TheBugMan’s BodyBlog

Sugar.  That’s right it is nothing more than crack for kids.  It makes them crazy.  They get irrational and disfunctional when they have it, and even worse when they can’t have it.  I didn’t let my oldest daughter even know  what sugar was until she was a year old.  We were at a Birthday party for another 1 year old and after a bunch of grief from others at the party we let our daughter have a small piece of the Birthday cake.  BIG MISTAKE!  After about 3-4 bites she started flipping out.  Grabbing the cake and shoving it in her mouth hands flailing and cake flying all over the place.  It was not a pretty site.  We ended up carrying her away with her throwing what I would consider her first true tantrum.  It was awful.  I was dedicated to keeping her from going through this and putting us through this again and again.

Fast forward to the present.  I am still fighting to prevent this kind of thing from happening with both my daughters.  The problem is my Mother in Law.  She will not listen.  "What’s the harm?"  "It’s just a few bites."  "I didn’t give them that much."  She gave them hot cocoa for breakfast and within 10 minutes my 2 1/2 year old is flipping out.  My Mother in Law is complaining that "I shouldn’t have to take this in the morning!"  Damn!  You give them sugar and caffeine first thing in the morning and  your surprised when they act up????  They can’t control their behavior with the insidious drug surging through their veins!    "Overindulgence is the most insidious form of child abuse."  Dr. Phil

Added a video to my videos of Jack Lalanne.  Watch it.

I am starting to wonder if some people sweat less than others.  I can barely break a sweat.  I just finished 20 minutes of HIIT cardio with my heart rate staying between 160 and 180 for 20 minutes.  I drink at least a gallon of water throughout the day and 20oz of water during that 20 minutes on the Elliptical Xtrainer.  I look at people around me not putting out nearly the same intensity and they are soaked in a pool of sweat.  Anyone else here not sweat much even when your working hard enough that you should?

Well I changed up my workout yesterday morning.  I had purchased a $13 book from Amazon written by Ellington Darden, Ph.D.  "The New High Intensity Training".

I had seen several hotly debated conversations on the forums after ordering it for and against the idea of HIT training, so I wondered if I had just waisted $13.  I figured what the heck, give it a shot.  Normally I split me workout into upper and lower body.  I was essentially following the Body For Life workout.  I am used to doing about 24-28 sets per workout.  I was spending about 45 minutes to an hour per workout in the gym.  So when I sat down to plan out the HIT workout that I was going to be following yesterday I was really struggling.  I was only going to be doing 1set per body part!  The entire workout is only 12 sets of 8-12 reps.  I kept questioning whether or not to go through with it.  I finally decided to go ahead and give it a go yesterday morning.  I did a full body workout and it took about 20-25 minutes max.  I was completely whipped out.  I was blown away with the idea that a simple workout like this could have any impact, but it did.  I was fatigued throughout the day and even hold a fork an knife last night to cut my meal was a task?  I was in disbelief.  How could this be?

So I have no idea what my final opinion will be about HIT, but I was impressed with my first workout, and am willing to give it some time.  I am looking forward to speeding up the workout once I become even more familiar with the program, and of course figuring out the best weight for each exercise will make it even more intense as well.

So today I have been very concious of the amount of water I am taking in.  I think when I got to the gym for my evening cardio sission, I must have been holding some water.  I looked smoother than I have been looking lately.  I was not too happy about it, then I came to the conclusion that it had to be water.  I did a 30 minute HIIT session on the eliptical xtrainer and burned a little of it off.  After walking around a little and cooling down my vascularity started to return and I was looking much better.  I was getting worried for a short time that I ay actually be gaining weight!  That would tick me off. 

So while I am on the xtrainer a kid mabe 12 or 13 steps on a xtrainer in the row in front of me.  Must have been with his parents, or jst on a pass for he day.  Defenitely not a regular.  He gets on with his street clothes, you know the kind that all the gangster types wear now.  Essentially they are hanging on the thigh somehow, and if his shirt wasn’t 5 sizes too big you would see the bottom edge of his boxers.  Not sure if you have tried an eliptical xtrainer lately with your pants literally hanging around your thighs, but it doesn’t work too well.  I tapped the lady next to me and she says…"It looks like his pants are falling off."  I told her that was how they started.  About 90 seconds into his workout the pants finally came down around his knees.  Ever try pulling your pants up from around your knees while on an eliptical xtrainer?  Let’s just say the hilarity ensued, and I was already having a tough time catching my breath.  So much for his gangster rep. 

I really need to take some time this week and update my photos.  I haven’t made any huge leaps in my physique, but there is some change.  My measurements with the exception of my waist are almost identical.  I guess I could update those right now. 

