Daily News Archives
January 2004
01/31/2004 - Forum challenge; Saturday plans (relaxation!)
01/30/2004 - Shoulder issues; So sore!
01/29/2004 - Running late; I hate my pager.
01/28/2004 - Forums have been open 1 week, great success; New worm spreading quickly.
01/27/2004 - Home workout or the gym; Inner strength.
01/26/2004 - January is almost over and Summer is coming!
01/25/2004 - Shoulder NOT fully healed; Forum news.
01/24/2004 - Shoulder fully healed?; Forum news.
01/23/2004 - Forum happenings; End of my cutting cycle.
01/22/2004 - New forums off to a great start; Leg day.
01/21/2004 - NEW FEATURE: Forums are here!
01/20/2004 - Cutting phase to end this Friday; What next?; I'm writing a book!
01/19/2004 - Thanks for the translations; Email backlog; New article Expressen.
01/18/2004 - Calling all multi-lingual Swedish and Norwegians; My day off.
01/17/2004 - Email update; Articles in Aftonbladet and Verdens Gang; Time off.
01/16/2004 - More on email; A record 2.3 million hits yesterday; How do you want to look?
01/15/2004 - MAX-OT week off; Cutting cycle ending; Myths and lies; Email flood.
01/14/2004 - Almost two million hits & several hundred emails yesterday; Welcome new visitors!
01/13/2004 - I've been Farked; Daily pictures; New domain name coming soon.
01/12/2004 - Traps; Is it possible to have wide hips and the "V" taper?
01/11/2004 - Yesterday's upper body workout/shoulder progress report; New workout pictures.
01/10/2004 - Record hits to this web site; Cashing in on my success; Upper body workout!
01/09/2004 - Upper body workouts are back on?!
01/08/2004 - Tuesday's back and bicep workout/shoulder; It's leg day.
01/07/2004 - Thanks for a great day; Back/Bicep workout; 1-year animation of my progress.
01/06/2004 - On this day exactly one year ago I began my fitness program...
01/05/2004 - Back to work...; Shoulder.
01/04/2004 - My first pec/delt/tricep workout in 10 weeks.
01/03/2004 - Holiday fat.
01/02/2004 - Last day of my vacation.
01/01/2004 - Happy New Year!
January 31, 2004
Yesterday I was issued a challenge in a light-hearted discussion that can be found in the
"Off-Topic" forum (only registered members can access that forum; look for the thread called: "Why is John's Story Different?").
I'll be posting to that thread in a short while with my "answer" to the challenge. 
If you are not a registered member of the forums, then you are
missing out on half the fun. What are you waiting for, a hand-delivered invitation? That ain't gonna happen, so go
register already, sheesh!
Today I'm going to try to make a little dent in my email backlog, relax and hang out on the forums. See you there!
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January 30, 2004
My shoulder has been kind of bothering me the last couple of days, so I'm going to stick to the promise I made to myself and lay off the upper body workouts again. I thought it was pretty much healed up all the way, but it's not. Thankfully the pain is nothing like when I first injured it, but I don't want to let it get any worse when it's this close to being fully healed. I'm going to lay off the upper body workouts for up to 4 more weeks, and if it's not fully healed by then I'm going to go back to the doctor for an x-ray and an MRI. I really hope it doesn't come to that and a little more rest will do the trick. My arms in particular were responding very nicely to my recent upper body workouts, so laying off again is especially difficult for me. Once my shoulder heals I think I'm going to see some very nice upper body gains using MAX-OT training technique.
Practically my entire body is aching right now: my legs are really sore from yesterday's workout, and will
probably be even more sore by tomorrow morning; my abs are so sore that I can't even tighten them
(I did some extra sets on Wednesday and really gave them a pounding) and my biceps, back and
forearms are still sore from Tuesday's workout. Hey, at least my triceps and pecs are not hurting!
I'm looking forward to this weekend a lot, it's been a long week at work. I'm going to go get my workout in now, but I'll see you all later today on the forums. Have a great day!
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January 29, 2004
I'm going to have to make this a very short update. My pager went off all night (I really hate that thing), so I slept until 7:00 AM and now I am running late. I've got to get my leg workout in, eat and get to work. I'll catch up with everyone on the forums later today. See you there!
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January 28, 2004
The new forums have only been up for one week, but they've really started to take off! In the first week 736 people became registered members, and almost 2,500 posts were made. The tone of the posts have been extremely helpful and supportive, but not stuffy, melodramatic or preachy. Above all, the quality of information being posted is very high. I'd to thank everyone for making the first week such a success! I hope those of you who have yet to register will do so, and make the forums here at johnstonefitness.com one of your daily sources of motivation and timely fitness & health information.
