Striking at 6% - Fastback finally GETS IT!

[67fastback]

The goal: Get to a 6% BF baseline, and see what that looks like.

When I started in late summer, this year, I was 19-21% BF.

When I did my first BF test at only 4 ½ weeks in to my trainer’s regime, and diet, I had dropped to 14.5% BF. Considering that I only dropped about 6 lbs, at the time, I was a little surprised. The mirror did show some promise, though.

Where am I now? I am 12.8 lbs, lighter than where I started from. My shirts are getting tighter, and my waist is getting smaller. I am starting to get pretty veiny everywhere. But the abs are taking their sweet time, showing the ripped look that I am going for.

So I asked my trainer the question… “What about the old adage, that it is not possible to grow bigger muscles, and lose weight at the same time?” His answer; “You’re doing it.”

I was supposed to get a body scan done last Thursday. That didn’t happen, so I am hoping to do that this Tuesday. If it’s done, there will be a set of body measurements done at the same time.

I think that I am around 12% BF, and hoping for better. My trainer thinks that I am under 10%. I’ll post the results.

So what has changed? Finally understanding diet. Finally using all that discipline, and applying that to the knowledge, I have gained, and using it in the grocery store, and when I open the fridge door!

Do I use protein powder, shakes, sups, vitamins, etc? Nope, at least, not right now.

As with the eating habits, gym workouts, have really changed a lot. More on this later.
Suffice to say, I really look forward to going the gym, now.

I can`t promise daily updates, but I will update!

[67fastback]

Well it was a few days late, getting to the body scan and interesting. Sliding the scanner slightly to the side, on the tummy, changed the readings a bit. So we chose, to compare apples to appls and try and use the same position as the first scan.

Weight is minus 8 lbs, at 172, tonight, from the previous scan date.

Arms 13.5 up to 14.2 and they do feel bigger. Calfs, and quads were the same

Waist was down about 1" and Chest was bigger by two inches 42 up to 44

So I shifted things around.

Body fat reading came down about 1% to 13.6%

I thought it would be a larger drop, but overall the numbers are going in the right direction.

I have tweaked the diet quite a bit, over the past two weeks, and may make a few more adjustments.
I exercise at late night, so late night meals and snacks, are still a bit of an issue. Not as bad as before, but not perfect.

My trainer recommended that I look at an adjustment to the exercise routines slightly, so I will try and incorporate that too.

[67fastback]

So what does my diet look like?

Breakfast, typically; 6:30am
1 or two types of meat protein (I am not an egg lover) consists of; low salt bacon or sausage, chicken breast, turkey breast.
Coffee/cappuccino/light latte/black tea, skim milk and a fruit of some type.

Lunch bucket; (for coffee break and lunch each work day)
2 meat proteins, 2 vegetable selections, two fruit selections, cheese, and two small squares of dark chocolate.

Post work; 4:45pm
Skim milk, organic nuts/almonds, sometimes a protein bar, if I have them kicking around.

Dinner;
Meat/fish, salad, veg
+sometimes a square of dark chocolate for dessert

Late night (my Achilles heel)
Usually I am pretty hungry, after swimming, or late night gym workouts
Nuts/almonds/trail mix protein bar skim milk/green tea/wine/light beer

I don’t measure any caloric count of anything, and am encouraged to eat as much meat protein as I like. As much veg as I like. Fruit is restricted to certain time of the day (until lunch-ish) All my food has to be very low or no sodium (which is difficult) and low/no carb (I find this a little easier now)

What has changed, from before?
No bread, cereal, pasta, wheat (with the exception of steel cut oats) So no sandwiches. No sodium foods (which eliminates almost all processed meats) no baked potatoes etc, only specific vegetables. Even though I am not allowed to eat protein bars (too high in carbs), I sneak some in. No fruit juices, blended drinks, protein shakes. No candy (another blow to my sweet tooth.)

I don’t go out for lunch at all, during work any more
Funny thing, I am getting used to eating this way. For the most part, I like it now.

I miss the candy isle at the store, the most. Pizza, and doughnuts.
The hardest thing, is when I leave my trainer's gym, I walk by a bakery which is baking bread for the next day. That's tough. The freshly baking bread smells amazing
Then I walk past a Starbucks, and I would love to fuel up with a rich bevarage, and cake or pastry!

