Thoughts of an Iron Disciple

  The old saying that any progress is better than no progress….well not for me.  I want to see alot of changes in short periods of time but it just doesn’t always happen.    I see the changes in the mirror but on camera they seem smaller and basically non-existent.  In an effort to reveal some definition I have taken to sun bathing and tanning frequently.  Best I can figure this is why the pros spray on tan before competing.  I am only up a few pounds from the beginning of my PH cycle back in March…seems it went just as quickly as it came.   I have another entire cycle of P6 Black but question whether or not I will run it this year.  I fear shutdown!  :(    Without a proper bridge and PCT the gains don’t remain.  At $139.00 a can and 2 cans to a cycle –it is costly.  Check out my new pics if you’ve got the time and give me some feedback.  Ego crushing or otherwise. 

I am taking a class to quit smoking compliments of the US Army on Wednesday.  I am pretty happy that I will be starting the drug Chantix in a few days.  The program allows you to smoke for the first 7 days but after that it is cold turkey because the meds are supposed to take effect around day 4 or 5.  I have been smoking a pack a day for the last 3 or 4 years and before that I smoked at least 5-8 cigarettes a day from adolescence.  I took up the habit at 14 and by 16 was a full blown smoker.

Finally I will be able to breathe again.  When I do high intensity cardio or classes at the Y, I often feel like I am about to die from suffocation.  I get winded far too quickly and smoking makes me feel lethargic, curbs my appetite and leaves me calorie deficient when doing so is counterproductive to putting on size.

Anyone quit this nasty habit and want to give me some pointers for staying quit I’d appreciate it.

   Well it has been another productive 7 days.  I got in 2 days of rest from lifting but elected to participate in a class and swim yesterday.  This class was a high intensity mixer of plyometrics, cardiovascular and aerobic exercises, calisthenics, and running.  I was the only male in the class and sadly I did not finish.   That’s right– I let girls beat me…     I was feeling close to eruption when I left after line drills.  Not since high school 2 a days have I exercised in this fashion and it provided a true shock to the system!  Then today I went pretty hard in the gym for an hour of chest specifics.  Presses and Flyes at varied inclines and declines.  All free weights today– I will incorporate some cable work in on my next chest and tricep day.  My only regret with todays workout was leaving short of doing some dips to failure.  I will be very sore tomorrow or the day after when DOMS sets in through my chest area–dumbbell flyes always tear me up!  I used Controlled Labs White Flood for a 2nd time today and did not like it.  It provided a decent pump for back and bis but not today on chest day.

When thinking about sculpting a hard body I feel like I am an artist.  Call me Picasso.  Each session in the gym the bars and weights are my magical brush and my body their elaborate canvas.  I am a work in progress…a true masterpiece waiting to be finished.  But completion is impossible.  Every rep is another brilliant brush stroke and after recovery (much like the drying of an oil paint) I can see the true color as I admire the progress made and gaze into the mirror at my ever-changing physique.  Alluring is not the word for the sense of satisfaction an artists sees in his good work.  Awe (and a little narciscism) sets in as I stare at the canvas before me; searching out the imperfections and plotting a course for change.  Everyday I marvel at a difference that has been made, a fine tuned adjustment so to speak that leaves the whole looking just a little bit better.

   I have been trying hard to get down to the single digits in bodyfat.  All the while I am trying to gain mass.  My weight fluctuates so much day in and day out that trying to measure my gains that way has proven futile.  I guess even though I’d like to be 200 lbs by summers’ end…I should really focus more on what I am already working with.  I should make the shift to lean out as much as possible even if this means dropping back down into the 150-165 lb range.  Perhaps my physique would be more photo worthy and I would feel more accomplished, more solid.   Abs are coming on though and my arms are looking worthy of photos.  I would like to bring out my lats more and round the shoulders on out.  Legs must be a focus because I will never make it to a stage if I am on stilts or bird legs.   I am seeing new growth and tone from the cardio but need to increase frequency of resistance training.  Sad fact is I bench more than I squat currently.

