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I still can't believe the 28 days are up! Overall, I think I got great results despite some less than optimal workouts (logistical issues). Two new exercises were added to my resume, also...dead lifts and sissy squats. These were just what the doctor ordered for my skinny legs!
The DAY 1 and FINAL photos are shown here. Notable growth appears in my biceps, and legs (in my opinion), neck, and chest/back width. In general, I just feel "thicker" everywhere!
- Weight = 175.0 LBS (up 10.5 LBS!)
- Body Fat = 10.5% (Same...which is amazing!)
- Chest = 38.5" (up 0.75")
- Waist = 32.5" (up 0.75"...after reading this, I'm ok with it)
- Calves = 14.5" (up 0.75"!!)
- Neck = 14.25" (up 0.5")
- Arms = 12.75" (up 0.75"!!)
- Thighs = 19.0" (up 0.5")
WEIGHT = ???.? LBS (We were out of town and I didn't bring the scale to the hotel. Good thing, too! See "DIET" section of post)
WORKOUT
The last 2 days of the program (DAY 27 & 28) are scheduled days of rest. Interesting that the program ends with rest but it was well deserved!
Overall I was feeling pretty pumped today. My uncle kept harassing me about being a muscle man so I found myself flexing a lot in his presence just to push at him. :~)
Not much soreness today as my muscles seem to be in "heavy lifting mode" now. Just in time to change again! Keep that body confused!
DIET
Look out! With a big family event always comes a big meal. Today was no exception. I hope you enjoy the description as much as I enjoyed eating it! I find it hard to feel guilty, too, when the food's so good and the occasion so special. Here goes!
Breakfast: Things started off rather healthy. I had a smoothie with blueberries, protein powder, peaches, honey, and some yogurt.
Snack (a.m.): 2 string cheese sticks and an apple. Sounds good, right? It gets ugly from here. :)
Lunch: All sorts of raw veggies and fruit, salad with Italian dressing, some assorted nuts, and cole slaw to start. Several meatballs with red sauce, rigatoni, Italian sausage with peppers and onions, crusty bread with butter (and lots of it!!), one chicken breast. For dessert, several oatmeal raisin, M&M, and chocolate chip cookies, and a piece of cake.
Dinner: You would've thought I dinner wasn't necessary but oh, it was! I lightly microwaved some broccoli, cauliflower, and green peppers from the veggie tray that was left. On that I put some rigatoni and meat sauce with sausage and meatballs. That got sprinkled with some Parmesan cheese. On the side, a couple more pieces of that outstanding crusty bread with butter (or should I say butter with some bread? (~: ). For dessert, I had a couple more cookies and some mint chocolates. I knocked back a beer and a couple of glasses of wine for good measure.
Now that's some eatin'!!
WEIGHT = ???.? LBS (Same deal as DAY 27...no scale since we were out of town most of the day. Again, that most likely worked in my favor based on the amount of food I ate.)
WORKOUT
This was the last day of the program. In an anti-climatic fashion, it ended with a day of rest. No soreness at all today and I still felt really pumped. My muscles seemed to just soak up all the food I could feed them! I'm going to take this as a lesson when it comes time for the next round of the program (most likely between Thanksgiving and Christmas).
This was a true day of rest, too, as I sat on my butt nearly all day...and it felt good to do so! We hung out with my family all morning, drove about 45 minutes to see some friends and their new baby, sat around all afternoon with them, then drove back home (about 2-1/2 hours) to Columbus. At least I got the "workout" portion of the program correct today! (~:
All that remains is for me to record my final measurements, take some photos, and see how I did!
DIET
For the second straight day I made sure I filled my hollow leg. Here's how I went about it...
Breakfast: Protein shake with creatine early in the morning. The wife and I met up with the remaining family that was still in town around 8:30 at a buffet. Feed bag time! While I waited for a veggie omelet to get cooked, I had a small plate of scrambled eggs and 2 sausage links. After the omelet arrived, only about half of it got consumed...it was just sort of blah. I moved on to a fresh waffle with butter (no syrup for this guy) and polished the meal off with a bowl of oatmeal with blueberries. I probably could've eaten more but I didn't want to look like a pig in front of my family. :~D
Lunch: Home-cooked and home-grown stuffed peppers!! The wife's friend made up a fantastic Sunday lunch of her own green peppers stuffed with rice, sausage, and tomatoes. As a side dish, we were served lemon pepper squash (zucchini & summer squash sauteed with seasoning and butter). Outstanding! For dessert was homemade sour cream peach pie. Wow!
Dinner: After a long day we didn't feel like preparing or cleaning anything up. We needed a few things from Meijer which meant we'd be driving right past one of the best pizza joints in the City...Rotolos! I could have easily finished the whole thing but pulled up short since I was having ice cream, too. In my book, it doesn't get any better than pizza and ice cream!
There is no "DAY 29" on a 28 day program, but the wife and I plan to eat all fruit tomorrow. I found it to be very cleansing and my body reacted to it very well on DAY 7. I need it to balance out some of the indiscretions over the last few days!