[67fastback]

I have to admit, that I'm kind of getting tired of this cold/flu that's been lingering for the past two weeks. It's definitely put a halt to my cardio, specifically swimming. I don't want to be leaving the warm humid pool, fatigued and go outside into the cold. It's a bad combination for setting up a lung infection.

Back to the gym, this morning, for a very intense set of arm work, capped off with some abs. About mid day the flu kicked me in the @ss again, so I pretty much napped all day. Usually Sunday night is a swim night, but I cleaned the home renovation mess, from the home gym and hit the arms and chest hard again.

Tonight is making lunch night, for the work week. I have some celery and mandarin oranges, so those are going to be the highlights for the lunch week.

Oh yeah, I bought eggs on grocery night (friday.) I forced myself to have some for breakfast Saturday morning. And yes I still HATE eggs. That being said, I am going to eat eggs for some of the breakfasts, this coming week. Yippee!

I decided since I cannot do much intense cardio, until this cold is done with, I am going to add some extra home gym work, in it's place. Noting that the body fat percentage, is not coming down as fast as I'd like, I am going to hit the chest, upper abs and arms very hard. The object is to proportionally increase their size, hopefully making the lower abs look better.

Maybe with the eggs and a slight increase in the protien intake, I can feed the muscles, and grow in the right places!

[67fastback]

Yesterday;

Breakfast: Ham, skinny latte, skim milk, banana
Coffee break; Tea, hot dog (meat only) cucumber, carrots, grapes, dark chocolate square

Lunch: Tea, diet coke, chicken breast pieces, cheese, celery, dark chocolate square

Snack: Nuts (trail mix)

Dinner: Steak/onions, salad

Late snack; Nuts (trail mix), 2- low salt peperoni sticks


My cold is still hanging in there, so I skipped the swim workout, and used the home gym.

Warm-up DB Flyes 10/25#

SS #1; 3x (no rest between sets or exercises)
Chest; DB Flyes 15/35,35,40#, Wide-grip bench push-up, with feet on the fitness ball.

45 seconds rest

SS #2; 3x (no rest between sets)
Abdominals; 20/Ab-pike immediately followed by 15/Flat Bench Pull-in, 15/Narrow grip bench push up with feet on inverted bosu ball

1:0 rest

Last set; 3x
Bicep –inverted pyramid (:45 rest between pyramids)
DB curls; 10/30, 15/25, 20/20, 15/25, 10/30

Ab-pike = similar to combining the "Flat Bench Leg Pull-In" and the "Bent-Knee Hip Raise" except the legs extend straight fully when the hips are thrust off the bench, then reverse all the movements, to bring yourself back to the starting position

----
Tonight I am hoping to drag my older son to my training session. He's quite a diligent weight lifter, but these are very different workouts, so we'll see how he does.

I took my younger son a couple weeks ago, he had a tough time, considering he had all that army fitness training.

[67fastback]

The diet is staying clean. One weird thing, for me, is I am starting to have a craving for red meat. I never used to eat red meat. Fish, chicken, etc. I think maybe that is filling in for the carb/bread/sugar void. It was raining yesterday, and coldish outside. It didn’t stop me from firing up the bbq outside, though. It took a little longer to cook… but the tummy was happy!
I was still fighting the cold I have, yesterday. Kept the workout short. Tried the spider curls. I love them, they really hit the biceps!
SS #1 (3x) no rest between sets
Spider curls incline bench, 15/15# DB
Wide grip bench stability pushups 10/bw feet on fitness ball
DB Bench flyes 15/35#,30#,30#
SS #2 (3x) 60 seconds rest between sets
DB Spider curls incl. bench. Reverse pyramid (no rest) 10/25#, 15/20#, 20/15#, 15/20#, 10/25#

Tonight with the trainer was legs. My legs are definitely lagging behind the rest of my body. Time for more leg work.
Warm up
SS #1 3x (no rest between sets)
Alternating lunges for 1 min
Jump squats for 1 min
:30 rest
SS #2 4X (15 seconds rest between sets)
Weighted lunges w/ bicep curl 30/15# DB
Leg press 20/225#,180#,180#,180#
Deadlift 20/90# (on bar) fast
Squat w/ DB press 20/15# DB
SS#3 Abs 3x (no rest between sets)
Ab Ball Crunch 20/bw –upper abs
Gravity Machine Ab Pull ins, off toes –lower abs 20/bw

