So, I came up with a core workout for the ages last night. I went to the gym around 8:30pm and executed this pattern 2.5 times before my back began to ache, and I was forced to retreat for the evening.
My form was good to excellent on everything except the pike. The pike still gives me problems. My weight on the Turkish Get Up increased to 12 KG (about 26 pounds) and I really could have done 30. There was a time when I couldn't even perform the Turkish Get Up. The first time I tried it, I looked pretty damn stupid. The reason was/is core strength. The TGU is a misunderstood exercise. It is thought to be a shoulder exercise. It is much more a core exercise.
I woke up with mildly sore (but very hard) abs & obliques. This is a sure sign of a good core workout the night before. I was so impressed with the results I decided to share it with you here. I am on my way to a 6-pack.
It was one hell of a night at the gym. I re-jiggered my workout circuit this evening and focused on speed. I moved rapidly from exercise to exercise not allowing any rest-time between exercises in the circuit. I chained together a sequence of eight (8) exercises in this circuit.
It went like this:
Kettlebell halo
Kettlebell clean and press
Kettlebell swings
Kettlebell sumo chins
Bar-dips
Knees to chest
Pull-ups
Inclined perfect push-ups
I repeated the circuit with 12kg, 16kg, 20kg, 24kg kettlebells. I intended to continue with the 60 pounder, but I was just flat-busted after the fourth rep of this circuit. I mean I was totally busted. The best I could do was just one more set of 60 pound swings. I also did one set of 10 reverse ab-crawls with The Rack.
The total workout from entry to exit was less than 40 minutes. That includes setup and breakdown. I was really fast tonight. It paid dividends. I can feel the effects of the overload. This was the best workout in sometime.
The one bad thing about this workout lay in recovery: I forgot to bring a protein drink with me. I raced home to make sure I didn't miss my window. I was fairly blurry-eyed and delirious as I mixed my drink. I could feel myself gradually coming back to life over the 10 or 12 minutes after downing that mixture.
I look forward to many more of these kinds of workouts. Rapid circuit training is much better at producing massive system-overload and triggering an adaptive response. This particular combination of Kettlebells and body-weight exercises seems fantastic for building a functional body, not mirror-muscles.
With that said, the muscles are looking pretty good in the mirror.
It's been quite some time since Bod-Pod XIV: 49 days to be precise. November 18, 2011 was the last time I stepped into the Bod Pod naked. As a consequence of physical injury, exhaustion, the holiday season, and a need to spend money elsewhere, I decided to shutdown the Bod Pod testing for a little while.
That time is now over. Back to work.
I am generally pleased with my latest results. I didn't make massive progress, but I made important progress. A major milestone has fallen: The Bod-Pod software now rates me as member of the healthy category, rather than a member of the moderate risk category.
The facts of the case of are these:
My body weight decreased from 186.898 to 184.754, a net reduction of 2.144 pounds
My body fat decreased from 40.180 pounds to 35.266 pounds, a net reduction of 4.914 pounds
My body lean increased from 146.718 to 149.488, an increase of 2.77 pounds.
My Body Fat Percentage (BFP) is now 19.1%
My Body Lean Percentage (BLP) is now 80.9%
My body volume decreased from 80.731 liters to 79.416 liters, a loss of 1.315 liters.
As I mentioned before on this blog, any BFP between 15% and 20% is considered a healthy BFP. 19.1% qualifies me as a member of the healthy class.
Now it is time to mount the assault on the 15% barrier. This next barrier will put me in the officially athletic category. It is a mark of excellence for a 45 year old man to be ranked as officially athletic by a 100% pure bastard of a testing tool like the Bod Pod. I want that distinction. I want them to pin that medal on my chest.
Just to give you an idea of how difficult it is to move the BFP needle downward, consider the following facts. When I began testing on 5/13/2011, I had 114.09 pounds of fat hanging from my frame. Today, I have only 35.266 pounds of fat clinging to my frame. That is a loss of 78.824 pounds of fat. I lost 69.01% of my total stock of body fat. At the same time, I only succeeded in moving my BFP from 44.1% down to 19.1%. I only reduced my body BFP 25%.
