Solid LBWO this morning, one "10" and the rest "9"s. And even better (to me), I'm finally able to do proper squats - I've always had to limit how far down I go because of my knees, but today I was able to touch my rear to the bench without problems and without losing form. Woo-hoo!

Looking forward to hearing everyone else's end-of-week-four updates! I'll get mine up tomorrow or Monday after I get all my measurements done.

My church's Men's Fellowship mission group had a work party this afternoon to get ready for our trip, practicing the kind of construction we'll be doing and practicing teamwork. I found out two things:

(1) Even after only four weeks, my physical condition has improved enough for me to keep up with guys half my age during an hour of posthole digging, and feel fine doing it.

(2) My physical condition is still poor enough that within half an hour afterwards, I was very much regretting keeping up with them. Nothing hurt or was overly sore (excepting a couple of blisters), but it took over an hour for my heart rate to drop back below 95, and I had no energy for more than light go-fer and cleanup work for the rest of the time (I was finally picking up a bit after making a trip to the store for a couple of protein shakes - like a dummy I'd forgotten to bring any protein bars).

Another "live and learn" moment. I've been doing OK not overdoing my training; gotta work on not overdoing life :-).

Hey Mike.....congrats on a great workout this morning! Keep up what you are doing and I'm positive that by the time your trip comes you are gonna keep up and recover just fine! You are an inspiration. My week started with a BANG and ended with brownies!!!! Of all things!!! My daughter made some for a school party, left some extras unsupervised and well...I gave in!!! I'm in the process of re-evaluating the way I'm going about this challenge. I need to plan better. I downloaded the workout logs and meal planners and I'm going to try using those instead of what I'm using now.....I'm going to be changing my work-out time. From evening to morning....that's something I have to do because it works better with my family.

I feel really good though. I'm starting my 6th week- I'm halfway there! My clothes fit better....my belly has gone down - but I want to finish strong.

Oh boy guys... the trials and tribulations of our challenge..I DID have a great week but I've also just been down on myself..I guess we all wanted super results super fast & when (at least for me after 5 months of working out & eating fantastic) things aren't going fast enough you get a little upset.  I self talk A LOT to keep myself motivated & on track.  I know its working I know I feel & look better & I do get compliments at the gym that I work hard (my vanity still wants that "hey what are you doing you look really good" moment to happen... soon tho  lol) so, my lesson of the week is be proud of what you are doing & be proud of the progress.  It'll happen, I know it will :)   have a great week 5 ( week 6 diane.wow you go) and keep on keepin on

JODI.    :)

WEEK FOUR EXTENDED PROGRESS REPORT (all numbers are for the full four weeks)

Weight: Down 3.0 pounds (230.4 to 227.4)

Body Fat %: Down 6.0% (34.1% to 28.1%)

Fat weight: Down 14.6 pounds (78.6 to 64.0).

Lean mass: Up 11.6 pounds (151.8 to 163.4). My lean mass a couple of months before starting the Challenge was 157.5, so the gain back to that point was likely recovery of lost water weight; the last two days saw a lean gain of 2.4 pounds which was probably water retention (I felt a little bloated); so the true non-water lean gain is probably around 3.5 pounds.

Waist: Down 1-1/2" (42-5/8" to 41-1/8")

Belly: Down 3-1/4" (46-3/8" to 43-1/8")

Bicep: Gained 3/8" (15-1/8" to 15-1/2")

Forearm: Unchanged at 12-7/8"

Thigh: Gained 1/2" (25-1/2" to 26")

Calf: Gained 1/4" (16" to 16-1/4")

Chest: Lost 7/8" (47-1/4" to 46-3/8"). I had some blubber up there so I'm not surprised by that.

Retsing pulse: Dropped from 74 BPM to 68 BPM

Blood pressure: Dropped from 144 / 87 to 131 / 76.

Can y'all tell I tend to overdo things? :-).  Of course, those "exact" figures aren't necessarily as accurate as they sound, but even if I'm off a bit it's still looking good so far.

Hey everyone,

It's been a busy couple weeks around here but I've been staying on track. Still haven't cheated on the diet, not even on my free day besides my fishing trip a few weeks ago. I keep reaching new 10's on almost everything. My running has improved to 2.02 miles in the 20 minute treadmill run. Its looking like I'm right on track fro my goal of a 30 minute 5k. My foot pain has lessened over my free day, maybe the new shoes and some rest helped. Most of the leg workouts I've had to move from dumbbells to machines because the weight is more than my arms can handle for so many reps. It's progress so I'm happy. My abs are starting to be more sore since I started more intense ab exercises. I weighed in last night for my end of week four and I've lost 14 pounds so far. I'm shocked at how it keeps coming off. I'd love to be able to keep this rate for the last eight weeks. My energy is still really high, I'm getting more stuff done around the house because of it. I'm taking my kids to the beach in three weeks and I already feel less self conscious.

