csgonser’s BodyBlog

Ok, well I havent posted in over two weeks, and that is becuase I have been on leave from Iraq and able to spend the last 18 days with my family at home. My time was great and I even managed to work out 4-5 times a week. The great people of Anytime Fitness let me workout for free and even hooked me up with a cool T-Shirt. Total thanks to them. Anyways, I will start loggin and bloggin again. Talk to you all soon!

I havent written in so long, and I wish I would have kept this more up to date the last week because he has been fairly eventful. Oh, well, lifting has been going well. My weight has been fairly steady at 196ish, and my squating has gone up quite a bit! The most important thing though, I leave Iraq in 8 days!!! I am going home on leave, its only 18 days but its better than nothing for sure! I am going to try and find a gym in town to workout at while my wife is in school. Hope it wont cost me and  arm and a leg for a few hours in the gym. Anyways, I will try and keep everyone posted. Thanks for reading….

Well as my last blog was written in agony, this is the update! I managed to hobble to the medics…and they gave me the "is this an emergency" speach…YES, I hurt my back and cant lift!Well it turns out I strained a muscle in my middle back and was having horrible spasms…they gave me a shot in the ass, and some flexerol…I was feeling good by the time I left! Then the next day, I went and had them give me another shot, it masked the pain, and like a jack ass…went to the gym and worked out arms. Went pretty well though, was really cautious of my back and I managed to have a good workout! I am taking this weekend off though, a little R&R will do me good I suppose. I will keep all posted…thanks for reading!

Back night tonight, doing bent over rows, pulled something maybe, I dont know…extreme pain….took motrin 800mg…no relief yet, that was 10 min ago…should go to doc, but only emergencies at night…does this count? It hurts so bad….and I dont uaually complain, I can barely walk and move right…oh what to do…this sucks….HELP!

Last night I went for a run, first time outdoors and off the tredmil in quite some time. We have a large loop here on post that I thought to be around 3 miles…ran it in about 21 minutes. Turns out the run was less than I thought, about 2.3 miles, so guess I better work on my run times. Thinking I need new shoes too, my lower back really started to hurt at about 2 miles…but I have never had any problems with my back with these shoes before. Really just sucked! Well, have a new goal, to run that loop in 17 minutes…think I can achieve that in about 2 weeks. I will keep you all posted. Tonight is back night at the gym, so I am expecting a good workout! Later Gaters!

So, last night was the dreaded leg day. Like the title says, there were a few ups and downs to that workout. My squat went up quite a bit! Last week I finished my sets with 205…this week, for my last set I put 255 on the bar! Knocked out my last set and felt pretty good about it! My workout partner started feeling ill and it kind of bummed out the remainder of the work out though. Finished most my exercises but just didnt have the motivation I usual get from having a motivating partner. On a GREAT note, I get to go home for R&R next month! Looking forward to that, seeing my family and eating great food! Well, enough for now. Until next time…….

Today was chest day and my goal was to put up 250lbs and I achieved that goal tonight, and the best part…it came 137 days earlier than I had hoped for! Great workout tonight, put up more on I incline than ever, more on flat bench…and my body weight is going UP! I am consistantly in the 190s now, finally! Only thing I am disappointed in is my shoulders, I really want to get broader shoulders and it isnt happening…everything else is getting bigger, but I dont think my shoulders are keeping up. Any suggestions on how to get wider? Finished my chest and shoulder day with an Ab workout. 100 Sit ups, 200 crunches, and 50 Leg lifts…Tomorrow is leg day…never a favorite but a must. That brings me to the point, I cant stand the people in the gym who neglect their legs. We have been calling their workout the Wife Beater workout…all upper body and no legs. I think they look retarded…just my opinion….thanks for reading!

Kind of odd, every time I either run on the treadmill, or do the elypticle (sp?) machine, my lower back gives me major pain. So bad that I have to stop for a while and some times stop the cardio all together. I dont know the cause, but I sure would like to find a cure. Any suggestions? Yesterday was the day off from the gym, and tonight is back night. Looking forward to it. Going to do some deadlifts, see if I can get my sets over 300lbs? Probably not, heck wonder if that has anything to do with my sore back? I never hurt after deadlifting though, maybe a little sore, but no real pain. So I dont think that is it. Oooh, pullups tonight too, hoping to get more than 8 with out assistance. Well I will blog more later when I have more to write about. So until tomorrow….

Well I ment to write this yesterday, but I got too busy and then as usual the internet was down. Internet here sure blows at times, well I guess something is better than nothing. Luckily it was a very uneventful day here in Iraq, a little warm but no attack on our base, thank God! I actually got a "day off" that day too, so all in all it was a good day. Makes me sad though, reflecting on the reasons we are here. Thinking about the devistations that occured on that tragic day in 2001. I just thank God that I live in the great USA and not one of these forsaken countries. We truely live in the land of the free and the home of the brave. Well, back to whats important here on this site….my workout and progress….I havent blogged in a few days and really nobody has missed much. My bench is going well, I am makeing slow but steady progress towards my first goal of benching 250lbs. Would like to put up 300 at least once before I return home. Yesterday was leg day and I never look forward to that, got a good workout though and upped my sets to 205lbs, thats my new high. Other than that there wasnt really anything worth mentioning. My weight is finally leaving the 180s and staying in the 190s. I think my 215lb goal is reachable, I would still like to lower my body fat to under 10% though, in time, right now I am more focused on mass. Well thank you for reading, take care, and tune in for next time lol

Well this is going to be short. Had a few new PRs since my last blog so I am going to list em: 215 three times on the flat bench! 380 leg press tonight! Weighed in at 192 yesterday, finally above 190! and managed to curl 105 five times. So its been a productive week for me. Hope the progress continues. Thanks for reading….