Doesn't seem fair, does it? That just doesn't seem right. How can a guy lose 69.01% of his body fat and only move his BFP downward 25%? This even more problematic when you stop to think that I increased my lean mass 4.928 pounds during that period.
Nevertheless, both of these statements are mathematically true by definition. I lost 69.01% of my total stock of body fat, and it was only sufficient to move my BFP down 25%. I think this is the best possible illustration of what a bitch the Bod Pod test really is. This machine is pretty hard to impress.
I am under no misapprehensions about how easy the next barrier (15%) is going to be to breach. I know it will be hard. The further I go towards perfection, the more elusive it gets, the more effort it takes, and the more time it takes.
Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more! Cry "Havoc!" and let slip the dogs of war!
In order to breach this next barrier, I am seriously considering taking the CrossFit Paeleo challenge. You can read about it here and here. This is all the rage in the CrossFit movement. I have read pretty outlandish claims for this diet & training regime. Just this month, the print magazine Fitness-RX pretty much guaranteed a loss of 10 pounds of pure fat and the addition of 10 pounds of lean in just 30 days, if the program is executed correctly.
Now, I have lost more than 10 pounds of pure fat in a single month. I have done this many times. During the high-tides of summer 2011, I lost about 12 pounds of pure fat each month, every month, month after month. I have the Bod Pod records to prove it. However, I never succeeded in adding 10 pounds of pure lean in any month during this phase of the game.
Many experts will tell you it is damn near impossible to lose fat and gain lean simultaneously. Believe me, I know it. My Bod Pod records will show you that I have lost fat and gained lean simultaneously, once or twice, only to see my lean gains evaporate into thin air under the pressure of further weight loss.
Still, I am going to give this a try. If I succeed, my body weight will remain 184.754 pounds in 30 days, however, I will have only 25.266 pounds of body fat left, and my lean weight will be 159.488 pounds. This will move my BFP all the way down to 13.675481992270803338493347911277%. How about that precision?
Pardon me whilst I gloat for a few moments. I am having a very good day. My team has unloaded Billy Devaney and we have the opportunity to replace him with Bill Polian. That will terminate a whole bunch of dysfunction in our organization, if we can pull it off.
I am rising a loaf of pumpernickel bread in the kitchen, and...
Better still, I purchased a 70 pound Cap Kettlebell and proceeded to worked out like a vicious beast at my gym this evening. This was my drill list
Dumbell bench press
Halo
Swing
Turkish Get Up
Sumo Chin (facing the wall)
Clean and press
I benched with a pair of 70 pound dumbells. The Gireviks are quite correct. The 70 pound dumbell is a lot lighter than 70 pound kettlebell. I would invite you to lift and see. I used my 60 pounder in the Halo, Swing, and Sumo Chin. I used the 70 pounder in the Swing and the Sumo Chin. I can't halo with the 70 pounder just yet. Soon! Very soon!
More important than any of this was my success with the Turkish Get Up. I was able to perform 5 good reps with each arm using the 20lb kettlebell for the first time. For the very first time, I felt as if I was performing this exercise with good control and decent form. I did not bang-up my knee caps, which is an important thing to a surgically repaired dude like me.
Best of all, my hands feel pretty decent. My left feels normal, and my right is just a little numb. I am pretty happy about that.
Furthermore, an unidentified female entered the crossfit gym, and just felt an overwhelming compulsion to man-handle one of my balls. She grabbed the 60 and asked how much it weighed. I told her 60. She felt compelled to try swinging it, and she did a pretty good job for 6 or 7 reps. I was impressed.
You know that is an extremely flirtatious thing to do. She was trying to send the message that she was a good strength match for me. We'll see. I didn't feel a particular synastry reaction with this woman.
