My Total Gym Transformation

I tried the coconut oil again today before working out (four small spoons), and this may be my best ever performance! At least it's close. I may have done more than 14 Squats before, but I know I've never gone over 15. Up two reps already on the Curls, and that's just the second time with the maximum weight. I've been smokin' on the Pullovers lately (great core work), and I have never done ten Dips!

Is it the coconut oil? I still can't really say for sure, but I can definitely say that it's not hurting. I also know that on days when I do the workout hungry, I never do very well, so I don't do that anymore. I'm going to assume for now that the oil is at least helping some, and considering the stellar lipid profile of this stuff, I think I'll keep it up in general.

But what's with the pictures of weights on a scale? Don't they all say on the plate how much it weighs? Well, there's a number, but as you can see, the number isn't always right. One or two of the big red ones always felt particularly heavy to me, so I decided to grab my package scale and find out. Sure enough, there's a red "14.3-pounder" that actually weighs about 18 pounds. Another turns out to be about 15, then there is a silver one that is only 13. That means that "252" (all the weights I have) is really more like 256 -- nothing to be concerned about really, since it's just over 1% of the total, but it was bugging me, so I just wanted to check it out.

So, there you have it.

Workout Stats:  SetLevelWeightRepsChange Squats625214+1 Hamstring Curls610 Shoulder Press6436+1 Pullups6677-1 Flies57 Curls62528+2 Pullovers69+1 Dips610+2 14is14.jpg 14is18.jpg

Much better today! Up two reps on Squats and Dips, up one on Shoulder Press and Pullups. Plus I added the last ten pounds of plates to the Curls, which pleases me greatly. Now I go directly from Squats to Curls, then take the weight off immediately so as not to dimple the plastic rollers.

But today's big deal was that I swallowed a couple spoonfuls of coconut oil before the workout. Coconut oil is mostly saturated and mono-unsaturated, and has lots of medium chain triglycerides. Before you worry about those triges, I should point out that these aren't the same as what gets measured in blood work -- the ones we want to keep fairly low. MCTs are a type that can be used directly for fuel by muscles, making them a great alternative to "carbing up" before strength training -- which a lot of lifters do, but I never have. Further, these triges hate to be stored as fat.

Was the coconut oil responsible for my improvement today? Hard to tell. It was a single instance (so far), and remember that my performance sucked last time. But you can bet I'll be trying it again.

Workout Stats:  SetLevelWeightRepsChange Squats625213+2 Hamstring Curls610 Shoulder Press6435+1 Pullups6676+1 Flies67 Curls62526level-up Pullovers68 Dips68+2

I had a huge all-weekend event on the 28-29th, with a couple days preparation beforehand, so I ended up going eight days this time. Writing this in February, but I remember that I seriously did not feel like doing the workout that day. That showed in my results. Oh well, I still did it, and that's what counts. Not bad on the Pullovers, though.

Workout Stats:  SetLevelWeightRepsChange Squats625211-2 Hamstring Curls610 Shoulder Press6434-2 Pullups6675-1 Flies57 Curls62428 Pullovers68+1 Dips66-2

Just a quick post because it's into February and I have three workouts to record. I dropped a level on Flies again, because my form was sucking. Easier to keep the proper form on level 5, and I managed to get a couple more reps that way.

Workout Stats:  SetLevelWeightRepsChange Squats625213+2 Hamstring Curls610+1 Shoulder Press6436+1 Pullups6676+1 Flies57level-down, +2 Curls62428+1 Pullovers67+1 Dips68+1

Not much change up or down today, and we slipped a day, but I had an exhausting weekend with the deployment of a new server at my office, and was still "digging out" from that on Tuesday. Dana keeps having to tell me to hold my arms our further on the flies, so I'm thinking of dropping it down to level 5 again and working on form, next time.

Workout Stats:  SetLevelWeightRepsChange Squats625211+1 Hamstring Curls69 Shoulder Press6435+1 Pullups6675 Flies65 Curls62427 Pullovers65-1 Dips67

FYI, this website and our parent site, HoldTheToast, will be "going black" on Wednesday, January 18th, in protest of the proposed internet censorship legislation being considered by Congress this week. More information about the strike, including a list of participating websites (Google, Wikipedia, Reddit, icanhazcheezburger, and many, many more) is available at the Strike Against SOPA website. More information about the House and Senate bills, and how they would "break the internet", is available here, along with a form you can use to send a message to your Congresspersons and Senators, urging them to vote against this legislation.

This fignt is non-partisan. This would affect everyone who uses the internet for any purpose whatsoever. If you operate a website, please consider joining this strike. There are plugins available for Drupal and WordPress that will blackout your site all day on the 18th, returning it to normal after the event.

