John Hansens Training Diary Week of January 20th 2008

by: John Hansen - January 23rd, 2008

John Hansen’s Training Diary – Week of Jan. 20, 2008

Monday, Jan. 21, 2008
OK, I’m back from vacation! It was beautiful out in Costa Rica, the temperature was in the high 80’s and low 90’s, sunny every day and very tropical. The house we rented was incredible, right off the beach with fantastic scenery. What a shock it was to come back to ZERO degree weather on Saturday! Talk about back to reality!!

As expected, my weight went WAY up during my week long vacation. After all these years of heavy weight training and bulking up, I can gain weight so easily now. Fortunately, I have gained weight and lost weight so often over the last 20 years that it is pretty easy for me to get back in shape.

My weight on the day I left for Costa Rica on Saturday, January 12th was 217.5 with my waist at 36”. After a week of eating and drinking like, well, like I was on vacation I guess, my weight on Saturday, January 19th was 229 pounds with with waist at 37”! Wow!

By the next day, my bodyweight had dropped to 225.5 pounds and the waist was still at 37”, which is way too big for me. I didn’t really go back on a strict diet on Sunday but I wasn’t going crazy like when I was on vacation.

Today, my weight was still at 225 but the waist was down a little to 36 ¾”. It should be interesting to see how much of the extra weight and waist size is water and how much is fat. Needless to say, I am 100% back on the diet and back into the training as of today so I’ll see where I am at by the end of the week.

I had to train by myself today because Matt’s schedule was different than mine. After a full week off from the weights, I didn’t really push it today and I just went very moderate because I know I’m going to be sore from this workout even from just doing a little bit. Here is how the workout went:

Bench Press 135x15, 225x10, 225x8, 225x7
Incline DB Press 85x12, 100x7, 100x6
Flyes 70x10, 70x10, 70x8
Tricep Pushdowns 80x12, 100x10, 100x10
Lying Tricep Ext. 100x10, 110x8, 110x8
Dips BWx8, BWx6
Seated Calf Raises 100x15, 150x10, 150x10
Standing Calf Raises 320x12, 400x10, 400x10

Cardio – Treadmill – 13minutes – 3.2 mph @ 7.5 incline
140 BPM after cardio

I went through this workout really fast because I was training by myself. I knew my strength would be down this week so I just went really fast and I completed the whole workout in less than 60 minutes. This is about half the time it would take to normally complete this workout.

I also started doing cardio today. I haven’t done cardio in so long that I only did 13 minutes on the treadmill to get started. I’m probably going to do 3-4 days a week of cardio each week. I’ll do it right after all my upper body training days and then do it one day on the weekend also. Time to get the fat-burning started!!

Here is what I ate today. I am cutting out the drink I was having during my workout just to cut back a little more on the calories and carbs. I did cheat a little by having the Mini-Bag of Popcorn but I think I might cut back on this treat too, at least until I get much, much leaner.

Meal 1 – 1 egg, 9 egg whites, 1 cup of oatmeal, ½ cup blueberries
Meal 2 – Pre-Workout – 1 scoop Whey Gold, 1 serving creatine
Meal 3 – Post-Workout – 2 scoops 2:1:1 Recovery, 1 serving creatine
Meal 4 – 4.2 oz lean ground turkey, 126 grams sweet potato, 3.14 oz broccoli
Meal 5 – Protein Drink consisting of 1 scoop Pro Complex, 1 scoop Egg Protein, 1 T. flaxseed oil
Meal 6 – 4.2 oz pepper steak, ½ cup green peas
Meal 7 – Protein Drink consisting of 1 scoop Pro Complex, 1 scoop Casein Protein
Meal 8 – Protein Drink consisting of 2 scoops Casein Protein, 1 T. flaxseed oil and Mini-Bag Popcorn

Today’s diet came out to 2643 calories with 304 grams of protein, 236 grams of carbs and 57 grams of fat. This breaks down to 46% protein, 36% carbs and 19% fats.

Tuesday, Jan 22, 2008
My weight today was down to 221 pounds and the waist went down some more to 36 ½”. That means I’ve lost 8 pounds and a half inch off my waist in only three days. It was obvious that some of the weight gain was water. I’ll see where I’m at by Saturday.

I was going to go to the gym this morning after breakfast but my eye was really bothering me. It was hurting last night but I thought maybe it was just irritated from my contact lens but, when it was still hurting this morning, I knew it had to be more than that. I called my optometrist and he was able to get me in at 11:00am.

I told Matt that I would not be able to workout with my eye bothering me so much. We were planning on going tomorrow to train legs.

My eye doctor told me that I actually scratched the cornea of my upper eye and every time I blinked, I was irritating it. He helped correct the problem by putting a soft contact lens in my bad eye (I usually wear hard contact lenses). This covered up the scratch so I was not irritating it every time I blinked.

Since I was feeling much better when I left the office, I called Matt and told him I could train today. We went to the gym at 2:30 in the afternoon to train legs.

