Daily News Archives
November 2005
12/31/2005 - No Update - on vacation.
12/30/2005 - Welcome new members! On vacation.
12/29/2005 - Vacation notice.
12/28/2005 - Last night's back workout; AtLarge Nutrition sale/T-Shirts.
12/27/2005 - New measurements; 1 year arm comparison photos.
12/26/2005 - This year's Christmas pictures.
12/25/2005 - Delts workout; "Christmas with the Kranks"; Merry Christmas.
12/24/2005 - Short update; Check out the archives!
12/23/2005 - Last night's workout; Up to 208 pounds!
12/22/2005 - The Melting Pot rant - fondue sucks.
12/21/2005 - Last night's workout; Action photos; New equipment; Home Gym page update.
12/20/2005 - Dumbbell rack/dumbbells arrives today; Diet adjustment; Holiday excuses.
12/19/2005 - Shopping done; Motivational series of progress photos; Last night's workout.
12/18/2005 - Good workout yesterday; Delts/traps routine; Happy with traps; New picture.
12/17/2005 - Bad workout yesterday; Busy day ahead.
12/16/2005 - Leg day; The Magic Of Thinking Big.
12/15/2005 - Last night's workout; Watch winders; Cardio day.
12/14/2005 - Last night's workout; New photo; Fat Track calipers and the MyoTape.
12/13/2005 - Back workout for the next three weeks; Favorite Christmas DVDs.
12/12/2005 - Fat loss and the new year; Last night's workout; New pictures; Fuji S9000.
12/11/2005 - Dumbbell rant; Christmas presents for this year; Home gym; New pictures.
12/10/2005 - Leg workout; Giving your all; Motivational DVDs.
12/09/2005 - Sore pecs; Cheat meal a day early; Big list of my favorite lifting music!
12/08/2005 - New feature: Favorite things; Power Hooks; New photos; Sore!
12/07/2005 - Last night's workout; New photo; Good kitchen scale.
12/06/2005 - Grip strength equipment; More dumbbells needed; Plate Mates.
12/05/2005 - Last night's workout; New photos; Growth; Lagging shoulders.
12/04/2005 - New feature: The JSF Shopping Mall!
12/03/2005 - Record month!
12/02/2005 - Detailed analysis of my 2004 bulk - learning from mistakes.
12/01/2005 - Monthly pictures; Steroids; Lisa sails to Mexico (again).
December 31, 2005
No update - on vacation.
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December 30, 2005
Notice: I'm going to be on vacation starting this afternoon (December 30, 2005), and will not be updating the site while I take a much-needed break from my usual routine. I'm not going out of town, and my training will continue full-force during my break. In fact, with no distractions or work-related stress to deal with, I expect this time to be very productive from a bulking standpoint. I'll still be around on the forum (to a limited degree), but there will be no updates to the main page from Saturday, December 31, 2005 through Monday, January 9, 2006. Daily updates will resume on January 10, 2006.
Because my vacation is going to fall across the New Year, I want to take some time to welcome the many new visitors who have made New Year's resolutions to lose weight and get in shape. Hello! First, you should know that I usually update this site every single day (even on Sunday), but as you can see I'm taking a short vacation right now. If you are looking for a quick fix or a magic bullet, you've come to the wrong place. You won't find what you are looking for here. Of course you can go back to Google and find countless web sites, books and "miracle" products out there - just fork over your money and they'll tell you exactly what you want to hear. If you are after short-term results and don't care about your health or making a real, sustainable, life-long changes then you should move on - we don't sugarcoat here.
If, on the other hand, you are ready to devote time and effort into educating yourself and to learning about proper nutrition, fat loss and muscle growth, then welcome to JSF! There are literally thousands upon thousands of people in our community who have changed their lives forever, myself included. The one thing we all have in common is that we took the time to educate ourselves and do it right. I started my new life three years ago. At the time I weighed 215 pounds and around 30% of that weight was fat. Today I'm 216 pounds, and generally maintain about 8% body fat.
These kinds of changes don't happen overnight. They take hard work, dedication and discipline. It doesn't matter what your ideal physique is: you may want to look less muscular than I do, or you may want to blot out the sun with 250 pounds of ripped lean mass. Regardless of your goals, the basic ingredients are the same: a proper, healthy diet geared towards your specific goals, weight training, cardio vascular exercise, the desire to change and the dedication to make it happen. With these five things you can do anything you want with your body. You can do it all without starving yourself, without taking unsafe supplements or steroids, and without living in the gym. Transitioning to a new lifestyle is not easy, but once you learn the ropes you will find it's no more difficult than maintaining an unhealthy lifestyle.
Ready to get started? Put away your credit card, because we're not selling anything here. Every bit of information you need to change your life is 100% free. You can start out by checking out the "sticky" threads in the Beginner's section of our forums. I encourage you to create a free account, jump in and introduce yourself! Please take the time to read some of the basic information we've made available to you. Once you've done that, feel free to ask any questions you might have.
I've also written some motivational articles over the years that you may find interesting. You can find all of them plus much more in my Daily News archives, but here are a few selected items...
- January 6, 2004 - My one-year anniversary update
- December 31, 2004 - End of 2004 update
- October 7, 2005 - "Controversial" motivational update (skip down to 3rd paragraph
- October 8, 2005 - Follow-up to the Oct 7th update
- November 1, 2005 - Three-year retrospective in photos and words
Thanks again for visiting. I wish you all the best of success with your goals. See you on January 10th!
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December 29, 2005
Notice: I'm going to be on vacation starting tomorrow afternoon, and will not be updating the site while I take a much-needed break from my usual routine. I'm not going out of town, and my training will continue full-force during my break. In fact, with no distractions or work-related stress to deal with, I expect this time to be very productive from a bulking standpoint. I'll still be around on the forum (to a limited degree), but there will be no updates to the main page from Saturday, December 31, 2005 through Monday, January 9, 2006. Daily updates will resume on January 10, 2006.
