My Total Gym Transformation

The verdict is in: I do best, at this point, with a four-day workout cycle. Since the April 17 workout, which came after ten days off, I have improved on everything or all but one exercise every time -- either by adding reps or leveling up. Furthermore, while I always do feel sore the next day, I've been recovering fairly quickly, and feel very much ready for the next time when it comes around. This is a good routine. I'll go again on this Thursday, then use the gym on the ship the following Monday. We'll be in Cozumel on Friday, but we have a noon excursion, so I can probably get another chance that morning. If not, it won't hurt to go instead on Saturday, since we'll be at sea all day. Would rather do Friday, though, so I have Saturday to recover before we have to go schlepping our luggage through airports on Sunday!

I had Dana take some new photos right after lifting today, but I think I'll have her do that again on Thursday, since she only got me from the mid-thigh up, and the before photos from last year are full-length.

Workout Stats:  SetLevelWeightRepsChange Squats620213+1 Hamstring Curls6358level-up Shoulder Press6709level-up +1 Pullups6807level-up Flies68 Curls620213+1 Pullovers6387level-up Dips610710level-up +1

I added reps or leveled up on everything today. It looks like a four-day cycle is a good thing for me. Dana, meanwhile, has been working hard on her book, with a deadline of May 1, so she has not been able to join me. So I have had to be particularly careful about "spotting myself" so as not to go too fast and to make sure to maintain form.

Workout Stats:  SetLevelWeightRepsChange Squats620212+1 Hamstring Curls6308+1 Shoulder Press6658level-up Pullups6757+1 Flies68+1 Curls620212+2 Pullovers6338+1 Dips6979level-up

Just think if I were to keep up a four-day schedule consistently! I'm especially happy to be making some great progress on the upper body stuff. The plan is to go every four days between now and the cruise, which will leave me in the perfect spot to work out twice on the ship -- Monday (5/7), and again on Friday (5/11) -- with no days missed for travel, since it looks like we're going to end up flying to Houston.

Of course, they don't have TotalGyms on the ship. Instead, there's a full range of weight machines, not to mention the expert ad vise of Mr. Slow Burn himself, Fred Hahn. So I do end up hurting in different places, since the machines work on different muscle combinations than the TG.

Workout Stats:  SetLevelWeightRepsChange Squats620211+1 Hamstring Curls6307level-up Shoulder Press6608level-up Pullups6756level-up Flies67+2 Curls620210 Pullovers6337+1 Dips68710+2

Bad, because I went ten days without a workout! But good, because I held steady on most things, leveled up on two, and increased Ham Curls by three!!! I'm really not sure how I managed that, or how I'm going to manage walking tomorrow!

I did drop by one rep on Squats, but I was moving very slowly. I'm trying to do that, rather than increase reps, since I can't add more weight for fear of breaking the new TotalGym like I did the last one.

Workout Stats:  SetLevelWeightRepsChange Squats620210-1 Hamstring Curls62010+3 Shoulder Press6558level-up Pullups6707+1 Flies65-1 Curls620210+1 Pullovers6336 Dips6878level-up

Nothing as spectacular as last time, today, but I held fairly steady and added a bit on Dips.

Workout Stats:  SetLevelWeightRepsChange Squats620211-1 Hamstring Curls6207+1 Shoulder Press6508+1 Pullups6706 Flies66 Curls62029 Pullovers6336 Dips6778level-up

OK, so we were supposed to work out yesterday, but I got on a serious roll working on a project outside (a chicken-wire covered frame to keep the birds from eating my grass seed), and it was after 8 by the time I came in. So we hit the weight room this afternoon. I leveled-up on five exercises this time, and picked up a rep each on two others. I did drop back one on curls, but the damned forearm started hurting again.

But the big news is that I added 20 pounds to Ham Curls, which neither of us has ever done before. It was noticeably harder, but I still managed six slow reps, so there's no going back now! I also upped the weight on Dips to 67 and did eight of them, so we need that to increase just a little again next time. This means I'm using added weight on every exercise except Flies, and I'm still trying to maintain good form with those on level six without any extra weight.

However... Squats. What to do about squats? Dana had the idea of dropping the weight and doing one-legged squats, and that would let me get back down under seven reps, but I worry about the left knee. It only hurts when coming down, but it still means I would probably have to use less weight on the left, and that just sounds like a recipe for lop-sided-ness. So I think I might take an interim day, like this Thursday, to put some weight on the bar and just try a couple reps. That should give me an idea of whether it would work, and if it seems promising, I'll do it that way for the next full workout.

