The Road

The Road
I Just finished this novel today. The book floored me. If you have a man in your life and he has a son, buy him this book. This book is unforgettable. It will be branded into my head forever. After I got home I could think of nothing more than to hug my son. It is the story of a Father and son in a post apocalyptical world. They go through the trials of surviving a sort of Nuclear winter. It is not a sci-fi novel but more of a fragile and heart wrenching love story. If you do buy this for your man keep your eye on him as he nears the end. I had to actually put my sunglasses for the end of this.

2 more weeks

I'm sooooo close to the end of this challenge I can barely stand it. Here are my latest pics.

5K in 23:45

That is my fastest time yet. What's weird is I wasn't too winded. It's hard for me to tell how fast to run in the beginning to get a good time. I feel like I'm going fast but not as fast as I should be.

Our team Team Asylum ran a 2 miler. I'm really proud of all of them. They actually did it without any bitching. This team couldn't have turned out any better.

Here is a pic of my family. I know you thought I really wasn't married. She'd kill me if she knew I did this.

Well, here is a pic.

This diet has made me into a monster. I don't know whether I'm coming or going. Help me Beka! I'm short tempered, irrational and kind of bi-polar. eek. I'm not like this at home, thank God. I'm just on the edge I think. Chicken again? Cottage cheese again? Oh the humanity.

Travelling Blows!

I was pretty bad with my diet. I mean nothing I can't overcome but my choices were horrible. You'd be amazed how people think they are eating healthy when in fact they aren't. I really have to bear down on these last few weeks. A positive note is I got compliments from all my relatives. I think they were a bit stunned. Well nothing much to say, just rant. I'll post pics later on in the week. I think you will be a bit stunned too. Or not. :(

I've been Working Hard.

I really like doing one body part a day. Basically this means I'm destroying that one badypart and giving it a week to recover. I think I'm down 2% BF more since the pic on the right was taken. I'm shooting for complete transparency. I'm very uneven. My right side is a lot more defined than my left side. I'll have to work on that at some point. Now I ask myself, what is the point to all this. I don't know. I think it's something that drives me. I'm not into this for money, admiration. I'm not going to be a bodybuilder. My face is too jacked to be a model and I'm damn too old to model underwear. I'm not even sure I'm doing this for health reasons anymore. I'm definitely not doing this to impress anyone. I'm sure the food I'm putting in my mouth is healthy but yuck. I think once this challenge is over I may try and take some classes on nutrition and athletics or I may just chill and take up art again and be a normal citizen. Get off this internet crap and devote my time to more self gratifying accomplishments. I'm whining and it shows. Sometimes I like to get this load off my chest. I've made a lot of friends online and I will miss them dearly if I go. I won't go completely and then do the old "Hi remember me crap". Isn't it funny how we'd miss someone we don't really know? I don't know any of you. You've never heard my voice, or how I bite my lower lip or drift off in thought like a loonie-bird. Bad habits. Well see? I just waisted 5 minutes of your life and mine.
"There is a tide in the affairs of men which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune; ommited, all the voyage of their life is bound in shallows and in miseries."
Julius Caesar act IV Scene III

Whoooop!!

I'm still chugging along at high volume high velocity baby. I'll look for a new song to add to this blog. It is a little down beat. Well let's see, Tracker is Tracker. I'll tell you spending 10 dollars to get rid of all those ads was really worth it. Plus I added some of my art work there. I've got a pretty good team going. Team Asylum. They all seem very motivated and appear to be making progress. I like 99% of them.

My workouts are going strong. I feel a little beat up. abcbodybuilding.com wants to do an article of some kind regarding my Team Punishment project. Personally, I think abcbody..
makes T-Nation look like amateurs. These guys know their shizznit. With workout author's by names of Animal, Venom, you can be assured the workouts and science behind them will blow you up like bull. My latest pic. I'm halfway there. If I don't win the Tracker Challenge at least I know I gave it my best shot. It's been one Hell of a ride.

How am I losing all this weight you ask?

I'm eating the same garbage every day. Cottage cheese, green beans, brussel sprouts, oatmeal,CLA, the blood of the young. It's all good. No seriously it's all in the food and the volume of body punishment.

What am I doing?

