Daily News Archives

July 2007

07/31/2007 - No update - on vacation.
07/30/2007 - No update - on vacation.
07/29/2007 - No update - on vacation.
07/28/2007 - No update - on vacation.
07/27/2007 - No update - on vacation.
07/26/2007 - No update - on vacation.
07/25/2007 - No update - on vacation.
07/24/2007 - No update - on vacation.
07/23/2007 - No update - on vacation.
07/22/2007 - No update - on vacation.
07/21/2007 - No update - on vacation.
07/20/2007 - August "100 Challenge" open for entry; ON VACATION!
07/19/2007 - New feature: GymTicket; Mockingbird update.
07/18/2007 - Working out over lunch hour.
07/17/2007 - Lisa's lifting weights and working hard!
07/16/2007 - You (yes, you) have incredible willpower; Getting rid of excuses.
07/15/2007 - Nasty pizza leaves me feeling like crap this morning; Weekly measurements.
07/14/2007 - I hurt; The Mockingbirds.
07/13/2007 - Leg workout; Vacation reminder.
07/12/2007 - Summer meal plan changes.
07/11/2007 - Chest workout; Custom workouts on my new bike; Half-Million posts!
07/10/2007 - Great workout yesterday; Strength loss; New photograph.
07/09/2007 - Training begins today--details; Rediscovering a favorite recipe.
07/08/2007 - Weekly measurements; Company dinner at "Seasons 52".
07/07/2007 - Attacking genetic weaknesses.
07/06/2007 - "Summer Progress" update; Hitting those lagging muscle groups.
07/05/2007 - New "Favorite Thing" item: the Schwinn 231 Recumbent Bike.
07/04/2007 - Happy Birthday, America; Changes to my summer meal plan.
07/03/2007 - Week off from lifting; Taking a vacation this month.
07/02/2007 - Cheat day report!
07/01/2007 - 2007 Cutting Phase is OVER!

July 21, 2007 - July 31, 2007

No update - on vacation.

July 20, 2007

It's vacation time! Beginning tomorrow (Saturday, July 21, 2007) I'll be on a relaxing two-week vacation. This will be my final update to this site until I return on Monday, August 6, 2007.

Even though I won't be updating the main site while I'm on vacation, I will be making regular updates to my New Home Construction Journal, as the builders are about to break ground! Please note that this journal is in the VIP section of the forum because there is a lot of personal stuff in there that I really do not want archived by search engines (search engines can't crawl the VIP forums). If you haven't already done so, you'll need to instantly upgrade your forum membership if you want to check out the journal.

While I'm on vacation I'll still be performing all my scheduled workouts and eating my planned diet (I may sneak in an extra cheat meal or two, though). I expect my weight training sessions to be even better than usual, as I should be feeling fresh and relaxed.

I've gone ahead and opened the August "100 Challenge" for entry a little early. Details are below.

I think that's about it for this morning. Train hard, and I'll see you all in a couple weeks!

Registration for the August 2007 "100 Challenge" is now underway! Your Official Challenge post must be made by 7:00 AM (EST) on August 1, 2007 if you plan to participate--NO EXCEPTIONS! To participate, you must be a member of the forum. If you are not a member, simply create a free account. It can take up to 24 hours for your account to be activated, so don't wait until the last minute to register! For all the details, official rules and sample entry data, just head over to the August 2007 "100 Challenge" thread on the forum. If you are ready to work hard and want to challenge yourself in a fun and competitive environment, then please take part!

July 19, 2007

You may have noticed the small green widget that was placed just below the main JSF menu late yesterday afternoon. This is a simple but very cool new service that will allow you to quickly and easily find gyms anywhere in the US. The company providing this service is called GymTicket, and their database of gyms is the largest and most complete on the web--well over 15,000 gyms are listed.

This new tool is much more than a simple database of gyms: you can also read about the gyms you are interested in, take virtual tours, get directions, take advantage of special deals and grab free trial passes to participating gyms. It's also a great way to find a place to workout if you're planning to travel. This service is simple to use and 100% free, so feel free to take advantage of it often as you like. Enjoy!

If you've been following the birth of the mockingbirds (here's Part 1), I posted two updates yesterday with some great new pictures: Part 2 starts here, and continues with more photos a few posts down.

Reminder: Tomorrow will be my last daily news update for the next couple of weeks. It's almost vacation time!!! spaz

July 18, 2007

This week has been pretty hectic at work, as preparing for two weeks off is never an easy task. It's amazing how many loose ends there are to tie up and things that need to be accomplished before I can leave. I'm making good progress, though, and I should have everything squared away by Friday. I may even be able to cut out early on Friday if I'm lucky!

