PenteKing’s BodyBlog

My body has been real sloooow to drop weight. I am lifting four times a week, and interspering that with anywhere from 35 - 45 minutes of cardio twice a week (usually on Wednesday and Saturday). Despite this, my weight loss has slowed down considerably. When I started this journey about a year ago, I weight 245 pounds (give or take, depending on how much I had to drink the night before). At first, the weight came off easily. Every few weeks or so, I would drop another five pounds. Progress was good.

Lately, however, my body is refusing to drop the weight. I weigh 197 today, with a target goal of about 180 - 185 pounds. These last 10 - 12 pounds are just hanging around like an out-of-work hobo in a local Starbucks. No matter what I do, no matter how much I vary my workouts and diet, I’m stuck at the 200 (approximately) pound mark.

Does anyone have any ideas of how to kickstart my weight loss again?

Today was my last day with my trainer. I suppose I could hire her for another month, but she is expensive, and those are funds that I could be directing toward my retirement. It’s the ultimate Catch-22. The real-age calculator says that I will live until I’m 107 years old. That means that I have to put more money away so that it will last me in retirement. However, directing funds away from my trainer implies that I won’t live as long, and therefore, won’t need as much money. <Sigh> I wish I knew the perfect balance to strive for.

The simple fact of the matter is that I love working out with Rachelle. She’s funny and smart and knows exactly how much I can give, and more importantly, how much I can’t. She knows when to push and when to back off. And she’s a great teacher. I’ve learned a great deal just by watching her. On top of all that, she’s a genuinely nice human being. She’s the type of person you want to do things for.

I’m going to miss her.

Okay. I have to admit that when Coach suggested the one-day apple diet, I was skeptical. How, I wondered, could this have any effect on me at all? It’s not radical enough, it doesn’t last long enough, and it’s only apples. They have no magic or curative powers. Still, I thought I’d give it a try. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.

I’m sorry to report that the diet didn’t seem to help at all. I’m meeting with Coach tomorrow to report the results, and will let you know her reaction. Me? I don’t want to say "I told you so", but that’s the phrase that keeps running through my mind.

I worked shoulders today. Cable flyes, shoulder shrugs, Arnold presses, military press behind neck, and shoulder pushups. I worked them hard, and with virtually no rest. When I finished, I felt as though they were going to rip through my shirt. It was a good feeling. I hope I feel this good tomorrow.

Until next time, iron fans, I remain yours truly. Keep lifting, and keep sweating.

Today, I tried the one-day apple diet that was recommended to me by my coach. What you do is eat nothing but apples all day. Coach told me to eat six (one for each meal), but I couldn’t do that, and so I’ve eaten the six Coach recommended, plus three massive peaches. Coach also suggested that I cut my water intake by half for the day. The idea is to keep my body fed, but force it to feed on my fat stores. I don’t know if this will work or not, but I’m willing to give it a try. I’ve got nothing but excess fat to lose, and that is always a good thing.

I’ll report my progress.

Today is Sunday, September 9th, 2007, in the Year of Our Lord, and all across America, the National Football League has once again started its annual run toward the Super Bowl. In countless homes throughout the land, men and women are either gathered in stadium parking lots, or are huddled around their televisions to watch impossibly large men hurl themselves at one another with the single-minded purpose of denying their man the gain of one single inch of yardage. It’s an awesome spectacle to watch. I’m continually amazed at the sheer grit and determination that goes into the making of a football player. Not only must you be singularly devoted to the sport itself, you must also dedicate an enormous amount of your sweat, blood and tears to the pursuit of the dream of playing in the NFL.

I want to take a moment and salute the most overlooked professional athletes in the history of sports - the offensive lineman. His job - his only job - is to beat the crap out of the guy on the line across from him so that some other agile-footed player can scoot through the line and hopefully advance the ball a few precious feet. I can’t begin to imagine how they must hurt on Monday morning, nor the sheer willpower it must take to haul themselves up from the ground after each and every play only to do it all over again.

Gentlemen of the National Football League - I salute you.

I offer thoughts; I post. I ask questions; I post. I seek advice; I post. What do I receive in return? Nada. Nothing. Zip. Zero. I’m writing these posts mainly for myself, but every now and again, I do reach out, asking the community to offer insight and advice on questions that bug or puzzle me. Perhaps those of you who actually read what I have to say are tempted to respond, and then don’t because you think I should be able to find the answer through a little research. Others of you may not have an answer at all, and that’s fair, but I know you have an opinion, and I’m equally interested in your opinions as I am in facts. Still others of you don’t bother to read my posts at all. That, too, is fair and is certainly your inalienable right as a God-fearing American.

