Technology being used for its true purpose...

**Boomstick** · Posted On: 1/11/2005 10:36pm

Excel is now being put to its intended purpose of enabling me to layout and track the process of making myself leaner, stronger, and healthier. I have laid out the next 21 weeks of training down to the exercise, number of sets, and number of reps. I know that this makes me a double geek in the worst way, a computer geek for going through with using excel for such purposes, and a gym geek for being "that guy" writing down and tracking the progress... but who cares, I'll be better off for it by the end.

Currently,
5'10" (won't change given I am 23)
164 lbs
13% body-fat

Estimated End Point
185 lbs
8% body-fat

If anyone is interested in the excel file that I am using I'd be happy to share it with anyone. There are two weeks of rest place in at week 8 and week 16 for general full recovery. It does require a number of days in the gym each week,
but, if my undergrad at Penn State using similar workouts is any indicator, it will be very effective. Of course you could feel free to tweek it as well...

If I add in a progress calculator or a diet sheet I will keep you posted. Any other suggestions as to incorporating the use of technology in my venture.

**VikingPower** · Posted On: 1/11/2005 10:41pm

Writing the stuff down is the best thing you can do. BtW, where at in the Burgh do you live? From your styles listed, you probably train at either PFC or Iron City Gym I take it.

**chaosexmachina** · Posted On: 1/11/2005 11:59pm

I'm about 5'9.5"
and 155 lbs
(almost 20)

Do you think I'll srput up another half inch or two? mabe put on a few more pounds? Heh.
What are you planning to do to get to your goal weight and BF % ?

**PizDoff** · Posted On: 1/12/2005 1:14am

Planning it out exactly is kinda strange, but writing it down afterwards in a lifting log is excellent.

How are you tracking your cals? FitDay? Other online calculator?

**Moleculo** · Posted On: 1/12/2005 1:15am

Originally Posted by Koto_Ryu

Writing the stuff down is the best thing you can do.

Wow, cool now I don't have to train anymore.

**Boomstick** · Posted On: 1/12/2005 1:34am

Well now... let me try and answer some of these questions here...

Although I am from the Burgh Region, I am really from a Zelienople, and have trained in terms of MA with some private schools for the most part but very reputable. A.k.a., our second or third belts would dominate reds and blacks from TKD/Karate McDojo's etc, and even did better than expected against more reputable opponents.

CSM, sorry to say, but after 19, it becomes rather rare for any more height, good luck with it, but dont count on it. As for the weight adding on, you can do that. I am personally working on high-intensity routines. I talk a lot about power lifting around here, and while I don't make it the focus of my training, I do add it in as it has allowed me to gain a great deal of mass and power and trim down while doing it. Mixing it up week to week, basically enables me to work on keeping muscle endurance and speed as well... Like they say, be like the "Well Rounded Block" or Pooh Bear for those who have read the Tao of Pooh.

Calories and food intake are just eyeballed for now to make sure I get roughly the right amount of carbs and protein each day while watching the fats and sugar carbs. Done this before, and did pretty well just by the estimation (last time was 2 years back and was 187 with maybe 8-9% body fat). This time I will do the healthy eyeball thing for most of the program I have laid out, then in the last 5-6 weeks I will really trim it down to number and see how far I can really go.

I'll keep you posted...

**PizDoff** · Posted On: 1/12/2005 1:40am

So apparently you have been there before, why did it slip?

**Quikfeet509** · Posted On: 1/12/2005 8:45am

i used to use excel for my diet plan (back when i was too serious about it). although now that i got to 205 at 5'9'', i am thinking of cutting down to 185 because my focus is changing from being [relatively] big to training for MMA....not that i will ever compete, it's just that it would make training easier.

good luck gaining weight. i used to have the hardest time doing it. i know it isn't part of the body builder diet to eat plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables, but it is a good idea, especially if you are training hard.

**Quikfeet509** · Posted On: 1/12/2005 8:47am

and about being a computer geek...i used to have my workouts and an MP3 player on my old pocket PC. so i would pull it out, put in my reps and weight after ever set (so that i wouldn't miss anything), then change music.

now that is kinda lame. although it did update my workout and diet logs everytime i sync-d to my computer.

**Boomstick** · Posted On: 1/12/2005 9:16am

Eh, weight slipped largely due to lack of time... It is hard to eat enough and stay in the gym to keep the weight on sometimes. It became very hard my senior year as I was writing a 140 page thesis on State Interventions in Cases of Failing Public School Districts.

As for the diet, I do keep fruits and vegies in the diet, and surprisingly enough many regimens actually call for you to keep it in the diet. I also do the multi-vitamin thing just to make sure I can get some form of extra nutrients. I know the real food is better for you but I figure that can cover the difference. Especially b/c it is hard to afford bountiful feasts for 5-6 meals a day when you are a lowly graduate student in Philadelphia... which is where I am at now at the Univ. of Penn. I can't complain though, as UPenn has a four floor gym that is ridiculously huge and nice...

Ah, and as for gaining weight, I have been pretty successful with it, the key though is that you really do have to eat well and adding in some protein shakes and meal replacement things, in addition to a number of real meal foods was key. From there it was just making sure to be very active in the gym to keep it all lean when it adds on.