Izmanv’s BodyBlog

Five weeks into this thing, and for the most part happy with my progress. Stats are as follows:

- Bodyweight up by 1.5lbs over the last two weeks. Sitting at 201lbs. Net loss since start of transformation: 11lbs

- Waist measurement down another inch over the last two weeks. 37" even. Net loss of 5.5"

I almost titled this post "What the Heck is IN This Stuff???" for the results I’ve been experiencing with these MuscleTech products. Specifically Aplodan and Leukic. I promised you all I’d post my thoughts after my first "real" week on them.

I’ve been at full dose for the last few weeks, and let me tell you they’re something else! I get into the gym and start lifting and I want to KEEP LIFTING! It’s amazing. I’m getting stronger, lifting longer, and growing. Look at my stats! I gained a pound and a half, yet LOST an inch off my waist. That tells me that I’m adding muscle even though I’m burning fat. Good stuff!

What’s even more amazing about that is my diet these last two weeks have been somewhat… shall we say…. lax? I’ve taken a bit of a break from the MuscleTech shakes. Drinking two a day, every day, just kinda got to me mentally. They are quite delicious, but I got to a point where I would think about drinking a shake and I didn’t want it. I didn’t want ANYTHING sweet! I know it’s a mental thing, kinda like eating spinach or dry chicken breast or plain tuna for several meals every day. You sometimes reach a point where the thought of it makes your entire body scream, "NO!!!" For this reason, I took a short break from the shakes for just a little over a week. I ate NOTHING sweet.

Now, this wouldn’t normally be a problem, right? I mean, come on… our diet should consist of normal food anyway, right? Chicken, eggs, turkey, fish, veggies, etc. The shakes are just a little bit extra. They help with sweet cravings, and the MuscleTech shakes seem to shuttle directly to my muscles. Really good stuff they got going there!

Where I fell off the wagon a little bit, however, was in some of the meals I ate - especially last week. There was one day where I had a McDonald’s sausage and egg biscuit for breakfast and a Wendy’s half-pound double for dinner! A few days later I ate 3 McDonald’s chicken biscuits for breakfast. Middle of last week I ate one of those Sonic pepperjack double patty melts (delicious!!!). I pigged out on some Mexican food Saturday for dinner. I ate some nice, greasy Kentucky Fried Chicken and fixxin’s for dinner last night. I sprinkled Coca Cola throughout those meals. Lemme think… I know I ate more "not on my diet menu" meals, too.

Oh yeah! I ate a candy bar the other day, too. Dang!

Even with all that, I kept up the supplements. Fish oil, Aplodan, Leukic, and most importantly….. Hydroxycut Hardcore. My workouts were still as intense as ever, but I cut my cardio short a couple times.

I still lost 1" off my midsection!!! Thanks Hydroxycut!

This week, I’m strict again. There are only six weeks or so left in this challenge. I’m going to win.

Next weekend I will post my six week progress pictures. I’ll also try to post my eating and training I used for the first couple of weeks along with the reason why. This should help anyone else planning a similar transformation. Why am I only posting two weeks worth, and posting it six weeks late? This is a CONTEST, silly! Can’t give my competition any pointers. They’re making my WIN tough enough - got some GREAT contestants who are making awesome progress.

Well, that’s it for this week. Until next time…. train hard, eat right, and be happy!

Three weeks down and full speed ahead! Progress pictures are posted. Stats are as follows:

- Bodyweight stayed the same this week. Still down 12.5lbs total.

- Waist measurement down another 1.5" for a total of 4.5" lost.

This last week was interesting. Bodyweight stayed the same, but my waist shrunk a bit. I seem to be putting on a bit of muscle. That’s a good thing for this transformation! I’m glad I decided to pay more attention to the waistline than I did the scale. I didn’t think I’d be putting  on weight as quickly as I have, though. I attribute this directly to a couple of factors. Primarily, all the MuscleTech supplements I’m taking!

Last week was my first week on Aplodan and Leukic.  I’ve also been drinking at least two Nitro-Tech shakes per day. Sometimes I’ll mix up three of them depending on how I feel and how my workouts went. I want to be sure I have plenty of nutrients, and the Nitro-Tech shakes are a great way to do that.

