My journey to 180lbs from 162lbs

Today, I did some blogging on Huffingtonpost.com. We are living during some very hectic, and chaotic times. Likewise, there are those that want to hold on to the past, others who want to maintain the status quo, and those that want to move forward. There is a lot of fear in the air, and many people are clinging to whatever semblence of consistency they can hold on to because of a fear of the unknown. There is something to be said about comfort, but nothing was ever gained the easy way. Whatever, you do make sure you vote, and be heard on 11/4/2008. The future belongs to those who plan for it. Rock the vote!!

On another note, gym and noble study has become my santuary away from the madness. If I had my way, make money, work out, study, and "cuddle." Anyway, when I head into Lifetime Fitness I am absolutely focused and narrowed minded in achieving my goals. Plus, my dues were waived this month and I received a new duffel bag for a cliet referral. YEAH!!! I’m pumping some 50 cent in the whip driving towards the gym very excited about the the painful training to come. Still, I remember walking into the gym six weeks ago weighing 162lbs on a full stomach, but the unseen forces at work were deep in my soul. There is a book a friend gave me called, The New Psycho-Cybernetics by Dr. Maxwell Maltz. He makes the case that you achieve what you think you can achieve. There is validity to this concept. On 9/1/2008, I felt like the cat that looks in the mirror and sees a ferocious lion looking back at him. Well, I was never a cat, but I am a lion. My reasoning is because I weighed in at 174.9lbs on the electronic scale today. Likewise, my flexibility has vastly improved. While, my strength is good but not great. Today, I performed flat bench press @ 205 (8) 225 (8) 275 (6.5), incline bench press 185 (6) 205 (6) 225 (6), dumbbell bench press 80 (10) 90 (10) 100 (6), pectoral deck machine 150 (10) 160 10 (10) 170 (10). I enjoy super setting routines, so I also performed the high, mid, and low iso- hammer strength machine hitting 3 sets for the upper, middle, and lower back.

I’ll drop a post soon. In the meantime, let me get back to the Boston Celtics vs Cleveland Cavaliers game. Go Clippers? I think so…..oh yeah, these chicken breasts, broccolli, and smoothie do wonders for the body…

Today I had a very good workout. Since I wanted to catch the presidential debates I was very efficient with my workout this evening. I performed Flat bench press 185 (10) 205 (10) (10) 225 (10) (7), Incline bench press 185 (6) 205 (6) 225 (5), Iso Wide Bench Press 275 (10) (10)  (10), Dumbbell Bench Press 90 (8), High Iso Row 225 (10) (10) 245 (10), Mid Iso Row 170 (10) 180 (10) 190 (8), and Low Iso Row 185 (8) 195 (8) (8). I felt very tight and content after this workout. At the same time, I would like to start working 2x on certain days. In order to do that I will need to add additional supplements to my program. I have researced two supplements.I will add the following supplements No-Xplode and 4 Everfit D-Drol capsules. Likewise, I will post updated pictures on 11/1/2008. What did I think of my performance in the gym? Overall B+.

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Oh yeah, Obama/Biden for the future of America!!

Wow. Dexter Jackson won the Mr. Olympia! This is a long overdue win for the most symmetrical bodybuilder in the world. Congrats.

There is a lot of craziness going on in the financial markets, politics, and society in general. A lot of pigs in tuxedos running around Washington, D.C. and on Wall Street. The gym has been my oasis throughout this madness. Hopefully, Obama can when the election with little illegalities on the part of the Republican party.

Anyway, I have been training for 4 weeks now and I am pretty content with my results so far. I’m getting a lot stronger and my conditioning is much improved. I weighed myself on an empty stomach this morning. I weighed in at 167lbs. I will post a videoblog once I reach 170lbs. My diet is pretty steady. I haven’t had any sort of junk food for the last 4 weeks. In fact, I find it easiest to snack on homemade trail mixes, fat free jello, and Quaker rice cakes. Typically, for breakfast I have a bowl of oatmeal, bananas, and a jug of water. Likewisem, I drink two myoplex 42 gram protein shakes, and eat 3 meals which usually consist of asparagus or broccoli and chicken breasts or some seafood option. I am seeing strong results.

For example, I trained yesterday @ Lifetime Fitness performing my chest-back workouts. I was able to finish my last set of Flat Bench press @ 275lbs for 5 reps, final set of Incline Bench Press @ 225lbs for 6 reps, dumbbell bench press @ 100 for 8 reps, and I performed a few iso machine exercises targeted at hitting the back areas. I will record my workout sessions in the near future to show my lifts. Be easy.

 ~JD

Today, I had some eggs, sausage, a banana, and quart of water breakfast. Stopped by the cafe to read the Star Tribune newspaper and catch up on current events. The RNC convention left town and they took their $50 million storm troopers with them. The air in the Twin cities even smells better now . No shock to hear that unemployment, foreclosures, and inflation are at all-time highs  for the last 30 years. The country is falling apart and sly politicians, greedy corporations, and the ignorant electorate are to blame.

Anyway, I headed to LIFETIME fitness in downtown Minneapolis for a chest workout. This was a big step for me since I hadn’t lifted a weight in almost 2 months. I was amazingly weak! Wow! I was extremely weak. It was pretty frustrating but I finished my entire training session and even caught a bit of the Notre Dame vs San Diego State football game on NBC. I hate Notre Dame, Duke, New England Patriots, and I can’t watch a San Antonio Spurs game for more than a few seconds a season. My chest workout consisted of:

 Flat Bench Press @ 185 (8) 205 (8) 225lbs (8), Incline Bench Press @ 155 (8), 185 (8) 205 (8), Dumbbell Bench Press @ 60 (10), 70 (10), and 80 (10), Dips 4×25 w/strict form, and I finshed off my workout with various ab exercises. To get in a little cardio I played basketball for 30 minutes.

Yeah, I know, steve urkel weak, but the first five workouts are usually the toughest mentally. However, I believe that desire is the beginning of all achievement. On the other hand, I finished strong today. I’d say my training session was a C-. Until next time, back to the Notre Dame game….BTW, San Diego is one of my favorite cities……..

Today, I took the first step towards meeting my fitness goal. I purchased a membership @ Snapfitness a 24/7 gym. Likewise, I wrote up a training schedule to follow over the next 6 weeks. Likewise, I have created a great nutrition schedule in order to make sure I’m consuming the proper amount of protein and calories. I’ll start off by eating 3000 calories per day broken up between 4 meals and taking two 42 gram Myoplex RTD shakes. I highly reccommend these shakes for those on the move. My training schedule is going to consist of core lifts and focus on one bodypart per day. I’m a true hardgainer/ectomorph with the super high metabolism. I lose fat very very quickly, but at the same time it is hard for me to gain lean muscle if I am not very strict in my diet.

It is quiet disappointing to see myself fall into a very lazy mind state concerning my fitness level. I was looking at a photo of myself from a year ago and I was in great condition. After graduating from college, I started a full time position, and 1 year later my bodyfat is up 5 or 6% and my conditioning is horrible. Too many happy hours, bags of chips, and not enough discipline has led me down the wrong path. However, they say enthusiasm is a catalyst and when mixed with wisdom and experience can create small miracles. I am an avid reader on bodybuilding.com and I have been to the fitness mountaintop but became content and tumbled down to the valley. No more junk food, no more missed meals, and no more missed training sessions.

Until next time, I have 500 pushups and 1000 crunches to knockoff this afternoon. I’ll pass on the ribtips. I’m going back to the mountaintop……

 

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