ablakemedic’s BodyBlog

Funny…. this thing we do, this "bodybuilding/fitness" thing.  We start and then we just keep going and going and going.  Thanks to bb.com I am able to look back a year ago and how I was training and then look at myself now and ask:  "Why have I not reached my goals??"  Yah, like I don’t know why…. but my motivation has returned and even though I’m even farther away from my goals than before, I can still squat 235 and do 6 pull ups.  Do you want to know what’s even better than that?  I haven’t quit.  I have slowed, I have lost direction, but I haven’t quit.  Time to get myself together again and rejoin the fight.  Look out fat- You’re being evicted.

Well, I’ve fallen off the wagon…. and I am going to write about it in hopes to get recentered on my goal.  I have, over the past 4 weeks, gained 10 pounds- and not a good ten pounds, I don’t think.  The interesting things are that I haven’t gone up in pant size, I HAVE gone up in strength, and a friend of mine confessed "you look really good!  you were starting to look too skinny there for awhile."  Interesting…

 So I took a good, hard look at myself and my diet.  After reading in the forums about fitday.com I decided to give it a try… and found that instead of the 1600-1800 calories I THOUGHT I was getting… I’m actually getting 2600-2800!  YIKES!! Well- there is the problem… now to solve it!

 So, I’ve come, dragging my widening butt, back to bb.com to refocus and get back on track.  Thank goodness for fitday.com, by the way- it has really opened my eyes and I would recommend it to any who hasn’t tried it yet.  Let’s see how this goes…  I’ll update again later!   

So my first day back to squatting brought about a major achievement!  We started with a warmup set and then went straight to the 205#… then to 235#… then 245#… then 265# which I could do for two before my trainer put it them up for the day.  265#!!  Sweet!

So I had the eye of a few fellow gym members while we were doing these and a lot of compliments on the amount of weight.  My trainer has bet me that I will be able to squat 315# in 6 months… I say 325#!  lol  We’ll see… I don’t know how much weight is "impressive" to others but I am proud of myself and motivated even more.

 Then I did 3 sets of 8 of 135# deadlifts.  I don’t know where the sudden strength is coming from but something is working!   Yeah!!

So yesterday I hit the gym and we loaded 205# for squats- had my trainer there so I didn’t kill myself.  I didn’t do to bad, either- until ONE time I didn’t get my butt out…

 So today I am walking funny- I swear my lower lumbar/coccyx area doesn’t look right- It feels like my pelvis needs to be tipped forward… know what I mean?  Is it possible that a muscle spasm/contraction/injury like this could "pull" the pelvis into a new angle?  Or do I need a chiropractor?  lol  I am hoping that once everything relaxes (heat/ice/biofreeze) I will feel "aligned".  Dang- had such good lifting stats, too!

 Only goes to show that you should NEVER EVER take your mind off your form!

Ooops, it’s been awhile since I’ve written… but fear not, I am still pushing hard.  And- again today made more strength gains!  Up to 120lbs on lat pulldowns (8 reps x 3), 100lbs on seated close-grip rows (8 x 3), 50lbs on shoulder press (on the machine that you load the plates on, not with dumbells because I would probably fall on my a$$.)  I am up to 7 3/4 pullups at a time unassisted!  Don’t know why the sudden increase in strength but hey- I am very excited and more motivated than ever to continue my supplimentation and nutrition!  This stuff really works-

A great thing happened in the gym today:  we did chest and shoulders and added new weight to nearly EVERY exercise.  Now, of course we have added weight before - and maybe this new weight is due to the increased intensity that my trainer promised but I find myself wondering:  Is it the new supplimentation?  Is it the NO-Explode that I took 2 scoops of before going?  Seemed a little odd that nearly EVERY exercise suddenly went up in weight.

Well, whatever the reason- the gain feels GOOD!  We will see on Wednesday when I go back for other bodyparts- till then…

Good News First- I was full-on squatting 175#- it was for only 6 reps but it was also about my 4 set of barbell squats so I updated my lifting stats and YAH- it is nice to see that yellow line tilt that way!

