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Mission 1, Day 66: Patience

December 31, 2007 By Michael Mahony, ISSA CPT Leave a Comment

When working through a fat loss journey and heading towards a fitter you, one thing that is required above all other things is patience.  It can get very frustrating at times.  You feel like you should look better.  For me, the frustration is that my body fat percentage is going down, but when I look at my pictures, my gut isn't shrinking as fast as I'd like.  I've read over and over again that the gut is the last thing to go away and I honestly believe that, but it is still frustrating.

I realize that I just need to be patient.  I didn't get that gut overnight and it won't go away overnight either.  While I dabbled in fat loss for the past year, I didn't get serious about it until October 26, 2007.  It has now been 66 days and I do see progress.  Patience.  It comes through trials and tribulations.  I feel like I should have patience by this point. 

At the same time, giving up isn't an option.  It would be stupid.  I have developed a lifestyle.  I now have a different world view than I had 66 days ago.  There has been a convergence of thought and action.  I used to think about how good it would be to lose the fat.  I would think about how I could go about doing it.  I read alot about it.  I just never put it into consistent action.  That all changed on October 26, 2007.  My thoughts and actions converged to form a new world view for me, a world view that includes a skinnier, more buff me.  I am now hard at work making that world view a reality.

Accountability Log:

  Mission 1:  Day 5 of 40 Accountability  
  Meal/Training Plan:  Real-time accountability Each task completed?  
  Day 63: December 30, 2007 Yes or No  
6:00 a.m. Meal 1:  Protein shake with oatmeal with 3 glasses of water Yes
6:00 a.m. Supplements:  Animal Pak, Glucosamine Chondroiten, calcium, chromium, glutamine Yes
6:15 a.m. Workout:  HIIT cardio (45 minutes), core training, chin up training with 3 glasses of water Yes
7:00 a.m. Supplements:  Protein shake with glutamine and 3 glasses of water Yes
9:00 a.m. Meal 2: Chicken breast (6 oz) and large salad with 3 glasses of water Yes
12:00 p.m. Meal 3:  Chicken breast (6 oz) with large salad and 3 glasses of water Yes
3:00 p.m. Meal 4:  Tuna with large salad and 3 glasses of water Yes
6:00 p.m. Meal 5:  Chicken breast (6 oz) with large salad and 3 glasses of water Yes
8:30 p.m. Supplements:  Protein shake with glutamine, calcium and 3 glasses of water Yes
  Accountability Areas: Points Possible
Meal 1 1 1
Meal 2 1 1
Meal 3 1 1
Meal 4 1 1
Meal 5 1 1
Training 1 1
Post Workout Nutrition 1 1
Water 1 1
Pre-sleep nutrition 1 1
Accountability 1 1
Daily Totals: 10 10
Mission Totals: 48 50
  Workout Log:    
HIIT Cardio 45 minutes
Chin up challenge (100) 5 x 5
Core training:  Leg lifts, ball side reaches, crunches 3 sets

I guess the moral of today's story is that you have to be patient and motivate yourself based upon the results you get. I spent some time today looking through YouTube for bodybuilding inspiration. I saved quite a few things to my favorites and even posted one squat video here on the blog. I love watching a guy like Jay Cutler (Mr. Olympia 2006 and 2007) workout. Yes, I know steroids play a part in his development, but he still works out so hard. That has me motivated and ready for tomorrow's workout.

Time for me to go to bed.

Until tomorrow…

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529 pound Front Squat!

December 31, 2007 By Michael Mahony, ISSA CPT Leave a Comment

Insane!  How does he even hold that much weight up.  That's his home gym too!

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Push up challenge — Week 1

December 31, 2007 By Michael Mahony, ISSA CPT Leave a Comment

Here is my push up challenge video for week 1.

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Mission 1, Day 66: Stats are in

December 30, 2007 By Michael Mahony, ISSA CPT Leave a Comment

The stats are in for the week.  Here they are:

 Item  Measurement
 Current Weight (lbs)  221
 Previous Weight (lbs)     222
 Goal Weight (lbs)  228
 Variance to previous (lbs)     -1
 Variance to goal (lbs)  -7
 Current Body Fat %      14.5%
 Previous Body Fat %  15.0%
 Goal Body Fat %  15.5%
 Variance to previous  -0.5%
 Variance to goal  -1.0%
 Current LBM (lbs)  188.96
 Previous LBM (lbs)  188.70
 Goal LBM (lbs)  192.66
 Variance to previous (lbs)  +0.26
 Variance to goal (lbs)  -3.70

I only lost 1 pound, but the proof is in the body fat percentage and it continues to drop 1/2% each week and that's the ultimate goal of a cutting phase–to lose body fat.  I am planning to start a bulking phase on February 4, 2008 (it will be Mission 2) so this is a good thing, losing the body fat.  When I started this journey a year ago I was at 28% body fat.  I've cut that in half and that makes me very pleased.

