I finally got my workout in that was supposed to happen yesterday.  I made sure the gym clerk knew I was upset about the previous day and got a sincere apology.

My workout really pumped me up as it always does when I lift heavy.  I just love how I feel after a good session of real heavy lifting.  I forget about the stress of life and everything else that goes on around me and just focus on the feel of the iron bar in my hands. 

I found an interesting article that is about protein cycling.  Apparently it is a method for helping the body soak up and use tons of proteiin when you go up to a higher protein intake.  You can read the article by Chris Aceto here.

Accountability Log:

Surprise Guest for Podcast (coming soon):

Can you guess who my podcast guest is going to be?  Sometime after January 21, 2008, I will be interviewing this person for my podcast.  The graphic below is the first hint.

Make your guesses. I am not going to reveal who this person is until the actual podcast itself, but I thought it would be really fun to see if anyone could guess who it is.

Until tomorrow…GET BACK TO LIFTING…

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I got up at 4 a.m. and did my usual thing.  However, since I had a meeting, I decided to hit a new location of 24 Hour Fitness.  I had seen the cars parked as I drove past on the freeway several days in a row and it looked pretty inviting.  Because I had a meeting this morning and this gym is on the way to that meeting, I figured it would be perfect.  What a mistake!

I sat there with 10 other people for 40 minutes.  The gym (which is supposed to be open for 24 hours a day) was closed!  It had a sign saying the person would be back at 4 a.m. and it was not almost 5 a.m.  I finally gave up, figuring I'd hit the gym later in the day.  That never happened.  Thus, the plan is modified and I will lift tomorrow and Saturday instead of today and Friday.  Mark one workout off my accountability log!

Not too much else to share today.  I'm preparing some questions for my mystery guest.  We plan on the podcast lasting about 30 minutes.  If you have any general bodybuilding type questions to ask, please post them in a comment and I'll see what I can do about getting them into the podcast.

Accountability Log:

Christy, thanks for the comment about my progress.  I don't see it as clearly as everyone else, but I really appreciate the encouragement.  Sorry about the crappy photo quality today.

Push up Facts:

World Record for Continuous Pus ups:  10,507 (Minoru Yoshida of Japan in October 1980)
World Record for Push ups in a year:  1,500,230 (Paddy Doyle of Great Britain in October 1988 thru October 1989)
World Record for Push ups in 24 hours:  46,001 (Charles Servizio of United States in April 1993)
World Record for Push ups in  1 hour:  3,877 (Bijender Singh of India on September 20, 1988)

Until tomorrow…

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I've been corresponding lately with someone in the fitness industry that I have a great deal of respect for.  He has given me alot of encouragement.  We seem to see alot of things eye to eye.  He actually emailed me first after I signed up with his site and he checked out my blog.  We've exchanged multiple emails and have agreed to help each other out in any way we can.  I was honestly surprised when I asked him if he would allow me to interview him for a podcast and he accepted the invitation.  So, I will be having a surprise guest in the next couple of weeks.  As time goes by I will reveal more about what we plan to discuss, but it has me very pumped right now.

I did a HIIT session this morning at 4:30 a.m.  It was great.  I was gasping for air at the end.

The rest of the day was fairly routine.  I took care of numerous problem situations and the day itself went fairly well. 

I did a second workout in the afternoon, completing 30 minutes on the statonary bike.  This time I used Max-OT cardio (Google it).  It had me dripping in sweat.

As for my feedings (love that term, Lilla), those were extremely consistent today.  I'm in day 2 of the low carb cycle of Surge and it just excites me because I know that I'm getting results.  I find that the entire thing is a cycle.  You decide to get your butt moving so that you can lose weight.  You look at your results and make decisions on what is working and what is not.  You note down (hopefully) the results you get and make adjustments.  You then go back and do it all over again.  When you get positive results it is much easier to get pumped up, but for some reason, I get pumped no matter what.

I honestly love the bodybuilding aspect of this “project” and that is what keeps me moving forward.  I don't think I could do this without the bodybuilding aspect.  If all I was able to do was cardio, I'd have quit already.

On another note, Adam Waters won a major video contest with his transformation video.  I am so proud of him!  At the same time, I realize that it is going to mean more traffic to Adam's blog and then more traffic to the blogs of the Shredder Council members.  That is exciting and scary at the same time.  It just means that buckling down isn't just an idea, it is a must.

