Time to get Shredded: Expos goes to the Caribbean

OK folks. I've just booked a trip to the Caribbean with my GF and a few other friends. This is taking place in 80 days.

You know what this means...it's time to get really fit. I've got a good workout plan in place which consists of lifting 4 days a week and running 5 or 6 days a week. It's sort of based off the workout plan Tobey Maguire used for Spiderman. I've got a 10K coming up in May, so I can't cut back on running.

I plan on posting progress pictures every so often.

Here are day one pics - normal and flexed.





Wish me luck on my journey.

Workout Plan looks like this:

Workout #1 - Shoulders / Back

Abs: Hanging Leg Raise (5x15)
Abs: Woodchop (5x15)
Shoulder Press (3x15)
Seated Shoulder Flys (3x15)
Standing Cable Chest Flys (3x15)
Seated Cable Row (3x15)
Lat Pull Down (3x15)


Workout #2 - Chest / Arms

Abs: Cable Crunch (5x15)
Abs: Ball Pass (5x15)
Free Weight Bench Press (3x15)
Rope Triceps (3x15)
Bicep Curl Bar (3x15)
Seated Tricep Pushdown (3x15)
Bicep Curl Free Weights (3x15)

Schedule
Monday: Workout 1 / Run
Tuesday: Workout 2 / Run
Wednesday: Run
Thursday: Workout 1 / Run
Friday: Workout 2 / Run
Saturday: OFF
Sunday: Long Run

Sounds good. Might be worth considering switching running with lane swimming.

Running wears out your joints and swimming is one of the the most joint friendly forms of exercise there is.

There is more resistance moving through water than air so you have to do more work and you use practically every muscle you have for lane swimming.

imo its easier to burn more fat and increase fitness with swimming than running.

Eternal_water said:

Running wears out your joints

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What wears out your joints is bad, inefficient form and improper footwear. There are still plenty of guys in their 60's-70's who have joined us for track workouts and fun runs and their running mechanics are still good.

I've been running 15-25 miles a week for more than a decade and even had a few periods where I was doing 50-70 miles per week while I was competitive. What kept me injury free was keeping off of hard surfaces, recovery, and finding my mid foot strike, choosing excessive plush shoes for road runs, and going with minimal shoes on the trails to strengthen my feet, ankles, and lower calves.

Day 4

Still sticking with it! Still eating super clean. I'm eating throughout the day and getting headaches from caffeine withdrawal. I'm sore as hell.

Two pics from today (flexed and non flexed). I still need a lot of work.

Thanks Brad, I'm going to continue to post here. That being said, looking at going for a 6 mile run in a few hours then meeting my girl at the gym to take care of lifting for the day after work.

Quick question, should I lift 4 or 5 days per week?

Expos-

A few tips. Eating "clean" usually isn't enough to get lean, you need a multifactorial plan which includes a fairly strict diet. Here's what I'd recommend:

-Unfortunately running as much as you do will preclude any significant muscle growth. Muscle us metabolically active and will indirectly contribute to fat loss, and of course make you look jacked. Maybe cut back running to 2x a week if at all possible.

-Sets of 15 reps are largely useless. Aim for 4-8 heavy reps for most of your work. And again, run less if possible.

-With diet, the simplest way to get lean quickly is to cut carbs. This will lower your caloric intake (which is necessary for significant fat loss) as well as increase your sensitivity to insulin and minimize insulin spikes which will promote fat deposition. I would start at 150 g per day and be STRICT about that for 2 weeks, with a "carb up" night every 5-7 days if needed. Then lower them to 125 g if necessary. There are a million different opinions on this, but this will work if you are strict about it. Stick with 90% whole foods. Lift hard and heavy 3-4 days a week, and run no more than 2x a week if you can. HIIT is better than LISS for fat loss. LISS is ok but personally I do not exceed 2 LISS sessions per week.

- When dieting, you are not going to make any dramatic muscle gains. Most of your work over the next 80 days will go towards fat loss and maintaining what muscle you have, with perhaps some modest newbie gains.

I'll agree on #2, some combo of myofibrillar and sarcoplasmic work is fine. I am biased of course, but I always think building your lifting "pyramid" with a base of 4-8 rep work is a sound strategy.

With #1, I don't agree and here's why:

Expos, while probably in great cardiovascular shape, is NOT lean. Slim, yes, not lean. I would say he is in the 15-17% bodyfat neighborhood. Low muscle mass, moderate subcutaneous fat. I don't say that to be demeaning, just realistic.

The guy has 75-80 days to lean down, which is his goal. This will be accomplished most expediently by 1) hard weight training to stoke his metabolic furnace and possibly gain a pound or two of new muscle, and 2) a strict diet. More carbs are not what he needs. Yes carbs will replenish glycogen and contribute to (transient) sarcoplasimic volume, but that's really meaningless if he doesn't have sufficient muscle mass to imbue with volume. You carb up when you are gaining mass, engaging in prolonged endurance work, or depleted from a diet.

What expos needs to look his best in just over 2.5 months is to lose body FAT. The quickest (not the only way) to do that is to manipulate his diet by restricting carbs so he starts utilizing fat stores for energy rather than stuffing his face with carbs which will just be converted to blood glucose and glycogen; preserving all those fat stores.

You cant serve two masters, and while ultimately he needs to build more muscle mass, this can come after his vacation and his race when he can really hunker down and get into an anabolic mode.

Lots of good advice here. Thanks to Brad and Colussus for chiming in.

Some points:

1. I don't want to be really HUGE. I'm 6-2, and my weight bounces between 162-168 depending how much beer, pizza, cookies, or summer running (dehydration) I do.

