Howie

[Howie]

Vertical Plyo last night went poorly. I didn't feel like working out in the first place so just doing it was an accomplishment. My congestion was really sapping my energy and it's obvious again that low carbs and anaerobic exercise just don't blend well for performance, however I've lost 5 lbs already which is a massive move forward. I'm very impatient to get to my desired level of BF because I have a lot more fun pushing for increased strength rather than just exercising for exercise sake. I am, however, not going to waste this time and instead really focus on improvement in my motion and form.

[Howie]

I subbed out Strength today for the "Easy30 Kettlebell Workout" I posted up on the programs board. I used a 35# kettlebell and it worked my ass! It was only 30min but every second of it was good stuff. I really like it because, well it was all new stuff, but also the range of motion and total body incorporation to tossing a big chunk of iron around is really awesome. Form is an absolute must with these things! If you get sloppy with a kettlebell your asking for injuries.
Anyway I know I said I was going to stick to Asylum strictly but I figured this workout is so similar to Strength that swapping one for the other really wont matter much.
See you tomorrow, Cheers!

[Howie]

Pushed Speed & Agility a bit harder last night and felt great. I had a sweet potato earlier in the day so I'm sure that helped. I didn't perform at 100% (closer to 90%) but there was improvement from last time so I'm stoked. My goal here is to lean out and I've dropped from 172 to 166 so I'm making progress even if it's not in strength/performance. I've started taking waistline measurements to help make sure I'm loosing fat and not muscle or at least more fat than muscle.

[Howie]

Geez! Talk about a total shit night of working out, last night was the worst. I had absolutely no drive at all left in me. It is super obvious I need a recovery day or two sense I skipped last weeks to make up lost time. The good news is I have two scheduled for this week! The bad news is that's because I have Gameday also scheduled for this week. LOL.

[Howie]

Great workout last night! I did Vertical Plyo and crushed it. I out performed my previous weeks numbers and ended the session drenched. Felt great to really get back in and give a workout a strong go.
I fully plan to finish out this month of Asylum but I have become massively aware that I really don't care for doing only Interval Cardio Training. I need to break this up with some strength training for sure. I think next month and until I get my copy of P90X2 I'll continue to do Asylum but toss in Strength training in twice a week.

[Howie]

Gotta love recovery days! Yesterday was just that for me, and it was much needed. I feel really good today and I hope I stay that way because I've got the dreaded Game Day tonight. On a positive note I don't have to do it with Overtime yet so that's cool.

[Howie]

Decided to to "Just Arms" last night because I am getting really tired of only sports training and wanted some weight lifting.

[Howie]

ditched Vertical Plyo from Asylum and did EXPLOSIVE POWER TRAINING from Rush Fit and loved it. There really hasn't been a workout from RF that I haven't liked yet. I really like the attention to detail in the moves and also the amount of new moves is refreshing. I think I burned somewhere in the ball park of 550 cals on my HRM so that's not too bad at all.

[Howie]

So I've cut my fat intake back a bit in an ongoing attempt to adjust my diet slowly into something that will lean me out before P90X2 arrives. Cutting fat also significantly reduces my calorie intake but I'm doing it slowly so that I don't take it too far. I'm not a fan of caloric restriction but I understand that's something that's gotta happen to lean out.
I've also been getting a lot more sleep and have blacked out all the windows that allow light into my room as well as taped over all LED power lights in my room to assist in a full restful sleep. I've dropped 4lbs in the last 4 weeks which is great considering I've been the same weight EXACTLY for the past 6 months or so.
I've noticed I slight drop in my energy toward the evening but I'm not sure it's actually an energy drop and is just my cortisol better managed so now I'm feeling sleepy when I should be sleeping. In fact now that I think if it I'm almost certain that's what it is because it's only the motivation to work out that I have trouble with in the eve, the actual work out is fine.
I should be getting my Jungle Gym XT tomorrow so I plan to rock the shit outta that bad boy! I'll report back with my initial impressions.

[Howie]

I did Gameday (Overtime was also planned but I skipped it) and while it was a great workout I really did poorly. I suspect it was a combination of eating too close to my workout, running around literally all day cleaning, cooking, doing non-stop laundry, and slight dehydration. I think I burned a little over 550 calories (compare to my previous 700+).
This will be my last week of Asylum so I am trying to decided what to move on to. I was considering doing the standard P90X but I don't want to drop my cardio to that level. I think I may just create a calendar that is similar to P90X but with some Asylum and Resistance training added in. We'll see I guess.....

[wardjf79]

p90x2 can't come soon enough.

[Howie]

Hah! For sure Ward. I can't wait for that program to arrive.
Today I am starting a more aggressive diet program to called a protein sparing diet. This is basically a diet that has me eat around a gram of protein per pound of lean body mass I have. I need to eat from lean sources and keep my daily calories down to around 900. I also need to keep my carbohydrates VERY low and get most of my calories from meat sources. I'll be supplementing with a multivitamin while I do this to help as much as possible.
This diet is very aggressive and I am not recommending it to anyone here. This is a diet experiment based on information I've gathered about this diet. I'll be reporting about my results as I go.

As an example of what my diet will look like here is today's plan:

AM- 3 poached eggs w/ salt & Pepper
Lunch- 6oz London Broil & 1 lrg Carrot
PM- 6oz London Broil & 1 cup Brussels spouts
Net Carbs: 10.63, Fat: 47.46, Protein: 97.47, Calories: 899

[Howie]

What up Ninjas!?
I did Speed & Agility last night and did really well. It is now week #4 of Asylum and it's become obvious that my body is becoming more efficient at these workouts. I did really well (98% or so) last night but my calorie burn was roughly 70 less than my burn was doing the same workout in week one. This was a bit surprising considering my performance this week was far better than the first. I suspect that I have just become more efficient at the movements required for the same work. Time to switch things up!

[wardjf79]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't your ability to burn calories during workout become more difficult as you get in better shape...but 70% is a lot though.

[Howie]

you become more efficient at specific workouts the more you do them thus reducing your calorie burn unless you increase intensity. I didn't burn 70% less calories (12% less actually) I burned 70 calories less than the previous time I had done that workout.
This is why it is often said you shouldn't extend your workouts longer than 45-60min and instead increase power and intensity.
Small side note is that I've noticed increased muscle growth (in actual size gains) by experimenting with resting more. I suspect this is why P90X2 is changing up it's game to a 5 day a week program. Rest as often as you need to feel good.
Remember Diet, Sleep, Exercise in that order are key to fitness and health.