Happy New Years to y'all out there. Just a couple of quick notes before I get out there to see what's going on in Woodland Hills tonight.
I'm holding pretty steady at 183-184 pounds. I was one of the few people in America who weighed in 2 pounds lower on December 26. I was 185.4 on Dec 23 and 183 on Dec 26. I took no Sauna during that time. Further, I took my Kettlebells with me to Fresno, and I used them plenty in my Dad's living room. This all bodes extremely well for the New Year's Bod Pod.
There will be a New Year's Bod Pod event on Jan 6th. It's been quite awhile since the last Bod Pod, and it is time for me to see where I stand. I think it is going to be quite positive.
The Kettlebell training is going extremely well, and I am improving greatly. I just had to purchase a 60 pound Kettlebell today because the 24 KG (53 pound) bell at my gym (Woodland Hills Athletic Club) is just too easy. After swinging that bitch 25 time and Sumo-Chinning it another 21, I realized I was going to need a heavier bell.
I was able to do the Halo with the 60 pound ball 5 times in one direction and 5 times in the reverse. That is pretty good for day 1. Not a lot of Gireviks are willing to Halo a 60 pound kettlebell. This is hot. It's manly.
I was able to swing that 60 pounder for 3 sets of 15 reps.
I also did Sumo Chins with the 60 pounder, nailing sets of 15, 12 and 10 reps.
I am sure I can Swing and Sumo Chin a 70 pounder already. I did it over at Busy Body's home fitness. Next week, I will buy the 70 pounder. Not many Gireviks are willing to work with the 70 pound cannon ball. I'm hot. I'm manly.
I discovered the glories of the Hexagonal Deadlift bar this week. I read a piece in Fitness-RX [that quoted results from a UCLA Medical research study on the subject of the Hexagonal Deadlift bar] which turned me on to this subject. The study reported that the Hexagonal Bar immediately improves form, reduces unhealthy stress on the spin, increases lift leverage of the athlete, increases training weights, and generates both more rapid and consistent gains in strength and mass.
Using the Hex bar, I deadlifted 270 pounds for 5 reps last Thursday. I will do more Monday.
I now routinely work with 6 x 45 pound plates on the decline press.
I am now doing the clean and press exercise with the 40 pound Kettlebell. I go all the way from the floor to the sky in two steps: Clean then press.
And now for the dark side of the force. I don't think my Carpal Tunnel is getting better. It is getting worse. Numbness is waking me up early in the morning, but it feels more like pain than numbness. I wake up with pain in my hands despite the fact that I am wearing the cock-splints. The inflammation is so bad it is visible. I am forced to dunk my hands in a mixing bowl full of ice water to bring the inflammation under control.
I'm not to worried about the surgery, because I always believed a surgery was going to be necessary anyhow. This kind of thing doesn't get better without surgery. Once the doc fixes me, I'll shut it down for a bit. Right now, I am concentrating on increasing my raw brute strength just as much as possible.
This is the price we pay. Being this sexy is hard work.
So the results of Bod Pod XIV are in and they are dreadful. Why are they dreadful? Because I lost more lean weight than fat weight over the past three weeks, that's why. I can't view that as anything other than a terrible results. Without further ado, here is the summary grid showing my key changes over the past 21 days.
10/28/2011
11/18/2011
Diff
BFP
22.8
21.5
-1.3
Fat Weight
44.56
40.18
-4.38
Lean Weight
151.14
146.718
-4.422
Total Weight
195.7
186.898
-8.802
Volume
84.781
80.731
-4.05
Just to summarize that in English, here are the bullet points.
My body fat percentage decreased 1.3%, which is good, but my BFP remains at 21.5% which is not healthy. I am still more than 1.5% away from moving the check-box, and I remain 4.5% away from the ultimate goal.
My fat weight reduced 4.38 pounds, which is a paltry average of 0.2 pounds per day.
My lean weight diminished 4.422 pounds, which constitutes a larger average of 0.211 pounds per day.
