Striking at 6% - Fastback finally GETS IT!

[67fastback]

Just an aside, on another site I frequent...



Full thread here: Click.

WOWOWOW

Awesome! Beautiful Stang! I Love the colour and wheels and that you drive it too!

And you have to have muscle to drive a muscle car too! Correct? hahaha

Nothing like wrestling a transmission in, while laying on your back underneath the car!

Anyway I'm a huge fan of your mustang, by the "handle" on the other forum, I am guessing it has a 390FE between the shock towers?
So cool. I know how it is driving ours around here, so I am guessing you are like Royalty driving yours

Thanks so much for sharing

Later tonight, I'll post a pic/link and a little information on our little beast

[LordGrover]

Sorry, didn't mean to suggest it's mine. It's another member of pistonheads.com.
My username is the same there as here.

[67fastback]

Sorry, didn't mean to suggest it's mine. It's another member of pistonheads.com.
My username is the same there as here.

Ha ha, I guess I got a little over excited there, when I saw the picture

BUT I do like your car anyway. If it had 2 more seats, It would have been on my wife's wish list!

So back to 1967. This is the other woman in my life, and yes she is high maintenance!

After the engine was broken on the track, (good car, bad driver) I waited a year to get then new motor back in, which is an all aluminum 487cu side oiler, set up for the road course. It has a full coilover track suspension, on the front,and will likely get a change to a 3-link on the rear. With the lighter engine, the oversteer, is much more pronounced.











Not much else to say other than, she is actually much more wicked than it sounds in the video. (Strong arms are req'd for steering on the track and yes heavy heavy clutch so leg work outs are manditory)

[67fastback]

Back to the training front;

Personal training workout last night.
I felt in pretty good shape, and hammered through everything, fairly well, I thought.

When I got home, it was a different story. I'm not really sore anywhere, except the shoulder work.

Holy s..t and cardio wise, wow I was super tired. Definitely a good hard workout, and still feeling it this morning.

Nothing like it.

Tonight the plan it to rack up and get back into squats, legs, and back.

This morning, I think during a pre-shower workout, I figured out how to hit my tricep better, so I am going to work on that.

Cheers

[67fastback]

Back to the squats again tonight.

They are coming along, so 50# more on the bar. Nothing remarkable in weight. Still keeping things light, although this was definitely harder today.
I plan on keeping this weight the same, for at least a couple weeks.
The object will be to get a little deeper and a better stretch with the left (surgery-less flexible) ankle.

I believe after starting the squats, the ankle has improved. Balance, flexibility, strength. So happy so far.
I just gotta be patient with this and not push for too much too soon.

Did a little mini set focusing on the squats.

5 x{
20 BB Squats +50# from last time
20 left arm iso cable tricep pushdown
20 left arm iso cable bi-curl
low back / glute roller massage 2 min
}

Not too bad considering my PT did a good amount of leg work the day before.

I feel good.
Stronger.

So stoked to be doing this. I just gotta keep telling myself to be patient. Not to go for numbers, but ROM and flexibility. Stick to form.
The last thing I want to do is have my left ankle be doing funky things during a lift.

BTW I think I have figured out how to hit the weaker left tricep better. The left tricep lags far behind my right. Bicep is coming along and is getting close to the right in size.
Tricep on the left is about 60-70% that of my right arm.
Work to do here

Cheers

[67fastback]

PT tonight.

I told my trainer my butt and hamstrings were sore from squats. I thought it would be easier, not doing legs.

It wasn't... S..t!

He killed me again. I can barely get off the couch!

I especially love it... when he ups the reps... just 'cause I am handling the 1st set -Not-
10 turns into 15 mid set
15 to 20
20 to 30

Did a lot of arms tonight... and freaking abs.. my abs still hurt hours later
okay maybe I an sick and I actually like it

Yes I go to get killed voluntarily

[67fastback]

Swimming night tonight.

Pretty light workout with a few fast middle distance sets and 1 - 100m sprint

I am fairly happy with my diet, and I think I can tweak it just a little bit more.

I've cleaned up my carbs. I think I just need to be a little more disciplined. I've found a good spot where I'm growing muscle, and feel pretty good about what I am eating.

Looking forward to the weekend...

[67fastback]

Good workout yesterday in the home gym despite being a little but under the weather.