There’s one thing I found funny this last week. While I’m eating well and the shakes keep my sweet tooth satisfied, I found myself really Jones’ing for cupcakes. One night I actually had a dream about going into a convenience store and buying a package! That’s pretty bad. Made me laugh though. I’m glad I’ve had the will-power so far to stay away.

This coming week will be a good one. I can feel it. I already had a good Monday workout this week. I’m now in the 1 serving per dose phase of Aplodan, and I think I’ve loaded up on enough Leukic. These things ROCK! Judging by Monday’s workout I know I’m going to be adding a whole bunch of extra muscle this week. I think next week I’ll change up my workouts a little bit to take advantage. Still gotta train around all the injuries, but I have a plan.

I’m also thinking about introducing some MuscleTech CryoTest into the mix. I’ve been reading some good things about it. With as much as it raises your natural testosterone levels, it should help in building the extra lean mass I need to help burn off this bodyfat.

Well, that’s it for this week. I’ll let you know how this first "real" week on Aplodan and Leukic goes. Also, check out the progress pictures for Feb 15th. Changes are suble, but they’re there! Until next time…. train hard, eat right, and be happy!

Hello again. Thought I’d update with the results of week 2. Stats are as follows:

Bodyweight: down 7.5lbs this week. 12.5lbs total
Waist Measurement: down 3" since start of transformation

This last week was a good one. My Monday workout was fair, but Wed and Fri were awesome! I think I’m getting back in the groove. Not necessarily getting the muscles where they need to be, but getting back in the groove of getting my butt to the gym!

My workouts are good. It’s difficult training around the shoulders and back issues, but I manage. It’s a challenge, and I like that. One thing I’m finding difficult is stimulating my chest effectively. Because of the shoulders I’m using the pec-deck fly machine and some of the upright benching machines. Those are painful on the shoulders unless I do them just right. Gotta keep the weights light, too. Probably the most difficult aspect of this whole ordeal is the light weight training. I wanna go heavy. I wanna hit the muscle hard. What I NEED to do is redefine what intensity means to me. I’m getting it.

My diet thus far has been pretty good, too. No more junk that’s for sure. I’m not yet real strict. I’m simply eating quite a bit less than I was, better quality food than I was, and taking my supplements. As the weight continues to drop, and more importantly, my waistline continues to come in, I’ll keep on doing what I’m doing. Once it slows or worse, I’ll re-evaluate and change as necessary.

Last week I went ahead and started the Hydroxycut. I realized that for me to be a contender in this competition I will need all the help I can get. It’s really helping melt this fat away. So far, I’m impressed. I lost more weight this last week than I did the first week without it. This is in spite of adding an extra Nitro-Tech shake each day. Now, instead of just one shake, I drink two. I feel the shakes are really helping. I’ll have more insight in a week or two. One thing’s for sure… with all the good stuff in these shakes, I’m very optimistic!

So, this week marks another transition for me. I’m going to introduce MuscleTech’s Anabolan and Leukic into the mix as per directions. I will continue to eat well, supplement with Nitro-Tech, and take my Hydroxycut. With the dormant muscle fiber recruitment and anabolic affects of the new supps, I will have to keep one thing in mind. Watch my waistline, not the scale. I don’t want to attribute a slower weightloss to eating too many calories and prematurely cut back because between the Nitro-Tech shakes, Anabolan and Leukic I’m going to be gaining some good, lean muscle mass.

I guess that wraps it up for today. I’ll post another update soon - once a week unless something important comes up and I need to chime in before then. In the mean time - train hard, eat right, and be happy!

Welcome to my first post!

I recently started the MuscleTech body transformation challenge so I thought this blog would help document the transformation.

