2008 Transformation Contest

Well my camera is shot, so I will not be able to take pictures or video at least until I find someone I can borrow it from. But I can share some of my thoughts with everyone willing to read this journal.

I have intentionally placed everyone in the category because this post is about everyone in this competition. I would like to share my opinion about the competitors and how I have seen them in short time I spent in this competition, and also, I would like to encourage others to write the same in some of the next blogs as we near the end of this game we play.

As I said this blog post is about everyone taking part in this competition, not only the competitors but the people made all this possible. I would like to avoid sounding like a miss pageant so I will skip "thank yous" to the sponsors and yada yada yada…I believe they know we are grateful for the opportunity.

Anyways I would like to say special thanks to the man Richard, our admin. Without his efforts we would be lost half way. Thank you Richard.

What can I say about Isaac? Well I learned he’s got great taste in music and I always enjoyed his videos he posted, and I enjoyed some of the great stories he told us, some were true adventures. I must admit I am a bit jealous of him, after all he is a great photographer, something that impresses me a lot. What ever happened to your shaping goals man, we are still backing you up!

And there is Josh. I still hate my self for entering this competition through his misfortune. Life is one big, well I guess you know what. If I understood correctly, SCT is almost fully recovered from his injury and already planning a new challenge by Muscletech, and I want to wish him all the best with his future goals.

Jason is another mystery for me. I have a feeling he is such an emotional person, in a good way of course, and the fact he found his happiness with his wife and daughter just makes me warm in the heart. I know you can’t see much progress but there is a great achievement behind you already. OK, maybe you didn’t lost much weight, or achieved the look you desire, but you made a positive change in life. Sometimes, no matter how hard we fight, sometimes life gets the better of us. I just wanted you to know you have my full support, and when this thing ends in a couple days, don’t think I will forget about you, you can count on me any time.

Dave is a big man, in more than one way. I found we have much more in common than it could be seen in the beginning. This man has a great sense of humor but he can be serious when needed and place a right word where needed. He has a long fight before him and I just know it will not be an easy one. That just makes him a biggest fighter of us all, I mean we have to loose 20 - 30lbs and we are there, but he has to loose a whole Maddie to get where he wants to be. Dave my man mark my words: If you ever decide to quit and give up on the battle you started and start listening to that demon from Narnia, just remember there is one crazy Serb out there waiting to kick your a$$, and we all know demons can’t compare to Serbs

Maddie, well Maddie is Maddie, right I mean she is the reason we others loose motivation with every new progress pictures upload. Couple more weeks and she is ready for a fitness competition. You came a long way and you showed us all how the fine finish is done. You showed great progress both physically and psychologically, and through some of your posts you gave us insight to your librarian soul and I have seen it’s a wast and beautiful place. Which ever the path you decide to take after this competition I wish you all the best.

Finally there is Steph. I am not sure if I can write anything else about this woman I haven’t said before. I remember when she left the first post on my BodySpace page, I was thinking she was a random visitor but than she came again and again and than every week she gave me encouragement and she still remains one of rare cyber-friends I gained over the time. Determination, strength, especially strength intensity, I mean I could go on forever with these epithets that go with her and I would still not do her justice. When I take a step back and take look at this group from the day you told me there is a competition going on at bb.com to this very day, I just know you are the one who deserves the gold and highest pedestal to stand on.

~malibuilder

We’re sad to see Josh (SCT) drop out of the contest, just a month into it, due to a leg injury.  Obviously, this is a temporary showstopper from a training perspective, and we respect that, but we’re still sad to see him go.  You’ll be missed, Josh! 

Click here to read his official resignation post.

Guess who’s back?! That’s right, me! Albeit with a slightly altered user-name granted to me during the Epic BB.com CSR thread of January 24th, 2008.

Aside from some sore neck issues (which have been very prevalent lately) I’m back to full health and ready to rock things out in the gym. This morning will be lower body + cardio and tomorrow will  be an hour of cardio before work. I am going to be upping both the intensity and duration of my cardio effective immediately, as well as adding in a few new goodies to the plan.

After seeing the results both of our female competitors have made in the first month, I am more determined than ever to kick the men (myself included) into gear. We gotta represent yo! As such I have loaded all of the Rocky movies onto my video I-pod, so nothing can stop me now.

Changes To Soon Be Implemented:
- Avant Research Napalm (Topical Fat Burner) to be added (which means I gotta shave my tummy, hahaha, that’ll make for some interesting progress pics)
- Caloric levels will be dropped by 250 a week until I hit my sweet spot
- Cardio will now be a mix of interval training, endurance training, and some lower intensity during active recovery.
- Every upper body lifting day will also include some bag work (speed bag, heavy bag) if I can get into the aerobics room (sometimes there are classes going on and they won’t let me use it)

Are you ready?

So, even though I’m sick I still have the responsibility to post progress pictures. I won’t step on the scale right now because I know that I’m not eating enough while I’m sick and I need to instead focus on getting better. Chicken Noodle Soup, Rest, and Plenty of water yo!

However, I do see some progress in the back and ‘V’ area, which is exciting.