Workout Stats:  SetLevelWeightRepsChange Squats620212+1 Hamstring Curls6206level-up Shoulder Press6507level-up Pullups6706level-up Flies66+1 Curls62029-1 Pullovers6336level-up Dips6678level-up

Leveled up on four exercises, and increased reps on three of the others! I'm pleased that I'm getting back to where I think I was on the Shoulder Press, but really pleased to have added weight on the Pullovers! That's the one that I used to refer to as "wuss-overs" when I first started all this, because I could only manage three or four of them, and on level four (of six). For the first time ever, I added a couple of the large disks, for a total of 28 pounds. And still managed seven reps!

I have also figured out how to deal with the Dips. Using the cables, instead of dip handles, made it harder, because of having to stablize the cables. But Dana and I were talking about that one day, and realized that we were considering doing something to "make the wrokout easier" -- Hello??? What, pray tell, is the point of making the workout easier? We could make it a LOT easier by skipping it altogether! Now, I still didn't want to have my hands flailing all over, and not even being able to do a proper dip at all, so... I connected the cable pulley in "easy-way" mode, but added 57 pounds -- also the first time I've ever added weight on dips, but this is a little different. I still managed to do ten reps, so we'll goose that weight up a bit more next time, but I'm happy with this method, and we can save the money we would have spent on the dip handles.

Oh, and at ten reps on the Ham Curls, I should probably add some weights there as well, although I'm not exactly looking forward to that.

Workout Stats:  SetLevelWeightRepsChange Squats620211 Hamstring Curls610+2 Shoulder Press6487level-up Pullups6677+1 Flies65level-up Curls620210+2 Pullovers6287level-up Dips65710level-up

Just a quick report this time, since I'm actually writing this on 4/2, and still have another one to blog for 27 March before we workout again this afternoon. I can say that the drop-off on curls was due to some pain in the right forearm.

Workout Stats:  SetLevelWeightRepsChange Squats620211+2 Hamstring Curls68+1 Shoulder Press6438+1 Pullups6676 Flies58 Curls62028-2 Pullovers610+2 Dips611

There's something about it that just seems a little harder -- which is fine, I just don't know what it would be. The angle is the same, I don't think the slide platform is any heavier, and the weights are the same. But I was doing as many as 11 Ham Curls before, for example, and now I'm doing six or seven.

I went back to "easy way" for the Dips, which has me doing well over the recommended maximum seven reps, but I really hate the other way. I can't hold any kind of form, so I know I'm not doing it in a way that's helping much. Definitely going shopping for dip bars.

The other thing I should mention is that, since we're doing all the exercises on this one machine, we can add weight to both Ham Curls and Dips, which we could not do before. So, when I get back over seven reps on the Hams, I can add a few pounds next time. (Oh joy!) And adding some weight to the Dips, and doing them "easy way" (with the cable connected), might be an acceptable solution until I can find the bars. (Which, of course, I will try first to find used!) For that matter, I should be adding a bit of weight to Pullovers.

Workout Stats:  SetLevelWeightRepsChange Squats62029-1 Hamstring Curls66-1 Shoulder Press6437 Pullups6676+1 Flies58+1 Curls620210 Pullovers68 Dips611easy way

I have not been neglecting the workout, but I've not been blogging about it (lazy, in that way), so rather than going back and entering all the reports since February 11th, I'm just going to reset and start with last Sunday's session. This works especially well because...

We have a new TotalGym!

This one is the top-of-the-line XLS model, which we scored on Craigslist for, I believe, $300. It was barely used, and the guy we bought it from was amused to know that we were buying it because we had actually worn out another one! It has the most of the attachments that we need to do the same routine we've been doing all along, with the exception of dip bars. Now, we are still able to do dips using the cables, but it is very difficult to keep the handles stable -- they want to move all over the place. I want the bars, and will probably order them soon.

Another issue is that I am no longer allowed to load more than 200 extra pounds on the bar. We just do not want to end up with another dangerously stressed piece of equipment, with breaking welds and such. This means that I have to do Squats and Bicep Curls with only 200 pounds (202, really), and thus I have to go verrrrrry sloooooowly in order to get to complete muscle fatigue in as few reps as possible. Since I was up to 13 or 14 Squats on the old machine, using 252 added pounds, I really have to slow way the heck down -- and I'm still already up to ten reps on both exercises.