@Mike... great job on the detailed results, it seems to be paying off, keep it up!

@diane... hang in there, it's good to change it up if it isn't giving you the results you want!

Does anyone have any good songs that they find motivating to listen to while working out. I use one as kind of a theme song, at least a few lines of it. Breaking Benjamin - I Will Not Bow. I find that music helps me and I'd be interested to hear what everyone else listens to to get pumped up.

Keep up the great work everybody!

Donnie

Yesterday's cardio went great, but last night was my seventh straight with five or fewer hours of sleep (all for different reasons, oddly enough), and I just had no energy for the morning UBWO. Fortunately today is a short day at work, so I could reschedule for this afternoon and get a few more badly-needed zzzz's. My progress has been relatively stagnant for the past several days, and I bet it's the lack of sleep messing me up. Time to work harder at not working! (at least, not so late!) :-)

Donnie - I actually don't listen to any music while working out; I have so many physical issues (totally flat feet, partially torn meniscus in one knee, chronic tendinitis in feet and ankles, weak lower back, etc.) that I try to pay very close attention to my physical state during workouts, and I've been afraid that music would distract me from that.

Despite that, I've seriously thought about using some "epic" instrumental music for my cardio, with one-minute sections at different tempos to mark the intensity levels and "Requiem for a Dream" being the High Point music. I was just afraid that when "Requiem" hit the crescendo I'd get too pumped, go for a "12" and tear a hamstring or something. :-)

I have a very varied taste in music but my top favs at this time are:

Black Eye Peas- Pump It (boy does it ever)

Lady Gaga - Born This Way (great message)

PitBull - One for the DJ's (corny but gets me moving for that 10 on elliptical)

Soundtrack to Gladiator (yes the movie with Russell Crowe..love that man..and the battle song is awesome for cardio starts slow and builds to an intense ending then back down again.  Awesome)

Creed- Faceless Man

Britney - 3

So many more but these are all at the top for me right now  :)

Jodi  :)

I have a fairly extensive and varied playlist "workout":

Diddy - Hello Good Morning

C+C Music Factory - Gonna Make you sweat

Disturbed - Down with the sickness

Twisted Sister - I wanna Rock

Three 6 Mafia - Feel It

Black eyed Peas - Boom Boom Pow

Drowning Pool - Bodies

Linkin Park - Papercut - One step Closer - Crawling - Breaking the Habit - Bleed it out - New Divide - Numb

Guns n Roses - Welcome to the jungle

Quiet Riot - Bang your head

Lenny Kravitz - American Woman

Breaking Benjamin - I will not bow - Diary of Jane

Finger Eleven - Paralyzer

House of Pain - Jump around

Ini Kamoze - Here comes the hotstepper

Kriss Kross - Jump

Papa Roach - Last Resort

Sick Puppies - You're Going Down

Slipknot - Duality

For my cardio I usually run on the treadmill and I love the Marine Corp cadence.  It really helps with my breathing and seems to help me push it a little farther or harder.  I have just got back to where I can keep up the cadence during the entire run.

I'm feeling like an old fuddy-duddy after reading your playlists - I only recognize four of the thirty-four songs listed, and have never heard of eleven of the groups. Guess I'm just a 70's and 80's nut - if it was written after 1992, I probably don't know it.

Good cardio this morning, hit my "9"s and the final "10" again. Stair-stepping with 20-25 pounds on my back is working great, my legs have finally adjusted so the "burn" in my shins isn't that bad anymore. I've extended the cool-down to 5-10 minutes which also seems to be helping (when I was just doing the one minute the book mentions, my calves would sometimes tighten up afterwards).

Hi everybody :)

Sorry it's been a while...once again, trying to avoid the computer.

I changed my LBW this week and holy cow...I am feeling it! I switched my Quads...I started with Leg Press for 12-6, 12, and then Extensions for the last 12.....this week I did Squats for the 12-6, 12 and then the leg press for the final 12. Oh. My. Gosh. I am STILL feeling it! It feels actually pretty great though :)

I'm just curious though...so at the end of week four, I was down 8 lbs and REALLY excited about it...I've gained back up another 3 so I'm kind of down about it.......BUT I feel like my legs look so much better already. I always lose weight there first so that's not a surprise,  but to those that are currently doing this challenge or to those that have already done it, when do you start seeing the "extreme" results? I took a end of week 4 picture and I'm not really sure I see much progress. This does not mean I am giving up by ANY means because I feel absolutely great and I'm really excited to see what the results are to come, but has anybody added anything to their cardio? I started adding another 10 minutes of a "cool down"..or just low intensity so to speak just because I still feel like I want to do more. I'm assuming this would be ok, right?