I had a compliment from someone today, asking me if I was going in a natural bodybuilding competition?
Honestly, I look at myself in the mirror, and I am a LONG WAY from doing anything like that. It was simply a comment by a not so well informed member of the public. It does mean I am making positive changes, I suppose. I’ve had a few comments like that. I am not seeing huge changes in the mirror. More changes in how my clothing fits. Jeans are all getting too loose at the waist and shirts are getting tighter in the arms and chest ;-)
My nice expensive fall dress jacket doesn’t fit on the shoulders and chest anymore, thanks to my trainer!

[67fastback]

It was finally a day, where I felt like the cold, is on it's way out. My stomach was twisted inside out, but I am feeling better.

I spent a little time after work, refining the spiderman curls, in my home gym. I "think" that I'm getting it.

Tonight is typically a swim night, so I haven't been in the water for about 2.5 weeks, and it was nice to finally get a workout in. I didn't want to go crazy, and I could feel the layoff. Kept it around 2 KM for the 30 minutes with a little bit of intensity, on a few 200's, and a few sprints. Feels real good to get some cardio in. Yahoo!

Got home and did a few more SM curls, just to finish things off

[67fastback]

Keeping my fingers crossed, it "feels like" my on-again/ off-again cold, is on it's way out. I had a lot of energy at during my training tonight, and I found it quite easy.
There is a catch 22, with that, because often at the tail end of a cold or flu, just when I start feeling good again, I go to the gym or jump in the pool and overdo it, promptly injuring myself.
So I held back, and didn't tell the trainer that it was too easy

Next week, it's ramp-it-up time.

[.pumpingiron]

Good journal bro! I'll be following along

[67fastback]

Good journal bro! I'll be following along

Thanks a lot!


Friday I felt great, and had a decent Swim workout, did some middle distance, speed drills with lots of rest between intervals, about 1500m total in the 30 minutes, I was there


The on again - off again cold, is still with me, unfortunately, and was on again overnight and this morning. Sheesh
Still I forced the leg workout session, with a lot of what my trainer had suggested this morning.

SS # 1 Legs 3X (no rest between sets)
Leg plate press 15/180
Calf extension 20/180
Quad extension 15/110
Lunges 15 twice w/ 15#DBs bicep curls

Rest set
4/10 Good Mornings - Light weight watching for back straightness and getting my butt out. By hamstring flexibility is not great, and I have to watch my shoulders. I tend to roll them forward curving my back. I have to concentrte on getting my shoulders back and up, and my butt out.

SS #2 Arms 6X (no rest between sets)
Spiderman curls 25#DBs 15, 9, 10 22.5 DBs 10, 9, 10
Bench dips BW 20, 20, 20, 15, 15, 20

Finish
Ab rollouts 10 Straight, 10 Dogleg 10 St. (rest) 10St. 10St. 10St.

Took me about 45 minutes (I think)

[67fastback]

On the road again.
FINALLY this lingering 4+ week old cold/flu seems to be under control and going away.
I’ve been on antibiotics for a week. It’s a necessary evil. I did have a minor lung infection, and with my asthma, the docs like me to get that under control, right away and not let it fester.
Tuesday night was a little too intense, and my lungs were irritated after the workout. I took Wednesday off and only did a bit of minor arm work
Yesterday was better. I did more of a slower paced, lighter workout. Focusing on arms. I hit the bi’s pretty hard, had a good tri workout and went light on the shoulders.
Bi’s hurt good today (hurt to the touch) Tri’s not so much.
So the plan is; If I feel good tonight, hit the pool for a light swim workout.
Tonight or tomorrow, re-hit the tri’s good, and go heavy on the shoulders.

[generetired]

Just dropped in. Good info on your diet approach and workout. Get well soon and good luck with your ongoing transformation.

[67fastback]

Just dropped in. Good info on your diet approach and workout. Get well soon and good luck with your ongoing transformation.

Thanks

Truth be told I feel like a million bucks, now. No, I am not over this,yet, but the energy is coming back, finally.

---
Yesterday am. I hit the gym, for what mainly was a tri's and shoulder workout. I introduced a few chest exercises, with the plan of hitting the chest real hard on Tuesday.
Gym workout was about an hour or so, with 4-5 groups of supersets, with a little longer rest than normal.