The new worm that's been going around has hit very hard. Apparently many of you who have emailed me in the past are infected, because I'm getting lots of infected emails and bounces from people who have me in their address book. Please make sure your computer is not infected (free removal utility and information here.) Also, if you receive an email with this worm attached and it says that it's from someone at johnstonefitness.com or twowiresthin.com, please understand that it did NOT come from me or any of my machines. This worm, like many other worms, spoofs the return email address to a random address from the infected party's email address book. I have no control over that, so please don't email me to tell me I'm infected -- I am not! A quick check of the headers will show that the email did not originate from any of my networks.
Okay, time to work out now. Today it's abs and cardio. I've got a busy day ahead, but I'll see you all later today or tonight on the forums. Have a great day!
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January 27, 2004
It's a stormy morning here in Orlando. Days like today make me especially glad that I workout at home. If I had to drive to the gym in all this rain, I would be tempted to stay home. I would go, of course, but I'd be lying if I said it wasn't much nicer to just walk into the next room. I know it can be hard to stay motivated, but you have to find what it takes to get your workout in each and every day that you have one scheduled. Are you the type of person who has trouble getting motivated going to the gym? Perhaps working out at home is the way to go for you. On the other hand, some people just can't get fired up until they step into a crowded gym and hear the sounds of plates being loaded, see all the other people training and smell the sweat in the air. You know yourself best; you've got to find something that works best for you. No matter what you choose to do, some days you simply won't want to work out. Those are the days your inner strength is being put to the test. Those are the days you simply must work out. Working out is as much a mental test as a physical one, perhaps even more so...
Speaking of working out, it's time for me to do mine. Today my shoulder is feeling good, so I'm going to hit my back and biceps pretty hard. I'll see you all later today on the forums!
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January 26, 2004
The end of January is already upon us. Soon it will be Spring, and before you know it bathing suit season will be here. Hopefully those of you who made New Year commitments to lose weight and get in shape by this Summer are well on your way to reaching your goals. If you want to get in shape but have not yet started your fitness program (or started and quit), then don't give up because it is not too late! You can still make major changes to your body and health by June, but time is running out; you've got to get started right away. If you are ready to be educated and inspired, then you'll want to head over to our new fitness forums! There you'll meet people of all experience levels, from rank beginner to health expert. One thing we all have in common, though, is that we're there to learn, help others and make getting in shape fun and exciting. In the often baffling and contradictory world of physical fitness and nutrition it is difficult to know what to do in order to achieve optimum results. If you feel lost and confused, then do your yourself (and your body!) a favor; register today and feel free to jump right in and introduce yourself or ask a question. Registration is free, fast and easy. See you there!
I'm running a little behind this morning and still have to get my ab and cardio workout in. I'm going to get started now, but I'll see you all later today on the forum!
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January 25, 2004
I guess my shoulder is still not fully healed. Yesterday I had a great workout, but there was still some pain
during and post-workout. The pain was not bad at all, but was enough to make me aware that the shoulder was still
recovering. I did go pretty heavy; I used 95% of the weight I used on the last workout of my bulking phase before
the injury (I didn't do any dips yesterday, though! )
I'm really surprised I was able to lift so much after 3 months with no upper-body workouts and a 2-month
cutting cycle. Cool. Anyway, this morning the shoulder feels really good, so that's reassuring. My pecs and delts
are pretty sore, but my triceps and traps are absolutely on
fire this morning!
Over on our fourms things are going great! I've added a few new forums over the past couple of days, and the quality of the posts have been very high. It's fantastic to see so many enthusiastic people discussing fitness, good nutrition and health! If you have not already, please consider registering. Registering is fast and free, and you'll have full access to the entire forum. See you there!
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January 24, 2004
My shoulder is feeling very good now -- I think it's finally fully healed! Today I'm working my pecs, delts, triceps and traps. I'm going to go fairly heavy, but not quite as heavy as I'm capable of. If I don't experience any post-workout pain, then I think it's safe to say that I'm fully recovered. If that's the case, then I am going to be a very happy man!
The new forums have been very successful so far.
After just three days we have close to 500 registered members, over 1000 posts and several thousand
lurkers! . Parts of the forum are only accessible to members,
so why not take a few minutes and register? It's
easy and free. By the way, I'm a huge advocate of our right to privacy, and you should know that your personal information and email address
will never be given out or sold to any 3rd party for any reason.
I indulged and slept in a little this morning, so I need to go get started on my workout before I throw off my meal schedule for the whole day. After my workout I'm going to do some more work on the forums, so I'll see you there!
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January 23, 2004
I'm really glad that I set up the new forums! I'm spending most of my free time working behind the scenes, making adjustments, adding more enhancements such as smiles and avatars, adding new forums and tweaking the settings. If you have any suggestions at all, please feel free to post them in the technical forum! I should have time to post quite a bit more once the work of setting everything up is done (and I still have a few hundred unanswered emails to get to.) Lisa has been a huge help, so thanks Lisa!