Just like yesterday, I went very moderate because I knew that even a moderate workout would be enough to be effective after a week off. Here is how the workout went:

Hanging Knee Raises BWx30, BWx25
Kneeling Cable Crunches 150x25, 150x20
Leg Extensions (Flex) 150x15, 180x15, 210x12
Squats (2 sec. Pause – Bench) 135x12, 225x8, 275x8, 275x8
Hack Squats (1 ½ reps) 180x8, 230x8, 230x7
DB Leg Curls (Decline Bench) 55x10, 65x6, 65x6
Stiff-leg Deadlifts 135x12, 185x10

Wow, I was really wiped out after this workout! It’s amazing how only one week off from the gym can make such a big difference! We only went up to 275 on Squats today, going all the way down and sitting on the bench and then holding that position for 2 seconds before coming back up.

We went pretty moderate on Hack Squats also, doing the 1 ½ reps technique. Matt and I were wiped out after finishing the Squats and Hacks.

For hamstrings, we did DB Leg Curls on a bench with a slight decline. I had on my work boots that I always wear when training legs and it was hard to hold onto the dumbbell but I got in my three sets. Since we were so trashed at this point in the workout, we only did 2 sets of Stiff leg Deadlifts.

For my diet, I kept it about the same as yesterday. I’ll really lower the carbs tomorrow on my off day. I stayed away from the Popcorn today though.

Meal 1 – 1 egg, 9 egg whites, 1 cup of oatmeal, ½ cup blueberries
Meal 2 – Protein Drink consisting of 1 scoop Pro Complex, 1 scoop Egg Protein and 1 T. flaxseed oil
Meal 3 – Pre-workout – 1 scoop Whey Gold, 1 serving creatine
Meal 4 – Post-workout – 2 scoops 2:1:1 Recovery, 1 serving creatine
Meal 5 – Protein Drink consisting of 1 scoop Pro Complex, 1 scoop Casein Protein
Meal 6 – 4.23 oz lean ground turkey, 162 grams sweet potato, 3.35 oz broccoli
Meal 7 – 6 oz marinated salmon, 1 cup green beans
Meal 8 – Protein Drink consisting of 2 scoops Casein Protein, 1 T. flaxseed oil

Today’s diet came out to 2757 calories with 314 grams of protein, 221 grams of carbs and 68 grams of fats. This breaks down to 46% protein, 32% carbohydrates and 22% fats. Good training day today!

Wednesday, Jan. 23, 2008
Today was my day off from the gym. My weight this morning was still at 221 pounds and the waist is still at 36 ½”. I missed a meal later at night so my protein was a little low and my calories were probably about 200 less than they should be for a typical off day. Here is what I ate today:
Meal 1 – 1 egg, 9 egg whites, 1 cup of oatmeal, ½ cup blueberries
Meal 2 – Protein Drink consisting of 1 scoop of Pro Complex, 1 scoop Casein Protein, 1 T. flaxseed oil
Meal 3 – 4 oz lean ground turkey, 153 grams sweet potato, 2.93 oz broccoli
Meal 4 – Protein Drink consisting of 1 scoop Pro Complex, 1 scoop Egg Protein, 1 t. natural peanut butter
Meal 5 – 4.41 oz pepper steak, ½ cup green peas
Meal 6 – Protein Drink consisting of 2 scoops Casein Protein, 1 T. flaxseed oil and Mini-Bag Popcorn

Today’s diet came out to 2220 calories with 238 grams of protein, 160 grams of carbohydrates and 59 grams of fats. This breaks down to 43% protein, 29% carbs and 24% fat. My carbohydrate percentage would have been lower if I would have had another protein drink, which would have increased my protein intake. Back to the gym tomorrow!

Thursday, Jan. 24, 2008
My bodyweight was down another couple of pounds today to 219.5 pounds. I have lost about ten pounds in only five days since I got back from vacation. Unbelievable! Unfortunately, the waist is still stuck at 36 ½”. Hopefully, I can get it to 36” in the next couple of weeks.

I did my yoga today and went to the gym to train delts, traps and calves. I decided to do my Seated Military Presses the traditional way, just straight up and down without the 1 ½ reps technique. I felt like I was getting in a slump with the 1 ½ reps so I thought I would change it up.
Just like on Monday and Tuesday’s workout, I just kept the weights moderate and didn’t push it too much. I will go gradually a little heavier each week over the next six weeks so there is no need to go crazy the first week. Here is how the workout went today at the gym:

Seated Military Press 95x15, 135x12, 165x8, 175x8
Side Lateral Raises 40x12, 45x10, 45x9, 45x8
Bent-Over Lateral Raises 35x10, 40x8, 40x8
Seated Barbell Shrugs 225x12, 315x10, 365x8, 365x8
Donkey Calf Raises 190 plus 45 lbs x 25 reps, 190 plus 90 lbs x 20 reps, 190 plus 135 lbs x 20 reps
Leg Press Calf Raises 450x12, 540x12, 540x10

Cardio – 15 minutes on Treadmill, 3.2 mph @ 8.0 incline
140 bpm at the conclusion of the cardio

