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)

3 SCOOPS

Tonight was legs and shoulders. For those of you that have done a hard leg workout, you know how draining it can be on the body. Lots of muscle groups are at work, often times pushing much more weight than you're comfortable with. I think whoever coined the term "no pain, no gain" came up with it after doing legs! I also chose to do shoulders tonight, since Friday or Saturday will be a full on bicep/tricep/forearm workout and will be my final workout of the week.

One thing I can't recommend enough is getting plenty of good food in your body the day of your leg workout. Like I said, it's very draining on the body and having enough calories taken in that day can mean all the difference between powering through the whole thing, or crashing right in the middle of it. I'm guilty today of not eating enough, and boy did I struggle! So get plenty of protein and good carbs in your system, and be sure to take plenty of protein after your workout. I took 3 scoops of Wheybolic instead of 2 after I got done. So here's the workout!!

LEG/SHOULDER WORKOUT

Warm Up
5 Minutes of light cardio on the eliptical, followed up by an extended stretching session. DO NOT do a leg workout without getting a good stretch first. That's the easiest way to end up with an injury.

Smith Machine Squats
Set 1: 70 pounds, 15 reps (warmup)
Sets 2-4: 90 pounds, 10 reps

Leg Extensions
4 Sets: 170 pounds, 8 reps

Leg Press
4 Sets: 320 pounds, 8 reps

Lying Leg Curls
4 Sets: 120 pounds, 8 reps

Seated Calf Press
4 Sets: 95 pounds, 8 reps

Seated Dumbbell Shoulder Press
3 Sets: 30 pounds, 10 reps

Upright Barbell Rows
3 Sets: 60 pounds, 10 reps

Lateral Dumbbell Raises
3 Sets: 20 pounds, 12 reps

Reverse Pec Deck Flyes
3 Sets: 90 pounds, 10 reps

Barbell Shrugs
3 sets: 110 pounds, 10 reps

Dumbbell Shrugs
3 sets: 65 pounds, 10 reps

I didn't do any cardio after my workout tonight. I was already tired, and a leg workout can seriously get the heart pumping. I'm going to take a day or 2 off to heal up, but I'll be around to post something for you tomorrow or Friday either way. Arm workout on Saturday!! I hope everyone is having a great week. Here's another DJ mix of mine for you to check out!!

DL: DJ Doug Collins- This Ain't Hollywood (Full on Electro House!)

HERE'S A HOT WORKOUT MIX FOR YOU!!

DJ Doug Collins- Live @ Atmosphere February 2009 (Some Explicit Lyrics)

Tracklist:
1.) Daddy Yankee- Rompe
2.) Chaka Demus- Murder She Wrote
3.) Sasha- Dat Sexy Body
4.) Sasha- I Like The Way
5.) DJ Sizzahandz- Work It
6.) Busta Rhymes- Touch It
7.) Busta vs. Jackson 5- Touchitifyouwantmeback
8.) DJ Danny Diggz- Jump (Quick Hitter)
9.) Kris Kross- Jump
10.) DJ Kool vs. Ying Yang Twins- Shake My Throat
11.) DJ Riz- Timbohandz
12.) Fatman Scoop- It Takes Two Remix
13.) Young MC- Bust A Move
14.) Ying Yang Twins- Wild Out
15.) Lady Gaga- Poker Face
16.) Flo Rida- Right Round
17.) Lady Gaga vs. Eurythmics- Dance Dreams
18.) Lloyd vs. Technotronic- Pump It Shawty
19.) Benny Bennassi vs 50 Cent- Satisfaction In The Club
20.) Flo Rida- Low
21.) Alex Gaudino- Destination Calabria
22.) Britney Spears- Circus (Diplo Remix)
23.) Discotech- Tambourine Transition
24.) DMX- Party Up
25.) Hollaboyz- Start This Thing Off
26.) Usher- Yeah
27.) Pitbull-Bojangles
28.) Fatman Scoop feat. Faith Evans- Be Faithful
29.) DJ Nova- The Roof Transition
30.) Discotech- Hypnotize Transition
31.) Dr. Dre- The Next Episode
32.) DJ Danny Diggz- LBC PSA
33.) Juvenile- Back That Azz Up
34.) LL Cool J- Rock The Bells
35.) Doug E. Fresh- The Show
36.) Notorious B.I.G.- Going Back To Cali
37.) Juelz Santana- There It Go (Whistle Song)
38.) Lil Jon- Get Low (Acapella)
39.) Too Short- Blow The Whistle

Direct Link: http://www.musicv2.com/v2/media_download.php?m=60927

ENJOY!!

It's late. I had a good back workout today, but I'm going to wait to post it until tomorrow, along with whatever my wife and I do tomorrow night at the gym. Download the mix, and hit the gym!! Talk to you tomorrow.

