Update here for the last few days.

Tuesday: Good day today. Did Tahiti intervals, and then did some chest work afterwards. My traps are pretty sore from yesterday. Tahiti intervals were brutal, and my legs were hurting. Did a few sets of incline DB bench, and then a couple sets of plyo pushups with a box on each side of me. These were damn tough and by the end of the second set my chest was toasted. Boxes I was doing them on were about 4-5".

Wednesday: Great, but hard day today. Lifted in the morning, and then went to Yoga in the evening. Chest is super sore from yesterday, and my hips still kind of sore from Monday's Yoga class. Worked the quads hard today at Yoga, and by the end of the evening my legs felt so tired. Great day though with the double training session.

Thursday: Turned today into a cheat day. Every 10th day is to long to have a loading day, so I've changed it to every 7th day. Didn't workout at all today because my body was just run down, upper body was sore, and my legs just felt straight up tired.

Friday: Got out for an awesome ride today. Really amazing how dry some of the trails are this early in the season. Was great to get out, but had a hard ride. Ride was only about 1hr 20 mins, but I pushed hard. Rode with a friend who I did most of my riding with last year. He was in significantly better shape then me last year, partially because he races XC a little, and weighs like 140lbs. Granted he hasn't done any winter training but I was smoking him. He was having some serious trouble and was way behind me. Now I was definitely pushing hard, and at the top of the climb I actually puked/dry heaved a bit. Partially because I was working damn hard, but my body was definitely a little run down from going out last night. Lungs felt good and I was recovering quickly, but my legs were on fire. Went home after the ride and passed out for a couple of hours. As I write this now I have to say my body is cooked, and my legs feel like they have nothing in them. Definitely a good ride.

One thing to note I'm done counting the calories to a certain extent. Its getting close to the season and I don't want to be running low on energy. Some of my main things are going to stay the same, and I am going to continue to eat healthy, but I am going to give myself a little more freedom to what I eat.

Anyway great few days of training, and I'm happy with my riding, certainly in the best shape I've ever been by far. Cheers.

Update here for the last week.

Tuesday: Woke up this morning and tipped the scale at 181.4. Training today I did my Tahiti intervals which were good. My legs felt pretty worked from Yoga yesterday, and because of this I wasn't able to get my heart working quite as hard as I wanted to. Did a little bit of trap work, and a few sets of bench afterward, along with some core work. Pretty good day overall. Net calories, protein 209g, carbs 319g, fat 45.5g, fiber 39g.

Wednesday: Got myself up early this morning and went to the gym to do a weight session. Couldn't believe how sore my chest was, along with my traps. Chest really amazed me though how sore it was, shows how little work its been getting. All I did was 3 sets of 135x8 BB bench. Weights went well, went heavy on the upper body stuff, and lighter on the legs seeing as my legs pretty much get worked everyday. Went to Yoga in the evening which was good. Was a little tired, but I felt really refreshed afterward. Just as I was beginning to think my hips were loosening up a bit, we a did a pose today I've never done, and holy hell my hips flexors were burning. Great day overall with the double training session and good nutrition. 2294 net calories, 235g protein, 309g carbs, 37.75g fat, 44g fiber.

Thursday: After 9 solid days of nutrition this was my cheat day. I ate relatively healthy food throughout the day, but ate a ton. Definitely not doing this again because I felt like shit in the evening. Next cheat day that roles around I'm going to stick to my main diet, but add in a couple of extra little things. Despite the huge amount of food I ate, I was amazed how fast I digested it. Went out and had a few beers as well. UVM was playing in the Frozen Four so a bunch of us went down to the bar to watch the game. Skipped the gym today, because of time constraints, and the fact the my body was just run down. After class I passed out for 3 hours, so my body definitely needed some extra rest. When it comes to rest I really try and listen to my body, if I'm tired I'll sleep, even if I've gotten what equates to a good nights rest. 

Friday: Sporadic day, again didn't hit the gym because of time constraints. Couldn't really count my calories either because of what I had to eat. Stuck to my nutrition plan for the majority of the day, but I went to a fundraiser in the evening for the FOTW and I had no way of knowing what I was eating calorically. Ate a lot of protein though, and a good amount of carbs. 1360 net calories, 98g protein, 194g carbs, 36.5g fat, 25g fiber plus whatever dinner was.

Saturday: Hit the weights today, soreness finally gone away. Weight session was good, I motored through it with good energy, and was feeling strong. Again couldn't really count my calories today completely because I went to my grandparents for a belated birthday dinner. 1286 net calories, 128g protein, 192g carbs, 11g fat, 16g fiber, plus whatever dinner was.

Sunday: Non-training day, but at work and on my feet for 9 hours. Nutrition was right on today, and I feel great. 1836 net calories, 215g protein, 212g carbs, 35g fat, 41g fiber.

Monday: Hit up Yoga this evening which was good. Really got the core worked hard. Afterward I did some trap work. Did 3 sets of DB shrugs 50x10 75x10 75x10 and 3 sets of BB High Pulls 95x5 135x5 135x5. Felt good overall after the gym, and both my core and traps felt good and worked. Nutrition was a bit off today. Although my caloric intake was fine, some of the food I ate was garbage. When I was at my grandparents a few days ago they gave me a cake. I had a good bit of it today, hard for me to hold back when that kind of food is in the house. Definitely throwing the rest of it away tomorrow. Kept my caloric intake at a good level, but fat and carbs were too high in proportion to my protein intake. 2000 net calories, 150g protein, 249g carbs, 58.5g fat, and 30g fiber.

So overall a good week of training and nutrition, although I didn't workout quite as much as I would have like this past week. I think I look a little leaner and I feel great. World Cup was dope to watch this past weekend, and got me so pumped to race and train hard these last few weeks. Looking forward to another good week of training, and it looks like we are getting some serious sunshine this week so I can get out on the trails a bit. Cheers.

Update here for the last few days.

Friday: Started the in season training part of the Ultimate MTB program today. Hadn't lifted in a little over a week, so I didn't hit the weights super heavy, but used 90% of what I normally would have. I'm really digging the in season strength sessions. I think they should be just enough to keep my strength levels up, yet I was able to get through the entire thing with warm up, and stretching, in about 35 minutes. Felt really good in the gym today to, strong, and lots of energy. 2260 calories, 231g protein, 277g carbs, and 27g fat today.

Saturday: Legs are a bit sore from the weights yesterday. I didn't "train" parsee today, but I got plenty of exercise. I went out and did some trail work, on one of the local trail days. Basically 25 minutes hike to and from the work site, and did about 4 hrs of work. I went out last night, and didn't get a ton of sleep, so by the time I was finished at the trail day I was absolutely exhausted. Haven't been that tired in a while. Either way, it was great exercise, and I moved some seriously large rocks around, and did a lot of bench work. 2400 calories, 205g protein, 278g carbs, 53.5g fat today.

Sunday: My rest day was today. Was still at work though and on my feet for 9 hours. Stuck right to my planned nutrition for the day which was huge since the time I tend to cheat the most is at work. I think this diet of incorporating some fattier and higher sugar food into my day is working really well and keeping me from doing any sort of bingeing. 2285 calories, 212g protein, 249g carbs, 49.5g fat.

Monday: Was exhausted today, and actually slept through my alarm and missed my class. I guess my body really needed a couple extra hours of sleep. Went to work, came home and took a nap as I was still feeling pretty beat. Went to Yoga tonight which was great, and I felt very good in. Again stuck right to my nutrition plan for the day and didn't cheat while I was at work. Felt very good by the end of the day, and feeling ever leaner. I just hope I'm not really losing any strength, I've noticed specifically that my traps look smaller, and I think I'm going to start doing some bodybuilding based trap work. Probably not really useful, but I really like the look of big traps, and it is something that should be relatively quick and easy to do. 2250 calories, 221g protein, 256 g carbs, 40g protein.

Overall it has been an excellent few days of training and nutrition, and I am looking forward to another solid rest of the week. Cheers.

Update here for today and yesterday.

Yesterday had a good day of training and nutrition. Unfortunately because of time constraints and a number of things I had to do I couldn't get to the gym in the morning. I did go to Yoga in the evening which was great. Yoga class really killed my hamstrings and I am feeling some all around soreness and tiredness in my legs from class. Nutrition was great yesterday. Ate very well, and didn't cheat despite being at work. Took in 2290 calories and 228 grams of protein. Although I wasn't able to get a strength training session in, I still felt that it was a great day.

Today was okay. I wasn't able to get any type of training in because of time constraints. I have a big exam tomorrow so I've been most of my free time today studying. Nutrition was not so great either. I ate good food throughout the day, but I got a little carried away. I ate lunch at the school cafeteria, and being all you can eat I grabbed a large variety of food. All the food was relatively healthy but it was definitely a bit excess. I did a rough estimate for my calories and protein for lunch. Today was 2470 calories and 191 grams of protein. I was pumped to see that when I stepped on the scale this morning I saw 182.6. This is the lightest I have been since probably sophomore or junior year of highschool, yet I'm as strong as I've ever been. Going to hit the weights tomorrow since I missed today. Cheers.