Alright, so I weigh myself at the gym and it says 166.5. I sure don't look 166. I think I'm a fat skinny fat guy? I don't know. Anyway, a friend showed me this early pic of myself and I can't believe ho much my body has changed. The left is week -1 a year ago. Remember I already lost 10 pounds before this pic and I'm holding in my gut. The second pic is from today.

24:01 one second!!

I'm so close to getting below the 24 minute (5K) mark I can't believe it. 4 more days of Team Punishment and 8 1/2 more weeks of this Tracker Challenge. These are my current pics.

6 days left.

Well my weekend was a mess on the eating scale. I'm back to it now though. I ran the 5K yesterday in 24:15. I will get it down to 24:00 the next time.

I'm designing a new program that looks ridiculous. The way I look at it is this...TP didn't kill me so do something that will. One thing I I know and feel proud of is, I will never get outworked in the gym. Overtraining is a myth and feel it is an excuse. Have a good day. Ciau

10 days 24:40 5k

Well I ran my 5K yesterday in 24:40. It may have been faster cause at the last few feet the gym power went out. The belt speed was 8.5 when the gym went black and the belt stopped. I almost flew into the mirror.

The funny thing about running is I don't tire. My body will break down first. I'm just getting old.

The image on the left is my son. I didn't tell him I was adding weights and a dunce cap to him ha ha.

11 more days

11 more days of Team Punishment.

Bringing back memories

I miss gunning one of these beauty's

Week 9

I just took my pictures for the Tracker challenge and oh my!! I took them is horrible light and it looks like a definitive before photos. I'll put them up Monday when I start.

These pics I just took under better lighting. You'll notice how much fat I still have around my bid-section. I'll lose that in the last two months. I have a master plan.

And if you don't like my pics, my daughter has something to say to you!

167

Team Punishment works. It obviously isn't for everyone. I've never felt or looked better in my life. The workouts are the best I've ever done. I've done TBT, Summer Project, BFL, C.T.'s workouts. None have done what Jacob Wilson's workout has done. The dude ought to write a book.

My leg workout went pretty good this morning. 9 sets of leg presses; low, feet together, shoulder width high, and wide middle toe out. Shoulder width squats (ass to the grass) and then sled calf presses superset with reverse calf raises. The latter kills the front tibia muscle.


The art reception went pretty well last night. I ate one oatmeal cookie and stayed away from the wine. They had one of those chocolate dipping fountains. That would've tasted good I imagine. I'll post pics this week. Stay tuned.

Sex and Fitness

I read in another BFL'ers blog that if the word sex is mentioned, you'll get numerous hits. So, if you are reading this you can consider yourself a perv. lol

A bruiser kind of day!

A rant begins here....My team Punishment workouts consist of a lot of supersets. In the gym I am very respectful. I don't talk, I put the weights and benches away in their proper places, and I always go out of my way to let someone have a machine. Today on second round of supersets I have to do Incline Bench and close grip pull-downs. There is this guy doing incline and curls and walking around like chicken with head freshly removed. I sit on a bench pretending to read my log and waiting for him to finish. He begins to walk out of the room and I say, "Are you finished with that?" He stops and says " No I'll be coming back to it sometime" I say through clenched teeth, Well I'm going to work in a set..cool? This guy had one of those smug faces like he is an elitist. For some crazy reason I wanted to kill him right there on the spot. I go up to the incline press (it is the only one we have) and remove his 25# plate and 10# plate and put on my plates. I pumped out 12 and came off of it roaring (I know I know) As I come off the Bench I hit my shin on a 45# barbell so hard it flies of the rack. Even after this I put his bagel size plates back on in case he came back. Well he didn't until I finished my three sets. My shin looks like it got hit with an ax. Oh well, tomorrow is my last day of week 6 Than I get to rest for a week.

Team Punishment Update.

I deleted a couple of blogs. I deleted the TP Blog and my art blog. I really need to simplify my life. Working out is a consuming part of it. My family is a consuming part of it. My art is a consuming part of it. If you add that all together, I'm consumed.
Team Punishment workout today:
3000 meters rowing and ran three miles. A good musical cd to listen to while running is DJ Tiesto's Parade of Athletes.

My Art Update:
My oil piece titled "Shell" was accepted into the Northern California Art Show. It's not much of a big deal, but I'm very excited about it. I personally think the painting is crap. I just wanted to enter something and it worked.

