I'm trying to eat relatively clean nowadays, with an occasional cheat day. This means reducing high-glycemic carbs in the morning (no pancakes, but maybe toast and jam) and especially at other times of the day. Fruit is OK. But carbs in general are being kept to a minimum after evening kicks in. I don't worry about low-glycemic carbs such as tofu, beans, and so on.

I'm throwing in a high-protein day once a week. On non-workout days, I have one shake and my meals. On workout days, I have two shakes and my meals. But starting today, on my high-protein day (which is also a workout day), I will have three shakes and my meals, and probably additional protein (more milk).

Once every two weeks or so I want to have a cheat day where I eat whatever I want: pancakes, white rice, chocolate, desserts, etc. I have to plan better so that my clean days are truly clean and my cheat days are really serious cheat days. I wasn't being as strict before on my non-cheating days. But I think this strictness, with the occasional super cheat day, is just what I need to shock my metabolism.

I'm taking 10,000 mg of BCAAs during (yes, during) my workouts nowadays. I find that this dose gives me a tremendous energy and aggresion rush. I didn't expect the BCAAs to do this; I was taking them to feed my muscles. So while I can't quite rule out the placebo effect, I'm thinking they do somehow improve my workout performance. Maybe it's the creatine instead?

I got eight reps for 145 pounds on the bench. This is less than what I used to be able to get a year ago. But I'm smaller now, and this is more weight than I could have handled a few months ago. Plus I'm stricter with my form now. I lower the weight all the way to my chest (rotator cuffs are fine, nice and strong), and lift slowly and in a controlled manner. Anyway, bodybuilding is all about results and not about how much weight you can lift, though it is nice to keep going heavier.

I'm more or less the same weight as this spring but I think my fat mass has decreased and my lean muscle mass has increased. I need to get my bodyfat measured now and then.

Man, my workouts have been incredibly intense lately. I'm not even using really heavy weight. It's the pace and volume that make my workouts intense. Here are two recent workouts:

Wednesday, 8 August 2007

- Trisets of dumbbell flyes, dumbbell bench presses, and push ups. 10 reps per exercise, no rest between exercises, 2-3 minutes rest between each triset, and about 5-6 trisets.

- 4 supersets of seated behind-the-neck dumbbell raises and dips

That was it, and that blew me away.

Friday, 10 August 2007 (Today)

- 7 laps around the university track

- 6 megasets involving the circuit training technique, comprising six exercises, all of them on machines. I started with lying leg curls for hamstrings, then went to seated leg curls for quads, standing calf raises, wide-grip lat pulldowns, shoulder presses, and machine shrugs. There was no rest between exercises and about 2-3 minutes' rest between megasets.

For my last megaset, I went to failure on every exercise, but I had to cut the shrugs short because my lower back was bothering me a bit. I finished off with 5 sets of 12 reps of hyperextensions to keep my lower back healthy.

I was sweating like a demon in the 86-degree, 60% humidity weather. Rockin'!

Well, I'm back up to about 75 kg. So I don't feel like so much of a skinny ass (like compared to when I was 72-73 kg). Unfortunately, my bodyfat is up. My older brother was right when he said, "Gaining lean muscle is the hardest thing in the world. Why do you think so many pros turn to drugs?" Of course we want to go the drug-free route.

I have added some fat. But the good news is that my endurance is getting better, my lifts are getting stronger, and my workouts are always replete with kick-ass intensity. I am doing more cardio these days: cycling, walking, and jogging around the "track" (just an earthen surface that is unusable on rainy days) at one of the universities where I teach English.

Basically what I am doing these days is eating a lot (mostly quality food) and training a lot (weights and cardio).

For supps I am taking:

1. Multi (always on)

2. Whey protein (always on)

3. Tribulus (cycle 1 month on / 1 month off)

4. Creatine (cycle 1 month on / 1 month off)

5. BCAAs (new supplement; will stack it with my creatine next time I start a new creatine cycle)

Thanks for reading and keep lifting. Don't think so much about the weight--form, safety, and intensity are key.

In the most recent progress pic you can see on my profile page, I was posing at about 75 kg. Dammit, in the last three weeks, I've come down to 72 kg. I put the loss down to three things:

- going off creatine

- not training enough

- not being disciplined enough with the meals (too few)

Work has been really intense lately. It's just been family and work, basically. Though I love my kids, of course; I'll do anything for them.

