Ronald A. Strahan 
"Gearing up for another Transformation! New Log up Soon!"
|
| Created: | 08/19/2007 |
| Total Visits: | 2398 |
| Total Blog Entries: | |
| Total Comments: | 36 |
|
August 20, 2009
Sometimes I get a ahead of myself, sometimes I get so pumped thinking about my goals of moving Herculean poundage I think about scrapping my entire weight loss/fat loss goals and jumping right back on a 5,000 calorie a day growth binge.
For me sticking to a weight loss program is a daily battle, I hate to run, I hate not moving monster weights, I hate not being able to approach the dinner table with the same enthusiasm that I do the gym. I’ve said it before and I’m sure I’ll say it again; “Cutting weight makes me want to cut my wrists.” Cycling like I do between growth/strength binges and rapid weight programs I can say form the heart that there ain’t much glory in cutting until it’s all said and done.
I don’t like to wait for anything and I think that’s why I’m such a proponent of Lifesource. Every day I run is a day that I’m not doing squats and every meal I eat is helping to decrease the size of my waist, not increase the size of my arms. Cutting is hell. At least I can tell myself, it’ll all be over soon and every step that I’m making is a step in the right direction. I haven’t been as strict as I have this time around as last time around; the working situation is different and I’ve missed a few workouts. Also, a mistake I made this time was not starting with a hard and fast goal from the outset like I did in ’07.
It’s time to set down some goals, but not without a little history. The 2007 transformation brought me from 283.5lbs @ 29% body fat to 218lbs @ 14% body fat, all in a controlled 16weeks. This year I started at 282, I didn’t have my body fat tested on day 01, like I said it’s a different situation this time around. I think a decent build for me would be 235lbs @ 10% body fat and I think I’d be decently strong at the weight. That build would be a higher total of lean body mass than I’m currently carrying so I’m not hoping to get there by the end of the cut cycle.
The Goal for the 2009 cut cycle is to be 220 (+/- 5lbs) bodyweight @ 11 (+/-1%) body fat by ..October 31st, 2009… I have another 12 weeks to end up between 225lbs@10% and 215lbs@12%. Or, in other words, in 12 weeks I just want to look good in the suit.
One thing the ’07 cut lacked was and exit plan, the follow-this year is still in the planning process but the general idea is to maintain the body weight within 10lbs and ‘rebuild’ the strength foundation for at least 6 weeks before moving on the bigger, better, Herculean strength quests.
<input type=”hidden” id=”gwProxy” /><input type=”hidden” id=”jsProxy” onclick=”jsCall();” />
<input type=”hidden” id=”gwProxy” /><input type=”hidden” id=”jsProxy” onclick=”jsCall();” />
Posted in Lifesource '09
July 10, 2009
I’ve read on different parts of the web that the first 72 hours of any diet is the most crucial and sets the tone for the rest of it. I wouldn’t consider Lifesource to be a diet, but an entire ‘system’ that covers the big three areas of body transformation: Food intake, Exercise Regimen and Supplementation. The literature says that you can lose weight on the program without exercise but at my core I’m an iron junkie, so I always incorporate some weight lifting into the fold.
The first 72 of the Lifesource ’09 cycle was a roller coaster for me. I got on the scale on Sunday, July 05, 2009 (Day 01) at 280.8. I was teeming with enthusiasm remembering 2007’s cycle the entire day with every meal eaten and rep in the gym. I sweat the muscles have memory and played right along with the game. I hit up Chest / Tris / Abs, all framed with some low intensity cardio at the Harris Fitness Center here at Beale AFB. It was a great day; I left the gym sore and looking for my next meal.
The next morning I felt like hell. My alarms clock rang to signify meal time, when I reach to shut it off my triceps let me know I over worked them in a bad way. It was a day of challenges, I returned to the gym in the afternoon for some leg work. Since I left for tech school at Goodfellow AFB and returned they gym has got some new pieces, and I’m not a fan of the new Hamstring Curl Machine. I’m not a fan of many machines at all, they’re not built for me, they don’t have enough weight on them and these new ones have so many adjustments on them it takes long to set the machine up then it does to do my 3-5 sets. I ditched it in favor of some walking lunges around the basketball court, hit the cardio machines and called it a workout.
Day Three was something fierce, I woke up to sore triceps and legs, my ears were ringing, and rang for most of the rest of the day; sugar detox, I guess. I didn’t ease into this program, I quit cold turkey. Saturday it was soda and candy and other fat and empty calorie laden foods, Sunday it was clean living and clean eating. In the afternoon I went grocery shopping; cucumbers, peppers, leafy greens and water by the gallon to supplement my Lifesource shakes. Normally these items would not be in my cart but knowing how well the system works keeps me true. By the end of my workout and most of the evenings I was tempted with junk-food cravings, it wass tough go to from daily indulgence to clean eating but I held true.
