Archives for January 2008

Three days to go and I'm pumped to get into the next mission.  I will post my Mission 2 goals on February 4, 2008.  I have some big plans this time around.

Today I got up at 3 a.m. and hit the gym at 4:00 a.m.  I did my Max-OT cardio (16 minutes and I went 1.77 miles–a new record).  I then did my FYA workout (see this here). 

Mike Groom is a fellow shredder and a major source of inspiration for me.  He recently completed his first 84 day mission and did an awesome job.  He finished his first mission on Aussie Day.  Well, I always say that Mike and I have alot in common and then I realized “Hey, my mission ends on February 3 and that's…SUPER BOWL SUNDAY!”  So, Mike, while Super Bowl Sunday might not be a major holiday, it is definitely a huge day here in the United States and I'm proud that my first Mission will end on that day.

Today was a high carb and maintenance calorie day.  It was very hard to hit my mark, but I did it with a little bit of planning and alot of effort.  When I hit the bulking phase I'm going to have to get creative in order to up those calories to a level that will build muscle.  For now, I'm content to shred the fat from my frame.

It seems that alot of people were moved by my Mission 1, Day 96: Action and not excuses post.  If you think about it, we all have the choice to take action, some of us just choose not to.  I have gone through various phases in my fitness journey and they all involve periods of not taking action.  This time has worked because I've taken massive action and I'm expecting massive results.  My advice is to take your time.  Great results don't come overnight.  It all requires work.  From making the right decisions to taking massive action, it is hard work that will result in some great results in the end.  Anything worth having is worth working hard for.  Take your time and do your homework. The results you want will come.

Accountability Log:

My new motto:  work hard and nothing can get in your way.

Until tomorrow…GET BACK TO LIFTING!

Related Posts:

• No Related Posts

Just a reminder that the work on my eBook, Get Back to Lifting,  continues each week.  It is taking a bit longer than I originally anticipated because I want to be accurate with the information I am presenting.  As a special bonus, anyone who starts or continues an accountability blog will receive the eBook for a 50% discount during the first week of its release.  To be eligible, you need to meet the following requirements:

1. Maintain an accountability blog
2. Post pictures on that blog at least weekly (daily is preferred)
3. Post an entry to your accountability blog daily.
4. Sign up for the free report The Stubborn Fat Solution by David Grisaffi by using the form on the sidebar under the “Trying to get six pack abs?” spot.

Thus, you will begin a journy of accountability, you will visually see your progress through your photos, you will get the free report by David Grisaffi and you will receive a 50% discount on my eBook during the first week it is released.  This book promises to be helpful for everyone interested in lifting weights, but especially those who have had a back surgery or other back injury that is holding them back.  Sign up today and get that free report and save your spot for the 50% discount on my eBook.

Related Posts:

• No Related Posts

Today was a good workout day with a very odd lifting workout in the morning and a great cardio session in the afternoon.  The lifting workout was full of exercises I haven't done before.

Today I got thinking about how easy it is to make excuses.  You can easily make excuses to tell yourself.  This is because you can choose to believe anything you tell yourself.  What do these excuses accomplish?

It is very easy to make excuses to rationalize not taking action.  It isn't hard to come up with alot of believeable reasons to not take action.  At some point you come to the following question:  Do you want your life to be filled with excuses or with accomplishment?

Each time you catch yourself thinking of an excuse or rationalization, ask yourself that question.  Challenge yourself to make the conscious decision to choose whether or not you wish to accomplish.

When you force yourself to look at it that way the excuses begin to look silly and useless.  The more you remind yourself of the value of accomplishment, the  more you take action instead of making excuses.  The more you take action, the more you will achieve.

Workout Log:

Maybe now you can see why I said it was an odd workout.  The 1-1/4 squat was done just like a regular squat, but you go down to parallell, raise up 1/4 of the way, go back down to parallell and then go all the way up and that's 1 repetition.  By 6 your quads are burning.  That was just the first set!  The split deadlift is basically a lunge with the bar held between your legs.  The split good morning is a good morning done with a foot up on a step platform.  You do the entire set for each leg seperately.  That one really worked my lower back and concentrating on the form was a real challenge.  I spent some more time today analyzing (online) the form for this exercise because I wasn't sure I had it right.

Accountability Log:

Remember…no excuses.  Take massive action and turn it into massive results.  Anything is possible when you really put your mind to it. 

Until tomorrow…GET BACK TO LIFTING!