My Family Update:
My daughter is now standing, crawling and making the moves towards walking.

Week 4

Alright! I've finished week 4 of my Team Punishment Project. It's not just an adventure, it's a job! The pic, I know is goofier than Hell. Sorry I couldn't get my skull any smaller. I think it's just the angle. Yea that's it.

TEAM PUNISHMENT

Well I’m trying to get “TEAM PUNISHMENT” squared away. You can find the blog page here. I got the workout from www. abcbodybuiling.com. I’ve formatted it with my own sheets to make it easier on everyone that is joining.  I’m going to enter the BFL challenge and use this workout to kill it. Last night I even created a 30-minute mp3 (strong parent advisory) to go along with the aerobic workout. It starts off slow to get your one minute warm up. Believe me, it picks up after that. That song will be downloadable via the Team Punishment page. It’ll be downloadable via rapidshare.  If you read this and want to be part of this team let me know. We’ll start on Jan 01, 2007.      

174.5 he he

These pants didn’t fit a couple of months ago. According to Jim I’m about 12 %.
My Tanita scale says I’m 22.5%. I’ve fallen off the food wagon a couple of days.
I had an old buddy from the north West come and visit and let’s just say I wasn’t
too good with my diet.  This picture was taken this evening.

173

Day 4

174

Day 3

177

It Begins.

ATTACK!!

Of the lobster.

Oh My

Yes I'm showing another picture. I thought this was a cute. She is already seeing this boy with glasses. I caught them and took this picture as evidence.

Day 1

Well Day 1 of my blood and guts routine is in the bag. Doing 100 reps on the pec dec machine is gonna hurt. I think the lady next to me thought I was out of my mind. I have eaten 100% clean so far today. Yea!!!  Tomorrow is going to be good pain inflicting one I think. I can’t wait.

Blood and Guts

I’m bored…so I’m starting something new Monday, 22. 2006. I doubt I’ll be able to complete one week of this routine but I want to see if I can do it. I did about one month of BFL and really liked my results. I started taking MG Development’s XM4. It’s like Biotest’s Surge on steroids. (And no it’s not steroids..Gaaaaawd!)  This is my supplement intake before and after workouts. 30 to 60 minutes prior to workout, I take 3-5 grams of L-Arginine, 5 grams glutamine.  0 to 30 minutes prior I take 20 grams whey, ½ scoop of XM4, 3 to 5 grams of creatine. After working out, 5 grams of glutamine, 40 grams of whey, 3 to 5 grams of creatine. I’ll let you know how it works. With the XM4 I’ve gone from 172 to 177 in two weeks. My BF% is the same.  Blood n Guts  

Week 2

I've taken this pic a day or two early but it is done. I've slacked on a couple of days. I think I see a couple changes already. My shoulders and arms are getting tighter. I believe this is from the rows I do daily along with the daily elyptical.

Go Army!

Here's a pic for ya. I just finished rail loading my tank on the railhead. I was getting ready to go to the field. I look thrilled. Oh by the way, I was 21 years old.

A Long Way To Go!

Well week one is done diggity done. I'm feeling a lot fatter than I had anticipated. I look fatter than I anticipated. Well, I've got 11 more weeks to tighten this old body up.

It Begins

It Begins… I have gone back to B.F.L. well sort of. I’m creating a hybrid BFL program. I’ve come to the conclusion that BFL is the best program out there. I knew this was true, but tried many other programs to learn. I did learn. The pyramid rep system is, in my opinion the best there is. My official start date is 09/27/06. Today was day three. I’m going to post my progress to show you my hybrid program is superior to T-Nations workouts. (Ego inserted here) The amazing Suz has inspired me to become a vicious challenger. Unbeknownst to the Trackers, I usually focus on one or two people and use them as my inspiration.