Reminder - AtLarge Nutrition Sale! AtLarge Nutrition has steadily been gaining a huge following on the JSF forums. Feedback on the quality of their products, their customer service and their INCREDIBLE shipping time (one member's recently reported that his order was shipped less than one hour after he placed it!) has been unanimously positive. Click on over to their web site and check out their offerings. Right now is a great time to do this, because they are currently running a 10% off sale! Get your orders in quickly - the sale ends January 1, 2006. They also have terrific new T-shirts available! You can pick up yours right here. Chris' HUGE back is not included.
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December 28, 2005
I'm writing this update on Tuesday night because I have to go into the office very early this morning. I just finished my back workout and it was another excellent workout. Somehow I added another 10 pounds to my deads and did 4 sets of 8. Next week I'll add 10 more pounds, and for the first time in several months I'm not sure if I'm going to be able to pull 4 sets of at least 8. Tonight I was really struggling to get the last couple of reps up on the last set. I even broke form a little (I felt my back round a bit), but no harm done.
AtLarge Nutrition has steadily been gaining a huge following on the JSF forums. Feedback on the quality of their products, their customer service and their INCREDIBLE shipping time (one member's recently reported that his order was shipped less than one hour after he placed it!) has been unanimously positive. Click on over to their web site and check out their offerings. Right now is a great time to do this, because they are currently running a 10% off sale! Get your orders in quickly - the sale ends January 1, 2006. They also have terrific new T-shirts available! You can pick up yours right here. Chris' HUGE back is not included.
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December 27, 2005
I took this week's measurements this morning and am very pleased with the results: with 5 weeks left in my bulk, I'm now at the same weight as I was end of my last bulk - only this time I'm at 11% body fat compared to 14% body fat. Compared to the end of my 2004 bulk, my arms are over an inch larger, my chest is 1/2 inch bigger, my quads are a 1/4 inch bigger, my forearms are a 1/2 inch larger, my waist is 1 inch smaller and my hips are 1/4 inch smaller. I'm not done - I expect the last 5 weeks to be the best 5 weeks yet!
Here's a comparison of my arms 1 year ago (at the end of my bulk) vs. a picture I took yesterday:
December 26, 2005
I've got this year's Christmas photos online. We were all having so much fun that we pretty much forgot to take pictures, so most of them are of the dogs, the presents and the house. Ooops!
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December 25, 2005
I had a great delts/traps workout last night! I went up in weight and/or reps on every exercise, and didn't feel any shoulder pain at all. Lisa was still baking while I was lifting, so I had to lift to Christmas music. It didn't seem to affect my workout.
After my workout Lisa and I decided to watch a Christmas movie we'd never see before, "Christmas with the Kranks". We both sat in stunned silence as we watched what is possibly the worst, most unfunny, least imaginative film ever greenlit unfold before us. Considering many of the films coming out of Hollywood these days, that's not a statement to be taken lightly. I've seen "straight to video" films that are light-years ahead of this one. 30 minutes into it, and we had to turn it off - we were actually in real, physical pain. Folks, I watch a lot of film, and I've seen some real turkeys over the years; however, I can count on one hand the number of films I have walked out of or couldn't finish watching. "Christmas with the Kranks" is an abomination. If you watch it, it will actually suck the Christmas spirit out of you. It made me grumpy. I actually had nightmares last night. Every person involved with this project should fire their agent. The director, Joe Roth (who also brought us such gems as "Revenge Of The Nerds 2"), should never be allowed to direct again. In fact, when Joe goes to hell (he now has a confirmed ticket) he should be forced to watch "Kranks" for all eternity. If you see this DVD, destroy it on sight. This film sucks on every conceivable level. It's absolute crap. I still feel like I have not properly conveyed just how bad this film is, but I have to stop talking about it before I ruin my Christmas.
That was cathartic! I feel better now. I'm off to give Lisa and the dogs their presents and get started cooking. Merry Christmas - have a wonderful day!
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December 24, 2005
I've got a lot to accomplish today - it's going to be a real challenge to get it all done! I'm going to cut this update short, eat and get started. If you are bored and looking for something to read, why not check out my archives? I read through some of the old updates yesterday and was amazed at how much I've changed over the past three years!
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December 23, 2005
Because I had to attend a company Christmas dinner on Wednesday night, I made up my chest workout last night (which is normally a night off). It was an excellent workout, and I made good use of my new dumbbells: I went up in weight on every single exercise (DB bench press, DB incline press, DB decline press and cable cross-overs), and even managed more reps than last week on a couple of those exercises. My left shoulder (the better of my two) was protesting a bit with some pain and grinding, but nothing that prevented me from completing the workout. This morning the shoulder feels fine. Tonight is leg night, tomorrow I hit my delts and Sunday (Christmas) I will postpone my arm workout until Monday (which is normally my other day off).
I'm up to 208 pounds as of this morning! The fat I've added along with my muscle has not been too bad at all, but there's definitely some pudge around my mid-section. It's also showing in my face quite a lot. I remember when it used to bother me a great deal to add any fat at all. This time around I can honestly say I don't care one bit. I know the fat gain is only temporary, but the muscle gain is not. Once I finish this bulk and cut back down to 8% body fat, I'm going to have the best body of my life - by far. I can't wait to hit the beach!
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December 22, 2005
Last night the big company diner was held at "The Melting Pot", which is a fondue restaurant. I guess some people are "fondue people" (Lisa loved it) and some are not. I'm definitely in the latter camp. I really don't understand the attraction to fondue restaurants...
