Hot out of the gates on day one. Here’s how it all went down:
Started the day off with taking the first set of supplements before breakfast. Didn’t yet have the cissus so had to skip that, but took the alpha-lipoic acid and creatine and got going on the l-glutamine loading. They were all pretty benign tasting which was pleasant to find out because the green supplement I take is pretty brutal.
Made my shake for breakfast and that went down easy as usual (been on an all liquid breakfast for about a year now) but the bagel with PB was another story. Overall breakfast is really sweet tasting with the PB bagel and chocolate shake so we’ll see if adjustments need to be made there. 1200 calories under my belt by 10AM - here we go.
As it was the first day I took some initial photos, measurements, and even went to get a DEXA scan. Results and comments:
Photos: Initial photos below of the front, back, and side posted below. Probably the most muscular I’ve ever been going into this program but certainly not the leanest. Taking these photos will never cease to be weird but truly one of the best ways to visualize progress.
Measurements: Total body inches coming in at 138.75” broken down as follows:
Left bicep: 12.5”
Right bicep: 13”
Waist (at navel): 33”
Hips (widest part): 38”
Left thigh: 21.25”
Right thigh: 21”
Dexa Scan: My full results can be seen through the link here. In summary, I’m 169.5 lbs, 14% body fat, and lean body mass of 139.4 lbs. My right arm and left leg are bigger than their counterparts, with my legs being within the standard deviations but my arms not so much, indicating some need for more balanced training in the arms. My visceral fat is quite low at 4.28 cubic inches which is an indicator of good health so I was pleased to see that along with an average bone density of 1.173 BMD.
The Dexa numbers were a bit surprising as earlier in the day my scale at home read 163.8 lbs and 10.1% body fat. That digital scale is a bioimpedance scale so I expected it to be off on the body fat percentage but was surprised when it was off by 4% and when the weight was off by 5 lbs. The tech where I took the DEXA scan said that was pretty normal given I had a meal in between the two measurements and given they are usually off by a few percent anyway.
After getting the measurements I went to the gym and completed the first push workout. Holy shit, I never knew doing one set to failure of only five exercises could be so hard. When you really focus on the 5/5 cadence and really push until you have nothing left, and then continue to push without moving anything, it really really burns! I broke more of a sweat doing those five sets than I lately have been doing nearly 20 sets a session in the gym. Interested to see how sore I am tomorrow - I could really feel an intense pump during the session. Details on the exercises, weights, and reps here:
Exercise 1 - Incline Chest Press: Set machine seat to position 5.5, found 70 lb 5RM which equates to 50 lb working set weight (70% of 5RM) - 10.3 reps
Exercise 2 - Shoulder Press: Set machine seat to position 6, 80 lb 5RM, 50 lb working set - 11.2 reps
Exercise 3 - Pec Deck: Set machine seat to 6, handles to 1, 110 lb 5RM, 75 lb working set - 11.4 reps
Exercise 4 - Leg Press: Set machine seat to lowest position, 260 lb 5RM, 180 lb working set - 14.8 reps
Exercise 5 - Calf Raises: Set machine seat to position 3, 100 lb 5RM, 70 lb working set - 10.5 reps
The rest of the day I continued with the supplements and feedings as scheduled. The lunch and dinner were both huge and took some time to take down but overall I was able to make it happen with little discomfort. Topped out at about 4000 calories for the day. I think the last time I did that was when I played wizard staffs in college the afternoon after taking down a huge breakfast at the local diner and topping it all off with dominos pizza. A little worried about how the next couple days will go as we start to repeat meals and I lose some of the initial excitement I have here on day one, but I think I can make it based on the first day feels.
Finished the day off with mobility work focusing on the muscles worked today (pecs, delts, quads, hams, calfs) and slipped in some ab work at the end with myotic crunches and cat vomits (both detailed in The Four Hour Body).
