Ponyboy76’s BodyBlog

It has been a really bad week. I`ve only been to the gym three times after pigging out on the holiday weekend. If that wasn’t bad enough, my rotator cuff is bothering me again something fierce. Evey time I lift my left arm, there is a pain like its being poked with a needle. It has bothered me before and I usually just work through, but I think its finally gotten to the point where it won`t just go away and I need to take care of it. I really don`t want to stop lifting and I know that is what the doctor will tell me to do. I can still lift but I just can`t go as heavy as I want, which is annoying  because I was making such good progress. Tonight, I am going to work on my back and I`ll be able to gauge how much bad it is based on how hard I can push it. I just hope that if I take it easier now, it won`t get worse and I`ll be able to go back to lifting heavy in a month or so. When it rains, it pours.

   Okay, I have been trying to measure my bodyfat to better gauge my progress. I bought some skinfold calipers a few months ago and have been trying to get an accurate reading, but am unsure about my results. It came with a booklet that looked like it was written in the 50`s. Nonetheless, I followed what it said about which areas to measure. (tricep, bicep, abdomen, and back, just under the shoulder blade). According to these results I am at around 18% bodyfat, which seems to makes sense. Just because I wanted to make sure that I was doing it right, I looked at some of the articles on BB.com. I came across a few but one stuck out. It was basically explaining how to use the skin folds accurately. The problem is, the areas, they have to measure were totally different( chest, abdomen, thigh). When I used that and put the numbers in a program they have on the page with my weight(254) and age (30), it said my bodyfat was 13.32% 33.8 fat weight, and 240.68 lean weight. Of course, if it was accurate that would be awesome but it just wouldn`t make sense to me.  
    I guess my question is if anyone out there uses these skinfold calipers and what measuring techniques they use, give them a more accurate result?

It is amazing the difference a day makes. Yesterday, I felt totally uninspired. I just didn’t feel like I was making any progress and was probably, more likely going backwards. Thanks to the support of a few people in here, I took in what they said and just went back into the gym. I went to the gym last night and kicked ass. Had a great back session, then did 21 minutes on the treadmill, 10 on the elliptical and worked the abs. Then this morning, went back to the gym and did another 20 minute run. I decided to weigh myself and to my surprise I had actually lost another 3.3lbs. I had already hit my goal of 255 and passed it. I`m pretty happy right now, but I know that its not all about weight and that I need to do some measurements to get a true estimate of my body to show some real change. I`m on my way though. Its a slow process, but when I look at myself in the mirror, I can see that my body wants to get better. It wants to look and feel great. Now, I set a new goal. 250lbs by October. It`ll happen. My college basketball teams motto,  was "Believe and Achieve"

I’m in a bit of a slump right now. I look in the mirror and don`t really see any progress. I don`t know if its just in my head or that I`m just not getting the best out of myself. I’m not sure what my next move should be. These next few weeks are about burning some fat off, but so far it doesn`t seem to be going too well. Maybe I’m a little too early into it, to be upset about the progress. I just don’t want to be working backwards. I weigh myself tomorrow and will take measurements this weekend. I guess I will have a better idea of where I am at then.

Hey,
    I am going to be doing some cutting starting next week and bought Animal Cuts and some DHEA. I`ll continue with the protein after workouts but am going to do a lot more cardio for the month. Anyone else ever take Animal Cuts? Just curious to know if anyone has had any good results with it.