I upped the # on the bench a little

On the diet front, I read an interesting article on timing of protein intake for muscle growth.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/...ticle16069147/

So will try and make sure I am upping my protein at breakfast, and not being too worried about eating massive amounts of protein at dinner.

Cheers

[67fastback]

So more fun it looks like for 2014.

I noticed the other day, as did my wife, that my right big toe was swollen.
I thought it was due to work, rubbing on work boots.
I noticed it again, the next day, after I was not working (day off.)
Both days I put some topical antibiotic cream on the area, thinking possible infection.

And last night, I noticed my right ankle was also sore, sleeping at night.

I don't know why, but I thought of Gout.

Since I already have RA, I did a bit of google research. The swelling big toe is a classic symptom.

The plan;
Get to the doc ASAP and review my anti-inflammatories (which I have not been taking lately)
Decrease the alcohol consumption (which was up big time over the holidays)
Adjust the diet, and fluid intake.

Increase my swimming frequency once again (I had decreased this a little bit)

and of course, I am not going to let a little pain slow me down. F%#k it. Just another age related pothole in the road to staying fit.

I'll report back on how the control is going, and if the doc says anything.

The classic anti-inflammatory that I was taking had been discontinued (more or less a glorified aspirin) so I have not been taking AI's regularly since early 2013.

Hoping that I have discovered this nice and early with negligible joint damage.

-sigh- geesh it's never easy is it ?

[67fastback]

Well here goes for 2014.

Lotsa food and drink and bad habits crept back in, but what the hell, it's the season to be jolly over xmas

I had a clod, mild flu last week so training was nixed. Maybe a good time to take a break. Well no it wasn't but nothing one can do about these things. Better to rest and get healthy.

so back at it this morning, and due to the cold/flu I am staying out of the pool for a bit. Bad mix getting all hot in the pool during a swim workout, then transitioning to the cold winter air outside.
Miss swim workous, but am doubling up with a second home gym workout.

Still one month to go on the 1st step of periodization training (3 in total) but that's good. It gives me a chance to condition the heart muscle and lungs.

To celebrate the new year, I added a set of kettlebells to the home gym. Actually took advantage of some boxing week specials. Got one set from 5 - 15 lbs for 20$ and then added 12-20kg rubber kettlebells for a little over a hun .80/lb which is a good deal also.

more hard work lol,

[67fastback]

Having fun in 2014

Slowly weeding out the bad habits that crept in over the holidays, and back to eating straight.

I added the Clean and Press to my workout regimen, and I have to tell you that I really like it. A great full body workout and I've been pounding out sets of (light) 20 reps to get all the muscles needed, in condition.

I am gonna stay light for a few weeks, but really have to watch my enthusiasm.

With the kettle bells I was doing a number of sets of goblet squats. Felt great on the day of... major DOMs on the days following. Honestly I can still feel it a few days later. Got some work with the foam roller and baseball LOL.

Gonna try and get some bands for my gym tomorrow so I can use them on BP, DL and Squats.

Can you tell I am stoked about finally being able to do the big 4 at home now? Yeah I am.

I also got a TV for the home gym. I despise the recumbent bike we have at home, so am actually gonna use the clean and press as my cardio LOL, just stay light, maybe

Cheers

[67fastback]

Personal Training killed me last night. When I got home I just basically slept LOL
I am getting in really good shape, but he always ramps it up to make it even more challenging.

Murphy's law. I did clean and press Sunday and Monday, so what does he do? more of the same LOL

Tonight I went running for the first time in a long time. The ankle was a little sore, so I stopped and massaged it a couple times. Otherwise the running felt awesome. Legs are in good shape from the squats etc, and cardio is real good.

I think I went maybe 5k +/- and felt good enough to go a lot longer. I thought I'd try and be smart and take it easy the first time.
The very cold winter air felt a slight bit irritating to my throat and lungs, so I also thought it would be wise not to irritate my asthma this first time out, either.

[67fastback]

This coming week is the last in the first part of periodization

I'm looking forward to the change, even though the high rep workouts have really got me in good shape cardio wise.

I spoke in the previous post about how the high rep work, in squats and clean and press (among others) have really helped me with strength and fitness, and directly impacted how good I felt-condition and speed-wise in the water last week.

Well okay so back into the water today. I felt fast in the warm up, and typical Fridays I often do mid distance sets.