Great day today. Did intervals and some core work. Pushed hard on the intervals, got all 8 of them out, and man my legs were feeling it. I was having troubling walking up the stairs out of the gym afterwards. They were definitely torched. I cut my core work short because my core was pretty sore from Yoga yesterday. I did 3 sets of hanging leg raises, and 3 set of kettelbell windmills, which was plenty to torch my core. Core is feeling pretty worked right now. I may have a tough time at Yoga tomorrow. Knees have been hurting on and off throughout the day. Nutrition has been spot on today. I'm going start tracking everything in excel, but just keeping track of calories and protein intake. Trying to keep my protein intake pretty high to make sure my muscles stays on while I'm trying to lose weight. Took in 2345 calories today and 229 grams of protein. Great day, and looking forward to another one tomorrow. Cheers.

Interesting day today. Woke up this morning and was absolutely exhausted. Went to class and then to work. I had an incredible amount of pain in my right knee last night, I think it was just from standing, but regardless, it still hurts now, and my left knee is also in some pain. It think it is tendon or joint related. Not really sure where the pain is coming from, but it hurts a lot. I was beat when I got home from work, and actually fell asleep in my desk chair while I was reading. Woke up, and then laid back down and took a nap for an hour. When I finally woke up, I was still feeling absolutely beat. Not sure what the deal was. By about 7 my energy levels really picked up and I was feeling good. I went to Yoga. Class was good, and my knee pain seemed to go away for a while, but has definitely come back on this evening. I didn't do any weight work after Yoga because I was short on time, and have a ton of homework I need to get done. Nutrition was excellent today. Reformulated my plan, and I've added a few hundred more calories, and a lot more protein. I'm getting a good mix of foods that I like so hopefully I won't feel the need to cheat much. Really feel great right now aside from the knee pain, and I am looking forward to a good week of training. Cheers.

Update here for this week. I've definitely been lazy with this blog and I am really going to try and get back on it more consistent.

Tuesday: Great day of training. Did intervals and core work today. Started off a little easier on the intervals than normal to make sure I didn't gas out. This was my first full interval session in 2 weeks after getting sick. Felt great and got through all 8 of them. During the intervals my heart rate range was 165-184. Hit the core hard afterward and felt good and worked.

Wednesday: Got up early this morning and hit the weights before work. Had  a great weight session and pushed hard through the whole thing. Had a good set of front squats for 165x5 ATG. Overall was a good workout. Did Yoga in the evening. Had a tough time with this class. I think my body was just pretty worked, but I felt good afterward, and extremely relaxed.

Thursday: Intervals and core work again today. Did the tahiti intervals which were interesting. Was hard to find a good balance of resistance on the bike where I could actually get some rest while still pedaling in between. Did some core work as well, but a little less than usual because of how worked my core was from the last few days of training. Overall felt good and healthy.

Friday: Got out for a ride today. Rode for about 1.5 hrs. Really felt strong and powerful on the bike, and it felt great to get out on the bike for a decent amount of time. Was a tough ride because the ground was quite soft and was sapping the power from my legs. Was pretty beat afterward, but felt good.

Saturday: It was way too beautiful to go to the gym today. Went to my Dad's house to do laundry and I brought the DH bike along. I have a couple super short runs in the woods which haven't been touched in a couple years. I decided to rake one of them out and ride the DH bike a bit. Felt good to get on the DH bike, and although the runs were super short sprint runs, around 15 sec I was able to get a good feeling for the bike. Was actually pretty beat after doing about 6 runs, and raking/clearing for about 1.5 hrs. 

Sunday: Off day. Ate very poorly today. Surprisingly I am pretty sore today from the trail work yesterday. My shoulders, arms and torso feel a bit tired. My nutrition has definitely gotten a bit out of line. I have 4 more weeks before riding really starts, so I'm going to try and buckle down on the nutrition and try and lose a few more pounds. Overall a good week, and it felt great to get out on the bike. Cheers.

Update here for the last few days.

Friday: It was my birthday yesterday so I ended up going out last night. Drank for the first time in just over two weeks. Definitely got drunk, and got drunk easily. Got up early today but was just toast throughout the day. I slept on and off throughout most of the day. Nutrition was poor, I was in need of hangover food. No training because of the hangover.

Saturday: Felt great today, and my nutrition was good throughout the day. Lifted today and had a good session for the most part. I really gassed out at the end, and skipped one set of my deads and hammer chin super set. I was completely beat afterwards and am thinking I might not of had quite enough nutrients in my body. Otherwise feel good and recovered from yesterday.

Sunday: Non training day. Damn sore from the deadlifts yesterday. My traps, glutes, hams and lower back are all pretty sore, and my shoulders and core are pretty sore from the see saw press. Nutrition was not so great today.

Monday: Wasn't quite able to get the training in that I wanted today because of some scheduling conflicts, so I'm going to try and get my full weight session in on Wednesday instead. I attended a yoga class tonight, and then did my downsized weight training routine afterward. Shoulders, quads, and core got pretty worked in the yoga class. Was pretty happy with my weight session, power clean and push pressed 155x3. Nutrition was okay today, got good stuff in, but ate some food that was a little fatty. Feel good right now though and I am definitely ready for bed. Back to the intervals tomorrow. I haven't gotten a full interval training session in, in a couple of weeks now, so I really need to get through the whole thing even if the last few are a bit pathetic. Cheers.

Update here for the last few days.

Monday: Got back to the gym today and finally got in a full weight session. It felt great, and my energy levels we there which was refreshing. I still felt a little weak but felt that I've regained about 90% of my strength from the two weeks or so of being sick. Overall was good and hoping that I can get my training back in order.

Tuesday: I actually went out for a ride today which was quite interesting. Went to an area that has pretty low elevation and has a good amount of sand in hopes that it would be rideable. People have been snowshoeing and riding the trails all winter which had caused a real firm snow pack on the trails. Although the majority of the snow in the woods was gone there was a nice sheet of ice on the trails. Rode around for about an hour which was fun. Surprisingly the trails had pretty decent traction, just had to be careful in the corners. I went down a few times. Training wise I probably would have been better off going to the gym and doing intervals, but it felt great to get out on the bike.

Wednesday: I've decided to mix my training up a little bit, and tone down the strength training a bit. I will still be doing a full strength training on Monday and Friday, but my session on Wednesday is going to be reduced considerably. In place I am going to start doing Yoga. I did my first ever Yoga class today. It was tough, but I was able to do everything in the class. I definitely see how it will help in my riding, and overall strength/fitness, and there were some areas where I definitely found some weak points. My hip flexors were definitely a bit tight which I noticed right from the start. As well I found that I was getting some knee pain when my legs were contracted for long period of time. The pain wasn't unbearable in any situation but it was there. I'm hoping that the yoga will help resolve this. After the yoga I did a strength training session that I came up with based on exercise in James program.

Thursday: It's a beautiful day here and I really didn't want to go and train indoors. I decided to go outside and do hill sprints on the DH bike. Although it was nice and sunny out it was still a bit chilly and windy. I rode around two for 5-10 minutes just to get my legs and lungs warm and then went to a hill right next to my apartment. When sprinting I would say the hill is about 25-30 seconds. Now I don't know if it was the cold weather, or just the difference in doing sprints on an actual bike but I didn't last long. I got 3 sprints in. I would go up the hill, and then slowly carve back down the hill so I got adequate rest. In 3 sprints my legs felt like jello, my heart felt like it was going to blow out of my chest, and I had an enormous amount of pressure built up in my ears. I feel like I still have small remnants of this damn head cold and it was definitely a problem to some extent today. Regardless, I feel like this really showed the difference between the in the gym intervals and actually doing them on the bike. Another note, something that probably really sapped my power and energy was the fact the I did them straight up on the DH bike, low pressure in the tires, and soft suspension. I'm sure this sapped a lot of my power compared to do the intervals on the stationary bike and the rowing machine, but I think it is important to do this kind of training on the DH bike, as that is what I am racing on.

I will say as a note that my eating as been great and I think I am continuing to lose weight. Last week I decided that I wasn't going to diet anymore and restrict myself, and just concentrate on portion control and eating healthy. I been eating small "bad" things here and there but not feeling guilt about it, and overall I feel great and look leaner then ever. My weight has hardly been fluctuating at all, it has been staying between 184.5 and 186.5 Going to try and get two more hard days of training in this week, and then some good training in next week, and hopefully get out for a trail ride next weekend if the weather continues to be nice. Cheers.