• Day 1


• Dumbbell Bench Press (chest) 12,10,8,6,12 / Weighted Dip 12


• Close Grip Bench Press (Triceps) 12,10,8,6,12 / Overhead Cable 12


• Overhead Press Dumbbell (Shoulders) 12,10,8,6,12 / Upright Row 12


• Back Extension (Back) 12,10,8,6,12 / Deadlift 12


• Barbell Curl (Biceps) 12,10,8,6,12 / Close Grip Pull Up / 12


• 10 minutes bike @ 169 heart rate


• Day 2


• 20 minutes level 8 precor # 6 glut Elliptical / 1000 meters rowing level 10


• Day 3


• Full Back Squat (Quads) 12,10,8,6,12 / Single Leg Extension 2 second hold at peak 12


• Romanian Deadlift (Hamstrings) 12,10,8,6,12 / Bulgarian Split Squat 12


• Standing Calf Raise (Calves) 12,10,8,6,12 / Seated Calf Raise


• Hanging Leg Raises (abs) 12,10,8,6,12 / Reverse Crunches 12


• Day 4


• Same as day 2

    

A few more

My Daughter and me. We just woke up.

My Daughter is giving Mom the evil eye.

My Son and Nieces

Beach 4 The Weekend

This pic was taken outside the backdoor of our beachhouse. I thought this pic of my son was funny. He wanted to go cow-tipping, but I told him this wasn't the movie..Cars. I'll post more pics later.

Sunday-Leg Day

Sunday- today was a pretty good leg workout. The leg-extensions burned my legs like fire.

• A1. Front squat: Sets 3Reps: 6 to 8Tempo: Control the eccentric or lowering portion (2-4 seconds), lift explosivelyRest: None


• A2. Leg extension: Sets 3Reps: 15 to 20Tempo: Include a 1-2 second hold at the peak contractionRest: 2 minutes


• B1. Sumo Deadlift:  Sets 3Reps: 6 to 8Tempo: Control the eccentric (2-4 seconds), lift explosivelyRest: None


• B2. Leg curl: Sets 3Reps: 15 to 20Tempo: Include a 1-2 second hold at the peak contractionRest: 2 minutes


• C1. Standing calf raise: Sets 3Reps: 6 to 8Tempo: Control the eccentric (2-4 seconds), lift explosivelyRest: None


• C2. Seated calf raise: Sets 3Reps: 15 to 20Tempo: Include 2 second hold in the stretched and peak contraction positionsRest: 2 minutes

My new workout hurts

straight up. These workouts change so much, they never get boring. I learn something new each day I workout. I am so sore it isn't funny. (go ahead laugh you sadistic maniac) I think it is a really effective workout. It has to be.

Next weekend, I'm going to the coast for the weekend. I can't wait. I think I'll try some of that beach jogging like they did in that movie.. uh uh I forget the name of it. Well, I know I have nothing important to say. SORRY!! Later folks.

BZZZZZZZZZZZZ

Alright so my wife goes to American Idol last night and basically makes out with Taylor hicks. Maybe not that close but she gets a couple of autographs from him. I just wanted Kelly pickles..er whatever's bra. That was a no-go. My mother-n-law watches the kids and I get a couple hours of free time. I don't really know what to do. I hate going to the movies by myself unless it's raining and I'm sneaking off of work.

Anyway I go to Max Muscle and do my own window shopping. I start talking to the guy about all the latest new supplements and we start talking about energy pills. Y'know the kind that get you through very strenuous workouts. I talk about Hot Rox Extreme and Spike blaa blaa. I like Biotest's products and whore them out as much as possible. He brings up Venom by A.L.R.I. He says a couple of bodybuilders and M.M.A. fighters come in and eat this crap up. The guy at the counter says that they say it kicks ephedrine to the curb. I'm thinkin' yea right. They didn't have any on stock but had it ordered. He gives me a two pill sample. He says"do not take both of them. I'm warning ya, just start off with one." So (you know where this is going don't ya?) this morning at around 9:00 am I take two. Then I start getting this Oh crap what have I done thing in my head. Like a guy that finally take LSD and realizes the mistake he's made. Well nothing was happening around 11:00, well I could feel some adrenaline pumping but that was about it. About noon I was off my freakin rocker. It is 4:00 pm and I'm still off my rocker. DO NOT TAKE TWO!!! It is also a food deterrent. I have'nt eaten since 9:00 o clock this morning and I'm not hungry. Unfortunately this doesn't work for me cause I had an amazing workout. I mean amazing. Well it was until I missed a power clean and nearly decapitated little Greg.

I also actually talked to someone in the gym. There is an older woman in my gym and she works out about 6 days a week. She used to be pretty heavy and now looks great. I didn't know how to approach her but just you look great and you are really getting into shape. I didn't want to say "Wow you aren't fat anymore" She said I hope so this 6 days a week stuff is paying off. Than she said thank you and its great to have someone acknowledge my progress.

