Week #3
NOTICE: This is article #3 of this series. Click HERE for the front page.
Another week is over with. To tell you the truth it kind of went by fast. I feel alright, my carbs are fairly high still, and my timing so far is working out very well, I have just the perfect amount of energy for my workouts, with the help of my fat burners. One thing that is shitty about this is I am extremely moody. It's so funny how your body works. I'm sitting here one minute feeling great, then the next I want to cry over a can of tuna! Luckily I have some very understanding roommates and friends.
One thing I've done to help this is surrounded myself with some positive motivators. For example above my bed on the ceiling, I have a piece of paper with W.I.N written. It's an acronym for What's Important Now? This way every time I want to hit the snooze button, or every time I want to lay down and procrastinate… I have to think… What IS important now? As well in front of my stepper which I use in the morning I have "One chance to sieze everything I've ever wanted"
This way when I feel like hoping off at 30 minutes, I see that. It keeps me on there for the extra five minutes, and usually longer. I feel like it is very important to keep reminding yourself of why you are doing this to yourself, otherwise, I'd go crazy.
Training
My training this week went really good. I kept my strength up in almost all of my exercises. As well, on Friday I trained shoulders for a second time. I just felt so weird not going into the gym, so I went in and did a 45 minute shoulder workout. I am not very strict on sticking to my exact training schedule. For example, on Monday I felt like I needed more of a pump in my chest so I threw in some negatives on the chest press machine.
I know my body very well and can tell when I've had a good workout or a half decent workout. As mentioned last week I went to the orthopedic surgeon about my back.. I have spondylolysthesis which basically means one of my vertebra (L5) is shifted forward.
But the surgeon said that I could go back to squatting and I won't risk shifting it further. So, I am adding squats back into my routine.
Tanning
I went tanning once. I felt better. With a little bit darker color the muscles show through even more. This was just more of a psychological thing than anything else. I really don't have to worry about tanning that much. Once I put that Pro Tan on, it doesn't matter anyway. That stuff is so dark it covers up everything.
Diet
So far everything has been going good. I am completely sick of tuna, but I've been putting a cut up pickle in with it, and it helps it go down. I have a new best friend as well... Diet Coke. This stuff has 1.2 Cal per can. I like to drink it flat, mostly because I don't drink pop, so carbonated drinks don't go down so easy. To curb my cravings, I also snack on pickles. They only have 3 cal each. For my "cheat" meal this week I went to dairy queen and had a grilled chicken sandwich on a whole wheat bun with mustard on it. It wasn't really much of a cheat, but just eating somewhere else was nice.
Supplements:
Cell Tech - To keep my strength up
Vitamin C - As an antioxidant to prevent muscle atrophy (muscle breakdown)
Glutamine - To speed recovery by rebuilding muscle (Essential Amino Acid)
Dymetadrine Xtreme - To increase my metabolism and give me much needed energy
EFA oil - with such a low fat diet, I must supplement with some Essential Fatty Acids
Optimum Protein - To rebuild and repair muscle tissues.