So the results.
I pounded out a number of 200m freestyles
My times, for me were awesome!
My best workout time ten years ago was 2:21-2:23

Today I pretty handily pounded out 2:24 2:25 and another very quick one to finish at the end of the set. Consider also that I have added some mass too LOL

Yeah not world record times for masters swimming, but for me really good
Sunday night two days from now will be butterfly. We'll see how that goes!

I'm happy, very happy, actually really stoked.

[67fastback]

Ok I am going to get in the habit of journaling again, whether I post here or just keep a log book, it doesn't matter.
Just another tool for me, to keep track of things, especially since I am working out at home now

I think I will illicit some input from my personal trainer, on what I am doing.

Yeah, I "almost" asked questions in the O35 forum, but after reading a bit this week, I find the posts (most of them) not helpful at all. Seems like this forum has lost a lot of the helpfulness that it had, when I first joined however many years ago.

Warmup
Queue the techno dance club music loud

3x
{
Jumping Jacks 60
Bench pushups 20
Bench dips 20
Myofascial stretching
}

SS 1
4x
{
Clean and Press -fast- 145# *5,9,11,11
Calf raises BW single R/L &both (10,10,20)
Hanging Leg raise/gorilla crunch 15, 16,15,16
Bicep cable curl 40# 20
}

* more Myofascial stretching

SS2
3x
{
Bulgarian split squat 15# KB 10/ side (this was really good for the weak balance on my still healing left ankle)
DB Cuban press full 12/20#DB 10/25#DBs 7/30#DBs
BB Bench 125# 12, 15, 20
}

[67fastback]

Swim workout was good last night.

I am really happy with my cardio, although my speed was a little slower than I hoped.
It was still respectable, and considering how much shoulder work I did in the gym that morning, I should be happy.
No doubt my shoulders would have been a little stiff, and difficult to get decent arm speed that night

5 x 400m ( fast 3 5:21 5 :20 5:25)
Hoping to knock off about 10-15 seconds next week.

Cheers

[67fastback]

Talked over the next phase of periodization with my trainer.

Tonight I did a mini series. Upped the weights and lowered the reps to 12/set instead of 20

Quite a different workout. This is the first of the change up. Should be fun!

[67fastback]

First legs day of Periodization Part 2

It was good. I think it will take a couple weeks to find my good working weight. Definitely "feels" like the 1st part of periodization has set me up for some good successes.
Two good supersets. My nemesis exercises were the lunges with curls and the Goblet side squats (yeech!) The goblet side squats really hit the glutes, so will keep doing them.

Legs
Super set 1{
Squats – 15x105,12x125,12x145,10x165
Cuban Press 4x12/25#DB
Goblet Kettle Bell Squats 4x12x20kg
Alternating March w Curl and Balance 4x20 4x2/25#DB
}

SS2 {
Goblet Kettle Bell Side Squat Alt Sets/Side 10(20)/12kg
Alt Lunges w DB Curls–10/side 2/25#DB
BB Dead Lifts 12x145,12x165,12x195
}

[LordGrover]

Off topic again...

Just saw another fastback owner on PH



A few more photos here: click.

[67fastback]

Off topic again...

Just saw another fastback owner on PH



A few more photos here: click.

Thanks for the great link to that beautiful Mustang

I have been laying low with an annoying flu, which manifested to a lung infection.

First real workout tonight, but I kept it low key. Still have 9 more days of antibiotics


Cheers

[67fastback]

Things have been eventful over the past little bit.

Yes it appears I have Gout and my arthritis is acting up especially in my hands, and thumb joints.
I have some new anti-inflammatories, so we will see how that goes.

I've been biking back and forth to work a couple days a week. I have a b@tch of a hill on the way home. I am getting in really good shape cardio & legs wise in short order.

My wife decided that she wants to take a break from her personal trainer (which I was sharing) It was good, but close to her work and a bit far out of the way for me. SO I just located a new PT close to my neighbourhood with a pretty good resume. 1st session this weekend, so I am very excited an we'll see how it goes.

Got a new rubber floor for the home gym as our puppy dog seemed to think the carpet pads were a pee stop

[67fastback]

Started with the new trainer.
First session was an evaluation only.
But started on my fitness pal

very enlightening

fist real test mid week on the first training session.

Cheers

[67fastback]

Short update

Tonight is 1st full workout with my new trainer.