Then a young man around 19 or so approaches me and says God you do a lot of pull-ups. I said well I'm only doing a curcuit of 6 of 20 pull-ups..4 at a time. So I talk to him for awhile and help him give him some advice. (Funny I'm giving advice)

Anyway the moral of this story is JUST TAKE TWO of these

New Workout

I’ve put together a new workout. This will be a combination of leg and arm development.  I’m calling the Brotherhood of Iron workout.  It should be pretty tough. I still have to fit in back and shoulders. Where? I have no idea.

A long overdue Update.

I'm really not sure what week this is. I'm one week away from finishing The Waterbury Summer Project. After this I'm going hard core. Apparently this next workout is hard enough to make you puke or go tunnel vision. Sounds like fun and I can't wait! I'm sorry for the poor quality. It's a 1000 dollar camera and I can't take a decent pic for beans. I really need to show my legs. I've made the greatest gains there I think.

"18th Floor Balcony"

I close my eyes and I smile
Knowing that everything is all right
To the core
Close that door
Is this happening?
My breathe is on your hair
I'm unaware
That you opened the blinds and let the city in
God, you held my hand
As we stand
Taking in everything.

And I knew it from the start
So my arms are open wide
Your head is on my stomach
And we're trying so hard not to fall asleep

But Here we are
On this 18th floor balcony...
We're both flying away.

We talked about moms and dads
About family's pasts
Getting to know where we came from
Our hearts were on display
For all to see
I can't believe this is happening.
I raised my hand as if to show you I was yours
That I was so yours for the taking
I'm still so your for the taking
That’s when I felt the wind pick up
I grabbed the rail while choking up
These words to say and then you kissed me...
I knew from the start
So my arms are open wide
And your head is on my stomach
And we're trying so hard not to fall asleep

But here we are
On this 18th floor balcony...

I knew from the start
So my arms are open wide
Your head is on my stomach
And we're trying so hard not to fall asleep

Here we are
On this 18th floor balcony...
We're both flying away.

And I'll try to sleep
To keep you in my dreams
So I can bring you home with me
And I'll try to sleep
And when I do I'll keep you in my...dreams

I knew it from the start
My arms are open wide
Your head is on my stomach
We're not going to sleep
But here we are
On this 18th floor balcony...we're both..
Flying away

18th Floor Balcony by Blue October

Black Wednesday

Yesterday was by far the hardest workout I've done since I started working out. I’ve been under a lot of stress lately because of work; I’m on the board of a national art show. This means I do secretarial duties. I have to take artist’s submissions from all over the country and organize them in Excel. Final submissions were to be received by Wednesday and judging starts Saturday. Go figure. I wasn’t really ready for what laid ahead of me on Wednesday’s workout but I should have been. This is what it was.

Remember: all reps are to go to failure. This means the weight is as high as you can stand it and the final rep is near undoable.

Circuits: 4 (This means all these exercises, in their entirety are to be done 4 times)

Good Mornings                              1 X 10: 10 second rest

Dumbbell Romanian Deadlift        1 X 10: 10 second rest

Reverse Lunges (repeated 3x)        1 X 10: 90 second rest

Incline Barbell Bench Press            1 X 10: 10 second rest

Standing Military Press                   1 X 10: 10 second rest

Dumbbell side raises (repeated 3x) 1 X 10: 90 second rest

Chin-Ups                                         1 X 10: 10 second rest

Bent over Barbell rows (palms up) 1 X 10: 10 second rest

Barbell Upright Rows (repeat 3x) (I used a 45# plate)
                                                        1 X 10: 10 second rest

After: 10 minutes of jumping jacks




        

My little girl is five months

She is my world. I am blessed

Side By Side

It's funny when you look back and THANK GOD you made the right choices.