Tonight was a swim night. I felt fantastic, however being on the tail end of such a long cold flu, I kept the swim aerobic, and didn't push the envelope.
I am trying to keep cool (not too high intensity), for about 2 weeks, before I ramp things up, again.
Swim was about 2.5km/ 45 min. with decent interval rest. Lungs felt very good, clear, and not irritated. No gunk coming out, but a little bit dryish. Good reminder to just take it easy

Getting my diet cleaned up and back ontrack too. I am quickly cutting the carbs back down, and adding more protien again, now that the stomach is feeling more normal

Cheers.

[RickardJ]

Nice journal and great work!

[67fastback]

Nice journal and great work!

Thanks kindly, good luck with your goals.

--------------------------

Tonight was a decent gym night. Still keeping the work load measured, for now.

Workout consisted of four supersets over about 45 min to an hour, with a re-hit of the chest, and shoulders. Touched the tris and lats again, and did a bit of solid back work.
Oh yeah, I killed the abs again, too.
Rest was about 1 - 2 minutes between supersets.

I seem to be able to sustain a good amount of work-load on the triceps, with quick recovery between workouts.
Chest seems to be hard to hit properly, for me, and legs are still a weak point. By Sunday, I expect to be working hard on the legs.

[67fastback]

Wednesday was a swim day.
I forced myself to take it easy, but I was actually quite a bit faster than Monday, and the nice thing, was my breathing, was much easier. My triceps were noticable, from Monday's gym workout, but it didn't decrease my power, much.
Nice feeling. I finished off my 2.5 km, in just under 40 minutes.

Thursday was training day. We kept the workout a little less intense, but still hard, which I liked. Worked on my dead lift form and bench form, so I have some homework at the gym, next time.

Feeling good, but I am going to still stay low-key for about another 1 1/2 weeks or so.

[67fastback]

The up and down winter flu symptoms continue to harrass me, so it's a balancing act.
Skipped swimming Friday, and skipped gym Sunday morning.
Sunday night, I did go for a light swim workout. 1.5km long rests between intervals
My asthma was bad, so a challenging one, but I forced it through

Felt a little better Monday night but skipped swimming again.
Tonight I felt really lazy and lethargic, but forced myself to go to the gym.
Once I got into it, I felt a little better, and a lot better afterwards.

I upped the weights and lowered the reps, but still got a decent workout. I initially planned legs and a bit of chest, but ended up mainly legs

SS 1 3x
Leg plate press 10/225 270 270
Calf press 15/225 270 270
Narrow grip bench pushup 15/BW

SS 2 3x
Quad extension 10/180
Single alt ham curl 10/45 15/35 20/35
Lunges w/spiderman curl 15/DBs 30

SS 3 3x
Good mornings (watch back position - neutral spine - my technique needs work) 10/90
WG BB push up 20/BW
Narrow Gr, BB Push thru (triceps) 15/BW

5 min high tempo cycle - warmdown

[67fastback]

D@mn I was feeling lazy and it was a real challenge to get my @ss in gear again BUT I forced it. Asthma was better, but not great, either.

Went to the pool tonight, with the idea, that I was going to do easy meterage. Not work too hard, just cruise the distance.

Unfortunately (or fortunately) there was someone a couple lanes over who was also a very good swimmer. Well of course, I can't just take it easy, can I?

I ended up cranking out some pretty fast 400m sets.
It feels good afterwards, and I have managed to stay awayfrom the carbs, now that I am at home

Total was 2500m in 40 minutes

Cheers

[67fastback]

Last night's workout (w/trainer) was good, and heavy, which I like, but I ended up tweaking my low back/hip/right side. Probably set this up with the good mornings, a couple nights ago.
Laying low today, but the back is feeling a little better. Probably try and do more isolation exercises this weekend. Skip the swimming tonight, and try and hit it Sunday night

[67fastback]

Despite the sore back, I went to the gym, with the idea of doing more isolation exercises. The back actually felt pretty good and was loosening up after a few exercises. All in all a good workout.