Quick update here for the last two weeks.

Last week was my school break. Gym hours were minimal and I ended up getting sick. Only made it to the gym 3 times that week and my workouts were not feeling very good. Had a poor 3-4 days of eating as well.

This week I continued to be sick, and even today I still feel some remains of it. It is really pissing me off honestly as I want to get in the gym and train hard. I ate great all week, and I haven't had a drop of alcohol in 11 days. I feel really good aside from being sick. I made it to the gym 4 days this week but none of my sessions were very good. I cut them all short because of either a lack of strength and energy. After one session I felt really ill and depleted. I feel good for the most part today but my nose is still a it stuffed up. Hoping to get back on the full training schedule again this week. It has been gorgeous and the snow is melting fast as it has warmed up a bit. I'm going to go and try and get a trail ride in on Tuesday, hopefully the snow will be all gone.  Been eating well all week, and I feel flushed and healthy. My weight has been going in between 184.5 and 185.5 the last 4-5 days. Hoping my strength comes back and I am good to go this week for training. Got my Vivid yesterday, so my DH bike is finally ready to go. Going to get back on the daily updates tomorrow. Cheers.

Update here for the last few days.

Saturday: Seeing as I am on vacation and I completely spaced that it was Mardi Gras this weekend I decided to go out. Went out last night as well and had some drinks. Today was an all day drinking fest, lots of bad food etc. Obviously didn't train, but I think it was a good idea I as I was ungodly sore when I got up this morning. Going to take a few days off from training since I have been at it 5-6 days a week for the last 6 weeks.

Sunday: Worked most of the day, didn't eat well. Absolutely beat from all the drinking yesterday.

Monday: Got a good nights sleep last night. Feeling food again. I was absolutely shocked when I stepped on the scale this morning. Weighed in at 195. I can't believe what a few days of poor eating and drinking can do. It also amazes me how much excess weight your body can hold, that isn't body weight, but just waste. The middle of last week I was 185.4 so that's  a 10lb difference. I would say that is very possible that I gained an actual pound of body fat, but other than that it is just waste sitting in me. Nutrition today has been spot on, and I feel like I'm starting to flush out. Still a bit sore, took today off, and going to get back at the training tomorrow. Going to be a toned down week of training this week, and then I will hit my final 4 weeks after this one to complete phase 4 of James MTB program. Cheers.

Update here for today and yesterday.

Thursday: Nutrition was bad. I opened up that second bag of chips and ate almost the entire thing. Felt so sick afterward and completely wish that I hadn't done that. At least they are gone now. Aside from that my eating was good for the day except for a cookie.

Training was good. I pushed hard on my intervals, and my legs were burning so badly. Did some core work afterward, and I also did some power cleans. James had said this is a good indicator of full body power. I'd done them in the past but never made them a regular part of my training. I concentrated and using very clean form and got 215x1 which I was happy with. I did this with clean form, I didn't go for 225 as I felt I was at my limit. I think it would be nice if I started working these into my routine and was able to get a 1.5x bodyweight power clean. That would be 275lbs which is definitely a lot but I don't think it is out of the realm of possibilities. I think that might have to be something for next winter though. Woke up a little heavy today, clearly I am guessing because of all the chip eating yesterday. Was 188.8 this morning.

Friday: It is early evening right now, but so far my nutrition has been spot on throughout the day. I had a great training session today and felt really strong. I was able to crank out 5 sets of the side press with the 60lb dumbbell which I was happy with, after only being able to do 2 sets on Monday. One thing I did change today was my deadlifts. I hooked some bands up to them to change things up and work on power some more. I'm going to do this for a couple of weeks to see how it helps with my overall deadlift power/strength, I also think it will help with my power clean as well. I didn't do them super heavy 225x3 245x3 and 265x3 each weight or two sets, supersetted with my weighted chins. I felt strong, and was definitely accelerating throughout the lift at every weight on every rep. Another plus today was that I got my weight chin up to 50x3, and I feel like I can definitely hit 55x3 as well. So pretty pumped all around with training today. Just went grocery shopping and got a bunch of great healthy stuff, so I should be set for a little while. Woke up at 188.8 again today, which I attribute to the chip eating yesterday as well. Overall great day and I'm planning on keeping my nutrition spot on for the day. Cheers.

Decent day today. My nutrition was right on throughout the beginning of the day and then I went to me parents house. They had just gotten home from Pennsylvania and had brought back a couple bags of my favorite chips in the world. Rarely do I get my hands on them so needless to say I couldn't hold back and sat down and ate almost an entire bag. I took some of my normal food out because of all the chips, but was still probably up about 1200-1300 calories for the day, putting me around 3500 total for the day. No worries, I think I am going to give the 2nd bag to a friend so I don't have to worry about them.

Training today was good. I had a lot of energy going into my workout, but it did see to taper a bit as my workout went on. Was moving a little slow in between sets, but all of my weights were good and I felt strong. Ripped out my last set of unilateral bent over rows with the 95lb dumbbell. The biggest problem there is just holding on to the damn thing, my back is strong enough to pull it, but I did notice that it really activated and worked my core a lot. Overall a good day, feel healthy strong and extra lean. I woke up at an astonishing 185.6 this morning. It seems the weight is continuing to come off. One thing I will note, for accuracy of my weight, I don't take my weight until I get the same reading 3 times in a row. My scale gets leaned up against the wall at all times except for when being used, so it usually takes a couple of readings to balance itself out. Overall good day, I'm tired and looking forward to hitting the sack and having another solid day of training tomorrow. Cheers.

Great day today. Hard training session. Pushed myself super hard on my intervals and this week also calls for an additional interval in each session. Got my heart rate up to 187 and was feeling really good. Legs felt a little weak when I step off the bike. Did a variety of core work after and overall felt fit and strong. My legs seem to be not only getting bigger but leaning out as well. I'm essentially working them 6 days a week so they are definitely being punished.

Nutrition was pretty much right on today. Had a little soda with dinner but other than that I was all good. Kept it to about 2250 calories today. Woke up this morning at 187.6 so it was nice to see my weight back down a bit. I'm interested to see if it drops down into the 186 range again like it did on Friday.  My traps, tris, and hams are all pretty sore today. Overall great day and looking forward to a good day tomorrow. Cheers.

Need to update here for the past few days.

Friday: Great training session today, felt strong, and started doing my front squats full depth, as far down as I can go. Was pleasantly surprised to get my last set out at 165x3 all the way down. My uni deadlifts and uni bent over db rows felt good and strong as well, using the 90lb DB for a couple of sets on the rows. Nutrition was great today as well. I had a 200 calories worth of extra raviolis at dinner, and god was I full. Went out had 6 beers between 9-2. Woke up this morning at a surprising 186.4 over a pound lighter than yesterday.

Saturday: Felt like shit all day, and did practically nothing. Slept most of the day and got a little homework done. Had no energy but I forced myself to go to the gym. Cut my intervals one short as my legs had nothing left in them and I was starting to cramp. Got off the bike and I was a little shaky on my feet for 5-10 minutes. My legs were definitely worked from the weeks training. Did my chest work which felt good, but my tris were definitely feeling toasted and were holding me back. Really had no energy and ended up cutting my ab work in half. Felt good to get in there, but afterwards I was absolutely exhausted. I ate well today, but at a lot, probably had upwards of 4000 calories. Brought some cheese into the diet, and got a big sandwich for lunch that had mayo on bacon on it so a bunch of extra calories there. Was just happy to get into the gym today with the way I was feeling. I'm going to try and do the next 2 weeks starting Monday of no drinking at all, and sticking to my diet. Going out on Friday night seems to really throw me out of wack for a couple of days so I think it is going to have to stop. Was 187lbs today.

Sunday: No gas in the tank today either. Slept until 1 and then went to work until 11. Ate okay today, but had a bunch of extra calories again. Probably around 3500 or so. Was 188.8 this morning, definitely shows how when I eat a bunch of extra food how it sits in my body for a while, probably will take a couple of days to lean back out.

Monday: Great training session today. Had to change up the bulgarian squats for front squats because of gym equipment usage. Busted a nice set of fronts squats for 175x3 all the way down. Overall training felt good. I was a little tired so I was going a little slower than normal but got myself through my workout and felt good. Had some nice deads, sticking to straight reps/weight did 5 sets of 315x3 really focusing on accelerating as I was picking the weight up instead of picking it up at an even tempo. Also got a couple sets of side presses out for 60x3 which was good. Nutrition was right on today, stuck exactly to my plan and had about 2100 calories. Looking forward to another good day tomorrow. Cheers.

Great day of training yesterday. Pushed myself hard on the weights and felt strong. My deadlifts felt really good and I really concentrated hard on my form. Had a couple good sets of weight chins, 45x3, and my side presses were strong doing all but one set with the 55lb DB. Overall felt good and really had a lot of energy yesterday.