I added a couple of new forums yesterday: A Photo Gallery forum and an Online Fitness Journal forum. Lee Boggs has already posted his impressive transformation photos, and Troy Corbin, who has made amazing progress in just 2 months, has posted his very inspiring before/current pictures. Both of these guys are further proof that hard word and dedication will get you where you want to be. Have you made a great transformation or added pounds of muscle? Why not post your pictures? We'd love to be inspired by your gains! If you are a "work in progress" and don't want to post your pictures, then you might consider starting an online journal in the Online Fitness Journal forum. Online journals (with or without pictures) are a great way to keep track of what you are doing, and very motivational, both to you and to others.
Over in the Weight Training forum, SCHTEEVIE has posted an excellent beginner's guide to bulking. Anyone who wants to put on muscle should read his article, it is overflowing with great tips and advice for people of all experience levels!
If you've not registered yet, you are missing out on an excellent chance to learn, interact and have fun with a great group of people. Many of the forums are available to members only, so do yourself a favor and go register right away!
Today ends my 2 month cutting cycle. I dropped 12.6 pounds (5.71 kg) of fat, and went from 11% body fat to 8% body fat. Now I'm going to start increasing my calories and add some more muscle. More on this tomorrow, I've got to go workout and get to work. See you later on the forums!
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January 22, 2004
It was great to see so many of you on the new forums yesterday! Even though we had about 200 people register and several hundred posts, there are thousands more of you who have not yet registered. Please consider registering and joining us. It's easy to create an account and get started, and people of all levels of experience are welcome. I think you'll find that the environment is easy-going and friendly.
A big "Thanks!" to all of you who have been contributing to the board with your helpful
posts and suggestions. I've been forced to change my email policy (see above), so hopefully I can get caught up on the email I have and then I'll
have more time to do other things -- like posting on my message board, for instance!
There've been some excellent suggestions for improving the new forums. Expect to see quite a few of the suggestions implemented in the coming days and weeks (... and maybe a few surprises!)
I've got a tough leg workout ahead, and a lot of work to do today so I'd better get started. See you on the forums!
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January 21, 2004
Due to overwhelming popular demand, today I'm announcing the first of many major new features for this site: The Official John Stone Fitness Forum!
I think this new forum will be a great place for the thousands of people who visit this site each day to meet, learn and exchange information. I hope you'll all register for a free account and take advantage of this cool new service. I'm looking forward to hanging out with everyone in our new online community!
==> http://forums.johnstonefitness.com <==
I'm running late this morning, so I need to go get my workout in and get to work. I have meetings today. I hope you all have a great day, I'll see you tomm... er, actually I'll probably see you later tonight on the forums!
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January 20, 2004
I'll be ending my cutting phase this Friday (January 23, 2004). I'm back down to 8% body fat, and it's time for me to slowly start increasing my daily caloric intake back to maintenance level. I was going to start doing that yesterday, but our dinner plans changed (the store was out of fresh crab) and I had to have shrimp, which reduced the calories I had planned by 600. I had a very successful cutting cycle: it was 2 months long (including all the holidays), and I lost the fat very slowly -- just 6 pounds (2.72 kg) per month. Thanks to my slow cut, I have maintained almost all my muscle.
So, what next? I'm going to slowly add some more muscle over the next few months. By summer time I should be a little bigger, but just as lean as I am now. I'll post more about this on Friday.
Many people have written to me and asked if I was planning to write a book about my experiences over the past year, my very public transformation and how it has effected my life. I've been giving it a lot of thought and the answer is a definite "yes!" I want to make this book something special and unique -- not just another "how to lose weight" book. I think it will be a very enjoyable and informative read, but above all I want it to be inspiring and motivational. I think it will make an excellent companion to the information and pictures on this web site. I'm still at the very beginning of the process (I don't even have a publisher yet), but I expect things to move quickly. I'll keep you all posted on my progress, and will be sure to let you know when it is available for pre-order.
I've got to get to work now. Have a great day and I'll see you tomorrow!
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January 19, 2004
Thanks to everyone who translated my Verdens Gang and Aftonbladet newspaper articles yesterday, I really appreciate it!
I did another interview yesterday; this one was for another of Sweden's largest newspapers, Expressen. The article was published in today's paper (Monday), and it is also on their web site. Several people have already been kind enough to translate it for me, so no need for anyone else to translate this one. Thanks!
I now have several hundred emails that remain unanswered, and a very busy work week ahead. I'm going to get to each email as soon as I can, but it will take me a long time to reply to them all -- maybe weeks. Thanks again for your patience and understanding.