First of all, diners are subjected to more instructions than people who are going out for their first sky dive. By the time our server finished rattling of the myriad of safety instructions, I was in fear for my life. The list is daunting: which food could be dipped in which sauce before cooking, which bowl you should cook in depending on the batter you used if you want to avoid an explosion, the precise amount of time each bite had to be cooked to avoid food poisoning or overcooking, the proper procedure for taking the cooked food out of the pot and what to do with it before eating it to avoid mouth burns, grease fire warnings, general burn warnings, scalding hot bowl warnings, splashing hot oil warnings, hot utensil warnings...). By the time she finished, I was looking around for the triage. I don't know about most people, but I don't like to dine in constant terror.
Anyway, that was just the start. Once the "main course" is served (a bunch of raw meat on a platter), then the real fun begins. You fork whatever it is you want to eat, figure out which batter you want to use, figure out which broth or oil you want to cook it in (keeping in mind the explosion and grease fire warnings), you put the meat in the liquid and... check your watch?! Whatever. So I'm trying to keep track of how long my first bite of food has been in the oil (it needs two minutes), but other people are passing their forks down to me because the oil they want to use happens to be in front of me. So I put their forks in the proper oils and broths and check my watch. Just 15 seconds to go! Meanwhile Lisa asks me to put some vegetables in the broth. I start putting the veggies in, but I realize that my bite of chicken is finally done, so I pause to remove the chicken. I put it on my plate to cool, and finish putting the veggies in for Lisa. So now I'm about to dive into my bite of chicken, but wait - the other bites are done, and I have to stop and pass those back around the table to their rightful owners. That taken care of, I dive into my bite of chicken. Um. It was not bad, but now I have to cook another bite. Wait - first Lisa's veggies need to be removed from the scalding hot liquid! Meanwhile, more forks of food are passed down to me and I'm about to pass out from hunger. I place all the food in the proper broths and check my watch again. About this time one of my co-worker's little kids grabs a scalding hot fork and begins to scream and cry. Medic! Are we having fun yet?
So, I'm anxiously awaiting my second bite of food when I realize that I dipped it into an inappropriate batter for the broth I selected. Not a dangerous combo - thank goodness - but still a combination our sever warned us to avoid if we liked our food to taste good. She was right, my second bite of food was a culinary failure. 10 minutes into the meal, and eager for my third bite of food, I dutifully picked up my fork and tried to remember all the rules. My eyes began to glaze over as I looked at the sea of unlabeled batters, dipping sauces, broths and oils spread out before me. So, just when I was making good progress on my next dipping sequence selection, more forks are passed down to me. Sigh.
Oh, and forget about trying to have a conversation with anyone - the whole meal was spent timing the food, worrying about getting burned or picking the wrong sauce and passing forks around. Also the server kept coming by to make sure we had plenty of water, Neosporin and bandages. I wanted to scream, "Damn it, could someone please just bring me a ****ing steak - cooked?#@!"
Glad I got that out. Have a great day!
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December 21, 2005
Last night's back & traps workout was amazing! I'm already a little sore this morning, but by tonight I should be feeling the full effects. Lisa watched as I banged out my deads, and she took pictures. My full post-workout log, details on the workout and new pictures are in my photo journal. Here's the link to last night's entry.
My new dumbbell rack and dumbbells came in yesterday morning. I had the rack assembled and stocked with weights in less than an hour. I really like how it looks: it makes the whole gym look a little more polished and professional. Of course the real treats are the new 90 and 100 pound dumbbells. I've needed these for so long, and it's wonderful to finally have them. If I can find some 110s and 120s I should be all set for awhile. I've updated the Home Gym page with almost a half-dozen new pictures. In addition to the new rack and dumbbells, I've also added pictures of other equipment and accessories that I've acquired since the Titan pictures were posted. The new pictures are all in a row, and about 3/4 of the way down the page.
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December 20, 2005
I'm so excited - today my new 3-tier dumbbell rack, along with my 90-pound and 100-pound dumbbells, will arrive by truck! Those new dumbbells are going to come in handy for tonight's workout - my 85-pound dumbbells are not really cutting it for my one-arm bent-over DB rows. Hopefully I'll have time to set up the dumbbell rack before my workout. I'll be sure to get some new pictures and update my home gym page once I have everything assembled and in place. It's going to be so nice to finally have all those dumbbells off the floor. Now I just need to keep my eyes peeled for a pair of 110-pound and a pair of 120-pound dumbbells and I should be set for a good while.
My weight gain seems to be tapering off a bit. I'm going to talk to SwoleCat today about increasing my calories. I've added almost 20 pounds since I started bulking, so an adjustment is probably in order at this point. Actually Chris and I discussed this a little bit a couple of weeks ago, and I think the plan will be to add a 7th meal. No problem on this end, I love to eat!
I'm going to have to change my workout schedule slightly this week due to holiday plans. Wednesday night I have to go to a company Christmas dinner, so for this week only I'm moving my chest and abs day to Thursday (which is normally a day off). On Sunday (Christmas day), we've got family coming over for dinner and I won't be able to workout, so I'm just going to move my bicep/tricep workout to Monday (which is my other regular day off). A lot of people use the holidays as an excuse to miss workouts and slack off. I say "excuse" because that's exactly what it is. Now, if you choose to miss some workouts, then that's just fine - but call it what it is: a choice. If you pretend that you have no control over your schedule, and that the holidays are forcing you to miss workouts that you don't want to miss, then you're lying to yourself. A little pre-planning and time management is all it takes; the question is, how important is it to you?
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December 19, 2005
I hope everyone had a very nice weekend. We're done with all our Christmas shopping, so this week we can relax, enjoy the cool weather and watch some
Christmas DVDs. Lisa will be doing a lot of baking this week. Our pantry is
overflowing with all kinds of sinful baking ingredients. It's interesting that in our day-to-day lives Lisa hasn't done anything more adventurous
in the kitchen than heat a burrito in the microwave, but when the holidays roll around she can bake brownies, cakes, cookies, pies, confections and
sweets to absolute perfection. 
