Iskaral Pust Posted March 23, 2016 Author Share Posted March 23, 2016 Tomight was squats, dead lifts, calf press and some chin ups. Good to fit in a workout before I travel tomorrow, although I was pretty hungry exercising at 7:30-8:30 without eating dinner until afterward. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aceluby Posted March 23, 2016 Share Posted March 23, 2016 Back to it tonight, and I'm pretty pumped since I'm not sore anymore, but I'm also worried because two mornings in a row I've woken up w/ swollen glands and a slight sore throat. Started taking zinc and ibuprofen yesterday, so hopefully I can contain it somewhat..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peterbound Posted March 23, 2016 Share Posted March 23, 2016 Been sick myself, for what seems like the better part of a month. Had the norovirus the first part of the month, and got some bullshit head cold/allergy thing for the past week and a half. Dangers of the job I guess. Needless to say, this has sabotaged my workouts for the month of march. Fucking lame. Going to try and head down to NM for a Starting Strength coaching session with a trainer down there. Need to tune in my low bar squat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aceluby Posted March 25, 2016 Share Posted March 25, 2016 My sickness has so far been contained. Been keeping up with a morning, afternoon, and night time zinc regimen; supplemented with some ibuprofen in the morning when my throat is actually sore. Things haven't gotten worse, so I'm hopeful that I listened to my body fast enough to limit any potential debilitating cold/strep/etc.... Had a great workout last night, with wall sits being the final part of my leg workout, and was shaking so hard that I eventually had to take a break. Legs feel fatigued today, but not sore, so I'd call that a win. Tonight I have an hour and a half yoga flow planned with a teacher that loves arm balances, so hopefully I get to practice my one-legged crow, side crows, and hurdlers. If I'm really lucky we'll try some new ones I'm pretty excited. On a side note, I've noticed I've gained ~5lbs and I don't think it's muscle. Vacation put my diet to shit and I haven't made a concerted effort to get it back on track. Time to start limiting that side of fries again, as well as bringing my portion size back under control. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iskaral Pust Posted March 25, 2016 Author Share Posted March 25, 2016 Stupid airplanes. Wednesday I woke at 4:30am to fly to LA for a client meeting, and thanks to United I got an extra hour of sitting in a stifling hot airplane before a delayed take-off, and then I flew back againthe same day, arriving home at 11:30pm after spending a 19 hour day sitting in airplanes, taxis and a conference room, plus not enough hydration all day. So my muscles are tight, stiff, sore and cramped. I should have stretched more and drank more water on Thursday but I was too busy to pay attention to those. And then this morning my back muscles tightened up as I was brushing my teeth. This is what happens when muscles get so cramped and dehydrated. So I need to drink a lot, stretch a lot, take some ibuprofen and hopefully get everything to relax enough to still workout over the weekend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aceluby Posted March 25, 2016 Share Posted March 25, 2016 Sounds like you need some electrolytes too Isk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iskaral Pust Posted March 25, 2016 Author Share Posted March 25, 2016 54 minutes ago, aceluby said: Sounds like you need some electrolytes too Isk I have noticed that maintaining a higher protein diet, especially using Muscle Milk plus fruit or nuts for one or two meals every day, is reducing my nutrient intake and I have to make sure to vary my other foods to maintain enough nutrient breadth. I do eat a banana every day for potassium, and sodium is everywhere, but I don't drink Gatorade or anything like that for additional electrolytes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iskaral Pust Posted March 26, 2016 Author Share Posted March 26, 2016 Now that I'm very lean and cut, and 15-20lbs below peak weight, I'm going to start slowly increasing calorie intake (just not sugars) and see if that will help me with strength and weight gain without adding fat again. I don't think I've catabolized much muscle since I'm lifting the same weights but I'm sure I lost some. There are a lot of recommendations that ectomorphs should just overeat constantly but those seem to be for people who are desperate to gain size and don't mind carrying a lot of fat for a long period. This article http://www.aworkoutroutine.com/ectomorph-hardgainer/ seems closer to my mindset but, as usual, none of the recommendations have much scientific backing or the science is conflicting anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iskaral Pust Posted March 26, 2016 Author Share Posted March 26, 2016 Good luck, Leap. If your wrist bothers you then try doing them on your knuckles instead of palms (knuckles of each hand pointed facing each other, a "neutral" position), or use push-up grips or Dumbbells for similar effect. You'll be able to do a lot more than 8 consecutively very quickly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iskaral Pust Posted March 27, 2016 Author Share Posted March 27, 2016 This evening was bench press, pull downs, arms and clean & press. I've done the same weights and sets for a while so I changed things up. Changing the pattern of sets and rest time cost me a rep per set at the heaviest bench press but I did two extra sets to compensate, and I increased weight on pull downs and then threw in my first ever clean & press sets at the end using 50lb dumbells. That really pushed me hard at the finish. No stiffness in my back, thankfully. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iskaral Pust Posted March 28, 2016 Author Share Posted March 28, 2016 Today was squats, dead lifts, calf press and weighted sit ups. All good. I'll be at my in-laws Mon-Fri, so I'll have to improvise some body weight workouts. They don't even have a pull-up bar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aceluby Posted March 28, 2016 Share Posted March 28, 2016 Had a few good classes over the weekend, but due to the holiday they weren't my normal ones. Still feel pretty good and tomorrow I'm going to do a pretty tough 2 1/2 hour double class. Today is a rest day. Isk, I make my own electrolyte drink which really seems to be helping. It's 1/2 tsp pink salts, 1 Tbs apple cider vinegar, 1 Tbs local honey, 1 Tbs agave nectar, 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper, a slice of squeezed lemon, and a slice of squeezed lime. Add the ingredients to a mason jar and fill half way with hot tap water and shake until the honey is dissolved, then add a full tray of ice and shake until most of the ice is dissolved. I think it tastes decent and since I have it in the morning, it seems to help replenish the fluids I lose at night along w/ a boost of electrolytes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starkess Posted March 30, 2016 Share Posted March 30, 2016 Push-ups kill my wrists. I use the push-up stands, they were like $10 at Target and really help. They also make it possible to get really deep in the push-up! (Not that I do that often, because I suck at push-ups.) Registered for a half marathon the first week of June. Should be a good amount of time to train. Started my training plan last week, so far it is going well although my usual hip pain continues to plague me. Anyway gives me something to focus on since my bf left on deployment today. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aceluby Posted March 30, 2016 Share Posted March 30, 2016 Had an extremely difficult class yesterday. Did more pushups than I have in years. Went to muscle failure, then went to my knees and went to muscle failure again, then did pulses at the bottom of the pushup. My triceps are on fire. Did a tough yoga flow right after, but I was so exhausted that I felt incredibly sluggish. Today is another flow class so I don't get too much lactic acid buildup. Isk, I've been thinking about your wanting to bulk and really think that even if you are eating a ton of calories, you'll still be limited by how much muscle your body can make over a given time period. Feed your body enough so that it can make that muscle, but don't expect that you can speed up that process. You're still going to be limited by your body, which is going to be ~1 lbs of muscle a month. This is with the assumption you want to do this naturally. When you see others that have gained a ton of muscle in a matter of months, they are most likely not going a natural route. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lessthanluke Posted March 30, 2016 Share Posted March 30, 2016 What ace is trying to say is jump on the TRT wagon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iskaral Pust Posted March 31, 2016 Author Share Posted March 31, 2016 I've made my peace with the limitations of ectomorphic existence. At least I can get/stay lean easily and I'm actually already pretty muscular for an ectomorph (outside of serious bodybuilders and those using synthetic assistance). I'll pick up my food intake a bit but not enough to add a lot of fat. I'll gain what muscle I can and not sweat the pace. Since I'm nearing 40, I've wondered if I should look into TRT in the next 10 years or so. I haven't noticed any effects yet but T levels drop steadily each year after age 30. No workout since Sunday. No gym here and not much sleep either. I'll try to do some press-ups, burpees, etc later this evening. I'll be back home over the weekend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aceluby Posted March 31, 2016 Share Posted March 31, 2016 Had a great yoga class last night. It's what I expect people to think of when I say 'yoga', so it was exactly what I needed after the 2 1/2 hour beating I gave my body on Tuesday. It felt great. Today I'm doing a barre class and starting my weekend early. Our studio is doing a 30 day challenge thing, so I'm taking on two challenges for the month of April. First is yoga every day, and if I can't make it to the studio, at least do 15-30 minutes at home. Second is to quit drinking for the entire month. I've already cut down considerably, so it shouldn't be too hard. Both should help me cut 5-10 lbs before the summer starts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iskaral Pust Posted March 31, 2016 Author Share Posted March 31, 2016 Today was my first workout since Sunday. I'm really tired after not sleeping well all week here at my in-law's, but I forced myself to do something this morning: push-ups in sets of 25 reps, squats with my wife on my back (115lbs) in sets of 20, and clean & press with 2x25lbs dumbbells in sets of 20. 5 or 6 sets of each, I lost count. I also did a lot of stretching because the unfamiliar bed is making my lower back very stiff. The warmth and humidity here are stifling (a big part of why I can't sleep) and I was sweating heavily. It felt more like a cardio workout than weight lifting, but still good to get something done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baxus Posted April 1, 2016 Share Posted April 1, 2016 We're having some great weather, which could mean some time on the water this weekend. My "I'll go to training 3-4 times a week no matter what" plan didn't go as well as I hoped during March, but it's still a great improvement over my notoriously inactive February. Still, I've lost 2kgs and managed to do some good workouts, so it's not a total loss. Hopefully, I'll improve on that during April. My half-marathon is in 2 weeks time, so I'll try to put in some distance runs until then, just to get the feeling of it back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lessthanluke Posted April 1, 2016 Share Posted April 1, 2016 I've had some sort of chest infection for the past week which is limiting what I can do right now. Still training hard just the volume has had to be dropped right down. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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