I have added a new grid at the bottom of this page that contains all my weight and size measurements using the metric system. With all the recent international visitors to this site, I thought this would be a useful feature.
It's time for me to go get my workout in and get to work. I hope you all have a great day and I'll see you tomorrow!
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January 18, 2004
UPDATE: I've been away from my computer all morning, and now that I've checked my email I have found a number of excellent translations of the VG article and of the Aftonbladet article. Thank you very much to everyone who took the time to translate the articles for me, I really appreciate your efforts!
I very much appreciate all the wonderful emails I have been receiving from all over the globe! The response to the newspaper articles that appeared in the Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet and the Norwegian newspaper Verdens Gang has been nothing short of overwhelming! I spent all day yesterday answering emails, and I still have hundreds more to go...
It's ironic that so many of you who don't speak English as a first language have apologized to me in your emails
for your "poor English", when in fact you all speak English amazingly well! I've been able to understand each and every email with
absolutely no difficulty. In fact, many of you speak better English than some of my fellow Americans!
Actually, I am a little embarrassed because I know so little Swedish and Norwegian that I can't even read the articles that were written about me.
I used an online translator and was able to follow the general meaning of what was being said, but I'm afraid that quite a lot of
it was lost on me. If there are any multi-lingual Norwegians reading this right now who would like to take the time translate the text of the
articles in Verdens Gang for me, I'd sure appreciate it! Here are the links to the two articles:
http://www.vg.no/pub/vgart.hbs?artid=210307
http://www.vg.no/pub/vgart.hbs?artid=210308
I don't think the article in the Swedish paper Aftonbladet was published online, so I really have no idea what was said in that one. If there are any multi-lingual Swedes who have the article and would like to translate it to English for me, I'd love to read it!
I'm taking today off and spending it with my wife, who has been very understanding and patient this week while I've been holed up in here answering emails and working on this web page. This is been one of the most amazing weeks of my life, and one hell of a wild ride. Thanks to everyone for all your support and encouragement. Have a great day and I'll see you tomorrow!
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January 17, 2004
I'm doing my best, but I'm still not making a dent in my email. I received over 100 new emails yesterday, and am already several hundred behind, so please understand that it will take some time before I can reply. If you've sent me an email and have not yet received a reply, please read yesterday's update.
A whole bunch of my mail last night was from people who live in Sweden. Apparently earlier this week there was a full-page article about my transformation published in Sweden's largest newspaper, Aftonbladet! This came as quite a shock to me; I had no idea about this article! They must have taken all the information for the article from my web site.
Earlier this week I did an interview for an article that was published this morning in Norway's largest newspaper, Verdens Gang. The printed article was two full pages, and it was also published online. Here's the online article. They also printed my monthly pictures (online edition is here -- click "Neste bilde" to go to the next picture.) I've also been getting lots of email from people in England, Italy, France, Australia, Brazil and Mexico. I'm very flattered that so many people from all over the world are enjoying my fitness site. I'd like to extend a very warm welcome to all my new European, Australian and South American friends!
Today I'd normally be hitting my pecs/delts/triceps/traps, but since this week is my MAX-OT week off, I won't be working out today. I'll try to get some more email answered, and I'm going to take some time off and hang out with my wife, whom I've not seen much of this week.
Have a great day, see you tomorrow!
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January 16, 2004
I'm not sure what to do about the amount of email I've been receiving. I've been spending all my free time this week answering emails,
and I'm not even making a dent. Yesterday morning I had a little over 200 emails left to answer, I replied to 63 of those
yesterday evening -- but 87 new ones came in during the day, and a couple dozen more last night while I was sleeping. I thought
the emails and the traffic to the site would slow down, but they've both been growing rapidly every day for a few weeks now (yesterday
the site received a record 2.3 million hits!) I really do like getting emails, and the fact that so many of you have written to
tell me that this site has helped inspire you sincerely makes my day. I'm going to be very disappointed if I don't receive
a mountain of success stories in my box later this year!
Anyway, I promise to answer all of the emails, but I have to reiterate that it may be quite a while before you receive a response. I am
answering them in the order in which they were received as quickly as my schedule allows.
Many of the emails I've received this week contain some excellent suggestions about growing this site and making it more motivational, useful and easier to navigate. If I can ever get caught up on the emails, I will definitely be making some very cool changes and adding some new features that I think everyone will benefit from and enjoy using.