I'll probably sample a little here and there, but I'd rather fill up on Turkey
and other foods that will help my bulking progress.
Speaking of progress, check out this series of pictures I put together yesterday. These pictures further illustrate how much change is possible if you put your mind and heart into making it happen. Each picture was taken over four successive Decembers, and they represent three years of hard work and dedication. The first photo was taken in December 2002, just before I started my transformation. I was fat, unhealthy, out of shape and depressed; I drank alcohol nightly and I smoked pot daily. Three years ago I decided enough was enough and I changed the things in my life that were slowly destroying me. Do you look like my first picture, or worse, right now? There's nothing stopping you from changing but YOU.
I had a great workout last night. Here's a link to last night's workout log.
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December 18, 2005
I was feeling a little under the weather yesterday (mostly my stomach), but I went ahead and worked out anyway. I'm glad that I did, it was a great workout! My shoulders are continuing to make good progress, but I'm especially pleased with how my traps have responded so far. Details on the workout, along with my current delts/traps exercise routine and a new post-workout picture can be found in last night's post-workout journal entry.
I'm done with my Christmas shopping, but Lisa has a few more things to pick up. She and her mom are heading out this morning to brave the crowds. Me? I'm still feeling less than 100%, so I'm going to rest up and get ready for this evening's killer bicep/tricep workout. There are just six weeks left until the end of my current bulk, and I intend to make every second of those six weeks count.
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December 17, 2005
It was bound to happen: I had my first "bad" 2005 bulk workout yesterday. I don't know what happened, I was feeling great and started off with no problems. I did some high-volume (medium weight, high rep) pre-exhaust leg work before my squats, but when it came time to squat I got that horrible weak feeling one gets when blood sugar levels are too low. I have not felt that in a long, long time. I felt weak and lightheaded. The only thing that I did differently from normal was have steamed shrimp and rice instead of chicken and rice for lunch. I don't think that had anything to do with it, but it's the only thing that was different from my normal diet. Anyway, I made it through the workout (barely) and felt better once I got some food in me. I feel a little weak this morning, too, but I have not eaten yet. Maybe I've got a little touch of a bug?
I've got a very busy day ahead; there are a lot of last-minute Christmas preparations I need to take care of, and it's time once again for our monthly trip to Costco. Have a great day!
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December 16, 2005
I never feel like I have much to talk about the day after my cardio-only days. Cardio days are so... mundane. All the action happens in the weight room around here (well, not ALL the action!) Hrm. Anyway, tonight is leg night and I'll be switching my exercises around. I think I'm going to do some pre-exhaust leg work before my squats and then do a medium weight, high rep squat routine. I'll finish off with one of my favorite calf exercises, the one-leg DB calf raise.
Today's Favorite Thing item is something that I think most you will enjoy. This is a book that Skip "Abdominator" Podar recommended to me way back in 2003. When Skip and I first "met", it was early in my transformation and I was still struggling to break the patterns of negative thinking that I'd developed over the past 10 years. Skip noticed this self-defeating trait in my forum posts, and recommended a book: The Magic Of Thinking Big. This is NOT a weight training or body building book. This book is all about the power of the mind. I believe the information in this book played a large roll in laying the foundation of who I am today. It's powerful, insightful and inspiring. I don't read or own many books of this kind, as they are usually not my cup of tea. This is one of the few "self help" books that I can recommend to everyone without hesitation.
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December 15, 2005
Last night's chest and abs workout went very well. I'm switching up my exercises this week, and for chest I'll be doing mostly dumbbell work for the next three weeks. Details on last night's workout, along with specific exercises, are in last night's post-workout journal entry. I also talked a little bit about my current body fat level, which is now around 11%.
Today's Favorite Things entry is something very useful for those of you who own automatic watches: the Steinhausen Dual Automatic Watch Winder in Burl Wood. It is also available in a single watch version. If you own more than one automatic watch, or simply don't wear your watch every day, then you already know what a pain it is to have to set the time and date after it's not been worn for a day or two. The single-watch model has an additional non-winding display window for a second watch, and the dual-watch model has two extra non-winding display windows and can hold up to 4 watches. These winders look great, are 100% silent and will keep your watches fully wound and ready to go. I couldn't be happier with mine, and it's proven to be a real time-saver!
I've got to go get my cardio in before work. Have a great day everyone!
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December 14, 2005
What a workout last night! I was so tired that I didn't even update my photo journal until this morning. You can check the latest entry out, along with a new picture, right here.
I had to stay up a little later than normal to handle some network issues, so I slept in a little longer that usual this morning. Sleep is as important as training, so I'm serious about getting the proper amount of rest! I'm running a little behind as a result, so I'm going to jump right into today's "Favorite Things" entry:
Today I'm going to feature a couple of items that I've used almost daily for the past few years: the Accumeasure FAT TRACK GOLD Digital Fat Meter and MyoTape Body Measurer. I know the picture only shows the caliper, but this is a bundle - it does come with the MyoTape, too. The calipers are excellent once you learn how to use them. Keep in mind that working with the calipers takes practice, and you will get inconsistent readings until you get a feel for them. Once you get good with the calipers, though, you'll find that they are pretty accurate for a 3-point caliper - far better than any of the body fat scales I've used. The MyoTape is awesome. I use it to take all my measurements, and it's so easy to use and accurate that you'll never go back to a standard soft tape again. These are a couple of items no fitness enthusiast should be without!