Total lbs moved and tracked on bodyspace workout tracker.  Lately I have been working lighter it seems.  Even though I am lifting more weight my sets and reps have reduced dramatically.  It seems volume training works much better for me because this is where I made my gains in size and strength.  I wish I could train like Dorian or David Henry–in and out in under 45 minutes, but I do not find my goals being met doing it like they do–intensity over volume.  I have taken a liking to cardio lately too in an effort to drop my bodyfat. I try to hit up some cardio at least three out of five days of the week following weight training.  Efforts made in vain because I have had a serious sweet tooth and succumbed eating alot of candy this week and alot of sodas.

  Thermogenics have kept my metbolism through the roof too.  Lipo 6, Drenaline Hardcore, and D4 have been the picks for my fat assault.

   My body fat percentage has fell significantly since beginning PCT but my weight seems to steady increase then fall, increase then fall, over and over.  Now the weight looks like it may be here to stay.  I would like for the trend of losing bodyfat to continue all the while picking up weight but it simply can not continue forever.  180.4 lbs=my weight today.  159.8 lbs=starting weight before Cellucor supplements.  (159.8 on March 9, 2009)

  As I am trying to cut now I believe I may start using the D4 Thermal Extreme before each workout as well as use L-Carnitine to mobilize my fatty buildup around my midsection.  I’d like to have abs again before summer is full on.  I am already doing cardio at the conclusion of each workout for a minimum of 10 minutes.  HIIT style.  I am seeing results from my oiling labors but I am also not eating right.  Too many carbs and meals are not every three to four hours like I’d like.

On housework that is.  This day-in-dayout grind is getting so old.  Making me feel so damn old too.  So I give props to all the people who do what I do.  How do you stay at it when you feel burned?

Any advice would be great.  I also need to take some time off.  My last rest day was weekend before last.

   I seldom include any cardio into my regimine.  My metabolism is so fast I feel it is counter productive to my mass gaining goals.  I am a hard-gainer.  Even though I lift almost daily and rarely miss a workout, use protein supplementation, and have even done a cycle of PH; my weight has stayed relatively the same.    Nine months passed and I have only gained about 18 lbs total and dropped a few percent body fat.

  Anyhow I gave spinning a try.  It was differnet that I had thought, intensity was through the roof, and this was "Beginners" Spin.  I could not keep up and 30 minutes into the 50 minute session I looked as if someone had dumped a 6 gallon bucket of water over me.  My heartrate was between 80-85% for the entire session.  Other than having trouble gauging the proper resistance required; I believe my wife and I did well.  I went into this class on an empty stomach and would estimate that I burned between 800 and 950 calories.  I will be very sore tomorrow I hypothesize.  my back is already a bit tender from incorporating reverse barbell rows and deadlifts into my back workout yesterday. 

This is a must in competitive bodybuilding.  Nothing is quite as intimidating as wide, well-formed shoulders.  i am blessed with decent genetics in the areas of shoulders and traps but not so much strength as the asthetic appeal.  See I know compound lifts are essential to packing on the type of massive boulders I want to possess, BUT I am afraid to do most of these for my shoulders.  I have never subjected them to heavy training for fear of an injury.  No overhead barbell presses or even heavy overhead shoulder presses with dumbbells.  I stick to light isolation excercises such as front shoulder raises with light dumbells or cables, side lateral raises, and bent over rear lateral raises (or rev. flyes).  Ocassionally I will do dumbell shoulder presses with moderate weight or arnold presses with dumbbells but that is the extent of it.  I should really step up this area of my training while I am modifying others.  I am lacking a bit in the middle and lower back, abdominals, and everywhere below the waistline.  I have no wheels and not fond of leg training.  Guess one equals up to the other there.  :)   I just don’t have the patience to start out so low (in weight) in the legs when I am so strong in my upper body….it is too humbling.  FOCUS—-The new word for the month!