SS #1 3x
Sh (HS machine) Press 15/50 15/70 15/70
BP (HS) 15/70 10/90 10/90
Curl (HS) 15/55, 65, 65

SS #2 3x
Leg Plate press 12/180, 205, 205
Calf press 20/180, 205 205
Quad ext. 12/180
Narrow gr. bench pushup 15/bw

SS #3 3x
Ham Curl Alt 10/35
OH Row (HS) 10/140
Back Row (HS) 10/140

BB Curl reverse pyramid 10/50 15/40 20/30 15/40 10/50

SS #4 $ 3x
Chest press (HS) 10/90
Tri Dip 15/135
Abs Cr. Machine 10/right/left center /35#

SS #5 3x
Incline spiderman curls 10/22.5DBs
Chest press 20/30 DBs
Bench dip 15/bw

SS #6 3x
Cuban press 10/15 DBs
DB Sh raises 10/22.5
Bench pushup 15/bw

5 min cycle - warmdown

[67fastback]

Tonight Swimming

Usually Sunday night swimming, is a take-it-easy on the meterage day, with some power sprints.
Tonight I kept the metereage up there, and cranked out some solid intervals.

400m w-up 5 x 400m /6:00 total 2400m approx 40 min

I was finding that my rpm was down a little, with the tightness due to the am gym workout. That was cutting my arm speed, which is not unusual when my arms/shoulders are tired. What I did find was that my triceps were pretty much tireless. I was able to call on them again and again, without really noting any fatigue, and was able to post some much better set times, than I anticipated. Lots of power.

Based on that fact, I am really going to make certain, that I stress them hard in the gym, to maximize their potential.

All in all a good day!

[67fastback]

Monday was a short home gym workout. Hit the bi's tris, and chest again, just to waste them as much as I could, in 30 minutes.

Tonight was a gym night. I went after my weak areas again, chest, shoulders, legs, and hit some other muscles as well.

Body weight is peeling down quite quickly, as I made some post cold/flu adjustments to bring my diet in line again.

SS 1 3x
Leg plate press 15/205 ++reps
Calf extension 20/205
Quad extension 15/180 ++reps
Bench pushup 15/bw


SS 2 3x
Tricep dip 20/180 ++reps
Hamstring curl 12/35 each ++reps

SS3 3x
Bi Curl 20/70
Sh Press 10/90
Low back row 20/90

SS4 3x
Nautilus raise 10/65
Peck deck 30/100
Delts 10/110

SS5 3x
Swim pulley pulldowns (fly) 20/17.5 /side
Chest press 15/15/ side

5min cycle warmdown

[67fastback]

Diet was good today. A couple carb sins, but not too bad.

Swimming night.

My arms were SORE from the gym last night. First time that I have noticed this much soreness, so I must have done something right.

Anyway tonight ended up being less intense and more aerobic, which was fine. interval times were a little better than expected, which was nice, since I was d@mn achey.

2500m total/40 min

[67fastback]

It was a super-intense workout, last night with my trainer.

I got there early, and did about a 1/2 hour warm up, on the bike and rowing machine, fairly brisk.

The workout was about 40 minutes of hellish legs and chest work. I honestly don't think I would push myself to quite the level of failure, on my own. I was sweating buckets (and I'm not a person that normally sweats a lot)

It was one of those workouts, that felt great, but was so challenging, especially since I already hit my legs, and triceps hard earlier in the week.

Feeling good about last night. Good pain!

on the diet side, I've been keeping things very clean, and can see the weight pounding off on the bathroom scale. I typically only use that as a rough reference, and chart my real weight numbers at the gym, once a week, or so. It will beinteresting to see what those numbers are. I look in the mirror and can see the signs of the body fat getting low again, which is encouraging, after the issues (diet hiatus, weight gain) with the flu. I should be lower than before... keeping my fingers crossed

The other adjustment, which I made, was dropping the organic almonds and nuts, as a snack. I was eating hideous amounts of these, without paying close attention, to stock up on missing carbs and calories. So no buying nuts, for a while (they're expensive anyway)

[67fastback]

So a week of catching up
Swim workout last Friday was interesting. Sore, but fairly quick speeds.

Saturday was an off day.

Sunday morning was a very intense workout, even though I was feeling lazy-ish. Once I got to the gym, I steped it up.
Felt good.

Sunday night was a swim night, again a bit tired, but I worked hard.

Monday was a home project night, no working out, Same with Tuesday

Wednesday was a swim night. I was still quite sore from previousworkouts, but really cranked out some fast times.