Something new I've been doing this summer is working out over my "lunch hour", which I now take from 2:30 PM until 3:30 PM. I am really liking this new workout time! It's late enough in the day to have three solid meals under my belt, yet not so late that I'm feeling fatigued from my work day. The endorphin and energy rush I get from my mid-day workout provides me a very nice afternoon boost: my productivity, alertness and mood are increased significantly.

If you have the opportunity to workout over your lunch hour, I highly recommend that you give it a try. I think most employers would be quite happy with this idea, as it's "win-win" for everyone involved.

Another nice benefit to working out mid-day is I have my evenings free, and have more time to spend with my family.

The new workout time was an experiment, but I've decided to stick with it indefinitely.

July 17, 2007

My wife, Lisa, joined a gym a few weeks ago and I've been impressed and inspired by her dedication! She has not missed any workouts, and has refused to make excuses. Her workout partner has bailed out at the last minute 3 or 4 times now, and each time Lisa went to the gym by herself and hit the weights hard. Yesterday at work the air conditioner failed and she had a hot, miserable, stressful and exhausting day. I expected her to come home and take a long bath instead of going to the gym, but when I called her at the end of the day she said, "You know I'm going to be late, right? I'm hitting the gym tonight." That's my girl!

Not only has Lisa been lifting weights, but she's also been eating much, much better! She's letting me fix her meals again, and so she's been eating healthy stuff like broccoli, salmon, eye of round, brown rice and chicken. I'm so happy for her!

Lisa felt that joining a gym with her friend instead of working out at home would suit her best. I can certainly understand that. Where she works out is not important--I'm just happy she's lifting weights and eating better. Hopefully Lisa's workout partner will be inspired by her dedication and stop skipping workouts!

Lisa is a classic ectomorph and has very low body fat. Weight training is going to make a big difference in her physique. Many women are afraid to lift weights because they are under the mistaken impression that they'll get "bulky". That's totally false. Packing on muscle is quite difficult--especially for women. Most women simply do not have the genetics to get "bulky", even if they want to. Thankfully Lisa not afraid of lifting and lifting hard. I'm confident that with her continued weight training and a sound diet she's going to put on some muscle and take on an even more healthy, toned and fit look.

July 16, 2007

Today's update is something that's been percolating in my mind for about a week now. This update is for those of you who always seem to be struggling to reach your goals. I see a lot of you hiding behind excuses and playing the "victim card" when you email me. I'm not attacking anyone, and I'm certainly not mad, but it's time we shake things up a bit. It's my hope that today's article will get some of you thinking about the real reasons behind why you can't seem to stay focused long enough to reach your goals. I don't buy into excuses, and neither should you.

One of the most frequent sentiments written in emails and PMs to me goes something like this: "John, I sure wish I had your willpower!"

It's true, I posses a strong will and I've used that to my advantage. I guess I always figured my so-called "willpower" was just a personality trait that I was lucky enough to have been blessed with. Lately I've been thinking a lot about this subject: is willpower really something that some people inherently lack? The more I thought about it, the more I realized that the answer is NO. Citing "lack of willpower" is nothing more than an excuse for failure. I believe that 99.9% of us possess incredible willpower, and I am going to prove it to you right now.

Let's say your goal is to lose 25 pounds of fat over the next three months. That's a reasonable goal, and it can be reached with hard work and proper diet. Many people will start off well, see some results and then fail: "I just don't have the willpower to stay dedicated for three months!"

Sorry, but that's pure BS.

Let's try it another way. I'm an eccentric millionaire, and I want to perform an experiment. I'm going to pay you 20 million dollars, and all you have to do is go three months without missing a workout or going off your planned diet. Could you do it? That's a stupid question, isn't it? We all know there's not a single person reading this who would not be willing and able to reach that goal for 20 million dollars.

Wow, suddenly everyone seems to have found incredible willpower! Where did it come from? The answer is, of course, you already had it. You've always had it. Now that we've stripped away the "willpower" excuse, what's left? It's a question of desire. You either want it or you don't. If you fail, then it's because you didn't want it badly enough to work for it.

I think boiling away excuses is a critical component of success. When you sugarcoat a failure with an excuse, you're simply shifting the blame away from yourself and priming the pump for yet another failure. Take responsibility for your failures, learn from them and then move forward.