My total weight decreased 8.802 pounds, but most of it was bad loss.
My body volume decreased 4.05 liters from 84.781 liters to 80.731 liters.
Naturally, anytime you are losing lean faster than fat, you are clearly doing something wrong. Now, I have been dealing with a shoulder injury that has kept me out of the CrossFit gym for the past 7 days. This does not mean I have ceased my workouts. I have continued with the ROM and the Kettlebells, and a few aerobic workouts.
I am hard-pressed to explain how my lean weight could have diminished this way at time when Kettlebell & ROM overload should be providing the stimulus necessary to make Trifecta do it's thing. Understand I am also under the influence of a pro-hormone stack. I should be building lean right now.
Perhaps, I am just not eating enough. Perhaps the solution is more food, not less.
The only really positive note in this report is that my total body volume has reduced to 80.731 liters. When I began testing in May, my body volume was 117.111 liters. This means my volume has decreased some 36.38 liters. That is equal to 9.61 gallons of loss. Think of nine and a half big milk bottles coming out from under my skin and vanishing. That's pretty impressive.
Just 2 x 20 pound kettlebells and 5 minutes of effort. I guarantee this will just about kill yer arse if you put your heart & soul into it. Believe me, it's a lot harder than it looks.
We have just 5 exercises here, each performed for just 60 seconds. The clock gone bad beeps indicating when you are to switch exercises. As always, you don't count reps, you go for time. It's about time, not reps.
Double kettlebell swings
Double front squats
Double presses
Alternate front-leaning rows {I bet you can't do this}
The score a few moments ago was 187.2 English pounds on the Tanita scale. The digital read-out wavered between 187.0 and 187.2 several times before rounding up, as it always does. Let's presume that I am 187.1, and the 2/10ths digital display simply cannot indicate that fact.
The Bod Pod would place me somewhere 186.2-186.25 this morning. That is without any special prep. I did not do an extensive areobic workout last night. I did not do 30 minutes in the saunas at 24 Hour Fitness. I did not purge my intestines with Magnesium Citrate. An official prep for the Bod Pod would put me lower this morning.
I mention all this, because this is the end of another two week Bod Pod cycle, and I have officially missed the test. It was a tough week of finishing Jury Duty and trying to catch up at work after 8 days out of the office. I never found a spare moment between 9:00am and 5:00pm to call the California Health and Longevity Institute to make an appointment.
I mention all of this because two weeks ago, my body weight was 195.7 pounds on the Bod Pod scale. The indication is that I have lost some 9.45 pounds in the past two weeks. This is shocking. When last I blogged on this subject, we were speaking of the point of inflection. We were speaking of that moment when my body weight would cease decreasing, and begin increasing... hopefully with lean-mass only. Low-and-behold: we have a massive 9.45 pound decrease in gross body weight at the end of this cycle.
God only knows what this did to my Body Fat Percentage (BFP). I wish I knew. I bitterly regret not having a test this week. It might have been a dandy. Presuming that this was all fat weight, my body fat would have dropped from 44.56 pounds to 35.11 pounds. 35.11 / 186.25 = 18.85%. This is astounding. I might actually have moved the check-box to Healthy territory, and I might be just 1.85% away from my final and ultimate medical goal.
This is all the more shocking because I have largely abandoned the aerobics machines that have brought be most of the distance. I only walked on the tread mill once last week. I only got on the bike twice last week. I only got on the Elliptical Cross-Trainer once last week. I only did the Olympic Rowing Machine twice last week.
To make matters more interesting, I did ZERO CrossFit workouts last week. Now why the limited amount of work? Because I encountered a substantial training injury to my right shoulder doing head-stand push-ups last Saturday at the CrossFit gym.
I did train last week. I did a dumbbell workout with Aaron on Thursday, and I did a killer WOD routine here at the apartment with my ROM machine and some Kettlebells that I have recently purchased. Those were brutal workouts. My heart rate went over 170 during the Kettlebell swing, I am sure.