Also, it looks like people have been posting playlists. I haven't had time to go back and read all of them, but I listen to a lot of different music...it depends on what I'm doing that day. Lifting days I listen to a little bit of metal (I know...weird, haha) or something like Limp Bizkit....on cardio days: techno. Something about the rhythm of the bass keeps me going. I also listen to a LOT of punk rock (Green Day, Lucky Boys Confusion, Blink182, etc.). Also, when I'm in the final 6 minutes of cardio, I almost always listen to the song "Heart of a Champion" by Nelly...that's definitely a good motivator. I think it's more directed towards a specific athlete trying out for a team or something, but it still helps :) For those that have never heard it, the chorus goes:

Ain't no way they can stop me now Nelly

Cause I'm on my way, I can feel my ring coming

It's the blood of a champion, pumping

Deep inside my veins, too much pride to be running

I'ma get what I can and more, even if

My blood, my sweat, and my tears don't mean nothing

It's the heart of a champion....in me

@VallieGirl - I just started adding to my cardio this week too. I'm basing my tweaks on the ideas on John Hussman's "Why the Body for Life Program Works" webpage (www.hussmanfitness.org/.../TPBodyforLife.html) - John's page (actually his whole site) got a recommendation from Bill Phillips.

John gives three levels of "tweaking" for adding cardio - the mild level is to add up to 10 minutes of moderate cardio (intensity 6-7, definitely no more than 8) at the end of the 20-minute HIIT workouts; the next level is to also add a 30-40 minute session of moderate cardio on your free day; and the maximum tweak is to add to those another 10 minutes of moderate cardio to the end of the HIIT workouts. He also says that if you try to do cardio and weights on the same day, do the weights first; cardio depletes muscle glycogen and so would impair lifting ability. He notes that adding cardio like this will trade off lower muscle gains for increased fat loss.

I'm adding 10 minutes of moderate cardio to my HIIT workouts (more for cool-down than fat loss, it helps me stretch), and on two of my weight days adding 20-40 minutes of moderate cardio in the afternoon. I may also add 20-30 minutes of light cardio (i.e., walking the dog with my wife) on the third weight day and my free day. I can't reasonably add the other 10 minutes of moderate cardio to my HIIT workouts (not and still get out the door by 5:20 AM to beat traffic and find a parking space within a quarter-mile of the office). This is probably a bit more than John's "maximum", but my job is very sedentary so I don't think I'm overdoing it.

Awesome, great advice! That's pretty much what I've started to do...except I've been doing the cardio first on the lifting days...definitely going to change that up then.

I absolutely love th is program. It's finally trained me to take control of things...I said last week that even on my free days I'm going to be working out. Nothing crazy, but just something like yoga or moderate cardio. I feel weird if I don't work out now lol.

Another great cardio today, must be improving 'cause I'm having to step significantly faster to reach the same intensity. Just for fun, I weighed myself before and after - dropped 0.6 lbs of sweat during the workout. I can believe it, almost had to wring my shirt out.

Took a picture yesterday to compare to my "before" picture. Despite dropping over 17 lbs of fat, it was hard to see any difference until I noticed that my belly has smoothed out. Before, it looked like a tub of lard with a smaller blob pasted on top of it, you could see a skin crease around the front that looked kinda like a "seam"; now the "seam" is gone and it just looks like one tub of lard :-). I should have taken a side pic as one of my "before" pics - my fat sits mostly right out front, so that would have given the best chance of seeing changes.

Sat at one of those blood pressure machines at the local pharmacy yesterday - 117 / 79 with a pulse of 67. I have not been below 120 / 80 on both numbers AND been below 70 on pulse at the same time for over 20 years! I've got a physical exam for my upcoming mission trip scheduled for June 15th - looking forward to getting some "official" numbers to compare with.

Just a random thought - it's really weird to me that I'm measuring all these dramatic changes in body fat, blood pressure, resting pulse, body measurements, and various strength/fitness metrics, but my scale weight and appearance in the mirror have barely changed. I can see why people who rely on the scale can get discouraged after a few weeks.