July 15, 2007

I had my weekly cheat meal last night, and it was not too good. I think I've eaten my last Papa John's pizza. I don't know if their quality has declined or if my tastes have changed (or perhaps both), but I just didn't enjoy the meal very much. The pizza was doughy, salty and disgustingly greasy. This morning I feel horrible: I'm bloated, hot and just... not feeling like myself. I also slept very poorly last night; I was very hot and woke up frequently. I was just talking to Lisa, and she feels the exact same way. She said, "Let's not order pizza anymore." I agreed.

I said to Lisa, "You know, we could have free meals that tastes great, but won't leave us feeling like crap the next morning. I could make us a couple of great tasting burgers on the grill with 96% lean ground beef, or some fresh pasta with a homemade sauce served along with a nice crusty bread and some olive oil."

Of course sometimes we all get cravings for a certain food and nothing else will do. For example, every so often I get an incredibly powerful craving for BBQ pork, fries and garlic bread. I don't particularly like how I feel the next day after eating like that, but I'm not going to try and pretend that I won't eat that meal again because I know that I will. I think those kinds of meals will be few and far between, though. Right now the thought of pizza makes me want to puke, so I doubt I'll be having pizza--even good pizza--again for a long, long time. I think next Saturday night I'm going to make those burgers!

It's time for my weekly measurements. I seem to be maintaining pretty well. Everything is pretty much the same as last week. I show a very slight body fat increase (and this may be due to the water I'm retaining from last night's cheat meal): 6.9% (as measured using a 7-site pinch test with the FatTrack PRO Digital Body Fat Calipers from the JSF Amazon Mall). Again, I expect my body fat will continue to slowly rise over the next few weeks and will stabilize at around 8% body fat, which I will then maintain until my bulk.

I've got the whole day off! The house is clean, the yardwork is done, I have no training or cardio scheduled and Lisa is going shopping all day long. Yep, sounds like a great day for loud action movies.

July 14, 2007

After a week of very heavy training, my body feels like it's been dropped from a building and then run over by a train. Everything is sore this morning--even my back, which I trained last Monday! My delts rarely experience DOMS, but even they are on fire this morning.

I have to say, I've really enjoyed this past week. It's been nice to take a hiatus from my usual hypertrophy training. Focusing on strength-building by utilizing big, heavy compound moves is always extremely satisfying on a very primal level.

I know that my strength is going to increase pretty quickly, so I'm going to have to be very careful to avoid injury. I've got some old injuries that are not a problem when I'm training for hypertrophy using moderately challenging weights, but these injuries tend to rear their ugly faces whenever I start piling on the plates.

I have a family of mockingbirds living in the holly in my backyard. I've been following their lives since spring, watching them with fascination as I perform my morning cardio. It all started as a lone male, singing songs for hours on end from his favorite perch in my backyard. He eventually attracted a mate, and they built a nest together. Not too long after that, the nest was adorned with 4 beautiful speckled eggs. A couple days ago, the eggs hatched! If you are interested, here's the complete story along with some photographs that I took yesterday evening.

July 13, 2007

This has been an amazingly good week of training, and today I'll be closing out the first week of my summer strength-building program with a "back-to-basics" leg workout. There's nothing fancy here, just some good "staple" exercises designed to help me continue to build my strength.

Once again, this is my Summer Maintenance workout schedule:

Monday: Weight Training: Back, Traps & Rear Delts
Tuesday: 12-20 Minutes HIIT Cardio (PM)
Wednesday: Weight Training: Chest & Side Delts
Thursday: Stationary bike, 45 mins (aerobic, fasted) (AM)
Friday: Weight Training: Legs
Saturday: Stationary bike, 45 mins (aerobic, fasted) (AM)
Sunday: Off

I'll be doing a total of 3 exercises for my quads & hamstrings using very heavy weights (after a few warm-up sets, of course), and just one exercise for my calves. Except for my calves, my reps will be low (4-6 reps per set) and I'll rest about 2 minutes between sets and 3 minutes between exercises.

Here's my leg workout for the next four weeks.

QUADS & HAMSTRINGS
3x4-6 Back squats
3x4-6 Lying leg curls
3x4-6 Barbell lunges

CALVES
3x10-16 Standing single-leg DB calf raises

I wanted to start these first four weeks with some very basic moves designed to get my strength up. In a month I'll change things around; I want to mix in some front squats, Bulgarian split squats, barbell hack squats and barbell hyperextensions. I might also add some machine work, such as leg press and vertical leg press. I'd also like to do some walking lunges, but if I do those then I'm going to have to go out front and do them in the street. That should earn me a few weird looks from the neighbors.

