Wednesday, March 7, 2012

Beast Tamer Prep - 2 months to go!

So, its official!  I have been asked to be an assistant instructor at the upcoming RKC certification in Vienna, VA on the weekend of May 16th.  This puts me about 9 weeks away from my opportunity to complete the Beast Tamer Challenge.

Here is where I am at to date:

Military Press:  This has always been my weakest lift of the three.  Last time I attempted this challenge I failed the press.  Right now I can confidently press 97 lbs. KB but its not exactly gliding up through my sticking point as easily as I would like.  I am WAY stronger than I was 2 months out from my last attempt at this challenge so I am feeling pretty confident.  Even still, this is the lift I need to focus on the most.

Pistol:  Havent worked any heavy pistols in a while.  I am still grooving the body weight pistol and gaining back the range of motion I need to safely perform this lift.  Currently barbell front squatting in the 225-315 lbs. range for reps (wide stance) and 150-225 lb.s range (narrrow stance) to get my legs plenty strong.  I completed this lift with ease last time, so I am trying to work well beyond 106 lbs (maybe 212 lbs??)

Pullup: I maxed out with body weight + 135 lbs. about a month ago.  I have been focusing more on 1-arm pullups recently to change things up, but I will definitely not have a problem with the 106lbs. pullup.  Would love to work toward a double beast (212 lbs.) pullup as well.  I would like to get some fat gripz because I believe my grip is one of my limiting factors right now. 

So that is where I am at.  I am currently on a "special" training program to focus on improving all these lifts.  I will post about this program within the next few days.  Stay tuned!

Saturday, March 3, 2012

Results from Cleaner Carbs

Last week I reduced my carbohydrate intake slightly and vowed to eat "cleaner" carbohydrate sources to see how I would respond.  I also wanted to see if adding fruit to my meals throughout the day (vs. only with breakfast) would impact my results.  Needless to say, this was not a great experiment because I manipulated more than one variable (cleaner carbs + less carbs + added more fruit). 

Here are the results:

Weight (2/27/12): 211.0    Weight (3/3/2012): 208.0    Change: -3.0 lbs.

Body Fat % (2/27): 7.64%   BF% (3/3):  6.05%   Change: - 1.59%

Lean Mass (2/27):  194.89 lbs.    Lean Mass (3/3):  195.41 lbs.   Change:  +.52 lbs.

Fat Mass (2/27):  16.11 lbs.    Fat Mass (3/3): 12.59 lbs.   Change:  - 3.52 lb