-D

LONG LIVE THE CHEAT MEAL!!

I've just stuffed myself with enough Indian food that I'm feeling pretty rough. And boy is it nice!! Like I've said, cheating is part of dieting. If you don't do it every now and again, you'll fall off the wagon, and sometimes not get back on. So yeah, today I had my cheat meal of the week, and being this full makes me eager to get back on track. Funny how that works. I DID cheat today. However, I also hit the gym for 2 hours for an arm workout and some cardio. I'm getting to be incapable of just being a "fat kid" anymore. Not that that's a bad thing. I took the same supplements today as in my last post, so check back to that one to see what all I took. Here we go:

WORKOUT
5 minutes on the eliptical for warm-up at moderate resistance.

Machine Preacher Curl
Sets 1 and 2: 30 pounds, 15 reps
Sets 3-5: 50 pounds, 10 reps

Cable Hammer Curls
3 Sets: 80 pounds, 10 reps

Incline Dumbbell Press
Sets 1 and 2: 30 pounds, 10 reps
Sets 3 and 4: 25 pounds, 12 reps

Overhead Cable Curl
3 Sets: 45 pounds (each arm), 10 reps

Seated Tricep Dumbbell Extension
3 Sets: 50 pounds, 10 reps

Triceps Pushdown
3 Sets: 60 pounds, 12 reps

Overhead Cable Tricep Extension
3 Sets: 50 pounds, 12 reps

Skullcrushers
3 Sets: 60 pounds, 8 reps

21's
2 Sets: 50 pounds, 21 reps

Wrist Curl
2 Sets: 40 pounds, 20 reps

Reverse Curl
2 Sets: 40 pounds, 15 reps

Crunches
3 Sets: To failure

Cardio
24 minutes: 2 minutes low intensity, 2 minutes high, repeated 12 times.

I'll probably not do any lifting again until Monday or Tuesday. I'm pretty depleted from today's workout, but I feel great. If I had to pick the exercise not to miss in this workout, I'd tell you to not miss the Incline Dumbbell Press. When done properly, it really stretches out the long head of the bicep and will eventually give you peak you're looking for in your arms. I'm starting to see it more and more every time I work out.

Also, hit the wrist curls and reverse curls hard at the end of your set. When the forearms start lagging behind the rest of your arms, they can start to hurt severely when doing heavy curls. I know this from firsthand experience, and make sure to never miss working the forearms.

I hope everyone is having a nice weekend, and has hit the gym at least once before it's over! But it's Saturday. Get out and have a good time! We all need it sometimes! Talk to you soon!

STRETCH ARMSTRONG- LIVE AT DOWNTOWN SATURDAY NIGHT

BEING SORE IS A GOOD THING!!

And I'm happy that's true, because I am SORE today! Last night I did my 1st of 2 chest workouts for the week. I'm trying to grow all my muscles obviously, but my weakest point is my chest. Being fat and losing weight caused me to have fairly pronounced "man boobs." I'm very self conscious about it, so I hit my chest very hard a few times a week in order to help me fill out and theoretically burn fat in that area. The fat burning thing might not actually work, but it makes me feel better. Either way, everyone has at least one thing they want to look better than the everything else.

So far, I've managed to create some noticeable gains in my chest area, and my bench press has improved from barely being able to handle the bar to around 120 pounds in less than a year. My chest area has something that is starting to resemble pecs, and I'm very happy for that. Here is a picture of me this morning:

I know I'm not going to be hitting the bodybuilding pro stage anytime soon, but this is the best physique I've ever had and it's continuing to improve, just like yours can with dedication!

I am also happy to report that I weighed 274.1 when I hit the scales after I woke up this morning. Maybe the 4 pounds a week calorie intake thing might work. I was 276 a few short days ago. It goes to show you that watching what you eat and being active can work wonders quickly!

Back to my workout, though. I did most of my sets last night pyramid style. I don't normally do them that way, but it's a good way to shock the muscles sometimes. I usually follow a straight sets routine (same amount of weight, same # of reps the whole workout). Here's how my workout played out last night, including all supplements I took before and after:

SUPPLEMENTS BEFORE
GNC Leucine-XT (6 pills equalling 3 grams): 60 minutes before
BSN N.O.-Xplode (2 scoops w/10oz. of water): 30 minutes before
GNC L-Glutamine Powder (5 grams mixed with N.O.-XPlode)

WORKOUT
5 minute warm-up on eliptical at moderate resistance (just to get the blood flowing, nothing else)

Dumbbell Bench Press
Warm-up set (2 of them): 25 pounds, 15 reps
Set 1: 35 pounds, 12 reps
Set 2: 40 pounds, 10 reps
Set 3: 50 pounds, 8 reps
Set 4: 40 pounds, 10 reps
Set 5: 35 pounds, 12 reps

