figure as long as I'm doing something physical, I should be improving.

I did a slight change up with my weights and exercises. Nothing major.

I've still been keeping to a mostly cereal, bagels, pasta, and vegetables diet. Went mostly with roasted and/or grilled veggies this week. I did make certain to have some protein with hot dogs and some packets of lunch meat (eaten right out of the package). The unusual dietary excersions would include a Subway sandwhich (6" spicy italian with all veggies), Quizno's sandwhich (that tasty peppercorn beef one), and S'Mores from a camp fire.

I'll try my best to get photos taken and muscle measurements recorded later this week.

 

[maziwanka]

keep it up and congrats.

 

[thepd7]

Originally posted by: dullard
This last week didn't see as much typical workouts. On two occasions (one date listed above in workouts), I dug a flower garden and didn't have enough energy after that to do my normal workout. But I figure as long as I'm doing something physical, I should be improving.

I did a slight change up with my weights and exercises. Nothing major.

I've still been keeping to a mostly cereal, bagels, pasta, and vegetables diet. Went mostly with roasted and/or grilled veggies this week. I did make certain to have some protein with hot dogs and some packets of lunch meat (eaten right out of the package). The unusual dietary excersions would include a Subway sandwhich (6" spicy italian with all veggies), Quizno's sandwhich (that tasty peppercorn beef one), and S'Mores from a camp fire.

I'll try my best to get photos taken and muscle measurements recorded later this week.

Props Dullard, the MOST important thing is setting habits that will lead to a long and healthy life. For sure any exercise is good and healthy, you don't always have to be pumping iron.

I am working out as well and I need to keep a food journal (haven't yet though). Shopping at the farmer's market has been a great help, and cooking food myself is SO much healthier than eating fast food 10x a week like I used to.

Again, props and keep up the good work!

 

[Sasiki]

lol @ the Tom Hanks post from in July. That's what I thought to myself when I first saw the pictures.. then I scrolled down and saw that post.

 

[dullard]

Well, we are about halfway through this contest. I am doing well on some goals, and not so well on the photos.

[*]I shed the (very) few pounds I wanted to shed while at the same time making my arms bigger. I'm down from an entire-life peak of 154 lbs to 148 lbs.
[*]I can lift more weights than when I started. For example I used to struggle with the tricep press of 35# for 15 reps. Now I struggle at 50# for 15 reps. That is a noticible and measureable improvement.
[*]My muscles feel firmer and are starting to get some deep grooves and ripples.

But,

[*]The photos didn't seem to change much in the last month. True, I am posting low resolution full body photos. So minor details are lost. But, I would have expected a more noticible change from the work I put in during September.

I plan to change this lack of photo improvement. I will eat more protein. I'm going to see if I can bring in some lunchmeat each day at work to supplement my mostly grain (cereal/bread/bagel) lunches. I will also try hard to get in more workouts.
[*]In half of July, I had 5 good muscle workouts. That is equivalent to 10 per month.
[*]In Aug, I had 10 good muscle workouts.
[*]In Sept, I had 9 good muscle workouts, but some weren't full body.
Basically, I need to get closer to 15 workouts per month (every other day) instead of every ~3rd day as I have been.

As for my weekly update, I have a new job and I must walk 16 minutes each direction to/from the parking spot to my desk. So, I've been getting in a lot of walks. But I didn't get any chance for aerobic exercises. Things were a bit stressful with the new job and I never got around to aerobic exercises. Meal wise, I had my typical mostly grain diet. But the unusual meals included sausages for breakfast, raw vegetable pad thai, and a bit more pizza than normal.

 

[dullard]

This week, I got 2 weightlifting workouts in and one dancing workout. Not quite the 3 weightlifting workouts that I wanted to do. My schedule just doesn't fit that many sessions in it. I know, bad excuse.

