First, I've decided to post pictures weekly.  I just don't have the time to blog daily and take pictures daily.  At the same time, I think it will be interesting to chart my weekly progress via pictures.

The past two days I have been very focused.  I've paid extra special attention to my nutrition and I've been extremely in tune with my body during my weightlifting workouts.  I've been successfully keeping my time in the gym to just 60 minutes each morning. I follow that up about 8 hours later with a second gym session to do cardio.

It is an amazing feeling to go to the gym a second time during the day to do the cardio.  I get this major pump from doing that.  I cant really explain it to you.

Today I had a small scare.  In the past, I had a calf muscle tear on my right calf.  I nursed it back to health and it hasn't given me any further trouble.  Just now I was on the treadmill running intervals and felt a cramp in my left calf muscle. I stopped what I was doing and rolled my left calf muscle with The Stick and it feels a little better.  I will need to roll the calf muscle several times per day or I'm going to have major problems.  I am also going to switch back to either the stationary bike or the elliptical machine so that I can continue pushing my cardio. 

I have been re-reading Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle by Tom Venuto and I'm finding alot of information I either didn't get the first time around or have just forgotten.  One tip I'm implementing on Sunday–spiking my calorie level up using a 3 day cycle.  It will be interesting to see the results I produce using this method.  Keep an eye on my stats entry this Sunday for more on that (I'm shifting to Sunday's starting this week).

I've also spent alot of time looking at posts on Global Health and Fitness.  By responding to these posts I motivate myself to do even more.

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If you've been reading my stuff much, you know by now that I do alot of thinking about stuff.  Some people say I think too much, but that's just how I am.  I've always been a thinker.  I guess that's why my other favorite pastime (besides exercising) is chess.

I was sitting on Sunday thinking about the word “intensity” and what it meant in relation to weightlifting.  I started to think alot about how long a workout should take, etc.  I read alot of advice that you should be done with the gym within 60 minutes.  One thing in particular has stuck in my head.  I was reading an eBook written by Jeff Anderson and he states:

“When you’re at the gym, keep a close eye on your watch. As soon as you’ve reached 60 minutes of exercise in your workout…

You need to LEAVE!

I don’t care if you only have 1 or 2 sets left to complete your workout…get the HELL out of the weight room! Those last few sets will actually do more to EAT UP the progress you just made during that first hour than it will to STIMULATE new muscle growth”

As I thought it through, intensity doesn't mean spending hours in the gym lifting.  Instead, intensity means pushing your muscles to the point they can't lift another rep.  It means choosing a weight that allows you to reach your target reps while still maintaining strict form and full range of motion on every exercise. 

When you workout with intensity you get good results.  When you give up at the end you do not get good results.  I once heard a trainer tell a client that when they give up in the last 1 to 2 reps of an exercise they are not getting the maximum benefit from the exercise.  Failing to get maximum benefit means they might as well not workout at all.  Intensity is right up there with this idea.  If we don't workout with intensity, why bother?

We've all most likely experienced lack of intensity in a workout.  You hit the gym and you lift but with a lackluster energy level.  You lift weights that you can do easily and only aim for the target reps and nothing more.  You don't push yourself.  How do you generally feel after such a workout?  Most likely not that great.  Fast forward to a high intensity workout.  You sweat.  Your heart races.  You barely get the last rep in.  You constantly strive to do better than the last time.  You push yourself on every set.  In the end you feel awesome about your workout.  You feel like you did something incredible and it sticks with you for hours.

If reading this does nothing else for you, I hope that when you hit the gym the next time the word intensity is on your mind like it is on mine now.

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Yesterday was my first day of working out after setting my new 12 month goals.  I had an extremely intense and high energy chest and biceps workout.

Monday (5/14/2007)

Start Workout: 4:45 a.m.
End Workout: 5:45 a.m.