26:35

Chantal I’m dedicating this 5K to you. Everyone’s talking about this 5K run, so I figured I’d give it a try. I never run on the treadmill. I always beat myself up on the elliptical machine. Anyhow, Tuesday, I decided to try it. I put it on the 5K loop on the treadmill. I set it up like this. Speed 7.0 and incline at 1.0.  At the 2-mile point I was dying. I quit and walked about another lap or so and waddled to the locker room in disgust. At noon today I figured I would try it again. All I was shooting for was to get a little bit further than I did Tuesday. My calves are killing me from Monday’s standing calf raises. I know quit whining and get back to the story.  When I hit the 2-mile point, I really wanted to quit again. I just kept thinking keep going and quit looking at the controls. It started getting easier after that. My legs were starting to get numb and boosted the speed to 7.5 for the last quarter lap. I finished at 26:35. I almost did that Tarzan yell, but I figured the older lady in front of me would think I was a dork. I’m pretty proud of myself, and my calves really hurt now. My next goal is 26:00. I think I’ll attempt that next Tuesday. Ciao

Getting dressed; a workout?

The side effects of building muscle hit me this morning while I was getting ready for work. For the last few weeks, I’ve been wearing shorts to work. (You know those tan dressy shorts) Short guys like me look pretty ridiculous in shorts but its way to hot not to. Anyhow, my weight loss has me wearing size 29-30 waist shorts. Well this morning, I was having a hard time getting my shorts pass my thighs. It was a pretty funny sight I imagine.

On another note, this Waterbury workout is a killer. Today, which was day two, week 3, made me feel like I ran a marathon.  The weighted burpees are nuts. It’s where you hold two dumbbells in each hand and do a burpee.  I did three sets; 15 reps of those.  If you get a chance look at what day 3-week 3 looks like. I’m going to die on that day I believe. If I live through it I’ll let you know. Ciao

I'm Here To Make It Easy

People have been asking me about my workouts. I designed workout sheets for the Waterbury Summer Project.  I only have week 1-4 done at this time. I will finish the remaining 4 very soon. These are in .pdf format so you can print them out as they are.
You will notice where the rest periods lay. The way this workout runs is; you do A1 and A2 then rest. You go to B1 to B2 then rest. It makes sense when you look at it. If the rep says 6 and the load is 8, that means the weight is 2 shy of your max rep. The exercises that have a / between them means or. The first exercise on week one is different. You do a hang clean then go into a squat. Please ask me if you have any questions.
WEEK ONE
WEEK TWO
WEEK THREE
WEEK FOUR

Back At It!!

I couldn’t wait any longer so I worked out yesterday. My chest was still a little sore but manageable. The workout was a circuit. The set consisted of 2:00 minute intervals at 25% of you R.M. I had to complete a circuit of 3.  I’m not sure what my R.M. is so; I make an uneducated guess and put on a comfortable weight. I didn’t want to overdo it by any means. The set were 2:00 minutes of dead lifts, push-ups, squats, and lat-pulls. When I got to the squats I couldn't do it. I could really feel the pain of stretching my arms over the bar. It was pulling my ribs to far apart. So I substituted decline leg press instead. Good call on my part. That was a tough and really fun workout. The push-ups did a little damage but it was manageable.  It felt awesome to be back in the gym.

My Diagnosis

The Diagnosis is costochondritis.  My doctor is Asian and doesn’t speak English very well; so watching him try to say this word for me was just funny. He seemed very interested in my involvement with pools. He couldn’t wait to drop my problem and get on with his. Apparently, his wife and him argue about the solar panels and their life span and he wanted me to give him an answer that justified his side. I won’ be lifting weights for a while and that is a major bummer. I went and did 35 minutes on the elliptical today and sat in the gym locker grimacing in pain. That 450 calories I burned really hurt a lot!

There is a guy in my gym that is a real big inspiration I remember when I was pretty over-weight, I thought I could never obtain the kind of body this guy has. He is one of those guys that every guy would like to be. The guy is built like Tarzan and has the nicest and most genuine attitude that is a rare thing these days.  I haven’t seen him in a long time and today he was there. I guess he’s had some problems and now he’s back to cause havoc with the weights again.

I want to give Eileen a big shout out for visiting my blog. I haven’t thanked her yet and she deserves my deepest gratitude. Thank you Eileen!

AAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!