I am going to add one more piece of complexity to the picture for you: I have fallen in love with the Del Taco Macho Bacon and Egg Burrito all over again. According to one source, this burrito contains approximately 1,030 kcal per shot. That's a load of kcal energy, buddy.
Yet at the same time all of this has been going on, I know my strength has been increasing. I am officially swinging, cleaning, and rowing the 20 KG kettlebell, doing orbits with 16 kg, and doing the Turkish Get Up with the 8 KG bell.
The Kettlebell has become my new obsession, and a powerful one at that. If you were to read Enter the Kettlebell! by Pavel Tsatsouline (an August 23, 1969 Virgo guy from Russia) you will find that a simple regime consisting of 5 minutes of Kettlebell Swings and 5 minutes of Turkish Get Ups done once every other day is all he recommends for a beginner. Don't count reps, go for 5 solid minutes with good form. He claims that is enough to get your strength moving northward and your body fat moving southward.
Evidently, the Kettlebell Swing and the TGU are the two master exercises in the Kettlebell regime. They are just as important in Kettlebell training as the Deadlift and Squat are in the Powerlifter's regime. These are the two exercises a Kettlebell student must master and perform all the time.
Further, this two exercise regime will trigger plenty of fat loss without "the dishonor" of aerobic exercise. Pavel is very derisive of those metro-sexual machines. Men should be playing with cannonballs, not girly bikes and treadmills. The comrade-ladies should also be using Kettlebells to meet their fitness needs.
It sounds preposterous, I know. That just can't be enough work to get the job done. However, in this week of recovery from injury, I seem to have inadvertently proven his point. Now, I did more than that. There were other Kettlebell exercises. Further, there was the good 'ole ROM machine. However, the Kettlebells in my living room were the big, big, big change item.
I am in love with Kettlebells!
So it's a bit late for this sort of entry, but the score this morning was 189.4. It would seem that I am now officially below the 190 point, and it looks like this is gonna stick. If it does, this will constitute the lowest fixed weight of my adult life.
CrossFit is having an impact. I nailed a CrossFit workout on 6 of the 7 days of this past week. I kicked it off with the Dark Horse CrossFit group on Sunday hit four in a row on Wednesday.
On Thursday, recovery from Diarrhea and my evening attempt to get out of jury duty caused me to miss both the 4:30pm and 5:30pm classes. I did an old-fashioned bike/elliptical workout for 45 minutes, netting 617 kcal, so Thursday was not a day of rest.
I went straight back to work on Friday 5:30pm, nailing my best workout of the week. I was back in the gym 14 hours later for the 9:30am class this morning. Unfortunately, today's workout was the worst of the week. My own personal jump rope snapped on the first exercise of the "Buy-In" phase. This was an ill-omen. In the workout phase, we attempted to perform hand-stand push-ups. This advanced calisthenic was categorically out of the question. It killed my right shoulder. I might need Dr. Bachner to O-Scope my shoulder before I can do a workout like that.
Easy come, easy go. You win some and you lose some. This morning's travesty was one bad workout among many good ones.
The upshot is complicated:
I am working out a lot less than in past months. The clock-time of the WOD seldom exceeds 20 minutes, and is often less.
The intensity of that workout is vastly higher than in past months. A typical WOD is more intense than even a full-cycle ROM workout. If you work hard at it, you will be out of gas by the end of those 20 minutes.
I spend a lot more time in recovery than working out. I need to spend time cooling off, stretching, warming up, on the roller, in a hot shower, in the sauna, getting a foot massage, etc.
I was forced to begin a second cycle of LG Sciences Trifecta stack. This is a prohormone stack that is the next best thing to illegal steroids. It should be noted that Trifecta is totally legal and over-the-counter at your local Vitamin Shoppe. It works almost as well as Dianabol, according to some experts I know. Pink Magic wasn't cutting the mustard. It just wasn't possible to recover between workouts, and sustain the intensity of CrossFit without Trifecta. I really appreciate what Trifecta did for me last summer now.