I did however, get my meal goals met. I had lots more protein than normal this week. Steaks, some lunch meat packages, and fried eggs. I woke up on Saturday and had an odd desire to weigh myself. Normally I do it Wednesday evening before bed. But this time I was down to 146 lbs. So, I pigged out. Fried eggs, bagel w/cream cheese, a packet of pastrami, and a large bowl of grapes were my breakfast and I had a normal lunch not too much later. I really don't want to let myself drop too much weight. I want that weight going to my chest and arms instead.

I guess that is why the recomposition group is the hardest. On one hand, you are eating well and exercising to lose weight. On the other hand, you are workout out and eating a lot to gain weight. I do think it is possible, but I need to keep eating more than what I feel comfortable eating. I've added grapes/raisins into my diet as I can seemingly eat those forever. And I added a bag of Doritos. Don't worry, those chips were gone in a few days and won't enter my diet again for a while.

As for the weights, I really am reaching the limit of what I can do. I think the increases will slow, even though I plan to add more workouts. I'm really struggling to get those last few reps in. But, I will still slowly progress. Be sure to scroll up and read the workouts as I update the first few posts about once a week.

 

[biggestmuff]

Way to go. Keep it up!

 

[dullard]

Good news, everyone!

I finally got an ideal workout week. I got in three weightlifting workouts (Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday). I did hours of walking. I went out for dancing on Friday night, stayed the full evening, but as always I only count 1 hr of it for the real aerobic exercise. Heck, I even ate meat each and every day. I can't recall the last time I could say that I had so much protein. I bought a bunch of lunchmeat packets and ate one a day. I even had a couple of meals that included meat. It was my best week to date and matched my goals perfectly.

I hope everyone else in the contest has a week like mine.

But, there was some bad news too. I skipped my workout this Monday since I was so sleepy. I just couldn't get up the energy to lift weights. I'll try to make up for it tonight by adding more reps to each and every lift. Of course, I always try to do that though and don't always succeed.

 

[RapidSnail]

Originally posted by: alkemyst
HIIT and aerobics work against mass.

Most are useful to those heavy set to begin with though.

You can't cut and bulk at the same time.

I thought a true HIIT workout was anaerobic, and therefore beneficial for strength and mass gains. Think of the legs of 100m sprinters.

 

[dullard]

This time, I had fewer workouts. I did another monthly move to higher weights and lower reps (the data will be entered in the post above by the end of this week, so you can see the new weights). For several of the lifts, the amount of weight is higher than I've ever tried before. So, I now have no comparison to my past, and can only compare it to what I have done since the contest started.

Nothing really unusual food wise. I did have two deli sandwhiches as I had a seminar at work for a couple days and eating out was the easiest. I'm still eating the healthiest that I ever recall eating. My pop consumption is about as low as it has been in nearly 20 years.

My weight has been hovering around 148 lbs.

 

[dullard]

Well I blew it. No excuses, it was completely my fault. I forgot about photos for this month.

I'll take photos this weekend and have them posted by early next week.

I will accept whatever punishment I get.

As for my progress, I'm right at my target weight, 150 lbs. I'm still working out, 2-3 lifts a week and one aerobic a week usually. I'm eating healthier than ever before. And I even went out and got my first flu shot ever just to top off the healthy transition. If I stand straight, the stomach "handles" are nearly unnoticible. And my arms, while not being any bigger, are certainly stronger, more defined, and harder.

 

[dullard]

I got the pictures uploaded a few days ago. Some progress, but not nearly as much shown there as what I feel in person. I think someone on the main workout thread really addressed the issue. I want my arms to get bigger, but I'm trying to lose fat. So while I am gaining muscle, the arms are not growing due to the fat shrinking. There really isn't too much fat left on them, so hopefully in the last 2 months of this contest the arms will finally show up well on the photos. In person, they are rock solid and are getting nice definition.

Last week I got off schedule a bit, but I still got in my three weightlifting days. I was stalling a bit for a while in adding new reps. However, last night I succeeded in adding new reps to all but one exercise. I am pretty happy with that, and also somewhat sore today. Sore in a good way though.