It's worth mentioning that just because you may or may not want a body that resembles mine, the principles of what I did to achieve my current body remain the same for everyone, male and female, no matter what your personal goals or ideal body may be. You have to look how you want, and ignore what other people tell you that you should look like. Some people tell me I'm way too bulked up now, and that I should have stopped back in April. Some people tell me that I'm way too skinny now, and that I need to bulk up. Some people tell me that my body is great right now. It's hilarious. For me, none of the above is true. In my opinion, I was way too skinny after I finished my fat-loss phase (oh, and yes--the bleached hair thing was just plain stupid; it made me look old and unhealthy, and I honestly don't know what I could have been thinking at the time.) In the summer I started to add a little mass, but I spent so much time in the sun that I began to resemble a dried prune... (and no, I don't use a tanning bed -- I live in Florida and spend a lot of time outside in the summer!)
I'm much happier with how I look right now than I've ever been in my life, but I'm still not satisfied. My muscle development is coming along, but I want to be a little bigger.
I still have a little lose skin and a little fat around my lower abs that I want to get rid of. I have a slight tan left over from summer and I don't want to get much darker
than I am now, so this summer I'll be using a lot of sun block. There's not much I can do about my ugly mug, so that stays.
Again, you may or may not agree with anything I just said, and that's cool. Ultimately you have to do what's right for you. The most important thing is that you are healthy,
and comfortable with your personal appearance.
I need to get my workout in and get to work. Have a great day -- see you this weekend.
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January 15, 2004
The MAX-OT strength training program requires a week off every 8-10 weeks. This is done so that the body can recover from several months of heavy, intense weight lifting. It's been 10 weeks since my last break, so I'm going to start my week off today. This should also be good for my rotator cuff injury, because it is now 95% healed and after a week of no stress on it, I'm hoping it will finally be fully healed. I'm still going to do my normal cardio workouts, just no weight training.
My cutting cycle is coming to an end. I'm almost back down to 8% body fat, and next week I will start to raise my calories back to my maintenance level. I'll probably add 200 calories to my daily intake the first week, and another 200 calories the second week. I seem to be able to slowly add muscle without gaining much fat at about the 2200-2300 calorie level. Of course I'll be monitoring my progress closely and making adjustments as needed. Losing weight and gaining muscle are very fluid endeavors, so careful monitoring of your diet and exercise routines will make adjustments very easy. Is something not going as planned? No problem -- adjust your diet and/or workout and then monitor the results of the adjustment for a week or two. Cause and effect. Many people make losing weight and/or gaining muscle much harder than it needs to be. I think one of the biggest reasons for that is because of all the misinformation, half-truths and outright lies that are constantly repeated. Once you manage to fight your way through all of the BS and begin to understand the basic principles of a sound diet and regular exercise, it's really not all that difficult to do whatever you want with your body (as long as you stick to your plan, stay dedicated and work hard.) I remember that before I started learning about fitness and health in early 2003, I thought crunches and sit-ups were the ticket to a 6-pack. I thought light weights and high reps would "tone" my muscles. I thought a very low calorie diet was the best way to lose weight. It's all crap, and unfortunately that kind of stuff is repeated over and over, every single day. I'm doing everything I can to help dispel these all-to-common myths, so that people like us can stop wasting our time doing all the wrong things. I want everyone who reads this site to actually have a fighting chance to obtain the healthy body that they desire.
I answered emails for almost four hours last night. When I was tired and could answer no more, I added the new emails that came in during the time I was working on the old emails, and I made a net dent of 7. I have not even had a chance to look at the pile that arrived while I was sleeping. Yikes. I'm enjoying the emails a lot, and writing back to everyone is a pleasure; however, as I mentioned yesterday, it's going to take me some time--perhaps a week or more--to get to all of these. I have a real passion for fitness, and I wish I could do this sort of thing for a living... but my current job is what pays the bills, and it does require a lot of my time. Thanks again for your patience.
As always, see you tomorrow!
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January 14, 2004
What a crazy 24 hours it's been. This site had just shy of two million hits yesterday, and will probably receive even more today as the recent Farking and the associated aftershocks continue to run their course.
There have been quite a few new visitors to this web site over the past couple of weeks. I hope those of you who are serious about getting in shape and leading a healthy lifestyle will find this site useful and motivating as you work towards your goals. I want you all to be successful, and there's no reason that each of you can't.
I've received several hundred emails (!) over the past 36 hours, and they continue to pour in faster than I can even read them. All this email is totally overwhelming, but I've always answered all of my emails and I will answer all of these, too. It's going to take a while for me to get to all of them, so please be patient because unfortunately I have a very limited amount of free time. Thanks for understanding.
I've got a lot of work to do today, so it's time for me to go get my workout in. Have a great day and I'll see you tomorrow!
