BlueandBlackYJ’s BodyBlog

In the late summer and fall of 2008, I made more progress with working out and eating than I ever have. I was in the best shape I had ever been in and I was stronger than I ever had been. It was great. I basically did the 2008 Rock Hard Challenge twice (2 three month sessions). The first time I followed the diet EXACTLY (going from 160 to 173) and the second time I did a bulking diet (going from 173 to 196).

When the second time through was complete, I was pretty burnt out and really put on more fat than I had realized. But you’d expect that when you go up 23 lbs in 3 months. I decided to try Gaspari Mitotropin to shed the fat but ended up giving up a little less than halfway through the 30 day program. I think now the reason I was unable to maintain the will to finish the program is because I went from an extreme bulking diet to an extreme and strict fat loss bodybuilding diet - at the opposite end of the spectrum.

After that (around the end of January) I basically fell off the wagon. I got extremely busy and stopped going to the gym, became really tired neat the end of the day, and was diagnosed with hypothyroidism. I completely let my diet go, making up for depriving myself, if you want to call it that, of all the sweets and desserts that I had not been eating for the last 6 months (except for the occassional weekly cheat MEAL - not cheat day). I put on a lot of bodyfat and stayed that way up until the end of the school year (mid May).

When summer started I was determined to get back into the groove that I knew I needed to be in. My 30th birthday is June 25 and I wanted to get into really good shape for that. So for the last 3 weeks or so I have been doing AWESOME with my diet. I’ve dropped about 12 lbs since the end of April (hopefully all fat) and I am getting leaner than I have been in over 6 months. In the mornings I am weighing in at 169 undressed (as of 06.11.09) and by the time I make it to the gym I am averaging about 176 or so with my shoes & clothes on. I really want to develop my midsection and I feel like I am on my way to accomplishing that.

On another note, I’ve been basically following the Rock Hard Workout since Aug. 2008 so I needed a change. Here on bb.com I found a guy using a program called the "Life Lease Program" and I really liked the way his workouts were set up so I decided to give that a try. I started it on Monday 06.08.09 (weighing 179 @ the gym fully dressed). It basically has me doing 4 sets of 8 on three or four exercises per body part. Day 1 is chest, day 2 is shoulders/traps, day 3 is legs, day 4 is back, and day 5 is arms. Cardio is at least 20 mins. a day, everyday. I’ll do this for 3 months and then change it up for sets of 12 for the next 3 months, while also changing some of the exercises.

Regarding supplementation, I’ve been using no-xplode & cellmass on an off for a while, and I’m about ready to stop using them. They are expensive and I am considering just buying the basics - multivitamin, BCAA’s, L-Glutamine, & Creatine individually and trying to save a good bit of money. I have been and will continue to use ON 100% Whey, but I am going to add the ON Casein Protein powder to alternate with my cottage cheese at night.

So that’s an overview of the past year or so and I’m excited about progressing even further. I REALLY wish I could afford to pay Dave Vignasse to develop a diet program for me that would put me on the right track. I feel like I am doing ok, but I am worried I’m not eating enough to maintain and grow muscle, while limiting excess and being able to shed fat at the same time. But I can’t afford $400 for that right now….maybe later on sometime.

That’s it for now. Hopefully soon I’ll post up some progress pictures.

So I’ve been bulking for at least two months now, eating so much. I was going to go through December doing that and begin cutting on January 1, but I decided I am ready now. In July I was 160 lbs and I made it up to 197.5, but averaging about 195 in just 5 months. I estimate that at least 15 of that 35 lbs being fat. And I do like the way I look at 195, but I have got to get the fat off my stomach. So I’ve scaled the calories back somewhat, cut some of the carbs and added a little more fat to my diet, and I am about to start running my stomach off. I’m planning for 3 miles or so every other day, shooting for at least 12 miles per week for the first month or so. My goal is to have a visible 6 pack of abs while standing at rest for the first time in my life by spring break. Can’t wait to see them!

I believe I am going to try the new Gaspari Mitotropin to get to where I want to be. We’ll see…

Well at the end of the day on Thanksgiving I made it up to 197.5. I thought I might hit 200 but fell a little short. I still can’t believe that in July I was still only 160 lbs. I’m going to keep bulking until the end of the year and on January 1 I’m hitting the cardio hard and I’ll start cutting the body fat. . . . . .Stay tuned.

This morning I increased my morning weigh-in weight from 186 to a heaviest of my lifetime 187. It is just a pound but I have weighed 186 before, but never 187. So I am now officially in uncharted territory! When I weigh in the morning I do it after using the restroom and wearing only my boxers. Usually near the end of the day when I get to the gym I weigh again and that weight (counting my shoes) is usually about 6 lbs heavier, so today I may get to 193-194 or so (which also will be a new record for me!).

EVENING UPDATE: This evening after supper I weighed in wearing my workout clothes & shoes at 196! I cannot believe I weigh that much! I love it. I’ll be bulking through the end of December & can’t wait to see where I end up at that point. Then I can shed off some fat & start working on the abs!

Today at the gym I stepped on the scale and hit 192. I am so excited to be that high on the scale. I never would’ve imagined back at the beginning of July that I’d reach that weight this soon. Now granted it’s not the 192 that I’d like to weigh (more muscle, less bf), but I am making progress toward my goal. I’m packing on as much lean mass as possible between now & January, and then I’ll hit it hard to a clean diet and cardio to burn off the fat. I’m expecting to reach around 200, and then drop about 15 of that before March - hopefully ending up around 185 by spring break. We’ll see. I’ll have to post a current progress pic soon…..