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December 13, 2005
To keep things fresh and to keep my body "off balance" I change my weight training exercise routines every three weeks. This is week seven of my bulk, so it's this week I'll be changing all my workouts. Today I work my back and delts, so here's the plan for the next three back/delts workouts:
BACK
4x10-12 Low cable rows
4x10-12 Wide-grip lat pulldowns (to front)
4x8-10 Deadlifts
4x10-12 Bent-over dumbbell rows
TRAPS
4xburnout Smith machine shrugs
There are just eight back workouts remaining in my bulk. I'm going to keep that fact in mind tonight during every moment of my workout. Every rep is important, and I'm going to make each one count.
I thought for today's "Favorite Things" entry I'd mention a few of my favorite holiday season films.
By the way, I'm a huge advocate of viewing films in their Original Theatrical Aspect Ratio (OAR). For most modern film, that's either 1.85:1 or 2.35:1 widescreen. Older films, such as "It's a Wonderful Life" have an OAR of 1.33:1 (which is the same as a standard US television). I created a page (with lots of screen shots) that fully explains the various aspect ratios, widescreen, the "pan and scan" process and how films are transferred to video. It's on my personal web site, and can be found here.
Christmas Story, A: Two-Disc Special Edition - A true classic. Spot-on humor that never misses.
Elf: Infinifilm Edition - I enjoyed this a lot more than I thought I would. If you like Will Farrell, you'll probably enjoy it.
It's a Wonderful Life - Another classic film that the whole family will enjoy.
National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation: Special Edition - I love all the "Vacation" movies, but this is one of the stronger ones. Great laughs, loaded with "quotable quotes" and very re-watchable.
Planes, Trains and Automobiles - One of the funniest holiday movies ever, but with a heart. Watch it after you put the kids to bed.
The Polar Express Gift Set (Two-Disc Widescreen Edition with Snow Globe and Toy) - Amazing, destined to be a classic. The whole family will enjoy this. The gift set comes with a train and a snow globe.
Santa Claus Conquers the Martians - The ultimate Christmas cheese-fest. This movie is HORRIBLE. This film is best enjoyed with a gathering of friends and a few gallons of eggnog. Watch it MST2K-style. You'll be singing "Hurray for Santy-Claus!" for weeks.
Sound Of Music, The: 40th Anniversary Edition - I've been watching this film ever since I was a kid. Musicals are generally not my cup of tea, but I really love this movie.
December 12, 2005
Less than three weeks until the new year, and you know what that means: very soon countless people, filled with good intentions and fresh resolve, will descend upon gyms all over the world on an incredible and epic transformation journey that will last, oh, 3 weeks? A month? Yep, unfortunately for most people their time will be wasted; they'll give up before the end of the month and go back to their old habits. It doesn't have to be that way - just take a look at all the people on the forums who have changed their lives forever. They did it by educating themselves and following through with hard work. It's that simple. If you are ready for a change in 2006, now is the time to start educating yourself and formulating a plan. Don't be one of those people who wakes up on January 1st and tries to lose weight through starvation. Those people are going to fail - no one can live like that. Sure, they may drop a few pounds, but a lot of it will be water and muscle. As soon as they resume their old habits they will be fatter and more unhealthy than ever. Permanent fat loss means changing your eating habits and regular exercise - and, yes, that includes weight training.
Speaking of weight training, I had an excellent bicep and tricep workout last night! My arms have finally hit 18 inches (pumped). All the details and a whole bunch of new pictures can be found in last night's post-workout journal entries.
For today's "Favorite Things" item, I've selected my camera, which I've owned for almost two years and absolutely love! Actually, my camera - the Fuji S7000 - is not made any more, so I've selected the replacement model for my camera: the Fuji S9000. The S9000 is very similar to my camera, but with some nice improvements. A few of the notable features include: 9 MegaPixel CCD, 10.7x optical zoom, 30fps movie mode with sound (movie length limited only by storage card), very little shutter lag, fast start-up time, many shooting modes (everything from several point-and-shoot auto modes, to full-on manual mode), built-in flash, a hot shoe for external flash attachment, ability to use different lenses and filters, great image quality and two macro modes. Every picture and video I've posted on this site and the forums since March 29, 2004 was shot with my S7000. I love it, and have never had a single problem with it despite years of daily use.
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December 11, 2005
Good day, fellow fitness enthusiasts! Pardon me while I whine for a minute. Orlando likes to pretend she's a big city, but how is it that not one damned store in this berg I call home carries 90 through 120 pound hex dumbbells?! I did manage to find some 80 pound hex dumbbells the other day at Play It Again Sports, but was told that "anything over 80 pounds must be special ordered, and the next shipment won't be here until March. If you want them sooner than March, then you must pay shipping, and that's going to cost you more than the dumbbells." Man, how frustrating. I called three Play It Again Sports in my area and they all said the same thing. One guy was looking around his store and suddenly he said, "Wait! I found a used 90 pound hex dumbbell!" I said "Dumbbell? As in singular?" "Yes!", replied the clerk, barely able to hide his excitement. Sigh. That store did say their next truck would be here in 3 weeks, but I can't wait that long. So I started calling a bunch of other "fitness stores", and none of them carry any dumbbells over 50 pounds ("I'm sorry sir, we don't carry professional weight training equipment"). "Professional?!" Man, it's not like 120 pound dumbbells are reserved for elite powerlifters. So why so scarce?
Bah, eventually I gave up and ordered a pair of 90s and 100s online. I'm going to keep my eyes open for a used pair of 110s and 120s locally. Last week I
ordered two pair of 2.5 pound Plate Mates, and two pair of 1.25 pound Plate Mates. Those things are going to save me a fortune!
I also ordered a 3-tier dumbbell rack yesterday, so I'll finally have all my dumbbells off the floor! I've got two 300-pound Olympic barbell sets (all the
weights fit on my single weight tree), but I want to be able to put the bars on the wall when they are not in use. I'm going to install some brackets on the
wall to hold the two Olympic bars, and another set of brackets to hold my ez-curl bar. My gym should look pretty sweet when all this is done! These
are all my Christmas presents for this year. I told Lisa no candy in my stocking, so she bought me a stack of new weight training music CDs yesterday.