Front Relaxed

Rear Relaxed

Side Relaxed (Bloating OBVIOUS from being sick)

Don’t think because I’m sick that you guys are off the hook, we are barely a month in and I am just getting started.

SCT

Those three words pretty much describe my last week. I’m sick, my strength is down, I’m sick, and I just want to sleep all day. I went to the gym tonight, despite being sick, so I could get my workout video in. We ended up shooting the leg press superhellset, and I FAILED. Yes, you heard it. My range of motion was poor, my strength was down, and overall it just sucked.

The way it is supposed to go is 15 reps, rest 5 seconds, 14 reps, rest 5 seconds, and repeat on down to 1 rep. You’ll have to watch the vid to see what happened. Now fancy music or editing this time around guys, I’m barely with it enough to even upload it.

So, I figured I’d give a quick update. Ever since returning to work on Friday I’ve been slowly feeling worse and worse and now it is in full blown ’sick’ mode. My weight is bloated UP, probably due to not eating enough water and taking in carbs since I’m not really too ‘in it’ right now. I’ll survive, but it pisses me off. Right as I get my new plan all finalized, I get sick.. son of a… (radio  edit)

As we near the 1/3rd mark for the contest, I’m having to make some plan adjustments due to going back to my old job (for financial reasons). Part of this means that I will again be working 10-12 hour days, so my plan needed to be cut back to a 4 day lifting split. I’ve opted to go with a Upper/Lower split due to this.

New plan (version 1.0, subject to change)

Monday - Upper
Incline DB Bench Press - 4×6
Single DB Row - 4×6
Machine Bench Press - 1×12, 1×10, 1×8
Lat Pulldown - 4×8
Military Press - 4×6
DB Lateral Raises - 2×15
Rear Delt Raises - 2×15
Total Sets: 23 sets
30 minutes Cardio (Cycling)

Tuesday - Lower
Leg Extensions - 2×15
Barbell Squat - 4×6
SLDL - 4×6
Hack Squat - 2×10 (A2G)
Hack Squat - 2×6 (Parallel)
Seated Curls - 2×15
Seated Calf Raises - 2×15, 1×12, 1×8
Total Sets: 20 sets
30 minutes Cardio (Elliptical)

Wednesday - Cardio
1 hour Cardio (Swimming, Cycling, Running)

Thursday - Upper
Barbell Bench Press - 4×6
Seated Row - 4×6
Decline Bench Press - 3×8
Wide Grip Lat Pulldown - 4×10
Dumbbell Military Press - 4×6
DB Front Raises - 2×15
Rear Delt Raises - 2×15
Total Sets: 23 sets
30 minutes Cardio (Skips Superset with Laps)

Friday - Lower
Leg Extensions - 2×15
Front Squat - 4×6
SLDL - 4×6
Leg Press - 1×12, 1×10, 1×8, 1×6, 1×4
Seated Curls - 2×15
Standing Calf Raises - 3×20
Total Sets: 20 sets
30 minutes Cardio (Incline Walking)

Saturday - Optional Cardio
Basketball, Swimming, or Jogging

Sunday - Full Rest

Thoughts: I had originally added direct tricep/bicep work, but with the total volume of the program being higher I want to figure out where I can trim before I add those in. Likely after a couple of weeks I can determine the best place to insert that accessory work. Overall I’m not too worried about them though.

I welcome input/thoughts/criticism/etc. This program was designed off of what has worked well for my body in the past as well as time constraints.

SCT

Well, here we are again. I’m not sure that the pictures are reflecting the changes that the scale is showing, but I think a lot of that has to do with my legs REALLLLLLY tightening up and my pictures do not show a lot of the legs. I’ve posted my before and Week 4 pics for comparison:

Before and Current Front Relaxed

Before and Curent Side Relaxed

Before and Current Rear Relaxed

Next week’s photos will be the bomb though, just wait.

SCT

Since my weekly update pictures won’t be online until my wife gets off of work today, I thought I would offer a sneak peak of this week’s progress by the commonly used, often hated, tool called ‘The Scale’.

Start of Contest:

At the start of this journey I was pushing near to 300 pounds. This seems to be the mark that always kicks me back into gear. I have a PROMISE to myself to never again breach the 300 pound mark. As I progress to each 25lb range I shall set a similar goal.

Week 2:

At the beginning of Week 2 I dismissed the progress as entirely water and glycogen weight but downplayed in my mind that I had lost any fat. After all, I am on a low carb diet. I would reserve any internal compliments until week 3.

Week 3:

Another 2.6 pounds gone, and having started out the week already carb depleted I knew I was making progress finally. However, towards the end of Week 3 I allowed myself a cheat meal TWO DAYS away from weigh-ins and pictures, I feared this would show a gain for Week 4… I really did NOT want to post a gain.

Week 4 (today):

Another 1.8 pounds gone. There is no telling what the progress would have been had I not screwed myself with an unplanned cheat meal. However, the past has passed and we will look to the future.

Total Weight Loss so far: 13 pounds
Goal for contest: 35 pounds
Percentage to goal: 37.14%

Everything is on track so far, and with the upcoming changes to my plan that will take effect soon… things are about to get crazy.

