I started my day with a great Max-OT cardio session.  I literally ran like the wind, coming in at 1.78 miles and a new personal best!  I went to the gym with a completely new attitude.  There is no saving anything for later when it comes to cardio.  I am approaching cardio the way I approach my weight lifting–I leave it all there, taking nothing with me when it is done.  Why waste my time on a machine if I'm not going to maximize my time?  Nope–no more saving it for later.

I finished off 2 weeks of Flatten Your Abs and now I go into the Level 1 training 4 days a week.  I'm looking forward to the changes in my abs training. 

As you know, I'm planning some future articles and I've decided I'm going to do a review of Marc David's No Bull Bodybuilding and David Grisaffi's Flatten Your Abs.  I will give you all a no bull review of both books.

Another plan I have is to do a review of various body building web sites.  After reviewing a site I will add it to a list of links on the blog.

I am currently working on my main website.  It will host the eBook when it is released.

In the afternoon I did the HIIT session I mentioned yesterday.  I really didn't find it to be that difficult.  I am going to give it another shot on a different treadmill to see if that makes a difference.  At the same time, I burned alot of fat.

I realized today that I do not utilize my heart rate monitor to the fullest.  One thing I plan to add to my tracking is the numbers I can get out of my heart rate monitor.

Accountability Log:

Until tomorrow…GET BACK TO LIFTING!

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Today I got up and hit the gym at 4 a.m.  The gym was extremely empty.  It was even more empty than normal at this time of the morning.  Because of the empty nature of the gym I was able to recognize some interesting (to me) things.

I noted that the majority of people don't really push themselves very hard at the gym. They lift weights until it just starts feeling heavy and they stop. They don't push themselves as hard as they can.  They only do the cardio at a comfortable pace.  It is like a disease.  I really don't get it.  Why would you get up and be at the gym at 4 a.m. and then not give your best effort?  That is just senseless if you ask me.

I'm still not totally feeling this new workout called Hypertrophy III.  I'm not sure what it is that I don't like about it.

I noticed today that focus is extremely important.  There was a cleaning guy going around with a vacuum.  He was right in the area I was lifting and it was so distracting.  I had a hard time hitting my numbers. I'm so used to hitting the numbers that I felt like my workout was a failure as I left the gym.  It wasn't until my drive to work that I realized the workout was not a failure.  I had honestly pushed myself as hard as possible.  Just because I over estimated what I could lift didn't make the workout a failure–it simply made the workout hard.

Workout Log:

* this was where I lost focus due to the cleaning crew

I'm down to two more days in my Mission 1.  I've been shredding hard.  I've done double cardio on my days that I am not lifting and I've been seperating my cardio by 8 hours from my lifting on my lifting days.  I've been mixing up the types of cardio I'm doing, the length of cardio I'm doing and the machines I'm using.  My nutrition has been BFFM style.  I'm sticking to 40/40/20 for this week on my low carb days and 50/30/20 on my high carb days.  I'm on a 3 days low, 1 day high cycle.  I'm rotating my calories so that I'm around 2600 on low carb days and 3000 on high carb days.  I'm enjoying the nutritonal aspect more than while on Metabolic Surge.  I just like being able to have some yogurt or to eat a little bit more carbs.  I will see if my results agree with me.  If they do not, I will change things up a little bit.  I will play with the ratios first and see where that brings me.

Accountability Log:

(Note:  I noticed that something was messed up with the days on this log, so I checked and adjusted it accordingly.  It is now showing accurate information.)

I've been eating alot of chicken breast lately because it is easy to cook up and eat while at work.  I've added 1/2 a breast with each meal in an effort to up the protein and calories for the day and it has been working.  I managed to hit my 2600 mark today.  Nutrition has been near perfect.

Tomorrow I am going to change things up just a little.  I'm going to give a fat shredding HIIT a try in the morning for 30 minutes with the following settings:

5min—3.0mph
1 min—2.5mph
1 min—5mph
1 min—2.5mph
1 min—6mph
1 min—2.5mph
1 min—7mph
1 min—2.5mph
1 min—8mph
1 min—2.5mph
1 min—9mph
1 min—2.5pmh
1 min—10mph
1 min—2.5mph
1 min—5.5 mph 5.5 incline
1 min—2.5mph
1 min—6.5 mph 6.5 incline
1 min—2.5mph
1 min—7.5mph 7.5 incline
1 min—2.5 mph
1 min—8.5 mph
5 min—3.0 mph

This should be one killer workout.  I will then follow up later in the day with my Max-OT cardio session for 16 minutes to further burn fat and boost my metabolism.  I want to finish this mission strong and go into my next mission with a major momentum.

Until tomorrow…GET BACK TO LIFTING!

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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!

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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.

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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!

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