Every single present this year is weight training-related. Damn right. 
Enough about weights and weight training. Let's talk about, um... well, yesterday's delts and traps workout!
You can read about it and check out a few new photos in my photo journal. Here's last night's post-workout entry.
I'm out of time this morning! No Favorite Things update today. I'll have something cool for tomorrow.
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December 10, 2005
Last night's leg workout kicked my butt! By the time I finished it I was so sweaty that it looked like I'd just come in from the rain. My legs were shaking so badly that I had to sit down on the edge of the tub a couple of times while I was showering in order to avoid falling over. I added 10 pounds to my squats and my leg presses, and still managed to go up in reps on both. I stayed the same weight on my lunges and calf raises, but went up in reps on both. I also kept my rest intervals very brief; by the time I finished my lunges I thought my lungs were going to burst open! It was a very satisfying workout, but not a "fun" workout by any stretch.
With each workout I'm challenging myself to push harder and go further than I've ever gone before. I'm leaving everything I have in the gym. When I finish a workout, I can look back and honestly say I gave it my all physically, mentally and emotionally. Why waste your time with a sub-maximal effort? You're there, you have a job to do and you have goals you want to reach, right? So seize the opportunity before you, and make every second you spend in the gym really count. You can do it!
Yesterday I featured some of my favorite motivational weight training music, so today I think I'll continue along those same lines. Over the next few months I'm sure I'll talk about my favorite DVDs and other items that have nothing to do with fitness in this space, but this morning I'm going talk about a couple of DVDs that really get me motivated and fired up!
First up is an obvious choice: Pumping Iron: 25th Anniversary Special Edition DVD. This is a very entertaining and motivational film, and it's wonderfully presented on the 25th Anniversary Special Edition DVD. This movie never fails to get me amped up and hungry to hit the weights. In addition to the feature film, there are a number of very entertaining bonus features on this DVD, such as "Iron and Beyond", which is a retrospective feature complete with current interviews with most the major cast members (who reunited for a screening of the film). Another great bonus feature is Raw Iron which documents the making of "Pumping Iron" and contains a number of rarely-seen outtakes. A candid new interview with Arnold rounds out the package. This is a "must-have" DVD for just about any weight lifter!
The second DVD I want to talk about is actually a boxed set: The Rocky Anthology. Chances are you've seen most of these films, but if you don't own them on DVD you should think about picking up the very reasonably-priced box set. I revisited the original film shortly after I began my transformation in 2003, and it had a major impact on me (even though I'd already seen it a dozen times). I love this film, and never tire of watching it. In fact, I'm probably going to watch it again today! The first film is by far my favorite, but the second film is also a true classic. The third film (with "Mr. T") begins the downslide of the series, but has a number of worthwhile moments. The fourth film is fairly weak, but still ranks up there as an enjoyable "guilty pleasure", thanks to the memorable training scenes and, of course, Ivan Drago ("I must break you!") Despite a return to the director's chair by John G. Avildsen (the director of original "Rocky"), the fifth movie was ultimately a let-down for most. Still, it's great to have the entire collection on DVD for such a reasonable price.
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December 9, 2005
Man, my pecs are VERY sore this morning. The only thing I really did different this week was I lightened the load a little bit for my cable-crossover work and did super-slow reps with a 3-second pause and contract between the positive and negative phases. Oh, and I added 20 pounds to my incline dumbbell presses. Why such a big jump? Simple: I upgraded my dumbbell collection! I was forced to go light up until now because I only had up to 70 pound dumbbells.
Normally I'm very diligent about defrosting food for my meals, but somehow I completely missed the boat yesterday and forgot to defrost some fish for last night's meal. I decided to order pizza and have my cheat meal last night, so no cheat meal for me tonight! I don't even care, I love my bulking meals so much that every night feels like a cheat meal!
Today's "Favorite things" entry is a pretty big list of some of my favorite weight training CDs. I generally don't listen to this kind of music unless I'm lifting weights, but when I'm training I like this kind of stuff a great deal. I realize that most, if not all of it, is not to everyone's tastes, and you should also be aware that most of the music carries an "Explicit Lyrics" warning. That said, here is some of what's playing on my stereo when I lift (I've included a full-length sample track to help give you an idea of what each band sounds like). These are in no particular order:
Fear Factory - Obsolete
Fear Factory - Digimortal
Fear Factory - Remanufacture
+ Sample track: Edgecrusher by Fear Factory
Diecast - Tearing Down Your Blue Skies
+ Sample track: Medieval by Diecast
Shadows Fall - The War Within
Shadows Fall - The Art Of Balance
+ Sample track: The Light That Blinds by Shadows Fall
Unearth - The Oncoming Storm
+ Sample track: Predetermined Sky by Unearth
Stampin' Ground - New Darkness Upon Us
+ Sample track: Bear The Scars by Stampin' Ground
Dry Kill Logic - Dead and Dreaming
+ Sample track: Lost by Dry Kill Logic
+ Sample track: Paper Tiger by Dry Kill Logic
God Forbid - Gone Forever
+ Sample track: Antihero by God Forbid
Killswitch Engage - Killswitch Engage
+ Sample track: Soilborn by Killswitch Engage
Hatebreed - Perseverance
Hatebreed - Satisfaction Is The Death Of Desire
Hatebreed - The Rise of Brutality
+ Sample track: Proven by Hatebreed
December 8, 2005
I've started a new thread on the forum that I will update daily (more or less): John's Favorite Things. Each day I'm going to feature a new item that I use in my daily life and that think would be of interest to the community.