I did cheat a bit yesterday nutrition wise. I had a half of an oatmeal raisin cookie while at work. I made them from scratch, nice and fresh and I just couldn't resist eating some of one. Other than that I stuck to my plan completely. Weighed in at 188.8 yesterday morning.

Today's training was brutal. As I said a couple of posts before I am doing all of my intervals standing up which I did today. To begin with my glutes and hams were quite sore from yesterday, and my quads were just damn tired. I pushed hard and felt ongodly agony in my legs. Another 6 weeks of this before riding starts I feeling like I should be a monster on the bike. Although my legs were tired I still pushed hard, and was able to get my heart rate up into the 180s. During the intervals which are lasting a minute I'm peaking my wattage according to the bike just into the start of the interval at around 550 watts, and by the end I am in the 400-425 range. Not sure how accurate the bike is, and whether that is good wattage or not. As I know I have to go for a minute I am pacing myself a bit, and I think if I was just looking solely to get my max power I could put down somewhere in the 800-900 watt range, judging by the power I'm putting forth in my intervals. Core work was solid today and I worked hard on that as well.

Nutrition was excellent today. I was up early, at least for me at 6:30 as I had some studying to do and I will be up late tonight because of an exam tomorrow. I snuck in a bag of pretzels out of the vending machine while at school because I was starving, so I tacked on an extra 180 calories there. Other than that I followed my diet to a T and kept my intake to about 2100 calories for the day. I'm feeling great and I weighed in at 187.8 this morning. A full pound lighter than yesterday. I body feels very flushed out, so I think I am getting to close to my actual bodyweight. That gives me only about 8lbs left to lose and I definitely think that will put me where I want to be, if not lower than I want to be. I've got 6 weeks of winter training left and I think I should be able to do it. Cheers.

Yesterday's training was good. My legs were really feeling it during my intervals and I worked really hard. Did some core work after my intervals. Made a couple of new decisions/changes to my training program yesterday. First going to start doing all my intervals standing. They are harder standing, and when racing I don't want to be sitting I want to be standing and pedaling as much as possible and putting the power down. Second I'm going to break my core work up a bit. I do intervals 3 days a week followed by core work. The First day is going to be general core work, the second day will be half direct ab work and half general core work, and the third day will be all direct ab work. Each day I'm going to do 4 exercises 2-3 sets each.

My nutrition for the day was good. For one of my class I went to a discussion forum thing about Palestine and Israel and to my surprise there was food offered. As a poor college student I couldn't pass up a free and awesome dinner. All the food was fresh made, I had some meat and veggie lasagna, a nice spinach salad with some nuts, fruit, and blue cheese, and some fresh baguette. Because of this my caloric intake was definitely over what it should have been, but the food I ate all day was healthy and I got a solid training session in. 

This morning I weighed in at 188.8lbs. Nice to see myself dip down into the 188 range. I also noticed when I went to bed last night how cooked my legs were. I must have really pushed it on my intervals because they were just feeling exhausted walking around my apartment. As well  they felt absolutely huge, I sweat they felt a solid couple of inches bigger. Overall good day. Cheers.

Yesterday was another solid day. Both my chest and core were still pretty damn sore. I have to say I was pretty beat and was not in the mood to go to the gym. But I finally got myself up and going and went to the gym. Gym session was pretty good. I had pretty good sets and felt good, but I didn't have that hard charging feeling that I was working my ass off despite moving similar weight as usual. Again my front squats seemed to be stalled out as I barely made 225x3. I've decided I'm going to drop the weight down and start doing them ATG, as deep as I can go. It seems like doing them heavy and not quite as deep isn't getting me anywhere, so hopefully doing them lighter with the largest ROM will spur some gains.

Nutrition was very good yesterday as well. Again stayed away from the food at work. Stuck to my diet as far as food intake goes. I had 8oz of Coke with dinner, and I went out for a beer with a friend who was leaving town. The two combined probably added about 300 calories which would put me around 2300 calories for the day. Woke up yesterday and was 189.0 Overall good day and looking forward to my intervals today. Cheers.

Awesome day today. Stayed away from all food at work, and stuck exactly to my diet. Super pumped on it and I feel great. I didn't get the cravings that I got all last week. Ended up taking in about 1700 calories today and I feel great. Not overly tired or anything from a lack of food

My chest, front delts and core are all wicked sore. I really like the feeling of having my chest sore and definitely something that I have missed that last couple months of training. I think it will be good to mix the minimal chest work in once a week. Weighed in at 189.4 this morning. Cheers.

Yesterday was a so, so day, weighed in at 189.4. I had a good lifting session, but my body was definitely a bit cooked from the weeks training. My deadlifts were a bit weak when I went for my heavy sets, so I decided to back the weight down to 275lbs and just focus on form. Realized my form needs to be refined a little bit, and I was really getting a better feel for pushing from my heels. In the past I think I had good form but I wasn't getting quite low enough and hence using more of my lower back. So I'm going to concentrate on that more, and I've decided when I do my uni deadlifts I am going to do them with dumbbells just so I can work on getting a bit lower.

Nutrition was good as far as what I ate yesterday, but I did eat a bit on the high side. I also went out last night and was up late. I had 7 drinks last night, and was up until about 3. Not the best thing I could've done, but I had some friends in town so I kind of had to go out. 

Slept in late this morning, and until about 6 I was going in between reading and sleeping. Weighed in at 190.8 this morning. I did get to the gym today, but I decided not to do any intervals. My legs just felt cooked and I feel like they could use a couple of rest days to recover. I will say I was looking today at my legs, and my quads seem considerably bigger than they used to. I feel like they are a solid 1/2" taller when I flex them, and my hams are definitely sticking out a bit more to. I decided I want to start doing a little chest work as there is about none in the Ultimate MTB program. I guess I really don't need it but I'd like to mix in a little just for looks, and chest definition. I'm going to start doing a little on Saturdays after my intervals. I did a few sets of dips and flat dumbbell presses today. That's all I'm going to do, just enough to keep on top of things. Besides that chest work, I decided I really want to destroy my core, so I did a ton of core work. Definitely feeling it right now, and I know I am going to be sore tomorrow.

Nutrition has been great today, been right in line, except for a little bit of ginger ale this afternoon. Just finished cooking food for the next 8 days so I should be set. Really going to try and concentrate on staying away from food at work. Hopefully another good day tomorrow. Cheers.

Good day of training today. Did intervals and some core work today. Felt strong on my intervals. Got the heart rate up high, close to 190, and had the legs burning a lot. For core work I did some kettlebell windmills, some high rep non-stop ab work, and this exercise I saw on an episode of the ultimate fighter. Lay down on a bench, luckily the bench at my gym has some foot hooks so I don't need someone to hold my legs. Unrack the barbell lower it to your chest, sit up holding the barbell in a rack position, press the bar overhead, and then lay back down, that's one rep. Good exercise to works the abs and shoulders. Going to try it again but use dumbbells next time to work more on my shoulder stability.

Nutrition was good today but I had some extra food. My roommate bought some smoked salmon and for whatever reason he didn't like it, it didn't taste the same as the normal brand he buys. Anyway I wasn't going to pass up $17 of the stuff. I had a bunch of it today, replaced some of my normal foods with it but added it into some meals as well. Anyway probably had about an extra 400 calories which puts me at about 2300 for the day. Overall good day and I feel healthy. Unfortunately 189 on the scale again this morning. I'm going to just start weighing myself everyday to get and idea of where I am, if I happen to be holding more food one day than another, etc. Looking for another good day of training tomorrow. Cheers.

I had an okay day yesterday. My diet was a little off, I consumed a few extra hundred calories. Again a cause of being at work, wasn't hungry but couldn't stop myself from grabbing little bits of food here and there. I guess you don't realize how much you enjoy food and in a sense are addicted to it until you take certain aspects of it away. I don't know if this shows that I have no will power but it is a bit upsetting. I feel like these little splurges of a few hundred calories here and there are what's really keeping me from shedding the pounds. I was 189lbs again yesterday morning. So I might have even gained weight this past week. I will say last week I started taking creatine again so I could have put on a little water weight. This is possible but in the past taking creatine I've never really packed on any significant weight just from taking the stuff. Hopefully it is a combo of the creatine and maybe some muscle gain. I feel like my upper obliques are really starting to pop out. I decided to start taking the creatine as this 6 days a week of training has definitely been taxing on my muscles. I can deal with it, but I definitely fine my muscles a bit sore and tired on training days and I am hoping the creatine will help out a bit with that.