Wednesday, July 08, 2009 (Day 04) at 10:00am it was time to get on the scale for the 72 hour mark. I was nervous before I stepped onto the scale. ‘Perhaps I did something wrong’ or ‘Did I work had enough’ went through my mind. It was 10:00am, 72 hours later, I stepped onto the scale and was pleased; 274.4lbs.
I lost 6.4 pounds of fat and fluid in the first 72 hours. I lost the bloated feeling, my uniform pants fit a little better and I’m fueled for the coming weeks of the Lifesource ’09 Blog.
<input type=”hidden” id=”gwProxy” /><input type=”hidden” id=”jsProxy” onclick=”jsCall();” />
<input type=”hidden” id=”gwProxy” /><input type=”hidden” id=”jsProxy” onclick=”jsCall();” />
Posted in Lifesource '09
July 2, 2009
July 1st is a very personal date for me. It was July 1st, 2007 that I locked myself in my room at the Vacation Inn in El Centro, CA and made the most dramatic physical and emotional changes that I ever had in my life. I was stationed on the US / Mexico border with the Cal. Air Guard and between July 1st and October 20th I was either at work, the supermarket, the gym, or inside my fortress of solitude; Room #123 at the Vacation Inn. The results were impressive; I lost 65lbs in 16 weeks and slashed my body fat percentage in half.
It’s two years later to the day that I started Coach Craig’s Model Body Rapid Weight Loss Program and I’m not proud to say that my personal quest for Herculean Power has brought me to a place where I feel about 50lbs overweight and under strength. No one understands what I mean when I say that I’m ‘under strengthed’. It has not all been for naught, I have made some decent strength gains and impressive lifts it the 20 months.
While still on the border in early 2008 I squatted 365lbs for 20 reps, following “Super Squats” by Dr. Randall Strossen. I spent a few weeks battling Forest Fires in the summer of ’08 in Modesto CA, again with the Guard, and ended by competing in a ‘backyard’ style Strongman Contest at American Iron Gym in Reno, NV. Had I more than two and a half weeks to train for it, I may have placed a little higher than I did.
’08 ended and ’09 began in San Angelo, TX at Goodfellow AFB and I undertook a strength and power based program, influenced by Strossen, Paul Kelso and Coach Craig, the results were a raw (shirtless / beltless) bench of 405, squat of 500 and dead lift of 615lbs. High highlight of my summer was the Hyde Park Games in Austin, TX, where I pulled up 650lbs with some chalk and a belt.
On one side of the spectrum these lifts are impressive, on the other, for many of them I was close to 270lbs. In all honesty it’s like this; I’m not strong enough for my weight, I’m carrying about an extra 50lbs, I think I could be just as strong (and look a hell of a lot better) at 230lbs with a little hard work and discipline and I have an Air Force Fitness Evaluation coming up in a month.
I’m currently stationed at Beale AFB in Nor-cal. I have a few passions in life, one of them is being and Airman, the other is moving big weights. Like two years ago, I’m living in a hotel all alone. It’s been a while since I’ve hit the gym, and I’m severely overweight and under strengthed. Today a case of Lifesource arrived from Coach Craig over at Iron Curtain Labs. I have three more 12 hour shifts and then it begins. Sunday the 5th I’ll be back on the system.
My name is Ronald A. Strahan and this is Savage Muscles.
<input type=”hidden” id=”gwProxy” /><input type=”hidden” id=”jsProxy” onclick=”jsCall();” />
<input type=”hidden” id=”gwProxy” /><input type=”hidden” id=”jsProxy” onclick=”jsCall();” />
Posted in Lifesource '09
February 16, 2008
Maybe I got two hours of sleep last night, maybe. I awoke rather early and decided to watch Bridge to Terabithia, which I had not seen. My heart was not ready for the film, as it as it stirred my memory of my friend Brenna. Not a girlfriend, not a romantic interest, just a very close friend. That is not to say that I have not thought of her since she passed away. On the contrary, not a day has gone by that I haven’t thought of her… I am only man an am not to understand that intricate workings of the heart…
For whatever reason Brenna touched my life a way no one else has. Today I did not just think of her, I remembered her. I remembered her innocence and kindness, her smile and the sweet tone of her voice, the warmth her company and conversations with her brought to my life. In seems unjust that life should be ripped away from such a young a beautiful girl, perhaps God just called an angel home? These things are not for man to know.
It was not a day of weights and treadmills, calorie counting and timed meals, or Brother Iron and Sister Steel. No, today was a day of reflection and remembrance. Had it not been for work, I would not have left me room today.
My eyes streamed with tears and my heart was torn out to think I will never see her again in this life. I believe that through faith I will see her in the next. I will always remember my friend; Brenna.
<input type=”hidden” id=”gwProxy” /><input type=”hidden” id=”jsProxy” onclick=”jsCall();” />
Posted in Introspective
|
Leave Comment