TIME FLIES (WHEN YOU'RE SICK)

Hey guys. Sorry I haven't been on in a week or so. I was very sick from Friday til about Monday, and I've just been busy as can be this week for some reason. On top of that, my calves hurt so bad I couldn't even walk all weekend (literally). So, I was sick, hurt, and we didn't get to go to Columbus for the Arnold's. Major bummer. I talked to some people who went, and it was really great apparently. Oh well. One year and counting. I won't miss it again!!

But, I started feeling better on Monday and my legs were feeling better, so it was back to the gym! I did way too much to post here, so check out my workout tracker at bodybuilding.com. Also, if you haven't started a profile there, you should really do that. Even if you're just dieting, it's a nice website to keep track of your progress. Plus, there's like a million members and you can check out and see what they're doing to get ideas. It's definitely one of my little "homes'' on the net.

This morning, I was down to 270.5. I haven't lost much weight in the last week, but I also started taking Gaspari Nutrition SizeOn, and think that might have something to do with it. It's a creatine product that I've read wonderful review about, so I decided to try it for 30 days. It might make me lose weight slower, but if that means I build more muscle, so be it.

I also stopped taking SuperPump250 (my favorite Nitric Oxide booster). I don't know why, but I had a very adverse reaction to it last week. It made me itch so bad I was up for hours just scratching myself all over. It was awful. The guy at GNC thinks I'm starting to develop a bit of a problem with caffeine. I don't drink soda, so all my caffeine comes from supplements. Some of them have a LOT, and maybe it just is starting to disagree with my body. I'm still going to take it as caffeine is a really great energy booster for working out. But I need to watch it. I'm now taking Gaspari Nutrition PlasmaJet. As you've noticed, I really like Gaspari stuff. They make amazing supplements. A bit pricey, but they do what they say. That's not the case with everything, so it's nice to actually have a label do what it says!

Speaking of caffeine; I thought I'd take a minute to talk about burning fat. Caffeine isn't really bad for you in moderation. Soda is really bad for you, but there are lots of things you can take with caffeine that aren't full of sugar. If you take caffeine on a daily basis, especially before working out, it can really help your metabolism speed up. Which equals fat burning! Couple that with a supplement such as Carnitine, and you can burn a little more fat than you normally would. Just a thought for you if you're looking for a little edge.

Well, I'm off for now. I'll be back on sometime this weekend. In the meantime, keep focused, get some exercise, and I hope you have a great start to the weekend. Here's some tunes for you rock out to!!

Example- Girl Can't Dance (Don Diablo Remix)
Zombie Nation- Kernkraft 400 (Laidback Luke Remix)

BABY COWS

My calves feel like someone stabbed me in them haha. My wife and I did the Tabata leg routine last night, and it was brutal. I consider my legs to be my strongest body part, and I needed all the strength I could muster last night. If you haven't read my post about Tabata, view it here. Here it goes:

TABATA LEG WORKOUT

Warmup
5 minutes at a light pace on the eliptical, followed by a nice long leg stretch. Once again, if you only stretch sometimes, make sure it's before you leg workout.

Smith Machine Squat
8 Sets: 35 pounds

Leg Press
8 Sets: 160 pounds

Seated Leg Extension
6 Sets: 50 pounds.. 2 Sets: 35 pounds (I had to lighten it up, I was in agony!)

Lying Leg Curl
8 Sets: 50 pounds

Standing Calf Raise
8 Sets: 50 pounds

Seated Calf Raise
6 Sets: 45 pounds

I had to stop at 6 sets on the calf raises because it literally felt like fire was shooting through my legs. Next time, I may just do the standing raises. It was good enough. So yeah, today, I'm walking funny and it's very unpleasant. But my legs feel even harder than usual. I think a couple months doing this once a week and I'll have some definition I never realized.

Beginners, don't try this workout. I've been doing leg workouts in some form or another most of my life and have very strong legs. But this was just brutal. Definitely get a feel for all the exercises and make sure you're comfortable before taking on this workout.

I'll probably be back to post tomorrow night. My family and I are going to the Arnold Classic in Columbus this weekend, and I'm very excited. If you live in the area, don't miss out. It's an amazing fitness show. I hope to get some pics with some of the UFC fighters and maybe a couple pro bodybuilders. If I get anything good, I'll be sure to post them for you. Talk to you soon!!

DO-OVERS...

Hope everyone has had a good weekend. As usual, mine went way too fast. I've had a sick wife to take care of, had to work, and tried to find time to workout in between that. I did make it to the gym on Saturday, but I myself felt kind of bad, and decided to just leave before I got too into the workout because my strength was sapped.

Today, however, I had a GREAT workout!! I started taking Gaspari Nutrition Sizeon, and I'm fairly certain some size will be packing on. I actually had to make myself stop working out I had so much energy. Sizeon is a Creatine product. And as in my previous blogs, I've explained that Creatine is one of the most important supplements out there if you want to build muscle. The only disadvantage of the SizeOn is possible weight gain. So I have to be sure to watch calories very closely. I weighed 272 today, so I haven't lost any more weight this week. But that's okay. Weight fluctuates. It happens!

Anyway, here's todays workout, and I'll discuss the Tabata training from Thursday after this one!! Going to start posting things a bit differently. I'm starting to enter my workouts on bodybuilding.com to track progress, so I'm just taking a screen shot of the workout to post. Click the picture to see the workout in a larger size. Here you go!!


(note: where it says 0 on reps, it means go to failure)

Now, about the Tabata training. I think it's something I may start doing for a few months, but Thursday my wife and I did a run-thru. Basically, it's a weight training/cardio routine all wrapped up in one.

The premise is, there are 3-4 exercises per workout per muscle group. You do 8 sets per exercise. You do as many reps at 50-70% of your maximum weight you can handle for 20 seconds. That's one set. You rest 10 seconds, then repeat for a total of eight sets. If you've chosen the right weight (which I already can tell is trial and error), both your muscles and your heart will be begging for mercy by the end of the workout. We did arms and triceps on Thursday. And all I can say is, it's the real deal. I'm not going to post a picture for this one because it would be very large. So here is how it played out:

TABATA ARMS AND TRICEPS ROUTINE

Warm Up
5 minutes of light eliptical cardio. Good stretch of the arms!

Lying Triceps Press (Skullcrushers)
8 Sets: 30 pounds

Triceps Pushdown
8 Sets: 35 pounds

Cable Overhead Tricep Extension
4 Sets: 30 pounds
4 Sets: 25 pounds

Standing Barbell Curl
8 Sets: 30 pounds

Incline Dumbbell Curl
8 Sets: 12.5 pounds

Cable Hammer Curl (Rope Attachment)
8 Sets: 30 pounds

Barbell Wrist Curl
8 Sets: 20 pounds

Reverse Grip Barbell Curl
8 Sets: 30 pounds

I wasn't completely wiped out by the end of this workout. I think it had something to do with experimentation of the proper weight. I think next time it will be very intense. I don't know if beginners should try this, as it is very muscle and heart intensive. But if you want to find out what you're made of, I'd highly recomment this!!

Taking tomorrow off, but I'll be hitting the weights Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. I'll be sure to update you on the progress, and have some great new music and maybe a couple product reviews for you to check out. Have a great night!!