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Thursday, November 3, 2011

Making Adjustments

Well, as I said from the beginning, bodybuilding is a continual lab of trial and error. That being said, I was taking in way too many carbohydrates for my body. Sadly I have been blessed with a naturally slow metabolism. Explains why I was the FAT kid growing up. Not to get on a pitty party, my body just doesn't processes and metabolize sugar efficiently, so by eating too much, it will get stored as fat. This is the case with me in just 10 days. 

By consuming 2.5 grams of carbs per pound of body weight, I was consuming all of that within the first 4 of my 6 meals per day. I had the right amount of energy during my workouts and my body felt fuller, but I was eating too much as I noticed how I was getting softer in the abdomen and I lost my vasularity in my arms. So, I am cutting back to 2 grams of carbs per pound to see what that adjustment does physically and if that will effect my performance in the gym.

My workouts this past week have been intense ... AS ALWAYS! Yesterday however, I had a battle of the mind. I wasn't feeling totally in it. I felt a bit lethargic honestly. I convinced myself my body needed one more day of rest ... so I thought. But as I sat there at my desk about to dive into some work, I looked down and saw my "I DECIDE" wristband.



I froze.

My mind went blank.

I laughed then felt this rush of adrenaline rush through my body. "Well, let's do this!" I said out loud to myself. So I got everything together. I drank my Athletic Edge Nutrition PreSurge and hit the weights ... and I hit them hard. Here is what I did:



Immediately following my workout I drank 40gr of my 90% pure, micronized whey protein, BCAA's and L-Glutamine with 16oz of water to immediately give my body the essential supplements my body needed following this grueling workout.


You may look at the weight and rep count and think, "Man, that's not much!" BUT, I perform each rep slow, peak with a squeeze-hold then follow with a precise negative. This technique derives from the H.I.T. approach developed by Arthur Jones and later by bodybuilder Mike Mentzer that focuses on performing slow, precises movements to maximize peak failure in a timed set. The point in anything set you do however to stimulate growth in your muscle group is to reach absolute failure, then finish with a static hold. Minimal sets necessary but absolute failure required for it to work.

I am liking the feel of a 4-2 split each week. That means working out my groups for 4 days then taking 2 days off to rest completely. That is giving each group a full 6 days of rest before I hit them hard again. I will continue to monitor my growth results and bodyfat per week to see what I need to change. I am still focusing on heavier weight, low rep focus for the next couple of weeks. I will then take a week and do nothing but volume, high-rep sets of 30 to 40 reps per set.

I am getting my rest each night with sometimes a 20 minute power nap during lunch if I feel I need it. There have been a couple of nights I was up past midnight and I sure felt the fatigue in the day. My appetite was off and I just felt like I was in a fog.

Amazing how all of these elements work so closely together and must be monitored to help my body grow. So it's important I watch all of them, take notes and see what could be affecting my performance. I honestly never thought bodybuilding would be such a science. AMAZING!

Remember, "There is no excuse because ... I DECIDE."

~ MD                  

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