Still, I get frustrated sometimes. When I do ask for advice or opinion, it is usually because I have done the research, but what I’ve found is contradictory or ambiguous. Some of it is laughable on its face, and it is this kind of bad advice that I seriously want to avoid. That’s why I ask you members for help. You’ve done it, or are doing it. You’re not sitting in some ivory tower, expounding about things that you’ve experienced only in the church of the theoritical. You’re in the trenches, fighting the good fight, finding out what works and what doesn’t. We all share a common goal - to live life in a lean, healthy body. We need to encourage and support one another. If you think I’m not adding anything of value to the conversation, let me know. It may not be what I want to hear, but I’m man enough to take it, to assess your criticism, and to change if the criticism is warranted and justified.

Now here’s an interesting development. I just wrote a post about working out for sixteen weeks, followed by a four week hiatus, and then repeating the cycle for a year’s time, after which I would change the training routine in order to keep my body progressing.

I wrote, I edited, I posted, and then I submitted. But when I went to review my post, it was gone. Vanished. Disappeared into thin air. I’m not sure what happened, and I don’t think I’ll ever find out, so I’ll simply pose my question to the community once more.

What is a good training/rest routine for someone who is an older gentlemen (which is simply a nice way of saying I’m ancient)? I plan on interviewing some physicians and nutritionists to get their take on this. If I get enough material, I’ll even publish it as an article for others like me. If anyone in the community sends me relevant information, I’ll include the material in the article and give full attribution.

So, whatever you have, whether from research or experience, send it along. Enquiring minds are thirsting for knowledge, and it’s up to us to satisfy that thirst.

It’s been about twelve weeks since I’ve decided to get back into the bodybuilding lifestyle. As I mentioned before, I used to bodybuild religiously when I was younger, but I let work, marriage and children interfere. Back then, I adhered to a routine where I would work out for sixteen weeks, and then take four weeks off. I’d repeat this cycle for one year, and then switch to working out for twelve weeks and taking two weeks off. It worked fairly well. I had a good enough physique that I was asked to pose for Playgirl magazine. (Those were the days!)

Anyway, I was thinking about repeating that cycle, but have been told that, as an older gentlemen (which is simply a nice way of saying I’m decrepit), I shouldn’t train for more than twelve weeks without taking a break. I think this is hogwash, but sadly, the literature is scarce on the topic, and what I can find is contradictory at best, and complete bullshit at worst.

If there is anyone out there who has serious facts on this, will you please share them with me? I’m going to do some research, interview some doctors, and write an article on this. I’ll include all material I receive if it’s any good, and will give full attribution. As the population ages, this topic will become more and more relevant. People of the bodybuilding world, send me your thoughts and opinions. Enquiring minds are thirsting for knowledge.

So, there I am in the gym today - motivated to build some serious pectoral muscles. I have my routine all planned out - flat bench press, incline; decline, pushups, pec deck - the whole nine yards. I have the mental motivation, I have the tools, and I have the time. So what went wrong? My technique sucks. It didn’t feel as though I stressed my chest at all. It was especially evident on the decline bench. As I raised the barbell, I kept hitting the underside of the protrusion that supports the bar when it is not in use. Talk about distracting! Talk about disconcerting! Talk about embarrassing. A woman on a nearby treadmill snickered loudly enough to turn heads five yards away. I tried not to let her derision bother me, but as you can probably guess from this blog, IT DID!

I know you can’t help unless you actually see me in action, but if anyone has any tips on proper technique and how to avoid embarrassing faux pas like the one I committed, I would be eternally in your debt. I NEED HELP, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN! HELP!

If anyone has read my previous post, you can probably discern that I use Fit Day to track my activities and diet. So here is what I’ve learned since July 24th (which is when I got diligent about the program). I eat (on average) about 1500 calories a day. During the past week (and this is rather typical), I averaged 13% fat intake; 43% carbs; and 37% protein. My weight is going down (sloooowly, but steadily), but I can’t complain about that because my bodyfat percentage is dropping like a stone in a lake (down another percentage point). As you can see from my photos, I have reduced bodyfat and increased muscle.

Now here’s the dilemma. I know I have to consume more protein than I have been, but how do I do it without significantly increasing the total caloric intake? I use protein supplements now (mainly Isopure), and even that doesn’t seem to be enough to keep my protein percentage consistently above the 40% mark. Does anyone have any ideas on what I can do? Comments and suggestions are welcomed and encouraged.