Archive for January, 2009

Various replicas of bodyfat

Well, the book photo shoot was postponed until February 14, 2009 after my photographer had to leave the country for a couple of weeks at the last minute. Just spent about a week just doing joint mobility and yoga posture practice to clean the slate from my Book Photography Cycle. Preliminary results from that cycle show about 7 lbs of fat loss. Lean mass up about 2 lbs, while I lost .5 inches on my waist and picked up .75 inches in both my chest and shoulder measurements. Very happy with my muscle gain. I think I could have done better in the fat loss category over this period, but my nutrition was not as tight as it could have been. That was certainly my fault. Damn pizza and beer!

So now I’m going to take advantage of the extra three weeks to really tighten up my nutrition and initiate the Fat Loss Cycle from the Bodyweight Exercise Revolution program put out recently by CST Head Coaches Ryan Murdock and Adam Steer, with the ambitious goal of losing another 7-10 pounds of bodyfat. I’ll keep ya’ll updated!

Cycle Dates: January 26, 2009 thru February 18, 2009

Cycle Goals: Losing about 10 pounds of fat, leaving my bodyweight between 165-170 lbs with a bodyfat percentage around 10-12%.

Specifics: I will be working the Fat Loss Cycle as described in the Bodyweight Exercise Revolution program.

I will continue with the Intermittent Fasting a couple days a week, but will now be really working hard to maintain as many of the 16 Steps on Scott Sonnon’s Flat Tummy Diet as make sense to me. Most of them are fairly intuitive to me as it is. However, roughly a quarter of them will prove difficult. Numbers 2, 3, 6, 12, and 13 are the steps in question. 2 only because I will be fasting intermittently, which will get in the way of the 3 meals a day step. 3 because I often end up eating around 7 or 7:30, which isn’t too far beyond the suggested 7 pm. There’s no doubt beer and wine (and cheese) are my major weaknesses when it comes to caloric consumption, and I really don’t plan to quit beer and wine altogether (step 6), though a serious cutback will be in effect. 12 and 13 sort of go hand in hand, so I’m hoping to get better at slowing down and chewing my food more thoroughly. I’ll let ya’ll know how it goes!

• Afternoon Mixed-Mode Posture Practice - 1400 - 1435
  • Neck Mobilities
  • Level 1 Dance of Shiva Cycle
  • Horizontal Arm Combinations
  • Vertical Arm Combinations
  • Leg Patterns
  • Tadasana Hold
  • Folding Mountain Vinyasas > Chair Hold
  • Folding Chair Vinyasas > Prayer Twist > Standing Forward Bend Hold
  • Praying Dog Vinyasas
  • Seated Side Bends
  • Seated Twists
  • Dandasana Hold
  • Seated Forward Bend Hold
  • Handstand Work
  • Table-Top Work
  • Supine Twists
  • Dead Bug
  • Savasana

  Notes: Did some handstand work today for about 10 minutes. Had a few really solid 10-second holds. I’m able to stabilize the posture working back and forth on my palms so that feels good. Still not as consistent as I’d like to be, but certainly showing improvement. Overall RP-TED - 9,3.5,1.5

• Afternoon Mixed-Mode Posture Practice - 1250 - 1330
  • Praying Dog Vinyasas
  • Tadasana Hold
  • Folding Mountain Vinyasas > Chair Hold
  • Folding Chair Vinyasas > Standing Forward Bend Hold
  • Praying Dog Vinyasas
  • Modified Flock of Pigeons flow (with some great Warrior/Lunge work)
  • Forest flow
  • Diving Dolphin flow
  • Spider Monkey flow
  • Cat-Cow Vinyasas
  • Tumbleweed flow
  • Seated Twists
  • Seated Forward Bends
  • Table-Top Work
  • Fish Hold
  • Supine Twists
  • Dead Bug
  • Savasana

  Notes: Did a bit of myofascial release along the deep front line this morning, which combined with this posture practice (heavy in Prasara Mode) has been fantastic for relieving the strain in my shoulder. Savasana is a fantastic tool for detecting imbalances in tension. You know that any differences in tension from side to side after a posture practice like this are deep indeed. I noticed my left shoulder feeling much more like my right this time around. I decided to forgo the high intensity day in this round, so I could clean my slate this weekend in preparation for the last round in this cycle next week. Overall RP-TED - 9,3.5,1.5

• Medium-Intensity Bodyweight Strength Training - 1100-1140
  • DJM Warmup
  • Warming Superset x1
  • Handstand Pushups with Feet on Chair - 10 reps
  • Screwing Pushups - 10 reps
  • Assisted Pullups - 10 reps
  • Accentuated Negatives Superset x3
  • Wall-Supported Handstand Pushup Negatives - 3 reps
  • Modified Planche Pushups - 5 reps
  • Unassisted Pullups - 5 reps
  • 15 lbs Clubbell Superset x2
  • Front Pendulums - 10 reps
  • Arm Casts - 10 reps
  • 15 lbs Clubbell Swipes - 10 reps
  • Compensatory Yoga
  • Tadasana Hold
  • Triangle Sequence
  • Upright Triangle Work
  • Wide-Legged Forward Bend
  • Left Triangle
  • Left Extended Side Angle
  • Left Revolving Triangle
  • Wide-Legged Forward Bend
  • Right Triangle
  • Right Extended Side Angle
  • Right Revolving Triangle
  • Praying Dog Vinyasas
  • Dandasana Work
  • Table-Top Work
  • Savasana (with some good Squeezebox Breathing)

Notes: I am now reading Anatomy Trains, which is a fantastic book. I believe the strain I am feeling in my left shoulder is due to some imbalances in my arm lines, specifically the deep front arm line (pec minor and lat) along with some undue tension in my levator scapulae. Table-Top work has been really great for revlieving tension in my pectoralis minor. Overall RP-TED - 7.5,6,2.5

• Afternoon Mixed-Mode Posture Practice - 1700 - 1740