WEIGHT = 178.0 LBS (Wow! Up 5.0 LBS! I guess the junk caught up with me today. Believe me, I feel it, too...all puffy)
WORKOUT
My hammies were shouting out today so those DAY 25 dead lifts must have done some good! The biceps were "buzzing" most of the day, too.
It's hard to believe, but this was the last workout of the program! Triceps were first followed by shoulders, hamstrings, thighs, and traps. I started with weighted dips and overhead tricep extensions. I got to liking those dips during Combat The Fat and doing them with weight is even better!
Shoulder presses were done with dumb bells. These muscles have shown tons of improvement during the course of the program despite the relatively short duration (28 days). I emphasized the stretch big time today at the bottom of the movement by trying to touch my elbows behind my back.
Moving on to legs it was first time for hamstrings. Leg curls and stiff-legged dead lifts were on tap and I hit them hard! Great squeezes and stretches today!
To work the thighs there's nothing better than the conventional squat...but I love to hate 'em! Phew! What a workout! I'm certain I hit them good since my legs were all rubbery afterward!
DIET
Breakfast: Repeat of the Hall of Fame b'fast from DAY 27! Homemade sausage and easy overnight oatmeal.
Snack (a.m.): 1 cup of yogurt with ground flax seed.
Lunch: The boss bought lunch today so that meant Italian...not good. :( The meal started with wedding soup (unbelievably good!) with mini meatballs and chicken. I should've just had a bowl of that! The main entree was lasagna and a couple of medium sized meatballs. At least I just had the lunch portion!
I wanted to get some fruit from the farmer's market and couldn't pass up a grass-fed milk ice cream cone. The kiddie size was chosen so it could've been worse. After sampling, I wanted the large bowl! :~)
Snack (p.m.): 1/2 can of tuna with EVOO and spices and 1 whole hard boiled egg on 2 slices of Ezekiel bread.
Dinner: Post workout protein shake with glutamine. My aunt and uncle sent us a "thank you" gift of Portillo's Italian beef from Chicago! I had a sandwhich with beef, au jus, green peppers, sport/hot peppers and a little bit of shredded mozzarella. Just to get *something* healthy, I ate a peach for dessert.
Pre-bed Snack: 1/2 cup cottage cheese and 2 peaches with some almonds and cinnamon. YUM!
WEIGHT = 173.0 LBS (Same as DAY 23. A bit surprising considering the size of the steak I ate on DAY 24!)
WORKOUT
Pre-workout there wasn't too much to report other than feeling totally ready to hit the weights when it came time to workout. With only 2 workouts to go on the program, I was fired up and my muscles felt good!
Protocol today was chest, back, biceps, calves, and traps. I noticed a marked improvement in my chest strength as I was able to get more reps on the flat bench than I had previously. Very intense squeeze on the pecs, too!
For back, it was time for dead lifts, which...kicked my A$$! I think I could've ended the workout after the 2nd set! By the 3rd mini-set of the last cycle, I was spent and could only get 1 good rep and barely moved the bar attempting the 2nd! What a great exercise!
Thankfully biceps are less aerobic so I could catch my breath. Reverse curls were done as the contraction exercise and incline curls for the stretch. My arms are my best "workers" and really did some work tonight. I had veins popping out everywhere!
Once again, I just couldn't seem to work my calves hard enough with the equipment I have. The only thing I can figure is that they're stronger than I thought after all those sessions of jumping rope and jumping jacks during my Combat The Fat training. Before starting another cycle of the program, I need to figure out how to do calf raises more effectively.
To work the traps and finish out the workout it was shrugs. I've grown to like those a lot over the last 4 weeks. I'm pretty sure they did some good for rounding out my shoulders, too!
This workout lasted just short of an hour and I felt it! Good stuff!
DIET
Breakfast: Homemade sausage with leftover "easy overnight oatmeal". This should be in the breakfast Hall Of Fame! :)
Snack (a.m.): 1 cup of yogurt with ground flax seed
Lunch: Turkey meatloaf, 2 homegrown Roma tomatoes, sweet potato with coconut oil, cinnamon, and molasses, and 2 home grown peaches. All-American lunch right there!
Snack (p.m.): 1/2 can of tuna with some EVOO and spices on 2 slices of Ezekiel bread. One whole hard boiled egg. This snack seriously fuels my workout!
Dinner: Post-workout protein shake with glutamine. My oldest sister was in town from California so it was off to the newest, greatest Greek restaurant on the planet...Mykonos Greek Taverna & Bakery in Gahanna! Once again, I ordered the large gyro but ate only about half of the meat along with the veggies. The pita and balance of the meat came home for a dinner or lunch some time in the future. As an appetizer, the three of us (wife, sis, me) split the spanakopita which is spinach and feta cheese baked in a filo dough. Wow! The desserts are homemade there (excepting 2) so we each ordered a different one for sharing. I'm pretty sure heaven looks to this place for how to make pastries!
Pre-bed Snack: Yeah, no need for that tonight. I took my fiber and vitamins when we got back from dinner (after 9:00) and called it good.