My fitness pal entries have been going well

I've lost a bit of weight since I started. Noted that I am consuming way too much sodium, but have that tweaked already. Now I am trying to up the protein
week 4 of no diet pop

[67fastback]

I find it really interesting that, as I am really actually tracking what I eat in an accurate way, since I first started weight training; all of this time I was likely not getting enough protein!
Add to that I was of course eating too many carbs, sodium, sugar etc.

It's both baffling and enlightening. I know since I did the huge weight loss many years ago, I eat better than 90% of the general public. That being said, I feel very good about zoning in accurately on what I should be eating, and what I should not.

Looking at my sodium intake, in the space of 2 - 3 days I have easily cut my sodium intake in half. I was probably in the neighbourhood of 3000-3500mg per day. I think I'll have that between 1500-2000mg per day on average.

There are a few changes;

Reduce or eliminate;
Processed meats
most cheeses
premade cereals (vector)
most 100calorie snack food packages
instant oatmeal (low sugar)
hot dogs (no bun)
snack sized bags of chips
Less fancy coffees
Diet soft drinks
My current protein powder mix (very high in sodium)
Most protein bars

Added
More water
More eggs
Swiss Cheese (low sodium)
Non processed meats
More tea and home made ice tea
Blue menu + protein granola (lower sodium)
Select gluten free snacks (they seem to be much lower in sodium - but read the label some are not low)
Low sodium protein powder mix

I feel like I've made quite a few big changes in the past month.
Riding my bike to work 2 times a week (I am really starting to overcome the big hill on the way home)
eliminated Diet soft drinks
and now perfecting my diet.

Tonight the first full session with my new trainer (should be brutal)

I am excited to see if all of this takes me to the next level. I feel like I've been fairly flat in my progress over the past 5 years.

Cheers

[67fastback]

So Update; Myfitness pal is going good. I am using it every day and have got my diet very close to where it needs to be.
I am having to supplement with protein shakes to keep the protein intake up where it needs to be while on a calorie deficit.

Right now I am just around 2100 calories which is a deficit for me. I've lost about 4 lbs in 2 weeks.

I feel generally really good, like I am getting in good shape and eating the right fuels, for me. I have a good amount more energy.

Rode my bike to work one day this week. Feels like I am getting faster. My legs had a bit more power, which I credit to the one squat and deadlift workout.

Training has been going okay. I first was working on squat and deadlift. My technique needs a lot of work as does my flexibility.

I've made progress

Next session was working on bench and overhead press. My technique was even worse, but flexibility was a little better.

I won't be lifting anything heavy until I nail this.

So that's my focus. Flexibility and technique. I want to lift heavy but this is exactly why I am going to a trainer, to fix my technique.
It's cool that he is working on exactly what I asked him to.

My previous trainer was very good, but mostly worked on general high tempo strength and conditioning (no barbells)

[67fastback]

Right on track with the weight loss. I am 4+ lbs less after two weeks. I think I am real close on the macros. (1950 cal/day -without exercise)
I just have to make some adjustments to cope with energy highs and lows during the day.
The other problem I have is I am working on a home renovation (doing the work myself) at night and after hours.
I have to manage what I eat to maintain an energy level and also not eat any "bad" foods in a moment of starvation or hunger.

I had that yesterday.
I had a late coffee break at work.
My stomach was having pretty strong hunger pangs.
So I went to Wendy's ordered two jr bacon cheeseburgers, threw the buns in the garbage and ate the meat.
TWO was too much. I felt like crap after finishing the second one, an went way over my calories (+550) by eating both of those.

One would have been fine.

Okay yeah the good things were; I didn't order fries nor diet pop/soda.

I had a few other food hiccups during the week.
Tim hortons bagel (which was worse) at about 500+ calories and not much nutritional benefit
That same day slices of pizza for supper
I had a lot of regular rice one day last week, again a big 480+ caloric intake which makes it tough to make the macros

Other than the few bad things, I have a lot of good choices in there and should have my diet really on track next week.

I am going to step up the work on squats and deadlifts this weekend. It's going to be fairly light but trying to work on all the techniques my trainer showed me, and erase some of my bad habits.

Cheers

[67fastback]

Staying on track diet wise.
I worked out sunday, on flexibility and then strictly on my squat technique.
Feels like training a brand new set of muscles.

