I started the year with a podcast interview of Marc David.  Marc is an extremely knowledgeable body builder who has written two eBooks on the topic.  Marc’s passion is teaching beginners about body building techniques.  He is quite active on Facebook and Twitter.  He has become a good friend of mine this year.

A year ago I did not know Carlos DeJesus beyond his picture on his website.  I made his acquaintance after purchasing a Quad Blaster from him.  As I started talking to Carlos more and more on the telephone I realized that he is an amazing man with an immense amount of knowledge.  His extremely humble approach was very refreshing to me at the time.  Here is a man who has entered 36 tested competitions and won all 36.  How many people can say that?  Right now (and probably ever) only one!

Meeting Carlos was the start of some major changes for me.  I was introduced to the Experiment of One.  This concept alone taught me that I could and should do the things that work for me.  This concept led me down a path that has improved my physique more than any other technique I’ve ever tried. 

It is interesting to ask Carlos any question about body building because at first it appears he is avoiding your question.  However, upon giving it further thought you will realize that he strongly believes in the Experiment of One and that makes it impossible to answer most questions in an absolute manner.  Everyone is different and they should try things to see what works for them.  Carlos won’t talk about macronutrient ratios or specific training techniques because he knows that what works for him might not work for you.

As a result of the techniques and principles I learned from Carlos and Marc I rewrote major portions of my eBook. This delayed the release (it still hasn’t been completely finished), but it also made the book that much better. 

I feel that this year has been a year of maturing for me in the body building area.  I have spent alot of time doing research on various techniques and now feel I have some approaches that work well for my body.  I have expanded my toolkit to include some very useful methods.  I have taught my teenage son how to use these tools to his benefit as well. 

The fact is that these are just tools.  They are a means to an end, but they are not the end itself.  As I’ve studied the Experiment of One in great detail I’ve learned how important it is to document everything I do.  By doing this it gives me information that I can use later to determine what does and does not work for my body.  This type of information is essential to the Experiment of One. 

Matty’s Workout Log:

How did I gain so much weight?

How did I decide it was time to lose all of the weight?

How did I learn the right way to get in shape?

How many times have I tried in the past and failed?

How do I know I will be successful this time?

How much time do I spend planning for my future successes?

Mind-boggling People Questions:

1. Why do people pretend to listen to what you are saying?
2. Why do people always seem to be so pumped up about new things at first, only to have it fizzle out so quickly?
3. Why do people miss the contradictions in the material they read?
4. Why does everyone keep looking for the fountain of youth when it is right in front of them?
5. Why do most people fail to work hard?
6. Why do people stop before failure when they are told to go to failure?
7. Why do people insist they must do more to get results?
8. Why do people fail to track their results?
9. Why do people put such a strong emphasis on the scale?
10. Why do most people fail at physique transformation?

Each of these is going to make a great blog post during this mission because there is alot to each item.  Remember, I’m not seeking answers to these questions myself, but I’m throwing the questions out there for you to think about.

• Enhanced fitness
• Enhanced ability to perform skilled movements
• Increased mental and physical relaxation
• Reduced risk of injury to joints, muscles and tendons
• Reduced muscle soreness
• Reduced muscle tension
• Improvements in the connective tissue

It is very important to warm up before stretching.  Stretching a cold muscle is a terrible idea.  I generally do my stretching either after a cardio session or after doing some foam rolling (which warms up the muscle via massage).  Warming up can include joint rotations.  There is also a recommended order for doing your stretching.  You should stretch in the following order:

• Back
• sides
• neck
• forearm and wrists
• triceps
• chest
• buttocks
• groin
• thighs
• calves
• shins
• hamstrings
• instep

This is designed to cover your entire body.  You should hold each stretch 15 to 20 seconds.  Maintain normal breathing patterns.   Always stretch after doing foam rolling as it helps to improve functionality of both the muscle and the joint and make the changes more permanent.

If you want a detailed plan for stretching along with diagrams that show you how to do the stretches, I recommend the book Stretching by Bob Anderson.