Wednesday's training session was definitely a case of having some sore muscles all around. My entire posterior chain was still quite sore from Monday, and my legs were just feeling tired. This was definitely evident in my front squats. Although I put up some decent weight of 135x3 185x3 225x3 205x3 205x3 205x3 I barely made the 225 set which I was hoping to not have as much trouble from. My lower back was still a bit sore as well, and while it didn't push my weights down, during my uni deads and uni rows superset my lower back was on fire. On fire in a good way, not a hurt way, just that it was being worked really hard. So overall not a great day, but I got in the gym trained hard, and still kept my caloric intake to around 2500 calories which isn't a ton. Cheers.

Another good day of training and nutrition. Stuck right to my diet today, and feel nice and healthy. Going to hit the scale tomorrow morning to see where I'm at. Hopefully about another pound below last week. I did my intervals today, and felt good and strong on them. Not sure how accurate the stationary bike but I feel like I'm putting some decent power down keeping my wattage around 500 give or take a bit for a minute. Again not sure how accurate they are but it seems pretty decent.

After my intervals I did some Turkish Get Ups. I wanted to see exactly where my max was on this exercise, as it seems to be a great indicator of total body strength. I was able to get a rep on each side with a 75lb dumbbell which I am pumped about. Definitely more than I expected, and sets me up for a great goal of a 50% bodyweight TGU by the end of my winter training season. Only need to tack about 15 more pounds onto that number and I'm there. Great day of training and nutrition. Cheers.

Yesterday sucked. Nothing else to say really. I started the day off well, and then I got to work and just ate crap all evening. Wasn't even really hungry just felt like eating. My biggest problem with my diet seems to be work.

Had a good training session today. Worked hard and posted some good weights. I felt absolutely awful this morning after eating unhealthy food all afternoon and evening yesterday. I think I learned my lesson for the most part. Had to get up early this morning to study for a philosophy exam so have and extra long day today. I'll be up for about 20 hours, so I'm throwing in a few extra 100 calories. Overall good day though, I feel fine this evening, and looking forward to another solid week of training.

Great day of training and nutrition today. Overall inactive day, sat around and did homework most of the day. Got my intervals and extra core work in today. Seeing as I haven't done any chest work in the last 2 months except for some push ups here and there, I was curious to see where my bench press was. After my intervals I sat down on the bench warmed and decided to see where I was at with 185lbs, almost my body weight and the only weight I could really remember for reps when I was on a body building based program. Surprisingly I was able to crank out 8 clean reps at that weight, slow down, stopping just above my chest, no bounce, and back up. I honestly don't think I have lost anything on my bench maybe a rep at that weight but that's about it. I think that goes to show how much stronger my shoulders and triceps have gotten from all the overhead pressing. 

Just watched the fights which were great. Some awesome BJJ tonight. Anyway overall good day, got lots of school work done, good training, and good nutrition keeping it to about 1900 calories. Cheers.

Had a good hard training session yesterday. Went for a new PR on the front squats and failed so I actually know what my max is. I went for 235x3 but was only able to get 2 reps, doing these just past parallel. Still pretty good though I think, 45lbs more than my body weight. Makes me wonder what I could do right now in a normal back squat. The rest of the workout went good and I felt overall really good. Plenty of energy and my strength levels seemed good.

My nutrition today was good, but I overate, so I'm going to consider Friday my cheat day. By 4 o'clock all I had left to eat on my plan was an orange, and my dinner which isn't a big meal by any means. Figured it was friday night so I was going to be up reasonably late and I knew that, that wouldn't cut it for the next 8 hours. I got a huge sandwich down the street. I don't know probably another 1000 calories or more would be my guess. All pretty healthy stuff except for a couple strips of bacon, but tons of veggies. Hung out with some buddies, but kept the drinking to a slow pace I had 3 1/2 beers, and decided to call it a night early so I was in bed by 12. Even though I did eat a lot, I think my body used it right up because it wasn't long before I was hungry again after that sandwich. Pretty good day, a little high on the caloric intake, but nothing real bad, and I got a hard day of training in also. Cheers.

Another great day of training yesterday. I did intervals which went really well. I feel like my cardiovascular system is starting to come a long a bit. My peak heart rate during my intervals was 185 and during my active rest I was able to bring my heart rate back down to 141. Definitely better than it was 4 weeks ago. The current intervals I'm doing are 1 minute push and then 2 minutes of active recovery.

After the intervals I did some core work. I did 3 sets of Kettlebell Windmills for 26x5 35x5 35x5 per side, I did 3 sets of floor wipers with 135lbs barbell for 5 reps a side, and then I did 3 sets of the first exercise in the following video. I was doing them with a little more explosive power out of my hips. Definitely a good exercise I did 3 sets for 26x5 35x5 35x5 per side.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lGwiZ8Zeuvg

Good day nutrition wise, stuck right to my plan, and had roughly 2000 calories during the day. I hung out with a buddy last night and had 2 beers so I have to tack that onto the above caloric intake. Either way it was a great day. Just hopped on the scale for the hell of it, and Friday morning I'm at 188.4. Cheers.

Pumped, 189 this morning. Back into the 80's which is awesome. The lighteset I've been in the last 5 years is 185 which was spring of 08, but I think I had a bit less muscle on my body. Either way I feel great and hopefully I can chop off another pound this week.

Training was really good today. Enjoying Phase 3 of the Ultimate MTB program. Really focus today when doing my deadlifts to push from my heels. Something that I think I normally do put I really focused on it today as it is an important part of the lift. Was happy with my lifting today to considering how sore my hamstrings and glutes still were. Kept my nutrition right in line today, and consumer right around 2200 calories. Cooked up food tonight for the next 7 days, so I'm good to go. Going to have a planned cheat day either Saturday or Sunday, not exactly sure. I do 1 day a week usually, not eat bad, but just eat a higher caloric intake, helps keep me sane with the nutrition. Overall great day, and looking forward to intervals and core work tomorrow. Cheers.

Again a solid day today. Changed my dinner up, but my nutrition was right in line and I consumed about 2100 calories today. Forgot to hop on the scale this morning so I will make sure to check tomorrow morning. I had solid training session, and did intervals and some core work today. I alternated my intervals between seated and standing. I think that this is how I am going to do them instead of all seated one session, and all standing the next. I guess it would be more similar to a DH run with seated and standing pedaling. For core work I did some Kettlebeel Turkish Get Ups 35lbx3 44lbx3 44lbx3 per side, and some Kettlebell Windmills, 3 sets of 26lbx5.

I will say that my hamstring are pretty sore and my glutes are super sore from yesterday. Between the heavy front squats and the uni deadlifts the lower half of my posterior chain is definitely cooked. Hopefully I'm good to go for tomorrows lifting session. Also noticed today that my medial delts were a bit sore. Not really sure from what, maybe the Un Gaurd Press, but that doesn't really make sense. Lastly my biceps are in some pain from holding the barbell while doing the front squat. I do my front squats with a bodybuilding hold, because it is too much for my wrists to hold the bar in the clean/rack position. Overall another great day, I feel healthy, and have lots of energy. Cheers.

Didn't make it to the gym yesterday. I woke up and was in a bit of a slump all morning, and just did homework. I'm going to try and for the next 4 weeks not drink at all. Maybe a beer here or there, but no heavy drinking, and try and keep the super late nights out as well. The drinking is a little rough for training the next day, but clearly as last weekend demonstrated I had a great lifting session after a night of drinking so it doesn't completely destroy my training. On the other hand this past Friday night I didn't go to bed until 4 AM and I think that was my biggest problem, not the drinking as I drank less than I had last weekend. Staying up that late I feel really through my internal clock out of wack and I didn't really get back into the swing of things until today. My nutrition was good on Sunday and I kept it to around 2000 calories. A little more than I would have liked on a non-training day, but the restaurant was busy and I was really busy so I was in need of a little extra food.

Today went really well. Pretty much stuck to my nutrition plan, switched up one thing, but still kept my intake to right around 2200 calories. Since my last day in the gym was intervals I figured I would start today with weights. Today was the first week of Phase 3 of James program. I had a great weekend and I a liking the change after being on the same thing for the last 3 weeks. My last two sets of front squats were good (being my 5th and 6th set), I did 225x3 for both sets. Barely made the 3rd rep on both sets so that I definitely about my max for the given reps, and I can already feel the soreness creeping into my glutes. Now Phase 3 has one legged deadlifts and boy was I surprised with these. I wasn't sure where to start so I just plopped on a couple of 45lb plates and did my first sets at 135x3 per leg. Way harder than I was expecting. Was a little heavy for my first set, but in the end I rocked that weight for all 6 sets which I felt was a good weight. After the second set I took my shoes off to get a little lower and for added balance as I wear trail running shoes that have a bit of lift on them. The Uni Deadlifts also really rocked my core just balancing while holding onto 135lbs was tough and I could really feel my core hard at work. Overall great workout and great day. It has been about 2 weeks since I hit the scale, so I'm going to hit it tomorrow morning to see where I am at, as I feel and look leaner. Cheers.

