XFatMan’s Dan Alexander Peaking Program

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(colby2152 @ Jan. 22 2008,11:47)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">Well then, could you please post your conclusions/results from chromium supplementation in my Optimizing Your Caloric Intake thread when you are done?
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Sure. I will then also write up on Guaraná for fat loss.
 
Wednesday, January 23, 2008

Today was a cardio-only day. Since I was traveling until the early afternoon, I was able to do only the afternoon cardio for an hour. Tomorrow I’ll get back to lifting, yahoo!
 
Thursday, January 24, 2008

This was the same workout, including weights, I did on Monday. Strange, but today the weights seemed a little heavier for the Flat Bench Barbell Press but lighter for the Barbell Squat.

Flat Bench Barbell Press
8 sets / 6 reps / 58% of 1 RM

Barbell Squat
8 sets / 5 reps / 58% of 1 RM
 
I’m actually relying on calculations. According to that, my 1 RM for the bench press is 174 lbs. / 76 Kg. Due to a calf injury, I must assume a 1 RM of 120 lbs. / 52 Kg for the squat. I have already squatted over 90 Kg / 200 lbs, but that was before my injury. The deadlift is similar. I have already deadlifted over 130 Kg / 298 lbs, but as I said, that was before my injury.
 
Friday, January 25, 2008

What I did was the same workout from Tuesday.

Barbell Overhead Press
8 sets / 6 reps / 58% of 1 RM

Barbell Deadlift
8 sets / 5 reps / 58% of 1 RM

Yesterday morning, I walked for an hour, but in the afternoon, I could only do 30 minutes as it started raining.
 
Saturday, January 26, 2008

I did my one-hour walk and decided to add sprint intervals to my cardio program from Monday on. It’s nothing really elaborate. I’ll start with one 20-second sprint followed by 40 seconds jogging. Then I’ll add another interval per week. I think that should help to get rid of some fat and boredom.
 
You'll start to notice a big difference when you start adding more sprint intervals to your training. Stay consistent and you will be rewarded. Keep up the good work.
 
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(BAX67 @ Jan. 26 2008,11:18)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">You'll start to notice a big difference when you start adding more sprint intervals to your training. Stay consistent and you will be rewarded. Keep up the good work.</div>
That was my idea. But say, do you have any personal experience with this? Would be great to hear about as it's an additional motivator.

Sunday, January 27, 2008

So then let’s have a look at my measurements.

Neck 15.7 in. (-0.2 in.)
Waist 34.0 in. (-0.4 in.)
Thigh 22.6 in. (-0.2 in.)
Body Weight 172.2 lbs. (-0.7 lbs)
Body Fat Percentage 21.0% (-0.1%)

There wasn’t a big change in body fat percentage. I’m not worried about that because the values from the last two days indicate a good amount of fat loss. The lowest reading, taken today, was at 20.4%, but the average of this week is still 21.0%.

As I stated at the beginning of this week, I am taking 200 mcg of chromium per day to aid fat loss. I read in one article that fat loss wouldn’t start until the fifth consecutive day of taking this mineral. That seems to be true because I have experienced a good drop in body fat percentage on the past two days, going from 21.3% measured on Friday down to 20.9% on Saturday and from 20.9% down to 20.4% this Sunday. Perhaps it’s just initial loss, but I don’t really care as long as I lose body fat.
 
I'm using chromium quelate a.k.a. chromium nicotinate as it is superior to chromium picolinate for carbohydrate metabolism and consequently fat loss. You can read a brief comparison here.
 
Monday, January 28, 2008

Today I came into the gym and the first thing I had to do was to spot the owner. Not that I don’t like to help, but it’s like he puts on twice the weight he can handle and doesn’t stop until he gets ten reps. The point is that nine of the ten reps were mine. Oh Lord, how do I deserve this? He really should invest some time to study what he’s doing. Sure enough, my bench press felt very heavy. But let me stop ranting. It wasn’t that bad anyway since I was in and out in 45 minutes.