Today's item is something no home gym should be without: Power Hooks! Struggling to get into position with heavy dumbbells to perform pressing movements can be very difficult and tough on the shoulders. Power Hooks solve that problem and make working with dumbbells much safer and more productive. I use mine every time I work my chest and they are wonderful. I don't know how I ever lived without them. Power Hooks are definitely one of my favorite things! Check out the link for a full description.
Speaking of Power Hooks, last night was chest night and I had an excellent workout. After my workout was over I took some silly pictures of me and my workout partner, Loki. The pictures can be found in last night's post-workout journal entry.
My back and traps are VERY sore from Tuesday night's training. I can't describe how satisfying it is to feel soreness in the areas that I know are lagging. When I'm training I work very hard to establish both a physical and mental connection with the muscle group(s) I'm working; the DOMS I feel in those areas let me know that I got it right.
No training today, just some cardio this morning. I'm going to enjoy this day off and rest up - the next three days are going to be brutal!
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December 7, 2005
Last night's back workout was excellent! As compared to last week, I went up 10 more pounds on my deads, 10 pounds on my T-bar rows, 5 pounds on my reverse-grip ez-bar rows and managed a few more reps on my wide-grip pull-ups. I also added 10 pounds to my barbell shrugs and did more reps on every set compared to last week. As of this morning my body weight is up to 206 pounds, and my strength and size have been increasing at a very satisfying rate. More details on the workout and a new progress photo can be found in last night's post-workout photo journal entry.
With regards to the new JSF Amazon mall, one excellent suggestion is that I create a thread with some of my favorite things: books, DVDs, electronics, CDs, kitchen stuff - you name it. I'm going to work on that, but I thought that in the meantime I'd mention a product or two each day in my daily update. I'll only mention products that I have purchased myself and think would be of use to the members of the JSF community.
One item that I've found absolutely indispensable in the kitchen is an electronic scale. I used to have one of those cheap mechanical scales with a small plastic tray, and it just sucked. The scale I've been using for the past few months is the Salter 11 Pound Electronic Stainless Kitchen Scale (Round). It's 66 bucks and worth every penny (the same scale is also available in a square version for 60 bucks). It has an auto-shutoff feature, it converts from metric to imperial with the touch of a button and you can zero it out as you add ingredients. For example, I put my PWO protein shaker with water on it, press a button to measure in grams, zero it out, add the correct amount of protein, zero it out and then add the correct amount of dextrose. After my workouts, the last thing I want to do is math! It's also very handy when measuring for cooking or making sure you get exactly the right portion. It's totally accurate, and looks great sitting on the counter. Highly recommended!
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December 6, 2005
Last week I mentioned that my grip was failing on very heavy deadlifts. I've done some research on various products that are used specifically to help improve grip
strength, and have decided to purchase the Captains of Crush Trainer Gripper and also their No. 1 Gripper. I'm looking forward to working with them. My understanding is that the No 2. gripper is
VERY tough for almost anyone to close even once, and only 110 people have ever managed to close the No. 3 gripper. The toughest is the No. 4 gripper: just three people in the whole world have ever closed a No. 4 gripper (one
of which was almost certainly wh0areume ).
I need to pick up some more dumbbells, and I can't hold out until Christmas. My hex dumbbell set only goes up to 70 pounds, and I've needed heavier weights for a long time but have been putting it off because I still don't have a rack and they are taking up a lot of floor space. I guess it's time to pick up a rack, too. I was talking to SwoleCat last night and he had some very good suggestions with regards to my shoulders and going heavy on pressing movements. I want to start incorporating more dumbbell work into my chest workouts, and my 70 pounders just don't cut it. I think I'm going to bite the bullet and bring my set up to 120 pounds. I wish they made Plate Mates in 2.5 pound (per plate) increments for hex dumbbells - that would save me a fortune. I've only been able to find Plate Mates weighing 2.5 pounds for doughnut dumbbells. Please let me know if I've missed something and 2.5 hex Plate Mates actually do exist.
I've been adding 10 pounds per week to my deadlifts for a couple of months now, and last week I mentioned that I may try to add 20 pounds for tonight's back workout. I've given it some thought and decided against that. I don't want to risk an injury, and 10 pounds per week is good progress. If I can keep up that pace for the rest of my bulk I'm going to be quite happy.
Time to eat! See ya...
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December 5, 2005
I didn't feel much like working out last night. I did it anyway (of course!) and wound up having an excellent workout. More details on the workout and a couple of new photographs can be found in my photo journal. Here's your direct link to last night's entry.
I updated my stats page this morning with this week's measurements. I am very pleased with my growth (but never satisfied!) I've added a good amount of size to every single measurement (except my wrists, heh) in just over a month. My arms are just shy of 16.75 inches without a pump, so the measurement still reads 16.5 inches. I expect they'll be at, or over, 16.75 inches by this time next week - maybe sooner after they recover from the workout I gave them last night! I expect that by the end of December my arms will have crossed the 17 inch mark (cold), and well over 18 inches with a pump. My chest is up to 43 inches, and finally seems to be taking off. Good, it needs to grow: a 45 inch chest by the end of the bulk would be very nice.
I'm very dissatisfied with my shoulders. I'm working very hard on bringing them up, but there's no getting around the fact that they are small and out of proportion to my arms. Not being able to work my shoulders directly for well over a year really shows. Unless you are prevented by injury, don't neglect ANY body parts. I promise, you'll regret it later!
In case you missed the news over the weekend, we have opened our very own JSF Amazon Shopping Mall. Please see below (under the banner) for more details. I hope you enjoy it!
Well, the past three days have been tough: Friday legs, Saturday Delts and Traps and Sunday Biceps and Triceps. I'm happy that today is just a cardio day. I'm going to go get on it. Thanks for stopping by, I hope you have a wonderful day!
