GreatAmerican’s BodyBlog

Yes, it’s true: 7 perfect days in a row!

 Not really much to talk about today. Was pretty sore this morning when I woke up, but 30 mins on the bike and some stretching pretty much took care of the problem. Relaxed today, diet was good again. I am hyped for the weigh-in tommorow and the following refeed. My favorite day of the week!

Weigh-in and BF analysis tommorow, followed by cardio, and then my DC 2A workout. Let’s get it on! Laterrrr.

Let’s make that 6 perfect days in a row.

Yep, today went well as usual. No cardio in the AM, but I paid for it during my workout. Today was the first time I’ve done legs since I jacked up my knee last month. And MAN am I gonna pay for it tommorow. My hams started spasming in the middle of my SLDL’s, and by the time I was done squatting, my legs were shaking violently. Great workout (painful, but productive), and diet was spot on again.

Tommorow’s cardio is going to be rough with the gelatin legs. One more day til the weigh-in, I’m anxious and nervous at the same time. I know any feedback is good feedback, but let’s be honest: who wants negative feedback? Everyone wants to know they are progressing optimally, and I’m no exception. So I guess we will see. Laterrr.

OK, let’s try this for the 3rd time and see I can manage not to delete it again.

Today went great. Got up a bit later this morning after watching the game last night (WE WON!) and banged out cardio. Today is an offday from lifting and it’s also Low Carb day 1, so I’m just gonna take it pretty easy today.

Diet was perfect again today. That makes 5 days in a row that I’ve been perfect now, it feels great (that’s the longest I’ve gone in probably two years). My motto is "One cycle at a time" (referring to my 4-day carb cycling schedule) and it’s going very well. I reinforce my positive thoughts every day, and my sub-concious mind has been responding and really picking up my suggestions. For those of you who aren’t familiar with neuro-linguistic programming, it’s a method of undermining your negative sub-concious thoughts and replacing them with positive thinking. I know it sounds like psychobabble, but it’s probably the most important part of my plan. I learned about NLP and goal setting in the ebook "Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle" by Tom Venuto. If I could recommend people read one book in their lifetime on the subject of bodybuilding and nutrition, that would be it.

So, I’m gonna BS on the internet for a few more hours, talk to my wife, then hit the sack. Wow I just realized as I was typing that there’s no cardio tommorow, being leg day. Aweeeeesome. About time I get to sleep in a bit! So tommorow is Biceps/Forearms/Legs. Low carb day 2 also. Looking very forward to a weigh-in and BF update on Wednesday. That’s all I got. Laterrr.

Two observations today:

a) I forgot how hard it was to down 360g of protein. Especially when it’s comprised entirely of tuna and whey.

b) I forgot how hard DC is. I did 5 rp sets, and it beat my down worse than when I was doing 10-12 sets per body part

Well today was the refeed, not all that I’d hoped for. It’s much less enjoyable doing a clean refeed as compared to just jamming 2900 cals of whatever down my gullet. But I draw a parallel from the Army when it comes to diet: it’s attention to detail that makes a difference between the average and the extraordinary. Oh yeah, and motivation.

So luckilly I managed to get my cardio and my lifting session in just before the torrential downpours began AGAIN. I’m losing my sanity here at this garbage ass patrol base. I’ve had a cold for over a week, and why you ask? Because the "gym" (and I use that term loosely, since it’s nothing more than a couple barbells, weight plates, benches, and one half of a cable crossover machine tied to a pullup/dip contraption) is outside exposed to the elements. OHHH what I would give to go back to Baghdad and Camp Liberty. Now THAT was a gym (as far as being deployed goes anyway).

But that’s FOUR consecutive days in the books that I’ve hit my mark. I’m gonna keep this rolling so I can get down to single digit body fat, and then start getting huge! Diet really does get easier once you get into a groove. Luckily im not an 11B, so I’m not out running patrols at all hours of the night. I’m the Commo NCO for the base, so I consider myself very lucky that I essentially determine my own schedule. I always have time for meals and workouts, and I can almost always get to the computer if I need information or for motivation. All reasons why I cannot and will not fail at reaching my goals this deployment. I have everything I need at my disposal, so there ain’t nothin’ to it but to do it (a Ronnie Coleman quote for the true bodybuilding fans out there).

 It’s about time to have a shake, call the wife, and watch the game. Later.

High quality protein at cheap prices. You can even make your own protein blend!

*********** DOT COM

USE DISCOUNT CODE SGT419 for 5% OFF YOUR 1ST PURCHASE

   First off, my deepest apologies to anyone who was following this blog before the train derailed…that’s the nature of the beast in Iraq, you never know when you when you may be away from the computer for a few days (or two weeks!)