Flat Bench Barbell Press
8 sets / 6 reps / 60% of 1 RM

Barbell Squat
8 sets / 5 reps / 60% of 1 RM

I also started with a sprint interval today. Ooh, somehow, saying is much easier than doing. Boy, can those 20 seconds be exhausting! And 40 seconds jogging right after that isn’t that easy, either. But I liked it and will do this from now on – not just because it could mean more fat loss. It’s more because I think I really need to do something about my bad, bad condition.
 
Next time don't lift it for him until it's in danger of dropping. That's a proper spot anyway; you're not supposed to be the one doing the work. After a rep or two of failures he should give it up.
I'm with ya on the cardio: it kills me, partly due to the oldtimer pacemaker I have, but mostly because I don't do cardio much at all, tho I should.
 
When I did sprint intervals, I started with a 2 minute light jog and increased my pace on the treadmill every minute for 5 minutes. The final minute was an all out sprint, then back down to light jog for 2 minutes. Repeat. When I started out I couldn't do the whole minute sprint, just keep trying to add a little more time each session. The whole session lasted 30 minutes. I didn't calculate my bodyfat %, but just measured the fat next to my bellybutton with calipers. With clean diet, in 7 weeks fat went from 26mm to 10mm.
 
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(BAX67 @ Jan. 28 2008,16:31)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">When I did sprint intervals, I started with a 2 minute light jog and increased my pace on the treadmill every minute for 5 minutes. The final minute was an all out sprint, then back down to light jog for 2 minutes. Repeat. When I started out I couldn't do the whole minute sprint, just keep trying to add a little more time each session. The whole session lasted 30 minutes. I didn't calculate my bodyfat %, but just measured the fat next to my bellybutton with calipers. With clean diet, in 7 weeks fat went from 26mm to 10mm.</div>
I'm sure I'll get there. I just need to build up my general condition.

In the afternoon, I skipped rope for 20 minutes (20 x 30 seconds, 30-second rest intervals) because it was rainy. I managed to go over 140 rpm most of the time, which is a tremendous intensity. If only I could skip rope more often! But I usually get pains in my calves. That must have something to do with my technique.
 
XFatMan,

Do you get burning sensations in your calves? That is a normal feeling because you are working your calves out a lot during jump ropes.

-Colby
 
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(colby2152 @ Jan. 28 2008,17:20)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">XFatMan,

Do you get burning sensations in your calves? That is a normal feeling because you are working your calves out a lot during jump ropes.

-Colby</div>
No, I'm positive that the pain does not come from lactic acid build-up. It seems to come from the muscle and / or tendons.

Tuesday, January 29, 2008

Today, I just worked with weights. The pain in my calf is considerable and rope jumping wasn’t possible. Later, when the rain stops, I go for a walk and sprint.

Barbell Overhead Press
8 sets / 6 reps / 60% of 1 RM

Barbell Deadlift
8 sets / 5 reps / 60% of 1 RM
 
X: I found that early in my dance skating &quot;career&quot; I got a lot of pain in my achilles tendons and calves, what with them being shorter than they needed to be for the repetitive moves with extended ROM I was using. Simply standing with toes on a brick step and letting the heels hang down, BW pushing down and stretching the tendons did the trick. Every day for about a minute or two for about a month. Huge difference. Wearing sneakers gives the toes the grip needed to let you relax and just hang there. The edge of the step should be about under the ball of the foot.
 
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(quadancer @ Jan. 29 2008,06:16)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">X: I found that early in my dance skating &quot;career&quot; I got a lot of pain in my achilles tendons and calves, what with them being shorter than they needed to be for the repetitive moves with extended ROM I was using. Simply standing with toes on a brick step and letting the heels hang down, BW pushing down and stretching the tendons did the trick. Every day for about a minute or two for about a month. Huge difference. Wearing sneakers gives the toes the grip needed to let you relax and just hang there. The edge of the step should be about under the ball of the foot.</div>
Wow! People's backgrounds here are really impressive. But of course, quadancer, that makes absolutely sense to me. I'll be on it from today on. Cool tip, thanks.
 
Wednesday, January 30, 2008

Yesterday afternoon, it was raining, so I went to jump rope again. This time, I hurt my other calf. And it hurts so much that walking is difficult. Looking at my spreadsheets, I can see that I’ve been doing cardio without any break since September 2007. Hmm, I don't like the idea, but I probably should give cardio a break for some days. What do you think about that?
 
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