We tried something new this time, and did our workout late morning, instead of in the afternoon as we usually do. I had kind of a break even day, and I wonder if it might have been better if I had eaten an hour or so beforehand. Dana did eat breakfast, and had a great day. (Need to get her posting here again!) I think we could do this more often, and I will definitely try eating before working out next time.

Workout Stats:  SetLevelWeightRepsChange Squats625210 Hamstring Curls69 Shoulder Press6434level-up Pullups6675-1 Flies65 Curls62329+1 Pullovers66 Dips67-1

I'm very pleased with today's results! After a rather lousy workout five days ago, I'm up across the board, increasing by three reps on four sets.

Meanwhile, I looked at a weight cage this week. Found it on Amazon for $250, which is far lower than anything else I've come across. Still, the shipping was going to be another $100, so I am still hesitating. Fred Hahn suggested I try doing "hip squats" using a weight belt. It looks rather awkward to me, but a belt is also far less expensive ($50 tops), so it is probably worth a try. And I think I might also be able to work out how to use it for dips. (Belts are well-known for use with vertical dips on dip bars, but we are still using the incline on the TG, so it still could be a little awkward.)

I'm encouraged by today's workout. Let's see if the new year can bring some new records!

Workout Stats:  SetLevelWeightRepsChange Squats62529+3 Hamstring Curls69+2 Shoulder Press6387+3 Pullups6676+2 Flies65+1 Curls62328+3 Pullovers66+1 Dips68+3

Yes, I actually did work out on New Year's Day! I admit it, my days of getting ripped on New Year's Eve were over long ago. Instead, I felt fine on January 1st, and "got ripped" in a completely different, and much healthier, way. Even so, it was a dreary day here in southern Indiana, and I still deal with the winter blues. That, in turn, has a physical effect, and coupled with having not Burned since mid-December, I had something of an off day. I just have to accept that very little gets done in the second half of December, with holiday travel and all that.

Not surprisingly, at least one of my resolutions will be about health and fitness. But the nice thing is that I don't have to resolve to DO my Slow Burn, since I know I will continue to do it with or without a resolution. Instead, I resolve to be more regular with it, never going longer than five days between workouts, no matter what the circumstances. (Dana and her sister, Kim, went to the gym with our sister-in-law, Liz, while we were in Chicagoland for the holidays. Liz is a yoga instructor, and they were able to go and lift free-of-charge. I had no "workout clothes" with me, but that should not have been any excuse -- could have borrowed some from my brother-in-law, John. Next time I'll bring my own!)

I'm recording weights and reps today, but not changes, which I think are not very meaningful after so long. Besides, it's a new year, and time to start fresh from exactly wherever I am at.

Happy 2012, everyone! Let's all make it a good one!

Workout Stats:  SetLevelWeightRepsChange Squats62526 Hamstring Curls67 Shoulder Press6384 Pullups6674 Flies64 Curls62325 Pullovers65 Dips65

Dear kay2@seotooluniverse.com, who just signed up for a user account, obviously intending to dump a bunch of referrer spam into my blog: Do you think I am stupid? "SEO Tool Universe dot Com"? And a username of "Kay2aSEO"??? Could you possibly pick an email address and username that more obviously scream, "I AM AN SEO SPAMMER!"?

EPIC FAIL!

I don't worry much about fluctuations in how many Squats I can manage, since I am consistently well over the seven reps that would normally trigger a level-up next time. And I know that if I lose a couple, it's entirely likely that I will pick them back up next time -- IF I don't go too long between workouts!

I was pleased to pick up a couple reps on Pullups, and to level-up on the Shoulder Press, but I'm still puzzled as to how I could have gone from five reps at 46 added pounds to not being able to move the thing at all just five days later. I'm rather proud of my math skillz, so it's a little embarrassing to think that I was adding up the numbers incorrectly. Still, nothing to be done about that now, other than just keep moving forward.

Nice to pick up a couple of Pullover reps! I have really come a long way on that exercise from where I started 16 months ago.

Workout Stats:  SetLevelWeightRepsChange Squats62529-2 Hamstring Curls610 Shoulder Press6383level-up Pullups6675+2 Flies65 Curls62327 Pullovers65+2 Dips67-1

I honestly do not know what happened today. I held steady on both leg exercises, and picked up a rep on Bicep Curls. (I now do those immediately after Squats, because the weight is close to the same -- I just remove 20 pounds, then take the weight completely off after Curls, so as not to dimple the wheels.) Then I tried Shoulder Press, with the same (or so I thought) 46 pounds I'd had on it last time.

I could not get the platform to move. At all! I mean, I was actually sliding on the vinyl surface of the platform. That didn't happen last time, and I was wearing the same kind of clothing, sweat pants and a t-shirt. I pulled off a plate on either side, reducing it to 29 pounds, and managed six reps.