I had some unusual foods in the last week. These include: a meal of beef chili, eating out with thai penang beef, and some Holloween candy. I'd say it was about 10 of those snack size candy bars. I'm not a chocolate fan, so I never go overboard with candy. I did miss a few days of eating meat, however I have gotten back on track in the last few days. And finally, I have been eating pretzels and a jar of pickels. I guess I had a salt craving that I needed to address.

 

[maziwanka]

way to keep it up man. i really have no excuse for not exercising, but i hope i can overcome my laziness.

 

[Cerpin Taxt]

IMO you still need to eat more protein.

On a daily basis I eat the following

1 supplement shake (55g Protein) - first thing out of bed
4 eggs on 2 slices of toast (50-60g protein) - breakfast
1 whole can of tuna w/ lettuce, on a sandwich (40g protein) - lunch
1 supplement shake (55g protein) - afternoon snack
2 chicken breasts, whole wheat pasta or brown rice, raw broccoli and carrots (50-60g protein) - dinner
1.5 Peanut butter/honey sandwich with 2 cups non-fat milk (40g protein) - evening snack
1.5 cups non-fat cottage cheese with applesauce (40g protein) - bedtime snack

I'm not saying you need to eat everything that I do, but if you want to grow your muscles, you need to give your body the building blocks to do it: protein.

 

[l6873]

Originally posted by: Garth
4 eggs on 2 slices of toast (50-60g protein) - breakfast

More like 30 grams.

Originally posted by: Garth
1.5 Peanut butter/honey sandwich with 2 cups non-fat milk (40g protein) - evening snack

30 grams again.

Why are you eating so much sugar by the way?

 

[Cerpin Taxt]

Originally posted by: l6873

Originally posted by: Garth
4 eggs on 2 slices of toast (50-60g protein) - breakfast

More like 30 grams.

EDIT: was looking at the wrong listing.

4 eggs, 6.23g per egg, plus 10g from the bread = 35g or so.

Originally posted by: Garth
1.5 Peanut butter/honey sandwich with 2 cups non-fat milk (40g protein) - evening snack

30 grams again.

[/quote]
My peanut butter offers 8g of protein per tablespoon and I use probably 3 to 4 tbsp for 1.5 sandwiches. Couple that with 5g/slice of bread, and 9g per cup of milk and its more like 50 or 60.

Why are you eating so much sugar by the way?

Most of my sugars are complex carbs, and I don't have a problem eating those.

 

[dullard]

Originally posted by: Garth
IMO you still need to eat more protein.
...
I'm not saying you need to eat everything that I do, but if you want to grow your muscles, you need to give your body the building blocks to do it: protein.

You are probably correct. I can eat the healthiest diet in the world, and it certainly wouldn't meet my goals. I really did have an virtually all sugar/grain diet before starting this. So many cans of pop, so many poptarts, each and every day. So, I am doing quite well compared to what I was eating. I've gotten rid of most of the sugars and I've added some dairy and some meat. But it is hard to go from a non-meat eating diet to a meat eating diet. Too much just turns my stomach (I have an irritable bowel, and meat really makes it painful - gas and the runs). I've done well to get some of it in, but I have far to go still.

 

[dullard]

Well this week sucked. It started out alright, but it quickly dwindled. I've had a bad cold for several days, and it appears like it'll be several more days until I feel normal again. Thus, I haven't had a workout since Monday. I doubt that I'll get one in again until next Monday. I'll try on the weekend, if I can get any energy, but I can't promise anything.

Food wise, I also didn't do so well. Too much sugar. My mom brought over leftover Halloween candy, but this time it was good fruit-flavored candy (my weakness). So I pigged out on that. Oh, and I had five cherry turnovers for breakfast one day last weekend. I ate lots of unusual foods. I tried Japanese udon noodles in a horrible broth (noodles good, fishy broth was awful). Oh, and I tried Zambian food (landlocked in south central Africa) just for fun: beef with tomatoes, onion, and mashed potatoes covered in sauce that had a blend between Moroccan and Indian spices. I do think that overall this week I got more protein than normal, but still not enough.