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December 4, 2005
Just in time for the holidays: John Stone Fitness is proud to announce the Grand Opening of the brand new JSF Shopping Mall! The JSF Shopping Mall is a storefront for Amazon.com, but final checkout is still done directly with Amazon. You'll enjoy the exact same low prices, selection, security and benefits just as if you were shopping on their regular site. In fact, the JSF storefront software will automatically find the lowest priced item and show that item first when the same items are found with different prices. When you shop Amazon.com through the JSF Mall you are helping to support this site and the forums and it costs absolutely nothing! I hope you all enjoy and bookmark the new store. Making your Amazon purchases through the JSF Mall is an excellent, no-cost way to show your support for JSF!
Questions, comments and suggestion about the JSF Mall should be posted in the ongoing JSF Shopping Mall Thread.
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December 3, 2005
I was just going over the November 2005 web statistics and was surprised to find that November 2005 was the busiest month ever for the JSF forums! Almost a half-million visitors, 30 million hits and 5 millions pages were served up from November 1 - November 30... and that's just the forums! The main page was also very busy, but did not set a record.
NOVEMBER 2005 WEB STATS - JSF FORUMS
Visitors: 402,228
Pages: 4,742,892
Hits: 29,428,472
I fully expect that record will be broken again this month, and again in January. January is always a big month around here.
The rapid growth of the JSF web sites simply would not have been possible if it were not for the support of the sponsors and the community. I want to take a moment to thank all my sponsors for their continuing support. Please support JSF by supporting our sponsors! I also want to thank everyone who's upgraded their JSF membership. Without you, there is no way JSF could survive as we continue our rapid growth.
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December 2, 2005
Yesterday I mentioned that I only gained 3.8 pounds the first month of my 2004 bulk. That seems striking compared to the 13+ pounds I've gained during the first month of this bulk. Always curious, I started looking through my old food logs and quickly discovered one of the reasons my weight gain was so slow last year for the first couple of months of my bulk: I was only eating 2,000 - 2,400 calories per day! Granted, I weighed less then, but that was still not nearly enough food! These days I eat more food than that when I cut!
The second month of my 2004 bulk I continued to eat far too few calories and only gained a total of 3 pounds that whole month! I really short-changed myself by eating too few calories. The reason I was not eating enough is simple: I was still afraid of putting on fat. Most of you who have tried to bulk after losing a large amount of fat understand exactly what I was going though; it's really tough to knowingly add fat once you've worked so hard to lose it. Once I was able to get past that hurdle, my progress really took off...
... in month 3 of my 2004 bulk I added almost 10 pounds. That's nearly double the weight I added during the two previous months combined. The difference? More food, better sleeping habits and zero alcohol.
By the fourth and final month of my 2004 bulk I had finally let go of the "bulking fat phobia" and was making amazing gains. I was eating around 4,000 calories on most days, eating clean foods, sleeping 8+ hours per night, training hard and I consumed no alcohol. The month-long period from November 20, 2004 - December 20, 2004 showed an impressive 18.2 pound gain. Sure, I added some fat, but I could still see my abs and was only around 14% body fat.
After reviewing the data, it's easy to see why my gains during the first month of my 2005 bulk eclipse those from the same time period of my 2004 bulk. Even though I made excellent progress last year, I also made some mistakes! It's worth mentioning that keeping detailed records of your progress is very beneficial; being able to go back and review all this data was very helpful to me.
If you are bulking you can not be afraid to eat! This year, thanks to the SUP2 program, my diet is 100% in order. I also think my current lifting program is better for me when it comes to pure mass gains than MAX-OT was. I really hit the ground running this year, and I expect this month and next month to be even better than the first!
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December 1, 2005
I'm pretty happy with today's monthly pictures. While I've definitely softened up a bit in my mid-section, my chest is fuller, my traps have shown excellent growth, my legs are getting huge, my shoulders are rounder and fuller and my arms have shown a pleasing amount of growth for just four weeks of bulking. My lats have also grown, but that growth is not reflected very well in these photos. If you missed it, I put my first month's gains into numbers a couple of days ago.
I've decided to leave my November 1, 2005 (post-cut/pre-bulk) pictures up as I progress through my bulk. I think it will be interesting to use those shots as a baseline for my bulking progress. I expect this month's progress to be even more dramatic than last month's gains. I'm not holding anything back - I'm putting every ounce of willpower, strength and energy I have into this bulk. I set my own personal bar pretty high with last year's bulk, but I'm going to raise that bar even higher this year.
Speaking of last year, I just checked the stats from the first month of my very successful 2004 bulk. I was surprised to learn that I'd only added a comparatively meager 3.8 pounds that first month! This year I've gained 14.6 pounds over the same time period. I'd say about 4.5 pounds of that is fat, the rest is lean mass. The pictures speak for themselves. I'm sure quite a few people out there are thinking "yep, STEROIDS!" I give you all my word, I am not a steroid user and I have never, EVER used steroids. Every time I post my bulking gains, I get emails from people who are convinced I'm using juice. My results are from hard work and an awesome diet from SwoleCat. Since day one I've been totally honest about every aspect of my fitness program. While I can't see myself ever wanting to use steroids, if I did ever decide to use them I would have no problem admitting it.
Later today poor Lisa sets off on yet another cruise to Cozumel, Mexico. Man, her company sure knows how to have quarterly meetings! My company sometimes takes us out for lunch when we have meetings. Oh well. The dogs and I will have fun watching some "guy" movies, working out and cranking the stereo until the house shakes. It's usually fun for about a day, then we all start to miss her. Hopefully the hookers, kegs and drugs will help us deal with it.
No lifting today, but I do have to get some cardio in. I'm going to go do that and then see Lisa off. Have a great day!
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