cableguy11's BodyBlog

Contest

Cableguy11 — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 20:32:45 +0000

So I entered a % weight loss contest at work with 2 other guys. Probably a dumb move being I’m the smallest in the competition. One guy is 6′7" and 294lbs, the other is 5′11" and 212lbs. I’m 5′8" and 180lbs. So, I really have my work cut out for me. I figured if I can push myself to get down to 170lbs, not only will I be fairly cut, I will have lost about 6% body mass (hopefully all fat). My plan is to finally be strict on my diet by counting calories and watching fat intake. Not to mention change my workouts to 90% cardio and 10% resistance training. I don’t want to lose the lean mass I’ve gained over the last year, but I don’t want to bulk at all. It’s going to be a trying 2 months. But, I think I can do it.

1 Year

Cableguy11 — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 00:24:47 +0000

So, it’s been a year now and I have seen results. However, I slacked off this summer when my schedule was busy… no excuses, I could’ve done better. My diet still isn’t great, but it has improved. It does help that every time I eat too much, or anything with any sort of grease in it, my stomach gets VERY upset. I just have to learn to adjust what I eat because I tend to just tolerate the pain as I eat my comfort foods when I’m stressed.

Hopefully I will be on this site more, with pics to follow. Happy training to all.

Vacation is over

Cableguy11 — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 09:18:42 +0000

I took about 6 weeks off due to a pinched nerve in my back and other limitations. Man, I pretty much let myself go. I am dreading stepping back on the scale next week, but I MUST do it. I know I’ve gained some fat, but I haven’t really lost much muscle. It’s going to be a long road to get to where I was before the long break… and even longer to get where I want to go.

Still going

Cableguy11 — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 02:45:51 +0000

I’m still lifting… but my diet is still poor. I have to say I’m not unhappy though, and that’s what matters to me. Yep, I have the little gut, but the rest of me is pretty solid. I even played in a softball game last night, first time in 2 years, and I’ve been asked to be a fixture on the team. I guess I remembered how to play.

I didn’t make it to the gym this morning because I got to bed later than normal last night. Tonight I will be working out at home… swinging a sledge hammer to bust up some concrete. Needless to say, it will be a total body work out with the 20lb sledge.

Tried the new gym.. in the morning

Cableguy11 — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 20:33:59 +0000

I usually go to the ‘new’ gym in the evenings, but I decided to give it a try this morning. It’s not supposed to open until 5:30am, but I was able to get in at 5:20am, so that really helped me get to work on time.

Being that it is a ‘family’ oriented facility, I had free reign of all of the weights this morning. I was able to blast through my chest routine in record time, and I was able to enjoy a nice hot shower in a private bathroom.

I have to say, it was a good experience. I realize I must change my routine a bit in order to make sure I’m to work on time. Usually, I would work chest and triceps today, but I would’ve ran out of time. Tomorrow I will hit biceps adn maybe triceps as I can push through them quickly…. not as many plates to change. They have an indoor track as well… 9 laps = 1 mile. So, I may push my cardio a little more. I like being able to readily control my speed, unlike that of a treadmill.

Called up to the Big Leagues

Cableguy11 — Tue, 26 May 2009 22:54:28 +0000

So, I was called up to the "Big Leagues" this morning. There’s two guys who work out with each other every morning and they’re both in great shape (extremely strong). They’re both very nice guys and will spot and help anyone out in the gym. They’re not too bad to socialize with between sets, and I’ve picked up a few different exercises from them.

One of the partners wasn’t there this morning and I was doing a bicep routine… I was working through a few more sets of dumbell curls than normal just to get more of a burn. He walked over and said, since you’re doing biceps, come join me and we’ll get through this. I was all for it and jumped at the chance.

He introduced me to a ‘buddy lift’ routine. Using a straight bar, we added some weight. We faced each other with the bar between us on a rack. I did one rep, set it down… he did one rep, set it down…. I did two reps, set it down… etc. Once the 7 rep set came, we started to shed some weight on the bar, and I ended up down to just the bar! Not to mention, I felt like I was going to puke as I wasn’t remembering to breath. Once I got my breathing under control, we knocked out set after set, up to 10 reps, then all the way back down to a single rep. The good news is, I was able to add a some weights back to the bar as I got my 2nd wind (and air in my lungs).

It was by far my best bicep day…ever. I thanked him over and over again as I don’t usually have anyone to train with. Hopefully I’ll be invited to join more often.

New Gym Near Town

Cableguy11 — Fri, 15 May 2009 19:19:38 +0000

So, there’s a new gym near town (there’s nothing in my town, everything is near town). My wife and I went and checked it out last night, and we signed up on the spot. Yes, my wife is now going to be joining me at the gym… it’s a good thing. For $27/month for BOTH of us, we couldn’t go wrong.

I’m wasn’t too impressed with the amount of free weights, but the selection of cardio was pretty good… and the basketball/volleyball courts are AMAZING. I think there were 7 full size basketball courts and a volleyball court as well. Not to mention all of the ’side rims’ for smaller games.

Plus, they have very cheap day care while we’re working out… hello $3. Not to mention the place was just built so everything is still new and in perfect working order.

The bummer is, I finally have a couple of buddies who want to lift in the mornings. My wife and I are planning on working out after work. So, I may keep my old membership and lift in the mornings with the guys, and hit cardio hard with my wife at night.

Work… what a week!!

Cableguy11 — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 20:57:09 +0000

Yes, I’m not going to blog 100% about training for once. It’s been one heck of a week at work. It seems like all of the projects I’ve been working on are coming due at the same time, not to mention the extras that are constantly pushed on me. It reminds me of my college days during finals week, and every prof. decides to assign a paper due the same week. Looks like I’ll be wrapping up almost everything today though… promoting an employee to a supervisor position is the one I want to most get off my plate. What a perfect way to end the week though… telling an employee he’s getting the job he wants, and greatly increasing his pay!

On a training note… if it weren’t for escapaing to the gym in the mornings, I would’ve cracked under the pressure of work this week.

Shoulders

Cableguy11 — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 18:45:19 +0000

Ok, so a while back I read an article on BB.com that stated a ’shoulder day’ is not needed. What a bunch of crap!!! The article stated to simply include shoulder presses in your normal chest routine. Sounds simple enough, right?

Well, looking in the mirror I noticed my shoulders seemed to be lagging behind my arms in chest. So this morning I did my ’shoulder day.’ Complete with dumbell presses, lateral raises, upright rows…. and so forth. Yeah, I can already feel the difference, and SEE the difference in the mirror (typical temporary postworkout increase in size for the muscle group worked).

So, it there’s anyone who says you don’t need to focus on your shoulders, tell them to get bent.

To Bike, Or Not To Bike

Cableguy11 — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 17:41:09 +0000

I’m trying to decide if I want to purchase a new bike as my current bike is a piece of crap that I pieced together from a couple of different bikes. I seldom ride now, but I think it’s simply because I am not comfortable on my current bike, and it is not mechanically sound.

I’m also thinking about participating in the Make A Wish Foundation’s 300 mile ride in late summer. That’s right, 300 miles… 100 miles a day. If I decide to committ myself to such an event, there’s no doubt I will have to get a new bike. I’ve been to a few bike shops and decided if I do buy a bike, i will be a mountain bike, but I’ll also buy an extra set of road tires so I’m not killing myself trying to pedal for miles on end with knobby tires. And, I’ll still have the knobby tires when I want to ride off road.

Decisions, decisions.