Next week will be screwed up with Thanksgiving (difficult to fit in my normal workout). However, I have never been a fan of Thanksgiving meals, so my diet won't be much different. I'll stick to the turkey, rolls, and veggies+dip. Everything else isn't very tasty (bad side dishes, bad desserts, etc.)

I hope the other contestants had more productive weeks.

 

[blakeatwork]

Originally posted by: dullard
Well this week sucked. It started out alright, but it quickly dwindled. I've had a bad cold for several days, and it appears like it'll be several more days until I feel normal again. Thus, I haven't had a workout since Monday. I doubt that I'll get one in again until next Monday. I'll try on the weekend, if I can get any energy, but I can't promise anything.

Food wise, I also didn't do so well. Too much sugar. My mom brought over leftover Halloween candy, but this time it was good fruit-flavored candy (my weakness). So I pigged out on that. Oh, and I had five cherry turnovers for breakfast one day last weekend. I ate lots of unusual foods. I tried Japanese udon noodles in a horrible broth (noodles good, fishy broth was awful). Oh, and I tried Zambian food (landlocked in south central Africa) just for fun: beef with tomatoes, onion, and mashed potatoes covered in sauce that had a blend between Moroccan and Indian spices. I do think that overall this week I got more protein than normal, but still not enough.

Next week will be screwed up with Thanksgiving (difficult to fit in my normal workout). However, I have never been a fan of Thanksgiving meals, so my diet won't be much different. I'll stick to the turkey, rolls, and veggies+dip. Everything else isn't very tasty (bad side dishes, bad desserts, etc.)

I hope the other contestants had more productive weeks.

Have you and the GF thought about joining a local rec league for an indoor winter sport, like volleyball or such (Haven't read through all the posts in here)? I find a couple hours once or twice a week helps me with energy and feeling better.

I've been seeing your progress on pics. Good for you for putting yourself out there, especially on ATOT... Congratulations on your success to date.

 

[dullard]

Originally posted by: blakeatwork
Have you and the GF thought about joining a local rec league for an indoor winter sport, like volleyball or such (Haven't read through all the posts in here)? I find a couple hours once or twice a week helps me with energy and feeling better.

I've been seeing your progress on pics. Good for you for putting yourself out there, especially on ATOT... Congratulations on your success to date.

Sorry about not responding earlier, I missed this post as I don't check Anandtech much any more. No, we haven't seriously thought about it. We usually do go dancing and take a couple dance lessons here and there. It can be quite good aerobic exercise. Other than that though, neither of us cares much for indoor sports. But, maybe we could find something. Thanks for the kind words.

My recent progress has been quite poor. I have been sick for 2 weeks. Typical cold, but it just won't go away. Lots of mucus, some coughing, and a persistant sore throat. And to top it all off, I had digestive troubles again (common for me and unrelated to the cold). Thus, my last 3 weightlifting workouts were all on Mondays and I couldn't go dancing. 1 workout a week is far below my goal of 2-3 a week.

On Monday the 20th, I did a full workout and felt absolutely awful. I was quite dizzy and queezy. I could barely finish and was completely wiped out afterwards, I even threw up in the back of my mouth. So, I really rested myself for the week after that. Should I have even tried to workout during my cold, but maybe just did half the reps or lower weights? Or should I just skip several workouts?

Yesterday, I got back on track and upped some of the weights. I did feel good after the workout, so hopefully I'll get back on the 2-3 days a week plan. In the next few minutes I'll rearrange the workout log in the post above, correct an error, and update the progress graph.

Food wise, things were different of course. I ate less during my cold. Thanksgiving (2 meals, one with each family) meant more meat (turkey), more bread (whole-grain rolls), and some unusual side dishes (veggies). I had three slices of pie total. In exchange, I had lots less cereal and few sandwhiches. But most of the unusual food came from a high level of pizza consumption. Due to special requests, I made my homemade pizza (artichokes, olives, roasted garlic, onion, red pepper, roasted jalepeno, and double cheese) a couple of times. Add in a frozen pizza, eating pizza out once and lots of leftover pizza.