Also, I started using Gaspari Nutrition SuperPump250 & SizeOn last week. I’ll post up my experience with that soon as well. So far I’m loving it….

I always weigh in at the gym each day and usually my weight is a little higher than it was first thing in the morning when I weighed after waking up. So today I stepped up on the scale and it read - 185 lbs! Granted the 185 I weighed today is not the 185 I want to weigh at the beginning of this summer, but it is sort of a milestone for me. The most I have EVER weighed is 186 and that was 4 or 5 years ago. I still think it is pretty cool that 15 weeks ago I only weighed 160 lbs. Hopefully by the summer my 185 will consist of less fat and more lean muscle. I’m just going to keep lifting hard and eating heavy and following my plan. Can’t wait until the summer!

Well I just pulled the trigger on the BSN Mass Stack (no-xplode, cellmass, nitrix). I cannot wait to begin using this new stack. I’m using no-xplode now, but hope that using all 3 together will give me a noticeable improvement. It was pretty expensive, so I am hoping that I feel like it is worth it after the next month goes by…I’ve been using just a plain old GNC Creatine Monohydrate so I hope the CellMass shows better results.
This week is my last week of the 12 week 2008 Rock Hard Challenge. I have made awesome progress (in my opinion - gained 14 lbs as of now), but I cannot wait to take it to the next level from here.

I plan on drastically increasing my daily caloric intake, taking this new stack, and changing my reps from 4-4-4-12-20-20 on most sets to something like 10-8-6-4-2 or 4-6 sets of 6-8 reps. I hope that over the next 90 days I can put on another 10 pounds or so. Not too sure what to expect but I plan on working as hard as I can to make as much progress as possible. Can’t wait to see how much my body changes over the next 90 days.

The most I’ve ever weighed was 186, and that wasn’t that solid, so I’ve got a little more progress to make to get to that. Most I’ve ever benched is 265 and I should be getting close to that now. I think within the next 2 - 3 weeks I will be at a place that I have never been before - bigger & stronger than I have ever. I’m pretty excited about that…I’ll be sure to post up the results.

Ok so I had been having trouble with feeling sick during my workouts for about 3 consecutive workouts. I’d have my no-xplode 45 minutes before I worked out & my pre-workout shake (2 scoops of O.N. 100% Whey) 15-30 minutes before the workout. This caused so much liquid to be on my stomach that I was constantly burping and feeling as though I might throw up at any time. The workouts were miserable and so I changed it up.

Yesterday on my toughest workout of the week (leg day), I took my pre-workout shake 2.5 hours before the workout and my no-xplode 30 minutes before the workout. That timing was perfect as I felt energized, strong, and not too much on my stomach. I lifted heavier and more intense than I have in the 10 weeks I have been working out. As for now I will keep it that way because it is working best. It’ll be interesting to compare my next workout, shoulders-calves-abs, on Thursday and see if I get the same experience…Hopefully 2.5 hours isn’t too far away from the workout from my pre-workout meal to be as effective as it is supposed to be.

Well, things are going pretty good so far. I am halfway through the ‘08 Rock Hard Challenge and I am very please with my results so far. Yesterday I was up to about 172 and this morning I am down to about 170.5. I’ve been hovering around this weight for several weeks now, but I have gotten much stronger and I am beginning to see more definition and size in some places, so I am not as concerned with the weight. The cardio is much more intense now and in the coming weeks so I am expecting to drop some fat. I still have a lot on the back of my hips and over my lower abs. I have ran approximately 8 miles this week so far and will run another 12 before I finish this week’s cardio. Within the next two weeks I am really expecting my abs to come out a lot and I hope my progress pics show that.
Yesterday was leg day and I was blown away by how much heavier I was able to lift. My first three sets of squats were 50 lbs heavier than last week. I know part of that was I could’ve went a little heavier last week, but I didn’t feel like I could at the time.  My last set on squats was still 10 lbs heavier than last week so that is definitely good as well. I also decided to start using the smith machine for my squats because I can’t push through my heels standing freely, I end up on the balls of my feet. With the smith machine I can force myself to put the pressure in the right place and work my legs better.

I was able to lift 15 lbs heavier on my first two sets of leg press, and my last set was 40 lbs heavier than last week. That is awesome!

On Straight-leg dead lifts I went 50 lbs heavier than last week and my last set was 20 lbs heavier than last week. That is awesome too!

I have still only had 2 or 3 meals in 6 weeks so I feel like I am doing well with my diet.

I guess that is all for now. I’ll post some pics below to show my current progress. The picture on the left is July 17, 2008 @ 165 lbs. The pic on the right is about a month later (6 weeks into program) at 171 lbs.
 

Here is a flex picture comparison at the same weights and dates as above.

More to come……..stay tuned for more progress.

Well tonight I went to a get together where there was tons of pizza being served. I ate before I went and planned to eat again when I got home. As the pizza was being served it did cross my mind about how good it would’ve been, but I just thought about the 3 hard weeks I’ve put in and the goal I am trying to achieve at the end of this program. I poured myself a glass of water and watched everyone else gobble it down. Man it felt good to resist and I was so proud of myself afterwards.

I am starting week 4 tomorrow. I expect to be about 171 in the morning when I wake up, which will be 11 pounds up. I am making good progress and can’t wait to see where I end up after week 12. Stay tuned for the results….

By the way, my legs are still sore from last Wednesday’s killer leg workout. Hopefully by this Wednesday (3 more days) they will be ready for another killer leg day.