Incline Dumbbell Press
Set 1: 45 pounds, 10 reps
Set 2: 45 pounds, 8 reps
Set 3: 50 pounds, 6 reps
Set 4: 45 pounds, 8 reps

Barbell Bench Press
Set 1: 95 pounds, 12 reps
Set 2: 105 pounds, 10 reps
Set 3: 115 pounds, 8 reps
Set 4: 105 pounds, 10 reps

Decline Barbell Press
Set 1: 100 pounds, 12 reps
Set 2: 105 pounds, 10 reps
Set 3: 115 pounds, 8 reps
Set 4: 105 pounds, 10 reps

Incline Dumbbell Flye
Sets 1-3: 25 pounds, 10 reps

Flat Dumbbell Flye
Sets 1-3: 25 pounds, 10 reps

Cable Crossover
Sets 1-3: 50 pounds (each side), 10 reps

Low-Pulley Cable Crossover
Sets 1-3: 40 pounds (each side) 10 reps

Crunches
Sets 1-3: To failure

Cardio
20 minutes on eliptical: 2 minutes steady rate, 2 minutes high rate, repeated 5 times

POST WORKOUT SUPPLEMENTS
Protein Shake (8 oz. 1% milk, 1.5 scoops of Wheybolic Extreme, One scoop (5g) L-Glutamine Powder

This is a pretty advanced chest workout that takes a lot of stamina to complete. I wouldn't recommend it to beginners necessarily, but I do recommend doing at least 4-5 separate exercises when doing a full chest workout. Remember, listen to your body. If you feel like you can't go any further, that's your body telling you quit. Don't injure yourself. And don't forget my main rule. USE PROPER FORM!! I might not post anything tomorrow since I have to work at the bank and DJ, but I'll be back on Saturday to post any progress, and post the details of my leg workout. Thanks for reading, and stay motivated!! Here's some music to help!!

Alizee: Fifty Sixty (Rolf Honey Remix)
Britney Spears: Circus (Diplo Remix)
Both tracks hosted by The Docking Station

SO WHAT DO I DO?? (THIS COULD BE A LONG ONE TOO!)

Fitness and health are both very simple and very difficult at the same time.  As I've mentioned before, keeping a strict, healthy diet is very difficult.  Working out 4 or 5 times a week.  Also very difficult, especially when you have a busy schedule and a family.  However, the greater the sacrifice, the greater the reward.  So, in a nutshell, what do I do, and how do I do it?

JOURNALS

I keep 2 journals.  One for my food intake, and another for my exercise schedule.  In my food journal, I keep a detailed list of everything I ingest on a daily basis and the amount of calories in the food I eat and also the amount of calories in any drinks I may have as well.  In my workout journal, I write down all the exercises I do at the gym.  Number of reps, number of sets, and amount of weight used.  I don't usually write down my cardio times, but I do a lot of cardio.  

I find that keeping a journal is a great way of keeping yourself honest.  I, as well as many others have lied to myself many times about how many calories I've taken in that day.  If you write it down, however, you can't lie to yourself.

Here is a sample of my food journal:

Here is a sample of my workout journal:

NUTRITION

If you looked at my food journal example, you can see that I in no way am a perfect eater.  My main problem is sodium intake.  It's not every day, but I do ingest more sodium than I should.  Also, just to clarify some things.  Where it says pizza and lasagna, that is of the frozen variety.  Lean Cuisine, Weight Wathchers, South Beach Diet.  I used to be very against eating these things.  Honestly, though, they are all fairly good tasting.  And they are an easy way to exercise portion control.  My wife and I go out every 2 weeks and buy a freezer full of them, and eat them for lunch and sometimes dinner nearly every day.

I try to be very strict about my calories.  I'm in the process of cutting as much fat as possible.  To do so, I take in anywhere from 2300-2500 calories a day.  Doing this, I should theoretically lose 4 pounds a week.  Realistically, it's more like 1 to 2.  Another reason for this is because I lift weights as much as I do.  But more about that later.  In order to calculate your calorie goals, visit a site such as The Daily Plate and start a profile.  Even if you want to gain weight, it will tell you how to do it.  

