My Favorite Meal

6oz of chicken breast with onions, baby spinach, half a cup of almonds/mixed or two tablespoons of peanut butter. Can't go wrong there.

-A.W.

"Becoming Superhuman" Progress Test

I've been doing this program for two weeks now, and it was time to do an exhaustion test to see where my progress is at and come up with new starting points for the weeks to come. Here were my results:

-Push-ups: maxed out at 45 reps
-Pull-ups: maxed out at 16 reps (I was really disappointed with this)
-Dips: maxed out 22 reps
-Horizontal rows: maxed out at 22 reps
-100pd military press: maxed out at 20 reps
-225pd barbell shrug: maxed out at 25 reps

I have mixed emotions about my progress, but its progress nonetheless. I will make adjustments as needed and continue on to reach my goals. "Go hard everyday, ALL DAY."

-A.W.

Timing Workouts = Faster Gains

" Muscle strength and short term power output peak in the early evening (4-6pm) which coincides with daily maximum body temperature. Pain tolerance (at least for arthritis and fibromyalgia) is also highest between 4-5pm."
 -Based off of research in Chronobiology with an average waking time of 8:00am, this corresponds to 8-10 hours after waking. In other words, want to add two to three repetitions to your exercises? workout 8-10 hours after you wake up.

-A.W.

How to Binge and lose fat + Day 3 of "Becoming Superhuman"

This is what I ate yesterday for my cheat day:

You can do the same and LOSE fat by following 3 basic principles:

1. minimize the release of insulin (a storage hormone) by ensuring your first meal is not a cheat meal and is high in protein and insoluble fiber; drink small quantities of fructose, fruit sugar, and citric juices before your second meal and throughout the day.

2. Increase how quickly food exits the stomach through caffeine, yerba mate tea, and other athletic greens (I drink green tea).

3. Engage in brief muscular contraction before and/or after each meal for 60-90 seconds (I usually do prisoner squats, wall presses/extensions, or isometrics).

Day 3 of "Becoming Superhuman"

-Push-ups: 22, 30, 20, 20, maxed out at 30

-Pull-ups: 8, 10, 7, 7, maxed out at 7

-Dips: 10, 13, 9, 9, maxed out at 13

-Horizontal Rows: 11, 15, 9, 9, maxed out at 13

-Military Press 100pds: 8, 10, 7, 7, maxed out at 10

-Barbell Shrug: 14, 19, 12, 12, maxed out at 16

-Leg Press machine at 400: 2 reps at 5/5 cadence

-Reverse Pec-Deck Fly at 115: 5 reps at 5/5 cadence

-Hammer Curl 40pds: 5 reps at 5/5 cadence

-Rope Extensions at 70: 3 reps at 5/5 cadence

-Myotatic Crunch: 10 reps with 20pd dumbbell

-Cat Vomit: 10 reps of 12 second holds

100 Push-ups, 100 Pull-ups, 150 Dips

Day 2:
-Push-ups: 20, 25, 15, 15, maxed out at 25
-Pull-ups: 6, 8, 6, 6, maxed out at 7
-Dips: 8, 10, 8, 8, maxed out at 10
-Horizontal Rows: 10, 12, 8, 8, maxed out at 10
-100pd Military Press: 10, 12, 8, 8, maxed out at 9
-225pd Barbell Shrug: 13, 15, 10, 10, maxed out at 15
-Squat 335pd Occam's Protocol: 5 reps
-Reverse Pec-deck fly 100pd Occam's Protocol: 5 reps
-Hammer curl 30pds/ Rope Extensions 50pds Occam's protocol: 5 reps each
-Side Plank: 45 sec hold each side

100 Push-ups, 100 Pull-ups, 150 Dips

Blog Entry (Sort of) 8:40pm

Aaron Watkins

100 Push-ups, 150 Dips, 100 Pull-ups, 100 Horizontal rows, 100 reps at 100pd Military Press, 100 reps at 225pd Barbell shrug