Tonight (Thursday) was back to work with my trainer. It was an awesome workout. I learned some technical changes, that I need to make with my rows and bench press. I am excited abou this. I think finally I am on the road to lifting more on the BP

I'm STOKED about trying these new techniques in the gym. I like the changes in the mirror. My chest, has to catch up to my back, now!

Diet wise, I am staying really clean, and the weigth and BFcontinues to come back off. Hopefully I can keep going and stay disciplined during the holiday season.

Cheers

[67fastback]

SS #1 3x (10 seconds between sets)
Leg Plate Press 10/225, 270, 270 ++#
Calf ext. 20/225, 270, 270
Quad ext. 20/180 ++reps
Bench pushup 20/BW

SS #2 3x (10 seconds between sets)
Ham Curl 10/50/side
Tri Dip 20/205 ++#

SS #3 3x (15 seconds between sets)
Single Leg Bench Step Up w/curls 20# DB's 10/side
Chest Press 20/30# DB's (technique)
Ab Pike 20
Ab rock in 20

*Dragon Flags -first time ever! 5 ea.

SS #4 3x (10 seconds between sets)
Spiderman curl 10/25# DB's
Bench Dip 20/BW
Bench Chest Pushup 15/BW

Last Set
Spiderman curl 10/25# DBs, 12/22.5 15/20 20/15

Pleased with a few things, my leg plate press is becoming very solid, Quads were good, Chest work is much better, hitting the pecs in the correct way (finally). And the first time ever, that I have done dragon flags!

Swim workout later tonight

[67fastback]

Monday was a home project day (all night long), so skipped the Swim workout. Same with Tuesday (and the gym workout)

Made up for it Weds night. I felt like a POS, but forced myself into the water. After the warm-up I pummeled out a really hard workout and kept my heart rate up at 170bpm average for the the whole workout.

Woke up SORE and I'll feel that later on today, when I get the energy crash, I certain It will be a good pain/fatigue, though

PT tonight. I better bank some energy.

[67fastback]

Yep, being busy at work and being busy doing all these projects has taken it's energy toll. Add to that, the previous swim workout...

Well my energy was not great. I think that my trainer was a little disappointed, that I was not my usual fired up self.

Yup. I guess I'm in the bad books

[67fastback]

Skipped swimming and went to the gym tonight (duration 30 min.)

SS #1 3x (no rest between sets)
Leg Plate Press 10/270 +#
Calf ext. 20/ 270 +#
Quad ext. 12/200 +#
Narrow grip bench pushup 15/BW

Bicep BB Curl (reverse preacher) -inverted pyramid (10 seconds between sets)
10/50, 15/40, 20/30, 15/40, 10/50

Rope tri Pulldown -inverted pyramid (no rest between sets)
10/50, 15/40, 20/30, 15/40, 10/50

DB Spiderman Curls to failure (incline bench) (no rest between sets)
10/22.5's, 10/22.5, 7/22.5, 7/17.5, 20/15

Arms felt really good, but really beat up after SM curls were a great way to finish them off.

[67fastback]

Back at it. Got up early.
Light breakfast
Low sugar oatmeal, fruit, orange juice, (light) latte

Workout;
Hit the legs again, they were tired, but actually "look" like they are responding

Back at the pecs, with some BB bench and DB's
The weights are ridiculously low, but I am concentrating on squeezing the shoulder blades, tucking the shoulders, back arch, and leg plant, and oh yeah, stretch by getting a deep starting position.

It's going okay. I think it will take a few weeks to really grow the muscles and hit larger #'s with proper form.

Like all guys, I want instant gratification, but feel good about the technique change, so will be patient and do it properly.
Oh yeah, I added more dragon flags, today. They were better, technically, at first.

After the gym, I had an urge for one of those tasty starbucks fraps, but skipped the urge and made myself a nice egg white omlette, when I got home.

----

Yesterday (went shopping with my wife) I was trying on clothes. Interestingly my waist size is still going down. I can fit a size 30 jean, but right now 31 is best for waist, legs and thighs. The jacket size has gone from medium to large! I usually like the fit of a medium jacket, because I have a slimmer waist, but I can't get it to go anymore. They won't fit over my shoulders, nor my lats. And I'm maintaining the same wieght.
So I am really hopeful my next body scan in january, will have some good numbers!