Accountability Plan for This Week:

Sunday, 12/30/2007:
    Nutrition:  
        Metabolic Surge, low carb
        18 glasses of water
    
Workout:  
        HIIT Cardio Session for 30 minutes

Monday, 12/31/2007:
    Nutrition:
        Metabolic Surge, all protein day
        18 glasses of water
    
Workout:  
        Squats and Deadlift Shrugs 3 x 15 (supersetted)
        Bulgarian Split Squats and Step Ups 3 x 15 (supersetted)
        Reverse crunches 3 sets
        HIIT Cardio Session for 30 minutes
        Chin up session

Tuesday, 1/1/2008:
    Nutrition:
        Metabolic Surge, all fruit day
        18 glasses of water
    Workout:
        Run for 30 minutes in neighborhood

Wednesday, 1/2/2008:
    Nutrition:
        Metabolic Surge, low carb
        18 glasses of water
    Workout:
        DB Incline Bench Press and Cable Seated Row 5 x 5 (supersetted)
        DB Shoulder Press and Wide grip lat pulldown 5 x 5 (supersetted)
        BB close grip bench press and High pull 5 x 5 (supersetted)
        Swiss ball crunches 3 sets
        HIIT Cardio Session for 30 minutes
        Chin up session

Thursday, 1/3/2008:
    Nutrition:
        Metabolic Surge, low carb
        18 glasses of water
    Workout:
        HIIT Cardio for 45 minutes
        Chin up session

Friday, 1/4/2008:
    Nutrition:
        Metabolic Surge, low carb
        18 glasses of water
    Workout:
        Squats and Deadlift Shrugs 4 x 10 (supersetted)
        Bulgarian Split Squats and Step Ups 4 x 10 (supersetted)
        Reverse crunches 3 sets
        HIIT Cardio Session for 30 minutes
        Chin up session

Saturday, 1/5/2008:
    Nutrition:
        Metabolic Surge, low carb
        18 glasses of water
    Workout:
        Rest day today

Monday through Friday my nutrition plan starts at 4:30 a.m. while it starts at 6 a.m. on Saturday and Sunday.  I plan to be under 100 pounds of assistance on the chin ups by the end of this week.  I am going to be compiling my goals tonight and posting them on the sidebar shortly.  There are alot of things I need to get done on this blog as well.  I need to get the posts organized by the right categories.  I might even need to change some of my categories to better fit the content.  It is going to be a big job that I have added to my project list.

Speaking of project lists, I'm not sure how many of you struggle with time management, but I have been using a system called Getting Things Done for the past 4 years now and it is awesome.  You can fnd out more about it at the David Allen Company website.  You can also buy the book from Amazon.com.  It is a really intuitive system that is based off of contexts rather than priorities.  David (rightfully so) comments that if your number 1 priority is fixing the leak on your roof at your home and you are away on business in another state, it doesn't do you much good that your leaky roof is your number 1 priority.  However, with the Getting Things Done system you would look at the context you are currently in (ie. @Computer, @Calls, etc.) and based upon that context, you'd have a list of tasks that you could complete.  It is a really simple, yet powerful methodology for living stress free.  I suggest looking into it if time management is even a small issue for you.

My pics and the rest of my day will be coming later. 

Until then…

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Mission 1, Day 65: I give up!

December 30, 2007 By Michael Mahony, ISSA CPT Leave a Comment

I got up at 6 a.m. and hit the gym.  It was amazingly crowded for a Saturday at 6 a.m.  I could not believe it.  The only cardio machine available was a Nautilus TreadClimber.  My gym has four of these rather odd machines and I have only used them twice before.  I honestly hate them.  I reluctantly climbed on and started my workout.  I decided to go with the built in interval program because these things are a pain to change as you walk.  I set it for 15 intervals of 1 minute at 4.0 mph (the max) and 1 minute at 3.0 mph.  At around 6 minutes into the workout one of the gym employees is standing in front of me and shows me a “This machine is out of service” sign. 

“This machine is working perfectly,” I state.

“It is making a strange noise that indicates it is broken,” states the employee.

