Sunday, February 22, 2015

Fitness & Hobby Updates

Fitness Update!



In my last few posts, I believe I mentioned the need to get into the routine of deadlifts and push-ups. Well, I am happy to report that I have done so. Currently, I am doing 2x25 for push-ups as a burnout after I have done all my lifting. Also, Mon/Wed/Fri I am doing pyramid sets for my deadlifting. Currently, it is 8/6/4 reps with the weight increasing in each set. I managed to get my set of four up to 315lbs, which is a new record for me.

Right before my 2nd set in the Pyramid
Anyhow, another big push for me was to push the bench. I was doing dumbbell bench for the longest time, but ran out of weights to use (my gym caps at 75lbs dumbbells!). So, I am not moving up the barbell bench and am at a comfortable 225lbs.

Without a spotter, I don't like to risk this one too much by going up too high or doing too much. But that is a pretty big improvement. Along with things like the Svend Press, Low Cable Crossover, Dumbbell Flyes and push-ups, I am really killing my chest.

As for other things I am working on, I have enjoyed the T-Bar quite a bit. I find it a pretty satisfying row variation and I do it about once a week, along with standard seated rows and upright rows, etc.

Right now, I am up to 175lbs (not including bar), which is pretty serious! For me, it is all about building strength in my arms, chest, and back to ultimately aid (along with fat loss) in my ability to do pull-ups with more regularity. Right now, I can only knock out about 4-5, which is a lot for a guy who weighs 300+ pounds, but I am hoping to get to a point where I can do at least three whole sets, eventually.


Getting ready to rock the T-Bar
Now that I have kicked up my workouts a bit, I am going to need to buckle down on my eating. I fell off the wagon a bit this weekend and had some less than ideal food, but nothing horrendous (excluding that chocolate muffin at Starbucks... don't judge me!).

I am going to shift my macros over to heavy fat intake and see if that can kickstart my fat loss again, since I am clearly an Endomorph and erring towards fat and protein intake over carbs is a no-brainer. I already eat healthy grains when it comes to the carbs I do get, but I am going to have to take it down even further to 10-15%, or so. 



Hobby Update!
Anyhow, on a hobby-related note, I was able to finally make some progress now that Icepocalypse 2015 has concluded (for now) and the weather was downright wonderful last night. I was able to get some rattlecan priming done and can officially get crackin' on the Blood Angels commission. Take a look!

Burned Cookies? Nope, just bases.
Sanguinary Guard wings all primed up
Tactical Squads, Sanguinary Guard, Terminators, etc etc
Another model that got a coat of primer was an Ork Painboy that I am going to use as a test for my brush skills. I feel like in a lot of things, I have plateaued and want to see if I can break it. Plus, I uncased my Skorne to evaluate what I had, what I needed, and what needed repairing. It wasn't bleak, but I realize I have a lot of cleaning up to do. That poor army got beat up, neglected, and tossed about in a box for far too long.

Challenge accepted!
All that Skorne... and NoS Deathstrike, too!
Expect me to start in on that stuff ...eventually. Like anything, I tend to get backlogged a lot because of a general lack of free time.

Thursday, February 12, 2015

Body Types & Macros and oh yea, Blood Angels!

For those of you who don't do much reading on fitness or diet related stuff, take a gander at this Bodybuilding.com article first. It talks about the various body types briefly and some ideas on how to factor them into your goals.

Everyone is different and the individual needs do tend to trump these sorts of generalities, but holy crap am I an Endomorph, or as has been mentioned throughout my life, I am "husky" or "big-boned". Or whatever nice way of saying fat-but-carries-it-well people chose to say.

That being said, I have been looking over this and thinking it is time to try to break through my already-attained plateau. Right now, I am doing a fair mix of food types (carbs, fats, protein) since I was working on building up muscle and whatnot. Though in hindsight, maybe I should have gone for fat-loss first. No worries though! I am going to shift gears with hope that it will break my plateau and get me under the 300lb mark!

Here is a nifty article, also from Bodybuilding.com that explains this as well. Now I know, I am just posting a bunch of articles and not really telling much, but I am not a trainer, nutritionist, or anything. I basically read as many sources as I can, compare info, and see what works for me. In this, I have discussed the idea with friends and read a lot on it, so I think it will have the desired fat-loss effect.

And for visual learners, here is a set of charts from the above article:


Neat, right? So, I am going to go from my Higher-carb to Lower-carb in an effort to drop some fat. This spare tire is cramping my style! Time to get rid of it.

Now, for the hobby end - the Blood Angels for my long-time client are underway and I am having a blast with the new kits. They are gorgeous, if sadly less open to variation than I would have liked. Still, I will get more in-progress pics as they go forward.

Two Blood Angel Tactical Squads WIP
Blood Angel Terminators WIP
ARE YOU NOT ENTERTAINED?!
And for anyone living under a rock, the Horus Heresy teasers from BoLS need to look and I recommend a napkin, since you will be drooling over the goodies. I am finding it harder and harder not to build a Legion army and just need to keep my mind on my Knights. Of course, they mentioned at the Weekender that, of course, more of those in the pipeline too! There goes my poor, addled wallet.

Thursday, February 5, 2015

So, about that "reward"...

Ogre Cloth Coloration
For the sake of honesty, I figured I would share the end-result of my Saturday "reward day". For breakfast, I ate a wonderful bowl of memories... I mean, French Toast Crunch. Later, I had bubble tea and some food from the Grand Asia Market (a place I love!), followed by a whole slew of import candy I was worried I wouldn't be able to get anymore thanks to the Hershey import thing that cropped up recently.