Bench press – wide grip
145 x 12; 155 x 8; 165 x 5; 155 x 7

Decline bench press (D (drop sets)
[50 x 10; 40 x 6]; [55 x 8; 40 x 4]; [55 x 8; 40 x 10]

Incline bench press (D / Incline Flye — supersets
55 x 10; 55 x 8; 55 x 8; 55 x 8
20 x 12; 25 x 11; 20 x 12; 20 x 12

Hammer curl
30 x 10; 35 x 8; 35 x 8; 30 x 9

Curls (B
65 x 8; 75 x 6; 75 x 6

Cardio Session at 1:30 p.m.
30 minutes with Cardio Coach, Volume 6

Tuesday (5/15/2007)

Start Workout: 4:40 a.m.
End Workout: 5:50 a.m.

Seated row
170 x 10; 160 x 12; 150 x 12

Pull ups (weight assisted)
150 x 5; 150 x 4; 150 x 4

Front lat pull downs
130 x 10; 130 x 10; 130 x 10

Barbell rows (strip)
85 (75) x 10 (6); 90 (85) x 10 (6); 100 (95) x 8 (5)

Lying tricep extensions
60 x 12; 60 x 10

Triceps overhead extension (rope) (drop sets)
60 (40) x 12 (10); 65 (45) x 12 (10); 65 (45) x 12 (10)

My nutrition both days has been low carb (40 g. carb/40 g. protein/20 g. fat).  Tomorrow is going to be a moderate carb day (50 g. carb/30 g. protein/20 g. fat).  This is part of my carb cycling diet right now. 

The key the past two days–I have had tons of energy.  I have been taking caffeine, green tea extract, bioperine and yohimbine twice daily for 6 days now.  I'm not sure what effect they have been having on my energy, but I feel great during my workouts.

It is amazing to me how subtle changes can make such a huge difference.  At the same time, this is why very careful recordkeeping is needed because a small change in the wrong direction can bring on the incorrect results.

I still need to work on getting more rest.  I get about 6 hours of sleep each night and really need to shoot for 7 at the least.  I will work on that. 

Tomorrow is core and cardio day.  I will most likely double up on my cardio every Wednesday.  I will also take some more photos and post them here.  Until then…

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Tomorrow will be the first day of workouts during my new 1 year goals.  Below you see pictures from when I originally began my journey 2 months ago followed by pictures of me today.  I am extremely motivated to accelerate these changes.

2 months ago:

Today:

Tomorrow I will begin my workouts that will guide me towards my goals over the next 12 months. I am going to focus on the repetition speed as I work my chest and biceps. I am going to focus on constant tension to the muscle as I do my workout. I will then try my new plan of afternoon cardio. I had been given some advice to do my cardio at a seperate workout from my weightlifting. While I managed to pull that off last week, it was difficult. I am now planning to take 45 minutes in the afternoon to hit the gym for a cardio workout during my normal lunch time break. I think I'll have an easier time making the workouts happen (translated less stress on me while still accomplishing the goal).

I know this is going to be a long road, but I'm pumped and motivated to accomplish it.  I am going to focus on staying motivated as I move forward.  I've been reading alot of quotations on motivation and I plan to put them on cards and place them all over the place so I see them all the time.  Per Tom Venuto's advice (in Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle), I am going to keep my goals and affirmations in front of me all the time, reviewing them at least 2 times each day.

As far as nutritional changes, I am going to carb-cycle and work hard at being 100% clean in what I eat.  I will not let anyone steer me off of my goals.  I am 100% responsible for the results I produce.  The fact is that I will produce results no matter what, but will they be results that please me or results that don't please me?  That is entirely in my control and I cannot blame anyone but myself if I am not happy with the results I produce.

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I've set up this blog to use for accountability purposes.  Adam Waters was interviewed on Tom Venuto's site and gave some great advice for those of us looking to lose fat.  Adam's comments were aimed at accountability.  Adam says that the X-Factor is accountability.  Adam states:

“If you're not getting the results you want, accountability may be the edge you've been seeking to radically transform your body in a relatively short period of time — even within the next 12 weeks or less.

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