“I've been on this for 6 minutes and have not heard one sound, so what are you talking about?” I complain.

“I'm sorry, but the machine is broken,” blandly states the employee.

I step off.  To my right a lady was busily completing a workout on her TreadClimber.  She looks right at me and says “Hang on, I'm done” and proceeds to slow down the machine and step off.  Amazing!  As she got off she explained that she really had 5 more minutes to go, but she heard the employee, thought he was crazy and decided to give up the machine for me.  I thought that was very nice.

I then continued on my way with my workout on the new TreadClimber.  What is interesting about these machines is how they handle the pre-programmed workout.  Remember, when I first got on the machine I selected their interval workout.  I was asked to give the machine the maximum speed I wanted (4.0 mph, which just happens to be the fastest the thing can go) and how long I wanted to be at that speed per interval (1 minute) and then the minimum speed (3.0 mph) and how long I wanted to be at that minimum speed per interval (1 minute).  It then asks how many intervals you want and I had selected 15 for a 30 minute workout.  Well this machine gets to 15 minutes and suddenly the 3.0 mph interval switches to 4.0 mph.  Now I'm heading towards 4.0 mph for another 14 minutes straight.  Not my idea of interval training.  The only difference between the fast and slow intervals was the depth of the treads (if you've never seen one of these things, they have two tracks that rock up and down as you walk).

I got down to just 7 minutes left and I was exhausted.  I was ready to stop the machine and call it a day.  I then decided to continue on.  With 5 minutes left I was so tempted to end the workout.  But guess what?  I thought about having to tell this story on this blog.  I thought about adding that line:  I give up.  Well, I didn't give up.  I completed the workout and then went on to do a core training workout and a chin up training as well to complete my workout for the day.

My Accountability Log:

  Mission 1:  Day 4 of 40 Accountability  
  Meal/Training Plan:  Real-time accountability Each task completed?  
  Day 63: December 29, 2007 Yes or No  
6:00 a.m. Meal 1:  Protein shake with oatmeal with 3 glasses of water Yes
6:00 a.m. Supplements:  Animal Pak, Glucosamine Chondroiten, calcium, chromium, glutamine Yes
6:15 a.m. Workout:  Weight training, HIIT cardio (30 minutes), core training, chin up training with 3 glasses of water Yes
7:00 a.m. Supplements:  Protein shake with glutamine and 3 glasses of water Yes
9:00 a.m. Meal 2: Chicken breast (6 oz) and large salad with 3 glasses of water Yes
12:00 p.m. Meal 3:  Tuna (6 oz) with large salad and 3 glasses of water Yes
3:00 p.m. Meal 4:  Turkey breast with large salad and 3 glasses of water No Late
6:00 p.m. Meal 5:  Lean beef with large salad and 3 glasses of water Yes
8:30 p.m. Supplements:  Protein shake with glutamine, calcium and 3 glasses of water Yes
  Accountability Areas: Points Possible
Meal 1 1 1
Meal 2 1 1
Meal 3 1 1
Meal 4 0 1
Meal 5 1 1
Training 1 1
Post Workout Nutrition 1 1
Water 1 1
Pre-sleep nutrition 1 1
Accountability 1 1
Daily Totals: 9 10
Mission Totals: 38 40
  Workout Log:    
HIIT Cardio 30 minutes
Chin up challenge (110) 5 x 5
Core training:  Leg lifts, ball side reaches, crunches 3 sets

I was about 30 minutes late with my 4th meal or I'd have had another perfect 10.

It is times like during my morning workout where I wanted to quit that this blog becomes extremely important.  The accountability measures that I'm taking here are what keep me honest and moving ahead.  I'm grateful for the discipline I've developed over the past 65 days. 

I have made two small decisions that will change my plan a little.   I am moving my Sunday workout this week to Monday because:  (1) I am still feeling my 250 pound squat workout and can't do squats again with my legs feeling this way; and (2) it will fit the week better (Monday, Wednesday and Friday workouts, skipping the Tuesday holiday for weight training).  My second decision that changes my plan is that at the end of this week of Metabolic Surge I'm going to do another 5 days of low carb cycle.  Basically I'm going to restart the round.  I will finish my 5 straignt low carb days tomorrow (Sunday) and then go on the high protein day Monday and the all fruit day on Tuesday and then on Wednesday I will start back on another cycle of 5 low carb days.  Otherwise my plan stands as listed previously  Tomorrow I will publish my next week's plan in the morning when I post my stats.

Until tomorrow…

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