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January 13, 2004
When I first started this site a little over a year ago, it was nothing more than a way to help keep me motivated as I worked to improve my health and personal appearance. Slowly its popularity began to grow, and more and more people started coming to the site every day. A few weeks ago the site was chugging along nicely, receiving a few hundred thousand hits per day and I would generally receive a manageable 10-20 emails per day from people who needed advice, or just wanted to let me know that my site helped motivate them to lose some weight and add muscle. About a week ago my site started receiving hits from all over the world, and in numbers far greater than I could have anticipated. The site was suddenly receiving hits in the millions per day, and I had to split the load between two servers using two separate providers. I figured the traffic would die off, but it's only been growing each day. My servers were already having trouble keeping up with the increased load, and then yesterday I was posted on fark.com. For those of you who don't know what Fark is, it's a very funny website with a sarcastic edge. They post all kinds of interesting/weird/cool/entertaining news and information, and then the Fark community can comment and dis, er... discuss each item. I actually love the site. It's massively popular, so from a network-utilization standpoint being featured on Fark is like being force-fed 1,000 gallons of gasoline, while the comments generally serve as a massive flame thrower. Yeah, there are some pretty harsh comments up there, but if you are going to put yourself out there like I have you have to expect that sort of thing and have thick skin about it. My wife and I were cracking up reading most of the comments. A year ago my self-esteem was so low I probably would have moved to a cave after reading some of those comments. Anyway, this site will be moving to a new server and a new domain name as soon as today. You'll know when I know.
One comment that I hear a lot concerns my daily pictures, and the way I stand in them. I agree, I look silly. I'm tensed up and flexing, and I stand with my arms puffed out. I stand like that not because I think I'm some badass, or because I have massive lats pushing my arms out (obviously). I stand that way so that I can see my lat development, and so I can see my arms better. Keep in mind that the purpose of those daily pictures is so that I can gauge my progress, not to look good (mission accomplished). Look around my site and you'll see some pictures of me not posing. When I'm walking around I never have my arms sticking out like that, I just look like a normal guy who is in shape.
I have to get started on my workout now, but I'll be back today with an update on the new domain name when it's ready. You'll need to change your bookmarks, but I'll redirect you from the old site for a few months while people learn about the change. Again, sorry for the slowdowns -- I was really caught off-guard!
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January 12, 2004
Yesterday I forgot to mention that I have added a traps routine to my Saturday weight training schedule. My traps really need a lot work, as I have never done any exercises specifically targeting them. I worked them really hard on Saturday, and they are on fire this morning. I think once they start to come in a bit more my upper body will take on a more "completed" look. Because I have very wide hips (yep, that's not fat on my left and right sides just above my pants line--those are my gigantic hip bones!), the only way I'm ever going to achieve a classic "V" taper is to increase the width of my upper body. I don't ever want to be huge like a body builder, but I do want to add some more muscle to my upper body and arms.
I've got a busy day ahead of me, so I'm going to go get my workout in now. I hope your day is a good one -- see you tomorrow!
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January 11, 2004
I had an excellent upper body workout yesterday. For most of my working sets I used about 90% of the weight I was using prior to my injury. I definitely felt some amount of pain in my right shoulder--especially towards the end of the workout--but it was not that bad. Most importantly, it feels good this morning, so I don't think the workouts are effecting the last stages of it healing. I'm not going to even try to go heavier or attempt a max bench press until it is fully healed. Here are some new upper body workout picture: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5.
Today's my day off, and I need it because my whole body is really sore. Enjoy the rest of the weekend!
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January 10, 2004
Sorry if this site has seemed a little slower than normal the past week. It's been getting so many hits that I had to split the load between 2 servers, using separate bandwidth for each. It's a good thing I did, because yesterday the site received over a million hits in just one day, and was using about half of a DS3 in bandwidth every second for a good part of the day (a DS3 is the equivalent of about 30 T1 lines, or 800 56k modems). I've also been receiving more mail than ever, and it's going to take a while to get to them all, so I appreciate your patience.
I am extremely surprised and flattered with the interest people have shown in my humble fitness web site. I
hope it helps those of you who are looking for information and inspiration. Many people have asked me why
I have not tried to "cash in" on my transformation, and the answer is quite simple: I have not figured out how to do
that yet. Just kidding! Seriously, I have been
toying with the idea of writing a book, but I promise that this web site and all the information on it will
ALWAYS be free. It makes me feel great when someone writes to tell me that my web site has helped make their
life a little better. Money's great and all, but it's hard to top something like that.
My shoulder is feeling really good this morning, so I'm off to work my pecs, delts and triceps! Have a great day and, as always, I'll see you tomorrow.
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January 9, 2004
I'm glad the work week is drawing to a close. It's been one hell of a first week back from vacation. I'm looking forward to my weekly cheat meal tonight -- I think I've earned it!
I worked my upper body twice this past week and, because my shoulder has not fully recovered from the rotator cuff tear, I had mentioned that I was planning to rest it for a week, skipping Saturday's pec/delt/tricep workout and Tuesday's back/bicep workout. My shoulder feels so good this morning that I'm strongly reconsidering that notion. If it feels this good tomorrow morning, I'm going to go ahead with my Saturday workout. I can't tell you how happy I am that I'm finally able to workout my upper body again, even if I can't go as heavy as I'd like to. The last couple of months have been really tough to deal with.