My diet today was on schedule. I kept the carbs under 220 grams and the protein was almost up to 300 grams. Here is what I ate today:

Meal 1 – 1 egg, 9 egg whites, 1 cup of oatmeal, ½ cup blueberries
Meal 2 – Pre-Workout – 1 scoop Whey Gold, 1 serving creatine
Meal 3 – Post-Workout – 2 scoops 2:1:1 Recovery, 1 serving creatine
Meal 4 – 4.27 oz lean ground turkey, 153 grams sweet potato, 3.07 oz broccoli
Meal 5 – Protein Drink consisting of 1 scoop Pro Complex, 1 scoop Casein Protein, 1 T. flaxseed oil
Meal 6 – 6 oz marinated salmon, 1 cup green beans
Meal 7 – 8 egg whites, 1 t. natural peanut butter
Meal 8 – Protein Drink consisting of 2 scoops Casein Protein, 1 T. flaxseed oil

Today’s diet came out to 2808 calories with 297 grams of protein, 219 grams of carbohydrates and 74 grams of fat. The breakdown for today’s diet is 42% protein, 31% carbs and 24% fats.

Friday, Jan. 25, 2008
My weight today was about the same as yesterday, 219 pounds with the waist still at 36 ½”. I trained back and biceps in the morning but I skipped cardio today. I was starting to feel a little “under the weather” all day so I didn’t want to make things worse by doing cardio. Here is how the workout went today:

Close-Grip Pulldowns 130x12, 180x8
Wide-Grip Chins BWx9, BWx8
One-Arm DB Rows 100x12, 120x10, 120x10
T-Bar Rows 4 plates x 10, 5 plates x 8, 5 plates x 8
Hyper-Ext. BWx20, 45x15 followed by BWx12 x 2 sets
Alternate DB Curls 45x10, 55x8, 55x7
Barbell Preacher Curls 80x10, 90x8, 100x6

This was a pretty easy workout today. I went a little lighter on everything to get my body adjusted to training again. I only did 2 sets of chin-ups today because these really felt tough. Decent overall workout.

Meal 1 – 1 egg, 9 egg whites, 1 cup of oatmeal, ½ cup blueberries
Meal 2 – (Pre-workout) – 1 scoop Whey Gold, 1 serving creatine
Meal 3 – (During Workout) – 1 serving Vassive EA8, 1 serving Waxy Maize
Meal 4 – (Post-workout) – 2 scoops 2:1:1 Recovery, 1 serving creatine
Meal 5 – 4.16 oz lean ground turkey, 145 grams sweet potato, 3.95 oz broccoli
Meal 6 – Protein Drink consisting of 1 scoop Pro Complex, 1 scoop Egg Protein, 1 T. flaxseed oil
Meal 7 – 4.13 oz pepper steak, ½ cup green peas
Meal 8 – Protein Drink consisting of 1 scoop Pro Complex, 1 scoop Casein protein
Meal 9 – Protein Drink consisting of 2 scoops Casein Protein, 1 T. flaxseed oil

Today’s diet came out to 2780 calories with 291 grams of protein, 258 grams of carbs and 54 grams of fat. I included a drink during my workout today which I was skipping all week. I felt like I was dragging a little today so I needed it.

Saturday, Jan. 26, 2008
My bodyweight was down another pound today to 218 pounds but the damn waist is still the same at 36 ½”. I was hoping the waist would drop down a little bit more before the end of the week. So, in the week since I got back from my vacation, my bodyweight has dropped 11 pounds and my waist has decreased by ½ an inch. I need to really hit the cardio and the diet hard next week to get this waist down.

I was off training today, which was good since I had a slight head cold all day. I felt it coming on yesterday and it hit me today. Hopefully, I can get rid of it this weekend before the new weeks starts.

I had a Harvest Granola bar today and that brought my carbs up higher than usual for a day off. I also missed a meal so my protein intake was much lower than normal.

Meal 1 – 1 egg, 9 egg whites, 1 cup of oatmeal, ½ cup blueberries
Meal 2 – 4.34 oz lean ground turkey, 143 grams sweet potato, 2.86 oz broccoli, Harvest Granola Bar
Meal 3 – Protein Drink consisting of 1 scoop Pro Complex, 1 scoop Casein protein, 1 T. flaxseed oil
Meal 4 – 6 oz marinated salmon, 1 cup green beans
Meal 5 – 8 egg whites, Mini-Bag Popcorn, 1 t. peanut butter
Meal 6 – Protein Drink consisting of 2 scoops of Casein Protein, 1 T. flaxseed oil

My total calories were 2458 calories with 243 grams of protein, 182 grams of carbohydrates and 76 grams of fat. This breaks down to 40% protein, 30% carbohydrates and 28% fat. If I would have had another protein drink and I would have skipped the granola bar, I think my percentages would have been more like the 50% protein, 25% carbs and 25% fats that it should have been.

My total calorie average for the week (actually 6 days, from Monday to Saturday) was 2611 calories and my average carb intake for the week was 213 grams of carbs. I think I’m going to focus on lowering my average carb intake next week to lower my stored bodyfat.

More next week!

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