Tyler’s Workout Log – The PHAT Experiment – Day 5 of 28 – Heavy Upper-Body

Every single exercise progressed.  Nice.

Tyler’s Workout Log – The PHAT Experiment – Day 4 of 28 – Heavy Legs

Lisa and I went on a long bike ride yesterday to Delray Beach and back.  By long, I mean 9 miles each way.  I’m not absolutely sure why this was hard for me.  We used to do 30-mile bike rides fairly easily.

I think it had something to do with the wind in our faces, the backpack full of glass tupperware on my back, the high heat, the excessive humidity, my uncomfortable seat (if you’re a dude, you know what I mean), and the fact that the backpack straps are positioned in such a way that my hands would go numb after about two miles.

It was hard.  We had fun once at Delray Beach, but the ride back especially was not fun for me.  Lisa had fun, though.  She wasn’t even tired… Cardio freak.  🙂

Tyler’s Workout Log – The PHAT Experiment – Day 2 of 28 – Hypertrophy Push

My second volume-based push workout.  Almost everything progressed by 1 rep.  It’s not bad, but it’s not extremely good either.  I’ll certainly take it, though.  I’m curious to see how next week’s goes.

Tyler’s Workout Log – The PHAT Experiment – Day 1 of 28 – Hypertrophy Legs

For the last three weeks, I’ve been refining my own version of Layne Norton‘s PHAT (Power Hypertrophy Adaptive Training) lifting methodology.  Essentially, it has you doing two days of heavy (around 5 rep) lifting and then three days of hypertrophy (around 10-15 rep) lifting per week.

My only tweaks were to make it slightly more applicable to real-life movements and put a stronger emphasis on single-legged movements.  Also, I’m not a fan of 15-20 rep sets, so I try not to go over 14.  I’ll do a later write-up explaining this in more detail.

The results from the last three weeks?  0.38lbs of muscle gain and 1.78lbs of fat loss.  At least that’s what the 7-site body fat caliper protocol says.

Tyler’s Workout Log – Day 27 – Hypertrophy Upper-Body Pulling

It was a good day.  Sadly, I was a little thrown off by the fact that I couldn’t ride my bike today.  The back tire was flat with a small piece of glass in it.  Somehow, I didn’t notice the exact moment when I got the glass stuck in there.  It’s not like I live in a slum or anything, but there are often broken shards of glass on the sidewalks.  I’m just thankful the air pressure held up long enough for me to ride back home from wherever the glass was.

Regardless, I still got in a bunch of sets for the pulling musculature.  🙂

Tyler’s Workout Log – Day 26 – Runnin’ and Jumpin’

We’ve had a couple cloudy, rainy days here in South Florida.  Thankfully it all cleared up today.  The sun came out as I went out to run and jump.  🙂

Also, I’m not sure, but some lady may have taken my picture.  Awkward.

Tyler’s Workout Log – Day 25 – Heavy Upper Body

My first single-arm, plyometric, clapping push-up!  Oh, and literally every other lift went up as well.  It was a very good day.  🙂

Tyler’s Workout Log – Day 24 – Heavy Lower Body

Well, despite the regression on the cleans, I’d have to say this was a good session.  Everything else went up.

Also, I think the regression on the cleans was largely due to my back still being sore.  Oh well.  Life goes on.

Tyler’s Workout Log – Day 23 – Hypertrophy Upper Body Push

This was the most volume I’ve used for pushing for a very long time.  As a result, my pushing musculature fatigued a lot as the workout progressed… which was the point.  🙂

Tyler’s Workout Log – Day 22 – Hypertrophy Legs

Ok.  I added a couple more exercises, and this wasn’t easy at all.  I hope it feels better next time because I got to the beginning stages of nausea.

Oh well.  It was still fun.  🙂

Tyler’s Workout Log – Day 21 – Hypertrophy Upper-Body Pulling

Well, 25 sets of ten reps later, I can feel the soreness coming tomorrow.  At the same time, it felt good to get out some of my frustration at recently losing muscle mass.

The decision to do this was largely based on a recent article in one of the journals that we receive from the National Strength and Conditioning Association.  My NSCA certified friends may have read it.   Basically, a couple Exercise Science PhDs from Taiwan wrote about how to create muscle growth.  While sharing everything they said in its entirety is beyond the scope of this blog, they proposed a new theory on how muscle grows.

Tyler’s Workout Log – Day 19 – Heavy Upper Body

I added a few exercises to this.  I needed to put some dumbbells in there for a little variety.

Tyler’s Physical Transformation So Far

I started out on my health and fitness journey back when I was going into junior high.  I saw a picture of myself cliff jumping at the lake, and I had jelly rolls.  Dang.  I knew that my weight was starting to get a little high due to my mini-muffin intake, but it wasn’t until that moment that I got a slap in the face from reality.

Well, in that moment I made a choice.  I could do two things.

 

1.  Do nothing about it.  Eat mini-muffins to my heart’s content and deny the inevitable truth that I was in a precarious position that could lead to adult obesity and debilitating disease.

2.  Take Action.  Realize that having jelly rolls isn’t what I want.  I don’t want to be fat, and I don’t want to be limited in life.

 

I chose #2. 

Tyler’s Workout Log – Day 17 – Upper Body Hypertrophy

This felt really good!  I’m glad to finally be pursuing some muscle growth again.