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!!

GET THIS BOOK!!

Whether you're a new bodybuilder like myself, or a seasoned vet, this book has something for everyone.  800 pages of diet, fitness, and exercise tips for your reading enjoyment.  This literally starts from the beginning with a back story of bodybuilding as a sport, and gives the user a detailed explanation of your body's anatomy and how to make the most out of it.  Someone gave the book to me a month or so ago, and I don't know why I hadn't bought it earlier.  

Robert Kennedy is the creator of Musclemag, and a lifelong athlete.  He has forgotten more about fitness than most people ever knew, and it comes through in this book.  Amazon has it at an almost unbeatable price.  Check it out.  You will not regret it, no matter what you're looking to do with your body.

Don't miss out on tomorrow's post.  I went ahead and did my final workout for the week, and it was absolutely nuts.  It's called Tabata training, and I can tell you right now I've found something new that you absolutely MUST try!!  I'll tell you about it tomorrow.  Goodnight everyone!!

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!)

NEGATIVE CAN BE POSITIVE

It was nice to have my wife with me as my workout partner last night. It's nice to have someone there to motivate you and help you through your sets when you need a little extra push. It also gave me an opportunity last night to do some negative rep sets. The science behind it is basically that you load up more weight on the bar than you can usually do. Since your body is stronger lowering the bar than it is lifting it back up, you bring the bar down in a slow controlled manner, then rely on your partner to help bring it back up. It sounds silly, but it really splits those muscle fibers and can tremendously help boost your strength and muscle growth. Read a little more about negative reps HERE.

Anyway, I promised earlier today to show you my chest workout from last night. I've got videos on how to do these exercises in my previous chest workout post, so click on a label on your right to go back and check them out. Here you go!!


CHEST/ABS WORKOUT

Incline Dumbbell Bench Press
Set 1: 30 pounds, 20 reps (warmup)
Sets 2-4: 45 pounds, 8 reps

Flat Bench Press
Sets 1-3: 115 pounds, 8 reps
Set 4 (Negative Set): 125 pounds, 8 reps

Decline Bench Press
Set 1: 120 pounds, 8 reps
Set 2: 125 pounds, 8 reps
Set 3: 130 pounds, 8 reps
Set 4 (Negative Set): 150 pounds, 8 reps

Incline Dumbbell Flyes
Sets 1-3: 25 pounds, 12 reps

Cable Crossover
Set 1: 45 pounds, 12 reps
Set 2: 50 pounds, 12 reps
Set 3: 60 pounds, 12 reps

Low Pulley Cable Crossover
Sets 1-3: 35 pounds, 12 reps

ABS

Hanging Leg Raises
3 Sets: To failure

Crunches
3 Sets: To failure

Cardio
20 minutes on eliptical. 2 minutes low resistance, 2 minutes high, repeated 10 times.

So that's that. Keep on reading, I'm posting my leg and shoulder workout from tonight in just a minute!!

REST IS GOOD FOR THE SOUL (AND THE MUSCLES)

Sorry I didn't post a blog last night. We got home late from the gym and I was totally exhausted. I just had my protein and my dinner and went to bed a few hours later and never got on the computer. I got a solid 10 hours sleep, and it was wonderful. I don't know if I've mentioned it, but getting rest is conducive to good health and muscle building. At least 7 hours a night will assure you're properly rested and it gives your body time to heal better from a hard workout the day before. Your body doesn't grow muscle when you are awake, it grows at night when you are asleep. So get some rest!

So let's get down to it. Today, I can happily say I weighed 271 pounds when I got up. That's 3 pounds in a week. It feels amazing to know that doing what I'm doing is working. I truly thought until a year ago I was destined to keep losing weight and gaining it back and being big all my life. Well, I've found the real key to success, and it doesn't include fad diets and ab rockers. Simply watching what you eat and staying fit can work wonders. And finally I can say with certainty that I'm going to get in shape and stay that way!

Monday, I tried a new "30 minute back workout" I found in my latest issue of Men's Fitness. Many people tend to work on bodyparts they can see in the mirror and pay less importance on things like their back. However, in order to achieve strength and a balanced look all over your body, don't forget to do your back!! I usually train my back and chest on the same day, but a full back routine in 30 minutes was something I had to try!! Here's it is:

WORKOUT
5 minutes on the eliptical to warm up. I used an eliptical with arm movement on this one to give my back a bit of a stretch. Also, don't forget to stretch. I'm not sure if I've mentioned that enough. It can help prevent serious injuries!!

One- Arm Dumbbell Row
Set 1: 40 pounds, 8 reps
Set 2: 40 pounds, 8 reps
Set 3: 20 pounds, 30 reps

*For the 30 reps, choose a weight you can do 20 for sure, but try to push through for 30 reps! 60 seconds rest between sets

Wide Grip Pulldown
Set 1: 80 pounds, 10 reps; 70 pounds, 5 reps; 60 pounds, 5 reps
Set 2: 90 pounds, 10 reps; 80 pounds, 5 reps; 70 pounds, 5 reps
Set 3: 100 pounds, 10 reps; 90 pounds, 5 reps, 80 pounds, 5 reps

*Do 10 reps at max. weight, lighten 10 and immediately do 5 more, lighten another 10 and do another 5. 120 seconds of rest of between sets

Super Set: Standing Rope Pull and Face Pull
Set 1: Rope Pull, 70 pounds, 15 reps; Face Pull, 80 pounds, 15 reps
Set 2: Rope Pull, 80 pounds; 15 reps; Face Pull, 90 pounds, 15 reps

*Rest 120 seconds between sets

Blackburns
Grab a 2.5 or 5 pounds weight plate in each hand and lie on a bench facedown with your head off the end. Extend your arms so they are parallel to the floor and your palms are down (1). Hold for 15 seconds and then your elbows 90 degrees drawing your arms back (2). Hold for 15 seconds and then extend your arms straight out to your sides and holds (3). Now bring your arms to your sides so your palms are facedown (4). Hold for a final 15 seconds. That's one set. Squeeze your shoulder blades together as much as possible in every position.

2 sets: 2.5 pounds, 60 seconds rest between sets.

Cardio
30 minutes on eliptical doing "weight loss" program. Most elipticals have something similar in the pre-set routines. If not, do intervals of low and high resistance for 2 minutes a piece and repeat for 20-30 minutes.

I'm going to post my chest workout from last night a little later today. So check back a little later. See you then!!