Last Monday I was on my last workout and I blew it. I’ve been feeling so good that I miscalculated my limit. I was doing weighted dips. I usually put 70# on the belt and this day I put 80#. I finished my 4 sets of six, but felt something go a little haywire in my chest. I finished my workout and didn’t heed my body’s warning.  I think Friday was the day I sunk the last nail in my coffin. I did something like 180 push-ups and I believe that was when the worm turned. I was taking a shower afterward and my chest hurt so bad I could barely breathe. All I could think of was “Hurry with the shower cause I don’t want to die naked in the gym’s shower.” It was pretty scary.  I decided to go ahead and try to workout today. I got about 1/3 through and just couldn’t continue. I haven’t quit on a workout yet until today.   This is pretty upsetting. I set up a Doctor’s Appt. for tomorrow and I’ll find out what the deal is. I would have to say the moral of the story is…don’t be stupid.

Team Winner Winner Chicken Dinner

I think were gonna win, win, win! I'm just talking tracker trash.

Anyway back to me. ha I just finished week 1 of the Waterbury project. I think I damaged something in my chest because it hurts to breathe. (a little) It's probably because I did about 180 push-ups yesterday. If you can see the form on the earlier post you'll see what I mean. I took a vic*din last night so I could sleep. I'm much better now. I went pretty hard on the elliptical this morning and that felt great! You guys and gals have a wonderful week and stay focused. (unlike me :)

Friday was a Tuffy

Wow, yesterday was a brutal gym experience. I had set out a plan to follow and, as always, I change it. Sometimes on Fridays, I make the workouts a little harder because I know I have two days to recover. Instead of doing my set routine I took all sets to failure. I bumped all the weight loads up to an uncomfortable and sometime scary amount. For instance, I put two 35 lb plates on the preacher bar and did preacher curls. I did 10x10x6. I usually don’t curl this much-let alone preacher curl it. I could hear pops and tendons creaking with each pull. Maybe someone can tell me what the gym preacher bar weighs by itself, than I’ll know what my total load was.  I’m starting Waterbury’s summer program Monday. As usual I went all out and made up new forms for it. I think I do this to help motivate me, plus I like to be organized in the gym. I’m sure some of the other lifters think I’m pretty anal about all this logging in my journal, but oh well. If any of you want this new form I can send it to you in .pdf format.

If you’re into really hard-core lifting you may want to check out this site. They have tons of videos to watch. These guys, gals, and kids even, lift some very impressive weight.

A couple links of interest

Hey Guys and Gals. I was really interested in joining this gym. Well, until I found out it was 75.00 a month. The price is little too steep for me (my wife).  If I could get it past the wife, I’d do it. BodyTribe Gym Anyhow, you women might like this gals’ website. She seems really knowledgeable concerning women and weightlifting. Stumptuous

What I Eat.

My typical daily meal is so normal in the BFL world I'm sure this wont be of any surprise.

Breakfast: 1/2 cup oatmeal,with 1/3 cup blueberries(yummy),1 scoop of MAX Muscle's High 5.(french Vanilla flavor), 1 TBL spoon of ground flax seed, 1/3 cup skim or low fat milk. I mix it up and I'm in Heaven

Meal #2 (snack) Low fat cottage cheese w/ pineapple, 1/3 cup almonds, water

Lunch: Ezekiel 4:9 wheat bread with turkey,ham, or chicken with lemonaise(from whole foods market) spread, yogurt yoplait light, protein drink.

Meal #4 (snack) Protein shake, whatever else I can think of. This usually varies depending where I am or how much time I have.

Dinner: Chicken with a good for me marinade, half of a bake potato with budder buds.(pttthhh) green salad or greens of some kind. You get the point.

Meal#6 Smoothy..1 scoop protein powder, fat free milk, fruit, 2 tblespoons of natural peanut butter(yummy)4 cubes of ice.

Well it's week 8 of my TBT.

That means I'm actually done. I'm going to create another 4 weeks worth of hell for myself so I can claim I finished another 12 weeker. Some people have asked me about this workout of mine so I'll show you an example. I've got 8 weeks worth of this stuff. If you are reading this and are interested in this form of working out let me know and I'll send the workouts to you(no charge) You should have Micro-softy Excel on your computer.Be sure you click on the picture to see it in all it's glory.

My little Chloe is getting bigger!

I just couldn't resist showing her off.

Challenge 2 Week 6

I believe I'm toning up. I can definately see a lot more vasularity. Almost too much. I'm still doing the TBT workout. It is rough on the body and makes it hard to sleep at nights. ugh. It is a fun workout and takes nearly 3/4 of the time my old BFL workout took. This is my arm. Next week I'll try and do a side by side photo of my current status.