Quick update for yesterday. I didn't end up making it to the gym, as I was just beat. Plan is to try and go today, but I may take it off, as I really don't have a lot of gas in the tank, but I did just wake up. I went completely off my diet yesterday, didn't follow it all. Wasn't necessarily  a bad thing, I ate healthy food all day, but just ate over the my caloric intake goal. I had been straight out for 6 solid days, so it was probably good to have a day where I got an extra 1000 calories or so. Probably ate in the 3000 range, but all good stuff, lots of veggies, fruit, and some sushi. GSP rocked it last night destroying BJ Penn. Thoroughly impressed. Watching the fights really made me want to get back in the gym and starting training some BJJ a couple days a week, but I can only do so many things. Hopefully going to make it to the gym today, but we shall see. Cheers.

I had another solid day of training and diet yesterday. I did intervals on the bike and did them standing again as I felt after doing them the other day that I was definitely lacking in that department. I'm going to start switch it up between seated and standing next week. After the intervals I did some core work. I did 3 sets of Kettlbell Windmills 17x5 26x5 26x5 which I had never done before and I definitely liked. I also did 3 sets of 10 hanging knee raises, and 2 sets of 10x10 weight lying leg pull ins. My core is pretty sore today especially my obliques which I'm sure is from the windmills. Really liked the windmills and I'm going to incorporate them more, I think they will help my turkish get up strength just because of the constant shoulder stability work.

I did go out last night, had 7 drinks over the course of the night. I did cheat on the food department last night, having not eaten since 7:30 PM when 3:00 AM came around I was so hungry and had a slice of pizza. Got like a Brooklyn style slice with no sauce, and sausage, potatoes, and onions on it with a light amount of cheese. I did cheat but preemptively thinking it would happen I cut out a couple small things here and there throughout the day, so my only extra calories came from the alcohol.

I woke up today and wasn't hung over but definitely tired. I didn't go to bed until 4 AM and got up at 10:30. I've been sleeping/doing homework on and off all day, and honestly not sure if I'm going to make it to the gym today. My body just feels cooked, I'm sore, tired, and not particularly motivated to go. I would say this is in part to going out last night, but also from a hard week of training. We shall see it's only 6 so I can still go in a few hours, but I think I'm just going to continue doing homework, and go tomorrow before work. We'll see. Cheers.

Another solid day yesterday. I cheated a bit on my diet unfortunately. I had 16oz of Coke so that is an extra 200 calories, and I had a beer, a Michelob Ultra to be exact, haha, so that's an exta 95 calories. Should have just drank water, about the same taste. Gym session was good, worked hard and really powered through the workout. My legs were definitely feeling tired though. When I was walking back and forth to class they were just feel a little drained so I wasn't expecting a ton out of my workout. I think part of it was from doing my intervals on Wednesday standing as my quads were really feeling a bit drained. I bumped the front squats up another 10lbs today, and despite the tired feeling my legs I was pleasantly surprised. I didn't get my last set for all the reps I wanted but I did 195x8 195x8 195x6. So I'm repping 5lbs more than my bodyweight in a front squat which I'm pretty pumped about, with all the rep just below parallel. Took a look in the mirror and I've never been this lean before. I am starting to see the outline of my abs so I think by the end of these 4 weeks I should be right where I want to be. As well I have yet to lose any strength and am still posting gains which is awesome. Cheers.

Another good day of training and nutrition today. Stuck exactly to my nutrition plan and consumed 1980 calories today. 4th week of Phase 2 in James workout plan, so the intervals got bumped up and additional interval today. Did the intervals on the bike today, but I did them standing. I typically do them seated, the two are definitely quite different. When seated I feel more of a burn in my hamstring and glutes, where standing the burn is more in the quads. I'm going to start alternating each session between standing and seated to get a good balance. After intervals I did a couple sets of Kettlebell Turkish Get Ups 35x3 45x3 per side, and then I felt like doing some deadlifts so I did a few sets 225x5 315x3 and 365x3. Overall a good day although I am damn hungry right now and I still have to read for school for a couple of hours so I'm going to have to drink some water. Unfortunately it's puking snow in Burlington right now, trails are still a ways a way, just got to keep my chin up and train hard until the white stuff is gone. Cheers.

I had another awesome day of training today. Workout was super tough and kicked my ass, but I pushed through it, and pushed the pace really working my cardio. Did the entire weight workout in about 40 minutes, so I wasn't taking any extra rest. That's 23 sets and some warm up stretching in just under 40 minutes which is pretty good I think. I redid my nutrition plan yesterday and was on it for the first time today. I'm about to go to bed and I feel great as far as my food intake, I ate exactly what's on the plan, nothing more nothing less. The nutrition plan is below.

1/2 Cup Raw Oats 150 calories 5 g protein

¼ Cup Skim Milk 20 calories 2g protein

1/8 Cup Raisins 65 calories 1g protein

Piece of Fruit 80 calories

 

Fiber One Bar 140 calories 2g protein

Piece of Fruit 80 calories

 

6oz Chicken Breast 180 calories 38g protein

2 cups frozen veggies 85 calories 4.5g protein

 

Pre Workout Shake

1 Scoop Whey 120 calories 24g protein

1 Scoopy Glycomiaze 140 calories

 

Post Workout Shake

2 Scoops Whey 240 calories 48g protein

2 Scoops Glycomaize 280 calories

 

2 Servings Spinach+Mozz Ravs 400 calories 18g protein

4oz 93/7 Ground Beef 200 cals 30g protein

½ Cup Marinara Sauce 60 calories 2g protein

My goal is to keep up with this plan for the next 4 weeks. Assuming I can I think I will be at my target bodyfat % goal. That will put me at the beginning of March, just around the corner from riding season. The above nutrition plan is what I eat on my weight training days as I feel those are the most physically demanding. On my interval days I cut out 1 scoop of glycomaize and whey post workout so I'm dropping 260 calories there. On Sunday my rest day, I cut out my pre and post workout shake completely and substitute it for just 2  scoops of whey protein which drops my caloric intake by 540 calories. I feel like it is a pretty sound plan, getting my fruits and veggies, fats, and protein from a few different sources. I enjoy everything I'm eating as well, but we'll see after 4 weeks of the same food everyday. Hopefully I can stick to it, just need to make sure the food is in the house and cooked and it shouldn't be a problem. Shoulder feels great today and I haven't noticed any pain. Looking forward to another solid day of training tomorrow. Cheers.

Well I certainly feel that my day off on Sunday was much needed. I didn't go out Saturday, and got to bed relatively earlier. I didn't set an alarm as I had nothing I needed to get up for and decided I would get up when my body was ready and I woke up by myself. Well after going to bed I woke up almost 12 hours later. I don't typically sleep long like that but I suppose my body was in need of a little extra rest after a hard week of training. Sunday's nutrition was good and kept everything in line.

Today is the start of the week and that meant back to the gym. I got to the gym and every piece of cardio equipment was taken so I decided to do my intervals weight based. I did 8 rounds with 1 minute of rest of 5 Barbell Burpee Clean and Presses (seen here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FaNdxu7Owd0 same thing just with a press at the top) and 3 pull ups. Definitely shorter intervals than I've been doing but I still felt pretty worked after 8 rounds of that. After I did two rounds of James core stability circuit, one round of 30 seconds per position, and one round of 15 seconds per position. Overall a good workout.

A note my left shoulder was absolutely killing me yesterday. I've noticed it seems to become aggravated on Sunday nights. I manage a Italian restaurant and Sunday nights I make pizza's, I think something about the back and forth motion and constantly reaching above me for boxes aggravates my shoulder. It felt fine this morning, and seems to feel fine after my workout tonight to. I'm going to start making the shoulder dislocations a part of my daily routine as they are a little tough for my left shoulder.

Other than that I would say a solid two days. I just finished cooking my next 7 days worth of food so I should be all set and am looking forward to a solid week of training. Cheers.

Wow. Pretty much sat around the house all day reading and sleeping until I felt I was recovered enough from last night to go the gym. By the time I went to the gym I was feeling good, but wasn't expecting anything great just because of the drinking from last night. I have to say I was pleasantly surprised and had a great workout. I was really dreading doing the front squats as they were really tough last time, I had barely squeaked my reps out last time, and today I was planning on upping the weight. Well I upped the weight to 185lbs, 5lbs shy of my bodyweight, and hammered out all 3 sets for 8 reps, going just below parallel on every rep. Super pumped on that, and that really motivated me to power through the rest of my workout.  Have to say an awesome week, I feel great and don't feel drained even after 6 days of training. I'm really liking the set up of one intervals and weights back and forth, and it enables me to keep the workouts to around 45 minutes so I'm not dreading going to the gym. Pumped on a solid week, and more to come. Cheers.

