I enjoyed my food today.  I ate alot of chicken and with the increase in carbs my energy levels are extremely high.  I am now really seeing the benefits of increasing my calories over the past several weeks.  It has done wonders for my overall look.

I am now on a mission to teach others the wisdomm of eating more.  As you know, I've been reading Muscle Revolution by Chad Waterbury.  He puts it so well:

“It might seem paradoxical, but fat loss is best achieved by consuming the largest amount of calories possible in order to keep your metabolism high and your workouts productive.

Many people simply don't eat enough calories when they're trying to lose fat.  I'll sometimes discover, when calculating the recommended daily calories for a client who's overly fat, that he's already eating fewer calories than he should.  When I have him start eating more, believe it or not, he'll lose fat.  His nutrition habits had stalled his metabolism, and the first step to getting it moving again was giving him enough calories to rev it up and allow him to have productive workouts.” (Muscle Revolution, p. 126)

The point is clear.  You need to eat.  Too many people miss this point.  When you are told that “maintenance calories” for you is 2000, that means that you need 2000 calories just to maintain your existing weight.  When you are told to cut the calories, the majority of people immediately think of cutting back on the food intake.  That is not the only way to create a caloric deficit.  What's wrong with creating a caloric deficit with exercise?  I personally believe that too many people cut their calories by restricting their food intake and then add in a ton of cardio and weight training and that puts their body dangerously close to the starvation mode we all know about.

So I read on Adam Waters' (Adam:  RTP Blog 2) where he says that all the covering up that is going on is not necessarily a good thing.  Adam recommends a 30 day coverup becuase he says that the coverup itself becomes a crutch.  While I can see the wisdom of this advice, I can also say that if a person is sticking to their nutrition and workout plans, I see nothing wrong with staying covered up for extended periods of time.  I personally do not plan to uncover completely until the end of Phase 2 (August 1, 2008).  I will probably show off different part sof my body as I go along, but I won't be completely uncovering until Phase 2 is over.

Throughout the workout I focused on the form and lifting speed.  I aimed to be perfect on every single rep.  It made for some really tough sets at much lighter weights than I'm used to pushing.  I haven't done 15 rep sets in a long time, so this was an interesting change for my body.

I am really excited to do my measurements for my bulk phase tomorrow.  I will not be posting any stats for the entire Phase 2 of M3.  I feel like building a little suspense again.

Today was a reflective day.  I have noticed a change in myself at this point.  I have continued to read up on bulking, but I have not been the slightest bit tempted to change my plans.  This is something I normally would be tempted to do, but this time I'm seeing the flexibility in my own plan.  I think that the ability to make very clear and concise adjustments and having that ability built into the plan has given me a high level of confidence.  Some people call it a contingency plan, but I call it planned alterations.  What's cool is that there are triggers for each alteration.  

As you see in today's picture, my Quad Blaster arrived today!  I was so excited to see it.  I gave it a try and I can truly say that it is a pretty good workout.  I think I'm going to need to add a light dumbbell when I use it, but I can definitely see a great future with this thing!

Today was my last chess class with the kids.  They were really uptight, but we had fun anyway.  I really enjoyed teaching them the past few months.

I am off to bed, so stay tuned this weekend for some more fun commentary.  Here is the article I promised.

How To Get Ripped Fast!

By Vince DelMonte

To have a world class fitness body, you must be muscular of course, symmetrical and balanced, have a well defined six-pack but most importantly, you must be ripped and shredded to the bone! If you do not know how to get ripped fast than we are about to discuss how weight training, proper nutrition and aerobic exercise will assist in getting a ripped, beach worthy body by next summer.

Determine Where You Are Starting Before You Start To Get Ripped

If you do not have the ripped body of your dreams than
you are either one of two people:

1. The ‘big guy' at the gym who looks huge in clothes but has no muscle definition when the shirt comes off. You are training like a bodybuilder, eating in a caloric surplus, getting stronger and bigger each week but would never win a fitness model show because of your excess body fat.

2. Or, are you the ‘skinny guy' who thinks he is ripped because your veins are popping out of your tank top, but have no muscle mass to support your frame. Sure, your veins make you look ‘ripped' to the bike club but this false sense of ‘big' would only get you laughed off a bodybuilding stage.

To get ripped, you must determine whether you need to start leaning down through a fat loss program or else add muscle mass with a bulking program. You can not be ripped if you are lacking muscle mass or lacking muscle defintion. Don't chase both goals at once. I will address how both categories can learn how to get ripped fast with weight training, nutrition and cardio.

How To Get Ripped With Weight Training

Skinny guys should train less than 45 minutes each workout.

Skinny guys should focus on only compound movements and no isolated movements.

Skinny guys should focus on getting stronger by 5% every two weeks.

Skinny guys should do no more than 1-2 forced reps to avoid wasted energy.