I played D-1 football in college (punter, kickoff specialist, placekicker) so I do a have some history of lifting, but most of my workouts where plyometrics, sprints, agility, etc to generate leg speed. I HATED to lift, but did so with minimal results.

I want a body like this:

so what does every suggest I do?

I'm thinking this is a lot of abs, shoulders, arms, chest, back. My legs, especially my quads, have always been decently sized and my calves are fine. Running has kept them vascular and toned.

I don't think I'm that far off from this dudes body, so it's a matter of getting in the gym and staying consistent.

2. In terms of diet. I'm currently drinking two protein shakes per day, eating lots of eggs and chicken breasts, and salads. I also have a big arsenal of walnuts, almonds, and tuna. I'm allowing myself one cheat day a week...which will probably turn into one cheat meal since I don't go out to eat often anyways.

3. Running - I will cut down to 4 days a week.
Monday: Easy run (45 minutes @ 7:20-7:50 pace)
Wednesday: Hills Repeats
Friday: Tempo run (6:00-6:30 pace)
Sunday: Longer Run (8-10 miles)

Remember, I now have 75 days to make the above body happen, so probably lifting 5 days per week will get the job done.

Colossus said:

Expos, while probably in great cardiovascular shape, is NOT lean. Slim, yes, not lean. I would say he is in the 15-17% bodyfat neighborhood. Low muscle mass, moderate subcutaneous fat. I don't say that to be demeaning, just realistic.

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I'd say you are about right. I don't like my body very much right now and I want to improve. The lowest BF% I had was when I was logging big miles in preparation for a marathon and I hit 9% when I they threw me inside the BODPOD as a part of Vo2Max testing.

So taking your suggestions....

1. Lower Carbs considerably, up protein intake.
2. Lift Frequently (heavy, moderately)
3. Some Cardio.

bradd80 said:

If I was with you and could actually get you to do what I say I would turn you into a monster within 30 days, never mind 75. You just need the knowledge and the willpower/discipline to implement that knowledge long term.

Regardless, I think we all agree Expos needs to:

1. cut back on running
2. eat more protein and adopt a cleaner diet
3. include more weightlifting, both compound and isolation exercises and both upper and lower body

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OK - game on.

I've already logged 4 lifting workouts this week - and have logged about 15 miles of running. This is probably enough for the week. I'll try to follow the workouts prescribed.

To be honest if I were you, I wouldn't worry about cutting. You need more muscle mass IMO. But that's just me... I know you said you don't want to be big, but I feel the same and I weigh 180 at 5'9".

Even if you don't want to get bigger, I still think you could benefit from the big 3 compound lifts as others have stated in this thread. I always tell anyone to base a workout routine around squat, bench and deadlift.

Feeling the difference already. My belt feels so much looser since I've cut out so many of the crappy things I used to eat. That small bump around my lower abs looks to be flattening out.

I've picked up some stuff called Casein and some UMP muscle protein after some advice from a friend who does competitive physique. I've been drinking this stuff in the morning, and after workouts, and a smaller portion before bed.

He, like everyone else has stated on this board, says that I need to eat more and not run so damn much. He says that if I need to run, it should be quality/hard intervals and not so much slogging at in the 7:30 pace range.

I'll get a photo posted tonight.

Day 7



I do not feel tired after my workouts, is this normal?

Today's workout:

Abs: Upright Leg Raises (5x15)
Abs: Cable Woodchop (5x15)
Abs: Bench Leg Raises (3x10)
Shoulder Press (3x10)
Cable Rear Delt Fly (3x10)
Side Shoulder Cable Raise (3x10)
Bench Leg Raises Abs (3x10)
Seated Row (3x10)
Lat Pull Down (3x10)

Not sure if I'm working hard enough...

This past Sunday, my running workout was:
2 mile warm up, followed by 5 x 2:00 minutes at 5:56 pace, with the fifth rep at 5:50 pace. The recoveries were all 90 seconds at 8:30 pace.

I've come down with something - sore throat and body aches. So avoided working out today. Hoping to recover and get some gym time tomorrow.

6 miles running today. Sore throat and body aches still but I toughed it out.

Rest of the week:
Thursday: AM: Weights (Arms + Chest), PM: Hill Repeats + 2 mile warm up + 1 mile cool down
Friday: AM: Weights (Shoulders + Back)
Saturday: 12x200 Repeats + 2 mile warm up + 1 mile cool down
Sunday: AM: Weights (Arms + Chest)

My diet is looking something like this:

Breakfast:
1 protein shake with skim milk + banana + peanut butter mixed in
2 egg whites

Lunch:
2 chicken breasts + almonds + carrots + celery + hummus

Mid Afternoon
2 hard boiled egg whites or can of tuna

Dinner:
Large Salad with Chicken or Steak + Redskin Potatoes
Protein Shake

bradd80 said:

Sore throat and body aches are no reason to avoid the gym! Expos get back in there and hit the weights even harder!

To build the perfect body you need to develop an iron will and determination that's as hard as steel. And remember, pain ain't nothin' but weakness leaving the body :box:

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I like that, I'll remember it.

Day 9

Had my cheat meal last night.

http://imgur.com/5k6ixED

Day 15

Fighting off the last remnants of a bad cold/flu. It's going to be tough avoid all the wonderful food my mom and my girlfriend are cooking for me in the next week, but I'll do my best.

http://imgur.com/JhK4VbI

Day 30

Still dealing with some lower ab fat. I need this gone. Diet is still good and I'm sticking with two cheat meals on one cheat day. Very low carb intake. Need more protein, however. Sticking with 4 days of lifting per week (using Bradd80's workouts and 6 days of cardio (only 30 minutes per session)

Normal:

http://imgur.com/5A87SLv

Casual flex!

http://imgur.com/rmI8UW2