I've got to go get my workout in and get to work. Have a good day, see you this weekend.
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January 8, 2004
I'm surprised at how quickly my shoulder has recovered from my last two upper body workouts. It was hurting a little yesterday morning after Tuesday's fairly heavy back and bicep workout, but it's feeling much better today. On Tuesday I did dumbbell curls, hammer curls, chin-ups, dumbbell rows and pull-ups. I had no problem going heavy when doing the back exercises (dumbbell rows and chin-ups), but I noticed some shoulder pain when performing the curls, especially the hammer curls. I went pretty heavy on those, though -- just 5 pounds less than what I was using prior to my shoulder injury. I'm still experiencing some shoulder pain if I lift something very heavy or if I move it in a certain way, but I do think it's finally starting to heal. As I mentioned a couple of days ago, I'm probably going to give my shoulder a chance to recover from the past two workouts by not doing my normal upper body workouts on Saturday and Tuesday. It's obviously not fully healed, and I don't want to risk hurting it again.
I've got a big day of work ahead, so I need to get going so that I can get my leg workout in. I hope it's as good as last week's workout -- my legs were still sore as late as yesterday, but they feel great this morning.
Talk to you tomorrow, have a great day!
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January 7, 2004
Yesterday sure was an exciting day for me. If you missed my one year anniversary update, you can check it out right here.
I want to thank everyone for their emails and congratulations, they mean a lot to me. I will answer each and every email eventually, but it's going to take some time. I've never received so many emails in a single day, even if you were to include a typical day's spam!
One thing that people seem to agree on with 100% unity is that I should not stop the daily updates to this site. Based on a couple of
the, um... let's just say "emphatic" emails I received, I'm actually a little scared to stop them.
Don't worry -- the daily updates will continue.
Okay, let's get back to business...
Yesterday I went ahead and did another bicep/back workout. I went a little heavier than I did last time, and my shoulder seemed to hold up quite well. It's hurting a little this morning, so I'm going to probably rest it for a couple of weeks and then try again. I don't want to go backwards or prevent it from healing up all the way, but these past couple of workouts have felt so good it's difficult to stop.
I made a new animation of my first year's progress. It's big--a little over 11 MB. Check it out if you have the bandwidth: FRONT VIEW: Days 1 - 366 (1 Year).
Time for me to go hit my abs and do my cardio. See you tomorrow!
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January 6, 2004
It was exactly one year ago today that I lugged my fat, bloated, out-of-shape, hung-over, pasty, broken-down body out of bed and in front of the camera for the first set of my daily transformation pictures. I remember that morning well. Let me tell you, I was shocked when I saw those first two pictures. I suppose that I'd grown accustomed to ignoring my reflection in the mirror and not giving much thought to putting up with the acid reflux, wheezing and stomach problems (among other ailments) from which I was suffering. Looking at those first two photographs made me realize that my physical condition could no longer be avoided or rationalized. Because of those pictures, my poor health and appearance seemed less abstract and somehow far more tangible: they served as permanent and unbiased external reminders of the reality of what I'd done to myself through years of neglect.
I've never posted this picture before, but I think it's important that it be seen. One year ago I was pretty close to rock bottom, in more ways than you know. Now, just one year later, I've never felt better, both physically and mentally. Listen, I don't care how far gone you think you are, you can change.
Getting back to the first morning of my transformation: I remember staring in disbelief at those pictures on my monitor and thinking, "This is how I look right now, and I will continue to look like this (or worse) unless I am strong enough to make some big changes in the way I live my life." That was a tough morning because I knew I had a long, difficult road ahead of me, but I also knew the only thing that could stop me from succeeding was me, and I was not about to let that happen...
...366 days, 732 pictures and a hell of a lot of workouts later, I'm very proud of myself for sticking with my program. I didn't skip a single day of updating this web page, planning my meals or taking my pictures. With the exception of my unfortunate shoulder injury, I only missed two workouts all year, and those were both due to the flu. Looking back over the past year, I can honestly say I put everything I had into my transformation. It was not just a transformation of my body: I've changed how I eat, how I exercise, my mental attitude, the way I relate to people, the way I live my life, and my self-image. I can't really point to the exact day that I stopped thinking of working out and eating right as "work", but at some point that change did happen. Now this is simply the way I live. I can't imagine ever going back to the way I once was. Why would I ever want to?