Even with Trifecta, the aches and pains are rife. No pain no gain. Usually, where there is pain, there is gain. I must be doing something right. I am absolutely improving in all of the different exercises, especially the 200 meter and 400 meter sprints.
The girlies are checking me out in the CrossFit gym. I caught two of them examining me as I was doing pull-ups the other day. Pull-ups really show my wing-span. Both of these girls looked away with a degree of embarrassing when I caught them. There were big glowing smiles on their faces prior to that moment.
This morning, the ambient air temperature here in Woodland Hills/Canoga Park was around 50 degrees. I felt the cold very sharply. In fact, I felt it all night long. I now lack the insulating fat layer that used to protect me from such mild cold weather. This reminds me of my time in Europe, immediately after Army Basic and AIT. After dropping to 192 pounds, I found myself in Mannheim West Germany (when there was a West Germany) right around the time when the weather began turning cold. That first winter in Germany almost killed me. You take a California kid, strip him of his protective fat layer, station him in the snow, and I guarantee you he will freeze.
I hesitate to even mention this, but the guys at work decided to roll out the Halloween video from 2010, and they were showing it yesterday. The court room was dark this Friday, so I was back at work for a single day. This video captured me in all my glory at 330 pounds. That was more than 140 pounds ago.
A certain Pisces dude named Eric (3/12/1981) decided to show me the video on his iPhone. Just as many have commented, he said I am now unrecognizable. Although I have known Eric for some four years now, he mentioned that it is hard to believe I was ever that large.
Looking at the video sent cold chills down my spine, and made my hair stand on end. How did I ever live and survive at that weight? I don't know how I was able to move around at all and carry that weight on my bad knee. No wonder I can run now.
Someday, after taking some high def video of me performing a CrossFit WOD, I may put that Halloween video up for display here. I'll put it side-by-side with the CrossFit video so you can get a before and after look. You will find it shocking, I am sure.
So the score a few moments ago was 191.6 English pounds on the Tanita scale. This would probably put me somewhere around 190.7X on the Bod Pod this morning.
Jury Duty continues to disrupt my workout schedule and my diet. I have had no noon-time workouts during the past 5 work days. I won't get one in today either. Worse still, I had Burger King for lunch yesterday. It was among the worst meals I ever ate. It made my stomach hurt, and I haven't had that kind of discomfort in several months now.
The good news is that I have hit 3 consecutive days of CrossFit workouts, starting last Sunday. The Halloween workout was particularly brutal. Coach figured only the most hardcore yahoos would show up for a CrossFit workout instead of going to a Halloween party. He naturally tried to kill us with a cardio workout that would take-out a triathlete.
The big news is that I am adapting to the stress of the CrossFit workout really well. When I first started doing CrossFit, I was sore in all kinds of places I hadn't felt in 20 years. My right knee and my right foot were sore and swollen as hell. I am told this is all perfectly normal. Whenever anyone starts doing CrossFit, said individual usually goes through these types of adjustment problems. I am getting the pain and the soreness under control now.
Just how do you control the pain and the soreness of the CrossFit workout? This is how I have done it:
You have to take the warm-up exercises super-seriously. Go all-out during warm-ups.
You have to do cool-down stretches.
During cool-down, the foam roller is your best friend. You must roll-out your hamstrings and calf muscles. Your calves will be shot to pieces by the jump rope. Your hamstrings will be shot to pieces from over-head squats, thrusters, and wall-ball. If you don't roll them out immediately after the workout, you will be sore the next day. The foam roller works wonders.
You must take a recovery drink immediately after the cool down. That recovery drink must contain carbohydrate. Further, it must contain more carbohydrate than protein. It cannot be a pure protein drink. Iso-Pure 50 won't get it done. If you don't restore your muscle glycogen, you will be sore the next day.