All-in-all, nutrition was not the best but not the worst, either. Too much sugar, for sure, but at least it was post-workout when the muscles really suck it up!
WEIGHT = ???.? (No weigh in today...they didn't have a scale at the golf course! (~: )
WORKOUT
This is a scheduled day of rest away from the weights...which is good! My arms are pretty well shot from top to bottom and front to back! My shoulders and legs were surprisingly not heard from today, however. I must not have worked them hard enough!
Being out in the heat for a golf outing today was a good thing, I think. It kept my muscles loose, that's for sure!
DIET
We had a golf outing this afternoon so my nutrition wasn't the greatest. In fact, it was pretty awful. Thankfully this is a mass-building program so the extra calories are welcome...particularly when we're talking protein!
Breakfast: Protein shake with creatine right out of bed. Spelt (substituted for oats) pancakes with coconut oil, cocoa powder, and honey. I'll repeat ...mmmm... chocolate pancakes!
Snack (a.m.): 1 cup of yogurt with 4 tsp ground flax seed.
Lunch: From the menu at the club house, I chose a California wrap. This was grilled chicken with lettuce greens, cucumber, celery, and avocado on a tortilla wrap. I got the cottage cheese as a side and used that as a spread on the wrap instead of the ranch dressing. I left half of the wrap behind...the wrap itself that is, not the stuffing! For dessert, I brought that leftover chocolate cake from the Greek restaurant. Like I said, my nutrition was not the best today!
Snack (p.m.): I chose to skip this snack today due to the anticipated calorie intake at dinner.
Dinner: Steak! The outing we played in provided a damn fine dinner for us after a good day of golf. It started with a pretty standard salad of lettuce greens, red onion, black olives, parmesan cheese (if I had to guess), and Italian dressing. Then came the steaks! Bone-in ribeye, baby! On the side were some sauteed veggies (carrots, onions, and peppers) and seasoned mashed potatoes. I managed to skip the roll but helped Robin out with his veggies. Dessert was a chocolate brownie with walnuts which was actually very good. Just to reiterate...not the best nutrition day.
Snack: I was totally craving sweets and found myself finishing off the last of a batch of peach ice cream the wife and I had made a few weeks ago. Hey, at least I threw some ground flax seed on there! :~) Oh, and I had my glutamine supplement just before bed.
All-in-all, it wasn't the best day in the diet department. Hopefully the golfing burned some calories and the scale won't be too harsh tomorrow. DAY 25 is a big workout day so that should help!
WEIGHT = 173.0 (Back up 3.0 LBS!)
WORKOUT
Even though my upper body was noticeably worked-over from DAY 22's workout, I was looking forward to today's routine. The biceps must've really gotten punished yesterday since there is quite a bit of tension in those. The incline curls give a helluva stretch so I'm sure that's what I'm feeling there!
Today's schedule: triceps, shoulders, thighs, hamstrings, traps. For tri's, it was close-grip presses followed by overhead dumb bell extensions. Next was shoulder presses with dumb bells. My shoulders pumped out some great reps! Those might be throbbing tomorrow!
After shoulders, it was on to squats. AUGH! I've always hated squats but I know they are part of the way to widening out my stilt-legs so they must be done! I did ok on the first three mini-sets with 165 LBS on the bar but my legs (and back) tired out quickly. Next time, I'll probably drop the weight a little to concentrate more on form and get a few more reps deeper into the workout. This shows just how weak that part of my system is.
Leg curls and dead lifts were pretty tough after doing squats. Wow! I knocked out some nice reps on the leg curls, for sure! My hamstrings have shown some great improvement in the last 3 weeks!
The real question is...will I be able to swing a golf club tomorrow?!?! The 90°+ temps should help.
DIET
Breakfast: Leftover easy oatmeal (steel-cut oats, apples, figs, brown sugar, coconut oil, walnuts, milk) from last week with one home made sauasage patty. Very satisfying!
Snack (a.m.): 1 cup of yogurt with 4 tsp ground flax seed.
Lunch: Leftover gyro from Friday night's dinner out with the wife. Seriously...the best gyro meat on the planet! I added some red onion and home grown Roma tomatoes since I had eaten most of the veggies for dinner. For dessert I had a 1/4 cantaloupe and some blueberries. AWESOME!
Snack (p.m.): 1/2 can of tuna with EVOO and spices and 1 hard boiled egg on 2 slices of Ezekiel bread. Great pre-workout snack!
Dinner: Peach smoothie! 3 fresh peaches, 1 cup yogurt, 2 scoops of protein powder, glutamine, 1 T honey, 1 T EVOO, 1/2 oz walnuts. It turned out to be a masterpiece!
Pre-bed Snack: 1/2 cup cottage cheese with almonds and 1/2 cup grapes.
Good eatin' today!!
I still can't believe the 28 days are up! Overall, I think I got great results despite some less than optimal workouts (logistical issues). Two new exercises were added to my resume, also...dead lifts and sissy squats. These were just what the doctor ordered for my skinny legs!
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