Most importantly, I want to thank each and every one of you for the unbelievable amount of support you have given me over the past year. Aside from the surprising number of people who keep me motivated simply by visiting this site each day, I've received thousands of emails over the past year offering all kinds of encouragement and support, and people asking for my advice. Honestly it's all been so overwhelming that I'm still not quite used to it yet. I mean, look at my pictures from just one year ago! Who EVER would have thought--least of all me--that I would be in a position to offer fitness advice to anyone?! Amazing? Maybe. But one thing I've learned over the past year is that amazing things can happen if you let them. Look, I'm just an average guy who happened to document in detail what a strong desire to change coupled with hard work can accomplish. There's not a single person reading this that can't accomplish the things that I have, or even more. I encourage each of you to push yourself to your limits this year, and then go past them. See how far you can take it--you will probably be surprised at what you're capable of doing.
Over the past few weeks I've thought a lot about stopping the daily updates to this page at the one year mark (today). The daily pictures seem redundant because change doesn't happen all that quickly at this point, and of course sometimes it is a bit of a pain to update the page everyday when I'm already pressed for time. The more I thought about it the more I was leaning towards switching to weekly updates, but yesterday I thought to myself, "why should I stop doing something that has had such a positive effect on my life, and (hopefully) other people's lives?" I've decided that the daily updates will continue for the foreseeable future. I'm looking forward to the new year and seeing what I can accomplish, and I'm also looking forward to hearing a ton of wonderful success stories from all of you.
Best of luck to each and every one of you, and my most sincere thanks for all your kind support this past year.
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January 5, 2004
It's been a fun two weeks off, but today I've got to get back to work. All kinds of things that I need to do have been piling up during my absence, so this week is going to be extra busy while I play catch-up.
I know many of you have been busy over the holidays, so if you missed my December 31st Daily News Update and are thinking about starting (or have started) a personal fitness program for the new year, you may want to check it out if you find your motivation is waning.
I mentioned in yesterday's Daily News Update that I did my first pec/delt/tricep workout in 10 weeks this past Saturday. My shoulder seems to have handled it pretty well; however, despite going "light", there was still a little post-workout pain. My shoulder has definitely not fully recovered from the rotator cuff injury. I'm hopeful that within a few more weeks it will be fully recovered. Depending on how it feels, I may try a light bicep/back workout on Tuesday (so much for being patient!)
Today is "Day 365": the last day of my first year since I started my fitness program! More on that tomorrow, which will be exactly one year.
Time for me to go get my ab workout and cardio done so that I can get to work. See you tomorrow...
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January 4, 2004
Yesterday after my update I was walking by my weight room and I stopped in to look at my workout log from my last
pec/delt/tricep training session. The first thing I noticed on the log was the date: 10/25/2003: 10 weeks ago...
I don't know what happened, but suddenly I found myself really angry about my shoulder injury. Not just annoyed or
frustrated, seriously PISSED. I guess the frustration of all these weeks of being patient just boiled over. I probably
don't even have to tell you what happened next...
It was an excellent workout. I went light (about 75-80% of my usual working sets) and was careful not to over-do it. I did barbell bench presses, decline dumbbell presses, seated dumbbell presses, lying dumbbell extensions, standing dumbbell extensions and dumbbell shrugs (my traps need a lot of work and I'm going to start working them). I tried some dumbbell side raises, but they hurt my shoulder too much. I measured my arms after hitting my triceps, and was pleased to see that they were 15.25" -- the same size that they were (pumped) during the peak of my bulking phase. I also checked my chest and was very happy to note that I have not lost any mass there, either.
So, how's my shoulder? Well, it does hurt a little this morning, but not too bad. Medically speaking I probably should not have done the workout, but from a mental standpoint I really needed to do it. I'll try to be more patient from here on out. My pecs, delts and especially my triceps are on fire this morning. It feels great to feel sore in my upper body again. I'm glad I did the workout, I felt like I was going to go insane yesterday!@#
Have a great day, see you tomorrow!
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January 3, 2004
I really enjoyed my vacation and the holidays, but I'm actually glad they are over so I can get back to my normal routine. Even though I was careful not to overdo the junk foods, the few extra cheat meals and snacks did add up. All told, I put on about three or four pounds of fat, and am back up to 10% body fat. Three or four pounds is not all that bad, I suppose, but I'm looking and feeling pretty bloated this morning and I'd be lying if I said it didn't bug me a little!
I hope you all set some goals for the new year--stay focused and the results will come.
I'm out of here, see you tomorrow!
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January 2, 2004
It's the final day of my vacation, so I'm going to make this a quick update and go do something fun (after my workout, of course!)
Have a great day!
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January 1, 2004
Happy New Year everyone!
If you are thinking about starting (or re-starting) a personal fitness program for the new year, you might want to read yesterday's Daily News update if you missed it.
I slept in a little bit this morning, so I need to get started on my leg workout before it gets too late. Have a great day!
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