I head down the street immediately after the CrossFit work-out and spend 30 minutes in the saunas at 24 Hour Fitness. I spend 15 minutes in the Steam Sauna and 15 minutes in the Dry Sauna. I shower-off with the coldest water possible between Saunas. Alternating heat and cold helps flush lactic acid out of the muscles.
If you will do all of this, you will be tired the next day, but you won't walk like a crippled man. You will be okay and ready to do it again 24 hours later.
So, Bod Pod XIII went down yesterday morning around 9:00am. I had no Jury duty due to the super-confab of Superior Court Judges that happened down town yesterday. The Court schedule was dark. What were the results of the test?
There were only 13 days in this cycle.
We did reach the point of inflection
My total body weight increased from 190.664 to 195.7 pounds. This is an increase of 5.036 pounds.
My lean mass increased from 146.95 to 151.14 pounds. This is an increase of 4.19 pounds.
Shockingly enough, my fat weight also increased from 43.714 to 44.56 pounds. This is an increase of 0.846 pounds,
Interestingly enough, my body fat percentage decreased from 22.9 to 22.8. This is a reduction of 0.1% percent. Yes, it's paltry, I know.
My body volume increased from 82.627 liters to 84.78 liters. This is an increase of 2.153 liters
Fate %
Fat Weight
Lean Weight
Body Weight
Volume
10/15/2011
22.9
43.714
146.95
190.664
82.627
10/18/2011
22.8
44.56
151.14
195.7
84.78
-0.1
0.846
4.19
5.036
2.153
Of course, I am not happy about picking up 0.846 pounds of fat, but the 4.19 pound gain of lean was downright thrilling. I have finally exceeded 150 pounds of lean mass. Not only this, I have finally exceeded the 151 I was hoping for weeks ago.
This is an excellent sign. It indicates several things. First and foremost, it indicates that the CrossFit training is working extremely well. It also means that the weight lifting sessions with Aaron are also working. This sets me up for much better and more rapid weight loss in the weeks to come. The more lean mass you have, the higher your BMR/RMR.
Now for some reality noise:
This morning, my weight dropped to 192.6 pounds on the Tanita scale. As you know, it would be lower on the Bod Pod.
Yesterday the Tanita vs. Bod Pod variance was very high, the highest figure seen yet. The Tanita said 196.6. The Bod Pod indicated 195.7. This is a variance of 0.9 of a pound.
This means I lost 4 pounds over night.
This is enough to annihilate nearly all of my lean gain.
This was the first Bod Pod test that I did not prep for.
In each of the 12 Bod Pod tests prior to this one, I would do extensive preparation the night before the test. I would do my longest and best workout of the cycle. I would do 30 minutes in the dry and steam saunas to shed excess water weight. I would get a massage and pop two Tylenol tabs to bring down inflammation further. I would purge my intestines with Magnesium Citrate.
My brother's band played at The Mint in West Los Angeles Thursday night. Rather than prep for the test on Thursday night, I went to see him play. This little adventure is a story I will tell you about some other time.
All of this casts doubt upon the results of Bod Pod XIII. Without the normal prep before the test, there is no telling how much of this weight increase is just water retention and fecal matter. On other hand, you could argue that these test results are more reflective of David on a normal day, not less. Ergo, they are more valid and not less valid. Still, the rapid drop this morning casts doubt on the entire weight figure.
In short, if we were in a court of law, we would have more than a reasonable doubt about these results. I may have simply tested on an exceptionally heavy day. Further, I think this is clearly the case. 194.4 seems to have been my most common weight over the last several weeks. 196.6 and 195.7 are clearly exceptionally heavy weights for me these days.
Nevertheless, one thing is exceptionally clear: We have reached the point of inflection. The sign of the trajectory on this curve has flipped. It has been negative, trending down. It is now positive and trending upward. Regardless of whether my weight is 194.4 or 192.6, my weight is now higher than it was 13-14 days ago.
I am not worried about this, as the indicator points towards a big increase in lean weight. This is good and wonderful, and precisely what I have been looking for.