Also- found myself down a pants size- had two people say "my god, you are still getting smaller!"  and LOW and BEHOLD- I haven’t lost any weight!! ( I was down to 132 but then the whole Chinese food thing and-well, back to 135!)  But smaller without losing the weight…. GREAT!! 

Today was abs and cardio day- not much to write home about.  However- due to my mentioning that I am ready to take my training to another level my trainer has been hitting me hard!!  So cardio was hard, because WALKING is hard.

I realize that my priorities may seem screwy but I have tweaked my work schedule to get 3 days with my trainer instead of the usual 2.  This is going to cost a bit more but it is, really, some of the best money I think I’m spending.  Yesterday we did legs for the entire hour and today, well… when exactly did I come to love this soreness?  I do, though, love it.

 Onward…

Ah, I love leg day- today- I won’t love leg day tomorrow night….

Leg press- 3 sets- 10-12 reps 270#

SLDL- 3 sets 8-10 reps 85#

DL w/switched grips- 3 sets 8-10 reps 85#

Hamstring curl machine- 3 sets 12 reps 120#

Leg extention machine- 12 @ 60#, 10 @ 70#, then 8 @ 80# with a very cruel "hold it!….. now let it down slow!" at the last rep. 

Bicep cable curls- 2 sets to 12- 40# per side

Bicep curls lying on incline bench 2 sets to 8 with 20# dumbells

Smith machine bicep curls-2 sets to 8 with 45#

Triceps exercise I do not know the name of but DAMN! 2 sets

Triceps close grip pressdown with rope- 2 sets to 10 with 80# (on cables)

Triceps wide reverse grip press down- 1 set of 70#, then a drop set of god-knows how many down from 70# to 40#.

Triceps bar pressdown- 1 set of 10 at 80# and then another drop darn drop sets to 50#.

Darn good day!  I usually don’t feel my triceps DOMS after a workout- but I have a feeling these two drops may have done it.  I always feel my butt and legs though, and this will be no different.  I am still remembering my supplimentation- its only been 2 days but that means I am 2 days into it!  Drank 1+ gallon of water- then had a cheat meal of Chinese take-out.  But, can it really be cheating if it is all veggies and tofu?  Ha- See ya soon…

Back to the gym today!  Doing very well in an ankle brace- didn’t do any lowerbody stuff today, though.  Did chest, back, delts- kind of an unusual split for me but my trainer sometime throws in some weird stuff to keep me interested and challenged! 

 Also- due to my newfound motivation, (largely obtained by this site) I have decided to finally start a suppliment stack and STICK TO IT!  I have had all the stuff in my cupboard for just such a day- so today is it!  I hope that it is the right kinds of stuff to stack:

All BSN: 

No-Xplode- no and creatine

Syntha-6- protein and BCAAs

Cellmass- creatine and glutamine

Lean Desert protein as needed.

Also continuing the Lipo-6 and iSatori Curvelle. 

Also discussed with my trainer the possibility of getting into contest shape.  He seems willing to train me in a such a manner, so I will be kicking that idea around.  I need a lot of education in the nutrition department.  Till next time-

Today started out soo well!  I got on the scale this morning and saw 133.5!  That means I have busted my 135 plateau!  So excited!  Got to the gym for training- and almost completed 5 full pullups unassisted!  This may not seem like many but in August I could do 1, that’s it.

 Then it all came crashing down-  I came down from the stool that helps me reach the pull up bars and landed on one of the feet of the rack, twisting my right ankle under me and creating BRIGHT FLASHING PAIN.  Then there was swelling, and more swelling.  I thought I was going to be able to get through it- We switched to lat pulldowns where I was able to pull off 110lbs for 6 reps (again- very good for me), but then I succombed to the pain and went home.  Now I am in bed in a vicoprofen haze and off work for 2 days.

 It all started soo well…  but it will be back to gym on Wednesday to try again.  Never give in, I say!