After almost 2 weeks of a pretty strict diet I felt that I needed to get in a day with some extra calories. From my knowledge of dieting, it's good to overeat every 10 days or so, so that your metabolism doesn't slow down and begin storing the food you are taking in as fat. I ended up eating healthy throughout the day just I ate larger portions than normal. I did go out last night and ended up drinking a little more than I would have liked, but it was the day to do it as I was intending on having a high caloric intake day yesterday. I ended up having 10 drinks from about 8-2 so it was spread out over a long period of time. I'm feeling a little run down this morning from the drinking last night but not to bad, as I got a little food in before bed, plenty of water, an aspirin and a multivitamin. I still plan on training today but not until later in the day when my energy levels are feeling good, and I plan on jumping back on the diet today.

Training yesterday was good, when I got to the gym all of the stationary bikes were taken so I decided to do my intervals on the Concept 2 rowing machine my gym has. I really like the rowing machine as it is a great full body workout, but I don't use it much because the thing hurts my ass so much. After the 21 minutes of warm up and intervals on the thing my butt was in an incredible amount of pain. Either way my intervals were really good and I felt strong. After I did my core work as I have been doing all week. I cut the Turkish Get Ups shorts because my shoulders were toasted from Thursdays workout and when I went to do a set with the 45lb Kettlebell I was having trouble holding it up. I just did 2 sets 25x3 and 45x3/side, then I did 2 sets of decline plate twists (sit on a decline bench, I use a 45lb plate, hold the plate out about 8-10 inches in front of your chest, position yourself in the middle of a sit up, and holding that position twist from left to right), and finished with one round of the core stability work. Overall the workout was great, I felt strong and had lots of energy.

One a side not my glutes and hamstrings are incredibly sore from Thursday's workout. I really noticed it last night sitting at the bar I was ins some serious pain. Definitely going to have to do a good bit of stretching before I hit the weights today. Cheers.

Holy hell I feel like I just had the hardest workout of my life. Borderline puking the last 10 minutes or so. After a few weeks I think I finally realized why workout B is so much harder than A in the MTB Strength Program. Workout B seems to be more unilateral where workout A seems more bilateral. Effectively this means in workout A and B the amount of rest time is the same, but in B the amount of work time is considerably more. For instance workout in Phase 2 workout A has front squats where workout B has bulgarian split squats. The time to do one front squat and one bulgarian squat is effectively the same. In both instances I'm using the most weight I can for the given reps with correct form. In both cases since I am using the most possible weight in similar exercises I would say that I am really maxing out my cardio, but in workout B once I am done the first 8 reps I then have to switch to the other leg without any rest and with my cardiovascular level already working at a very high level and continue another 8 reps for the opposite leg. Not sure if that makes since, but I feel that is the reason because the A workout seem like cake compared to the B workouts.

Aside from that nutrition as been great all day and I've now got 4 solid day of training in a row. I really like doing the intervals on the separate days, and I think that is how I am going to restructure my workout plan. 3 days of intervals/core work and 3 days of weight alternating starting on Monday and ending Saturday giving me Sunday as my rest day. The plan is to keep that up through each phase for 4 weeks and then the 5 week instead of switching to the next phase continue on the same phase but cut the work in half for that week providing myself with some rest and then switching to the next phase the following week. I'm turning the Phases into 5 weeks instead of 4 with the 5th week as a working rest week. Anyway looking forward to the training, and since it is almost February that means only about 2.5 months until I can get on the bike. Cheers.

Good day today. Nutrition was in line, and despite feeling a little tired I motivated myself to get to the gym and had a great workout. I did intervals with a little core workout. Did James core stability routine and then some Kettlebell Turkish Get Ups for 35x3 45x3 45x3/side. Intervals were good and I was really getting a good burn in my legs. I'm enjoying doing the Turks again and am hoping they may help with my left shoulder pain/ache, as well as just making my entire body stronger and more powerful at the same time. Looking forward to another good day of training tomorrow. Cheers.

Another great day today. Held to my nutrition and got a good training session in. I worked out in between classes at 1:45 and although that is definitely later in the day I usually haven't eaten a ton at this point in the day. The majority of my caloric takes place after training no matter what time it is. In reference to yesterdays post, I shuffled my meals around and had a little extra something to eat before the gym today and I definitely think that I saw a difference. Pushed throughout the whole workout and felt strong. My front squats went up again, I did 3 sets of 175x8 past parallel which I was pumped about. Almost repping my body weight in a front squat which I think is pretty decent.

On another note I checked my weight this morning. Was sitting at 191 which was 2.5lbs lighter than yesterday, and .5lbs lighter than 2 weeks ago. Going to check myself once more tomorrow. Either way I feel good and definitely feel like I've stripped more than .5lbs of fat. Got to trust the mirror and not the scale right. Cheers.

Yesterday was a day off, and I will say I cheated a little bit on the nutrition side yesterday. I had a big oatmeal chocolate chip cookie at work. Pretty sore both yesterday and today in my glutes and hamstrings. I had a very tough workout so that is probably part of it, but I also modified the way I was doing my kettlebell swings. After rewatching James video on swings I realized I was squating too much and not bending over enough with them. I changed this and definitely felt some more activation in my hamstring/glute area.

Seeing as I was still a bit sore today I decided to skip the weights today to give myself a little more recovery and just do some interval and core work. I did intervals on the bike, followed by a some kettlebell turkish get-ups where I did 35x3 35x3 45x3 per side, and I did this core circuit that James has created http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DsVg5NRw_4k&feature=channel_page the only thing I did differently was that I did each position for 30 seconds.

Over the last week or so I've definitely noticed some ups and downs in my training. Tonight I realized they were based a lot on the time of day. I find that the my workouts at night are far better than the ones in the morning/mid afternoon. After thinking about it for a while I believe it has to do with the base of food in my body. The later in the day I go to the gym the more I have put through my body and it seems I generally have more drive and energy. I'm going to try and start training later in the day when possible, and if not possible I'm going to eat a little extra in the mornings when I know I will be working out earlier in the day.

Lastly my weight. My goal by the time race season rolls around was to definitely trim up a bit. I'm currently around 15-16% body fat and wanted to get down around 180lbs which would leave at about 10%. After some heavy drinking over the holidays, less training than normal, and poor diet I detoxed myself a couple of weeks ago just to clean my system out and see where I was at weight wise. The last two weeks I have been eating very healthy, and slightly below my daily caloric usage hoping to shed a little weight. I've been getting in around 150g of protein a day and the last two weeks I've trained 4 days a week, and my drinking has been way down. I've noticed a lot in my forearms and my stomach that I am visibly leaner. This morning after not stepping on the scale for two weeks and a lot of hard training and good diet I was surprised to see that I was 2lbs heavier. Now I certainly could just of had some excess content sitting in me, or James program may be adding muscle in some weird little places that are hard to notice. I would say the I have definitely lost some fat as my forearms certainly haven't gotten bigger and I have been packing muscle onto my abs, so it seems at this point that I may be doing the sought after gain muscle and lose fat at the same time. Maybe yes, maybe no, I'm going to hop on the scale again tomorrow morning to see where I am at, and to see if my weight today was just a fluke. Cheers.

Went out last night, but nothing crazy. Had 5 or 6 beers, but took it easy because I knew I wanted to be able to train today. When I got home last night I was starving as I hadn't eaten in 6 hours, shouldn't have eaten right before bed but I had some whole grain tortilla chips and mango salsa. Woke up feeling good today. Went to the gym and hits the weight. By the end I was absolutely floored, I couldn't bring myself to do the last set of weights or any intervals. I was completely toasted. Had a couple good sets of standing alternating dumbbell presses, doing 2 sets for 50x8. James workouts are certainly grueling and I am beginning to think that 2 days in a row of the weights might be a little taxing on my body. Starting next week I'm going to change up my schedule a little bit. I'm just going to hit the weights every other day, so week A I will lift 4 days and week B I will lift 3 days. On a 1 or 2 of the days off I think I am going to go in and just do some light spinning for 30 minutes, maybe some intervals. We'll see how that goes and hopefully I will have a little more gas in the tank on lifting days. Cheers.

Good day today. Went out last night did a little drinking. Considering I haven't really drank in over a week I got drunk pretty easily. So definitely some extra calories there but not the end of the world. Still got up early this morning for classes. Shoulder was feeling considerably better this morning so I decided to hit the gym this evening. I think the couple days off really helped with recovery. I powered right through the weight part of the workout and did intervals at the end. Feeling stronger to and my front squat has been getting better. I did 165x8 today past parallel for 3 sets which I felt pretty good about. So far the diet has been pretty much in line today and I feel great. Going to hit the weights tomorrow since I missed yesterday. Cheers.