Challenge 2 Week 5

Well, I've gotten over being semi-terminally ill. My strength is coming back and I'm getting back into the lifting. I've got to get rid of this spare tire. I'm shooting for week eight to seethat happen. Well ciau for now.

A Kiss from Me.....

Will guarentee a 5 lb weight loss overnight. Holy cow, I come down with the mother of all stomache flus.I literally lost 5 lbs in one 24 hour period. I was 173 Sunday night and by monday I weighed in at 168. I'm feeling slightly better now and I'm going to attempt to eat some oatmeal. (yay) It doesn't look like I'll be in the gym today either. I'm going to try and go to work this afternoon. I feel like I've got knives in my back. I'm wondering if that is from being in bed sooo long or the art of porcelain worship. I don't know. Ciau for now.

Am I so Different?

Quite often, I think I would probably die without music.  In certain periods in my life certain songs move me dramatically. I will put these songs on my player and listen to them over and over. I’m usually attracted to sad songs. I think it helps me to cope with certain things that aren’t right in my life. I also think in some way that it helps me to overcome obstacles that may arise later.

I have a theory about dreams as well. I believe that nightmares are our brain’s way of sedating our stressful lives. Did you ever notice that on really good stretches of our lives we are free of bad dreams?  I remember in the Army I would have horrific dreams. The human body is a miraculous thing.  You ever hear that joke that goes: The brain says, “I’m the smartest organ in the human body!” The heart says, Who do you think told you that.”

The song “I’m Alright” by Candlebox has been on my player lately and the song moves me to no end. The lyrics follow:

Its alright what you confess to me
Where you’re at right now baby, its alright with me
Behind your truths or somewhere inside your lies
These long cold days of gray, they color your eyes
And its alright, what you confide in me
Where were at right now baby, its where we need to be
And I can see things so clearly through tear-stained eyes
The side effects of time in all our good-byes, and its alright
I got lost some time ago,Lost in your song, your touch, your smile
And where I want to grow old
And you glimmer and gleam like a blond-washed hair from an ocean-side domain
Drifting into me, I found myself again, in her song
Its alright what you say to me
How you feel right now baby, shows an everlasting need
Behind the truth, there’s something inside your lies
These long cold days of rain, they’re hiding your eyes
And its alright, what you express to me
Your song escapes me to this place I want to be
So sing to me baby, your song can carry me
Through endless weeks of rain and onto sweeter things
And its alright
I got lost some time ago,Lost in your song, your touch, your smile
And where I want to grow old
And you glimmer and gleam like a blond-washed hair from an ocean-side domain Drifting into me, I found myself again, in her song
Oh sing to me baby, your song can carry me
In all she’s revealed I found I could always see
How her ways could flow and run over me
And I found this reason to learn
And I found this reason to decide
As many days come and many days go
Ill never know whyAnd its alright
I got lost some time ago,Lost in your song, your touch, your smile
And where I want to grow old
And you glimmer and gleam like a blond-washed hair from an ocean-side domain
Drifting into me, I found myself again, in her song

My First Week Workout (Challenge 2)

· This workout is very nice. When I did the Body for Life, my body became very adapted to the same workouts day after day. I never felt any pain after the first week or so.
· This new workout hit areas I didn’t know could hurt. You may think I’m a sissy when you see my weight load but I am still new to this kind of working out.

Monday

Dumbbell incline chest 3x5x65
Hammer Curls 3x5x35
Pull ups 3x5
Lying dumbbell extension 3x5x35
Military Press Barball 3x5x100
Squats 3x5x135

Wednesday

Flat BB Bench Press 3x8x185
Seated Cable Rows 3x8x120
High-bar Back Squats 3x8x135
Sumo-style deadlifts 3x8x135
BB Bicep Curls 3x8x35
Standing Calf Raises 3x8x65

Friday

Decline BB Bench Press 2x15x135
Chin-ups 2x15
Step-Ups 2x15x50
Traditional style deadlifts 2x15x135
Seated Calf Raises 2x15x80
Dips 2x15

Challenge 2 Week _0

Well I'll be very curious to see what happens in the next twelve weeks. I'm happy the way my body looks now. I think I'm going for the vein look. I'll be just one big vein with my blimp sized head sticking out the top.

Week 12

I finished this first challenge with a B average. Well at least that is what I'm giving myself. :)