Wow, just one more week until my vacation! I can't wait. My vacation will start on Saturday, July 21st and run through Sunday, August 5th. There will be no updates to this site from July 21st through August 5th. Daily updates will resume on Monday, August 6th.

Happy Friday!

July 12, 2007

I've been on my summer meal plan for almost two weeks now and have decided to make some more changes. Nothing major, just some tweaks and adjustments that I feel will benefit me. As always, I'd like to detail those changes now...

First, I've moved my workout to a slightly later time: my workouts will now start at 2:45 PM instead of 2:30 PM. I did this because my workouts are only taking 30-45 minutes, and I want to finish just before 3:30 PM so I can have my PWO shake immediately.

I've added some BCAAs on my training days. I'll mix up 4 scoops of Xtend BCAAs in water and sip on that during my workout.

I've also added some BCAAs just before my HIIT cardio session on Tuesday: 4 scoops of Xtend.

I've moved my cheat meal from Friday night to Saturday night. The reason for this change is because Friday is leg day, and I want to have steak, rice and broccoli as PWO meal #2 and not junk food. I also plan to have a drink with my cheat meals, and I never consume alcohol on lifting days.

My caloric intake on training days has been increased slightly, while my overall caloric intake on non-training days has been reduced slightly by eliminating the 1/2 cup of brown rice from meal #5. I don't need those extra 100 calories of carbs at night on non-training days.

I also moved my AM LISS cardio time forward 1 hour. I just have too much going on from 6:00 AM until 8:00 AM to get it done before then. I'll start my cardio at 8:00 AM and eat my first meal at 9:00 on those two days.

The final change is that I've swapped meal #1 with meal #2 on LISS cardio days, opting for a protein + fat shake immediately after my LISS cardio.

I seem to be maintaining my weight pretty well right now, I have plenty of energy and I feel quite satiated. If any further tweaks are required as my metabolism adjusts, I'll be sure to post them.

Yesterday's chest and side delts workout was AWESOME! My shoulders took quite a beating with the heavy pressing moves, the weighted dips and, finally, the very heavy DB laterals. My shoulders were protesting a bit by the end of the workout, but they held up quite well. This morning they both seem fine, thankfully. This morning my chest is already starting to get sore, and my entire back is still on fire from Monday's workout! Tomorrow is leg day, and while I have not finalized the workout, it's going to be brutal. I'll complete the plan today and post the new leg workout tomorrow morning.

Cardio time. Have a great day!

July 11, 2007

My entire back is still burning from Monday's workout, and today the strength building continues. I'll be working my chest and side delts this afternoon, and HEAVY is the name of the game...

Because of my shoulder problems, I have to be very careful whenever I do heavy benching. When I bench for hypertrophy, I use moderate weight, puff out my chest, aim for textbook form and I flare my elbows out almost parallel to the bar (this is sometimes referred to as the "bodybuilder bench press"). Benching like I just described helps minimize delt and tricep involvement, and puts as much focus as possible on the pecs. Now that my goal is to gain strength and will be moving big weight, I'll bring my elbows in a bit. My form will still be good, but not quite as strict as it is when I'm focused on gaining mass. Benching like this will involve more delts and triceps, allow me to lift more weight and will also provide added stability for my shoulders.

Again, here's my Summer Maintenance split:

Remember, for the big compound moves I'll be doing 3 exercises per body part using very heavy weights (after a few warm-up sets, of course). My reps will be low (4-6 reps per set) and I'll rest about 2 minutes between sets and 3 minutes between exercises.

This is the chest/side delt workout I have planned for the next four weeks:

CHEST
3x4-6 Barbell bench press
3x4-6 Incline barbell bench press
3x4-6 Weighted chest dips

SIDE DELTS
3x4-6 Standing DB lateral raises

I wanted to start off with some very basic free-weight compound exercises to get my feet wet. In four weeks I'm going to switch things around, and will properly incorporate some very heavy dumbbell work into my chest routine.

Yesterday I did another HIIT cardio workout on my new recumbent bike. You may recall that my custom program didn't seem to save the first time I tried to program it. As it turns out I was just in the wrong mode. Yesterday I put it in the correct mode for saving custom workouts, programmed my intervals in, and the computer remembered it just fine. I love this bike!

The JSF Forums reached a pretty cool milestone yesterday: Half-Million posts! Way to go, everyone!

July 10, 2007

I only took a week off from lifting, but it felt more like a month. I was so excited about yesterday's workout (current split and training routine can be found in yesterday's update) that I was thinking about it all day long. When the time to lift finally came, I cranked up the music and as I walked into the gym I felt like I could deadlift a car...

