HKR-Chief’s Body Blog

Well, after being out of the gym since early January, I’m just now finally getting back in. Work started getting very busy out here so I was working long hours. Things are slowing down now though. I only have about a month left here in Iraq before I head home.

Unfortunately, things won’t be the same in the gym as they were before. Our gym got hit by a rocket some time ago. That was not good. Not sure how soon they’re going to re-open it. We had a makeshift gym set up outside that was available, but with my work keeping me busy, I haven’t used it. I’ve been working out in my room, trying to start back in slowly. I’ve been doing pushups and curling my Body armor with my backpack attached. Not bad for an improvised workout, but I would like to get back in the gym.

Right now I’m shifting my primary goal. Basically over the next month I’m going to concentrate on trimming as much fat off my midsection as I can without losing any muscle. I’m kind of expecting to put a little muscle on, but it probably won’t be much at all. Again, the primary mission is to trim off the fat, secondary mission is add a little muscle if possible. I have no idea what my weight is at right now. I’m not going to use weight as a progress indicator because my weight fluctuates so much on a daily basis as it is. Between any two days my weight can fluctuate between 2 to 3 pounds easily. I’m going to use the mirror and photos as progress. I started out a few days ago simply by adjusting and cleaning up my diet. With just that, I’ve seen a difference already. I haven’t had any red meat in about 3 days. I’ve been eating salads, chicken, rice, fruit, eggs, veggies, and whatever else looks healthy. With my relatively high metabolism, I should be able to shed some fat pretty quickly if I stop eating all the bad foods I normally eat. We’ll see how it goes.

I was reading a post on the Animal Forvm this morning before my workout about the topic of whether or not bb presses are needed to gain size in the chest. In that post, several people mentioned the fact that using dumbells allows them to feel the workout in the chest better than barbell does. Today was chest day so I decided to do strictly dumbell work today instead of barbell.

I started with warmup sets of inclined db presses, 40lbs (per db) x 12 reps  for 2 sets. Then I completed 50 lbs x 10 reps, 55 lbs x 7 reps, 55 lbs x 6 reps, 45 lbs x 7 reps, 30 lbs x 8 reps x 2 sets. That came to 6 sets plus 2 warmup sets. Following that, I did 5 sets of decline cable flyes. The last set was relatively light being set at 10lbs on each side, but by that time, it didn’t feel light. I was able to push out 12 reps for that last set but I made sure for each rep of each set that I was squeezing at the top. I followed my chest workout with triceps and when I was doing rope tricep extensions, I looked over to the mirror next to me and I couldn’t believe the pump I had in my chest. When I got into the locker room after my workout, I took off my shirt and looked at my pump-state in the mirror. Unbelievable. I’m definitely going to make sure I feed that workout the proper nutrition it needs to recover.

Although my weight this morning was 174, I still felt bigger than I was in October at 180. I’m feeling good, but I’m a little confused as to where my weight was when I was at 180. I guess I shouldn’t focus so much on the weight and instead, judge my progress in the mirror. Either way, This was a good workout day and tomorrow I’m supposed to hit legs. This will be the first time in quite a while that I’ve actually done a workout two days in a row. I just hope my body will be up for it because I really need the leg work.

It’s been a week since I got sick but luckily, I got over in just a week. I hit the gym this morning and my weight was down to 170. That’s not good because I’m trying to bulk, not lose. Oh well, small setbacks. That’s ok. I’ll work hard and get back and then some. I guess I need to change my goals and timelines because I’m definitely not going to hit 190 by the end of this month.

I had a good chest workout this morning. My wife sent me an ipod as an early birthday present. Over the last couple days I’ve been compiling tracks for a workout playlist and it worked out pretty good. Kept me motivated throughout the workout and helped to keep me focused. Much better than that soft stuff they play on the gym’s system. Megadeth, Metallica, Faith no More, GnR, Drowning Pool, lots of good fast stuff. Thanks hun, for the new toy and motivation box.

Well, I’ve gotten over my cold. I got through it quickly without any sore throat. A few days of tired and aching body, stuffy and aching head, fever, cold sweats, and runny nose. Now I only have a stuffy nose but everything else is back to normal. I do feel like my body is out of shape now, but that will be quickly remedied by a few good workouts. I’m going to get back on track with a chest workout on Monday. I’ve lost a week of working out, but that’s ok. It’s not like I’m trying to get into shape by a certain time for a contest or anything. As long as I get back on track and continue improving, I’ll be happy.

