I have finally concluded my planning for Mission 2.  I have alot of changes I am going to be focusing on and alot of goals I want to hit in the next Mission.  I've decided on alot of things.

Mission 2 – Length:

Like Mission 1, Mission 2 will be 100 days in length.  It will begin on February 3, 2008 and end on May 13, 2008.

Mission 2 – Goals:

Specifically, I am going to do 4 weeks of cutting and 11 weeks of bulking during this mission.  I want to pack on some serious muscle!  Here is a chart that outlines some specific goals for Mission 2:

My specific goals are:

1. Cut for 4 weeks (2/3/2008 thru 3/1/2008)
2. Bulk for 11 weeks (3/2/2008 thru 5/13/2008)
3. Body circumfrence:

1. Biceps  +1″
2. Chest  +1″
3. Thighs  +2″
4. Calves +1″
5. Abs -3″

Mission 2 – Nutrition:

I will be utilizing the Tom Venuto Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle nutrition plan.  I will cycle my carbs and have a refeed day every fourth day.  I will have a cheat meal every 12 days (3 cycles).  In my new accountability planning chart I will get points for being within 5% (+/-) of my targeted calories for a given day

Mission 2 – Workouts:

I will use my New Rules of Lifting program during my cut phase of this mission and I will use Max-OT training principles for my bulking phase of this mission.

Mission 2 – Focus:

My focus will not be on the scale.  The scale will give me a marker for my progress, but as you can see from my goals, I will intentionally weigh 6 pounds more at the end of Mission 2 than I will at the start of Mission 2.  I will stay focused on my goals and achieve all of them.  I will maintain my excitement and motivation as I move ahead into this next mission. 

Mission 2 – Accountability:

I will continue to blog daily.  I have posted my blog link on Facebook and am now including it in all personal email and all forum posts I do.  This will up the accountability.  All videos will have the blog link and eventually the website link as well.  Your help is needed in the area of accountability.  I know I can count on Mike Groom to push me hard on my plan, but I need as many people doing that as possible.  Say it like you see it.  Don't sugar coat anything.  If I'm messing up, say so.  I want you to be brutally honest.

The conclusion is that I've got my plan and now I have to work it and work it hard.

Until later…GET BACK TO LIFTING!

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I was browsing shredder blogs today and reached Rod's Fat Burn Blog.  There I saw a comment from an apparently well-meaning person named “Anthony” who chastised Rod for not losing fast enough.  Anthony's sole focus was on the weightloss of the two.  You can see Anthony's comment here. 

This type of thing annoys me beyond belief and I felt the need to comment.  I understand holding someone accountable, but what kind of joke is it that this guy, Anthony, is claiming a weight loss of 4.4 pounds a week and thinks it is so awesome?  Doesn't he understand that he is losing muscle?

On page 72 of Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle by Tom Venuto, Tom states:

“Look closely at your ratio of fat lost to lean mass lost. If you lose more lean mass than fat, that’s a clear sign that some of the weight was muscle. For example, suppose you lose 3 pounds in one week with 1.2 pounds from fat and 1.8 pounds from lean mass; don't pat yourself on the back for losing weight – you lost more LBM than fat. You should also look at the total amount of weight you lose each week. Your optimal goal for fat loss is to lose only one or two pounds per week. If you lose more than two pounds of weight per week, you’re probably losing muscle.”

Of course, I agree with Tom 100%.  You are aiming to lose 2 pounds per week otherwise you are probably losing muscle.  That isn't a good thing. 

Let's make sure we consider this type of thing before we make dumb comments like the one Anthony left for Rod.

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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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