Unfortunately, reality came crashing down pretty quickly. As expected, I've lost a lot of strength over the past six months of cutting. I started yesterday's workout with what I consider the "King of all exercises", deadlifts. My plan was to slowly warmup and then go heavy for three sets of 4-6 reps. I didn't really know what I'd be capable of, but when I planned my workout I tried to keep in mind that I am not nearly as strong as I was when I weighed almost 240 pounds at the end of my 2006 bulk. I started off with a very light warm-up set to get my blood pumping: 135 pounds, 12 reps. I stretched out a bit, then put on a couple more plates and did 8 reps at 225 pounds. I stretched some more, added 2 more plates and did a short "acclimation" set of 2 reps at 315 pounds. It felt heavier than it should have. Hrm. My original plan was to add a couple more plates and do my working sets: 3 sets of 4-6 reps with 405 pounds. Six months ago that would have been pretty easy for me, but I planned yesterday's workout knowing that I'm on the first rung of a very tall ladder. Six months of cutting and 50 pounds of weight loss has left me looking ripped, but even more sapped of strength than I originally thought. Even 405 pounds was too much: I only managed to do three reps at 405 pounds (with a shrug at the top of each rep), and my form was less than perfect. I swallowed my pride, and reluctantly removed two of the plates and replaced them with 25-pound plates. Even with just 365 pounds I was only able to do 3 sets of 4. Man, it hurts to even type that...

I was far from discouraged, though: just being in the gym and lifting again made me feel absolutely incredible. I powered through my workout and gave it everything I had. I know my strength will come back pretty quickly. I just need to stay focused, eat right and work my butt off.

This morning I'm more sore than I've been in a long, long time. My entire back is already on fire. By tonight it's going to be even worse. I say "worse", but I love it.

I posted a new photo of my back yesterday because I didn't post one at the end of my cut. I did take a back double-bicep photograph at the end of my cut, but the flash didn't go off and I didn't realize it until much later. So here's my new back picture.

No training today, just some HIIT cardio this afternoon. Tomorrow is chest and side delts day, and I'll post my workout tomorrow morning. Until then, train hard!

July 9, 2007

The week I took off from training has totally recharged my batteries. I woke up this morning and the very first thought that entered my mind was, "Deadlifts".

Because my goal over the next few months is to build strength and not necessarily mass, I'm going to be doing mostly big, compound moves with very heavy weight and lower reps. I'll also be doing a small amount of isolation work, but the isolation training will be restricted to my lagging rear/side delts and my traps. I will doing no direct bicep or tricep work for the next three months.

Here's my Summer Maintenance split:

For the big compound moves I'll be doing 3 exercises per body part using very heavy weights (after a few warm-up sets, of course). My reps will be low (4-6 reps per set) and I'll rest about 2 minutes between sets and 3 minutes between exercises. My form will be good, but not quite as strict as the form I use when I'm training for hypertrophy. Again, the goal here is to build strength! I believe that the stronger I am when I start my bulk, the more muscle I'll be able to add.

So here's the Monday workout I have planned for the next four weeks:

BACK & TRAPS
3x4-6 Deadlifts w/BB shrug at top of each rep
3x4-6 Bent-over barbell rows
3x4-6 Weighted wide-grip pull-ups

REAR DELTS
3x4-6 Bent-over DB raises

I've updated my training page to include my split and the training principles for my 2007 Summer Maintenance program.

On another subject, last night I had salmon for the first time in almost two years. I used my Cilantro Salmon recipe, and it was even better than I remembered it being. The ingredients I use are very similar to those used in Pico De Gallo: there's fresh cilantro, tomato and lime, but I use garlic instead of onion, and there are no jalape�os. I also use a couple tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil as a base. The recipe is quick and easy to prepare, and salmon is a wonderful source of protein and healthy fats. Have this recipe with some brown rice and broccoli and you've got a great tasting, easy to prepare and very healthy meal. I'm definitely going to have this again next Sunday!

I think that about wraps things up for this morning. Have a wonderful day!

July 8, 2007

It's Sunday, and time for my weekly measurements...

