Shikagen’s BodyBlog

I haven’t written in a while because I’ve been busy training and stuff. Been trying to organize my life and my schedule so that I’d have more time to squeeze in extras. Between Gym, Work, Meal Preparation, Studying, Church, Family and the girlfriend, I can’t really claim to have much time for myself. On another note, I made friends with one of the gym instructors at my gym. I actually fixed up some stuff on his computer and now he’s helping me out with my workouts and such. I’m really grateful. As one of my close friends said, "All good things take time".

I did back and biceps today. My back workout was awesome as usual. I’m really loving deadlifts and I’m sweating like crazy. When I was about 18 years old, I would spend hours in the gym and not sweat at all while I was lifting. Now, I sweat buckets and it makes me feel like I’m doing the work I’m supposed to. I think it partially because I’ve changed my eating habits and I’m now experiencing the thermogenic effects of food. I noticed a few of my fellow gymmers glancing in my direction. I wonder why? Maybe they’re noticing my drive and passion for this?

I actually dropped to 170 lbs today. I can’t wait till I drop below that.  But, I’m not noticing a big change in my lower abs. "Eat clean and exercise and you’ll get abs" That’s what the experts say, and that’s what bb.com says. Maybe I’m looking for results too early…maybe… When I post my pictures maybe you guys can tell me if I’m progressing well?

Yes I know I skipped a day. I was tired. Sue me.

Today was cardio(aerobics), but before I get into the details of that I’ll give a sample of my diet for all those who don’t read this blog to critique! XD

Breakfast: 7:00 am

2 Egg Whites, 1 Whole Egg, Bowl of Bran Flakes and Non Fat Milk

Pre Workout: 8:00 am

Pre-Load Creatine, 1/2 Zero Impact Pumpkin Supreme Protein Bar

Post Workout & Snack 1

2 Scoops Whey in Water, 1 Banana

Lunch 12:30 pm

2 Chicken Drumsticks, 1 Boiled then Baked Sweet Potato, Salad

Snack 3:45 PM

1 Slice Whole Wheat Bread with Peanut Butter, Apple

Dinner 6:45 pm

2 White Fish Filets (steamed), Broccoli, More Salad

And thats that. Any feedback, feel free to comment, I need as much guidance as possible. Also, could someone tell me if eating drumsticks are okay. I mostly eat Breast, but to save money I also eat the Drumsticks and sometimes the Thighs. My diet is for the most part, Chicken Breast and Fish (I love fish).

My stomach isn’t going down and my weight is a constant 172lbs! I have a feeling that Pre-Load Creatine is doing more harm than good to my goals. As soon as it’s done I’m gonna stop taking it and find another means of getting energy before my workouts!

Well, today they had exams in our gym’s basketball courts where the aerobics are usually done. So they stuffed all the aerobics members into the squash court. Now, the squash court is VERY small and my country is VERY temperate. So…Small room + wooden ceiling + over 25 people + jumping and sweating= MAJOR DISCOMFORT! To add insult to injury, I’m 6 feet tall, so it was very hard for me to move with the plump lady in the pink speedo’s kicking left when she was supposed to be kicking right, on the side of me. But I stuck it out…and paid the cost! Imagine doing aerobics in a sauna and you’d have a rough idea of what it was like today. However, I enjoyed myself immensley and the added heat may have burned off a few extra calories. I swear I was sweating the most in the entire room…I think the aerobics instructor nearly drowned in a puddle of my sweat.

Lemme tell you, there’s nothing cooler than doing aerobics with your girlfriend. It’s like having a constant support system. Everytime I feel like quitting and hitting the showers ("Oh well, a half hour is enough, I don’t HAVE to stay for the abs") I just look over and tell myself that I have to be an example to the woman I plan to marry. And just let me say…it’s worked so far.

Peace. ****ing LEGS TOMORROW!

Today was a…hmm… different day. First I guess I should explain my workout schedule.

Mondays: Chest, Shoulders, Triceps

Wednesdays: Back and Biceps

Fridays: Legs and Abs (I do abs at other times during the week as well)

Tuesdays and Thursdays is straight Cardio

As I explained in my previous post (I think) I missed Shoulders yesterday, so I had to make up for it today. It was awesome. I didn’t use the Shoulder Machine (dunno correct name) today, I just used free weights, and my shoulders feel so worn right now. Feels great.

On another note, I dunno if the aerobics lady is on some new energy drink or something, but she went totally crazy with the workout today. Normally we do regular aerobics for 30-45 mins then we do a cooldown (light abs and such). Today, AFTER regular aerobics, she split the class into 4 groups: Sticks, Cardio, Kickboxing and Steps. And everytime she blew that damn whistle, we would all switch. I felt to puke. But I stuck it out. My girlfriend actually did puke in the shower after. On TOP of that, she wasn’t finished, we STILL had to bring out our mats and do our crunches and leg raises and make the alphabet with our friggin legs.

Strangely enough, I had energy enough for all that. Recently, my energy has been depleting rapidly during workouts and I find myself easily fatigued. Today I had energy to burn. Oh I’d LOVE to try NO-Xplode or WhiteFlood or SuperPump but a 1.81 lbs bottle of NO-Xplode is TT$495 (US$79.27). Can you say DAMN? Anyway, there were no eggs or tuna or even Sardines in my house this morning, so I whipped up a protein shake and ate 2 slices of Whole Grain bread. Half hour later I had my usual Creatine Pre-Load and half a VPX Zero Impact Protein Bar and a banana. Maybe that was the source of the energy burst. By the way, Optimum’s Double Rich Chocolate Whey has to be THE best tasting shake out there. Even in WATER that stuff tastes awesome. Has anyone ever tried the Banana Cream in water? UGH!

Anyway, enough of my ramblings, it’s not like anyone’s reading my posts anyway. I have to train tomorrow  but I have to wait up for my Mom to get home. I’m sleepy as hell and I still have to prep notes for my class tomorrow.

Well Peace…

Whew. What a day. I would have liked to start blogging sooner but I never had the courage to sign up. I finally grew some balls today. I should give a backstory or something shouldn’t I? Well, I’m 22 years old and I am a Microsoft Office Specialist Instructor. I’ve been active at very irregular intervals throughout my life, but over the past four years I haven’t done any real regular physical activity. I’m not a sports person, and even when I was skinny (most of my life), I had no muscle definition, no abs, NOTHING! In fact, I think I’m genetically unable to get abs, but one of my goals is to beat my genetics. (If anyone has done this please let me know). Recently I spoke to an old friend from the Bahamas, and he showed me his pics. I was blown away. He had magazine quality cuts, and I wanted those. He forced me to take some pics of myself and only when I saw the pics did I realize that I had become extrememly fat and out of shape. My eyes were opened and I immediately started on a new diet and exercise regime.

Today is actually Day 1 of Week 6 in achieving my new body. I usually do Chest, Triceps and Shoulders today but I had some errands to run so I cut out my shoulder exercise and hit the Chest and Tris. Honestly, I think I’m weak. I did flat dumbbell press (3×15, 10, 8 with the max weight being 40 lbs), bench press (3x 15, 10, 8 max 95 lbs with a spotter) and incline press and cable flyes. For triceps I did skullcrushers (first time and this exercise rocks HARD), Tricep pushdowns and Arm extensions. I killed my chest today, but my triceps feel normal, not fatigued. I think I need a training partner but I have no available friends. I also asked my gym about a personal trainer, but the guy is charging TT$500 (US$83) a month to train me and I just dont have that kind of cash. I need lots of guidance…