Then, I added those two plates back, plus another 15 pounds per side, to make the same 76 pounds I used last time for Pullups. And I could barely manage a single rep! I took off two five-pound plates, but still only got three reps done. I started thinking that, damn, I'm having a really bad upper body day. Except I was fine with Bicep Curls, and although I dropped a rep on Flies, I held steady with eight Dips. Two down on Pullovers, though, and so I am left wondering just what happened.

The weirdest was the Shoulder Press, though. I did five of them last time, and could not move the thing at all this time. Not even a partial, abortive rep -- nothing. It will be interesting to see how I do next time. Will I get it back? Or did I never actually have those 46 pounds on there to begin with? "Bad at math" has never been one of my distinguishing characteristics!

Workout Stats:  SetLevelWeightRepsChange Squats625211 Hamstring Curls610 Shoulder Press6296??? Pullups6663??? Flies65-1 Curls62327+1 Pullovers63-2 Dips68

By some time tomorrow afternoon, my hair will be the only part of my body that does not hurt! I went into today's workout afraid that my shoulder/neck would act up again and frustrate my performance, yet determined to not lose any ground. There was no problem, and no pain other than the "good" kind. I picked up a rep each on Squats, Shoulder Press, and Pullovers, and added a couple pounds of weight on Shoulder Press and Pullups. That is because some of the weight plates are in kilograms, which translate to odd and fractional pounds, and I don't always remember what combinations I used the last time to get the desired weight. So those were sort of a level-up, but I don't think I'll count them as such.

I dropped down to six reps, from eight, on Curls, but that is due to leveling-up on that exercise. I'm doing those with 232 pounds, which is now, like with Squats, pushing the limits of the machine. It won't be long before I have maxed out there as well, and have to start looking for another solution. That may be easier for the Curls than for the Squats. I can probably find (or even build) a bench with an armrest and use a barbell, whereas with Squats I will need something like a weight cage, or even a gym membership. The latter seems a little silly, if I'm only going to the gym for one exercise. But if I do the whole workout there, what would that mean for "My Total Gym Transformation"?

Workout Stats:  SetLevelWeightRepsChange Squats625211+1 Hamstring Curls610 Shoulder Press6465+1 Pullups6765 Flies66 Curls62326level-up Pullovers65 Dips68

Last time I worked out was November 19, and did not do very well, especially after starting off with an abortive set of squats. Same place in my left shoulder/neck area was acting up, and I managed a mere five reps, down from ten the time before. I think that depressed me physically, as well as mentally (where's the dividing line anyway?), and I fell of by one or two reps on three other exercises. I didn't bother to log that workout, so I won't note changes on today's statistics -- I'm just going to call it a new baseline and start fresh. (Although I will note that I did pick up a rep on about half the exercises.) I also took twice as long a time off as I usually do, partly because of being out of alignment with the neck/shoulder and in a bit of pain.

Things went pretty well today. Dana had a house-call massage to do this afternoon, and I knew she wouldn't get back early, so I went ahead and worked out on my own. It just takes a little longer, because I have to stop between sets and record my numbers. It also means keeping my own tally, so I'm never absolutely certain that I counted right. Pretty close, though. And anyway, I felt I just could not wait another day to get back to it. Here are the numbers:

Workout Stats:  SetLevelWeightReps Squats625110 Hamstring Curls610 Shoulder Press6444 Pullups6745 Flies66 Curls62228 Pullovers64 Dips68

Well, I was right! Or at least I will assume that there was something to it. Although my last workout was twelve days ago, the physical work I did in the meantime -- toting logs, moving appliances, pushing wheelbarrows of dirt -- seems to have kept me in shape pretty well. I improved on everything except for Flies, and even then I held steady at seven reps. I will probably stay at the same level for the next few times and work on form (as it's the one on which I most easily fall out of form), before adding weight.

Now, I do not recommend using this -- "I've been working in the yard!" -- as an excuse for blowing off the workout! It happened that way for me, and who knows what improvement I would have seen in the two sessions I probably should have done between last time and today. I was determined not to do anything less than last time, but was pleasantly surprised at the nearly across-the-board increase. There was no guarantee that this was going to happen. Probably could have managed another Pullup, but I managed to develop a cramp in my upper right trapezius. When you have pain that is not muscle burn, you STOP.

I'm particularly happy with the improvement on Pullovers. It seems the core is getting stronger, and that's a good thing! I'm no longer surprised to see an increase every time on Curls, although since I never considered myself to be a "biceps guy", it does make me happy. I can see that it won't be long before I'm curling as much weight as I'm squatting!

I'm calling this a good day!

Workout Stats:  SetLevelWeightRepsChange Squats625110+1 Hamstring Curls69+1 Shoulder Press6407+1 Pullups6706+1 Flies67 Curls62129+2 Pullovers66+2 Dips67+1