I mentioned Dips. There are two ways to do them using the cable-handles: You can leave the pulley attached to the slide platform, or disconnected it for that exercise. The difference is that if you leave it connected, the total force is only half of what it is if you disconnect. I tried both methods, and found that it was much easier to keep control of the handles in pulley-connected half-force mode. When I tried it the other way, my hands were wobbling all over, and I looked something like the Robot in Lost in Space flailing about, shouting "Danger! Danger, Will Robinson!!!" However, it is the latter mode (pulley-disconnected) that gives the same resistance as using the bars. Using the bars, though, means there is no need to expend effort to stablize, since they are solidly fixed to the frame. I wish I could just use the dip bars from the older machine, but they do not fit correctly on the new XLS, so I'll need to order them.

We are scheduled to Slow Burn again today (Friday), so I should be back with a new post before the weekend is out.

Workout Stats:  SetLevelWeightRepsChange Squats620210 Hamstring Curls67 Shoulder Press6437 Pullups6675 Flies67 Curls620210 Pullovers68 Dips64hard way TotalGymXLS.jpg

I tried the coconut oil again today before working out (four small spoons), and this may be my best ever performance! At least it's close. I may have done more than 14 Squats before, but I know I've never gone over 15. Up two reps already on the Curls, and that's just the second time with the maximum weight. I've been smokin' on the Pullovers lately (great core work), and I have never done ten Dips!

Is it the coconut oil? I still can't really say for sure, but I can definitely say that it's not hurting. I also know that on days when I do the workout hungry, I never do very well, so I don't do that anymore. I'm going to assume for now that the oil is at least helping some, and considering the stellar lipid profile of this stuff, I think I'll keep it up in general.

But what's with the pictures of weights on a scale? Don't they all say on the plate how much it weighs? Well, there's a number, but as you can see, the number isn't always right. One or two of the big red ones always felt particularly heavy to me, so I decided to grab my package scale and find out. Sure enough, there's a red "14.3-pounder" that actually weighs about 18 pounds. Another turns out to be about 15, then there is a silver one that is only 13. That means that "252" (all the weights I have) is really more like 256 -- nothing to be concerned about really, since it's just over 1% of the total, but it was bugging me, so I just wanted to check it out.

So, there you have it.

Workout Stats:  SetLevelWeightRepsChange Squats625214+1 Hamstring Curls610 Shoulder Press6436+1 Pullups6677-1 Flies57 Curls62528+2 Pullovers69+1 Dips610+2 14is14.jpg 14is18.jpg

Much better today! Up two reps on Squats and Dips, up one on Shoulder Press and Pullups. Plus I added the last ten pounds of plates to the Curls, which pleases me greatly. Now I go directly from Squats to Curls, then take the weight off immediately so as not to dimple the plastic rollers.

But today's big deal was that I swallowed a couple spoonfuls of coconut oil before the workout. Coconut oil is mostly saturated and mono-unsaturated, and has lots of medium chain triglycerides. Before you worry about those triges, I should point out that these aren't the same as what gets measured in blood work -- the ones we want to keep fairly low. MCTs are a type that can be used directly for fuel by muscles, making them a great alternative to "carbing up" before strength training -- which a lot of lifters do, but I never have. Further, these triges hate to be stored as fat.

Was the coconut oil responsible for my improvement today? Hard to tell. It was a single instance (so far), and remember that my performance sucked last time. But you can bet I'll be trying it again.

Workout Stats:  SetLevelWeightRepsChange Squats625213+2 Hamstring Curls610 Shoulder Press6435+1 Pullups6676+1 Flies67 Curls62526level-up Pullovers68 Dips68+2

I had a huge all-weekend event on the 28-29th, with a couple days preparation beforehand, so I ended up going eight days this time. Writing this in February, but I remember that I seriously did not feel like doing the workout that day. That showed in my results. Oh well, I still did it, and that's what counts. Not bad on the Pullovers, though.

Workout Stats:  SetLevelWeightRepsChange Squats625211-2 Hamstring Curls610 Shoulder Press6434-2 Pullups6675-1 Flies57 Curls62428 Pullovers68+1 Dips66-2