Too much jelly.

Curse you Skinny Cow.

No carbs I can deal with. More than deal with actually, I work better without carbs: I feel healthier, have been concentration (most likely because my insulin isn't spiking up and down), my skin seems better and I don't feel bloated for the most. I do, however, really miss sweet foods and when I say miss, I mean I crave them. I won't give in and have sugar so I have to have to make do with artificial sweeteners, like aspartame.  I know they're bad and probably the cause for a bunch of problems which we'll discover when some proper tests are done; but right now, they'll have to do. My real problem, is that I don't do moderation. I buy Skinny Cow Ice Creams  (only 5.4g of carbs per ice cream!) and have to have 2, I buy sugar free lollies and poison myself (over-consumption causes a laxative effect kiddies, not fun) and most lately, sugar free jelly. I recently bought 3 packets of the Sugar-Free Aeroplane Jelly and discovered that you can simply put in both pouches of jelly powder and just under double the required water and make an extra sweet batch. The problem with this is that one batch doesn't make multiple serves as it should; or even as one pouch of jelly powder should. I make it, it sets, it's gone. Woe is me, I just need to stop buying this stuff.

Both packets? Why not?

Anyhoo, enough whinging about my over indulgence, onto the workouts (yes plural, I cbf'd writing two posts for Tuesday's and today's workout, so I'm going to put them both here).

Tuesday's workout
My friend has finaaaaalllly joined up to the gym to come along with me after much procrastinating and a plethora of excuses about things like kidney failure (I kid! I kid!), so I'm going to try and help him get fit and strong for his overseas trip next year.
Note: I'm not a personal trainer and as such have no qualifications, I made him watch movies for all of the tricky lifts (especially Deadlifts) and said up front that I don't feel comfortable in giving advice on such lifts because I won't be responsible for any back injuries besides my own. This is an official record of this fact .
Anyway, as I mentioned in my last post, I haven't been having regular carb-ups because they haven't felt necessary but at the same time I haven't felt like I've been making strength gains as often as I should. Because of this, I did some reading on Targeted Ketogenic Dieting (TKD) (yes I know I still haven't written about exactly what ketogenic dieting is but I'll probably get to it later, sue me) and it seems that having 30-50g of carbs pre/post workout could be just for me as it should supply my muscles with the glycogen needed to power my workouts and subsequent recoveries. So I gave it a shot, a Musashi Growling Dog energy bar before hand and a couple scoops of dextrose and the workout was pretty good. Not as good as Thursday's, but we'll get to that.

EXERCISE	Set #1	Set #2	Set #3	Set #4	Set #5
Squat	95kgx5	95kgx5	95kgx5	95kgx5	100kgx5
Incline Press	42.5kgx5	42.5kgx5	45kgx5	45kgx5	47.5kgx5
Deadlift	70kgx10	90kgx5	110kgx5	XX	XX
Chin-Up	12	10	8	XX	XX
DB Shrug	25kg12	27.5kgx8	25kgx12	XX	XX

I was able to do 100kg again today and the form was still kind of average but it was a little bit easier than last time. Deadlifts were also pretty good today and the 110kg was decent form with the exception of the last 2 reps. Incline Press was the real winner of this workout as I hit a new personal best (PB for keystroke saving) of 47.5kg and I think I could have even done more, I'm going to start on 45kg next time and see what I can do from there. Chin-ups suck, period.

Supplements

Pre-workout: Scivation Quake

Intra-workout: Scivation Xtend (grape)

Protein:  Dymatize Elite Strawberry + 2 scoops (15g or so) of dextrose
Nutrient partitioner: Genomyx Slin-Sane. This is supposed to help move carbs to where they're needed during and after a workout so I took one of these capsules after my workout but didn't really notice anything. Some people report increased vascularity but they're generally have a lot of carbs, not the small amount that I'm having pre/post. In any case, I'm going to have 1 capsule before and after my workout next time and see how I go.

Thursday's workout
Before this workout I again had some preworkout carbs, this time in the form of the new Blue V energy drink which contains about 35grams of sugar and tastes pretty good. I also had a Slin-Sane capsule and was eager to see if I noticed any effect it had with my workout.

EXERCISE	Set #1	Set #2	Set #3	Set #4	Set #5
Squat	95kgx5	95kgx5	95kgx5	100kgx5	100kgx5
BB Bench Press	72.5kgx5	72kgx5	75kgx5	75kgx5	75kgx5
BB Bent Over Row	50kgx5	50kgx5	55kgx5	60kgx5	60kgx5
Triceps Rope Pull-Down	23kgx12	26kgx12	27kgx12	XX	XX
Seated Calf Raise	70kgx5	70kgx5	80kgx5	XX	XX

Well I can't say I noticed I distinct effect from the Slin-Sane but I can definitely say that the workout was great. I was able to squat 100kg for two sets and besides the last rep of the last set; it felt a lot better and my form was much better, very happy with this. My bench was also up and this may have had something to do with the placebo effect of working out with my friend and having him there to spot me. Next week I think I'll try and do all 5 sets at 75kg (my body weight). I dropped the weight on the bent over row like I said I would and was able to enforce correct form as I wanted but it felt sucky knowing that I had lowered the weight. I didn't use gloves as I normally do for this exercise and my grip was better and incidentally this felt like it helped, curiouser and curiouser - I'll try all 5 sets on 60kg (or more) without gloves next time and see how I go.

Supplements

Pre-workout: Scivation Quake

Intra-workout: Scivation Xtend (grape)

Protein:  Dymatize Elite Strawberry + 2 scoops (15g or so) of dextrose
Nutrient partitioner: Genomyx Slin-Sane. I had one capsule both before and after my workout and I'm not too sure how much of an effect if any they had. I'll keep doing this for the next couple of weeks and see if they're doing anything. The label does say it is to be had with 'at least 60 to 100 grams of carbs for best effect' preworkout, so the fact that I'm having so little could have something to do with it. We'll see.

Friday's run
This week has been incredibly stressful and filled with missed deadlines, data-loads that don't want to load, miscommunicated business requirements and internal politics. Fun times, not. In any case, I really needed to get out and clear my head. The best way for me to do this, I find, is with a solo run around the lake with some loud, motivating music.

Unfortunately I was a minute slower than last time around the lake but A) that wasn't the main point of the run, B) it was only one minute and C) it was a really enjoyable run and nice and sunny, so whatever; it's all good.

Mr Music

The inspirational running music I mentioned is Rise Against - Appeal to Reason. It's kind of punk-rock with political influences and it really gets me going, so here's a song from the album:

As I've been writing this I've been listening to Pendulum and I think they might have to make an appearance on my next run.

In other news, I'm trying CrossFit tomorrow! Right now though, it's time for bacon!