I also want to say that I love browsing through this site.  So many of you are really inspriring.  The level of fitness anf the quality of your physiques are amazing.  It is very motivational and really burns into my mind what is possible if you are willig to work hard.  Thanks Everyone.  -Chad

How do you know what body type you really are?  At times I think it is pretty clear that I am an Endomorph, then I start wondering if that is really true.  Am I an endomorph or a product of a lifetime of bad eating?  If I had eaten clean from the day I was born, would I really be a mesomorph or an ectomorph?  Not that it really makes much of a difference, you still have to figure out what works for each one of us.

With that in mind, have any of the Endomorphs on this site found a particular workout that just gave them phenomenal  results?  I have read that HIT workouts are particularly good for endomorphs but haven’t tried it myself yet.  I may give it a go for a month or two and see what the results are.  It’s important to change it up any way so why not?

I was watching a few body building videos on YouTube, and saw this one of Nate Morton.  I would never have thought of working out my biceps in this manner, but after seeing his, it makes me wonder.  I certainly am willing to try anything that will get me closer to the quality of his biceps.  There are a lot of you on this site, including women that have the kind of biceps that garner jaw dropping looks.  What methods have you found give you the best shape?

I am going to figure out how to add it to the favorite video section, it will be there in a minute.

So as I was doing my second session of Cardio tonight I started thinking that I sure do have a lot of thoughts while I am doing Cardio.  Some are good, some are funny and some are just plain random.  So it got me thinking…  What do some of you think about?  Tonight my mind wondered through the people around me and what they were doing, how many seconds do I have left until I can go up or down to the next level, is this ever going to be over, my foot is starting to tingle, why isn’t this damn thing picking up my heart rate, that person actually parked far away even though there were three spaces available up front, she isn’t getting much benefit from walking that slow on a treadmill while reading people magazine, crap all that thinking only took 20 seconds  I still have 40 seconds to go on this minute… 

I have to say I am finding ways to actually enjoy Cardio.  I am willing to do more of it as well.  Always pushing it as much as I can.  Switching up the type of machine, intensity, lenght of time…  It’s become a game to keep it interesting and fun.  So what is going through your mind????

It doesn’t take much.  I was on the elliptical cross trainer yesterday morning warming up before my leg workout.  So I am watching out the window as one of the other members waits for a close space to open up.  It literally took 3-4 minutes for the other member leaving to load up their kids throw their gym bag in the car and pull out of the space.  At this point the arriving member pulls into the space parks then enters the gym, to hop onto the elliptical next to me.  I finish my warm up and continue with my leg workout which takes about 45 minutes.  Guess who is still on the elliptical as I am leaving?  You got it.  Ms. Close Parker!  You have got to be kidding me.  Don’t even get me started on the handicap parking. 

I was feeling pretty good about myself today.  Got into the gym and did tomorrows workout today since I will have to work, and the gym doesn’t open as early.  Upperbody, and I was mch stronger on every exercise.  Higher reps and more weight.  Very strict form.  Like I said, I was feeling good.

Most of you know how it is.  After you show up consistantly for a while, regulars and trainers and staff start to remember you.  They talk to you about training and life in general.  Sometimes this is good sometimes it can eeat up training time.  I am very careful to avoid the ‘talkers’ during my actual workout. 

Today though, I got my best compliment ever.  One of the trainers says to me "Are you training for a competition?"  Seriously?  I couldn’t believe it.  I feel like I have made progress, and I am pretty sure I have gained size and lost fat, but nothing like someone who would be ready for competition.  Maybe in a couple of years if I see the same progress, but no way in the near future.  Still, it felt good to think someone is seeing something in me that I have yet to see in myself.

So the "Why Bother" part of my post.  After what I felt was a killer workout, I went over and hit the eliptical for some extra Cardio.  I feel like I need a little extra to break through the plateau  I have felt like I am on.  I notice one of the Mom’s that I know through my daughter.  I see her in the gym 4-5 days a week(which normally I would aplaud).  It has been this way for 4-5 months.  She looks like she did 6 months ago.  She gets on the treadmill and walks for the next 60 minutes at about 3.5 miles an hour and reads a magazine.   Now I am sure it is good for her, certainly better than sitting on the couch watching TV, but really if you are going to invest that kind of time, why not make it count?  I noticed there are quite a few of these people who show up and do little more than "walk" indoors.  They stay on the red side, and never wonder into the dark side of the gym.  I have never actually seen these people break a sweat.  Seriously, why bother? 

PS  The red side is carpeted and all Cardio equipment and machines, the dark side is the rubber material that the weights are on.

I think I am making progress, but after looking at some of the monsters and genetic freaks on BB.com, it doesn’t seem all that impressive.    Seriously though, after seeing the progress of other members, it really keeps me motivated to push myself tot he next level.  I know most of those that have mind blowing muscularity and are ripped to the bone have been doing this a lot longer, so there is hope for me yet.  Just keep at it.