Accountability Log:

Tomorrow is a heavy workout.  I am doing 5 x 5's of deadlifts and squats.  I look forward to the challenge and the possibility of setting another personal best.  Stay tuned for that!

Until tomorrow…

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Today started off early as is usual on my weekdays.  I got to the gym at 4:15 a.m. and started in on my workout.  I took with me my new attitude that I need to push myself to the extreme.  I felt it during my workout.

I was scheduled to do 15 rep sets today.  Instead of using my weight from my previous 15 rep set workouts I used the weight from my10 rep workouts.  As I suspected, I was not pushing myself to my fullest in past workouts.  Yes, it sounds great that I did a close grip bench press at 80 pounds, 4 sets of 15 with 30 seconds rest, but the reality is that I could and did do more (see my Accountability Log below).  It felt great to push myself in this manner.  I came up a little short on my shoulder presses, but even those are vastly improved.  Today I walked out of the gym feeling like I'd given it my all.  I felt like I'd worked like a champion.  That's the attitude I want to carry out of the gym from now on.  Anything less than that is a failed workout.

Work today was sort of a let down.  Allow me to explain.  My company follows a very strict regimen when it comes to direct reports.  We use something called a MOP (Management Operation Plan) to track progress on a weekly basis on projects/tasks/initiatives for our direct reports.  I have had problems with my people being too busy or otherwise preoccupied to get the MOP done in person, so I've always settled for an emailed copy.  In mid-December I let them know that all MOPs would be done in person and at the time assigned.  Of the three scheduled MOPs today, only 1 got done as scheduled.  One person had an emergency situation to deal with (acceptable excuse) and one was just plain late for work (25 minutes–not an acceptable excuse).  What was disappointing was the attitude after the fact.  The one with the emergency situation didn't even bother to mention the MOP while the one who was late acted like nothing at all had happened.  Consequently, I was angry.  During my staff meeting I told them that we would now be requring the MOPs to be sent in via email on Friday and to be reviewed in person on Monday.  This would give me the weekend to review anything important and will probably make the Monday in person meeting much more productive for everyone involved.  They started whining about getting it done by Friday.  I would have none of it and told them so.  It was not a pretty scene.

It made me think of how we disappoint ourselves and each other on a regular basis.  I thought about how I felt when they disappointed me and I realized that I don't want to do that to other people.  The feeling was far from a positive one.  I am determined not to do that to other people on a regular basis.  In addition, I will not disappoint myself any longer.  I will go to the gym with the attitude that I will accept nothing less than the best.  I will push myself to my ultimate limits.  I will walk away knowing I gave it my all.  I will eat right daily and make the right nutrtional choices.  I will drink water and green tea only.  I will stick like glue to my supplement schedule.  In the end, I will achieve my goals.

Accountability Log:

These push ups are a bear!  I find myself shaking like a leaf during the last couple of sets in each push up workout, but I will say that the workout from http://www.100pushups.info is an incredible strength builder.  If you had told me that I'd be able to do 32 push ups after having completed 84 prior to that set, I'd have said you were crazy, but I did exactly that today.  It is fun to see the progress of all the shredders.  Joni has an impressive entry, with Mike and Adam having an extremely strong showing!  Keep up the hard work, shredders!

Until tomorrow…

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Today is another reflection day for me.  Lately this has been a regular thing.  I've started to think alot about my entire past and where I want to ultimately end up.  That has led me to do more and more reflection lately. 

I've realized that in order to fully realize all my dreams I need to find a way to make a passive income.  I started to read a book called Your Portable Empire:  How to Make Money Anywhere While Doing What You Love and it seems to be just what I need.  At the same time, it launched me into a long journal entry about my future plans.  More on that in a future post.

Today was a measurement day and I was pleasantly surprised by the results that I got.  I did 30 minutes of HIIT today.  It was intense.  I did intervals of 3.5 mph and 8.5 mph with 30 seconds each interval.  I did a 5 minute warm up and 5 minute cool down and 20 intervals.  My heart rate was soaring after about 5 intervals.  I really had to push to make it through the entire workout.

Eating was good today.  It was raining all day, so I made sure to just have my food with me.  That helped me to stay on track for sure.

As mentioned, I spent some time planning in my journal.  I also spent some time reading about bulking and nutrition during that time.  I will spend a little time each day studying bulking nutrition so that I will be ready for my bulking phase in February.

Not much else to report on today.  I am about to head off to bed.

Accountability Log:

Until tomorrow…

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