Related Posts:

• No Related Posts

When I sent the email to Marc David asking for an interview I never anticipated what would happen next.  First, it turns out that Marc is an incredibly nice guy who is extremely interested in helping out real people.  He is not an ego maniac who likes his butt kissed.  Next, after doing the interview, the level of accountability has been consistently increasing.  Marc posted the podcaste on his http://www.bodybuildingsecretslive.com site and the day he did that, the hits on my site were 228, the most in a single day ever.  Today he has upped the accountability level for me even more by posting the podcast at http://www.nobullbodybuilding.com/expertseries/callpage.html.  Check it out…he even posted a headshot of me.  Thanks, Marc, with your help, I am even more accountable now than I was before.  That's why I started this blog and you've helped me alot with this.  Between Adam posting our stuff on YouTube and then this podcast interview, I know I'm getting alot of people reading my stuff and looking for results.

I got in a double Max-OT cardio session today.  I did the first one and then did my FYA workout followed by a second Max-OT cardio session.  I felt the burn for hours afterwards.  It was an awesome feeling. 

Food today was PERFECT.  I cooked up a bunch of chicken breasts yesterday and chopped up a bunch of veggies to take with me to work.  Now, I've managed to hit my nutritional marks consistently for weeks now, but today was just extremely easy because of the advanced preparation.  It was another BFFM day for me and it felt good.  I will be lifting tomorrow and have a feeling I'm going to feel very strong.  The addition of carbs back into my diet feels good so far.  I've learned alot about eating the past 2 months, that's for sure.

This was an interesting day in some respects.  I was pretty focused on my work and getting the right things done.  I spent some time discussing long range plans and found that because of all the planning I do on my nutrition and exercise, the planning at work was even easier.  It is second nature for me now and that feels really good.

As far as accountability, this blog was started with that entire concept in mind.  I failed at it once (you can still see the old posts), but with the help of Adam Waters and the rest of the Shredder Council I've managed to keep it going for 95 straight days now.  I have five (5) more days left in this first mission and I'm going straight into Mission 2 with no break.  I will have a little surprise for Day 100 that is really nothing special, just something fun.

I am planning my next article and will post it here soon.  The only way I could think of to follow up my last podcast was to go with a video podcast, so that's what I will be doing this week. 

Accountability Log:

I have decided that this Sunday I will have Super Bowl Push Up Sunday where I will finally get in more than 45 push ups at one stretch.  I will achieve this short term goal.

Until tomorrow…GET BACK TO LIFTING!

Related Posts:

• No Related Posts

I woke up today and was very excited because I got to go back to the gym and I was able to GET BACK TO LIFTING!  It felt great.  What was strange was the workout scheme.  I was doing 6 sets of 4 reps (that was the goal).  It was tough to figure out the right weights.  I also had to be careful because there was nobody around to spot me.  I had a good workout. Here is the log.

Workout Log – Hypertrophy III – Workout A:

These are supersets with 60 seconds rest.  The blue line breaks up the two superset combinations.

One of the reasons I've stuck with the New Rules of Lifting is that it is continually changing the volume and intensity of the workouts.  For instance, there are days in here where I will do this exact workout, but with less sets, more reps and less rest.  There are other days where I do this workout with an additional superset combination, less sets and more reps with less rest.  The continual variations keep your muscles guessing and it is why I continue to progress–I avoid that adaptation issue.

Today was my first day back on the Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle nutrition program.  It was hard to eat the calories that I needed to hit because I've been so low for so long (36 days).  What was really weird was the oatmeal.  With Metabolic Surge I've been limiting my oatmeal to about 15 grams prior to my workout (mixed into my workout shake).  Today I was able to have oatmeal with my first three meals and it felt pretty weird.    I had the hardest time choking down all that food.  I will get used to it over time, but it was definitely a difficult thing to do today.  One thing I learned from Metabolic Surge is the importance of the fibrous carb.  I used that for the final 3 meals of the day today.

I managed to crank out 43 push ups today.  You can see it here Push up challenge: Week 5 test video.  At first I was a little disappointed that I didn't hit 45, but I realized that progress comes in small pieces and I've made progress each and every week since this challenge began, so who am I to complain?

I've been working on the Max-OT lifting program today.  I spent some time looking over how to group the exercises and I've reviewed a spreadsheet Mike Groom sent over to me (thanks, Mike).  It was an interesting review and I plan to utilize this program in the future.  I've got the person I'm training lifting heavy, with varying sets of 4-6 reps.  At first it was hard, but they got the hang of it and now they even push to get past 6 when possible.  It is fun to watch the progress.

Accountability Log:

I am going to carefully monitor my progress this week as I am concerned about the increased calories.  I will be cycling the carbs and the calories on a 3 day low, 1 day high cycle.  3 of those cycles and I get a cheat meal.  I'm going to be publishing an article in the next few days regarding what I've learned about carb cycling.

Until tomorrow…do like me…GET BACK TO LIFTING!

Related Posts:

• No Related Posts