I added Vitamin E as well, again for it's antioxidant effects. (Antioxidants neutralize free radicals which are produced mainly from aerobic exercise)
Week 2 Diet
6:00 AM
Optimum Protein Shake (22 grams protein, 1.5 grams Carbs) and 1 Dymetadrine Xtreme
6:30 AM
35 minutes on the treadmill
7:30 AM - Meal 1
2 grams Creatine (cell tech)
10 egg whites (40 grams Protein)
1.5 cups of dry oatmeal- (48 grams of Carbs)
1 Med sized banana- (27 Grams Carbs)
Multivitamin-best taken with a meal
A small spoonful of raisins (about 10-15 grams of carbohydrates)
Vitamin C (2000 mg), Vitamin E.(400 IU)
Meal 2: 9:30AM
1 Can of tuna (27 grams Protein)
1.5 cups Brown Rice (66 Grams Carbs)
1 Tblsp EFA oil - (15 Grams Polyunsaturated Fat)
Meal 3: 11:30 AM
1 Large boiled chicken breast with Mrs. Dash (27 grams Protein)
2 cups Brown rice (88 Grams Carbs)
1 Dymetadrine Xtreme
Meal 4: 2:00 PM
Same as Meal 2
Meal 5: 4:00PM (pre-workout meal)
1 Boiled Chicken Breast (27 grams protein)
2 Grams of Creatine
1 med sized sweet potato (38 Grams Carbs)
2 grams Glutamine
1 Dymetadrine Xtreme
Workout: 4:45PM
Meal 6: 7:00PM (post workout)
2 grams Creatine
Optimum Protein Shake (2 scoops-44Grams Protein, 3 Grams Carbs)
1.5 cups mixed vegetables (15 Grams Carbs)
1/2 cup brown rice
Meal 7: 9:00PM
1 Can of tuna with salsa (27 Grams Protein)
1 cup mixed veggies (10 Grams Carbs)
Meal 8: 10:30PM
1 can of tuna with salsa (27 Grams Protein)
Totals For Week One
| Protein |
Carbs |
Fat |
Calories |
BMR |
Calories Burned from Exercise |
Calories Burned Per Week |
| 268 Grams/Day = 1072 Kilocalories |
295 Grams/Day = 1180 kilocalories |
15 Grams/Day= 135 Kilocalories |
2387 Cal/ Day |
2225 Cal/ Day |
(1 hour cardio, 1 hour strength training) = 1260 |
Aprox 7000. |
Because there is 3500 Cal per lb of fat, I will be loosing approximately 2 lbs of fat per week, for a total of 18 lbs. However, time will tell, with cutting water, etc, how much I will loose exactly. I try not to use the scale as a judge of where I will be, rather, I use the mirror to judge where I am.
What I Have Changed This Year
Instead of having a protein shake before my workout, I've started having it after my workout. I switched this with the chicken breast previously after my workout. I am doing this because my workouts have been going a bit longer than expected due to the cardio. Therefore I am going 3 hours on average without a meal. I feel that the protein shake will be absorbed faster than the chicken breast.
I cut my oatmeal down in the morning to 1.5 cups, rather than 2. I did this simply because I couldn't choke down the two cups. So basically it was a waste. It's not a big difference either, and to make up for the carbs missed, I added some raisins in which adds some taste to my oatmeal.
I couldn't get my treadmill from my parents house, so I got a stepper instead. The only downfall is for 5 days after leg day it kills me. Other than that it's not too bad. And it's nice not having to go to the gym in the morning.
My Training
Monday - Chest and Shoulder
Tuesday - Legs
Wednesday - Back
Thursday - Arms
Friday - Only Morning cardio
Saturday - Abs, calves and Forearms
Sunday - Only Morning Cardio
Cardio: I do morning cardio every day. I do afternoon cardio on the days I strength train. My cardio will consist mostly of the stepper.
Reps: I don't bother to put numbers on how many reps I do because it will change from exercise to exercise. I aim for what is called Total Positive Failure (TPF) this is when I can no longer complete one more repetition with proper form.
After reaching TPF, I will use a spot to get 1-2 more reps out of each set. However, I use a weight in which I will reach TPF at around 10 reps. I never go below 5 though.
Posing: I am really excited about my posing routine. I have been working on it since I found the song in September. I have decided to use the song "rock you like a hurricane" by The Scorpions. But it's a version with the Berlin Phil. Harmonic orchestra. It's an awesome song for posing, and my routine is pretty much down pat. Learn more about the importance of music, click here!
I have included some starting pictures with this article. After week one, there isn't much change, but I will be posting some new pics every week.
All in all, week one was pretty good. I lost about 6 pounds so far and am down to about 200 lbs. A lot of this is water, even though I am constantly drinking water, the caffeine in the fat burners is a natural diuretic. A few ups and downs, but I wouldn't have it any other way. I do this because it is hard. And I love it. Not anyone can do what we do as bodybuilders. You have to have extreme dedication and a love for the sport. Remember, this is not a game. Keep training hard. If you have any questions/comments, please email me at ryan_swan@hotmail.com. If I don't get back to you by chance it means I missed your email. Just keep sending them until you get an answer!
"This is Not a Game"
Week 3 Pics
Train hard, see you at the gym,
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