Unfortunately I didn't make it into the gym yesterday or today. I don't know how but I seem to have screwed my shoulder/tricep up. I've felt this pain before but it has never been this bad. Definitely muscular/tendon pain that starts in my middle deltoid area and goes all the way down to my elbow. I'm hoping by tomorrow I'll be able to get back into the gym. In some cases when I've had minor injuries getting back into the gym and working the muscles a bit has helped the pain so that is the plan for tomorrow unless it is really bad. Diet has been good the last two days, switched some foods up a little but stayed in the 2200-2500 calorie range. Only real cheat that I've had the last two days was a glass of coca-cola yesterday and two today. When it's in the house I can't stop from drinking, hence why I don't by it but one of the roommates did. Got my new seatpost and saddle in the mail today. Have never had an I-Beam setup before, but it seems sick and looks really sleek. Hoping to feel better tomorrow and be able to hit the gym. Cheers.

Another good day of training today. Strayed a little from my nutrition plan. Didn't feel like cooking the weeks food so I cruised down to the grocery store and got a couple trays of sushi instead of my normal dinner. Aside from that I stayed inline except for two glass of red wine this evening. Training was good today, although I skipped the intervals as I was exhausted. I haven't been this sore in a while. The deadlifts killed me yesterday, the back of my body from the waist up is ungodly sore. Tomorrow is a day off from "hard" training, but I may go in and do a little low intensity spinning. Cheers.

Had my first day of class today. Super pumped to be back in school, I really do enjoy it, and it helps me get into a good routine of keeping busy and training. Psyched that I pretty much held to my diet all of the last 7 days. Only wavered on Saturday when I had a big sandwich, but I skipped a couple of my other smaller meals, so I probably wasn't over my caloric intake too much.

Worked out today. I've been following James Wilson mtbstrengthcoach.com training plan for about 6 weeks now. Having followed bodybuilding based workouts for the last couple of years I have been a bit skeptical of the program just because the first few phases don't have many heavy power moves in them. I hadn't done deadlifts in about 4 weeks and there were some beef cake meat heads at the gym today bouncing the barbell of their chests when bench pressing so I decided I would show them what really weight is. My deadlift has always been strong but since I haven't done them in a while I wasn't sure what I would be able to pull. I have to say I now have full faith in James workout plan now, as I pulled 415x1 at a body-weight of 190lbs. New personal record for me so I'm pumped considering I haven't even been training my deadlift specifically.  Other than that I followed my prescribed weight routine from James, and did intervals after the weights. Feel great, stronger, more powerful, and leaner by the day. Cheers.

Friday Night

Woke up this morning and was super pumped with myself for last night. May not seem like a big deal but as a college kid Friday night is always get wasted night. I kept it much lower than usual last night had like 7 drinks instead of 12-15, and kept myself from getting pizza on the way home which I am psyched about. Came home and had some turkey and crackers instead. Might not seem like a big deal to some but to wake up this morning not hung over and know I didn't spend a bunch of money and eat a bunch of crap last night was huge. Anytime I thought about really starting to drink hard and get food I just thought about racing, and excelling, and being the fastest that I can be. Cheers.

This Week's Training

After some on/off training over the holidays it was good to get back in the gym this week and get some consistent training in. Got my diet off to a good start this week as well. Got all my food for the week cooked at the beginning of the week. After 5 days I'm feeling healthy and leaner already. Training thus far this week was the following.

Monday: Weights and Intervals

Tuesday: Weights and Intervals

Wednesday: 1.5 hr Hike in the Woods.  Was checking out some property for trail use next year.

Thursday: Weights and Intervals

Friday: Weights

Gear

Seeing as it's been a couple years off I had to buy at least one new fresh kit, haha. I didn't blow a ton of money on it as there are other things that the money can be spent on, but I had to get one. As well I got myself a new upper body armor suit. I was only using elbow guards in 2006, and god damn I don't know what the hell I was thinking. After riding the lift one day this past summer on my trail bike I felt naked with just the elbow pads on. It also seems that neck braces are the new rage, more specifically the Leatt. It makes complete sense and I can't believe there wasn't anything like this before. I'm hopping on the bandwagon and plan on buying one of those bad boys as soon as I have the bucks. Can't begin to say how pumped I am to race again, it's all I think about. Cheers.

2006 Season to Now

I can't remember the exact date, but the last time I raced was the end of August 2006. I would say that overall my season went well, at least as well as it could have for the amount of work I put in. My biggest accomplishment was finishing 47th (maybe 48th) at the US Open. Only 60 qualified and I believe the Pro field had about 150 or people at qualifying so I was super pumped on that. I'd like to say thanks to Iron Horse, Todd Seplavey and Alex Lehman specifically who helped me get a Sunday. I think this was the first real DH bike that I had that was sized and set up properly.

As my second year as a licensed Semi-Pro and racing in the Pro class at local races I can't say 2006 brought me any results that I was really happy about except for the US Open. Like every year I raced I would maybe ride once a week, and then go race on the weekends. By the time September rolled around and classes started I wanted nothing to do with my DH bike. In fact I didn't touch it for the rest of the season and sold it as soon as I found a buyer. I was honestly really burnt out from racing, and was walking away every weekend unhappy with my results. When I look back now I think I had the tools to podium at most of the races I attended but I had to refine them and really make them work for me. In the 10 or so years I have raced I have always done relatively well, and feel that I am a talented rider but I never put the effort into to making the physical part of racing part of my game plan. In short I didn't train, and relied solely on my "skill" to race. Unfortunately it took me until this summer to really figure that out.

In the previous years that I raced I wasn't very fit, and certainly wasn't strong, in fact I was a bit fatty and more or less weak, yet I still did reasonably well, and as a Junior was one of the top racers in the North East. This summer I went up to the Bromont World Cup to spectate as it had been quite some time since I had been to a race and couldn't pass up the opportunity as it was  so close. What a great time I had and while I really enjoyed watching, something struck me up on the mountain while I was watching the racers come down. Now not to sound cocky, but as I watched the back 40 or so qualifiers come down I really wasn't impressed by how fast they were going, and felt that if I got back on the bike and started racing again that I could get to, at the very least, the speed of those riders. I felt and feel that I have the skill but just needed to refine the tools that I have.

Back again now to 2006. I was burnt out on racing, and didn't feel fit. I started some minor weight lifting in the fall of 2006 in order to become stronger but mainly to look better and be more fit. In November of 2006 myself, my Dad, and Brother stumbled upon a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu gym. I did Kempo Karate for 5 years or so when I was young, but martial arts pretty much left my mind and I hadn't had much interest in it since then. I started training at the Brazilian Jiu Jitsu school and was immediately hooked. From November of 2006 to the end of August of 2008, besides school work, and work, this is where my time was devoted to. I began doing Muay Thai as well, and getting more into the MMA side of things. I didn't really have any desire to actually fight, but I did enjoy  learning and becoming more skilled just for personal use. The summer of 2007 and 2008 were my first summers in 10 or so years that I wasn't racing every weekend, and boy was it awesome. At the end of the 2006 season I did hold onto my trail bike, I used it once in 2007, and sold it in June of 2008 only to buy a new trail bike shortly after and start riding again. The one thing that the BJJ really did for me was show me how to train. Over the past 2 years I have taken nutrition classes, and engrossed myself in books learning about weight lifting, power lifting, and kettlebell work. The two years off from cycling really taught me a lot, and I really learned about dedicating time both to training and to school work.

This past summer after purchasing a new trail bike and riding again I realized how much I loved mountain biking. This is certainly a sport that will always have my heart. But after going to the World Cup, I knew that I had both the mental and physical aspects now to become a much faster racer than I used to be. Now weighing roughly 10lbs less than I did when I last raced, but with 20lbs more muscle I have much more power over the bike. As well I completely believe that I can become one of the top racers in the US, and I think mental stability is a huge part of becoming successful in any sport. I learned this very much from my BJJ training and competing. In BJJ tournament you have to walk in knowing you can win, if not your losing before you have even started.

So that is a brief overview of what I have been getting into these last two years after I stopped racing. Thanks to my student loan I have a new DH bike and am looking forward to the 2009 race season greatly. My training is currently in full swing and I am working with James Wilson over at mtbstrengthcoach.com In addition to my training I am trying to get my nutrition in better line so that I can chop off a few more pounds come race season. Lastly I will be working part time for the Fellowship of the Wheel (FOTW) next season as a trail builder, so this will afford me great opportunities to always be able to get a ride in and train.

The plan is to try and update this daily or at least every few days with training notes now, and riding and racing notes come the season. I'm super pumped for the up coming season, both to be back on the bike and to see old faces at the races again. Cheers.

First Post

Just created this blog!!! I plan on using this blog to document my return to bike racing,  my training, bike riding, and whatever else happens in my cycling life. I hope this will help keep me on track and bring to a new level of bike racing.