Seemed like a great idea, but I forgot just how dumb my body is. Needless to say, I have spent the duration of this week trying to burn off the nearly five pounds my weight fluctuated to on Sunday. Holy crap! I wish I was kidding. Of course, when you weigh as much as me, you get used to big swings, but this? At the end of a solid week of loss, it was a staggering realization.

Hopefully, tomorrow when I hop on the scale I will have succeeded in undoing the damage. That being said, no more "reward days" - going to do just one meal and even that won't break my "no sugar" rule. My body just can't handle it.

Blood Angels commission!
And on a hobby-related note, one of my last hurdles has been overcome. I am now waiting on a delivery from Dicehead Games that has my seventy 32mm bases for my Carcharodons, along with some Vallejo Game Air paints to try out that happen to be my Ogre flesh colors. Very, very excited!

Speaking of the Ogres, see that red-to-black gradient? That is totally what I am thinking for my Ogre's pants and banners, etc. The boots and other leather goods would be black, while the metals would be mostly rusty iron, with a smattering of patina bronze in there because it looks so good.

Anyhow, I am very excited to start getting things going for my own armies. Of course, that all will have to hold up until I complete the Blood Angel commission I am working on! Keep an eye on my Instagram for work-in-progress shots as they get posted, but I will be sure to put them on here throughout, as well.


Sunday, February 1, 2015

Challenging Yourself!

It is never a bad idea to take on some new challenges in life. For me, it was changing my diet and adding exercise to my life, as well as a vow I made many years ago now to never put an unpainted army on the table again (after playing all of 5th Edition with my unpainted Cadians).

The big, sweeping things like "exercise more" and "paint models" are good, but I like small, short-term challenges too. Right now, there are some things I need to do to really push myself - both in my fitness pursuits and regards to the hobby.

First up, the physical challenge! I need to get my rear in gear. I have put off some very, very important exercises. At first, because I wasn't in shape enough for them, but now I am and I have just run out of excuses. Time to stop being lazy!

Push-Ups

These are just a must-do. I have done them as a burn-out here and there, rounding out my workout day with it. But that really isn't enough. One of my goals beyond just losing my fatty physique was to sculpt out some aspects to look good, or going for the Pratt Effect, if you will. To get the chest and arms looking good, there isn't much better than a push-up. With body weight like mine, it is a hell of a challenge, too. For added effect, when I do burn-outs with them, I would elevate my feet on a nearby bench.

Pull-Ups

Here is one that really was a lifelong goal. Ever since I was a fat kid hating gym class, these were the one thing that seemed out of reach. They were that exercise only the really, truly fit people could do. That clearly isn't true, because I can do them now. It did take a lot of work though and even I can only do a few before I just can't muster anymore.

I started with the lat pulldown and using bands to assist. Combined with some fat loss after a few months of really killing it at the gym, I was able to do basic chin-ups. Now, I can even do one or two of the wide-arm style pull-ups in the above video. That is a big deal! That takes a lot of physical strength, not even counting the fact I am over 300 lbs.

Deadlifts

Now here is a killer exercise I avoid like the plague. Why? Because it is hard and I am lazy! Honesty with yourself  is always good, right? That being said, this exercise specifically works like... everything! Want full-body strength and power? These are a good way to get there.

For beginners, these might not be a good idea until you are comfortable with the movements and form. I would say ask someone who knows or maybe see if a trainer can assist. As with anything, do your homework first and start light. Try it with just the bar until you think you are ready to up your game a bit.

Those are the big three exercises for my upcoming week and beyond. Physical challenge accepted! The plan is to add the push-ups to my lifting days consistently. Pull-ups will be the same. Going to try to get them in after the warm-up jog I do before lifting. Most likely, until I can do them with any level of regularity, I will be just doing as many as my body allows. I will do this without bands, because I am hoping that with continued weight loss thanks to counting calories via MyFitnessPal, I will find them steadily easier as I continue to grow my upper-body strength.

As for those menacing deadlifts, those are going into the twice-a-week category. No more excuses! I know I can do them and I know they are hard, but they won't get any easier if I keep avoiding them.

Now, on to the hobby challenges!

If you aren't aware, I started planning two armies about two years ago or so. My Carcharodons Astra and my Ogres. Both of those are "dream armies" that I invested in heavily with lists, research, buying and getting ready for. I will be damned though if I haven't struggled getting going on them. Sure, I have built some stuff and primed some models, even built bases. What is the issue then? Committing to putting paint down and in regards to the Carcharodons, just building most of the stuff has become something I am just leery of in the most irrational way.

I have done plenty of painting over the years - for other people. I know how to build the models in question, as again, I have done it for others. There is some kind of mental roadblock in doing my own stuff that I can't quite figure out.

It must be as simple as the fear of being judged if they don't come out top notch. Maybe not others judging me, but maybe myself. That is the trouble of knowing more about something than your skillset can live up to. Ask me about painting models and I can tell you everything in total detail. Now ask me to do it and there is where I falter.

Time to put an end to the inaction and the fear. Time to start just doing it. As I said in the first bit of this (now very long) post, the Avenger was me pushing myself harder and I did like the end result. That isn't common for me to be at all happy with an end result (though do note, I didn't say satisfied, because that won't ever happen!). So with that minor success and the ebbing of my fear of failing at my personal projects, my goal now is to truly commit.

The Ogres are ready to paint, the Carcharodons are ready to build. I have cases for them and I need to get going! So, expect some test models and build pics in the near future and if you don't see them, call me out on it!

Caveat time! I do have a commission coming up, so that takes precedence. When that is done, I won't have anything standing between me and a fully-painted army (or four).

Now to ask the readers - what are you going to do? Got any challenges for yourself, fitness or hobby?