This week my scale weight is 194 pounds. Comparing this figure to last week's end of cut weight of 186.6 pounds is pointless. The reason is, of course, because last week I was totally "dry" for my pictures. I dropped about 4 pounds of water in the days leading up to my end of cut pictures, and gained it right back the day after I took the photos as I rehydrated and re-introduced sodium to my diet. Of course I had a three cheat meals this week (including one last night, which I'll talk about in a minute), and I've also resumed taking creatine. So, even though the scale shows a 7.4 pound gain this week, it's not unexpected or anything to worry about. I'd say I added about pound of fat, and the rest is all water. Some of that water will be shed over the next few days as I return to my planned diet with just one cheat meal per week (Friday).

My body fat reading this morning is 6.5% (as measured using a 7-site pinch test with the FatTrack PRO Digital Body Fat Calipers from the JSF Amazon Mall). I expect my body fat will continue to slowly rise over the next few weeks and will stabilize at around 8% body fat. I will easily be able to maintain 8% body fat for the remainder of my maintenance phase while still enjoying a little dietary freedom.

So last night I attended a company dinner. The last company dinner I went to was held at a place called "The Melting Pot", which completely sucked (you may remember my rant the day after the event). This time we went to a place called "Seasons 52", which I really enjoyed. Every single entree is under 475 calories, and they use only fresh, seasonally-inspired ingredients (the menu changes throughout the year). There are no deep fat fryers in the kitchen, and no "heavy" ingredients like butter. Everything is light, fresh and delicious. I had crab stuffed shrimp, which is served on pasta with a light garlic sauce. It was 474 calories: 12g fat, 47g carbohydrates and 42g protein. While that's not something I'd eat every day, it's not bad at all for a "cheat" meal--especially at a restaurant. It was nice to come home after eating out and feel full, but not overstuffed and bloated. I'll definitely return!

I decided to postpone my cardio yesterday morning until today (which I'd normally have off from training). I'm going to go get that done and then I've got some cleaning and house projects to do. Tomorrow I resume lifting after my 1 week off from training. I can't wait!

July 7, 2007

I postponed last night's scheduled cheat meal and had chicken and broccoli instead. Tonight Lisa and I will be attending a company dinner, and I will be indulging a bit there. I'm still going to eat as healthy as possible, as I've already had a couple of cheat meals this week (my post-cut celebration day, and again on the 4th of July).

One thing is for sure: I'm feeling stronger and more energetic than I have in months. I think taking this week off from training and relaxing my diet was a smart move. I can't wait to start lifting again next week! I know I'm going to have some excellent workouts, and I fully expect my strength to skyrocket over the next month or so. By the time I begin my bulk on October 1st, my body should be primed and ready to put on a lot of quality mass.

As I mentioned yesterday, my primary areas of focus for this year's bulk will be my pecs, my delts and my traps. I am very encouraged by the big changes I've made to my overall physique during the past year. These changes were brought about simply by bringing up a few lagging muscle groups. I feel that by further improving the three areas that I've identified as my weakest muscle groups, my physique will rise to an entirely new level of balance and symmetry. I've got my work cut out for me, especially with regards to my traps: my genetics have determined that my traps don't want to have much height. I can't change my genetics, so it's up to me to overcome that obstacle through hard work and smart training.

July 6, 2007

I revised my "Summer Progress" photo comparison so that all the pictures were taken in July at 1-year intervals.

There has been a noticeable change for the better in my overall body composition over the past year. I attribute this change largely to the progress I've made with my lats and my delts. It's pretty amazing what a huge difference bringing up a couple of lagging muscle groups can make to our bodies.

If body composition is your goal, I think it's critical that you not try and hide from your weaknesses. You need to identify those areas, and then attack them with everything you have. I neglected my delts and lats for a long time, and it really showed. Once I made the choice to start hitting those areas hard, I made some pretty significant changes in less than a year.

This fall/winter I'm going to continue to bring up my delts and work very hard on my chest and traps, all of which I still feel are lagging.

Summer Progress

July 5, 2007

I forgot to mention in yesterday's update that I performed my first real cardio workout on my new recumbent bike (Schwinn, model 231) this past Tuesday afternoon. It was a 14-minute HIIT cardio session. I did 45 seconds intervals: 45 seconds at level 6 going at a moderate pace, followed by 45 seconds going "all out" on level 10 (there are 16 levels of resistance).

I read the instructions, and it's possible to create up to two custom workouts (in addition to the 10 pre-programmed workouts). The way it works is you select custom program "01" or "02", then input how long you want the workout to last, set the initial resistance level and you're off. While you perform your cardio, you'll need to change the resistance level manually to let the computer know your desired intervals. After that first session the computer is supposed to automatically save the intervals you used into the custom program you selected. I think did something wrong, because it doesn't seem to remember the intervals I used. I'm going to perform some quick tests today and figure it out once and for all, then I'll program a couple of good HIIT workouts.