Yesterday I developed a nasty chest cold. I was hoping my body would fight it off over night last night while sleeping, but that didn’t happen, so I had to skip my chest workout today. This chest cold, if it’s anything like ones I’ve had in the past, will take at least a week for me to get rid of. Looks like I’m going to miss some workouts. I don’t want to weaken my immune system by asking my body to rebuild muscle. This really sucks. The big question is, do I stop taking my Test while I’m recovering from this cold? I don’t see what good it will do for me to continue taking it if I’m not working out. What a lovely time to get sick.

176.5 lbs today. My weight seems to be keeping pretty steady; I’m probably not eating enough. Nevertheless, my shoulder workout was real good this morning. I think next to legs, the shoulders are the most painful workout. When you really get them pumped and max out the reps, the burn in the delts is a killer. I really hit them hard today.

I may be having a second opinion of Animal Test. During the first week of taking it, I wasn’t at all impressed. I didn’t notice any difference in strength, performance, or mindset in the gym. However, now I’m starting to think that my initial reaction was hampered by two things: 1, I had just started taking it, and 2, I was just coming off of a vacation. Now that I’m through my second week, I’m beginning to realize something. I do seem to be more focused in the gym. I’ve also noticed that I’ve been using the same weights I did before my vacation except now, instead of only getting 3 or 4 sets of 6 or 7 reps, I’m now doing 4 and 5 sets with 8 reps. I find it’s easier to push myself further and the urge to keep going is more dominant now. I find myself doing my exercises with more determination as well as doing them slower and with more concentration. I think this means that it’s time for me to up the weight just a little bit to initiate the extra growth I’m looking for. I think that’s going to mean I need to force myself to eat a little more than I have been. Outside the gym, I haven’t really noticed anything different about myself with one exception… let’s just say, I miss my wife more… especially in the mornings when I wake up.

So my opinion of Animal Test is getting better. At first, I wasn’t impressed. Now I’m starting to see some differences that will definitely have a positive effect. My current rating for Test, with 1 being don’t waste your money, and 10 being steal the money so you can get some, I would rate this at 6… for now. (a 6 would be like, if you can afford it, you should try it.)The effects it’s having on my workout intensity are worth the money. Whether or not it’s actually raising my test levels? Well, judging solely from the first 2 minutes of my waking up in the mornings, I’d say it is. As far as actually seeing results in the form of mass gains, we’ll have to wait and see. I have a feeling though, that over the next two weeks, my rating for this product will go higher.

Tomorrow is a day of recovery for me and I start in on Monday with Chest/Tri’s and Tuesday with legs. I’m looking forward to putting more weight on the bar on monday to see what I can do. My personal best on bench is 170 lbs one lift max (October 17th). I know… it’s low, but I’ve never been a heavy lifter. Some day, I hope to hit 200. I think maybe on Monday, I’ll go for 180. Any thoughts on how to warm up for a one rep max attempt without wearing yourself out?

I worked back and biceps pretty hard. My triceps and chest were still a little tender and I was really feeling it when starting my workout with lat pulldowns. After a few sets I got good and stretched out and it didn’t bother me anymore. My weight was at 175.5 yesterday morning. I have a feeling I’m not eating enough. I’ll have to try a little harder in that area.

Thanksgiving was pretty good. I ate a HUGE lunch and then took a 2 hour mid-afternoon nap. I figured the extra sleep would be good for me. Today I can still feel the triceps workout from Tuesday. Of course, I can feel the back and biceps from yesterday as well, so I know I worked them hard. Tomorrow I’m going to do shoulders and traps.

My legs are fully recovered from the squats I did last week so I’ll be ready for my next leg workout. I think that’s scheduled for Tuesday. Well, that’s about it for today.

My muscles aren’t necessarily "sore", but I can feel them - maybe a little tender. That’s good. Tomorrow is Thanksgiving and I’ll "giving" my back and biceps a nice workout in the morning. they can "thank" me for it later. I’m feeling pretty good about my workouts. I think that 3 week break was just what I needed to get some good results. I’m hoping I’ll be up to about 186 or 187 by the 15th of December. Don’t know if it will happen, but I’m going to hope for good gains.

A couple of my friends here on bodyspace would like to wish everyone an early seasons’ greetings. Go to this website to see it: http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=9548559138

I continue my workout tomorrow morning with Chest. My legs are still a bit tender, but they’ll be fine. See you all later. And enjoy.

Just as I figured they would be. The good thing is that my back isn’t bothering me at all today. I think I just overdid it for my lower back yesterday with those squats. My legs definitely got a good workout though. It feels good. Now I’m looking forward to Tuesday so I can get back into my good workouts.