Friday, May 13, 2011

Just a little update

Just wanted to fire off a quick update, since it's been a while. I weighed in at 203.4 today, so I'm on the path to sub-200. I got a couple of personal records this week: 275# front squat and 245# clean and jerk, which is 10 pounds shy of my goal for the year. All the squatting I've been doing has helped a lot, and getting stronger is just fun.

I've also kept up my conditioning by doing short, power-oriented circuits. Here's Monday's workout, to give you a taste:

2 minutes max reps push press, 135# (I got 27)
1 minute rest
2 minutes max reps squat clean, 135# (12)
1 minute rest
2 minutes max reps chest-to-bar pull-ups (21)
1 minute rest
2 minutes max calories on Concept2 rower (32)
1 minute rest
2 minutes max holds L-sit on parallettes (40 seconds)

Pretty tough stuff, but I love it.

Even though my weight hasn't gone down considerably I'm noticing that I'm leaner than I was a month ago. I can see my top 2 abs easily, as well as my ribs on the sides, and my shoulders and arms are more defined. I have veins in my forearms where I didn't before, so everything's headed in the right direction. I've just got to tighten the food/drink reins a bit and dial everything in. I find that I do things in cycles: a period of time being very strict on food and alcohol, and a time where I'm more lax. I figure as long as I don't lose the progress made during the strict phase, and return to being strict relatively quickly, I'll continue to progress toward my goals. Right now I'm being not so strict, but I think next Monday I'll tighten everything up again for a few weeks and see if I can't make a push for sub-200 pounds.