At least now I can see where the potential is.

I was using the bar pad, but am finding at least for now that the pad rolls around a little too much. Maybe it worked better, when my back was hunched over and body position was incorrect. Now that I am trying to be straighter, it's not working as good.

[67fastback]

Latest training session

Worked on squats.
My technique practice was successful.

My lifts were all very good, strong and technically correct.

Did some SL Deadlift work

HOWEVER my flexibility sucks badly.
According to my trainer I have the most inflexible hamstrings that he has ever seen LOL
I have work to do.

I did my first box jump, and apparently have some potential we shall see about that!

Today rode my bike to work. I feel good, diet is going good, I have a decent amount of energy and am still slowly losing weight.

So overall I am pretty stoked that I found a trainer that will work with me on developing the big 3 exercises. I liked how I felt on the squats this week.

[67fastback]

I definitely brought my self back to reality last night!

My trainer had a great suggestion; For me to video myself with my cell phone in order to track my lifting techniques and watch for mistakes.

Okay that part of the plan was great.

BUT watching myself in the video... yeech! I realize that I have a long f*&%ing way to go! The mirror might lie, but the camera doesn't.

S#!t ! Oh well, it can only get better.

I've done some good things, in getting a new trainer and tracking my diet 200% better. Holy crap I have to add a lot more muscle mass to shape my body the way I'd like to!
I also have to get a number of pounds lighter to trim off the lingering body fat. Maybe 10-15 lbs of body fat still.

The positive; in seeing how crappy I look on video, I have a new motivation level for working hard. I hope that I can use it as a tool to help me move forward and work harder on my lifts.

Okay back to the protein intake- I've been way too low for too long. I'm going to pay strict attention to that from now on.

Good wake up call, and back to reality.

Diet wise I am finally tweaking things "close" to where I need to. I have the protein up to the 1 to 1 ratio, and higher finally. It means that I had to drop a helluva lot of other foods. The good ting, is that it's grocery day, and I can have a good plan for another clean up tweak for the upcoming week. I buy all my food or most of it, for work the following week) tonight. What I shop for, is what I eat at work. I'm on a mission now, with my diet and macros!

In anticipation of big changes to come, I took a few videos of my bench and weighted chin techniques. Maybe I'll do a before and after LOL anticipating a positive change.

Workout (after work tonight)

Chins/ Bench

Warmup

20/BW chins 10 Barbell BP 105

10/weighted chins +8kg 20 BP 105

5/weighted chins + 12 kg - 10 BP 125

Working set

5 x 5 weighted chins + 20 kg - 5 x 5 BP 145

[67fastback]

Yesterday was an off day, for exercise.
Taking it easy didn't happen. I worked all day on our "little" home reno. (8 am - 8 pm)

The good thing, was that I managed my diet and macros really well. I think I am being very careful with the foods that can quickly put me off track.

My wife bought me Mc'd-s lat last night, but since I have stopped drinking diet coke, did not know what to buy me to drink. She bought me a Frappe
A week and a half ago, I had a Timmies Ice Capp. which bumped me 220+ calories
The Mcd-s frappe is 320 calories.
Well I had to kindly not drink it without offending her. I was successful

The burger (without eating the bun) was a good amount of calories, however I was way under for the day.
The side Caesar salad and not very much dressing was good fit in the macros. The side effect of the burger; my sodium was very high for the day.

I'm glad I behaved all day long with my diet. Traditionally the weekends tend to have some "treats" here or there especially if I go out with my wife.

All in all a good Saturday.

[67fastback]

Sunday's workout got messed up. Family dropped in from out of town 5 hours earlier than expected.

All that I did was work on hamstring stretching.

We went out for a restaurant lunch, and I was pretty anal. I looked up the nutritional details online before we left. That way I could pick what I wanted, and keep my macros on track. Bacon and eggs, didn't order toast and had about a 1/4 of the hashbrowns, tea to drink. 476 calories.

I flipped a coin, swim workout or gym tonight.

Swimming won. It was a struggle. Shoulders were freaking tight and had a lot of soreness. I massaged and stretched them every single interval. By the end of the practice I was swimming pretty fast.

Despite being sore and stiff from weight training, I actually feel very fast, now that the pounds are coming off. My cardio is coming along good with the help of the bike riding to work. I plan on riding at least 2 days this week, to and from work.

Cheers