    Anyways, things are still going well. At my last weigh in, i’m down 7 lbs from 2 weeks ago, and I’m losing lots of fat (and a bit of lean mass, but a few diet tweaks will fix that). I’m very excited to be jumping into DC tommorow. For those who aren’t familiar with Doggcrapp training, you can find all you need to know at www.intensemuscle.com. Dante has spent more than a decade perfecting this training style, and numerous pro and national level amateur bodybuilders swear by it. I tried it 2 years ago when I was in Baghdad, and I saw great gains before I fell off the wagon (after I got back to the states, got married, and picked my alcoholism back up where I had left off). Now I’m back, and I’ve come to the conclusion that DC is the answer, and it is the last training I’ll ever use. I’m commited 100% to making it work, so it’s impossible for me to fail.

   Dietwise, the last 3 days have been flawless. No cheats, and within 50 calories of my goal every single day. I’ve definately earned tommorow’s refeed. I’m also going to stay up a bit later to watch my beloved UCONN Huskies play ball. Should be a good day. Well until tommorow, I bid you adieu.

Skipped morning cardio today and slept in. It helped- I’m feeling better already. Sometimes I try to push too hard, and end up burnt out or without motivation. Been learning lately to listen to my body and play it by ear more often. Anyway, my energy levels were better today, and my workout went very well. I did shoulders and triceps today, and while I ended up incredibly frustrated by this piece of shit gym I have to work out in, I got through it. This is by far the worst ‘gym’ I’ve ever had to deal with. The battalion just put in a big order for a deluxe gym down here, so I think it will be getting better soon. Just tired of riding an exercise bike outside in the snow, and trying to add up metric and standard weights to figure out how much weight I have on the bar. I never thought I’d have to bring a calculator to the gym.

The one area where I really screwed up today was my diet. I ate a bunch of junk, and late in the day too ( I know, I know…..) Trying my best not to get discouraged, just gonna get right back on the wagon tommorow. Looking forward to the weigh in tommorow, not expecting much change but any change is a starting point.

Felt pretty lousy, so didn’t do much today. I woke up and did my usual morning cardio, but definately felt a cold coming on, so I took it easy. My back stiffened up horribly as the day wore on, so I decided against pushing my luck and doing legs. The knee stiffened up some too, so I think I’ll give it another week before I try legs. Took in more calories today too, because the cold was sapping my energy. Still spent most of the day in bed, feeling drained. This sucks.

Today was a refeed day, and it was glorious! I definately felt the strength increase in my workout from the extra calories. Today was back and biceps, and I was able to deadlift far more than I anticipated. I haven’t deadlifted in a few weeks because of a knee injury, so I was very surprised by the weight I put up. I always do cardio in the morning, but I threw in an extra session today to compensate for going a bit overboard on the refeed. I cycle calories on a 3 down 1 up rotation, and I’m very strict on the down days, so I take full advantage of the up day by taking a cheat meal or two. It helps get me through the low days.

 Tommorow’s supposed to be an off day, but depending on how I feel I may attempt a light leg workout. I tore my MCL and meniscus 2 years ago and made a full recovery, but about a month ago I sprained the ligaments pretty badly again. I didn’t experience any pain in the knee deadlifting today, so that’s a big step in the right direction. So maybe I’ll do some light squats and lunges, just to see how the knee responds.

  One more thing about my training regimen: I do an Army-style ab routine every second or third day on non-training days. It consists of situps, crunches, flutter kicks, and leg spreaders. I also do high rep pushup sets during these short workouts, except the day before chest.

 Well, back to the low cal grind. Only 3 more days til refeed!

Well, here goes nothing. My name is G$ and I’m 22 years old. I’m in the United States Army (for another 1 year, 2 months, 2 days and 3 minutes) and I’m currently deployed to Northern Iraq. It’s not all that bad, I actually made my best gains the last time I was deployed. I’ve been a member of Bodybuilding.com since my last time in Iraq, and Im starting this Bodyspace for a bit of extra motivation, as well as a way to track my progress a bit easier. I’m currently on a long, clean cut. My goal is to get to 7 or 8% body fat, and then start bulking. I’m about 5 weeks into my cut now, and it’s going really well. Based on where I’m at now, I think I should reach my goal in another 12-16 weeks, or March-April timeframe. I’ll be using this blog to record my day-to-day progress so I can remember later. I doubt anyone will be looking at this but me, but if people check it out that’s cool too. I draw inspiration from a lot of the people on Bodyspace, so I hope that my dedication to bodybuilding and to reaching my goals will inspire someone else to work that much harder to reach theirs.

G$

 P.S. To those who care, pictures will hopefully be up soon

Welcome to the Bodybuilding.com BodyBlogs. This is your first post. Edit or delete it, then start blogging!