But it's time to get back in the gym and kick ass. Followed by top-notch nutrition and lots of sleep.

Ciao.

I'll have to make a change to the "favorite bodypart" section on my BodySpace.

My favorite bodypart has got to be my triceps. They respond best to training, they give me a great looking pump, and they grow like weeds.

A word or two on supplements. It looks like some BodySpace users spent a chunk of change on supplements.

I don't think you need to spend that much. As some article contributors have written on bodybuilding.com, food is your number one supplement.

The key components to gaining mass are:

1. Intense, productive training

2. Good, clean food and lots of it.

3. Sleep (one thing I don't get enough of)

The only supplements I buy are (a) multivitamins/multiminerals (including fish oil, CLA, antioxidants, and other nutrients), (b) protein powders, and (c) creatine, which should be cycled.

There are a lot of expensive products out there, many of them advertised with very bold claims. Some of these products work, but are still not worth the money. If you're not training intensely enough or working your muscles right, and if you're not eating enough good, clean bodybuilding foods, don't even think of supplementing.

The rule is, cover your bases first (rules 1-3 above), and then supplement.

Happy muscle making.

I had a damn good workout yesterday. I've been running on an average of only five or six hours' sleep the last couple of weeks, but it doesn't seem to affect my performance in the gym. In fact, I have some of my best workouts when I go into the gym tired. It can be hard to get started, but once I get going, oh boy. Super, rock-hard pumps and no need to waste any money on those NO products.

Here are the exercises I did yesterday.

- Wide pulldowns -- 3 sets

- Modified seated rows -- 3 sets

- Underhand chins -- 3 sets

- T-bar rows -- 3 sets

- Tricep pushdowns -- 4 or 5 sets

- Dips on parallel bars -- 3 sets

The pump, the euphoria, the sensation were unbelievable.

Planning to make a training video soon. Something new to work on.

I had a great workout today at the university gym. One good thing about gyms in Japan is there are never any ego/testosterone problems like there are back home in Canada. Gym-goers in Japan are easy to get along with.

Today I did leg curls, followed by front barbell squats (max was 60 kg), lying hamstring curls, standing calf raises, and machine shrugs. I worked high volume, averaging 5-6 sets for each exercise (not including warm-up sets). High volume and moderate reps are what my body responds to best. 

Here's a picture of me posing with a guy I did a few sets with. His name is Takayuki. He's two or three inches taller than me and 77 kg. He's got some nice cuts; there doesn't seem to be an ounce of fat on his body. I look OK at 75 kg but there's some fat on my pecs, around my middle, and over my buttocks. I keep working on that.

You can have good workouts even if you lack all that fancy equipment. Memberships to good (and I emphasize "good" are expensive here in Japan. So I forgo the usurious fees and work out at home (barbell and dumbbell basics) or a couple of other gyms around down. One gym, at the university where I teach, is really ratty and run down. It has a lot of broken machines. But it has a decent squat rack and lots of barbells. Just what you need. Besides, I like the rattiness of that gym. Makes me feel hardcore, like Dorian in his dungeon.

A good workout is all about hitting the weights with intensity. I remember how I sometimes got bored when I was an inexperienced lifter. I also understand what people are going through when they tell me they get bored in the gym.

The thing is, people who get bored in the gym are simply not lifting with intensity. You want to know what intensity is? It's doing bench press alone at home with no one to spot you. The only person who's going to get that barbell off your chest is you.

However, to date I still haven't puked during a workout. Is that the ultimate marker of intensity?  

Oh, man! Now I've have two blogs going.

Anyway, I think a Body Blog is a good idea. I'll be posting any kind of exercise-related information here.

I have two beautiful little boys, and one of the hard choices I have to make sometimes is whether to head to the gym or spend time with them. You can't do both.

Today I took the wife and kids to the mall, and, though I enjoyed my time with my family, a lot of negative feelings were running through my head." Where were these negative thoughts coming from?" I asked myself. I soon understood; I had to hit the weights in a bad way.

When we got home from the mall I asked my wife to handle the nightly bath by herself and then motored over to the nearby gym for a kick-ass workout. I shocked my chest and biceps in a big way. The endorphin rush I felt on the way home was better than any artificial, drug-induced high I've ever had. Nothing beats the rush you get from weights.

I'm addicted for life.