Brent’s BodyBlog

Its been a while since I put time in to writing a post. I took an extended break from the gym. I have been busy this summer. I have tried to justify my abscence at the gym with all the work I have been doing on my country property. I guess any reason has been good to miss a workout. Whether its the grass, overtime at work, or anything else it has been a good excuse to not make it to the gym. As a result I have put on about 10 pounds. I had worked so hard to loose that weight.

I have been able to maintain my diet when at work. Where I have been going wrong is with all the social gatherings and other equally good reasons to cheat on my diet. I have been eating out way too frequently as well.

 I am now trying to find the motivation to get back in to a pattern of going to the gym and health eating….. How do you all manage to stay motivated and get back in to the grove when you loose it for a while?

The nice weather is upon us! Its been really sunny, hot, and the last thing I feel motivated to do is go to the gym and sweat my a** off. Lately the days have ended enjoying the sun on the patio, bbqing, and sipping on a cold beer! When I am not doing that I am enjoying the  cottage with my Dad.

I am normally very disciplined in the fall, winter, and spring. I don’t know how you guys do it and I respect your dedication but I am guilty of over enjoying summer time and its starting to show! I have gained a few unwanted pounds.

So how do we strike a balance? How do you manage it?

I will be making an effort to train more frequently at the gym. I will also try to include other types of summer exercises in to my cardio program. Its time to get focused!

I have started investing time in to reading more about our sport. I have read "The Poliquin Principles" this week. I wasn’t impressed with the book. I ended reading it with more questions than I started. Not a good sign I guess. I have just started reading "The Anabolic Diet" as recommended by Antonio.

I have been hitting the gym hard. My weight has been climbing slowly. A great sign! I am still in a bulking phase. My trainer and I are now going to adjust my diet to that to cut my body fat level.  I also have a full evaluation scheduled for two weeks from now. I am looking forward to seeing the results.

Happy training!

Who has the time to exercise? There is so much to do as an adult with a whole slew of responsibilities! On the other hand how can we not afford to exercise? Life gets in the way of exercising and then your life gets shorter as your health worsens! So you damed either way! Where do you draw the line and prioritize your training? How do you tell the people in your life sorry I got to be somewhere else…..

Work has been really demanding, the nicer weather is upon us, and life just happens! Maintaining the drive to go to the gym has been tough! This week my goal is to get there 5 times to make up for the time off I just took. Everything comes with a cost and now its time to pay for it. On the otherhand the break has helped me recover and I am now ready to push harder!

Happy Training!

Brent

Yesterday my day started well. I ended up volunteering to move a friend of my wife’s. She was supposed to only need me to move a washer and dryer plus a few boxes. She had planned that her friends would be there to help and I should have been out of there early enough to make it to the gym. Well I think not! I ended up moving her with my wife. Let’s just say I didn’t make it to the gym and still got my workout in. 

Today was my family’s traditional turkey dinner for Easter. We’ll have to count today as an off day. My diet was a bit off timing wise and supper was a little off on the carbs. Maybe a way bit off on the carbs to be honest. I have a workout scheduled for early tomorrow to make up for the damage. 

Happy Easter to all my friends! 

As I was powering through my routine today doing leg press all I could do is think one more rep. Just one more rep! I added 70 pounds to my single leg, leg press. I do 4 sets of 8 reps non-stop. Its like a mini-marathon! I hit one leg then move to the other and back to the first to complete a set. Wow, does this get the heart working. By this time I am sweating bullets. I then realize the kid that was on the machine before me if watching me do single leg press with what he was strugling to do with two legs. Did this get me motivated or what! I realized I had one more rep in me after all.

Today was a great work out! I am proud of the results I am getting.

I took two days off from training this weekend. I have to admit I could have followed my diet closer. I find it really hard to maintain my discipline on the weekend when in the company of the girl friend. I really need to be making a bigger effort in controling my eating when I am with her. I am so disciplined when she isn’t around. I eat ever 2-3 hours in controled portions and do not skip a beat.

I have recently discovered podcasts. I have been listening to various motivational speakers. I have really been enjoying Skip La Cour’s podcast. It deals with real issues for all levels of bodybuilders with straight forward solutions. If you haven’t started listening you should really tune in!

Tomorrow is a training day. I am meeting my trainer at 10am. I am really going to put in a good workout. Following that I will be coming home to cook meals for the week. I have 4 days of 13 hour shifts as of Tuesday. During that time I will not be lifting. Although I am hoping to find the energy to get up at 4:30am to do my cardio. I really need to do this! I am commiting to doing atleast 2 of the 4 days this week. Happy lifting!

I have to say I am proud of the effort I made today. My day started out at 5:30am. I had to drive to the hospital and get some blood tests done. It part of my annual check up. I had been feeling really run down in March. I would do a workout and then need to go get some sleep. Although the workout was intense and my diet was right on I was not recovering. So I had everything checked out today. I will get the results in 2-3 weeks.

Going back to my day. Since I knew I had to be fasting for 12 hours before the first blood tests I went prepared with my cooler bag of meals for the day. I spoke to the nurse and she insisted that I go for a real breakfast. Like she would know what one was… Getting a bit thick on those hips honey…. So I caved in and went for a man’s breakfast. Ok it was a bit off of my regular healthy breakfast but not by much. I went back for the 2nd blood test 2 hours later. Then I ran off to my next appointment an hours drive away. Thats when my careful planning came in to play. I got out of my appointment at 1pm. I ate my chicken breast, rice, orange, and drank my liter of water in the truck on my way to the garage to have my truck serviced. I droped the truck off at 1:50pm and walked across the street to the gym. I mixed my cytomax and put in an awesome training. Although the breakfast was not part of the plan everything else was a success. Taking the cooler bag and packing meals is definitly a first for me and will not be the last! Every small step in one closer to our goals. Happy training!

I had a great workout today! I am a bit sore but its a good soreness. I had let my motivation drop over the last few weeks. I guess I was just tired. This week off work has done me some good. Adhearing to my diet is easier now that its grilling weather once again. It was 16 celcius today! The gym was just….. I am really getting in to the new routine. I now need to focus on doing more cardio on my off days. Working shift work as an officer makes it really hard. Those 13 hour shifts and overtime get in the way of a healthy routine.

Now it cooking time…

Hi everyone! Wow, what a week! I work 13 hour shifts! Its been hard to get enough sleep this week which has had a negative impact on my cardio program! I really need to stick to my cardio and be more acountable to getting my morning cardio done. I need to commit to getting more sleep and to bed earlier. How does one balance shift work, family responsibilities, and exercise? Shift work sucks but I love my career!