The bike is awesome, I'm really happy with it. The only time it makes any noise is when the resistance level is changed, and the movement of the pedals is very smooth. The seat is ultra-comfortable and fully adjustable, including the height of the seat back. The heart rate monitor is actually very accurate, which surprised me (I checked it against my Polar HR monitor). The only caveat is that have to keep both hands on the lower grips the entire time. If you take your hands off the sensors to grab your water bottle or something, it loses track pretty quickly. I'll continue to use my Polar, but it's nice to know that the built-in HR monitor is there as a backup.

Speaking of water bottles, the water bottle holder is placed under the seat and is very easy to reach while riding. It holds a 700ml water bottle perfectly.

Assembly was a breeze, and took about 1.5 hours. The assembly instructions were very clear and extremely well done. I also like that the instruction manual talks about the importance of diet and strength training. While most visitors to this site already know that, most people don't.

Build quality seems excellent. I expect this bike is going to last a very long time. I've destroyed plenty of cardio equipment over the past 4.5 years, and there is a noticeable difference in quality with this bike as compared to the other stuff I've purchased.

At just over $500.00, I think the Schwinn 231 strikes an excellent balance between price and performance, and has earned a spot in my Favorite Things thread.

Here's the bike fully assembled in my home gym:

Schwinn 231

July 4, 2007

Today America celebrates her 231st year of Independence! Happy Birthday, America!

This morning I'll be doing some cleaning and yardwork, but the rest of the day will be spent relaxing and celebrating. We're having some family over, and we'll all be having burgers on the grill & a few drinks. Later we'll probably watch a movie and then check out the fireworks. I hope my fellow Americans also have an enjoyable and safe Independence Day!

This past Monday my chicken was not completely defrosted because I forgot to take it out of the freezer in time for lunch. I guess I'm still getting used to my summer meal plan. "No big deal", I thought. "I'll just swap this meal for Thursday's lunch, and have some of that awesome deli-sliced turkey Lisa bought for me!" Wow, my tastes sure have changed over the past six months--I didn't enjoy the sandwich at all! I tasted unbelievably salty and processed, and when I finished it I felt pretty bloated. I told Lisa to eat the rest of the lunch meat. In fact, I decided that I don't want sandwiches anymore--not even tuna. I'm also eliminating the pretzels and salads completely. I find that what I'm craving are whole foods and broccoli. You won't believe this (I sure couldn't) but last night I actually thought to myself, "You know, cod sounds pretty good right now!" I think Mastover has me brainwashed!

Anyway, I've made some changes to my summer meal plan based on my reaction to those foods. There will be no sandwiches, no pretzels and no croutons in my diet. I'm going to eat the foods I enjoy and make me feel good. I have replaced that processed garbage with items such as chicken, seafood and broccoli.

July 3, 2007

I was looking through my workout logs yesterday, and it's been nearly 3.5 months since I've taken a week off from lifting. I was looking forward to my workout yesterday, but I decided that the smart play would be to go ahead and take this week off from lifting (I'll still be doing my scheduled cardio). I think that taking a little break while eating my maintenance diet will do wonders for my strength. Also, my body is feeling a little worn down right now. Nothing serious, just minor little aches and pains that I've been ignoring. I'm going to be performing a lot of big, heavy compound lifts this summer; I want my body to be fully rested so I can remain injury-free. I feel that the more strength I can build this summer, the more successful my upcoming bulk will be when I switch my primary focus from strength to hypertrophy.

I realized yesterday that I have a ton of vacation time that needs to be used up sometime before early August or I'll lose it. I'm going to go ahead and take a full two weeks off later this month. My vacation will start on July 21st and run through August 5th. There will be no updates to this site from July 21st through August 5th. Daily updates will resume on Monday, August 6th. This is actually great timing, because the builders are scheduled to break ground on our new home within the next week or two. I'll be able to visit the job site as much as I want over my vacation and make sure things get off to a great start. Even though I won't be updating the main site while I'm on vacation, I will be making regular updates to my New Home Construction Journal. Please note that this journal is in the VIP section of the forum because there is a lot of personal stuff in there that I really do not want archived by search engines (search engines can't crawl the VIP forums). If you haven't already done so, you'll need to instantly upgrade your forum membership if you want to check out the journal.

Have a wonderful day!

July 2, 2007

If you missed yesterday's update, my six-month cut is finally over! I reached my goal of 6% body fat, and am now maintaining while building my strength in preparation for my upcoming bulk, which will start on October 1, 2007. You can check out all the details, stats and photos by reading yesterday's update.