Here are my main rules for dieting:

1. Figure out how many calories you should take in to meet your goals, and do your absolute best to not go over.
2. Cut as much sugar out of your diet as possible.  I eat sugar, but I NEVER drink sodas.  The occasional diet soda is just fine, but even that can hamper your goals.  If you must drink soda, try to find something sweetened with Splenda.  Instead of chocolate or other high calorie sweets, try to substitute with fruit or a low calorie bar of some sort.
3. WATER, WATER, AND MORE WATER!!  Keep yourself hydrated with water as much as possible.  If you're active, drink a gallon a day minimum.  And don't count sodas and other drinks as part of your water intake.  It's not the same.
4. Cheating is fine, but only in moderation.  I've read if you have cravings, you're actually doing the right thing.  If you didn't have cravings, it would mean you're eating whatever you want.  My wife and have at least 1 cheat meal a week.  Go crazy and eat what you love.  But keep it limited to 1 to 2 meals a week, tops.
5. Try to get your nutrients from food.  Granted, this is hard, so I would recommend a good multivitamin.  Centrum is synthetic, and you barely get any of the nutrients out of them.  Get something natural.  Check out GNC or Vitamin Shoppe for a good vitamin regimen.
6. Take in the majority of your calories by mid-afternoon.  The later you eat, the more your body will store when you sleep.  Eat as few carbs as possible 4 hours before bed.  Have some protein or lunchmeat for a late night snack.  You'll thank yourself for it when you start losing weight.

EXERCISE

I am a gym rat.  Aside from music, I've honestly never found something I enjoy more than hitting the gym and pumping iron.  I'm very new to it as I've only been doing in steadily for going on a year.  But I read about the subject extensively and have some personal trainer friends who have taught me a lot since I started.  And the most important thing they have taught me?  EXERCISE IS ABSOLUTELY ESSENTIAL IF YOU WANT TO LOSE WEIGHT AND BE HEALTHY.

So how much should you exercise?  That all depends on what you're looking to do with your body.  Do you want to lose weight?  A cardio routine 3 to 4 times a week might be all you need to do.  Do you want to lose weight and get toned?  Cardio and weights it is.  Do you want to lose weight and get ripped?  Cardio and LOTS of weights is in order.  

I am in search of the 3rd option.  I lift weight 4 to 5 times a week, and I do at least 2 hours of cardio a week.  Now some of you may be experienced with working out and weightlifting.  This post isn't necessarily for you, although I do appreciate you reading!  But for those of you who are beginners like I was recently, here are some tips I've found helpful and have learned from the experience I've gained thus far:

1. Don't overdo it.  If you're a beginning weightlifter, only do it 2 or 3 times a week, max.  You can focus on specific body parts later.  Get your body used to lifting and working out by performing whole body workouts.  Do 1 or 2 exercises per body part every workout.  Do it for a month, then start doing 4 days a week for another month.  After that, start hitting muscle groups.  
2. Soreness is a GOOD thing.  I've woke up many mornings after a workout feeling like I was hit by a truck.  Soreness is natural, and it will eventually get less and less severe.  Lifting weights to build muscle literally tears your muscles.  The more your muscles get used to this, the better you will eventually feel after a workout.  If you're sore, that means you've had a good workout.
3. Soreness could be injury.  Learn to listen to your body and differentiate the 2.  If you think you've injured yourself, discontinue lifting and see a doctor!!  Even if it's not an injury, avoid overdoing it.  Overtraining is a real thing, and can really hurt your muscle gains if they aren't given the proper time to heal.
4. Technique is everything.  Sure, it's great to be able to lift a large amount of weight.  But if you're doing it wrong, your muscles aren't going to grow the way you want them to, and injury may occur.  So lighten up the barbell, and do it right!!  You'd be surprised how heavy lighter weights can feel if you're performing the exercise correctly.
5. Warm up and stretch before hitting the weights.  Get on the treadmill or eliptical for 5 minutes to get your body warmed up, and follow that up by getting a good stretch on the body part you plan on exercising that day.  This is especially true with legs.  You can really hurt yourself doing a leg workout without proper warmup.  Stretching not only helps prevent injury, it helps prevent soreness.  The less sore you are, the sooner you can hit the gym again!
6. Supplements do work!  Supplements (namely protein) are key in healing your body from a vigorous workout.  Drink a protein shake 30 minutes after a workout for maximum results.  Your muscles will thank you by being less sore and getting larger faster.  I will go more into the supplements I take and recommend in tomorrow's post.
7. When possible, work out with a partner.  Not only will they keep you motivated and make your workout go by faster, they can also be the first line of defense in gym safety.  Don't go lifting more than your body can handle unless you have a partner to spot you.  People have been found dead in their basements and gyms with barbells on their throats from lifting more than they could handle.  SAFETY FIRST!
8. When you don't have a partner, music is incredibly motivating.  Everyone has their own tastes, and things that make them pumped up.  So put a  couple hours worth of your favorite songs on your MP3 player and hit the gym!!
   

On that note, I've written another small book and will have to continue this another day.  Tomorrow, I'll discuss supplements.  I use them, I love them, and I'll let you know what I use and what they do.  Until then, here's a couple tracks for you to put on your Ipod and listen to while working out.  See you tomorrow!!

Santogold- Say Aha (Tepr Remix)

R. Rivera's Groove- Funk-A-Tron (Robbie's Drop That Funk Remix)