SCT

I finally managed to get a cameraperson in the gym with me, which is lucky since the weekly workout videos are due each Tuesday. It wasn’t a scheduled arms day but I just felt the need to put some arm work since I’ve showed a lot of back and some legs. Next week I think I’ll focus on shoulders.

High Reps + Strict Form = My biceps are really starting to cut up.

p.s. The song in the video is a special dedication to my competitors.. I love ya.

One of the dominant factors in my training in 2007 was that I took part in quite a few (1 mini, 6 sprint distance) triathlons. During the entire year I hovered between 290 and 300 pounds, so the very notion of doing these events seems a bit asinine in hindsight. However, I wanted to prove to myself, and everyone else, that triathlons were not just for skinny minnies.

It all began on February 17th, 2007, with the Sanford Indoor Triathlon. I had seen a sign for the event up at the Front Desk of the gym a month before. I asked Angi, one of the gym staff, about the event and with a mischevious smile she started talking about and before I knew it she had signed me up. She ignored my protests of not being able to do such an event, especially since I could not swim, well, at all, at that point. However, she dismissed my concerns with reassurances of my capabilities and told me to get to work.

The following month would be spent learning how to swim properly, logging lots of miles on a stationary bike, and building up my running endurance. Calling it running is another hindsight joke, as it was more like slogging… or slow jogging. However, I put in the time and the effort, and when February 17th came, I was ready. My goal for the day was to finish in under 30 minutes, a lofty goal considering I was new to each of the sports involved in a triathlon.

The swim nearly drowned me, but I survived. The bike I rocketed through due to my legs being strong. However, the run was the most grueling 13 minutes of my life. I cried, I puked into my mouth and swallowed it, I started to see stars.. but I survived. Not only did I survive, I found inside of me a confidence to achieve anything.

Now, the time rapidly approaches for the Sanford Indoor Triathlon again. They’ve changed a few things around (adding 2 miles to the bike distance and changing to the i-cycles) but overall it remains the same event. This year the event won’t really be a grueling death-test like last year, but it will serve as a reminder. A reminder of what I have accomplished, and that nothing is impossible.

I wanted to share this because I know that life can throw things our way and at times things may seem dark and dreary. But remember, the only limits you have are the ones you allow yourself to set.

SCT

So, this week I decided to try something different for my progress pictures. I thought if I did a carb meal before it would really fill out and provide some of the added definition that just doesn’t seem to be showing up on camera. However, the result just turned out to be me feeling bloated and in a bad mood.

However, the pictures continue to show progress and so does the scale, so I’ll take it.

Weigh-In Scale Pic:

Front Relaxed:

Side Relaxed

Rear Relaxed

No optional photos this week, but next week I will post the progression for my Rear Double Bi, Front Double Bi, and Rear Lat Spread to track progress.

As you can see, I’m down a total of 11.2lbs since the start of the contest, which puts me JUST shy of the 1/3 of the way mark to my weight goal. I hope everyone has a good night!

SCT

It has been a crazy week in the life of SCT! I continue to make progress both in the gym and on the scale. I am also nearing the end of my career change process. This morning I’ll be taking a VERY difficult test which once passed will give me the legal ability to do my new job. Oh man I can’t wait to share what it is, because the schedule is PERFECT for working out.

This week my cameraperson at the gym has been very scarce, and the one time I did get my wife out there to record it was poor quality. I’ve procured a few different people to help with recording from now on, so look forward to an amazing video next week.

I, like Daretosoar, spent a while on the phone yesterday with Dean from Muscletech and boy did we geek out about their products. It is very nice being able to have a phone conversation about the efficacy of supplements. Somehow a phone call seems so much more ‘meatier’ than a forum post.

Without further adieu, my video for the week:

So, here we are, a week into the contest and it’s time again for pictures. I know my competitors  are keeping a keen eye on me, since I’m the biggest smacktalker of the group. They are just waiting at a chance to get back at me, for me to falter.

Well, my dearies, NOT THIS WEEK. I’ll let the pictures talk for themselves.

Newspaper for date verification:

Weigh-In Picture (non-mandatory, I just like being accountable)
Reminder: My weight last week, at the start of the contest was 297.4.

Mandatory Photos:

Before Front Relaxed:

Week 2 Front Relaxed -

Before Side Relaxed:

Week 2 Side Relaxed -

Before Rear Relaxed:

Week 2 Rear Relaxed -

OPTIONAL PHOTOS:
**These optional photos are just additional markers of progress for my goals of visible back definition, bicep peak, and quad seperation.**

Rear Lat Spread -

Rear Double Bicep -

And the finale picture, a picture taken last night when for some reason my bicep definition wanted to peak back out!

It’s been a great week guys, lets keep kicking butt and taking names.

SCT

I decided that this week I would continue to tinker with Window Movie Maker and put together a few different clips from my back workout earlier in the week. I have SO much filmed workout now I don’t even know what to do with it all, but once you edit out the works that didn’t take well or whatever, it all works out I suppose.

I’m still working on the brightness/sharpness issue, but I think it is partly due to my crappy digital camera, but we’ll survive.

Without further adeau:

SCT