Yesterday was a very rare "free day". Basically I allowed myself to go nuts, and indulge in some foods that I have been craving for the last six months. I started off the day with my new breakfast, straight off my summer meal plan. Even though it was a cheat day, I was really craving egg whites, wholegrain toast, black coffee, grapefruit and oats, so that's exactly what I had. That was the only meal I ate yesterday, however, that even remotely resembled my usual diet plan...

It was a rainy day, so I spent the rest of the day watching DVDs with Lisa and the dogs. I ate buttered popcorn, chocolate, snack mix, nuts, pretzels and pizza. I skipped the red wine, and opted instead for my all-time favorite drink: Grey Goose vodka on the rocks. In fact, I opted for a whole bunch of those. I have to admit, I got completely plastered. I haven't been drunk in a long, long time. Maybe more than 10 years. Not like that, anyway. Thankfully Grey Goose is such a quality vodka that I'm pretty sure it's impossible to get a hangover from it. I woke up this morning at 6:00 AM sharp, and I feel great!

This morning I'm up 5 pounds (191.6 pounds), which is not a surprise at all. Keep in mind that I weighed about that much a week ago. It's all water weight, and most of it will probably not go away. All last week was spent dieting specifically to shed water so I'd come in "dry" for my monthly pictures, and that's why I got down to 186.6 pounds. After a week with practically no sodium, yesterday must have been quite a shock to my system!

Today it's back to business. I'm looking forward to an awesome workout this afternoon!

July 1, 2007

The past six months have been extremely challenging, educational, rewarding and, at times, quite difficult. I did not miss even one workout over the past six months, and that is something I'm very proud of. Believe me, there were times when I really wanted to blow off my workout and just kick back, order a pizza and drink a bottle of wine.

I also went the entire six months with only 3 or 4 cheat meals. This is the approach that works best for me, and I seem to do better when I stay locked on my target. Cheat meals are a distraction, and they tend to do me more harm (from a mental standpoint) than good. I think it's very important that each person figure out which method will work best for him or herself. Some people who try my preferred approach can only do it for a short time, and then they fall off the wagon--hard. Some people do best with scheduled cheat meals to "keep them sane". There's nothing wrong with that. The important thing is that you remain consistent and are always moving forward.

It's been awesome working with Mastover. He doesn't screw around and he doesn't mince words. I like that. I like that a lot. He is a deep pool of practical, firsthand, real-world knowledge, and I've learned a great deal from him over the past six months. While I can't say I always enjoyed the foods I was eating, I learned to appreciate the function they served. Most surprisingly, I actually began to enjoy many foods that I wouldn't have eaten on my own. Foods such as broccoli and grapefruit have somehow gone from "barely edible" to "I really love this!" Needless to say, the results I've achieved over the past six months were a true collaborative effort. Thank you Mastover, thank you for everything. It's been a real pleasure working with you. I hope my effort has met with your high expectations.

I'd also like to thank everyone who's been so supportive of my goals over the past six months. I know it's not always been easy. There've been times when I've been cranky, moody, foggy-headed, irritable and down on myself. My wife, Lisa, my friends, my family and many of my "online" friends have always been there to pull me up and support me. Thanks to each and every one of you for sticking with me through thick and thin.

OK, so here are a few stats, and then the pictures. Over the past six months I lost 49.4 pounds and reduced my body fat from 19% to 6% (as measured using a 7-site pinch test with the FatTrack PRO Digital Body Fat Calipers from the JSF Amazon Mall). My waist size on January 1, 2007 was 36.5 inches; it is now 30.25 inches--a 6.25 inch reduction, and the absolute smallest my waist has ever been in my adult life. I've also lost a full 5 inches from my hips and 5 inches from my thighs.

Here is my six month transformation. Note that I pulled my boxer legs up this month to expose my entire quad.

January 1, 2007 236 Pounds 19% body fat	July 1, 2007 186.6 Pounds 6% body fat

I posted a few more pictures in my Photo Journal starting here. These pictures are also in the photo section of this site.

The past six months have been a great ride, but I'm quite glad they are over. I'm going to relax and enjoy myself for the rest of the summer, but I'll still be banging out some pretty grueling workouts and eating well. I expect my body fat to rise to around 8% over the next few months, and that's fine, as 8% is still quite low. I want to start my bulk on October 1, 2007, so the next few months I will be focusing on building my strength back up.

One thing you can count on: tonight I'll be having that pizza and bottle of wine!

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