My goals for SVTC 2011 were:
1.To continue increasing my size/bodyweight-specifically lean but over 200lbs.
Set the bar too high here. I overestimated my ability to put on lean muscle, and underestimated the ease of losing fat. I came in to the challenge just reaching 200 pounds for the first time. Halfway through the challenge I realized that leaning out would take me below 200 and used the mirror rather than the scale to take me the rest of the way. I feel a lot smaller now at 190, but I know it is a good thing because I am stronger-so that extra weight wasn't doing anything positive for me. I know I can keep getting stronger without chasing the scale PRs, and I can control my diet better now to put on muscle without the extra fat. I didn't seriously reign in my diet until we hit the final 30 days, and I wish I would have sooner. I thought that changing my diet would decrease my strength and energy levels, and I did not want to stall out my lifts so I kept putting it off. Once I did focus on only the right foods and no extra nonsense though I have made a lot of progress, and it only did good things for my performance. I feel like my best results are still yet to come (peaking too late so to speak) which sucks for my challenge conclusion, but is still very encouraging and exciting for me in the grand scheme of things.
2.To continue increasing strength as evident by Weight maxes and Rep maxes.
The one area I thought would suffer turns out to be the one area I succeeded. I ran the Greyskull LP throughout, and although my squatting was PR'd in different rep ranges under the guise of training for VC2, all my other lifts have continuously improved and reached new PR's. I reset my lifts after taking a week off due to the tornado at the end of April, and have increased every workout since and am just now slowing down in press to the 5-5-5 range at 15 pounds above my past PR and reset point, with bench and deadlift still increasing. The 16th will be my first time ever benching (decline or otherwise) 225 for reps, whereas I very distinctly remember failing a single at 225 just a couple years ago.
3.To complete by July 15th Villain Challenges 1-5 (only completed #3 in the past).
To accomplish this I needed laser-like focus on one goal at a time, building momentum and throwing myself wholeheartedly into one challenge until its completion, and then working towards the next. Instead I went full retard and tried a crossfit style approach of doing a little of everything all at once. Surprise surprise, 90 days later I am fucking mediocre across the board. I have made progress on all of them, but 0/5 completed is downright pathetic. Here is what I did get to:
VC#1 Never even got off the ground, just now on 3 sets of 17
VC#2 200lbs x27 reps
VC#3 80 pushups in 2 minutes
VC#4 did 4.5 mile loop w/ 45lb ruck in 1:20:49
VC#5 got 16 chins w/25lbs two separate days
Falling so short of the goals I set for myself really stings, and this is a mistake I will not be repeating.
I have learned that tweaking my workout schedule here and there to work on specific challenges is just as bad as program hopping unless it is a consistent change. Any changes really need to be given time to see if they are working or not. Really that all goes for diet as well. I feel much more confident in my diet and my ability to modify it for different goals after really working on consistency and just being deliberate with it all.
Although I fucked up a lot and did not meet the goals I set for myself, I am determined rather than discouraged. I still learned a lot, got stronger, and look better. This is just 90 days out of my training career rather than a beginning and end.
I also had a partner that I roped into doing the challenge with me, and he made amazing progress. He gained about 20 pounds and lost a lot of bodyfat at the same time. I am very proud of him and hope that he will continue training with me. He probably has a much better chance of winning this contest than me, and I would post his pictures but due to his job I don't think he will let me.
Big thanks most of all to Johhny Pain at Strength Villain for putting up his cash for the challenge, and more importantly giving all of us that don't compete in a sport a reason to focus our training and really make things happen. Also it is only with the knowledge and tools I have learned from him that any of this progress has really been possible. Thanks JP!