(And not to mention other awesome strength gains)

I wanted to think completely outside of the box for the next workout routine I was going do for the next four weeks. I had been doing a variation of Occam’s Protocol (originally created by Tim Ferriss which has indeed taught me that is slower is better at times for building muscle mass) for some time and wanted to take a break before I started my bulk program that involved Occam’s (version 2 that is) when I go back to school in the fall.  After a little research online and some reading with my fitness books collection…I came up with something truly INSANE. Accomplish all of that is stated in the title above at the end of this program along with freakishly awesome muscle gains in four to eight weeks with only THREE workout sessions (lasting less than an hour each) a week.

Sounds Ludicrous? I thought it was when I first thought of it. But after my first workout session doing it, I think it is absolutely possible and would recommend it to anybody looking to gain serious strength endurance and muscle mass. Now since I literally just started doing this yesterday, I’ve decided to keep you up to date with my strength/endurance progress after every session and weekly measurements (for progress in muscle mass gains). Now I know what you’re thinking…how can recommend a program when I have just started it myself and can’t say based on “these results” it works. Well the fact is I am using 2 different proven systems(http://hundredpushups.com/ , http://www.onefiftydips.com/) along with a little involvement of the Occam’s 5/5 cadence concept that DO work and the only difference is I’m combining them all into one workout program. And the real questions is can the system for doing 100 pushups be used for other exercises? In this instance…for pull-ups, horizontal rows, military press, and shrugs? I will soon find out.

THE PROGRAM:

Based on my initial starting points with how many or so reps I know I could at each exercise before beginning this, day 1 of the workout program for me looked like this:

-Push-ups: 14, 18, 14, 14, maxed out at 25

-Pull-ups: 10, 12, 7, 7, maxed out at 9

- Incline Dips (http://www.stayfitbug.com/the-fitness-bug/exercise-tweak-the-incline-dip/ do it this way and save your shoulders from any future injuries) :13, 15, 9, 9, maxed out at 12

-Horizontal Rows: 13, 15, 9, 9, maxed out at12

-100pd Military Press: 10, 12, 7, 7, maxed out at 9

-225pd Barbell Shrug: 13, 15, 9, 9, maxed out at 12

-315pd Squat (5/5 Cadence): maxed out at 5 reps

-Reverse Pec-Deck fly 100pds (5/5 Cadence): maxed out at 4 reps

-Hammer Curl 30pds superset with Rope Press down 50pds (5/5 Cadence): maxed out at 5 reps with each

-Mytotatic Crunch (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=noD_RwkaGEQ the only form of crunches I will ever do and for good reason) 10 reps with a 10pd dumbbell (4/4 Cadence)

-Cat Vomit (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wejm0cGqv3Y): 10 reps with 10 sec holds

Completed it in exactly an hour (during rush hour at Lifetime) and felt amazing afterwards.  Now if you want you can follow my lead, but only if you meet the following prerequisites: Can do 20 or more push-ups, 11-20 pull-ups, 14-26 dips, 14-26 horizontal rows, you can choose a weight you feel comfortable with Military Press and Barbell Shrug for the amount of reps that is asked of, an intermediate to advanced overall fitness level (if you don’t meet any of these prerequisites and still would like to try this program let me know and I will tweak it for you.). Here are some other things you should know and follow before beginning this program:

-It is a 3-day split routine, so for example I workout Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.

-Warm-up properly before you begin. Do dynamic stretching for your rotator cuff  and other exercises to warm-up the other muscle groups.

-It is a normal cadence for the push-ups, pull-ups, horizontal rows, dips, military press, and barbell shrug. Make sure to rest for 45-60 seconds between sets.

-For the exercises with a 5/5 cadence, rest for 90-120 seconds before moving on to the next exercise.

So there you have it, so try it with me if you want…and I will keep you updated with my progress. If you have any other questions let me know!

-A.W.