Tag Archives: precision

Day 119: An involuntary precision

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Day 119 - front

  • Weight: 133.6 lbs.
  • Workout C: 15 minutes, 15 seconds; next: Workout C, Dec. 24
  • Total inches: 122.1
  • Protein: 128 g (2 g over target)
  • Calories: 2,310

I sometimes still surprise myself.

What has surprised me the most, 4 months in on Project Bulk, is my meticulousness around all aspects of this project. I know what I’ve spent, to the penny. I weigh myself first thing each morning, then wrap the tape measure around various limbs.

I calculate and recalculate what to eat to hit my calorie targets. If I’m bothered by any one aspect, it’s that my form on lifting and curls isn’t great. I bet if I were in front of a wall mirror, I could pinpoint where I need to improve my movement.

Such precision probably isn’t needed to accomplish my simple goal of gaining muscle. It’s just part of who I am. It’s what I do in blogging, in training, in measuring, in project work. It gives me clearer direction in what’s working and what isn’t.

I can be bigger. I don’t think I can ever be less precise.

Day 119 - side

Day 29: Tick tock

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Day 29

  • Weight: 127.4 lbs.
  • No workout today
  • Total inches: 119.0
  • Protein: 145 g (23 g over target)
  • Calories: 2,581

I’m as serious as a metronome about my workouts.

Because many of my exercises involve 5/5, 5 seconds up and 5 seconds down, I’d prefer precision over guessing. It’s hard enough keeping the rep count; that’s right, I lose track just counting to 7.

So I use my phone as a metronome. I play a ticking clock MP3 on a loop. My entire workout sounds like being inside a mechanical clock.

Audio: Ticking clock

The sound is a familiar one from my childhood. I started taking piano lessons when I was 7, and a mechanical metronome accompanied my daily practice. But instead of struggling to keep up in tempo with a Bach suite, I sweat it out while trying to lift, breathe and count all at once.

The march of time, the pace of my workouts grow ever louder.