I’ve been athletic all my life. Loved sports. I’m very competitive. With all my hard playing, hard training, and "I’ll live forever" attitude, my body’s taken a beating. I have a slipped disk in my neck, two compressed lumbar disks, and a herniated lumbar disk. Doc says I have somewhat advanced degenerative disk disease to top it off. As if that’s not enough I also have serious shoulder problems. My left shoulder just hurts a little especially when lifting. My right shoulder - holy cow! Sometimes the pain is excruciating. I did something to it over a year ago and went through a time where I couldn’t even lift a can of soda to/from the top shelf of the fridge. Lifting my arm straight out in front of me (front delt raises style) was pretty much impossible. I couldn’t even curl anything on that side. I had no strength at all and lots of pain.
I went to the doc for that. He said it sounds like rc tendinitis. He prescribed some anti-inflammatory and lots of rest. It didn’t really get much better. Well… it took a long time to get a little better. I started researching the rotator cuff and worked on rehabbing my shoulder. I may’ve had some sort of tear or something serious, I don’t know. I’ve been resting it all I can, stretching, and trying to strengthen the rotator cuff muscles. It’s been over a year and I’m getting a little bit of function back. It’s still painful and I’m still limited. I will end up seeing a specialist soon.

As you could imagine, my training has to seriously change. I can’t do all the good, demanding  exercises anymore. I need to train around the back and shoulder issues. Bench press? Ha! Not with these shoulders! Many compound movements, with the exception of a few very light weight exercises, are simply impossible for me to perform. Anything requiring explosive movements? Not a chance! I hurt my back if I move too quickly to catch something falling off the kitchen counter - or catching my balance after slipping on the ice.

Anyway, that’s my background. I’m old and beat up. Alright… I’m not *that* old. I am injured, though, and it takes a long time to heal. Because of that I’ve been pretty much out of the gym for a while. I’ve been meaning to get back and get in shape again. I just haven’t had the motivation. With the injuries and my busy schedule and projects and general b.s., I’ve had lots of excuses to "start next week." After several months all of those "next weeks" catch up to you!

Then I was flipping through a magazine and saw the ad for the MuscleTech challenge. I looked it up, and gave it some serious thought. Sure, I’d be starting the challenge later than everyone else. Sure, I may be a bit handicapped compared to everyone else, but that’s what makes it more challenging, right? Wouldn’t it be nice for a big, injured, out of shape guy like me to make such a dramatic change in my physique that I win the contest in spite of the insurmountable odds?

That, my friends, is exactly the type of thing to spark my competitive spirit!

After plenty of thought I decided this challenge is just the thing to get me back in the gym, and transform my body into something that more closely resembles an athletic person. So I signed up, took my before pictures, and planned on starting my training the following Monday. Boy was I psyched! It didn’t matter to me that I’d have to learn new ways to train and target body parts. I can do this! I was ready!

Then Monday comes. It’s my first workout day and we get hit with an ice storm. Great. Should be Ok, right? I’ll be careful after work, go to the gym, and have a nice safe drive home. Well, heading out to my car for lunch, wouldn’t you know it…. I slipped on some ice. I didn’t fall. I almost did! You may think that’s lucky, but in my effort to regain balance and keep from slamming this big ass into the sidewalk, I tweaked my back. It was bad. One of those pains that takes the breath away from you. Instant pain, muscle spasms and tightness. I couldn’t believe this.

So I went home and tried to relax the back for a while. Ice, heat, Tylenol. There goes Monday’s workout.

Tuesday was frozen, but we finally thawed enough on Wednesday that I could return to work. More importantly the gym was open. Even though I was still in pain and tight, I was determined to hit the gym for some light work. My muscles just needed a little bit of stimulation. Nothing too intense. This is my first workout back, after all.

Wednesday’s session was good. Short and sweet.  Friday’s was about the same. It’s nice being back in the gym.

Now, here we are. One week into my transformation. It was a very slow and short week workout-wise. My diet was good, though. I cut out all the junk and soda I was consuming and added in a Nitro-Tech shake. So far I’m down 5lbs.

From here, I think I’ll go ahead and start the Hydroxycut Hardcore. I was going to wait about a month to introduce "help" into my fat-burning routine, but I’m not sure that’s so smart. I’m not able to train as hard as I normally would, and I’m starting off an already limited time-frame with a slow start. I need to go ahead and make up for lost ground. I’ll start at minimum dose for two weeks then increase as I need. I’m also going to add another daily Nitro-Tech shake into the mix. We’ll see how this next week goes.